So this idea's been playing in my mind for a while, and I absolutely LOVE Jasper and Alice fics, so I figured: Why not publish it? This chapter's a little short, but it's sort of like a prologue.
Summary: He would do anything for her, anything at all. Play her a song, bring her food, tell her jokes, anything. It was his promise to her that he would remain friends with her forever. Even if it meant breaking into the asylum.
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
Unforgettable Promise
"And you ducked your head, like a good Southern gentleman, and said, 'I'm sorry, ma'am.'" – Alice Cullen, Eclipse
"You held out you hand, and I took it without stopping to make sense of what I was doing. For the first time in a century, I felt hope." – Jasper Hale, Eclipse
Chapter One
Jasper Hale
Jasper Hale pushed his Civil War books aside and leaned back in his black office chair, setting the recliner to a moderate one hundred twenty degree angle. He had spent the last few hours working on his history report, and by now he was nearing exhaustion. Eleventh year was tough, and the teachers were not making it any easier by giving them so many tests and reports. Jasper couldn't wait to get out of school and begin travelling, ready to escape the boring town of Houston, Texas for good.
Jasper had first gotten into travelling when his parents, John and Mae Hale, had taken him on a trip to Tokyo, Japan. He had become fascinated with their unique culture, and had insisted on staying another month. About two years ago, they had gone on another trip to England and visited Buckingham Palace, home to the queen. He had been wanting to travel the world ever since. His family was very wealthy, one of the upper class families, so the expenses never seemed too costly.
Jasper's twin sister, Rosalie, however, was majoring in mechanics, and had wanted to pursue a life of building and fixing cars. Jasper and Rosalie were nothing alike, aside from the fact that they had almost the exact same shade of honey blond hair. Rosalie had always been the selfish, conceited, shallow kind of person, and Jasper was usually the quiet, timid, unnoticeable kind of person.
"Jasper! Rosalie! Time for dinner!" Jasper's mother called. He quickly gathered up his school books and papers and organized him into a messy pile, before stalking down the stairs and into the dining room.
Rosalie was already seated there, looking at herself in a compact mirror with a grim expression. "They have a bit of a surprise for us," she murmured as he passed. She glanced up quickly to make sure their parents weren't listening. "From the way Dad's acting, I have a feeling it's not good." Rosalie tossed her blond hair across her shoulder and picked up her fork, mindlessly moving her food around.
Jasper quietly slid into his seat, letting his thoughts escape him. What could the surprise possibly be? He thought.
Mae Hale sat down at the head of the table and rubbed her hands together, an eager smile on her powder coated face. "As you know, your father has been doing exceedingly well in his work for quite a while now," she began. John smiled, revealing his crooked teeth. "And Mr. McIntire, his boss, has recently given him a promotion!"
Rosalie sighed, obviously bored with the conversation. "Great. Another one of Dad's Famous 'this will be good for us; for the family' speeches," she muttered a little to loudly.
Mae glared at her daughter for a minute, who in turn glared back. "But unfortunately," Jasper's mother continued. "He will have to move out of the state, while Rosalie and I stay here and manage the house."
Rosalie smiled, a soft 'yes' escaping her full lips. She gave a sly, almost evil smile to her twin as if to say See? I told you they always like me best. Her violet eyes seemed to be dancing, happy at the fact that they were kicking her brother out.
Jasper's mind clouded with confusion, and an uneasy feeling lurched inside of him. He shoved food in his mouth to calm down, though he doubted a full stomach would make him feel any better. Tension coated the air, so thick it would seem almost impossible to break. "W-what about me?" he choked out.
His mother's smile grew bigger, if possible, and the tension disappeared. "Jasper, honey," she began. "We know how interested in travelling you are, and your doing great in school, so we thought your father could take you with him on his trip." Mae and John exchanged a look, and Jasper leaned forward in anticipation. France? Italy? Germany? Spain? Ireland? Countless thoughts of new and exciting places to travel to raced through Jasper's mind.
"You're going to Mississippi!"
Jasper's face fell, and Rosalie couldn't keep the happy smile off her face.
