AN: thank you all for the amazing response so far! we really hope you continue to like this story! also, I've just noticed that FFN isn't saving our scene breaks for some reason so I will be going in today and inserting scene breaks for the previous chapters, so don't be alarmed if you get multiple notifications for this story today, that's all, for now, Blessed be!

Chapter 6 - Know Your Place

Alice's POV

Wednesday – January 22nd

"How exactly do you intend to get past the teacher who never lets anyone in?" I raised an amused eyebrow at Jasper as he stopped beside me at the door to 'our' classroom. "You can't just sneak in."

After everything that had happened yesterday, I had decided that Jasper might be my best bet at getting all the information we needed about the Cullens. We'd won our little 'skirmishes' so far, and I had no doubt we'd win this thing in the end, but to do that we were going to need every possible advantage we could get.

And if Jasper Cullen was going to make it easy for me by following me around like a lost puppy, then I had no problems with that.

"You might be good at turning on the crocodile tears, darlin', but no one's better than me." He tapped me on the nose, grinning and dodging when I swatted at him. "Watch and learn, grasshopper."

If that was a jab at my height, cowboy, you're going to need more than crocodile tears to get you out of this one. I narrowed my eyes at him when he winked at me.

He walked up to the teacher, an elderly woman I'd already seen throw a student out for breathing too loudly; a simple smile on his face as he said, "Ms Martins? I believe Ms Cope should have called you about my sudden timetable change?"

She smiled at him instantly. "Of course, dear! Don't you worry—it's all sorted out! You and Alice will be sharing all your classes from now on."

Wait—did he change his entire school schedule so we would share all the same classes? I bit back a smile at my growing delight. Oh that's wonderful! That saves me so much work! I don't have to spell him into following me everywhere now—he's already doing it voluntarily!

Ms Martin patted his arm, looking up at him like he'd just promised to give puppies to orphans. "You're such a sweet boy to be helping your friend like this." She leaned around him to look at me with an almost pitying look. "I'm sure your sister is going to be alright, dear. And you take as much time as you need."

For a split second, I considered making this difficult for him, but that wouldn't be nearly as fun. Two can play this game, cowboy.

I clutched my books tighter to my chest as I let my eyes glisten a little. "Thank you, Miss." My lip wobbled as I sent Jasper a watery smile. "I don't know what I'd do without Jasper."

Jasper gave me such a sweet smile I almost believed him as he wrapped an arm around me in comfort.

"You two go sit in the back. It's okay if you can't concentrate on class today—you just focus on getting better." Ms Martins clasped her hand to her chest like we were the sweetest thing she'd ever seen. I wiped away a tear as I swallowed a grin. Oh, this is just too easy.

I nodded, tucking myself closer to him, like I was avoiding everyone's stares as we headed to the back of the class. He tightened his grip around my shoulders, even as I could feel a silent laugh rumbling through him.

"What exactly did you tell them that has everyone now thinking I'm so delicate?" I murmured as we sat down.

"Just that the idea of your sister nearly dying yesterday has you so traumatised that only your dear friend Jasper can calm you down." Something predatory flickered in the amusement in his eyes as he leaned closer.

As he moved, the light caught the skin above his collar and my heart stopped. Dozens of scars littered the exposed skin and everything primal in me begged to run far far away from this beast inches from my throat. Because each scar was proof of the things that had fought to kill him, and died trying.

Well, all except one. I could see the one I had given him yesterday peeking through his collar and I smiled, shoving away that instinctual fear. He might have been the thing that made the monsters tremble, but even monster hunters were afraid of something.

"Well aren't I lucky," I purred, and his terrifying and delightful grin was answer enough.

Thursday – January 23rd

I hadn't had this much fun since my sisters and I nearly blew up our last school. Which was a feat considering the tricks my sisters and I had already played on our classmates since we'd arrived a few days ago.

And it was all because of the ever-smirking Jasper Cullen. Since he'd changed his class schedule yesterday he'd barely left my side, even daring to sit down with us at lunch. Until Bella had sent him away with hives, of course.

Not that I minded. There was something utterly delightful about the constant attention. I wasn't like Rose—I didn't demand adoration—but I could see why she loved it. It was a delicious rush to know I had his full attention at all times.

