Date : 31.01.2011
Title : Twilight : Sunshine and Shadow
Author :
Chapter : 1 of ?
Rating : M
Pairings : Jasper Whitlock-Hale / Molly Atherton
Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Angst, Maybe Some Strong Language.
Spoilers : Possible references to Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn - do not read if you have not read all the books!
Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.
Disclaimer : I do not own anything to do with the Twilight franchise. This plot, Molly and any other O/C's are mine.
Summary : AU set two years after Breaking Dawn. With Alice mysteriously gone, Jasper wonders what his future will hold until he meets Molly, a mortal who has troubles of her own. Can Jasper save her from an untimely death or will he spend eternity regretting his decision to let her go?
October
The days had always been long for Jasper Whitlock-Hale, but since Alice had left they were well and truly endless. For two years now, time had held even less meaning than ever before. He knew that Esme and Carlisle were worried for him, that they fretted about the meaning behind his refusal to go to college with his adopted siblings, that they thought that without his rock he may lapse back into his old ways…
"…and he was doing so well…."
Jasper closed his steadily darkening eyes against the memory of Esme's overheard words from the other night and heaved an unnecessary sigh.
There was in fact no deep and meaningful reason as to why he had made the choice to stay behind in Forks whilst the others, minus Alice of course, had travelled to Alaska. He was just tired off the repetitions in his life. He had done high school and college too many times already and besides that, expanding his education had only ever been undertaken because it had pleased Alice so much. Now that she was no longer around, he had no-one to please but himself.
Her leaving was still a mystery to him, yes he understood that when her visions showed her the path she needed to take, she followed, but what he could not get his head around was the fact that she had told him that he could not go with her, that they would never again be as they once were…that they could now only ever be friends. It seemed incomprehensible to him…a cruel trick of the fates. He thought he would not survive without her, she had told him that he would…and so far he had…just about.
"Jasper! Have you got a moment?"
Jasper's head snapped to one side, turning away from his bedroom window as Esme's voice called up to him.
Taking one last glance back at the grey storm clouds outside, he then headed downstairs to see what the gentle woman who had taken him in as one of her own so many years ago wanted with him.
As he reached the bottom of the stairs he felt his adoptive parents' excitement and apprehension wash over him and he wondered what was going on.
He said nothing, as had been his way of late, always letting others speak first and his eyes narrowed somewhat suspiciously as Carlisle said,
"Jasper…Esme and I have some news that we would like to share with you…"
"It's a project I've been considering for a while now…something I hope you'll be interested in being a part of…" Esme added, smiling hopefully at him and he clasped his hands behind his back, his curiosity just the teensiest bit stirred.
"What is it?" he asked, knowing that he would help Esme with anything she asked, considering how good she and Carlisle had been to him.
"I have always had a love of books, as you know," Esme said, smiling lovingly up at Carlisle who returned the smile before they both looked back to their son. "We have bought a bookstore in town…the last owner died…" she trailed off and Carlisle interjected,
"Natural causes…"
"It's been a dream of mine to do this and I wondered if you would like to help me?" Esme finished and Jasper's eyes widened a little.
"What do you need me to do?" he asked.
"I was wondering if you'd be interested in cataloguing the stock to start with? I need to go through everything that's already there and then see what we can order in," Esme replied and Jasper nodded, not totally adverse to the idea. It would give him something to fill his time.
"Of course…" he replied, nodding as the idea settled in his mind.
"That's great…" Esme gushed as she happily looked to Carlisle again, her relief almost tangible making Jasper smile despite his mood.
"I'll be picking the keys up later today, so you two can make a start tomorrow," Carlisle said, stepping forward and laying a hand gently on Jasper's shoulder before adding in a concerned tone,
"There will be human's around Jasper, the book store is in a busy part of town. I suggest you feed later."
Jasper nodded mutely, ignoring the slight rush of anger at the fact that Carlisle had felt the need to mention the matter.
Yes, he knew that his eyes told of his growing hunger, yes he knew that despite coming on leaps and bounds with the introduction of Bella to their family he was still seen as the one to be wary of when there were mortals around and yes, he knew that they thought that he may have lapsed and fed on a human since Alice had left…but he hadn't, he had even taken the time to meet with Jacob on the Cullen's behalf and discuss the mysterious death of a local woman, whose untimely demise had all the hallmarks of a vampire killing, but, it still hurt him to realise that they thought that he could cave so easily. Alice had taught him well and despite her bringing their relationship to such an abrupt end, he was not one to waste any of the knowledge and experience that he had painstakingly gained over the centuries.
Carlisle patted his shoulder and then turned back to Esme.
"I should get to the hospital," he said before dropping a kiss onto her mouth and picking up his keys from the coffee table.
As he left, Esme turned to Jasper. She wanted to talk to him, but he had become so unapproachable of late that she felt his help with book store would have to suffice for now.
"So…do you want to take a quick look over the existing stock list now or…?"
"Now's good for me," he replied, following Esme as she walked to her study.
oOoOoOoOo
Molly Atherton moved out from behind the counter of her small coffee shop having finished readying the coffee machines for the morning rush. She fished into her apron pocket for her heart pills and opened the pot, shaking out two of the capsules before snapping the lid shut, then swallowing them without the need for water.
Molly had been taking medication for congestive heart failure for as long as she could remember, the condition brought on by a birth defect and so the pills didn't bother her. In one so young, she was only twenty one, the disease was most unusual, but that said, there wasn't much that had been normal about Molly's life thus far.
