Author's Note: Wow, it hasn't been a week since last update, has it? I'm sorry, I've kind of hit a writer's block. You're supposed to write around those things, but that's easier said than done.

On to business: thought it pains me, I must say that the next update may not come in for a while. Count on at least a week, maybe more. You know how it is, a tight schedule and all that. Maybe I'll have the end finalized in my mind when I come back, and I'll write up a storm and finish it in one fell swoop. ;)

If you have any suggestions for the plot, just PM me. I would love to have some readers' input.

There's some good news, too! I have been nominated for two of the Cullen Awards, which I think is AWESOME! If you don't know what the Cullen Awards are, just go to http://The-Cullen-Awards . yolasite . com. I have been nominated for the Jasper Award, which is best angst fic, and the Alice Award, which is best work in progress. I want to thank whoever nominated me-- you've made my MONTH. But, since the awards are given at the end of this month, and my story is going to be finished before then, I'd like it if someone nominated me for a different category besides Best Work in Progress. There are several, and you can be nominated for three awards. Again, thanks to whoever put me on the list-- I adore you.

Read, review, enjoy!

Songs:

Wasting Time -- Red .com/watch?v=W_MBjUjyE3g (this is kind of a precursor to the following chapters, and it sums up Carlisle's feelings about now)

Regime Change -- Disciple .com/watch?v=P3urCF-iIcI (again, this is a summary of the emotions brewing around in the ch. Not to mention, it's just painful, and that comes in handy in this chapter!)

Back to a Reason, Prt II -- The Trans-Siberian Orchestra .com/watch?v=NqtGYZiSGbU (this is such a beautiful song, and it's angsty. ;) I only just realized how angsty my story is...anyway, there are lyrics to this song. The original wasn't on Youtube-- I was sad)

35. The Snare

How could I have been such a fool?

That nomad had led me straight into a trap, leaving Rose in that warehouse. I had fallen for the bait, and I'd nearly gotten Bella killed for it. If I had been a commander, I would have been demoted faster than I could say the word. I should have known something was wrong when it was so easy to find and rescue my sister.

But there had been nine guards waiting for us. That didn't sound so easy to break through, once I thought about it. Maybe I had just gotten extremely lucky, and the guards had been exceptionally dimwitted for vampires. They'd been distracted by Bella well enough for me to slip past them. Maybe the noise of their fighting had brought Adelaide out; maybe she hadn't been waiting for us.

It wasn't likely.

Some good I'd done Carlisle and Rose! Now I was being held prisoner as well. Glancing around at the vampires surrounding us, I counted the total of Adelaide's forces. Nine by the river, five with us: that was fourteen right there. And who knew how many more were hovering around, anticipating the arrival of the rest of our family?

"Which of the Cullens are you?" asked the nomad, Adelaide, her red eyes probing.

I contemplated not answering. After testing the waters of her emotions, I chose to answer instead with another question. "May I first ask, ma'am, who you are?"

"I've already told you. My name is Adelaide, I am from France."

I evened out the peak of annoyance in her emotions. "I see. And why are you keeping us here?"

"You are remarkable," said Adelaide in admiration. "You must be using your ability now, am I right?"

Sensing it was time to push the limits, I grinned at her. "I'm sure you'd like to know."

"Jasper," Carlisle warned from his position behind the woman. He was telling me not to test her, that there was something I didn' t know.

"Your name is Jasper?" Adelaide was already getting on my nerves, and I'd been in her presence for a total of five minutes.

"Jasper Hale." I wanted to trick her with Rosalie's original last name, the one we used when playing our human characters.

"Hale." She looked perplexed. "Not Cullen?"

"No, does that bother you?"

It did; she was confused, but got over it quickly. "Of course you wouldn't all have the name Cullen. But you are one of the doctor's creations, aren't you?"

"No." That was the truth, plain and simple. If only Carlisle had changed me into a vampire. It would have made my first few decades much more bearable.

Adelaide's confusion was two-fold, along with a hint of frustration. "This is one of your family members, isn't it, Doctor?"

With another look that ordered me to be cautious, Carlisle nodded. "He is."

"I knew your family had talent, and I was quite right. You'll make an excellent addition to the army, Jasper."

Army? This was starting to sound a little too familiar. A little too familiar for me and my comfort zone. "Army?"

