A/N: Sorry if you have already seen this chapter before! Somehow one of my earlier chapters got deleted and I had to add back the chapters. I split up Chapter 12 into two parts so I'll be posting both along with a new chapter. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 12: The Haunted House

Bella laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, while Rosalie tinkered with Bella's laptop on top of her own queen-sized bed in the opposite corner of the cramped bedroom, eating handfuls of potato chips. Just as nonchalantly, Rosalie had settled in effortlessly, treating every inch of the space as her own. Though Bella grumbled incessantly about it, she begrudgingly admitted she enjoyed the new furniture, television, and organic food that Rosalie purchased and soon found herself ignoring it when Rosalie spent hours lounging around eating junk food.

"Where's he from?"

"Texas. He's a Civil War veteran."

"Racist?" She thought about the weird comment Jasper had made about the boys from La Push.

"No, not particularly. Specist, maybe. 'Humans are cattle' kind of mentality."

"Height?"

"6'3"

"Weight?"

Rosalie chuckled. "Are you going to ask me where his moles are next?"

"Ew, no, it's not like that…but sure, where are they?"

Rosalie clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Stop asking me stupid questions."

Bella scowled. "Brat, aren't you sick of sitting there staring at a screen? Can't you be more useful?"

"Your questions are exhausting. So banal." Rosalie waved her hand dismissively.

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes.

"Hey."

Rosalie let out a resigned sigh, still looking at the laptop screen. "What now?"

"Why do you think he's obsessed with me?"

Rosalie looked up and gently closed the laptop screen.

"Do you know?" Bella asked in a soft voice.

Rosalie sighed. "Because you didn't run away."

A chill ran down Bella's spine.

"Most people would have bolted by now or lost their minds. But you—you're still here." Rosalie paused, as if troubled by her next thought. "You don't even seem to be afraid."

"You're wrong," Bella argued, gritting her teeth. She turned away, staring at the wall, hiding the tears threatening to spill. "I'm terrified. There's no way that I can escape from someone like him. He'll keep hurting others close to me." Then she blurted the fear that had lingered in her mind since the first night he re-entered her life. "I think he'll end up killing me."

"He's a sadist, but he's not like that."

"Say that to Chrstine Davis," Bella muttered.

"Jasper wouldn't rip a young girl apart just to torture you. Remember, he can feel everything. It must have been Victoria. I think that's why he punished her."

"What?" she asked incredulously, turning around to look at Rosalie.

"Those humans that you two chuckleheads left on the roads, he fed them his blood first and then lured Victoria with your scent to trick her into feeding off them so that she'd inadvertently drink his blood like I did. There aren't vampires like either of us in this world so he's trying to change her into what I am. Clever of him. Clearly, he succeeded if he managed to blind and amputate her. Ensured she had no way of harming other humans, including the ones in the cage with her."

Bella stared at Rosalie, horrified. How could she say it so casually? Rosalie didn't seem to care that the only vampire in the world like her was blind and in agony in a dingy old basement. Didn't seem bothered that her family member for decades was capable of doing such heinous things. She had always known Rosalie to be cold and blunt, but never cruel or heartless. She had thought the same of Jasper too, once. "Why is Jasper like this? He was so nice and quiet a few years ago."

Rosalie snorted so loudly Bella scrambled up in bed in alarm. "Nice? Bella, he's always been like this; you just didn't know him very well. He's a war veteran, not only from the Civil War but the Southern Vampire Wars."

Bella decided to save that kernel of information for later.

"It made him a complete control freak, and the moment something doesn't go his way…well, I suppose you know what happens then. He makes your life difficult." She pursed her lips, thinking. "But, if anything, he is a man of his word. He won't make you a promise he won't keep."

Bella couldn't imagine him being honest about anything anymore. "But why is he doing this to me? All I did was call the Denali sisters to get more information after he dropped all this information on me and then refused to elaborate. It's not like the Denali's gossiped about it or called the Volturi to hunt you two down."

