I figure the events of Twilight will be pushed forward by a few years, so Bella would be seventeen/eighteen at around 2010-ish (so five more years after the original timeline) while what is currently taking place in this fanfic is more around 2008-ish (meaning Jacqueline and Cristopher currently are in 2008). Hope that's alright! Everyone is the same age and whatnot, just making things take place a bit more in the future. Also the story will pick up after the next chapter, I promise!
Jackie let out a loud yawn as she woke up, her arms stretching above her head before she noticed two very obvious things. One, she slept in her clothes, which wasn't something she usually did. Two, her room smelled heavily of cigarettes and her parents forbade her from smoking the damn things, even though she did. Her eyes snapped wide open as she looked around the room before looking over at Cris who began to put out his cigarette in an ashtray. Suddenly the events from the night before came flooding back and her panicking faded away.
"Mornin'. You can go ahead and use the shower and I can go clean your clothes, if you like." Cris smiled towards Jackie as she considered letting the man who she had just met take care of her. It was insane. She was insane. She must have been drunk or smoking something other than nicotine if she really had come back to this man's motel room to sleep. The fact she woke up in the same place, with her clothes on, and that she could remember the previous night clearly was rather soothing, though. Cris could have easily taken advantage of her, instead he let her sleep and kept to his word.
"That would be really nice, actually. You think we can stop by my house at around twelve? No one is home and I should be able to crawl through my window. I figure me not making it home last night was enough evidence I'm done with their shit. So it isn't like I can go waltzing in like I still live there." Jackie sighed as she ran a hand through her hair and reluctantly left the comfort of the motel bed. "Sounds good, just… leave your clothes outside the door and I'll make sure they get washed quickly, alright?" Cris smiled as Jackie nodded and slid inside of the bathroom. She took off every article of clothing before wrapping a towel around herself and setting them just outside the door.
"I got 'em!" Cris called as she let out a relieved sigh and hopped into the shower. She washed herself for what felt like an hour before she was done and left to wait for her clothes. She was surprised to find that just as she dried herself off that there was a knock to the door, followed by a, "your clothes are washed and clean!"
Carefully, she peaked out and gripped her folded clothes and tugged them on before finally exiting the bathroom.
"Thanks so much for everything, Cris." She sighed as she pulled her jacket on and dug out her lighter and her carton of cigarettes. Carefully she tapped the box against her palm, then opened the pack and slid one of the deliciously hazardous sticks and pushed it between her lips. She closed the carton and pocketed it.
"It's really no problem. If I were in your situation, I know I'd like it if someone could help me out." Cris grinned as she smirked and nodded before stepping out the front door. She shivered from the brisk cold and lit up her cigarette. Mentally she cursed as she recalled the half smoked cigarette in her pocket, but decided to forget it for the time being. She already lit her current cigarette, the other one would be a treat to her future self when she inevitably smoked all of her cigarettes and forgot about it long enough.
Jackie was a bit surprised by the fact Cris did not join her once and instead stuck to staying inside. She finished up her cigarette and carefully made her way back inside, only to notice the bathroom was taken and the shower was on. Letting out a snort, she flopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling in the meantime. She felt bad for taking so much from Cris already and she had no way of paying him back. Part of her wondered if she was going to be able to spend more time with him and go along with him to wherever it was they were going to go. Or was it a one time thing? She had been so deep in thought she hardly noticed Cris exit the shower in new clothes and flop on the other bed.
"You seem pensive." Cris chuckled as Jackie snapped upwards, her cheeks flushing as she looked away from him and chewed at her lower lip.
"The hell does that mean?" She pouted towards the man, her arms crossing over her chest. She hated feeling ignorant, and obviously Cris was a man of intelligence, where she was a silly teenager attempting to be a grown up when she had little more than the clothes on her back.
"Pensive? You don't know what that means?" Cris stared at her, shock written across his face as Jackie felt her cheeks flush brightly. Quickly she looked away from him and nervously tugged on the comforter provided on the bed.
"You really don't know what that means… Well, uh… It means you seem deep in thought." Cris offered with a smile as Jackie nodded slowly and let out a long sigh.
"I don't pay much attention in school, never really have. I was more about just… doing what I wanted and you can see where it's gotten me." Jackie let out a soft sigh as she ran a hand through her hair, her eyes squeezing shut as she tried to fight off the feeling of regret. She wished she had paid attention in school, then she wouldn't have seemed like such a fool, and maybe she would have been the golden child instead of her stupid older step brother.
"Ahh, understandable." Cris smiled and Jackie could only sigh and turn so she was facing him.
