Yes, this is Carley, one half of the SpunkInaMusca team. I'm out on my own for this one! Apologies if this isn't what you expect. Alice is actually a hard character's mind to be in… %] Please review!

Freaky Twilight Friday

'Edward?' I called softly. It was just around 3 am, and I was, predictably, awake. Predictably. Alice Cullen: Proprietor of fabulous premonition powers. And I'd just used predictably in a sentence. Ha!

'Edward?' I raised my voice to a normal volume, knowing that Edward could hear me, but was just choosing to ignore me.

Jazz and Emmett were away hunting. Rose was moping in her and Em's shared bedroom - bedroom being a loose description of the room that they shared; like me, they couldn't physically sleep - and Carlisle was working a night shift. Esme was in the garden, tending to the various plants she'd taken to growing at each new location we moved to over the years. I was sitting on the stairs, my preferred place to sit and think. Everyone - except Edward - thought I thought about my visions, about important vampire stuff. In reality, I often wondered if I was tall enough to be a supermodel. Or even just a model. Or anything that involved clothes.

'Edward!' I said again. He was in his own room, listening to music. I closed my eyes and saw him standing up and switching off his CD player with unnecessary force and running down the stairs to me. Good. I opened my eyes again and counted. Thirty seconds, I wagered. Sure enough, the light airy sounds of Beethoven's fifth symphony ended abruptly and Edward flew down the stairs to sit beside me.

'I see them.' I said.

'Who?' Edward asked. He knew, of course. He could read my mind, just like he could read everyone else's. But out of common courtesy, he usually asked what I was thinking. He was so unbelievably polite. He was so unlike his brothers. Jasper was polite, of course, but Edward's gentlemanly behaviour extended to the whole family, plus anyone else he happened to engage in conversation. This included very, very few others. Emmett on the other hand was inclined to say what he felt. And Rosalie? Rose was… tenacious. Everything and everything she did had to be analysed to see what personal gain she could retrieve from it. This included returning to high school again. No matter how many times we explained that it was for Esme and Carlisle too, that it meant she didn't have to move away from them. It meant we could stay in an area longer. Forks was our newest settlement. Jazz, Em and Rose were posing as seniors, whereas Edward and myself were juniors.

'Emmett and Jasper fighting again.'

'And?'

'And, Edward, I see Jazz getting really bent up about it because he didn't hunt and flipping out in school tomorrow.'

'I see.' He replied. I carefully let the image flow through my mind, replaying the horror I kept seeing. Edward winced slightly. I knew how he felt. Seeing your soulmate tear apart a fellow student is kinda upsetting.

'Edward, please. Talk to him.' Jasper may be my soulmate, but out of all of us Edward was listened to the most.

'You think I'm listened to the most, but you'd be rather surprised, Alice.' He smiled at me.

You forgot, Edward, that I'm rarely surprised.

'I couldn't ever forget that. You allow me into your head on endless occasions.'

And sometimes you just enter unannounced.

Edward smiled. It was a strained, unnatural smile, but was still a smile. The most anyone ever got out of him these days. Edward had never been happy. I knew that. He felt like a monster. I knew that too.

'I feel like that, Alice, because I am a monster.' He smiled again, looking sad.

You're not. You know that, really.

'I've killed, Alice. And not just once. The people I've killed were not just in random moments of madness. I killed time and time again. Cold-blooded murder. '

Technically, you have no blood, Edward. And so what? You came back. You're a weird vegetarian vampire again. Carlisle doesn't think you're a monster either. Esme definitely doesn't. Besides, if you were a monster I'd see you behaving like a monster.

Edward smiled again and got up to return to his room. I stayed where I was. What must it be like in his head?

'Trust me, Alice, you don't want to know.'

But I still did.

***

'Hey, Alice.' Edward said, standing in front of me. I had one of his philosophy books in my hands, but was really thinking about what I was going to wear tomorrow.

'Yes?'

'Did you really mean what you said?'

'About what?' he had my attention now.

'About wanting… wanting to get inside my head.'

'Technically I didn't say anything. But yes.'

'I think I know how.'

'What?'

'I said, I think I know how.' He took my hand and dragged me to Carlisle's office.

'I found this one day, when I was looking for one of my books.'

Overly protective of his possessions, much?

Edward smiled and pulled a book out of Carlisle's shelf.

''Practised Mind Reading for Morons'?' I read out.

'Yes.' Edward's eyes were practically glinting.

'Any particular reason you thought of me when you saw this?'

'You were thinking loudly about it.'

I don't think loudly. He just listens too much.

'Whatever, Alice. Anyway, give it a try, please. For me.'

Fine, Edward, but you totally owe me.

'How'd you work that one out?'

'You just do!' I retorted, taking the book from him. He ruffled my hair again then sloped off back to his room. I opened the book and sat down on the floor. It was easier to hold the book that way.

Three hours later Jazz and Em burst through the front door. I sat on the book. I didn't want Jasper getting the wrong idea. Or any ideas at all. All I had to do, apparently, was concentrate on entering his mind; pretend he had barriers up and enter in that way. I sat and focused on Edward's mind. Memories that clearly weren't mine flashed through my mind. Then I lost consciousness.

***

I felt… I felt taller. Yes. Taller. And…. More depressed all of a sudden. Weird. I thought about shopping and realised that I didn't feel like going. Weirder. I stood up, surprised that my head almost reached the top shelf of Carlisle's bookcase. Curious, I walked into the bathroom, closing my eyes before stepping in front of the mirror.

'Ah.' I said out loud when I opened my eyes. Edward was staring back at me. I heard quick footsteps and my own face appeared around the door.

'Alice?' it said. It had my voice. I knew it was Edward. I had his body, he had mine.

'Yes?'

'What the HELL did you do?'

***

A/N: I realise this is more than slightly random. It fits in just before Bella turns up and Twilight begins. You know the score. It's slightly…. Not funny, but I'm working on that. Please review with any suggestions you might have cause I'm suffering from a case of writer's fatigue. (I don't get writer's block, I just get really tired and can't think what my name is, never mind plots!)

Up Next: you tell me. I'm serious. I'm really not too sure. I could go from Edward's mind, or keep going with just Alice…. Suggestions would be much appreciated!

Happy New Year! Xx