Rain: And I am back with a brand new chapter for The Crimson Eyed Drifter: Distance Between Hearts And this chapter will venture between Leah, Bella and Jasper so sit back, relax and enjoy the show!
Mario: Here we go!
The Crimson Eyed Drifter: Distance Between Hearts
Chapter Seventeen
La Push
Leah Clearwater
"Wow, A vampire war in Vegas? That's impressive. Kinda wish I was there to see it," I noted with awe in my voice as me and the pack sat in our meeting area, which was currently my basement due to our normal meeting place being repaired.
Stupid electrical issues.
Late last night after I got home from the Cemetery, Sam had received news from our packmate Quil, who was in Vegas on vacation with his folks, that there was some sort of Vampire war that had occurred there which caused the deaths of many Vampires as well as some humans.
So the minute the sun crept over the horizon, Sam called us to a meeting and relayed what had happened and truth be told, I was glad he did. My dreams were being invaded by her.
The short bloodsucker...
Ever since last night, she has been the only thing on my mind and I can't figure out why so Sam's bullshit was a perfect thing to distract me from thoughts of her.
"This isn't amusing Leah," Sam told me with a firm tone. "We can't have those leeches starting wars in a highly populated city."
I shrugged at this and leaned back in my chair and replied "Washington is our main priority. There are many shifters like us in the world. We aren't the Worldwide Vampire Police Force. Why should we get involved in this?"
Sam pinched the bridge of his nose while Embry let out a soft laugh and said "Sorry Sam but she has a point you know. Besides, even if we were, we would have to stretch our numbers very thin to even check it out."
Sam shook his head and replied "The reason it matters is because a Cullen was seen in Vegas when this all went down."
Oh.
That's interesting but again, I don't see what the huge deal is and I voiced as much when I said "Yeah, so? It's not like we're their owners. We don't have to watch their every move outside of Washington. Hell, outside of Forks."
"But we do," Sam retorted. "The moment those blood suckers came here, they triggered our changes into humanity's protectors. If there is a Cullen out there causing a war, we can't let that go unpunished. We have to go to Vegas and get to the bottom of this at once."
""Humanity's Protectors?" Brah, we aren't the Avengers," Seth chimed in, which made me chuckle in amusement. "I mean, last I checked, we change into wolves, not into Norse gods, A super solider, amazing spies, A radioactive super beast or a-"
"Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist," Embry followed up with a small grin. "Sure, the Cullens being here gave us all this amazing ability but at the same time, we don't even know all the facts. All we know is that a Cullen was there and that there was a Vampire war. What if the Cullen wasn't even a part of it? We would just be starting a witch hunt over nothing."
"We just need to gather all of the facts before we settle on anything," I concluded, with Embry nodding beside me.
Sam nodded in agreement and said "I'm glad you agree because I'll be sending you three to investigate what happened."
"Um...No," I responded immediately. "There is no way on this God Green Earth am I stepping foot into that mess."
Seth nodded in agreement and added "I agree with her."
Embry just looked surprised at the mission before he shook his head and added "Besides, Native Americans in Las Vegas, home of bad decisions? That's a stereotype I don't want to add onto."
"You three have no say in the matter. You three are to go to Vegas at the end of this week and investigate. If the Cullen was responsible for this war, I then want you to hunt that Cullen down. Am I Understood?" Sam commanded, an air of authority around him.
"Yes sir!" the three of us responded in unison before I blinked in surprise and then scowled at Damn his Alpha voice.
Sam smirked and said "Good, you have a week to prepare. Meeting adjourned."
I quickly got off my chair and stormed over to him and shouted "You can't just force us to do this."
Sam, who had his back turned to grab his cell, turned back to face me and replied "And yet I just did. Alpha privileges. You'll understand one day."
"You arrogant asshole," I said as I grabbed him by the collar with both hands. "Just because you are the Alpha, doesn't mean you have infinite control over us!"
"Amp down Leah," Seth said as he grabbed my left arm, his eyes pleading for me to release him but I couldn't, I was so pissed off at this dick.
There are many things that piss me off but nothing pisses me off more than someone forcing me to do shit I don't want to do and because of him being Alpha, I'm forced to do just that.
Its bullshit!
