I stared at Alice, convinced I’d misheard what she just said. She’d seen Charlie? That was impossible....no one could see him. Not with the Shadow Hunters there. But Mitchell कहा the Shadow Hunters were gone. So that means Alice can see him.
I smiled widely and jumped with happiness. Mitchell stood up slowly, finding it hard to believe too.
“What did आप see?” we both asked together.
She frowned then, looking up at Edward. He nodded once. I hated that. She was asking him permission to tell me. Why did people do that? Edward wasn’t my owner. They could tell me anything they wanted to, I didn’t care.
“It wasn’t pretty what I saw,” she said, slowly. “I’ve never seen Charlie like that.”
“Seen Charlie like what?” I asked her. “What happened in your vision, Alice?”
She looked down, her forehead creased as she fought some internal battle या whatever. I was just about to delve into her mind to get the answer when she spoke.
“He was killing someone.”
“Loren, to be precise,” Edward said. He was smiling happily. It didn’t trouble him that Charlie was off killing people. But it troubled Alice.
“He killed my father?” Mitchell said, shocked. “He actually killed him?”
“That’s what she saw,” Edward said, not unkindly.
A pained look crossed Mitchell’s face.
“Excuse me,” he कहा and he walked swiftly out of the room. I wanted to go after him and comfort him but Edward shook his head.
He needs to be alone.
I nodded and decided to comfort Alice instead. The poor thing was trying to come to terms with gentle Charlie killing someone.
“Alice, he didn’t do a bad thing,” I said, gently. I walked over to her and put my arm around her small shoulders. “He was protecting me.”
She nodded.
“I know,” she said, quietly. “I just didn’t think he could do it like that. The guy begged for mercy and Charlie just ignored it.”
“I know,” I said, nodding. “I know but-” I stopped mid-nod. “Wait, he what?”
I stared down at Alice in disbelief. Did she just say Loren had begged for mercy but Charlie ignored it?
“Is something wrong?” Edward asked, his eyebrows creased together as he listened to my jumbled thoughts.
“Alice do आप remember what the guy said?” I asked her.
“Show me mercy, Charles.”
That was what dream Loren had said.
“What did Charlie say?”
“You showed my daughter no mercy when आप shot her.”
That was what dream Charlie had said. This was getting too strange. I mean, everything dream Loren had thought या whatever in my dream was sort of confirmed द्वारा Mitchell and then Alice has a vision of what had happened in my dream. I did not like this.
You had a dream about Alice’s vision? Edward asked me mentally.
I had a dream about Charlie killing Loren and what Alice just कहा was spoken in my dream. And stuff Mitchell कहा the dream Loren thought...I don’t know, Edward, don’t confuse me.
“Is something wrong, Kayla?” Alice asked me. She looked up at me and her topaz eyes look worried.
“Nothing,” I said, smiling. “I just wanted to know why Charlie ignored his beg for mercy, that’s all.”
Alice didn’t look convinced. She turned to Edward, asking him mentally probably.
Don’t tell her, Edward. Wait til Charlie comes home. I’ll ask him about it.
Edward nodded. Whether he was nodding to me या to Alice, we were both satisfied.
“So, आप get out today,” Alice said, fluttering her eyelashes at me.
“Yes,” I said, not liking what was about to come.
“Well, Rosalie’s hunting with Emmett right now and I’ve no one to talk to.” Alice’s eyes went wide and sad. She was giving me कुत्ते का बच्चा, पिल्ला dog eyes. EEEP!
“That is a shame,” I said, nodding and mentally pleading with Edward. “Such a shame.”
Edward chucked quietly and I knew he was going to leave to the torturous clutches of Alice.
“I wanted to go shopping today,” Alice said, still with the कुत्ते का बच्चा, पिल्ला dog eyes. “But like I said, I have no one to talk to.”
“Well, it’s going to take ages to get discharged,” I said, quickly. “What with the all the forms and the-”
Alice’s face went blank and she kind of zoned out of the conversation. Then she was back and smiling happily.
“You’ll be out of here in an hour.” She clapped her hands ecstatically. “Plenty of time to go shopping!”
Help me!
Not a chance.
“We could go shopping for your wedding dress, Kayla!” Alice jumped with excitement. “And bridesmaid dresses-”
You are so evil, Edward Cullen.
