Memories
It was determined on our way into town that we'd all go visit Catherine today so that she knew each of us, rather than simply surprise her with all five. I was nervous for Catherine, she knew what Bella and I are but didn't mean she'd be able to handle four vampires and one half breed. To complicate matters one of Catherine's daughters was home from school that day; she was in high school making and older than her siblings. We each had reservations about her being there; could she handle the fact that her grandmother's sister, who died years before, was a vampire? These worries only amplified as we drove up to Catherine's house and pulled into the drive way. The weather was rainy, which was expected for the next four days.
"Alice, it is great to see you again. And Bella! Oh how great it is to see you two. And you brought your husbands? And the little one, how cute." Catherine came out of her house to greet us. Her daughter was standing in the door way, she looked worried.
"Thank you, Catherine. It is great to see you too. This is my husband Jasper, and that striking image over there is my brother Edward; he is Bella's husband. The little one is Bella's daughter, we all call her Nessie." I smiled and hugged my niece.
"Please, you should all come in. Make yourselves at home; it is only my daughter and I here this week. My husband is away on business." She said as she gestured to the front door where her daughter stood in horrified shock. It was unclear to me whether or not Catherine had told her family what we were, but her daughter was terrified of us nonetheless. Who wouldn't be? We were pale white and a slight shimmer to our skin as the sun behind the clouds attempted to poke through.
Jasper took my hand as we walked in; he could feel Catherine's daughter and how frightened she was of us. He and I took a seat on the love seat, while Edward and Bella sat on the floor with Nessie. Catherine and her daughter sat on the couch.
"Oh, I almost forgot. This is my daughter, her name is Vanessa." Catherine looked straight at me. "Vanessa, this is your great aunt Alice."
"Hello Vanessa." It was all II could muster for this frightened girl.
"He..He…Hell..Hello Aunt Alice." She said; her eyes as wide as the day.
"Alice, the last time you were here made me start to reminisce about my mother. When she was on her death bed she told me of some old family books that were in her attic and I retrieved them shortly after her death. I found at least sixteen photo albums and five of them had your name on them while three had both hers and yours name on them. They're in the closest down the hall if you would like to see them." Catherine was already standing up and I simply smiled; it had been ages since I had seen pictures of my sister. All I could remember of her were the flashes my memory gave me at random intervals.
"This may help us" Jasper smiled at me.
"Very much so; if you can recognize things in the photos your memory may help us around the town." Edward was excited at the possibility.
Catherine returned to the room with a box full of photo albums; it was clearly marked "Aunt Alice" on the side. "These are some of the albums with pictures primarily of you."
"Do you think I could see the albums with my sister and I?" I asked politely while I took the box she held and began looking at the albums.
"Certainly." Catherine replied.
"Let me get them" Edward was already on his feet and walking past her before she could say thank you. He returned with a box that bared mine and my sister's names on it. His face was twisted as he walked back to where Jasper and I were sitting.
"What's wrong daddy" Nessie asked as he rejoined her and Bella.
"Nothing dear…" He said without looking, instead keeping his eyes on me. "I have something I need to tell you Alice, and I don't know if you will like it."
I grew anxious, "Tell me Edward. Is it about my sister and I?" I asked
"It is. And about Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett and myself actually; you see after Emmett's encounter with the bear it was decided by Carlisle that we should move. So in the fall of 1925, a year to the day after Emmett had been turned, we moved to Biloxi. While here Carlisle was granted permission to practice medicine outside of the hospitals. I was to join him as his medical student, and the brother to his wife Esme. Emmett and Rosalie joined us a few weeks after we settled and presented themselves as borders at our home. One whole wing of the house was dedicated to Carlisle's profession. In the year 1930 we were visited by many people seeking Carlisle's assistance with a number of ailments. Your parents brought you and your sister to see Carlisle for your annual checkup that year. The depression hurt your family as it did most and they didn't have the money to take you to a hospital." I interrupted Edward with a screech.
"I'm sorry Edward, but how could you have forgotten this?" I immediately demanded.
"Alice, you see you look different than you did back then and it was only when I saw a picture of you and your sister together that I realized why Carlisle and I were so distraught by not knowing any information though it seemed we knew something. Your parents brought you to us for the next five years. One year you came down with Scarlet Fever, I believe the year was 1933, and you stayed with us for three weeks. I always thought you suspected us to be more than what we said but I never pressed you to find out. Carlisle and Esme were enamored with you; you were like the daughter they never had. But after 1935 we never really saw you or your family very often. They never brought you back as the hospitals began reducing their prices enough that people could go there on a regular basis again. Rosalie and I went walking one day and spotted you and your sister in an ice cream shop. I read your mind that day; you had just had your first vision but resolved not to tell anyone anything. The year was 1941, and the vision was that of you as one of us. Two weeks later you turned 15 and had another vision; your father's infidelity. By 1943 we were gone, we moved to Forks for the first time. That same year two new vampires came to town, although only one presented themselves to us upon learning of our true nature. Dr. Greene made no qualms about informing us that he was working with the Volturi and that Aro spoke highly of a strange vampire named Carlisle Hough who refused to eat humans. Carlisle thought it would be safer if we simply left town and it was Esme who found Forks. I made a final visit to you the night before we left. I slipped into your room and placed a bracelet on your arm; it was one of two that belong to my mother. It was your seventeenth birthday."
I instinctively touched the bracelet that had been on my arm ever since I first woke up without a memory of who or where I was. If I could cry I would have but instead I just stared down at the floor. I felt safe somehow; I was comforted by the fact that my sweet brother Edward had watched over me, even when I was a mere human.
