Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: Yes ladies and... possibly gentlemen, you definitely are seeing this and no, you're not crazy.I've been typing like a madwoman who decided that sleep is for the weak, because I am so close... SO CLOSE... to finishing this story. For serious. TWO FRIGGIN' CHAPTERS LEFT!
So.. that big ol' storm I've been warning you about...? I suggest you get out the umbrella's and find the nearest shelter.
"Why aren't you coming with me?" Bella whispered.
The day she'd been dreading for the last week was finally here.
Jasper had called Charlotte less than four hours before sunset, telling her that Alice had announced that it was 'time.' They had met up with half of the group – the Cullen's had stayed behind at the house – in the woods behind Bella's house.
She was already swaddled heavily in the overly large sweatshirt and tights that had buried in a pile of pine needles and cedar chips for the last four days. Jasper had admitted it wasn't necessarily the best plan, but now she smelled so heavily of the woodsy area surrounding them, that it practically neutralized her own scent.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Charlotte handed Emmett a small, cylindrical tube. Inside that tube was a small sample of Bella's blood that Charlotte had collected by way of one of the many syringes that Dr. Cullen had left behind at the house. Jasper and Emmett planned to smear a drop of it on their clothes, in hopes that it would entice the newborns, and Victoria, towards the battlefield that they had chosen – a large semi-open field, with plenty of large boulders surrounding it, on the opposite side of where Bella would be and as far away from the town as they could get.
"I have to be down on the front lines. I need to make sure they don't get anywhere close to you."
"Always the consummate soldier," she said fondly. "But while you're down here protecting me, who'll protect you?"
"Don't worry," Emmett said, approaching them from the side. "Me and Rosie will have his back."
"Always," Rose promised both Jasper and Bella.
A faint ding sounded in the air and Jasper stiffened, pulling out his cell phone. He glanced down at the screen and his face hardened. "It's almost time."
Bella lurched forward and clutched at him fearfully. "Why do I feel like I'm never going to see you again?"
He clutched her back, though not quite as tightly. "You will," he swore vehemently.
Tears welled up in Bella's eyes. She wondered if Jasper even realized he was shaking.
-oo-
Jasper stood off to the side, watching the hushed and tearful conversation Bella, Emmett and Rose where sharing. Charlotte was behind them, holding Jett gently in her arms. It had been decided earlier that her and Peter would guard her at the cabin and that the pup would be brought along for comfort, however small it would be.
"I got a bad feeling about this," Peter muttered under his breath.
"I thought feelings were my area of expertise?"
"I'm serious, Major. I feel like there's something I'm missing, something important."
Jasper pulled Peter away from the group, ordering Charlotte to stay put with a swift shake of his head, and ducked behind a large tree which provided them with some semblance of privacy.
"Bad?" he asked quietly.
"Is it ever good when it's something important?"
"Any guesses?"
He shook his head. "For the first time, it's like I'm going in blind. The only thing I know for certain is that this has got to happen. Only problem is, I don't know what this is. It could be anything. It could be that the little old lady in Portugal has to cross the street." At Jasper's less than amused gaze, he backtracked. "Okay, I'm stretching, but it's not a good feeling. Not knowing."
"Sounds like someone is a little too dependent on their gift."
"Don't you dare throw that back in my face you bastard," he hissed. "There's a big difference between perving on someone's thoughts and knowing if someone is going to die."
Jasper went rigid. "Who's going to die?" he demanded.
Peter threw up his hands. "No one. Everyone. That little old lady from Portugal. I don't know!"
"Relax, Peter. It's alright. You're not omniscient, nor do I expect you to be. God forbid if you were." That got a small smile out of him. "You knew it was coming, you let us get prepared and you and Char have promised to protect Bella."
"To the death. Preferably theirs and not ours."
"And that's all I expect of my second in command."
Peter snapped out a quick salute.
"At ease, soldier." He ran a shaky hand through his disheveled locks. "I'm not gonna lie, Pete, I really wish you hadn't told me this. I have to be strong for Bella, but I've never been more unsure of myself. I've fought in hundreds of battles, why is this so different?"
"Because you've never been protecting your mate before."
"I can't lose her, Pete," he said softly.
