Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Based on the characters created by Stephanie Meyer, in her Twilight Saga series of books

WARNING: This story will contains scenes of domestic violence, strong language and other forms of physical violence, up to, and including death.

Chapter 22

Into The Light

She woke slowly, to total darkness. Her body felt bound, but she was able to easily push through the thick material of the wool blanket, and free herself. She lifted her head, and looked around. She discovered she was lying on a rock shelf about five feet off the floor of a very dark cave. She found the things stacked around her, a carpetbag and a small pouch, and shifted them so she was able to sit up. She swung her legs over the side of the shelf, and sniffed at the stale salty air of the cave. She felt a burn in her throat, but didn't understand the meaning behind it. With an exaggerated sigh, she bounced off the shelf, and grabbed the items that had been stacked around her. As she moved, she caused the air to swirl around her, and caught a vague change in the air. She lifted her head, and inhaled deeply through her nose, and began to follow the scent to fresher air.

She exited the cave, and found herself on a sandy shore. She placed her things on the dry sand, away from the oceans gentle waves. She inhaled the salty sea air, and lifted her face to the sun. As she raised her arms, to stretch out her muscles, she saw the way the sun refracted off her skin, creating rainbows of color around her.

"Pretty," she breathed to herself, then giggled at the musical sound of her own voice.

The vision came fast, but her mind was able to work faster, and she was prepared by the time it started.

"It's the reason we have to avoid sunlight," Jasper explained to her.

"That's why they live in the north," she responded. "More cloud cover."

"Who lives in the north," Jasper looked curious, and a little jealous.

Then the vision was gone, and she was once again standing at the narrow mouth of the cave, alone.

"Oh well," she huffed, and found a seat in the shade of the cave, in the dry sand, as she waited for night to fall. As she waited, she pulled the largest of the bundles, the carpetbag, toward her. She opened the carpetbag, and found clothing, and jewelry. In the small pouch, she found money, both paper and coins. As she was packing the money pouch into the carpetbag, she spotted a tag on the inside of the bag. She read the tag and puzzled over it for a few minutes.

Alice

"Alice," she whispered. "Must be me." Alice giggled and took more time going through the items in the carpetbag. There was nothing else in the bag, that might help her in any way, to give her clues to her past. But she was happy that she now had a name to go by. "Alice," she whispered to herself again. She dug out a mirror and brush and comb set. The name 'Alice' was also inscribed on the back of the mirror and brush. She looked at herself in the mirror, and smiled. "I'm kind of pretty," she whispered to herself. She held the mirror as she brought the brush to her hair, and began to brush out the spiky short black mop. As she watched herself in the mirror, she began to talk to herself.

"And just how is it you know how to read?" she paused for a breath, and to consider the question. "And to talk. And understand." The image in the mirror frowned, and Alice decided she didn't like the way her face looked when she frowned. She began to make faces, and decided which she liked and which she needed to enhance, for maximum effect. "Maximum effect?" she closed her eyes and tried to think back to before she woke up, but there was only blackness. It was not that she remembered nothing, it was just that all she could remember was blackness; as if she had been in complete darkness before she awoke in the cave.

"Too many question," she whispered in frustration. "Too much that makes no sense." Alice huffed, and replaced her mirror and brush, carefully, amongst her clothing.

As the sun began to set, the burn in Alice's throat became more pronounced. Not knowing what to do about it, she gathered up her possessions, and carefully packed them all back into her large carpetbag. She had noticed the rip in her dress, but remembered a vision of her swimming and feeding, and decided that it would be best to save the few clothes she had, until she was in a position to not destroy them. So, swinging her bag at her side, she smiled happily, and walked to the eastern side of the island, following another vague sent. This one causing the burn to increase, but pulling her toward it nonetheless. The gentle breeze from the east, carried a mild scent of something living. She walked through the shallow waters to The Lagoon, an island connected to Ship Island by a sand bar of sorts. When Alice reached the eastern end of that island, she looked across the waters and saw Horn Island, about six miles across the calm waves of the gulf. Alice sighed deeply, before she lifted her carpetbag over her head, and walked into the waters. Her legs kicked quickly, propelling her across the gulf, and onto the shores of Horn Island, in a few minutes.

Alice placed her bag safely into the grasses of the larger island, and took a deep breath. She caught the scent of the wolves that inhabited the island, and listened for the heartbeats of her prey. The moment she heard it, her instincts took over. Alice became the supreme predator that she was meant to be. A low growl rumbled in her tiny chest, as she stalked closer to her target. There were three of them close by. They were not as large as she would have liked, but they were food. And they were hers. Alice stalked silently through the tall beach grass, until she spotted the group of three on the other side of the small dune she was currently behind. In a flash, Alice leapt over the top of the sand and grass barrier, and landed amidst her prey, growling and snarling. She grabbed the first one in her right hand, and brought it to her mouth, biting into it's throat and sucking greedily. She grabbed the second with her left hand, deftly snapping it's neck. The third wolf answered her growling and snarling with it's own, as it attacked her. The first wolf was drained of all it's blood, in a matter of seconds. She threw it's lifeless body aside, grabbed for the attacking third wolf, as she brought the second to her mouth. All three wolves were drained and dead in less than a minute. Alice relaxed amid the furry bodies, as the burn in her throat eased slightly.

