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Chapter 5 - Cowboy

January 21st, 2003

Jasper's POV

The human heartbeats swirled around me as we walked into the diner. I had stopped breathing before we'd gotten out of the car, but to be in the middle of so many heartbeats, and not be in the middle of a bloodbath was a sensation I still hadn't gotten used to, even in the last fifty years. But there was something about the heartbeats of witches that was another level of interesting.

It wasn't something humans would have noticed without a number of their machines, but their hearts beat at a slower pace—a full second slower. Just a slight difference, but with their different scents, it added to the level of intrigue.

I had met a few during my time with Maria, my creator. A few of the newborns from her army had gone after a coven of witches, unaware of the treaty, and killed one of their youngest. The newborns had died, but the witches had been furious and unsatisfied. So they'd cursed Maria to always lose her battles. From there, after a near-century of certain success, Maria never won another battle.

After a number of brutal losses that had almost wiped us out, a rebellion had started to stir within her sisters. I had handled them, but from there Maria became increasingly paranoid—even beginning to doubt me. Eventually, I convinced her to let me seek the witches out to try bargaining with them.

It had ended…interestingly, but they had been reasonable, even going so far as to show me the possibility of another life outside of Maria. And so it gave me hope now that no matter how enraged the Swan sisters were with my family, things could still end civilly.

Even if the sisters in question were looking at Esme and I know like we were the prey.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Cullen." Ever the gentleman, Charlie swan gave Esme his full attention. "How may I be of service to you and your son?"

While Charlie looked pleasantly surprised at the interruption to their meal, his daughters were not. Irritation swirled around Isabella and Rosalie, but around Alice was an air of dark delight that made me focus on her. Her sisters looked at us like flies hovering around their meal, but Alice looked at us like we were her meal.

Even as Esme began speaking and Alice's eyes flickered to her, I could tell her attention still rested on me and I had to bite down the urge to growl.

"Well actually, Chief Swan," Esme smiled at him, "I would like to speak with your daughters for a moment, if that's possible?"

He sat up straighter, a touch wary now. He knew and respected Esme from our time in the town, but the wariness of fatherhood had settled in his mind. "Can I ask what this is about?"

Worry spiked in Esme's mind and I took the second to calm it, smiling slightly when I felt her spike of gratitude. Even after all my time in this coven, I still hadn't gotten used to their gratitude whenever I used my abilities on them to keep the peace. Every time I had used my abilities for Maria, I had always felt the spikes of resentment in the newborns. But with my new family, there was only ever gratitude.

Esme began to answer Charlie, but Bella launched in, taking the chance to sow discord. "Oh, it's probably about Emmett—the other brother. He was a bit of a jerk the other day. I– I didn't want to say anything, or make a big deal out of it. I mean, everyone's been so nice to us lately that I didn't want to trouble anyone." She blushed a little, ducking her head. "And then Edward saved my life this morning."

I narrowed my eyes at the stark contrast between her external blushing naivety and the malicious delight bubbling inside her. Even so, I had to marvel at her acting abilities—to anyone else she truly looked like an innocent child trying to keep the peace. Only I could feel the derision rolling off her. I reached to replace it with a measure of calmness, when I felt similar spikes in her sisters.

"Don't be so nice, Bells—just because his mother's here." Rosalie's eyes glimmered with unshed tears even through her own hidden amusement. She reached for Alice's hand, as though for comfort. "He was particularly nasty to Ali."

As if on cue, Alice curled in on herself, her lower lip trembling as she ducked her head, avoiding everyone's gaze. To any onlookers, they looked like innocent and victimised young girls, but on the inside they were delighting in the tale they were spinning. As I watched their matching amusement, I wondered if we were ill-prepared for their brand of chaos.

Particularly when Charlie scowled and protectiveness surged through him. I could feel Rosalie's satisfaction, and I wondered at how tightly they must have had their father wrapped around their fingers to so easily manipulate him.

He turned to his daughters. "If anyone bothers you, you come straight to me and I'll deal with them myself. I don't care who it is." He faced Esme with a stern look, eyeing me with a newfound mistrust that I truly marvelled at. It was almost as if I had manipulated his emotions myself. "I don't have to have a talk with your boys about their behaviour, now do I, Mrs Cullen?"

