Perfect Gentleman

Summary: Too bad not all vampires were raised as perfect gentlemen like Jasper Whitlock-Hale was.


Alice stared at Leah's imprint. Everybody took turns guarding his limbless body to make sure he didn't get away somehow. They had chained his torso to the wall in the basement. She just shook her head at him as he screeched.

This animal gave her more visions in an hour than she used to have in a week. She knew it was his talent. She got so distracted, looking at all the visions. She couldn't focus on both at once. And the most curious part was that it didn't matter whether Jacob or Seth or any of those dogs was right next to her; she could still see everything perfectly.

Some of her visions even had to do with them. The dogs, that is. For once, she could see. She had never felt this powerful before. This monster gave her power.

"You like it, don't you?"

Alice looked up at him. He looked at her devilishly.

"What?"

"The power. Being able to see. Like a blind man seeing the sun. God, you've imprinted on your own talent, girl."

He started to struggle again and Alice just stared at him. How had he known?

He stopped and sighed. "How do I know, right? Well, I'm a lot like all of you than you think. But different. Very different.

"I've always been this monster, even when I was human. I'd prey on the weak; the ones that were vulnerable. And I'd crush them. A little bit at a time." Alice could see it in his smile, in his eyes, that he got a sick pleasure from this.

"Leah was just too good to pass up. I'd been watching her from a distance for a long time. I let others break her slowly before I went in for the kill. Her boyfriend. Her best friend. Her father. Hell, even her mother, who chose Emily over her. There's just something so satisfying about hurting others. They think that because they live a good life and do nice things that nothing can ever hurt them. It's so powerful to be able to prove them all wrong." He glanced up at Alice. "But you wouldn't know that, would you? Because we're polar opposites. When referring to ones conscious, I'd be the devil that tells them to do the wrong thing. You'd be the angel on the other side, urging them to do the morally correct thing."

He chuckled deeply and Alice shuddered a little as a wave of the future came over her. Most of the visions were horrifying. But some were good.

"Have you ever wanted to do the wrong thing, darlin'?" She looked up at him, her neck stretched out. He didn't look satisfied now. He looked indifferent. Not angry. Not pleased with his own sadism. But almost thoughtful.

"Don't call me that," she whispered. She didn't recognize her own voice. She almost sounded scared. He smiled at her lazily.

"It's because he calls you darlin', isn't it? Your cowboy? The one that's upstairs comforting her right now. Leah and Jasper." He whispered the words, tormenting her, sending visions her way of car wrecks and screaming people and it looked kind of like the end of the world. She could feel him slipping into her thoughts, wrapping his disgusting, impure thoughts and ways around her decent, good ones.

But it was true. She could feel the green-eyed monster starting the get the best of her. Even if she knew that nothing was going on between them, she still wasn't thrilled about them getting so close.

"Things will never be the same. It won't be just you in his world anymore. She'll be there, too. Maybe not romantically, but she'll always be there in the shadows; smiling at him and listening to his thoughts. And he'll always be there to give her a hug and give her someone to talk to; he'll always be there to make her feel special. Kind of like the way he makes you feel…"

"Stop it. That's not going to happen." Alice tried her hardest to flick the thoughts away. But she knew it was true. That was exactly what was happening. He wasn't all hers anymore. Now she had to share. And she had no idea why she hated the though of sharing Jasper so much.

"It's because it's with her. You have to share with her, of all people. You resent her because she's like me. She causes others pain, and you don't believe in that. You believe in happiness and peace. And so does Jasper. So why is he spending time with her?"

Alice took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. His raspy voice still swirled in her thoughts, taunting her. "Because she needs someone right now, and nobody else is willing to help her. He does this because he's a good man. Unlike you."

He glared at her. Then smirked. "You're right. But remember what I said. It will never be the same. She'll always be around now. Always. Because she's always been determined. Nobody can break Leah Clearwater. She may crack, but she'll never shatter. She's too strong, and every second he spends with her, she grows stronger at the broken edges. She's patching herself up. She'll live forever. And even if she ever gets married, you'll still have to deal with the two phone calls a week that he gets from her and the Christmas pictures of her and her husband and children. The visit once every other month. Just you wait. It'll happen. I'll be gone, and she'll get over it. But she'll never get over Pony Boy and his charm. She'll always be here. And you'll resent both of them for their friendship. Because you'll want that with him. Can't you see?"

And she did. She saw both of them laughing together and smiling and having inside jokes. It wouldn't be just Alice and Jasper anymore. It would be Alice and Jasper. And Jasper and Leah.

She let her head fall in her hands. The day had come where Jasper Whitlock-Hale was no longer hers for the keeping. Now she had to share.


A/N: Before I started to rewrite, I got up to chapter 12. I went back to where things started to go wrong (which was chapter 9) and re-wrote up to that point. I think I've gotten back on track. I have a couple of other replacement chapters saved, but I just wanted to ask you guys if this sounds more on track. I thought it'd be better to include some Alice and the imprint, since some people assume that Alice is taking it well.

Review?