A/N:Sorry this chapter has taken a while in getting to you, but it kind of sets the scene for the big "incident", as I've taken to calling it. So, I wanted to make sure I got it just right before getting to you. As always, a big thanks to Megsly, beta extraordinaire, who makes sure this looks nice and pretty for you and makes sense.
Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize is the property of Stephenie Meyer, not me. But anything original, that's mine. :)
Chapter 7 - A Storm's Brewing...
BPOV
In the days since Alice's vision, things had been going well - for the most part. There were moments where either Jasper or myself would walk in on Alice and Edward talking and they would immediately stop or switch topic. However, these moments were few and far in between, so I chalked it up to merely being Edward's over-protective nature trying to shield me from whatever horrendous thing Alice had seen. Something that they swore we had no need to worry ourselves over.
After my breakdown in the cabin, Alice had followed me outside where she told me that things were going to be fine. She never went in to great detail about her vision, something I figured probably had to do with it's presumable graphic nature. A part of me desperately wanted to know what could possibly be so bad that it put Alice and Edward into full scale panic mode. But another part knew that if I had knowledge of the full vision, I would probably want nothing more than to erase it from my memory. So, I took what Alice gave me and was content with that. Well, kind of.
It was in this frame of mind – wanting to know enough that I could move on, but not wanting to know too much – that I went to Jasper.
As I approached the house, it was oddly quiet; almost as if no one was at home. I knew that Alice and Edward had gone out hunting earlier, no doubt an excuse to go and talk some more. Yesterday, that might have bugged me, but today I was quite glad that they had left, if only for a few hours. The conversation I needed to have with Jasper was not one I wanted Edward or Alice privy to.
As I walked through the living room, I listened carefully for any sign of where Jasper might be. There was nothing. Surely I had not misunderstood Edward when he said Alice was the only one accompanying him? Jasper's scent was all over the room, but was fading. He had been here, but not in a few hours.
"Jasper?" I called out, louder than was necessary.
After a few moments of no answer, I ascended the stairs. As I climbed higher, his scent got stronger. He obviously was somewhere up here, but how the hell was he not hearing me?
"Bella?" Jasper's voice came from my left side quite suddenly. I turned and there he was, almost as if he appeared out of nowhere.
"Seriously? You can't just pop out and scare a girl like that, even if she is a vampire!" I placed my hand over my dead heart for emphasis.
Jasper smirked at me before waving me in to the room he was currently walking back in to.
I barely recognized the room when I walked in.
"Jeez Jasper, what happened in here?" I took a look around the room I knew belonged to Alice and Jasper, but saw nothing of its former incarnation. The room did still retain an upscale look, but the pale lavender walls had been replaced with a sand colored paint. The giant four poster bed remained, but the vibrantly colored sheets and bedspread had been replaced with a less flashy brown striped comforter.
After my eyes took in all the changes, they settled back on Jasper who was sitting near the windows. His long legs draped over the arm of the over-sized recliner he was now occupying. He looked every bit the picture of comfort. Wait... recliner?
Sensing my confusion, Jasper leaned over and patted the arm of the matching recliner across from his.
"Sit down and I'll tell you all about it. Trust me, you'll find this amusing," he said with a laugh in his voice.
Raising an eyebrow, I walked over to the set of chairs and quite unceremoniously dumped myself into the empty one.
"Okay, Jasper. Let's have it. Why does this room look like Alice moved completely out and a guy took over decorating duties?"
"Bella, Bella. You say that like it's a bad thing. I'd like to think that my decorating style isn't that bad."
I perked an eyebrow up, "Your decorating style? Really? Alice just let you redo the entire room? What did you do, manipulate her emotions a bit?" I started laughing until I realized Jasper was not joining in on it. I looked over at he looked, uncomfortable, at best. I leaned over, placing a hand on his knee. "Jasper. What's wrong? Did I say something? I'm sorry if I..."
His hand came to rest on top of mine. "Bella, you didn't say anything wrong. Things have just.... well, let's just say that I've not been able to forgive Alice as easily as you've forgiven Edward. I'm trying, I really am, but she's never done something like this to me before. I've always been the one who has taken care of her after one of her more... graphic visions. To have her run to someone else, it's just affecting me more than it probably should."
