Author's note: This is my first story in English (which is not my native language), so if you have any comments regarding language or grammar, I would really appreciate them! Thank you for reading and enjoy the first Chapter :-)
"Take a right here", Alice suddenly instructed, and the car wheels shrieked as I yanked the steering wheel around. I was sure, she knew which way we had to go like the back of her hand but resorted to giving me directions in the last minute nonetheless. That seemed just like her. "You know, I rather like this car and would appreciate it, if it made it intact", I remarked and tossed an eye at my mate. Alice sat in the passenger seat, wearing a green petticoat dress with small black dots, and was excited and nervous at the same time. I had tried to calm her down earlier, but she had quickly realised what I was doing and dismissed me. She wanted to feel this. After 30 years of waiting, she was finally so close to getting the family she had always dreamed of.
I sped up, heading further north east. We had left Calgary behind us about half an hour ago and were headed straight for the white peaks of the Canadian Rocky Mountains towering over the tree tops in front of us. It had been a long drive. Three days ago we left Peter and Charlotte in Fort Mackenzie and travelled south towards Montréal, when Alice suddenly decided that it was time. Before even reaching Québec, Alice had found us a car and so we turned westwards. We would have been here much faster, if we were running. But that was of course too risky. Two years of travelling with Alice had turned my eyes orange but I was still far away from the self-discipline my mate exercised. After nearly eighty years of feeding on humans, adapting to animal blood was hard. But resisting the constant temptation was even harder. I shoved the thought away, testing the Jaguar's limits.
"So, what is the plan here? Do you want me to drive up all the way to the house or does it seem weird for an unknown car to park in their driveway?", I asked and tossed the petite vampire next to me another look. "You focus on the road Jazz. And you can drive right up to the house, they are not home anyway", she replied and squealed as I hit the brakes. "They are not there?", I echoed her words and turned to look at her, confused by what she had just said. "Then why exactly did you make me drive all the way from the East Cost in one sitting to come here?" Alice shook her head softly and stretched out a hand to slide a strand of my honey blond hair behind my ear. "Jasper, darling, don't be so impatient. I meant that they are not there right now. Please remember that I have planned this for the last 30 years. And if you will not continue to drive now, we will be late", she told me and I sighed. Of course, Alice had some elaborate plan on how we were to meet our new family.
Our new family, the thought echoed in my mind as I shifted gears and continued down the road. It was still a strange concept for me. Even though I had spent a large time of my new life in a substantially large group of vampires, I enjoyed the last two years travelling exclusively with Alice. But this was Alice's dream, her vision of our perfect live, our future together. From the first day we met, she kept telling me stories of this family, the vegetarians, and how we would one day be part of it. I had my reservations, of course. Not about them not liking Alice. That was impossible. But the idea, that they would easily welcome two unknown vampires into their family, was strange to me. Especially, since – with the exception of Alice – all foreign vampires that I had met in the last decade, shied away from me. Or attacked.
I had given my best to cover my scars, wearing a black turtleneck with long sleeves even though it was almost July. Alice did not approve of the choice. She had chosen a completely different ensemble for me but eventually gave in, since my mind was set on covering all the scars I possibly could. "Take a left here and then we should be nearly there!", Alice squealed from excitement and I felt her hand on my right leg, gently squeezing my thigh. I took the turn she instructed and about ten minutes later, we arrived at the mansion. It was a huge house, stone built with lots of windows and wooden details. There were two cars already parked in the driveway and I aligned our Jaguar right next to them.
I hadn't even turned off the engine when Alice already jumped out of the passenger seat and slammed the door behind her. Rolling my eyes, I followed her up and around the house. She stopped on the huge porch, peering into the into the family's living room through the big windows. I joined her, sighing at my appearance when I caught my reflection in the glass. While the right side of my jaw was a perfectly straight line, the left jaw line seemed blurry. One might have suspected a spot on the glass, but I knew this was not the case. The left side of my jaw and neck were covered in bite marks, standing out from my skin and turning the otherwise straight line into of a wavy mess. Alice had once asked me, why there were more bites on the left side of my neck, and I did not have an answer for her. I had never really cared for it and after a minute settled for the fact, that most people were right-handed and thus tended to turn their head to the left when kissing – or in my case – biting someone.
"We've arrived just in time. They should return from their hunting trip in a few minutes. Come Jazz, let's greet them out back", Alice interrupted my thoughts and took my hand, leading me around away from the house and into the woods. We ran through the dense forest, a straight line from the mansion and finally stopped on a small clearing. I could tell from the blank look on her face, that she was having another vision and waited patiently until her eyes fluttered open. "How far out?", I asked, but her answer turned unnecessary as, just in that moment, my trained ears registered movement in the woods.
