Just a fun, spooky, Halloween-y one-shot because I've been binging Charmed and have already watched Hocus Pocus about half a dozen times. Also, the Jasper/Bella dynamic is really growing on me. Enjoy, bebs. Let me know what you think.
Coffins and Cauldrons - A damsel in distress and an almost Southern gentleman to save the day. She's a real witch, but he does have a god complex so the real hero in this story is honestly still up for debate. A romantic, Halloween inspired, one-shot.
He was a hard man to find, but not nearly as difficult as I had expected. I watched his tall figure as it stalked through the throngs of people lingering about the French Quarter. It was nearly nightfall, so I knew his day had merely just started. He hadn't changed at all, though I'm not sure why I thought he might have. That was the thing about immortality. It was as certain and permanent as death. We were both stuck, just frozen in time for eternity.
He still walked with an air of confidence and a swagger that I could never really explain or comprehend. He just had an aura and a charisma that made it too easy to get charmed by him. The way he walked, the way his deep drawl and words just rolled off his tongue, that Casanova smile, the ringlets in his blonde hair that almost seemed boyish on such an intimidating specimen, the scars covering my arms… There was nothing about him that wasn't completely fascinating.
I trailed behind him until he turned down a dark, back alley. Something in my gut didn't feel right about following him down there, but I persisted on anyway. I didn't have very many vampire aquaintances, much less ones that I hadn't thoroughly pissed off to the point that I wouldn't be dust on sight if they ever crossed paths with me.
I walked down into the alley, but it was empty, and I looked around for a moment.
"Fuck." I muttered. I lost him.
Before I could be too disappointed, I was shoved back against a brick wall, too quickly and too harshly for any human to do. I looked up and smiled slyly as the vampire's hand held me tight against the brick wall of the alleyway by my throat.
Maybe I pissed him off more than I thought. Something about that satisfied me.
"Well, if it isn't the Major Jasper Whitlock? I haven't seen you since Woodstock… or was it Mardi Gras of seventy-eight? You'll have to forgive me, cher; I was stoned most of the decade. My memory's not great." I said. My hands came up to tug at his forearm though I knew that was futile.
"The seventies sounds about right, darlin'. I see your sense of style hasn't improved with the times." He replied with an evil grin, his black eyes showing a depth that I couldn't have even imagined was possible.
"The good ol' boys in Italy keeping all their little peasants in with the styles, then? Sending you each a copy of the latest Vogue, I can only imagine. If only my kind was so lucky to have such… oversight." I taunted, knowing how much he hated having to be on anyone's radar, much less under anyone's rule.
Jasper growled under his breath, his hand tightening around my throat to the point I could barely breathe. "Still walking the line between bravery and stupidity, as well, I see, Miss Swan."
"I really need to stop that." I breathed out. "I'm such a clumsy girl."
His narrowed as he studied my face for a moment before finally releasing my throat and taking a step back. "What are you doing here, Isabella?"
"Can't a girl just drop by for a few rounds of drinks?"
He smirked. "I don't think you'd like my version of a Bloody Mary, cher." He replied sarcastically and started to walk away, his long legs moving him at a brisker pace than what I was ready for.
"Still stubborn as a bull, I see." I huffed and jogged after him, hoping he wouldn't take off at full speed. I'd surely lose him. Those damn vampires got all of the fun abilities. Sure, I could cast a few spells, make a few brews, and move some things around with a wave of my hand, but what good was that really? Superhuman strength and speed? That's where it was at. Now the bloodsucking? That was a bit of a turnoff; I couldn't not admit it. "I need help, Jasper." I called after him.
Jasper stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at me. "You need my help?"
I nodded.
His lips twitched. "How bad did that taste comin' out of your mouth?"
I rolled my eyes. "Like your version of a Bloody Mary." I responded flatly.
He smirked. "What do you need?"
"I have a bit of a werewolf problem." I explained.
"And you can't handle that on your own?" He asked, his tone arrogant.
My eyes narrowed. "Witches aren't exactly known for being the greatest hunters. I've tried to track it, but I lose it every time."
