Hi, everybody! This is the second chapter of this new fanfiction. I was thinking about since the last year, I've become very good to write longer chapters.
This is only my second story, but, you know, I think that it will be a great work. Ok... Now, I'll stop. Always remember, unfortunately I don't own anything. Only the plot is mine, all the characters are property of Stephanie Meyer. Lucky her! Always enjoy reading and if you like the story, please leave a comment or a . Thank you, love u.
Chapter 3: And then we kiss
The thrill of hunting.
There was nothing more satisfying and exciting for a bloodthirsty vampire than to chase his prey before sucking the life out of her veins.
The pleasure that a vampire felt in killing a human, in perceiving the decided and rapid flow of blood inside the throat, feeling it spreading in the body, was something indescribable.
Human blood for a thirsty vampire was like a man who after wandering for days in the desert found himself a source of clear water.
As soon as a vampire perceived the metallic and salty taste of human blood, he was caught in a frenzy that made it impossible to stop from draining life from the human.
The first few times, it could seem like something difficult to do, especially if you were a newborn vampire.
But after a while, it became an automatic process, carried out without hesitation.
After all, vampires were ruthless beings without a soul. Killing became as simple as breathing...
This if you were not endowed with the gift of empathy.
I ran through the vast forest that surrounded our home.
My eyes were black as if I hadn't fed for months and, to tell the truth, it had been a long time since I had been hunting.
The presence of Jacob and Nessie only made things worse: I was forced to hold my breath all the time and repel the venom that went up my throat.
After my Alice disappeared, I hadn't gone hunting for months, hoping that if Alice died, I could join her.
I didn't have a favorite prey like the "older" brothers, I was tremendously thirsty at that moment so I would literally devour whatever happened to me at gunpoint.
While I was running, I tried not to think about the second reason why I had chosen to leave the house: I was furious with Carlisle and the rest of the family, even Edward since he had certainly leaked everything to others as soon as I left the door.
For the first time in five years we were close to finally finding my sweet Alice... and they... remained indifferent as if nothing had happened.
It hadn't been a day since I lost my wife that I didn't feel like a part of me had gone away with her.
I was on the branches of a tree to get a better view of the forest when I saw a deer running, while it was being followed a short distance from a mountain lion.
I felt the poison rise again in my throat, my gums became painful and every part of me literally begged me to throw myself on that deer and drain it to the last drop of blood.
I began to chase the two beasts and soon I threw myself on the body of the deer breaking his neck.
I felt the characteristic click that indicated that the neck bone had been broken and soon, I found myself draining the blood from the main vein.
As I felt the familiar taste of blood flowing down my throat, I was clinging ever stronger to the animal.
I felt the forces increase and in a few seconds the animal remained completely drained and lifeless.
I threw the carcass on the other side of the forest but I was just getting up to continue the pursuit of the mountain lion, the eyes of the deer I had just killed, despite being lifeless, I seemed that they had begun to stare at me.
That's when I remembered it: it was Alice's favorite prey.
She said that the deer had a taste that vaguely reminded her of humans so it satisfied her more, and she also believed that she and the deer had in common the fact of being small.
My sweet, innocent Alice... I affectionately called her a freaking little monster because of her tremendous combat skills.
The mountain lion continued to run and I was at his heels, the deer had given me many strength but not enough to satiate me completely.
As animals, it had to be admitted that they were never really able to quench their thirst.
But I could no longer lead the way of life that I had when I was in the army of Maria for three fundamental reasons: the first was that I was part of the Cullen family for decades now and abandon our "vegetarian" diet It meant going against everything that Carlisle strenuously tried to enforce on all of us.
The second was that I could no longer bear to kill humans because of my extra power which allowed me to feel all their emotions.
I often wanted not to have that "gift" as my foster family called it.
The third was the one I cared the most about, in truth: feeding on human blood would be tantamount to betrayal of my Alice and I knew that although she was no longer here with me, she would hate to know that I had broken our pact.
The puma suddenly changed direction, he had probably sensed that he was being chased and so scared he had reversed the road.
If it weren't for my vampire reflexes I would have lost him because he could blend perfectly into the dense vegetation.
