Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Stephanie Meyers' work. She created the characters. I may have come up with the originals, but they were intertwined with Meyers' magnificent genius. The story points of view are broken up into different books, like in Breaking Dawn. I do give credit to Stephanie Meyer for that style of writing as well!

A Note: I'm so sorry for being such a late updater! With school and work it's very hard to sit down and write anything! I'm so sorry, but I'm going to start trying to write as much as I can! Well anyway things are going to start getting hot and juicy. This chapter is what is called Fluff. So this is a WARNING: Fluff ahead! (In some areas.) Anyway the next chapter is going to more serious and things will start to pull together and speed up. So please review and any questions you have will be answered at the end of every chapter. Thank you all for reading, and I love all of you for being patient with me! Love always, Maria Anna (SnowBirdy21) P.S Check out for outfits and collages that I've made and others have dedicated to my story, my link is on my profile. Also check out my website! Warning LONG Chapter!

The Night of the Hunter

"Pray to your god, open your heart

Whatever you do, don't be afraid of the dark

Cover your eyes, the devil's inside" – 30 Seconds to Mars

Jasper.

I turned around, slightly shaking from the nervousness that had suddenly taken over. Jasper had a small smile played on his lips, yet he still looked pained. I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat, and unconsciously put a hand over my heart; it was beating faster than an 808 drum. I tried to speak but I couldn't remember what he had said to me, it was like I completely forgotten how to think. I then I remember what he had said, "You're very good,"

"Thank You." I tried not to sound nervous but for some reason I felt like he already knew I was. I felt all those flooding emotions, so many torturous ones. So much agony, as I stared into his golden eyes, he stared back I felt time freeze, and all I could do was stare.

His smiled widened; it didn't reach his eyes though like he was holding back, "You should continue." He came toward me, motioning to the piano.

I just nodded stupidly staring as he came to sit down next to me, taking a second to process everything I turned to the piano and began to play again. I played the dream tune, a sudden wave of self-consciousness swept over me, and I was suddenly very nervous; messing up a few times I tried my best to continue. Around Jasper I felt like I was breathless; the feeling of being surprised and shaky, I even felt a little scared. He had this aura about him that when you first saw him, and he looked at you with those pained eyes, it was if the whole world would crash around you. Not only did I feel breathless I felt this odd worry for him, like I had known him my whole life and I worried over him like I loved him with all of my being, I was empathetic, I felt all I could for him. All those emotions I felt around him, were they his? Or was I just crazy and my imagination were running wild out in the open. I always had a strange imagination, and it always got the best of me. Or I could be right, all the emotions could be his, and maybe it had to do with the fact that he was a… Vampire.

"What?" Jasper's confused voice shook me from my thoughts and I stopped playing.

Had I said Vampire out loud? I looked at him, slightly afraid of what he was going to say and how I was going to answer him, "Um-"

"I guess Alice left it to me to explain everything," his voice was distressed; I felt vexation run through me, along with light guilt, for being difficult; so I stayed silent. His elbows were resting on his knees, while he held his head in his hands. I took a deep breath and continued to look at him, waiting patiently. His golden eyes looked at me through his scared hands, "I will tell you everything," he paused looking fully into my blue eyes, "But first we –you –will relax, and I suppose I would also like to get to know you." He tried to smile but it looked more like he was in pain, "Do you have any other question that doesn't involve Vampires." Once again he sounded pained, grimacing ever few words.

I tried to keep my face from looking distraught, but I had a feeling I was having no luck, "If I'm bothering you please, tell me. I'll just go back up to the room Alice has me in," I got up and started toward the stairs, I felt slightly disappointed he was just sitting with his head in his hands again. I stopped on the stairs, looking back at Jasper I actually suspected to see him in the same position, but to my surprise he was looking at me. His golden eyes boring into me, I smiled and continued up the stairs. Trying my best to ignore the beating of my heart, as I reached for the door knob a porcelain hand wrapped around mine. I felt electric run through me, and the hand retracted. Spinning on my heel, I saw Jasper was leaning again the wall his head thrown back against it.

