A/N: A quick thank you to everyone who added this story in their alerts and/or added it to their favorite list. It truly means a lot to me.

Trigger warning- This chapter holds detailed scenes of torture. If that is not what you prefer to read, I will be putting an asterisk mark (*) before the scene begins, adding an asterisk mark (*) at the end of it, too. Kindly skip over that particular part, pm me and I will give you the gist of the scene.

Thank you!

X-X

Chapter 20- The end of Victoria

Jasper's POV-

Morality- the distinction between right and wrong, good and bad, correct and incorrect…..

The concept of morality had often left me bewildered, pondering over what was justifiably correct and what was not.

It had not always been so, though.

Every person- no matter human or vampire- had a different set of beliefs when it came to the topic of morality. What was correct for one could be completely incorrect for the other. Some had pretty adaptive notions of morality- changing their beliefs like one would change clothes, while some were extremely firm in their thinking, never even twisting a bit to accommodate to the situation they were in. It all depended on how the person had been raised- their childhood impacting them massively, but one thing was for sure, no two people reacted to the same situation in the same way. There was no one- rigid- way of correctness, no one thing that could be said correct in each one's eyes….if it were so, there would be no debate up for discussion.

Either way, every person had their own acceptance of what was forgivable and what was not.

Even I had had one….a belief that had been tossed, turned and put up for showcasing several times in the past century.

If my life were to be segregated in parts, there would have been three clear parts to distinguish in- the first; obviously, being my childhood and adolescence- the human memories that still invaded my mind with full clarity. I had had no firm set of morals in those days. Survival was the motto my family lived by, and between daily chores and monthly- inevitable- worries, there was simply no scope to sit and ponder over what morality even meant. Such was the life for the working class, the set of people who lived and worked, taking each day as it came, Maslow's hierarchy of needs proving its point. There was simply no place for the rich man's discussions of what was ethically correct or incorrect. My mama, though, always used to say that our circumstances decide whether we are good or bad, no human being is bad by choice, and even good people do bad things. It all depends on the circumstances that one's life puts in front of them- Her biggest theory to go with her words, being the question of whether a man dying of hunger could be judged for stealing a bowl of rice. Every person would have a different answer to this question- their own rationality supporting their point of view, but till you have walked a mile in another's shoe, you can never really tell of why they did what they did. It was as simple or as complicated as that.

Either way, it were her words that kept me sane in the second and most difficult phase of my life- the phase that seemed to go on forever- the decades that I had spent in Maria's army, including the year of my ruthless newborn existence that involved way more killing than I could ever beg forgiveness for. If mere survival had been the motto for my human life, waiting and enduring- was the motto for this one. It was all a game of waiting, bearing and adapting to whatever was thrown in front of me. I had killed and tortured in thousands, humans….vampires and shape shifters alike. Anyone and everyone who dared to come in front of me paid the price for it. I had assumed that my life was bound to be such, once again, concepts such as morals and ethics not even crossing my mind amidst all that turbulence and bloodshed, and they truly hadn't till one pixie had entered my life.

Thus began the third and, possibly, last phase of my eternity, wishing to remain in this peace for the rest of forever. I had left Maria and my previous life behind when the possibility of change had entered my mind. I had been tired of the brutal life I had been forced to survive in, and anything had seemed better than that. I had been looking for redemption, or maybe, a way to get out of this eternity, but what I had found had been unexpected, yet relieving. I had found a savior to get me out of my sinking ship. Alice had showed me a different way of living, teaching me the concept of moving on, accepting the bad that had occurred in my past. If I were non- existent on the scale of morality, Alice was way too high- in comparison to me- to even be sought after. It wasn't that she had extremely firm notions of right and wrong, because she didn't, but she did have a clear judgment of being on the correct side of the picture.

