"Why the sour face?" Emmett asked Jasper, as the two of them drove down the highway, trees flying past them.
"How can you be just fine when we are chasing a human, someone who could expose or secret and destroy everything?" Jasper asked with a sigh, and started with a strange mixture of irritation and fascination at Emmett. Because Emmett truly was calm, almost happy if not excited, and Jasper just couldn't fathom how he wasn't worried. Did he not care at all?
"Correction, we are catching a human soon, she is not going to expose our secret and everything will be fine," Emmett said firmly, and showed his dimples as he smiled toward his brother. "We don't even know if this tiny little girl knows anything, I mean for all we know she saw nothing, and everything will be just perfect!" he insisted, and Jasper stared at him in disbelief.
"And have you considered what we will do if she has seen too much?" Jasper reminded him, because he had thought a rather great deal about it. Not that there was that much to consider, if this Alice knew too much the law was clear. Either change her or kill her. Jasper knew Carlisle didn't change anyone unless they were dying, and Jasper didn't think any of them wanted a simple thief to be a part of their coven, which left death as the only option.
Knowing his family, Jasper already knew he would be the one who had to do the deed. If she was lucky Carlisle would sedate her first, but Jasper was ready to end her life quickly if needed, and tried to convince himself he was doing this for his family's sake.
"Come on Jazz… All of us are probably just overreacting, and she saw nothing. It was probably dark, and she only saw all of the cash," Emmett tried to brush it off, but Jasper wasn't going to allow it.
"I think most humans would be curious why so much cash and jewels were lying around! Or how come we had so many cars? Or perhaps she noticed our fucking empty fridge?" Jasper groaned, knowing there were so many small details that could have warned her of their true nature.
"I don't think an empty fridge is going to make her think we are vampires..." Emmett tried to point out softly, and Jasper realized he had begun to project his feelings toward Emmett, who thankfully had remained calm, and Jasper instantly pulled all his feelings back into himself.
"I just don't like it," Jasper sighed. "How come she had chosen to leave the day we found her motel? Doesn't that seem slightly concerning to you?" Jasper questioned, because it certainly concerned him. It had concerned Carlisle as well, and Edward had agreed it was rather strange, but Emmett did not seem to care that much.
"It's probably just a coincidence?" he suggested lightly, and Jasper felt ready to rip his head off, but at the same time he admired him for staying this calm.
"Maybe…" Jasper muttered, but wasn't convinced at all. "But what i would like to understand is how the fuck you can stay this calm right now?" he asked in a demanding tone, because somehow the calmness Emmett projected only pissed him further off. And he was pretty pissed already.
"Well it's not really going to help if I panic, does it?" Emmett questioned, and sounded almost wise for a second. "I mean, it's not like the problem is going to disappear, and at this point we don't even know that much about this Alice. She might know nothing," he added, and turned to look at Jasper, still driving his Jeep. But it didn't matter whenever he did it blindfolded, vampires had excellent reflexes and sense, and it would be impossible for Emmett to crash the car. "What i would like to know is why you are so fucking tense?"
"Because our coven is in danger!" Jasper snapped, annoyed that Emmett kept asking him.
"No no Jazzy boy, something else is going on! I might be stupid, but I can see something else is going on?" Emmett pressed, and wasn't incorrect.
Because something was going on, but Jasper wasn't ready to talk about it.
He wasn't even sure if he understood it, but there was something about Alice's scent that seemed to drive him mad. For once it wasn't like he wanted to eat her, but her scent was strange to him in a good way. He hated to admit it, but he desperately wanted to sniff her up close and inhale as much of her scent as possible, he even wondered what she would taste like. But he kept pushing that thought away.
But at the same time he hated Alice, because she had brought his whole family in danger. He felt so conflicted whenever he looked down at the photo in his hands, at once feeling so much anger and curiosity at the same time.
The photo had been made by Edward and Bella on a computer. It had taken a fair amount of time, and it was based on what Edward had seen in the old receptionist head. The picture was made of so many different pictures from the web, and according to Edward it was a fairly accurate representation of Alice, made well enough to look like an actual photograph. None of them had really known how to manipulate photos like that, but after a few hours Edward and Bella had mastered the art, and it was their best option at this point.
