I know some of you are wondering after Samantha's visit where Alice was at the time, if she didn't see that attack on Bella, and that nevertheless slowly the Cullen/Stones need to figure out who Jake and Leah's mother is.

Therefore, I have included this chapter for you, which will hopefully clarify some of your questions.

Sandra (Psy1980)


Chapter 32

My Funny Brother


Alice


"Do you hear that?" I asked confused, interrupting our playful kiss.

"Yes ... He's playing HER song," Jasper answered, lost in thought.

We straightened up and looked in equal amazement in the direction from which the music was coming.

Edward's house. Definitely.

I went outside the front door to hear this melody better. With our eyes closed, we leaned together against the wall of the house, holding hands and eavesdropping on the beautiful sounds of this unique song that we had not heard for so long.

I had been pretty pissed at the time, yelling at him and trying to claw his eyes out for his stupid idea of leaving Forks. I had even considered biting Bella myself without further ado, but I didn't trust myself to let her live once I started drinking. But when I saw how much he struggled with this decision, how it threatened to tear him apart from the inside, every day anew, my anger at him died down. It was there still, only quieter.

What had been happening to him now that Edward could bring himself to play Bella's song?

The song sounded off and I opened my eyes again.

I saw Rose and Emmett also standing in front of their house through the trees, and they looked at each other as questioningly as Jazz and I did. Cautiously, we all walked toward Edward's house, with Carlisle, Esmé, and Samantha, who of course had also heard the piano playing. When I saw my brother through the windows, I paused.

He hid his face in his arms lying on the grand piano. Although I did not see his face, he appeared infinitely sad and broken.

So, he was not better! So why had he chosen this song of all things? ... Bella's birthday was today! Had he felt he owed it to her to play it today? When Edward was in this desperate sort of mood, it was better to leave him alone.

I guess we all got the same idea and were about to withdraw when he sat up and started playing again.

A new song. Beautiful and moving, in its mood melancholic alternating between cheerful and mournful.

Intoxicated by this melody, we quietly stepped through the door and silently spread out around the grand piano.

I was wrong. Edward was not sad. He appeared balanced. With his eyes closed, his fingers flew skillfully over the keys. But where did he get this song all of a sudden? It seemed to me that he stopped playing in the middle of the song and looked at us a bit surprised.

I chuckled.

He probably hadn't noticed us. Like before, when he concentrated on his playing ...

'Whoever she is, who brings you back to the piano, I will hate her!' I clarified mentally and was deadly serious!


Afterwards, the four of us sat together.

Rose, Em, Jazz, and me. Since Wednesday we only spoke with Samantha about the most necessary things.

That vile beast.

But I watched Edward and Samantha through my gift. Just to be on the safe side.

"He must have really a serious crush!" noted Emmett happily while telling us how Edward had come home today.

Cluttered with chocolate stains.

„He admitted to being in love," Jazz interjected.

"For nineteen and a half years," I replied as dryly as Edward had just told Samantha. As I said, I was watching him. Or rather, I was watching her, so that Samantha wouldn't get the disgusting idea of exploiting Edward's mood for her own benefit again.

"He appears FRESH in love, though. A nervous excitement, as if it is in the beginning, when feelings develop," countered Jazz.

"He can't just forget HER, and replace her with some random chick!" I screeched, on the other hand, and my siblings laughed as I stubbornly crossed my arms in front of my chest and narrowed my eyes snidely. No one was allowed to take Bella's place at his side. No one! And if Bella couldn't defend that place herself, I had to do it. I was still convinced that Bella and Edward were soul mates. There was absolutely no doubt about that for me. One day he would realize that he had only made a stupid mistake and go back to her! And that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Bella was also my best friend!

"Aren't you happy that Edward is doing better than usual?" Rose asked me.

"No!" I snorted sourly. Bella was perfect for him, and she also fit in with us. Each of us liked her, even Rose - but she never admitted it.

Jazz soothingly placed his strong hands on my shoulders.

"I really wonder who she is!" mused Rose, deep in thought. "What do you think of Lisa?" she asked.