Peter clamped his hands tightly on Jasper's shoulders. "You won't, Jas." He grinned slightly. "I know it."
Jasper allowed a small smirk in return, before closing his eyes and summoning the personae he hadn't needed for almost eighty years. He could feel his eyes darkening, his stance straightening and his features hardening as an eerie, battle-ready calm spread through him.
'Protect mate,' his mind hissed.
"Major," Peter murmured, lowering his head in submission.
Jasper jerked out a short nod and stepped out from behind the tree. The vampires of the group each inhaled swiftly when they caught sight of him, before dropping their heads like Peter had done moments ago.
His beautiful mate, instead of looking confused, instinctively seemed to understand what was going on and lowered her head as well. Injecting a little vampire speed into his actions, he was in front of her mere seconds later, gently tilting her chin up with one finger.
"My mate never has to lower her eyes to me," he said, his voice gravely and his accent more pronounced as he stared into her brown eyes.
-oo-
Bella had immediately sensed the difference in her mate as he appeared from behind the tree, his stance both authoritative and predatory, before the others had lowered their heads. His honey eyes had darkened to black, but it wasn't quite the same color as when he was hungry. Instead they swirled, like a thunderstorm was slowly brewing behind them. She had seen glimpses of what he called the Major personae these last few weeks – along with something similar in Peter and Charlotte's eyes – and while she had never feared it, she was still trying to decide if it was a separate entity all together.
Rose and Emmett never seemed to have this – and she totally blamed Dexter for the reference – dark passenger and she wondered if the Wars had something to do with it. Looking at Jasper now and seeing the love that his Major side held for her in his eyes, she realized it was simply two sides of the same coin, merely one half of the whole that was her mate.
To show that she understood this, and still loved all of him, she lowered her head as well. He was speaking to her seconds later, the harsher rumble to his words sending a pleasant shiver down her spine, as he pushed her chin up. His dark eyes had softened slightly, glowing at her acceptance.
"Yes, Major," she whispered back thickly, her chocolate eyes looking up at him reverently, without the slightest trace of fear.
He captured her lips in a kiss harder than usual, biting at her lips and swallowing her whimpers. She was just as frantic, curling her fingers in his hair and pulling hard enough, that had he been human, she would have ripped a chunk out.
"I love you," she panted against his lips when he pulled back.
His eyes briefly returned to his familiar gold. "And I love you, my Southern Belle," he whispered back.
Her eyes fluttered shut as she allowed his softly spoken words to soothe her nerves. She heard a faint rustle of wind and when she opened her eyes, Jasper, Rose and Emmett were gone.
-oo-
Bella paced the old, but well maintained wood floor nervously, alternating her glances between the corner where Nan hovered and the small window where Peter stood guard. She had never been claustrophobic, but looking around this cabin (barely bigger than her room), she could almost feel the walls closing in. An hour had passed since they got here, and so far things had been quiet. Almost too quiet.
You should be with Jasper, she directed silently towards Nan, not wanting to spook Peter who already looked on edge.
"What could I possibly bring to the table?"
You could watch over him.
"He doesn't need me to watch over him," she returned, turning her head away and frowning.
Bella stopped and stared hard at her. But I do? Nan, what's going to happen?
"I don't know, Chime," Nan replied, clearly distraught. "I don't know," she repeated brokenly, her breath hitching in her throat.
I'm scared. Bella's voice was little more than a whisper in her head.
Nan drifted over and cupped Bella's cheeks in her cool hands. "Everything will be all right," she murmured, but her eyes contradicted the confidence she tried to inject into her words.
Bella raised her own hand to curl around the one still on her cheek, grasping it tightly. Like she had felt with Jasper earlier, a part of felt like this was the last time she'd ever get to see her Nan. The thought had her pulling away from her touch as she resumed her pacing.
"Peaches, you have to stop pacing, you're making me nervous as hell."
Bella stopped and shot a glare at Peter. "How do you think I feel?" she asked, wringing her hands. "You can look out the window and see your mate, while mine's on the other side of town fighting in a battle that's all my fault."
"How is this your fault?"
"A mate for a mate," she mocked bitterly. "It was me he was protecting in the field that day."
Peter leaned against the window sill. "And he should of let them kill you, is that what you're trying to say?"
