"The venom's been in her system too long." A voice called out with a methodical tone. "We have two choices, let the venom run its course, or let her die."
Alice was left in the darkness, unable to see or do anything, focusing solely on a searing pain that spread across her left shoulder. She heard screaming, yet, she was unable to pinpoint where it was coming from.
The shouting and pain faded as the darkness gave way to a new scene: An evening stroll through town, crisp autumn breezes leaving goosebumps across her skin. She was heading downtown, walking home from the cafe, a frigid hand with broad fingers and thick nails gripped her own. The space between the thumb and forefinger was raised, slightly colder than the rest of the hand, the stranger was easily recognized as Jasper, and she affectionately leaned into him.
As they neared her house, she drifted away, dropping his hand. This was customary, as Alice preferred to keep a modest appearance in front of others, especially her parents. Soon she came to a stop, her head beginning to pound, the burning along her shoulder returning. Jasper drew to a halt, glancing back to ask if she was alright. Once she reassured him, they started walking again. In a hurry to catch up with her lover, Alice quickened her pace, her glove catching on a chain-link fence, a metal point slicing her skin.
"Oh no…" Was all she could mouth before the vampire turned around, lunging for her.
Chapter Four: Decode
'Bzzzt! Bzzzt!' The doorbell buzzed at a frantic pace.
Alice rolled over, pulling the blankets over her head, before begrudgingly peeking out to read the time shining across her alarm clock. 6:30 am, later than she'd planned to sleep! Checking the clock, she noted that her alarm wasn't set, and she didn't remember setting it before falling to sleep. Her mother hadn't come to wake her up, either, now she had to rush through her morning routine.
"Good morning Mrs. Brandon, may I come in?" Alice heard Nicole's shrill voice echo through the house. She sounded excited- a bit too excited for a normal school day.
Alice was confused. For the last few weeks, Nicole had been picking the girls up and taking them to school, so they wouldn't have to walk in the rain, but today she arrived way earlier than normal.
"Yes dear, of course, just keep your voices down this morning, Edgar is still sleepin'," Lillian replied, stepping aside for the young girl.
Nikki's footsteps were rapidly approaching, Alice knew she only had a few seconds to get out of bed to unlock her door before her friend bashed through it. The door swung open, nearly hitting Alice in the process before the crazed woman pushed it shut.
"Girl!" She hollered as if Lillian hadn't just asked her to keep quiet. "I NEED DETAILS!"
Alice stretched, stifling a yawn before heading over to her vanity, ready to prepare for the day. "Details about what? Did you forget to study for our English exam or something?"
"Um…. Jasper fucking Hale, that's what!" Irritation was plastered across her face. "Are you seriously going to start seeing him and not tell me!? Hannah told me you met him at her family's cafe and he took you home. And I didn't get a single call, or text, or email! Did your fingers stop working?"
"Oh-oh, that… Kinda thought it was a dream…" Alice replied groggily.
Picking up on her vocal patterns and facial expressions Nikki gasped. "Oh my god, please don't tell me that you slept with him and it wasn't good, I will seriously be super disappointed…"
The petite girl's eyes widened. "Quiet! Do you want my mom to hear? No, we didn't sleep together!"
"Awww…" Nikki sounded like a disappointed child. "I was kinda hoping you had a bit of fun. I'm guessing you didn't do any other activities? Like did you-"
"We just talked!" Alice exclaimed, face bright red. "I can't believe I forgot to set my alarm after he left…" She added, chastising herself, thinking about how much she had to do in the next hour.
The brunette walked over slamming her hands down in front of Alice. "Excuse me? I was told the Cullen's left your place at a decent time. How did you not remember to set your alarm? Unless…." Nikki dramatized a gasp, doing her best to impersonate Lillian's voice. "Mary Alice Brandon, was that boy in your room?"
"Yeah, he wanted to make sure I was alright."
"A phone call wouldn't have done the trick? Are you sure he wasn't trying to get lucky?"
"Well, if he wanted to get lucky, he didn't do a good job of convincing me to sleep with him. I was thinking about that while waiting for him to show up and I might've given him a shot, -if he played his cards right."
Another gasp, this one was real. "Girl, you realize he's in for good now, right? At least if that bullshit about women deciding if they're gonna screw a guy within the first five minutes is true."
