A/N:

This! This is the chapter you've been waiting for!

Welcome to the stage … Jasper!

Title: Origins: Living in my Future

Author: MarieCarro

Beta: Alice's White Rabbit

Pre-reader: BitterHarpy and 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 17

FRIDAY, AUGUST 20th 1948

Bethany went to help some of the other guests when I was swallowed whole by the sudden realization that he was outside. My strongest vision yet showed me the exact second he would walk through the door, his head bent down to hide his dark eyes and starved expression, his hair dripping from the rain, and his body locked down by sheer will not to attack any of the patrons.

Everything played out before me in the short few seconds before it started to unfold in real time, and I turned my head to look at him at the precise second he saw me. He immediately knew I was like him, and if I had allowed that fact to sink in and stew, he would have most likely rejected me out of fear of the unknown, but I'd seen every scenario of our meeting, so I already knew what I had to do.

The absolute relief and pure happiness I felt over physically seeing him in front of me for the first time were the two emotions I pushed to the forefront and allowed to envelope my entire being as I hopped down from the stool and approached him without hesitating.

His eyes reflected the uncertainty and awe I knew he'd tell me of one day, and he didn't run away or prepare to defend himself. He stayed upright and just looked at me and my affectionate smile with palpable confusion.

"You've kept me waiting a long time," I said, just as one of my first visions had shown me, and then he did what I'd wanted to see and hear so often for the last twenty-eight years.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, using his innate southern charm while bending his neck forward ever so slightly in a polite bow. I loved that his actual words differed just the tiniest bit from what I'd seen because that meant he could still surprise me.

I held out my hand for him, and he took it, almost in a daze, but when our skin made contact, his eyes shot up to look into mine, and there it was—the light, the hope that was the spark he needed to eventually trust me.

"I'm Alice," I said, knowing I was the one who had to divulge information before he did so he wouldn't feel interrogated.

"Major Jasper Whitlock," he said, and my smile widened in fondness over his impulse to introduce himself by his military rank. He would most likely always see himself as a soldier first, but to me, he would always be just Jasper—the man I'd loved almost from the moment I opened my eyes.

"I know. As I said, I've been waiting for you."

He made a quick look around the diner, most likely searching for other vampires or threats. "I don't wish to be rude, Miss Alice, but why have you been waitin' for me?" he asked, his tone cautious but not too guarded. He was still open to listening, and there was no sign of hostility.

"It's a long story, and this isn't the ideal place to tell it to you," I said. I reached into my purse and left enough cash for what I owed and a nice tip for Bethany before I opened the door and left the diner in front of Jasper.

"Won't the rain ruin your pretty dress?" he asked, and it thrilled me he had noticed what I was wearing.

"It's just water, and they'll dry quickly," I said reassuringly. "I have a suite booked at a hotel not far from here. We'll be able to talk freely there without inadvertent listeners." I started walking, but a gentle hand on my arm stopped me.

"I don't know you, Miss Alice, but you want me to just go with you to your hotel? You've got eyes I've never seen on a vampire before, so how can I be certain you're not lurin' me into some trap?"

His question was valid, but I knew he could already tell from my emotions that I had no intention of hurting him, so I figured he was just testing me. Any good strategist would. So I tested him back.

"I doubt my words will mean much, but I promise you that you have nothing to fear from me." I emphasized the statement with another smile. I was too happy to be in his physical presence to keep that emotion on the inside only. "I also promise that I will explain everything as soon as we get out of this rain."

He took a second to ponder that, but then the gentleman in him won, and he offered me his arm. "Then who am I to deny a beautiful lady as yourself. Lead the way, Miss Alice."

Both of us were properly drenched when we entered the hotel lobby, and I could see the receptionists staring disdainfully at the wet puddles we left behind on our way to the elevator, but I couldn't even force myself to care about anything other than Jasper.

He was there, and I was holding on to his arm! We were, at long last, together, although not yet in the sense I wished. But we would be. Eventually. I just had to be patient a little bit longer.

I let him inside the suite, and he immediately made a sweep over it with his eyes. I wasn't sure if it was because of the opulence he wasn't used to, or if he was searching for potential threats.

"Well, Miss Alice, you certainly live a very different life from every other vampire I've come across," he said. It was the former then.

"You can just call me Alice," I said, already impatient to get past the formal part of our relationship. "And I don't always live like this. Only on special occasions." I searched out towels in the bathroom and handed him one so he could dry his face and hair.

"And what's the special occasion now?"

I smiled. "Meeting you, of course."

