Bella
Alice stared at the wall, her face falling into the blank expression which indicated she was experiencing a vision. Within seconds Jasper appeared beside her and took her hand. A wave of concern washed over me before Jasper reigned in his gift.
Alice blinked and looked up at her husband, shaking off the vision.
"What is it love?" Jasper whispered.
She bit her lip, "I'm not sure yet. I saw Maria."
I watched them together as I had on many nights before. Now that Renesmee had reached maturity I had been forced to accept the reality that her world centred on Jacob rather than her vampire family.
Quil and Embry had switched back to Sam's pack at Jacob's request when we moved to Alaska five years earlier but Leah and Seth had refused to leave. I knew that Embry was considering switching back to Jake's pack as he had still not imprinted so there was little holding him at La Push.
I had hoped to remain in Forks longer but once alarm over Carlisle's unchanging appearance appeared at the hospital we had been forced to plan a move. Charlie and Sue had gotten married before we had left and had visited every year at our request. Though Emmett kept joking that they should settle down in Florida to get old and grey I knew Charlie had many years of life ahead of him. I was waiting for him and Sue to take up our offer of unlimited funding for the world trip they had planned. Alice had assured me that they would accept eventually but we were not allowed to encourage them in person.
Edward had pointed out that my inability to accept gifts without feeling awkward clearly came from my father.
So Sue lived quietly with Charlie while her children halved their time between Alaska and Forks. Renesmee had reached maturity at the age of seven as predicted, which left me longing for the days when her small hand reached for mine. I was still amazed that I had been able to be a mother, but I could not stop the ache that wished her childhood had been longer.
Jake had been reluctant to propose as Renesmee was technically only seven years old, although she looked eighteen and acted much older. Renesmee had solved the problem by proposing to him a few months later, much to his surprise. They planned a very long engagement, much to Alice's annoyance. Edward had revealed that in the four years since then, Alice had been stocking up on supplies and Jasper had threatened to move it all to the garage if she didn't rent a storage locker.
Neither Leah nor Seth had imprinted, which worried Jake and Renesmee. Their regular visits to Forks ensured that the Pack remained active at La Push, though no new wolves had phased since we had faced the Volturi. Jake had encouraged Leah and Seth to remain in the hope that eventually they would stop phasing and begin to age normally again. Leah had quickly told him where to shove that idea.
The four of them had left to return to Forks minutes earlier, allowing Alice to see her visions for the first time in months.
Now that I had gotten to know Jasper I could recognise the signs of tension in him. The mere mention of the woman who had sired him prompted a flare of anxiety which he struggled to conceal.
Alice kissed him on the cheek, "I'm sure I'll see more as decisions are made," she reassured him lightly.
From outside I heard Emmett's booming laughter. Alice giggled and suggested I go check on my husband. Even Jasper ducked his head to hide his smile.
Even after ten years my ability to walk without tripping over something made me smile. I doubted I could match Alice for grace or Rosalie for poise but the absence of clumsiness remained a gift I was thankful for. No doubt every Emergency Room I had ever attended as a human was grateful too.
Carlisle and Esme had retreated to their private cabin a few miles away, claiming that they needed some alone time. Emmett had permanently scarred everyone within earshot by announcing what they were really going there for. Rosalie had smacked him across the back of the head but no-one bothered to contradict him as we all knew that he was correct.
I opened the door cautiously, wondering why I would hear laughter and vicious snarling at the same time. The sight which greeted me caused an eruption of laughter to bubble through me.
Edward lay pinned to the ground by Emmett and Rosalie. He snarled and thrashed but the couple managed to hold him down.
"Dare I ask?" I called.
Rosalie glanced up, her hair in slight disarray. If she had been human her face would have been flushed with amusement.
"We're trying to save our reputation!" Emmett explained cheerfully.
"Get off me you ox!" Edward shouted. The dust thrown up by their tussling scattered everywhere, though a significant portion settled in my husband's hair.
"Don't insult my Rose!" Emmett bellowed back. The laughter in his voice betrayed the threatening sound.
Rosalie giggled and used one hand to mess up Edward's hair.
I walked forward to survey the scene. Edward's eyes pleaded with me to help him but I could not bring myself to interfere with Emmett's fun.
"How will crushing my husband save your reputation?" I asked with a barely concealed smile.
"Carlisle said you and Edward are worse than Rose and I!" Emmett huffed. Edward rolled his eyes.