"Why's it a problem?"
"Hunters have been disappearing. I had my hunches, but the other night, I heard it. That howl. It's the most terrifying thing I've ever come across. I'd know that call anywhere. My sisters and I tracked it for a while, but like I said… we lost it."
Jasper looked at me pensively for a moment, his dark eyes piercing even in the darkness of the abandoned street. "Why should I risk my life for a couple of human hunters?"
I sighed. "Are you so far removed from your humanity that you've forgotten you used to be one? We aren't the chosen ones, Jasper. Our lives are worth no more than theirs. In fact, I'd wager they're worth less. How many lifetimes have we lived now? And what more have we contributed to this world than they have? This is their reality. We're just living in it."
"You witches with your bleeding hearts." He muttered, starting to turn around again.
"I'd expect an empath to be a bit more empathetic." I retorted.
He shook his head. "Greed. Lust. Malice. Anger. Jealousy. That's what I feel walking these streets every day. These innocent humans that you're trying to protect aren't who you think they are, Isabella."
"Then why don't you hunt them anymore?"
He avoided my eyes, shrugging. "Call it a rebellious teen phase."
"You know that most of them are good. You wouldn't be trying so hard to change if you didn't believe that."
Jasper heaved a breath.
"Please help me." I pleaded. "I promise after this you won't have to see me for the next century at least."
He looked down at me for a moment, his features hard and stoic before his dark eyes finally softened. "Well, what kind of gentleman would I be if I left a lady in distress?"
I smiled softly. "Thank you."
He only tipped his head to me, and extended his arm forward, ushering me to lead the way. We weaved through the old brick paved streets to my car that was parked in a nearly empty parking lot on the edge of town.
"Real inconspicuous, Isabella." Jasper remarked pointedly as I unlocked the door to my Ferrari.
I slid into the driver's seat. "II'm here for a long time, Jasper. Might as well make it a good time, too."
"So, how long have you been looking for me then?" He asked as I pulled out onto the highway.
I smiled to myself. "I regret to inform you that you're not as tough a man to find as you think you are, Major. In fact, it took much less time than I first anticipated."
"Is that so?"
"It is." I answered simply.
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe I let you find me?"
I glanced over at him. "Sore loser, are we?"
I heard the smirk in his voice when he answered. "Do you really think I didn't know the moment you stepped within two hundred yards of me? Not to mention that you quite pitifully and obviously trailed me for two hours before I finally decided to put you out of your misery."
I pursed my lips. "Are you that affected by my presence?"
"It's the unique combination of complete superiority, false positivity, and desire that really gives it away."
"Desire for what?" I asked in confusion, looking over at him again.
His smirk only intensified, and he arched an eyebrow.
I rolled my eyes, trying to force my blush away, and turned back to the road, doing my best to hide my face from his view. "Oh, give me a break. You nauseate me."
"Darlin', we both know that's not true. You know how I know?"
"Do tell." I snapped.
"You're not mad. You're embarrassed."
I pulled off on the exit to my house. "You're clearly mixing up my emotions with the ones of your other personality."
He chuckled but remained silent otherwise.
The rest of the thirty minute car ride to my house was quiet, and after I parked in the driveway, we got out of the car and made our way to go inside.
"Quaint." Jasper commented, looking around outside as I unlocked the front door. The house was tucked back off of a dead end road, surrounded nearly completely by woods.
"It gives us the privacy we need with access to the outside world." I said and pushed the door open just as a wind blew from the east.
Jasper stiffened slightly and looked over his shoulder to the woods on the left side of the house.
"It's close, isn't it?" I whispered.
He nodded. "Let's get you inside." He said softly, his hand moving to the small of my back and guiding me inside.
We got inside, and I walked into the study, which for all intents and purposes was the spell room.
"And do I get the pleasure of seeing your two shadows this evening?" Jasper asked as he sat down and made himself comfortable on an armchair.
I smiled to myself as I thumbed through the pages of our spell book. "Unfortunately, you won't get the honor. They're visiting friends in Dublin."
