Chapter 16: Preparations
The taste of her kiss lingered on my lips as I watched the most beautiful girl in the world walk into the Gym. With her no longer by my side I feel an unexplained emptiness.
Walking to Spanish class I let out a groan of frustration, causing several children to look my way as I realized I forgot my Spanish homework at home. How did that happen? I don't know. One thing was for sure, I was having a very imperfect week. That's what it was alright.
Everyday after school when Bella and I went to her house to work on our History project, Charlie didn't try to hide his hostility towards me. He is not very stubble about his unpleasant feelings he has with me. He also doesn't allow me to stay past five PM. Once he checks that we have worked on our project and made progress with it he announces to Bella that it's time for her to get ready to eat dinner and for me to leave. He still refuses to speak to me directly. Like it or not, I politely complied. It would do me no good to challenge my father-in-law's authority.
As annoying as I find his behavior I know it's justified. He doesn't know about the supernatural elements that tie my soulmate and I together. Therefore, he has no way of knowing that she and I aren't two kids just playing around and will eventually grow tired of one another. That's what I keep reminding myself when he gets on my nerves. I wish I were able to reassure him that the love Bella and I share is real and will last forever. But I can't.
Once I leave Bella's house and go home. I have to deal with my parents, who are normally very loving and reasonable. They are still loving but for the time being they are anything but reasonable. My mother and father are making my existence impossible. They are actually making me complete my long list of chores at a human pace to prolong the punishment every single evening. It's illogical.
The chores they are having me complet are absurd. Take last night for instance, my chore was mowing the lawn. Seems simple right? Not if you have as much land as we do and you're using an antique push lawn mower from the 1950s! I was out in the pouring rain mowing the lawn with the push lawn mower for hours. I didn't get done until after 11 PM. By the time I went to Bella's room she was already sleeping, which has happened every night since we returned from Vegas. Which really sucks. There's no time to talk at night and we haven't been able to do any of our fun "activities."
It's been a horrible week but at least tomorrow is Friday. The start of the weekend. Which meant Bella will be over at my house from tomorrow evening till Sunday night! Both of us were looking forward to that. In fact that had been the topic of our lunchtime conversation. That, and how her dad would be cutting into our afterschool time today. Since he would be picking her up from school today because he had something planned with Sophia and Caleb and wanted Bella to join them. She and I wouldn't get to spend our usual time together at her house.
I walked into the Elenish building, to my Spanish class. Children were already in their seats, including Emmett. The classroom wasn't quite as I strolled to my seat beside my brother. I placed my backpack on the back of my chair and I collapsed in my seat. Immediately he noticed my unhappy expression.
"Hey, Edward, what's eating you?" Emmet wondered as he took out his homework from his backpack, just like several other children were doing.
"Hey, Em." I looked at him. "I forgot my homework on my desk in my room." I explained the reason for my glum mood.
Yesterday Bella and I had finished our History project a day early in our designated homework spot, in her kitchen. With Charlie checking in on us every fifteen minutes when he went to get a beer. His mind was always surprised to see us arranging and gluing the necessary pictures along with the paragraphs we wrote to go with it instead of engaging in "hanky panky" as he had put it. With spending a good portion of our time on our project we were unable to finish the rest of our homework together.
I had to complete it at my house. After I finished mowing the grass and took a shower. I quickly went to my room and did the rest of my homework.
Emmett looked surprised as he laid his homework flat on his desk. "How did you do that?"
It wasn't common for our kind to be forgetful. In fact, as long as I have been enrolled in school I have never forgotten a homework assignment. Guess there's a first for everything.
I shrugged. "I was in a hurry to go to Bella's." I explained in a tone too fast and low for any human to hear.
His golden eyes winded in understanding. 'That sucks. But you had to go get your rocks off. That's always a must.'
I rolled my eyes at his thoughts as Mrs. Goff stood in the front of the room beside her desk and called for attention. The class grew quiet. Though Emmett and I were in no rush to end our conversation that no one around us could hear.
'What's with you? You've been moodier than a rooster in heat.' His thoughts went from me to Loco, a fluffy black rooster we had for a pet two decades ago.
That rooster was moody and horny as hell. Esme had a statue of a hen in her garden at the time. Let's just say Loco violated that poor innocent statue every chance he got. It was funny to witness. But why on earth was he comparing me to his beloved rooster?
