Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.

Overwhelming Darkness

A/N:This story is written as a collaboration by both Xo Bella Italiana oX (My new penname) and DeathQueen26. We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to reading your reviews. If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note! Enjoy! – B

Chapter 22
(Jasper's POV)

I sighed in contentment, feeling sated and happy as Bella and I exited the city limits after our hunt. It had been a long time since I hadn't felt such a harsh burn in my throat to the point where I actually felt full and not just tolerable. I was glad that we had decided to go back to the human diet and I didn't feel any of the guilty, depressing emotions that I used to feel when I had hunted humans before, because these 'people' – if you could call them that – were not innocent by any means. Maybe I had a God complex going on, who knows?! Either way, I was happy with my choice and I was sticking to it.

"So, since you're back in the South, do you think that things down here are any different from when you were Maria's second?" Bella asked out of the clear blue when we had stopped to clean up at a small stream in the desert mountains.

I leaned against a nearby bolder and lifted my head thoughtfully. "Yeah, I'd say so. Though, I can't say the same 'bout the way that the other Warlords run their armies, but you seem ta make it work in a way that your soldiers are happy an' content to serve under you. I'd have to say that if Maria treated her soldiers the way that you do, I might've stayed."

Bella's lips quirked in a small smile as she took a seat next to me. "That's nice to know."

We lapsed into silence for a moment before I looked down hesitantly and absentmindedly began to fiddle with a stick I had found, drawing random shapes in the dirt. "So, what's changed?" I asked her without looking up at her.

I could feel the confusion coming off of her as she answered. "What do you mean?"

I sighed, dropping the stick on the ground in between my legs and brushed my hands off by rubbing them together before looking over at her. "I mean what's changed that you aren't bein' so put off with me anymore?"

Her lips quirked slightly and she looked down, slightly embarrassed. Now, this is more like the Bella that I remember, only without the blushing. "I was being kind of a bitch to you all, wasn't I?"

I snorted, chuckling silently. "That's puttin' it mildly, yes."

"Hey!" She teasingly smacked my arm and we exchanged a playful smile. "But yeah, you're right. I guess it was more of a defense mechanism, than anything. I didn't know until I spoke with Rosalie earlier what really happened when you left and that the three of you were truly innocent parties that didn't deserve the brunt of my wrath. I guess I blamed your family for what happened after you left; everything with Jake, Charlie and Victoria. Even my transformation, which resulted in... yeah." - pain flared briefly, but she quickly pushed it down and continued to speak - "Also, I was afraid if I let any of you back in, that you would abandon me again. Either way, I'm sorry about the way I've acted. I should have let you explain yourself."

I reached over and picked up her hand, intertwining our fingers with one hand and clasping it from behind with the other. "I don't blame you, Bella. You have every right to feel the way that you do, no matter what it's regardin'. I can't help but feel mostly responsible for what triggered our departure, me lungin' at you on your birthday."

Bella immediately began shaking her head. "No, I never blamed you for that. It was your nature to lung at a bleeding human. It was my stupidity that led to your actions."

"No, Bella." I immediately objected. "You gettin' a paper cut is not your fault. Being blamed for bleedin' is like blaming someone for breathin'. It's part of life. It was my fault for not bein' able to handle myself over a silly paper cut."

Bella shifted so that she was directly facing me. "That wasn't your fault either, Jasper. Not once did I ever think that it was your fault for lunging at me."

I raised a brow at this. "How do ya figure that?"

She smiled and looked down at our hands. "Your gift."

"My gift? And that has to do with me takin' a snap at you, how?" I pressed.

"You felt their blood lust." She explained and looked up at me from beneath her lashes. "Blood lust is an emotion, Jas. And you felt yours on top of six others, one of which my blood sang to."

I began to rethink this revelation, going over the past few decades when I've slipped or felt thirstier than normal, compared to when I was alone. "Jesus, I think you're right." I murmured as I recounted the events. "Son of a bitch, you are!" I growled, reaching down with my outside hand and picking up a rock before crushing it in my palm. "Every time somethin' happened, it was in the presence of someone else, never when I was alone."

