Youth Deliverance
Jasper Whitlock
All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved. – Art of War, Sun Tzu
So many complicated mistakes, too many false starts, and so many wrong reactions had happened in the last five days. How could I have let this situation come to this point, how could I have lost this much ground? I should have trusted my instincts, what had possessed me to not follow my instincts?
"Jazz this isn't your fault." Edward groaned next to me. I snapped out of my self-criticism and shook my head slightly to my younger brother. Edward and Bella sat on the ground, crouched over the map of the Amazon Basin that I had brought with me. At least I hadn't lost all of my abilities because at least I had gathered everything we might need for our search party. Emmett sat on the bed channel surfing. Leave it to Emmett to be bored with the preparations if they didn't involve some kind of physical training. Renesmee had taken off with Jacob about five days ago and we had just arrived in Colombia at dusk this morning. Being unable to travel in the bright tropical sun that dwelled in the countries of the equator, we'd been forced indoors. Another miscalculation on my part, had we taken a little bit of an earlier flight it would arrived early enough that we would be able to get to the jungle's edge. Here we would have to waste another day, not traveling in the rainforest I was sure that my niece had long since left.
Why hadn't I stopped her from leaving that afternoon? I had felt the rebellion in her, the worry in Jake and I had known something was going to happen. I noticed Edward started to pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance. I could feel the raising irritation in him towards me, but I couldn't help it. If I had stopped her that moment, then maybe she wouldn't have been able to get away from us. If I had spoken my worry about the guilt that radiated from Jacob that evening maybe Emmett would have stopped them. I would have felt better if apart from that initial moment that caused our current events into existence I had made no mistakes. But I had. We didn't notice that she didn't come home that evening into well past midnight, only then calling dead phones, and discovering that Seth and Leah hadn't seen Jacob all day.
"Jasper." Edward groaned. I ignored him, and the now curious emotion coming from Bella. Emmett was the only one ignoring me still. Going back to my collapses of my analytical ability in the current situation, if at that moment when we couldn't find them I had realized they had left Hanover this might have been prevented. But we spent the first day exhausting all options available to Jake and Nessie within the state borders of New Jersey. Also calling them frantically though there was never an answer, I am sure we all left voicemails. At the end of that first day I was enlightened for a second and had called Forks, entertaining the idea that they might have traveled across the states.
"JASPER!" Edward slammed into me. I had been too busy to notice he had even moved and fell off my chair onto the floor with a loud thud.
"Edward?" Bella questioned.
"Just let him be." Emmett growled. "It's all his fault. Jasper has been beaten by a little girl and a dog."
I narrowed my eyes at Emmett not moving from my spot on the ground, while Bella innocently slapped his knee.
"Em, you shouldn't say that. Jasper knows it's not his fault." Bella was filled with worry over me, and annoyance at Emmett. Edward had gone back to his spot next to Bella, trying to concentrate on the map once again. I don't know why he was wasting his effort as a map meant little in terrain like the rainforest.
"It might." Edward gritted his teeth without looking at me. I stayed on the ground it wasn't any different than sitting. As I starred at the ceiling it was impossible not think of my faults with the mind of an army man it was what I was trained to do. I thought strategy and though dwelling on mistakes might bother you Edward, it is something I have to do. This might happen again, your daughter is not one for hiding in the shadows and not causing waves.
Edward chuckled at my thoughts and I sighed, sometimes I wish he really could turn it off.
"I wish I could too." Edward mumbled. Emmett groaned his impatience at not being able to read minds never dwindling, forever the envious one. Emmett was much like a two year old who didn't get the cool toy that the other kid had and forever held a grudge. I saw Edward grin but he was trying to keep his responses to a minimum to not aggravate Emmett anymore. I looked at my watch, four more hours until sunset according to the research I had done on sunsets this week in any of the cities of South America we might be caught in. My thoughts wandered again to that second day, spent on the phone with Edward trying to decipher where she might have gone trying to discover cause and motivate. I had missed the key motivation, I had forgotten those two days about her thirst and her newborn tendencies that had begun to shine. I hadn't thought about that as a motivation dismissing it as a condition she was experiencing not the emotion that was controlling her. A poor mistake by my part.
"We didn't know if she would ever be like a newborn." Edward sighed. He was ruffled by my thoughts and his vexing mood with the nervous habit of pinching his nose bridge had me thinking he was thinking about his mistakes of the last four days too. Why couldn't I? He rolled his eyes as he slide his arm around Bella who was hopeful as she dialed Nessie's number into her phone for the tenth time today in hopes that it was on this time. At dawn on that third day is when Edward had thought to check his credit card statement, where of course the child had charged her plane ticket. An amateur mistake that I should have thought she would make, stupidity had overcome me those three days. That's how we had discovered her whereabouts, but by that point we had to book a flight that would have us landing here at the equator when the sun had set. Edward and Bella taking a flight from Esme's island to meet with Emmett and myself. Our weakness being our inability to travel as easily as her in daylight where it was populated lead us to being in this hotel room, how much had I underestimated Nessie.