"Well, when you say it that way," she grumbled, perching the edge of the bed. She shot a small frown at Jett who was happily chewing on a rawhide bone without a care in the world; she only wished she could be that oblivious. Her leg began bouncing up and down as her nerves once again got the best of her. The bed creaked as Peter sat beside her.
"Stop," he ordered gently, placing a cool hand firmly on her knee. "You're clearly underestimating your mate. You know his history. These guys are rank amateurs compared to him."
"You said they were dangerous."
"And they are, to unskilled vampires like Eddie boy. Honestly, I'll be very surprised if he makes it out of this unscathed. But Jasper is trained for this, he has fought hundreds of newborns and every time he got a little better. He will be fine," he said with such conviction that Bella felt a wry smile grace her lips. Either he really knew this, or he was a better liar than Nan.
"You're pretty good at this comforting thing, you know?"
He laughed. "Funny, Jasper would say differently." His laughter cut of abruptly as his whole body tensed.
"What is it?" Bella asked worriedly.
"Char," Peter replied absently. He moved to the small cabin window and peeked out. "I can't see her."
"Nan?"
Nan nodded and drifted through the walls.
"She's agitated." His gaze shifted between her and the window, his eyes crinkled with obvious concern for his mate. "I think we've been breached."
"But how?!" Bella cried."Why are they even over here? You guys took every precaution bringing me here. They don't have any reason to be on this side of town."
"Yeah, they do," Peter replied, staring at her grimly.
Bella jerked when Nan popped into the room instead of entering the same way she had exited. That, added to the panic on her face, screamed emergency.
"Ruby's in trouble!" she cried. "She's surrounded by five vampires – one's a strapping behemoth that seems to be getting the best of her."
"Char's in trouble!" Bella relayed.
"She can hold her own," Peter replied thickly.
"You bastard!" she screamed.
"I promised Jasper..." he said weakly.
"Screw the promise! If that was my mate out there, I'd tear the world apart to get to them!"
They both heard a loud crunch and Bella hurried to the window in time to see a tree off in the distance crumple to the ground.
"There!" She pointed. "It's close. If anyone makes it up here, I'll scream, I swear. Just go please," she begged. "I'll never forgive myself if she dies for me! No one should have to die for me!"
"Bella..."
Bella reached for the closest object, a copy of War and Peace of all things, and lobbed it his head. The spine broke upon impact, the pages scattering around him like written snowflakes. "GO!" she shrieked.
His gaze jumped between Bella and the door. "Don't even think about coming out after me," he warned as he darted for the entrance.
"I may be a little crazy," she spat, "but I'm not suicidal."
As soon as he was out the door, Bella curled into herself, a part of her immediately regretting her decision to tell him to go.
-oo-
Five sets of eyes watched through the thick brush that surrounded the cabin as the vampire darted out the door. They turned back towards the cabin, two of them chuckling when they heard the lock click into place.
'As if that will keep us out,' one thought darkly, reveling in the sound of the girl's quickened heartbeat. Her fear would make her blood taste that much sweeter.
"It's time," another's voice whispered gleefully as they crept slowly towards the cabin.
-oo-
Peter ripped the bulky vampire off his struggling mate's body. In a move taught to him by his maker, he had his head separated from his body in a few short seconds.
"Ugly bastard, aren't you?" Peter muttered as his fingers curled in the vampire's greasy hair. He tossed the head to the side and kneeled down beside Charlotte. Around them lay the scattered parts of what looked like four other vampires, Peter noted absently.
He brushed aside a lock of his mates ruby hair and studied the crack running along her cheek. It was already healing and the only venom present appeared to be her own, so he knew that there was no worry of it scarring.
"You alright?" he asked as she helped her to her feet.
"I could have handled it," she retorted, brushing the dirt and pine needles from her clothes.
He snorted. "It looked it."
Her eyes narrowed at him. "Where's Bella?"
"Back at the cabin," he replied uncomfortably.
"You left her?" she demanded.
"She's fi– "
A high pitched scream pierced the air, causing the venom in their veins to freeze.
"Bella," Charlotte whispered, horrified.
The two immediately rushed towards the cabin, arriving in just enough time to witness the tail end of Bella disappearing into the trees to their left as she struggled on the back of an unidentifiable vampire.