"And this," he said, motioning to the room, "I think is her way of placating me. She comes prancing in here the day after telling me that she is so sorry that she never lets me have a say in what we do, how we decorate, blah, blah, blah." he said, mimicking Alice's voice perfectly, finishing with a flourish of his hand.
I chuckled a bit before I realized Jasper was still not showing any signs of amusement. I put my hand up to my mouth to stifle another laugh, "I'm sorry. I just can't imagine Alice relinquishing control that easily." I quickly regained my composure and chanced a glance in Jasper's direction. A small smile was creeping at the corners of his mouth. The next thing I knew, he had me pulled up into a tight hug and was laughing along with me.
"I'm sorry Bella, I couldn't resist joking around with you. I find it hilarious as well," he said, releasing me.
"So, what exactly spurred this? Do you have any idea?" I said, swatting his arm and turning to get a better look at the room.
"Um, no not really. Seriously, I came in the room a few days ago and the only thing still in here was the bed and dresser. Everything else was being packed into boxes that Alice sent to Goodwill. She even had gone through her wardrobe and packed away a sizable portion of her clothes." As if to prove his point, he walked over to the closet and opened the door, signaling me inside.
I walked in and was taken back by what I saw. The room-sized closet that used to be jam-packed with every type of clothing imaginable was practically empty. Along one side were Jasper's clothes and a few racks still held some of Alice's, but at least fifty percent of it had been completely cleared out.
Walking back into the room I turned to Jasper, who was now leaning up against the dresser, ankles crossed.
"I don't think you came here just to shoot the shit, so tell me Bella, what has you so nervous to ask me?", he said, with a small smirk on his face. If I could have blushed I be beat red right now.
"I don't really know where to start," I said, but it came out more as a question.
"I suppose it has to do with Edward and Alice and the vision?"
"Yeah. I'm just having trouble understanding why we haven't been told more about it. I mean, she has never kept any of her visions from us. Ever. Why this? Do you honestly think everything is going to be okay like she said? Has she told you anymore about it? Edward is definitely not giving anything up." I finished with a whoosh of breath and immediately took in a large gulp of air.
"Out of breath there?" he teased. "Here's my thoughts about the whole thing - and just hear me out before you say anything - before this vision she had never hidden anything from me, to my knowledge. But I can't help but wonder if maybe she has before. I wonder how many times something bad has been going to happen and Alice somehow thwarted it. It kills me to think that she would suffer something like that alone, and not reach out for my help... for anyone's help. And because of that, I can't be too mad at her for going to Edward . Sure, I wish it had been me, but it wasn't, and you know what, that's fine. She got the help she needed and, quite honestly, it's probably better that it wasn't me."
I was about to interject my opinion when he held a finger up to silence me.
"I'm not sure how much either of them have told you, but judging by your presence here and the waves of curiosity and doubt rolling off you I'm going to guess it's not much. Alice told me about the vision, and she was eerily calm throughout the whole conversation. However, I get the feeling she left certain parts out, as there were hints of betrayal seeping through. I didn't pry however, because there was no doubt in her that she and Edward had come up with a solution to the problem. Honestly Bella, I'm pretty sure that if you knew the full extent of what Alice told me, you'd wish you never knew. And I can't break their trust. Alice specifically asked me not to mention it to anyone, not just you."
I puckered up my lips as I thought over what he just told me. He had essentially admitted, albeit not directly, that the vision was bad enough to warrant keeping me and the rest of the family in the dark about it. I wasn't sure how I felt about the whole "don't tell anyone" thing. Surely if the problem had been rectified there was no need to hide it from anyone. Nevertheless, I had sought Jasper out specifically so he could tell me whether or not I'd want to know the full vision, and he had apparently decided I didn't need to know. So, deciding that Jasper was more than likely correct in his assessment, I made the decision to let it go and stop letting it worry me.
"I swear Bella, you carry around enough worry for the entire family," he said with a chuckle, "but I'm glad you've decided to let this go, it makes being around you tolerable again."
