Two

Another breath. Another second. Another minute. Another day, surely. She didn't know what day it was, how much time had passed since she had been here. She only knew the sounds of the door being opened, the voices of her captors, and the feeling of the pain they inflicted on her. She still wouldn't fight back, partly over the fact that she was starving, and although she had an angel among them he could only smuggle her so much food without anyone realizing that anything was happening.

She lay shivering on the floor… or was it the bed? It didn't matter what it was anymore, she only knew she was freezing and the thin, and poor excuse for clothing that covered her skin didn't help much of anything. The door to her room opened at that moment and she bit her lip to stop the sound of her teeth chattering together. She squeezed her eyes shut knowing this had to be another one of her torture sessions. Her body curled up tight as she bit her lip harder in anticipation of being jerked up.

"Alice… are you okay?"

Alice… that meant it was the nice man. He always called her Alice, not Mary. She didn't mind. It seemed as though Mary was gone forever. Her happy childhood days were over, and she would never again know what it was like to be how she was then. The empty ache inside her made her stomach churn and she almost became sick on the floor again, although she still wasn't sure if she was on the bed or the floor. She no longer had a family, nobody to support her or save her from the pain inflicted on her. She couldn't understand why her body hadn't given up yet, and why was it still fighting to stay alive. She knew that mentally she wasn't winning this battle she prayed every single time it would be the last time her body would withstand this treatment, that this would be the day where it finally ended, and she would not be able to open her eyes to the blackness that surrounded her daily.

"Alice?" The whisper came again.

She never spoke to him. Every single time he would come in and sit silently with her trying to make sure that she was still surviving. His ice cold fingers pressed against her wrist. She could barely tell the difference between the temperature of his fingers and how cold she actually was. She didn't even flinch at his touch thinking how it was mean that even the staff was so cold, surely they didn't need to freeze those that worked in this horrible place as well as those they held captive.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"No worries, the thirst will go away, you will see." Charlotte commented and they left the house quickly,

Nobody knew they were going, only that they were, and as they drove for what seemed like forever, only stopping for gas and to hunt again Jasper felt himself ease only slightly. Maria would never find him again, and surely the Volturi would step in and handle her army especially now that he was gone. He wondered if she had even noticed his extended absence yet, and if she was going to send others after him only to realize that his scent left no trail after a certain distance, and they wouldn't know where to find him afterwards. Soon he would no longer be Jasper Whitlock. He would find a new identity and live as though he never existed.

Days later Jasper found himself in a house that was in a completely different place, a state he knew wasn't much in his human day and age. None of them had ever mentioned, or talked about coming this way therefore nobody had anything to trail them with. Jasper looked out of the window thinking about how alone he still felt. He would need to hunt soon because he had been trying to stay away from human blood as long as possible hoping maybe it would be easier if he didn't kill as often. The feelings of his victims still ate away at him, and he could help feeling the disgust rising inside of himself again at the thought of how many had fallen prey to him, and their fear at the realization of what he was, and the fact they were about to die.

Peter walked up behind Jasper and looked out of the same window. "Rainy day outside."

Jasper turned to look at Peter and nodded. "It is."

"You can go out in the rain… nobody will notice any difference in your skin aside from the fact that you're pale, but it won't make much of a difference. They won't care about you being as pale as you are… just stay far enough for them not to see your red eyes…"

He shook his head. "I'm not comfortable with the idea of going out in the public near humans in the daylight. I can wait until tonight… then I will hunt."

Peter laid a gentle hand on Jasper's shoulder. "You cannot keep denying your thirst. You will be of no help to yourself that way. Go out, get a decent hunt in. Don't worry so much about the people that you drink from, it's necessary for you."

He shook his head. "If only this had never happened a poor innocent person would not have to be hurt, or killed by me. How I wish things had turned out differently."

"But they didn't, so try and make the best of this situation. You can have a life… your own life away from the war down south, and happy. Maybe you would find someone that you could love as I have."

Jasper's face had lost all remnants of civility. He was furious as he stood almost nose to nose with Peter. "Nobody could possibly love me… love THIS… I'm a monster of the worst kind. You and Charlotte are not nearly as bad as I am, but there is nobody out there who could look at me whether they're a vampire or not, and agree that they love me."

