Stephenie Meyer owns Jasper and all the rest of the Twilight series concept, dang it!
I'm just playing with the characters
HALLOWEEN 2012
This story is a continuation of the first story, Halloween Party, chapters 1 and 2.
(Story 1 – The Halloween Party)
Chapter 4 - New Year's Eve
It had now been almost a week since Emmett brought home Edward and Alice. We had immediately left for Alaska, as Carlisle was not going to attempt to manage four newborns in an area that was close to humans.
Both Emmett and Jasper had pilot licenses, but Carlisle declared that Emmett should fly, as Jasper was needed to help Rose and I with our emotions while watching Alice and Edward go through the change. It was a long flight to listening to our friends screaming in agony from their transformation. It had never been clearer to me than now, watching them in such pain, that we truly didn't have tears in this new existence.
When we reached Alaska, we were met by the Denalis, consisting of the four sisters, Carmen, Irina, Tanya and Kate, and of Carmen's mate Eleazar. I remembered them from when Rose and I first woke up. They had helped the Cullens with our early days before returning home after Carlisle and Eleazar determined that we could be managed by the Cullens without their assistance.
Everyone got a shock when Edward woke up, though. He immediately started complaining about all of the voices, and shot out of the room, knocking a hole in the wall near the doorway as he moved to avoid Emmett. It turned out he was much faster than even the standard newborn.
Carlisle lured him back with some deer Eleazar had corralled in the area, and then Jasper knocked him out for a while with feelings of fatigue. But trying to hold him down that way wore out Jasper, and Carlisle soon had to use that only in emergencies.
While Edward was laid low that first day, though, Eleazar and Carlisle were able to determine that he was actually hearing our thoughts.
"Amazing," said Carlisle, who was firmly planted on Edward's chest, holding him to the floor, "though very difficult for him."
"Yes, so far, the only other mindreader I am aware of is Aro. Yet Edward seems to be managing this without actually being in contact with any of his subjects, unlike Aro," mused Eleazar from his perch on Edward's left knee, as he held down both of Edward's feet.
"Which must be very difficult for him, as he's being bombarded with all our thoughts, including Alice's and the two girls," replied Carlisle.
Alice's awakening was much less dramatic. Once she focused on the other people in the room, and not the various dust spots floating in front of her, she recognized Rose and I, and began screaming in excitement, launching herself at us. Emmett caught her before she could reach us, realizing she would have pushed all three of us through the wall. We caught her up as best we could, explaining the circumstances leading to her change, and eventually Edward was lured back to the house with the promise of getting to see Alice if he would slow down a little.
He still made a hole in the wall, going for her. But their equally-matched newborn strength meant that they didn't hurt one another as they quickly reacquainted themselves. Initially, they just held one another's faces, staring as if they could never stop. Eventually their hands began to roam, and we gave them some privacy, as long as they stayed in the room. That didn't last, as they broke down three of the walls in quick succession, which sent Emmett into hysterics. Privacy was not possible when the happy couple kept barreling through the walls or down the staircase as they had broken down yet another door.
As Alice began to get her bearings in her new world, she also seemed to gain control quickly, and she seemed to be able to focus on helping Edward. It was clear that the teenage sweethearts really were soul mates. We had hoped they would be, but apparently that isn't always how it works with vampires. Once changed, some couples learn they are mated to someone else. Sometimes they stay together until they find their mates, but just because they were human lovers or spouses does not guarantee they will be vampire mates.
"Humans are capable of 'settling' for someone," explained Carlisle. "They still need to reproduce, so if they don't find that perfect someone, that soul mate, they will make do with whoever they are with. Vampires have just one person. And they may never meet that special someone."
"Or just wait a long time," said Jasper softly, nuzzling my hair. "I waited over 150 years for you," he told me. He'd told me that before, but he seemed to like telling me. "I guess I was kind of in a hurry to make up for lost time, that October night we met."
I smiled, loving to hear it all over again. My memories of that last night of my human life, of seeing Jasper briefly on the street before meeting him at Mike and Tyler's clandestine party, were starting to fade from my mind. But not from his, apparently.
"Maybe I should have given you more time…" he began.
"No. I wanted to be with you, that much I still remember. And now…I am," I replied softly. "Any longer in that life…I felt so plain next to you…I still do…"
"There is nothing plain about you to my eyes," he said gruffly, pulling me close against his chest.
But then Alice startled us by telling us that Edward was about to run again, and which direction he would go. She always seemed to know before he made his move, much to Edward's annoyance. He would flash her a look each time, but she just stuck her tongue out at him. Just as she had when they were both still human.
