Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise, I just use their creations to have my wicked way with them. No copyright infringement is intended.
Stuck in the middle with you.
(Alice Brandon)
"Alice?" The voice sounded like it was miles away but even in spite of the distance and the incessant pounding of my head the feelings behind the voice were crystal clear. Shock. Anguish.
"Alice? Please talk to me," the voice kept talking to me. "What happened?"
Then it all hit me. I had been attacked. I was snooping around in Jasper's office and I had been attacked.
"Get the hell away from me!" I yelled, bolting upright and putting some distance between me and the voice.
Bad idea.
The pounding in my head – which had been an annoying background sensation before – increased tenfold to the extend where it seemed like someone was hitting me on the head with a jackhammer.
Owch.
"Alice?" Jaspers face looked as pained as his voice had sounded as he looked at me from across the room. "Please sit down. Let me call you a doctor." He moved towards the desk. Too damn close to me.
"Stay back!" I ordered, wondering where my purse and my pepper spray had gone.
"Who did this to you?"
"Like you don't know," I said, rubbing my temples while keeping a close eye on him. "Business meeting my ass!"
"You think I did this?" he yelled exasperated, running a hand through his hair. "I didn't! Honestly!" He looked at me as if I had just told him he needed to have his balls lobbed up to stay alive. "I would never do anything to hurt you! You have to believe me."
"Don't come any closer," I barked, still trying to relieve my pain.
"Do you want me to get you some Tylenol?" he asked, "or a doctor? I really think you should sit down for a while and let me call you a doctor."
I tried to think things over, though that wasn't easy when your head feel like a herd or flock or whatever the fuck you call a gang of rhino's has just trampled all over it. It didn't make sense for Jasper to hit me over the head and then just let me lie here. If it were him who hit me I would have ended up in the lake by now. But still......
"What happened?" I asked, scrutinizing his face for any hints of dishonesty.
"The driver left a message on my cell phone when you didn't answer the door so I got over here to try and find out what was going on as soon as I was able to get away. I found you here, lying on the floor. You kind of know the rest....."
"I don't believe you," I snarled, almost unable to hear my own voice over the throbbing in my head. "Stay back."
"Please," he pleaded, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "I'll call my accountants to testify to my being at the bank all afternoon. Hell! I'll even make them pull out the surveillance tapes of the building if that makes you believe me." He looked so lost and sad that – even though I really didn't want to – I was starting to believe him.
"If you didn't do it then who did?" I countered. "The attack happened minutes after you left and I didn't even hear anyone come in....."
"I'm not the only one who has a key to this apartment Alice," he sighed. "Maria has one as well....."
"Maria?"
"I gave one to her when we were still together," he said. "She never returned it and – since we were still working together – I never pressed her for it. I'm sorry. I should have remembered......"
I believed him, even if the part of my head that wasn't pounding was screaming at me not to. I had to admit the part had some pretty good arguments though. Jasper could easily blame Maria – someone who wasn't actually here to defend herself – for this. Who knew if she even had a key to begin with? I hadn't seen or heard anything before I had been hit on the head so as far as I was concerned the person who did it could be Jasper or Maria or even Bozo the freakin' Clown.
"I believe you," I nodded, only realizing after the words had left my mouth that I had actually said them out loud.
I watched as Jasper let out a huge sigh of relief, his eyes going from anguished to concerned and still guarded. "Will you let me help you then?"
"I'm fine," I said, trying to convince him.
"I can see you're in pain Alice," he replied. "Do you need a doctor?"
Did I need a doctor?
I cautiously moved my hand over the back of my head, cringing when the tips of my fingers brushed over the part where whatever my attacker had used to attack me with had made contact with my skin. My head hurt and my skin was starting to swell but apart from that I was okay.
"No," I said. "Just some aspirin if you have it."
"I own a pharmaceutical company," he snorted. "I think I can manage some aspirin."
"Can you bring them to the guest bedroom?" I asked, looking around to see if I could find something that could tell me what time it was. "I think I want to lie down for a bit."