Esme's smile didn't falter, but the girls' blatant manipulation of the scene had unnerved her. She had truly expected this to go far more civilly than this—we both had. The sensation of being trapped was rising inside her as she desperately searched for a way out of this chaos.

I stepped forward and rested my hand on her shoulder, knowing my presence would calm her just as much as my ability. I smiled directly at Charlie. "No, sir. Esme sat him down herself the moment he got home—she already knew all about it. He's grounded right now, and while he wanted to apologise for his actions, I thought it would be best to come here on his behalf. That way Miss Alice didn't need to see him again."

I nodded at Alice, ignoring the dark smile that played on her lips. "And Esme wanted to apologise herself, and see how Miss Isabella was going after the accident this morning."

Charlie sat back, eyes narrowed on me in contemplation. Even without Edward's gift, I could tell he was contemplating throwing me in prison and losing the key. I kept up the sincere smile of the polite, charming son of a doctor, but internally, I was wary. All it had taken was a minute of acting from the sisters, and a man I had never had an issue with was ready to bury me. These witches were going to be trouble.

Eventually he nodded, mumbling under his breath, "Boy should'a come himself." He stood up and his demeanour changed instantly as he smiled softly at his daughters. "Alright then. I'm going to go chat with the boys up at the counter. "Now you girls behave yourselves and listen to Mrs Cullen, alright?"

"Yes, Dad," they chorused, their dark amusement cracking as genuine love for the man shone through. He nodded, sending me a final disgruntled look, before heading off.

The moment he was out of earshot, their innocent masks dropped, replaced with anger. Rosalie narrowed her eyes at us, nearling spitting, "What do you want?"

I glanced around at the other diner occupants, but even with my superior hearing, I couldn't hear a thing. Their emotions came through clearly, but they could have been worlds away for all I could hear. The sisters must have put up a spell of some kind to ensure the privacy of this conversation. I turned back, contemplating them. None of them had even given any indication of their magic use—I wondered what else they could do silently.

I soothed the unease in Esme as she began to speak, but Bella cut in again before she could. "Let me guess." She leaned forward, eyes narrowing in cold irritation, all previous amusement gone. "You came here to plead to us to leave your 'family' alone because your husband made a mistake once?"

"Yeah, well that 'mistake' burned us alive." Alice leaned back, eyes hard on Esme. "So now we're going to return the favour. Regardless of what you have to say."

"So you can take your plea—" Rosalie crossed her arms over her chest, glaring daggers at Esme, "—and shove it."

Resignation filled Esme and she sighed too quietly for the sisters to hear. We had known that this conversation wouldn't be easy, but neither of us had guessed just how difficult these girls were going to be.

Esme nodded to the empty chair across from Bella. "May I sit?"

"No." Bella rested her feet in the chair. She had an air of bored indifference about her, but the malice swirling inside her made it clear that the wrong move would have her spelling us out of the diner before anyone could blink. Mortal audience be damned. "You won't be here long."

I bristled at her tone, and I could feel Rosalie's glare, but I switched my attention to Alice who was watching the proceedings with narrowed eyes. She had been the most reasonable in our last encounter—she might be our own only chance at salvaging this. "May I speak with you a moment, please? In private?"

Her eyes flickered over to me lazily as she slowly looked me up and down. There was something in her gaze that made me want to growl; something I instantly didn't like.

Eventually, she waved a hand to an empty table nearby, her eyes flashing violet as amused curiosity rose within her. "Lead the way, cowboy."

I narrowed my eyes at her tone, but when I went to move I found I was rooted to the spot. I glared at Alice, furious but she met me with a dark grin, raising an eyebrow like she was daring me to challenge her. It was a power move; she was showing me just how much control she could take from us if everything went south.

After a second, the magic holding me in place dropped away and she stood, satisfaction curling around her. She brushed past me, silently laughing and I barely kept myself back from snarling at her.

You are infuriating! How could I have ever thought you were the more reasonable of your sisters!

I spared a glance at Esme who nodded minutely—she would be alright. And I was only a table away. Even if everything did go wrong, I would be back at her side the moment her emotions shifted.

