Dear Diary:
May 1, 2013
After our date in the woods, Esme and I were on cloud nine. We were like in the honeymoon stage all over again. Everyone thought it was cute except Emmett who would make all sorts of disgusted noises. I swear he's more immature then Jacob and Seth sometimes! Today we were all in the living room. Michelle couldn't come over for some reason and Nessie was just hanging out with the family and the pack. She felt sad because Michelle would always come over when they had free time but today she had told Nessie that something came up with some relatives and she had to go away for the day. Happens.
So the afternoon started off quite uneventful. I was sitting in my favorite chair and was reading the Wall Street Journal while Esme was reading her new crocheting book that Alice had gotten her in Japan. Jasper was teaching Seth how to play chess while Emmett and Jacob watched a football game. Leah, Nessie, and Bella were lying in the middle of the room on the rug putting together some sort of 3D jigsaw puzzle. None of us could make heads or tails of what it was supposed to be yet. Meanwhile, Alice and Rose were sitting cross legged on the floor by the couch playing with Alice's HP Intel iPad, taking turns drawing out new patterns for fabric. Edward was the only one not attached to another person; he was sitting on the couch doing a cross word puzzle. It was the picture of family contentment.
Esme made a little noise and I looked over to her. She jumped up and ran upstairs. She came back down with her crocheting needles and started to work on the pattern she had just been reading and studying. I smiled. I knew whatever she was doing was going to come out beautiful. She felt my gaze and looked over. Then she smiled and lifted up her things so I could see. I nodded. She went back to her work. Just then Alice hopped up, Rose had the tablet thing in her hands, and Alice ran to get the watering can. I smiled. Esme had asked Alice to water the plants that we have around the entire house the day before.
We didn't have any plants or a small amount of them in Forks but once we came here Esme and Alice had developed a green thumb and decided to fill practically every room in the house with at least one plant. We had ferns, hydrangeas, and lord knows what other kind of plants, I don't even know 98% of the plants' names. I know a lot of things but plants are definitely not my thing. And I'm not the only one. The boys refuse to go near them. Jacob is convinced that one of those plants came from the old movie Little Shop of Horrors and that it would eat him if he got near it. I believe that was a Venus Flytrap.
I can't disagree, the thing is huge and it sits in the hallway on the 2nd floor opposite the window so it could get some light. I swear it grows every day. Jacob literally runs past it in order to get from one wing of the house to the other. I have never seen him walk past that corner ever since Esme put the plant there. We all of course tease him about it and Seth has even tried to push him into the plant. When there's shrieking coming from the second floor, chances are Jacob is somehow involuntarily near that plant.
Before Alice ran off to water the plants she walked over to Jacob, poked him in the shoulder, shoved the watering can toward him, and pointed upwards. Jacob's reaction was classic. He jumped in his chair and started saying no to her in about 4 different languages. He kept moving away from the watering can as if the thing had the worst case of cooties. Everyone was chuckling slightly. Finally with a sigh, Alice ran off to do her watering job. We all got back to our occupations. None of us noticed when Alice came back into the room. But she got everyone's attention when out of nowhere she gasped, dropped the watering can, grabbed her head with both hands, and started shaking it back and forth.
"NO! NO! NO! NO!"
"Alice, what is it? What's happening?" Jasper was at her side in an instant and was trying to get her to look at him. By this time the rest of us were crowded around her looking concerned. Was she in pain?
"Alice, honey, please talk to us." Esme said soothingly.
"Oh my God....no.....but how.......why?" Edward gasped as he finally saw what was going on in her head.
"Edward?" I looked at him sternly.
Edward looked at me, then at Bella, and then met Alice's agonized gaze.
"The Volturi. They're coming......again." He said.
"WHAT???? Why???" Bella yelled. Nessie looked frightened.
"We didn't do anything!" Rose insisted.
"Edward, explain please." I said.
"The Volturi are coming. They are definitely coming to acquire and destroy. Aro is very happy.......he's finally found a way to get to us.....to get us exposed and unprepared."
"Well then we need to call our friends again and stand like we stood last time!" Rose reasoned. Everyone mumbled their agreement.
But Alice was shaking her head miserably. "They won't get here in time." She whispered. If she could cry, she would. I've never seen Alice this upset.
"What do you mean? When are the Volturi supposed to get here?" Esme asked.
"Tomorrow."
The silence was deafening as we all took in that word. For a long time everyone stood frozen in shock not speaking.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. How come Alice didn't know about this ahead of time? Isn't her gift to be able to see a decision once it's made?" Jacob asked.
He had a good point. We all looked at Alice then at Edward. It was Alice who spoke. Her voice was incredibly shaky.
"Because they have acquired two new members. One of them is the vampire Nessie saw in town here a few weeks ago. You were right Carlisle, his gift is to mask his scent; he did it so he could spy on us and not get caught. The other one's gift is a lot like Bella's; he can hide the thoughts of those around him."
