A/N: Warnings for emotional manipulation and violence.

Chapter 3: The Predator

At first, through sheer shock, Bella's cries were gentle, a single teardrop sliding down her cheek. But with more time to think about what Jasper had said to her, she was eating both her burger and tears as she sobbed through dinner.

Jasper regarded Bella almost awkwardly, unsure of how to deal with a human being who was sobbing besides using his powers. But this human didn't want that. So he had to just sit and watch her.

They sat in silence as she ate her meal. Once she finished her last sip of her shake, she was unbearably full and exhausted. She watched him with hooded eyes. Despite his more human appearance, he was still strikingly gorgeous, as if he had walked off the cover of a summer magazine. Though it seemed with every passing minute, the shadows under his eyes grew darker, and his skin became ashen.

"Jasper, I understand it must be hard to talk about any of this, but please, Alice and Edward were important to me too. I want to know what happened to them. And what happened to you ."

Jasper looked troubled by her request, despite promising her an answer.

Just then, Jasper looked over at the table behind them as she heard exclamations from some of the boys.

Bella leaned over to look past him. The boys were passing around a bottle that they had snuck into the restaurant, egging one another on to drink as much as they could withstand. She noticed Christine, the girl from her Calc class, looking ready to drop from where she sat. Her eyes locked on the arm tight around her shoulders, one boy leaning close to her face, his other hand trying to tip her chip up to him. He tried to kiss her lips, but she was barely able to hold her head up; his lips only caught the corner of her mouth.

"Ugh, that's awful!" she exclaimed. Goosebumps appeared on her arms as she shivered in disgust.

"Someone you know?" Jasper asked with a sudden pique of interest.

"Barely," Bella replied. "But at the first rager I went to, some loser did something like that to me, and it didn't end well for either of us." Her stomach churned as she remembered the horrible smell and slimy feel of a tongue prodding into her mouth. The consequences that came after.

She was already pulling the napkin off her lap and slapping it on the table as she got up. "Hey, Christine!" She put on a falsely cheery voice as she approached the table.

The girl lazily glanced up at her name.

"I've been trying to reach you all night . You said you were going to bring the face masks to girls' night tonight!" She reached for the girl's hand to pull her out of her seat. "Come on, we can walk back together. I'll let Jen know we're on the way."

The boy next to her grabbed Christine's other hand. "Hey! She's with me."

Jasper was now aiding Bella in holding the sagging girl upright from behind.

Bella huffed with a hand on her hip. "You can have her another night. Christine and I have been planning movie night for weeks."

The other boys at the table were quieting down, now noticing something was going on.

"Well, she wouldn't be with me tonight if she was going to make it your 'movie night'," the boy hissed at her. He grabbed Christine's arm again.

One of the other boys piped up, "Dude, just let her go."

The boy assessed the situation. Either he continued to fight and embarrass himself not only in front of two strangers but also in front of his entire friend group, or he had to let go and move on with his night.

He chose violence.

Bella recognized the shift in mood as soon as Jasper did. Jasper's jaw clenched, and as if a gust of wind had ripped through the restaurant and targeted the group of boys at Table 12, all four boys collapsed in unison into their seats and onto the table.

Bella jumped back in shock, unsure whether the boys were asleep or dead.

Jasper gathered Christine in his arms and led her out of the diner, leaving Bella dazed behind them. Pausing for a moment, trying to process what she had just witnessed, she slowly returned to their table to grab her backpack and try to catch up with Jasper, who had bizarrely already left with Christine.

She was about to exit the diner when she heard the waitress behind her. "Where do you think you're going? You haven't paid." The woman had one hand on her hip.

Bella gaped and looked back and forth from the waitress to the diner exit. "He said…." When she didn't see Jasper outside the diner, she dumbly accepted the bill and noted the total. Internally, she screamed. "Fucking asshole!" she shrieked indignantly in her head, seething as she scribbled in the tip. She would have to go without food at the end of the month.

As she slipped out, she heard the waitress exclaim from the back of the diner, "What the hell! Y'all can't sleep in here!"

When she stepped outside into the chilly air, Jasper was nowhere to be found. Bella didn't know why she thought he would be standing outside waiting for her after he left her with the bill. She was about to just start screaming into her scarf in frustration over everything that happened tonight when she heard a low moan.

Panic began to course through her veins. "Jasper!" she exclaimed. She bolted towards the sound. She was terrified at the prospect of losing him, while the mystery of his condition and the deaths of Edward, Alice, and Emmett remained unknown.

Bella's heart pounded in her chest as she rounded the corner of a dimly lit alleyway near the diner. Her footsteps faltered as she froze in her tracks, her eyes widening in shock and horror.

There, before her, stood Jasper, his face contorted with hunger, hovering menacingly over Christine.

