Elise


First Conversation with Jasper


I got too comfortable.

The guest room they provided for me was twice the size of the room I had shared with three others back at base. Large windows adorned the walls, letting in sunlight and views of the beautiful Pacific Northwest landscape. The marble bathroom I had to myself had endless hot water for me to indulge in. The bed could have been made out of feathers for all I knew. It was a major upgrade from the stiff spring mattresses that my back was used to cramping against. Unknowingly, Damon had bought me a weekend getaway at a spa. Except this was the longest weekend of my life.

I brushed my hair slowly, letting the droplets of water ease out. Hot showers were rewards at base, and rewards weren't given often enough. They had claimed it was better for our immune system and skin to drench ourselves in ice cold water. But they weren't human, and they had no right to such claims. Cold showers were the devil's waterfalls and no one could convince me otherwise.

I pulled out the phone from my back pocket and read the only text on the screen.

Status.

I bit my lip as my fingers tapped away. Day 2. They have a human. But they claim she is part of the family.

I never got any replies. I only hoped he got mine.

Placing the phone securely underneath the queen-sized mattress in the room, I padded down the hallway. The grumble in my stomach told me I needed calories.

I hovered at the top of their grand staircase and peered down at the open kitchen. A familiar gaze met mine.

"Good morning." The blonde man from yesterday greeted me. "The doctor left to grab you your meds."

A vampire was doing errands. For me. I couldn't help the small smile on my lips. I skipped down the steps and my eyes focused in on the coffee machine. I sighed to myself. Hot showers and coffee? This was the spa.

I immediately tried to grab the carafe from the machine, but the force that held it back jerked me to a stop. Why was it still taped? Had they just bought this? Did that human not drink coffee? In that case, she was the real monster.

"We've had that for two years, and no one's used it," The blonde clarified.

How amusing. They bought all of these gadgets for show. Their kitchen was filled with unnecessary machinery, while the Jovu practiced absolute minimalism. If it wasn't critical to our survival, it didn't have a need to exist.

I prepared the machine and left to find the coffee grounds. The blonde vampire was extremely helpful in this process. He even got out the milk.

"Thank you," I threw him a smile. "How did you know?"

He didn't respond. He only examined me closely. This was the one with the unusual approach to human behaviors. He tried too hard with his breathing, which made his chest rise and fall with exaggeration. But he also didn't try hard enough, because I could probably count the amount of times he blinked within an hour on my fingers.

Letting him sway in the corners of my thoughts, I commanded myself to enjoy this cup of coffee. My first sip was heaven. I let the delectable aroma into my senses. It had been years since I had smelled, let alone tasted, fresh grounds.

Oh, they didn't like that. Whatever forces that deemed me unworthy of pleasure made their appearance. I was smited, once again. My body had a way of reminding me of my humanity. Pain was a good tool for that. In a world of vampires, it was always beneficial to be aware of your human qualities. Getting wrapped up in immortality easily made you forget how susceptible you were to everyday things. These pains in my body kept me grounded. Seeing the positivity through the haze of pain made it better.

The blonde man grabbed my arm. His sudden kindness felt wrong. It was so odd that I told him to stop. He persisted on keeping me steady, letting the pain wash over me. Then, it was gone. It always faded. That was one thing I could count on.

The Jovu didn't touch us unless they were hungry. I was used to cold skin on mine only with the sensation of my blood flowing out of my body. This man's cold hand was on my arm, but my blood remained where it belonged. I noted the obscureness of that.

I took a few deep breaths and returned to the sanctuary provided by my mug.

"How was your morning?" I made small talk. They acted like humans, so they had to bear through the worst trait we imposed onto our selves. The small talk.

He ignored it. "Does that happen often?"

I looked down at myself. Quite often. "Is there a problem?"

He narrowed his eyes. "You seem like you have some problems."

And you seem more like a robot trying to pass for a human being. "Who doesn't?"

He didn't like the way I skirted around his probing, but he remained adamant to get something out of me. "How long have you been with vampires?"