Jasper looked me up and down, and I knew he was analyzing my emotions, but he wouldn't be able to find even the tiniest grain of insincerity in there. He took a deep breath and crossed his arms protectively. "You're quite the mystery, Alice, and I'm not just talkin' about your eyes. You've stumped me, which doesn't usually happen."

"Everything will make sense once I tell you my story."

"I'm all ears."

"Well, to start, I have an ability, much like yourself. Except mine isn't to read and control emotions."

He narrowed his eyes at me, back to suspicious. "How do you know what I can do?"

I remained relaxed and open in my body language to keep him calm, and my lack of nerves must have reassured him because the tension I'd seen start to creep up on him faded away. "Through my own gift, I've witnessed a lot. In simple words, I could say I'm clairvoyant and can see the future, but it's a bit more complicated than that because what I do see is entirely based on the decisions being made. Depending on how strong a decision is, my visions are more possible outcomes rather than immutable futures."

"So you've had visions of me," Jasper clarified, not as a question but a statement. The second I revealed my gift, the puzzle pieces started clicking together, just like I knew they would.

"I have."

He hummed. "That does explain your utter lack of reaction toward my scars," he said and absentmindedly traced one of the many on his arm. "You know what I come from then."

I hadn't even considered he'd expect me to feel fear or apprehension at seeing the numerous marks left behind from his time in Maria's army. They had always been a part of him as far as I was concerned, so the thought hadn't even entered my mind. He was still the most beautiful man I'd ever laid my eyes on.

Without me saying so, he knew that I'd seen the life he'd left behind, and the way he looked at me intensified to a point where I was sure other vampires would have felt uncomfortable, but I didn't mind his prodding. If digging through my emotions gave him peace of mind, I wasn't going to protest.

However, the last thing I wanted was to overwhelm him with the sheer amount of information I had and scare him with the intensity of my already existing feelings, but he'd been so thoroughly manipulated by Maria for so many decades I didn't want to hold back and give him a reason to distrust me.

Our back and forth was heading into dangerous territory, so I sat down on one of the couches in the suite, tucked my feet under me so they wouldn't hover over the ground, and leaned back until I could allow my muscles to soften and sink into the plush fabric. "I've been this way for almost twenty-eight years. I opened up my eyes in the middle of a forest in Mississippi in October 1920."

A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I thought I heard a bit of an accent."

I giggled. "And here I thought I'd successfully fooled you."

He shook his head. "I'd recognize an ally immediately. I'm from Texas myself."

"I can hear that. Although, I'm at least six decades behind you."

Jasper's expression battled between being concerned or impressed with how much I knew. "You certainly know a lot about me."

"I've had visions of you wearing your uniform," I said as an explanation and to peddle back on the stalker behavior. "And you introduced yourself as a Major. It wasn't a long leap from there to understand when you were changed. But I can assure you that I have no idea which exact year it was."

He relaxed and decided to mirror me by sitting down on the opposite couch. That was a good sign. It meant we were on the right path toward a pleasant vision.

"To be honest, I don't know the exact year myself. It was either 1862 or 63. The dates had already started blurrin' together during the war, so keepin' track of them after wasn't the easiest."

"I know what you mean," I said and decided to tell him the full story now that he had completely let his guard down. The resulting vision wasn't the worst. "Everything from before I opened my eyes in that forest is gone. It's as if I didn't exist before that moment."

His reaction was neither positive nor negative. His expression was blank as he absorbed that information. "I've encountered a vampire or two who've had partial memory loss after the change but never that they don't remember anythin'. Who changed you?"

"I don't know who changed me. I was alone."

A disgusted expression replaced his blank curiosity. "That I've encountered one too many times. Vampires who toy with lives and take sadistic pleasure in abandonin' their progeny."

He was nowhere near ready to dive deeper into his own relationship with his creator or talk about the life Maria had given him, so I steered away from that subject and continued with my own story.

"It was thanks to my visions that I didn't fall into insanity. I didn't even know my name when I woke up, but—" I stopped myself from blurting out how his face was the first one I saw and decided I'd tell him at a later point when he'd gotten to know me better. "I had a vision of my family. Or, well, my future family. I haven't searched them out yet."

"Are they one of those 'possible outcomes'?"

"No, my life with them was decided a long time ago. They're the reason my eyes differ from what you're used to because we're vegetarians." He'd clearly never heard the term before, and lines of confusion warped the scar over his eyebrow. "It means we only eat from animals."

Jasper's face smoothed out. "Is that possible?"