Like right now. He was staring at me like I intrigued him and he couldn't get enough. There was an air of irritation around him too, like he hated that he couldn't take his eyes off me—it was delightful.

"Take a photo—it'll last longer," I murmured, not taking my eyes off my Trig notes. I could feel the heat of his stare against the side of my face intensify and I bit back a smile. Oh yes; I could definitely get used to this.

"Now why would I do that, darlin'?" he asked, equally as quiet as he leaned closer, eyes narrowing. "A photo could never hope to catch even a fraction of your beauty. No, I think I'll keep with the real thing."

Smooth talker. I narrowed my eyes at him playfully. We were sitting in the back at our own table again, and Jasper was stretched out languidly beside me. His books were open, abandoned in front of him as he stared at me. He hadn't said a word since we'd sat down twenty minutes ago—apart from the cheesy line he thought would work on me—just stared at me like I vexed him.

I wondered if this was his ploy—to silently unnerve and threaten me into spilling everything. Because if it was, he was going to lose this game of ours before we'd even begun. These were two things I was very good at: glaring contests and waiting in silence.

Last night I had told my sisters about my plan to get close to Jasper to get information and Bella had been instantly against it. She knew I could handle myself, but she didn't want me putting myself in harm's way just to get information. But between Rose and I, we had convinced her it was a good idea—a good idea for all of us. We needed all the information on the Cullens we could get, and in the past twenty-four hours they'd been tripping over themselves to spend time with us. It was the perfect opportunity, and I wasn't going to let it slip past.

I glanced at Rose a few desks over, swallowing my smirk when I saw Emmett clearly flirting with her as she ignored him. I almost felt sorry for him, but I knew Rose was having as much fun as I was.

I looked up at Jasper through my lashes, turning back to our 'conversation'. "Ah, but the 'real thing' might not want you around anymore." I shrugged, almost smiling. "Particularly since you seem to have outlived your usefulness."

Something dark flashed behind his eyes even as his lips curled into a flinty smile, and I knew I'd hit a nerve. "Cute, but we both know I haven't. Especially since you're so delicate. So easily frightened—like a child afraid of the dark."

I couldn't help but laugh softly. "Oh you poor, delusional cowboy. I am far more likely to be the thing that goes bump in the night." My eyes flashed violet and neither of us moved as all the lights in the classroom suddenly flickered wildly.

His smile was dark and dangerous as our mortal peers shrieked. "Good." He leaned back, giving me a lingering look that would have sent any mortal's heart trembling. "Well, since I have to be useful for you to keep me around," he held his hands out in front of him, "what do you want to know?"

"Absolutely everything," I purred.

~Scene~

"Vampires have abilities?" I raised an eyebrow. "Beyond the strength, speed and insufferable good looks?"

He snickered at that, nodding. "Not all of us—gifts are rare in our kind."

I narrowed my eyes at him stretched out beside me. There had to be a reason he was telling me this. Our whole game was aimed at teasing and threatening the other, showing off who was scarier, and this was just another level. "I assume you have a gift—or someone in your 'family' does at least."

His smirk grew as he lazily flicked his gaze to Edward and Bella behind me. "Edward can read the minds of any who pass near him. He's the one who typically gives us a warning should anyone come close to learning our…secret." He turned back to me, mocking laughter in his eyes. "So he finds it particularly…vexing that he can't read you or your sisters."

Oh, Bella's going to love that. I turned to see Edward's jaw was clenched, like he knew exactly what we were talking about. I realised he definitely did as his fists clenched. We were only a few metres away, and even without his super vampire hearing, he could probably hear everything through Jasper's thoughts.

I mentally poked my tongue at him, grinning when he didn't respond. Oh yeah. Bella's going to have a field day.

"And what about you?" I turned back to Jasper, raising an eyebrow when he widened his eyes in faux innocence. "Oh don't be coy now. We both know there's nothing average about you, cowboy."

He grinned, leaning closer. "You sure you want to see, darlin'? Wouldn't want to scare you off."

I smirked and his grin turned feral. Suddenly pure happiness surged through me and I couldn't help but giggle. Loudly. I slapped my hand over my mouth, but it was too late.

