Jaspers pov
Upon making it home safely, everyone now looked expectant of me, all their eyes seeking an explanation. That was something I couldn't yet give. I didn't fully understand the parameters of her sudden appearance.
"Jasper? Who was that? She named you as her sire. " Alice, my darling wife spoke first. Her eyes bore holes into my skull as if trying to make the answers spill out.
"She was someone of great importance to me a long time ago. Carlisle, I'd like to discuss this arrangement you've made with her, I don't think you understand what you've just done."
The look that crossed her face said it all. I'd have no choice but to explain. I'd much prefer to put that off as long as possible.
"Then explain Jasper. As leader of this coven my actions don't need to be explained. However, we all need to be prepared."
Fuck! Of course. Ok. Calm down. The room was starting to spin. The emotions and sounds overwhelming me.
"Look, she's incredibly dangerous. Ok, just make her leave."
"We need all the help we can get. We have four days left before Victoria arrives with her army."
Edward spoke over me. The only quiet one in the room happened to be Emmet. He sat on the steps just watching us all bicker.
"She swore her allegiance. How good is her word Jasper?" Esme asked politely.
"Why won't you heed my warning?"
"Jasper?"
I met Alice's eyes. She was beginning to lose patience with my evasion. If my heart could pound, it would be on the floor. Shit, what the fuck, is happening? How is she alive? I answered Esme's question, pretending to not have heard my wife.
"She hates owing anyone. She always keeps her word."
"Then that settles it. Carlisle, we need her. The shifters might not be enough against them. She could be the edge we need to ensure our success."
"Edward, I don't care about your infatuation with Bella. You don't understand this creature,she is nothing like us and you will regret..."
He began walking off no longer listening to what I had to say, I need to get out of here before I lose my temper. I can't stand being confined! Like walls are closing in. The open sky greeted me. I took in a deep breath, allowing the scents of nature to soothe me.
Once calm, I came up with a plan. It was best if I figured out as much as I could. I won't allow their ignorance to cloud my judgement. I need to find her and figure out the best way to handle this.
I decided on a more direct approach. It's always best to show your cards with her. Otherwise, you end up without hands.
Her scent wasn't that hard to follow. It's always had this distinct smell of rotten oranges mixed with something sweet. I was lured to an abandoned home, it was secluded and quite grand, haunting if you ask me. The door was unlocked, the foyer was littered with unassuming furniture. Dusty and decrepit. Her belongings were strewn all over the place...she has been here a while.
Her stench became unbearable the further up I went. She was alone in the attic. Fast asleep.
She has always been an odd creature. I don't believe that she is a vampire. Maybe a type of breed or a chimera of sorts, she has anomalies that no other vampire has.
Her eyes are still the color she was born with a electrifying cerulean blue. She sleeps, unlike the rest of us. When I knew her, we came to the conclusion that her power short circuits. She uses so much energy, so it needs to recharge.
She resembles something akin of a large doll or a corpse. Nothing seems to have changed about her at first glance. Then I noticed a slight difference in her skin and hair... she's aging?
Nothing else seems to have changed. In the attic she lays upon an old couch, there was a desk in the far corner that seems used quite a bit. More notebooks and papers cover it. As I took a longer glance, they seem to be personal. Just as I went to grab one, I was caught.
"What do you want?"
She didn't move from her spot. There they were. Those eyes were trained on me, catching every move I made. She had wonderful reflexes back in the day. I imagine they've only gotten better.
"How are you still alive?" I leaned against the desk. We were right across from each other. Maybe ten feet apart. She calmly stated.
"By sheer determination and force. I executed Maria, Nettie and Lucy and then took control of the army. You would have known had you stayed. But no, you ran the first chance you got. Thank you, your choice cut the chances of competition significantly." A smug tone echoed the last sentence. Pouring lemon juice on the cuts.
"I watched you burn! If I remember correctly you should be a pile of ashes. How did you survive?"
A deep chuckle erupted before she moved from that old couch. She moved in front of an open window. Seeking distance. The suns rays were just peaking out. Her skin didn't sparkle like ours. All her human functions worked too, well, besides the ticker.