Alice sighed. "Yeah, maybe. I'd like to get to know him a little better first."
"You wanted him last night." Nikki teased.
"Oh, hush. I can change my mind."
Continuing to get ready Alice suffered through Nikki's perverted comments, doing her best to ignore them as she locked her friend on the other side of the bathroom door. She felt strange like something was trying to claw its way out from her chest. Her heart was pounding, embarrassment flooding her cheeks, turning them a burning red. Taking a deep breath, she tried clearing her thoughts of the honey-blond boy, willing away the fluttering warmth that rooted deep in her stomach, which simultaneously made her nauseous and comforted her.
Her eyes snapped shut as if that was the cure to erasing everything she felt. Why did she feel so strongly about him now? Perhaps she was too tired for her emotions to be as intense last night, as they were now. Remembering how long he'd been willing to hold her, to comfort her, made her lips form a smile, and her shoulders tremble.
"Kept her up that late? Think she'll even show up to school?" The brute hollered as Jasper tried to have a private conversation with the chatelaine of the family. The interruption earned Emmett a glare from both.
"You did very well, Jasper." Esme praised, treating him like her own child. "If I would've told you this yesterday, you wouldn't have believed you were capable of such a feat. But, you managed to walk away from your temptation."
A bag landed on the counter next to the pair. "She's right, you've improved a lot these last two years." A woman with dark hair commented. "Another couple of years and you'll have total control."
Being a master eccedentesiast, he faked a smile. Jasper didn't believe that he'd ever have what it takes to be like them. Whenever Bella was a newborn, she had instant control. She slipped up for a minute or two and managed to pull herself out of the frenzy. The other Cullen's had a few slip-ups when they first began their vegetarian life, -aside from the head of the coven-, but none of them made mistakes as he had.
He'd started his vegetarian journey in the late '60s and his last taste of human blood was in September. The time before that had caused enough of a ruckus to prompt their move to Forks. The Cullen's assured him time and time again that he just needed to practice, with effort came reward. But, with his upbringing, he adamantly believed there was no saving him. And with his gift, he knew exactly how the rest of the family felt.
Esme truly believed in him, for that, he believed she was foolish.
Carlisle was hopeful and kind. Yet, hidden behind his kindness was doubt.
Edward and Rosalie saw him as a burden. Whenever something happened, they were the first to speak their minds.
Emmet was indifferent. In a way, He believed that Emmet was hopeful as well. He and Rosalie had argued a few times because of how she treated Jasper.
Bella felt sorry for him. She heard his stories and wanted him to find solace in the family.
He wasn't sure about Renesmee. She had a different way of expressing herself, and at times it threw his gift off.
What made everything worse, was Alice. She felt positive about him, always excited, happy, and she'd even expressed worry for his safety. If she knew what he was, who he was, she wouldn't feel the same. Yet, when he saw Edward and Bella, he felt hopeful. Maybe she'd want to stick around, despite knowing the truth.
"Bella was a special case." The bronze-haired vampire replied, joining his mate at the door. "I didn't tell her anything, she figured out what we were on her own. And you can't tell Alice anything, it doesn't matter if she told you her secret."
As they walked out, ready to head to school Esme gently placed her hand on Jasper's shoulder, causing him to wait as the others went ahead. "Do what you think is best. But, just give her a little time to get to know you before you decide."
She always had been a hopeless romantic.
After a quick breakfast, all three girls were ready to make their way to school, though Alice and Cynthia both hesitated in the doorway, enchanted with the blanket of white covering everything. Yesterday night's air was chilled, but she hadn't expected to wake up to fresh snowfall. Biloxi rarely got snow. In fact, their annual snowfall is marked as 0 inches.
Nikki seemed a little bewildered at the sister's reaction, leading Lillian to interrupt them. "The girls haven't seen snow like this since they were small. I believe Alice was only ten at the time, and Cynthia was just barely walkin'."
"Well, I'm sure this is very exciting, however, if we don't leave, we're going to be late for class!"
The drive to school was interesting, albeit slower. Delicate flurries of white drifted down, melding with flakes from the previous evening. The crystalline fragments clung to every surface but looked especially beautiful on foliage. Nikki dropped Cynthia off first, having Alice walk her inside before hopping back into the car. They drove the next block over, parking in the high school lot, seeing several of the boys engaged in a snowball fight.
