And there's no remedy for memory
Your face is like a melody
It won't leave my head
Your soul is haunting me
And telling me that everything is fine
But I wish I was dead (dead, like you)
Alice dropped Bella off at her own house that night, Bella's over night bag and backpack already waiting for her on the porch. Jasper had gone straight to the Cullen house from prom, leaving her with a kiss on the forehead and a lingering promise in his dark amber eyes that Bella was too overwhelmed to process. Neither of them mentioned coming back that night, but she left her window open all the same. Hoping someone would come. To tell her everything would be alright. Alice had told her they were going to have a family meeting, that there were too many choices to be made for her to have any idea on the outcome. Alice had looked nervous, though she cheerfully smiled at Bella anyway. The last time she saw Alice lose her cool composure, was the drive down to Phoenix.
They were having a family meeting? About her, she imagined. What else could it be over? Bella knew she fucked up, she felt horrible. Now instead of just ruining her relationship, she's causing problems in their family. The shame spiral she had been on since Phoenix and become a shame roller coaster and she fucking hated roller coasters. She tossed and turned for hours, thinking about everything that had gone wrong in one evening. What had she been thinking? She let her dreams leak into real life. Let the fantasy become a reality for a brief moment. Was it even worth it?
"I wish this were the dream." Bella mumbled to herself as she turned over to the cool side of the pillow. Missing Edward's nightly visits for the first time in weeks. It wasn't really Edward that she was missing. His cool hard chest had nothing on Jasper's pliant embrace. She groaned and buried herself under the covers. This was the last thing she should be thinking about. It was inevitable, all her thoughts had been leading back to Jasper, and Bella didn't know anything about him at all.
School was going to be horrendous on Monday. Bella was thankful Charlie had spent the night at Billy's on the Rez, so she had at least a reprieve from his questioning. No doubt he'd find out the second he woke up on Saturday morning. Small towns were terrible gossips. When Bella finally drifted off to sleep that night, it was to dreams about Jasper and Edward fighting in the ballet studio, instead of James. Jasper wanted to let her turn, but Edward didn't want her to become a vampire. She never saw who won.
.o.O.o.
Bella slept in Saturday, the first thing she checked was the chair Edward usually sat in while she slept. Empty. Her window had been closed sometime after she had fallen asleep. Probably Charlie, it had started raining and one of the only things he got on her about was keeping her window open all night. She woke closer to 1pm than noon, there was a note from Charlie stuck to the refrigerator door. It stated simply, he heard she had quite the eventful evening, and that he was here if she wanted to talk about it.
That's what one thing she loved about Charlie. He didn't pry.
Nothing from any of the Cullens. Her texts to Alice from the night before went unanswered, and she was too scared to text Edward. She was pretty sure he was going to break up with her. She didn't blame him one bit. She deserved it. She should have let him back in Phoenix. And selfishly she had the errant thought that then she could have gone to prom with Jasper. Bella would have tried texting Jasper too, if she knew his number. She didn't even know his number, and she was throwing away a relationship with someone she had been willing to die for. Bella didn't know what she was going to do, and she wished she could ask her Mom for advice. She tried to imagine how that would go...
'Hey Mom, I cheated on my vampire boyfriend after he saved my life and kept me from becoming a vampire like him, with his vampire brother. We kissed in the middle of the dance floor at prom.'
Yeah, that would go over as well as a sack of bricks. She would go ballistic. She had gone on, and on, and on, and on about what a kind and caring boyfriend she had, how she was so lucky she had a boyfriend who would fly to Phoenix to take me home, how I was reckless and stupid and didn't deserve a first boyfriend as good as him.
Renee was undoubtedly on Team Edward.
Bella moved listlessly around the house, doing laundry, and cleaning around doing her homework. She didn't bother showering, only scrubbing her minimal make up from the night before off with a wet wipe. She had been checking her phone so often she almost drained the battery before she noticed the blinking low life indicator. By then it was time to start dinner, and she was starving. She basically wasted the entire day staring at her phone. Not having had anything to eat since the day before, opting to go to the Cullen mansion early instead. One mistake in a long list for that evening. She munched on some of the raw vegetables while she made Charlie a quick chicken stir fry. She worried Charlie would say something to her when he got home, but he seemed really tired from work and after thanking her for dinner he took a shower and immediately turned in. She felt bad, as if him having such a bad day at work had anything to do with her.
She took Charlie's lead, and took a shower before climbing into bed. She was surprised she had no texts that day, Lauren and Jessica should have tried to get gossip out of her by now. Instead it was a total blackout. No one spoke to her all weekend, and Sunday was spent much of the same. She defrosted the freezer in the garage, for what seemed like the first time since she was born. Throwing out frozen meat from the 90's. She finished her homework, made Charlie dinner. All through out, checking her phone for anything from anyone. She dreaded school on Monday, having no idea where she stood with Edward or anyone else. Even her dreams had been vacant of Jasper for the first time since Phoenix.
Where was everyone?
.o.O.o.
Bella had gotten so used to Edward picking her up and driving her to school every morning since they got together two months ago, that she didn't plan for him not showing up. Not having to drive herself to school was a luxury she would miss. Driving in dry Phoenix was one thing, but the rain made Bella a nervous driver. She kept thinking, maybe he's held up. I'll wait a few more minutes... She arrived in school just in time for the first bell. Her truck's loud rumble complete with a backfire when she pulled to a stop. As if to tell everyone, 'Here I am. Alone'. None of the Cullen's cars were in the parking lot.