I might not be in need of medical assistance but I did feel a little unsteady on the feet. I didn't know how long I could keep my body upright at this moment and collapsing in front of Whitlock junior wasn't an option.
"Sure," he replied. "I'll also see if I can find something more comfortable for you to wear."
"Thanks," I said, slowly starting to make my way out of the office and over to the bedroom.
Before I was willing to rest my painful head I made sure to lock and bolt the door and push the heavy wooden dresser in front of it just to be on the safe side. Only then did I strip out of my clothes and into the t-shirt jasper had loaned me before dragging my body over to the elaborate canopy bed.
I was out like a light before five minutes had passed.
--
"Alice?" I was roused the next morning by a soft knock on the door and the sound of his voice. "Are you awake?"
"I am now," I groaned, rubbing my hand over the impressive lump that had formed on the back of my head.
"I'm sorry," Jasper said. "Can you open the door please? I'd like to ascertain for myself that you are alright."
"Give me a minute," I said, sliding out of bed and quickly checking my appearance in the mirror before pushing the dresser back to its place and unlocking the door.
He wasn't wearing a suit today, I figured he probably didn't need to wear a suit if he was just going to be at the office today. He still looked nice though, in his black slacks and blue Oxford shirt that had almost the same color as his eyes. I had to admit it. The guy could dress
"Did you barricade yourself in there?" he grinned.
"Better to be safe than sorry," I shrugged, eying the bag.
"I'm sorry," he said, a little sad. "I called the police as soon as you were asleep but of course Maria was nowhere to be found. They kept an eye of the apartment and the company though. How is your head today?"
"Not so bad," I shrugged. "Nothing a shower and some Tylenol can't fix."
"I'm happy to hear that," he smiled.
"We need to get over to the lab to see what's going on there," I said, wishing I had grown my hair so that I could hide my blush behind it. Treacherous body. Why did it have to start being all shy and feminine right now? It wasn't like Whitlock was the first guy who had showed me some kindness! "I was looking over one of those reports you mentioned before she attacked me and I think there's more going on there than we know...."
Then I'd better give you some space to get dressed and get breakfast ready," he smiled, stepping back into the hallway. "Meet me in the living room when you're ready."
"Thanks!" I yelled over the sound of the shower heating up.
It was a good thing Maria didn't attack me with anything sharp last night because I don;t think Jasper's employee's would have appreciated me turning up at their workspace looking like I'd just butchered something. Showing up in a day old outfit was bad enough already but hey, beggars can't be choosers.
--
"I hope you like strawberries," he said, pointing towards the small plate holding a dainty looking tower of puff pastry, strawberries and cream.
"They will do," I joked, gathering my first fork filled with the delicious looking food. "Did you make this yourself?"
"God no," he chuckled. "I would burn water if you give me the chance." He looked dead serious when he spoke. "No...Jessica brought them with her when she dropped off your clothes. I realized when I woke up this morning that I didn't actually have any food in the house so I ordered in."
"It's delicious," I said, savoring another bite.
"There's coffee and OJ as well if you want some. Oh and by the way....your phone has been ringing nonstop," he said causally, his face hiding behind a newspaper as he ate his breakfast.
"Crap!" I gasped. I should have called in to let them know I was safe – well, sort of – ages ago. "Where is my bag?"
"Over by the couch,"he said. "Emmett called me when you couldn't be reached so they know what's going on. I think he still wants you to call him though."
"I'll be back in a minute," I said, walking back to the guest bedroom.
"Bosley?" I said as the phone was picked up on the second ring. "I'm so sorry for not calling in before but....."
"It's okay Al," Bosley chuckled at my hyperactive apologies. "You were in no state to answer the phone – I know – but I kind of need to brief you on some stuff that happened over here."
"What sort of stuff?" I asked, anxiety creeping up on me.
"Nothing really," he soothed. "Just Bella going off on one of her wild goose chases. Everything is alright now."
"What happened Bosley?" I insisted.