"Oh boy. Looks like they've started their blizzard royale early. Bet the teachers are gonna love it." Nikki commented sarcastically. "Just try to move fast and you hopefully won't get hit with muddy snowballs. That's Richard's specialty."
Alice nodded, trying to figure out which path towards the school would be the one less likely to get them pummeled. But her carefully calculated plans were halted whenever she spotted the Cullen's. The two girls darted to a set of double doors, while the boys lagged behind them, seemingly not bothered by the possibility of snow being slapped against their jackets. Suddenly Alice didn't care if she were hit, she leapt out of the vehicle, carelessly leaving her bag behind as she ran to catch up to the Cullens, stopping only to scoop up and pack together a snowball.
Unbeknownst to her Edward glanced behind the trio, deciphering what she was up to. He was about to nudge the others out of the way whenever Emmet looked back to see Alice lobbing her ball towards them. Her aim was off, the trajectory guided the ball slightly to the left, enough to miss her target. Emmet wasn't about to let that happen.
Seconds before the ball would've impacted with the cement, he shoved Jasper to the side, and being within the sight of humans, Jasper stumbled to avoid suspicion allowing the snowball to collide with the back of his head.
The brute laughed, pointing back at Alice whose cheeks were currently flushed red. She'd meant to hit him, just not the back of his head. Jasper's irritation soothed away when she came into view. He wasn't sure how he hadn't caught her scent, perhaps he was too distracted by his conversation with Esme.
"I'm so sorry, I swear I was aiming for your back." Alice apologized, giving him a sheepish smile.
Nicole grabbed Alice's bag along with her own before carefully running between the parked cars, watching the snow battle rage on. "Girl, imagine if you would've slipped on the ice. Not only would you be cold, and have a sore ass, but you would've risked getting salty sludge all over your fancy coat."
"Well, I didn't plan on slipping." The pixie-sized girl replied with a roll of her eyes.
While making her sassy remarks, Jasper moved closer startling her whenever he spoke, "Would you mind if I walked you to your first class?"
The reactions around him were mixed, Nikki was exhilarated for Alice, immediately giving her friend's bag back to her, saying that she'd see her in class before heading through the cafeteria to meet up with the rest of their friend group. Emmett's response was also positive, giving his brother a thumb's up, turning to follow the other Cullen's, nudging Edward's shoulder, motioning him to follow, and reluctantly he did.
Alice smiled, reaching out and grabbing Jasper's hand. "You know, I was actually hoping that we'd get a moment alone, I do have a couple of questions about last night." A timorous aura lingered over her.
"Is anything wrong?" He questioned, as they began their slow stride towards building three.
"Well," Alice kept her voice low, so other students nearby couldn't overhear. "Last night when you suggested that we start seeing each other, did you mean dating or were you preferring we have a fling?"
"I may be old fashioned, but, I would prefer to get to know you for a while longer before proceeding to such a physical stage." Jasper was a bit nervous about her inquiries. He was already struggling to choke down his thirst being this close, he couldn't imagine her surviving an intimate evening with him.
She felt relieved at his answer, Nicole was wrong about his interest in getting lucky a few times. "Oh good, I was hoping you'd say that." A nervous giggle escaped. "I don't mind if you want to continue sneaking into my room after midnight, though."
"I'll consider it, but maybe we can keep that as a weekend activity, you do need your rest."
Being close to the vampire brought her a strange comfort. The normal reaction Jasper felt from others was the need to escape, to run away, and to put as much distance as possible between them and himself. The warmth Alice felt was a nice change of pace.
He didn't expect the young human to pull him closer, as she linked their arms together, her free hand clutching the fabric of his jacket.
"Do you want to hang out after school?" She asked sheepishly. "We could go to the cafe, or we could go for a-" Alice fell silent, fragments of her dream returning as she remembered the walk they'd went on.
"For a walk?" Jasper finished her sentence, noting her newfound concern.
Alice's energy level's dropped as her worry increased, she was almost panicked, just on the bridge of wanting to turn tail and run.
"Hey, this may seem sudden but I had this strange dream last night. You were walking me home, or we went for a walk when I cut my hand on a fence or something and when you noticed the blood, you freaked out."
The vampire let out a soft, nervous chuckle. "I can imagine, the sight of blood makes me… uneasy." He lied, suddenly aware of the thirst lingering in the back of his throat.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I wouldn't have mentioned it if I'd known.." She apologized, seeing her friends sudden discomfort.
