One-shots/Short Stories

Jasper Whitlock - Part II

Reincarnation - Part II
Jasper ran in random directions in the forest, trying to distract himself from the pain of seeing a lookalike of his human wife. A few times back in the newborn days Jasper tried to go to Texas to find her graveyard, only to fail because of Maria somehow changing his mind. But not a day goes by when Jasper would think about her. He felt guilty breaking that promise to her of returning; he could imagine the pain and sorrow she must've had when she had gotten the note that he was 'Missing in Action'.
   Jasper spotted a deer and dashed for it, hoping that maybe hunting will distract him from the same old pain he's had for years.
   "Jasper." Jasper turned his head at the sound of Edward's voice, spotting not only Edward, but Alice, his best friend ever since she found him in Philadelphia.
   Alice gave him a small sympathetic smile, walking up to Jasper and his finished meal. "How are you coping?" she asked him gently. Jasper simply shook his head and turned to the ground.
   "The pain is still there." Jasper whispered. He sighed and buried his face in his hands, sitting on the ground. Edward and Alice sat on each side of him, their emotions oozing out pity and worry. "Why are you guys here?"
   "Everyone was a bit shocked at your sudden exit." Edward said, leaving out the part that the new girl was also shocked. "Alice and I went to the office to say that you were feeling unwell."
   "And also because Edward didn't want to be near the Bella girl." Alice spoke up. "Worried that he might drink her." She gave him a side hug. "We are worried for you."
   "I'm sorry." Jasper sighed. "It's just -" he closed his eyes in pain, immediately seeing a faint  picture of his wife in his head. "She just startled me." Jasper muttered. "Are you sure she's a reincarnation of. . .her?"
   "Highly possible." Edward spoke up. "If you want, we can check it over when we get home."
   "We're here for you." Alice added, giving Jasper a small reassuring smile.

