Virgin Blood
Chapter 15
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Jasper sighed as he carried lunch up to the tiny brunette, whose name he still didn't know. It was as though a strange aura, a deep melancholy, had fallen over the castle. It was probably due to the fact that Jasper missed Bella cooking meals, and that he and Edward were barely speaking, and he knew he wasn't the only one feeling it. It was disconcerting and uncomfortable.
It had been four days since Bella had left the room in the basement, and she appeared to be withering away like a trapped invalid. Jasper had wanted to let her come upstairs while Edward was asleep, but for that he would have to disobey Edward's strict orders to keep her locked in her room. And surely Edward would know if she had gone outside. Jasper didn't want to tip the delicate balance of Edward's precarious mood.
Even if Jasper had left the door open for her, he wasn't sure Bella would exit the room at all. In those four days, he hadn't heard her speak once, though he had tried talking to her a little. Nor had he even seen her move.
Jasper was worried about her. He had left her some books from the library so she wouldn't get bored, and though she didn't acknowledge them while he was there, he assumed she was reading them. He also brought her some flowers he picked to allow some freshness into the cold basement.
Jasper found himself wondering once again what was going on with Edward and Bella. He knew Edward was spending time in her room, but he also knew the vampire was spending at least half the night every night away from the castle, hunting.
Jasper knew for a fact as well that Edward hadn't bothered the new girl at all, nor had even he enquired after her. He wondered if he had simply forgotten about her, something Jasper wasn't finding so easy to do himself.
This girl was the most infuriating little thing he had had to deal with yet. Every time he had gone to her room to bring her a meal, she hadn't hesitated to throw something at him or scream and berate him, more than once causing him to spill the food he was bringing her.
Every time she had thrown a piece of furnishing at him, he had taken it and set it outside in the hallway until her room held nothing but the bed and the furniture that was too heavy to throw.
Still, Jasper could expect to have the previous meals dishes flung at his head as soon as he entered the room. She had broken two plates and three teacups before Jasper started serving her food on a wooden cutting board and water out of a small wooden bowl. Jasper had told her she shouldn't be expecting tea again until she settled down, for which she hadn't seemed to care one whit.
The only thing the girl refrained from hurling at his frame was her chamber pot, spurred by at least some sense of propriety, for which Jasper was grateful. Though he was normally slow to anger, if she had thrown piss on him, he didn't think even he could have controlled his anger.
Though he had threatened to tie her up several times, nothing ever came of it. Normally Edward would leave him with orders on how to prepare the girls for him, or what to do, but with this girl, he was on his own. Without orders from Edward to tie her up, the act would be completely of his on volition. When he was obeying Edward's orders, it was one thing, he didn't have a choice, but if he did it on his own. . . Jasper didn't want to take that leap into becoming the kind of man who bullied young girls who were half his size. He didn't want to turn into Edward, believing he could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted just because he was bigger and stronger, and end up alone and lonely because of it.
He had thought about talking to Edward about just letting the girl go, but the idea left his head as quickly as it had come. First, if Edward had indeed forgotten about the girl, he didn't want to draw his attention to her. Edward might just decide to start drinking her blood out of stubbornness, and as slim a hope as it was looking to be, Jasper still thought maybe Bella would be the one to change Edward. He wanted Edward to work out whatever was going on with her without distractions.
Secondly, if Edward did in fact agree to let the girl go, one of them would have to take her down Hellston. Jasper had a feeling that he would be ordered to go, and he didn't want to leave Bella here alone with Edward. Edward might perhaps forget to feed her, and Bella might be too stubborn to remind him that she needed to eat.
Jasper shook off his thoughts of Edward and Bella when he reached the girl's room. He set the food tray down outside, preparing himself for the wooden cup that would inevitably be hurled at him. Even though ever since he had learned to expect it, she had only hit him once, a glancing blow off his shoulder, she still threw things.
Jasper unlocked and opened the door, his hands at the ready, but was amazed when nothing came. He was shocked and hoped that perhaps she had finally given up, but soon realized with a dread the reason she hadn't thrown anything. She wasn't there.
Then his heart stopped as he saw the state the room was in.
One of the remnants of the old fortress days of the castle's original purpose was that there was only one small, highly placed window in room, which had been later filled in with glass, but not made to open and dresser had been pushed over to under the window, which with her small frame she wouldn't have been able to reach on her own, and the glass was broken out.
Jasper almost stumbled with the burdensome weight of what he knew must have happened, and though he never cried, tears tickled lightly in his eyes.
This room was on the top floor of the castle, the only higher rooms being the two matching towers. The outside of the castle was sleek. There was no way one could climb down the heavy stones.
She had jumped. She had killed herself.
Jasper stood stalk still, staring in complete shock and horror. He didn't want to go to the window, to look down and see what he knew would be her broken, crippled little body on the ground so far beneath him. Still, though, he knew he had to. He was responsible for what she had done. His heart lurched with revulsion as he climbed up onto the dresser and peered out he window.