"By necromancy Jasper... I rose from the dead and I ripped out her heart. I held it in front of all of them. Daring anyone to deny me my crown."
"You were always sick..."
"If I recall, you reveled in that notion. All the things we did! You have no right to speak about my sins. Ickle Jasper went and found a new toy huh? Still a sucker for the crazy one's I see. I've heard about her story you know. Mary, the nutcase that sees visions. Did you know, the mate of that bitch and Your wife had a past? "
I couldn't control myself. I flew towards her. I held her against the frame. It digging into her back as my hand lightly cuffed throat. If I squeezed would she die? I wanted to crush her windpipe but I just couldn't.
Those eyes staring back with glee and contempt. Daring me, She's always had her filthy talons dug in my soul. Even though I'm loath to admit it, a part of me still loves this woman.
"Why didn't you come find me?"
"I've known of your whereabouts for decades. I could have called to you, but truthfully you never enjoyed the life. Jasper...I couldn't have any weaknesses so I let you go." There it was. That mask. I'm sick of all the lying. I had years of them, I want answers!
"Weaknesses?"
"My feelings for you have always been genuine Whitlock. I wouldn't have made it this far with you along for the ride. You are the only thing in this world that I truly love."
" You don't love anything, you're incapable of it."
"Believe what you will. I need your help and once I've completed my mission you'll never see me again."
I let her go. I took my leave from that decrepit stuffy attic. Before walking out into the night. I stole one of the journals strewn about downstairs. If these are what I think they are. I'll need them.
Reading her personal thoughts can bring more to light. I no longer know her. She seems to be a morph of who I used to know and someone else. One thing I do know. I can't trust her! Now that the truth is spilling from her lips, it's thrown me for a loop. She was always a puzzle.
Before running home there is one stop I must make. I still have connections, that may be able to illuminate the enigma of who my mate has become.
I haven't seen them in decades. We wrote in the beginning of my departure. Since living with Carlisle, I've lost contact with my former friends. Their names, Charlotte and Peter.
If anyone can tell me about her, it's them. They lived in Colorado. Up in the mountains, secluded from the rest of the world. The door opened before I could knock.
"Jasper, What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" Charlotte asked with concern.
"Yes. May I come inside?"
"Absolutely? What's the matter?"
Upon walking into the house I was instantly reminded of Alice. She was sporting a pair of ambers. Interesting…Charlotte escorted me into a sitting room, Peter didn't seem to be around. There were no photos or any indication he even lived here.
"Where's Peter?"
"We haven't seen each other in about ten years. I went vegetarian and he had other ideas."
"What? Both of you were so enamored with one another."
"That was so long ago. So? What brings you here?"
"Funny you should ask that. My mate, she's alive! In fact, she resides in Forks Washington now. I came to inquire of any information you may have about her. "
"I don't know what you saw in that woman? She always had you wound tight around her pinky. I knew she took control of the army, quite early if I'm being honest. "
"How early?"
"Remember having to split up?We were making sure we weren't followed."
"Yes..."
"Well in the interim of that, when you were not with peter and I. We came across a few other vampires that escaped.
They had news! One let it slip she killed Maria. Then allowed any that wanted to be done, go. She just let them free. We both decided that it was better for you not to know... I was afraid you would turn around."
Charlottes hand reached out to me. Trying to hold my hand. Make me see 'reason'.
"That wasn't your decision to make... I thought my mate had died." I refused her touch.
"You have Alice now. She's much better for you. I suggest you stay out of her way and just let her do whatever she is going to do."
"That's the problem! Carlisle has granted her temporary asylum in our territory. She spun a tale of being in danger with a vampire we too have had issues with. Victoria."
"Look, if you're here asking for my help the answer is no. I got out of that life..."
"I just needed to know if... I don't know what I needed to know. I visited her alone. Somethings different about her. This is hers."
I placed the journal on the table. I ran my hands up and down my legs. All the lies piling up we're beginning to piss me off!
