Esme stares at her husband with a mix of fond indulgence and exasperation after studying the new addition to their garage.

"So let me get this straight. Emmett dragged Bella into some game, and then you decided to turn the garage of the house I painstakingly designed for you into a dodgy laboratory with volatile, experimental machinery?"

"Well, I am sure Rose made sure to consider safety in the design...", Carlisle starts hesitantly.

"It's for Jasper's sake.", Rosalie chimes in, bent over a piece of machinery and up to her elbows in engine grease. "Bella pointed out how unfair it is to hold Jasper to the same standards as us when as an empath he feels all of our bloodlust, including Edward's for his singer."

"Exactly!", Carlisle continues, knowing that working the emotional angle would be the best approach to placate his wife. "We got talking about my earlier attempts to keep a supply of blood in the house, and the limitations that made it impractical. I am hopeful for this solution, and think it will make all of our lives easier, but especially Jasper's."

I surreptitiously wipe away a tear from the corner of my eye, suddenly quite overcome with gratefulness. Where did that come from? I whip my head around and spot Jasper in the corner, outwardly looking stoic as ever. When had he come in? His golden eyes go wide as we make eye contact and he quickly reigns in the emotions.

The tension breaks as the machine grinds to a halt.

"Eh, Rosie, is it supposed to do that?", Emmett asks carefully.

"Yes Emmett, the cycle has finished. You can't smell blood anymore or can you?"

"No.", he confirms.

"Indeed!", Carlisle expands exuberantly, "I noticed the smell was weakening particularly the past few hours, but now it really does not smell like blood anymore!"

Rosalie looks very smug. I high five her, then look dismayed at the grease print on my hand. She hand me a rag and a bottle of degreaser and starts cleaning up herself as well.

Meanwhile Carlisle has retrieved the inner compartment from the dehydration machine and shaken the blood powder into a petri dish to weigh. "9742 milligrams", he says. "We started with 10.2 liters of blood, so the ratio is nearly a gram to a liter."

"So, shall I give it a try or does anyone want the honors?", Emmett asks grinning broadly.

"I do.", Jasper says quietly. "I insist. If you designed this even in part to help me, let me be the one to bear the consequences if there are any side-effects."

Esme looks at him in concern. "Honey, surely you know we do not blame you for anything."

"You don't.", he answers, then adds in a whisper : "But we all know the most important one does."

I could absolutely wring Alice's scrawny little neck right now, never mind that she is a vampire and I a weak human.

Never mind me, Emmett and Rosalie look ready for murder. They are about to speak out when Jasper holds up a hand.

"Please, I want to try this."

"Alright, if you are sure.", Carlisle says eagerly and cracks open a fresh notebook, while Esme rolls her eyes at him. "Let me record how much you drank on your hunt so we can track any variables that affect your bloodlust."

Jasper gives him a detailed description of his feeding history of the past two weeks while Esme holds his hand and he stares at the small container of brownish powder.

Carlisle hands him a half liter bottle of water and meticulously measures off the corresponding amount of blood powder to restore it to its original consistency.

"I believe you should go back into the forest to mix it together." Esme says. "We do not know yet if it will smell like blood again when liquified. With Bella still in the house we should note take any unnecessary risks." Jasper nods. He and Carlisle wave goodbye and disappear in the trees.

Twenty minutes later they are back, looking completely normal.

"It was odd." Jasper says. "When mixed with water it smells exactly like blood again. Not specifically deer blood though, just generic blood somehow. Also it did not trigger my bloodlust at all."

"Perhaps it is because you just hunted before.", Carlisle suggests, but Jasper shakes his head.

"No, I know how it feels to be full and smell the blood of live prey. My instincts should still react. This is different."

"Then let's wait a few days until you start to get thirsty again. We can test if it is effective in reducing actual bloodlust." Carlisle contemplates his notes. "Rose, can you produce an extra 40 grams of the powder by Wednesday? That should be enough to keep up with his current intake."

"The machine should be able to handle it.", she answers. "I'll need help getting about 50 liters of blood though, and my husband has proven incapable of doing so in a civilized manner."

"I'll go.", Jasper quickly volunteers. "It is my food after all and I'm stuffed for now anyway."

"Let me help.", Carlisle says. "Come, I'll show you our jerrycans and siphoning equipment."

Esme shakes her head again. "Let me keep an eye on them", she mouths at Rosalie and follows.

Emmett also leaves, muttering something about another Walmart run for more supplies. "Can you bring me back a burrito for breakfast Em?", I ask at regular volume, knowing he will hear me. Sure enough, I hear him yell in confirmation.

Seeing that it is only seven in the morning, I decide to catch some more sleep and leave Rosalie alone to tinker in the garage.