Summary: Jasper's last moments with Maria and his decision to escape with Peter and Charolette. Lyrics by Johnny Cash.. A/N So I know this is quickly becoming mostly songfics but please bear with me. Its just I hear a song, and I feel like it fits with the characters. So then this happens. The lyrics are more like back ground music than actually a part of the story. Anyways hope you enjoy it! :)
He stood in front of the burning pyre, now a tower six feet into the air. He clenched and unclenched his fists, the fresh scars forming on his pale skin. She glided behind his back, her long nails tracing between his shoulder blades.
Her movements were swift and catlike as she floated around, her red eyes flashing toward his blank face. She lifted her hands, placing them on his stone chest as he tensed.
"Why do you torture yourself my love"? She whispered, her lips pursed as she watched him close his eyes. "They are nothing. Merely beasts who have outlived their usefulness." She leaned toward his lips, her long hair brushing over his skin. She wrapped her fingers around the back of his neck, her lips touching lightly against his.
"Your love is a lie!" He snapped, his eyes flashing open angrily as he pushed her backward. "You are the embodiment of all lies".
She hissed at him, her dark eyes flashing viciously.
"Fine, pity the dead, wallow in despair. It matters not to me." She stalked past him, her eyes turning sharply over her shoulder. "If you pity these creatures you are far more stupid than I thought".
He turned away, disappearing into the dark trees. The moon hung high above him, mocking him in its perfection. He slowed to a stop, now several miles from the plantation house he shared with her.
That witch Maria, the woman whom gave him the dark gift and this life of bloodshed. How he hated her, yet how he was attached to her.
He crouched down on the grass, perfectly balanced on the balls of his feet. He ran his fingers up the length of his arms. The scars of his slain victims, a constant reminder or the things he had done.
He pressed his claw into his skin, digging a small hole in his flesh. Vampire skin; impenetrable to all matter except the claws of their kind, a fatal flaw to his victims. How easy it was for him to tear them to shreds as he had done this night.
I hurt myself today.
To see if I still feel,
I focus on the pain.
The only thing that's real.
The needle tears a hole,
The old familiar sting.
Try to kill it all away,
But I remember everything.
Would his eternal life always be this way? Would he have to suffer through the emotions of his dying victims forever? Most likely. As long as he traveled with Maria it would be. Unless there came a time when she no longer found him useful and disposed of him as she did the others.
He wondered what Peter had found. The one newborn he had let escape. Had he found salvation? Was he slaughtered? There was no way of knowing. He had not seen the boy in months.
He stared through the dark trees, his eyes focusing on nothing in particular.
Everything was quiet, the sound of distant footsteps echoing miles away, light and quick, probably deer.
He sighed as he stared down at the wound he had made, it was already healing itself.
He tensed as swift footsteps flew across the grass, within fifteen feet of him. He leaped to his feet, his eyes scanning the trees. His eyes widened as a flash of dark hair passed. The figure matched his height, as well as his structure. Thin, and toned. A woman ran next to him, her brown hair fluttering behind her.
He watched them from the darkness, the dark haired figure turning in his direction.
"Jasper"!? Came Peter's voice as he stopped. He approached Jasper slowly, the woman clinging to his side.
Jasper relaxed slightly, his smile polite. "Peter".
Peter's eyes flashed up and down Jasper's slim frame. "It has been a while friend."
What have I become?
My sweetest friend.
Everyone I know,
goes away .
In the end.
"That it has comrade". Jasper said quietly as Peter walked toward him, his hand touching his shoulder.
Jasper looked toward the woman beside Peter, one of the newborns named Charlotte.
Peter glanced back at her, his hand wrapping tightly around her waist. "This is Jasper he-"
"I know who he is." Charlotte choked, her eyes flashing fearfully up at Peter. "He is the one whom slain the others. He kills under Maria's command". She clenched his hand tightly. "We must go".
Jasper fell silent as Peter sent him an apologetic look. Raising his hand, Peter tapped her arm. "No love, he spared me. He let me go, he is not like her".
Charlotte glanced timidly at Jasper.
