"I think you'll calm down when you see us practice fighting," Jasper tried to soothe as I slid off of his back in the meadow. "It's really quite cool; you'll see there's nothing for you to be anxious about."
I desperately hoped he was right. I was incredibly worried but was trying to hold it together. The Cullens had enough to worry about without me having a nervous breakdown and being a distraction. I thought I was doing a pretty good job of keeping composed, I didn't think anyone knew how panicked I really was…except for Jasper, obviously, and Edward, who kept casting concerned glances my way.
"Hey, Edward," Emmett greeted. "Hey, Bella. Is he going to let you practice, too?"
Edward scowled. "Please, Emmett, don't give her any ideas."
Emmett looked my way. "Well, I know Jasper's gonna let Amanda practice, she'd be fierce out there!"
Jasper stopped stretching his arms and glared. "Not a chance."
The werewolves had come up to the edge of the meadow and Carlisle stepped forward. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jasper scowl discreetly. Earlier I had asked him why he disliked the wolves so much, he said he didn't entirely trust them. I didn't really get it, from what I'd heard the wolves had never overstepped their boundaries or anything, but Jasper was allowed his opinions. If all of them were obnoxious like Jacob he had a good reason to loathe them.
"Go stay with Esme and Alice," he instructed quietly and gave my hand a squeeze before dropping it. I moved back the few paces to stand between Esme and Edward. The relaxed and informal circle we'd been standing in morphed into a loose line with Jasper and Emmett in the center.
Edward and Alice were talking about something…the wolves had been holding out or something. Apparently there were more of them now. I couldn't really pay attention; my eyes were glued to Jasper's back. Esme put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
"The pack has grown," Edward muttered to Bella, intentionally loud enough for me to overhear. I had to take his word for it; I could barely see the sparkling eyes of the wolves. There could be ten or ten thousand and I'd be none the wiser.
Edward chuckled softly beside me. I looked at him curiously. "Remind me to thank you later," he said before averting his attention back to the scene in front of us. Bella and I exchanged confused looks.
"Welcome," Carlisle greeted the wolves.
"Thank you," Edward responded in a creepy, flat tone. He must have been translating. "We will watch and listen, but no more. That is the most we can ask of our self control."
"That is more than enough," Carlisle answered, gesturing to Jasper who looked incredibly tense, but ready. "My son Jasper has experience in this area. He will teach us how they fight, how they are to be defeated. I'm sure you can apply this to your own hunting style."
"They are different from you?"
"They are all very new-only months old to this life. Children, in a way. They will have no skill or strategy, only brute strength. Tonight their numbers stand at twenty. Ten for us, ten for you- it shouldn't be difficult. The numbers may go down. They new ones fight amongst themselves."
"We are willing to take more than our share, if necessary," Edward continued.
"We'll see how it plays out," Carlisle grinned. Then he answered when the newborns would be arriving.
A second later, Jasper took a step forward. He glanced at Edward, who nodded, and then at me before turning his back to the wolves. It was obvious to me that he didn't like this one bit and was doing his best to fervently ignore the audience behind him.
"Carlisle's right. They'll fight like children. The two most important things you'll need to remember are, first, don't let them get their arms around you and, second, don't go for the obvious kill. That's all they'll be prepared for. As long as you come at them from the side and keep moving, they'll be too confused to respond effectively. Emmett?"
Emmett grinned and stepped forward.
"Okay, Emmett first," Jasper said as he backed up. "He's the best example of a newborn attack."
"I'll try not to break anything," Emmett snarled.
"What I meant is that Emmett relies on his strength. He's very straightforward about the attack. The newborns won't be trying anything subtle, either. Just go for the easy kill, Emmett." He backed up and tensed, but it wasn't a nervous strain. He looked…excited. "Okay, Emmett-try to catch me."
Emmett charged and Jasper disappeared. I could faintly make out his frame as he darted around Emmett's attacks with impossible speed. Suddenly Emmett froze. Jasper had him from behind, his teeth an inch from Emmett's neck.
Emmett swore colorfully. I was proud of him.
"Again," Emmett demanded.
"It's my turn," Edward protested. Bella's eyes got wide.
"In a minute," Jasper grinned, motioning for Alice to step forward. "I want to show Bella something first. I know you worry about her. I want to show you why that's not necessary."
