CHAPTER THREE
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Thomas travelled with us to South America before splitting off to head north. He'd never been out of Europe despite the lengthiness of his life but Alice seemed to think he'd do well with the rest of her family, mentioning something briefly about Jasper. I couldn't help but worry about his reaction to those friends with red eyes. He'd gone so far as to almost attack us, thinking us the hunters of humans, and the Cullens didn't need more conflict to add to the list.
Otherwise Alice seemed to have it all planned out. Before leaving she'd sent Peter and Charlotte on their way to Forks. Witnesses were needed. Anyone who could prove the Cullens' innocence in the charge the Volturi would hold against them, and even with the number of people that would undoubtedly go to the family's aid, Alice seemed wary. It wouldn't be enough.
"We'll go to the sisters," she said, introducing me to the idea of the next vampires we would meet.
"The sisters? Bit of an ominous name," I said, because it did sound strange- like something from a story.
Alice smiled, shaking her head as she leaned against my shoulder. "I forget you wouldn't have met them. Sometimes it feels like you've been with us the whole time."
She placed a kiss on my cheek then, lips hard against my skin, leaving her open to catch her mouth in mine. It only lasted a few moments before her laugh was tickling my lips, floating breathily toward my ears. Alice pulled away, trickling peppery kisses against my jaw, ticking her chin against my neck when she finally stopped.
"I love you, you know," I said, not able to stop the words from leaving my thoughts.
"I only need to look at you to know that, Elide," Alice said, eyes blinking up at me, as wide like an owl, round like a doe, and her lips caught mine in a kiss yet again.
I love you was not spoken often because it didn't need to be. The feeling was so overwhelming each time my eyes fell to rest upon her face, that it was inevitable that it would bleed into my expressions. As for Alice- it was her patience that told me she felt that same love too. It was only with me that she could be so quiet, so tender, so slow and steady without any hint of aggravation or rush.
But when we did say those words it felt as if the world was crumbling around us, deteriorating in the absence of speech. It felt as fresh and as passionate as a kiss, with which would usually follow, Alice's hands finding my hair, mine on her waist.
When she finally pulled away, her head moved to rest against my lap, eyes closing as the breeze drifted against her short hair, then moving to rustle the trees above. The light was dusty in that little grove; the grass was damp but soft and the tree large enough to shelter from the morning breeze and the heat of the southern sun.
It reminded me of that sacred tree in Forks where the light was always softer and the air quieter. That too was where Alice would lay beside me, though never so close. It was by that tree- our tree- that I learned of the Volturi, of their wants and hates, just as I learned of the people that may help us in the fight against them.
Alice eventually went on, amber eyes opening to stare back at me. "Senna, Zafrina, and Kachiri. They may be reluctant to help, understandably so, but we can talk to them. See what they know."
"Tell me about them," I said. But I didn't need to ask. Alice was already prepared to begin the story.
"We don't know too much. Kachiri is the founder, like Carlisle. They're red-eyes like most others and use the forest to hunt freely. There's big game there. It's why we met them on a hunting trip in the Amazon. We were the first they'd ever seen of yellow eyes. They thought we were something else," Alice said, the memory leaving the briefest of laughs on her lips. "Kachiri and her coven let us hunt on their territory, showing us the best spots, provided we ensured no attention was drawn their way. We left and heard nothing from them again. Carlisle might've visited them once on his own, but that was it. It was the agreement."
We grew into a comforting silence after that, with Alice's head on my lap and my head leaned back against the tree trunk. As the day drew into its brightest hours, the sun bore down upon the earth with added desperation. The harshest of golden rays pierced through the forest canopy, burning into my skin. It was a weird sensation- one I hadn't experienced before.
It was almost like meditation, the way Alice lay with her eyes closed, hands spread smoothly against her knees, fingernails digging into skin at the same moment her brows would droop down, creasing her eyes. It was frustration that rippled through her body, tensing shoulders and arms. But at what that frustration was aimed at, I didn't know.
There were visions of the future behind her fluttering eyelids. Colourful images of things the rest of us could only begin to imagine, to wish for. The unsettled nature with which she sat with was unnerving. A battle was nearing- we didn't need Alice to tell us that- but the outcome of our attempts could only be seen by her.
