Ok, so i did indeed get a little teary-eyed while writing this. This is probably the most angsty chapter--so get ready. and tell me if you teared up, too, so i don't feel so cheesy. :D
I have never gotten flames before, but i have a bad feeling that i ma get some for this chapter...maybe not. well, any review is welcome: voice your ideas! Please know that I was planning on this twist the moment i began typing. Thank you for reading, and there will be good things goin' on next chapter!
The horrid black haired vampire was flying through the air at my protector…the one named Carlisle. I tried to remember where I had seen him before, and I finally pulled out the memory of the vision. With the light behind him and his family as they gazed down at me. What a nice memory…but I could only remember lines and blobs and murmurs. The light--I could see that clearly.
I knew that the ebony-haired vampire was horrible. He had chased me through the forest, he had given me the cuts littering my arms. I remembered that his name was Vincent. What a foul name. I retched at it. I chanted in my head, kill him, kill him, kill him. Behind that was the permanent reminder: Run, run, run. That one was becoming fainter and more annoying, but it was the first thing I'd ever known, it seemed.
I watched the fight begin, but I barely registered it. The blonde haired man stepped out of Vincent's line of attack, and the bronze-haired lanky boy grabbed the monster. I was shocked to see the sudden malice in--Edward's face. Yes. Edward. Even Carlisle looked confused for a moment as he looked behind him in wonder. Vincent shrieked as Edward wrapped his hands around the grimy white neck.
The one named Lee was darting at me, now, his eyes ablaze. I didn't even manage a squeak before the gorgeous blond vampire named Rosalie grabbed him, too. She whirled in front of me, a tornado of golden hair, and snatched one of his arms with both of hers. I saw the startled look cross Lee's face before she took him down. He gaped at her beauty even as he was thrown onto the forest floor, pine needles showering him. Rosalie held his hands behind his back, the elbows grotesquely angled. It was unnatural.
The one named Perry didn't run at us with the same fury, he sort of walked towards his look alike--the big guy named Emmett. Emmett seemed as confused as I was as Perry went to his knees before us, his pleading eyes shimmering. I looked long and hard at that Perry, trying to recall him. I could only recall his name--he had to have harmed me, right? Yes, I remembered…he would give me cuts and slaps while Vincent chuckled. But I could remember sorrow in his face as he did so…I was so confused. Perry squinted into the light, looking a bit flabbergasted himself. Like he didn't know what he was doing--he wanted to attack, but his body was staying on the ground, giving up.
Emmett stalked behind him and pinned his huge arms to his bulky sides, wondering why he wasn't fighting back. I stared at them oddly. When I heard Vincent's grunts, the two words replayed like a broken record. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him.
I actually screamed when it was answered.
Edward seemed to only twitch his wrist…then Vincent's head was rolling away. I felt my eyes roll into my head, as if I would faint it I could. I could see the tiny black tail of hair quiver in the soft breeze. I buried my face into Esme's dress and began to tremor. I stayed that way, hearing kill him and run run echo in my mind. I was frozen there and chained to only those words…until I recalled what had come through my mind when Vincent had thrown himself through the sky…the blonde vampire.
I looked up, fully alert, trying to summon details. A blonde vampire…that's what had flashed through my mind when I thought Vincent was about to murder me. I frantically tried to pull his face from the crevices of my brain, but I found I could not.
I began to hyperventilate, and I felt Esme's arms around me. My rapid breathing sounded so weird…like I was chanting run run. Or kill him over and over. I faintly saw Esme's heart shaped face looming at me, her wide yellow eyes dancing with worry. "Sweetheart?" she whispered. Vincent called me that. I breathed in and out louder and louder.
Faraway, I heard Lee groan. I impulsively thought of kill him, and I heard a snap. I hadn't really thought to restate this. I didn't care that Lee was now dead. He was only Vincent's shadow. But hadn't he been more…?
"What about this one?" I heard someone say. I must've not stopped my kill him rant, which seemed to be dictating the attacks--and I screamed when a hollow pop came from Perry. I didn't want him to die…it didn't seem right. Edward hissed, "Stop!" and Emmett looked at him, an arm in his hands. A severed arm. Rosalie looked just as guilty and angered by the unclear orders as she held a leg. I swallowed. He was only a henchman, right? He had harmed me.
I twisted my body, letting Esme's dress fall. The one named Perry was looking up at them all, agonized but silent. He looked so lost, like he was trying to recall something. Surely that's what happened when adrenaline rushed through you--you couldn't think straight. I knew I couldn't. I breathed rhythmically, and Esme glanced at me, then Carlisle, probably worried for my condition. I stared at Perry--my eyes were glued there…until Esme shook my shoulder.
I turned to her, and I realized all of the Cullen vampires were looking at me. The yellow light pierced through the crevices between them. It was that glorious yellow light I'd seen…earlier and once so long ago. That was my beautiful memory. The light matched their eyes. They looked down at me, and each of them whispered their names.
"Rosalie."
"Carlisle."
"Esme…" Her thoughts were unfinished.
"Edward."
"Emmett."
I knew Esme would say something now--it was like déjà vu. I'd heard it come from her mouth before…then I knew, the moment she began to speak. "Sweetheart…who's Jasper?"
I froze. I couldn't respond. I didn't know.
