Regret

The entire family stared at Jasper as he stood, perfectly still, in the doorway. His white shirt was stained with dried, red blood, the burning in my throat intensified as I inhaled the bitter sweet smell. His hands were balled into fists, the dry blood covering his knuckles cracked as he tightened his hands further. His usually pristine blonde hair was matted, some clinging to his face, the rest knotted into clumps. His blood-red eyes darted around the room sporadically; he could feel the anxiety in us all. His eyes rested on the floor at his feet and he let out a long, disjointed sigh. He fell against the doorframe and stayed there, staring blankly at the shiny wooden floor.

Esme stepped forward, her hands out in front of her, as though she was approaching a feral cat; she stepped beside him and touched his arm lightly. He let out a low growl and then his eyes flashed to Esme's. Jasper's crimson eyes looked helpless, Esme leaned in to him and stroked his blood-stained cheek once before whispering, "It's okay Jasper, you're home now". He grimaced slightly and then turned his head, slowly, towards Alice, who was standing beside Edward. Alice smiled slightly and held out her hand to trace the scar beneath his lips; Jasper cringed back and hissed through clenched teeth, "Don't touch me. I'm a monster"

Alice frowned and pursed her lips, "No, your not"

Jasper growled, "I killed someone!"

Alice pulled her hand back, "It's not your fault"

"Well no one forced me to murder her!" Jasper's raised voice startled me a little; I wasn't used to seeing him angry or even slightly annoyed, he was always the well composed vampire.

"Jazz-" Alice tried to console him, to tell him that it wasn't his fault. She reached her hand out again and he slapped it away,

"No Alice! Don't even look at me!" With that he stormed up the staircase like a hurricane and slammed the door to his and Alice's room. Alice remained still, standing in the foyer with blank eyes, she blinked a few times and then dashed upstairs.

I heard the door to Alice's room creak open as she stepped in and I heard Jasper's hiss as she sat on the bed beside him. I didn't want to listen in to their private conversation but my ears picked up everything, even the faint breathing as Alice tried to explain what had caused Jasper to kill.

"It's not your fault, the werewolves-"

"This has nothing to do with the werewolves; I abandoned you to, to…" his voice trailed off and I could hear the bed creak slightly as he moved away from Alice.

"They forced you to do it"

"No one forced me Alice"

"It's true, the werewolves, they have gifts like us"

"I know, telekinesis. And he didn't physically drag me there if that's what you're going to say!"

"No, he didn't", Alice paused for a moment and I heard the rustling of fabric as she edged closer to Jasper, "the blonde one, Elliot, we think he has the ability to force someone to give in to their desires, he takes away their free will". There was another pause as Jasper thought about what Alice had just said.

"I see", Jasper still sounded deflated, as though he somehow should have been strong enough to deter such a gift.

"So it's not your fault silly" Alice sounded chirpier, knowing she was getting through to Jasper, "He made you do it"

"Yes", Jasper's voice was defeated; somehow he knew that Alice would win the argument, "Thank you Alice". I heard more rustling of fabric and decided to try and distract myself from the private conversation.

I moved into the dining room and Edward and the rest of the family followed, Carlisle stood at the end of the table and leaned against it, "We have a problem here. If Elliot is this strong then he can defeat us all. If he can take away our free will, what else do we have?" He rubbed his forehead with his palm and flopped into the chair at the foot of the table. I frowned deeply; my shield had prevented his gift from controlling me back in the woods but somehow I knew that, if he had tried a little harder, he would have broken through it. What could we do to defeat someone who could take away our free will? If he had forced Jasper to kill what else was he capable of? So many questions littered my mind, I couldn't think about anything else. I needed to destroy him.

Jacob leaned across the table, his huge, olive skinned arms covering the width of it, "Maybe we can help, the pack I mean", Renesmee looked into Jake's eyes as he stated his idea.

Emmett scoffed, "I don't think so, that Adam guy just flicked me away like a bug"

"But maybe it's just you bloodsu- vampires", he looked at Carlisle for confirmation but it was Edward who replied,

"It's not. When they were thinking clearly I could hear that they were completely unperturbed by your presence. The leader, Adam, he didn't even care that there were more of you than them, he even seemed smug about the fact that he was sure they could defeat you all". Jake winced and leaned back in his chair, Nessie snuggled closer to him, leaning her head against his broad chest.

Alice was suddenly in the doorway to the dining room; her face was serene apart from the tiniest hint of gloom in her golden eyes. Jasper stood behind her, his head bowed slightly so as not to show the colour of his eyes; his hair was clean as was his face and his shirt had been changed, he now wore a short sleeved shirt, showing the scars that mottled his forearms. I pitied him but quickly stopped as I knew he would feel what I felt. He cleared his throat and stepped from behind his wife, keeping his eyes on the polished wooden floor,

"I am truly sorry for what I did. There is no excuse-"

Carlisle interrupted him, "Yes, there is. You were forced into it Jasper, this wolf, Elliot, he has the power to force people to-"

"-give in to their desires, yes, but I should have been stronger, I should have felt that he was going to corrupt me"

"There was no way you could have known. Now we must move on and figure out a way to get them to surrender, or, if we must, destroy them", Carlisle stood up gracefully and began pacing again.

"Move on?!" Jasper's voice was pure Texan, as it often was when he became angry, "I murdered someone! I took away their life, they can't simply 'move on'"

Edward stood up and placed a hand on Jasper's shoulder, trying to calm him down, "Come on Jazz, you can't blame yourself"

Jasper's voice was suddenly a whisper, "You didn't feel her fear Edward. She was terrified, and I tore her throat out- "he stopped abruptly and his wide, red eyes shot to Esme, "she was so small, only a child". It was Rosalie who gasped when he said this although we all felt the sudden shock of it, how cruel must Elliot be to force the death of a child, did he have no mercy?

Carlisle stopped pacing and stood in front of Jasper, who looked at him with crimson eyes, "This was terrible, I agree, but we must be together if we are to defeat them. If they are willing to murder a child then they truly are animals", he sat down again and placed his hand in Esme's. Edward did the same to me and Alice stood in front of Jasper and swung both of his arms.

I wished I could make it okay, wished I could stand up and say that everything would be fine, but I couldn't. We were dealing with a whole new enemy and we were completely out of ideas to defeat them.

Hope you like it so far, more desires to be forced in later chapters :)

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you get the picture :) xxx