A/N: There is one thing about this chapter that I have to say at this point. Some of the parts of this chapter may seem like Jasper is cheating on Alice. Please, don't think like that. He's just trying to help keep Bella's emotions under control and comfort her to the best of his abilities. That's all. With that being said, here's chapter 3.
JASPER
I kneeled on the ground, with a sobbing Bella in my arms, doing my best to push out the grief and anger coming off my family in waves. I needed to pull every ounce of strength I had to try to keep Bella from having an all out mental and emotional break down. Which wasn't easy. She was so far gone that she was barely responding to my power, though I was throwing everything I had at her. In the end, I resorted to trying things the human way.
I rocked her gently while stroking her hair. I knew that I should say something but I didn't know what. I longed to be able to tell her that everything was going to be okay. However, I couldn't bring myself to lie to her. Her fiance/mate had just been killed. That in itself was soomething a person rarely got completely over. So you add the fact that he was killed by her jealous werewolf best friend and there was no way that everything was going to ever be okay again.
At the same time, though, I didn't want to tell her that things weren't going to be okay. That would definitely make the whole thing ten times worse. She didn't need to be reminded of how messed up things were about to become.
I supposed it would just be best to hold her and let her cry it out. That was all she really needed was to know that someone was there to love and support her. Even if they didn't know the right thing to say.
Part of me was feeling extremely guilty though as I kept my eyes transfixed on the scene in front of me. Alice was kneeling in front of the smoldering pile of ash that was once are brother and looking very sad and alone. I knew I should've been there comforting her. She was my mate, after all. However, the bigger part of me knew that Bella's need for comfort was much greater. Yes, we all lost a brother, son, and friend. But Bella, she lost her mate and the was the most difficult bond to lose. I couldn't just walk away from her.
I wasn't sure how long I knelt there before I felt Carlisle's had on my shoulder.
"Jasper, we should go before any humans wander by. I don't want them to get suspicious." he stated. "You should take Bella back to Charlie's, so she can get some sleep and deal with this later. Then meet us back at the house so we can discuss what we'll do next."
"Actually, Carlisle, I don't think it's a good idea to take her somewhere where she'll be alone." I replied holding the sobbing and shaking girl tighter in my arms.
"That might be what's best for her at the moment, Jasper." he stated. I could sense some irritation and confusion under his pain and sadness.
"No, it's not." I argued. "Think about it, Carlisle. You remember what Edward tried to do when he thought that Bella was dead? I don't think Bella's going to be any different. We should take her back to the house, that way we can keep an eye on her so she doesn't do something crazy and stupid like that."
Carlisle stared at me for a minute. I couldn't read his emotions anymore because I was focusing, once again, on calming Bella who seemed to not be hearing our conversation.
"I think you might be right." he answered solemnly. "Okay, we'll take her back to our house and get her to sleep, then we'll figure out the story.
"Thank you." I stated.
Carlisle just nodded.
"Do you think that you can handle carrying her?" he asked after a minute.
"Yes." I stated as I scooped her in my arms and stood.
I thought she was going to protest. Instead, she wrapped her hands around the back of my neck and buried her head in the front of it. I took off into the trees, mere seconds later with the family on my heels.
I thanked God for being so focused on trying to control Bella's emotions and block out the family's. It made it almost impossible for me to pay attention to Bella's wonderful, thought not as strong for me as for Edward, scent. It was much harder to think about eating her when I was trying to stop her for having a complete meltdown.
We weren't running for longer than a minute when we finally came to the place where we parked the cars. Everyone of us froze when we caught sight of the volvo. I couldn't help but feel the slight increase in the grief and anger of the family. Bella kept her face buried in my neck so I wasn't sure if she noticed anything or not.
"What are you we going to do with the volvo?" Alice asked trying to keep the crack out of her voice.
I could, however, hear every ounce of sadness and pain in her voice. Everyone of us looked at Carlisle questioningly. He looked worse than any of us and the emotions pouring off of him were rivaled only by Bella's.
He was pale, even for our kind and I could see his body shaking, although he tried to hide it. You couldn't really blame him, though. I mean, Edward was his first companion and son, not to mention his best friend. They shared the same venom, which for our kind is like sharing the same blood. It was impossible for Carlisle to suffer this kind of loss and not feel worse than the rest of us. I could, however, sense that he was trying to hide it.
