Twilight: Betrayal

Chapter 22

"Come on, Jasper, you cant let her run you off like this." Emmet pleaded with his brother and for the first time that I could remember, there was no hint of sarcasm or humor in his voice.

"You expect me to suffer under the same roof as them?" He spat back at him. His thick southern drawl was laced with a feeling that I could only describe as unbearable agony. I recognized it because I myself was in the same situation as him, except I hadn't stayed to endure it for years.

Alice chimed in then. "There is one place we could go. We wouldn't have to separate the family-"

"No." Edward interrupted her, his voice shaking with barely contained rage. I had never heard him sound so furious. It caused me to cringe marginally.

"Is she talking about the cottage?" Rosalie asked.

"Yes. And it's never going to happen, so stop asking." His words were disgusted with what she had said or perhaps maybe what she'd thought. If only I could see what was happening.

Rosalie broke out into a roar of laughter, but she managed to speak. "You actually thought that you could take her place?"

"The cottage belongs to Bella." Emmett said. I could imagine him, arms crossed with an unsettled look on his face, staring at Alice as if she were a little more than deranged to be asking for something so out of line.

I was at a loss. I have a cottage? Where? And since when?

"I'll go." Edwards voice felt like ice water running down my spine, sinking deep into every crack and fissure. I shuddered. "For what it's worth, Jasper, I'm truly sorry." His voice was faint, as if he himself held more than enough pain for the both of them.

There was a heavy silence throughout the house, all except for Esme's distressed breathing. Jasper sighed. "You know its not your fault, I forgave you a long time ago. The only person you should be apologizing to is the woman you've been avoiding all this time." It was clear that his words extended far past the last two months that they've known of my existence.

"Why should he apologize to her? She needs to get over it, what's done is done and there's no going back now. Edward and I are husband and wife." I clutched a nearby tree so hard that the wood began to shudder under my grasp as the familiar feeling of loss sank agonizingly deep into my core.

Rosalie and Edward growled in unison. "Climb off of your high horse, princess. You are solely to blame for all of this. If it hadn't been for you, Bella would be exactly where she belongs; with us. A part of our family." Rosalie forced each word through her clenched teeth.

I was taken aback suddenly. Rose had never seemed to like me in the distant past, and here she was defending me. She wanted me to be a part of the family as much as I had over half a century ago, if not more than I had. It warmed me inside to know that she had my back.

"She was just a human." Alice scoffed. "She was toxic; danger lurked around every corner. I'm glad we didn't go down that road with her. I'm glad she hates us."

I could hear the sound of a small struggle before a heavy object collided with something wooden, as it splintered into what could have possibly been hundreds of thousands of pieces. Alice let out a ferocious growl and glass shattered somewhere in the house. I was dying to get closer but I didn't dare to breathe, let alone move.

"Enough." Carlisle's voice stilled all movement in the house. I inched forward, and now I was in plain sight. Alice was crouched in the corner of the room and I was in utter shock and disbelief to find Edward in his own defensive position, standing in front of her. Wooden chips and glass shards clung to her hair and the thin material of her black t-shirt. Jasper was faced away from the both of them, staring down at his feet, his honey blonde hair veiling his face.