Chapter 49: Ashes To Ashes Part Three
~Alice POV~
10th June, 4.30am
I don't bother to creep around the corridors or slip through the doorways. I stamp through the halls and slam the doors. I want her to know I'm here. I want her to know I'm coming for her.
"Maria!" I yell, my voice echoing round the empty corridors, "Maria!"
I turn a corner. "Come out, come out, wherever you are." I hiss.
I've come to the gray door where I had my vision earlier. I key in the code; 1-12-9-3-5.
The door swings open and unlike earlier I don't bother to be quiet. I stride into the middle of the room, "Come out and face me, you coward!"
I scan the room with my eyes but I see no sign of her. She has to know I'm here. It's only a matter of time before she shows up.
I hear a noise coming from a door leading off from the large open room. I spin towards it in time to see Jasper running through.
"Alice." I hear him breath a sigh of relief. He's at my side in a second, pulling me into him, "You're safe."
I pull away, "Where's Maria?"
"I don't know." Jasper said, "But I found your family, they're safe."
A huge weight lifts off my shoulders, "Where are they now?"
"I told them to leave. A friend of mine is meeting them, they'll be safe." Jasper said, "I'd send you away too, but I don't think I'm strong enough to face Maria without you."
"I'll be fine." I said, "It's her you should worry about."
For the first time since he arrived, I think he senses my fury. "What's happened?"
I shake my head, dismissing his question, "We need to find Maria. We need to find her and kill her."
"Alice, dear, could you be more naive?" A voice asked. We look up to see Maria standing on a balcony that runs all around the room. She leans on the railing, "An army of you couldn't kill me."
"You're finished, Maria." I tell her, "All of this- it's over."
She only smirks more. She jumps down, looking at Jasper instead of me, "Jasper, Jasper, Jasper, what are we going to do with you?"
She walks over to him, escorted by three large newborn males. She reaches a hand out as if to touch his cheek, but stops herself, "I thought we'd come to an arrangement."
"You came to an arrangement." Jasper told her, "I didn't really have a choice in the matter."
"So, what makes you think you have a choice now?" She asked.
"Alice is my choice." Jasper said.
Maria laughed, "Ah yes, little Alice." She looks at me, "You sure have a death wish, don't you?"
Two newborns grab my arms and I struggle, images of my vision haunting my mind.
"Maria," Jasper growls, "You don't play fair."
"You know me too well to expect any better, dear." Maria tells him, stepping closer to him. It makes the hairs stand up on my arms to see them so close together.
"Let her go." Jasper said, "We're civilised enough to discuss this without taking hostages."
"But you don't want to discuss anything with me, do you?" Maria asked, a pout forming on her lips, "You want to kill me."
Jasper looks down at Maria, locking eyes with her. They're so close, their faces only inches apart. Why doesn't Jasper move away?
"I don't want to kill you, Maria." He said softly, "But neither do I want to kill hundreds of innocent humans. You're giving me a choice, and it's hardly an ultimatum. How could you expect me to choose anything other than saving the innocents?"
Maria sighs, "Always the hero, Jasper."
I flinch at the likeness to my vision. Always the hero. Always swooping in to save the day - to save me. I know that I can't let him give up everything for my life, but I know that he would and that scares me more than the situation we're in, more than my family being unsafe, more than Maria being so close to Jasper right now. More than anything.
Jasper closes his eyes and I feel his inner turmoil. Jealousy rages through me as I realise he still cares for her, but then an understanding follows. Jasper was created by Maria, lived with her for over a century, thought he loved her for almost as long. It may not have been real, but Jasper wasn't heartless. He couldn't cast Maria asside without emotion. He did care for her, even if she never did for him, and even if he loved me.
"Let the girl go." Maria says with a wave, "She's no harm."
I blink in amazement as the newborns let go of me. I thought Maria wanted to kill me, and instead she's prepared to let me go? It doesn't make sense.
"Jasper, I can make this decision oh so easy for you." Maria said.
"No." Jasper said firmly, "No mind tricks, Maria."
