Chapter One
There Will Be Hell
Jasper
Hell. That's what it was, that's what it is now, that's what is will always be to me, forever. Every minute, every second of me spending six antagonizing hours in this place would be hell for all of eternity. There was no doubt about it. They all swore it would get easier, but I really doubted it. They hadn't spent close to a hundred and fifty years on human blood, and then suddenly switched to animals with the snap of a finger. They weren't accustomed to the taste, the smell, the feeling of the warm human blood…
I watched in horror as a very petite girl, she was named Whitney I recalled, stopped just feet from our table to talk to a friend. My hands clenched. Why did she have to come over here now? Just as I had been allowing my thoughts to wander, she just had to come over. The heaters blew her scent into our direction, the smell hitting my face like the edge of a whip. Thirst burned in my throat. I couldn't stop myself from thinking how easy it would be to capture her, to lure her away, just to be killed-murdered by me. Or, I could probably just kill her now, right here. I estimated less than three seconds to paralyze and kill her, it would be so fast, and no human eye would be able to see it. But she was talking to someone; I would have to wait for that other person to leave.
I would walk up, bend over like I was going to whisper in her ear, only I would bite her instead. It would be so simple, so easy. I could already imagine the flow of her blood…
Edward kicked my chair.
I snapped out of my daydream. I glanced around the table-everyone was staring at me. If I could blush, I would have.
"Sorry." I mumbled, staring at the french-fries Alice had made me buy-mere props. They tasted, and smelled, revolting; not at all like Whitney smelled. I forced the vile thoughts out of my mind as Alice said
"You weren't going to do anything. I could tell." She said, her sweet, musical voice bringing me back to reality. She took my hand in hers, her skin feeling warm and smooth against my hand. I could feel her thoughts though, uncertain and anxious. Across the table, Edward was feeling guilty, nervous. They had been lying to me. Alice couldn't see what I had been about to do.
"It helps if you think of them as people." Alice said her voice encouraging. "Her name is Whitney. She has a baby sister she adores. Her mother invited Esme to that garden party, do you remember?"
"I know who she is." I answered my voice a little sharper than I intended it to be. I was just so disappointed in myself for letting my thoughts go that far- so far that Alice couldn't decipher between thoughts and intentions. Alice sighed, knowing if she "encouraged" me any farther, I might snap, and got up to throw her food away. I leaned back in my chair and looked out the window.
I sighed, carefully breathing in. The smell of the crowded lunch room burned my throat and nose with the fresh, warm, pleasant, amazing fragrant of the fragile humans surrounding me. I would have to hunt tonight.
I forced the thoughts out of my mind and concentrated on the rematch Emmett was planning against me.
I could feel him next to me; I read his emotions as anxious and impatient. He was probably going to ambush me when I was least expecting it. Alice came back and sat down next to me, her tiny face hopeful. I couldn't help but grin at her. She was the only one that understood me; it was like she was the one who could read my mind, not Edward.
"Am I forgiven?" she asked, her whimsical voice helping my gloomy mood lighten.
"There is nothing to forgive you of." I responded, pulling her chair closer to me. She smiled and leaned her head on my shoulder. I spent the rest of the lunch hour stroking Alice's hair absentmindedly and planning battle maneuvers.
My next class was AP U.S. History. It was a requirement. Seeing as I participated in most of the history first hand, I highly doubt they knew more about it than me, but, none the less, I still had to sit through the class.
I sat next to a small nerdy sophomore who was in advanced classes due to the fact that she had a 4.4, something I could definitely achieve, only I would stand out, and that didn't work with my family's life style. Her name was Veronica. She fidgeted in her seat constantly, her abnormally long hair swishing back and forth, pushing her scent into my face. For this reason, I tried not to breath as much as possible in this class. She wasn't attractive to me at all, but her blood certainly was. I sat as far away as the table would allow, but not too far; again, I didn't want to cause attention. I didn't talk much in any of my classes, so not breathing was usually pretty easy, except for when Mr. Seager had it out for me.
I can't read thoughts like Edward, but what this guy was thinking was obvious. I never got any wrong on tests, and when I did, it was usually because he marked it wrong, and my answer was actually right. I always knew the answer, no matter if I was paying attention to his lectures or not, I was perfect… and, inevitability, he was jealous. I could sense it, the adrenaline rush through his blood every time he thought he had caught me off guard, then the disappointment and frustration every time I answered correctly. I know I should answer some questions wrong, again, no attention was preferred, but this guy was so easy to get to. This class was the one class of the day where I tormented someone else other than myself. I never raised my hand, he always chose to challenge me, hoping, praying even, that one day he would catch me off guard. Today, we were talking about the Civil War…again.
"My grand-father participated in Civil War!" a very incompetent girl that sat three tables back yelled. Everyone laughed and I dared not breathe as I imagined her blushing.
"Hush! Quiet!" Mr. Seager yelled. I was still trying to figure out when Emmett was planning to attack me. I was guessing that he would ambush me while I was watching TV or listening to music. He wouldn't why we were hunting, so that was out.