Seeing the carnage around her, Alice decided the only thing she could do was to bury the bodies of the slaughtered wolves. She dug quickly into the soft sand, and placed all three bodies into the hole, before filing it in again. She washed her hands and face in the salty sea water, picked up her bag, and continued into the interior of the island. Half way to the islands northern prominence, the loveliest of scents filled her nostrils. The burn in her throat increased to a blazing fire, and she found herself pulled to the source of the scent.

Alice crouched behind a small row of trees and brush, as she watched two men drag a small flat-bottomed boat across the small sandbar, into the islands marshes. Her instincts were demanding that she attack, and kill the food that was so easily within her reach, but she had dulled the drive with the blood of the wolves, and tried to use her head. She searched some of the visions she had earlier, and knew she needed things. She wasn't sure what she would need, or why she would need them, but she knew she needed to use her head. So, she fought the driving force that attempted to command her forward, and anxiously studied her prey, content in the fact that they would soon satiate the burn that continued to grow in her throat. Once they had the boat across the sand, they both picked up long poles, and began to push the craft along the waterway. Alice dropped her carpetbag, and followed the men toward the islands interior. They stopped the boat about halfway across the island, and pulled it over to the solid ground surrounding the marshlands.

"Hurry up Diggs. Katie's got a bottle with my name on it."

"Fuck Katie," Diggs growled.

"Exactly!" the other man responded, laughing.

"Gimme that bundle, and shut up," Diggs ordered. The other man threw him a large bundle wrapped in burlap, and Diggs jumped off the boat, and headed toward a path just north of where Alice was crouched, watching.

Careful not to rattle the bushes, Alice stalked Diggs to a tiny hovel, a few yards away from the marshes. She watched as Diggs stored the bundle in the hovel, then turned to return to the boat, for another load. He passed the other man on his way back, with a bundle of his own. Alice watched as they unloaded the boat, before making her move. As the other man carried his last bundle to the hovel, Alice ran across the path, and pulled him past the bushes on the other side, stopping about fifty feet from the faint trail. She held him with one arm around his shoulders, while the other was clasped over his mouth and chin. She pulled him so his back was held tight to her chest, as she yanked on his chin, to give her greater access to his neck. She felt his heart quicken, as he realized that he was trapped, and would probably die. Her senses opened wide, as the smell of his blood increased with the fear and adrenalin he was pumping into it. Her nose ran along his neck, as she sniffed at blood that ran just below his skin. Alice quickly sank her teeth into the man's throat, and began to purr, as his blood filled her mouth and throat. She sank to the ground, sucking hard, as his heartbeat began to fade, until it finally stopped altogether.

Alice shoved his body off her lap, as she listened to Diggs calling for his friend.

"Dammit Coy! Get your ass back here! I want to get home."

Alice wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, as she danced back to the path.

"Coy can't come right now," Alice sing-songed, as she sashayed toward Diggs, who was standing near the hovel.

"Who are you!" Diggs demanded. "And what are ya doing here."

"I don't know," Alice answered shyly. "I'm just here, and so are you." She smiled at Diggs, as she slowly stepped closer to him.

"You're just a kid!" Diggs was surprised as Alice neared him. "Who would leave a child here, alone?"

"It's alright," Alice whispered. "I can take care of myself." She finally stood in front of Diggs, looking up into his surprised eyes.

"Come on," he reached for her arm. "I'll take you home. You don't belong here." He tried to pull her, but Alice stood her ground.

"I don't know where home is," Alice told him. She looked at his hand, that held her arm, and sniffed it. "You smell like your friend," she smiled, as she licked her upper lip. "Good."

Diggs didn't have time to consider her words, before she was on him. She jumped into his arm and wrapped herself around him; her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders, confining his arms to his sides. She sank her teeth into his throat, and began to suck hard. He tried to scream, but her bite had severed his vocal cords, and all he could do was create a gurgling sound as blood foamed from his mouth. Diggs grew weaker, and his legs began to wobble until he finally sat down hard. Alice listened as his heart began to slow, then stop, just as Coy's had. When he was drained dry, she licked the bloody foam from the corner of his mouth, then continued with her clean-up. She gathered both bodies, examined the contents of their pockets for anything of value or use, and dug another hole in the ground. Then, she undressed herself, and threw her soiled and torn dress in with the bodies. After filling in the hole, she found her carpetbag, and went to the shore to wash herself.

