Rosalie and I left for New York today. It was Thursday, May 15. Today was an unusually sunny day, which was perfect for Rose and I. The kids at school would think that we were out camping or hiking, so we were free to do whatever until tomorrow.

I already knew that it would be cloudy in New York City, but it wouldn't be raining. We left the house in a hurry to get there before noon. It was 2:00 A.M. Thank goodness vampires didn't sleep or get tired. We took Rose's M3, knowing it was the fastest way to get there. I really needed a new car. I had a flash of a yellow Porsche 911, and I smiled. Yes, that would be the car. I would get it soon enough.

We drove, singing along to the CDs I made last night. I started drawing which dresses to look for and where. Suddenly, we were there. We parked the car in the train station and got tickets to the city. We would never leave out an expensive convertible in the city. We got stares as usual from some of the passengers. I sighed. Rose noticed this and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I wish Jazz was here. I hate being so far from him." I told her.

"I know. But I'm sure he and Emmett are doing something crazy and fun right now." We laughed, imagining what they were doing. I had a vision again. Oh, God. They're making a bet.

"They're making a bet to see who comes back with less clothes." I laughed. Rose rolled her eyes but smiled.

"Those boys, I swear, they will do anything for kicks." We laughed more, getting even more attention from the passengers. I silenced, looking at Rose. Being a vampire had its perks, but attention wasn't one of them. It would be so nice to just be a normal human for one day.

We got off the train at Central Station and exited the terminal, pushing through crowds of people trying to get somewhere. We finally made it outside into the cool, crisp air. Rose exclaimed, "Wow, Alice. This was definitely the perfect day to shop!" We laughed and linked arms, walking towards Saks Fifth.

We grinned when we headed in to the lights and the ten floors that made up Saks Fifth Avenue. We got Rose's dress and then got out quickly, not wanting to overbuy things. We didn't want to give Jasper and Emmett the satisfaction, so we decided to buy equal amounts of things. After that, we got a cab to David's Bridal to get my dress. Then we headed over to Deb to get Bella's. We were pretty much done by 2:00.

I still had one last thing to do, and I had to do it alone. "Hey, Rose, why don't you head over to Tiffany's without me. Get me something good." I winked at her.

She got the hint. "I just love Tiffany's." She quoted Breakfast At Tiffany's Holly Golightly. We laughed and broke away. I whistled for a cab.

"New York Public Library." I told him. A couple of minutes later we arrived. I handed him a couple of bills and told him to keep the change. I took an unnecessary deep breath and headed up the stairs and into the dimmed lights of the library. I went to a computer and typed "Asylum" into the search engine. There were hundreds of copies. My eyes read through them quickly; another perk of being a vampire. My eyes laid on the one that described an asylum in southern Texas. That was the one.

I had a flash of the past. The policemen grabbing me and putting the straightjacket on. My mother's knowing face. When I told her I kept having visions of the future, she was terrified. She didn't know what to do, so she called the police. The memory faded. I stared at the computer screen, wondering if this really could be happening. Was I really going to be finding out about my past? Could I uncover this mystery that was my past?

There was only one way to find out.

I checked the book out and put it in my purse and hurried to Tiffany's. Surely enough, Rose was in there, musing at a ring on her finger. I rushed over to her, trying to keep my face composed. "Hey Rose. Nice ring."

"Thanks." She grinned. "I wonder if Emmett and I could get married again. I mean, vampire weddings are totally different than human ones, but still. Either way, I am so getting this ring."

"It's great." I smiled weakly. Rose was too busy buying the ring to notice.

"Ok. Now you. What would you like from this heavenly store." She gestured around the store.

"I don't know." I just picked something off the necklace rack and bought it. I didn't even look at it.

"Seriously, Alice. What's wrong? You don't sound like yourself." I knew Rose was right. Usually I was crazy about shopping, but now, I just wanted to go home and see Jazz.

"Nothing. Can we just go now?"

"Fine. But we haven't bought a lot! And we're in New York City!" She pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. But we'll go back here another time, I promise." I told her.

"Fine." She mumbled. We got out of there and took a cab to Grand Central Station and boarded our train back. It was a silent ride. I didn't dare take out the book, or else she could've seen what I was up to. We strolled over to our car once we were off the train.

She sang along to the second CD, but I stayed silent, staring out the side of the car. The wind was disrupting my hair, but I didn't really care anymore. I just needed to find answers, and soon.

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Once we pulled into the garage, I ran out and found Jazz and Emmett on the field tossing a football back and forth laughing at some joke that I hadn't heard. I snuck up behind Jasper just as he was catching the football. I jumped on his back, and he jumped. I kissed his neck, and he immediately knew it was me.

"Geez, Alice. Don't sneak up on me like that." He laughed.

"Hey, it's not my fault you don't use your extra-punctuated senses wisely." I laughed sarcastically. He pulled me off his back and kissed me.

"How was your trip?" He asked.

"Good." I answered simply, my thoughts going back to the book I had in my bag. I felt a weight of it as if gravity was pulling hard on it. Not like it was a problem for my super-human strength, but still.

"Good? What's wrong? Usually you come home from shopping beaming about it and flaunting all your clothes and stuff."

"I know, I know. And I know about your bet." I smirked at him.

He smiled at me. "I knew you would." He kissed my forehead.

"You both lost, by the way. Rose and I each got two things. And we split the money for Bella's dress so we wouldn't give you the satisfaction." I smiled slyly.

"Next time we'll have to be more careful." He grinned and I rolled my eyes.

"Okay. Well, I have a couple of things I have to do, so you two can go back to your little game."

"Little game?" He mocked but shrugged it off. "You just got back! What could you possibly have to do?"

"Homework." I half-lied. We had missed a day of work, so I had to do that and homework. But that could wait. I still needed my answers. And I would get them soon enough.

"Well, okay then." He still didn't look too convinced. I tried to make my emotions calm, but he already had that covered.

"'Bye Emmett." I waved to him and walked away, towards the house.

"'Bye!" He yelled in his booming voice.

I ran inside and went into my room on the second floor. I laid stomach-down on the mattress and flipped through the book. There were a few pictures of the asylum, and it told about what kind of people were kept there. It had a few paragraphs on how they treated those kinds of people. It said each person had their own room; kind of like a jail. Each occupied room had a guard outside of it. It said that visitors could come once every two weeks if they desired. I had a flash of me sitting in a corner of a dark room, with a guard just outside that door. There was something about the day that was wrong. It felt like I only had moments left to live. Suddenly, through the tiny window they allowed on the door that looked out across the hall, was a shadow.

I jumped up and ducked under the window, inching my way up to the window to see what was going on. It was James. James was arguing with the guard. Suddenly, he grabbed the door handle and opened it. I stayed behind the door, terror in my eyes. What was James doing there and why?

The memory started to blur, but I was determined to keep it there. I got a last glimpse of James stalking towards me, and then the memory went black. I would've been hyperventilating if I hadn't been holding my breath.

Did James turn me into a vampire? What is Clarence's role in all this? I needed to figure this out for myself. Tomorrow, I would be flying down to Texas.