The Story of Sarelle (Twilight fan fiction)

Chapter 24 - You Knew Jazz? and Past As a Family

Well here is chapter 24! I hope you like it. Thank you so much for all the reads. It means so much! You guys rock! - LongLiveMusic17

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My old life of voluntary solitude had swiftly been switched for one filled with a sense of family. I still primarily lived in my own house but I had only been in it to sleep for the past few days.

Every night Edward had stayed by my side while I slept, that is once we had spent most the day and night talking about our lives so far and any memories we had of each other. I had made a point of asking Edward not to tell me anything of when we first met because even a hint such as my age would be enough to manipulate my mind into calculating when I would meet him. I didn't want to
constantly chase my next meeting with him because it would only cause me to see every other experience to be insignificant. Also, I couldn't hide the fact that if he told me my age then it would place a very real deadline on how long our present relationship could last.

I hated thinking of the end when, as Edward had said, we were only at the beginning. However, it was a tricky thing to do, to ignore the looming fact that this love of ours was limited by time. Each day that passed became another grain of sand to pass through the hourglass; the only problem was that I wasn't sure how fast our time was running out. It could be days, weeks, months, maybe even years. I hoped more than anything that it was years. I could leave him a little more contented if I had spent years with my heart in his hands.

The very idea that it could be mere days was enough to form a lump in my throat so I refused to even think it.

Alice and Esme have fast become my greatest friends, and Carlisle and Emmett are always eager to talk and learn about me. Rosalie and Jasper still kept their distance although Jasper would sometimes offer short sentences to a conversation if he was in a situation to do so.

I glanced over the vast wall of Carlisle's office, covered from floor to ceiling in art and pictures of the finest nature. The eclectic collection was situated amongst a room of honeyed oak panels and light cream walls, creating the perfect setting to amplify the diverse display.

I had been given free reign of the house for a few minutes since Alice was busy organising her latest makeover and the rest (except Carlisle) were out hunting. I couldn't understand how Alice could still find excitement in dressing me up when she had already tried several different styles in a matter of a few days. My body had never been controlled in such a way before, but I liked that it made her happy. She had such a vibrant spirit that I couldn't help but fall for her enthusiasm, just like Mary.

I sighed as I thought of my old friend Aslo. We'd had such an odd start to our friendship but I couldn't show enough gratitude for what he has done for me since, the money, the friendship, the understanding and belief. When I next saw him I was determined to show him some of the thanks he was due.

"Hello, Sarelle. Can I help you with something?" Carlisle stood beside me with interest playing on his face.

It was odd seeing so much of him when I had spent so long wishing to have the chance to be with him one more time.

We hadn't talk too much about the past, our past or the past of his family, but we had certainly slipped back into our easy friendship.

He was still very much the man I had adored as a father back in bustling young London, so I couldn't find any part of me that felt awkward due to the time we've spent apart. It seemed a friendship such as ours could indeed last the test of time.

"I'm just admiring you're art work. It's a wonderful collection. I recognise this place." I pointed to a sketched image of Carlisle's old home and smiled at the memories it held for me.

"Yes, a lot of happy human memories there." Carlisle's voice was sad which conflicted with his words so I took a guess at why.

"Your father was a good man, Carlisle, a little grumpy now and then, but he had a kind heart." I giggled as I remembered how Andrew would chunter on about the various faults of the country or his strong religious beliefs. The discontentment in his eyes was always present but I had learnt you just had to look beyond it. For it seemed he was only bad tempered on his surface, as if he felt he was meant to feel that way.

"He was, and many thought of him with respect, as much as I remember. I just wonder if perhaps I was a disappointment to him." Carlisle's eyes clouded, and I brushed his arm with the same reassuring gesture as he had with me when I was young.

"He felt nothing but pride for you, Carlisle. When you left that night I heard him say a prayer, his voice was saturated with a fathers love for his son. He just wasn't open enough to say it." Carlisle looked down at me with a peaceful smile before placing an arm around me in a fatherly hug. That was, after all, what he was to me, a father figure, or a guardian, so the gesture just felt right and safe.

"Thank you, Sarelle. It's been nice having you here, learning and remembering my past. I used to think my human life was irrelevant, insubstantial. You've shown me otherwise." I smiled up at him before turning back to gaze at the picture of the home we had shared.

