It was nights like this that he was thankful he couldn't sleep. Sitting in a booth of a small greasy spoon in Philadelphia, Jasper was one of three people enjoying the solace of this near empty diner. He hadn't fed in days but that was normal for him. He fed less these days for it kept the pain at bay. His conscience had been rubbed raw from years with Maria for him to handle much more human suffering.
Leaning back in the booth, he stretched his arm over the back and stared at his untouched cup of coffee. The hot liquid was just a formality. It kept up appearances.
"Need a warm up?" asked the middle aged waitress with silver hair and baggy nylons. Her disdain rolled off of her like cheap perfume. She hated her life. He felt her emotions like a pungent odor that would sneak up on him if he wasn't careful.
"No thank you"
These days he found himself wallowing in his loneliness. Yet, all he had to do was remember the life he had lived and he knew this was a far greater alternative. He could no longer handle the pain he inflicted on them. He couldn't force this life upon helpless people any longer. It was just enough to endure the pain of feeding.
Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a few bills and placed them on the table. The ding of the bell indicated someone had entered the diner.
A vampire.
He knew before even looking up.
With a sigh, he raised his head and froze at the sight. She was tiny, with short brown hair and honey gold eyes and she was looking right at him. A smile spread across her face and he thought he would die from the beauty. She was the most magnificent creature he had ever seen.
She moved swiftly and with such grace even his vampire eyes were amazed. She settled into the booth across from him and looked him directly into the eyes.
That's when it hit him.
Every new person he met would affect him differently. Mostly, people's emotions would be like a tiny butterfly wing, barely perceptible but still there. He was able to block out most of it. No emotions were ever directed at him, so they were never very strong.
But she was different. She hit him like a tidal wave. If he could breathe he would be gasping for air.
Yet, it wasn't painful. It was ecstasy.
"Hello, my name is Alice."
He couldn't form a single thought. Her voice was like sunshine after a hard winter. Her emotions were hitting him from all directions. He read her like an open book. No, she was reading the book to him. She held nothing back. She gave herself to him in a single sentence.
"It's ok, I was supposed to meet you." She said, smiling again.
Unable to tear his eyes from her, he straightened in his seat, prepared for…well, he didn't know what but he felt as if he needed to prepare himself against her.
But still, her joy and life emanated from her like the heat from the sun. It was as if the sky had opened up and delivered spring to him and him alone.
"I saw myself sitting here with you, so I knew we were supposed to meet. It's this thing I can do. I can see pictures of the future." Pausing for a moment she looked him up and down. He could feel her calculating his appearance, his rigid features, his cold, red eyes and she wasn't repulsed. Her light grew brighter, her emotions grew stronger.
Shaking his head, trying to focus on what was going on; he finally was able to muster a response.
"You saw us together, here? Why?" His voice was low, calculated, under control now. It was such a shock to feel what she was feeling that it was much harder to control, to just block it out.
"That's the beauty of it. I never really know why. I just know that the decisions I have made and the decisions you have made, led us both here." She whispered the last part, with her head slightly tilted to the side and her eyes alit with joy.
His ability to sense emotion and to manipulate usually gave him an edge over people. He would know when someone was lying or holding something back but he couldn't do that with her. He was drowning in the pleasure of her presence that he didn't care whether she was lying to him or not.
No other being he had ever come across had done this to him. He had felt basic emotions for people before. He even liked some people, but nothing, nothing had ever shattered his world the way her smile just had.
"It's alright you know. I feel it too. We'll figure this out. Together. I know that we have all eternity to get used to this." And she reached over and placed her cold hand over his.
Looking down at her hand then up at her face, for the first time in one hundred years, his mouth turned up into something similar to a smile.
"What do we have to lose?" He turned his hand over and intertwined their fingers. "My name is Jasper."
"Jasper, let's get out of here. There is a nice doctor we need to find."