It was not a sunny day in Forks, Washington.
Bella wasn't sure if it was her imagination and paranoia, but she felt like everyone was staring at her as she jogged slowly through the heavy rain to make it to home room before the final bell. Sitting down after brushing her coat off of rain at the entryway, it was obvious people were staring at her. She kept hearing her name and Edward's intertwined, and unsurprisingly, no one was getting Jasper's name right at all. By the time lunch rolled around, Bella was considering ditching the last two periods and heading home early. Deciding not to endure a lunch time full of endless questioning from Lauren and Jessica, Bella ate her lunch in a bathroom stall.
"I still can't believe she cheated on Edward, EDWARD!" Jessica was saying, as she and Lauren entered the girls bathroom. Bella groaned inwardly, she tried so hard to avoid them and here they were.
"I would never cheat on Edward with the creepy one. At least go for Emmett. He's hot!" Lauren said, not realizing she was admitting that she would cheat on Edward if she had him.
"Like Bella could stand a chance against Rosalie." But Lauren wasn't talking about Bella, she thought she had a chance against the blonde bombshell.
"Edward is so hot, if he wants a rebound fuck, I hope he knows he doesn't have to ask." Lauren said.
"You me, and every other woman with a pulse in Forks." Jessica laughed.
"Wasn't he with Alice anyway?" Lauren asked, no one was really sure on that dynamic.
"Alice is always calling Bella her best friend and she's always spending the weekends at the Cullen Mansion." Jessica said, envy dripping from her tone.
"Probably just to get closer to Jared."
"Jasper." Bella corrected, leaving the bathroom stall she had not been hiding in. "His name is Jasper. And Edward wouldn't fuck either of you, he's saving himself for marriage." She dumped her lunch, plastic tray and all in the trash and stalked out of the bathroom, straight to her truck. Not realizing she just gave them ammunition for a new rumor.
Fuck school.
.o.O.o.
When Bella arrived home from school that day, Edward was waiting for her, his Shiny Silver Volvo nowhere in sight. "Hey." She said clumsily, as she walked towards him. She hadn't seen him since Prom night, when he caught her kissing his brother. When he told Jasper she was his. And then he ignored her for two and a half days. Edward's back was to her, and she thought it a bit arrogant that he made her come to him. There was a light drizzle, and it had rained heavily all that afternoon, her backyard was just as much mud as it was grass.
"Let's talk." He gestured with his hand, waving towards the woods behind her house. She stopped at the back door to drop off her backpack, silently following after him. She had an uneasy feeling, but she followed. It mirrored the way he led her into the woods the last time, when he told her he was a vampire.
The lamb following the lion into the woods, once more.
Bella wondered why he hadn't driven his car, and why they couldn't talk about this indoors. It was starting to rain now and the clouds were darkening the sky even though it was only just turning three in the afternoon. Alice would have told Edward if there was a storm, so she continued on without questioning him about it. He hated when she didn't trust him. Especially when it came to trusting him about her safety. 'I will always protect you.' He would say, and then he'd drive her to school because he didn't trust her truck. She wanted to ask him where he was all weekend, why no one was at school, but he seemed to have a destination in mind. His pace was fast and she found herself stumbling often to keep up with him.
There was a sinister eerie feeling, once they got to a certain point in the woods. The tree cover made the already dark afternoon, even darker. Bella was having trouble seeing clearly. The rain had turned into a steady downpour, and Bella could feel it soaking her jacket making it heavier. She was out of breath and her legs were starting to burn from all the exercise. After tripping over yet another thing she couldn't see she stopped. "Edward, where are we going?" The cold was biting through her clothes, and she had stepped in a newly formed puddle and her left foot was completely wet, sock and all.
He didn't bother answering, he just kept walking. Leading the lamb further into the darkness of the woods. Bella felt like she had no choice but to follow, and struggled to keep up with him before she lost him between the trees. Long ago they must have left the trail that led around her neighbourhood, or it had ended. Bella did not know. She had never been out here before.
Bella was starting to feel uneasy, the pit in her stomach growing to an uncomfortable lump of dread.
Edward had been absent all weekend, she hadn't seen him since he had caught her kissing Jasper at prom. She absentmindedly rubbed her arm through her wet jacket, the very spot she had indentations from his fingers. Dark black and sickening looking. An odd sense of foreboding washed over Bella then, the chill tingling down her spine and the goosebumps prickling her skin, had nothing to do with the cold. Bella knew they were so far into the woods, no one would think she had gone this far. Not willingly. Edward stopped suddenly then, and he waited for her to catch up to him.
"We have to leave Forks." He said, not waiting for Bella to catch her breath.
"Because of prom? Edward, it-" She gasped out, struggling to voice her thoughts and breathe at the same time.
"Carlisle is 10 years older than he looks. People are starting to notice." Edward's voice was so cold, she realized. It was like when they first met, and he wanted her to stay away from him and his family. When all his thoughts were consumed with draining her.
"Okay, I've... I've got to think of something to tell Charlie." Bella stammered over her words. Edward just stared at the ground, his face emotionless and still. His silence and demeanor spoke louder than his words. They cut Bella deep, like the cold that had found it's way underneath her wet jacket and wool sweater.
"When you say... 'We'?" She asked for clarification. Trying hard not to imagine what life without the Cullens would be like, without Alice, Emmett... and Jasper.