"Your human life was anything but irrelevant, Carlisle. It was so much more than worthy because you were important to me. You saved me so never doubt the point of your human existence. You were loved and not many can say that." I beamed as Carlisle gave me a light squeeze and sighed. It was almost as if he was finally dropping the small burden that he had been carrying with him since his change and I felt happy that I had given him something in return for the safety he had given me when we met.

"Has Edward told you about our past as a family?" Carlisle asked and directed my gaze to the wall of images. I hadn't realised they held any more significance than just an artistic luxury.

"Not as such. I know you changed everyone here except Alice and Jasper, but we haven't had a real chance to talk about how he came to be what he is and he hasn't mentioned the past of the others, out of respect I believe."

"That seems fitting with his nature." Carlisle smiled and I knew it was one of love for who he considered to be his first son.

"I believe it is up to Edward to tell you his personal experience, I'm sure he has his reasons for delaying such a discussion, given your past." Carlisle said with laboured emotion but I tried not to focus on the intrigue his comment created, if Edward preferred to wait then I wouldn't push for answers.

"You already know of my own past discounting a few minor details, and as you already know Edward was the first to join me in 1918. Soon after my darling Esme fell into my life, quite literally. She leapt from a cliff and they brought her body to the hospital, presumed already dead. I knew her in an instant for we had already met a few years prior. I guess you could say I loved her in the same moment I saw her." Carlisle's voice held such love and happiness I felt my own face curve into a smile.

"The flying woman," I whispered as the pieces fit together.

I knew I had recognised her vivid caramel hair and now I knew why. I had seen her as she leapt into the unknown and watched as for one magical moment she seemed to soar through the air.

"Excuse me?" Carlisle's eye's sparked with the innate curiosity I had gotten used to seeing.

"There was a jump when I didn't fully materialise but I can remember, so vividly, watching a young woman jump from a cliff. I didn't realise until now that it was Esme," I said as I mumbled through the comment, remembering the memory and allowing it to play out in my head.

"You seem so connected to us all, first me, then Edward, Emmett and Esme." Carlisle smiled with bemusement. It did seem that I was pulled to these people, whatever form they were in.

"Jasper as well and...Rosalie, I think." I winced as I spoke but refused to let Carlisle see it. I didn't want to relive my meeting of Rose.

"Really, astounding!" Carlisle led me over to his desk and sat me down in the leather chair while he paced, forming questions in his mind.

"You knew Jazz?" Alice poked her head around the door and skipped in excitedly as I nodded.

"When was this?" Carlisle asked.

"Wait! Let me ring them, Jazz should hear this." Alice swiftly dialled. Before I could even register the conversation, she was sitting cross legged on the floor in front of me, beaming at the idea of hearing a first person account of Jasper.

The others didn't take long to come home and Edward strode towards me to gather me up in a loving embrace before placing a light kiss on my lips.

"Now you can start the story," he said grinning at me as he arranged me sitting in his lap, facing the family. I was instantly wary of avoiding skin to skin contact, as much as my body ached for him. I couldn't risk him getting even a glimpse of Ashton and his attack in my mind. I didn't want him to be angry that I hadn't told him. There was also the more ashamed part of me that thought maybe he wouldn't want me if he knew what my body had endured. Would he still touch me if he knew another man's hands had been there before him, even if it wasn't in the same loving manner as his own?

"Erm, well firstly I'm sorry I didn't say anything before, but you must understand that this has all been a bit overwhelming." I cleared my throat awkwardly as all seven pairs of golden eyes focussed on me. Even Rosalie looked on in interest thought it was almost disdainful, probably due to the fact that I was the centre of attention (even if it was unwanted).

"I jumped to DeSoto, Texas one day in August 1863. There I stayed in a tavern and it was this tavern that I first met Major Jasper Whitlock." I smiled at Jasper as his eyes flickered with surprise.

"You looked very dashing in your uniform and you were such a charmer. You kissed my hand and said I had a 'purdy little accent'." I grinned and blushed lightly remembering our first meeting. He had been the first person I'd talked to properly since escaping the asylum.

"I have to say ,Jasper, it was quite a potent skill you had. My friend Katelyn was head over heels in love with you. " I giggled slightly at the memory of Katelyn and her rambling ways. She was absolutely smitten with her Major.

"You became a very good friend along with two of your colleagues, one more than the other." I gulped a little as I thought of Ashton, his menacing hazel eyes flashing in my mind. I was glad Edward couldn't read my mind at the moment but my body still gave me away a little. I tried to ignore the curious glances Alice and Edward gave me. He knew something was wrong, he practically knew my every mood so it was clear he would question me later.

