Yay! A new chapter!

Thank you to everyone that reviewed and put me on alerts and faves. That was a pleasant surprise. I'm sorry I couldn't get back at the people who left reviews. I've had a very busy week. I'm only going to be updating the story twice a week. These chapters are taking forever to get down and I'm constantly being sought after by loved ones.

Speaking of updates, I had a small one the other day. I just fixed a couple holes in the plot like in Chapter One, I referred to Alice by her being Jasper's ex-wife. I fixed it to them not ever being married, her throwing a temper tantrum over his leaving, and probably one more thing. You'll have to re-read his section of the chapter. It's much, much better and doesn't sound like I rushed. The climax and outcome of the story will make much better sense when we cross that bridge. Nothing else was changed about the other chapters though.

Once again, Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and the Characters. Well the cat is mine…

WARNING: This story is rated M for language, offensive behavior, and adult situations.

BELLA

I heard a crash coming from upstairs, followed by a bellowing roar from Jasper. When I opened my eyes again, though my blurry vision he was crouched protectively in front of me to fend off our attackers, a constant low growl rumbling in his chest. I turned my head toward the staircase as Peter walked slowly downstairs with his hands raised, and his head bowed. I could make out Charlotte at the top of the stairs using the same gesture Peter was.

"Easy there, Major, it's just-," he was cut off by Jasper's guttural roar of rage. I could feel his confusion radiating off of him and was relieved when the cyclone-like atmosphere lessened.

By this time, I was able to sit up again. Jasper looked at me with pitch black eyes, no whites to be found, and venom was hanging loosely from his mouth. I began to laugh hysterically, tears rolling down my cheeks, blood on my face from my nose-bleed, and my face felt like it was on fire. He furrowed his brow at me and cocked his head. I laughed harder at the thought of a ferocious dog doing the same.

As manic laughter escaped me, the sensation of needing to relieve myself threatened to overwhelm me in its urgency. I tried to scurry off to the bathroom but Jasper grunted at my fleeing body. Behind me I could hear the low murmuring of the two vampires in the room having a conversation, followed by a low growl and snort from Jasper. He caught up with me before I could make two steps and picked me up. As he held me to him, my laughter died and I froze as I heard a familiar deep purring sound resonate through him, in which I've only heard from two other vampires. Holy shit, I hope they don't have Jasper's head when they find out! When he started to softly lick the blood off my face, I couldn't help but calm down and be a little turned on, even though I would have normally felt repulsed. I sneezed as his tongue entered my nostril, and he jumped in surprise.

I must have startled him out of his demon because he started to blink his eyes rapidly, and his loud purring came to an abrupt halt.

"What the fuck just happened?" Jasper squawked with a horrified expression on his face, as he stared down at me. Comprehension dawned in his eyes, while they filled with venom tears. He violently trembled as he dumped me on the couch. With one last sad look into my eyes, he sped away, slamming the front door as he left.

Jasper

So here I am sitting against a rotted log in the middle of the forest three miles away from Bella. I took in a deep sigh, though unneeded, but cleansing in its own way. I'm definitely uneasy how I let my demon known in front of Bella, but in a way I'm relieved. I didn't hurt her and I found out that she's my mate. I let out a snort.

While I was telling her about my early years and the way Pete was around Char when she was a newborn, it struck a familiar chord in me. Pete's behavior then was how I was now with Bella. I had laughed it off at first thinking aloud that it couldn't possibly be fucking true. I had always been drawn to her in a way but I figured it was just her emotions. We were only left alone in each other's presence once when we were hiding her from the tracker. I had wanted to just eliminate them to start out with, but the ever diplomatic Carlisle Cullen tried to be peaceful about a non-negotiable situation and he was after all the coven leader.

I'm not surprised that I never learned of Bella being my mate. We were constantly separated and we never had skin-to-skin contact. In the beginning I wanted to smother her in her sleep or snap her neck, before she was introduced. However, after meeting her, I found her tranquil and stunning, if not a little young. She was mature for her age, but had a naïveté that was both maddening and endearing. I became protective of her but could never see her as a sister. It never felt right. And now I knew why.

