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1928

Alice moaned as she slipped from a vision and her eyes adjusted to the room around her. She was now in Boston and but she knew she would move on soon. For the last five years she had been roaming from place to place trying to find the golden eyed family and the blonde haired man of her visions. She knew so much about them now and she was eager to begin her life with them.

The family were the Cullens- Carlisle the father, Esme the mother and their 'child' Edward. She also knew the blonde haired man's name from her visions, Jasper. She knew a lot of their personalities and lives from the things she had seen and she felt like she knew them intimately although they hadn't met yet.

She had seen a vision four years earlier of Carlisle and Esme hunting, only they had hunted for animals not humans. She realised that explained the golden eye colour she had seen and when she realised in her visions she had the same eye colour she had decided to try their way.

The first time hadn't been real successful, she had hunted two deer and they had tasted awful. Afterwards when she returned to the city she had killed three humans and drunk from them. It had taken her a few months on a dual diet to get use to the taste of animal blood and slowly give away human blood. But she had and now she had the same golden eyes from her visions and she hadn't drunk from a human in three years.

Her visions usually filled her with hope and longing but the vision she had just had made her sad. If she had been capable of crying, tears would have been streaming down her face.

"Oh Jasper," she gasped and was surprised how much pain filled her voice. In her vision Jasper had been sitting on a rock, his head hung and his sadness evident. More and more lately she had been having visions of him depressed and lonely and she longed to find him and comfort him.

She knew a fair bit of his life now, he was some kind of soldier and by the look of it in charge of the group he was with. He fought fiercely and at first Alice had welcomed the visions of his battles as a chance to see him. But now she feared them, watching him putting his life at risk and viciously killing others always upset her for days. On top of that over the last year she had seen many visions of him depressed and lonely and it made her want to weep.

She longed to wrap her arms around him and hold him, to tell him everything was okay because she loved him. But no matter how hard she searched she couldn't find him and she was beginning to wonder if he really existed at all.

XXX

Jasper sat in the forest on a rock and if he were honest he felt numb. The life he was living was so full of hate and senseless violence and he couldn't remember a time when it had been any different. Over the past few months the hate he felt had been internalised and he loathed himself and what he had become.

His relationship with Maria had changed too. He was still in command of the army and led their newborns in battles but since he had let Peter go he could tell she didn't completely trust him anymore. She was sadistic in her dealings with him now, getting some sort of sick fascination as she watched him suffer. Her latest game was to call him into her room for his usual 'rewards' but to just take for herself. Once she was sated she would push him from her and dismiss him and he was left with a longing and frustration that was driving him insane.

To make things worse the gift he seemed to possess for reading others emotions seemed to be growing. Whenever he hunted he could feel his prey's fear and terror and when he was around the newborns he could feel their bloodlust and anger. Being around Maria was the worst though, her anger and malice affected him more than anyone else. He had truly become a monster, his only real desires were to taste his next victim and go into battle so he could unleash his fury and kill.

He had taken to coming and sitting in the forest during the afternoon and Maria allowed him that, not wanting to push him too far. If only she knew she had already done it and he used this time to plan an idea that had began forming two weeks earlier, although the catalyst had come over three months ago.

Maria had just dismissed him from her room after his supposed 'reward' and he was stomping down the hall, his hardness throbbing and his frustration mounting when a newborn of only two months stepped in front of him. He let out a hiss as she blocked his way and she scurried away from him quickly.

As she did he noticed the flash of her dark black hair and he had a fleeting memory of Claire. She had long black hair like that, he realised. Before he could help himself he had grabbed the newborn and pulled her back to him.

"Come with me," he had ordered.

She nodded her head and he blocked the fear he felt coming from her and pulled her to his quarters. He had kept her there for the rest of the night, doing things to her that he had only ever done with Maria until then. He couldn't say he had hurt her, once she realised what he wanted she had been more than willing, but the ferociousness that he had taken her with had shocked him.

When he had dismissed her he warned her not to tell anyone what had happened between them and she had promised not to. He knew if Maria discovered their encounter she would destroyed the woman, Helena, and possibly Jasper too.

For the next two months Helena filled a void in Jasper's life. Whenever Maria called Jasper to her quarters for his rewards Helena would slip into his own quarters and be there when he returned. She would give him what Maria withheld and then slip from the room. She didn't acknowledge it outside the room and she didn't seem to want anything for it, no special favours or treatment.

Two weeks earlier Maria had discovered them together and before Jasper could defend her Maria had destroyed Helena. She had flashed Jasper a sadistic smirk and then flounced from the room and since then the underlying animosity between them had grew.

Jasper couldn't say that he loved Helena, or even particularly liked her. He didn't know her that well although he knew every inch of her body. Helena had been the final straw though, her only crime had been to offer him a little comfort and it was the night she died that he first had the idea of killing Maria.

Since that night he had come to sit in the forest every afternoon as he contemplated ways to do it. He had already decided to do it when Maria was at her weakest, when he was claiming his so called reward. She always insisted he was on top and he knew that if he waited until she gave herself over to the pleasure he could snap her neck before she suspected anything.

He knew they were going to be facing a newborn army from Torreon that night and he decided that afterwards he would carry out his plan. Once she was gone he could take control of their army and hopefully hold onto Monterrey on his own. He suddenly sensed the approach of a vampire and he stood into a protective crouch as his senses heightened.