Mr. Seager continued on.
"Now, Gabby, your grandfather probably served in the Korean war. The Civil War happened over 140 years ago. Unless your grandfather is immortal, or just very old, I doubt this is the war he served in."
Oh the irony.
"Does anyone know the exact date the Civil War started on?"
1861.
"Anyone?" he continued, looking hopeful that someone other than Veronica would raise her hand. No one did. "Veronica?" he finally called on her.
"1861." She said, a triumphant grin spreading across her face. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
"Good. Now the Civil War was fought between the Union and the Confederacy or between the southern slavery states, the Confederacy, and the rest of the U.S."
I knew all this; after all, I had been in the Confederate States Army. I could still remember the day when I left my family.
My sister had only been ten. She was small, like Alice, but had long, flowing brown hair. Her name had been Adelaide. The town I lived in was destroyed weeks after I left. It still pained me to think of her, dying so young and so innocent…
I forced myself back to the present. Mr. Seager had moved on to discussing Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis- both very honorable men. I had met them both.
"Recently, some new information concerning Robert E. Lee and the takeover of the west was found. In a letter he had sent to his family, he mentioned a man named Jasper E. Whitlock."
I froze. Literally. My eyes widened, and I fought to control my emotions. Fear, dread, worry. Why would Lee ever need to mention me in a letter? Surely Alice should have seen this coming.
"We don't know who he is, or what role he had to play in the Civil War, but we know he must have been important for a man of Lee's standards to be mentioned in a letter to home."
It was settled. I would have to take a trip to Washington and take the letter. It was highly unlikely they would ever track me to the Jasper that existed back then, seeing as it has been almost two hundred years, but I had to be cautious. My phone buzzed in my pocket. Mr. Seager was known for being basically def, so only Veronica heard the vibration. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, feeling her stiffen next to me, her emotions suddenly annoyed. God, what an obnoxious child. I glanced up at her quickly and she quickly stared straight ahead with an irritated expression. I rolled my eyes and took the phone out. It was a text message from Alice. Glancing up to see if Mr. Seager had notice (he hadn't) and opened the text.
Don't worry.
Took care of it.
P.S. Seager is about to ask
You a question in 5.6 seconds.
The answer is your birthday.
Love you.
A.
I smiled. How I ever questioned Alice's ways I have no idea. She must have had an off period or something.
"Jasper? Can you answer the question?" Mr. Seager's voice rang out. I looked up, the annoyance showing in my face. I felt the hopefulness grow in his brain.
"Fort Sumter in South Carolina, April 12th, 1861."
How could I forget the day it all started? It had been my eighteenth birthday exactly.
"Yes." He continued on, glaring at me then looking away quickly. I stifled a laugh and went back to my phone to text Alice back.
Thanks.
Love you too.
J.
I put my phone back in my pocket. I was close to being out of breath. I clenched my teeth, and took a deep breath, the smell hitting me like a bulldozer (theoretically, of course; bulldozer wouldn't actually hurt me). I quickly stopped the air flow again.
Alice
I got back from Washington D.C. Archives building with fifteen minutes to spare of my study hall.
We had ran, Emmett and I, non-stop to D.C. and arrived within ten minutes of leaving school. It had taken us approximately six minutes and thirty-three seconds to change the document involving Jasper's name. Then another ten minutes back to school.
Luckily, the security was very simple, the regular: laser infrared security lights, video surveillance, steel incased walls, and, the easiest, armed guards placed two per door. It was extremely easy to get into the room and break through the steel backed up glass case surrounding the document with the help of Emmett.
My original plan was to take the document with me, then probably burn it, but I felt awful for the men who had discovered the document after years of searching. So, against Emmett's wishes, I altered the name so it read "Jessie Whiteloc" instead of "Jasper Whitlock". The first names sounded nothing alike, but that's all I could think of at the time. Emmett wanted me to put Casper, as in the friendly ghost, but I figured that wasn't very mature.
I was still worried about Jasper. Who am I kidding; I'm always worried about Jasper. He's always been and always will be my main focus, but right now; I had to focus on the issues at hand.
Edward.
I had checked- or tried- to check his future briefly to see what time he and Jasper would go hunting tonight, but found that I couldn't see his future. Right now, all I caught were glimpses, first him killing a poor innocent human, then him driving like a madman to Alaska, then him again, killing the girl but this time at her house, then him massacring his entire Biology class, then back to driving like a madman- I couldn't keep up with the way his future spun and whizzed, changing constantly. It made me feel what I assume would be nauseous, seeing as I've never been able to feel it. But I guessed being nauseous felt like what I was feeling now.
I was sitting outside at a picnic table with Emmett. Emmett was too busy focused on trying to find the best time to ambush Jasper, so it took him a minute to see my horrified face.
"What is it? I'm not going to lose that badly, am I?" he asked, referring to the epic battle he had planned against Jasper.
"It's Edward." I said, my voice softer than a whisper.
"What? His biology teacher ask him a question he doesn't know?" Emmett asked, hopeful.