Alice Brandon
Alice Brandon wiped the tears from her eyes as her parents packed away the last of her belongings into the attic for good. Her parents were sending her to the asylum because of the visions she had. An asylum for people who actually were insane. People like her parents, or her sister, even, who were giving their daughter away just because she had visions, or 'spawn of the devil himself' as she was sometimes called.
Ever since Alice was an infant, only three or four months old, she had been having visions. They usually came in her sleep, so they never made much sense until she learned to control them. And they were usually painful, so painful at times she would have to stay on Motrin or Tylenol or a solid hour before it finally ceased. The visions were never important ones, either-like a life or death situation-but instead simple things, like the weather, or even what they would be serving for lunch in the cafeteria at school the next day. Alice never felt the need to tell her parents-or anyone, for that matter-about them because of this.
But then came the day when it was a life or death experience.
Alice shuddered as the memory she had spent so many years trying to hide came bursting at her at full force. The one time she had told . . . the one time she had told people about her visions . . . it has caused so many near deaths of friends, and even the near death of a family member. Alice couldn't bare to think about the huge mistake she had made without remembering the later events of the horrid night, or the anger it had caused her parents.
Looking back at her parents now, she once again tried to persuade them to let her stay. "Mom, please! I'm telling the truth," Alice pleaded.
"No, Alice, you're not. You're an insane, lying, toad, and if you don't leave now, you'll end up getting us arrested. You could end up killing your own damn family just because of your stupid visions." Veronica Brandon tossed an old, ratty, shirt into the attic from the fifth step. It flew through the air, landing with a gentle whoosh. "This is for the fam- your own good. Don't you see, honey. We want to protect you." The last part seemed forced, and Alice couldn't help but let a few tears leak out of her puffy red eyes.
"Mom, just"—
"No, Alice! NO! Absolutely not! You're not telling the truth!" Mark Brandon stormed at his oldest daughter. Sweat was forming on his face and neck, soaking his suit, and his beady black turtle eyes were bulging out of his head. "You're a lying, selfish, inconsiderate, little brat, sent from the devil himself! You don't give a damn about anyone but yourself, you little toad!" Alice watched with helpless and miserable eyes as her mother rush to Mark's side as he sank onto the cold wooden ground.
"Oh, now look what you've done! You've nearly killed your own father! Why couldn't your so called visions see that?! What the hell is wrong with you?" Veronica's flawless face was as red as her scarlet dress. Alice hated the fact that her mother and father were dressing up for the occasion of giving their eldest daughter—a freak, in their opinion—away. After taking a few deep breaths and making sure Mark had calmed down, Veronica turned to glare at Alice. She grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her out of the room, past their favorite daughter, and out to the car.
Cynthia, Alice's perfect twelve year old sister, stood gleefully at the doorway, happy about the fact that her freakish sister was leaving and she would be an only child. She stroked her plush doll, a gift given to her for her tenth birthday, something Alice had never even thought of before. Cynthia bent down and whispered menacingly into Alice ear, "Goodbye, witch."
"Cynthia!" Alice's mother called from the porch. "What did I tell you about going near her?! You should know by now never to speak to someone who's been possessed by the devil!"
"Sorry, Mom!" Cynthia called back. She stepped away, but not before giving Alice a slap straight across the face, leaving a bright red spot on her pale skin. "It's what you deserve for being the witch of the family. You've got the devil inside you, Witch. 'Mom, the weather reporter's wrong! It's going to rain tomorrow!' 'Dad's going to get fired if he's late again!'" Cynthia mimicked Alice in a high pitched, annoyingly squeaky voice. "Now get the hell out of here. You know we don't want you. None of us ever did. We never will."
As Veronica revved up the engine of her black 212 Jaguar out of the driveway, Alice saw through the thin curtains of what used to be her room, now a bare and desolate storage closet. Her father, still in his celebration suit, picked up what appeared to be a lamp and threw it against the wall.
It fell with a sharp crack, its contents shattering to pieces.
Just like the rest of Alice's life.
So what'd you think? This is my first time using third person point of view, so forgive me if I use "me" or "I" or anything like that once in a while. Just point it out and I'll fix it. I know Jasper's kind of OOC, but he'll get more IC throughout the story. I hoped you enjoyed this first chapter-I worked really hard on it. Thanks for reading!