Jasper POV
The trees of the woods in southern Texas stayed ghastly quiet; silver rays of the waxing gibbous moon streaked stripes of light onto the grassy floors. The area was devoid of humans; we, the Clan of Maria (and company), one of the most feared Clans in the southern area of the United States of America took care of the prey population. I licked my lips in reminder of the refreshing blood we had that night. Maria made sure that the newborns had nothing to eat these past few weeks, weakening them; their one-year strength beginning to wane. By the end of the night, if Peter and I finished early, we would have a pile of ashes.
Tonight, we were going to dispose the newborns that did not prove their worthiness to live.
Oddly, Peter was murmuring under his breath, hopefulness emanating from him. I snorted inaudibly to myself; Peter was a strange boy, but Maria found potential in him so he became one of us. His fighting skills were great, but unmatched by thousands of miles when it came to me. I heard the treading of grass break my train of thought.
It was a male, names were hardly remembered other than vampires high in Maria's category. He stepped strongly out into the gigantic field that would be soon covered in flames and purple smoke. His black hair was slick, and his eyes were glowing menacingly. He had no idea what was happening, confusion and perplexity dripping into the emotional atmosphere like rain. I glanced at Peter, silently questioning him whether he would like to make the first blow.
In wordless reply, he sprang forward, fingers outstretched into claws. Before the newborn could react, Peter tore a rather large chunk of his side off. Shrieks that would have pierced painfully into a human's eardrums erupted from the male. I flicked open my metal lighter, setting a small pile of leaves aflame. Picking up his writhing flesh off the ground, I casually threw it over my shoulder, satisfying to hear it land in the fiery tongues of the inferno.
At this time, Peter had unmercifully, twisted its head, popping it off like a beer bottle cap. Catching the severed head, I added it to the plume of smoke that had risen. Peter quickly disposed the rest of its limbs. Calling out for the next one to come out, another male with a smooth sandstone tan came out.
He, unlike the last one, was alert. His eyes setting uneasily onto the growing bonfire in alarm; his awareness seethed into posture. He took off into the woods. Peter and I followed in pursuit. I was glad that Maria chose this setting for a disposal because the trees and the wide space made the job much more entertaining. I could tell the newborn knew we were behind him, so he galloped away in speedy hopes of escaping.
No avail.
Unfortunately for the newborn, compared to us veterans, it didn't stand a chance in losing us. Peter melted into the woods, disguising his scent within the conifers. Peter still kept in range of my emotion-tracking radar; according to the built in honing device, he was a few yards ahead, patiently waiting for us. The sandpaper toned vampire kept fleeing, and I kept pursuing it until it paused for a millisecond. I knew we had him right there. With uncanny precision, Peter materialized from air, thrusting his hand into the prey's chest and relieving the newborn a pound of meat which bounced within his grasp. The newborn didn't even flinch; instead, it made a mad grab for Peter's shoulder. Peter easily slipped from his feeble attempt at capturing one of us. I smiled lazily at the boy who wanted to continue this damned life.
He was a fighter, and though I needed to get rid of him nonetheless, I liked him.
He glared, hatred and contempt permeated the atmosphere, heavy like iron dust. Peter raised his eyebrows, giving me a sign that he was going to jump. I responded by stepping back. The opposition, noticing the half millimeter long exchange, lifted his leg… but Peter beat him to it, taking flight then striking him in the neck.
The boy's eyes bulged from their sockets; a contorted sound prying from his lips. I rounded on him, pinching his cheek so hard it peeled off his face like pulled pork. Peter caught him and smoothly cleaved his upper chest from his bottom, this time a choked gasp answered us. I tied his arms together into a knot, and Peter went to burn the wriggling corpse.
He returned with a female this time, in her early twenties. My gentlemanly side came out, taking her hand and spinning her into a twirl. Peter leaned against a tall pine, enjoying the view as I waltzed with her, diverting her away from the crackling fire. She giggled, completely unaware of her fate.
How naïve, I disliked naïve girls. Still, I pranced around the field with her. When the time came for a lift, I lobbed her into the fire.
She came out screaming; flesh falling apart from her bones. Her hair was a flaming mess, hair blackened and glowing from the living room fire atop her head. Betrayal was evident in her scarlet eyes, but Peter harshly threw back into the inferno. She didn't come back out again.