He held his breath, trying to will away the desire to drain her blood, not wanting to admit that the thought of leading her away in order to discreetly kill her was very tempting right now. He needed to excuse himself before his instincts took over.
"About tonight…" He started off slowly, with a gentle tone. "I've already made prior arrangements." Jasper expected disappointment to radiate off his human friend but Alice remained in her chipper mood. "Oh, that's fine. So, could I have your phone number? Maybe we could make plans for the weekend or spring break or something?"
He could feel the slight shift in his stance as he subconsciously prepared to hunt her. "Maybe later, I've got to get to class." He spoke sort of rushed, as he turned and began walking away.
And there it was, that drop in happiness he'd been anticipating. He nearly flinched at her newfound negativity, suffering because he wasn't able to control himself, just because she'd mentioned the word -blood-. God forbid if she actually bled around him.
"Sure, I'll see you later…" She replied with a fake smile, mentally chastising herself for even mentioning her dream or visions. Maybe her father was right, she'd run off anyone she tried to befriend if she kept mentioning the premonitions.
Turning, she started to head towards building 3, quickening her pace as if she herself were in a rush. Her emotions were trying to get the better of her as her thoughts told her that she was nothing but a freak. And while Jasper was losing the battle with his hunger, he knew he couldn't just leave Alice in silence. He caught back up to her with ease and wrapped his arms around her, frightening her for a moment before she realized who it was. "Have a nice day, doll." He softly whispered using his southern charm, before releasing her and continuing his stroll back to building 1. And Alice stood there dumbfounded for a minute, the emotions that were swelling in her throat now burning in her cheeks. Her smile returned to a genuine state as she watched him leave, still curious as to what had gotten into him.
Once she reached the classroom, she was greeted by Nikki, who gave her a suspicious look whenever she saw her friend alone with a confused look on her face. "Did something happen? Don't tell me the two of you broke up already."
Alice forced a laugh. "We're technically not dating, he just said he wanted to see more of me."
"Yeah! He wants to see more of you, he snuck into your room, and girl, have you seen the way he looks at you? He's totally into, I don't know why you would doubt your status."
Before the raven-haired pixie could speak, her friend interrupted again, "It's probably his siblings! They're so weirdly close, they must be hounding him, complaining about him talking to someone outside of the family." Alice was surprised at Nicole's reaction, wondering if she was ever given the cold shoulder by the family?
As the hours ticked by, Jasper successfully vanished, nowhere to be seen. He didn't show up to any of his classes and he wasn't sitting at the Cullen's table during lunch. Alice tried calming her mind down by convincing herself that he was so queasy around blood the thought of it made him ill and the nurse sent him home sick.
Despite her efforts, she couldn't help but glance over to their table. She wanted to talk to them, ask about him, but they were all so unapproachable. She was analyzing each of them, trying to figure out which would be more willing to speak with her.
Rosalie was instantly ruled out. While she was Jasper twin, she was too standoffish and most likely to get aggressive if Alice walked up to her. Even now she wore a scowl directed at the petite girl.
Bella seemed friendly enough, but also seemed to be the kind that kept family matters hush-hush.
Edward had a knowledgeable air about him yet she got the impression that he already made up his mind about talking to her before she even decided to get out of her seat. He seemed good at reading people.
Finally, there was Emmett. He and Jasper seemed to get along well enough and he seemed like he'd be a friendly guy- if she could get him away from Rosalie. From what she'd noticed those two had most of their classes together, so that wasn't likely.
"Um, earth to Alice." The voice of her friend pulled her from her thoughts. Everyone at the table stared at her with a worried expression, not sure how long she'd been spacing out.
"Hmm? What's up?" She responded, a little dazed.
"Do you want to come with us to the beach this weekend?" Nathan repeated his earlier question. "The weather is supposed to be nice for a change," Michaela added.
"You know I could talk to your parents for you. Convince them it'll be a girl's only, supervised get together." Nicole offered, deviously.
Alice smiled, moving her fork around the tray. "Yeah, sure, that sounds great. Who all have you invited?"
"Everone at this table, and Richard's brother, so far. Don't want too big of a group, lunch would get expensive." Nathan informed.
