Chapter 11

Jasper POV

I woke up when I heard the front door shut. I knew it couldn't have been either parent, since Mom was at work and Dad was out of town. I sat up and looked at my bed… my empty bed! My eyes widened and I jumped to my feet.

She wouldn't! Of course, she would. I can't believe she left, where did she think she was going without waking me?

I raced to my window, looked outside and almost had a heart attack. There was Bella walking right for the forest. …no, no, no, NO, NO, NO! What does she think she is doing? I let out a small scream of frustration and raced to find a shirt to put on. I ran as fast as I could down the stairs and practically jumped into my shoes. I tore the door open and ran outside.

I was running and huffing with annoyance. This is typical Bella, putting herself in danger with some warped reason why. I have to get to her before someone or something else could.

I reached the woods and then I heard her yell, "Edward." She was calling for that creature! Geez Bella….

It at least gave me a way to find her. Then I heard her yell again but a little louder this time, "Edward!"

I was getting closer when I saw off in the distance Bella almost fall but she caught herself on a tree. Phew. I visibly relaxed and made my way towards her. Now all I have to do is get her out of here and back to my house before…

Then I saw someone coming up behind her. I quickened my pace to get to her faster. She was turning around with a smile on her face but it immediately dropped when she saw who it was. Guess that isn't her precious Edward.

I heard him say, "Hello Bella, how lovely it is to meet you." He stepped forward and brushed her hair out of her face. She looked frozen in shock as her mouth hung slightly open and her eyes wide from fear.

I practically growled out, "STAY AWAY FROM HER!" I reached for Bella and pulled her behind me. I was face to face with one of them. He had dirty blonde hair that was tied back in a short ponytail. We were the same height so we were at each other's eye level. His red eyes bore into mine. Red like Alice's eyes but his didn't hold the same depth that hers did. The only thing I could see in this creature's eyes was pure evil but I wasn't going to back down.

I could feel Bella shaking behind me, showing all the fear that she was feeling. I kept a steady form, though I was right there with her on the fear level. I started backing away, slowly pushing Bella along with me. I was not going to let my eyes off this guy.

Bella in a barely audible whisper said, "That's…not ...Edward…"

All I could do was nod my head and continue the slow walk backwards. I felt I was dealing with a lion here and any sudden movement would be the end of us.

The creature scoffed at us and slowly started to walk to his left. "Of course I'm not Edward. I think I would die from the angst alone if I was him. He's always been …how can I put this…" he said while tapping his right index finger on his chin "…. wound a little too tight." He laughed a little to himself and continued, "But I hear he finally has something to loosen him up." With his eyebrows raised, he tilted his head to the right and peered over my shoulder to look at Bella.

I shifted my body more in front of Bella so it would keep her out of his line of sight. He kept walking towards his left which just made me turn more in a circle to keep him away from Bella, which in turned kept me from backing up toward my house.

He let out a huge laugh that echoed through the forest and said, "Do you really think that you can keep her safe from the likes of me? I can smell the fear coming off both of you! You do act tough, I'll give you that." He slowly started to clap his hands in a condescending way then stopped. "I could kill you ten ways to Sunday before you'll even realize what had happened."

I pulled Bella closer to me, her right hand grasping my shoulder so tightly that in a normal situation I would tell her to stop. We continued to spin around while he was still walking in a circle, not giving me a chance to think of a plan. He stopped finally, and placed a smug smile upon his face. "Well, you I would kill fast, but her..." he motioned behind me with his head tilted in Bella's direction "…I would take it nice and slow. I would have a thing or two to show her."

I heard Bella gasp behind me. I started to breathe deeper and I could feel the fist, that wasn't protectively keeping Bella behind me, clench tightly. My jaw was so tight if I had any more strength I could have broken my teeth. My anger reached new heights. This monster needs to die! I looked around for anything to help me when I saw a small sharp piece of wood on the ground. I quickly picked it up and held it like a knife. I remember one of the theories in the book on how to kill a Vampire was a wooden stake.

All the creature did though was hold his hands over his belly and laugh. "You think that is going to do anything to me? This is just too priceless! You humans…have you seen too many episodes of Buffy?" His voice changes from humor to condescending.

He took a step closer and out of instinct I took a step back still clutching Bella, all I could hear from her was her accelerated breathing. I couldn't turn around to see if she was ok, I didn't want to take my eyes off of him in front of me. He slowly bent down, picked up a similar stick, and held it out to show me. He then lifted the right side of his mouth into a grin and in one fast motion shoved the stick into his chest. Except it didn't go into his chest but it broke up into hundreds of little pieces when it came in contact with him. Bella gasped behind me and clutched tighter to my shoulder.

Shit, shit, shit, shit on a stick! I threw down the stick to the ground and took a deep breath.

"Any more smart ideas there killer…or should I say slayer?" he asked, laughing.

At the moment, no, I did not have any more ideas. The other theories from the book couldn't help me now since there was nothing in the woods except dirt and trees.

"Well, by the way you have been described and the clear fact that you are that luscious creature's friend…" he stopped and looked at Bella while licking his lips "…I would have to presume that you are the 'other one.'" He finished while putting his hands up to do air quotes and rolling his eyes.

Other one? What does that mean? There was no way I was going to ask him that though. He seemed to be a talkative one so maybe I can think of a way to get us out of here.

"Jasper…was it? I try to block out most of what the little one says. Her and her know-it-all attitude….always trying to tell me what to do just because she can 'see' it," he said while he started to slightly pace. He continued by mimicking a high girlish voice while bringing his hand up and moving it as if it was talking. "James, you need to do this…we need to do that…trust me….don't bet against me…." He lowered his hands and laughed. "I should save you the trouble of that one. Who wants to hear THAT for eternity!"

He walked next to a tree and leaned up against it while crossing his arms. "Aren't we both the chatty ones? Do you talk? Are. You. Capable. Of. Human. Speech?" he asked, jokingly while enunciating every word.

"Maybe I should just kill you both now. Yes, I'll have to deal with the others' wrath but if I have to stay in this good-for-nothing-town any longer I might as well implode out of boredom."

"You will not touch her!" I said in an even and stern voice.

"Finally he speaks again! I was worried there for a second that I scared you mute!" He stopped leaning against the tree and walked a couple feet in front of us.

He gave me a contemplating look, shrugged and said, "If only you were like us, you would be able to put up one hell of a fight. I'm sure I'm driving Alice nuts right now. Will I kill you…won't I….will I….won't I? My mind consistently shifting. Of course, Edward is with her, she's helping him clean up a little mess he made last night. I'm sure he is going berserk with what he's seeing in her mind."

Most of what James was saying was making little to no sense for me. Could vampires go crazy? Actually, I would be more likely to bet that I'm the crazy one here. I felt Bella lean in and whisper in my left ear, "I'm sorry Jasper."

I hushed her. "There is no need to apologize Bella."

James clasped his hands together and said, "Aww isn't this just the sweetest thing anyone has ever seen. Don't worry sugah; I'll make your friend's death quick. No, scratch that idea, I'll torture him a bit and then keep him alive so he can watch all the naughty things that I will do to you."

He took a step forward, I was about to yell for Bella to run when I heard another voice.

"Tsk tsk James, I don't think Edward and Alice would appreciate you touching those who don't belong to you."

James stopped his descent upon us and let out a sigh. I peeked around to see who our temporary savior was only to look into another set of red eyes. My eyes widened and I just shook my head from side to side. Geez, there are vampires coming out of the woodwork….literally…..we need to get the hell out of these woods….