The Way It Should Have Happened…

Chapter 8

The sound of Bella's screams hung in the air for an instant of silence as all the vampires reacted to the situation.

Edward immediately leaped at Jasper, trying to pull him off Bella who's screams were silenced as she lost consciousness, pleading "Help me, Edward," as her eyes closed.

"Don't!" Carlisle shouted at Edward, then said more quietly. "His teeth will tear her throat out. You can't force him off her, he must let go on his own."

Emmett began to wrestle Rosalie toward the stairs, hoping to get her either outside or to their bedroom where he could help her calm down but there was such a crowd on the landing he wasn`t having much success. He knew she had no love for Bella but he never imagined she might actually have it in her to harm her. He was looking at her and thinking maybe he was really seeing her for the first time. He felt as if he didn't know his wife, whom he'd been with for more than seventy years.

Alice, uninjured by the fall but momentarily dazed, finally got to her feet and, with her vampiric hearing, was aware of what was occurring upstairs and sped up to where Jasper was slowly killing Bella.

Carlisle was talking urgently to Jasper, who's eyes were unfocused with blood lust as Edward, still holding on to Bella, was watching her face become steadily more pale from the blood loss.

Esme looked from Emmett to Carlisle, trying to decide where her help would be most beneficial, finally deciding to help Emmett with Rosalie, who was shouting that this was not her fault and for Emmett to take his hands off her and they wrestled her away from the scene as Alice arrived, having run up the stairs so quickly as to be almost invisible. She stood for a fraction of a second, taking in the scene, then moved toward Jasper.

She walked up behind Jasper and lay the weight of her tiny body across his back, wrapping her arms softly about his shoulders and pressing herself tightly to him. She began to speak softly in his ear.

"Jasper, baby, it's Alice. Listen to me. You have to stop now. You have to let go."

There was no response from Jasper, so intent on drinking Bella's blood that, at the moment , there was nothing else in the world except for Jasper and the hypnotic draw of the liquid quenching his thirst.

Alice snaked her arms a little further around him, still just holding him, not trying to pull him away.

"Jasper, I know how good that tastes but it's Bella you have there. You remember Bella, our sister, Edward's wife? You don't want to kill her, honey, you don't want to do that. You've done so well for so long and I know I'm asking the impossible but I know you're strong enough, baby. I know you are," Alice crooned into his ear, almost the way you would talk to a small child or a frightened animal.

"Carlisle," Edward begged, "do something. He's killing her."

"Alice is trying, Edward. It's all we can do now, just hope she's successful," Carlisle said.

"Shhh," Alice hissed at both of them. "I'm trying to concentrate." She slid her arms farther around Jasper's neck, her tiny fingers just below his chin.

"Baby, you have to let go now. For me, do it for me. I love Bella and she's my best friend. I need her Jasper and Edward needs her. You have to stop now. Please honey, stop," and she slowly slid her hands up his throat and over his firm jaw line, resting them lightly on his cheeks. "I'll help you, okay? We'll do this together, just like we do everything. You help me when I need it and I help you, right? Together?"

She was easing her fingers infinitesimally closer to his mouth as she was speaking and finally managed to slowly slide one small hand between Bella's neck and Jasper's teeth, easing him free of Bella who slumped lifeless in Edward's arms. Jasper turned in Alice's arms and looked down at her, his dark red eyes confused and sad. Alice took his hand and led him down the stairs and out the door, away from the scene of his loss of control.

"Carlisle, hurry, I can get the venom out," Edward said, picking Bella up and hurrying to put her in their bed. He was ready to place his own lips against her throat to try to pull Jasper's deadly venom from her but Carlisle stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Don't Edward, it's too late."

"NO!" Edward said, shrugging the restraining hand away. "I was able to bring her back once. I'll do it again!"

"This time you can't and even if you could, you shouldn't," Carlisle said quietly. "It's time to make a decision about this. You can't fix it this time."

"I can! You don't know that!" Edward insisted again starting to put his lips to her neck.

This time Carlisle forcefully pulled him away from Bella. "It's too late for that. When James bit her, it was simply a bite and nothing more. Jasper has drained her of a great deal of blood. For you to pull out the venom, you'd have to remove more blood and her heart won't take it, not on top of the blood loss from surgery. I tell you, son, it's too late. You will kill her if you try."

Edward blinked at him, realization of the situation finally sinking in.

"Now, you can either let the transformation begin and hope her heart is up to the task with what she has left or. . . " Carlisle left the thought hanging in the air.

"Or she just simply dies," Edward finished, a note of finality in his voice. He sank down on the leather sofa.

"I can help her some," Carlisle offered. "To make the transition maybe a bit quicker but you need to decide now. Either she changes or she dies."

