Chapter Twelve: Little Green Bag

Got to find just the kind or I'm losin' my mind,
Alright.
Lookin' for some happiness
But there is only loneliness to find.

George Baker - Little Green Bag

The sun was peaking angrily out from behind the clouds as Lucy stepped out in to the street. Esme had checked them in to the hotel while Emmett took their suitcases to the rooms. Emmett held the parasol over the two of them, gloves covering his fingers to protect against any accidents.

"Are you sure this will be all right?" Lucy asked cautiously as she fanned herself with a small hand fan. She wondered how she had managed to live in Texas dressing like this; she had walked fifty miles in the sun wearing clothes like this, it made no sense. The heat made her feel as though she would pass out from heat stroke.

"It should be fine so long as I hold the parasol." Emmett told her politely as they walked towards the meeting place. His arm was laced in hers theatrically. She had to laugh at his act. The houses all towered above them, in a dainty Victorian style that she hadn't seen recently. The whole town looked like a page from a history book with the exception of the modern roads, and electricity lines.

"All right." She said with a nod as she saw a group of students waiting outside of a statue in downtown.

"Lucy! Emmett! You guys look amazing!" the bouncing figure of Sam cried out, running towards them. Lucy had dropped off a dress for her the night before, it wasn't as tight fitting as Lucy's, though it still gave the impression of an authentic Victorian dress. A large bustle stuck out on her back, and the black and white vertical stripes made her look taller.

"Thank you! So do you!" Lucy said, pulling away from Emmett as she hugged her friend. They both wore short sleeve party dresses, though Sam's was more of an elliptical style skirt, while Lucy's was more of an earlier Victorian style. She noticed that Sam's parents were dressed regularly, and looking somewhat distastefully towards Lucy.

"Where's your mom?" Sam asked with slight confusion as she looked up to Emmett.

"She got a little car sick on the drive and is staying in the hotel this morning." Emmett said effortlessly. A larger group of five students with Mrs. Gripling appeared from behind a corner coming towards the group that had already congregated. There were only fifteen students that had come; it was a little over half of the class. Jessica and Tyler were standing towards the back with the teacher, frowning as they looked around. The brown haired girl was not dressed in costume, rather she was wearing a cute, and little, green dress, with heels. Not conducive to walking around town in, and she looked extremely cold. Her eyes narrowed as she saw Emmett and Lucy standing side by side. Lucy turned to Emmett when she saw Jessica lean in, her wild brown hair blowing in the wind as she said something to Tyler.

"What's she saying?" Lucy said quietly enough that only Emmett would have heard it. He smirked as he looked up to the two that stood on the other side of the student group.

"She's disappointed that Jasper isn't here, and she's upset that you and I seem very close." Emmett whispered as he knelt down to tell her so that no one else would overhear. She could see the brunette go red with frustration at watching them. "I think that she and Tyler were hoping you and Jasper would have come together, and that they could split you up."

"Jasper and I aren't even on speaking terms!" She laughed out lightly, shaking her head; the tight ringlets on the sides of her heads danced with each movement. "She can have him."

"Really? You're not interested in him at all?" Emmett asked her with a quirked brow as the teacher began marking off on roll call who was there.

"Please don't tell me that the whole reason you came was to bother me about Jasper." Lucy groaned as her green eyes followed the teacher.

"No, though I am sort of curious as to how long the two of you are going to pretend to hate one another." Emmett said with amusement.

"I think he would be the one to ask for that. It's hardly my job to put up with his mood swings." Lucy said stubbornly, folding her arms across her chest as she held her fan up.

"I always thought his mood swings were endearing." Emmett mused dreamily, causing the corners of her lips to turn up with a laugh.

"If you think he's so dreamy, why don't you ditch Rose for him?" Lucy raised an eyebrow as the teacher spoke with Sam's parents.

"I'm not his type, I'm not short with dark hair." Emmett snickered at her, though the words struck at a thought she hadn't wanted. Both she and Alice were short, tiny even; both had black hair, and were a bit more ostentatious than most people. No one would have doubted that she and Alice were sisters; facially they weren't the same at all, but physically they were very similar... what if Jasper had only been interested in her friendship because she was like Alice?

"That's too bad." Lucy said crisply, no longer feeling at all in a good mood. It felt as though she had come to a huge epiphany, the realization that he had never truly been interested in her... her dreams had been in vain, she truly was nothing more than a rebound. That was why he ignored her now, and why he had never tried to have anything out of her... he hadn't truly liked her at all.