Twenty minutes later I heard a snap of a branch. I immediately stiffened and turned my head in its direction. I scented the air and relaxed when I smelled the cat. He came up to me purring while nuzzling my leg. I lifted him to cradle in my lap and gently stroked his wild fur. Moments later I smelled my brother in the vicinity but paid him no mind.

"Aww, isn't this just precious", he sang in a piss poor impression of a woman, "You're already pettin' your girls pussy. Don't waste any time do ya?"

"Shut up fucker", I growled. Baba O'Riley hissed at Peter and ran away in the direction of the house.

Pete looked at me and grinned, no mischievousness in his emotions.

"So you finally figured it out Major", he said, suddenly smug. Ah, that's the guy I know.

With a sigh I pushed my hair out of my face and my posture slumped. "Yeah I did, I'm just trying to reason with myself. She never should have been put in such a precarious situation. I was reckless with my demon and snapped. How is she?"

"Well, she seems to have a small idea of what happened. How? I don't know. She's keeping something secret and I have to wait like everyone else to find out. By the way, Cupcake's a little miffed at the moment with how you just threw her and ran away. Last I checked, she and the missus were talking about flowers or some shit. If you hurry now, you might catch her before she turns in for the night."

I got up and dusted the dirt off of my clothes, staying hunched over with my hands on my knees for a minute to get my thoughts together. When I straightened back up Pete clapped me on my back and I punched him in the gut in return. I sprinted to the house with him trailing behind, shouting expletives at me.

I found Bella and Char sitting in the living room of the main floor talking about adding on a green house or a gazebo to Bella's property. "The thing is, while I like gardening, I think that building a gazebo is a bit more practical for when I have visitors. I already have my hands full with maintaining the landscaping on this property. Adding in a gazebo would allow a little more ambience for visitors", Bella said with a shrug and Char hummed in agreement.

I superfluously cleared my throat to indicate my presence. While Char knew I was there, Bella didn't so she tensed before looking in my direction. The comfortable emotional atmosphere changed suddenly as I expected it to, so I sent out a calming wave. Bella frowned in annoyance of my manipulation.

Char looked at me with a twinkle in her eyes as she grabbed Bella's hand into hers. She looked back at my mate and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm gonna go and meet back up with my husband while you two sort this out. We'll finish our hunt next evenin'."

"Alright Charlotte, I'll see you sometime in the afternoon. G'night."

The two stood up and met with a loving embrace. I'm happy that Char got a new friend. I was slightly surprised at how much familial love they already shared with one another. But then again, Bella's always had a way about her when it came to the 'supernatural'.

After Char had left, Bella looked at me and was hesitant to say something. I raised an eyebrow at her in question. With a roll of her eyes and a resigned huff, she finally broke the tension.

"So, are you finished brooding yet?" At her pause I nodded my head. "Good because I won't let you apologize where it's unwarranted-"

"But-"

"No, let me finish, because in case you failed to notice, I'm human and it's like 2 hours passed my usual bedtime, I'm tired as fuck, and I need to be thinking through a few things. I'd rather not stay up longer than necessary." I gave her the motion to continue, a bit astounded that she already had this much control of me. "I understand the seriousness of what went on downstairs, trust me, I was beyond terrified." I removed my eyes from hers and looked at the floor, ashamed.

"Jasper, look at me."

Her voice was soft and her emotions went from slightly defensive to gentle waves of sincerity. I looked back up with her to be greeted with a soft smile. I gave one back in return.

"I might have affected your emotions. I was already on edge tonight as far as excitement goes but we were having a pretty sensitive conversation. I really, really didn't like how Edward and Alice treated you. It absolutely disgusts me at how well I was easily manipulated by them, and to just hear about them from you in a way shocked me, but at the same time, I was seething. You just naturally fed off of my anger, and I could tell you were pretty agitated to begin with. It's very similar to how that birthday party panned out, minus the nosebleed. Which by the way, you owe me a new set of pajamas."