Looking at Esme, I could see why. He was trying to be strong for her. She was clinging to his arms and letting out dry sobs as her whole body shook. I couldn't blame her for her emotions, either. Edward, Emmett, Alice, and I, hell, even Bella, were like her children. She wasn't able to have any of her own so she took care of us like her own. After so many years, it was hard not to think of her as our mother, so I could only imagine that she thoiught of us as her children, whithout a doubt. That being said, Esme could be considered a mother mourning her child and no parent should ever have to mourn their child.
After a long silence, Carlisle took a deep unnecessary breath and spoke,
"Just leave it here for now. Once we figure out how to explain what happened to him, we'll come back for it."
I could hear that he too was trying to keep the crack out of his voice. Silence followed his answer as we all stood there staring at the volvo, as if it could some how bring Edward back.
"Okay, I think that I should drive Carlisle's car back to the house." Rosalie, who, though as grief stricken as the rest of us, was most complosed, suggested. "You two are in no state to drive. We don't want to put any inoccent humans in danger." Carlisle and Esme agreed without protest. "And Emmett, you can drive your jeep, while Jasper sits in the back with Bella and Alice you can drive in the front."
Everyone nodded and headed to their respective vehicles. As we drove I focused my power on Bella. Which was somewhat a mistake. I should've been paying attention to Alice's feelings to a greater degree at the time. If I had been, I would've realized that underneath the feelings of sadness, pain, and anger their were several other emotions. Those ranged from worry to curiousity and love, to downright fear. Maybe if I had noticed those feelings then, I could've changed Alice's fate. However, once again, I felt that Bella's needs were greater.
The drive home took a little less than ten minutes.
"Where should I take her?" I asked once I got a still sobbing Bella out of the car and into the house. "Edward's room?"
"NO!" Bella cried out. It was the first words that she spole since the break down. "I can't go in there. Please, don't make me!"
"Shhhh." I whispered soothingly. "I won't make you."
I looked questioningly at Carlisle but it was Alice who answered.
"Take her to our room, Jazz." she stated solemnly. "I knew we'd be needing the new bed for something."
"Right." I replied and carried Bella up the stairs into our room.
As I made to lay her on the bed, she locked her arms around me neck and pulled herself back to me.
"Please, don't leave me?" she cried. "I don't wanna be alone, right now!"
"Shh." I whispered as I gently pulled her wrists off of my neck. "I'll stay here for awhile, okay?"
"Thank you." she replied as she continued to cry a little.
I laid her gently on the bed then curled up next to her.
"You should try to sleep." I stated.
"I don't know if I'll be able to." she answered.
"Would you like me to help?"
She nodded and snuggled close to me. I sent her a couple waves of lethargy and fatigue. She gave in the minute she felt them. She closed her eyes, whispered thank you, and was out within minutes. I stayed with her for a few more minutes, just in case she wasn't completely asleep then I headed downstairs to speak to the family.
Everyone was sitting in silence in the living room when I walked down the stairs. It was the first time since Bella's breakdown that I completely opened myself to their feelings. The anguish, hate, and rage they all felt hit me like a wrecking ball. I found myself wanting to do everything from screaming at the top of my lungs to killing the mutt. It was so overwhelming that I ended up on my knees.
"Jazz!" Alice cried and jumped out of her chair to help me. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I answered as I allowed her to help me up. "It's just, your feelings are overwhelming as individuals but when tou throw them together, it's almost unbearable. But I'm fine. I just wasn't expecting to be hit so hard by it all."
"I know." Alice replied as she pulled me over to the chair.
She then curled herself up opn my lap and wrapped her arms around me. I knew something was up with her attitude. Alice wasn't a very physical lover. She was more on the emotional side. She told me how she felt but never really showed it in publice. But now she was sitting on my lap in front of the entire family. I had a feeling that she thought I was going to leave her to if she let me go. I didn't have too much time to ponder the whole thing though becuase Carlisle was asking me a question,
"How is she?"