Keeping my tone low and fast I replied. "Thanks to all the chores I have to do. I've been arriving at Bella's room too late for anything." I admitted. "She's been sleeping."
'Dang.' His thoughts were sympathetic. 'Well, you got your weekend conjugal visit coming up.' He reminded me.
A sudden wide grin spread across my face. I was more than looking forward to spending the whole weekend with my wife.
'I'm sure you'll be busy doing the squat thrusts in the cucumber patch.' Emmett chuckled.
I rolled my eyes. Sure, I was looking forward to pleasing Bella and offering her as many orgasims that would be humanly possible. But she was still human and we would have to take a break every now and then.
There was also another matter. I was trying to figure out something special to do for her on Saturday. Which would mark one week that we have been officially married. Since I didn't have access to my funds I had limited resources. Therefore, my ideas were quite limited.
My thoughts drifted to what I should plan for my wife and I. Maybe a romantic homemade dinner and a movie. That seemed nice. I would just have to buy food for a special dinner and rent a movie. Also, I'd have to figure out how to cook. I'm sure it's not that difficult.
So lost in my thoughts I wasn't paying attention that homework was being pasted to the front of the class until Ben, who sits behind me attempted to get my attention with no avail. Which prompted Emmett to grab the papers that Ben was trying to pass to me and hand them to the girl who sits in front of me so she could pass them on up. Once all homework was collected Mrs. Goff explained our first lesson for today. We would be writing down the vocabulary words that were written on the blackboard. We were supposed to use them to write a two page story out of them. Before she sat at her desk she informed us that if we needed we could use our textbook to help with correct spelling and grammar.
Taking my notebook out of my backpack, just like every other child in the classroom was doing. I placed it on my desk and began writing down the necessary words and sentences without having to use my Spanish book to help with the spelling. I was already bored. Thanks to my father and his love for education and his endless belief that children need to be in school. I learned to speak Spanish decades ago and have perfected it throughout the years.
My thoughts began to drift to the most familiar "voice" in the room. I have no idea why, but I found myself stunned at what his mind was on. It was peculiar. I glanced over at him.
Emmett sensed me staring at him, without picking his head up he gave me a sideways glance as he continued to write. A big grin on his face. I shook my head in disgust which led him to chuckle under his breath.
'It was one of the things from mine and Jazz's 'Finding the Strangest Item' challenge when we went to Walmart.' He explained, his "voice" proud as flashes of a giant red neon didlo went through his mind. Apparently he won that challenge.
I blinked. I wasn't aware one could purchase adult toys at Walmart. But of course. Leave it to find a thing like that.
'I bought it as a present for Rose. So we could have a little fun.' He said, trying to clear up any confusion I may have.
"I didn't need to know that." I replied in a fast paced tone. Why on earth did he assume I wanted to know why he bought that?
Even though hearing Emmett's thoughts never feel invasive when I tune into his mind. There are things I really rather not know and this was one of them. I felt disgusted with this peace of random, unnecessary information about my siblings. I turned my eyes back down to my paper and began writing.
'Once you've been married a while. You'll see. You'll start to become a bit adventurous.' Emmett thought when I didn't respond.
He assumed that my lack of response was from being inexperienced. He didn't think I chose not to reply from lack of detest.
"I'm not trying to be adventurous." I spoke rapidly. "The only thing I'm merely trying not to do is bite Bella."
With his eyes still on his paper he chuckled under his breath, assuming I was joking. When I showed no sign of humor he discreetly took his eyes off of his paper and looked at me.
'Whoa.' He thought, then spoke out loud in a low fast tone. "Are you serious? Like bite her, her bite? As in turn her when you guys are bam-bam in the ham?"
I looked at him for a quick second before turning back to my paper. Clearly we've been in high school for far too long. He knows way too many sexual phrases. Hell. I'm a mind reader and even I'm not familiar with half of the slang terms he knows. Then again, for a large part of my existence I had tried to tune out anything that had to to with sex.
'Dude, your fantasies are wild.' He was more than amused. 'And here I thought Rose and I were kinky.' He slowly chuckled. Flashes of wips and fuzzy animal costumes ran through his mind. I ignored his odd thoughts.