I shook my head and gave voice to my opinion.

A nice and pretty girl, but absolutely not Edward's type. Too self-confident and funky. Edward needed someone calm at his side, like himself. Bella just!

The others agreed, but we still made fun of Samantha's face a little when Edward had gone for Lisa's all-too-obvious flirting attempts.

"I'm betting on the mother of the wolves!" chuckled Emmett.

I shook my head mentally.

There was hardly anything Em didn't bet on. Slowly he had even managed to infected Edward with it.

"It seems so!" retorted Jazz. "But for what reason would he keep the mother of the two from us? Why doesn't he just tell us what's going on?" Jazz further considered.

"Because Rose wants take the lady out again?" grinned Emmett at Rose, who immediately pressed a thick pillow full force into his face. "No, nonsense ... Maybe he's embarrassed. She must be ancient, however ... with two kids that age."

"Ancient? Give me a break. Look at Miranda Kerr, Shakira, or Jessica Alba. They are also already over forty, have had children, and are still so hot that hardly any man would push them off the edge of the bed!" I scolded him.

Rose and Jazz nodded.

"Edward is damn good at it when it comes to winning over a female. Just think of the principal in Fargo. We can take a leaf out of that book," Jazz then considered.

I nodded.

They wanted to kick Emmett out of school because he had accidentally touched someone too hard during football. Not even Carlisle had been able to prevent it, but Edward had. He had only gone to her office and poof ... Emmett was allowed to stay.

"Who knows what he did to that one!" laughed Emmett vociferously. He got three more pillows peppered in his face at the same time. "Hey! Do you guys know about that?" he complained.

I rolled my eyes.

He knew himself that Edward was not the type to get his way through sex.

"Maybe the only reason Edward takes care of the wolves' mother is so that the children will let him live. And that's why he could also be so kind and helpful to them. Just to suck up," Em announced a new theory.

"But wouldn't Edward tell us that? I mean, we could all understand that, however, and even help coddle the kids and the mommy," I asked skeptically. There were few people who could resist our delightful vampire charm. And hey ... who wouldn't like me? I'm small, cute, and lovable!

"Not necessarily. Maybe he wants to give them the impression that they share a secret and thus create a basis of trust ... If we knew about it, we would instinctively behave differently," my soldier explained with conviction.

"Ever considered that maybe he just likes the kiddies after he got to know them a little outside of school?" Rose then said, rolling her eyes at my husband's strategic thinking. "After all, Leah is not only smart and pretty, but also quite nice on top of that. She has a really pleasant nature, open and inquisitive without being simple-minded. I like her, I must say."

I bristled.

Wow ... Rose liked someone. Just like that. After just a little babysitting and two lunch breaks at school? Well, I liked Leah too, but for Rose, I guess this was a first!

"And Jake is pretty cool for his young years. Confident, but not arrogant. Treats Becky like he should without appearing like a love-struck goon, and also doesn't exactly seem stupid. Only, it seems, basketball isn't exactly his sport, " Em admitted.

"And Becky and Jake together are just so cute!" I interjected. "To Samantha, he just said that the kids make him think about his own life," I was saying. I was still watching! But Samantha was just about to leave, so I could let my attention slide again.

"Sure, it could be," Jazz admitted thoughtfully. "With your own death in front of you, I'm sure you see things very differently than you normally would ... I don't think he'll ever stop loving HER. But it's entirely possible that both Edward and I could misinterpret those feelings!" admitted Jasper, and I nodded resolutely.

That's what I wanted to hear! There could only be one woman for Edward!

"It's definitely different than usual. His feeling for ... Bella ... are still as intense as ever. I can feel it completely ... That will probably not change any other being anymore. Whether human or vampire ... As Edward thought about his end, this could have shown him that he has to change something. If he gets along very well with the mother of the wolves and with those themselves, because, after all - as we have just found out ourselves - they are very lovable, it could be that they will help him to enjoy the memories now and not to be tortured by them anymore. They seem to free him and bring him back to himself ... There is also yet the small matter that neither the woman nor her children can talk to anyone else about all these unnatural things. This can be the basis for which mutual trust builds up and a deep friendship develops ... This mental connection could well increase into a kind of infatuation. Possibly also just the desire to feel that attraction again. Because it makes him feel better."

