No copyright infringement intended! I just like to play with the characters that SM gave us.
Time to meet the Cullen's!
Warning! Major character death in this chapter!
Enjoy!
Amanda POV
CHAPTER 24
Jasper and Peter didn't waste any time trying to figure out the best and most humane way to end Alice. I could understand why they wanted to be humane about it. Not that she deserved it. Far from it, actually, but if Jasper's family were to see this he wouldn't want to cause them anymore unnecessary pain.
"I think you should end her, Major." Peter says.
"I'm not sure I feel the same way." Charlotte replies. "Alice tried to have Amanda killed, so I think it should only be fair that Amanda kills Alice."
"I can see where you're comin' from, Char, but Alice betrayed the Major. No one betrays him and lives to tell about it." Peter replies.
On and on they go, arguing and bickering over who gets the pleasure to end another of our kind. I honestly wouldn't have been able to handle this so calmly a few months ago, but after killing several vamps myself, I can honestly say I've gone numb to it all.
I know Jasper's unhappy about this, but he hasn't said anything to anyone since he disconnected Aro's call. I haven't really said much either. What would I say? There's nothing to make this easier.
I don't say anything as I walk up to Jasper and place a comforting and understanding hand on his shoulder. He looks at me with a mixture of sadness, regret, anger, and betrayal and I know he can't do this alone. Now that he has me, he won't have to. I walk up to Peter, grab his phone, and begin my walk to the cabin. I hit the record button and place the phone on a windowsill to capture all of what I'm about to do.
I walk over to Alice and say, "Alice, I stand before you now as no more than a mouthpiece for Aro and the Volturi. I will state the crimes you are accused of as well as the verdict Aro has reached and the sentence Aro has imposed upon you. After such time, you are allowed a final statement and then your sentence will be carried out." Alice pretends to ignore me, but I can tell from the set of her face that this is not the way her visions showed her this ending was supposed to go.
"On the count of you purposefully and knowingly keeping a mated pair apart, Aro has found you guilty." I pause a moment to let the verdict sink in and then I continue. "On the count of you purposefully and knowingly setting plans in motion to overthrow the current government, Aro has found you guilty. According to vampire law, the sentence for both of these crimes is death. Do you have a last statement you wish to be heard before your sentence is carried out?"
"You are nothing to them, you know?" Alice begins. "You will lose everyone you've ever loved just like I have."
"You never loved any one of them, Alice. You used them and their humanity for your own gains. You admitted to all of it." I said. "At least my life isn't based on lies and deceit. If that is the only thing you have left to say for yourself, then I shall carry out your sentence."
"I do have one more thing to say," she states, "I'm sorry that I never acted on my plans before you showed up. You ruined everything I should have had."
"And…you're done." I reply as I walk over to her and rip her head from her shoulders. I grab the phone and walk out of the cabin for the last time. Jasper, Peter and Charlotte are waiting for me on the porch and I don't say anything as I hand Jasper a lighter. I look at him and push my understanding out to him. It's his call to take the final step and truly end Alice. All I've done is inform her of her crimes and then incapacitate her for them. It's Jasper's responsibility to light her up and he knows it. It's far tamer and more humane for me to have done what I did to her. I don't realize it at the time, but it makes Jasper that much more grateful to have me by his side.
Jasper hesitates before walking into the cabin. I'm not sure what could be on his mind right now, but I do know that whatever it is, it's unpleasant. The rest of us don't follow. Instead we back away from it a safe distance and wait. No one says anything as the minutes pass by, but I'm still recording.
As I start to wonder if Jasper is ever going to come out of the cabin, I see a light flickering. I realize it's firelight about 30 seconds before Jasper comes walking out, Peter's chains in his hands. I hand the phone off to Charlotte to keep the recording going, but I know that Jasper needs me right now.
I walk up to him slowly and remove the chains from his arms and deposit them on the ground by Peter's feet. As we turn to watch the cabin burn, I intertwine my fingers with Jasper's. He doesn't say anything to me. He doesn't need to.
We stay like that as we watch the last embers of the cabin burn to ash. It shocks me how quickly everything burned, but with a little vampiric accelerant, it really shouldn't surprise me at all.
"Captain" Jasper says "I want that recording sent to Aro immediately so he can see that justice has been done. Then I want all of the videos sent to my phone and I want you and Char to return to Victoria's Army. I want you to determine if Amanda's been missed, and if she has, I want you to come up with a feasible cover story for her disappearance."
