My life was perfect. I was married to an amazing man, I knew my future would be happy, and I had finally got some closure concerning my previous life. There were only a few things that needed to be taken care of before Jasper and I could start a life with the Cullen family.
"Jasper, we really need a car," I told my husband as we were cuddling in our Philadelphia apartment.
"Why would we need that?" he asked.
"Because I want to go down to Biloxi," I told him. "And then we'll need to make our way up to Alaska. You do want to meet the Cullen's, don't you?" I asked with a smile.
"Definitely," he replied. "I do know how to drive."
"You do?" I asked. He had never told me this. Granted, though, we had never been in a situation where driving would have been required. We walked or took taxis. "Where did you learn how to do that?"
"When vehicles became the way to travel, Maria had all of us learn to drive, just in case it was ever needed," he replied. "I'm actually pretty good at it. Do you know how to drive?"
"Before I met you, I had a lot of time to kill," I told him with a laugh. "I had to entertain myself in some way."
"Do you want to go pick out a car tomorrow?" Jasper asked me. "We could pack it up, go to Biloxi, and then head up to Alaska."
"That's a great idea," I told him.
The next day found us at a car lot in the middle of Philadelphia. When money was virtually no problem, considering that I had spent decades saving up money that I never really needed, it got pretty difficult to pick a car.
"What do you like?" I asked Jasper.
"I'm not sure," he replied. "I learned to drive on a Model T Ford. These are pretty extravagant. Maybe something sporty, though? I do like to drive fast."
"Me, too," I agreed. "Maybe a Corvette? I heard those are fast."
"Sounds good," replied Jasper. We located a salesman and told him what we were interested in. He seemed ecstatic that he had a potential sale of an expensive car, so he cheerfully led us over to a small line of gleaming Corvettes.
"Are you looking for anything specific in a Corvette?" he asked with a smile that was far too big.
"We just want it fast," I replied.
"Ah, the need for speed. I would definitely recommend this one then." He motioned to a shiny, red roadster. "It's incredibly fast, not to mention extremely stylish."
"Sounds good," said Jasper, sold as soon as he said it was incredibly fast. Being stylish was just a plush extra.
After a few hours of exhausting paperwork and discussion, the salesman was very happy but suspicious when I paid for the car with a single check. Thankfully, after he double-checked to make sure that I really had that much money in my checking account, Jasper and I were driving off of the lot in our sweet new ride.
We wanted to see how fast this baby could go, so we high-tailed it out of Philly. When we hit the country roads far outside of the urban area, Jasper put the petal to the metal. The dial on the speedometer crawled all the way up to 100, and I threw my hands up in the air and giggled in ecstasy.
"Is this great or what?" Jasper asked me, having to raise his voice to be heard over the rushing wind and the sound of the engine.
"Definitely!" I replied, untying the scarf I was wearing around my neck and holding it in the air. Letting go, I watched it dance through the wind. "I've always wanted to do that!" I laughed to Jasper. My life was perfect.
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By the end of the day, all of my worthwhile possessions were packed into the Corvette, and we were on the road to Biloxi.
"Calm down, please!" Jasper exclaimed as we were about fifty miles outside of the city. "Your nerves feel terrible, and I really don't want to have to feel that when I'm not even the one that's nervous."
"Sorry," I replied. "I just don't know what I'll find when we get there." It could be anything. I could find a family cemetery plot with all of my relatives dead, or they could be having an elegant ball on a Southern plantation. I had no idea what Biloxi would hold for be besides closure.
"You can relax, you know. We won't get there until tomorrow morning," Jasper told me, holding my hand and using his skills to calm me. Of course, being vampires, we wouldn't have to stop once we got on the road.
We drove straight through. It was great bonding time, because we had those dark, nighttime hours on the road completely to ourselves. I told Jasper more about the Cullen's, and he told me more stories from his past.
By the time the sun was peeking up over the hills in the east, we had made it to Biloxi. Stopping at a local gas station to fill up, I noticed a flyer advertising a charity benefit to be held at the home of Cynthia Brandon-Myers.
"Jasper!" I exclaimed. He rushed over, and saw the flyer, too.
"Do you think that's her?" he asked.
I shrugged. "It might be. It won't hurt to try." I quickly memorized the address, and we hopped back into the roadster and headed towards the house.