"As I said....nothing much," he went on, his voice way too strained for me to believe him. Either Rose was under his desk sucking the life out of him or he was lying through his teeth. "Bella kind of went after the Volturi on her own and Edward had to get the SWAT team to get her out in one piece but as I said....everything is okay."
"SHE DID WHAT?" I yelled, not believing my ears,
"Yeah...well....I think you heard me the first time."
"Is she with you right now?" I growled. "Because if she is I have a thing or two to say to her."
"Edward's kind of holding her hostage right now," Emmett chuckled "He went all possessive on her ass as soon as she was safe. Practically dragged her out of the building by her hair." Great. Bella does the stupidest thing a breathing organism on this planet has ever done as she gets rewarded with hot monkey sex with a hot guy while I do my job and get hit on the head? Not fair! "We're expecting her here in about half an hour though," Emmett went on. "I think Rosie is already sharpening the knives."
"She'd better be," I growled. "Are you going to fire her?"
"I don't know," Emmett replied, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "If it were up to me I would fire her pretty little ass faster than a speeding bullet but Carlisle wants to hear what she has to say for herself first."
"He's not going to fire her is he?" I asked, my hopes getting the better of me. Even if Bella did a stupid thing and deserved to be yelled at, slapped in the face and put in the corner with donkey's ears on her head and a big sign saying 'stupid' attached to her chest, she was still my girl and a damn good angel and we couldn't afford to loose her right now.
"I don't know pixie," Emmett said. "I think everything is riding on her answers today."
"Emmett?"
"Yes pixie?"
"Slap her for me will you?"
"I will do my best," he chuckled. "Anything else you want me to pass along?"
"Just that's she's an idiot and that I expect a full blow by blow on her night of sweet lovin' the moment I get back."
"You and Jasper have fun sweetheart," he replied and I could almost see his mischievous smirk in front of me.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"What? I was just urging you to make the most of your day!"
"Yeah right!" I snorted. "Bye Emmett."
"By pixie," he laughed. "Give 'em hell."
"Will do,"I said absentmindedly, my mind still running a mile a minute over the things that had happened in Forks in my absence.
How could Bella have been so stupid? Something must have happened to set her off. Emmett had said as much himself. I was guessing they had used her family against her again, knowing that this was her weak spot.
Bella was easily angered and tended to react rashly. If James – because there was no doubt in my mind James was behind this – had guessed as much then she would be a very easy target for him. It would also explain the insane number of near death experiences Bella had had these last couple of days.
If only James took a break from trying to kill my best friend for as long as I was away....
"Is everything okay?" I jumped a little as I heard Jasper's voice behind me. "Sorry," he added. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's okay," I said, laughing at my own behavior. "And things back there are okay too – well....sort off. Long story."
"Are you ready to leave?" he asked, "The car is waiting downstairs."
"I'm ready," I said, dropping my phone back into my bag. "So do you have a chauffeured car waiting around for you all the time or is this just something you're doing to impress me?"
"A bit of both," he laughed, offering me his hand. "I only use the towncar service for business meetings and stuff. Most of the time I just drive into work on my bike but seeing as my bike is still at the office and it's kind of hard maneuvering through morning rush hour traffic with a passenger on your back I thought this might be the better option."
"Plus helmet hair does not a happy Alice make," I added as we stepped into the elevator.
"And I didn't even thought about that!" he chuckled.
The drive passed – for the most part – in comfortable silence. Every now and then Jasper would point out a noteworthy building or speak to someone on the phone but for the rest we were both happy to remain still.
"Your company isn't located in the city center?" I asked as we were slowly making our way outside the city.
"Nope," he responded, typing some message on his PDA. "It sits on the outskirts, in the middle of the fields."
"Isn't it inconvenient to have your company that far away from the city center?" I asked.
"Perhaps," he nodded, his eyes focused on his Blackberry. "But I find this green atmosphere relaxing and being so far away from junkies and other scum trying to break into your lab to get high has its advantages as well."