"Oh Jasper, you don't know that for certain." Charlotte stated as she answered the room. "You put so much blame on yourself for the horrible things that happened in the war. You must let yourself see some reason. You are not the monster that you say you are, if you were Peter and I would not be standing here in front of you… you would have killed us by now…"

He shook his head, as if he didn't want to believe the words that Peter and Charlotte were genuinely saying to him. "I need some air, I'll be back later."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Her body was lifted from where she lay and she knew it was time. She kept her eyes shut, refusing to open them to the reality of the situation that was about to enfold again. She felt the routine that always took place happen around her. How could one human's body handle so much torture? Surely there would be a point in time where the body would finally give in to the torture and would cease to keep living. She didn't want to feel this pain anymore. She felt somewhat fortunate as she knew her body was weaker than it had been on that first day, but she still felt strong enough, as though she could take another one of these torturous sessions and live to see another unmeasured time in that black room.

The sharp pain coursed through her body and a scream tore from her. The pain in her throat from the screaming went unnoticed again as the torture she was receiving overrode any other pitiful pain she could have possibly been feeling. She cried out for it to stop, she couldn't stop herself from screaming out that she would stop having any visions if only they would stop the pain. She could faintly hear the sounds of someone's laughter at her begging request, and she felt the pain intensify for only a split moment before the blackness took over her senses. Her body collapsed and she was not awake to feel the kind doctor pick her up with ease while he scolded the others for their sick treatment of her. She was far too fragile for the amount of torture they were putting her through, and he understood that. The doctor was impressed by the fact that she was still breathing after yet another session.

He set her down gently on the bed in her room. He waited with her hoping that she would revive soon. When she did not wake for quite some time he rushed to sneak her some decent food from his lunch. He would not be eating it, and she had more use for the food than he did. He snuck back into her room again and waited for quite some time until she finally woke up and when she did, she only lay right where she was, shivering.

"Alice, here… I brought you some food." He carefully moved her into an upright position and placed the food in her lap.

She looked in his direction, the darkness not allowing her to see his face, she had never seen his face, but from the sounds of his voice he sounded beautiful. She wished she could tell him that she didn't want to live, but she felt so grateful for his kindness in all of this that she was afraid if she did he would no longer make this painful process any easier for her. If she were going to die from this she would rather it be with this angel still around than be alone, more alone than she already was.

Reluctant as she was to eat the food she began devouring it as quickly as possible because she was starving, and her body was well aware of that. "Eat slowly, or you're going to make yourself sick… and the others suspicious."

She nodded and forced herself with all of her willpower to take smaller bites, and actually chew her food. While she sat eating her food she began to wonder how she could have possibly let herself become this way. She was an animal. She shook the thoughts from her mind and continued eating. Again, she never spoke to the man who sat silently with her, but she appreciated his company nonetheless.

Suddenly there were loud noises coming from outside her door. She wondered what was going on to cause so much commotion. The man in the room with her spoke, "I have to go, Alice, but remember eat slowly… and I will be back soon."

His voice had come from the opposite side of the room, it sounded like. How could he possibly have gotten over there? She didn't hear or feel him get up and walk across the room. The door to her room opened allowing for a little light to spill in the room, but her eyes could not adjust fast enough to catch the mysterious man who continued to help her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The wind was picking up and blowing strands of blond hair into his eyes. The smell of human blood taking over his senses, he looked around in the direction in which the wind had carried the scent. Standing alone was a woman who was looking at the river, arms wrapped around herself as she stared into the moving water not even paying him any mind. She was careless for not paying any mind to him, but then again not every person was thinking of murdering the innocent for the simple fact of draining them of blood. He would be able to get her fast enough that she wouldn't even realize what was going on.

Her emotions at the moment were frustrating to him because she was obviously having a rough day as she was very upset. He tried his best to tune her emotions out, and in turn attempted to soothe her. Once her emotions seemed to have calmed he silently and swiftly made his attack. There was nobody else around to witness this attack, and it only took but a moment for him to pounce on her and soon he felt his thirst easing away. He was careful about everything he did as to make sure that nobody would ever know who could have possibly killed this woman.

