Hi everyone! This one might be a bit confusing, but it is basically Bella and Jasper trying to reconcile their familiarity. Enjoy!
CHAPTER FOUR
My angel was holding me, holding me tightly as if he meant to protect me from all the evils this world presented. We were alone somewhere, in a dark room that seemed to swallow us in its emptiness. I kept looking up to see his face, to make sense of whatever danger I was in. His cold demeanor contrasted his secure embrace in ways that both terrified and thrilled me. There was no indication at all that he would reveal anything to me, but I felt completely understood in that moment. I was pulled from my mysterious musings by the sound of my angel's deep southern voice.
"Isabella, come to me."
I looked into his face, and was struck with confusion. The call continued, but his lips made no movement to speak. His gaze softened, and he just looked at me tenderly while the voice grew louder and louder. I could feel myself being pulled away, into the dark oblivion, out of his reach. I struggled under the weight of the supernatural influence. I needed my angel; I didn't want to navigate this darkness alone.
"Isabella, come to me."
At the sound of his repeated call, I finally let myself be pulled into whatever force was grasping. I trusted his voice. As I drifted closer and closer to a light, I never lost the feeling of my angel holding onto me…
My eyes fluttered open, and I took in a quick breath. I was at the Cullen's home, in my bed, and my angel sat perched on the bed beside me. "Isabella, come to me. Wake up."
I could hear the worry in his tone, and could almost feel his relief as he realized I was awake. I sat up gently, and tried to remember how I had gotten here- how he had gotten here. I was in the kitchen, and then I heard this voice and turned around and then… That was when it got fuzzy.
"Isabella?"
I lifted my eyes to look into those of my mystery come to life. I searched them for any sign of deceit or malice, and couldn't find any. For once, this cold stranger seemed to be caring and warm… All the while maintaining an unspoken strength. "Who are you?"
"My name is Jasper Whitlock, and the last of the Cullens to meet you. I walked into the kitchen tonight to make your acquaintance, and you passed out. I carried you up to your room- I hope you don't mind. I imagined it to be more comfortable than the kitchen floor. Carlisle has come up to ensure your safety considering your preexisting injuries, and he doesn't think you hit your head or anything. You should be fine, just maybe a tad dizzy." He paused, and I looked at him incredulously. He was explaining the situation very reasonably, which I appreciated. But was I to have no explanation for the fact that I knew him and nothing else?
He looked at me expectantly. "Is everything okay?"
I shook my head in confusion. I tried to think of how to explain my inner turmoil, but couldn't find the words. Here before me was the only thing I had known since I lost my memory, and he appeared not to know me. I examined his face closely, taking in every line and curve. I know those marks. I knew it was him. It had to be.
He took my silence as an answer, and began talking again. "Carlisle informed me of your memory loss- and I'm truly sorry this has happened to you. I can't imagine not knowing anything or anyone, and being thrust into an entire new social setting, forced to trust these strangers." My mind warped as he spoke. He spoke as if he knew me, knew my insides. Which he did, because he had always been inside my head… But he was mistaken. I did know someone. I knew him, I just didn't know him.
He looked down into my eyes once more. "But please allow me to tell you that you are being cared for by the most loving people in the world. You have a place here as long as you want one. And I will do everything I can to help you."
I supposed it was my time to speak, but I had been so wrapped up in his mystery that I had yet to figure out the words to say. I was still trying so desperately to make sense of everything, and his presence brought me closer to some form of truth. But his oblivion took me farther away from any sense of peace I had yet to find. "You said your name is Jasper?" I asked, my heart beating quickly.
He looked at me in concern, and hesitantly took my hand in his to rub soothing circles on its inside. "You're anxious, but you aren't afraid. Why is that?"
His question caught me off guard in the sense that he seemed to be so attuned to my emotions. However, if I was right in my assessment of who he was, it made perfect sense for him to know me in such a raw way. I moved past my shock and tried to answer him honestly. "I don't know who I am or how I got hurt, who my family is or who I love, but I know you. Why is that?"
His thin sheet of composure banished from his face. He was vulnerable, unshielded by the façade he always wore in my dreams. "I don't know Isabella. I wish I had more answers for you."
I could feel his breath in my face, coloring my mind with mystery and comfort. "Do you know me, then?" I asked, my voice barely above a broken whisper.
He didn't blink or hesitate in his answer. "You are familiar to me, and I feel as if you know every bone in my body… Introducing myself felt silly, because you feel like…" He trailed off, and I didn't push him. It was enough that he was just as confused as me, and I wasn't alone in this intrigue.
"You have visited me every night for all of my life. I have known you in my dreams." He looked surprised about this new information, and looked at me with curiosity that prolonged the depth of confusion I felt even more. Nevertheless, I gathered strength from the comfort of this stranger's presence. I extended a shaky and bruised hand to stroke the sides of his face, and he hung his head. "I never knew that you would find me someday."
The feeling of his ice-cold skin against my fragile finger caused my breathing to quicken, and the gravity of the situation began to take its toll on my exhausted mind. I collapsed back onto my pillow. As if he felt my weakness, Jasper leaned down next to me and stroked my hair, somehow willing peace into me.
"I don't know what any of this means, but we will figure it out. Go to sleep now, Isabella."
Lethargy washed over me and the familiar darkness seeped into my vision. Before I took its hand, I whispered a reply. "You can call me Bella."
The next chapter will go up soon, but please please please please please please please review. In order to provide an incentive, every review for this chapter will be entered into a contest. I will choose one at random, and the winning account will get to choose the name of a character coming up in the next few chapters! I will be trying to do this frequently. Sometimes it might be a character, sometimes maybe a plot contribution, and sometimes a preview of the next chapter. So anyways... Review review review! Love y'all!