Am I being pranked? It seems like everyone else knows and I'm left standing with my dick in my hand. This was my life! My mate! I had a fucking right to know. But Charlottes right, I have Alice to think about now. What do I do? Fuck!
"Have you read it?"
"I came straight here. I need to understand her. It's the only way I can protect my coven."
"Protect yourself, you mean? She always did have her way with you. Let me see it." Charlotte picked up the journal and thumbed through it.
"Interesting."
"What?"
"I never knew she was an artist. She's talented, although I think you have a problem."
"What?"
I was becoming impatient, Charlotte handed the journal right back to me. It was opened to a page. The drawing she spoke of was me. She had drawn me, from memory?
"She seems to remember you quite well. I don't have anything else to offer. However, I'll give you a piece of advice. Stay away from her! Do what ever you have to do jasper, but please stay away from her.
You have Alice. She is your wife and you love her. Don't let that witch back into your head. Especially your heart!"
I took my leave. Unfortunately this visit hadn't helped me much. Upon my arrival back home I knew what I must face... Alice. Once I was inside I followed my wife upstairs into my office, she didn't look too happy.
"Where did you go?"
"I needed some space to think. I went to visit her... she isn't far, she seems to have been holed up in an abandoned house. After I visited Charlotte, a friend. "
"The one from your past?"
"Yes. I needed information, Charlotte didn't have much to give."
"Why would you visit her alone?
Something could have happened! If she's as dangerous as you believe, then why? And who is she for that matter! You've yet to explain anything."
Alice was trying to keep herself under control. But I could tell, something was brewing inside. A pang of guilt rang through.
"Nothing would have happened to me. She is here to kill Victoria, she wouldn't jeopardize that. She needs our help, so for now we are safe."
"You said she was dangerous."
"That is true, she is unlike any creature I have ever come across."
"Why am I just now hearing about her? You've told me everything about your past. But you've never mentioned her! ."
"I don't know, for a long time I just wanted to put her behind me. I wanted her to stay dead.
She brought out a side of me that I never wanted to be again. I loved her and once upon a time I would have done anything for her, but not anymore."
"What happens after Victoria? Will she come after us?"
"No, she holds up her promises. That's one thing true about her, she doesn't like is owing anyone! I suspect she will stay far away from us, that is if we help her.
Now if we betray her or she perceives that we stand in her way. I will have no choice but to fight her to the death. She won't stop until she has her revenge. She was always a vengeful vicious creature..."
"I just want this to go away, Victoria, her, all of it. I want us to get back to our normal life."
"You and I both darlin, excuse me, I have some reading to do. I still have to figure out the best approach to making sure this all goes smoothly... "
"Reading what?"
"Her thoughts... "
I held up the journal and walked over to the desk and opened it to page one.
Alice took her leave, I heard the door click before I allowed myself to fully immerse into the secret thoughts and images that pour from Fate's mind.
I flipped open the journal, the first few pages have been drawings. I eventually found some writing, I had to translate Spanish to English in my mind. This particular entry was discussing menial things about her so-called kingdom. I almost put it away before I came across this.
-I found myself thinking of my mother today. I had dreamt about her... it had been so long since I had dreamed. I had begun to believe I had lost the ability to do so! It was of her death.
I remember so vividly how she died, the stench from her body. How the delusions kept her strapped away in her mind. She believed I was the master's wife near the end.
She would convulse and contort in pain, there were so many nights I prayed for her suffering to end. The night she died, it was peaceful. She passed in her sleep, after a night of retching up bile and blood.
My sweet magnolia. That is what
, He, named her. I wonder if she ever chose a different name for herself? One that wasn't linked to the pain of her world. She had been born into bondage. So would I if she hadn't run from him. -
I had no idea that her mother was a slave. She never spoke of her past. For all, I knew Fate was hatched! I skipped ahead to the journal entry on the back of the drawing of me.
-My eyes had been deceived today. For a moment I thought I had seen him. I took a stroll through the market. Bypassing a book store, I saw a man with an uncanny resemblance to Jasper. His neck craned, face deep in a book. A slip of words almost passed my lips, calling out to him.
