Slowly, I walked over to my bed. I sat down and my fingers traced the engraved words. They were slightly singed along with the rest of the box, but the words were extremely clear. Those were my parents' names.
"The combination is seven, two, five, four," Alice whispered just loud enough for me to hear.
My hand was shaking as I reached out to the black dial. When I'd entered the combination, I pulled on the door gently. It opened with a click and I slowly peered into it. Inside were the memories I'd never had.
I reached into it and pulled out the first thing I got my hands on. Several photos tied together with a silver satin ribbon came out in my hand. The one on top was of my mother. She was in a wedding dress. An elderly man stood next to her—my grandfather? To her other side was a woman who looked as old as the man—my grandmother? It was evident that there were tears of joy in my mother's large eyes. I turned the picture over and the words 'My parents and I,' were written in blue pen. Tears clouded my vision as I put that picture in the back and studied the next one.
My mother was walking down the aisle. She was holding on to my grandfather firmly. A short girl with blue green eyes and short spiked black hair walked in front of her. I giggled—she looked like an even smaller version of Alice.
The next few pictures consisted of my mother and father's kiss, their first dance as husband and wife, cutting the cake, and waving out the window of a large white limo. I tied the ribbon around the pictures again and put them back in the box. My hands touched something small. I scooped it up into the palm of my hand and pulled it out.
Two wedding bands were tied tightly together by a piece of string. The string was also tied around a small piece of paper that read 'I do.' I clutched the rings close to my heart for a moment before wiping away the tears that slid down my cheeks and put them back inside the box. I touched a rough piece of paper next and I gladly pulled it out.
My dearest daughter,
Today is the day of your birth and a fire has erupted behind your father and me as I write this. I am so sorry. Should your father and I not make it, I hope that you do. We love you so much, little one, we always will. The day you find this, please don't cry. We're there with you every moment of every day, never forget that. All the things in this fire safe are by law yours. We leave everything to you, little one. I can only pray that you will one day live with a family who loves you as much as we do. Thank you so much for brightening this one day of our lives.
Never forget us, love,
Mom and Dad
I was sobbing by the time I finished reading the letter. Alice walked over to me and I threw my arms around her waist and cried into her shoulder.
"There, there," Alice whispered. "They loved you so much, you see that. They don't want you to cry. Their wish has at least been granted. You're with a family who loves you as much as they did."
Her lips pressed to the top of my hair and I looked up and kissed her cheek.
"Thank you so much, Alice," I sobbed. "Thank you."
I felt another pair of cold arms around me. I turned my head and pecked Jasper's cheek.
"Thank you, too, Jasper," I whispered.
"No need to thank us," he whispered back. "We're only doing what's best for you. It's our job."
"We'll leave you alone," Alice said.
"No, stay!" I exclaimed. I didn't want her to leave. I didn't want any of them to leave.
Alice looked at me questioningly but sat down again. She and Jasper scooted down my bed to give me room. Renesmee bounced into the room and took the spot on the bed that Alice and Jasper had opened up. Emmett sat at my desk chair and Rosalie sat on his lap. Bella walked in, gave me a quick hug, and sat down on the other side of the box. Seth sat behind me on the bed, his arms wrapped around my waist. Jake and Leah stood in front of my closet while Edward, Carlisle, and Esme sat on the window seat.
"Why don't you look and see what else is in there?" Nessie chimed. I ruffled her hair.
"I'm getting to it," I laughed.
I continued to look through pictures and entries from my mother's 'nine month diary' that she kept during her pregnancy. There was one snapshot of the three of us together. My mother was lying on a hospital bed smiling down at the baby in her arms—me. My father was sitting at her side with one arm around her and one hand stroking my face.
"What's this?" I whispered, pulling out two manila envelopes. I carefully opened them and my eyes skimmed the papers they contained.
"My parents' wills," I gasped. "They weren't kidding. They left me everything."
My parents had been rich people, it seemed. They left me their estate in London, their millions. They would've left me the house in Biloxi if it hadn't burnt down. All of which I inherited legally when I turned eighteen.
