Chapter 1- Vampires and hybrids

Jasper's POV-

Were I to ponder over my life till date, I would conclude that I was guilty of committing several unforgivable mistakes. I had killed humans, women and children included. I had abandoned my aged parents when they needed me the most. I hadn't been loyal to my doting wife, switching mistresses like they were clothes. Yet, the biggest mistake of all these remained becoming a Cullen.

In my defense, I hadn't known back then what it meant to be one of them.

It had all started minutes after I woke up into this second life of mine. I had had a mistress back then. Maria. She was exotic in that unachievable sense of way. I was young, free, and quite above in the ranks in the confederate army. It was common back then to fiddle from one woman to another, the need for sex being an accepted truth in our world. I had been married to my childhood sweetheart, our wedding a few months prior to where my story starts. Unfortunately, I hadn't been a man enough to stick to my commitment to stay loyal to her. I had lived for my baser instincts, the lust that Maria invoked in me enough for me to follow her to the abandoned part of town, leading myself into her trap. I hadn't known back then that biting could also be completely unrelated to kinky, waking up three days later as a newborn vampire starved for blood. It was quite later that I had found out that Maria, who was a vampire, was seeking revenge from a neighboring warlord and wanted me to join her in this revenge mission of hers. Unfortunately for her, she never succeeded.

The second I opened my eyes, in front of me stood a...someone. I wasn't quite sure initially what they were. It vaguely resembled a prepubescent boy, a year or two away from hitting puberty with a clean-shaven head, wearing a flowery dress. I frowned to myself. Why was the boy wearing a dress? And was that lipstick on his lips? Then it had opened its mouth, and I was further confused. For the voice that left his lips, was that of a woman. Not that of a small girl or a boy before the voice deepens and breaks. But of a woman.

"Jasper." It had murmured. "You know how long it took me to find you?"

I scratched my chin. Was I supposed to know the answer to that question?

"I have been out scouring every town that I could think of. And today, had I not reached here on time, scaring that distraction off, she would have stood in our way, taking you away from me! We wouldn't have met for another fifty years!"

Um.

"I..." Surprisingly, I found my voice. "I... you are?" Okay. Not so much.

"Mary Alice." she smiled. So, she was a woman. Strange. "But I go by Mary. I live with my biological father, Carlisle. I am a hybrid. That is, my father is a vampire, and my mother was a human. She could not survive my birth. We are five of us, all hybrids. I am the youngest. So far, at least. At times I get angry at Carlisle for getting us into this world. We aren't normal. We don't resemble either gender- even vaguely- and have no body hair to speak of. Not even on the head. But he is still my father. And he does love us."

"Mary," I sighed. I felt bad for her. It sucked to look different. Yet it did not answer my questions. "How did you find me?"

She smiled. She was a chirpy girl. "I can see the future. Like, actually, can see the future. Sure, it is based on decisions one makes, but eh. It still counts as an amazing power, doesn't it?"

I smiled, nodding my head briefly. "Mary, I am guessing you know why I feel this burning sensation in my throat?"

"That's because you are a vampire now, silly. Carlisle will be able to tell you more. Will you come with me to my house?"

Logically, I should have said no. I did not even know her. But then, where would I even go?

If I was really a vampire, as she said, I knew shit about being one.

Her house wasn't far from where she had found me, we had walked the short distance. She was weaker than a human, was what she claimed. She got tired quickly, needing to sit after any short tedious activity, including walking continuously for a stretch of a half hour. Finally, we had broken through the thick trees, a small cottage welcoming us in.

"There isn't enough room for all of us in here." she embarrassingly admitted. "But Carlisle doesn't need to sleep, and we somehow manage. Come, I will introduce you to my family."

I offered her a courtesy-sake smile, following her in. The house was smaller than it even appeared. There were hardly two small rooms here. It looked cramped but neat. It was obvious that she-they- loved this house of theirs.

Soon, walking two steps further, I came across four members of her family. Her siblings. They looked just like her, a pang of sadness crossing my heart. They were neither male nor female. Androgynous.

"These are my siblings." she proudly introduced them. "That is Emmett. He was born first." I smiled at the man in question. He was built like a linebacker and could easily stop a train with his one hand. Just like Mary, his head was clean shaven. He radiated the same sense of happiness though.

"I am stronger than the others." he grinned. "That is my power."

I nodded my head in appreciation. It was admirable how happy he appeared despite the underlining sadness that his, and his siblings', eyes depicted.

"I am Benjamin. I was born second." The one who stood next to Emmett stated, offering me a not as wide- yet decent enough- smile. "I can play around with water. I can make it rain!"