After finding the motel to be empty, there hadn't been a lot of options left, and all of them had gone back home to talk with Esme, Rosalie and Bella. Carlisle had been given a plastic bag by the receptionist, which contained a few items of clothing she had forgotten, and a sketch of what appeared to be a dress. Perhaps suggesting that Alice was artistic? Carlisle had clearly hoped Esme's necklace would be among the things, but he had only been disappointed. The bag didn't really contain anything but her scent, and they had been left without many options. If any at all.
Because how were they supposed to hunt a human down, with no clues to her whereabouts? Was she still in Seattle, or had she tried to leave? Carlisle had considered contacting one of his old friends, who was a tracker, but he knew it would be best to involve no one, and Alistair wouldn't want to be involved anyway.
It had taken almost an hour for them to come up with a concrete plan, which was their best option at this point. And so Edward and Bella had spent hours making a photo of this Alice, as they intended to search for her as soon as the stores opened.
The plan was to go to every gas station, restaurant and motel, asking if they had seen the girl in the photo. They would have to claim she was their sister or child who had gone missing, and they were worried for her wellbeing. And so Rosalie, Bella and Esme had searched Seattle, while Carlisle and Edward had gone south. Emmett and Jasper had taken the east highway in Emmett's Jeep, hoping something would happen.
But so far they haven't been very lucky.
And neither had the others.
"I don't want to talk about it," Jasper muttered, feeling rather frustrated at the moment, as it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
"Hakuna Matata my friend!" Emmett said peacefully, being the jokester he always was, and Jasper couldn't help but smile ever so slightly. He had never really been a fan of those animations, but Emmett seemed to enjoy them immensely, and Jasper got the reference somewhat.
"You are like a big child sometimes…" Jasper muttered, although Emmett heard it, but the big giant just laughed.
"At least I am not an old man like you!" he joked back, and didn't seem affected at all. "Now, I am going to throw your sorry butt off my car in a few minutes, and you can go ask that nice gas station over there if they have seen our dear sister," he said with a smile in his eyes, clearly finding their whole plan rather hilarious. "Meanwhile I am going to ask the Diner further down the road," he informed.
And that's how Jasper found himself standing in front of a gas station just a minute later, watching his brother drive off, with little care for anything. With a sigh he stared at the picture of this mysterious Alice, wondering if that was what she looked like. A tiny petite little female, with long brown hair and dark brown eyes, and a few freckles across her nose. Under different circumstances Jasper would have admitted she was cute, if not beautiful, but at this point his emotions toward her were so confusing he couldn't think like that.
He would probably have to kill her soon anyway.
And with a sigh he stepped into the small store, filled with all kinds of shit human's apparently liked, but to Jasper they smelled vile. Behind the counter was a middle aged bald man, who was sweating profoundly and wore a tiny pair of glasses. He disgusted Jasper slightly, mostly because of how much sweat he procused, but also because he smelled like human food. Mostly fries and burgers.
"How can I help you son?" he asked kindly as Jasper walked up to his counter, and seemed slightly shocked by Jasper's beauty. But he was used to that kind of reaction.
"I am looking for my sister. She disappeared a few days ago and my parents have been worried ever since, have you seen her?" Jasper asked, trying to appear worriedly, and showed the picture in his hand. Most of those they had asked instantly said they hadn't seen her, but to Jasper's surprise this man grabbed the picture from him, and looked at it twice.
"Hmmm… you know what, I think I have…" he mused, and Jasper suddenly felt his own interest peak. Could it be?
"Any information would be truly helpful for me and my family…" Jasper insisted, and manipulated his emotions so he wouldn't be too suspicious.
"Well I can't help with much…" he muttered, scratching his bald head. "She was here a few hours ago to buy gas and a map… paid cash from what I recall. I might have something from the surveillance cameras if you want?" he offered, and Jasper nodded eagerly.
"If it's not too much trouble I would be thankful!" He tried to ask politely, but on the inside he was desperate to simply run to that computer at vampire speed, and find the footage on his own.
"Follow me!" the man said eagerly, and Jasper was just about to follow him, when his phone began to buzz. And to his surprise it was Emmett.
"I will come in just a second," Jasper smiled, and with a nod the man disappeared into his office, while Jasper accepted Emmett's call. "What is it?" he asked, slightly annoyed as he just found something of interest.
"Shit bro you have to come right now! Fuck! She just managed to run away from me, that clever little minx!" he cursed, and Jasper was out of the door before he could finish.