"Listen to your brother Leah and stand down," Sam commanded with narrowed eyes. I felt my hands shaking as a growl left my lips but I began to loosen my hold on Sam's collar, despite wanting to rip his head off of his shoulders but hearing his command made my hands loosen from his shirt collar.
"Yes Alpha Uley..." I managed to say through my angry growl before I lowered my hands and just stared at his firm looking face.
So this is what we devolved to then huh?
From two people in love to him ordering me around without caring about what I wanted...The pain in my heart increased as I stared at his unflincing gaze but I didn't want him to see me cry over him. No, I won't waste anymore tears over this bastard.
Not one more.
I released him fully before I turned around and stormed away from him, up the stairs, onto my motorcycle and drove out of the reserve. I needed away from this damn place...I need to go to my happy spot.
Downtown Forks - The Priestess Cafe
Leah Clearwater
Ah, the Priestess Cafe...My home away from home...I tucked my biker helmet beneath my arm as I walked into cafe, the scent of coffee filling my nostrils.
Its so good.
One of the waiters, a rather cute freckled face girl with auburn colored hair and thick-framed, square glasses bounced up to me as she said "I knew you'd be in here eventually Clearwater."
"Well, I do like looking at your beautiful face Velma," I responded while giving her a teasing grin as she laughed.
Velma was a waiter here at the Priestess Cafe and one of my few friends out of the reserve. She always made sure I was well taken care of when I came here.
Velma smiled at me and replied with"Come on Clearwater, Your usual table, right?"
"You know it," I answered as I she lead me to a booth at the far end of the cafe, in front of the large window.
As I sat down, Velma placed a menu in front of me and said "Order when you're ready Clearwater."
I nodded but as she left I said "Oh, who is at the grill today? Is it Bravo?" Velma gave me an apologetic smile and I instantly groaned but nodded.
Bravo was Velma's blond, muscled dofus of a boyfriend but while he was super vain, he was nice in his jerky ways, a damn good cook and a loyal ass boyfriend to my nerdy looking waitress friend so I tend to tolerate the dorky man.
"Ah don't sweat it," I told Velma with a smile. "As long as he continues to cook his ass off and treats you right, he's got a friend with me. Tell him I said hi." Velma beamed and ran off to the back after I gave my order.
And that is where I sat alone with my thoughts...
So me, Embry and Seth will be taking our asses to Vegas to investigate what happened there...Where the hell would we even start? I wonder if Sam the boy wonder even thought of that. The fucking tool...Ordering us to do this without a shred of information from that idiot Quil.
But you know what? As pissed off as I am with Sam, I can't fully be angry at him. I should be angry at that Cullen who was in Vegas. Hell, I should be pissed at the Cullens themselves! If they hadn't bought their crystalline asses here, none of this would be going on with us.
We would be normal humans, I would be with Sam...I would still be able to have...I shook my head and murmured "Keep your mind away from that minefield..."
It was then I heard a rather familiar voice.
"Yeah, apparently they were fighting a vampire war? Can you believe that? See, Jasper is away for a few weeks and already, mass havoc!"
That voice.
I've been hearing that voice more and more lately.
The little Swan as I like to call her.
But wait...Vampire war? Jasper? What the hell?
It was then I caught her voice.
"He'll be fine. He, Peter and Charlotte are tougher than you think."
Damn it!
I spent all night thinking about her and now here she was...But what confused me was her sent. Last night, she smelled like a regular vampire but now, there was a hint of peaches in her scent...
Damn it.
What the hell is going on?
I need to push that out of my head and focus on what I heard.
So Bella mentioned the Vampire War in Vegas, she talked about three Vampires, one of them being Jasper, which I'm going to assume is the Cullen in Vegas but it was the last thing that made me take pause.
"I'm still coming to terms about what Jasper did and what Edward said...As well as my realization that Jasper is my mate."
Her mate...
The Cullen in Vegas, Jasper, is her mate...Bloodsuckers actually have mates...Interesting...I'll need to ask her more about this later.I turned my head and I noticed her pull Bella into a bush and that made me chuckle as I overheard their conversation.
I smiled as I heard the leech stammer out that she wasn't hiding from me and I decided to surprise them while they were distracted. I left the cafe and sprinted across the street as quickly as possible and walked behind the bush they were hiding in and said "Ah, so you two are the ones spying on me. But the question I wonder is...Why?"
