Chapter Two: Running Away

Jasper, Peter, and Charlotte got away that night. Peter's prediction about Maria's absorption with his new recruits kept her from noticing it when they left. They stayed on the side of the roads they took, not wanting to attract too much attention to themselves. Jasper kept a close watch on things, hoping not to run into anyone that would take information back to Maria about his whereabouts.

Peter and Charlotte more or less kept to themselves, but they didn't completely ignore him. Peter seemed to know that he had a lot on his mind. At length, Peter got them out of the area, and they began to look for somewhere to stay.

"How about here?" Peter said. They had come across nice looking hotel.

"Good enough for me …" Jasper replied, as he saw two scantly dressed females go in. He hoped their rooms wouldn't be too close to theirs. He wasn't sure if he could resist the alluring scent they were giving off. The last thing they needed was for them to be found so soon after their escape. Then he caught something else. The door to the hotel seemed to have been ripped off. Newborns. He scowled inwardly. He didn't understand why Maria allowed this kind of thing to happen.

Peter followed his gaze, and smirked. "Forget about them, Jazz. We're not a part of that affiliation anymore, remember?" He started to walk off. Then he paused. He sniffed lightly. "Yum …" He turned around, having changed his mind. Peter ignored Charlotte's calming words, trying to call him back.

Jasper was very distressed. He was trying so hard to ignore his own urges, but very suddenly, the smell of blood wafted out to them, becoming more prominent, as if someone else had just died. He swallowed hard, trying to discern what exactly what had gone on in there, before he attempted to enter.

Peter glanced back at him from the entrance. His friend's eyes were black as coal, his blood lust having consumed him completely. "Nothing but carnage in this place, Jasper. Come on." He could see that Jasper was working on control. "There's no point to that, Jazz. Almost every one here is already near death." Peter guessed Maria must have already gotten to this area, without their knowledge. He went into the hotel then, leaving Jasper to make his own decision.

Once Peter had gone inside with Charlotte close behind, Jasper took a deep breath, forcing himself to focus. If he went in there, and fed the way he really was desperate to do, the whole reason that he'd left Maria in the first place would become pointless. Jasper found that he was uncertain of what he wanted to do. He was just deciding to walk on, when one of the two girls he'd seen enter only moments earlier came running out. Blood was gushing from her arm. Jasper saw that she had a crescent shaped bite where the blood originated.

"Please…you've got to do something! It hurts so bad..!" The girl was in her early twenties, Jasper could guess. "It's burning…make it stop!" She fell to her knees at Jasper's feet, writhing in pain.

Jasper felt his natural hunger for blood kicking into overdrive, and he took a step back from her. He felt bad for her, and he wanted to help her, but he knew if he got too close it wouldn't end any better. "I can't help you, Ma'am. I'm sorry…" He took another step back, when she moved towards him in desperation.

"Please …" she said again. Her voice was going raw from screaming. It was weak now.

Jasper shook his head. He had come to a decision that he would sorely regret later, he was sure. He would give in to his hunger, but not just for his sake — for hers, as well. He grabbed her, and before she had a chance to wonder was going on, he had completely snapped her neck, and was draining her. He admitted that the taste of another's venom was not what he wanted, but if it would stop yet another unruly vampire newborn from causing havoc, he would take it.

He dropped her, and walked into the hotel. His eyes were black, and he was hungry for blood. He glared at the nearest vampire he saw. "Hey!"

The newborn blinked, then he bared his teeth, noting that the intruder was also a vampire. This was his territory, and he didn't want to give it up. "This is my place. Get your own."

"I think you've had enough." Jasper switched to his commanding tone. He had had hopes he would never have to be in charge of another set of newborns after he left Maria. He guessed just doing it one more time wouldn't hurt, and it would save himself and his companions some trouble later. "Take a step back."

The newborn was startled by Jasper's tone enough that he did as he was ordered. Recognition came next, and he felt a pang of fear for talking to Major Whitlock with such blatant disrespect.

"Who gave you permission to come this far?" Jasper asked now. He didn't let up on his tough tone. "The cut off was five miles back, soldier."

"Miss Maria said we could do as we pleased." Another said. This one was young, almost a child. He had in his hands the corpse of an infant. Jasper was repulsed immediately.

"Oh, she did, did she?" Jasper glowered. Maria was taking her game too far, when she began to turn children, and allow them all to run willy-nilly everywhere.

"I swear, Major Whitlock. We wouldn't do anything she said we ain't supposed to do!" The first said. His eyes were wild, now. Apparently, he had already heard about what happened to those who were defiant.

Peter came to Jasper's side, worried. He had seen his friend fly off the handle before. It was never a pretty sight. Now was not the time to make a big noise, killing newborns. "Come on, Jasper…"

"No." Jasper said. His voice was void of all emotion. The smell of human blood was all he could understand. He restrained himself from finishing some of the newborns' started work. "All of you, leave here, now! And don't let me catch one of you this far out again. Go!" They all scattered, many of them fearing for their lives. Major Jasper Whitlock meant business, and his threats were never empty ones. He sighed, as the last of them left. Then he realized with disgust that he still felt inclined to feed. He needed to get out of there. He composed himself, and left the hotel, returning to the streets. He picked the corpse of the young woman up he'd finished off, and took her into a back alley. He buried her the best way he knew how. It wasn't as if in this place it wasn't unusual to find someone dead in the alley.

Peter found Jasper a few blocks away, lost in thought. "Jazz?"

The other vampire turned. He had a pained expression on his face.

"Her name was Billie. She had a child waiting for her at home…" Jasper spoke of the girl he had liberated from the immortal life. He hadn't time to think about what she was feeling at the time, but just the same, her last feelings lingered in his mind. He really hated his empathic nature sometimes. But there was also the bright side. It was what made him more human than most of his race.

"There was nothing you could have done, my friend." Peter soothed. "This is what we are, Jasper. It's the only way we can survive." His friend didn't want to hear that.

"There has to be a better way, Peter! Why should others have to die in order for our kind to survive?!" He lowered his voice, as two businessmen passed them. "It's not right."

Peter sucked in his unused breath. Jasper had a lot of pent up anger over being used by Maria. That was plain. But he thought his friend must've been mad, if he honestly thought any of them could along on anything other than blood. "Jasper, we're vampires. We have no other way to sustain ourselves except for the consumption of human blood."

"That can't be the only way." Jasper repeated stubbornly. He ran a hand through his hair. He was frustrated, and disappointed that leaving Maria was turning out to be so fruitless after all.

"We'll go where our killings will go unnoticed, Jasper. One here one there, you know?" Peter said now. He felt bad, because he couldn't understand where Jasper's sudden dislike of their lifestyle came from. It didn't make sense to him. Charlotte had been unable to make sense of it as well.

"Fine." Jasper didn't like that idea anymore than he liked the idea of having to return to Maria. He felt better being with Peter, at least. He wouldn't jerk him around, and use him. He got up. "Let's get as far away from here as we can." He wanted no more part in Maria's trouble. The farther they got away from it, the better.