perennial - rosalie hale of twilight

Chapter 12

Alice and I sat on the couch, absentmindedly flipping through fashion magazines. Outside, Emmett and Jasper were having their wrestling rematch that Emmett bugged Jasper the whole day for. Based on what I was hearing, Edythe was refereeing.

We went hunting last night after Carlisle came home, as we were in no shape to be around humans anymore.

I wonder if things would have gone differently if we went hunting last weekend. Would Isabella Swan still have had the same effect on Edward if he weren't so thirsty?

I've only heard of the singer in stories. I've never witnessed or experienced it in real life. I've always thought the stories were exaggerating since I've gone seventy-two years without tasting human blood. I'm not saying I was never tempted, but I could always, always resist it.

"Edward," I heard Esme's voice from upstairs.

"They're on the phone," Alice muttered to me.

"When are you coming home, son?" Esme continued. There was a pause. "I see." There was a hint of sadness in Esme's voice. "Well, take care of yourself. Don't think about it too much." Another pause. "I miss you already, Edward. We all do."

I won't ever admit it out loud, but the house really does not feel the same without him here. It doesn't feel right. It feels incomplete, somehow.

It pained me to see Esme this way. We don't really talk about it anymore, but she knew the true pain of losing a child since she had lost her only son in her human life. I remember her saying it was a pain she had never imagined existed.

I know this is not the same, because Edward is just far away. He's still physically existing somewhere. Esme's real son, however . . .

"Do you think Edward will come back?" I asked Alice, trying to sound aloof. Edward staying in Alaska for good was not impossible. We have lived with the Denali clan before, after all. And Tanya had always shown interest in Edward. If he finally reciprocates her feelings, he could choose to stay there.

"I'm not sure . . ." Alice said, distracting me from my thoughts. Her voice trailed off. She's probably scanning the future for answers. "He's indecisive about it."

"What did you see when we were on our way home from school?"

"I saw Isabella Swan dead." She paused before adding, "and Edward's golden eyes were splotched with red."

"Oh," was all I could say as I tried to process the vision.

Alice continued when I didn't say anything else. "There would be a huge search for the culprit, but we'd all have to stay here to avoid any kind of suspicion towards us. We'd have to wait before it's safe for us to leave and start anew somewhere."

I nodded.

"And Edward, having to live with the guilt, would be no fun to be around with either."

"Can't imagine what that's like," I muttered under my breath.

"Please," said Alice. "He's not that bad."

"Did you see anything else?" I asked, ignoring her reply.

She shrugged. "Just about a couple other ways how Edward would lure or attack her. All of them ending with Isabella becoming a meal."

"Yikes," I whispered.

"I know Edward fought the 'monster' inside him, though. That's when I saw him leaving Forks. But he hadn't decided yet where he'd go when I saw the vision."

I nodded as an indication that I was listening. I'm starting to understand better why he had to leave.

Alice went back to her magazines, but I had more questions.