Author's note: Okay, this a long chapter. It was difficult to reason out but I was satisfied when I was done. It is doubled the length of my usual chapters. Please tell me if I captured the old style of speech ..or not. I tried to stick to the era.

As you read please tell me which Disney characters do you associate with Alice and jasper. I need to know this since it forms a thread in the story later on. Please tell me.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Her Story

" Ohh," she gasped and stepped back. I could feel her sudden fear and defensiveness immediately. I was used to this reaction. Any vampire who saw my battle scars immediately felt a threat. It was like a siren. My scars were barely noticeable to the human eye but were too conspicuous for the vision of our kind. The reminders of my past life in the South stretched from my wrist all the way up my arms and across my neck and jaw. I even had a few on my chest and stomach.

After a second, the girl retreated to the bed, sat on the edge, looked up at me and smiled. Her aura had changed; she was excited now but also a bit anxious. It was peculiar how her feelings were layered; the excitement and anxiety were blanketed by the warm emotion, I couldn't explain it. She motioned to me to come and sit with her. She scooted back toward bed head and crossed her legs under her. I only then noticed what she was wearing; a long white ruffled skirt and a forest green blouse, long sleeved, high necked and buttoned right up. I did as she asked but I sat on the opposite end of the bed.

My mind had been ordering my many confused thoughts and I blurted out the one at the top of the list. "Who are you?" My tone was not rude, just sufficiently wary. "I'm sorry," she replied sincerely, " I am Alice. Hmm, I hadn't considered how to explain this to you…" she mused, "What is you name? I always imagined it would be something…something strong like William or..," she trailed off and I took my cue. "I am Jasper Whitlock. I am very pleased to meet you Miss Alice," I reached forward quickly and took her hand which had been resting on her leg and kissed it, again, I did not take my eyes from hers. My actions brought me closer to her; I was now seated in the center of the bed, holding her hand. I could feel the spike of nervousness that overwhelmed her and then a rush of tenderness.

"I'm…do I know you Miss Alice?" I knew for a fact that I did not- I would never have forgotten her- but I could not find another way to express my desire for her to explain her perplexing behavior. She put the tip of her index finger in her mouth, took a deep breath and said, in a voice so sure, "No, no Jasper…Jasper," she mulled over my name, "But I know you," her tone changed, became unsure, "Sort of... I...I know I'm confusing you Jasper so I will just start at the beginning." She seemed to think for a moment, looked down at our hands. She smiled again and stroked the crescent shaped scar on my wrist.

"I came to Philadelphia to find you. I saw you at the diner…," This just got more and more confusing. I interrupted her then, "What do you mean you saw me?" She winced and then looked up at me apologetically. "I saw a picture of you...in my head. I have been seeing things these last couple…hmm, maybe two years, could be more," she sighed.

"Miss Alice, when you say that you see things, do you mean that's your gift, that you see…what, the future?"

She was confused. "My gift? What do you mean? Yes I do see the future, but what do you mean my gift?"

Does she mean to say that she has never met another vampire with extra abilities? "How old are you?" I asked suspiciously.

She hesitated and became filled with confusion and sadness before she answered, "I don't know…I can only remember from about two years ago in Louisville, Kentucky," she shook her head sadly.

"Who created you?" I probed.

She paused, then admitted sadly, "I don't know, I don't know any others like me."

I couldn't believe it, I was stunned. "So you have never met any other vampires?" My tone was incredulous.

"So I am a vampire then…I thought so. Hmm… no, you are the first one that I have met," She was still confused and I was astounded. I had many burning questions but I held my tongue, she was growing uncomfortable at my reaction. I calmed her down just a bit and continued.

"What do you remember?"

"Well…" she began. "I woke up on the ground in a lonely alley. It was night. My throat was dry and parched and something smelled really good," she cringed at the memory, in pain? "There was a man at the top of the street and before I could think about what I was doing… I…" She looked down and shame pooled inside her. I could not understand it.

"Yes, you fed from him and then what," I could not explain to myself why I was sitting there listening to the life story of some young vampire- even if she was beautiful and enthralling- but I could do nothing but stay because I was curious. Curious because she had 'seen' me, curious because her story intrigued me but the biggest reason- which I could not admit to myself ,for it made no sense- was that I was drawn to her. That warm emotion that layered all her other emotions, it was addictive.