"Pity."
"Will you ever recover?" I asked, looking up at him from under my lashes.
He grinned crookedly for a moment. "Well… I suppose it'll be alright. There seems to be plenty of things here already to keep me aptly occupied." His voice was deep and low and seductive, and the smirk that had formed on his face let me know that he knew exactly what he was doing.
Damn him.
I shook my head, breaking eye contact, and looked back down at the book.
"What are you looking for?" He asked.
"A recipe." I replied, still flipping through the pages. Where the hell is that thing? I could've sworn I'd seen it just the other day.
"In the mood for a sweet treat?"
I sighed angrily and lifted my head to glare at him. "Must you be such a nuisance?"
"Oh, forgive me, ma'am. The least I could do is show a bit of goodwill towards you after stalking you for hours… Oh wait, if I recall now, that part was you."
I slammed the book shut. "Well forgive me, sir, for trying to do the right thing and save a couple lives."
He rolled his eyes. "A recipe for what then, Isabella?"
"A medicine of sorts. It'll turn the werewolf back human and keep it from shifting again." I explained. The book opened by itself and flipped to the page I was looking for. "Ha. Here it is."
"Wait. Wait. You're not plannin' on killin' it?" Jasper asked before standing up and walking over to me.
"No. It doesn't know what's doing, Jasper. It was probably a victim, too, at one point." I answered.
He gave me a look. "Well, this changes things."
"How so?" I asked, pulling a bobby pin from my hair and using it as a bookmark for the page.
"Attacking it and killing it quickly isn't very difficult. Me trying to hold this thing down while you give it a little bit of cough syrup creates a bit of an issue and increases the risk that we're the ones getting ripped to shreds."
I shook my head. "Don't be such a pessimist." I said.
Jasper placed two of his cold fingers under my chin and lifted it so that I was looking at him. "We do this my way, or we don't do it all." His voice was cold, and it nearly sent a shiver down my spine.
"Your way would be killing it, and I can't let you do that."
"Then I suppose you don't need my help then, do you?"
"Do you think I enjoyed asking for your help? Believe me, if I had another option, I would've chosen it." I said petulantly.
"And you just keep on handing me all the leverage on a silver platter." He taunted, dropping his hand down from my chin.
"Because I'm not trying to negotiate with you. Why does everything always have a price with you? For once, can you just do something because you know it's the right thing to do?"
"And where did that get us last time, Isabella?"
I pursed my lips and slammed the book shut. "This was a mistake." I muttered, picking up the book and turning to leave the room.
I heard Jasper sigh. "Wait."
I didn't step forward, but I didn't turn around to look at him either.
"I'm assuming you had a plan and weren't planning to just ambush this thing and shove a pill down its throat?"
"Yes." I responded simply, glaring into the hallway.
"You have ten minutes. If you can't prove to me in that time that we can do this without making it a suicide mission, I'll help you."
I bit back a smile and turned to look at him from over my shoulder. "You're losing your edge, Major."
He narrowed his eyes at me before going back to the armchair and sitting down. "Talk."
I turned around to face him, hugging the book close to my chest. "My sisters and I narrowed down its main paths. The water's low right now. It gets down into a dried crevasse after it hunts to rest. That's the best chance of getting it with its guard down. I don't need to get close. I just need it still long enough to get a clear shot for an arrow."
"But you're not killing it?"
"No. The edge will be laced with the potion. Whoever it is will probably be injured, but they won't die. And they won't be able to shift anymore. Which is the most important thing."
"And after it's down and human… what then?"
"We call in an anonymous tip to the game wardens or sheriff and then leave before they show up. They've been patrolling the area pretty heavily since the disappearances started."
Jasper seemed deep in thought for a moment. "I thought you said you didn't want this killin' anymore people."
"We don't." I said, confused.
"If it only gets down to rest after it eats, how else do you expect to get it down there?"
"Oh… I guess we hadn't thought of that." I admitted.
