Previously:

"It wasn't Eleazar that spoke up. I don't know who this vampire is, but we're trying to track anything about him. Any affiliations, associations. Edward's been contacting covens trying to figure out who he is."

An outsider? "Does he have a gift? Mind reader nomad passing through?"

"No," he sighed. "But his name is Damon, and that's all we have."


Jasper

My hand lowered with the phone, my fingers absently pressing the end-call icon. I blinked at the droplets of rain that cascaded down the windowpane. The world was once incredibly simple. You could argue it was simple enough to be dull. But there was nothing dull about this news.

"Who was that?"

I turned around to face Elise. Her question lingered around us for a long time. It wasn't uncomfortable or awkward. Tense was a better word for it. The peculiar aura crackled around us like electricity. My mind began to draw strings, tying events together, isolating others. And the creature in front of me was the center of it all.

"What's wrong?" She had just injected fresh morphine into her body, and she moved to dispose of the syringe. Her movements were simple, innocent. Her doe eyes were wide and concerned. I watched with incredible awe at the tenacity she held.

I grabbed her arm to stop her, and she dropped her syringe. A minuscule amount of blood slapped onto the carpet. I breathed in deeply, then fought to hold my breath. She looked at me with confusion, alarm. The strings around her tightened. Evidence surfaced, and everything was mapped. Carlisle's illegal activities were mentioned only a handful of times in the past fifty years. One of those times were with Elise. And the only string that tied Damon to that information came from her.

I needed answers. My mind began making assumptions around the dilemma, but the pure truth would provide the only satiation.

"When did you last see Damon, Elise?" My voice was low, but dangerously calm. I needed all of the information delivered cleanly and concisely, with no misunderstandings.

Her eyes darted to the droplets on the window and ran from my gaze. "Before I met you."

My jaw hardened unwillingly. "When was the last time you had contact with him?"

Her eyes widened and her neck bobbed with a swallow. I couldn't feel her emotions, but I could see the physical tells. Anxiety ripped through her, releasing cortisol and drying her throat. She swallowed a few more times. An obvious indication of fear.

It was not the reaction I wanted to see. I moved forward and she receded. I moved until she had nowhere to go but into the wall behind her.

"When?" I emphasized, my arms trapping her against the wall.

Her breathing hitched, but not in a good way. "A few months ago."

My breath fanned her face. "You're telling me that you've been in contact with Damon after Carlisle took you in?"

Her eyes darted back and forth between mine. "I didn't – I didn't have a choice."

Rage bubbled up inside, pushing to be let out. The strings were tightening, but they were tightening around me. When had I let myself get into this mess? Who was this girl? And why was I only meeting her now?

"Jasper," she pleaded. "What happened?"

You happened. I moved away from her and paced around the kitchen. Nothing made sense. The world darkened, and the only light I told myself I could rely on was just another photoluminescent crutch. She didn't shine. She stole the light from around her and reflected it back. It was fake illumination.

Elise stayed pressed against the wall and watched me.

"The Cullens are being put on trial because Damon went to Aro," I hissed.

Her hands came up to her mouth. "No."

I was in front of her in an instant. "What have you done, Elise?"

She looked up at the ceiling, pressing her lips together as she fought to withhold the tears in her eyes. I grabbed her chin and adjusted her head as one would do to a camera on a tri-stand.

"I—I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

They were empty. Empty apologies. The moment she uttered them, a hole the size of my fist appeared right next to her in the wall.

"You didn't tell me anything about what was going on." And that was the part that stung the most. The Cullens were in deep shit, but the source of it all had been with me all along.

She shook her head frantically, ignoring the giant hole the wall. "I wanted him gone, Jasper. I broke the phone after I found out what he did to me."

Phone? There was a phone? "You were in constant contact with him?"

"He said—" she swallowed. "He said that if I did this, he wouldn't kill me. He would let me go."

"What exactly would you call what you did? Be very specific," I growled.

"Jasper," she closed her eyes tightly. "Please."

"Be specific," I pressed.

"He wanted me to find out what I could. But I cut contact –"

I needed the confirmation, and she was babbling. I gripped her chin harder. "Did you tell him about Carlisle's venom experiments?"

She bit her lip and nodded as best as she could with my grip in place.

My breaths came out heavy and a small part of my stream of consciousness monitored the rate at which the drop of blood was drying on the carpet. I turned away from her and willed my eyes to turn back into bright crimson instead of the deep black color they currently took on.

Nothing made sense. Who was Elise Adams? How sincere were her words? How could she let out the one thing that would condemn Carlisle? How could she be so naïve?

But I was way too familiar with her naivety. I swam in it. I had done my best to drive her away from it. The failure weighed me down. All threats were vampiric, but I had made the mistake of underestimating this human.

