A/N:

Yes, this is true. The story's finally back!

It's done. It's finished. And you've all been so wonderfully patient. So now I'm going to start posting chapters again and there won't be another break again.

That I can fully promise this time.

Now, keep up because the chapters will be posted daily until we've reached the end.

Are you ready?

Title: Origins: Living in my Future

Author: MarieCarro

Beta: Alice's White Rabbit

Pre-reader: BitterHarpyand brierlynn03

Genre: Supernatural/Mystery

Rating: NC-17

Summary: Mary Alice Brandon had always been different. She seemed to know things that had yet to happen, and the people in town avoided her at all costs. But the cries of "Witch" or whispers of "Changeling" wasn't her biggest concern. Someone much closer to her than the townsfolk couldn't accept her differences, and it put her in life-threatening danger.

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.

CHAPTER 13

MONDAY, AUGUST 3rd 1931 – TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28th 1933

"That is stunning, Alice. Is she someone you know?"

I looked into Rosalie Hale's blue eyes painted on the canvas in front of me. I didn't know exactly who she was supposed to be to me yet. All I knew was that shortly after Edward finally returned to Esme and Carlisle with his tail between his legs, and they relocated to Rochester, Rosalie started popping up in my visions and not in a particularly life-changing manner.

She was just a sixteen-year-old girl. The daughter of a banker. Nothing special about her really. Apart from her beauty, which made her stand out of a crowd much like a vampire would among humans, she was just like any other girl.

"No," I said to my art teacher. "I started having dreams of her a couple weeks ago."

"She looks incredibly real," my teacher said and leaned closer to the canvas, pushing his glasses closer to his eyes. "You've got an incredible imagination, Alice, and a good eye for color and composition." He turned back to me with a warm smile. "Nurture that and you can go far."

"Thank you, sir," I said and returned the smile with a close-lipped one of my own.

The teacher continued around the class to the other students, and I looked back at Rosalie's unreadable expression.

"Who are you?" I whispered to myself.

"How do you make her pop out of the canvas like that? Mine never look that realistic."

I shifted in my seat to face Gabrielle, one of my course-mates, and one of the few, apart from the teacher, who dared to talk to me. "It's all in the shadows and highlights," I said. "Even the slightest misplaced highlight will make it look more drawn."

Gabrielle looked at her own painting and hummed contemplatively. "Hmm, maybe you're right. It does look flat where I've missed a few." She reached for one of her brushes and started fixing her mistakes. "Why exactly are you in this class again?" She looked around her canvas at me with a conspiratorial look, and her voice lowered. "There have been times where I've learned more from you than the teacher."

I let out a small, delighted giggle. "I wanted to refine my skills and hear a professional's opinion," I said even though I hadn't touched a painting brush before I entered the class six months earlier.

With Esme showing an ever-growing interest in interior decorating and design, Carlisle had his unquenchable thirst for science, and Edward had his music, I found myself yearning to develop an interest of my own. I wanted to fit in when I finally joined them, so I'd decided to use the time I had as I waited for Jasper to enrich myself with hobbies and skills.

Some had been a complete miss like when I tried gardening, and the stains on my clothes only angered me when they couldn't be removed, but I'd slowly come to the realization that I preferred creating over maintaining. As it was, I was yet to find my exact passion, but even if I never did, it at least helped pass the time.

Another year had passed but nothing had changed on Jasper's front. I wasn't even certain if weeks and months passed the same for him as they did for me, which wouldn't be all that surprising if they didn't. He was forced to live his entire life under the cloak of the night, his days spent hiding from the sun, and with that cycle repeating and never changing, the hours and days must've just melted together at this point.

He probably had no idea what year it even was.

"Whoa, who's that?"

I blinked and focused back on Gabrielle. "Hmm?"

"The man you're drawing. Who's that?"

I looked down at the paper I'd been drawing on and saw Jasper's perfectly handsome but pained eyes looking back at me. I had drawn his likeness without even realizing I'd done so, but luckily, it was in black and white so no one but me knew his eyes were a burning red in that particular vision.

"He's ..."—I sighed and folded the drawing to put it away before giving Gabrielle a smile—"He's the love of my life."

"I didn't know you were married," she said, and her expression immediately became jealous.

"I'm not, but when I do, he'll be the one at the altar," I said, knowing that was our future as long as I continued to be patient.

"Really? Wow. He's really good-looking. You're a lucky girl."