"Yes, Major." Peter replies.
"I want an update in 12 hours, Captain." Jasper states before Peter and Charlotte take off toward Victoria's camp.
"As for you, Darlin'" Jasper says to me "I think it's time you met the family."
I look up at him panicked and surprised that he wants to introduce me so soon, but he just says "We need to let them know what's happened and we need to let them know what our next move will be."
"Ok. I understand." I reply. "Let's go meet the family."
Jasper picks up his phone and begins to make a phone call, "Carlisle, will you call a family meeting, please? Something has happened and I don't want to have to repeat myself more than once." "Yes, I understand, but they need to be there when I get there." "Will you also call Billy Black and see if Jake and Sam can come over, too." "Because they'll need to hear what I've got to say." "Fifteen minutes? Fine. I'll be there." Jasper disconnects the line and I don't hesitate before pulling him into a hug. I know it's not much to offer to make him feel better, but it was all I had.
He hesitates and stiffens automatically, but relaxes as he takes in my scent and wraps his strong arms around my waist to pull me in tighter. We stay like that for a while before pulling away, just relaxing in eachother's company. Jasper takes my hand and begins to walk towards what I'm assuming is his house. We don't say anything for a few minutes, but Jasper breaks the silence "There is somethin' 'bout my family that you need to know before we show up. They've settled in this part of the country before. I believe it was back in the 1930's or fairly close to that. I wasn't part of the family back then, but Carlisle, Esme, Edward, Rosalie, and Emmett were. While they were here, they ran into a tribe of Native Americans that also called this territory 'home'. This specific tribe is a bit…different in that they have developed a way to protect their tribal lands from our kind. They have the ability to become what we would call werewolves."
I can't help but stop and stare at him in shock. "I have to admit that that's the last thing I expected on this walk." I replied. "I think you may have to explain further."
"Fair enough." Jasper replies. "I'm not sure how it started, but the men in various families of this tribe have developed the ability to change themselves into giant wolves. They're the protectors of their tribe and have all of the necessary tools in which to take any wayward vamp that comes into their territory down without much of a fight."
"Like, real wolves? With the tail and ears and…everything?" I ask bewildered.
"Yeah, like with the tails and ears." Jasper says chuckling "Our family has a long-standin' treaty with 'em that says that we are not allowed to hunt any humans. If we do, then they have every right to kill us."
"Well, that sucks on multiple levels." I state exasperated. "I come from Cherokee heritage, the Wolf is a family symbol – hence the tattoo on my ribs – and I can't help that I feed on humans! It was what I was taught to do! So are they gonna kill me?!" I started my mini rant annoyed and hurt, but managed to finish it panicked and scared. I wasn't ready to give up this life yet.
"Don't worry, Darlin'" Jasper says as he runs his hands up and down my arms in a soothing motion "they can't touch you once under my protection. You're my mate and I won't let nothin' happen to ya. Besides, they wouldn't stand a chance in a fight against me and they know it."
"So what's gonna happen when they realize I'm a human hunter?" I ask scared.
"Well, luckily for you, you aren't the only one in my house that's currently sportin' a set o'red eyes. My brother, Emmett and I turned Edward's mate, Bella not too long ago. That plan was fraught with drama from the beginnin'. Granted the wolves don't know about her yet either, but why hold anythin' back from 'em at this point? We're gonna need the wolves to help us with Victoria, so we might as well come clean about turnin' a human while we're at it. I honestly think they'll be far too distracted with her change than they will be about you."
"Why is that?" I ask.
"Because one of the dogs is 'in love' with Bella." He replies honestly.
"And that means what exactly?" I ask.
"Well, Jacob has always had a soft spot for Bella and before we changed her, we had to stage a car accident so her human family could say good-bye to her. It tore Jacob apart. He was always hopin' that Bella would leave Edward so he could have his shot, but Bella's a stubborn girl and wasn't interested in Jacob. Now that he'll realize we turned her instead of her actually dyin', well, I can only imagine that he'd be angry enough to wanna torch some of us and in a house full of vamps, it wouldn't be the wisest choice."
"Sounds like a daytime soap opera." I say. "Are you sure this is a good idea, bringing me into all this?"
"It is a bit like a soap opera now that I think about it, but you've always got your gift if you need to use it to diffuse the situation." He replies. "Just think about a song calmin' enough to have the effect we want, but not calmin' enough to put 'em into a catatonic state."
"I have a feeling I'm gonna need to brush up on my song knowledge at some point." I say.