As soon as it was over, although he felt stronger, when he looked down upon the woman's face he felt a sick feeling take over. He truly was a monster, one that would never be able to change this fact about himself. He would be murdering humans for the rest of his immortal existence. He would never be able to be around a human again without wanting to kill them, and more than likely following through on that craving. This was an innocent person, someone who had a family, someone who had a life he didn't know about, and he just destroyed it without a second thought.

He stumbled back away from the lifeless body and ran in the opposite direction back to the house. He should have never left. Had he remained in the house instead of running away this woman could still be alive. The news will spread about her death and soon he will feel the full impact of the damage he had just caused on some person's family. Jasper walked toward the house and immediately let himself fall back on the large cushioned chair sitting closest to the door. Peter and Charlotte seemed to have left the house empty and he drew in a deep breath and exhaled.

The door opened to the house and Jasper automatically knew that both Peter and Charlotte had arrived. "Is everything all right, Jasper?" Charlotte asked.

He remained silent.

"Jasper, what's wrong?" She pressed again, walking over to him and sitting down next to him on the arm of the chair. "Please, if there is any way that we can make this easier for you, then let us know so we can help you. You are our friend, and we don't want you to be so upset. This was supposed to be a better life for you."

"I need some time… I need to adjust… I'm sure that this will all get better for me." Jasper replied.

Peter and Charlotte kept their eyes on him for what seemed like hours before Peter finally said, "What happened when you left earlier?"

Jasper growled his hand grabbed a vase that was sitting on the table in front of him and he threw it at a wall before either Peter, nor Charlotte could react. The crystal shattered into the tiniest of pieces from the force, and it came flying back out towards them falling short of where Charlotte and Jasper remained sitting. She put a hand on his shoulder in a move to attempt to comfort him.

"I found a woman at the river. I wasn't even trying to find anyone. She was someone who happened across my path, and she was there at the wrong moment in time. She did not even know I was there, and I took her life from her… I… am a monster… I'm a killer of innocent people!" Jasper sat forward his elbows resting on his legs and his hand hidden in his hands.

"Oh, Jasper, you have to drink from them to stay strong… there's nothing you can do about that. If you don't feed you could kill more than just one person…"

His face came up from his hands and his crimson eyes held Charlotte's as he spit out his next words, "Don't you see it… DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! I don't WANT this life! I don't WANT to kill an innocent woman because I thirst for HER BLOOD! This is not a life! How many years will I have to continue this… this… HELL before it ENDS?!"

Peter stepped forward now and calmly said, "Jasper… would you rather be here or would you rather go back to Maria and live the life you did there?"

Jasper stopped talking and thought for a moment. This life was nowhere near as horrible as his past with Maria. He had no intentions of ever returning to her, and he never wanted to take part in another vampire war again, or any war for that matter. He had had enough of fighting and killing, granted he would never be able to avoid the killing aspect because he knew that would never change so long as he required blood to sustain his miserable existence.

"You're right… this is an improvement."

"I'm sorry that you had to be changed, and that you ended up with this life, but there is nothing that I can do to change that. No matter that, I will still not let you end your existence merely because you cannot handle the simple fact that we must feed from humans. Jasper, now is the time that you get over your pity, and your pain and begin to live the life you were given. Come Charlotte, let's leave him be for a while so that he can think about the things that we have told him."

Charlotte rose slowly from her seat next to him, she seemed as though she were going to say something, but then decided against it, and followed Peter out of the room. Jasper laid his head against the back of the seat staring up at the ceiling, he closed his eyes and hoped that there was something better to this life of his. There had to be something better…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Things were happening around her so fast these days she was unsure what to make of it all. It had been days since she had seen the doctor that always helped her and she was beginning to wonder if he had finally given up on her and decided not to waste his efforts on her. She was a lost cause. Every single day that she remained in her dark room she grew weaker and weaker. She felt as though her memory was getting worse. She could hardly remember anything about her family. She had a family right? Surely, she had to have some sort of family because she would not exist if she didn't have one at some point.

Where was she anyway?

Her hands reached around her to try to touch anything that wasn't the object she was laying on at that moment. Her eyes strained to see something… anything… but there was only black. She whimpered, and the sound of her voice made her jump. How long had it been since he heard a sound come out of herself that weren't screams as a result of the pain. Her memory seemed to recall the intense pain that she was being put through, but that was almost everything she could remember. A growl came from the other side of the door, and she did not understand what could possibly have made that sound. All was silent outside of her room for a short while until her door opened and shut quickly, before the door was even fully open she closed her eyes tightly hoping that she would be forgotten.