"You don't…" He took a deep breath, "You don't bother me." Another deep breath, "You just smell…" I lifted me arm to smell myself. I smell? "You smell so good." He struggled greatly with his words, but I didn't understand what he was saying. "What I mean is…Your blood smells good"

Oh

I didn't know how to answer, when he looked at me, so I changed the subject, "Can I ask you something?" I asked him, "Why do you look so um… tortured. " I looked down; I slightly regretted the words that came out of my mouth.

He chuckled, it sounded slightly nostalgic, "It's all the humans, and they all smell like you. Well to tell you the truth you smell like nothing I have ever –never mind. Ah well the rest of the Cullen family had been on this diet a lot longer than I have. And well I haven't completely adjusted yet…" He looked up at me again, looking straight into my eyes, "Would you like to go down stairs, and maybe well we can finish this downstairs." He offered his arm to me, smiling a genuine smile. I nodded, smiling back at him, trying not to reveal that I was actually slightly frightened, "I know that you are… scared." He was still smiling as I looked up at him; confused, "Some of us are gifted, Alice can see the future." There was a slight change in his voice when he mentioned Alice; love and admiration, "Edward can read minds, and I am an empathetic. Sometimes it's unbearable to feel all the emotions of all millions people around me." He look down at me, "It's like it comes off in-"

"In waves." I said, knowing exactly how he felt, for that was how I felt around him.

He looked strangely at me, and then looked at the stairs we were descending, "Yes. Strange that you would understand." His voice had a slight smile, "Edward said you were special."

I stifled a laugh, "Special?" He nodded, "Well I don't fully understand what you mean but special, but I do understand what you mean, in a sense." He looked down at me incredulously, "Whenever I'm around well you, I feel like a thousand emotions come pouring down on me." I looked up at him, feeling those emotions was like a thousand pounds on my shoulders.

Jaspers face was blank, "Strange." I cocked my head to the side; once again he words confused me. "It's the opposite when I'm with you." He smiled down at me, "It like you… you make everything silent. I don't feel when I'm near you, well other than your emotions." I looked up at him incredulously, "It's a change. It feels quiet and I feel at peace." He smiled as we entered the kitchen, "May I ask you a question?" I nodded in response, "Why do you seem so unhappy?"

I looked at him, surprise was surely written all over my face. I was unhappy…I was unhappy because my mother was gone, I was away from my home, I was drifting away from my brothers, and my father was marring another women shortly after his wife died. My life was in pieces… "My mother was my best friend. I did everything with her; we went shopping all the time." I smiled up at him, "We were close. One day we got into this huge fight, it was about something stupid, but it was a fight. She left to catch a breather, calm down, she didn't come home. My father he –he didn't even notice. We got a call hours later, she was found um dead. They weren't sure what hit her…it wasn't another car…so they just wrote it off as an animal, but there was no animal blood at the scene…" I paused, trying to regain the composure I had when I started the story. "I never said goodbye and the last thing I said was 'I wish you were dead.' Ha" I laughed bitterly, "I guess I should have been careful of what I wished for." I looked at Jasper, and once again his face was blank, just looking at me. "Um may I ask you about your past? And um those scars…"

His continued to stay blank, his eyes were looking at me but, it was like he was a million miles away. His beautiful face suddenly looked away from me, and he ran a hand through his golden locks. He then leaned on the counter, now he was looking straight at me confidence in his eyes. "Well this goes back, 1863 to be exact," He looked at me, "I was only twenty back then," he continued. "I was the youngest major in the Confederate Army in Texas, only took me a few years to get there. I was loyal and strong, I respected orders and my superiors. I was happy, and proud of myself." He smiled; I could tell the memory pleased him. Suddenly his face fell, "Then she and two others changed me into what I am now. The other two were later destroyed by me when they became of no use to Ma- her and I, plus they were planning to defeat Ma-she and I and take over." He paused waiting for me to comprehend everything.

"When you say she and her. Why do I have the feeling you mean…Maria." I said, fear suddenly taking over me. I started to breathe heavy, "Maria? Is it her?" I asked. One half of me hoping it was true; to prove to myself that I was right and there was something strange about her, and the other half was hoping it wasn't; for the sake of my family. Jasper nodded, I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. "Continue, please."