"Bella!" "No!" They both roared at the same time, and without even giving it a second thought, promptly gave chase.
Both failed to see the figure smiling at them from the window.
-oo-
A half naked Bella squirmed against the powerful arms that gripped her, tears streaming down her face and coating the hand that covered her mouth, which stopped her from calling out to Peter and Charlotte.
Thanks to the broken door, she could hear the thump of their feet as the approached the cabin and the subsequent scream of her name. Then the footsteps veered away from them and, with growing panic, Bella listened as they quickly fade in the opposite direction.
"Not very bright are they? Where are those battle instincts Jazzy always used to brag about?"
Alice turned away from the window with a large grin and nodded for Edward to drop his hand from Bella's mouth.
"Pet– " she attempted as soon as it was uncovered, only for the word to choke off when Alice took a menacing step forward.
"Uh, uh. None of that now. Though I suppose it doesn't really matter, he can't hear you anyways."
"What did you do to them?"
"Me? I didn't do anything. No that buffoon and his whore are too busy chasing after you, remember?"
-oo-
"Strip!" Alice barked, seconds after forcing her way through the now broken door.
Bella blinked rapidly, surprised and yet somehow not as Alice, Edward and three other unfamiliar vampires – two males, one female – stepped through the door. Four of them hovered around the entrance while one, an intimidating man with dark black tattoos decorating his massive arms, moved to the corner and perused the scene disinterestedly. Her eyes stayed on him long enough to see his ruby gaze crinkle in concentration as he stared at her. A shiver ran over her body as she felt an unfamiliar sensation coiling around her insides and centering on her heart.
She had never felt more violated in her life.
Her gaze snapped away from the strange vampire when Alice angrily repeated her order and clutched her clothes tighter to her body.
"Never," she hissed.
"Oh you'll do it, or... SHUT UP!" she roared at a wildly barking Jett. The pup fell silent with a whimper, before the acrid scent of urine overpowered the musty air in the small cabin. Alice rolled her eyes. "Just lovely. As I was saying, remove your clothes now or Edward will do it for you."
Edward's darkened eyes gave her a once over. "My pleasure," he murmured, moving forward.
"No," Bella yelped, turning her shaking hands to her clothes and pulling of the sweater and tights as quickly as she could. Tears of humiliation stung her eyes as two of the three male vampires in the room gave a low, lusty growl.
"Hand 'em over," Alice demanded boredly. She snatched them out of Bella's hands and turned to the only other female vampire in the room, roughly the same height as Bella and with long golden brown hair. "Put these on, now."
As the female swiftly tugged Bella's clothes on over her own, Alice turned her gaze towards the last member of their group, a youngish looking man with pale, almost bleached blond hair. "Do your thing, Lex."
Aforementioned Lex stepped up behind the female vampire and easily swung her up on her shoulder. As he turned, Bella noticed the air around him shifted imperceptibly and gasped when the woman's now mahogany head flipped up and Bella's own face grinned at her cruelly.
-oo-
Alice giggled as she eyed the thin tank-top and panties Bella was wearing. "Or at least what they think is you. I thought Victoria was foolish for changing so many and drawing unnecessary attention to herself, but it ended up working out quite well when one of the newborns turned out to be very special. He can create illusions, so perfectly detailed; you'd swear it was the real thing. He was a magician when he was alive, isn't that a scream? If my gift wasn't clearly superior, I'd almost be jealous."
"You're working with Victoria?"
Alice scoffed. "Working with her makes it sound like we're equals. She's my puppet. She was determined to avenge her sweet James' death, and I merely improved on that. She was going to run back to Forks all half-cocked and get herself killed in the process. I gave her life direction."
"By encouraging her to turn innocent people?"
Alice made a show of examining her nails. "Who's to say they were innocent? You humans are all guilty of something."
"How did you even find me?"
Alice smirked and glided over to the small table pushed up against the wall and fingered the canvas bag, filled with food, that sat on it. "Peter really shouldn't have left this bag in the kitchen. It was all too easy to..." Alice trailed off and reached into the bag, pulling out a small black chip. "I'm a little disappointed in myself for having to resort to such high tech tactics, I mean, who am I, James Bond?" she tittered. "But it's a good thing I did, that pine scent really threw me off. Jasper always has been disgustingly clever."
