Chapter Two: Caught Like a Prey
Vampire Crayons
I've never been in this room before, so warm and the sofa's engulfing and comfy. I'm astounded to see an actual wood-burning fireplace set into the wall, instead of the faulty boilers; I'd thought they were taboo in this kind of an institution. Some illogical-headed captive could wreak some serious havoc with a tool like that to toy around with. Then again, I don't think patients were permitted in here, anyways.
The man sat at the desk opposite where he set me on the couch where I dared not move even a fraction of an inch. He pulled out my personal file; I could see from my name scrawled at the top in neat pen, a very doctor-like thing to do- something uncommon around this place. I wonder if he knew the policies of this place- beat until senseless and then knock some new sense into them. Yep, the town's local hellhole for the people you just don't want to deal with.
"Mary Alice-." he began and I cut him off: "Please, call me Alice." He smiled his consent. "From what I understand, you claim… you can see the future?"
"I can see the future," I replied curtly, not bothering to be polite to another doctor that would just stamp my forehead with the usual mark of a 'loony'.
"Oh, I have no doubts about that. Could you, perhaps, do a demonstration for me?"
Ha, I almost laughed, but not quite. "Need to see it to believe it, huh? Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I can't exactly control my visions." He scratched a note, so fast the movement was almost invisible, on a yellowed notepad on the tabletop. Of course: no proof: not credible… typical.
"I suppose you think you're insane," he chuckled, making another note. I presume he was making observations.
"No, but you probably do, along with everyone else here. I happen to know, from experience, that I'm not a liar or a lunatic, but- you know what they say- never trust an asylum junkie."
"Who says that?" He asked, cocking one eyebrow on his exquisite face.
"Mr. Krimley, my guard." Krimley, that slime.
The next moment he was completely changing the topic. "Do you believe in mythological creatures, Alice?" I only gave him a puzzled look. "Vampires, maybe?"
"The same vampires the knuckle heads invented during Europe's black plague?"
"Very intuitive, but no. I'm thinking of a different type of vampire, a more humane one that prowls during the daylight hours. Ever heard of him?"
"I'm starting to think I'm not the only misjudged person in this room. Maybe you would like to take my cell?"
"Ha, ha," he boomed like velvet on silk. "If vampires weren't real, I might be under lock and key as well!"
I tried to keep my gaze on his angelic face, but my focus was fading fast and the room disappearing from sight. I knew, all to well, what would happen next.
I saw a girl I'd never seen before; she resembled me with cropped ebony hair and short stature. But her skin was almost an alabaster and her irises solid black. The unnamed doctor stood just in a clearing with her, whispering unintelligible things into the air. They were waiting, for what I am not sure, until he stepped out of the shadows. The intruder's skin sparkled like a thousand gems embedded into his pores when the sunlight hit him, shining down from the gaps in the trees. The glittering man demanded the doctor hand him over the girl or his own life would be forfeit, and I was shocked to see the doctor step so willingly forward. "I love you, my only daughter," he whispered before the predator lunged.
Meanwhile, the beautiful girl seemed to be having an internal battle in her mind, not seeing the fight in front of her eyes. She shook her head wildly until the spiky locks haloed around her face. "I must find him, I must… I must," she repeated over and over, launching her self into the dense forest without a second glance back.
The scene flickered and the next few clips changed so fast, it was hard to keep track of. Smoke rose from the tree tops, then the strange man was running at an alarming speed after the girl; finally, the girl lost her tracker and fell into a cluster of bushes between two trees. She curled herself into a tight ball and sobbed dry tears. Her cries were broken by the snap of a twig. I saw the perked ears of a deer, the way they set when they knew they were in the range of a dangerous hunter.
…
Jasper and I have never been parted long since the day we found each other in the rundown saloon. I remember gazing across the smoky room into the scarlet eyes of the love I had been searching for since my first vision shortly after the change- my first memory. His southern accent was unmistakable then, and he talked with formality that I'd never heard in my own lifetime before then. He was my perfect companion: opposites attract, like magnets. We traveled together to the Cullens and helped one another fight our bloodthirsty instincts to become what we are today. There is no doubt that I would not still be in this existence without my guardian angel by my side, and I his.
Mary Alice Brandon Cullen
…
Listen to No Fear; The Rasmus.
