All an Illusion

Another horrifying scream tore its way through Emma’s lips and she was awake.

Jade bit her lip, clenching and unclenching her fists. She watched as Emma threw the duvet from her bed, her hand flying to her chest as she took in her surroundings to remind herself she was. For a moment it looked like Emma was going to be okay again, but then she seemed to remember and the tears were coursing again down her reddened cheeks.

“Mum?” she called into the darkness of her bedroom like a five year old.

The harder side of jade was wondering how she could be such a big baby, that no amount of tears were going to bring her mother back and she was just wasting her time and her emotions. The more rational side of Jade, empathized, no felt pity for Emma. She couldn’t really pity the girl, or she would be pitying herself. Every wail, ever tear Emma cried, Jade was screaming too. She was right there with her, in her grief, crying out at the merciless world. Only Jade’s tears did not slide down her cheeks like Emma’s, her tears instead were burring themselves inside her. She had no family to comfort her and that was what she deserved. Unjust diseases and sickness had taken Jade’s mother from her, and in her anger and stupid thirst she had taken Emma’s mother from her.

If she could Jade would be right with Emma, holding her hand, telling her she was going to be okay. For once she would be in charge, act as an older sister, helping her through her grief, but instead Jade was reduced to the shadows, hiding in the darkness of Emma’s room, hating herself over and over again. She held her breath when the Grandmother entered the room. She had got used to Emma’s scent and could now trust in her newly acquired self control, but after what had happened with Melissa, she wasn’t taking any chances. She had expected or maybe hoped for some tough looking mean woman, but the Grandmother was quite the opposite. Instead she was short and rather frail looking. Her old fashioned white night dress hung lamely from her thin frame. She had a round tanned face that was deeply lined with many wrinkles, which Jade wickedly liked to think some had come from the finding out of the death of her daughter, and any discomfort to her, caused Jade to smile. She didn’t like her Grandmother’s long straight grey hair or her small beady brown eyes, and she hated the way Emma clung to her as if she were a nice warm cuddly Grandmother.

It was almost morning, and it had been a long night for both Emma and Jade. Emma had already woken five times from a repeating nightmare and each time her frail old Grandmother had hitched up her dress and slowly pick her way up the stairs to comfort her granddaughter. While Jade had spent nearly the whole night talking to Alice, then aimlessly wandering the streets while the new information raced through her and an idea slowly formed in her head. Before she left she had wanted to say one last good bye to Emma only to find her surprisingly fast asleep. Jade was already forgetting what it had been like to be human. Of course Emma would be asleep, only now Jade was tired of waiting. She was ready to silently step out of the room when she heard her fake name and instantly froze.

“Where’s Rachel,” Emma whispered into her Grandmother’s shoulder between sobs.

Jade saw hoe the Grandmother tensed at the name, her lips pressing into a hard line. “Sssh, try to go back to sleep darling,” she said drawing away from Emma and hastily trying to tuck her back under the duvet.

“No, I can’t Nana,” Emma frowned rubbing her temple. “Mother would have wanted me to make the guest welcome. I told her she could stay.”

The Grandmother’s eyebrow arched but the anxiety she felt did not come through in her voice, “I know baby, I’ll look after her. You just try and get some sleep, I’ll sort her out.” Emma’s hand tightened on her arm, forcing her to stay by her bed.

Jade looked away now finally able to leave once she was sure that Emma was fine. She had only known the girl for a couple hours and she was already thinking of her way too much, Jade had not meant to do that. She hoped by morning Emma would really forget her, and the uncanny look-a-like resemblance between them. Jade did not want to be remembered. Instead she tip toed through the house until she came to a room slightly a jar, a sofa bed opened out with the duvet askew across it. Bingo, it was the Grandmother’s room. In the corner was a small expensive looking lamp and a large suitcase still unopened resting beside it. But Jade didn’t want clothes and underwear. She reached for the handbag instead immediately rustling through the contents; lipstick, small pocket bible, make up…. and then a purse. It was covered in a lucid green, lizard skin and was very heavy for a normal purse. Hey eyes flicked over the money notes but settled on the ID. The name read another Melissa Stone, aged sixty-nine. Jade wondered why Emma’s mother had kept her maiden name when she married, when she already shared a first name with her mother.

“Having fun?” came a sharp voice and Jade pretended to jump, though she had very clearly heard the Grandmother’s light footsteps and heavy breathing, even her slightly labored heart beat reached Jade’s ears. Jade smiled sweetly slipping the purse back in the bag. She slowly turned fully around and took in the ghost lie appearance of the Grandmother in the doorway.

