37 | ANGEL |

"—A PASSERBY WOULDN'T HAVE LEFT BELLA'S FATHER ALIVE."

Aurora trailed behind Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper as they entered the Cullen household where the others were gathered in the living room. They had spent the last thirty minutes trying to follow the scent of the stranger to no avail. Aurora wasn't very experienced with tracking, the skill being deemed unnecessary to the Volturi with Demetri on the guard, but she managed well enough. To her relief, she didn't recognize the scent anyways.

Jasper's voice took a strain of authority as he entered first, "His scent disappeared about five miles south of Bella's house."

The newborn slinked towards the back of the room, where she could observe the entire family easily whilst keeping her distance from Bella Swan, who sat next to Alice on the couch. Her blood was entirely too tempting despite having fed earlier on the elk.

"Someone's orchestrating this," Carlisle said, his hands in his pockets. The doctor's mind raced with the possibilities of the intruder's identity. Beside him Esme stood worriedly with her arms crossed, her expression of relief clear at the sight of the four vampires returning unharmed, yet still concerned for the issue at hand.

"Victoria?" Bella suggested.

Fire. Smoke. Crimson.

Edward's sharp gaze darted to the newborn. "You remember her, Rory?" He usually tried to steer clear of Rory's thoughts since they were mostly about her thirst and confusion. Aurora made a side note to stop Edward from reading her mind as soon as possible.

Aurora felt almost nauseated, her head spinning. The name was familiar, Rosalie had mentioned the names of the nomads, but something about the topic made her mind itch. Like there was more to the story. She shook the fog away.

Everyone's eyes were on her. Oops. They all still thought Rory knew nothing.

Jasper tried not to look overly hopeful.

Aurora glanced at Rosalie. "I've been told the gist of...everything that happened to me in regard to your family." She avoided their heavy stares. It was definitely not the time to go into it.

Alice blinked and looked away, her voice frustrated as she shook her head. "It's not her. I would've seen her deciding."

Edward's frown deepened. "It has to be the Volturi," he said forlornly.

They all glanced at the newborn who had until recently been apart of the very coven.

"Not possible," Aurora interjected again as the attention fell on her. "I didn't recognize the scent. Unless they recruited a member in the last few days and trusted that person enough to send them here alone, which is not likely, I don't think it was them." Her reasoning seemed to appease everyone.

"I don't think it's the Volturi either," Alice agreed, "I've been watching Aro's decisions, too."

Aurora glanced away. She was careful not to let any thoughts slip, forcing herself to think about something else. She looked over at the wavy haired blond who had been nonchalantly glancing at her every few minutes.

Despite the ongoing drama, Jasper couldn't help but be distracted by Rory. She was always a distraction—the world melted away when he laid his eyes on her. And now that she was so near yet so far, he was afraid if he missed one second of her presence, she would disappear.

She was so different now yet the same girl he would always love. He could read her emotions now that she was a vampire and they poured out from her like a turbulent storm; anger and hunger and immense confusion. He sent waves of calm her way. Once her shoulders relaxed slightly, Jasper focused back on the conversation.

"So we keep looking," Emmett declared.

Carlisle nodded, "We also take shifts, guarding Bella at her house."

Rosalie's eyes flashed. "Another protection detail?"

"Rosalie."

Bella shook her head, "No, she's right. You can't protect me, watch my dad...and search for the intruder. And for Victoria. And keep yourselves fed." The human ran her eyes around the room full of vampires.

"I'm not leaving you here defenseless," Edward shook his head adamantly.

"Well, I'm not gonna let you starve. And I wouldn't be unprotected, I have..." she trailed off as Edward's stone face hardened in bitterness.

Aurora noticed the family's shared disposition, all pinched looks and pursed lips. Edward looked like someone shit in his cereal. They all clearly knew exactly what protection Bella was talking about.

"What is it? Amnesic vampire over here, someone fill me in please?" Maybe Bella knew vampire hunters or something. That'd be interesting.

