Sweet Serendipity

Chapter Seven : Mine

A. Brandon

His lips descended down upon hers as she remained emotionless and guarded, responding only just to keep up the façade of happiness as he kissed her with what she could only assume to be fake passion. She was fighting herself to suppress the feelings that flooded through her. Pleasure, attraction, love, and something that went beyond the laws of normal temptation. He was doing this too her, making her body react the way it was to his.

It was his supernatural appeal. His scent, his eyes, his body, his looks… it was making her react this way to his touch… it was the only explanation as to why he had so much of an emotional effect on her.

Pulling back, he turned with a wicked smirk and presented Alice to the crowd of unnaturally beautiful people that had seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was unnerving, to be the center of attention in crowd of such magnificent and terrifying beings.

She was a show piece. An ornament for the blonde haired stranger… and she knew it.

The fight in her eyes was gone though.

That fierce, fiery, spitfire of a girl had lost the flame that burned within her. And he had done this… he had made her this worthless trophy for his shelf… he had brought this on. This feeling of helplessness, and her urge to just give up. It was him.

When Alice finally woke up from her dream and the darkness that she'd been submerged in, the room was bright and she was surrounded by soft downy blankets and pillows. She felt like she was sleeping on a cloud, and she couldn't be more content to just lie in bed all day. The temperature was perfect, and the soft linen on the bed caressed her body and skin in ways that made her want to lie forever in the embrace of this bed. It was better than being held in a lover's arms… this feeling eloped her… had her drowning in the simple pleasure of comfort. For the first time in weeks, she had enjoyed waking up to the day… and she missed the sensation of a good night's sleep, the feeling it brought on the next morning.

Her happiness, however… did not last, when she finally came to her senses.

When she finally realized the place in which she had woken was foreign, and the previous day's events came flooding back, her panic increased ten fold. The man, the blonde haired stranger, his lips, his eyes… his voice and what he'd said to her surrounded her thoughts.

Rising up from the bed she'd been placed in, she looked around with wide eyes as her heart felt like it was pounding out through her ribcage. It was unnerving at best, the feeling of helplessness that washed over her in waves. Swinging her legs over the side, her feet hit the cold floor as her shaky legs struggled to take the weight of her body, despite how small she may have been.

Alice knew that the past couple of weeks had taken a strong effect on her mind, soul, and body. She couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep… and the anxiety that followed her everywhere was a constant reminder of the life she'd fallen into. She'd lost a valuable amount of needed weight, and it was a wonder she hadn't been hospitalized for her malnutrition. But a hospital would only be another place they could have found her. Though, that didn't make much of a difference now, considering that obviously her attempts of escape had been in vain. That thought alone made her want to spill any and all contents in her stomach.

Looking down to assess her quaking legs, she was more than surprised to see herself now dressed in a short pair of white shorts, and a white tank top over the under garments she'd been wearing the day before. Her chest was small, as it always had been, but fair enough for her size. Her stomach was flat, again… as it always had been, but now, she could feel the top of her protruding ribcage.

Peeling her eyes away from her body in disgust, she looked around the room. There was a door open leading to an obviously large walk in closet, another that lead to an on-suite master bathroom, and the last door, this one closed, must have been the enter and exit door… the only door in and out of her room. The bed was large, like the rest of the room relatively white, omit the black flowery patterns gracing the comforter. The curtains matched the bed spread, and the carpet was white as well. A black desk situated itself in the corner, and a large black bookshelf stood to attention stacked with all kinds of books on the opposite wall.

The room was beautifully decorated, the large bay window and window seat opened up the room… but despite this, it was cold… impersonal, and depressing despite it's beauty.

Stepping towards the window, she peeled the curtains pack to look out towards the landing below. She was high, most likely a second or third story. And from what she could tell, the surrounding house was huge. The fields surrounding the estate were covered in rich rolling green hills, a pasture to the left of the mansion held a series of proud Arabian horses and Stallions, and the gardens out back were well tended and up kept. It would have been a beautiful ranch she would love to stay at, should it have been in any other situation.

"The Major hopes that your room is to your liking." a female voice called from behind her as Alice felt herself jump in the air in surprise and fright, whirling around to see the door where the source of the voice had come from. Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart and the dizziness that came with the surprise, Alice pushed back the scared tears in her eyes as her body tensed even more so at the figure crowding the door.

Charlotte stood patiently with a platter of food, waiting as Alice tried to form words.

