Chapter 21 Word Count: 4487; First Published about 2:15pm, 18/Oct/18. (AEST)
Not beta'd, so for any typos, excess commas, Australianisms or other mistakes, mea culpa.
And as always, thanks to Ms Meyer for permission to play in her world.
See this week's recs, a question for y'all, and more, at the bottom.
Chapter Twenty-One Revelations (II)
Jasper picked Bella up and ran her back to the car. He wanted to stay close enough to hear any sound from the house, should the vampire still be there, but also wished for a more defensible position.
If the vampire was in the house, he (or she) would certainly have heard their arrival, and could pinpoint their location at any time by the sound of Bella's heartbeat and breath.
And while Jasper was an experience fighter, he would not risk Bella's safety if he could possibly avoid it.
There was no sound from the house, however, and Edward and Alice arrived only moments later.
I suspect whoever it is, is long gone, Jasper thought to Edward. I haven't heard a single sound.
He watched as Alice and Edward ghosted into the house, and listened to their progress, following the sounds through the building.
"There's no one here." Edward's voice came from the upstairs part of the house, and Bella's bedroom if he was correct. "But there certainly has been. And it's the same one we tracked earlier in the week."
"Come on," Jasper told Bella. "Edward says they're gone."
He walked with her at a human pace, her hand in his, and they made their way up to her bedroom, where his two siblings awaited them. The smell was much stronger there and the idea of another vampire in her room forced a low growl from his chest. He felt her hand grip his even more tightly, and he turned to give her an apologetic smile, to see her looking pale and frightened.
"What—" she began, her voice cracking on the word. She cleared her throat and began again. "What were they doing in here? Why would they come into my room?"
They all looked at her blankly for a few seconds. Why would they come up here? He hadn't been up there and from what Alice says she'd been all over the house helping Bella clean. But the vampire scent led straight here.
"You do smell particularly appealing," Alice started slowly. "Maybe it was just a matter of following your scent?"
"Gee, that's comforting," Bella muttered. Then she took another step into the room. "Wait a minute, where's my pillow? And where are the clothes I left on my bed yesterday morning? And the tank I usually sleep in? It was on my pillow when I left for school."
What the hell! Some vampire had taken her clothes?
"Oh wait," Bella added, before any of them could speak. "I guess I've got my tank and my sweats in my bag—Dad brought them in for me last night. Not that the nurse would let me change into them. But the other clothes..."
"Could he have put them away somewhere?" Alice asked.
"Maybe...I'll go check the laundry," Bella said doubtfully, starting to pull away from him.
"I'll come with you," Jasper said instantly, thawing from the stressed statue he'd become.
The clothes were not there though, and neither did a thorough search turn up her pillow.
"But why would they take them?" Bella asked, bemusedly.
"To prove they'd been here?" Alice asked.
"Or to give her scent to someone else," Edward said, reading his mind.
Jasper had to control the urge to growl again, and instead pulled her into his embrace. They needed to follow the vampire's tracks to see if they led to anything else this time, but he wouldn't leave her vulnerable. And the Quileutes were coming over tonight too. Another complication they didn't need.
"We'll go," Edward said, answering his thoughts again. "You stay here with Bella."
Bella looked at him in question as the two vampires flitted out the black door, in the direction the scent disappeared.
"They're going to follow the vampire's tracks and see if they lead anywhere useful this time."
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After Edward and Alice disappeared, Bella flopped down on her bed, pulling Jasper with her.
"Gah! No pillow," she exclaimed.
"I'll get you another pillow," Jasper assured her.
"Don't be silly, there's one in the linen closet, it's just—" he was gone before she could even finish the sentence, and back almost as quickly. Handing her the pillow, he slid back onto the bed and pulled her into his arms. She sighed in contentment. There was so much going on in her life, rogue vampires in her room was just another complication she didn't need. But somehow, from the safety of Jasper's arms, it was hard to worry about anything.
They stayed like that for almost half an hour, and Bella had almost dozed off when she heard Alice's voice.
"We're back!" Alice trilled from downstairs. Bella could hear the low murmur of Edward's voice also, but couldn't make out any words.
"Shall we go down?" Jasper asked her. "Or you can stay here and nap if you like…"
"No, let's go see what they found."
