Happy early weekend, peeps! It's FRIDAY tomorrow:D Sorry...one too many cans of vanilla Pepsi today. I'm also sorry for the sadness of last chapter. Hopefully, this one will make you feel a little less hostile towards me and my story;) Thanks to '-'IncubusHelen'-' and AN Zoriah for their reviews lamenting the breakage of hearts. All of you readers rock my socks off! So...enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 10

My POV

15 years…180 months…780 weeks…5,475days…131,400 hours…7,884,000 minutes…473,040,000 seconds… I'd been away from Jasper for what seemed like an eternity. His face had been in my head every single one of the hundreds of millions of seconds since I'd been in Italy. Sleep would maybe have given a respite from the misery of seeing him knowing I'd never see him, but being a vampire took that away from me, too. It seemed like my shitty luck from my human life was intact and flourishing.

Acting like the walking dead I in all actuality was helped ease the pain somewhat. The memories still tore down the wall I'd put up each night when I was by myself; with no distraction from my own thoughts, I was all too vulnerable. No matter how hard I tried, they broke me in ways I'd never even imagined; my husband, our family and my father flooded my thoughts—ripping my heart out at the same time.

That's how my nights were spent: torturing myself endlessly with thoughts of my loved ones. Some of the other guards were friendly and tried to engage me; Gianna and Heidi constantly tried to get me to do something with the others…games in the castle, clubbing in the big cities closest to Volterra, shopping wherever they happened to be going. I wasn't interested. None of it could make the ache in my chest go away.

The letter I'd sent my family eased the pain a minuscule amount. Aro had kept up that part of the deal and allowed me to talk to them one last time. I made sure to let them know that none of them would be harmed and that I was safe here…well, as safe as someone can be in Volterra. I also felt the strongest compulsion to apologize for how I'd had to leave them. Leaving them felt like betrayal, in a way, I think. This was all compounded when I had to tell them not to contact me. Aro had forbidden contact with them for the first hundred years of service.

Jasper, I knew, hated me for leaving, and that was bad enough. On top of that, I wasn't so sure of what the others would think of my decision…and me. I was sure my father would understand why I'd given myself to save so many lives. He'd had my mom and us kids on his mind (at least partly) when he'd let himself be kept prisoner all those years. I felt that Carlisle would understand, too, since he always did whatever he had to for his family. Esme would miss me and worry about my safety and so would Alice…Edward and Emmett would also be anxious, but wouldn't let anyone know…Rosalie might be jumping for joy at the thought of my absence for all I knew. One thing was certain: they'd all suffer for what I'd done, at least a little bit.

Suffer… I grinned at the use of that word as I thought of the one singular bright spot of my stay in this medieval fortress. Shamus had been brought back to Volterra with us and had been given a position on the guard, as well. For the first five years, he pursued me relentlessly. I'd catch him following me on my errands for the Volturi at least once a week. He would see me look at him and leer at me like I was a piece of meat to be devoured. I would suppress a shudder and turn away to finish my task.

After the first year of this with no other reaction than a slight grimace, Shamus got bored. Still, he wanted me. His pursuit became even more of a nuisance. There would be little gifts sent to me with his name attached. Not all of them were the kind of present you can gift wrap, if you get my drift. I was repulsed. My numbness chipped away a little as anger flared up. I'd throw out whatever he sent and the anger would be extinguished faster than the blink of an eye.

That mess went on for three and a half years before he got tired of rejection. The last year, he would let himself into my rooms at night when I'd zoned out. I could smell him later, when my barriers were back up and I could function. My addled brain felt the best thing for it would be to ignore it. Bad idea. This pissed him off like none other (which still gives me immense satisfaction). He was finally so mad that he cornered me one night. I was curled up in a ball on my bed, letting the misery take me until dawn, when he came in and trapped me under him.

"What the hell is the matter with you, bitch!"

"Um…one, I am not a bitch. Two, there is nothing the matter with me that you could fix. How about you get the hell out of my room?"

"NO! Not until you give me what I want."

Having nothing to lose, I got defensive.

"What do you want, asshole? I don't want to waste my eternity guessing."

"You, stupid slut! I want you. Why do you think I tried to kill your husband?"