"You- you…"

"Hello Alice…"

"You betrayed me." Alice stated with disbelief clear in her voice as Charlotte tried to mask her surprise at the accusation. She didn't know exactly what to expect when she first saw Alice face to face… but that hadn't been it.

"Wha- How did you know?" Charlotte asked. "How did you know to run, to hide? How?" she asked before waiting a moment to calm herself before continuing on to explain herself… changing her approach as she monitored Alice's reaction carefully. "I was bringing you here for your own safety. I know The Major's methods are questionable… but you don't yet understand the situation. We're keeping you safe Alice. This is for the benefit of you… I'm trying to help you." she offered as Alice scoffed and wiped furiously at the tear that fell from the corner of her eye.

"I trusted you… you were supposed to help me. And you were only bringing me to this-this… this prison." she spat angrily as Charlotte sighed and shook her head.

"I'm sorry you feel that way Alice. I truly am…"

"Why did you bring me here?" she finally asked as Charlotte set the platter of food down on the bed before standing with a sigh.

"I don't know if I can tell you Alice, I'm sorry."

"Who are you? What are you?" she demanded frustrated.

"Again, I can't tell you." she sighed, sincerely looking regretful as Alice flinched at the thought of how well Charlotte had played her in the beginning. "Um, I bought you just some simple clothes and brought along the ones you left before, I also stacked up your bathroom with everything you'll need and I didn't know about your cycle, but I took the liberty of-"

"You don't have to worry about that." Alice cut her off as Charlotte only stared at her in complete and utter surprise on the matter after being interrupted. At first, Charlotte thought it might have been embarrassment, but the tired, worn, serious look on Alice's face told her there was something she was missing.

"What?"

"I don't know… it-it runs in the family. I can't explain it." Alice stated quietly with slightly cautious eyes as Charlotte just stared at her for some time.

"What do you mean?"

"The Brandon women don't particularly have to worry about, um… you know… their 'time of the month'."

"Okay.. Um, Food? You still eat right?"

"Uh, yes… I-I can eat, and sleep…" she stated as Charlotte nodded, still obviously surprised and confused.

"What do you know about your condition?"

"Not much, just a little of what my mom explained to me and that's it…" Alice stated, reluctant to tell Charlotte anything because of her traitorous past experiences. But she figured she had better explain herself encase she made a mistake about her food or sleeping habits. Nodding her head, Charlotte once more tried to mask her surprise before she turned and promptly exited the room without explanation.

Looking down at the food left for her, she sighed sadly as the scent hit her nose. Alice was hungry… she was starved. But even the thought of food, coming from anywhere in the house and these people made her want to puke her insides up. It scared her. If she became desperately sick, would they send her to the doctor? Would they even bother trying to keep her alive? She couldn't see reason for them going through so much trouble to protect her and kidnap her if they just let her die off from sickness. But then again would she even want to accept help from them? Wouldn't it just be simpler to die rather than suffer through life in this prison?

Turning back away from the food… Alice thought back to her family. Her real family.

Her father had left long before Alice had even been born, apparently, he was worthless… no good for nothing, and after growing up in to the life she had… Alice could see why he'd leave.

Her mother was insane.

Clinically… and she was sure if social services knew about Alice, she would have been taken away from day one.

Apparently, it ran in the family. The dreams, the precognitions. For many of the Brandon women, it just became too much… they lost their minds over time because of the knowledge they acquired from their sleep. The horrors they witnessed, and the questions that arose made them look crazy. They couldn't tell anymore, because who would believe them? And if they tried to go for help, they would have been locked up for good.

Medically speaking, in all honesty it wasn't even possible for the women to have children. Their bodies didn't change. They remained seventeen… until death. Which depressingly most times came from suicide because of these dreams. But they still needed to eat, and sleep. Their bodies used every piece of nutrition from their food to keep them alive through the nastier dreams they encountered… so the bathroom never came in to use other than for showers. And as for 'monthly cycles'… they stopped too.

Like she'd said before, it shouldn't have been possible.

It couldn't have been possible.

And yet here she was. A living breathing contradiction.

From what little her mother had actually told her, Alice knew that every generation had one child… one daughter. And she acquired the precognition abilities just as her mother, and then her grandmother before.

Other than the visions in her sleep, and the frozen age… Alice never got a chance to ask her mother anymore about her situation. Before she could question anymore about her life, Ms. Brandon was dragged away by the workers from the insane asylum after receiving an anonymous tip, and Alice was thrown into a new house, with a new life, and a new family… questions still unanswered, and a gift that cursed her nightmares. She couldn't tell anyone, and did her best to ignore the signs after she hit seventeen. And she never got the chance to ask her mother any more about their situation... she'd committed suicide a month after Alice had been taken away.