"I got a question… Do you mind if I tag along for a while? I mean, feel free to say no, you've been an amazing help to me for the night and I'd hate to add on any baggage or anything like that…" Jackie twitched at her spot on the bed and felt anxiety bubble up her throat before Cris grinned and chuckled happily.
"Of course! Seeing as my other traveling companion had to do what they did, I'd love to have you along." Cris smirked as he lifted his head and looked at Jackie and for a moment she froze. Hadn't his eyes been dark brown? She could distinctly recall him having brown eyes, yet now his eyes almost seemed bronze in color. She pursed her lips and sat up, her eyes narrowing carefully.
"Do you have like, some eye defect?" She paused as she looked to Cris, who seemed to stop breathing altogether before he let out a nervous laugh. "Why do you say that?" He arched a brow as he lifted his head to stare at Jackie as she snorted and rolled her eyes. She might not have been intelligent, but she still wasn't stupid. "Your eyes. I swear they were dark brown last night, but now… now they're like.. bronze, almost? Like a weird amber-brown, but… brighter?" She paused a moment, contemplating if she had used the right words before deciding that her words did make sense.
"I think it was just because it was dark. My eyes kinda do that in the dark, but in the light they look amber." He shrugged and slid from his spot on the bed and Jackie did the same. "Anyway, you said something about picking up clothes? Why don't we get on with it?" Cris grinned and Jackie sighed at the thought of officially leaving her home. "Yeah, might as well." She sighed as she and Cris climbed into the truck.
She gave him directions all the way to her home and she felt uneasiness tighten in her chest. Something was going to go wrong, she could just feel it. Usually her instincts were really, really good, they were almost like a sixth sense at times. Finally they came to a stop and she felt extremely reluctant to go into her home.
"What're you waiting for?" Cris peered over towards Jackie as she clenched her fists tightly together and swallowed down her apprehension. Everything would be fine. She was just letting her nerves get the better of her.
"Nothing, just… If I'm not back in ten minutes, come check on me, alright?" Taking a big gulp of air, she darted from the truck and headed towards her window of the house. She carefully removed the screen and pried the window open and slid inside. Her room was the same stark white as the rest of the house with just a simple twin bed, dresser, and closet. It was a typical room, but nothing about it screamed that it belonged to Jackie. It was simply a place she slept, not a home.
She worked quickly, emptying her dresser and closet into her old school backpack. She had just finished stuffing in her clothes when she heard her door creak and the very particular sound of a shotgun cocking. Her breath hitched as she turned around slowly, her hands in the air as her older brother pointed a gun at her chest with a smirk.
"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged back in. I'm sure you know, trespassers and thieves aren't allowed and seeing as I have a gun and you don't, I suggest you put the backpack down and leave." He smirked at her with such cockiness she thought she might just punch him by looking at his face. "Look, Danny, it's obviously me, Jackie. I'm just picking my stuff up and I'll head out. We don't have to cause any trouble. This will be the last you see of me, I promise it." Jackie felt her heart pick up in pace as her step brother got that horrible smirk he wore everytime he did things to her. She felt her blood boil as she stepped back from him. Her instincts told her to shift to the right and she did as the shotgun went off, only to clip her right shoulder and cause her to scream from the pain.
"Sorry, I don't like listening to trespassers and thieves. Unlike some people, I don't like listening to the scum of the earth." Jackie's brother let out a sinister chuckle as he cocked the gun again and she began to climb out the window of her room. Her instincts screamed at her to move to the right again and as soon as she could, she did. The gun went off again and she felt a horrid pain in the right of her chest. She quickly fell forward and was shocked to see Cristopher move at an alarming speed. He made his way over to her brother and hit him over the head until she saw red.
She could feel the pain, but she felt strangely numb and cold. Once Cristopher was finished, he ran over towards her and looked at her with such a pleading gaze she actually felt guilty for getting shot, twice.
"I'm so sorry about this Jackie. You're just… too nice and I hate being lonely." Cris paused a moment as he moved her leather jacket to the side and suddenly bit into her neck, but she was already so numb she could hardly feel the tearing of her skin. She whimpered softly as Cris picked up her backpack and lifted her up. All she wanted to do was sleep away the day, but Cris was intent on keeping her awake. He set her in the passenger seat of his truck and slid in with her. He took off quickly, and Jackie could hardly pay attention as the buildings grew less and less in number until there was nothing, but country side. When they finally stopped, there was hardly any light and all Jackie could think about was where Cris' duffel bag of clothes was.
"Jackie, please don't hate me… I need you to sleep now, okay? Your bleeding has seemed to stop, but what's coming up won't be pleasant." Cris' voice seemed to take on a sad note and Jackie once again felt guilty for getting herself shot. Reluctantly, she closed her eyes and let her body relax.