That chase kind of reminded me of what I did with Victoria.
I was second fastest in the family since Edward, so keeping up with the vampires and, especially with the animals, it was pretty much a walk in the park for me.
It seemed like it was only a few minutes since I left home, but in reality it had been hours judging by the color of the sky.
The mountain lion stopped at a certain point.
At that moment it seemed so human to me... He stopped as if he needed to catch his breath while I was a centuries-old vampire and I didn't have these needs so... That was a good time to attack.
I threw myself on the mountain lion with a feline sprint and after a short fight, I managed to easily break the neck bone and drain it of all the blood through the main artery.
It didn't matter if it was animal or human, the blood was always able to send me into total ecstasy.
It was so true that there was nothing more pleasing to vampires than the taste of blood.
And that's why I kind of hated that my Alice was one of us.
She was so pure and innocent, and even if she didn't admit it, I could sense that even killing animals caused her pain, let alone humans.
I kept hunting for at least three more hours, and by now it was dusk.
I stopped to observe the spectacle given by heaven that preceded the beginning of the night.
I sat at the foot of a large oak tree and closed my eyes, imagining that next to me, with my head resting on my shoulder was Alice.
Sometimes I wish I could sleep, so maybe I could really dream about my wife.
My inner peace was interrupted by the ringing of my phone.
I opened my eyes suddenly and saw that it was the middle of the night.
Although I could not really sleep, it seemed that I had done so because I had not noticed the passing of time.
I took my cell phone and saw that Rosalie had sent me a message telling me to come home as soon as possible.
I did not hesitate for a moment and immediately headed towards our huge and modern home.
As I approached, I could feel the emotions of all my brothers, my parents, my niece and Jacob.
It was overwhelming and gave me a terrible migraine, but after decades I was used to it.
Carlisle felt a strong sense of guilt and sadness; Esme was terribly grieved, Edward was frustrated and annoyed, Rosalie was angry, Emmett was upset, Bella was nervous and angry, Nessie was tired, sad and frustrated and Jacob was impatient.
In fact, it was as if everyone shared the same mood.
I wondered what had happened to cause that terrible atmosphere.
I entered the house frantically, almost knocking down the door.
In front of me I found a far-fetched scene: Edward held his head in his hands, the thoughts of the family were literally driving him crazy.
Esme seemed destroyed and Carlisle looked aged though impossible.
Everyone else had expressions I couldn't even comprehend.
They turned to me and the women looked at me with a look of sorrow and guilt.
I hurried to manipulate the present atmosphere, I could not bear all that pain.
There was a silence of the grave.
"Jasper, when you left, we started talking and discussing a possible expedition to Mexico to Maria's territories to look for Alice, and, well... I'm not sure you'll like our answer..."- Rosalie was the first to break that strange atmosphere.
Who knows why I had a bad feeling about the subsequent words that were spoken not by her but by Carlisle.
"Carlisle speaks."- I said no more but enough to make others understand that my patience was almost totally exhausted.
"You see, Jasper, as much as I myself am the first to want Alice back safe and sound here, we have all agreed that it is too dangerous to leave for Mexico, even with the help of Sam's pack, we are clearly outnumbered. I am so sorry." - at that moment a tremendous wave of anger and pain overwhelmed us all and at first I did not realize that I had caused it myself.
I had my hand on a wooden table, and I held the surface so tightly that I broke it.
I couldn't take it anymore.
"No Carlisle. We wouldn't be outnumbered. I alone could kill even three babies at a time. Hell, I could kill the same Maria! We both know the truth: you have forgotten it! You have surrendered! You are moving forward! You no longer care that maybe Alice could be reduced to a pile of ash!" - I screamed, threw myself on the floor and took my head in my hands.
I began to sob, if I had been human by now the sweater I was wearing would have been covered with tears.
I felt a deep anger towards my entire family because not only had they given up looking for my wife, but mostly because they refused to admit it.
"Jasper!" - shouted Esme, putting her right hand on the heart that had not been beating for decades-"How can you even think such a thing! Alice is a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a wife, a friend for everyone! You're not the only one suffering from his disappearance, and it's extremely selfish of you to say otherwise!"