I let my jaw drop in feigned surprise, "Jasper Hale! I can't believe you'd say such a thing about me," I said with a horribly fake British accent. The look on Jasper's face was enough to send me into a fit of giggles, Jasper following right along. A few moments later, we had both quieted down. "Was I really that bad?" I asked, looking up at him.
"Bella, you are the most emotional person, both human and vampire, that I've ever met. But that's a good thing, it's so human of you."
I shot Jasper a questioning look, not quite sure if that comment held good or bad connotations.
"That is a good thing Bella. It's something that the rest of us are constantly thriving to find in our selves - traces of our humanity. It's why we live like we do, why we choose to integrate ourselves into society as much as possible. Most vampires, myself included, lose themselves so much in the first few years that by the time the thirst subsides and we've regained control of ourselves, our humanity is virtually gone. We give ourselves over to instinct and nothing else matters."
By this point, we had moved back over the windows and into the recliners. I reached over and placed a tentative hand over his, which was resting on his knee. I didn't know what to say to him, I knew from talks with Alice and Edward that Jasper still hadn't forgiven himself for the years he spent in Maria's army. "Jasper, if it's any consolation at all, I think you've more than made amends for your, um, well, you know," I said, snapping my teeth in a vain attempt to add some humor to the situation.
Apparently it worked because next thing I knew Jasper was enveloping me in a hug. "Thanks Bella."
I patted him awkwardly on the back. While Jasper and I were close, physical affection was new territory. I'm pretty sure I could count the number of time I'd hugged him on one hand.
"Okay, well... great talk. I'm gonna be on my way now. Gotta get home before Edward does," I nodded my head as I talked and backed out of the room. As soon as I'd cleared the doorway I bolted for the backdoor. I heard Jasper's laughter following me through the house.
Just before I cleared the backyard my phone started vibrating in my pocket. Seeing as how everyone else was on vacation I figured it was either Alice, Jasper, or Edward. I didn't even look at the caller ID as I flipped it open. "Hello?"
"Mom?", daughter's voice come through the phone. A wave of completeness surged through me simply from hearing her voice.
"Renesmee, sweetheart! It's so good to hear from you, but why ever are you calling me while your honeymooning?"
I began to walk at a casual pace back up onto the back porch of the large house.
"Well mom, there's kind of a problem."
JPOV
I collapsed back onto the bed as soon as Bella had left the room. It had drained me to have to lie to her like I had about Alice's vision. The truth was, despite Alice's reassurance that the problem had been solved, there was still a nagging in the back of my mind. What if what Alice had told me was just a cover for something else? What if she and Edward had only managed to avert the vision temporarily?
I was so wrapped up in my own feelings of doubt and confusion that it took me a moment to realize that the sense of panic I felt was not coming from myself. I realized that I could hear a faint whisper of Renesmee's voice, followed by Bella's louder voice.
"A problem? What do you mean there's a problem?" Bella's voice resounded through the empty house.
I ran out of the room, almost slamming right into Bella on the staircase. Evidently she had decided to come back inside to deal with whatever problem it was that Renesmee was having. We both sat down on the stairs, waiting for Renesmee to elaborate.
"Gosh mom, it's not a real problem. What'd you think, the Volturi had found us or something?"
The momentary relief that had pulsed through Bella was replaced by a slight frustration at Renesmee's evidently failed attempt at humor. I placed my hand in front of Bella; a signal for her to hand me the phone. She looked at me for a brief moment before laying it in my hand.
"Renesmee? It's Jasper. What's the problem?"
"Uncle Jasper? What are you doing with mom? Do I even want to know?" Renesmee's semi-crude sense of humor a result of many years spend around Emmett.
"Not even cool Renesmee. Seriously, is there a problem or not?" I was getting slightly irritated at Renesmee prolonging this, mostly due to the worry still rolling of Bella. I shot a wave of calm towards her, which resulted in a slap to my arm.
"There's not a problem problem. Know what I mean? It's just, Jake and I had ordered some custom furniture for the cabin and it wasn't due to be finished until after we got back. But I got an email this morning saying it was ready to be picked up. I was just wondering if mom and dad, or you, whoever really, could go and check it out and make sure everything is right. Make sure there's no cracks anywhere and that all the pieces are all accounted for?"