That did it. No one ever spoke to me of Jasper unless they had a death wish. Fortunately, I was in control enough to know that Aro would be pissed if I killed Shamus. My anger needed an outlet, however, so I decided on a most vital part of his anatomy…I'll leave it to your imagination what I ripped off him. Anyway…I burned his appendage. He was mondo pissed and scared at the same time. I could almost smell it on him. I grinned as I turned on him.

"Get the hell out of my room, scum. I don't ever want you to come near me ever again. If I ever see you, you'll lose the matching pair to what I just burned. Capiche?"

He whimpered and was out of the room faster than any human could see. I didn't see him again…more's the pity. That was the end of Shamus' stalking and I was glad of it for two reasons. One—the reminder of why I knew who the fuck he was disappeared; two—payback for stalking me as a human and bringing the Volturi down on us, thus exiling me to this Hell hole. Aro had called me in the next day to admonish me for my actions, but I gave less than a rat's ass. I knew he'd stand by our deal unless I actually killed one of his precious guards, so it didn't matter.

All that mattered was back in Forks. They were safe from these monsters as long as I was here, so here I was determined to stay…until someone came barging in to change my mind completely.

Jasper POV

15 years…180 months…780 weeks…5,475days…131,400 hours…7,884,000 minutes…473,040,000 seconds… I'd been away from Samantha for what seemed like an eternity. Her face had been in my head every single one of the hundreds of millions of seconds since she'd been away. Sleep would maybe have given a respite from the misery of seeing her knowing I'd never see her, but being a vampire took that away from me, too. I mourned for my lost love as my past transgressions came back to bite me in the immortal ass.

That was the only explanation I could come up with as to why she was taken away: whatever higher being existed was punishing me for the murdering and stealing and coveting I'd ever done in both my lives. I'd killed so many in war, then killed even more to satiate my own vial needs. Coveting my Samantha had been the final straw; taking her had meant my—our doom.

I know that sounds melodramatic, but I'd convinced myself it was true. I moped around cursing myself for being weak and evil. Edward was so sick of me…well, the whole family was. When Esme started snapping at me, I decided that my curse was spreading to the family I loved; I had to go. So I did. Alice never saw it coming, so they had no chance of stopping me. I was in San Antonio before they even knew I was gone.

That just shows how much Alice was out of it. She'd been focusing all her energy on Samantha, so only the emergency visions actually got through. The whole family had been driven to distraction. None of us was the same anymore.

Her father had left the family after the first year; I followed him (metaphorically) four years later. That was where I was now, fifteen years later—being a nomadic hermit. I didn't keep contact with my family or anyone for that matter. The only way my family knew what I was doing was by following the credit card statements detailing the withdrawals of cash I made.

Not that I used it for much. I lived on the land, literally. I didn't need to sleep or buy food. I only went into towns for clothing after what I was wearing was nearly destroyed. It was hard to remember to keep up appearances, but I stripped and threw myself into the closest river or lake before I went and kept up the pretense of hiking as the reason for the dirty and ragged clothing.

I'm not exactly sure why I worried about appearances at all. I wanted the Volturi to come for me; it meant I might get to see her again. Something deep inside stopped me from going on a killing spree to bring them down on me: Samantha would want me to stay alive. So, for her, I preserved my life.

My entire being cried out for her as I traveled. I knew my heart and soul were hers and resided wherever she did. The ache in my chest only dulled when I was hunting and even then it was still tangible. The bloodlust did nothing to rid me of my pain.

In the middle of one such hunt, I was jerked out of my predatory haze by the phone buzzing in my pocket. Normally, I ignored it. This time, something told me that answering the call would be the end of my suffering. My fingers pulled out the tiny sliver piece of plastic without realizing it. I answered without reading the display to see who had called.

"What?!"

A split second of silence was all I could hear before my sister was screeching at me.

"What the hell were you thinking, Jasper? We are all worried sick about you!"

"Pffft. I'm a vampire, sister dear. Nothing much can happen to me, in case you've forgotten. If you're only going to yell at me, I'm hanging up."

"NO! Don't you dare, Jasper. You have to listen to me. Sam needs you. You have to go to Italy. You have to find her."

I shook my head, wanting to do nothing more than that but knowing that I couldn't.

"Damn it, Alice. You tried getting me to do that for five fucking years. What makes you think it'll work now?"

"I saw you. I saw you go to her."

My entire body froze. This was not what I'd expected.

"Wh-why?"