"What do you think she is doing?" Bella's voice cracked. Emmett and Edward looked questioning towards me, I had my theories that I had yet to share. I sat up to look at my family, sighing deeply. She had to be crazy with thirst by this point and I had started to believe on the plane, away from Edward that she might have sought out the Amazon vampires to teach her.
"Teach her what?" Edward solicited an answer from me. Teach her to be a vampire Ed, what do you think? Edward's eyes got big and Emmett groaned his attitude begrudging towards us both. Bella was frantic, feeling useless and absurdly left out.
"I believe Nessie might have been seeking to be taught the ways of vampires." I sighed.
"We're vampires." Bella responded immediately. She seemed calmer for a fraction of a second until the meaning of the thought sunk in and then panic.
"Edward?"
"She wants to feed on humans?" Emmett's confusion was overpowering the other emotions in the room. He didn't understand why Nessie would seek to defy everything our family had taught her.
"Yes. I think she does." I replied. We sat there debating our own thoughts for sometime, I dealt with working out my theories and concentrating on ignoring the raging emotions around me. It's amazing how the emotional climate of my family could vary so much, so quickly it was so unlike the vampires I had lived with for my first century of life. Emotions of fear, worry, care, optimism, contempt, and so much more from all three of my siblings, it was enough to drive a person mad. No for the first century I had known lust, hunger, desire, survival, passion, anger but little else from newborns and troops of vampires that lived only for instant gratification.
"What happens if she does…" Bella couldn't even bring herself to finish the question, the despair and disappointment in her was hard to handle. I was debating influencing her to be more hopeful but I hated changing people's true feelings. Particularly in a situation like this where the despair would affect results.
"Remember Bella once I told you once that a vampire taste human blood, its like frenzy." Edward carefully pulled Bella into his side, shielding her and protecting her. I smiled a bit, noting that since Edward had found Bella we had related on a whole new level. His desire to protect her stemming from the first few years of having to protect her fragile human body had intensified over the years and reminded me of my reactions to Alice. The two of them were much less physical about their relationship than Rosalie and Emmett tended to be, it was actually a bit intriguing to watch Bella still react to Edward as if he could drink her blood. I had studied them on occasion and decided it must have something to do with old habit and maybe just how their relationship had been established.
"What does the frenzy mean for her?" Emmett directed his question towards me again.
"I am not sure. Neither was Carlisle when we spoke of it." I chose my words carefully, not thinking anything about it. A practice I had picked up from Alice when she was trying to keep thoughts from Edward. Our youngest brother had a habitual ability to over react to certain thoughts, or become impulsively controlled by his emotions. It was one of his only weaknesses, really in terms of fighting a battle; emotions were poor partners in strategy and tactics.
"Why so vague in your thoughts Jasper?" Edward was suspicious of me, when he heard no elaboration.
"Uncertainty little brother, it is something that happens to me occasionally." I was going to explain what I thought it might mean when I had a new thought, direction. I stopped speaking and pulled out my phone, dialing without speaking and pressing it up to my ear.
"He's calling Seth." Edward provided to Emmett and Bella in the room. I nodded, the idea had come suddenly but it might be useful. If Nessie had been overtaken with her thirst, if she was on her destructive instant gratification path of a newborn Jacob might have reacted by staying in his wolf form.
"Jasper?" Seth sounded worried and exhausted. His voice was the muffled whisper of a sleeping person, but I had no time to dwell on what he might be doing.
"Seth, have you communicated with Jacob?" I asked.
"Not since yesterday. But he had just been hunting. That's when I called Alice to tell her that they were in the Amazon Basin, but she told you that already I thought. She seems worried man, is everything ok?" Seth yawned.
"I need you to see if you can contact him now, can you do that? Call me back as soon as you are back in human form?" I begged him, ignoring the question about our situation.
"Yeah of course, I don't think he would be hunting so soon again." Seth replied.
"I don't think he would be hunting, he might have had to shape shift. If it's true, he might explain. Remember call me back." I instructed, sometimes Seth had the problems of youth by being distracted and incapable of following directions. I hung up the phone, fighting the urge to call Alice and check on her. There was no need she was safe and fine at the house with Esme, Rosalie and Carlisle. If she saw something she would call, though she worried I would not be able to protect my thoughts from Edward. She hated to worry him, cause him any discourse with her visions always distraught by how inaccurate they could be when concerning Nessie. My Alice was use to being right, certain of what she saw and it was hard with the holes that Nessie had created in her world.
"Why would Jake be in wolf form if Nessie fed?" Emmett demanded.
