I tried to get this chapter up as soon as I could but I was still having issues connecting to the internet. It's all good now so I'm hoping to update my chapter's faster. As a matter of fact, the next chapter is currently being written
Opinion: I think you're right so that's what I'll do.
BlackDiamond15: Good luck with your exams and coursework, I had to deal with that last year. In fact, good luck to everyone that has to sit the exams that are coming up.
And 'Brazos'….You're good at the guessing game…as for your suggestion, I'll keep that in mind for a later chapter
As for all my other reviewers, thank you for the support. This story has become my main focus with the thanks to you guys.
Disclaimer: I do not own twilight.
Carlisle's POV
The moment I had seen the blood, I had panicked. Jasper was missing and nobody else was injured so it must have been his. Alice had already said that she looked everywhere and if he wasn't found in the house while the window was wide open with blood on the grass on the same side as the window, the only explanation I could think of was that Jasper had jumped out and hurt himself.
How bad was he hurt? Was he crying for our help now? Or was he escaping from us? Why had he jumped in the first place? I thought he loved it here; we had just developed a bond and now he was nowhere to be seen. He had plenty of food, water, warmth, shelter, his sister and a family. Surely he wouldn't have just left all that behind to return to his old life.
"Dad?"
Alice's voice sounded very worried and full of sadness and I knew that she, too, feared the worst.
"Go inside with your mother and double check he is nowhere in the house. Check even the smallest places; you know what he's like. If I'm not back in an hour, call Charlie" I instructed her.
There was still a possibility that he was just hiding from us. He had a habit of sneaking and squeezing into small places that not even Alice could fit in. Last time I had been out looking for him, he had remained in the same places where Rosalie had left him but that was only because he was told to.
It may only be morning but it had already begun to rain and I didn't want him to be getting cold. He had been kept warm for so long that he probably forgot what cold felt like. Was he shivering? Was he calling for me but was too far away for me to hear him?
Alice hesitated but she knew I was right and ran back into the house. I knew that she wanted to come with me but I didn't know how badly hurt he was and if it was bad, I wouldn't want Alice to see him like that.
I started to walk forward as my eyes flickered to each tree that I walked past. He could either be in them for comfort and for the feeling of home or he was too injured to climb high into one. There wasn't a lot of blood on the grass so I doubt that any arteries or veins were damaged so he wasn't bleeding to death but he risked infection and I hate the thought of such an innocent boy in pain.
"Jasper" I called.
Although he only had the mental age of a four year old, he was still intelligent in certain areas. He obviously knew more about nature than I do but he was also smart enough to recognise my voice. I hoped that if he could hear me, he would call back rather than hide further away but I was confident that our bond was too strong for him to do that. When a child is hurt, they beg for their mum or dad; well Jasper was hurt and to him, that's exactly who I was.
"Jasper!" I called again.
I ran a hand through my hair as my eyes scanned the trees carefully. I had no idea if I was going in the right direction or not. I just needed to know if he was safe. My phone rung in my pocket and when I looked at the name on the screen, I answered it immediately; it was Esme.
"We found him" she stated.
Oh thank god! I sighed in relief at the sound of her voice.
"Is he alright? Where was he?" I asked.
She paused for a moment before she spoke again.
"Carlisle, he's on the roof of the house" she informed, a little worried.
I felt the panic inside me rise once again. We now knew where he was but that didn't necessarily mean that he was out of danger. How on earth had he managed to climb all the way to the top of the roof? Our house was a lot higher than the average height of a house. If he fell, we were in serious trouble.
I rushed back as fast as I could. He may be very new to the family but I don't think we could handle it if he got himself killed by falling; Rose especially. I just hoped that he was smart enough to know the danger of jumping off the house was. He was a risk taker and he had jumped off trees of a great height? What if he was trying to challenge himself to make the jump bigger?
Once I was back home, the whole family was outside with their heads all gazing high up on the roof, searching for him.
"Where is he?" I questioned Esme.
"I don't know. He keeps on disappearing" she answered.
This was not good.
"Jasper" I called.
His face suddenly reappeared over the edge of the house.
"Daddy!" He yelled, happily with a big smile on his face.
He didn't even realise how much danger he was in. There was absolutely no fear on his face as all it held was a big grin. Well at least he was happy to see me.
"What are you doing up there, Jasper?" I asked, loud enough for him to hear.
I had wanted to tell him to come down but I knew that would only encourage him to jump off. There was a chance that he would find a safer way down but I didn't want to risk it. I noticed that Jasper's smile disappeared as he looked around him.
"Dunno" he answered, confused.
Part of being a young child was that they did things for no reason other than 'it seemed good at the time'. The problem was that Jasper had the same thing going on through his mind but because he was older and his body was more developed, he was capable of doing more dangerous things and climbing on top of the roof of the house was an example of that although I don't think any other teenager could have managed it.
"Are you hurt?" I asked him.
I still hadn't found an explanation of the blood but it must have dripped off him while he was climbing. Jasper tilted his head at me and that's when I remembered that he was still unfamiliar with the meaning of being hurt.
