-Chapter Forty-Nine-
Sometimes I didn't listen to Jasper as well as I probably should have. After Carlisle took Gunner's stitches out, I took him to the pier on he driftwood beach. We had collected rocks along the way, to toss on the winter waves.
"As me whatever you want to know." Gunner threw a rock, managing to skip it three times over the water.
"The beginning," he decided. "What happened in New Mexico?"
I took a deep breath. With Maria's recent visit and the run-in with the newborn, I knew sitting out here in the open technically put as at a disadvantage. I also knew, though, that I was made strong by Maria's venom; that Alice could see us clearly in her visions with no werewolves around; that Gunner now had the protection of the pack, though he didn't know it, because he was Leah's imprint.
All of these factors made me confident enough to discuss these things in the open with Gunner. It felt fitting, anyway, to let my brother into my secrets in the same place I laid myself bare to Jasper.
I recanted the story, the true story, to Gunner. "They call it a mark, this longer scar. It's used as a way to show that a human has been chosen by a vampire, in the communities who use the practice."
"Maria," Gunner said softly. "She left the other scar, too?"
"She left both of mine," I confirmed. "And quite a few of Jasper's."
"What do you mean?" This, of course, warranted an explanation of Jasper's history with Maria. I caught him up to speed, explaining how Maria had turned Jasper long before she ever had a mind—or the opportunity, since I wasn't born until much later—to give me a mark.
"I mean, when I found out about vampires and everything, I started dating one. You went on a bender. I don't know which is the better reaction."
"It's not, like, a kink, is it? Your being with Jasper? I mean, you're not with him just because of it?"
I nearly pushed my brother off the pier and into the waves below. "No! I had feelings for Jasper before I ever found out!"
"Well, it's not a kink for him, either, then? Shacking up with human girls?"
"Far from. The Cullens typically keep their distance for a reason. It's not easy to be around humans, even with their animal blood diet. Carlisle is the only one with the level of restraint he has."
"Where do the others fall on that spectrum?" I bit my lip. It was a fair question.
"Rosalie would be close behind Carlisle. Then Esme, I think. Alice and Emmett are about on the same level. Edward." I paused here. There was a name missing. I didn't want to place Jasper's name at the bottom of the list, even if it were true.
"Jasper." Gunner filled in for me. "Because of his time in the armies, with this Maria? It was what he was used to?"
"It's a very hard habit to shake," I conceded. "But he has his ways of coping."
I thought of Jasper's habit of tugging at his sleeves or rubbing his nose. Sometimes, when the other two hadn't worked, I had seen him curl his thumb inside his fist and squeeze tightly. And, of course, there was the old fallback of simply not breathing.
"I'm biased, but I think Jasper is all the more admirable for his abstinence from human blood because of where he came from."
"How does he keep from hurting you? Don't tell me it's some kind of cheesy 'power of love' bullshit." I laughed, not only because of Gunner's wording, but because he was in for a rude awakening when he learned about imprinting.
"No. It's because, thanks to Maria, I carry some vampire venom in my blood. Not enough to hurt me, but enough that it changes the way I smell to vampires. See, every human has their own smell. Some smell more appetizing than others—like, healthier people smell better than people carrying a disease in their blood. Because of the venom, my human smell is dampened, making it easier for Jasper to be around me."
Gunner turned to me. When he raised his eyebrows, I noticed one still stayed down, so used to the stitches he must have been. "But you're…"
"Human," I told him quickly. "Still human. Carlisle has a friend—his name is Garrett, you would like him. He has red eyes," I didn't bother reminding him what that meant, "but he's not dangerous. He's seen other vampires, in the past, purposefully give humans small doses of venom for money. It doesn't change the humans into vampires, because it's not enough venom to overtake the blood entirely."
"Dr. Cullen has a friend with red eyes?"
"Most vampires have red eyes. That doesn't necessarily mean they are terrible people… I mean, Garrett is safe. He has control. Maria, obviously, has control if she's able to leave marks on humans. It's a complicated thing, but drinking human blood and being a monster are, surprisingly, not mutually exclusive. There's a lot of gray areas in the world of vampires."
My brother nodded slowly beside me, considering everything I had told him. Aside from his binge drinking the night before, he was taking all of this so well. Almost too well.
"Why aren't you freaking out? Are you in shock or something?"
He took his time answering. "Um, no. I don't know. No offense, but you've always been kind of freaky. I mean, you always believed in weird stuff. Ghosts and aliens and all that. I don't know, I guess I just know you wouldn't lie about all of this. But…why were you keeping it a secret, anyway? Since the Cullens are peaceful?"
I knew he meant, why were you hiding it from me? I sighed.
"Okay, think about it. If you and me and Ava and Mom and Dad all drank blood to survive, do you think we would want it to be common knowledge? That would destroy Dad's credibility as a therapist, wouldn't it? Mom wouldn't be allowed to work with kids. All of us would be ostracized in school, if we were even allowed to go…"
"Alright, I get it. But why do they bother going to school? They are immortal, aren't they?"
