A new year only a few days away, gracious goodness that was rather quick. Well to all you marvelous people I wish you a happy entrance into 2011. Oh and darlings thank you for such uplifting reviews, what more could a storyteller wish for then that. Now for the mundane part…
Disclaimer: All Twilight characters belong to Stephanie Meyers, while I'm just teasing and bending them for a bit. No profit is being collected from the fiction contained within.
The storyline and non-Twilight characters are my creative fault and mine alone.
The storyline has women loving women, oh my, "Danger! Will Robinson Danger!" If this kind of love scares you, well darling turn around and go back the other way.
Though I did have a wonderful offer to have my chapters Beta'd, for this Chapter I chose not to do so mainly because (scratching my head) I'm still trying to figure out how that whole thing works. Sooo as before all boo boos, snafu's and other misdeeds are all mine and mine alone.
Even though she couldn't see the faces to the names as they were introduced, Gabriella had concentrated on each person as they spoke, sniffing deeply so she could put a scent with each identity.
"Now, I ain't known for beating around the bush," Gabriella began earning a snicker from Alice, which caused her to smile. The two along with Bella were ensconced on one of the couches in the Cullen's living room. "Sooo, I feel like we've kind of blindly, er no pun intended, stumbled into a hornets nest which I get the feeling we're going to find out was built on a saguaro cactus."
The comment brought various reactions from the group from puzzlements to snorts of amusement.
"Uh dude, I don't understand," Emmett remarked as he scratched his head.
"I know we interrupted something heated when we arrived. We heard you all down your driveway. Not the specifics but enough to know there was a lot of anger and sorrow involved. I'm afraid Lina, er Alice's tale of how she came to be with me isn't any pleasanter, except she is alive."
Carlisle gazed at the woman, ignoring the rest of his family's reaction to her statement. "You're right," his eyes flicked over to Bella. "Today appears to be the day where those we thought were lost are not, but also that there were painful circumstances involved."
Rubbing the back of her neck, Gabriella nodded, "okay, well I'm sorry to add to more to your plate, but there ain't no way around it." Pausing she tenderly stroked Alice's cheek, "Do you want me to tell them my dear, or do you wish to?"
Shrugging her shoulders slightly the dark haired pixie started speaking. "Around two years ago Gabi and her son Conrad saved me from being killed by another vampire."
Gasps of dismay came from everyone and Esme stood up from her chair and went to her smallest daughter, "Alice," she crooned out wanting to pull the girl into her arms.
"Please don't," the petite girl said. Seeing the hurt in the caramel haired woman's golden eyes Alice sighed, "I'm sorry I'm just not ready."
Reluctantly Esme nodded sadly and went back to her chair where Carlisle took her hand in his and kissed it softly.
Jasper had jumped out of his chair at the same time as Esme but held his place by the snarl Gabriella sent his way.
"Sit down Jasper," Rosalie hissed at him. "Alice definitely doesn't want you going near her."
"Yeah bro, now is not the time," Emmett said standing up if needed to stop his brother from going over. "I won't have you scaring Ali cat or upsetting her protector in anyway, no matter your reason, okay dude?"
Stiffly nodding his head Jasper slowly sat back down in chair but not before sending a soft growl of warning towards Gabriella who just snorted in return.
Bella had ignored all the reactions her eyes were only on Alice and as she studied the petite vampire she saw the thin jagged scar along her throat ending at what were clearly teeth marks on the side of her neck. Tears she could not shed welled up in her eyes as she stared at the scars and her stomach flopped at how close she truly came to losing her pixie.
"It's okay," Alice said in a comforting voice. "I don't remember any of it not even the pain." Her amber eyes staring deeply into Bella's, "I have no memories of my past life. I'm sorry I don't remember any of you except for," she lightly touched Bella's cheek. "You. At least your image though in it you were human not a vampire."
Bella leaned into the small hand touching her cheek, "the last time you saw me I was human."
"So amongst the thorny brambles a rose blooms to life," Gabriella murmured softly a tiny smile gracing her lips.
