10
New Moon
H u m a n i t y
AFTER THE ORDEAL with Laurent and the Quileute wolves, Adele returned to the vacation house. An entire week passed until Bella called Adele and told her that she discovered everything about the wolves after she witnessed Jacob Black shift. She also told her that the pack spoke very highly of her despite their general opinion of vampires. After that conversation, Adele was comfortable with leaving Bella alone in Forks now that she had Jacob and the pack.
When Adele returned to the house in Texas last week, she found another note, this time resting on her neatly made bed. To anyone else, it would've been creepy, but to her she only noticed the mystery person's growing anxiety to meet her.
Seeing as they provided no address, she assumed she'd be getting another note.
Apart from that, she couldn't help but notice she felt a hundred times better. She felt more alive and open than she'd ever been in centuries and somehow, she had a feeling it had nothing to do with being away from Forks or her family. Her mind wandered back to the silver wolf with his strong legs, handsome coat, and mesmerizing brown eyes–
Her phone rang. She picked it up and had to hold the phone faraway from her ear as Alice screeched from the other end. "ADELE? ADELE, ARE YOU THERE?"
Adele tensed, "Yes. What's wrong?"
She didn't make much sense. "I HAD A VISION – BELLA'S IN TROUBLE – SHE JUMPED OFF A FREAKING CLIFF – HEADING TO FORKS – NEED YOU THERE!" the line went dead and Adele let out a string of colorful words. Can I go one fucking week without this drama? But she already started grabbing things when Alice was shrieking and ran out of the house. It would take hours for her to get there. She reached her car and found another note wedged in her door handle. Without sparing it a glance, she shoved it into her bag and climbed into her car, setting out for the long trip.
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Thirteen hours later, after driving at one-hundred miles per hour on deserted freeways and roads, Adele arrived at Bella's house and barely parked her car properly before she ran over the grass to reach the front door. Charlie's police cruiser wasn't there. The door was left ajar and Adele feared the worse. Had Victoria gotten to her? Did she push Bella off of a cliff? "BELLA? BELLA!"
Alice was standing in the middle of the small living room wearing a wine-purple trench coat and clutching the strap of her bag nervously. When the sisters saw each other, they ran at each other and hugged. When they pulled away, Alice sighed, "My god, the two of them have got us running around for them like crazy."
Adele realized Bella wasn't around. "Have you found her?" Alice shook her head and her eyes flashed worriedly. She dove into her mind and saw what Alice foresaw: Bella stood at the edge of a cliff on the Reservation, closing her eyes as a strong gust of wind whipped her hair back. Then, in the midst of the moment, she stepped off of the cliff and there was nothing.
"Alright, you stay here in case she comes here. I'll go searching–" she paused. Alice sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose as the scent of a dog filled her nostrils.
They walked over to the window and saw Jacob Black pulling into the driveway with Bella in the passenger's side seat. As she opened the door to leave, he caught a whiff of their scents and yanked her back in, "Holy crap!" Seeing as he just shifted recently, he wasn't familiar with their scents. "There's a bloodsucker out there."
"How do you know?" Bella questioned. Her hair was wet.
"I can smell the stink." he scowled and set his car into drive, "I'm getting you out of here."
Adele sped out of the house and ran up to Bella's opened window. She shrieked at her sudden appearance and Adele rested her arms on the sill. Good, she deserved it. L
"I am going to pretend I didn't hear that." she said sarcastically to Jacob and then looked at her, "Good, you're alive."
"Adele!" she exclaimed exclaimed.
"My sister had a vision that you jumped to your death." She eyed her wet hair and read her mind – it's a popular sport on the Rez called cliff diving, Bella thought. "Turns out it was just cliff diving. And if you ever do it again, I will kill you myself."
She waved off everything else except: "Is Alice here?! In my house?"
"Of course she is –we were worried." she scowled at Bella as she climbed out of the truck with Jacob watching closely, "But now this is me, pissed off. How dare you! After all of the shit I've done to see that you're protected."
