The Inauspicious Beginnings Of A Prince
by Laura Spudzmom
Chapter 02
I held my hands up. "I just gave you some medicine to make you sleep so we could bring you home."
"This is not my home!"
His crouch deepened such that his hands almost touched the floor and the expression on his face darkened.
"It is your home now son. We are your mother and father and we've been searching for you…"
He interrupted Esme.
"Yeah, I know. Since I was born. Well you're a little fucking late now. I don't need parents. I've made a home for myself in the woods. That's my home."
He surveyed the room.
"Where am I?" Then he shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I want the fuck out. Let me out!"
Esme gasped, at his choice of language I was sure.
I stepped forward a bit and he began his low growl again.
"Please calm yourself son. We will not hurt you. We love you."
"Love me? You don't even fucking know me! And I don't know you. I don't need to either. Just let me out! I want to go home!"
I looked at Es. She had silent tears running down her cheeks. I knew this wasn't going to be easy.
"I can't let you leave son. You belong with us. It may take some time for you to get used to us, but in time you will. We want to love you and have you finish growing up here with us, where you should have been since birth. Can't you give us a chance son? Let us show you what a family can be like? Let us provide for you?"
The look he gave me was fierce. "No! I don't need you! I don't fucking want you! Let me go, now! I can't feed in this place! There are no hunters here and none of you smell like food to me."
Esme began sobbing.
I wrapped an arm around her and whispered to her.
"Es, why don't you leave and take a break from this? This is sure to be a long and painful process."
She nodded and left the room closing the door and locking it.
My son was watching every move we made intently, still crouched in the corner. I could almost see the gears turning as he looked past me to the door; the only way out of the room.
I needed to get him talking about something besides leaving.
"I noticed while you were sleeping that you have an old gunshot wound."
He eyed me with suspicion.
"Yeah, so?"
"How did you get it? How did you recover?"
He didn't offer to move from his crouch.
"A fucking hunter shot me when I was drinking from his friend. I killed him for it and then slept for a couple of days while the wound healed."
His body hadn't moved a muscle while he answered. He was still poised to spring at any indication of aggression or any chance at freedom, I was sure.
"Why do you drink from hunters son? Why don't you drink from the animals in the forest?"
He was screwing up his face in distaste as I spoke.
"Their blood tastes like dirt and grass. Why would I drink that shit when there are plenty of hunters and hikers to drink from? Their blood is sweet."
"But they are human with lives and people at home who love them and miss them when they die. That's why you shouldn't kill them son."
He shrugged.
"Whether human or animal I have to kill to get blood and even the animals have mates and babies. What makes it okay to kill them and not the hunters and hikers?"
"Because the hunters and hikers, humans, have souls and are a higher being that simple animals."
He cocked his head at me.
"Who said they're higher? And what's a soul? They die just like the animals they kill. I see no difference, except they speak words."
I sighed. I was at a loss as to how to explain the concept of souls to someone who had such a primitive view of life in all it's forms.
The concept of souls was really based on religion and how do you explain religion, any religion, to an eight year old wild vampire boy that has never had exposure to such concepts? It was an impossible task.
Religion was based on believing something based on faith and faith was a concept that took the utmost trust to believe. Usually it was something ingrained in someone from birth. It was clear to me now just why that was.
Some things were simply impossible to believe without blind faith and someone who had relied solely on themselves for everything since birth was not inclined to believe me simply because I said it was so, especially concerning his meal of choice.
"A soul, son, is what lives inside us and makes us different from the animals. You've noticed that we can speak. Well our soul is what allows us to speak and be self aware. It makes us who we are and gives us a personality. Gives us the ability to laugh and cry, to be happy or sad or angry. That's what makes us different from the animals, and that's why you shouldn't kill humans."
He scoffed at me.
"I've seen angry animals and animals who play and are happy. They also speak to each other in their own way, just like we do."
He eyed me smugly.
I sighed, especially since I could now hear laughter coming from the upper levels of the house.
Yeah, he had me good and I and everyone in the house knew it.
"You are right of course son. And this is a conversation best left for when we can both devote the time to it."
He promptly resettled himself into his crouch that he had relaxed slightly during our discussion and I kicked my self mentally.
"We won't have time because I am leaving here and going home. Let me pass." He hissed out.