"A few years."

"You must like us enough to still be in contact."

My eyes danced around the kitchen, then met his. A frown tugged at my lips. He was surely joking, right?

"You don't just walk away from vampires. What was your name?"

"Jasper."

It was more of an unusual name than Edward. I had known many Edwards, but never a Jasper.

"That sounds like a dog's name."

If he didn't like my comment, he hid it well. I continued. "You seem like decent vampires. You have a system here. There's the father figure, the brothers, the mom. I don't quite see how you view Bella. Is she really the girlfriend?"

My skepticism amused him for some reason. "Edward's girlfriend."

"And he doesn't drink from her?"

He stepped a little closer with interest. "Should he?"

Yes. Maybe. Why else would a vampire keep a human? "I think so. I don't know. I'm not a vampire."

"We're vegetarians," he repeated Carlisle's point. "We're on an animal diet. Hence, why our eyes aren't red."

Got it, thank you.

"I know. Does it taste good?" The fridge called. I needed more sustenance than milk and caffeine. My feet automatically led me on the hunt for food.

"No."

It was short. It was sweet. It was unexpectedly honest.

I returned with my sustenance. Carbs. I took a bite out of the slice of bread. "Then why do you do it?"

He eyed my food with a certain disapproving stare. "If you put something on that it might taste better."

His assumption was only valid through the parallels he drew between our drastically differing worlds. "So you're saying if you lather a squirrel with some human blood, you'd be content?" I lifted the bread up in front of him. "And, wrong. I happen to like the taste of bread by itself. You don't like the taste of animal in any situation."

A small smile crept onto this statue of a man. "I haven't tried marinating my squirrels. Are you offering your blood for this experiment?"

Never. My body didn't like my answer. A wave of agony washed over me.

Through deep breaths, I excused myself out of Jasper's presence.


Preparation for Bella's Party


"Can I leave? Take a walk? Anything?" I was begging for release. The light that cascaded from the clouds mocked me through the tall windows of this gigantic house. Claustrophobia was something I had grown accustomed to with the Jovu. But this time, I had a choice. I didn't need to accept being stuck inside.

Jasper was more than eager to accompany me, and I wasn't complaining. The chaperone made sure I didn't get lost. At least that was what I put in the little boxes inside of my brain instead of the chaperone accompanied his prisoner.

I admired the way my skin prickled with the breeze. The Earth welcomed me back to life. It was the feeling of freedom, but not entirely. After all, I was keeping pace with the vampire next to me.

My thoughts centered around the human. Her count had stabilized. That meant she was going to die.

"How old is she turning?" I asked.

Jasper gave out the information easily. "Eighteen."

He pried for my age in return. An answer for an answer. That was the game.

Bella only got to live eighteen years, while they got to live forever. It wasn't fair. It never was.

I noticed him staring at me, and my eyes lowered quickly. The way he scrutinized my expressions left me feeling exposed. "Sorry. Thank you for taking me out."

Showing outward respect and kindness, no matter how insincere, was the way I learned to control the game. Vampires were just stronger humans with a poor choice in appetite and stronger egos.

Jasper proceeded to indulge me with more answers. I soon found that the event that corresponded with her death was her birthday. It was ironic and deeply depressing.

I dug further. "How's her life been so far?

But Jasper seemed annoyed at the topic of Bella. "Fine. She reads a lot of classics. Very Edwardian upbringing."

Edwardian. I hoped that was a good thing. "Is she happy? You feel, right?"

He confirmed that he did. "She's content. She's been nervous because of her party."

As she should be. Some humans could tell that they were near the end. I wasn't sure how, but perhaps it was a gut feeling. "What does she want to do in the future?"

"I think she wants to study English."

Was that it? "Does she want to change?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"That's up to Eddie. Why the curiosity?"

I gave him my reason. We were mortal and it all ended too quickly.

"It's relative. A century to me is a year for you. A century for you is your whole life."

He spoke utterly devoid of emotion. His sentences were poised, but systematic. It was as if he had no regard for the quick death of humanity. He followed up with that fact that Edward wouldn't change Bella until their marriage.