"So he used his gift to hide Aro's decision. Which was to come here and get us. And therefore, Alice couldn't see what was to happen until the very last possible moment." Bella as usual put two and two together.
"What the hell are we going to do?" Emmett asked.
"Well we can't run because they'll come and find us no matter what. And they're just too close for us to escape anywhere." Edward said.
"No. No. We aren't going to run. We are going to face them." I said.
"Carlisle. We can't possibly win....especially now that they have two new members. We're outnumbered." Jasper said cautiously.
"Yes I realize that. But if we run, then we're cowards. I will do everything in my power to take out Aro before he takes me out. How many are coming."
"Aro, Marcus, and Caius. Jane, Alec, Felix, and Demetri plus three members of their personal guard. And the two new ones; I believe their names are Jason and Josh. I think they're also twins." Said Edward.
"Well then we will face them. I will not let my family be wiped out because of Aro's own personal agenda!" I exclaimed angrily.
"Why do these jackasses want to screw with us now anyways?" Leah spit out through clenched teeth. She and Emmett then bumped fists.....when it came to the Volturi, the two of them never minced words.
"Aro is convinced that we have been getting too much exposure because of the whole school shooting thing. Because our town is so high profile and that even Carlisle has given interviews regarding his patients that put him on international television. Aro thinks we've been exposing ourselves too much." Edward explained.
"Isn't he reaching a bit there?" Rose asked. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"All he needs is a little bit of something to find fault with......especially when there's something he wants." Edward said.
"This is such bullshit!" Emmett said. I couldn't disagree with him. No one could.
"Where and when will all of this go down?" I asked.
"Tomorrow at around 4pm in that field 7 miles north of our house." Alice whispered. We could tell she was totally and emotionally spent.
"All right then. We'll be ready. Jacob, you will have to escape with Nessie as soon as the fight starts. You have all the necessary papers." I said.
"No! Wait a minute! You'll be even more outnumbered without me! I can help!" Jacob protested.
Bella shook her head; "We can't afford Nessie to get hurt. We have to try and save her even if we won't survive."
"Mommy no! I don't want to leave you! Maybe I can help somehow. I'm not a child anymore! I can fight too!" Nessie whimpered. Bella put an arm around her and hugged her close.
"No Nessie, you are half human that means you'll be the first to get hurt or worse. I wouldn't be able to concentrate on fighting if I have to worry about you. None of us will." The adults nodded.
With that we all broke into smaller groups and spoke in hushed tones. Nessie was still trying to persuade Bella and Edward to stay with them. When they firmly said no, she started to cry. As it was getting late, they said goodnight to us and along with the pack, walked back to their cottage to get some sleep. I doubted anyone would get any sleep tonight. So I guess my instinct was right after all when I was sensing something brewing on the horizon. I couldn't believe that in less than 48 hours there was a huge possibility my family and I would cease to exist. Why was this happening? Why couldn't Aro just leave us alone? He really must want our gifted members badly if he was going to all this trouble. For once I shared the pack's sentiment; what a jackass! And I don't even use bad words often. So that in itself says something.
Esme and I spent the night just lying there staring at each other. Trying to memorize every inch of each other's faces and bodies. I started really praying and hoping that I was right all of these centuries; that we indeed had souls and that ours would go to heaven. That way my family and I could reunite in the afterlife and no one will ever hurt us again. Before going to bed, I called Kate and Tanya. They were shocked and horrified. They said that they, along with Garrett, Carmen, and Eleazar would take off running as soon as possible so that they could try and get here in time. I thanked them and prayed that that would indeed happen. I know that Seth had called La Push and pretty much conveyed the same. We had a very small amount of hope but some hope nonetheless. And at this point, I'd take anything I could get.
The next day, we didn't really talk much with each other. We knew what we had to do. At 3:45pm we took off from our house to the field where we knew all hell was about to break loose. The pack was in their wolf form and Nessie was sitting atop of Jacob as we ran. We were all mad as hell and ready to kick some serious butt. We didn't care what we had to do, but we were not going to go down without a fight. Finally, we reached the clearing. It was a gloomy day and the air smelled of fresh rain. We took our positions where Alice had instructed us. She pointed out from which direction they would appear from. I was still silently praying that our Denali cousins would get there in time before any serious damage was done our side.
Bella had her shield up and ready. Emmett flexed his muscles and scowled. The wolves mirrored his expression. Rose looked like a chip of ice while Jasper absolutely looked demonic. Edward stood in front of Nessie while Esme was standing behind me. I was concentrating on where they were coming from. Alice had been reassured that it wasn't her fault and that she was tricked like the rest of us. So now she was determined to catch everything else the Volturi hid from us. We were ready. We were there to defend and win......somehow.
Now all we needed was a miracle as dark figures started to appear out of the gloom.
~Carlisle Cullen