Chapter 8: Alice

The blackness in Alaska only lasted for half an hour, but Forks continued to be shrouded in darkness. I was checking on Charlie several times a day, but only twice in the following week was I able to see anything.

The first time I saw Charlie he was sitting in his police cruiser. He held a paper cup of coffee in his hand, which had long since cooled down, and was staring vacantly out the window. The second time, Charlie was at home arguing with an elderly Quileute man I recognized as Billy Black.

"I know you miss her Charlie, but the girl's gotta find herself right now. Like she said in her letter, she'll be back when she's ready."

In a way, that second vision reassured me. It hurt to see Charlie so upset - I couldn't deny that I'd grown fond of him in the weeks after Phoenix - but at least this vision reassured me that Bella wasn't living in that van out of necessity. If she was ever in trouble, she could go home.

However, that knowledge did little to ease my concerns. As I continued to receive small, unexpected visions about her travels, the changes worried me. Her cheeks grew more hollow and the circles under her eyes grew darker every time I saw her. Even when I began looking for her intentionally, I couldn't find any reason for her travels or any sign of her returning home. Finally, one day after I came back from a vision where Bella screamed in her sleep, I couldn't take it any longer.

Thankfully, Carlisle was already at home. A week after I arrived home, Jasper and I started asking him to do things with us when we knew he wouldn't be scheduled for a shift. At first, he seemed to want to be right back at the hospital but as the weeks wore on, he began to relax at home and voluntarily spend more time with us again.

"Carlisle, would you like to go for a hunt with me?" In our family, singling out a specific family member for a hunt implied needing to speak privately. Carlisle agreed and I heard the rustle of paper as he closed his book and placed it on the side table. I grinned. Esme would tidy the book away, but I knew that she was thrilled to have a reason to tidy up after him again.

Esme had come back to life as well. Rosalie, whose stubborn desire to pretend that Forks never existed, was always talking to Esme about some design project or another. Between Rosalie's distraction, Emmett's antics, and more frequent attention from Carlisle, Esme had lost that sad look that had seemed so permanent when I first arrived. It was only in quiet moments of solitude that I could see that she had not forgotten entirely about the missing members of our family.

"I've been looking for Bella again," I blurted out, as our run carried us near the stream where Jasper and I reunited after my return. Carlisle nodded.

"I'm not entirely surprised," he admitted. "That was a completely unreasonable request for Edward to make." My heart lifted a little bit.

"Good, because I think she needs us," the words tumbled over each other as I rushed to get them out. "She's still living in that van and she's having nightmares and I don't think she's eating enough and she's not-." I stopped when he held up a hand.

"Alice, as much as it wasn't reasonable for Edward to expect you to not look at Bella's future, we can't interfere," he said, not unkindly. "Rushing in and fixing things when she's sad won't help her learn to live without us."

"Were you even listening to what I was saying?" I asked incredulously. "She's not just sad. She didn't have weight to lose before we left and yet she's lost it. She wakes up screaming from nightmares. This isn't about her emotional state. Her physical body is at risk and you just want to play 'wait and see' with it!"

"Alice, that's enough," Carlisle said sharply. He might have said more, but once again, I was unexpectedly thrust into a vision.

Bella was standing in front of a pay phone, twisting the cord around her fingers nervously while waiting for it to ring. Finally, someone must have answered because she straightened up and started speaking.

"Oh hi Billy, it's Bella. I wasn't expecting you to answer. No, I'm fine. No, stop. I can't come home. I have to go. Bye." And she hung up the phone quickly, obviously cutting off whoever was on the end. And slowly with her back against the side of the phone booth, she sunk to the ground and rested her forehead against her knees. Her shoulders began shaking and I knew she was crying.

I pulled out of the vision to see Carlisle staring at me. "The visions of her are coming more often and I don't know what they mean," I muttered. "I don't understand. Visions don't come for no reason. Something is wrong but I can't tell what. All I know is that she's living in a car, eating barely enough to survive. Whatever sleep she does get seems to torture her and now she's calling people just to hang up on them. Something is very deeply wrong Carlisle, but I can't. Tell. WHAT!" I was yelling by the end and I could feel my eyes stinging. I wasn't quite sure if they were stinging from rage or fear but I was sure that if I had access to tears, I would have already ruined my new shirt.

Carlisle's eyes widened in surprise. He hesitated for a moment and then nodded. "I can't pretend to understand the ins and outs of your gift and I can't deny it concerns me how strongly you feel about this." Carlisle stopped and considered for a moment. "If she's in no immediate danger then we'll watch closely for a week and then we'll have a family meeting and decide what to do about this." He chuckled at my suspicious gaze. "You expected a different response?"

