Chapter song- Enter Sandman by Metallica
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"You're going to run past Border Security with me on your back?" Mary asked incredulously. The moon cast shadows through the windshield, giving the sisters a clear view of the busy, industrial road that led to the Canadian border.
Metallica's 'Enter Sandman' played softly, but it did little to abate Bella's irritation. Mary had convinced her to let her ride in the passenger seat so she wouldn't be 'so lonely' and now was asking entirely too many questions.
As a result, she was now hungry and had been navigating interstate traffic with the damned mask on for the past hour. You love her. She reminded herself even as she patiently explained that she was in fact faster than any car and quite capable of carrying Mary and any needed supplies over the border.
Her emerald eyes went wide at that. "Wooow. Dad told me you were a real klutz, so I guess whatever killed you made you some superhero, huh? Like Cat-woman!"
Bella stopped herself from braining herself on the dashboard as her sister's words sank in. "Wait," she moaned in exasperation, "you remember the Tim Burton Batman movies I made you watch, but you can't remember what our mother looks like?!"
Mary blushed. "It's not like I can control it." She muttered.
"I know." She pinched her nose in an Edward-inspired pose. "I need to do something before we take off on foot; stay here and don't let anyone into the car."
She got out of the van and locked it before walking inconspicuously behind the gas station. Thankfully, there seemed to be just enough shrubbery to hunt, but it was getting more and more difficult to find animal blood that wasn't just a bunny.
Killing 10 bunnies for a single meal was not at the top of Bella's list of things she liked to do.
Just as she was about complete with the grim task, the hair on the back of her neck rose and she dropped her query, which scampered off into the bushes to hop another day. What the... A sweet scent, not at all appetizing but lethal in its message, crept over her. A vampire's scent.
Panic gripped her as she forewent all precautions; she crashed through the woods at full-tilt and back into the gas station parking lot. She hadn't even had time to wipe the blood off of her mouth or to right her clothes from the Peter Cottontail murders.
"Hello there, darlin'." The familiar accent belonged to a male vampire with silver blonde hair and ruby eyes a few shades darker than Bella's own. He leaned against the van's door, and Mary's small face peaked out of the window at her sister.
She looked scared.
Bella curtailed the newborn instinct to rip through the car door and tear into her throat; she hadn't had the time to recover from the bloodlust of hunting and the look of fear on a human face was a definitive trigger. She growled at the stranger, both frustrated and frightened.
He laughed at her. "Have no fear, I'm not going to hurt her. The Major would tear me into a million pieces." His gaze went over her and she suddenly felt as though she were being analyzed from head to foot. "Good thing I got the tug to find you before Jasper even knew to call, I don't really know how much longer someone as young as you could've lasted before glutting."
His words sent an ice bucket over her even as she struggled to hide it. "Wh-who are you?" She did her best to speak past the venom flooding her mouth.
"Name's Peter." He walked towards her carefully, not a care on his smiling face, "I'm here to help."
Bella struck when he finally got close enough. If she could just grab him and squeeze...
Her world turned upside down within an instant as the strange man pinned her onto her stomach, completely immobilizing her arms and legs in such a way where she couldn't exert her full strength onto her attacker.
The action drove every single one of her vampiric instincts into hyperdrive as even more venom filled her mouth and strange growls and hisses emitted from her throat. She bucked and did her best to escape, but it was futile.
Mary... Tears she couldn't spill choked her as she thought of how easily her sister could be killed now.
"It'll be alright, calm down." Peter soothed in his lyrical accent. "Charlotte! You finished tying Jasper's girl up yet?"
"Yes. Well, she is cute, isn't she? When he told us her hair was short, I thought she'd look a little more boyish."
The male vampire groaned. "For crying out loud, Char, how many times must I tell you that Jasper isn't a homosexual?"
"He came onto you, Peter, I know what I saw!" A tiny blonde, only a little taller than Mary, hopped out of the van and frowned down at the tangled mess of Bella and Peter. "He tried to take you from me and for that, he should burn in the fiery pits of Hell until he is dead." She finished her words off in a Southern flourish that would not have been out of place in an evangelical Church.
He laughed. "How'd he get to Hell if he wasn't already dead, doll?"
Bella gained more control of herself as the sheer stupidity of the conversation flowed over her. These were Jasper's friends? It somewhat fit the bill from what he'd told her about Peter and Charlotte, and it made the burn of his betrayal hurt her even more.
"Can you get him on the phone, woman?" He impatiently interrupted his mate's rant about how, since vampires didn't have beating hearts, Jasper really was a dead bastard. "I can't hold down an angry newborn all day, and he specifically said he'd be pissed if we harmed either of them."
"Fine!" Charlotte flipped out a phone and a ring went out for a bare half half a second before it stopped.
"Yes?" Jasper's voice sent a wave of anger over Bella, forcing Peter to tighten his grip on her when her body renewed her struggling.
"Could you help calm down the bigger sister? She is mighty difficult to contain and I'd be real grateful if I don't have to hold her for hours on end until you get here."
Bella couldn't help the hiss that escaped her mouth at being called the 'bigger sister'.
"Bell? Can you talk?" Jasper asked, his tone relieved.
"Don't. Call. Me. That." She ground out.
Static over the phone. "Tell me what had you taking off after you snuck up to the house that day. I promise, Bella, I would never hurt you or Mary, and I am going to obliterate whoever scared you this bad." He spoke slowly, making every word an oath.