"Why are you doing this? Why are you going through all this trouble?"
"For forty years he was mine and I was his everything," she spat. Her eyes, while still golden, gleamed with what Bella was quickly beginning to recognize was insanity. Jasper had admitted to her a long time ago that Alice had been committed to an insane asylum right around the time she'd been changed, but implied that her visions – she was one of the few vampires whose gift wasn't accredited to her turning – had been responsible.
Bella suspected the reasons were much darker than that.
"That all changed eighteen years ago when I got a blurry vision of a disgusting human girl," she continued. "He started to pull away from me, like he sensed you were out there, questioning everything I said or did, making the family question me."
"And you did all this to hurt him?"
Alice blinked owlishly. "Why would I want to hurt my Jazzy? I love him."
"He's not yours," Bella spat.
"And whose fault is that? He'd still be mine if you hadn't took him from me. I did everything I could to stop it from happening, trying to convince Carlisle not to move to this horrid little town, killing Charlie so you wouldn't have a reason to move here, hoping that van would hit you." She tilted her head angrily. "How did you manage to escape that one anyways?"
For the first time since he grabbed her, Bella stopped struggling in Edward's embrace."You tried to...my dad... the accident?" she stuttered out.
Alice glared at Edward as if Charlie not being dead was the biggest inconvenience ever. "It's all his fault for hesitating," she sniffed.
"No, he was late," he argued back.
Alice huffed and stamped her foot. "He wasn't supposed to stop for that coffee! That last minute decision ruined everything!" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and when she opened them, she was smiling again. "None of that matters now, because when all that failed, I got such a beautiful vision in that field. Sure, I knew it would take a little time to come together, but I didn't mind..." she trailed off and her smile became cruel. "Kept me waiting long enough," she cackled, her laughter slightly hysterical as if she was sharing a private joke with herself. She sobered. "In the end, it proved to be the solution to both of our problems."
"Both?" Bella asked shakily.
From behind her, she felt Edward drag is nose against her neck, his hands trailing dangerously close to her breasts. "Only a human and your mind is silent to me," he muttered angrily against her throat. "Pity I can't hear your how afraid you are."
"I'm not afraid of you," Bella spat, trying to convey bravado she really didn't feel.
"Liar," he whispered, kissing the skin where her neck met her shoulder. "And your blood," he moaned. "Your blood smells so good; it has since the first day of school. It sings to me, taunting me with its song and ever since then, it's all I've ever been able to think about. My desire for it controls me and I can't think of anything but you and your blood. Nothing should have that much power over me. I need to take back my control."
"You won't get that by killing me!"
He chuckled darkly. "Maybe not, but it's a start."
Jett, who had seemingly recovered from her earlier fear, suddenly made her move, jumping forward and sinking her canines into Alice's bare arm. There was a violent cracking sound as it broke every single tooth in her mouth, but she still hung on, smearing blood from her busted gums all over the pale skin of Alice's forearm.
Alice snarled and wrapped her unencumbered hand around Jett's throat, squeezing until there was a sickening crunch and Jett fell limp. She threw the suddenly silent dog at the wall, where it fell to the floor with a dull thud and laid motionless.
The action had startled Edward enough to loosen his grip around Bella. "You bitch!" she shrieked, darting forward, not unlike her faithful dog had moments earlier and slapping Alice across the face. She bit her tongue, hard, to silence the cry when she felt the bones in her hand shatter.
"That wasn't very smart," Alice taunted.
"It was worth it," Bella spat, cradling her limp wrist to her chest as Edward's hands encircled her again.
-oo-
Marie looked helplessly around the room, sparing a moment to gaze sorrowfully at the broken figure of Chime's beloved dog, as her granddaughter once again struggled in the boys grasp. She was angry at herself for not seeing this coming. All the suspicion she had felt towards the two vampires in this room and she had done nothing to prevent it. The pieces had been there, but she failed to put them together.
If Chime died in this cabin, it would be no one's fault but her own.
Her eyes darted frantically around the small space but the room was sparsely decorated - with little more than a bed, a small table and a lamp - and there was absolutely nothing that could be used to defend her. Not that it would do much good anyways, she had already seen the damage that had been done to Jett. And if she even attempted to react, she knew that the panic it would incite would only lead to Bella's death.