And that was the end of that. Bella would die. I would know about her impending demise. And I couldn't do anything about it. I was merely a human in this arrangement, and humans had no say in the fluctuations within the vampiric world. Either she would die from a health complication or through the hands of a vampire. Given her age, the first didn't seem as plausible as the latter. She was surrounded by vampires constantly. The risk was already there.

I wanted to know more about this man next to me. He'd been eager to talk to me and keep me company, which was a change. The Jovu touched us on the occasion to feed, but conversation was rare.

I didn't talk to my food, so why should they?

But the Cullens treated me as something more than food. Not just a wrist and a neck. Although, I had made sure to examine Bella's wrists and both sides of her neck for any indication of bite marks. The Cullens carried the same air of perfection the Jovu had effused, which was why the suspicion arose in the first place. Scarring was easy to prevent if they were careful. They could all have been drinking from Bella for all I knew, just not enough to impact their eyes. Did they all marinate their animals in Bella-blood? Was that why they owned a crock-pot?

"When did you join the Cullens?" I asked my chaperone.

He told me about Alice. Alice Cullen. His partner, and the reason why he was brought to Carlisle. He expanded on his empathic powers, which momentarily made me self-conscious about my own feelings. But that quickly ended. I knew he couldn't feel me.

"So, your power," I pried. "Does it have any limitations?"

His spiel was almost premediated. "I can feel and amplify. Usually, people are overwhelmed if they're around me and I don't actively sort through their emotions. If I don't deal with their feelings, they bounce back on them hard."

"I don't feel that way. Are you dealing with my feelings?"

"No. I'm not."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't a blatant admittance of truth either. No, he wasn't dealing with my feelings because he couldn't feel them.

Pain. I grabbed onto the first thing next to me. Jasper. He held me easily as I focused on my breathing. It would wash away soon. Just breathe.

"Would you like to go back to the house?"

I refused. I refused for this to break me. He ended up apologizing for something that wasn't his fault, but his concern was appreciated.

"You weren't responsive when I asked about this before," he said.

I wasn't responsive and I still wouldn't be. The root cause for my problems didn't exist. The pain ebbed and flowed, but I had no answers. Talking about it would get me nowhere.

I balanced myself on my two feet. Before I let go of his supportive arm, I noticed a few marks glistening with the intermittent sun. I had never seen marks on a vampire before. The striking difference of cracks against perfect porcelain skin was mesmerizing. "You have crescents here."

Those must have been the magic words, because it triggered something in him.

"Yes," he said simply, and marched on. I tried my best to keep up. What history did he have with these marks? Each of them reminded me of the sharp, toenail moon. My intrigue spiked.

We kept walking. I knew he was withholding information from me. This was the game, and we had already established that no information would be given without payment.

"I don't know," I told him. "I have no clue."

"About?"

"Why I collapse like that."

"How long has it been this way?"

Forever, it felt like. "For as long as I can remember."

"Is that why you're staying? For answers?"

I paused. He had just pieced together the perfect cover. I went along giddily. "Hospitals are garbage. Carlisle showed me that he was trying."

He asked if the pills helped.

"Yes. No. Somewhat. In the moment I will do whatever it takes to make it stop."

"Is that why you ended up in the hospital?"

I looked out at the horizon, away from his piercing eyes. "Yes," I lied.

Our time was up. He grabbed me in his arms, as we had discussed. Being touched with permission was a novelty and I accepted it graciously.

"Elise," he said before taking off. "Not crescents. Scars."


Talking to Bella


I anxiously pulled out the phone from under the mattress and saw Damon's message.

Status.

I stared at the screen. What could I say? These people were just normal. They acted unabashedly human.

My fingers were slow and hesitant as I typed. They are vegetarians. They have a human, but she is in a romantic relationship with one of them.

I knew he wanted more, I just didn't know why. Questioning Damon's motives were never in line with keeping your sanity. The less you knew, the better. Just follow what he said and do as you were told. That was how you remained alive. And this was how I would earn my freedom.