"Well, Renesmee is a bit of a spoiled child…" I started and Bella wanted to protest but found herself unable to because of the truth in the statement. "She is use to a lifestyle of instant gratification. Little is denied to her, and few constrictions exist for her. She understands our lifestyle, and lives by the rules we have imposed for her health and growth but if she has succumb to the frenzy. If this is her moment of vampire development and this is her newborn spout, then this might become the trait that is most dominant. A newborn is driven only for their thirst for blood, their hunger being all that controls them and the only thing to curb them is fear. Nessie might lose her sense of self in the frenzy and become impossibly hard to please needing to constantly feed. She will become stronger and exist in anger. If she does take that first leap and feed, Jake will not be able to be near her. She won't remember she loves him, he will not register as food but possibly as an enemy. Moreover, Jacob loves Nessie but his instincts are to be a wolf around true vampires. He will not stand by in human form as his girlfriend feeds on human beings in front of him. I am not sure if he would try to stop her, she could kill him and Jacob knows that. But I feel that Jacob might not attack her in fear of hurting her, more than anything happening to her." Bella was overwhelming with her fear, anxiety and general panic and I couldn't take it so I sent a wave of calm into the room.
"Bella, it's natural. Nothing will happen to her. Jacob won't allow it to and this is nothing to worry about." I stated simply.
"We just want to return her home, this might be her choice Bella." Edward sighed into her hair.
"No. It can't be." Bella shook her head.
"It's not the time to worry about this. We should get her back home, where we can protect her properly even if it is her choice. We don't want her to get herself into trouble with our Italian friends. All they need is a reason." I commented. My phone barely rang when I answered.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Jake is in his wolf form, said to tell you that she has fed. A few times." Seth's voice was cold, disbelieving. He was disappointed and confused. Seth had known other vampires, he knew they drank blood and he wasn't a fan of the others but our family he loved. I don't believe it had ever crossed Seth's mind that we were like other vampires, that we could commit the crimes his ancestors had taught him to hate.
"Is Jake well?" I asked.
"He seems distracted, he didn't say he was hurt. Though I don't know if he would tell me." Seth responded. Before I could ask another question, "He said she seemed control by only wanting to feed. He worries about her control during the day, he suspects it's only the Amazons that are keeping her back when the sun is out. But she might break free of them soon. Jake thinks you should hurry. He wanted me to tell you it took them three days in the first jungle before the Basin." Seth's word were lifeless, I could sense his thoughts distant. In the corner of my eye I watched as Edward mumbled the news to Bella and Emmett. Emmett's jaw set carefully, he was determined but there was no regret or fear in his eyes. Edward was tormented, debating the state of his only daughter's soul. Bella was beside herself in emotion, and I sent her another calming wave to help her be able to think straight.
"Thanks Seth. Let me know if anything else?" I was instructing more than asking.
"Of course man." Seth replied in a yawn again. "Jake wanted me to check in every few hours."
"Yes." I hung up the phone without the courtesy of farewells. I starred at the room, three pairs of determined eyes. It was like looking at a newly formed army after a cause was announced, we would find Renesmee Cullen there was no doubt in my mind. The problem would be what would we do with her once we found her. But that was a problem to analyze during the battle, not now, now we had to decide our path.
"Finding my daughter is not a battle Jazz." Edward commented. I didn't really look at him though, as I was noticing the anticipation coming from Emmett. He stood near the window, peaking out from the curtain willing the sun to go down.
"You think she is a battle?" Bella was teetering between anger and distaste. I rolled my eyes before starring at her. She wasn't looking at me instead her eyes were fixated on the crescent scar that still existed on her arm. The scar had remained surprisingly after her transformation and often times it seemed she felt a connection to me because of our shared scars. But the anger and distaste were not directed at me, I was patient and paid attention to her moods more closely now. Her fingers played along the edges of her scar and as she moved it her emotions got stronger, that scar was her first real battle. I felt it now, she was reminiscent the scar a battle she felt she was a cause of still to this day. Her emotions flew into fright when she remembered the battle with the newborns and Victoria.
"Bella?" I questioned her feelings. Years of her being part of the family had taught her that she could hide from Edward, but Alice and I were not so easy deterred from her shield.
"But she isn't venomous." She sighed. Edward had moved away from the two of us and towards Emmett, my two brothers were prone to being impatient when situations were out of their control.
"That doesn't mean she can't feed on humans, you've always known that." I responded to her mood more than her words. The emotion in the air was thick with Bella, Edward and Emmett were much more concentrated on the whereabouts of the sun.
"Might she really be that out of control?" Bella was hopeful as she looked at me, searching for answers. I sighed. So emotional, I wasn't sure what would happen if we found her and we needed to truly hurt the child. Would Bella be able to do it? It might be better if we kept Bella at a distance when we found her, maybe with Jacob. My eyes wandered to make contact with Edward. He stiffly nodded at me but didn't turn or say anything.
"She might be." I responded finally to Bella. I didn't want to dwell with Bella anymore because the dwelling wasn't going to help us any. I jumped to my feet and looked out the window noticing the sun was beginning to go down.
"We should leave now, we won't be noticed in the dusk." Edward had turned to face me, Emmett responsively turning as well to leave. Bella sat on the ground still engulfed in her thoughts on morality and battles. You help her Edward. I thought to him and then started speaking out loud again.