***

At the Cullen place, they all sat at the giant table that held their meetings, waiting for Carlisle to tell them the information about Christie Belle's life after Jasper. Carlisle and Esme were notified at what was going on, Carlisle immediately going into action on finding the family tree of Christie.
   Their heads all snapped up when the heard Carlisle enter the room. Carlisle sat at the head of the table, folders in his hands. "I see you found some things." Esme noted. Carlisle nodded.
   "They were actually quite easy to find." Carlisle revealed. He cleared his throat. "Christie Belle was actually more known for a while as 'Major Jasper Whitlock's Secret Wife'."
   "How did they know about our marriage?" Jasper blurted out. "From what I faintly recall, we kept it a secret from everyone - even our family."
   "They found out when she had given birth to a boy - your son." Carlisle revealed. Everyone gasped at the information.
   "Son?" Jasper stared down at the table mournfully.
   "I don't really understand still." Emmett admitted quietly.
   "News spread that Jasper was 'Missing in Action', possibly dead. It says here that a couple of months later, Christie had an arranged marriage with a man. Her family and her betrothed including herself had recently found out she was pregnant when they were planning the wedding. Christie had to tell them the truth about her secret marriage." Carlisle shuffled through some papers, reading the information. "They tried to convince her to have her child's last name as her new husband's, but she refused wanting it to be Whitlock."
   "What's. . .what's my son's name?" Jasper asked quietly, venom gathering in his eyes. A boy. He had a son. Christie was pregnant. She had gotten remarried. . .
   "It says here she named him after you." Carlisle told him. "Jasper Whitlock Junior." Carlisle glanced up at him hesitantly. "There's. . .there's a photo of your son and Christie, if you want to see it." Jasper nodded and was received an old black and white photo. His breath hitched in his throat at the photo before him. There, was Christie Belle in all her glory, holding a toddler boy that looked so much like Jasper. The little boy had his long hair, and similar grin, while he had his mother's eyes showing gentleness and kindness. Jasper stroked the photo gently with his pointer finger, grief and happiness invading him. If he could cry, he would have been crying now.
   "Christie married her fiancé after her childbirth, but they didn't have any children after that. A couple months later from their marriage her husband filed a divorce and remarried soon after. It says here that he didn't like the idea of having a wife that had a child already with another man." Carlisle explained. Jasper immediately felt a growl threatening to come out of chest at the sound of a man showing disrespect for his wife. "There's actually photos of Christie's diary, explaining about what was happening. It says here that she was happy about the divorce, and her and Junior were fine without him. She grew crops, sold them, and was doing fine."
   "The house I bought for us," Jasper recalled, "it had a field at the back so when -if- I came back, I would grow crops for us and sell it to the markets. It seems she did that already." Jasper chuckled. He stared at the photo more on Christie. "She was an independent woman." he murmured. "I knew that even if I was gone, she would still be able to look after herself. She didn't need a man."
   "So what happened after that?" Rosalie asked Carlisle.
   "Junior grew up, and started working on the field instead of Christie, who was falling ill from a disease. When Junior was eighteen Christie -" Carlisle broke it off and stared down at the papers in his hands in horror. Everyone grew tense.
   "Carlisle?" Esme called to him concerned. Edward gasped from beside Carlisle, his eyes widening in a similar way like Carlisle's was.
   "What. What is it?" Jasper asked urgently. "Is it Christie?"
   "When Junior was eighteen," Edward said quietly, staring at Jasper sadly, "Christie was brutally murdered from what it seemed to be a wolf." Everyone gasped at the news. Jasper sat back on his seat in shock. Christie died. She got murdered. She died and he was not there to protect her. . .
   "From what it says here, it seems more likely she was attacked by a vampire." Carlisle added quietly. "Her throat was ripped out, blood drained from her."
   "Maria!" Jasper realised with a moan of pain, burying his head in his hands. Alice patted his back in comfort from beside him. Jasper remembered about how in the newborn years, Jasper would occasionally talk about Christie, describing her physical characteristics - thus, leading Maria to her to kill. . .
   "I murdered my own wife!" Jasper wailed. "I killed her by mentioning her to Maria!" Maria had said Christie died from an accident when really, Maria killed her herself.
   "Don't think that way." Esme cooed, going over to his side and bringing him into a hug. "It's not your fault."
   "Junior. . ." Jasper murmured. He stared at Carlisle with a desperate look on his face. "What happened to Junior? Please tell me he was okay."
   "He was." Carlisle said. Jasper sighed in relief, though still overcome with grief. "He mourned, but he slowly moved on and got himself a wife a couple years later. His wife giving birth to a daughter." Carlisle handed him a sheet of the family tree. "This is your family tree from Junior and Christie."
   Jasper took the paper with shaky hands and read through it. To say, everything was okay; there were no signs of anything bad going on in his family tree. Jasper stared sadly at the top of the page that held his and Christie's name, that then pointed down to Junior. Jasper looked to the bottom and saw the new girl from school's name.
   "Christie Belle Whitlock." Jasper mumbled. He turned to Carlisle. "When I saw the new girl, Christie Belle, I immediately felt something inside me react to her. Like. . .a pull, a need to look after her - her scent also! It didn't make me want to eat her. . ."
   Edward gave Alice a pointed look, Jasper immediately noticing. "What?" Jasper asked her.
   "I saw a vision of you and her being together." Alice said, a bright smile on her face. "Think about it, Jazz! This might be your second chance to be with her! Fate has given you a chance for love again!"
   "Really?" Jasper whispered, hope in his voice.
   "She might as well be the Christie you knew back then." Edward spoke up. "I read her mind earlier; she's been witnessing old memories - memories of your wife's. When she saw you she immediately knew you were familiar."
   "So. . .what do I do?" Jasper asked them.
   "Talk to her tomorrow." Rosalie spoke up from her spot, having been quiet most of the time in the meeting with Emmett. "Talk to her, and be with her. You deserve this."

***

They arrived at the school early as usual, and were relaxing near their cars. Jasper subtly looked around for Christie, wanting to see her again.
   Just then, an old red Chevy rolled into the school, two people inside it. "That's Christie and the other new girl, Bella." Alice said from next to him. "They've been quite good friends since they are both new - and the fact that they are now neighbours."
   They watched as they got out of the truck, laughing about something. It was as if something told her to look behind her, she looked behind and saw Jasper already staring at her. Her eyes widened in shock, along with his. Then shyly, he gave her a small smile and a meek wave. A grin soon crawled up her face, and she gave a small wave just as shy. Alice quietly squealed from beside Jasper.
   "I can see it!" she sang out. "I can see you and her together more clearly."
   Jasper smiled at what she said and turned back to the two new girls, watching as they walked into the school arm in arm.
   Maybe, just maybe, Jasper will finally find peace in his immortal life with this Christie Belle. He's getting a second chance in life with his one true love - and Jasper was determined to not muck it up.

But first, Jasper needed to find Maria to have a small, 'chat'. And when he means 'chat', he actually means killing her in vengeance for his human wife.

Good times. . .

The End