"It's going to be okay!" Alice said, as soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs. At the same time Edward was saying to Jasper, "Just stay calm, okay?"
She could feel Jasper's tension.
"What did you find?" he barked.
"The trail led quite close to the high school," Alice began, "before it met up with a second vampire. Jasper—it was Victoria. She'd been sitting up in a tree overlooking the high school parking lot."
Jasper's growl was audible, and he pulled her closer in to his side.
"Who's Victoria?" Bella asked.
Jasper had frozen again—Bella had noticed him go still earlier, and wondered if it was a stress reaction. She tried to turn to face him, but he was holding her too tightly.
"Jasper," she murmured, pulling on his arm.
"Sorry," he said, but rather than letting her go, he pulled her closer and buried his face in her hair. "Whatever she wants, I will protect you, I promise."
"Who is she?" she asked again, at the same time as Alice snorted, saying, "I think it's pretty obvious what she wants!"
Jasper growled again, but Edward explained. "Victoria is the mate of a vampire we killed last year," he said.
"You mean a vampire I killed," Jasper said.
"We were all there, Jasper," Alice said.
"What happened?" Bella asked, shocked.
Jasper just went back to breathing in her hair, but Edward explained that they'd had a run-in with three nomads the previous year. One of them, James, had recognised Alice from when she was human. He had wanted to drain her, but another vampire had changed her before he could.
At the time, he'd contented himself with killing the other vampire and leaving Alice be. He'd planned to let her change and then track her down afterwards. Tracking and killing was his hobby, but he usually played with his food, rather than other vampires, and he had never come back for Alice.
But when the Cullens had come across the nomads they'd been in the middle of a hunt just outside of Forks, and when the Cullens had asked them to leave, James had decided to kill Alice after all. Unfortunately for him, with a mind reader and an empath against him, he was quickly outmatched. Edward was onto him almost before he'd finished making his decision, but it was Jasper who twisted his head off his neck, and lit his remains on fire with the lighter he always carried.
Victoria and the other vampire, Laurent, had run away, and the Cullens had let them go. Jasper had warned that Victoria would almost certainly be back, unless she got herself killed beforehand. Vampires never got over the death of a mate. But Carlisle had insisted they be allowed to leave, so long as they weren't threatening them at the time.
Now that decision was coming back to haunt them. Victoria was back, and the obvious conclusion was that she'd somehow discovered that Jasper had a human mate.
"She can't have been near the school while we were there," Edward finished. "Her thoughts would have stood out from the normal student population, I wouldn't have missed them."
"No, but she could have seen us in the parking lot after you left, yesterday," Jasper said.
"Or the other vampire—he's the one we tracked before—she must have had him spying on us," Edward said. "I'm guessing the second vampire whose trail the wolves found was Victoria's."
"It makes sense that she stayed away from us and Forks itself," Alice said. "She wouldn't have wanted us to know she was nearby."
"But now she's declaring herself," Jasper said. "She's challenging us. Actually, I'm surprised she came close enough for even the wolves to track her before. That was a risk. But then again, she's lost her mate. It's surprising she can think rationally at all."
They stood silently for a while, all contemplating options.
"Charlie!" Bella exclaimed. "Is someone watching him?"
"We haven't been, while he's at work," Edward said, "but the vampire who was here didn't go into his room."
"He's fine," Alice added. "I see him getting home in a while. All your futures completely disappear not along after that, so I guess the dog is still coming for dinner."
"Alice! He's my friend."
Alice just frowned, and Jasper interrupted.
"We will need to step up your protection," he said. "Edward, I think we need to ask Rose and Emmett to come back now. And we need to talk to the wolves again. They care about Bella and Charlie. Once they know what's going on, they'll probably be more helpful."
"And what about Esme?" Bella asked, suddenly feeling panicked. Who else could be in danger?
"What about her?" Jasper asked.
"Carlisle said she was safe alone because the nomads wouldn't have any reason to hurt her! Victoria could have a grudge against your whole family."
"He also said Alice was watching her future, remember? She'll be fine. We do need to let her and Carlisle know what's going on though," he added to Edward.
"I'll let them know," Edward said, "and we can have a meeting while Bella's having dinner with the wolf."
