The Cullen Project *Editing*

Chapter 5

Authors Note: Again, ZoeMcCulloch this chapter is dedicated to you. Here's some more Cullens!

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Alice sat on the window seat in her and Jasper's room. She had her knees curled into her chest with her arms wrapped around them, and her forehead rested against the cool glass window. All of the lights were turned off except for the radiance of the moon glowing in the room. She appeared to be deep in thought; her golden eyes never dropped the gaze they held with the stars. It was a beautiful sight.

There was a knock on the door, but she didn't budge. She already knew who was at the door. Jasper let himself in, his footsteps barely audible. With his gift, he didn't need to ask her what was wrong. He could already feel that she was full of worry.

"What's worrying you?" He asked instead. Alice continued to stare out into the night. It took her a while to answer, but Jasper was patient. She sighed.

"If this girl is really who we think she is, that means that she's half human, half vampire."

"Yes," Jasper said patiently. He waited for her to continue.

"Jasper," she said, turning her head to look at him. Her golden eyes stood out from the midnight blue that surrounded her. "If she has any part vampire in her, no matter how large or small that part is she's still going to have vampire like qualities."

"Most likely, yes," Jasper said, holding her gaze, though he still didn't quite understand.

"Don't you get it?" Alice asked, exasperated. "She has the beauty, as we can tell already, but what if she has the strength, or the speed? What if she has a gift already? What if her eyes change color? What if she suddenly develops a taste for blood? She has no idea what she is, and if any of these things started happening, don't you think she'd be just a little confused? Just a little scared?"

"I understand now," Jasper said softly, looking down. He sent a few calming waves toward Alice before looking sincerely into her eyes. "We'll find her, and we won't stop searching until we have. And once we have found her, we'll explain everything. She needs to know." Alice looked back out at the moon. Jasper could sense her worry build up again and tried his best to help her feel better.

"And if she smells as good as Bella..." she started. She looked back up at Jasper. "Jasper, I'm so scared for her. She's so alone and confused. She wants...she needs answers."

Jasper sat down next to Alice. He cupped her small face between his hands.

"She reminds you of you, doesn't she? When you first came into this life, when you didn't have the answers to who you were as a human, how you don't remember your human life?"

Alice nodded sadly.

"We're going to make this happen, Alice. I promise. We aren't going to give up. You have to believe me. Alice? Alice!" Jasper looked into her eyes. She was looking straight at him, yet her eyes seemed far away. He was used to her spacing out like this. She was having a vision. He patiently waited for his love to come back to reality. Eventually, she resurfaced and was really looking at him.

"Did you see her?" Jasper asked her, whispering. Alice nodded sadly. Jasper could feel her worry become replaced with sadness and confusion.

"She was sleeping. She was having a good dream because she was smiling, but it must have been sad at the same time because she had tears running down her face. And then she started having a nightmare. She whimpered and cried harder. She whispered in her sleep: 'Mommy, don't let him get you!'." The two went silent after that.

"Bella used to talk in her sleep too, according to Edward," Alice added as an afterthought.

"Is Bella in your visions anymore?" Jasper asked. Alice shook her head.

"My visions of Bella were so vague in the first place that I guess now that I don't see her everyday, my visions of her are gone."

Alice hadn't even realized it, but Jasper had been sending calming waves to her the whole time. She was much more relaxed now, and didn't worry.

"Come back downstairs with us," Jasper beckoned, suddenly by the door again. "If I leave you alone again, you'll just worry again. I want you to be okay. Please say you'll come."

"Alright," Alice said, by his side in an instant. She smiled up at him, getting lost in his eyes. Jasper felt nothing but affection in her. He smiled too.

"Don't worry, we'll work this out together, as a family," he said. He kissed her forehead slowly and stared into Alice's eyes. She smiled at him again and he could feel that she trusted him. He then grabbed her hand, and they walked down the stairs together to find the rest of their family...or at least most of them. Edward would be home tomorrow though. That thought filled Alice with hope. Jasper could feel that, and he looked at her, waiting for an explanation.

"Edward's coming home," Alice said simply, knowing Jasper's question already.

Edward was coming home. That thought was the string of hope that the entire family was counting on. Tomorrow, Edward would be home.

Tomorrow, they would have answers.