Adding another sentence to my story I rolled my eyes. "It's not a fantasy." I clarified.
It most certainly wasn't for me. But it was debatable if it was for my wife.
Emmett was more than entertained by this piece of information that was causing me a great deal of anxiety. Of course he would be the one to be entertained by this.
'So you plan on having a blood bath while doing the mattress mambo?' He silently questioned as he continued to write. He was very interested.
"Not intentionally." I admitted. I really hoped it would never happen.
'Organasms and fire from the venom. Well, that would be a hell of a way to end her human days.' He snorted, causing the boy with slicked back hair in front of him to turn around and give him a strange look. Emmett smiled at the boy, showing his teeth. The boy flinched and turned around with fear which made my brother feel proud.
With my brother's reaction to our conversation I began to get the feeling that having the urge to bite during sex wasn't normal. When I had confused to Carlisle that I have came extremely close to biting Bella, there was no indication in his thoughts or spoken words that having a need to bite wasn't a normal part of sex. For me it always has been. I assume my father had figured that out and didn't want me to feel abnormal like I was beginning to feel right now.
"You don't get the urge to bite when you have sex. Do you?" I questioned seriously as I finished my writing assignment and put my pencil down.
Emmett silently considered my question for a second as he finished up his writing assignment. He began to picture him biting and sucking on Rose's neck in a sensual way but quickly realized that it wasn't the same thing I was talking about. He shook his head. From my mind's eye I saw he wanted to offer me advice, though this was foren to him and he had none.
Around the room children placed their penicles down on their desk while they finished their writing assignments. Emmett and I were silent. Each of us lost in our own thoughts while Mrs. Goff asked for the class to pass all finished writing assignments to the front of the class.
The rest of Spanish class passed by slowly. Thanks to two loud boys that were seated in the middle roll were talking and fooling around during the second half of class. For their misconduct Mrs. Goff had the entire class stay ten minutes after school when the bell rang.
I was irritated by that. I should have been out the door and over to the Gym by now. I looked at the clock. Right now I should be waiting for my beautiful wife to get out of gym class and walk with her to wait in the parking lot and for her father to arrive to pick her up. But no. I was forced to stay in my seat for ten agonizing minutes. The whole class was not thrilled about that.
While a few of the children were grumbling I tuned into the familiar mind and my sister. Sure enough Alice had met Bella outside the gymnasium and explained to her where I was. I saw through Alice's mind that Bella was just as disappointed as I was that we would be unable to have a few minutes together before her dad picked her up.
I sat quietly at my desk watching the most beautiful girl in the world and my spiky haired sister chat as they walked into the parking lot. I wished more than anything to be by their side.
Once the time was up Mrs. Goff began releasing the children that were quiet and not complaining. Emmett and I were among the first group to leave. But of course, Bella had already been picked up by her father at that time so I didn't even get to see her, though she did text me which had my spirits up and made me smile. As soon as Emmett and I joined our siblings in the parking lot my brothers and I got in my car while my sisters got in Rose's M3 to head for the mall for a girls shopping trip in Seattle.
The ride home was quick and entertaining. Emmett supplied the jokes that kept us laughing while Jasper controlled the good mood. When we arrived home I parked in the garage and we made our way out back to the greenhouse where I heard our mother's thoughts.
With our laughter and silliness our mother knew we were home long before we stepped into the greenhouse.
"Glad to see my three joyful boys." Esme greeted us with a warm smile while she gave her bellflowers water from the navy blue the watering can she was holding. "Did anything interesting happen at school today?"
She chose to ask us how our day at school was that way instead of plainly asking how school was in a bid to get us talking. For she had learned long ago when I was her only child, that the usual way was too easy to fall into the pattern of giving a one word answer.
"Nothing too interesting." Jasper was the first to speak and Emmett and I agreed.
Emse fround a little. She's sure our school day is more exciting than it actually is.
"Really, nothing fascinating happened?" She asked again. 'Why must these boys be so tight-lipped when it comes to talking about their school day? With the girls it's different. They are more cattery.'
"No." Jazz said. "School is school."
"Yeah it's basically the same day after day. Year after year." I shrugged.
"Well there was one interesting thing that happened today." Emmett began. "It happened to me at lunch."
