This story is a take on Alice's beginnings. This is based on the mythology and Twilight Universe that Stephanie Meyers has created. I do not own the copyright for Twilight. I just enjoy telling a good story. This story shall be Canon to the best of my knowledge. It is rated T for some violence and language.

Visions of a Brighter Tomorrow

Chapter 1

Alice sat in the sunroom facing the bay window overlooking a poorly kept indoor garden between the wings of Saint Mary's Mental Asylum. Light filtered down through the red and yellow canopy of leaves on the two maple trees in the garden brightening the worn dirt path between the buildings. In the center of the garden was a fountain of an angel with her arms held out in a giving gesture to the basin below. Water trickled down from her palms into the pool surrounding her feet, a stone frog looked up at her ready to jump into the pond as soon as she was finished blessing the water.

Alice felt like the frog, always waiting to do what she was born to do but never having the opportunity. She turned back toward the sunroom. The light was quite dim compared to the sunny fall day outside and it took her a few moments for her eyes to adjust. Her head could only turn so far and she needed help to get back to her room. Alice was strapped by her arms and legs to a wheelchair in order to keep her from harming herself or others.

She supposed that she couldn't blame them for taking the precautions. On her first night in the asylum she had had one of her visions. She saw one of the orderlies laying in a pool of blood. She saw a patient standing over him shaking. She could only see them from behind so she couldn't tell them who they were. She tried desperately tried to warn them but they told her she was delusional and that was the reason for her stay here. They laughed at her and called her crazy, that angered her. She grabbed the orderly by the shirt to try to make him see reason but the other nurses grabbed her arms and pulled her back. She had to make him see. She had to try and save him or he could be seriously hurt or worse. In the struggle she had managed to bite and kick the nurses sending one to the hospital for stitches. She had since apologized to the nurse, but the nurse steered clear of her anyway.

It was another hour or two before an orderly came by pushing the lunch cart. Time was calculated by mealtimes and medicine. There was no clocks here because nobody here was going to be leaving anytime soon.

"Lunch time Miss Brandon. Looks like ham and cheese with some potato salad." The new orderly had arrived a few days ago and had really taken a liking to Alice. He was handsome in a way she had never seen before. He was statuesque with a broad build and a dancers grace. His movements were almost fluid. He had short dark hair and the most amazing blue eyes she had ever seen. Sometimes though she could swear that they were a golden color but the medications she was on made her forget things and when she woke up she couldn't be sure of what was real or not. She tried not to take the meds whenever possible but the nurses were usually diligent about seeing her take them. He never forced her to take her medications. He gave them to her of course but he would leave it with her tray at dinner. Today He was wearing a light blue shirt under his orderly uniform. The color of his shirt matched his eyes. He looked into her eyes as he talked to her and she couldn't help but smile. Even the doctors looked past her when speaking to her. He was looking at her. That thought gave her a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach and warmed her whole body.

"Call me Alice." She said

He looked over his shoulder at the nurses station to make sure they were far enough away. "Well Alice it's nice to finally meet you and not just Miss Brandon. My name is Michael. Looks like I will be taking care of you here for awhile until we can convince these people you don't belong here."

"What makes you think I don't belong here?" Alice asked

"Well someone as pretty as you can't be as crazy as the doctors say you are. That's just crazy. And if the doctors are crazy, and you are crazy, then that makes me the only sane one here and that would get pretty lonely. So I have to assume you are sane." As he was talking Michael was undoing her arm restraints so she could eat. He still kept her legs strapped in but at least she could move her arms. He didn't seem afraid that she would attack him. She was glad for that. She wasn't a violent person and she wasn't crazy either. Michael realized how tight the straps had been and the bruises on her arms. The dismayed look on his face showed through as he gently rubbed her arms.

Alice couldn't help but smile even more than before. Not since she was a little girl could she remember being this happy. Even in this dark place with no hope or future, she was still able to find a little bit of happiness. As long as someone knew she was here and cared she could endure it. She didn't know when it would come again so she tried to hold onto the moment. "You aren't afraid I might claw your eyes out or anything?" she playfully asked lifting up her arms.

"Should I be?" he asked with a smile that made her heart skip a beat. A smile that penetrated the coldness of this place and broke through to her heart like a dusty skylight being shattered and the golden glow of sunlight shining through warming her very soul.

"Besides, I'm pretty sure I could take you." he said with a light laugh. He handed her a spoon and a lunch plate along with some iced tea and her daily meds on a tray. Alice took a bite of her potato salad. Spoon in hand she asked "So when will I see you again?" She knew it was a dumb question as soon as it was out, but he had a way of putting her at ease that made her say whatever was on her mind.

"I'll be back at dinnertime. Unless you go all crazy on me." He said with a wink. "Enjoy your lunch.. Alice." With that he pushed the lunch cart down the hall. Her encounter with Michael seemed to last all afternoon but in reality it was just a few moments. She couldn't wait until dinnertime. She glanced back down the hallway to where Michael had gone and saw him talking to an orderly. The world went dark and Alice was unaware of her surroundings. She was having another vision. This one was about Michael.