Jasper sighed and looked out of the window. "We only have a couple hours of the night left tonight, anyway. We have the day tomorrow to figure it out."
I smiled softly. "So you'll help me?" I asked hopefully.
He turned back to me, his black eyes oddly warm. "Yes."
My smile grew just before I yawned, not being able to stop myself. "Sorry." I apologized, moving to sit down in the armchair across from him.
"You should sleep. You'll need to be rested for tomorrow night."
"I'm fine." I insisted.
"Isabella." His tone was stern, and I couldn't help but turn to him. "Go to sleep. I'll think over a few things tonight and let you know what I come up with in the morning."
I bit my lip, nodding, and then walked to put the book on the floor stand. "There's a few things about it in the book if you feel like you need research." I said softly, setting the book down.
Before I could even blink, Jasper was standing beside me. "Thank you. Now go to bed."
I looked over at him and nodded, getting lost for a moment in how his eyes seemed to bore a hole into mine. We didn't move for a couple of moments, only standing there staring at each other in the sweet silence of the dimly lit room.
The silence was abruptly stunted by the sound of the book slamming open and pages flipping. I jumped a little in startlement and looked down at the page it flipped open to. It was a spell.
For Lovers and Luck
I blushed, and Jasper chuckled. "Told you." He murmured.
I shook my head and shut the book back closed. "It's for lovers and luck. Spirit probably just wants us to know that we need to get our shit together before tomorrow night."
"Perhaps." He conceded. "Goodnight, Isabella."
"Goodnight, Jasper."
As I left the room and climbed up the stairs to my bedroom, I briefly wondered why I felt so oddly calm about the day to follow. It was a mission that could very well be my last, but it felt like just another brisk, autumn night. I'd wake up in the morning, make a cup of coffee, and it'd be just another normal day. But it wasn't. Not even close. I'd never done anything nearly this dangerous before.
And just moments before I was finally able to drift off to sleep, I realized why anxiety was so low.
Jasper.
~ Coffins and Cauldrons ~
The sunlight was spilling into my room through the lace curtains over my window. I stretched in bed for a minute and then froze when I heard a noise in the kitchen downstairs. When I remembered that Jasper was still in the house, I relaxed a bit and slipped out of bed to get dressed and get ready for the day.
I trudged into my bathroom and went through my typical morning routine–brushing my teeth and washing my face, pulling my too-long brown hair in a messy updo and pushing it back with a cloth headband, getting dressed and putting on my jewelry. I did it in about half the time that I normally do, trying to keep my eagerness to get back downstairs at bay. He didn't need to know that I was somewhat excited that he had actually stayed through the night.
When I got downstairs and into the kitchen, Jasper seemed to be fumbling with the French press.
I giggled. "What are you doing?"
"This makes coffee, right?"
"Mmhmm."
"How?"
I laughed. "Vampires drink coffee now?"
He sighed and stopped trying to figure out the French press before looking up at me. "I may have been a bit of a dick yesterday. I'm sorry."
My eyes widened in shock. "How bad did that taste coming out of your mouth?" I teased.
"Like coffee."
I smiled to myself. "Apology accepted. Now move and just let me do it. Before you break it."
Jasper's eyes narrowed, and he pursed his lips before taking a step back from the kitchen counter. I walked over and took the kettle off of the stove and filled it with water before putting it back on the stove to heat up. I opened the cabinet and got the grounds out and scooped them into the French press.
"How'd you sleep?" Jasper asked.
"Pretty well. What did you do all night?" I asked, putting the grounds back in their spot in the cabinet.
"Thought more about our plans. Explored a little."
"You snooped?" I asked, pretending to be appalled. I figured he would. I would've if I were him.
He smirked. "You told me I could research."
"I meant about the werewolf." I replied.
He shrugged. "You've been staying busy the past few decades, I see." He commented.
"I have." I responded vaguely. "Have you?"
"You haven't seen me around, have you?" He asked with a strange edge in his tone.