Bella and the bloodsucker turned around to face me with surprise on their faces but the Vampire...there was something else in her surprised expression...It made my heart flutter. I quelled that feeling in my stomach and said "I mean, I know I look damn good but to spy on me? I'm flattered."
Bella gave me a smile wave with a sheepish smile but the bloodsucker kept staring at me. I could feel my face heat up under her gaze but I kept my eyes locked on hers. My father always told me that the eyes were the window to ones soul and that all the questions you have for them could be answered with just a look.
Despite her being a damn Vampire, I could see a myriad of emotions in her eyes. Embarrassment, awe, confusion, lust...affection? And they were directed at me...But how...and why?
And why did these things I saw make my heart beat faster?
"Um..." Bella started, knocking both me and the Vampire out of our impromptu staring contest. "If you two are done eye-screwing each other..."
"I-I," The Leech stammered to Bella and I couldn't help but grin at her. I've never seen a Vampire flustered but she made it look so fucking cute.
Wait...
No!
"D-Don't be so lewd Bella," the Leech admonished, her eyes looking to me before they looked back at the ground again. I could feel my hand raise up to want to make her look me in the eyes but I managed to hold back that impulsive urge.
"So..." I began after forcing my voice to stay steady. "Why were you two spying on me?"
Bella snorted and replied "We weren't spying. We were walking and we happened to fall into the bush...That's all..."
Oh Honey, your bullshit excuse needs some work.
"Nice try," I retorted with a blank look on my face.
"It's t-true!" Alice stammed out as she stepped in front of Bella, her eyes looking up at me before she lowered her gaze once more.
Ha!
My hand barely moved this time around.
I couldn't help but smirk at her flustered expression and decided to be a bit more daring. I leaned down, my right cheek brushing against own as I whispered into her ear "I didn't expect a vampire to be so...flustered."
I heard her take an uneeded breath and I took the chance to take more of her scent in...God, I'm neutral to peaches but she is going to make me crave them greatly. "I'm not flustered," I heard her whisper, albeit in a rushed whisper but I could see her eyes look me.
I turned my head to get a look at her trembling lips and licked my lips. How can a Vampire have such alluring lips? Its like she's begging for me to claim them...
Whoa...Wait a minute!
I blinked and leaned away from her to get control of myself.
Reign it in girl.
You don't even swing like that. Not only girl on girl but she was a fucking Leech and I was her enemy.
And yet...There was something tempting about her. Something that made me ache to be as close to her as possible. I could see in her eyes, she had a a look of both relief and disappointment and truthfully, I felt the same way.
What was it about her that made me nearly do something dangerous?
"Um...You know what? I'm not going to question this," Bella said from beside us, causing both me and the Leech to glance at her briefly before I moved away from the pixie sparkly one.
"Its best you don't Bella," the Leech told her softly, her eyes gazing at me once more. "This is something of a developing issue between us."
"Yeah," I said in agreement, my voice firm. "Look, as long as the two of you weren't spying on me, I'm good I suppose..." Unable to think of anything else, I said "Well...Since I imposed on you both with my strange thoughts, why don't we go to the cafe across the street and have a drink?"
"I would love to," the Leech chirped up a little too quickly, which made my face heat up a bit. "What about you Bella? Wanna join us?" She asked our mutual friend, who smirked with a strange look in her eyes.
Downtown Forks – Washington
Bella Swan
"Y'know what? Sure. I haven't been to the Priestess Cafe before," I told Leah truthfully. I never even heard of this place before but from how it looks on the outside, it looked pretty neat.
Besides, I need to see what in the world was going on between Alice and Leah. Ever since Leah popped up, the two of them had been eye-screwing each other. I also noticed that when Leah got close, Alice looked as if she was drunk on desire.
I've never seen her look like that before.
I honestly felt like I was intruding on the two of them but my curiousity was ovcerbearing.
Leah smirked and said "Good girls. Follow me," before she ran across the street, with Alice and I following behind her but the moment I got to the sidewalk, my phone began to buzz.
I reached into my pocket and saw that Peter was calling me. "Hey, I'll meet you guys in there. Just give me a few minutes," I told the two of them. They both nodded at me and walked inside.
I licked my lips nervously and pressed the green phone button and held the phone to my ear and answered with "Hey Peter."
