Hey! New chapter is here! Sorry for the delay, guys. I am really busy so don't get much time to write. Will try to post next chapter ASAP. Promise.

Happy reading. Please, review.

Chapter 21: Jasper

It was almost 1 month before Saint Marcus Day. Alice and I had arrived in Rome and we were about to start search for The Mystery Man. We knew nothing about him except that he might meet us in some alley near some church. Since Alice was the only one who had seen him she decided to draw sketch of that man and of Bella too. She was keenly working on Bella's sketch.

Bella. That girl had changed and was going to change so many lives. Edward had taken decision of going to Volterra to meet Bella. Alice was thrilled when she found out about Edward's decision. I remembered she gave me I-told-you look when we read Edward's email.

After Edward's decision, his future with Bella was even clearer than before. Alice's vision hadn't changed; Edward & Bella were going to end up together... Someday!

"Finished." Alice announced proudly.

She came over to me and showed me the sketch. i took a look at Bella's picture. So this is Bella, I thought. She looked pretty. Her face was quite young but her eyes were mature. She looked nice. I was really impressed with Alice's sketch.

"Pretty, isn't she?" Alice said, smiling.

"Well, yeah."

"She and Edward would make a lovely couple. He is devilishly handsome, after all." Alice said, "But then again, he doesn't love her only because of her looks. She is an amazing person; it's hard not to like her."

"Wow. You are generous with praises today."

"I am always generous with praises, Jazz" She raised her eyebrows.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt you if you reminded me once in a while how awesome I am!" I fake - complained.

"Awww. Are you jealous because I am praising Edward, Bella and not you?" she looked at me mischievously.

"I just want to hear some praises from my girlfriend, every now and then." I whined.

"Ohhh." She pursed her lips.

"Is that such a crime?" I added to the drama.

"No, baby." Alice said with fake-sympathy.

"So maybe you would like to say something." I said, suggestively.

"You're awesome, Jasper." Alice said and kissed me.

"Go on." I smiled at her.

"You are incredibly strong."

"And?"

"And you are very handsome."

"Okay?'

"You are very kind and generous."

"Hmmm."

"And you have remarkable control over emotions."

"And?"

"You are a nice friend."

"Ah-ha. And?"

"And you have courage that amazes me."

"Okay?"

"And you are an amazing kisser and lover." She winked.

"Okay..." I grinned. I was thoroughly enjoying this.

"You are the best boyfriend ever."

"That I am." I gave her a proud smile.

"And the best thing about you is that you have the most amazing girlfriend in the universe." She grinned.

I laughed. "That I do." I dragged her near me and kissed her.

She was my sunshine.

"So are these praise enough or shall I refer Oxford Dictionary for more adjectives?"

"They're enough... for now." I raised my eyebrows.

She laughed.

"So let's go back to work?" Alice asked.

"I would rather do some other sort of work. You know the more pleasant kind." I stroked her cheek.

She kissed me and picked the sketch she had drawn. I sighed.

"Did you draw picture of that man?" I asked her.

"Yes. It's on the table."

I went to the table and saw the sketch.

"So this is the man we're looking for?"

"Yeah." Alice said

"Let's start the search, then."

"Yes. We have to search this church." She showed me another sketch.

"It's not going to be easy but it's our only option."

She nodded.

"You think you will be okay around people for entire day?"

"I think so." I told her. "To be on safe side, let's just divide city in multiple parts and search different area every day. Edward is going to Volterra after a month. We do have some time in hand."

"That will be better." She agreed.

Three days later, we were walking back to our hotel room.

"You know what I think..." and then, she suddenly stopped walking. Her eyes were still, her face was emotionless. She was having a vision.

I waited. "Alice." I said softly.

She didn't reply for a few moments. Then, she suddenly turned towards me.

"It's her mother!" she exclaimed, almost shocked.

"What?" I was confused.

"Bella... she is working with them to protect her mother."

"Are you sure?"

"I just saw Bella and Cassie – her friend – going to meet her. They're keeping her imprisoned. That's why Bella is working with Volturi."

"That's why she can't leave Volturi! I mean, Chelsea's powers probably don't work on Bella so Aro had to find a way – a definite way – to keep her in guards..." Bella's behaviour was starting to make more sense.