He gasped, his heart stopping still for the second time in five minutes. The crazy girl was hanging there by some makeshift rope, stark naked! Then he noticed for the first time the corner of the bed sheet tied securely to a peg embedded between the rocks and wood that made up the window frame.
The girl had used the remains of the torn dress he had found her in as extra length, tying it to the bed sheet, and now she hung at the end of the whole thing, though still only halfway down the side of the castle. The relief Jasper felt that she was still alive was quickly replaced by the fear of the danger she was in.
"What are you doing?" he shouted out the window down to her.
The girl screamed in surprise, and lifted her face up to him, though he wasn't sure she would be able to see him, the sun being blindingly high in the sky.
"I'm stuck," she yelled back, swaying on the rope. She was holding onto it with a death grip,
"Why don't you climb back up?" Jasper shouted.
"Don't you think I would have tried that?" the girl shouted back snappily.
Jasper leaned out the window and grabbed the sheet in his hands. He was glad the girl was so small as he began pulling her back up toward him. Though it took a fair amount of effort, Jasper was able to slowly and steadily pull her weight up the side of the castle, his arm muscles bulging as he did so.
When she was in reaching distance, Jasper grabbed her wrist in hand as she grasped his in her sweaty palm. He bodily pulled her up through the window and then into his arms. The relief that he felt at having her once again safely inside was so great that he held her close in a bone crushing hug.
"What the hell were you thinking, girl? That was the stupidest, most idiotic thing I've ever seen anyone do. You could have been killed," he started to lecture her, even as he held her close.
She pulled back and glared at him, protectively covering her breasts with her small arm, and using other hand to cover her nether region. Jasper simply looked down at her.
"Stop staring at me like that," the girl demanded furiously, "How dare you stare at me with no clothes on," she blushed.
"You were the one climbing down the side of the castle naked as an egg, trying to escape!" Jasper declared, "You didn't seem to have a whole lot of problem with it then."
"It wasn't as though I had a whole lot of choice!" the girl shouted back at him, "I needed the extra fabric."
"Your choice could have been not climbing out window in the first place. And a whole lot of good that extra fabric did you anyway," he said sarcastically, "You weren't even close to the ground. What, were you planning on jumping the rest of the way?"
"No! I thought I would reach a window to climb into on a lower level, but it was still too far down. Now turn around so I can retrieve my dress," she glared at him, still covering herself.
"I'll look wherever I want to look," Jasper said, surprised as the words left his mouth. What was it about this girl that he let get to him?
She let out a tiny growl that Jasper would have thought was cute if it wasn't accompanied by her pushing him off the dresser they were still standing on. He was so surprised by the sudden force, that he stumbled backwards and was close to toppling off onto his butt, but was able at the last minute to catch himself and land hard on his feet.
He reached up and grabbed her easily around the waist and pulled her off the dresser as well, holding her small frame so that her stomach was at his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her upper thighs.
She girl started pounding his head and shoulders, until Jasper threw her forcefully down onto the bed.
He saw the flash of fear in her wide eyes as she looked up at him before scrambling to the far side of the bed and wrapping her arms around her bent legs protectively.
Jasper felt guilty at her display of fear. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you," he said quietly before walking over to the window and pulling the sheet down from it before throwing it to her. She wrapped it around her naked frame.
"What are you going to do to me then?" she asked. Perhaps the dismal failure of her attempt at escape had softened her resolve to fight every step of the way, for her voice, when she asked that question, seemed almost resigned to her fate.
"I'm not going to do anything to you."
"Then why am I here?" she asked desperately, "Why are you keeping me here?"
Jasper didn't answer. He was used to not answering the girls' questions.
After only a slight pause, she spoke, "When they took me and tied me up and left me outside, I heard them saying that they were feeding me to a vampire. That the vampire liked to eat virgins and that he would drink my blood." She paused for a moment, "But you're not really a vampire are you? Just like I'm not really a witch."
Jasper's head snapped suddenly to her look at her. She thought he was the vampire? Well, then he thought, it made sense. She hadn't seen Edward. He was the only person she had seen. She would have no way of knowing of the other people living here.
"No," Jasper agreed, "I'm no vampire."
"Did you mean it when you said you wouldn't hurt me?" she asked quietly, staring at his face while he stared at the wall.
"Yes, I meant it."
"So you're not going to kill me or rape me?"
Jasper's eyes flickered to her, frowning, before looking away again. "No."
"But you're not going to let me go either."
"No."
She sat back and seemed to contemplate that for a minute. "Why?"
Jasper didn't answer her, and she sighed.
"Fine, but why do you have to keep me locked up in this little room? I promise not to run away."
Jasper snorted and looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"I won't," she denied. "Not now that I have your word not to hurt me. Please. It's driving me crazy to be cooped up in here. Maybe I could go out, just for a few hours each day?"
Jasper sighed. He guessed it couldn't really hurt, could it? "Fine," he agreed. Why was he still here? Why was he letting her rope him into this? If he knew what was good for him, he would just keep his distance from her like he did all the other girls. "But you'll stay with me and not go wandering off out of sight. And only for a few hours each day. And you'll have to work."