We pulled up to it, and both of our jaws dropped in awe. Smack dab in the middle of a block of moderately nice townhouses was a sprawling mansion. The driveway up to it was covered with a fence and gate of delicate black iron. The top of the gate proclaimed 'Myers', as if anyone from around there didn't know exactly who lived there, and needed to be reminded via gate.
I knew I couldn't simply walk up to the door, ring it, and be happily reunited with my older sister. Older. She really would be older, wouldn't she? I wondered what she looked like, and then that led me to think what I would look like old. I shuddered, envisioning a raisin with my face. I definitely wasn't going to be looking like that anytime soon.
Jasper and I came up with a plan. We would spend the day in Biloxi, trying to see if anything would bring back memories, and we would then spy on the Myers household at night under the cover of darkness.
Our first stop was a cemetery that we have driven past on the way to Cynthia's house. A small sign that read 'St. Anthony Cemetery' was placed outside, right by the gate.
"Do you really think your relatives are in there?" Jasper asked as we got out of the car.
"We might as well check," I replied, "and if they're not here, I'm sure there are plenty of other cemeteries in Biloxi. We do have all day." Jasper rolled his eyes and placed his lips on mine. In the heat of the moment, I deepened the kiss by wrapping my hands tightly in his honey-colored hair. He pulled me up so that my legs were wrapped around his waist. I pulled away, though.
"What wrong?" he asked, a look of disappointment on his face.
"We need to stop," I replied, taking a few steps away from him. "We are in a cemetery after all."
"And we're vampires. Where could you find a more romantic place for us?" He threw his arms out, feigning like he was going to chase me. Instead of running away, I rolled my eyes.
"I've got work to do, if you don't mind," I replied, stepping through the rows of graves. "And you're going to help me. Look for any Brandon's."
We spent a while winding between the skinny rows of graves. Some of them were very simple, with just a rounded marker and a few words of solace. On the other hand, there were some heavily elaborate ones, complete with angels in mid-flight. It was in a cluster of these where I found the Brandon family graves.
I motioned for Jasper to come over to where I was. There were about ten Brandon graves in all. But the one that caught my eye… was mine.
"Mary Alice Brandon… born February 12, 1901… died May 12, 1919… beloved daughter and friend," I read out loud. Why would my grave be here, though? Peter Middleton told me that I was sent to an asylum.
"You died? I thought that—"
"I know," I said, interrupting Jasper. "It doesn't make sense. Unless… they used my 'death' as a cover-up. A high society family wouldn't want a black mark on their record, would they? They wouldn't want a freak like me in the family…" And then, I broke down. "Why didn't they want me?" I cried out. If it had been possible for me to cry, tears would be running down my cheeks.
That's when I felt Jasper wrap his strong arms around me. "It's not your fault, love," he told me. "They're the ones that made a mistake by not seeing what an amazing person you are. But I must say, I'm thankful for this. It brought us together."
I smiled up at him. This was true. "Thank you," I whispered to him as he helped me up.
"It's my pleasure," he replied.
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Night had finally fallen, and Jasper and I were now crouched outside of the Myers household. It was the night of the charity ball, so the house was packed with upper-crust citizens pretending to care about something other than themselves.
Looking through the window, it was obvious to tell which person was Cynthia Brandon-Myers. Though she was in her early sixties, she was still breathtakingly gorgeous. Her iron gray hair, which had obviously been blonde at one point, was pulled up into an elegant updo. Her eyes were a brilliant, shining blue that took in all of the people around her. All in all, she was the perfect aristocrat, someone that I'm sure my parents were proud of… as opposed to me, the freak.
She had a daughter that hovered around her like a satellite. Judging from her appearance, she looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties. My heart swelled a little—this was my family, my flesh and blood.
Jasper, of course, sensed my sadness, and I immediately felt happiness wash over me. I raised my eyebrows at him, and he responded with a serene smile.
We sat there outside the window for a few more hours. I simply took in the life that I could have been living. I tried to imagine what it would be like if I was in Cynthia's place. Maybe I would have a daughter, and a beautiful house, and lavish parties. But then, I realized I didn't want any of that. All I wanted was to have a happy life with Jasper. I had that. Why wouldn't I be content?
"Come on," I told him. "Let's go. I've had enough." Jasper nodded, getting up to follow me. We ran to where our car was parked in a nearby parking lot.
"Are you ready to meet our new family?" I asked Jasper. He smiled, and responded by speeding off into the night.