A/N: Another couple of place names for my Facebook group and final P.O.V of that night xx Alexis

I was changing this I knew, but I had no idea how much time had passed since Emmett thankfully forced his venom into me. So at least I was still alive, thank God for my big goof-ball brother. He jumped in quickly to save me when nobody else cared! Well, that's not totally true, Jasper cared as well, but he was nowhere near me at the time, however, I felt his horror at what had happened and then the fear that I might actually die. It was all Edward's doing of course, but I realised it was with Alice's help, no her interference! I saw that sly and quite malicious gleam in her eye as she handed me that envelope. She knew, I mean she had seen that I would cut myself and she wanted it to happen! Edward's reaction though was well over the top, like stratospherically over the top!

He knew what my blood smelt like to him, so why was he breathing heavily down my neck before I cut my finger? It was like he was actually hyping himself up, getting himself psyched out for the main event so to speak. Tonight was no accident, this was a planned event as far as I could tell! He was usually so disproportionate about being full and obsessively careful. Therefore had he purposefully not fed before coming to collect me? They, Edward and Alice obviously planned this together, but why? I didn't remember if his eyes were light gold or not, I really didn't look! I had long since given up on being the dewy-eyed girlfriend sadly. Did he know I was pulling away from him, due to his refusal to even discuss any future we might have had or to my mind, lack of it!

It's not like if we were to stay as a couple, we could have avoided my change forever. That's if we were to ever have a life together and I had begun to really doubt it! I'm beginning to think we were never a real couple! As the months had passed I had begun to feel less and less important to him and to be honest, him to me because of his behaviour and attitude! He started to treat me more like a child, worsening every day, as if I were a doppelganger of *Benjamin Button! Was this just first love for me and a game he was tired of now, for him? Something that was waning day by day for both of us, but for totally different reasons? Because I don't feel anything but anger and contempt for him at this moment, anger at his brutality. Yes, I was his singer but did he have to be so vicious?

To not only have ripped out my throat, but in a so totally and to me excessive and dramatic way. Rather than just bite me, like everyone else would and did do to their singers. Since they wouldn't want to waste any of the blood. Then he had to throw me behind him like a broken doll, or a used napkin. Now no longer relevant to him, a mere empty vessel. The only thing he didn't do was wipe his mouth with the back of his hand while belching with satisfaction! I of course, flew straight into all that crystal shit and the glass table Alice conveniently put there! But then that's Edward to a tee, so overly melodramatic to the point of making himself look both immature and farcical. He says I can't act, but I'm a damned sight better at it than him, the god-damn drama queen that he is!

Before we left the Cullen's house even I knew the only reason he wanted to get close to me again, was to finish what he started. Finish getting his fix before Emmett's venom tainted the rest of my blood too much! But what killed any residual love I felt for any of them, was the believe in his lies and their indifference to me! They callously left me dying on the floor as they argued and blamed Jasper for something Edward did! Which was truly unbelievable and untenable, callousness must come really naturally to them. It's a pity I never noticed that before! Which just goes to show it was all an act for them, but not Emmett and Jasper. I lay twitching in Emmett's arms watching each one of their faces and it was sickening. Edward was blinking rapidly as he always did when he lied, so if I saw it so too did they.

Then there was that bitch, Alice, my not-so-best friend, oh she was trying really hard not to smirk with glee, but failing miserably. Did she think I was already dead, did she think everything was going as they had planned? Is that what she saw in that warped head of hers and didn't feel the need to bother checking? We humans have a saying, 'Always check the body', maybe she should have tried it! I saw the shock on her face when Jasper didn't react to her ordering him to leave. I also saw her fear when Jasper stood his ground and looked down at her in sheer annoyance. He looked at her as if she was nothing but an irritating child or pest. Even so, nobody even glanced my way; Alice and Edward were of course, holding centre stage. As if it was their big audition piece, but as usual they didn't have all the pages of the script.

Therefore they weren't aware Emmett changed it last minute! What did Alice gain from this? Why was she goading him, was she wasting what little time she thought I had left? Or was she trying to make him angry, angry enough to lose his temper and maybe hurt one of them? Rosalie's smug attitude, that supercilious 'I told you so' look, she often wore was front and centre, she always had to be right! But why didn't she who didn't want me to be a vampire, try to help me, try to stop it? No, the bitch couldn't lower herself to save me, the girl who in her eyes only, was her rival! How insecure she must really be to think a human could steal her mate! She not only had no faith in herself, but she obviously had none in Emmett either! That's just so wrong and so sad.