The one with the higher- than usual- set of morals was Carlisle though, who I had quickly accepted as an older- all knowing- brother, spending hours after hours in his study as he lectured me on what was the correct way to live. I had been gullible, I agree, but a man drowning will take the support of whatever he finds. Carlisle's words had provided me with immense relief, giving me the hope that even I could achieve the satisfaction of one day getting rid of all my demons. I know, I know that I had neglected several important facts in my quest to follow Carlisle blindly, the first, obviously, being our varied upbringings. Carlisle had been raised in money and luxury, his pastor father drilling in him the beliefs that he lived with- till date- from a younger age itself. For him, morals and principles was the most important question to consider, all basic needs lying fulfilled. But, while Carlisle considered him to be a pacifist like none other, he was in fact, sadly, just a coward- a coward who ran away from anything and everything that could lead to confrontation. I had refused to pay attention to this fact since decades, accepting it as just a flaw of his, but now- after witnessing Bella- and even Angela now- going through all of this, paying the price for our mistakes- I couldn't help but blame the man for it. He could have stopped this if he wanted to, but he had chosen not to. A coven leader can influence the coven's decision, but he had decided to stay in the shadow, letting Edward become the coven's brain, a mighty big mistake, in my opinion. Carlisle often likened himself to the likes of Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther king, Jr.- priding himself for walking on their path, forgetting the extremely important fact that they were not cowards- like he was. They didn't make an excuse of being busy with work when the going got tough, because that was exactly what Carlisle did- even when it came to something as inconsequential as a fight between Edward and Rose. He would kiss Esme on the cheek, telling her to solve the matter and would retire to his study for the rest of the day, pretending as if he had nothing to do or say when someone in his family was threatening to dismember the other, not like either of them would really go ahead with their threats.

But, you get the point. It was the coward's way out- always, with him.

I had lived for so long on someone else's beliefs and morals, accepting them blindly as a means to attain peace, but not any longer. I could not any longer. My mama would be ashamed to call me her son if I were to turn a blind eye to this. My parents had not raised a coward, and while I had never been able to differentiate between correct and incorrect before this point- my decades with Maria leaving me completely vulnerable, I now knew that ending Victoria would not be considered wrong, just as ridding the world of evil was not wrong. Someone had to take a stand for it, and if it were to be me, I would gladly accept the role.

"Wait," Riley's voice pulled me out of my thoughts, bringing me back to the present wherein the three of us were walking towards Victoria's hideout, only one thing being on our mind- the need to end her existence. "How will we kill her? She is really strong and fast."

His voice was quivering as he spoke, and I instantly sent him a wave of calmness to help him through.

Peter, though, chose to simply smirk at Riley's question. "We are stronger and faster than her. No need to worry here."

I rolled my eyes. Same old Pete!

Peter was an extremely laid back guy, or he could be when he knew that things were under his control. It wasn't like him to show emotions such as anger, annoyance and fear, the closest I had ever seen him to losing control being when Charlotte was next in the line to be killed- back in the newborn army days….his recent behavior also being somewhat questionable, though. I had never seen him as haphazard and obviously disturbed as he was when Bella had not been found by the car. He had certainly started to care for her, his protective side being in power, which was truly strange for someone like him, when it concerned a human…..

"Besides," Peter said with a grin, "I have something that can make a grown vampire cry, or, well, as much as we can cry…"

I raised an eyebrow at his words, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "You still have it with you?"

He gave me a pointed look. "I always have it with me, Jasper. In fact I never leave my house without it being in my pant pocket."

I nodded my head at him, a sigh leaving my mouth as the implication of his words crossed my mind.

He smirked at me, removing the 'it' in question from his pocket, the 'it' glaring at me from its place in his hand. It looked to be a simple long chain, resembling a steel chain to the closest, but in reality, it was far from being as face value as that.

"This is a steel chain!" Riley shouted in disbelief. "This won't do any harm to her. She will kill us all. Are you trying to get us all killed? Are you really even vampires?"

I rolled my eyes at his exaggeration, sending him a huge wave of calmness and reassurance at his obvious fear and anxiety.

"No, I am the bogeyman." Peter commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes at Riley. "Have some faith, man."

"But, this is a normal chain. It won't work against her." he whispered- to himself, more than to us.

God! He really needed confidence by buckets.

"Well, luckily for us, it is not as useless as it looks." Peter spoke, wincing slightly when the chain showed its magic and left a red- deep- mark on his finger that had accidently come in contact with it. Touching the chain was similar to a human touching a plant filled with thorns, it pricked constantly.

