Writer in the Dark - J. HALE

7 - ᴄʀɪᴍᴇ

A DAY AFTER the accident, most of the worry about the Bella situation dissipated as Edward swore that she hadn't figured out a thing about them. He received an earful from Rosalie, rightfully so as his actions were bordering on insanity. One single move could have broken down a centuries-old secret that would have them all slaughtered by the Volturi. Alice had promised everyone that it would be okay eventually but everyone knew that would only occur if they kept on the same path. With Edward around and acting all lovesick with Bella, they all knew that it would not be likely.

Athena had just walked into the Cullen home as she came back from a walk with Rosalie. They had talked mostly about their vampire revenge killing sprees, bonding over a mutual experience for the both of them. Rose had thematically killed the people who started the end of her immortality and Athena had killed the same sort of disgusting mortals, knowing the world was better off without them. She strolled up the stairs, looking for Alice when she found something much more interesting. Jasper Hale's bedroom door had been propped open for the first time, normally it always remained closed. Athena couldn't stop her curiosity as she slowly walked towards the door, lingering outside to peek in through the gap. "You can come in, Athena," Jasper said softly, soothing the feeling of awkwardness away before she could fully process it. She exhaled sharply, looking down to the ground as if she had blushed fiercely. It certainly felt like she had.

She slowly opened the door and awkwardly smiled at Jasper - who sat in one of the only chairs in the room with a book in his hand. She didn't focus on the book, instead, let her eyes wander around the room. His room had a similar layout to Edwards: huge floor to ceiling windows on one side, the only wall covered in shelving units that housed hundreds of cases of movies, in the corner of the room - besides a medium-sized wall mounted tv- a hat rack hung up a few jackets that she recognised along with a black cowboy hat. He watched her as she slowly moved around the room, taking in every picture frame and the paintings that lay inside them.

"You were a cowboy, I take it?" she asked, setting the black hat on top of her head. He chuckled softly, slowly moving the novel to hide behind one of the pillows on the chair. Alice just happened to have left a copy of one of her books on top of her dresser.

"Youngest major in the Texas cavalry," he smiled, watching as she read every single movie title, pulling some of the ones that sounded intriguing out to see the cover. They were mostly western, a few odd ones thrown into the mix. "Lied about my age and was tall enough to pass."

"You lied? Shocker," she replied, exhaling softly in laughter. "So you were an officer?"

"Major Jasper Whitlock of 1863 and without seeing any real battle," he smiled as she took a seat next to him. Jasper contemplated finishing the story, telling her everything about his human life and how it ended. It didn't feel as daunting as it had when he told Alice, he wanted her to know. Desperately wanted her to know. So, he continued. "Until I met Maria."

She raised a brow, turning towards him. "Maria?"

"I was riding back to Galveston after being charged with evacuating women and children. When I saw them and, assuming they were stragglers, I immediately offered them my aid. Something inside of me sensed something was wrong because they looked otherworldly but I pushed those thoughts aside and went to help. Only when I got off my horse and walked towards them," he paused, sensing her shift of emotion. He hadn't realised the strain that had been brought to his voice. Athena smiled softly, hoping to make him feel more comfortable as she reached out a hand to place it on top of his. He glanced down at their hands and bit back a smile, wanting to continue. "She turned me so she could create an army. There were constant brutal battles for territory in the south and Maria won 'em all," he paused, swallowing deeply. "I was her second in command, my ability to control emotions served her well. I trained her newborns, an endless occupation since she never let them live beyond their first year. I could feel everything they felt as I disposed of them and I thought what Maria and I had was love. But I was her puppet, she pulled the strings. Alice and Luna taught me there was another way and then we found the Cullens - who to my surprise, accepted me."

"Why wouldn't they have accepted you," she asked softly, a frown of bewilderment causing creases in the corner of her eyes. Jasper only had to look down to his covered arms for her frown to relax. She glanced over the silvery half-moons that littered his arms and neck, it all made sense to her now. Battle scars.

"I thought they would have sent you away too," he spoke softly, catching her gaze as she looked back up.

"Jasper, I hate to break it to you but you're not getting rid of me," she replied softly, letting out a chuckle that soothed away most of the nervousness that swam through his thoughts. "So Major Jasper Whitlock was your human identity?"

He hummed, liking how his name sounded when it came from her lips. He hadn't heard it in too many years to count. "Yes ma'am," he replied with a smirk that had her chuckling once again. "What was yours?"

She sighed, "Athena Bell, it's the only thing I do remember about my human life."

He raised a brow, "You remember nothing?"

"Not a single memory. To me, I just knew I was eighteen and was born in a dark alley in between two cottages of a village with an aching in my throat. I didn't know which one I lived in or if I lived in any of them. I wanted to find someone I knew so I walked around for a while but every face was unrecognizable. Then the hunger got to be too much so I stopped looking," she explained with a frown, taking away her usual smile. Jasper soon soothed away some of the sadness which had been brought up, causing the smallest of smiles to tug at her lips once more. She hadn't told anyone that before, not even Billy Black. "Do you want to go watch a movie? They've got some good ones on in the theatre," she asked, snapping out of the emotional daze that the conversation had caused.

Jasper raised a brow at her sudden change in demeanour. "It's raining and it's night, so it's closed."

"So?" she replied, gazing out into the night. The view from his room was perfect. It left just enough room to see the stars that lined the tops of the trees and yet gave such a glance into the forest that she could stare out of it for days - just watching the wildlife between the trees. "You're acting as  you've never broken in somewhere."

Silence followed so Athena turned away from the forest, looking back to him as he replied, "I haven't."

"Not even a random museum with cowboy stuff in it?" she wondered, eyes wide in shock. She thought breaking into places was a part of anyone's afterlife. Hearing this had her bewildered, to say the least.

He chuckled, "No Athena, I haven't broken into a museum to see cowboy stuff."

"All the more reason to break into the cinema then," she grinned, hopping off the seat in excitement.

"That's illegal."

"Only if they have proof of the crime," she smirked, setting his hat back on the hat rack. "Come on please?" She frowned as he did not move a muscle, still just looking over at her. "Jazzzz-"

He raised an eyebrow at the nickname, fighting to keep his lips in a line. "Alright alright, if it will make you stop whining," he replied, standing from the seat. Overwhelming happiness surrounded the room as she grinned, heading out of the closed door.

"Shall we ask Alice and Luna if they want to come too?"

"If that would make you happy," he shrugged, watching as the smile on her face grew. Athena quickly walked to go and ask the both of them, knowing that they had probably already heard the conversation as it was outside of his rooms. Every room in the Cullen house had been soundproofed to Vampire hearing standards, for privacy. Unsurprisingly, the two agreed so they all headed to the closed theatre. Athena was the one to trigger the alarm, shutting it off as soon as it began to ring. She cut the camera in the showing room and the main entrance, so no evidence of them ever being there would be left behind. With a smile on her face, she ran back to the entrance, swinging the doors open for the other three.

They soon settled into the theatre, sitting in four seats at the back of the room. They all collectively decided on a film to watch and Athena put it on to play, returning to her seat next to Jasper just as it began. Three of them watched the movie intently, hanging onto every single word whilst another was far too distracted to focus. Especially when she would lean over, whispering random little comments about the movie to the others.