"No, I suppose I haven't." The water on the stove started boiling, so I took it off the heat and poured it over the coffee grounds. "It must mean you've been busy wreaking havoc in some poor soul's life. You're only quiet when you're causing trouble. Canaille. Just like a toddler."
"Oh, darlin', do you miss hearing about my escapades? I always mean to send you a postcard, but somehow it just always slips my mind."
I fought a smile. "Think about me on your travels, then?"
"Only when it rains."
I put the kettle down and turned to look up at Jasper's face. "Ya know, coming from anyone else, I might be offended by that comment."
"Where've you been, beautiful?" He asked.
I scoffed. "I've been in this house the last hundred years, and I'll be here for the next hundred. Until kingdom come." I said, looking back down at the coffee in the glass carafe.
"Twelve times."
"What?" I asked in surprise.
"In the past four decades, I've come here twelve times. Your sisters tell me you're gone. Every time. I leave a note. Every time. I don't hear from you for four decades. And now, all of a sudden, you need me? What happens after this is all over? Next century is what you said, isn't it?"
What? I swallowed. "You came here?" I asked softly, my eyes drifting up to meet his gaze.
"Your sisters didn't tell you, did they?"
I shook my head. "No."
"Typical." He muttered.
I shook my head and put the cover on the French press, slowly pressing it down to the bottom. "They're just…"
"Overbearing? Jealous? Manipulative?"
"Protective." I insisted.
He laughed humorlessly. "You found me now on purpose, right? You knew they'd be out of town and never would've let you come look for me otherwise?"
"Yes." I said weakly.
"And yet you still defend them. Look what we've missed out on because of them."
I bit my lip, holding back tears as I turned around to grab a mug out of the cupboard. "What they did was wrong. I don't know what else you want me to say. They're all I have, though." I said and poured some coffee into my cup.
"They're not." He insisted. "But they will be if you keep pushing everyone else away."
I shook my head again, stirring sugar into my coffee.
Jasper stilled my hand by placing his on top, and he leaned down onto the counter on his elbow, forcing me to meet his eye line. "Hey, forty years is just a drop in the bucket for us. It's not too late, but you have to stand up for yourself first. They're goin' to keep making your decisions for you if you keep letting them. We can still do everything we planned on."
I reached out and rested my hand on his cool cheek, studying his face for a moment.
"Don't look at me like that." He said, his voice nearly pleading.
"I'm not saying no, Jasper. We just… have other things to worry about at the moment. We'll talk about it after tonight."
His jaw clenched slightly, but he gave me a reluctant nod before standing up straight and walking down the hall to the study.
My heart tightened a bit in my chest, and I felt sick to my stomach as I picked up my cup of coffee and followed him so that we could plan how tonight would go.
The day was long and short all at once. It was emotionally and mentally draining, and the closer it got to nightfall, the more dread that just settled into the pit of my stomach. It felt like a rock, just weighing me down and sitting heavy inside of me. And again, it took me too long to realize it, but it wasn't only my dread I was feeling. It was his, too.
Jasper was so sure that I was going to tell him to leave me behind again. He could feel me wrestling with myself the entirety of the day–the guilt, the doubt, the hurt, the contempt. The truth was that I didn't know what I was going to do.
I missed him. So much. That much had always been clear to me. I'd always been hurt that he hadn't even tried to reach out to me once, but then again, I had never tried to reach out to him, either. And knowing what I know now, my feelings just got more and more tangled up. I was so angry with myself and with my sisters. I felt guilty for what he had been through and for thinking about leaving my sisters behind, even after what they had done. I doubted every decision I've ever made in my life up until this point.
I just didn't want to lose him again.
When the sun set, we left the house and headed into the woods. Our plan was for us to lure in the werewolf with an easy target: a nice and fresh wild hog that Jasper would take down to use as bait. Once the wolf was finished there, we'd wait at its normal resting place, ready to attack. We weren't sure it would work, but it was our option A. And I really didn't want to wait for option B to play out.
Jasper put me up safely in a tree near the crevasse before climbing back down to go find a hog and then wait for the werewolf to return. We waited for nearly three hours after total darkness fell before finally, I heard its howl. It sent a cold shiver down my spine, but then I felt a strange wave of calmness envelope me.