“I bet you wanted to find me like this,” she spat stepping closer, “I bet you’re really enjoying this. Huh, Rachel? Smart of you to use your mother’s middle name, you know you’re just like her. And if you think you can come here to torment my precious granddaughter, then…”

The Grandmother’s anger caught her off guard, “I haven’t come here to mess with anyone. Maybe I was just interested to meet my cousin? Nothing wrong with that, you saw how she wanted to know me, and she doesn’t even know we’re related! I don’t want to hurt Emma, you’re the reason I’ve come. I just wanted to see the face of the person who killed my mother. You’re the reason she’s dead, she needed your help as your daughter. How could you have kicked her out, left her penniless and alone?”

The Grandmother said nothing but moved to switch the light on, narrowing her eyes at Jade’s dark clothing, her long black hair, and what she thought were red eye contacts. Jade tried to stand proudly under her glare, show that she did not care what she thought of her, but it wasn’t that easy. Jade was surprised at how nice, innocent looking old lady could emanate such hatred. No one had ever looked at her like that. She scowled back just hating how her disapproving eyes swept over her.

“Your mother deserved everything she got. She hurt her dad so much when she announced she was pregnant. We hadn’t bought her up that way, she disobeyed us and her religion. We had to send her away. She was no longer part of our family, and I will not listen to some bastard child call me a murderer. Tell me ‘child’,” she fumed spit flying from her mouth as she ranted. Jade was shocked again at how old fashioned she was, it was going to take her a while to get that name out of her head, she could not even think about blaming her mother’s trails on herself, “tell me child, exactly how poor Emma’s mother died?”

Jade stepped back, cursing herself for turning away. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Her Grandmother’s eyes shone madly at her. Without saying anything she had won, delivered the final blow, played her best card that had left Jade stunned and speechless. She couldn’t know Jade was a vampire, yet Jade knew that the Grandmother knew she had had something to do with her daughter’s death. There had been no forgiveness or regret in her Grandmother’s eyes, just a firmness and security that she had been right to disown her daughter. Jade didn’t look back at her Grandmother, but opened her window and climbed out to drop outside. She forgot how big the house was, that it was three floors tall not two, but she was only surprised not injured. Of course not, how many times was she going to remind herself of what she was? She turned back to the window and watched as her Grandmother’s thin arm reached outside and pulled the window shut. She didn’t even peer outside to see if Jade was okay. A human could have easily broken an ankle from the fall, and her Grandmother hadn’t even looked outside.

Jade considered whisking back inside to kill her, but for once the thought of blood made her sick. Plus there was still Emma sleeping soundlessly upstairs and when she had said that she hadn’t come to mess with Emma, she meant it. There was also the fact that the death of three family members in the space of a couple days would raise the heads of more than the small town police. Jade didn’t want to bring any more attention to herself or worry about some unsolvable police investigation now that she finally had her path set straight before her.

She pulled on the black long coat Alice had given her, smiling smugly at how perfectly it fit. The sun was just rising over Port Angeles, and the sunlight was going to be stronger than the few stray beams that made it through the rainy clouds of Forks. She needed to cover up. Jade was fed up, tired and exhausted. If she had been human she would have ended her poor excuse of an existence by now, but she wasn’t human. Alice had explained that there was still a way out. There was no more time for denial and thinking that her becoming a vampire had been all some pathetic illusion. She was a vampire, and becoming one had caused her to do the worst thing ever. Yes she had changed, grown up a little, realized that pushing everything and everyone away was maybe not the answer and that she did have a witch of Grandmother. Becoming a vampire had admittedly given her a new sense of clarity over her old life, all the injustices her Grandmother had pushed her and her mother into. Now she was only sad that there couldn’t be a do-over, that her new found strengths and power would be wasted. It was strange now that she had decided and was sure, how happy and content she felt. She felt like crying out, slipping back into the house and yelling in her Grandmother’s face, “I don’t care anymore!” Jade Stone had given up and was finally ready to die.

It was time for her to seek the Volturi.

*

Miles away in Volterra, Tuscany, Italy….
Alec was relentless; the annoying itch that had started way back with the Cullens would not die. He hated leaving things unsolved. He had to find out, he had to know if she had survived and became like him, a vampire. At least if she had the chances of what she would do next were slim. She would wake up thinking she had become a monster, and all alone with no help she had to come straight to the Volturi. Meanwhile that slim chance of hope gave Alec some comfort.