"This…" he met Riley's eyes, "is magic reincarnated. Maria- Jasper's sire- had created this chain to control the newborns that refused to cooperate with her. It is a mixture of Tungsten, Steel and Werewolf bones, the magic, part, obviously coming from our enemy's bones. It burns like hell when wrapped around one of our kind, capable of tearing through our skin if tried to fight and get out of."

I shuddered, the bad memories of undergoing the wrath of that chain crossing my mind. Maria had been the proud creator and user of it, creating it when she had gone Werewolf hunting with her sire- Caius of the Volturi. Caius had been the one to give her the completely crazy and sadistic idea of creating such a chain, a weapon that could be used even against indestructible vampires; and several newborns since then had faced the wrath of the chain.

"Wow," Riley commented. "Werewolves exist?"

I shook my head. "They were all killed centuries back; my sire, Maria, being a part of the team to pushed them to extinction."

"Huh," he shrugged. "And here I thought my sire was cruel."

I laughed at that. "Maria was evil, undoubtedly, but once you were in her good graces, you were exempt from these torture techniques."

My gift had helped a lot in pushing me out of that lot, and fortunately, apart from the once when I had been 'punished' for letting Peter and Charlotte run away, I hadn't had to face the chain.

The chain, though, had been a proud belonging of Maria's for centuries, no one got to even see it, forget touching it, apart from her, but I had cheated a little bit when I had taken it- um, stolen it- with me when I had been leaving with Peter and Char, making sure that she was none the wiser. In my defense, I had needed the extra protection that it provided us with. I was still not confident that life in the north was unlike the south, and so having this with me had given me the much needed reassurance that if push came to shove, we would have something to help in getting us out, thankfully though, we had never had any use of it….at least not till now.

It had stayed with me all throughout the initial years…..well, till I had met Alice, refusing to part with it, but Alice had refused to let that chain be around us. She wanted nothing to do with violence, it being a constant reminder of my past. Reluctantly, I had offered Peter the chain when I had left with Alice to meet the Cullen's, truly surprised that he had still kept it with him.

"Okay, so now what?" asked Riley. "We just go and tie her up, or something?"

Peter smirked, "I have a plan."

I shook my head in exasperation. Peter and plan were two words I had really hoped never to hear in the same sentence again, but such was life, unexpected was what thrived.

Peter quickly told us all his brilliant- emphasis on my sarcastic 'brilliant'- plan, before the three of us ran the last few miles back to where Victoria was.

We needed to get some quick answers from her, following which we would immediately leave to rescue the girls. I had no idea of who could have kidnapped them, but for their sake, I hoped that they would still be alive, or well, even in the condition wherein they could be changed into a vampire would do, anything worse than that- vampire venom could not repair everything- and we would lose them forever.

Angela, I sighed to myself thinking about her. She was a good person. I could relate to her, having found someone I shared so much in common with. I had never been one to mingle with humans this easily, but she never let me feel the difference. I almost felt normal when I was with her….almost as if the fact that she was a human and I was a vampire really did not matter. We were just two people who shared the same interests…..

It was strange.

I stopped by the tree line, knowing that if I went any further Victoria would register my scent, and there was still time for that, while Pete- the lucky bastard with no scent- walked right up to the window, and Riley, as was planned walked directly inside the house.

"Victoria," he shouted in fake glee, "You won't believe what just happened."

She turned to look at him, frowning instantly. "I don't see my food anywhere, and how many times do I have to repeat of what you have to call me. Do you like to be punished so much that you insist on it over and over again?"

"No," Riley shuddered, taking a step back.

I sent him a wave of calmness and strength, smiling when he stood back straighter.

"Sorry, Goddess Victoria," he said, "It is just that I was excited. I found these two vampires who are willing to help us out in killing that human, and fighting those cowardly bodyguards of her. I just could not keep down my excitement and I ran back to tell you….."

"What?" Victoria spat out in surprise, interrupting him. "What do you mean….where did you find two vampires? I had told you to stay away from others of our kind. How dare you disobey me?"