"I mean my family, and myself." Bella understood that she wasn't family, but he said they were mates. That they were forever.
"Edward, what happened with Jasper, it's nothing." Her heart was racing, tears springing unbidden from her eyes. It was just a mistake.
"You're right. It was nothing. Nothing but what I always expected. And nothing compared to what could have happened. You just don't belong in my world, Bella."
"I belong with you." Even as she said it, the words felt bitter on her tongue. She belonged with Jasper. She wasn't sure where that thought came from, ever thankful Edward couldn't read her mind like everyone else.
"No, you don't." For a second, there was a tiny glimmer of hope swelling in Bella's chest that he was about to say she belonged with Jasper, but he said nothing else.
"I'm coming." She insisted. Her panic overwhelming her, the cold forgotten in that moment as she stepped towards Edward, to grab his sleeve, to get him to look at her. His next words stopped her mid step.
"I don't want you to come." Edward said with a hardness she hadn't heard from him since the baseball field. With the same insistent need for her to understand, as when he told her she was his life now.
"You don't want me?" The ground felt like it was opening up, welcoming her into its cold, muddy embrace. The pain in her chest swelling, washing over her. Fully crying now, regret and pain all over her face.
"Not anymore." He said firmly. She didn't realize mates could leave, she thought...
"That changes things." It was then that Edward looked up, and she saw his eyes for the first time that day.
"Yes, it does." Bella had just enough time to register shock at the face she once thought as so beautiful, with crimson eyes. She barely heard him speak before he lunged at her, shoving her painfully against a tree. His hand around her neck, nose at her throat.
"I wish I had done this before Phoenix." He murmured against her skin. It sent chills of fear cascading over her body. "You don't smell quite as delicious..."
"Alice." Bella rasped out, tears springing unbidden from her eyes. Why hadn't Alice seen this? Stopped it?
"Left for Denali with Jasper. Or did you think he actually had feelings for you?" Edward chuckled darkly, his teeth grazing against her throat. "Why do you think Alice asked him to dance with you?"
"No..." She tried to think back to that night, if it had all been one sided and she couldn't possibly know. Jasper could influence emotions. He could make you feel anything he wanted you to feel. Bella started to cry harder, hurt more by that than anything else. She had thought Alice and Jasper were best friends, but the more she thought about it, the more humiliated and used she felt.
"You were a fun toy for my family, for a time. Unfortunately for you, vampires grow bored easily." Edward moved away from Bella, his hand still firmly around her neck. Spitting the venom that had pooled in his mouth on the ground he pulled something out of his front pocket with his free hand. Bella didn't see what it was, then Edward's mouth was on her neck. A sharp piercing sting lingering as he held her neck immobile against his greedy mouth. A scream died on her lips, her limbs growing numb from the cold. Bella was surprised at how fast she would die. She knew vampires were fast, they did everything fast. Edward pulled away from Bella's neck for a mere moment, a distant spitting noise over the thudding of her pulse in her ears before he was back to her neck. His pinned his body against hers, and she had the sickening realization of his erection against her stomach as he held her immobile.
Bella eyes leaked silent tears as the forest around her faded from her vision. She once thought she would die for Edward, but to be like him. She was so naive to think someone like Edward, regardless of his vampirism would ever be interested in someone like her. She had been so stupid. But nothing made Bella feel worse, than knowing Alice and Jasper were so cruel. Bella started feeling sleepy then, and had the momentary thought that now she could go back to her dreams with Jasper. That was when she realized she had said his name out loud, the barest whisper on her lips as Edward squeezed the last bit of air out of her throat and the world of conscious thought was lost to Bella Swan.
.o.O.o.
Peter and Charlotte Whitlock haven't visited their sire, Jasper Whitlock in over thirty years. Not since he started moonlighting as a pacifist vegetarian with the Cullen Coven. A term that both vampires thought was ridiculous. So, it wasn't like they were expecting a warm welcome when they walked up the drive to the Cullen Mansion, being that they drank from humans. But to find the residence devoid of vampires and all personal effects? That... was a horse of another color.
It hadn't been long since the Cullens were last here, their scent mostly washed away from the rain. Jasper always made a point to let Peter know where he was, not that Peter wouldn't have been able to find him on his own. When Jasper informed him through an informal email, that they were going to be residing in Forks, Washington for the next several years, Peter had no intention of ever visiting. He knew all about Shapeshifters from his time with the Mexico Coven, and those were just felines. Giant wolves? Fuck no. Peter didn't want Charlotte anywhere near that.
Sure, Jasper didn't know they were coming. But to find the residence completely devoid of their personal effects was unsettling for Peter. The front door was locked, but Peter and Charlotte easily jumped up to an open third story window overlooking the front yard. The scent in the house was only just more pungent than outside, some of the windows having been left open. That didn't seem right to Peter, especially not with all the rain pooling on the hardwood floors. He had the tiniest urge to close the windows, but decided to keep looking through the house. Empty bedroom after empty bedroom. Nothing left behind. Until Peter came to the only closed door on the second floor.
Peter opened the door and immediately knew why he had the urge to visit his sire after so long, in an area he had previously said too dangerous to bring his mate to. The shelves all along the walls were still full of Jasper's books, the closet partially open, but obviously still full of clothing. Jasper wasn't a material man, so leaving behind books and clothes wouldn't be too auspicious on it's own. It was the horse shoe hanging over the door that really gave it away. The only thing Jasper had left from his human life, a horse shoe off of his Calvary horse, Jonesy. Maria had taken it off of his horse for him, one of the few thoughtful things she had done for anyone in the entire time Jasper had known her.
