The Recruiter and the Arsonist

1920
Natchez, Mississippi
Alvis is 23 years old.

You would think that one such as I, physically superior in every way, would not be so easily fooled by a human. It is, of course, extremely difficult to lie to a Vampire. Detection does not require any special gifts; our superior senses are enough. And so, when that horribly contrived story left her mouth, I heard with distinct clearness the quickening of her pulse and smelled the slight rush of adrenaline that suddenly coursed through her body. No, my mistake was not believing her, but rather horribly missing the truth of what it was she was actually trying to cover up. How could I know she was so different from everyone else I had encountered? How could I know she was more than a frightened child, with just enough sanity to understand the instincts of self-preservation? How could I possibly know what she was really hiding?

But I should have known. It is my job to know. She was the exact thing I had been looking for, the reason I had exiled myself away to this unhappy place. And yet she so expertly outwitted me that I did not realize what I had right under my nose for three years.

And then it happened. Even if my memory was not eternally picture perfect, I would have remembered that moment, when all was revealed to me, with utmost clarity. The way her sentence trailed off into nothingness and her entire body stiffened, mouth and eyes wide with shock. The way those blue orbs suddenly sparkled with intensity and then the declaration of impossible knowledge. And somehow, even then in that moment, I must have known that I had made an unthinkable oversight.

This insignificant, reclusive, midget of a girl—who under different circumstances could have been my next meal—transformed before my very eyes into something altogether different.

I was fascinated.

And the more I got to know her, the more she intrigued me. She was funny and clever; and I had never realized it in all the three years we'd been meeting in my office. And of course, her potential as a Vampire was almost unlimited.

We argued occasionally, though I rarely understood why. I hadn't worked with sane humans in far too many decades and for the life of me I could not make sense of her reactions. The strangest things would upset her and then I would have to find some way to apologize without letting her see that I didn't actually know what I had done. But for the most part things went fabulously. I started formulating plans to break her out.

She had, after all, been my ticket out of here all this time. It was frustrating that after years of blindness, after finally finding her, I could not immediately depart. I had to gain her trust, or she would never come with me and never believe me when I told her the truth. And if I took her by force, she would never trust me at all. But I am a Vampire; I know how to be patient.

And patient I was for nearly two years. It was a longer stay than I had anticipated, but it became necessary after certain events. For I became aware that someone was following me. I found myself under the constant surveillance of a pair of burgundy eyes. His utterly uninteresting face appeared everywhere I went, his intense gaze inescapable. I could not fathom what he wanted, but I knew any thoughts of stealing off with Alice had to put aside. I could not risk her. I knew that if it came to a fight I could never win.

For I was usually weak for a Vampire, something I had come to terms with long ago. Besides, I had other things of value. That was why the Volturi gave me this job. It was perfect for me, really. I was The Recruiter, combing America's insane asylums for those who were truly "special", and not just mentally deranged as the parochial humans assumed. It was my task to find those talented humans that would make for especially powerful vampires. It was a non-confrontational assignment, the only sort I could take on.

It was my gift that singled me out as the prime candidate for this job. For where I was lacking in strength of the body, I more than compensated for it with strength of the mind. Aro was astonished when he first learned of it. He said he had never seen anything like it since Carlisle Cullen; which of course wasn't really the same at all. While Carlisle's control came from centuries of practice and determination, my own was as instinctual and effortless as Aro's mind reading. It was the gift of control—not of others, but of myself. My thirst, among other things, could be willed out of existence whenever necessary, which meant I had no trouble with an undercover mission such as this one.

But no matter how useful I was to the Volturi, I would be no use at all to Alice if this vampire attacked us. As the months dragged on, I began to despair that he would ever leave me alone. I had to get Alice out of here soon. I could see the effect her prolonged stay was having. It does not do to lock a human alone and out of the sun for so long.

I would try to wait him out. The Volturi would be irritated if I requested an escort. It was an extremely embarrassing thing for a Vampire to be unable to protect himself. Since I represented them, they would take this embarrassment personally. And one generally does not irritate the Volturi. In fact most will go to great lengths to avoid such a situation

Only in the past few weeks I had noticed a sudden increase in spottings of my follower. I tightened my watch on Alice, an easy undertaking since I enjoyed her company and found little else to hold my interest. Some days I left only to let her sleep.

