PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello lovely doveys. I'm back. I think. It's been about a year since I last posted on this story, and, truthfully, I'd mostly forgotten about it. But then, I checked my email, and saw that someone had added it to their favorites. It made me feel bad, and kinda shocked that people were still reading it. I looked over it, and read comments, and my heart swelled with love. So…I tried to write. I really tried. And I got a chapter out of it! Woo. But, I'm not sure. I don't remember much from the books about the characters, and a while ago, I made a page of important facts to remember, but I lost it. And I didn't have much desire to go back and check over everything. So it's all from my memory, pretty much, and imagination. It might be decent. It might be horrible. You tell me. Sorry it took so long to write…yeah. Know that I wrote it out of love for you even though I don't know you! I like people. 3 Yes, I am rambling.

(Where it left off) My only real sane thought was of Alice. Of course Alice knew I was coming. Alice, after all, knew everything…

"I don't want to cause trouble," I trailed off, as the two guards gripped Clarence's and my arms and steered up through a doorway.

They exchanged amused looks. "Well, kid, that's sort of unavoidable now." Demetri said. "Yeah, I doubt Aro's too happy to see what he's got." Felix grinned; shoving me through another doorway-it was like a never ending tunnel-to a large reception looking room. "I can't deny I am." I looked around the room. It was a complete reception room, complete with soft looking chairs, a vase of flowers on a coffee table, and a desk with a human woman behind it. She was pretty, with dark hair and eyes, but a sort of anxious-to-please look. I was aware that some (crazy) people worked for the Volturi in hopes of being turned vampire. I was also aware that most of them became a meal.

The woman smiled widely. "If you could please wait here, you will be summoned for council you shortly."

"Sure thing, doll." Felix said, making her blush and giggle flirtatiously. I wondered if she was really that stupid or if it was just an act. I wanted to tell her to get out while she could, but it was too late for that.

"Sit," Demetri growled, pushing me down onto a chair, not using much force. Felix did the same to Clarence, who waved a scolding finger. Then, he immediately got distracted by the flowers.

"Oh, flowers!" He said happily, picking up the vase to sniff them. "Hibiscus, I believe?" He directed the question to the girl.

"Uh…yes."

"One of God's greatest gifts, if I do say so myself." He said approvingly. There was an awkward silence, and I wanted to hit him out of bad nerves. I gritted my teeth and hoped he would pick up the que to shut up.

Well, it felt like we sat there for hours, when, in actuality, it was ten minutes tops. I felt like I was about to explode, when suddenly the huge doors opened, and a small hooded figure came in. I jumped up, thinking it was Alice, but I was disappointed to find that it wasn't.

"Aro is ready for the visitors." Jane said in a clear, childlike voice. She looked intently at me and tilted her head to the side like a curious puppy. I evaded my look. I held her glance for a few seconds before I looked away. I didn't want to appear intimidated.

I was heaved sharply to a standing position and herded through the black doors, to a huge, startlingly white room. There weren't any windows, which was off-putting, and I craned my head backwards to look over Demetri's thick shoulder, for reasons I didn't know, to look out the door; the only way out. The last thing I saw was the receptionist looking in curiously, before the doors slammed shut, echoing. Then, my arms were released. I rubbed them, feeling weak.

In the middle of the room were three vampires atop chairs, and one vampire standing very close nearby. I noticed that all the walls were flanked by dozens of vampires in black cloaks with hoods that hid their faces. The doors were now guarded by Felix and Demetri. Everything about it screamed "trap".

"Welcome to Volterra." A wispy voice drifted from one of the vampires. I tensed up, reflexively as he stood up. Aro. He laughed lightly. "There's no need to be anxious. We're all friends here." None of the other vampires smiled or made any sort of movement. Caius and Marcus looked somber and dark. Sure, friends. I made my shoulders unclench and took a breath. Despite my fear, and current dislike of the Volturi, I held a grudging respect for them from my days with Maria. I bowed my head a little.

"I suppose you know why I'm here," I ventured, not knowing how to start.

He raised his eyebrows. "On the contrary, I'm quite baffled, human." He waved away the vampire hovering beside him. "I'm sure I'll be perfectly fine, Renata." He smiled at her, and glided over to me. He studied me. "I have no idea to who you are, why you're here, or what purpose you serve. I only know that Alice had a vision of you coming." He smiled slowly. "That's all very easy to fix." He placed a cold hand on my forehead and closed his eyes.

I knew what his talent was and that he was looking unto all of my thoughts and memories I had ever had. It was a little unsettling, but I stayed still. It would be good that he knew and understand the truth.

Aro opened his eyes, confusion in his face. "That's odd, yet very fascinating." He murmured, before turning to Clarence. "And you, little man. I know nothing of you."

"Hello there, I'm Clarence." He said, reaching out a hand to shake. Aro avoided it and put a hand to touch his forehead.

"Oh my, your hand is quite cold. Nothing a little sun light or a heater couldn't cure! " Clarence said, cheerfully. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but, again, I wanted to hit him. Aro's face narrowed and he took his hand away. "What are you?"

"Pardon?"

"I can't see your mind."

"Oh, I'm an angel, 2nd class. Haven't got my wings yet, you see…"

By Aro's expression, I got that he thought he was dealing with a crazy person. His gaze slid back to me and he looked thoughtful. I wished I could see what he was thinking. He looked distracted and a little ruffled, but nodded to me and went back to his place beside Caius and Marcus. I saw his lips moving too quickly and quietly for my human hearing to understand. The other two gave away nothing.

I shifted from foot to foot and Clarence patted my arm. "What happens now?" I whispered, partially to myself. "Oh, I don't know. But this is getting a bit interesting." Clarence said.