Jasper answered her swiftly, his gold eyes set onto her crimson ones. "Bella means to ask the pack for protection—the werewolf pack."

Aurora's jaw dropped. "Werewolves are real too? No one tells me anything, I swear!"

➖

Days turned into weeks.

The house and empty forests were rather lonely with everyone on different shifts between guarding Bella's house, hunting, tracking, and keeping up the Cullen's human appearances. It was too risky for Aurora to go into town or tag along people's shifts which meant all she could do was read, hunt (she didn't mind mountain lion and elk anymore), and try to stalk the Cullens.

She didn't know why the Volturi had thought sending her on this mission would be a good idea—well now she knew at least it wasn't Aro's decision. It was probably Jane's suggestion if Aurora really thought about it. It would make sense that the three masters weren't as in charge of the mission as they had made it seem in the throne room, why Jane, Alec and the others would be on their own mission in Seattle.

Regardless, Aurora really didn't see the point in continuing the mission; she knew Bella was to be turned after she graduated in a week and the whole werewolf matter wasn't enough to prosecute them for. The pack clearly despised the Cullens which meant they definitely weren't using the werewolves for illegal activities or the like. In the two weeks Aurora had lived with the Cullens, she gathered nothing to bring before the Volturi as evidence to sign their death warrants. The Cullens were good, innocent vampires—Rory was nothing close to it.

She was returning from hunting, relishing in the hum of her freshly blood-filled body and the sensual overload that came with it, when she caught a familiar vampire scent. Jasper. It was fresh, but she didn't see him anywhere near. Aurora closed her eyes and focused, inhaling deeply and allowing her body to follow the scent of cinnamon, leather, and juniper through the emerald forests surrounding Forks.

She didn't know why she was doing this. Actually—what if Jasper was hiding a Cullen family secret? Following him meant she was doing her job anyways, observing suspicious activities of the coven. This was definitely suspicious.

She found herself high up the mountain minutes later, her body on automatic pilot following Jasper's scent. She paused as she peeked at him through the trees—he hadn't noticed her yet, he was sitting crisscrossed with his back facing her completely oblivious to his surroundings.

Aurora felt odd as she watched Jasper Hale. His chin length golden waves rustled slightly with the wind, his white skin glittered like diamonds, his broad lean shoulders relaxed in his grey henley as he balanced himself with his elbows on his knees. Something about the stoic blond in his own element tugged at some part of her she couldn't remember.

She silently stepped out of the thick brush of trees and onto the ridge overlooking the emerald woods. Up here, the constant cloud bank disappeared and for the first time in forever, Aurora was blessed by the sun. A feeling she hadn't felt in months warmed her body and soul as the shining, unhiding sun beams bounced off her porcelain skin.

All along the edge of the mountain ledge and especially planted around the white marble slab were the cute bushes that were the source of the scent that belonged to Jasper.

"Juniper bushes," she blurted out accidentally, immediately startling the peaceful blond.

"—fuck!" Jasper whipped around in a blur of a movement, moving from sitting to standing in front of her in a fraction of a second. He gaped as his defensive gaze laid on her. "Rory?!"

She took an awkward half step back and grimaced a smile. "...hey."

"Did you...follow me?" Jasper asked confusedly, his southern twang emphasizing his question. His mouth quirked up slightly on one side.

Aurora's unusual terra-cotta colored eyes widened in embarrassment. "No—okay maybe," she admitted begrudgingly, avoiding his amused stare, "On accident. Actually...on purpose. I was curious." She inwardly cringed at herself. What was she even doing? He wasn't doing anything up here besides relax and she was disturbing his peace. She should leave. Definitely. Yup. But the way he looked at her...

Jasper chuckled, his eyes crinkling in amusement. "You're always curious." His grin stretched handsomely across his face.

"Right. Well," Aurora exhaled awkwardly as she looked around the pretty scenery around them. She bit her lip and halfway turned around, "I'll just leave then."

"No, wait—" Jasper's hand shot out quicker than either of them expected, his large hand wrapping around her wrist. Aurora looked up at him, she hadn't noticed how close they had been standing in front of each other.

