Thanks again for the reviews! I want to thank Jenna in particular because she reviewed almost all my chapters in one day (!). I couldn't reply on the reviews because she's not a member so I'll do it like this ^_^ Thank you!

Every review I get means a lot to me so please keep it up everyone!

And now on to chapter 12

Disclaimer: I now own Melody, Zackary and Theodore but the rest still isn't mine...


Jasper POV

The one called Theodore was faster than I had expected. I pushed Melody backwards and launched myself at Theodore before he could reach any of my family. We hit each other in midair causing a sound like thunder to erupt from us. We both fell back from the impact but I was on my feet again in no time. Theodore had done the same thing and was once again crouched down. I wasn't afraid though because Theodore was full of openings which would make it easy for me to beat him.

Jasper be careful! Melody whispered in my head. She was still feeling a lot of fear Don't worry Mel, he won't be able to lay a finger on me. I crouched down and Theodore and I started circling each other. I didn't want to make Melody more afraid than necessary so I decided a quick finish was the best way. Zackary didn't seem too interested in the fight and he didn't emit any hostile emotions towards me. If anything he seemed a bit bored.

I didn't have any more time to think about this though because Theodore launched an attack again. I just had to laugh at his attack style. He was like a newborn; he went for the easy, crazed attack. There were never any thoughts behind these kinds of attacks and it left the attacker full of openings. I sidestepped his launch easily and brought my right fist up against his left jaw with as much force as I thought would do the trick. Theodore shot away from me and landed on his back a good hundred feet behind Zackary.

'Damn you!' Theodore growled, emitting a lot of anger now. Jasper, Alice just told me it will be an easy victory Melody told me while feeling a bit happier than before. I smirked at this which made Theodore even angrier. He would be even easier to defeat now. Theodore spat some venom out of his mouth on the ground and launched himself at me again. I was ready for him though and grabbed him in a headlock before he could lay a finger on me. 'Why you little!' Theodore croaked. He tried to break free but my hold on him was too strong to break free from.

'Theo, just admit you are defeated.' Zackary drawled. 'No… not yet.' Theodore growled. I could feel that he was still determined to break free but his will was crumbling fast. 'If you don't surrender now I will rip you limb from limb.' I hissed. 'I'll never surrender!' Theodore yelled. 'Have it your way. Emmett! Make sure Melody doesn't see this.' I said to my brother. I could feel Melody's fear disappear even more now and her annoyance grew which told me that Emmett had shielded her eyes.

I turned my entire attention back to Theodore, twisted my grip and pulled at the same time. A loud metal like screech sounded and next Theodore's head dropped down next to me on the ground. Before the rest of him could do anything I pulled his arms and legs off and piled them up. 'Rosalie, do you have a light?' I asked without looking away from the pile of writhing body parts. Before Rosalie could react, Edward beat her to it. 'Jasper, get away from that pile right now!' he yelled. I didn't understand why but I could feel fear from both him and Alice so I did what he said and jumped back towards my family.

A second later the remains of Theodore burst into a blazing greenish fire on its own, incinerating the spot where I had been standing a second before that. I could feel shock from everyone except Edward and Alice. Melody took advantage of the distraction and was at my side in a second. Jasper… look at Zackary. Melody thought. I turned my gaze away from the pyre and towards Zackary just in time to see him blow green smoke from his hand. 'What the…' I whispered.

Zackary looked up at my whisper and smirked. You were not supposed to see that Scarface he whispered in my head. Shock flowed from me then. No one had ever been able to talk to me like that except for Melody. I was also shocked that this vampire was able to break through the shield that Melody had on me at all times. 'Jasper… what's wrong? You're projecting shock to all of us.' Carlisle said, sounding worried. I took control of my power again and could feel my family relax. 'It's Zackary… he spoke to me in my mind.' I explained. I could now feel shock from the others, even Alice was shocked.