"Oh my gosh," I gasped as I pulled a picture of the London house out of the box. It had the Victorian Era feel. Large and cream colored, the structure stood tall and large. I felt several heads looking over my shoulder to get a glimpse of the photograph in my hands.
"That's an amazing estate," Esme gasped. "I wonder if it's well furnished. I bet I could fix it up nice and homey if it wasn't very much to your liking, Jasmine."
"I'd have to see it first," I sighed before returning the envelopes and photo to the box. My fingers touched something rectangular and smooth. I pulled it out. It was a plastic pink wallet. I opened the clasp and peered at the only thing inside of it—my mother's identification card.
"Lidia Nayeli Perez Brandon," I read. I traced the outline of my mother's picture with my index finger, trying desperately not to cry. Her hair was styled much like mine had been for prom and she was smiling a million dollar smile. She was unnaturally beautiful, not in the vampire way, but in the human way. I reached inside the box again and pulled out what I so sincerely hoped was my father's wallet. It was.
"Robert Brandon Smith," I read. My father looked handsome in his picture. His dark brown hair was carefully arranged atop his head and his blue green eyes shone brightly in the dim light that must have surrounded him. One of my tears plopped down on the card. Seth's finger reached over to me and wiped the tears that were sliding down my cheek.
The rest of the box consisted of letter exchanged between my parents. Several were sent while my father was on a business trip, others while my mother was visiting her sick grandmother in another country that was never mentioned. And, of course, I read their wedding vows. Tears came hard as I read them aloud to my friends and family. I cried so hard I was barely coherent.
Rosalie sighed. "They were very much in love," she sighed. "From what I've heard today, I think your mother and yourself have a lot in common."
"Thanks, Rose," I smiled. "That means a lot."
Rosalie smiled back at me. "Anything else we need to check out?"
"No, I think that was it," I said, feeling the tears in my eyes again.
"No, I don't think that was it," Bella said pulling out a piece of paper with a blue border around the edges. "You missed one."
I took the paper out of her hands. "What is this?" I whispered, turning the paper over so I could read it. The moment I read the caption at the top, I covered my mouth to stifle the sobs.
"Oh my God," I sobbed. Tears were streaming down my red face. My breaths came in sobs and I was shaking so hard that several hands grabbed my arms and shoulders to try and keep me from falling apart. Those words at the top of the page made such a difference in everything that was my existence.
Standard Certificate of Birth, State of Mississippi
It was my birth certificate. The paper that made me who I was was in my hands. This was the paper that the headmistress of the orphanage always told me had been lost in the fire. This was the paper that contained every single detail about me—even my name.
Holy crap, my real, actual name was printed on this page…
My eyes scanned each and every single line until I found my name. I closed my eyes once and opened them again, fearing that it had all been a dream and that I would wake to find nothing of what I'd just been through had actually happened. But, no, the paper was still there with my real name printed in clear letters.
I was Mary Alicia Brandon Perez.
"Mary Alicia," Alice whispered. "Now why does that sound familiar?"
"Alicia," I whispered. "Why, it's your name in Spanish. I was named after you!"
"Not a surprise," Jasper snorted. "Alice has been checking up on Robert since he was a little boy. He always was infatuated with Alice's story. He believed she'd had premonitions. He and his mother and father had quite the argument over that."
"But I wonder why they changed it to Span—oh my," I gasped as I read another line on my birth certificate. "I'm half Mexican!"
Gasps echoed throughout the room.
"Half Mexican?" Leah questioned. "Jeez, Jasmine, are you sure? I mean, you're barely passing Spanish. If it wasn't for so much tutoring from the bloodsuckers, hell, you'd be failing!"
I didn't answer her. I was too busy shaking with excitement. I'd just found out everything about myself. My name, my ethnicity, everything I'd been missing for all these eighteen years had just jumped at me. I opened my mouth to say something, but words I'd never spoken myself jumped out quickly. It was like I was speaking in a different language. In fact, I probably was. Everyone in the room stared at me in shock.
"Jasmine," Emmett started, "did you just speak Spanish?"
I was too in shock myself to even move, let alone answer a question.
"She just did," Jacob gasped, bemused.