Eventually Esme insisted that Carlisle and Eleazar pay attention to what Alice was saying, as she seemed to be right all the time. "Maybe you two should consider that this girl has a gift as well. Not just the boy?" she chided them gently.
Carlisle grimaced, reaching for her hand, and kissing the back of it gallantly. "You're correct, my love. Of course I've been paying too much attention to the puzzle in front of me, and not the other."
Eleazar and Carlisle ended up taking charge of Edward, because of his speed. As they were older, and had learned to control their thoughts to some extent during their years as courtiers in Volterra, they were able to keep Edward out of their heads.
But Edward still bounced around a lot, even after several days, keeping everyone on their toes.
Alice was much quieter on the whole. Though she liked spending time with Edward, he was just too wound up and angry, frustrated with being torn from his old life, and tormented by the voices in his head that now marked his new existence. So Tanya spent a lot of time with Alice, while Irina, Carmen and Kate visited with Esme, Rosalie and myself. I knew they were keeping an eye on us, but it felt more and more like an extended girls' night out. And sometimes Edward would stop running and just drop, drained by all the emotions, and the boys would bring him home for a while so we could all be together.
Jasper scarcely left my side. As the end of December approached, I finally decided to ask Jasper. "So what do vampires do on New Year's?"
"We don't really celebrate it, as we live so long, the human concept of years becomes…kind of meaningless to us."
"I've got plans," announced Edward as he walked in on New Year's Eve with his arm around Alice. They were now only four days old, which made Rose and I feel quite mature.
"You do?" asked Emmett. "Please share!"
Edward looked down at Alice. "We're going to celebrate New Year's on a different mountain peak, each hour of the day. It'll be midnight somewhere!"
"Just like the Jimmy Buffett song, 'It's 5:00 somewhere'," exclaimed Emmett. "I love it," he said, looking at Rose suggestively.
"Well, we won't want or need company…" Edward said, looking down at Alice, who giggled.
"Sorry, kids, but you're getting us whether you want us or not," said Carlisle firmly.
"But it is a holiday, so maybe we could all go out together, to watch the auroras…" suggested Esme.
That got some appreciative nods, and we all headed outside together. We weren't worried about Edward's speed as long as he was determined to take Alice with him, until he pulled her onto his back and shot off for the nearest mountain, her excited squeals ringing in our ears.
As Carlisle started to bolt after them, Esme grabbed his arm. "We could just circle the mountain. We know where they're headed, we don't have to cut them off. Let's just see if they do as they planned."
Carlisle looked dubious, but Eleazar said quietly, "We could certainly try it." He reached out his hand for Carmen as he shot a meaningful glance at Esme. Sighing, Carlisle took both Esme's hands in his, then released one hand after a moment so that they stood side-by-side with Eleazar, and the two couples sped off into the night, splitting to circle the mountain Edward had shot towards. Irina and Tanya glanced at Jasper and I, then nodded and took off after the two couples.
That left Kate, Rose and Emmett with Jasper and I. Kate quickly bounded to the top of the house and lay back on the roof. After watching the lights shimmer and slide above us, Jasper began to regale me with tales about the aurora borealis. "Did you know that there is an Eskimo tale that the northern lights are spirits playing kick ball in the sky with a walrus skull?" he asked.
"No, you just made that up!" I reply, punching his chest lightly.
"It's true," called out Kate from her viewing spot on top of the house. "They also say that the ribbons of lights are the flaming torches carried by the departed, who are guiding travelers to the afterlife."
That image gave me the shivers. This was my afterlife – and Jasper's golden hair my beacon to follow.
"What was that?" he asked softly, nuzzling my hair. "You had…a truly odd cocktail of emotions just then…"
"I was thinking of what acts as my beacon," I replied, grabbing for a lock of his hair. He pulled his head back, pulling the strand tight in my hand. I curled it around my fingers, matching its waves to those shimmering over our heads in the sky.
"You were looking at this?" Jasper teased quietly, shaking his hair.
"Maybe," I thought, remembering what we had been doing just before he changed me that Halloween night.
He grinned. "I don't think you're thinking about my hair now, are you, pretty darlin'?"
"I am thinking of you, like a…package. My package," I retorted.
"All yours," he said, "for all time."
I snuggled up against him, leaning back as we watched the auroras spin their ribbon-like magic lights above our head, bringing in my first New Year of this new life.
THANKS FOR READING. HAPPY 2013! ANY FUTURE UPDATES WILL BE POSTED AS PART OF ONE OF BREATH-OF-TWILIGHT'S COLLABORATIONS (I HOPE), BUT WILL EVENTUALLY BE RE-POSTED HERE AFTER THE SPECIFIED TIME HAS PASSED FOR THE PROJECT
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