Chapter Two: Inedible Food
The next few hours drove Jazmine crazy. The people seemed to get more and more anxious, rather than get settled down.
Jazmine was sitting in her chair, curled up, with her head between her knees. Clyde didn't know what to do. He was a little nervous about Jazmine's behavior and so was Vivien. Jazmine couldn't normally sit still and now she was motionless. It bothered them all.
There was a small rap at the door and it was ignored like all the others. Then the doorknob was tried. A frustrated groan was heard outside and Jazmine's head perked up. The small rap turned into a loud banging sound and Jazmine hopped up. "Jazmine," Clyde warned warily as he watched Jazmine unlock the door. She ignored him and tugged the door open.
A girl with short red—no it was more like maroon–-hair stood in the door way. Her hair was neck length in front and then it got shorter around the back. It had many lairs in it in the back and was very soft looking. The girl's eyes were a bright green color and she smiled at Jazmine.
Jazmine sighed with relief. "Ashley." She said.
The girl smile widened. "Yes, so good to see you!" she had a strong English accent. Ashley looked around. "Um," her smile disappeared. "This is something I wasn't hoping to see though." She mumbled cocking an eyebrow over at Jazmine. "I'll explain that later." Jazmine said so quietly it almost made no sound. Ashley nodded approvingly and walked inside. Following her was a young girl, she looked around seventeen, that had long, straight blonde hair. She smiled at Jazmine. "Jazmine." She cooed. She also had an English accent.
Jazmine nodded with a smile. "Collie." She said happily.
A boy walked in. He had scruffy brown hair and dark black eyes. His skin was very tanned, like he spent too much time in the sun. He smiled though. A bright, happy smile that made Jazmine's eyes widened. "Hello, Jazmine." He purred. He had no accent, but a deep, rough voice. He looked and sounded like a movie star. "David." Jazmine answered with a small smile and a quick nod.
Jazmine had almost forgot about the reporters and photographers and police officers outside. When one got to close and snapped a picture, Jazmine almost growled at him. She slammed the door and sighed. She turned to see Ashley had seated herself on the floor, looking around curiously. Collie and David were staring at Sasuke and Naruto, talking amongst themselves, giggling sometimes.
"So, explain to me." Ashley said pointing at her chest. Jazmine sucked in an unneeded breath and sat down in her chair. "Okay." She said. She started to explain what happened. Not trying to side with herself or the two boys. She told Ashley about the rock, the camera, the arm, and then everything after that. She watched Ashley's expression carefully when she finished her story. Everything was silent as Ashley thought the situation over. "Well, now," she said finally breaking the silence. "That sounds like a problem." She got up quickly and peeked out the window. More people had shown up since the arrival of Ashley and her friends.
Ashley sighed and looked over at Jazmine. She let the curtain fall and stood up straight. "I think you know what to do." She said staring strangely at Jazmine. Jazmine's expression was torn. She looked down. Her eyebrows scrunched together. "Right." She said nodding.
9
Jazmine's eyes shot up and she looked at Ashley with pure curiosity. "Are you coming?" she asked quickly. Ashley barely caught it and she found herself leaning forward. "Um," she murmured when she figured out what Jazmine had said. "I guess so," she shrugged. "Let me call Sam up." She started for the door.
"Where are you going?" Clyde asked. Ashley grinned at him. "I'm going to scare off the humans." She said. "They'll be back." Sasuke muttered not bothering to look at her. Ashley frowned. "I know that." She hissed.
"Collie! David!" Ashley ordered, turning to face the door again. They were both at her sides and awaiting further instructions. Ashley yanked the door open and turned to look at Jazmine's mourning facial features. "Call Alice, make sure Carlisle says it's okay." Ashley pushed. Jazmine nodded and the werewolves went outside to shoo the reporters away.
Vivien turned back. "Who are Alice and Carlisle?" she asked. "Friends of mine." Jazmine had already dialed the number on her cell phone and she held it to her ear.