We all pondered his words and it kind of made sense to me.

I mean, if the wolves were already such pleasant, likeable characters, then would their mother be like? An angel in person?

"Eddie even asked us to watch the wolves today!" Emmett seemed to want to confirm that opinion.

"And why?" I dug deeper. Since when did wolves need protection?

"What he's already been telling us since Monday ..." Emmett began to explain.

The wolves were our contractual partners, to the extent that we should make an effort to look out for them, if it was readily possible for us to do so. After all, Jake and Leah were still young - as humans - and inexperienced - as wolves. Edward had already explained that to me, too, and I thought it was only logical. If the two were uncovered as wolves, that meant sooner or later that someone could recognize us as something that shouldn't exist. In addition, the wolves from La Push would possibly come here, if these two reported or suspected an indomitable danger. On top of that, there was the treaty. Edward had broken it the moment he bit Samantha and was thus unofficially condemned to death. So far, I don't think the twins had made a final judgment yet, as far as we knew. Whatever they had done to Edward on Wednesday morning in the parking lot, it was the only time they had done anything so far. I had been really afraid for Edward when he was lying on the ground so cramped and didn't move. But since then, it seemed to run very peacefully between the three of them.

"... and he seems to be really serious about it. I'll get a new pickup truck and Rose can go shopping in New York. With HIS credit card, of course, " Em added with a mischievous grin.

Shopping! New York! I'm in!

"Was it necessary for you to play babysitter?" Jazz inquired with interest.

Was that important? After all, would Rose and I get to New York that way?

"Yep ... The kid was beaten up by three guys and they weren't exactly squeamish ... I'm sure it wouldn't have taken much for him to phase in front of their eyes," Em said, and Rose nodded in affirmation.

Yes ... yikes!

I pulled my eyes together angrily.

"Three of them?" I snapped. No matter who or what the two were now, I found one against three impossible. They should run into me sometime!

Em explained to us the circumstances that Edward said had led to this beating.

Michael Hanks, whom we all didn't like very much, had probably engineered this attack. I concentrated on my gift. Not that he had thought of something else to do to these kids in the course of the afternoon ... I was still concentrated ... Firmly I pressed my eyes together ... and my lips against each other ... Clenched my hands into fists ...

But I saw nothing? My first thought: the wolves are dead.

But the others talked me out of it pretty quickly.

After all, it was 'only' about a girl and wounded vanity. Even a Michael Hanks wouldn't go over dead bodies for that. Besides, it would also make little sense to commit two murders at once, if he only wanted to take revenge on Jake. But - in our opinion - he had no right to do so. Becky had broken up with him, which Jazz had witnessed, and only then turned to Jake after he had saved her, so to say. Period!

But then why couldn't I see them? I had also not been able to see Edward in the past three days. I was offended by my just useless gift and tried again and again anew ... Slowly I got a headache. That was despicable!

It flickered before my eyes and I collected myself for a moment.

Carlisle's hand reached for the phone. He looked worried. He quickly dialed Jasper's number.

"Carlisle wants to speak to you!" I gave Jazz a kiss on the tip of his nose. "You better hurry, he looks pretty worried," I added, and Jazz immediately ran off.

"He's always worried. Mostly for no real reason," Emmett laughed after him.

I chuckled.

That was true.

But to be on the safe side, I also briefly looked at the others.

Esmé. She was standing in the library and just decided to clean the shelf properly after she discovered a speck of dust in the upper shelf.

Samantha. Indecisively she ran through the forest. Without a plan or goal. She did that often and usually ended up hunting so she wouldn't make a mistake regarding her blood thirst.

Edward. Lying on his bed and chuckling intermediately.

The wolves? ... Damn! ... No idea!

We chatted about some trivia, but very quickly came back to Edward.