'Well I hate to leave in the middle of all this but I guess I have no choice since you obviously need to talk about this some more.' Zackary drawled, making him the focus of our attention again. 'You're not going anywhere!' Emmett growled and he launched himself towards Zackary. 'Emmett no!' Rosalie screamed but it wasn't necessary. Zackary smirked at us one more time before he literally burst into green flames, hiding him from view. Emmett halted his attack and looked at his opponent with a confused look on his face. Before any of us could react to what had happened the flame disappeared. I was prepared to see a pile of ashes but to my amazement nothing remained; Zackary had disappeared.

It took us all a few seconds to comprehend what had just happened. A vampire had just burst into flames and disappeared completely, that didn't really happen on a daily basis. 'I don't think so.' Edward said. We all looked at him for an explanation as he had obviously answered someone's thoughts. 'Esme thought that Zackary might have died in the flames.' Edward explained to us. 'I agree with Edward.' Carlisle said. 'He didn't look afraid of the flames.' We all nodded in agreement and looked back at the spot Zackary had disappeared from. No sign of fire was left, not even a scorch mark on the road.

Alice was the first to talk again, 'I suggest we get on with our journey because some cars will come by soon and I don't think it's normal for us to be standing on the road like this.' She said. We all went to our cars and were on our way again in a second. I still couldn't believe what had happened just now. There was no way a vampire could have survived a fire like that and that Theodore guy had proved that. He had burst into the same green flames as Zackary had but unlike him, Theodore hadn't survived.

It looked like Zackary created the fire around him himself. Melody thought. I looked at her in confusion, Why would a vampire burn himself? I asked. I don't think he burned himself. It was more like the fire was an escape hatch for him. I thought about what Melody was saying for a few seconds before answering. Maybe you're right… It also looked like he was the one who had burned Theodore… I wonder if that is his gift… Melody nodded but was still troubled He has more powers though… he could also talk to you in your mind and with that break through the shield I have around you.

I thought about what she had said and had to agree; Edward wasn't able to hear my thoughts so how did that Zackary talk to me in my mind. Melody didn't seem to know how Zackary had done it either which seemed to trouble her. 'Why are you both so glum?' Alice squeaked then which stopped my train of thought abruptly. 'Why do you think we are glum Alice?' I asked in return, trying to sound as sarcastic as possible.

'Oh come on, the danger has past for now so why not enjoy the rest of the ride?' Alice chirped happily. I scowled at her but couldn't help laughing a second later; it was typically Alice to see the bright side of things even when it was hard to find a bright side. 'I guess you're right.' Melody said matter-of-factly. She turned around towards Alice with a grin. 'So Alice, about our shopping trip…' She said suggestively. I shook my head and wasn't surprised at all when Alice began to talk about different shops Melody "had to see". I let them have their conversation while my own thoughts went back to the encounter from earlier.

Carlisle POV

Esme and I both sat quietly in the car both engrossed in our own thoughts. I still couldn't believe what had just happened no matter how many times I played the scene back in my head. Something was wrong but I just couldn't see what that thing was. Theodore had seemed like a normal vampire with a bit of a temper. He had reminded me a bit of Emmett but then in a negative way. He hadn't seemed that old either. The attack on Jasper and Melody was too straight forward for an experienced vampire. No older vampire would go for the easy kill when he had to fight against Jasper. Jasper was too covered in scars to be taken lightly and experienced vampires would first think things through and come up with a good plan of attack.

Zackary had been the total opposite of Theodore. He had been relaxed even though he stood against a large coven. I also got the feeling that he was testing and evaluating us but I couldn't be sure of that. He wasn't shocked when Jasper ripped apart Theodore nor had he been angry when his friend had burst into flames. Of course the biggest mystery is what had happened to him? He had gone up in the green flames but nothing had remained as evidence that he had died.

Esme had wondered whether Zackary might be dead but I had to agree with Edward that this was unlikely. I also wanted to talk with Edward soon to ask whether he had heard anything that might help from Zackary's thoughts. We would definitely have a family meeting about this when we next stopped.

