Reservations: A Twilight Fanfiction
Disclaimer: I do not own Stephanie Meyers 'Twilight'. If I did, I would have had someone in Isabella's class know the secret of the Cullen's the whole time. They would have contacted the Volturi and snitched about Bella knowing about the secret world of the immortal blood drinkers.
It had been six days and Carter was allowed to leave the hospital. Paul had moved her belongings in to his house up on the Rez with some help from the Pack.
"Thank you Carlisle," Carter said, "and please send my thanks to Esme and the rest of your family."
"We are just glad that you've healed well. Please try your best to rest though. I'm letting you leave the hospital but it doesn't mean you can go gallivanting around. You need to rest or else you'll pull your stitches."
"Don't worry Doc." Charlie spoke up. "I'm certain Paul and the boys will make sure she stays well rested. I'll be checking in on her too." Carlisle smiled at the two before saying a final 'Get well soon Carter'. "Are you sure you don't want to stay just one more night here?" Charlie asked.
"If I have to stay in here one more day, Charlie, I'll kill somebody." Carter was completely serious as she said this. "I really will. So I think it's best, for the lives of the people within this building, that I leave." Charlie's smile, watching the young woman walk off through the doors with her head held high and looking as if nothing was the matter, faltered. He was beyond thankful that she was found, was beyond thankful that she was alive but he couldn't help but feel responsible somehow, and after everything with Bella a few nights beforehand….His train of thought veered into a darker direction so the man shook his head and lightly jogged to catch up to Carter.
"Come on old man! I'll be old and grey by the time we get to my boys!" She teased.
''
It wasn't smooth sailing for anyone involved; Paul especially. His heart, along with the rest of the Pack's, broke each and every time she flinched away from their touches, be it their arms accidently touching hers as they walked by to the boys trying to comfort her when she woke up from a nightmare. What really got them though, was the fact that Carter tried to hide away her emotions, tried her best to act as if nothing happened and everything was right with the world.
Paul, he watched on feeling helpless. She was his world, his life, his heart and he couldn't think of a way to help her; of a way to help her heal.
"You've been handling everything better than anyone else would have, Paul. Have tonight off though; you're running yourself ragged with all the patrol's you're doing." The Alpha male spoke.
Paul didn't need to be told twice. He knew his limits and he would not risk pushing himself to the point of complete and utter exhaustion. If he did, he wouldn't be able to protect Carter. Not that I've done a good job of that, he thought bitterly.
"Thanks Sam."
"She was asking for you. She's worried about something. Go talk to her. The Pack will be down at First Beach."
Paul made his way to his house but paused by the doorway. He could here Carter bustling about the kitchen, preparing a meal, humming along as she did it. He smiled as her voice reached his ears. He hadn't heard her do that for almost three weeks now and it was all the evidence he needed to be reassured that she was healing.
"Carter, Sam said you wanted to talk." He called out, kicking his shoes off and entering the house. Carter walked into the living room, meeting his eyes for but a single moment before walking back into the kitchen. She emerged, missing an apron and with her hands free of whatever foodstuffs she'd just created. She stood before him, looking up at him with a sad expression on her face as she gripped the bottom of her shirt in a familiar gesture of nervousness. He was very concerned now. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Why are you so nervous? Is someone else here? Has someon-" His questioning was cut short when Carter threw herself at him.
"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry!" She apologised to him over and over again, catching him completely off-guard and he stood there, cradling her to his chest as he just looked at her in confusion. He snapped out of it quick-smart when he felt his shirt beginning to cling to him, being soaked through by the tears of his imprint.
"Car, I need you to calm down, okay? Shhhh, shhhhh. I got you Car." He stroked her hair, rubbing circles on her back as he willed her tears to stop. "Car? Talk to me Baby Girl; you're scaring me."
Carter pushed herself away from him, looking slightly horrified and, there was something else in her gaze, something Paul couldn't rightly identify at the moment as he was too concerned with watching his imprint back away from him.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't…but I….." She had worked herself up completely and she felt as if the world around her was collapsing, caving in on itself and she huddled against the back of one of the lounge chairs, making herself as small as possible whilst starting to apologise again. Paul was lost; he didn't know what to do, how to handle it; he didn't know how he could make his imprint feel better or what he could do to at least stop her tears. He sat down on the floor, allowing a comfortable distance between them, well what he thought she would be comfortable with anyway. He just wanted to hold her against him and protect her from whatever it was that had her so frightened.
It took a few moments but she eventually calmed herself down.