Mr Varner turned from the board with an irritated raised eyebrow. "Is there something amusing to you about circular functions, Miss Swan?"

"No, sir." I gritted my teeth as the sudden happiness disappeared as fast as it came, smugness radiating off Jasper. I smiled thinly at Mr Varner. "Sorry, sir."

I rounded on Jasper the moment the attention was off us again. "What the hell was that?" I didn't give him a chance to respond as his smugness intensified. "That was your gift?" My mind abruptly flashed back to the diner, to the pain I'd felt inexplicably surging through me. "That was you at the diner too…"

"Surprise," he said in a neutral sing-song voice that belied his smug grin.

I had guessed he'd had something to do with it, but now that I had proof I wanted to give him a matching scar on his other shoulder. Like he could guess the path of my thoughts, he leaned forward, his eyes daring me as he murmured, "You sure you want to start that again, darlin'?"

"Why not?" I matched his daring grin with a smirk of my own as my magic thrummed beneath my skin. "I had so much fun last time."

Suddenly a ball of paper landed in front of us. Jasper raised an eyebrow at Edward as he opened it:

You both need to stop. We're in public—be civil.
If you can't be civil, then be quiet.

I considered flipping him off—even if he couldn't see me, he'd get the message—but before I could, Bella flicked us another note:

Ignore Edworm, Allie—have as much fun as you want xo

I turned back to Jasper with a grin to match his as I sat back. But as fun as letting loose and terrifying my simple peers would be, I had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time I'd have the chance. So I let my magic drop back and watched Jasper relax too. There was plenty of time for fun later.

But I was warier now. We had expected these vampires to put up something of a challenge—they did outnumber us nearly two to one—but these abilities made them more powerful than we'd anticipated. But there was also an undercurrent of excitement running through me. Things had just gotten a lot more interesting.

~scene~

"So why haven't you torn my head off yet?" I asked, lying back on the grass. It had finally stopped raining and I was taking in every minute of this 'dry' existence before it started up again.

We were sitting on the hill behind school, waiting out the final period of the day. I had pleaded 'trauma' to get out of Spanish and Mrs Groff had immediately sent Jasper with me (my very own support vampire—lucky me). So now we were skipping Spanish and lying on the school lawn while Jasper spilled the beans on everything he knew about our kinds.

"Not that I'm complaining, of course," I rolled my head to look at him as he snorted. "I quite like my head attached—but aren't you vampires supposed to go crazy at blood? How can you stand to be so close to me, let alone all of them." I wave at the school and it's human occupants.

Jasper was lying beside me, eyes closed and arms behind his head. We almost made a peaceful picture, lying side by side—if you ignored the fact that I wanted his 'father' dead and he likely wanted to rip out my throat.

But he was already shaking his head. "Your blood is entirely neutral to us. In the early days of the war, I believe witches put protection charms into their blood to protect against vampire thirst—something for the rest of you to inherit. It doesn't make your blood repulsive to us—not like the wolves—it just has zero appeal. Much the same as human food does to us."

He rolled his head to look at me, opening his golden eyes. "Plus your entire physiology is different to humans."

"How so?" I rolled onto my side to face him, curious to see what he knew. I already knew how our physiology differed from humans—too many close medical encounters had warned us of that in this life—but I wanted to see just how much he knew about us.

And there was something almost…softer about him out here. Something I hadn't seen before. Yesterday there had been a taunting, teasing edge to him as we'd flirted and tested the boundaries, and this morning there'd been a darker level of irritation about him. Like something was frustrating him and he was choosing to take it out on me.

I'd been more than willing to reciprocate, of course. But now, out here as he closed his eyes again, it was almost like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Your hearts beat slower than a human's. Nearly a full second slower," he mused before smirking a little. "Though yours does seem to always rise when I'm around."

I snorted at the outright lie. "And I'm sure something of yours rises when I'm around."

"Like a skyscraper, darlin'," he grinned, delightfully devilish intentions in his eyes.

Before I could respond, a great big booming laugh rang through the air. Jasper covered his face with his hands with a groan as I looked over to the school oval where Emmett was laughing his arse off—definitely having heard everything. He also seemed to be telling Bella because she started laughing too.

Jasper let out a long sigh. "I am not going to hear the end of that for at least another century."