This particular afternoon we found ourselves on the floor of Alice's room. She was contentedly consuming an entire jar of peanut butter with a spoon. No matter how much food I was able to sneak her, Alice always seemed to be hungry. She had been thin when she first arrived, but now her shabby, dirty dress hung off her body in way that hinted at ailing health. I really had to get her out of here. Despite her happy façade, I could see that she was wasting away.

Yet she never let on, even for a second. But more than that, I don't even think she realized it herself. I watched as a lock of greasy hair fell into her eyes and she directed a blast of air from between her lips to whisk it away.

"You know, you should be thanking your lucky stars you have enough hair for that to be a problem." She let out a half-laugh and grinned.

"And whose fault is it that it was ever not a problem?" she grumbled.

"Don't be a Gralice," I taunted, quoting Stella.

Alice just looked at me blankly, raising one eyebrow slightly.

"You don't remember, do you?" I said, my voice turning serious.

"No," she sighed. "So what does that mean?"

"Oh, it's something Stella used to say when you were being a grump." I frowned slightly, wondering if her memories would ever return. By this time she had virtually no recollection of her life before The Nat, left only with my retellings of the stories she had first imparted to me. But more disturbing yet, was the odd collection of recent events that were only semi-permanent, gone one day, back the next—thought I soon found that once something started to slip, it was only a matter of time before it was gone for good.

I inhaled an entirely unnecessary lungful of air, and then froze. Intermixed with all the usual smells—antiseptic, blood, food, rust,—was something entirely different, something that did belong in that familiar swirl of odors. I sniffed the air once more to be sure, and there it was… the unmistakable sent of a vampire.

Alice furrowed her eyebrows and looked at me questioningly.

"I'm afraid something has come up. I've just remembered." I kept my voice neutral and she seemed appeased, at least for the moment.

"All right then. Do come back soon." I nodded vaguely, already on my way to the door.

The scent proved no trouble at all to follow as I made my way through the meandering hallways. I walked with purpose, my spine ramrod straight, taking advantage of every inch of my height. I allowed my anger to just peak out from under the surface and put a threat behind my eyes, but not so much that I would appear even in the slightest bit out of control. The set up was key. This vampire did not know of my weakness and if I could appear intimidating enough, perhaps I could bluff my way out of a fight. That was, of course, if he was even looking for trouble at all. But whatever else he was looking for, I felt sure he was here for me.

My nose tested the air in front of a green door, this was it. I opened it slowly but firmly. It was the vampire who had been following me. I took several steps into the room and shut the door behind me. He did not seem to be making the first move.

"Perhaps you are not aware, but you have stepped into my territory—I must ask that you don't hunt within these walls or this town." This was a standard procedure, asserting my authority without being confrontational.

"Of course. I will respect the boundaries you state. Well, with one exception."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"The girl." Alice. It had to be. But how could he know about her?

"There are many girls here, to whom do you refer?"

"Do not play games with me."

"I'm afraid I don't understand, you have never been here before, and the patients do not go out."

"Come now, my good vampire, surely you didn't think this poor excuse for a institution had the money to soundproof its walls—though I doubt very much that could stop the superior hearing of one such as us."

"Who are you anyways? What right and what reason have you to come in here and make demands? I don't imagine the Volturi would be pleased if they heard you had interfered with their operation, especially when it was going so well."

It was blatant name dropping, but was an effective tactic that had proved itself countless times before.

"Because I did my research, Alvis C. Everton. And I happen to know that the Volturi aren't keeping very close tabs on you. They haven't checked up on you in over a decade, have they Alvis? I'm sure they'll come eventually, there must be some reason they sent you here. But should this altercation unfortunately end in your demise, I imagine they will assume you died in the fire along with the rest of them. My name is James, by the way."

"What fire?" I let the anger rise to another level and bore with intensity from my eyes into his.

"Did I forget to mention that? The one I started on the other side of the building earlier. Don't you smell the smoke?" He looked at me curiously. I had subconsciously turned down some of my less useful senses so as to better focus on my opponent, but as soon as I lifted the block I picked out the thick odor from the swirling mix of other smells. I growled at him in anger.

