Nessie's Life

Chapter 11

I was still running beside the giant russet wolf in my dreams when I suddenly felt something very hot brushing the curls away from my face.

"Nessie. Neeesssiiieee. Renesmee Carlie Cullen." I put the pillow on top of my head. This was too good of a dream to wake up from.

I heard my favorite laugh. "Come on, kid. You can't sleep all day. You have to go to school. And I haven't seen your smile since... well, a long time ago!"

The pillow was ripped away from my face. I finally opened my eyes, and then I was laughing at myself because real life Jacob was right in front of me, and I had been ignoring him because I wanted to stay with dream Jacob! I could be so stupid sometimes.

Suddenly his warmth was all around me in one of those bear hugs that made it a little hard to breathe. "There's that smile I was hoping for." I giggled, pushing away from him so that I could see his face.

Then I reached for his warm cheek, replaying the dream I'd just been having so that he could know I was thinking of him. He sighed and then put his huge hand over my tiny one, pressing it against his face. For an indefinite moment I was lost in his deep brown eyes.

Then I heard an awkward cough from the doorway. Jake and I turned at the same time to see grandpa Carlisle, and Jake dropped my hand.

"I'm glad to see you're finally awake, Renesmee. You're just in time to greet Eleazar when he arrives."

Jacob left so that I could quickly get dressed, and then I flew down the stairs to where everyone was waiting.

When we heard Eleazar's car pull up to the house, grandpa opened the door. "Ah, Eleazar. I'm so glad you could come."

"Hello, Carlisle. I would do anything to help your family." He stepped into the room, shaking hands with Carlisle and dad. Then he hugged mom and Esme and said hello to Jacob, keeping his distance.

Finally he came to me. "Dear Renesmee! You've grown so much since you lived with us! I suppose that was to be expected. How are you?"

I couldn't lie and pretend that I was happier than I was. So I just said, "Alright. And you?"

"I'm alright as well dear, but I will be better if I can solve this mystery about Alice."

"I think we all will," I said.

He nodded, turning to grandpa. "I am afraid that I am as clueless as you are. I did not hear of anything like this when I was with the Volturi."

Carlisle frowned slightly. "I guessed that you would say something like that. But I think there is another way in which you can help. I wonder... Edward, do you hear Aro or Alice at the moment?"

Dad looked surprised to hear his name, as if he had been lost in a separate train of thought.

"As a matter of fact, I was just about to mention that. Aro wants to know why we have brought in, as he puts it, reinforcements. And for a moment I thought I heard the thoughts of another vampire besides Alice... but it was probably just a nomad passing through."

Then Carlisle spoke loudly as if he were addressing all of us, but I knew he was saying this for Aro's benefit, wherever he was.

"We have not brought in reinforcements. Jacob and Eleazar are simply visiting us as friends. There will be no violence, so we do not see a need for reinforcements."

Then he spoke much more quickly and quietly, so that only we could hear. "I wonder about that other vampire you heard. Is it possible that they could be more than a stray nomad?"

Dad said, "I think I see what you're getting at. Are you suggesting that Aro has brought a new member of his guard here? A member who we haven't met?"

Carlisle nodded. "Exactly. And this is where Eleazar comes in. If that vampire is indeed a member of the guard, then he must have some remarkable talent. And Eleazar can use his gift to tell us what it is. This might be the key to understanding Alice!"

Everyone looked determined to follow through on this, though I didn't see much hope in it. While they planned the best way to get near enough to this new vampire for Eleazar to be able to use his gift, I went back upstairs to grab my backpack for school.

It would just be me and mom today, since dad's mind reading skills were needed. I absently wondered when they planned on finding uncle Jasper to tell him that we knew where Alice was. Well, we sort of knew where she was. But I decided not to bring it up until after we knew more about Alice.

When it was time to go, I got in the passenger seat beside mom. I looked back at the house to see Edward and Eleazar dart northward into the woods, with Carlisle and Esme on their heels. A few seconds later, Jake ran at human speed in the opposite direction, bursting into wolf form just before he met the trees.

I turned back forward. All I wanted was answers. Hopefully those would come by the end of the day.

When we got to school, I thought of the outing I had planned with my human friends for today, and a whole new type of nervousness washed over me.