Bella tensed, and felt herself grip Jasper's hand. "You won't leave?" she said.
"Shh, darlin', we won't go far—just far enough that Jacob can't hear us. We'll still be able to follow everything going on here."
"They don't have super hearing like you guys?" she asked.
"They do, but not as good as ours," Alice bragged. "Besides, Edward's mind reading goes a lot further than even our hearing."
Edward and Alice left then, promising not to go too far, but to talk to Carlisle and Esme and have them come for a meeting later on. Alice would call Rosalie and talk to her about coming back a few days early. Meanwhile Jasper insisted Bella try to take another nap, she'd slept so restlessly in the hospital. Esme was bringing soup later, and Charlie had said he'd bring pizzas home with him, so there was nothing for her to do but relax, which she gratefully did, falling asleep in Jasper's arms within minutes.
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Dinner proved more stressful than Bella had anticipated, largely due to the Blacks' obvious antipathy for Jasper and his family.
The Quileutes has arrived before Charlie—by design, Bella suspected—and Billy had tried to warn Bella about Jasper, without being explicit. She had quickly shut him down.
"I believe I know at least as much about Jasper's family as you do," she'd said stiffly. "In fact, they'll be wanting to speak to you later, but I might as well tell you now—there was a vampire in my room today, before we got here. They won't be leaving me unprotected."
"That's a joke!" Jacob had scoffed. "It's their fault they've attracted them to you in the first place! If they'd left you alone like they should've…"
Charlie had come home then, preventing any further discussion. He'd misinterpreted the tension as relating to her cancer diagnosis, and she could see Billy looking guilty with the reminder that she had more on her mind than rogue vampires.
After dinner—soup for her, pizza for everyone else—the men went into the lounge room to watch a game, while Jake stayed in the kitchen with her.
He helped her with the clean-up in silence, but she could tell he was building up to something. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him take a breath as though he was going to speak, several times, before he finally did.
"Listen, Bella," he finally began, "I don't know what they've told you, but we can protect you. You don't need them!"
"Jake—"
"I can't explain how, but—"
"Jake!" she said again. "It's not as simple as that."
"Yes, it is," he insisted. "I know you don't understand—"
She put her hand on his arm. "I do understand, Jake. I understand a lot more than you know. But there's more to it than you know."
"Bella—"
"Look," she said, with a small laugh. "This is not working. We both think we know things the other doesn't, so why don't we lay it all in the open. You go first?" She hung up her kitchen towel and sat down at the kitchen table.
"I...I can't, sorry." He sat opposite her, but leaned his head into his hands, his elbows on the table. "I really want to but…"
"That's okay, Jake, I think I know what you think I don't know anyway," she said.
He looked at her and frowned. "You'd better not," he all but growled.
She frowned back. "Regardless," she said, "there's a lot you don't know, so why don't I fill you in, then maybe you'll understand why— Well, you might understand some things you're not happy about now.
"Firstly…you know I have cancer, right?" Even as she said it, she wondered if she should have been less blunt—it still seemed so unreal, especially with this latest crisis distracting her—but Jacob just nodded.
"So, I haven't exactly told Charlie this yet but...it's pretty certain that it's terminal."
"I hope you don't mean what I think you mean!" Jake growled.
"What?" Bella was taken aback. That was not the reaction she was expecting.
"Who's your doctor? I'm assuming it's Doctor" —he sneered the word as though it was an insult— "Cullen."
Oh, he thought she meant it was not really terminal, but would be anyway. In a manner of speaking. Well, she admitted to herself, that was half right. Except Carlisle had said her chances of survival really were low, even with the maximum human intervention. She closed her eyes and allowed herself a moment to feel sorry for herself, then looked straight at Jake.
"At the moment, yes," she said, holding up a hand to cut him off when he took a breath to interrupt her. "But he has referred me to the oncology clinic at the Port Angeles hospital for treatment," she added. "I don't have all the test results yet but Carlisle strongly suspects it's quite advanced. Apparently that's pretty common with esophageal cancer, because the symptoms aren't too obvious to begin with."
"Oh." He looked a little shell shocked, and she reached a hand across the table to him. She explained then about the treatment options that Carlisle expected them to recommend—chemotherapy and possibly radiation—and how much extra time that might buy her. When she said that without treatment she might have as little as three months, he jumped up and began pacing.
