I'm honestly not feeling so confident from this chapter. It didn't feel right, number one and I have no idea where the hell the thought of doing this came from. Hopefully that doesn't stop y'all from reading or enjoy this extra, unintended chapter.
Thanks to the many favorites, follows and reviews.
Bunches of thanks to my reviewers: mireads, Chi Chi's FAN, The Dreamer17, Bemmy, Sweetest of Sins, Willowstar23, HiNAPRiNCESS22
The song features for this chapter is:
Being With You by Kali Uchis
She's one of the best, I love all of her music and I doubt any of you heard of her. The song is only found of Soundcloud though, so look for it!
Disclaimers: I do not own Twilight.
Romanian Translations:
Dragoste — love
Uman — human
Unicul meu — My one and only
Draga mea — my love
Voi detineti — I own you
Chapter 28: I Know I'm gonna' survive the December cold
I don't care what they say about me and...
I don't care what they do...
I don't care what they think if you're leaving...
I'm gonna' beg you to stay
I don't care if they try to avoid me
I don't care what they do
I don't care about anything else but being with you
Being with you
"Do you remember our anniversary, Hayden?" She kissed the both of his cheeks. "This song played while we made love." The female vampire sighed, almost breathlessly as she leaned into the brown haired man.
"I love you, you know." Monica gingerly cupped his cheeks, cracking a small smile at the way he shivered from her fingertips' cold touch. "I never stopped loving you."
"And I intend to... for all of eternity. Just like you wanted, unicul meu." She inched her face forward, staring into his dazed, clouded blue eyes. "And I said I'd be back, did I not, dragă mea?"
Hayden Lockhart groaned slightly, his head knocking back as she slowly stroked long fingers through his tussled hair. "I told you the silly human wouldn't make you happy—she refused you children, immortality. But with me," Monica narrowed her red eyes concealed by green contacts as she adjusted his head and used a hand to hold his chin so that his dazed eyes were locked on her. "We'll have as many as you want—adopt like you always talked about us doing, rememberdragoste? After the change... we can move back into our home in Forks or... away. Far away, Hayden."
"But enough spoiling the plans, dragoste. We have all night to talk about these things, and definitely after the change..." She trailed off with a smug smile plastering on her marbled face. The light-brunette brushed her short cut bangs out of her eyes as she leaned forward and pressed her pink, stone lips to his for a brief second before leaning back into the booth she had them situated in. Monica draped his arm over her shoulders and snuggled into his warm embrace. "Let us enjoy the performance, Hayden."
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Meanwhile
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BELLA
It's that moment where you realize... you've been running backwards.
"... please, Alice," I murmured, tears coating the brim of my eyes. "I know we've had our differences... a-and aren't on speaking terms... but if there is anyone I could count on—it's you."
Alice let out a heavy, unnecessary sigh before her darkened eyes widened and she coughed. "I saw a vision of him, Bella." Her usual soprano voice chimed like a broken bell—I could tell she was extremely thirsty and there was a burning ache in the back of her throat. "B-But... you won't like what I have to say about it."
"Just tell me! Please!" I begged, subconsciously reaching out both hands and pulling the dark haired pixie into a desperate embrace. The tears I shed once again in the night were starting to stream down my reddened cheeks. "Just tell me..." I mumbled again, sniffling before letting out a shaky sigh. I let go of the stiff, tiny vampire and bowed my head slightly, my brunette locks covering my face. "I'm sorry for invading your space..."
I thought I wasn't weak—but look at where I was now.
I told this family it was over—gave them a goodbye.
But as soon as trouble came... here I was reaching a hand out in a desperate bid for help. Undeserving help.
I was taken out of my own wallowing by the wooden door creaking wide open. My head snapped up and eyes widened when Alice stepped aside and gestured for me to enter.
I gulped like there was something stuck in the back of my throat, hesitantly taking small steps into the bare room full of the ever-still beautiful Cullen family.
Different pairs of dark, molten onyx and that one pair of warm, topaz colored eyes unfroze, glancing up to look at me.
"You got some nerve showing your face to us," no one other than Rosalie snarled at me, her pale arms crossing haughtly over her chest.