"Alice." The voice whispered, and gentle cold hands touched her. "Alice, please… I know you must be weak… but I need you to try and be strong. I'm going to try and save you. There's, well, something bad has gotten into the building and I need to make sure that you are safe, do you understand?"

His face must have been close to hers, she thought, she could smell his sweet scent. She had never smelled something so sweet as him. He must be an angel, she thought to herself, only an angel could smell so beautiful, sound so beautiful…

"I KNOW YOU'RE HIDING FROM ME… I KNOW YOU ARE!!!" A voice outside her room yelled angrily.

She tried to force her body to move, but she couldn't, she couldn't move anything she was so weak. Her angel would be so upset to see her fail him. His hands reached for her and lifted her effortlessly from where she lay. She wanted to be able to stand for herself, but she honestly could not remember the last time she stood on her own without being dragged.

The door to her room burst open and bright light poured into the room from outside. Her eyes burned from the intensity of white light that was streaming into her room at that moment. The light didn't quite reach them, but it was enough that if her eyes could only adjust she would be able to look upon the face of her savior. A strange growl came from the direction of the door. It sounded as though he inhaled as well.

"Ah, is this your pet?"

"You know she is no pet…"

"I will never understand how you can make a connection with a human without killing it, but this one… ah, but she smells DIVINE! I must taste her…"

"No! Do not touch her!" The man holding her cried out.

His grip around her tightened and she felt the force of someone trying to grab her, and then she felt herself flying through the air, and fell in a heap on the floor. She lost consciousness for a while. She was out long enough to miss the fight that ensued after she had been flung through the air. When she regained consciousness she was alone with the man she had come to look upon as her savior.

"Alice we must act fast… there is no other way… what I'm going to do is going to be painful, and it may be painful for many days, but try… try to be strong. This is the only way for me to save you. I'm so sorry…" He muttered. "If you don't want me to do this… Alice, is it okay? May I save you?"

For the first time since she had been under his care she said something. "Yes." The word was so weak, but if he wanted to save her then surely it could not be so bad or painful as he says.

He cradled her in his lap for a moment and his face dipped down to her neck. He inhaled sharply, and when he exhaled his icy breath hit her skin making her shiver. Suddenly he bit into her neck, her eyes flew open and before she could react to this action he was across the room from her holding a hand to his nose and mouth. The pain was almost instant as the fire under her skin spread and intensified. This was nothing like the pain that she had experienced before… this was far more excruciating she could not see how she would survive. She only wanted to die so as not to have to feel this pain.

The man who had been taking care of her, her savior, her angel… no, he could not possibly be those things and still cause her pain like this. This was beyond pain, beyond torture, there was no word that could describe this feeling. She cried out from the intensity of the pain. As she cried out she faintly heard someone yelling.

"NO! NOOOOOO! You're changing her… YOU'VE BITTEN HER SHE'S RUINED!"

"I couldn't let you kill her."

"YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS! YOU'VE RUINED HER!" There were faint sounds of banging, things breaking around her. She could hardly focus on everything happening around her.

She was blinded by the white hot pain that had taken over her entire body, and soon everything went black again, and she was no longer conscious.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The days were all passing by with much of the same routine every single day. Jasper had finally gotten just a bit more used to going out during the daytime on the days where the clouds seemed to take over the sky. Today happened to be one of those days, the sky seemed to be threatening to open up and allow for a heavy rain. Jasper was standing outside with his back against a tree and looking up at the sky as if he were only waiting for it to just start raining.

"Jasper, have you hunted lately?" Peter asked from the doorway of the house where Charlotte stood right behind him.

"Oh… it's been a couple of days…" Jasper answered, "Why do you ask?"

"I know that you haven't hunted for more than just a couple of days, and I was only wondering because Charlotte and myself were thinking of going for a hunt later tonight if you would come with us…"

Jasper was thinking of ways to refuse, but the thirst he had been avoiding was clawing at his throat and he decided it would be safer to just accept the offer and join them rather than come up with another excuse to be left alone he forced a smile on his face.

"I'll go with the two of you tonight. Maybe this time you two can control me a little better than I can control myself."

