A Touch of Magic| J. Hale

Chapter 3: Pulled

Chapter 3: Pulled

Jasper couldn't get that one late summer day out of his head. It had been another first day of the new school year. He and his siblings had skipped due to the pleasantly nice weather that day. Jasper couldn't say he wasn't happy about being able to skip, he couldn't imagine having to deal with all the petty human emotions often overwhelming his senses while he was at that school. Everything they seemed to care about was so trivial. The place was filled with jealousy, desperation, and loneliness. Everyone trying to one up the other, all of them donning fake smiles and false pretense as they spent the majority of their time gossiping and putting everyone around them down. He often felt like he was suffocating in such an environment, so it was nice to have the day to himself, running through the forest and trying to blow off steam so he could manage to deal with such an environment the next day.

He had spent a good portion of the day hunting, wanting to be well fed since he would have to be surrounded by humans the following day. He would've gone out the day before, but Alice had seen that it would much too sunny for them attend school the first day, and so Jasper had decided to hold off, wanting to be able to enjoy the nice weather; or well, enjoy it as much as he could in his eternally frozen state.

Jasper couldn't say why he had drifted so close to the treaty line where the river ran, separating the wolves territory from their own. Perhaps it was because there has always been something calming about the running water of the stream, or perhaps it was because once again, he was contemplating whether or not it was worth it to continue this life. It would be so easy to jump from one bank to the next, and eventually the alpha wolf would come to end his miserable existence. Of course Jasper never truly would have the courage to make that jump. He couldn't abandon his family like that. They had saved him from a truly miserable existence, he would never be able to bring such pain on them by ending his own life in return.

Whatever it was that drew him to his spot, he did not truly know, but he enjoyed the sight never the less. Having been born and raised in Texas, he dearly missed the sun. It was truly a curse to have to never truly be able to enjoy it for the rest of his eternity. Drifting his hand into the sunlight, it was pleasant to feel a faint warmth from the suns rays, but the way his skin reflected the sunlight only worsened his not so pleasant mood he was in today; not that he was ever in a much better mood on any other given day, that was Alice's role. She was always so happy and perky. Perhaps that was why they got along so well. The dark haired pixie was so opposite to his usual stoic nature that she was almost like a breath of fresh air, and yet she could still be a little overwhelming at times. Alice knew nearly everything, so she could be a little frustrating in her all knowing ways. Maybe had things been different for them, they could've been quite the couple, but Alice had known from the beginning that they were never meant to be, and so all they had ever been was just very close companions in this otherwise lonely existence.

While Jasper had been very caught up in his solemn thoughts, hearing a faint splash in the river had instantly put him on alert. As he examined the water he was hit by this overwhelming yet fleeting scent. Never in his immortal existence had he smelt anything so delectable. He could feel his mood instantly drop as the scent was gone as soon as he had picked it up. It was such an indescribable smell, he knew it would haunt his memories until he found the source, and yet as hard as he tried, he couldn't pick it up again. He couldn't comprehend how something so distinct could just disappear so suddenly leaving not a single trace to be followed. Even with Jasper being one of the better trackers in his family, he was completely stumped in this case.

With a deep sigh, Jasper chose to give it up as much as he didn't want to. He had know way of being able to figure out what exactly he had just picked up on, and he knew his family begin to worry if he stayed out too lone by himself. Being the youngest of the group they always worried over him, especially knowing how much his gift effected his mental health. With one last glance back at the river, he paused once again, swearing he saw a faint image of a girl's head sticking up out of the water, her gaze filled with curiosity and longing, but the most striking thing being how her emerald green eyes seeming as if they could see right down to his soul, but once again, as soon as he thought he had seen her, she was gone, and was added as another thing that would haunt his memories for the rest of his eternity.

There hadn't been another sunny day since that one, so Jasper never had much of a reason to go wandering off too far on his own. Thankfully, Jasper had been successful in keeping those moments by the stream to himself, and as far as he knew, Alice and Edward had no idea that anything out of the ordinary had happened that day. Jasper was constantly feeling like he should return back to that spot; he constantly felt the urge to find out if that ghost of a girl was real or find the source of that scent, but for a month he has been successful in ignoring those urges. If nothing else, he could be proud that he was getting better at not giving in to his impulses; for that he could be proud. And yet, he still constantly felt like he was being drawn back to that spot. He wasn't sure how much longer he could deny his curiosity the chance to seek out answers.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Freya hadn't strayed outside the wards since that one late summer day. She didn't dare anger her mother any more than she already had. The burn was healing nicely so far, but it was still much too dark for Freya's comfort. Freya didn't tell Kota of the incident that had happened while he was away at school. Her brother loved her too much and knew just as well as she did how their mother could get when she was angry. Kota had always tried to protect Freya as much as he could, and Freya knew that if Kota found out something happened while he wasn't there then he would be riddled with guilt for not protecting her even when it was in no way his fault that he couldn't always be there for her. There was never any predicting on when and what would cause their mother to slip, so Freya kept this particular incident to herself.

It had been about a month now since she had seen that breathtaking man in by the stream. Freya tired her best to forget him, to bury that memory deep down in the back of her mind, to make him more of a pleasant afterthought that she could look back on with fondness yet no longer feel the urge to seek him out again.

Freya busied herself with her studies. The Sisters were starting to really show interest in the handful of girls Freya's age, and Leonora was constantly on Freya about doing everything she could to prove herself worthy of being the one chosen. Freya's days were spent doing everything she could to please her mother, and her nights were plagued with restless dreams of the man with his wavy honey blonde hair and golden eyes, always there but just out of reach.