I snorted. "You're not the only one. I'm going to be hearing skyscraper puns long after we're dead and buried. And six hundred years is a long time to be tortured for."

"Six hundred?" He dropped his hands beside him, eyeing me curiously. "I thought witches lived to be a thousand."

Would you look at that—something he doesn't know. I shook my head. "Only those in a coven. The rest of us just live a measly six hundred."

"So you and your sisters aren't in a coven then?" He raised an eyebrow when I didn't respond. "Oh so it's okay for me to spill everything, but not you?"

"I never said you had to. You did that voluntarily."

"Darlin', I think you've made it well clear what happens to someone who doesn't listen to you—I'm not an idiot. I'm not crossing that line."

"Glad you've finally come to your senses then," I grinned. "Now, how exactly is it that you know so much about witches?" I narrowed my eyes at him playfully, but I was genuinely curious. In the past hour he had told me more about witch history than even I'd known.

I expected him to raise an eyebrow at my blatant avoidance of his question, but the teasing smile on his face dropped away and suddenly his eyes were cold. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up at his glare and I instinctively reached for my magic.

"We should get back before class gets out." His words were cold and harsh, like he couldn't spit them out fast enough.

It was like a switch had been flipped; the insouciant Jasper I'd been playfully 'interrogating' was suddenly back to how he'd been that day in the diner. Like he was staring at the enemy. And I realised with a start, that somewhere in this faux peace, I had forgotten that I was. That we weren't the childhood penpals we pretended to be to our teachers and classmates. That we weren't friends, teasing and taunting each other.

We were enemies, and somewhere along the way I'd forgotten that.

"Jas–"

"No!" He clenched his jaw, standing up like he was going to leave, and suddenly I could feel it. The shame coating the air. "I don't want to talk about that."

He started back towards the school, and I knew if I didn't get him to stay, this game of ours would be over for good. "Jasper! I won't ask!" He froze on the hill and, remembering his ability, I pushed as much contrition and emotional apologies towards him as I could. "I'm sorry. I won't push."

And I meant it—as bewildered and disoriented as it left me. This was precisely the thing that Bella had suggested I find. A clear weakness we could exploit, but the flash of pain I'd seen before he'd gone cold, the shame I felt in the air—something in me resonated with that. The kind of pain that screamed shame and regret was something I knew intimately. And I couldn't bring myself to use it against him.

Clearly he had some kind of history with witches and whatever it was tore him up with just a single reference to it. It was exactly the kind of thing I needed to use against him, but I couldn't find it in me to do it. It was the perfect bait, and I just let it go. I knew what it was like to feel so ashamed about something you'd rather tear into someone else than face it.

I also knew how hard it was to get out of that pit when it threatened to overwhelm you. "Alright," I said slowly and I cast around for a topic change; something to bring him back from that edge. "Why aren't your eyes red?"

It was the first thing I could think of that mightn't set him off further. Far enough from his history with witches, but not so far that it wouldn't make sense for me to ask. He might have been my enemy, but surely I could help with just this?

He didn't respond, just glared at the school. As the minutes passed in stifling silence, I resigned myself to the fact that this minor peace we'd found with each other was gone. Our game might continue, but the ease with which our teasing banter flew was gone. Disappointment twinged through me and I berated myself for it. Just because these past few days had been amusing didn't make him anything more than my enemy.

I shook my head as I laughed at myself. This was ridiculous. Was I really coddling my enemy because he felt a little of what I felt every damn day?

Hell, his 'shame' was probably from something he'd done to witches in his past. Why the hell should I try to make that easier for him? He probably deserved every minute of it. Because that was the line between us. He was a vampire and I was a witch. We may have had some fancy treaty that kept us from killing each other, but that was as civil as it got.

I needed to get my head on straight—he was my enemy, no matter how cute he was. Somewhere along the way I'd forgotten that, but I wasn't going to let that happen again. I needed to get out of here before I did something stupid. I stood up and walked past him down the hill, not even sparing him a glance.

"We don't drink human blood," he called out when I was halfway down the hill. I turned around slowly, but he wasn't watching me. "It's why our eyes aren't red. We only drink from animals."

"Hmm," was all I responded with before heading back towards the parking lot.

