I don't own Twilight.


Chapter VI"As I Differ"


We approach a new state with new blood and a fresh start. It is the state of Mississippi. I remember learning about Mississippi when it first became a state. It seems life lifetimes ago when it happened but it really wasn't.

She breathes in beside me. "There are humans coming this way," she says, smiling down the river. "There are four of them, two males, two females. A family." She is licking her lips now. I remember that I used to have parents, a sister even. I never thought of them until now. "I think we've found our first meal. What do you think?"

I look at her to answer but she's looking away, to the other. He looks at her and nods, licking the corners of his lips in anticipation. I look down the way and see that the family heads toward us, completely unaware of anything around them.

I feel sorry for them. I won't try to hide it beneath the fangs and the thirst. This is the first time I have ever … not wanted to kill someone. It was strange but I could see myself in that family. The little boy was blond and small for his age, a bit too skinny with skinned elbows – he was me, in a past life.

The others start to head toward them, crouching so they are not seen. I lean back against the tree I have been sitting against and breath in the new blood and fresh start. This is the state of Mississippi. And as I hear the cries and painful deaths of the young family behind me, I bend over and breathe, wanting to cry.

As I differ from the others, I can't help wonder what is to become of me.


Alice

William says he has to leave. For the past hour we have been sitting on my bed, talking. We tried kissing again and it went better this time. My stomach kept filling up with butterflies which makes me want to throw up and keep going all at the same time.

Before he leaves, he kisses my forehead and holds his lips there for a few moments. I close my eyes and hold my breath, afraid that the noise would ruin the moment. He leaves me before I open my eyes. When I do, I am all alone in my room.

For the first time since I've come here, I can feel my mouth slowly forming a smile. At first it's small but it grows to a grin. I haven't felt such a real thing since … since before I can even remember. I take a deep breath, look at my hands, and feel like something good has finally happened to me.

***

"I've waited a long time for you," I say, looking at him.

He is the only one I remember from my human. Other than him, everything else is blank. I can remember my longing for him, the one I would finally call my own. I was all alone and he was the only thing I lived for. He's the only thing I live for.

He brushes back a piece of his blond hair with his fingers and smiles. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but … have we met each other before?" I shake my head. He smiles a bit and sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Good. I mean, that we haven't met. My mother would have called me rude for not remembering such a … beautiful woman as yourself."

My heart is still, my blood is cold but I can feel everything start to race and to heat under his gaze. I wonder briefly if he thinks I am crazy. He shakes his head as if he hears my thoughts, and then says, "Well, I am Jasper Hale … and you are?"

I shake my head, ridding the thoughts, and take his hand. I stare into his bloody eyes and say, "I'm Alice. I can see the future." It was blunt and he is taken by surprise but I keep going. "I've seen you here many times. I can't even tell you how many times." He's the only thing I've ever had a hold of. Through the pain, he has always been there, even though I didn't even know him.

He believes me.

He can see it in my eyes.

"I know what we have to do," I tell him. "Please, come with me." I hold out my hand, my heart in my throat. My mind is blank – his decision has not been made yet. He looks down at my hand, pale and breakable, though they are from both.

I feel like crying. For what seems like years I've been seeing him. He's flesh and blood I finally get to see. I am not crazy. My visions really do come true. Those months I spent all alone, thinking I was crazy – they were false. I can feel an emotional rush and start to breath heavily.

He looks up at me, concerned. He knows how I am feeling. He can feel the panic, the relief, the sadness, the confusion, the hope. He can feel everything. I suddenly feel calm. He looks into my eyes and lifts his hand slowly. My breath hitches.

He gently picks up a strand of my short hair and brushes it out of my eyes. "I trust you," he says quietly, answering all of my questions. "Take me with you, Alice."

***

I open my eyes and look up from my spot on the floor when there is a knock outside my door. Grandfather walks inside with a bowl and a glass of water. He sets it down in front of me. It's some kind of soup with vegetables and potatoes. I take it and sip it right from the bowl, seeing that I didn't have a spoon.

I hear a sharp intake of breath and look up to Grandfather, some of the soup sloshes and runs down my chin. Grandfather's mouth is hanging open and his hand is extending toward me with a spoon. I smile sheepishly and take it, after setting the bowl on the ground.

"What?" I ask, nervous now. I run my fingers up and down the cold metal of the spoon.

He laughs. "That's the most I've seen you eat since you first came here." I feel my cheeks redden as his laughter booms off the walls. "Did something happen this morning? William missed breakfast. I assumed he came here to see you."

This makes me even more embarrassed and he became even more tickled. He laughs once again and I giggle towards the end of the fit. Then I nod quietly. "Yes, he came to see me this morning," I tell him. He gives a knowing smirk but doesn't say anything else.

For an hour, we sit on the floor of my cell and talk. It feels good to sit with him and talk about things that we usually do. Sometimes, it's about his nature and who he is. Sometimes, it's about the food. And sometimes, it's about William and Grandfather's plans to make me his official granddaughter.

Today, that is the subject.

Throughout the conversation, I let him talk like I actually have a chance with him in the future. I don't tell him about my vision and I don't tell him about the girl who will take my place. I am bitter towards her; I don't want to lose anything I have but it's inevitable.

I just wish it isn't.

But then I think about Jasper and our future and I can't let that vision slip through my fingers either. It's just choosing which forever is the hardest – especially when it's already decided.

