Her Keeper – a Different Love Story

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I just like to play with the characters. My thanks to Jaspersdoll for coming up with the title, and to my wonderful beta EdwardsMate4Ever.

This is a Jasper-Bella fiction. It takes place in current time. Vampires are in hiding but have a more structured society. They take human "pets" for food, and some humans are held in captivity to be bled for vampires. They bottle blood much like humans bottle beer, and this product is sold in the underground vampire clubs and bars. There are a number of "designer" blood labels. Bella's blood has been featured in a blend called "LaGuerra" and is the most popular designer bottled blood of this vampire black market.

Chapter 2-2 – The Meeting

The next morning, the vampire guards opened the door in the front barred wall and the doctor entered. For once, he didn't bring a chair with him.

Usually the only time we saw this doctor was when he came to our barracks every other week to draw our blood. He would arrive, and a chair would be brought in. One at a time, we would take a seat and have large tubes of blood taken from our arms. We were kept here because of our blood, which was food for the vampires, just as if we were cows to be milked. Any resistance was met with a shock from the guard's cattle prod.

But this time, instead of pulling out his tubing and equipment, the doctor stood in front of us and addressed us in a low, anxious voice. "You," he said, pointing to me, "come with me, quickly. The rest of you, go to the showers. Wash everywhere and you will be given new clothes. Hurry, time matters."

We all looked at one another nervously, but the others started to move to the shower room. Millicent lingered by me for just a moment, until I swallowed my fear and stepped forward. "You're taking me to see my mother?" I asked, willing to risk getting a shock to get information.

"Your mother?" he asked, surprise flashing across his face. "No, I'm trying to keep you alive." He grabbed my arm and pulled me with him. "Just do as I say and don't make any noise."

Terror ran through my body at his words, but I followed him, my steps unsteady. I had never been outside the room before, and now was being led out by the doctor himself. What could it mean?

To my surprise, he led me outside of the building, where there was a bitter, cold wind blowing. I was barefoot, walking on the frozen ground, and the sunlight was blinding. I had never experienced full sunlight. I had only seen it through the windows. I wanted to look around but my eyes could not adjust quickly enough. Stopping, I covered my eyes with my hands. The doctor reached back and grabbed my arm again, tugging at me roughly.

"Do you want to die?" he asked me.

I shook my head. Of course I didn't want to die.

"No?" he snapped. "Then hurry."

He pulled me across some dirt to the big house. This was where the women who were allowed out went to work. They had described the inside, but I was unprepared for what I saw. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw colors, colors everywhere. Usually the only colors I saw were clothes of my cellmates and the covers of the books. The first area we went into was large, and the walls were blue. I had never seen so much blue. Even though I was terrified, my eyes were drawn to the ceiling, where something above us was shimmering, shining light down.

My mother had described the house in detail to me. She said there was a chandelier in the entryway. It was "an elegant light fixture," in her words. She used to tell me that there was a small one in our old house, but the one in the vampire house was huge. Those words, elegant light fixture, seemed to pale as I looked at the sparkles above my head, casting off color and light in every directions, as it swayed gently from the breeze that blew in through the door.

But I didn't get to stare long. The doctor pulled me roughly to the left, down a long hallway. The color and textures of the walls looked like the room I grew up in. It was a dull white, but with metal doors leading off to the side at regular intervals. Finally he pushed one of the doors open.

The room had a row of what must have been beds. Though I had never seen one, I had heard the descriptions from the women who cleaned the house. They were rectangles, covered in white, and they lined each wall. From my mother's description, these must be the hospital beds in the medical wing. He took me past all of them, and opened another door that lead to a shower. He handed me a piece of fabric and a plastic bag.

"Take a shower," he ordered brusquely. "Be quick but thorough. Wash everywhere, including your hair. Put your clothes in this bag now."

When he didn't leave the room, I undressed in front of him and handed him my clothes. He left, stuffing my clothes in the bag as he moved, and I got in the shower. I washed my hair and scrubbed everywhere, just as he said. I even ran my finger along my teeth, nearly gagging on the taste of the soap. Once out of the shower, I dried quickly and opened up the piece of fabric he had given me, turning it around in my hands in confusion. It kind of looked like a large blouse, but I couldn't figure out how to put it on. It had little strings that seemed to be there in order to tie it shut, but didn't close anywhere. Finally I left the opening in the front, and tied it.

