Colder

It was the next morning and Jasper and I had run into town that morning for breakfast, as he kept no human food in the house and I was complaining of starvation.

When we walked into the Diner, Jo was standing behind the counter having herself a coffee so we went and sat down by her. “Morning Jo!” I said before hopping over the counter and giving her a big hug.

“Well, good morning, Amelia! Jasper, a pleasure.” She shot Jasper a smile.

“I promise you, the pleasure is all mine Ma’am.” Jasper replied in his most charming Texas drawl and flashed her a pearly smile.

“Awe, aren’t you a sweet one! Here, a sweet for the sweet.” She handed him a cookie I knew would have just come out of the oven and grabbed two cups and filled them with coffee for bother of us. “And some coffee to dunk it in.”

Jasper inhaled deeply, “Ooo! My deepest thank you, Ma’am. This smells divine.” That voice still made my stomach turn in knots. He took a large bite and chewed slowly, mmming and ahhing at all the right moments. “This is incredible, Jo. Best cookies I’ve ever tasted.” Jo chuckled and reached over the counter and pinched his cheek before heading back to the kitchen, she had orders up.

Julia, the girl who filled in on my days off, came over to take our order. As she headed back to the kitchen I turned to Jasper, “You are a very good, actor.” I said teasingly.

He laughed at this, “It really does taste delicious to me, Amelia I just have a stronger like for blood and so it holds little regular appeal to me.”

I was about to counter with a follow up when we overheard the table in the corner. It was Newf. “Did you hear about that poor, Samantha Collins?” he asked the guys at the table.

“No! What happened? I figured she be on her honeymoon by now with that Martens boy.” replied Ken.

“No. Apparently just after the wedding ceremony they all went to have some photo’s done up on the cliff to the north, the one that looked over the entire town?” The others nodded, they knew the cliff.

“They were standing too close to the edge and the rock gave way beneath her feet. They say she died the second she hit the ground.” He continued. The men at the table all began to shake their head sadly.

“So sad!” said Ken

“Terrible tragedy…” said Clayton

“That poor girl… and on her wedding day no less!” said Lawrence.

The murmurs of sympathy continued around the table. I looked over to see Jasper clapping his hand over his mouth, his face screwed up oddly. I realized he was trying not laugh. My eyes opened wide and my mouth dropped in horror. I couldn’t believe he found this FUNNY!

He saw the look of atrociousness on my face and began to shake his head, “I…told you… not to sit… on that cliff…” he choked out between laughs. I blinked as what he said took me by surprise. A smile creeped across my face and I began to giggle uncontrollably at how completely funny it all was.

We were on our way back, just walking up the end of the trail where it split off at the path to head down to Jasper’s cabin. As soon as we turned off onto the path, Jasper stopped immediately. His body tensed and he began to sniff the air, his mouth peeling back in a snarl that was cut short by a man stepping off the front porch of the shady deck and into the light.

“Warren.” Jasper whispered in surprised. He dropped my hand immediately and rushed to the strange man, giving him a big brotherly hug and clapping him on the back. “Brother! What are you doing here?”

Warren hugged back briefly. A worried look crossed his face as his eyes found me and locked onto the flush of human blood in my cheeks. “I was worried about you.” He said seriously.

“We both were.” said a melodic voice coming from the porch. My eyes followed the voice to the woman slowly walking down the front steps. She was remarkably beautiful. Her shiny hair was chestnut brown and fell in waves to brush the tops of her hips. Her plump lips were a soft pink colour and set in a sensuous half-smile. She had a long thing nose that suited her oval face and her eyebrows formed a perfect arch above her almond-shaped, lavender eyes. Nothing on this woman, not even her snow-white skin seemed remotely out of place.

“Solen. It’s good to see you again.” Jasper smile warmly at the woman. He turned towards me and placed his hand on the small of my back, guiding me forward toward his friends. I gulped nervously and Jasper turned to address me. His gentle smile made my knees go weak and a sudden calmness flowed over me, as long as I was with him everything would be ok, “Amelia, this is my family. My brother, Warren and his wife Solen.” He gestured to each as he said their names then turned to address them, “This is Amelia and you have nothing to be concerned about. My life is wonderful.”

Solen hissed softly and narrowed her eyes at me, “What are you thinking, Jasper?! She’s human!”

“I know what she is,” Jasper responded threateningly.

Warren stood between the two of them, holding his hands out in peace, “Come now, Jasper.” He said wisely, “Surely you must intend to create her new again at some point. If Asael found out she knows about us he would kill the both of you. Humans are not permitted to know. Ever.” A stern and commanding look overcame his face.

“You know how she feels about you,” Warren gave Jasper a curious look, “You would torture her like that, when she wants so badly to be one of us?”

“I won’t condemn her to hell along with the rest of us. I can’t do it, I can’t take her life, I wont.” Jasper growled in agony.