I observed as Peter took a step forward, ready to intercept in our plan started going in the wrong direction, but luckily, Riley fell to the ground instantly, stopping Victoria in the tracks.

"I am sorry. They are just such good fighters, and with such amazing powers, that I could not resist myself."

Victoria frowned at him. "And they said that they will help us out?"

Riley nodded his head. "Yes,"

"Why?" asked Victoria, a confused expression on her face.

Riley simply shrugged in return. "They were looking for a good fight. They don't have any qualms against killing."

"As it should be," Victoria scoffed. "Where are they? I want to meet them. I need to know if they can be trusted. If they are any good, I can use them to create a diversion while you kill the girl's father and I kill the brainless human."

"Why the father but?" Riley shuddered. "He has not done any harm to you, I suppose."

"Don't argue with me." Victoria glared at him. "I want her entire family dead. Her mother lives in Jacksonville, and that is where we go next. Understood?"

Wow. She really needed to be killed before she slaughtered an entire innocent family in her ridiculous quest for revenge.

Edward had been so wrong when he had said that Victoria was harmless…..

Riley nodded his head, raising his voice a bit to call us inside.

"Can you both come inside? I have spoken to my mistress. She is okay with you helping us out."

That was our cue. I gave Peter a nod, walking up to where he stood, before the two of us walked inside the almost empty house.

"Hey Victoria," Peter said with a smirk. "I didn't know that I had offered to help you out, but Jasper and I would love to finish the job. Wouldn't we, Jasper?" he smirked sarcastically.

I nodded my head, muttering an 'absolutely'. The Major Whitlock in me was rejoicing at this change in events. He had finally got an opportunity to come out after all these decades of Jasper Hale's existence.

"You…" Victoria took a step back, the fear evident in her eyes. She knew her end was reaching out to her.

Smart girl….

"Didn't you want to kill the entire Swan family? I asked, raising my eyebrow. "We are here to help you out. Shouldn't you be thankful for it?"

"You trapped me." she glared at Riley in anger, her eyes menacingly staring at him.

"Of course I did, Goddess Victoria," Riley spat out at her.

I smirked to myself. I hadn't known that the boy had it in him, but I was proud of him nonetheless.

Victoria took a step ahead, her eyes taking the three of us in, her posture telling me that she was about to hightail, and I instantly sent her a massive wave of laziness and exhaustion, making it so that she herself went and settled on the sole chair in the room.

(*)

"Great," Peter smiled- evilly- at her. "Now you look comfortable and ready to talk. Riley, would you like to do the honors?"

"Of course," said Riley, taking the chain from Peter's outstretched hand, and walking towards a scared Victoria, who suddenly started maniacally laughing as soon as she saw the chain.

"That won't hurt me, you fool." She spat at Riley.

"You want to bet?" Riley raised an eyebrow.

I sent another wave of cooperation and laziness Victoria's way, and soon the long chain had been tired around her torso- her arms included- like one would tie a rope around a person.

Victoria screamed out in pain, the chain touching her skin in large proportion. It hurt like a pin- if touched once, but to be tied around you- like it was to her- was extremely painful to bear, almost like being forced to endure a 1200 KV electric current- repeatedly.

"Having fun, Victoria?" I asked, smiling at her.

She glared at me. "Get me out of this."

She twisted in her chair, trying to get out of the tied around tight chains- thank you, Riley- only hurting herself more in the process. Her hardened skin started to tear due to the pressure, the chains were truly unbreakable- tried and tested on hundred's before- and venom started to leak out of her.

It was gross, I had to admit. I had not seen such a sight in decades, but somewhere deep down; I knew that she deserved such a painful end to her existence.

"Get me out of this!" she cried out, the pain once again forcing her to scream out in misery.

It felt satisfying to watch her like this. Her hand held close to a thousand small marks- her skin splitting open every time our vampire healing cured it for her, her hair was a tangled mess as it stuck to the venom leaking out of her body. Her dress had started to tear from all the movement that she was aiming to do, but that was the least of our problems.

"Tch, tch! Woman," Peter commented. "Have some bearing capacity. You should also know what torture feels like, remember, you were planning to torture and kill Bella Swan?"

