~Jasper's pov~
Before I can stop myself, I say, "I am, but I know how to handle myself."
Before she leaves, I feel the hurt my words caused her. She turns and runs.
I try to follow Emma's trail, but I can't find it.
"Did anyone see where Emma went?" I ask.
"I thought she was with you," Carlisle says.
"How don't you know where she is?" Nanu asks.
"Nanu, come with me," I say as I run out the back door.
"Romantic rescue mission," Nanu says as she catches up to me, "Sexy."
She jumps on my back and kisses my cheek.
"We could take our time," I say, "This might not happen again for a while."
"We need to find my daughter."
"Multitask?"
I stop running and Nanu gets down.
I turn to face her and she kisses me.
~Emma's pov~
I'm lost and I have no idea where I am.
I sit down and think about what to do.
Two hours later, my vision and hearing come back.
I listen to my surroundings and it sounds like someone, no, two someones, are coming.
I look up and see, in the distance, momma and Jasper coming.
I know I could find my way home, I know I could run to them, but I'm so weak and tired, I just pull my legs up to my chest and wait for them to get to me.
After what feels like eternity, I feel arms wrap around me. As I take in their scent, my sense of smell comes back. It's Jasper.
"I'm sorry for what I said. I guess I can't control myself as much as I thought," he murmurs in my ear.
I smile and lean against his chest.
He gets the message and continues to run home.
When we get home, momma gets two bottles from Carlisle's office and Jasper lays me down on my bed.
Momma hands us the bottles and we chug them down. As I drink, my senses of taste and feel come back.
My phone buzzes on my night stand.
It's Seth.
"Hello?" I answer.
"Happy birthday!" he says.
"Thanks."
"How old are you now? Thirteen?"
I laugh.
"No, I'm nineteen."
"Really? You don't look it."
I laugh again and he fills me in on how he and the pack are. He finishes with, "Jacob and I were planning on coming up tomorrow. Is that ok?"
I look at Jasper. He shakes his head.
"I don't think son I'm underfed and I don't want to risk anything."
"Not even with my stench?"
"I haven't fed in a week. Doctor's orders."
"You don't think you could control yourself?"
"No, Seth, I don't think I could. I'll call you when I'm better."
"Alright. Talk to you then."
"Bye."
I put my phone back on the night stand and slip into Sleep State.
When I wake up, the house is silent and Jasper is gone.
Beside my phone is a note and a bottle.
The note reads:
At the neighbors. Please stay put. Drink up.
It's in Jasper's print.
I drink the bottle and the scent of smoke rushes over me and I hear the crackle of fire.
I finish the bottle, put my shoes on, and run the three miles to their house.
"Is everyone ok?" I ask when I get there.
"Yeah," Jasper says, "I thought I told you to stay put?"
"You did."
"Why didn't you listen?"
I shrug.
Our neighbors are the Toly family. Mr. and Mrs. Toly have four children; David, Lily, Luke, and Gracie. I look around. I don't see Gracie.
"Where's Gracie?" I ask.
Mrs. Toly screams.
I focus my hearing on the house and hear tiny screams.
I run inside while momma calls after me to stop.
I run up to Gracie's room and she's standing up in her crib. There's fire on two walls. I scoop up Gracie and run outside, but before I get there, a part of the ceiling falls. It lands on my arm, which catches on fire. I run full speed outside.
"Momma, get it off!" I scream.
She gets it off, but my arm still has third degree burns.
Mrs. Toly takes Gracie as momma changes the family's memories. She makes them think the fire department rescued them.
Finally, the fire department shows up. After they put out the fire, momma makes them think they rescued the Toly's.
When we get home, Carlisle ushers me into his office.
"Let me see your arm," he says.
I extend my arm and, when he touches it, jerk away.
"It's fine," I say.
"Emma, that's third degree burns. It needs to be treated."
I extend my arm again and Carlisle sprays stuff on it.
I let out a string of obscenities.
My non-burnt hand flies up and covers my mouth.
I only curse when momma isn't around or in earshot, and I tried to keep that to a minimum.
"Emma!" momma scoffs, standing in the doorway.
I look up at her, completely ashamed.
"I will speak with you later," she says and leaves.
Carlisle wraps my arm and hand and I go to my room. Momma and Jasper are waiting for me.
"Where did you learn such foul language?" momma demands.
"School," I mumble.
And my siblings, I think.
I hear Edward chuckle.
"We went to the same school, Emma, the language isn't that bad."
"Fine. Do you want the truth? I'll tell you where I learned it. I learned it from my parents. They would scream and yell at me. Are you happy now?" I yell.
"Emma… I'm sorry… I didn't know," momma whispers.
"To hell you didn't know. They abused me. It's implied it was verbal too."
Momma mumbles something about something.
"You know what? I don't care. Just, please, leave. Get out of my room," I say.
She runs out. Jasper goes to leave but I tell him to stay.
I can feel him trying to calm me down.
"If you don't mind, let me handle myself my way," I say.
I bite my wrist, and the venom burns ten times worse than the burn.
I curse and look at the bite. It's red and swollen. If I was fully human, it would be bleeding.
"If you must," Jasper says. He holds out his pocket knife.
"Why do you have a pocket knife?"
"Country boys always have a pocket knife."
I take it and make five parallel identical cuts.
Like the bite, they turn red and swell, but don't bleed.
I hand the knife back to Jasper.
"Thank you," I say.
I go into my closet and change into a long sleeve shirt.
I sit on my bed and read. After a few hours, I fall asleep. Human sleep.