3. Race against Time

The phone continued to buzz against the black leather dashboard. Neither Jasper nor Alice reached to pick it up, and it fell silent once again. The screen lit up and displayed nineteen missed calls from home.

"They'll be wondering where we are" Jasper said. It had been hours since either of them had spoken. The crisp morning sun filtered through the screen, and he neatly flicked on the tinted windows. The last thing they both wanted to cause was multiple road accidents with their glittering skin. The rocky border of Mississippi was turned black against the bright sky and nothing but a long stretch of road lay before them.

Alice's foot pushed harder on the accelerator. She had never been so desperate to find something in her life. Even with Jasper, she knew he would always be hers. But this box was slipping away, and she had to get it.

"I never knew you were afraid of me kidnapping you, Jazz!" She teased. Her ruse didn't fool him in the least, and he arched one eyebrow. The smile fell from her lips, and she let out a deep sigh. Alice never could get away with anything around him, even when she tried. He just knew her too well; he was definitely her better half.

"...They will cope. I bet this will get us back faster than we got here!" She mused, gently tapping the steering wheel.

"I don't think Edward had this in mind, when he bought the car for you. After all, this is what this 'trip' is all about isn't it? Family?"

Alice looked up at him, ashamed, and her foot eased up on the gas. The speedometer fell to 100mph. A frown settled across her pixie-like features. "How did you guess this time?"

He held up a slightly crumpled note with the name 'Evelyn Brandon' scrawled across in sharp pointy writing. Her own writing. Of course Jazz wouldn't be happy knowing half the truth, not when it came to her. As skilfully as he hid his emotions, she knew he was just as anxious about her past as she was.

Alice gave in and described the vision to him, in exactly as much detail as she had seen it. Nobody spoke for a full two minutes. Jasper ran a muscled hand through his wild hair, and reached out to take her hand in his own. His eyes, light ochre now after missing a hunt, were filled with concern.

"Why is all this important to you, Alice? Why now?"

She rebuffed his question and replied with one of her own. "What were your parents like?"

Jasper looked puzzled.

Without waiting for a reply, she tried again. "What did you like to eat before you were turned? The past is important Jazz."

Before he could protest, Alice reluctantly released her hand from his grasp, and placed a cool finger on his lips.

"I know it makes no sense to you, but...I have to know." She said, her voice cracking. She began to move her finger from his lips, when he slowly reached out and grasped it between two of his own. Leaning forward, he kissed it gently, and let her hand go. A delightful shiver ran down Alice's spine.

His mouth twisted into a smile as he felt the tingle of pleasure running through her body. She tried to make the feeling last, pushing the rising anxiety from the pit of her stomach. As they sped into Biloxi, it gave an uncomfortable lurch. She felt Jasper tense beside her, and attempted to distract herself by staring out the windscreen.

The houses were becoming more frequent now, and she slowed the car to a more respectable speed. The trees grew above the bright white houses, each with their own deck out front, and the grass was brittle and burnt. She hurried past the busy city centre, packed with neon-lit casinos, and took a turn heading out of town.

"What are you doing?" Jasper asked, bewildered.

"She didn't live in the centre. Remember the house? There was a field behind it. We'll have to go at least four miles south" Alice explained. Her face strained in concentration, trying to secure the image in her mind.

It didn't take long for the car to lose the bright lights of the city, for the dusty roads further south. Twisted trees grew out of the dry ground, and the houses became fewer and further apart. The knot in Alice's stomach continued to get tighter; her foot continued to ease up on the speed. The car had almost reached the speed limit when she spotted the house up ahead.

There was no way to mistake it from her vision. The worn blackened bricks waved in the heat, and the small shutter windows creaked in the breeze. Even the swing she had seen was swinging on an old oak.

"This is it" she whispered.

Jasper reached over and grasped her hand. A wave of calm filled the car and Alice squeezed his hand gratefully. Was there ever going to be an end to his kind forgiving nature? Jazz was her proof that these visions could turn out good. Better than good – Brilliant. Would this one be the same, or just a huge mistake? Taking a deep breath she parked the car, and stepped out into twilight.

The ambulance tracks were still visible on the lawn as she made her way towards the door. Jasper followed behind, giving her space to take it in. The front door was open, and Alice made her way into the house. The downstairs rooms smelt stale and musty and decor, although outdated, had no indications that she had lived here before.

Disappointment began to seep through her. This had been the house she had seen. Suddenly Jasper's voice rang from up the stairs. "Alice, there's something here"

Whipping up the stairs and into the bedroom, she almost ran into Jasper. His stone hands held a plain wooden box towards her. The same box from her vision. Alice's whole body trembled as she lifted the lid, wondering how much of her past was inside. A pile of stained papers lay crumpled inside it. Her eyes drifted over the various pieces of writing; words jumping out at her like flashes of light. She spotted her own name, and swiftly pulled the paper out of the box.

It was a birth certificate. The feelings that rushed through her were hard to distinguish from another. Each as powerful as the next, working hard to overwhelm her. Although one brazen fact stood out from the rest: she had belonged to a family at one point. Alice had already discovered this during her months of research following James' death, but here was the proof. It touched her deeply that at one point she had been human. She had been loved. At least before the visions.

Tucking the birth certificate carefully back in the box, she selected out another item. This time it was a pale envelope, with careful neat handwriting on the front. 5 Oakley Rd, 1914. She felt the soft matte of the photo paper and slowly pulled out a ripped photo. Alice gasped at the image. Although she would have only been thirteen at the time, there was no mistaking her cheeky smile or crow-black hair. It had been taken in the garden out front, even though then the ground had been thicker with grass and a washing line was hung across the porch. A young girl of about eight sat at her knees, with fair brown hair and round cheeks. Cynthia. As her fingers drifted past her younger sister, they felt the ripped edge of the photo.

Only a hand was visible of the person that had been torn off. It was resting on Alice's lithe shoulders. Flipping the image over, she noticed the elegant scrawl continued on the back. Cynthia, Mary and Joseph, 1914. Her breath caught in her chest, and she desperately scrambled through the papers again. It couldn't be, could it? What were the odds... and yet.

She found the paper she was looking for and read it over three times before she let out her breath. Each word seemed to punch her in the stomach and wind her. All the details matched up with her own certificate. She sat on the bed, still staring at the items in hand. Jasper stood over her, frozen with worry. "Honey? What is it?"

She looked back once more at the hand in the photo, to the certificate. The proof was undeniable, as much as it seemed so. She turned and stared hard into Jasper's worried eyes. "Jazz...I had a brother"