"Lu-" Emmett began, looking almost worriedly to the girl as she stared determinedly towards the teacher who was now approaching them.

"Your mother called me and said that she wasn't feeling well. I hope that she is able to come to dinner this evening." Mrs. Gripling said politely to the two 'teens' as she handed them papers explaining what they would be doing that day. "The two of you look very nice, it is a pleasure to see such enthusiastic students."

"Of course. We love history." Emmett said with a bright smile, causing the old teacher to blush before she walked away briskly.

"That's not exactly fair." Lucy retorted with a scoff.

"Can you honestly tell me what is going on with you and my brother? I know he is being a jerk, but do you actually like him?" Emmett asked, putting his gloved hands on her shoulders to firmly hold her in to position so that she couldn't run away. She set her jaw, debating what to say.

"No, I don't like him. I think that he is a complete Jonah." She said viciously. "If it weren't for him, I would have lived a perfectly normal existence."

"That's a little harsh, don't you think?" Emmett asked her, frowning as she began walking with the rest of the group.

"It's the truth." She said darkly, standing back a bit and following behind the group slowly. "I was made this way because of him, if I had never met him, I would have had a completely normal life."

"Are you serious?" Emmett asked her, she groaned in annoyance.

"No, I am making all of this up, because I am as dramatic and emotional as him." She spat out sarcastically, her tone was quiet and bitter. "A voodoo queen in New Orleans thought that we were soul mates, so she made it so that I would live forever to be with him."

"Whoa. I didn't know that." Emmett said boldly, scratching his head as he looked at the people ahead of them. "So you're not interested in him at all? But, I've seen the way you guys look at one another, you are soul mates."

"Thank you for your input." She said stubbornly; she didn't want to hear about how she and Jasper were meant to be. She didn't want to hear about how great he was, or how much she should fawn over him. He was a jerk, he acted as though she were the plague, and she really didn't find that very attractive.

"If you and him don't get together, you could be alone forever. Do you want to spend forever alone?" Emmett asked her, sounding slightly concerned.

"I've spent my entire life alone, what's the rest of it? And I'm sure there are ways to die, I just haven't found them yet." She shrugged casually, smirking at the morbidity of what she had said. She had wondered if there were any ways to die; it was selfish, and wrong... but if she had lived so long for the sole purpose of being with Jasper, maybe death was more desirable... she had lived twice as long as she should have, it wasn't as though she hadn't experienced a long life.

"Do you want to die?" He asked her, his eyes widened, making certain to keep his tone low. "Esme would kill you!"

"I don't know. I'm sort of bored with living." She said darkly, wishing her dress had pockets or something to put her hands in. "Dying might be fun."

"Edward won't be happy to hear that, and Alice won't like it either." Emmett said strongly, his disproval of it written clearly on his face.

"Can we just have fun this weekend and not talk about Jasper?" Lucy said harshly as they turned the corner, a lot of people had gathered waiting for something.

"Of course." Emmett said with a slight laugh.

Lucy sighed as she fell back against the bed in her hotel room; it was 5 in the afternoon, and they had walked around the town all day. The hot sun pouring against them viciously. The hotel was air conditioned, and the bed was soft. The corset had stopped bothering her, though wearing four layers of clothing hadn't made for ideal walking conditions. Her feet hurt, her head felt heavy, and she probably smelled like an entire basketball team.

"I think I'm going to back out of dinner." Lucy groaned, her eyes closing as she reached her leg up to take her shoes off, though she had forgotten that she was wearing a large hoop skirt that shot up over her head.

"Why don't you just get changed in to your pajamas? You can stay in for the night." Esme told her from the room adjoined to hers. It was a nice hotel that Esme had chosen. Of course, it was also the nicest one in town.

"That sounds like a great idea." Lucy said, begrudgingly standing up as she unlatched the front of her dress to take the bodice off. The skirt came off easily as she pulled it over her head. With a content sigh she untied the hoop skirt, and began undoing the busk of the corset. It wasn't that it had reduced her size that much, but being so constricted became tiring. Sitting on the bed she pulled her shoes off, leaving her clothes in a pile on the floor. Before she had had both of her shoes off Esme had picked up her clothes and set a nightgown on the bed.

