I hope January (aka the longest month of the year) is treating everyone well! I am trying to update this story as often as I can, but I'm not getting as much writing done as I would like at the minute. I should update again in about two weeks as I try to catch up with myself. Thanks as usual to my beta, CoppertopJ, who keeps me right!
Edward was instantly at Alice's side, his laptop thrown carelessly on the sofa beside him. I looked up, shocked at their blatant disregard for their electronic devices. They usually took good care of their things and as vampires, their reaction speeds were so good that they never accidentally dropped something.
Edward was standing facing Alice, his hands on her arms as they looked into each other's eyes, but I could tell that they were not seeing each other, rather whatever vision was going through Alice's mind. It had to be something big to cause them to react as they had. Panic began to grip me as I watched the horror on their faces.
"When?" Edward growled, his tone harsher than I'd ever heard him use with his favourite sister.
"I don't know," she hissed out through gritted teeth, "I can't tell."
"What's going on?" I asked, standing beside the pair, all the other vampires now gathered around us.
Both Edward and Alice's eyes focused back into the room and they glanced at me, before looking back at one another.
"It's fine," Edward said, pulling me into his arms, "Alice just saw something a little disconcerting, but we won't let it happen." He guided me back over to the sofa we had been sitting on before, as the rest of the family filled the other seats around us. Edward looked to Alice, signalling that she should explain.
"I saw..." she began, her eyes darting to me before she glanced away again, "Bella came across some humans in the forest."
"So?" Emmett said, "You've seen humans around here hundreds of times before. We just make sure to keep Bella away from them, like we have every other time." Alice looked down at her hands, a sad look on her face.
I gasped as I realised what she must have seen. Edward pulled me closer to his side as I whispered, "You saw me kill them." She nodded, her eyes sorrowful as she looked at me.
I took a deep breath, trying not to picture what she might have seen, before continuing, "But, as Emmett said, we'll just make sure I don't go near where they will be. I trust you all to keep me away from them, as you have with all the other humans that have come close to us in the last five months." I glanced up at Edward, expecting to see him agreeing with me, but his face was a mask of sadness and guilt.
"Both Alice and I have made the decision to keep you away from them," he said quietly, rubbing his thumb gently along my cheek, "But the vision doesn't change. Everyone in this room has made the decision to protect you and keep you from harming anyone, but still, the vision hasn't changed."
Now, I understood their sadness, their fear. They couldn't seem to stop it. Alice's visions weren't set in stone. They could be changed, but only through decisions. If my family's decision to keep me away and my own decision to let them help me wasn't changing the outcome, then I had no idea what we were supposed to do. Was this event so set in stone that it couldn't be changed?
I buried my face in Edward's chest, wishing that I could shed the tears I could feel burning behind my eyes. I didn't want to be a monster. I didn't want to be the reason that someone's partner, sibling, son, or daughter didn't come home to them. How would I be able to live for eternity knowing that I had ended someone's life? Caused their friends and families so much grief and pain?
Around me, everyone was talking all at once, but I wasn't listening. I couldn't focus on them, only the thoughts swirling around in my own head. The emotions were too much for me and I could see the red haze beginning to creep in around my vision. I began to panic, if I lost it now and ran from my family, I could be running straight towards those unsuspecting humans. I took a deep breath, as Jasper had taught me, and focused solely on the red haze that was creeping further and further into my vision. With each breath I took, slow and deep, I focused on pushing it back. There was too much at stake this time. I couldn't let it get the better of me. Not now.
The red haze halted and slowly, slowly began to edge back. Every fibre of my being was concentrated on that red haze, everyone and everything around me had disappeared, as I pushed and pushed with all my might, not allowing it to get the better of me. With one final deep breath, the red haze disappeared. I continued taking deep, slow breaths, not sure that it wasn't going to creep back in. I waited, never taking my focus away from it, not until I was picked up and swung around.
"You did it, Bella!" Jasper crowed and I looked down to see that it was him who had lifted me and was spinning me around, the hugest grin on his face despite the atmosphere in the room, "You almost lost it. I could sense you were close to the edge, but you pushed it back. You didn't let it push past you."
I smiled, despite the fears that were still there. Nothing had changed. Alice's vision remained the same, but I had done it. I had been able to push back the red haze in the heat of the moment. Something I had never been able to do before. If I could do that, why couldn't we change the outcome of Alice's vision?
