If You Only Knew…..Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks to everyone that reviewed and alerted. Here's the next chapter! Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight…Just Winter.

Previously:

It's connected. The disappearances, and the killings in Seattle.

"How? How do you know that?" Jasper's rough voice broke through the silence. I flipped back to my previous comment…It's complicated…and pointed to it. At the very end of the paper, I scrawled

Trust me.

I threw the paper and pen down on the table and ran my hands through my hair, sighing. What am I supposed to do now?

Chapter 8

I was torn. I knew I had to tell them what I knew, but I couldn't do that. I knew that if the story changed, I would be just as in the dark as they would be. But the story already changed, I told myself. Bella was a vampire, and Nessie was never born. Jake was still a part of Sam's pack, and there was tension between them and the Cullen's. And Victoria was after ME, not Bella. It didn't make any sense. And the Cullen's were allowing me into their home. I already felt like a burden, even though they insisted that I wasn't.

Alice was frustrated that I knew more than she did, and perhaps that was the reason that I was allowed to stay as long as I had. Because I knew what was about to happen. Carlisle and Esme allowed me to stay in a spare bedroom as I healed from Victoria's attack. It had been a couple of days and I was finally able to talk somewhat, although it still hurt. I shuffled into the kitchen where Esme had been preparing me breakfast, watching as she flitted around the kitchen gracefully. I mumbled a thank you as she placed a plate of food in front of me, and began to eat.

For a vampire, she sure could cook. It was delicious.

"I appreciate you making breakfast for me, Esme." I noted the fact that she made nothing for herself, claiming that she already ate breakfast earlier before I woke up, when I asked about it. I had just finished eating when Emmett burst into the room. Startled, I knocked my glass of water to the ground, the glass shattering into a million shards as I stood from my seat. He was angry, and I knew not to piss him off any further backing myself up against the nearest wall.

"What do you know?" He growled, advancing. Fear surged through me, my eyes wide as I watched him approach. Memories flashed in front of my eyes as he got closer, making the fear even more real. My breathing came in quick shallow breaths and I knew I was on the edge of a full scale panic attack.

"Emmett!" Esme barked, and he stopped in his tracks.

"Mom!" He whined. "I want answers!"

Without warning, A flash of blonde hair suddenly stood between Emmett and myself, and I could do nothing to stop it. Her back was faced to me, as I imagine she was glaring at her husband.

"Emmett. You are not going to frighten the poor girl. She's been through enough. You'll get your answers, just be patient." Rosalie growled. After a moment, he turned on his heal and strode out of the kitchen, a second later, you could hear a slam as the front door closed violently as he sprinted across the yard into the trees.

It didn't take more than a second that my knees gave out from under me, my back sliding against the wall to the ground where I was trying to get a hold of myself. Tears streamed from my eyes as I was trying to catch my breath.

"Are you alright?" Rosalie asked hesitantly, placing a hand gently on my shoulder. After a couple of minutes I was able to pull myself together and nodded to Rose as my sobs quieted.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled wiping away the last of the tears with my sleeve.

"It's alright." Esme assured. "Emmett can be a little pushy sometimes."

Turning to get up, I noticed the shards of glass sprayed out along the tiled floor, and rushed to clean it up, apologies streaming from my mouth. Without thinking I pushed my sleeves up , quickly cleaning up the glass and liquid and threw the towel I had used away. Turning to Esme and Rose, I noticed they were staring at me strangely. I glanced at my hands thinking that the glass had cut me somehow, but I saw nothing. Confused, I looked back up to Esme and Rose who hadn't moved from their spots. I followed their gazes realizing what they were staring at and quickly pulled my sleeves down to cover my arms again.

I avoided all eye contact, ashamed that I let myself be exposed like that, backing away as Esme took a couple of cautious steps towards me.

"It's alright, Winter. We won't hurt you." Esme cooed. "What happened?"

I forced myself to keep my mouth shut and shook my head, my gold curls swaying around me. I didn't want to tell them anything. They didn't need to know about my past.

"It's alright. You can tell us." She insisted gently. I shook my head again retreating back into myself even further. She sighed. "Alright."

"Excuse me." I whispered and fled the room unable to bear the tension that had been steadily rising. I darted upstairs past everyone to the room that Esme and Carlisle had so graciously given to me closing the door behind me. My emotions were causing me to have a small emotional breakdown and I ended up on the bed in the corner of the room, pulling my knees to my chest as I sobbed for the second time that day. Images flashed through my mind as I remembered what had caused the multitude of scars that ended up on my arms. However, the scars didn't end there. They spread over my body to the point that almost every inch was covered besides my hands face and feet.

It seemed like forever, but eventually the sobs subsided and I became numb. I stared out of the window with my own thoughts until a knock at my door pulled me back to reality.

"Winter?" A southern voice questioned through the wood. "Can I come in?"

I tried to ignore him hoping that he would go away, but that hope faded when the door swung open and a honey haired figure slid into the room closing the door behind him.

"Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?" He questioned from across the room. He crossed the room cautiously when I didn't reply and took a seat at the corner of the bed opposite from me. "Rose and Esme thought it would be a good idea for me to come talk to you. We've all had bad things happen to us, Winter."

"I know." I whispered softly, yet loud enough that he could hear.

"What I'm trying to say is…I know how you feel right now." He assured hesitantly. To any other normal human being, this statement was common enough, yet to me… his statement meant so much more. Little did he know, I KNEW the double meaning behind his words and a small smirk tugged at my lips.

"You see, Winter. I didn't have the same upbringing as my other adopted siblings did…" He started rolling up his sleeve revealing multiple crescent shaped scars so faint that it was difficult for my weak eyes to see. "Before Carlisle and Esme adopted me…and Rosalie…Our father used to beat us. Being the only man in the house, I saw fit to do everything in my power to protect my sister. One night, our father came home and beat us within inches of our lives. If it wasn't for Carlisle, we'd both be dead right now."

My eyes traveled from his face to his arm as he explained, captivated as the words rolled off his tongue so smoothly. His face gave no indication that it was a lie, and for the tiniest fraction of a second… I almost believed him.

ALMOST.

Not that I didn't want to not believe him… I really did want to believe his story. Too bad I knew the truth…

I debated on calling him a liar, but decided against it. My eyes roamed back over his arms crisscrossed with teeth marks.

"There's so many…" I whispered to myself, shocked. I had read about his scars in the book, but that was nothing compared to actually seeing the marks with my own eyes. After a minute, I tore my eyes away guiltily.

"What's wrong?" Jasper questioned, his brow creasing as he sensed my discomfort.

I sighed, "I wish I was as strong as you are."

"I don't understand." His voice was soft, yet rough.

"You're so much stronger than I am, Jasper. You might think that you're weak… but you're not." I continued when he didn't say anything, his eyes studying me. "You've been through so much in your life, and yet you're not a monster. You don't let others intimidate you and you won't back down from a fight. You don't get into many fights, but when you do… I know that you've never lost."

My explanation of him was directly to the point, and I didn't have to be an empath to know that my words had shocked him. It took a full minute before he said anything.

"You're more observant than I thought."

I shrugged. "I just know things."

"What happened to you, Winter?" Jasper questioned softly. "We just want to help you."

My eyes moved to my fabric covered wrist. Hesitating, I pushed the fabric up just enough to just barely see the start of a scar and my fingers brushed against it slightly. To say that I was scared was an understatement. I was terrified. I had never let myself be that exposed or trusted anyone to see my scars before. Gradually I felt my fear dissipate, and I began to feel calm.

In my mind, I knew that Jazz was messing with me in an attempt to get me to open up to him, but at that moment I didn't care.

"I didn't always be like this." I started after a minute of not speaking. I refused to look at his face and continued. "You know. Broken, Scared. My father made me like this…. I don't want to go home, Jasper."

My voice was cracking, tears threatened to spill over again, as I gradually pushed the fabric up, higher and higher on my arm revealing scar after scar.

"Your father did that?" Jasper questioned, his voice strained. Somewhat scared to look, I took a small glance at his face, and saw his jaw was clenched, as his eyes roamed over my skin.

"Yes, sir." I whispered, pushing up the other sleeve revealing more scars, and I could have sworn I heard a growl as I held my arms out for him to see. With the gentlest of touches, his hand wound around my wrist, his other hand lightly tracing the scars. After a moment, I gently pulled my arm away from him and wrapped my arms back around my legs. "The scars don't end there."

It was so silent in the room, I almost forgot that Jasper was in there with me, and when I turned to look at him, I was shocked as to what I saw. His jaw was clenched and his hands were curled into fists, clearly trying to control his anger. His eyes were what scared me the most. They were as black as night, rage dancing behind them.

"Jazz, please, Calm down." I spoke. "It's alright. Really."

"It's NOT alright." He barked. "How dare he! I'm going to kill him." In one swift movement he got off the bed and started for the door. I quickly mirrored his movements.

"Jasper, STOP!" I barked, trying to get him to stop. My hand wound around his wrist and he stopped immediately. I was about to protest again, but my body swayed at the sudden movement. My free hand flew to my head to fight off the dizziness, and the hand that was meant to restrain Jasper, now tightened, clinging to his wrist in an attempt to remain standing.

"Jazz." I spoke, trying to get his attention, as the black spots started invading my vision and I knew I was just moments from blacking out. I tried desperately to push the dizziness away, but it was strong and unforgiving as it pulled me under. My fingers released Jasper's wrist against my will as the darkness enveloped me and my body hit the ground with a thud.

A/N: Oooo…..Exciting.. Isn't it? Well, That's chapter 8! Hope you liked it! Please leave a review! Next chapter is almost ready to go, but still tweaking it! Leave a review and you get a preview! Thanks!