I stalked after Alice to where she was perched in her chair, drinking from a glass she hadn't had before, watching me with lidded eyes. I settled into the chair across from her and waited. But she merely smiled; evidently it was my move.

I glanced back at Esme, calmness floating from her, amidst the irritation from the remaining sisters—all as it should have been. But there was something about the three of them that made me want to look away. My eyes would skip over them when I looked and I had to actively turn back to keep my attention on them.

"Privacy spell," Alice supplied when she saw where I was looking. "Anyone trying to pay attention to them finds their gaze instantly slip away. Like water off a duck's back."

I turned back to her with a barely suppressed growl. "I suppose there's one around us too?"

The corner of her lip lifted in dark amusement. "Not quite. This is more of an illusion spell. To everyone around us, it looks like we're having a wonderfully peaceful conversation." She tilted her head in contemplation, her dark smirk growing. "I could remove your head, and no one would bat an eye. Not even my sisters would see."

She was testing me. There was a dark flickering of wickedness in her, but no murderous intent. Not yet anyway. She wanted to see how I'd respond.

"No one to come to your aid either, darlin'," I countered, leaning back in my seat. If this was the route she wanted to take, I was more than willing to let out a little of my own wickedness to match hers. "Or are you just that confident you can take on a vampire by yourself and survive?"

"Don't underestimate us. I intend to do better than that." She leaned forward, eyes flashing violet and I felt the air around me tighten, thickening impossibly. "Darling."

Any mortal would have been paralysed under her grip, but I wasn't so weak. I held up her straw between two fingers with a slow dark smile to match hers. I had grabbed it in the split second before she had cast her spell, too fast for even the witch to see. She clearly had no idea what I was capable of and I was more than willing to provide a demonstration

She glanced at her glass and then back at me, narrow violet eyes flickering with annoyance. The air tightened immeasurably around me and I grimaced at the sudden pressure—if she kept this pace up, even my body would start to crack.

But I didn't need movement to fight back. There was a soft flickering of pain within her—something that seemed permanent—and I expanded it like a balloon until she was as paralysed as I was. I expected her to drop her magic—no one could withstand that much pain so quickly—but she just curled her lip through it and tightened her grip.

I increased her pain with a scowl, even as my shoulders began to bow under her pressure. It was a tactic I had used often with the newborns in Maria's army, but not once had I ever had to increase the level. It was infuriating, that this witch could sit across from me, with such a direct challenge in her eye, and not even flinch.

I felt a glimmer of satisfaction when her eye finally twitched, but it was quickly squashed when her magic bit into my shoulder. I growled in pain at the crack and she huffed out a laugh that turned into a slight grunt as I increased her pain yet again.

I truly had only meant to push back against her attack, but there was something about the defiance in her eyes that made me want to rise to the challenge. To throw all reason to the wind.

But then a waitress tripped and sent a tray of coke over the both of us, startling us back to reality. I let go of Alice's emotions as her magic dropped away, both of us rearing back in shock. Sometime in our 'battle of the wills', we had leaned across the table, closer to each other, but now we sprang back.

The waitress apologised profusely, starting to mop up the spill, but I settled a sense of urgency to leave in her and she darted away. I looked back to the creature across from me in a new light.

Alice's heart was pounding and she was breathing hard, but all in all she looked merely rattled. Like she'd found a spider in her shoe. Not at all like she should have after tangling with a vampire. Even after everything I had thrown at her—that amount of pain would have left a newborn vampire mewling—she looked rattled.

While I ended up with an eight inch crack along my shoulder. A crack that should have started healing by now. Today was not going how I'd expected it to.

"Well," she said after a long moment as she sat back in her chair. "That was an interesting way to say hello."

My lips quirked into an involuntary smile. "You started it."

She snorted. "Cute." She grabbed her glass and took a long drink, finally breaking eye contact "Well now that that's out of the way. Why don't we get down to why you separated me from my sisters."

Right. Business. I sat back, ignoring the screaming pain of my shoulder as I contemplated her emotions and behaviours.