"For old times sakes?" Maria asked with a smile, even having the nerve to flutter her eyelashes.
"You're never going to change, are you?" Jasper asked.
"If it aint broke, don't fix it." Maria said with a smirk. The look in Jasper's eyes says it all. Maria is broken beyond fixing and he knows there's only one way this can end.
"Goodbye, Maria." He said.
"Jasper, you aren't going to do this." Maria said, her voice turning controlling, "Step away from me and forget about this."
Jasper locks eyes with me and I smile, nodding at him. It's going to be okay.
"Goodbye, Maria." Jasper repeats. Maria's eyes widen as she realises her trick hasn't worked. Jasper reaches a hand towards her, ready to snap her neck. Instantly, he's held back by four newborn soldiers and the smirk is back on Maria's face.
"Did you think I'd make it so easy?" Maria asked.
"You never make anything easy." He said, still staring her down even though he's now basically powerless.
"Well, really, Jasper, you did come here to kill me." She said, "Did you actually expect me to be okay with that?!"
I need to get Jasper away from Maria's soldiers. He's got way more chance of killing Maria than I do, but he's incapacitated right now. I wish I had a gift that could help here, like Maria's mind control or Jane's pain inflicting talent. Seeing the future was useful at times, but how was it going to help me now?!
I think about how I'd been developing my gift over the last few months, allowing other people to see my visions. Maybe I could show Maria a vision and that would distract her? She probably wouldn't let her guard down enough for me to show her a vision - she's God knows how old and ridiculously powerful. Her newborns, on the other hand...
If I could distract them somehow, I could get Jasper out. Could I somehow project a vision onto all four of them at once? It would take a lot on my part, but I don't see why it wouldn't be possible.
I thought about how Jasper responded when I first showed him a vision - he'd passed out. Well, even better. Would I be able to take out Maria's soldiers that way, and then it would just be me and Jasper against Maria.
I had to pick my timing, though.
"You can't win, Maria." I told her.
She kept her eyes on Jasper, not even looking at me. None of them are looking at me, so I try my luck and step towards Maria - maybe I could kill her whilst she's distracted.
"Take one more step, Alice, and I swear to God your boyfriend won't have a head." Maria snapped. I freeze. She looked at me out of the corner of her eye.
I cross my arms over my chest, "You're not going to hurt Jasper."
She laughed, "Why's that?"
"Your love may have been fake, but he means too much to you." I said, "You don't have it in you to kill him. You're bluffing, and you aren't going to win."
"You over-estimate his worth to me." She told me. She looks to one of her newborns and he breaks Jasper's leg. I bite my tongue to stop myself from screaming. I have to remind myself that he'll heal completely in a few days. He'll be fine. I still worry. I'm still mad.
In a way, it's a good thing, because something snaps inside of me and I know there's only one way this is going to end.
"Yeah? I think you UNDER-estimate his worth to me." I snapped.
I closed my eyes and dived into the future, searching for a suitably distracting scenario. I find one of me and Jasper, happy together not too far away from now. I hold onto it; if it comes true, it means we survive this. The vision is insignificant to most, but it means so much to me that it should be enough for me to project it to others.
I imagine the vision as a TV screen in my head, then I push at the boundaries of the TV screen, throwing the image out of my head and towards the vampires holding Jasper. I have to focus really hard, but I see their eyes go cloudy as they start to see my vision through their own eyes. They start to sway, unsteady on their feet until they all eventually pass out.
I feel like my inner feminist rock-chick is internally high-fiving me, because even I'm a little amazed at what I just achieved. Jasper and Maria are both staring at me, shocked.
I cross over to Maria, adreneline pumping through me and giving me strength, and close my hand around her throat. Bitch was about to die.
~Jasper POV~
Alice was full of rage and anger and passion, holding Maria in a death grip. Maria looks terrified, something that doesn't happen often.
Forget underestimating my worth to Alice, we all underestimated Alice, period.
"This ends now, Maria." Alice told her, "Jasper's leaving with me, and you're going to die."
