Jasper's POV

I found a vampire's scent near where Charlie had crashed so it was almost certainly Victoria that caused the accident. It was definitely the scent of a female. Now that I have her scent tracking her will be so much easier. I followed it to some caves in the mountains but I doubt she'd be coming back there now. Her scent seemed to zigzag down the mountain again and I wondered what she was doing. I was glad that Bella was well protected. That allowed me to put all my focus into the hunt.

Her trail led north then south and then to Seattle. Could she have been there the same time we were? With Charlie's accident, that's unlikely but I tracked her to an abandoned warehouse. There was screaming coming from inside so I proceeded carefully. In the end, it was a guy going through the change.

She'd just left him here to burn alone. A shiver ran up my back. I killed the guy and continued to follow. Her trail went north then east and disappeared. She must have had transportation waiting for her. I decided to stake out the warehouse. It was likely she'd return there. The Volturi doesn't look kindly on people who change people and leave them to fend for themselves. It leads to exposure and no one wants that kind of attention.

The longer I sat still the more I noticed that I kept rubbing my chest. It was hurting. I didn't think that could happen to vampires. Maybe I'd ask Peter if he knew anything about it but first I needed to catch Victoria.

I found a hiding spot in an alley close by and went still as a statue. I didn't want to scare away my prey when she got near. It was raining. It seemed that was a usual occurrence for this part of the country so I was soaked in no time at all. Still, I waited. A little cold and wet didn't affect me. Luckily it should be washing away my scent trail. I didn't need her to catch my scent before I caught hers. Wouldn't want to scare off my mark.

Jasper Whitlock was gone. The Major had taken over and I wondered if this side of myself would scare my Bella. I wouldn't be finding out today. Today Victoria died. All I had to do was wait.

I waited and waited. Day turned to night and then it was day again. The man that was changing would have woken up by now but Victoria hadn't come back. I let myself move. Once I started moving I started thinking. Bella. I'd left my Bella for days now. I rubbed my chest. It was time to go back home.

I started running.

Bella's POV

"Think you can drive me over to LaPush, kid?" Charlie asked as soon as Bella was awake the next morning.

"You got everything you need ready? I can take you over in about thirty minutes if you need to gather your things. I'll just go get dressed."

I ran back upstairs, ran a brush through my hair, and took off my sweats, putting on jeans and a shirt. I rubbed my chest again and ran back down to Charlie. I'd take a shower and get more presentable when I got back home.

Charlie had the truck loaded when Bella got downstairs and though she was glad Charlie felt well enough to get out she was a little put off that he had no desire to spend time with her. It made her feel unwanted and unloved.

She got in the truck and made the drive to LaPush. "Where do I take you?" she asked as the first buildings became visible.

"To the Black's," Charlie said. "I'm going out fishing with Billy."

When they pulled up outside the house Bella didn't even bother getting out. Charlie lept out of the truck and got his fishing poles and his tackle out of the truck.

"He didn't even say goodbye," Bella mumbled to herself when Charlie was inside. She just turned around and drove herself back home. Part of the way there she saw Char running alongside the truck and she felt safer. Jasper's friends' wanted her around. That was something. She rubbed her chest again and she got out of the car.

Char and Peter appeared in front of her. "So whatcha wantin' to do today little darlin',"

Actually I think I'd like to talk with you two for a while. Why don't we head inside? We know Charlie won't be interrupting us anytime soon," she said acerbically.

Peter opened the front door of the house for her and she walked in with a "Thanks Peter," over her shoulder.

"So I'm thinking it might be time to start thinking about changing me," Bella announced.

"Why do you think that?" Char asked.

"Because I'm going to be one of you eventually and it doesn't really seem like I have any reason to wait. If I was a vampire I wouldn't need so much protection."

"You're right, in a way, little darlin' if you were a vampire you wouldn't need as much protection but you'd be a newborn. You'd need a raising,"

"A newborn?" I asked.

"Yup, a brand new baby vampire," Peter clarified. "How much you know about becomin' a vampire?"

"Apparently not enough. I've never heard of newborns before. I've felt the start of the venom when James bit me so I know about the pain, a little. I know how you turn a vampire, but I haven't heard anything about newborns."

"For the first year or so a new vampire is called a newborn because they can't control themselves. It's up to their sire, the one that turned them, to control them and make sure they stay out of trouble."

"So Jasper would be too busy keeping me out of trouble to hunt Victoria?"

"It's likely we all would be too busy raisin' ya ta go huntin'," Peter clarified.

"Newborns are bloodthirsty, out of control, wild, have wicked tempers and crazy mood swings," Char noted.

"So I definitely need to wait until Jasper has finished Victoria before I change."

"It would make the most sense to do it that way, yes." Char agreed.

Bella tried to imagine herself so completely out of control but she couldn't picture it.

"You'll need ta talk this over with Jasper, little one, he's got the most experience with bitty vamps of all of us. But it'd be best if ya wait ta change till that female is done handled." Peter added.

I'll talk with Jasper when he comes back. I need to go and take a shower and get cleaned up then we can figure out what to do with our day, alright?" Bella asked.

"Sounds fine," Char said. Peter just nodded.

I tried to keep my shower as short as possible, washing off as quickly as I could. Naturally when I try to rush disaster happens. I almost fell getting out of the shower. Luckily I caught myself on the vanity and didn't end up bleeding. That would have been a bad idea just now. I threw on clean clothes and dried out my hair and figured that was enough for the day.

I got a couple of granola bars and a glass of milk and had a quick breakfast too.

Peter and Char tried to keep me entertained but my chest was hurting. I was missing Jasper and I didn't know when he was going to come back.

That night I had to go back to get Charlie. He was allowed to start driving the next day and he had me drop him off at the police station. I didn't know if he was on duty or not and I didn't ask. He didn't talk to me the whole way there after he told me where to take him so I didn't waste my breath.

I couldn't sleep that night. The next day I stayed inside, knowing this was where Jasper would come when he could but also knowing it could be days before he came back. He was determined to end Victoria or he would have waited for me to be here before he left.

That night I collapsed in bed, exhausted. I got some sleep but I kept dreaming of Jasper running through the forest following Victoria's trail. I'd wake up for a little while and then start dreaming again. I could tell Peter and Char were worried about me but they just tried to distract me. We played board games and it was fun enough but my mind went back to my dream and I would shiver.

Finally, the door flew open with Jasper standing there looking directly at me. I ran to him. He picked me up in his arms and swung me around. My chest didn't hurt anymore.

"You can't leave me again," I told him.

"I have to darlin'," He insisted. "I didn't get her this time."

"I've got a better solution to the problem Jasper," I told him.

He put me down on my feet and looked me straight in the eyes. "What's that Darlin',"

"Change me."