Upon bringing Jasper back to the house Carlisle had checked him over to make an assessment of how far his deterioration was at this point.
He found patches of his hair duller than the rest. His claws felt weak when bent and his fangs had lost the sharpness Carlisle knew they should wield. A dark bruise had formed where Bella had hit him and the black co-webs looked thinner than they should be.
And his broken arm wasn't healing.
His shaking from before and how he hadn't been able to keep himself upright had left one thing clear.
He was in the last stages of a complete shut down.
Carlisle had put two IV's on him. One with more venom and another one with human blood. He wasn't sure if that would help into stopping the deterioration but he hoped it did. He had never seen a black blood go as long as Jasper has gone feeding off of animal blood.
His theory on the why he lasted so long was that he never actually went an entire year without slipping or needing human blood.
Those episodes hadn't been because he wasn't used to animal blood.
That had been nothing but his body rejecting out of its system something that was doing nothing but damage to him. Poisoning him.
He had been killing himself.
And now.
Now it could be too late to fix the damage he had been doing to himself ever since he arrived over 70 years ago.
He could lose his son.
All because he never trusted them enough to speak up.
And Carlisle couldn't blame him.
Not when their reactions had left a lot to be desired when that figure in the sky made them move away.
It had been him.
All this time he had been hiding from them. Had been forcing himself into an environment that did nothing but cause him pain. No wonder he still looked like he was in pain even up to this day, school was nothing but torture for him.
Even Maria's words acquired a new meaning.
"You have no idea what that beast is capable of."
"You can't control him. No one can."
"He needs fear to be kept in line."
"That aggression is what kept him from becoming a crazed failure as his predecessors."
"Wait until he gets out of control as he's bound to do."
"You can't control him. He knows he can't control himself no matter how hard he tries."
"It's not in his nature to have control."
"I made sure he wouldn't shut down."
All of those words had been linked to what he was.
A black blood.
And while all the black bloods Carlisle had ever met were nothing if not violent and aggressive Jasper had never, not even once, been violent without reason. He had excellent control over his emotions and himself as long as human blood wasn't involved.
He wasn't feral nor a beast. He had a conscience and he knew what was right and what was wrong. He could be controlled without the need to abuse him as Maria had put it.
His anger was explosive and overwhelming. Yes. But it had nothing to do with him being a black blood but an empath.
And empath who was put through things no one should have ever had to be put through.
But he was getting better.
To think he had gone over 70 years hiding what he was from them... Were they that horrible at his eyes? Did he not trust them?
Apparently not.
He sighed before leaving the room.
The others were at the living room. Stress clear in their faces. Renesmee had been taken to Charlie's for the night. It was better to keep her out of this situation.
-How is he?- Esme was quick to ask as she stood up. Concern clear in her face. It killed Carlisle to see her so worried, even more so when he couldn't give her the answer to soothe her worries.
-I'm afraid I'm not sure. We will have to wait and see how he responds to the blood and the venom.- He told truthfully, Esme let out a little gasp of absolute sorrow, her hand coming to her mouth.
Carlisle wanted nothing more than to go to her and comfort her. But right now he couldn't. He needed to speak to the one person who could clear things up.
Alice .
She was sitting on the armrest with her head down and her hands resting on her lap. Her arms had already healed and the scar from Jasper's bite stood out against her perfect skin like a sore thumb. She hadn't said a word ever since Edward told her what the animal blood had been doing to Jasper.
And if Carlisle had to guess it had to be eating at her the fact that she had been unknowingly killing her mate, no, scratch that, it must have destroyed her. The guilt and blame she must be feeling now...
No wonder she hadn't tried to seek Jasper out by now.
-Alice-
-I didn't knew it was doing that to him.- Her voice was devoid of whatever happiness or positive emotion she had ever had.
-I know that.- No matter what people said about Alice being controlling Carlisle knew that she would never do anything to hurt anyone, much less Jasper.- What I want to know is why you felt the need to hide something so important for so long.
-When we first arrived you didn't knew him, if I had told you what he was from the beginning his chances at being allowed to stay were little to non-existent. And I couldn't let that happen, because while I wanted to be here he needed it. Letting you get to know and interact with him first would have helped soften the blow of what he was.
