The twilight Universe is all Stephenie Meyer's - 71 Days til Breaking Dawn. . . yay (:
Songs for thought:
Disenchanted - My Chemical Romance, The Gift - Seether, Micro Cuts - Muse.
Chapter Ten - Unexpected.
Jasper chatted at me all the way to the hotel and I sat with a dumbfounded grin on my face. I still had living relatives. It was an astounding feeling knowing that I had a real family that knew nothing about my existence. Jasper was just as excited. Now he had a name and dates it would be so much easier to track down information. I'd never seen him talk so much, it was quite an anomaly. One I could happily get used to.
We pulled into the hotel around ten minutes before the sun was due out, well actually it was nine minutes and thirty-seven seconds, but I wasn't counting. Jasper pulled me towards the elevators happily. We waited for the doors to close.
"Alice, are you excited?" he asked trying to focus on my emotions. He was letting out enough for the two of us so he hadn't noticed.
"Well, I'm glad I know who I am. . . but. . . it really doesn't change anything Jasper." I said as the realization hit me. All of the information we had discovered today meant nothing except that I had been admitted to a looney bin with the freaks and weirdos and hunted by a sadistic vampire. I still had no idea who it was that released me from my prison, and I meant that in physical and mental terms. I also didn't know much about my family. I was sure I would have to do more research into my parents. That would mean a library, and searching newspapers from the dates we had found.
"Okay, I see your point, we have a lot more to go on." I admitted and I stepped out of the elevator. I put my hand in Jasper's and stopped him. I shook my head in disbelief at what I had just seen.
"Alice, are you seeing something?" he asked placing his comforting hands on my shoulders.
I nodded, "Actually, I've already seen it."
"Well?" he asked quietly.
"Emmett and Rosalie are headed in this direction, they're bored of Europe but don't want to go home. They just got on a plane."
Jasper rolled his eyes and lead me to our suite. "Best we get some research out of the way before they get here. Esme?" he asked knowing that she would have told them where we were.
I nodded and headed for the phone, she was about to call and apologize.
Jasper was on the internet for most of the afternoon, he found my obituary and my grave. There was nothing about my parents but I wasn't expecting there to be, the online information only went as far back as nineteen-thirty. He had also scooped up the addresses of my great nieces and nephews. He wanted to see if we could do some surveillance and get some pictures for me and Esme to keep. This thoughtfulness made me realize more than ever why I loved this man the way I do. Anything he thought would make me happy, he did. Anything I did that he didn't necessarily agree with, and ended up being the wrong thing, he would pick up the pieces. He looked after me, loved me and he was always there for me. I couldn't believe my luck.
Tonight we were planning on visiting my grave site, I wanted to lay flowers on the grave and make sure it was taken care of. I wasn't sure why it worried me considering I was stood here, as alive as I could be at over a hundred years old. It would be nice to know how long it had been since someone had cared that I had been lost.
We headed out at sunset, Rosalie and Emmett wouldn't be arriving for another three hours so we had plenty of time to get everything taken care of before we picked them up at the airport.
The cemetery was beautiful, it was close to the coastline and had trees dotted throughout. Each tree had at least a hundred wind-chimes hung in them which made magical music in the resting places of so many. Jasper had found the exact location of the plot on the internet and we strolled through the cemetery quietly and thoughtfully. Cemetery's were always so quiet and as creepy as people found them I thought of them as magical. Under the ground lay so many lives, and stories. So much history and love. I didn't think of the death, I thought of the lives they must of had before that death. I was looking at the beautiful flowers as we walked. I had brought my camera because as morbid as it sounded Esme wanted to see where they had laid me to rest.
Jasper halted quickly and squeezed my hand gently. I looked up and I saw what had stopped him. I tried to stop the gasp escaping me but it was too late, a small squeak escaped my lips. There stood in front of me was a young girl, she must have been in her early twenties. She had long black hair that reached down to the middle of her back. She was slightly taller than I am but not by much, the alarming thing was her features, she was almost the mirror image of me.
We stared at each other in silence, both with a look of complete amazement on our faces. Jasper looked between us in complete awe.
"H. . . Hi." I said timidly, and smiled.
"Hi," the girl answered.