Jasper's attention returned to my niece. "Catherine, do you recall any stories in the news about people being mauled by animals?"
"Why yes, I do but they are old. In 1985, I think it was, there were a rash of hikers found dead, mauled by wolves if I remember correctly. The authorities were baffled since wolves haven't been indigenous to this area in over a hundred years. "Catherine seemed confused by this strain of thought.
"Edward, what if there were werewolves in this area and Nathaniel was sent here to tame them? Were there any like attacks in the area when you lived here?" Jasper was getting at something.
"There was some talk around town but the papers kept it silent." Edward caught on to what Jasper was getting at now as well.
"I think I need to get Carlisle here. The three of us need to go to the old house and see if anything there can jog your memory or give us clues about what happened after we left." Edward turned his attention to me. I thought it was a great idea; maybe I could remember something about the time I spent at the Cullen home while I was still human. Then again I was terrified at what we might find there; could there still be wolves living there?
Edward got up and went outside to make the call to see if Carlisle and Esme would leave and come to Biloxi. He was only outside for a moment and before he stepped in I saw Carlisle decide to come to Biloxi.
"He said they'll come. Aro has been a great help to them but they haven't been able to find much information. Caius seems to have had dealings with Nathaniel in the past but there isn't any record of what those dealings were about and it doesn't seem like they have done anything in the last 20 years." Edward said as he sat back down next to Bella and Nessie.
Two days passed before Carlisle and Esme were in town. Esme showed up at Catherine's house and informed Edward and I that Carlisle would meet us at the old house. Carlisle suspected that only having Edward and him with me would spark my memories of the house since I rarely encountered Esme or anyone else while there. Catherine was excited to meet Esme, and was grateful that her aunt had found someone willing to be a mother like figure in this life to me.
Edward and I left shortly after Esme's arrival letting her tell us as much as she could about their time with the Volturi. She gave us the keys to her car and we were off to the house I once spent three weeks of my life in.
"I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you about our stay in Biloxi Alice" Edward said without looking at me, "we never intended to hide it from you, but you have to understand that the way you look now is completely different than how any of us can remember you."
"It's alright Edward, you're still the bestest big brother anyone could ever hope for." I smiled at him, I was honest.
We drove down a long winding road through trees until we reached a clearing a giant brick house stood in the distance. Outside was a giant sign that said, "Home of Dr. Carlisle Cullen, MD."
"This is it" Edward told me.
"I don't recognize it." I said, half to myself in disappointment.
"We can't expect you to remember something that quickly, Alice."
"I know, I just wish I could remember more than quick flashes that make no sense to me is all."
We drove up to the front door; the house still looked as though people lived in it. I wasn't certain, but I didn't think that it was good that it looked like this. Edward looked at me as he was preparing to get out of the car. From the front door I could see Carlisle coming out. I stepped out of the car and embraced Carlisle.
"Aro sends his love and regret." Carlisle said while we were embraced.
"Regret?" Edward responded for me.
"He is certain that Caius has nothing to do with what is happening to us but I think he fears deep down that he might be the root of our issues." Carlisle and I unlocked from each other and proceeded up the stairs.
"I never thought we'd return to this house." Carlisle said; he looked worried.
"Someone has been staying in this house?" Edward asked, but it wasn't really a question.
"Yes. The smell is distinctly not vampire, nor human. I think it has to be dog but I'm not certain. It doesn't smell anything like the packs." Carlisle was looking back and forth between Edward and I.
We walked into the house and immediately we could smell what Carlisle said he smelled. It smelled of dog, but nothing like the packs. Instead it smelled different, a mix of human and dog but more dog than human. Almost like Bella smelled when she was still human and hung out with Jacob and the pack. Edward took me to the wing that was obviously the old medical wing of the house. It looked very much like a hospital still and didn't have the smell that the rest of the house had. We stopped at a room; it must have been the room I stayed in.
"Is this the room?" I asked Edward.
"Yes. You stayed in here for three weeks. It still has your smell to it. We never put anyone else in here after you left us." Edward was staring blankly into the room.
A memory slowly entered my mind, it was of Edward. I remembered how I felt when I was around him, like he was my own personal angel. He was like a brother to me even back then. We stood in the room for some time; I looked around trying to find anything that might spark another memory for me.
"Any luck?" asked Carlisle.
"A little. I had a vision of me looking at Edward and Edward caring for me like a brother would a sister." I smiled and grabbed onto his arm.
"Good, then we're making progress."
We spent little over two hours in the house. The first hour and a half were spent in the medical reason for two reasons. First, we couldn't smell that disgusting dog smell as we could in the rest of the house. Second, I had a number of brief memories of myself in that wing when I was a child. I remembered the first time my parents brought me and my sister to the Cullen home for a checkup. I also remembered the day I left the home; I knew I would see them again. It was my most memorable memory, I could feel, taste and smell everything from that day. We also spent time going through the rest of the house. Carlisle wanted to see if there were any clues left over from the wolves and Edward wanted to look at the house and see if he had forgotten anything about it. The house was just as nice as our house in Forks or even Cambridge, Massachusetts. As the day wore on though we knew there was nothing left for us in Biloxi. We decided that it'd be best if we left town the following morning to get back to Washington. It was at that point that I had a vision. My niece and her daughter would follow us to Forks. My niece wanted to be as close to me as possible for as long as possible. She missed the feeling she had around my family; I was the lone survivor for her to be around. Her daughter wanted to become a vampire, she was do determined she rivaled only Bella's determination so many years ago. I would have to scold my niece for letting her know our true natures.