There was only a few minutes left of class, so I'd wait for my sisters by the truck. I wasn't going to waste any more of my time today with moody vampires who could control my emotions. Hell, he'd probably been controlling them all day—it was the only reasonable explanation for why I'd lost my head so completely in a few days.

"Whatever you're thinking—you're wrong," Jasper called out and I looked back one more time. He was looking down at his hands as he clenched and unclenched them slowly.

"Unless you're suddenly a mind reader like your brother, I'd suggest you stop trying to guess what I'm thinking," I responded coolly. "It'll only end badly for you."

And I continued down the hill, ignoring the feeling that everything was about to change.

January 24th - Friday

"Enough!" A pale hand shot out in front of me, slamming my locker shut inches from my face. I turned slowly to face Jasper who was seething.

"Excuse me?" I asked coldly

"We got your message. You need to stop torturing him!" he spat. "You've done enough!"

I was wary as I stood up straighter. He'd been pissed in our little 'demonstration' at the diner the other day and he'd been frosty yesterday, but he looked murderous here. And I needed to be prepared to take his head off if necessary,

Casting my eyes to the side I quickly put up a basic illusion that would seem as though Jasper was simply yelling at me about a boy I'd been seen talking to. It was simple, and exactly what these idiotic drama-crazed teens would lap up like eager puppies. As soon as I was done, I cast my eyes back to the rage-filled vampire.

"I suggest you watch your tone." I narrowed my eyes at him as I once more glanced around at some of the students watching my illusion with wide eyes—this was probably the most excitement they'd ever had. "You're causing a scene," I said.

"Lift whatever hell kind of curse you put on Carlisle or this is going to get ugly," he hissed, completely ignoring me.

I barely refrained from rolling my eyes—was he a complete idiot? If I hadn't cast my illusion spell, there was a definite chance that one ill-thought out line could have brought the treaty down on his head for exposing us. As if they didn't cause enough of a hassle for my family and I—I didn't need the drama of him suddenly bursting into flames in front of me.

I leaned closer to make sure he got my message. "Rot in purgatory." I smiled; looking him dead in the eyes, I knew my irises had switched to violet.

He stepped closer, bending until we were nose to nose. "I am over one hundred and fifty years old. Do you really think I can't kill three children who don't know their place?" he threatened.

"No, I don't. You couldn't even handle my love tap in the diner," I said, nodding sharply at his shoulder. "Perhaps you're growing forgetful in your old age, I could quite literally rip you to bits in this hallway. And, if I were so inclined, I could deliver the pieces of you to some local friends of ours." I snarled. "I am very good at twisting people's words to suit my needs.

"'He threatened to kill three children' sounds nice enough for burning—don't you think? So I suggest you calm down before you cross a line you won't survive," I hissed, struggling to keep a lid on my temper. "You won't get another warning."

"Enough of this posturing! That thing you sent after Carlisle with the scales and the blindfold!" he hissed. "I don't know what you think forcing him to feel your fake remorse will do, but you need to end it," he demanded. "Now."

"Ok, first of all, cowboy, I have no idea what you are talking about. We didn't send any type of thing to torment your precious daddy. Thanks for the idea though—sounds like a fun weekend plan.

"Now if you'd just calm the hell down and describe this thing to me, perhaps I can help identify it. I won't make it go away, because anything that's distressing Carlisle is great in my books, but I can at least help figure out what it is."

It might have sounded like I was being generous, but I just wanted to know what kind of beast he thought we'd conjured. Mainly so I could send them a second. Or a third. He was really starting to piss me off

Jasper narrowed his eyes at me but closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself down. Good dog. He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. "It was some type of being—a ghost or something. It looked like a woman; she had long dark hair but it wasn't a colour I can name—the closest is dark brown, but even that's not right. She was fair skinned and had a cloth blindfold covering her eyes."

He was babbling, words pouring out his mouth without any kind of filter. I could feel the frustration coming from him in waves as he uselessly tried to explain what he saw. "She was wearing a blue gown—a robe? I don't know!—and she held a set of imbalanced scales, and she said 'the debt must be paid'. Then she balanced the scales and Carlisle collapsed in a wave of pure emotions—agony, remorse, guilt, self-loathing, all of it! It was drowning him; the sheer force of it took me to my knees!"

