A/N: This is the first instalment of my Advent gift for you guys. There are going to be 24 snippets/chapters in this little collection, every one of them from a story you have never seen before, but hopefully one day I will be able complete and publish as independent stories. However, I have an announcement on my profile too, a little something, you guys might find interesting. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but it has to do with the possibility of an already existing folder full of my unpublished works. If I managed to pique your curiosity, feel free to check my announcement out.
A/N: Oh, none of these snippets/chapters are beta'd, so sorry about any mistakes and errors you might find while reading.
The Spotty Dragon
Summary: Instead of nearly attacking Bella, Jasper used the last ounces of his self-control and left the house altogether, only to somehow end up in Seattle in front of a dingy little bar called The Spotty Dragon that had the most peculiar patrons and the strangest yet most enticing bartender Jasper ever met.
He couldn't stand it anymore. The temptation was too great and his goddamned family
didn't do a thing to lessen it. His brother, the ever so broody Edward just had to choose
an insufferable human girl, obsessing over her and believing to be in earth shattering love
with her. Edward didn't care about anything anymore, not about their safety or their secret,
flaunting it into that mortal's face who had that brilliant idea to become one of them.
Ridiculous.
Edward was too much of a coward who clung to the girl's mortality too desperately to oblige
this wish, unconsciously torturing him to the point where he snapped. Like a few minutes ago.
He almost attacked the stupid human, because she was the epitome of clumsiness and was
unable to hold a knife without fucking cutting into her skin. Or did she do it on purpose? Was
she hoping that one of them – preferably Edward – will snap and turn him?
Well he almost did.
He acted in the millisecond between Alice's astonished and terrified gasp and the tantalizing
scent of freshly shed blood filling the air, his eyes most likely bled into onyx as he tore out of
the house running and snarling at the same time, hoping to get away from the family and that
girl. He didn't need Edward's ability to know what would have happened if he had lost his
mind before he understood the meaning of Alice's gasp. The outcome might have taught his
brother why he should avoid humans at all cost, but it would surely have destroyed their unity
once and for all. Because no matter what the annoying little chit thought, if he had attacked
her, there would have been no turning happening. She would have been a simple meal to him.
Nothing more.
But he didn't do it. He escaped and now was headed towards nowhere particular. He just
wanted to get away from everything, including his own wife and her overbearing hopes and
infatuation with the mortal girl, as well as Edward's obsession and delusions, and Rosalie's
bitchiness, no matter how rightful it was this time.
He had enough of the facade of being human, pretending to be something they most clearly
weren't, as well as of the expectations and Carlisle's constant understanding, but underlying
disappointment whenever he slipped. He wanted to be free to do as he wanted and be the
creature he was turned to be.
Perhaps he was selfish, but at that moment he just couldn't muster up any compassion to care.
Cars flashed by as he run with impossible speed across the forest, following the route of the
road ignoring the maddening burn in his throat. There was no chance a few deer or even a
bear could sooth his hunger.
Soon the trees started to narrow, giving place to houses and other buildings and the deafening
noise of the city. The smell of pollution, rotting garbage, food, cars could almost mask the
scent of flooding blood, making his nose flare with disgust mixed with interest and want. He
knew he was only antagonizing himself, mocking the monster in him and a part of him was
cruelly satisfied with his bestial part's struggles.
Should he choose someone? He wondered idly, slowing his pace into a leisure stroll. No one
could stop him and it would be a fitting pay back for his suffering. It would show precious
Isabella what being a vampire meant.
A cold smirk quirked his lips at the thought. Yes, it would be perfect payback, yet he knew he
wouldn't do it. Clueless mortals walked by, not even giving him a fleeting glance, minding
their own business full of giddiness and excitement which started to overwhelm his own
chaotic emotions and bloodlust, distracting him and at the same time giving him the idea what
he should do.
He needed a drink.
[The Spotty Dragon]
Seattle had a wide range of bars, almost all of them full of life on Friday night, causing his
head to become fuzzy with the raging emotions of the mortals in them. He could choose
any of them, none was different than the previous one or so he thought until he reached
surprisingly run down place that oozed silence... and stillness.
The Spotty Dragon
He blinked at the big, blue neon letters then blinked again, but no, he read the name of the
bar correctly. There was no line waiting in front of the shabby looking place and he couldn't
see through the dirty windows either, but something just called to him in despite the lack of
welcoming air.
He took an unnecessary breath, swallowing the venom from his mouth before gingerly
pushing the black, cracked door open, expecting a dimly lit up hole with a bunch of old
drunkards and maybe a few cheap women with a toothless ancient geezer as the bartender.
What he found was different.
So different that he felt his eyes widen and the breath hitch in his lungs. The bar wasn't full
per se, but it wasn't empty either. People of all age mingled about, sitting in comfortable
looking booths or at simple but clean tables, chatting and drinking merrily. Music played
in the background, soft but strong melodies that vaguely sounded similar to rock but were
somewhat different. It felt... homey, but at the same time something seemed off.
"Shut the door sonny! It's friggin' freezin' outside!" grunted an older man from a near table,
his muddy brown eyes slightly hazed with tipsiness and tiredness.
He reacted without a second thought, closing the door and walking toward the bar where
bunch of giggling women and a few young men sat amicably chatting up someone who he
couldn't see yet, but suspected was the bartender; not that he cared.
He refrained from breathing, he might have been brave or stupid enough to mingle with
humans in his state, but he didn't trust the monster in him not to cause a massacre if he caught
the maddeningly seductive smell of blood. He didn't care that probably he looked strange,
holding his breathe, but he was sure that in the dimly lit place no one would notice this little
detail about him.
