I scrunched my eyes closed. I’d already had three deer today, but that didn’t make the humans any less appealing. Besides, I thought to myself, if they could do it, I could, too. They were, after all, my future family. The Cullens. I wanted to fit in. Besides, as much as I wanted to drink one of those humans, I couldn’t. That would undoubtedly cause a commotion, and I’d have to leave, which was something I didn’t want to do – I was waiting for someone important. I was waiting for him.
“Miss?” someone asked. I took a deep breath of clean air before turning to face the near irresistible human. “Are you okay? Anything I could get you?” he asked, rubbing his hands together.
I shook my head. “Thank you, but no. I’m fine.”
He looked disappointed. “Well, if you do need anything – anything at all – I’m your man. You just need to ask.” I didn’t miss the double meaning in his words. I smiled, feeling disgusted, and turned away. He left.
I drummed my fingers on the table and started counting the biscuits in the jar behind the counter. How long until he was going to be here? It was midday and he still hadn’t showed. But I knew he was coming.
I wondered what his name was. It must be something nice, or something gorgeous. Gorgeous people had gorgeous names, didn’t they? I sighed impatiently, but when it started raining outside, I beamed. In my vision, he’d walked in, and it had been raining. That mean he must be coming soon.
The door creaked open and I looked at the open doorway in the reflection of the glass opposite me behind the counter. It was him. My breath caught. He looked as handsome as he had in my vision. Still looking at him through the glasses reflection, I saw him stiffen, undoubtedly becoming aware of me among these humans in the small diner.
I jumped down from the stool, excitement and hope bubbling up in me as I made my way towards him, my eyes never leaving his scarred face. I beamed at him, over the moon that he was finally here. He saw me coming, beaming at him, and looked startled and suspicious. A lost, haunted look hung in his eyes, and my heart reached out for him.
As I approached, I took a good look at him. I knew from my vision that he was good looking, but I hadn't guessed exactly how handsome he was. He was tall, lean, muscled, with a vampire’s fair skin, covered in scars, with naturally blond, sun-streaked hair, and dark eyes. No one else in the diner could match him. I wondered if anyone anywhere could match him.
I skidded to a stop in front of him, still smiling. He looked stunned and wary. I made my smile reassuring. “You’ve kept me waiting a long time,” I told him honestly. Too long, I added mentally. I wondered how long I had truly been waiting for this man. I knew nothing of my past, and the only thing I knew of my future was that it was with this stunning vampire. Him and the vegetarian vampires.
If I hadn’t been an all-seeing vampire, I would have missed the quick flash of surprise, shock, and confusion that flashed across his face. It was quickly hidden behind a soft, but wary, smile. I looked at that smile, and thought it had been a while since it had last been used.
He ducked his head, showing me his perfect blond hair, streaked all different shades. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” he apologized in a thick southern accent.
I beamed, feelings too happy to be recognisable, and held out my hand to him. It was an offer, one I didn’t fully understand myself. He looked at me, shocked. I think we both knew there was more to my offer than just my hand – I was offering to join our lives together.
Take my hand, I willed.
I knew we were together in every vision and possible future I had witnessed, but he couldn’t know anything like that. His eyes searched my face, for signs of danger or threat, I suppose. It seemed that he didn’t find any, because he hesitantly reached out and clasped my hand. I felt the scars all over his hand, and frowned down at it. What had happened to him? He stiffened.
“My name’s Alice,” I told him. I looked away from his hand and back to his equally-scarred, handsome face, and tried to reassure him with a smile. His eyes were still wary, though.
"Nice to meet you, Alice,” he replied and he smiled, even if it did seem a little forced. “My name is Jasper Whitlock. How are you?”
Jasper. Jasper Whitlock. “I like your name, Jasper.”
“Thank you.” He seemed to hesitate, looking around the diner before glancing at me. “Would . . . would it be okay if we went outside?” he swallowed, and I watched his adam’s apple bob. “It's . . . the smell.”
I glanced at his eyes. They were dark, almost black. He was hungry, and I could tell by the red behind them he wasn’t a vegetarian. Not yet, at least. I nodded, understanding the near irresistible smell of humans. He turned to walk outside, pulling me along by our linked hands. I was perfectly happy having my small hand cradled in his larger one, but I sensed he was awkward with it. As we walked around tables to get to the door, I could feel eyes boring into my back. Glancing behind me, I saw the man who had approached me before staring at me. He quickly looked away when our eyes met, embarrassed.
The door banged closed, and Jasper and I huddled under the awning just outside the diner. It was still pouring with rain. It would be for days. I smiled and bounced on my heels. Jasper glanced at me. “It’s going to be raining for a week,” I explained, “so that means we can be outside during the day for awhile.”
“How do you know that?” he questioned me, frowning.
“Visions,” I answered simply, shrugging.
“Visions?” he repeated numbly.
“Yes. I see the future. I knew you’d be coming here.” I smiled at him. “I waited forever for you, you know. I had to keep checking to make sure you weren’t going to be late, or that you weren’t going to change your mind.” I frowned. “That would’ve been bad. I would have had to go find you.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” he said again in his thick accent, and I laughed. He looked down at me from the corner of his eye.