"This is strange." Jasper chuckled trying to relieve the tension. I looked up at him and back at the girl.
"I'm Alice Hale, you are?" I asked trying to get some kind of answer to this alternate universe.
"I'm Angela Stevens, people call me Angel. Are you here to visit Mary Alice Brandon by any chance?" She grinned I knew she saw the remarkable resemblance just as much as we did.
I nodded quickly and smiled."I traced some of my family history back to the Brandon's." I mumbled.
"How exciting." She smiled forgetting the awkwardness of the situation. I looked up at Jasper who stared at us looking bemused. "It seems we're related wouldn't you think?" She motioned between the two of us, an amused smile dancing on her lips.
I nodded again at a loss for words. Jasper pulled out the camera and grinned, snapping a picture of the two of us.
"Jasper," I snapped and shook my head.
"Oh no it's fine, I have to admit the resemblance is uncanny. Here. . ." She looped her arm through mine and posed. I smiled, I knew I must look completely bewildered.
Jasper laughed happily. "Thanks. Angel, was it?"
Angel nodded happily. "I can show you the grave of my great, great, Aunt if you like. I keep it maintained. I know grandma finds it hard to get out her as much as she wants to, so I try and look after it. I feel a kinship with her, apparently she was thrown into the nuthouse for visions, but doing family history, I'm sure you're aware of that." she stopped for a breath. "It sounds strange but I think I have some of the same talent. . ."
I squeaked and look over at Jasper who was laughing quietly to himself. I narrowed my eyes and then looked back at Angel when she started to talk again.
"It's a shame she wasn't born a little later when it was more acceptable to see things like she did. As it stood though, according to my Grandma, people thought she was like the grim reaper or something. Apparently though they never complained when she predicted the good things. Funny how petty people can be." She guided me towards a beautifully maintained grave under a large River Birch tree. There were all kinds of chimes and charms hung over the top of the grave. I smiled happily to myself I enjoyed knowing that people cared.
"What else can you tell me about Mary Alice?" I asked as I crouched beside a beautiful silk flower arrangement.
Angel drew in a long breath and let it out happily as she thought. "Well, okay I guess it's best to start at the beginning. My great grandma Cynthia was close to her sister Mary Alice, they just called her Alice. GG Cynthia was angry at her parents for putting Alice in that hospital and was devastated when she was never found in the fire. She believed her sister was still alive and never stopped hoping. She came to this grave every Sunday her entire life until she couldn't get here anymore, that was when my grandma started coming for her, she knew how much it meant to gg. Well, when her parents closed the case in the fifties she never forgave them. She cut all ties with her parents and never really spoke with them again. She replaced the headstone from a simple cross to the one you see here and replaced the flowers every month. She used Silk flowers so they would always be perfect."
I could feel the heaving in my chest as I gasped for air. I couldn't put it in words how much it all meant to me, and this poor girl in front of me would never understand. At a loss for words I threw my arms around her neck and hugged her. I didn't know what else to do. She hugged me back and giggled gleefully.
"You been searching for a while?" she asked understanding.
"A couple of years now." I admitted.
"Well, I have to be off, but here. . ." Angel dug in her purse and pulled out a piece of paper and then continued digging. Jasper held out a pen and smiled. She beamed a charming smile up at him as she took the pen from him. She jotted down some information on a piece of paper and handed it to me.
"Okay, that's my phone number in case you have any questions, I don't have a habit of giving out my number but seeing as we look like sisters I think that giving a description wouldn't be difficult." She giggled happily and handed Jasper the pen. "Under that is the library that holds most of the newspaper microfiches from the time. And that's the Municipal building address with the file number. They're pretty helpful but if they give you trouble tell them I sent you. I'm doing a thesis on my ancestry." She smiled at me happily and shook her head in disbelief. "Okay, so I'm going to get out of here, I feel completely embarrassed for talking your ears off like that. Like I said though, thesis, if you have questions call me."
She grinned and disappeared through the cemetery. Jasper and I stood watching her, still speechless. I held the piece of paper in my hand and just stared at it.
"Did that just happen?" Jasper asked chuckling and sent some strong serenity in my direction.