She closed her eyes and tried her best to think it through. All of their conversations, how he looked at Mary, right down to the moment when he'd injected vampire venom into her veins and had changed her life forever... Edward and Carlisle might find it meaningless to trade in both Mary's and her freedom to ensure their own, but would Jasper? He always had the very same darkness that so many ghosts had about their lives, like he had to repent for terrible misdeeds, she'd known that from the very first time she saw him. Yet she still trusted him.
And did she really have a choice to not trust him anymore? If she could get contained so easily by two vampires after only a few nights on the run, could she protect Mary until the danger blew over?
Closing her eyes and letting out a slow breath, she finally spoke. "I heard Carlisle and Edward talking... they were planning on trading us to the 'Volturi'. I don't know what that is, but it sure as hell didn't sound good."
Charlotte's small curvy frame stiffened within her peripherals, confirming that it was indeed a bad thing.
A few moments passed and she strained to hear past the static to discern anything happening on the other side of the phone. "Bella, please cooperate with Peter and Charlotte. They'll take care of you two until I can come get you." Jasper sounded nearly robotic in his cadence. "I shouldn't be too long."
The phone cut out, leaving the three vampires in utter silence.
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Edward skimmed his fingers across the ivory keys, the chords flowing together elegantly to complete a difficult rendition of 'Étude Op. 10 No. 4' by Chopin. The grand foyer was acoustically perfect, and it served its purpose to make sure that every inhabitant of the house heard his finale. If he'd been human, his chest would've been heaving from the effort, but since he was an undead monster, he was left with nothing but steady hands and an aching heart. The exertion of playing such an impressive piece was one of the many experiences he missed most about being human.
He'd missed out on so much life, and he was frozen permanently in the loss of it all.
When he'd first seen Isabella, he thought that perhaps some Great Change had come upon him and he would at last get to experience what had been taken from him the first time - but that had just been another dead end.
But the ennui of immortality still wasn't enough for him to willingly submit to eternal servitude to the Volturi. He'd heard the stories, the many covens that had mysteriously committed crimes in such a way that their talented members were conveniently forced to serve an impossibly long term in the Guard.
The thought of being surrounded by such sick minds and having Aro constantly touching him sent shivers down his spine.
"Son, that was beautiful." Edward startled when he realized Carlisle stood behind him, one of his medical books held casually open in one hand.
He must've been extremely distracted if Carlisle was able to sneak-
Jasper's thoughts, extremely controlled in a way he'd never heard from his brother before, washed over him. He stood instinctively, obliterating the keys unintentionally.
"Carlisle, for the love of all things holy, tell me that the family helicopter is here." His brother may be good at concealing his thoughts, but no one was that good; he had a month of Maria's whispering under his belt and actually now understood the monster that he had played house with for five decades.
His father's eyes widened. "Yes, but -"
"We need to go. He knows." Edward was already moving at full-tilt, grabbing his favorite CD and a change of clothes.
"But the others." Carlisle sounded distressed.
"No time." He grabbed his Maker and began hauling him towards the back kitchen exit that led to the helicopter pad. "He's almost to the house, we can get them later."
Sure, he wasn't quite sure that Jasper would let them live if he thought they were in on the plot, but it wasn't as if they had much of a choice. If grave harm befell them, then he and Carlisle could always just Make more strays since it had worked out so well the first time.
Besides, Rosalie was such an insufferable bit-
Edward's feet dug into the soft Earth when he saw the large silver wolf wagging her tail from atop the helicopter landing pad. She rested her giant head onto her paws and her tongue lolled out of her mouth as though she was just enjoying the sunny day and not guaranteeing their imminent demises.
"Fuck!" He couldn't help cursing, but made the logical decision to start charging at the wolf rather than confront the maelstrom of malice gathering at his rear. He was getting closer by the millisecond; any sooner and he would have to fight him while Carlisle dealt with the mutt.
"Well, if it isn't my dear brother and father on this fine afternoon." A deep voice rang across the lawn and followed by it was a walking Jasper. His arms and face exposed to the Sun so that his scars bent and twisted under the light in a frightening reminder of what he actually was. He tilted golden eyes their way and a charismatic smile stretched across his wickedly handsome face. "I must admit that ambushing a mindreader who also happens to be a colossal piece of shit is the most tactical I've had to get in awhile. But while I expected this smarminess from you, Eddie, that you, Carlisle, would abandon everyone including your own mate to my tender mercies surprised me a bit; you had me fooled with the whole gentle doctor routine I suppose."
Carlisle looked faintly uncomfortable. "You wouldn't have harmed them. They are completely innocent in this situation."
Jasper smiled at him with a lot of teeth. "I'm not a good man." Dragging a pale hand out of his jean pocket, he held out a gleaming gold locket with the letters C and E on it. "Such an easy kill, she didn't present much of a challenge. Though she did yammer on about how much she loved you right before I yanked her damn head off."
The doctor backed a few steps away at his words, clutching his chest. "No, that's not true. That can't be true. My Esme..." Shaking his head, he groaned before the shock wore off. Unadulterated rage then twisted his handsome features into a feral look. "You monster!"
Jasper laughed openly as his former leader launched himself across the lawn toward him with his claws elongated and his fangs flashing.
Edward, mind racing as he took stock of the situation, raced adjacent to his father in an attempt to use the moment to escape. But wolf fangs buried themselves into his leg and held, tethering him to the spot where he witnessed a horrifically merciless scene where Jasper effortlessly twisted their father's head off.
"Now, brother," he looked up from his kill with a sickening serenity, "let's finish this the way all of this started: just the two of us. Leah, release him."
Edward ran as fast as he could.