I OWN NOTHING ABOUT THIS EXCEPT MY OWN CHARACTER(S) AND STORY LINE.
"I do?" Jasmine tilted her head, standing up slowly on shaking legs. Smelling her arms and hands, she became incredibly confused. "I smell like me..." Was Alice messing with her?
"I suppose it's an outward scent, Jasmine." Carlisle gave an uneasy smile, Jasmine just becoming more confused by the second. They headed into the house, Jasmine falling onto the couch to partially lie on Emmett. "You didn't - by any chance - go to a place named La Push on your adventure, did you Jasmine?"
"I have no idea what that is," Jasmine shook her head gently, Emmett moving his arm so she could lie down better. She was very sleepy... "Is a puppy place? Because I like puppies a lot." In her sleepy state, she was trying to connect the dots with what she knew. Maybe La Push was a puppy adoption centre.
"No." Jasmine locked eyes with Edward, tilting her head. "You need to stay away from there." Her brow furrowed. From what she was aware, she hadn't even ventured there in the first place. Was it that bad? In this kind of area, it surely couldn't have been so horrible she had to avoid it. Then again, every seemingly nice and calm place had that rough area... Was that La Push? "She was there, Carlisle, I can see it."
"I'm not lying!" Jasmine's frown deepened, her arms loosely folding and resting on her waist. Edward shook his head, heading over at a normal walking pace and looked down at her.
"You were there, but didn't know what it was called. That's all I'm saying," Jasmine calmed down, lightly grazing the skin of her thumb with her pearly white teeth. "I'm not accusing you of anything, pequeña doncella*, I'm just filling in the gaps."
"Ahhh..." Jasmine smiled broadly again, skipping into the kitchen when Esme beckoned, asking for help to make a small lasagne for Jasmine's late dinner. She was yet to exhibit obvious signs of needing to feed yet, but they were guessing it would start within the week. Carlisle pulled Edward and Jasper aside, huddled slightly in the furthest corner from Jasmine.
"What was she thinking?" He spoke lowly, knowing that Jasmine wouldn't be able to hear them.
"Paul Lahote was the main subconscious projection. He's one of the new Shifters, not that Jasmine knew that." Edward's eyes quickly flicked to the cooking, oblivious girl. "They seemed to be old friends."
"Did they sense anything out of the ordinary with her?" Jasper questioned, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms over his chest. Edward ran over her memories of the meeting as they flashed in her mind, shaking his head gently.
"Didn't seem so; he was just happy to see her after so many years."
"I would suppose if they're old friends, then he wouldn't see anything out of the ordinary." Carlisle reasoned - mostly to himself - but his brow was becoming heavily creased as Jasmine continued humming a tune with Esme in the kitchen. "She didn't hold the normal wolven scent that we would expect, and it took a while to notice it on her."
"Like it was being masked." Jasper leaned against the wall, resting his chin between his index finger and thumb. "Natural defence mechanism?"
"Quite possible." Carlisle gave a small nod. "She is more human than vampire; a natural defence such as a masking would help to keep her alive. As she isn't as fast, it would help her blend in and escape danger easier, or at least something along those lines."
"Like when she arrived." Jasper's mind returned to the day in question, making a light 'hmm' noise. "She smelt like the woods. I don't believe she has an actual scent that just hers."
"Blending in." Carlisle repeated lightly, watching Jasmine putting the lasagne carefully in the oven. "The wolven scent hadn't worn off yet, but was close to leaving."
"Uncle Jasper!" Jasmine ran over, gripping his arm with pleading eyes, and effectively shutting the men up. "Don't let Alice take me to Seattle!" Jasmine clung to him tight, Alice looking highly offended.
"You need new clothes!"
"The ones we got the other week are fine!"
"Wrong, they are cheap and will fall apart soon. You need clothes!"
"Uncle Jasspeeeer!"
"Jasmine, you promised," Jasper patted her hand, giving a soft smile as her hopeful face fell. "It won't be that bad. I'll make sure that Alice doesn't keep you too long."
"But she wants to leave after dinner! It's like a four hour drive!"
"Jasmine, I don't sleep, and we can be done quicker if we leave tonight," Alice reasoned, even though it would make next-to-no difference if they left tonight or tomorrow morning. She skipped over, hugging Jasmine from behind and playfully pursing her lips. "Besides, there's stuff that is going to look so cute on you."
"You don't know that."