"Maybe it's not a woman turning his head, but a man!" chuckled Emmett, exhilarated.

The last pillow that was on my side flew towards him at lightning speed.

"Maybe we should just shadow him for a bit!" muttered Rose conspiratorially.

I nodded, grinning.

Yep ... Then we would finally have certainty and be able to stop this silly guessing.

It flickered before my eyes again.

Samantha. She was determined to kill someone in agony. Not an animal to quench her thirst. A human being. She stood in some garden holding a wrist I could barely. While I saw Samantha razor sharp, I could only guess her counterpart as a woman. As if a veil were lying on the person. As if something was blocking my gaze. The surroundings were also shrouded in a fog.

"Samantha wants to kill someone!" I said in shock, and was already - cell phone in hand, waiting for Jasper's voice - on my way.

Emmett and Rose followed me, cursing Samantha. Jazz answered to the phone. I briefly explained my vision and immediately reached the house from which Jazz had already emerged. Together we followed the smells of our family.

Carlisle. Edward. Samantha. In this order, the trail was clearly discernible.

Jazz reported Edward's immediate departure after hearing that Samantha was not there and that she was especially curious. Jazz also noted that Carlisle had actually told him not to come with them.

Whatever the reason was for this absurd instruction, which I could not make sense of because of Samantha's disappearance, it had passed.

"But at that time it was certainly not yet clear that Sam was going crazy!" I countered.

He just nodded.


Our way led us towards Saco.

While running, I couldn't concentrate on my gift. Otherwise, I would run into a tree, which would only slow us down.

I still wondered who Samantha was targeting. Edward and Carlisle had to have at least one guess if they ran off without hesitation.

We had almost reached Saco when Carlisle met us.

"Stop!" he shouted toward us, and we stood still, restless and tense.

"But Samantha ..." I tried to explain, but Carlisle shook his head.

"I know, Alice," was all he said, putting his hands on my shoulders.

"You can't let Samantha kill anyone!" shouted Rose at him boisterously.

"Samantha is a bitch!" I yelled just as indignantly.

"She's capable of anything!" Emmett also raged.

"Where's Edward?" Jasper deflected our questions to Samantha.

That was a good question. After all, they had started running together, but only Carlisle came back?

Carlisle said nothing, just hung his head and seemed to be searching for the right words.

Fear came over me.

It didn't matter who Samantha had wanted to destroy. If Edward had gotten in her way - he was a lot faster than we - and was taken by surprise by Samantha ... I didn't even want to imagine it.

I put my hands over my mouth in dismay.

"No," I screamed. This was not to be. Not Edward!

"Don't worry, Alice. Edward is fine ... Come home with me," he said good-naturedly, but it didn't reassure me.


Disgruntled, we ran home, where Esmé was already waiting for us.

We sat down at the large dining table and Carlisle didn't quite seem to know what to say or what he wanted to say yet.

Therefore, he summoned me to tell what I had seen.

That was not very much. Basically, I had only recognized Samantha and her intention, but not her presumed victim.

"That's all you saw? Not even who it was?" Carlisle inquired in amazement.

"No. There was a shadow or something over the person - I can't even say for sure yet if it was a man or a woman. But I would guess a woman, as petite as the arm appeared in Samantha's hand," I explained.

Carlisle nodded and seemed somehow relieved.

I wondered why.

He breathed deeply

"Yes. It was a woman ... I should rather say, it IS a woman. She is alive and well - as far as I know - considering the circumstances. Edward is with her, taking care of her. He came just in time, it seems," he said quietly.

"What about Samantha?" asked Esmé, filled with horror.

Carlisle walked over to her, gently pulled her up from the chair and put his arms around her tightly.

"I'm sorry, dear. Samantha is no longer in our midst," he whispered soothingly and apologetically.

While Esmés head fell on his shoulder, I also felt a stab in my heart. A very small one. No matter how mean I thought Samantha had been for three days, she had been my sister for a year.

I hung my head sorrowfully and felt Jasper's hands on my arms.

