From One To Another
Chapter Three: The Last Time
(Alice's Story)
The Cullen family was in the sitting room the next afternoon, enjoying their last few uninterrupted moment together. There was a lovely atmosphere in the room. Everyone was acting natural, there was no faking the absolute pleasure that everyone in the room took from one another. Edward and Carlisle were in a corner discussing the genetics of their kind, while Rosalie was in a different corner, admiring her reflection in a window. Esme was sitting in a chair humming tunelessly. Alice was sitting by the fire, watching the tongues of the flames twist and turn. Alice had a small vision of Edward in the near future of how he was going to keep track of the future for their family. 'Edward' she mind called, Edward looked at her, not pausing in his argument with Carlisle. Alice knew he had heard her call him, so she continued. 'Get yourself a book to write down my prophecies and visions, for you'll need it to keep them fresh on your mind.' Edward excused himself to get a book from upstairs. When he had returned, he sat next to her while they backtracked and got all of Alice's prophecies written down. Edward told himself that he would check them every day. Alice took the moment to add another to the collection. "On January 25, 2005 your reason for existence will change. Get to school early that day, for you will be needed to stop a disastrous event." Alice blinked and returned to normal for a brief moment before she shot a couple more future events out. "On Saturday, March 13th, 2005 play a round of baseball with the family, for you will all need it." "The mind reader will have to go get he who is like a storm from his old family." "The two cottages will need to be built after the chase is over; one cottage by the family house, one by the sea." "When you need to leave, tell the 'soul-eyes' to get permission from the contract wielders to watch over your heart." Alice blinked again and her eyes returned from their 'dazed' look. Alice spoke "Rose, will you take Emmet with you and tell him when they arrive?" Alice paused to receive a nod from Rosalie. "Right, well we have about twelve seconds left, here we go." And thus began the last, most meaningful moments of Alice's life. The door to the Cullen family mansion opened. Jasper and Emmet entered, the two contrasting their personalities in the way they walked. Emmet lumbered around, just like a bear, while Jasper sprung, just like a snake; every move seemed to have a definite purpose. The moment Emmet entered the room; he was bombarded by his wife. Rosalie reached Emmet. She grabbed him roughly and pulled him into a desperate kiss. Rosalie pushed all of her anxiousness, her sorrow, and her fears into that kiss. Emmet noticed this and after Rosalie broke the kiss he projected a thought 'Edward, is she ok?' Edward just shook his head. Rosalie grabbed Emmet's arm and pulled him into another room. After they left, Alice began crossing the room. She moved like a gazelle. She shot like an arrow into Jasper's arms. Alice, unlike Rosalie, just gave her husband a warm embrace, before whispering, "Follow me" and after slipping through her husband's arms, she began walking into the dark night. Jasper was immediately suspicious, but he kept himself in check. He walked into the night. Alice led him to a clearing in the forest where the two of them could see the moon and stars. The moon was waning and all that was left was a small sliver. To Alice, it was a sign that her life and love were ending. Jasper could feel the desperation and sense of loss pouring off of Alice in waves. That scared him. Never in the whole time that they had been together had she ever felt this despaired. "Alice what's-" he whispered, just to be cut off by the look of anguish on her face. "They're coming for me, Jasper. They can't be stopped. I can't let them have my gift, and you know this. You can't change my mind on this Jasper. I have only hours left. I have a few things to say to you before you leave. You willleave I don't want you to watch that kind of thing. I am having Carlisle and Edward end me, because they will be merciful. Now, one of the only reasons I am dying is so that you will all live, so you will not kill yourself or go to the Voulturi. The next is that there will be a new family member joining you; I am doing a lot of this out of love for him." This made Jasper furious; Alice shouldn't love anyone but him. "Do not use your gift on him Jasper, or else you will be killed. There are more ways for us to die than just one." Alice continued after making sure that he understood, "You will not leave this life we have built here, either, Jasper. I need you to live for both of us, so you will not go back to human blood. One other thing is for you to not give up on love. After I leave, you will meet someone. You will know who I am talking about as soon as you touch their skin. You will be drawn to them and you will reject them. I want you to know that it is okay for you to love again. I love this person too. Eventually you will find love again, and you will be complete. You will be whole. I am only sorry that I can't be that person for you." At this Jasper shouts "If that person isn't you, than I don't want to be whole!" At this Alice snarls and gets into his face, causing him to draw back "You don't know what you are saying. Just know that I love you and will always love you. Now, go. You don't want to hurt anyone, so go South to where your old family was. Then, when Edward comes to get you live for both of us. Goodbye my love, and do not forget about using your gift on the newest addition to the family."