"Well, shouldn't you be upstairs proving him wrong?" I asked logically.
Emmett and Rosalie shared a sneaky glance.
"You're way cuter than Eddie anyway," Rose purred. Emmett growled softly, one of the odd vocalisations I recognised as an invitation.
"I resent having to see that!" Edward called irritably as he sat up. A slight gust of air was the only indication that Rose and Emmett had moved.
"Worse than them?" I asked Edward. If he could have I'm sure he would have been blushing.
"They got the repair bill from our second honeymoon," he explained sheepishly, "They're talking about building a new house because we damaged the foundations."
From inside the house I could hear Jasper and Alice laughing.
After a not-so-brief interlude Edward and I lay in bed trying to ignore the obnoxious moaning and wall-thumping emanating from the room down the hall.
"They're probably not even doing anything," I commented after a particularly loud crash, "Just throwing stuff around to annoy the rest of us."
Edward pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers, "Trust me, there's nothing platonic happening in their room right now."
I giggled and offered to extend my shield around him again. He accepted gratefully and I watched his features smooth out into a smile.
Just as our thought began to turn to further carnal pleasures Alice's shrill shriek echoed through the house resounding with notes of panic.
"Edward! Of all the times to get Bella to block my thoughts!"
Within seconds Edward had pulled on a pair of jeans and disappeared out the door. I took a few extra seconds to cover my upper body as well as my lower.
I arrived in the living room moments before Emmett and Rosalie. Emmett covered his eyes with one hand and moaned that Edward was scarring his fragile psyche by walking around shirtless.
"I heard your thoughts five minutes ago," Edward grumbled, "Nothing could scar that."
"You should walk around shirtless Em," Rosalie suggested with a purr. Emmett tried to comply but Rosalie changed her mind and announced she didn't want to deal with Edward's jealousy.
Jasper's abrupt growl silenced everyone in the room. Alice clung to her scarred lover with wide eyes. The quiet but gentle Vampire I had spent a decade getting to know was gone; a fearsome warrior stood in his place. A sliver of fear slid down my spine.
"Peter and Charlotte are coming," Alice said without hesitation, "They have a stranger with them."
I dropped my shield from Edward so he could see his sister's vision for himself. Confusion creased his brow.
"We are going to meet them," Alice continued, "The stranger will either join our family or we will have to kill him. There are no other options."
"When?" Emmett demanded.
"Tomorrow night."
Edward
I had never thought I would be grateful to Jacob for taking Renesmee away. Yet the knowledge of the arrival of two vampires I did not trust along with a third we had never met accomplished exactly that.
We all sat tensely on the front lawn. Alice had insisted that she be closest to the letterbox; Jasper would not be persuaded to remain more than a metre away from her.
"This sucks," Rosalie stated with her usual tact, "Are we the Home for Lost Vampires now?"
"Rose," Emmett said pleadingly.
"This could happen every week, we'll end up eradicating whole species of animals if we take in any more," she continued.
"Rosalie," Carlisle said sternly, "You will be civil or I won't give you a yacht for Christmas; I'll give it to Jacob instead."
Rosalie growled her annoyance but fell silent. I heard her thinking of Jacob falling off the yacht and drowning at sea.
Dusk arrived too quickly. Carlisle and Esme sat together talking quietly while Emmett and Rosalie held each other tightly.
I felt the urge to enter the house to sit at the piano but I wouldn't have been able to concentrate on playing anyway. Everyone's thoughts moved so fast I resorted to asking Bella to shield me.
I clung to her gratefully, a pair of statues waiting for disaster. Unlike in the past when Bella had been so fragile I knew she was as durable as me. I was oddly calm as I had already faced the terrifying possibility of losing her; what else could really compare to that?
Alice jumped to her feet, quickly followed by Jasper. She did not hesitate to scamper gracefully to the end of the driveway. Bella dropped her shield immediately, knowing I needed to hear the thoughts of the newcomer.
Jasper reminded me of a sniper as he followed slowly, his every thought focused on an impending attack. He stood to the side, partially obscured by a tree.
I heard the thoughts of the vampire just beyond the tree line.
Maybe they're just insane, He wondered, Maria trusted these two; maybe their job is to kill soldiers she is sick of?
"Hi Jackson!" Alice greeted excitedly, "I'm Alice and this is my mate. Please come closer!"