When we pulled up in front of the huge gated compound, holding a few industrial looking buildings as well a a large block of offices, I couldn't help but agree with him. It looked so tranquil for an industrial site. I could imagine it had a positive effect on the atmosphere in the building.
"Let's go inside," he said. "I can tell you more about the work we do, but I think it's best if I show you."
He guided me towards the largest of the buildings on the site where we were greeted by a nice lady working the front desk.
Lauren Mallory eat your heart out.
"This is our research lab," he stated, as we walked by a large window overlooking a large laboratory where a couple of people were working. "If you want to go in there with me you'll have to wear some special clothing though. We don't want the samples to get contaminated."
"Okay," I said. The prospect of having to wear some smelly lab coat and one of those monstrous scrub caps was a bit daunting but I guessed that if I wanted to understand anything about this case I would just have to suck it up and take one for the team.
"What is this?" Jasper asked the lab technician as he peeked into his microscope. "It's not an ordinary flu virus."
"Doctor Delgado brought it over a couple of days ago," the technician explained, a little nervously. "She said it was some very aggressive mutation WHO-virologists had discovered somewhere in Southeast Asia. She called it Chimera."
"Chimera?" I asked. I had heard that name before.
"Chimera is a mythological monster," lab guy explained, still looking at the magnified contents of the petri dish. "It is made up of the parts of multiple other animals." Yes. I had seen pictures of an ugly Humpty Dumpty kind of monster. It had to have been Chimera. "In virology the name chimera refers to a new hybrid microorganism created by joining nucleic acid fragments from two or more different microorganisms in which each of at least two of the fragments contain essential genes necessary for replication."
Right. Now in English please.
Jasper must have noticed my look because he struggled to hold back his chuckled before he explained. "It's a virus made up of parts of at least two different viruses."
Why didn't they say that before? It wasn't as if I spoke lab or anything. No need to make me feel like a complete ass.
"She brought it in days ago?" Jasper asked, finally disentangling himself from the microscope.
"Yes, sir," lab guy replied, "but the strange thing is......" He hesitated, almost as if he was afraid we were going to get mad at him for speaking the truth.
"What is it man," Jasper insisted. "Speak up. You have nothing to fear from us."
"It wasn't the first virus like this one she had brought in," lab guy explained quickly. "This is the strongest and most aggressive version we have seen to date but she has brought in viruses like it before, all of them just mutations of H5N1 though."
"Avian flu?" I asked.
"Yes," lab guy nodded. "It was strange.....almost as if she was searching for a virus that Bellerophon could cure."
"Bellerophon?" Jasper and I both asked.
"Yes," the poor guy looked at Jasper as if he was wondering which of the two of them had gone mental. "It's the new influenza antidote Whitlock Pharmaceuticals is working on."
"What?" Jasper barked, running his hand though his hair.
"Y-you didn't....know?" the guy stammered.
"Fucking bitch," I heard Jasper curse next to me, sending the poor lab technician into a full blown anxiety attack. "That's why she wanted to run the labs. She was trying her hardest to keep this from me."
"What is Bellerophon?" I asked lab guy, wanting the know what the hell he was talking about and wanting to distract him from his fuming boss.
"It's an antidote ," the still shaky guy explained. "It's meant to cure some new mutant form of the flu."
"Chimera," I nodded.
"Yes," he said, his head shaking up and down so fast I was afraid it was going to fall off his neck. "But we didn't know that until a few days ago when doctor Delgado brought a sample of it in for testing. She wanted us to start working on a vaccine now that work on the antidote has been completed."
"Then how did you develop it?" Jasper interrupted.
"We just did exactly as we were told," the guy replied quickly. "She said it was just something she wanted to try. I mean.....we had our doubts about the whole thing but...well....she's doctor Delgado."
"I don't blame you," Jasper shrugged. "Is there anything else you can tell us Peter?"
"Not that much," the guy – Peter – muttered looking at us with an apologetic expression on his face. "I thought I heard something about Bellerophon going into mass production a few days back but....I didn't know. It seems ridiculous to start producing large amounts of a vaccine for a virus that no one even knows about."