"I'll explain it in concise language. I have grown upset with the Volturi lately, and I think a change is in order. I've assembled the beginnings of an army." Adelaide waved at her guards to sit us down in the middle of the dirty road between the warehouse and its outbuildings. I was shoved to a sitting position by a burly redhead who reminded me of Emmett. Rosalie was placed a few feet away, her eyes shifting from me, to Carlisle, to Adelaide, and to Blaise. Blaise had been put in front of us, and Carlisle remained standing behind the nomad.

"The Volturi have powers," continued Adelaide, like there had been no pause, "but we have powers, also. Your family will swell the numbers of my recruits, and your abilities will most likely bring us to victory against those tyrants. If you three are merely a fraction of your family, think of what your whole coven will do for our army!"

"You..." I felt ice in my veins. "You want to..."

"She wants to take out the Volturi," Rose broke in impatiently.

"In so many words," concurred Adelaide, in a tranquil voice.

"And she wants Carlisle to build her an even bigger army." Rosalie wasn't going to keep quiet, even if there were five vampires glowering at her.

And that woman thought Carlisle was going to consent to all this nonsense?

I couldn't really keep my mouth shut any longer. "That's the most preposterous thing I've ever heard in my entire life! To take down the Volturi? That's impossible! It would take--"

"All it would take would be superior powers," Adelaide said harshly. I felt a spike of malice in her feelings, and another emotion harder to label. Was it lust? No, I realized, it felt more like a need for revenge.

"I think it would take more than that," I argued. "You would still need the man-power to match the numbers of the Volturi. Even if you had ten vampires with amazing power, it wouldn't do any good against the sheer number of bodies that the ancients have as their guard."

"I have more than ten," Adelaide declared. "Once your coven comes, I will have twelve vampires that possess abilities, and ten that have none."

"You're now seven short," I returned vidictively. Bella's maneuver had been priceless.

"You killed my men?" Adelaide's eyes narrowed. "All by yourself? Where is the rest of your family?"

"We could search--" began one of the guards, a dirty blond man that was right beside Carlisle.

Adelaide waved his offer away. "Don't bother. If they're here, they're not going to do anything while we have their leader."

Now, she had a good point there, but hopefully Edward hadn't been able to pick up our trail. I'd smudged out the message Siobhan had written in ash on the cave wall, and Bella had taken the blindfold with her. Neither of us wanted our family to follow us into certain danger. And, if Adelaide ever got wind of Alice's power...I shivered. When I pictured Alice, my dear, selfless Alice, being recruited into this madwoman's army, I had a hard time not ripping the nomad to shreds.

Above all, Alice could not be allowed to find us here.

I hoped Edward had the good sense to scope out the territory before sending the females with him in for battle. Esme and Alice were just as invincible as me or Emmett, but I still held onto the old tradition of protecting women.

"So, Jasper," Adelaide brought my attention back to her flawless face, "I expect you're the scout, aren't you?"

"I came alone," I lied. Bella was a bright girl, she would know to keep out of this.

"Come now," interrupted another vampire, a shorter one. "You don't think we actually believe that, do you?"

Shrugging, I nodded at Rose. "She saw me kill the sentry outside the warehouse."

"It's true," Rose compacted my lie. "He killed him while Blaise and I watched." I was glad she chose to spare Bella. Maybe Rose had a heart, after all.

"Well, well," Adelaide said. "Were you involved in the Coven Wars of the South, by any chance?"

"I don't see how that has any relevance."

"It doesn't, I was simply curious."

"What do we do now, Adelaide?" asked a vampire holding a lighter in one hand.

"We wait. The rest of the Cullens will come soon enough, and then we can march for Italy."

Please, I prayed silently, please, stay away. Alice, don't you dare come look for me. You don't know what you're getting into. It was a pointless prayer, however. Nothing on earth would keep Alice from looking into the future, glimpsing our location, and diving headfirst into our dilemma.

"Jasper," whispered Rosalie, "where did Bella go?"

I whipped my head around to look for our human sister. She wasn't on the riverbank anymore, at least not where I could see her. Where had she gone? Edward would already be out for my blood, and he'd murder me in the literal sense of the word if I let anything happen to Bella. I couldn't smell her, cut open as she was, so she must have moved back to a more secure hiding place. None of the nomads had spotted her, and Carlisle hadn't given any sign that he'd seen her. In fact, Carlisle didn't even know Bella was there.

"I don't know," I whispered back.

We faced the front again as the nomads cast suspicious looks in our direction. Blaise had turned to look at us, too, and I felt a sense of urgency in his emotions, like...he was trying to tell me something?

I raised my eyebrows at him, then cut my eyes to the embankment, communicating my concern for Bella. Had he seen her? Did he know where she was?