Saturday morning was foggy beyond all belief as Lucy stood groggily in her hotel room. She could hear Emmett and Esme playing video games, or something like that. With a quiet sigh she entered the bathroom and took a quick shower; she would pile her hair in a bonnet for the day, curls were too high maintenance. Esme was already waiting for her in the room when she exited.

"Good morning." Lucy said cheerfully as she entered her room in a fresh camisole.

"Did you sleep well?" Esme asked, setting out her dress for the day on her now made bed.

"Yes, that bed is so plush. I've always loved hotel beds." Lucy admitted. Esme nodded quietly as the short dark haired girl stifled a yawn.

"We're going on a boat first thing in the morning, and then at 11 there is a fashion show, followed by tea. A band concert is at 3, and then dinner and the ball starts at 6." Esme explained to her as she pulled the corset on to the girl.

"I feel like a child again." Lucy grinned as Esme tightened the corset.

"Ma, this hurts!" A small figure of a dark haired girl complained as she stood in a dressing room. A taller woman sat at the vanity, glancing up. Meanwhile, a dark skinned woman was pulling the ribbons from her white corset. The air was sucked from her lungs with each forceful pull.

"It's the price of being a woman, dear." Her mother smiled cheerfully. Lucy frowned at it, she knew that her mother was proud. It was her first real corset; a sign of truly being a woman. She had turned 14 two weeks prior, and she had finally started menstruating. Something her mother had been proud beyond any belief.

"We'll find you a good husband in no time." Her mother said soothingly, as though it should comfort the girl. Yet, despite the fact that she should have enjoyed hearing this, she didn't want to get married to some man. She wanted to become a nurse, she wanted to work.

"No problem you'll have finding a man for her, pretty dame like her could get any man in town." Marietta said with care as she tied the tight corset.

"Young Wilfred has shown great interest in you, I am sure he will waste no time in courting you." her mother smiled proudly. "You will be the most prosperous in all of Texas."

"Yes, Mother." Lucy said quietly, unable to talk with the corset restricting her airway. Wilfred was an attractive man, she had known him from childhood; he was 5 or 6 years older than her, and was currently serving in the army. He had occasionally sent her letters talking about how spectacular it was; he had met many great soldiers. He was climbing in ranks quickly, and was certain that he would be a major by the time he reached 25. He was a military man through and through.

"You're such a beautiful woman." Her mother mused, smiling as she looked up from the vanity to look at her daughter.

Lucy glanced down to realize that she was now fully dressed, and Esme had even finished her hair. She had hardly realized anything was happen.

"You seem very deep in your thoughts." Esme commented gently as she finished pining the girls hair up.

"I was just remembering the first time I wore a real corset. I was 14." Lucy smiled politely in response. "My mother had been so excited that I was finally a woman, and that I would be soon married."

"You were supposed to be married?" Esme asked her. Lucy wondered if she should have simply given out a book about herself to everyone so that they wouldn't ask her for the facts of her life.

"I was engaged to a man once. He was a major in the United States army prior to the war... his family was wealthy. Before the war started my father wanted us to move to Europe, but Will was too proud to leave his country. He became a Colonel for the Confederates shortly after Texas seceded. It was supposed to be the perfect marriage." Lucy said darkly, shaking her head. "He was a good man."

"A colonel? How old was he? How old were you then?" Esme asked, furrowing her brows slightly. Lucy had to understand that it did sound a bit odd, she was only a teenager, and most ranking officers were in their late twenties to early forties.

"I was... 16 when we seceded, and I believe he was either 22 or 23 when he became Colonel. He was born in early 39. So he was about six and a half years older than I was." Lucy said thinking back to remember. She couldn't remember his exact birthday, though she knew it was early in the year. She hadn't honestly thought about Will's age in well over a century; somehow the memories she had of him made him seem younger. "Our wedding was going to be after the war ended."

"Did you get married?" Esme asked her curiously, she and Esme had never talked about their pasts.

"No. My mother died in January of '63, she had received illness earlier in the month after a battle in town between the Union and Confederate soldiers. We had been forced out of our house for five days in the middle of winter, and she contracted pneumonia. Will died on July 2nd of that year, and my father on the 3rd. 1863 was a very memorable year. I haven't been back to Texas since then." Lucy said quietly, holding her arms to her chest. She had lost everyone that year. Yet, she had met Jasper that year... a month after she had lost everyone left to her. She put on a smile.

"I'm so sorry. I can't imagine having lost everyone in one year." Esme said kindly, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl. "That must have been horrible."

