A/N: Normally I wait a few chapters before I write another Alice chapter, but I really felt it was needed sooner rather than later. This chapter is actually from Michael's point of view and you will get information about him and who he is in this chapter, but not everything is revealed yet. You are also going to find out that he has a small tie to Alice's past. Read and review and let me know what you think of the chapter. You rock!
Chapter 27 – Lives of the Past
She was so beautiful and I couldn't stay away from her. I tried to leave time and time again, but I kept coming back. She intrigued me to no end. There was something about her that seemed familiar and I wasn't sure why. I keep racking my brain to think about why she would seem so familiar, to know why I could not move on, but I keep coming up blank and I don't know why. That is one of the reasons I kept coming back, why I was drawn to her.
She told me her name was Alice Cullen. I knew the last name. It was a name that made its way around our world. I never thought I would meet one, but now that I have, I am intrigued by her way of life. Is it something that I could do? Is it something I want to do? She was right, I could be killing a family member or friend and although before now I tried to never think about that fact, I could not brush it off once it was said out loud.
I have been a vampire now for 123 years and I am frozen in time at 29 years. I have tried to live with and amongst humans one and off, but I have never stayed in one place for a long time and have never drank anything but human blood. I had begged to become a vampire to escape my life and to gain power over my abusive father. It worked. He was dead at my hand. The thing was, after the deed was done and I was free of his tie in my life, I felt no better. My mother was now left alone to fend for herself. My father had left her some money, but she would still need to do everything herself.
Guilt plagued me at the life I left my mother with. She had land that needed to be worked and now my no good father was gone because of me. I guess he wasn't completely no good; he did manage the land for her. I did what I could for her without her knowledge. To her, I was missing and I couldn't come back to her. I didn't want to hurt her and I didn't want her to see me as I was now. Missing I was and missing I would continue to be in her life.
As life progressed, she sold the land and moved to town finding a new husband that knew how to treat her. She was happy and I no longer had to watch out for her. She moved on and it was time for me to do the same.
I found myself in different towns and I picked up knowledge here and there. I eventually started working in an insane asylum in the south. It is funny, what they considered crazy back then, is not what they consider now. Anything different was thrown into those places. They were scary and full of death and disease. Even I shudder at the memory. It was also a good place to get a meal when I needed it. These people were thrown away and not wanted. If they died, no one cared. I wasn't there long, but I knew I wasn't the only vampire that was trolling around that place. A face of some of the patients came unbidden into my mind. The face of one of the vampires I had seen filled my mind. He had red eyes also and he was pure evil. I stayed far away from him and left town immediately. My time there was over with anyway. It was time to move on before too much attention was brought to me and my appearance and habits.
The night I left, I bumped into a girl. She was small and didn't seem fearful like most people in there. She was scared, you could see that on her face, but she wasn't overcome with the fear. I remember looking at her and thinking that would soon change. The small girl would not last long in that nightmare. I walked away and didn't look back. I only remember her profile.
I moved to the north and started to find my meals on the streets, in homeless people. If I found employment, it was harder to find my meals on the job. Humans were changing. They were getting smarter about things and broadening their knowledge. It was no longer to find a free meal at the hospitals or asylums. The homeless, prostitutes, and street predators became the best places to find my meals.
I heard rumors eventually of vampires that had given up human blood and drank the blood of animals. I couldn't see a lifestyle like that working and brushed the rumors off as false or if they were true, I didn't believe that a lifestyle like that could last for very long. It appeared that I was wrong and I wondered if I could do that. Could I change my ways and hunt animals instead of humans? Could she help me? Maybe that is why I was so drawn to her. She lives the life and she could help me change. It was nothing more, there was no way it could be more.
I had a lot of things to think about. Humans were our natural food source. Animals did not smell appealing and I wasn't sure if that blood would actually fill me up so to speak. Did I want to try? Did I want to give up my way of life? Did I want her to help me? Maybe if I tried, I would be able to move on and leave her behind. Maybe as I got to know her, she would lose her appeal. She would no longer be a curiosity to me. She would just be Alice Cullen and I could go on with my life.
I think I have already made my decision, and it was now just a matter of accepting my decision. Change is hard even when you are as old as I am. I know it is laughable. I have to change location all of the time. I should be used to change, but changing my life is a lot bigger than moving from city to city. Enough being a coward, it was time to make my decision. I would not get over my fascination or curiosity until I at least tried it and I didn't think I would try it without her. I wasn't sure why that was, but I knew that is how it was going to be.
I looked at the sky and then at my watch. I was walking through the woods and as I looked up, I found myself being led once again towards the little cottage that she occupied. It was not a conscious decision. I had not been aware of where I was walking or the direction, but now I knew where I was going. Decision made, it was time to talk to Miss Alice Cullen. For some reason I have a feeling that she is expecting me and my request.