Online Predator Chapter 55

Not long after Bella fell asleep, Jasper left. He needed to run a perimeter check, he needed to ensure that they were safe, that Maria wasn't out there to get them. When everything seemed clear, he stopped by the reservation, he needed a status report.

Peter and Charlotte weren't there and Jasper wasn't happy about it. Garrett was watching over Riley. Jasper stretched out his gift, he assumed Alice would be close by but he couldn't feel her.

"What's going on?" Jasper asked Garrett. "Why have you been left alone with the newborn?"

"Alice went home, I took her," Garrett said, "then when I came back, Peter and Charlotte left to go hunt. I think they're bringing the newborn back something. He hasn't had much to drink yet, but he seems fairly tame."

Jasper focused deeply on the newborn's emotions. Riley felt scared, confused, thirsty and a little angry.

"How old is he?" Jasper asked.

"This is his third day."

Jasper stepped forward. "Can you speak?" he asked Riley.

Confusion overtook Riley, but he didn't attempt to try.

"You are a vampire," Jasper told him.

There was more confusion, but not much else.

"Do you think he came out wrong?" Garrett asked. "Newborns can't stand still like he's doing. He seems controlled, but I'm not too sure."

Jasper hated waiting.

"Stay here," he told Garrett, "keep watch. How long do you think Peter and Charlotte will be gone for?"

"A while at least," Garrett said.

Jasper nodded his head and took off. He had an idea in mind, but he made sure he didn't decide on it, he didn't want the seer to realize his plan. Jasper kept changing it up, but most of all, he decided that he was going back to see Bella and spend the rest of the night with her.

As he got closer to the Cullen's house, Jasper kept pretenses up, that Bella was his main goal. Charlie's screams were keeping everyone distracted anyway so it wasn't too hard to deceive them.

Everyone seemed to be home, which Jasper thought was reckless. Changing newborns could still be an issue. Jasper had changed a few rabid vampires during his years. They woke up ahead of time and they were unstoppable, they had no sense, they were to be killed immediately.

Jasper took note of where everyone was. Charlie and Carlisle were in the same room they were last in. Alice was off to the left side of the house. Two others, Emmett and Rosalie, were upstairs, and Edward was towards the back.

Jasper locked on Edward's emotions and made his way around the back. It was dark out, the moon was lighting up the area around the house, but the trees kept Jasper in the shadows. He could see Edward sitting on the couch through the back window.

Jasper didn't waste any time, he spied the back door and went straight for it. He didn't bother being silent, he just went fast. He grabbed Edward and he was gone in the blink of an eye. Jasper never stopped, he knew Carlisle could be on his trail. This needed to be done fast.

He made it back to the reservation, back to Riley. Jasper wanted to see if Edward really was Riley's mate, for two reasons. One, so he could maybe snap Riley out of it. Two, so that he could kill Riley once and for all.

Jasper kept Edward close, just in case. No matter what happened, he couldn't let Edward to be killed. Bella wouldn't be happy with him if he did that. Jasper held Edward's back against his chest to stop him from rushing to Riley and so they could make a quick escape if need be.

"Riley?" Edward's eyes focused on the newborn. "You're… What?..." He noticed Riley's red eyes, knowing what he was. "Did you do this?" Edward asked Garrett.

"No, James' mate did," Garrett answered.

"I can't believe he's alive, I thought… I thought…" Edward struggled in Jasper's arms. "Let me go, I need to be with him, please."

"He's a vampire," Jasper said, "a new one at that, it's too risky."

"Why bring me here then?" Edward was still fighting to get free. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Settle down," Jasper said, "have some patience."

Jasper could feel that Riley was working things out, his emotions were flashing by fast. Everyone needed patience. Riley's eyes were locked on Edward, processing, trying to remember, observing.

"Do you care if I kill him?" Jasper asked Riley as he tightened his grip on Edward.

Edward yelped in pain.

Riley stayed back, he didn't leap forward. It was curious behavior. Jasper would have assumed they weren't mates but there was something else there too, buried deep inside of Riley, slowly surging forward, slowly getting bigger. Jasper waited, still holding Edward too tightly. The emotion grew until it couldn't no more and then it settled. Love, Jasper deduced.

Even then, Riley didn't move to attack. It was curious behavior, not common at all. Jasper made a calculated risk, that and he was tired of waiting. He pushed Edward towards Riley, wanting to force his hand. Riley didn't move, he let Edward stumble towards him, and at the last minute, Riley reached out and caught Edward, softening the blow.

"Have you ever seen a newborn like this?" Jasper asked Garrett.

"No, Major."

"Go to Alice," Jasper told him, "if I need you back here, I'll message you."

"Are you sure?" Garrett asked. "I don't mind watching over them. Why aren't you with Bella?"

Jasper didn't answer him and Garrett wisely left.

"What's wrong with him?" Edward asked. "Carlisle told us how bad the first year would be, how we wouldn't be able to think straight, how we were ruled by our base emotions."

"He must have a gift," Jasper said, "I see no other explanation."

Jasper had changed thousands of humans and he'd never seen this before.

"What do you want?" Jasper asked Edward.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want to be with Riley?" Jasper asked. "Do you want to go home? Do you want to be changed? What do you want?"

"I don't know."

Jasper didn't like this, why couldn't Edward make a decision? Jasper realized he'd have to do it for the boy.

"You," Jasper said, "Riley."