None of us had ever seen Esme so angry.
I looked up and looked at my brothers and the others in the room.
"Look, Jazz, it's not that we don't want to go to Mexico because we don't want Alice back, we'd miss her. But you have to admit it would be a foolish and reckless move to just show up. We don't even know if that psycho is still in Monterrey or if she moved somewhere else. The last time you talked to those friends of yours was five years ago!" - said Emmett, with arms around Rosalie's waist.
"Besides, we have just returned to the city. Our disappearance without any warning could arouse suspicion..."- continued Rosalie.
I laughed bitterly.
That phrase of my "twin" was ridiculous and he knew it very well.
"One of our "sudden disappearances"? Listen to Rosalie and even you Emmett, you are clearly trying to climb on straws. I'd appreciate a lot more if you'd just admit the truth."
I suddenly got up and was about to go to one of the many terraces of the house, when I heard the voices of Bella and Edward.
"Really Jasper... We have to admit that what you said is true: we stopped looking for Alice, believing that there is no more hope of her finding. It's been too long, even though she's a very strong vampire, I don't think if she was kidnapped she could have lasted that long." - said Edward and Bella who had her hand entwined with her nodded with mortified air.
That admission made me feel even worse.
As long as no one would confirm it, I could never really know if my theories were correct, but now... Knowing that my family had forgotten Alice by now made me feel a deep sense of hatred and contempt for them.
I think they noticed it because their faces got mortified. There was no need to express my thoughts out loud, as long as Edward heard it.
"It's no use now. You have made your opinion perfectly clear."
Having said that, I went to the terrace.
I could hear my brothers and others whisper.
I tried not to listen to them but it was practically impossible with my hearing so developed.
"I told him that we would be wrong to deny him to go to Mexico! And even you two, was it really necessary to tell him the truth?! You upset him more than he already was!"- Rosalie yelled at Edward and Bella.
"What do you think we should do? Keep lying to him? Do you really think that would make him feel better? Jasper is not stupid, he would surely have understood that we were hiding something!" - Edward replied.
"The only thing I regret is that we didn't tell him before. We shouldn't have been so slow!" - agreed Bella.
"Truth or not I don't think it right that Jasper accuses us of not missing Alice, it's an insensitive attitude on his part!" - said Esme.
"Please, if you were so concerned about Alice, you would have looked for her even to the ends of the earth. You wouldn't have stopped even at the prospect of facing Mary with her army of leeches! Carlisle, this behavior is not like you, I've known you for years now..."- said Jacob.
"Mom, dad... How could you do this to Uncle Jasper and Aunt Alice?! When Jake and I left three months ago, you said you'd keep looking for her! All this time you have lied not only to Uncle Jasper, but also to Jacob and me! I did not believe you capable of such meanness!" - screamed, in tears, Renesmee.
"Nessie we did not want to lie to you, sorry terribly darling. But it's true, we don't believe there's any chance that Aunt Alice is still alive. We've been looking for her for a long time..."- said Bella.
"But that doesn't mean you were allowed to lie to me! I'm not a little girl who needs to be protected! I deserve to know the truth!" - cried Renesmee.
"From the Nessie, now calm down..."- said Jacob, only to be brutally attacked by my niece.
"Don't tell me to calm down! You have no right to do this! We took a three-month trip, risked our lives to find information about Aunt Alice, and now you're telling me to stay calm!" - screamed Renesmee.
"Renesmee, I really don't know how we could apologize to you, honey... You're absolutely right, we shouldn't have lied to you but we didn't know what else to do!" - Edward said.
"You should have thought of that before. I'm going home now, it's been a horrible day. I should have stayed in Miami."- said Nessie and, a moment later, despite the protests of Edward and Bella, ran away like lightning.
She walked by me so fast that I didn't even have time to look at her.
"I have to go to her. She's upset, I have to talk to her, I'm her mother." - said Bella, but before she could head out, she was stopped by Edward.
"Bella, no. Wait, now she needs to be alone. I don't think it's appropriate to follow her."
