Chapter song- 223 by YNW Melly
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"What in the hell are we gonna do with these newborns?" Emmett stared at the dirty, lackluster group as Rose and Jasper were moving in fast synchronization to remove all traces of vampirism from the warehouse.
Drew, the one who'd served as the spokesperson for the newborns for the most part, eyed them suspiciously while he spoke in hushed tones to his peers.
"Don't worry, Em. I know how to deal with 'em." A primarily quiet Jasper offered. He threw a bloodied board to the evidence pile, which he would provide to a well-connected Carlisle later. All pieces would be catalogued and examined for DNA and then all pieces destroyed. All families would be notified of their loved one's demises.
All with fake stories of course, but at least they would stop looking.
"I'll take care of the ones who need somebody." Gabi was sitting in her own corner, her eyes clear and bright. "Keep 'em out of trouble."
Jasper eyed her. "You're pretty confident about being able to keep them safe."
The long-limbed female shrugged daintily before standing. "Did Maria ever keep someone useless around?" She wordlessly gestured to the newborn group and roughly half automatically stood and surrounded her. Drew notably remained behind. The group then proceeded to make its way out of the warehouse. "Thank you for your help, guys. The forgetful will remember so you should probably look for your coven-mate instead." The seer turned around and winked at them.
They were all gone in the next second.
Rosalie's eyebrow twitched even as she threw half of a bloodied car to the evidence pile. "What a cryptic weirdo."
Emmett chortled even as he upended another board. "You're telling-" Suddenly, his giant frame froze over a particular piece of debris. "Why do I smell Edward?"
Jasper was by his side in an instant, as he'd been frozen in place since Gabi had spoken. "Fuck me, we forgot about Edward." He upturned the rubble and picked up a burlap sack at an arm's length with a pained look on his face.
Rosalie snatched the bag from Jasper. "Putting him back together is going to be such a pain. I'll take him to where Bella and Esme are."
Gabi's words made so much sense all of a sudden. Jasper's face broke out into a smile once the implications hit. That woman had been just like his Mary.
And Gabi just told him that his girl's memories would come back.
The look on the man's face was beginning to get on my nerves. "And how does that make you feel?" His spectacles glinted from the overhead light in the office, and I could practically sense Charlie's annoyance mirroring my own. The therapy sessions that had been recommended for us had really been a drag, particularly as the therapist didn't seem capable of retaining anything that we were telling him.
A sigh took over my entire frame before I exhaled in a slow show of indifference. "I obviously can't feel anything about someone that I don't remember." I shot an apologetic glance at Charlie, the man who everyone kept telling me was my father.
He didn't look upset with me. The bags under his eyes and gauntness of his face had been there when the supermodels had handed me off to him. Charlie, as Carlisle had warned me, was just incredibly sad that his daughter, my sister, was murdered by the hands of a sadistic serial killer. It once again reminded me of those dramas on TV where everything was as messed up as possible.
How much of this was real? Because it all seemed like a sick joke. All of these strangers kept grabbing me and crying and telling me how sorry they were. And while I didn't know why they were all so sad, this thick heartache consumed me sometimes.
"Just give her time. If she shows any signs of progression or regression, get her back in here." The therapist droned before handing Charlie a fancy-looking card.
"Gee, thanks so much." Charlie muttered even as we both started walking out of the office in relieved unison. My father began to move faster than I had ever seen him thus far, grabbing my hand and almost dragging me when the cool receptionist tried to flag us down for our next appointment. Rain poured down on us. Some girl named Angela had told me that Forks was kind of famous for its lack of sunshine.
It was only once we were in the shiny police cruiser that I finally found my words. "Was the therapist not your idea?"
Charlie closed his eyes with a long sigh as if his eyes hurt. As though some form of brightness was impossibly filtering through the rain-soaked windshield. "Ma-" He stopped before he spoke the name that sent chills down my spine. "Alice, your mother is coming for the funeral and I'm trying to up my odds."
"Odds on what?"
"Keeping you here." Charlie rested his head up against the steering wheel. "She'll get you on pills or in a nuthouse as soon as you get back in Phoenix."
Confusion hit me. "But none of that will make me remember."
His bloodshot eyes hit mine. "I'm not looking forward to that, kid. You remembering, I mean. She was your best..." His eyes shone as he stopped speaking for a second. He looked away. "Your best friend."
My heart beat a little unsteadily as I nodded. It was probably true, why else would I not remember at all? I must've loved her a lot.
The rest of the ride went in silence. Even the rain had stopped as though it had sensed that we really needed the stillness of the moment. There wasn't really anything left to say except I couldn't help but think that Bella and I must've had the best dad in the world. Maybe I should've told him that, but it was kind of hard to tell someone that if you didn't actually remember.
"Huh." Charlie pulled the cruiser next to a real fancy car in our driveway. He looked as craggy as ever, but he glanced down at me pensively while looking slightly torn. It seemed as though the thoughtfulness eventually won out. "Alice," He started off, finally using the name that didn't send shivers down my spine. "There's no point of you sitting around here grieving when you don't even remember what for. Would you mind hanging with your friend here, get out of the house a bit?"