I heard a noise and saw a flash as he struck a match, illuminating the dark room. He picked up something and touched the match to it. The tops were swathed in dripping cloth that instantly ignited into burning balls the size of Alice's head. He took a step towards the door, a flaming torch in each hand.

He leapt forward, foot extended. The door was freed of its frame and fell to the ground under him. Then he turned his head back to me for a moment, black eyes glinting maniacally in the firelight.

"Save her, if you can. But I'll be waiting for you in the forest." And with that he launched himself into the hallway. He ran, arms extended, holding back just enough not to extinguish his blazing munitions, leaving a wake of fire as he whirled past. In an instant I too was gone, hurtling down the fire-rimed hallway as fast as I could.

I tuned in to all my senses, searching for anything, some sign. Then I heard it, a voice—faint but growing steadily louder as I approached.

"ALVIS, IT"S LOCKED! ALVIS! ALVIS SAVE ME!"

Then the shouting stopped for a moment, and had my heart still functioned, it would have stopped too. Was I already too late?

"ALVIS, HURRY!"

I redoubled my efforts; I had to get there in time.

"Alice, I'm coming" I whispered to the flames

1920
Natchez, Mississippi
Alice is 19 years old.

I stared through the darkness at the space where I knew the doorframe was and waited for Alvis' return. It was only minutes after he left that I smelled the smoke. It was very faint, and at first I thought I was imagining it. But as the seconds passed it only became stronger. I prayed that Alvis would return quickly.

I looked up at the window and saw the blurred silvery sphere of the moon obscured by a screen of smoke. I began to panic. Desperately I tried to remember something, anything I had been told about fire safety. But as always, those memories were lost to me. So I turned to my instincts, to see if any useful piece of information had managed to lodge itself in my subconscious.

"Smoke…" I muttered to myself, nodding my head slightly in concentration. "Bad for your lungs…you can suffocate…clearest air is…the clearest air is nearest the ground!" It seemed my mind was not completely useless after all. I quickly dropped to the floor. My eyes fell on the cot, just barely illuminated by the moonlight. The wide blanket trailed onto the floor and gave me an idea. I dragged myself across the floor, using my elbows to propel myself forward. When I reached the bed, I lifted the blanket up and slid underneath, hoping that the thick wool would shield me from some of the toxic air that was slowly filling the room. I regulated my breathing, some part of me understanding that the less contact my lungs had with the smoke, the better.

I could feel the air thickening and coughed once. I was going to die in here like a rat in a cage. Like all those women in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Just like them I was going to be burned alive, locked in a room while my superiors fled to safety. Only unlike the women in that fire, my window was grated over. There would be no escape.

Desperation began to take over. Despite the logical part of my brain, which knew that if Alvis was close enough to hear me he would have smelled the smoke and come to free me, I began to yell.

"ALVIS, IT"S LOCKED! ALVIS! ALVIS SAVE ME!" I doubled over coughing. "ALVIS, HURRY!"

I peaked out from under the blanket and immediately my eyes smarted, suddenly assaulted by the unfiltered smoke. Across the room I saw an orange glow, seeming to come through from the other side of the wall. It was only a matter of time before the flames dissolved it entirely. I ducked back into my woolen cave, coughing again. I lay myself gently down on the floor, trying to relax my breathing. There was always a chance that some opportunity, some way out of here, would present itself. And I intended to be alive when it did.

Suddenly there was a thunderous boom and I felt the floor reverberate. This was it. This was the end. But then…

"Alice? Alice, where are you?" an urgent voice called out. Alvis.

I rolled out from my hiding spot, coughing. Wordlessly he crossed the room and scooped me into his arms. I noticed then that the door had fallen from its hinges and lay across the floor of my room. Alvis surveyed the hallway, strategizing. I gasped as I saw the sea of fire that stretched out in both directions before us. A moment later we were off, Alvis leaping over flames at an impossible speed. My body lurched with centrifugal force as we turned abruptly into a room. Alvis sat me down on a desk and disappeared through a door. I realized we were in Alvis' office. It had been thus far unaffected by the flames, but surely he did not think it would last much longer. Alvis appeared again, only seconds after his departure with a bucket full of water. Without any explanation he picked it up and emptied its entire contents over my head. I sputtered in shock.

