-What's Tangled?- Jasper questioned as he picked up the small thin case with a blonde girl on the front, Emmett had thrown it on the bed, had called it "Tangled".
The man in question was fumbling with the flat screen on the desk he had brought not even a few moments ago, Tv , he had called it.
-Told you we were gonna watch the movie with the girl with the magic hair.- Emmett told as a statement of fact, Jasper frowned.
-I thought her name was Ra pincel? - Jasper wasn't quite sure of the reason for the sudden surprise that flared across the house nor for how Emmett turned to look at him.
-You speak Spanish?- Emmett asked in surprise, a confused look was what he got in return.
-What's Spanish?
-Spanish, you know, like, hola amigo? ¿Cómo estás compadre? Mi nombre es Emmett.- Emmett tried to supply.
Jasper seriously made Emmett question a lot of things sometimes, Carlisle said it might have to do with his amnesia, maybe he had some sort of selective amnesia.
He didn't miss how Jasper stiffened at his words, eyes falling on the movie case he was holding.
-Do you know what's Spanish?- Emmett asked, needing to be sure he knew what it was.
-I do… María spoke like that sometimes.- Jasper mumbled, flinching when surprise seized the air, wariness clawing at his skin.
-You remember María?- Emmett questions surprised.
-Shouldn't I?- Jasper questioned, not sure if he had said something wrong, of course he knew who María was, she was his creator, she said so herself.
-Of course, she was your creator.- Emmett said plainly. Why did it felt like Emmett was hiding more in that statement?
Still.
Jasper tried to not push on the matter, no matter how strange it felt, as if they knew more than they were willing to give on.
-Her name is Rapunzel though.- Emmett's voice caught his attention.
-What?
-The girl, her name is Rapunzel, not Ra pincel, pincel stands for brush, you know, like the kind of brushes you use to paint.
-Oh.
~
Black bloods can sleep.
Emmett knew this very well, and still, seeing Jasper asleep is such a foreign sight, they had been watching Rapunzel earlier, and then The Lady and The Tramp, Oliver and Company, and now they were halfway through Bambi, kids' movies because… well, there were a lot of movies the guy wasn't allowed to watch and he literally had never seen a single movie in his life, so getting him to watch the classics or just about any animated movie couldn't hurt.
Carlisle didn't want him watching violent movies that might trigger some sort of reaction, no one knew yet what was really wrong with him, so far Carlisle's theory was that he might have some sort of amnesia.
It was best not to push too much, he was in no condition to be getting upset.
Thus.
Harmless movies were, though to be honest he didn't see what was harmless about animated movies, Mufasa fucking died crushed to death by a stampede, Todd and Tobey; childhood friends, almost tore each other to pieces, Tarzan's parents were slaughtered by a jaguar which left behind blood splattered on the floor and torn drapes, fucking Nemo almost got shredded to pieces in the fish tank trying to escape, and the fucking Prospector ripped Woody's arm.
Those were some hardcore scenes for what Carlisle called harmless movies.
But even cartoons held violence, one way or another, and it wasn't like they could keep Jasper oblivious to the world forever, that would certainly come to bite them in the ass later.
He did like Toy Story a lot, which Emmett hadn't been much surprised about, of course the cowboy would like the movie with a cowboy in it.
If he felt inclined to like the cowboy that could very much point to the fact that he wasn't as naive as they thought and that part of him might certainly recognize or find familiar certain things.
He wondered though… if Jasper did got his memories back, would he leave? Attack? Disappear? Emmett liked him quite a bit, despite how slow he could be at some things he was smart, and he was curious enough to agree to Emmett's games.
Jasper was slowly becoming a friend he very much enjoyed spending time with, he wouldn't mind him becoming his brother.
He shifted on the floor, leaning his back against the bed, he could sit or lay on the bed, he knew this, but unlike Alice, there was so much his nose could take from the guy's stench before he was feeling like finding out whether vampires could throw up or not with an empty stomach, at least he didn't stink that terrible anymore, with the clean clothes and the clean hair.