While it only felt like a few minutes to Jackie, it had actually been a full day before the pain started up. Her eyes snapped wide open as she thrashed around the passenger's seat, crying out in pain as she felt her body grow cold beneath all of the pain. Her heart felt like a jackhammer and it didn't seem like it was going to stop anytime soon. The pain seemed to go on for days, weeks, months, years before it finally ended, along with the beating of her heart. Suddenly she could smell everything around her from the oil, water, and gas in the car to the smells of the plants growing around where Cris' car was parked. She could also smell Cris and what she had thought had been an odd cologne from before was actually his natural scent.
"Cris… What's going on?" She was surprised that her voice sounded a lot smoother than she would have expected and as she looked down she found herself gasping. Her once golden tanned skin grew somewhat pale, but still retained the same golden sheen it had. Her body pretty much felt the same as it had, but she was certain something had changed. Quickly she moved to bring down the visor to look at the mirror, but found it cracked as she moved it. Her eyes grew wide at her new strength before she lifted the broken visor and flipped the mirror open. Her eyes, which had once been a soft grey were now red. They almost glowed. She was also shocked to find that she was stunningly beautiful. Her usually dull brown hair was now more full of life and had hints of golden brown highlights, but overall it remained the same color.
"I'm so sorry Jackie, I just… Your brother attacked you and you seemed like such a nice person, I just, I couldn't let you die!" Cris sighed and slumped downwards in his chair as Jackie stared over at him and let out a light sigh.
"It's fine, just… what am I exactly and why does my throat burn so fucking badly?" Jackie whimpered softly as she patted her throat. She thought she might have to drink a million gallons of hot tea just to make the burning go away.
"You're thirsty, for blood. I'm a vampire. You are too, I changed you because I didn't want to see you die. Your brother had shot your shoulder and then clipped your side and you were bleeding so much I thought you were going to die and your heart was moving so fast I just-" "Cris, it's fine. I'm just… I need to get use to the idea that vampires actually exist…" Jackie sighed as she cut Cris' rambling off before she shook her head. How was she taking this so easily? The idea that vampires existed was crazy, but her eyes were bright fucking red and they were glowing somewhat. She couldn't feel anything on her eyes, so she was certain there were no contacts and she couldn't deny that she had changed, plus she couldn't feel the comforting beat of the heart in her chest. Plus the agonizing thirst just wouldn't go away…
"I need to drink something. This thirst is driving me nuts." Jackie grumbled as she exited the truck, her eyes narrowing as Cris joined her and let out a soft sigh. "There are jack rabbits around. I… Sometimes vampires feed from humans, but I can't let you do that. My father taught me better than that, so I'll teach you too." Cris smiled as Jackie frowned and tilted her head towards Cris. "Who's your dad?" She frowned a moment as Cris suddenly got a bright grin on his face. "Carlisle Cullen. Doctor nowadays. I ended up having to leave because there were some problems with my… younger brother Edward. So I took off and have been traveling since. But enough of my past, let's get you something to drink before you go ripping heads off." Cris grinned, but soon frowned as he noticed Jackie wasn't standing there.
She was thirty feet away with a jackrabbit in her hands and her mouth biting harshly into the small animal's body. She eagerly drank as much as she could before tossing the useless body to the side. Had she been more rational she would have felt a familiar pang of guilt within her chest, but her hunger was overruling her actions.
After three hours of Jackie very successfully catching jackrabbits, she felt her thirst was not quite so bad, though it still remained. At least now she was able to form coherent thoughts.
"Cris, is it normal to know exactly what the jackrabbits are going to do? Like… For each and every one of them, I could know exactly which way they would run next…" Jackie frowned as Cris looked at her oddly, his face twisted into a both concerned and excited expression. "No… Let me try something." Cris suddenly pulled his hand back and moved to punch towards Jackie, but she quickly caught his fist, her eyes growing wide, just like Cris'.
"Seems you might have an ability… I know some of my siblings have abilities. Like my younger sister Alice, who I've never actually met, she can see further into the future. Edward can read minds, and Jasper can control emotions and feel the emotions around him. I've only really met Edward, though, so I guess I can't call them all my siblings." Cris shrugged as Jackie nodded slowly and frowned. "Odd. Can I meet them someday?" She grinned at Cris who shrugged and stood from his spot. "First we need to get you far from people until you can control yourself." Cris sighed as Jackie frowned and snarled at him. "The fuck is that supposed to mean?" She hissed out as Cris smirked at her and crossed his arms over his chest, his expression mocking her angry one.
"My point exactly. Just come on, we got a long year ahead of us." Cris sighed yet again as Jackie climbed inside of the car before he did. It certainly was going to be a long year.