"That's not—I didn't realise! Charlie didn't say—"
"He doesn't know yet, at least not how likely that is, and please don't say anything. Carlisle has, well…an advantage, with his super senses, you know? He said we need to wait for the test results, but I think he's pretty certain."
"Right." The word came out clipped, as though he didn't want to acknowledge the truth of it, she thought.
"Please sit down, Jake," she said quietly "There's more you should know, which I hope will help you understand—and accept—the choices I'm making, and will make."
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Jasper paced back and forth in the forest. They were just close enough to the Swan residence to hear the conversation taking place, while staying far enough away that Edward assured him the wolf hadn't detected their presence.
Twice already Edward had had to restrain him from running back to her. He didn't like the wolf-boy's tone, but Edward assured him he had nothing to worry about.
As always Edward was listening to everyone's thoughts at once, filtering out the ones that weren't relevant to them as best as he could, and focussing on Jacob's point of view in the Swan's kitchen. Charlie and Billy were watching a game in the living room, and while Charlie's thoughts were no more than half distracted from his fear for Bella, Edward assured him they were not listening to the conversation taking place in the next room.
"She's going to tell him everything, isn't she?" Edward interrupted his thoughts.
"She trusts him," he replied, by way of explanation or justification—he wasn't sure which himself.
"Do you?"
"His feelings towards her are all of concern and love and trust," Jasper began.
"But he hates us," Edward interrupted. "He blames us for causing him to start phasing."
"He may be right."
"Maybe. They don't all feel like that though. Some of the wolves we met the other night love what they are. Some of them are even grateful to us, for ensuring there are wolves in this generation, to protect the tribe from random nomadic vampires."
"They still assume it's our presence here that's made them change though."
"Yes, and they may be right, but last time we were here the wolves were already phasing before we arrived. So it may have happened either way. Besides which, we've been here nearly four years, and they've only started phasing recently—if it's our presence that precipitated it, I'd have to say it's not much of a defence mechanism."
"True. They're lucky we're not actually a danger to them."
The conversation between Bella and Jacob continued through their speculation. Bella had explained her dreams, and how she'd met Jasper again, and how he had found out the details of her previous life, and death. She wanted her friend to understand, Jasper knew, that they were soul mates. That she was meant to be here. That Jasper was meant to save her this time.
"Wait a second," Jacob exclaimed suddenly, "this is your fourth life? You've lived four times? Oh my god! Seth was right! You are the girl who lives four times!"
They heard him stand up and start pacing again.
"Lives four times, beloved of the people, called beautiful," he muttered, more to himself than to Bella, Jasper thought, but he was clearly audible to the vampires. "Must be protected, must be let go… fifth life's return… shit, shit, shit! What does that mean?"
"Jake!" Bella interrupted, "what are you talking about? The prophecy?"
"What do you know about that?" Jacob asked sharply.
"Nothing!" Defensive. He better not be scaring her! "Just what Seth said the other day," she added. "What is it?"
"I'm sorry, Bella, I'm not allowed to tell you about it. It's—tribe stuff, y'know?"
"But if you think it's about me—"
"I still have to get council approval."
"Fine." They could hear her launch to her feet and slap her hands on the table. Jasper imagined her leaning over, pinning Jake with her glare. "But you must see, Jake, I'm meant to be here with Jasper. I've come back twice before, so close! So close to finding Carlisle in time. And this time I am in time. And Jasper's here too. We're meant to be together, Jake."
"In time for what?" Jake asked, his voice suspiciously emotionless. "You said the cancer was terminal."
There was a pause. Jasper could hear Bella's every breath.
"In time to save me," she finally whispered. "The way only he can, Jake.
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Bella lay in bed, knowing she needed to sleep, but unable to shut off her mind. She wished Jasper was there with her to remind her that everything would be okay.
Except it wasn't okay.
Rogue vampires and werewolf prophecies aside, her life had flipped upside down in a matter of days.
And she couldn't stop thinking through all the "what ifs" over and over. What if she had decided to go with her mom and Phil to live in Florida? She would have died without meeting Jasper again. And she wouldn't have had this time with Charlie.
