It was a week of notes and ten-minute rendezvous.

Bella learned to find a certain excitement in these moments she could steal with Jasper. It gave her something to look forward to each day. Something that kept her grounded. When it was time for her to sneak out into the woods, she forced herself to pause, and not take any of this for granted. Scarcity determined what you valued the most.

And Bella valued Alice the least, so she did not go by the Cullen home once. Not even to continue her studies.

Now, it was late evening, and Esme had just left. She had been coming by almost daily, delivering folded up papers and checking in with Bella. On occasion, she would come through the front door to greet Charlie, but mostly, Esme would climb through the bedroom window and perch herself at Bella's desk. And she would always leave before Bella went to bed.

All three of them settled into this routine as Jasper navigated around Alice. The notes Bella received from him told her that she was disappearing for hours at a time, which wasn't entirely unusual. Hunting was a solitary activity for vampires. And while Jasper would be able to scent a human on her, she was generally careful at clearing her scent. Her eyes, though, always gave her away.

"A sudden exposure to human blood after so long of abstaining will end badly," Jasper had told her one night. "It's like an addict, sober for years, finding their first dose. They won't want to stop. The body will demand that they harness all of the goodness while they can. Frenzies are very common."

It was the reason, he had told her, why he didn't want Alice around her. Not without another vampire who could intervene.

Tonight, as Bella was about to get into bed, her phone buzzed with a text. It was Esme. I'm back. Open your window.

Bella scurried over to her window, attempting to see into the dark.

Is something wrong? She texted back, her paranoia swirling uncomfortably inside her.

I have a note.

Another one?

So Bella unlocked her window, took a step back, and it was hardly a second later that Esme appeared before her. Bella didn't like the dip in her expression.

"What is it?"

Esme only pulled out a compact piece of paper from her pocket, and handed it to her.

When Bella unfolded it, the handwriting was decidedly not Jasper's.

Dirt bikes—so fast… and dirty.

Bungee jumping. Could snap your bones, I've heard.

Skydiving. Splat!

Rock climbing. Outdoors, obviously.

Street racing. We have so many cars, so many to choose from.

Back-country skiing. I hear the powder, undisturbed, is divine.

How much of a junkie are you, dearest? Are these our final dying wishes?

Bella folded it closed. "Alice gave this to you."

"I don't normally read your notes, Bella, but—"

"It's a taunt." And Alice probably knew Jasper was communicating with her through these little notes.

"Have you agreed to all of this?"

Her heart was beating fast. "It's a taunt, Esme."

The Dying Wishes of Isabella Swan.

Bella received no more notes in the next three days. Actually, she heard nothing from Jasper except for Esme's verbal updates that he was running his usual rounds, and doing his best to keep Alice under observation in his study. He hadn't showed up to their meeting spot in the evenings, though Bella waited anyway.

It was the fourth day of no Jasper, and the sun was beginning to set. The woods around her were livening up as the spring air began to thaw away the winter cold. Clutching her windbreaker close, Bella leaned against a tree, and waited. Maybe he would show up, or maybe not.

As she breathed in the fresh oxygen around her, she didn't let herself think too closely at the fact that she may not have another spring as a human. Perhaps she should savor it while she could.

Crossing her arms against her chest to keep her warmth central, she began to walk, her boots crunching against the dirt. She stared up at the tall trees, and she felt a sense of insignificance at their enormity.

It was perhaps half an hour later that the phone in her hand was buzzing. And her thumb moved to answer before she could fully process that Jasper was calling her.

Texts weren't allowed. Calls were worse.

"Hello?"

"If you're not home, get inside. Now."

She knew better than to question the command. So she turned around, momentarily dazed at the direction she was facing. With a fresh wave of panic clawing up her chest, she finally aimed herself towards her house. "Ten minutes."

"Run, Bella."

He hung up, and Bella didn't think twice. She sprung forward, focusing only on pumping her legs beneath her to propel her forward. She couldn't pause to think about the hardness in Jasper's tone, or the very fact that it sounded like he was running as well.

It felt every bit like monsters were on her tail, and suddenly, she was nine-years old, in their summer home in Phoenix. A three-story town-house, with her bedroom at the very top. Every night, as bedtime approached and she had to flick off the lights, lightning would shoot through her veins as she would barrel up two flights of stairs to the safety of her room. She had been convinced that if she wasn't fast enough, the darkness would grab her and swallow her whole.

But now, there was no darkness. And her adult legs were longer and stronger. She reached her house and quickly ran inside, slamming the front door behind her, locking it instinctively. Panting, she knew a wooden door, or walls wouldn't keep a vampire out. But she hoped this was enough.