My friend? I wordlessly nodded at my father as I unbuckled myself. Charlie was already out of the car, talking to the gorgeous, very male supermodel who I hadn't seen in several days. He was nodding a lot, his golden eyed soft on Charlie while he self-consciously ran a hand through his wavy hair.
"Take care of her. Keep her away from all the crying crazies that keep grabbing at her or call her by the first name. Freaks her out and she blows a fit really bad." Charlie absently kissed me on the forehead before then stumbling into the house. The porch door slammed shut.
That inexplicable sorrow suddenly threatened to swallow me whole for some reason. Trying not to let the tears escape, I instead focused on the stranger who was peering down at me solemnly. "Who are you?"
"Jazz. You woke up at my family's house." He reminded me before wiping his face clean with a brilliant smile that stole my breath. "How're you feeling?"
"Just... confused." His eyes never left mine as I spoke, and it was more than anybody else had been able to do in the last few days. It made me want to trust him. Everything that had been brewing up through all of the doctor visits and therapists finally seemed to catch up to me at that moment, causing me to throw my arms around the tall stranger.
His skin was cool, but still managed to make me feel better. "What was my sister like?" I murmured into his shirt as the tears soaked it.
He crushed me to him with a single arm, using his free hand to smooth back my hair soothingly. "She was a little moody, pretty funny, and really smart. You guys were best friends." His sexy country accent was suddenly very thick.
"You're smooshing me." I teased even as I kept crying for some ghost of a girl who I didn't even remember. His arm automatically loosened to almost no pressure.
We stayed like that until a shiver finally ran through me from the cold. Jazz chuckled into my hair. "C'mon, sweetie. Let's get to my house, Rose and Em are just dying to see you."
He then steered me into that really nice car, and once again, I found myself being driven through streets that gave me a terrible sense of deja vu. "How long have we been friends, Jazz?"
A smile quirked his lips which once again made me feel as though I were forgetting something really important. "A few months now. You kind of pushed the matter."
"You didn't want to be my friend?" A little hurt hit me at the thought.
He laughed. "Nah, baby, I was just a little spooked at how weird you are."
I pouted very decisively until we pulled up to the overzealous mansion surrounded by masterful landscaping. While the arrangement of all of the shade-loving plants distracted me, Jazz managed to grab my hand and steer me inside.
It's like he remembers just how to handle my fits. My eye twitched in irritation. I was getting pretty sick of being out of the know, even if the therapist thought my amnesia was protecting me.
"Mary!" The beautiful blonde supermodel crushed me into her arms and twirled. The room spun.
A giggle escaped me despite the fact that the supermodel had called me by that name, the one that I couldn't identify with no matter how many times someone called me it. "It's Alice, please." She put me onto my feet, allowing me a view of the pristine living room and a smiling Carlisle.
He'd been the one to take me to Charlie, to explain the way of things. He was the best doctor in Forks.
Jazz is his son, although the ages don't look quite right. Carlisle has a wife, Esme, who I hadn't met yet. And another son.
"Rose, could you show Alice the cookies that Esme wanted her to try out?" The doctor smiled at us even as Jazz ruffled my hair before approaching his dad and whispering something in his ear.
Rose grabbed me by the arm and steered me away before I could figure out what had made Dr. Cullen's expression turn so scary so fast.
"What do you mean, the Quileute is still on our land?" Carlisle growled at Jasper in an uncharacteristic show of aggression.
The taller male frowned down at his leader, clearly annoyed at his reaction. "She lays claim to Bella and wants to see her." He shrugged. "I don't see what harm it would do; the shapeshifters don't smell even remotely edible to us."
"The problem is that she keeps breaking the treaty. Those dogs are dangerous." Carlisle muttered as they both heard Mary squeal in delight after eating the first of the cookies.
"Technically, I'm the one who broke the treaty by changing Bella." Jasper pointed out. "Leah has not retaliated or shown any indication of breaking the treaty. She even helped us out by finding Maria's hideout."
Carlisle turned his back from Jasper, the tension still present. "Do what you will, son. But Maria being so close makes me think that Forks might not be the safest place for us right now."
A ring of forewarning rang down his spine at those words, but he proceeded out to the woods nonetheless. Mist swirled around his ankles from the last rain, but now that he was used to her scent, it took little effort to find the tall, lean female waiting for him.
"Will you tell me where she is now?" Leah bared her teeth at him in a gnash of vicious white. The long wait of Jasper making sure Mary was safe and convincing Carlisle to not act like such an ass had obviously taken its toll on her.
The week since Bella had been bitten must've been excruciating. The empath could feel her crankiness, her hope, and the rage that never seemed to abate. "Yeah, let me call Esme and let her know that you're coming." He sympathetically patted her shoulder, not minding when she shrank away from his icy skin.
Leah Clearwater had quickly become one of the few people in Jasper's life who he felt actually understood his view on things. In other words, someone that kicked ass and asked questions later.
"They're ready for you. Try not to make Emmett's day too fun." Jasper began to head to the house, eager to figure out when Mary would come back to him.