I hope you are all liking this story so far! Thank you for reading and leaving your opinions. I would also like to give a big thank you to Fogwood for beta-ing this story. You're phenomenal! Thank you!! :o)

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I stopped just a few doors down from Edward and Alice's room. My eyes remained wide with bewilderment as the events from mere minutes ago haunted me, replaying like a slow, tortuous film in my thoughts. I immediately began to formulate theories, attempting, but failing to find a reasonable explanation for her.

Who was she? I asked myself repeatedly. Her scent was raw and unappealing, yet vaguely familiar, although I couldn't place it. My thoughts were racing.

"Jasper?"

Edward was now standing against the doorframe of his room, staring at me with a baffled expression. His eyes narrowed as he tried to make sense of my rambling.

"You okay?" he asked.

Before I could respond, the door just to my left creaked open. I stiffened as the onslaught of a sickeningly enticing aroma assaulted my nostrils suddenly. A young woman with long, red curls stumbled into the small hallway. She was fumbling through the contents of her purse, initially not taking notice of the danger that surrounded her. I instantly held my breath, as her proximity and my sudden weakness were quickly becoming a deadly combination.

The woman's gaze finally rose in my direction; her eyes then flew over to Edward. She immediately blushed, and I could almost hear the fierce surge of blood in her veins as it raced to settle in her slightly rounded cheeks. The back of my throat was set ablaze. I clenched one of my fists tightly as my other hand gripped the wall, boring into the seemingly flimsy wood effortlessly.

"Oh!" Was the only word the now fearful woman managed to say.

Circumstances such as the one I find myself in now, have always caused me to doubt my lifestyle as a vegetarian. The word itself seemed rather ridiculous. Although feeding on animals served its purpose to a certain degree, it was unnatural for our kind. The blood of mortals was sweet, addicting and morbidly satisfying. Yet it was the equivalent of a human's dependence to illegal narcotics; no matter how sublime and fulfilling the high, the hunger for more only intensified after each dosage.

The woman seemed to be frozen to the floorboards: her nervous gaze shifting between Edward and me in an almost frantic manner. Her emotions, a mixture of fear and confusion, were also accompanied by sadistically motivated feelings of lust.

For reasons I refused to understand, I drew in a deep, masochistic breath. Her glorious scent battered my senses, irrevocably freeing the beast within.

I could feel the wood between my fingers as it converted into sawdust beneath my thirst-driven rage. Just one taste. She wouldn't even feel it. I would be flawless, with only Edward as my witness.

Edward. I repeated in my thoughts, remembering his presence.

Although my glare was focused solely on the foolish woman just within my grasp, I could feel my brother's growing angst and tension. There was absolutely no doubt he'd heard of my plans and was already plotting ways to intercept me without raising suspicion: an impossible feat. Even if Edward were successful in his intervention, the woman would inevitably catch a glimpse of the ungodly monster who desired nothing more than her death.

A low growl rolled off my tongue; Edward stiffened and cleared his throat, attempting to distract me. The woman's emerald colored eyes widened with panic. She intended to take a step back, but when her frightened gaze caught sight of my brother's increasingly darkening expression, she became terrified and tripped over her own feet. As she fell, her curls whipped through the air, pummeling my senses with an almost heavenly scent of lavender and pushing me over the edge of madness. Her life had undoubtedly come to an end.

I crouched and bared my teeth. The beast rumbled fiercely within my chest, ready for the kill.

"Jasper," Edward growled through gritted teeth.

It was as if he never spoke. I lunged forward…

"Jasper!" Alice was now standing between us, shielding the woman with her small, but determined figure. She glowered at me, shaking her head with extreme subtlety: a gesture unnoticeable to the human eye.

I watched as my sister turned to the slightly quivering woman. She flashed her most endearing smile, then helped the lady to her feet.

"Don't mind my brother," she chimed, shooting an angry stare in my direction. "He's had a rather rough afternoon."

Alice glared at me once again, mouthing something only Edward and I would be capable of understanding. I gritted my teeth.

"Do it." She demanded again in secrecy.

"I do apologize," I lied, overwhelming the exceptionally fortunate woman with feelings of calm and extreme happiness.

A smile unwillingly spread across her face, along with a sudden rush of blood. I squeezed my mouth shut and immediately cut off my unnecessary air supply. With one last nod, I pushed past Alice and made my way to what would have been my initial destination, had it not been for all the chaos.

Edward followed, never taking his eyes off me. I waited for him to speak, to reprimand me for my willing lack of control, but he just stared in silence.

A part of me felt deeply ashamed, but my other half, the beast, was disappointed and still longed for a taste of human blood. I heard my brother sigh. He was no longer angry, just disillusioned by my actions. However, it comforted me to know that he also fought to comprehend the motives behind them.

I genuinely apologized to him in my thoughts. He nodded.

"So, are you going to tell me about the girl?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

My thoughts traveled to the events in the park: the girl, the drunk and… the smell.

"There is something different about her," I responded. "Her emotions were so intense, so vivid. So much sentiment, pain and anger confined into just one human girl; it was slightly overwhelming. But most disturbing was her scent." I felt my eyebrows instinctively furrow.

"Interesting," Edward murmured, looking beyond me, lost in thought and reliving my encounter as I played my memories back to him in my mind with greater detail.

"I could also sense her repulsion to something in particular, but am unsure as to whether it was in reference to me or the other man."

My lip pulled back into a snarl upon the memory of the drunken stranger. Whether hypocritical of me or not, his attempts at taking advantage of her enraged me. The southern gentleman within me would never allow such disrespectful behavior.

"What did you think of her?" Alice's melodious voice inquired.

