Hey ya'll! I hope ya'll like the opening to this story. This is the first chapter. Poor Alice huh? Anyhoo ENJOY!

Jasper POV.

"Edward, what the hell man?" I looked into the fridge and back at Edward sitting on the island in the middle of the kitchen eating the last bagel. "You know I bought those!" Edward slowly raised his eyebrows at me and stopped mid-chew.

"You know I bought this house your living in, the clothes on your back, and even the OJ that you're gulping down… out of the carton. Come on man! Use a glass!" Edward said while spraying bits of bagel everywhere. He hopped down off the island and handed me a glass cup. I grabbed it and gave him a sheepish smile. I knew it irritated him when I drank straight from the carton and that's half of the reason why I do it. The other half is because I'm just too damn lazy to get a stinking glass cup most of the time; it's pointless. I just end up dirtying a clean cup for no reason.

I put the OJ back into the fridge and put the clean cup Edward handed me back into the cabinet while mumbling about how we all couldn't be geniuses and be rich. I saw him smiling at me so I looked at him and said, "And if I was a boy genius and rich I would always have oodles of bagels for everyone to eat!" Edward rolled his eyes at me and handed me the loaf of bread behind him that I was pointing at.

"Shut up and eat some toast." He chuckled. "I'll buy you some damn bagels, now quit your complaining." I smiled at him and handed him a cup off coffee I made.

"So, what's on your agenda for today?" I asked, while popping in some toast.

"Well I thought I'd do a surprise stop in at the office today because you know how much they hate that; and then I don't know, maybe go by the hospital to see Emmett." I shook my head in acknowledgment.

"He workin' today?"

"Yup."

"Sweet beans." I said, as my thick southern accent slipped out. The silence was nice as I sipped my coffee. Edward grabbed the newspaper sitting on the counter and started looking through the stock markets. I had no interest in business stuff, so I grabbed the comics and sat at the table, eating my toast and sipping my coffee.

Every time I chuckled Edward would set his paper down and expect me to read it to him. We had been doing this for years and don't ask me why. Edward would say he couldn't bear to waste his life away on stupid humor, but would always want to know what I found so funny. My favorites were the stupid corny jokes. So I read him this Sunday's funny, the one that had two muffins in the oven. One leaned over to the other and said, "Damn it's hot in here." the other screamed, "Holy shit, a talking muffin!". Edward laughed so hard that he fell right off the four foot island with newspaper in hand, which set me off on another round of laughter.

After breakfast was cleaned up and put away I decided a long shower was due. I took the stairs three at a time, still laughing about Edward falling and not paying attention to where I was going. I slid on the last step in my socks, aiming my falling body for the opening to my room; trying at all cost to avoid hitting the huge wooden chest right in front of me at the top of the stairs. As I was falling down I reached out to anything to break my fall. I grabbed at the dresser to the right in my room as my hand slid across something sharp. I hit the side of my door frame with my side and slid down, holding my hand against me. Something clanked to the floor with me.

Trying to catch my breath I looked down at my hand. There in the middle of my palm was a decent sized slice. Looking for the perpetrator I saw the picture frame of Maria, my ex-fiancé, laying face down on the floor. I scowled at it. I had no reason to why I had it still; she was the one who had left me, I apparently wasn't good enough for her.

Maria had once been my life. She was everything to me; the perfect woman. She was beautiful and she knew it. Maria was five foot seven, long straight black hair, dark olive skin, and eyes of a raven; dark and mysterious. She was powerful and wise in the ways of men. Wrapping her small delicate fingers around my heart and slowly squeezing it until there was nothing else; just empty space. Then she would move on to her next victim. Maria took everything from me in the end: my home, my car, well hell, even my blue heeler that I brought from Texas when I moved with her. She promised me forever and all I got from her were tears and a broken heart.

I picked myself up off the floor, holding my hand and ribs, realizing they hurt pretty badly from hitting the wood paneling. Leaving the picture face down on the floor I walked over to the shower, turning it on. I stripped off my shirt and looked at the blue blotches already starting to form along my side. Damn, well that's gonna leave a pretty good bruise. I took my cut hand and ran it under the cool faucet water, wiping the blood away. Maybe I'll run by the hospital later to see Emmett too. I chuckled at my thoughts.

I opened the glass door to the shower and got in. The hot water cascaded down my body, beating at my back. Thoughts of Maria kept seeping into my mind making me angrier. I thought of all that had happened in my life to lead me up to where I was now. My parents dying when I was young, Edward's family bringing me in, and letting me become a part of their family. Me becoming an artist and selling my paintings to make a little extra cash even though Carlisle and Esme, Edward's parents, would never let me go without anything I ever wanted or needed. And finally meeting Maria in south Texas and letting her turn my world upside-down.