Once again he nodded, and continued were he left off, "Maria and I shared a short romantic relationship," a strange pang of jealousy hit me, like a sharp pain in my chest, Jasper looked at me I knew he felt my jealousy but he continued, "it lasted until I decided to leave." He looked out the glass window, "When I became a vampire, I gained the ability to feel and manipulate people's emotions. I commanded Maria's newborn army that participated in the Southern Vampire wars, while changing newborns they would become wild and bite me." He grimaced, "While I was serving under her army, I befriended a newborn named Peter, who Maria decided to keep." He smiled again, "Hah he kept me from going insane for a time, when Peter ran off with Charlotte, a newborn that they were supposed to kill, and I let them go." He looked at me a smile played on his lips, "After a few years living as nomads in the Northern U.S, Peter and Charlotte came back and told me about a way vampires could coexist in the North, and to Maria's dismay I left with them. I couldn't deal with the way I was living, being with her almost turned me into a savage."

Jasper scowled, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath, "I thought I loved her but I was wrong. I don't know what I felt for her, but it wasn't love." He said through gritted teeth, the memory it pained him. I reached over taking a risky chance by taking his hands in my own, and giving them a light squeeze. His eyes shot open and looked at our hands, at first he just stared at them incredulously; I was ready to take them away, when he looked up at me, smiled and squeezed my hand. "Anyway." Another smile, "A few years later I left their company, as I was still not happy, since I was able to feel everything my human victims were feeling while I –while I - killed them." He stopped completely, then suddenly continued, "I was also reeling from my years with Maria, a year later I met Alice." I large grin appeared on his face, and the jealousy came back, but he didn't seem to notice it this time and continued. "I fell in love. And the thing was we didn't just run into each other…she found me. She found me in a diner in Philadelphia, and with the help of Alice's 'sight'; we searched for Carlisle and his family. She also told me about the ability to survive off of animals instead of human blood." He laughed a little, "I didn't know such a thing could exist but I followed her anyway." I shook his head, still laughing, "When I became a member of the Cullen family and while attending high school, I changed my last name from Whitlock to my adoptive sister Rosalie's surname of "Hale" and I posed as her twin due to our physical similarities such as hair color."

"I was newest member of the Cullen family until Bella came along. And well that's my story." He concluded removing his hand from mine, and he looked at me expecting something.

"Wow. That- I don't even know what to say…" I laughed nervously, "I can understand now. All the emotions I feel when I'm around you. I was confused at first –wondering how a human could go through so much. Well you're not human and you've lived such a long life with such experiences."

He smiled, "Yes. Yes I have. But you, you're strong. Not many humans can't go through that kind of pain and still keep that positive attitude and still try to live the way they lived before the tragedy. "He understood me, and that brought the biggest smile to my face. "Are there any more questions?"

I nodded, "Maria. I want to know about her. What does she genuinely want with my father; you have to have some idea? You know her better than I."

He nodded. "I'm not exactly sure what she wants, but from the last time I spoke with her she was trying to get me to join her again. To finish what she started all those years ago, and well if I remember correctly you heard the rest," he smiled grimly, "She plans to do something, but I'm not sure. All I know is that you and you're family is in danger." He looked at me; I could feel the sympathy running through him into me.

I felt panic run through me, I felt myself begin to hyperventilate and I could feel the tears running down my cheeks, "What am I going to do. I-I—"I felt Jasper try and calm me, "I can't tell my family about Vampires! I'll go straight back to the nut house and my Father would be completely insulted if I told him his fiancé was a blood sucking leech!" I laughed bitterly. I felt insane as Jasper calmed me, "I don't know what to do." I said solemnly.

"Come with me." Jasper whipped a tear off my cheek, took my hand and led me into another part of the house.

He pulled me into a large room, completely painted white, a large window made up the entire wall, the sun shining through. As Jasper walked in the sun shined on him and I was stunned. Dazzled even, he shined like diamonds, and I was sure that wasn't the reason he brought me into the room filled with rows of paint supply and canvas.

"Do you paint?" He asked, I barely heard him my mind focused on his body; I could only nod, "Would you like to stay here. Maybe relax." Once again I could only nod, "The I'll leave you-"He began to leave, I grabbed his hand, and "You want me to stay?"

"Yes, I could use the company." Smiling I went to sit by a blank canvas, I wasn't sure were Jasper went but I knew he was somewhere watching me.

I already had a picture in my head.

