Racing away from Forks, Jasper trusted Edward to keep the rest of the family from trying to intercept them. By now Bella had buckled herself into the seat beside him, something he found laughable given what Bella was expecting he would do. He checked her emotions – resignation, and fear. Good, she really didn't want this. That meant he stood a decent chance of convincing her to accept his alternative. Short of forcing the change against her will, it was the only way he could think of to protect both Alice and Bella. Alice…he was almost angry enough with her and Edward to take their heads himself! What had they been thinking to withhold this information from the family? Always before, there had been no secrets among the Cullen's. The family worked together to find solutions to their problems.
They were already halfway to Port Angeles when his phone rang. Checking the caller i.d. he rolled his eyes and answered the phone. "Carlisle, you know this leaves me no choice. We're talking about the Volturi; Alice must be protected." Not knowing what Edward had told them, he figured it was best just to get the unpleasant discussion out of the way first. He heard Carlisle sigh before he responded "I know Jasper, and I know you aren't doing this out of callousness. I want you to know that even if you go through with this, you will always be welcome among this family. That said, Edward informed us you may have found a way to change Bella's mind. I don't expect you will risk bringing her back here to be turned. Jasper…will you be able to do this?" Jasper was shocked. Had Carlisle just said he would forgive Jasper for murdering Bella?! Granted, he knew Carlisle was compassionate and understood that he didn't want to do so, but never expected his forgiveness for this!
Glancing at Bella, who had gone slightly paler since he had spoken, he dropped his voice below the range of her human ears. "I haven't even spoken with her about it yet. So, assuming she even accepts – I won't force this life against her will – it's been over a century since I turned anyone. And to have that kind of control, I need to be on the traditional diet of our kind for long term. So in short, no. If I bite Bella, I will drain her." "Then how do you intend…" Carlisle allowed his voice to trail off knowing Jasper understood what he was asking. "I'm not going to put the family in the middle of this Carlisle, so I apologize, but I am not going to tell you where I am taking Bella. And if Alice wants Bella to come through this alive, she will keep that knowledge to herself. As for changing Bella, I aim to find Peter and Charlotte. If it was me asking, they would guard Bella with their lives and they do have the control – and Peter the experience – to change Bella." "I can't talk you into allowing me to change her? I will come alone to a place of your choosing and I give you my word I will change her," Carlisle knew his tactically minded son would not agree, but he had to try. It wasn't that he didn't believe Jasper's assessment of Peter and Charlotte, but Bella was his daughter. As things stood, he was willing to risk Bella's eternal hatred to save her young life and spare Jasper the regret and guilt of ending her by turning Bella whether or not it was what she wanted. Of course, the moment Rosalie learned he had done such a thing, she would likely end his existence…
Some time passed before Jasper responded. "I am sorry Carlisle, I do trust you, but I can't take the risk that one of the other's would try to prevent Bella's change. Alice means too much to me to chance it." "Alright Jasper, just please take care of our little girl." Sighing heavily, Jasper promised to do what he could and hung up.
"Bella, darlin', we have a long drive ahead of us; why don't you try and get some sleep?" Whipping her head towards him so fast, he thought she might break her own neck, Bella asked "We do? Not that I'm in a hurry to die, but I'd rather not drag this out…"
"I have some property, it has some beautiful views. Plus, Alice is the only Cullen who knows about it. I need to make sure they can't interfere before we do this. Just in case Edward figures out where we are, I am going to have some of my friends meet us there to hold them off. If I stop the truck now, we will be vulnerable."
"Ok Jasper, I'll rest then, just please, I want to be awake when you…" Bella couldn't finish her sentence. Now that she was away from the protection of the Cullen's her courage supply was running low.
"When I kill you? Don't worry darlin', you'll be awake because you damn sure are going to tell me, again, straight out that you don't want eternity before I snap that pretty little neck of yours." Hearing this, Bella paled further. Good. It was cruel, but Jasper figured his best chance to get Bella to agree to his plan was to make certain she harbored no illusions that he would put Alice at risk by sparing a human, even if said human was family. Not that Bella had ever been one to lie to herself regarding reality. To that end, he wasn't going to enlighten her to her options just yet…