Carlisle, wow that sure was an eye-opener. He knew, I know he saw through Edward's lies and yet he followed blindly every word they spouted, especially him. I never before took Carlisle for a coward or a fool, but now I saw him for the weakling he was! So much for being the esteemed doctor, he never even glanced my way once. He's a disgrace to his profession, do no harm, my ass! Then there was Esme, she saddened or was that sickened me the most. By completely refusing to use her own eyes, her own mind to decide the truth. She just accepted what they all said, did she even look into Jasper's eyes at all, no! She just took what they said as if it were written in stone or in this case my blood and it lost her my respect! They all lost any regard I had for them as I lay in a pool of my own blood on their lounge floor.

I was waiting for the pain they all talked about to kick in but all I felt was itchy, granted it was hundreds of itches all over my body, but they didn't add up to excruciating pain! But the strangest thing, and the most amazing thing was seeing Jasper go from the calm, quiet guy I thought I knew to the most incredible man I've ever seen! It was like a switch being flipped and there he was, commanding my attention from across the room without even looking at me. My eyes wanted to shut, but my brain refused to comply lest I miss a moment of seeing him! Was this what they had all alluded to in the past; was this the Major, Emmett had spoken of? Gone was the easy relaxed stance. Now his back was ramrod straight and he was seemingly inches taller to me down there on the floor.

But it was the sheer power emanating from him and yet his eyes were still gold, not the black that Em had said they usually turned when the Major made a rare appearance. Yes, I knew all about him from Emmett, just because Edward refused to tell me anything didn't mean my brother-bear didn't. So he was unaffected by my blood? Unlike everyone else at that moment, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt he was so much stronger than them all. This included poor Emmy, who I knew was holding his breath. But at no point did I feel afraid in his arms, my protector, my brother in all but blood. That was about when they realised I was still very much alive and boy were the emotions plain on their faces. Abject anger and hatred from Alice, and the obligatory disgust and annoyance from Rosalie.

Horror and sadness from Esme and out and out fear from Carlisle, yeah he knew he screwed up big time. I didn't need Jasper's gift they were always so easy to read. Then there was the boy wonder himself, hunger plain and simple, he wanted more of my blood, he wanted it all! After Edward was removed once more by Em, this time upwards. Wow, I never realised how stupid he was, as if he could take Emmett! Em jumped up through the hole Edward had made and settled me in a room. I had faded in and out a couple of times and knew my shield thingy was keeping me safe from the burning. That too was something I learned from Emmett, he overheard Carlisle talking to Eleazar Denali, about me and my possible gift. I surfaced once when I heard Jasper talking to Em, why did my heartbeat pick up its pace at the sound of him talking.

It's not that I hadn't heard him talk before, but his accent was way more pronounced than I'd ever heard from him. My reaction was odd and something to ponder when I'm a little less busy. I didn't hear much at first unless voices were raised. His little spat with the demented Alice, boy she really wants him gone!

"That's Major Whitlock to you, Dr Cullen!" he had angrily snarled, almost losing his cool,

That was his reply to Carlisle and it got my undivided attention. Damn, I didn't expect to feel all sorts of turned on by his growling baritone voice? It seemed to resonate inside me and rattle around before settling next to my own beating heart. I was truly confused by this but was having difficulty latching on to any one thing, for more than a few seconds! Except for my torment of Edward that was automatic, he was the enemy now and dangerous! Whitlock, that was what he said, it suits him so much better than Hale or Cullen. Yes, it was a much stronger sounding name for a stronger man! I latched onto the sound of him and him alone as he moved around his study, it was calming for me. Not in the way he used his gift type of calm, no it was in a more real and deeper way.

I still heard everything my brother-bear said to me at the same time, but I had expected to not remember any of this. However, in true Bella Swan form, I was awake for most of it, just floating in and out. When Rosalie had shouted at Jasper to shut me up as I once again letting rip as Edward approached the room. It was quite funny; Emmett said he had put his fingers in his ears as I was so loud. I couldn't see because I could barely open my eyes now, they were so heavy and my eyes were very sensitive. Jasper, of course, refused and rightly so! Finally, the main four antagonists left to hunt and get away from my ear-splitting screams. Jasper asked me directly, if I wanted to stay or go and I said go. He had called me Isabella darlin' and I liked it, yes I liked it very much!

Esme was fruitlessly apologising to Jasper, but he was barely saying anything in return and I understood why! To me her apologies smacked of to little way to late! Now we were on the move and I could hear her making suggestions as to where we could move too, but Jasper shot them all down again and again. I agreed completely, we didn't want to go somewhere they'd know of or anywhere Carlisle owned. Either Esme wasn't as smart as I had once thought she was or maybe she was just plain obtuse. It didn't stop her from commenting on how perfect this Cullen house or that one would be! I could sense Jasper was getting more than a little annoyed with her blatant lack of common sense and understanding. Why would we go to one of Carlisle's homes after all they had done to him and their lack of help for me?

