The Unwanted Imprint

Chapter 24

On the way to the shop, Nichole told them what had happened in Cairo. Alice, who was in the front seat with Rosalie, shared a worried look with the blonde.

"I had a vision about Cairo," Alice said. "I didn't see everything that happened, I just saw that man..."

"Abasi?"

"Yes."

"Well, I couldn't see much, the only thing that I saw was the moment that he attacked you, I never saw anything about Tia. I told Carlilse about it and he went straight to Cairo."

"Well, he didn't exactly make it in time."

"That's one of the things that confuses me, I've never heard of any hunter that has supernatural abilities. We've been hunted before, and we've never came across any human that had any powers."

"Maybe she was just good at disguising them?" Rosalie suggested. "If she had been in the hunting business for a while, then she would know how to be inconspicuous."

Nichole shook her head. "I'm just having a hard time believing it, it's all so fantastical, you know? But then, so is what happened to me. When he bit me, I thought for sure that I was going to be a goner, but here I am. I just wish that I could have saved Tia..."

Alice sighed softly. "Nichole, you couldn't control Tia's actions, she wanted to try and save you. She would have tried to save you even if you had given yourself to Abasi willingly. She loved you, and love will make you do whatever it takes to protect the one that you love. I know because that's how I feel about Jasper, and it's how Rosalie feels about Emmett. Love is a very powerful thing and it will make you do things that you wouldn't otherwise do."

Nichole glanced out the window. "I had a dream about her." She said in a quiet voice. "I had fallen asleep on the plane back. I saw her, it was terrible...her head was severed from the rest of her body, and she was still alive...she was telling me that I could have prevented it all."

Nichole was silent for the rest of the ride, and Rosalie spoke to Alice in a quiet voice so that Nichole couldn't overhear them. "It's going to take a long time for her to come back from this. Tia wasn't just a friend of hers, she was someone that Nichole loved, it would be almost as bad as if she had lost one of us."

"We aren't the ones that can handle this," Alice added. "I think that we should talk to Jasper about this, he would know what to do, considering his powers involving emotions. But for right now, I think that we should try to take Nichole's mind off if it, even if it's only for a few hours, she's going to drive herself mad otherwise."

And for the next few hours, that was exactly what happened. Nichole's mind was taken off of everything for a while, although that was probably because Alice made her try on dress after dress.

"I don't see what's so important about this," Nichole said with a sigh. "I've already tried on like, a dozen dresses, what's the point? Can't we just pick a dress and leave?"

"This is an important milestone for you!" Alice objected, and Nichole glared at Rosalie, who was trying not to grin.

"She's right," Rosalie said, trying to keep a straight face. "Prom is an important part of being a teenager...or so I've heard anyway. We need to make sure that we find you a dress that will make people's jaws drop."

"It's just a dance-" Nichole started to say, but she was cut off as Alice let out a squeal. "This one! It's perfect! Quick, go and try it on!"

The dress was a dark green in color and strapless, which Nichole wasn't a big fan of, since she didn't have the biggest....er, chest, but if it got Alice to stop shopping then she would try it on.

When Nichole stepped out of the changing room in the dress, both of her sisters let out a gasp.

"Oh, Nichole..." Rosalie murmured, and Nichole frowned as she looked down at the dress. "What's wrong? Does it look that bad on me?"

"It's the exact opposite!" Alice exclaimed. "Nichole, you're going to be the belle of the ball, that dress looks gorgeous on you!"

Nichole turned so that she could look at herself in the mirror, and she saw that Alice was right. The dress seemed to hug her form perfectly, and the no straps situation actually didn't seem to be that much of a problem for her."

"Alright, change back and Alice and I will find accessories and shoes to go with it," Rosalie instructed her. "I know that you're ready to get out of here, and you're probably starving, so when you're done, head on out to the car, and Alice and I will take care of everything else."

Nichole quickly changed and she walked outside. The sky was cloudy and it looked like it might rain at any moment, so she zipped up her jacket. On her way to the car, she bumped into someone and she was about to apologize when she saw who it was: Jacob Black.

"Watch where you're going, bloodsucker..." Jacob started to say, but then he just stood there, a hazy look coming over his eyes.

"Uh...you okay?" Nichole asked awkwardly.

Jacob let out a soft gasp, not answering Nichole before he ran off.

"What was that about?" Alice asked as she and Rosalie came up with the things they had bought from the shop.

"No idea," Nichole said. "I bumped into him and he told me to watch where I was going, and then he called me a bloodsucker. All of a sudden, he just froze and his eyes went all hazy."

"Oh no..." Rosalie muttered. "This is definitely going to be causing trouble for us."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm fairly certain that Jacob Black just imprinted on you."