Chapter Two

The night after my first day of school, I slept uneasily. I kept having these dreams of Jasper driving at speeds over 100 mph down long winding roads. His face was tight, his jaw locked with dark circles under his black eyes. His eyes were the scariest part; they looked almost animal like, like a cheetah eyeing its prey from behind some bushes.

The most petrifying part was when he stopped the car and ran out into the woods at speeds far too fast for humans. The next part of this nightmare was in flashes. He jumped… a bear roared… lighting struck as it started to pour rain… his matted hair… blood dripping from his mouth…

I woke up screaming as a flash of lightening brightened my dark room and thunder struck. Beads of sweat ran down my face and neck and matted my clothing to my body. My breathing was heavy as my eyes darted around my room.

The door burst open and I screamed again as my sister dove into my bed and wrapped her arms around me. I had these episodes some nights where I will see a major accident or someone dying in what I thought was dreams but was really visions.

My eyes grew wide. Maybe that wasn't a dream…

Maybe it was real.

That thought scared me to tears and I wrapped my arms around my sister and cried into her shoulder as she stroked my back. She mumbled words of comfort into my ear and said everything would be alright; it was nothing that I could fix.

My dad stood at the doorway looking lost and worried. He took a step forward and I nodded at him.

"I'm fine, dad. Go back to bed. I just miss mom." I choked out.

He looked unsure for a moment before nodding back, mumbling something about calling if we needed him.

Cynthia pulled back as I began to shake.

"What happened, Al?" she asked, searching my eyes.

I looked down from her gaze, for once not wanting to discuss my visions.

"It… it was nothing. Really. I just miss mom." I repeated and looked up with a half-meaningful smile.

She looked unconvinced, but let it go.

"It will be ok, Al," she put a hand over my hand and laid down with me. "I am here for you."

I squeezed her hand before turning my eyes to the ceiling. What was that? Why did he have blood on him? Did he kill the bear? My eyes widened.

Did the bear kill him?

That thought was too much to bear so I shut my eyes and thought about something else, like ballet. Thinking about ballet always calmed me down, the tranquil music and the fluid movements. I pictured myself dancing to swan lake and soon fell asleep.

The next morning dad woke me and Cynthia up. He had a surprise; me and Cynthia looked at each other knowingly.

"Well, here you go. Welcome home." He opened the front door to reveal an old beat up red truck. "It isn't the most beautiful thing around, but I got it for real cheap. It had a new engine and a lot of new parts. It drives good too."

He pulled out the keys from his pocket and handed the keys over to me. "You can drive until Cyn gets her license."

Cyn's birthday is September 3rd while mine is March 18th. She turns 16 in one week and gets her permit. That was one of mom's ideas. She didn't like the fact that 15 and a half year olds could get their permit at that age. She believed that we should get our permit at 16 and get our license if we passed with an A+ in the class. I got mine easily, but my sister still wouldn't be able to drive with me since I'm not 18.

She made a pouting face as we headed back inside. I hopped into the shower as she made French toast for us.

When we pulled into the parking lot and hour later, we were one of the first students there. So she started reading "Macbeth," her English project while I kept my eyes out for Jasper.

As the parking lot started to fill, I started to loose hope. I didn't even know what his family drove to school! Just as I got out of the car, I saw a very nice looking silver Volvo enter the parking lot. That has to be them! No one else owns a car that nice in Forks.

My anticipation grew as the car parked. My heart pounded as I watched the doors open. Rosalie got our followed by Emmett from the front seats. I was now standing on my tip toes, the images of last nights visions fresh in my mind.

Bella got out followed by Edward…

But no Jasper…

My heart stopped. No. This couldn't be? Was the family here after he was attacked or maybe attacked a bear? Did they know?

I started walking towards the group, set on telling them… what? That I had visions and one of them was Jasper being mulled by a bear? That doesn't sound too sane now.

I chewed my lip and Edward looked over at me, straight at me. He looked sort of angry so did Rosalie. Bella turned to me then back to Edward. He walked off without her and walked over to me.

My eyes grew wide as she approached. I smoothed out my sweatshirt and checked to make sure I hadn't spilled any syrup on me.

She stopped in front of me and I had to stop from gawking. She was so beautiful with luscious burgundy-brown hair and porcelain skin with big dark golden eyes. She looked like she wanted to say something so I started.

"Hi, I'm Alice." I said and extended my hand. She looked down at it but didn't shake it.

"I am here to tell you that you should not be… messing with our family. Do not worry about Jasper, he is fine, just… ill." She said and I furrowed my brow.

"But.."

"No. Just please…" She said before turning and walking over to a waiting Edward.

My heart fell but I couldn't quite understand why. Jasper was fine, but the whole family was against me knowing them when I didn't even try to become friends with Jasper. He hated me and now the whole family hates me. My eyes started to water and I turned and ran back to the truck and got in. I turned the key, pushed the pedal, and headed out of the parking lot. I didn't care where I went, just somewhere away from here, away from these hateful people.