Rosalie shook her head as if in disbelief as if she couldn't believe how stupid Bella was. "You took away his control. He assumed you'd be as timid as always and trail after him 'Oh Jasper, won't you tell me more?'" Rosalie said in a squeaky voice and batted her eyelashes innocently.

"That is so rude—"

"Instead, you go behind his back and do the one thing he didn't expect. You pissed him off." Rosalie let out a great whoop of laughter, clapping her hands loudly.

As Bella watched Rosalie, her laughter slowly dying, her slender finger wiping an errant tear from her eye, she realized she had now misjudged two Cullens and began to wonder if she ever truly knew any of them at all.

"Did she know he was like this?" That was the question that had swirled in Bella's mind incessantly. "Alice was sweet, lovely, caring—how in the world was she married to a monster like him?"

Rosalie nodded solemnly. "She did. But he doted on Alice like a lovesick puppy—she was the only one who knew how to calm him down for once. That kind of devotion is hard to rebuff. Perhaps because she could see every outcome for every decision, and that level of control was likely something he valued immensely."

"Now that she's gone…." Bella trailed off, thinking about the past couple months and all the horror, frustration, exhaustion, anxiety she had experienced.

"Now that she's gone, he's broken," finished Rosalie.

What does that make you, Rosalie? Bella wanted to ask.

They remained in a pleasant silence for a while until Rosalie interrupted it with more potato chips. Bella didn't know how Rosalie managed to scarf down thousands of calories a day and never gain a pound. She had asked a few days ago as a joke but Rosalie had snapped "I'm human, I can eat whatever I want!" Bella gave her a long look but didn't say anything. Rosalie had a tendency to mention quite often that she was human.

"So…can vampires starve to death?" Bella asked curiously.

"We couldn't before. Maybe we can now." Rosalie mused, then leaned her head back to dump the rest of the bag into her mouth. "Not my problem, but maybe it's yours."

Bella pondered this. "Jasper can't hunt or do anything to draw attention to himself for the next month."

Rosalie smirked. "Did you think the humans in his basement were for decoration? They're his emergency food supply."

If it weren't for the literal monster residing within, Bella might have thought the Haunted House as beautiful under different circumstances. Snowy banks lined the roads, and tall balsam trees sagged beneath the weight of the ice. As the sun sank beneath the horizon, the sky turned dark and inky by the time Bella reached the Haunted House.

She took three deep breaths before grabbing the bolt cutter from the passenger seat and stepping out of her car.

Rosalie had followed her with her lazy eyes as Bella paced back and forth through their shared bedroom as she debated returning to the house to free the three kidnapped humans from Jasper's basement. But there were no foolproof plans—she ran the risk of releasing Victoria, or Jasper could get bored with her meddling and decide to throw her in with the rest, and then finally, Rosalie's warning swirled in her mind. You can try…if Jasper is alive at the end of this, he will torture and kill you and your entire family. Your choice.

"He can't kill any of them, remember?" Rosalie chimed. "One of the Guards will probably check in on him in a month and if they see him with rosy cheeks and a smile, they won't overlook the fact that he killed a human he kidnapped before his punishment."

"I'm not worried about what he'll do to them now. I'm worried about what he'll do after starving for a month," Bella retorted angrily.

"He's got a bit more restraint than you think—" Rosalie started.

"You cleared out the pantry because you accidentally skipped lunch," Bella seethed. "You're seriously giving him more credit than he deserves? Once his punishment is up, he won't have fed for two months. He'll kill all three humans he kidnapped."

"What's your plan, then?" Rosalie asked as Bella shrugged on her puffy jacket.

"Are you planning to help?" Bella asked instead. She only had one vaguely thought-out plan which hinged entirely on Rosalie agreeing to assist. She would lure Jasper away from the house while Rosalie freed the humans in the basement, since her superhuman strength was the only way to ensure Victoria didn't escape.

"No," Rosalie scoffed.

"Then it's none of your business," Bella snapped, storming out of the apartment before slamming the door behind her.