"And how have you felt since you've switched back to the human blood diet?" Bella asked me calmly, not reacting to my temper flare up.

"Better, but what does that have to do with this?" I asked, my eyes flickering back towards her face as I ran my hand through my mop of honey blonde curls.

"I'm asking for a couples different reasons." She said. "First, drinking animal blood is like a human eating tofu. It keeps you going, but never truly satisfies you. Second, animal blood doesn't let you be at your strongest, and that goes for gifted vampires, as well. Human blood makes your body and gift stronger. So, now you will have better control over you empathic abilities, just as I have better control over my shields."

I nodded. "Yeah, that has always been somethin' that I've come to realize over the years, but I never stopped to think that blood lust was one of the emotions that I was absorbing. If I did, it would have been a lot easier on me. When I got too thirsty, I could have just gone off on my own for a solo hunt or got away from the emotional climate."

"Well, now you know." Bella nodded with finality.

Our conversation ceased for several moments before I finally turned to her. "I'm sorry."

Her brows creased in confusion as she looked up at me. "What for?"

"For what happened with the Major, with us, durin' our first mating – if you could even call it that, since we didn't mark each other fully." I said to her oozing sincerity. "It's been eatin' me alive since it happened and I can't tell you how sorry that I am. Even if I spend the rest of my existence doin' it, I will do everythin' that I can to make it up to you and to be a worthy mate, if you'll have me?"

She studied me for a moment before she finally nodded. "I believe you. You'll get the chance to make it up to me next time."

"Next time?" I repeated her. "Does that mean - "

"That I accept you as my mate?" She cut me off and nodded. "Yes, I do, but we're going to have to take this slow. It's been ten years since I've been romantically involved with a man and I'm..." She trailed off, looking down, but I knew what she meant.

I reached over and brought my fingers under her chin to bring her head up to make eye contact with me. "We'll go at your pace. I'd do anything to make you happy."

She smiled and I could feel the gratefulness and adoration in her emotions, as well as hesitancy and anticipation. It confused me at first, until she slowly began to lean in and tentatively pressed a chaste kiss to my lips as they molded together. I responded, causing her to sigh into the kiss and I reached up, cupping her jaw and running my thumb gently across her cheek. Finally, she pulled back, looking at me with her bright liquid crimson eyes as they shone brightly.

She leaned back against the bolder once again, lying her head on my shoulder as I leaned back with my head against the rock-face. Silence once again engulfed us as we sat and watched the small stream flow over the rocks in front of us. It was so peaceful and calming, not to mention the view around us was stunning. Also, the present company only made it that much better.

"Can I ask you something, Jasper?" Bella suddenly asked.

I nodded. "Sure. You can ask me anything."

"How were you changed?" I stopped breathing at this, tensing. She immediately began to backtrack, noticing the reaction within me after her question. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that. It's just that I've heard all the rumors and legends about the almighty Major of the Southern Armies, and I'm curious as to how much truth they have to them. Not only that, but I want to get to know you and hear your story from your mouth."

I began to nod slowly. "You, of all people, have the right to know. It's nothing I'm proud of. The South for vampires tends to chew them up and spit them out barely alive, if at all. Maria was no where near the kind of leader that you were and used the worst kinds of methods to get what she wanted." I murmured. "I am ashamed of everything I've done and I can understand - whether we are mates or not - if you don't want me anymore after you hear the gruesome truth. But you deserve to hear this from me before we get involved with each other."

Keeping her head on my shoulder, she reached over and took my hand, intertwining our fingers together and looked up at me. "Jasper, I don't care about the things you did in the past. I only care about the kind of person you are now. The kind, amazing, thoughtful man that you are today. I know that I tried to push you away before and even after the way that I treated you, you've still been amazing and taking everything that I've been throwing at you. Not everybody can do that." She said tentatively and bit her bottom lip and sighed. "I might not have served under Maria, but I have been in the wars for a while now. I have done my fair share of killing these past ten years. I might have had a reason to kill all those that died by my hand, but it doesn't mean that I take pride in taking someone's life. You don't judge me for my past, my present, so who am I to judge you for yours?"