"What is it? What did you see?" I asked, only to gain no answer. Alice remained with her eyes closed, lips twitching. She only startled when my hand found her shoulder, knee brushing against her elbow as I bent down. "Alice. What is it?"
"I can see them. I can see Kachiri and Senna and Zafrina. It's when I try to look past them, deeper. I can't see anything. I can't see anything," she cried, voice breaking and eyes shooting open to find mine. Her hand gripped my arm. "I can't see anything."
"Wolves," I breathed, the statement sounding more like a question.
Alice shook her head. "Maybe. Or maybe something else."
Something else. Only one other had been able to block Alice's visions in such a way. Renesmee. A hybrid.
The further we walked that evening, the thicker the forest grew. Large leaves were shelter against the dying sun, but even in those weak rays my bare arms were tingling, Alice's face glittering. It was neither the growing darkness or the quietness that settled between us and around us, that made me grow uneasy. It was indescribable, the feeling that made home on my shoulders, griping muscles with tension.
"I don't like this. Something feels wrong."
"It's alright," Alice said, hand finding mine, continuing to guide us further into the thick of it. "I would have seen it."
But I could see the worry on her face. The absence of her visions was seeping out on to her expressions in the form of a sharp, panicked shadow, and yet we continued on, sprinting beneath the thick canopy of leaves. Feet made no sound as they crashed against the floor with wind-like speed.
It was as we reached the clearing, that it happened.
A growl- deep and throaty- erupted from the under bush, and my eyes zoned in on yellow ones. Not amber like ours but a daring orange, bordered by dark, wiry fur. The animal was poised and ready to pounce. Alice ran on with no notice.
"Out of the way!"
But the moment my hands went to lunge to wrap around her waist, I fell onto empty air, the forest standing silent, empty. Feet shuffled to a stop, eyes scanning the dirt floor, the miles of lush bushes. Alice was gone. Panic bubbled in my throat.
"Alice?" There was no reply. "Alice?"
I spun in circles trying to find her but Alice was nowhere to be seen. Only the low growl of the animal reached my ears, it's bright eyes watching from behind branches, expecting me not to notice. My knees bent, ready for it to jump, ready to throw it away when it did so.
"Zafrina stop!" Alice's shriek came from somewhere close- close enough that I should've seen her.
It was her voice that made my head spin around, ignoring the animal that was on the verge of pouncing. A hand found my wrist, tugging me backwards. It was in the same moment that the predator disappeared, almost as if I'd imagined it.
Alice's hand gripped my arm until I steadied. "What was that?"
"I never got to that part. Zafrina's powers- she can project images, make you see things that aren't really there."
The woman, who must've been Zafrina, stepped out into the clearing, slender limbs carrying her as gracefully as a cat. She was beautiful as all vampires were, with dark skin and eyes a piercing burgundy, hair long enough to reach down past the small of her back. Though it wasn't difficult to be against Alice, Zafrina was tall, almost head above me too.
"I thought we'd seen the last of the yellow eyes here," Zafrina said, voice deep and velvety, sounding just as I expected her to. "A Cullen."
Beside her, Zafrina's sister emerged from the trees like an extension of the shadows, her eyes wide and watching. She was shorter than Zafrina, her muscles leaner too, but with skin the same smooth colour and eyes equally red.
"Alice. The future teller," the sister said, voice softer, as if spoken as a whisper and made louder by the breeze.
"Senna," Alice greeted, nodding. "You look well."
"And you look nervous," Zafrina said, a smirk gracing her lips.
"Not by any fault of yours," she said, waiting a moment, no doubt testing her visions again, before she confined. "I hate to ask, but we need your help."
"Carlisle and his clan need our help? What could he possibly want?" Zafrina said, revealing herself to be the spokesperson of the two.
"Elide can explain everything. I need to speak to Kachiri, if she'll have me."
Zafrina watched her for a moment, eyes scanning from her feet to level at her eyes. The other woman towered over Alice, chin tucked to her chest to be able to look upon her. Then her attention shifted to me, assessing, gaging whether to approve. I didn't find out the answer.
"She'll have you," Zafrina said, head tilting to look behind her. Alice hurried out a thank you and took off in the direction she was looking in, already apparently knowing where to head. "Now, stranger. Tell us all you want us to know."
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