Now that she stood about a quarter mile away from the house, she teetered on what to do. If it weren't for the soft glow of lights from the college town, she would have been immersed in pitch black darkness. And although it was only half past eight, the house was dark and lifeless.

The image of the thin red cut across Jasper's face she had slashed him with broken glass flashed through her mind. Rosalie was right. If Jasper survived the Volturi Guards by the end of this, he would surely kill her and her family.

But neither of them had considered that Bella might be able to kill him first.

Bella fidgeted nervously as she slowly walked up the hill, the bolt cutter heavy in her right hand and her pink pocket knife in her jacket pocket.

As she neared the edge of the front lawn, her heart skipped a beat when she spotted a stout figure standing at the entrance of the grand house. Quickly, she slipped closer to a large tree and watched intently as the figure fiddled with the front door lock. When it didn't budge, he stepped off into the grass to peer through the darkened windows.

The clouds parted and a sliver of moonlight illuminated the earth, casting a beam that highlighted the shiny bald patch on the back of the figure's head.

It was Mr. Marsala.

Did he have a death wish? What would possess this man to snoop outside a vampire's home? she thought, not realizing the irony of her situation.

Bella expected Jasper to burst through the doors any second, but the minutes passed while Mr. Marsala continued to snoop around the perimeter, oblivious of her presence less than a hundred feet behind him.

Suddenly, she saw a bright light and a great whoosh and realized one of the bushes in front of the house was on fire. The flame was muted and slow, unable to spread quickly on the snow-damp branches. Mr. Marsala quickly snapped off a large twig from the burning bush and attempted to use it to ignite the other bushes nearby.

No! Bella grip tightened on the bolt cutter, horrified but glued to her spot behind the tree. As much as she entertained the idea of burning down Jasper's house, there were still three innocent people trapped in the basement.

Mr. Marsala was giggling to himself, muttering praises under his breath. He then grunted as he struggled to ignite the nearby bushes due to the heavy snow extinguishing the flames. He tried again, but this time Bella found her feet moving towards him.

Bella rushed forward and screamed for him to stop. Startled, Mr. Marsala turned towards her and Bella caught the gleam of a knife now in his hand and instinctively, she hurled the bolt cutter at him, smacking with a loud thud against the side of his head, the impact knocking him to the ground. The burning twig sputtered out in the wet snow as Mr. Marsala slumped into a heap.

"Oh no," Bella whispered, kneeling down next to Mr. Marsala to examine his bleeding temple. Her hands hovered uselessly over his head before she clumped handfuls of snow and pressed it against his head. She whispered a trembling "Sorry…." when she felt a sharp tug on her hood as she was pulled backwards away from Mr. Marsala.

She screamed, kicking and punching in all directions, knowing immediately who it was.

Jasper stood behind her, his face contorted in fury yet looking terribly ill and pale, beads of sweat glistening on his skin. His eyes darted to Mr. Marsala's limp body before he tossed her aside like a rag doll, his lips twisting into a cruel smile. "Always getting yourself into trouble, aren't you, little swan?" he said derisively. His words came out in short gasps and Bella could see his anger rise in frustration.

Bella swallowed thickly. "Let those innocent people out of your basement. Then, I'll leave you alone for the rest of the month."

Jasper responded with a brisk laugh, his hands resting on his hips. It reminded her of Rosalie earlier in the night laughing wholeheartedly at Bella's situation for the last two months. Driven by a surge of fury, she pushed herself up from the icy ground and aimed a forceful kick at his shin. "You monster!"

The smile faded, leaving behind a predatory expression as his eyes fixed on her. With his pale, bloodless skin, his black irises, the blond hair shimmering in the dim light of midnight, Bella felt a surge of fear as her mind flitted to memories of James in the ballet studio.

"You're scared," Jasper said flatly, taking a step forward in tandem with her retreat. Her brain continued to superimpose James' face onto Jasper's. Bella blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the illusion, but she found herself back in the ballet studio, staring at a reflection of her younger self on the expansive mirrors along one wall until she turned to see James lurking across the room in the shadows, a faint smile curving his lips.