"Char, I have a real bad feelin'." Peter said when they made it downstairs and into the formal dining room. It was where most vampire covens had meetings, since they didn't need to eat at a table. Well, they could... Not at this table, however. It was in two pieces, like someone had been slammed into it. Half of a chair was embedded in one of the walls, numerous pieces of broken chair scattered the rest of the room. The sliding glass doors from the dining room to the patio were smashed open. The signs were clear to Peter, there had been a fight in this room and it had been promptly taken outside.
"That's why we're here, Sugar." Charlotte tried to sooth Peter's frazzled nerves and rising anxiety. This was a rare time where Peter could not be soothed. He owed Jasper his life, and Charlotte's.
"There's no venom trails anywhere, or blood. No one got seriously hurt." He said more to himself than Charlotte, trying to piece together what happened with what limited knowledge he had to go on. Peter had plenty of guilt about leaving Jasper behind with Maria when he fled with Charlotte to the north. Six years he waited before he tried to come back for Jasper, and with how quickly Jasper dropped what he was doing and left with Peter, no drama and no fighting... Peter felt like he had been waiting for him to come back for him.
1939, Somewhere in Mexico...
"Peter, you're so fuckin' anxious you're makin' me anxious." Jasper glared at his friend and second in command with good humor. Peter was Jasper's only friend in the world, since Maria had stopped sharing Jasper's bed when her paranoia reached it's highest peak a decade before. They still fucked, but neither one of them willing to put their guard down long enough to truly enjoy it. Each one wary of the other's hands roaming their body, tensing at sensitive areas instead of getting lost in the moment. Waiting for any sign of an attack, coiled and ready to pounce. It was a duty fuck, if anything. Peter had no idea the effect he had on Jasper, or the extent that Jasper cared for him. He did 'know' that Jasper valued his companionship, and considered it almost invaluable.
Graduation day was always hard on Jasper, feeling the emotions of the newborns he changed, trained, and then murdered at Maria's orders. He liked fighting and killing, but murdering so many vampires in one day drained him. Emotionally, physically. It's why they immediately went about changing another set of newborns. Few things in this new life of Jasper's brought him any joy, and aside from fighting, it was fuckin' and drinkin'. Blood, of course. Though if he could find a drunk human or two, all the better.
Which brings us to the reason Peter was so anxious. When Jasper had him gather all the old newborns, newborns being used loosely as these vampires had lost all of their enhanced strength, Peter had no choice but to bring Charlotte. The only other person Peter gave a shit about in this hell hole. If it wasn't for Jasper, he would have tried to run away decades ago. Even when he knew Jasper would hunt him down and kill him for it on Maria's orders. All he wanted since he met Charlotte and realized she was his mate, was to leave this place. Even if it meant leaving Jasper behind in Maria's clutches. His love and loyalty for Jasper paled in comparison for the loyalty and affection for Charlotte. It was all encompassing and he was surprised Jasper hadn't felt his feelings for for Charlotte long before now. Peter suspected maybe he did, but didn't want to say anything for fear of Maria over hearing or finding out. Mates were killed in Maria's army. Both of them. Because when you kill one half of a whole, the other half will be an inconsolable wild card.
Peter tried hard to reign in his anxiety, but at Jasper's first mention that this was Graduation day, it swelled and blossomed into a full blown panic attack. Peter hadn't been aware vampires could even feel this level of fear and anxiety. Peter never did reply to Jasper, but he did try to cover up his feelings. He just went through the motions, gathering all the oldest newborns outside the barn they did the culling in. It was easy to get lost in the excitement. You see, it had been Peter's idea to lie to the newborns. Let them think it's a graduation. Once they served their first year, they would be set free. Serving in Maria's army was just the beginning of their vampire lives. Jasper had thought it was a great idea, he hardly ever got bit anymore outside of fighting. There had been times when he had been completely swarmed all at once, the older newborns thinking they could over power him and run free. If it was Jasper against them with full newborn strength, he still would have killed them all, but he'd have a lot more scars if it weren't for Peter.
Maria on the other hand, had thought it absolutely diabolical. Leading them on with false hope, only to snuff it out at the last second. Maria's callous and fragrant disregard for human and vampire life had never sat well with Peter. He just knew this wasn't the only way to live. Talking about life outside of Maria's coven was strictly forbidden. She demanded they focus on the present and their jobs, and worry about that later. Except there was never a later for anyone. This was life until you die. Or 'graduate' and were set free. And when all you knew was killing fighting and sometimes fucking, it was nice to have an end goal to look forward to, through all the monotony.
For most who lived a life like that, death was the ultimate reward. Maria considered that her own little joke. It absolutely horrified Peter. He just wanted a more humane, less destructive way to end the life of vampires who were thrust into this life with horror from beginning to end. He supposed it only mattered that they got a less terrifying death. Peter struggled with enjoying the killing in a different way than Jasper. He liked fighting, he was good at it. But the absolute waste of life...
Jasper had led a dozen vampires into the barn before Jasper told Peter to bring him the blonde. There weren't many blondes in the Mexico Coven, aside from Jasper and Peter.
And Charlotte.