Fear and disbelief rooted Bella to the spot as she watched Jasper's sharp fangs elongate, ready to pierce the vulnerable skin of the girl's neck. It was a sight she had never imagined witnessing: a vampire—a Cullen—about to indulge in the forbidden act of feeding on a human.

She struggled to figure out what to do. Edward had told her on more than one occasion that she would never be able to watch him feed or that his instinct to hunt would overpower any feelings he had for her. But she couldn't let Jasper do this to her.

Summoning her courage, Bella found her voice, her words trembling. "Jasper, stop! You can't do this!"

Jasper's head snapped towards Bella, his eyes glinting with a mix of hunger and desperation. There was a wildness in his gaze, and Bella's heart dropped at the thought that he might try to kill her instead. With his lips still on Christine's slender neck, he locked his eyes with hers, eyes half-lidded, looking almost drugged. "Bella," Jasper murmured. "Go away"

The girl beneath him whimpered, her eyes glazed with confusion. His fangs glinted dangerously in the dim light, the temptation of fresh blood overpowering.

Jasper leaned down and traced the tip of his nose from the base of her collarbone up her neck; his lips parted slightly. It looked like an addict was torturing himself by getting as close to the drug as possible without using it.

"Wow, some knight in shining armor you are," she said, her voice wavering. "Save the girl from one predator, only to prey on her yourself. Nice one."

Jasper's eyes flickered with pain and self-reproach. Slowly, he released his hold on the girl, his features twisted with torture.

In a moment of intensity, Jasper closed the distance between them, pressing Bella against the rough brick wall of the alley. His grip was firm yet gentle, his eyes searching hers. "Do you think I enjoy this, Bella?" he asked, his voice laced with frustration. "I'm a vampire. This is what I am."

Bella's heart raced, memories of other monsters holding her in place flashing before her eyes—James…Andrew…and now Jasper—and she almost started kicking and punching before she saw the flicker of what she thought was pity in Jasper's eyes. "You have control, Jasper. You're stronger than this. I've seen your control, your restraint. I know you can resist this."

He laughed humorlessly. "You've seen my restraint?"

Bella knew he was talking about her birthday debacle. "You know what I mean."

He leaned in, his forehead gently resting against hers. "You don't understand," he whispered. "There's no going back once you've had human blood." He shuddered. "The thirst... it's unbearable, and animal blood—Bella, it's not as it once was. Not anymore." His head tilted down so that his mouth hovered over her throat. She could feel his cool breath against her skin—a mix of temptation and anguish. Her thighs squeezed together on their own accord.

He abruptly lifted his head to look into her eyes with surprise as he inhaled deeply. His pupils yawned wide, and she felt a rumble of a purr against her body.

Bella tentatively brought her shaking hands to hold his arms. Tears welled up in her eyes. "There has to be another way."

This seemed to snap him out of whatever had just happened to him. He blinked.

"I won't kill her," he promised. "I don't have venom."

That sent Bella's mind reeling, but she was persistent and shook her head. "No, Jasper -"

The girl stumbled forward, disoriented and frightened. Jasper's hold on her was wearing off. Bella wanted to rush to her side, offering support and comfort. She cast a cautious glance at Jasper.

Slowly, he released Bella, stepping back with a haunted expression. The weight of his struggles hung heavy in the air, and suddenly Bella knew she wouldn't be able to intervene. Every cell in her body wanted her to turn away and not notice what was happening right before her eyes.

With a shaky breath, she said, "No." She swallowed thickly. "Don't use your abilities on me." She looked at Christine, who now appeared sedated once more, tears welling in her eyes from the guilt. " Please don't do this."

But somehow, she lost interest, and she turned away from the scene without another glance behind her, hurrying out of the dark alley and sprinting down the street. Suddenly aware of the harsh cold, Bella finally let herself cry again.

She imagined herself running back to persuade Jasper to let Christine go, fully aware that by the time she returned to the alley, apathy would overwhelm her and force her to turn back. She imagined hearing from campus police the next morning about a dead girl discovered near a popular diner and that they were hoping witnesses would share information ASAP. Maybe they would knock on her door after nearly dining and dashing and then being the last person to be seen with Christine. Or she imagined Christine as another missing girl as she transformed into a vampire.

Wait, the campus police. Even knowing that he might be able to just use his powers again on anyone that tried to interfere, it seemed as if he had struggled to use the full force of his power on both herself and Christine while he was in his state of hunger.

She pulled out her Razr and called the police department. When the operator answered, she blurted out, "There's a group of men behind The Diner, and there's a girl back there screaming! Please help!"

Jasper may be able to take on a couple cops. But a force of police officers hurrying to take on a gang? If he wanted to hurt someone that badly, she'd make him work for it.

A/N: Let me know what you think!