"Three days, that is twice what it should take us to the Amazon Basin. We can travel day and night in the jungle. We won't be noticed, very few people spend time in the jungle and our senses will make sure we are not seen. We have to be discreet." I glared at Emmett, he laughed at me.
"I might be useful, thinking like a newborn and all…"Emmett enjoyed taunting everyone far too much.
"It might be when we get to the newborn. As for when we're traveling in the jungle, we want to make sure we don't scare any locals into a hunt for mythical creatures. You know how they can be a bit more superstitious down here than back home." I stared at Emmett, who nodded conceding.
"Are you going to leave yet?" Emmett demanded, his eye darting towards the window again. I could tell the light the room was dwindling and knew it was the perfect time to leave.
"We'll run straight to the edge of the jungle, make sure we know what direction we're heading and then run straight until we reach the basin." I directed our little band.
"Don't get distracted Emmett." Edward sighed. I have no idea what Emmett might be thinking, but he was a bit overly excited. I shook my head and moved towards the door as I gave the rest of the instructions.
"Edward and I will lead? Emmett and Bella make sure you keep up. Follow their scents. They might still be lingering in the jungle. I don't know how much we will be able to track them still, but if not we're heading due southeast." We walked normally, or at human speed, out of the hotel and out of the city. Once we reached the cities edge, we took off at a speed unseen by human eyes.
The jungles of South America are an unfamiliar place, even though I had run through them before. As my second time to them in my 175 years of life, I knew that there was no place like it. I had fought in the wet wilderness of Forks in the Olympic Peninsula; I had waged war in the southern deserts of Texas and Northern regions of Mexico but nothing like this. As I ran, my eyes observed all that I could take in from the beauty of the rainforest. There was water everywhere, dewdrops trickling down every tree trunk, every leave, down all the moss-covered stones. It was amazing how many shades of green existed in this one place, and then the other vibrate colors that stood out against the vivid greens. Aside from the beauty, everything was alive around us and I was on high alert. Heartbeats of predators, rustling of bugs, swaying of flowers and the constant fluttering of birds wings. I made a mental note to possibly research the rainforest when we arrived back in Hanover. I was currently in a sociology class about the development of a war culture in society and as I ran in the rainforest I realized the truth of that statement. Here in this place where even flowers had developed into predators to survive, as I saw a planet digest a bug. At least that's what I believe to have happened, no time to dwell but it was an interesting concept and might make a great paper comparing people in violent areas to the development of the rainforest.
"Think of the hunt!" Emmett shouted at us, Edward was farther ahead than I was but I heard him laugh back. No one stopped the running. We were determined and no matter how many objects could distract us we could not be stopped. Maybe one day, Emmett and Edward and I could come back here spend a few days hunting. Our running shifted directions only occasionally as Edward caught the scent of Nessie or Jacob. It took us only hours to reach the end of that first jungle. I had underestimated our speed.
"Jasper, could you for a second not blame yourself for something." Edward groaned. "It's exasperating." We stopped to decide our new direction.
"You would think you would be use to that feeling Ed, it's not like you don't do the same thing." Emmett slammed his hand onto Edward's back. Edward stumbled a bit and glared at Emmett, but Bella laughed.
"It's true, you two are quite similar on that point." Bella smiled at me, and I couldn't help but smile back. Bella's moods were always so contagious.
"Where do you think?" I asked Edward. We need to get out of here soon by the looks of the light was creeping into the night air.
"Should we call Seth before we head back in?" Bella squeaked. Emmett was bouncing around on the balls of his feet, waiting for more running.
"Em call Seth, see if he knows anything else?" I asked. Emmett smiled and pulled out his phone, thumbing in his phone book for Seth.
"You all need to enjoy this, we're in the rainforest. We'll find the kids." Emmett pushed the phone up to his ear and waited for Seth to answer. I ignored him as I looked at Edward and Bella. Bella was swaying a bit, standing at Edward's right side holding his hand. She was alert, a tense mood but I couldn't focus on her as I looked towards the new larger rainforest.
"We might as well just head in, we might be able to pick up their scent. It was still lingering in those, and they are still in here according to Seth." Edward nodded towards Emmett. He had just hung up the phone and ruffled up my hair.
"We going or what Jasper?" Emmett was a big brute, the oaf tried to be the older brother constantly forgetting that him and I were the same age, physically anyway. In truth I was about 70 years older than Emmett, I would have been an old man when Emmett was born had I still be human.
"He's bigger than you though." Edward laughed at me.
"Boys?" Bella stamped her foot a little, reminding me of Renesmee and making her point.
"Yes, let's go." I stated and we took off at a run plunging into the new web of trees, moss and wilderness. No wonder there was so much warfare in this part of the world, these jungles were perfect for constant attack. It was like there was no time in the rainforest, the sunlight was unreadable and even though I knew it was daylight outside of the trees it didn't seem to affect us. I noticed there was no glittering; the usual glint that shone off our marble skin was not present within the confines of the high branching trees. Emmett and Bella were in awe of our surroundings neither had ever seen this country or its beauty. Edward had run down here before, when he had been hiding from Bella a few years back. I wandered suddenly what had driven him down here of all places.
