Chapter 1

He loved the quiet of the area. It was simply a bonus that humans were few and far between. Jasper had never been a fan of them, more often than not giving them no consideration whatsoever. They were a necessity, but more of an annoying one than anything. Other than food, they were pointless; always have been.

Purched on a high branch of a tree, he looked to the sky, allowing the twinkle of the stars to lull him into a sense of near peace. It was a clear night, the first in days, and Jasper had every intention of taking full advantage of it.

He hadn't been there long, only a couple of hours, and he had taken that time to think and remember what it was that found him there.

"You just don't get it, do you? It was always were never supposed to be here this long."

He stared at the pint sized vampire before him, his lips pursed and eyes narrowed in both confusion and his rising ire. His voice when he finally spoke was low in an attempt to keep it level. "Always? You said..."

She had roughly crossed her arms, huffing as she did so. Rolling her eyes, she leveled him with a look that showed nothing but annoyance as she cut him off. "I said whatever I had to to get you to do what I wanted. You thought I actually cared about you? How could anyone love a monster, Jasper? And that's all you are, all you'll ever be; a soulless monster. As it is, your usefulness has run out, for all of us, and now you're nothing but a liability that no one wants."

As the last of his confusion melted away, leaving nothing but anger being, Jasper nodded slowly once. "A liability, am I? A monster, you say?" He paused and a chuckle tickled his throat as he bent at the waist and locked his black eyes on Alice's golden ones. "You have no idea; not yet. But you will."

Doing everything she could to keep the bravado that was quickly going out in the face of Jasper's irritation, Alice cleared her throat. "Just leave, Jasper. Leave and don't come back."

His lips turned into a nasty smirk and he lifted a hand, lightly, playfully, poking Alice in the nose. "Very well, since you asked so nicely and all."

It was after Jasper stood and started walking away that Alice made the mistake of calling out to him, asking him 'just like that'. He chuckled deep in his chest, glancing over his shoulder with a sinister looking grin. "Oh, no. I'll see you again."

In his tree Jasper chuckled again at the memory of the little annoyance's body shaking tremor at his words. She stepped in it, big time, but there was no care in him to dwell on it at the moment. She would get her's, they all would. For decades they made him for a fool, using him and his ability for their own prolongment and personal enjoyment. Since the little shit was convinced he was a monster still, he would forever be looking forward to the day he would have the chance to prove her right.

It was encroaching on morning when Jasper stood from his branch and made to drop to the ground when the sound of squealing tires caught his attention, drawing it over his shoulder to the road about a mile from him. Turning slightly, he crossed his arms and watched the car fly down the road and not make the turn. The impact had him chuckling to himself as his head tilted to the side. "That, was pretty." Giving his head a shake, he dropped to the ground and jogged, in no hurry to get to the crash site. "Humans. Always thinking they're invincible until they slam into a tree. Moron."

As he got closer, Jasper's nose wrinkled at the scent of wet dog, pausing and looking around for the thing. When he couldn't see the pooch, he continued on his way, slowing to a walk as the crash site came into full view. The car was totaled, there was no two ways about it. It was completely wrapped around the base of a tree.

Having seen this before, he was not looking forward to the mess inside the twisted metal but, before he got to that, there was a low groan a few feet to his left, drawing his attention from the wreck. Lifting a brow, he made a face. "Gross. It survived."

Heading that way instead, he crossed his arms as he came upon the twisted body of a youngish looking female. Also, the closer he got, the more the stench of wet dog assaulted his nose. Cutting off his breathing, Jasper crouched next to the bloody body, his head cocking to the side as he watched the gashes in her exposed flesh stitch itself back together before his eyes. "Not human, are you?"

Lifting his eyes, they roamed the trees the woman collided with, little tufts of fur, blood and skin leaving a morbid trail from the body to the car without a windshield. Returning his eyes to her, he clicked his tongue, trying to decide what he was going to do. He could leave her there since clearly she wasn't going to die, or, he could take her to his place since he knew she wasn't human but couldn't presently place what she was and that, in his experience, was dangerous.

Decisions... Decisions.