Jasper had turned his back to walk back into the barn, and Peter knew with absolute certainty that this was his moment. If he had any chance of getting Charlotte and himself out of here in one piece, this was his chance. He made like he was doing that, and went to collect her. Instead he whispered in her ear, to run. To run away north and not to look back. He wasn't sure if he would be following behind her. It wasn't quiet enough to keep Jasper from hearing, though. There was a moment, when Jasper turned on his heel, desperate red eyes meeting disbelieving as they stared at each other for a long moment. He didn't understand why Peter was defying him, and when Peter nudged Charlotte behind him and urged her to run one more time, Jasper understood. He cataloged through all of Peter's emotions, past the anxiety, the fear. The burning love and need to protect what was his.
Jasper and Peter both knew what Maria did with mates. He gave the barest nod, the hint of acceptance, and it was all Peter needed before he turned and bolted after Charlotte, not waiting for Jasper to change his mind and give chase. The last feelings Jasper got from Peter, were overwhelming guilt and thanks. Jasper would accept whatever punishment came his way without remorse, but Jasper couldn't deny the most important person in his life happiness.
May 30th, 2005
Forks, Washington
Peter was determined to find out not only what happened in the Cullen's dining room, but where his sire was. They went through the rest of the house, the few remaining pieces of furniture already covered with a cloth for long storage. Edward's piano, for one. They probably had one in every house, they were notoriously difficult to move. Even for a coven of vampires. When they got to the garage and saw the lone vehicles left. Jasper's silver Ducati and Vintage Harley Davidson. The scent was more recent in the garage, and though Peter had never met Edward Cullen, he assumed this most recent scent was his. He had met every other member of the Cullen Coven. Edward had chosen to stay away from such uncouth company.
"Come on Babe, let's do some tracking." And without waiting for an answer, Peter shot off down the drive way and into the woods. Unknowingly heading straight for Bella Swan's residence.
o.O.o.
May 27th, 2005
Prom Night
When Jasper returned to the Cullen Mansion, Edward, Rosalie and Emmett were already there. He didn't have a chance to open the front door, it opened just as he reached for the doorknob by the Cullen Patriarch.
"Jasper, I've heard some disturbing things." Carlisle greeted him, moving aside to let the younger vampire in. Though Jasper played at being Carlisle's adopted child, they didn't treat each other as such. There was a deep mutual respect between the two. Both respecting one another for the extremely different lives they led, that brought them to the vegetarian lifestyle. Carlisle considered Jasper his own person, and knew his time with them was only temporary, even if Jasper didn't realize it himself. He had his own Coven to lead.
"I can imagine." Jasper said shortly. His mind was still reeling from his earlier realization at prom. He had never thought that having a mate was something the fates would give him, so the idea that his attraction to Bella had been because of the mating pull, flabbergasted Jasper. He wasn't just being a depraved fuck? There was a reason to this rolling storm within him?
"Come, we should all sit down. Alice should be back soon, I presume?" Carlisle asked, waiting for Jasper to take a seat.
"She's dropping Bella off at her house." He confirmed.
"I had Esme run her things home, I didn't think it was a good idea that she stay the night." Carlisle said.
"Neither did I." Jasper said eye fucking Edward's back with rage.
"Reign in your emotions, son." Carlisle said kindly, his hand on Jasper's shoulder for reassurance. "We will get to the bottom of this." Carlisle was completely blind sighted by this entire night. He knew Edward regretted putting Bella in danger, and tried to end their relationship back in Phoenix. He had no idea Jasper somewhere along the line developed feelings for her.
Emmett and Rosalie were already seated at one side of the dining room table, Edward pacing in front of the sliding glass door a bundle of possessive anger. His fists clenched at the sight of the little weasel putting on his play for Carlisle and Esme. Rosalie tilted her head towards the open chair next to Emmett. A small amount of relief washed over Jasper. He had felt honored when Rosalie had offered up her surname to use, so they could play twins. Previously, only Emmett and her have ever shared the last name Hale. She also never trusted Edward, and thought he was a shady little twat. So her support was welcome. He sat down in the chair next to Emmett, while Carlisle took his spot at the head of the table facing the sliding glass windows Edward was stalking in front of.
"Edward, come sit down." Carlisle asked as Esme came in from the kitchen and sat down in the chair closest to Carlisle and across from Jasper. Alice's car pulled into the driveway, her emotions were a cascade of guilt, anxiety and hope the house was silent as she walked quickly in. Realizing the only two seats available were on the opposite side of the table from Jasper, she stood for a moment in the doorway, making a decision in her head, and chose to stand between Carlisle and Jasper. Edward remained standing in clear defiance.
"There seems to be a clear divide here already." Carlisle commented dryly. "Edward told us his side of events, why don't you tell us what happened, Jasper?" Jasper thought it was pretty telling he hadn't said a damn word and over half the Coven was already giving him some show of support. He still didn't feel very confident in Carlisle's ability to separate Edward's bullshit from the truth, and Jasper was the one who was in the wrong here. Edward had a claim on Bella, and the proper thing to do would have been to come to Carlisle first... Except Jasper had no idea how he felt until tonight.
"Alright, where do I begin?" Jasper asked before giving an exasperated sigh at Edward's behavior. "Will you stop pacing and sit down like your sire told you to, you prick?" He snapped at Edward, not even bothering to look at the younger vampire as they sat down obediently. Jasper may have used a little emotional manipulation on him, but he didn't give a fuck right now. Edward had been crawling in his thoughts for decades, and defying Carlisle left and right.
