empathy

ONE

"I can't," Anastasia shakes her head, staring at the house in front of her. "You won't hurt her," Jasper tries to reassure her. 

It's Bella's 18th birthday and while neither of the Cullens was excited about it, Edward still invited her to celebrate with them. 

Now, Rosalie and Emmett planned to travel to Africa, seeing as they graduated and should've left for college. Still, they neither wanted to leave Antonina behind nor did they want to take her with them, at least not without Anastasia's consent. 

"You don't know that," Anastasia shakes her head. "I do. I'll be with you and Emmett will be by Antonina's side. He'll stop you in the unlikely case I won't be able to suppress your hunger." 

Now, Anastasia didn't want to come here in the first place but she also didn't want to leave Antonina with Isabella. Now, even less than before. But having Antonina come to her would be too dangerous, just as going somewhere with her would be. She's just not in control of herself at the moment.

She doesn't trust herself around her little sister and she's rather let hell freeze over than turn into their father and hurt her. 

Jasper holds his hand out for her, and she can feel a blanket of comfort wrap around her the moment she takes it. His thumb draws circles on the back of hers, trying to calm her down as they make their way inside. 

He squeezes her hand a little tighter upon feeling her tense up, the smell of blood not strong but strong enough to have her unsettled. 

"Jas," she forces out and he steps in front of her, forcing her face into the crook of his neck. 

"Just focus on me, you're doing great. You're doing fine."

Anastasia lets his scent calm her down before she eventually stops to breathe and steps back a bit to see if it's working. Well, at least she can't smell the blood any longer. 

"Ana," the voice of her sister calls and makes Anastasia tense up even more at the small arms wrapping around her legs. "Hi, you," Anastasia means as soft as she can, her hand coming down to rest on the back of her head to comb through her hair. 

"Where have you been?" her little sister turns her head to look up at her.  "I'm sorry, I've been... sick," Anastasia means. She still is. "Is that why you're eyes are red?" 

Shit, the contacts must have dissolved faster than anticipated.

"It is."

"Are you feeling better now?" Antonina asks her worriedly. 

"Well, I'm still not completely well but I'm better."

"Maybe we should head upstairs," Jasper speaks up, hearing Bella and Edward approach. "We should," Rosalie nods, more than happy to avoid the human. 

To be honest, none of them understands how Edward was able to apologize for what Bella did, or even defend her decision to use Antonina as a means to get Anastasia to come with her, which lead to her turning into a vampire. 

Hell, he wasn't faced at all. 

He was too busy to make sure Bella herself didn't turn and was very indelicate about it. He kept on muttering how lucky he was and how smart Bella must have been to survive until they all arrived. 

They just wanted to rip him to pieces. Jasper for sure would have if he were with them and not with his mate, who was at the edge of turning or dying. 

Hell, Emmett nearly did if it weren't for Carlisle putting Antonina in his arms. It was the only thing they could think about to calm him down since none of them would've been strong enough to stop him. And, none of them could've blamed him, so they aren't sure if they'd even tried to stop him. 

"Come on, princess," Emmett scoops Antonina up and sits her on his shoulders. 

Anastasia smiles sadly at that. She is glad her sister has people who care about her as much as Emmett and Rosalie do. People who love her and protect her. But she also hates she's not a part of her life anymore.

At least not the way she used to be.

And of course, part of it is her fault. She brought her to the Cullens and she decided not to raise her on her own anymore. But still, it feels like she's been ripped away from her completely after turning. 

It just feels like vampirism is tearing her whole life apart and seeing her sister just made it a whole lot clearer. 

--- -- -

Anastasia is sitting next to Jasper as they play Dobble. The kid's version of it with numbers and forms. And it's sad to say they're all losing. 

Bella arrived some time ago and Jasper's been doing his best to distract her from it. 

It would only rise suspicion if the Chief of Police's daughter showed up dead. Especially 'cause she only seems to hang around theirs lately. They'd have to flee across state borders and that would just be a nuisance.  

Anastasia's eyes fly to the ground when the smell of blood spreads through the house, her jaw clenched. 

Her nails dug into his arm when the smell gets stronger and he shares a glance with Emmett and Rosalie before he gets up, pulling Anastasia with him. 

Once again pulling her into a hug, he barely hears Emmett mumble an apology to Antonina before he is already speeding Anastasia out of the house and into the woods - after making sure Antonina isn't facing them anymore. 

"It's alright, you're alright," he means gently once they're far enough away to not smell it anymore. 

"You did well."

Pulling away from her, he sees her eyes a pitch black colour and the black mist back around her hands, swirling in the air. 

"You did amazing, darlin'."