A/N: So this is the next chapter. Yay! Enjoy! R/R!

"What's your name?" I asked him as we walked down the street together.

"Jasper H- Whitlock. Jasper Whitlock," he said, correcting himself. "What's yours?"

"Sophie-Anne Leclerq," I said.

"Interesting…Isn't she from a book?" he asked me, clearly amused.

"You're not telling me your real name, so I won't tell you mine," I replied.

He sighed. "Fair enough. So, Sophie-Anne, how long have you stayed here?"

"A couple days. I don't stay in a town for more than a week. I prefer traveling."

"Understandable."

"And when you kill humans, it's best to get the hell out of the city before people start wondering," I decided to add.

"When you're a vegetarian like me, you can stay in a place longer. Like for a couple of years. You still have to leave, since our kind don't age, but you can settle down," Jasper said.

"Vegetarian? That's how you refer to your diet?" I asked incredulously.

"Uh, yeah." He smiled sheepishly. "I picked it up from the coven I used to live with."

"How many vamps did you live with?"

"There were seven of us. We were all hunting animals for sustenance. I lived with them for a few decades." His voice was becoming wistful, and I could feel a story coming on.

"Let's take this conversation into the diner, okay?" I steered us towards a small building at the edge of the city.

The place was basically empty, except for a couple of drunks at the counter, a busboy, a fat cook, and a slutty-looking waitress.

"What can I get you?" she asked us as we sat in the booth farthest from human ears. It was clear that she was talking to handsome Jasper.

"Nothing," Jasper and I said together.

She eyed us warily, but left us alone. All the other people were ogling us, but a quick glare from Jasper stopped them.

"Now, tell me about yourself. From the beginning," I demanded.

"Alright," he sighed. "I was a major in the Confederate Army. While I was serving, three female vampires found me and changed me. I then fought in the newborn wars. Have you heard about them?"

"Yes. I crossed paths with a female vampire with dark hair while in Texas. I believe she spoke of you, or at least, someone who looks like you," I said.

"You met Maria, then. What a piece of work she is. She was power-hungry, and saw the potential I had; she knew I would have a gift when I was turned."

"Empath."

"Right. So, I stayed with her for many years, but finally left. I couldn't take the killing anymore. It's scarred me in more than one way."

It was then that I noticed a mark above his eyebrow. It was crescent-shaped, much like the one on my neck.

"You poor thing," I said, tracing it lightly with my fingertip.

"You don't want to see the rest of me. You would run away. Everyone does," he said quietly.

Then he cleared his throat, and I dropped my hand as he continued.

"I stayed with two vampires that had served Maria. The one I had saved from being destroyed, the other escaped with her. They loved each other, and I always felt incomplete around them, but I liked their company. They were very kind, but they didn't see anything wrong with killing humans. I did. I felt their pain and fear when I drank. I couldn't live like that."

"Is that how you found me tonight? You felt his fear?"

"Yes. I wanted someone to talk to, another vampire. I guess you could say I was lonely."

"What happened to your coven, Jasper?" I asked.

"That comes later in the story, so please be patient."

I nodded.

"I eventually left Peter and Charlotte, and made my way to Philadelphia. It was there that I met her- Alice. A beautiful vampire that could see the future. She had seen me in a vision, and waited for me. She was the one who took me to the rest of the coven, and it was because of her that I was able to forget my past. She showed me I was a good person. I was at my happiest with her. With all of them."

"One happy family," I whispered.

"Yes. We attended high school to fit in. The creator of our coven, Carlisle, was a doctor, very skilled, and he wanted to help people. I always admired him for it. But the trouble started when Edward, Carlisle's first 'son', met a girl whose blood was impossible to resist."

"He didn't kill her, did he?" I gasped.

"Amazingly, no. In fact, the two fell in love. For the first time Edward had a mate; he wasn't alone. She knew our secret, and was never once afraid. We all loved her; she was so different from other humans. But I'm the one who ruined everything."

I took his hand in mine. "Tell me, Jasper."

He sighed heavily. "It was her eighteenth birthday party. Alice had gotten everything perfect. It was going so well, until she got a paper cut. A damn paper cut," he growled. "I couldn't stop myself. I went for her, but Edward knocked me out of the way. She fell backwards, into broken glass. She cut her arm. Blood was everywhere. Everyone left the room, except for Carlisle; he took care of her wound. I was taken outside, and I ran into the forest that surrounded our home. I was ashamed of what I had done. I don't like feeling weak, and I had hurt my family."

"No one can blame you, Jasper. You were driven by instinct. It happens to all of us," I said, trying to comfort him.

"Edward decided that in order to protect her, we should leave and never come back. That she would forget about us…him…and live a safer life with just humans. The entire coven went to hell. Edward ran off to be alone once more, Emmett and Rosalie moved to Africa, and Alice and I remained with Carlisle and Esme. But feeling their disappoint and sadness every day was too much, and I left them. I left Alice. Even miles away I could hear Esme crying. But I couldn't live with them anymore."

"I am so sorry, Jasper. I had no idea."

"No one does. Now, won't you tell me your story?" he asked, his sad eyes looking into mine.