Still.
Jasper wasn't allowed to sit for too long because he had the bad habit to hunch over or sit cross legged which didn't help at all with his posture.
So he usually laid on his stomach on the bed to watch anything Emmett might come up with, he was usually quiet, sometimes would make the weirdest questions out of nowhere.
But Emmett had grown used to that at this point.
Watching movies with him meant answering the weirdest of questions; like why do those horses have horns? Why are those cats so big? What is that blue and green ball on the sky?
He had honestly asked Emmett about kissing, the guy had honestly not known why were Tiana and Naveen pressing their mouths together.
Emmett had wanted to attribute that to the fact that Jasper's head wasn't quite right, because there was no way in hell he didn't knew what kissing was, hadn't there been rumors of The Major being in a relationship with María?
He couldn't be that naive.
On the bright side? It meant the guy was oblivious enough to not try anything with Alice.
Now, don't get him wrong, he liked Jasper, and he liked the idea of Alice finding someone to experiment much more than just platonic happiness and whatnot with.
But she just knew Jasper through visions, of what could have been, he didn't want her to get hurt if he turned out to be completely different from what she had seen, or for her to let her emotions lead her to make stupid choices and get disappointed.
Or worse.
Because as much as Emmett liked him and saw him as harmless no one could be sure of what would happen if he regained his memories as The Major, what if he hurt Alice? What if all those decades Alice spent unable to see him changed him for the worst?
Emmett liked giving her the freedom to do whatever she wanted, but he also liked keeping an eye on them, just to be safe.
Still.
Back to the point at hand, Jasper had the habit to make weird questions, be it about movies, shows or even videogames…
But this time he had been too quiet.
Unusually so.
And as he turned to look at him he was surprised to find that the guy had fallen asleep, as far as he knew he hadn't slept at all since his arrival, Carlisle said black bloods could go on days without sleep, but same as with humans, it would mess with their focus, the less he slept the more disoriented he would grow.
As Emmett stared at him all he could think about was how great would it be when the guy relaxed, if he ever relaxed at all.
Because that would mean Emmett would be able to paint his face while he slept without having to worry about whether he would freak out or not.
For the time being he would have to let the opportunity pass, if things went well, he would have a lot of opportunities to prank him in his sleep
As stated before, for now that was out of the question.
The last thing he wanted was an enraged Alice at his throat.
Man could she be terrifying when it came to the guy, Emmett never expected she would have such fiery bone in her.
But he understood, he was also a chill person, he didn't like conflict nor did he felt comfortable with starting arguments or what not.
But God had mercy on whoever dared to mess with Rosalie, of course he knew she could protect herself, she was a badass that could very much beat his ass, but that didn't meant he wouldn't go berserk on whoever dared to mess with her.
So, he understood Alice's wish to protect her mate.
He still found it such an odd thing though, Alice's mate, he could have never expected Alice's Jasper to end up being The Major, the very vampire who had made the South tremble for years.
Alice looked so small and harmless beside him it was a bit comical at times.
And still… it was also almost sad, how the so called God of War had ended up chained in an abandoned church, left to petrify, forgotten as the world moved on, as if he had never existed.
Emmett didn't condone what The Major had done, not even for a second, but it was still a bit sad to see such powerful vampire end up like this.
Abandoned, forgotten, with no trace of who he once had been.
At least he was out of that place now, not that that was much comforting, it didn't took a genius to know that sooner or later someone would come looking for him, he hadn't survived there all these years without help, to not be petrified completely at that point…
Someone must have delivered blood to him, even if bits of it, must have forced him to move at times to not allow the complete petrification of his body, and whoever was they had also made sure to keep the church from being bought, demolished or even turned into the kind of place homeless people would use as shelter or teenagers would use to scare each other regardless of the bad vibe.
