CHAPTER SIXTEEN
sᴄᴇɴᴛ

I waited for Alice in the same place I'd last met her in the woods. I imagined myself waiting for her for hours, expecting her to not show up. But as I sat amongst the last of winter's dead leaves, a deep feeling of surety settled me. There was something about Alice that I found dependable. I knew she would come.

But even still, as she came to a stop from her running straight in front of me, I smiled softly, eyebrows raising.

"Can I say that I'm surprised you came?" I said.

She returned the smile, the edges of her lips twirling upwards. "Why wouldn't I?"

"It's a lot to ask," I said, looking away. "Especially with how I've... acted in the past."

I finally stood to my feet, meeting her halfway. She watched me move, her eyes concealed of any emotion, but holding my gaze.

"I want to say how sorry I am," I said.

But Alice shrugged me off, instead turning to walk. Her movements were effortlessly graceful, her shoes pointed for each stride, like a dancers strong step. She lead us away from the tree and deeper into the forest, weaving beneath the tall layers of trees and raindrops.

"I think we'll get along just fine," she said, tilting her head backward to see me. I stayed a step behind.

"And Edward?"

Her lips twitched, forming that same thinned line I'd seen the other day. Alice ignore the question, instead asking her own.

"What if they smell me on you? Or you on me?" she asked, suddenly worried.

I let myself smile faintly as some form of encouragement. "Camouflage, Alice. I don't have a particularly noticeable scent," I said. She didn't seem comforted. "What's the worst he could do?"

"You'd be surprised," she said.

Alice's pace increased until she was speed walking. Her arms stretched out, her eyes closing as her feet found her way forward, manoeuvring around the trees. Her hands gripped the bark of the trunk beside her, and Alice placed her weight onto it, twirling around until she was facing me again. The frown had been replaced with her usual saintly smile.

She was by my side now as we walked, not a single destination in mind. I liked it, the lack of aim. It felt natural, right. 

"How did you know?" I eventually asked, dragging her gaze back to me from the treetops. "Edward said it was you who found out exactly what I am. How could you know?"

Her eyebrows were high, her head tilted delicately. "I was supposed to see you," she said.

"See me?" Alice nodded.

"I have visions," she said. "Your gift is hiding, as you call it. Mine allows me to see glimpses of the future, or of possibilities."

I was past the point of being surprised. Instead, I was impressed. To have such a power was a great responsibility. One that Alice must have wholly deserved.

"But you didn't see me?" This question made her smirk. I rose a brow.

"No, I did. But not until two days ago," she answered, the pitch of her voice raising. "But I was supposed to see you as you passed through Forks. Or stayed. I'm sensitive to non-humans. I can see when another group of our kind is coming near and any threat they pose."

Alice suddenly stopped, falling a step behind. I turned to find her gazing up at me, her eyes full of intrigue. I felt small under her look, even if it was full of good intent.

"But I didn't see you," she said, as if it was the strangest thing in the world

I began walking again. "I'm not a threat."

"I know," she sang, grinning with her teeth. She placed emphasis on the I, and I knew it was because Edward believed I was. To Bella, at least. "But I still should have seen you."

"So what did you see?" I asked.

Alice shrugged. "Not much. It was when I first met you here."

My eyes widened, thinking back to that day. "You went as stiff as a rock."

Alice let out a gentle laugh. "Yes, then. It was quite funny. I just saw you hunting, nothing interesting. But that gave it away," she paused, "It's strange. Now that I know you're one of us, it's the most obvious thing in the world."

"How so?"

"You're eyes. They're brown, with little golden flecks. But not human brown. It's like there's something hidden, wanting to be pushed out," she said. "I think k saw it once before. When I was walking past you in the parking lot of the school."

I looked away, unable to handle the heat of her seeing. Her words were too in depth- too observant for me to respond.

"And the thought thing?" I instead asked.

She held back from rolling her eyes. It was obvious, as she but her lip. "Oh that's Edward. It's annoying, but you get used to it. Sometimes it's more of a pain for him than others," she explained. "It's why I had to tell him. He saw the vision as soon as I thought of it."

I sent her a tiny smile. "That gives me a little bit of faith."

At least I knew that Alice truly had meant it when she'd said she wouldn't have told Edward. It gave me the faith in her that I needed to trust her wholly. I knew if I was to trust any one of the Cullens, it would be Alice, with her soft voice and gentle laugh. It was almost easy, to tell her everything.