She knew better than to try to reach Jasper, so she called Esme.

Who also sounded like she was running. "I'm on my way, Bella. Open your window."

It was hardly two minutes later that Bella was sitting on her bed, legs crossed, when Esme slipped inside her bedroom.

Her heart rate had hardly calmed, and her breathing was uneven when she asked, "Is it a nomad?"

Esme stuck her phone into her pocket, and sat at Bella's desk, staring distantly out of the window. "I don't know. But we'll know soon enough."

The sun was all but gone, and the darkness seeped menacingly around Bella's house. Esme hadn't moved from her seat as both of them shared the silence. Eventually, Bella got up to turn on a light.

"Your father's working late?"

Bella nodded. "Midnight."

And then Esme got up, appearing right by the window. She looked out once, and then turned back. "You should go out to your spot. Jasper's here."

Bella slowly got to her feet, frowning at the darkness outside.

"Take your phone," Esme told her. "I'll be here."

Bella grabbed another layer before heading out, and she was glad for it, because a light sprinkle of rain was coming down when she climbed down her porch. With her hoodie pulled over her head, she dug one hand into her coat pocket as the other held out her phone, shining a light to improve her visibility as she picked her way through the woods.

"Bella."

She pointed her phone towards the sound, and surely, Jasper was there. The first thing she noticed was the large tear in his shirt. The second thing was the venom leaking from his shoulder.

"God," she breathed, lowering her phone. "Are you okay?"

It was a long moment of them standing before Bella realized he was scanning her in return. He prowled forward, a flash of a wince on his expression as he shifted his injured shoulder. He circled her once before pausing in front of her, eyes wide, continuously, endlessly assessing.

"Jasper?"

He turned away from her, ran a hand through his hair. There was a certain restlessness about him. "I just killed a newborn." He whirled back, his eyes examining her yet again, unblinking, as if he couldn't quite believe she was there. "A mile away."

A newborn? "How did Alice not see?"

Jasper's hands clenched and unclenched beside him. He didn't say anything.

"I don't—I thought newborns had to stay near their sire," Bella said, her arms tightening across her chest.

"They do."

"Then their sire is still loose."

Jasper pulled out his phone, glared at it. His expression wasn't easy to make out in the dark, but peering closer, Bella saw his unfettered fury. "There is no one else. No nomads. No one passing through."

He tucked away his phone, his feet beginning to pace. Back and forth, and back and forth, Bella's eyes could only follow.

She found her voice, no matter how hoarse. "Either the sire is dead, or…"

Jasper paused immediately. "Or." His tone was expectant, almost daring. As if he needed her to make the connection, to verbalize it.

"Or… the sire is someone within the Cullen territory." And Bella highly doubted Esme, Rosalie, or Emmett would be running around, sinking their teeth into humans.

Jasper remained quiet, half watching her, half somewhere else.

It was sickeningly easy to conclude, "The newborn belonged to Alice."

"The newborn is dead."

"And?" Bella pressed suddenly, the chill settling into her bones, her breaths coming out quicker. "You have nothing else? Alice is drinking and turning humans, and—"

"I have a suspicion."

"Then talk to me, Jasper. God, please—"

"Alice is a threat." His mouth opened again, but closed quickly. It was clear, he was holding back. "She is a threat."

"You have to tell Carlisle." She stepped closer, trying to grab his attention, his eyes. "You have to tell him that Alice is unhinged. That she's risking exposure."

Jasper only looked out towards the trees, a perpetual frown on his face, as if the trees themselves weren't placed correctly.

"Jasper," she pleaded.

"She isn't breaking the law."

He still wasn't looking at her, so Bella took another step towards him, and then another until she stood right before him, inches from his chest. "I understand you're thinking. But you're scaring me."

Finally, he dragged his eyes down to hers. "I can afford to keep quiet about this. Nothing that she is doing is in violation of the Tome."

"Why would you want to keep quiet? God, Carlisle needs to know that his psychic is not only going against his prescribed diet, but also—"

"Alice has made it very clear to me that she would have me shipped back to Volterra if I intervene with her business." His voice was quiet, and eerily calm. "Make no mistake that she will convince Carlisle to send me away, and she will start with Edward. His jealousy is enough for him to join Alice in persuading Carlisle that I should be relieved from my duties here."

Bella swallowed, her throat so very tight. "So we weren't convincing enough." Had they ever truly possessed the upper hand? Perhaps they had at some point—before she allowed her shield to tumble down at the most inopportune moment.