"Well, Edward might be just the person to go to for help in that department. His music collection is vaster than my Civil War book collection, and that's sayin' somethin'." He states grinning.
"So…I know it's probably not my place to ask, but why did you decide to turn Bella?" I ask.
"You can ask me anythin', Darlin'. I promise I won't hide anythin' from ya." He says looking at me seriously. "And to answer your question, it was because she asked me to."
"Why did she ask you and not her own mate?" I ask bewildered.
"Because Edward can be an idiot and he was brought up in the early 1900's so his views on women and religion are extremely puritanical. He met Bella when she was still human and they fell for eachother hard, but Edward didn't wanna change her and risk her bein' 'damned' for all eternity. However, her life has been threatened, just by bein' associated with us, far too many times for her to stay human, but Edward was still a persistent fucker when it came to her humanity. So, she got tired of him always makin' decisions for her and she took things into her own hands. Carlisle, Emmett and I were just there to help."
"Did Edward not read her mind to figure out what she was planning?" I asked.
"He can't." Jasper stated simply. "Bella's is the only mind Edward can't read. She's a mental shield."
"Interesting. I'll have to see if I have any effect on her at all, then." I state.
"That would be a good experiment to try at some point." Jasper says.
As we finish our conversation I notice that we've walked into what appears to be a huge back yard. In the distance I can make out a beautiful, white 3-story house with glass panes all along the back. "Wow. This is beautiful! This is where you live?" I ask shocked.
"Yes. And soon it'll be where we live…if you'd be willin' to stay." Jasper replies.
"How can you be so sure I'm even invited to stay?" I ask.
"Because we're mates. If they don't understand that, then we'll both leave." He replies simply and honestly.
"Yo! Jazz man!" I hear booming from a spot in the yard, "I'm glad you finally decided to show up! Everyone's been gettin' antsy."
As I see the scene in front of me, I can't help the reaction that comes out of me. I immediately get into a defensive crouch in front of Jasper and a growl tears its way up my throat as I see this huge monster of a man running up to us. What I didn't expect was his reaction. He completely stops running and looks at me shocked.
"Uh, Jazz" he says, "who is this, why is she with you, and why is she growling at me?"
Jasper ignores the man for the time being and looks me directly in the eyes and says "Amanda, this is my brother Emmett. He won't hurt me or you. I swear." I look over at Emmett, but Jasper regains my attention "Look at me, Darlin'."
I look back at him and see there's no lie in his eyes. So, I straighten up out of my crouch and stop growling at Emmett. Jasper grabs my hand again and the action relaxes me further. I shake my head a bit to clear my thoughts and immediately regret my actions.
I turn to Jasper and say, "I'm sorry. I don't know what just happened."
"You were actin' on instinct. It's alright and it happens to all of us." Jasper says. Then he turns to Emmett "Em, this is Amanda. She was growlin' at ya because she thought ya were gonna try and hurt me. As to why she's here, that's why I requested Carlisle to call the meetin'."
"Hey little Lady," Emmett says to me as he approaches me slowly with his hands up in a 'surrender' motion "I wouldn't hurt Jazz. To be honest, I don't think I could. He'd be more likely to kick my ass."
I had to giggle a bit at that statement, because even though Emmett may be bigger than Jasper by a lot, Jasper could probably kick Emmett's ass. "I'm sorry for my behavior, Emmett. I don't know what came over me. It's a pleasure to meet you." I say to him as I extend my hand for him to take.
He doesn't hesitate before taking my hand in his and, in a rare show of Southern manners, kisses the back of it before letting it drop. "I have no idea why a looker like you is within a hundred miles of Jasper's ugly mug." Emmett says humorously.
"I'm not sure how to take that Em." Says Jasper. "Is everyone here yet?"
"We're just waiting on Eddie and Bella to get back from a quick hunt, but they should be here soon." Emmett replies.
"Ok, good." Jasper retorts. "I want to give Amanda a minute to prepare herself to meet everyone."
"Alright, I'll gather everyone in the dining room." Emmett states before casually jogging off.
"Dining room?" I question "you actually bring your meals here?"
Jasper laughs at me "No. We only use that room as a meetin' room. It's the only room in the house big enough to hold all of us without having distractions for Emmett."
"Ah." I state. "Now I feel kinda stupid."
"No reason to feel that way." Jasper tells me. "I want ya to do me a favor. I want ya to keep a calmin' song in your mind when we get in there. It'll help ya relax a bit while you meet everyone else and keep ya from growlin' at my whole family."