"I remember you all used to say these different Texan phrases...let me think...Oh yes this one was a favourite of mine 'hotter than a whore in church on Sunday'" I giggled, and Edward's worried expression cleared ever so slightly as he traced circles on my lower back.

Jasper's face flashed with a smile and it reminded me so much of his old self. I missed the charismatic man I had known.

"You seemed familiar when Edward introduced you, how old were you when you arrived in Texas?" His voice was careful and I noticed that his body was strained, though he seemed in control enough for the others to be unconcerned.

"I was eleven when I arrived and stayed through 'til a few months after my twelfth birthday." My body was reacting to my excitement at finally talking with Jasper and having the knowledge that he actually had some kind of recognition of who I was, well, it was so much more than I expected. My excitement faded when I thought of the other people I had known in DeSoto.

"Did you...Did you make it back to see Katelyn in San Antonio? You escorted us halfway there and promised you would but...well I was just wondering," I mumbled as I thought of Katelyn waiting for her Major to show up, unless she had found a new man to desire.

I saw Jasper steel himself to talk. I wouldn't have minded a gesture of a shake of a head or something like that but I was glad he felt able to talk, given that his control was an issue for him.

"I do not believe I did. I was changed travelling to San Antonio." I nodded sadly. He would have been changed just two days after we said goodbye to him. I knew it shouldn't have been a sad thing for me to think of, for he was standing right before me, but part of me was mourning the man I had known. He seemed so different now that it would have been easy to think he was a completely different person. I think there was also the fact that I had watched him walk away feeling happy he would be happy and when I looked in his eyes I saw there was pain hidden there, deep down. What could he have possibly endured to become the way he was?

"Did you have to wait long until you found Alice?"

"One hundred years, roughly," Jasper said stiffly. I knew my scent effected him a lot more than the others, according to Edward he hadn't had as much practice, only ten years at most. Still Alice was no different and yet she was so much more comfortable around me.

"I was changed in 1920 when I was just about nineteen...I think." Alice smiled weakly at Jasper as she added the last part of her sentence.

"Do you not know anything other than your age?" I asked puzzled. Then again I don't even know my original first name. I felt like I knew Alice well but she had never really talked about her past. She seemed to be the kind of person that lived in the present and future, deciding not to dwell on the past. I liked that about her, along with her bubbly personality, endless enthusiasm and fun loving nature. I had only known her a matter of days but she was already one of the best friends I could have ever imagined having that's why I didn't like seeing the faint solemnity in her amber eyes.

"I didn't know my real name when I work up. No one was there and I just have no memory." Alice's usually bubbly nature seemed to fade slightly when she spoke of her past. No one of Alice's nature should have such melancholy in their soul.

I gazed at her figure one more time; there was something so familiar about her. Everything about her felt comfortable and expected. Was she really Mary but in her vampire form? Would she want to be reminded of her traumatic start in life?

Was it truly better for her to be in the dark than know the brutal truth that her parents had sent her to the asylum due to her gift?

"I'm sorry to hear that, Alice." I murmured and my voice was filled with the sad confusion I felt. I wanted to give her back something of her childhood, but I only know the dark parts of her life. Surely to have nothing was better than knowing that she was abandoned to be harmed and abused by people who used their power to the disadvantage of others. Plus, I didn't want to disrupt her and
Jasper by introducing the complication of Aslo. I didn't know what had happened between him and Mary, and I didn't want Alice to be angry at him if he had left her. I couldn't bear to have the first vampire to show me kindness be condemned by others.

"It's fine. Jasper came along and swept me off my feet, I don't need memories of the past when I have the future with him." She beamed at her husband and snuggled herself into his open arms.

I matched her blinding smile when I saw them happy together. Why disrupt that with something that would just upset her?

"I waited one hundred years for her and she's worth every second of it." Jasper said, and I reached my hand to squeeze Edward's.

I feel the same way about you, even if I haven't waited as long.

His face lit up at my thought and he placed a sweet kiss on my cheek, nuzzling my hair and inhaling my scent deeply.

"Forever and eternity, Sarelle. Forever and Eternity." He whispered in my ear, and I sighed contentedly before snapping me out of the bubble my mind had formed surrounding me and Edward. It was so easy to get lost in his presence and just forget that anything else existed.

"I wish I had something I could give you, Jasper. Something as a reminder but..."

"Sarelle, you have given me more than enough." His eyes glowed with peace and sincerity. Somewhere, deep down, he was still Major Whitlock. I guess you can take the Texan out of Texas but you can never take Texas out of a Texan.

