Thanks Guys! As a special treat I am giving you this chapter before I go away tomorrow :D I wont upload another chapter until I reach 100 reviews. You guys kept my smiling all day, I love you ALL. And yes I have been informed of my major failure, Charlie was not 12 when he had Bella, so he was born in 1972 not 1979 haha. Enjoy!

Oh God damn, Ive like completely forgotten disclaimers, I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT, or Collide by Howie Day, or anything else really. I do however own the song Jasper sung to Bella in chapter 8 or whatever is was. :D

Chapter 10

Life has never been so interesting.

The dawn is breaking
A light shining through
You're barely waking
And I'm tangled up in you

Bella POV

I gave Jasper a raised eyebrow and he quickly turned his gaze to the road again. We were exiting Forks and heading north towards Alaska, I had no idea whereabouts but I gathered maybe far from a town. I sighed and looked out the window through the raindrops and watched as we flew by dark moist trees. "Crappy weather isnt it?" Jasper said trying to make conversation. "Your asking me about the weather?" I asked.
Jasper gave a small smile and kept looking forward. "I miss the sun, the warmth on my skin. Not that I will ever feel it now," I said softly. Jasper nodded, "I miss the sun too, I was from Texas ya know?" he said keeping his eyes forward, not that he needed too. "Yeah, I figured. You know the accent," I said nodding. Jasper gave a hearty chuckle and tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel to an imaginary beat. "So, do you enjoy your strange new power?" Jasper said suddenly. Oh no, I didnt want to take about this yet, I was no where near ready. "Umm, I dont know. But about that Jasper I am sorry. You were just the only person there," I said nervously.

"Bella, you dont need ta explain. What you've done doesnt even compare ta what I've done with it, just prepare for payback sometime," he said with a mischievous grin. That got me wondering, I knew basically everyones' story except Jaspers'. I was always told that everyone has to tell their own story, maybe this was the time to find out Jaspers'. "Hey Jasper?" I asked nervously. "Yes?" he replied distractedly. "Whats your story?" I said quietly. I saw his body tense and a pained look flashed across his face. "You dont know?" Jasper mumbled. I shook my head. "I guess I should tell you, but be warned it isnt like everyone elses', I had a different... upbringing to the rest of the Cullens'," he warned. I just nodded and waited for him to speak at his own pace. "Well, as you know I was born in Texas and when I was 18 I enlisted into the army, I was underage so I posed older. I soared through the ranks and became a Major, I was idolised but then things started to slip from there," Jasper spoke with remorse. I listened with intent to his every word throughout his story.

I was in awe, it was amazing what feats Jasper had accomplished. I never knew that Jasper had to deal with such a horrible experience, I guess thats what his "experience" was that Esme spoke of while I was burning. He was quiet for a minute and looked at me, "why arent you repulsed? Disgusted? Ashamed? Even scared, your not feeling anything," he said with surprise. What the fuck? What did that mean, why would I feel ashamed? All I felt was concern and proud. "Look deeper, Jasper," I said. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and concentrated on nothing but my emotions, "are you proud of me? Proud of what Ive done?" he said disbelievingly. "No, Im proud of who you are. You have overcome this massive battle and you have come out the stronger man. You should be proud of yourself and everything you have achieved, dont doubt it for a minute. Because if you doubt it, you are doubting everything you have became today," I said without looking away from his face. He slowly turned to face me, I was shocked that I saw him smiling.

"Thank you Bella, no one has ever said anything that nice to me before not even he- Alice," he said with a struggle. I put my arm on his shoulder, "are you okay Jasper, like really are you really okay?" I said gazing into his toffee coloured eyes. He gave me a weak smile, "gettin' better. You?" he said softly. "Its' like a big gapping hole has been punched through my chest. Then someone replaced it with darkness, but now theres a match slowly turning it back to light," I said really the only way to describe it. "Bella, you shouldnt hide what your feeling just to make everyone feel better. Its not healthy. You tell us your getting better, but if your not dont say it," he said in all seriousness. "I cant promise anything Jasper, but I am trying I really am," I said returning to the window. The air had definitely became less awkward but it was slightly tense.

I was about to ask Jasper something when I felt my phone buzz, a message from Rose,
"We miss you both already, have a safe trip! - Cullens, xo"
I showed the message to Jasper and saw him smile. I guess we were both thinking that if it was just us, without our partners, they wouldnt really notice us. We both had been sort of a package deal, get one powerful vampire and get one emotionally down vampire free. "Jasper, what are the Denalis' like?" I asked after a few minutes of silence. "Well, theyre vegetarians too. Theres' Eleazar, he's the Carlise of their family. Then theres his mate Carmen, her daughters Irina, shes a bit of a sour girl that one. Theres Kate, she has this power she can like send electric currents out through her skin pretty powerful too, can put down a vampire. I reckon you would like her, reminds me of Emmett. Then theres Tanya,'' he paused. I heard of her before, "in my opinion, succubus like," he said with a wicked grin. I gave a small smile and started playing around with my phone. "Do you reckon they will like me?" I whispered. "Of course they will Bella, why wouldnt they like you? God, your a bit silly sometimes," he said while shaking his head.

