I do not own these characters. Stephenie Meyer does.
The night was dark and stormy. The winds rustled through the trees that surrounded an old brick building on the outside of town. Heavy rain drops splattered against the thick, glass windows, then lightning flashed, and shadows of the bars lining them were thrown across the rooms.
The man sitting behind the receptionist desk looked upward when he heard an automobile driving up the gravel road. His auburn brow furled beautifully, because even in his moment of confusion, he was the most magnificent creature in all of the area.
Who would be out on an evening like this? Especially at this time!
Eli had come to this town two months prior, claiming to be the son of a wealthy doctor in the North. Wanting to stay in the area awhile, he had taken the position at the mental ward. They eagerly accepted him, pleased to find someone seemingly strong, who would be able to take care of the "patients". Since then, Eli sat behind this desk every night, administering medicines and sedatives, locking bedroom doors, and reading through journals of the country's founders. Then, in the morning, when Victoria, the overweight, redheaded woman came to take over his position, he would go back to his house. Not the most interesting life for one of his kind, but he could keep a low profile.
When he saw the lights stop in front of the doorway, he stood, pulling a ring of keys from his pocket, and strode over to the door. After unlocking the door, he made his way outside, watching the car, which was now parked under the awning.
A man and woman stepped out of the automobile, leaving what looked like a young woman inside. While the woman stood near the car, a handkerchief covering most of her face, the man walked towards Eli. From one look at his waistcoat and top hat, Eli knew he was facing a man from upper society.
"Welcome, how might I assist you?" Eli asked, his voice as soft as silk. When the man looked up, Eli watched him fumble in his footsteps, and Eli tried to hide his grin. It happened a lot when people saw him, but he still found it funny when men stumbled.
The man shifted where he stood, running his thumb over his moustache nervously. He pointed back towards the door, not wanting to be over heard. Even before he spoke, Eli understood the man's behavior and the reason why he used the cover of night to make his way to the asylum.
"I need to drop off a patient," the man said in a gruff voice. He kept looking around, as if he was afraid that someone may see him.
"None of our patients are out. You must be mistaken Mr. -uh?" Eli raised one eyebrow curiously. His eyes skimmed over to the woman still standing near the car. When she saw his eyes on her, he watched her cheeks turn crimson, then she quickly looked away, obviously embarrassed.
"Call me Mr. Smith." The man bit his lower lip, then he pointed towards the car. "That is my daughter in the backseat. She claims she is having visions -that she can see things before they happen. I know, it sounds preposterous, and we believe that she is becoming ill. My wife can not handle it anymore, she is breaking down in tears every night with worry. You must take the girl."
Eli listened to the man, as calmly as possible. He had most likely given a false name, and now he wanted to just drop off his daughter.
"Please accept my sincerest apologies, Mr. Smith, but we can not just take her in. You must have an evaluation completed by a doctor-"
"We can not have anyone see her like this! What will the townspeople think? That one of the city's largest business owners has a mentally ill daughter! I will lose all of my respect!" As soon as he finished his sentence, the man knew he had said too much. Eli recognized him immediately.
"Mr. Brandon?" So, the city's largest business owner was afraid that having a daughter who was claiming to see things would tarnish his image, so instead of helping her, he wanted to banish her from the family.
"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Mr. Brandon whispered hoarsely, lowering his hat over his eyes. "We have already put in an article to the newspaper, saying that she has perished from pneumonia. We plan on having the burial tomorrow. Not even her little sister knows what we are doing right now."
Eli was at a loss for words. Putting your daughter in an asylum, when you are not even sure of her condition, was bad enough, but to be so ashamed that you falsified her death? It was downright appalling! Gathering himself once again, he looked Mr. Brandon in the eye, then again, over to his wife. She was smiling seductively. So twisted. They should be the ones locked away.
"If you don't take her, we will take care of the matter on our own." The way Mr. Brandon said it, Eli was almost sure of how they planned on taking care of it. It was almost a threat. He was using his own daughter's life as a pawn. Eli realized he had more human compassion than this man.
"We'll take her." Eli spoke gravely and with warning. Mr. Brandon nodded his head at his wife, who opened the car door. Eli had his first look at the "crazy" Ms. Brandon, and she did not look crazy at all, maybe child like, but not crazy.
She was small, under five foot, with black hair almost as long as she was tall. Her features were small and girl like, yet the gaze on her face was mystical. Eli was completely taken away by the girl. Unfortunately, the girl felt otherwise. When they made it into the asylum her eyes grew wide, and glossed over, then as soon as it happened, it was over. She began screaming and pulling away from her mother, trying to get out of the door.
"He is going to bite me! I saw it!" She screamed, as her father grabbed her. Eli was once again left speechless. How could this girl know what he was? Was it coincidence, or did she really see him biting her?
"Mary -Mary! Settle down!" Ms. Brandon screamed into her daughter's face, holding her wrists tightly together, "Sedate her! Please!"
Eli thought quickly, he hated using the medication on patients, but decided Mrs. Brandon might be right on this one occasion. He pulled the syringe out of the locked box, and pushed it into the girl's arm. Within moments, she was calmed and all her mother was holding all of her weight. Eli swiftly lifted the girl into his arms. She was light, even if he was immensely strong.
"Stay put." Eli said when he saw the Brandons move towards the door. "I need information on her, and if you leave, I can promise you that the entire town will know about this." When he turned down the hallway, he smiled at the scowl he knew he was getting from the couple. He found a room towards the end of the hallway, away from the other patients.
