Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Stephenie Meyer does. Chapter title lyrics are from Disturbia by Rihanna.

--

They were both silent as Alice led Jasper into her car, the rain drenching both of their clothes. She turned the key in the ignition and he jumped in surprise when the engine roared to life.

Alice laughed, the sound like exquisite wind chimes. "You've never been in a car, Jasper?" She stated, amused by the idea. They were cruising down the street now, slowly as they began to converse.

"Not many times," he admitted, in shock at the fact that this strange woman knew his name. "I can't recall the last time I was in one," he added, staring at her face. She had sharp, pointed features. Full lips, tiny nose, prominent cheek bones, and topaz eyes... This startled Jasper; he couldn't tear his gaze away from her golden orbs.

"What?" Alice asked, feeling rather self-consious and hurt. He was just looking at her, confused and disbelieving at the same time. "Do you want to get out of the car?" She said this with a hurt tone, biting her bottom lip as she glanced nervously at him. "I didn't ask you if you wanted to come with me. I'm sorry, it was rude of me." Stopping the car, Alice felt rejected as he waited for him to get out. This was nothing she expected: none of her visions showed Jasper leaving.

"No, it's fine, I want to be here," he reassured her, startled by her quick change of emotions. "Why should you feel so hurt and unhappy? I can feel what your feeling, and I should be apologizing for making you feel like this."

"Oh, alright." Alice felt relieved and her positive nature returned. "Well, then..." She trailed off, not knowing what to say.

They pulled up into the hotel parking lot, but neither made the move to get out of the car. The pounding rain on the roof of the car along with the occasional thunder roll was the prominent noise for several minutes. Neither knew what to say.

"How do you know my name?" Jasper suddenly demanded, curiosity filling his tone. "I don't recall introducing myself." He reminded himself to act like a gentleman.

Alice's brow furrowed and she looked straight ahead, the rain sliding down the windshield yielding thousands of different liquid particles dancing with radiant color. She bit her lip, contemplating whether it was too early for Jasper to know about her gift. Well, she couldn't lie to him. That would make a terrible first impression, after all.

But how to begin? If she had special powers, maybe Jasper did, too. She had seen things in her visions that made her believe that there was a possibility for him to have one. However, she wasn't sure.

"It's kind of difficult to explain," Alice finally began, turning her head to meet his face. Once more, the scars adorning his neck and jaw momentarily dazed her. This then caused her to search from any more on his body, but she couldn't find any. He was clad in a black jacket with a collar shirt underneath, along with a pair of black slacks.

Alice tsked, shaking her head, meeting his eyes once more. Jasper raised an eyebrow at her random reaction, waiting for an answer. "It seems like I'll have to take you shopping some time soon," she said helplessly, shaking her head. "Those clothes just won't do."

He laughed, but suddenly became serious. Never had he ever been in a relaxing environment and he feared that this strange girl could pounce and try to kill him in any second.

"Are you going to answer my question?" He asked seriously, feeling the embarrassment that rolled off the woman's body.

"It's complicated," was all she said.

This irritated Jasper. "I'm sure I can keep up," he retorted.

Alice ignored this as she nodded in agreement with him. "I'm sure you can, after going through so much stuff in the past century. The life you led before going off on your own, and then becoming depressed..." She stopped, afraid of saying too much. "You've gone through so much. I'm sorry," she whispered, shaking her head.

Jasper felt her genuine sincerity, although he was getting angered at the fact she still had not answered his question. The fact that she also knew so much about him already irritated him, too.

"You still haven't answered my question," he growled, folding his arms acrossed his chest. Forget acting like a gentleman, he wanted answers now.

"Fine!" Alice snapped, clearly frustrated as well. "I don't know how to explain it well, since I haven't met much of our kind," she began, making sure Japser was listening. Which he was, intently. "I can see things, let's put it that way." Jasper's facial expression made it clear that he didn't really understand. "Or more clearly, I can see the future." Alice said her words slowly and deliberately, anxious to see his reaction.

