headache / jasper hale

36 | the meadow

Thea

The forest was full of life today, all the little creatures enjoying the momentary dryness. Somehow, though, even with the birds chirping and cawing, the insects buzzing noisily around my head, and the occasional scurry of the field mice through the shrubs, the forest seemed creepier today.

Bella had drove me into the forest, almost too fast for her truck to handle. She was practically shoving a map and a compass into my hands the second my butt touched the seat. She decided that we would take her truck and she would drive. Why she wanted this is beyond me - I was only here to ensure her safety.

A small ache in my chest began to build once we exited the car. Seeing the meadow with Bella would emphasize the Cullens departure from Forks. And as much as I am okay with it, I'm not okay with it at all.

I may not miss or want anything to do with Jasper, I do miss Dawson and Alice. I miss them all except for Jasper and I'd give anything to speak with them. To hear how Dawson was doing or how his relationship with Alice was flourishing.

The sense of unease grew stronger the deeper I got into the trees. Breathing started to get more difficult—not because of exertion, but because I was having trouble with the stupid hole in my chest again. I kept my arms tight around my torso and tried to banish the ache from my thoughts. I almost turned around, but I couldn't abandon Bella.

The rhythm of my footsteps started to numb my mind and my pain as I trudged on. My breathing evened out eventually, and I was glad I hadn't quit. I was getting better at this bushwhacking thing; I could tell that Bella and I were moving faster.

I didn't realize quite how much more efficiently I was moving. I thought I'd covered maybe four miles, and I wasn't even starting to look around for it yet. And then, with an abruptness that disoriented me, I stepped through a low arch made by two vine maples—pushing past the chest-high ferns—into a clearing.

It was the same place that Bella had so often told me about, of that I was instantly sure. I'd never seen another clearing so symmetrical. It was as perfectly round as if someone had intentionally created the flawless circle, tearing out the trees but leaving no evidence of that violence in the waving grass. To the east, I could hear the stream bubbling quietly.

"Bella?" I whispered, unable to speak any louder. The meadow had a sense of peacefulness, one that I didn't want to break.

"Yeah?" She was a little ways behind me.

"Found it."

Bella slowly hurried to my side, her eyes scanning over the clearing in front of us. The disappointment in her eyes was nearly as instantaneous as the recognition. She sank down right where I was, kneeling there at the edge of the clearing, beginning to gasp.

I took a timid step forward, hearing the crunch of grass behind my shoes before walking a few feet away from my pained friend.

She needed to mourn, to mourn the loss of the first real love of her life. And that was something Bella needed to do privately - not with me standing over her shoulder.

She needed to be alone.

Bella wretched herself up into her feet minutes after I stepped away from her, a small gasp leaving her pale pink lips. I turn to see her eyes glued to something across the meadow. At precisely that moment, a figure stepped out from the trees to the north, some thirty paces away.