"I," she began, "I wanted to talk to you, about us. I'm sorry Paul. I understand if you want to fight it now." He gave her a perplexed look, though she missed it seeing as she was focusing on the ground by her feet. "I'm damaged. You deserve an impri-" She jumped when she heard a low growl erupt from Paul. She thought she was damaged goods? That she wasn't good enough for him? That what happened changed the way he felt about her? Uh-uh, he wasn't going to listen to her anymore; he couldn't listen to her anymore. He inched his way towards her.
"Carter: look at me. No, look at me." He ordered her. "Don't you ever think, for one second, that you're not good enough for me or for anyone, you got that? No, stop looking at the ground Carter, please? I. Love. You." He asked, getting slightly irritated. What was this woman thinking?! "Why were you apologising?"
She held his gaze this time, hope shining in the depths as she looked at him.
"I wasn't strong enough." She wasn't strong enough to get away from them, wasn't strong enough to stop them from taking her. Paul didn't need to be a mind reader to understand what she was thinking; didn't need to be an empath to know what she was feeling. He knew exactly what she was saying.
"Two weeks Carter: two weeks, ten days, fifteen hours, forty-five minutes, twenty-seven seconds and counting. You've been deluding yourself into believing that what happened was your fault?" He closed his eyes, calming himself down but the images of Carter sitting in the woods kept resurfacing. "You fought as hard as you could Car. You don't have any supernatural powers but you are by far the strongest person I've had the honour of meeting. Never, never, apologise to me for this. Do you understand? It wasn't. Your. Fault." He reached out and slowly pulled her to him again, placing a kiss to her forehead as she clung to him.
They spent the better part of an hour sitting there on the living room floor.
''
A month had soon gone by and Carter was herself again. She had talked to Paul; told him everything that happened that night, not at all worried that Paul would shift because she was there and he'd never put her in danger. She'd screamed, she'd cried and Paul sat there ready to catch her when she had tired herself out and couldn't speak anymore. She felt lighter after her breakdown; felt refreshed. She accepted what happened and decided to cry no more; to get a move on and to let it just be an unfortunate incident in her life, much like the first time she had been abducted.
Paul looked to her after hearing her let out a small chuckle.
"Only I could get abducted twice in a lifetime." Paul gave a poorly executed smile.
"I'm getting you fixed with a tracker device. You need to remember Rule 17: Don't be a hero."
She smiled up at him then, tiredly but she smiled, and giggled at the movie reference.
''
"I'm sorry but I agree with Jasper and Rosalie: Alice needs to be taken care of." Carlisle looked at his wife, his mate, and sighed in resignation. "Think back to when Carter was brought into the hospital. Being in that situation was bad enough but she could have been brought in with no pulse on top of that. Alice knew what was happening, not all of it, but enough and she didn't alert anybody." The maternal Vampire spoke loudly, compassion and sincere concern flooding her words. She couldn't believe that one of her children was capable of such a thing but now it was time to ready their Coven for Alice.
"I would never overlook her actions," Carlisle said, "but I don't know how to properly handle this situation. Banishing her will only do so much." The Vampire in question had disappeared as soon as the family cornered her, fleeing to goodness knows where. Jasper spoke next, knowing exactly what Carlisle was alluding to.
"She can see the future; she already knows what is being said here and what will be decided. Having no ties to this Coven will give her freedom to do as she wishes." Everyone in the room clearly understood where this was going. "She's a threat, Carlisle, and she needs to be treated as such."
"I'll set up a meeting with the Wolves." was the Patriarch's reply. Jasper nodded his approval at such a move and the Cullen Coven set about making plan's that involved the Quileute Tribe. The Southern Vampire had already made plans of his own in regards to the Seer. He knew exactly how manipulative the pixie-like girl could be. He also knew that the Seer was most probably in Italy spending time with the Volturi. His lips curled into a snarl. He'd protect the woman he'd sat next to on his first day at Forks High; the young woman who had smiled at him and helped distract him from the stares, the whispers and the scents of those around him.
''
The eyes of all the Vampires, asides from Jasper, widened at seeing Carter standing at the Treaty Line, backed by the Shifter's who converged around her as they made their way to the Line themselves. Carter sent them a quick smile and waved at them.
"You've probably already figured out that I know about the fact that you're all 'living impaired'." Emmett laughed aloud at that. "Before you think that I've somehow deceived you, I'd just like to point out the fact that I've known you all for three years and you had no intention of informing me because that's your business and I respect that. Please show me the same courtesy."
"How long have you known?" Carlisle asked.
"She's known from the beginning. Am I right?" Jasper questioned. Carter nodded her head in confirmation, a smile on her face. Carlisle turned to him, as did the rest of the Coven, as to an explanation. "The smile on her face when she presented us with the gift basket and the knowing look when I thanked her."