I took a step forward and he sprang and shot past me.
I grabbed for him and missed.
He got to the door and wrenched on the doorknob. The wood of the door and frame began to split. He was very strong and he was close to being out of this room.
I grabbed him around his waist and pulled him away from the door. He began to kick and claw wildly at me, reaching around and sinking his fangs into my bicep. I hissed in pain and called for Edward.
He and Emmett entered the room.
"Edward, I need you to get the injection that I have prepared in my bag."
He continued to struggle wildly and I almost lost my hold on him a couple of times. He still had his fangs buried deeply in my arm and was pumping burning venom into the bite for all he was worth. My arm would be on fire for quite a while after this.
Edward reentered the room with the bag.
"Here's the syringe Carlisle."
"You have to prepare the dose Edward."
He nodded, uncapped the needle and tapped the air out while pressing the plunger until he had fluid.
"Good, now since he's struggling so much, the hip is a safer site. I'll sit and put him over my lap while holding all his extremities, you inject the Ativan in his hip."
His growling and struggling picked up at that point and he managed to get out of my hold. He shot into the corner because Emmett had been guarding the door.
"Leave me alone! I don't want you people fucking touching me! Get away from me! LET ME GO!"
The more he shouted, the louder he got until he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Tears began to make their way down his cheeks and he was shaking.
The only way this could be worse is if Esme were to witness it.
As if that thought had summoned her, I saw her behind Emmett in the open doorway. She looked horrified.
I put both hands out, palms up.
"Please son, calm down. No one here wants to hurt you. Let's just talk son."
He scoffed. "Yeah right. You were gonna stick me with that shit like you did before! I'll die first! You'll have to fucking kill me because if you don't then I'm going to try my best to kill you first!"
He began to sway side to side in his crouch while growling.
I had no doubt he meant it.
I spoke to Edward in my mind.
"Edward son, we're both going to have to go at him from different sides and try to pin him that way. Once we do, I'll grab him and bare his hip while you inject him. We must be quick. He is fast and strong for such a little one."
He gave me a discreet nod and we moved in quickly.
I grabbed him and flipped him over my knee, baring his hip quickly. Edward was there instantly with the injection and it was over in two seconds at most.
My son was still struggling and reaching to bite anything he could. He managed to sink his fangs into my thigh muscle and instead of simply pumping venom, he tore his head away while still clamped down. Part of my leg came with it and I dropped my son in my pain.
He released what he had in his mouth and took off toward the door.
Emmett was so shocked, he was able to get by him and barreled right through Esme.
He made it down the hall and up the stairs with us right behind him, but the injection began to take effect and he stumbled before getting up and trying to make it to the back door in the kitchen. It was made of glass and he could see the treeline of the forest through it.
He didn't stop to open it. He crashed right through it and I could see blood instantly begin to run from multiple cuts from the glass.
He stumbled again worse this time and I grabbed him in a bridal hold against my chest.
He had put his arms up across his face to go through the door thank god, so his arms took the most abuse, but I could see that I would have to stop the bleeding soon.
Some of the cuts were very long and deep. He continued to try to struggle weakly and I pulled him close.
"Stop it son, now. You'll only hurt yourself worse."
"Let me go! I want to leave here! You can't make me stay! Let me go!"
His protests became weaker and weaker as the Ativan took effect.
His head began to loll on my arm but he didn't lose consciousness. The dose was such that he would be calmed by it but not asleep. I didn't see the point of keeping him unconscious all the time.
Esme watched on in stoic silence, tears still making their way down her cheeks.
I took him back to the basement bedroom and laid him out on the bed. I saw that Edward had laid out all that I may need to treat my son, and sent him a silent thanks. I began by cleansing all of the wounds and then began stitching the worst of them. I applied ointment to all of the cuts and bound both arms snugly in fresh gauze.
He was in and out of sleep the entire time, but was calm for the most part when he was awake. While in my bag, I prepared the next dose of Ativan and set it to the side. He would need it again in two hours or so. My plan now was to keep him mildly sedated until he got used to us and then wean him from it gradually. It seemed that I had no other choice if we wanted him here with us.
I shared this with Esme and she hung her head and nodded. "I understand Carlisle. I just wish it wasn't necessary."