She opened her mouth to say who knows what and I growled loudly at her, making her gasp at me in shock. She really was that out of touch she didn't seem to grasp her input was unneeded and starting to verge on unwanted. Jasper leant his arm back and squeezed my arm saying,

"It's okay darlin', everythin' is okay. I'm fine"

"Mom! Stop it, you're just upsetting everyone" Em said in complete exasperation with her,

I relaxed once again as I felt Jaspers pleasure at me for defending him I guess. I was momentarily just lost in my own mind before I floated back to real-time. That was when I heard a high-pitched conversation between Esme and Emmett. I hissed at the sound, I always hated when they, mainly Edward, Alice and Carlisle did that to me. Always excluding the human, why did they think I was too stupid to understand their highbrow conversations or were they afraid I might show them up? But most of all it was downright ignorant and rude to do it in my presence! I could tell Esme was getting annoyed at being pulled up or every little thing she said or did. Was it our fault that she was so used to living in that make-believe world the Cullen's fostered?

I now realised how weird it really was, it was wrong no, they were just so well and truly wrong!

"Sorry Bella. I was telling Esme only she and for the time being myself, were still part of the Olympic coven. Therefore why would you or Jasper want to go to one of Carlisle's houses? After all, Jazz was thrown out unceremoniously by him for a crime we all know Edward committed.

Then you were callously left to die on the floor of the lounge by them all, while they placated and pandered to Edward and Alice's tantrums! Therefore as your sire, I have to take you somewhere you would feel safe and that isn't one of Carlisle's houses!" He said with some gravity and a touch of anger,

Jasper was emoting some pride in Emmy, but I think I was the only one who felt it, that's kinda strange? I heard Esme start to sob; finally, she's seeing just how far they had all fallen, even in Emmett's eyes! We drove in silence for a while and I tried to hopefully keep my shield over Jasper as well as myself. In a bid to protect him from any negative emotions flying around, even just to mute them slightly. My head was resting in Emmett's lap and I could feel him stroking my hair, I wasn't sure who he was trying to calm, me or himself. I did feel for him knowing he would be in some amount of pain having left Rosalie behind. But he was making a stand and showing her that she wasn't always right and he most definitely wasn't always wrong!

Jasper finally decided on Jeffersonville for us to set up camp and Emmett asked with a forced little laugh,

"Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio or Vermont?"

"Peter, Char and I have a place outside Jeffersonville Kentucky, but they often nip to Jeffersonville, Indiana or Indianapolis for the nightlife and other things!" Jasper explained,

"You have your own houses? You never said Jasper" Esme murmured once she'd calmed down,

"Nobody ever asked me, Esme! I have several properties, some joint with them, some not" he replied and they fell into silence once again,

I get the feeling they never asked him anything and just believed the things Edward said about him without ever querying it, not even once. Only Emmett seemed to know the real Jasper and of course Edward did to, but he ignored everything he didn't like or want to believe. I bet he told everyone Jasper had squandered all his own money and was sponging off of Alice! I can imagine the childish rubbish he would have spouted, it's crazy how much I see now the rose-tinted glasses are off! Of course, Miss bitch wouldn't correct his lies either, as they played right into her hands! How they hadn't all gotten each other and themselves killed before now, defies logic! The whole coven, except Jasper and Emmett, maybe Esme once upon a time, were only looking out for themselves,

Maybe Jasper wanted us to be as far from humans as we could before I was fully on my feet. Or did he want us to be as far away from Edward as possible? I was more than happy to leave all the decisions up to him, which was strange because I hated when Edward did that to me. I'd never been to either place, none of the seven actually and looked forward to visiting. Jasper was intent on getting there as soon as possible and was making as few stops as he could. But he did make one where he bought a shirt and a pair of jeans for both himself and me. Thank goodness I really didn't like the dress Alice insisted I wear; it was far too young of a style for me. But everything he'd bought felt comfortable and more my style, I wish I had my boots I brought from Arizona.

I had no idea what colours I had been helped into by Esme. She was being really quiet now she knew how we all felt. Should I feel sorry for her, having her world ripped apart, no! She was just as guilty as them. Guilty of never asking, never questioning, but mostly believing all the lies Edward must have made up over all those years and I bet they were as fanciful as they were ridiculous! But I will find out once I'm on my feet again, I refuse to let this be! We travelled for a few hours in silence; unfortunately, it was one of those uncomfortable ones! I knew Jasper was tense because although neither was saying anything they were still emoting and he felt it all. I wished I could completely protect him from the barrage, not just mute it for him like I hope I had been doing and suddenly he stopped the truck and I felt him turn to me.

"Was that you Isabella, what did you do darlin'?" he asked in confusion,

I sent him a cocktail of my pride in him, my need to protect him and yes my new budding feelings for him and he felt like he was smiling broadly.