"What is it they say...? The world's population is made up two types of people. Those who have lived in Texas and..."

"Those who want to." Jasper's eyes lit up, twinkling, although his face remained a quiet and restrained smile.

He may never have the ability to truly communicate with me in a comfortable manner but I was happy with what we had now. I didn't have to have more; anything on top of this would be a bonus.

"Seriously, screw Texas. Tennessee is where it's at!" Emmett argued and I laughed shaking my head as the family dissolved into pure comfort. Yet another story had been told and I felt myself slipping further into the family. How would I ever say goodbye?

I gazed out at the velvet sky, seeing it reflected perfectly in the glassy surface of Black Lake. The clouds swirled above, obstructing the sunset from view but for some reason I like that I can't see the extraordinary sight. It was probably an irrational fear but I had been with Edward in his world for two weeks now and each night I felt myself tense at the idea of seeing a sunset. It just seemed that they held a warning or a sign, as if they were the amber light before the green on a traffic light system. I knew that when amber lights up I wouldn't have long before I would be ordered to go and move on from here, so every night I prayed that the clouds filled the sky and all I saw was deep,
alluring blues, greys and soft violets.

Edward's nose skimmed my neck as he stood behind me, enveloping my body in his arms and holding me to him in a way that made me wonder if his arms could keep me here indefinitely. Maybe his hold would be strong enough to never let me jump again. It was a silly thought because I knew they wouldn't be. We both knew that, but still he held me to him as if it would make a difference.

"You smell divine, angelic even." He murmured against me skin and I smiled because it is all Alice's doing. She had given me yet another makeover only this time she didn't lather me with lotions and powders. Instead she stripped my body bare down to its natural scent and state. My hair fell in natural waves and my face was fresh with no cosmetics coating my skin. The only sign that she has done anything was the clothes, a frothy white skirt and baby blue blouse that fit into my developing figure perfectly. I hadn't realised quite how much my body had altered since being here in Belmore. I had blushed furiously when Alice ordered me to go underwear shopping with her, though it was for the best.

Edward placed a feather light kiss on my pulse, pausing as usual to feel my blood rush through my veins. Each time he did it I thrilled at the contact, the danger it held. It was like the ultimate risk that I was constantly seeking. I knew every second with him held some kind of danger. It was the basis of our respect for each other. It was why our relationship worked. If I was under the impression that he was just like a normal man then our trust would never be as solid as it was now. Edward wanted me to be fully aware of the risks involved with our relationship and I was. However, he was also fully aware of the fact that I didn't care what risk he posed to me. It changed nothing and never would. I was his completely; no fear of death would ever change that.

I look at his hands entwined with mine on my stomach before twisting to look at his expression, a small smile curved his sculpted lips in a delicious way. I couldn't resist tracing his lower lip with my fingertip, loving the way he parted them in anticipation. I was still so new at being in a relationship, we both were, and I liked that it came naturally.

He turned me and stroked a loving touch across my face, his face showing reverence. It always did and I would forever find it both flattering and unnecessary. How could he think it was unbelievable that I could love him, when the idea of not seemed preposterous?

"You should know by now, Edward, I'm not going to run screaming." I say in reply to his expression. He always seems so amazed that I want to be with him, to touch him, to have him near me.

"You're just not that scary, love." I smirked placing a palm on his cheek. A wicked grin flashed on his face and he directed his eyes to caress my neck with his hungry gaze.

"I am not going to fall for that, Mr Cullen. I don't run scared." I stood my ground as he licked his lips menacingly. I couldn't help the nervous flinch of my body when he flashed from left to right, disorientating me.

"Shame, I love a good chase, Miss St Clair," he whispered in my ear from his new position just behind me.

My breathing had picked up and I wasn't sure if it was from fear or thrill, both were a potent feeling and I thought maybe both were playing in my body now. Making it sing an enticing tune as they ran through my veins.

A low guttural growl rumbled through his chest and I could feel his cool breath making the skin on my neck tingle as I stood stock still, my blood now rushing.

"How long did you think I would be able to resist such a sweet temptation as yourself, Miss St Clair?" He growled and that was all the warning I got.

In a movement so fast that my body couldn't even start to register it, he spun and dipped me so I was completely at his mercy. I was encased in his iron tight grip as he formed a cage around me, supporting my body with his inhuman strength. My whole body was pressed to his, his hand spread wide at the base of my back causing my torso to arch away and stretch my neck out to him.