I looked at her outfit and noticed she had already changed into a new white tank top, while her pants were a pair of black lounge pants with white polka dots. Although her current attire was adorable, I still made a note to get some more of those body-hugging yoga pants she was wearing before. It's a good thing my shirt is covering the bulge in my pants.

"I'm really sorry about that Bella. I've been told my emotions can be a bit smothering when I get like that."

"Ya' think," she scoffed in faux irritation. I gave her an indulgent pout. In return she gave a soft giggle. "You're forgiven for that. Let's try not to do that too much while I'm still human."

While she's still human?

"Shit," she hissed, giving herself a slap on the forehead, followed by a groan.

She either caught her slip or I spoke out loud.

"Jasper, what I just said will be explained tomorrow, we really don't have much time for that. I need to go to bed, I can hear the birds beginning to chirp."

I agreed. While it was still dark outside, there was a pre-dawn glow in the sky. I looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was already 5 in the morning. Bella walked to me and put her arms around my waist, taking in a deep breath of my scent. I returned the sentiment and greedily drank in that magnolia and sunshine smell that's unique to her and placed a soft kiss on her head. I felt she was anxious about something so I gave her an emotional nudge.

In a quiet voice that was unlike her new confident personality she asked, "You'll still be here when I wake up, right"?

I smoothed the loose tendrils around her neck and responded that I couldn't leave now if I tried.

She looked into my eyes searching for my honesty. She must have found it because she reached up and gave me a whisper soft kiss on the cheek that left tingles on my skin. I grinned goofily and touched my face where she kissed me as she went to her room. I heard her doing a nightly routine, followed by the buzz of a television in her room. I could hear the rustling of blankets as she settled on a real life crime documentary. I settled for a book I saw earlier in her study and read quietly until her breathing evened out and her erratic emotions calmed.

I was a little halfway through the book I chose, which is about automatons and proletarian revolution (The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia) and was happy about my choosing. It wasn't typically something I would read but I've always found the whimsicality and quirkiness of Steampunk fascinating. I felt anxiety creep into me from Bella, followed by dread and confusion. She must be dreaming. I set my book aside and went to her room to check on her. When I opened the door, I didn't know what to expect her room to look like. The colors like the rest of her house were neutral which match the open, light and airy feel of the space. Its cathedral ceilings were tall and the windows oversized.

I found Bella in her bed, writhing and sweaty and thought it was disturbingly erotic. She was still panicking but her heart rate was increasing. I knelt at the side of the bed she was sleeping on and sent her soothing waves of tranquility as I touched her face. She flinched but then relaxed into my hand, quickly falling back into a peaceful slumber. Her light snoring made me chuckle. Shoot, still projecting. As I left, I heard her breath my name and I smiled to myself. I decided to retrieve my book, as well as the first couple books of the Game of Thrones and sit at the chair closest to the window and read until she woke up.

Around 2 in the afternoon, Bella roused from her sleep, groggy and a little confused. She slowly rolled out of bed with her pant legs bunched up. When she came back from doing a typical morning humdrum, she jumped nearly a foot of the floor when she finally noticed my presence.

"Mornin' sunshine, sleep well?"

"Uh, y-yeah. Jesus, you scared the shit out of me! Why are you in here anyway?"

"You were having a bad dream so when I came to check on you, I decided to stay in here to keep you calm. Is that alright?"

"Thank you, yeah that's fine," she paused for a moment and when I raised my eyebrows at her she continued, embarrassment and slight disgust coloring her tone. "So, what did you do the entire time? You weren't watching me sleep were you?"

I chuckled, knowing where she was coming from. "No, darlin'", I pointed out the stack of books on the end table next to me, "I did some light reading. You have a nice collection by the way."