Not that ridiculous, when the original virus was probably in the hands of an evil madman.
"Thanks Peter," Jasper spoke, grabbing my hand to pull me after him as he started to walk to the door. "And don't worry. I won't let anything bad happen to you. You were only doing your job."
"Where are we going?" I panted, struggling to keep up with him. Between Jaspers long legs and my own tiny ones I had to fasten my pace to a jog in order to not fall behind.
"Maria's office," he barked, before tuning around to face me as we waited in front of the elevators. "I'm sorry for dragging you after me like that. I hope I didn't hurt you?" He took my wrist in his hands, his long slender fingers rubbing my sensitive skin to assess the damage for themselves.
"No," I admitted, "but I would like a warning next time."
"Next time...." he mused, grinning mischievously.
"Is that something they can do?" I panted, quickly changing the subject.
"What?" he asked, looking at me.
"Create the antidote before the virus?"
"Not usually," he said. "They don't call it an antidote for nothing. It is something that counteracts something else."
"Then how did she do it?"
"Maria knows her viruses," he sighed. "She's the most brilliant virologist I've ever met. I was just a lucky son of a bitch who managed to come up with something decent on his first try, concocting a new and good influenza vaccine that could be manufactured relatively cheap. She is the real talent in this company. It's like she can think like a virus and counteract it before it strikes. She still would have needed samples of both H1N1 and H5N1 though."
"And those are hard to come by?" I asked as we exited the elevator.
"They don't let just anyone play around with H1N1," he explained, guiding me into a long corridor. "Given it's destructive nature and still very present threat to public health they only allow specialized government facilities to research the virus."
"Like Forks General Hospital?" I snorted.
"Yes," he chuckled. "Forks may seem like an insignificant town to you but thanks to its chief of staff the hospital has one of the best research facilities in the country."
"So how did she get her hands on it?" I asked. "Assuming they didn't start developing both the virus and the cure last week when the vials were stolen from FGH."
"I don't know," he mused. "God knows how long Maria may have been involved with James. They might have stolen a small sample from any hospital or university for their research....."
"Right," I mused, storing another piece of information away for further investigation. "So what are we hoping to find in Maria's office?"
"A project like the one she has been running around my back requires paperwork. Lots of it."
"And you hope to find it in here?" I wondered out loud. It would seem like such a stupid thing to do. The office was the first place people would be looking if they found out about her secret scheme.
"Knowing Maria she'd want her documentation close by, in a place she knows others can't get to," he explained, opening the door to the office with his key card.
Maria's office was beautiful. A large open space with huge windows making up one of the walls. The place was decorated in a classic style with lots of dark wood, white walls and a painting I suspected to be a real Frida Kahlo hanging opposite her desk.
She may have been a rat, but she sure as hell knew about pretty things.
"This is where she keeps her secrets," Jasper chuckled, waving his hand at a huge iron door in one of the walls.
That was as big a motherfucker of a safe as I had ever seen in my life.
And that was saying something.
"I have one just like it," he continued, "we have lots of documents – trade secrets and information that could threaten public health – that we need to keep from the wrong eyes so we had these installed."
"I don't know a lot about safes......." I muttered, hating having to admit defeat even before I started the fight. "Rose usually does that sort of stuff."
"Then it's a good thing I know the combination right?" Jasper grinned, tapping his fingers over the keyboard.
Damn sexy son of a bitch.
I was so going to need a good healthy therapy session – maybe even more than one – after this case had been resolved. Having to face and hug every single ghost of my past was one thing but developing feelings for the guy who was supposed to be one step away from your worst enemy was quite another.
"Got it," he stated triumphantly as he opened the huge heavy door.
"What? Do you want a pat on the back and a cookie now?" I growled, eying the dark little chamber behind the door.
Not good.
I had feeling about the little room, like being in there wasn't going to work out right for me.
"Are you okay looking through that stuff on your own?" I asked as he dove into the vault with an enthusiasm that rivaled a child's on Christmas morning.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered distractedly.