'Is this what is supposed to happen?' she raged to no one in particular. 'Is my Chime supposed to be tortured before joining me in the afterlife?
"No, no, this is all wrong," she said out loud. She wouldn't let this happen, she couldn't let this happen. She knew what she had to attempt, something she had never done before, something that could end up blowing up in her face and causing her to blink out of existence.
But Chime, her sweet Bella, needed her to try.
Even if it was the last thing she'd do
She gathered every single ounce of energy, sent a silent prayer up to her William and disappeared.
-oo-
"Nan!" Bella cried, panicked when the only hope she had left disappeared.
"Nan," Alice mocked. "So pathetic, crying out for your Grammy."
Bella glared up her. "Jasper will come for me."
Alice chuckled. "That's what you think. See Ricardo there?" She pointed at the vampire still standing stoically in the corner. "He's gifted too you see. He can, how do I put this, tap into the bonds and manipulate them, mimic them, falsify them, what have you. Right now Jasper is feeling how calm, cool and collected his brave little mate is. With perhaps just a dash of nervousness so he doesn't get to suspicious, isn't that right, Ricky?"
"Ricardo," he corrected darkly, with a thick Spanish accent. "The bond is stronger than I am used to, but he does not suspect anything."
"Do you know what that means?" Alice whispered. "Jasper is not coming for you. He is too busy chasing down that patsy of a red-head, while Rose and Emmett are who knows were defending your honor, and Peter and Charlotte are following little more than a mirage. You. Are. Alone."
"Do not forget, when this is over, you will tell me where you have taken my wife," Ricardo hissed.
"Yes, yes," Alice agreed, waving her hand dismissively, angry that the moment had been interrupted, but smiling in gleeful satisfaction when she saw the tears dripping down Bella's face. She shifted slightly, effectively shielding her face from the vampire in the corner and, with a wide grin, mouthed, "she's already dead."
"She –"
Alice's hand snapped out, effectively shattering Bella's jaw.
"You don't learn, do you? Since you seem to have trouble keeping quiet, I thought I'd lend a hand." She fluttered the fingers of said hand and tittered at her own joke.
Bella whimpered and focused her gaze on the battered remains of her dog. She only hoped her death was as swift as Jett's had been.
"Alice," Edward said impatiently, increasing the pressure on Bella's arms. "We don't have time for this."
"Yes," Ricardo agreed, his face twisting in discomfort. "He is tapping into the bond right now and I cannot hold him off much longer."
"I suppose we should hurry this along," Alice sighed. "We have to give ourselves some time to come up with a proper story."
It was difficult to speak through the agony of a broken jaw, but Bella managed to slur out, "Oor c'aey. Jas'er 'ill n'er eleve ew."
Alice's face darkened. "Don't call me crazy," she snarled before her twisted features smoothed out into one of placidity. "I'm still having a tough time deciding who gets to kill you."
"You promised me I could have her blood!" Edward hissed, tightening his hands around her lower abdomen and cracking a rib in the process.
Alice rolled her eyes. "It's not like it'll go bad immediately after she dies, you'll still get to taste her, don't worry."
Bella's vision grew hazy as the pain in her hand, jaw and ribs combined to make one never ending wave of agony. As they continued to argue about who got to kill her, all Bella could do was hope that she'd at least get a chance to see Jasper one last time.
-oo-
Jasper watched with grim satisfaction as Victoria's head thumped to the ground. In the beginning, he had torn through the pack of the newborns, Rose, Emmett and the Cullen's at his side, but he had eventually caught sight of Victoria hovering in the tree line. He had lost track of the others after that – focusing his rage completely on the woman who dared to threaten his mate as she lead him on a merry chase half way to the other side of town, but thankfully still a good distance from where Bella hide.
The hand holding the knife hung limply at his side, his own venom dripped down his arm to comingle with the venom that coated the blade. The right arm sleeve of his black sweater was torn, framing a large – but relatively minor – bite on his lower forearm. It was the only new mark he attained during the battle. The red-headed vampire at his feet had been responsible for that, but going for his arm instead of his throat had been a fatal mistake.