"Edward, but how do you think?! Our daughter is mad at us and has all the reasons! We are her parents, there should be trust between us and we have betrayed her. So you will not stop me from going to her!" - exclaimed Bella.
"I agree with Edward, you have to let her metabolize, Bella. I think it would be even more dangerous if I went to her now. She's angry because she wanted to know the truth..."- Jacob replied.
"And she's right! Hell, I was completely wrong to keep her in the dark!" - exclaimed Bella.
"Oh, look, Bella, there's no point in playing the victim now! We all know that if Edward hadn't said those things to Jasper, you would have kept quiet! All the more reason to keep your mouth shut!" - screamed Rosalie.
"Rosalie now stop. I don't think it's a good thing to say. For once in your existence you could not try to make an argument using calm and rationality?! But you do not know these two words!" - he exclaimed, infuriated, Edward.
"Hey! Eddie, come on, let's not fuel unnecessary controversy. Rose didn't want to offend anyone!" - Emmett replied.
"But really? Listen to Rosalie: from the beginning I was the only one to say that you had to tell the truth to Jasper, Renesmee and Jacob. When I said to do it, all of you, including you, Edward, ordered me to remain silent! If we really want to say it all, apart from me there was no one inclined to really clarify the situation!" - exclaimed Bella, completely enraged.
"Wait a moment... Would you say that now it's my fault if our daughter and Jasper are angry?! Wasn't I the only one who spoke first? How hypocritical, and then if you cared so much, you could tell him how things really were!" - answered, screaming, Edward.
"Of course it's your fault too! How could I tell him the truth, you would have attacked me just as you are doing now!" - screamed Bella.
"Do you see how she does, Edward?! She's not okay with anything!" - Rosalie answered.
"Don't interfere Rosalie!" - said Edward.
"That's enough! This discussion ends here!" - screamed, completely impatient, Carlisle. Rosalie threw one last sour glance at Edward and Bella, then left quickly followed by Emmett who looked at them with an apologetic look.
Jacob left saying he had to go back to La Push. Carlisle and Esme decided to go hunting.
I didn't see them leave, though, since they came out of another entrance.
Edward went to the room containing his piano, looking deeply disappointed and embittered at Bella, who remained in the living room in shock.
I sincerely felt sorry for the two of them and the situation that had arisen with Renesmee, because, despite hating that truth, they were the only ones to admit it.
I pulled out of my jeans pocket my cell phone and quickly sent a message to my niece.
"Ness, don't be angry with your parents. They didn't know what to do and they preferred not to involve you. Don't let this affect your relationship. They love you." - I had never had a very close relationship with her. I mean, I loved her, Alice and I made it to the ends of the earth to find someone of his own kind.
But there wasn't the same connection he had with Rosalie, for instance.
Alice, for her part, while spending only a short time with her, loved her exactly as a loving aunt.
I was hoping that Renesmee would understand the meaning of my message.
Indeed, I didn't have to wait long, as she answered me quickly.
"Ok... But they were wrong to lie to us anyway." - I chuckled softly, thinking that he had surely written that message with a pout on his sweet face.
I started thinking about my wife again, my mind was thinking about all the worst possible scenarios, starting with a kidnapping until... Death...
"My Alice... You can't be dead. Where are you, my love?"
The creaking of the wooden boards of the terrace floor kept me from my thoughts.
I knew exactly who she was and why she was here.
"You know... Alice and I weren't always as close as when you met us." - I said, suddenly in a quiet tone; all my previous anger seemed to have faded away.
"Really? I just can't imagine you without being in love..."- replied, surprise, Bella.
If she was surprised by my statement or the simple fact that I was talking to her, I couldn't know.
"Yes... When I met her at that diner in Philadelphia, I was struck by her emotions. They were feelings that I had never felt since I was turned into a vampire. But she... She felt so naturally that I found myself involved. I agreed to follow her, but it didn't mean that I felt the love I have for her today." - continued, lost in the memories of several decades ago.
"It's strange... So how was your relationship before... You know, getting married?" - asked Bella, with genuine curiosity approaching me.
