A/N: Hi again :) Massive thankyou to everyone who reviewed :):):):) This one is an AU special...basically what it would have been like if Jasper had been the one to change Alice after she was in the asylum. Let me know what you think and if you like it I'll do some more AU specials :):) It's kinda long, but enjoy...

Chapter Twenty: Jasper comes to save Alice from Insanity...

20. AU Special: The Edge Of Insanity

Alice stared at the off-white walls of her little cell. Tiny lines were carved into it, one for each day she'd been stuck in here. It was a miracle she'd found the little rock she'd used to do it - the staff were usually more careful than that. It had been hidden inside the straw-filled pillow on the straw-filled bed. Alice presumed it had been hidden there by the last person who occupied this cell. It made her wonder what had happened to that person, and why they no longer occupied the cell.

Alice left her position on the hard uncomfortable bed and made her way over to the window. She was short, and the window was high up so she had to move her little bedside table underneath and stand on it just to look out. It was a trick she'd quickly learnt. The window itself was tiny - too small for even a child to climb through - and had steel bars going across it vertically. Alice clutched at the bars and looked out at the gardens beyond. They were beautiful, she supposed, but it was an illusion. An illusion of peace and happiness, when all that could really be found here was suffering.

It wasn't Alice's turn to go out into the gardens. Her ward went out on Tuesdays, and now it was Friday. These days were spent alone in her dark and lonely cell, staring at either angrily the wall or longingly at the gardens. No, not at the gardens; beyond the gardens. Outside the high walls - to freedom. Despite what everyone thought, Alice had not been crazy when she was admitted to the asylum, but she thought she just might be when she left. If she left.

She wanted to scream, but she knew it would bring attendants running with the sedatives, so she remained quiet. It wasn't long before the attendant came to check on her anyway, brandishing a syringe full of deep blue liquid. Alice cowered away from the needle. She didn't like it when they brought that liquid. It was supposed to cure her, but how can you cure someone when there is nothing wrong with them?

"Hello Mary, how are you today?" The attendant asked in a sickly sweet voice. It stung Alice's ears to hear that name. The name her father had chosen for her when she was a baby. She hated him - what he'd done to her mother, what he'd planned to do to Alice too. She hated that when she had figured out his plan to kill her, he had declared her mad and had her locked up in the asylum. It wasn't hard for the town to believe - most of them already thought she was a witch. Instead of Mary - the name that was now tainted with hate - she went by the name of Alice. It was her middle name; the name her mother had chosen. However, no matter how many times she corrected them, the workers at the asylum insisted on calling her by her real name.

"I don't need medicine today." Alice protested weakly, "I feel fine."

"Don't be difficult for me Mary." The attendant said, in a voice that sounded like he was talking to a little child refusing to eat her vegetables.

"Please." Alice whispered. She was afraid of the needle, but more than that she was afraid of the medicine inside. It made her weak and sleepy and unable to fight. There could be anything in that syringe and Alice wouldn't know. They could be slowly killing her day by day with that liquid, and she wouldn't be able to stop them.

The attendant moved closer to Alice as she huddled in the corner of the little cell. A small whimper escaped her lips as he drew closer and closer. "Come on Mary, it's just a little needle."

His voice was quiet and coaxing. He sounded like he was trying to convince Alice to take the injection, but she knew she had no choice anyway. In a flash, the attendant grabbed Alice's arm and stuck the needle into it. Silent tears slipped down her cheeks as she felt the thick liquid being injected into her blood stream.

"There! That wasn't so bad, was it?" The attendant asked as more tears fell from her dark brown eyes. He moved away from her and back towards the open door and Alice gazed out of the door. What lay beyond it was a dark corridor, and what lay beyond that was more dark corridors, but what lay beyond that was freedom.

But what Alice saw today was something else entirely. In the few seconds look she got before the door slammed shut behind the attendant, she saw a beautiful sight; A man was leaning against the opposite wall, watching her with a strange expression. He had long-ish blonde hair and reddish brown eyes. Alice stared at the man because whilst she had never seen him before in her life, she knew she had seen him before. His face was the face that she'd been seeing in brief flashes of visions for years. He was never quite clear enough for her to see, but now she had seen him in the flesh she knew it really was him.