I spend some time looking at the bright colored painting on the wall while rifling though Maria's personal belongings, not that it taught me anything other than the fact that the girl had an appointment to get waxed tomorrow. I guess even evil bitches needed to take care of excess hair.
"Motherfucker!" I heard Jasper mutter from the vault.
"What is it?" I asked. I couldn't remember having heard him cuss before.
"She's been using the company as a cover up for her own messed up little scheme all along," he growled. "She's definitely working with James.....she used the company accounts to pay for all of this.....Fuck."
Curiosity won out on common sense at that point and I wandered into the vault to see what the Whitlock boy had unearthed.
He was leaning against the back wall, files scattered everywhere, holding a bunch of half crumbled papers in his hands as he muttered all kinds of profanities.
"Is there anything in there we could use to get the bitch behind bars?" I asked.
"Plenty," he growled.
"But the thing is...." a voice sounded from behind me, "by the time you get out of here, the bitch will be long gone."
I knew I never should have gotten into this little room, it was a failtrain waiting to leave the station. Even if I had...I should never have wandered so far into the vault that I couldn't prevent the door from closing on my sorry little ass.
Even more indications that my brain wasn't working properly at the moment.
"Have fun in here," I could hear Maria laugh as she slammed the door shut. "I would say make yourself comfortable....but I know there is precious little room for that in there!"
Shit.
This couldn't be happening.
"We have to get out of here!" Jasper growled, voicing both our thoughts as he pushed his weight against the door.
Like that would do us any good. These doors were made of solid steel. One lanky southern guy wasn't going to break though that.
"You'd better focus your attention on finding something to open those doors with," I stated, rolling my eyes as I rifled through the filing cabinets.
Great.
Paperwork.
Some brainiac may have once said that the pen was mightier than the sword, but right now I would really prefer a sword over thousands of pages worth of scribblings.
"I found a hammer and some wire," he stated triumphantly after he had been rummaging through some boxes.
Great.
A hammer.
"Who the hell do you think I am Jasper? BA fucking Baracus?" I spat. "It's not like I can build a damn tank using a vacuum cleaner and a broomstick!"
At least if all else failed I could bash his skull in using the hammer.
"I don't know," he shrugged, clearly intimidated by my behavior. "I'm only making a suggestion."
"Try something better."
"As if you are brimming with bright ideas!"
"If you would just keep your mouth shut for five seconds I might!" I yelled back. The guy was really starting to get on my nerves. I could see this getting really ugly if someone wouldn't come to our aid very soon.
"I'm sorry if my behavior isn't fit in occasions such as this," he mocked, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. "But what the hell am I supposed to do? Right now my business partner is running rampage with a virus my company may have created!"
"Throwing temper tantrums isn't going to get us out of here, that's for sure," I sighed.
"It just kills me to know that once again the name of Whitlock will become a byword for terrible agony," he spoke softly.
"Is that all you care about?" I sneered. I couldn't believe it. After everything he had said and done yesterday I had come to think that maybe he wasn't such a terrible bastard after all. I guess I was mistaken. "People are going to die Jasper! Are your name and the reputation of your company really that important?"
"That's not what I meant!" he yelled back.
"Sure sounds like it," I spat back.
He jumped to his feet, rubbing his hands over his face while mumbling something incoherent. "Ever since I found out what my father did to all of those poor girls at Lark Hill.........." he turned to me, an expression of complete agony on his face. "I've been toiling for most of my adult life to make up for what the bastard did, only to find out that all my efforts have been in vain."
"Oh," I didn't know what to say to that.
"When the cops investigating the fire that killed my dad explained to us what had been going on under our very noses....what kind of a miserable creature my father had been....." he sighed, sinking back on his knees again. "I've been haunted by all sorts of scenarios of what really went on behind those iron gates ever since. It must have been such a nightmare for those girls....."
"It was," I said, the images of those terrible years playing in front of my minds eye again. "The only thing you could do to escape the horror was to retreat into yourself and hope it would soon be over." The words were out before I knew it. There was no stopping them.