Nikki threw her arm around Alice's shoulders. "You should come, the beaches here aren't anything like the beaches in Missippi. Nowhere near as crowded."
Alice's friend's successfully managed to distract her at lunch, giving the Cullen's time to disappear, as if they knew about her plan to speak with them. Bella shared a single class with her and when the bell rang, she wasn't in her seat. This made Alice grow increasingly frustrated. Not only had Jasper vanished but now his entire family left school? She was beginning to think they did somehow know what she was thinking. It would explain why there were days they sat in silence but also seemed to have full conversations. Maybe Jasper was so accepting of her gift because his entire family is gifted? This thought gave Alice a bit of hope.
It wasn't long after the final bell rang that Alice heard Nicole's shrill voice calling out to her. "So, I called your mama and invited myself to dinner so I could talk to her about the beach trip, hope you don't mind."
Alice was a bit worried that she'd once again be forced to listen to Nicole's sexual remarks about Jasper as she had this morning but still she smiling saying that she didn't mind. Hopefully, her company would keep her mind off of Jasper.
After picking up Cynthia from school, the three girls headed to the Brandon residence. Cynthia was telling the older girls about her day and her apparent crush on a boy in her class. Nicole noted how oddly quiet Alice had been through the entire car ride. Alice hadn't even budged when Cynthia walked into the house, proudly announcing that she had a boyfriend, earning a glare from Edgar, who was currently reading the paper in the living room, and a curious glance from Lillian who leaned against the kitchen doorway. The two eldest girls slipped off their shoes before heading back into Alice's room.
"So…" Nikki began as soon as the door shut. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Growing up Alice didn't have much of a support system. There was her cousin but after his parents failed to heed Alice's warning, she tragically lost him. Her aunt branded her as a monster that day, saying that she wanted nothing to do with Edgar and his family as long as the "witch' was alive.
At first, she didn't want to say a word, but the more she thought about it, there was one question she wanted to be answered. "Actually, yes. Why were you so quick to blame his family?"
Nicole was a little taken aback by the question.
"Ah, well, last year, when I first moved here I didn't realize they'd all hooked up with each other and I was hardcore flirting with Emmett. He wasn't reciprocating it but I assumed he was either playing hard to get or the clueless jock. You know how guys are." She let out a frustrated sigh, "Rosalie, the blonde girl, she's the jealous type and not only did her day's consist of her glaring at me, one day she cornered me in the bathroom and told me not to go near Emmett again or I'd regret it. It was pretty fucking terrifying."
Nicole laid back on the bed, arm's behind her head as she stared up at the ceiling. "'Course Edward scolded her for it. Said something about she didn't need to attract unwanted attention and she could've handler the situation calmer. Bella apologized for her but I really didn't understand why she'd gotten so upset. Like I thought he was worth fighting over."
Alice was pleased with herself for figuring out that neither Edward nor Rosalie were the ones to approach and after hearing Nikki's story, Emmet was also out of the question. Perhaps it was Bella that she should consider talking to.
"So, that's the reason you think Jasper left school?"
"Yeah, I'm thinking they're part of it," Nicole confirmed. "They all avoid the other students, they're also super smart, but every so often they get a couple bad grades so people don't realize how smart they are. Lately, I've been wondering if Richard's mafia theory is true. It'd explain why they're so difficult to approach."
The petite girl raised a brow, "What make's you think that?"
"You know- How sometimes when they're around you just get the urge to run. Almost like you're the prey and they're the hunters? That's why they sit so secluded from everyone. People are scared of them, but no one wants to admit it, so the next best option is to let them be alone, you know?" Nicole wore a guilty expression on her face. "It's kinda sad, cause Carlisle does so much for this community and in return, we shun them. No one invites them anywhere."
Alice thought about everything her friend told her and everything she witnessed before shrugging her shoulders, "Maybe they want to be secluded."
"Why do you think they want that?"
"Well, let's entertain the mafia theory: If they are associated with the mafia, then they likely fled from their group, moving to a small town where people wouldn't recognize them. So it's easier for them to be outcasted, rather than having friends that pry."
Nicole seemed to believe the idea. "That would explain their strange family, they're so mix and match. Maybe the doctor saved the kids from falling into the wrong crowd?"
The two girls soon changed the subject, Alice asked about La Push and Nicole alerted her that some of the kids from the reservation would likely be joining them. She then talked about how hot the Quileute boys were until Lillian called them for dinner.