I took her hand. "As do I Es, but you saw him. He was having no part of us. Can you sit with him while I go make arrangements for time off from the hospital? I'm going to need to be here for him."
She smiled. "Of course." She sat on the side of the bed and began to smooth back his hair that was wildly curling around his face.
I called in to the hospital and told them that I was going to need an indefinite hiatus due to family emergency.
Thanks to my previous record of reliability and the fact that they had just hired two new doctors, there wasn't a problem.
With that taken care of, I then made sure that my medical supply was well stocked and returned to his room to sit with Esme and our son.
He came around, but the only thing he could muster up was a dirty look and then he turned his head away from us. He flinched away from Esme when she tried to touch him.
She began to talk to him. "Did we ever tell you your name my son?" He laid there looking blankly at the wall, turned away from us. "It's Jasper, Jasper Carlisle Cullen. We knew you were a boy and named you before you were born. We loved you before you were born my son, and we still love you today." She reached out to touch him and he began growling, so she retreated.
He turned on his side away from us and curled up. I sighed. "Es, perhaps we should leave him alone for a while.
You can come back in a while and maybe read to him. Perhaps he would like that."
He looked over his shoulder at me. "I don't want any of you here. Stay away from me." He turned back toward the wall.
I took her hand and we exited the room, locking the door behind us. I hugged her to me and then she turned and made her way outside to the garden.
I sighed and went to my study. I wanted to see what child psychology books I had available and start reading up on the subject. I was going to need it.
After reading for an hour, I realized it was time to give him another injection.
I sighed and made my way to his room, hoping that I wasn't in for another fight.
As I opened the door, it was to the rude discovery that his metabolism must have burned through the med faster than an average child his age because he was ready for me, waiting by the door which he shot out of like a cannon as soon as I had it cracked open.
The impact threw me back and off balance so my reaction time was off. He had quite the head start consequently.
I shouted for Edward and the others and they came running. Unfortunately he was already past them.
"Edward you're the fastest. He got out. Catch up to him son before he disappears in the trees. Remember he has no scent."
We all took off. If he got away from us now I was sure that he would run fast and far in order to never be caught by us again.
I doubled back for the injection and pocketed it before taking off again. Just inside the treeline, my phone vibrated. It was Emmett. "Yes Em?"
"We've got him Carlisle, well Edward has him, pinned down to the ground right now but you had better get here soon. He's a strong little cuss and he's not giving up. He also bit Edward twice already." I was moving as he spoke and got to them in seconds.
"Hold him while I inject him. You are going to have to move to his left side a bit Edward so that I can reach his hip."
Jasper was screaming, growling, hissing and biting the whole time, viciously trying to free himself.
I got his hip free of his pants and injected the Ativan. Now it was just a wait. We didn't dare let him up until the med had a chance to work. Eventually his struggles ceased and Edward got up looking very bedraggled. He looked at me.
"My god he's strong Carlisle. It must be the human blood." I nodded and picked up my son.
"I hate to say this Carlisle, but until he's used to us, you may have to restrain him somehow."
I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I was hoping to do that with the sedative but it seems he burns through it much faster than a human. I just don't want to resort to physical restraints."
He nodded. "I understand, but it's either that, or run the risk of him escaping and having the Volturi potentially getting involved."
A chill made it's way down my spine. They would destroy him, without question.
I nodded. "Yes, I know. The rumors of something in that forest are already rampant, I'm aware. I just don't know how Esme will respond."
He glanced at me as we made our way back to the house. "She can understand the necessity, especially after this escape attempt of his. It's this or potential death."
Hearing this, my son began to weakly struggle in my arms. I held him close while shooting a warning look at Edward. "Shhh, my son. All is well. No one will hurt you."
We got back to the house and Esme was waiting on us. She gave me a stricken look and brushed her fingers through our sons hair. His eyes fluttered and he tried to focus. "Don't touch me." He muttered. She dropped her hand and I continued into the house.
I put him in his bed.
His eyes fluttered and he tried to focus on me.
"I hate you."
It was like a knife to the heart and I nodded.
"I know you do right now son, but someday maybe you won't. I'll be patient and wait for that someday, and until then I'll love enough for the both of us."
I held my hands up. "I just gave you some medicine to make you sleep so we could bring you home."