I heard footsteps in the hallway. The phone went back into its hiding place.

"Knock, knock," Bella greeted me. "How are you adjusting?"

I plastered a smile on my face. "I'm adjusting well, thank you."

My eyes wanted to dance to above her head, but I did my best to focus on her eyes. Her count ticked, and ticked, and ticked. Down… down… down…

"You must be excited for your party," I said. Small talk was good. Distracting.

"Not really," she gave me a sheepish grin. She invited herself into the room and took a seat on my bed. The phone beneath her spiked my anxiety, but I swallowed it down. "I'm not a big fan of surprises."

I wasn't either. The phone was on silent, I reminded myself. Unless an invisible force beckoned for her to reach out and stick her hand in between the box spring and the bottom of the mattress, we would have no surprises. "But you're turning eighteen. That has to have some merit to it."

"I suppose," she drew out. "The only big event I really care about is the one with Edward. It involves a white dress and a form fitting tux."

Get married tomorrow. Save your life. "How long do you want to wait until you're married?"

Her eyes lit up so quickly that I wanted to look away. Dear God, I couldn't do this.

"A year. Edward hasn't proposed yet, but we're thinking maybe a year."

"After that, you'll change?"

And, she would. If she only got married. What a stupid barrier to entry. She tried to empathize with my pain and asked if I would be alright to attend her party.

Could I bear attending a celebration for her death? I felt like a fraud. I asked, instead, of her family.

"Mother's in Arizona, and my dad's here. You?"

I didn't matter at all at this moment. "Dead. Will they be coming to your party?"

She looked like she wanted to pry, but held herself back. "No. I like to keep them away from vampires as much as possible."

I mentally screamed at her to run. I couldn't stop this, but I could grant her a last wish. That was honorable, right?

Her last wish was consuming an excessive amount of alcohol, and I was her fairy god mother. I had to be. Who else would step up to that role?

Apparently, Jasper. After Bella left, I quickly found him in his room. He had heard, and he even offered to change the drink list for tomorrow's gathering.

I smiled slowly, hoping he picked up on my appreciation.

I wanted to leave and mentally prepare myself for Bella's day, but he coaxed me into staying. His room smelled of old books and leather. It was comforting and unsuitably inviting. I gave in. My eyes lingered on the rows of books. Some were brand new, but most looked old with tattered bindings. He had read them probably more than once. He let me take the time to soak in his sanctuary, but my mind only raced with the reality of tomorrow's event.

Distractions, distractions. Oh, yes. The two other members of the Cullens had returned from their trip. Jasper's partner and Emmett's partner. "I don't get great vibes from your sister."

He gave me a knowing stare. "She's a bitch to everyone."

This family clearly felt the love. My tongue took an automatic route to respond. It was brain vomit. "I think she acts that was because she's scared. Anger is almost always a byproduct of fear. And I'm here. She's scared of what that means for her family. I can't argue with that."

A pause is what I earned from him. "You know so much for what you are."

My word vomit impressed him? "For what I am?"

"Do you think Bella has even half the perception you show?"

Say kind things. Unless a miracle comes out of nowhere, it's her last full day on this planet. "I'm sure she's a very smart girl."

He didn't seem to agree. "Why do you think that?"

It was obvious, wasn't it? "Why would a vampire waste his time with a dim-witted human?"

He didn't care about Bella. He was trying to dig deeper into me. "Edward has his type but that's beside the point. You've been exposed to my world more than most humans I've known."

Was that something I should've worn around my neck like a prize? This wasn't something to be proud of. "It comes with a price. I never asked for any of it. If you could give me the chance to do it all over again, I would run the other way. Not that I ever had an option to run."

He leaned forward. "Who, Elise?"

Damon. His people. "They were disbanded. I think they're all dead."

I hoped they were. If Damon was the sole survivor, I had some advantage. The thought of him made me feel sick, and the reality that was Bella's birthday piled more anxiety on top. I picked the cowardly route. "I don't feel well. Would it be terrible if I skipped the party tomorrow?"

