Chapter 4
Ana spent a quiet school night at home, reflecting on the fashions and conversations she had seen and heard at school today. The last time she had been forced to go to a high school had been in the 80's, and the fashions then had been wildly different, all spandex and bright neon colours, so different from the baggy, bland clothes these teenagers were wearing now. Every single student had a black raincoat here, not one of them daring to try a different color. It spoke volumes about the town and really drilled into Ana's brain the fact that she should avoid standing out at all costs.
Her thoughts turned now to the girl she had deliberately sat beside in English class, the one she had spotted at lunch who had seemed afraid of her. The girl had smelled like a vampire, yet was clearly human. It was very strange. Ana made a mental note to find out what that was about; having a vampire in town could complicate her plans.
Ana finished writing up what she had learned so far and stuck it in a hollow book on her bookshelf for safekeeping before heading up to bed. Even though she could go for days without sleep, socializing with teenagers had taken a lot out of her. She turned off the lights throughout the house as she went upstairs, not noticing the glowing pair of eyes outside of her living room window, watching her.
After Bella had come to Edward about the suspicious new girl, Jasper had gone on the first outing to suss out the situation. Rosalie, Alice and Emmett had already gone hunting and would not be back until the morning and Carlisle and Esme were loathe to invade someone's privacy without real cause. Edward, of course, would be staying with Bella tonight and would try to get a look into the new girls mind when he went to school the next day. So it was up to Jasper to take the initiative and find out what he could now. So far, she seemed human. He had watched her eat human food and now she was heading to bed. The only suspicious thing he had seen so far, was her hiding papers in a hollow book and of course, her practically being Rosalie's twin.
His mouth twitched unhappily as it always did when he thought there was danger. He chose not to break into her house tonight, but to wait until the morning when she was gone. He settled down in a bush to wait.
Morning came and Jasper had not yet moved a muscle. When he saw that she was up very early, he switched bushes to get a better view into her upstairs window. She seemed to be humming to herself as she went downstairs and made herself a very human breakfast of bacon and eggs. Jasper went from bush to bush and watched as she placed a third egg on the pan, obviously having decided that two were not enough and then she walked away. He listened hard; he could hear her in the bathroom washing her face. Then the smoke detector went off, causing her to rush back into the kitchen, cursing as she went. Jasper almost smiled; this girl was obviously human. Bella must have just overreacted the other day.
The girl fanned a towel towards her smoke detector until it stopped beeping and then wrenched her kitchen window open to let some fresh air in. Jasper, relaxed now, watched as she took in a breath of fresh air and then froze. He watched her take another deep breath and then she turned and looked directly at him. Jasper tensed now, every muscle on alert as she disappeared from the window, faster than any human ever could.
Jasper ran to the house and launched himself through the open kitchen window. He ran around the inside quickly but she was already gone. He looked to the bookshelf and easily found the hollow book he had spotted yesterday. Upon opening it, he was dismayed to find it empty. She must have known he had been watching.
Jasper followed her into the school area on foot, glad it was still too early for any students to be here yet. Only some of the staff were in as he could see their cars parked in front of the office building. He made sure to avoid that area; he couldn't be seen. He was no longer a student here after all and was supposed to be far away at college; stopping to explain himself would take too long. He glided between the buildings, sniffing the air as he followed her. Such a strange scent, he wrinkled his nose. It smelled like flowers, sunshine, lake water and something sweet like maple syrup all mixed into one. He could smell the traces of vampire DNA and the traces of werewolf DNA. It didn't make sense. How was that possible?
He heard a door slam to his left and he rushed towards the sound. It had to be her. It was. He could smell her through the metal doorway of the brick building and without thinking he followed her in.
Eyes narrowed into slits he rushed at her, grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the wall, denting it. He clenched his marble fingers harder around her neck, feeling the supple human tissue begin to break. Her face was red as she struggled to breathe, blue eyes wide with fear. He did not let go though. Her not dying immediately was further proof that she wasn't human.
She still had yet to fight back or say anything, almost as if she were playing innocent. It was almost too easy to catch her; almost as if she had led him here. Jasper stared into her eyes in suspicion as they changed from wide eyed fear to a cold stare.
"What are you?" He hissed at her.
He heard a noise then and his head whipped around to stare at the door. Cars. The first students were arriving. He cursed silently under his breath but before he could decide what to do the girl's arm suddenly shot out into his chest and he was launched across the room, breaking his hold on her.
Jasper recovered quickly, but not as quick as her. She was on him before he could fully get up, the broken red skin around her neck healing in front of his eyes as she firmly straddled him on the ground, pinning his arms to either side of him. He was surprised at her strength.
"Now," she said in a soft voice, smiling like a predator, "Was there something I could help you with? You're not very being friendly."
Jasper hissed at her, displeased with no longer having the upper hand, or at least the illusion of it. The sound of cars were louder now as were the voices of teenagers. She glanced at the door and then back at him, smirked, and then stood up. He got to his feet in a flash. They could hear the footsteps of teenagers making their way to the classrooms as they stared each other down.
"Run fast little vampire," the girl purred at him as he gave her one last dirty look and vanished out the door.
Ana took a seat at one of the desks and pulled a compact out of the backpack she had thrown near it when she'd heard the vampire following her. She checked her neck; all healed. Perfect. It would not do to have the little human teenagers noticing her too much. She already stood out, being the only new girl. If they saw her injured neck as well, gossip would spread and teachers, not to mention law enforcement, would get involved. She couldn't have that. She just needed to blend in until she got her job done. Then she could hightail it out of this cold little town.
