Chapter Two: Choices
I grabbed Connor's arm. "If you even think of betraying me up there I'll kill you first."
"I won't," Connor replied. He was terrified and worried.
Peter and I got in the backseat of Emmett's Jeep with Connor. Riley hopped into the area behind the backseat, and Eleazar sat up front with Emmett. We drove to the mountain and got as close as we could without being detected.
Peter, Emmett and Eleazar quickly moved around to the opposite side of the mountain and cleared out the patrols. Riley took out the two patrolling vampire on our side, then quickly returned to me.
"What did you do with the pieces?" I asked. I was referring to the vampires he had dismembered.
"Eleazar collected them and he is burning them to the east of here. There are a few campfires in that area. He thinks that'll cover up what his happening," Riley replied.
"Good, let's get going," I said.
We headed up the mountain's east side until we were within one thousand meters of the summit.
'I can sense Edward from here,' Riley projected his thoughts to me. I nodded and we moved into thicker cover.
"Wait here for Eleazar, and send Peter and Emmett up another five hundred meters," I whispered to Riley.
'Understood,' Riley replied.
"Let's go," I whispered to Connor and took his right arm firmly with my left hand. When we were in sight of the summit I hid us in thick cover among the trees and waiting for Riley to tell me that Peter and Emmett were in position.
Connor was very nervous and it almost felt like he wanted to puke. 'I seriously can't believe this child survived this long. Maria must have found him extremely useful,' I thought to myself.
'Jasper? Is that you?' I heard Edward's thoughts.
'I'm here, Edward. Are you hurt?' I asked.
'We're all ok. Maria is here with seven other vampires. She's got six of them watching us like hawks and the seventh is a female who is by her side and seems very nervous. Her thoughts are laced with worry about another vampire named Connor. They left him at the house with the message for you,' Edward replied.
'I have him with me. He's plan b if Alice hasn't had a vision on how to get out of this mess,' I said speaking with my thoughts.
'Then it would seem you will be using plan b. The only vision Alice had that worked involved him, and the female. There are still numerous unknowns with that vision, but it seems we are all okay in the end,' Edward replied.
I showed Edward what I planned with my thoughts. He confirmed that this was one of the visions Alice had seen, and that it should work.
'You're going to have to get her talking for a bit before you try this plan of yours. I'll let you know when Alice sees the best time to put your plan into action,' Edward replied.
'Jasper, everyone is in position,' Riley projected to me.
'What the hell is my brother doing here?' Edward asked in his thoughts.
'Relax, Edward. Eleazar and I were just coming to visit. I had news I wanted to share with you, but we found this going on. There was no way I was going to sit by while you were in danger,' Riley replied.
'Edward, he's able to take care of himself. We've got a plan and it'll work. Plus he's very useful as a mental telephone services, don't you think?' I replied to Edward's thoughts.
'Hey! I am not a mental telephone service!' Riley replied with a twinge of offense in his thoughts.
'Fine, just please be careful, both of you!' Edward replied.
'Alright, were moving in,' I said, and was sure that Riley relayed the message to everyone else.
"We're going, and remember your role. You fuck this up and I'll turn you into ash," I whispered sternly to Connor.
We emerged into the clearing near the summit and Maria caught sight of us. She smirked at me when she saw us approached. 'I'll be wiping that smirk off your face, bitch,' I thought to myself.
"I must say I'm surprised to see that you show up alone, Jasper," Maria said as sweetly as she could. I wanted to vomit the disgust I was feeling from her poor acting skills.
"I had to make sure your little whelp was telling the truth," I replied.
I examined the layout of the area very carefully and relayed what I saw via Edward to Riley. Riley was projecting everything back to Peter, Emmett and Eleazar. Edward and the family were sitting in a tight circle surrounded by six large vampires. Most of them were newborns, but one for sure was a mature vampire. I recognized Luis immediately, and he seemed to be in charge of the guard group. Maria was on her own a dozen or so meters away with Charlotte, the only female vampire other then Maria.
"I'll make it simple for you, Jasper. You come back with me to Monterrey and I'll let your pitiful coven go free," Maria said. It was a complete lie. Maria either thought me a fool or underestimated my abilities.