"The very fact that I'm not going to Carlisle right now, Bella," Jasper said, closing his eyes, "is evidence enough for her. The fact that I'm not reporting her to her coven leader to stay here with you… I have no moves left except to keep you safe until Carlisle returns."

"Keep me safe?" Bella whispered as Jasper's crimson eyes popped open.

"As I always do."

"You aren't telling me everything."

He watched her. "You aren't either."

Bella didn't understand, until she did. He was hinting at Olivia, because indirectly, through her and Esme's questioning, he knew. He knew Alice was keeping the girl alive. And while he didn't know the exact location of her captivity, Jasper could likely piece together why Alice wanted to draw Edward into trouble with the law after mating him to Bella.

A big, big present for Aro Volturi.

"We don't say things that might put the other at risk," Jasper said quietly, his fingers finding her wrist.

Bella didn't like this, and the displeasure must be evident on her face. What did Jasper keep from her that he ultimately decided was for her own good?

"Will you give me something?" Jasper asked, his fingers drumming upon her veins.

Emptily, she said, "Alice said no teeth."

Jasper immediately dropped her wrist and took a step back. Bella only saw his boots move away from her, her eyes trained on the ground. He said, tightly, "You only need to tell me, no."

Bella didn't look up. "You're injured. You need this."

"Look at me."

She feared she would cry. Jasper took her jaw, and tilted her head up anyway as wet eyes met red.

"What I need is for you to not fall apart," he told her, voice low. "This is exactly what I'm trying to prevent."

The Dying Wishes of Isabella Swan. "Alice wants to hurt me, doesn't she?"

"Bella."

She lifted her coat sleeve higher, and higher. "If the game is unwinnable, you might as well tell me the worst of it."

"I never said it was unwinnable."

They stared at each other, Bella searching his expression and his eyes, lest they reveal any answers. But the more she looked at him, the more her stomach sank, the wetter her eyes became.

Her fingers paused upon her lifted sleeve. Voice small, she said, "Will you drink?"

"Is that a yes?"

Should she promise she would shower afterwards to cleanse his scent? Did it even matter, given there was no convincing Alice otherwise? Did they still need to sneak around? "Yes, Jasper."

So he felt around her neck, explored her skin, dove into the depths of her eyes. He stepped into her until her back hit a tree, and he pinned her wrist above her head. Bella didn't feel the sting of his teeth as they punctured her little veins. She only stared past his leaking shoulder into the darkness of the woods, her vision playing tricks on her in the dim lighting as she began to lose blood.

Alice Cullen came out of nothing, eyes gleaming red with a promise, a slender finger beckoning her close. Her teeth flashed in a smile, knowing, and hungry.

Could Jasper taste the fear in her blood? Did it make her taste bitter, and stale? Was her heart pounding, paralyzed with her own growing suspicion? The very suspicion Jasper would not put to words?

Bella's hand reached forward and clutched at Jasper's good shoulder to convince herself that it was him that had her against the tree, and not the predator ahead that kept licking her lips, her wicked smile chasing her just like another monster in the dark.

Jasper waited until the bite was sealed tight with venom and a bandage before he let her go. Of course, Esme would be lingering in her bedroom, and of course, open wounds were always risky around any Cullen.

Dizzy from the feeding, Bella stumbled home. It wasn't even close to midnight, and Charlie wouldn't be home for hours. She wished, she really fucking wished, Jasper would have offered to stay.

When she climbed up to her bedroom, Esme was still standing by the window, and Bella felt nauseous. Sick. There was a growing pit in her stomach that filled her with vertigo and panic.

"How did it go? What happened?" Esme asked.

Bella didn't even take off her coat. She crawled into bed, wrapping the covers around her. She was still freezing. "Alice isn't a fool."

And Bella wasn't freezing at all. No, she was shaking out of pure terror.

Esme took a small step towards her, uncertain. "Bella—"

"Will you stay, Esme?" she begged desperately, pulling the covers around her tighter, squeezing her eyes shut briefly before popping them open. "Will you please stay?"

"Of course," Esme placated, pulling at her fingers. Her mouth opened and closed, clearly unsure of what to say.

Through the sheets, Bella reached into her coat and pulled out her phone, throwing it onto the bed beside her. "Edward's going to be back next week." The texts he had sent her that day were still unread, stuck on her home screen.

I miss you, I'll see you soon. I miss you, you would have loved it here. I miss you, I miss you, I miss you.

Esme peered down at the phone.

Bella nodded, mostly to herself. She felt crazy. She trembled like a flimsy tree in the wind. "And that means Alice is out of time."

A/N: Oh, man.