It wouldn't be terrible for me. But it would be for her. And I didn't deserve to witness more death.


Bella's Death


I could hear music. It was sickening.

I had spent the entire day in my bedroom playing the pain card. The chatter of the party below wouldn't leave my ears. I willed myself to sleep, but counting sheep only made me visualize Bella's counter.

Go out there. Take Bella in. Take her in until her count stabilizes to another date. Make an excuse.

It wasn't my business. I had no right to intervene in their lives. Damon had stuck me here as an observer. If I impacted the experiment, I was tampering with it. That was condemnable in the scientific world.

I heard a crash and shot up in my bed. Screaming. Growling.

Yes. It was one of them that would do it. Which one?

The music shut off. The ruckus left the building.

I reached down to grab the phone from the mattress.

Status. He had texted hours ago.

I frowned. Their human is dead.

As I moved to hide the phone, the screen turned on again. A reply.

Are you ok?

My eyes widened in shock. He wanted to know that I was okay? But he wasn't asking to know how the death had impacted me personally. He was just curious if they were planning on killing me, too, which would surely impact his plans.

Yes.

I should've texted him that I wasn't sure. Because really, I didn't know if I was going to be okay. My head pounded with the adrenaline that rushed through my body.

I hid the phone and padded downstairs. My feet slowed as I took in the destruction that was supposed to be the living room. Glass. Everywhere. Dented walls, a broken window. The presents were a mess on the ground. The only thing that stood tall was the layered birthday cake.

It was sad.

I took a deep breath and followed the trail of blood on the carpet to the broken window. Whoever killed her had ran off with her. I assumed the rest of them trailed behind. Were they trying to stop him? Or were they all in a frenzy?

I receded back into the room.

A few hours later, I woke to more destruction. It was very early morning.

"What?" Someone said from outside. "What are you doing?"

I peered out the window, but I was facing the wrong side of the house. I tiptoed down to the living room where the previously dented wall was now a gaping hole.

"She wasn't your mate." I heard Jasper speak. "If she was, you would've killed me. Or if you couldn't, you would've been begging for me to rip you to shreds and light a bonfire."

I shiver erupted throughout my body. Jasper had done it.

I opened the front door. The scene in front of me felt foreign. The Cullens didn't seem particularly upset with Jasper. At least not enough to isolate him completely. Vampires could show this much value to each other?

I hadn't even realized that I was crying. For Bella? For the kinship bond I had just witnessed? Was this the reason Damon wanted to infiltrate them? Because this was what made them strong. They banded together no matter what the circumstances.

The family gradually dispersed. The tension between Edward and Jasper remained, but they acted in truce. Once Jasper was alone, I veered closer.

His eyes were a dashing red. His dirty blonde locks were dirtier. The mud stuck to him and held on. His clothes were tattered and his shoes had gashes in them. But nothing about him looked broken. Behind it all, there was a gleam in his eye. Had he been wanting to do this for so long? When had he last tasted a human?

At that moment, I realized that I knew nothing about this man. But I had to tell him. I had to tell someone. Maybe then, the burden would be lifted. It wouldn't be my problem.

"I need to say this," I hesitated. The wind blew. I realized I was still in a thin layer of pajamas. He moved with instinct to drag me back into the house.

I stopped him. My sentence came out way too quickly, and I hoped his vampiric hearing filled in the gaps. "Jasper, I knew that Bella was going to die."

But, he didn't respond. He only left for a few seconds to grab me a jacket. The kind gesture wasn't lost on me.

Jasper directed me further from the house. I clutched the garment close to me against the cool morning and peered sideways at the man that had fulfilled my predictions. Bella's killer.

My mouth started a tangent. I didn't know how to say this without seeming absolutely crazy. "I knew it," I kept repeating.

When Jasper was satisfied with our destination, he stopped me and directed me to sit on the grass. I noticed how he kept his distance from me. As I sat in the morning dew, he picked a boulder a few feet away. His eyes averted mine.