Edward was my best friend growing up and always had been. At age 15 he became a multimillionaire selling his ideas on some kind of artificial heart-thing he had made and over a few years created the largest corporation in New York City; how he did it, I don't know.

He took me in when my parents died and again when Maria took everything I owned. Of course I didn't fight her for it, which made Edward furious, but how could I? I loved her and if she wanted it all she could have it. So he gave me everything and never asked for anything in return. Well, except my love as a brother, which he didn't have to ask for anyways. And then my paintings that are hanging throughout his mansion.

The pain in my chest seemed to re-open up when I thought of Maria so I tried to change my thoughts of what I had planned on doing today. I knew I would probably need stitches for my hand; thank God it was my right hand because if it was my left I think I would literally go crazy not being able to paint. I wanted to paint something new, so I thought I'd just take a walk until I found what I was looking for; maybe Central Park? I thought of all the people that would be there, maybe not. Finally to finish off the day, run by McDonalds for one of their ultimate double cheeses. My mouth watered just thinking about it.

As I was lost in thought I didn't realize I had just been standing in the shower for thirty minutes and had not done a thing and the water was extremely cold now. I hurried and was out of the shower in a record minute. Thank God for being a man, no shaving everything. Shivering, I wrapped a warm, large fluffy towel around me that I had gotten out of the warmer.

Wrapping my hand in gauze that I found in one the drawers in the bathroom, I quickly got dressed and headed out.

The rich side of New York City was super boring to me. Edward and I live in one of the rare parts of the city where mansions actually existed. Edward said he liked the patch of grass that he calls a back yard so I couldn't complain. Plus he had to live close to his business.

Most everyone lived in either an apartment or a condo or something; real houses like ours were rare and extremely expensive. But to Edward money was not something to fret about. Hell, he was pretty much retired at the ripe old age of twenty four. All he did was surprise check-ins on his company to make sure everything was still running smoothly, the rest was left to the big-wigs of his company, oh and his father who ran it all.

I took a cab to the semi-poor parts of the city. This place I loved. The old red brick apartments had clothes lines with tons of bright clothing reaching from one window to another. The children played games like street baseball or kick ball out in the middle of the street. People sat outside and talked to each other on their porches; they were real friends, not just acquaintances with names like we were on the rich side. This place reminded me of my home, of Texas.

I sat down my canvas and paints that I had had slung across my shoulders in a little leather tote I'd had since childhood and began to paint the beautiful scene in front of me. A very small girl was bending over and looking at a beautiful flower that oddly matched her dress. It had sprung up in between the crack in the concrete, not ten feet away. She had a melon red dress on, long brown wavy hair with bows tied at the top of each pig-tale and she was barefoot.

It was strange, as if she knew I was painting her, she held still just looking at the flower; examining it, touching the flower petals softly. The clouds broke and the sun came shinning down on her. It was the most beautiful picture I had ever seen. As soon as I thought that, she looked straight at me. The sun hit her eyes and made them glow a fabulous, wild green. I gasped; my paint brush froze in my hand. What a perfect ending to my painting; the girl with the wild green eyes.

As the day drew on I thought I'd explore more of this side of town. The sun had come out and the mugginess of the city seemed to go away for a short amount of time. I could hear water flowing on the other side of the large apartments that were next to a large bridge. As I started under the bridge I noticed a bunch of cardboard boxes. Really? There is a dumpster not fifteen feet away and you had to dump them right here? I sighed as I picked them up and started carrying them to the dumpster. I wiped my hands on my jeans after I finished and started off towards the river. As I drew closer, I smiled. It truly was beautiful. The sun was reflecting off the river and you could see the reflections of cars passing on the bridge. The steam boats were floating by and I raised my hand to wave.

A coughing sound alerted me that I was not alone. I looked around to see if there was anyone around me, but there was no one.

"Hello?" I waited for a response. "Hello?" I called again. Getting a tad bit creeped out I started walking backwards, looking out for strange people. I tripped backwards and quickly stood back up looking at the cardboard box I had just knocked over. Something was in the small box. Thinking it was a cat I grabbed the box, lifting it quickly and took a couple of steps back as fast as I could. I've heard of cats going crazy and attacking anything that was near it.

There on the bank of the river was a small girl curled into a ball in the dirt, face covered in blood, clenching a note; dead.

Oh man, it's sad huh? I promise it might get happier. Intense way to start off a story huh? well review and tell me what you think. Thanks- Kearakee