The girl beamed up at him, and her smile was so pretty that it took his breath away. He had never seen her smile before. "Deal," she agreed and held out her hand for him to shake. Jasper shook her tiny hand. What was he getting himself into?
"I'm Alice, by the way," she said when he pulled his hand back.
"Jasper."
...
Edward walked into Bella's room. He found her as had come to expect, sitting in bed, refusing to look at him. Her wounds had healed nicely, and although there were still faint red marks on her bottom, Edward knew they were only hurting her barely, if at all, since she could sit down without pain.
Edward glanced down at the tray of food Jasper had left her, and saw that she had hardly eaten any of it.
"What, are you going to starve yourself to punish me, now?" Edward's voice was low and mocking, but Bella, as usual, didn't acknowledge him.
Edward stalked over to her and pulled the blanket that she had covering her nakedness off of her. Bella didn't fight as he pulled her naked body into his arms. She never fought. She never did anything. Edward had wanted to own her, body and soul, but he didn't want this. She was like a lifeless doll.
At first, Edward knew that she was doing it on purpose to punish him, and it was working. He hated the way she was acting. He would have much preferred her to scream and rant at him then to go so catatonically lifeless. He had surmised that she knew that, and was stubbornly acting like this to make him angry.
He had first tried to get her to speak by demanding she tell him why she had run away. Threatening to keep her locked up until she did. But she hadn't answered him.
Edward grew frustrated and stubborn at her lack of response to him, so he decided to force one out of her. He took advantage of what he knew he could do to her body, and brought her to an orgasm with his tongue and hands. In this way at least, he could force her to react some way. Though Bella moaned and screamed, she still refused to speak a single word, even in the height of passion. Edward had gotten angry and went to hunt.
The next day, he had brought her to the brink of orgasm, demanding that she beg him to continue before he would bring her her release. She hadn't begged, only closed her eyes and clenched her fists. Edward had left her then as well.
Then the next night he had taken her.
As Edward held her yielding body in his arms, he remembered the events of the night, wishing that they had never happened. Thinking he was an idiot, and was losing her.
...
Edward walked into the room, frustrated, to find Bella lying in bed with her eyes closed, though he knew she wasn't asleep.
Edward tore the blanket away from her and flipped her over onto her back.
Edward's dick stirred to life. "Bella, you're so beautiful," he said as he stared down at her naked body, and ran his hands from her collar bone down to her breasts, gently rubbing her nipple to hardness. She didn't fight him, but didn't respond either, only stared up at the ceiling.
He was desperate. He felt like he was losing her, that although she was right there with him, she was somehow slipping away. He wanted to feel connected to her again.
Edward took of his shirt and pants. He could see her stiffen, but she still stubbornly refused to move. He once again began masterfully making love to her body, kissing and caressing her in all the right places, and when she let out an involuntary moan, he knew she was close.
When he climbed on top of her though, she made the tiniest of noises, one clearly of protest. She didn't want him to do it. She didn't want him to fuck her. Edward paused and stared down at her face, though she didn't meet his eyes.
"Tell me to stop," Edward said gently. "Just say 'stop' and I will."
She didn't say anything, and Edward sunk his cock into her wet and tight cunt. Bella gasped, and eventually screamed as she orgasmed around his dick and he spent himself inside of her, but then when he had pulled out of her, he saw the silent tears running down her cheeks. Instead of feeling connected to her in the way he so longed to, he just felt hallow. He got dressed and left.
...
Now, he was at wits end and really starting to worry. She was hurting herself as well as him, and it was driving him crazy. Though she was refusing to speak on purpose now, what if she just drew further and further into herself until there was nothing left.
Edward stroked her hair and held her against his chest. It was like when she was sick, unable to protest, and Edward could just hold her gently. Edward kissed the top of her head.
"Bella, please, you're driving me crazy," he finally let the desperation and exhaustion he had been feeling seep into his words for the first time.
Edward never liked to feel vulnerable, and never in front of anyone else. He hated anyone to see any weakness from him. He didn't need anyone. He didn't care about anyone. But Edward was starting to realize with no uncertain wariness, that he just may need her.
"Bella. I care about you. I care about you in a way that I've never cared about anyone before." He stroked her hair and spoke to the top of her head. "I've been alone a long time, and I've used women for sex and blood longer than you've been alive, and I've never cared before. But I care about you. You're different to me and I don't know why and that scares me.
'I've always gotten my way and done what I wanted, but now all I want is for you to smile at me, and talk to me, but I can't seem to make you do that. Sweet Bella. I never say I'm sorry, but I'm sorry for how I've treated you. Tell me what to do and I'll do it. Give me a hint, little one. What can I do?"
Bella pulled away from Edward to look him in the face, her eyebrows drawn together, her face hard. He had poured his heart out to her, made himself vulnerable like he had never done before. Edward felt his dead heart putter in his chest for the briefest of seconds, wondering what her response would be.