The heavy metal door shut and was bolted behind the attendant, ripping the beautiful face away from her sight. The medicine she'd been given was pulling her into unconsciousness, so she crawled over to her little bed and crawled up on the itchy straw-filled mattress. Only one thought could cross her mind as she began to fall asleep; That man. He had looked at her with such a strange expression on his beautiful face. It wasn't exactly pity...and it wasn't quite sympathy either. Alice realised with a start that it was empathy. But how could it be? Surely this man had not experienced what she was feeling, so how could he possibly empathize?

It was the last thought that entered Alice's mind before she slipped into a deep sleep.

~o.O.o~

Alice woke up with a start when the door scraped open. She shot up in bed, her attention immediately going to the figure standing in the doorway. It was the same attendant from the day before. Judging by the amount of light filtering in through the tiny cell window, she had slept for 24 straight hours. Alice hated it when that happened. She might as well be dead if she as just going to sleep all day every day; wasting her life away in this little box cell.

"Calm down, Mary. It's only me." The attendant said. Alice glared at him. 'Calm down' was probably the most patronizing thing anyone could say to her. They all assumed she was going to freak out whenever someone came near her. She didn't need to calm down; she was already calm.

Alice looked past the attendant, out the open door to where the man was leaning, just the same as before. Had he stayed there the whole time, or had he simply come back to the same position? Probably the latter, Alice thought. He was still watching her with that same expression. Alice lowered her voice in the hopes that he couldn't hear her next question. "Who is that?"

The attendants eyes flicked to where the man was standing, and then back to Alice. "That is the new attendant on this ward. He is training...observing. Is that okay, Mary?"

Alice shrugged, "Why wouldn't it be okay?"

The attendant smiled at Alice, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "And how are you today Mary?"

It was always that same question. How did they expect her to respond? She was stuck here - how good could she be? "I'm fine."

"I brought you your supper." The attendant said, producing a tray and placing it on the table next to Alice. She looked down at the same food that was brought to her every day; two slices of bread with a miniscule layer of butter and a cup of water. And, of course, a little cup of blue and orange pills. Alice threw a disgusted look at the pills, but she didn't complain. At least she could hide the pills, pretending that she took them like a good little patient when really there was an ever-growing stash of them hidden in her pillow.

"Thank you." She said because even though she hated it here, she had not forgotten her manners.

"I'll see you tomorrow Mary." The attendant said as he began to leave the room. When he got to the door he added, "Sleep well."

Alice didn't see those two words as a friendly offering; she saw it as a taunt. The pills would make sure she slept soundlessly through the night. Alice snuck one last look at the man in the corridor before the door was firmly closed and locked. She vaguely remembered a dream that she'd had last night; something about that man. She couldn't remember the finer details of the dream, but she knew that it had everything to do with that man.

After eating her supper Alice stashed the pills in her usual hiding place. She reckoned there must be hundreds in there by now. It crossed her mind that one hundred would definitely be enough to overdose on. She pushed that thought away; this place really was driving her insane if she was having thoughts like that. Alice recovered the rock from the very same hiding place and carved one more straight line into the wall. If the attendants noticed the markings, they'd never commented. They'd never asked what she'd made the lines with, which Alice was grateful for. If they discovered the small pointy rock, they would surely confiscate it. Patients weren't allowed stuff like that. Patients weren't allowed stuff full stop. When visitors came to the asylum, they weren't allowed to bring any gifts to the patients. Not that anyone visited Alice. Not that there was anyone that Alice wanted to visit her.

As Alice looked down at the wall she noticed something about the colour. A large rectangle of wall was a slightly brighter shade of white than the rest of the wall. Something must have been there against the wall, preventing it from fading into the grey-ish white that the rest of the room looked like. After further examination Alice realised what it had been; the bed. But she couldn't work out why it had now been moved to the opposite side of the room.

Curious, Alice tried pulling the bed away from its position - wandering if it was hiding something. She was small, and not very strong at the best of times - let alone when the sleep inducing medicine was still floating around her veins - and the bed was large and heavy. It took Alice over an hour to get the bed pulled away enough to see what was hidden behind. Alice stepped back and stared at what she had just uncovered.