I look at him a bit abashed and embarrassed "I am sorry about that. I don't know what happened."
"Like I said, Darlin'. Instinct." Jasper replies smiling at me. He takes my face in his hands and gently lifts so I'm looking into his eyes. He slowly brings our heads closer together and I know what he wants. I wrap my arms around his waist and pull him into a gentle kiss.
As soon as our lips connect it's almost like I see fireworks behind my eyelids. The spark of electricity and warmth that I feel is quickly being drowned by pure and raw desire. I'm not sure if it's mine or his, but all I know is that I want more.
Apparently I'm not the only one either. Jasper's tongue traces the crease of my lips begging for entrance to make the kiss deeper and I grant it willingly and eagerly. Hands start to roam as we get caught up in the kiss and before I know what's happening, I'm being backed up into a tree. As Jasper pushes me back, I take my legs and wrap them around his waist and my hands fist in his hair. I can feel his erection through both sets of our clothing and it just turns me on more to know how badly he wants me.
Unfortunately for the both of us we are interrupted by a very unhappy looking Emmett. "Uh Jazz," Emmett says walking closer to us "you're projecting and it's getting very uncomfortable in the house…if you get my drift." He finishes the last part of his sentence as he sees Jasper pressed up against me in a very intimate way.
I can only describe the look on his face as shock. Which I would have found funny under normal circumstances, but then I remembered that he still thinks Alice was Jasper's mate. Suddenly the guilt is a bit overwhelming and I push Jasper away from me.
"Jazz man, it looks like you have some explaining to do." Emmett says. He looks extremely hurt and betrayed and I can't help but feel worse that I'm now a home-wrecker in Emmett's eyes.
"Em, you don't understand what you're seein'." Jasper calmly tells Emmett.
"Well then brother kindly explain it to me. Cause from what I'm seein' right now, it looks to me like you're cheatin' on Alice and I'm not havin' that." Emmett retorts crossing his arms like a scolding parent.
"I'm not cheatin' on Alice." Jasper states clearly. "Alice and I are through."
"That's not possible." Emmett replies. "Y'all were mates."
"Actually, we weren't, Em." Jasper calmly states.
Emmett looks on Jasper disbelievingly and waits patiently for some sort of explanation. Jasper exhales exasperatedly "Emmett, I don't wanna have to repeat myself more than once, so can you please trust that I'm tellin' ya the truth? I swear when Edward and Bella get here, y'all will know what's been goin' on with me recently, alright? Just please give me the benefit of the doubt before you go makin' judgments."
Emmett narrows his eyes at the both of us before agreeing to listen to everything we're going to tell him. That's all I can ask for. I just hope everyone else will be willing to listen, too. As we watch Emmett storm back into the house, Jasper pulls me in for a hug and I feel an emotion that's not mine surrounding me. It seems to be Jasper's way of communicating without words and I understand it's an apology for Emmett's tactlessness and a promise to pick up where we left off…later.
"Have ya picked out some music to listen to while ya meet the family?" Jasper asks me casually. He makes it sound as though I have my iPod on stand-by just waiting for the appropriate moment to turn it on.
"I think so," I reply grinning "Damien Escobar has always been relaxing to listen to and Freedom is one of my favorite songs. The things that man can do with a violin are inhuman."
"I've never heard of him, Darlin'. You'll have to let me listen to it sometime." Jasper replies. "Are ya ready to start headin' in?" He asks as he points to the house.
"Not really, but I'll do it anyway." I reply.
"That's my girl." He says proudly as we begin walking to the house with his arm wrapped around me and my arm wrapped around him. We start talking about the most inconsequential things on our walk, but I make him laugh and he makes me laugh as he regales me with stories from his childhood. I understand it's his own way of making me more comfortable and relaxed, but it's almost as if there's no effort involved in just making eachother happy. It truly is the best I've felt since this existence began.
He must feel my gratitude and happiness as we cross the last few feet to the porch and smiles at me in understanding. I never do make it that last step onto the porch, though. Instead I find myself being hurled through the air and when I land, I'm 50 feet from where I started and I see a boy and a girl in front of me, blocking my path to Jasper. The boy has coppery-bronze hair and like the rest of Jasper's family, he has gold eyes. He looks a bit too young for my liking and I take a dislike to him immediately. The girl looks about the same age and has long brunette hair with red highlights, but what stands out about her are her red eyes. This must be Bella, the newborn.