Alice smiled contentedly, as she looked up at the moon. She examined her naked body in the moonlight, and liked what she saw. After standing close to Diggs and Coy, she realized that she was small in stature, but, by looking down at herself, she knew she was not a child, as Diggs had suggested. She was a young woman, and she was pleased with that. After dressing in a light summer dress, Alice returned to the hovel, to examine the goods the smugglers hid there. She found furs and soft cloth, as well as jugs of alcohol, and small pouches of jewels. Alice took the jewels and placed them in her carpetbag. She sorted through the furs, and picked out the softest, then examined the shiny soft cloth and chose the blue and purple to keep. She didn't think red was really her color, but she did wish she had found a bright or even a dark green. She wrapped the cloth carefully in the furs, then again in a heavy piece of the burlap.

When she was satisfied with her bundles, she packed everything into the smugglers' boat, and made her way to the sandbar to the east of Horn Island, and looked across the water to another small sandbar close to Petit Bois Island. Alice sat in the boat and considered her next move. As the night surrounded her, she had a series of small visions.

"These belonged to my mother," I said to a shop keeper, holding three green stones, about the size of the tip of my little finger, for him to see.

"The white ones are diamonds. Very valuable," a different shop keeper told me.

"A trade," I suggested to the woman. "The furs for you making dresses from this material. Evening gowns, for formal events."

"It takes time to develop the control needed, to be near humans, on a daily basis," Carlisle told Jasper and I.

Dozens of small visions passed through Alice's head, as she sat in the boat throughout the night. Some showed her how to act, if she wanted to be near humans undetected. Some were repeats of those she had while still on the rock shelf, in the cave. Some were too fast for her to catch the significance of them, others seemed to be vivid and strong, as if they were about to spring to life before her eyes, instead of just in her head. These were the ones she paid the most attention to. She was sure these would be happening in the very near future. She rewound a peculiar vision, and examined it fully.

Jasper is telling me about military fortifications. We are walking among the tall spruce and pine trees. It is daytime, but there is heavy cloud cover. I've learned so much from him.

Then it fades and another begins. A vivid one.

I'm on the outskirts of a small town, with a military fort to the east. The smell of the humans is difficult to ignore, but I have to get, and keep, control. I hide, and close my eyes. I will force myself to make the scent of them a minor annoyance. I must gain control. I sit there a while, then retreat to the place I call home, only to return again the next night, to do it all over again.

Dawn was breaking, as Alice came out of her visions. She pulled a heavy tarp from the bottom of the boat, and covered herself with it, as she prepared to hide herself from the coming day.

"Tomorrow," she said to herself. "The next island, and finding a place to stay. Maybe a cave I can hide in."

The day passed slowly, but Alice's mind was in constant motion. She examined every vision she had had. This time, she paid more attention to the background of each snippet of her life. She watched the humans as they ate, drank, walked, and sat. She learned to be like them. She practiced her breathing, working on her huffs, and sighs. She pulled her mirror from her bag, and studied her nostril movements, mouth breathing, eyebrow movements, and various other facial expressions. As twilight settled over the barrier islands, Alice lifted the tarp off of her back, and rowed to the western-most sandbar of Petit Bois Island. She worked the oars at human speed, taking her time, as she worked out more of the human mannerisms she would need to know. Sniffing the air, she continued on to the island proper. Then, not hearing or smelling anything human, she continued on to the islands wider forested area. As night, once again, surrounded her, she pulled the skiff ashore and into the small wooded area. She decided to explore the small island, and seek food. As Alice walked the woods and marshes, she could hear the heartbeats of predators. She was not a bit surprised as a large alligator suddenly slithered out from under her feet, then turned to snap at her. Alice grabbed it's upper jaw with one hand, and closed it's mouth with the other. She calmly turned it to examine it's underside, as it attempted to twirl around her arm, and slap at her body with it's tail. Alice finally bit into the throat of the six foot lizard, tasting it's blood. After sucking it dry, she threw it across the marsh, and wiped her mouth.

"Nasty!" she proclaimed. "But if that's all there is, then I'll get used to it—I guess."

Alice then finished off five more alligators, before she made her way to the far eastern edge of the island. The breeze from the east blew the vague scent of humans to her. She decided to make her home in the woods of Petit Bois Island. But she would worry about that tomorrow. For now, she would sit and smell the humans. She estimated them to be 15-20 miles from where she was.

"Far enough," she murmured to herself. Venom pooled in her mouth, as she worked to ignore the draw to the next island. Her mind worked to develop a plan to see her through the next year. Her visions had warned her that this first year, her newborn year, would be the most difficult. She had found two islands that had life that would sustain her, and allow her to be close enough to humans to acclimate herself to their scent. It would be a difficult year, but she was determined to succeed. When she had had enough of the human scent, to turned back to the woods and decided to try to build a shelter, for the daylight hours. As she pulled everything from the boat, she discovered other small treasures under the seats, and in a wood box at one end of the skiff. She attached ropes to the four corners of the tarp, and tied them to four slim trees or strong branches. She picked up the boat, and carried it to the tarp. She placed it under the shelter and reloaded her things into it.

"Huh!" Alice huffed, then giggled to herself. Then a frown covered her face. "It's going to be a lonely year."

RL has been trying to kill me, this last month. Not to mention writing a pre-Alice Alice is very difficult.

I hope you enjoy the chapter.