Chapter Three

Bella

I climbed the last flight of stairs to the top of the house where Edwards room lay along with Alice and Jaspers. Steeling myself I went into Edwards first. On the dresser lay a photograph taken on my birthday, me standing with the family all looking so happy, or almost all the family, Jasper was just out of shot. The edge of his shoulder all that showed he had been there. I threw it back down looking at the shelves that had held his CD collection, all gone with him, his books and clothes too. Everything that was important to him gone, leaving only the things he had discarded, a couple of old School Text Books and the photograph, an old pair of shoes and of course me. I couldn't help a bitter laugh at that. I was just like the old text books and shoes, no longer wanted or important to him.

I knew by this time I would find nothing in the house to help me but something made me determined to be thorough and open the last door in the house, Alice and Jasper's room. Like all the others it was large and full of light from the huge picture window overlooking the lawn which stretched down to the river beyond. This room was different though, it was filled with passion. One side was almost stripped bare, just a couple of framed photographs of Alice and Jasper lay on the floor but the other side! If I had been told it had been devastated by a Tornado I would have believed it. Clothes, books, CDs, pictures, all lay in a tangled broken mess, torn, shattered, ripped, and broken. I saw a guitar and an antique horse ornament smashed beyond repair and in the glass that lay all around, a dainty footprint. Alice had totally destroyed everything of Jasper's in the room and over most of it was a slightly sticky but mainly dry residue. I touched it with my fingers lifting it to my nose, it was the remains of aftershave or something similar she had tipped over the whole pile before leaving. I toed through it and at the very bottom found an undamaged photograph of Jasper with two other people, a man and a woman. I almost didn't recognize him, he was smiling and it changed his face totally. As I picked it up I saw another, this one of a young man standing beside a horse, wearing Confederate Army uniform, Jasper too by the look of it.

When I looked at my watch I realized I needed to get back before it got dark so shutting the door I drove back home, the two photos on the seat beside me. Why had Alice destroyed all his things? Even his most treasured possessions? Had she been so angry at his actions? Or was this totally unrelated? I couldn't believe that, it seemed to have happened at the same time the rest of the house was vacated. I made it just in time to buy a takeaway and lock myself in. After having a shower I got ready for bed and sat on the chair by the window to look at the two pictures again. I'd never taken that much notice of Jasper, he was always in Alice's shade, her shadow, quiet and unobtrusive. He was actually quite handsome, especially when he smiled. I lifted the photo to my face, I could just smell the lingering scent of the aftershave and it reminded me of the night in the Hotel Room in Phoenix when he really spoke to me for the first time. I conjured up his voice with its soft Southern overtones and smiled, then thought about the chaos in their room. Alice had obliterated all his belongings and for what? Because she thought he tried to attack me? Because he made Edward and all of them leave? I felt sorry for him and when I slept I saw him again, smiling in the photo with the other two people and wondered who they were.

On Sunday I felt compelled to drive to the Cullen house again, something was drawing me back, straight to the one room with personal things still in it. His room, Alice's room. I carefully picked up the damaged items and stacked them to one side, Alice's clean side, avoiding the shards of glass from the picture frames. The pile got bigger and bigger until close to the bottom I started to find undamaged things, a tee shirt with a Confederate Flag printed on it, a framed Degree in Philosophy, a CD with no label and some more photographs. I picked up the bundle tied with an elastic band and put it beside my other treasures. Another tee shirt with STUD printed on it that made me smile, a photo of Jasper on horseback, again smiling, and finally a letter, smothered in dried aftershave but still legible. Collecting all these into a bundle I wrapped them in the two tee shirts and took them back to the truck.

I had no idea why I wanted to look at, or keep, these things except that they might be all he had of his past and if left them they would probably end up being burned or at least lost to him although how I was going to find him to return them I had no idea, I couldn't even find Carlisle and he was a practicing Doctor! Back at home I rang Charlie as per our routine, so he knew I was home and OK then took my finds into the bedroom and lay them out on the bed. The tee shirts just wanted washing and they'd be fine, probably didn't fit him any longer or he hated them and that's why they survived knowing my luck! The framed Degree I cleaned and put in my top drawer under my tops. Curiosity made me put the CD into my player and hit the play button. There was guitar music then someone singing a love song. It was beautiful and I played it on repeat, was it a favorite of his? A song he recorded for Alice? Maybe one she loved, one she'd heard on their first date, who knew?

The photographs I lay out on the bed. Some were the same two people as in the one I'd found on my first visit. Turning them over I saw the same two names, Peter and Charlotte, they were outside a huge log house in the mountains somewhere, their house? Somewhere they'd met? Were these two vampires too? There were a couple of very old black and white photos of Jasper with these same two, so they were vampire friends. I saved the letter for last assuming it was a love letter of some kind but I was wrong. It was from Charlotte to Jasper, obviously following from a visit he'd made.

Dear Jasper,

I'm so sorry for what happened but you know how he gets when riled. Please don't stop writing and you are always welcome here. It's still home for as long as you want it.

Love Charlotte xx

So something had gone wrong during the visit causing a rift. My eyes fixed on the address at the top of the page. Was this the address of the house in the picture? Did I finally have a lead on at least one of the Cullens? Montana, I was getting excited but then I stopped suddenly. Why was I doing this? Was I hoping to find out where Carlisle was? Was I hoping to find out where Edward was? Or was I trying to find Jasper himself to apologize for what happened at my party? Did he still feel guilty about it? If he did he shouldn't and Alice shouldn't blame him either. Perhaps I could reunite them if they hadn't already returned to each other, they were mates after all. But what Edward had explained to me about mates didn't explain the destruction in their room, it made less sense of it, not more. In the end I decided my motives didn't matter, I felt it was something I needed to do and that was enough.