DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR ANY OF

S. MEYER'S CHARACTERS… UNFORTUNATELY.

I JUST PLAY WITH THEM.

Blood In The Snow Chapter 2

EPOV

As I warmed up the soup, I wondered how much he remembered about what happened to him. I know that a lot of the time, people will repress traumatic events as a way to deal with them. I hope he is not the Jasper Whitlock that the police are looking for. If he is, then the Volturi family will be watching to make sure that he is dead. If they have any idea that he survived being beaten near to death and then dumped on a snow covered mountain, they will try to find and kill him. One good thing… they won't be able to get back up here to do any checking until spring and the snow melts. So, we have at least three months before we have to worry about them.

Ah. The soup is warm. Pulling out a couple of mugs, I pour the soup into them, set them on a tray with some bread, butter and napkins. I get a couple of bottles of water and a bottle of orange juice and set them on the tray.

Walking back upstairs, I hear soft murmuring. It sounds like he is talking to Alec. That dog is a good listener. I try to walk a little heavy so he is aware that I am coming. Don't want to startle him. It gets quiet as I enter the room. Alec is snuggled as close as he can get to him, eyes clamped shut, a look of pure bliss on his face. He looks up at me with those crystal blue eyes, reminding me of a rabbit caught in the headlights.

Setting the tray on the nightstand beside the bed, I smile at him. "Hope you like chicken noodle soup." He nods at me. "Good." I hand him a mug with a spoon in it. "Would you like some bread and butter to go with it?" He nods once again, so I butter a slice of bread and hand it to him on a napkin. Buttering a piece for myself, I covertly watch as he sips the broth off the soup. He starts eating like he hasn't eaten in a very long time. "Juice?" I ask.

He nods and gives me a small smile as I hand the bottle to him. He opens the bottle and takes a drink. Immediately he's choking and coughing, tears running down his face as he grabs his throat. I grab a napkin, handing it to him. While he wipes up, I open a bottle of water and hand it to him. "I'm sorry. I never thought about the acid in the juice. Are you okay?"

""Yes", he whispers. He takes a long drink of the water and it seems to soothe his throat. Hs eyes close in relief. "My throat's a bit raw, I guess." He speaks very quietly.

"Better now?" He nods and eats some more of his soup. "More?"

"No, thanks." He sets the mug and napkin on the nightstand and lies back, closing his eyes.

"Uh…"

He looks at me with a question in his eyes.

"What is your name?" He looks reluctant to answer. "I'd just like to know what to call you as opposed to 'Hey you'." I grin at him, raising my eyebrows. He snickered, looking up at me through his long eyelashes. My heart jumped and my cock twitched. Down boy. He's too hurt for any of that, I remind myself. And I don't even know if he is gay.

"Call me Jazz."

"Okay." I'm pretty sure that's short for Jasper. Oh god. It is him. How can I let him know that I know who he is? "Jazz… who did this to you? Do you know?"

He ducked his head, reaching for Alec. Slowly, he shook his head no.

"You know that you are safe here… right?" He looked up at me with a quizzical look on his face. "We are on a mountain, a hundred miles from the nearest public road. This is all private property and the only ones here are Alec, you and me. Plus we've just had a major snow storm that has made the roads impassable with another one on its way." His eyes grew big as he listened to me. "And… since this is all private property, the snow plows will not clear our roads. No one can get in or out until the snow melts in the spring."

Looking over at him, I can see that he is growing sleepy. Guess a warm meal, a warm bed and a friend to snuggle with is taking its toll. Gathering the mugs and bottles from the nightstand, I head for the door to take this all downstairs and get it cleaned up. "Jazz, why don't you take a nap for a while? Later, after you've rested, maybe you'd like to move downstairs for a while."

"That would be good. I am tired." He slid back down in the bed, settling in and snuggling back up with Alec.

"You rest and I'll check on you in a while. If you need me, send Alec down to get me." I pulled the curtains on the window as I pass, then pull the door partly shut and leave him to sleep.

After cleaning the kitchen, I decide to look online to see just how much I can find out about this Volturi family. Using Google, I find a lot more than I expected. Apparently the family emigrated from Italy in the thirties and became a power to reckon with in Chicago in a very short time.

The stories I found painted a very gory history. They were involved in everything from alcohol to drugs to slave trading. In the forties and fifties, they appeared to be at the height of their power and visibility. They bought cops and judges and did as they pleased. Things seemed to quiet down some when Aro Volturi took over from his father, Caius Volturi, in the late seventies at the early age of twenty.|

While Caius didn't care if his activities were well known and traceable back to the family, Aro appeared to be more circumspect. Of course, law enforcement was becoming less likely to allow the organized crime families to run roughshod over them during this time. Didn't mean that the families were less active, just more on the quiet side. Aro moved his family into the computer age and took advantage of the information available to increase his family's wealth and power.

Aro has a reputation for viciousness. He is rumored to dole out punishments himself. He is a cruel man who demands that his every word is law and must be obeyed without question.

I read about this family for nearly an hour. Each article more chilling than the last. I was amazed that so much was known about him, but he was still free to do as he pleased.

I changed my search criteria to search out more information on Jasper's involvement. The original article I had read when I first found him was there, but so were a few others. I pulled up the one that had information about his parents. Hmmm. Apparently, his father had been in the small loan business. It was legitimate and provided very well for his family. One day he was approached by one of Aro's minions and offered a deal he didn't dare refuse. Aro's men came in and took over the business, forcing Mr. Whitlock to take an 'advisory' position. Whitlock hated it, but feared for his family if he refused any of Aro's orders.