No matter how hard I try to destroy that small shard inside it doesn't seem to crack. Sometimes I find myself daydreaming about what could have been, a cottage out in the countryside of France, the seclusion. Alas, things did not turn out that way.-
As I looked closer at the drawing it wasn't exactly me. It was my face but the body had subtle things that were clearly not mine. I assume it was of the man she speaks of. His hair was longer and his hands slightly a different shape, as they seem to flip the pages of a two-dimensional book.
Who is this? These were not the words of the woman I had known. The details of the journal go on and on detailing her deepest thoughts. Varying from tasks such as killing a vampire that stepped out of line by killing a human, to retelling the stories her mother confided as a child.
A child that was born free in the land of Mexico. Her mother escaped the quarters of the plantation. She retold how her mother used spells to try and abort her. How Magnolia, was repeatedly defiled by her father. How when her belly grew full. The thoughts of how she couldn't bear to bring a child into the world, where you were owned by another.
Of her mothers hatred towards her because of the skin she bore. Pale. Foreign. His! That's all she says, His, never writing his name. Recounting of how she grew to love the very child that shared blood with that vile man.Talked about the spells her mother taught her. The charms and medallions that kept them safe as she escaped in the night and found freedom in Mexico.
Most importantly about the kingdom she created off the back of the death of Maria. This she recounted in great detail of how she came about her plan.
- That night was planned to the very last moment. I made sure to keep all the details to myself until it was in motion. I required the help of only twelve people.
That's it!
That's how many people it took to have the entire weight of the empire Maria had created to crush her.
Nettie and Lucy were the first to go. They had escorted a group of roughly around six with them to feed.
Maria was profoundly paranoid near the end. She required that all of us go in groups to hunt lest any of us be attacked. This of course was essential to my plan it was her rules that were the death of her!
It only took three to overcome Nettie and Lucy. They were ripped to shreds. Body parts strung around, I made sure to burn them. I granted the others a chance to either leave and never return or die. I couldn't have anyone running to Maria. Blab about how her precious sisters were dead.
I counted on her paranoia eating her alive. she grew suspicious and restless as she waited for them to return. Luckily, she requested to be alone.
Interestingly enough, she was planning on attacking Lucy and Nettie. Her instincts led her to believe they were going to overthrow her. She was close enough. Before I killed her, she had a moment of clarity. We were in the middle of a clearing not too far from the rest of the clan.
I had not planned on him being there... he wasn't supposed to see. Despite that, it couldn't have gone any better. I knew that Jasper had grown tired and weary of this lifestyle.
The constant fighting and the fear of Maria, having to stay on her good side. The bombardment of emotions. He was tired! Jasper was always it. My weakness. If my love had asked, I would have run away with him. To anywhere. He always talked during hushed moments away from everyone. Of what it would be like to be free.
I couldn't bear to tear his freedom from him so I let him go. He watched as Maria set me on fire! I don't know how she did it. I assume there had been oil nearby or maybe she always kept some on her.
Luckily for me, I don't die so easily. I never have. Not even when my momma poisoned me before I clawed my way into this world. After I rose from those ashes I ripped Marias' heart outright from her chest.
It was strange to see. It had calcified. Bone growing around it. What makes us what we are? More so, what am I? I'm not sure but I heard the name of her dead lover on her lips. Leon, just before my hand dug into her chest cavity. I brought the heart and the heads of Nettie and Lucy to the clan, anyone who opposed me was slaughtered. Most of all, anyone ready to go? Was given a chance to run... to be free! -
I shut the journal in disbelief... was this the woman behind the vicious monster? How long had she been this way? How could I have not seen this before? Has this side of her always been here, or had time changed her? I wanted to burn it. To rip it to shreds. I can't. No. I'll just put it back. I didn't see this. I threw it away from me, it landing under the leather couch. I needed air. This is too much for me.
As I slipped out into the night. Memories of my life with her replayed on a loop. Comparing them to the words written in that book. Unbeknownst to me, someone snuck in to steal just that. To dip into the mind of my long forgotten mate.