I awoke to an empty room, cleared of all bodies except for my own. There was no sound whatsoever, save for my quiet breathing. Evidently, I had been successful in acquiring champion status in the violent bloodbath, and I had apparently been left alone to recuperate, before progressing to the next task. Recalling the serial-killer style letter I had encountered at the beginning of the event, I assumed that they would be taking the whole, 'last man standing after twenty four hours' stipulation quite seriously. With no way of knowing how long I had been sleeping, I had an equally miserable chance at guessing the time of day, and subsequently, when I would be undertaking the next test.

My emotions were still as strangely blank as before, except, with a few exceptions. I recalled the curious nature in which I slid my blade into Daniel's stomach, and the odd pleasure I had gotten out of watching the wound swiftly begin to bleed. In conclusion, I wasn't an emotionally stunted psychopath, just a mildly inquisitive girl, with a tendency to stab people. Oh, if the kids at school could see me now.

I rolled onto my stomach, digging my toes into the soft dirt. Of their own accord, my hands traced delicate swirling patterns in the soil, reminiscent of forests and twisting vines – Forks. I supposed that I should be upset, now that I had no chance of seeing Charlie again. I'd had plans of going to live with him – of escaping the heat of Phoenix and the medicinally altered sunny disposition of Renee, which had been completely unbearable at times. However, not as much as when all of her connections dried up. Those days spent in the house, shades drawn and voices kept to a bare minimum volume were enough to drive anyone to the brink of insanity. Not me, though. I stuck it out, because if I didn't take care of her, who would? Certainly not Phil, who had introduced her to the habit when they met. Like all new ideas, she latched onto it with a ferocity rivaling that of a terrier.
Of course, unlike previous new hobbies, this one wasn't simply forgotten in the light of newer, more interesting things. As it happened, instead of forgetting the habit, she forgot me.

Now, I was a self-sufficient teenager, and was perfectly content to relocate myself to the dreary town of Forks to live with my father, and to start anew, sans Renee. Unfortunately, she did not agree.
It wasn't hard to hazard a guess as to why I had awoken in that dank, oil stained van, with only my nightmares for company. On particularly bad days, Renee had threatened to auction me off to the highest bidder. I never believed her, choosing instead to look past her bitter smirks and focus on the good – the days when I came downstairs to smiles and pancakes, when everything was as it used to be. When I didn't have to ignore the assortment of pills and baggies on every available surface, or Phil's continued presence in a house where he was clearly doing more harm than good.
I scooped a handful of the dirt, and let it sift through my fingers to join the rest. Draining away, just like my mother.

For the first time since my conversation with Daniel, I wondered what these people actually wanted from me. It wasn't for a reason as simple and sinister as I had originally assumed – that Renee had actually managed to locate some form of a virginity auction… No, it wasn't that easy. I had a strong feeling that I had all the pieces, and that all there was left to do was join them up.
Emmett had told me that a war was coming, a big one. They didn't have enough soldiers. That, combined with my presence, would mean that they were buying people, teenagers, to use as soldiers. People that probably wouldn't be missed. But they didn't want just anyone; they wanted those who could handle it – who would be an asset. In the process, they would be sacrificing hundreds. Twelve people, and only one would live through the first round? That had to be taking a toll on the population of teenagers in the general Phoenix area. I had no idea what the next test would be, or if it would just be another free-for-all. Pitting defenseless kids against each other in the hope that one would come out on top, and help you out? It was useless. Chances were, at the end of the week, some kid would be too traumatized and downright angry to be of any use to Emmett and his superiors. Unless…
Emmett was a vampire. Daniel had said that there were others like him…
I dropped the dirt that I had been cradling in the palm of my hand.
They're going to make whoever passes all the tests into a vampire.
One of the undead, a strong and fast little soldier, free to do as they bid. I had seen a vast array of vampire-themed television shows, and movies. People changed when they became one of them. They became cold, calculating, and were bound to do as their creator told them. Now, despite the fact that these shows were fiction, they had to hold at least a semblance of truth, from old myths, and the like.
Another option was, obviously, the mysterious Jasper. If he had – according to Emmett and Daniel – somehow messed with my emotions, who was to say that he couldn't do it to whoever came out on top of one of these competitions? That he couldn't just alter their perception, inspiring feelings of obedience and love for him? In fact, that was probably rather close to what they had in mind.

I turned onto my side, and stared across the room at one bloodstained wall. At the rate I was going, and with the extra help from Emmett, that person could be me. One quick touch up from this Jasper, and I would be a mindless slave. My mind was already partway there, in any case. But if it wasn't me… I would be dead. Sometime in the next week, I could die.
I waited for the onslaught of emotion, the struggle with my completely possible demise. As per usual, I felt nothing. It was infuriating, being able to feel certain things, but not others.
A slamming door interrupted my extensive inner monologue, and I quickly scrambled in the dirt in an attempt to make it to an upright position. My fingers strayed to the pocket of my jeans, feeling the comforting shape of the razor, and underneath it, the vial of blood.
I watched the door of the arena like a hawk, waiting for someone to enter. I didn't have to wait long. It was thrown open abruptly, and a towering man stalked into the room. He was pale, like Emmett, but lean and wiry in place of the other vampire's bulging muscles. He stood at about 6'3", with terribly pretty golden honey blond hair, that curled around the base of his neck, and made a slight contrast with his vibrant, crimson irises. Mark of a vampire, I supposed. The man was beautiful – almost impossibly so. He turned to face me, and quickly began striding purposefully in my direction. I remembered Emmett's instruction in the case of a vampire attack, and fumbled for the vial and my razor. He was halfway across the room, and steadily decreasing the distance between us, as I uncorked the flask and dipped the tip of the blade into it. Just as he reached me, I brought it up and made sure he saw it. He stopped, nostrils flaring, glowing eyes burning a hole in the razor that was gripped so desperately in my hand that my knuckles were turning white.

