Ever since coming to Canada the Cullens had never left Jasper alone. Not even once. Much less these past days, especially Alice.
But Seth swore up and down that he had caught an odd scent somewhere in the mountains farthest from town. Same part him and Leah kept going back to. Something about having a gut feeling.
Thing is that that had left him all alone.
Alice had wanted him to come with her so he wouldn't be alone but for once he hadn't felt like leaving the house. He had felt a headache coming and the last thing he wanted was to be out there in the freezing cold.
Thus he was left alone after spending half an hour convincing Alice that he would be fine.
Fine.
He would've been fine if the world hadn't decided to check out when he was at the top of the stairs.
All he knew is that when the world came back to him it was blurred and there was a sharp pain on his forehead. A bitter taste he had come to recognize as his own blood in his mouth and a throbbing ache at his bottom lip. His entire existence ached to a point where it felt like he would never be able to move again and while he knew he was being dramatic for he had gotten worse as a vampire, right now this was his worse.
Groaning he rolled on his back and as he did so he felt pain flare on his shoulder. The pulse in his head worsening and he moaned.
Great.
His shoulder had dislocated. And if he had to guess he had either cracked his head open or gotten a concussion. Maybe both.
He would rather be forced to fight 10 newborns at the same time than this.
Getting up was another whole ordeal but he was thankful he hadn't broken a leg instead. His back ached but it wasn't too bad.
Cleaning the blood off the ground with a dislocated shoulder was as challenging as it was getting back to his room with aching bones.
He got into the bathroom and took it to check the damage, turns out he did crack his head, apparently not bad enough to keep up bleeding once he applied pressure to it, there was a cut on his temple and he wasn't sure if the busted lip was because of the stairs or because he may have bitten himself, as if biting his tongue wasn't bad enough, his ribs felt bruised but since it didn't hurt to breathe he didn't worry much.
All things considered he guessed he had been lucky. He sighed before glancing at his shoulder on the reflection, he grabbed his elbow.
And then he pushed.
He was glad to report that he still had enough strength to put his shoulder back in place.
What he didn't had was the pain resistance. The ripple of pain that explode across it almost got a shout out of him. But he tightened his jaw and bit back the shout. Fingers gripping the sink as he crouched on the ground. Breathing shuddering as the heated throb on his shoulder began fading.
It took a while before he was able to get his bearings back together. He still felt too sore though. Especially his shoulder.
He glanced down at his blood-stained shirt and sighed. His shoulder felt sore but he didn't paid it mind as he went back to his room and searched for a clean shirt. He was glad it was a button up shirt for it made it easier to take it off.
He almost jumped out of his skin when the door slammed open. Ever since his gift began failing he had had a hard time acknowledging that people could sneak up on him.
Still.
Alice was the one who stood there. Alarm clear in her face, though it seemed to decrease once she caught sight of him. That didn't stop her from appearing infront of him in a blink and start searching him all over. Her hands coming to rest on his cheeks.
-What happened?- She questions as her fingers hover over the cut on his temple. His lip was busted too and there were bruises forming across his ribs and shoulders. Darker and worse than the usual ones. She had come back because she had had the strong feeling that something had happened to Jasper.
Smelling his blood had made her dead heart drop. She had expected the worst. But he was fine.
-I'm not sure. I was on top of the stairs and then I was at the bottom of the stairs, on the floor. I dislocated my shoulder but I was able to set it back.- His words made Alice frown. It was obvious he had fallen down the stairs and the fact that such a fall had caused so much damage mortified her.
He could have broken his neck. Or his spine.
She shouldn't have left him alone. Her hands rested on his ribs and she felt around for a bit. At this point she had become too familiar with recognizing broken ribs for comfort.
-Does it hurt when you breathe?- She asked, his hand caught one of her hands into his own and he brought it up to place a soft kiss on her knuckles.
-I'm fine, don't worry.- He appeased softly.
-I'm your wife, it's my job to worry.- She told as a statement of fact before grabbing his arms and pushing him to sit on the bed. Those cuts couldn't have made the house reek of blood like it was. They weren't deep enough to make him bleed that much.
Alice grabbed his head and true to her suspicions he had cracked his head open. Right on the back. It made a shiver run down her spine. His hair and nape were stained in black blood and while he wasn't bleeding anymore he wasn't healing either.
God if he hit his head with enough force to crack his skull open... She noticed something.
There was also a dark bruise across his shoulderblade.
Christ what even happened for him to get so hurt from a fall that wasn't even that long?
-I'm going to call Carlisle.- Something told her this hadn't been a regular fall due loss of consciousness.
-But-
-I'm not asking, I may not be human but I'm pretty sure a normal fall wouldn't have caused this.- Alice cut off firmly.
Jasper sighed but didn't argue.
~~~~~~~~~~
When Alice sent Carlisle a text to come back home he had expected the worst. Even more so when he arrived and caught the strong acidic scent he had come to recognize as Jasper's blood.