"Get away from him you red-headed trollop!" says the boy.
"Trollop?" I ask back annoyed, standing and placing my hands on my hips. "Is that seriously what you're going with? I mean, I'm used to being called a whore and a bitch, but a trollop? That's a bit old fashioned, don't you think?"
"What does it matter what he calls you when you shouldn't be all over another woman's man in the first place." says Bella.
"Another woman's man? Are you serious?" I look over at Jasper who is angrily, but calmly watching the proceedings while trying to make his way over to me and ask, "Jasper, is she serious?"
As the rest of his family is making their way outside, Jasper clearly says "Yeah, Darlin', she's serious."
"I'm sorry to rain on everyone's parade, but Jasper and Alice were officially over about 2 hours ago. So, just so everyone's on the same page, Jasper can be with whomever the fuck he wants to." I state angrily.
"How is that possible, Jasper?" the coppery douche asks.
"Because they were never mates, you dumb ass!" I all but yell.
Everyone except Jasper looks at me in complete shock. Like I just told them the earth is flat instead of round. It would be hilarious under different circumstances, but my patience for these golden-eyed, holier-than-thou vamps is getting really thin. I can see Jasper out of the corner of my eye making his way to me through the gathering and I feel better that I have at least one person on my side.
"What do you mean 'they were never mates'?" Asks a man that I could swear was Jasper's father. He was around my age with almost white-blonde hair and had an aura of authority around him that everyone seemed to respect.
I can't help that my anger seems to be getting the best of me. I'm dure Jasper can feel it because he places a calming hand on my shoulder and looks pointedly at me. I was supposed to be doing something…oh! Right! Calming music. Ok. I got this.
I nod at Jasper when I get the message and immediately think of the Damien Escobar song. As I remember the beginning chords of the beautiful song, then the beat, then the notes, I begin to calm down. Jasper takes my calmer state as an opportunity to explain and begins with a question as I continue to calm down.
"Let me ask you a question, Carlisle" Jasper begins and I realize that he must be the leader of this little family. I'd need to remember to stay on his good side if I wanted the opportunity to stay, "after you turned Esme, how long was it before you marked her?"
"It was just after I fed the first time, dear" a woman with caramel colored hair and a heart-shaped face answers "so it was probably an hour after I had awoken to this life. Why do you ask?"
We're all distracted as the coppery douche begins some sort of trance-like movement. I wouldn't call it dancing, necessarily, but I'm not sure what else to call it. His arms are held out to one side and he seems to be sliding one on top of the other with a good 9 inches separating them. His eyes looked a bit glassy and glazed over as well, but I wasn't going to point it out.
"Edward. What are you doing?" The red-eyed brunette asks, but there's no response from him. He just keeps doing the same thing. With the glazed look in his eyes and the lack of response it almost looks like he was…but that can't be. It's impossible unless…
Then it hits me.
Edward is the one who can read minds and I've been thinking of a song played by a violinist in order to calm me down. I did not expect him to be affected, let alone influenced, just by my mind! To be honest, it fascinates me. I start to walk closer to him and realize that instead of dancing, like I thought he was doing, he's actually playing an invisible violin to the music in my head!
"No!" I state disbelieving. "I don't believe it! No way!" I almost squeal excitedly.
"What?" Jasper asks. Which is followed by various forms of the same question from everyone around us.
"Jasper, look at him!" I say.
"I am lookin', Darlin'." He replies.
"No, really look." I reply. "What is it you told me Edward could do?"
"I said he could…" he begins and you can almost see the lightbulb switch on in his head as he realizes what's happening "No way." he retorts while looking at me disbelievingly.
"I know! I can't believe it either!" I reply.
"Will somebody please share with the class what the hell is going on?" Asks a beautiful blonde bombshell who looks like she'd rather be anywhere other than here. There's something about her that feels almost familiar, but it can wait for the moment.
Jasper decides to take this as an opportunity to explain "He's listening to Amanda's thoughts."
"What do you mean, Jasper? Edward's never been put in that state just from thoughts before." Replies Carlisle.
"That's because Edward's never heard thoughts from a Siren before." Jasper states simply yet proudly.
The next thing I hear is an uproar with everyone trying to talk over each other at the same time.
A/N: Cliffy, I know. Don't hate. I'll update again soon so you can see what's next for our lovely Cullen's. Also, there's a plot twist going on next chapter that eve I wasn't aware of until I wrote it!