"Where Ali?" He asked, innocently.
Alice suddenly ran in front of me into his line of sight.
"Jazzy, I'm here. Be careful. Don't go too near the edge" Alice shouted. She then turned to me. "Dad, how are we going to get him down?" She asked.
His face lit up once again when he saw her. I was beginning to get the impression that he had a little thing for her. I would need to keep a close eye on him around her just in case but right now, I needed to focus more about the matter at hand and speaking of which, Jasper disappeared once again. Not having him in my sight made me feel rather anxious. What was he doing? Why did he keep disappearing like that?
"Jasper!" I called again.
I suddenly heard a loud thud and the next thing I knew, my legs were carrying my body as fast as I could to the direction of the sound. This time, Jasper was in the area of where the blood had been. I was surprised that he didn't look injured; he was just crouched on the ground with his eyes on Alice and I as we ran towards him.
As soon as I was within touching distance, I searched his body to see where the blood had come from. His shirt was off once again but his jacket was still on him, unzipped so I could see his skin covered in blood. He didn't look to be in any pain and I couldn't find any area where the blood had even come from. Was the blood even his? I attempted to take his jacket off just in case that was hiding the injury since that also had some blood on it but he hissed as soon I tried to remove it.
"Words, Jasper. Use your words" I told him.
The more I reminded him this, the less he'll hiss and growl when he gets frustrated or angry. He was getting better at it since screaming the word 'NO' was his other way in expressing that he is irritated but it will still be a long while until his animal habit disappears.
"It mine" he stated as he wrapped the jacket further around him; smudging more of the blood onto it.
This was going to be a problem. Blood stains easily so the sooner we get it washed, the less likely the blood was to stain but how was I even going to get the jacket washed if he won't part with it.
"Where did the blood come from?" I asked him gently.
I wasn't sure if he understood me or not but it caused him to smile as he turned his head to Alice.
"Ali hun-we" he said carefully.
What did Alice being hungry have to do with the blood on Jasper's body? Unless….
"Oh dude! You gotta be kidding me!" I heard Emmett shout.
Jasper growled as he heard Emmett's voice and ran towards the direction that he was in. I followed him quickly since Jasper running into a certain direction full of determination was never a good idea. What if Emmett was intruding on something that Jasper marked as his? Jasper would feel the need to attack him if he viewed Emmett as a threat and it's not the first time that has happened either.
Emmett moved away as soon as he spotted Jasper as he stood over something that I couldn't quite see. His growling seized as soon as he noticed me again; knowing that it would only put him on the mat in my study again but he continued to bare his teeth at me to let me know that I was crossing the line. Standing two metres away from him, I caught sight at what he was guarding.
Laying there was what I made out to be around three or four dead squirrels which were violently torn apart. So that's where the blood had come from. Did Jasper do this? And why? We had provided him plenty of food back in the house. And that's when I remembered his words from earlier.
Alice hun-we…..
He wanted to provide his own food for her. As sweet as it sounded, this wasn't good. In the wild, some animals are mates for life. The male provides food for the female while she'll look after her cubs. But in other cases, female animals tend to mate with the male that could provide her with enough food.
He was trying to impress her.
Not only that, but the reason why we came along as a threat was because we were making it look like we were trying to claim the kill for ourselves. How on earth had he even managed to catch them? They were very fast animals and very alert. Jasper must be a lot more experienced than I had first thought; I should stop underestimating him.
"Come here, Jasper" I told him.
He usually listened; actually, he always does but this time he just crouched further near the dead squirrels. What was I going to do with him? I don't even know what he was waiting for. His eyes turned to Alice once again as he seemed to stare at her. The look was rather intimidating and he has been giving it out a lot recently.
Alice slowly walked towards him and crouched down to his level. I was debating whether I should pull her back or not but he didn't look like he was ready to harm her so I waited to see what would happen. She held out her hand and wrapped it gently around his wrist as she pulled him away from the dead rodents. It worked as he let her guide him to where she wanted to go.
She took advantage of this moment to take off his bloody jacket and pass it to me. He whimpered quietly as I took it but he didn't make any move to take it back.
"You need to get cleaned up, Jazz" she told him as she looked at the blood on his chest. "Go with dad; he'll help you" Alice instructed him as she pointed to me.
Jasper looked at me then back at Alice. At her further nod, he slowly made his way to my side. Rosalie was as surprised as I was. She was usually the one who had to convince him to do something. I had a feeling that things were about to change around here and I don't think it was a good one either.
"I'll deal with the squirrels" Esme informed me.
I nodded at her and gave her an appreciative smile. We both knew that it was best to do it once I have Jasper occupied so I held out my hand for Jasper to take and with a small amount of hesitation, he took it. Unfortunately his hands were also coloured with the crimson blood which was now on mine as well but right now, my focus was getting Jasper cleaned up.
What do ya think? So he didn't get hurt like some of you first thought. The next chapter will be another night with Alice and Jasper.
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