"Forgive me if I don't believe you," I replied with a sneer. "You do know that you have just stepped over a line that will lead to your death. You were warned to stay away from us, and that we have very powerful friends. Yet, you stupidly come here and think that you can just waltz in and take my family captive, then lie to me and say you will set them free when we both know that you have no intention of doing so."
"Ha. Yes, I'm sure you are friends with the Volturi," Maria laughed. "Aro would never align himself with a bunch of outcast."
"Well either Luis didn't do a very good job of relaying Demetri's warning, or you are just naive. You were always underestimating your opponents. It's no wonder you lost Monterrey before you found me," I replied. "You need me to get it back, and I know for a fact you need me to get it back for you, yet again,"
"What happened Maria? How did you manage to lose Monterrey, again?" I asked.
"I made you what you are and I can destroy you," Maria replied angrily.
"You won't harm me because you need me, Maria. You've been losing territory to Xavier for the past several decades. You need me to regain what you've lost." I replied. It was common knowledge that Maria had lost nearly all her territory and was left with one of the smallest in the south.
"You over estimate your value, Jasper," Maria replied. Her temper was getting the better of her.
"I didn't come here to argue with you, Maria. I came to trade your little whelp for my family. You need him almost as much as you need me. It's quite the find you have here. He's a very powerful tracker, almost as powerful as Demetri," I said. I didn't fail to notice Maria's careful expression faltered just a bit at the mention of Demetri's name. 'Interesting.'
"He's more trouble then he's worth," Maria replied, but I knew she was lying. Eleazar had analyzed Connor's gift on the drive over. According to him Connor was very powerful with the ability to track multiple targets at once, and over great distances. A very useful gift when waging a war, and needing to know where your enemy was at all times.
"Have you forgotten what I can do? Or do you think I'm stupid? You've lied to me twice now and I really don't like when someone lies to me," I replied. "I know how powerful Connor's gift is and what kind of asset he can be in battle. If you were half the tactician I am you would have figured out how to use him to take Mexico City."
'You need to stop making her angry, Jazz. You've drawn this out long enough, get moving on your plan,' Edward projected via his thoughts.
"I'm going to make this simple for you Maria. I'm going to trade you Connor, here, for my family. You'll agree to the trade and you'll leave and never come back. I'll also keep this little incident between us and not involve our Italian friends," I said.
Maria started laughing, "You must be joking if you think I'd agree to that."
I let go of Connor while Maria was laughing. He was quick and before Maria could stop him he had Charlotte and they were running.
"Stop them!" Maria ordered. Two of the vampires guarding my family took off after Connor and Charlotte. 'Phase one complete, now I just need to get Peter and Emmett up here.'
Suddenly a rush of air hit me when Peter and Emmett arrived at my side.
"I'll teach you to defy me!" Maria yelled at us. "Bring me the smallest one."
'GO! We're coming up behind you!' I heard Riley yell at us in his thoughts.
Peter wasted no time and attacked the Vampire who was about to grab Alice. Less then half a second later Eleazar was flying over my head and landed on the guard by Carlisle. The next few seconds were a blur.
Before I could react and go for Maria I was hit by a wave of pain, and heard a yell from a voice too familiar. I turned to see Edward clutching his right arm to his chest and a large gash around his bicep where Luis had tried to break his arm off.
His eyes met mine and though there was a lot of pain he tried to ignore it. "Go after her!" He yelled at me. Maria had used the diversion to make her escape. Riley was on Luis, and seemed to be holding his own.
I hesitated, not sure if I should go after Maria or stay and help Edward. "I'm fine! Go get her!" He yelled again.
I took off in the direction Maria had run. I used her scent to track her. I ran as fast as I could push myself. Maria was shorter than me and I had longer strides. I was able to push my strength to the max and catch up to her.
She sensed my approach and started running me through obstacles to slow me down. I knew these lands well as I had hunted here regularly. I knew she was heading south towards the Spray Lakes Reservoir. She most likely intended to lose before reaching the lakes in hopes that her scent would be masked by swimming the lake.
