Alice.
His Alice.
In her he had reveled in her purity.
It had cleansed him; washing him anew.
Her happiness had swallowed him whole, illuminating the shadows cast over his heart.
His Alice had forsaken him.
Like a nymph she had danced away from him, spiraling through the forest of chance and desire.
It was by chance that she had met him. Just as it was chance that she would fall for another. With a connection beyond the realm of humans she had mated herself to their dear brother. Gloriously her wings had unfurled; breaking free from the shackles that bound them.
Crumpling in desolation, he had returned to the thrill of the hunt.
In her, he had found his humanity.
Without her, he was nothing but a savage beast.
Lost in his ravages, he paid little heed to where his feet touched. Without name or wallet he made his way; carelessly voyaging on the same paths she had taken him on.
Philadelphia.
His lips curved into a smile as crimson orbs ran over the rusted words. How fitting to bathe the city he had found hope in in a sea of sin. What irony that would be.
If only he could have kept to that idea.
With every step she had followed.
With every scent she had warned him.
With every woman who passed him, he found himself closer to losing himself in despair.
Finally he had taken shelter in an abandoned building. Quietly he had stolen in through a broken window; sheltering himself from the sunlight in a far corner. Listlessly he had buried himself in the tattered remains of his coat.
Eternity could welcome him in its embrace.
It was only the click of the lock that made him move.
"Really brother, hiding here?"
Disbelief.
A snarl grew in his throat; tearing from his lips.
Out of all people, she should have understood.
She too had lost something precious.
Effortlessly he sank into a crouch.
Still she would stand unflinchingly; her gaze steadily locked with his.
With her, there was no fear.
"Why?" He choked, his mouth slowly harshly forming about the sentence.
The words stung his tongue.
Pity.
"When Al- she saw you…I wanted to come."
Their bodies would collide; her smaller one smashing into the wood paneling. Instantly his hands tightly curled about her throat. Silvery cracks would etch themselves into her skin.
"You're lying." He snapped. "You care nothing for me. Why would you come here, sister?" His lip pulled back into a sneer. For decades he had been surrounded by her emotions; coated and sugared with them.
She cared nothing for him.
The only person in the world she cared for was herself.
This, he was convinced of.
"What she saw…you killed a child."
Hatred.
"So little Rosalie Hale has come here to scold me?" A bitter laugh would sear the air. Inwardly he held back from non-existent bile building in his throat.
Was he going to fall so far?
"I would – if I believed her." She murmured. Slowly she would draw her hand to his cheek; running her thumb over his cold skin. "You aren't just a Whitlock, Jasper. You're a Hale. My twin. You're stronger than this."
Love.
His grip would lessen.
"Alice isn't always right." She whispered, blue orbs focusing on crimson ones. "You can prevent this. We can prevent this."
Wordlessly he would taste her emotions.
Stubbornness.
Conviction.
Faith.
Pride.
"How?"
"We run away together." She replied solemnly. "I'll save you from yourself Jasper and I'll stay by your side."
Silently he would bring his teeth close to her throat.
A test.
Limply she would lay still beneath him.
"I'm not going to leave you alone."
Trust.
Grazing his cheek down to her chest, he would rest his head against her breast. His eyes fell closed as he listened to her soft inhales of breath. Just as she so desperately wished to convince herself of a heartbeat, he wished to convince himself of having a heart in the first place.
They truly were twins cut from the same spoiled cloth.
Even spotted and threadbare the fabric remained together without tearing.
"You would give up your humanity for me, Rose?" He whispered slowly. "Emmett? Your family?"
Would she?
Her chest fell still.
Silence reigned once more.
"I would." She returned, her fingers lightly stroking his shoulder. "You're my family too, Jasper."
He smiled.
Humanity he had found in her.
Yet this?
An eternity of escape he found in Rosalie.
Happiness.
His happiness.
"Let's run away together, sister."