Hey ya'll! So this is a little story I wrote over the summer when I went through a very short Twilight phase. I just found it on my computer and I was thinking "Hey I should post this!" So here it is. I hope you guys like it and don't be afraid to review! If I get someone telling me to go onward I just might do that. XD
Oh, and everything's owned by Stephanie Meyer. :)
It's tough being in a newborn army, believe me. Newborn vampires are just so… so hormonal, if you get what I mean. Their moods are constantly changing; first they're thirsty, then they start complaining about being thirsty, and soon enough they're fighting about it. I mean seriously, can't they just shut up, for one day at least?
But of course they can't. There's about twenty of us in total, including Jasper and Maria, who are the leaders. Maria controls everything that goes on, including who's in her army and what territories we're to fight for. Jasper, her mate, teaches us all how to fight. Everyone respects them, though personally I'd call it fear rather than respect. Personally, I hold a strong dislike for the both of them, but I would never act on that.
When we're not out hunting, or fighting for Maria, we're usually hanging out in abandoned barns and stuff. So that's I spent most of my time, sitting in the loft of old barns with my feet dangling out of windows that had most likely once served as a hatch for hay. I came up to places like this often to try and get away from my fellow newborns. I often get headaches from them, not because they're too loud or anything, but because they're thoughts drive me crazy. I guess you could say that I read minds, but just in a more advanced way. I was in the process of learning how to control it, but it's kind of lengthy and demanding.
Sitting here, doing nothing but staring out at the night sky, was the one of the few ways that calm down my headaches. I liked being along with just only my thoughts in my head. I could still hear the newborn's thoughts, because they're just below me, but they're somewhat quieter when there's a little distance. It's only when I'm in complete seclusion do I have total peace, but that's a rarity.
So I just have to deal with it, and make the best of what I have.
Now when I have one of these headaches, most of the vampires know better than to bother me. Apparently I'm a little… moody during these times.
I was maybe the seventh person to be selected for Maria's army, so I'm one of the oldest newborns. Even when Maria figured out I was a girl, when she wanted only boys, she kept me because she knew of the powers I possessed. Of course Jasper had to pay for his mistake later, but as much as she tried to hide it, she seemed happy to have a female in her midst.
There was a creak behind me, and my mind was drifting away from me and toward the vampire approaching.
I recognized the boy's thoughts. His name was Marco, a slight, small Mexican we picked up a couple of weeks ago. He's probably the youngest out of us all, maybe twelve or thirteen, but his speed and agility are far beyond any of ours. Maria and Jasper usually send him out as either a scout or a messenger.
Marco cleared his throat behind me and I turned my head to him, listening.
"Jasper's looking for you." he said in a low, slightly accented voice.
"What does he want?"
His small stature contorted into a shrug. "I don't know."
"Well, where is he?" I asked, not at all hiding my impatience.
He pointed out of the hatch. "Woods." He said quietly. "As always." My eyes followed his finger to the cluster of trees about half a mile away.
"Thanks, Marco." I sighed, standing up and wiping the back of my pants off. He stood still, drinking in my every movement as I walked over to the edge of the loft and nimbly jumped off.
Out of the twenty plus newborns all stuffed into the small barn, only two took notice of my sudden presence.
I waved at my two friends, Michael and Damien, who stood talking together in the far corner. Other than me, those two were also the oldest newborns in the group. We were all friends before we were vampires, when I was dressing as a boy to be able to play soccer and other games with them, and we're all friends now. Only now they know the real me. Not Jack, but Jackie Blackthorn, my real name. Of course 'Jack' slips everyone in a while, but I really don't mind.
I tore my eyes off of their faces and walked out of the barn into the open field. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, then ran in the direction of the woods.
I appreciate the quietness of the trees. They don't think. And I took my time walking past them, taking in the absolute silence.
The barn loft's great, but sometimes I still get glimpses of what the others are thinking about. If I could, I would come out here everyday. But as much as I want to, I know I have to stay close to the others.
The quieteness didn't last long, and soon enough I was hearing the normal, spastic thoughts of Jasper. He was worrying. Again. About Maria. About the newborns. About everything.