Vivien looking questioningly at Clyde and he shrugged. Jazmine sighed and tapped her foot as the phone rang. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she smiled. "Alice?" she asked. "Oh, Alice! It's so good to hear your voice!" she swooned, standing up.
"Ah! I've missed you too! All of you!" Jazmine was close to squeaking. There was a pause and a big grin spread of Jazmine's face. "You saw that coming didn't you?" she asked. Jazmine started to walk to the kitchen, taking her normal path. "Yeah, I'm having some slight trouble with the humans up here and I need a break." Jazmine said, and then paused to listen to Alice. "Yeah, but just two. Daggorith isn't coming, he's being antisocial." Jazmine joked to her friend over the phone. Jazmine laughed and turned to go back into the living room.
"Yes, yes. I know all the rules." Jazmine said with an innocent voice. "I followed them all exactly like I was supposed to last time, didn't I?" Jazmine sat down in her chair and crossed her legs Indian style. "Yes, I'll make sure my friends know the rules, as well." Jazmine said pausing. The pause was long and Jazmine's face grew tense. "Oh?" Jazmine asked. "I would never have guessed." She murmured.
She paused biting her lower lip. "Um, well, that's Edward for you." She laughed humorlessly. Jazmine nodded as if Alice could see her and squeaked a 'mh-hmm' every now and then.
"Oh!" Jazmine gasped. "I had no idea!" Jazmine snickered happily. "I'll be sure to have some self-control and my friends will have self-control as well." She said nodding. She chuckled and sighed. "Okay, I'll see you later. Probably tomorrow afternoon." She said, ending the conversation. "Bye-bye, Alice." Jazmine said sweetly before snapping the phone shut.
Jazmine leaned back in her big, overstuffed chair and closed her eyes. Things were silent for a moment and Naruto inched closer to her. "Can I go?" he asked quietly.
Jazmine's eyelids flew open. She looked down at Naruto with surprise. She sighed and hung her head. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but where we are going," she paused and struggled for the right words. "Well, there will be humans we will have to interact with and you don't have enough self-control for that yet." She said looking into his red eyes. They were sad and lonely. "I guess . . . that makes sense." He inched away and hung his head.
Jazmine flinched as if he had tried to hit her and then sighed. She appeared at his side and threw her arms around him. "I'm sorry Naruto. You can come up in a week or two." She murmured so that no one else could here her. Naruto's eyes tightened and he hung onto Jazmine tightly.
10
In Forks, a small, wet town in Washington, the Cullen family were getting the house ready for their guests. Carlisle was the oldest of the Cullens. Just over three hundred years old. He and his family were a different breed of vampire other than the Necklace vampires and Henry's kind. Their bite could turn you, very painfully, into a vampire . . . if enough blood was left in your body.
There was also Esme, Carlisle's mate, who was very sweet and welcoming, Emment, who was very strong but kind hearted, Rosalie, Emment's mate, who was extremely beautiful, Jasper, who could manipulate the emotions of anyone around him, Alice, Jasper's mate, who could see into the future, and Edward. Edward was a special case. He was older than everyone other than Carlisle and he could read the minds of everyone around him.
All of the minds, except, the love of his existence, Bella's mind. Bella was very much human, being in love with a vampire and best friends with an impatient werewolf named Jacob, made her very used to the weird things that everyone else thought only existed in fairy tales.
Now, as Bella sat on Edward's lap in the Cullen's big, expensive home, she listened to Alice's tale of the vampire known as Jazmine.
Emment and Rosalie were gone again, taking another one of their honeymoons off somewhere in Europe. Carlisle was working nights at the hospital that night, his old age had made him nearly immune to the scent of human blood and he liked his job of a treasured doctor. Esme was with him, talking with him whenever he had small breaks.
Jasper on the other hand was there with Edward and Bella. He loitered quietly near the giant staircase, and Alice was nearly dancing around the living room, explaining.
"And Jazmine was telling her brother that—" and Alice froze. She had turned to look at the door as if she was expecting it to open itself. Edward tensed and then relaxed just as fast.