We drove in silence for another half an hour and had already crossed the boarder. We hadnt passed any signs of late but the road had gotten rougher so maybe we were close. The scenery was no longer green and lush but white with snow. "How far away are we?" I asked. Jasper thought for a minute and checked the clock on the dashboard. "Give or take 45 miutes, the house in Alaska is far out in the woods. We dont usually go to school or anything here we just enjoy ourselves," he said with a small smile on his lips. That made me realise that I hadnt graduated, I groaned. "Whats wrong Bella?" Jasper asked concerned. "I havent graduated at all, I'm definately going to have to do it again." I said with a defeated tone. Jasper chuckled and turned off the radio and plugged in his iPod. Turns out that Jasper and I had similar tastes in music, no classical thank God. "We're just going to the house first right? Then to the Denalis?" I asked. Jasper nodded and started to pull onto, if possible, an even more dirt road. "Not long now," Jasper said distracted.

"Theres' plenty of spare rooms, as Im sure Esme already told you. There should be around four that are avaliable excluding my old room and his and Im pretty sure theres one you would like. You can have first choice of course, ladies first," Jasper said with a smile. "Thanks Jasper, but I honestly wouldnt care if I lived in a cardboard box," I said. And I really didnt, as long as I was with the Cullens' I was happy. But it still got me wondering what the rooms would be like, when I was a child I always wanted a room in the attic with a slanted roof. If this house had an attic I would definitely be asking Esme if I could have it. But that got me wondering where I would put my new bookcase, I decided to give up on the matter and just decided when the time came. We talked about small things like what our childhood were like, what our interests were, things like that. It was very easy to talk to Jasper, conversation flowed freely.

Again time had slipped by and we were there. The house in Forks was mansion like, white marble looking with a million stories and wide windows. But this house looked like it had been picked from an old story book and placed in the middle of a forest. It was old and Victorian, it had a light creamy yellow paint on the slacks with orangey brown on the frames, it was two storeys and bless my lucky stars, it had an attic. There was a small front porch that continued around the side. It was nowhere near as extravagant and huge as the Forks' house but it was homey. The attic was pointed into a triangle and had a small balcony with two arched window with four pointed star patterned windows. It was so beautiful and I was in love. I hadnt shut my mouth and before I knew it I was out of the car and staring up at it with wide eyes. "Its so beautiful," I exclaimed. "It really is, Esme designed it. It's my favourite out of all." Jasper said suddenly appearing behind me. "Has anyone claimed the attic?" I asked excitedly.

Jasper shook his head, "Theres just a couple boxes in there now but if you want it, its yours." Jasper said with a smile. I gave a small squeal and ran up to the door, "quick Jasper, let me in!" I said while hopping from foot to foot. Jasper laughed and let me in slowly opening the door. If I thought the outside was beautiful the inside was drop dead beautiful. It kept with the Victorian theme and had hints of modern in it. Entering the main foyer you could see the many rooms it branched off too. There was a modern yet classy living room, with an upright dvd stand and wooden entertainment centre. There was a plasma tv sitting on the stand surrounded by various gaming consoles and games. I walked past the floral couch and entered into what appeared to be a study, there was lots of windows and polished floorboard so I gathered this would have been a kitchen but Esme must have decided against it. I didnt enter any of the other rooms as I assumed them to be bathrooms and walked up the simple staircase. "This floor is only rooms and bathrooms, are you sure you want the attic. Theres plenty of rooms on this floor."
Jasper said suddenly appearing next to me.

"Nah, I want the attic. Childhood dream of mine," I said before walking down the long hallway to the small set of stairs that led to the attic. I stopped just before the door and realised Jasper had gone to his room that he was claiming. I pushed the door opened and walked right in. It was small but spacious, it looked bigger than it actually was due to the large window facing the back yard that looked roughly to be the shape of my bookcase, which pleased me more than it should. It was perfect, it even had a small slant in the roof. There was a couple boxes but I would get rid of them later once I was ready to get a lounge and wardrobes and stuff. I inhaled and took in the dusty smell of the attic, which somehow made it even more perfect. I left the, my, room and went down the look for Jasper. I followed the smell of peppermint and aloe vera to the room closest to mine and knocked on the door. I grasped the antique crystal handle and entered. I looked around, the room was perfect for Jasper, it just sent off a warm feeling.