"And so he kept Bella's mother captive. She will do everything to protect her mother, even stay with Volturi if needed." Alice added.

"So we were wrong! She is not afraid to be with Edward because she fears for her life, it's because she fears for her mother's safety."

"Yes. She can't leave her mom alone so..."

"So she told Edward that she was not interested in relationship with him." I shook my head.

We were both silent for few minutes.

"Do you still see them together?" I asked Alice.

"Yes." She replied, though she sounded a little unsure because of latest piece of information.

"I think she should've told Edward." I said.

Alice nodded. "I think she thought that it was for the best if Edward didn't know. Edward would never give up if he knew Bella loved him. Even now, he is ready to go to Volterra even though he thinks Bella doesn't like him."

"Still, she should've told him."

Alice nodded.

"I mean, we can't tell him all this. It's best if he heard it all from Bella, right?" I said.

"She'll tell him." Alice replied firmly.

"You saw it?"

"No. But I believe it." she sounded confident about it.

It took us two more days to find that alley. Alice was sure that that was the place. She had seen that person around dawn so we went to that alley at dawn every day.

On the 5th day, we were waiting at the corner of that alley when Alice said, "He's coming."

I looked at her.

"I am sure, it's him. He'll be here any moment."

I gave her a nod.

And as expected, he came. He was exactly how Alice had described. He was tall, lanky and had shoulder length hair.

He saw us from a distance, suspiciously, but he continued walking.

He was almost near us.

"Hello." I said to him.

"Who are you?" he stopped and asked us.

"I am Jasper and this is Alice." I replied. "We have been searching for you."

"Why?"

"Well, I think you have some information that can help us." Alice said.

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow.

Alice and I looked at each other. How could this guy be any way connected to Edward or Bella?

"You're a..."

"Vampire? Yes. Just like you two." He said. "Is that what you wanted to know? I hope I was helpful." He smirked.

I could sense that Alice was little annoyed. She had little patience when she really wanted to find something out. I smiled a little. They both looked at me, I shrugged.

Alice shook her head and took out Bella's sketch she had drawn. She showed it to him.

"Do you know this girl?" Alice asked him.

"No." He replied after a split of second.

"Are you sure?" I asked him.

"Don't you know that vampires have pretty good memory?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Look, this is really important. If you know anything at all then please tell us." Alice said to him.

"See, I am on my way to hunting and still I am standing here and answering your questions so when I tell you that I don't know the girl, it means, I don't know the girl." He said.

I looked at Alice.

"Okay..." She said.

"Goodbye, strangers in the alley." And he started to walk away.

"Wait." Alice called him.

"Now, what?"

"Do you know a guy named Edward Cullen?"

"I know Edmund and Edmure, no Edward in my acquaintance." He said.

None of us said anything.

"You seem desperate for this information. What is this about?" he asked curiously.

"They're our friends and their fate is somehow connected with you."

He laughed. "You sound like you know the future!"

Alice shrugged and simply looked at him. He stopped laughing.

He stared at Alice, amused. "You can see the future?"

"How else do you think we found you?"

He was amazed.

"Tell me, who I am looking for?" he asked Alice, as if to test her abilities.

"Middle aged man. Short. Blonde. You're going to make him confess his crimes before killing him."

His eyes were wide open. He was impressed, I could feel it.

"I can see the future, I told you." Alice smiled.

"You should've started the conversation with this part." He smiled.

"Better late than never?!" I said.

"Sure." He said and we shook hands. "But honestly, I don't know anything about that girl or that Edward."

"Yeah, well, I think maybe you'll figure something out after meeting Edward." Alice said.

"How?"

"I don't know but it's going to happen."

"Then call this Edward here. Let's sort this out."

"He will be here after a few days. Where can we find you?" I asked him.

"I normally move around the city. I like ... variety." He smirked.

He hunted on humans. Human blood. I tried to shrug that thought away.

"But you can find me near Colosseum. I sometimes work as tour guide there." He said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I like challenges and what's more challenging that resisting the aromas of human blood?!" he smirked, again.

"I can vouch for that!" I said, meaningfully looking at Alice.

She simply smiled.

"So if you want to see me then just go to the ticket window and ask for me. and now, let me go back to my food." He started walking.

"Wait. You didn't tell your name." Alice asked him.

"It's Garrett." He smiled and disappeared.