I swallowed the venom that filled my mouth. This was bad. The Cullens were one thing, but this was personal. The situation completely and utterly blindsided me. There was no plan. No anticipation. The control I thought I exercised over our lives was just an illusion.

"I knew a mate would be disappointing. But I never imagined it would be this bad."

My words stung. I could tell. She let go of the fight and let her tears stream freely. She didn't dare move away from the wall.

"I didn't know it would come to this."

"It doesn't matter," I snarled. "You should have told me."

I didn't see what gave her the courage to be fierce, but her sudden turn of emotions was enough to give anyone whiplash. "Should have. Could have. It's the past. You've told me to stop thinking about the past."

Was she insane? "Yes, you ignored the past and brushed away your mistakes, but you did nothing to mitigate any upcoming threats. You left loose ends and paved way to uncertainties. You moved without a plan."

"I can't believe he went to the Volturi," she whispered.

"Are you hearing me?"

"I can't believe this," she rested her head against the wall in defeat.

"Have you learned nothing?"

"He's a horrible, horrible person, Jasper."

She reasoned through Damon's actions in such a way. Would she be as reasonable with mine? "So am I, Elise."

She put the Cullens in danger. She threatened my livelihood. Most importantly, she threatened her own. Unwillingly, our lifelines were bound together, and she brought great risk to our survivability. Unacceptable.

Her safety would only be guaranteed as a vampire, and the only thing standing in between that and her humanity were my teeth. I moved slowly to stand before her. The tears left wet lines on her cheeks. I brushed them off with my fingertips.

"I hate it when humans cry," I murmured. "Impulsive and a waste of water."

She sniffed and wiped away the unshed tears in her eyes. It was as if she was willing herself to not cry with the fear that it would make the situation worse.

I placed my arms above her and beside her, trapping her between the wall and my body. She had given me the ugly truth that I needed to hear, so she would get the same in return. "I need to kill you."

Her eyes showed me her fear. Her vulnerability spilled over, overflowing her glass. "I never meant for this to happen. Please–"

I shook my head slowly. Did she think I was going to kill her in the sense that I had killed Jennifer or Melissa? "I hope you're aware that killing you means ending your human life and starting your immortal one. Do you really think I would let you die without me?"

She shivered when my hand caressed her cheek. "Jasper, no. You don't want to do this."

"Yes, Elise. I've been wanting to do this for quite some time."

"But Carlisle –"

My hand went down to her neck and held her head firmly against the wall. "Carlisle is gone. He does not exist for you anymore. Your medical consultant is me, and it is my venom that will kill you. Do you understand?"

Her hands reached up to grasp at my hand. "You wouldn't do this against my will."

My lips curled. I repeated her words. "But I'm a horrible, horrible person, Elise."

"I don't believe that."

"That's a mistake on your part."

She pushed herself closer to the wall. "He planted me there. He wanted me to find out about your family. I knew nothing otherwise. I had no idea what he was going to use the information for."

"Did you assume he would've used the information for good?"

She closed her eyes. "Don't do this."

"The past is the past, right? Since you did nothing to cover your tracks, it's my job to do so now."

She peered up at to decipher what I meant. "And how will you do that?"

I shined a mocking smile, showing all of my teeth. "I've already told you. You need to die. The venom that's already in you needs to be populated to increase their numbers against your human cells. We've had this discussion with your precious Carlisle, haven't we?"

I leaned forward and stole a kiss from her trembling lips. Her heart rate elevated steadily, and it was music to my ears.

She pushed me away with all of her strength. One of her hands clawed at my hand around her neck, and the other pressed against my chest. She fought until her hands were raw.

"My skin is too hard compared to yours. The more you hit yourself against it, the more skin layers you shed, and the closer your blood comes to the surface. I would think twice about doing that with a vampire at this proximity."

"Stop it," she sobbed. "Let me go. I want to go."

She wanted to leave? All I was doing was pulling back her death date by two months. How was that horrible? "I gave you that opportunity months ago, and you failed to walk out the door. You've lost your chance."

She pursed her lips, tears streaming at a faster rate down her face. "I was wrong," she said. "I should've left."

"Should have. Could have."

She turned bitter. The tears wouldn't work, but perhaps she figured anger would. "I've been so wrong. You don't belong with people like Damon. You're worse. Liar. Traitor. Manipulator. He was all of those things, but at least he didn't show me that he cared."

My fingers twirled around a strand of her hair. "One day, you will realize that I'm doing this because I care."

"Lies." Her voice was ice. Her hands fought harder against me. "Let me go."

She wanted to be let go? Fine. I loved a chase, and the adrenaline that pumped through her was already addicting. I leaned closer into her ear and whispered lowly. "Run, Elise."