I smiled a small, grateful smile and ran my thumb over her knuckles, watching my thumb ghost over her skin as I began while she settled back against me. "I am the oldest one in the family aside from Carlisle; I am about 150 years old, give or take.

"When I was seventeen, I lied about my age and enlisted in the army. I looked older than I was and was considered to be very charismatic, so there were no questions and I was able to enter the ranks easily where I quickly rose through them over the next couple years. By the time I was twenty, I was given the position of Major. I was the youngest one in the Texas Calvary and earned that title well.

"We were evacuation a town of women and children in Galveston. I had stayed behind and did one last lap of the city, making sure that I didn't miss anyone. When I was satisfied, I began my track to catch up with the rest of my men.

"About a mile from Galveston, I discovered three women on the side of the road and like a good soldier, I offered them my aid. I thought that they might have been stragglers from the group we had just evacuated. As I approached them, I realized that they were all stunningly beautiful. There was a blonde, a brunette, and a Hispanic woman. I hopped off my horse and approached them, bowing to them in greeting. Their beauty stunned me into silence."

…::Flashback::...

"He's speechless!" The brunette giggled.

The blonde leaned forward, smelling the air around us. "Mmm…lovely." She sighed referring to what I now know was my scent. She opened her eyes and they were pitch black.

"Patience, Nettie." The Hispanic woman scolded her, putting her hand on her shoulder as she looked to be inspecting me from a distance. "Concentrate." She whispered.

"He's young, strong…and an officer too!" The brunette remarked.

"But don't you sense it? There's something else there too." The Hispanic woman told them. "I want to keep this one." She smirked.

"Then you better do it Maria." Nettie said. "I can never stop once I've started." She ended in a whisper.

"Very well Lucy, take Nettie hunting. I don't want to have to watch my back while I'm trying to concentrate." Maria told them.

The two seemed to disappear into thin air, leaving me alone with Maria. At this point, I was a little frightened, but I held my ground. I was not accustomed to having to fear women. I was raised to protect them.

"What's your name, soldier?" Maria asked, bringing me out of my shocked state.

"Major Jasper Whitlock, ma'am." I answered politely.

"I hope you survive, Jasper." She said as she approached me. "You may be of great use to me."

She leaned in, as if she was going to kiss me. At the last second she struck; biting into my neck. The last thing I saw before I succumbed to the pain was Maria's smile.

…::End Flashback::...

"I woke up three days later in an old barn. From there, Maria introduced herself and her two sister's as Nettie (the blonde) and Lucy (the brunette). They explained to me what I was and about the wars that were going on in the south under the human's radar." I explained before stopping and looking up at her. "Have you ever been told how these wars started?"

She shook her head. "No, not really. I mean, I know why they exist, but not the history of them."

I nodded to myself and began to explain. "It all started when vampires began to realize that if a few vampires were to claim a specific territory, or city, that they would be able to feed more often and not risk being discovered as opposed to many vampires feeding in that city."

She nodded. "I knew that part."

I nodded again. "Well, a vampire named Benito came up with the easiest way to accomplish this. He created a bunch of vampires and used them to fight his battles in his place and protect his territory. In return, they were given permission to feed on his territory. After the newborns lost their strength and speed after their first year, they would be destroyed and he would start again with a new batch of newborns. Benito won his territory and began expanding very quickly. Others learned his technique for winning and began to follow his example and create their own armies, thus, how the Vampire Wars began."

"Maria was starting her own army at this point." Bella stated.

