Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.
Out of the Dark & Into the Light
A/N: This story is written as a collaboration by both oXx Bellisma Italiana xXo and Katara Melody Cullen. If you have any questions, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note at the bottom of the chapter. We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews. - B
Previously...
(Crystal's POV)
"Bella will be fine, Edward. You should be able to trust your family by now to know that they won't hurt her." I reminded him.
He snorted. "Obviously your loving parents hadn't told you about how Jasper nearly drained her dry at her eighteenth birthday party."
I narrowed my eyes. "Edward, that wasn't his fault, and yes, I did hear about it. My loving parents - as you so nicely put it – told me everything and even I was able to realize that that wasn't Jasper's fault. It was a result of his amazing gift, which can sometimes be a curse. And if you are going to play the blame game, then you might as well blame yourself for that one, as well. After all, blood lust is an emotion and my mate just happens to be an empath. So, not only was he feeling his own blood lust along with six other vampires and one of those six just happens to be the vampire that that particular human's blood sings to. You only made it worse when you pushed her back into a glass table tilled with plates and fancy glass ware. So, there shouldn't be any fingers being pointed in any directions, because remember, when you point a finger at someone, there are three being pointed back at yourself." I quipped, not liking the way that he was pushing the blame off on Jasper for something that he wasn't the complete cause of.
Edward bowed his head in defeat and I could tell that I had gotten through to him. He sighed and nodded, hearing this in my thoughts and confirming that I was right.
"Anyway, I didn't call you out here to rehash past mistakes that happened before I had even come back to join my family." I reminded him as I sat down at the top wooden step that traveled down to the large backyard.
"Something happened yesterday during training and I'm not talking about what happened with us during our mock fight. There is something deeper that caused that I wanted to talk to you about that and see if we can work it out. You are my brother, are you not? And whether you know it or not, I've loved you as if you were my own blood brother ever since I was a baby and my father told me about you. Even if it was during your rebellious period. I was over the moon just as much as any little sister would be when I learned of your return to my mom and dad, but I have a feeling that you don't feel the same." I admitted sadly.
He sighed dejectedly and took the few steps to the wooden deck staircase and took a seat next to me. "No, you're wrong. It's not that at all and I think I owe you an explanation more than anyone." He conceded. "So, here it goes..."
Chapter 9
(Crystal's POV)
"I felt betrayed." Edward admitted.
My brows furrowed in confusion. "Betrayed? How could you possibly be feeling betrayed? And from who?"
"By your parents, or well... it wasn't so much Esme as it was Carlisle." I amended. "I was his first companion, his first son. Sure, I rebelled, because I resented him for curving my appetite, but he forgave me, they both did. I guess it was shortly after you had left, because they were still in Rochester and it was only days later that they brought Rosalie into the family, hoping that she would be for me as Esme was to Carlisle." He paused, remembering something before shaking his head, bringing himself back to the present.
"After that, we continued to become close. He never hid his thoughts from me and I never hid anything from him. Sure, he couldn't read mine like I could his, but we still always told each other everything. I felt like I really had a father for the first time in my life."
"What about your human father?" I pressed out of curiosity, not trying to be spiteful.
I knew that he saw that in my thoughts, because he didn't hesitate to answer. "I never talked about him, so no one aside from Carlisle, and probably Esme, know about this, but my father as a human wasn't the nicest man. He demanded perfection from both me and my mother and he would get physically abusive at times when he drank too much. So, I don't really count him as a father, but more of a sperm donor." He sneered as he said the words. "My mother is the one who asked Carlisle to do what he could to save me. We don't know how, but she had to have known what Carlisle was in order to ask that of him – and he did."
Edward paused thoughtfully as a small smile rose to his lips. "Those first three years, before I rebelled, I saw him as a mentor and a friend. He was a good teacher and very patient with me. But then, one day, we fought and I left."
"What was it about?" I asked him, tilting my head to the side in wonderment.
He pursed his lips before he answered. "It seems silly now, I guess, but it wasn't at the time." He paused and looked down in between his legs at his intertwined hands as we sat on the steps. "I was young, so my control still wasn't all that great. We had been in the forest hunting and there was a human hunter out there that day. I had caught his scent mid-hunt and tried to go after him, but Carlisle caught me just before I could take off." He looked at me and smirked. "Believe me, if I had taken off, he wouldn't have been able to catch me. I still am considered the fastest in the family." He admitted cockily and quite smugly, if you ask me.
He shook his head as I just stared on at him without reacting and listened to him speak. "Anyway, I was ashamed of myself, but I was still somewhat temperamental. Not as much as I was as a newborn, but I was still only three years old in vampire years with the attitude of a seventeen year old man, as I still am today. I just couldn't admit that I was wrong and I played like I resented him for curving my appetite and left. But then, I figured that since I was gone, I might as well try the human blood diet and killed only those who didn't belong to live on this earth – the human monsters like rapists, serial killers, muggers...an so on."
I nodded in understanding. "I know a few vampires who hunt that way, as well. I guess you and I are alike in the aspect of hunting monsters, except I hunt the vampire kind and you hunted the human kind."