"I figured I would have to stay indoors all the time." Edward whispered to me, he was running pretty close to me at this point. Yes, indoors to be miserable. I had been down here in search of what might save Nessie before maybe there was some connection with Renesmee and the Southern United States. In a gust of air, I found her scent and from Edward's tension I knew he had too. We ran for a considerable amount of time, around trees, under trees, and in Emmett's case through some trees. Then Bella screeched a high-pitched bell like scream, it still caught me off guard how she didn't sound like her human self. She had been the first human I had ever had a relationship with before becoming a vampire, it was hard to relate her two selves. Edward and I stopped, Emmett slammed into me, the loud crashing noise sending the world around us into frenzy.
"Damn it Emmett." I hissed at him, he lifted me with his bear arms in a single scoop and smiled apologetically at me.
"Bella?" Edward called to her as she had stopped a few paces behind us. She was searching and ready to pounce when she crouched and sprang away from us. Edward reacted first, sprinting after her and Emmett and I followed suit. As we ran I realized the scent, Jacob as a wolf. Of course Bella would recognize him easily, she had spent the most amount of time with Jacob as a wolf. The two were still rather linked as friends, people, family and it was natural for her to find his scent over the three of us. We seemed to be getting closer; the smell of wet dog was prominent in the air. I smiled thinking of how much Rosalie hated that smell, she would whine for days when Jacob came in wet because the smell would linger in the house. Then we all seemed to slow as a group, a familiar heartbeat was near us and Edward was cheerfully pleased to have discovered Jacob.
"Jake?" Bella coaxed, still crouching a few feet in front of us. Absurdly out of place, a brownish red wolf the size of a horse came out from behind a tree trunk that was the size of Emmett's torso.
"Don't scold me about this young man." Edward gritted his teeth. I laughed, we were all much older than Jacob but in terms of physical age Jacob was almost 10 years older than Edward at this point.
"Come on Jake, don't just talk to Edward that's no fun at all." Emmett pleaded. Jacob nodded his wolf head and went back behind his tree. Edward was taking off his shirt and threw it behind the tree. Poor Jacob was embarrassed over his lack of clothes predicament. He came out from behind the tree, his slick black hair pointing in every direction because of the moisture in the air and his dark cheeks slightly blushed. Jacob had torn up Edward's shirt a bit, trying to create some kind of shorts. Jake should never go into fashion is what I decided at that moment.
"Where is she?" I asked getting to the point, also attempting to make Jake forget how awkward he was.
"A bit a ways down that way." He pointed. "She hasn't slept in two days it's strange. What is happening to her?" Jacob was exhausted all his other emotions were overshadowed by his physical tiredness.
"She hasn't slept, but she needs to sleep." Bella looked at Edward and I confused.
"Its true, her body needs sleep." I frowned, Carlisle and I hadn't discussed in detail what might happen to her human half when her vampire half emerged. But she couldn't ignore it. It wasn't possible and just then my phone rang. It was a good thing we spent a fortune on our plans, because our reception even out in the rainforest was pretty amazing.
"Alice?" I answered. "What did you see?"
"She will fall asleep in two hours, and that is when you should grab her. Carlisle seems to think that there might be a possibility that when she awakes she will have remembered herself."
"Do we succeed in taking her asleep?" I asked.
"I have booked your tickets for tomorrow morning. It leaves before the sun comes up, you will be in the air all night. And with six of you, it will be the whole first class section so you can maintain it dark enough to not be noticed." Alice had seen it all. No betting against my girl.
"Until tomorrow then." I closed the phone.
"We will get you clothes before we get on the plane." Edward was laughing at Jacob.
"How many times has she fed?" Bella was clutching Jacob's arm rather strongly. I listened as I scanned the area around us, we would need to move soon so that we could position ourselves correctly to be able to grab Nessie when she fell asleep. Edward would talk to the Amazons, because Bella was still scared of them. Emmett would grab Nessie holding her tight because if she woke she might fight strongly.
"Six times." Jacob responded dully.
"Six?" My head snapped. Six times in less than two days, that was more than enough. That was almost too much, she might be falling asleep because she has overfed and that's natural in humans. As a newborn she would be almost drunk with fullness, unable to see or think straight. But she would be strong and she might not wake herself with that much human blood.
"That's a lot." Edward nodded towards Jacob and myself.
"I think I've had six people my whole life." Emmett commented, counting on his fingers thinking back to his transgressions. I had fed on much more than six, sometimes even within the same time span as Nessie had.
"Well what an accomplishment Emmett!" Bella snapped. Fury was apparent in her as she felt Emmett was attacking her baby. Motherhood was a strange mixture of emotions.