I'd had that vision and I didn't know then--but did I ever? "But you keep saying his name over and over, Hon."
I felt my eyes widen. I hadn't been gasping for air with rapid breaths…I'd been saying his name. Over and over.
I didn't know him, though! My hands flew to the sides of my head and I began to curl into a ball. I realized I only held a few things in my brain.
I knew my name was Alice. I knew that horrific vampire was named Vincent, and that he wanted to hurt me or steal something from me, so I ran away. Lee was his henchman. So was Perry--but I found at that moment that I held no memories of him while we were traveling. I only remembered Lee and Vincent. Could he have been hunting all the time so I never saw him? I knew these Cullens--I knew them the moment I saw them for some reason. I felt like I shouldn't, but I was blissful that I knew.
But Jasper? I'd never heard the name. Not ever.
But that blonde vampire--I never met him either, and yet he seared through my mind so colorfully and strongly. I opened my eyes to stare at the ground…and at the lap of my gray dress. It must have been so pretty when it was new…now it was stained, torn to ribbons and shabby. I touched the beading thoughtfully as the Cullens circled me like a little room.
Wasn't I in a little room…so long ago? I could feel things--I remembered the cobblestone floor, wet and dark. I remembered weeping on it so many times…yes. I was in an asylum. But for what? I hadn't done anything. Wait…my premonitions. Yes. That was it.
"Hey."
I looked over at our prisoner, the unmoving Perry. He'd lost two limbs, and his head was rolling around on his shoulders. His lips looked blue, his eyes half lit. I crawled closer with the Cullens hanging on my every move. His eyes looked panicked and pleading, like he wanted me to say something. "I think I know you." he whispered. I nodded, by brow pinching.
"You are Perry, right?" I asked softly. He nodded.
"Is…your name Alice?"
I nodded. He grimaced at the pain of his wounds. "I hurt you, didn't I?"
I looked at my arms, ravaged. I knew they weren't scars, but I nodded. I felt terrible for guilting this half-a-vampire. He still had hurt me.
"I didn't want to. I don't think I did." he said slowly, as if to convince himself. I shook my head just as slowly, like my body was in control.
"I don't think you did, but I can't really remember anything but that." I said, wondering if I should guilt him. Maybe comfort was better…but he gave me these jagged slits. But he was slowly dying before me now.
"It seems like I am missing something." he pleaded. My throat felt clogged, and I felt odd for feeling so emotional to this stranger.
"Me too."
Then, I touched his remaining arm and gasped. I suddenly remembered. Perry was my friend. I began to weep.
Perry and the Cullens looked at each other with confusion as I gripped the prisoner's arm and wept. "Perry! Oh, Perry, look at what he has done to us!" I was amazed that I could remember--Vincent must not have been able to suck out every drop of my memory. My memory of Perry being a tortured soul and a friend to me.
"Perry, do you remember me?" I whispered to him. His raspberry-topaz eyes dulled with sadness.
"No."
I wept more. Vincent removed every piece of me from Perry--except my name and the pain he's inflicted on me. "Do you remember Nettie?" I asked him, my invisible tears disorienting speech. He slowly shook his head.
I wailed and hugged him. I felt the Cullen's sad stares on my back. I quivered in Perry's confused arms. "Am I supposed to remember her?" Came his voice. I sobbed and nodded. He was silent.
"I only remember hurting you. That's all. And Vincent."
"He got to you. I ran away from him while he was doing it to me, but I think he…sucked you dry." My voice was broken and shaking. Perry arched an eyebrow.
"Sucked me dry?"
I nodded. "Yes. He took your memories." My voice was barely a noise in the chilled air.
"Will that be all I ever know?" Perry asked me. I closed my eyes. I could hear twigs snapping nearby--collecting firewood. I shuddered. I didn't want to answer him. When I opened my sore eyes, his face was thoughtful and serene. His eyes flickered to his wounds…he shuddered. He closed his indigo eyelids painfully and sighed. I knew something huge was decided inside of him.
"Will you do me a favor, then?" he said softly.
I trembled and nodded. "Anything."
"If these memories I have forgotten are so important, I'm not sure if I want to go on without them." he said thoughtfully, looking at his stump of a leg. The Cullens were silent as they looked on, at the two dismembered body parts. The smell of the fire they'd made pricked my eyes. The smoke was heavy and black in the little clearing.
I didn't try to tell him that he should try to live life. I couldn't--he was broken and shredded, and he had no fond memories to look back to. "Are you sure?" My voice was strangled. He nodded.
I placed my hands around his head, staring into his eyes. He stared back, lifelessly. "I'm so sorry."
I tugged my wrists and let the thing in my hands fall away. It thunked hollowly on the dirt floor. I covered my eyes quickly, not wanting the image to stain my mind. The body before me was quickly swept away.
I sat there, my eyes shielded and my nose burning from the smoke until I felt a hand on the small of my back. I thought it was Carlisle, and I leaned into the arms. I didn't really care who it was. I just sobbed. And sobbed. And sobbed.
I know, i know. sad day for alice and per. don't worry, tho! next chapter will cheer you up, i guarantee it. if you want to be cheered up quickly, review, of course!
R.I.P. Perry
Song Inspiration: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion (yea well Titanic makes me cry everytime.)