When I came out of the bathroom, I saw the floor had been mopped since I had entered, as it was still wet. It smelled strongly of the disinfectant that they used when they cleaned our barrack. The doctor was waiting for me as I left the shower room and led me to one of the beds. He patted it, and I climbed up on it. Next he brought out a bottle and spoon. He poured a dark liquid into the spoon.

"Open your mouth and swallow this. All of it. It will taste sweet," he told me brusquely.

I did as told, and then asked, "What's it for?"

"To keep you alive," he snapped in answer. "Get under the sheet, and put this blanket over you. Cover your head if you want. In fact, that might be better. Don't make any sound."

I lay down and covered my head , shaking. What was happening? Why did he keep saying that he was trying to "Keep me alive?" I puzzled over that, thinking that the usual phrase was "Save your life."

I don't know how long I lay there like that. I began to count my breaths, concentrating on staying calm. Anything to stop the fear that threatened to overwhelm me. Why me? Why had I been selected and pulled from the room? All my life I had longed to be out of that room, to see anything else.

And now, I was terrified, and longed for it as a kind of sanctuary. It was all I knew.

Suddenly I sensed I wasn't alone. Someone started to lift the sheet I had over my head, but I grabbed it and held on tight, my fear spiking. Unexpectedly, my fear seemed to be leaving me, and I felt peaceful. When another tug came at the sheet, I just let it go.

As the sheet was moved from my face, and folded around my shoulders, I saw someone in front of me. I was lying on my side, and he was right at eye level, so he must have been kneeling. His red eyes screamed vampire, but his face and blond hair were very handsome. I thought to myself that he would have looked good on the cover of one of the "bodice rippers," as Millicent called them. I stared at him for a moment, and he stared back.

He said something, but it was too quiet for me to hear. I lifted my head up a little though, as I felt my stomach rumble. As he spoke, his breath reached me. He smelled incredible, scents I had never experienced, but couldn't get enough of. I realized I had closed my eyes to focus on his scent, so I quickly reopened them, to see a smile playing across his face. I blushed and smiled back.

His lips moved again, but this time I could hear him. "Are you ill?" he said, in the softest, sexiest voice I had ever heard.

The doctor had said they were trying to keep me alive. Yet the doctor wasn't here now. How to answer? I had never been asked a question by a vampire before. He didn't seem as though he was going to hurt me.

"That's what they're trying to figure out," I answered, stalling, hoping the doctor would come back. We weren't supposed to talk to vampires. Didn't this one know that? Would the guards shock me for speaking to him?

The gorgeous vampire looked at me closely, and I felt a sudden feeling of trust. And unexpectedly, I relaxed. I was supposed to be sick, right? But with what? I felt in peril somehow, not knowing what answer to give this stranger.

As if sensing my feelings, the vampire's eyes moved over my face, seeming to search for something, and he pulled the sheet back a little to find my hand. As he took it in one of his own, he touched my wrist, seeming to be feeling for my pulse. I was struck by how cold his hands were. He smiled again as he asked, "What kind of illness do you think you have?"

I smiled back at him, relishing the good feelings I had, and decided to that since I didn't know, I would play with him. With as straight a face as I could manage, I answered, "Rabies or the black death. They're still trying to figure that out."

The startled look on his face was priceless, but he suddenly lifted his head up to look over my shoulder. I turned my head and saw the doctor standing in the doorway. Then the vampire smiled at me. That smile made me feel as if heaven had opened up and I was standing in its gateway.

"Rabies or the black death, huh?" he asked, drawing me back to reality.

PLEASE REVIEW. I WILL SEND AN EXCERPT FROM THE NEXT CHAPTER TO ALL REVIEWERS.

I had mentioned that Her Keeper has been nominated for the Top 10 completed Twilight fanfictions for March on .com. It turns out that when I started posting this second version, it was disqualified for this current round of voting. So when I'm "done done" with the story, I'll try to get it submitted to them for consideration.

However, it is nominated for the Non-Canon Awards, under the "Royal Fic" category. Voting closes for this one on Wednesday, 4/10. The link is kind of long, but name is thenon-canonawards followed by blogspot and then com . Entire thing is preceded b : /

Probably easiest to find by going to my FaceBook Page, Fourme Jasper.

It's wonderful having been nominated for two awards. As far as I know, none of my stories have ever been nominated before! I really appreciate both the nominations and the support.