This cycle has been turning since I was made into Maria's close and "trusted" circle of elites. Birth into the vampire world then death a single year later; a single year where everywhere you looked, something was always tainted with a crimson glaze. If a newborn was kept longer than a year, it would be immediately matched with a fellow clan mate to decide which of the two was more powerful. I still remembered the texture of the female's hair as I decapitated her; she was the first in my record of eleven thousand three hundred forty-seven fights.
A sharp pang of anxiety slapped me back to the gory reality. At first, I thought it was from the new female, but then I traced it back to Peter. His emotions were darting everywhere ranging from the ticklish feeling of nervousness to the warm, inviting feeling of happiness.
"Charlotte," He breathed, not daring to take a step forward.
"Peter," She replied, her lower lip trembling. I noticed an odd fuzzy feeling in the air; I had only experienced it once, right before I tore into my first opponent after my one year anniversary.
Love.
I cringed but composed myself, piping a fast, "Jasper." I lifted my leg, reading to envelop her into a crushing embrace. Peter, however, sensed the tension in my arms, slipped between us.
"You aren't touching her, Jasper. I know exactly what you are going to do." He glared, advancing.
I smirked, backing away. "And what exactly was I going to do?"
"Crush her like a bug with one of her hugs." Damn, I hate it when he was always right. I frowned, dropping the easy grin.
"And what are you planning to do with her? On Maria's orders, we need to dispose of her. Her expiration date has arrived." Peter snarled, swiping the air as I jumped out of his way, smug.
"She isn't some kind of food product, waiting to go bad," He retorted. "I'm leaving Maria's clan. Her overrated demands, kill, create, kill, create, it's pointless. I don't want to waste my forever with her; I'd rather relish it with Charlotte. I'll fight for our freedom if I have to," He paused, "But, I was hoping I won't resort to that."
"Why? Am I too powerful to you?" I leered.
"Actually, that's exactly why I don't want to be pitted against you," He said in his usually jovial manner. "That and I don't want to worry Charlotte when I'm being shredded." I heard his voice cracking a little at the end. The fuzz balls grew larger in reply, and I shielded away from their suffocating grasp.
"You've gone soft," I chided, kicking at the grass.
"And you can blame me for it," Charlotte came from behind Peter. "Jasper, please, let us pass, show us mercy. Someday, you will understand why this road is not worth threading on for the rest of this blasted life." Her confidence burned my arms. I scowled at her foreboding voice. My ancient memories stirred, depicting my mother smiling as she said, Never doubt a woman's intuition, Jasper.
I stood there, stunned by the abrupt memory and the blunt request. My head and my stone heart exchanged blows. The dead familiarity of companionship rose from the grave, slaying the primal beast within me. Memories of so many deaths born from my hands crippled it. Screams of agony clawed at my limbs as Maria's orders became minimal compared with the filling sensation of companionships' reincarnation.
"Leave," I choked out, mentally exhausted. "Leave, the rest are getting restless. Dawn is approaching. Leave by means of swimming." My arm automatically pointed at the lake. Peter came up to shake my hand, and I accepted it stiffly. "Thank-" I cut him off. "Leave."
He smiled wistfully before plunging after Charlotte. I rolled my shoulders back, feeling more alive and human than the past few years. I channeled the energy into formatting a plan to escape from this retched way of living. Maria wouldn't be pleased about Peter's "death" nor would her paranormal suspicion decrease which would mean that I would have to stay longer to prove my dying loyalty.
My eyes zoned into the next victim, guilt making my punches weaker, my claws duller. But I decided to push past it, these men and women will help me gain my selfish freedom.
Brainstorming for step one- plan to get Maria's trust back begins now.
Hey, ya'll, I know, it's been a year, and ya'll hate me. I hope this (and a couple more updates) will make you hate me less. I really don't have an excuse for not writing just that I fell into the "lazy" trap, and I apologize for being stupid. :D
Oh, and I'm not sure if I should continue with this story… So review and tell me if I should or not if you have the time. :}
Thanks my beta, MaddsLovesTwilight for editing and for pushing my ass to write more.