I'd never seen him so unrefined—there was something enticing about it.

He was nearly pulling his hair out and whatever calm he was aiming for dissipated as he started yelling, "I couldn't touch it! My gift was useless against it! We couldn't even go near him without that thing throwing us around like dolls!" he growled. "But we know it has something to do with you!"

I narrowed my eyes at him as I thought over what he'd described before it hit me. I burst out laughing and Jasper growled furiously at me as my grin turned mocking. "Oh, you are an absolute obtuse idiot! That being is not a thing, and I suggest you never refer to her as such again. You, my cranky little Dracula, have witnessed a divine intervention, if you will.

"That woman was the goddess Nemesis; the Goddess of Vengeance and Justice. And what your father dearest experienced was the curse, finally running its course." Furious delight rose through me. Finally! Carlisle Cullen is finally getting everything he deserves! "I couldn't interfere with it even if I wanted to—which I don't, in case you were wondering.

"Remember, dear cowboy. I never hid my intentions from you," I patted his face, hard, smiling sweetly when he snarled. "We told you from the beginning that Carlisle was going to get his due," I said sweetly. "And he deserves everything coming to him. I can only hope he dies from the pain of it."

Fury rose in his eyes and suddenly his hands were on my shoulders and he was pushing me against the lockers, snarling in my face. "Watch your mouth, witch. Or I might just go after one of your sisters first. Barbie doesn't seem particularly bright—a little cyanide will go a long way."

A howl rose within me and suddenly all I could see was the smug, snarling grin on his face as he threatened my baby sister. My magic rose within me, slamming him off me as I spun us around and shoved him into the wall. I felt my magic surging around me, filling the hallway with a thick aura as I contemplated ripping his throat out.

"Don't fucking touch my sisters," I snarled. I shoved him against the wall again, satisfaction curling through me as the plaster behind him cracked.

He growled and moved to shove me off him, but my magic swirled around him, pinning him in place and his eyes widened as he realised he couldn't move. I tightened my magic, intent on squeezing the life out of him, when I felt hands pulling me away. I turned, intent on destroying anyone who got in my way, but I stopped when I saw it was my sister.

Rose grabbed a hold of my arms while Bella cupped my face in her hands. She rested her forehead against mine. "Breathe, Allie. If you kill him in public we'll never hear the end of it."

Oh, but that was exactly what I wanted. To smear him across the walls for daring to threaten my sisters. The last bastard who'd dared was rotting in an unmarked grave; I didn't intend to leave behind anything of this bastard worth burying.

I turned to do just that, but my sisters kept their grip on me, Bella even going so far as to clamp a hand over my mouth as they pulled me away. Out the corner of my eye, I could see Emmett and Edward bodily hauling Jasper away too as he struggled to keep his furious glare on me. I wrenched my mouth away from Bella's grip to land the final word.

"If you ever threaten my sisters like that again, not even your ashes will survive," I snarled, not caring about the audience we'd gathered. I didn't know at what point my illusion spell had shattered, but it was clear that our gaping audience had gotten an eyeful.

I could feel my sister's exasperation as they spun me around again to get him out of my sight. But it didn't matter—the moment he'd threatened my family he'd signed his death warrant.

Less than ten minutes later we were hauled into the principal's office, both our 'dads' on the phone as we were given an earful for fighting on school property. But I couldn't care less; all I needed was five minutes alone with the glaring bastard and he'd be dead. Deader.

I glared at him and he glared right back, neither of us listening to a thing, the both of us determined to finish what we'd started.

"Detention for the both of you." Both our heads snapped around to face the principal incredulously. "You're lucky it's not an expulsion," he warned. "The only things keeping you in this school are your parents' reputations in this town," he pointed a finger at the pair of us. "The pair of you will show up tomorrow morning at sunrise and you will report to Coach Clapp for your detention. And you will stay here until sunset."

He glared at the pair of us with the full threatening power of a toddler missing their nap. "And then you'll come back on Sunday. And Monday, and every day of the next week until you've learned your lesson. Is that clear?"

Detention?! With this asshole? From sunrise to sunset for the next week? Oh, fuck me.