A/N: Here we go then, hope it what you all wanted. It was ahead by votes, views, likes and follows xx Alexis
Bella
At first everyone was on full high alert, expecting Edward to sneak back immediately, but apparently, he wasn't that stupid. There was a tenseness in the air making Jake, and I jumpy, Jasper not so much. The pack was diligent about patrols and at least one of them was near my house at all times. We were expecting trouble sooner rather than later and maybe that was our mistake. We never took into consideration the deviousness of his mind or the sheer bloody-mindedness.
Meanwhile, Forks itself had heaved a massive sigh of relief at the Cullens departure; people were almost giddy with it. Then Peter and Charlotte had turned up to play the part of Jasper's guardians, his real older brother and his wife. They headed straight to the police station, stating they were worried about Jasper and how the Cullens were keeping them apart. They'd been looking for him for years since Peter was eighteen they told Charlie, about seven years now and when they found who had fostered him they wanted back in his life and the Cullens had said no.
They'd been chasing them every time they moved and caught a lucky break and found out where they'd gone to this time. It had been going on for four years, the Cullens running and the Whitlock's chasing after them. So now they were gone Peter and Char rented a much less ostentatious place at the edge of town and the nineteen-year-old Jasper moved in with them. Charlotte dropped the odd comment in the minimart, glad her brother in law was away from those weird people and the town agreed wholeheartedly.
"I don't want to throw stones, but, I think Dr Cullen was performin' unauthorised surgeries on his foster children! Not Jasper thank goodness or even Emmett, but Edward and the girls, they all look too perfect, too pretty, you know?" she'd said in the hairdressers one day and it became fact.
It didn't take much to ensure the Cullens would never be forgotten in Forks, therefore could never return. Any problems at the hospital were laid at Carlisle's door, even though they were blatantly not his fault. Rumours that Esme might have not have been as sweet as she had portrayed, began as well. Or that Emmett was on steroids and Rose had been addicted to having plastic surgery, nobody so young looked like that. Then Alice got labelled as being bi-polar, but it was obviously left untreated by the Cullens. The Doctor and his wife only took them all on for the money and everyone decided and that Edward really was their son.
Jasper even admitted to me in a confidence, purposely overheard of course, that he had to do without things because Edward wanted a better piano or a new car and other unnecessary expensive stuff. The name of Cullen was forever sullied in Forks and the Quileutes made it known, that they too had to have words with the Doctor. About out of season hunting, and dumping of rubbish in the forest. It was a smear campaign of epic proportions.
As the weeks passed, we all fell into a routine and started to get to know each other, for real this time. Jasper told me about his past, I guessed it was a very watered down version and I accepted that. If he wanted to tell me, eventually he would. The closeness to Peter and Charlotte was obvious and it was sad that the Cullens, especially Alice played such a big part of keeping them all apart. Just because Edward didn't feel they were in his intellectual bracket, or Carlisle looked down on their feeding habits.
When in reality it was the other way around, the Cullen's were the oddities and Alice was jealous of their bond. I liked them, more I realised and felt much safer around them too. Jasper became an important part of my life during those weeks and little by little we settled into a holding pattern. Waiting for the trouble to arrive, so we could move forward with our lives. The pack was slowly getting a little more lax about patrols around Forks, although both Jasper and Jacob were with me all the time.
If I was lucky I got to have some fun with Peter and Charlotte, they were a little less serious while still watching over me. Peter was trying to get inside my head and had me trying to visualise my shield hoping that I might be able to use it but to no avail. With finals upon me and my graduation looming, I was too busy to worry about Edward Cullen and then, at last, the summer holidays were here and I was set to start UW in the fall.
Everyone was, I later realised, being lulled into a false sense of security as nothing had happened for three months, it was a blissfully peaceful break. Jake had even given up entirely on any notion of him and I being more than friends, he respected Jasper too much to tread on his toes, unlike Edward. Who he'd hated with a passion, and spent all his time trying to wind him up.
I was almost all packed and ready for College, this was going to be a proper adventure for me, and Jasper wasn't telling me where to go or what to study. But he had enrolled too but in none of my classes. He was doing something he wanted too and he wasn't leaving me for any reason he'd said, I was glad. These last few months had as I said, brought us so much closer; I now knew it was him who had left the CD and socks for me.