Wait. He was nervous. Of course, he was. He had just killed someone. But, in a way, so had I.

I started to babble. It was something Damon hated.

He finally held up a hand to tell me I wasn't making any coherent sense.

I had to make sense. This had to be clear as possible. "It's a ticking clock that winds down."

I watched his expression, or at least the parts that he wasn't trying to hide from me. He cocked his head to the side. "Is this a feeling or visual?"

"Visual," I bit my lip. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

He stood up quickly. "I just killed someone, and you're concerned that I think you're crazy?"

Yes. Killing is natural to you. Predicting expiration dates on mortals isn't natural for humans.

"You see, what, a death counter?" It was well put. I peered at him from under my eyelashes. Why did I care so much about what this person thought of me? I inwardly scowled at my childish concerns.

"Essentially," I explained. "Imagine that on every human you see an expiration counter, except that count changes, I assume, depending on their decisions. It's dynamic. Every human has a countdown, which is fitting, obviously. We all die."

He tied the dots together in his head. "So, you knew on Bella's birthday that it would be her last."

I looked away. "It stabilized for the last few days. I didn't know if it would change, but I hoped it would."

He didn't say anything for a while. "You can look at me," he finally spoke. "Look at my mistake."

Your mistake? "I didn't stop it."

"I didn't stop myself either. Hell, I feel great. The view is gorgeous, and I have a newfound strength and desire to run the entire continent of North America."

This was it. This was the man I wanted to see. The one who didn't tear himself apart because of his nature. The role he played with the Cullens was just that: a role. A script. How much of it was true? How much of it was an act? He didn't really feel that much remorse for his actions, did he?

"It's your nature," I said simply.

"Does it make you upset?"

Why would it? What made me upset had nothing to do with him. "I make myself upset. My body makes me upset."

He knew what I hinted at and he closed the distance between us. He let me grip his hand as a wave of agony washed over me.

Breathe, breathe.

Done.

"I feel insane," I expressed.

But Jasper wouldn't have that. He drew his parallels. "Edward probably felt insane the first time when the voices crept into his brain. Alice has seizures for a vampire; her visions disable her. I'm overwhelmed by others' feelings before they even open their mouths. We're all a little bit insane."

He mentioned Edward. The person who probably felt the deepest impact in all of this. I asked what he would think.

Jasper was quick to dismiss my concern. "It doesn't matter. She wasn't his mate, and he already got out his anger on me. Now it's only a matter of time before he goes over to her dad and makes up some story."

I learned about the ultimate cover-up strategy, and I learned about the wolves. With the constantly dynamic environment of myth turning into reality, the existence of the dogs weren't a surprise. It was more of an oh, okay acknowledgement.

Jasper and I shared a moment of silence. For Bella? For her soon-to-be mourning family? I didn't know. But I liked the silence. It wasn't difficult or awkward. Natural. Until I saw him lick his lips.

"A little peckish?" I asked.

"Habit," he smirked.

I tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. "How long had it been since your last?"

He didn't hesitate in his response. "Five years, three months, and six days."

Damn. Was teasing him appropriate at this moment? "You better reset that counter."

He went along with it. "Fourteen hours, twenty-two minutes, and three seconds."

I had to know. "Who did you kill before?"

Jasper paused for a moment. He had no obligation to answer, but a small, barely noticeable smile crept on his lips. He told me about a girl named Jennifer Creighton, where he met her, where she lived, and just how great she smelled.

Weren't vampires possessive? I bet Alice would've been slightly bothered by the way he talked about her. But Jasper soon clarified that they weren't an item anymore. I offered my condolences regarding the news.

But, back to his kills. Jennifer had to be a mistake. But his eyes showed anything but regret. If I didn't know him any better, I'd expect him to wear a gold medal with Jennifer's name etched in on it to show the world.

I asked the important question. "Was Jennifer a slip-up?"

"They're all slip-ups."

