A/N: If you have not read Paranoia, this chapter contains spoilers.

The Change

Jasper

The clouds parted and let down glorious sunlight, letting me catch a glimpse of the improbable heavens. The warmth cascaded down in waves, stealing attention and demanding respect. The intensity forced you to your knees, and dared you to practice its deadly sermon. It made you plead to a faith you never knew existed.

That was what she tasted like.

My fingers kept grabbing, bruising. Her skin tore and bled, my rough hands opening up the reddened, angry flesh irritated by the tree branches that tried to subdue her. Her blood was on my tongue, and I couldn't have enough. She wasn't a Bella, a Katie, a Jennifer. They would run out of their value in minutes, drained out of existence. But she would survive.

She was pressed so close to me, never to leave. I told myself I would stay here forever.

But it changed. Her blood turned bitter. Her shoulder gave in. Her tears stopped. The exchange between us was unbalanced. I took, and took, and took. She had no choice but to give.

And in the next moment, my teeth were free.

"Whitlock," a voice told me. "Get a grip."

She was pulled from me and my instincts told me to lash out and grab her back. Protect her.

But the man in front of me was doing just that. All I could see was the pale body in his arms.

Weak, unconscious. Dangerously peaceful.

He watched me cautiously. "I'm going to put her down now. You need to put more venom into her."

My eyes fixed on her closed eyelids.

"You've taken out more than you've given," he said.

He was right. I nodded hungrily, but not for the blood. The desire to take was replaced by the need to let live.

Gently, he put her down onto the ground. Dirt.

I scowled.

"Move," I ordered as I took her back into my arms, careful to support her neck. The gash on her shoulder where my teeth had been bled out onto my shirt.

I bolted to the cabin.

The door crashed down, unhinged. Never fixed since the day I tore it from its place.

I placed her on a bare mattress, frowning at the tears and stains. Her wrists were in my hands and I focused not on the dreary bedroom, but on the task at hand.

Procedurally, this had to be done right. The precision of changing a human when they had already lost blood was important. My pass rate was already suffering, but instinctively, this felt like the easiest, most natural thing I could do. It was something I needed to do. My venom demanded it.

I bit both of her wrists, careful not to draw any more blood than necessary. I pushed venom at a steady rate. I had taken her life, and I had to replace it with mine. I ripped the cloth from the curtains and taped her wrists and shoulder. Standing back, I scrutinized my haphazard work. This was far from a Cullen experience.

"And now we wait," the voice behind me said.

I looked back at him. Peter.

"This was part of your plan?" He asked me.

I focused back on her growingly pale complexion and yearned to savor her last moments of humanity.

"Sure it was," I grumbled lowly.

My friend stood by me, watching our soon-to-be newborn. "She's going to hate you."

She wouldn't. "Let her."

"The bond doesn't work that way," he told me. "It ain't pixies and unicorns."

"Nothing is."

He shook his head with a damned smile. "I don't know why I bother. I'm just glad I made it here in time to stop you from doing something you'd regret."

I wouldn't have killed her. "I appreciate it."

"What's your plan, then?"

I drew my hand against my mouth, wiping off blood. "Three days and we'll be running through the Redwood forest with the pixies and the unicorns. She'll hate me more than ever."

"That's the spirit. And Maria?"

"My word is my word."

"And if Elise can't expand her shield?"

Then she might survive. "Let's hope she can't."

"You should always wish the best for your mate."

I pinned him with a stare. "The less powerful she is, the less she'll be used. If I can draw Maria's attention away from her, that'll be the best thing I can do for her."

"I would worry about her waking up first."

I nodded. "I'll stay with her today. I need to attend a meeting tomorrow, but I'll be back before she wakes. You'll stay with her when I'm gone?"

"I could call Char."

No. Anyone who didn't need to be with her should stay away. "Just you."

And somehow, he understood.

By now, the Cullens would be briefed with everything inside Alice's brain. And unless they were to have a sudden change of heart regarding the information, contacting them was not an option.

I sat in the creaky wooden chair beside the mattress. A guard for the dying.

My eyes slid over to the small backpack that leaned against the wall, the corner of a journal peeping out of the side.

Had she written about Damon? Had she mentioned the details that would have undeniably incriminated her?

Rage washed over me at the thought of the last few months, but the fire burned out when I rested my gaze on her body.

The pain of her betrayal stung, and I hated how it was all excused by her dying form. She had to feel the repercussions of her mistakes, but I couldn't bare to see her in more pain. I wanted to teach her, show her how the path she took was wrong. I needed her to see how it all could have been avoided. She needed to feel the misery to learn.

That was how it worked.

My phone buzzed lightly. A text.

I can't believe you killed her.

Alice. To say I wasn't surprised would be a lie. She had no reason to talk to me now that she probably let out the secrets she knew to the people she would inevitably pick over me.

I responded. I saved her from her human misery.

I got a retort. And now, she'll be miserable for eternity with you. The Cullens know everything.

I secured the phone back into my pocket. Now, I definitely had no reason to talk to her.

I wanted to get up and tear through the journal and look for the evidence that made Elise just as guilty as me. I was a killer, but so was she. While I tore apart humans, she tore apart an entire coven of immortals. We both betrayed the Cullens and we were both liars. And we did it for one central, glorious purpose.

Survival.

The realization of how orderly our paths crossed was almost liberating. The anger in me that made the reckless decision of biting her was necessary. If she needed to pursue her main drive of sustainability, she needed to be dead. It was too easy to lose the game as a mortal.

