Disclaimer: Of course, I own nothing but my own words. The characters belong to Ms. Meyer and a very small number of the words do, too.
1949
Chapter 4
Bella thought maybe she should try to run. The vampire had not responded to her for almost 10 minutes now. Bella was unsure if he was thinking or in shock. He was not at all like the Cullens, and not much like Victoria or James so far as she could tell.
She thought she could sense that he might not kill her, that he might help her kill Victoria if she ever came back. The things he said made it seem like he could handle himself in a fight. He had said the Cullens should have killed James, Victoria and Laurent immediately. The Cullens would never have done such a thing, being dedicated to peaceful discussion not violence, and at the time, she would have agreed with them. She no longer agreed. Now she could see that it was absolutely necessary in the world of vampires to behave aggressively in a situation like that. She had always put them on such a pedestal before, but this strange vampire was right; the Cullens had been wrong.
It also made sense that there were such strictly enforced rules about humans knowing about vampires. The Cullens should not have brought her to that baseball game. It was a context which clearly showed that she knew the secret. Any vampire who came across them would have to trust both her and the Cullens not to tell the secret or attack. If James had not been so cruel, if Victoria had killed Bella instead of her father, she might have thought in retrospect that they were merely protecting the secret. Of course, Edward had apologized at the time, but then he did not change his behavior afterwards, continuing to place her in situations she now saw were very dangerous, like bringing her to the meadow so often.
This vampire did not seem to show her any ill will; while he had been intimidating at first, especially at the diner, he was less so now. No, he was still intimidating, but he was intimidating in a different way. He was intimidating because he was so smart. He had seemed to know more than she had told. After all, she had given him only the barest of facts; he had even been confused about the size of the Cullen's family because she had not given him enough information. He had easily come up with theories to explain the events but was clear with both her and himself about what was true and what was speculation.
She knew that he was considering killing her. He had to be. He was now in the position of knowing she knew the secret (how could it be that her life was suddenly like a game little girls play to be cruel to each other?) and he would have to make a decision about what he would do about it. He did not seem like the sort to avoid responsibility and it was clearly the responsibility of every vampire to act on a case like hers.
Did that mean that the Cullens had avoided responsibility when they left her? She had never thought of them like that before. As the strange vampire had pointed out, she really could never know what the Cullens had been thinking.
Bella looked at the vampire again. He still had not moved. She kept most of her things in a suitcase, ready to go. She could pick up her bag and the suitcase and leave. She knew he could follow her, but maybe he wouldn't. Unless he ran into another vampire in the near future who smelled her on him, he could pretend that he had never met her. He would not have to kill her.
If she left and he came after her, he might be mad. Also, she would be in the same situation she was in right now, always on the run from Victoria, never able to make more than fleeting connections with any other person.
The truth was, she did not want to leave the vampire. It had been such a relief to be honest about what had happened to her. She had let it out a little, here and there, but most of it she could not tell. She had told people bits of the truth before: that she had discovered her father's murdered body, that someone wanted to kill her, that she had been thrown over by her boyfriend who had promised to love her forever. Each of those facts had been told to different people who she never saw again, and each was said in a context which made them just as untrue as they were true. Telling those half-truths had let some of the pressure out, but finally telling someone everything, even an abbreviated version which left her feelings out, was SO NICE.
Besides, the vampire was a chance for her to change her life. He did not want to kill her. She knew that. He would never have discussed the situation with her if he did. He might kill her anyway, but she felt somehow if she did and said the right things that he would not only let her live, but protect her. He had taken the time to listen to her and talk to her. He was the only chance she had to make her situation any different than it was right now.
If she took her suitcase and left, hurriedly putting on gloves and hat as she walked down the stairs, she would have shown to him that she was not willing to trust him. She knew she was foolish to trust him. She had learned that from the Cullens. She had trusted them, had trusted him, with everything she had and they had left her and her father to Victoria. So she knew she was risking everything by trusting the strange vampire, but nowadays her choices were quite limited.
If this vampire killed her, he would just feed from her quickly and get it over with. Bella knew that Victoria would throw her around like James did, maybe worse. Bella forced herself to think of something else. She never let herself think about what Victoria might do if she caught her.
She would stay. She would sit still until the vampire spoke. Could she figure out why he had gone catatonic?