The stuttered and incoherent thoughts of the new vampire actually made me smile.
"She just ignores us," Peter huffed, pretending to be hurt. He and his mate Charlotte approached wearing similar smiles.
"Oh, you're here," Alice teased, "I was hoping for someone more interesting. Charlotte, haven't you gotten sick of this dope yet?"
Charlotte moved forward to hug Alice. Peter flipped her off with a laugh, earning a growl from Jasper. As soon as Jasper moved forward vicious snarling from the forest erupted through the area. He pushed Alice behind his back and crouched to meet an attack. His own growling matched that of the newcomer in aggression.
"Hey!" Alice cried, "Shut up! Both of you!"
I laughed out loud at the sudden silence. Jasper was reeling from the glimpse of a vampire as battle-scarred as his own reflection. Even worse, the underlying resemblance between the two of them was eerie.
Alice jumped onto Jasper's back and kissed the side of his neck. He stood up and stepped backward though his thoughts were not at all happy about it.
Peter and Charlotte had remained still, having expected the noisy reception. Charlotte waved the newcomer forward. He took two steps but remained in the forest. I could hear the shock and fear in his mind as his ears and eyes tracked how many Vampires were in the vicinity.
"This is Jackson," Peter introduced.
"I swear no-one in my coven will harm you," Carlisle said smoothly, "I am Carlisle and this is my mate Esme."
Jackson glanced in their direction. The light threw the harsh scars on his face and hands into sharp relief. I felt a growl building in my chest but the non-violent thoughts in his head made me push it away.
Alice dropped back onto the grass and a wave of calm flooded through the area courtesy of Jasper. He had deliberately positioned himself between Alice and Jackson.
After a brief introduction all eyes returned to the newest vampire.
"Maria asked us to bring one of her soldiers here so he can adjust to civilian life," Peter said softly, "This is Jackson Whitlock."
"Whitlock," Rosalie gasped.
Jackson regarded Jasper intently. I listened to him fight down the automatic urge to challenge my brother with the image of Charlotte explaining that Jasper could help him. Slowly he stepped forward so everyone could see him clearly.
"Edward is a mind-reader," Jasper explained quietly. I heard Jackson suck in a horrified breath and the memories began to increase in intensity.
"Bella," I pleaded. A moment later her shield enveloped me.
"Bella is a Shield," Alice added, "She is blocking Edward at the moment."
"Sorry," Jackson managed.
"Forgiven," I managed, "I know you didn't mean to hurt me."
"Edward is remarkably discreet," Jasper offered, "No matter what memories he sees he will not discuss them without your permission."
Jackson nodded, clearly unwilling to come closer. I ran my hand down Bella's hand, which was our silent signal for her to drop her shield. Thankfully Jackson remained focused on my family rather than his gruesome memories.
Jasper held Alice tightly and would not meet anyone's gaze, "Some things are best forgotten."
"Jasper do you remember your little brother Benjamin?" Charlotte asked.
Jasper nodded slowly and whispered, "Benny."
"He was Jackson's great-grandfather."
All eyes turned toward the newcomer, whose thoughts became frantic. Instead of dropping into a defensive crouch he chose to flee. In a flash he was gone.
"He's terrified," Jasper said urgently, "He is expecting us to kill him or at least chase him away."
"I agree," I said, "And from his thoughts he is already considering fleeing."
"We can help!" Alice insisted, "He is family already, we just have to convince him to stay."
"I can't believe how much he resembles you Jasper," Emmett commented with a grin, "He looks years older but everything else is you."
"And the scars of course," Rosalie added, "That one down his cheek is pretty shocking."
Jasper stared at the forest while deep in thought. Bella noticed the curiosity on my face; clearly I would be explaining what I was sensing later.
He was thinking of Maria. Twisted, ugly scenes of torture, humiliation and rape dominated his thoughts. If he had been human he would have been crying from the deep emotional scars he hid from everyone but me. Even Alice did not know the dirtier details of his time in the south.
"I think he will need your help Jasper," I said to my brother. He regarded me with tortured eyes.
"Can't we all help?" Emmett asked.
Jasper shook his head, "I doubt he will accept anyone's help."
"You did," Alice pointed out.
He clung to her like a drowning man holding a life raft. His eyes flicked to me and he silently asked me not to comment on how much Alice had never been told.
"Great, another stray," Rosalie sighed.