A/N:
Today's the day!
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 35
TUESDAY, JANUARY 18th 2005
I kept casting looks in Jasper's direction as I tossed more clothes in bags to donate, but even though he wasn't meeting my eyes, he still felt my concern, and he was growing irritated.
"I'm fine, Alice. I told you that I can handle this."
I sighed. "Of course, you can, but you don't have to. Just because the rest of us haven't fed, you shouldn't deprive yourself. You're not weaker for it."
He pulled out one of the shirts I'd tossed and studied it as if it was the most fascinating piece of clothing he'd ever encountered. "It's only been two weeks. That's nothin'."
"It's not nothing. It's a stretch for all of us, and you're in an extraordinary situation."
"Why?" he asked bitingly. "Because I fed on humans longer? Because I've slipped on more occasions than the rest of you?"
I abandoned the clothes and walked over to him. "No. Because of your gift, of course. School's already a minefield as it is, but today, you'll have to deal with four other thirsty vampires on top of it. Please, Jazz, if you need to skip today to hunt close-by, do it. You know we'll cover for you."
He shook his head in disagreement. "How am I ever supposed to fully fit in with y'all if I have to do everythin' differently?" With barely contained frustration, he threw the shirt into the corner of the room. "I thought it would get easier, Alice, but fifty years and I still struggle with the temptation."
I reached out and stroked his cheek. "Of course, you do. We all struggle. Except Carlisle, I guess, but reaching his level is centuries away for all of us. But you're the only one of us who can't just focus on yourself. You're at a disadvantage from the start. That doesn't make you less."
"If none of you are down here in the next minute, I swear, you'll have to drive yourselves to school! And yes, I am damn serious, Emmett!" Edward called from downstairs, effectively interrupting our conversation.
Jasper took a few deep breaths to calm down, and I saw in his eyes what he'd already decided. He wasn't skipping today no matter how many times I told him it was fine if he did.
All I could do was support him and be there for him. I would also keep an extra watchful eye on his future, just in case. Not because I didn't trust him but because he wasn't in a good enough mental space for a slip today.
I offered him my hand, and we left our room to join Edward before he spontaneously combusted with anger.
{=LMF=}
"Edward." He didn't look up as I thought his name, but I knew he was listening. "How is he holding up?"
He frowned, and I panicked for a second. Jasper wasn't moving enough, and I knew he was placing all of his focus on pushing down his natural instincts, but it made him forget to play human. Was he about to expose us in the middle of the Forks High School cafeteria?
"Is there any danger?"
I looked into our immediate future to see if whatever had caused Edward to frown was something that would force me to physically remove Jasper from the room. But I saw nothing, and then Edward silently communicated his "no" by slowly looking left, sighing, and turning back to the right.
I relaxed. "Let me know if it gets too bad."
He used his eyes to "nod" his confirmation.
"Thanks for doing this."
I appreciated that Edward helped me keep an eye on Jasper even though the necessity of it was something I despised. There was no one in this world I trusted more than I trusted Jasper, and I knew exactly how strong he was. However, every time one in our family doubted him, he sensed it, absorbed it, and then started to believe they were right. No matter how much I fought to build him up, his insecurities always won. Edward had a tendency to assume Jasper's lack of control was anything other than a byproduct of his gift. It was a huge thorn in my mate's side and one of many reasons his belief in himself was at the bottom.
For a mind-reading vampire, Edward could be quite obtuse, but he was my brother, and I loved him despite that. I just wished he could use his gift to understand Jasper instead of just monitoring him.
A small girl stopped at the table closest to ours to talk to a friend. It would've been nothing, except she tossed her hair over her shoulder, and the heaters blew her scent our way. We could all smell the sweet scent, and the immediate physical reaction was unstoppable.
I knew Jasper felt it times five, so I wasn't surprised when I had a vision of him standing up and approaching the girl. He wanted her blood, and it was tantalizingly calling to him. He had already decided to do it.
Edward kicked his chair, pulling him out of the fantasy he'd allowed to consume him.
"Sorry," he said under his breath while a mix of bitterness, guilt, and revolt played across his face.
"You weren't going to do anything. I could see that." I said even though Edward knew it was a lie. He'd seen both the fantasy and the vision. Jasper had been mere seconds away from taking that girl's life. But my mate needed reassurance. Not the brutal truth. "It helps a little if you think of them as people," I continued. "Her name is Whitney. She has a baby sister she adores. Her mother invited Esme to that garden party, do you remember?"