Lines, identical to her own, were scattered all along the bottom of the wall. Ten, twenty, one hundred...there were too many for Alice to count. Her eyes were drawn to the corner of the wall. The stain there was faded but the red was unmistakable on the white walls. Blood. Alice looked down at the rock that she still held in her hand and noticed for the first time that the sharpest end of the stone was a faded red colour. She gasped and dropped the stone, backing away from the wall only to crash into the opposite one. She spun around to face the wall where her own lines were carved; 72 perfectly straight little lines.

What was happening to her? How long would it take for her to end up like the previous occupier of this cell? How long could she bear it before she took her own life, they way the other patient had? Would she create hundreds of lines, like the other patient? Or would she crack sooner than that? She couldn't. She didn't deserve to die like this. She wasn't crazy; she had a gift that had turned into a curse. She had to get out of here - she had to make them listen!

Alice threw herself at the door, banging on the hard metal with her tiny fists. "Let me out! I don't belong here! Let me out!"

She screamed over and over again as the tears streamed down her face. People came running. The door opened and arms restrained Alice. Her vision was too blurred with tears to make out any of the faces that were pinning her down to the floor. One had a syringe full of golden liquid. Alice screamed and struggled and begged them not to give her medicine. She said she didn't want to die. She said she wasn't crazy, but she was slowly realising that she wasn't doing a very good job at convincing them whilst she hissed and spat and them and struggled against their hold.

She felt the needle in her arm and the smooth liquid being injected into her body. Her screams faded as she was pulled further and further into darkness, turning into mumbled protests and begs until finally she was silent. And still. So, so still.

The man from the corridor watched in disgust as the attendants straightened up and left the girl lying there on the cold hard floor. They bolted the door behind them and left without a word. They hadn't needed to sedate her, the man thought. She wasn't violent or angry or dangerous; she was just scared. The man slipped into her little cell and effortlessly lifted the girl onto her bed. He lay the thin blanket over her and watched her for a moment before slipping quietly away again.

~o.O.o~

When Alice woke up, she could hardly remember what had happened. She had finger-shaped bruises on her arms which meant she must have been restrained, and the muscles in her arm ached, telling her she'd been injected against her will. One look at the blood stain and the hundreds of tiny lines on the wall made Alice remember everything.

She'd wanted to get out. Needed to get out.

It was dark now, and Alice could just about see a few stars through her tiny window from where she lay on the bed. A thought flittered across her mind that she'd been on the floor when they'd sedated her. She always woke up on the floor after being sedated. She pushed the thought aside; she didn't care anymore. She stood up on shaky legs and began walking towards the window. That was when she saw him.

Leaning in the corner of her cell was the man from the corridor. For a split second Alice thought it was a dream or a vision, but she knew truthfully that it wasn't. She shrank away from the man, cowering in the opposite corner of the cell. He'd never seemed dangerous before, but he was one of them and they were not to be trusted. Maybe he had more medicine. Maybe he was just going to kill her right now. A small part of her actually hoped for the latter.

"Hey, it's okay." He said. It was the first time Alice had heard him speak and she thought his voice was beautiful. He didn't speak with the same patronizing, strained voice that the other attendants talked to her with. He spoke like he cared, but it was also careful as if he didn't want to scare her. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. And I won't let them hurt you either."

"Who are you?" Alice whispered.

"My name is Jasper Whitlock." The man said. Alice stared at him. No attendant had ever given her a first name to call them by. "You're Mary, aren't you?"

"Alice." Alice told him, "I don't like it when they call me Mary, but they all do."

"Well, Alice, I'm going to help you, but only if you want me to." Jasper said. Alice was too stunned by the fact that he'd actually done what she'd asked and called her Alice to really process what he was saying. He was going to help her? If you want me to. Alice couldn't remember the last time someone cared about what she wanted. The last time anyone cared full stop, for that matter. When was the last time she'd had a choice in anything?

"How are you going to help me?" Alice asked in barely more than a whisper. She was starting to believe her earlier theory that this was all a dream. She felt like if she did something wrong, if she said the wrong thing, the whole dream would disappear and she'd wake up alone.