"You're forgiven for lying about how good it tasted by the way. Thank you for humouring me, Jasper." Jasper sent a small smirk her way, clearly amused at the situation and her words. His smirk would have remained had a deep, resonating growl not sounded. Carter turned to the silver wolf and raised an eyebrow, looking him in the eyes before turning back around. Edward's eyes scrutinised the silver wolf and Carter. He raised an eyebrow and would have opened his mouth to speak had Esme not spoken up.
"Dear," she said, addressing Carter, "Alice, she saw you that night Honey." Carter hadn't fully grasped the meaning of her words before the Pack lunged at the Coven. The Alpha had disappeared only to come stalking back through, human form, and grabbed the Doctor by his shirt. His voice was deadly; a low, calm tone that promised nothing short of death.
"What did you just say?" He said. Paul joined the man, phasing back and making his way to the Vampires, his sights set on the bronze. One moment Edward stood there, the next, he was missing a limb and Paul was all too eager to completely dismember the boy. "Stop!" Sam barked at Paul. He stepped back, grabbing Carter up and moving back over to the Treaty Line. He threw a wicked smile in the direction of the boy who was currently pulling himself back together again as the Coven, all but the blonde male that Carter had been talking with, backed up, pushing Edward behind them as he regrouped. Rosalie hissed at the Pack, eyes glaring at the wolves. The tension escalated, both sides preparing to launch their own attacks. The growling and the hissing grew in volume but both sides were silenced immediately by a small whispered sentence.
"What have you decided?" The attention of all supernatural beings was now on the lone human amongst them. She cleared her throat and continued on. "Obviously this changes many things for your Coven." Carter finished.
"She's a threat." Jasper answered simply, inclining his head in Carter's direction.
"So you've a plan then Major Whitlock?" The blonde male scrutinised her, his gaze never wavering from her face.
"My, my, Darlin'." Another set of growls sounded at the endearment as Jasper's Southern accent made itself known. "Seems you know more than even I presumed."
"You know you shouldn't underestimate or assume that you know anything about anything, Major." The man inclined his head in acknowledgement. "But that's not the reason why we're here today. Was Alice's vision the only reason you wanted to call a meeting?"
"No." Carlisle answered. "We have some other information that we believe you needed to know of. There are three nomadic Vampires in the area. They haven't entrenched upon the territory of Forks as of yet but Jasper believes it is only a matter of time before they pass through this way."
"Kill them on sight and take no chances." Carter said immediately. "We'll take this end and patrol by Seattle as well. You take Forks and Port Angeles." Carlisle turned to her and went to speak. "No, there's no possibility of talking things over with Laurent, Victoria and James."
"You know their names?" Carlisle asked in shock. Carter turned to the patriarch of the Vampire Coven.
"I know a little more than I should, Doctor. Names aside, they are a threat. Show no mercy for you will receive none." She said with a shrug. "Because of the increased Vampire activity so close to human settlements, am I right in assuming that there's a chance that the Volturi will become involved?" Carlisle was clearly shocked again at the information the human possessed. Before he could answer, Jasper was speaking.
"Chances are they're coming down to visit you Darlin'. I've no doubt Alice would have gone to them."
"What are the consequences to a human for knowing about Vampires?"
"Death."
"Extenuating circumstances?"
"They'd give a deadline," he answered with a smirk, "and you would have to be turned by that date." Carter smiled a little at the pun. She turned around to the Pack once again as they voiced their opinions on the matter.
"Carlisle, do they know of the existence of Shifters?" Carlisle nodded.
"However, they don't believe that they are still in existence due to a mass genocide of those that were Shifters and those that had the potential to turn. Mind you, this was many centuries ago."
"So we've an element of surprise. Alice can't see the Shifters or anything to do with those that live up here in La Push correct?"
"Yes. The Tribal magic interferes with her Seer ability." Carter turned to the Pack.
"I think it's time to shift back, boys. We've got some planning to do."
''
"Carter." The woman in question spun around, meeting the eyes of the Southern man in front of the counter.
"Yes?" She questioned.
"I've been meaning to speak with you but your Pack is always 'round." She looked around the shop and, after walking out form the counter and hanging up a 'Be back in 5' sign on the door, she gestured for the man to follow her into the back room of the second-hand bookstore.
"What can I do for you Jasper?" The Vampire took in an unnecessary breath.
"Are you alright?" She was taken back by the question. She raised an eyebrow.
"I am. Why?"
"I've never been able to feel you; your emotions I mean. What's going on in that pretty little head of yours Darlin?"
"If I asked you to leave and to not ask me this again would you?" Jasper nodded his head.
"You ain't got to tell me a single thing if you don't want to. I was just curious as to why you're feeling the way you do and concerned seeing as that I can actually feel it too." She looked around her for a moment, staring at her hands briefly before nodding her own head. If it was effecting him then she would be open about what she was feeling and why.