Jasper let out a howl of anguish. He couldn't take this anymore. He ran South, only looking back at Alice once, and it would be the last time…
(Harry's Story)
'Oh, god, Oh god' Harry thought to himself as he ran as far from the corpse of his best friend as he could, 'What have I done?' Harry didn't know where he was running; just that he had to keep running. He had to get away from the scene of the two murders he had just committed. Ron, he had just killed his best friend! Tears sprung unbidden to Harry's eyes. This shocked Harry, because in all the legends and tales he had ever heard about vampires, they all said that a vampire couldn't cry. 'God' Harry thought to himself bitterly as he ran, 'can't I just be normal for once!' Harry didn't stop once running, even for a moment, that whole night. He had to clear his head of the sight, the smell, and the feel of everything that he had done this night. Harry shut all sounds and smells as he relaxed and focused on running, letting the thoughts run together in his head. 'Okay' Harry thought 'What do I do now?' Harry paused, I can't go back to my world, because Dumbledore will have told everyone his 'weapon' is corrupted. I have to leave them alone. They'll have to solve their own problems.' Harry thought bitterly. So, if I can't go back where can I go? I need to avoid Aurors, who no doubt will on my trail. I don't want to be responsible for more death if they try to follow me. Where can I go to get away from them all?' The answer flowed seamlessly to Harry; Romania. Harry remembered one of his teachers while he was still in grade school saying something about Romanian being a language very close to English, and therefore easy to learn. So Harry decided he would go to Romania, and that he would never use magic again. He had no problems getting there. He crossed a section of the Atlantic Ocean, and then he headed through Paris and Germany, avoiding all major towns he could. He barely resisted killing anyone he came across. Harry spent the next year or so, in Romania questioning his existence. Did he deserve to be alive? Was he a monster? The answers came to Harry at the Temple of Mithras, the Persian god of Light and Truth. Later Harry would look on that day and laugh at the irony. Harry had pretty much gotten used to resisting his instincts, but he could tell that he was weakening. He was losing his strength from starving himself and there was nothing he could do about it. In a couple of years, he wouldn't even be able to walk. As he was pondering this, something caught his attention. Harry had come upon the Temple of Mithras. This temple was a marvelous work of architecture. There were many archways and they were artfully arranged. The place was magnificent and Harry was drawn to it. He went inside the temple, following the many winding stairways until he reached a dank, dark dungeon. He toured the room for a couple of minutes, marveling at how the structure remained in such good condition. He was about to leave when he heard a raspy voice, sounding like a dying snake hissing say "Wait."
Harry turned around, bringing his gaze to a pathetic sight. He could see this creature was a vampire, but the vampire was weak and couldn't rise. "What can I do for you?" Harry asked, always cordial, not that he was in his past life but he was determined to make himself polite for the rest of eternity to make up for it.
"I need you to bring me a human to feed off of." The vampire said from the gloom.
For the first time since entering the temple Harry actually looked at the speaker. It was easy to see that the speaker was indeed a vampire. He had dark circles under his eyes that were quite defined and his skin had a sickly pallor to it. The vampire was once attractive, he had dark brown hair that reached low over his chin, a high forehead with a prominent brow, and a face that sparked with life. Harry took one look at that face and he made his decision. He would do this for the vampire. He would go and bring someone for the vampire to drain and kill. It would hurt him inside to do so, but he would. He would also ask this vampire questions, questions about this life. Questions about his purpose, if he had one. This vampire would give him the means so that the human he brought him would be the last death of a human that he caused. This would be the last time, Harry promised himself.
Harry stole a male rapist from the streets that night. He followed the man until he was alone, and then he knocked him unconscious before taking him back to the temple. He lay the man at the older vampires feet and took a couple of steps back, closing off his lungs so that he wouldn't fight the vampire for his meal. Harry closed his eyes in distaste as the vampire fed. The man was soon drained and Harry began his questioning. "I must tell you that I am new to this life and I would like someone to explain things to me, like are there rules, law enforcement, and those kinds of things." Harry began uneasily.
"After you saving my life, it is the least I can do. My name is Daniel Richards." the vampire gave Harry a true smile, "I will say that there is only one rule, basically, and it is divided into categories. You must keep our existence a secret from humans. But doing so means that you must contain any members of our community and make sure that they know that, or you will both be executed. Most of us answer to only one family, The Voulturi. They are like the royal family of vampires who come by and clean up any messes caused by our kind. You want to avoid the Voulturi because they have formidable gifts they have collected."
"What do you mean formidable gifts?" Harry asked.
"Some of our species have extra senses or gifts that they have pulled through to this life, such as Aro, a member of the Voulturi, has the ability to hear your thoughts, not just thoughts you think now, but every thought you have ever had. And Jane has the ability to cause great pain in your mind." Daniel answered.
"Oh… so, are there any strange families that don't drink human blood or such? I figured that as with humans, there must be outcasts in this life too."
"Why, yes there are. Just recently there have been rumors across our people that a coven of vampires in the United States there is a family called the Cullens, headed by Carlisle Cullen. They have been rumored to drink animal blood, as well as another family, the Denali, I recall. The Denali also resides in the United States. The Cullen family has about six, but there used to be seven, but one of them tried to make an immortal child, that couldn't keep the secret. And so, her family destroyed her and the child before the Voulturi arrived to take care of the problem.
Harry kept his face impassive as Daniel recounted the tale, but inwardly he was horrified at the Voulturi. How could they kill a child and its maker? He understood on some level, but he couldn't imagine doing something like that for all eternity. Harry made his mind up then to try the lifestyle the Cullens and Denali lived. He would attempt to live off of animal blood. Harry decided to leave immediately. "I'm sorry to have to leave so soon but I need to hunt. Then I will be leaving the area. You made me curious about these 'Cullens' and I have decided to visit them and discuss their life choice. I hope to meet up with you again soon. I plan to talk to the Cullens about their lifestyle, but they may convince me to try it, and if they do I may stay there for an indefinite amount of time. I must bid thee well my new friend." And with that he left, not knowing if he would ever see Daniel again. But deep down he hoped he would. And thus Harry left Romania, traveling to the United States, wondering where he would find the Cullens. He knew it wouldn't be somewhere sunny, because who would want to live in the dark all of the time to avoid discovery, so they must live somewhere rainy almost all of the time. Harry figured that he would ask a librarian to help him when he got to the states, a librarian would surely know or they could find out. Thus Harry began the journey that would change his life.