Even though it wasn't a question, I still nodded my head. "Yes. She was very good. She was a soldier that fought under Benito and their base as in Monterrey. Another Warlord attacked and defeated his army, leaving Maria and her two sisters as survivors because they ran away. Maria wanted the city back, so the three of them went to create their own army with the goal in mind. I was her first soldier, aside from his sisters. She created nine more after me. She trained us herself. I was very good. I never lost a battle, even to this day. I was the fastest, strongest, and most lethal of the bunch. She began to show favoritism towards me, which made the others jealous. At this time they were all men and they would constantly attack me out of jealousy. I was almost always fighting to defend myself, resulting in Maria always having to make more newborns. However, rather than punishing me for this, she would reward me often."

"What kinds of rewards did she give out back then?" Bella asked.

I sighed. "It varied, depending on how pleased she was, though it probably hasn't changed much since there is only so many ways to reward a newborn vampire. It was usually extra feeding privileges, a particularly sweet smelling human, a human that she would kidnap from a nearby town for the vampire to use as a 'pet' to do with as they so pleased or sex." I mumbled.

"Oh." She sighed. "Okay, I was just curious. I have similar methods, except I don't allow the use of humans as 'pets', nor do I allow rape in my cape. I usually only allow my soldier to feed on criminals or the deathly ill. But if one of those is especially sweet smelling, I will reward a soldier who has shown particular excellence the honor of feeding from it, or I will buy them something that they want or give them financial payment, if they rather. Also, I don't let my body be used as a reward." She frowned for a moment. "But I don't like the thought of you and her together." Her emotions reflected her tone and expression.

I looked at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry, darlin'."

She shook her head and gave me a sad smile. "It's okay; it was before I was even born, before my parents - my great grandparents - even knew each other. I just hate the thought that you were with anyone else." She let out a breath and looked down into her lap for a moment before looking back up at me. "Continue with your story?"

"Sure. Anyways, the others became jealous and frequently tried to pick a fight with me. I ended up killing them often. Though Maria was agitated that she had to create new soldiers, she still was pleased with my abilities. After she learned of my gift, she became even more ecstatic.

"Once my newborn year was up, we discovered that instead of my speed and strength waning like the rest, it only increased. Maria was thrilled and ended up making me her second in command. I was put in charge of creating new soldiers, training them to fight, keeping them calm and focused with my gift, dealing out the punishments, and destroying them once their year mark was up.

"As the years past, I helped Maria and her sisters expand their territory. Our army was well trained and with my experience in the art of war and Maria's leadership, we were unbeatable. But Maria got greedy and her sisters were becoming jealous and tired of Maria. They began to show signs that they were going to turn on Maria and I in their emotions. So, we destroyed them before they had the chance."

"Years decades went by and at this time, our territory was the largest in the south. I had a Captain named Peter helping me." I looked down and smirked at her. She grinned up at me in return. "He was in charge of watching the newborns. He called it 'babysitting duty.'" We both laughed at this. "He was the only one I ever let my guard down around. It took him awhile to get past my tough and uncaring demeanor, but that silly fucker managed it." I laughed to myself remembering his antics and persistence and she let out a slight giggle, as well.

"One day, it we were ordered to dispatch all the newborns that were at their one year mark. Peter was acting strange and his emotions were all over the place. He kept trying to convince me that some of them had potential and didn't need to be destroyed. I told him no, that Maria said that all of them needed to be killed. He was getting more and more distraught and worn out the further we went down the list. Finally, I called forth a newborn woman named Charlotte and his emotions went haywire. He was furious. I couldn't understand it until he looked at her when she came into view. It was pure love. An emotion I hadn't felt in decades. It made me realize that what Maria and I had wasn't real. They were mates and had been hiding it from everyone, and with good reason. Maria didn't allow mated vampires in her army. If they were discovered, both of them would be destroyed.

"Peter screamed at her to run and she took off. I looked at him still puzzled and he stood there ready to take me on if I was to chase after her. I ended up telling him to just run. That I would tell Maria that they escaped. I could feel his gratitude and familial love for me. I was punished severely for their escape.