Jasper looked at me, his face turning ashen as my words slowly sank in. "You were one of those girls...." he whispered.
"Yes."
"You were one of his victims."
"Yes," I repeated, unable to say anything else. I had wanted to keep this from him. I had a hard enough time not thinking about my past as it was.
"You were tortured by my dad and still you want to protect me?" he ran his hand through his hair, looking at me like I had just grown a third boob or something.
"It's my job," I shrugged. "And it's not like I volunteered for this assignment or anything."
"You're a saint," he whispered.
"Not exactly," I chuckled. "I'm an angel." I was probably sounding like a hyena at the moment but I figured I might as well take a leaf out of Bosley's book. After all.....there was no way to relieve tension than with some good old fashioned humor.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's not exactly something you want to go shout off the rooftops," I shrugged. "And...well.....you weren't so bad once I got to know you. I didn't want to remind you of the stuff your dad did."
"I'm so sorry," he said, scooting over to where I was sitting and placing his hand on top of mine.
"Don't be," I said, looking into his sad eyes. "You weren't there when he did it. You never knew."
"How can you be so calm when you talk about it?" he asked.
"It's in the past," I shrugged. "I try not to dwell on the bad things that happened to me." It was true. It had been my way of coping with it. Not exactly ignoring it, but trying to focus on the future. I owed it to my friends who had died in the fire at Lark Hill to make something of my life and not to cry over that what could not be changed.
"You're an amazing woman Alice," he said, weaving my fingers through mine. "I know you probably hate me and my family....but I would like to get to know you better."
"I don't hate you," I whispered, wondering why I let him get so close to me. Hell....wondering why I didn't hate the guy when I had promised myself I would hate him.
Why didn't I?
I should hate him.
No.
I had to hate him, even if it was just to protect my own sanity.
But I couldn't.
Not anymore.
Before I could react his hand came up to cup my cheek, cradling it gently in his palm.
"You don't hate me?" he asked incredulously, his face moving closer to mine.
"I don't," I whispered, knowing I should stop him before this got out of hand but not being able to find the strength of mind to do so.
The flesh was weak and it wanted to be kissed. To be loved.
The moment his soft lips made contact with mine the images started playing in my head. Images of what out future would be.
And it was brilliant.
The kiss was short gently and sweet - everything a good first kiss should be – but it left me even more confused than I already was. It was like a fire was raging in my body, warming me from the inside. I had to stop it before it would start to consume me.
What?
Wait a minute.
Fire.
"Jasper," I panted. "Do you have a lighter?"
He must have thought I had gone mad. It was not everyday you kissed a girl and instead of having her thank you or slap you in the face she asked you for a lighter.
"I figured out a way to get us out of this place," I explained. "But it all depends on if we can get the fire extinguishers to work."
I was a little annoyed with myself for not having thought of this before. I mean, the trick with the fire extinguishers was about as old as they got.
Jasper started searching his pockets, never taking his eyes of me as he went through them. "Here," he said, handing me a silver zippo. "Do you think it will work?"
"No doubt about it," I chuckled, eying the ceiling for sprinklers. "Now can you give me a boost? I don't think I'm quite tall enough to reach for the sprinklers."
"Ya think?" he laughed, lifting me in the air as if I weighed no more than a feather. The fact that he seemed to be enjoying the fact that his hands were holding my ass wasn't lost on me as I lit up one of the papers and held the smoking object close to the sprinkler.
I guess the pen was mightier than the sword after all.
By the time the firefighters came to investigate the source of the fire alarm we were completely soaked but happy to be freed.
"Miss Brandon?" a woman asked. "I have a mr. McCarty on hold for you. You can take the call over at the reception. It sounded urgent."
"Emmett," I growled, answering the call. I was still pissed off at having been outsmarted by Maria yet again.
"Alice! Where are you?" Emmett almost yelled through the phone. "Bella is sick. They think it's the virus."
"WHAT?" I yelled. There was no way the bitch could have made it out to Forks so fast. This must have been James' doing. "When did all this happen?"