"Jazzy, you're failing Spanish!" Leah reminded me yet again.
"How did you do that?" Seth laughed.
"I—I don't know," I admitted.
"Jasmine," Carlisle said, using his doctor voice, as I called it. "Is there a possibility that you remembered these words subconsciously?"
"I don't think so, Carlisle," I said. "I wasn't with my parents very long," I said, choking on a sob and wiping my eyes.
"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I didn't mean to remind you."
"No, no, it's fine," I said, wiping my eyes. "I'm just a big cry baby, is all." I smiled at him and he smiled apologetically at me.
"I think that's enough excitement for today," I decided, putting my birth certificate (even thinking the words made me want to scream) into the fire safe and closed it.
"I'd have to agree," Alice said. "Goodness, at times like these, I wish I could sleep. It would surely give me a nice rest."
"Alice? Will you tell me something?" I asked.
"Anything," she said.
"How did you get this?" I asked her. "Nothing was left over from the fire. Nothing at all."
"That's not true at all," she sighed. "I had a vision a few weeks ago. I saw the headmistress of the orphanage throwing this out. Jasper and I skipped school to go down there and retrieve it before my vision came true. Nessie, you came with us, why don't you show Jasmine?"
Renesmee's face brightened immediately. She reached over and put her hand on my arm. My head filled with a memory that wasn't mine and I paid careful attention to every detail.
Alice, Jasper, and Nessie burst through the doors of the place I used to call my home.
"Why, Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, what a pleasure it is to see you both again," Ms. Frieder said, her eyes widening and her voice going up an octave with each word. She walked forward and extended her hand toward Jasper who ignored it and then to Alice who did the same. She bent down to look Nessie in the eye. "And who is this delightful young lady?"
"Is that your business?" Nessie scowled. Ms. Frieder grimaced and stood up straight again.
"How is your girl, Bur—oh, um, Jasmine, was it? Better mannered than this one, I hope," she murmured.
"Ms. Frieder," Alice started, "I demand you show me where my daughter's belongings are kept."
Ms. Frieder froze. She turned pale—as pale as the Cullens if not paler. Using Nessie's inhuman hearing from her memory, I heard her heart skip a beat.
"W—w—why I cannot be sure of what you mean, Mrs. Cullen," she stuttered.
"Madelyn Frieder, I suggest you not play games here as we are willing to take legal action against you—not just for taking what wasn't yours, but for the conditions you keep these girls in," Jasper snapped. "Do we understand each other?"
Ms. Frieder's face turned paler than before. "Y—ye—yes, Mr. Cullen," she stammered. "Right this way."
With her head hung low, she led them into a dark, dusty room. She flipped a light switch and the dim light bulb illuminated the darkness—not that Nessie, or Alice and Jasper for that matter, needed light to see what laid within the room.
Piled to the ceiling were fire safes, cardboard boxes with girls' names that I recognized written in dark marker, and several different style trunks and suit cases. I felt Nessie's disgust in the memory which mirrored my own.
"Ms. Frieder!" Alice gasped, even though she was evidently unsurprised. "Do you realize that what you have here is something that is in complete violation of the law?! Why, I have more than half a mind to call the police!"
"What's going on?" a weak voice asked. Nessie turned around and I caught sight of Samantha, a girl who'd teased and hated me. She looked so fragile and seemed as though she'd been losing her hair. The skin of her arms, legs, and face practically stuck to the bones underneath and her hands and feet were black with what was probably ash from cleaning the fireplace. The skin under her eyes was practically black from lack of sleep. Alice quickly rushed over to her and hugged her lightly.
"Don't worry, Sweetie," Alice crooned. "We'll get you help. We'll get help for all of you. And as for you!" Alice turned sharply and pointed accusingly at Ms. Frieder who was cringing into her pile of stolen items. "You stay right here! I'll make sure the police deal with you!"
Alice pulled out her phone and dialed three numbers before putting the phone to her ear.
"Hello, my name is Alice Cullen and I am calling to report the awful conditions of the girls at Saint Helen's Orphanage for Girls. Please send police and ambulances right away."
