Midnight's Pixie

I don't own anything. Stephenie Meyer does. Some lines have been used from Midnight Sun. No infringement of Stephenie's rights meant.

My mind was preoccupied with Jasper. We hadn't hunt in two weeks and now, in the middle of all these warm, blood-filled bodies, it was clearly a mistake. We would have to take him hunting tonight. His dark eyes held a dangerous glare when anyone moved too close to him. Emmett had had to place a cautioning hand on his shoulder more than once that morning.

All of us were thirsty. Our black eyes held testimony to that fact. But it was definitely worse for Jasper. Until he and I had found each other, he had been living on a diet of human blood. He was the only member of our family who had lived that type of life style for an extended period of time; therefore, he had had to make the biggest chance. The others had been raised "vegetarian" by Carlisle and I had chosen that way due to my visions about a century before. Before Jasper and I had been adopted in the Cullen's family, Emmett had had the most trouble with his self control. He had been very encouraging to Jasper, but it was still a tremendous struggle for him. All of his instincts screamed at him to satisfy his thirst with the luscious blood of any one of the bodies present. So we all watched him like a hawk. He hated it when all of us were overly protective of his every move.

My mind was continuously searching the future for any signs of trouble…for any human that's scent affected Jasper too much. Because Edward and I were pretending to be juniors and Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper were pretending to be seniors, we only had one class together. Edward, who was in the majority of my classes, made sure I would be able to keep an eye on Jasper. He would whisper answers to me if a teacher called on me, and I would mumble out the answer quickly before turning my concentration back to Jasper's immediate future.

During trigonometry, I caught a vision that foreshadowed trouble in the cafeteria at some time during the lunch hour. A young girl's scent had caught in the heater which blew toward our usual table. Jasper had received the full affect of it. I saw him rising gracefully from his chair, approaching the young girl, lowering his lips to her throat and –

Edward's hand roughly clutched my arm, jerking me from the horrible scene. His dark eyes looked into mine thirstily. He dipped his head back down to his trig notes, but whispered so quietly that only I could hear, "Don't worry. We won't let that happen. We'll watch him carefully at lunch."

I nodded, relieved that our family was strong enough to protect each other from exposure, even if it was just as painful for the others. My own throat burned dully with each breath I took, the beautiful scent of teenage blood torturing my senses. Fortunately, I'd never known the taste of human blood, so I would never crave it like the rest of my family, save Carlisle and Rosalie, would.

The bell rang to dismiss us to lunch and Mr. Varner quickly muttered out the homework that would be due Friday. Edward and I moved at a slow, human pace as we exited the classroom and stepped into the wet weather of the northwest Pacific.

We sat at our usual table, joined soon after by Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper. Our props sat before us on the table, untouched. It seemed like a huge waste, but from experience we knew that if we didn't ever buy any food, it wouldn't go unnoticed. So it was best just to purchase the food that would go uneaten to keep up with our façade the best we could.

The lunch hour was tortuously boring. We all sat, staring off into different corners of the room. Aside from the fact that I would periodically check in on Jasper's immediate future, there wasn't really anything to do.

After several minutes of silent sitting, I heard Edward's breath settle heavily after a moment, as if he were suppressing a sigh. Edward, I thought. I could only assume he had heard something in Jasper's thoughts. He didn't care enough about what was going on in Rosalie's head and Emmett didn't usually think anything that he wouldn't simply say out loud. I continued to stare toward the back door, not giving away our conversation. He kept his eyes on the ceiling. We were used to communicating like this, and fairly good at not alarming our siblings.

How is he holding up? I asked. I could only imagine how much he was suffering. I could feel it in the emotion he was letting off, though he tried to hide it from us.

Edward's mouth shifted a minute degree into a frown.

Oh no… that wasn't good… Jasper must be suffering a lot more than even I had noticed. Is there any danger? I asked anxiously. I quickly scanned what would be happening thirty seconds from now… a minute from now… nothing was shifted out of place…

Edward moved his eyes slightly to the left and then back to the right. That was a 'no'. Well, that was good. Let me know if it gets too bad, I requested.

He nodded with his eyes.

Thanks for doing this. I knew he wanted to give us as much privacy as possible, but this was important and I was glad he was keeping a look out for me if anything too bad popped up into Jasper's thoughts.

A moment later, my vision from trigonometry began to unfold. The young girl stepped in the path of the heater, tossing her short, sandy colored hair over her shoulder. Her scent swirled past me, an intoxicating smell that made my mouth water, my throat burn with a renewed fervor… oh no. Not good… Jasper…

Jasper's mind must have been wondering down the path my vision had been going down earlier. Imagining rising from his seat and going over to her… to drink her blood, to end her life. Edward swiftly kicked Jasper's chair. Rosalie and Emmett's eyes swept over to Jasper and then to Edward. They kept perfectly composed, not really knowing what had just happened, and continued to stare into space as if nothing had happened.

Jasper's attention turned to Edward, away from the girl, along with his decision to go after her. His future no longer included any threat of killing her… for the moment. His expression was ashamed, but I could see in his eyes a hint of angry rebellion.

"Sorry," Jasper muttered to Edward.

Edward shrugged and went back to staring at the cracks in the ceiling.