"So how don't you know much about us?"

"I've been on my own a while. I've never grown the courage to ask," I said with a shrug.

"You know, I always thought you were quite bold," Alice said, and I even I had to laugh. She shook her head. "I'm not joking."

I shrugged. "I suppose confidence comes out in fake ways sometimes."

Alice waited for a minute, filling the silence with her purposefully heavy footsteps, crunching over fallen branches. I stepped in front of her, taking the lead and twisting around a cluster of trees. My hands scraped against the bark, feeling the roughness against my smooth skin.

"There's so much to know," Alice said, upon realising I would say no more.

I could only imagine how much there was to know. Vampires were complex creatures- much more secretive and convoluted than even humans were. But how small did we seem, even at that moment, weaving through the trees that were so much more ancient and much larger than we would ever be. I was content with just being; of living in my retched form without knowing of anything that would only make me hate my kind more.

But I tucked my chin over my shoulder, looking at Alice before fluttered eyes, and said, "I feel like you'd be a good storyteller."

She paused for a minute, before suddenly chuckling. "Oh, I'm not. It gets mixed up in my head too fast sometimes that I forget to say it," she said. "But Carlisle, he knows everything. He's the oldest, he's been everywhere and done everything."

"You admire him."

Alice nodded. "More than anyone. He's been with the Volturi and walked away on friendly terms. He's a doctor. I think that's enough said."

"What's the Volturi?"

I heard the falling of Alice's steps stop behind me. "You're joking!" she exclaimed.

I stared at her. "No?"

Her humorous laugh filled the bitter air with a warmness that would have reached my cheeks. Alice began to walk again, taking up my side.

"Wow, you really don't know anything."

I scowled, twisting my head from her view. But her fingers brushed against my arm, making me flinch.

"Stop acting offended, I know you're not," she said, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Oh, did you see that too?" I teased. Alice frowned. "Sorry."

"It's fine."

We walked in silence again back toward the tree. I could tell that she was bursting with things she's wanted to say. Every few seconds she would glance over, words at the top of her tongue as her lips parted, only to be closed once again. When we reached our starting place, I sat myself in my usual spot, tucked beneath the shaded branches and amongst the last remnants of leaves. I waited for Alice to follow, but she stayed.

She sighed, head turning yet again to gaze up at the clouds that had begun to part beyond the treetops, striding steadily across the stone coloured sky. I let my eyes follow her, eyes casted upward. Sunlight began to seep through, dripping across the upmost branches. It was a frosty yellow, dripping down and down until it stretched across the forest floor toward Alice.

She was beautiful, her skin shining like the glinting light across crystal waters. I wanted to reach out and touch her, to feel what she felt like beneath that glimmering shadow. But Alice just smiled, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Because it was- to her. Gentle footsteps lead her back toward the shade of the tree, it's reaching branches covering the meagre light that drifted through dusty clouds.

And as I'd wanted to moments before, my hands reached out, gripping her wrist between my fingers. Alice's head snapped toward me, eyes suddenly blazing beneath the amber rings. But I tugged her back, wordlessly, leading her back toward the sunlight, a shadow staying as the line between us. Her head tilted questioningly.

"Let me see you," I whispered, the partnered breath slipping from my crackled lips and brushing against her cheek. My question make her frown more, eyebrows creasing her soft face. "I've never seen it up close."

I'd once seen vampires in the dark, under the pitch blackness of a midnight sky. I'd seen them in the vast snowscapes of Alaska, hidden under thick clouds that rolled into the horizon. Each time I'd seen a vampire, their skin had been perfectly smooth, marble-like and pale. Never sparkling, but instead a malevolent blankness.

"What?" Alice asked, while studying my face.

"I've never seen-"

But I couldn't repeat myself. Alice's hands were on my arms in seconds, pulling me up as she jumped backwards, only to jump again up toward a low branch in the tree. We were in the light again, bathing in the glow of the sun that would only be dominant on few days of the year. Alice's mouth was open, her eyes trailing from my head to toe.

She was shimmering, scattering the light like perfect diamonds. While I was... normal. Alice stared up at me, unmoving, desperately still, and like a statue. A vision.

☾

An/ please guys, if you don't like it, don't read, there's no need to leave mean comments about my writing. I wrote this years ago when I was really young and still tackling exams at school, of course it's not going to be as good as a fully thought out publishable novel, I wrote this as an escape from school and didn't expect anyone to ever read it as much as it has been now