"She's okay right now. I managed to get her to sleep but I imagine it'll be worse when she wakes and realizes it wasn't just a dream. I'll need to be there to control that breakdown as well." I answered.
"Of course." Carlisle replied. "I think it might be good if we were all there when she woke. She's going to need all the love and support she can get. It isn't easy to lose your mate." Everyone nodded and Carlisle continued pointedly to Rosalie. "Also, I don't want any of you blaming her for any of this. Knowing Bella, she already balmes herself. We need to let her know that it isn't her fault. It isn't anybody's fault but Jacob Black's. She needs to her it as often as possible. That's the only way she'll believe it."
"What are we going to do about Jacob anyway?" Esme asked from her spot on Carlisle's lap.
"I'm going to call a meeting with Sam and tell him what Jacob's done." Carlisle answered. "Then we'll decide on a punishment if he ever comes back."
We fell back into silence as we all let the weight of his words sink in. Jacob had violated the treaty and that should mean war for the wolves and the family, however, we knew Sam had nothing to do with this attack. We didn't want to start an unecessary war. The only fair thing to do, would be for us to be allowed to take our revenge if he ever came back. And as much as we hated Jacob Black at the moment, none of us wanted to kill him. We didn't want Bella to have to lose someone else that she cared about.
"So what are we going to tell people happened to Edward?" Emmett asked after the long stretch of silence.
"We could always go with suicide." Rosalie suggested.
"No!" I growled.
"Why not?" Rosalie questioned a little outraged. "It's a perfect excuse."
"Edward was a recently graduated high school student. He was going to be married in less than a month. And he had a family that loved and cared about him very much. The only legitimate reason for him to commit suicide would've been if Bella called off the wedding."
"I still don't see the problem with that." Rosalie insisted.
"The problem, Rosalie, is that Bella is already going to be blaming herself for this." I reasoned. "It isn't going to help her to have the entirety of Forks, Washington looking at her like it's her fault Edward's dead."
"Fine." Rosalie replied with a shrug. "Anyone else have an idea?"
"What if we reported him missing?" Emmett suggested.
"That won't work, either." Carlisle said.
"Why not?" Emmett questioned.
"Because Charlie, being the chief of police, would launch an all out investigation because he knows how much Bella loves Edward. He wouldn't sleep until he found Edward. And aside from causing unnecessary problems, it could turn back some incriminating evidence. Besides, I don't think that I could handle an officer telling me that we'll find Edward when I know for a fact the we never will." Carlisle explained.
"I see." Emmett replied. "Anyone else?"
"What if we say that Edward called off the wedding and moved to Alaska?" Alice asked from her spot on my chest. "I mean it's full proof. It would explain his sudden disappearance, as well as Bella's devesation but it will still protect the secret and Bella's reputation."
We were once again silent as we let this suggestion sink in. Of course, it was a perfect excuse, however, we all knew Edward well enough to know that he'd never call off the wedding with Bella. He wanted nothing more than to be hers for all enternity. It seemed like an insult to his memory to make that claim. However, there was nothing else we could do.
"Then that's what we'll do." Carlisle stated after a couple minutes silence.
"Well," Alice sighed. "I guess I've got some phone calls to make."
"Rose and I will help." Esme suggested as all three girls rose.
"And I should go get the volvo." Emmett added.
"Guys, wait." I stated. I could feel what they were trying to do. They wanted to surppress everything and deal with it later. I knew how much trouble bottling things up could be and I needed to get them to deal with it all now. "That stuff can wait a few days. I mean it's not like there was a crime involved or anything. We need to take this time to deal with what happened because if we bottle it up, it'll just be worse when it finally comes out."
"You're right, Jazz." Alice replied and curled herself back into me. "In fact, I think we should all...."
She never got to finish the sentence, because Bella's screams echoed through the house.
"No Jake, stop it! Just leave him alone, please! Stop, I'll do anything!"
Alice and I were the first out of our seats and up the stairs. The family was several feet behind us. When we burst through our door, Bella was lying on the bed thrashing and screaming. She had tears falling down her cheeks.
Leaving my horrified and worried family at the door, I walked over to Bella and pinned both of her wrist to the floor. I tried to use my strongest dose of tranquility to calm her but it just wouldn't work.
A/N: Please review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
