I am truly sorry that it has taken me so long to post. I would like to say that RL has been riding my butt, however the simple truth is I just didn't know what to do with this story. It was and has been in my mind but I just couldn't get it to write out the way I wanted. So I let it set and finally after some help from arinnawhitlock I knew how I wanted it to go.

One note I would like to make is that I am trying to use vocabulary that will sound out of place at times. Edward is definitely Scottish and therefore should have a brogue. At times I am sure of what the verbage should be and you will see the brogue at other times you won't. I hope that isn't confusing for some of you. Jasper is not Scottish and you will not see him speak in with a brogue at all. If you ever want to know what I mean with a certain word, just ask and I'll give you the definition.

Disclaimer: the characters are not mine but the story is.

Chapter 3/I've Been Here Before

EPOV

The gloaming was more than beautiful to my eyes this eve. One of the few peaceful times I enjoyed in this miserable life that witch left me. But alas it was spent alone, like every other eve these past years. I had long since stopped crying over what could no' be changed. It was my life as long as she wished it. The sun was nearly set now and I heard Alice's bell like voice drift up to where I stood watching over my clan's land. It had been many years since I had cared for anyone as much as my wee pixie Alice, not since Cil. Alice reminded me so of her, Cil, my baby sister, long gone now. Her sweet laughter pulled at my heart, made it ache for times long past. My people long dead.

I had watched too many of my clan be born and die here at Cullen Manor. There was no hope left in this long dead heart. Cil had claimed that Evan had not been the one, my life partner. She died promising me he had not yet come. I'd lost count of the generations that had come and gone since Cil, my da and my brothers had passed. I no longer cared for those born of my clan because it hurt too much when they went on and I was still left here. But this generation, they were close to breaking my heart open again and I had to put a stop to that. I couldn't feel again, I wouldn't. Aye, it was time to bury myself in the past where I belong. Remembering…

The two of us standing in our room; the one we had built together. Each shelf hand carved and placed with care to hold the storehouse of books of knowledge and magic and history that we wished to place there. Evan, with his golden curls pulled into a tight leash at the nape of his neck and eyes the color of the ocean when the sun was high in the sky overhead was my friend. But more, I wanted him as my lover and life partner. He loved me, aye, but not as I loved him. He had come to marry Cil because his father and my father wished it. It would make our clans stronger, they claimed. It would unite the Cullen and Douglas blood line for future generations. Stronger against those devils the Donovan. His laughter was like listening to the wings of birds as they rushed by. Cil knew I loved him but she would obey our fathers also. It was the way of the clan. It was the way to hell for me so I would run to the hills. Run away from him, run away from the wedding, run away from my duty.

Aye, the hills they call to me. I'll leave at dawn after I've rested this night. If I no' tarry here, I can reach my sanctuary by gloaming on the morrow. Alice would be angry with me for a time; angry that I had not stayed to meet the new one who has come. She would want me to dress as they did, to fit in. I hate those things Alice makes me wear when outsiders come to visit. A man wasn't meant to be bandied up in those jean things. It very nearly cut the blood off to my cock and nay that zipper thing was hell if it got stuck. Bloody hell, I had asked Alice what was wrong with a kilt and her only answer was to kiss my cheek and say please. The lass was hard to refuse but there was no way in bloody hell I was clothing myself in them again.

I heard the others arrive and I knew my time was short. Gathering the few things I would need for the morrow; I thought to slip out of the castle ore' anyone would see me. I could hear them gathered in the great hall. It would not be a problem to slip past them and into the library. As I moved in the shadows, I passed the open doors and heard a voice I had no' heard in a long time. My long dead heart began to pound furiously in my chest. Hidden in the corner of the hall, my senses were in overload, much as they were in the old days, when a man lived by his senses. I could smell the scent of musk and sun and Evan. It was not possible. No other could smell the same. One look and I would know this was some kind of trick the witch was playing on me. One look and I would know it could no' be him. My eyes peered through the crack where the door was open. I saw my clan and a stranger. A stranger with honey wheat curls resting at his shoulders. He was tall, aye, nearly as tall as me. His shoulders were more slender and his straight back narrowed to a small waist with legs that were hugged tightly in those jean things of Alice's. My cock twitched under my kilt. I could see now why Alice liked the contraptions so much. His showed off the length of his legs and the round globes of a perfect ass. It can no' be him. Then Alice said something, I donna' know what, but he laughed. The blood froze in my veins. He turned and I saw his face. It was the same but not the same and then I saw the eyes. By the Gods in the heavens, they were his eyes, Evan's eyes; the same color blue of the sea on a bright sunny day. He had come home.