"I see." It didn't seem like Jasper believed her. The next thing he said affirmed Alice's guess. "Maria sent you, didn't she? To get me back?" His raised his voice slightly, the anger building up.

She dropped her mouth in horror. Alice had seen Maria in her visions, the dangerous vampire that turned Jasper into the monster he desperately wanted to leave behind. "No, of course not! I'm here on my own account!" Apparently, his frustration was feeding her own infuriation. Being compared to Maria was an insult to Alice. Never would she choose that fate for anyone. Her nostrils flared with indignation.

"Then how do you know all these things about me, when I don't even know your name?" Jasper snarled, his hands twitching for the door handle.

Alice noticed, and her tone became pleading. "Please, please just believe me. Don't leave me, I've been looking for you so long," her voice was very quiet. "Ever since I became this, I see things that will happen in the future. For nearly thirty years, Jasper Whitlock-"

As she said his name, Jasper felt this helplessness that surrounded her. She was letting herself be vulnerable with him.

He paid attention as she continued, letting the anger disappear around them and replacing it with a sense of peace. She didn't seem to notice, for her words spilled out quickly.

"-I've seen you in my head, and I know I was to meet you someday. I've seen what you've gone through, the choices you've made, and everything that's built up to this moment. For us to meet one another." Her large, wise, butterscotch eyes caught his scarlet irises. "You're all I've got too, now, you know," she admitted.

Well, there was no way for him not to believe her. There was the honesty in her voice, the truthfulness in her demeanor.

"Then I will have to apologize for being angry with you, ma'am," Jasper responded with a slight smile, and Alice's face lit up as well.

But then it faltered. "I was angry with you, too, remember?" She reminded him, but he shrugged.

"Let's just say I have a special gift as well. I feel and am able to control the emotions around me. Sort of like an empath."

Alice dropped her mouth, excitement building up in her body. She clapped while giggling, making Jasper smile as well. "That is way too cool!" She responded, the conversation now becoming lighthearted. "You have to show me more of your powers later!"

"Of course," Jasper promised, nodding. Then he remembered one last question he needed to know before the day ended, the sky turning dark. "One more question, then?" He asked, hoping that Alice would answer. She nodded encouragingly, waiting patiently. "Why are your eyes golden?"

This didn't seem to surprise her. "I knew you were going to ask that."

"So you'll answer?"

Alice nodded, taking a deep breathe without realizing it. "Have you ever heard of vampires that didn't drink human blood? Instead, drinking animal blood?"

Jasper shook his head. He never recalled ever meeting a vampire that didn't hunt humans... Wouldn't the temptation be too hard? Could someone even resist the blood lust?"

Well, I guess you'll be learning a lot about me. Including my eating habits," she said quietly. He could feel her trying to muster the confidence to tell him something, although she was being rather indecisive. Although Jasper could feel the nervousness in her system, he couldn't help but feel shocked himself.

Was there enough control?

Both sat in silence as Jasper let the words sink in. Alice twiddled her thumbs together nervously, scanning their future. She felt relieved, though, when she still saw the two of them standing in front of a small cottage in the middle of the woods. Waiting patiently, she put her hand on his shoulder. Jasper flinched away, a reflex, and her hand dropped awkwardly to the side.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, clearly rejected and ashamed as she put her head down.

Jasper tilted her head up with his large, strong hand. Alice gasped as she noticed the scars that adorned his wrists as his jacket slid up. He chose to ignore this and looked her straight in the eye.

"Don't apologize. If anyone should be apologizing, it's me for my rude behavior." As Jasper said this, relief spread throughout the inside of the car and Alice's muscles loosened up. She cracked a smile, still waiting for his answer. "Well, maybe you should let me try your diet sometime," he said lightly, smiling as well. "I really do want to." Maybe, just maybe this girl could help him get his humanity back.