She had not really paid attention to him at first. He was a vampire in the diner, not a person. She had not been sure he knew how to behave in a diner. He had seemed confused by the menu, so she had given him information about what to expect so they could leave without anyone getting hurt.
She had not looked in his eyes until they reached the apartment. His eyes were dark and a little sunken. He probably needed to feed very soon and that might mean she was in danger simply because he was thirsty.
His clothes were worn looking and a little old-fashioned. Alice would never have let him wear such clothes even when they were new. He wore heavy work trousers, a plain shirt, and a jacket. He really should wear a suit if he wanted to blend in better. Even most working men wore suits when they were in town or traveling. The clothes looked cared for. He did not look wild like Victoria, James and Laurent had. They had not worn shoes. Bella could hardly imagine traveling without shoes. Bella's mother had always told her to wear not only her best gloves and hat when traveling, but also heels. That way, everyone would treat you like a lady. There were expectations that people had of each other, but those expectations were clearly different for vampires. The strange vampire was again different than Victoria, James and Laurent. He wore boots.
The vampire had a young face, but did not look young at all. He had seemed powerful and commanding, though he looked less so right now. He was . . . floundering? He was just as handsome as any of the Cullens. He had blond curly hair and strong looking hands.
The vampire moved his head slightly and focused his eyes on her.
"I'm sorry, miss, what is your name?"
"Bella Swan. Short for Isabella. And you are?"
"Major Jasper Whitlock, Miss Swan. I am pleased to meet you."
She had passed the test. He was not going to kill her. He had called her miss, not ma'am, knowing she was unmarried, and he had asked her name. That was all irrelevant if he was going to kill her for knowing about vampires. Her sense of relief seemed to stream out of her.
He could obviously sense it.
"I'm not going to feed from you any time soon, Miss Swan. I can't say I've made a final decision because things cannot continue as they are now. But I have nothin' against you and your situation is mildly interestin' to me. You also have somethin' I want, it turns out."
He was playing with her, not telling her what it was. Did he mean to make her uneasy or was he, God forbid, flirting with her? She had not known how to flirt in Forks, but she had learned over the last few years. It was a very forward sort of flirting if he was. He had certainly succeeded in disconcerting her.
Major Whitlock gazed at her sardonically. "I want to know about the Carlisle Cullen and the deer. Did he feed from the neck like you do with a human? Can you feed from any animal with blood? How do they get the animals? What do they do with the bodies after they feed? Is there a difference between human and animal blood? "
Bella was surprised, but did her best to explain how the Cullens hunted. She told him about hunting in the woods and how much they seemed to enjoy it, about their preference for predators, and about how most of them seemed to struggle sometimes with the desire to attack humans. She told him of how she smelled better to Edward than any other human he had ever come across. When questioned, she admitted she only knew a little about the details of the hunt and could not tell him if they killed the animals before feeding or not.
"Edward wouldn't answer questions like that for me. He would change the topic of conversation. I asked him if I could see him hunt once and he was angry at the very idea. He said it was dangerous."
"It would be if he wanted to taste your blood as much as you describe. You could go huntin' with me and I wouldn't hurt you. There are almost always other humans fairly close by when I feed and I don't go after them. But it might be harder on this animal diet. It sounds like the animals don't taste good from the way you describe it."
There was a short silence. Bella dazedly wondered if this vampire had really just offered to take her hunting humans with him. She would find that quite difficult if her expected it of her. Would she rather die instead? But there was something else.
"Why are you so interested all of a sudden in the animal diet? You seem like you've been around for a while and you are obviously a human drinker. Not only are your eyes red, but you confirmed it just now."
The Major eyed her speculatively. Bella was suddenly unsure and embarrassed. She seemed to have crossed a line.
"I won't answer that question yet. But I would consider it a favor, Miss Bella, if you would come hunting animals with me. I could put you up in a tree, maybe. I never heard of hunting animals before," he sucked in his breath here and Bella thought there was some strong emotion behind his words, "and I'd like to try it. But I think I'll need someone to talk to about it. Maybe give me some pointers."
Well, she had decided to stay, to trust that he might help her. And she had always wanted to see Edward hunt.
"Please don't consider it a favor. I'd be delighted to go hunting with you, Major Whitlock."