We were almost out of rocks by this time in our conversation. I picked up the last five we had, giving Gunner three and keeping two for myself.
"Well," I began, "Jasper will not be very pleased I'm sharing this with you, but oh well. Think about the Cold Ones legend we've heard at La Push."
I felt Gunner stiffen beside me. I turned to look at him, waiting. "Tell me about them."
"They came from the ocean, right? In the legend, I mean. They came out of the ocean, and the had black eyes, and their skin…"
"And their skin glittered in the sunlight," I finished for him. "Kind of hard to pass for human when that's happening, right? So the Cullens—and any other vampires who wish to blend in with human populations—have to have a way to walk in the daylight without exposing themselves. There aren't a whole lot of places like Forks in the world, where there isn't often sunlight."
I threw a rock, but I put too much force behind it. Mine sunk while Gunner's skidded over the waves.
"Carlisle has said it was easier, before the world was so populated, to move around. Now, with travel and so many people on the Earth, it's a little harder. So they try to stay in one spot for as long as possible before moving. The easiest way to do that is to have Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, Edward, and Alice attend high school. It buys them about four to six years in one spot, usually."
Gunner turned this over in his head, shrugging after a moment. "It makes sense. But it must suck, having to go to high school all the time. How old are they, anyway?"
"Do you mean their human ages or their ages all together?"
He shrugged again. "Both, I guess."
"It's kind of confusing," I told him. "Because in order of human years, they would go Esme at twenty-six, Carlisle at twenty-three, Emmett at twenty, Jasper and Alice are nineteen, Rosalie is eighteen, and Edward is seventeen."
I watched my brother's face crumple in confusion. "But if you're talking in terms of their entire lives, the order would go Carlisle, Jasper, Edward, Alice, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett."
"I feel like I need another drink."
"I know it's a lot."
"Okay, let me see if I have it straight. So, Maria gave you the mark or whatever when we were ten and lived in New Mexico. She's back now. And she's doing all of this just because you're with Jasper?"
"Well…" and then I had to explain James, and my role in it, and his comrades Victoria and Laurent. I described Emmett and Rosalie's wedding, Laurent's death, Irena's ire. This brought us full circle to where we were now. "I think Jasper does play a role in it, though. In terms of Maria's decision to do this. I think she's still upset he left the army at all."
"Maisie, are you, like, cursed or something? I mean, what are the odds that you would meet a vampire in New Mexico, we would move to Forks, the Cullens would also move to Forks, Jasper used to be involved with the vampire you met in New Mexico, now you're with Jasper…I mean, what kind of coincidence or fate or whatever!"
"How do you think I feel?!" I countered. "I've been trying to make sense of it for over a year, and I still haven't managed to!"
"That's why he gave you the ring, isn't it? I mean, y'all are obviously connected by all of this." I hadn't considered that. I glanced down at my hand, where the ring was hidden underneath my glove.
"Kind of. I guess that might have been one of the reasons. It's a promise ring in a literal sense, though. Not like a promise of marriage, but a promise to see this through…whatever happens."
This was already so much to take in. I hadn't bothered to explain Alice's clairvoyance, Edward's telepathy, or Jasper's empathy. I would save that for another day. Gunner rubbed at his tired eyes, and I could hear his stomach growl beside me.
"Can we go get food?" He asked, making me laugh. I could hug him.
I did hug him. I nearly knocked us both over, because Gunner wasn't expecting it, and his balance wasn't great in his hungover state. We stayed upright, somehow.
"Yeah, let's go get food."
Before I talked to Jasper or the others about what I had told Gunner, I talked to Leah. When we got home, Gunner went back to bed for a nap. I called Leah in my room, talking to her in low voices.
"I only explained the vampire part of things to him," I told Leah. "And not a whole lot. I'm trying to ease him into it…I'm a lot less showy than Jacob is."
Leah laughed a hard, humorless laugh. "Yeah, Sam is pissed. I think this is the first time we've agreed on anything in a long time."
"Why did he do it? Surely, he knows better. Y'all have rules, too. Guidelines, just like Carlisle keeps."
"It's Bella. She's not his imprint—it doesn't happen to all of us. I'm kind of jealous, honestly. Not that your brother isn't cool; it just makes it complicated when you know, and they don't. But Bella hates that she isn't Jacob's imprint. He feels like he has to do more, prove more for her, to make up for the fact. So, when she asked him to phase to prove a point to Gunner…"
I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn't see it.
"Sam didn't take it well. There was a fight. He really did a number on Jake, much more than you got in on Bella. They even argued over alpha rights."
"Didn't Jacob forfeit those?"
Leah laughed again, "Yeah. Hindsight, huh? Right now, Jake's barely got a leg to stand on—metaphorically and literally. He's gonna be down for a few days, I think."