Money was laundered through his business, his customers were harassed, and if they couldn't pay on time, beaten and some were killed. His son Jasper, who had worked for his father as his bookkeeper, saw exactly what was going on and wanted to go to the police. His father begged him to keep quiet to protect the family.

According to the article, when a young woman was killed over an unpaid debt, Jasper sneaked behind his father's back and went to the police. He promised to not only testify against the Volturi family, but to provide a copy of the books as proof. He demanded protection for his parents and himself and it was promised. They were taken to a safe house and hidden for three months before Aro found them.

The article went on to say that while it was impossible to prove that Aro Volturi killed them and burned the house, word on the street was that others should take warning and expect the same should they feel the inclination to talk to the police.

As I scrolled through the article, I was confronted with photos of the Whitlock family. Mrs. Whitlock seated next to son, Jasper with Mr. Whitlock standing behind them both.

I felt sick to my stomach. Jasper is lying upstairs in my bed. What they must have gone through! I prayed that he wasn't forced to watch as they killed his parents.

My stomach twisted and I lurched up, running for the bathroom where I emptied my stomach of breakfast. I continued to heave long after there was nothing left to come up. Finally, the spasms stopped and I sat there for a few minutes trying to get enough energy to get up and clean up. I stumble to the sink, turning on the cold water and splash it over my face. Looking in the mirror, I can see the horror in my eyes. I've got to get this under control. I can't let 'Jazz' see that I know who he is. It will be better if he tells me himself. I won't hide the fact that I saw the article on the house fire… in fact, that might just be the opening he needs to tell me exactly who he is.

Wandering back into the living room, I scroll through all the articles until I get back to the original one I saw last night. I pull it up on the screen and then quickly erase the history. Since it's an article in the local paper, it should look innocent enough.

I hear toenails on the stairs, looking back I see Alec on his way down. "Hey, lazybones… need to go out?" He dances over to the door and stands there staring at me until I get up and let him out. I leave the door open so he can come back in when he's ready. I wonder if Jazz is awake. I hear movement upstairs. Going upstairs, I hear the bathroom door close. Good. He's able to getup on his own.

As I walk into the bedroom, I can hear the water running in the sink in the bathroom. I walk over to my closet and rummage to see if I can find him some clothes. I find a pair of faded Levis and a blue button up shirt that look like they will fit him. I lay them on the bed and pull out a pair of socks from the dresser drawer. As I'm putting them on the bed with the rest of the clothing, Jazz comes out of the bathroom, carefully cradling his casted left arm.

"Hey. Sleep all right?" I smiled at him.

"Yeah. Feel almost human." He nodded toward his arm, "Where did this come from? I thought we were snowed in."

"We are. I have some medial training and we keep the lodge well stocked in first aid materials for that very reason."

He eyed the clothing on the bed. "That for me?" I nod. "Thanks." He shuffles over, and slumps down on the side of the bed, breathing heavily. "Man, I've got no strength. That little walk nearly did me in." He wipes a bead of sweat from his brow. "This is embarrassing, but I think I'm gonna need some help getting into those jeans." He raised his cast. "This thing makes doing just about anything a lot more difficult."

"Sure, whatever you need." I got down on my knees in front of him, grabbing the socks. Lifting his foot, I slid it on and then reached for the other foot. "Probably easier to get these on first." I smiled at him. He nodded and lifted the foot for me. Then he handed me the jeans.

"How are we gonna do this?" He looked down at me, raising an eyebrow.

Laughing, I answered. "One foot at a time."

"Smart ass." He chuckled, blue eyes twinkling. He lifted a foot as I worked the leg of the jean over it. We managed to get both legs in and he stood up, balancing himself with one hand on my shoulder. I pulled the rest of the way up and did up the button. Jazz was able to pull the zipper himself. Moving behind him, I held the shirt up for him. He stuck his arms through the sleeves, shrugging it the rest of the way on.

"Can you manage the buttons?"

He fiddled with them, using the fingers of his injured had to hold the cloth while the good hand pushed the buttons through. "Yup."

"Ready to go downstairs?"

"Yeah. Where is Alec?" He looked around the room.

"He needed to go out. He should be back in by now." We could hear Alec galloping up the stairs. "And speak of the devil!" I laughed and moved to the door to intercept that crazy dog before he came barreling in and knocked one or both of us down. "Alec. Calm down. Sit." He immediately sat and looked at me, craning his neck to see Jazz behind me. "Silly dog. He's here." I pointed to the stairs. "Back downstairs, now." He whined, but obeyed.

"Come on, I'll give you a hand getting down the stairs." I held out my hand to him. Jazz grabbed hold and raised himself up off the bed. He draped his right arm around my shoulders and I wrapped my left arm around his waist, hooking my fingers in the belt loops of his jeans.

We slowly made our way down the stairs and into the living room, where I got him settled on the couch. "Hungry?" He nodded. "I'll go get us something to eat. The remote for the TV is there on the coffee table, or if you rather, the laptop is there and you can check your email or if you need to let someone know you're okay…" I trailed off. He'd see the story… well, maybe he would tell me his real name.

"Thanks, man." He picked up the remote and turned on the TV, flipping through channels to find something to watch.

I went into the kitchen and started gathering ingredients for a good meal. I'd been working on dinner for about half an hour, when I hear sobbing from the living room. As I round the corner, I see he's found the news channel on the TV and their top story was about his parents and the Volturi. He is crumpled in a small heap on the couch, sobbing as if his heart is breaking. I practically run to the couch, sliding next to him, I pull him into my arms. I gently rock him, murmuring softly. "Oh baby… I'm so sorry. So sorry…."

A/N: I am so blown away by the amazing reception my story has received! Thank you all so very much. I promise I will answer everyone… would have done it today, but this chapter demanded to be written.