"I had hoped you would be the more reasonable of your sisters and the easiest to convince that an all-out war between our families will not end well," I said finally. Despite the demonstrations today, the events last night had shown that Alice seemed to respond best to reason and logic well laid out. So that's what I was aiming for. No games. "I understand that you want revenge for what was done to you, but you also need to understand that as his family we won't stand by and watch. If you turn this into a fight, it will end painfully. For both sides"

She put her glass down slowly, eyes on it as she nodded. "Do you know what was 'done to us'?

There was a stillness to her, like she was fighting hard to keep her emotions under control. I nodded warily. "You were burned at the stake. For healing a child."

"By Carlisle." She dipped her finger in the still puddle of coke on the table and started drawing swirls on the menu between us. "Your father."

"And he truly is sorry for that," I said, thinking back to the cloud of negative emotions that had plagued him from the moment he had learned of their return. But I also knew I was on thin ice. They wanted him to pay for his part in their deaths, and brushing away their side was not going to help keep the peace. I leaned closer. "He—"

"Do you know what it's like to burn?" she cut me off, finally looking up from her menu. Looking into her eyes I realised how she could withstand everything I had sent her way—it was nothing like the deep well of pain and despair opening within her now. "It's like holding a hot poker and not being able to let go, even as your flesh burns away."

She glanced down at the menu between us and said, "Kaio." Suddenly the menu burst into flames between us and I darted back before I could catch alight. "That's what your father did to us," she snarled.

"He didn't just sentence us to death. He ended our lives. Do you have any idea what it's like to be ripped from your bed in the middle of the night? To hear your sisters screaming as your face is shoved into the dirt? Do you have even the slightest inkling of what it's like to be dragged through the centre of town in your night clothes, past neighbours you shared bread with—all of them screaming for your head?"

Alice was breathing heavily, her eyes glaring holes into mine. "My own sister's fiance spat in her face as she was dragged past him! We were burned alive and our neighbours cheered!" She leaned across the table, pain and anger burning through her. "But you want us to forgive him because he 'feels bad'?"

There was something in me that foolishly ached to reach over and soothe the emotions raging within her, even as she threatened my family.

Alice sat back with a deep breath and rearranged her features into a cold stare, even as she seethed internally. "I will not forgive Carlisle Cullen, and I will make damn sure he pays for what he did to my family."

Silence settled as I watched her. Somewhere along the lines I had deluded myself into thinking that Alice wasn't as vengeful as her sisters. She may have been the more reasonable of the three, but she was absolutely out for blood.

"The treaty would kill you in an instant," I said slowly, interlacing my fingers in my lap. "Is your vengeance worth your death? Again?"

Her nostrils flared and she ground her teeth, but she merely gave me a tight smile. "So you said. But you vampires seem to be more hardy than that." Her eyes flickered to my shoulder. "I'm sure I could remove your head without any…nasty side effects. I doubt you'd be so lucky."

She was right. If this turned into a war between us, we would have the greater disadvantage at trying to incapacitate them without killing them. Meanwhile they could dismember us entirely without the treaty so much as flickering in acknowledgement. And all they would need from there was someone to light the fire and toss our bodies in.

It was a small relief that they couldn't join forces with the Quileute wolves. Our treaty with the wolves kept us safe from them killing us, because without it the wolves would definitely make a party out of our deaths.

"And I'm sure there are plenty of outside parties who would be willing to finish what we start," Alice said, echoing my thoughts. "Particularly in this area, don't you think?"

It was only a century of forced indifference that kept me from reacting. If they convince the wolves to help them, we won't survive this.

A slow smile curved on her lips at whatever she saw on my face. She leaned back, glancing to the side as something caught her eye and concern flickered through her, but it was gone when she turned back to me. I glanced to where she'd looked at her sisters, but I could feel nothing of concern. They all looked like they were in a heated yet civil conversation—Esme was clearly faring better than I was.

I turned back to see Alice now watching me with narrowed violet eyes and a dangerous smile. "Time to go. Your mother's calling."

Before I could ask what she meant, the world around us suddenly shifted. The sounds of a busy diner dropped away as I now saw that the place was half empty. And instead of chatting civilly at the table not six feet away, Esme was by the door, rattled to her core and staring at me with wide eyes. Had she been human she would have been trembling, and I hadn't felt a thing.

"You blinded me," I breathed, turning back to Alice. I had accused her of undue confidence, but I had been the same. I had entered into this conversation so assured of my upper hand I had never considered otherwise.