"I know the vision isn't changing," Carlisle began as Jasper set me back down beside Edward, "But we are going to ignore that fact for now. We are going to make sure that Bella is never left alone. When she hunts, we all go with her so we can be there to try to stop her." He glanced at me apologetically, but I waved him away. I wanted their help. Anything at all that might stop me from killing someone was welcome.
"No more lessons in the forest," he continued, looking at Jasper and Emmett.
"Baby sis has practically graduated now anyway," Emmett said, smiling at me and Jasper just nodded his agreement.
"Alice, you keep looking," Carlisle said, "Maybe something we will do along the way will change the vision or you might see something else that will help us avoid it." Alice nodded, her eyes already glazing over as she sunk into her visions again.
"Also," Carlisle proceeded, turning to look at Edward and me, "I know you love your cottage, but until we know what's happening with this, I think it would be best if you both stayed here in the main house with us."
I nodded my agreement, looking up to see Edward doing the same. I loved having privacy away from the rest of the family, but this was more important.
"Well, unless anyone else has any other suggestions," Carlisle paused, but no one said anything, the tension in the room settling around us like a cloud, "Then, I think we just have to wait and stay vigilant."
We all sat in silence for a few moments, Alice still staring off into the future, before eventually, everyone flitted back to what they were doing before until it was only Edward, Alice, and I left in the room. I stared down at my hands folded in my lap, I couldn't bring myself to look up at Edward, though I could feel his gaze on me.
Edward's fingers gently grazed my chin, before tilting my head up to look at him, "I won't let it happen," he growled quietly, sounding like he was trying to convince himself just as much as me, "But, even if it does, it will never change how I feel about you, you know that, right?"
I stared deep into his eyes, seeing nothing but truth in his words. I did know that. I knew that he had killed before, but that hadn't changed how I felt about him. I knew that the rest of the family, bar Carlisle, had killed people and I still loved all of them. That wasn't what I was worried about. I knew that they would all still love me, no matter what happened, but...
"What if it changes how I feel about myself?" I said, my voice barely more than a whisper. He pulled me into his arms, wrapping me up in a cocoon of love, as my eyes filled with tears I could never shed at the thought of what I might do.
"It's a moot point," he said, "Because I won't ever let it happen. I promise."
"Yeah, like a cow's opinion," Emmett boomed from somewhere upstairs and the whole house burst into some much-needed laughter, the tension dispersing a little but not leaving completely.
~~~PS ILYF~~~
Despite Emmett's constant attempts to cheer everyone, particularly me, up, the next few days passed with much tension and worry. It was nearing time for me to hunt again, but I was trying to put it off as long as possible. I was now able to go almost a week between hunts and it was now exactly seven days since my last feed, the longest I'd gone before. The fire in my throat was getting really bad and it was all I could think about.
"Bella?" Alice said, jolting my focus from the scorching heat of my throat. I looked up, realising that we had been in the middle of a conversation, but I couldn't for the life of me think what we had been talking about.
"That's it," Edward said, coming up behind me, "We are going hunting now. No excuses. No delays."
I turned to look at him, ready to argue, but he stopped me with a finger to my lips, "No, Bella. You are in pain. This is the longest you've gone without hunting. You can't focus on anything else. You need to hunt."
I looked around. Everyone had now joined us in the living room and they were all nodding their agreement.
"Okay," I sighed, conceding to them, "What are the plans?" I knew they wouldn't be leaving anything to chance.
"Emmett and Edward are going to be beside you the whole time," Jasper began and I could almost hear his strategic mind whirring, "The rest of us will be spread out, surrounding you, so that if you take off in any direction, there will be one of us there to stop you. We won't go any further than necessary. Alice will also be watching for any changes to the immediate future."
"I don't see anything happening today," Alice chimed in, "The original vision still hasn't changed unfortunately, but today, I see us hunting and then heading home without incident." I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding, though I knew we weren't out of the woods just yet.
We all walked out into the back garden, Edward on my right, Emmett on my left, but neither touching me in case I hurt them in my newborn hunting haze. As we entered the forest that backed onto the garden, the rest of the family disappeared, spreading out around us.