His thoughts led me to the clearing in the middle of the woods, as usual. And as usual I said. "Marco told me you were looking for me."
My eyes picked up a slight nod. Jasper was standing in the center of the clearing, staring at the ground. As I approached and was within a couple of feet of him, he looked up.
"Training?" I asked, almost whining at the thought.
"Yes." He said sharply.
Wincing at his sudden coldness, I sat cross-legged on the ground in front of him.
Jasper paced slowly in a large circle around me.
"You shouldn't have to take that from Maria." I said, responding to one of his thoughts.
He stopped immediately, glaring.
I murmured a 'sorry' before closing my eyes and focusing on absolutely nothing. This is part of what I've been working on, defending my thoughts and closing up my mind so I can't always hear everyone else's. Lucky for Jasper, he gets to be the guinea pig.
"Block out my thoughts." He said. I heard him resume his pacing.
The sudden images in my mind weren't mine. I was Jasper, fighting his battles, remembering his memories. I tried to focus on me, on who I was, but I couldn't block out the clear crisp pictures running through my head.
"I c-can't-" I stammered, shaking my head a little.
His thoughts became more emotional: his feelings when he was killing a vampire, and that vampire's feelings since he had the gift with emotions. The sudden anxiety and fear was overpowering.
Jasper must have sensed it too, and he let up. The pictures disappeared and his regular fluttering thoughts cropped back up.
"What was that?" he asked, baring his teeth. "Don't let the emotions get to you!"
"I'm trying-"
"Try harder. Again."
The memories flooded back into my head. I sorted everything apart, never staying on one particular memory for more than a few seconds. I imagines barriers looming around me, protecting my mind. My thoughts went momentarily blank, but it was as if the barriers were made of paper and the pictures came back.
"Keep trying…" he persisted.
I gritted my teeth, imagining a stronger barrier. But his thoughts were too strong and I got distracted. Once again it crumpled, useless.
Jasper was thinking of so many things that they were flickering in and out of my vision. He was constantly changing his mind, and they all were starting to blur together.
"Stop it!" I snapped. I pressed the palms of my hands to my eyes, trying to suppress the pounding headache I was getting.
The thoughts disappeared.
"I can't do it." I mumbled.
"You have to keep trying." Jasper hissed, suddenly very close to my left ear. "Focus!"
Without warning, his memories were once again my memories. I gasped as my headache escalated.
"Get the hell out of my head!"
My defense suddenly became my offense. I threw all the thoughts back at him, overloading his own mind. The edges of my own mind thickened, becoming towering steel walls.
I guess Jasper sensed my anxiety going away. Two hands firmly grabbed my shoulders.
"Jackie? Can you hear anything?" he asked.
"No." I breathed, relieved.
"I told you." He confirmed, and my relaxed feelings disappeared in a moment. "You just needed to be under pressure." I gritted my teeth and stared back at him as he grabbed my hand, and rather forcefully, helped me up.
"Well you can now block me out, but what about more than one person at a time?" he asked, more to himself than to me. I was about to protest, because my headache was finally subsiding, but he waved to the woods behind me.
I turned around and groaned.
I recognized the two vampires walking towards us. Will and Johnny, two seventeen year olds. They were about half a year old now, but neither of them have shown any signs of coming out of the newborn stage yet. I knew Will better than his friend, because he and Michael were pretty close. Will smiled when he saw me looking at him.
"Can you hear them?" Jasper asked quietly.
I focused on them as they approached. After a minute I shook my head. "No."
Will, the slightly smaller one, was the first to speak up.
"Marco sent us." He said, his voice piercing the pleasant quietness. Johnny nodded his head in agreement. His eyes passed over me suspiciously.
Jasper's hands clamped down on my shoulders. I hadn't even noticed him move to stand behind me.
Jasper decided to get right to the point. "I need you to think of your strongest memory." He said. "Your most powerful and emotional memory." He paused, waiting as the two boys took this in.
"Do you got it?" He asked.
Johnny nodded slightly and I felt something shift outside of my mind.
"Will?" Jasper asked.
"Yeah, I got one." he said.