"Fool," the decapitated head gurgled around a mouthful of venom. Jasper scowled down at it before bringing his thickly soled boot down hard enough to shatter her skull and effectively silencing the watery chuckles it had broken in to. His lighter was out of his pocket just as swiftly – he was careful to use his left hand and keep it as far away from his other arm as possible – a soft clicking noise followed as he hit against his knee, causing the small flame to flicker to life.
He didn't even bother to gather her body parts, instead touching the flame to each individual part that lay scattered around him.
Now that the intoxication of battle was beginning to wear off, Jasper finally noticed that his bond with Bella was muted – thick – almost like wading through quicksand. He concentrated on it, wondering if it was some sort of fail safe for his own heightened emotions and was only partially nullified by the dull calm he could sense.
The Major side hadn't faded completely and was on instant alert. 'Something is wrong,' it hissed seconds before the air around him grew staticy, followed by a low pitched humming noise that set his teeth on edge.
He watched, mystified as a figure slowly took shape behind what once was Victoria's head. The woman was transparent – practically a literal representation of the word ghost – but her features were defined enough that he (thanks to pictures) immediately recognized her.
"Nan?" he asked incredulously. One of the pictures Bella had shown of her was when she was on the cusp of sixty, youth and vitality still very much apparent in her face, and Bella had always assured him that she still looked like that to her. But the woman in front of him as faded as she was looked exhausted, her chalky gray features lined and drained of any life they may have once had.
She nodded curtly, her misty figure rapidly flickering like the flames on the woman at her feet. "No time to explain, Ranger." Her voice was raspy and weathered. "Traitors are in your midst and you must go back to the cabin immediately. Chime needs you and time is running out." Her figure sputtered before immediately disappearing, like a light switch had suddenly been flicked off.
He had so many questions racing though his head at that moment as time seemed to still around him. But when the ghost of your mate's dead grandmother tells you to do something, you do it.
Traitors. The word echoed in his head and he roared as he quickly made the connections.
He had never run so fast in his life.
-oo-
Peter and Charlotte rapidly caught up to the laughing vampire. They would have caught him sooner, but with Bella on his shoulder, they couldn't risk tackling him. The mere action would probably kill her.
The laughing vampire came to the edge of the a small ravine and came to an abrupt stop, shocking both Peter and Charlotte who dug their heels into the damp ground beneath them.
"Drop her," Peter ordered lowly.
The blonde vampire smirked. "Okay," he agreed good-naturedly, pushing heavily on Bella's kicking legs and sending her over his shoulders and down into the ravine.
"No!" Peter howled, diving for Bella as Charlotte tackled the blonde vampire's midsection hard enough to practically cleave him in half.
Peter landed on the bottom of the rocky ravine, cushioning Bella from the fall. "Char?!" he yelled.
"I'm fine!" she called back down, followed by the familiar sound of a vampire being ripped apart. "Bella?"
"Peaches?" he exclaimed worriedly, as he flipped her over in his lap. "Are you alright?"
The woman brushed her significantly lightened brown locks and gazed up at Peter with menacing ruby eyes. "My hero," she cooed sarcastically.
Within seconds Peter had his hand curled around her neck, pinning the female vampire to the rocky wall behind her.
"Who are you?" he snarled.
"I'm a little disappointed," the female choked out, squirming in his grip. "She told us to fear you, but you're so pathetic, you didn't even realize you weren't chasing the real thing." She lobbed a big wad of venom in his face. "Real scary," she mocked.
He wiped the venom away. "Who exactly is she?"
"I'll never tell," she sing-songed. Peter's vision was overcome with a brilliant flash as he was shown exactly who was behind this and exactly what she was about to do and with a roar; he ripped her head from her shoulders.
He was already too late.
Collapsing to the ground as the headless body slid down the wall, Peter tilted his head back and howled, "I didn't know!"
A/N: Man, really shot that humor genre to hell with this one, didn't I?
Umm... yeah, sorry about killing Jett, but it was already pretty much set in stone as soon as I decided to give her the dog. But when it came down to it, for reasons I will not yet say, it came down to her and Charlie.
To those who was hoping I'd redeem Alice, sorry again but it was never in the cards. Not even for a single second.