About A Soldier

Part 3/10

Companion

He's been with her for almost six months now, and he still doesn't know where her motivation comes from. She's nicer to him now, and treats him like less of a pawn and more as a friend. She's even begun to invite him on her evening walks; a privilege not even Pedro, the closest to her besides Nettie and Lucy, has been graced with.

"Jasper, Maria wants to see you."

Pedro's tone is sharp, quick and there's something in it that puts Jasper on guard. He knows the other vampire isn't happy with him – he came right in and stepped on his toes, and that wasn't nice. He hadn't meant to, though.

"Where is she?"

"Upstairs," Pedro spat. When he walks by, his shoulder comes in hard contact with Jasper's.

Not wanting to upset Maria with a show of violence among the ranks, he decides to let Pedro go with a dark glare before ascending up the stairs and in the direction of Maria's room.

He's never been here before, and when he reaches the half-open door, he isn't quite certain if he should go in. He decides to knock lightly instead. She speaks before his hand touches the door.

"Come in, Jasper."

When he does, he has to blink and let his eyes adjust. The walls are a soft pastel pink, with lavendar floral designs. Colorful paintings hang on the wall, and the bed in the center of the room is covered with a floral blanket, several large pillows, and a variety of dolls.

"I know," Maria says from her seat at an antique-looking vanity set. She's watching his reflection in the mirror. An offwhite satin robe is wrapped around her, and her hair is pulled back in a semi-formal updo. He suspects she, like his younger sister had done so many times before, had been playing dress-up. "It's all very human, si?"

He tries not to stare; he knows it's rude, but he can't help himself. It's by far the brightest, happiest room he's seen in a very long time. "Why?"

She smiles lightly at him, and he thinks she looks a little less pale. Even her lips have a bit of color to them. "My weakness, I guess you could say." She turns in the chair, and nods to the dolls on the bed. "I collected them when I was a human child. I never really grew out of it."

"How old are you?" Jasper regretted the question immediately. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound –"

She holds up a hand, and he stops talking. "I was three weeks away from my sixteenth birthday when I was turned. That was three years before I found you."

"Oh."

Maria stands and walks by him to shut the door. Then, she returns to the bed and sits on the edge. "Come," she says patting the space next to her. When he shifts uncomfortably, she quirks an eyebrow at him. "I won't bite."

He obeys, though he feels that if he puts all his weight on the bed it might collapse. "So… you hold onto your human life?"

"I hold on to parts of my human life," she corrects, running her palm over the soft blanket. "I miss sleep. I lay here, even though I lay awake. I close my eyes and I pretend."

Jasper feels a tugging pain in his chest and, though he knows most of the sadness is coming from Maria herself, he suspects some of the pain he feels is sympathy on his part. "What happened to you?"

She's quiet, and he wonders if he should've asked.

"My family was killed," she says finally, "by the humans, I mean. Union soldiers. I don't know, or can't remember, why. My little sister was the last to go. I hid, and a few days later, a vampire found me. I thought perhaps he felt sorry for me, but two months after my transformation, he just left. I think he was bored."

Lowering his eyes to the floor, Jasper frowns. He can't imagine that he would've made it through his first few years as a newborn without Maria. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she says. "This is why I'm forming this army, Jasper. I want revenge, on everyone. The humans took my family, the vampires took my land. I want it back."

He doesn't blame her; he would, too. "I hope I can help."

"You've helped in so many ways already; training the newborns, purging those no longer capable of fullfilling their tasks. I've come so far since I found you."

Jasper looks down again, and watches as she places her hand over his. He frowns. "I've still got work to do today…"

"Leave it. There will be just as many newborns tomorrow are there are today, if not more."

A new sensation seeps through him, and he jerks his hand back without warning and stares at her. That was one emotion he'd never felt from her before.

She folds her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry. You have a gift I've never gotten used to."

"Tell me about it."

"You can go, Jasper," she says, looking at her feet. "If you want."

Part of him wants to. Part of him wants to stay. He's not sure which one he wants to oblige to. "I just don't know what it is exactly that you want…"

Maria sniffs affectedly, and draws circles on the floor with her toe. "I can talk to you, Jasper. I know everyone thinks I'm just unstoppable, especially Nettie and Lucy. I guess that's true, to an extent. Everyone gets lonely, though, si?"

"I apologise if I'm stepping over any boundaries, but…what about Pedro?"

She laughs loudly this time, as though she's truly amused. "Pedro wouldn't know emotion if it jumped up and bit him."

He knows what she means. The man was like a machine.

"…I'll stay, if you want."

Her face seems to light up. "Really?" When he nods, she takes his hand again. "Would you lay here with me tonight?"

There's more hesitation with this, but he nods his head once more. "Okay."

* * *

He stays with her the next night, and the night after, as well. They lie there under blanket in silence, her head on his shoulder and his eyes fixed on the ceiling. Sometimes, she traces the scars from his battles, and sometimes she wraps his hair around her fingers and smiles and says, "Belleza rubio."

Jasper doesn't know what it means, but he likes the way it sounds.

He loses track of how many times they do this, but one night it changes. Maria's army almost doubled in number, and she was happy. With Jasper in command, they gained control of over four cities in less than forty-eight hours and when they return to celebrate, she's waiting for them.

"I knew I had a good feeling about you," she said, throwing her arms around his neck.

He lifts her off the ground and spins her once. "Of course you did."

When he sets her down again, she stares up at him. "Losses?"

"Sixteen."

"That's good, less than I expected. Oh, Jasper, thank you. You don't know what you've done."

He starts to turn, to take one last headcount of his men, but she grasps his face and pulls his head down to hers. He's startled and he doesn't kiss her back, but when she looks at him it's obvious that she doesn't care.

He doesn't have time to object, if he wanted to, before she's dragging him through the house and up the flight of stairs. Other members of the coven scramble to clear their path and, once they're in the upstairs hallway the whispers and chatter die away.

The only sounds left are those of fingers tearing through fabric, and short gasps of breath that aren't needed.