JPOV

Alice had driven the two of us out from Inverness to the Cullen Manor in her jeep. I soon learned she didn't seem to believe in driving on the paved roads. There were a couple of times when I was frightfully happy that the jeep had seatbelts and mine was secure across me. She thought nothing of jumping the jeep over huge boulders or dropping off a steep incline. True, when she had stopped at the last crest to show me the castle spread out in the small valley below, it had been an unbelievable sight. Twilight here was breathtaking. Every hue you could imagine splayed across the vast sky casting the castle in a rainbow of colors; then she dropped over the crest and I swear the jeep left the ground entirely for a time.

Pulling up to the castle in the long driveway was another take your breath away experience. The structure was huge and beyond anything I had ever seen in a move or read about in a book. It was a true castle, with casements, torrents and a walkway along the outer most edge; built from some stone that slightly glittered in the setting sun's light. I could imagine a time when men dressed in kilts and swords standing guard there watched over the land. Men in kilts; my, that was something to ponder. I wonder if it was true that they never wore anything under those kilts.

The massive oak doors seemed to be carved from one gigantic piece of wood. More than twice as tall as me, I thought it would take two grown men to move them but Alice walked up and pushed one open easily. It must be on some sort of pulley system to make it swing open so easily.

But once inside it was like stepping back in time. Everywhere I looked ancient blended with modern. Even though the rooms were decorated with pieces of furniture that had to be hundreds of years old there were modern pieces there too. A large carved table graced the foyer with a vase with fresh flowers overflowing it. Tapestries hung from either side of the main door with what appeared to be some sort of story cross stitched into it. I studied a portrait that hung on an adjacent wall for just a moment as Alice grabbed my hand and pulled. Across from the doors that we had entered was another set of doors thrown wide open so that you could see into the vast room beyond it. This must be the great hall.

The one thing that you noticed first upon entering the room was the fireplace which took up nearly one quarter of the north facing wall. The hearth was tall enough for a grown man to stand in. I had never seen anything like. The roaring fire was laid out in three sections of logs giving the room an almost unearthly glow and even though there were modern lamps turned on; several candle sconces graced the room every so many feet with lighted candles. It was like stepping back in time. The room was large enough to contain a dining table and enough chairs to seat a dozen people, several leather sofas with fur wraps lying across them and four groupings of assorted wing backed chairs in various conversation areas throughout the room.

Alice and I had been the first to arrive and she promised that she would show me around the rest of the castle tomorrow. She did say that she would show me the downstairs library tonight after dinner, knowing that I would enjoy seeing that right away. I wondered at why she called it the downstairs library and just how many libraries did this place have. Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Rose joined us not long after.

We were enjoying a before dinner drink or two and Alice had been entertaining us all until dinner was served. Suddenly, I felt as if I was all alone in this room. All alone with someone watching me. The short hair on the back of my neck was standing up and it felt like a flush was creeping up my skin. It was an involuntary thing to turn and see if someone else had come into the room. Carlisle's voice interrupted me just before I could move to look into the foyer.

"Jasper did Alice show you the hall of portraits since you arrived earlier than the rest of us?" he asked.

"Hall of portraits?" I questioned.

"I really didn't think about it Carlisle," Alice said with a sudden cold chill in her voice. "I didn't think he'd be interested in all those stuffy pictures." I'd never seen Alice become so curt before.

"Well maybe not all but I'm sure…" Carlisle started to say and a butler came into the room to announce dinner was served.

"Later," Alice said and grabbed my arm to pull me into the adjoining smaller dining room. This room was more intimate but still had the ancient feel that the larger room had. We enjoyed a lovely dinner with Alice quickly becoming the center of attention again. Desert and coffee was going to be served in the great hall so we all adjourned there.

"Well, Jasper just how much do you know about the Cullen clan?" Carlisle asked as he offered me a choice between a cup of coffee and a brandy. I chose the brandy.