"Okay..." Esme was equally interested and skeptical. Since it was something that happened to Emmett she had her suspicions of what it could be. Of course her guesses were wrong.
Jasper and I already knew about the incident. After all we were there and had instigated Emmett into completing his task that he had begun.
"I upchucked my lunch props after downing my protein shake and the whole baggie of eggs in one minute after I was told it wouldn't be possible." Emmett proudly announced as he glanced at Jazz and I. "And the janitor now believes I have an egg allergy after I barfed in his mop bucket that was conveniently left in the hallway."
Jasper and I busted out laughing. The whole ordeal had been very comical.
Esme stopped her task of taking care of her followers. Without a word she blinked at Emmett. For lack of a better word she was stunned by the odd event that had him so pleased. Then again. With all the possibilities of trouble that Emmett is capable of finding himself in, she was relieved that it was something rather simple.
When she regained composure she informed Jazz that he needed to feed the flying fish that are now our new pets as Emmett randomly announced that he was now out of eggs and asked for the keys to his Jeep. Knowing how important his lunch props are to him but not about to hand over his car keys while he's punished, Esme reassured him that once his homework was complete they would go into town. With that she informed all of us that we needed to get started on our homework, all of us assured her we would. My brother's were quick to run in the house, but I wasn't.
With a question on my mind. I stayed in the greenhouse with my mother, quietly watching her care for her flowers.
"Is everything alright?" Esme wondered while she watered her red roses.
"Yeah." I answered quietly.
The tone of my voice had her worrying. I could hear the anxiety in her mind. She was quiet, waiting to hear what I wanted to say.
"I was just wondering," I began. "Can you show me how to cook? Please?"
My mother's golden eyes widen. She was not expecting me to ask her that question. 'Cook?'
I nodded my head.
Her thoughts were racing with excitement. Even though she's a vampire she's an excellent chief. Of course, I've never been able to taste her cooking for myself. But I have heard from the minds of my father's coworkers throughout the years that my mother makes delicious dishes including pastries and pies. In her first life she enjoyed cooking and she carried that over to her second life.
She smiled. 'Yes of course, dear.' Her thoughts were joyus. She had always wanted to teach her children to cook, but since we don't eat food there wasn't any need. "Are you planning on preparing a meal for Bella when she comes over this weekend?"
"That's my plan." I smiled my crooked smile. "Saturday is kind of a special day for us." I explained, tugging at the strap of my backpack. "It'll be our one week anniversary since we exchanged vows. I want to surprise Bella by cooking for her since she always does the cooking for her father. I thought it might be nice if she doesn't have to cook for herself."
"I think that's a splendid idea." Her mind was on a cookbook with simple recipes that she has in her study. "After you finish your homework you can pick out a recipe and I'll go and pick up the items at the grocery store with Emmett Since we are fresh out of eggs." She shook her head and I laughed. "Emmett goes through too many eggs. After the shopping fiasco that happened last time, I need to show him how many eggs to buy at one time." She giggled as she poured the last drops of water on her lavender flowers. 'Lord knows we don't need our refrigerator packs with eggs again.'
I couldn't agree with her more. My brother really needed to learn the appropriate amount of eggs to buy during one grocery trip. Feeling excited that I was putting my plan in motion I ran out of the greenhouse, through the backyard, to the house and up to my room.
I turned on my sound system while I completed my homework, making the monotonous task more enjoyable. Once all my assignments were completed my mother entered my room with her cookbook. She was more than thrilled to go over the recipes with me. I decided on a lemon chicken dish that kinda looked good, well not really. But I have confidence that Bella will enjoy it. I also picked two other chicken meals, one for each night she would be her. Before my mother left my room I requested popcorn, candy, sodas and a few desserts. She was more than happy to go buy all of it for Bella.
Emmett was beyond anxious to go to the grocery store. Honestly, he looked like a little kid waiting to go to Disneyland. Though Esme didn't want to leave until she made sure I completed my chore for the day. Which was vacuuming the entire house at the pace of a sloth. Once the whole house was vacuumed my mother and brother left, leaving Jasper and I home alone.
My parents have confidence when leaving Jasper and I to our own devices. They know there will be a house to come back to. It's Emmett and I that the whole family fears. Em and I haven't been left alone since the mid 1940's, for obvious reasons. We cause too much mayhem.