"You weren't going to do anything," I said to him. "I could see that." Edward and Emmett would have stopped him…but with Jasper as thirsty as he was… maybe they wouldn't have been able to. I hated lying to Jasper, but it seemed like the best thing to do. I wanted to comfort him, to ease his pain…

"It helps a little if you think of them as people," I said quickly, but softly. I quickly thought back to any bit of trivia I knew about her. Although I'd never spoken to her, my perfect memory registered her face. "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," Jasper said cuttingly. Inside, my chest collapsed into itself. I knew he didn't mean to be harsh – he was just suffering and it was a great embarrassment to him… especially to be exposed like that in front of me. I would give him is space for now. I'd go with him hunting right after school. It couldn't be put off any longer.

I breathed a sigh and rose from the table with my tray. Jasper's mood as I left was angry and embarrassed. I emptied my untouched food into a trashcan and place my tray on top of it. As I pushed open the door, I glanced at Jasper. He was turned away from me, staring out of the small window near the ceiling. My silent heart was breaking for him, but I knew that he wouldn't be able to stand much more of my encouragement. He needed his space. I would give him that.

The rest of the school day I kept a close psychic eye on Jasper. I monitored his every move, checking in on his immediate future in his last two classes in regular intervals.

Some of the twittering girls in my English class had reminded me of the presence of the new girl in our student body. In my preoccupation with Jasper, I'd completely forgotten about her arrival. Isabella Swan. That's what her name was. The head nurse had dropped by Carlisle's office and informed him that the hospital would probably receive a lot of visits from her. Apparently, until two years ago, she's come every summer to visit her father for two weeks and had had quite a few trips to the emergency room. I briefly recalled seeing the same brunette girl from my earlier vision enter the cafeteria with Jessica Stanley. However, more urgent issued called to me now, and I quickly turned my attention back to scrutinizing Jasper's every movement.

Rosalie and I meet up with Jasper and Emmett outside the cafeteria after school had been dismissed for the day. Edward wasn't with Emmett.

Emmett shrugged. "I have no idea where he is. I know he went to biology, but he never showed up to Spanish. I just told Mrs. Goff that he was sick. I checked the parking lot, but I didn't see him… wonder where he went?"

We walked out to the Volvo. Emmett was right. No Edward. The car was unlocked though, so we all climbed in. Edward's scent was very fresh, so he's been there minutes before. We sat silently, each of us wondering where he was.

"There he is," Emmett said a moment later. We all gazed out the rain splatter windshield. Edward was moving at the speed of an Olympic runner's sprint. In half a second, he was sliding into the front seat beside me. He was gasping uncontrollably and his hands were shaking. His black eyes were wild with thirst, anger, frustration…I'd never seen him in this state before.

"Edward?" The alarm in my voice broke through my usually steady voice.

He shook his head and gripped the steering wheel, twisting the key in the ignition.

"What the hell happened to you?" Emmett demanded. Edward ignored him and threw the car into reverse. He seemed desperate to get away from the school… what had happened to him? Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper all stared at me, waiting for an explanation… one I would have had, if I hadn't been monitoring Jasper all day. But I couldn't see the past, only the future. Edward had the car flying at speeds that were illegal in residential areas. I turned my vision to what was in Edward's future.

An empty road. Scenery speeding passed the windows. The night enveloping everything, headlights cutting through the darkness.

My forehead wrinkled. Sadness washed over me. "You're leaving?" I whispered.

"Am I?" He hissed at me. His future began to dissolve, another path opening to Edward's future.

"Oh." I breathed, seeing his future. Isabella Swan dead. My favorite brother's eyes glowing brilliant red. The police force out in full strength, searching for the monster that had murder the Police Chief's daughter. All of us waiting for the right amount of time to pass before it would be safe for us to leave… start over…

Isabella Swan in her father's kitchen. Edward stalking her from behind as she put away dishes into yellow cabinets. Getting closer, closer, her intoxicating scent pulling him forward, ready to satisfy his thirsty. Ready to press his lips against her creamy throat and skin his teeth into her skin –

"Stop!" Edward groaned, seeing everything I had.

"Sorry," I whispered, amazed that this girl's blood had such an effect on the usually most self-controlled one of my brothers.

Empty highway. The roads lined with a blur of snow covered trees. A speedometer that read out almost 200 mph.

"I'll miss you," I said, my throat choking up. "No matter how short a time you're gone." We were almost to our turn off. "Drop us off here. You should tell Carlisle yourself.

Edward nodded and he slammed on the breaks, the car shuttering to a protesting stop. The others got out of the backseat without a word. Edward stared out the windshield, his expression hard, fixed and determined. I lingered a second, briefly touching his shoulder.

"You will do the right thing," I commanded. "She's Charlie Swan's only family. It would kill him too."

"Yes," he agreed.

I gazed intently at him for a fraction of a second, then slid out of the car and joined the others on the side of the road. I bit my lip; terrified that he would not be strong enough to reach the hospital before his instinct over took him. Jasper drew his arm around my shoulder, guiding me up the overgrown drive that led to our house.

Emmett appeared next to me. "What happened?" he asked, his voice low and full of concern. Rosalie walked next to him, leaning into him as she listened.

"Isabella Swan. Her scent was too much for him… its driving him mad. He thinks that if he stays, he'll kill her."

Emmett let out a low whistle. "Wow. I've never seen Edward act like that."

I nodded solemnly. Neither had I. It greatly concerned me. I check in on Edward's future again. The drab walls of the hospital whipped passed him as he rushed into Carlisle's office. Carlisle tossing Edward his car keys. Edward sprinting to the Mercedes, speeding out of the hospital parking lot, speeding out of Forks, speeding down the peninsula highway…

I sighed. "Good. It looks like he'll make it."