Carlisle frowned slightly at Gabriella's observation before he steepled his fingers together and leaned forward, "this vampire that attack Alice was she a female?"
"No, a young male," came the quick response.
"So it wasn't Victoria who attacked Alice. That's extremely disturbing to say the least."
"Who is this Victoria?" Gabriella asked focusing her attention towards Carlisle.
"She's the vampire who attacked me two years ago. My friend Jake and his friends who are all wolves saved me before she could kill me," Bella answered.
Sucking unneeded air through her teeth Gabriella thought about this tidbit. "Interesting that you all thought this Victoria would be the one to attack Alice and then go after Bella. I am to assume you had past dealings with her?"
"Yes there is a history," Esme answered softly her eyes drifting towards Bella.
"Edward killed her mate James she decided to return the favor and because he was my boyfriend at the time she came after me." Bella answered her voice reflected the bitterness she still felt from the betrayal. "She didn't care that Edward had left me. He made everyone leave saying it was for my protection." Taking hold of Alice's hand, "but you were coming back to me. Your attack must have happened before mine."
"Fuck," the older woman breathed out. Though she couldn't see the faces of the Cullens she could smell the guilt. "You didn't think this Victoria would seek revenge after you all killed her mate?"
"You left her alone!" Alice hissed at the group. Her eyes had gone jet black and though her body was trembling from furor she drew Bella to her. "She could have died from your foolishness. How could you leave her defenseless?"
"Alice it was a difficult decision but Edward felt leaving was best for Bella." Carlisle replied keeping his voice calm. "You don't remember but it was during Bella's birthday party and while opening a present she accidentally gave herself a paper cut. Edward was scared by Jasper's reaction to Bella's blood. In his rush to protect her he used too much force, which caused the two of them to go through a glass table. The end result was a deeper cut and there was a lot of blood." Sighing deeply, "Edward hated leaving Bella but he wanted her to be safe, to have a normal life. We agreed it was Edward's decision to make as he is Bella's mate."
Alice growled at the word mate and if Gabriella hadn't put a staying hand on her shoulder the petite vampire would have launched herself at the man who had been her father for fifty years. 'Bella was her mate and no one else's.'
"He was my boyfriend Carlisle, not mate," Bella hissed at the elder vampire. "And he is nothing to me now!"
"I didn't agree so don't include me in that whole we bit," Emmett broke in gazing at his father. "I didn't want to leave Bellsie. I thought it was a bunch of crap."
Holding up his hands if in surrender, "wrong choice of words all around. As Bella's now ex-boyfriend I felt we should comply with his wishes. I am horrified by what happened to Bella after we left."
Rubbing her temples, Gabriella slowly digested the information and found that it tasted as foul as human food did to her. The idea of leaving a defenseless human at the mercy of a pissed off vampire appalled her. No less appalling was the fact they seemed to harbor a vampire in their own household who couldn't resist a mere drop of blood. There was just so much wrong with the whole thing.
"From my briefing before coming to see you all, I was under the impression Carlisle that your family interacts with human's on a regular basis," Gabriella began after deciding her best course of action.
It was Esme who responded, "yes we do. The children go to school so we can keep up appearances. That's how we met Bella." Glancing at the young woman. "Edward fell in love with her and she became a part of our family."
"A disquieting situation all around." Came the soft reply. "Certainly the Volturi would be concerned to learn you allowed a human to know the truth of vampires. Yet, what I find most harrowing is you would allow a vampire who apparently has so little control around humans, especially in closed situations like a school."
"I can control myself just fine," Jasper replied staring at the sightless woman. Keeping his voice calm as he continued, "my siblings can attest to the fact I handled being in school just fine over the past few years."
"So the tantalizing scent of teenage girls who are menstruating doesn't drive your beast wild with blood lust, doesn't send you over the edge with desire to sink your teeth into them and feel that warm blood pumping into your mouth," Gabriella smirked as she continued. "But this Edward fears you'll release your beast because Bella has a paper cut?"