He walked over the farthest end of the counter, separating himself from the mortals, not
caring about the curious stares and excited whispers that surrounded him. The blood lust was
still there, teasing him and urging him to feed, but he just wouldn't do it. He couldn't bear
the thought of drinking animal blood at the moment and no matter how much he wanted it,
humans were still taboo for him.
"What can I get you?" A soft, slightly husky voice sneaked into his ear, breaking through the
blocks over his mind.
He looked up, demonic black eyes meeting with glowing emeralds that surprised him with
their close proximity. The owner of said orbs looked young, maybe not older than twenty
with a messy mop of black hair, a heart shaped face, high cheekbones and a button nose
which made a quite appealing picture together. However it wasn't the boy's features, but the
intensive smell of raging thunder finding its way into his nose, despite his carefulness, that
caught his attention. That and the lack of emotions coming from the young barkeeper.
The nameless human cocked an eyebrow, still waiting for his reply and he had to swallow
the sudden surge of venom that pooled from his throat as a twenty-something looking woman
sat on the stool on his left side leaning as close to him as she could, making him draw an
unintentional breathe only to be attacked by the spicy aroma of her life force which ripped
a low growl from his throat even though he could feel something wasn't quite right with the
scent.
"The strongest," he rasped finally. His fingers were digging into the top of the counter, and
he could barely restrain himself from losing the last ounce of his self-control and draining the
woman and the entire place dry.
The boy didn't ask if he was alright, just like his viridian orbs didn't show any concern or for
that matter anything at all. He was smiling a small, sincere if a bit dry smile, but he couldn't
feel any emotion oozing from the bartender even as he nodded and turned away from him,
allowing the woman on his left to reach out for his arm, coyly scraping her longish red nails
over the fabric of his shirt.
"Hey there, sweet boy," she purred, leaning impossibly close to him causing his fingers to
clench into fist in an attempt to stop himself from grabbing the human by her fragile little
neck and biting into the tantalizing warm flesh.
He gritted his teeth, flashing his feral, black eyes towards the red haired wench and smirking
cruelly, making her flinch even though her seductive smile didn't disappear.
"Oh so you're the dangerous type, eh?" she murmured, licking her lips. "My favourite."
He raised an eyebrow mockingly, his gaze raking through her scarcely clad frame, blood red
painted lips and boring brown irises that were lined with black kohl, trying to enhance her
otherwise lifeless gaze.
"Unhand me," he demanded with a sneer.
"Aw, come on, you know that you want it too! Sitting here all alone and lonely, you just–"
She faltered at the venomous glare he sent in her direction.
"I said unhand me and I will not ask again," he hissed through his gritted teeth, his sweet
smelling breathe wafting over the woman's face dazzling her and causing her emotions to go
haywire.
"What will you do then?" she whispered, excitement and pure lust rolling off her, yet
underneath all of the disgusting human desires laid something cold and unmoving.
"I will slowly tear you apart. Ripping your limbs out one by one, while I'll bask in your
tortured screams," he murmured into the human's ear, too softly for anyone else to hear and
she squeaked then fled without another word, her empty eyes full of fear.
"I see you've met with Maribelle." He wondered if the young human's voice had become
husky from too much torture inducted screaming, but dismissed the idea almost as fast as it
came to his mind. "Here's your drink," the boy said when he didn't look up or answered.
He was in no mood for idle conversations with strange smelling bartenders and it seemed the
human got his silent message because he just put the glass down in front of him and walked
away to serve the other patrons with a barely audible sigh.
He looked at the spotless glass on the top of the counter, his hand reaching for it almost
unconsciously sloshing the amber liquid which was so similar to the colour his eyes should
have been that it was almost painful. A painful reminder of the caged, forced lifestyle he
accepted for something that never seemed to be really true.
He wasn't afraid or worried about drinking the liquor that smelled of strong alcohol and
malt and oddly enough honey, he knew it would taste just like everything else: dirt. And the
alcohol would not cause him to lose control over his body either, but he felt like pretending to be at least a
little bit human... a real human not a half-assed puppet he had to act around his family and the
humans at school.
Drinking was something Alice and the others wouldn't approve of, and he felt delightfully
deviant as he lifted the glass to his lips and gulped down the whiskey at one go... Only to gasp
in bewilderment as the fluid burned its way down his throat carrying the first real flavour
aside from blood he could taste in the last two hundred years: malt and honey and alcohol.
His eyes snapped toward the bartender who was chatting with a middle-aged man at one of
the tables, pink lips pulled into an amused smile, before the boy jotted down something into
his little notepad, nodding to the older human, who smirked back, molten silver eyes alit with
arrogance and expectation, causing him to try to seek out the man's emotions, finding nothing
but an ounce of lust and a sea of resentment laced resignation.
He narrowed his dark gaze in suspicion, examining the haughty aristocratic features, the long,
straight nose, the flawless ivory skin and pointy chin that was framed with long luscious,
silvery blond hair and couldn't help but found the man severely out of place with his self-
importance and expensive looking clothes and snake-headed cane, which only made him even
more suspicious of the strange human.
What could the mortal want from the young bartender? Did he mean any harm? He mused,
a part of him wanting to find out more even though he had no reason to. He shouldn't have
minded the business of mere mortals, and he had no intention to pay attention either, yet for
some reason both the green-eyed boy and the conceited man seemed to hide something under
the empty smiles and emotion free expressions.
"Want another?" He was slightly startled by that hoarse voice which was another new
experience; no one could sneak upon him in a very long time.
He stared at his empty glass for a moment, pondering about his options, then shook his head
and stood up.
"One was enough," he muttered, even if he knew it was a lie.
"Come back whenever you feel the need." The boy didn't try to detain him which was another
surprise, and he nodded before putting down some notes on the counter, knowing it was way
too much for a simple whiskey.
He didn't care.