"Yes," I said honestly. "You've been so intent on defending Edward's choice this whole time." He nodded sadly.

"And perhaps that's my mistake. You know that Esme and I consider Bella to be our youngest daughter. Even though Edward is my son and my first companion, she has physical needs that he does not. I will not sacrifice her health for the sake of his desires." I nodded, mollified.

"Thank you, Carlisle," I said sincerely."I don't want to see her suffer anymore if there's any way we can help." He nodded in understanding.

"Esme and I have discussed this frequently. I can't imagine how much worse it must be to have a visual of what is happening to her. I am so sorry I didn't listen to you before." Relief blossomed in my chest and I impulsively reached out and wrapped my arms around Carlisle. He pressed a kiss into my hair.

"Look out for your sister Alice," he said softly. "Then we'll decide how to help her as a family."


When I got back to the house, Jasper was waiting for me outside. Carlisle and Esme quickly left for the hospital and I could hear Emmett and Rosalie inside. Their choice of activities left me with a clear understanding of why Jasper had chosen to leave the house. My original plan for the day was to work on a mural in my and Jasper's bedroom. But when I saw the disturbed look on Jasper's face, I decided it could wait.

"It's not like they don't do it often," I teased gently. Living in a group of mated pairs with very little privacy meant that we often had a partial witness to intimate moments, however, I knew that it was more difficult to ignore for both Jasper and Edward. Jasper frowned and shook his head.

"Alice, why is Bella Masen's credit card being used?" My dead heart leaped in my chest. First in surprise at the unexpected question and then at the thought that Bella had seen my letter. Honestly, I hadn't even expected her to use it, but I was pleased she had found it. This also meant she also knew how to contact me if she truly needed help.

"I left it for Bella, in case she needed it," There wasn't much point in trying to pretend otherwise and I was too giddy with relief to even try. "I'm not sorry I did it either. I can tell from my limited visions that she hasn't been eating properly and if money is the issue then this will help her."

"Alice," Jasper rubbed his forehead, something he did whenever he was particularly frustrated and trying to keep himself from saying something rash. "Alice, you can't do this. You promised Edward you'd stay out of her life."

"Jasper, be honest with me. Do you really believe that she deserves no help from us at all if she needs it?" Jasper winced and turned away from me, but he couldn't quite hide the flash of misery my question sparked. I almost felt a little bad, but this was something he needed to face.

"No, but she almost died because we were a part of her world. I almost killed her! She may be eating cheap cup noodles right now, but at least she's alive to eat them." I sighed. My love had a huge heart and he loved Bella almost as much as I did, but he had the wrong ideas about what Bella needed.

"Besides," he continued. "She wasn't the one who found it. All the purchases were made recently in Seattle." Understanding washed over me, followed by a muted horror. Jasper watched the process grimly.

"Alice, what else did you leave with Bella when you left her the credit card?"

"Fake IDs and…a letter." Jasper closed his eyes and swore softly. It was very rare that I made a horrible mistake, but we both knew that this was one. If someone found the credit card, they could also read the letter where no secrets were kept. Not only that but if they entered the house then they would see decades of pictures featuring the same, unchanging people and other hints about our way of life. I felt sick.

"Jasper-" I started. But he cut me off.

"I don't want Carlisle and Esme involved in this." He said firmly. "They're hurting enough having to leave Bella and with Edward gone. I'm taking Emmett on a hunting trip. We'll see what we can find and if there are any threats we'll take care of it. You still can't see Forks?" I shook my head numbly. "Then hopefully I'll be able to tell if anyone is suspicious."

"Let me come Jasper," I urged. "It was my mistake, and I should be the one to clean it up." Jasper shook his head.

"Darlin', God knows I love you, but you're too close to this. Can you tell me honestly that you would be able to go anywhere near Forks without snooping around trying to find stuff about Bella?" I sighed and shook my head. A grim smile played on Jasper's lips.

"Thought not. Besides, no one would suspect Emmett and I of breaking our promise to Edward. You're a different story." I swallowed hard.

"You'll let me know when you get there?" He nodded.

"Always, Darlin'."

In light of our newest threat to our recently regained happiness, I forgot to tell Jasper what Carlisle and I had discussed. Perhaps things would have been different if I had.

A/N: We're getting close! Sorry for the delay but this chapter kicked my butt in terms of editing. I probably rewrote the confrontation between Alice and Carlisle four times before it stopped feeling...lacking. On a similar note, I am looking for a pre-reader/beta for this story -just someone to catch any gross plot holes and bounce around ideas for difficult scenes. If you are interested or know of anyone who may be, please send me a DM to connect :)