-And you never thought, in these past 70 years, that maybe, just maybe, we had had enough time interacting with him to know?- Rosalie questioned harshly.
-It wasn't my secret to tell.
She had a point there.
But this hadn't been a case of it it was her secret or not to tell either. His life could have been put at risk by the slightest mistake.
-Alice, when was the last time he had human blood?- Carlisle asked.
-I don't know, over 2 months ago I think? Jor likes to sneak around and take a few sips from humans from time to time, but they have also been fighting a lot over that same issue so it's been harder to keep track of who does what.
-Two months?
Carlisle wasn't even sure why did that surprise him when this whole situation was abnormal as it was. As a black blood Jasper shouldn't have survived for longer than two years feeding off of animal blood.
But he had been getting worse these past years.
-And when was the last time he had venom?
-Last week.
-Last week?
At Alice's nod Carlisle couldn't help but frown. Because that wasn't right. A black blood couldn't go so long without venom. It shouldn't be possible.
-Are you sure it was last week?
-Of course I'm sure.
Carlisle had a hard time believing Alice.
But he also had to remember who created Jasper.
Maria.
If she was capable of starving him who said she wasn't also capable of torturing him through venom denial?
-How did none of you figure it out in 70 years?- Bella spoke up the obvious question.
-They did, a few times actually, but Jor always made sure to make you all forget through compulsion, Jasper also made Bella forget the claws and remember human fingernails instead, but that was the only time he used it on her. He actually made her drink vervain tea to protect her while she was still human. If she had vervain in her blood he wouldn't be able to hurt her even if he one day ended up biting her.
-The horrible tea was vervain?
-Yes... I should have never forced him into this diet. He kept telling me it felt wrong. That it made him feel funny. I thought it was just because he wasn't used to it.
But she had been killing him.
He had trusted her and she had been doing nothing but killing him.
He could die because of her.
-You had no idea of knowing this.
But she should have.
As her mate she should have noticed something as important as him being at the verge of death.
But she hadn't.
And now she could lose him.
All because she tried to drag him into a diet he never wanted in the first place.
~~~~~~~~~~
Rosalie wanted to feel betrayed over Jasper hiding something as that of him being a black blood from her. They were twins. They knew everything about each other.
But she also knew the reason he would withhold that information.
Her comments towards black bloods had never been that kind. She had called him a rotten beast on more than one occasion. A monster.
She had been insulting him.
But most of all.
She had hurt him.
The same brother she loved dearly, he who was always there to comfort her whenever the flashbacks got too much, he who understood her in ways Emmett nor anyone for that matter could ever do, he who would lay down with her to watch a movie when Emmett went on a particularly long hunting trip and she got anxious...
She had hurt him.
Insulted him. Made him feel less and probably hated.
If she hadn't said those things to him, would he have trusted her enough to tell her? Would she had been able to stop him before things became so dire?
There was no way of knowing that.
Now it was too late.
She could lose her brother now.
Her best friend.
Her twin.
And if that happened...
It would kill her to lose him.
As if him disappearing with Alice without a word hadn't been agonizing enough.
~~~~~~~~
Esme had known that Jasper was different. She couldn't quite pin point what it was but she had always known that he was special.
She had seen it in the way he would take extra measurements to avoid the sunlight leaking from the curtains, in the way he would go away whenever she cooked with garlic, in the way he would lay his head on her lap and close his eyes, vampires would meditate which was the closest thing they could ever get to sleep, but something about the way he would lay there for hours had made her wonder if he could truly sleep.
Now she had her answer.
He had actually been sleeping.
Her baby had trusted her enough to sleep in her presence, seek her out.
Jor had once asked her if black bloods scared her. At the time she hadn't been sure of the why of his question.
Now she understood.
And she felt nauseous at the reminder of her answer.
"They are too much for me."
"I must admit they do scare me a bit."
She had told him that she was scared of them. That they were too much for her.
She had straight up rejected her own son.
And that thought crushed her chest like a sledgehammer. Because she had rejected her baby.
Her sweet boy, she remembers that time he had seemed like he had wanted to tell her something but had backed down, last month when she heard him in the bathroom...
He had sounded so small. So vulnerable. And even if he told her that she couldn't help him and to leave him his voice had told her that he wanted the complete opposite.
He had wanted, needed her.
But if Jor told him about the consequences of what he could face if he told her...