"That will hold the flames for a little bit." I had never seen his face so serious. His eyes glinted dangerously.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine. Come on, I have to get you out of here." Once more I found myself in his arms, flying through the air at unspeakable speeds. The hallways had grown incredibly hot and I could see flames licking at my shoes. And then he whipped his body around, still propelling us forward so that when we smashed through the wall it was his back and not my face that took the brunt of the force. But he seemed utterly unfazed about having thrown himself through a thick wooden wall, an impossible feat, and merely whipped back around and continued at what seemed to be an exponentially faster pace into the woods. The trees ran together like melted wax and my mind spun. The walls must have been weakened by the flames, that was the only explanation. But then, thinking of the Nat…

"Alvis wait, you have to go back."

"Sorry, no can do." He increased his speed, as if to make a point.

"Alvis please! Think of the other patients. None of them deserve to die this way, locked up like animals, slowly cooked to a crisp," I pleaded.

He shook his head firmly. "Alvis, I'm out. I'm safe now. Put me down!" I beat my hands against his chest and tried to wiggle free, but his tight grasp never faltered.

After a few minutes his pace began to slow. Perhaps I had convinced him. He set me down in the middle a tiny clearing in the woods. It was the middle of the night now, but some moonlight filtered through the trees and I could see his face. There was fear etched in his eyes, something I had never thought I would see. Then he began to whisper, urgency in his voice.

"Alice, I don't have time to explain everything. But… I'm not what you think I am. Not even close. I'm not your friend. And you're not safe. Someone is after you, after you because of me. I don't understand it myself. But it won't be long before he finds us. I have to make you safe. And I can, Alice. I can make you stronger than you could ever imagine and so safe that he will never hurt you. I…" his equivocation trailed off suddenly, his face torn. Silently, he begged me to understand, to forgive him for something he could not explain.

His lips parted slightly, and the moonlight glinted off his teeth. He leaned down and placed something on the floor next to me. He pulled me to my feet and wrapped his arms around me in a hug, his face nuzzled against my neck. He squeezed me tightly and I knew that this was another person I would never see again. So I squeezed him back. Why was it that the few people who cared about me must always leave?

Then something ripped into my neck, where his face was still pressed against it. It took everything in my power not to cry out. He stepped away then, sliding out of my grasp and carefully laying me back onto the forest floor. I watched in horror as he wiped something dark and wet off of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Alvis," I whispered, my mind somehow still able to remember its previous agenda. "Alvis, you have to go back and save them." I heard him sigh faintly.

"I'll try. But he's going to be very upset when he sees what I've done. But I promise you I will free as many as I can before he gets me." Then a mournful expression came over his face. "Oh Alice," his said, despairingly.

He dropped down so that his face hovered above me, and then I felt the inhuman coolness of his lips as they brushed against mine.

It only lasted less than a second and I was far too shocked to say anything. When I looked up I saw his retreating back for a moment before it disappeared into the darkness of the forest forever.

Then the pain came. I thought I had escaped the fiery inferno yet something was most assuredly burning my neck. I touched the spot, but felt only the warm wetness of my own blood. Localized at first, it spread quickly, my nerves igniting one by one as it crept down my arm. Electricity ten times stronger than any I had experienced by machine raced through my veins and instead of the relief of unconsciousness, I found myself torturously aware.

This time I could not hold back the scream that escaped my lips.

A/N--Hoo hoo I have been planning this chapter for a long time. I was quite excited that the time had finally come to write it, though I will miss writing about Alvis and Stella. I do hope James was sufficiently creepy.

I almost feel as if "part 1" is over, and a whole new section is going to begin.

By the way, if anyone was wondering why Alice, or anyone else for that matter, doesn't notice his red eyes (yes they would be red, he does drink from humans), I DO have an explanation. It just wasn't important enough to make it into the story, but I wouldn't want anyone thinking I was just careless. As part of his power Alvis is able to control the stage of hunger his eyes reflect. So whenever he's around humans he makes them black.

I also hope you all enjoyed the change in view point. As you can see, there was a lot about Alvis that Alice was never going to find out. I needed people to understand him just a little bit, and hopefully see why he is not right for her. Also, I saw this happening a lot with people's reactions to Alvis' mother… so let me just say that you should not try to classify Alvis as good or bad, they are both more complicated than that.

And if you're curious about what happened at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, Google and Wikipedia are your friends.

I really would love everyone's reactions and input.