A/N

I'll not not be able to post a chapter tomorrow, so you get one today. It's a short one. The next one will be posted on Sunday.

Stephenie Meyer owns everything Twilight-related.

My thanks go to the wonderful and talented maryhell AKA Taylin Clavelli. My pre-reader, beta, but more importantly mentor.

…oOo…


...oOo... Death is not the end ...oOo...

Chapter Seven

Once more, I used my credit

card to open Jasper's front door. As soon as I passed the threshold, the stench told me someone had been inside his house as well. The action suggested it was a person and not an animal leaving trails behind. I recalled Sam Uley's rather unusual and animalistic odor when I talked to him at the bar the other night. Was it his scent, clinging to Jasper's living room – nearly drowning Jasper's fragrance? Maybe Sam had made sure Jasper was okay after last night's nonappearance at the bar. There was only one way to find out. I ran to the parked car, started the engine and drove toward Port Angeles and Sam's bar.

It was too early for the bar to be open when I arrived, but I knocked on the closed door until Emily opened. She was dressed in an apron and with a cutting knife in her hand.

"Sorry, but we're not open yet." Her voice was firm, and her big black eyes looked me over.

"I need to speak with Sam, is he around?" I snarled. She didn't look scared, as one would expect from my threatening behavior. Instead, she looked like she was trying to figure me out.

"Okay, you'd better come inside then, but I warn you – don't mess with us. We know what you are, and we're not afraid."

I followed her slim figure inside, and she told me to wait by the counter while she got Sam.

The place looked different in daylight. For the first time, I spotted some of the wall carvings above the counter. It was Native American symbols. If I wasn't mistaken, one of the symbols meant 'changing wolf'.

Sam came from the kitchen while I still studied the well-crafted carvings. He didn't announce himself, but I could smell his odor and hear him whipping his hands on a towel, the second he appeared. He went behind the counter and poured my regular brand of whiskey. "So what can I do for you, Edward?"

"You can start by telling me where Jasper is and what you were doing at his place today," I hissed and picked up the drink.

Sam poured himself a drink, "Funny that's your question to me; it's exactly the same I would like to ask you, Edward."

"I know what you are, Sam. I can smell you from miles," I snapped and clenched my fists hard.

"We know what you are, Edward. We can smell your sweet sickening odor from miles."

"When you say we, do you mean Jasper as well?"

"I'm not sure about Jasper's senses. He's different from us."

"What do you mean by different?"

"That's not my story to tell. Listen, Edward… Jasper is a friend of mine. I would never harm him in any way. Nevertheless, I fear something bad has happened to him. It's not like him not saying if he was going out of town. First, I thought you could have harmed him, and when I found your odor at his place this morning, it actually confirmed my suspicion. However, you wouldn't turn up here asking about him if you already knew where he was."

"So you have no idea where he is or if he is actually avoiding me?"

"Jasper has been here almost every night for a month; you're the first one he has ever talked to apart from the bartenders and myself. So I can't figure out why he would be avoiding you, unless… " Sam stopped midsentence and we both knew what he was referring too.

"Unless, he found out what I am." I finished.

"I'm sorry, Edward. I don't know where he is. If I knew, I'm not sure I would tell you, though. Your kind don't belong here and you sure as hell don't mix well with our kind."

What did he mean by our kind? Jasper was not a wolf in disguise… I would have known that instantly. The only inhuman feature I had detected was his ability to protect himself from my mind reading.

"We'll be searching for Jasper as well. Tonight some of the men from the reservation will help me. We have our own ways to track him down if he's still around. Consider yourself and your family warned, Edward; we wouldn't want the ordinary people in Forks to realize some of the tales are actually true, do we?"

I almost growled at his threat, but collected myself and left without saying another word.

…oOo…

Venom made its appearance at the back of my throat, and I needed to find a way to calm myself before I placed myself behind the wheel and drove back home.

A movie. An hour and a half of pure nonsense would calm my nerves. I looked at the posters in front of the movie theater I had found downtown Port Angeles, and bought a ticket for the latest blockbuster.

I turned off my cell phone and found a remote seat in the almost empty theater. There was an exaggerating smell of popcorn inside, and it disguised the smell of the otherwise tempting audience.

Almost two hours later, I was relaxed and capable of driving back to Forks. I made a small detour checking if Jasper had returned to his house, but there was still no sign of him having been back. Only a more concentrated stench of wet dog.

...oOo...


A/N

Soon all will be revealed - stay tuned.