"He just destroyed her like that?" asked Jasper, a little taken aback.

It didn't sound startled or derogatory. He was really just surprised that Edward hadn't seemed to think about discussing this in a family conference.

But who already knew how the two were facing each other at that moment? In a fight, many things happened purely intuitively and in only fractions of a second. Perhaps the blood of this woman had even sung for Samantha, so that Edward really had no other choice.

"Maybe he didn't have another chance to discuss this with me. I don't think Edward took this decision lightly," Carlisle said calmly, and I believed him.

No matter what Samantha had done to him, Edward didn't destroy others that easily. Unless Samantha had it in for someone special!

"Was it the mother of wolves?" so I asked.

"What makes you think that?" asked Carlisle ignorantly.

"I haven't gotten a single vision of Edward since Wednesday, and when I try to see anything from the wolves, there's nothing. Just like in this vision of Samantha. Everything but her and her decision was veiled," I clarified.

"We think Edward is about to fall madly in love," Emmett interjected with conviction.

"Or at least feels better with these people than he would otherwise. That they help him get over the past," Jazz set our thinking straight.

Did Carlisle really have no idea? I considered ... Maybe it was really like that. As far as I knew, the two of them had only ever talked about the wolves and their legal decision. The fact that he had admitted to Jazz that he was in love was not something he had to let Carlisle in on.

We all laid out our clues, including our considerations of who this woman might be and what she was obviously doing to Edward's mood.

Carlisle nodded wistfully.

"Well, Edward is a little sensitive about a family member planning to attack a defenseless woman."

"I never touched HER!" Rose jumped up from her chair.

"We know that, Rosalie, and no one is faulting you for your convictions at the time. Not even Edward. The same is true for you, of course, Jasper. Your initial doubts about Bella's loyalty and secrecy were only wise, after all, she was just a human being like everyone else then and we didn't know her yet. Moreover, you gave her a chance to earn your trust and let Edward know about your views ... But you must also realize that Edward has not forgotten this, of course, and he is sensitized on this point by both of you," Carlisle said good-naturedly and sympathetically.

I wondered why he pronounced Bella's name like that. Not only was it forbidden in this house since we left Forks, but it hurt us to name him ourselves.

Rose sat back down and calmed herself. She and Jazz looked at each other for a long moment. They had both been of this opinion at the time, but had also both quickly realized that they had acted too hastily in doing so.

"Whatever Edward's motives for rushing to this lady's aid without delay, I implore you to leave him alone, not to pester him with questions, nor to sneak after him!" Carlisle concluded in a tone none of us would oppose.

However, that didn't mean we didn't ask for a reason.

Carlisle vehemently denied that he knew about Edward's infatuation. He would have told him nothing of the sort. All he knew was that the wolves had still not reached a final verdict on Edward, and that he would therefore continue to take care of the children. The wolves would patrol around the town every morning and every evening. Running into us while doing so could cause mistrust, especially after Samantha's unpleasant visit, Edward definitely didn't want to challenge that. In addition, the lady threatened by Samantha would probably not speak very well of our kind at the moment. If we followed Edward, we would probably only meet her and Edward's attempts to calm her down would be over.

We talked for a long time, so that we understood Carlisle's instructions later.

No matter what Edward did, whether it was really just about the wolves, he was actually falling in love, or he had just found a friend he got along with, our curiosity could ruin everything.

We didn't just speak about Edward afterwards, we remembered Samantha.

We said farewell to her with this and, except for Esmé, we were relatively fine with it.

No matter how abominably she had behaved toward Edward, she had still been our sister, with whom we had had a very intimate relationship up to and including Tuesday. A new thought surfaced. Perhaps Samantha had sought death and deliberately challenged Edward with her behavior now that she was in disfavour with us.

"She liked coyotes best," Emmett considered as the night drew to a close.

"Let's go hunting in her honor," Rose suggested, and everyone agreed.

Carlisle thought it was a nice idea, but couldn't come with us. He had to go to the hospital early. But he still said that there would be the most coyotes at the Canadian border.


Thank you for reading!