Visitor
Julie's entire body tensed. "As in Carlisle Cullen?"
"Yeah. But why would he be here?" I mused aloud.
"I can't go in there, Bells... I'm going to have to tell Sam. I'm not allowed to be on their land if they're back." There was a small tremor running through her body. "Are you sure it's Carlisle?"
I noticed the look in her eyes. There was a panic there, an unease. It didn't seem in line with her simple hatred of the Cullens.
"That's the most logical choice," I said with a sigh. "It's his car."
"I don't know, Bella..." Julie's eyes focused on the house. "I don't trust this."
"At least let me check."
I stepped out. The air from outside drifted into the cab of the truck. Julie's face wrinkled in disguist, covering her mouth and nose.
"Stinks," was all she said. Her jaw twitched, flexing at an uneven angle that looked painful. I heard a strange crunching sound, flesh and bone. Her teeth looked odd, larger.
I walked up to my front door, stomach tied in knots. I heard the driver door of the truck open, saw Julie heading to the woods. She watched anxiously from a distance, her entire body trembling.
I felt the urge to knock, silly as it was. It's my house. The building was dark. I opened the front door, feeling the wall for the light switch, and turned it on.
Dark amber eyes met mine, a pale face staring in shock. There was a long moment of us just staring at eachother, processing.
"Alice?" I asked in a small voice. My voice cracked. I felt tears prickle in my eyes.
"Bella?" She asked. There was a strange mix of relief and confusion in her voice.
I felt myself cross the room, wrapping my arms around her. I wasn't even conscious of myself doing it. Tears instantly started streaming down my cheeks and I had to hold back a sob.
Alice peeled me off of her, eyeing my face carefully. I watched her just as fully.
She was unfed; her eyes were dark, not quite pitch-black. She was still as beautiful as ever, in that pale and uncanny way that sent alarm bells through my brain. Pixie features, thin in the extreme, a fae masquerading as a human. Her dark hair was in a manic disarray around her head. There were purple bruises under her eyes, like she was healing from a broken nose. I could smell the perfume coming from her skin, that lotion from the mall wasn't a fair comparison. Her body was like marble, hard as concrete.
For a vampire, Alice looked horrible.
"I missed you so much," I said softly. My nose was snotting and tears were running down my cheeks. "I thought I'd never see you again."
"Speaking of which, how are you alive?" Alice's voice was impossible, cherubic like a child's.
"What do you mean?" I asked stupidly. "Am I supposed to be dead?"
"I saw you drown, Bella. You jumped off of a cliff."
"Oh. Oh."
How could I explain it in a way that didn't make me sound insane?
"Wait, I have to let Jules know I'm okay. That you're okay." I ran out the front door, eyeing the treeline. I didn't see Jules anymore.
There were a pair of shoes neatly sitting where she'd stood previously.
I went back inside, wiping my tears off into my sleeve.
Alice brought her hand to my cheek, moving it slightly. Still observing me. Her cool hand felt nice against my flushed cheeks. She sighed. "I told him that you get like this. I warned him. He was so sure you'd bounce back. When I stopped seeing you in my visions, I worried..."
She continued, her voice such a perfect caricature of his that it made me cringe. "'Bella promised. Don't go looking for her future either. We've done enough damage.' But I wasn't looking, Bella. I'm so attuned to you, they find me sometimes. You were horrible, verging on being institutionalized, and then the visions stopped altogether. And when I saw you jump, I didn't think. I just... came here. Thought maybe I could help somehow. With Charlie."
"You didn't see Julie get me out of the water?" I asked. "She saved me from drowning."
"No, I waited and waited and waited for you to come up. Nothing." Her eyes turned hostile toward me. "How could you do that, Bella? To me? To Charlie? And my brother? Do you have any idea how destroyed Edward would be--"
"I wasn't trying to kill myself, Alice," I interrupted. Her eyes were cautious, squinting suspiciously at me. "I was cliff-diving. It's recreational. And I wasn't thinking about the water, really. There was a strong current. It nearly dragged me under."
"And this Julie saved you?" Alice asked. She leaned in a touch to sniff at my neck. Her face wrinkled in disguist. I froze. "Is that who you were talking with outside?"
"Yeah."
"And if the current was too strong for you, how did Julie manage it?"
"She's a really good swimmer, I guess. She's gone cliff-diving before."
There was a reluctance in my voice that she noticed. Her eyebrows raised.
"What aren't you telling me?"
That Julie is a werewolf. It felt wrong to inform Alice. It wasn't my secret to tell. It felt like betraying Jules.
Alice was still watching me. "Bella?"
"I can't tell you." I looked away from her, wiping my nose on my shirt sleeve.
It was in that moment that she seemed to notice my attire. I was still wearing Julie's oversized sweater and sweatpants.
"I had to borrow her clothes after the near-death experience," I said weakly.
"Is Julie also a giant?" Alice asked. Her icey fingers touched the shoulder of the oversized sweater.
"Yeah, she's pretty tall," I said weakly.
Alice processed for a moment. "You know, in the vision I had, I didn't recognize where you were at. It was obviously local, since you're home so quickly. But not in Forks. And your friend Julie is very tall, and smells horrible. I'm betting she's from the Quileute reservation, especially since you went silent the second I asked a question about her. And inexplicably, my vision skipped her entirely."
I said nothing.