I couldn't even look her in the eye before nodding. Because she was right—after all I said to them... all of the teasing, rants and humiliation caused by me, I had nerve to seek help out from them. They did me wrong, yes—but... I did them dirty. "I know." I dried my tears and held my head high. "I'm not saying that this is right... but Rosalie, I'm desperate."
She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I'll say."
"Think about if it was Emmett," I interject, narrowing my eyes and clenching my hands into fists. "You'd be just as desperate for help as me!"
She tried to shoot herself toward me but Edward had her arms pinned in a blur, stopping her from nearly attacking me.
"Rose, that's enough!" Edward shouted, making me wince. His dark eyes highlighted with purple circles underneath blazed with anger as he used one hand to keep both arms pinned and the other to wrap around the nape of her neck; he flung her into Emmett's burly arms and she was easily restrained.
Rosalie growled through gritted teeth as she struggled to release herself from her brawny husband's steel grip. His muscled arms constricted over her chest like an anaconda snake, rendering her hopeless.
"You've done nothing but caused this family hell, human!"
"I gave you all hell just like you made me feel like I was living there when you abandoned me—did you just hear yourself, Rosalie?! Human—that's all I am. Nothing more and possibly something less, which is why I need a vampire's help!" I yelled back, glaring daggers with the statuesque blond—it seemed to quiet her down a bit. She stopped thrashing in Emmett's arms and the permanent scowl engraved in her face shifted to a thin, tight line.
There had also been a wave of calm washing over the room. The only sounds heard other than my normal breathing—I wasn't hyperventilating anymore—and the constant shifts of motions from the seven vampires, was the occasion squeaks of rats coming from the large box set in the middle of the room. But, I no longer had felt worked up about Hayden missing and losing him to whatever factor; the feeling of worry didn't completely vanish, but I felt like I could breath—not cry or feel under pressure or guilted for coming to the Cullens. My eyes zipped to Jasper's topaz colored orbs and his lips curved into a small, crooked smile. I nodded once as a silent thanks and turned back to the pixie.
Alice shut the door behind her with a small slam before clearing her throat. "... he was with her." She murmured so low that I had to strain my ears to hear.
My eyebrows furrowed in a knit and I shook my head at the claim. "W-With who, Alice?" I was getting worked up again... but I immediately released a heavy exhale and felt mellow at the moment. She was silent though, prompting me to skid back towards her with an extra, panicked spring in my step. "Alice—please !"
"His ex-wife..." her voice trailed off. "He was... at a club of some sort. A-And he was drinking—heavily. The argument about changing and children upset him... and I couldn't see much after that."
I gulped hard at the words that came out of her tiny mouth—I could see it playing out in my head as if I had the power of premonition and foresight myself.
That manipulative bitch appearing out of the shadows like the sneaky she-beast she was—crimson, red eyes concealed by green contacts, her light brown hair cascading past her shoulders instead of in that infallible ponytail and a tight dress that hugged her skinny body—she was gorgeous but watching my older man with stalking eyes. Watching each breath he took, each drink he downed, wherever his eyes trailed off to... observing and admiring what wasn't hers anymore!
Just like she did with what wasn't mine anymore—my eyes narrowed into slits flickered to give a glance at my ex-boyfriend Edward and his eyes furrowed and widened like he was going mad—I felt an indescribable anger beginning to build up in my chest. A blinding rage at just thinking about her; how she tried to take Hayden, took Edward after I lost him—or so she said to me that night when she confronted me in the bathroom at Club Salt—and at how she was trying to take my older man once again. This time when she knew we were vulnerable.
"Bella—" Alice called my name as her eyes went blank and she suddenly halted in place. In less than a minute, she blinked twice and shook her head, those thin lips frowning. Her uneasy gaze shifted to Edward and then to the rest of her silent, but ever-listening family. I glanced at each and every one of them, my eyebrows knitting together.
"Did you just see something...?" I questioned when no one said a word but all gave me a troubled look.
"Bella..." the familiar, silk smooth and velvety tone that used to dazzle me day and night spoke, breaking my chain of brooding thoughts. "I—I'd like to help you." Edward was at my side in an instant, gazing at me with devoted eyes. They however weren't the golden brown I was used to—rather a molten, dark onyx color—endless pools of black.
Taking a step back towards the door, I shook my head. "Help me with what, Edward?"