What if Arabella had actually met Carlisle. What if she'd somehow met Jasper? Then, she, Bella, would presumably never have been born. And Charlie and Renee wouldn't have to lose their daughter. But then—who would they have had instead? Whoever she was, would she have looked after Renee the way Bella had? Maybe she would have done a better job...
And most of all, what if—what if there was something she could have done. Something to avoid this disease. Why did she keep getting it? Was it God's way, or the universe's way, of making sure she never lived longer than she was supposed to the first time? Why had she come back over and over? Did everyone? Was every life and death preordained in some way? But that didn't make sense. If she was coming back to find Jasper, there would have been no point in coming back those other times if it was preordained that she wouldn't find him.
Around and around her thoughts went, seemingly without end.
And beneath it all, she knew she was avoiding her biggest worry. How could she say goodbye to Charlie? How could she tell Renee? This was going to kill them. Except it wouldn't, she thought, inwardly rolling her eyes at her pun. It would only kill her.
She felt the mild nausea she'd been feeling for—how long now? She wasn't even sure. The burning in her chest that she was used to thinking of as garden-variety indigestion, not even terribly bad most of the time, suddenly felt so much more sinister. It was hard not to feel revulsion for her own body; not to feel angry with it. Why was it letting her down? People her age didn't get oesophageal cancer. She had had it four times. Why?
She wished again that Jasper was with her. But she knew he couldn't want to stay with her all night while she slept. Last night was a one off, and she wouldn't expect it of him again. What could be more boring?
Besides, she knew he wanted to hear about the outcome of the meeting with Sam. They were hoping Edward would be able to hear in Sam's thoughts what had been discussed with the elders, and hopefully get the full text of the prophecy.
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Jasper waited impatiently for Carlisle and Edward to return from their meeting with the wolves. Carlisle had left a message with the elders, asking to meet with Sam, but the Quileute council were having an emergency meeting that evening, after Billy and Jacob returned from dinner at the Swans' house, and so the meeting with Sam was delayed.
Only Carlisle and Edward attended at the border, as it was only Sam and two other wolves they were meeting with, and they didn't want to appear aggressive.
Jasper was waiting with Alice and Esme in the woods outside Bella's house. He would rather be inside with her. He could tell she wasn't asleep, both from the sounds of her moving around in bed, and from the fact that he couldn't feel her emotions.
But she hadn't invited him to stay, and besides he could do a better job of guarding her out here. Not that they needed all three of them, especially as Alice had seen nothing happening—and with them outside away from Bella, she had no trouble seeing them clearly.
Finally, he heard sounds of two approaching vampires, and knew from their emotional signatures that it was Carlisle and Edward.
"So?" He asked, before they even stopped moving. "What did they say?"
"Nothing very helpful," Carlisle answered. "For the most part, they're still blaming us for bringing this threat to be area, and specifically to Bella and Charlie. They see it is proof of the concerns they expressed last time.
"However, they accept that we will be patrolling this area until the threat is dealt with, and staying as close to both the Swans as we can. Of course, they don't know about Alice's visions, which help us keep Charlie safe."
They would step up their own patrols within the Quileute lands, and agreed to keep the Cullen's updated on any new trails they found, and had finally agreed to show them the trails they'd found previously, on the boundaries of Quileute land and the ocean.
"It's wasn't Victoria," Edward said, "or the other vampire we've scented."
"There are three of them? Dad burn it, where are they coming from?" Jasper growled.
"And possibly Laurent, too," Alice added. "Though I've been looking for visions of him and Victoria all evening, and haven't seen anything. But that may be just because I don't know them well enough to see anything until they affect us directly."
"What about the prophecy?" Jasper asked, turning to Edward. "Did you get any more details of it? And what about their meeting? Do you know how they took it?"
"From what I could tell, there was a mixed response. I saw in Sam's mind, some of the wolves also have mates. It's a bit like with vampires, an all or nothing thing. They call it imprinting, and from what I could tell, an instantaneous bond is formed when they see their mate for the first time.
"Sam has imprinted and was thinking about the intensity of it. It seemed like he was sympathetic to the idea that Bella might be Jasper's imprint. But, the general consensus of the council was not as positive. They are happy for us to defend Bella and Charlie from Victoria, but they don't extend that to accepting the possibility of you changing Bella to save her from the cancer.