Jacob remained quiet but a smirk formed on his handsome face. He saved Bella from drowning. He did that. Bella shook her head, "I wasn't trying to kill mys–"
"I know what you were trying to do, Isabella." Bella flinched at the use of her full name and knew that she meant business, "You were in a depressed state. You saw mirages of Edward when you were in near-death experiences, so you were desperate to see him again." Bella paled – she forgot how much Adele could access by reading her mind.
"That's why you did it?!" Jacob hissed almost jealously.
"I'm going inside, now." Adele muttered, but Bella ignored Jacob and ran after her. She followed her inside to see Alice was sitting on the sofa. Adele sat down in an arm chair on the opposite side of the room and held her head in her hands and Bella shrieked excitedly when she saw Alice.
"Alice!"
"You're alive!" she sighed in relief and hugged Bella as she shed tears of joy.
"Oh my God, Alice. You're here." she was in a state of disbelief. "You're really hear."
Outside, Adele could hear Jacob's screaming thoughts as he fought an internal battle on whether to come into the house or not.
"I heard voices – I didn't think it was you but– you're alive." said Alice. Her visions became hazy and unclear whenever the Quileute wolves were involved.
"You keep saying that...?"
"I saw you – a vision of you. You jumped off a cliff. I knew I'd be too late but–" her frantic behavior soon morphed into anger and she smacked Bella's arm, " Why the hell would you try to kill yourself?!"
"I didn't." She replied sheepishly. "I was cliff diving."
"Same thing for a human!" Adele spat and Alice nodded in agreement.
"Why?!"
"Um... fun?"
"Liar." Adele spat again. She was beyond simple anger – she had her really worried. Upon her return, she didn't get even a full week of alone time in Texas and she still had something of her own to figure out. She really wanted to find out if it really was her sister leaving the notes – and Bella's alleged attempted-suicide distracted her from that. She remembered the note she shoved into her pocket, but left it alone. Now wasn't the time.
"That was fun for you?!" Alice scowled. She could feel Adele probing through her mind and thought of the most persistent matter now – Edward. Alice also called him and told him about what she saw and he was beyond himself. He's planning to go to Volterra and beg to Volturi to end his life, Alice thought to her.
Bella replied honestly, unaware of the silent conversation going on between them, "Until I hit the water."
To add to the chaos, Jacob entered the house and Alice screwed her face up as the wet-dog scent grew stronger. "Bella? Bella!" he called out and walked into the living room. After soaking in the scene, he glared at Alice and didn't bother to acknowledge Adele.
"Jake? I thought you left–" Bella stood.
"–I had to see if you were okay."
Alice glared at him and squeezed her nose with her fingers to block out the overwhelming scent and to annoy him. "I'm going to go."
"Wait, Alice!" she stopped her. I don't want her to leave again. "Where are you going?"
"I'll be back." Alice didn't take her glare off of Jacob. They never met and still, they hated each other. They were natural sworn enemies – that's why Adele wondered why she kept thinking so fondly of the silver wolf. Then she said snidely (in a very Rosalie fashion) "As soon as you let the dog out." Adele chuckled and stood up to follow her.
"Wait, Adele." said Alice as she reached the front door, "I don't trust this one. Stay and listen in."
Sighing, Adele leaned against the doorframe and listened to Jacob and Bella drag on. She was just about to abandon her post and join Alice outside when the landline rang and Jacob picked it up, "Swan residence." Adele heard her father's solemn voice on the other line.
"Is Sheriff Swan there?"
Jacob's voice ran cold, "He's not here. He's busy planning a funeral..." he slammed the phone back onto the receiver as Bella questioned him.
Adele growled and Alice, who stood at the end of the driveway, turned out, "He was talking to Dad." She re-entered the house and stormed into the kitchen. Carlisle caught wind of the situation.
"Filthy bloodsucker." Jacob spat at the phone and braced himself against the kitchen sink.