"This is not my home!"
His crouch deepened such that his hands almost touched the floor and the expression on his face darkened.
"It is your home now son. We are your mother and father and we've been searching for you…"
He interrupted Esme.
"Yeah, I know. Since I was born. Well you're a little fucking late now. I don't need parents. I've made a home for myself in the woods. That's my home."
He surveyed the room.
"Where am I?" Then he shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I want the fuck out. Let me out!"
Esme gasped, at his choice of language I was sure.
I stepped forward a bit and he began his low growl again.
"Please calm yourself son. We will not hurt you. We love you."
"Love me? You don't even fucking know me! And I don't know you. I don't need to either. Just let me out! I want to go home!"
I looked at Es. She had silent tears running down her cheeks. I knew this wasn't going to be easy.
"I can't let you leave son. You belong with us. It may take some time for you to get used to us, but in time you will. We want to love you and have you finish growing up here with us, where you should have been since birth. Can't you give us a chance son? Let us show you what a family can be like? Let us provide for you?"
The look he gave me was fierce. "No! I don't need you! I don't fucking want you! Let me go, now! I can't feed in this place! There are no hunters here and none of you smell like food to me."
Esme began sobbing.
I wrapped an arm around her and whispered to her.
"Es, why don't you leave and take a break from this? This is sure to be a long and painful process."
She nodded and left the room closing the door and locking it.
My son was watching every move we made intently, still crouched in the corner. I could almost see the gears turning as he looked past me to the door; the only way out of the room.
I needed to get him talking about something besides leaving.
"I noticed while you were sleeping that you have an old gunshot wound."
He eyed me with suspicion.
"Yeah, so?"
"How did you get it? How did you recover?"
He didn't offer to move from his crouch.
"A fucking hunter shot me when I was drinking from his friend. I killed him for it and then slept for a couple of days while the wound healed."
His body hadn't moved a muscle while he answered. He was still poised to spring at any indication of aggression or any chance at freedom, I was sure.
"Why do you drink from hunters son? Why don't you drink from the animals in the forest?"
He was screwing up his face in distaste as I spoke.
"Their blood tastes like dirt and grass. Why would I drink that shit when there are plenty of hunters and hikers to drink from? Their blood is sweet."
"But they are human with lives and people at home who love them and miss them when they die. That's why you shouldn't kill them son."
He shrugged.
"Whether human or animal I have to kill to get blood and even the animals have mates and babies. What makes it okay to kill them and not the hunters and hikers?"
"Because the hunters and hikers, humans, have souls and are a higher being that simple animals."
He cocked his head at me.
"Who said they're higher? And what's a soul? They die just like the animals they kill. I see no difference, except they speak words."
I sighed. I was at a loss as to how to explain the concept of souls to someone who had such a primitive view of life in all it's forms.
The concept of souls was really based on religion and how do you explain religion, any religion, to an eight year old wild vampire boy that has never had exposure to such concepts? It was an impossible task.
Religion was based on believing something based on faith and faith was a concept that took the utmost trust to believe. Usually it was something ingrained in someone from birth. It was clear to me now just why that was.
Some things were simply impossible to believe without blind faith and someone who had relied solely on themselves for everything since birth was not inclined to believe me simply because I said it was so, especially concerning his meal of choice.
"A soul, son, is what lives inside us and makes us different from the animals. You've noticed that we can speak. Well our soul is what allows us to speak and be self aware. It makes us who we are and gives us a personality. Gives us the ability to laugh and cry, to be happy or sad or angry. That's what makes us different from the animals, and that's why you shouldn't kill humans."
He scoffed at me.
"I've seen angry animals and animals who play and are happy. They also speak to each other in their own way, just like we do."
He eyed me smugly.
I sighed, especially since I could now hear laughter coming from the upper levels of the house.
Yeah, he had me good and I and everyone in the house knew it.
"You are right of course son. And this is a conversation best left for when we can both devote the time to it."
He promptly resettled himself into his crouch that he had relaxed slightly during our discussion and I kicked my self mentally.
"We won't have time because I am leaving here and going home. Let me pass." He hissed out.
I took a step forward and he sprang and shot past me.
I grabbed for him and missed.
