Chapter 26-Renesmee's POV

                                      Renesmee’s POV

 

 

It was already one fifteen in the morning, and I lay up in bed still, skimming through the pages of one of Mama’s old books.

A wave of uneasiness hit me again as I re-read the story for the twelfth time tonight, which hardly wasted another twenty minutes. Jake was right beside me, his strong arm binding me tightly to his chest.

“You done with that book yet?”, he asked tiredly.

I shook my head, and continued to read, this time around looking for symbolic metaphors and literary devices. Anything that would keep me awake.

“C’mon Nessie, finish tomorrow”, he urged, his warm lips on my hair.

It felt nice. I almost gave in then, almost surrendered to my selfish desires, all of which were ten times as concentrated tonight.

“You’re distracting me”, I muttered softly.

This seemed to please him. He smiled, slowly moving his hand down my cheek, and turning my face towards him.

One part of my mind was telling me to pull away, that this was wrong. The other, the now more dominant part urged me to pleasure him back. I began to move my face towards his, when suddenly I heard a high pitched, earsplitting scream, and the sound of broken glass.

Immediately I jumped out of bed, not looking back at Jacob. Following the noise to the end of the hallway, I froze. This was Aunt Alice’s room. Mama was right by my side, pounding on the door so vigorously, the wooden frame shook and threatened to snap in half.

Jasper answered the door, his face horrified.

“What’s wrong?!”, Mama yelled.

“I don’t know”, he replied frantically.

Daddy, Esme and Grandpa Carlisle arrived, slipping in the door just before Jasper closed it. We all stared at my Aunt Alice, crumpled up in the corner of the room. Surrounding her were the remaining pieces of a beige porcelain lamp.

 

Her pixie-like face was completely agonized, eyes rolled up to the ceiling, seeing nothing. Her mouth was parted slightly, as if she were still screaming. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I could hear the pounding heartbeat behind the door, but it wasn’t Jacob. A thin man who looked in his mid-thirties with carefully gelled blonde hair and a slight perspiration problem stood outside the door.

His pin informed us he was the hotel’s manager.

“Some guests told me they heard a crash and a scream coming from this room. Is everything okay?”, he asked between breaths.

“Everything’s fine. One of us accidentally broke the lamp, and it startled them”, Carlisle lied smoothly.

The man stuck his head through the door, trying to gaze around the room to confirm my Grandfather’s word.

Uncle Jasper bolted over to Alice, trying to wake her from her trance, but she didn’t budge.

Daddy took a step in front of the manager, his face ice cold and frightening.

The manager took a step back, afraid.

Grandpa took some money out of his wallet and handed it to the man.

“For the lamp”, he said quietly.

He quickly took the money in a shaky hand, and nodded.

“Thank you. That will be all”, he squeaked, dashing out the door.

Daddy’s eyes were locked on the now closed door, staring frozenly into space.

Mama put her arm around Daddy’s waist, trying to calm him down. He was obviously sharing the vision with my aunt.

I took his stiff icy hand in mine.

“What’s wrong, Daddy?’, I asked.

As soon as I’d spoken, his head snapped up, and he turned to look at me, about to speak.

Jacob suddenly burst through the door in just his underwear, and lifted me into his arms.

“What’s wrong?’, he asked, panting.

Aunt Alice finally returned to present, looking at me and Jake with a startled expression. Her breaths became short gasps as she sobbed without tears.

Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rose were the last to arrive, dressed to kill in boxers and lingerie, obviously not items vampires were obligated to wear.

If not for the situation, I knew Jake and Aunt Rosalie would be at each other’s throats in sarcastic comments, while we all cracked up by the side. But that wasn’t the case.

“What’s going on?”, Emmett asked.

But neither my father nor my aunt uttered a word.

“Can somebody please explain to me why you two are staring at me and Nessie that way?!”, Jacob yelled, his voice getting higher with anxiety.

“I had it all wrong”, Alice whispered.

I turned to her, suddenly very fearful.

“Who’s behind this?’, my father asked angrily, answering her thoughts.

She shook her head.

“I don’t think we know them. But it seems they already know us”, she replied. Her bell-like voice sounded two octaves higher, stressed.

“How exactly did the lamp break?’, I asked, unaware like the rest of us of what they were discussing.

“Alice and I were talking, and suddenly she had a vision and kicked the lamp off the table”, Jasper explained.

“Someone has been manipulating Alice’s visions”, Daddy told us.

“And you don’t know who it is?”, my grandmother Esme asked.

Aunt Alice shook her head, her eyes a dark gold, almost brown.

“The vision she saw of Renee wasn’t real. Just a plot to keep us from Forks”, Daddy said blankly.

“What?”, Mama asked suddenly, confused.

“So if they planned the vision, they must have known Renee was Bella’s mother”, Carlisle concluded.

Daddy nodded.

“Yes. But none of the vampires we know posses that ability.”

“Of course not. It makes absolutely no sense. The ability to control a vision of the future?”, Alice wondered.

I hugged Jacob a little tighter. His warmth soothed my worries, made everything a bit less drastic. I was no longer worried about our progressed relationship. I needed my Jacob to help me get through whatever was about to come.

“The vampire in Alice’s vision was headed for Forks.”

They turned to stare at me and Jake again. Jacob’s arms were trembling. I rubbed them soothingly. That calmed him down a little.

“If that leech as much as talks to Nessie, I’ll rip his head off!”, Jake spat.

“We’re going to have to postpone the wedding”, Daddy said.

“It’s very late. Renesmee, why don’t you and Jacob go get some sleep? We can discuss this in the morning”, Mama suggested.

“I’d better tell Sam”, Jake muttered angrily, eager to carry me back to our room.

Surprisingly, the uncomfortable feeling from before was gone. I was just as eager to get some sleep as Jacob was. It would help to escape this nightmare for a while. I grieved for the rest of my family, who were forced to stay awake and contemplate over our next move.