He sank into a crouch in front of Alice, who looked exceptionally smug. Jasper darted forward and to the left, but when he reached where Alice had been standing, she was gone. He sprang again and Alice reemerged on the other side of him, like she had never moved in the first place.
Alice laughed randomly and was suddenly on Jasper's back, her lips at his neck.
"Gotcha," she laughed and kissed his cheek. "Sorry, Amanda!" she laughed afterwards. I smiled.
Jasper laughed and shook his head. "You truly are one frightening little monster."
Edward murmured something before declaring it his turn. It was entertaining to watch Edward and Jasper go at it…Edward could see what Jasper would do a second before he did, but Edward wasn't totally sure how to counteract. Eventually they called it a draw and the Cullens each practiced fighting with Japer one more time.
Jasper turned to the wolves, acknowledging them for the first time (but still looking less than thrilled about it) and said, "We'll be doing this again tomorrow. Please feel welcome to observe again."
"Yes, we'll be here," Edward said in that same creepy tone from earlier. He stepped away from Bella to face us and added, "The pack thinks it would be helpful to be familiar with our scents-so there won't be any mistakes later. If we could hold very still, it will make it easier for them."
"Certainly," Carlisle quipped in the direction of the wolves. "Whatever you need."
Jasper appeared by my side and took my hand. "Cool, huh?" he smiled, nodding his head in the direction where they had been practicing.
"Extremely," I agreed and laced my fingers with his cold ones.
Jaspers' gaze flickered from my face to what was going on behind me. I turned around and saw a line of huge wolves approaching us. Like, really huge. I'd never seen them before and was picturing German Shepherd sized dogs or something. They were more the size of bears.
One of the smaller wolves whined as he was left by himself between me, Carlisle and Jasper. I tried to hide my smirk in Jasper's shoulder. His stiff façade momentarily slipped as he glanced at me with an amused glint in his eye.
Bella began laughing and we all looked at her. She was playing around with one of the bigger wolves.
"She'll stink for weeks," Jasper muttered.
I elbowed him in the ribs as Edward called him over.
"Stay here," Jasper said quietly as he dropped my hand and Alice strode with him to meet Edward and the dog.
I sat down in the grass and put my head on my knees. I was drowsier than I would have liked to admit. How embarrassing for a night owl like me.
"Aw, do you need an Emmett hug?" Emmett laughed and plopped down beside me.
I looked up and made face at him. "I don't hug people who won't let me drive the Hummer!"
Emmett rolled his eyes and stood up to leave. "Fine, I know when I'm not wanted!"
"No! Don't go! How else will I know what they're saying over there?!" I whined pathetically.
Emmett sat down again and gasped melodramatically. "I'm being uuuuuuused!!"
I tried to look pitiful. "But you're my most favorite brother in the whole wide world!" Bribery first, then resort to begging. I stood up and gave him a hug. Even sitting he was almost my height…the top of his head was a little below my shoulder. I mentally cursed vampires for having the height advantage.
Emmett grinned and threw his steel grasp around me. At least I could breathe this time…he had gotten better about watching his grip. But he had had Bella to practice on long before I came into the picture.
"Oooh, Jasper's gettin' chewed out by Edward," Emmett said quietly before continuing with a transcript of their conversation. Apparently Jasper had a thought about Bella being in the meadow while the newborn fight was going on and Edward freaked out. I understood Edward's reaction, but Jasper shouldn't be scolded for a random idea.
"They're still going at it," Emmett continued. "Jasper agrees with Edward that it's a bad idea. Shit, he's coming back, don't tell anyone I was your spy!" He laughed and in one movement stood up and dashed over to Rosalie in the time it would've taken me to stand up.
Jasper watched Emmett disappear into the woods with Rosalie, Esme, Alice, and Carlisle and shook his head. He sat beside me and studied my expression. I imagined he was trying to get a good read of my emotions, too.
"Told you you'd feel better," he said finally, with a small smile.
"That gives you four points," I agreed and laid my head on his shoulder.
"I should get you back," he said, running a hand through my hair. "5am is pretty late, even for you."
"Nah, I'm good for a few more hours," I argued.
"Quit protesting," he said softly.
"I'm not protesting," I protested.
Jasper chuckled quietly, scooped me up into his arms and began walking at an impossible pace out of the meadow. The moonlight made his blond hair look silver and gave his skin a translucent glow. His freshly golden eyes looked more relaxed than usual…tired maybe.
