Ok, so here is my co-author's wonderful chapter for you! She wrote most of this one, so enjoy! Really, the combination of chapters 8 (this one), 9, and 10 are the beginning of all the drama, so stay tuned!

I've already written chapter 9, it's now with Alex, the amazing co-author, for checking and approval. She's usually quick about it, so that should be out very, very soon.

Enjoy! RxR!

-TG


Chapter 8-

As we entered the camp, I now noticed the mechanics of the small field. It was very open, with plenty of room for vampires to... well I don't know exactly what they did here, but they had to keep themselves occupied somehow, right? But compared to the bright sunlight of our meadow, it was rather dark here. The trees above us created a canopy, as if they purposefully made an umbrella for it's inhabitants. Only a few streaks of sunlight filtered through the leaves, causing passerby's to glitter beautifully. It was sort of an anagogic sight to behold.

After I quickly observed our surroundings, I observed the other vampires. They were no longer sitting or standing around. Now they were all moving. More specifically, they were in pairs; lunging at the other person and dodging the other person's lunges. I could tell they were sparring, but it looked more like a dance; with every move carefully echoing the other's. Despite all of this, they some how looked like amateurs out there, with no real form of attack except lunge and dodge, lunge and dodge. There didn't seem to be any strategic form to this dance.

I looked at each pair of Newborns, then glanced at the very end of the long line to see Maria and Lucy sparring each other, and Nettie and one man who looked the same as all the others, except he seemed to be in more control of the battle. He was carefully studying Nettie's moves in the millisecond of space between one move and the next. Every now and then, you'd see him gain an advantage over Nettie, but somehow she always brought it back to an even score before she lost the battle all together. It was like watching an arm wrestling match between two evenly strong people, but one was getting tired (though I knew that wasn't the case with Nettie) and nodding off every now and then.

I stood awe-struck, unconsciously holding tightly to Jasper's thick, muscled arm. I didn't look at him, but I could feel his gaze on me- probably judging my reaction to what I now realized was their form of "training." I could see his face in my peripheral vision. I looked quickly up at his face, smiling when I saw the concern etched in his features. I raised myself up on my tip-toes, bringing my lips quickly to his for reassurance. He smiled beneath my lips. I went down to my normal height again, and by the time I had completely lowered myself Jasper was no longer smiling. He looked angry, with his lips pulled back now to reveal his teeth, and a hiss sounding from his chest. He actually looked quite frightening, almost like- well, a vampire.

I didn't know exactly what made him so angry. I followed his gaze until I saw Maria, visibly fuming where she stood. I didn't have to be an empath to feel her envy and anger. This all happened in a single second, and in that single second Lucy hadn't realized that Maria had come to a full stop. She barreled into Maria, who then stumbled backwards into one of the newborns before regaining composure. That newborn then fell into the next newborn... and it was a domino effect from there. In about 2 and a half seconds all hell had broken loose.

Newborns were flying everywhere, their fast movements making it look like there were five times as many; all crashing and smashing into each other, until the clearing was pounding with the sound of incessant thunder. They turned on their neighbors and let loose their instincts – all rational thought was lost. The –mortal- ear shattering thunder was broken only by the young vampires' snarls and the splintering sound of trees that were in their path. Poor trees.

I couldn't do anything but stare, my new senses straining to catch everything. But bodies and snarls were flying everywhere. I hardly noticed Jasper leave my side, and leap into the middle of the fray, trying to settle the rioters down. I unconsciously stumbled forward, wanting to be closer to Jasper and the riot so I could see all the was happening better. I located Jasper somewhere towards the middle of the stampede He and two other people stood out from the crowd. As a high peal of laughter rang through the clearing, I turned to Nettie, standing on the far side, her head throw back. Laughing. As this chaos swarmed around her, she was laughing. How sick.

And Maria. She wasn't doing a thing. Her narrowed eyes just followed Jasper as he moved through the mob, possession and anger warped strangely in her gaze. Somehow, I felt the anger was directed at me. Another vampire, who I remembered Jasper had referred to as Thomas, was moving separately too. Well… if it can be called separately. Basically, he and Jasper were the only two not trying to rip people's limbs off and tear those pieces to shreds.

I was too busy keeping tabs on those four, so I didn't see it coming. But I sure as hell felt it. One instant (we're talking a nanosecond instant) I was watching the fight, and the next, I was being hit by a truck. Or that's what it felt like. A truck. A big one, carrying freakin' elephants. But then, trucks don't have claws. I could feel its nails digging into my shoulder. I could hear another high peal of Nettie's laughter, probably responding to my current predicament. I bit my lip as my attacker's nails (I swear, they were filed to a point) raked down my arm. Then I heard it. Over the other snarls – and Nettie's cackling – over the thunderous crashes, there was a snarl, far more frightening than the others. It sent chills down my spine and the hair rising on my neck. There was a blur and suddenly the newborn was gone. He (now I could actually tell what my attacker was) was pinned against the ground. Jasper was the one doing the pinning – and the growling. I blinked, reality was blurring again as it was replaced by a brief vision.

I closed my eyes tightly, and turned away. I didn't want to see what would happen to my attacker, even if my vision had shown me. It didn't help though. I could hear his screams as he was ripped apart. Then I could smell the smoke. I didn't open my eyes again until I heard Maria's voice.

"Jasper! What the hell are you doing!?" I turned to see Maria, completely up in Jasper's face. Both of them didn't look exactly pleased. "How could you do that?! He was one of our best soldiers! How could you kill him for a useless rookie?" She shot a look intended to kill in my direction. Jasper didn't say anything. He just turned and was at my side in seconds.

"Alice?" His eyes were full of worry, even as he tried to hide his fury. He reached out and gingerly touched my shoulder. Even being a vampire, I winced as his cold fingers brushed over the deep gashes the late newborn had left in my shoulder. But even as I watched, the wounds seemed to heal- albeit, slowly compared to Jasper and the other newborns who had now stopped their rage. They were all mending themselves- some reconnecting whole limbs to themselves. Jasper had a few new bite marks, a few shallow scratches, but none as bad as the deep gashes that raked up and down my arms.

Jasper wrapped his sculpted arms around me. "Alice. You need to hunt."


I know it's short, but I promise to have the next out very soon. That one's a lot longer.

Keep Reading!

-TG