Clearing his throat Carlisle, "Edward was little overprotective of Bella," the comment earned a snort from Emmett. Ignoring that he continued. "My son is also a telepath."
"Oh, so Edward, reads Jasper's mind and what? Your beast was mentally screaming fuck yes that tiny drop of blood is just too damn hard to resist. Time to ravage the girl, because well she smells sooo much better then the girls oozing with warm sexually infused blood in school."
The harshness of her sarcasm wasn't missed by anyone several heads snapped over to gaze at her but Gabriella's colorless eyes were pinned on Jasper who was staring back at her.
Rosalie was the first to move her focus from the woman and joined Gabriella in staring at her blond brother.
Yet he has the prefect poker face and she can barely see the discomfort Gabriella's words bring him. A tiny twitch to his right eye, a slight tightening of his jaw is the only real clues to the words having any impact on him.
She hadn't given the incident much thought then, but now Rosalie could see with clarity that, that night had been a tragic farce. 'What the fuck was he playing at?'
Scratching his head Emmett scrunches his eyes closed for a second before opening them and turning towards Jasper, "dude, did your thoughts go that direction when Bella bear cut her finger cause I've gotta admit after hearing all that I'm kinda confused."
"Yes, Jasper, " Rosalie quirking an eyebrow. "Did they?"
For a man who had fought in the wars, Jasper found himself feeling more trapped by the eyes staring at him then he had ever felt during the battles he had fought. His frozen heart was twisting inside of him. 'Who calms the empath? Who easies the guilt?' He wondered as he tried to formulate what how to answer the spoken and unspoken questions being thrown at him.
Cradling his head in his hands Jasper let out a soft sigh, "You're right I wasn't seriously affected by that small amount of blood, even though Bella's scent is one of the most tantalizing I've encountered."
Raising his head from his hand's he scanned everyone in the room, he could ignore the glares of everyone but not the one Alice was sending him. She was now holding Bella's hand in her own, while her eyes filled with anger were cutting deep into his being. Over their decades together he had never experienced such feelings from his wife and it hurt him to the core.
"Alice had a vision," he began slowly. "A few hours before the party and it angered Edward, he came to me and told me about it, in the vision Bella was a vampire. He was appalled by the idea of her becoming one of us. Edward saw an opportunity during the party that would cause us to leave and I went along with it"
"I've always thought Eddie was a bit twisted when it came to Bella, but you Jasper, I don't get how you could do it. Emmett stated his own body trembling with anger. "How could you do that to us? To Bella! To Alice your wife!"
"Wife?" Gabriella and Alice questioned at the same time.
"Yes wife," Jasper answered his voice becoming louder. "My mate for over fifty years." He looked to Alice who was shaking her head no. "Yes, you and me, we were together from the moment we met."
"You're lying," Alice seethed out as she stared at Jasper.
"No, Alice it's the truth," Carlisle responded calmly. "You and Jasper are married. You two have always…"
Alice cut him off, "I'm not talking about that," her voice was cold and bitter. "He's lying about that night, it wasn't this Edward who made the decision but his." Nodding towards her husband who squirmed ever so slightly under her intense gaze.
"I…I love you Alice," he answered. His eyes flitted to Bella and Alice who were still holding hands. "But you're right. When Bella cut her finger I reacted not out of hunger but from fear of losing you. Edward's reaction was his own that night. I didn't influence him but he knew I wasn't really going to attack Bella, just make everyone think so."
The hiss that swam through the room didn't come from any of the women on the couch but from the beautiful blond vampire who had been listening intently to everything.
Rosalie swung up from her chair and flowed over to where Jasper was sitting. Her eyes sparkled with inky black malice as she grabbed her brother's chin in her hand forcing him to look at her.
"You know Jasper I would expect moody broody Eddie to stoop to such a level, but I never thought I would see it from you." Yanking his chin to force his sight on Bella and Alice, "how long Jasper? How long have you been screwing with Alice's feelings?"
