The Wilderness

Alice stared at James in disbelief, "Yes, they do," she regained her composure. I have a lot of work to do, she thought to herself. "Hmmm, first we need to preheat the oven," she danced over to the oven and pressed several buttons, eliciting beeps in return. "Now, we mix the ingredients together," her eyes held a maniacal glow as she put the cookie ingredients in the mixer and turned it on. Oh, how I love this part, Alice smiled.

James looked a little frightened when she saw her act so strangely while she made the cookies. He recoiled and retreated further away from her, although he watched the cookies being made intently.

"Do you have to... do... whatever you are doing?" James asked, quite scared of the jerky movements and weird facial expression she was making.

Alice looked over at James, who seemed a bit scared. She calmed down. "Yes, it's quite necessary," she explained. "Did I frighten you? I'm sorry..." she apologized as she rolled the dough into lumps and put them on a baking sheet. Then she stuck the baking sheet in the oven and started the timer. "We have twenty minutes. What do you want to talk about?"

"I wouldn't know what to talk about?" he wrote, a sheepish expression, although he kept his eyes on the cookies. He removed his fear, embarassed he had been afraid of somebody so nice.

"Hey... I was... sort of wondering, could you give me a name?" James wrote. He had no idea of what she might call him, but he promised to himself he'd accept it, no matter how strange it was.

He hoped she would give him a nice name.

Alice reflected, thinking for a few moments before, "For all intents and purposes, let's call you James. Do you like that name?"

I really can't imagine him as anything else other than James. But it might remind him of his past. Oh well, it probably won't. Jeez, and a few minutes ago I was thinking he'd kill me. He seems...nice...now. I don't think he'll pull anything now.

She wished James liked his old-new name, she didn't think she could call him anything else.

"That's a great name! Thanks... why did you pick it?" James wondered. Regardless, he liked it.

He smiled like he hadn't in a long time. A new name, a nice person taking care of him, some cookies, what else could he want?

Oh... that's right... blood. I'll need some in a few hours.

James sniffed the air, but could only smell Alice's stench. He quickly moved his head in an arc. Surely there was somebody else here? He wasn't too sure, his instincts weren't honed as they used to be.

James sat down on a chair, rather bored.

"What has your life been like?" he asked with curiosity.

Quote :

"That's a great name! Thanks... why did you pick it?"

Alice paused a minute. Should I tell him? No, he doesn't need to know... "No reason," she lied smoothly.

Quote :

"What has your life been like?"

Alice thought this over, "Well, I was born in 1901, got sent to an insane asylum, made a vampire in 1920, met my husband Jasper near 1950, and I've been with the Cullens a few years after I met him. My life's been alright. Can you remember anything from yours?" she asked concernedly.

"My life? I was only born a few hours ago..." he wrote quite sheepishly, staring at Alice for a moment, before writing something else down:

"What is the average lifespan of a human, assuming you are one, because you look like a human. Something in my mind makes me remember humans... I am one too I think!" James wrote, quite obliviously.

"You look really young, so I think humans live about 200 years?" James predicted, obviously miles out.

"James, honey, you're quite wrong," Alice said gently as she shook her head. "We're not like other people. We're vampires. Does that explain the odd blood thirst you've been feeling?"

"And we don't live for just two hundred years- we live forever," she explained.

"Wait... how do you know I'm a... whatever you just said. And how do you know about my... cravings?" he asked in alarm on the paper. He began to shake violently, before he jumped off his seat onto a table.

"HAWWWWWWA VIARMPEEG MIUUU TRAKTOS!" he shouted with rage, growling at Alice for a reason he couldn't quite understand. She had lied to him. She knew who he was! And she never told him...

"Huuuuuuu Ummmmmm I?" he managed to ask, with a very bad but almost understandable accent.

He glared at Alice.

THAT TRAITOR! I'LL FEAST ON HER BLOOD!

The oven made a light beep sound to signal the cookies were ready.

James heard the noise, and turned his head, completely forgetting about the state he was previously in.

"Hmmm...." he grumbled in hunger.