"Well..." Alice trailed off, not wanting to freak out the still-skittish girl. She had yet to question how Edward had 'seen' she was at La Push, and Alice knew she wouldn't question this either. Bless her seer abilities; she did love it sometimes. Jasmine rocked on her heels, quietly humming to herself as she thought it over.
"Fine." Alice inwardly smiled, full of smug joy. "But only for three hours, max."
"Oh, but-"
"Lasagne's ready!"
Jasmine clutched tightly to Emmett's shoulders, giggling as he raced to the car, bouncing her gently. Esme put an overnight bag in the trunk for Jasmine, making sure she had everything she needed. Jasmine smiled, climbing down from Emmett's back and adjusted the backpack full of her entertainment. "Remember to feed her in the morning, Alice." Esme pulled Jasmine in for a tight, cold hug, petting her hair.
"I will. We'll have pancakes!" Alice grinned as Jasmine perked up considerably, all of a sudden very eager for the trip. "See? I told you this would be fun." Alice managed to plant a kiss on her husband before Jasmine clutched him in her needy grip. She rested her head on his chest, letting out a slow breath through her nose. Jasmine revelled in the cold feeling, holding onto him for as long as she could get away with before Alice dragged her into the car, not wanting Jasmine to change her mind.
"You're going to love this, trust me!" Alice started up the car, driving away from the house with a grin on her face.
"I'm not loving this right now."
"Oh you sour puss, come on! After shopping, I'll take you to meet Bella - ooh! Remind me: I need to pick up her birthday present!" Alice began to babble on, and eventually Jasmine tuned out, closing her eyes as a large wave of tiredness washed over her. She had to feed soon, she'd been putting it off for too long, but it was frightened to her. She couldn't actually remember preparing it herself, or even watching how it was done. It would seem to be a matter of making it up as she went along, so that would be a terrifying adventure. Soon enough, exhaustion passed through her body, and promptly rendered her asleep.
When her eyes opened again, the sun was streaming through the cream coloured curtains of the hotel and made Jasmine's eyes burn slightly from the brightness. She was still exhausted, and she knew it couldn't be solved by sleep; she needed to feed, and to stop delaying it. "Hey, you're finally awake!" Alice came bouncing over, her face falling when she saw the sudden dark circles under Jasmine's eyes and the waxy look of her skin. "… How long has it been since you fed, young lady? You weren't showing any signs yesterday."
"I don't know," Jasmine shrugged, throwing her arm over her eyes to keep the sun out. "Two months, maybe? I'm really good at hiding when I need to feed, until I get to a state like this. The main one to look out for is me falling asleep."
"First of all: note taken. Second of all: how have you managed that long? Third of all: how did you manage when you were on the road?"
"Alice don't pretend that Jasper didn't let everyone know that I lied about how long I was on the road for. I may have been dozing, but I could still here you," Jasmine removed her arm as Alice shut the curtains properly, sitting up carefully. "It wasn't any longer than two and half months, I was just told by my dad to make sure it actually was my Uncle Jasper in the most subtle way possible, and the hiccup notice answered all I need to know."
"Are you always this open when you're hungry?" Alice giggled as Jasmine nodded with a smile. "I though you said Jasper was the only blood family you had left?"
"He is," Jasmine cracked her neck, relieving a pain in it. "My dad is actually my Coven leader, but he and his mate officially adopted me when I was thirteen so he's always been dad, really. He was a friend of the family,"
"Well that makes a lot of sense. I'm guessing he's nice then?" Alice was going to try and get all the information she could, but she sure wasn't going to be too pushy.
"Oh he's absolutely-" Jasmine was cut off when a knock came to the door, Alice's brow furrowing. She hadn't seen this happening, but then she hadn't seen the exhaustion on Jasmine on their trip either. In her visions, she looked bright eyed and sun kissed.
"Who is it?" She questioned lightly, hearing a voice thick with an Irish accent come through the door.
"I've got a delivery for Miss Whitlock?" Jasmine was filled with a momentary energy, nodding swiftly for Alice to open the door; she did so with caution, a young man in a bell boy's outfit coming into the room, spinning a tray in his hands. His hair was a hazelnut brown, his skin was fair and pale, he was about 5'7 in height and his eyes were a coal grey. A careless grin was over his face ad he nodded at Alice. "Thank ya kindly,"
"Lucas!" Jasmine held out her arms for a hug from the bed, but the man simply shook his head, taking a bowl off the tray and handing it over; the contents were noodles with raw pieces of meat and a dressing of warm blood. Jasmine's stomach made the noises of what she imagined a distressed seal would sound like, before she took the chopsticks and spoon from Lucas' hand. "Alice this is Lucas!" Alice gave a simple nod before Jasmine turned back to her friend. "Dad send you?"