"Is your Julie a werewolf?"
My Julie.
Alice watched my expression and rolled her eyes. "The vampires leave town and you immediately run to the next available monster. You promised Edward that you'd stay out of trouble."
I scowled. "She's not a monster, Alice. She can't help what she is anymore than you can. And she's not trouble. Jules has been the only thing keeping me sane lately. And safe, too. With Victoria and Laurent lurking--"
"Victoria? Laurent?" Alice frowned. "Tell me everything, from the beginning."
So I did. The Victoria stuff, anyway. That was all Alice was actually needing to know. The Cullens abandoned me, I could let her know the danger they left me in. How Julie and her pack were the only reason I still breathed.
Alice's eyes narrowed into slits at the part with the werewolves protecting me. It was eerie, the pale face and dark eyes, it struck me how inhuman she really looked. She looked like a vampire. It finally registered in my brain.
Her eyes were curious. "There weren't any werewolves when we left. Meaning she's been a werewolf for less than six months."
"What does that matter?"
"Young werewolves are even more dangerous than regular wolves, Bella. Completely unregulated emotions, tempers flaring. All they exist for is fighting. They're worse than newborn vampires. Carlisle told me about them."
"So you weren't with the Cullens when they made the treaty? You've never actually met a werewolf?"
"No, I hadn't found Carlisle yet."
"So you don't actually know anything about them."
My tone was flat. It felt rude. I could tell that my comment stung. Until recent events, Alice had been my closest friend. I didn't want to fight with her. I didn't know how long I would be able to see her.
"I'm sorry," I apologized. "But don't talk rudely about Jules or her people. I won't tolerate it. She saved my life several times over, Alice. She's..."
What was she? Girlfriend felt too immature. Soulmate felt cliche. We hadn't even defined what we were to eachother. Julie was bound to me and I craved her existence.
"She's mine."
Alice nodded slowly and gave me another hug. "Our leaving didn't do you any good at all, did it?"
I laughed softly. "It was touch and go there, but I'm doing better lately. A lot better. I daresay that I'm deliriously close to being happy."
She smiled softly. "You look better than I expected, even after the drowning."
"I feel better," I said with a genuine grin. "A lot better, actually."
Alice watched me again. "I guess I shouldn't have interfered," she said finally. "I just had to check."
My mind went to Jules. The fact that I wouldn't be able to see her easily if Alice stayed here in Forks. How I'd probably never have gotten close to her if the Cullens hadn't left.
"Are you going to leave again?" I asked timidly.
"Yes," she said in return. She gave me an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I understand. You'll stay for tonight, right?"
Alice nodded. "I could stay at my home, if you prefer."
"Charlie will be thrilled to have you visiting. He adores you."
She looked to the corner of the house as if someone had called for her. "It appears that we shall soon find out."
The front door opened. Charlie came walking in, his eyes ringed red and glued to the floorboards. His shoulders were slumped. He set his coat down and stood at the table absently.
I walked to him, hugging him tight. His arms wrapped around me fiercely. "I'm sorry, Dad."
"I'm going to miss him," he mumbled.
"How's Sue? And Leah and Seth?"
"Sue's in shock. Leah has run off. Seth is so young, he doesn't know what to do. Sam is staying with them. I'm going to be helping with the arrangements..." His eyes looked dull as he asked, "Why is there a Mercedes in our driveway?"
"You'll never guess who stopped by to visit," I said with a smile. It was more of a grimace.
Alice appeared in the doorway, her smile one apologetic. "Hi, Charlie. I'm sorry that I came at such a bad time."
"Alice Cullen? Is that you?" Charlie hadn't let go of me yet so he reduced the hug to an arm around my shoulder.
"It's me," Alice said shyly. "I was in town, I thought I'd drop by to say hi to Bella."
"Just you?" Charlie asked carefully. His arm was tight around my shoulder.
"Just me," she confirmed. "Bella invited me to stay the night, but I don't want to inconvenience you."
"We'd love to have you, Alice. Keep Bella company while I'm at the Clearwater's," Charlie said with a genuine smile.
"I've been at Julie's all day, so I haven't had the time to make any dinner. I can order something in," I suggested.
"I can cook something, to show my appreciation," Alice volunteered.
"You don't have to do all that. I'll just find something from the fridge. Leftovers will be fine," Charlie gave my shoulder a rub and headed toward the refrigerator.
I stayed up late talking to Alice. She told me about her life since Forks. The Cullens moved to New York. Carlisle was teaching a night class at a local college. Esme was renovating homes. The Cullen children, aside from Edward, were all enrolled in college this time around.
Apparently Edward was traveling the world. He checked in with the family every few months.
"That sounds fun," I remember saying in a bored tone. "Is New York fun? It's got to be more entertaining than Forks."
Alice was doing research on herself; she'd been institutionalized as a teenager, back in the days when electro-shock therapy were common. That explained her short hair and lack of memories. There wasn't much on her family; she had a sister, and now a niece. She was researching when she saw me jumping from the cliff.
Carlisle and Esme were hunting when Alice got her vision. Jasper, the philosophy student, didn't approve of her interference. Rosalie and Emmett were in charge of telling their adoptive parents where Alice had traveled off to.
I fell asleep on the couch at some point. I had made a bed for Alice there, knowing it was unnecessary. Alice didn't sleep. My dreams were restless, but nothing I could remember.