Her parent's were both dead, killed two years earlier whilst on a shopping excursion in New York. The police had told Molly that they had been unlucky; an understatement if ever she had heard one, and that because they were tourists and not street wise they had fallen foul of a group of youths who were well known for most of the muggings and car-jackings in the area.
And so, Molly had found herself alone in the world, with no other living family that she knew of to turn to. About ten days following her parents' funerals, Molly had received a small package by courier and had been surprised to find an old leather-bound book inside, a metal lock on the front cover preventing it from being opened. Two days later a smaller box had arrived with a tiny, fancy shaped key inside and a letter penned in her mother's handwriting. Molly had read the letter and had become immediately convinced that her parent's had been murdered for the book, rather than for their money.
The letter from her mother had advised her to not open the book and to keep it and the key stored separately. Shortly after, Molly began to receive strange phone calls. The police had been useless and as the phone calls became more frequent and frightening, Molly had decided to leave her hometown of Savannah, Georgia and move. She put the home she had grown up in up for sale and with the money her inheritance had provided her with she stuck a pin in a map and ended up in Forks. Once there she had decided that college was not for her and when the money from the sale of her beloved parents' house came through she bought a local coffee shop and had been running it ever since, living in the small flat above.
She became good friends with the little old woman, Sylvie, who had owned the bookstore next door and had eventually asked her if she would keep the mysterious book in her safe for her whilst Molly herself kept the key on a gold chain around her neck. Sylvie had agreed, but sadly now that she had passed on, Molly knew that she would have to approach the new owners and retrieve her book or see if they would continue to let her keep it in the safe.
Sighing somewhat tiredly, Molly stretched and glanced at her reflection in the polished glass of the cake and pastries' cabinet. Her red hair fell in soft, naturally loose curls around her shoulders, her pale skin making her hair seem all the more vibrant. She grimaced at the dark circles under her eyes and wished for the first time ever that it was down to late nights spent partying instead of just nights of sleeplessness. She was not one for self-pity though and rarely allowed herself to feel down, despite knowing deep down that her conditioning was worsening the older she got and she also knew that she probably shouldn't work as hard as she did in the shop, but she couldn't afford to employ another person at that moment in time and the shop wasn't all that big…
'You can manage,' she told herself, reaching out for the broom that was propped up next to the counter. She wanted to sweep the leaves away from the doorway before her morning regulars began to arrive on their way to work.
Opening the door, the bell above it jingling merrily, she stepped out and began to sweep at the gathered leaves gently, breathing in the scent of fall and the promise of winter.
Molly loved the seasons and was able to detect the subtle smells in the air that signalled that the change from one to the next was coming.
She was all but done when a sporty silver Mercedes pulled up at the curb in front of the book store and curiosity piqued, she decided to sweep along the underside of the window of her shop too. If the two people in the expensive looking car were the new owners then she needed to weigh them up in order to see about keeping her mother's book with them or having to move it.
She kept her head down, but risked a glance at the pair through the veil her hair made as it fell forward. She watched as they exited the car, the male looking left and right before making a beeline for the door, not even glancing at Molly as he unlocked it and headed inside. The woman on the other hand paused on the sidewalk and smiled.
"Good morning," she said and Molly straightened and returned the smile.
"Mornin'," she answered, thinking how strikingly beautiful the older woman was.
"We're going to be your new neighbours," Esme offered to the young woman who was sweeping the coffee shop front. "I'm Esme…Esme Cullen and that," she indicted to somewhere vaguely inside of the bookstore before continuing, "…was my son, Jasper, please forgive his rudeness."
Molly nodded, wondering if the Dr. Cullen who had treated her at the hospital in the past was any relation. "That's great and its no problem…I don't think he saw me," she replied just as Jasper re-appeared on the doorstep of the bookstore.
"I'm Molly," she offered, her eyes meeting golden ones for the first time as Jasper finally did notice her. "Molly Atherton."
Jasper took in the small mortal with a carefully practised indifferent stare.
Her hair was the first thing he noticed about her though, despite his supposed indifference to her presence, its beautiful fiery hues a stark contrast against her pale skin. The second thing he took in was the fact that she seemed to be dressed in an extremely feminine way, compared to most of the girls in the town that was, the long flowery print cap sleeved dress she wore skimming her ankles whilst the apron she wore over it pinched in around her tiny waist. The waves of unexplained weakness that emanated from her confused him though, but he was pleasantly surprised by her Southern accent that was not too unlike his own though not quite so broad.
He nodded once at her before turning to Esme.
"This place is a mess," he stated, before disappearing back inside.
Esme rolled her eyes and grinned at Molly.
"It's nice to meet you…hopefully we will become good neighbours," she said, beginning to follow Jasper into the store.
Molly on the other hand was trying so hard to get past Jasper's Southern drawl and brooding good looks, his honey blond hair and alabaster skin that seemed paler than even hers that she almost missed her chance and she had to take a few quick steps forward to catch Esme's attention again.
"Um, actually, the last owner, Sylvie, was storing a book for me in the safe and I was wondering if it would be alright for it to stay where it is," Molly's cheeks coloured slightly and she added quickly, "Only if its not an inconvenience that is…"
"Oh…." Esme replied, "Well, I'm sure it won't be a problem…"
Molly bit her lip, not wanting Esme to feel obliged to keep the book and so she said,
"Why don't you pop in for a coffee sometime soon and I'll explain some more?"
"I…sure…" Esme replied kindly before disappearing inside and Molly sighed and headed back into her own shop, hoping that she hadn't come across as too pushy.
Time would tell.
End of Chapter One