Warren shot Jasper a quizzical glance, “You have always had a knack for believing yourself a demon. You continually forget that you are birthed from angels, my brother.” Warren clasped a large hand on his shoulder.

“Birthed from angels or not, I am damned the same as you. I am an evil monster who enjoys feeding on humans. I will not allow her to be damned as well.” Jasper spat out.

A hard stern look overtook Warren’s face, “Jasper” he said seriously, “You are choosing to not see reason. You hold too much regard for human life and not enough for your own. She wants to be a vampire. She wants to spend eternity bonded to you. I really think such a decision is hers to make and not yours. It is your choice to give her your blood and solidify the bond between the two of you, but if you don’t make her a vampire, she will find someone else who will. Should she ask, I would be more than happy to oblige,” Warren gave me a meaningful look, “she is clearly very special, though I doubt you can see that like I can. You deserve to be happy, my brother and clearly she has found her happiness with you and is willing to make the required sacrifices to keep you. Don’t throw that depth of love and devotion back in her face.”

“At least think about it, Jasper” Solen’s sing-song voice rang out, “You are putting her in danger by keeping her a human, you know that.” Solen moved off the step now and came towards me. Jasper stepped in front of me threateningly. Solen laughed out loud and patted his shoulder as she pushed him off to the side, “I’m not going to hurt her, brother.” She turned to address me, her hand extended in friendship. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Amelia. I’m very sorry you had to witness that, we’ve just been so concerned for Jasper and don’t want to see either of you get hurt.”

I took the offered hand and shook it, “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you too.” I turned to address Warren, “What do you mean I’m special?” I asked him curiously, my nerves having finally begun to calm down.

“Like Jasper, I too possess a gift. I can see into your head, reading your mind. What I can see there tells me that you are different. What gifts we may or may not possess as vampires,” he began to explain, “Are something we usually had a latent talent for as a human. I don’t know what talent you have yet, my dear but I can sense there is something special about you, you will make an extraordinary vampire. The same way I knew Jasper would make an extraordinary vampire when I met him as well.”

Jasper scoffed at this, “I am hardly extraordinary, Warren.” He muttered.

Warren rolled his eyes at this and ignored Jasper, turning back to me, “He doesn’t give himself enough credit.” Warren flashed me a handsome grin and I nodded in agreement.

“I agree entirely. That’s alright though, it might take him some time but he’ll get there. He’ll understand how I feel about him, someday.” I said reassuringly.

Warren smiled at this and nodded, “I am sure he will. I am curious though, how did you discover he was a vampire?” he asked curiously.

I looked away sheepishly, “I smashed a pot of hot coffee against his face and it didn’t even leave a mark.” I fixed my eyes on the ground as an embarrassed blush rose to my cheeks.

Warren and Solen both burst into peals of laughter, “Oh I would have loved to have seen that!” Warren guffawed.

Jasper grumbled and crossed his arms, “I’d rather not repeat that, thank you.”

Warren clasped him on the shoulder again, “You, my friend, are awfully cranky today.” He turned to address me, “Would you mind if we borrowed him from you for a while? We’re starving after such a journey and he looks like he could use a drink too.” He looked me up and down thoughtfully for a moment, “Unless you prefer to provide his meals for him?” he inquired playfully.

Jasper growled at this suggestion and grabbed Warrens arm, “Let’s go.” He said darkly, clearly he wanted that line of questioning to stop. He turned back to me for a moment and leaned down, brushing his lips quickly against mine and said, “We’ll be back in a couple of hours, make yourself at home. I’ve stocked the kitchen for you if you get hungry.” He stroked my cheek softly and then disappeared in a flash out the door, leaving me alone to wander the cabin.

I knew they’d be gone a good couple of hours and I’d been dying to try out Jaspers massive bathtub since I first saw it. I meandered down the hallway and began to run myself a bubble bath. I borrowed a few candles from the living room and lit them, placing them around the bathroom. I slipped into the warm water and closed my eyes, laying my head back and allowed myself to dream of Jasper and what it would be like to be a vampire and have him with me until the end of time.

After a good long while I realized that the water was getting cold and I was a little peckish. I got out of the bathtub, dried myself off and headed to Jasper’s room to look for some clean clothes. I had the intention of borrowing some of his clothing but when I opened the closet there was an entire section of women’s clothing there, mysteriously there were all my size. A smile crossed my lips and I silently thanked Jasper in my head. I pulled on a pair of comfortable jeans and a tank top. I reached for a sweater and as my hand passed over one of Jaspers it hovered for a moment. I grabbed his sweater, slipped it on and zipped it up half way. It was far too big for me but it was comfortable and it smelled like him, like cedar wood and apple blossoms.