He cleared his throat unnecessarily. "You should be here. Stay, I mean." He ran his hand through his waves, tousling it messily and stepped aside.

Aurora felt an itch to fix the disastrous array.

She raised her brow instead. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jasper glanced behind him. "This place is, uh, kind of special. We used to come up here a lot back then." Back when we were in love with each other.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"It's peaceful. Nice view." Aurora stepped around him, her eyes roving around the space. "It's not cloudy up here for once. I can see why we would have enjoyed being up here."

She felt his laser eyes baring in on her again. She looked towards Jasper with a frown. "Why are you staring at me like that? Is there blood on my face again?" She swiped at the corner of her mouth worriedly.

His lips curled into a smile as he shook his head. "No...it's just...I've never seen your skin in the sunlight." Jasper ran his eyes over her with awe like she was the entrancing view and not the nature around them.

"My skin—oh yeah. I sparkle now and shit." She smiled at the way the sun danced on her skin, glittering and fracturing beautifully. It was weird but one of the coolest things about immortality.

He stared at her like she was the most interesting person in the world. It was so unnerving, she looked elsewhere to distract her discomfort and felt her unbeating heart drop.

She walked closer to the part of the ridge he was previously sitting in front of. Her eyes caught the slab of pure white, contrasting heavily with the vivid greenery and flowers surrounding it. The ridge was immaculately kept, carefully cared after by the man who was currently watching her explore the area. "So when did you do all this?"

He watched her carefully, as if he expected her to bolt away any second like a scared animal. His gaze landed on the slab briefly, softening, before returning to her. "After we came back from Volterra, I had a lot of time on my hands. I needed to do this. I don't think I could've done anything else without losing my mind. Alice and Esme helped."

She nodded as he stood next to her now. They both stared at the marble headstone, engraved with angels and roses. Aurora knelt in front of it solemnly. She knew what it meant, from what Rosalie had told her about her human life. She had a miscarriage. The Cullens left. She went to Italy.

It was all history now.

It was hard to imagine her being a human. To imagine an alternate universe where she was a mother. Of being so in love that life would have been created with someone who's not alive. But now she was dead too. And that imaginary world was far from her reality. Her pale fingers traced the gold lettering.

Forever Loved

Baby Hale

"Evangeline," she said suddenly.

Jasper's brows knitted together, "Hm?"

He had been thinking about how his life could have turned out differently if he had never left her. Of how they wouldn't be in front of the gravestone of their unborn child. Of how Rory would remember him. Of how they would be together still.

Aurora squeezed her eyes shut as if it could help the sudden pang of loss she now felt seeing the gravestone of her dead baby. She didn't expect to feel so much. To not remember it yet knowing she had loved the baby more than anything in the world.

She looked up at the man who continued to love her when she was involved in a mission to take down his family. Her family. She could admit that now.

"If she had lived, her name would have been Evangeline," Aurora explained with a small conciliatory look. There was nothing to be angry about, all that was left to do was accept things for how they were and not wish for things to be different. There were no point dwelling on the ifs when there was a now to live in.

"A girl?" Jasper crouched beside her, giving up on trying to look the part of the strong stoic vampire. Rory had that type of effect on him.

"Maybe. It would have had to been one or the other." Her lips curved into a melancholic smile.

"Of course. Evangeline Aden Hale. It's beautiful." Jasper tilted his head then shrugged lightly. "Obviously it would have to be Phillip for a boy then." He expected her laughter, but was left feeling like an idiot when he was met with confusion instead.

"Huh?" She had the feeling he was making another reference to an inside joke she should know.

"Never mind," he shook his head, staring hard at the ground, "I'm sorry."

Aurora sighed deeply, tucking a wave behind her ear as she turned her head to face at him fully. "Jasper, you don't need to apologize every five seconds. Seriously. It's okay. Nothing will change the past, no matter how hard you try or apologize for it. It's not just you—for the past four months since I woke up in that tower with a human left for me to take his life and no memories, I've been wishing to at least remember what happened to me. But I can't. Not be told about something I used to do or things I did, but to just...know. But I can't and probably never will. And it's okay. I'm alive—or the closest thing to it—and there's forever out there for me to make more memories."