"Where did you get that?" His voice was liquid fire, coursing through my veins and igniting odd sensations in the pit of my stomach. The vampire's eyes flicked between my face, and the blade, seemingly considering his chance of knocking it out of my hand before I stuck him with it. I waved the razor around, surely looking almost delirious, in an attempt to deter him from taking it from me.

"Found it." I mumbled, the words close to being swallowed by the vast expanse of a room. It would seem that my loss of emotion did nothing to quell my body's natural shyness. He raised a single eyebrow in response to my claim, overtly stating his incredulity.
"Of course you did, Isabella".
Upon his utterance of my name, I became aware of just how lovely his voice was. Smooth, like honey, bearing the weak taint of the South. I could listen to him for hours on end. Unfortunately, the way things were going, there was little chance of me surviving the next five minutes, let alone the hour.
He was looking at me intently now, almost straining. If he had been human, his forehead would have broken out in a sweat. As it was… He was concentrating far more than ordinary for his kind. Almost as if… Almost as if he was willing me to do something… To respond to him, somehow. Then, much like a freight train, it hit me.

"You're Jasper," I gasped loudly, all trace of previous apprehension obliterated. The razor dropped to the ground, the vial along with it. Seeing the opportunity, Jasper lunged forward and kicked them away from me.

"Yes, I am. You're Isabella. The girl that cheated her way through my program".
The accusation hung heavy in the silence that followed his statement, as the vampire glared at me. So it was Jasper's system, after all. This convoluted method of building soldiers belonged to him.

"Kill me, then. If your precious program means so much to you, preserve the sanctity, and kill me," I hissed, in an attempt to provoke him into doing just that. He cocked his head, appraising me with his piercing stare.

"No, death isn't for you. You'll make a lovely little soldier, should you progress to completion".
Jasper stepped closer, and sunk down to where I sat, still, in the soil. He smiled, barely giving me a flash of his gleaming, deadly teeth. He raised his hand, slowly, as if he was wary of startling me. I watched apprehensively as the large, pale monstrosity travelled ever closer to me, until it rested upon my cheek. I could feel my skin warming beneath his icy touch, burning up against him. My body rebelled against me, pleading for the chance to experience his silken fingers in far less chaste ways. With this, was the now common lack of mental participation. It was solely my body that was fighting this battle. A single corner of Jasper's mouth pulled up, resulting in a smirk that set the butterflies in my stomach on fire. Unbidden, a guttural moan escaped from my lips.
All of this, from the mere touch of a hand.

"She feels," he whispered. He brushed his thumb across my skin, starting another blaze. I croaked, and jerked my face out of his reach. Jasper's eyes hardened and the smirk took on a sinister edge.

"Yes, a lovely little soldier. The men would love you". I stared at the vampire, willing him with my thoughts to leave the room. I was, surprisingly, successful. He rose to his full height – quite formidable from my position on the ground – and took a familiar red envelope from the back pocket of his dark jeans.

"You will live, and you will come out a soldier, Isabella. I put far too much effort into you to let you die. Just ensure nobody, save Emmett and myself, see your pretty razor. They might use it to slit your throat".
With those words, he tossed the packet into the dirt and strode from the room. His steps were muffled by the soil, but the slamming door echoed loudly around the arena for a short while. I stretched out a reluctant hand and snagged the envelope, quickly tearing it open. Another letter fell out, identical to the first in all but content. I gripped it tightly with my dirt stained fingers, leaving smudges on the exquisite stationary. Reading aloud to the small room, with ghosts as my audience, I sealed my fate for the next twenty four hours.

Recruit,
Congratulations on making it through Phase One. You have now proceeded to Phase Two... Live for the next day, and you will proceed to Phase Three.
Three other subjects will also be participating in this test, and it is them that you are required to compete against. You have thirty seconds until the commencement of Phase Two.
Your aim is to survive, recruit. Phase Two differs greatly from Phase One, in that it is no longer an unruly fight to the death. However, there is still risk of death. Keep yourself, and your charges, alive for either twenty four hours, or until all other participants have been decimated.
This is a strategic matter, recruit. Sheer luck will not see you through to the next Phase. We sincerely hope that you are the one who will progress.
Good luck.

Thirty seconds? My brain kicked into gear, and I scrambled through the dirt in a rushed attempt to rescue my weapons. I scooped them up, and hastily stuffed them into my pocket, before standing up tall on the loosely packed soil. I watched the ground, waiting for yet another staircase to appear, or… My eyes flew to the arena doors. Perhaps that was the way out. I barely took one step before the earth grumbled beneath my feet, almost throwing me to the ground. It would be the stairs, apparently. I wisely took three steps back, anticipating another surprise opening.
However, that would prove to be unnecessary. The ground shook once more, and I fell to my knees, upon the dirt that now seemed looser than ever. A sickening crack sounded throughout the room, and my throat worked out an involuntary shriek as I was swallowed by the earth.