Jazz and I do get competitive just as Em and I do but it's a bit different. Neither of us tend to come up with insane ideas that can cause the house to literally fall apart the way Em does. We are a bit more laid back.
With our homework done we were both free to do as we pleased. We played video games for a while before I had enough and went out to the garage. I was in search of camping equipment and other needed supplies for my weekend with Bella. We wouldn't be campin, not exactly. November is too cold for that, I wouldn't want her to get ammonia or frostbite.
The tent would be for another purpose other than sleeping. I already knew I wouldn't be allowed to rent a hotel. So the tent would merely serve as a little private getaway out in the woods, away from the house where anyone could hear us be intimate. I hoped that Bella would be open minded and think of sex out in the woods inside a tent would be romanic and not creepy.
Walking over to a large gray metal shelf where all the tents we have collected over the last two years were - our camping props. Alongside the assortment of tents was a large cardboard box with Carlisle's hand writing that simply read: Do Not Touch. Keep Out. No one knows what's in the box. Only that it's some sort of camping prop.
Looking at the assortment of tents that were on the same shelf as the cardboard box I began to wonder if it were possible to put a space heater in the tent to keep her warm. Just as I was considering how many extension cords it would take to run from the house to the spot by the river where I planned on setting up the tent, Jasper walked in the garage with his phone in his hand.
'Organizing a camping trip?' Jasper walked over and stood beside me.
"Sort of." I answered, reaching for the tent on the very top, right next to the box.
"That might not be a good idea. Alice says it's supposed to snow this weekend." Jasper announced just as I pulled the tent from the self. 'Might be too cold for Bella.'
I didn't answer my brother. Instead I pulled the tent off the shelf, before it was all the way off it made content with the box, forcing it to fall. In an instant the box crashed to the concrete floor and opened up. The contents of the box which was oddly an abundance of colorful mountain climbing rope, spilled all over the floor. The colorful strands swirled around our ankles and onto our shoes like slithery snakes.
Jasper and I stood there, our feet covered by the ropes. Simultaneously we gazed at the sea of ropes on the floor then each other. Carlisle sure has a strange obsession for useless climbing rope. Can't imagine why he finds it so fascinating.
'So that's what he keeps in the box.' Jazz thought, still looking down at the floor. 'Strange.'
"It is peculiar." I agreed and he nodded. "What do you suppose he needs all this rope for?"
For the least seven decades my father has owned ropes. It has never made scents as to why. Sure, he and my mother have their explanations but something just doesn't feel right. To have this many ropes, their explanations don't quite add up.
"I'm not sure." Jasper spoke truthfully, sounding a little puzzled. "But we better pick it up." He placed his phone in his pocket, leaned down and began picking up a bright red rope and winding it up. He then picked up the box, dropped the rope in and began grabbing more rope.
"Yeah." I leaned the tent up against the metal shelf and began assisting in the clean up.
I grabbed a couple handfuls of tightly wound rope and dropped it in the box. Jasper began winding up the loose rope.
"What could be the purpose for all this?" I wondered, holding up a thick pink and green rope.
Holding an arm full of rope Jasper looked at me. His eyes then darted over to our abundance of tents and sleeping bags and lanterns we have. "Keeping up the appearance of the outdoories human family. I guess." Shrugging his shoulders, he dropped the ropes in the box. 'Not much else vampires could use rope for.'
His thoughts were dull on the topic as his phone made a small noise, he ignored it. I decided to drop the subject as we continued to clean up the odd mess, the whole time his phone kept going off. It didn't take us long to have the strange items back in the box. He finally removed his phone out of his pocket as I placed the box back it's rightful space on the shelf.
'Seventy seven text messages in two minutes. That's a new record.' Jasper's "voice" was impressed as he looked at his phone.
"Alice text you?" I guessed. I couldn't imagine anyone else texting that fast.
He smiled without looking up from his phone. "Yes."
I have always found my small sister's rapid texting skills rather annoying. However, Jazz doesn't.
While he was engaged in reading Alice's abundant texts that was closer to a novel than anything else. I went over to our neatly stacked sleeping bags to pick out the thickest, most comfortable one. That's when Jasper came over to me, phone still in his hand.