When the sky was totally dark out Esme broke out of her thoughts. She turned towards me with a motherly smile on her face and I knew Melody had asked for a break. 'Did she say where?' I asked. 'Alice saw a nice motel close by, about ten more minutes down the road.' Esme explained. I nodded and kept driving until the sign of the motel showed that the next exit would lead to it.

Alice had been right, the motel was nice looking. It wasn't very big but it did have rooms with a separate bedroom which we needed for Melody. I went to the front desk to get a room after which the rest followed me up the stairs. I could see the desk clerk look at us in confusion and I didn't need Edward's mind reading to know that he was confused about the number of people going into one room.

The room was nice enough and Jasper informed us that Melody thought the bed was great. Apparently it was very fluffy and soft. I smiled at the youthfulness of my daughter. She had been through so much in her short life but she stayed happy and carefree through it all. 'Carlisle? You were thinking about holding a meeting earlier right?' Edward said, interrupting my thoughts. 'Yes, I did.' I replied. I sat down on the small couch and motioned for the rest to sit down too. Vampires didn't really need to sit down to feel comfortable but in situations like these it just felt nicer to sit than stand.

I took an unnecessary deep breath and started to address my family. 'I would like to talk about what happened earlier today on the road.' I said and waited for their reaction. Rosalie was the first to react. 'I say we should be on our guard from now on. I don't think we've seen the last of that Zackary guy.' Alice nodded at this. 'I don't see anything happening in the future for now but I'll keep my guard up for anything that might happen.' I smiled proudly at my daughters for a second before Emmett took the spotlight. 'Let that dude come!' Emmett boomed, 'I can take care of him in a second.' He smacked his right fist in his left hand to emphasize his point which earned him a smack on the back of his head from Rosalie.

'You idiot, that Zackary is dangerous. He didn't seem intimidated by any of us which probably means he would be able to take us on if necessary.' Emmett started grumbling that no one could take him on but didn't press his point. 'If I may…' Jasper began. We all turned towards him. 'Melody and I were talking earlier and we came to the idea that Zackary might have caused the fires.' We all looked at him questioningly; why would a vampire set himself on fire? Jasper looked at all of us in turn before continuing. 'When Theodore burst into flames all of a sudden Melody told me to look at Zackary. I was a little too late but I could clearly see him blowing green smoke from his hand as if he had just put out a fire there. Later he didn't look scared of the fire which seemed to consume him either and I couldn't feel any fear coming from him…' Jasper explained.

We all took a few seconds to think about this news. Esme was the first to speak, 'Jasper dear, it seems like there was more you wanted to say.' She said quietly. Jasper nodded slowly as if he didn't really want to say anything. 'Right before Zackary burst into those green flames something strange happened. Melody had told me to look at him and like I said before he had green smoke coming from his hand. He then looked at me and I heard his voice in my head, saying I shouldn't have seen that. I just don't know how he broke through Melody's shield so easily. I asked Melody whether she knew but she didn't know.'

'Edward… could you hear anything from Zackary?' I asked. Edward shook his head, 'I couldn't hear anything Carlisle. The only thoughts I heard were coming from that Theodore guy.' 'Then how did you know I had to jump away?' Jasper asked. 'That was me.' Alice said. 'I had a vision about what would happen to Theodore and Edward just beat me in yelling it to you.' She shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. 'Did you see where the flames had come from?' I asked. Alice shook her head, 'I only saw Theodore instantaneously burning up.'

We were all silent after this, each of us thinking about what had been said. Jasper was the first to leave. He went to the small bedroom to sit by Melody while she slept. Alice and Rosalie soon decided to talk quietly about shopping and clothes and Esme joined them a few seconds later. Edward took a book from his bag and started reading.

'I'm going for a run.' Emmett told no one in particular. I thought for a moment before I turned to Emmett. 'Can I come with you?' I asked. Emmett looked surprised for a second before he started to smile. 'Sure, no problem.' He said and we took off downstairs. I never really needed a run to clear my head before now, but so much I couldn't explain had happened today. Now I felt like a run might clear my head a bit and maybe help me find an answer to all this.


Review and let me know what you thought of this chapter ^_^

~Marieke~