The sound of Edward's Volvo sent a shiver down Jasper's spine and before he could even react a snarl echoed in the house and the second Edward locked his gaze on his own red one hell was unleashed.
He knew how bad it looked and he knew the blind rage filling Edward right now wouldn't let him see reason so he did the wisest thing and went for retreat.
But of course Edward got to him before he could even get to the hall and he felt fingers of steel grab him and slam him against the wall with thunderous force. Pinning him against the wall and fingers digging around his throat with such force it felt as if his neck was about to be crushed beneath Edward's fingers.
The feeling alone sent a dangerous heat to his chest and he had to fight back the impulse to do something he would definitely regret later.
Instead, his arms flew up and his fingers curled around his brother's throat as he snarled back. Growling at him and sending as much calmness as he could into him but of course that didn't work. Edward's instincts thought that he had hurt his mate and in return there would be no force to stop him from wanting to kill Jasper. His gift could be powerful but no gifts could ever overpower the instincts of wanting to protect one's mate.
So much anger in the air was making his skin burn. Red flashed in his vision as The Major pushed forward and a deep guttural growl stuck at the back of his throat.
"GIVE ME THE BODY!" The Major roared. But Jasper didn't listen.
The grip on his throat tightened and he saw red. Lunging forward and sinking his teeth on Edward's shoulder and breaking skin. Tripping him on the ground and straddling him against the floor into a headlock. Fingers dug against his forearms as Edward growled in absolute rage.
Edward managed to overpower him and switch their positions. Slamming him against the ground and holding his arms over his head and keeping his legs down using his own. And that shouldn't be possible at all.
"GIVE ME THE BODY WHITLOCK!"
He snarled up at Edward and tried to headbutt him as he struggled to break free without success.
And then Edward dove down but before he could bite him Bella's voice echoed in the house.
-Edward stop!- Bella's voice seemed to snap Edward out of his frenzied rage enough to make him loosen his hold on Jasper and look over his shoulder.
He caught sight of the bandage on her arm and he turned his gaze back to his brother. Jasper who was reeking of blood, both Bella's and another human's now that he paid better attention to it.
-I'm fine, it was just a scratch, it's not his fault, I scared him and he freaked out.- Bella was quick to explain as she descended the stairs.
Edward was still staring at him with anger and streaks of hatred in his emotions as he held him down.
-Edward, let him go.- Bella asked, the last thing she wanted was for Edward to hurt his brother over her.
Edward stared at Jasper for another moment before releasing him and going to Bella.
Alice was at Jasper's side in less than a second. She touched his cheek when he refused to meet her eyes.
-Hey, are you alright?- He nodded but Alice could see he was upset. When she got a vision of Bella bleeding infront of Jasper she had expected the worst. Even more so getting home to the suffocating smell of her blood and Jasper's presence.
His red eyes had froze her on the spot thinking they were too late.
But that wasn't the case.
-Let's go upstairs.
Jasper didn't even fight Alice. The emotions flooding the room right now making him want to get as far from them as possible.
But the one that was hitting him harder than the rest was the hatred.
From Edward.
~~~~~~~~
Edward was pissed.
More than ever he felt an absolute and deep hatred against Jasper.
Carlisle had tended to Bella's wound and while she kept claiming that it was her fault Edward couldn't help but still feel the seething rage and at this point after Bella's detailed explanation of Jasper's reaction to her bleeding he wasn't sure if the anger was against his brother or himself.
Jasper hadn't meant to hurt her. It wasn't a secret to anyone how startling him of all people was the worst thing one could do, and he had taken care of Bella's arm.
But he had still hurt her.
What if she didn't step back in time and he had scratched more than her arm? What if the wound had been deeper and it had left irreparable damage on her nerves?
So many what ifs.
And explaining that wound to Charlie had been an absolute pain in the ass. How the hell did he even give her such an animalistic scratch to begin with?
-Are you still blaming Jasper over this?- Bella's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he looked down to find brown eyes staring back at him knowingly.
He was sitting on her bed with Bella using his lap as her personal pillow.
-He could have killed you.- He told her matter of fact as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Bella rolled her eyes.
-Don't be so dramatic.
-I'm not being dramatic. You haven't seen how he can get when he is out of it.
One thing he had learnt through the years was that Jasper could be quite lethal when he was out of it.
And what if The Void had been the one fronting? It was no secret that he didn't care about killing humans left and right.
-Does it have to do with him having DID?- Bella asked.
-You know?- Edward couldn't help but ask in surprise.