“Where are we going?” I asked, bouncing on my heels. I was so excited we had finally met, that he’d taken my hand, and that we were going to go somewhere together, I couldn’t seem to stop moving or grinning. I knew we were going to the Cullens, but that was in the future, not just now. I wondered if Jasper stayed with a coven or if he was nomadic.
“I thought you saw the future,” he pointed out, before pulling us out from under the awning and jogging down the street to the next. The rain didn’t bother us at all, but we had to keep up a façade for the humans, acting as they would.
I laughed. “I know we’re going to the Cullens in the future, but there's quite a bit of time before then.”
He nodded. “I see.” I wondered if he really did. “Are you staying anywhere?” he asked me.
We paused under the awning of a tailer's shop. “No. I’ve been sleeping in the forest or abandoned buildings. You?” I asked curiously. I wanted to know anything –and everything– about this man. Jasper. My future.
He shook his head. “I just arrived here from down south today.”
“Does the forest bother you?” I didn’t think it would – we were vampires and the forest was just as good as any bed to us – but I didn’t want to be impolite.
“No,” he said, smiling slightly. “I guess we’ll stay there tonight?”
He’d said, We’ll stay there tonight. We. Together. Jasper and Alice. Him and me. We. I beamed, and I’m sure my smile covered my whole face. If any human had been walking past, they would have seen the display of my sharp teeth as a threat, even if only on a subconscious level. Jasper just smiled back at me, a little truer then the last couple of times. I wondered how long it would be before he really smiled.
We ran at a human pace until we reached the woods on the edge of the town. “Anywhere you’d like to go specifically?” he asked, looking around.
“Follow me,” I told him.
I shot off through the forest as fast as lightning, dodging trees and leaping over small streams easily and without a second thought. I laughed as I ran, just at the feel of it, and I’m sure if any humans were about, they would’ve thought it was a ghost's chuckle echoing through the woods. Jasper followed behind me. I led us –us... I marvelled at the word– up a mountain, to where I knew of a cave. I’d stayed there last night, even though I didn’t need to sleep. Besides, being dry helped me blend in with the humans.
I stopped outside the cave and shrugged. “Nothing too fancy, but you can deal if I did,” I told him. His face broke into that first true smile I’d been waiting for.
“I can deal,” he agreed and ducked inside to explore the cave. I sat down just inside the opening, so I was out of the rain but able to look out over the green valley, even though it was lightly covered with mist. “Alice?” Jasper asked as he emerged. He sat down against to wall next to me.
“Mmm?” I turned my head towards him. He was still as gorgeous as he had been in the diner, all pale skin, muscle, emotion-filled eyes, and gold blond hair. I wondered yet again if there was anyone that even held a candle to his beauty. Somehow, I found it hard to believe.
He ran a hand through that gold hair, seeming not to notice that he did it. “Why are your eyes that color?” he asked, looking at me intently.
It took me a minute to work out what he was talking about. “Oh,” I said once I’d realised. “Because I’m trying to be vegetarian.” My eyes weren’t the golden butterscotch of the Cullens, but they weren’t the blood red or dark black of a vampire who hunted humans. They were somewhere in the middle, sort of a brown red colour.
“Vegetarian?” he repeated, arching a gold eyebrow. The idea seemed completely foreign to him. It had to me, too, when I had first seen the Cullens. I may not be an old vampire, but the idea of ignoring the appeal of humans seemed impossible.
I grinned. “A good vampire. One who only eats animals. No humans.” I wondered if the Cullens ever treated themselves to humans every now and then. That might make resisting harder afterwards. I frowned. I guess I’d find out when we got there. The thought made me smile again as I realised the causal way I’d used to word "we" again.
He looked incredulous. I laughed out loud at the expression. “You're kidding, right?” he asked.
“No, I’m not,” I told him. “I haven’t had a human in awhile.” I turned my thoughts away from remembering the amazing taste of humans. The hunt, the kill, the warm blood, the taste . . . I shook myself mentally again. Sometimes being a vegetarian was harder then I’d ever imagined it to be.
“How is that possible? How could you not drink from humans? What on earth gave you the idea to be vegetarian?” he sputtered, then took a deep breath and became calm again. He looked at me seriously, and I could see something deep behind his eyes that I couldn’t be sure of. Hope, was it, maybe?
“I see the future. I saw the Cullens – they’re a vegetarian family. There are five of them. They only drink animals. They have golden butterscotch eyes, not red. I saw us with them,” I added. Us. “Living with them, being a part of their family.”
He looked dumbfounded and ran a hand through his hair again. “I didn’t know it was possible,” he muttered to himself, too low and too fast for any human to hear.
“Neither did I,” I agreed quietly. His eyes snapped up to mine. We stared at each other wordlessly. I decided to brighten the mood. “I’m trying anyway,” I scrunched my nose and frowned, “even if it’s impossibly hard.”
Doubt was still written in his perfect features. I jumped to my feet in a movement too fast for anything other then a vampire to see. “Wanna try it out?” I asked eagerly.
“I–” he started to say, but he was cut off by my gasping. The world blurred around the edges, and then disappeared completely, the future taking its place.