He frowned at the sudden space between us and his devoted gaze shifted to Alice momentarily before flickering back to me. He took one step and I backed up against the door. "I won't hurt you, love—I want to help-"
"Help me with what?!" I cut him off, yelling.
The room grew silent before Alice sighed, "I... I saw another vision of him."
Before I could press her on for more, Edward interjected, "Monica is going to change him into a vampire tonight. She's planning to bite him in the same club she found him in—after a performance by a light skinned female, she's going to take him in a secluded corner and—"
I had heard enough by then and rushed to open the door to rush and tell Vladimir and Stefan the news, but a cold grip held my hand and stopped me from turning the handle.
"Let me go!" I screamed, trying to get out of the steel grasp. I was turned around and my back was once against the door to find six ravenous vampires staring at me.
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HAYDEN
"I can't believe it was this easy." The female vampire cooed, her bow-shaped lips plastering into a smug grin. "I'm finally reunited with you, dragoste." Her gaze slowly trailed from the light skinned singer setting up the stage for her performance and into the disoriented Hayden. She sat up in the booth seat and turned to face him, her green eyes searing from his face down to his body and lastly lower regions.
"You're finally mine—I've missed your body... and the sound of your voice," she paused to gingerly peck his chin and then lips. "Did you miss mine, too?" Monica's slender, long fingers ghosted over his chest, making the growing, little hairs stand from friction. She unbuttoned another button to his shirt, searing small kisses all over where his heart would lay.
"Silly me for even asking that question." She sighed, using her other hand to ground onto his slacks. "Of course you missed me."
As she roughly rubbed him through his pants under the table, a soft moan escaped the bewildered man. That brought a small smile to her face and turned her eyes a shade darker.
"Do you like that, Hayden?" She whispered humbly in his ears, closing her eyes as she breathed in his scent. "Does it feel good?"
His mouth popped up and her name slowly tumbled out, "Is-Isabella..."
Monica's eyes snapped open and narrowed into slits. Her lip curled back into a snarl. "What—did—you—say?!" She lowly growled through gritted teeth, removing her hand to clench into a tight fist.
Her left eye twitched when the delirious man let out a sigh, sweat beginning to beat from his forehead. Hayden's eyes screwed shut before snapping open, his once dilated pupils back to normal size. Using all the strength he had, Hayden shoved the vampire away, then standing to his feet to leave out of the booth.
"You—never," he paused, still feeling dazed. Hayden pinched his temples from the ensuing ache starting out in his head. "Monica, you've gone too far—" he was cut off by a fast hand gripping his throat and a cold beverage being shoved down in his mouth. Hayden coughed as the drink slid down his throat, burning in the process. With a groan, he was back against the booth and Monica was perched on his lap, her fingernails digging into his the skin on his cheeks.
"I forgot you were a fighter." She murmured to him. "I let my guard down and didn't see the change of your aura from idle to active... no doubt twice the dose should do the trick."
Hayden's eyes narrowed into slits as he tried to shove the slim vampire off of his lap. His stance was however weak and his body was beginning to shut down momentarily; once his pupils dilated once more and his head knocked back, he was out again—drugged.
"I will win this time and you will be mine again." Monica affirmed, patting his cheeks in a teasing manner. She adjusted his head so that his dazed eyes gazed into hers. The vampire blinked twice and let the green contacts melt from her eyes. "You know what I'm going to do next. And as soon as the uman finishes up her performance... we'll be together. Once you're turned by me, you'll belong to me. My venom will course through your body and when you belong to me... say goodbye to that useless human girl. Voi dețineți."
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BELLA
"Bella, we'd never hurt you!" Esme gently proclaimed, slowly extending a hand out to me. But I wasn't taking any chances. I wasn't too trusting of them after Edward grabbed me like that. Not to mention the fact that they all hadn't fed since the whole ordeal in Volterra with the Volturi.
"Yeah, Esme's right, baby sis'." Emmett cackled. "Now put the stake down. We wouldn't want you to get a splinter."
He burst out laughing, his booming laugh echoing throughout the bare room. I rolled my eyes at the joke—yes, I was clumsy and I was danger-prone... we all knew this. Didn't mean he had to go throw it in my face.
I waved the piece of sharp wood around for them all to see—each Cullen not feeling threatened at all. Underneath their different pair of eyes... was pure amusement. Esme may have been concerned, Edward was acting like he cared and Carlisle was trying to contain the situation at hand by being the "leader" he was, but deep down I felt like they took this and me as a joke.