"He'll never really leave me." Maria said. She's seen that she's physically weak now, so is changing tactics, trying to psych Alice out, "He'll always come back."
Alice shook her, and spoke through gritted teeth, her face close to Maria's as they lock gazes, "He's not yours anymore. You can't have him. He's mine."
Alice's possessive words sound almost carnal, and she starts growling. It doesn't sound right coming from Alice, her voice usually being so sweet and tinkling like sugar and bells.
"Alice, you don't need to do this." Maria said sweetly, "Let's just talk about this. You're right; I don't love him. You can have him."
"I don't need your permission to have him." She snarled, "And you're not getting out of this."
Maria starts yelling, but no one comes. I can't do anything because I'm on the floor with a broken leg, but Alice seems to be handling things just fine on her own.
"I'll ask you again, Maria; any last words?"
"It doesn't have to end like this, Alice."
"Yes, it does."
"Alice-"
"One of us is going to die here tonight, Maria. It's not going to be Jasper and it's not going to be me."
Maria looked at me, asking for help. I shake my head at her, "Alice is right. You've ruined the lives of too many innocent people."
"Alice, please!" Maria said, becoming desparate, "Let me go, I'll stop hurting people, I'll do whatever you want! You can have anything! Money, connections, saftey-"
"Don't bother," Alice said, "I don't want anything from you. After everything you've done; to me, to my family, and most of all to Jasper...all I want is to see you dead."
I see Alice's eyes go cloudy and a small gasp escapes her lips. She looks back down at Maria with a glare, looking even angrier than before. She composed herself and sighed, "If I kill you...how am I any better than you?"
"Alice?!" I asked, shocked.
Alice dismissed me with a wave of her hand, concentrating on Maria, "I'm going to let you go and you are going to move far, far away. You are not going to create any more vampires or ruin any more lives." She pushed her face close to Maria's, "Make no mistake, I am not weak. If you come near me or my family ever again, you will regret it. If you even think about Jasper again, I will hunt you down and I will kill you."
Then she stood up and she walked away.
She walked away.
Maria and I stared at eachother, unsure what was happening. Alice helped me to my feet and we walked together out of the warehouse, leaving Maria lying in shock on the floor.
"My family - they're safe?" Alice asked, her voice void of emotion. I nodded. "And her army?"
"I told them to go. Peter's meeting them a little way off, he's going to show them how to live without her." I explained. I turned to her, "Alice-"
She shook her head, "Not now, Jasper, please."
We get in the car and drive away from Maria's base, sitting in silence. Alice drives a long way, out of the town and out into the country. She stops when we reach a cliff near the ocean, parking the car and getting out. I follow her, my leg hurting but now healed enough to walk on it. She paces to the edge of the cliff and stops, staring out at the horizon.
I stand beside her in silence.
"I had to let her go." Alice finally said, her voice quiet.
"No one would have blamed you for killing her. Everyone knew it needed to be done." I said.
She shook her head, "It's not that. I would have loved to rip her throat out."
Neither of us speak for a few minutes, then I said, "You really think she'll stick to all that stuff you told her to?"
"Probably not." Alice said, "I had a vision. Two actually, the different outcomes depending on whether I killed Maria or not. If I did, we'd all eventually end up dead. If I didn't, we'd be fine. I don't know why, or what influence she's going to have in our lives, but if I kill her I kill all of us too."
She finally looked at me, out gazes locking, "She can't know that."
"I know." Alice said, "That's why I lied, told her I didn't want to be like her. She had to think that if she caused trouble again I'd really do it."
"But you can't, we'd die." I said. She nodded.
"She's going to be back." She said, "Whether she'll be a threat or not, I don't know, but she'll be back."
I brought her into a hug, holding her close to my chest and kissing the top of her head, "When she does, we'll be ready. All of us will be together and we don't need to worry about her anymore."
"Promise me you'll be there, Jazz." She said into my chest.
"Of course I will, Angel. Forever, and always."
So only one more chapter to go! Pleeease leave me a review just to let me know y'all are still interested?! Doesn't take much but it makes my day ;)
Next chap will be up soon :)