"Hey Bella, like your room?" he asked stepping away from his window. "I love it, this house is the best!" I said with a warm smile. "Well I guess its time to meet the Denalis, Carlise told them we would be over there some time this afternoon and it is now," he checks his large band leather watch, "2:12pm" Jasper said leaving the room. I followed after slightly nervous, finally we would get to find out what the deal was with this crazy power I some how picked up. We left the house and set off in his truck. "Esme wants you to buy a car, one that you want. She wont force it on you but she just wants to give you some freedom," Jasper said randomly. "I also think she feels guilty for driving your old one off a cliff," Jasper laughed. I couldnt help but smile. We busied ourselves with idle chit chat and suddenly we were pulling up to a simple house that wouldnt stand out if it was in a street. My nerves were going haywire, but I suddenly felt calm. "Thanks Jasper," I said softly. "Anytime darl',"
he said hopping out of the jeep.

I followed him over to the porch and stood next to the door while Jasper rung to the doorbell, which seemed kind of pointless on a vampires house as everyone could hear a visitor anyway. The door opened and a man with jet black hair and slightly olive skin stepped out shaking Jaspers' hand, "Hello son, how are you? Its been awhile," he spoke with a slight Spanish accent. "Too long, Eleazar. I am fine how are you and your family?" Jasper said politely. "They are all well, saddened to hear of Edward and Alices' departure," Eleazar said with a saddened tone. Both Jasper and I flinched at the sound of their names. "Sorry, I didnt mean any offence. I am Eleazar and you must be the beautiful Bella," Eleazar said embracing me in a hug. "Its nice to meet you Eleazar, and dont worry about offending me I'm a guest in your home," I said politely leaving the hug. "Come on in, take a seat. Carmen and the girls are out shopping, again. You know how they get," Eleazar said with a chuckle. I felt that Jasper was reminded of Alice so I sent him a wave of reassurance.

"Thanks," he said quietly with a smile. "Oh is this the power Carlise speaks of? Well no, theres no problem at all you dont have the same power at all, you merely just copied it," Eleazar said with a grin. Both mine and Jaspers jaws hit the floor. I copied his power? How is that even possible. "Excuse me for being rude, but what?" I said. Eleazar gave a throaty laugh and brushed a strand of his dark hair away from his face. "I see you are confused young one, let me think of a way to describe it. Hmm," Eleazar said putting a hand on his chin. "Okay. There are some powers which are offensive which would be powers like Janes' from the Volturri who attacks her opponents then there are defensive powers like you. Kind of. See you have a natural born shield, which I am guessing you didnt know. At times you can let your shield drop, which can leave you vulnerable but when you drop it you can absorb powers like a sponge. So you are defensive but depending on the powers you absorb you could be offensive," Eleazar explained with a satisfied smile.

What do I say to that? I mean wow, thats amazing but really dangerous. That much power, wow. Then I remembered something, "is there anyway I could manipulate them? Because I can create emotions as my own and pretend to have them. Jasper can't do that," I said. Wow, that sounded right in my head but now I just felt stupid. "I dont see why not, its a possibility. You would just have to wait and see once you get more powers, which reminds me Kate should be home soon," he said with a smile. You could tell he loved his family, just like Carlise and Esme did. "Jasper are you okay? You havent said anything," I said shaking him a little. "Oh yeah, just thinking. Thats an amazing power. Many would kill for something like that," Jasper said giving Eleazar a knowing look and Eleazar gave a small nod. What was that about? I decided to dissmiss it and ask Jasper later. "How do you suppose I put my shield down, I mean I didnt do it knowillingly," I said to break the silent conversation that Eleazar and Jasper were having.

"Well, whats your relationship like with Jasper? Do you trust him?" Eleazar asked. "With my life," I said without thinking, where did that come from? "Well, maybe when you get close to someone your shield goes down, or that you feel you can trust them. But I would be certain theres a way you could turn it off and on, you could probably do that with the powers. Which your probably doing unknowingly again. I'm guessing your not doing a constant read on everyones emotions like Jasper does?" Eleazar said, this stuff really did come to him. "Yeah, I never realised that before. Thats a good point," I said quietly feeling very stupid. "Maybe when Kate gets back she could teach you how to drop it on will, she had to do a similar thing when she discovered her power," Eleazar added. I nodded. Just as he said that four gorgeous girls walked in, two with straight cornsilk blonde hair, one slightly strawberry blonde and the other two with slightly curly jet black and olive skin like Eleazar. "This is my family, Carmen, Kate, Irina and Tanya," Eleazar said pointing them out individually.