"I can't help feeling as if I deserved it; as if it was my punishment for what I've done and then I think, 'Is that it? Will there be more?' because I deserve more to happen to me." She took a breath. "I trust you Jasper Whitlock." The Vampire raised an eyebrow, and leaned forward in his seat, hands clutched and at the end of his knees. "I'm not from this world."
''
"So in conclusion you saved us a hell of a lot trouble whilst getting yourself into it instead." He was rewarded with a smile.
"In a way, I suppose."
"And you think that whatever forces brought you here are trying to rectify a mistake by taking you out of the equation?"
"Yes. No. It's hard to explain but I feel as if I shouldn't be here."
"If you were to leave, to disappear, do you honestly think that things will reboot and start over or magically play out like scenes from the book you read?" She nodded, feeling a little stupid. "Darlin'," Jasper began, standing from his seat and bending down in front of her, reaching out to a place a hand over hers, "it simply ain't gonna happen like that. You have people here who would never be able to forget you. Have you forgotten about the memories that we supernatural beings possess? No matter how far you run, where you hide or what you try to do, you'll always be here," he tapped the side of his head, "and here." He placed his other hand over his heart. Carter let out a laugh.
"Thank you Jasper Whitlock."
"Ain't no problem Darlin'."
"Now that I've done my share of pouring out my thoughts and feelings, I think it's your turn Major. How have you been since Alice left?" If he was going to confide in anyone, he knew it would be the kind woman who he sat next to on his first day at Forks High School.
"I'm assuming you know all about my past." She nodded. "And you know a general rendition of my meeting with Alice." She nodded again. "But nothing in between then and up until the Coven moved here?"
"Right. I just know that Alice led you to the Cullens."
"When I first saw her in the diner all those years ago, my instincts told me to destroy. Something was off but I ignored it in favour of having someone seeing me as more than a killing machine, of both Human and Vampire kind. Then she told me about the future, a future where I could reign in the bloodlust I constantly felt, to finally satiate the hunger that I hadn't been able to escape. I held onto that dream. For so long I cherished the thought of one day feeling free from those feelings. Months turned into years, years turned to decades and soon enough over half a century had passed. Nothing changed. I was Jasper Hale Cullen, the dangerous one. They tried to be supportive of me but they forget. I may not be a mind reader like Edward but I can read emotions. Do you want to know how they feel about me? Even now? They're disgusted, terrified; they're ashamed."
"You're not a monster Jasper. We Humans slaughter and eat living creatures on a daily basis and asides from protests by Vegetarians and Hippies, we still go on because it's in our nature. It's not our fault and it's not your fault. So you want a taste of blood every now again? So what? You're an empath who feels others emotions no matter how much you try to block them. You feel the bloodlust of six other Vampires on any given day and on top of that you feel hunger and thirst from each and every single living organism on the planet." She smiled at him and looked him in the eyes, trying her best to get him to feel the pride. "I don't understand how anyone can feel that way when they've known you for that long." She shook her head. "And what of Alice during those years? She's your mate: why hasn't she supported you? Why hasn't she ever brought this up with the rest of the Cullen's?"
"She's not my mate so why would she?" Carter just blinked.
"Pardon?" She asked almost incredulously. "She's what?"
"She's not my mate. Was she in those books of your?"
"You're the fifth." His eyes narrowed, not understanding what she had just called him. "First Edward, then Isabella, then Jacob, then Paul and now you." She laughed sardonically. "I doubt there will be a romantic future for Edward and Isabella therefor Jacob's imprint will never be born, I took Paul away from his intended and now I find out that you and Alice aren't a mated pair."
"You're not the reason we're not mates, Carter. You weren't around in the eighteen hundreds to interfere."
"Okay, I'll give you that."
"Vampires are much like Shifters in regards to finding a mate. Only difference is that it takes a little longer for us to recognise our other half. If we meet them in passing and soon enough they leave entirely, we'll feel a sense of longing and loss. Unlike the Shifters who meet their Imprint and know straight away that they're the one for them. Alice, she wanted to change me. She desperately tried to. Yes, I adopted the ways of Carlisle Cullen and yes I stopped assisting with newborns and fighting wars but I am who I am."
"And you are Major Jasper Whitlock: God of War."
"I most certainly am Darlin'. You need to accept that you are Carter, resident of Forks, Washington and Imprint to a Shifter named Paul. You're a part of this world Lil' Darlin'."
"I think I can do that." They talked for a while longer, sharing stories of their pasts in the back of the bookshop.
''
Authors Note: I apologise for the late update and apologise furthermore for the fact that there will be a bit of wait between the Chapters from here on out. I hope you enjoyed and I will be writing and posting the next Chapter as soon as I possibly can.