Carnival Night Terror

By: Lost Betwixt Worlds

Rated: Mature

Main Characters: Jasper/Bella, Peter/Charlotte

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight in any way/shape/form & no copyright infringement is intended. All I'm doing is playing in Stephanie Meyers sandbox until she kicks me (us) out.

Overview:

Forks, Washington... usually such a peaceful & sleepy little town. However, the arrival of a traveling carnival will ensure that Forks sees little of either while they are in town.

Chapter 1

Bella's Backbone

Bella's POV

I woke to the trilling of my alarm and reaching over, grabbed it and flung that sucker with all the strength I could currently muster. A smirk crept to my lips as a satisfying crunch reached my ears, followed by blessed silence. I imagined the crunch being Edwards face as I put my fist through it. Ever since our return from Volterra, Edward had become a royal pain in the ass and Alice was quickly finding her way into the same category.

Edward had (while not literally) ripped my heart out of my chest, shredded my self esteem and made me feel like I should be beholden to him for anything he deemed was befitting for me to have, including the family. In just the few days that we had been back, Edward was once again telling me what I could or couldn't do, that it was HIS rules and not Charlie's I would follow and that Alice would be escorting me to Seattle for a 'spa day' since I obviously had little regard to what image I was invoking. To quote Alice "Honestly Bella you look like a drowned rat and that is not a becoming image for anyone associated with our family."

Rolling out of bed, I padded to the bathroom to get my day started. Standing under the spray of hot water I realized that, if I wanted to have my voice heard, then I was going to have to stop being a doormat and stand-up for myself. Getting out of the shower, I wrapped my hair in one towel, my body in another and headed for my closet.

The sight I was met with shot me straight past pissed and squarely in boiling.

Alice pitching EVERYTHING in MY closet onto the floor and bag upon bag of expensive designer clothes waiting to take their place.

"Alice what the HELL do you think you are doing?" I yelled from my bedroom door

"Wardrobe overhaul Bella" stated Alice "we can't have you looking like a hick or some poor relation."

I swear I saw nothing but red at that precise moment and that small part of my brain that had told me in the bathroom to stop being a doormat was screaming at me to get the lead out and put the demented pixie in her place.

'NO!' I stated firmly as I walked to my closet and started removing the designer clothes.

"Bella what do you think you are doing?" screeched Alice as I threw a handful of clothes OUT my window.

"I said NO Alice and I mean it. There is nothing wrong with my wardrobe and I don't appreciate you implying that I am an embarrassment to anyone with the way I dress." I stated firmly as I grabbed up another armful of the offending clothes and chucked them out the window.

"Edward is not going to be happy Bella and he would prefer you dress like a lady rather than some tomboy." replied Alice as she attempted to wrest a silk blouse out of my hands. None of Alice's visions had shown Bella giving her any grief about the overhaul to her closet.

Edward was expecting Bella to be dressed in a certain way and to be the epitome of grace in thanks to him taking her back and sparing her from the clutches of the Volturi. Granted if the idiot hadn't gone to them in the first place Bella wouldn't be on their radar, but Alice could work around that.

Another armload of clothes going out the window brought Alice back to the present and as she made to grab Bella's arm, her own hand was encased in the firm grasp of one Charlotte Whitlock.

"Ya grab her like that and Carlisle won't only be setting a broken arm fer this lil' gal, but fashioning a new one fer ya, on account of me torchin' yours." drawled Charlotte with a deadly gleam in her eyes.

"I done heard of gals doin' spring cleanin', but I ain't never heard of that includin' clothes out the window." drawled Peter as he stood in front of Bella holding a blouse soaking wet and covered in mud.

Bella for her part could only stand and gape at Peter, but noticed from the corner of her eye that Jasper was sitting on her bed and trying not to chuckle. Belatedly Bella realized that she was clad in only a towel and with a mumbled 'excuse me a moment' grabbed some clothes and sprinted back to the bathroom. Ten minutes later she emerged fully clothed and discovered a certain pixie absent from her room.

"I sent her home and made her take the clothes she bought with her." stated Jasper as he covertly took in what Bella was wearing. 'Bless you'. Stated Bella as she reached into her closet and pulled out a long black belt covered in silver studs and standing in front of her mirror wrapped it around her waist three times before securing it with a skull shaped buckle.

'Oh how I wish I was that belt darlin.' thought Jasper to himself.

"JASPER!" echoed Bella's voice as he suddenly realized that he had zoned out and Bella was snapping her fingers in his face while Peter and Charlotte were holding each other up as they laughed.

"Sorry darlin, you were sayin'?" asked Jasper

"I was wondering, to what do I owe the honor of the presence of not only yourself, but who I am assuming is your southern family?" stated Bella with a smirk on her face as she also pushed out a bit of curiosity and interest.

"I was concerned about the level of possessiveness rolling off Edward and the thick layer of deceit rolling off Alice this morning. Not to mention that Alice was attempting to avoid me after I gave her hell for the Italy stunt." replied Jasper "I thought it might be best to check on you and let you know that the family is in your corner. We made the mistake of letting Edward use our fears for your safety against us, convincing us that it was best for everyone to leave, especially you and it won't happen again."

Bella stood there starting at him with a mixture of sadness/disbelief/worthlessness and just a smidgen of hope rolling off her. Jasper stepped up to her and gently rubbed his thumb under her eye to wipe away the tears that were starting to silently fall.

"Isabella, I told you once you were worth it and then I walked away after almost hurting you on your birthday. Darlin, me leavin is an action I will forever regret and I pray that you will find it in your heart to forgive me and give me another chance to be in your life." stated Jasper softly.

