ALICE

Chapter 1- Near Sighted

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A/N-Since the Steph Meyers' Twilight novels are too amazing, it would break my heart to even attempt to dele in and put my own version of the story. So I decided how I could get around that…and I began to wonder about the blurry pasts of the Cullen's. Alice's was quite interesting, so here is what I think happened. **ALSO** I know it is clear in Alice's history that her death is marked on her gravestone the same day she was admitted to the mental institution. I extended that for creative purposes. All OC's play a miniscule part, only to fill in gaps of the story. Tell me what you think. Onwards!

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Two days, thirteen hours. That's how long I have been in here. The outside seems just a distant memory for me, despite the short time I've been in here. I can remember me running around school with uniforms that I made short for all the girls…Jersey could get remarkably hot in the summer, and the fashionable redesign was not only flattering, it was completely convenient.

I'd get in trouble, of course for my "behavioral misconduct" and be sent home for the day. That was all they could do really. I saw the nuns rap my friends' knuckles with thick rulers, but as for me…well, I think they were too scared to break me.

Alice, the little pixie-girl. I was a monstrous four-foot-ten, too quick for anyone to catch, and I knew it. I sure caused a great deal of trouble. I remembered my boyfriend, Jeremy, he brought me flowers and presents all the time at school when he would sneak out of his all-boys boarding school a few blocks away.…I thought that was pretty impressive, considering that any boy caught at my all-girls school would probably face a judge in court.

But here I was now.

Stockholm Central's Ward for the Mentally Unstable.

Yep, I guess that's me. I was put in here cause my father said I was crazy, had intense post-traumatic stress disorder…oh, and…my visions.

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I just turned thirteen, I think. I was folding my clothes neatly in stacks arranged by color on my bed, getting ready for school when I had my first vision. It was like everything around me stopped, yet I was aware of myself and where I was exactly in my room, as well as my family in the house; my sister sprawled out on her bed, my mother nearly missing a burn from the stove while she was attempting to boil water, and my father, slamming the door of his porche and fumbling to get the key in the ignition.

On top of all of that, I saw what seemed to be myself in a dream, only I was very much widely awake. I was walking down the hall to my first class, clutching my notebooks in my arms, looking around, scared. It hurt my brain.

"Alice. Alllliiice. Hellooo," a felt some of my long black hair being tugged. Rebecca. My best friend. My head snapped up. I was in class. English. I didn't even remember getting here, let alone sitting in the hard wooden desk, which was way to big for me. It made me unusually uncomfortable all of the sudden.

"Okay. You zoned out. Are you alright?"

My eyes darted around the room for a moment.

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine," I replied mechanically. I tapped my fingers on the desk, again lost in thought.

Then it happened again.

It was worse, this time. More painful. It felt like my brain was caving in on itself. I clutched the edge of the desk with my small fingers. My vision blurred, and a new image appeared. I saw myself, sitting in the chair I sat in now. I saw more classmates in the room then there were at the moment where I was presently. I saw the door on the side of the classroom, the one that led out to the hallway. In my vision, I looked terrified still. Like how I felt now. Next to me was Rebecca, still with the concerned look on her face. I wasn't looking at her, I was staring down at my desk. I felt my blood pulsing in my ears. The pain was excruciating. Was I having an out of body experience? I wasn't sure.

The strange thing was, I could still feel myself sitting in my seat, holding my head while this strange movie sporadically played in my head. It was so real, I felt like I could reach out and touch my own head. Rebecca's curly brown hair. My classmate Clair's blue headband. But it was as if I was only made of eyes. No limbs, no organs. Just a pair of eyes, invisible and motionless, observing what was happening around me.

It was kind of like a dream, where you feel like you weigh a thousand pounds, but you can't go anywhere or do anything. Only I knew I wasn't asleep. I was very much aware of what was going on.