"Forget the tent and camping gear, little bro. Won't be the right weather for it." Jesper spoke matter-of-factly. His mind on all the text he just read. Something about a secret place.
"That's just great." I said dejected.
Here I was trying to plan out a nice passionate weekend with my wife. But the weather was not going to cooperate. That's just great.
My downhearted mood was not lost on my brother as he sampled my emotions.
"It'll work out." Jasper promised. "Wanna go for a run?"
I sighed. "Not really."
I wasn't in the mood to go out. I had to figure out how to adjust my plans while working around being grounded. It wasn't going to be easy.
"Come on, man." He urged playfully. "There's something I want to show you. It could solve your weekend problems."
Curiously I eyed my brother as he received another text and checked it.
I placed the tent back on the shelf since I would no longer be needing it. "Alright. What do you want to show me?"
The joyful expression upon his face matched his thoughts. Though nothing concrete, he was grudring his thoughts by thinking of the Alice, a highway leading to Vancouver and a chain link french with a no trespassing sign. I couldn't make heads or tails out of that.
Jazz smirked. Like a child holding onto a secret, not ready to give it up just yet, he shook his head. "It's not that easy to explain. It'll be better if we go there."
I raised an eyebrow. This wasn't Jasper's typical behavior. Usually he is straight forward.
"Where are you playing on taking me?" I wanted to know before I agreed to anything.
Feeling my skeptical mood he laughed. Just one short laugh.
"Don't be so doubtful." He nudged me. 'We're gonna go for a short run. Close to Vancououver.'
"I'm not allowed to leave Forks." I remind him.
I was determined to do exactly what my parents asked of me to earn their trust back. I wasn't about to ruin what little trust they had left of me just to go for a jog across the border.
Back to back his phone made a small noise and so did mine. As he checked his new text messages I fished my phone out of my pocket and did the same. I had two text messages. The first text was from Alice, telling me to go with Jazz. The second message was from Carlisle, letting me know that he was giving me the okay to go with Jazz to Canada, Alice had already informed him of the details. I then put two and two together. Whatever my brother and I were about to do, wherever we were going. Alice was definitely the mastermind behind it.
With my father's permission to leave the city limits I raced my brother out of our garage. I was eager to see the big reveal for this secret of his. We ran across our yard into the dark forest, weaving in and out of trees. He was determined to pass me but I'm too fast.
Together we ran like the wind out of Forks, our shoes leaving behind no prints in the dirt. We stayed in the safe shadows of the trees, always keeping a safe distance from the road. Soon enough we reached Candia. Peacefully my feet hit the dirt. Not sure what direction to go next, I stopped and waited for Jasper. He quickly caught up and showed me the way.
I followed my brother, remaining beside him through a cloud of green. We ran through the woods only slowing down when we came to this chain link french with no trespassing signs all over it. Smacked dab in the middle of the french was a run down building that was nothing more than a large slab of concrete floor, a large red brick fireplace and the westeren wall that had once been white but was unevenly dark chalky gray, coated with ash. Clearly this house had suffered a fire long ago.
Jasper stopped running and so did I. I looked around. We were in the middle of nowhere, miles away from civilization. I couldn't fathom why he would bring me out to an abandoned house, of all places.
"Where are we?" I questioned.
"Mine and Alice's secret spot." He said simply, jumping the fence.
Reminding where I stood I took in my surroundings. I tried to make sense of his words but couldn't. Why on earth would their secret spot be all the way out here? Nothing but a mear chain link fence that protected a shell of a burnt house. Really, not much to look at. It didn't seem like anywhere Alice and Jasper would hang out.
"Are you just going to stand there?" Jasper turned to me.
I raised an eyebrow. Where were we going now?
'Follow me.' He urged.
Ignoring the numerous no trespassing signs I jumped the useless fence, landing by my brother's side. He began walking, I followed him up to what I could only assume was supposed to be the prourch. We walked through the shell of the house. Looking around I had to admit, it was quite impressive that the fireplace had survived the tragedy that had taken place here. We walked out the back door that was actually still standing along with a portion of the kitchen wall, down the back porch steps and out the back gate which was under a beautiful lattice archway with honeysuckle and an outdoor ceiling of ivy vines.
