A/N: So sorry for extremely long wait. I know last chapter I said I was back, but then I was hit with yet another spell of writers block, this one worse than the last. It literally took me these last eight months just to get this much written. Also, I don't have a Beta anymore, so excuse all mistakes you may find.

A week later, the Cullens still haven't heard anything from The Volturi about Jasper's escape, and Alice hasn't left my side longer since he disappeared from her visions completely. Last thing she saw him do was enter a unfamiliar house, and then everything went black. That was three days ago, and it has gotten everyone paranoid and on the look out twenty-four seven, the Cullens constantly running patrols around the property, and the werewolves doing the same in La Push.

Everyone was exhausted, the vampires needing to hunt badly, and the werewolves needing to rest. Charlie still didn't know what was going on, so we kept it from him, that way he wouldn't be worried sick. With school, came reprieve, for me at least. I knew Jasper wouldn't pick there to come after me, so I relaxed as much as I could while doing my best at catching up on all the work I had missed. Alice was always on guard though, looking out for me every second we were together, and in her visions when we were apart.

All their eyes were black as coal, and I knew it was getting uncomfortable to be around me and my scent so much now that they were starving. It took every one of the Cullens and myself to convince Alice to go hunting with them, while the wolves protected me. Even then, they had to pry her away. Tonight was actually the perfect night to go hunting; Charlie was gone, helping out the town over's department with a missing person's case, so he wouldn't suspect anything with Jake and the others being around.

This also gave me the chance to start rebuilding my friendship with Jake, now that he knows the truth about everything. It was awkward when he first got here, but once we found something to do, it was like nothing had changed between us. He joked around with me, and told stories from when he first became a shifter and how weird some things were that he had to get used to, like the wolf telepathy. It would really suck having everyone hear my every thought...

"Okay, you've beat me at Scrabble ten times, four in Sorry!, and six in Uno...let's do something else." Jake complained as he poured the letter pieces into the box.

"I'm tired of beating your ass anyway. Is there a game you can win at?" I teased, trying to rile him up.

"Shut your face."

"Hm, sorry, I've never heard of that game before."

He shot me a glare before gently pushing my shoulder, and stacking the games back where we got them from. "Actually," He said, looking at his watch. "I should probably go out and walk around for a little bit, check things out and check in with the others. You gonna be okay by yourself, or should I send in Leah to keep you company?"

I froze. "Uh, I'm good by myself..."

I didn't need someone that hates me to have to come in and babysit me. If looks could kill, I'd be dead a hundred times over from Leah. I was actually really surprised that she even agreed to come over here and stand watch outside. Of course maybe she did refuse and Sam just used his Alpha power on her and made her come. If so, just another reason to just stay by myself for a while. She was most likely pissed about now and I really didn't want her to hate me anymore than she already does.

"Alright. If you need us, just holler out your window and me, Embry or Leah will hear you even though we aren't in our wolf forms."

"Okay." I nodded, waving him off as he left through the front door.

It bothered me that none of them had shifted, but Jacob wasn't all that worried, not believing that Jasper would risk coming back here just to finish me off. I was starting to agree with him. Sure, at first I was just as paranoid as Alice, but the more I thought about it, if I were Jasper and I had escaped from the most powerful vampires in the world, I wouldn't go right to the place where they were expecting me to show up. It would be suicide what with a small army of vampires and wolves looking out for me.

Locking the front door behind Jake, I put away all the games we had gotten out over the last few hours, then headed upstairs to my room and plopped down on my bed. I'm immediately bored now that he was gone, and it was only nine o'clock at night. After a few minutes of twiddling my thumbs and listening to the deafening silence that surrounded me, I kicked off my shoes and changed into an tank top and pajama bottoms, getting ready for bed for something to do.

Turning on my CD player, the sound of soft, classical music wafted through my room as I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. I fixed my messy hair up into an pony tail before I climbed in bed, letting the music wash over me as I closed my eyes. I missed Alice, and she had only been away for a few hours...but I was already used to her being around me pretty much every second of every day. Surprisingly, Charlie had been fine with letting Alice stay over every night.

When we had gone back to school, she had her schedule made to match mine, so we didn't have to be without the other. Some thought this was ridiculous, but we didn't care. We are in love and it pains both of us to be separated again, even for a class period. It wasn't like we were going to pay much attention anyway, might as well have Alice with me the whole time. The kids at school whispered about Alice being back, and how we were together now, but we didn't care about anything they said.

Angela and Eric were fully supportive. I could see Mike was jealous, and Jessica was a bit surprised about the whole thing. When they asked about why Alice was back and not the others, she gave some made up story about how she wanted to finish high school here because she hadn't liked where they had moved to, and her parents had only agreed because they had some family friends nearby to help keep and eye on her if she needed anything. And everyone believed it.

However, little did they know that the whole family was back, save for Edward and Jasper, of course. It had only been a few weeks since they were in Italy, and I still felt so guilty when I thought about it. If it wasn't for me, they would still be alive, and Esme wouldn't be moping around the house like she has been since they got back. I couldn't stand being over at the Cullen house now because I felt it would upset Esme, being the cause of Edward's death and soon to be Jasper's when they caught him.

If Emmett and Rose wanted to see me, they'd come over to my house instead. I felt so safe with the three of them around, and now they were all gone hunting. Jake made me feel safe too, though less now since he's not actually in the room to constantly reassure me. Things were still strained between us, but it was getting better. Eventually he would imprint on someone, and he would forget about his feelings for me. Then we would be free to be best friends like it used to be.