"Not much, except what Alice has told me. Can you tell me who the man is in that portrait in the main entrance? I noticed the colors of the kilt he was wearing and it appeared that the style of the painting was early 1600," I had wondered about the man with the piercing green eyes.

"Aye, that was Michael Cullen. He was actually the first Cullen Chieftain. Up until Michael the clan had been pretty much been wandering and when they came across the 1,000 acres here unclaimed they decided to stay," Carlisle sipped his coffee and then continued. "He quickly became friends with a Peter Douglas and his clan who were their closest neighbors. They each had a distain for the Donovan Clan who was known for being extremely cruel in their attempts to claim more land and animals for their clan causing many battles in this area. The Donovan's did not take kindly to the Cullen's claim on the land and warred with them on many occasions trying to take the land away. It wasn't until Michael's son, Edward, killed the Chieftain of the Donovan clan, a man named James that the warring finally ended."

"Yes, it was very sad," Alice chimed in. "The legends say Edward was cursed by Jame's lover, a Druid priestess who hated Edward for killing her lover. She cursed him to walk the earth never finding his true mate since he had taken hers."

"Well the clan must have continued, you are all here," I laughed trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes, the clan continued. Michael had several other children. A daughter, named Cil who died shortly after giving birth to her first child and two sons named Gar and Masen married and carried on the clan," Carlisle added.

"So who did Cil marry?" I had the oddest feeling the answer to that question was extremely important to me.

Alice looked at Carlisle and I could just barely see the slightest nod of his head.

"Cil married a man from Douglas clan. There was a son named Evan who married Cil. He was the father of her child," Alice said in a very sad voice. "Shortly after Cil died, Evan took their son and left for England. We know some time later he remarried and took his family to what was then called the Colonies. We don't know what happened to the line after that."

I was stunned and for a moment I couldn't speak. I looked at their faces one at a time. I couldn't believe that my line had somehow been intersected with this family at some time in the past. Carlisle was speaking to me but I was lost somewhere in my own thoughts. Alice squeezing my hand brought me back to the room and the faces now staring at mine.

"Jasper, are you okay? I can assure you there are no ghosts in the castle and you look as if you have seen one," Alice said trying to get me to snap out of my stupor.

"Alice, Carlisle, I don't know how to tell you this but I'm finding this all very difficult to understand at the moment," I rose and started to pace the floor. "My name is Jasper Douglas Whitlock. It has been a tradition in my family since the first Douglas came to the Colonies to name one son in every generation Douglas so that the name of Douglas would continue to stand. Do you think that I could be related to Evan Douglas in some way?"

"Well, I suppose it is possible and we could go through some of the family journals in the library here, but as Alice stated most of the history is a blank to us after Evan left for the colonies. Did your family keep in records?" Carlisle asked. My head started turning and replaying that last day spent with my mother and gathering up all those old journals, bibles and ledgers.

"It's possible, yes," I explained. "My mother and I gathered together several books that my father's family had passed down for generations. I have two of them with me in my things. I haven't had much chance to do any research into the books because I was so intent on making my trip here to visit with you."

"I do know that I will need a translation book of Gaelic to help me decipher several of the books. I'm not at all familiar enough with the language to do it on my own," I said.

"I know someone who could help with that," Alice ventured carefully. "I just don't know if he'll be available to help you."

"Excellent idea Alice, he would be perfect for the job," Carlisle piped in.

"Who did you have in mind, someone from the university?" I asked finishing my brandy and setting the glass aside.

"Actually, I believe our cousin would be better suited. Hopefully he'll be here tomorrow and you can meet him then," Alice said looking over my shoulder into the entrance hall with a smug look on her face.

"Well, it's getting late. Alice why don't you show Edward the hall of portraits on your way to take him to his room," Carlisle said as he and Esme rose to leave the room.

Emmett and Rose had hardly said two words the whole evening and left very much wrapped up in each other. I had a feeling that we wouldn't see them very early in the morning either. Alice wrapped her tiny hand around my arm and led me from the room after the others had departed. We walked into the entry way for a moment then took a long hallway down the left side of the room. Seeing the first portrait on the wall was more modern and contained Carlisle and Esme.

