Chapter Sixteen
Confusion
Alice
Edward

~A~

I'm not sure how long the pain lasted but it seemed to go on forever.

First, there was fire. It burned and crackled along my spine and I desperately wanted to rip the flesh from my body so I could extinguish it. I cried out in agony but I don't know if anyone ever heard. I thought it had briefly stopped for a moment, until it sparked up again and spread into a full wildfire throughout my body.

Next came the headache. It was dull at first, barely recognizable beneath the flames, but it soon took more precedence than the fire. It was sharp and seemed to tear away at my brain. I wasn't sure what it was ripping at, I only knew that it was absolute torture.

Finally, I became warm. It wasn't the same type of warmth I was receiving from the burning hellish fires raging beneath my skin. This warmth came from my nerves going haywire, it was like my entire body was stimulated and acting against me.

All at once, the fire died, my headache ceased, my body relaxed, and my eyes shot open.

I was laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, when I awoke. I was aware of my own breathing and my own heartbeat before I sensed someone sitting beside me in the bed.

I turned my head and found Edward staring back at me, a look of wonder and love in his kind golden eyes.

"Good morning Ali." He smirked at me and I threw myself into his arms.

"Oh Edward! It was awful! I had such a bad nightmare!" I cried.

"It's alright love." He soothed me, running one of his hands through my long black curls.

"I dreamt that you left me. And I found out I was p-pregnant, and had to go to Thomas's grandmother, and she found a vampire that knew what to do, and I guess I had the baby? I did! And after that I had a vision of James killing me." I rushed and rattled out my speech. "Laurent changed me instead. The fire was so real, and the headache, and the warmth." I sighed.

"Alice." Edward sighed deeply, sounding like he was losing everything precious to him. "It wasn't a nightmare, all of that happened." He told me gently and I froze in his embrace.

Suddenly, I realized I had been a fool for thinking it was a nightmare. It was all too real, too vivid, and far too painful. I didn't understand how I could go from being a girl with a husband who hates me and being changed into a vampire to having Edward with me and being human.

"I'm supposed to be dead." I told him grimly. "If I'm not a vampire, then I must be dead and you must be some twisted imagination because you can't be here and I can't be alive."

Edward responded immediately. He launched into a full explanation all about how I had awoken alone as a vampire, found the Cullen's a year later with no memory of my human life, lived a full decade as a vampire, recently re-married Edward, the Cullen's discovered our son, and I had been stabbed by a strange plant on my honeymoon and for some strange reason had been changed back into a human by it.

We sat in silence when he was finished.

"Help me!" I screamed and ran from the room in a panic, fake Edward following me closely. "Help me! Where am I?" I screamed as I rushed downstairs, trying to to get away from this crazy illusion of Edward.

"Alice, calm down." Carmen was suddenly in front of me, smoothing my wild curls out.

"Oh Carmen." I cried and wrapped my arms around her tightly. "I had one of those awful nightmares again."

"You're safe Alice." Carmen reassured me and I smiled at her as I untwined myself from her arms.

I screamed however when I recognized all of the Cullen's standing behind her in the living room.

"Alice, it's alright, you're not crazy, we're really here!" Jasper soothed me and I instantly calmed down.

Jasper wouldn't lie to me, would he? He's always been too honest with me, sometimes brutally so, so I don't think he's lying now.

"Okay." I nodded and then passed out from shock that the Cullen's were actually here.

*****************************************

~E~

After Carlisle had successfully managed to get Alice stabilized, we both sat in a sort of stunned silence for awhile. Neither of us knew what to think or what to expect by this strange turn of events.

Over the next few days, myself and my family members all took turns cycling through and sitting with Alice. We all noticed the changes.

Her hair started to grow very quickly and she soon had her long black curls again. They were actually a little longer than the last time I had seen her as a human. Her skin took on some color and she regained her old skin tone very quickly after blood suddenly started recirculating in her veins.

She was becoming human again.

Everyone was shocked by what was happening to Alice, and very worried.

It was obvious Alice was in a lot of pain. The way she looked as she was seizing in my arms will never leave my mind. Even now as she was resting it was clear she was still in pain. She thrashed sporadically and cried out every so often. A few times she suddenly jolted and screamed in agony, prompting me to rush to her side immediately.

On the fifth day of Alice's torment, she suddenly relaxed as I was watching her and her eyes shot open. I couldn't help but smile to myself as her wide emerald green eyes stared up at the ceiling, I've missed her eyes. She turned her head suddenly and I smiled at her.