I nodded in agreement even though the situation was so much more complicated. "I am. He's a wonderful man, but he's going through some hardships right now, so it'll be a while before the wedding can actually take place."

Technically, none of what I said was untrue, and it felt good to vent some of my woes to the human girl who would never truly know what I was going through. It still felt like I had a temporary companion.

"That's too bad. Was it the stock crash? It hit my family hard, too. My grandparents almost lost their house."

"No, we got our investments out in time," I said truthfully. "It's more personal matters weighing him down. Unhealthy people in his life wanting to keep us apart."

"I'm sorry," Gabrielle said, and I gave her an appreciative smile.

"Thank you, but we'll persevere. One day, he and I will be together as we're meant to be."

{=LMF=}

I felt a deep pit in my stomach as I watched my visions simultaneously as I moved around the gallery. Even though the night was technically for me—the guests didn't know it since the name on the paintings was a male pseudonym—I couldn't focus on the critics and attendees praising the technique and brushstrokes and emotions emitting from the canvases. I was too distracted by what was happening thousands of miles away.

Eighteen months of visions of Rosalie Hale had captured me, and I felt I knew the girl as a friend and sister despite her humanity. The visions of her weren't nearly as strong or sharp as those of my family or Jasper, but they had solidified over the months.

Now, at the age of eighteen, I saw her accept the proposal of a man whose eyes were filled with arrogance and entitlement. Royce King II was a bottom-feeder among men. Edward called him despicable and Carlisle said he was twisted. I called him what he really was—a horrifying monster.

If I'd been able to communicate through my visions, I would've screamed at Rosalie to run the other way, but I couldn't, and she was blinded by his looks, his money, and his status.

She was naïve and vain, but she didn't deserve a fiancé like him. Something horrible was bound to happen, and I was scared to find out what that would be, especially since I'd started to suspect why I had visions of her.

I didn't want to believe that I was witnessing the last moments of her life before she would become a part of my future with the Cullens, but there was no other explanation. She appeared so early on that it could only be described as her inevitable fate to join our family.

"Impressive, aren't they?"

It took a moment for me to realize the man was speaking to me and not someone else. Luckily, my confusion and hesitancy wasn't something he had the time to register before I gave him a friendly smile.

"Yes. I find the choice of never revealing the subject's face to be very fascinating," I said and turned back to one of the many portraits of Jasper that I'd painted. No one but me would know it was him though since I'd gone heavy on the shadows on his face, and some of them were only silhouettes.

My plan had never been to put up an exhibit of the paintings. When I had my visions of Jasper, painting him became an outlet that helped me deal with the longing and growing pain I could feel knowing he was unhappy, and I couldn't help him feel better.

"He does love a good mystery," the man said with a smirk, suggesting he knew something I didn't.

"He?" I had to ask even though I could sense the dishonesty rolling off him like a foul odor.

He nodded toward the painting. "The artist. Al Rosenlock. He happens to be a personal friend of mine."

I quickly scanned the future for what would happen if I played along, and I had to suppress my bubbling laughter at his game plan. "He is? Must be great to know someone with such a creative mind. Do you paint as well?"

"No." The man chuckled. "Al's the artist. I just like looking at them and buying them. I guess you could call me a bit of a collector."

"Well, Al must be grateful to have such a supporting friend as yourself," I said and turned to leave, but the man wouldn't be deterred.

"I never got your name," he said boldly.

"You never introduced yourself," I pointed out as we walked side by side to the next painting. "I saw no benefit for me to give you mine first."

He clicked his tongue in disappointment. "How thoughtless of me. I'm Hugh Orson. My father owns Orson Real Estate."

I looked at him sideways. "I'm Alice, and do you always use your father's wealth as an introduction?"

Hugh's confident smile fell, and he looked suddenly unsure of himself. "Uh, well, I've never been called out on it before. Ladies are usually impressed."

A vision of Jasper flashed through my mind. His night was more tranquil than mine. I could see him standing in the entrance of what looked like a dilapidated barn, just staring at the glimmering stars. But then I noticed the tension in his muscles and how tightly he was clenching his jaw.

"So, are you from around here, Miss Alice?" Hugh continued.

"No," I said curtly. I was too distracted by my vision to maintain the act of polite friendliness.

Jasper wasn't alone.

"I don't want it. It's useless," Maria hissed at his back, her tone venomous. She was speaking in Spanish, but I'd picked up enough of the language to understand her. "And it won't listen. So you will do as I say or I—"

"Or what?" Jasper growled in English.