"Hardy-har-har, Emmett... get a splinter —very funny." I sarcastically remark to the giant vampire clutching his stone stomach and laughing like he was dying.
He wiped the corner of his eye as if he had tears brimming and breezed over to me and held out his hand. "Go ahead, Bella." - "Stake me, baby sis'."
Alice let out a huff, sighing, "Emmett, don't—and there really is no time for any of this nonsense!"
"She's right, Emmett." Carlisle stepped forward. "Bella came for our help, not to be taken lightly... even if the whole ordeal is farfetched." He whispered that last part to himself, like I couldn't hear—okay, I did have to strain my ears in order to hear but that wasn't the point.
I'd show Emmett and the rest of the Cullens. And then maybe they'd take me seriously and actually give me what I came to them for. Time was ticking mentally in my head and I knew the moment when Alice told me the vision and Edward confirmed it... that it was only a matter of time. I had to get there quick and couldn't do it alone.
"Relax, Carlisle—we're vampires and you already know that the folklore isn't true—" he abruptly stopped his cocky talk when I stabbed the stake in his extended hand. Emmett's speech slurred, his knees buckled and the brawny vampire was on the wooden floors in an instant, at my feet; paralyzed.
The Cullens with widened eyes were silent as I gave them all a meaningful look, bending down to dislodge the wood out of Emmett's hand. In an instant, he was back at his feet, rowdy as ever—excited that he just got stabbed by a human, let alone little, old me.
"Holy shit, Bella—what the fuck was that? I couldn't move, all I could do was think and I felt like I was being electrocuted! That was cool as hell—" I clamped a hand over his mouth but removed it when he sniffed.
However, it did shut him up.
"I don't have time to explain, Emmett. My man—my mate is out there with a crazy bitch still believing that he belongs to her. What would you do if someone came after Rosalie like that? And the same goes for the rest of you. If your mate was being held captive against their free will, what would you do?"
"Go after them and tear them apart." Rosalie sighed, which shocked me. I wasn't specifically speaking to her... but the fact that she finally realized the situation I was put in, meant a lot.
"Okay, then." I nod. "Can someone please help me find him then? Before it's too late?!"
Edward stepped forward. "Bella, allow me—"
He was cut off when Jasper breezed over. "Allow me to assist, ma'am." He gazed at each of his family members before giving a final look to Edward. "You all are on the verge of breaking down from your thirst. I've felt it all day and it intensified when Bella came in the room. The place of interest where her mate is being held... will be full of humans and either of you could slip and lose focus of the goal at hand. Let me be the one to take her—"
"Jasper, you are unfit!" Edward barked, crouching down in an offensive stance. "This isn't going to help you redeem yourself of the terrible mistake you made months ago which caused the family to leave my love! Stand down and let me take her!"
Jasper looked down at his designer shoes, his honey blonde locks covering the sullen expression gracing his face. His sudden guilt washed over the room like a wave but suddenly it turned into... pride. One of his hands clenched into a tight fist and he crouched down as well.
His head snapped up and he growled, "I can't let ya' do that, Edward."
"Why not?!" He seethed. "She isn't yours—"
"And she ain't yours either! Bella doesn't even trust you to help her!"
He couldn't have said it any better.
"I may have caused a riff in the family by my mistake at her party... but I have gotten better at my control. I am the only one wise enough to quench the thirst even if it was from rodents—which are still animals. And I do have the most experience fighting if it came down to it. I'd protect Bella with my life if I had to—I'm going to help her and you are going to stay and wait here until you are needed by her or summoned by them!"
Before anything more could be said, I decided to end this small feud right now. Placing a hand on Jasper's shoulder snapped him out of his dominant trace—I found myself holstered on his back, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck and legs around his waist.
"Wait before you go!" Alice stopped Jasper and me with a hand. The pixie skipped over to the door and opened it, "The bathrooms..." Alice sighed. "That's where they'll will be... a-and this was the right choice." She motioned to Jasper and I. "You were there—in the vision I just saw. You were with Bella." One final look to his family was given before I knew it and we were off, moving at rushing speeds—speed so fast that the whole city of Bucharest at night looked like a blur of different colored lights.
