Jasper's POV

I had been outside of the Cullens for at least an hour and no one knew I was here. I was just observing them, waiting for my moment.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I answered it.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, it's me," Peter said and I resisted rolling my eyes. Caller ID anyone?

"Get to the point, Peter."

"Garrett is free."

"So you helped him escaped?"

"Yes and no."

He always did this and I hated it.

"Peter, hurry the fuck up."

"Well I used Bella's shield to get to him undetected, but then he went apeshit. He claimed that he had his own plan for escape and he didn't want my help. I told him too bad, but then we got into a fight. I had to leave, but I stayed close by and kept him shielded. He escaped without being noticed, but I'm sure Bella will find out he's missing before we leave."

"And Bella's gift, how does it work?" I asked.

"It's pretty standard," Peter said. "It comes from the same part of the brain as yours so you should be able to affect her. I can replicate the basics, but the longer I stay with her the more I can understand it and the longer I will be able to keep it when I'm no longer with her."

"What about anyone else? Were you able to pick up more gifts?"

"I couldn't get close enough to see into anybody else's mind. Maybe if Bella starts trusting me I will get the chance, but that's going to take a while. She's cautious of me."

"Okay, good work. Please message me when you are in the US and definitely before you get anywhere near the Cullens."

"Have you figured out your plan yet?" he asked.

"Of course," I told him. "If you catch sight of Garrett let me know. He'll be out for revenge I bet."

"But he was the one who screwed up your kill," Peter said.

"Doesn't matter." I hung up the phone and jumped from the tree. I needed to get on with my plan. I had a feeling Edward would drag Bella back to Forks the minute she landed in the country, so I needed to work fast.

I approached the house like I owned it and knocked on the door.

"Jasper?" Rose asked as she opened the door wide. "What are you doing here?"

All the memories attempted to come flooding back, but I pushed them aside.

"Carlisle said I was welcome anytime," I said.

"That was a century ago," she said with a sad smile.

"So it's not valid anymore?" I asked, turning to leave.

"No, no, of course not. Come in, I've missed you brother."

I cringed at her term of brother, but accepted her hug regardless.

"I thought I heard your voice," Emmett said, coming down the stairs. "What have you been up to, Jasper? Long time no see."

"I've just been around. Where are the others?"

"Carlisle's at the hospital, Esme's in Seattle and Edward is who knows where."

"And Alice?" I asked, not caring in the slightest. There was a time where we were expected to be mates, but she never even registered as a potential in my mind. She wasn't strong enough for me.

"She's with her mate," Rose said carefully. I pretended to be shocked, but I knew all about Alice and her mate.

"Her mate?" I asked.

"Yeah, this happened not long after you left," Emmett said. "One of the wolves imprinted on her."

"Oh, yeah, which one?" I already knew. I knew everything about the Cullens and their life since. I made a point of it, I had to.

"Embry, he saved her from a newborn attack, it was very sweet, love at first sight," Rose said.

"And Edward, what about him?"

Emmett let out a laugh.

"He seems to think his mate is Tanya, but we're not convinced."

I smiled on the inside. Tanya was not Edward's mate at all. I had seen them together and it just wasn't possible. I have a feeling Tanya wore him down, but then again I may have played some small role in it too, maybe.

"Edward's coming," Emmett said, but I already knew that. "He's going to be happy to see you."

"Yeah," I agreed. Edward and I weren't best buddies, but we got along.

"Jasper, you're here," Edward said and his excitement hit me, I pushed it aside, "and I thought you would never come back. Perfect timing too." His words rushed out almost all together. He really was excited to see me.

"Perfect timing?" I asked, playing dumb.

"Yes, Bella is set to come home too. You should stay and see her. We can get the family back together again."

"Human Bella?" I questioned.

"She's not human anymore, you know that," Edward said. I did know that.

"Last time I saw her she was human. I saw her blood and everything."

"Jasper, what happened on Bella's eighteenth birthday was not your fault. She never blamed you," Edward said.

"Good, because I don't blame me either," I told him.

"Jasper, Bella-"

"Look, Edward," I said cutting him off. "I don't know her, I never have."

That was the truth.

I knew of Bella. The short amount of time I was with the Cullens, close to a year, maybe, I was always in the background. I had joined the Cullens just before Bella came into their lives and I was only there because I was curious. I wanted to know why they drank animal blood. I thought I could use some of their tactics for evil and I did. But there was this girl, a human girl. She was Edward's best friend. I was still a human drinker much to Carlisle's disappointment, the animal blood never intrigued me. Why drink something we weren't supposed to? Why knowingly weaken ourselves? There was no point. And because I was a human drinker the Cullens thought I couldn't be trusted around Bella. Simply put, they thought I would eat her. I never even had the urge. I saw Bella from a distance a few times, but we never interacted. Then her eighteenth birthday came around, and according to Alice, I just had to be there. Alice was physic, so I did as she said and it was a bad decision, or good, it depends how you look at it.