"Clearly," I said and smiled gently. "It takes a lot of control and discipline and willpower, but it allows us to lead almost normal lives in the human world. Carlisle, our leader, he's been perfecting his control for three hundred years, and he works as a doctor. It's quite amazing."

"Sounds odd. A vampire doctor?" He gave me a look that said he didn't quite believe me, and I understood why. His entire existence had only been about blood, violence, revenge, and manipulation until just over four years ago. Four years was nothing compared to how long he'd lived.

"It can seem backward, but Carlisle's compassion is unmatched, and his wife, Esme, she's the embodiment of a warm hug. Edward can be a bit of a grouch, but he's loyal to the bone, and Rosalie holds tight to her resentment for how her human life ended, but Emmett, her husband, balances it out perfectly. They live together in these amazing houses, and if they don't work, they go to school. They move around during the days just like humans as long as the weather is overcast."

"That sounds more like a dream than an actual reality," he said, but I could feel the longing underneath the disbelief radiating from him. He wasn't trying to project his emotions, but I sensed them anyway. "If this coven is as peaceful as you say, why haven't you searched them out yet? Why have you waited this long?"

I'd known the question would come. Of course, he'd wonder since there were things I'd omitted. "I rely a lot on my visions. They haven't led me astray so far, so I trust them."

"As you should. They're a part of you."

"Yes," I agreed and bit the bullet. "I haven't joined my family yet because my visions said I needed to find you first. Because they've shown me that if you decide you want it, the life I described is meant to be yours, filled with peace and surrounded by people who love you."

Jasper shook his head. "Alice, you can't be serious. How am I supposed to fit into a coven like that? They're the total opposite of who I am and what I'm used to."

I stood up from the couch and walked over to him. I knew he wasn't accustomed to real affection or soft physical touches, but I wanted to show him that Maria no longer controlled him and that he could choose however he wanted to. I sat back down next to him and gently took his hand in mine. I traced his scars with the tips of my fingers, and I could feel everything he felt in reaction to my touch as if it was my own emotions.

There was an interesting mix of curiosity, nervousness, optimistic awe, and just a hint of desire. It assured me he wasn't averse to me at the very least.

"How you've lived your life in the past doesn't have to define how you live your life going forward. If you want it enough, you can take the necessary steps and claim it as yours." I turned my head to meet his gaze, and he appeared mesmerized by me. The thought made me smile.

"Who are you?" he said softly, and I knew if humans had been in the room, the words would only have been audible to me.

"I'm someone who will be by your side from now until forever ... if you want it."

The desire I felt to close the space between us and kiss him was almost overwhelming, and I knew he could feel it because his eyes reflected that emotion for a second before he took back control of himself. He leaned back ever so slightly, but he didn't pull his hand back from my hold.

"Tell me the truth, Alice. Who am I to you?"

There was no denying I was scared to tell him the depth of my feelings so early in our relationship, but he asked for the truth, and I never wanted to lie to him.

"My very first vision was of you. I've waited for you for twenty-eight years because my visions have shown me the future you and I will have as partners, mates ... lovers. Whatever you want to call it."

"Another one of your 'possible outcomes'?" he asked just as softly as before, and I could feel and see his own desire reawakening. A thrilling surge went through me at the thought of him initiating our first kiss.

"No," I said, reflecting his gentle tones. "You and I are inevitable."

He smiled, and I was at his mercy. "Is that so?"

I easily detected the trace of humor in his voice, but if he thought I would take my words back, he was mistaken. "Yes. So whenever you feel ready for it, let me know." I stood up from the couch to put some much-needed space between us. As much as I wanted him and loved him, I wanted him to return my feelings before we took anything further. I wanted to feel that he loved me back and not just arousal born out of the knowledge that I was already his. "How long has it been since you hunted?" I asked to change the subject.

His desire immediately died down, and his fists clenched tightly when intrusive thoughts of blood demanded his attention. "A week or so," he said vaguely.

"You've pushed yourself then," I said and considered whether he was ready to turn his back on human blood or not. "If you want to try it my way, I can come with you. But only if you want."

He grimaced at the thought of animal blood, but then a determination shifted his body and he looked at me. "Sure. You gotta try it at least once, right?"

Pride over his will to at least try it swelled within me. "Let me just change my clothes, and we can go."

He nodded. "You're definitely livin' a different life, Alice. How am I ever goin' to keep up?"

"Don't worry," I said and gave him a gentle smile. "I'll be with you every step of the way."


A/N:

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