Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga is the intellectual and creative property of Stephenie Meyer and Little, Brown and Company. Any references to this work or direct quotes are borrowed. No plagiarism is intended. No profit is being gained from the publication of this fan-created work.

Author's Note: All my love to the great readers and reviewers of this story! You all propel me forward in this. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Leave a review and let me know what you think! It's always a pleasure and a help to hear from you.

Side-note: I've finally posted the first chapter of my original story on fictionpress(dot)net . My pen name on that site is e. riley. It's called "Sitting in a Tree" and it's a romantic comedy. No vampires or werewolves but I'm working really hard on it. If anyone feels like taking a peek, I'd love to hear feedback. It's something I've been working on for months and I really value all of your opinions. I really want to know if you guys think I should write original fiction.


"I am not really wicked. Love me and you shall see... If you loved me I should be as gentle as a lamb… Love me! Believe that I am good—and I will be! Touch me in the darkness and I will reach the light…"

-Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera

Alice hadn't said anything to Jasper about the girl. Actually, she hadn't said much, at all. The two of them ran in silence through a hundred back alleys. They moved so quickly that, in the gathering dusk, they would have easily been mistaken for shadows, there and gone.

Alice's face was stony, her eyebrows pulling together slightly, her tiny mouth pursed in thought. Her emotions confused him. What had he done to upset her?

He had fed, yes, and in the city, something he generally avoided doing. Too many potential witnesses. But surely she wasn't angry about that? They hadn't been spotted.

Even as he had felt the panic and sickening dread of his prey, her heart had gone quiet, her head slumping lifelessly against his chest. The memory created a strange twinge of emotion that scratched at his insides. He recognized it immediately as regret and was surprised. He regretted killing her. Strange.

He glanced at Alice, again. The woman's death had clearly offended her in some way. He focused his mind on the tenor of her emotions. Her feelings swirled quickly, colliding into one another, making him work harder to pick them out as they hit him. Disappointment, frustration, anxiety and something stronger, something he could not entirely pinpoint. It was the affection and certainty she had radiated only that morning but somehow more than that. She knew…something. What was it?

Jasper followed Alice, though he was not entirely sure why. When she finally came to a halt, he glanced briefly at their surroundings. A factory, near the water, long since abandoned. Broken glass and crumbling brick lay in heaps at their feet. Gaping holes in the ceiling high, high above their heads let the rain continue to fall over them as they stood, facing one another. It didn't matter. They were both already soaked.

"Ask me," she said, looking up at him, blinking heavy drops of water from her eyelashes.

He stared back, wondering which question he should ask first. "Who are you?"

"I told you," she said, impatiently. "My name is Alice."

"And what do you want from me?" Jasper felt his voice rise in frustration.

"You know this already! I want you to come with me!"

His unshakable calm was rapidly disappearing, "Come with you where?"

"Washington state."

"Washington?" He was taken aback by the straightforwardness of her answer. "Why?"

"Because that's where our family is! They're waiting for us."

"Our what?"

"Well, not waiting, exactly. They don't actually know we're coming."

"I don't understand you. You speak very strangely! I don't know you. Or who you are. Or where you come from! Or why you need me to go to Washington state with you!" Jasper was shouting now but he didn't particularly care. An irritated growl leapt, without warning, from between his teeth.

Instead of backing away in fear as Jasper was convinced she should have, Alice smiled and reached a tiny hand up to brush his cheek. "I'm so glad you're finally here," she whispered.

Another wave of that inexplicable emotion rocked through Jasper's entire being and he gasped, pulling back from her touch as though he had been burned. "Wha-what is that? What is it that you're feeling right now?" He realized his question made no real sense.

Alice smiled, anyway, and reached her hand back up to his face. This time he didn't pull away. "You're not asking the question but I know you would really like to," she murmured.

The answer, he was already quite sure, would change him forever.

"What…what have you seen?"


Dawn was barely visible above their heads when the two vampires finally lapsed into silence again. The last few hours had been a torrent of questions and answers and now the two lay, on their backs, their faces turned upwards to stare at the changing sky.

"Animals," Jasper repeated into the stillness.

"Animals," Alice said firmly.

"And I won't want to feed on human beings?"

"Someday you won't."

"And we're going to live…with other vampires." The idea made Jasper uneasy.

