Alice’s POV
Alice Cullen? Brandon? Whitlock? I thought to myself.
Like every other member of the Cullen family, I had changed my name every time we moved to a new place. Amongst my disguises, I had pretended to be Emmett’s baby sister, Edward’s twin, and Rosalie’s cousin.
When I had first woken up, after three days of burning, I saw Jasper’s face in my mind. Seeing visions had felt oddly normal to me, even if I had no memories of my human life. Later that day, I had another vision. This time it was of Carlisle and the rest of his, and soon to be, my family. I knew that this was the place I belonged.
After studying various members of the Cullen family through my visions, I had learned that they drank animal blood. This seemed peculiar to me. I had woken up with an immediate burn in my throat. Later that night, before my vision of Carlisle, I had run across a human. I drained her the moment I smelled the sweet ambrosia that was human blood.
I would later learn that her name had been Anna- Maria Schmitz. She was the only human I have ever killed, miraculously. She was originally from upstate New York, having immigrated to America when she was fourteen. At her death she was only twenty- three. Anne, as she preferred to be called, had a very bright future ahead of her. But I ended that because of what I am. Because of what Bella wants to become.
Granted, I had no objections to Bella becoming a vampire. I left that up to Edward and Rosalie. But there were some flaws in becoming a member of the Cullen family.
For one, Bella would never have children. I, personally, have never had the desire to carry something for nine months, and then push it out, all the while writhing and screaming in pain, only for it to turn out like an ugly alien with a misshapen head. I will never understand why Rosalie and Esme desire one of those things so terribly bad.
Secondly, Bella would never be able to grow old. This was something that Edward especially wanted for Bella. God knows why, though. I might be a little biased; I read too many fashion magazines with anti- aging products in them, but who wants to have wrinkles, grey hair, and a walker? Edward apparently.
The final, and most important to me, flaw in becoming a Cullen, is the mistaken identity.
It had been a little over a year since my change when I first immersed myself into the human world. One of the first questions I was asked, and had hardly ever thought of, was: What is your name, miss? I had been completely dumbfounded. I sat, on a bitter cold day in Boston, staring at the magazine salesman, with a look on my face that must have made him think there was something wrong with me. After a few more moments of deliberating, I had settled on the name Alice. For some reason, this name had just felt right to me.
As I had no memory of my human life, and my full name with it, I had no official last name for many years. Instead, I used last names that I had heard humans using. I had gone from being Grey to Sullivan to Larson. It wasn’t until 1951 that I had an official surname. On June 28, 1951 I was married to Jasper Whitlock. In the eyes of the law and of God, I was Alice Whitlock.
However, not three years later I changed my name again. I dissembled myself as Alice McCarty, Emmett McCarty’s baby sister. We were living in Duluth, Minnesota at the time; attending high school. Edward, Rosalie, and I had all started out as freshman, while Emmett and Jasper were sophomores.
Portland, Oregon, 1963. Another move, another name. Alice Cullen this time. I had been posing as Edward’s twin sister, while attending college at Portland State University. I majored in Art. I was able to use my new, steady vampire abilities to create a masterpiece that my professor would gush about for years to come.
New York City, New York, 1968. Finally, I was again Alice Whitlock. This was a period of freedom for the Cullen family. We had decided to disband for a couple months; spend quality time with our significant others. Of course, for Edward, this meant he could roam any random city on Earth, alone. Jasper and I had chosen to go under the guise of being flower children who had decided to move to the big city. In actuality, Jasper and I were really wanderers at the time. We had no specific home; we kept our clothes in our van. Which were now dubbed by the new generation as “hippie vans”.
Erie, Pennsylvania, 1986. In between New York and Pennsylvania we had moved to a few more towns, all of which I was Alice Cullen, Edward’s twin sister. After three times of the same thing we wanted something new. I was now Alice Hale, Rosalie’s cousin from her father’s side. Rosalie was pretending to be Esme’s niece from her mother’s side. Pretending to be related to Rosalie only worked for two years. After all, we were polar opposites, who look nothing alike.
Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1994. Alice Cullen, again. We had been using the same story in Grand Rapids that we were now using in Forks. Rosalie and Jasper were Esme’s foster children; Edward, Emmett, and I were not related at all, but were all adopted together. Every time we moved, I planned an elaborate back story out in my mind. In this case, Edward, Emmett, and I had all originally met at our foster home in Lansing. When Carlisle and Esme first saw me they fell in love, but I couldn’t bear to be separated from my new faux brothers, so they adopted them as well.
Forks, Washington, 2002. I was still currently Alice Cullen, as I had been for the past fourteen years. Forks will always have played a significant role in the Cullen family history. It was the place that Edward found love, Carlisle and Esme had found another daughter, and the rest of us had found another sister. It was the place that we met Bella, and finally completed our family.
After pretending to be so many different people, I sometimes felt as if I no longer knew who I was anymore. It was when Edward left Bella that I found out who I used to be, before I had ever been Alice Cullen, Whitlock, or Sullivan. Before my parents put me in an asylum, I had been Mary Alice Brandon. Perhaps I had been called Alice, instead of Mary, and that’s why the name had felt so familiar to me.
I now had a name that I could add to the pot of last names that we Cullens used. We had all been under the various disguises of Cullen, McCarty, Hale, Masen, Platt, and Whitlock, every member of the family’s human name, but mine. Now, we would be able to act as the Brandon family if we ever chose to.
However, no matter how many times I change my name, in my heart I will always be just Alice.