"Start from Phoenix." Alice supplied helpfully. Phoenix? Jasper didn't have feelings for Bella in Phoenix, he was focused on keeping her safe for Edward, and looking forward to a fight with the nomads. He had wanted to go after them immediately, to end the threat before it became one. Carlisle was the endless optimist though, and hoped they could resolve it peacefully. Alice could see Jasper needed more help, the clueless man he was.
"Tell Carlisle how you felt when you saw Edward sucking on Bella's wrist." She gave him directions this time and Jasper rolled his eyes. He was fuckin' mad, it was stupid and unnecessary.
"I thought it was a stupid decision to keep her human." He started, and Alice groaned next to him. He gave her the side eye, he was literally doing as she asked. "I was angry he was putting her through more pain and suffering. Her leg would have healed before she woke up, before her blood had finished turning to venom in her veins. He should have given her his..." He stopped talking abruptly, realizing what Alice had meant.
"After I killed James and I turned and saw Edward with his mouth on her wrist, sucking the blood from her veins as she lay screaming in pain with broken bones... I have never been so angry, Carlisle. I wanted to kill him in that moment. When I flung him away from her, I fully intended on finishing changing her myself." He confessed with absolutely no guilt and remorse. "I thought it was because I couldn't stand to feel and see her suffer needlessly. I know that's not why. She is my mate, Carlisle."
"Edward said you were thinking of seducing her and killing her during the act." Jasper closed his eyes in a desperate attempt to reign in his emotions. "Alice said she saw Bella as Edward's mate in multiple visions." Carlisle continued, "You can see how this doesn't look good for you."
"I saw her as a vampire, I never specifically saw her in an intimate relationship with Edward." Alice corrected, but it was too little too late. She had misinterpreted too many visions about Bella as a vampire to backtrack now. Carlisle sighed, he wanted to believe Jasper. He had indulged Edward often with concern to Bella and knew he wouldn't have given Jasper the same consideration with his history. He wouldn't have sent Jasper to Alaska for two weeks, he would have insisted they all leave the area.
"Have you seen her in one with Jasper or Edward specifically?" Alice thought through several of her recent visions of Jasper and Bella. The one where they greet Charlotte and Peter gave nothing towards them being together, aside from Edward would have never allowed it. The one she had earlier that evening, of Jasper and Bella in an intimate embrace and his lips on her neck certainly wasn't in Jasper's favor...
"Right there, that proves his ill intent!" Edward spoke up then, having been silently seething the entire time. Alice rolled her eyes. It a split decision he decided against. A mere fantasy of want.
"What is Edward talking about Alice?" Carlisle asked her and she reluctantly told him.
"Jasper had thought of changing Bella during prom, how beautiful she would be as one of us. There wasn't anything sexual about it." Except for his lips all over her, she silently added. Glaring at Edward to dive into her thoughts again and tattle tale. "I have seen Jasper and Bella together as vampires, before Phoenix I only saw Bella with one Cullen or another. Wrestling with Emmett, working on her truck with Rosalie, reading with Jasper in his study, cooking with Esme for the homeless, she even volunteers at the hospital Carlisle works at. After we got back from Phoenix, I have seen her spend time with Peter and Charlotte in multiple visions. Just the three of them." That was telling in itself, Carlisle realized. Peter and Charlotte kept well away. They didn't agree with the vegetarian lifestyle, and they preferred to stay in sunnier climates. Not liking the cold and wet anymore than Bella. Jasper worried that until he got his thirst under control, being around them would lead him back to old habits. They respected their sire enough to let him try to find his own way to live. Carlisle was relieved with that, because they made him uncomfortable.
Edward hears a stray thought from Jasper about that afternoon, where he got Bella off in his sleep and he lunges at Jasper, who easily avoids the attack and turns it back around on Edward, grabbing a hold of him by shoulder and neck and slamming him into the dining room table.
"Control yourself, boy." Jasper seethes, purposely taunting him by replaying Bella moaning Jasper's name on repeat in his mind. He was done with this shit.
"Jasper." Carlisle said firmly, and Jasper released his hold on Edward. Daring him to get up and start more shit with him.
"Tell me what happened at prom, Jasper."
"Alice suggested I dance with Bella, so I did. When I was dancing with her, something came over us. I just enjoyed holding her close to me. It wasn't until Edward grabbed her that I realized what it was that I had been feeling towards her. I thought I was just protective of my coven member's vulnerable human. She is my mate Carlisle, I have never been more sure of anything in my undead life. If Edward hadn't let her go when I told him to, I would have killed him on the dance floor in front of the entire senior class." He admitted.
"Both of you are saying Bella is your human mate. I don't know who to believe in this situation." Carlisle was at a complete loss at what he could do, unless they got the Volturi involved. Which he knew, was the last thing Jasper wanted.
"You know the laws as well as I do Carlisle, but do your children?" He put emphasis on children, as most vampires do not treat their sired offspring as indulgently as Carlisle treated his own.
"The basics, but not about the finer details of vampire laws..." He admitted. "We don't participate in vampire society."
"Not participating doesn't make them exempt, it makes them vulnerable. You've been lucky so far, that you've found Esme and Rosalie found Emmett, but finding a mate in a human is just as unheard of as two vampires fighting over the same human with mate claims. I thought I would never get the opportunity, I have killed so many humans and vampires, I didn't think it would be fair. I will kill just as many to keep her, Carlisle."