"Come with us". Peter said, his eyes flashing brightly. Charlotte's eyes widened. "This life is not for you. You wouldn't have allowed me to live if you were like her. You can leave this place, there are so much better things out there."
And you could have it all.
My empire of dirt,
I will let you down.
I will make you hurt.
Jasper shook his head. "Maria will not simply let me leave. She will come for me and kill me and any whom I am with".
Peter pressed on. "But Jasper she cannot find you. You can hide in the other territories. Or on the other side of the world if you prefer. Maria would not dare venture so far from home".
Charlotte took in Jasper's sullen expression. "Peter has spoke of life elsewhere. He says it is so much different from here. You don't need to suffer."
Jasper sighed, his eyes turning back to the path. To the path that would take him into Maria's clutches once more. Breathing softly, he looked up at Peter. "We must go now then. Leave many miles behind us, mix our scents".
I wear this crown of thorns.
Upon my liar's chair.
Full of broken thoughts,
I cannot repair.
Peter smiled, his eyes flickering to Charlotte. "We will all have a new life. A great one, away from the witch."
Charlotte nodded enthusiastically as she looked at Jasper.
"Come on". He muttered quickly breaking into a sprint as the other two followed.
The first years with Peter and Charlotte were some of the best in his existence. He lived each day with a sliver of hope he had not had in decades. Yet he did not feel complete.
He still felt the emotions of his victims each time he killed. His heart may have been bandaged, yet it was still broken, missing essential pieces. After many more months, he finally came to a decision.
Beneath the stains of time.
The feelings disappear.
You are someone else,
I am still right here .
He approached Peter after they killed several men on the outskirts of town. Walking beside the only friend he had ever known, the two exchanged a glance.
"You are not happy are you"? Peter said as he folded his hands behind his back.
"No. I still feel distraught after each kill. I think for now I must be alone."
Peter fell silent, his eyes dancing up the cobblestone streets. Turning to Jasper, he smiled. "I hope you find what it is you seek." Peter extended his hand, Jasper taking it firmly as they met each other's eyes.
"I hope so too my friend." Jasper whispered as Peter released his hand.
"I do wish our paths will cross again in the future." He said as Jasper nodded.
"I am sure it will". He said politely as he turned away. "Good luck." He muttered sprinting into the alley.
Peter stared after him, Charlotte gliding from the shadows of the alley behind him. "Good luck friend."
What have I become?
My sweetest friend.
Everyone I know goes away,
In the end.
And you could have it all,
My empire of dirt.
I will let you down.
I will make you hurt.
He traveled an entire decade alone, never quite finding what he sought. Though he despised it, he resorted to killing animals to be free of his grief. Yet it didn't last long. He killed less and less often as to keep the pain from returning.
He wandered into Pennsylvania, heading in no particular direction. He had no concept of time; months, years, decades.. Time meant nothing to him.
Though he did notice the steady progression of technology; strange metal 'automobiles' replacing the horse drawn carriages on the roads, light bulbs replacing oil lamps. Things were becoming stranger and stranger.
If I could start again,
A million miles away.
Floating silently through the streets, he hid his red eyes with his hair. It began to rain lightly, the drops of water landing on his shoulders. By the look of the weather, he assumed it was getting closer to spring.
He eluded suspicion by acting as the humans around him did. Finding shelter under the tin roof of a diner, he watched the people disappear from the streets. Turning toward the diner, he stared through the rain streaked glass.
He placed his hand on the door knob, pulling the door back with a fluid motion.
Settling in a booth on the far side of the diner, he tried to quell the raging fire in his throat. He tensed as a young girl approached, her movements to swift and graceful to be human. He watched her dance toward him, stopping beside the table.
"You've kept me waiting a long time." She sang in a voice that made him forget all about his thirst.
I would keep myself.
He looked up into her amber eyes, feeling something forming inside of his chest. Something glimmered in his soul awakening a long forgotten feeling. Hope.
He smiled politely. "Sorry Ma'am".
He watched her extend her hand toward him smiling brightly. Taking her tiny hand in his own, he turned toward the door.
I would find a way.
THE END!! :)