This was a personal fight, and everyone knew it.

"She is just a human." Victoria screamed at him, her voice sounding surprisingly hoarse. "We can settle this, if you want. I will leave the country if you ask me to."

"I will make sure that you leave the world." Peter smirked at her. "You can always go back on your word if left otherwise."

"I won't," she begged.

Peter shook his head, completely unaffected, taking a step ahead. "I don't trust you, sadly. But, don't you worry even a bit; this is not all that you are going to face today. We have a long list of events planned for you. So, just sit back and relax."

Peter's red eyes were wide with anger and the need to protect Bella. He looked like the Peter I had seen in a fight, a complete 360 from who he was normally.

"Now, we will be playing a few games," Peter started to speak, "Have you ever seen the game show 'Who wants to be a millionaire?', we will be playing a similar version of that, just with a few minor changes…so, are you excited to play?" He rubbed his hands together in glee.

Victoria shuddered at her place, her eyes shutting tightly.

"I will take that as a yes." Peter smiled at her. "So, I will quickly tell you the rules of the game. You will be asked a question- well, obviously- and you have to answer. No options provided, these are easy questions. If you answer correct, no, you will not get any money," he smirked at her, "but, you will get another chance- a life line, so as to say. You must be wondering what happens if you answer wrong, the answer to that is that you will lose a body part, not permanently, be rest assured, Jasper will use his venom to rejoin your body parts, and you know how much foreign venom burns, don't you?" he smirked at her.

"Let me go," Victoria shouted at him, still twisting in her seat.

Didn't the woman learn? This was a game of patience, and the chains hurt more if you moved.

"Be a sport, Vickie," I added.

"So, let's begin the game?" Peter asked, taking Victoria's silence as her answer. "First question- where is Bella?"

"It is an easy question. Come on answer now." He added when she did not speak up.

"I don't know." Victoria shouted in pain. "She should be in Forks."

"Uh-Oh," Peter's face fell, "That is incorrect. Riley," he motioned towards Riley who pulled Victoria's leg out- making her scream out in pain, only to scream even louder when her right leg was once again attached using my venom.

Her screams echoed throughout the house, and I almost felt bad for her, key word being almost.

"I will ask again, where are Bella and Angela?" Peter repeated his question.

"I don't know," Victoria begged. "I don't even know who Angela is."

I frowned at her answer, suddenly realizing the truth in her words.

"Pete," I took him aside, "She is not lying. She really does not know where they are."

Peter sighed. "I was afraid of the same. Wait, I will try rephrasing my words."

He went back to where Victoria was sat- guarded by Riley, not that she could escape even if she wanted to. I followed him, once again to begin the questioning.

"So Victoria," Peter spoke up, "Is Riley the only one you are working with, the only one that you have changed?"

Peter pulled out a finger when she didn't answer immediately, giving it to me to rejoin using my venom.

She shook her head, "I had changed a girl in the 1400's. She found her mate and left."

Peter slapped her in the face, "Recently. I haven't asked for your life history."

"No," she shook her head. "Riley is the only one."

Peter turned to look at me in question. I nodded my head. She wasn't lying.

He sighed, before plastering a smirk on his face. "See, you don't get punished if you answer correctly. Now, next question, why were you…."

"Where were you this afternoon? You had two vampire scents on you when you came back." Riley interrupted.

Both Peter and I instantly turned to look at him, my eyes widening when I saw Victoria squirm in her seat.

"She knows something." I spoke aloud.

"Great job, Riley," Peter stated. "So Victoria, who were the two vampires you met this afternoon?"

The two scents that we had scented in the parking lot...were they one and the same?

She shifted in her seat, screaming when the chains left marks on her arms.

"Answer," I sent a huge wave of compliance and fear her way, making sure that she felt the overpowering need to answer us.

"I don't know them." She shouted out. "I just met them today. They were in the area."

"Tell us their names." Peter glared at her, his glare terrifying enough to make a human piss their pants, now Victoria wasn't human, but I could see the fear in her eyes. She was powerless, and she knew it.