A dark room, with only the yellow light of the sun shining threw a small window. A women with long curly hair –like my own –sits at a white piano, while a man with curly golden locks sits behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist. The wooden floor was lite by the sun and couple was smiling as the woman played the piano. As I began to sketch the outline, I felt surprise rolling onto me, they were from Jasper. The sketch was beginning to look like it was the two of us, but I convinced myself otherwise, and told myself it was just an imaginary couple.

I heard Jasper bring a stool next to me, I never took my eyes off the paper, but out of the corner of my eye I saw him sit and watch me patiently, "If you can. I'd like you to find a way to steer clear of Maria." I then noticed, his light country accent, one that slightly resembled my own.

I didn't take my eyes off the paper has I painted the background, "There is a banquet at the hospital tomorrow night. In order to honor my father, your father is supposed to attend; I assume they want the whole family there." I looked away from my painting, "Will you be attending?" I slowly continued to paint.

"If Carlisle allows us then, yes, I will be there" I couldn't see his face but, I could tell he didn't want to attend this little banquet. "I'm not very good around humans. This banquet might be too much for me to handle." He ran a hand through his golden locks.

I put the brush down and turned to him, looking him straight in the eyes, "Are you struggling now?" I arched an eyebrow, "The truth please."

He sighed, and smiled a crooked smile. My heart skipped a few beats and I knew he had heard it, "I am struggling. If that's what you want to hear." He laughed bitterly, guilt in his eyes. "You – as I said before - smell like nothing I have ever tasted." He looked at me, as if he was asking permission to continue. I nodded, "It's not like a flowery scent, more like honey, cinnamon." He looked away, "You're sweet." He then smiled at me, I laughed lightly.

"Hmmm, so that's what I smell like," I sounded indifferent. "Jasper what do you like to do in your free time?" I decided to change the subject.

"Read." He said simply, "I have Alice, and unlike Edward I didn't have time to learn thousands of languages, and instruments. Now Edward spends time with Bella and his Daughter. He doesn't have time anymore, like I never had."

I nodded, "Edward has a daughter?"

He smiled brightly, "We don't have any pictures of her yet, but I'm sure you'll meet her." His grin widened, "She's a wild child."

I laughed, "I can't wait to meet the munchkin." I said as picking up my brush and I began painting again.

Jasper and I slipped into silence. And about two hours later my painting was finished, it looked exactly like I had imagined it, yet no matter how you looked at it, it looked like Jasper and I sitting there in front of the piano. And once again I decided to ignore it.

"May I keep it?" Jasper from behind me, his hands on my shoulders and his warm breath on my neck, made the little hairs on my arms stand up. I nodded, and Jasper walked across the room, picking up a chocolate brown, wooden frame. Taking my painting he leaned it on the wall to dry with the frame next to it. "Esme will love it. And she'll love you." I smiled. Esme I met her once when visiting my father at the hospital, she was a very sweet woman.

Grrrrrumbbbbble

I looked down at my stomach, and Jasper laughed loudly. I looked up at him in surprise, he was laughing whole heartedly. "Do you realize you went a whole day without eating?" He laughed again. "Come, I'll see what I can make." He took my arm again, and led me to the kitchen, still chuckling lightly.

"Do you have any fruit? I'm not a big eater." I said meekly, truth is I didn't want to eat in front of him.

"We have apples." He picked up a perfect red apple; I motioned with my hands for him to throw at me. He looked at me indifferently, like he thought I couldn't catch, despite his reaction he threw it. I landed perfectly in my hands, rubbing it against my shirt I took a bite out of it.

I smirked, "I'll think I'll head to bed." I walked up to Jasper; standing on my tiptoes I kissed his cheek lightly, "Thank you. I had a good day."

I walked up the stairs, silently munching on my apple. As I entered the room Alice had set me up in, I heard Jasper shuffling around downstairs. I smiled thinking about the amazing day I had, and climbed into bed. I read from Pride and Prejudice, and Romeo and Juliet. No luck falling asleep.

As I started to doze off Romeo's words continued to play in my head,

I fear, too early: for my mind miss gives some consequence yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date with this night's revels and expire the term of a despised life closed in my breast by some vile forfeit of untimely death.

MaryLittleMary - Hmmm I don't know...Maybe its a JasperXOC thing maybe its not...You'll just have to read on...Thanks for reviewing by the way. Much appreciated.