Chapter 3:
As vampires we do not sleep, but we do need to rest sometimes. These experiences affected me physically in ways I could never have imagined. The remembrance of my change made my skin more sensitive, and the forgotten scars on my skin stood out, so even the keen eyes of Carlisle looked at me shocked.
I had a mixture of old and newer marks that made themselves more pronounced after the incident in the mountains.
I didn't even notice until one evening a few days later when jasper and I spent a night alone, just before Bella woke...
...
Jasper said goodnight to everyone as he put his arms around me. Walking in step we seemed to dance towards the tree, he made me smile by twirling me just as we reached the shadow of the conifers. Just as we entered the privacy of the trees jasper stopped and took me in both hands.
"You will tell me everything won't you?" He whispered as he kissed my forehead.
"Of course love" I replied "as soon as I know you will"
"Ok... In the mountains you were really hurt, don't lie to me I could feel your fear and pain- you remember how he did it now don't you, not just that it was him but how"
I nodded mutely unable to trust my voice.
"I know you will tell me when you're ready"
I slipped onto my tip toes to kiss his mouth gently. I know he could feel the love radiating off me at that moment so saying the words wasn't needed.
"Let's go home" I muttered pulling my fingers through his rough curled hair.
He smiled cheekily, holding out his arms he grinned.
"Your carriage awaits my lady"
Leaping into his arms I held round his neck like a damsel would her prince charming, jasper lightly leapt high into the trees, into the canopy. Stopping for a second to swing into the right direction. Within moments we were home.
Another house designed by Esme for her 'children'. It fitted Jasper and me completely. It stood supported by the old evergreens that made the corner supports all the way to the ground over 30 feet below us. The 'tree house' was deceptively small. The basic cabin was for us just a place to relax and get away from the rest of the family; my closet was my room in the main house, but Jasper always like the idea of his own homestead with his woman, as was customary from his human life. The single storey homestead was as basic as you could make except for the electricity. The main room consisted of a very large wooden carves bed with numerous cushions piled in the corners surrounded by books, with the rocking chair Jasper made me the first time we got married by the fireplace. A copper bathtub with lion moulded feet surrounded by an intricately painted screen stood at the other end of the room. The veranda ran the entire circumference of the homestead with swing chairs and ivy coverings. The house was well disguised amongst the trees, which were expertly cut to hide the base of the house completely. This was our little piece of heaven, our own tower, our own tiny kingdom. There were no ceremonies here, no calls for politeness with our gifts.
Jasper sighed letting his empathic guard down as I rubbed my temple in an attempt to ease the tension in my head. Kicking off my fabulous heels (4 and a half inch high ballet pumps that made my feet look as if they were on point) and twirled into my pile of silk cushions in my corner. I just loved the seemingly smooth feel of silk, if I didn't concentrate on the fabric I could feel the fabric as I was a human, perfect and almost like water under my fingers. Jasper went into the box at the end of the bed, and pulled out his knife and a block of wood. He loved to sit in the rocking chair looking into the fire feeling for the animal or object waiting to be found within the grain. His hands seemingly moving without his knowledge. The slivers of wood he moved were so slight that the object seemed to just materialize from dust. Another deer to add to the held that settles on the deep ledges of the windowsills. Each one slightly different, with their own faces and personalities. It was this care for detail which made me fall for him again every day.
"Hungry?" Jasper said as he felt the pangs emanate from my subconscious
"We'll be back in minutes" I said quietly smiling
"And what will we be catching today" he asked amusement in his voice
"Elk" I grinned, sniffing the air jasper realized why I knew we would be back quickly. There was a small hers of elk in the forrest underneath our home. It was literally the vampiric version of fast food.
The poor animals really had no hope, we swept onto the veranda and leapt into the air letting gravity pull us down onto our unknowing victims. My elk didn't struggle much, as my strong hands snapped her neck almost instantaneously, and Jasper fared pretty much the same. After the other deer scattered and we drank our fill jasper stripped the carcass for the fur and I pulled out my cell phone.
"Jake?" I said when he picked up
"Alice"
"Hungry?"
