Chapter Thirteen
Life and Death
Alice

After my hot bath and spending a little more time with the Cullen's, I headed home, needing to do some homework and laundry. The house was empty, Cynthia must still be at her friends house. There's no telling where Mark and Jessica are.

I had finished my Algebra and English assignments and was just moving on to my History paper when I heard the front door open and slam downstairs.

"Alice!" Mark yelled and I ignored him. "Mary Alice Brandon I know you are home! Get down here!" He yelled again, his speech slurring.

I sighed and grudgingly headed downstairs.

"Yes sir?" I asked meekly from the bottom step of the stairs.

"Get in this kitchen right now!" He yelled and I cautiously made my way to the kitchen. "What is this?" He asked, obviously very drunk, pointing into the sink.

I stretched up on to my tippy toes to peer into the sink.

"A plate." I answered.

"I thought I told you to clean up after your damn self!" He roared and slapped me across the face.

"I'm s-sorry." I apologized, scared and surprised by his sudden violence, not having had a vision of this.

"I'm sick and tired of this Mary!" He screamed and hit me again, sending me crashing to the floor from the force. "I'm tired of you always apologizing for Alice!" He screamed as he kicked me in the side.

What is going on? Is he actually the crazy one in this family or something? Why does he think I'm apologizing for Alice?

"Damn it! I didn't ask for any of this Mary! I didn't ask for Alice to see what she sees! I didn't ask for her to be such a little freak!" He yelled and picked me off of the floor and I heard banging on the front door. "I didn't ask for any of this! This is all your fault! If you didn't encourage her then we wouldn't be here!" He screamed and started punching and slapping me, throwing me against the cabinets and doorway, battering me around the kitchen painfully.

As I cried and screamed, I kept hearing someone banging on the front door, calling out. Finally, Mark dropped me on the ground and I fell into a bloodied heap. My nose was poring blood, my head was bleeding, and I knew I had a broken bone somewhere.

I felt absolutely numb as I laid there. All I could hear was a ringing in my ears, and as a worried neighbor got on his knees in front of me, trying to get me to respond to him, I shut my eyes and blocked the world out.

"Alice." A soothing voice spoke my name sweetly, and I immediately opened my eyes.

I knew that voice from anywhere, it was my mothers.

I was standing barefooted in a large garden, wearing my favorite white cotton dress, surrounded by colorful flowers and towering shrubbery. I knew where I was instantly, my mothers special garden.

I was very confused however. After my mother's death my father locked the gates to her garden that encompassed most of our backyard, not allowing myself or Cynthia to go to the backyard anymore. Her garden was probably dead by now, it shouldn't be like this, how did I get out here anyway?

"Alice?" My mother's voice called out sweetly for me again.

"Momma?" I called out to her, frantic to find her.

"I'm at the tea table!" She called back happily, her voice just as soft and soothing as I remembered it.

"I can't find my way out!" I called back, fear creeping into my mind.

"Yes you can, look for a way!" She called back softly, not a hint of concern in her voice.

I shut my eyes tightly as I received a vision.

I saw myself walking through my mothers maze like garden, following her instructions on how to get out, and finally reached the exit.

I retraced the same steps I had made in my vision and sighed in relief as I found the gate.

"See, I told you so." My mother laughed happily from the tea table. "Come sit down sweetheart, we need to talk." She smiled softly at me.

I took a moment to marvel at her. Her long curly black hair that I share was softly falling around her shoulders, making her look absolutely angelic. Her kind green eyes sparkled as she looked at me, with that same loving and curious look she always had when she saw me. She was tall and graceful and elegant, everything I wasn't, and I idolized her for the wonderful person she was.

"Come sit down." She laughed, gesturing to a seat at the table and I quickly sat with her.

"I'm so sorry Alice, he didn't know what he was doing, he thought you were me." My mother apologized, her kind green eyes suddenly looked saddened.

"Who?" I asked confused.

"Your father, Mark. He only hurt you because he thought you were me. That's why he was calling you Mary." She explained and suddenly memories of the beating I had just received came to the forefront of my mind.

"I thought so." I sighed. "Where am I?" I asked.

"You're dead of course Alice." She responded, taking a sip of tea.

"Dead?" I gasped.

"Only briefly." She smiled, a sad look in her beautiful eyes again. "Dr. Cullen is hard at work to revive you, it shouldn't take him long, time is much slower here."

"I can't die, I still have so many visions to see come true." I sighed.

"You're not going to die, we're simply getting the chance to talk again for a little while." My mother laughed at me.

"I've missed you." I told her, my throat tightening.

"I've missed you too sweetheart." She smiled at me.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't stop you." I apologized, tears lining my eyes.

"No, no, sweetheart, don't be sad." She hushed me. "You did nothing wrong, I was the one who wouldn't listen!"

"I should've tried harder to stop you." I shook my head, a few tears escaping down my cheeks.

"I should have listened to you. I'm the one who's at fault here Alice, not you." She tried to sooth me. "Please tell me that you haven't been blaming yourself for this long." She cried.

"I have." I nodded. "As soon as you pulled out of the driveway I started blaming myself."

"Oh, Alice." My mother sobbed, looking heartbroken. "I have never, ever, blamed you." She promised me and relief flooded through me.

"Thank you." I smiled at her as I wiped my tears away.

"Of course, you should really stop blaming yourself for things out of your control." She giggled a little.

"I can't help it." I giggled along with her.

"I know." She sighed, bright green eyes looking at me in wonder. "It's time for you to wake up Alice." My mother stood and came around the table to me, I stood as well.

"But you didn't ever say what you wanted to talk to me about." I refused.

"We'll talk another time, but it's time for you to go." She smiled sadly at me.

"No, please, I don't want to leave anymore." I shook my head.

"Yes, you do. Go back to the Cullens, go back to living your life, I'll be waiting." My mother smiled at me, hugging me tightly for a long moment.

"I love you." I told my mother sadly.

"I love you too Alice." My mother smiled at me.

Suddenly my sight went dark, and I felt a stabbing pain all over my body that became more and more painful. Something hit me in my chest and I gasped, my eyes flying open as I sat up, sputtering and coughing as I tried to breathe properly.

"You're okay Alice, you're going to be okay." Carlisle promised me, looking relived and saddened at the same time. "I'm going to give you some pain medication that's going to make you go to sleep. I need to put you on a breathing tube, you aren't getting any air." Carlisle told me as he started an IV and squeezed medicine into my blood stream. "You'll see me very soon Alice." He promised as my eyes fluttered close.