Hey people. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I've been pretty busy with school lately. I was home sick yesterday and I'm still sick today, but I'm starting to feel better, so I figured I'd numb your mind with this authors note. I'm going to a Boys Like Girls concert tonight, even though I have a 100.6 degree fever. So enjoy the chapter!
"Jasper, go see where those four newborns went. They're not skilled enough to go out by themselves. The last thing we need is for the Volturi to come over here to wipe us all out," Maria ordered. I had recently proven myself to her that I could be considered a rank above the newborns. This position often meant helping her keep them under control while she deliberated what territory was worth taking. I also helped her train them to fight now. I smiled as I thought of how I went from just another pawn, a liability, to helping her with truly important matters. I thought of my success in the Confederacy. I didn't care for killing, I really didn't like it at all. My "gift" always made killing anyone backfire, but I would do anything for Maria. That was simply the way it was.
"Yes, ma'am," I replied, darting off into the young night in the direction the newborns had taken. After about thirty seconds, stabbing fear, pain, awe, anger, and shock hit me in almost painful jolts. The newborns were probably hunting, playing with their food again. If they only knew the hell it gave me…
My thoughts were shattered as a bloodcurdling scream echoed into the night. That night was a typical Dallas night. The sky was perfectly clear, not a star hiding behind a cloud. The moonlight illuminated my skin, casting an almost eerie glow on our kind, though humans were merely drawn to the beauty of it, not thinking of what we could be.
I ran into the house from which the scream came from. I recognized it immediately. It was the house of my former family. Nothing could have prepared me for the sight before me. My mother, father, younger sister, and older brother were being drained of their blood by the four newborns that escaped. The scream I heard was the scream of my closest family member, my mother, Lynn Whitlock.
I couldn't just stand there and watch my family die, but what could I do? I didn't want them to die prematurely, but I didn't want this life of violence for them. I looked at the blood pooling on the wooden floor. My throat felt as if it had burst into flames, and I almost lost control right then and there. I cut off my breathing and made up my mind. I had to save them. Letting your family die in front of you when you know you have a chance at saving them is just wrong, even if you yourself could kill them in the process.
My father looked the weakest now, so I decided to save him first. I lunged at the newborns and chased them well away from the beautiful house that I had once lived in. I ran back to the house with all my speed, worrying that it would be too late to save them. I had just hunted within the last hour. I silently prayed to the God I hoped existed that it would be enough for self control. I approached my father, Matthew Whitlock, by far in the worst condition. I focused not on the sweet scent of human blood almost tangible in the air, but on the lives of the people who I had once, and still did, care deeply for.
"Sorry, Pa," I mumbled in his ear as I bit into the side of his neck, pushing venom into his system while desperately trying not to drain him of the rest of his blood. After a brief struggle with my truly monstrous side, I managed to let go of him, forcing myself not to breathe. I didn't waste any time in getting to my mother, who was barely conscious.
"Ma? Can you hear me?" I asked, propping her up on my lap and meeting her strange colored eyes. They were light blue with chocolate brown around the pupils. It was clear that she was going to lose consciousness any minute now.
"Yeah… That you Jasper?" She inquired weakly, trying and failing to sit up to get a better look at me.
"Yes, Ma. I'm so sorry, but if I don't do this, you're going to die. It's going to burn. I love you. Forgive me," I said softly. As I was about to bite her, she asked another question.
"What the hell are you going to do?" She asked, using all her strength. That was so typical of her. She always had a fiery edge to her normally sweet personality.
"Ma, I don't have time to explain right now. I'm a vampire, I'm changing y'all so you won't die now. I'm sorry, Ma," I summarized succinctly before biting her, again letting the venom get into her system. It was so hard not to drain them of every last drop of blood they had left. I again detached myself. Daniel, my older brother, was conscious and had Anna, my younger sister behind him. Anna didn't look good. She was extremely pale, her eyes glassy, but she was conscious. I flitted over to Anna before Daniel even knew I had moved.
"Anna, look at me. It's Jasper," I said gently, picking her up. Her dark eyes met mine with great difficulty.
"Hmm?" Was all she could managed.
"This is going to hurt, but it will end. Trust me," I said as I bit her. Yet again, I managed not killing her.
"Jasper? What the hell is going on?" Daniel shouted, trying to get Anna away from me.
"Saving them. You all were attacked by vampires and if I didn't bite them they would die," I explained. He wouldn't hear it, though.
"You're insane! You're not a vampire! You don't have fangs!"
"Daniel, vampires don't have fangs. Look at me. My eyes are blood red, my skin is hard, extremely pale, and cold, and my throat is burning so badly I don't think I can stay here much longer. Do you want to join the rest of the family or do you want to live your human life and say everyone's dead?" I asked in a rush. Daniel flicked my arm and his eyes widened in shock. After the shock wore off, all uncertainty disappeared.
"You might as well change me, too," Daniel said after looking around at the members of the family. The venom was really starting to burn them. It pained me to see them like that.
"I'm warning you, it's not fun at all. It burns terribly," I warned, but his mind was made up.
"Shut up and turn me."
I bit him, making sure venom got into him. I heard Ma scream in pain, and I ran over to her.
"Ma, please try not to do that. It was hard enough for me to do that as it is. Shh," I shushed her.
Where did I get this self control? My throat was burning so badly. I was barely able to keep myself from draining the little blood they had left. I pondered, maybe it was only because they're my family.
I had to go before Maria came looking for me. I hoped they would stay unnoticed. I decided I would return tomorrow and check on them. I ran off, stunned that I had successfully changed my family.
I tracked down the newborns and led them back to Maria. They settled down a little after I sent them waves of calm.
"Where were they, Jasper?" Maria asked. She was beautiful. Her glossy black hair fell in waves to her mid-back. Her big, crimson eyes locked with mine. No wonder I would do anything for her. She looked so innocent. She stood about five feet tall and was slender with perfect curves. She seemed much weaker than she actually was. No one in their right mind would think she could manage an army of newborn vampires.
"They were hunting. I found them in someone's house. They were playing with their food again," I explained, acting is if it meant nothing to me. She had no clue of how much it meant to me.