"Thanks"
That was all that was needed. The elk would lie there til first dark then in the morning they would be gone courtesy of the wolves.
Climbing back home took no time either. And lying on the bed I closed my eyes listening to the forest around me. In my quiet reverie I tried to think back to what had happened in the mountains, but the memory of the physical pain was even too much as an echo. In the distance I heard the sound of running water and I smiled. Jasper had run me a bath. He knew that I loved to bathe in hot water after eating. Darting behind the carved screen I undressed and stepped into the water. I inhaled the scent of the water and steam filled my nostrils. Within a few seconds Jasper had slid into the tub behind me. Grabbing the sponge from the small table he soaked it and began rubbing my back. I could feel the stress of earlier crumble away. I relaxed feeling his touch against my skin as his fingers traced interesting patterns across my skin.
"Oh Alice" he murmured
"Mmmm?"
"What did they do to you" his voice was such a growl that I was shocked out of my stasis.
"What?" I asked "what did who do to me? Jazz I'm fine"
"Your back-" he chocked "so many scars"
His eyes saw something I didn't remember, my skin was covered in the crisscross patterns of lashing wounds not left to heal, burn marks from the electric shock treatment. And my neck had a ring from restraints circling its base. My eyes widened as jasper described them to me looking at my own arms and writs I saw even more evidence of my violent demise. On my wrists were rings from rope burns and cuts into the skin from manacles, across my arms were the same burn marks from electrodes and several bite marks were also visible both human and vampire. I gasped trying to breathe with the panic in my head. What did I go through? Who cared so little for me to put me there to go through this physical pain.
Trying to gulp down air I did not need I fell into another vision of my past...
...
There I was again in the gallery sitting looking and my Jasper's painting. My hair was long and falling far beyond my shoulders in gentle waves. My dress on this day was simple, a pale green to match my unusually bright eyes. My pale skin like porcelain flushed slightly as I saw him enter the gallery and sit beside me.
"Miss Alice" he purred making my cheeks flush ruby red
"Mr. Perez lovely to see you again"
He kissed my hand his lingering almost too long over my skin.
"What brings a lady like you indoors on a lovely sunny day like this?" He asked politely
"I don't like to walk in the park when its busy, I can see too many things I'm not meant-" I stopped mid-sentence. I hoped he hadn't gotten my actual meaning and that he just took it as I was generally curious and I didn't want to be nosey "it's not appropriate for a young lady" I finished.
Slowly he sat next to me and leant close inhaling the smell of my hair. Startled I sprang from him.
"Sir!" I exclaimed "what do you think you are doing, that is not appropriate for a young man and lady who have not been chaperoned by an adult. If you wish to court me, then you mush talk with my parents. Now I bid you good-day" and with a spin on my heels I turned around and left him there a sly smirk sliding across his pale face.
Walking quickly I knocked into people without taking care of where I went I walked straight into the park across the street. Sighing I tried to calm myself, and I settled under a tree for shade. Looking around me I relaxed letting my mind wander.
Suddenly I had this horrible feeling about the cart crossing in front of me. A sickening feeling in my stomach made me feel as if something was going to go seriously wrong. Unknowingly I cried out a few seconds before it started.
One of the wheels came lose and the horses spooked. Screaming they barreled towards the nearest tree to get free of the contraption that bound them. The passengers, a mother and her 2 daughters were screaming as the driver was unable to control the horses. The carriage crashed into the tree and the noise suddenly stopped. That dead silence was the worst thing I ever heard. The foreboding and pain that ripped across my body was so terrible that I shuddered and collapsed on against the ground with a soft thud. No one noticed me until the doctor had covered up the bodies of the mother and one of her girls. The older one was carried away in a seemingly unconscious state. I opened my eyes to a doctor looking me in the eyes and waving smelling salts under my nose.
"Miss, miss" he asked "did you faint from the commotion?" It was then he noticed the red marks on my face, identical to the wounds of the victims. He looked at me sternly. Then he shook his head. Stepping away as fast as he could he pointed at me and called for the police.