Sure of what her escape route would be I veered off her trail and heading south through a mostly obstacle free area. The path that Maria had chosen was more difficult and she'd done this to slow me down, but it would slow her down too. I forced myself to move faster, even though the pain that I was now feeling in my legs was screamed for relief. I had to get ahead of her to stop her, and with that thought I forced the pain to the back of my mind. I had endured far worse during my life.
Maria's path was funneling her into a specific area of the lake near a creek. I managed by some miracle to get there before she did. There was a small overlook of the creek a couple kilometers from the lake. I knew she'd have to pass this way to get to the lake if she was hoping to lose me in it.
Things did not go exactly as I had planned or hoped. I managed to get to the overlook before Maria got there, but there was a complication. A human was near the creek fishing, and well within sight of the overlook. Also add that the sun was now out and shining brightly and I swear that the big guy upstairs had it out for me today.
'Fuck it! She's not getting away. This ends now,.' I thought to myself.
I caught sight of Maria a few seconds later, but she saw me too when the sun moved up just above the tree line. She wasn't the only one who noticed me. The Fisherman looked up when he saw the sun reflect off of me and into the water. The shock coming off of him was the only indication I needed to know he had seen me.
I leapt off the overlook after Maria, but she managed to dive under me mid-air and then rolled as she hit the ground. I hit the ground a moment later and jumped to my feet in the same motion. I started running after her, but Maria wasn't about to go down without a fight.
She lunged at the fisherman who was completely bewildered by the scene before him. She turned so that he was between her and me, but that wasn't all. She broke his humerus (Upper Arm Bone) and shoved the broken end up through the flesh of his arm. The bone ripped through the man's arm causing a great deal of pain, but the purpose was evident a moment later when I realized much too late that it had broken through the Brachial artery .
The scent of his blood hit me like a freight train and I staggered forward as I tried to keep control.
'No!' I fought with myself as my head clouded with a blood haze. My eyes unfocused and turned pitch black with hunger. The scent of his blood promised to quench my thirsty, but my mind helplessly tried to fight back the temptation.
'No!' It was a useless struggle as instinct took over and I lunged at the man. Maria back off quickly as my teeth found the pulse point in his neck. The blood haze had taken over completely and I greedily drank down the sweet, hot nectar. The taste was better then I remembered and the burn in my throat was completely quenched for the first time in nearly half a century.
It wasn't until there was no more blood to drain that realization of what I'd done hit me, and I felt sick. I reeled back from the dead man, and looked around me. Maria was gone, and I had no way of finding her now.
"FUCK!" I yelled, and slammed a fist into the ground. This day just went from bad, to worst in less then a minute.
I shoved the dead man away from me and stood up. "Damn it!"
"Jasper!" I closed my eyes. 'You must seriously have it in for me today,' I thought to myself.
I opened my eyes to see Edward looking intently at me, with Carlisle at his side. His arm was now wrapped in a badge made from his shirt. Riley and Eleazar were upon us a few seconds later.
"I take it she got away," Riley said.
"No shit Sherlock," I replied angrily.
"Jasper, are you alright?" Edward asked.
"No, I'm not alright! That fucking bitch got away and I just killed a human!" I replied angrily. I couldn't help it. My emotions were all out of whack and I couldn't get a handle on them.
"Sorry," I added as I tried to calm myself to no effect.
"This could be a problem," Carlisle said, speaking for the first time. I turned to see him crouched over the man I had just killed.
"What now?" I asked with irritation.
Carlisle moved aside and for the first time I saw the face of the man. It was one of the high school history teachers, and brother to the city's chief of police.
"Fuck!" I said. This day, just want from worst to abysmal. I'm not sure what else could happen to royally fuck it up anymore then it has already become.
I took a deep breath and Edward walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. It helped me relax more then anything else so far.
"Are you ok?" I asked turning to look at him.
"I'm fine. Nothing that Carlisle couldn't fix," Edward said. His eyes were searching mine, and I could see that he was trying not to show the sadness and the pity that his held. 'Fuck, I don't need this right now,' I thought.
Edward looked away, at hearing my thoughts. I think I figured out how to royally fuck up this day even more. Before I could apologize Peter and Alice showed up.
