AN: This is an Outtake of Deconstructing Bella where we learn a little bit more about Alice, her cat. Nope, I'm not kidding! Enjoy.
Sweetness was a character trait that Alice learned to emulate to perfection from a tender age. The youngest and smallest of a litter born of a malnourished mother who couldn't fend for her kittens, she soon found herself on her own. Despicable humans crossed her path, and had it not been for her enchanting green eyes she would have found her demise.
But, fortunately, she had the ability to dazzle human beings, at least the ones with a heart. Under the care of the unkempt human who first adopted her, Alice blossomed into a beauty. Eating regular meals and living in relative safety, her little heart had the opportunity to dream of higher altitudes. Her attentive eyes hadn't missed the visitor who always stopped by. The woman who smelled of better food, of more comfortable beds, of a better life … and Alice wanted it, all of it.
It wasn't that she was ungrateful to the man who had saved her life. Or even that she didn't have a measure of affection for him. It was simply that she was a survivor, forever striving to better her living conditions. But there was little she could do, especially when the object of Alice's hopes and dreams paid her little to no attention. So, she sat and waited patiently, what was a feat in itself given her restless nature, until the day lucky turned her way and she was thrust under Bella's care.
Of course, the foolish woman thought that she could banish Alice to the outskirts of her life, like an unwanted dog. Alice disabused the silly human of that notion by making herself absolutely need, indispensable to the broken woman who liked to call herself "mom". Being hugged breathless and cried upon wasn't exactly pleasant, but Alice thought it wasn't such a high price to pay for all the luxury and overpriced food she enjoyed. Not to mention the absolute bliss of being the undisputable mistress of the house.
Over the years there had been some attempts at defying her domain, but they were promptly rebuffed. Having her privacy invaded wasn't something Alice took lightly, as her opponents quickly learned. The cleaning lady was tolerated seeing that her presence was a necessary evil, but she made sure to ascertain her dominance by ambushing the woman every once in a while. A whole other issue was the few men Bella dated.
Neutered at a young age, Alice was ignorant of what one might describe as sexual drive, others as the search for a life partner. Therefore, she was extremely resentful of what she saw as a deep betrayal of the bound established between her and her human. She told herself that she wasn't jealous, merely annoyed about the indignity of having her belly scratched in the hopes of getting into Bella's pants was too much to bear … More than once Alice repaid by leaving a brown surprise on the offender's lap or, if she was in a hurry, a golden one on his legs. Bella always scolded her halfheartedly, but her frown always turned into a smile upon seeing the adorable look on Alice's face.
It was a blessed existence, but since it was life and not a fairy tale, it eventually came to an end. Time passed and Alice's health faded. She didn't understand why her appetite was gone or why her body didn't respond to the commands of her brain—all she knew was that one day her mom took her to the dreaded vet's office. Bella was crying when the doctor pierced Alice's skin with a needle, and then the little cat felt a pain like she never had before.
For a while everything went dark—she couldn't hear or see anything, but then a voice of long ago called her name. With great effort, she opened her eyes and recognized the man staring back at her.
Jasper.
Feeling surprisingly young, Alice stretched her paws and prepared herself to put on a show. She didn't know where she was, nor did she care—all she knew was that she had a human to charm into doing her bidding.
Survival of the smartest and all that jazz.
AN: Written in memory of Livia—the inspiration for Alice.
Thanks for reading!