Bella let out an audible sigh of relief and the tenseness visibly left her body. "Give me the phone back," she said through clenched teeth.
I smiled at her and shook my head. "Okay, Renesmee. We'll head down later today and go get it for you. You and Jake have a good rest of your honeymoon."
"Alright Uncle Jasper. Tell mom bye for me."
"Will do sweetheart. Bye now." I hit the "end call" button and handed Bella her phone back, fully expecting to get yelled at for not letting her speak to Renesmee again.
"Bella, she's a newlywed. To her, not being her to get the furniture that she and Jake had custom made is a problem. Maybe not to you, or me, or anyone else, but to her... it's a big deal. She probably doesn't want it to sit in a warehouse for the next two weeks. She'd rather it be here, somewhere safe, where she knows it's not going to get cracked or anything."
Bella seemed to think this over for a moment before a huge smile graced her face.
"Okay, Jasper. Since you are SO in tune with what my daughter wants, you get to go with me to get the furniture. Now." she said, standing up and holding her hand out to me.
"Don't you want to wait for Edward to come home or maybe Alice since she helped them design it. She'll know more of what to look for." Not waiting for an answer, I pulled out my cell and dialed Alice.
"Jasper?" Alice sounded winded, which was quite odd.
"Yes, Alice. Who else would be calling you from this number?" I said, only joking somewhat.
"Oh, no one I suppose. I just figured you and Bella would be gone by now, you know... wherever it is you guys are going. Where exactly are you going?"
It would figure that Alice would have seen Bella's decision to take me with her to Seattle as soon as she made it. It also was no surprise that she was unaware our trip involved Renesmee and Jake, seeing as how both of them eluded her visions.
"I'll let Bella talk to you about that one. Hold on a sec."
As I was handing the phone to Bella, I heard Alice whisper, "Goodbye Jasper. I love you."
I put the phone quickly back to my ear. "I love you too Alice, but damn woman. Quit the dramatic goodbye, it's not like I'm not gonna see you in a few hours. Here's Bella."
I handed the phone to Bella, who proceeded to fill Alice in on the details of our impending departure. I took the opportunity to go back to mine and Alice's room and change into something a bit more fitting for going out. Not that sweats and grungy old t-shirt weren't my definition of fitting, but I can only imagine Alice's horror knowing that I left the house in that get up.
As I was walked back down the stairs, I realized Bella must have already headed out to the garage. Sure enough, as I approached I heard her on the other side of the door. It was evident by her tone that Alice had given the phone to Edward, so I stayed inside for a moment to give her a modicum of privacy, despite the fact I could hear every word both of them spoke. Damn vampire hearing abilities.
"Okay. Well, you tell Renesmee I love her since someone decided to not let me talk to her. I love you too. Bye." At that point I knew she knew I was on the other side of the door, so I just went ahead and walked into the garage.
"Sorry, I tried not listen, but you know how it is..."
She silenced me with a wave of her hand. "Seriously Jasper, if I wanted to have a private conversation, A) I wouldn't do it on your phone, and B) I'd go like 5 miles away." Her laugh filled the room.
I motioned towards the truck that we kept specifically for moving purposes. It was a given that we'd probably have to make more than one trip, as I knew they'd ordered furniture for several rooms of the house, but we could at least get a few pieces here today and go back tomorrow for the rest.
I helped Bella into the raised cab and walked around and pulled myself up into the driver's side. As we pulled out of the garage Bella stared off into the surrounding forest.
"What do you suppose Alice and Edward are up to?" she asked, her eyes still focused on the woods, as if she expected to see them breaking through the trees at any given moment.
"I don't know Bella. But don't worry yourself about it. In just a few hours they'll be back and, hopefully, will help us get this furniture down to the cabin."
She nodded her head minutely before turning her gaze from the window. "Do you mind?" she asked, reaching for the radio.
"Not at all."
As we pulled on to the main road, the soft sounds of music filled the air and conversation immediately ended.