"Esme's on the way home with Emmett and Rosalie. I got a vision of us leaving, not sure what happened, but I suggested that they start packing," Alice said, but when her eyes met mine realization set in.
"Where is Maria?" Peter asked.
I responded by giving him a deadly glare that said 'Don't ask'.
"Maria is quite good at getting out of difficult situations it would appear. She used the human to force Jazz into a bloodlust haze," Edward answered.
"How..." The rest of the sentence never left Peter's mouth as I was on him.
"Now is not a good time to pick a fight with me, Peter," I growled.
"Sorry," Peter said, and I kept my position for a moment before backing away from him. Anger and rage were flowing so easily through me it was hard to think straight and keep from ripping his head off.
"Jazz, calm down," Edward said as I felt his hand on my shoulder again. "We'll find her soon. We've got to take care of what's going on here first."
"I'll take care of the human." Peter said.
"I guess I owe everyone an apology. I should have seen this coming," Alice said sadly.
"You can't be expected to see everything, Alice. No one expected this to happen," Carlisle said. His disappointment was unbearable.
"Maybe not, but I should have been looking for Maria. I should have known she'd never stay away, even with the warning from Demetri," Alice replied.
"I think we all took for granted that his warning would keep us safe. We know now that we need to be vigilant. We'll be better prepared next time," Carlisle reasoned.
'Next time,' I sighed internally. 'Next time I might lose a family member. We got lucky.'
Edward was watching me closely. I knew he was worried about me, but I didn't deserve that worry. This was my fault. I was putting those I loved at huge risk by being here.
Edward's eyes narrowed at me as I tried to keep him out of my thoughts.
'What?' I asked mentally.
'I'm watching you,' Edward projected.
Peter returned a few minutes later, after having disposed of the human. "I did the best I could to make it look like he was attacked by an animal."
"We'll need to move and quickly," Carlisle said.
The one thing that I never wanted to happen was now before us; my family having to move because I screwed up. Rosalie was going to so pissed off with me. I sighed audibly and Edward gave me a questioning expression.
'I fucked up today, Edward. I made a bad choice that resulted in someone I love more then myself getting hurt. I chose to seek vengeance over helping you, and because of that an innocent human is dead. My head is so fucked up right now I can't tell which end is up. My emotions are so out of whack I wanted to rip off Peter's head earlier,' I explained.
'You made the right choice and I told you to go after her. Neither of us could have foreseen what would happen,' Edward reasoned.
'I need to get away from here' I said with a slight urgency to my mental voice.
'Okay, we'll go back to the house,' Edward replied.
'No, I need some time alone to clear my head,.' I replied.
'Absolutely not, yYour head is a mess because of the human blood. It's messing with your emotions and your thinking. None of this is your fault, Jasper. We should have known that Maria would come for us sooner or later,' Edward replied.
'That's the thing Edward. Maria wouldn't have come if it wasn't for me. I just need to clear my head,' I countered.
'Maria would have come for Peter as well sooner or later. She's desperate because she's losing territory. We're not going to let you run off. We're family and we'll work through this together. I'm going to help you. I'm not letting you out of my sight, Jazz. You made all the right choices, and protected our family. Now let me help you,' Edward replied.
Seeing that there was no way that Edward was going to let me deal with this on my own I gave in. I knew deep down that he was right, and that I needed him right now more then ever.
'Fine, but I don't want the others to see me. I don't think I could take their emotions when they see my eyes,' I said, and then lowered my mental voice. 'I don't think I can take Rosalie being angry with me for having to move.'
'Okay, we'll go off together and get your head on straight. You shouldn't worry about Rosalie. She's probably pissed, but she'll get over it. Emmett will take care of her,' Edward replied.
"Carlisle, we're going to go," Edward said.
"We'll see you back at the house then," Carlisle replied.
"Actually, we're going to probably go to the house in Montana or my parent's house in Chicago," Edward replied.
"I'll let the others know. Please let us know when you've settled in, where ever you end up," Carlisle replied.
"Thank you," I said softly.
"I think I should be thanking you, Jasper. You're the reason all of us are alive," Carlisle said.
I just nodded my head, and then turned back to Edward. We left without another word being exchanged.
