It's Either War or Peace

Katie Vereeka's Point of View

Renee and Taylor were sitting on the couch watching TV. There was no sign of Alice. Surely she saw the same vision as me.

“Rip, Jackson, and Joe are almost here,” I said. “Is Alice still in my room?”

“Probably,” Taylor said. She wouldn’t look at me.

Footsteps were soon heard. After about a minute, Alice’s tiny body appeared at the bottom of the staircase. She sat down on the couch next to Renee.

The doorknob turned and soon Rip, Jackson, and Joe walked into the living room. All of their eyes were bright red. Another hunting trip already? The three of them walked over to their mates. I was left standing by myself like a loner. Because that totally makes me feel loved (oh yay! Sarcasm!).

I crossed my arms. “Do you guys have anything to tell us?”

Rip nodded. “After our short hunting trip, we called the Cullens on a payphone.”

Alice’s eyes widened at Rip.

“They weren’t happy,” Joe said.

Everyone’s eyes moved over to Alice as she covered her face with her hands. She saw what happened already. Renee rubbed her back. Alice leaned against her.

“Were they mad or sad?” I asked.

“Upset. They want Alice to come home,” Joe said.

“As upset as they are though, they think it’s only fair to let Alice decide if she wants to go home now or later,” Rip said.

Alice finally joined the conversation. “I would like to stay here for just a little while longer,” she mumbled. Her hands still covered her face.

“Oh, why?” Jackson muttered.

Alice looked at him with sad eyes.

“Jackson,” Rip said sternly. He glared at him.

“Sorry,” Jackson mumbled.

You should be, Alice thought.

Surprisingly, Jackson’s thoughts weren’t full of cocky remarks. All he did was hum “I Want it That Way” by the Backstreet Boys (hmm. Good song choice). Was he trying to hide something from me…?

I cleared my throat. “So um…” Now what was I supposed to say? Maybe I should mention the demigod’s parents… No. That can wait for now.

“Did the Cullens say anything else?” Renee asked. Phew. She saved me.

Rip nodded.

“They found out about the demigods,” Jackson said. He looked at Alice. “Apparently little miss pixie freak forgot to throw her letter away.”

“Jackson, is the name calling really necessary?” Demi asked.

Shit, Alice thought.

“You’re twenty-one Jackson. Please act like it,” Renee said.

Jackson and Taylor rolled their eyes in complete unison. Ugh. Please grow up you two!

“Anyway,” Joe started, “the Cullens still want Alice to choose for herself when to come home but if it’s not in a matter of twenty days they’re coming here to take her home.”

“Jasper said hello Alice,” Jackson said to her. “He’s still a little angry but he can’t wait until you get home.

A smile crept onto Alice’s face.

I no longer had the desire to be in the conversation anymore. After telling everyone, I headed upstairs to my room. I checked the time on my phone. Hmm. Good thing I left. The new episode of Pretty Little Liars was about to start. I don’t know why I was so interested in that show. I read the books so I already know who A and the killer are. But apparently they’re changing it in the show. I wonder who – oh. It just came to me. Future telling skills for the win!

Footsteps were following me once I reached the third floor. I stopped, looked behind me, and smiled. Alice. I started walking again with her following me.

“You excited for the new episode tonight?” I asked. We’ve been watching it together ever since she came here.

Alice shrugged. “What’s it about? I missed the preview.”

“Aria-” Suddenly, I was interrupted. When Alice and I were about to enter my room I heard someone else’s footsteps. I looked behind me. Either someone was hiding or there were ghosts in this house. Or I’m just hearing things. I don’t know. You decide.

“What’s wrong Katie?” Alice asked.

I scanned the hallway again. Nothing. I shook my head and walked into my room. I was about to turn on the TV when Alice sat next to me.

“Katie, tell me,” Alice said sternly.

I shook my head.

“Katie.”

“Nothing,” I said too quickly. “I was just hearing things.”

I turned the channel to ABC Family. Only one more minute before Pretty Little Liars was on. Right now there was a commercial.

Suddenly my eyes went wide along with Alice’s. Together, we saw a vision that was to come true very, very soon. It involved Jackson and Alice mostly. The rest of the Chicago Coven and I had to pull him away from her. Alice was shaking next to me in the present.