Silence followed her words, not awkward or uncomfortable, but a quiet understanding.

"Can I ask you something?" Jasper asked after a few minutes.

"Not like I can stop you," she snorted and folded her arms over her knees.

"I mean you technically could. Mind control and all that," he pointed out with a slightly teasing tone to help lift the mood. "Could tell me to jump off the edge right now and I wouldn't blink an eye."

She gaped at him. None of the others really brought up her ability. She liked how normal it made her feel. "It's not mind control—I'm just—okay yeah, it is mind control," she admitted with a bite of her bottom lip. "And I'm not going to do that to you. But what did you want to ask?"

"Why did you come here?" He asked bluntly. She blinked at the abrupt question which he paused to explain at. "Not that my family and I aren't happy that you are here...but are you?"

"Happy?" she clarified with a considerable raise of her brow. He nodded and she shrugged, "Where else would I have gone? After I...parted ways with the Volturi, all I wanted to do was figure out who I am, why I was in Italy in the first place. The only place I could go was here. Where it all began."

He lifted his chin. "Where it all began indeed."

Aurora glanced at the Rolex watch on his wrist. "Hey, isn't your shift at Bella's beginning soon?"

Jasper glanced at it and got to his feet in a blink of an eye. "I'll take you back first." He offered his hand to help her up.

She bit back a smile and stood on her own. "I'm fully capable of going back on my own, Jasper Hale."

His mouth curved upwards. "I know." As they made their way to the Cullen house, he spoke up again, "You know you didn't finish answering the other part of my question..."

Aurora looked up at him, he was staring at the ground in front of him trying to appear as nonchalant as possible despite his tensed jaw. She knew what he was asking. "I'm happy to be home, Jasper, trust me."

➖

"Seattle is in a state of terror...Police are baffled by the escalating murders and disappearances. Theories range from a vicious new gang to a wildly active serial killer... Reporting live, Dawn Chubai. CNN."

"—It's getting worse," Carlisle sighed as he clicked the remote, switching the tv off.

Just days before graduation, they were all gathered in the living room. Bella was coming over too, which meant everyone would be home for once. It was nice. Aurora sat on the couch beside Jasper and Alice as the latter was finishing up some graduation party planning.

"We're going to have to do something," the doctor continued as Bella and Edward walked in.

"It takes more than one of our kind to cause the damage they're reporting. Quite a few more," Jasper said, his forehead creased as his mind made the connections. "They're undisciplined, conspicuous..."

"Newborns," Edward declared, reading the blond's mind.

Aurora froze. She should have known. Alec, Jane, Demetri and Felix had been assigned to be in Seattle for an unspecified amount of time for an unspecified reason. She was glad she had cornered Edward a few days ago and stopped him from being able to read her thoughts, otherwise he'd know her worst secret by now. Alec and the others were in Seattle because of the newborn problem, but the question was—why haven't the done anything to stop it? Unless...

"In their first few months after the change," Edward explained the term to Bella, "That's when we're at our most uncontrollable, vicious, insane with thirst."

"Something to look forward to," Emmett added in with a playful grin.

"I'm perfectly normal," Aurora insisted with a huff.

"Psh, you were a Volturi guard on a tight leash. And you had no memories and could control people's minds. Normal newborns don't wear designer clothes or have their meals brought to them in fancy castles," Emmett guffawed loudly. "The rest of us are savages compared to you, princess."

Aurora rolled her eyes and focused back on the conversation.

"No one has trained these newborns, but this isn't random. Someone's creating an army," Jasper said stormily, his face hard as stone.

Aurora recognized something about his tone. She'd ask him about it later, on their daily gravestone visit where they spent hours talking about everything but the fact she didn't remember her past or that he was very much in love with her.

