I couldn't speak. I couldn't move. I just stared at him. It couldn't be. He was dead. But here he was, in the living room. He smiled.
"Stunned to see me. I don't blame you. The last image you had of me was lifeless, drained burned." I nodded. "Well now, brother what do you know? I have become one of them. I am now a vampire."
My jaw dropped. My brother was a leech? How was that possible? Who could have killed him? This could only mean one thing; that his acts of violence in the past would continue. That couldn't happen.
"I-uh, I'm stunned," I finally managed to squeak out.
"I know. I was too when it first happened those ten years ago. But I've grown accustomed to this lifestyle and I really like it. It's amazing, how much power you have. I've had people shoot at me and run me over and all sorts of crazy things. I just laugh and get up. The looks on their faces are priceless; almost as priceless as the looks they have when I kill them."
"Same old Jackson. Still a sociopath," I said. He smiled.
"Of course. When my heart stopped, my personality was frozen. My love of classical music and football, of beautiful women and pizza all remained. But I gained immortality. I gained power and strength. I know now I'll never have to worry about being caught by the police because I can walk right through a bullet. I can kill them and no one will ever know what happened."
I shook my head. This didn't make sense. He was dead. We scattered his ashes in the water at LaPush beach. How could he recover from that? As if he understood me, he spoke. "The body you burned was not me. It was one I killed actually. Remember that my face was burned in the fire? You couldn't recognize me?"
I nodded. He continued. "Well, I created that face on that corpse. So a body was cremated, unfortunately it was not me."
He smirked and walked to me. I backed up. My brother always beat up on me. In fact, the night he died he had lost all control and had beaten me into unconsciousness. I hated him. I feared him. And he could sense my fear. I started shaking. didn't want to phase right now. I didn't want him to know. It could be a powerful weapon, but it had to be used later.
He reached his arm out and pulled me into a hug. I pulled back immediately, figuring he was going for my throat. He chuckled.
"I'm not going to kill you. You're my brother, why would I?"
"You almost did the night you died," I said venomously.
"Almost, but not quite. You know I always had a problem with my temper. I wanted to beat my brother up, put fear into him. But I didn't want to kill him. Down deep, I loved my brother. Still do."
I stared at him. Was he serious? He HATED me growing up. I guess cause of the age difference. My brother was ten years older than me. Was always jealous that I got whatever I wanted and he didn't. Perk of being the baby of the family. I wondered what he wanted now.
"I see you don't believe me. That's fine; you will soon enough." He pulled back from me and smoothed his long hair. Then he smirked. "How's dad?"
I glared at him, my anger boiling up. "You stay away from him. It is because of you that he is in that wheelchair. The sight of you will probably cause a heart attack. The old man can't handle things like this."
"Like what?"
"Like you coming back from the dead! Who made you?"
He shrugged. "Not sure. I don't remember the face clearly. All I know is he drained my blood from me and then left me in that building to burn. Now here I am."
"Why are you here?" There had to be a reason.
"I wanted to see you and dad."
"Bullshit," I said quickly. Jackson raised his eyebrows at me. He was the one who swore constantly. I was six but I picked up some pretty language from him. "You have a motive. I want to know what it is."
He shook his head. "That is for me to know and you to discover." My hands balled into fists. Same old Jackson.
"I really mean no harm to you. I just wanted you to see me, to know that I walk the Earth." I was about to say something to him when my phone rang in my pocket. I looked down to answer it and he was gone.
"Bella," I said shakily. "What's up?" I didn't want her to know that another vampire was in Forks. That was just what she needed. The Cullens had managed to scare Victoria out of the area and my wolf pack killed Laurent. Now my brother was around. I would have to be extra cautious. I couldn't believe I was thinking this, but I may even talk to Edward and have him keep an eye on Bella. Not that he didn't, but a more cautious eye. I really hoped that Jackson didn't mean trouble while he was here.
"So, what do you think?" Bella asked. I had no idea what she said. "Sounds good," I replied. She laughed. "Great. I'll be there tomorrow at noon and we'll ride bikes. Bye!"
I stared at the phone. She's coming here? With Jackson around? That can't be good. I will try to say something to Edward when he reaches the borderline; talk to him in my head. I must keep an eye on Bella. She can't have her life threatened again.