He snorted. "We're all monsters, just to different degrees. We have no soul and we paid that price for immortality."
I quirked a brow. "You really believe that?"
He didn't answer, just picked up a small rock that was on the step by his feet and crushed it in his palm with one hand and blew the dust into the wind.
"Regardless of what I believe, I wanted you to know that it wasn't anything personal that happened during training yesterday." He sighed and looked back down, intertwining his hands, once again. "I was upset and spiteful that Carlisle would keep you a secret from me, yet you knew everything about all of us. I felt like I was being replaced as his favorite and that you were the one taking my place. I felt as though I had to prove myself, to beat you – the infamous slayer – in order to gain my spot back in his eyes."
"You don't have to prove anything, Edward." Daddy's voice ghosted from behind us, causing us to both turn and look at him as he gazed at Edward with apologies in his expression. "I love all of my children equally and hold none of you above the rest. So, therefore, no one could ever take your position in my eyes."
I smiled as I looked between the two of them before placing a hand on Edward's shoulder. "It's true, you know. And I always saw you in my own way as I heard about you and loved you like a brother before I even met you."
He swallowed thickly and offered up a small smile. "Can we start over?"
My smile widened as I nodded. "I'd like that."
He leaned in and wrapped his arms around me and I placed a light kiss on his cheek before pulling back and rising to my feet, brushing the dirt from the steps off my skirt from behind. "I'll leave the two of you to talk some more." I said before walking up the top two steps.
I paused when I reached my father as he put a hand on my arm and pulled me into a hug and placing a kiss on the top of my head. "You did good, sweetheart."
I pulled back and shot him a wink before continuing my way through the now open french doors and shutting them behind me, giving the father and son the privacy that they deserved the the discussion that lie ahead.
(Jasper's POV)
I sat on the couch in my study with a book in my hand and a highlighter in another as a pencil sat on the end table next to me. My feet were propped up on the coffee table in front of me and I tried to focus on the words on the page of my newest book on the Civil War, looking for any inaccuracies as I prepared to mark them with my own versions of the truth. However, all I could think about was my mate and the fact that she was out of my grasp and alone with my brother, the one who had harmed her and was filled with jealousy and anger as they fought yesterday in the field. I can't even tell you how many times I reread the same sentence over and over as I tried to give them the privacy that they deserved for their discussion – or rather she deserved. As far as I was concerned, he lost that when he took a snap at her like he did during their mock battle yesterday.
"Knock, knock," The voice of my Angel caught my attention as she stood in the double doorway to my study, knocking on the outside of the one that was closed and peaking her head inside of the other as it remained opened part way.
A smile tugged on my lips as I marked my page and placed the book down on the coffee table in front of me, dropping my booted feet down onto the floor in front of me. "Hey darlin'."
She took this as my way of telling her that she was welcomed inside as she stepped inside from the doorway and closed the door carefully behind her. "What are you doin'?" She pondered and peered quite obviously at the book that now sat in front of me on the table.
I patted the seat next to me. "Come sit and I'll tell you." I said.
She smirked and danced her way around the coffee table to take the spot next to me on the sofa, though I put my arm around her waist, pulling her tighter against me and leaned forward to pick up the book and handed it to her.
She peered at me suspiciously before she began to flip through the pages of the book, reading my notes to the side of the highlighted margins. Realization coated her emotions and her eyes flickered up at me from behind the pages. "You're correcting history? Is all of this wrong?" She asked.
I nodded. "I should know better than most. I lived it."
She smirked up at me. "I know that. I mean, I don't know all that much about you, but my parents told me the basics and how you fought in both the Civil and Vampire Wars. They didn't go into detail, figuring that you deserved your privacy and didn't want to betray your trust when we finally met."
I smiled to myself, appreciating the confidence that Carlisle hadn't betrayed, even to his daughter, or rather, his biological daughter. "It was definitely a wake up call for me, when I was changed. The Civil Wars were brutal, but the Vampire Wars were just horrifying. That's why my alter was created."
"The Major," She stated, rather than asked.
"Yes," I confirmed. "You nearly met him earlier today."
She nodded to herself. "I remember." She paused thoughtfully. "Does the Major have an alter?"
"Besides me?" I joked before suddenly turning serious. "Yes." I confirmed solemnly. "Let's just hope that none of you ever get to meet him." I said darkly.
She didn't react, only leaned forward and pressed her warm lips to mine, her thrumming heartbeat echoing in my ears, quickly become my favorite sound in the world.
A/N: So, what did everyone think? You finally got to find out what Edward's problem was, as well as a little bit about his past. I hope that you liked it! Anyway, do you think that Crystalline will meet the Major's alter? What did you think of Jasper's POV? Will her relationships grow with the rest of the family? What about the wolves? Review!
If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's note!
To see more, go to my page or my Co Author's: oXx Bellisma Italiana xXo or Katara Melody Cullen
If you enjoyed this story so far, check out some of my other stories on my FanFiction page! Also, I am still accepting Stories that need beta'ing. I will accept OC characters as well as other Fan Fiction stories aside from Twilight depending on the other lead character. PM me for details!
- Bellisma -
oXx Bellisma Italiana xXo