| ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀᴛʏ ꜰɪᴠᴇ |
Hazel stayed rooted to her spot at the edge of the clearing, leaning against a tree as she watched the area Christian had disappeared to minutes prior. She smiled to herself and let out a soft breath, glancing down at her hands. She could still feel a slight hum of energy coursing through her body.
The girl turned away from the trees and proceeded to where Alice, Jasper, Bella and Edward were. She kicked branches and stones as she went, still unable to come down from her excitement at what had occurred that day. Hazel looked up from the dirt for a moment and noticed Bela conversing with Jasper. Curious, she stepped closer to them, just enough to hear what was being spoken, but far enough she wasn't interrupting them if it was important or private.
"Their hunting insting will take over and drive them crazy." Jasper spoke, his gaze locked on a particularly disappointed looking Bella.
Oh. What a lovely topic of conversation.
"Good. I'm glad," Bella murmured.
What?
Jasper nodded with a smile and turned away, but Bella called him back. "Hey. How do you know so much about this?" The brunette inquired.
Even from her distance, Hazel could notice the slight hesitation Jasper made before he answered Bella. Hazel frowned at him.
"I didn't have quite the same upbringing as my adopted siblings," Jasper admitted.
The blond promptly removed his jacket, displaying his pale arms to Bella. Hazel already knew about the scars of old bite marks that littered his skin, though she'd never asked him about them. She watched Bella gaze at them, sliding from the hood of the Jeep to get a closer inspection.
"Those bites are like mine," she gawked.
"Battle scars," Jasper replied. His face fell as he looked down at his arms. "All the training the Confederate Army—" Hazel recoiled at the name, but quietly thanked Jasper for knowing better "—gave me was useless against the newborns. Still, I never lost a fight."
Then they moved away, and Hazel huffed, still wanting to eavesdrop. She moved, then noticed Alice near the place Bella and Jasper were walking toward, watching two butterflies amongst the flowers. Hazel hastily made her way over to the vampire, keeping her ear out for what Bella and Jasper were saying as she walked.
"This happened during the Civil War?" Bela prompted again, looking at him in disbelief.
As much I want to say to let him be, Bells, I'm too nosy, Hazel sighed internally.
"I was the youngest major in the Texas cavalry, all without having seen any real battle," Jasper replied, sounding as if even after all those years, he still didn't believe it.
"Until?"
Jasper hesitated again. "Til I met a certain immortal." He turned his face away from Bella, his expression going cold. "Maria."
Hazel frowned at him. She could feel the air shift, though she was sure she was the only one. She dreaded to know why.
Jasper's voice snapped her out of her dreadful daze. "I was riding back to Galveston after evacuating a column of women and children when I saw them." Hazel swallowed and turned her away from Jasper and Bella.
Finally reaching Alice, Hazel pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. Alice smiled softly but didn't look away from the insects, looking utterly enamoured with how they played between the plants. Watching her, Hazel almost smiled.
"I immediately offered them my aid," Jasper continued.
He stopped there, his expression flickering with hurt. Bella sat down on a fallen log behind her and watched him.
"Maria was creating an army?" Bella asked hesitantly.
"They were very common in the South," Jasper answered with a confirming nod. "There were constant brutal battles for territory. Maria won them all." Jasper turned his head, and Hazel noticed the glossy look over his eyes and the way his following words seemed cracked as he spoke them. "She was smart, careful, and she had me. I was sher second in command."
Hazel felt the girl beside her shift, and her green eyes glanced over. Alice seemed to be listening to Jasper as well, as the soft frown on her face revealed. Hazel wanted to touch her hand to comfort her but felt it wasn't the time to do so.
"My ability to control emotions served her well," Jasper continued. "I trained her newborns; an endless occupation as she never let them live beyond their first year. It was my job to dispose of them." He sounded disgusted with the words he uttered. His firm resolve cracked as guilt covered his face. "I could feel everything they felt."
There was something in the air only Hazel could feel. Something apologetic, sorrowful and forgiving drifting near Jasper.
"I thought what Maria and I had was love. But I was her puppet. She pulled the strings. I didn't know there was another way," Jasper added, face changing from a sombre frown to a soft, happier smile, and his tears seemed to shift to have a grateful meaning "til I found Alice." He chuckled quietly. "Now, she'd seen me coming, of course."
"You kept me waiting long enough." Hazel blinked, surprised by Alice's sudden appearance by Jasper's side. The blond let out a breath of laughter.
"My apologies, ma'am," Jasper smiled, taking Alice's hand in his as he gazed down at her. "I don't know what I'd have become without her."
Hazel almost audibly awwed at the couple. She moved closer to them, keeping a few metres distance, hugging herself as she watched her partners converse affectionately.
Alice shushed him gently, leaning closer. "You never have to be that again."
Hazel bit her lip, her heart almost bursting with adoration at the pair. They were too cute for her.
When Alice and Jasper leant closer and kissed, Hazel looked away, immediately feeling awkward if she watched them. She spotted Bella still sitting in front of them and immediately brought pity upon her. The curly-haired female walked around Alice and Jasper, motioning with her head for the painfully awkward to follow. Bella looked at Hazel with grateful eyes and stood from the log, moving with Hazel away from the couple.
"Did you know about it?" Bella inquired after a moment or two of silence. Hazel knew what she was referencing and shook her head. "Does it get... sad? Around Jasper? With everything that he's been through?"
Hazel hummed, pausing and turning her eyes to the leaves above them.
"It's sad around all of them. They've lost a lot. Friends, family... kids." Hazel turned her head to Bella, who watched her with a curious expression. "It feels invasive more than anything, that I see these past figures they've probably moved on from still mulling around, especially since they don't know they're there. And some are more prominent than others, and then there are some who are just whispers, like voices in the wind."
"Does everyone have someone like that around?" Bella inquired. hazel frowned, unsure what she meant. "Like, anyone, not vampire, or werewolf, but normal people. Like... um, even if they don't have a past like that?"
"Everyone does," Hazel nodded. "I don't know why, or if they mean to, but people usually have something trailing them."
"Oh," Bella spoke.
"I won't tell you, if that's what you're asking.I don't like to meddle with the affairs of the dead's own personal information and motivation if I can help it." Hazel hummed, looked past Bella's shoulder. "Unless they're mine."
"Yours?"
"Something for another time, Bella," Hazel smiled. She threw her arm around the pale girl's shoulders. "Right now, I just want something to eat."
✰ AUTHOR'S NOTE ✰
hello! i hope you're all doing well. i hope you're all keeping yourselves hydrated and fed. and I hope you're also getting enough sleep, unlike me. and a heads up! i plan to update Love Letters once a week if I can, usually today (Friday for me), or across the weekend.
has anything exciting happened to any of you recently? Or have you done something recently that made you happy? is there something you watched or read recently that you really like?
for me, two weeks ago I started year 12, so I only have another twelve months until i'm no longer in high school. but i'm planning to go to uni, so I'm not free from the education system just yet :/ I have, also, begun to get into gaming by returning to acnh, and I succumbed to the genshin impact fandom.
i'm sorry for being annoying and keeping you! anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. thank you for reading, and i'll see you all next time! bye! :)