So the reason why Jackson was humming “I Want it That Way” was to block me from seeing his plan on how to attack Alice. He really did want her dead. He was staying true to what he said a week ago. How did I not see this coming?

As Pretty Little Liars began to start, Jackson raced into the room. Starting from there, my visions and also Alice’s began to come true. Jackson dragged Alice off the couch. I stared in shock as he threw her against the wall. Alice curled in a ball in the hole she made, not wanting to fight Jackson back. She knew she would only make his anger worst. And it was true. Jackson was getting angrier just thinking about her fighting back. I tried sending calming waves in the atmosphere but my own worry was making that impossible.

“Fight back Cullen!” Jackson yelled. “I dare ya!”

Alice started to shake. Whimpering, she said, “No.”

I stared at Jackson cautiously, waiting for his next move. His breathing was heavy. But why? Vampires don’t need to breathe.

Jackson pulled Alice out of the hole and pinned her to the floor. His hands immediately went to her neck. Alice screamed and squirmed in his grasp. She tried prying his hands away with her own. I got up and tried pulling Jackson away since I saw Alice struggling. The more I pulled, the more Jackson pulled on Alice’s neck. Shit.

I stopped pulling Jackson away. I ran to my doorway and as soon as I was about to scream for help, Alice shrieked out my named.

“Katie! Don’t leave me here!”

According to her mind she actually thought I was going to leave her. As you can see her psychic abilities were failing her at the moment.

I poked my head out the doorway. As loud as I was able to muster, I yelled, “Rip! Renee! Someone!”
Demi, Rip, Renee, and Joe ran up to my room. Immediately Rip and Joe ran over and yanked Jackson away from Alice. Alice curled in a ball and had both her hands at the sides of her head. She started whimpering when Demi and Renee knelt down next to her. Renee brought Alice onto her lap and then Alice started sobbing.

This all happened in a matter of seconds of course. A minute at the maximum.

Rip and Joe had Jackson pinned against the floor. He struggled in their arms but luckily they were both too strong for him.

“Get that Cullen thing away from here!” Jackson yelled.

From the corner of my eye I saw Alice fidget in Renee’s lap. Renee rubbed her back.

“Rip, Joe – get Jackson out of here,” I said.

“She can’t tell you what to do! This house belongs to all of us!” Jackson yelled.

“But this is my room. Bedrooms are for privacy. I like my privacy thank you very much,” I said, crossing arms.

Jackson growled at me. Finally, Rip and Joe dragged him out of my room. I peeked out the doorway and watched them drag him down the stairs too. Good. No more trouble from him.

Hopefully.

I walked over to Alice, Renee, and Demi. I sat down next to them. Alice had her face buried in the crook of Renee’s neck. She was still vigorously shaking. Renee was hugging her tightly.

“Alice, sweetie, it’ll be okay,” Renee said. “He’s gone. He won’t try to hurt you again.”

Alice kept doing what she was doing.

“She’s shaking so much,” I said. I began playing with Alice’s short, ink-black hair.

All four of us were worried. I pushed my worries aside and sent out calm waves to the atmosphere. This time it worked. Alice’s shaking went down and so did her sobbing. Both were still on the vigorous side though. I put my hand on her cheek. I only did this power once but I decided to do it on Alice. I thought of things Alice loved and finally stopped on what I imagined to be the meeting between her and Jasper while I read Eclipse. Alice went silent and she stopped shaking while she watched my imagination.

“What are you doing?” Demi asked.

“Giving Alice a memory,” I said, even though it was something from my imagination.

“Can’t Renesmee Cullen do that?” Demi asked.

I nodded.

“How long is the memory?” Renee asked.

“Hopefully long enough to keep her calm.” It wasn’t but I moved onto another moment of her and Jasper.

Renee slipped out from under Alice. She laid Alice on the ground and I put Alice’s head on my lap. I kept my hand on her face.

“We’re going to go downstairs to see how Jackson’s doing,” Renee said.

“Okay,” I replied.

Renee and Demi stood up and then left the room.

Jackson’s attack on Alice reminded me about the demigods. How would the daughter of two gods attack Alice? Would the Chicago Coven and I be able to fight for her? Probably not. The demigod might attack us too. Then no one would get out alive.

Alice started squirming and wincing. But why…? I looked down at her. Shit. My hand was still on her cheek.

Suddenly, Alice screamed.