"And, I don't think they would in any case, but it's worse than that. They are convinced she is the girl from the prophecy, and the prophecy specifically says she can't be changed. I got the whole text. This is what it says:
Beloved of the people
But not of the blood
Four lives lived
Called beautiful one
Vanquishing enemies
Uniting Foes
She must be protected
She must be let go.
She cannot be changed
Before she is lost
Her fifth life's return
May soften the cost."
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~~End of Part 1~~
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Author's Notes (I have a lot to say this week, plus THREE recs again):
Right so... I suspect there are going to be a few of you unhappy with that! A few people have suggested I don't have Vic in this story and/or don't have any issues with the Quileutes, because surely they can be reasonable, under the circumstances. So, I don't think they will be *unreasonable*, but I hope you can see their point of view.
So, anyone want to share any theories about that prophecy?
Or Jasper's reaction to it?
Reviews are love. :)
NB this chapter was not only not beta'd but I haven't re-edited it since I published the last chapter. I just figured you'd rather have it now than have me print it out and then take another week to edit it again. So pleeease feel free to let me know about typos, in this and any chapter. I would love to fix them!
THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed, followed or favourited this story. I was a bit thrilled to make it to over 1000 follows and over 500 reviews with this chapter. :) I've just realised I haven't sent out review replies to the last chapter with your preview, sorry! But I am so grateful for all your comments.
Oh, one more thing Green Eyed Lana Lee, I hope you liked that little phrase Jasper used just for you. You know which one. :)
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Okay, so, that's the end of part 1. I've said before there's a fair way to go with this story, so fair warning, we're maybe half way through (or maybe not – part one turned out about waaaay longer than I anticipated – Jasper and Bella talking too much, mostly! LOL).
I have some bits of Parts 2 and 3 already drafted (maybe 12000 words), and a fairly detailed outline (I've just fleshed out part 2's outline more thoroughly over my kids' school holidays). BUT I started publishing when I had – I don't know, maybe 8 chapters? – fully drafted.
Now, I have almost got the next chapter fully drafted, but after that it's fragments here and there. That's how I work – I write bits and pieces as I'm writing the outline, sometimes just a paragraph, other times whole conversations. And most of the fragments I have are in part 3. So...
Question for you. I think I know what the most common answer will be, but I'm still interested. Would you prefer I finish a draft of part 2 before I start publishing it, OR would you like me to publish as I go, knowing you will most likely only get a chapter every 3-4 weeks (at least to begin with)? As I said I am almost finished a full draft of the next chapter, but I will probably want to get at least the next two chapters after that finished before I come back and review chapter 22 and get it out there – that way I am less inclined to end up with continuity errors.
So, thoughts?
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Okay, finally, here're your recs for this week:
For starters, Carlisle-OC story. This is probably the first non-Bella story I've recommended, and probably the first OC story too. I'm a little bit traditional. But, I liked it. It's good to read something different now and then :)
Second Chance at Forever, by NobleMikaelson. There is no Esme in this at all (ie she never existed), but aside from that it is mostly canon, set (mostly) shortly after Breaking Dawn ends. Summary: In 1955, the love of Carlisle's life was ripped away in a brutal nomad attack. He spent decades trying to get over that loss, only for the shock of his life when, in 2005 at the wedding of his son Edward, he meets a girl named Abigail Goodwin; an exact match for his dead mate. A search for answers leads Carlisle down a road he never thought he'd go down again. s/12436836/1/Second-Chance-at-Forever
My other two recs this week are both Bella-Edward:
An old one first:
Lightning Crashes, by Psvtiger Bella makes the decision to leave Phoenix forever after a tragic accident. The cold numbness that has imprisoned Bella's heart begins to subside when she finds herself falling for the only person at Forks H.S. capable of tearing down her walls. s/7127656/1/Lightning-Crashes
And a WIP (last updated yesterday! I haven't even had a chance to read the update yet!):
What Drives Her, by Virginia May Edward leaves Forks & Bella behind after the incident with Tyler's van. Five years later, he finally returns to his family and the Pacific Northwest. While picking up his latest Swedish automobile, he is confronted by a very familiar scent. AU-Twilight. s/5815062/1/What-Drives-Her