She breathed a sigh of relief, "Good, the sleep stalking is pretty creepy. Soooo, I didn't say anything in my dream, did I? I don't remember what it was about." She slowly walked over to her bed, sat down and faced me.

"You were just, I don't know how to put it, you seemed lost, unaware, frightened. You didn't say anything to indicate what you were dreaming about though. However, a couple hours ago you were telling someone to come to bed," I finished, wiggling my eyebrows in an Emmett-like way. In truth, she didn't mention any names and it made me jealous.

Bella threw a pillow at me but I swatted it, accidentally letting it hit the lamp on the end table, sending it crashing to the floor.

"God, Jasper! What the hell? Aren't you supposed to be able to catch that?"

"Sorry, Miss Grumps, I'll just replace it or you."

"Hmmph".

We went downstairs to the kitchen eventually so that Bella could get something to eat. She didn't find much but some cereal; in addition she cut up some celery sticks and put them in a small container, along with a little peanut butter on the side, and placed the container in the fridge.

While she sat at the kitchen counter, she twirled her soggy cereal around the milk in her bowl. "How would you like to go for a hike? We can finish our conversation when we get to the end of the trail. I know a good spot where you don't have to worry about exposure."

"Yeah that sounds relaxing." It did, I loved the clean air around her home and living in the city with all the chemicals and scents gets old fast.

"Good. After I finish eating, I'll go get ready and we can head out. Where's Char and Peter?"

"Oh, they called while you were asleep and said they're staying in Denver. They're expecting company that's passing through. I don't know who it is though."

Thirty minutes later Bella came downstairs in a tiny pair of jean shorts, a green tank top, a brown light zip up, and some trendy pink hiking boots. Her hair was set in a French braid with a pair of red sunglasses perched on the top of her head. In her hand, she was carrying a small pink and grey daypack, which she placed the container storing the celery and peanut butter, along with a large Nalgene bottle filled with fresh water. I noticed some composition notebooks were already inside and wondered what that was all about.

It was a beautiful day, unclouded with a slight breeze. In the back of the property was a trailhead that reminded me of the stone steps at Letchworth State park in New York. We followed up the stairs at a brisk pace, for a human.

"Was this trail already here when you bought this property", I asked.

"Nope. My dad and his wife actually did this after we checked out the property and started building", she responded with amusement.

"What'd they do? Come through with a bulldozer and construction crew?" It was a really nice path. At the top of the stone steps was a forest pond we had to cross on a stone walking bridge, followed by a wide inclined dirt path that was fenced off from the woods.

"Nah, Charlie was entering a new phase in life and needed a new project." She spoke fondly but was intentionally leaving something out, however, I minded her.

We were a mile into the hike, making small talk whenever Bella was able to catch her breath. She began to sing the first lines of To Arms in Dixie; surprised, I joined her.

"Advance the flag of Dixie!

Hurrah! Hurrah!

For Dixie's land we take our stand,

And live or die for Dixie!

To arms! To arms!

And conquer peace for Dixie!

To arms! To arms!

And conquer peace for Dixie!"

When we finished the song, Bella's face was flushed from laughing and panting. She had taken off her sweater a while back and tied it around her waist. We decided to stop and take a water break. She took off her backpack to set it to the side, and untied her sweater to use as a cushion while she sat down. I retrieved the water out of her backpack and handed it to her. After thanking me she grabbed the bottle from me and took measured drinks. Her heart beat was still accelerated, but relaxing.

"Where'd you hear that song?"

"Oh, come on, it's not entirely uncommon. Actually, my mom's husband's family is from Fort Worth, Texas but they moved up to Lubbock before Phil was born. His grand-father apparently used to sing him old Confederacy songs and he idolized the idea as a child." I nodded my head in understanding. As a former American Civil War soldier I often remember my glory days and for generations, families entertained children with heroic battle tales.