Not a minute later, a group of five vampires appeared on the other side of the clearing and came to a stop. Alice had described them to me in avid detail many times, such that I had no problem to tell them apart. Carlisle Cullen, the leader - or as Alice called it "father" of the family - stood at the front. On his right and left side were his two "sons", Edward with the bronze hair and Emmett, a mountain of a man, with dark curly hair. Behind them, the women: Esme and Rosalie. I could not help but tense at the sight of Emmett's impressive stature. If a fight would ensue, I wagered that he would pose the greatest threat, which was why I had to keep an eye on him. At the same time, I knew that if things went South, I would not be able to protect Alice. Not alone. Not while being weakened by the animal blood. Thus, I decided, that it would be best to control the situation from the beginning, keeping tempers down and possibly avoiding any confrontation.
Reaching out with my talent, I tried to grasp their reaction. I could feel, that they were just as tense as me. Surprised, curious but also on guard - warned by my appearance. Nothing I didn't expect. My scars were the first thing any vampire noticed, basically invisible to humans but not to our enhanced sight. And they screamed danger. However, I couldn't make out anything that would indicate them planning to attack. This was a good start, but I still decided to stir their curiosity while at the same time calming them. Better safe than sorry.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Alice stepping out from behind me and I resisted the urge to grab her and pull her back. "It is so nice to finally meet you all!", she said in her cheery way and got even closer to the group of vampires. I followed her, keeping close and watching the coven as well as their emotions carefully. "I am Alice and this is my mate, Jasper", she introduced us and held out her hand to Carlisle. I had made her promise not to jump and hug them instantly and was glad to see, that she was keeping her word. The blonde vampire was surprised but I could not sense any danger from him, which is why I did not react as he took Alice's tiny hand into his own. "Pleased to meet you, I am…", he started to introduce himself as well, but of course Alice interrupted him. "Carlisle, I know. And Edward, Emmett, Rosalie, and Esme. Ah, we are going to get along splendidly.", she said with a big smile on her face and I could feel the rush of positive feelings that was going through her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Edward had shifted his look, from staring at me to now focusing on my angel. "She has visions, Carlisle. She has seen them be a part of our family", he said with an intrigued look on his face. I was just as surprised as the rest of the coven for a moment. How did he – but then I remembered: Alice hat told me, that Edward could read the thoughts of others around him. "Remarkable", Carlisle noted and let go of Alice's hand. She nodded eagerly and her smile grew even wider: "So, which room can Jasper and I move into?" My eyes widened in disbelief. She did not really just say that, I thought. But, of course, she did. It was Alice I was thinking about after all.
"Well, why don't you two come back to the house with us and tell us a bit more about you, before we are talking room arrangements?", Carlisle responded with a small smile on his face. I could feel that he liked Alice's enthusiasm, although he was taken aback by her question. Alice was quick to accept this invitation, turned and already started to run for the house. I did not feel fully comfortable turning my back on five strangers but had no other option than to followed her. However not before I overheard Emmett muttering: "She sure needs no directions."
This first encounter went better then what I had hoped for and judging from Alice's emotions, she felt the same way. Actually, she was so overflowing with relief, joy and excitement, that it was hard for me to stand close to her without being completely consumed by it. This was something I usually welcomed, but there was still potential for all of this to go wrong and I wanted to keep a clear head. If something went southwards, I would have to react fast.
Carlisle led all us into the living room and they arranged themselves on the two large white leather couches. Rosalie on one, and Carlisle, Esme and Edward on the other. I tensed up when I noticed that Emmett was missing. Something was going on. Esme offered us the armchairs, but I preferred to stand next to Alice while her little figure nearly disappeared in the big, soft chair. Especially, since the biggest and possibly strongest of them all was missing.
Finally, Emmett entered the room a minute later, placed himself next to Rosalie and noted: "There's a nice new car out front." – "That would be ours", I replied and relaxed a bit. He had just been admiring the Jaguar and not tried to attack us from behind. Everything was fine. Or at least it seemed this way. "Why don't you start by telling us, why you have come looking for us?", Esme said, and I liked the warm, welcoming undertone I heard in her voice. Her emotions mirrored it and I could imagine that people liked being around her. She certainly fit the mother role Alice had described her taking on in this family.