"I'm going to get you out of here." Jasper said. Alice's eyes widened. Yep, she was definitely dreaming.

"You can't do that!" She said, "You'll get in trouble."

"Do you think I care about getting in trouble?" Jasper asked, "I can tell that you shouldn't be here."

"How can you tell?" Alice asked. Jasper didn't say anything for a little while, just watching Alice and waiting. Alice wondered if he'd heard her. "How can you tell Jasper?"

"I have...a talent. I feel people's emotions and feelings." He admitted, "I don't expect you to believe that, but-"

"I believe you." Alice interrupted. It explained that strange expression the first time she'd seen him; empathy. He really had experienced what she was feeling. It wasn't that far fetched when compared with Alice's 'talent'. She didn't think she should tell Jasper about that. He might understand, given that he had a talent too, but Alice didn't want to risk it. For some reason, Jasper was the one person who believed she wasn't insane, and she didn't want to ruin that.

"You do?" Jasper asked. Alice nodded and Jasper smiled the most beautiful smile Alice had ever seen. "Come on, I'm getting you out of here."

Alice stood up and made her way towards Jasper. When she reached him she slipped her hand into his and smiled up at him. He was the first person she had trusted since she got to this place. Jasper put a finger to his lips, signalling that Alice should be silent, and led her out of her little box cell and down the corridor. They had almost made it outside when voices floated down the corridor towards them. Jasper pushed Alice into a little alcove and stood in front of her, shielding her from the workers that passed. When he was satisfied that they had gone, he took Alice's hand again and carried on down the corridor.

They had made it half way across the garden when shouts came from the building. People were running around and it didn't take long for Alice and Jasper to figure out why; they'd realised Alice was missing. Jasper swore under his breath - something he would never usually do in the presence of a lady - and without a second thought he lifted Alice into his arms and started running. Alice didn't have much time to wonder how he'd effortlessly lifted her or how he was running so fast, because in a few seconds he had set her down again.

"Do you know what they've been giving you as medicine?" Jasper asked, urgency creeping into his voice. Alice shook her head.

"They wouldn't tell me." She said, "I used to always have that clear liquid, but they started giving me this new stuff. I preferred the old one; it didn't make me sleepy."

"What did the new stuff look like?" He pressed.

"Uh...dark blue. Nearly black. It looked like ink." Alice said. Jasper swore again. "What's wrong?"

"It was a test drug." Jasper said, "They'd started testing it on patients at the asylum before releasing it to the public, but now it's been declared unsafe."

"Unsafe?" Alice asked, "How unsafe?"

"All the patients they tried it on so far have died." Jasper said. Now it was Alice's turn to swear, but she kept the words in her mind rather than speaking them out loud - she'd been taught by her mother to never use such language. "It's the reason I had to get you out of there." Jasper looked down into Alice's eyes, filled with fear, and corrected himself. "One of the reasons."

"Am I going to die?" Alice asked weakly.

"Probably." Jasper said. A whimper escaped Alice's lips, but Jasper carried on talking, "But I'm not going to let that happen."

"You can stop it?" Alice asked.

"Yes," Jasper said, almost reluctantly, "But it's not without cost."

"Please do it." Alice begged, remembering the blood and the lines in her cell. She didn't want to end up dead because of the asylum; because of the man that had put her there - her father. "Please don't let me die. Please Jasper."

"Promise you'll forgive me." Jasper said quietly.

"For what?" Alice asked.

"Just promise." Jasper said. Alice was confused, but she nodded - putting all her trust in Jasper in that moment.

"I promise." She said.

"Close your eyes and don't let go of my hand." Jasper told her.

"Why-" Alice began.

"Trust me." Jasper whispered, so Alice did as he asked.

Sharp pain shot through Alice as Jasper's teeth sunk into her neck. It coursed through her veins faster than any of the drugs that had been injected into her. It felt like fire, licking at her blood, her mind, her heart. She screamed in pain, but Jasper's hand covered her mouth to silence her. The fire was getting worse; the pain unbearable. Alice felt herself falling into darkness...falling...falling...