-I have seen him speaking alone and as far as I can tell he isn't going mad so him having DID was a wild guess.- Bella told. She hadn't been sure of her theories and she hadn't thought it would be sensitive to ask one of the Cullens.
Edward raised an eyebrow at that, leave it to Bella to figure out on her own something that took them years to realize.
-The alter... You haven't come across him right?- Edward asked concerned. At Bella's negative he sighed in relief. Good .
If the alter was so overwhelming to them Edward didn't want to know what it would do to Bella. Years and still not even Carlisle could keep eye contact with Jasper's alter.
-But to answer your question no, it doesn't have to do with him having DID, Jasper's... He has a troubled past, he told you about Maria right?
-Yeah, he said she made him train and kill newborns, what does that have to do with anything?
-There's more to it, Maria... She wasn't a good person and she relinquished on exploiting and torturing her newborns in any way she could.
Bella felt the horror seize her at those words. Because Jasper was so kind, he was one of the nicest persons she had ever met, he didn't deserve any kind of pain.
He had looked so proud about those scars on his arms. Battle scars.
But he had also tried to walk off while she kept asking and asking. At the time she thought he was just putting distance between them because he didn't felt comfortable with her scent.
But now that she gave it mind...
He hadn't done so to put distance between them.
He had done so because he hadn't wanted to talk about it. His voice when telling her about it. How he had looked so close to tears...
Ah.
Great . She had been pushing her traumatized brother into remembering that hideous place just to satisfy her curiosity.
And while he could have refused and left he didn't.
He had still told her.
Because he was just that nice.
God she wished she could hug him. But she knew that that would do nothing but put him in an uncomfortable situation.
Edward's voice pulled her back to the present.
-When Jasper first arrived... He was aggressive, he's even bitten a few of us more than once. That's why he gets so volatile when someone startles him, why he's so prompt to panic attacks. My point is, he's still unpredictable, I mean, yeah, I know it's not his fault and that he is trying to do better but you never know what may set him off, look at what happened today, he could have killed you.
-He didn't mean to hurt me. He was very upset afterwards and he even helped patch my arm up. Can you please not be mad at him?
-He could have killed you.- Edward repeated. Bella could feel irritation starting to root itself in her chest.
-But he didn't. He was stressed enough as it was after what I believe was a "slip up", then he hurt me and now on top of that he must think you hate him, don't you think it's cruel? He's your brother Edward.
-Bella-
-No. If someone here has the right to be mad is me not you, and I'm not, so stop acting like an idiot and go apologize to your brother.- She snapped losing her patience. She loved Edward with all her soul, heart and life but God could he be infuriating sometimes.
Edward scowled and held her gaze and while he could have easily won the staring contest he didn't want Bella to be mad at him, so he yielded.
-Fine.
Bella's smile was worth it.
~~~~~~~~~
Edward found Jasper at the meadow sitting among the field of flowers which it would have been an hilarious sight had it not been for the self-loathing and self-hatred drowning the place with such force even the flowers looked depressed.
Jasper didn't even look up as Edward approached him nor did he react to him sitting across from him.
He was fiddling with the petals of a flower. The misery hung in the air like a blanket and Edward couldn't help but ponder if he had maybe went too far by broadcasting his hatred against him earlier, and as Bella had said he had patched her arm up.
But he wouldn't have had to patch her up if he hadn't hurt her in the first place.
-How is Bella?- The voice was quiet and almost hesitant.
-She's fine. Carlisle said that it would leave a scar that may or may not fade with time.- Edward told, his voice neutral, not that Jasper couldn't feel his anger and disappointment.- Jasper-
-I know .- The older vampire snapped tearing one of the flowers off the ground and meeting his gaze for the first time, his eyes red and blazing with anger.- Carlisle already told me, Esme told me, Emmett told me, Rosalie told me, even Alice . I'm not gettin' anywhere near Bella again. Now, can you leave me be so I can keep feelin' sorry for myself, alone ?
-Wait. The others told you to stay away from her?- Edward couldn't see Alice telling Jasper to stay away from Bella.
-No. They told me that I should remember that Bella is fragile and that one wron' move could kill her or give her irreparable damage, that unlike with 'em if I hurt her she can't just brush it off and keep walkin'. Today was her arm tomorrow could be her throat. They didn't tell me to stay away from her but y'all seem to think 'm too "unpredictable" to be 'round her, well, I'm not goin' near her again, that way everyone is happy.
Jasper snapped standing up. Despite the anger in his voice Edward could tell he was hurt too with the fact that no one seemed to trust him.