"Thank you darlin', it feels so good to have only my own and your emotions inside me, for once!" he said happily,

That brought Esme's head up and once again she realised just how much they all abused Jasper's gift over all these years, while totally ignoring the pressure they loaded on top of him every single day! A little later Emmett had told me roughly sixteen or so hours had passed now and we were in Montana and heading for the South Dakota state-line. That's when we got the news from Peter that Edward had now done to my father what he'd done to me! I was so angry, so devastated and for a moment dropped my shield from around Jasper, he mentally almost curled in on himself. I heard his groan of anguish and threw it over him again, all while trying to subdue my own raging emotions. He pulled over once again and told the others to hunt, that he would stay with me; he was hoping I guess they would calm down a bit once fed.

"No Isabella, let me help you this time," he said gently as he held my hand and pumped me full of calmness,

I knew he wasn't trying to take away my pain and anger, but to calm my mind so I could deal with this latest blow and it was working. My dad wasn't dead, he like me was embarking on a new life and I'd get to keep him forever. Was Jasper still the Major, I thought that he hadn't reverted back to the Jasper he'd once been. Because he was still calling me Isabella, not Bella as the other him had, well in company he had. On the very rare occasions we were alone he did call me Isabella then and I liked how it sounded coming from him. Nothing like the nasty censured way Edward said it like he was my father and he was admonishing me for being a naughty child! So maybe it's just a him thing and that's how Jasper sees me, as Isabella the young woman and not Bella the young girl!

It's all in the inflection and distinction I suppose, basically, he sees and treats me as a young adult. Something nobody else ever had, especially Edward and Jake and I liked it, I liked the idea he saw me as more than a girl because he was way more than just a boy! As I calmed I heard him tell me about his brother Peter, who would be looking after my Dad. He sounds like a blast that's for sure, but a true friend to Jasper. Why had Alice and the Cullen's not accepted them as his family? Oh! Oh, I think I know why and why they used the pathetic excuse that they were human drinkers to cover it! How dare he have that which they didn't, the love and loyalty of real friends and the unbreakable bond he shared with his brother. Something that they could never have because they felt so superior to everyone even each other!

As far as I'm concerned amongst them only Emmett is capable of that type of bond and he now has it with me. No wonder they hated it, all the outsiders, in other words, the trailer-park trash, well in their eyes! We all had something they themselves didn't. Go us, Jasper, Emmett and I, we all have heart, deep and loving natures and they do not! We had true love and friendship from others, who wanted nothing in return. We gave and received true feelings that they could only wish they had! Yes, I could see that as truly galling to the sanctimonious assholes, especially Edward and Carlisle, with Alice and Rose coming in a close second! Esme could have it all if she just thought for herself for once, but then again maybe she likes being a sheep and just following blindly most of the time.

I really have lost most of my respect for her and the way she acts towards Jasper rubs me up the wrong way. He is not as child-like as Edward and she is not old enough to be any of our mothers! So she can forget that crap with regards to me and him from now on. I had a mother and that was more than enough for me, I was not a child anymore, hell, I haven't been one for years! So I will listen to Emmett and Jasper only, one being my sire and the other..., just what is he to me? That is a problem for another day, a day when I'm no longer changing. But it will be soon because these feelings are growing exponentially! I don't know how they will cope when they find out I will not be feeding from animals ever. I am a vampire now and a McCarty at that! I will never be a Cullen, I'd rather be dead than that!

So I will not be following the rules of a pompous over-blown coward and his asshole son! Because if feeding from animals made them the way they are, I'll pass! I had been doing as Emmett said and remembering my past, but it was all there nothing was hazy or in any way distorted. This must be a me thing, my shield that protects others from getting in, is stopping them from getting out. Yeah, that was one of the many things Em told me, he thought I had the right to know since it was about me and my life. Because there was no way Edward would ever dream of telling me anything at all! I hope Dad isn't having too hard a time of it, but if he's anything like me it might not be so bad! I hope Peter is reminding him to remember me at least! Emmett's phone chimed and he snorted saying,

""Peter says to tell you he's reminding your dad, but he seems to have a partial shield like you do! But your dad's new gift is driving him insane! He has a direct line into Pete's head for some reason! We won't know what your gifts can do, until you both finish cooking!"

Once again I heard Esme gasp, oh so she also knew and didn't think I should be told! I know Jasper is still out hunting, but I can sense he's not too far away and he seems calm. Why have I suddenly got this affinity with him I never had before? Is it because this is his alter ego or just that he has finally thrown off the shackles the Cullen's had on him, especially Alice! Has he too had his rose-tinted glasses removed? I think we are more alike than I realised and I'm happy about it.

*Benjamin Button, a man who starts ageing backwards. As a baby that was born looking like an old man,