"You're a monster," her voice shivered with emotion.

"This is easier for me if you hate me. I'll give you a three-minute head start."

The moment I released my grip, she ran over the door on the ground and out the doorway. When she vanished out of sight, I began a slow, steady walk. I followed her into the forest.


Her feet wobbled on the uneven terrain as her sneakers pounded on the dirt. Her anxiety probably spiked, but so did mine. I took in unnecessary breaths and still felt that I was hyperventilating. The reality of the situation crashed down on me. I needed to bite this girl, which was an effortless task I could do in hypothetical sleep. But the caveat was that I needed to keep this one alive after the fact.

Her pace slowed as branches and leaves scraped her. Her skin turned red from the scratches, but they weren't deep enough to spill blood. She fought away the trees as they tried to hold her back. Finally, it looked like she had enough. Was she giving up that easily? Maybe she realized that running wouldn't get her very far. She reached a clearing and looked around the maze of trees around her. Her chest heaved from the physical exertion or emotional turmoil. Perhaps a combination of both.

She couldn't see me. I gave her the three minutes I promised.

"What do you want?" she screamed at the wind. "What are you using me for?"

I held myself back. She was tying together her own strings. Two minutes, thirty seconds.

"You're going to turn me because you need me." she swallowed roughly. "My potential is what you care about. Not me. Never me. You see the value in me and will do everything you can to use it, but you only value yourself."

Two minutes.

She paced around the clearing, rubbing the scratches the trees had inflicted on her. "You tell me you're a liar. A monster. And I never believe it. You justify your actions in your brain, and I justify your justifications. It's so fucked up."

One more minute. She looked around at the sky, her eyes welling up with tears. "In fact, you're anything but a liar. You've been telling me the truth about yourself all this time, and I just never believed it. Was this just another deeper layer of manipulation?"

Thirty seconds.

"I can't believe I ever cared about you. How was I so stupid? You kiss me, you push me, you give me journals to write in. You tell me I'm never good enough, then you look at me like I'm the only thing that's ever good enough," she spoke at nothing. Her hands shook steadily by her sides. "Who I cared about and who you really are – they are and never will be the same person."

I scooted in between trees and stepped into the clearing. She took a few steps back when she saw me, her eyes widening gradually.

"You talk too much," I told her. The confidence she used to hold herself high shone brightly against her fear.

"Yeah? Put an end to it."

I smirked, pushing my hair back against the wind. "Only for three days."

"Or forever. If you fail."

I wouldn't fail. She had to live. There was no other way.

I inhaled deeply, eying her skin where the trees had grabbed her. "You're almost bleeding. Almost. Thank you for the delectable pre-course aroma."

Her eyes fixated on the scratches on her arms. I could read the idea that swarmed her before she implemented it. I grabbed her right arm in an instant, preventing her from scratching at the inflictions. It was a rookie mistake. Intentionally putting yourself into danger in a situation like this was desperation.

"Making yourself bleed to get me to lose control? I thought you weren't suicidal."

"Suicide is walking this Earth for eternity with you."

She knew exactly how to bite back. Figuratively. "My venom's not even in you and you've already become so bitter," I tsked.

She yanked at her arm. "You're stalling. Just kill me already. I did the run; I hope the chase was as satisfying as you've dreamt."

It really wasn't. Her hair was tangled up in knots, and she had a big scratch running from her temple to her jaw. The expression that stared back at me emphasized her loathing. Her eyes were reddened from the tears that flowed slowly without her control. It wasn't a picture you'd like to paint of your mate.

My thoughts jumbled. If she egged me on, this was easier. If she begged and pleaded, that was when the doubt set in.

"You're not doing this to protect me. You want my shield," she said. "That's all you've wanted."

I could indulge her detective work. "I can't win this war without you."

She narrowed her eyes. "The mate thing. It's a lie, isn't it?"

We both wish it was. I licked my lips. "Let's find out, shall we?"

My grip on her arm tightened, my senses focusing on the adrenaline pumping throughout her body. Prey. Food. Sustenance.

Mate. Equal. Lover.

No, no, no.

Animal. Blood. Kill.

I growled lowly and pulled her head to the side with her hair, forcefully craning her neck.

She whimpered at the pain. I could see her veins pumping her blood frantically through the delicate skin on her neck. Her voice was above a whisper, and it chilled me to hear the words. "I will never trust you."

Her free hand clawed at my arm that tugged at her hair. I placed a small kiss on her neck. "At least I've taught you one thing."

And then my teeth broke skin.


A/N: Oops.

What are the implications of Jasper's impulsive decision? How far will he go to regain the control he feels that he's lost?