We stayed for a few more minutes until Bella packed her sweater and Nalgene. After another mile, the dirt path turned into a wooden walkway with steps going up. The forestry started to thin out and the terrain gradually became rocky. I watched Bella move up the steps in front of me, her ass swaying hypnotically. We continued nearly five more minutes until we reached a free-standing covered patio including a rectangular built-in redwood table along with matching detached seating in the middle.

Bella sat down with a thud, throwing her daypack on the table. She folded her arms and laid her head down on them with a groan. I couldn't help but chuckle at her humanity.

"Shut up."

This only made me laugh again as I sat on the bench next to her. She peaked open an eye at me when she heard me unzip her bag to get the bottle of water again.

"You can take the rest of the stuff out if you want," Bella said as she sat up. I complied with her wishes, pulling out the plastic container and four composition notebooks. I sat the notebooks on the table between us and handed her the celery with peanut butter. She took it and placed it on top of the bag.

We sat there in awkward silence for a couple of minutes.

"Aren't you curious Jasper?"

"Terribly."

She pushed the notebooks in front of me and said, "Read; if you find something significant, ask me anything."

(Author note: I was going to end the chapter here, but I said, 'Oh what the hell.' We are about to enter Bella's journals. The timeline in S.M.'s first Twilight novel is in 2005, according to Twilight Lexicon, so my fanfic is set 3 years after Bella's 18th birthday, in the year 2008. I may or may not have some commercial products or trends that aren't made or popular yet. But it's my fanfic, and I can do what I want, ha!)

November 6th 2005

Renee says I should keep a journal. It's apparently therapeutic. We'll see.

November 10th 2005

If you see this Alice, I hope you know that I'm planning on burning the purses and shoes you got me this summer. Then I might turn all those $100 jeans into frilled cut-off capris and graffiti the fabric.

Suck on that!

November 19th 2005

I checked the mail yesterday and stumbled upon a thick envelope with no return-address. I knew for a fact I haven't applied to any colleges or loans lately so imagine my surprise when I opened it up and found a letter to me by none other than J. That's what he'll call him. I can't believe he's been around for all this time. I don't know whether to be angry he didn't show himself to me or grateful and touched he cared enough. He still believes I'm worth it. It's kind of hard to right now because of what happened a couple months ago, but I've never blamed him. Maybe one day I'll be able to tell him why.

The extra thing he left might come in useful someday.

On a side-note, someone needs to call animal control. I've been hearing dogs howling.

…..

December 18th 2005

Dad is inviting someone, a woman, over for Christmas dinner! He's been seeing her for a little over a month now. No wonder he looks happier than I've ever seen him. I hope she's good enough for him because he deserves all that and more with how he held onto my mom for so long. All he said was that she has red hair and brown eyes and is from Canada.

She doesn't have any living relatives so he invited her over for dinner with us. Well, I'm excited to meet her.

December 24th 2005

Holy shit-cannons, my dad is seeing V! That was a surprise that I never expected to see. At first I was frightened. I nearly had a heart attack. I mean, last time I saw her she was helping that psycho kill me. The brown contacts look funny though. For now I'm going to stay guarded around her until I feel comfortable. She seems genuine enough and she hasn't looked at me like she wants to crush my skull. Yet…

"Holy Fuck? Bella! Is that-Is that VicTORIAAA?", I nearly screeched.

She smiled sheepishly, shrugged her shoulders and nodded. "Yeah, good ole Vicky, but don't ever let her hear you call her that. Laurent's mate Irina learned the hard way when she once called her Icky Vicky. Ripped her pinky off and kept it for a month."

I couldn't wrap my mind around it. Shocked was not a word I could use to describe this. I continued reading, completely flabbergasted.

December 26th 2005

I'm very worried about dad. I'm still not sure about V, but she invited me out for lunch tomorrow. I'm going definitely, but cautiously. I'm not completely worried about the physical harm she could do to me, but the only way she can hurt me is by harming my parents. I think she may know this. If she wanted to, she would have done it already.