He had seen how down I was getting and wanted to cheer me up. Every so often another CD appeared and I loved to hear him sing. We really were at a kinda impasse, any further and we'd be a couple and I think he was afraid I'd reject him. Being with Alice had made him wary and maybe he thought it was too soon for me after Edward. As if, who'd reject Jasper? He's funny and gentle, kind and really sweet, but also strong and resilient. I know he's got a dark past, but that was then, not now. Our pasts don't define us; just shape us into who we are now.
Like tonight after that unexpected kiss. I thought he was just bending to peck me on the forehead like he always does before he leaves to hunt, but when nothing happened I looked up and his lips descended gently at first. I was stunned for a second and then threw myself into it and Jasper deepened it, taking me places I'd never been before. This was so much more, so different and somehow more real, compared to Edward's awkward chaste kisses. This was being kissed by a man and not a boy.
I knew I'd been slowly falling for him, any time he was gone from my side, my heart literally hurt. Not that I'd told anyone, who'd believe that? Char had looked at me funny a couple of times as I'd rubbed my chest and I think she's guessed how I felt about him, I even thought she was happy about it. This kiss was so unexpected, but god It was the best kind of surprise.
"We'll talk when I get back darlin', okay," he said as he left and all I could do was nod dumbly, struck stupid by his lips on mine. Neither of us knowing it would be many days before we saw each other again.
I found the CD as I pulled back my bed covers; it was Jasper singing once again, 'Start of Something Good' by Daughtry. His way I hoped, of telling me he too was falling for me. Loving the fact that it mentioned,
'And all my scars, they don't seem to matter anymore, cause they led me here to you'
I played it on my portable CD player till I fell asleep. Maybe if my earbuds hadn't been in I'd have heard something, but I doubt it. So that's how Edward found me, asleep in my bed with the sound of Jasper singing in my ears.
The pack had left me unguarded that night unknown to everyone, to chase an unfamiliar vampire who was trying to get onto the Rez. Peter & Char were in Seattle checking out some suspicious but unrelated deaths, not wanting the Volturi coming around here for any reason. Later I would find out they tried but just couldn't get back in time. Jake was looking after Billy who'd been sick for a couple of days. When Jasper left he really believed the pack would keep me safe for an hour or so.
But you know the saying, 'The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley', well fuck that this was worse, much worse for me! It was the feeling of a needle pricking my arm that woke me and before I could scream, he knocked me out with a blow to my temple. The next time I came around, was to a very angry Edward Cullen yelling,
"Whatever it is you are doing Isabella, stop it right this minute? How dare you deny me, access to you!" he demanded of me in his stupid whiny pompous voice. What did I ever see in him?
"Fuck off Eddie!" was my sparkling retort, too groggy and sore to understand what he was on about.
It turns out fear is a great motivator. Either the blow to my head or the drugs loosened my shield and it had protected me from the psycho while I was unconscious. Going by the pile of Edward approved clothes, the ass had intended to strip me naked and redress me in those. He was not a happy camper, the control he expected to have over me was nonexistent. Hell no, I'm a big girl and can dress myself!
His first failed attempt was to deny me food and water, but I just moved the quilt, pillow and other bedding I was on into the bathroom. I filled up the bath with cold water in case he turned it off. I knew I could survive at least a month maybe slightly more if I do nothing, on just water. He couldn't get past the doorway. I assume it was because of my shield, I kept repeating to myself.
'I don't want him in the same room as me'
So began the mental torture, not mine but his! He couldn't affect me physically; I refused to let him get to me mentally. But I still was trapped god knows where with the psycho, so I used that against him. For the first day, I refused to even look at him and thank god I had my CD player still on me so I played Jasper's song over and over. Then I realised I'd need to conserve the batteries so just sat with the earbuds in. I could hear him ranting.
"I'm going to kill everyone you ever cared for, you selfish bitch!" he spat out pacing back and forward,
"Your parents first, then the tribe and finally Jasper and his hillbilly family, see how you like that!" he yelled like a petulant child and actually stomped his foot straight through the floor.
