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 9

I fell back and walked slowly for a few paces to allow the human to get well ahead of me. I continued to watch her through my peripheral vision until she left the buildin' as I left the train platform and entered the main terminal.

I knew I would need to approach this vampire, something which was impossible if I had a human with me. If she were my meal, I would not be approachin' another vampire and he would smell something fishy. Though Bella did not smell anything like fish, even live ones. She smelled . . .floral, and like some variety of spice.

Even after she left the buildin' I continued to follow her emotions for another few minutes until I lost them. She had been calmer than I thought likely.

I hoped that I had made the correct decision, and that this was not an ambush. If it was, I had probably handed Bella over to them and the only remainin' chance for her would be that I would find her while they tortured her and before they killed her. However, the emotions of the vampire were nothing like those of someone waiting to ambush, and there was only a small chance that he was the dupe of someone else.

I scented the vampire and found him sittin' on a bench in the far corner of the main terminal. He was scenting the humans who walked past and his eyes were a little dark. Huntin'?

I walked into his line of sight, standin' about 15 feet away and paused.

He eyed me cautiously, no doubt taking in my scars. I held my free hand out and down, palm facin' the vampire. He waved me toward him with a nod of his head.

Casual and relaxed was the way to go with this one, I thought.

I sat on the bench, leaving a foot or so of space between us.

"Jasper Whitlock."

"Garrett Brewer. Just traveling through. You?"

"Yes, I just took a train for the first time. Interestin' experience. Not sure I'll repeat it. It's confinin'."

"Jasper, may I ask you, your eyes are a strange color. They are more orange than red. Why is that?"

I could not have asked for a better opportunity.

"I heard a rumor about a coven that feeds from animals. I had my doubts, but I thought I'd try one to see what it was like. I ate a bear. It doesn't taste like much, but it was fun to wrassle with before I subdued it."

"It's not a rumor, I know the coven leader. I met Carlisle maybe 70 years ago. I haven't met any of his coven, but I got a letter from him in 1928 saying that he'd sired a male and also found his mate. They all feed from animals. Carlisle's a good fellow, but strange. He tried to get me to feed from animals, but I wasn't interested. Never tasted human blood, that one."

"I'll have to try and find them sometime. Always looking for new experiences, and like I said, the bear was a good time until I actually ate it. Are they nomads? Huntin' animals would make for easy travelin'."

"No, Carlisle had a permanent home in Ithaca and another in New Hampshire somewhere. They move from house to house. Carlisle is a human doctor, if you can believe that. I think they were looking into the northwest, too. Jasper, if you don't mind, I don't want to start something, and you seem like a friendly fellow, but you've got a lot of scars and you're asking questions about a friend of mine."

I looked hard at him and tested his emotions carefully. He was sincere, but distrustful. They matched his words.

"I'm interested in the diet. There are things that I don't like about feedin' from humans."

Garrett looked at me doubtfully. His emotions showed that, while he didn't disbelieve me, he found it difficult to reconcile my words with his impression of me.

He had a point. I had been surprised Bella was so acceptin' of my interest in feedin' from animals without asking why. Of course, she couldn't see the scars and apparently she was used to vampires who fed from animals.

"I can tell you don't fully believe me. I don't want to go into my reasons, but I will say I was detached from some responsibilities a few years ago and am now explorin' what else is out there. I'm travelin' somewhere right now, but later on I may want to check out these Cullens, see how they live, how they feed. I've been tryin' all sorts of new things. That's why I took the train here. It's a marvel. Not so useful for a vampire since we can run faster, but it must be wonderful for humans."

Garrett's emotions relaxed a fraction. The idea of me bein' someone who was trying new things seemed believable to him. It was even, almost, true. I was tryin' new things, but that was due more to my human travelin' companion than it was to my desire to check out the world. When I had gone off from Peter and Charlotte, I had been followin' emotions, not new experiences.

I needed to wrap this up and find Bella. There was still a chance, a small one, that she would be swept up by another vampire while she was alone.

I knew that no other vampires had been in the station when we left Philadelphia, or on, or near, the train and I did not see how a vampire could have figured out where we were goin'. But if they had known, or followed Bella's scent to the platform after we left, they could have figured it out and then arrived here before us. It was a small chance, so I had not shared it with Bella, but I had been worried when I smelled Garrett and I was still worried.

"I need to be on my way. It was a pleasure, and I'd be happy to run into you again, Garrett, but I wasn't meanin' to stay in Chicago." I thought for a split second. Vampires don't touch easily since our scent lingers longer when we do, but I held out my hand.

Garrett looked down at my outstretched hand and gave me a brief shake.

"I'd be happy to see you again sometime, too, Jasper. Maybe chew the fat."

"It'd be a pleasure."

I strolled away.

I was reassured as soon as I was out of the terminal. I turned purposefully East and looked for the first diner. I could sense Bella's emotions before I walked in and relaxed even though her anxiety replaced my own.

I paid for Bella's human food and hooked her hand into my free arm. I followed her lead as she found us a hotel for the night and checked us in. It was a nicer place than where she had been livin' in Philadelphia. I was pleased she had chosen somethin' better. I didn't have a huge amount of money, but I figured she could still be treated right. And a clean bathtub sounded real good to me. Somethin' I could indulge in while the human slept.

She cornered me as soon as we were in the room. Not the ambush I was expectin', but maybe I should have been.

"Spill, Jasper. I want to know all about the vampire and I realized that I don't really know much about you. For some reason, I thought you'd be safe, that you could handle yourself, but I don't really know that for sure. I'm not trying to pry, but you need to tell me about yourself."

I filled her in on Garrett while I thought about what I wanted to say about myself. I wasn't worried about scarin' her. She seemed sensible so no matter what I said about my past I figured she knew I was a better bet than Victoria. I just had never told anyone what I'd done before. Peter and Charlotte knew who I was and what I'd done, maybe not everything, but Peter had seen most of the worst for himself. And I hadn't talked to anyone else since we left the South.

We had avoided other vampires. Two years ago, I would have found a back route out of the station to avoid confrontin' a vampire I'd scented. Five years ago, I probably would have waited and ambushed Garrett myself to find out why he was there. It had taken a while to stop actin' like I was still at war.

I paused for a moment after I told her about what Garrett had said about the Cullens. She was gettin' impatient and I knew she was about to open her mouth and insist I talk.

"Why don't you tell me what you think of me first," I think she could tell that was an order, not a request.

She looked at me for a moment, ponderin' me. Even feeling her emotions, I couldn't tell if she was rebellin' against my insistence or thinkin' what to say to me. Then she gave me a little speech.

"You are very strategic. You seem like you can probably handle yourself in a fight since you always seem to be watching for someone to attack us. Your rank seems like it was from when you were a human, but unless you were turned recently, I think you must have had some kind of military experience as a vampire, too, because you are so used to people following orders. I am about as unmilitary as it gets, but you give me orders frequently. And your orders are always very clear. I . . . I think you're holding something big back from me. There's a reason you're taking responsibility for me instead of just running to the Volturi. And I think you're in the middle of some kind of crisis. I know I can't trust what Edward told me about vampires, but changing your diet and traveling across country with a human is not normal vampire behavior. James and Victoria wouldn't ever do that. At least, Victoria might travel across country with me, but not the way you have."

Anger and fear filled me, though I was also impressed. "Anythin' else you want to tell me about me?"