December 27th 2005

We talked at the park while I ate my lunch. It was cold so I had some soup. She was hesitant at first and I suppose I was too with the current situation. She apologized for her involvement with what happened with the psycho guy. He was paying her and L for the help they provided. She had no idea it would have gotten so far, but she needed work somehow. When she found out he was killed, she was hardly upset. He had taken the hunt and challenge entirely too far. She wasn't broke by any means and only knew each other for a short period of time. V and L met in Canada years ago and stayed in contact throughout the years. They met psycho guy a couple decades back hunting down the same people. They exchanged information in case they wanted to do a job together.

After his death, she went south for an extended vacation, while L went up north and found his 'soul mate'. It wasn't until the beginning of November that V's curiosity about me was growing more and more each day. Why was I involved in the world she lived in? She met my father unexpectedly and was drawn to him like no other. She fell in love with him and is scared to tell him of her nature. She was planning on it soon. I fully intended on being there.

I'm beginning to trust V, I look forward to learning more about her long life.

January 2nd 2006

It's a new year already, but things aren't looking good. Things didn't work out as planned. FUCK! V came over while Dad was watching the game. We were gonna finally have the dreaded conversation with him. I ordered a pizza and it was on its way. He took news on a full tummy anyway. I had just sat a beer down in front of him when V froze up and was trying to get up and leave. But the door burst open and 2 furiously shaking people raced in. J.B. and S.U... I yelled at them to get the hell out, my dad grabbed for his shotgun and cocked it in their direction, but they were looking at V. They were there for her. But I didn't know why until they became huge friggen mongrels.

She tried running and dodging them but they grew annoyed at her attempts. Dad was in the middle of a panic attack and all I could do was scream for them to stop! V. kicked one into the other but they got tangled up in one another and ended up crushing dad. They turned back to their original forms, albeit, naked, after getting hurt. I yelled at V. to take him to somewhere safe after I heard his wet coughing and saw his brutalized body. She jumped over J.B. and S.U., picked up Dad and ran. All I could hear was the sound of more howling in the distance.

When the two naked men became alert enough to talk, I grabbed Dad's shotgun and pointed it at them. Told them to talk. Apparently what I had seen only happened when a member of the enemy clan was around. I knew that because J.B. had already hinted that to me the previous spring when I was curious about a certain family. They were trying to get rid of V. so she couldn't harm us. They were trying to protect us. But they nearly killed Dad! I fired off a warning shot for them to get the fuck out. But they were trying to get me to tell them where the red-head took my dad.

I told them they were idiots and that Dad and V. were in love and were each other's soulmates. The retarded mangy mutts didn't believe her kind could love or had souls. They only wanted one thing out of their lives. I re-cocked my gun and shot another fire. I heard someone outside so I pointed the weapon at the front door, never taking my eyes off the two men that were trembling, not in rage, but this time in fear.

It was B.B…He was the peace comity being pushed around on wheels by H.C…Two of my dad's oldest friends. I explained the situation to them, and they looked beyond miserable at what just transpired only ten minutes before. J.B. became angry again and it was suddenly my fault that all this happened. HOW DARE HIM! Especially since he probably killed my dad! B.B. and H.C. became enraged at J.B. and S.U…Said they were irresponsible and jumping the gun like the way they did only endangers innocent lives.

S.U. got a call from someone and whenever he hung up his face was grave and he shook his head, looking at me with sad eyes. Of course I thought the wrong thing immediately and pointed the shot-gun at him, coming a hair close to squeezing the trigger. J.B. had the decency to speak up, telling me that the trail went cold. I told them that it was their responsibility to make an appropriate cover story for the disappearance of my dad. I was leaving town when I could make the appropriate arrangements. I guess they figured out I was going to try to search for Dad and V. and insisted I come live on the reservation. Not fucking likely.

So here I am sitting in a hotel room in downtown Seattle. I decided to talk to the man that J. referred me to months ago in the letter he left. I still have no fucking clue to what happened to Dad and V.

The Cliffhanger!Thanks for reading. Seemed like it took forever to write. Thoughts?