As the classroom was silent, I saw the door being opened. I didn't look up, but several of my all-girl classmates looked habitually towards the door. Our teacher, Sister Rineholde entered, her nun's robes trailing the wooden floor as she nodded and greeted her students, making her way up to the front of the classroom. When she reached the blackboard, she selected a piece of white chalk, and began to write words. I felt the pain receeding, and my vision getting blurry again. Quickly, before everything disappeared, I glanced at the analog clock mounted on Sister Rineholde's desk. 9:47.

I was back in my self, seeing what was actually around me. There were some students filing in, and Rebecca was shaking her head, looking at me.

"Have you lost it Alice? What's wrong with you. You're usually bouncing around the classroom like crazy," she said, concerned. I looked at her, frowning slightly. It would sound way to weird, I wasn't even sure of anything.

"My head hurts," I replied softly, barely above a whisper. She nodded, as if understanding, but still eyed me worriedly. I was pretty lucky to have a friend like Rebecca. She was always sticking up for me when I got in trouble, making sure I didn't get way too crazy. I have gotten kicked out of three school already, and since being a girl and going to school was scarce, finding a fourth all-girl's school was a considerate challenge. I made friends quickly, I was really social. But I was always causing distress around the small campus. I can't count how many times Rebecca has taken the ruler to her knuckles in place of mine, and never once bringing it up or asking anything in return.

I was lucky.

My head wasn't hurting any more. Athough, I remembered something. I glanced at the clock at the empty table. It read 9:45.

This…This was bizarre. In my daydream, or whatever it was…The time was two minutes ahead. I looked down at my desk blankly. Clair sat down behind me. Something gripped my heart. It was suspense.

Did I just see the future?

No way. Not possible. Just some strange daydream, with a…sporadic headache? I felt fine now, except for this feeling in my gut. Maybe, I thought. There was no one who could answer my questions. For once in my life, I felt totally alone. I sighed. I could still feel Rebecca looking at me but her timid nature kept her from interrupting my thoughts.

Then I heard the door to the classroom open. The atmosphere in the room changed. Everyone quieted. I heard footsteps slowly approaching the front of the classroom. I didn't look up. It was Sister Rhineholde.

This shouldn't have been weird. But it felt so strange.

Sister Rhineholde picked up a piece of chalk, and began writing. I glanced at the clock. 9:47.

All too familiar.

The rest of the day flew by in a blur. I was terrified I would have some more of the painful daydreams, but nothing for the rest of the day. I got home, and threw my books down on the dining table next to the kitchen.

I thought my strange day dreams were over, but the truth was, they were far from. A few times each day, I would have the excruciating movies play in my head. Shortly, almost minutes after, the event that occurred in my head would happen in real life.

I was in class a few weeks later, when I saw two girls, Micah and Jeanette over in the corner doing something questionable. Since it was an all-girls school, there had been quite a few romantic incidents between some of the girls. All kept secret of course. That kind of thing was tabboo in the nineteen-hundreds. It was early, and there weren't many people in class, none of the girls ever noticed, or hardly suspected. But I had the visions. I had seen everything. And not that I judged it as wrong, it didnnt involve me so I stayed out of it. As much as my head would let me, at least.

I looked in there direction.

"Sister Rinehold is going to come in in 30 seconds," I said. They gave me a strange look, but awkwardly went to take their seats. Sure enough, 28 seconds later, Sister Rinehold entered. I saw the girls exchange glances, but they never said anything to me…and didn't really talk behind my back.

They continued and became a norm for me over the next four years.

I thought it was fun. I embraced my visions. I did notice, however, that they were subject to change. They were only accurate if someone continued their mental path. If they changed their mind, however, my vision would change, the outcome may or may not be different.

I never told anyone, not even Rebecca. It could be dangerous. I had studied something about women who claimed to do "witchcraft" across the country in California. They were hung, or chased down and beaten to death. I had A LOT of disturbing images involving me in similar circumstances…Of course, because I never said anything, no such thing ever happened.

The day that changed my life forever, however, began as normal as ever.