Virgin Blood

Chapter 17

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Jasper made his way up the stairs to Alice's room, feeling strangely excited. It was still early morning, but he had already made breakfast, taking a tray down to Bella who was still asleep.

How much longer could this go on? Jasper wondered to himself. If this continued, he would have to intervene somehow, at least talk to Edward. He hadn't spoken more than a few words to the vampire since that night, but he was worried about Bella.

Jasper unlocked the door to Alice's room, to find her still asleep in bed. She was curled up around a pillow, breathing loudly through her mouth. Like a sleeping kitten, Jasper thought.

"Alice," his voice was sharp, standing directly over her bed, but not touching her. "Alice."

The sleeping girl opened her eyes at the loud noise, and let out a sharp, little scream of surprise as she saw a figure standing unexpectedly over her. Her heart slowly started to calm down when she remembered where she was and who it was standing over her.

"Jesus! Why are you being so creepy?" Alice shouted, "You scared me!"

Jasper looked down at her amusedly.

"I simply came to fetch you for breakfast and since it is a nice day, you can help me outside."

"Alright," Alice grumbled. Her short hair was sticking up around her head from sleep, and as she stood she wrapped the sheet around herself. Jasper's groin tightened unexpectedly at the sight of her, her bare shoulders, the way her calf was exposed where the sheet parted. He had seen her naked body, of course, which he hadn't really registered as anything special, but there was something now about the way she held herself, the way her little face peered up at him.

Jasper remembered that she didn't have anything to wear.

"Come with me," he said as and exited the room. Alice trailed along behind him.

"Am I expected to just wear a sheet for the rest of my stay here?" Alice's chirpy voice asked from behind him.

"No." Jasper said curtly, as he led her to his room. He would have to get her a dress, but for now, she could borrow some of his clothes. They would be big on her, but surely better than a sheet.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Okay Mr. Mysterious. Oh, is this your room?" Alice asked when Jasper led her through a doorway into his own sitting room. Jasper used the master suit, seeing as Edward used the basement. Even though he kept it tidy, he was the only one who took care of it, so it was far from extravagant.

"Wait here," he said as he walked into his closet, not answering her question. Jasper pulled out a white shirt for her and also grabbed a pair of short breaches and a belt.

"Here, you can wear these for now," he said, handing her the clothes, though he looked down at her skeptically. She really was a tiny thing, barely coming up to his chest.

"Oh thanks," Alice said, "Are these yours?" and without waiting for an answer, "Where can I change?"

Jasper was tempted to tell her she could change right there in front of him, to see what she would do, but instead he led her into his bedroom, only then realizing that no one but Edward had ever been in it before.

Jasper was starting to get worried that it was taking her too long and was about to call out when she opened the door. At the sight of her, he couldn't help but chuckle. She looked even small buried in his clothes the way she was. His shirt came down well past her knees and his pants covered up her feet completely with a few extra inches to spare, though his belt, which was fastened tightly around her slim waist, seemed to hold them up.

Alice was laughing too as she held her arms out away from her body, showcasing the drooping sleeves. "Don't you have anything smaller?"

" 'Fraid not." Jasper said, but he walked over to her and knelt in front of her, beginning to roll up the hem of the pants. "You could probably just wear the shirt, you know, it's almost long enough to be a dress and no one's around to see you but me, and I've already seen a whole lot more."

"You're a real gentleman to bring that up," Alice said sarcastically, but for some reason it didn't bother Jasper, who began to roll up the sleeves of her shirt from where they hung over her hands. "And anyway, I would rather wear the pants, they're actually sort of comfortable.

Jasper stood back and evaluated her when he was finished, "You got any shoes?" he asked, looking down at her bare feet.

Alice glared at him, her hand on her hip, "Now where would I have gotten shoes? I've been locked in that room for the past week, or have you forgotten?"

"You weren't wearing any when you came?"

"You know very well I wasn't."

Jasper sighed. He really hadn't even noticed. He turned to leave the room, Alice trailing after him.

"I'll give you a pair of boots to wear. You can stuff socks in the toes."

Jasper led Alice down to the kitchen. "The castle is beautiful, really," Alice chattered from behind him, "Except that it is kind of scary now, probably because it isn't in the best of conditions, a little run down. Still, one could easily see the potential. I love the remnants of the past. These stone walls have seen so much," she said as she ran her hand along the rough surface.

Jasper listened to her as she chattered, a little surprised that she was so willing to talk. He figured that she would be at least a little mad at being kept here against her will. This girl was truly an enigma to him.

Jasper had soft boiled some eggs for breakfast along with making some biscuits and jam.

He ate in relative silence, while Alice chattered away and he marveled over how much that girl could talk. Strangely, though, it didn't really bother him. He had had so many silent breakfasts in his lifetime that it was actually kind of refreshing.

"Come on," Jasper said when they were done eating.

Alice trailed after him obediently, chirping away with questions about what they were going to be doing that day and if she could see the rest of the castle, all of which Jasper ignored until they had reached his destination.

The boots he had given her were ridiculously large, but at least they would protect her feet. They flopped as she walked and she had to lift her leg higher than usual to accommodate this fact, but she strangely didn't really seem to mind.

Though the castle was surrounded quite closely by large cliffs, there was still a fair amount of land for gardens. Jasper, being only one person, kept a rather small vegetable garden with just the essentials. Today, as it was getting close to winter, he was preparing to mulch and fertilize the garden for those long, cold months.

As they worked, Jasper found himself watching Alice as she leaned over the garden beds, pulling weeds, admiring the way she worked so tirelessly especially for being such a small girl.

Alice ended up working a lot longer than just a couple of hours, and in fact helped quite a lot so that by the time lunch came around, Jasper was feeling good about what they had accomplished, and might even be able to relax that afternoon.