Alice saw the hurt on James' face as he shouted at her, and recoiled instinctively. "James, please!" she pleaded, then the timer went off. James appeared to be completely distracted by the cookies, much to her relief.

Alice rushed over to the oven and got out the cookies, not bothering to warn James that they're hot, he couldn't feel that anyway.

James grabbed one of the cookies, feeling a very faint oddness in the touch. He let go of the cookie.

"Is it ready to eat?" he asked, licking his lips. He wansn't sure, because they didn't look like much, but he knew that a lot of food was like that, for example, the deer. And that wasn't even food, but that its blood was decent.

"Wait a second... you dodged my question" he wrote "how do you know I'm a vampeer?" he mispelled the word vampire from ignorance.

"Yes, they're ready for us to eat, just not humans. They'd burn their mouths off," Alice clarified. "And I can't tell you, you might regress back to your old self," she looked him in the eye.

Yeah, if he knew, he'd kill me, and then he'd hunt down Bella. Can't let that happen again.

James stared at Alice for the comment she made for a few seconds, before managing to write something.

"What was my old self like?" he questioned, looking at Alice in curiosity. He was almost reluctant to believe that he had a life before the lightning, although now he knew, he could not accept any other truth. James gulped down a few cookies in quick succession.

"These are nice..." he wrote happily, offering the rest to Alice.

Alice accepted a cookie and took a small bite. "Well, you were...not evil, exactly, but...different," she chose her words carefully, not wanting to remind him of his gory past. "I can't say anything else," she shook her head. "Please do not try to suck my blood."

"Why? Is your blood bad?" James asked, sniffing her. It didn't smell bad. In fact, it was quite appetizing.

"Different? In what way?" he wrote inquisitively. He was confused by the remark, but seemed quite passive in his movements and actions.

"Umm I evil?" he managed to say. He decided to throw away the over-written piece of paper, easily tossing it into a nearby trashcan.

"No, it's not," Alice smiled. "No, you're not evil," she said soothingly, trying to make him forget about it. "So...why did you decide to come here?"

"Umm... I'mma nottoo shure!" James said, sitting on a stool, gazing at Alice out of pure boredom. He felt a few twitches, but tried to ignore them. He knew what they were, blood cravings...

"Where do I get good blood?" James asked, sure she would know a good spot, seeing as she was a vampire herself. James lept off the stool, eager for a sanguinary feast.

"Follow me," Alice smiled as she walked to the back door and began walking towards the forest. "We're going to be vegetarians," she giggled at the term. Then she caught sight of a deer and attacked it, drinking its blood. She walked back to James, licking the blood off her lips. "Okay, now it's your turn," she said cheerfully.

"Deer? I just ayte won, and it wasn't nice!" James complained, striking down the deer for the sheer thrill of it, ending its miserable life.

James didn't like the forest. It reminded him he was born from absolutely nothing. He tried a bit of the deer, but then spat it out in disgust.

"Well, it's either woodland creatures or humans," Alice explained, then froze in vision. She glared at James, "No, absolutely not!"
I can't believe he was going to chase Bella again, she thought to herself.

"Why not humans?" James asked in more confusion. He threw away the dead carcass of the deer with a lot of anger.

"I mean... deer tastes DISGUSTING!" he shouted. James wasn't too happy. He punched the ground, a minute crater forming.

"Would you really want to end someone else's life just to satisfy your own thirst?" Alice asked James. "Should you choose to drink human blood, fine, just don't harm anyone in Forks," she stated. "Understand?"

"But is an animal also aleaf? An u didn kar about keeling it!" James pointed out to Alice. He was confused by her strange customs, but he guess he'd have to get used to it. Alice was very nice to him... he had no idea why either... he didn't benefit her. OR DID HE!

She wants to fatten me up and then eat me

"GRRRRRRR!" James growled at Alice. "I see u trickz!"

"Yes, a deer is still alive, but it's like humans eating cows, right?" Alice explained.

"My tricks?" she asked in confusion. "What do you mean?"