I felt my stance relax a little and I folded myself down to sit on the floor in front of my grave. It was so immaculate I was speechless still. Jasper crouched beside me and wrapped his arms tightly around my shoulders. "Alice, are you okay?"
"Never better," I managed to get out, then I started laughing hysterically and I couldn't stop. It was like an instinct that took over me. I wrapped my arms around myself and laughed. Jasper pulled me tightly to him. I knew he understood, he always did.
The laughing finally subsided, I knew it was an irrational reaction but I couldn't have helped it if I wanted to. I placed my flowers on the grave and took some pictures of the headstone and the trees that hung dutifully over it. I said goodbye to my former self. I was beginning to realize that even if I interrogated all of the living family members, they wouldn't be able to help me figure out who released me. That was something that could never be found, even if I found a list of employees at the time, we wouldn't be able to pinpoint who was on what floor.
I had to accept that it would be the one part of my history I could never solve.
Jasper wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head. "C'mon, or we'll be late for Rosalie and Emmett."
I nodded and followed him from the cemetery.
The airport was stuffed full of people, and with the hunting near Biloxi being nothing compared to that of Gatlinburg, I worried a little about Jasper having to be mixed in so closely with all these people. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, trying to not give off any signal that I was worried about him. I knew it would hurt his pride if I did.
Rosalie and Emmett appeared through a sea of people, with Rose's beauty and Emmett's intimidating form they flowed through the crowd easily, people stepped out of their way and they passed through like royalty.
"Alice," Rosalie squeaked and wrapped her arms around my neck happily. I raised my eyebrows at Emmett over her shoulder and he shrugged grinning sheepishly. Rosalie released me and threw her arms around Jasper happily. I hugged Emmett briefly, and stepped away.
"So, where are we staying?" Rose asked curiously.
"Honeymoon suite of course." I said rolling my eyes, she knew me better than that. I also knew that if hadn't of been occupying it, her first order of business was to acquire it with her gambling. She was easy to read sometimes.
"How many bedrooms?" she asked again raising her eyebrows.
"One but it's all your as long as you don't trash the place." I said looking pointedly at Emmett.
"We're never going to live that down are we?" Emmett grinned.
"Nope." I lead the way through the sea of people to the Mercedes as we chatted politely amongst ourselves.
"Esme, was saying you went to New Orleans." Rose said as she slipped behind the wheel. She was very much like Edward in that respect. She loved driving and next to her Red BMW it was the Mercedes.
"Yeah, we did." Jasper said from the backseat which he shared with Emmett.
"How fun was it, it's one of the places I've never been." she gushed as she pulled out of the parking structure and floored the gas.
"We're not going back!" Jasper said in a little too matter-of-fact tone.
"Why's that?" Rosalie asked as she primped herself in the rearview mirror.
"Yeah, why is that, Jazz?" I asked smiling, "It wasn't all that bad."
"The farewell committee seemed a little much, wouldn't you say?" he laughed.
"Farewell what?" Emmett asked looking between us all.
"We ran into some of the locals. They didn't seem too happy to see us." I said pouting my lips playfully.
Emmett raised his eyebrows and grinned. "That could be fun."
"Emmett, we just spent almost two month trying to relax, why would you try and get yourself all worked up in the first hour that we're home?" Rosalie asked eyeing her husband suspiciously in the mirror.
"I won't get worked up, I think it'll be fun."
"The music was awesome." I said trying to divert them from the ensuing argument. We were in a confined space after all. I pulled out the CD and held it up for them. "Wanna listen?"
Rosalie nodded and Emmett shrugged his shoulders. I cued up my favorite song and let it play. I turned up the radio loudly drowning out any chance of talking, or in Emmett and Rosalie's case, fighting.
We pulled up at the hotel and climbed out, Rosalie as always threw the keys at the valet and headed inside. She walked in, head high like she was a member of royalty and stopped outside of the elevators and grinned at me. I could see the excited twinkle in her eye and knew exactly what she had planned. I had a feeling this was going to be a long night.
A/N: Hello fantastic people. . . The song Alice was playing in the car was When the Lights go Out by the Black Keys.
Thank you to the Reviewers, YOU ROCK, No Really you do! (0: - Lemme know what you think
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