He got to the door and wrenched on the doorknob. The wood of the door and frame began to split. He was very strong and he was close to being out of this room.
I grabbed him around his waist and pulled him away from the door. He began to kick and claw wildly at me, reaching around and sinking his fangs into my bicep. I hissed in pain and called for Edward.
He and Emmett entered the room.
"Edward, I need you to get the injection that I have prepared in my bag."
He continued to struggle wildly and I almost lost my hold on him a couple of times. He still had his fangs buried deeply in my arm and was pumping burning venom into the bite for all he was worth. My arm would be on fire for quite a while after this.
Edward reentered the room with the bag.
"Here's the syringe Carlisle."
"You have to prepare the dose Edward."
He nodded, uncapped the needle and tapped the air out while pressing the plunger until he had fluid.
"Good, now since he's struggling so much, the hip is a safer site. I'll sit and put him over my lap while holding all his extremities, you inject the Ativan in his hip."
His growling and struggling picked up at that point and he managed to get out of my hold. He shot into the corner because Emmett had been guarding the door.
"Leave me alone! I don't want you people fucking touching me! Get away from me! LET ME GO!"
The more he shouted, the louder he got until he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Tears began to make their way down his cheeks and he was shaking.
The only way this could be worse is if Esme were to witness it.
As if that thought had summoned her, I saw her behind Emmett in the open doorway. She looked horrified.
I put both hands out, palms up.
"Please son, calm down. No one here wants to hurt you. Let's just talk son."
He scoffed. "Yeah right. You were gonna stick me with that shit like you did before! I'll die first! You'll have to fucking kill me because if you don't then I'm going to try my best to kill you first!"
He began to sway side to side in his crouch while growling.
I had no doubt he meant it.
I spoke to Edward in my mind.
"Edward son, we're both going to have to go at him from different sides and try to pin him that way. Once we do, I'll grab him and bare his hip while you inject him. We must be quick. He is fast and strong for such a little one."
He gave me a discreet nod and we moved in quickly.
I grabbed him and flipped him over my knee, baring his hip quickly. Edward was there instantly with the injection and it was over in two seconds at most.
My son was still struggling and reaching to bite anything he could. He managed to sink his fangs into my thigh muscle and instead of simply pumping venom, he tore his head away while still clamped down. Part of my leg came with it and I dropped my son in my pain.
He released what he had in his mouth and took off toward the door.
Emmett was so shocked, he was able to get by him and barreled right through Esme.
He made it down the hall and up the stairs with us right behind him, but the injection began to take effect and he stumbled before getting up and trying to make it to the back door in the kitchen. It was made of glass and he could see the treeline of the forest through it.
He didn't stop to open it. He crashed right through it and I could see blood instantly begin to run from multiple cuts from the glass.
He stumbled again worse this time and I grabbed him in a bridal hold against my chest.
He had put his arms up across his face to go through the door thank god, so his arms took the most abuse, but I could see that I would have to stop the bleeding soon.
Some of the cuts were very long and deep. He continued to try to struggle weakly and I pulled him close.
"Stop it son, now. You'll only hurt yourself worse."
"Let me go! I want to leave here! You can't make me stay! Let me go!"
His protests became weaker and weaker as the Ativan took effect.
His head began to loll on my arm but he didn't lose consciousness. The dose was such that he would be calmed by it but not asleep. I didn't see the point of keeping him unconscious all the time.
Esme watched on in stoic silence, tears still making their way down her cheeks.
I took him back to the basement bedroom and laid him out on the bed. I saw that Edward had laid out all that I may need to treat my son, and sent him a silent thanks. I began by cleansing all of the wounds and then began stitching the worst of them. I applied ointment to all of the cuts and bound both arms snugly in fresh gauze.
He was in and out of sleep the entire time, but was calm for the most part when he was awake. While in my bag, I prepared the next dose of Ativan and set it to the side. He would need it again in two hours or so. My plan now was to keep him mildly sedated until he got used to us and then wean him from it gradually. It seemed that I had no other choice if we wanted him here with us.
I shared this with Esme and she hung her head and nodded. "I understand Carlisle. I just wish it wasn't necessary."
I took her hand. "As do I Es, but you saw him. He was having no part of us. Can you sit with him while I go make arrangements for time off from the hospital? I'm going to need to be here for him."