Infinitesimally, Blaise's fingers moved, spelling out complicated symbols with his hands. It was sign language, I realized in a flash of insight. That was remarkable: a nomad that knew human sign language. Unfortunately for our communication, I didn't know anything beyond my own name in the symbols.

I shook my head at him, then jerked my chin toward my father. Carlisle knew sign language, a nurse had taught him years ago, on a slow night shift in the hospital.

Rose spoke to Adelaide loudly. "Just exactly what do you intend to do, keep us here until we rot?"

I saw her plan, and broke in, "The rest of us won't come searching, you know. They don't know where we are."

"Oh, I think they know," answered Adelaide, staring at us in disdain.

"I covered my tracks," I said, and added a tweak of annoyance to Adelaide's feelings toward me.

"How clever," the nomad said dryly. "But since you found us easily enough, I can count on your other coven members doing so." She had been sufficiently occupied.

Carlisle's eyes had been trained on the nomad's movement. He'd maintained a vacant expression as Blaise's fingers had danced, giving nothing away to the guards. Once, he had nodded, a tiny motion, insignificant unless you were waiting for a sign of comprehension.

Then, as Blaise's hands lowered, Carlisle's fingers started up in the intricate patterns. Rose and I watched from the corners of our eyes, fascinated but unwilling to draw the guards to the silent conversation.

We hadn't distracted Adelaide adequately, and too late I saw her head lower to take in the sign language. As her eyes lit up with a keen interest, Carlisle froze mid-word, his fingers straightening. "Has Blaise been conspiring with you, Doctor?" she inquired, amusement prevalent in her emotions, but with a twinge of disquiet, as well. Carlisle, who could read this nomad better than I, didn't respond. Rosalie and I cast each other looks of dismay.

"Blaise," the woman tried a different tactic, "what were you saying to the doctor?" His lips crushed into a thin line, the black-haired nomad stared her down.

"I caught something about Bella and helping us," Adelaide said, "but I never was as attuned to sign language as Blaise. I think," she smiled, "I have all I need to know." Turning to me, she gave me a falsely regretful look. "You haven't been quite honest with me, Jasper. You never mentioned the other coven member, Bella. Is she here as well?"

Of course I couldn't tell her the truth. I could have just knocked off Bella myself and saved Adelaide's men the trouble. I turned a resolute eye on the nomad, determined to speak not a word about my sister. Adelaide would have to do more than taunt me if she desired any answers.

It was as if the woman read my thoughts. "I have an idea," she announced slowly, and suddenly her figure grew more menacing. "Our last show of power had a spectacular effect on your leader, Jasper. Let's see what we can do about you."

"N--" Carlisle was silenced by the icy glare of the dirty blond vampire. Feelings of fear, whether for me or for himself, radiated distinctly from my father. I figured the dirty blond had some kind of ability, one to make Carlisle, fearless and intelligent as he was, think twice about crossing the vampire.

Rosalie, her eyes full of trepidation, whispered, "Watch out, Jasper."

Watch out for what?

"Conner," Adelaide called. A vampire with an air of cruelty stepped out of the guards and faced me. For a minute we sized each other up, opponents measuring one another's strengths and weaknesses. "Conner," Adelaide said, "demonstrate one of the many abilities that we've gathered together."

I had a feeling I didn't want to encounter this man sitting down. As I unfolded my legs Conner spoke. "I wouldn't stand, if I were you."

Raising my eyebrows, I poked further into his emotions: there was a flat, passionless need for dominance. It was a conflicting thing, and I couldn't quite get a firm grip on its meaning. How could you want to control your opponent, but want it without any fervor?

Conner's clinical study of me continued. "Really," he mildly asserted, "sit. I recommend it."

Just get it over with! I wanted to snarl.

And then, with the abruptness of a brick wall hitting me in the face, he did get it over with.

My side erupted in a pain so excruciating I couldn't even scream. There was a demon blazing under my skin, scorching my insides. I sought for breath that wouldn't reach my lungs and wouldn't push through my lips. My fingers dug into my side, like they wanted to carve the pain out of my flesh. It was as if a thousand miniscule, poisoned needles had been punched into my skin and left there to worm themselves further in. I'd never felt that level of pain, not in a hundred years.

Amid my torture I could see my father and sister staring at me with sickened expressions, their mouths open. My face must have been a sight; I imagined it was pale as a dead fish. Blaise wasn't watching me-- he was watching Conner, a cunning look in his eyes. I tried to tell him not to pull any moves, that it would be useless against that power. This vampire had the gift of sadistic torture that he could summon at the drop of a hat.