"Jasper what happened on my birthday was NOT your fault" began Bella as she quickly covered Jasper's mouth to stifle any further comments. "I bled from a paper cut in a room full of vampires and Edward compounded the situation by throwing me into a table full of glass plates. If you want to place blame, then I highly suggest that you lay it at the feet of both Alice and Edward. I NEVER wanted a party to start with and they insisted. Alice was the one who placed the glass, knowing full well that I would be the only one actually eating. If I were a betting woman, I'd say the whole thing was planned by tweedle twit and tweedle twat." stated Bella as she removed her hand.

There was a beat of silence before Peter and Charlotte started laughing all over again.

"So planning on introducing me or do I have to do it myself ?" inquired Bella with a jerk of her thumb in the laughing duos direction. Jasper smirked "Isabella Swan meet Capt. Peter Whitlock and his lovely mate, Charlotte Whitlock. They served with me during the Southern Vampire Wars and are responsible for getting me out of it." stated Jasper "Peter, Charlotte I'd like to introduce Isabella Swan aka Bella. She is Edwards mate."

Charlotte was the first to stop laughing as she growled out "Like hell she's that pencil dicks mate."

Bella stared at Charlotte with wide eyes as Peter added his two cents " If'n that boy was ya mate, then he woulda never been able to leave for as long as he did, it's downright impossible."

Bella continued to just stare at the pair of them and Jasper looked like he was finally putting two and two together.

JPOV

"Why that low down slimy son-of-a-b" growled Jasper "I'm gonna tear his damn head off and use it as a soccer ball."

He had known that something was off from the moment that Edward fixated on Bella, but the others had waved off his concerns and Alice repeatedly insisted that they were mates. Rose was the only one who took him seriously.

More than once Jasper had walked in on Alice and Edward discussing Bella, but they quickly became silent in his presence. Rose on the other hand had voiced her concerns about the way the duo was treating little brunette and had even asked Carlisle and Esme to address the issue of forcing the poor girl into clothes that she had both no interest in nor need of. The issue seemed to fall on deaf ears.

The more he thought about it, the more the pieces started to fall into a specific pattern and it wasn't a good one. The van incident had started the ball rolling as far as Edward being cast as Bella's 'savior and protector' and from that day forward the little darlin was rarely seen driving herself pretty much anywhere. Next had been the baseball game. Alice had insisted that it HAD to be THAT particular night and that they wouldn't be interrupted by anyone and both had insisted that Bella HAD to be present.

Every single time that either Jasper or Rose or even Emmett had questioned the duos actions or voiced a concern, their loyalty to family was called into question or they were accused of being jealous and not wanting to see Edward happy after so long of being alone.

The more Jasper thought about the past year, the more he growled and his eyes turned a little blacker.

The Italy stunt seemed to be the final nail in poor Bella's proverbial coffin. The girl was now squarely on the Volturi radar. Edward and Alice had, for all intents and purposes, signed Bella's death warrant along with any human she had long term contact with if she was not changed soon.

"Jasper come back to us, come back to me." intoned a gentle voice "please come back."

The sensation of a warm hand on his cheek and another pressing lightly on his chest brought Jasper out of his red haze and back to the here and now. His Isabella was trying to comfort him and he would not let it be in vain, slowly he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close in an attempt to soothe her fears that lay like a blanket around her.

" I thought I'd lost you for a moment there." stated Bella softly as she snuggled into his chest, accepting the comfort he was trying so hard to ensure she felt. "Sorry about that darlin', just a few things finally kicked in place about Alice, Edward and Carlisle. Suffice to say that I'm not a real 'happy camper' about it, at all." stated Jasper.

"Mama Cullen is not gonna like having her world rocked and I guarantee that she's gonna lose it when she finds out the Doc and whack twins have been manipulating not just her but Bells as well." stated Peter with a tap to his head.

Bella looked from Peter to Jasper to Charlotte and at nearly the same moment they both said 'Pete just knows shit'.

"Eight ball?" asked Bella. Peter looked offended. "Don'cha dare compare me with that demented pixie slut." Peter growled.

"What Alice sees is possible futures that can alter when someone changes their mind. What Peter sees is concrete and he don't git all the info at once in many cases." stated Jasper.

Bella stared at Peter for a beat, then stated "So more precognitive rather than clairvoyant I assume. Which puts you more as psychic in the abilities category."

"Well paint me purple and call me a flower cause I ain't never thought about it that way." remarked Peter with a look of admiration on his face. "Can we keep her Major, she's got a good head on her shoulders."

Now it was Jasper's turn to get slightly irritated "She ain't no pet Peter and the choice of staying with us is up to her. I ain't dictating like Victorian virgin or the demented pixie, her choices are her own. Save for the fact that since Italy ya ain't got much say on being turned or not darlin'."

BPOV

They wanted me to stay with them, they actually wanted me. Not in the way that Edward wanted, but as an actual Coven member.

"I just need a little time to straighten my head out guys, the last few months have been sort of a roller-coaster. No offense." I said with conviction in my voice and gratitude in my emotions.

"Don'cha worry none suga, ain't no one gonna force anyone round here." stated Charlotte with a steel edge to her voice.

"Well I think I know a way to help you get your 'head on straight." stated Jasper with a twinkle in his eye. "Darlin would you accompany me to the opening of the Carnival tonight?"

"Why sir I'd be right honored." I replied in my best Scarlett O'Hara accent.