Less than ten minutes had past when the wind stopped blowing, my hair settled back down past my shoulders and we were still. Jasper's lean, stone body was a bit tense as he set me down on my feet. We weren't at Club Salt, but in a dark, open alley.
I watched as Jasper stood frozen like a statue, his golden eyes turned black for a second. The honey blonde stared into space.
"I-Is there something wrong, Jasper?" I murmured, holding my breath when he didn't answer.
All I could hear was the sound of his unnecessary, shallow breaths and natural sounds such as faint chatter probably from the other side of the street, cars driving by and the occasional breeze whooshing through the night air. Many minutes passed before he finally said, "My fault, ma'am. But we're across the street from the place of interest... I was trying to get a sense of all of the emotions to see if I could pinpoint where they'd be... but instead of just one set of emotions belonging to a supernatural being... I sense many. Many that I've never felt before in all of my decades of living."
I let out the big breath I was holding in before I add to his assessment, "Hayden told me that the owners of Club Salt weren't human... and they aren't vampires either."
Jasper gave a brief nod before holding out a hand. "Then we're just going to have to be extra careful not to alert those other beings. The goal is to find Hayden and get out of there, Bella." I took it, following behind him as we left the alley, crossing the street over to the plaza of Club Salt.
Different cars filled every parking space of the venue, some even parked on the curbs and sidewalks. The club must have had a full house.
The night suddenly felt hot now—heating up because we were about to walk straight into hell; the humidity in the air fluffed my hair and left a thin sheen of sweat across my face. And my nerves—jumbled in a big mess of emotions as we make our way through the parking lot, to the entrance of the club.
I look up at the flashing neon sign and soft lights, hoping it's not too late.
"Calm yourself, Bella." Jasper whispers loud enough for me to hear.
I mumble back, eying the two bulky security guards at the front, "Can't you just do that for me?"
"I'm trying to, ma'am."
They give Jasper and me a once-over before nodding.
"Try harder please," I plead through gritted teeth as we are now standing at the threshold of Club Salt. "I-I may just have a heart attack, Jasper—and what if we don't make it? If she already bit him and he's undergoing his change as we speak?! What if they're not even here—" I release a heavy sigh, as if all of the worry, denial and fear are gone just from breathing out like that.
I give him a look and he winks. "Thanks for that, Jasper." I murmur, blushing slightly.
"It's nothing, Bella. You were starting to make me nervous myself," he laughs, making me crack a small smile. But suddenly Jasper gently nudges me behind him and I clutch the fabrics of his striped button-down shirt. "I take it that's the light skinned singer Alice saw in her vision?" He motions a hand to the curvy female perched on a high-stool on the stage set in the middle of the club. It was Lianne La Havas, Hayden's favorite singer. She gripped her light blue guitar in her dainty hands, chiming in her English accent almost breathlessly, "It's been a pleasure, Bucharest. But this is my last song of the night—it's called Green and Gold—"
I didn't listen to her go on about how she enjoyed performing and that her next set here would be in a week or how she came up with the concept of her new song Green and Gold—my eyes were locked on the skinny, light-brunette standing to her feet suddenly, a graceful, perfect stance to each movement.
I couldn't see her face—her brunette hair settled straight to her shoulders, curling perfectly at the tips. Her pale, bare back—revealed and perfectly sculpted, shown through the glimmering blue dress giving her translucent skin an extra glow. She quickly jerked up the man from the booth. He had a stagger in his step—like he was half-conscious. He knocked over the many bottles that lay on the silk-and-lace-dressed table, following the skinny woman as she dragged him off of the open floor set up with many people and a lot of tables, up the four-steps and around the corner to where the hall was dark, only lit by bright pink lights and the set of bathrooms.
I clutched Jasper's shirt tighter and he gave me a swift nod, his golden eyes narrowed and focused on the two figures—Hayden and Monica drifting away out of my sight and into the darkness.
"I know," Jasper affirmed, his southern tone brimming through his voice. "Keep calm Bella and stay behind me."
"Lady's feeling awfully mischievous—she's evil to the core... reminds me a bit of how Maria used to be." He whispered in a hushed tone as we slowly approached the area.
My heart was beating fast and my face suddenly felt hot, sweat pouring from my forehead and collecting on my palms. At this rate Jasper's shirt balled up in my hands would be drenched—I hope he didn't notice and I hope we weren't too late.