"And this is Jasper and Bella, Carlises family," Eleazar said with a smile. The girls came over and gave us both hugs and nice to see you again to Jasper and nice to meet you's to me. Tanyas hug was slightly stiffer than the others which is from when he picked me over her. Like it mattered in the end anyway. "Kate, would you like to go out the back with Isabella and help her explore her gift?" Eleazar said more as a command then a question. "Sure, follow me Bella," she said walking though the house. I got up and waved to everyone and followed Kate. She went over to a snow coated willow tree and sat beneath it Indian style. I joined her and she asked what my power was, once I told her all she could do was stare at me like a fish. "Thats amazing," she said awed. I laughed, "I guess it is." I played with a blade of grass and twirled it around my finger. "Well I guess, the first thing to do is to visualise yourself in a bubble, that would be what I would do," she said. I laughed and imagined myself in a huge clear bubble.

"Then imagine the bubble fading away," she said in a dream like voice. We continued like this for an hour but got no where. "Maybe we are doing this wrong, imagine yourself standing behind a brick wall with me on the other side," I did so obediently. "Then imagine yourself punching it down," Kate said softly. I closed my eyes and imagined myself punching a wall, when my fist connected with the bricks I felt a small shiver in my head. "Oh my God, I felt something. I think we did it!" I exclaimed. "Really?" Kate said surprised. "Keep going," she urged. I crushed my eyes together and saw myself punching and kicking a wall down, with each hit another tremor shot through me. Finally the wall was gone and everything felt, clearer somehow. I felt like I could do anything and nothing would matter. "Its gone," I whispered. "Quick, now look at me and pretend to take my soul. Pretend like your taking something from me," she whispered back. I saw Kate standing on the other side of the broken bricks and looked into her eyes, the windows of the soul.

I looked deep into the swirling pools of butterscotch and imagined myself taking the spark that was there, taking it for myself. "Hold it close to your heart, and imagine building a wall back to block everything back out," Kate spoke quietly. I did so and opened my eyes. "Well, what now? How do I zzzst!" I said making a zapping noise. Kate chuckled and shook her head. "Press your palm onto my hand," she said holding out her hand. I placed my pale white hand against her pale olive one and waited. "Now, send out sparks through your blood, through your veins and onto your skin," she said mesmerising. I felt a tingle in my blood and tried to send it to Kate. "Wow, I felt a small burn. Your doing amazing. You learn so quick! A burn like that took me years, not minutes. A little annoying actually," she said with a smirk. I gave a smile back, I was beginning to like Kate alot. "Try again but try harder with more power," she urged. I tried to imagine my blood boiling and sent the heat to Kate just like before.

"Ow!" Kate exclaimed jumping back a little. "That hurt," she mused. "I guess I just got a taste of my own medicine," she laughed. I laughed with her and stood up too. "You should keep practicing on that, but lets go inside to the others now," she said tilting her head at me. "You know, even with bright red eyes. Your still incredibly beautiful, despite vampire looks. You would have been a gorgeous human," she said with a warm smile. "Thanks," I said genuinely and started walking to her house. We went into the house through the back door and I saw Jasper, Irina and Tanya sitting around a table talking. "How did it go?" Jasper asked as I got closer. I placed a hand on Jaspers shoulder and sent him a small zap. "Shit! What did ya do that-" he said jumping away. I gave an evil smirk and watched as he realised what I did. "Wow, that was quick," he gasped. "That really is amazing, what an unique gift. Well not unique really but you get my drift," he said smiling.

We fell silent and I heard Carmen and Eleazar talking upstairs, "She's beyond powerful, she may even be dangerous. Once the Volturri hear about her they wont stop until they have her, with her power they wont need anyone else!" Eleazar whispered worryingly. They suddenly fell silent and came down stairs. "Did it work?" Eleazar asked me. "Yep," I said with a small smile. "Thats' great!" Eleazar said with a little too much enthusiasm and he realised that too. "Well, Bella and I should get home and start unpacking, but we would love to come back soon to hang out. Just give us a text or call when you would like to hang out sometime," Jasper said to break the tension. I exchanged numbers with Kate before hugging everyone and going. We hopped into the jeep and took off home. What Eleazar had worried me. Could I possibly be dangerous? Probably. I said it myself, it was alot of power. But what was the Volturri, I really would have to ask about that, were nearly home when the silence was broken.

"Jasper, whats the Volturri?"

Reviewing makes me super happy on my holidays and encourages me to write heaps and heaps when I get home! Oh, I know I said she wasnt a shield, but this isnt exactly a shield, its like i dont know a barrier? And alot of people are saying kill Edward and Alice but some say dont I think I will put up a poll once I figure out how. OH what does AU mean in descriptions?

Remember, reviews prevent Jasper from becoming gay (:

-Echo, xo.