Hey guys! I'm back :) Here is the sequel to "A Series of Very Unfortunate Events". I hope you enjoy it :D Anyways, please review and let me know how I'm doing.
Things I own: 20$ lip gloss, a rediculous amount of leopard print things, and a pen that looks like a flamingo.
Things I don't own: Twilight, or anything related to it.
Props to my awesome beta taylorcullenforever. Go check out her stuff if you have the chance.
Depression
APOV
Worry was the dominant emotion I felt lately; worry for my Jasper. There was something seriously wrong with him, but he wouldn't talk to anyone about it. Whatever it was, it ate him up inside.
He was never one to speak his mind. He's always been quiet. Lately though, it's as if he's lost the ability to speak completely. And besides that, he locks himself away in his study, and he shuts everyone out. I'm not the only one who has noticed this behavior and was not the only one worried. Rosalie approached me with her suspicions one day. She thought we were having couple problems, but I assured her that he was just dealing with some things on his own. I didn't even know if what I was saying was true, that's how little he spoke about it.
I rarely saw him anymore. Even when he goes out to hunt, he would make sure that he was alone with Edward. He would avoid everyone on purpose. He didn't want anyone to go with him that didn't have to hear his mind, and since Edward does anyways, it just made sense for them to go together. I missed him so much. It hurt me that he was suffering. It hurt that he wouldn't tell me about it.
I glanced around my room, unconsciously looking for clues to his behavior. I was disappointed when I found nothing. My spirits rose a bit when I saw Jasper's outline at the doorway to our room.
"Alice," Jasper said in a pained voice as he walked into the room.
"What is it Jasper?" I asked, hoping that he would finally tell me what's going on.
"I can't do it anymore. I can't take it. I have to find some other way," he said as he hung his head in his hands in despair. It killed me to see him so pained.
"What are you talking about? What's wrong Jasper?" I asked, panicking a little. When he didn't reply I said, "Talk to me damn it!"
"I can't keep killing people. Even the bad people. I know that we need blood to live, but I can feel what they go through as I am murdering them, and I just can't take it anymore. I already felt like a murderer before the change. Alice, I can't live like this any longer! It hurts me to hurt them."
And I understood. I looked at him sympathetically, because I got it completely. I'd be a liar if I said that killing the humans never bothered me. I would prefer avoiding that part of vampirism completely, but then it wouldn't be vampirism, would it? That's kind of the whole point.
We tried to be good. We used Edward's ability to the fullest when hunting. We ridded the world of murderers and rapists. It should make us good people, but it only made us the same as those murderers. And my poor Jasper who had to feel all of the pain they felt. He had to feel all of the desperation, and all of the anything else they might be feeling as we killed them for our own needs.
It donned on me then that he and Edward had it pretty bad when it comes to hunting. Edward could hear the thoughts of the people he murdered. I was horrified when I realized that we had been vampires for nearly four months, and I never bothered to ask them how they were coping.
"Okay, Jasper. I understand. We'll find another way. Maybe there's some sort of substitute for blood?" I said, wondering out loud. I tried to stay calm to help him with his own emotions.
He looked at me with a sort of apologetic expression that I hated. He was feeling conflicted and horrible, and he was sorry for that? It didn't make any sense to me. If there were something wrong I would always want him to tell me about it. I wanted him to trust me with these things so that I could help him make it better. I didn't want him to feel ashamed for his problems and his feelings.
"How 'bout we go talk to the others about this, Jasper? Maybe they have some ideas as to what we could do," I suggested.
"Okay," he said. I noticed that he looked a little embarrassed, so I crossed the room and gave him a hug. I looked into his eyes deeply, comforting him in the only way I could.
We walked down the giant staircase to the living room where everyone else was lounging and watching TV. I grabbed Jasper's hand and held it in my own tightly, trying to reassure him with my presence.
I cleared my throat daintily to get all of my friend's attention. They looked up, and Edward turned off the TV, hearing that we needed to have a discussion in my mind. He caught my eye and nodded, while leading the way to the dining room table, which we never used.
We sat down quietly, a business like air surrounding us. The ladies sat on one side facing their significant other. I started to speak sensing Jasper's hesitation.
"So, everyone… we have a problem. We can't keep killing innocents. It's immoral, and both Jasper and I think we need to find another way to survive. Who agrees, here?"