"Nail on the head," Lucas grinned again, turning his head to Alice when he heard her approaching. "Top of the-"
"Don't you dare," Jasmine pointed her chopsticks at him with the promise of violence, before returning to her bowl of delights. Alice noticed her skin was beginning to return to its normal colour and the bags under her eyes had gotten lighter.
"I'm the Irish one and she won't even let me say one of the most well-known phrases," Lucas shook his head with faux offence. "How are ya?" He questioned in Alice's direction, watching her tilt her head.
"Well, all things considered," she pursed her lips slightly, "How did you know we'd be in here?"
"The Boss knew, I just followed orders," he shrugged nonchalantly. "The man has eyes and strings everywhere. I know that sounds creepy, but he likes to make sure all of his members are safe, especially this one." Lucas threw his eyes in Jasmine's direction, before returning to Alice. "So he's kept an eye on her, and figured she had yet to feed because she doesn't like bothering people. Honestly, he baby's her."
"Don't act like he's not like it with you either," Jasmine put her bowl on the bedside table, now bright-eyed with no signs of being tired. She shuffled closer to the other two, Alice joining them in sitting on the bed.
"Oh I know he is, but I'm not the adopted one."
"Technically every member of the Coven is adopted."
"Can we back track please?" Alice raised her hands slightly, grabbing the attention of the other two. "Who is this leader and why is he so secretive?"
"I would hardly call him secretive, the entire Vampire world knows about him, along with many in the human world – of course without knowing what he is. He's a right show off." Lucas chuckled at memories of their leader, but went back to answering the question. "As for who he is, I'm sure you'll figure it out."
"So neither of you are going to tell me?"
"Nope." Jasmine popped the 'p', grinning like a mischievous child. "How long are you around for, Lu?"
"A week or so. I'm staying in the hotel, so feel free to visit!" Lucas laughed, before his eyes got drawn to the bruising on her arms, laughing even louder. "Oh lord; he really did grab you, didn't he?"
"He didn't mean to, he was just worried I would get hurt!"
"Yeah, and he ended up doing the hurting." Lucas stopped his laughter, looking at the slender finger marks. "He really is stronger than he looks, ain't he?"
"Dad's not one to mess with," Jasmine clocked Alice's expression and shook her head. "Dad came most of the way with me, but let me travel alone with loose directions for me to gain 'some kind of independence'; I don't think he planned on getting emotional when it was time for us to part ways." She chuckled slightly, rolling her eyes. "He hugged me a lil' too hard,"
"Of all the things we had thought that had happened to you, it turned out to be a hug?" Alice muttered, more to herself, with relief washing over her. Jasmine hadn't been out in a painful situation, just hugged by a man filled with worry for his little girl.
"I must be off," Lucas hopped off the bed, enveloping Jasmine in his arms. "You be careful, okay?"
"You be careful." Jasmine placed a friendly kiss on his cheek before letting him go, Lucas heading for the door. "It's was lovely to meet you Miss Alice."
"And you," Alice grinned, throwing her legs over the bed. "I hope to see you more in the future,"
"Oh you haven't got a choice there," Lucas laughed and opened the door, turning back for a moment. "He's known as the Pharaoh, should you want to find out more."
The shopping trip was a lot more fun that Jasmine had thought it was going to be; trying on copious amounts of clothes and Alice essentially buying all of them, Jasmine was sure she had enough clothes to last her for at least five years. They'd picked up Bella's present, and Jasmine questioned whether she should get her anything.
"Well, only if you want. What would you get her?"
"I'm not sure…" They were walking through the streets after putting their bags in Alice's car. Jasmine was thankful that Alice's weather skills were right and that the clouds had covered the sun. It was incredible that she knew, but Jasmine assumed she just watched the weather news far more than Jasmine did. Jasmine's eyes were caught on something inside a store, excitement filling her and rushing inside with Alice close behind her.
"What are you rushing for?" Alice questioned with a laugh, seeing Jasmine fawning over small tortoises in their enclosure. "Oh of course…" Jasmine's eyes were glossy, muttering under her breath over and over again about how cute they were, reining herself in from petting them or picking them up. An idea popped into Alice's head, Jasmine not noticing how she practically slid over to the counter to ask several questions before her eyes locked on a small wooden elephant on one of the shelves, pulling it down and staring at Alice.