In my vision, it was just Jasper and I. We were hunting, and I could tell from his red eyes that this was the first time he’d hunted animals. We ran alongside each other in the rain towards two mountain lions. I held back, letting him catch one. He pounced, catching the lion easily, quickly biting its neck. He drained it, then pushed it away from himself in disgust, and stood to his full height, eyeing it critically.
"Good?," I asked in my vision.
He turned to me, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “Disgusting,” he grimaced. I laughed, and he smiled, looking around to see where the other lion had gone. It had long disappeared into the woods, but we could still catch it if we really wanted to.
“It’s not that bad,” I told him as I ran over and threw my arms around him, hugging him tightly and quickly. I pulled away just as quickly, shocked that I’d hugged him so soon after meeting him, and then started jumping around. “You did it! You did it!” The Jasper in my vision looked shocked and wary, but amused. Something else was there, too, that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
“Alice? Alice? Are you alright?” Jasper’s concerned voice brought me back to the present. He was leaning towards me, worried, and I focused my eyes on his beautiful onyx ones. His breath washed over my face, and I sighed, inhaling. Yum, I thought.
“Guess who’s having mountain lion for dinner?”
He looked staggered at the change of topic. “Umm … you?” He didn’t sound sure of himself in the least. I shook my head. He’d come to know that we were having mountain lion for dinner if I said we were. I was a seer after all.
“You!” I sang happily.
“I am?” he sounded surprised. “But I drink human's–”
“Not tonight, Jasper,” I said and sprang lightly to my feet. He stood, too. He towered over me. I craned my neck and grinned happily at him. “Don’t worry, I know where they are.”
“You were seeing the future just then?” he sounded surprised.
“Of course.”
“Okay then,” he said, easily accepting that I had been seeing more then the present a couple of seconds ago. I couldn’t help but be relieved that he wasn’t really freaked out.
I caught his wrist and stopped him from stepping out into the rain as a thought occurred to me. Maybe he wasn’t freaked because he could do something, too. “Hey, Jasper,” I said, tilting my head thoughtfully. “Do you have any talents?”
Something flashed through his eyes. He looked at me calculatingly. “I can feel and influence emotions,” he finally said. It took me a moment to fully understand what he’d said.
“What am I feeling?” I quizzed him, unable to resist.
He threw his head back and laughed. It was the first time I’d ever heard that sound from him. It was nice and made me feel like laughing, too. When his laughter finally stopped, he said, still chuckling slightly, “Hope. Acceptance. Happiness.” He smiled down at me, and it reached his eyes. I went warm all over, despite being a vampire. “You’re the happiest, most cheerful person I’ve ever met.” I beamed at the compliment. “And you’re looking forward to something.”
“Who wouldn’t be looking forward to a future I know I’ll have?” I asked rhetorically.
“And what’s in your future, Alice?” he whispered. Suddenly, I was very aware we were barely a meter apart.
I wondered how I should answer that question. We had only just met, after all. I remembered how he could feel my emotions, and tried to push my uneasiness away. I didn’t want to scare him off, telling him we were going to be together for the rest of eternity, but I didn’t want to lie to him, either. I was torn.
Calmness washed over me. I looked at him, surprised, but even that passed quickly. “You were all tumbled,” he explained, looking a bit apologetic. “Don’t worry if you don’t want to tell me so soon–” he looked down “-or if you never really want to tell me. It is your life, your future, after all.”
I smiled. “Don’t worry, I know I’m happy in my future, which is good. You're happy in yours, too,” I added thoughtfully. There – not a lie, but I wouldn’t scare him off, either.
“Am I with these Cullens, with you?” he asked, face unreadable. I thought I heard a weird edge in his tone, but I couldn’t be sure.
Oh. I’d forgotten I’d told him that we’d be with the Cullens together. I forced my smile not to fade. “Yeah,” I said in what I hoped didn’t sound like a forced happy tone. “That’s right.”
He looked like he wanted to say something, but stayed silent. I watched him warily, wondering if he’d go. Then I mentally chastened myself – I’d be the first to know if he was going anywhere without me. I quickly scanned the future and still saw us hunting. No one was leaving. Suddenly, I didn’t have to strain to keep the smile on my face.
“C’mon, if we don’t get going, you’ll miss your first taste of mountain lion – of the vegetarian way of life!”
His smile was sort of lopsided. It looked gorgeous on him. “Okay,” he sighed. “Don’t ask me why I’m doing this. I have no idea.” A thoughtful look crossed his face as soon as he said that, and the way he looked at me afterwards made something inside me squeeze.
I took his hand again, unable to resist, and lead him outside. He only looked mildly surprised. I didn’t know how to answer him without saying something that would shock him too much, so I said nothing. “Well I won’t ask then,” I reassured him instead. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze that made tingles shoot up my hand and jump around my chest.
I let go of his hand once we were far enough into the forest, aware of the fact that my nearly dry clothes were being drenched again. “Try to keep up,” I told him, then darted off into the forest. He laughed, half a step behind me.
I’m glad you took my hand, was the last lingering thought I had before I focused on hunting.