Ms. Frieder dropped to her knees and started sobbing and begging for forgiveness. That was when Renesmee pulled her hand away from me and stared at me with sad eyes.
"I don't think you want to know the rest," she sighed.
"No, Nessie, show me," I said. I tried to grab her hand but she leaned away from me.
"Really, Jasmine, you don't," she urged. "Some girls were in really bad shape. I don't think you want to see how bad it was."
I nodded. "Okay, I trust you. That's terrible, though! How could she?!" I was honestly appalled. I knew Ms. Frieder wasn't a nice woman, but I never thought it was that bad!
"Don't worry, Jasmine," Alice said, putting her arms around me. "Those girls are all in a better orphanage now. Those who need it are getting treated in a hospital. Ms. Frieder is in prison right now where she can't hurt anyone else."
I hugged her back, wiping my tears on her shoulder. "What about Samantha?" I asked. The girl may have been nastier to me than anyone else, but she'd looked so frail. Was she better now? Oh God, I hoped so.
"She," Alice sighed, "I'm afraid she didn't make it. The doctors did all they could. Her immune system wasn't strong enough to fight off the diseases and viruses her body had been carrying."
My body shook with heavy sobs at this news. I felt Jasper's arms come around me along with Seth's, Nessie's, and Bella's. Nessie was shaking with her own tears and sobs by this point. Her trembling hand was touching my shoulder. My head filled with a memory of hers that I didn't want to see.
Samantha was lying in a hospital bed. Her face looked made of bone and nothing else. Her breaths were strained and painful. She was hooked up to several machines. Nessie was holding Sam's pale hand in her own.
Samantha's body started shaking all of a sudden. Nessie screamed for the doctors while Sam tried to assure her that she was fine. A man in a white coat came rushing in to try and see if there was anything he could do to help the poor girl.
There wasn't.
Samantha started coughing loudly and painfully. She started hacking up blood and lot's of it. Renesmee started crying as she clamped her hand over her nose and mouth to keep from attacking her.
"Don't leave me!" Nessie cried. "Please don't leave me!"
Sam kept coughing up more and more blood. The bed, the floor, her body, and the doctor's sleeves were drenched in it. More blood than should've been able to fit inside her frail body came spewing out of her mouth and nose. Eventually, she could take no more of it. Her body collapsed back onto the hospital bed and the room filled with the steady beeping sound of the heart rate monitor until the doctor pulled the plug and turned it off. Nessie was on the floor, her face buried in her hands.
My body was shaking uncontrollably. I opened my eyes and was absolutely shocked that the room wasn't stained at all in Samantha Harrington's blood. Nessie leaned back from me and covered her mouth.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I didn't mean to—I didn't realize—"
"She became your friend, yes?" I asked through my tears. Nessie nodded sorrowfully.
"She said to apologize on her behalf," she whispered. "She felt really bad for every angry word she ever said to you."
"May she rest in peace knowing that I forgive her for everything," I spoke softly.
The entire room silenced for a moment. The poor, poor girl. Such brutality she'd endured during her life.
"Jasmine," Alice whispered. "You still haven't told me something. Which name do you wish to go by? Legally, they're both yours."
"Jasmine Isabella Cullen is the name you gave me," I said. I looked up and wiped away my tears. I smiled a large smile at Alice and Jasper and turned my head to give the smile to everyone else in the room as well. After all, I loved them all, so they all deserved the smile. "And therefore, it's the name I keep."
Author's Note: Guess who's half asleep again! Not to mention sick this time around, too! 8D That's right, I am! So yeah, I know I probably shouldn't be writing in my current state (I should be resting and blah, blah, blah. Yes, Amanders, Joshy, I get the message) but it makes me feel better and takes my focus away from my killer headache and the fact that I can't breathe through my nose. I'd like all your opinions on one thing real quick. In your reviews, would you mind telling me if you think Jasmine should've gone with her birth name or with her adoption name? No, the story won't change according to the votes, but I just wanna know what you guys think. :D Also, I've noticed that many people favorite me and put me on alerts, and yet, you don't review! What's up with that? I like reviews, you know xD