I revelled in his scent surrounding me before my stomach growled, reminding me it was hungry so I headed into the kitchen. Pulling open the fridge door I noticed that Jasper wasn’t joking when he said he stocked the kitchen. The fridge was completely packed with food, after opening a few cupboards I discovered they were packed with food as well. I marvelled at it, there was enough food here to feed the whole town! I grabbed a bowl from one of the cupboards and tossed some fresh, deep red cherries into it from the crisper of the fridge. Taking my cherries with me I set off to explore the tiny cabin.

After looking through the massive amounts of books lining the shelves of the main bedroom, I headed upstairs to take a look at the guest bedrooms. I opened the first door and was amazed by yet another room, lined floor to ceiling in all sorts of different books. Jasper had accumulated quite the library in his nearly 200 years. In the middle of the room was a large round bed decorated in a black and purple bed set with 6 matching pillows laid out neatly. I browsed the shelves for a while, floored by the age of some of the books. I could only imagine what some of the 200 year old, leather bound first editions might be worth.

I headed across the hall and opened the door to the second room. A gasp caught in my throat and my hand flew to my mouth to stifle the surprise. This room was not at all what I expected. This room was decorated in the purest of white, from the carpet, to the walls to the curtains. A snow white crib with fluffy, white satin blankets and sheets sat in the middle of the room. A rocking chair in the corner had also been painted the same shade of white and beside the chair was a long, hand built box that had been painted white with big blue letters on it that said “Toys”. It was a nursery and there was a little dresser along the one wall with a small, intricately carved, silver photoframe. In that frame was a picture of Jasper with his hair cut short, standing in his military uniform and holding onto a tiny baby dressed in a beautiful white gown, his face was looking down at the child rather than the camera and the smile on his face was one of genuine happiness.

“Her name was Clara,” a voice, broken in pain, spoke from behind me. I turned around to face Jasper and I saw the tears in his eyes as they leaked out and left marks against his pale skin on their journey down his enchanting features. “She was the entire reason that I said yes to becoming a vampire. Her mother,” a soft, reminiscent smile crossed his lips before turning serious again, “died during her birth. I was all she had. She was staying with friends for a few days until I’d gotten back from the battle before I was turned into….this.” He said in disgust as he leaned into the room and grabbed the door, me hot on his heels, and into the living room where his guests were waiting.

Warren was focused on the staircase as we descended, his expression one of deep concern. “Jasper…” he said cautiously.

Jasper interrupted him with a snarl and narrowed his eyes in an unnerving manner. He hissed, “Do not start, Warren!”

“Jasper, please… it wasn’t your fault.” Warren said.

A howl of agony burst from Jasper’s chest as he lunged at Warren, knocking him into the side of the fireplace. A large chunk of the mantle went flying across the room when his iron head slammed into it. They struggled for a while, first one pinning the other, around and around again until the room was almost entirely destroyed, piles of glass and broken wood everywhere.

Warren had managed to break free of Jasper and dashed into the kitchen. I stepped in front of Jasper with my hands out to block his path. Solen moved toward me, one hand raised in warning. I saw that her lips were moving but I couldn’t hear the sound. Jasper grabbed at my wrists and in his rage, flung me across the room and onto the couch.

I wasn’t expecting his reaction to me so when I landed on the couch I was so shocked it took a few moments before the sharp pain burst through my consciousness. I screamed.

Whatever obsession had overcome him before, instantly drained from his face as he heard my blood-curdling screams. His nose twitched as the scent of fresh blood hit him and he was at my side instantly. “Amelia? Amelia are you ok?” His hand slipped behind me to help me up and fresh blood flowed over his fingers. His face wrinkled into a grimace of despair. “Oh God…What have I done…” he whispered.

“Jasper,” Warren’s stern voice immediately took over, “Bring her to the kitchen and lay her on the counter so I can assess the damage.”

Jasper wrapped his arms around me and I clutched at his shirt with my shaking hands. I buried my face into his neck, crying out with each movement. He walked, stone-faced into the kitchen and laid me on my stomach on the counter. He took one look at the blood gushing from my back, where the glass shard was embedded in my flesh, and walked out into the night.

Solen rushed to Warren’s side with a pile of clean cloths and a basin of warm water. He began cleaning the wound very carefully. “It’s in there pretty deep but I think it missed her kidney.” leaning down towards my head he said loudly, “I’m going to have to pull this out now, Amelia. Brace yourself, this is going to hurt.”

Solen moved to stand by my head, cradling it in her arms and brushing my hair back, “Shhh it’s going to be ok, Warren is an excellent medicine man and you will be fine. Here bite down on this.” She stuck a leather belt into my mouth, I guessed it was Warrens. Suddenly an explosion of pain ripped through my side and I let out a bloodcurdling scream as my teeth bit straight through the leather belt. A cry of despair echoed from somewhere out in the forest and everything slowly faded to black.