To my horror, it got worse, much worse. The needles punctured into my leg, then my arm, intensifying the pain by a landslide. I cringed in helpless agony, gritting my teeth against the pain. I would not give this man the satisfaction of my screams. That was what he wanted, I could read that through the pain. Conner needed me to articulate my anguish; it was part of his craving for dominance.

"Jasper?" Rosalie laid one hand on my arm. Her touch inflamed the skin, so I slid out from under her hand. "Jasper, can you hear me?"

I couldn't risk a groan or a nod, for fear of howling till kingdom come. The needles sank deeper in, but finally I could inhale again. I gasped in air like a man that had been under water, my body jerking to the motion.

"He is strong," Conner said in detached amazement. "I'm not giving him any quarter, and still he keeps silent."

"Jasper." That was Carlisle, coming down from his height above me and putting the very tips of his fingers against my forehead. Because the needles hadn't yet attached themselves to my head, my adopted father's touch was soothing, cool. I sighed with the momentary relief. "Jasper, what are they doing to do?" Carlisle was hiding his unchecked fear well, keeping it just below the surface. "Jasper, answer me, please."

Oh, here went nothing. I cracked open my mouth, taking a breath. "He--" No, I couldn't do it, not without screams inbetween.

"It's all right, Jasper," Carlisle's hand was pressed to my face now, clearing my pain-clouded mind. "Tell me, Jasper."

My father's anxiety was roiling in his emotions, disintegrating all others. I couldn't let him worry so much about me when Bella was out there. Somehow, we needed to help Bella go back to Edward. She couldn't stay here, and if she was watching this episode, she wouldn't stay hidden for long.

Bitterly, I gave in to Conner's hunger for supremacy. I had to help calm Carlisle and Rosalie.

A scream --my scream-- shredded the tense silence, deafening myself and everyone around me. Carlisle's hand on my face tightened, and his other hand fit snugly under my back, lifting me into his arms. His arms sent chills through me, a strong contrast to the fire. "It's--" I had to scream again, lurching forward. "Pain!" Drained, I fell back into Carlisle's arms.

"His ability must be pain," put in Blaise, appearing on my other side. I received only benevolent feelings from the nomad, which surprised me despite my agony. Blaise was sympathetic to my pain, and furious at Conner.

"I have the power to isolate parts of the body, and to generate a sense of pain in those parts," said Conner, over my screams.

"With this power, we could overcome the Volturi." Adelaide looked at us composedly. "Don't you agree, Jasper?"

"Haven't you had enough?" snapped Carlisle, sparks flaring in his black eyes. He held me closer to him; I laid my face against his chest, seeking icy reprieve. "Isn't this enough for you?"

"Don't try to talk to them, Carlisle," Rosalie growled. "They're sick."

All casualness gone, Adelaide's mouth turned into a snarling set of fangs. "The question, Carlisle, is simple: Have you had enough?"

"Why punish him for my refusal?"

I screamed right after Carlisle's question, involuntarily spasming. "It's all right, Jasper," he murmured. "Scream, if it makes you feel better." It wasn't that it eased the pain, it was all I could do. I couldn't escape, I couldn't faint. My one outlet for expressing the torture of the needles was my throat.

"Conner has an uncommon talent," Adelaide said. "But so do the other eleven gifted men in my army. And there's only eight of you, Carlisle. There's more than one power for each of your coven members."

"Stop threatening me," my father snarled. "I've given you my answer!"

With the quickness that it came, the pain was gone. I exhaled in disbelief, going slack in Carlisle's hold. My head tilted back. Was it really over? Just like that?

Adelaide was glaring coldly at Carlisle, Conner standing calmly beside her.

"Make sure it's the correct answer, Dr. Cullen."

Gingerly, Rosalie took my hand, her concern and relief wafting to me. "Are you okay?" she asked.

I nodded. "I'm sorry for the screaming, but I honestly couldn't control it."

"Don't worry about it," my sister whispered, as Carlisle released me. "It's good that you're unharmed."

"Man by the riverbank," reported one of the guards.

Adelaide turned, shielding her eyes. "That's not one of our men." She frowned, and looked at Carlisle. "Has your coven found us already?"

We scanned the embankment with reluctance. As we'd feared, there he was, descending the bank with characteristic panache, his pale skin glowing in the dark. Carlisle's alarm spiked, along with his protectiveness. If I'd required any other confirmation of who it was coming toward us from the river, I would have gotten it from Carlisle's emotions.

Edward was walking directly into the trap.