She looked up at me retrospectively, "Then, I saw something,"

"You had a vision?" I could not hide my interest, I did not even want to. What did that mean?

"Yes, yes…that's it...a vision. I saw you," She hesitated and tilted her head to the side, "You killed a man, just like I had…well, you did not make as much of a mess as I did but I felt something then." she seemed to be speaking more to herself than to me. "I knew… I knew then, that I was different from the man I had killed, from the man you killed...but I knew that I was the same…the same as you." She stopped for a minute; she was exuding the warmth again in a much more concentrated dose, it made my muscles relax and my mind slow down. My chest heated up and tingled. She was looking at me straight in my eyes, she must have seen something there that made her smile kindly, I think, or maybe like she cared about me, it was strange… but I liked it.

"What else?" I prodded

"Then, right after, I had another…vision…I saw this family; a man, a woman, two boys and a girl…in their teens. They had the strangest yellow eyes, almost gold. They were hunting in a forest, they were hunting bears."

"Hunting bears?" I asked, doubtful.

"Yes, yes, hunting bears. I learnt their names when they spoke to each other, the father is Carlisle, the mother is Esme, and their children are Emmett, Edward and Rosalie."

"These people, were they vampires?" I asked skeptically.

"Oh yes, yes, they are just like us," she replied quickly, "Only they are different," she smiled a knowing smile and I heated up again. I didn't say anything because she was about to continue.

"Right then and there, I snapped back to reality, I saw the man in my arms, I saw the blood on my hands, my shirt…and," She was filled with shame again, puzzling me to no end.

"I couldn't believe I had killed a man, he was just about twenty two and the rose he was carrying was thrown on the ground a few feet away. I was appalled at myself!" Her voice went up and broke on the last word. She hung her head and the shame she felt was so immense, I almost thought it was mine. That is, my emotions have the greatest effect on me, when I feel what someone else feels, it is only a weak echo, barely discernable, so I can clearly differentiate between a foreign emotion and my own. Unconsciously, I drew up closer to her and squeezed her hand that had been stroking mine.

She calmed- that was my doing- and then continued, "I wanted to cry, but I found that I couldn't, there were no tears. I didn't know what to do. I ran away as fast as I could, and that was very fast! I tried to figure out my situation, I tried to figure out what I was but, I might as well had tried to bring that man back to life!" her forehead wrinkled and her eyebrows drew together. "I couldn't remember my surname, or where I lived or who were my parents or what I was doing lying on the street. I could remember nothing! Nothing!" She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself, I helped her with that.

"So what did you do then?" I asked, genuinely curious. She seemed pleased that I was not bored or apathetic, whichever.

"I thought about what I had seen Carlisle do…and I had another vision, they just inflate in my head, like a balloon," she explained. "Carlisle and Emmett were in a forest.

"There were others here," Carlisle said.

"Damn, what do you think are the chances that they are vegetarian vampires?" Emmett asked.

"There are very few that live our way Emmett, very few that have a conscience, we should leave immediately, we don't want to run into any nomads,"

"Awww, I never get to fight anybody, Edward cheats and Rose is…well...a girl,"

"Emmett, a fight can end in death, and killing is not right, no matter if you rid the world of a bloodthirsty vampire, so calm down. I think its time we return home."

And then, the balloon popped. That's when I realized what I was… a vampire," she whispered, but then her tone changed and she continued…proudly " I also realized that I didn't have to kill people. There was a forest North-East of Louisville**. I went there immediately, I was afraid…of myself. I was alone and I didn't know what to do, so I stayed just far enough so that I couldn't smell the people. I hated being alone in the forest but the dark didn't bother me so much, I could still see. I concentrated a lot on Carlisle and his family, learning what they did; they were my company all those times. I saw how they could interact with people, they trained themselves no to kill people and it gave me hope that I could still be me-though I didn't know who that was-but still. I decided to be like them. I stayed away from people for many months and soon I found that it got easier to be nearer to them, but only when I was full, when I had hunted. I was still afraid to go too near though.