"He didn't mean anything by it Bells." Jacob combed her hair with his hand.
"Chill, Bella." Emmett nodded.
"Was she violent?" I asked. I knew Jacob had watched every kill she had made. He nodded a bit.
"She was cruel, no messing with them or anything. She likes young men, she creeps behind them and just sinks right into them…" He shuddered.
"They are strong, she is attracted to their strength." I responded.
"Did she seem to have remorse?" Edward asked. Jacob coughed and shook his head. Not saying a word but probably remembering the moments for Edward to be able to see for himself.
"We should go." I announced before letting Edward sulk into his thoughts. We prowled along the path that Jacob led us down. This wasn't an attack, I had to keep reminding myself because every instinct I had was against such a visible path. Every instinct I had was telling me that we should be creeping behind trees, that we should be quiet and well trained in the rescue mission. But this wasn't a mission, really anyway, and it wasn't an attack. My military mind was often times hard to turn off. When I heard a soft flutter heartbeat I knew we were near, and I could sense that the Amazons knew we were near. STOP. I said loudly in my mind to Edward. He held Bella and Jacob in place. I grabbed Emmett's arm. We stood there without motion, perfectly still. We can't let them know we are here before she falls asleep, by the sounds of her heart she should be very near shutting down. Edward understood and just held Bella who was frantic with desire to run to her daughter.
I forced an emotional way of peace and distraction to the Amazons, Nessie and Bella. We couldn't be detected before the time was right. Motionless Vampires and Shape shifter stood in the middle of the rainforest, waiting amongst the birds and the trees for one little half-breed girl to fall asleep. I received a text message, but I didn't need to read it to know what it said or who sent it.
Edward you first. I thought. He nodded and looked sternly at Jacob and Bella, funny how the same look for both of them sent them all the information they needed. Stay put until Jasper says so, I could read it myself. He sauntered into the trees and beyond where I knew the Amazons were with the slumbering Nessie.
"Zafrina!" I could hear Edward speaking to them. "Yes you see my daughter took it upon herself to sneak off with Jacob. Yes we found Jacob."
I heard him explain our situation and I nudged Bella, and Jacob.
"You grab Nessie, make sure you have a decent hold on her Emmett." I grumbled to Emmett as we walked into the clearing ahead of us.
"Ah but you will let the little one come back and see us? You will visit us?" Zafrina was stating in her broken English to Edward, smiling towards Bella.
"Once we let her out of the house again, of course we will." Edward laughed.
"You aren't mad, we let her drink?" Senna asked. Edward shook his head.
"No friends. Renesmee has made her own decisions. It is not your responsibility what my daughter did. Please forgive her if she was any trouble at all." Edward stated. I watched Emmett lift Nessie out of a leaf made hammock. The child was beautiful and she gleamed with the excitement of her hunts. Her bronze hair curled around Emmett's arms and the tips of it were drenched in dry blood. The smell of the blood was intoxicating being on her body everywhere. The inexperience of her youth was apparent in her appearance, her body dirty with the blood of each of her kills.
"We must go. We made arrangements to fly home. You understand my family is worried." Edward bowed slightly.
"You say hello to Alice?" Kachiri asked of me.
"But of course ma'am." I nodded. Emmett had Nessie secure, we were off through the rainforest again. Jacob had retransformed into wolf, being able to keep up with us better. Bella, Edward and I flanked Emmett. We let him run in the mist of us, in case trouble came towards us he would be able to have a moment to give Nessie to Jacob before joining us. I didn't suspect we would come face to face with much trouble, but we always had to be prepared.
Our run had less anticipation now but the air was thick with tension. Edward and Bella were disgusted with the state they had found Nessie in, and though neither would admit the smell of the blood was overpowering their senses. We would need to find a river to wash her off in, maybe a brook. I was sure I had heard one near where we were in the first jungle. Jacob was relieved we had found Nessie and we had her back in the safety of our protection even if her own parents might be displeased and possibly want to kill her. He would gladly face Edward and Bella any day compared to the wild Amazon Vampires and the threats of the rainforest. Emmett's emotions were the most surprising, he was relieved like the others but he was angry. It took me a second to realize he was angry with Nessie it was as if the emotion had just appeared. Emmett was disappointed in her but angry that she had taken off, while he and Rosalie were responsible for her. He was angry for how she had made Rose cry and panic. Emmett was experiencing some sort of parental rage while being overprotective over the child. This might be the reason that Vampires don't have children.
Renesmee was going to have a lot of explaining to do, but I feared her own emotions more than the others. She was relentlessly trashing in Emmett's arms and she seemed violent and disoriented in her dreams. I stayed focused on her emotions, more than the others careful of anger because it had become apparent that it was her trigger emotion. We kept at a steady quick pace for most of the day, entering the first forest by nightfall again. The rainforest at night was a dream for a surprise attack, but no one knew we were here. No one could attack us, we would know. I concentrated on so many things, I was grateful for my mind's abilities. I listened for the sounds of water, paid attention to Nessie's moods, and watched carefully for danger.