Her dangerous smile grew as she stood up. "Illusion spell, darling. I told you from the beginning." She bent down so her lips brushed against my ear as she murmured, "I told you not to underestimate us. Consider this your first lesson."

She patted me on the cracked shoulder, laughing lightly as I winced. "This was fun. We should do it again sometime." As she walked back to her sisters, she scrunched up her nose with a mocking grin and a little wave to Esme. "You two have a good day now," she said, tipping an imaginary hat at me with a wink.

I joined Esme at the door, after I finally collected myself, Alice called out one more time, "Oh, and Jasper?" She waited until I turned around. "Tell your brothers it's bad manners to snoop."

~Scene~

"So?" Edward demanded as we walked through the door. "Seriously? A minute in and you got distracted?" he snarled, skimming my thoughts. "You were supposed to get information! Not give it! And you were supposed to watch Esme's back, not get lost in the witch's eyes!"

"Says the idiot who nearly risked all our lives here this morning just to save a witch who would have saved herself," I couldn't help but snap back. My shoulder was still cracked and burning in pain; on top of our futile attempts at civility—I was pissed. I gestured at Emmett who was pouting on the stairs, covered in green glitter. "And clearly you two didn't fare any better. What part of discrete did you not get? You were supposed to gather information on the sisters, not cosplay as fucking glitter balls."

Emmett flipped me off while Edward snarled, but Esme stepped between us with a stern look. "Enough."

She turned to Carlisle as he entered the room, remorse and exhaustion tugging at his heels. Ever since he had come back from the hospital after his run-in with Bella, there had been a dark cloud hanging over him.

"The sisters are furious," Esme said, as he wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. "They aren't going to let this go easily."

"Maybe I should speak with them," he murmured, guilt and self-condemnation rising in him.

"Absolutely not," Edward growled. "You saw how Bella responded this morning!"

Carlisle was unconvinced, still certain he could talk to them himself, even after everything so far.

"No." Esme cupped his face in her hands, pressing their foreheads together as she murmured, "I know you want to help them, my love—" She stroked her thumb across his cheek and he leaned into her touch, "—but they're hurting too much. You tried this morning but you saw how that worked. If you try again so soon, you'll only end up hurting them even more. Leave them be. Let the boys handle it. For now."

Carlisle closed his eyes, kissing her palm gently as he wound their fingers together and nodded. Despite my sour mood, I almost smiled—even amidst everything, those two could always calm each other down with just a few touches. It made me wonder, as I had often found myself doing lately, if I would ever have something like that.

Edward's emotional eye roll caught me attention as he mocked my thoughts, and I was back to being pissed. I wanted to throw something heavy at him, maybe his precious piano— I grinned nastily when he snarled again. I could feel Esme's emotional sigh at having to break us up again, but I needed some way to let out my frustrations, and Edward was always an amusing punching bag.

But before I could do anything fun, a large crack of thunder burst above us, startling everyone—a storm hadn't been forecast for today. Suddenly, the light around Emmett crackled and a translucent figure flickered into existence behind him. Emmett jolted away with a muttered curse, but the figure paid him no attention. There was something unearthly about this figure that had us all on edge.

The open sleeves of their indigo gown flowed gently in an imaginary breeze as she glided towards us. Their feet didn't touch the ground and I felt a sharp absence in the air where their presence should have been. She had no heartbeat, no emotions swirling through them, and when she reached the couch, she floated through it like it wasn't there.

Their eyes were covered by a thick white cloth, but it was somehow clear that their focus centered on Carlisle. She stopped at the centre of the half-circle we had unconsciously formed and raised an imbalanced set of scales. Quicker than human eyes could follow, she balanced the scales.

Suddenly, Carlisle's guilt and self-condemnation multiplied tenfold. He crumpled to the ground with a breathless, broken cry; eyes suddenly brimming with tears that would never fall. Esme darted towards him, but she was shoved back by an invisible force.

Remorse surged within him and I choked under the weight of it all. I reached out instinctively to lessen his pain, but suddenly the figure was right in front of me. She held out a hand and I was blasted backward. I landed against the far wall with a resounding crack and I bit back a howl of pain as my shoulder wound opened further.

