Creation & Destruction [3] | Jasper Hale

-17-

"Wrap this securely around your head."

"It's a billion degrees out here, Jaz," Joanna argues with him, but fixes the scarf he's tossed into her hold. Fixing her sunglasses, she pulls the plum-colored fabric around her head; mouth pulled into a frown to show her true emotions. "You guys make the Volturi sound like a group of rich, snobby murderers."

Jasper, who's currently pulling the hood of his jacket over his luscious waves, offers her a blank look. Clearly, he wasn't in the mood for her playfulness. But he did provide feedback nonetheless, "They're the royals of the immortal world, Joanna. So they're...serious and nerve-racking."

"Have you ever met them?"

It's silent between for a moment. The only noises being heard were the sounds of their shoes slapping against the brick floors as they neared what Joanna presumed where the Volturi resided. "In person? No, haven't until now. I've only heard them through the words of others."

Hearing this, she curls his hand tighter with his. "Carlisle mentioned before we left that Aro is similar to Edward. What does he mean, Jasper?"

People that live within that particular part of Italy pass them, their voices humming their bodies. But even when the two are surrounded by hundreds of mortals, they feel as if they were the only two on the battlefield.

"With a touch, Aro has the ability to raid through your thoughts, memories, and any ideas you have bubbled up. I...I have no clue what he will do about Ethan-"

Mother bear mode was activated. "What the hell does that mean? What will he do with our little boy?" In her past, she wouldn't have given a damn about the Volturi. She was human, she wouldn't care what a group of highly-seen immortals was doing clear across the world. Her life had more meaning than that.

Joanna was focused on her job at a salon where she would put all her skills in art on to a person's set of nails. Gossip would flow through one ear and out the other. Days would pass and she would repeat the same process: Wake up, eat, work, eat again, go home, eat one more time, sit in bed and wonder why she didn't die but her father took the place instead, and then let her tears slumber her before she repeats the process.

Life had changed so much and it was all to blame on the man that made her feel like she had a purpose in this strange world. Jasper was the one who took her pain and made her remember that in life, there may be pain, but there is also joy and sunshine.

Luckily enough, she got a peek of sunshine every day with her quiet, blonde boyfriend and their son.

The crowd passed by them, but still, their eyes never left each other, and neither did their hands. "Ethan will never be harmed," she hisses out, grounding her heel into the ground. "I will not let one of those dudes in there touch my son. I will crush anyone who dares to hurt Ethan."

Leaning in, Jasper places a light kiss to her marble skin. "I know darlin', and even if I'm not a fan of violence, I'll be by your side in tacklin' any bullies down. I'll even...kick their behinds-"

"-asses-"

"-you know me far too well to know that I rarely use my potty mouth."

Those golden eyes of her flicker away from him to focus on the building they were meant to enter. Inside, her heart - even if dead - is slapping against her rib cage, tempting to escape. She wanted to do the same. If she could, she would rip away the heavy clothes she's wearing and flee, running off and back to Forks with her beloved and her son.

They would be safe there.

That was home. This, the building that was looking more terrifying as she continued to stare, was an image of death. She could see them, all the missing souls that faced death, wandering around the premise.