PREVIOUSLY: "Bella," Alice beamed at me, "I'm so thrilled you decided to join us!"
I blinked, not quite sure if I could trust my new senses. This girl had all the same features that I remembered—although my human memory was already growing fuzzy—but a hundred times higher resolution. I could see the details in every facet of her perfect jawline. I could tell that every jet black hair was immaculate, with no split ends to be found. I could make out minuscule bits of dirt where the rain had streaked her face. A dizzying array of colors blended together to form her golden irises. The detail level overwhelmed me for a fraction of a second, before my brain confirmed that it was indeed Alice.
With that settled, I relaxed my defensive stance, and happiness flooded into me. I had missed her so much. I would have thought I was experiencing another delusion, but I didn't believe my mind could have invented her face so perfectly, when I'd never before seen it at this resolution.
"Alice?" I finally asked. I was momentarily startled by the new bell-like sound of my voice. "What are you doing here?"
"I saw you about to change, of course! You came out gorgeous, by the way. I can't tell you how excited I am that we're going to be sisters again!" she enthused. "I didn't tell the others what I saw happening—I just came straight here—so they'll all be so surprised, I can't wait. But I suppose first you must be thirsty." My throat burned at the mention of it, and I realized that I was indeed thirsty. The sudden desire overrode all my confusion at Alice's assumption that we would be family. But she wasn't done. "No—how could I forget! First, you need to see yourself."
She pulled a large hand mirror out of her pack and handed it to me with a satisfied expression. I stared at my reflection, horrified. There was no doubt I was beautiful. But that didn't mean much to me now. I was long past the time in my life when I had envied vampires—Rosalie especially—for their surreal grace and good looks. What did it matter how I looked, when the only person I would ever love wasn't here to see it? No, what had me transfixed was not my newly symmetric features nor perfectly pale complexion. It was the brilliant red eyes.
They stared back at me, unyielding. My chocolate brown irises had been warm; these were murderous. It was hard to look past them. I struggled to find recognizable features in my face, searching the sharper jawline for some hint of myself, seeing only a hint of familiarity in my nose.
"Alice," I asked, "How long until the eyes…?"
"Normally, they fade to deep red within a year," she explained.
I bit my lip, dissatisfied, and found that my new teeth were much sharper than the old ones, even adjusting for my harder skin. "Ow," I mumbled.
Alice laughed, then continued, "It's a bit faster for vegetarian vampires. You should reach amber after a few months of drinking animal blood."
The reminder of blood reignited my thirst. My left hand flew to my throat.
"Right. Shall we hunt?" she asked me.
"I actually packed my own lunch," I explained. "I didn't realize you'd be here, and I didn't want to, um, snack on any humans accidentally."
Alice looked confused, so I unzipped my backpack and withdrew the small cooler full of blood. The sight of the red liquid was irresistibly attractive, and my instincts took over. I ripped a bag open with one razor-sharp nail and poured the contents down my throat. It was easily the most delicious meal I'd ever had in my life, but I wasn't satisfied. I downed another, then another. When my stomach was so full that it felt a bit sloshy, I finally slowed down and came to my senses. There was only one bag of blood left.
"Oh, um." I looked at Alice, mortified by my lack of self-control, but she seemed merely amused. "Do you want some?" I gestured at the last bag. I knew it was polite to share, but some instinct inside me growled at the thought of giving up any of the delicious liquid, even though I couldn't possibly have swallowed another mouthful.
Thankfully, Alice shook her head. I tucked my leftovers back into the cooler, along with the half-melted ice packs, and slung my bag over my shoulder. Then I looked down at myself and winced. My clothes were sweaty and ripped in various places from my writhing during my transformation. I had no doubt my back was covered in pine needles and dirt. And, most recently, I'd spilled a bit of blood on myself.
With a smug smile, Alice reached into her bag and handed me a dress. It seemed her sense of fashion still outweighed her common sense—why would I want a dress in a forest?—but I couldn't deny that her precognition came in handy sometimes. When I finished changing, she pulled out a hairbrush. I gratefully accepted it and began combing through the tangles on my scalp.
"What now?" I asked when I finished.
"We meet up with the others, of course," she laughed. "We can't take a plane, because we need to keep you away from humans, but I think it'll take us less than a week of running and swimming to get where we're going."
"I—swimming?" I asked.
"Well, I'm the only one in North America right now, so… yes."
