Chapter Thirty Eight

Jasper

Bella called Ellie the next morning beaming as she heard her daughter's voice once more. We had spent the night together on the lounge floor, probably not the most romantic of places but we didn't care, we needed each other, needed the closeness that only making love could provide. Bella truly was my mate in every way and I was determined that once we had found and killed Jedidiah Stone I would ask her to marry me and make a peaceful life and family for Ellie. The one she deserved. It wouldn't be easy, two vampires and a human child but it could be done. Carlisle and Esme had lived with their family in the human world without being suspected of anything strange, and if they could do it then so could we.

I checked my emails while Bella and Ellie chatted and found the messages from Darius. So, Jedidiah was in London, well he could hide for now but we would find him. Unfortunately, it might be some time before I could either leave Bella or take her to London. An aircraft flight with a newborn was not a good idea. If she lost it at 30, 000 feet then everyone on the flight would be dead by the time it crashed and I could not allow Bella to have something like that on her conscience.

I decided to speak to Carlisle, after all, he had known this Jedidiah, admittedly several centuries ago, but people don't change that much, especially once they became vampires. I wanted to know all there was to know about this prick.

He sounded surprised to hear from me.

"Jasper, how are you?"

"Fine, how about you and Esme? Coping without Edward?"

"I'm not going to apologize for his actions, you know how I feel about it. Esme is grieving but she too condemned his actions. She was very shocked, we both were, but I don't suppose that's why you called. How is Bella?"

I filled him in on the general picture and heard his shock and anger.

"So you see, I need everything you have on Jedidiah Stone."

"I'm afraid I can't tell you much. I never knew him very well, he was a friend of my father. A real zealot and nasty with it. He relished the hunt and the killing. I got the feeling he wasn't really bothered whether it was a real vampire or a crazy person he was killing. I have a suspicion he was a pyromaniac, he would dance around a burning body like an excited child around a bonfire.

"So he's dangerous?"

"A psychopathic pyromaniac vampire. What do you think? He wasn't the brightest star in the sky, but cunning like most truly evil people. And as a vampire, he'd be twice as vicious and dangerous. What he did to Bella sounds about right for him. Do you know where he is now?"

"Darius tracked him to an area of London called Spitalfields. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Yes, he's gone home to familiar territory. It gives him the advantage. We used to hunt in the sewers under Whitechapel. The Fleet too."

"The Fleet?"

"Yes, it's all covered in now but it was an open sewer when I lived in London. A stinking channel full of sewage, dead bodies, cats, dogs, butchers offal, you name it."

"Sounds lovely."

"Well, it's not so bad these days but be careful if you are going after him, he is cunning, crafty and mean as a rattlesnake. Would you like some help? I could go to London with you. Rose and Emmett wondered why they haven't heard from Bella recently. Should I tell them? I'm sure they would be only too happy to offer some assistance."

"No, Let me run it by Bella first, right now she's very confused and her main concern is Ellie."

"That's understandable. Well, if I can do anything else don't hesitate to call and please, give Bella our regards."

When I put the phone down I felt sorry for him and for Esme. Their world had been turned upside down. They had lost not only a son but the image of him that they had fixed in their minds. Carlisle had stood up for me, he had gone to Volterra and asked Aro if he knew anything about my disappearance. He had refused to speak up for Edward and that must have been hard for a man who had backed Edward from the very start.

Carlisle

I felt in some way responsible for what had happened to Bella, after all, I had been the one who introduced Edward to Jedidiah so after talking to Esme I arranged some time off for a trip to London. I knew Jed, I knew where he would go, how he would act and that he would be a dangerous adversary once in the sewers of London, sewers he and I both knew but Jasper and Bella did not.

As soon as they discovered what I had planned, care of Alice who had seen Esme booking the tickets, they insisted on being a part of this.

"You said yourself that this guy is sneaky and ruthless and be honest Carlisle when's the last time you tracked anyone or got involved in a fight? You didn't even join in the sparring when Jazz and I invited you."

"That was because you two were having such a great time that I didn't want to show either of you up."

Emmett burst into laughter at that and to be entirely honest he had a point. It had been many years since I had last fought for my life and at that time it was Emmett himself who was my opponent and I had needed the help of Rose and Edward to control his newborn rage. However, Emmett was a special case, as a human, he had possessed great strength which was only magnified when he became a vampire.

They continued pestering me until Esme joined them and I was forced to agree to keep my wife safe at home. At this point, she and Alice then decided a shopping trip to London was a wonderful idea. In the end, I was forced to agree to their presence, but only once they had sworn they would not become involved in the hunt.

I wasn't at all sure how many vampires still lived a subterranean existence in my old home town but if there were still a group then Jedidiah would know them and they might well be persuaded to aid him. He was always a good storyteller and they would probably not know much about the Volturi or more importantly, Jasper. I wondered if any that I had known as humans were still alive.

It was strange returning to England again. The last time I had been here, sixty years ago, I had been with Edward. Little did I know how tragic the consequences of that visit would prove to be. The meeting with Jedidiah had not been arranged, I hadn't even known he had become a vampire. At the time of my attack he was my father's right-hand man, a rabid vampire hater, well actually a sadistic monster who preyed on anyone who was even slightly different. It had amazed me that my father, a man of the cloth, had accepted someone like Jed into his congregation and then later into his inner circle, the monster hunters. I suppose in those days it was deemed acceptable to mock and even mistreat anyone who was different, be that mentally challenged, physically disabled, or just foreign.

I had rented an apartment in Soho which I knew would interest Esme, it was a very modern apartment which she liked and not far from the shopping and cultural areas of the city. It was also far enough from Whitechapel, the area I was interested in and the place both Jedidiah and I had called home some four centuries ago.