"Hold your breath, as you have been doing," Edward instructed, "Until we're as close as possible to the prey. And the same again after. If you can't smell any humans, you're less likely to take off." I nodded, already holding my breath, not allowing any scent through. I was willing to do everything and anything to stop this from happening. I just couldn't understand how none of our decisions or preparations had changed Alice's original vision.
We ran through the forest, Edward and Emmett still flanking me on either side. The burn in my throat meant that I couldn't focus on where the rest of the family were around us. My instincts were pushing at me to smell, scent out some sustenance, but I just concentrated further. I let Edward and Emmett guide me, knowing they would lead me in the right direction. Usually, I was able to use my other senses to guide me to my prey, but I had left it too long this time and all I could think about was the burn.
We were almost on top of the herd of deer when I finally heard the thumping heartbeats that sounded like heaven. I leapt towards them, allowing their scent to hit me hard and I almost lost it. I took down as many of the animals as I could in one swoop, before sinking my teeth into the neck of the one closest. I groaned as the warm, wet blood hit the back of my throat soothing the fire that was raging there. I drank it down quickly, not thinking of anything but the delicious nectar. I had drained three deer, before I looked up, seeing the whole family surrounding me.
I stared up sheepishly at them, before looking down to see the damage. Thankfully, I was getting much better at keeping myself and my clothes clean and intact when I hunted, so I only saw a few splatters of blood on my t-shirt. Edward reached out a hand and helped me up and we all headed home in the same formation as before.
We reached the house without incident, just as Alice had predicted, and I was glad that I wouldn't have to venture out again for almost a week.
~~~PS ILYF~~~
After my hunt, I didn't leave the house and the others only left, one at a time, when they needed to hunt, making sure that there were enough 'babysitters' left with me in case anything happened. It was a very boring few days during which nothing happened, however, Alice's vision stayed exactly the same. I had asked her to explain to me what happened in minute detail; What was I wearing? Who was with me? What time of day was it? Trying to search for something, anything, that might explain why the decisions we were making weren't changing the outcome of the vision at all.
She described it all to me. She could see me, her point of view from behind me, as I ran through the forest wearing my usual jeans and a long-sleeved green and black checked shirt, leaving destruction in my wake. I came upon a small group of humans camping in the forest. A small orange tent with a campfire glowing in front of it, the sky just beginning to darken as the sun set behind them. Within seconds I was upon the campsite, grabbing a young woman and pulling her towards me as I reached out to incapacitate the young man before he could flee. That was where her vision ended, but it was clear that neither human survived.
After listening to Alice describe the vision, I ran to my room in the main house and searched my wardrobe for shirts that matched her description. Then, I sent Edward to our cottage to do the same thing. In the end, there were two shirts that I burnt in the fire pit in the garden, not really believing that destroying clothing was the solution, but willing to try absolutely anything.
Alice smiled sadly at me and shook her head as she watched the last of the flames die away, "I'm sorry," she said, "Nothing has changed, not even what you are wearing in the vision."
"Uggh," I screamed in frustration, "I just don't get it! Something should change the vision, even if it's just the clothes I'm wearing in it. We can't live like this forever!"
Edward pulled me towards him, rubbing soothing circles on my back, trying to comfort me. For a split second, I marvelled at the fact that although I was frustrated, I hadn't let my temper flare, keeping that red haze at the very edge of my vision, hardly having to work at pushing it back at all.
"At some point, something's got to change," Edward said, "We've just got to keep doing what we're doing."
~~~PS ILYF~~~
Later that afternoon, we were once again all scattered throughout the house, engaged in our own activities, when I heard a loud gasp from Alice's bedroom. A split second later, she was racing down the stairs, shouting for everyone to join her in the living room.
Edward and I reached the living room first, watching as Alice sat on the sofa, TV remote in hand as she turned on the local news.
"What is it, Alice?" I asked, looking between her and Edward as they clearly had one of their weird silent conversations. Edward's brow furrowed in confusion as he turned his attention to the news report. I followed his line of vision, watching in horror as Alice's vision, exactly as she had described it, acted out on the television screen.
There was not a sound in the room, even though everyone had now joined us. Every single eye was glued to the screen as we watched the grainy, wobbly footage. 'I' reached for the young blonde-haired girl, terror on her face. The dark-haired young man turned, attempting to flee, before a hand grabbed him, smashing his head off the ground. His eyes rolled back in his head, dead before the rest of his body even hit the ground.