Bella cut her finger and everything happened so fast. The blood hit the air and everyone's bloodlust rose. None of the Cullens had been around human blood, except for Carlisle, in a very long time and they reacted badly. I knew the girl would die and I wanted that. I knew that if I killed her then I could leave, the Cullens would force me away. Somewhere along the lines I had gone too far, I had become a part of this family and I couldn't leave. I never wanted this. I was supposed to come and observe the Cullens for a month or two, gain all the information I needed, and then leave. But they looked at me as their son, they made me feel as though I belonged and I had never had that before, not entirely. It was not what I wanted, but apparently it was what I needed, what I craved. I just wanted to belong somewhere. I still didn't agree with what I did, but I saw an out, so I took it. I knew that I needed to do something unforgivable, so I was going to kill Bella Swan and the Cullens would force me out because I knew that they all loved her more than they loved me.

I charged her, but I was stopped. Edward reacted to my movements and forced her backwards. She hit the wall and then the table and then the vase, cutting her arm open and making the situation a million times worse. He was such a silly boy. Emmett and Carlisle had me, but they were so easy to deflect. I was foot away from killing the girl when our eyes met and everything went calm. It was as though she was pleading with me, but pleading for what I had no idea. Maybe she wanted an out as well. She didn't choose this life, it found her. Then two things happened at once. One, there was a single moment in time where I knew that I wouldn't kill her. And two, I was distracted long enough for the Cullens to regain the upper hand and drag me away. I kept my eyes on her the whole time until I was out of view, and during it all, she never once felt an ounce of fear.

I was lucky. Although I didn't kill the girl, the Cullens weren't too happy with me and they sent me away. They said that it was too risky with Bella still human, but when she was changed I could come back. I never wanted to return and I never did until now. I got a phone call from Alice when Bella was changed and she told me that I could come back, she said it was safe now, but I didn't want to get trapped again, so I stayed gone. Decades passed and I got countless emails, phone calls, messages, hell one of them even sent a messenger, some vampire named Bree. I ignored every attempt and killed the messenger. They thought it was because I was afraid of Bella and her opinion of me, but that was far from the truth.

I didn't come back because in that single moment of clarity when my eyes were locked with Bella's I felt something I had never felt before, love, and I was unsure who it came from, Bella or myself, but it was there. Either way, no matter what, we could never meet again. I was only here to cause enough trouble to keep her off my tail. I needed her distracted and not actively pursuing me. I didn't know what would happen if we met up again, but it wouldn't be good. None of the Cullens knew I was the Bringer of Darkness, they only knew me as curious Jasper with a hidden past, but for some reason I was sure Bella knew. She had caught Garrett, but she had never gotten close to me and there must be a reason for that. She knew me, both of me, the real me and the Bringer of Darkness, she had to.

Bella no longer meant anything to me. I didn't care for her. I didn't even know her, I never did, and that is why I class her as my enemy. But then again, every now and then I remember her smile, her laugh, the way she looked at me. Being here was doing things to me. Forks, this house, there were too many memories here. I needed to leave quickly and not come back. Coming here was a bad idea. What was I even trying to achieve? But it all made sense, not that I wanted it to, I missed her. I let out a growl, I couldn't have that. I was not supposed to miss the silly human girl. I needed to leave.

"Jasper, what's wrong?" Edward asked as he rested his hand on my shoulder. I stepped away from him.

"I can't stay here, I need to leave," I told him.

"Jasper, please stay. Esme and Carlisle will want to see you."

"I can't, too many memories," I answered truthfully.

"Jasper, Bella doesn't-"

"I don't care," I roared, cutting him off. "Look I came here for one reason and one reason alone. Edward, Tanya is not your mate."

I dropped the bombshell and I ran. That was the best I could do. I wanted to do more, I had wanted to kill Tanya, but sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to. I wanted something that would have Bella consoling Edward for days on end, something that would allow Peter the chance to learn the Cullens gifts, but I just couldn't do it. I needed to be anywhere but here. The memories were suffocating, they were bringing me down and I couldn't have that at all. As I ran away I felt relieved. The further I got the more I settled back into my persona, the Bringer of Darkness.

Edward's confusion, despair, hurt and realization hit me, and I smiled. Even when I wasn't at my best I was still somehow on top of it all. Classing how Edward was currently feeling, Bella would have no choice but to stay with him until he got over it and I knew that would take a while. Edward was not the best at dealing with his emotions and he felt utterly devastated and lied to right now. This was good, I could go far away and I could forget her once again. It's the way it was supposed to be. We weren't meant to be together. And this way all she would become is a memory that constantly haunted me, but I could handle that.