Chapter 6
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, and chapter titles are song lyrics from Sunrise Goodbyes by Houston Calls.
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Nearly thirty years had passed. Alice sat in the moderately comfortable love seat in the hotel room she was staying in. Her eyes shut as she focused on Jasper. Suddenly, glimpses of him at some party entered her mind, but nothing was solid. As she concentrated harder, Alice hissed in a breath as she saw an image of him seducing a fragile woman, his lips on her throat.
She opened her eyes, gritting her teeth and shaking her head in disbelief. From her previous visions, Alice knew that Jasper was fighting an internal battle. He had been for so many years. But he was losing.
At first, her visions weak, appearing at random times and uncontrolled. However, as decades past, she learned how to concentrate and how to control what she saw. Of course, some things still trouble her. For example, once she saw brunette girl with blood thirsty, red eyes. Alice had no idea of what that was, the picture only appearing once.
She was sure of two things, though. One, she obviously needed to find Jasper, for he played a key part of both of their futures. Two, in that future, they would together find and join Carlisle's family.
So many things frustrated her at this point, and Alice ended up slouching in her seat. Not only was she angry at Jasper, she was mad at herself. Twenty seven years she had been looking for Jasper, a key, an answer to her unsolved problems.
Why she couldn't see or know where Jasper was physically was unexplainable. Every time Alice attempted to figure that out, her head would begin to hurt. It seemed like it was refusing her that option.
However, she had to admit that her life was pretty good. After seeing Carlisle and his family drink animal blood gave Alice hope. She was herself with topaz eyes, just like him and his family.
It was so, so hard at first. She lost control many times. Guilt-ridden and distraught each time she killed a human after her visions, she knew that she had to fight temptation and resist the delicious scent. Carlisle and his family would fight over whether to accept two vampires with ruby eyes who wanted to join their family.
Alice didn't want this. She wanted his entire family to accept them immediately, with open arms. She had seen this happening many times, and also knew what would happen if her and Jasper had blood-red eyes upon standing in the Cullens family doorstep.
So she persevered, fighting off the malicious demons that threatened to explode any time human blood filled her nostrils. There always lay hope amidst in the internal battle she herself fought. Although at times she did lose, Alice knew she had won. She threw away the bloody and monstrous life she lived and refused to ever return to those ways again.
Besides, she found several hobbies that kept her entertained for all these years. First, there was shopping. Alice discovered her love for fashion and design early in the years of becoming a vampire. Of course, she needed money to purchase whatever she wanted, so she discovered the stock market.
It was rather easy to gain money when you know which stock markets would increase your money and which would decrease. She survived through the Great Depression with the aid of her visions.
Not to mention, casinos were rather fun places to stay at. Alice would always play the slots, scenes playing inside her head to figure out which ones would allow her to win. It was really entertaining. She also loved a good game of poker, although it was quite disturbing when fat, old men would curse and yell at her for winning away all their money.
Needless to say, Alice lived a decent, relaxing life.
She refused to believe that.
Until she found Jasper and Carlisle's family, her life would not be complete.
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"Oh my goodness, there's a sale at Christian Dior?!"
Alice's eyes snapped open from her deep concentration. Once again, she drew a blank as she attempted to find a certain Mr. Whitlock. But there was a sale at Dior?
Of course, Alice could have seen it coming, but she had other things that occupied her mind. Obviously.
She sighed, walking towards the window. Parting the velvet drapes and lifting the window up, Alice popped her head outside. She glanced right, the direction of the fashion block, and smiled widely. She moved her head back inside and shut the window, now squealing.
At least shopping would take her mind off things for a while, give her a break.
Alice headed towards her closet, eyes scanning her clothes for something to wear. Obviously, to shop at Dior meant that you were of high class and blessed with abundant amounts of money. She chose a simple maroon number. It was long sleeved and had an empire waist; the dress flowed to her knees. She slipped on a pair of pantyhose, or else the shining skin would cause quite a distraction in the sunny streets of New York City. She slipped on her black high heels and topped the outfit off with a floppy black hat that would hide her face from the sun.
She slipped on her tan gloves, grabbed her wallet, and placed it inside her small purse. Alice left the hotel room, giddy with excitement. She had not gone shopping for nearly two weeks, it was time to get some new clothes once more!
Her eyes were quite dark. Alice hunted a little over a week ago, but she knew she would manage. She kept her eyes away from on-lookers, looking straight ahead. Several heads turned at her inhuman beauty, but she paid no attention.