"All you have to do to save them is lower your shield, Isabella. If not their blood will be one your hands!" He insisted and I have to admit I turned and looked at him then. On my hands, I think not, fucking lunatic.
I saw before me only a child who was not getting his own way, and I laughed at him before saying the same three words.
"Fuck off Eddie!" I would never give him the satisfaction of actually talking to him.
I didn't ask where we were, I didn't ask why he was doing this. I just waited knowing Jasper would eventually come and kill him. I had felt the tugging around my heart twinge a couple of times and tried to imagine it in my mind, as a rope I could pull. I did this quite a few times over the last two days so far and tonight I actually felt it reciprocated. Thank God, he knew I was alive and now must at least know the direction to come.
Edward talked constantly; I saw it slowly happening over the next few hours, as he began to unravel before me. The mind-reading, control freak could do neither and it was his worst nightmare. But unlike me, his mind was weak and in only two days he snapped. I saw it right away; he ran off for hours and returned with red eyes.
FWTMTY
Jasper
I was beyond happy; I'd for once followed my heart and kissed Bella. I'd been wantin' to do that for weeks. It was all that I'd hoped for and when she kissed me back enthusiastically, I was overjoyed. But I really had to go huntin' I'd been puttin' it off for days,
"We'll talk when I get back darlin', okay," I'd said as I left, tryin' not to laugh at the glazed look on her face.
Everythin' was fine for the first hour, I knew she'd have found the CD by now and hoped she understood what I was tryin' to say. Then a feelin' of dread crept over me, somethin' was not right. I got a text from Peter soon after, just one word,
'Bella!'
I was runnin' flat out and I knew right away but didn't want to believe it. Edward's scent was fresh and close to her house. The pack was nowhere to be seen, not one of them was left behind. What were they playin' at? I pulled out my phone again and called Jacob,
"Jacob where's the pack? Bella's unguarded and Edward's scent is here and fresh!" I yelled as I reached her house and scaled the wall.
Her room was empty and a hypodermic was on the floor by her bed, several specks of blood were on her pillow. Jacob's howl could be heard through the phone he'd phased and knew the pack had left her alone.
"Jasper? Jasper can you hear me?" he shouted as I stood starin' at her empty bed, thank God Charlie was at work. The roar I let out shook the windows and the Major appeared.
"Report Mr Black?" I said and heard his "Oh, shit!" in return.
The pack had caught a scent and given chase, a lone vampire tryin' to enter the Rez! They had him trapped up a tree near the treaty line. I was runnin' before I hung up, that son of a bitch was goin' to die. I could smell the fear when I arrived, but overridin' it was confusion.
"Who are you?" I demanded in a low menacin' tone and he stared at me as if was his saviour, not his worst nightmare.
"Ricky, my name is Ricky Collins! Edward sent me, paid me to harass the tribe. Said nothing about werewolves though! He wanted me to just rile them up, as payback for some trouble last year. I think. He rambled on a lot and I just wanted some easy money!" he was shakin' badly and the truth was pourin' off him.
"He's tellin' the truth, Sam, he was a decoy so Edward could take Bella and he probably thought you'd kill him," I said as the pack continued to snarl at him.
"I hope you got your money up front, causes Cullen's a dead man," I said to the fool,
Sam phased human and stood facin' me in all his glory, askin'
"Do you want us to kill him Major, looks like he's just Eddie's patsy!"
"Major? Major Who?" Ricky gulped, but before I could reply, Peter came into view,
"Whitlock son, Major Jasper Whitlock! You just helped Eddie steal his human mate!" he said and if a vampire could pale, Ricky did.
"Let him go, he was played, just like the rest of us!" I said rubbin' my chest,
"Sir, Major? I owe you a debt of honour now, and I will stay until Cullen is dead. Sergeant Richard Collins, the Great War, at your service" he said and I nodded feelin' his sincerity, sayin',
"Okay Collins, the Captain will brief you on what's happenin' around here"
Jacob arrived then and together we all returned to Peter and Charlotte's place to start plannin'. Char said she thought this was just a lucky try for Edward and he'd obviously been watchin' and waitin' for such a break. I was beginnin' to worry for Bella, Peter smiled and said,
"Don't worry about your girl; she's made of tougher stuff. Her shield's made an appearance. He'll take her somewhere isolated, but it'll be one of Carlisle's places Major. If you could make a list?" I quickly jotted them all down, still rubbin' my chest.