Bella furrowed her eyebrows at his suddenly odd behavior, "Wait, who was it?"
Jacob spit it out, "Dr. Carlisle Cullen."
"You should have let me talk to him!"
"He didn't ask for you."
Adele couldn't even get her curses out because from the doorway, Alice gasped: Edward was speeding in his Volvo – airport – Volterra, Italy – noon – sunlight – revelation – darkness.
Bella's lips quivered as her mind thought of the worst. "Alice, what's wrong?"
"...Edward." she choked and looked to Adele. Adele nodded, Tell her.
"What about him? What happened?!"
"I just saw him in a vision. He – He thinks you're dead." She licked her roughed lips, "Bella, he's going to Italy... to the Volturi..." Adele pinched the bridge of his nose – Edward jumped to conclusions way too fast.
Bella paled considerably and swayed on her feet as if she was going to faint. She remembered everything Edward and Adele told her about the Volturi and felt sick. "W-We need to go!" She ran upstairs, shoved some clothes into a bag, and rushed all over the house, meanwhile leaving the shape-shifted and the vampires glared at each other. She scribbled a vague note for Charlie and then ran outside to Alice's car before the vampires finished their glaring contest.
"Alice, we need to go!" she shouted.
Alice ran outside and Adele followed slowly behind. In the hallway Jacob pushed past her and stormed to his truck. Adele stopped and watched from the head of the driveway as Bella climbed into Alice's sunshine yellow car. Alice noticed her freeze and raced over to her. When she blocked Bella's view of Adele, the blonde ran a hand through her hair and recalled the last time she ever heard Aro Volturi's voice: We would not have had to do this if you would have remained loyal to us. The Volturi always get their way. "I can't, Alice. I can't do it – I can't." and at last, she broke down, "I cannot go back there – not where they slaughtered him. I'm s-sorry. I love Edward, I d-do, but I c-can't–"
"–Shh, it's okay. It's okay, Adele." Alice pulled her into a much needed hug. Adele felt normal around her. With Alice, she felt understood. "You don't have to. I understand."
"Adele? What are you doing?" Bella climbed out of the car and walked over to them. In her frenzy, she was oblivious to the tears cascading down Adele's porcelain cheeks and the tremble in her hands. "We have to go!"
"For once, I need to think of myself, Bella." she choked. She loved Edward and she'd fight to the death for him, but returning to the place where her mate was slaughter was a fate worse than death. It was her one true weakness. "I can't go back there..."
"But we need you–"
"–Bella!" Alice chided her, her eyes flashing. How could she be so insensitive? Even she got chills as she recalled Adele's memory. She turned back to her, "Don't worry. I'll keep you updated. Just let the others know."
Adele nodded and walked across the lawn to get into her parked car. As Bella and Alice climbed into the car and pulled onto the road, she ignored Jacob brooding in his car across the street and broke down. She let the tears of frustration fall. She let out a defeated scream and meagerly punched her steering wheel – she hated feeling scared. It was a human emotion, not an emotion of a creature as strong as she was.
It was a few minutes later when she got over most of her anger that she noticed Jacob drove away. As she reached for her phone in the pocket of her jeans to alert the others of the situation, the crumbled note fell out. I never got to read it, she realized and unfolded it.
She wished she never read it because now she faced a difficult choice. Every bone in her body ached for her to go back to Texas and meet this mystery person, her heart screamed for her to go to Volterra and her mind whirred chaotically, trying to decide between them. These notes filled her with a hope – an innocent, realistic hope that sent butterflies into her stomach – and she hadn't felt like that in a long time. Then there was Volterra and the mere thought of returning there made her feel sick, like her head was spinning and her heart was crawling up her throat. The choice was simple in an end-of-the-world, time is running out sort of way. Time was wearing thin and she couldn't stand not doing anything any longer. So she chose and set her car into drive. Whether she'd live to regret her decision, she'd soon find out.