We stopped at the beginning of the hall, Jasper standing wide and tall as his eyes gunned down Monica about to sink her venom-laced fangs into my older man's neck. I peeked over Jasper's shoulders, just to be met with a malicious glare from her.
Monica looked gorgeous just as I imagined. Her perfect cut bangs not daring to shade those red eyes that were now black with thirst. She did not smile—her lips were pressed into a tight line. There was a striking feline quality to the way she held her coiled body, a lioness waiting for an opening to spring. Reminded me Victoria—both female vampires had the same restless, wild gaze and her dark eyes constantly flickered between Jasper and me, but never rested on him for more than a half-second. She could not keep her eyes from my face any more than I could keep mine from hers. And then she'd give a longing look to Hayden—my boyfriend, my mate, my love and my older man.
Tension rolled off of her, nearly visible in the air. I could feel the desire, the all-consuming passion that held her in its grip. Almost as if I could hear her thoughts, too, I knew what she was thinking.
Jasper simply cocked his head to the side, that crooked grin engraved into the features of his marbled face never ceasing or faltering. We stared and she stared for what felt like hours—Hayden leaned against the wall, his head leaned forward and his eyes closed. Occasionally, a soft groan would emit from the back of his throat but there was nothing more. And it worried me just being within a few feet away from him.
My eyebrows furrowed and eyes watered slightly when her lips formed a smug smirk and she leaned toward Hayden.
I inched closer but Jasper held out his arm, stopping me from moving any further.
"Bella, it's exactly what she wants." Jasper warned in a firm tone.
I didn't care though. I didn't care if me moving to hold my man would give her the satisfaction—he mattered. Him being alive and well mattered. Her not getting the chance to change him or even touch him for that matter was all that I cared about.
"But, Jasper, she'll bite him!" I tried to protest, but he kept the same look on his face and his arm did not move from unblocking my path.
"She won't—"
"Indeed I will," Monica cut the honey blonde off, finally speaking. I shivered in disgust at the sound of her soprano, cooing voice shrilling out into my ears. "I should have known you'd show up—but with him?" Her dark eyes darted to Jasper. "The one whose aura is straight up guilt and nothing more?" A tinkling laugh erupted from the female vampire. "What folly."
"Monica you leave Hayden alone!" I shot back, hating the way she laughed on like the matter was actually funny.
Her tinkling laugh abruptly stopped and her head snapped in my direction, those black eyes narrowing into slits. "The likes of you telling me to leave my husband alone?!" Her top lip curved back into a snarl. "Hayden is mine—foolish girl!"
"You may have gotten him drunk to the point where he cannot comprehend anything at the moment or even may have drugged him—but one thing is clear," Jasper smirked like Monica had a big secret and he just found it out, "Hayden Lockhart feels absolutely nothing for you. In fact, rarely do you cross his mind. All of the love, lust, sex-appeal or anything else that man feels romantically is shot straight to this here girl standing right behind me, ma'am." His eyes shifted down to me and then glared at her. "So you can hang up the bullshit right now and release him."
Monica let Hayden go and his body fell, tumbling to the floor. She stepped over him, her high heels clicking and clacking against the floor. Crouching down in her dress, a low growl came from her. "Never."
"Then it looks like I'm just gonna' have to make you, woman." There was a southern twang to his voice. It was brimming high and each word sent chills down my spine and was laced with pure aggression. I had never seen or heard this side of Jasper Whitlock/Hale/Cullen. He was always calm and collected—once had I saw him with bloodlust and that was at the party some months back... He was never like this. Cocky, defensive and aggressive. I was half surprised.
Monica's body seemed to be trembling, she was so tightly wound. Her fingers were ready claws, waiting for Jasper to make the first move.
"I'll kill you first—and then her... finish you off by burning your parts and change my Hayden making him mine..." She said almost like a robot. Her dark eyes were blank and it seemed like she was talking to herself...
But a snarl came from Jasper. A blurred pale shape flew through the center of the hall, tackling Monica to the ground.
In an instant Jasper had the woman pinned underneath him, his foot pressed into her chest, both hands holding her face down as she threatened to snap her teeth at him.