"It doesn't make sense." I said suddenly.
"What's that?" He wondered, closing the gate.
"All the no trespassing signs. Why would anyone want to protect a place like that?" I wondered. "There's actually nothing to preserve. Who would take the time to put the signs up?"
Jasper began strolling through the honeysuckle archway. Not having a clue where our destination was, I began walking with him.
"The owners are what you might call reclusive." He smirked. Then I saw a clue from his mind.
"You own that dump?" I asked in disbelief.
He chuckled. "Alice and I do." He clarified. "We own all of this." He waved his hand around the garden.
We counted to walk through the honeysuckle archway and through the canopy ivy and vines. The scene was breathtaking. It reminded me of The Secret Garden.
"Why?" The run down house did not fit either of their personalities.
'Bought this land back when we moved to Froks two years ago.' He explained as we continued through this amazing wide garden. 'Sometimes Alice and I need a little get away.'
It isn't unusual for my sibling to take off for quality time with their spouses. Emmett and Rosalie usually go exploring caves or bear dens out in the woods. Of course I knew Alice and Jasper would go away for a weekend every now and again, never as frequently as Em and Rose do. Though I always assumed they went to Seattle to rent a hotel, not to Candina where they have property with a burnt house on the land. It amazed me that they were able to keep this information from me for this long.
Walking deeper into the garden the scenery changed. The green canopy along with the beautiful theme ended and drifted to a whole lot of nothingness, with a small cabin way out in the middle of the clearing with large evergreen trees that were spread far apart, planted in a large half circle around the sides and back of the house. The location of the cabin that was near the wood made me think of The Shining. It had that eerie vibe.
We kept walking at a fast pace. Straight to the cabin. The whole time I kept expecting something to jump out of the trees in the distance, but of course nothing did.
Soon enough we reached the front door of the well surveillance cabin. Though I doubt anyone would come all the way out here there were security cameras on the elves, above the doors and as well as the windows. Jasper took his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. There was a beeping sound when he opened the white door. I watched as he stepped inside, moving to the wall by the door, over to the keypad and rapidly punched in some numbers, making the beeping end.
"Welcome to my love shack." He laughed, motioning me inside.
"Jasper's love shack?" I scoffed, stepping inside. "That title sounds corny."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, that's what it is." He admitted. "Come on, I'll give you a tour."
We stared through the nicely decorated living room that was painted lavender and had matching purple curtains on the windows. There was a big purple couch, above it hung a classy picture of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. In the middle of the floor sat an elegant glass coffee table over an oval rug that matched the rest of the room. Opposite the couch hung a large flat screen TV with cowboy spurs on the top corners to the TV. There were also a few horseshoes hung up as wall decorations.
Their house was pleasantly decorated. The interior was truly them.
"Anyone ever broken in here?" I asked, wondering what was with all the security measures he had in place.
He shook his head. "Only a deer. Broke in through the window last year. I mounted the bucks head in the kitchen." He was serious. "The security system is for precaution since we don't come here very often."
I nodded. That made the scene. I suppose if I had a place of my own that I rarely used I'd want to make sure it was protected too.
We walked further into the living room, skipping the kitchen and dining room. We strolled down the hallway where there were four closed doors. He pointed each of them out, three bedrooms and a bathroom. The last room on the right he pointed out, as the masterbed which was his and Alice's room. The room right across from his room was a role playing room, as he called it, next to that room was the bathroom. Last was the room we stood in front of.
"Here's the guessed room." He explained, opening up the door to reveal a room that was painted bluish gray and had a roth iron king size bed. We walked inside. 'Like it?'
"Yeah." I said. I wasn't just talking about the room. "You have a nice place."
Jasper nodded, looking so serious. He stood ramrod straight with his hands behind his back.
Looking around the room I was lost in my own thoughts. Thinking about how I should invest in a house for Bella and I now that we're married.
"If you want," Jasper spoke a little louder than his normal tone. His voice pulled me from my thoughts, I looked at him. "I'll lend you my love shack-"
"Please stop calling it that." I cut him off.
I found that reference embarrassing and extremely outdated.
Picking up on my embarrassment he snickered. "Alright, my cabin in the woods." He stopped, measuring my expression.
"Better." I said.