"It was after this that my depression started. It got so bad that my mind ended up creating an alter ego in order to cope. Peter calls it my Major mode and you've met him before, as well. He is the Major of the Southern Armies - the one the legends speak about. When you meet him again, he won't hurt you, ever. Just be respectful and as submissive towards him as you can. He is a very dominant man and demands respect from all of those around him. He is cold, calculating, and ruthless. His demon is worse though. He is completely animalistic and would kill anyone, even Peter, if he determined that he was a threat. I black out completely and have no control over when I come back to myself. He has taken out entire armies and towns himself. I've woken up surrounded by bodies and burning vampire limbs, not knowing how it happened. He's extremely dangerous. Maria gave him the nickname, 'the God of War'." I paused for a moment, reflecting, before I shivered and continued on.

"Five years passed since I let Peter and Char escape. I can't tell you how many times during those years that I contemplated suicide. Letting myself get destroyed in one of the many battles, fueling the newborn's emotions so they would attack and kill me, tossing myself into a fire...even Maria's patience was wearing thin by then. I began to feel the same emotions I felt from Nettie and Lucy right before they turned on us. I knew I either had to destroy her first or be prepared to die. I had tried talking to her about what was bothering me, but she wasn't at all sympathetic to my conundrum. I realized then that she never loved me. I was only her puppet and she pulled the strings." I could feel my voice begin to shake as I relived my past with each word I spoke. Bella wrapped her arms around my waist and held me close as I continued with the rest of my story.

"I was on my way back from hunting one night when I smelled Peter's scent nearby. He showed up and went on to tell me that Maria lied to all of us. That there is a better way to live up in the north, that vampires lived among the humans without their knowledge and didn't fight for territory. That they had run into many of our kind and it didn't end in a fight. Needless to say I was shocked and in that same conversation agreed to leave with Peter. We met up with Charlotte the next town up and they took me to their home in Montana.

"More years passed and my depression became worse. I couldn't understand it until Peter realized that it was always at its worst after hunting. It turns out I could feel the emotions of my victims as I killed them and it brought on the depression. I tried to feed less but I would always end up getting so thirsty that I couldn't resist and would slaughter more than one human, bringing back the depression. A few months later, I decided to go out on my own for a while.

"More months past and I ended up in Philadelphia. It began to rain, so instead of staying out in the rain, I ducked into a diner as to not bring attention to myself. Once I was inside, I immediately smelled another vampire and my senses were on high alert. I watched as a little pixie like vampire hopped off her stood and bounced right up to me. Her emotions intrigued me. They were so joyful and happy, a complete change to what I normally experienced.

'You kept me waiting a long time,' she told me.

I ducked my head like a good southern gentleman and said 'my apologies ma'am.'

From there she went on to tell me about herself and that she could see the future. That we were going to be joining a family that fed on animals. At first I was a little skeptic, because it didn't seem realistic. But watching her hunt and her golden eyes proved me wrong. I agreed to go with her and two years later, we showed up on the Cullen's doorstep and have been with them since until a few years ago, but you know what happened from there." I finished.

A/N: So, what did everyone think of the chapter?! What do you think will happen next?! How will their relationship progress?! I hope you liked this Bella/Jasper chapter focused solely on the two of them when they were out together. I used some of Jasper's story from my other story 'Dhampir'...check it out! There's only so many different ways that you can tell Jasper's story, after all, and I think I've exhausted them, for now. LOL! Review!

If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note!

To see more, go to either mine or my Co Author's FF page: Xo Bella Italiana oX or DeathsQueen26

If you enjoyed this story so far, check out some of my other stories on my FanFiction page! Also, I am still accepting Twilight stories that involve Jasper/any female leads or Bella/selected male leads if anyone is looking for a Beta Reader. I will make exceptions on the characters depending on the plot. I am also accepting other story topics as well! PM me for details!
- Bellisma -
Xo Bella Italiana oX