"The most recent portraits are hung closer to the door," Alice offered as we walked the hallway. Each portrait contained a name plate and date, so Alice didn't have to explain each one as we went. The next one was a much younger Carlisle, along with Alice and an older couple, their parents.

The farther we went the older the portraits and before long I began to see a pattern in the coloring and eyes of the individuals portrayed there. I lost count after looking at about twenty of them. Then I noticed that with the paintings dating to the late 1700's, a more rustic and simpler design began to come out in the paintings. We stopped in front of the last painting hanging in the long line. It was another family grouping. I recognized Michael Cullen right away. There was a lovely woman seated beside him with warm caramel colored hair and deep brown eyes. Seated on her lap was a tiny little girl, probably about eight years old, with jet black hair lying on her shoulders in a braid. On either side of the woman, stood two younger looking boys, probably in their teens, one of the boys looked much the way I would have thought Emmett looked as a teenager. The other boy's body was similar to the first but his hair was more a reddish brown than the black of the first boy and the little girl. Then my eyes drifted to a third son, standing slightly to the left of his father and behind him. The breath rushed out of me for a moment and I was aware that Alice was staring at my intently.

He was tall and slender with hair the color of rich mahogany wood, red but deep brown. The artist had taken much time in getting the color set. His face looked sad but I noticed his firm jaw line, almost razor sharp and he was clean shaven unlike his father with a full beard. His eyes were what held me. Where his father's green were green, like a field of new hay; his were dark green like the color of a pine tree in the forest. Deep and alluring and almost pulling me to them. Alice cleared her throat and when I looked down at her there was a puzzled but contemplating look on her face.

"This is Michael Cullen's family." She pointed as she gave names to the faces, "Michael of course, his wife Gwen, Cil is sitting on her lap, on Gwen's right is Gar and Masen on her left."

I waited for her to tell me the other young man in the picture was Edward but I couldn't breathe. Something in my gut had already told me who he was.

"And of course, the other young man is Edward," Alice whispered the words. "This was painted at his eighteenth birthday, just before he fought his first battle with the Donovan's."

"He was in a battle that young?" I couldn't help but feel compassion for the young man.

"It was a harsh time then, Jasper. Wars and battles were a way of life to them," Alice touched Edward's face tenderly for a moment and I saw a tear slip down her cheek. "It's said he was a sensitive boy and even as a grown man he was more withdrawn and alone than any other Chieftain. Often spending days in his libraries and speaking to no one."

I could see she was overwhelmed with compassion for this Edward in the portrait.

"He never married and lived alone the rest of his life," Alice pulled her hand away from the painting and wiped at her tears. "I've done a lot of research and read some of his journals."

"I'm sorry Jasper but I think I'm ready to call it a night. Talking of him often drains me," Alice turned and headed back up the hallway leaving me to stand and stare at the portrait for one more moment. "Jasper, are you coming?" I heard her tiny voice coming from the end of the hallway. I turned and followed behind her.

We walked up the stairs to the second floor and turned down the right hallway. There were at least a dozen doors in the hallway and Alice stopped at one about six doors down.

"This is your room. You'll find your bag in already there, sleep well Jasper," Alice stood on tiptoes and kissed my cheek. I got the strangest feeling she was trying to look into my soul as she searched my eyes for something. What, I didn't know.

"Good night, Alice," I said as I closed the door behind me.

Inside the room, I surveyed my surroundings. There was a chest with a large mirror hanging on the wall over it. A smaller chest by the door held a vase of flowers. I noticed that the windows were covered by dark blue velvet curtains that hung from floor to ceiling. I pulled them aside to see that the window there looked out on the stable yard below. I wondered what kind of horses they had at Cullen Manor. It would be wonderful to take a horse out across the open fields here, to ride in the meadows and glens and forests. Maybe Alice would go with me.

There was a fire banked low in the fireplace. It wasn't as large as the one downstairs but was large in the contained space of the room. The bed was huge. It set out from the corner where two walls connected. Dark blue velvet drapes hung completely around it and on the walls behind it. It set up high off the floor. Setting on it my feet wouldn't touch the ground. Pillows in various shades of blue were thrown across it; fur wraps lay across it in different directions.