Someone had to have made all that possible.
Emmett just hoped it wasn't María.
No one needed that woman turning up here and causing God knows what kind of chaos.
He sighed before turning back to the movie.
~
Esme had stayed away from Jasper, yes, but not because she was scared of him or because Carlisle plead her not to approach him, she did it because he was the one scared of people.
But Emmett had gone out when he knew Alice wouldn't be back until another hour, and Carlisle was at work.
And it was time for Jasper to eat, Carlisle said he needed as much blood and venom as possible, his healing was still too weak and his legs were still too stiff, not even after a week was he able to straighten out his legs without pain, Carlisle worried the damage to his legs might be permanent.
That maybe it wasn't just the crystallization, maybe his blood flow had also been compromised, which meant it could take even longer for him to heal, he fed three times a day, he needed that much blood and venom.
He didn't have the luxury to miss any feeding hours, Carlisle was really serious about his schedule, and seeing that Edward wasn't at home either…
Esme chose to be the one to take the blood and venom to him, he had grown used to Emmett, somewhat, and Alice, and Carlisle.
Esme wanted him to also grow used to her, if he was gonna stay here it would be easier for him to get used to everyone else, plus, if he was really meant to be with Alice, to live with them…
To be part of their family.
She wanted to get to know him, he had been meant to arrive with Alice, to join their family, he might have arrived late into their lives, but he deserved a chance, even more so after being locked in that place for so long.
Before he shut Edward out of his thoughts after realizing there was a mind reader among them Edward had managed to get some information about that place, nomads would turn up at random intervals, some would beat him until he was left unconscious, others would insult him and end up hitting him too, a few had almost killed him.
And some had even fed infront of him, killed and terrorized humans before him to attack him with the humans' emotions, no wonder he was so sensitive to negative emotions, he had literally been tortured through his gift .
Edward had also said some nomads might have gone a bit too far, but he couldn't be sure because those held missing spaces, blank spots, same as with some other memories, his mind in itself held lots of blank spots.
"It's like staring at a broken net, none of his memories are clear, they are all either jumbled, mixed, or just completely missing."
Esme's heart ached for him, what had happened to that poor boy? Who had hurt him in such a way? Carlisle said selective amnesia often occurred due to exposure to an overwhelming traumatic experience, either once or continually.
And considering who he was…
His life as The Major might have ended up becoming too much for him to handle.
It would explain how come he held no memories of his time as The Major, nor of María aside from her occasional visits when he had been chained. He hadn't even known his own name.
And sometimes his knowledge about basic things seemed to lack.
Jasper knew a lot of things, yes, but sometimes he would ask the weirdest and most basic stuff.
What's a dog? What's a horse? What's that color? What's that thing with colors in the sky? What are swords?
There was also his issue with reading, Alice had managed to get from him that he could read, but that it was hard to put letters together into a word, it was like his brain didn't quite register the words.
Carlisle feared there might be something else going on due how he sometimes seems to also have trouble remembering the name of things he does know.
But so far there weren't clues.
She knocked lightly on the ajar door, the door was never closed, Alice said he didn't like the door closed, so they always left it creaked open.
Silence was her answer.
Then.
-Come in.- It was barely a whisper, as she stepped in, she was met with the sight of him sitting on the ground cross-legged, he was working on a 1,000 pieces puzzle of a herd of horses in a meadow, it was Renesmee's but she had already put it together twice, once alone and the second time she had dragged everyone in the family to help her.
Carlisle said it was good for him to keep his mind active.
Which happened a lot when one considered how Emmett, Alice and Renesmee were the ones who spent the most time around him, the most lively ones.
Renesmee had developed the habit to sneak in here to read to him or attempt to teach him how to master the internet. Esme couldn't blame him on that last one, even she had trouble understanding the internet sometimes.
Neither Edward, Rosalie nor Jacob liked Renesmee being close to Jasper.