Jasper turned to me, his golden eyes blazing like amber. "Bella, get him!" I immediately rushed over to my older man, grabbing his foot and dragging him far away from the scene just a few feet away from me—Jasper and Monica locked in a deadly yet graceful dance... or should I say wrestle.
"No!" I heard Monica cry, her high, soprano voice filled with disbelief as Jasper dragged her by her feet out the back door in the far corner.
"Hayden!" I yelled to the unconscious man, shaking his broad shoulders. My older man didn't budge at all, he only groaned slightly. I looked around frantically for something to wake him until my eyes spotted a glass vase filled with water and fresh white roses—I dumped the roses and let out a quick breath before pouring the water and ice over his face.
In an instant Hayden shot up, shivering and wiping his face. He wiped his eyes with the cuffs of his long sleeve, button-down before screwing his eyes shut and snapping them open seconds later.
"Bella?" The incredulity laced in his tone made me want to cry. I wrapped my arms around his neck, crushing my lips to his just to make sure the moment was real and he was really back in my arms. The action surprised him but regardless, he kissed me back with just as much love and force.
Seconds later, our lips parted and Hayden was clutching his forehead. "I have a serious migraine," he sighed. "And Monica—my ex-wife... she was—" he abruptly stopped talking and protectively pulled me back into his embrace. "She's here. I... just know it."
I nod against his chest, saying frantically, "She is! Monica kidnapped you and was planning to turn you, Hayden!" The tears were coming out of my eyes now and I was sobbing, "I-I'm so sorry, Hayden! I love you and I didn't mean for any of this to happen! If I wouldn't have been so harsh last night about us becoming—" another deep kiss from my older man silenced me.
"It's not your fault, Isabella," he said against my lips. "I love you regardless and I myself am sorry for being self-centered even if I thought I wasn't. I should have thought about you and how much I love you—not become angry or drink until I couldn't drink anymore just to runaway from the rejection... I am the one who should be sorry, Isabella."
I hugged him hard until it hurt before letting him go when there was an interruption from behind me.
Hayden stood to his feet, leaning against the wall for support before helping me up. I wrapped an arm, attaching myself around his waist to help him walk since his legs were asleep. We both met with the waiter I established to be Victor. He carried an empty tray in his hands and had a narrowed expression on his face.
"Hayden, our human guests for the night are getting suspicious of the ruckus caused outside in the back." His Romanian accent danced off his tongue. "As you know this is bad for our business and Vladimir and Stefan's themselves, the vampires fighting outside did arrive with you and with her."
Hayden gave me a glance before I nodded, "Sh-She is here... and Jasper... she's fighting Jasper."
Hayden gave a nod to Victor before articulating, "My apologies, Victor. Tell the owners that we mean no harm to your establishment or the partnership formed with Vladimir and Stefan—the issue will be handled immediately and there will be a clean up for the target our male vampire-friend is handling outside at the moment."
The dark haired male nodded once and sauntered away. A sort of ghostly vibe radiating off of his body.
Hayden turned himself around and leaned comfortably into me. He beckoned a hand toward the doors that led to the back alley of Club Salt and we slowly approached.
A few feet and a half in front of me, something white and hard smacked into my feet and began withering toward the door. I cringed away from it, the contents in my stomach lurching as I got a closer look at just exactly what it was—a hand. A male hand.
I did it. I couldn't help but imagine the thought of Jasper with only one hand. What would leak from the wound of his missing hand if he had no blood? And was he in pain from it? Was he winning against Monica? Did she lose body parts too?
I let go of Hayden, throwing up whatever I could in the pot of a birch plant placed by the door as a form of decoration. From my peripheral vision, I could see Hayden unbuttoning the remaining buttons to his shirt. He gripped the fabrics in his hands and ripped a scrap from the hem of the shirt, then placing what was left back on his body to cover his bare upper torso.
Using the scraps, he knelt down while wincing, wrapping the hand in the ripped piece of his shirt.
"Are you alright, Isabella?"
I nod, wiping the side mouth with the back of my hand. "I'm fine..." I murmur as he helped me to my feet. We slowly opened the back door just to be greeted with a symphony of growls and loud snaps, bones crunching and the sight of dangerous dancing between Jasper and Monica.