I was driving down a road now that seemed vaguely familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger on how I knew it. Finally I drove past a house and it clicked.

I stopped the truck and ran up to the door, knocking politely.

"Alice?" A voice sounded from behind me and I turned quickly.

"Jacob!"

"Alice!"

I threw myself into his arms and he twirled me in a circle before setting me back down. We were both laughing as he set me down.

"What… what are you doing here?" He asked, giving me a quick run down with his eyes.

"I moved in to my dad's with Cynthia." I said as I punched his arm. He had grown more, a good foot or so taller than me with is long black hair and tanned Indian skin.

"I missed you two. But shouldn't you be in school?" He asked, looking at my truck.

"Yah, bad day. What about you?" I retorted, raising an eyebrow to him.

"Oh, there is no school today for us; it's a teacher's holiday or something like that." He laughed and patted my head. I made a face and he laughed.

"You are still short." He said and I pretended to pout. He grabbed for me and I ran, laughing at him. We broke through some bushes and ended up on the reservation beach. I stopped and he stood beside me. I forgot how beautiful the beach was.

"I missed this place." I said before heading for the water.

Jacob walked beside me and we just walked in silence for a couple minutes.

"So what's new?" I asked, still looking at the waves rolling in.

"Hm. Well I found out our tribe are descendants of wolves." He said and glanced sideways at me.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Really?"

"Yah. It was a long time ago. These people called the Cold Ones appeared, causing the main tribe men to transform into wolves to protect its people. About fifty years ago my great grandfather ran into a pack of the Cold Ones but they said they would not hurt them, that they only hunted animals. So they made a treaty with them. It apparently still holds true today."

His story gave me chills for some reason and I wrapped my arms around my small body.

"What are the Cold Ones."

"Vampires are the modern day word for them, and I suppose the wolves would be called werewolves."

I stopped walking for a moment as the information processed in my head. I just had visions last night where Jasper attacked a bear and had blood dripping down his chin. Does that mean… he is a vampire?

"I have to go now." I turned and ran back to my truck.

"Wait! Alice!" I heard him start to run after me, but I was quick and maneuvered more easily through the brush. I got into the truck and started it right as he broke through the trees.

"I will visit soon, I promise!" I yelled before taking off down the road.

I couldn't believe it. Could it really be true? Could the family be vampires? I have to do more research.

I stopped at the town's library, which held ten computers for use to the public. I hopped on one after getting a number and pulled up Google. I typed in vampires and tons of links appeared. I typed in the Cold Ones after vampires and the results narrowed.

Jacob's tribe, the Quileute Tribe, was a link and I clicked on it.

It told of stories of the Cold Ones and how they would kill the tribe members by consuming their blood. It told that they were pale skinned, cold to the touch, and hard like granite. They had red eyes and hyper senses but did not have fangs, just venom on their teeth that numbed the victim before they killed them.

I sat back in my chair and thought, Jasper's family definitely did not have red eyes, and maybe they weren't vampires. But Jacob did mention a family that ate off animals instead; maybe they had different colored eyes.

Time to run some tests, which required me to get up close to one of them.

I returned to school and said that I was late due to family issues and went to class.

It was now Friday and I had all but given up hope that Jasper would come back. I didn't have any more visions of him attacking bears, and his family ignored my existence. As more time passed, the more I thought about how ridiculous is would be for them to be vampires. I mean, vampires don't go out during the day and they don't go to school at that.

I had erased it from my mind until I entered the cafeteria for lunch that day.

"Hey, Jasper's back." Jessica said and my heart stopped. I turned and sure enough, he was sitting in his spot next to Edward. He looked over at me before looking back at the floor. I saw his lips moving as if he was talking to someone and I looked away.

My heart was in my throat now and I got out of the lunch line and sat down at the table. I kept my eyes on a page in a book and told everyone I had to read this by next period and they left me alone. But what I was doing was panicking. How could he leave for four days and suddenly reappear? Well, he could have been sick.

I glanced up and looked back down, no bandages or scars. So he wasn't mulled by a bear. I heard a loud booming laugh and looked up, along with a couple other students and saw Emmett was laughing. He was nudged by Rosalie who looked pissed off and everyone went back to eating. Jasper and his family then looked directly at me, their looks ranging from angry to scared.

I think I visibly paled because Angela looked at me worriedly. "Are you ok?"

I nodded and got up just as the bell rang and headed for class. I walked in hurriedly, being the first one there and sat in my seat. I stared down at my book and placed my hands on my lap.

I heard the scraping of the chair next to me and looked over accidently.

There he was, but something was different. But what?

"Hi. I'm Jasper Hale." He spoke evenly, as if he was never angry at me. My jaw nearly dropped.

"E..excuse me?"

"I'm Jasper."

I was at a complete loss now. Did he hate me or not?

"Alice."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." I could have sworn I heard a bit of a western accent but that thought was immediately replaced.