Alice walked quickly to the door and opened it. A girl with brown hair leaned against the door frame snickering. She was soaked from the rain. Her long brown hair hung loosely in clumps down her back and her black shirt stuck to her. The strange yellow necklace around her neck seemed untouched by the sudden downpour.
"You guys don't know how to take a joke." Jazmine said as her snicker turned into a laugh. Alice's mouth twitched. "That wasn't funny." She said with a small smile. Jazmine stopped laughing but a grin never left her face. "Oh, it so was." She said throwing her arms around Alice's neck. "Alice!" she sang happily. Alice wasted no time in hugging her back.
"I've missed you so much!" They both chorused in unison. They both stepped back to examine each other. Jazmine's necklace swung forward on her neck through the air and Alice caught the strange charm with gentle hands. "Polish it often?" Alice asked looking the diamogram over. "Every two hours." Jazmine joked.
Alice and Jazmine smiled at their small inside joke and then Jazmine's head whipped around. She looked outside as if seeing something in the darkening sky. Bella glanced over Jazmine's head to maybe see the thing she was looking at. A small teenage girl was suddenly there. Nothing had been seen running up and Bella blinked. Maybe she was seeing things. Nope. The girl was still there. She looked around fourteen or fifteen with curly blonde hair and a pale round face. She wore a necklace like Jazmine's only this girl's necklace was black.
She tugged at Jazmine's sleeve. "Jazmine," she said in a high nervous voice.
11
"Something's wrong with my nose! Shock me." She squeaked. Jazmine looked at her like she was crazy. As she watched Vivien freak out, she rolled her eyes. "Vivien," she moaned. Vivien paused. "Yeah?" "Vivien, didn't I tell you there would be humans?" Jazmine asked. Vivien froze and her black eyes flew to Bella. Her large eyes took in Bella as a cat taking in a mouse. When she caught Edward's disapproving glare she flinched away.
Alice just laughed. "Bit of advice, Vivien, dear," she said. "Not breathing makes it a lot easier."
Vivien nodded, embarrassed. "Right." She gazed at Bella and Edward and lowered her head. "Uh, sorry?" she said with an apologetic grin.
Bella nodded and Edward chuckled. Jazmine groaned and suddenly a boy, looking around seventeen or eighteen, was at her side. "Well, this is nice." He said glaring over at Vivien. "Good first impression, moron." He growled rolling his orange eyes. Bella automatically checked to see if he had a necklace. He did. It was orange.
"Yes. Yes. Yes." Jazmine grumbled as Alice guided them inside.
"Okay!" Alice chirped. "Clyde. Vivien. I am Alice." She said putting a dainty hand on her chest. Clyde was a little shocked she knew his name, and then he realized she was the psychic, if you will.
Jazmine smirked over at Jasper and he smirked back, raising his eye brows at her. "I'm Jasper." He said quietly. "Nice to meet you." He said.
Clyde inclined his head in a quick nod and Vivien smiled at Jasper enthusiastically.
Before Edward could introduce himself and Bella, Jazmine looked over at him with a smile. "So Edward," she grinned. "What am I thinking?" she asked. "What am I thinking right now?" she leaned in with a semi-serious expression.
Edward scoffed. "Very funny, Jaz."
Bella looked at Edward's face. "Huh?" she asked.
Jazmine jumped in. "Oh?" Jazmine gasped over-dramatically. "He didn't tell you?" a smile whipped over her face. "Edward can't read my kind's thoughts." And then she paused. "We can set up mind barriers, so I guess he could probably read the thoughts of our weak minded." She said thoughtfully.
Clyde's eyes brightened. "Oh, so you can probably read Vivien's mind, then, Edward?" he said to Edward with a small smile. Vivien growled at Clyde. "Aw! Hey!" she snapped. "That's not funny!" she said making a face at Clyde. Everyone else chuckled at her.
"Anyway," Alice chirped happily. "This is Bella!" she said as she danced over to the couch. "Uh," Bella looked up at Jazmine. "Yeah, I'm Bella." She said.
