Saturday, September 22, 2000
Arizona, Phoenix, Grace General Hospital
12:30 A.M.
The lights flickered gently as a storm temporarily disrupted the power lines supplying the Grace General Hospital with electricity. After a full minute passed enough power was routed from the back up generators to keep the lights from flickering. This method had been put in place based on the philosophy that flickering lights meant danger.
And it had held true, Grace General Hospital had had trouble in the past with flickering lights during particularly bad storms … not that Arizona got many storms outside the occasionally strong gust of wind. But the current storm was one that came every 22nd of September, every year, without fail. The last time it had happened, almost 9 years ago, the flickering became so persistent that it drove some of the more sensitively minded patients insane – and as such they had to have been deported to a sanitarium.
9 years ago was the hospital's 2nd year in operation. Officially the Grace General Hospital had been in operation since 1990. But what most people didn't know was that the building itself was much, much older than it's current façade. Sure the structure held up well enough, that's why the architects had chosen to refurbish it to look like a hospital, much less expensive than building a brand new hospital building. But unknown to anyone still alive in Arizona, much less Phoenix, the building was in fact one so ancient its history evaded speculation. Mostly because when anyone tried doing research on the actual origins on the structure they announced it, and shortly later that day – or the next – their body would be found drained of blood.
This had happened more frequently since the building became a hospital – upon doing so the Mayor of Phoenix had dedicated money to begin work on expanding the building. This had been met with much opposition; mostly because the other major hospitals in Phoenix knew Grace Hospital would be stiff competition on their bottom line … at least that's how the suits in charge of the hospitals thought about it. The people that worked there day to day couldn't care less if there was another hospital, just so long as they could keep their jobs.
Same Day
3:30 A.M.
Now that midnight had progressed the morning crew began to arrive at Grace General Hospital. The first ones in found it odd how the doors had been unlocked, and even more peculiar where were the locks?
Same Day
3:00 A.M.
Alice quietly walked toward the hospital in the distance. She hid a grin, but still smiled on the inside. This was it! She's been searching for nearly 9 days straight, and the sprawling landscape of Phoenix had begun to confuse her already taxed mind. And that was saying something, because – being a vampire – Alice Cullen had an extraordinarily large thought capacity.
As Alice got closer to the hospital she finally cleared the buildings obscuring her view. Grace General Hospital had been constructed in the northern end of a massive field bordering the city of Phoenix. There was a mile between the city 'limit' and the front doors of the hospital. Alice would leave a very severe complaint detailing this flaw … once she was done.
*Note: The author would like to point out that many of the details given are NOT representations of actual locations.
On the front of the hospital Alice read – even thought she was a mile away (again from being a vampire) she had supernaturally enhanced eyesight – GRACE GENERAL HOSPITAL. The building itself, down to every last detail, looked exactly like the one Alice had been seeing in her vision. That's right, vision. Alice could see the future, and as such she would always know what someone would be going to do – and how the consequences would pan out – the moment they changed their course of action in their minds.
Alice could focus this ability, but more recently she had been seeing Grace General Hospital more and more. "There's something important here…" Alice muttered to herself, even thought Jasper still heard her. He wasn't even that far away from Alice, maybe 20 feet. On one hand Alice hadn't even said the words, not really. But whether or not Jasper heard the words was irrelevant.
He felt Alice's intentions, her emotions in particular. He knew she needed to do something to, for, and at this hospital – not necessarily in that order. But for the undead vampire life of him, Jasper Cullen couldn't figure out why his immortal companion wanted to come here in the first place. It was truly baffling, even for him. But Jasper didn't care why – he just wanted to be close to Alice, and support her in any way he possibly could.