When he opened the door, Eli put the girl down on the bed and looked around the room. It was damp and dark, he could even hear the squeaking rats behind the walls. The girl did not deserve this kind of life, even if she did know his secret.
After locking the door, Eli went back to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Brandon. He wasn't surprised to find them looking pleasantly calm and relaxed.
"Could we hurry this along? My wife has a breakfast party in the morning," Mr. Brandon said looking down at his watch.
Eli didn't try to hide the low grow that rumbled in is throat. Mr. Brandon straightened up, and no longer looked as if he was going to try to push Eli around.
"If you're quite finished, we will need to know her name, her full name. Don't worry, these records are confidential, and I will be sure that my eyes are the only ones that see them," Eli said, pulling out a piece of paper and an ink pen from the desk he sat at.
"Her name is Mary Alice," Mr. Brandon said curtly.
"Mary Alice -Brandon," Eli said, repeating what he wrote down. "Now, how old is she? Why are you bringing her to us exactly?"
"She is nineteen," Mrs. Brandon answered, looking down the hallway as if a bogyman was going to walk out of one of the rooms.
Mr. Brandon was starting to feel awkward standing in the middle of an insane asylum, during a terrible storm, with a man who looked more beautiful than his wife, "Mary had an active imagination as a child, and now she thinks she can see things before they happen-"
"Has she ever been right?" Eli asked. His voice was far from casual, but he had to know if the girl made a lucky guess, or if he really was going to try to make a meal out of her someday.
Mr. Brandon and his wife gave Eli a rather apprehensive stare. As if he too belonged behind one of the big, iron doors.
"We're leaving, you have everything you need. Please do not contact us again." Eli watched Mr. Brandon slide his arm around his wife's waist and lead her out of the door. As he stood to lock the door behind them, he noticed how neither one turned to look back.
He inhaled deeply, when he sat down behind the desk. This was a rare event, as Eli usually chose not to breath in the scent of the building. It had an over powering stench of mold and decay. The mold derived from the building itself, which had been built years ago to house those stricken with typhus. Those who came here had no hope. It was a holding house for those who were going to die, and in the basement, is where they would keep the bodies until there was another burning. Through the years, the dampness had crept in and settled, giving the air a musty smell. Due to the mold, Eli had heard from the red head, most patients only lived in the asylum for a few years before getting sick, and eventually dying.
His eyes flickered down at the paper his hand rested on. The paper with the girl's information on it. Mary Alice Brandon. His thoughts returned to what went on awhile ago with the girl. He had found her mysterious and above all else, he believed that she could see things. She might not be psychic like she claimed… but she definitely had seen something about him.
Eli leaned backwards in his chair, exhaling the breath he had taken in, before folding up the paper and placing it into his pocket. He only had a few more hours before Victoria came in, and he had to forge a whole set of documents.
The very first question on the admission papers stumped him. He had promised the Brandons that nobody else would know about the girl, so her putting down her name was out of the question. What name could he use? What story could he even give to Victoria to explain why she was here, and why she had come in so late? He was quickly becoming irritated from himself. He had been alive for over two hundred years, yet he couldn't even think of a proper lie to protect the girl. For the sake of his own sanity, he set the pencil back on the desk before he snapped it in two.
He knew part of his irritation was from his thirst. It was not easy for him to work around humans all night, especially when he had a hard time hunting during the day. When he started the job, he thought it would be easy to drink from the patients, but after seeing them in such a drab environment, he thought it would be cruel that there last moments on this hellish earth to be in pain. So, instead, he let them live happily in their own little dream worlds and he picked off travelers that came through the town.
Eli started his rounds, looking in at the patients through the slot in their doors. Walter Radcliff, the man who believed himself to still be a child, though he was going to be forty seven next month, was sleeping with his teddy bear. Violet Clementine, was a woman who went mad after she lost her husband and newborn son within fifteen hours of each other. Other people… more sad stories.
Before long, he came to the girl's door. She was just laying there, where he had left her, staring up intensely, as if the ceiling enraptured her. Even in the dingy room, she looked angelic. He wanted to open the door and hold her in his arms, but he knew even being that close to that human again would mean trouble. He would most surely fulfill her vision.
Then he had a brilliant idea. He would tell Victoria, that the girl was his younger sister. He looked old enough to tell the lie, and at least he would be able to give her the surname he had used as a human, the same one he still claimed. Eli could tell her that his father was requested to travel across the seas, and would not be able to care for her in her present condition, so he sent her down to Eli. That way, if Victoria requested paper work, Eli would be able to forge them easily. A smile curved the corners of his mouth upward.
He saw the door open, and his grin fell, when the bobbing crimson hair came into view.
"Good morning Eli!" Victoria came in with her usual smile. She was a happy woman, easily pleased by small things, but Eli came to realize that she was quick with a needle, and would rather pump the patients full of sedatives than listen to them.
"Victoria, you're quite early," Eli said, noticing the clock on the wall. She was two hours early, to be exact.
"Oh, yes. You have been looking so tired lately, Eli, I thought I would let you get some more sleep," She chimed. Then her heavily hooded eyes saw where Eli was standing. She walked to him and peeked inside. "New girl? What's her name? She looks wild."
"Her name?" He hadn't thought of that yet. He could use Mary, it was a common name. No, it was too common for her. "Oh -her name is Alice."
I'm not sure if i want to continue this story -or leave "as is", let me know?