**Hello! I am pleased to see you are reading this. I really hope it doesn't bore you or make you feel depressed...yes, there is very little fluff in this fanfic. I know some people love the happy stuff, but others love the angsty writing, too. This DOES have both, but you'll need to stick around for a looonnng while to get to the sweet stuff. Thanks for reading and please continue!**
Ch. 1--The Jasper Stone
Her eyes were closed as if she were sleeping. She wasn't, I knew this for sure. She had to be resting. Resting her body, nestled in the satin red sheets. She tried to decorate her room with an essence of power. Beautiful, untouchable power. Most of the objects were red and shimmering, even if they were stolen from peasant humans. Her jewelry was also mismatched and rusted. I turned my head to the dresser on the opposite side of the room.
It was a sleek black box, wrapped in velvet (the fabric was fraying from the corners). It was her prideful jewelry box. She insisted on making off with her prey's rocks and gold and diamonds if they fit her taste.
To be truthful, it quite disgusted me to see her wrap her thin fingers around necklace chains and tug until they broke from it's owner's neck. The chain would dangle, the broken links splattering over the wearer's neck hollow. Maria's eyes would sparkle with greed as she stashed it away in her petticoat pocket. She'd tuck her hair from her face, letting her blood red eyes revel on her dry kill.
I knew that she had one necklace in there that I particularly hated. It was, of course, the one she insisted on wearing most often. Whether it be because she had ordered me to snatch it from a corpse, for I had done so gently as to not break it, or whether it be because she knew I hated to see it.
It was not a pretty piece of jewelry. It was very plain--it was a stone dangling off of a fake silver chain. The silver paint was edging off, and it truly looked cheap. I supposed the jeweler was very inexperienced, but the one that prepared the stone on it was much more skilled.
But, it had to be a jasper stone.
It was a very shiny and well-polished rock, but the colors weren't the kind that women would normally swoon over. It was orange, red and white. The orange was sort of like terra cotta, and I think that alone made it less pleasing to the average female.
The red and white looked good contrasted together, but it held such a meaning to me that I hated it for that. The red…it looked like blood. Or ruby red eyes, like my own. They were very bright and would flash in the sunlight, creating me to look more intimidating than I already was. And the white--it reminded me of alabaster skin. Already Maria would compare me to it by the name, of course. I didn't voice my thoughts on the color comparison.
There was one more thing about it that led me from annoyance to hatred.
Maria had been the one to take down the human that it had belonged to, and she hadn't been gentle. In the rage of attack, Maria's steely fingernails had drove into the soft human jugular, and slashed the rock. It had a few other nicks and bumps from when Maria settled over her kill and drank the blood, but one could plainly see the stone's scars.
Scars. Just like mine.
I grimaced and turned away from the jewelry box were it sat, haunting me.
The covers rustled around me as I shifted. Maria's eyes fluttered open, and I can't say whether I was relieved or not. She'd probably want to get out of bed, now, and I didn't mind leaving her stained-red quarters.
She ran a hand through her ebony locks, letting them cascade over her bare shoulder. I couldn't help but let my eyes be caught by the absolute beauty of her. I pulled the bed clothes closer, as to hide myself.
Maria had taken me into her room before. This wasn't the first time. She'd seen all of me, so I didn't have to worry about her absolute shock when she undressed me. I guess I was glad I didn't have to explain to her why the scars were there, though…since she had sent me out to get them. I was often angered that she had no scars. All the other soldiers had, but she only participated in the more easy attacking, and therefore was left unscathed.
The sunlight that was trailing in made my skin glow. I didn't like the sparkling aspect, for my scars somehow lost the ability to gleam. I supposed that the skin there was so ravaged that there was no way it could possibly catch the light the same way again. I hated that they had to be drawn to attention when I was in the sunlight.
I was staring into the new day when I felt Maria's fingers in my hair. I didn't shrink away like I used to. I had done that so often that she had become angered with me, and I had to physically stop myself from doing it as to not displease her. I was pretty positive that I had done that a lot last night, but she was so overcome by lust that she hadn't noticed.
Something that bothered me with Maria was that she would bring me into her room so often and do what she pleased with my body, but she would never kiss me.