But Bella had let them all know how she felt about their paranoid behavior towards her daughter. Renesmee was a great judge of people, if she liked Jasper it meant he posed no danger to her regardless of their paranoia.
Still.
Back to the point at hand.
Jasper didn't look at her, but he was no longer paying attention to the puzzle, he was sitting straighter, hands on his lap and shoulders tense.
-Jasper?- She called softly, she didn't went closer, just kneeling on the floor before him, setting the transfusion bag on the ground alongside the glass of venom.
He looked at it, but he still didn't dare to look at her, why? She hadn't heard of him being shy of meeting other people's eyes.
-My name's Esme.- She introduced herself, he didn't answer, he was all hunched over now, almost as if aiming to make himself smaller, was he scared of her? Why? What could she possibly do to him?- I mean you no harm, dear.
She pushed the glass towards him alongside the bag.
-You should drink this, I will be downstairs if you need anything else, alright?- She told him softly, she wanted to get to know him, but maybe it was still too soon, she didn't want to make him uncomfortable.
Thus.
She got up and left.
Not before hearing the soft whisper of his voice.
-Thanks.
Esme smiled.
-No problem.
And with that she was gone.
~
Jasper hadn't expected someone else to want to approach him.
Much less the coven leader's mate.
Esme.
She had seemed eager to get his attention, for some weird reason, but he didn't give in.
If the coven leader were to find out he was looking, let alone talking with his mate… he shuddered to think what would happen.
Had this been some kind of test? Why did she feel the need to come here and start talking to him? She even called him "dear", what was she aiming for? Get him in trouble?
He quickly drank the blood and the venom, he felt stronger with each passing day, and the wound in his stomach was healing nicely if Carlisle's words were something to go by, but he still had trouble with his limbs, especially his legs, they refused to cooperate with him.
He couldn't even attempt to stretch them, because whenever he did it felt as if something inside was being torn apart, threatening to rip it something in there if he kept it up.
And he hated it.
He hated not being able to move, now that he had such freedom he hated not being able to seize it as he wanted to, he couldn't stand, couldn't even walk let alone run, if he wanted to walk he needed support.
It made him feel… restrained.
Like he was still within reach of whoever wanted to get their hands on him and enact revenge on him.
It put him on edge, he wanted to be able to run, to escape.
But he couldn't.
For the time being all he could do was get stronger and not anger anyone here.
He put the missing piece on a horse's face.
It was a black horse with white on its forehead.
He flinched as the deafening sound of hoofs echoed in his head, he clutched his head, black horse, three women in white.
"What's your name, soldier?"
María stood before him, two other women by her sides; Nettie, Lucy, red eyes burrowing onto him.
"Major Jasper Whitlock, ma'am."- That was his voice, wasn't it?
She drew closer to him.
"I hope you survive, you might be of great use to me."- Fire seized his neck as teeth broke skin, molten lava coursing through his veins as he dropped on the ground, someone pried his mouth open, a thick and absolutely nauseating liquid fills his mouth, he struggles against it but someone closes his mouth, covering it and refusing to let him spit it out.
And when the sun flare becomes too much he swallows, he swallows and chokes as he screams, his voice deafening to his own ears. Fire fire fire. He's melting from the inside out, his veins and muscles are being flayed, his bones cracked, shattered.
He's going to die die die die die.
A figure looms over him, fingers clamping shut around his wrists, it smells like vanilla, someone whispers in his ear.
"You are mine now, if you ever betray me, I will make you wish you never met me. You are not allowed to leave my side, you don't speak without my say so, and you certainly don't act without my say."
A hand clamps shut around his throat.
"You belong to me Major, and you will do anything and everything I say without question. Understand?"- Her voice is like silk, her grip tight.
"Yes, ma'am."- His own voice is like a far away echo, an obliterating pressure seizes his head, images blurring.
-No!- A booming voice echoes somewhere, the images glitch.