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Bella woke at sunrise, as though it were somehow beckoning her silently from her basement room, but of course Bella had no idea what time it was. As she looked around the room, she was once again frustrated by the lack of clocks. She didn't know if it was day yet, but she did know that she had to get out of that room.

When she slipped out of bed, her body felt exhausted, but she knew it was from being trapped with nothing to do. What she really needed was to get up and get some exercise.

She slipped on one of her new dresses and tied her brown hair back into a neat braid falling down her back. She saw some toast with jam and cheese waiting for her, and knew Jasper must have left it.

She smoothed out the skirt of her dress before leaving the room, taking the breakfast with her, wanting to get out of that room as soon as possible. She worried that perhaps Edward would be sitting there waiting for her, but the sitting room was empty.

Her new shoes clicked softly along the stone floor as she walked up the stairs. The castle was so quiet, so even Bella's light steps seemed unbearably loud. In the small basement room, Bella could forget about the heavy silence, but when she entered the large castle, the oddity of it struck her again.

Still, it felt freeing to walk around on her own. She figured Jasper would be around, but she didn't want to see him. It wasn't exactly that she was angry at him, she wasn't really. She was embarrassed, though. Silly really after all the times Jasper had seen her naked.

The light shining in through the windows was soft, due more to the accumulation of dirt than to the what the weather outside was. Bella started making her way down the hallway.

She wondered what Jasper had done with the other girl? Had he locked her in one of the rooms? Bella slowly walked from room to room, half lost in her thoughts. Edward had said that they had tied her to a tree. The poor girl must have been terrified.

The rooms were the same as they had been, many empty, many in disrepair. Bella came upon the room she knew to be Jasper's, but didn't go in. She didn't know if he would be in it, but didn't want to take the risk. Plus, it would be a violation, considering he hadn't invited her in.

Bella continued her search until she came upon a room not too far down the hall from Jasper's that looked like the victim of ransackers. The window was broken, the sheets knotted and torn, a chair was overturned and there were some dishes on the floor.

Bella knew this must have been where the other girl was. Why was the room so torn apart? Jasper wouldn't have hurt her would he? Despite the fact that she didn't think Jasper was the kind of person to hurt a girl, she was still worried. The room was in bad shape. And where was she now?

Bella quickly surmised that she wasn't being kept in any of the other bedrooms as she finished her search through the castle. She hadn't run into the girl or Jasper all morning. Bella sighed and sat down on the steps. Her stomach grumbled, telling her it was time for lunch.

She would surely run into Jasper now. She thought about their comfortable time cooking together in the kitchen. She hoped they could just fall into the way it was before, if she could just get over her fear of seeing him again.

Bella stood up and started walking toward the kitchens. It had to be sooner or later. Plus, he would be able to tell her about the girl, who Bella was genuinely worried about. She must be scared, and though Jasper wasn't mean, she knew he wasn't the most comforting person to be around.

Bella thought back to her first few days in the castle, blushing at the humiliation she had to endure. But that was all Edward. She felt almost certain everything Jasper did to her was under Edward's direct orders.

Bella was pulled from her thoughts when she got to the kitchen, but no one was there. Bella, not knowing wether to be relieved or disappointed because she just wanted to get it over with, started making lunch. A quarter of an hour later she heard the door open behind her.

"Bella," Jasper said surprised.

She turned around and was shocked but then pleased by what she saw. Standing behind Jasper was a young girl wearing oversized clothes. Her short hair was horribly disarrayed and she had dirt smeared on her face. Jasper, too, had dirt on his knees and hands. They smelled fresh, like the outdoors.

Bella was pleased to find that the girl didn't appear to be harmed in anyway, and that Jasper was looking after her.

"How are you feeling?" Bella could hear the worry in Jasper's voice.

"I'm okay."

The small, dirt-covered, pixieish girl was looking at her questioningly, but then bounced right up to her and held out her hand.

"Hello, I'm Alice."

Bella shook her hand automatically. "Bella."

"It's nice to meet you," Alice said. "Whatever you're making smells delicious."

"Potato and leek soup," Bella said by way of explanation.

"Mmmm, I hope that's for lunch. I'm starving." Alice smelled the large pot on the stove.

"Yes, it is."

Jasper stared at the two women in amazement. Despite the strangeness of the situation, they were speaking to each other as though this were totally normal. Jasper didn't know if Edward told Bella anything about Alice, but he knew for a fact Alice didn't know who Bella was.

He was also confused by Bella's one-eighty. For the past week she had refused to speak or even look at him, and now here she was making lunch like nothing had happened. He wondered what had transpired between her and Edward.

Not that Jasper was complaining or anything. In fact, he was pleasantly surprised by the two and their calmness. He wasn't sure what he had expected, maybe crying. He simply had to come to terms with the fact that he just didn't understand women at all.

Bella was also a little thrown off by the situation, though perhaps she didn't show it. Edward had said Alice was tied to a tree and left as a gift to him, but she didn't seem to be upset or traumatized by this. Bella assumed this must be due to Jasper. He must have explained everything to her and must have been kind and understanding as well. This didn't exactly fit in with the taciturn Jasper that she knew, but then again, she didn't know him that well really.

Alice, for her part, was very confused about what was going on. However, when faced with the unfamiliar, she simply did what she had done for most of her life and put faith in the people around her.

She didn't know who Bella was or why she was here, but she kind of got the impression from Jasper that he wasn't going to tell her anything. So instead of asking questions, Alice reverted back to being her chirpy, happy little self, having faith that she would understand soon enough.

The three sat down to lunch, and Alice filled most of the conversation with chatter about the beauty of the castle and the cliffs, how nice it was to be outside working in the fresh air. And how winter was close approaching.