Even when I was the one to step up and approach the idea. I supposed that our relationship was only physical. No emotional attachment. I was the only lover that Maria had that I knew of--maybe she had one I didn't know about that she would kiss. Maybe she loved him. It was odd to both hate Maria and thirst for her approval. It often made me angry that I was so spineless.
I remembered once while we were together in her satin bed, I had brought my lips achingly close to hers, offering. I had let my eyes fall closed as I waited for her to shove her face onto mine. She was not a gentle lover.
Instead, she had gripped the sides of my jaw and angled my head away so she could suckle my throat. I had to admit, I was shocked that she had been so quick and blunt to reject my love and affection. She wanted none of that. She probably wanted none of me at all in the daytime.
My head snapped up as I heard the bathroom door slam. I was alone in her queen-sized bed, the sheets crumbled around me. I tugged one up as I sat upright. It spilled from my clasped fist and over my broken body. My legs dangled off the side of the bed. I slightly curled over myself, letting my elbows rest on my knees. I pushed a hand through my hair, sighing, feeling my shoulders fall. I shook my head to nothing. I was just wondering what I was doing with my life.
"Here." Maria's toneless voice came, and a stack of fresh clothes fell at my side. I acknowledged in the back of my mind how Maria had behaved last night. I stared at the shredded ribbons of my previous outfit, lying in the corner. I closed my eyes and gathered the clothes.
Maria whisked around me, getting ready for the day. She pushed her long mane of ink black hair off her shoulder and adjusted her white peasant like dress she'd wear today. She ruffled her gorgeous hair more and stared out the window. I quietly marveled at her magnificent body as it glittered.
I never seemed to be happy about her beauty at night, when we were alone, undressed. Fully clothed during daytime, I felt like I wanted her like any other vampire recruit. I guess I was just wishing that she wasn't so violent with making love, and I was imagining that she wasn't really.
She turned to me, her ruby red irises looking oddly innocent. Her face was so mesmerizing that I didn't hear what she had said.
"I beg pardon?" I must have sounded so stupid--when I got nervous, flustered, or embarrassed, my Texas upbringing stood out. My language, my accent a little, my manners. She rolled her eyes, letting her hand run through her locks and down her body. I tried to not to stare.
"I said, get changed." She hissed. I closed my eyes, successfully not shrinking away. I touched the fabric, wondering if it had been harvested from a human corpse…
"That's right, go on. We have stuff to do today." Maria urged, absent-mindedly. She was before her full-length mirror, and I felt my throat constrict as she lifted the jasper stone to wear around her neck. It was such a cruddy pebble…I hated that she wanted to wear it only to bother me.
I pulled the white button up on and shimmied into the trousers. I stood from the bed and made my way to be behind Maria. This was always the awkward part.
"Last night was wonderful, Maria. Thank you." I lied, bowing to her reflection. Her annoyed face softened as she moved her mane around to do her necklace clasp.
"You're welcome, Jasper. Now, help me do this thing." She craned her neck and offered me the bent silver clasp to the necklace. I hid my grimace and obeyed. She let the hair spill, and she beamed at her reflection as I watched her with large red eyes.
Those damned eyes--the eyes of a demon raised from fire. I was a monster. I was a demon. I was unholy, and I got more than I deserved by being in Maria's presence. I looked away from my horrible reflection. I stared down at my bare chest, I hadn't buttoned my shirt yet.
Maria turned and placed her hands on the cloth, bringing it together. She busied herself by buttoning it with nimble fingers. I watched with serene delight. She did care about me. I was more than a night of pleasure, and these moments reassured me.
"Gotta cover those scars up. They look pretty nasty in the light."
I froze, staring at her fingers. They blurred together, and I couldn't comprehend anything.
They look pretty nasty in the light.
I felt like I was retching, waiting for bile to gush in my mouth. I wanted to vomit. I really did.
Maria finished the final button and smiled. "I will meet you downstairs." She pressed against my chest gently. She was pushing me out. I stiffly obeyed. I always obeyed Maria.
I closed the door behind me, listening to the soft clink of the door. My hand felt like cement over the old fashioned knob. I put my palm to the wall behind me as to not stumble over.
**Yaaaa i know it's kinda sad, but i just wanted to open up my mind about what I thought happened before Jasper met Alice. Stay tuned! **