The scene faded, the newsreader appearing on the screen, "This alarming footage was sent anonymously to the station and we have provided the local police with a copy. We have no idea if the footage is real or has been faked, but the police have assured us that they are taking it very seriously."
I collapsed down onto the sofa beside Alice, as I tried to take in what I had just witnessed. It looked like me; the hair, the build, the clothes. I could see how Alice had been mistaken. I knew I should feel relieved. It wasn't me in the vision. I wasn't going to kill anyone. But something wasn't sitting right with me.
I looked up, finding everyone staring at me, "I've been with you guys the whole time..." I began, panic rising in me as I tried to explain myself.
"We know, Bella," Edward interrupted, sitting down beside me and taking my hand, "Everyone here knows that. We're all just confused... and a little relieved."
"I don't understand," I said, looking at our joined hands, trying to ignore all the eyes watching me, "That was definitely a vampire." Everyone around me murmured their agreement and I continued, "So, there are other vampires in the area. And it's just coincidence that one one of them looks exactly like me?" I finally glanced up at everyone, confusion on all of their faces.
"Alice, can you see anything else about this vampire? Or what the police are going to make of it all?" Carlisle asked, his face grave.
Alice's eyes glazed over as she looked to the future. Silence filled the room as we all waited.
"The police won't find anything," she said after a few moments, "There's nothing on the tape to suggest where it happened. It could have been anywhere in the forest. They will spend a few days searching, but will call off the search in a few days and deem the tape a hoax."
"Well, that's a relief, I suppose," Carlisle said, "If it dies down quickly, that should keep the Volturi from visiting the area."
"So, what now?" Emmett asked.
"I don't think there's anything else we need to do right now," Carlisle answered, "It should all blow over in a few days and now that we know that the vision wasn't about Bella, we can go back to normal. Just keep alert when you are out hunting, in case we come across this other vampire. We don't want any trouble, so steering clear of them is probably our best option. If they are traditional vampires, they won't be staying in the area too long."
~~~PS ILYF~~~
Edward and I took advantage of the fact that we were no longer obliged to stay at the main house and were walking at a human pace through the forest to our cottage when I said to him, "Something doesn't feel right about this."
He glanced down at me, concern in his eyes, "We know it wasn't you in the vision. You won't hurt anyone, I promise."
"I know that," I said, as we reached the cottage, "It just seems strange that the vampire looked exactly like me. Same hair, same taste in clothes. I had to throw out two shirts exactly like the one in the vision, in that tape. What are the odds of another vampire who looks just like me, wearing clothes exactly like some I own, being in this area where there are very few humans?" Edward watched me, his brow furrowing as we sat on the small sofa.
"And who sent that tape to the TV station?" I continued, "Hell, who even took that video? Nothing about it adds up. It's almost like..."
"Someone's trying to set you up," Edward gasped, catching up to my train of thought, "That would explain why Alice saw the vision of it in the first place. She usually only sees visions of things that directly involve us or people she knows, unless she specifically searches for something."
"But, if that is the case, what's their goal?" I asked, not really expecting an answer, "If the police are going to abandon their search in a couple of days and deem it a hoax, then their plan has failed. And even if the police had found the bodies, there would be nothing to link it to me anyway."
"Unless, it's not the police they are trying to set on you," he whispered, "If the Volturi got a hold of that tape, it would be enough evidence to come after us."
Horror tore through me. Edward had told me all about the Italian coven that ruled over all vampires. About how their leader, Aro, collected gifted vampires, using them to punish rogue vampires who threatened to expose the secret. He also told me how he often used petty crimes to separate gifted vampires from their covens to keep for himself. How he had coveted Edward and Alice's gifts for a long time.
"We need to go back to the main house," Edward said urgently, "If this is true, we need to talk to the rest of the family now."
We ran this time, through the forest and back to the main house, where we found Alice standing in the back garden waiting for us, a look of sheer terror on her face. Edward collapsed to his knees in the middle of the garden, just a few feet from where she stood.
I knelt in front of him, trying to pull his hands from his face so I could look at him, "Edward, what's wrong?" I asked, the panic threatening to overtake me, but I pushed the red haze away making myself focus on Edward.
"They're coming," he rasped, "The Volturi are coming."
Sorry! I didn't realise when I was writing these chapters that there were so many cliffies close together. Please don't hate me! lol