"Did you get contacts?" I asked. His eyes, which were once black, were now a bright topaz color. He furrowed his brow at me.

"No. Why?"

"I remember your eyes being black when I first saw you." He shook his head. "Yes." He shook his head again. Right then the bell rang, which ended our argument. I wasn't going to drop it, I remember his black eyes glaring at me.

"Alright class, today we are continuing to work on moles, so with your partner I need you to complete this sheet and the first one done gets a prize!" He handed out the papers and we got to work. I had already done this and reached for the paper at the same time he did and our hands touched. We immediately pulled back. He was ice cold.

My mind was racing again as he grabbed the paper and started the first one. He pushed the paper to me and I looked down. He had such beautiful penmanship. I wrote down my answers to the second question and passed it back. I always liked my loopy writing, but now it seemed like a kindergarteners compared to his.

He completed the next one and passed it back.

"So, how are you liking Forks?" He asked, catching me off guard.

I was again at a loss for words, but this time because his voice actually registered. It was so calming and he was so handsome. I felt myself blushing at these thoughts and I could have sworn I saw the corner of his lip twitch up in a sort of smile.

I was now blushing rose pink and I knew it. He sort of tilted his head to the side as his eyes rested on my cheeks. I turned away before he looked into my eyes.

He finished the last problem before raising his hand.

"Done already?" The teacher walked over and grabbed the paper.

"Have you done this already?" Mr. Tanner asked and I nodded.

"Well, good job, both of you." He walked to the front of the class and I turned to Jasper.

"Do you hate me?" I blurted without thinking and immediately covered my mouth, eyes wide with terror.

I felt a wave of calm spread through me and relaxed. Where did that come from?

"I don't hate you. I'm… curious about you." He said slowly, as if chewing his words before saying them.

I still felt calm.

"I am curious about you too." I said as our eyes connected. I saw so much hurt, self-hatred, and curiosity buried in those topaz eyes.

"So why does your family stay away from everyone? Do we have cooties?" I asked jokingly and he laughed. It was like bells to my ears. He had the most amazing laugh and I found myself lost in its sound.

"No. We just are very protective of each other with being orphans."

"Yah, but the others seem to find… comfort in each other."

"Yes. Edward and Bella have been together since they met and when Emmett joined the group, it was an instant connection between him and Rosalie. Each couple has their quirks that compliment the other."

"But you are alone." I whispered and his eyes turned sad again. I instantly regretted my comment.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you." I said and put my hand on his. We didn't pull apart this time and he turned over our hands, tracing my blue veins that showed through my skin. My heart rate sped up and he pulled away.

"There is nothing to apologize over."

"I hurt you; I don't want to hurt you."

He looked shocked.

The bell rang then.

"I'll walk you to class." He said as he grabbed my books. I was shocked again, but it was pushed aside by the calmness that seemed to want to stay on the surface of my emotions.

We got quite of few looks from the other students as we walked.

"So, you seemed unhappy the other day." He started.

"I miss my mom." I blurted but found it hard to stop. "My sister, Cynthia, and I moved from Florida to here because my mom is traveling with my stepfather."

"Now you are upset." He concluded.

"I miss her so much. I miss the warm weather and the sun and the cool breeze and beautiful waters. It is pretty magnificent here, but it's just not the same…" I looked down at the floor as the tears threatened to spill over again. I hadn't actually gotten to cry yet and now it just seemed to want to come out.

He stopped walking and stepped in front of me. He set the books down on the floor before encircling me in a hug. I was a mixture between wanting to cry, hyperventilate, and remain calm. I ended up hugging him back and crying into his chest.

The sadness beat the other two emotions. But I didn't miss the fact that he was hard as stone, as if his muscles were marble. But for some reason, he comforted me; I felt right being in his arms. I felt like I might be…

In love.

That's when I got a vision.

Jasper was walking beside me, looking down at me as I twirled and stopped in front of a mirror and saw my eyes. They were the same topaz as his. Then it jumped to us stepping out into the sun and… it looked like we had a ton of glitter on. Then it jumped to me spotting a deer and chasing it and jumping on it, sinking my teeth into its skin.

As I returned to the present I was hyperventilating now. I pushed away from him and he looked worried and confused.

"You… you are a…" I felt a hand clamp over my mouth.

"Say nothing. Wait." I heard a male voice mutter into my ear. I nodded eyes wide with freight. Jasper was still in front of me, but now seemed stressed. He turned and the guy behind me nudged me forward so I followed. We walked out into the forest. And he stopped.

"Alice, I know you know what we are." I turned to see Edward. "Go ahead."

I shook my head, tears forming in my eyes.

"Say it out loud."

"V… vampire." I said.

"Are you afraid?" He asked. I stopped to think for a moment.

In my vision I saw Jasper and me together. I saw us happy. I saw him happy with the hurt and anger out of his eyes. I thought about my future and what I didn't know. What were they exactly?

But did I care?

"No."

I decided in a split second that I was completely, irrevocably, and indefinitely in love with Jasper Hale.