~*~
An hour or so later, as Bella and I were passing through Port Angeles, my phone started ringing. I didn't even bother to look at the caller ID, figuring that it must be Alice or Edward calling.
"Hello?"
"Dude! Where is everyone at?" Emmett's boisterous voice came through the phone. To say I was shocked to hear from him would be the understatement of the century.
"Emmett?"
"Uh, yeah... it's me. Who'd you expect?"
As the shock that it was in fact Emmett on the other end registered, I immediately pulled the car into the gas station we were passing.
Bella looked over at me, surprise clearly written all over her face at my sudden stop. I held up a finger, signaling I'd let her know what was going on in a minute.
"Uh, where are you Emmett?" I had a sickening feeling that I already knew the answer to that question and I was praying that I was wrong.
"Home, duh. And NO ONE is here? Where's the party at?"
Emmett's perkiness was doing nothing for me at the moment.
"Emmett! Can you just... stop, for one second? Why are you back? Alice told me she had called everyone and told you to stay where you were for a little bit longer."
There was a moment of dead silence before he answered, "Uh, Alice called Rose the other day, but only to say that she missed us and wanted us to know that she loved us. I got a similar call from Eddie shortly afterward. That's why we came home early."
"Shit. Shit. Shit. SHIT!" I said, taking my anger out on the steering wheel. I chanced a look at Bella, whose eyes were huge. She placed a hand over mine, which was fisted on the gear shift at this point.
"Jasper, what's wrong? I know something's going on and you need to tell me what it is."
I nodded my head.
"Emmett, let me talk to Rose for a minute."
He cleared his throat on the other end of the phone, but didn't answer me.
"Emmett," I all but snarled into the phone, "please tell me she is with you. Where is Rosalie?"
"She might have caught Edward and Alice's scents leading into the woods and followed it," he said almost sheepishly.
As soon as the words left his mouth, I put the car back in gear and pulled back onto the highway leading back to Forks.
"Emmett. Stay put. We'll be back in 30 minutes and decide what to do from there."
"Jasper, what's going on? I need to know why you're freaking out. Has Alice seen..."
I cut him off abruptly, "I don't have time to explain Emmett. I need you to try and get Rose on the phone and get her back to the house. Preferably with Edward and Alice. Just... DO IT!!!"
I hung up the phone, resisting the urge to chunk it out the window.
"Jasper," Bella's voice broke as she spoke my name, "please.. I need to know, right now." The pain in her voice, paired with the worry rolling off her was enough to make me need to pull the car over again so I didn't crash it.
I pulled off onto the shoulder of the highway. Looking at Bella I tried my best to stay calm, "I need you to please try and stay as calm as you can, okay? My worry plus yours is too much." I looked up into her eyes, willing her to do as I asked, "Please Bella. I will tell you everything, but try and stay calm, okay."
Her throat contracted visibly as she swallowed nervously, "Okay, Jasper. Just... keep driving. We need to get home."
I once again pulled back onto the highway and tried my best to remain calm for the both of us.
"Bella, I'm going to tell you what Alice told me about her vision, but I'm going to preface it by saying that at this point, I'm almost positive she lied. I have to idea what to expect when we get home, so you need to prepare yourself for.... well, anything really, okay?"
I saw her nod out of my peripheral vision.
As I began telling Bella about the vision, all I could hear was Alice's voice in my head and now I could pick out all the small things that just hadn't added up that I had let slip before.
"When Edward came back to the field and told me to go to Alice, I'd honestly considered not even going home. In my mind, she deserved to wait. Obviously I did decided to go home, and when I walked in the room, I was overwhelmed by a sense of betrayal and the pain was just radiating off of her."
Alice had looked up at me through her long eye lashes, begging me with her every fiber not to overreact. "Jasper, I need to you to just listen, hear me out completely before you start planning, okay?" I had nodded my approval. She took a deep breath and began...
"She told me that she had seen a coven of nomads coming through the area, and that upon catching the scents of our family, they would, naturally, come by the house."
