Title: Cannibal Glow
Author: Aaydona
Rating: T (to be on the safe side for future chapters.)
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Please don't sue. I'm just a lowly writer scribbling into a blue notebook.
The scent of blood was intoxicating, sweeter than the petals of a fragrant rose yet fresh as an ocean breeze. The blood sang to my predatory instincts, a serenade that brought my blood thirst to life. I repressed a painful wince and squeezed my eyes shut for a heightened self-control. The aroma of blood grew closer and more alluring as she, uncertain hands in Edward's, set foot on the premises of the house.
Good, Edward is with her, I thought. Gnawing desire surged back and forth like quicksilver on the insides of my eyelids in a vicious dance, teasing me, taunting me. She was close now, I could tell from her footsteps, loud and clumsy against Edward's silent ones. I could envision her in my mind, the unsuspecting chocolate-brown eyes, long graceful neck… How I wanted to sink my teeth into her neck…
I reprimanded myself promptly. My lust for blood had almost made it sound as though I had found myself in love with Edward's love when in truth I had no eyes for anyone except…
Alice touched my hand tentatively. Half a grasp and let go. Her beautiful, radiant eyes met mine, casually at first, and intensified with a degree of love that I knew I would be forever undeserving of. Her lips quirked at my obvious discomfort, and it was all I could do to stop, with every fiber of my being, from bending down to kiss those smiling lips. That took an even stronger will than what was required for me to tame my blood thirst in Bella's presence. Instead, I asked, "What are you thinking?"
"That you're acting like a schoolboy at a meeting with the principal, Jasper," she replied.
"Ha, ha," I said in a quiet murmur, feeling a lock of her fine, dark hair between two fingers. I tried for a witticism myself. "It is fortunate that you are not human." Grinning, I made a deliberate display of sharp, lethal teeth. Alice knew I was more than capable of committing horrifying, inhumane deeds with my teeth, but she did not flinch.
"I liked it better when you weren't funny." My rather inept attempt at humor was rewarded. She stood on tiptoes and, quickly, our lips touched.
"The two of you are disgusting," Rosalie commented in an undertone and received a quick peck on the cheek from Emmett.
I straightened my grin and glared unconvincingly back at Rosalie, though Alice merely beamed smugly. "You haven't seen yourself with Emmett, have you?" she said. And gagged.
Rosalie flipped her resplendent golden hair scornfully, nearly whipping her husband in the face. Standing behind her, Emmett acted as though he was breathing a sigh of relief and wiping sweat off his forehead. I knew Rosalie was not half as disdainful about most subjects as she pretended to be, and I could not blame her for it. Not with my own mask of blankness hiding all that I felt, the beastly snarls as I hunted, hot fury, sorrow.
"Here she comes!" Alice cried. I already sensed Bella's arrival; we all did. She tilted her exquisite face to gaze at me. She had looked forward Bella's birthday so, planning every aspect of the party with only occasional assistance from Carlisle and Esme, her lips curved into a dreamy smile and her eyes seeming faraway as she tolled. The scent of blood was entirely separate from the aroma from the bowls of roses with which Alice had covered the room.
The flickering flames from the candles she set happily all around the room were reflected in her dark eyes. They were illuminated by the warm sunlight our kind shied away from. Sunlight was what I could not retain and Alice, her eternal smile shining with tender warmth, was my sunlight.
With her, I almost believed I could resist my ultimate vice, the rich liquid evil that heightened my sense of pleasure and warmed my damned body as it coursed through my empty veins. Blood. Blood was a sublime substance drawing long-hidden savagery and desperation from my eyes.
"How extravagant do you think she will think of this—" I snapped my jaw shut immediately. Even a vague mention of her was too much for me. Images of my jaw closing in on her neck. Her blood staining my lips crimson. I smoothed the images out of my wretched imagination. Control.
For a moment my mind was free from temptation, a blessing that was revoked as soon as it was bestowed upon a damned creature such as myself. The door swung open quickly, and in walked Bella, a shy smile tugging at her lips as Edward moved out of her way with an unearthly fluidity. He flashed us, the partners-in-crime, a quick sliver of a smile, too quick for his love.
"Happy birthday, Bella!" we cried. I felt myself utter those words, with a good amount of cheer that sent a couple surprised glances my way, and I could hardly believe it.
The perfume of blood and roses, mingling in the air, were waves crashing against sandy shores, meeting and parting, meeting and parting. The beauty of the roses was blurred by where the intoxication of my innate predatory instincts began, the river of reason, of separation running between two pleasures blurring into a roaring, desirable sea. The forces of the sea swayed me while gentler waves caressed my desire.
Alice was slipping away from my side, to Bella, and though her lips were smiling, an expression of worry flickered in her beautiful eyes. Had she seen something in the future I knew not? Our gazes were locked together in an intense stare for every instant before her face was reluctantly turned from me. I felt the self-control rise within me. I thought perhaps my sunshine, Alice, just by her presence, would give me enough strength, for it was strength that I was deprived of.
For temptation had arrived.
Author's Note: And so ends the prologue to Cannibal Glow. Alrighty! Time for Aaydona to ramble on about her fanfiction! First of all, this is my first time writing Twilight fanfiction (and my first piece of fanfiction in about two years). Reading the brilliant Twilight and New Moon, I've always wondered about Jasper. I mean, sure I love Edward and Bella and Emmett and Rosalie too, but the image of Jasper in the beginning of New Moon stuck with me for weeks. During that time I thought about writing about what happened during New Moon from Jasper's point of view. The idea gnawed at me so much that I basically dropped everything and started scribbling this after brainstorming with Daimios (her name is actually Sara, but I'm trying to plug her here, okay?)
The title Cannibal Glow came from the My Chemical Romance song "The Sharpest Lives". Cannibal Glow is going to be my baby. I can tell. All reviews and comments are appreciated and will be rewarded with cookies (virtual chocolate-chip ones, to be precise) and a review in return. Reviews might even make me want to write faster, wink, wink.