~o.O.o~

Alice's eyes fluttered open. Everything was bright. There was a man leaning over her - the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. He was calling her name, but Alice didn't know who he was. She tried to focus on him, but the pain was too much and she drifted back into unconsciousness.

Jasper watched her, his face twisted in pain as he felt her own pain. Not just pain, but confusion upon seeing Jasper. It didn't take long for him to figure out why. She had forgotten him. He'd seen it happen before with the newborns; the venom wiped their memories clean. He wanted to stay with her, make sure she was safe, but he knew Maria would find him soon. He'd have to go back to her and he couldn't take Alice with him. Maria would see her as just another newborn, and make Jasper kill her after a year or so. He couldn't do that to Alice. She deserved a better life than that - a life that he couldn't give her.

He could feel Maria watching him now, standing a little way off in the trees. If she knew how Jasper felt for Alice, she would kill her on the spot. Jasper was determined not to let that happen. He stood up and walked over to Maria. "That one isn't going to make it. Best to just leave her there to die."

Maria nodded, trusting Jasper's lies. She linked her arm through Jasper's and began walking away. Jasper stole one last glance at Alice. Leaving her would surely kill him, but staying would kill her and he knew that the first option was the only option. He turned away and followed Maria, preparing to never see the beautiful girl again.

~o.O.o~

When Alice woke up the fire was gone and so was the man. She sat up to find herself alone. Where had the man gone? He had known her name - he had known her! Where was he? Millions of visions were racing around in Alice's head - more clear than they ever had been before. There was so much space in her mind freed up for the future now! That was when Alice came to the conclusion that the man she'd seen must have been a vision, and not really there. A man she would know in the future, maybe even a man she would love.

But he wasn't here now. He wasn't part of her past or present; he was her future. That was enough. It gave her hope and a reason to carry on. She wasn't sure what had happened to her, but she didn't think she'd be able to carry on alone without the reassurance that somewhere in the future she was going to meet that man. She was sure of it now, as more visions raced through her head. He was going to be the love of her life...if only she could find him, that is.

~o.O.o~

28 years later...

Alice swung her legs from side to side on the stool she was perched on, holding a warm cup of coffee in her hands. It was merely a prop, of course. An excuse to be there, in the diner. The waitress kept shooting odd looks her way. Alice didn't blame her; she'd been in here every day for the last two months, always ordering a coffee and sitting with it. She never drank from the cup, but it was always empty when the waitress came to refill it. What the waitress didn't know was that the pot plant next to the counter was an excellent place for pouring unwanted drinks.

"Can I get you anything else, miss?" The waitress asked now, "Something to eat, perhaps?"

"No thank you." Alice said, smiling at the waitress with pearly white teeth, "The coffee is enough."

The waitress smiled stiffly and turned away muttering something about tips under her breath. Alice mentally noted to leave a large tip for the waitress today; maybe she hadn't been generous enough on the other days. The bell above the door tinkled and Alice's head turned as she sensed a vampire enter the diner. She stared. It was him!

Jasper's nose wrinkled as the human stench hit him. His control in places like this was usually okay, but he'd been hunting less and less since he left Maria ten years ago and he hadn't hunted in days. There were so many emotions flying around the little diner, too many for Jasper to keep up with. His eyes were drawn over to the counter, where a small pixie like woman was sitting, her legs swinging on her stool. Jasper stared. Alice.

Alice placed her coffee cup silently on the counter next to her and gracefully slipped off of the red leather stool. She didn't move her eyes from the spot where Jasper was standing. Her Jasper. For twenty eight years, since the very first vision, she had thought of him as hers. And now, they were meeting properly for the first time. She couldn't tear her gaze away from the beautiful man in front of her. He was really here!

Jasper stared as Alice started dancing her way over to him. What was she doing here? She was looking right at him, but he knew that she didn't remember him. Her memories had been erased by the venom. So why was she looking at him like she'd known him for years? His usual defensive instincts didn't kick in like they usually did when he encountered a vampire. Instead he stayed exactly where he was as Alice came closer and closer. He could not look away from her eyes; golden like the butterscotch mixed with sunshine. It made no sense to him, why her eyes would be that colour, and so he just stared at them.