"Well, Alice, no one likes to kill the humans, but it's unavoidable," Emmett said reasonably. "We need their blood to live."
"What if we didn't have to kill them to get their blood?" Bella said.
"Hah! Are they supposed to just give it up to us, no questions asked, or are we supposed to start stealing from a blood bank… Oh my God we should start stealing from a blood bank!" Rosalie exclaimed.
Everyone remained silent as we pondered this idea. Would it be so bad if we took a few bags of blood once a week? I mean, maybe the humans would need that blood, but the lives lost due to that compared to the lives lost because of us would be minimal. The idea was sounding better and better.
I could see that everyone was starting to accept this idea as something we would do, and in that acceptance my vision showed me this future.
One of the guys walked up to the hospital inconspicuously, rounding the corner to the blood bank on the first floor. It looked like Edward from behind, because Emmett wasn't that small, and I would have recognized Jasper immediately. He checked around him to make sure no one was looking and then he jimmied the lock of the door. He slipped into the room and grabbed a few bags quickly.
Then my vision went blank. As far as I could tell, Rosalie had a brilliant idea. Whoever said that blondes were dumb clearly had not met this one. I felt a smile creep across my face.
"Guys, I wouldn't be opposed to that, what do you think?" I said. It couldn't be as bad as murder.
"Well..." Edward started hesitantly, "I guess that could work. I would still feel guilty though."
"Yes, but Edward, really its much better then killing. You would know that as well as I. Doesn't it hurt you to hear their thoughts as you slaughter them?" Jasper said slightly exasperated. Edward winced a little at the word slaughter.
"Yes, it does hurt Jasper. And I know it hurts you too, but as Emmett said, it's unavoidable. It's who you are. It's who we are"
"Are you suggesting that I am a murderer by nature, Edward?" Jasper demanded. I patted his arm soothingly. He was getting worked up over nothing.
"Not at all! Please do not take offense, Jasper. Alice has told me a bit about your past, and that is not at all what I am suggesting. I was merely trying to say that as vampires we must do horrible things to survive," he said quickly, trying to calm Japer down.
"Well, I guess that's settled, then. Who wants to be the one to go to the hospital and take the blood?" I asked with an unbridled enthusiasm.
No one answered. They all looked at the floor trying to make themselves seem less conspicuous, so I wouldn't choose them for the task. Some people turned their heads to look at Rosalie as if to say well, it was your idea. She set her jaw stubbornly, refusing to volunteer herself for the job.
"Okay, fine then. Let's draw straws. Whoever gets the shortest stick has to go," I said while searching my mind to see which stick I should choose. Edward, however, caught me.
"Alice, that's cheating! I'm watching you. If you don't stop looking in the future, then I'm going to make you go!" he exclaimed, effectively ruining my fun. He was always such a party pooper.
"Okay fine!" I exclaimed before I stuck my tongue out at him. Checking to see which straw I would pull to get out of the task was a bit superfluous seeing as I knew it would be Edward. I would take any extra precaution I could, though, to stay out of the hospital. For some reason I've always had an aversion to hospitals. Maybe it had to do with the fact that my parents had considered taking me to an asylum in the earlier stages of my life because of my ability to see the future.
I went to the kitchen and looked around in the cabinets until I found some straws that we could use. I tore them with my own hands to ensure the precision of each cut. I made sure that it was clear which piece of straw was the shortest before gathering them all in my hands.
I went back to the dining room where everyone was waiting for me. I showed them the straws so that they wouldn't think I was cheating. I gathered the straws in my hand and arranged them so that they all appeared to be the same size. I shuffled them around in my hands.
"Edward, did anyone see which straw it is?" I asked trying to ensure a fair game.
"Nope. No one has a clue. And by the frustrated look on Bella's face, I would say that she doesn't know either. And you can trust me Alice," he said when I started to look at him with my eyebrows raised. We all knew that he was a very good liar. "You have my word."
I huffed dramatically and gave everyone the okay to pick a straw. One at a time we took out the different sized straws discretely into our hands.
"Reveal!" Emmett said excitedly.
Immediately it was apparent that the party pooper himself would be the one to raid the hospital. We all smirked in relief and Emmett even let out a loud laugh at Edward's expense.
"Fine! I'll go. You guys all owe me big-time!" Edward said indignantly.
Hopefully with this new plan, we could outsmart our own nature and escape the fate of being murderers.
** Reviews, please :) **