Jazmine smiled at her. "Well, Bella, you seem very comfortable in the presence of vampires."
Vivien nearly broke herself she gasped so hard. "Hey!" she said. "I've met someone like you!" she said pointing a finger at Bella. Bella seemed confused.
"Yeah, yeah, see. Her name is Vicky and she's so . . . um . . . comfortable around us, I guess," she paused. Jazmine turned to glare at Vivien. "Vivien, why must you be idiotic?" she asked. Vivien smiled. "Oh, I don't know." She said with a sharp laugh.
Bella snickered and Edward rolled his eyes. Alice chuckled and grabbed Jazmine's hands. "Talk to me over here for a minute." She said pulling Jazmine into the kitchen. Jazmine looked around curiously and then at Alice. "Mmh?" Jazmine sighed and leaned against the counter.
12
"So," Alice smiled. "It's nice to finally see you again and your friends seem . . . nice." She seemed to struggle for the word. Jazmine barked a laugh. "Yes, they can be nice at times." She said. "Vivien objected to the rules at first. I can still hear her words in my head when I told her we would be eating animals instead of humans." She almost laughed.
"And Clyde?" Alice asked suspiciously. Jazmine shrugged. "He's cool with anything that makes me happy." She said slowly, gazing out the window. Alice nodded. "I see that." She murmured with a smile. "So, I suppose he's more than a friend at this point?" she asked.
Jazmine's and Alice's eyes met. "Yeah." Jazmine said coolly, with a smile. Alice nodded. "That's all I wanted to know." She sang as she pranced out of the kitchen. Jazmine was a little surprised. "What?" she called loudly, following her. Alice just laughed in response.
Vivien bounced to Jazmine's side. "What was that about?" she asked. Jazmine glanced at her. "Nothing." She said with a tiny smile. Vivien stopped and watched Jazmine's back as she walked to Clyde's side. She scoffed. "You have got to be kidding me?" she hissed under her breath. Jazmine pretended not to hear her. Vivien shook her head and then walked over to Jazmine and Clyde. She looked at Edward.
"So, uh, Edward," she said rocking back on her heels. "Do you mind if, you know, I just suddenly grow a tail and paws and fur and things of that nature?" she asked. Edward shook his head. "Go for it." He said. Bella looked at him and then at Jazmine. "What?" she asked. Jazmine smiled. "Watch." She turned to Vivien.
Vivien giggled and then closed her eyes. She opened them quickly and looked at Edward. He shrugged and nodded. "If you must." He said. A bright smile spread over Vivien's face.
Her necklace started glowing then. It floated off of her chest slightly and stopped in mid-air. She held her arms out and the hairs on them started to grow and more hairs started to grow, soon her arms were furry with yellow, white, and black hairs. Jazmine rolled her eyes and Clyde narrowed his.
Vivien's fingers shrunk and her hands slowly became paws. Her neck and face started sprouting hairs as well. Then her necklace started to glow even more. There was a bright flash and Bella shut her eyes. She turned her face into Edward's chest. When she dared to peek again her eye's widened.
A cheetah stood in Vivien's place. "Whoa." Bella murmured in a low voice. The cheetah seemed to smile. Her tail flicked and she sat down.
"You are an absolute moron." Clyde hissed. "I don't see why you have to be such a show off!" he snapped. Vivien growled. "Hey!" she snarled. "How come at home you are all quiet but here you are all mean to me? Be nice!" she hissed.
Bella was shocked. "That is unbelievablely awesome." She laughed. Jazmine and Clyde smiled at each other. "She is only one pawn on the entire chess board, honey." Jazmine laughed
Bella cocked her head. "Then who are the king and queen?" she asked.
The three Necklace vampires exploded into laughter. "King!" Clyde laughed. "That's a good one!" he said in between laughs. Vivien dropped to the ground and exposed her white belly. None of them could stop laughing. Bella was even more confused. "I seem to be making a fool of myself." She muttered. Edward smiled at her warmly. "Don't worry." He chuckled. "They are fools themselves."