"Hello Bells," Peter's cheerful voice came from the other side. "Sorry it took so long for me to call. Had to seperate from Char and the Major for a spell."
"It's no problem," I replied then I let out a small laugh. "Truth be told, I'm surprised you called back after dealing with that Vampire war down there."
"You kidding me? What you call a war, I call a Tuesday night delight," Peter said with a cocky tone, which made me roll my eyes but I couldn't help but smile.
"So...How is he?" I asked before I winced. I should have asked how he was feeling or how this "Char" was feeling but my dumb self instantly asked about Jasper. I didn't want him to think I had a one track mind.
Peter laughed and said "Straight to the point. I like that in a lady Bella. Major is out meditating outside."
Meditating? Jasper meditates?
"Really?" I asked.
"Oh yeah...Major does that when he needs to think. A lot of shit went down after we disconnected last night but no worries, things will be a-ok," Peter said with cheerful tone and as much as I didn't want to believe him, I was swayed by his words.
But...Just hearing from Peter wasn't enough.
I wanted to speak to Jasper. I longed to hear his voice in real time, not in my dreams when he is leaving Forks...Leaving me...
"Peter...Can I please talk to him? Just for a little bit? I just...need to hear his voice..." I said softly, trying hard not to beg but I know that my voice tinged on desperate.
Peter was silent for a moment but he then replied "I don't think that's a good idea. Not yet at least. We had to stop to hunt but we have to get out of the country like pronto. Give me some time, ok and I will make him call you myself...ok?"
There was many ways I could respond to him but all of them sounded so selfish. Instead of going with my gut and asking why he left when he was my mate, I instead said "Alright...But I'll hold you to your promise Peter. After things have cooled down, please have him call. I need to hear him."
"No worries. Scouts honor," Peter replied before some sort of commotion was heard in the background and he shouted "Oh shit, I gotta go! Talk later!"
And before I could respond, the line went dead.
I lowered the phone from my head and stared at it then let out a sigh. Whatever happened over there, I just pray that it won't end in tragedy.
Wherever you are Jasper, please be smart and be safe...I need you back here with me in one piece...
Rundown Motel – Idaho
Jasper Hale Whitlock
"Wherever you are Jasper, please be smart and be safe...I need you back here with me in one piece...."
My eyes snapped open in alarm at the voice that had appeared in my head.
Bella.
This time, there was no denying it. It was her voice in my head. But it couldn't be. I was far away from her and yet I could hear her as clear as the blue sky above my head but the better question was why am I feeling better?
Ever since I left Forks, I've had this empty feeling in my chest where my heart was. It was like someone ripped it out and put half of it back but hearing her voice soothed me...It made that empty ache in my heart seem less unbearable than it was before.
Just like it did in Vegas.
But why?
Why did her voice soothe me so?
Why did it make me long to be by her side? If anything, I need to stay faraway from her to keep her safe, not endanger her by being near her. But at the same time...The longing in her voice...It calls out to me...
She misses me...I can hear it...Maybe I...No, I can't allow myself to falter now. I fucked up by nearly killing her. She should not have that longing in her voice for me. She should understand that I am nothing but a danger to her.
Maybe whatever the hell is going on will pass and she will forget about me...
I felt a pang in my chest at the thought.
I placed my hand to where my heart would be and gripped my shirt. Why did that thought hurt me so much?
It was as if I suddenly lost all the energy in my body at the mere thought of Bella forgetting who I was. But why? She should forget who I am for what I nearly did to her?
There it is again...That pang of pain.
Whatever the fuck is going on with me, Bella is the key...She is the only one that has made me feel this way in...Forever.
But what was this feeling and how was she involved in making me feel this way?
It was then I heard the window crash from behind me and when I turned around, I was greeted to the sight of Peter flying out of the wall of the Motel and landing on the ground, sprawled out a few feet away from me.
Seconds later, I felt this unbelieveable amount of pain and hatred coming from the Motel and then I saw her.
Standing in the hole of the Vampire made wall was Jessamine, and she looked down right feral.
This was not going to end well.
Rain: And that is where I will end it. So Jasper has his hands full with a newborn and is also questioning what was going on with his thoughts of Bella. The next chapter will continue with Jasper and go to Alice afterwards so until then...
Mario: See you next time!