Her enthusiasm seemed highly unnatural after the near tragic event from just moments ago. Alice's eyes twinkled, just as they did this morning at the dock. My suspicions were confirmed when Edward released a sigh and shook his head disapprovingly. Apparently, my sister was being careless.

We said her name in unison, except my call was more of a question.

"What have you seen?" I asked, narrowing my eyes and bracing myself for what could potentially come out of her mouth.

From what I could gather, I was somehow involved with this girl. This rather obvious fact was disturbing.

"You haven't answered my question," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

My patience was suddenly running thin.

"Well?"

"What would you like me to tell you? That the girl's an emotional mess, with deep unresolved issues, and also happened to reek like a wet street dog?" I scowled, that was a little harsher than I'd ever wanted to sound when speaking to Alice.

My sister grew irritated by my ruthless response. But seriously, what was she trying to get at? Was she referring to the girl's looks? And if so, what of them? Her beauty, or lack thereof, was not a concern of mine.

"What have you seen?" I asked for the second time.

Alice sighed heavily in resignation.

"I've only seen clips of certain things. She's part of the crew. And yes, she's rather… intense."

"Okay, let's get to the point. What exactly does this girl have to do with me?

"Her name is Leah, Jasper. And despite what you think, she has excellent hygiene."

"Alice, I don't particularly care to know her name, nor do I think her hygiene of any importance. Tell me, what does this Leah girl have to do with me? And why don't I want to kill her?"

Perhaps I should have phrased my last question differently. It's not that I didn't wish to kill her, though ending her life was not exactly a deep desire of mine; but what I wanted to know was why her scent did not appeal to me.

"She's hardly a girl. Leah is twenty-three."

I had to bite my tongue, but the gesture didn't stop a growl from rumbling through my gritted teeth. I wasn't so much upset, as I was fearful of the endless possibilities surrounding this girl.

"Alice," Edward said in a serious tone. "He has the right to know."

I instantly felt waves of intense hatred, rage, pain, fear and… lust? Deep, passionate, devastating waves of feverish desire.

Oxygen was not vital to my existence; however, I found myself incapable of drawing in a breath. Although Leah was a stranger to me, I could feel her deep inside my lifeless soul, as the emotions of Alice's visions hammered my body. The intense sensations only amplified as Edward replayed them in his thoughts.

Despite the fact that shewas indeed attractive, I couldn't fathom the thought of experiencing such strong sexual feelings with her. The idea was simply… wrong.

Hating the girl was far more natural, as if it were embedded within me like a primal instinct.

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I pulled awkwardly on the too short skirt of my uniform. Great. Although I was taller than your average woman, I knew for a fact I wasn't the only 5' 11 inch female on this ship. I have never been one to dress-up in frilly outfits or cake on several pounds of make-up; a little mascara and sheer lip-gloss was more than enough.

I was so out of my comfort zone with such a tight and revealing ensemble.

Unfortunately for me, I'd have to wait until the end of my shift to trade my too small set for ones that didn't make me look like I was serving up a little more than over-priced drinks.

"It really isn't that bad," I heard Bella say in a sympathetic voice.

"I look like a prostitute," I deadpanned.

"You've got great legs?" she muttered, shrugging her shoulders.

I rolled my eyes, gathered three empty glasses that were strewn over the table and made my way back to the bar. I couldn't help but to notice the unwanted and highly uncomfortable stares from some of the customers. Excessive attention from random men wasn't exactly something I was used to. Embarrassment washed over as me.

"Just relax," I said aloud, taking in a deep breath.

The air was fresh and salty, with no remnants of that nose-hair singeing, corrosive, too sweet stench. It was probably the paint or some kind of concentrated cleaning agent. I made a mental note to bring it to my supervisor's attention. After all, fumes that strong couldn't be healthy.

Just as my thoughts had begun to drift, a beautiful face burned itself in my mind. The better part of last night, once Bella stopped murmuring Jacob's name repeatedly in her sleep, I found myself unable to get rid of his memory. Despite my best efforts to clear my mind of all things trivial and get my ass to sleep, the man's silk-like, golden locks and fierce expression, refused to budge.

I still couldn't pinpoint what had set him off in the first place, nor could I understand why, if he despised me so much, would he even bother to help. I shook my head, deciding that I would no longer waste my precious brainpower on that cocky son of a bitch.

"I've been looking for you," an irritatingly familiar voice called out.

I thought that maybe I was hallucinating, because I couldn't possibly have that much bad luck, especially on a ship of a few thousand people. However, when I turned around, there he stood, like some sick, twisted déjà vu, only this time he was sober.

"Look at my arm!" he scowled, waving his braced extremity just inches from my face. "Your little boyfriend nearly broke it!"

What?!

"You deserved it. Who the hell do you think you are going around grabbing people? You're lucky to have walked away with just a bruised wrist and ego," I shot back.

He didn't respond. The bastard just stood here, glaring at me with his beady little, pathetic eyes. And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, he proceeded to grab my arm… Again!

Oh hell no! No, he didn't.

"So where's your boyfriend now, sweetheart?"

Something shifted inside me, rippling through my body at an incredibly fast rate. My vision doubled momentarily, as if a part of me were attempting to spring away from my soul. I felt myself shake uncontrollably. A growl escaped my lips. What the fuck?

The man's eyes flew wide. He released me instantly and backed away as fast as his short, stubby legs would allow.

My head was spinning; but before I could process what the hell just happened, a disgustingly familiar scent threatened to burn a hole in my lungs.

His eyes were fixed on me; he wore the same blatant, defiant glare.

A sudden rush of raging, murderous instincts suddenly began to swell inside me. I clenched my fists as I made my way to where he was standing, fully intent on bypassing conversation and ripping his perfect little head off.

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