"Well... Actually, for a short while, I almost couldn't stand it. See... It was just like when you met her. More than we can bear, we can say that I envied his way of being always cheerful and spontaneous. When he first forced me to go shopping... I remember exactly how angry I was with her all the time she forced me to spend in the shops... But it wasn't just that... She seemed to live in the world of fairies, never lost heart and was always positive and confident... It was the exact opposite of me, and I was very upset about it." - I answered, smiling softly.
"It's understandable, I mean, you had lived an extremely hard life compared to his. I mean as a vampire... I don't know much about your lives as humans, but I sincerely believe that they matter little. So, honestly, I don't feel like blaming you for your initial behavior towards her, and I think she would agree with me, too." - said Bella, leaning against the railing.
"Yes... Maybe you're right, but that doesn't excuse the fact that she had nothing to do with my past. I yelled at her so many times, I hurt her so many times without her deserving... When I asked her why her eyes had that unusual color, she explained to me that it was because she hunted animals rather than humans... At that moment I could hardly stop laughing at her face... I found it absurd! I mean, I still think it's against our nature to feed on animals, but back then... When Alice first showed me how to hunt a deer... I remember being impressed by its style... It was, so to speak, unusual. But I told her that I would never, ever stop feeding on humans." - I said, in a bitter tone.
"Well... that's understandable, too. It's natural for vampires to drink human blood. Honestly, I think if I didn't live in our family I would never have adopted the "vegetarian" lifestyle. Besides, feeding on animals doesn't mean I'm attracted to humans myself." - Bella answered, looking at me.
"It was a long time ago, I began to have protective feelings for him. I knew she was perfectly capable of defending herself, but for some strange reason I couldn't shake the feeling that it was my duty to protect her from any eventual enemy. She dragged me wherever she wanted, and even though I went reluctantly, I couldn't find the strength to reject her. As the years went by, I also started to practice the vegetarian lifestyle. I started to understand her more, I started to get close to her and I started to fall in love with her. Of course, I didn't see it at first, but I think she knew. After all, from the first time she saw me, she told me that she and I would be together forever as soul mates. All the feelings of annoyance that I felt initially for her, as if by magic, disappeared and suddenly I found myself madly in love with her and I couldn't bear the idea of leaving her even a moment. And then..."- I took a cheerful tone remembering the day I finally decided to admit my real feelings for my Alice.
But then, a terrible event came to my mind and I lost the joy I had.
Thinking about it, I had not felt pure happiness for a long time.
"Then what? What happened?" - she asked, impatient, Bella.
"Alice has always loved Europe, especially Italy. I don't think you've ever had a chance to hear it, but he speaks an extremely fluent Italian. Actually, I do too, but I hardly ever speak it. Anyway... We decided to travel for about three months in Europe. At the time we were about three years old when we joined the family of Carlisle. We were practically the same as when you met us even though we weren't married yet. We arrived in London and stayed in a luxury hotel in the city center. One day we went hunting... We were going to feed on a mountain lion, when I smelled some humans wandering not far from where we went hunting. Alice tried to distract me, proposed to change direction but... My predatory instincts had already taken over, so I hurried to follow them. I had Alice on my tail, but it didn't matter. When I got close to those humans, I was ready to attack them but Alice with a move that left me completely upset, managed to drag me away from there. He caught me from behind and rolled me through the forest. I got up and looked at her with a look full of rage... I've never felt so angry at anyone in my entire life! I tried to catch those humans again, but she kept stopping me and stopping me until those people left. It was a struggle between me and her, as small as she was, she possessed a shattering force. I dropped her off, I no longer cared that she was Alice in front of me. I just saw her as an obstacle that wanted to stop me from feeding. So I did something I regret every single day: I put her in a position that, if she was human, would have meant I was strangling her, and then I pushed her into a tree with violence. In the collision, his ribs were crushed but fortunately they recovered immediately. It was not, however, the worst thing: he gave me a look of sadness, disappointment... Terror. He was afraid of me. I will never forget her face that day. After that, she ran away and I did not see her for... Hours. I felt guilty, a monster, I kept telling myself that was why I shouldn't let her fall in love with me. I didn't deserve her, I could only hurt her and hurt her. The situation got worse when I couldn't find her anywhere. I was desperate, sobbing and hitting whatever came my way. I didn't know where to look for her, I'd been looking for her for hours. I thought I'd lost her forever, when I heard a terrible, heartbreaking scream. It was her, I could hear her even if she was at least two kilometers away. I ran as fast as I could in the hope of reaching her as soon as possible. As I got closer, I could feel his emotions: fear, pain, anger, frustration... I found her struggling with an extremely strong nomadic vampire in combat. He had blocked her, he was trying to detach his arms, but he didn't expect to be faced with my very skilled combat skills. It took me less than a minute to destroy it. After taking care of him, I expected Alice to have escaped, but to my surprise, I found her sitting on the stones as she breathed. I slowly approached her, fearing to frighten her. I was shocked when she practically threw herself into my arms sobbing. She was terrified and I used my power to calm her down. We both sobbed, I tried to apologize for my behavior, but she wouldn't let me. He said it wasn't my fault and that I'd get better in time. At that moment, I did something that I had done before, but it was at that very moment that I realized how much I loved that woman and how lucky I was to have her: I kissed her, with so much passion and love that we almost ended up falling on the ground." - it had been at least ten minutes since I started telling her that story, but for me it was as if time had stopped.