"We need to make sure to wash her off." I commented to make sure they were all aware of the water noises. No one disagreed while I looked back at my sleeping niece in Emmett's arms again. Her lips were redder than usual, stained with the blood and her bronze hair tainted with dirt and blood held together with the twigs and leaves. Her pale face was streaked with tracks of sweat and of dirt. When I heard water we all stopped.
"I will take her." Bella held out her arms for Nessie from Emmett. Emmett, Edward and myself shook our heads.
"No Emmett will hold her." Edward responded.
"But…" Bella started.
"No, he is stronger and it is safer. Newborns can be dangerous Bella." I was firm in my words and Bella might have looked annoyed with me but she wasn't going to fight. She walked away with Emmett. We stood waiting, no need for all of us to walk to the bubbling brook. At least I thought it might be a brook, it sounded like one.
"I think it is." Edward nodded. Jacob sat in-between the both of us.
"She should be fine." I responded to Jake's concern for Nessie.
"We don't know." Edward responded to some unspoken fear.
"I can handle newborns Jacob. Don't worry, she will grow out of it." I reassured him.
"That is what Jasper was trained to do at one point Jacob." Edward sighed. I looked down at Jake who was starring at my arms. I could feel him trying to see the scars that glinted on my skin.
"They are there, I will show them to you under better light when we get home." I smiled down at him. Home, it still was pleasant thinking about having a home, a family. Even though I had been with my home and family for over fifty years, it still gave me a comfortable tranquil feeling. I had such a wealth of happiness around me constantly with my family, I had found something more to live for than the fight and the bloodlust. Bella came gliding back towards us, loving devotion shinning on her face as Emmett carried a cleaner Nessie back into view. We were about three hours away from the edge of the city, where we would have to try not to attract attention in the city streets at night.
"Do we have time to hunt?" Emmett asked. I suddenly noticed the dryness in my throat. Ah yes we should hunt, before getting on a plane full of people.
"We really should hunt." Edward agreed. I stood calculating for a few seconds.
"Let us run closer to the edge, but we can take turns. Let Emmett go first with Bella, I'll carry Nessie. Edward and I will keep running with Jacob, when you are both done you will find us towards the edge of the jungle. Then we'll trade." I offered the plan up, Edward wasn't sure we should hunt at all. I could feel his objection to leaving Nessie with Emmett and Bella.
"Go on then," I said to Emmett as I took hold of Nessie. I took her in my arms, like a slumbering infant the same way that Emmett had held her. She nestled her head into my chest and curled her knees into my stomach a bit making herself comfortable in the new arms. This is how the child had slept those first few weeks of life when she had no bed but slept in the arms of the family. Emmett and Bella took off, though I could feel the apprehension falling off of Bella as well as she exchange a look with Edward.
"I can wait to feed until we get home." Edward commented to me as we ran at a slower pace.
"I won't." I responded back. I knew Edward would know that I was speaking truth. He would hunt with me, because I needed to and because he knew I felt he should. My family was rather overprotective of my weakness. Edward had been less so since we had all ganged up on him about Bella when they first meet.
"I know my eyes are dark," Edward snapped at Jacob. See you should feed too, I thought to him. He gave me a death stare. I just smiled back. We had been running for almost two days at this point though, and we would need our strength to deal with Nessie if she awoke strong and thirsty still. He nodded in agreement but didn't seem like he enjoyed the idea anymore than he had before. Edward was a bit of a martyr always had been. Emmett came back first and Edward took off without so much as a word, into the jungle. I sighed, he would find something to hunt and be near Bella. Emmett was exhilarated from his hunt, as usual. He picked up Nessie again, and I handed her over grateful that my hands weren't useless. I didn't like being left defenseless. Bella came back in the same instant, her eyes the honey color of the bananas I had noticed a while back.
"Edward is around that way." She pointed, and I nodded and took off. Letting my senses take over, find food. Something that would keep me strong, something that was close. I had closed my eyes, concentrating. Movement around me but no it was just the rustling of leaves. I sensed passion, emotion from Edward not from anything I could drink. He had found a large cat, his favorite, maybe that would put him a better mood. Focus Jasper, I told myself as I took a deep breath reaching into my instincts. To my right there were a few small creatures, nothing that would satisfy my thirst enough even if I did have all of them. Nothing behind me, except for a few plants and insects but nothing I could hunt. Then I felt it, its movements changed the drift of the air every so carefully it would have been hard to notice. Its heavy body slithering made a subtle noise, hard to capture above the chirping birds. Lastly the smell, its miraculous how my sense of smell was another set of eyes for me. I could smell the sweet blood of another predator, the strength in its body and energy of its muscles was luring. I waited though, patient for it to be unprepared for my attack not that I feared it could overpower me. No, hunting was more like an art these days than just a means to satisfaction.