The werewolf emerged from the direction of where the hog had been, moving on two legs languidly towards his normal resting place. It was a terrifying thing to see.
It laid down on its stomach, not giving me the clear shot that I needed. After a few minutes, Jasper slowly got down from the tree, and too quick for me to really see, he had the creature's neck under his arm and turned over onto its back.
I lined up my shot as quickly as I could, but it wasn't quick enough. It had slung Jasper off, and he hit the rocky edge of the crevasse with such force that it sounded like thunder.
I can't lose him again.
"No!" I screeched.
The werewolf turned to me, and on instinct, before it could move towards me, I lined up my shot, aiming anywhere on its massive body, and released my arrow. In the moment, I didn't care if it was going to be fatal or not. I just needed to see if Jasper was alright.
The werewolf fell with a piercing howl-like whimper, and I started to climb down from my perch in the tree. By the time I made it down, the wolf was slowly making the transition back into a human, but I ran past it to where Jasper had gotten thrown.
I kneeled beside him and could see him taking a few shallow breaths with a small crack in his jaw that was still in the process of closing. "Are you okay?" I asked.
He nodded, his eyes shut tightly. "Don't get any ideas and start a fire, now." He joked weakly, cringing a little.
"You know Girl Scouts was a little after my time." I said softly, letting my hand rest on his chest.
He grimaced one more time before the crack on his jaw closed completely. He let out a sigh of relief and opened his eyes. "Did you get it?"
I looked over my shoulder to see a human writhing in pain on the ground. "Fuck. Yes. We have to go." I said and clamored onto my feet.
Jasper stood up as well. "It'll be faster if I take us." He said. In one swift motion, I was on his back, and he was running back towards my house.
When we got there, I didn't waste any time before going inside and calling the sheriff's office from a burner phone that one of my sisters had. As soon as I hung up, I went back outside to find Jasper waiting awkwardly on the front porch.
Another wave of dread hit me, and I felt like my knees might give out.
I pushed past it, walked over to Jasper, and didn't give him a chance to say anything before pulling him down for a kiss. He responded with the same vigor, wrapping his arm around my waist and lifting me up to sit on the porch railing. I let my hands tangle in his hair when his tongue slipped into my mouth to start teasing mine, trying to pull him impossibly closer.
After a few minutes, I pulled away from his lips. "I love you." I said and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "I love you." I kissed him again. "I love you." Another kiss.
Jasper broke our kiss the next time. "I love you, too. But where does that leave us now?" He asked softly, his face only mere inches from mine.
I shrugged. "Wherever you want to be. That's where I'm at. Here. Guam. Timbuktu. I don't care. Wherever your coffin is… my cauldron's going to be there, too. Until kingdom come."
He smiled sweetly and kissed me again before pulling away suddenly. "No black cats, alright? They freak me out."
I giggled and nodded. "No black cats." I promised and pulled him in to kiss me again.
"Now about this runaway plan…" He started playfully.
"Mmhmm?"
"Will we be traveling by plane, train, or broomstick?"
I laughed and pushed him away so that I could hop down from the porch railing. "I don't know, but we have the night to consider the pros and cons of each." I responded, taking his hand and pulling him inside.
"Do we?" He asked and shut the front door before pulling me back towards him, spinning us around, and trapping me between his body and the door.
I nodded and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Well, I mean, my sisters are out of town for the next three days at least. And it'd be an awful shame to leave such a nice… cozy… empty house right now. What's the rush really?"
"I suppose there isn't one."
"Right. I mean, a couple hours for us isn't even a drop in the bucket, really." I said.
He smirked. "No. The ocean, perhaps."
"The ocean? Now that would be a nice place to visit." I suggested.
Jasper shook his head. "No, ma'am. Tomorrow." He said and placed a slow, lingering kiss on my lips.
I smiled against his lips and pulled away just enough to nod in agreement. "Tomorrow."