Riley's eyes met Jasper's.

"Edward is your mate," Jasper told him, "if you bite him you'll either kill him or change him." As Jasper told him these things he kept a close watch on Riley's emotions. Jasper had already suspected they were unusual, but this was further confirming it. There was something missing but Jasper couldn't put his finger on it. "I am going to leave you alone," Jasper said, "I need to get back to my own mate." Riley still didn't move. "I will be back," Jasper promised.

And then, Jasper left a three-day-old newborn with a human. It was something he had never done before. It was a death sentence for the human, but there was something there, or rather, something that wasn't there. Riley didn't have a malicious thought in him, nothing. There was no deviousness, no mischief, none of the usual negative traits vampires had. There was only a small amount of anger, but that was it.

It was odd, but Jasper decided the newborn was level enough to make his own decisions. If he killed Edward then Riley would soon follow. If he changed Edward then what did it matter? They would be together forever. And if nothing happened, who cared?

Jasper knew Bella would care and she would probably blame him if Edward was killed, but he was confident that wasn't an option in Riley's mind. Sitting around and waiting was good for a short amount of time, but taking action was always better. And with that, Jasper left the two boys alone to decide their own fate.

The moment he was alone, Riley wrapped his arms around Edward, holding him close. He buried his head against his mate's chest and breathed him in. Riley wasn't concerned with Edward's blood, just with him. It had been a scary past week. When he was in the middle of dying, all he could think about was Edward and how he would have to leave Edward alone in this world. It was the one thing Riley didn't want.

He held onto Edward so desperately, but his touch wasn't too rough like Jasper's had been. Edward moved his arms and hugged Riley back. He didn't know what to say, he didn't know how to process this. Part of him was overjoyed, he liked Riley, he really did, but he wasn't sure how that would have work if he became a vampire. Now, it was Riley who was the vampire.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," Edward said, "but I want you to know that it changes nothing for me. I still like you, I still want to get to know you."

Riley clutched him tighter.

They stayed like that for a while until Edward pulled back. Riley's green eyes were now bright red, it was a confronting sight. Edward would prefer if they were gold, like Carlisle's, but he pushed the thought aside. This silence was killing him.

"Please talk to me," Edward said, "something, anything."

Riley's voice was low. "I don't know what to say," he admitted.

Edward smiled, he was glad to see that Riley was in there.

"It's okay," Edward said. "I'm sure it's a lot to process. Don't rush anything. Are you thirsty? Carlisle said newborn vampires are always thirsty."

"I'm okay," Riley said, "they fed me."

"My father's a vampire," Edward told him, "he only drinks animal blood, it gives him golden eyes, not red. You could do that too, or not, it's completely up to you. …What do you want?"

It took Riley a moment to reply.

"I want you to stay with me," he said.

Edward beamed. "Don't worry," he said, "I'm not going anywhere."

Jasper joined Bella in her bed and she was none the wiser that he had left. She instinctively rolled towards him, snuggling in close. Jasper was stiff as a board. The love he had felt from Riley, Bella felt that towards him. Bella loved him. He found it hard to accept. She was asleep, how could she know it was him in her bed? How could it make her feel safe and secure?

Jasper had similar thoughts throughout the rest of the night as he kept working his gift, searching for Maria or any other threats. He half expected someone to come and yell at him for taking Edward, but no one did. It was a peaceful night with Bella in his arms. A waste of time, but peaceful.

Bella woke up with a smile on her face and Jasper was glad to see that she moved closer to him and not away.

"You're still here," she mumbled, "it wasn't a dream."

Jasper didn't know what to say to that. He just laid there.

"Have you heard any news about my father?" she asked.

"No."

"Can we check on him?"

"Yes."

"Hey," Bella sat up, "what's wrong?"

Jasper didn't know how to articulate what was going on his head right now.

"You're not thinking of going back, are you?" Bella asked.

Jasper thought about it. Did he want to go back? Was he missing Maria? Was he missing his old life?

"No."

Sadness washed over Bella. "Please tell me what's wrong," she said. Bella felt helplessness and that brought forth her tears.

Jasper sat up, not knowing how to comfort her. Maria never cried.

"Is it me?" Bella asked. "Was it really about the chase? Do you want to kill me? Do you not love me like you once claimed?"

Her claims outraged him. "Never question my feelings towards you," Jasper said.

"You need to let me in," Bella said, "you can trust me, I'm on your side."

"I…" Jasper stumbled, "I need to go for a run."

He paused for a moment, waiting for permission or for Bella to stop him, but nothing came and he left.

Bella sat there in shock. She wasn't sure what was going on with him, but he seemed sad and she hated that he wouldn't confide in her. She sat on her bed for a moment, waiting for him to come back, but when he didn't, she started getting ready for the day. When her phone buzzed, she picked it up, expecting it to be from anyone but Jasper. She was surprised when it was an alert from Twitter letting her know that hunting_grounds had tweeted.

Bella's heart raced, this was how Jasper was telling her what was wrong. She clicked on the tweet and her heart broke as she read the words he was too afraid to say out loud.

hunting_grounds: I don't want to make a mistake. I'm so used to being told what to do and I wish someone would tell me what to do. You're so fragile. I'm afraid I'll kill you, or hurt you, or make you wish you'd never met me. I don't want to lose you and that scares me. I can't be the vampire of your dreams, not when I only appear in nightmares.