James lunged towards her at lighting speed, knocking Bella to the ground. Her head slammed against the icy ground, jolting her out of the illusion. The ballet studio vanished and she found Jasper's snarling face hovering above her, fangs bared.

"No, no, no, Jasper no, stop!" she screamed, pounding and scratching at his chest. "Don't do this! You can't hurt me! Jasper, stop!"

But Jasper continued to snarl, grabbed her arm—the one that she had cut in the cafe—and hungrily traced his nose along the freshly healing scar on her palm. His tongue brazenly lapped against the scar, as if savoring the taste of blood underneath. He crawled closer towards her, his long legs sliding between hers. Bella's arm fell to her side like a lead pipe as Jasper immediately lunged for her neck, his tongue tracing her carotid, teeth scraping gently, as if testing his own willpower.

Bella knew it was fucked up as soon as it happened but her hips involuntarily ground against his thigh, her arousal accumulating to a critical level. A small fire began to grow within her chest, the heat lancing through her. A hand slid downwards, tracing the contours of her breasts, pulling aside the damp shirt clinging to her chest, a sigh unintentionally escaping her parted lips as she shifted beneath him.

His black eyes cut through her. His hand continued to trail downwards, her legs instinctively falling open around his hips. Her head fell back, exposing her throat, and she closed her eyes.

She felt one fang just barely pierce her flesh.

I'm going to die, Bella thought. Those people are going to die.

"A universe without change would not exist, for everything and anything requires change," she recited. "And loss is nothing else but change, and change is nature's delight." She repeated the words again and again until her throat dried up and her lips barely moved as the words passed from and through her, her eyes following the path they took.

Then she felt herself being dragged again and as if again, the illusion snapped like a rubber band, she saw Rosalie's terrified face above hers, heaving her backwards down the hill towards her car. She lifted her head up to look in front of her and saw Jasper standing in the exact spot he had before she kicked him. "Get. Up. Bella!" She felt a sharp slap across her face and immediately sobered up as she scrambled to her feet.

"W-what happened?" she stammered, suddenly feeling woozy. Stumbling down the hill behind Rosalie who pulled her forcefully by her arm, Bella blearily looked up the hill behind her and saw Jasper watching them with his arms crossed, his eyes flashing red. "Was that real?"

Rosalie swiftly opened the passenger side of Bella's car, shoving her inside and slamming the door so quickly that Bella barely had a chance to pull her feet in. She hurried around to the driver's side and, despite Bella's protests, peeled out of the vicinity of the Haunted House. Bella let out a scream as they turned a sharp corner at twenty miles above the speed limit but when she glanced desperately at Rosalie, she noticed there were tear streaks down her cheeks.

"What just happened?" Bella asked in awe. She was acutely aware of a damp, sticky feeling between her thighs but the new but familiar ache in her temples overwhelmed her.

"He used his abilities on you," Rosalie said tightly, as if holding in a sob, "It was like a forcefield of fear. It was so—" Rosalie breathed in short gasps several times until she managed to exhale as if through a straw. "I came after you since you've been gone more than an hour and I find him trying to terrify you into a psych ward and there you are writhing on the ground as if he were eating you out instead."

Bella flushed to a tomato.

"You are such a freak," Rosalie said.

After several mortifying minutes of silence, Bella asked, "There's no way he was this powerful before, right? He wasn't able to make you feel so intensely that you started seeing things, was he?"

"No," Rosalie confirmed, swallowing hard. "Whatever happened in Peru, it's made him more powerful than ever."

As they continued to drive back to their now shared apartment, Bella wondered what vision Rosalie had seen before she managed to drag Bella out. She thought about how she failed so awfully tonight that the kidnapped victim count actually increased because of her. Mr. Marsala was certainly going to die by the end of the month, along with the three innocent humans trapped with him.

And Bella had been utterly powerless to help them.