And the world goes black.
~
Esme wasn't sure what had happened.
One moment she was reminding Rosalie something regarding Renesmee and the next thing she knows there's fire in the air.
It claws at her skin in an all too familiar fashion.
It almost reminded her of her transformation, but twice as worse.
She has to lean against the wall as her vision flashes white, she mildly notices Rosalie curled in on herself on the couch, magazine on the floor as she clutches her head, Edward is by the doorway on the ground, also clutching his head.
And the sight of her two children being so clearly in pain while she can do nothing but watch tears at her heart, because they are in pain, and she can't even move.
God, what was this?
-Jasper.- Comes Edward's strained voice.
Jasper? She knew he was an empath but could he seriously be the one causing this? Was he that powerful? Why was he doing this?
-Flashback, of the night of his transformation.- Edward hisses through gritted teeth, he could see his thoughts again, he knew he wasn't doing this on purpose, but still…
He could hear María whispering her demands and rules as he writhed in pain, so he hadn't been at the verge of death when turned, just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong moment.
And then another voice shouted, it sounded like Jasper, but at the same time not.
The weight in the air lifted like a whiplash that made Edward's stomach twist violently, and then Jasper's mind shut off at the same time a bang came from upstairs followed right after by a body hitting the floor.
Edward was up in a flash, running upstairs, his fault or not that didn't change the fact that he had attacked his family, what if Renesmee had been here? The idea of his daughter crying or screaming in pain makes his venom boil.
But as he barged into the room he was met with Jasper laying on the floor, unconscious, puzzle pieces scattered all over the room, almost as if he had grabbed the puzzle and thrown it with enough force to destroy any progress he might have made with it.
He cautiously approached him, kneeling infront of him.
Was he starting to remember? Or had something triggered this? If so, what? He looked around, had it been the puzzle? Why would he smash it then if not? All pieces were scattered all over the floor.
He glanced back at his unconscious face, honestly? He did felt bad for him, because it was clear that María had been the one to turn him into a monster, as a human he had been a soldier, while Edward didn't condone killing innocents, he had been an union Spy, he had been… decent.
So he might had been redeemable.
If he had arrived with Alice.
But he didn't.
No one knew how he ended up locked in that place, for how long, why, where was María, if his amnesia was due his imprisonment or if he had it before being locked, why did he disappear from Alice's vision if he wasn't dead?
So many questions, he knew Alice liked him, that the sole fact that he was here made her incredibly happy, she had been happier, she's always been bubbly, but she's been more happy lately, somehow.
He's seen the Jasper from her previous visions, he would have had golden eyes, they would have gotten married a year after their arrival, Rosalie would have hated him at first, but she would have ended up establishing a stronger bond with him than she ever did with Edward, to the point where she would have allowed Jasper to use her last name and pose as twins after a human caught on the striking resemblance between him and the Jasper Whitlock from the Civil War.
He would have been quiet, a bit withdrawn, but he wouldn't have been a threat.
Now though, the person before him wasn't that Jasper, he wasn't the Jasper Alice had liked, he was a complete stranger with an unknown background.
And Edward wanted him gone before he hurt someone.
But Carlisle wouldn't listen, Alice wouldn't listen.
Something about him wasn't right, couldn't they see it?
Movement caught his attention, and then, Jasper's eyes snapped open, his sclera was no longer black, but his eyes were such obliterating black it was like staring right into the void.
Jasper sprung up and before Edward could react he had pinned him against the ground, slamming him onto the floor with a strength Edward knew he shouldn't have in his condition, the wood creaked under the impact.
-Hey, hey, I was just seeing if you were hurt!- He tried to appease quickly, Jasper's grip on his wrists was so painful it felt like he would snap them off, he was growling, such a deep sound Edward could barely think straight under the overwhelming blares going off in his head, danger danger danger. Those fangs doing nothing at all to ease his flaring instincts screaming at him to run away.