Peter just looked at the list and then crossed out several right away. Collins raised an eyebrow and Jacob laughed tellin' him,
"He just knows shit!"
It was decided we head north; there we three houses he could have taken her besides the one in Alaska the rest of the Cullens were at. We were just headin' out when Peter yelled,
"Good girl! She's your mate right enough Major, she's thinkin' tactical and has him at an impasse already. He can't get past her shield and she's ignorin' him, you know what a narcissist he is, he's livid"
Thank God, I was gettin' really antsy. I feel like I let her down, made it so easy for him to get to her. Charlotte had covered her with Charlie, sayin' we were goin' to Seattle to get stuff for college. She said it would be a couple of days since we'd take in a show and sightsee. Charlie was glad he'd been workin' double shifts because of the holidays and felt he was neglectin' her. We both needed to make it up to her when we got her back.
I hadn't dropped out of Major mode since I'd found Isabella gone, it was easier to be the cold relentless bastard, rather than the emotional wreck Jasper would be. We both talked as if the other were a different person and that was wrong, we were just opposite sides of a coin. But deep down within us was a separate entity and he scared even me. Jasper and I called him the beast; other's called him 'The God of War'.
Unlike me, he was a merciless killin' machine. No thought, but kill and destroy, no emotion, but rage. Even Maria who created him from our broken remains could not control him totally. She pointed him in the direction she wanted and hid until I returned. No one had ever stood in front of him and lived. At all costs, he was held down and caged within us. Nobody could survive him, friend or foe, he knew no distinction.
Of course, we shouldn't have expected everythin' to be easy; he was a devious little bastard. Usin' people's thoughts against them and gettin' them to do what he suggested as if it was their own Idea. The first house had several humans in it, obviously lured there by whatever promises Edward made. But they were either dead or dyin' slowly. Did he really think we would be overcome by the blood and it would sidetrack us? Dear god that boy is beyond stupid.
We humanely put the still barely livin' out of their misery and search the place for any clues. He had set up a fake holiday they'd won. Four separate couples were here; we made it look like a tragic gas explosion and informed the local authorities. Charlotte made sure to tell them who the house belonged to, time to involve the Cullens. Peter had taken pictures of all Edwards's victims before we torched the place and emailed it to, Carlisle, Eleazar and Emmett.
Let them make of it what they wanted, it was so clinical and purposeful, this was no vampire attack. Rather a crude trap set for vampires by someone who knew nothin' of real vampires, war or tactics.
"Is he insane, Captain? Who in their right mind sets up their own coven like this?" Collins asked,
"No, he just doesn't think, Edward always sees what he has planned workin', not the actual fallout. It never crosses his mind that he may be wrong, everythin' else is irrelevant to him" Peter said.
Jacob was growin' up fast on this journey, this was somethin' he'd never seen or had to deal with. He had puked up his guts a couple of times so far and I did suggest he return home.
"No, damn it Major my tribe let you down and I won't rest until we have Bells back. I need to be there to see you kill him!" Jake said rinsin' his mouth out with water.
I was unaware at first, that Jacob had blamed Sam for Edward gettin' to Bella. He'd pulled everyone away to chase Collins. The fact that it had never crossed his mind, this might be a ruse, angered Jacob. They had argued and when Jacob said he was goin' with me, Sam had tried to Alpha order him to stay and Jacob had shrugged it off and left anyway. Peter had told me all this as we gathered up our stuff to head out to the next place.
"There's gonna be a power play when that boy, no young man returns! He's ready to take his rightful place as Alpha and then one day Chief," he's said quietly to me.
When we arrived at the second Cullen property, we were met with a whole new level of wrong. In the house were several cages full of men and woman from all the surroundin' and possibly further out first nation tribes. All starvin' and scared, but mercifully alive. Along with them was one very annoyed vampire.