And that was the justification that worked. It fit into the puzzle perfectly, and I felt momentary pride in her actions.

Because it was what I would have done.

I left the journal in its place. I didn't need proof that she was my equal. We were alike in the worst and best ways.

My hand reached out and felt the growing coldness of her skin, stroking down from her forehead to her cheek.

I sat patiently beside her, watching the subtleties of her complexion morph and thought about the possibilities of the future.

If trained well, she would prove to demonstrate her potential and thrive in the undead world beside me. But if not, I knew she undoubtedly had the power to destroy me.

And I couldn't have that.

Peter returned in a timely manner to take over the watch duty, but I wasn't prepared to leave her.

"Don't worry. I'm here," he reassured me, taking my place in the chair.

I hesitated, and I didn't like it. "Text me. No calls."

"I know."

I lingered, the vulnerability setting in, painting a scowl on my face.

"Go. Update the alliance. Placate Maria," Peter insisted. "It'll be fine."

As I made my way out, I paused by the front door that rested on the ground. Grabbing the slab of wood, I pressed it against what was supposed to be the front doorway.

The alliance convened in a secluded, abandoned warehouse in Eastern Utah. I was one of the last attendees to arrive, and I quietly took my place in a chair amongst the top members.

Once all of the chairs were filled with the delegates, the discussion began on the proceedings of the cause.

"We have two ears inside Volterra, unaffiliated with the alliance," a member spoke. "The Volturi have suspicion of unrest in the South, but they're attributing it to the unfinished vengeance of some territories left over from the Southern Wars."

"Good," Maria acknowledged, tapping her fingernails against the wooden table. "The look of unrest is unavoidable. The various training camps have disguises under the various territories. While they look like they're preparing for battle against each other, they're actually under one unified cause. It's brilliant."

Murmurs of pleased members filled the air.

Once they were passed the updates, the planning ensued. Naturally, the attention was on me.

"Mr. Whitlock. Has the girl been changed?" A female delegate asked. Maria had sent an update of the potential shield to the members prior to the meeting.

"In the process."

"Time of arrival?"

"A week."

Another member spoke up. "And where is your second-in-command today, Mr. Whitlock?"

"Facilitating the change."

Notes were taken, looks were exchanged.

And while my part of the meeting lasted mere seconds, formalities required for me to stay for the entire duration. I wanted nothing more than to be back in Nevada.

When the meeting ended, I prepared for the run back to Elise, but Maria loved her small talk.

"I'm incredibly proud of your findings. We can't act without disarming Demetri, so we're forced to be in hiding. You know how much I hate inaction."

"It's the natural course of battle," I told her. "We don't attack until it's the right time."

"Yes," she agreed. "But I don't want another Rebecca."

Rebecca was a recent recruit with a shield that encompassed others only through touch. Without physical proximity, it was useless.

"She is not another Rebecca," I assured her, though every fiber of my being wanted her to be.

"Your word is your word," she reminded me lowly. "A week."

And she let me go.

Halfway through my journey back to Nevada, I got the text that riddled me with anxiety.

You need to come back. Now.

I knew I shouldn't have left from the moment I crossed the border into Utah, but I willed my mind to stop assuming the worst and pushed forward.

When I was a mile out from the cabin, I smelled the trouble. Their scents were everywhere and I wanted to tear them apart.

But the scent that was once prominent was fading with theirs with each passing moment.

The world turned dark at the realization.

My feet hit the ground faster. When I saw the cabin, the door was once again on the ground.

Peter stood outside with the look of fear, uncertainty, and sorrow.

"Where is she?" I demanded, but I knew the answer. I just couldn't accept it.

Peter remained mute, and I pushed inside of the cabin. I needed to see for myself. The mattress she once laid on was empty. Her dried blood on the surface was the only thing left of her.

Their scents were everywhere. I could see the chair smashed into pieces by the bed, the dents in the walls, and the broken drawers of the old dresser. I walked back out into the living room and noted that the kitchen table was smashed.

Peter hadn't given up without a fight. And they had left him in one piece.

The Cullens were always too kind for realistic battle. I would've torn Carlisle's limbs if I had been here, and I hoped Peter came close to doing so.

I stepped over the broken door and joined my buddy outside.

When neither of us spoke, I drowned in the reality of the situation.

"Fuck," I whispered, kicking the door with too much force.

"There were too many of them," Peter said, his hands clasped behind his back, his head low.

"Fuck," I repeated, not knowing of a more correct response.

"They took her."

And I should've anticipated it. If Elise could expand her shield, she would be the most valuable tool in their arsenal. With her, they could lay low and evade the Volturi. They could evade anyone. Including me.

I crouched low over the door, my fingers picking at the splintered wood. Peter's presence closed in as he crouched next to me. "We'll get her back."

But at what cost? Unless we intercepted them before Elise woke up, her entire training schedule would be altered. The Cullens would feed her the lies they needed her to believe to keep her on their side. Any plans for the future were now garbage. I didn't even want to think about the repercussions coming from the alliance. From Maria.

"Jasper?"

I knew the cards that the Cullens would play. My role in Elise's life would not be that of a mate or a protector. I wouldn't be a friend, let alone an acquaintance.

I would be her murderer.

The person who took the life she had been fighting so long to keep.

I looked at my friend with a bitter smile. "She's going to kill me, Peter."

A/N: We're back. I'd love to hear your thoughts on your expectations for the sequel.