"The debt must be paid." An ethereal whisper snapped through the air, bodiless as the figure hadn't opened their mouth, their eyes never leaving Carlisle.

"Oh dear God! What did I do?" Carlisle cried, near-blind with anguish. "They were so young!"

"What the hell is happening?" Emmett growled.

"She's making him remember everything." Edward shuddered, watching the agony of Carlisle's mind play out. "From his human life. Everything about the sisters lives—before they died. Over and over."

"Like she doesn't want him to forget," I growled, eyes on the figure as I cradled my shoulder and rose to my feet. "It must have something to do with their curse."

"What the hell is happening?" Emmett growled again, looking like he was ready to tackle the figure, something I knew instinctively was a terrible idea. But my brother clearly didn't share the same sentiment as he leaped forward.

But instead of passing through the figure, she turned their head and Emmett was blasted away with a loud crack. "The debt must be paid."

"Enough," Esme growled suddenly, putting herself between Carlisle and the figure. There was a snarling fury I'd never felt in her before as she glared at the figure. Whatever this figure was, Esme was ready to tear it apart. My brothers and I joined her side as we stood in front of Carlisle. Come hell or high water, we'd protect our family. Even against whatever this creature was.

But in the space of a blink, the figure disappeared and reappeared behind us, standing over Carlisle's shuddering form. She held out the again imbalanced scales, holding them above him, and seemed to glare down at him as they balanced the scales once more.

Carlisle let out a strangled groan, and the only thing that kept me from dropping at the sudden weight of pure remorse was Esme's quick arm around my shoulders. Edward wasn't so lucky as he collapsed under the weight of whatever Carlisle was remembering.

We were useless. Watching from the sides, unable to do anything as Carlisle was buried under 335 years' worth of remorse. As he was paralysed by the constant memory replay of the three sisters he'd had burned. We couldn't go near him without the figure blasting us through another wall. I couldn't even lessen his pain—the one thing I could do to help my family, and I couldn't do it.

"Please," Esme whispered, her fight draining away as her eyes trained on the figure; her soul crying even as her eyes couldn't. "Please. Let him go."

But the figure didn't react, just held the balanced scales above him, impassionate to his pain as he lay crumpled on the tiled floor. I couldn't say how much time passed as we stood frozen, watching—hours? Weeks?—but eventually the figure stepped back.

Light began to splinter around them as she dropped the balanced scales back to their side. And then for the first time since she'd arrived, she looked at the rest of us, hissing even as their lips didn't move, "The debt is paid."

Then, with an air of spiteful reluctance that made me wince, they disappeared.

Silence echoed in their wake only broken by Carlisle's choked whisper, "She was fourteen. The youngest—she was only fourteen!"

Esme darted to his side and he leaned into her gratefully, even as he struggled under the weight of everything the ethereal figure had forced on him.

"What the hell was that?" Emmett glanced around the room like he expected them to pop back up. "Who the hell was that?"

"That was the curse," Carlisle murmured, standing as exhaustion lined his body. "Only through true remorse will you ever find peace."

"Okay, but who the hell was that?" Emmett growled, frustration rolling off him in waves. This was the kind of attack my brother hated—the kind he couldn't hit back. "You can't just tell me that that was the curse!"

"I don't know," Carlisle said, closing his eyes as he leaned into Esme. There was a level of helplessness emanating from him, the kind I had never seen on his face—the kind that troubled me deeply. In the fifty years I had known him, I had never seen him so utterly exhausted.

"Whatever it was," Edward growled, standing, "It came from the sisters."

"Then we take the fight back to them," Emmett snarled, desperate for something to hit. He may have been amused last night by the sadistic sides of the sisters, but he'd have taken on the Volturi themselves if it meant protecting his family. We all would.

"No!" Carlisle bit out, straightening to look at each of us in turn. "No. I don't want any of you going after them."

"I know you want to keep the peace, Carlisle, but whatever this was just now, they aren't going to stop. Whatever that thing was, they brought it into our home, just to hurt you." Edward frowned. "They started this—we're going to end it."