His tone begged for me to dig deeper. He wanted me to analyze his inflection, his drawl. Was he lying? Was he being truthful? How deep of a game was this? All I knew was that if it had been an accident, he wouldn't know this much information about the girl.

"That odd," I challenged. "But you've been to her apartment? And I didn't know vampires and yoga mixed."

He narrowed his eyes. "You don't believe me?"

I didn't. Not one bit. "You don't seem the type to cry over his victims. Do you ask your slip-ups their full name before draining them?"

He blinked. Once. Twice. "There are a million responses I could give you, Elise, all with perfectly tied in excuses. Here's one. I'm the weakling in the family."

Excuses. They were excuses. Lies. There was nothing weak about the man in front of me. The anxiety mixed with the adrenaline. Was pushing him stupidity? Probably. "But you're not. You're the strongest of them all. Who was your previous kill and how long did you stalk her for?"

Did he mean to lick his lips? "You assume all of my slip-ups are female."

"Are they not?"

He shifted his weight, offering me a different illusion. "Assuming they weren't slip-ups, how would I keep that from the Cullens? Besides, Edward's the teacher's pet who would rat me out the moment he got inside my head. Let's not even begin to talk about getting around Alice's visions."

Was he trying to throw me off? Did he regret his victims? Did he want me to think so? He was wasting a lot of his time trying to veer me onto this path. His words and his tone were conflicting. His words said to let it go, but the edge to this voice made me want to dig deeper. But I didn't believe him. Nothing in me did.

"Okay, Jasper."

But then, he did something that surprised me. He offered me more. "Sometimes, I stray loose from the Cullens."

Yes. I looked up at the sky. I wasn't an idiot. Jasper was a vampire, and the Cullens were too specialized for his tastes. There was a rebel in there wanting to dye his hair red with blood and adhere to his true nature.

"You are a vampire. You plan your hunt and you go for it."

He shook his head. "How do you know anything about us?"

"I was part of a disbanded coven. When you're with vampires, you learn about vampires. If I threw you in a lion's den you would be super observant about their daily habits."

He scowled. "No, I would be a very happy vegetarian vampire."

He despised the life the Cullens led. "You hate it, Jasper. Why don't you leave?"

Jasper went on to say something about veganism and health. Animal blood was healthier than human blood? His sarcasm tried to mask his annoyance. Had I pushed too far? Why was this a sensitive topic?

"Stop it. You're stronger than this."

I had pushed too far. "Yes, I am."

And then, I was flying. No, I wasn't moving. But he was. With me.

I could feel my heart beat faster. I closed my eyes tightly and waited for it to be over. Vampiric speed wasn't smooth if you were haphazardly taken on a ride. I just prayed to keep my stomach acid in my stomach.

I opened my eyes when he slowed. My eyes met a little house. No, smaller than that. Perhaps it would classify as a cabin.

"You're the perfect victim," he said lowly and brought me inside. His tone chilled me to the core. "I don't feel your misery. I don't feel your sadness. If I killed you, I wouldn't feel anything."

His retaliation was curious. But I was more focused on landing softly on the unsatisfactorily hardened couch. Was I in danger? Probably. But he had just killed a human. I doubted he could go forward with digging my grave so close to Bella's death. The Cullens were forgiving, but to what extent? "I'm sensing you're angry."

He paced. And paced, and paced. I watched this man transform from the quiet, brooding Cullen member, to the vampire huntsman planning his next meal. And his next meal was me. "You don't have parents, or anyone who would worry. I watched Jennifer for a week. Her parents were across the country, and they didn't find out for days afterwards."

It wasn't just the blood. He found his thrill in the hunt. He was a vampire. One who was far away from the vampirism the Cullens practiced, and closer to another I had the least pleasure of knowing.

Jasper went on. He spoke loudly and proudly of his accomplishments. He preached his actions like a savored sermon. When would I get on my knees and praise his deadly worship?

Finally, he crouched down to my level. "Tell me you're scared."

Of him? Perhaps. He could kill me with a flick of a wrist. But vampires exercising their power over me was something I had grown accustomed to. He wasn't anything special.