He shook his head and chuckled.
I was unsure why he had to give his house a nickname. At least nick naming it "the cabin in the woods" was a step up from the "love shack." That last phrase sounded like it was from the '70's.
"You can come here this weekend so you Bella can have some privacy." He explained. 'I understand wanting to be alone, not wanting everyone to hear. It'll be warmer here than in a tent.'
"Thank you." I grinded, accepting his generous offer.
"There's just two conditions." He explained in his military voice and I listened. "First, you can't tell Emmett about this place. He and Rose don't know that Alice and I have our own spot."
"Why?"
I was surprised that he kept this house a secret from our oldest brother but was sharing it with me. Then I saw the reason in his mind. Apparently he and Alice along with Emmett and Rosalie had a few shared houses in the '60's and '70's and they didn't last long. Emmett and Rosalie demolish them quickly, turning them into rubble. That's an understandable reason why he would want to keep it from Em. I reassured him that I wouldn't say a word.
"Second." He began in the same firm tone. "Keep all destruction confined to this room. And if you do break a wall or something." He paused for a second. His thoughts were on my age and inexperience, given the two, most likely he figured I would break something. "You'll be fixing it. Got it?"
"Fair enough." I said.
My eyes drifted to the bed. Fantasies poured through my mind of what I'd do to Bella on that spacious bed. With each fantasie that raced through my mind I began to feel myself getting hard. Quickly, I stopped thinking about my Bella laying naked on the bed and me pleasing her. Unfortunately the change in my moods was not lost on my brother.
'Wow. Beds turn you on that much?' Jasper's thoughts were jokingly. My emotions amused him.
"It's what will happen in that bed." I corrected him.
He shook his head and laughed, giving off a wave of calm for my benefit as he put a hand on my shoulder and gilded me to the door. He wanted to show the rest of the house to me. We stepped out of the room and went to go check out the dining room and kitchen.
While we walked to the dining room that had a tall cherry wood table that sat four. My mind began to drift as my eyes caught the large picture on the wall, a cornucopia of vegetables. My eyes lingered on the wall art as Jasper spoke of how he and Alice found this property and fixed it to their liking. I listened to him. As much as I was anticipating some much needed time alone with Bella the monster began rearing his ugly head, spiking my fear and letting me know this secluded house would be the perfect place to drink Bella's sweet blood. That unfortunate scene played out in my mind, causing a silent panic to coarse through my body.
My shift in moods made Jasper question what was wrong. Just as I had confessed to Emmett in Spanish class and before that, to Carlisle about my desire for Bella's blood during sex I revealed my fears to him. Jasper saw how difficult it was for me to admit that I was pining over my love's blood and how fearful I was of accidentally doing the unthinkable. He didn't try to control the tense mood, he let me be. Jazz had a different reaction to my confession of blood lust than Emmett had. He took it much more seriously. He was also not smug that for the moment I was the weakest link. Instead his thoughts surprised me. With the aid of his talent and his own endless struggle with bloodlust, he wanted to help.
"Would you need Alice and I to be close by?" He offered. "Just in case?"
I pondered over his offer. So far I have been able to control my thirst. Though I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep it in check.
I hesitated to answer.
Jasper silently constipated my uncertainty. "We wouldn't be inside the house or even where we could hear you." He clarified, making it known that he and Alice wouldn't be invading mine and Bella's privacy. 'We would be somewhere in the nearby town that's ten miles east. Alice would catch anything major. We would rush over here in a timely matter if anything should happen.'
From my mind's eye I say exactly what he ment. A rescue plan was already forming in his mind. Before I could give an answer his phone rang. Already knowing who it was, he answered. Alice was on the other end, squealing in excitement about getting to explore some new boutiques on Saturday afternoon during our group trip to Vancouver. Of course, she already saw my answer before I could give it. Before ending the call she informed Jasper that there were mountain goats nearby, saying that he and I needed to hunt. He closed his phone and we left the cabin, taking her advice.
After our spontaneous hunting trip Jasper and I ran back to Forks. When we arrived home the rest of our family was home. My mother was happily waiting to give me my first cooking lesson. But first she made me take a shower.
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Thanks for reading. :)))
Any thoughts on this chapter - big or small - I'd be delighted to read and respond.