"It didn't really hit me until Jasper disappeared." Lucy said with a dry laugh as she glanced back out the window, the fog was slowly lifting, though it still clung to the air. Esme was waiting patiently for her to continue speaking; she had already changed in to a modest dress for the day. "Jasper was the first person I really talked to about anything; It's hard to explain, but there was something about him that made you want to be near him, he was comforting. Just being around him made you feel like everything would be okay. It gave me a feeling that maybe everything wasn't crazy, and that I had over reacted to think that the war was so harsh."

"And then he disappeared days after I had met him." Lucy said after a brief pause, sighing as she held her hands on her waist. "I didn't want to believe it. He was a string of hope that I had clung to, if for nothing more, than because I thought that if he survived it, maybe everyone else would come back... maybe everything wasn't horrible... The thought that maybe I could befriend someone without them dying." She sighed. "But he was gone. It was the final straw that made me realize everyone else was dead, and that I was completely alone in the world. No one wanted to be a woman alone in the 1800's."

"Were you in love with him? Jasper." Esme asked her softly. Lucy didn't turn back from the window as she thought about it.

From the images that she had been given she knew that they could have been in love, and she had no doubt felt a chemistry with the man... but she didn't think it was love. It was attachment; attraction perhaps... but not love.

"I loved him no more than I did anyone else I had met... though I think we were very similar; we wanted the war to be over, we hated seeing all of the death and destruction. We had both spent so long trying to make everyone else calm and collected. It was nice to finally meet someone else who had tried so hard to do that." Lucy spoke slowly, allowing the words to form in her mind as she spoke them. "When two seemingly selfless people get together, it's almost impossible for them not to get along."

"That is how I feel about Carlisle and I." Esme said warmly. Lucy didn't want to hear yet another person telling her something like this. "Have you thought about-"

"Don't bother, Esme. She'll just get angry and storm off again. She hates talking about him." Emmett's voice carried through from the other room, it was slightly amused. Esme glanced to her with a soft frown.

"He's too dramatic, and he acts as though I'm a teenager. He treats the lot of you as though you're older and more mature than I am; I am older than all of you. I know what I am doing, and I really don't care to put up with his childish behavior." Lucy said firmly, grabbing her fan and parasol, as well as a small pouch that served as her purse.

"He doesn't want to hurt you, Lucy." Esme said in a quiet tone. Lucy scoffed at the woman.

"I am over 160 years old, Esme. I've fallen from tall buildings, out of boats in the middle of the ocean, I've been shot, gotten in car accidents, and been hit by trains." Lucy told her sardonically, smirking at the look of surprise on the woman's expression. "I think it is safe to say that I'm not exactly dying or disappearing."

"But you get injured." Esme said in confusion.

"And I heal." Lucy shrugged, pushing the doors open in to the other room. "I'm not strong, or graceful; I may not run fast, I bleed, and my bones can break with enough force... but I am practically as indestructible as you guys are... but unlike you, I can sleep, and I am immune to your venom. You can bite me all you want, I'll survive. You can tear my body to pieces, and supposing I have all the pieces, I would assume I could be pieced back together. I don't really see how he is going to 'hurt' me. I mean, if he attacks me a lot I may be exceptionally tired, but I wouldn't die. I'd just sleep a lot."

Emmett began snickering from his spot on the couch as he lounged back, playing a video game. She didn't understand why he lounged back so lazily, it felt no different to him than standing, or so he had told her... I want to look the part. He had told her one day, trying to convince her that he only played video games because it fit the part of being a teenager.

"I'm sure he'd-" Emmett began suggestively.

"I did not mean it like that. You're despicable." Lucy sneered in disgust. Her day was already off to a poor start. She had woken with a sense of foreboding, that it was going to be dismal overall, and it had yet to prove her wrong.

The day had, overall, continued downhill when it rained on their boat ride, causing her four layers to cling to her uncomfortable. On their way to the fashion show Alice had called them to say that the sun would come out by noon; leaving Emmett and Esme to disappear to the hotel. Food poisoning from breakfast. They had told everyone as Lucy was left to be with Sam and her family. By the time tea had finished, Lucy all but ran to her hotel. It was suddenly hot, and muggy... her clothes were stiff from the rain water that had now dried; her hair was entirely frazzled, and her stomach hurt.