"That isn't necessary." The very thought unnerved Carlisle and sent chills down his spine. No one really knew how many vampires Jasper had killed during his time fighting in the Southern Vampire Wars, not even Jasper himself. You could have a faint idea if you spent time counting the scars that marred his body, but in some places they were so over-laced with each other it was impossible to tell. Ninety years was a long time. The last thing the present day vampire world needed was Jasper's rage unleashed on them all.
"Isn't it?" Jasper asked coldly, staring at Edward, who had gotten up from the ruined table with help from Esme. "Wouldn't it just be easier for me to kill Edward and be done with this?"
"Jasper!" Alice admonished him, not expecting him to threaten Edward so openly. She had told him before they left prom not to kill anyone. He had been doing so well too, not a single vision of him beheading Edward and chucking his head as far as he could throw it, since they left prom.
"What? That's how it is. He threatened my mate while she is human. That's a beheadin'." Jasper said with a mirthless laugh.
"And Edward claims the same of you." Carlisle said tiredly. "We have both of you claiming the same human, both of you saying the other is dishonest in their feelings or thoughts. This isn't a suggestion I am making lightly..." Jasper could sense where this was going.
"No." He said flatly. He absolutely would rather kill Edward right here and now.
"Jasper, Aro could easily sort this out." Carlisle tried to reason with Jasper. He knew why the younger vampire was reluctant to let Aro touch him, but he had been pardoned for his part in the Southern Vampire Wars decades ago.
"It's cute you trust a dictator." Jasper had no love lost with the Volturi, and thought Carlisle was naive to think their vampire leadership had anyone's best intentions.
"Jasper..." Carlisle was beyond exasperated. This was beyond what he could do as a coven leader.
"You know what you're asking of me, Carlisle."
"I know, but I don't know what other choice I have. It's your word against his. Alice has proven unreliable." Carlisle was ever the diplomat, and he knew he was too involved in this to make a properly impartial decision.
"I could just kill everyone in this fucking room." Jasper's rage was all encompassing then, washing over the entire room. Each vampire feeling irrationally angry because of his emotional outburst. Emmett took a step towards him, worried he just might go after Edward again. Jasper shoved his arm away, glaring at him. "I'm not going to."
'But I fucking should.' Jasper thought, staring Edward down.
"It almost sounds like you have something to hide, Jasper." Edward said smugly, the rage bomb Jasper let out a moment ago giving him the courage to be defiant to the vampire that scared him more than anything. It wasn't a lie. Jasper had a lot to hide, specifically from the Volturi. He had no intention of letting Aro touch him, it was bad enough Edward was constantly rifling through his thoughts. Jasper picked up his dining room chair and flung it at Edward's head.
"Jasper!" Esme cried as Edward moved aside just in time and the chair smashed into the dining room wall.
"This is fucking ridiculous." Jasper shouted, this time letting his anger get the best of him. "Why don't we just change her? Bella wants to be an immortal."
"NO! I will not let her be damned! She doesn't deserve this life!" Edward pushed Esme's embrace away, and stormed towards Jasper, only stopping because the broken table was in the way. Instead he stood there, fists clenched. Knowing he couldn't face off against Jasper in a fight even if he wanted to. Jasper just stared at Carlisle and held his hand out, palm face up towards Edward.
"Would you let Esme die, if she hadn't killed herself and damned herself already in your religion?" Jasper posed the question to Carlisle, and it was so unthinkable the thought had never crossed his mind. Letting his mate die? He didn't realize they were mates when they first met, he just felt strangely drawn to be around this young child. He understood Jasper's position then, but still wasn't sure who was telling the truth. Jasper turned towards Emmett and Rosalie then, "Would you? Could you have let Emmett die, so he would have been able to have a family?" Rosalie's eyes narrowed at that, knowing that Jasper truly hit her where it hurt. It showed Rosalie that he was truly desperate, if he was willing to bring up the one thing everyone did not bring up around Rosalie.
"No." She said definitively. "I would do it again in a heart beat, rather than live the rest of this eternal existence without him. My only regret is that I didn't have the strength to do it myself." Jasper felt like he was taking crazy pills, here was every mated vampire in this room who had a chance to let their human mate die, saying the thought hadn't even crossed their minds, and Edward was bemoaning Bella's eternal damnation in hell.
"How could you say she is your mate, when you would let her die?"
"Because I could never condemn her soul." Edward said bitterly, "I would rather let her die than to make her suffer for the rest of eternity." To Carlisle, this both made sense, and seemed impossible. He couldn't fathom not changing Esme, not having her for an eternity. But... He had struggled for so long with this life and how he felt damned and disgraced and left behind by God. He worried that his negative feelings about being a vampire, his insistence on all his children being vegetarians, had a negative impact on Edward's views on being immortal.
"What if we go to Denali?" Alice suggested. "We have relied on our sister coven before, for internal conflicts." Jasper realized Alice had seen something, and it was in his best interest to go to Denali. Which was against his better judgment, leaving Bella alone. Everything in him wanted to go to her house and ask her if she wanted him to sire her, and change her then and there. They could figure out everything else later.
"That isn't a bad idea. We should be leaving Forks after this, anyway. This will draw too much attention to our family." Jasper was about to open his mouth in protest, "With Bella." He added for his benefit, even though Edward immediately started protesting. "Enough, Edward. My decision is final. Jasper and Edward are to go to Denali immediately. Though probably, not together." Esme volunteered to go with Edward after she packed up the house and put their things in storage. No one else was going to. Esme left the room, already starting to make arrangements with movers, and storage facilities. Alice wanted to stay and keep an eye on Bella, not trusting Edward, but Carlisle insisted she go along with Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett. He would check in on her, before leaving for Denali himself Monday morning.