Alice had reached Jasper now. She stopped in front of him, looking up to his great height. She'd loved this man for twenty eight years, and hadn't thought she could feel anything stronger than that. She had been wrong. What she felt right now, in Jasper's presence, was more than just love. It was joy, hope, and happiness - all rolled into one and combined with the unconditional love that she'd felt for Jasper all these years. "You've kept me waiting a long time."

Jasper stared at Alice for a second. She couldn't remember him, could she? Jasper didn't want to think about that. She was here; the beautiful woman he had thought he would never see again. And she'd been waiting for him. Why had he kept her waiting such a long time? He bowed his head and said, "I'm sorry, ma'am."

Alice giggled lightly as Jasper's southern accent crept into his voice. It was perfect; the most beautiful voice in the world. Much more beautiful than she'd ever heard in her visions. She held out her hand to Jasper, not once thinking that he might not want to take it.

Jasper took Alice's outstretched hand without stopping to make sense of what he was doing. He wasn't with Maria anymore. He could have the life he'd always dreamed of having with Alice. It would be like he'd never walked away that day. He'd always feel guilty about it, but it wouldn't matter because she would be with him. Forever, if his luck kept it up.

Alice looked up into Jasper's eyes. They were almost completely black, but she knew that underneath they would be crimson. It didn't frighten her or disgust her, however, because she knew that they wouldn't always be that way. The moment was so intense that she felt the need to joke. Just part of her bubbly personality, she guessed. "So, shall we leave or did you come in here for something to eat?"

Jasper stared down at Alice in horror. Something to eat? She'd been drinking coffee when he came in...did she not know that vampire's didn't eat and drink? She must do, surely? But because Jasper had left, Alice had woken up without anyone to explain the vampire life to her...what if all these years she hadn't known? Panic crept into Jasper's eyes until he saw the twinkle in Alice's own eyes. A joke. Of course. Jasper laughed, and Alice joined in. It was a perfect harmony; Alice's soprano to Jasper's base.

Alice let the sound of their laughter ring in her ears. It sounded so beautiful; his laugh intertwined with hers. Perfect. They fit together like they had been made to always laugh in harmony. Maybe they had. Alice smiled at Jasper and led him towards the door, leaving the diner to start their new life together.

Jasper happily let Alice lead him away. Since he had seen her he'd forgotten all about the scent of human blood that hung in the air, but it would still be a relief to be away from them all; to be alone with Alice. Just as they reached the door, Jasper felt a spike of jealousy in the air. He turned his had slightly to see where the emotion had come from, and his eyes landed on the waitress stood behind the counter, glaring daggers at Alice and Jasper.

The waitress, Betty her name was, stared after the departing couple. The little pixie girl had been sitting in here everyday for months now, looking as if she were waiting for someone. Was this who she had waited for? Jealousy crept into her heart. How come all this girl had to do was sit around and wait and she was rewarded with this? This beautiful man who was walking away with her? Why wouldn't that happen to Betty? She couldn't even make a decent wage at this dead end job, but the pixie girl...it seemed like she had everything. The man she was with turned slightly and looked right at the waitress. Her jealousy was immediately replaced with a new emotion; happiness. She was happy for the pixie girl. She sighed and turned away from the couple, her eyes widening as she looked to where the pixie girl had previously been sat. There were some coins on the counter to pay for the coffee, but there was also almost fifty dollars in tips. Betty turned back to where the couple had been, and caught just a glimpse of them as the exited. Maybe the pixie girl really did deserve happiness, and Betty knew that the couple would find happiness together.

Outside, Jasper looked down into Alice's upturned face. Their eyes met, so different and yet so perfectly matched, and they knew it too.

Wooooow that really did turn out long...I didn't think it would be that long...oh well, what did you think? Let me know if I should do more AU specials...:):):)

Hey, go check out my new Rosalie/Emmett short story...it's a canon of how they met and will probably be about 10 chapters when it's finished...It's called When An Angel Calls and I'd love it if you guys could go R&R...It's my first Rosalie/Emmett one so it'd be great for some feedback! :):) Thanks :)