** All rights belong to Stephanie Meyer, I sadly have no ownership to twilight or it's characters!
It was May of 1864 and times were tough, especially for a woman trying to make her way in the world without her family finding her. This was the way it was for Alice, she had only ran away from home a week ago and it was already plain to see that she was not fully prepared for this. For one, she didn't have nearly enough money, and for two, she would have to be extra careful to not draw any attention to herself. Alice was a very striking woman, with her long caramel brown hair, dark green eyes, and tiny pixie-like features, most men found her beauty very appealing. On top of that, Alice was very small standing at only about 5'3 tall and she had a beautiful body, thin with generous curves in all the right places. Needless to say, she had a hard time hiding herself from the people around her. She had learned though, to do as much of her travelling as she possibly could in the morning so as to avoid the criminals and drunken cowboys who came out in the late afternoon and stayed out until early into the morning. She only stayed in public during the evening if it was absolutely necessary, like tonight. She had been travelling all day, trying to slowly but surely make her way from Louisiana to Texas. She had left her hometown of Biloxi on Monday and it was now Sunday afternoon. She was finally about to cross the Louisiana line and she was determined to do just that before she found a place to stop for the evening. She couldn't wait to settle into a warm if somewhat dirty room and get out of the rags she used to conceal herself. She should have known better than to press her luck though, it always seemed to come back and bite her in the butt when she did. She was walking along one of the less active streets; she thought keeping off of the busiest parts of the town would help her to not be noticed by anyone that might be looking for her. The rags she wore gave most people the impression that she was a homeless person anyways so they tended to steer clear because of their own prejudices. It was a weakness she would gladly use against the people in today's society. She was trying to hurry and get off the streets as fast as she could, but fate did not seem to be on her side. As she passed a small general store, someone roughly shoved her around the corner and into the alleyway. Give me whatever money you've stolen today, Beggar! they said. I haven't stolen anything and I have nothing to give you. Now if you'll excuse me I must be on my way. Alice replied in a polite if somewhat stiff tone. Before she could move to walk away however, the man smacked her across the face. The hit was brutal and she was taken completely off guard by it. She fell to the ground from the force and held her head in a daze for a moment before reality settled upon her and she realized that in her position, it was very easy for the man to tell that she was hiding behind the rags. Well, looky here, He said, the little beggars got quite the body on her! Were you trying to hide that on purpose now sweetie? Well, secret's out and I'd say that it's about time that someone admired your body for the beauty it truly is! with that, the man jumped Alice and ripped her rags down the middle. He caught a couple of the top buttons of the dress she wore under the rags in his path and was able to tear them out leaving her neck and upper chest exposed. As he began to grope her breasts through her dress Alice finally caught her breath and registered what his intentions were. At that moment she let forth a scream that echoed off of the walls of the alley. The man slapped her again, grabbed her wrist and with all of his strength smashed it onto the ground. The pain from what Alice knew must have been at least a sprained wrist left her breathless for a moment and the hit she took to the face caused her to begin to fade into unconsciousness. Her last sight before she finally passed out was the man being pulled off of her and only a few seconds later, what she was certain must have been an angel, with honey blonde hair leaning over her with a look of concern on his beautiful face.