Carlisle shook his head, even as I added, "It won't come back on us. They might not be human, but they can still die like humans." I knew it sounded cold, but I was being practical. These sisters had made their stance clear. Treaty or not, they were going to find a way around it—and a painful death to any who stood in their way. I wasn't going to let that happen. Not to my family. I wasn't going to let them ruin the semblance of peace I had carved out with my coven, with my family.

"You saw Bella's injury today—another accident could finish it." I crossed my arms over my chest as my mind raced with the possibilities, crossing out each flawed option as I settled on a more solid plan. "And the roads are dangerous right now, particularly for an inexperienced driver."

"Particularly for a truck with no brakes," Edward continued my train of thought.

Emmett cracked his knuckles. "It'd be a shame if they lost control on their way home from school."

"Enough!" Carlisle snapped, aghast at our planning. "You're not going to murder them!" He took a step closer when I started to argue. "No! They have been through enough! I will not let you kill them to make my life easier. That is not who we are!"

"This isn't just for you," Edward half argued. "They pose a risk to all of us here."

"No. Not to you all, they don't. Just me." Carlisle rubbed a hand over his face, his shoulders dropping under the weight of everything he now remembered. "They want me to pay—not you." He looked at each of us steadily, even as he looked ready to collapse. "I'm the reason the sisters are doing this. So I won't ask you to stay. I won't ask you to risk your lives for my mistakes."

"We're not going anywhere." Esme didn't have to look at the rest of us to know we agreed. "Hey." She tipped his chin up gently. "Where you go I go, remember?"

He rested his forehead against hers with a soft smile, kissing her palm gently as she cupped his cheeks. Esme turned back to us. "We need a plan. One that doesn't involve killing three young girls."

"We need to change their minds. Somehow." I rubbed my shoulder with a wince. Preferably some way that didn't end with us being torn to pieces. Alice had already given me a preview of it today, and it was not something I wanted a second round of.

"I think if we separate them, we'll stand a better chance," Edward said. "They're stronger when they're together—and less likely to listen to reason. If we go at them separately, we might be able to convince one of them at least. And that should help with the other two."

"Esmerelda—Bella. She's the one you need to convince." Carlisle straightened, blinking away whatever he had remembered. "She was the oldest of them in their first life—she took care of them. I saw her once, in the village. She was rendering meat—she couldn't have been older than twelve, and I remember wondering why an adult hadn't done it for her." He shook his head like he couldn't believe himself. "I never realised that she didn't have a choice. She had to, to feed her sisters."

He closed his eyes for a second, struggling with the self-condemnation that I reached for fruitlessly, uselessly. "She was all they had. They defer to her because that's how they've always been."

"So we change her mind, we change all of theirs," Edward said.

Easier said than done. I caught Edward's eye. She hates us the most.

His face twisted in displeasure, but he didn't say anything. Eventually Carlisle and Esme drifted away, leaving us to continue planning.

"So we're not killing them?" Emmett clarified, too low for Carlisle or Esme to hear.

Thunder cracked suddenly through the air, and we all tensed, waiting for the figure to reappear, but after a few seconds of figure-free peace, we relaxed.

I shook my head. "No. But it's still our back up plan if we need it."

Without warning, the cross Carlisle's father flew at me, smacking me in the face. I stumbled back, eyes wide. It hadn't even hurt, but it was freaky nonetheless.

"Did we piss off God or something?" Emmett murmured, staring at the broken cross in my hands. "What the hell?"

What the hell are these girls capable of?

January 22nd, 2003

Edward thrummed his fingers impatiently against the steering wheel as we waited for the line of cars into the school parking lot to clear. We had left home later than expected after the chaos Emmett had caused this morning. He had wanted to come with, not one to be left out, but Esme wouldn't have it. He was still covered in glitter, and he'd have likely caused an accident if he'd gone out like that.

I sent a wave of calm towards Edward when his impatience started getting on my nerves. He grunted in a mix of annoyance and gratitude, but I knew the events of the past few days were wearing him down—even if I still wanted to hit him.

While Esme and I had been at the diner with the sisters, Edward and Emmett had been looking into the sisters back in Jacksonville. They had left immediately after the hospital incident while we kept an eye on them here in Forks. I had hoped they'd find something we could use against the sisters when we confronted them in the diner, but what my brothers had found had been less than ideal.