I found the adjacent very modern bathroom through a door to the right of the large dresser. Finding my bags, I freshened up and changed into my sleep pants. The room was warm enough so I left my tee shirt on the side table next to the bed, for the time being. I might need it if the room cooled overnight.

APOV

"Just watch over him tonight," Alice stamped her tiny foot on the floor to emphasize that this was not a request but a demand. "I can't keep him safe and rest myself. It really isn't asking that much, Edward."

"Aye, it is," I answered her. Although I really didn't mind watching this Jasper person; being told that I must by this wee bampot was what I objected to. I was chieftain; I should be giving the orders.

"Do not call me a bampot, you big oaf," she whisper yelled at me. This was quite funny and I sometimes forgot that she was gifted in more ways than one. "He's dreaming of your library tonight. The night you said goodbye to Evan," she said shyly, knowing how that still hurt me.

"Ye, shouldn't let him see that way, Alice," I warned her. "He will no' understand and I do no' want his pity."

Huffing she said, "I can't stop what Evan chooses to show him. You know that. But Evan is not the problem here. She is. She is aware of his presence and the dreams, just as I am. She has not tried to change the dreams yet but she will. Her powers don't lie in that direction either but she has other powers and she could still harm him while he sleeps. I've guarded him the last two days constantly and I need to rest. Just watch over him this night is all I ask. I know you were watching us earlier, watching him. He is a good man, Edward, I feel it. He is the one."

"Alice, my wee one, I have long given up hope that the one would ever show up," he sighed deeply, "Please do not ask me to hope again."

Rising on her tip toes Alice kissed his nose lightly and hugged herself to his huge frame. She loved him deeply just as all the reincarnations of Cil had. She would do anything for him and she was determined to restore his heart and hope to him. She was young as Druid priestesses went but she was stronger than the others before. Her magic would break this awful curse or she would die trying.

JPOV

I threw back the covers and staying to the right of the bed the way I did at home. Lying there listening to the crackle of the fire and thinking about everything I heard tonight, I thought I would never fall asleep but I did almost instantly.

The dream was back. I was finding my way down the long hallway far beneath the earth one more time. It had become familiar now. I was no longer afraid of what I would find at the end. I knew where I was headed but this time was different. This time there was a voice in my head whispering gentle words…"Don't be afraid of him, Jasper. He needs you. I couldn't be what he deserved. Aye, too much a coward to believe that love was more important than honor and clan decisions. You can set him free from the curse. You are the one. Love him, Jasper, love him."The voice faded the closer I came to the open room at the end of the hall. Somehow the voice sounded like mine but not mine. Just like last time the room was lit and I could see shelves with old books and tomes lined upon then. This time the person in the shadow was clearly visible. His back was to me but I could see he was dressed in the old world style. His shirt was white linen and fell gracefully from his wide shoulders draping his body, showing the outline of a very muscular back. When he moved the muscles bunched and jumped under the sheer material of the shirt. He was placing books on the shelves. The sleeves were billowing around his arms but still I could see his biceps work as he placed the books gently away. I saw the kilt covering his ass tightly and falling to hang just at the back of his knees. He wore no shoes or socks and I could see the bronze hair that covered his legs in the candle light. I felt myself growing hard in the dream so hard that I could feel the seep of precum from the tip. It felt so real. When he turned to face me, my brain almost couldn't register the beauty that was before me. Rugged and stern his face seemed to be chiseled from stone; his jaw sharp and defined with a narrow regal looking nose. But it was the eyes that drew me, sucked me in. The painting in the hall didn't even come close to the color that was staring through me. Deep as any forest that I had ever seen with golden flecks of sunlight was the only way to describe it. I was frozen in place for just a moment at the look of him. I forced my eyes to take in the rest of him. His chest was broad and full. The linen shirt was unstrung and lay open almost to his stomach. I could see the smooth pale skin of his pecs and the rosy buds showing through the material. His stomach was flat and his abs well defined, hard and just begging to be licked. I saw now that the kilt hung low on his hips and the fine bronze hair that formed above the sporran would drive any man crazy with lust. He stood with legs spaced apart as he if was readying himself for battle and I noticed that there was tension in his face; a sadness that seemed to overwhelm him. I knew this was Edward Cullen. He was older in my dream, a man full grown. But he seemed broken. There was an indescribable need in me to comfort him, care for him. He was lost somehow even in this dream. He was looking at someone else in the dream, someone I couldn't see, someone that had broken his heart. He looked down at the book in his hand and back up to the other person, with tears threatening to break from his eyes. He stiffened and held his head high then said, "Aye, it is good bye then Evan. My heart goes with ye." Turning away from me in the dream, I watched as his shoulders slumped and I awoke.