Serves him right for being an idiot, I thought. While I was thinking, Leah's voice turned softer with her next question. "How is Gunner?"
"He's okay. Carlisle took his stitches out this morning; he's got a nice little scar now. At the moment, he's sleeping off his hangover."
"I'm glad he's okay. He didn't look great last night."
"Alcohol and sudden supernatural knowledge will do that to you."
"Yeah," Leah agreed. "I guess it would."
She sounded a little remorseful, and I understood why. Jasper had told me that he felt a 'grieving' period of sorts, after he introduced me to his world. Now I understood what he meant.
In the excitement of the night before, I had forgotten that Kate was staying with the Cullens. That is, until Jasper picked me up later that afternoon and Kate opened the door for us before Jasper had even helped me off his motorcycle.
"Kate!" I shouted, whipping off my helmet and pressing it into Jasper's hands. I ran across the snowy yard to the porch, where Kate hugged me.
"Maisie!" She mimicked me. "I hear your adventures haven't slowed down one bit."
"I'm nothing if not exciting," I told her. Jasper joined us in the doorway, ushering both of us in. With the sun starting to set, the outside was quickly losing degrees. He was concerned, I was sure, with my getting too cold.
"I also heard about your night. What are the chances, you in love with a vampire and your brother imprinted upon by one of those dogs?" Kate's wording made me blush wildly, but she only smiled.
"Speaking of Gunner, is he staying hydrated?" Carlisle asked. He was helping Rosalie take down the Christmas decorations. She was replacing them with reds, pinks, and silvers along with roses. Obviously, Rosalie had already moved on to Valentine's day.
"I made him drink a whole glass of water before he went back to bed," I reassured him. Our parents weren't upset with Gunner for drinking. They had told us, beforehand, that they didn't mind—on New Year's only—as long as we were safe. We remember high school parties, they had said.
That being said, I would be lying if I didn't say I wasn't aware I definitely had some brownie points from our parents for not getting trashed last night.
Rosalie walked by me, pressing a vase of pink and white roses into my hands.
"For your bedroom," she explained. I was a little shocked by her open display of… kindness? Rosalie quickly moved on from it. "Emmett told me you punched Bella Swan. I would have done more."
"I wanted to do more," I told her, and she nodded, a smirk on her red-painted lips.
Through the tall windows on the back half of the house, I could see Emmett, Edward, Peter, and Garrett outside in the snow. They seemed to be having some kind of competition that involved chopping wood with their bare hands. Charlotte was outside, too; she held a stopwatch in her gloved hand.
"I'm thankful you didn't," Carlisle said. "Have you spoken to Leah? I would like to have a word with Sam."
He motioned toward the coffee table. There, I saw a thick envelope, not unlike the one I took to Sam previously. His name was printed their again in Carlisle's hand. I set the vase Rosalie had given me next to it, so I wouldn't forget. "I'll make sure he gets it. Somehow, since I still don't have a car."
"I told Jasper not to let you take it to a mechanic. I would have had it done in a day."
Alice flounced her way into the room from the kitchen, with Esme close behind her. "Taste this for me. Is it right? Esme's doing trials for treats to send to work with Carlisle for Valentine's."
It was a month away, but obviously Rosalie had put everyone in the mood. Alice held out a chocolate covered strawberry to me. I didn't think those would be easy to do wrong. Then again, none of the people who lived or were staying in the house had typical taste buds.
I took a bite, the sweetness filling my mouth. There was a tartness, too, that I couldn't quite place. "Alice! Are these alcoholic?"
"I thought it was okay to use alcohol in cooking?"
"Only if the alcohol is cooked out! These will definitely get people drunk."
"Oops," Alice giggled. "Good thing we gave you one first, huh?"
So much for me not having any alcohol for New Year's.
"You know," Jasper mused, twirling pieces of my hair around his fingers. "It's too bad you don't know how to ride the motorcycle on your own. That would give you another option while your car is being repaired. I do get pulled over a lot though…Chief Swan isn't a big fan of them, it seems."
I turned to Jasper to find his eyes twinkling mischievously. Slowly, a smile spread over my face. I knew Jasper was only teasing me, but…
That thought, I had to silence before Edward caught on. No doubt, he would have been upset. Instead, I leaned back against Jasper.
"It would definitely beat walking all the way to La Push. Maybe I'll get Gunner to take me. After all, that is where his girlfriend-to-be lives."
A/N: I don't know if I'm an obvious writer or y'all are just getting really good at reading Maisie's character traits! Several of you guessed that Maisie might brew her own kind of revenge for Bella, aside from that solid right hook she landed. I already had this planned, but I thought it was so funny some of y'all had the same thoughts!
Don't worry, Carlisle is mad about this new situation. Expect some arguing between Carlisle and Sam in the near future.
I'm really trying to use my winter break, so I can put out as many chapters as I can before I get busy again and updates slow down! Like I said, though I love the idea of Gunner and Leah, it is changing some things ;)