After a few minutes, all three of them stood up. I had a lot I wanted to say, but I held my tongue.

"Well, now I understand for the reason of your-ah-spur of the moment visit." Aro smiled, like he had a secret. "We really shouldn't keep you much longer…Jasper wasn't it?" He looked over his shoulder and held out an arm. "Alice?"

One of the cloaked vampires glided away from the wall and came to stand beside him and hold his hand. The hood fell away and I was looking at Alice.

The first thing I felt was relief and happiness to see her. Alice. But…only physically was it her. But her huge eyes were a crimson red and her usually sweet face was blank and cold as she looked at me. I began to move forward, but Clarence stopped me.

Alice looked up at Aro. "Yes, master?" She asked.

Aro's smile widened a little. "This man claims to be a Cullen and your husband. Can you verify this?"

"Alice!" I blurted out, "I'm Jasper! You have to believe me! I know you remember. We met in a diner in Philadelphia in 1948! You said you'd been waiting for me and-,"

"I've never seen him before in my life, master." She cut in icily, examining me critically. "He's a mere human."

No. Nonono. Alice wouldn't forget me. COULDN'T forget me! I kept rambling. "Clarence put some kind of spell that made everything change and I became human, and everyone forgot me! You must have seen that!" I shot accusingly at Aro. "How else can you explain it?"

"Permission to kill him, master?" Alice asked, sweetly.

"Well, I was actually enjoying this unique situation." Aro replied, enjoying whatever his twisted version of happiness was. I couldn't believe it. He knew. He had to know the situation! He was playing along like he didn't, but he knew. I wanted to kill him more than anything.

"I can't believe this." I snapped. "Aro-tell her! Did you even tell them?" I gestured fiercely at Marcus and Caius. I vaguely noticed a few of the guards stirring in the background. Raising your voice at one of the Volturi wasn't exactly something someone did if they wanted to keep their spine intact.

"It's completely fascinating. He really believes this little story in his head is true." Caius said in a gravelly voice.

"Yes, interesting," Marcus said, seeming less impressed. "This meeting is wasting our time, Aro. I say we kill him and be over with it."

"He does seem to know a remarkable amount." Aro mused. "It's very unexplainable."

"It's not unexplainable, dammit!" I hollered, rage pulsing violently inside of me. Clarence threw me a cautioning look.

"Bored now," Alice said, examining her nails.

"Alice-!"

"Well, he has exhibited irrational anger. That can't be good for society. Maybe you're right." Aro said, locking his cold…ugly eyes with me. I scowled back. Then he turned to Alice. "If you'll do the honors, Alice?"

"With pleasure," She replied, and began to stalk gracefully towards me. I backed up, just the tiniest bit. "Alice," I said quietly, "you don't want to do this. You need to go back to Carlisle. You aren't meant to be here."

She growled, her mouth twisting downward. "You don't know me." There was nothing familiar in her eyes as they glinted red and malicious. I couldn't believe I was doing nothing. All I could do was watch in petrified shock as the love of my life came closer to kill me. Her eyes…

"Run, Jasper!" Clarence hollered, randomly leaping in front of me. Startled, I fell back a few feet, and Alice was suddenly in front of us. With a flick of her wrist she sent him crashing into a wall.

"Don't hurt him!" I snarled. Annoying as he was, I didn't want him to be hurt. I hoped he was okay. "Clarence!"

"Kill them both, dear." Aro called, lazily.

"Joseph!" I heard Clarence call weakly. "A little help would be nice!"

I stumbled, and the last thing I saw was Alice lunging at me before everything went black.

I opened my eyes.

I was no longer in the Volturi's room. I was in the middle of the street on a nonbusy road. It was very dark. I squinted around, making out some buildings.

"Clarence?" I called out, my voice hoarse.

"That was a close one. That actually hurt a bit." He muttered, "The things I do for my wings!" Then the weirdest thing happened: my legs buckled and I collapsed numbly on the curb. I wasn't use to being tired. I hadn't been tired in years. But after today's events, I wanted to sleep for a thousand years.

"You okay, Jasper?"

"Alice…she didn't remember me." I whispered, and coughed. "It's your fault." I was too tired to raise my voice.

"Why would she? You've never been born. That was your wish and now it's true." Clarence said, gently. For once, I didn't argue.

"Aro knew. He didn't tell them the truth." I said, anger coming back. I slammed my fist against the pavement. Clarence didn't say anything.

"That one guard…Demetri. He's a tracker." I said.

"Oh, I believe we'll be fine here tonight." Clarence said. "It's thanks to Joseph that we're fine at all." We lapsed into silence after that.

It was quiet. I heard cicadas buzzing, but that was it. No traffic, no voices.

After a minute, I asked, "Where are we?"

"This is Salado, Texas; home of the historic Stagecoach Inn."

"There some relevance here?" I asked, bitterly. I didn't know if I could take anymore. I was drop dead work out.

"Oh, you'll have to see for yourself tomorrow. It's very late. We should find somewhere to sleep for now so you can regain your strength. We have a big day ahead of us!"

"I haven't slept in years," I said.

"Well, now's a great time to start." Clarence tugged me to my feet. "I'm pretty sure there's a hotel or something nearby…" We began to trudge down the deserted street.

"Can I fix this?" I asked. Clarence looked at me. "It's all up to you. What you want."

"Tomorrow," I mumbled, stifling a yawn, and feeling a little better. "Tomorrow, I'll fix it. I can make it better. I can get Alice back and…" I yawned again. Jeez, it was hard to think straight when the world was swaying a little.

We walked past an old Confederate soldier memorial site.

"Tomorrow…"

Eek. Good night. It's like 2:00 in the morning here.