Monica rebounded an uppercut from Jasper that I managed to catch with my eyes and landed firmly but sloppily on her two feet. She skipped back about a yard or two, her face snapping in the direction of us. With eyes on me, and then a face filled with disappointment so ferocious that she looked deranged, shot towards Hayden, she gritted her teeth.
"No," she screeched, through her teeth, at the sight of Hayden back in my arms and me back in his. In the moment of her distraction from Jasper, Hayden unwrapped his squirming hand and have a powerful toss back to the male vampire.
Catching it, he spit venom on the leaking wound of his forearm and shoved his hand back in it's rightful place, the stone flesh of his skin immediately bonding back—his missing hand was reattached and working like it had never been missing in the first place or was forcefully removed.
"Hayden get away from her!" Monica spat, glaring daggers at us.
My older man said nothing but smiled when Jasper sprang back into action due to the opening to attack and launched himself at the female vampire, pinning her to the concrete roads. A steel grasp wound it's way around her throat and Jasper held her skinny form up in the air. Before he could continue the rightful-assault, Monica swung her long legs revealed from the blue dress now in tatters. She kicked his face, forcing him back into the spot he was in before with her on top and in control of the fight this time.
The struggle began.
Monica's fist drove into Jasper's chest, and a low hiss coughed out of his throat, but he pushed a knee in between the space of her body apart from his and drove her away, rising up in a blur of speed and backing away, his shoulders twitching as if he were trying to shake off the pain. There was a tiny hole in his chest. He looked down at it and grimaced.
Please be okay, I wanted to plead to him, but I couldn't find the muscles to make my mouth open, to pull the air up from my lungs. Don't die, Jasper!
As if he answered my prayers, the gaping hole was replenished with new stone skin and he was closing the distance between them again, Monica driving him back with a low blow to the stomach. The rest was a blur—they were moving too fast for me to comprehend. Even Hayden was not keeping up like he had before.
"Monica," Hayden whispered. Her eyes bulged at the sound of her name being called. She distanced herself from Jasper. He used her distraction to slide closer. "You did all this in an attempt to keep me from Bella and have me all to yourself. But it only brought me closer to her." She clenched her teeth, trying to keep her focus on him but her eyes would flicker back to Jasper and then to him.
"Look more closely, Monica," he smirked, pulling at the threads of her concentration. "The wedding ring is gone. The bond we had is diminished and will forever be. My arms and lips have been on her—my soul belongs to her."
Her eyes popped wide open, and then began flickering wildly from Hayden to Jasper to me, around and around.
"That's a lie—I own you—you're still my husband and you still love me! Your aura... I sense it." she snarled in her soprano tone. "It... it's different now." Her eyes began to water. "Impossible, Hayden. Impossible."
"Nothing is impossible," he declared, voice husky as Jasper moved another inch closer to her.
"Except what you want. You'll never touch her. Or me. Or what we have."
She shook her head, fast and jerky, fighting his diversions, and tried to duck around Jasper, but he was in place to block her as soon as she tried to pin him. Her face contorted in frustration, and then she shifted lower into her crouch, a lioness again, and stalked deliberately forward.
Monica wasn't inexperienced—but she was no match for Jasper.
He shifted, too, as they closed on each other, both delivering a blow. But it was Jasper who rebounded quick enough and caught her neck with a hand. He pulled her squirming body close to his and his teeth brushed against her long neck. With one snap and twist, her head went flying into the air.
I immediately cowered into Hayden as Jasper began the dismemberment. I could hear her screams and screeches and the sound of her body being ripped apart. It was like Victoria all over again... but this time it wasn't the wolves—it was Jasper.
And instead of it saving just my life—it saved Hayden's as well.
A/N:
Well definitely not what you expected, I'm sure.
Not what I was either. I used a couple of parts for inspiration from Eclipse.
I'm annoyed and flustered at the moment, so I'll make the A/N short and not ramble on like I usually do.
The next update will be soon, hopefully if I get a grasp on what I want to do next because there is a lot still left to cover—the decision, one last lemon and the ending and finally epilogue. It'll be a lot on my plate so I'm going to try to make it all go out with a bang, too. I already have an idea for the next chapter. And ending. You probably won't be expecting it either but it'll be good.
Stay tooned and let me know what you're feeling. Review, y'all. Y'all know what to do.
Thanks For Reading!
Kumi-Chan/Tobi-Is-Fluffy-Chan