"I knew you were going to say that."

"Then why'd you wait?" He was confused. If she knew all this was going to happen, why did she let it happen anyways?

"Because it's nice to hear it actually come out," Alice said with a sense of authority. "It's nice to know that the things in my head really do come true."

"Do they always come true?" Jasper was even more curious now.

The pixie-like woman shook her head, laughing lightly. "The future isn't set in stone, Jasper. Sometimes your future completely shifts with just one small decision." She shifted uncomfortably at this.

Alice pursed her lips as her eyes scanned Jasper's future again. It was so much easier now that she had met him and they were in close proximity. She saw two futures ahead for them: One where both seemed content with Carlisle's cover; another where Jasper was on his own again, killing his helpless prey whenever his body yearned for the blood.

"But what do you see?" His voice broke through her concentration, and she raised her eyebrows at this peculiar question. It was time to tell Jasper what she hoped what happen to both of them.

"I see the two of us," Alice paused nervously, looking up through her long lashes to momentarily glance at him, "Joining another coven. A coven that drinks animal blood, actually. Carlisle's family."

Jasper raised his eyebrows and shook his head in disbelief. "There are more vampires like you?"

Alice nodded, expecting some sort of answer from him. Did he agree, did he not agree? Those two mental images in her mind came back again and she mentally winced.

"Well, then," he paused, thinking through his answers once more. "I think that we should both find them, little ranger."

Alice squealed in excitement and clapped her hands. Jasper smiled widely, before both noticing their surroundings.

"I'm going to get my bags and we can leave this small town," Alice started, getting out of the car. "Stay," she said firmly when Jasper followed her movements. "Too many humans inside, and I don't want you to lose control," she explained quietly, and he nodded.

As Alice went inside to get her bags, she wondered when she would finally find Carlisle's family. She lingered near the front desk, waiting for someone to help her check her room out. But all of a sudden, an image of Jasper drinking away the blood of some hotel worker flashed in her mind.

"No!" She growled, racing out of the lobby immediately. Although it was raining, she could see everything just fine. "NO!" She yelled at the sight in front of her, dropping her bags and racing to tear Jasper off a young man. She slapped him loudly on the cheek before shaking her head in rage. Her fists clenched as she gritted her teeth, seething in anger.

Jasper's crimson irises looked at Alice's golden orbs, both expressions pained.

"I'm, I'm sorry," he whispered, as a scream erupted from the boy three feet away from him.

"Just finish him off," she snarled, turning around and unable to face him. "We don't need another bloodthirsty vampire in this small town."

She said it with so much venom and hate that Jasper immediately felt terrible. As he glanced at the boy writhing in pain, he knew she was right. As ashamed as he was, the blood was tempting, tantalizing him. He hurried, drinking the blood before disposing it quickly in the large dumpster behind the building.

As he walked to the other side of the car, he paused before going in. The anger that woman felt was so strong. And the distress and fear his prey felt just made him even more guilty. He told the pixie-like woman that he would try her diet, that he would stop drinking human blood. It was so difficult, and he slipped up in less than a day.

However, as Jasper climber in the car, he couldn't feel the anger anymore. Just sadness, remorse, and regret.

Himself, though... He was still embarrassed, ashamed.

Before he could talk, however, the girl spoke quietly as she pulled out of the car. "I messed up too, you know."

Both were silent for the next ten minutes as she kept on driving, relying on her visions to tell her where to go.

Finally, she faced him, a bit of humor in her tone. "The name's Alice, by the way."

--

AN: Oh wow, that was probably the most BORING chapter you have ever read probably. I am so sorry!! I just felt like they needed to have a long discussion, and I just needed some one-on-one Alice/Jasper action.

Anywho, I DO promise the next chapter will be a lot more eventful. Uh huh, I promise!

Now review time wink wink nudge nudge. I think you guys know what to do, hehe. Thanks to all who have reviewed so far! You guys are so sweet!