"This morning," Emmett explained. "Edward found her on the floor of the apartment......she looked like she was minutes away from dying."
"How is she doing?" I whispered.
"Not good," Emmett said in a small voice. "She's in hospital, they won't let anyone near her except for Edward – though I don't think they could have kept him away even if they tried. They are both in isolation."
"Did they say anything about the progression of the virus?' I asked, remembering what Jasper had told me yesterday.
"They seem to be thinking the virus is slowing down. Thats good.....right?"
"I don't know," I said, tears streaming down my face as I thought about my best friend curled up in agony in a hospital bed. "It may give us time to get the antidote to her on time though."
"What antidote?" Emmett asked.
"Don't ask," I sighed. "Jasper will fly back to Forks with it as soon as he can," I said, looking at Jasper for confirmation. "I have to take care of Maria first."
If that bitch had something to do with the virus she would be wishing she had never been born after I was done with her. Carlisle's angels never killed their target but I couldn't remember there being any rules about torture and mutilation.
The next moments passed in a flutter of activity. Jasper was able to get a bunch of ampules of Bellerophon from the lab and was getting ready to fly back to Forks to save Bella.
"Are you sure you're not coming with me?" he asked as he made his way out of the building and over to the awaiting car. "For all we know Maria could be miles away right now."
"I have to get the bitch," I growled. "And I think I know where she went."
I really hoped my parents and old man Whitlock hadn't been right after all. When I said that I knew where the bitch went I was only telling a partial truth. I had seen where the bitch was going. She must have made up her mind the moment she closed the door on us because when she looked at I saw snapshot of the forest road right outside Forks and a large modern looking house surrounded by trees. That was were she was going. At least....if my mind wasn't playing tricks on me.
"Use my bike," he said, seeing my resolve. "It's parked over to the side of the main building."
"Thanks!" I grinned, catching the keys he threw at me.
"I'll get there as fast as I can," he said, leaning in for another one of those soft slow kisses I was really starting to love. "I hope it will be on time."
"I hope so too," I sniffed, trying desperately to keep the tears at bay. "I'll see you there."
"Be careful Alice," he pressed. "I don't want to loose you."
"You won't," I said softly, standing on tiptoe to give him one last kiss.
"Well...be careful all the same," he chuckled nervously before getting into the car.
I didn't wait for him to leave before I sprinted back to the main building, running past the doors to the parking lot where Jaspers Ducati was waiting for me, the helmet resting on the seat.
I waisted no time pondering the damage the helmet would do to my hair before slamming it down on my head and firing up the engine. I was glad for the change of clothes and the leather Jacket Jasper had loaned me when I felt the wind sweep around me as I tore through the gate.
I tried not to think of my best friend, lying in a hospital bed as the motorcycle purred underneath me, bringing me to the airport in no time at all. I hoped Jasper would be able to get the antidote to her on time, that was....if it really was Chimera she had been infected with. I didn't dare think of what would happen if it was some other virus.
"Please, please please, let me being a fruitcake do some good for a change........" I muttered as I let the motorcycle run at its maximum speed on my way back to Forks.
If you had any doubts: yes, we've hereby entered the finale. A finale that will answer all of the questions this chapter might have raised like what is going on with Bella and whether Alice is going to get her revenge on Maria.
A few people have asked me how long this story is going to be. At this moment my outline counts 32 chapters including the epilogue and I don't think that that will be changing (unless James demands another chapter).
When I'm done writing this story I will focus on the sequel to My Mistakes Were Made For You. I've been getting all sorts of ideas for that one lately and I feel like I have to start writing it soon or my head will explode. Look out for Foundations somewhere in late April/early May.
I had to cut a rather large portion from this chapter because it disrupted the flow. I plan on posting it on the twilighted boards later tonight so head on over there if you want to read about Jasper picking out a new pair of clothes for Alice. Copy/past the URL and replace the (dot) for actual dots and it will take you there.
www(dot)twilighted(dot)?f=34&t=2676&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=100
Next up: Edward.