Jazmine sobered up. "I apologize Bella," she said with a smile. "But, that was a funny comment to us, you see, we never really had a king." She explained.
13
"Ah," Bella said. "I see." She nodded, no one bought it.
Jazmine just smiled. "Our queen's name is Draxie. She was the creator of our necklaces here," Jazmine touched a finger to her diamogram. "This little charm is where we get all our power and strength from. When it gets broken, we die with it." She said.
Bella listened with curiosity and Edward smirked at Jazmine. "Our queen has just had her nine-hundredth and forty-second birthday." Jazmine said sitting down on the floor. Bella sucked in a sharp breath. "She's that old?" she asked.
Clyde smiled. "Yeah, hard to believe, huh?" he asked.
Bella nodded. "Um, if you don't mind me asking," she paused and looked at them. "How old are you three?" she asked quickly.
Vivien licked her lips and then swiped her tongue over her paw. "I'm ninety three." She said.
Jazmine smiled. "I'm two hundred and eleven."
Clyde nodded and then joined Jazmine on the floor. "I'm four hundred and thirty seven."
Bella nodded, trying her best to hide her shock. "Wow." She managed to say. Jazmine laughed. "Yeah, he doesn't look a day over two thirty!" she joked.
Jasper barked a laugh in the corner and Jazmine turned to look at him. "What?" she asked. He had covered his mouth. "Nothing." He mused, waving his hand at her. Alice danced to his side. "I think we are going to go out for a little while. We'll see you guys again, soon." She said. Jazmine looked a little solemn. "Uh, okay." She sighed. Alice patted Jazmine's head as she and Jasper walked by. "Be back later." She said softly.
Everything was quiet after Alice and Jasper left. Everyone was left to their thoughts.
Clyde sighed, finally breaking the silence. "This is awkward." He said leaning back onto his hands. Vivien giggled and rolled onto her back again.
"Can I ask another question?" Bella asked. "Shoot." Jazmine said nonchalantly.
"Um," she paused. "Ah, are all of you cheetahs? Or do you have your own animals?" she asked. Vivien snickered and her tail flicked but Jazmine was surprisingly calm. "Nah, we're not all cheetahs. A varied few are but we all have our own animals. All of them are predators, of course. Mostly big cats and a wide variety of them are wolves." She said nodding. Bella's eyes brightened. "Wolves? Really?" she asked.
Edward groaned and Jazmine froze. "Yeah, wolves. Why? You got a werewolf buddy somewhere?" Jazmine asked slowly. Bella didn't answer and Jazmine laughed. "Ha!" she scoffed. "Are you like a supernatural magnate or something? You're going steady with a vampire and you're friends with a werewolf. Beautiful." She said with a laugh.
"Vicky all over." Vivien muttered. Clyde hissed at her and she squeaked in defense. "I am also friends with several werewolves." Jazmine said glaring at Vivien quickly. Bella couldn't speak. Her heart sped up. "You . . . you are friends with werewolves?" she asked. Edward glared at Jazmine. "Don't give her any ideas!" he snapped. Jazmine chuckled. "Yeah, in fact, some of my closest werewolf friends are down visiting Sam and his new pack." She paused. "But enough about them and more about me." She said.
Bella saw another blinding flash and she flinched. When she looked again, a lioness was sitting where Jazmine had been and a bobcat was sitting in Clyde's place.
14
Clyde snickered. "This gives new meaning to the phrase 'slip into something more comfortable.'" He laughed. Bella blinked. "Okay." She said. She slipped off of Edward's cold lap onto the floor. Jazmine stretched and then took the few steps to Bella's side. Bella cautiously slipped a hand into the soft fur on Jazmine's neck.
A rough purr came from Jazmine's throat as she leaned into Bella's hand. "You are the warmest vampire I've ever felt." She murmured. A chuckle interrupted Jazmine's purr and then it started up again.