She sighed, frustrated.

"I don't know. I can't see why you go, only that you do."

"Okay…so what happens when I get there?"

"You two leave together."

"Sure. And I'm the fucking Pope."

"It's true. You leave with Sam and you both come back to Forks."

Oh, God, she's serious. She's going to be mine again!

"When, Alice?"

"I see you there during the next full moon."

"Holy shit! That starts today."

"Yep. Your ticket will be ready for you when you get to the airport…wait, where are you?"

I laughed, the first happy laugh in fifteen years.

"Um…Glasgow?"

I could almost see her grinning at the phone.

"Perfect. Get your sorry butt cleaned up and to the airport. I'm booking you on the flight to Florence that takes off in three hours. You have security and whatever else to get through, so move!"

"Yes, ma'am. Right away, ma'am."

"Don't start that military clap-trap with me, Jasper."

With that, she hung up on me. Deliriously happy, I took off toward the stream I smelled nearby.

Ten minutes later, I was changed, clean, and raring to get the hell out of Scotland. The doors of the airport almost shattered behind me as I flung them open. People's fear started to seep past my happiness and I slowed down considerably. I took a deep breath and got in line for the nearest ticket counter.

Thoughts of my Samantha flooded me as I waited to get on the plane that would take me to her after so long. Our wedding day…and night, the day I'd met her in the ridiculously small airport in Port Angeles, the first time we'd… I mechanically completed the transfers in New York, London, and Rome. The final destination—Florence—seemed hours in coming and I sighed in relief as I disembarked and rented a car. As I sped down the road toward Volterra, I called Alice again to find out if she knew any more about how I'd get my love out. The frustration was clear in her voice.

"I'm seeing you talking your way in by telling the police outside the city you're on business for Carlisle. You make it as far as the castle, but after that it's all still too fuzzy to tell what will happen."

"Damn it. Well, at least I know how to get in. I can always improvise on the how-do-I-get-Samantha-out thing later. I'm still about forty-five minutes away…maybe something will come to us before I get there."

"I certainly hope so. Call me when you get closer."

I agreed before I hung up. My mind drifted as I drove closer to my wife; it seemed incapable of thinking of any suitable plan to get my love out of the Volturi's den. Running in and out fast is obviously not going to accomplish anything. Negotiating with these monsters is out of the question. Brute force isn't an option because they have me outnumbered at least thirty to one...same with storming the fort. Damn it all, I need more men! One empathetic vampire can't—wait! That's it!

My phone ringing disturbed my elation at finally finding a way to get my wife out of Italy. I glanced at it in irritation, intent on ignoring its incessant interruption. Seeing that it was Alice changed my mind grudgingly.

"It's going to work, Jasper. Your plan is going to work."

I sighed in relief.

"Thank God. Anything I need to know?"

"Yes. Watch out for Jane and Alec. They'll ruin everything if they see you."

I shuddered, thinking of the only exception to enacting my plan.

"Okay. I'm coming up to the city gates now. How do I get past them?"

She scoffed at me.

"That part is too easy. Use what our immortality has given you, dear brother."

Confusion permeated my being.

"Uh…still clueless, Alice."

"You and Sam both need a large ego boost," she muttered, "Jasper, the guard will be female. Dazzle her and you'll slip right past with no trouble."

"Oh…oh," I said, a bit shocked.

"Idiot. Good luck, Jasper. Bring Sam back to us."

"You can bet on it," I said, hanging up.

As I passed the first obstacle, determination filled me. I would see my wife again; she would be free from the prison sentence she'd given herself. If I failed in this mission, my life was forfeit as far as I was concerned. Ready to do anything to save the love of my existence, I stole my way into Volterra.

Songs for the chapter: Seasons of Love-RENT, Dear God-Avenged Sevenfold, Trying-Lifehouse & Whatever It Takes-Lifehouse

Yay! Jazz is finally going to get his wife back:D Sorry if it seems quick, but fifteen years of angst and depression are not fun to write. It would have made me too sad to get in their heads for that awful span of time, which I do enough talking about it in retrospect. Anyway...I hope this makes up for the sad cliffie from last chapter. Review and you get a snippet of chapter 11...c'mon, you know you wanna:D Thanks for reading...oh, and watch Grey's Anatomy tonight;) That is all. Turns off megaphone Samantha