"Good." Jasper pushed me towards them, then let go and backed up several steps.
"You still can't hear them?"
I shook my head.
"Are you still thinking?" He said to the two boys.
"Yeah."
"Ok, Jackie, what about now?"
"No…" But I stopped, thinking. I could feel the three pinpricks behind the walls, two in front and one from behind. I could hear shadows of someone's thoughts, almost like a crack in a damn.
"I hear something…" I mumbled, cocking my head to the side.
"Don't focus on it!" Jasper scolded.
But it was too late. The crack grew larger, and like water breaking through a damn, foreign thoughts flooded into my mind.
I saw Will at his mother's bedside. She was dying, and Will was holding one of her pale hands. She gave a dry cough, and in a cracked whisper she said, 'Take care of your brother'. Will was trying to hold back tears. He nodded and bit his lip, holding back a sob.
Not wanting to see anymore, I pushed Will's memory away. I recognized Jasper's thoughts in the mix, I see them so often. Johnny's were something like Will's but instead he was thinking about his older brother, who was killed in the war. A Confederate soldier was standing at the doorway, his hat held to his chest. I saw his mother collapse, her head buried in her hands. Johnny rushed forward to help her while the soldier disappeared back to his horse waiting outside.
"No, stop!" I shouted. I heard my pained voice reverberate through the woods. I was once again on the ground, my head buried in my hands. Strong hands grabbed my arms and I was pulled back up.
It was Will, and he was supporting most of my weight. I was crying, a choked up noise coming from the back of my throat.
"You almost had it!" Jasper roared.
"I'm s-sorry." I stuttered. I cringed into Will's arms.
Jasper just groaned and threw his hands up in desperation. He scratched his head, then turned back to me.
"You need to learn this!" He said. "You have to keep trying."
"I can't-"
"Jasper she needs a break." snapped Will.
"We don't have the time." he growled through gritted teeth.
"Well, you better make time." Will said in the same tone.
Jasper seemed to think better than going against his own vampires. A noise escaped from the back of his throat.
"Go then." He hissed, so low that I barely even heard it.
Will tugged on my arm, and with one last look at Jasper, I disappeared with him and Johnny into the woods.
"Thanks." I said softly after we reached the barn.
"No problem." said Will. He smiled then pushed open the door to talk to some of the other vampires.
Johnny silently walked past me, and I followed him in. Everyone's thoughts overflowed my mind, but I just gritted my teeth, ignored the headache, and looked around to find Michael and Damien. They were in the exact same spot as they were before, so I leaned against the wall next to them.
"Jasper?" Damien whispered, reading my face.
"Yep."
"That guy's gotta lighten up." whispered Michael.
"Will practically yelled that at him." I murmured.
"Will?" he asked. "Why was Will there?"
I sighed. "I finally got the whole defense thing down, then Jasper goes and pushes it further. He wanted me to block out Will and Johnny and him all at once. When I couldn't do it, Will came to my defense."
"So would I." Michael confirmed. "Actually I would say a few more things than that…" He stopped, and I didn't need to be able to read his mind to know what he was thinking.
Damien barked out a laugh and a few heads turned in our direction. He lowered his voice. "Yeah, you show him!" He said. "I'd like to see what happens."
Michael shoved him in the shoulder, and Damien, being smaller than him, toppled sideways and fell to the ground with a loud 'thud'.
I bit back a laugh and Michael threw an arm over my shoulder.
"We shouldn't hang out with this loser." He smirked, throwing his thumb in Damien's direction. He shook his long brown hair out of his face and looked down at Damien, who was now climbing back to his feet. He smiled evilly, then lunged at Michael. I jumped away in surprise.
Some of the newborns saw the wrestling match that was occurring in front of me. A circle was forming, and I heard Will's voice loud and clear.
"Those two fighting over you again, Jackie?"
I smiled, drinking in the sight before me. This was one of those rare happy moments that happen when we're all together. With Jasper being absent for so long, and no one bending the emotions in the barn, everyone's minds were all their own. Jasper wasn't bending their feelings, and everything just felt… normal.
So I hope that was a good start! :) Like basically everyone here, I like replies :D Feel free to leave them.