I sat up in bed and steadied my heart. I was chilled from the coolness of the room and the fine sheen of sweat that was now covering my body. It was so damn real. I could almost feel his presence here in this room. It had seemed so damn real. He was real. My cock was still hard and throbbing from the dream. Reaching for my cock, I pushed the material of my sleep pants down my thighs. I closed my eyes and I could see him again. Pictured what he would look like without those clothes, wondered what it would feel like to take a man like that; even more to be taken by a man like that. I couldn't help but stroke a little harder and faster as I thought of my tongue sliding across his tight abs, circling his belly button and dragging through the fine hair of his happy trail. God, I wanted him. I used the oozing precum as lubricant and focused back on his eyes. Those damn, gorgeous eyes, staring at me. Speeding up again, I felt my balls tighten and the flutter in my stomach as my orgasm approached. Suddenly, I visualized that kilt dropping from his hips and imagined his cock standing hard and throbbing and I exploded over my hand; streams of milky cum splashing against my chest. I rode out the high thinking of kissing my way across that face that was so beautiful but all man. Reaching for my tee shirt, I wiped myself clean and rolled over in the bed. Sleep came easily then, I was exhausted and no more dreams filled my mind.

EPOV

I watched as he dreamed. Slipping into the blue room was easy. The door behind the blue drapes was still there and still accessible from the secret passage way. He no heard me enter. I stood in the shadows watching him. He was deep in the dream with Evan when I saw something move in the hearth.

Alice was right. The witch had no power to invade the dream but she could send evil to still harm him. I saw the vermin as it slithered from the fire taking form. It was nearly four feet long and my palm would not be able to contain its girth. The head was nearly as big as my tightened fist. I moved from my cover in the shadows. It had not seen me. Stepping softly behind where it left a trail of black ooze, I removed my dearth from the leather strap across my chest. Watching, I saw it rise from the floor as if someone was making it move that way. Once raised, I easily grabbed for the neck just behind the head and poured my body weight into taking it to the floor where I plunged the dearth into its head. Four strikes and it still moved, six strikes and the black ooze began running down my hand and over the snake, ten strikes and it finally lay silent. Then, abruptly it was gone. The snake, the stench of the black ooze; all of it gone and I was left kneeling with the dearth in my raised hand.

In that moment, I thought heard him call my name. Had I awoken him? He was moving on the bed nearly ready to wake from the dream. Quietly I moved back to my place in the shadows and continued to watch. He sat up quickly waking from the dream in a confused state. His body glistened in the firelight. He was damp from sweat and smelled of man. My cock grew hard just looking at him. The golden curls were tussled from where he moved in his sleep. God I wanted him. He was not Evan and yet my body ached to touch him, taste him. As I watched him push the covers aside and slide his breeches down I felt the lump in my throat grow huge. He was touching himself. By all the heavens, I could see his cock; it long and full, hard and leaking. I watched as he stroked himself and I could no' stop myself from doing the same. I pushed my kilt aside and began to stroke myself too. I matched his rhythm and speed and could no' stop. His magic was strong over me. Pulling at me watching his mouth move and when he called my name and his seed shot from the tip, mine did too. It was powerful and the most pleasure I had had in many a year. My breathing finally slowed and returned to normal and I watched as he wiped away the sweet nectar of his body with a cloth then turned to fall into a peaceful sleep.

He had called 'Edward' when he came. He was thinking of me. For just a moment, just one tiny moment, hope surged in my heart. Then I heard her voice so clear in my mind that I shuddered, "Ye' will never find yer' love and ye' will always for all time be alone, Edward Cullen, forever!"

Well I hope it was worth the wait. Please let me know what you think. Good or bad I would like to hear from you. Again if I used a term or word you are unfamiliar with let me know.