There had been very little information about the sisters, and when they'd asked neighbours and peers about the sisters, no one could seem to recall them clearly. Despite them having lived there a week ago. It was like the sisters had wiped themselves from everyone's minds.

And on top of that, they had seemingly left traps dotted around Jacksonville for anyone 'snooping'. One in their old biology classroom had nearly bitten Edward's nose off, another had been a particularly aggressive cactus that had chased them for miles, and the more noticeable one had been a particularly vicious glitterbomb in their old house.

Which Emmett had caught right to the face and was subsequently covered in green glitter.

The one thing Edward and Emmett had found had been of a nasty school bully who'd been strung up on the school flag pole by three mysterious girls and left there overnight. Naked.

It had been the one thing all the students of Jacksonville High had talked about when asked about the sisters. But then their eyes would glaze over as they tried to remember why they'd told the story.

Which just added extra worries to my mind. Because if this ended with a fight, and my family won, we would have to deal with the consequences of their disappearance. But if we lost, it was starting to look like the sisters could make it seem like we were never even here.

Edward began inching forward in the line before he had to slam on his brakes as a red truck cut in front of us. He swore and we both glared at Alice who waved cheekily at us from the bed of the truck.

Eventually we pulled into a park next to the sisters who all got out grinning wickedly at us.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Bella grinned, feral and delighted. "Did I cut you off?"

"You're a menace on the roads!" Edward snapped, instantly forgetting that he was supposed to be polite.

We're screwed, I sighed. If Edward convincing Bella to not kill us is our only chance at survival, we're absolutely dead.

"Where's Emmett?" Rosalie asked, looking around with a smirk like she knew exactly where he was.

I sighed. "Esme's still picking glitter out of his hair. He's had three showers and he still looks like a disco ball."

The sisters cackled in delight. "Oh, that one was my favourite." Rosalie wiped a tear from her eye. "I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to actually open it, but—" And they dissolved into giggles once more as Edward and I shared a long suffering look. It was going to be a long day.

"Alice—may I speak with you for a moment, please?" I asked after they calmed a little. It had worked well in drawing her away from her sisters yesterday, so I could only hope it would work again today.

"Not a chance, cowboy," Bella said with narrowed eyes and a shake of her head, somewhat amused.

"Anyone might think you're obsessed with me," Alice said with a smirk, patting me on the chest as she and her sisters walked away. "Might want to tone it down a little there, darling."

I narrowed my eyes at her as she winked at me, laughing and headed into the school building. Definitely need to get her alone. Good thing she doesn't share all her classes with her sisters. With a final glance at Edward, I headed to the administration building.

The moment she saw me leaning against her locker after first period, she laughed. "Oh, you're definitely obsessed with me."

She pushed me away to get to her locker, eyeing me over her shoulder as she grabbed her books for her next class. "How's your shoulder? That crack sounded truly awful yesterday." She grinned, all mischief and hellfire.

"Just fine, darlin'." I looked her up and down with a slow dark smile as I stepped closer, crowding her against her locker. "But we didn't get to finish our conversation yesterday."

She closed her locker and turned back to lean against it with a mischievous grin. "Better luck next time then."

She pushed off her locker like she was going to head to class, but I placed my hands on either side of her head, caging her in. My smile grew as she stumbled back and her heart rate picked up. Finally, An upper hand.

"What do you mean 'next time'?" I leaned closer, my fingers tilting her chin up. "We share all the same classes now, darlin'. And we're almost late for art."

I didn't expect her to back away from the threat in my challenge—she'd already shown that wasn't in her nature—but I wasn't ready for her to pull me closer.

She pulled me in by my coat, dangerous amusement swirling in her eyes as she rose to her tiptoes and purred in my ear, "You ought to be more careful who you threaten, darling."

There was something in her wicked smile that had my frozen heart thrumming in anticipation. She pulled back a little so our lips were a hairsbreadth apart. "This obsession of yours may prove fatal."

She pulled back suddenly, and I couldn't decide if I was disappointed or thrilled. She was unlike anyone I'd ever met, and as she walked to class, a smirk thrown over her shoulder, I wondered if I'd finally met my match.

"You coming?"

"Yes."