"We will come back for her." Carlisle reassured Jasper, who was being talked into the car by Alice, and Rosalie. Emmett standing nearby to force him into compliance if necessary, though not looking forward to the attempt.
"I swear, if anything happens to her Carlisle." He left the threat unspoken, because he truly did not know what he would do if anything happened to Bella in his absence.
o.O.o.
After following Edward's scent trail around the outskirts of Forks for several minutes, they realized the rain had diluted his scent and it was a lot fresher than they initially thought. Soon, Edward's scent was joined by another scent, a human. This didn't seem strange to either vampire, as the Cullens played at being humans. Naturally, their scents would intermingle with them from time to time. What did seem strange, was that they led further into the woods. He knew humans liked hiking, but that was in favorable conditions, not a torrential downpour. What made Peter hesitate before following the two scents further in, was the feelings smelling this particular human's scent elicited in him. He didn't say anything to Charlotte, uncomfortable with it himself and not wanting to delay catching up to Edward and the unknown human. Protective, almost to the point where he didn't like their scent with another vampire at all. A strange sense of loyalty for this unknown human, something vampires only felt towards their sires, mates and rarely in covens that had been together for hundreds of years. Whatever it was, it helped light a fire under Peter's ass and he urged himself to go faster. Something didn't feel right.
"Pete, do you smell that?" Charlotte asked, both of them pausing to scent the air. They were truly in the woods now, deeper than most humans would go. This was pure forest, untouched by man's influence. The smell of fresh human blood drifted to them. It was the same human they had followed Edward's scent with, and knowing the Cullens fed off of animals exclusively...
"Jas..." They heard the barest hint of a whimper, if they weren't vampires they wouldn't have heard anything at all. The strangling noise at the end, indicating it was cut off by force, and without hesitation both of them sprinted towards the noise, arriving in time to catch the barest glimpse of the retreating back of who they assumed was Edward Cullen. Peter started to go after him, but the faint stutter of the human's heart made he stop and turn back. He knew he had to stay.
On the ground before them, crumpled in a heap of limbs beneath a tree, was a barely breathing teenage girl. She laid on her side, her hair covering most of her face, but not obscuring the small two inch wound on her neck. The blood was a tiny trickle, not because it started to coagulate, but because there wasn't much blood left in the small girl. Peter knew then, that his urge to come to the Pacific Northwest and risk Shapeshifters had nothing to do with Jasper, and had everything to do with this teenage girl. It was all for this human?
"Char, what the fuck." He felt a fierce protectiveness over her and had no idea how to help a human live... Other than the obvious way a vampire helped a human live. Peter hadn't changed a human into a vampire since his time with the Mexico Coven, and he had always started with a full tank. This girl was damn well on empty.
"She smells like Jasper." Charlotte stated the obvious, even though Peter hadn't made that connection himself until Charlotte had said something. Charlotte had understood the situation immediately. She felt the same wave of fierce protectiveness, and knew Peter felt the same. This was their human.
"Fuck." Peter said again. He bent over her, brushing the hair away from her face. "What do I do?" He wasn't asking anyone in particular, so he was surprised when she opened her eyes. Her brown eyes were glazed and unfocused for a moment until she locked eyes with his. Her brow furrowed for a moment, like she was confused at the face she saw before her.
"Jasper." She said quietly, before her body relaxed into the muddy ground with acceptance. Peter and Jasper could have been brothers, in another life. "Please." She spoke again, asking him to finish the job, her eyes closing again as she lost consciousness.
"She knows." Peter said more to himself than Charlotte. She didn't shy away from his crimson eyes, unusual for a human in normal circumstances, not one that had just been assaulted by a vampire. "She wants me end her suffering."
"She thinks you're Jasper, and she's asking you to change her." Charlotte clarified, realizing her husband of the last sixty five years needed a bit more help with the context clues the world was providing him.
"What the fuck am I going to do with her?" Peter exclaimed, panic evident in his voice. He didn't want to take care of a human, or be responsible for a newborn vampire. He was done with newborn vampires.
"Change her, you dumb ass. This is obviously Jasper's mate." Peter looked at Charlotte with wide eyes, the thought never crossing his mind. Her scent was similar to Jasper's in a way Peter couldn't put his finger on... "He led her to the woods in the beginning of a severe thunderstorm, he cut her neck instead of biting it, there's several spots of venom spit on the ground. He didn't want to accidentally change her." Charlotte kept going, pointing out all the things Peter missed, as he was a terrible tracker and not very observant. "And then we show up, and he doesn't get to finish killing her. Jasper isn't here to sire her, Peter." She pointed out the obvious, Jasper was with another coven. Peter was the head of the Whitlock Coven. It was his job to bring a new vampire in, though he vowed never to change another unwilling human...
"Shit." He knew Charlotte was right. He hadn't done it in so long, he was nervous, looking down at the pale girl. They had made a point to feed before they got here, knowing about the treaty with Shapeshifters and not feeding in their area. It was common courtesy after all. He could do this. His phone started ringing, startling both of the vampires. The forest had been eerily quiet, just the patter of the rain falling through the leaves and making its way down to the muddy soil. "This can't be Jasper." He said to Charlotte, before picking the phone up, and knowing full well it was going to be Jasper.
"Peter." The voice on the other line said before he had a chance to say hello. "I need you to do something for me."