"Oh, now we're definitely going to Seattle!" Emmett barked out, getting riled up and excited for a promising fight. His bulky muscles bunched up in anticipation.

"No!" she couldn't help but interrupt.

This is exactly what the Volturi wanted. Aurora knew it now. This was all a set up; the Cullens weren't going to be punished for allowing Bella to know the secret—they were going to killed for getting away with it and it was all Aurora's fault.

She couldn't do anything to stop it. She was powerful, yes, but she was only a pawn in the game of the three kings. Even if she legitimately left the Volturi, it would only make things worse for everyone involved.

For the first time she could remember, she was completely terrified.

"Rory, you don't have to fight," Jasper looked at her softly. "Staying here would be safer, you could watch Bella," he suggested much to the chagrin of Edward who didn't quite like the idea of leaving Bella alone with a technical newborn who's only been on their "vegetarian" diet for three weeks. Even Rosalie snorted at the suggestion.

"It's not that," Aurora exhaled with a shake of her head. "But it's an entire army of newborn vampires. It's dangerous." Not to mention they would be walking right into the Volturi's trap.

Aurora wondered when she began to think of them as the Volturi and not her coven. She cared about Alec undeniably, but the others barely tolerated her or only viewed her as a weapon. It scared her how much she had grown to care about the Cullens despite being involved in the plot to take them down. She may not have any memories of them, but her connection to them was undeniable.

"And they've been created to fight someone," Jasper continued looking to the rest of the family. "Which means we cannot do nothing," he declared valiantly.

"We're the only coven even close to Seattle," Esme said with a frown.

"Regardless, of who are they were may, if we don't put a stop to them, the Volturi will," Carlisle said finally. "I'm surprised they've let it go on this long."

"Maybe they're behind it," Edward's eyes lit up at the idea, the possibility making the most sense to him. He paced the floor, "In Italy, I read Aro's mind. He wants me and Alice to join him. He knows we'd never choose him as long as our family is still alive. An army could solve that for him."

"A bold statement Eddie," Aurora said casually, her arm now relaxed against the back of the couch. She was grateful that Jasper had manipulated her anxious ridden mood without saying anything. She could think clearly now and keep herself from accidentally exposing what she truly knew.

"Well, you were part of the guard, what do you think they're doing then?" Rosalie asked with a raised brow.

Aurora pursed her lips tightly. "Before I left, the Volturi were busy dealing with some moronic vampire who joined a rock band. They have more on their hands than making sure some human girl is being changed or not—no offense Bella," The newborn glanced at the girl apologetically and Bella smiled. Aurora sighed, "Besides, they're probably already dealing with the Seattle issue as of this moment. Let them deal with it."

And they better deal with it soon or Alec was going to be in big trouble when she saw him next. At least she knew why no one else had checked up on her, they've probably been trying to find the source of the army and take it down completely.

With a burst of energy, Bella turned to Edward with wide eyes. "We can't wait a week for graduation; you need to change me now—"

Jasper winced and shook his head. "You'd be a liability as a newborn. Unable to control your instincts. An easy target."

Aurora met Bella's frustrated gaze. "I could help with the control aspect..."

The human girl smiled in relief, happy to have more support on her side. The others weren't too big on the idea, they all exchanged furtive glances at the possibility of Rory using her relatively mysterious ability to control a newborn Bella.

"Thanks, Rory," Carlisle acknowledged the offer, but clearly he wasn't a fan of the ethically ambiguous suggestion. He patted Bella's shoulder placatingly, "but Bella, there's also your father to consider. And your mother. How terrible would it be for them if you suddenly disappeared?

Aurora let out a bark of laughter that granted her strange looks. She shrugged under their stares. "The last thing anyone needs is another me."

➖

ok yall im so sorry for the lack of updates since july, ugh ive been so unexpectedly busy this summer and boy drama the usual lol but now that school is starting i have a better schedule to have time set aside for writing so ill hopefully be back to weekly updates, i really want to try to finish this story by the end of this year—there are only four more chapters of eclipse

what do yall think about this chapter?