"It is like Edward said before. I have visions of the future. When I was turned, I lost all memory of my human life. In the beginning, I only had my visions. My first vision was of Jasper here, but I quickly started seeing you as well. First, it was only Carlisle and Edward. I saw how you lived, how your family grew and how Jasper and I would become a part of this family, once I found him over and over again. This is why we came here. We want to become part of your family", Alice recounted her story and added, "I especially adore the view from Edward's room, by the way." My eyes widened again as I took a sharp breath, while at the same time pushing down her excitement a notch. This was about to get out of hand. Luckily, the Cullens started to laugh at her words and I could feel that Esme and Carlisle were already starting to like her. And I fully understood how.
"She's telling the truth. Not only about my room, but also her visions. I can see them when she thinks of them", Edward remarked and while, I was not very keen on having my thoughts listened to at first, I had to admit that in this situation it was very useful. "Well, this is unexpected. Please, tell us a little more about yourselves? I noticed that you're vegetarians as well?", Carlisle now said, the smile resting on his face. "Yes, we are. I started on that path right after I had my first vision of you, and I am very grateful that you showed me this alternative Carlisle. Even though you were not aware of it at the time, of course. I couldn't stand the thought of having to kill humans…", Alice said and sported a thankful smile. "Jasper is still quite new to it, he only turned vegetarian after we met about two years ago", she then added, and I could feel five sets of eyes turning to me.
From what Alice had told me, all the vampires in this room, including Carlisle, had been vegetarians since their rebirth – with a few slipups here and there. I was different, had lived for nearly one century feeding on human blood. I returned their gaze and was not sure, if they expected me to say something. Luckily, Esme relieved me of the choice by asking: "What made you decide to change, Jasper?"
It had been clear to me, that I would have to share my story. However, I was not sure how much I wanted to share upfront while I still was not sure, whether they were to be trusted. "You can trust us Jasper, we do not mean you any harm, both of you", I heard Edwards voice the moment this thought crossed my mind. Of course, he was listening. Get out of my head, I thought and sighed, watching my next thoughts before answering Esme's question: "Like Alice and Edward, I have a special ability. I can feel and influence the emotions of those around me – humans and vampires alike. This made it very…", I was looking for the right word, "inconvenient to kill humans. I sensed their every feeling as if it was my own – their fear of death, their sorrow over a life lost, the pain shooting through their body as the blood was sucked from it..." I paused for a moment and looked at Alice who had turned in her spot and taken my hand, gently caressing the back of it with her thumb.
"Living like this for decades messed with my head. I got depressed. But I did not know there was another way. Until I found Alice and she convinced me to give animals a shot", I proceeded and gently squeezed her hand. "Frankly, it is still quite difficult for me to restrain myself when I am too close to humans", I closed and Alice quickly added: "But he has made immense progress over the last years." I could not hold back a smile at her quick intervention to paint me in a better light. I could feel that the mood in the room had turned dark while I was talking, but was lightening up again. Still, I felt it could not hurt to push it up a bit more.
"Wait, you said you lived like that for decades, how old are you man?", Emmett now asked and suddenly seemed very interested in the conversation. "Not as old as you might think. I was turned during the civil war, 1863. Alice in 1920", I replied and felt my angel growing impatient. Not a minute later, she couldn't contain herself anymore and blurted: "And? Can we stay?" I smiled at the fact, that the vegetarians hardly reacted to her outbursts anymore. They had gotten used to them very quickly.
"This is all very interesting and I would love to hear more of these stories, both of yours. However, you have come here to become part of this coven and we consider ourselves a family. Thus, we need to decide this together. Would you mind giving us some time to discuss?", Carlisle asked in return and Alice jumped to her feet. "Sure, I have spotted THE cutest dress on our way here. We will go to the city and do a little bit of shopping. I will know, once you have reached a decision", she proclaimed, and I grinned, her excitement for the upcoming shopping trip hitting me like a slap in the face. Rosalie suddenly sparked some interest but did not say something. Alice took my hand and we both went outside, she happy to get the dress she liked and me, relieved that I did not have to bare all my history in front of some strangers I hardly knew. I feared that they would turn us down because of my violent past, if they knew.
Alice took her seat and I circled around the car to get to mine, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to meet Edward's golden eyes. Of course, I had forgotten that the mind reader must have listened to our every thought. "What didn't you tell us?", he asked in a low voice, quiet enough for Alice not to understand him. I looked to the ground and then quickly flashed through my memories of Maria and my time with the new-borns, relieved that I did not have to find the words to explain these details of my past that haunted me still. I didn't show him everything but enough detail for Edward to get a grasp of what I had done. Or so I hoped. "Do with it what you think right", I said and climbed into the car. Edward nodded and turned back to the house. Hoping that I didn't just ruin it all, I pressed the pedal to the medal and the Jaguar dashed out of the driveway and back onto the road.