I could tell that Jake couldn't wait for that day to arrive. And I just wanted him to be happy. But right now he was preoccupied. I'm lucky that the tribe still considers me a friend, so I was able to have the boys and Leah looking out for me. Even though I knew they were out there, I knew I wasn't going to get much rest. Once you've slept while being held by the love of your life, you don't want to go back to sleeping alone. It just feels empty. That a part of you is missing.

The comfort of laying in her arms would be absent tonight, but I looked forward to seeing her when she got back more than anything. They estimated their arrival back would be in the early afternoon, just in time to meet me in the cafeteria for lunch. Smiling to myself, I curled up in my blanket and my body relax, my thoughts drifting to various things for what seemed like forever, until blackness overtook me. Though I wasn't asleep for long.

I woke with a jolt from a sound outside, my heart beating fast as I slowly sat up in bed. There was a loud growl, a rustle of something, maybe leaves, and then a small whimper. Worried that Jake had hurt himself, I made my way over to the window and looked out, seeing his wolf form lying by itself in the back yard. A wave of adrenaline rushed through me, and before I knew it, I was halfway down the stairs, running at full speed to get to him.

After fumbling with the lock, I grabbed the knob and yanked the door open. Padding barefoot down the back steps and out into the damp green grass of the backyard, I made my way over to Jake, who had now shifted back into human form, but was still unconscious. Reaching out and touching his burning hot skin, I shook his shoulder, trying to rouse him, but he made no indication that he'd be waking up anytime soon. I even went as far as lightly smacking his cheek, and still, nothing.

"Oh, Bella." A voice said from behind me, making me jump in surprise. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Oh, wait...yes, I did." The man laughed.

"Jasper..." I whispered as he came out of the shadow of the tree.

"The one and only, Darlin'." He smiled, his white teeth shining in the moonlight.

"What did you do to Jake?"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch. Him and his two wolf buddies are just knocked out for the moment. I didn't come to harm them...I came for you."

"Obviously."

"You had to know I was coming eventually."

I nodded. "Yes, I did. But I didn't think you'd come so soon."

"With the Volturi hot on my trail, of course I had to come and deal with you before they catch up to me. And my own family made that possible. They leave you with the incompetent wolves, hah!"

"Jasper, I understand that you don't like me, but-"

"But nothing, Bella! You ruined my life. You stole the woman I love away from me. She was my everything. And now you will pay."

Before I knew it, he was a blur, then then was a hand around my throat, lifting me off the ground. Looking down at his face, his red eyes seemed like they were glowing with rage as I gasped for air that wouldn't come. Feeling like I was seconds away from passing out, he released me by throwing my body across the backyard like a rag doll. I landed on the hard ground with a thud. Of course, he wanted to make me suffer before he killed me.

"Want a turn?" Jasper asked, looking towards the treeline.

"Hell yeah." A deeper voice responded, before coming into the backyard.

He was an older, tan man with short, black hair and gray temples. Shirtless, I could see that his body was covered in tattoos, but noticed one familiar one on his left shoulder. It was the same one that Jake and the La Push wolves. Frowning, I tried to get a better look at his face as he sauntered over to where I was laying. He didn't look at all familiar, and I had met pretty much everyone on the Reservation at some point or another. Then it hit me.

Alice's vision on Jasper walking into an unknown house, then disappearing from her visions. He was a shifter, just not one of ours. Whoever he was, he's still Jasper's partner in crime, hiding him from Alice, and in turn, hiding him, temporarily, from The Volturi. Before I could think any further, a warm hand yanked me up from the ground, only to be thrown again, though not as far. He probably wanted whoever this was to beat me up because if Jasper did it himself, I'd die faster since he was stronger.

I guess watching was just as good as dealing it out, though I'd prefer Jasper just do it. I'm going to die no matter what, that should be enough. It's not like I intentionally hurt him. In fact, I did everything I could not to. I tried to kill myself for Christ sakes. However, with this large man bearing down on me and Jasper watching from close by. I accepted my fate. Tonight, I would die. Not the way I had previously planned, and not the way I particularly wanted to.

Only one thing I allowed myself to think about as I was tossed, hit, and kicked. Alice. If I had died that day I jumped off the cliff, I wouldn't have known the happiness that Alice has brought me. Yes, my journey has taken surprising twists and turns, around the world and back home, for one girl. My girl, my love. She was worth it. And I'd do it all over again, though maybe in a different way. If I had told Alice while her and the Cullens were still here, would things have gone differently?

I landed on the ground again, not even remembering being picked up or thrown, too involved in my thoughts. I was half in a bush, half out when I rolled on my back, my whole body screaming in pain. If this abuse kept up, I wouldn't last much longer. My vision started to blur in and out, and at times there were two shifters, then they'd merge back into one. Maybe I had brain damage already. Even though I was so distracted about my current condition, I didn't miss it when Jasper finally spoke again.

"Alright, Joseph, that's enough. Time for the finale." The blonde man said through his teeth.

The shifter back away from me and went to stand where Jasper had been. The vampire made his way over to me and kneeled at my side, reaching up and brushing a few strands of hair from my face, his cold fingers grazing my skin.

"Jasp-ugh!"

Jasper and I turned our heads just in time to see Alice snap the shifter's neck, letting his lifeless body crumble to the ground. Instantly, she faced us, crouching in a defensive position, baring her teeth.

"Get. Away. From. Her." She growled.

Jasper scoffed, really pressing his luck. But what happened next changed everything. Suddenly there was a pain in my wrist, and when my brain caught up, the burning began...and I knew what it was then. He had bitten me.

A/N: Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up fairly soon. Definitely not another eight month wait. I'm sorry again, that was just ridiculous. Writer's block sucks for everyone.

A/N 2: For those of you who like happen to like Glee, I've been writing quite a bit of Faberry recently, and even one Kum/Hevans one-shot. So if you like those couples, check out my other stories on my profile.