No wonder he had been so clingy lately, so depressed.
Her baby thought that she was scared of him.
That she had rejected him.
She had never meant to make him feel like he couldn't trust her. Black bloods sounded scary, yes.
But not him. Never him. He was her sweet sensitive boy, she could never be afraid of him.
And now she may not even had the chance to tell him otherwise.
~~~~~~~~~
Emmett had always known there was something off about Jasper but he never managed to figure out what, or maybe he did and Jor made him forget, who knew.
He remembers when Jasper first arrived and remembers the first time he managed to get him to play with him which had been while racking leaves. At the time when he had left so suddenly he had thought that he had, maybe, pushed him too much.
Now he wonders if that had had to do with the fact that the sun had been right on the other side of the house.
He remembers how he had looked like he was in pain when that teacher in Alaska took his sunglasses. He had assured Emmett that he was fine but he hadn't stopped rubbing at his eyes and at the end he had made the school call Esme to come pick him up.
He remembers how he had asked Emmett to let him borrow his hoodie after a hunt. The sun had reappeared from behind the clouds and while Emmett couldn't quite remember how he ended up giving it to him he did remember he had given it to him. Remembers how he wouldn't leave his shadow.
And last month he had caught him sleeping. Would also explain how come he was stronger than Emmett himself, though he did notice how weak he had grown, when he had gone against him at full strength he had managed to move him, that wouldn't have happened in the past. He had thought him to be holding back so as to make the fight longer.
Now he knew that wasn't the case.
He had been growing weak.
He had never said a single thing wrong about black bloods. In fact. He had found exhilarating the idea of being around one. They were stronger than newborns, faster and with all those other abilities... Fighting one could have been great.
So why hadn't Jasper trusted him? Did he not see him fit to be entrusted with such secret? Was it because he was too playful? Too carefree? But he knew that it didn't matter how playful his personality was, he could be serious when needed to, he could trust him.
But he hadn't.
And now there he was, at the verge of death.
He had been alone. With no one to aid him but Alice. No one to trust.
Emmett wanted to make it up for him. He needed to make it up for him.
He couldn't lose his brother. His partner in crime.
He couldn't.
~~~~~~~~~~
Bella had known it. Or well. She hadn't known it but she had had her suspicions.
About Jasper being a black blood.
He would avoid the sun that for starters. How Jor didn't seem affected whenever Renesmee fed him human food. How Jasper had stood outside the first time he brought her home and how he had requested her permission in order to step in. She remembers how next morning Charlie had told her that Jasper had looked tired and that he had wanted to let him sleep on the couch but he had woken up all panicky.
She remembers how he had reeled back at the onion rings and Charlie telling her about when he managed to get him to eat a burger with him while waiting for her to get out of the shower. At the time she had felt bad for Jasper. Now she knew he hadn't been put in an uncomfortable situation.
And she also could confirm now that she hadn't imagined him stealing a slice of cake during her wedding. Or him sneaking an apple into his backpack with such speed no one who hadn't been looking at him would have noticed it.
How obsessive he had been over making sure she drank the coincidentally vervain tea. How tense he had grown when she mentioned the black bloods and how uncomfortable he had looked over the idea of having to speak about them.
And she wasn't wrong about his scent then.
There was something almost acid about it, though the more the months passed the harder it grew to notice it.
And when she had found Renesmee sleeping on him he hadn't been meditating but also sleeping.
She could also now understand what Renesmee meant by "he smells funny". Bella always thought her daughter referred to the fact that he smelt like Alice, now she wondered if it was because she could smell his blood.
Jacob did point out once that Jasper smelt worse than the rest. Like a rotting corpse.
She wasn't that close to him but she thought they were close enough that he would trust her, she was the best at keeping secrets, yeah, she had no clue that black bloods couldn't feed on animal blood but still...
But if he hadn't trusted the Cullens why would he have trusted her? She was practically a stranger to him compared to the Cullens.
But he was her brother. Stranger or not she wished she had been able to help him somehow. He had done so much for her.
It wasn't fair.
If he got out of this she wanted to show him that he could trust her the same as he would trust the Cullens. He was her brother and she wanted him to know that he could come to her if he needed help. She may never be as close to him as Rosalie and him were but she wanted to be closer to him.