It scared her. She'd watched her mother slowly lose her mind from the nightmares that haunted her every sleeping hour… and Alice could feel the dreams getting worse with every passing week.

How long would it be before she lost her mind as well?

Suddenly, an indistinguishable yell and a body smashing through her bedroom door pulled her from her own thoughts as she cringed away from crashing and the sound. Her fear spiking again as her breath caught in her throat at the site of the stranger standing before her once more. Searching around the room until his eyes landed on the limitedly clothed body before him. His gaze was unreadable, but spurts of sympathy and concern was obvious in his gaze as Alice tried to swallow the confusion brought on by the look that graced his face. She'd seen nothing of the sort the day before when he'd found her in the alleyway, and now… the emotion looked so sincere... so real. But she knew it was a fake. It had to be.

Striding over to stand before her, Alice cringed away from his touch as his ice cold hands lifted her chin to stare into her eyes as his blood red ones met her brown onyx depths. Running a finger up her arm as the goose bumps rose on her skin, he took a deep breath as he realized her state, shocked when Alice practically dove away from his touch, only to watch his expression change from sympathetic and worried, to dark and haunted in an instant. "D-Don't touch me." she stated while cringing away from his glare that suddenly struck his face.

"You will learn…" he spat angrily as Alice shivered at his tone. "You belong to me now." he added before turning and storming towards the door and out of the room. Leaving Charlotte and another strangely beautiful man behind in the room with her.

Alice's legs suddenly went from rigid and stiff to jello as they collapsed beneath her, sending her to the ground as a chill over took her body. Her arms instinctively wrapping around herself to try and hold herself together. Peter and Charlotte looked at the girl with pity strong in their eyes as they stepped towards her in offer of comfort as she cringed away from them even more. With a sigh, Peter knelt down to eye level with Alice as he cringed at the sight of the supposed outgoing and lively girl wallowing away to nothing. "Wh-Who is he?" she asked just above a winter as Peter sighed before looking between the door in which his oldest friend and sire had just excited through.

"Congratulations sweetheart, you just met Mr. Whitlock, and the Major." he smirked as Alice looked up from her knees with glistening eyes to meet Peter's grin with a confused look. "That's a rare occurrence." he added with a wink.

"What?"

"I can't explain all of it too you now." he stated with a sigh as she scoffed and shook her head. "There's Jasper, and there's the Major. Jasper doesn't come out often, but sometimes he makes an exception. The Major, on the other hand… is who consumes him ninety percent of the time. So I recommend trying to not piss him off." he winked before standing up and leaving the room. Charlotte remained, watching Alice's expression and body language very carefully as she sighed and stepped towards Alice.

"Alice… I think it'd be good for you if you ate something and then tried to get some rest." she offered as Alice sighed and wiped another tear from her eye.

"I'm never going to leave am I? I'm just going to die here…"

Neither agreeing or disagreeing with her statement, Charlotte sighed as she too walked towards the door to leave.

"I'm sorry dollface."

FallenAshe - hahaha... that was a great reaction to that chapter. like I literally laughed out loud, definitely one of my favorite reviews so far ;p haha. hope you enjoy this chapter as well, little more Major/Alice in this one

TheVioletContradiction - thank you!

LilaDanes - hahaha good to know despite how bratty he is you like him anyways ;p haha. not gonna lie, everytime I picture him all I can picture is a bleach blonde curly haired alex pettyfer... because damn, that boy is perfection ;p hahaha. hope you enjoyed this chapter and review again! ;)

deltagirl74 - ya, I honest to god thought about going in that direction, or have the Major find her while she was trying to help someone. or have the Major run in and save her when another vampire tried to make a meal out of her... but in the end it just kind of ended up like that... oh well ;) hope you enjoyed this chapter though! it's a little hard trying to explain Alice's 'condition'... but I hope I kind of did it justice ;p haha. thanks for the review! hope to hear what you think about this chapter!

hellangel15 - I watched the second ghost rider with Nicholas cage today, and there's one part at the end where he discover's he's like some fallen angel, or crazy angel, or deranged angel... when the entire time he thought he was some devil spawn/creation... and ur penname just reminded me of that... but anyways. I freaking LOVE your review, so thank you ;p hahaha. hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hear from you again!

thank you all for the reviews!

review = updates

happy early VALENTINES day!