“and shoes-”
No, I just like to see my sister happy.
“and jewellery-”
But what about my happiness?
“Oh!” she squealed. “Wedding rings!”
I will see to that later...

Shopping with Alice was torture. Every खरीडिए we went into. Every single damn shop! She had me trying out every top, jeans, dress, skirt, shoe, sock, glove, hat....the सूची went on. Not that Alice didn’t pick out some great stuff, she did, it was just the endlessness of it all. When I thought we were finished she would drag me, literally drag me, into another खरीडिए and it would start all over again.
I almost cracked when she hauled me into a wedding dress shop.
“Alice!” I said, trying to walk back out. “I’m seventeen! I can’t get married until अगला year!”
She pulled me back as easily as if I was a child.
“There’s no harm in looking,” she said, cheerfully.
“I don’t want to look until अगला year,” I said, grumbling. I watched as Alice pranced around the shop, picking up dresses to दिखाना me. I folded my arms across my chest and sulked. I was not looking at wedding dresses. Not now. It was way too early. We hadn’t even set a date. So, I stood there, refusing to टिप्पणी दे until Alice picked up the most gorgeous dress I had ever seen. I half-ran to Alice and grabbed the dress from her.
“You like?” she said, smiling knowingly. She watched as I stared at the dress lovingly. I wanted this dress. I wanted it. I held the dress against me and smiled as I twirled in it.
“You really like?” Alice laughed.
“I प्यार it,” I said, feeling the soft white silk. “I really प्यार it!”
Alice ushered me into the changing room. It was a big changing room with a floor to ceiling mirror on each wall. She quickly stripped me and I lifted my arms up so Alice could slip the dress on me. I ran my hands down the चोली and to the ruffled skirt. It was truly beautiful. It had short sleeves, only to my shoulders. There was beading sprinkled across the चोली and a फूल just below my waist on the left hand side.
“The चोली features embellished Alencon lace,” Alice said, smoothing the dress. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
I nodded, not fully understanding. I didn’t care what the चोली featured I just loved the dress.
“The dress is strapless.” Alice unhooked the little sleeves. “See, these टोपी sleeves come off.”
“No,” I said, pouting. “Put them back on.”
She smiled and put them back on. I spun around in the dress and looked at myself from all angles. I lifted the स्कर्ट slightly to look at my feet.
“We’ll need to get आप some shoes,” Alice said, seriously. “Some heels to lift the dress of the floor a little.”
She began to टिप्पणी दे about accessories and matching the फूल to the dress and stuff I really didn’t care about. I just looked at me in this dress and tried to imagine Edward अगला to me. He would look gorgeous in anything he wore. He could wear a black bin bag to our wedding and still outshine me. I didn’t care if Edward looked better than me. Our wedding wasn’t about who looked better than who. It was about us declaring our प्यार for each other and about tying the special bond between our two souls. Edward might not think he has a soul but I know he does. Just because he is a vampire and is destined to suck human blood for eternity doesn’t mean he has no soul. He does. He just has to find it deep within himself.
“I can see आप in this dress,” Alice said. “I really can see आप wearing this.”
“Yes,” I said, not fully understanding what she meant. “I would pick this for the wedding.”
But then I sighed.
“What’s the matter?” Alice asked.
“Sarah could never afford something like this,” I said, looking sadly at the dress in the mirror. “Neither could Charlie.”
Alice looked thoughtfully at the dress and smiled.
“No,” I said, guessing at her thoughts. “No way are आप buying this dress.”
“Oh Kayla,” Alice whined, stomping her foot like a child. “You look beautiful in it and आप obviously प्यार it!”
“No,” I repeated. “You’re not buying it. It costs way too much.”
She watched me for a few seconds, defining whether I would give in.
“Fine,” she said, beginning to undo the corset closure at the back. “I won’t buy it for you.”
I slipped out of the dress and put my clothes back on. We returned the dress to the rack and I waved goodbye to it.
“If आप want it, let me buy आप it!” Alice almost screamed.
“No,” I said, firmly. “I’ll buy my own dress. I have a whole साल to save up.”
Alice growled and led the way to a अगला खरीडिए to relieve her stress.