-Bella won't.- Edward was surprised at his own words. But it was true, if Jasper started avoiding Bella she would be heartbroken.- You are unpredictable, yes, but I trust you.
It wasn't until he said it that Edward realized how true that was and that the reason behind his anger wasn't exactly against Jasper, he wasn't even sure at what or who was he mad at anymore.
-You trust me?- Jasper couldn't help but scoff at such illogical words.
-You didn't attack her while she was bleeding. She told me that your first reaction was to help her not hurt her further. I think that's reason enough for me to trust you.
Oh if Edward knew that had he not slipped earlier things could have turned out different.
-I knew she was there.- Jasper blurted out. Edward frowned.
-What?
-I knew Bella was there. I wanted to sneak out but I couldn't and I was so focused on what to do so she wouldn't see me that I didn't notice she was beside me until she called my name.
-Why didn't you want her to see you?
-I was covered in blood. And my eyes were red. Of course I didn't want her to see me.
Fair point.
-I'm sorry.
-I know, I'm sorry too.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Carlisle sat in his studio holding a picture from Bella's wound. Jasper's scratch.
He found it hard to believe. It didn't make sense.
These were the marks of a creature with claws. There was no way human fingernails would do this, it just wasn't possible.
He would think Jasper was turned into a black blood by The Major if it wasn't for the sole fact that he fed off animal blood. Had been doing so for more than 40 years by now.
A black blood would have been long dead with the vegetarian diet. Their bodies weren't made to feed off animal blood for prolonged periods of time, they needed human blood to survive, animal blood would poison and weaken them until their own blood began coagulating, their thirst for venom would increase as their body attempts to fight off the imminent shut down.
The blood in their veins was in a constant state of rotting. When they fed, the new human blood that entered their system helped to keep the already old blood from disappearing which could lead to a slow quite inhuman death.
Carlisle knew this for he had seen the Volturi experiment on a black blood with this diet. Feeding her animal blood until she couldn't even sit up straight. Her abilities fading and her body deteriorating. Her thirst had increased for a few months to a new insane level before disappearing altogether. She had then broke into a fit of convulsions as the remaining blood in her body coagulated completely, her screams haunted him even to this day.
Black bloods couldn't survive off of animal blood.
It would kill them.
They needed human blood to survive.
Such cruel life.
So there was no way Jasper was a black blood, he had seen him shirtless once, there were no black co-webs on him, he walked around during the day perfectly fine. And he was perfectly healthy.
The sudden light knock at the door alerted him.
-Come on in.- He called out putting the picture down.
The door opened and as Jasper stepped in he couldn't help but notice how at ease he looked compared to how Carlisle had expected him to be. Hopefully Edward talked with him, for what he heard they'd gotten into a fight.
-Please sit down.- Carlisle asked motioning to the chair infront of him. Jasper did as told.
Carlisle sneaked a glance to his hands. His fingernails didn't look particularly long, not even sharp, they were just normal fingernails, even for a vampire the kind of scratch he gave to Bella wasn't possible with those fingernails.
It wasn't the first time he saw that kind of scratch. Jasper was prompt to scratching and punching whenever he attacked someone and while biting wasn't his favorite method he also was just as vicious when biting.
-Can you scratch this desk?
It was a dumb thing to ask. He knew it. But he couldn't get it out of his head and it was driving him mad.
The look he received in exchange was priceless.
-What?
-Scratch this desk.- Carlisle told again.
Jasper frowned.
"He's testin' us. He's suspicious."
"I know. Shouldn't have used the damn claws."
"She shouldn't have bothered ya. Who does she think she is?"
"My sister?"
"She's a human!"
Jasper ignored him at that before reaching out and dragging his fingernails across the wood with no inch of strength whatsoever. This was dangerous. There wasn't suspicion in Carlisle's emotions but he could tell the man was keeping his emotions in check. Asking this...
He was suspicious.
-Like that?
-Take a swing. Don't worry about breaking it.
Ah.
He really wouldn't give up.
Fortunately, Jasper held a masterful control over his claws.
Thus he took a swing using his fingernails but let his claws grow the tiniest bit at the last second before retracting them with the same speed.
Of course that left the wood with an animalistic scratch.
Carlisle stared at it for a moment. Confusion clear in his face.
-Can I go now?
-Of course.
Jasper made sure to smooth down his remaining suspicion. And instead changed it for a twinge of amusement and feelings of doubt. He was over thinking. He was no black blood. What he needed was to work less. He was tired.