I don't own Twilight.


Chapter I"As I See"


"Where do you expect we will be next century?" she asks me, her hand playing with the hair on the nape of my neck. We stare up at the stars, as I contemplate my answer. I have thought of this question myself, once or twice in the past few years of the newest century.

She stops playing with my hair as the moment stretches.

Finally, I say, "I suppose we will be flying to the moon, living in the stars, and breathing under water." She laughs and, as she rolls on her side, her laughter compresses to a low chuckle. She kisses the side of my face and continues to play with my hair. "What's so funny?" I ask her.

"I don't think those things will happen," she tells me slowly. She leans over so she hovering over me, without being on top of me. "You've always had an imagination, but those things … they're kind of far-fetched, don't you think?" She chuckles.

I purse my lips and don't answer right away. I believe that they might happen, some day, and I also believe that I will be there to witness them. She is a very logical thinker. Even though she is supposedly a mythological creature, she still doesn't believe certain things will ever happen. "I suppose," I answer.

She doesn't think about travelling to the moon.

But I do.

As I see her leaning back down beside me, I kiss her forehead because I love her. Sometimes, I don't agree with her but the love I hold for her overshadows everything else. Though sometimes my mind wanders, she is the reason I stay on solid ground.


Alice

The next week passes quickly. On Wednesday of that week, William lets me out of my cell and leads me to the front of the building. It's wonderful to breathe in something besides the stale sheets and oily hair of my room. Instead, it smells like medicine and crazy people.

It's not much of a difference, but it's some and that's what I live for.

When Friday comes, a girl named Anne dresses me. She is small for her age and very kind to me. I think that she knows I'm not crazy; but, then again, it could all be an act. That's what the doctors are paid for, I believe, well, that and the fact that they "help" us.

"Grandfather John is so good to you," Anne says, tying a sash around my waist. She smiles up at me and I shyly smile back. The dress is a light blue color with long sleeves and square neck-cut. It's shorter and I'm wearing silk stockings with them and dark shoes. I'm sure this was part of his plan. There was a sparkly shawl that went over my shoulder. Anne had pulled my hair up so it piled up on top of my head. She even applied a bit of makeup to my upper cheeks and eyelids.

I felt beautiful, though I wasn't sure if I was or not.

Anne sighs and gets up, pressing her hands on her thighs to give herself a boost. Her long dark hair frames her face and her forehead glistens in the harsh light. She looks above my eyes and when she finally meets them, a grin spreads across her features.

"There," she says quietly, "you're ready."

I want to look at myself in the mirror, find a reason for her wondering eyes. She looks at awe at my appearance, though I know it has to be false. There was no way I could look so … beautiful to have Anne look at me like that. She's beautiful herself.

"Do I look alright?" I ask her quietly. She nods immediately and I feel my cheeks redden under her gaze, my curiosity hitting the roof of the institute.

"Here," she walks over to her bag, resting on my small bed. She pulls out a handheld mirror and holds it up to my face. I look back at a woman I have never seen before. Her eyes are misty and bright blue; the makeup only heightens the beautiful she already held. Her pale face is slightly flushed and it makes her look innocent and … wonderful.

I feel tears prickle my eyes and the woman in the mirror looks like she's crying too. The woman is so beautiful; all traces of her youthfulness gone from her face.

"You look beautiful," Anne finally answers.

I smile and look away shyly.


Anne left me alone in my room to help finish with the party. While I wait, I counted the days on my wall several times, thinking about William, the blond soldier, Grandfather, and my mother.

My mother was a beautiful woman. Even in her early forties, she still managed to look youthful and innocent up until the point where I lost contact with her. She was always beautiful, with her long dark hair and pale, flawless face. She had the deepest set of brown eyes that were so radiant.

I loved my mother. I still love my mother, even now, when she hasn't visited me since the day I had my first vision. She was always so magnificent, like a real-life princess when I was younger; it's hard to get rid of that image even after she's done something wicked.

There was a knock at my door that woke me up from my thoughts. Being stuck in this room all day long really took a toile on my brain. I was always spacing out and imagining things. I wasn't like that when I was normal. But now that I'm not normal, spacing out and imagining is a daily habit.

Grandfather walks inside, wearing nice dress pants and a dark sweater. He takes one look at me and I can see his eyes watering up. I smile at him and look to my feet, not sure how to take the reaction. When I look up again, his hand is outstretched towards me.

I bite my lip and take it, just as a lady should.

Then he leads me to the dance, just like a princess would be led by her father down the aisle to her prince, waiting for her.


William

Bloody hell, I think, watching as the basket cases dance along with some old music. None of them can keep a beat to save their lives, but, then again, all of them are crazy. Some of the nurses are dancing with the other nurses while most of us — me included — watch, leaning against the wall.

I haven't seen Grandfather all day but I suspect he's dressing Alice. When I got home a few days ago, after the fight at dinner, there was one of Mom's old dresses lying out on the chair, waiting to be worn by that freak.

It had been the dress my mother wore down the aisle to greet my father. It was a very important dress; one that was too important to wear to this stupid, silly dance. "Hey, have you seen the Old Man?" I ask Robert, who sips his punch beside me. He swallows, looks left to right, slowly, scanning the crowd. He shrugs and takes another drink.

"I haven't seen him since he went into that … ah, what's her name?" He cocks his head to the side and thinks about it for a little while. "Well, he went into a patient's room about twenty minutes ago. I think he was going to bring her down here. God, what the hell was her name?" He shakes his head and looks at me. "Anyway, I passed him and they were talking about you."

I roll my eyes. "It's Alice Brandon," I said.

