One would think that sending seven newborns and eleven guards from the Volturi along with the gifted twins would be enough to catch one single vampire.
It wasn't.
Alec and Jane ended up escaping as things got out of control.
The black blood turning out to be more dangerous than Aro had first warned.
But it was done.
The first step to rip the Cullens apart.
Weaken the strongest and rattle them.
~~~~~~~
Carlisle had known it would happen.
He wasn't naive enough to think it wouldn't. He had known that the Volturi would come for Jasper.
Still.
It could have never crossed his mind that rather than kill him or even take him they would go by hurting him.
Hurt him in such way...
To tear as much of his clothes as possible and then throw him under the sun. Stab him.
He knew how volatile and deadly his son could become when he was out of it. Flashbacks. Panic attacks. Rage. Fear.
But he never expected that while in true agonizing pain he would become something that not even Alice could approach.
Such intoxicating and world crushing pain rippling the air with the might of an unforgivable hurricane. Crushing them down until it felt like their knees would give in.
There were bodies upon bodies from the Volturi's guard scattered all over the ground. Skin ashen and cracks adorning their skin. Lifeless .
And he stood among the carnage.
Not Jasper. Not Jor. But something in between.
Bathed in venom and blood with his clothes torn.
There was no skin nor thread of cloth free of blood or venom. Hair matted and sticking to his forehead. What once were human eyes were now plain black. His claws dripping with blood.
Black veins and bones more than noticeable behind the half translucent half ashen skin he sported.
His aggressive stance and current state did nothing but make him look like the most intimidating living being to ever cross path with them.
Such Carlisle had forced the others to go back home. All minus Alice and Emmett.
But since he had growled at Alice and leveled her with a murderous glare he didn't think she could go closer to him either.
-Jasper?- Carlisle is proud at how soft his voice comes out. Jasper twitches at his voice. Head tilting to the side with those inhuman eyes that threaten death upon those who dare to move just a bit too quick.
Glazed and showing no recognition at all.
-Son.- Carlisle began as careful as possible and taking a step forward. Jasper's shoulders squared up and gave him such a cold glare that it could beat the arctic. He looked like God's murderous intent itself.
Carlisle had to restrain the urge to take a step back out of instinct.
Because as frightening as he looked he was hurt. In pain. Such horrible pain. He wanted to stop the pain.
-It's okay, it's okay. See? I'm not getting close. No one is getting close, I promise.
That did nothing to lessen the aggression exuding from Jasper.
-No one is going to hurt you son. We just want to help you. Please let me help you.- Carlisle plead. He could see it.
The tremors wrecking through Jasper's hands. How he looked like the only thing keeping him up and conscious was the sheer force of his desire to keep himself alive.
He wasn't healing and there was still a lot of blood dripping from the wound on his stomach. If he kept it up Carlisle knew he could die from blood loss.
But how does one gets the attention of someone who was clearly in a dissociative state? Someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill if he felt just a twinge threatened?
Then Alice spoke a name that froze him.
~~~~~~~
Alice knew that there was no other choice.
Knew that if she wanted to save Jasper she would have to unravel the one last secret left to unravel.
But what was she suppose to do at this point when he was dying right infront of her?
The South's Terror was nothing if not near impossible to split apart. And sometimes it made her wonder if it would come the day where another personality would be born out of that state.
Or if that wasn't the case at this point.
Jasper in pain couldn't be rationalized with.
The Major? Pain meant anger and anger meant death for those around him.
But he was still conscious. Rational. He didn't bend to pain like Jasper did if it got too overwhelming. It was in his nature to respond to pain through rage and violence.
If she could manage to get his attention. Make him focus on something else for a moment. Just enough to make him yield to her, to Carlisle's help.
She bit her tongue before taking a step forward.
And then she spoke the name that she had kept to herself for so long.
-Major.
She saw Carlisle's shoulders tense but paid no mind.
Right now calming them down was what mattered.
She got their attention because his piercing glare settled upon her. She didn't took a step back as her instincts screamed at her to do.
No.
This was her husband. Her soulmate. She needed to help him.
-You did good.- She praised. One thing she learnt a long time ago was that when in this state praising him had a sort of calming effect on them.
Praising them no matter what was a great motivator on getting them to listen. It made her nauseous though.
She hated speaking to him as if he was some kind of slave to praise and order around.
But she also knew that praising and giving orders were things that had been engraved into them. To be viewed as a reward for doing a good job. A good job meant no anger. No anger meant no pain.
-You are in pain. Please allow me to fix that.- She asked. Her voice gentle and her emotions calm. Comforting him with her emotions was a big no.
Not when he still didn't seem to recognize her.
He hissed at her as he turned to face her completely. Anyone else would have bolted.
She didn't.
-You can trust me remember?- She reminded and he glared at her.- Remember Toad?
That name made him stagger. She knew how he felt about that particular topic.
-You told me that it was stupid and that because it was weak it should die for the weak has no place in a world ruled by the strong. You still went and kept her.
That had been the moment she sealed her view of him.
He could be cruel and have questionable morals.
But he was still as kind hearted as Jasper.
Deep down. Past all that rage and hatred for the world, he was still good.
He wasn't a monster.
-You fixed her paw and nurtured her back to health. You carried her around all the time and would growl at the dogs who dared to even come close to her. You took her to the beach and made her a collar with seashells.
He tilted his head to the side. Wariness and suspicion creeping in his gaze.
There was still no recognition in his gaze but she could tell she had his attention. No one knew about Toad.
The kitten who stole The Major's heart.
First living being he willingly seeked out and took care of. Weak. Frail. Sick. Something worthless at his eyes.
And still.
He had kept it safe and healthy. Protected it with such fierce obsession.
-You were really sad about leaving her behind. You told me you didn't care, but I know you still keep the collar with you.
His shoulders sagged as recognition flashed in his gaze.
But his gaze left her in order to level Carlisle with a piercing near hateful glare. Venomous and unforgiving. Mistrust. Wariness. Resentment.
-He can make the pain disappear. You know he can. I know things have also been hard on you lately, I know why you do what you do. But being weak around those who care about you isn't a bad thing. No one will hurt you for lowering your guard here. You trust me don't you?
-Always.- He answered without missing a beat.
-Then you know that I would never allow harm to come to you the same as you would never allow harm to come to me.
He held her gaze and as composed as he wanted to appear she could see he was having troubles focusing or even standing up straight.
He glanced at Carlisle and Emmett before his gaze fell back on Alice's. It was clear he was having troubles coming to terms with this situation.
And then he crumbled.
Alice barely had time to catch him. She bit back a wince and the surge of panic as she felt his blazing skin come into contact with her iced one. Calm . She had to keep calm. Panicking wouldn't help at all.
She glanced at Carlisle over her shoulder. He was still frozen in place as much as Emmett.
-Pleas e. - Her voice broke at the end in her plea. That seemed to snap them both out of their shock for Carlisle was at her side in a blink.
Carlisle who fought to push back the new revelation in order to attend to his son.
He wasn't healing and something told him it would take a lot for something of this magnitude to heal.
Could this even heal?