This revelation in and of itself wasn't so shocking, nomads had come by before. It was merely a matter of curiosity about our lifestyle. It was what Alice said next that had shocked me. "The leader is a female, she has olive skin, long raven hair." I didn't hear what Alice's next words were because I was immediately plagued by memories of a time I'd rather not remember. "Maria." The one simple word left my mouth, followed by Alice nodding her head, "I think so..."
"So Maria is coming through Forks with her army?" Bella's voice rose as she spoke.
"That's what Alice thought. Never having known Maria personally, there was no way for her to be sure. But it made sense. She'd said that it was my scent that caught her notice."
"It's you, Jasper. You're the reason that they come this way. She picks up on your scent and is curious."
"So where does the rest of the family fit in Jasper? You said something about her having called everyone?"
"Yeah, she said that if we were all here, Maria would see it almost as a challenge. She'd see it as me having my own "army," for lack of a better word, and she'd have no qualms about trying to overtake us."
"If we're all here and she attacks, people will die Jasper. I can't see who, because the wolves get involved, but people will die. Our people."
"And you and Edward have found a way to prevent this. How?" I grabbed her hand, which she was twisting together in her lap. "How, Alice?" I plead with her.
"We have to keep everyone away for a while longer."
"So, that was the solution? Have everyone stay put until the threat passed." A small wave of relief passed over Bella, presumably at the thought that at least Renesmee was safe where she was.
"I wouldn't be so quick to feel relief Bella. As I said, there were things that she said that, at the time, I wanted to believe so badly I let myself look over them. But now... I know she lied Bella. It was never Maria."
"When she realizes that, with only four of us, there is no threat to her, it seems that she just leaves."
"She just leaves Alice? She doesn't try and approach me at all?"
"Well, she hasn't made a definite decision, she keeps switching back and forth between just watching from a distance and coming to the house. But, regardless, she leaves and no one is dead. It's the only way..."
"It wouldn't have mattered to Maria how many of us there were, if she were truly in the area and caught my scent, she wouldn't stop 'til she had me back, Bella. You have to understand that about Maria. When I escaped with Peter and Charlotte, she let me go. She could have tracked me down and brought me back, but she had hundreds of newborns she had to deal with and no one to help her when I left. But I know that given the chance, she'd come for me Bella. It wouldn't matter how many others were or were not with me; she'd never be content just sitting back and watching. And she'd surely never just pass through with out at least letting me know about her presence."
At this point, we were on the outskirts of Forks, mere minutes from being back at the house. I had no idea what to expect when I got there, but I was hoping that whatever Alice had seen had not come to pass yet. There had to be something that could be done.
"So she lied Jasper. That means Edward lied too..." I could tell Bella was having a very difficult time coming to terms with this. I reached over and held her hand as we neared the driveway to the house.
As we zoomed down the road, I squeezed her hand in reassurance. "I don't know what we're going to find Bella, but I need you to try and keep your shield around us at all times. You need to concentrate, okay?"
She nodded right as we pulled up to the house. We both approached the front door with some trepidation. "I'm going to go find Emmett, you wait for me and then we'll all go together to find Rose, Alice, and Edward. Okay? Don't do anything rash. Stay with me."
BPOV
I nodded in agreement with what Jasper had said. There was no way I was going to leave, not knowing what or who was out there.
As Jasper went through the house calling Emmett's name, I walked towards the back of the house, where Emmett's scent was the strongest.
It was so strong that I got the impression he had been here only a few minutes before.
"Emmett?" I called out, but got no reply.
As I moved closer to the back door, his scent got stronger.
"Jasper," I called over my shoulder, "I think he left."
As I moved ever closer to the door, I could vaguely hear Jasper coming down the stairs, but my attention was drawn else where.
A scent so familiar, yet one I never wanted to encounter again, was creeping in through the partially opened back door.
I reached a tentative hand out to open the door and peered out.
"Bella! Bella! What's wrong?" Jasper's voice was barely making it through to me, because as soon as my eyes lifted to the tree line, I saw it.
A thick plume of purple smoke coming from the direction of the field.
A/N #2: So yeah, we're at the "incident". Sorry for the cliffhanger-ish ending to this chapter, but I promise, the next chapter will answer all your questions. :)