"De…metri," she stuttered, like the weak woman she was. She was only capable of going after innocent humans. "Demetri and Alec,"

"Wait," my eyes went wide in shock. I had heard these names before. "Did you just say Demetri and Alec?"

No, I have to have heard wrong. It can't be them.

She nodded her head. "Those were their names."

"Demetri and Alec of the Volturi," Peter confirmed. He may have been a nomad, but he was well informed on the names and powers of those who formed the Volturi.

She shrugged. "I don't know. They introduced themselves. We spoke for a while about why each one of us was in the area. They went their own way, and I went mine."

"Shit," Peter cursed.

This was bad. This was really bad.

"Did you tell them about Bella?" I asked.

She frowned, "Free me and I will think about telling you,"

Peter slapped her right across the face, hard. "Answer me and I will think about freeing you."

She glared at him, keeping her mouth shut.

I sent her a wave of fear and a heavy need to please the three of us, her mouth opening up on its own accord.

"Of course I told them about Bella. We were being honest with one another."

"You crazy woman," Peter shouted at her.

Fuck! We were doomed.

I could now tell with certainty of who had taken the girls. It was their scent, the so called protectors of our kind. They couldn't kill without Aro's permission, but they could certainly take the human to Aro, Angela being a mere casualty. She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, and so was now stuck in this problem.

"Let's just end this. We have all the answers we need." Peter spoke up.

I nodded my head, agreeing with him.

"Wait," Riley interrupted us, looking at me. "You are an empath, right?"

I nodded my head at him.

"I want to ask for a favor. Have you heard of classical conditioning? Likewise, I want you to associate pain with pleasure in her mind. I want her to suffer. She was laughing throughout my change. I could hear her laughing while I was screaming due to the burn."

In my opinion she had already suffered enough, but who was I to discourage the boy? I looked at Peter, who simply shrugged in nonchalance. Okay then!

"Pull out one of her toes," I advised him, and as soon as he ripped it out, I sent a huge wave of lust, pleasure and satisfaction Victoria's way.

She moaned out in pleasure.

"Another one," I said, repeating the same process over and over again. Every time a body part of hers was pulled out, she would moan in pleasure, but we were not attaching back her body parts this time around. Peter had lighted a fire, and the parts were directly going in there, not that Victoria was realizing this. Her eyes were shut with the immense pleasure that she was deriving.

"I need more," Victoria moaned, similar to a person addicted when Riley stopped pulling out her body parts- her fingers and toes burning in the fire.

"Remove her chains," I stated, Riley getting them out of her and giving it back to Peter, as he, too, stood back to observe.

"I need more," Victoria cried out, pulling her hair from her scalp, laughing when it gave her a bout of pleasure.

"Jesus," Peter sighed. "Is she really going to do what I think she is going to do?"

I nodded my head. It did seem so.

It was a pitiful end, really, as Victoria herself tore out every body part of hers, moaning and laughing from the pleasure it gave her- the pain led to pleasure in her mind, and she was willing to do anything to derive it.

At last- a few long minutes later- only her torso, head and one arm was left- a bald scalp looking up at us. She looked terrible, her nose, too, lost in the process of getting her addiction satiated.

"Let's just end this." Peter sighed, shaking his head. He wanted to go to Bella. I could see it in his eyes. Now that he knew where she was, time was really not a luxury for us.

(*)

I nodded my head, standing back and watching as Peter picked up the pitiful vampire that sat in front of us, throwing her in the purple flames that had been lit.

A loud moan left her mouth….the last sound that could be heard in the otherwise silent room.

It was over. She was dead.

A threat had ended. Justice had been served.

Peter sighed audibly. "I have not done something like this in decades."

I nodded my head at him. "I can relate to that….So, now?"

He shrugged. "What other choice do we have? We have to get the girls back. We go to Volterra, and face whatever comes in front of us."

I nodded my head.

We were going to Volterra.

A/N: I have never written anything of this sort before. I hope I did a decent job at it…

Anyway, I know that you have a lot of questions in mind, pertaining to how Alec's power worked on Bella when in canon she was immune to it. I will be explaining it in the coming chapters. I have taken a few creative liberties, but there will be a logical explanation provided.

Thank you for reading!