She smiled. "Of course." She sat on the side of the bed and began to smooth back his hair that was wildly curling around his face.
I called in to the hospital and told them that I was going to need an indefinite hiatus due to family emergency.
Thanks to my previous record of reliability and the fact that they had just hired two new doctors, there wasn't a problem.
With that taken care of, I then made sure that my medical supply was well stocked and returned to his room to sit with Esme and our son.
He came around, but the only thing he could muster up was a dirty look and then he turned his head away from us. He flinched away from Esme when she tried to touch him.
She began to talk to him. "Did we ever tell you your name my son?" He laid there looking blankly at the wall, turned away from us. "It's Jasper, Jasper Carlisle Cullen. We knew you were a boy and named you before you were born. We loved you before you were born my son, and we still love you today." She reached out to touch him and he began growling, so she retreated.
He turned on his side away from us and curled up. I sighed. "Es, perhaps we should leave him alone for a while.
You can come back in a while and maybe read to him. Perhaps he would like that."
He looked over his shoulder at me. "I don't want any of you here. Stay away from me." He turned back toward the wall.
I took her hand and we exited the room, locking the door behind us. I hugged her to me and then she turned and made her way outside to the garden.
I sighed and went to my study. I wanted to see what child psychology books I had available and start reading up on the subject. I was going to need it.
After reading for an hour, I realized it was time to give him another injection.
I sighed and made my way to his room, hoping that I wasn't in for another fight.
As I opened the door, it was to the rude discovery that his metabolism must have burned through the med faster than an average child his age because he was ready for me, waiting by the door which he shot out of like a cannon as soon as I had it cracked open.
The impact threw me back and off balance so my reaction time was off. He had quite the head start consequently.
I shouted for Edward and the others and they came running. Unfortunately he was already past them.
"Edward you're the fastest. He got out. Catch up to him son before he disappears in the trees. Remember he has no scent."
We all took off. If he got away from us now I was sure that he would run fast and far in order to never be caught by us again.
I doubled back for the injection and pocketed it before taking off again. Just inside the treeline, my phone vibrated. It was Emmett. "Yes Em?"
"We've got him Carlisle, well Edward has him, pinned down to the ground right now but you had better get here soon. He's a strong little cuss and he's not giving up. He also bit Edward twice already." I was moving as he spoke and got to them in seconds.
"Hold him while I inject him. You are going to have to move to his left side a bit Edward so that I can reach his hip."
Jasper was screaming, growling, hissing and biting the whole time, viciously trying to free himself.
I got his hip free of his pants and injected the Ativan. Now it was just a wait. We didn't dare let him up until the med had a chance to work. Eventually his struggles ceased and Edward got up looking very bedraggled. He looked at me.
"My god he's strong Carlisle. It must be the human blood." I nodded and picked up my son.
"I hate to say this Carlisle, but until he's used to us, you may have to restrain him somehow."
I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I was hoping to do that with the sedative but it seems he burns through it much faster than a human. I just don't want to resort to physical restraints."
He nodded. "I understand, but it's either that, or run the risk of him escaping and having the Volturi potentially getting involved."
A chill made it's way down my spine. They would destroy him, without question.
I nodded. "Yes, I know. The rumors of something in that forest are already rampant, I'm aware. I just don't know how Esme will respond."
He glanced at me as we made our way back to the house. "She can understand the necessity, especially after this escape attempt of his. It's this or potential death."
Hearing this, my son began to weakly struggle in my arms. I held him close while shooting a warning look at Edward. "Shhh, my son. All is well. No one will hurt you."
We got back to the house and Esme was waiting on us. She gave me a stricken look and brushed her fingers through our sons hair. His eyes fluttered and he tried to focus. "Don't touch me." He muttered. She dropped her hand and I continued into the house.
I put him in his bed.
His eyes fluttered and he tried to focus on me.
"I hate you."
It was like a knife to the heart and I nodded.
"I know you do right now son, but someday maybe you won't. I'll be patient and wait for that someday, and until then I'll love enough for the both of us."
DISCLAIMER: Twilight and its inclusive material is copyright to Stephenie Meyer. Original creation, including but not limited to plot and characters, is copyright to the respective authors of each story. No copyright infringement is intended.