-Lies!- The booming deep roar almost made Edward glad vampires couldn't have heart attacks, because that voice made his insides grow colder than ever, hairs standing on end as his body grew absolutely frozen in place.
Because what he had on top of him right now was not a person, nowhere was the quiet or skittish Jasper, what he had right here was a completely out of his mind vampire.
-You're with her! Y'all are! I won't go back! Ya cain't make us go back! I won't let ya make us go back!
What? Who was her? Who was 'us'? What the hell was he talking about? Her her her, go back? María?
-María?
The grip on his wrists grew impossibly strong, an iced feeling drapping over him like a sea of absolute darkness and despair, cold steely eyes burrowing into his, such obliterating hatred, such rage, such bloodlust, it was like nothing Edward had ever seen.
It was like staring into the void, at death.
The Major.
-We don't know María.- His voice came out strained, barely above a whisper, but he needed him to understand, he was horribly wrong, why would he even think they knew María?
-Lies! You found us! You're helpin' 'cause that's what she said to do! Y'know who I am! María sent ya. She did didn't she? Of course she did, why else would we be free? We could never be free. No one would be stupid enough to help some random vampire, much less me.
He was too close to Edward's face now, a crazed look on his all too wide eyes, God, he couldn't move, he didn't even knew anyone could ever feel the amount of terror he was feeling right now, he couldn't move, couldn't speak, he was gonna die.
The Major had been a monster who did horrible things, things bad enough to get thousands to hate him, fear him.
And Carlisle had opened the doors of his home to him like he was nothing but a harmless stray.
The air caught in his throat when he dove down, fangs sinking straight into his neck, a nauseating pressure seizing his neck as he felt Jasper start sucking his venom.
And Edward couldn't move, couldn't fight, couldn't do anything at all under the grip the darkness had on him, hysteria, desperation, numbness.
The sudden sound of heavy footsteps came from somewhere, Jacob's familiar stench filling his senses, and soon enough he was stalking into the room, yanking Jasper away and throwing him across the room, Jasper who sprung back up, didn't even flinch under the loud crack of his legs as he straightened to his full height, that crazed look in his eyes alongside the feral snarl in his face…
How had Alice ever thought this demon could be redeemed?
Jasper pounced at Jacob.
But as strong as he was Jacob was stronger, and he didn't hesitate to dodge his arms, ducking before slamming head first into Jasper's stomach, clamping his fingers right into his knees as he brought him down. The sickening crack of something echoing across the room.
Jacob held him down as Jasper kept struggling, twisting violently, growling, snarling, it were sounds way too animalistic to believe a human throat was the one making them.
He even tried to bite Jacob a few times.
-He's completely lost it.- Rosalie spat bitterly, smacking Edward over the head, when he looked up at her from where she had dragged him to the hallway she dropped a cloth on his face.- The others will be arriving soon, stop that "bleeding" if you don't want Bella to freak out more than she probably is already.
-You told her he attacked me?- Edward asked angrily, still taking the cloth and pressing it against his neck.
-Well, I fucking needed Jacob to be quick about it and not bring Renesmee, I guess you should be thanking me, he's the only one who can deal with him and not freeze in the act. I saved your ass, your welcome.
-Where's Esme?
-Downstairs…- Rosalie told as a statement of fact.
Jasper was no longer struggling, in fact, he was completely quiet, completely still, Rosalie frowned.
-Did you kill him?
-No… I think he's out.- Jacob said, releasing Jasper, he didn't even twitch, to be honest? Of all vampires Jacob's ever met he had to admit this one was, by far, the creepiest.
And stinkiest.
And the friggin' little freak thought this thing was her mate? Was she mad?
A/N: Hola amigo? ¿Cómo estás compadre? Mi nombre es Emmett. - "Hello my friend? How are you buddy? My name is Emmett." - Translation made by the author's latin assXD