Charlotte shook her head and seemed to be holding back a comment that she was ready to say. As for Peter his face only showed a split second of his frustration before he was calm again on his own. "I wish you would have a little more faith in yourself Jasper."

"Oh, maybe someday…"

"Well, tonight we go hunting, be ready as soon as the sun goes down." Peter said, turning back into the house.

Jasper leaned his head back against the tree again and looked back up at the sky. It was getting darker and he was beginning to feel that the weather was starting to agree with his mood. The thought almost made him laugh. He stopped and his eyes fell to the ground. He couldn't even remember the last time that he laughed, it seemed like an act that was virtually impossible… it was a faint memory deep back in the corners of his mind of things long forgotten. He groaned slid down to the ground covering his face with his hands.

He had lost his grasp on humanity. No longer was killing people morally wrong, but a matter of sustenance for him. He still hated the rush of fear and despair that flooded him as he fed from his prey. He wondered what it would be like to be happy again, it was a feeling he no longer understood first hand. Experiencing a short-lived happiness from someone he was about to kill did not allow him to appreciate the feeling. He could never quite miss the feeling, as it had been so long since he felt anything other than anger, or any other negative emotion that came from a being around him.

The sky slowly got darker as night began to creep up on the day. Jasper heard the door open and he knew that it was time for him to move. The realization of what he was about to do, along with all the emotions that he was about to experience both his and not his own. He rose from where he had been sitting since he slid to the ground hours before. Peter and Charlotte were standing next to him, both with encouraging smiles on their faces.

"Shall we?" Peter asked.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The pain was slowly easing, she began to gain consciousness and suddenly she saw a face. This face was not one she recognized, but she didn't care. He was beautiful. She could feel the pain subside, but still she refused to open her eyes in fear of losing the image that was haunting her mind at that moment. His eyes were dark, his face looked slightly tormented, the look on his face making her wish she could reach out and hold him, try to console him. He was pale, with beautiful golden hair. He was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Somehow, she knew she had never seen him before, but she knew him, she knew who he was…

Eyes closed, she began to notice the sounds around her that seemed to ring inside of her ears. So many different sounds were flooding her senses that she wondered where she could possibly be that so many things were happening and she could hear it all. She flexed her fingers first, and then after realizing she was indeed still alive, her eyes fluttered open realizing that the room she was in was dark. Something was odd despite the fact that it was dark she could see everything clearly as if it were daytime.

She moved to sit up, the movement happened in a split second and her eyes widened. She was beginning to feel uncomfortable when she realized that she was holding her breath. She inhaled deeply and screamed out in pain when a feeling equivalent of a fire in her throat overcame every other feeling she was having. The fire that she felt in her throat was awkward it was not a burn that was associated so much with pain as with…

"I'm so thirsty…" She whispered, jumping slightly at the sound of her voice. It sounded so musical. It was as if she were singing instead of speaking. She tried as hard as she could to remember how she ended up here.

She looked around noticing a letter sitting next to her, picking it up she unfolded it and began reading.

Dear Alice,

I'm not sure what you're going to remember when you wake up, and I apologize that I will not be there to guide you. I know that you are wondering what has happened, and I am writing this right now before I die to explain to you what I can. You are a vampire. Most people would not believe those words, but it is true. That is what I am… what I was, by the time you read this.

There are a few things you need to know, that thirst that you're feeling at this very moment. You must be careful. You must give yourself some space, far away from any humans. That is why I brought you here, where I could hide you… I needed you to be away from where you were, away from all the easy victims. You have to remember that you cannot kill any person. There is a way to survive without killing anyone. Somehow, I know that you will be fine. There are clothes for you… you will see, right next to you. I'm sorry I don't have more than just that to give you for now.

You have to understand that this was the only way that I could save you, and although you might not have wanted to live… although you might have preferred an end to the life that you had… I could not do that to you. I could not just let you die…

The letter ended with that. Her name was Alice. At least she knew this much, and now she could go on at least having some identity. She changed quickly and soon found herself standing in the doorway to the house overlooking fields and fields of grass, in front of the house stood one tree, tall and strong. As she looked at it she had another vision of the beautiful man she had seen before she opened her eyes to realize what she had become. She knew he was like her, and she knew that she had to find him…