"Good morning Ali." I smirked and she suddenly threw herself into my embrace.

"Oh Edward! It was awful! I had such a bad nightmare!" She cried, latching onto me even tighter in her relief.

"It's alright love." I cooed, taking my chance to run one of my hands through her long black curls reverently.

"I dreamt that you left me. And I found out I was p-pregnant, and had to go to Thomas's grandmother, and she found a vampire that knew what to do, and I guess I had the baby? I did! And after that I had a vision of James killing me." She rushed through her dreams at a head spinning rate. "Laurent changed me instead. The fire was so real, and the headache, and the warmth."

"Alice." I sighed deeply, feeling like I was going to be losing everything precious to me very soon when she realizes it was real. "It wasn't a nightmare, all of that happened." I told her gently and she froze in my arms.

"I'm supposed to be dead." She spoke in complete monotone which frightened me briefly. "If I'm not a vampire, then I must be dead and you must be some twisted imagination because you can't be here and I can't be alive." She spoke firmly.

I told her everything. I told her of her change and how she had awoken alone as a vampire with no recollection of her human memories, I relayed how she had found us a year later and has lived a full decade as my best friend and the family's dearest token, I told her how we had recently re-married and the Denali's had told us of our son at our wedding, and I told her about our honeymoon and how she had gotten stabbed by a strange plant that had somehow sparked her changing back into a human.

We sat in silence when I was finished.

"Help me!" She screamed and ran from the room in a panic and I raced after her in hopes that she wouldn't hurt herself. "Help me! Where am I?" She screamed as she rushed downstairs, trying to to get away from me at any cost.

"Alice, calm down." Carmen was suddenly in front of her, running her hands through Alice's curls methodically.

"Oh Carmen." Alice cried in relief and wrapped her arms around Carmen tightly. "I had one of those awful nightmares again." She sighed and a new wave of regret washed over me.

"You're safe Alice." Carmen reassured her and Alice smiled at her as she stepped away from her embrace.

Alice let out a terrifying scream when she saw the rest of the family standing behind Carmen in the living room however.

"Alice, it's alright, you're not crazy, we're really here!" Jasper tried to convince her and she surprisingly relaxed.

"Okay." She nodded.

I was just about to ask her a question when her knees buckled and she passed out. I caught her quickly before she could fall and laid her out on a nearby couch before facing my stunned family.

"She's crazy." Rosalie sighed sadly.

Everyone expected me to rebuke Rosalie and defend Alice's sanity, but even I found myself questioning what had happened to her in her last few months as a human to drive her to such extremes. She thought I had been a vision, she thought that we were all a vision come to wreak havoc on her mental state, and that's a terrifying thought.

"I have a feeling that we know two very different Alice's." Carmen sighed, sounding  deeply disturbed. "When all of you left, she kinda spiraled out of control. She started hearing things that weren't there, visions seemed more real to her, and she and I had many arguments about people and voices that weren't real. I think she only held onto her sanity enough to protect Anthony. After he was born and she had that vision, I could tell that she was hurting, but for some reason I just convinced myself that she was going to be okay."

"You didn't want to see her hurt so you shut out her differences. It's alright, people do that all the time, I think she's used to it, she expects it even." I nodded. "She doesn't like people to worry so by you seeing her as capable you probably made her very happy."

"Alice is strong, she's a fighter, she'll get through this, no problem." Emmett tried reassuring everyone but I knew he was mostly saying it for himself. He's afraid he's going to lose his little sister.

"Has there been any word from Anthony?" Carlisle asked suddenly.

"No, I tried talking to him last night, but he's still upset with Carmen and I for not telling him about Edward and Alice." Eleazar sighed.

"He probably shouldn't see Alice like this." Carmen worried.

"He already saw her sick and having a seizure, I don't think it can get much worse." Jasper shook his head as he entered the room with Bella in tow.

"Oh my god." Bella stood in shock as she looked down at Alice. "Is she okay?"

"Physically yes, mentally not so much." I sighed and got up from my seat on the edge of the couch and motioned for Bella to sit. "Bella can I ask you for a favor?"

"Of course." She nodded.

"When Alice comes to, she's bound to still be pretty disoriented, and I don't think she remembers the past decade. It seemed like she only remembered her human years. She's going to need a friend, can you be here for her and help her?" I asked desperately.

"I'd be happy to." She nodded and I smiled at her in my relief and thanks.