"No. He's…he's…losing control." I said. Emmett looked surprised.
"Edward? Are you sure you're not talking about Jasper?"
"Yes I'm sure." I snapped. "Sorry." I added. I hadn't meant it to come out so harsh. Emmett looked unabashed. I figured he was used to people getting annoyed at him.
At that exact moment, the bell rung. I debated on skipping sixth and seventh hour, but then remembered the test I had to take for sixth, and then Jasper was in my seventh, and he would worry if I didn't show up, so I figured it was best to forget it. Emmett walked to class with me, we met up with Rosalie half way there, who was with me in my next class, and I tried to make sense of the visions I had seen.
Edward's future had somewhat calmed down, it was now between killing her at home, or going away, far away. Edward was grown up though, I was sure he could handle whatever he was facing. It probably wasn't that serious…
The smell of the humans' blood didn't bother me anymore as we walked in our language class. Even though I spoke seventeen different languages fluently, I still had to pretend to be as unknowing as most of the kids my age were. It was Spanish 4. Rose, who was playing a senior, was taking it because she didn't know how to speak Spanish very well.
"Good afternoon Senorita Edmund!" I said cheerfully as we walked into the brightly colored Spanish room. Piñata's and streamers and posters of places in Spain were taped to the walls. It was such a happy room; it was hard not to feel optimistic as I took my seat next to Rosalie.
"¡hola Alice!" she said. She was a fan of my enthusiasm.
Rosalie rolled her eyes and I swear I heard her mumble "suck-up"
I grinned, momentarily forgetting about my Jasper and Edward problems.
We all reached the car at the same time. Emmett and Jasper were fighting, Emmett wanted a rematch, Jasper was acting…weird. I looked over at him, trying to figure out why he didn't want a rematch. There was something in the tone of his voice…something in the way his eyes looked clouded over. Something was wrong.
Without hesitation, I searched his future. He noticed me staring at him and nodded, not towards me or himself, but towards Edward who was climbing into the driver's seat.
Edward was paler than usual, and he looked tortured. His eyes were black-only hours ago they had been brown- and he held on to the steering wheel so tightly I wouldn't be surprised if he shattered it.
"Edward?" I asked, alarm very apparent in my voice. I was concerned. I hadn't seen Edward like this in a long time. It was obviously a lot more serious than I had thought. He didn't answer, he just raced out of the parking lot.
"What the hell happened to you?" Emmett asked, momentarily distracted from arguing pointlessly with Jasper. He hit seventy before we even turned the corner. Something was definitely wrong.
I searched his future, more carefully this time. I watched as I saw Edward driving as fast as he could. I studied his face in the vision. He looked horrified, sickened even, but by what I couldn't tell. His eyes were black, like they were now, and he was driving Carlisle's car, which puzzled me more.
"You're leaving?" I whispered. His grip tightened on the steering wheel.
"Am I?" he hissed at me.
I watched as another possibility formed for Edward's future. I was still upset with myself for not looking into this sooner.
Isabella Swan, dead. I saw Edward's eyes, a crimson color. This scared me. I saw people searching, looking for Bella presumably, and I saw us, our family, moving again, to where I couldn't tell.
"Oh." Was all I could say. Jasper had his hand on my shoulder, but I ignored it.
The picture grew more vivid. I saw the inside of Chief Swan's house. Bella was standing in the kitchen, her back to Edward. He moved towards her, following her scent. The image was so realistic, I could smell-taste even- her blood. It smelled floral somehow, like a pleasant, aged wine.
"Stop!" Edward groaned. He has his eyes closed and had a tortured expression on his face.
"Sorry," I whispered, not able to find my voice.
I knew he had to leave. There was no other option. I wouldn't, we wouldn't, let him kill Bella. She was so nice, she hung out with Angela too, the one girl who I actually didn't mind being around at this school. I had to admit, she had smelled delicious when I had walked by her in the hallway, but nothing compared to what Edward smelled.
The vision went back to Edward driving, this time in a wintery scenery.
"I'll miss you. No matter how short a time you're gone." I said, speaking the truth. Jasper's hand tightened on my shoulder. Emmett and Rose shared apprehensive looks.
We were almost to the road that led to our house.
"Drop us here. You should tell Carlisle yourself." I said, knowing that Edward didn't like audiences.
Jasper, Emmett, and Rose got out. I put my hand on Edward's shoulder.
"You'll do the right thing. She's Charlie Swan's only family. It would kill him too." I tried to make my voice sound confidant, supportive. I knew he would make the right decision. He nodded, and I got slowly out of the car.
Jasper immediately adjusted so he was standing close to me, Emmett and Rose looked extremely confused. We all watched as Edward sped off towards the house.
I looked up at Jasper, he looked down at me.
"Did you feel all of that?"
He nodded grimly. "It wasn't pleasant." He grimaced, probably remembering the pain and torture and, most importantly, the thirst Edward had felt.
"Anyone want to explain what the hell is going on?" Emmett growled, looking utterly and completely lost.
I had to giggle. Even Jasper managed a small smirk.