This time their usually quiet dinner was full of conversation. Edgar didn't talk much but allowed the girls to gossip among themselves. Lillian wanted to plan a trip to Seattle with the girls and asked Nicole if her fathers would mind. They could also visit some of the parks rather than spending the entire day shopping. They could even make it a weekend getaway. Nicole suggested that one weekend they should all head to California, to enjoy the sunshine, rather than all the rain. Edgar entertained this idea more-so than the idea of them going to Seattle.
Soon enough dinner was over and everyone begrudgingly took part in family game night where Nikki showed her competitive side, winning most of the rounds. Alice was also surprised to see that Nicole and her father got along well.
It started getting late and Nicole excused herself, saying that she should probably head home before her dads got too worried, before leaving she told Alice she'd see her in the morning. Lillian and Edgar head upstairs to put Cynthia to bed and Alice headed to her own room, unraveling her mess of thoughts from everything that had happened today.
She opened her window letting the crisp night air into her room as she leaned on the sill, closing her eyes, concentrating on Jasper, wondering if she could still see the visions of the two of them together. She focused all of her thoughts on her previous reverie and she was blessed with the familiar fogginess consuming her thoughts.
Tree's towered over the surrounding area, the moon and stars illuminating the landscape just enough to show the varying shades of the foliage. The evening was full of navy blues and violets, swirling and mixing as if the normal night sky was its own galaxy. Everything was so vivid, far beyond what her normal human eyesight could comprehend. The world blurred, before coming to a stop, the Brandon house coming into view, heading alongside it towards Alice's window, a hand reached out to grab Alice's own, the air carrying a familiar redolence, the cologne Jasper wore. A smile spread across the young girls' face.
Jasper was acting strange and it was because he too had a secret, just like hers. Alice automatically came to the conclusion that he wasn't human, his world was far too beautiful for that.
It wasn't long before she felt the coolness of his skin against hers, slowly, she opened her eyes to meet his own.
"Did I scare you?"
"Nope," She beamed. "I saw you coming."
His eyes were such a bright shade of amber, she could've sworn his eyes were darker, but regardless she found herself lost in them, looking down at him for a change.
"So, why are you here?"
He smiled, fingers curling around her hand. "Well, a certain little pixie asked for my number, and I came to deliver." His free hand produced a folded piece of paper. Cautiously she reached out, taking it, examining it to make sure it was indeed a phone number.
"Do you want to come inside?" She offered. It was getting late and her parents were likely still awake, but if they kept quiet, her parents would be none the wiser. "No, I shouldn't stay too much longer."
Alice frowned at his response, jerking her hand free. "Fine." She took a step back from the window, using her dresser as leverage to lift herself onto the sill before dropping outside, Jasper helping her catch her balance.
"How are you going to get back inside?"
"You're going to help me." She smiled proudly. "If you can effortlessly climb in, you can help me back up." Her arms quickly wrapped around his waist as she buried her face into his jacket. "Why did you leave so suddenly? Are you ok? Are we-"
He returned the embrace, running a hand through her hair, able to restrain himself a bit better now that he'd had a meal. "I'm fine, Alice." He replied, not offering an explanation as to where he'd been all day, or why all of his siblings left.
Again, Alice took a step back, he could feel the irritation swelling. "Don't lie to me, ok? I know something was wrong with you. You and your family, you're different and I'm not going to beg you to tell me what make's you all so different, but, you listened to me when I told you my secret, so, please, don't shut me out when something is bothering you. You don't have to be specific, however, I'd like a little warning when you're just going to up and leave school."
Jasper carefully listened to the small humans' words, noting the strange determination that flowed through her emotions as she spoke and he realized that he was definitely getting in an argument with Edward when he got home because he wasn't going to leave Alice's side, now that she had suspicions about his family.
"You're right. We are very different than most families…"
To be continued...
Sorry about the delay, but with Midnight Sun's official release being revealed, I figured I should get to finishing chapter 4! I hope you all are doing alright during this pandemic.
I actually caught the virus back in Feb and it was not fun at all.
That being said I am alright now :)
Anyway, I'm not sure how long till chapter 5 will be up because I am an essential worker and I happen to make hand sanitizer that we supply directly to hospitals and a handful of other essential/ medical items.
Ciao~