Jasper opened and closed his mouth with out uttering a word; shame had stolen his speech away as he felt the burn of hatred from Alice and silent confusion from Bella.
"Babe?" Emmett queried his mate.
"Oh Jasper how could you?" Esme breathed out in disappointment.
Sensing her husbands confusion Rosalie pointed her free hand's index finger towards the two women, "look at the two of the them Emmett, tell me what you see," not waiting for the bear of a man to answer, "love." Sighing softly, "even now with no memory of us Alice is still drawn to Bella."
Rubbing his neck Emmett thought about what his wife said. He knew that Alice had been drawn to Bella from the moment she told them of her vision of the girl. She had been extremely excited about finally meeting the girl from her visions. Smirking slightly as he recalled the first time Bella came to visit and how Alice had danced over to her, stunning everyone when she placed a kiss on the girl's cheek and saying they were going to be the best of friends.
Then Emmett found himself frowning as the image of Edward pulling Bella tighter to him with a slight sneer on his face as his brother glared at Alice for just a brief moment. He had brushed it off as Edward being his usual overprotective self but now he was sure it was the look of pure jealousy.
Shaking his head, "dude that's just plain wrong." Unlike his wife who still had Jasper's chin in her hand, he wasn't only furious; he was deeply crushed by his brother's actions.
Feeling Rosalie's fingers loosen he yanked his chin away. He slumped in his chair as he spoke, "how would you react if you found Rosalie, your mate, was in love with someone else, a human nonetheless."
"I love Rose, I would never deny her happiness." Emmett replied with a shrug. "I certainly wouldn't force her to love me like you did Alice. That's not love, that's desperation."
Rosalie stepped away from Jasper and sat next to her husband after giving him a kiss, which brought a smile to the big man.
"Since young Jasper failed to answer your question," Gabriella began keeping her deep full-bodied voice calm, even though her insides were pulsating with furor. "Rosalie, I'll venture a guess and say at least from the first time my petite one saw Bella, if not longer."
"You bastard," Rosa hissed towards her brother.
"Mates, Rosalie, like you and Emmett, we're suppose to be bonded together forever. Alice and I are soulmates."
Gabriella snorted and waved her hand dismissively towards Jasper's comment. "What a bunch of gobbledygook. If you two were soulmates, you wouldn't have needed to do what you did, if anything you two were what I would call potential life mates."
"Aren't they the same thing?" Emmett asked leaning forward.
"Yes," Carlisle clipped out.
Shaking her head slowly, "no, they're not. While love is a factor in both types the difference is a life mate is a matter of choice, a soulmate is a deep calling." Sighing softly, "as vampires we cling to the notion that we all find our soulmates, but that's a myth. Not all vampires mate for eternity."
"Gabriella," Carlisle interrupted shaking his head at her words. "It's not only a primal need it is a fact vampires mate for life, it doesn't matter whether you call it a choice or a calling."
Removing her sunglasses Gabriella ignored the gasps from the others when they finally caught a glimpse of her damaged eyes and began to rub the bridge of her nose. She wanted to desperately shake the elder vampire, rattle him out of his narrow archaic views but knew violence wasn't the key.
"Of course it matters," sighing softly. "You can choose or not choose to be with a life mate for eternity but not a soulmate. Once that connection has been made only death can stop soulmates from being together." Tilting her head slightly, "since vampires are so territorial it's easy to see how we would claim a life mate as a soulmate."
"So what you're saying is Jasper and Alice would've of been life mates, while Bella and Alice our true soulmates." Esme observed gazing at the two women with an accepting nod. "It explains a lot."
Rosalie and Emmett both nodded their heads in agreement glancing first at Jasper then back to Alice and Bella. Carlisle shrugged his shoulders slightly not willing to deny or accept what he had heard.
"Yes," Gabriella began reaching over and finding the two girls interlaced hands with her own and squeezing them lightly. "It's why Alice was coming back to Bella and the reason why Bella was the first person from her past that her mind called forward."