"Are you tired?" I asked randomly.
"I don't get tired," he laughed.
"It wasn't a stupid question!" I laughed. "You were only practicing with everyone for like three hours! If you were tired I was gonna volunteer to haul myself at least part of the way back!"
"Very thoughtful, but not necessary," he snorted.
"Are you still worried?" I asked. I felt like I was asking too many questions.
"You're not asking too many questions," Jasper pointed out as he raced through the darkened forest. "I'm not so much worried about the fight as I am about you. I still don't know what to do…somewhere safe for you to go."
I nodded. There wasn't anything I could have said to help. I reached down to open the front door of the Cullen home…Jasper had his hands full hauling my sorry self.
"I wouldn't do it if I minded," he insisted as he set me down gently on his bed.
" I still can't believe Grandma lets me spend nights over here," I mused as I leaned back into the pillows along the headboard. "Even if she does think it's a sleepover with Alice."
"It's hard to say no to Alice," Jasper smiled slyly. "And I can be very…persuasive."
I burst out in laughter. "The day Grandma attacks you in a lustful fit don't expect me to help!!"
I could hear his quiet laughter from the closet, where he was rummaging around. He found the shirt he must have been looking for and peeled off the shirt he had been wearing. The scars on his torso glinted in the moonlight that seeped in from the window. It bothered me that his scars bothered him so much.
I pulled the laptop that was on the foot of the bed into my lap and began fooling around. I didn't want Jasper to think he had to comment on his scars or anything. He didn't owe me any more explanations.
I glanced at the latest news headlines and one caught my eye.
"Find something interesting?" Jasper asked as he laid down on his back beside me.
"I wonder if Carlisle remembers anything like this," I mused as Jasper skimmed the article I had just read.
Jasper's eyes darted back to me and his expression suddenly mimicked my amused smile. The article was about the discovery of a Venetian woman's skeleton who had been found with a brick in her mouth…a 16th century way of trying to kill vampires. (A/N: this is SO a real article! How interesting is that!? .com/s/ap/20090313/ap_on_sc/eu_italy_vampire_of_venice)
"He might, you should ask."
"Nah, it's late, I don't wanna bother him."
Jasper quirked an eyebrow.
"He might be working!" I defended myself. "You know, doing…I dunno, doctor stuff!"
"He's not, he's staring at the TV downstairs," Jasper smirked and picked the laptop up. I followed him downstairs, grumbling the whole time about how it was stupid and Carlisle would laugh at me for being so gloriously weird.
Carlisle's glance averted from the TV to Jasper and I. I looked at the floor. If Carlisle didn't think I wasn't already psychotic he certainly would after this.
Jasper laughed. "For God's sake, Amanda, he's not the one that bites!"
Carlisle looked confused and a little alarmed. "Please tell me no one as an STD." He sounded like such a typical parent of teenagers that I had to laugh.
"Er, no," I said and gestured to the laptop that Jasper was handing to Carlisle. "I was just wondering if you…remembered weird little methods like those. It's interesting to read about, but having a firsthand source downstairs made it too tempting not to ask."
"Oh yes, the brick in the mouth," Carlisle reminisced. "People are so funny in what they'll do to control the unknown." He then began to explain to me about other methods of killing medieval vampires and insuring that dead bodies wouldn't come back to life as "vampires."
"It was nice to have an in depth historical discussion with someone, but I think you really need to sleep. I'm a physician, I know these things," Carlisle smiled wisely and shooed me and Jasper away upstairs.
I curled up in Jasper's bed and pulled the soft blanket up around me. I rested my head on Jasper's chest.
"What was it like?" I asked, stifling a yawn."
"What was like?"
"Everything," I answered. "When Lincoln was killed, Teddy Roosevelt, when Pearl Harbor happened, JFK's assassination… everything."
"I don't remember Lincoln, I was in Mexico," he answered. "I was fond of Teddy Roosevelt, he was an amusing chap. I don't remember being concerned about JFK or Pearl Harbor and other tragic events. I was sorry they happened and all, but human affairs don't concern me too much…except yours."
"I bet Alice knows if JFK's assassination was a conspiracy," I said, getting more drowsy by the second.
"I bet she does too, but you really need to sleep."
"You're such a nag!" I whined playfully.
He laughed quietly. The deepness of his voice rumbled in his chest. A wave of serenity swept over me and I couldn't fight sleep any longer.