I frowned briefly, not as bold and rude to stare openly, yet curious to find out the question revolving in my head.

"Yes, Ben is Asian." Mary answered me, nodding at her brother. "We don't share the same mother. Neither of us do. A human cannot survive giving birth to us. Strangely enough, we are born strong and over the years, lose part of our strength. We become weaker with each decade that is added to our life. Not for Emmett though. He gains strength. That is his power."

Did that mean that Carlisle had impregnated six different human women to have six hybrid children?

I did not know how to feel about that.

Certainly not very highly of him.

"That is my eldest sister, Leah." Mary continued. "Her mother came from the Quileute tribe, hence her native American looks."

Leah chose to ignore me, sulking by herself.

"Moving on," Mary sighed. "You know Em, Ben, Lee- this is Katie. She is closest to me in age. I was born hardly five years after her."

"Kate Cullen." A beautiful woman winked at me. She was gorgeous to look at. She shared the same traits as all her siblings, some unknown charisma radiating off her.

"Jasper Whitlock, ma'am." I shook her offered hand, nodding my head in acknowledgment.

"Okay, now that you know all of us, it is time to meet Carlisle." Mary clapped her hands in glee. "Either dad will love you. Or he will hate you. There is no in-between with him."

Suddenly, I felt a surge of power radiate through the room, a throat cleared as the six others that occupied this room took a step back in fear and apprehension. Only Mary looked somewhat happy to see him.

"Daddy," she grinned, politely offering her hand forward, an indication that she wanted to touch him. He obliged, squeezing her hands once, before letting them roughly fall to the side.

Was he really their father?

Why were things so awkward in this room then? I could see the tension in the air.

"Which poor human girl have you impregnated now?" Leah scoffed at him. "You have come back to see us for the fourth night this week. The last two times you did this, it was followed by another sibling joining us."

"Leah." Carlisle glared at her. His eyebrows raised. He looked feral. Boldly enough, Leah looked undisturbed by his anger.

"What wrong have I said, daddy? It's been a while since you ruined an innocent woman's life."

"You do know why I keep making your kind!" Carlisle unapologetically spat the words out. "I want to find out whether a superior race can be created. I just need to find the right girl with the desired gene pool."

Leah grunted at that. "By that if you mean, ruining people's life, then sure, that's what you are doing!"

"Leah!" Carlisle took a step ahead in her direction, looking ready to kill, Emmett and Benjamin stepping in between the two.

"Dad, please." Benjamin pleaded. "You know how Leah is, let it go."

Emmett took to rubbing Leah's arms, keeping her calm and at her place, away from where Carlisle could harm her.

"Daddy," Mary chirped. "This is Jasper. You remember I had told you about him?"

I briefly smiled. All eyes in the room now on me.

I did not like this Carlisle. Not one small bit.

"Ah, yes." Carlisle stated. "Mary Alice is quite fond of you. She keeps telling me about you."

"Yes, when you do finally remember that you have five children that you brought into this world." Leah scoffed from her place. Carlisle ignored her, his eyes trained on me.

"Shall we go on a hunt?"

I nodded my head. It did not seem to be much of an offer.

He led me outside, crouching into a run as soon as we took the first step out of the door. I followed him through the thick trees, the beauty of nature as we whipped past it, a treat to the eyes and the nostrils. Finally, we stopped in the middle of an abandoned cleaning, him turning to look at me.

I knew that I was equally as strong as him; that he couldn't physically harm me. Yet, he oozed power, my feet unwillingly taking a step back.

"I believe Mary Alice has already told you that you are now a vampire?"

"Yes. Honestly, I am quite confused about it yet."

He sighed, offering me a nod. "Jasper, when I entered this life, I knew nothing about it. I learnt through trial and error. Emmett was, well, a mistake. She wasn't supposed to get pregnant. I truly did not know what I was doing when she died giving birth to my child. His birth led me to a whole world of possibilities. Anyhow, we become vampires with that one bite. Your sire bit you?"

"Yes." I clearly remembered Maria biting me and the pain that had followed.

Carlisle hummed in agreement. "I will quickly go over the basics. You are now immortal and need blood to survive. You can drink the blood of humans, but I consider myself more humane than that. I survive on the blood of animals, not willing to claim the life of an innocent."

Ironically, he stated.

"Mary Alice is quite taken by you, I must say. If you do wish to stay with us, I would have no objection to it."

"Thank you, sir."

I thought about it for a minute. I could not go back to my life prior to becoming a vampire; I could not risk killing my family. Mary Alice and her siblings seemed to be nice enough. And I would find out more about this new world that I had entered.

"I will take you up on your offer."

"Good, now let's find some animal for you to feed on."