The hotel room was empty when Lucy entered. She hadn't necessarily expected them to wait around, though she had almost hoped for the interaction... yet it felt nice to be alone. It was a feeling she hadn't experienced since living with the Cullens. Being so suffocated with closeness was something she had enjoyed, but she missed having her own space. She smiled to herself as she entered the oversized bathroom to prepare a bath.

She pulled out a nightgown and decided she would take a short nap before the ball that night. She didn't particularly want to go, but they would be going home Sunday morning, so she only had one more night of dressing up. One more night and she could be done with the 1800's. The grand gown that she had worn formed a large pile in the corner of the bathroom, and she sighed contentedly as she sunk in to the large, hot bathtub.

It wasn't a long bath, but it was just what she needed to relax her tense muscles. She practically floated in to her bed, and was certain that when she awoke, she would hardly remember having left the bath; she would clean everything up later.

Esme and Emmett had returned back to the house in Forks while the sun was shining; Alice said that it should be safe for them to go to the ball, but that it wasn't going to let up before then. Emmett and Jasper were wrestling, while Alice and Rosalie watched from the garage with amusement. It was nearly four thirty in the afternoon, and Emmett and Esme would soon be leaving.

Suddenly, however, Alice froze in her spot, her eyes wide. The wrestling men glanced up to her curiously.

"What'd you see, Alice?" Jasper asked her worriedly. She seemed to be quite worried and perplexed by the vision.

"Emmett, do you know where Lucy should be?" Alice asked Emmett slowly, her eyes slightly unfocused as though she were having a difficult time truly understanding what she had seen.

"She's probably at the park with Sam and her parents watching the band. She was excited to hear an authentic styled Tuba band again." Emmett said as he stood up, dusting off his clothes. "Why? Did you have a vision about her?"

"No, I can't see her in my visions. I had a vision of you and Esme losing her." Alice said, confused. "You should go back now, I think she's gone."

"She can't go that far." Emmett said with a laugh, rolling his eyes as he grabbed his phone from a bench in the garage and pulling it out. "I'll call her and see what's up."

"She's not answering. She's probably just busy with the band and can't hear it." Emmett rationalized, shaking his head. "She's a human, even if she's run away somewhere we'll be able to find her. I don't think she really wants to leave us, she likes us all too much."

"I'm going to go tell Esme. You can stay here." Alice said harshly, disappearing in to the house.

The hotel lobby smelled like vampires. Alice glanced to Nick, and her family cautiously as they made their way towards the room.

"What if she's not there?" Alice asked Esme softly. Lucy had quickly become a part of the family, she was one of them now. Esme had even planned a room for her in the next house when they moved; she would be as good as a vampire in their mind.

"We'll find her, Alice." Nick said firmly, his larger fingers lacing with hers. He wasn't as tall as her brothers, nor was he as fast... but he was perfect for her. The way his hair sat smoothly he looked like a movie star from the 50's, his dashing good looks that anyone would have wanted. His voice was smooth and velvety, instantly calming her, though not being able to see the future was something she hadn't enjoyed. There could be trouble, and she wouldn't know; she couldn't warn anyone.

"Nick is right, we'll find her." Emmett said firmly as the smell of the vampire seemed to grow stronger as they neared the room. Alice knew that everyone had grown attached to her, even Rosalie, who acted as though she couldn't care less. The family entered the hotel room, looking around quickly, taking in any differences. Her phone sat on the floor, open as though she had haphazardly dropped it, perhaps having been shocked. The bed looked as though it had been slept in, her clothes from the day sat in a pile in the bathroom. The blinds were shut, as she hadn't wanted light in while she slept.

"She must have come back early to take a nap, the man was waiting for her." Nick said as he walked around the hotel room, sniffing the air cautiously. He was a tracker, and it gave Alice hope that the girl would be found. Images of Bella's disappearance filled her mind, the thought that she was in danger worried her. Lucy wasn't a strong beacon to danger like Bella had been, though she was still fragile to their kind.

"She took a bath, and then went to sleep. I doubt he even woke her when they left; he left through the window." Nick spoke surely as he opened the door on the balcony. He sniffed the air cautiously. "They went that way."

A/N: Thank you to everyone who keeps reading this. The next chapter is about twice as long as this one. I'm debating splitting it up. We find out what happened to Lucy, we meet a couple of old faces, and the harsh air between Jasper and Lucy finally reaches a boiling point.

Please,Please please review and let me know what you think, and if I should continue with it. :)