His head dipped in a flash like movement and I felt his lips drag up the exposed column of skin, causing a shiver to run up my spine.

"You were saying?" he hissed and it tickled against my pulse.

"You're truly terrifying," I said and my voice was breathless with the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I leant my head into his as it stayed at my neck, brushing kisses up the length.

But I love you anyway, I thought, and Edward's head lifted to gaze into my eyes a loving smile on his lips until he touched them to mine, holding me recklessly close to him as he did.

When we parted I remembered the thoughts that had plagued me recently, ever since Carlisle sparked my interest in Edward's change. I was so easily distracted when I was around Edward; it was surely some kind of problem.

"Edward, will you tell me how you were changed? I've been waiting for you to tell me but you've never made an attempt to say anything," I said softly, stroking my hands through his thick silky hair.

Edward sighed and righted us, before leading me into his room and snuggling us up on the couch.

"You know when I was changed, Sarelle, 1918, by Carlisle," he purred nuzzling my hair.

"I don't know the details." I was trying to hold firm, he had already distracted me off this topic enough times with his seductive ways. Not this time. I would not fall prisoner to his penetrative gaze.

"Maybe not, but you know the basics. I think the details should be told another time for you now smell far too delicious for talking." As he spoke I could feel my mind slipping, hypnotised by that damn velvet voice.

Bad vampire. Details. Now, please. My mind thought in a forceful, if not mumbled, manner, causing Edward to chuckle against the sensitive spot just behind my ear.

"I just don't want you to be sad about the circumstances." His arm held me to him as we lounged on the luxurious black leather, gazing out at the stormy darkening sky.

"I'd like to know, even if it might upset me." I rested my head on his chest as his fingers played in my hair.

He sighed in defeat and I felt my body fill with elation; finally I had won against his dazzling ways. Surely that was quite an achievement.

"In Chicago there was an epidemic of what they now call Spanish Influenza. It affected a lot of people and killed quickly." My elation swept away as I gasped when I thought of the panic it must have caused.

"My family and I weren't immune, Sarelle." His words shocked right through me, and I felt my throat constrict almost instantly along with the tears starting to pool in my eyes.

"Elizabeth and Edward?" I choked out, the memories of their happy smiling faces drifting through my mind. They would have been so young, only in their mid thirties maybe forties. That was too young for them to die.

"My father died first, it was quick from what Carlisle has told me. My mother tried caring for him but she made herself ill. When I caught the disease she did the same but it took the life out of her. She died an hour or two before Carlisle changed me. He says she looked so peaceful, serene." The tears were falling in torrents down my cheeks as I thought of the people I had loved, passing away in a time of fear, panic and despair. They had been such strong people and to think of them weakening to a point of death was a horrible idea. The thought of Elizabeth and her vibrancy for life, which would have been sucked from her, having to watch both her husband and son disintegrate before her eyes.

"I never got to say goodbye." I sniffled and Edward's sorrowful eyes cast over my face as he stroked my hair in comfort.

"You did, Sarelle. I promise you that." His words were cryptic and I sat up in flash studying his expression. He knew so much more than he had told me, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to know or not.

"How can you know, Edward? I...I don't understand," I mumbled as I tried to get my head around his words. His eyes had such sadness in their depths and I knew why. He knew my age when we would next meet, and he knew it wouldn't be a simple journey for either of us.

"Sarelle, you told me not to tell you about your future, but I promise you that they knew how much you cared for them." I shook my head slowly as I cleared my baffled thoughts.

The shock of Elizabeth and Edward's death occupied one part of my mind but the other was stunned by the fact that I would see them again. I didn't know when or what would happen when I saw them but Edward said that I would have my chance to say goodbye and that was enough to make me come to terms with their deaths. However, if I got my chance to see them again, did that mean I would see Edward again? Would I be a part of his human life, more than just a childhood friend?

I couldn't deny that I liked the idea of seeing him human again, but neither could I understand if it would be a good thing. In order for my ability to stay hidden from his human self I would have to be at least five years older than him, so if he died aged seventeen... I would have to be twenty-two. Twenty-two, that was eight years in the future.

I felt a timid smile creep on my lips. Eight years, that was so much more than I thought I would have with him. Eight years would be enough, not perfect, but enough.

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What did you think? I hope you liked it! I'm sorry I couldn't upload earlier. My iPad wasn't working for some reason. I'll upload again tomorrow. Thanks guys! You rock! (: - LongLiveMusic17