"God damn it, I'm trying to help you! Yes, I'm a Cold One. No, I'm not going to drain you all!" rang out across the silent morning towards us. Peter chuckled callin' out,
"Incomin' Garrett, four vampires and a Quileute shifter!"
"Damn Peter, did Carlisle send you an invite through Eddie too? Fucked if I know what's happening here!" he called back and we all glanced at each other.
"Sergeant Collins, start filmin' this whole debacle. We need proof this was Edward's doin'!" I ordered, steppin' forward to shake Garrett's hand,
"Garrett!" was all I said and he tilted his head, straightened up and replied,
"Major. I arrived one hour ago to this, whatever it is! They won't talk, just scream if I try to get close and yell. 'Cold One' at me!" he said exasperatedly. I nodded and turned to a stunned Jacob.
"You're up, young Alpha. Try to calm them down and find out what the fuck is goin' on here!" I told him and he stepped forward.
Many of the prisoners gasped to see one of their own with so many vampires. He started to speak to them in the Na-Dené language. It was common among the natives of Northern America and Canada. Each spoke their own language or dialect, but this helped to cross barriers for trade and such like. He introduced himself as a Quileute first, then as the son of his Chief and finally his name. Several said they spoke English and didn't understand Na-Dené.
He asked what Cold One had done this to them? The shock to him and us was hearin' my name! He asked them to describe the Cold One in detail, hair, eyes etc. Then it was apparent he'd used my name to implicate me. Was he tryin' to start a war? Many of the other tribes also had shifters and if they all came together, the Volturi would have a monumental battle on their hands.
Charlotte had darted away and returned with a couple of deer which she proceeded to gut and prepare for cookin'. The prisoners watched her through the open door intently, the woman in approval when she wasted nothin'. Even the offal was prepared and the hides removed with the greatest of care. Jacob explained we were after the Cold One who had done this greatest of insults to them, and we would not hurt them.
They were very wary and demanded to know why should they trust a boy who ran with Cold Ones. He stepped forward and in a blink of an eye, was replaced by his wolf. His tan fur shone in the afternoon sun and I could see he had grown since he last phased. So the Alpha was here and he let out a roar that shook the very walls around us all.
"Fuck me, Wow man that's one hell of a party trick!" Garrett gasped out loud, actually clutchin' his chest as he'd gotten a fright.
With that, the people were silent, in awe of seein' a legend before their very eyes. He padded forward and ripped open every cage with his powerful jaws and the people followed him out of the house to where they had seen Charlotte. She had two fire pits going and left the woman to cook the deer's she had prepared for them. Once they had all eaten and Peter had found shorts for Jacob, he told them who had actually taken them and why. Explainin' Bella was my mate, my imprint in their legend's parlance.
We also got him to mention that when they returned home. They must tell their elders not all red-eyed vampires were bad, just as not all mortals were good. We had a rulin' body and had to abide by their laws. Keepin' our secret from the Pale Faces, as Jacob called the other humans. Using our phone's they all arranged for transport home and I packed up any stuff of mine from the house, I would never be returnin' to live with the Cullens and might not get the chance again. Unlike the last house, I had lived here once upon a time.
It was the end of the second day since Bella went missin' and I was worried about her. I suddenly felt a yank, deep within my chest the normal ache had become a definite yank!
"Damn!" I mumbled rubbin' harder.
"Major?" Charlotte queried, I rubbed again sayin',
"The ache, it just felt like a yank, just once and I think I felt it yesterday, but weaker so passed it off" I replied.
"I knew it, she feels the pull too. I saw her rubbin' her chest once while you were huntin'. But I didn't think humans could feel it and forgot about it" she said apologetically.
"Damn, smart girl. She's lettin' you know she's okay and out there waitin' for you. Do it back to her Major! Imagine it's a rope and just yank like she did" Peter said excitedly and I closed my eyes, imagined the connection as a thick rope and pulled it with my mind.
'The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley' (the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry) 'To a Mouse,' by Robert Burns 1785
Start of Something Good by Daughtry
