A Witch Thing

12

Elizabet was waiting outside the room where Bella was in bed, waiting for her to wake up. Edward was inside with Bella's mother. She heard talking in the room, realizing she was finally awake. Jasper stayed with you, he was in the cafeteria with Charlie to help with his emotional state. He was worried sick about Bella and Jasper was trying to make sure he was okay.

Elizabet tapped her foot as she sat outside the door. After a few moments, the door opened and Renee came outside, closing the door softly. She gave her a warm smile and said, "Thank you so much for your help with my daughter. It's so good to know she's making more friends."

Elizabet returned the smile, unable to hold it back. She wasn't used to be given compliments like this. She nodded and responded, "It's really no problem. I'm glad I was able to help."

Renee smiled a little wider, placed a hand over Elizabet's and left. She smiled as she sat in her chair, thinking over the thank you. After a few more minutes, the door opened again. Edward came out and looked at her.

"Hey." She said, standing up. Edward gave a weak smile and slowly spoke, "Bella wanted to speak to you." Elizabet nodded simply and said, "Okay." He stepped aside to let Elizabet in.

Before she opened the door, Edward placed a hand on her shoulder. Elizabet jumped and put a hand over her heart. "Sorry." They both said at the same time. Edward told her softly, "I want to say thank you...for what you did back there. Thank you for helping Bella and my family. You're welcome to stay with us."

Elizabet smiled and responded, "You don't have to thank me, really. I've been helping those vampires hurt others for so long and I haven't like a second of it. Helping someone for once...I wanted- I needed to do it."

Edward nodded, "Still...thank you, Elizabet."

She smiled, "You're welcome." She turned and opened the door, seeing Bella laying in bed. She saw Elizabet and sat up a bit. "No, no, lay back. You don't need to be working yourself right now."

Bella chuckled lightly and laid back down, "Yeah...you're probably right."

Elizabet sat in the chair next to Bella and gave her a smile. "Are you alright?" She asked.

Bella nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine." Elizabet smiled, she asked, "Anything hurting? I may be able to fix that..."

Bella shook her head, "No. No, you don't have to do that."

Elizabet shook hers in return, "No, it's no problem. Where?"

Bella bit her lip and pointed to her leg. "There." Elizabet nodded and walked over, placing a hand on her leg and closing her eyes, chanting a little something before letting her hands down and looking at Bella.

"Wow...that feels so much better." Bella said, smiling a little. Elizabet sat back down and asked, "Edward said you wanted to speak to me?"

Bella nodded, squinching her eyes and taking a breath as if she was trying to think of how to word her sentence. She spoke then, opening her eyes a little, "I wanted to thank you. You didn't have to help me back there, but I'm glad you did. Edward is actually really happy to have you here. I'm glad you're here, too."

Elizabet smiled again, chuckling a little to herself and beginning to wipe away a little tear that was threatening to fall. "What?" Bella chuckled.

Elizabet took in a breath and shrugged, "Sorry, I'm just...I'm not used to this. Getting all of these 'thank you's. being complimented. In my old coven, with James and Victoria and Laurent...I never really got any kind of affection. It was like walking on eggshells. But with everyone else here, even when everyone is stressed, it's like...I'm cautious of where I step, but there's not much reason to be. I've been given so much...comfort. It's so foreign to me..."

Bella smiled and said, "Well, if you're going to live with the Cullens, you'll have to get used to it." They both shared a small laugh and Elizabet swallowed the lump in her throat. "Okay, then..." Elizabet started, "I'll go and let you get some rest...or...y'know."

Bella chuckled and nodded. Elizabet turned and left. As her hand hovered over the knob, Bella said, "But seriously, Elizabet...Thank you."

She smiled, "No problem."

Elizabet stepped outside, Edward rejoining Bella, and went to the cafeteria to find Jasper. When she found him, she ran into Charlie, who also gave her an awkward but heartfelt thank you.

Jasper chuckled a little as he stepped over to her, putting his hands in pockets. He asked her, "How many does that make?"

She thought over it before replying, "Five. Two from Bella and Edward, two from her parents, and one from Carlisle."

Jasper chuckled again, "Well, you're feeling a little overwhelm, so I won't smother you with another..." They both laughed together.

Elizabet twiddled with her fingers as she thought over what she was going to say. She took a breath and slowly said, "So do you guys have a spare room?"

Jasper slowly smiled as he asked, "What?"

"I think I may stay with you guys... If the offer is still there..." She rephrased.

He nodded, "It is. I'm glad you decided to stay. Everyone will be glad to have you around."

She smiled and said, "Thank you."

"Look who's getting the thank you's now." He said.

She laughed a little at that. She wasn't used to all of this. When her laughter slowly stopped, her face fell a little, only a faintest of smiles left there. "What's wrong?" Jasper asked.

She shrugged as she answered, "Nothing. That's the thing. I'm not used to everything being right. With James and Victoria and Laurent, there was always something that I'd done wrong. But it's like I could say almost anything and I wouldn't get yelled at."

He shrugged, "Well, we're an entirely different coven. James and Victoria were..."

"They were malicious." She said for him, "You could see it in their auras. They were so dark and cloudy. So...wrong. So many years of tormenting others, killing innocents. So much carnage and some sort of sick pleasure from all of the killing..."

She closed her eyes and shook her head, taking a deep breath and removing it from her mind. As they sat down, Jasper asked, "Well...what do you see in mine?"

She looked up at him, tilting her head as she saw through him. "Um..." she started, chewing on her lip, "For you, I see light. It's a type of purity that's hard to come by for vampires. It's not dark, but it isn't quite white. It's a tinted shade that comes with having innocent intentions but...not so innocent actions..."

Out of instinct, she reached out, placing a hand on his cheek gently as she muttered, "What happened to you?"

When she realized what was happening, she yanked her arm back and apologized quickly, "Sorry, I'm so sorry. Oh, my god... I didn't mean to, I got distracted."

Jasper calmed her, pushing a light layer of serenity over her and telling her just as calmly, "Hey, don't worry about it, Elizabet. It's okay. You don't need to apologize so much. You're so anxious all the time and you have no reason to be now. You're safe with us."

'You're safe with us.'

'You don't have to worry.'

'We won't hurt you.'

'You're safe with us...'

The words played in Elizabet's mind like a whirlwind of memories. Those are the words James' coven spoke to her when they first found her. They weren't as comforting as they made it out to be. But, said by Jasper, it seemed more innocent than when James' had said it. More true, more trusting.

That's all she could do. She could trust Jasper, she had to be able to, or she might as well walk away and try to live on her own with no way to protect herself.

She could trust Jasper.

She took a deep breath, "Okay...I trust you, Jasper."

He smiled softly, but he was a little distracted with the hurricane of emotions going through her.