He leaves a while later and William returns again. He is now here as the doctor William. He smirks when he enters but doesn't rush at me and shower me with kisses. I almost laugh out loud at the thought; not only would William ever do that – even if he was in a mood – but here of all places seems a little … extreme.

I smile up at him before I notice.

He has his dreaded notebook. I look at him in his eyes. Though I didn't expect him to be frolicking inside my room with roses and chocolates, I didn't expect the sudden seriousness. When he enters, he smirks but there was nothing behind his eyes.

"Did you have any dreams this weekend?" he asks, looking down at his notebook.

My face falls. I look at him, too confused to answer. When I don't answer for a few minutes, he looks up at me. He notices my expression and sets the notebook aside. "Alice," he says quietly. He comes over to my bed where I'm sitting and rests his palm on my cheek.

I pull away.

"It's not like this," he explains. "While here … we have to remain as patient and doctor; we can never be caught. If we do … I could lose my job and you'll be transferred to another hospital. It would break my grandfather's heart and … mine too."

I look away from him and to the floor. I try to breathe calmly. I am angry, something William has invoked in me for awhile now. "Just don't," I look up at him, "just don't act like you hate me all the time. I am a mental case and it's not fair when you pull away like that. It's confusing and frankly a little rude."

I give him a look and he chuckles. He kisses me on the forehead then on the tip of the nose. "Okay, Alice, I'm sorry. It's just … this is so … so …"

"Weird?" I imply, hearing a word from the future.

He nods. "Strangely, yes, quite … weird." He laughs. He walks over to his chair and picks up his notebook then walks back over to my bed. He sits across from me and opens it up. I watch the notebook make a perfect half-circle as it travels to its open state. "Did you dream at all?" he asks much more gently.

I nod. "I dreamt of the soldier again," I tell him. I have no intention of telling him his own future. Though I'm plagued with this curse to see the future, it doesn't mean I have to spoil it for anyone else. There's that … and the fact that I want to change it.

"He was sitting in a diner," I tell him, "I walked up to him and started talking to him. He was so calming and so very beautiful." I see his face in the back of my mind and think of how he held my hand when I had my first vision with him, and told me that he loved me more than anything. He loved me enough to trust me when he had no idea if I would lead him to danger or safety.

William nods and writes something down in his notebook. "I didn't have any other dreams," I tell him, brushing my hair behind my shoulders and then leaning against the wall. I pull my legs up to my chin and watch him as he finishes his entry.

When he finishes, he closes the notebook and stares at the cover. "Does it upset you?" I ask him quietly, the side of my mouth presses up against my kneecap, "that I see another man in my dreams?"

He bites his lip and then sighs heavily.

"It doesn't bother me," he says. "They're just dreams, right?" He looks up at me and smiles all-knowing. "Dreams don't mean anything anyway." He slaps his hands against his notebook then stands. "I have to go. Bye, Alice." He kisses my hairline and then leaves.

I feel like his stepped on my heart. Dreams are everything to me. The fact that he can just brush them aside and dismiss them as something … insignificant makes me …

It makes me wish for Jasper.


William

When the day ends, I want to say goodbye to Alice without seeming to suspicious. While leaving the building with a couple of the nurses and I say that I forgot something inside and run back inside to get it after telling them to go on ahead without me.

Alice is sitting in her room, all alone, sleeping. The sunset from the windows behind me spills onto her face, making her skin look bright and healthier than it ever has before. I leave the door open because there isn't a light inside the room. She has to live by just the small opening cut out of the door.

Suddenly, I feel so sorry for her. She isn't even crazy and she has to live like this. How much she must miss feeling the sun on her skin and the moon shining in her hair. I wonder if she misses real food, like fresh bread and pure sugar in her coffee. I wonder how long it's been since she's had a fresh piece of meat, or if she's had any at all, ever.

And suddenly I want to take care of her.

Without thinking, I walk over to her and shake her shoulder. "Alice," I whisper to her and she slowly comes to, blinking her eyes several times before seeing me standing above her. I smile at her and she rubs her eyes with a curled fist.

"William?" she says quietly. "What are you doing here?"

I smile and look at her, kissing the top of her head. "Want to go outside with me for a few minutes? Everyone else is gone and I just wanted … to be with you for awhile. Is that okay? Or are you too tired?" She smiles brightly and shakes her quickly.

"No, I'm not tired at all," she says excitedly. "I'm ready to get out of here, that's for sure."

I smile and think of something. "Go ahead and go out back. I'll be out there in just a few seconds. I'm going to grab us something to eat first. It'll be like our … first date." I smile at her and her eyes widen just a bit in surprise. I love surprising her, I realize.

"Our first … date?" she asks.

I nod and hold out my hand. Without hesitation, she takes it and stands up. I lead her down the hall and into the front part of the building. She squeezes my hand before I rush away to the kitchen to get her something to eat. She looks too thin.

This was our first date … little did I know it would be one of the last.


A/N — I am an epic fail writer. =''[ I'm so sorry about taking forever for all of my updates! Again, school is killing me. KILLING ME. So, here's this chapter. I realized that this story definitely won't be as long as EAB. Probably 20 plus chapters less than EAB.

Anyway, glad to have you guys read it! Thank you! And, as always, please review!

-Liz