"How can you even ask. Of course change her, please. Now," Edward said, anguished and Carlisle bent over Bella, quickly biting her ankles and wrists, hoping it wasn't too late.

Edward watched with a terrible sense of remorse. Bella would never have a child now. Even though he had believed from the first moment he'd realized there was a child growing, that is was completely wrong and would bring nothing but destruction, even so, he had been torn by wanting to give Bella everything she wanted and wanted to protect her and make her see reason. Would she ever be able to forgive him? Would he be able to forgive Jasper? Or Rosalie, who was the start of it all? Had she not confronted Bella about the baby, none of this would have happened. He wanted to kill her. If Bella didn't survive, he would kill her, knowing that Emmett would then kill him. He wouldn't care if he died if Bella didn't survive. He wouldn't want to live if Bella didn't survive. What would all this mean for his family? How would they all live together now? After this? No, they couldn't stay together now. There was just no way and it was all his fault. If only he'd been able to stay away from Bella. When he'd first caught the scent of her blood, he left and he should have stayed away, maybe taken up with Tanya, even thought his heart wasn't really in it. At least, Bella and his family would have been all right. The guilt he felt was overwhelming, strangling him. Even though his lungs didn't need air to breathe, he suddenly felt as if he were suffocating under the weight of his despair. He dropped his head into his hands.

Carlisle had finished with Bella and sat beside Edward. She let out one tiny moan but was otherwise motionless and silent. Now they would just wait and see whether or not she died or transformed.

 

*          *          *
 

Downstairs, Esme was in Rosalie and Emmett's bedroom, trying to convince Rosalie that they must leave.

"Rosalie," Esme said, "you're going to have to take some responsibility for what has just happened. I think it would be best for you both to leave for a time."

"How long?" Rosalie asked, eyes narrowing. "And why should we leave? Why not Edward and Bella? I have as much right to be here as they do."

"Rose, be reasonable," Emmett said." If Bella survives, she ain't gonna be going anywhere for awhile. You know that. It'll be years. They have to stay here."

"Well, I'm not going," Rosalie said, folding her arms. "It's just more Edward drama. I swear I liked him better lonely and sad. At least, we were all able to exist together without constant tension. I hate it. This is as much his fault as mine; he's the one who insisted on bringing her here."

"More reason to go then. Take the high road, diffuse the situation," Emmett suggested.

"No," she argued. "He can go."

"Rosalie!" Esme said, raising her voice, an extremely rare occurrence. "I will not make you go but I'd prefer if you did. The next few years are going to be difficult for Edward and while we could use Emmett's strength I'm sure during Bella's newborn year, I would gladly be without it for some peace. You've been against Edward and Bella from the moment they met and I'm sick of it. You forget that Emmett was also human when you found him. You are no different and certainly no better than your brother. So either get with the plan or get out. You can either accept both of them or leave my home and don't come back."

"Don't come back?" Rosalie seemed to suddenly realize that, for once, this wasn't about her or what she wanted. She turned to Emmett. "What should we do? I will apologize to them both. I know that won't change anything but I'll try."

"I think it won't matter either way until we know if Bella survives. If she does, you may have a chance, otherwise, I say we hightail it out of here," Emmett replied.

"Whatever you do, stay away from Edward, Rose," Esme insisted.

 

*          *          *
 

Alice led Jasper out of the house, visions flashing through her mind so quickly she couldn't keep up with them. In one she saw Bella dead, another transformed into a blood-thirsty out of control newborn, another she was standing over the bloodied bodies of several humans. None of the visions brought her any peace of mind.

Jasper hadn't met her eyes since she'd looked at his blood red pupils, shame filling him. How could he have done that? He'd felt Bella's terror as he planted his teeth in her flesh and all he did was send her the sensation to relax. How could be? After years of denying himself, it had all been for nothing. How can he even begin to ask for Edward or Bella's forgiveness? He couldn't face them.

But, he still had the taste of her in his mouth, her sumptuous blood had been worth it, the monster inside him said. It was better than anything he could have imagined, worth the years of denying himself. Stop it! It wasn't worth it. It wasn't. What would he and Alice do now? They likely would have to leave here, the only home they'd ever had. Would Alice even be willing to go with him?

He thought of Victoria and James. Would they become like them? Wild? Homeless wanderers? He was afraid to look at her, afraid to meet her eyes but he had to do it. Years of being a soldier meant he faced up to what must be done.

They'd now walked several miles from the house and he stopped, sitting on a convenient boulder. Alice perched beside him.

"Well," Jasper said quietly, "do you want to stay with me or should I just go?" He lifted his red eyes to her finally, hoping to see love and understanding but fearing he would see disgust from the one person in the world he loved above all others. He had to find a way to make it right for her if nothing else.

Alice reached up and placed one tiny hand against his face, wordlessly telling him that no matter what, they were together.
 

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