The sight of his son injured had alarmed him. He had dressed his wounds and had made sure there were no broken bones.
-You say you fell down the stairs?- Carlisle asked as he removed his gloves. While germs were of no concern to vampires right now Jasper's condition left him too vulnerable. Being careful didn't hurt.
-Yes.
Jasper's answer didn't settle well with Carlisle. If he had fallen down the stairs no matter how he looked at it there was no reason for him to have bitten his tongue nor for him to have busted his lip. If he had gotten his mouth on the fall he should have done gotten more damage to his face. The way the bruises had formed along with his injuries in general didn't quite fit the label of a normal fall.
-I felt weird before the fall and after the fall.- Jasper told. While he didn't particularly care about the fall Alice and Carlisle seemed way too worried over it, so maybe telling the details wouldn't hurt.
-Weird how?- Carlisle asked. Jasper's words catching his attention.
-I had a headache before. It didn't felt like when I faint. It was more like being shoved underwater without warnin' and then it all stopped registerin'. When I "woke up" I was on the floor and I was achin' all over. Rather than a fall it felt as if I've been ran over by a train, I didn't particularly felt like gettin' up and my eyesight was blurred at first. And more than wakin' up it felt more as if I just had become aware again of my surroundings?
To be honest Jasper couldn't decipher how to explain how he had felt before and after.
Carlisle for his side frowned. Jasper's words sounded familiar. Where had he heard those words before?
Then it hit him.
And while at first he tried to brush it off Jasper's injuries told him that he wasn't wrong to come up with that theory.
Seizure.
Vampires didn't had what their brains needed to cause a seizure but Jasper at this point was no longer 100% a vampire. Plus. The next full moon would arrive within three nights. He was too close to it. But why seizures?
Still.
If he would start having seizures then that meant he couldn't be left alone. He had fallen down the stairs, he could have broken his neck.
He couldn't be allowed to be alone.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jasper was sitting on the roof when he heard it.
A howl.
It sent shivers down his spine and made his hairs stand on end. It was far. Too far away. But it weren't the wolves. He didn't even knew how he knew that but he did.
And before he could realize what he was doing he was leaving the roof and setting off. He didn't paid mind to the biting cold that got goosebumps out of him nor to the background echo of someone calling his name. Didn't even knew where he was going. All he knew is that he needed to go to it. What was it?
He had no idea. But it was calling him.
He wasn't sure for how long did he ran or which direction he took, all he knew is that at some point a sound caught his attention and made him halt.
He whirled around but saw nothing. And his hearing had become as trash as his sense of smell. He couldn't feel emotions either. His gift had become quite unreliable. It came and went as it pleased.
Turning back around he couldn't help but flinch.
Nomad.
His legs reacted before his mind did and he broke into a run which he knew would help nothing at all considering his current speed. He was dead.
He hoped that this nomad was the kind who liked the excitement of a chase. It would give him time to... something.
But his luck wasn't that good. Had never been. Much less lately.
He felt a force collide with him from behind that rattled his entire skeleton. He crashed on the ground and fingers grabbed his hair, yanking his head back, exposing his neck. Why the hell would the nomad go after his neck?
His throat closed but the bite never came.
Something landed infront of him and he was rather surprised when a head was what landed right infront of him. The weight on his back disappeared.
And as he turned around he was met with an odd looking woman standing right there. She was covering herself with hiking gear so all he could see were her blue eyes, but even without his gift he was able to see the shock in her gaze, surprise, denial? She looked like she wanted to cry.
Or like she had seen a ghost.
Cold hands touched his face as she came to kneel infront of him in a blink.
-You alright? He didn't bite you did he?- She asked worriedly, her voice shaking ever so slightly. Her eyes lingering on the small cut adorning his cheek.
She still looked like she had seen a ghost.
Why?
And then, as if things couldn't get weirder, the woman hugged him.
The woman.
Hugged him.
The hell was she hugging him for?
The sound of growling caught his attention at the same time a familiar silver wolf emerged among the trees with another handful of brown wolves behind. The woman was quick to stand up.
Jasper had expected her to make a run for it.
She didn't.
She stood right infront of him and growled back at Leah. Her hands at her sides as she shielded him.
That seemed to catch Leah as off guard as it did with Jasper because the wolf staggered, her expression growing as confused as a wolf's could get, she glanced at Jasper with a questioning look.
Jasper shrugged.
Seth came up behind him, taking advantage of the woman's distraction to bite on the hood of his shirt and pull at him.
The woman whirled around and as she moved Jasper managed to trip her.
-Don't touch him.- He never expected that he would pull his South's voice to protect a mutt.
But Seth was no common mutt.
He liked him and he wasn't about to let the boy come to harm.
The woman stared at him in surprise and he stared back.
Seth released him and Jasper stood up. The wolves came to stand before him. Growling at the strange woman.
-Wait.- The woman called before reaching for the hood of her jacket. And the second she pulled it back the second the wolves' growling halted and Jasper froze.
White hair.
White hair.
-I came for him.