As if my preparation and my attack happened in the same moment, simultaneously with each other, I was feeding on a large snake. My hands grasped around its smooth skin that contracted with fight, my teeth sank into the thickest part of the body. The great predator of the rainforest had no catch against me, as its body didn't even react to coiling around me before I had drained half its blood. I felt my strength return to me, odd how I hadn't noticed I was so drained myself.
"Jasper." My head snapped, snarling someone was trying to take away my prey. When my eyes focused again, I felt the anxious emotion around me and I realized where I was again.
"Done?" Edward's eyes were amused with me. I licked off the last bit of blood from my lips and jumped down from the high branch, the snake followed suit landing with a thud behind me.
"Snakes suit you. Big ones like that anyway." Edward commented to me, a smirk on his face.
"At least I don't like kittens." I taunted as I took off in a sprint. Edward ran after me, soon overtaking me in speed. The rest of our travels were uneventful, except for the moment where Bella and I broke into a shop to find Nessie and Jacob clothing. Bella left money on the counter, I wrote a quick note as she had yet to learn Spanish. We picked up the nearest pieces in their sizes, for quick grabs we put together what Alice might have said splendid outfits.
Bella dressed Nessie in her half conscience state before we entered the airport just in time to catch our flight. It took a bit of convincing, Emmett and I having to sweet talk the air flight attendant that our niece had been so nervous to fly that she had taken too many sleep pills before we left the house. It a marvel what our smiles and some general chivalry can do for a cause, I winked at Jacob while Edward told him maybe he should acquire some of our manners. Our seating was a plan, with Nessie seating on the inside near the window in the middle aisle. Emmett would sit next to her being the one of us with the most strength to ensure she stayed where we put her. Jacob and I sat in front of them, mine being the seat directly in front of her, while Edward sat directly behind her with Bella. I felt her sleep drifting and knew she would wake on the plane it was not likely she would remain asleep for the whole flight or even most of it.
I called Alice to let them know we were leaving on time and everything had gone according to plan. Not that Alice wasn't already informed, but it was always good to double check. Alice informed me that it would be overcast when we arrived in Hanover, and my Audi and Rosalie's mustang were still in the garage so we would be able to drive home. We had succeeded in our mission to retrieve the youngest member of our family, probably from self-destruction but it was only the beginning of the battle. I wondered if Edward realized the problem we were facing with Renesmee, she might very well reject our way of life. There was a possibility she might be able to ignore everything we couldn't. Edward was tormented by the thoughts of his prey. I was plagued by their emotions. Carlisle had his morality his steadfast in the thirst, Esme her compassion for life, Emmett his respect for his family, and Rosalie, well I wasn't sure what kept Rose from feeding on humans. Maybe she didn't want to mess up her appearance.
I heard Edward snicker behind me. Listening to thoughts is eavesdropping. I thought to him, but there was no response. But what would hold Renesmee back, what would make it her choice and not what was forced upon her. That was the key, the key to any army or unit or family. It was about the individual choice that is what made us so much stronger as a coven. We made our choices and the harder choices at that, Robert Frost could have been inspired by Carlisle.
"You seem tense Jasper?" Jacob sighed as he leaned back in his seat, trying to relax while being on alert for Nessie. I laughed slightly. I was the one who felt emotions not the other way around. I nodded.
"Your thinking about what happens when she wakes up?" Jacob nodded at me. Surprising how perceptive Jacob really was, I was beginning to think if he ever could become a vampire he would have a talent much like Edward's. It might be true what Freud said girls do fall for their fathers. I could sense the amusement coming from Edward behind me, though no out loud laughter this time. I nodded again.
"Do you think she will like the taste of blood too much?" Jacob was petrified of the outcome of this outburst. I stared at him intently, his dark features so unlike the rest of us. His signature warm smile creeping onto his face, that smile that I had once underestimated as a sign of his youthful optimism, made me smile back him. Jacob Black was blessed with many talents, one being his carefree ways of life. He loved Renesmee, even if it was the cause of some strange tribe myth that turned out to be true but the emotion existed in his every movement and reaction.
"Love." I whispered, realizing that is what held us all back. Besides our torment being the initial reason for some of our choices, it was love that maintained it. When consumed with bloodlust and self-satisfaction there was no room for love, could Nessie walk away from Jacob. Would he allow it, what would that mean for someone like him that had imprinted on the last creature in the world he thought he would ever love.
"Love?" Jacob's voice was sluggish but still sparked with questions.
"You might be what delivers her from her youth, you might be what makes her choice." I sighed. Jacob nodded.
"She doesn't listen to me." His voice mumbled.
"She might." I shrugged. "It's surprising where love can lead you." I sighed looking back at my niece, who was pretending to be asleep still but I knew she heard my words. She was awake, apologetically sending messages to Emmett in visions that he thought were dreams. Yes victory would come from love, strangely different than many of the other fights I had but befitting to the child of Bella and Edward. It was always about love when it came down to those two. Truly it was like that for all of us.
I had followed Alice blindly, into the world that I held dearly too now. I could only guess that Nessie would make the same choice.