"Yeah! That's it!" He smacks himself in the head, finally recognizing the name. "I think she was nervous about coming down here, though I couldn't hear her talking. Oh, there they are." I watch his face as it shifts from the nonchalant-uncaring face to wide eyes and … shock.

I feel my eyebrows furrow and I turn around to be greeted with the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my entire life. She had dark hair, pulled up into loops. Her face is very natural with hardly any makeup and my mother's dress looked …

Wait.

My mother's dress.

Alice Brandon looked shyly to the crowd. The music stops momentarily for every to stare at her. Some of the crazies start to clap loudly and then they return to their misfit dancing. Robert eventually looks away, back to the crowd but, hard as I might, I can't look away.

Grandfather is the first to catch my eye. He winks and motions for me to join them. I don't want to but I start walking against my will. It's almost like that first day I saw Alice Brandon walk through the doors; I thought she was beautiful then, before I found out she was nuts. It felt a little like that now.

Only this time I knew she was crazy. And yet … I still thought she was beautiful.

"Hello," Grandfather says when I reach them. I nod in his direction and then look at Alice. She pretends not to notice me and looks to the crowd of the dancers. I look down her covered arms and wonder about things I shouldn't wonder about.

"Miss Brandon," I say, greeting her finally, just like she wants.

She looks at me and smiles lightly. I can tell she's nervous by her eyes but she does an excellent job at covering it up. "Hello," she whispers quietly. She then looks at Grandfather and says rather boldly, "Grandfather, will you teach me how to dance?"

My grandfather laughs and looks at me. "I'm no dancer, dear Alice. I haven't done any such thing since Evelyn and I were still young." He mentions my grandmother like she's still around. Like she wasn't murdered two years ago by a monster.

"But William took lessons when he was younger." I snap my head back to reality and look at him with wide eyes. Alice shivers and then looks at me. "I'm sure," Grandfather says staring at me hardly, "that he would love to teach you."

Alice does not say anything, though I could tell she was about to. I give my grandfather a look and then hand him my drink. "Absolutely," I smile, "I would love to teach her." Though I really don't for fear that I would do something I would regret later, I could tell this was important to my grandfather.

I bow slightly and take her by the hand. She is shy and walks slowly behind me. I could feel eyes staring at me, making my ears red. This was so embarrassing. It was so embarrassing that it made me want to rip all of their eyes out.

"I'm sorry," Alice says quietly as I pull her a little closer to me. A slower, sadder song played in the distance and all of the mental cases and random nurses paired up and slow danced alongside us. I placed my hand on her waist and I felt her body involuntarily shiver. Or maybe it was mine?

"Sorry?" I repeat. "Why would you be sorry?"

She blushes and looks away from me. I can't help but think that her flushed face is sweet and innocent; naive even though she's clearly seen more than many her age. She doesn't answer me and we dance awkwardly for a few moments.

"How old are you?" I ask her.

"I'm seventeen," she answers immediately. "My birthday was celebrated about a week before I came here. It was the last time I saw any of my family members." I could see pain come across her features but it disappears quickly. "How old are you?" she asks me, much to my surprise.

"I'm twenty," I say. "I'll be twenty one at the end of the December.

She laughs. I give her a look. She shrugs. "I didn't know you were so much older than me," she says. "I always thought we were about the same age. Of course, my mother always told me I was an adult born into a baby. Maybe I just didn't notice."

I smile. "Or maybe I'm just immature."

"Maybe so," she replies and winks slyly. I have never seen this part of Alice Brandon. And, through the bitterness, the pain, and everything else I have to deal with, I can get rid of it right now. She's a different person than me with different problems but … right now, it's like she is an escape.

"How long have you been working here?" she asks me next.

"Well, I started when I was fifteen, just cleaning and helping the cooks and my grandfather," I tell her easily. "I was always interested in this institute. The way Grandfather talked about it … he described it as some kind of heaven.

"It was only when I officially started working with the patients to find out that he was wrong." It was a blunt and honest answer and I could see it reflect in her eyes. I want to apologize but my pride stops me. It was the truth, after all.

"Not all of the patients are that bad, are they?" she asks.

"No," I tell her, "but only when they talk back is when I think that way." I smile at her and she rolls her eyes. "It's a good thing that you've only done that once. Or you would probably be one of the patients I look forward to the least."

She shakes her head and looks at her feet. "Am I one that you look forward to the most?" she asks.

Come to think of it, I think, she was one that I was never dreaded seeing. Sure, she definitely wasn't my favorite what with her crazy stories about the blond soldier and the monsters, the same ones my grandfather talks about, but it interested me. Unlike many of the others.

"Yes," I tell her and she smiles again.

Several minutes pass and we continue to dance. Eventually a more upbeat song starts to play and I can see that she's not comfortable with the songs. "Would you like to go outside?" I ask her. She seems surprised and freezes under my arm.

Then she looks up at me, smiles, and that is that.

We walk outside. It is warm despite the chill of the past few days. The moon is bright and illuminates are faces and clothes. She looks a bit like an angel. It's surprising. As we sit down on a bench, she smiles and asks, "Why are you looking at me that way?" she asks.

Without thinking, I brush a strand away from her face. Her eyes are innocent, waiting, and so different than they are while inside that damn cell. I surprise myself by thinking that I want this to continue even after tonight. I surprise myself even more when I think that it's always been this way, ever since I first saw her.

I just hadn't realized it until this night.

"Grandfather was right," I tell, keeping my palm resting on her cheek. She smiles and gently places her hand on resting hand. "A dress," I say, "can change everything."


A/N — I'm sorry for taking so long to update! School, band, newspaper, and freshmen mentoring has been keeping me super busy and I haven't had a lot of time to write. I'll try to be better but I can't promise updates every week, but I'll try.

=] Did you enjoy the chapter? Please review!

-Liz