"Would Bella like this?"
"I'm not sure it's for sale, sweetie." That was a lie. Alice already knew she would get the little elephant. Give me a moment to discuss with this lovely gentleman; hand me the elephant and have a look around, okay?" Jasmine did as she was told, immediately going back to the tortoises and giggling as they moved around their enclosure.
"So small…"
"They don't stay that small," the cashier inputted and Jasmine nodded. "They won't get much bigger, but they'll reach near your mid-forearm, seeing how little you are."
"Hey I'm still growing!" Jasmine frowned slightly, grumbling for a moment.
"So are they." The cashier smiled at the display, continuing his talk with Alice. She had already bagged the elephant; she was now just discussing plans for Jasmine's birthday present. The girl in question had moved on to look at the fluffy rabbits in awe. She'd seen rabbits before, but never ones with this amount of fur; it was quite a marvel to look at, really.
"No touching," she reminded herself, deciding that it would be a better idea to stand outside so she wouldn't be tempted, Alice handing her the bagged elephant on her way out.
"Give me five more minutes and then I'll be right with you hon," Jasmine nodded in understanding, standing outside peacefully.
The wind had begun to pick up, her dress and hair moving with it, as she got lost in her own thoughts. It was an odd thing – retreating into her own mind to try and find whatever she could – and mainly getting greeted with blank spots like usual. Jasmine wasn't sure why so much of her memory was just black, but she supposed she would find out if she ever remembered them. Perhaps her subconscious wasn't letting her remember what had happened in her past, which was both worrying and frightening. Being a member of a Coven, Jasmine knew danger was always on the horizon, but danger inside her own mind scared her more than anything she could currently remember.
Closing her eyes, Jasmine was greeted by screaming voices and blood, everything else becoming warped in her ears. Someone was screaming her name, and she could see the bodies, and now their faces… She couldn't recognise them to save her face, but they certainly of the vampire kind. Some yelled her name again, the house going up in her flames, and she recognised that voice of her Coven leader. What was happening? How had it happened? Why was she even there?
"Jasmine!" Her eyes snapped open, seeing Alice's concerned eyes and clicking fingers. "You okay?"
"Yeah… Yeah I'm fine," Jasmine pushed some hair out of her face. "Let's just go home."
Xen kicked up his feet onto the desk, pursing his lips tightly as he replayed events in his mind, one hand petting the rabbit on his lap. He had two choices: he either wiped Jasmine's memory again, or he let her rediscover everything. She was older now, and she was at least more mature than she was. Her brain was more likely to be able to handle her memories better than when she was ten years old, but he knew she couldn't do it on her own. She was a sensitive soul; he knew of Jasper's empathetic abilities, but that wouldn't be enough to handle what she would have to remember if he followed through with this. There was no way he was going to let her do this alone – he'd rather caress his asshole with a working chainsaw – but he had to make sure he sent the right people.
Lucas was obviously a given: he was already close by, a good friend, a brother figure, fierce enough to not take back chat and caring enough to provide what she needed. He also knew she had her old friend Paul (she used to talk about him a lot), but since he was part of a Pack now Xen wasn't sure if he would be the supportive friend who would be there for her 110% like he used to be; being in a Pack changed a man, so that factor didn't have Xen's complete trust. He would send Rae out there again to support her (as Rae was a very supportive dad), but he wasn't sure if he could survive being away from his husband that long, not to mention that Rae was his ruling counterpart to go to if he needed help.
He tapped his fingers against his thigh, whistling the tune of Anarchy in the UK to sooth himself, leaning his head back and running his hand through his black hair, sighing in his mind. She was so troublesome without even realising it, but then it was partially his fault. He knew this time was coming, but he'd been trying to delay the process for as long as possible; the last thing he wanted was for that little girl to get hurt, even if the things that happened were out of her control. Not to mention that she'd rediscover her gift – that was going to horrify her – and now he had no choice but to make his own option.
He would let her remember, but slowly. Piece by piece, day by day, year by year: the worst part of remembering was not knowing when, where or how, so he would show her all of it, but at a pace to let her adjust. Xen couldn't let Jasmine push herself too hard too soon, that just wouldn't do at all. No, that wouldn't be acceptable. "So, once again Xen, you've got to save the day." A chuckle escaped him, spinning his chair and jumping out of it; Xen straightened his suit and rolled his neck. "Let's go on an adventure, shall we? The Pharaoh has work to do, it seems."
* = little maiden
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