"You like this place? I have a dozen like this across the country. Some are more pleasant than others."

A dozen? This man was truly living a double life. I shrunk back slightly on the couch. "Do the Cullens know?"

Not as a whole, apparently. No one except for Alice. "You?" he asked me. "Will you tell?"

My lips pursed tightly as I examined him. It was easier to comply than be caught in any situation with a predator like him. "No."

He praised me. "Diplomatic. You sure know how to deal with vampires. Tell me, who gave you this much practice?"

Easiest answer all day. "Damon." Which reminded me. I needed to check the phone and tell him I had found the psychopath in the family. Damon, I think I've found your brother.

"I suppose he didn't teach you to stay out of our personal business. You pry like it's your right."

I didn't do a damn thing. "I speak for what I see. You don't belong with the Cullens. You belong with people like Damon."

I caught the glint in his eye when he asked me more about him.

Jasper had showed me a more honest version of himself, so he deserved some partial truth in return. "He was a true vampire. I'm not sure if he's dead, but he's the one that pumped me full of oxy."

He caught on to my previous lie quickly. "You said you took it yourself."

"We both can twist the truth into something easy."

He pulled me up from the couch and led me to a room. He showed me the timeline that made him who he was. The tallies remembered his history, made up his present, and showed potential for the future. I gazed at the hundreds of lines on the walls. My hands absently went up and traced them. He didn't hide these. Not from the right people. He wanted them to see.

"You need to add one," I said. Bella had died in his hands. He had to honor her. This was his way of doing so.

"Two is a better number," he slowly etched in one line, but kept his hand raised against the wall. He watched for my reaction, and the realization set in. Me? He would risk killing me? I didn't think so. If he was going to kill me, he would have done it already. And the fact that he hadn't painted the walls with my blood spoke millions.

He wouldn't kill me because he had already taken Bella. I reasoned that he would need to wait a few months or years before it was acceptable for him to slip-up again. And if he was as self-righteous as he seemed, he wouldn't kill me for the risk of losing my potential. "You don't want to get rid of me. I have enough potential to be valuable."

His next comment hit a nerve. A deep one. As much as I tried to draw a line between him and Damon, it was hard when their sentence structures were identical. "You don't have to die to give me a taste."

Vampires were all the same. I bet the Cullens had the same sort of arrangement. It was all a façade. Was Bella really just a soon-to-be bloodbag? That was probably all I was. My anger came out quickly and uncontrollably. "You're no different than the others. Be original. Those were Damon's exact words."

Surprise was always a delicate emotion to read on a vampire's face. You couldn't easily surprise one of the most alert creatures on the planet. "He drank from you?"

He did. The base was just one big winery, and Damon was the owner with unlimited access. "He drank from all of us."

The banter, no matter how incredulous, distracted me from the pain. But it was getting worse, and I had the chance to make it better. "Now if we're done, I'm going to miss my dose if we don't get home soon. Take me back."

Jasper frowned. "You need to start talking, Elise."

Was I not doing just that? "I am talking. Have you been listening? Take me home."

"Is reality too much for you? You asked for it."

He couldn't be more wrong. "I did. And it was just as expected."

As he ran me back to the Cullen property, I let my thoughts flutter through my mind uninterrupted. Being whisked through the air at vehicular speeds left you no other option. My hands tightened around his neck as I felt the wind chill my bones. Or was it the conversation? Perhaps it was the realization that everything was indeed not what it seemed. I barely knew Jasper, but today was an intriguing step forward. Unexpectedly, he showed me a secret piece of himself, and I couldn't figure out why. Was it a threat? Or was it a friendly whisper and a plea for trust?

No. There was no way I could trust this man. But I could definitely play along.


A/N: Elise seems to be driven by her persistence to survive. What does earning her freedom mean? Jumping out of the vampiric world and returning to a normal human life? It's a naive stream of consciousness. Perhaps she hasn't thought all of this through.

For those of you who like Bella, I'm sorry that you have to read her die twice.