"The Cullens," Alice said, happily.

"I see."

"You're going to love them, Jasper. Just as if they were your human family."

Somehow, Jasper doubted that. Through the haze of a century past, he could not distinctly remember much about the Whitlock clan. Perhaps, he had his mother's fair hair and skin, his father's nose. Had he had siblings? He could not recall. Even so, he knew, somehow, that he had cared for them and that no coven of strange, animal-blood drinkers in Washington state were going to replace them.

Besides, there were more pressing matters Alice had introduced. For instance, their impending nuptials. He had to admit, while her other predictions had sounded far-fetched, ridiculous even, this one sounded plain…unbelievable. Vampires did not marry. Certainly, Jasper had no intention of marrying. And yet, here was Alice, proclaiming a strange vision of the future in which he would survive on deer carcasses, change his name, though not to "Cullen" but to "Hale," and pretend to be a schoolboy for many decades. Was marriage to Alice really the strangest of those prophecies?

"Is that everything?" he asked.

Alice shook her head, "Of course not. There are some things coming we need to discuss." Her voice was serious until she laughed, "But everything else is so incredible, I'm afraid you'll find it difficult to believe me." She turned her face to the side so that their noses were almost touching. She smiled.

Jasper returned her gaze, liking the way the smile felt stretched across his face. He was suddenly very aware of just how close she was to him. Her sweet face was looking back at him, expectantly. He swallowed once and tried to think of something to say to Alice.

"I…I like the way you wear your hair, all curled like that on the side. It's…it's lovely."

"It's awfully short," she sighed, wistfully, reaching her hand up to it self-consciously. "Not much I can do about that now. It was like that when I woke up."

"And you don't remember anything before that."

Alice's eyes crinkled with humor. "I sure am a big mystery, don't you think?"

"You are very mysterious," he agreed.

She laughed and without thinking, Jasper reached a hand out and cupped her cheek. She stopped laughing. Her lips parted slightly. Her eyes grew dark.

Jasper felt the muscles in his stomach and legs tighten involuntarily. Now that feeling…that feeling he remembered. Had felt it before from passersby absorbed with their own lives, from victims long before they knew what he was, from Lucy, Nettie, and Maria. And now from her. Lust.

He realized with a start that this was not merely a fleeting moment or passing thought. Alice was staring at him with expectation. Had she seen this?

"You love me," he blurted out, hardly knowing what he was saying before he said it.

"I love you," she whispered. "I love you, Jasper. I've loved you as far back as I can remember."

"How can you love me?" he whispered back, brokenly. "How can I…" He couldn't finish the question. Couldn't even begin to understand how strangely different he felt. It must be her, making him feel this way. She had rattled him, that was it. Dismantled him, even. Had crawled inside his skin and sewn in a bizarre new set of rules he couldn't begin to follow. He imagined a check-list she might have written for him and left there inside where he couldn't reach to pull it out.

Don't hunt humans. 2) Move to Washington and join a coven. 3) Fall in love with Alice.

His hands were on her shoulders.

"You're going to kiss me now," she said, with certainty.

He tightened his grip on her arms, almost involuntarily. "How do you know that?" he demanded, fiercely.

"I'm psychic," she said, softly. "Remember?"

Jasper lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. Instantly, she wound her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him. When he felt her tongue land on one of the small scars near the corner of his mouth, he growled and pulled her under him.

A memory, dusty with age, surfaced and he dimly recalled that gentlemen did not kiss ladies like this. Especially not ladies lying down in abandoned warehouses in the middle of the night.

Alice made a very unladylike sound in her throat that sounded a bit like, "mhhmmmm," and Jasper promptly forgot all about being a gentleman.


If it weren't for Alice's extra senses, they might have continued like that for hours, days, months. Jasper was quite sure that he never wanted to leave the factory floor. But when he felt her stiffen suddenly in his arms, he paused in his trail of kisses up her stomach to watch her face. Her eyes were on something very far away. And then…they grew frightened.

"Oh, Jasper…" she whispered.


Author's note: Okay, whew. I would love to hear from you so please drop a review below! What was your favorite part of this chapter? What's your favorite thing about Alice or Jasper? What aspect of their coupledom isn't explored enough? Anything you want to happen in the next chapter? Thank you for reading! I love you guys!