Was it like this for all other vampires? Well, Alice didn't know for she rarely encountered any of them. Her visions aided her in knowing when someone like that would be arriving. Secretly afraid of being threatened again that dreadful night so many years ago, she would pack her bags and leave not a day later when she saw them coming.
Alice traveled and moved within cities quite frequently, sometimes meeting humans and becoming acquaintances with them. Never did she attempt to become the best of friends, knowing the dangers of being so close to the sweet blood. Nevertheless, she loved the city and the beautiful lights at night.
She tried living in a deserted house in the middle of a large forest during the Great Depression. Unable to resist the temptation, she drank the blood of a human (which caused the reason to be so solitary). Soon Alice found herself feeling depressed and more alone than ever. Yet, she found that experience quite a humbling and self-discovering one.
After forgiving herself, Alice decided never to live so alone again. Although she learned very much about herself and her own mind during that time, she would never forget the memories of the anguish and pain she endured. It, in short, was not pleasant.
However, Alice pushed away these memories as she entered the 'fashion' block. Her eyes roamed around different stores, pausing ever so often as she found something she liked. She could go to those stores later. The sale at Dior was the only thing that mattered at the moment. She had been eyeing a beautiful deep blue dress, cap-sleeved with a shimmery silver tie around the waist. It was something of a dress. Although Alice didn't need to worry about money, it was still rather expensive.
Several weeks ago, Alice debated to herself whether or not to buy the dress at that time. In the end, she decided to buy it on sale, for she saw it being discounted for today.
Although the garment was only five percent off, taking off barely anything, the pixie-like woman shrugged. It was cheaper, and she just could not resist the pretty thing any longer. Nothing else in the store really caught her eye... Even if Christian Dior was a popular designer at the moment, none of his creations wowed Alice like it did the black dress. She had to give props to him for thinking of that one.
The cashier's eyes widened as he looked at Alice, obviously awed by the vampire's beauty and size. His mouth dropped and she raised her eyebrows, placing the silk dress on the counter top.
He seemed to realize he was embarrassing himself; blood pooled into his cheeks and Alice's eyes darkened slightly, her breath caught in her throat. She shifted uncomfortably, coughing her throat.
"Er, sorry ma'am," he apologized quickly, his eyes darting to the dress and quickly recording down her purchase. He grabbed a bag from the high shelf, exposing his neck. Alice wondered why he couldn't hurry up. Her eyes narrowed as his bare flesh screamed at her to take him right there.
The cashier smiled as he handed the bag to Alice, but it disappeared quickly.
Upon receiving the bag, the young woman turned sharply around and left the store as quickly as she could. She could not surrender to her sick desires, she couldn't kill someone just to satisfy her selfish needs. She rushed through the stores, walking quickly through the streets and refusing to breathe. It helped somewhat to be unable to smell the delicious red substance running through the humans' veins.
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Her whole body relaxed as Alice found no one in the hotel lobby, although she could hear their heart beats through the staff lounge door. Nevertheless, the scent was blocked and her head cleared.
Her eyes shuffled across the room, from the front desk to the couches to the brochure stand. For some reason, her gaze lingered on the brochures, reading the different cities that each on advertised.
New York City, Baltimore, Albany, Charleston, Pennsylvania...
As Alice's eyes looked at the Pennsylvania brochure, a picture appeared in front of her eyes. Gasping in surprise, she dropped her bag and shook her head in disbelief.
Jasper Whitlock, hat on his curly blonde hair, standing in the middle of the street in the pouring rain. His face was tilted upwards, reading the sign above the small building ten feet in front of him. Philadelphia's Best Diner, it read.
The image lasted in Alice's head for several seconds before it disappeared. She inhaled sharply, many emotions flooding her body. Happiness, shock, excitement, confused...
She had figured out where he was going next! After all these years, she finally found Jasper Whitlock.
Alice picked up her bag and ran all the way to her hotel room, as quickly as she could without drawing attention to herself. She quickly flung herself throughout the space, packing all her suit cases in mere seconds and balancing six total easily in both arms. She loaded them quickly in her 1947 Cadillac Sedanette Coupe, before bringing herself back into the hotel lobby to check herself out. She threw over the keys and lay three crumpled one hundred dollar bills on the counter and left the building once more.
"Goodbye, New York!" She shouted as she sped away from the city, ready to embrace her future.
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AN: Well, I promised it would be longer, and it is! YAY! Haha. Anywho, I am sure we will figure out what will happen in the next chapter coughcoughJaspercoughcough, but let us relish the last chapter that concentrated on Alice only.
I hope I developed her as a character thoroughly, both sides of her combined: Bubbly, exuberant, positive Alice + Mature, deep, insightful Alice.
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