I decided not to argue about my questionable swimming skills. "Look, Alice, I don't know if this is a good idea," I looked at her beseechingly, hoping I wouldn't have to spell it out, but she tilted her head at me, waiting. Finally, I asked, "Is he with the rest of the family?"
"No, Edward isn't with the others right now," she sighed as I winced at the name. "I hope you're not going to be upset at him for too long."
Upset wasn't the word I would've used. I desperately longed to see him even once more, to memorize his face with my newly improved eyes, but I was terrified of hearing the ultimate rejection. Of hearing that even as a vampire, I wasn't good enough for him. I didn't think I could take that. I needed to focus on my mission.
Speaking of my mission… "Alice, listen. I'm not sure I have time for a cross-continental swim. Victoria is still out there, and I... heard she was after me." I stumbled a bit over the last clause, not wanting to implicate Laurent as my information source. "I've made myself a bit more durable," I said, gesturing at my new body, "but I'm worried she'll go after Charlie or my friends when she can't find me."
Alice looked surprised. "I haven't seen Victoria doing anything concerning," she frowned. "Actually, I haven't seen her doing anything at all recently. But I'll keep a closer eye on her. If she's still around, and decides to visit Forks, I'm sure I'll see that. I saw your transformation as soon as you drove out here, and I wasn't even looking for you." She paused. "How did you get the venom, anyway?"
"Bought it on Craigslist," I deadpanned.
She pursed her lips, but didn't pursue the question. "Anyway, you'll come with me, right? If I see Victoria going after your father, I'll come straight back, and call in the others."
I considered. The Cullens had already saved me from James last spring. I didn't want to rely on their goodwill every time I had a problem. Besides, how could I be sure they'd be in time to help Charlie?
When Alice saw my hesitation, she reached for my hand. "Trust us. We want to help. And we've had a little more practice fighting vampires than you have."
She was right. It may take me a week to get where we were going, but the rest of them could board a plane and reach Washington in under a day. It was unlikely that Victoria would make any decisions on a shorter timescale than that. And it would really help to have allies against a vampire who had decades more fighting experience than I did.
Beyond that, it would be nice to have company in my new life. It was already a huge relief to have Alice here with me. I didn't fancy spending centuries alone. As long as he wasn't there, I decided, it wouldn't be so bad to reestablish my connections with the Cullens.
I nodded with a hesitant smile, and Alice beamed back at me. "But first," I added, "We need to hide my truck."
I loved running. Every stride was so forceful that it propelled me forward ten meters. My legs moved gracefully, instinctively, powerfully. I never tripped. My muscles never complained. I could run forever, with the wind whipping through my hair, and never lose this exhilaration. Who cared about red eyes? Being a vampire was the best.
Alice ran beside me, working slightly harder to keep up with my newborn strength. I could tell she was peeved that I'd ripped my dress with an extra-long stride, but she didn't say anything. In no time, we reached the side of the road where I'd left my beloved truck.
It was remarkably easy to lift the vehicle and drag it deep into the woods. Once we'd deposited it in a small clearing, I fondly ran my fingers over the hood one last time. I promised myself that someday, when I could be around humans, I'd come back for it.
In the meantime, I didn't want to risk anyone identifying it and calling Charlie, so I removed the license plate and buried it. Then we were off running again. We chatted easily as we loped along, catching up on half a year of each other's lives.
I knew Alice was using her gift to scan for chance encounters with humans, and I shuddered when she corrected our course abruptly. If I'd been running alone, would those hikers have survived the day? I hadn't planned for my transformation nearly as well as I'd thought. Then again, I was still so full of donated blood that I might have been able to resist hunting sentient beings.
We were halfway across the state when Alice pulled up, inhaling sharply. I recognized the vacant expression she often wore when she had an important vision. I waited impatiently for her to come back to herself.
"What's happening?" I demanded as soon as the faraway look faded from her eyes.
"Victoria," she gasped.
Immediately, I whirled around and sprinted back the way we had come. I could be home within a couple hours.
"Bella, wait!" Alice called after me. "Stop!"
I resisted the impulse to keep running. Alice had better have a really good plan, to justify leaving Charlie unprotected for even one more second.
"What?" I snarled.
"She's not going to Forks."
"She's not?" I relaxed a bit, but I was still confused. "Did she find my trail and realize I'd left town?"
"No–she's not coming for you at all. She's going after Edward. And she's got company."
2024-09-06 A/N: Thanks for the awesome reviews! Can't wait to hear what you think of this one.