Leaving the girls to settle in and explore the London nightlife Emmett and I caught a tube train for part of our journey only because I knew Emmett would enjoy it. Walking the rest of the way I pointed out the place where my father's church had once stood. It had been pulled down during the nineteenth century to make way for a new road and to destroy a particularly evil area which had been the refuge of thieves, prostitutes, and beggars.

"So, where are the tunnels you think Jed has retreated to?"

I looked around to get my bearings then set off looking for any signs of the tunnels I had known. Some had been built over, others had become a part of the modern sewage systems and after a while, I shook my head.

"I think we might have to find an entrance to the Fleet."

"The what?"

"It was a river when I lived here. Well, more of an open sewer really but it's all been covered over now. The tunnels built in past centuries by men for shelter during the cold winters all spurred off that river and I'm sure they have been expanded further. There are tunnels running everywhere under the city, some, but not all, have been explored and or repurposed."

We spent the night walking the streets of the city which had changed little over the centuries in many ways. It was still the haunt of criminals, drunks, and prostitutes after dark although the streets were cleaner than I remembered and of course, there was street lighting now which helped.

I found the entrance I was looking for close to the Thames and we decided to leave it until the next day to go exploring underground. First, I wanted to be prepared which meant buying a few supplies. We could see well enough in the dark of the night but the complete blackness of the tunnels was something else. Torches would come in useful as would lighters just in case of a fight. We could not leave any vampires we met alive to warn Jedidiah and I wanted to be sure I could destroy him completely.

On our return to the apartment, I discovered Alice had spoken to Charlotte and discovered that Bella was doing well. Somehow Charlotte had detected something in Alice's voice and had asked what was going on at which point Alice had told her where we were and what we intended doing. I had expected her to try and warn us off but just the opposite. She sent us the maps Darius had discovered and emailed her which was helpful.

Alice told me exactly what she had said.

"I think the best thing for everyone would be for Carlisle to find this animal and kill him. Bella needs to concentrate on control and getting back with her daughter and she needs the Major to help her with that. At the same time she needs closure and while he lives that will not be possible. Just make sure Carlisle makes him pay, he deserves to suffer."

I made a face, torture was not my scene and usually, I would have disapproved of such a sentiment but after hearing what Jedidiah had done to Bella I understood her feelings and knew they would be echoed by Jasper and the rest of his friends.

Seeing my face Esme put a hand on my arm.

"Carlisle, I understand your reticence, but in this case, I think Charlotte is right. This Jedidiah Stone must pay for what he did. If you don't think you can do what's necessary…"

I frowned and shook my head, "I'll deal with him, Esme. Just leave it with me."

Esme

Carlisle had expected us to go exploring the sights of London when he and Emmett left us at the apartment but we had our own ideas. Once alone Rosalie had used Emmett's laptop to find a large scale map of the city and we found the area where Carlisle had lived as a human. Then we looked for any maps of underground tunnels but had little success. We hadn't formulated any plans of our own at this point, but I think we all knew that while Carlisle was set on hunting down Jedidiah Stone we also knew that he didn't have what it took to make the man suffer. I think the way he saw it death was the ultimate penalty for his acts while we three truly believed he deserved to suffer for his actions and a straightforward death just didn't do it for us.

When Alice called Charlotte she had explained the situation although we would never tell Carlisle that and she had furnished us with the maps and intelligence that Darius had supplied her with.

"Just make sure that bastard suffers, Alice."

"We will, Charlotte I promise you that."

Of course, we had to tell Carlisle something and show him the maps she had sent but by that time we had already formulated our own plans. We were going down the tunnels during the day when the vampires would be in them, not out hunting. We would have to shake off the guys but once Alice mentioned fashion houses and extreme shopping they were happy to excuse themselves to visit some of the sights, art galleries, and museums.

After making sure we had not been suspected of any deviousness and followed by Emmett or Carlisle we caught a cab to the tunnel entrance that Darius had marked as the most likely entrance, a certain point we had kept from the guys. Checking that we were not being observed by any passing humans we slipped down into the tunnel and started our search.

Deciding the best thing would be to allow the vampires who lived down here to find us we made no effort to conceal our presence and within ten minutes we were aware of figures approaching. There were two of them a man and a woman and the man was not Jedidiah from the description we had heard. They were cautious but also curious especially when they discovered that we were vampires too.

We were invited to see their living quarters in exchange for news from the wider world and we accepted, they might be able to tell us where Jedidiah was. We talked for a while before I brought up the subject of our interest.

"Do you know a vampire called Jedidiah Stone? He was the friend of one of our coven, Edward."

They both stiffened.

"Stone? You really don't want to get mixed up with him, he's bad news."

"We really need to find him. Edward gave us something for him. That's really why we are here. Does he live down here with you?"

The man laughed bitterly, but it was the woman who answered my question.

"The great Jedidiah Stone? Not him. He used to but when he left he said he'd never come back here to live, called it a hovel. Good riddance, he was pure evil."

Then the man spoke up. "I saw him yesterday."

The woman looked horrified.

"He's back? Oh no. Did he see you?"

"No, and I scampered. I don't know why he came back."

Rose smiled.

"Maybe you could take us to the cellar so we can give him what we came for. It might persuade him to leave again."

The guy shook his head but the woman gave him a shove.

"Go on, Maybe he'll leave then like she said."

She turned to Rose,

"But you don't tell him who took you there. Don't you mention us at all. If he finds out he'll kill us both."

We assured them that we wouldn't mention meeting them at all and the guy reluctantly agreed to take us part of the way.

"I don't want to get anywhere near Jed but I'll take you halfway and point you in the right direction."

These vampires looked poor as if they went out to hunt and then skulked down here the rest of the time. Scared of being recognized for what they were and too frightened of the world to move on.