I wasn't always given the privilege of hearing his voice in my visions, so when I did, I always sank even deeper into them while the outside world faded away.

Jasper turned to glare at Maria. "What is it you're threatening me with? What could you possibly take from me that you haven't already?"

"If you'd like, I could show you around," Hugh offered, almost drowning out Jasper, and my patience with him was gone. The small glimpse I'd gotten of his future showed he was a person who couldn't take no for an answer and needed to be brought back down to earth.

I pushed the vision aside and focused on him. "Let's cut to the chase, Mr. Orson. No, I don't want to listen all night to your lies about knowing the artist. No, I don't want you to show me around or go home with you to look at your collection of paintings. You should be ashamed for propositioning a lady at an art exhibit and expect her to behave like a split, and if you continue like this, your father will one day disown you." I gave him another smile, but this time, I exposed all of my teeth as a warning.

Hugh froze, and his eyes widened. The spike in his pulse and the sudden sweet aroma to his blood told me he was terrified, and I saw that as mission accomplished.

"Enjoy the rest of your evening," I said and left him where he stood.

Focusing back on the vision, I saw Jasper and Maria face-off with each other.

"You forget your place, mi amante," she said, switching to English. "I make the decisions around here. I'm in charge. If I want you to kill something, you do it without question. If I want you to slowly tear him limb from limb to show the others what happens when you disobey me, you do it without question."

"He's just a boy," Jasper protested loudly. "Not an it. A kid. You always push the limits of how young you can turn them, but you went too far with this one, Maria. It's your own fault he's being destructive."

Maria let out a ferocious growl that caused even me to shiver. "It's either it or you."

He shook his head. "No."

Without another word, he left her alone, and the vision dissipated into nothing. I tried to push to see if there was more, but everything was just dark. Not the kind of darkness that accompanied the end of someone's journey, so I wasn't worried he was in danger, but it still unsettled me that it ended the way it did.

Maria was volatile, and she could change her life-changing decisions faster than anyone else I'd ever encountered. It was manipulative and devious, and I despised that he had to deal with her on a daily basis.

He deserved so much more. He deserved peace, both of mind and body. I could only assume he was exhausted to the bone even as his body held onto its physical strength.

I was no longer interested in continuing the evening at the exhibit, so after a few whispered words with the gallery owner about the sales, I left and headed for the loft I'd made my home for the time being.

It wasn't a place where humans could live since it was cold and offered no electricity or warm water, but it was more than sufficient for me, and I'd made enough changes to it to feel at home for as long as I needed to use it.

When it was time for me to continue on, it would be easy enough to give the furniture away and donate the clothes to a poorhouse where only women and children were allowed. Sometimes, I bought new clothes in bulk just to give them anyway since they were always in need and were grateful for everything they were given.

According to the volunteers, there were people there who'd been in and out of mental institutions and eventually ended up on the streets because no one wanted to help them. A simple act of kindness meant more to them than anything else in the world.

I felt an affinity with the residents, and not just because I was a woman myself. There was something about their auras that made me relate to them. My mysterious past made it impossible for me to truly know, but since I'd already figured out my human life couldn't have been easy based on the state I was in when I awoke, I was certain I could very well have been similar to the women in that poorhouse.

When I joined my family, I knew I would look into starting a foundation for women in need. I already had the entire plan in my head, and I hoped no one would oppose it. I was certain they wouldn't, but at that point, all the finances would be joint ones, and they would also be entitled to their opinions of how those finances were distributed.

I'd already seen a vision of how my ability at predicting the trends at the stock market would bump the family up to the top of the income brackets, but it wouldn't mean I was the only one allowed to decide how the money was to be spent.

My couch creaked under my weight as I laid down on it and closed my eyes.

Rosalie danced behind my eyelids, overjoyed about something I was sure would be her doom, and Jasper had once again isolated himself to escape from Maria.

It wasn't until days later that I saw him give the boy they'd fought about a painless and merciful death.

A/N:

Lots of things happened here.

Rosalie entered the story through Alice's visions and Jasper's becoming more defiant of Maria. Alice had some … interesting interactions with a couple of humans and she's doing what she can to navigate her life as she waits for Jasper (And that's a chapter I'm very excited for you to read ;-) )

So, by my own prognosis, with this chapter, there are 24 chapters + an epilogue to be posted and with daily posts, that should mean the story will be marked complete on December 10th. Does that sound good?

I am at the very least very excited to get this show on the road again, and it feel so good to be able to say,

Until tomorrow,

Stay Awesome!