Bella, for her part, was completely upset but at the same time fascinated.
"I never expected to hear such a story. You know what that proves, Jasper? That you love Alice deeply and that you would stop at nothing to save her. That vampire could have killed you but you didn't care. What mattered to you was saving Alice. That's amazing!" - exclaimed Bella.
"You don't even know how long it took me to make a speech to ask her to marry me!" - I laughed,
"Edward and Emmett helped me. Edward was more of a sentimentalist type of guy, and Emmett didn't shy away from making ridiculous and inappropriate jokes. Carlisle gave me the real help. Edward, however, helped me with the choice of the wedding ring. It was so beautiful, although in truth Alice already had one. I took it from him in Italy: he considered it an engagement ring." - I explained to my foster sister.
"I guess it was really nice, then at that time then... Surely it was built with precious materials." - agreed Bella. I turned to look at her. I thought for a few seconds about what to do.
"Come with me. I want to show you something." - I saw the doubt creeping on her face for a moment, but immediately he began to follow me.
We went up the stairs to the room that once belonged to me and my little Alice.
I entered the room, followed a short distance from Bella.
I approached a small casket locked.
I opened it and pulled out a little box of black velvet.
I extracted a beautiful round-cut titanium ring and white diamonds, with a pretty green titanium flower adorned with diamonds on top.
I chose it at the time because of its peculiarity.
"It's... Wonderful! I had never seen a ring so particular... It's absolutely wonderful!" - she said, with a marvelous face, Bella.
I suddenly closed the box and posed it.
"Jasper, I'm so sorry. We were all wrong to behave in such a mean way. I miss her terribly and I just want Alice to come back safe and sound to us." - said Bella, with a sad face.
"Alice is alive! I will find her, with or without your support! It's all for me!" - I exclaimed with determination.
Bella nodded consciously.
"Another thing... Edward went to your cottage. He will forgive you, he loves you too much to stay angry with you. The same goes for Renesmee."- I said, and then I left the room.
Bella's emotion made me smile sweetly: gratitude.
I was walking outside the room, when Bella spoke to me again.
"Jasper... Why did you tell me all those things? About you and Alice... I mean, they're extremely personal, I'm sure remembering them will bring you pain. And then, after everything we've done to you... You shouldn't even talk to me." - she said, sadly.
I turned to look at her.
I approached her and beckoned her to follow me back into the big bedroom.
On a large antique dresser, I kept on display a photograph that Esme had taken on our wedding day.
It was one of the best days of our existence.
I pointed it out to Bella.
"At first I didn't even know why I told you all those things. I never talk about it, our family hardly knows it. But I wanted you to know how much Alice and I mean to each other. I'll never give up, just so you know. I want you, but everyone else knows that nothing will stop me from finding my Alice."- I said, with a strong tone.
Bella looked at me, she seemed intent on thinking about something.
Suddenly, she moved and after giving me a last look, ran away from the house.
You didn't have to be empathetic to understand how she felt: determination.