I don't know how long it was before I had another vision of you, you were getting on a train to Pittsburgh."

"That was six months ago" I informed her. She nodded.

"I decided that needed to venture out if I was going to do anything at all. I couldn't just stay in the forest. So I went into town. My throat felt raw and, in the beginning, I could only stand minutes at a time. I persisted though; I was encouraged by what I saw in my visions of Emmett and Edward. I got better at it and I began concentrating on you. I figured out that my visions were of the future and so, I figured, you had to be part of my future as well." My chest heated up and there was a tingling sensation fluttering about inside me. I couldn't understand it, but I liked it.

Alice continued, "I figured that I had to find you, you first because you were the first one that I had seen. So I started paying attention to you. I saw you in Pittsburgh then, you got on a train to Philadelphia. I made my decision then, I stole some money and got on a train to come and find you. I held my breath the entire way there. I arrived two weeks ago, my visions got clearer and I could see you coming into a diner. I spent my time figuring out which diner it was. When I did, the visions got so clear that I could tell how long before you would arrive. I waited and then you came. That's my story," she finished with a tired but relieved sigh.

She patted my hand and leaned backward onto the pillows. I felt oddly comfortable here and so I spoke my thoughts aloud, "I am amazed at your level self-control, newborns…," I felt her confusion at the term, "New vampires, newborns, are wild; it's a good thing you were able to get to that forest quickly. The coven you spoke of, the family of vampires, they are probably not related as you seem to think. They are just a group."

"Oh," she replied, unconvinced.

"And, you have fed recently, your eyes are bright, where did you find animals here?" Immediately, I felt the overpowering shame pool inside her.

"I didn't…" she stammered, "I had no time to leave to find a forest. The man came so close to me and I inhaled the same time..." She choked, "I can't believe I did it again. That was two days ago." She bowed her head and shuddered.

It was night now, around eight o'clock. Alice was staring at me with remorseful eyes. "It's nice to know somebody like me," she confessed and I heated up again. "So tell me about you, why do you have all these scars?" She asked.

I should have known this was coming. I didn't like to talk about my past and she could see that by my expression. Vulnerability filled her, and, well, I wanted the heat back so I stretched out my arm. "My scars…," I rotated my arm to show her, she was staggered at the amount. She came closer, tracing the patterns up my arm. She was so innocent, she was amazed. She noticed then, at the very top of my turtleneck sweater, another scar exposed. She was entranced. "More..?" She breathed. Then, she did the most shocking thing. She placed her hands at the bottom of my black sweater and pulled it up over my head.

I did not know what to think, honestly. She had not even looked me in the eye then. She leaned in closer, touching my neck now, running her smooth little hands over my ravaged jaw line. Her fingertips caressed my throat, my collarbones. I stared into her face, trying to understand her actions. What did she want? What was she doing? Her aura was of amazement and she seemed oblivious to the sensuality of the experience I was having.

Her shiny hair was black and long. She smelled of lavender and cinnamon. I couldn't help myself; I raised my hand and ran my fingers through her hair. She looked at me then, broken out of her trance. She leaned back and she felt a twinge of embarrassment as she noticed how our arrangement had unconsciously- to her-grown intimate.

Her thoughts had been pure, I could see that now. I regretted my own sentiments almost immediately. Her eyes drifted back to my bare shoulder, "How did you get those?" she whispered intently. I grimaced. Her eyes were compassionate and her face molded into a…- or what would have been- a heartbreaking pout. Above all these factors which had launched an assault on my resolve to incarcerate my past, was her aura. She cared. It was then I began to realize that I could not deny her the answer.

Author's note: Oh I hope you liked it. Please tell me what you thought. Your comments make me feel fulfilled.

For anyone who wondered why her hair is long. Her hair was short when bella met her, now that doesn't mean that her hair was always short.

Did anyone notice that I use 'military' jargon in jasper's thoughts? ( assault, incarcerate…etc)

** if you noticed that little insert… the little town north east of Louisville is actually called JASPER …really! I try to add significance to the smallest details like hotel Harmonie… that's French for harmony … " They laughed in harmony, Soprano and Bass" quote from eclipse chapter 13

Plz PLz plz review!!!