"I know who she is," Jasper said briskly and turned away from me.
I sighed to myself and stood up to leave. I didn't need Jasper to tell me when he needed space. His body language and tone was enough, and I had been at his throat about his thirst since before dawn broke, so I understood without feeling resentful of his attitude. He had every right to state his boundary.
The food on my tray hadn't been touched, but I tossed it anyway and headed for my next class.
{=LMF=}
I was glad the school day was over, and I allowed myself to relax as I climbed into the front passenger seat of Edward's Volvo.
Throughout every class, I'd been focused on Jasper's future, ready to skip out of class with the first sign something would happen, but he'd done well. After lunch, he'd reined in the worst of his thirst and being away from our siblings through separated classes had muted that overwhelming need to immediately feed. I was proud of his success, ready to gloat about his strength.
Edward was nowhere to be seen though. Usually, he was the first one in the car, always ready to leave school as soon as we were let out, but for some odd reason, he was late now.
When he finally entered the car, my previously positive mood immediately shattered and was replaced with worry and panic at the sight of his disheveled and wild appearance.
"Edward?"
All he gave me in response was a curt shake of his head.
"What the hell happened to you?" Emmett asked from the backseat, equally as worried for our brother as I was.
Without answering, he raged out of the parking lot, and the other three looked to me in confusion, but I had no explanation for Edward's behavior either. I gave them a small shrug and started searching his future.
I was shocked to see what I found. "You're leaving?" I asked in a whisper. I didn't understand what was happening. What had I missed? What could possibly have happened in the span of the two hours that had passed since lunch that would mess him up enough to incite him to leave?
"Am I?" The words were barely distinguished through the snarl, but his question was enough to show me how split he was. He wasn't choosing to leave, but rather, it was the only thing he could do to stop the other possible future.
"Oh." I sighed as the second vision explained what I'd missed.
Chief Charlie Swan's daughter had her first day at our school today after her recent move to Forks. We had all known about it, but we hadn't given it much thought or attention. New students, while unusual at Forks High School, were a normal occurrence in the human world. Nothing to get excited about. But what I saw now was not a normal occurrence.
The girl, Isabella Swan, dead. Edward's eyes a glowing red from having consumed her blood. The investigation into her murder. The planning we'd have to do so we could leave without causing suspicion.
"Oh!"
The vision cleared and became more than just fragments. I could see Edward's hunt for her from his perspective. How he broke into the Swan house as silently and undetected as a shadow and slowly stalked toward the unsuspecting girl sitting by the table, her head down and her long brown hair falling over one shoulder, exposing her neck and calling him to just take one little bi—
"Stop!"
"Sorry," I said, knowing he'd seen every second of the vision, and it had most likely not made his situation easier.
To soothe his tortured mind, I shifted over to the first vision where he was driving on an empty highway, going farther and farther north until the trees were covered with snow.
He didn't choose to leave. He had to leave. To save the girl.
"I'll miss you. No matter how short a time you're gone."
Emmett and Rosalie still had no idea what had transpired, and they exchanged a concerned look. Jasper didn't know either, but he could probably conclude rather well by reading Edward's conflicted emotions.
"Drop us here," I said as we reached the turnoff to our house. "You should tell Carlisle yourself." He did as I said and stopped the car so we could climb out, but before I joined the others outside, I touched his shoulder and gave him one last thought to ponder. "You will do the right thing. She's Charlie Swan's only family. It would kill him, too."
"Yes," he said, and I let him go.
As the wheels screeched on the road, Emmett turned to me. "Could you be so kind and explain what the hell that was all about?"
I sighed without taking my eyes off the road and the disappearing car. "The chief's daughter is Edward's singer."
"His what?" Rosalie asked.
Turning toward the house, I told them what I'd seen and that I had no idea how long it would be before we would see Edward again.
A/N:
In the other Origins stories, this is where I've ended the stories and jumped to the epilogue, however, because we know Alice learns the truth of her beginnings at the end of Twilight, there is another chapter that explores what happened while she conducted her own "research" during their absence from Bella's life in New Moon :)
But let me hear your thoughts! Did I make Alice's POV of this chapter justice?
Tomorrow's this story's last chapter and then on Sunday, the epilogue will be up!
Until then,
Stay Awesome!