"Jasper brother, take it easy, it's me," a voice said but Jasper still let out a defensive snarl as the vampire stepped from the trees. It took him a moment to realise it as Peter and he stood up from his crouch but didn't step any closer.

"Can I speak with you?" Peter asked, a little taken aback at how much Jasper had changed. His whole countenance oozed violence and anger now.

"If you must," Jasper nodded.

"I hope you didn't pay too dearly for letting us go," Peter sighed, knowing Jasper must have made a conscious decision not to follow them or they would both surely be dead.

"It wasn't too bad," Jasper shrugged, the bites he had received from Maria that night nothing compared to the ones he had endured since.

"Brother, she is lying to you," Peter said outright. "She has lied to us all."

"What?" Jasper frowned.

"There is a whole other world out there," Peter murmured. "Charlotte and I have lived in the north for five years and we never once had to fight."

"Hiding from others is no better than this," Jasper said with a wave of his hand.

"We don't have to hide," Peter told him excitedly. "We blend in with the humans and hunt at night but during the day we can do whatever we please. Charlotte has found a love of shopping I must say but there is so much to do, so many things that make you happy."

"How is that possible?" Jasper frowned.

"Our kind in the north are more civilised," Peter explained. "The wars are contained down here. Up there they are mainly tolerant of one another. Charlotte and I are met many that are the same as us but we have never had to fight, never had to defend ourselves. It is a peaceful life my brother."

"Then why are you here?" Jasper asked, unable to believe what Peter was telling him.

"You let us go," Peter shrugged. "I owe you for that. And I felt to repay you that I needed to let you know there is more out there. You would be most welcome to join Charlotte and I."

"You took a risk coming back to the south," Jasper pointed out.

"I know," Peter nodded. "And that is why I am alone. Charlotte is worried about it but she understands why I had to do this. She loves you as much as I do brother."

The word love was such a foreign concept to Jasper he couldn't really understand it but he supposed it was the feeling of peace and contentedness he use to have when Peter was around. Peter could see the confusion and doubt Jasper was feeling and he tentatively placed his hand on Jasper's arm.

"What do you say my brother?" he asked. "Would you like to leave all this behind and join us for a peaceful life?"

"Yes," Jasper murmured, not really thinking it through. The offer was so appealing and this was the out he had been so desperately craving.

"We must hurry," Peter said firmly. "We need to get far away before Maria realises you have left."

"She is busy planning an attack against the Torreon army," Jasper replied. "She won't be looking for me until an hour or so before we march at midnight."

"Good, that gives up plenty of time," Peter grinned. "We'll run to Mississippi and then fly back to Boston."

"Fly?" Jasper frowned.

"In an airplane," Peter smirked. "You'll love it brother. The humans have this way of getting places in a big metal machine that glides through the air. It cuts their travel time down immensely. Although humans travel a lot slower than us their planes still cut a few hours from our own journey."

"Unbelievable," Jasper muttered in awe, unable to comprehend how this new exciting world would function.

"We should go now," Peter reminded him gently.

"Then lets go," Jasper nodded and they turned and ran together and Jasper didn't glance back once as he followed Peter towards his new life.

XXX

Alice was moving through the forest, trying to decide where she should search for this Jasper next when a vision came upon her.

Jasper was running with the man she had seen him with the very first time she had seen him and he seemed happier. Even though she was lost in her vision she felt her relief at the change in his mood and she concentrated as they ran. As they skirted around the edge of a town she noticed the town sign and she strained to see it. As she read the words her vision faded but the grin on her face stayed in place.

"Houston," she giggled and changed her course as she began to head south, hoping this time she would find him.

She travelled quickly, only stopping to hunt for animals when the thirst became overwhelming, and two days later she was at the outskirts of Houston. It was just beginning to go dark and she slowed her pace and entered the city.

She quickly found a boarding house and paid for a room and after she had dumped her things she decided to explore the city and look for Jasper. She stepped from the boarding house and walked off down the street. She wandered for a couple of hours, being careful not to go too close to populated areas. Even though she had changed her diet humans still appealed and she didn't want to risk feeding and needing to leave the city while there was a chance Jasper was there.

She sensed the approach of one of her own kind and she looked down the dark alley she was walking down in excitement, hoping to see Jasper. The dark haired man that stood watching her wasn't Jasper but she decided to speak with him anyway.

"Hello," she said happily as she skipped towards him, oblivious to how truly dangerous the southern vampires were.

"Who are you?" the vampire demanded.

"I'm Alice," she replied. "Who are you?"

"Where is your creator?" he demanded.

"My what?" Alice frowned.

"Which army are you with?" he asked, again not answering her own question.

"Army?" Alice frowned. "I'm not with an army."

"What are you doing here then?" he growled. "This is my territory, you cannot claim it."

"Territory? Claim it?" she gasped and then she suddenly realised she might be in danger as she remembered all the conversations she had seen of Jasper's.

Before she could think the vampire moved towards her and lashed out at her. It was the first time she had ever been hit and the force of his blow sent her flying back through the alley to slam into a brick wall.

"Houston is mine!" he snarled viciously as he stalked towards her and grabbed her and she looked at him in horror as his blood red eyes showed his true anger.