1,720AN: I know some of you are wondering why I've decided to start a whole new Jasper/Bella story when I should be working on "A Different Comfort" and it's simply because while a whole bunch of stuff started happening in my life...I also got a bit fixated on "Darksper". A darker Jasper away from the influence of the Cullens? Something about that just screams perfection to me. No worries, I'm still going to be working on "A Different Comfort"..but this story is going to be my outlet for my Darksper urges. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any Twilight characters or story line. I do however like to play with them.
Arizona was peaceful. Hot and dry, with red dirt stretched out for miles in front of him. Despite the occasional cactus here and there Jasper saw none of the scrubby vegetation that he had spent nearly a century staring at in Mexico. Yes, on the outskirts of Phoenix he could even pretend that Mexico never existed. If he stared long enough at the setting sun maybe he could forget the sound of the screech made when he tore Maria's head off her body. Or sear out the sight of her blank, wide red eyes, or the swish her long mahogany hair made as he tossed her head into the pyre…
He could almost see her hair blowing in the wind in the distance, the light catching it in a myriad of red and burnt umber rivaling that of the cliffs and crags around him. Wait. He wasn't imagining that. There was a woman in the distance, too far for him to scent, but just near enough that he could see her hair whip around in the wind that blew effortlessly across the desert. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, allowing his other senses to span out around him.
There.
A flicker of a heartbeat. The faint scent of freesias and strawberries. The whisper of despair and anger in the wind, odd considering the distance between them, but it mattered not. The woman was human.
A slow grin spread across Jasper's lips. How beautifully symbolic. Maria was plaguing his thoughts today, even after 65 years, and here was a human woman with the same long brown hair he used to love burying his face and hands in. The universe was offering him a chance to kill the thought of his ex-mistress by draining a girl with her traits dry. He was thirsty anyway, so with a shrug Jasper built up his emotional wall, a solid mixture of determination, thirst, indifference and disdain he had perfected with his Captain, and set off running in the direction of the mysterious woman that was unlucky enough to be seen by a particularly tormented God of War.
Well, this woman certainly was interesting. Jasper had been watching her for nearly thirty minutes now, not that he made a habit of watching his food, but she was definitely an exception. Even though the sun had long gone down she was still on top of the cliff where he originally found her. Pacing of all things. Well, pacing and cussing.
"That little fucking pixie! Where does she come off waltzing into my life and just snatching Fuckward up! And after I damn almost died of all things!"
Oh yes, this little lady certainly had a sailors mouth on her. And a temper. That had to be the third rock he's seen her chuck into the abyss below.
"First James has to go and bite me, then Fuckward has to throw me in a mirror to try and 'get him off of me' leaving me with this fucking headache and then after he kills the dick, Fuckward has to go on some self-sacrificing 'save my soul' bullshit and suck the venom out! With Dr. Dimwit encouraging him all the way! Fucking useless, Cullen's!"
Wait. Did the pretty little spitfire just say venom? Jasper's ruby eyes scanned her body again, lingering on her bandaged arm and took a big breath of her scent in. Huh. There was a sharp note to her scent, the residue of several vampires being around her and interacting with her. For some reason the very thought of another vampire being around her, touching her, even looking at her, made a low growl build in the back of his throat. To think some careless vampire brought his spitfire into this life-
His thought process was cut off by the woman throwing yet another rock, with a particularly loud war cry sound tearing from her throat.
"And that god damn pixie! What right does that bitch have to come skipping out of nowhere, when I'm incapacitated under pain killers, claiming she's 'Edward's mate' and 'the family is just going to looove her'! Fucking Pussyward is more like it! Believing anything anyone tells him! Who gives a shit if the little brat says she can see the future! She's still going to look like a little boy for the rest of eternity! UGH!"
Without a doubt this woman has been around vampires. Living with a coven of them by the sound of that 'family' stuff. Ha. Like a coven of vampires can be a family. The only vampires he's even gotten close to have been his Captain and the Captain's mate, Charlotte. And even then, they were his coven; his hand-picked choice of companions, not a family. Those vampires obviously had to be delusional. It only proved his point seeing how there was a human who had been in close contact with them, who knew what they were, and they just let her roam the desert like an abandoned pet!
Jasper shook his head in disbelief. Some vampires were such morons. With a sigh he stepped forward to bring his prey's attention to him. Man did he hate cleaning up other people's messes…
As soon as his foot kicked a pebble his prey swung around to see him. Her long mahogany hair swinging with the motion, and he was caught within the gaze of deep chocolate eyes.
"Fucking hell, another damn vampire! Go ahead, drain me! The other one surely didn't do a good enough job!"
The woman said it all in a huff with a roll of her chocolate eyes. A wave of annoyance swept over Jasper, and he had to push it off with a shove of his emotional wall. Strange…his prey's emotions had never gotten through before. Regardless, this woman's reaction amused him. Didn't she care if she died?
He watched her a bit more, tilting his head slightly, as he took in the curious sight before him. The woman huffed at him again, her deep eyes narrowing into a glare before the energy seemed to drain out of her and she sank to the ground with a sigh.
"Look, cowboy. I've had a really tough week. So if you could make up your mind between eating me and just staring at me that would be great."
Mm. Cowboy. He smirked. He liked that. No one had called him cowboy in quite a long while.
"What's wrong, pet? Ya owners leave ya here?"
She scrunched up her little nose at him in distaste before she halfheartedly glared at him.
"Oh haha. Make a pet reference to the little, fragile, human whose vamper family don't give a damn about any more. Real funny there, cowboy."
She scoffed at him while tugging on the end of a lock of her hair. It seemed like a habitually trait.
"I'm not anyone's pet, okay?"
Jasper gave a half-grin at her. She certainly had spunk. He tipped his hat a bit and ducked his head in an apologetic gesture.
"My apologies, kitten."
She growled at him. Ha! This little human actually growled at him, the Major! She was a bundle of surprises.
"I. Am. Not. A. Pet." She growled each word out to him with a clenched jaw. She looked like she wanted to hit him. Jasper stifled the urge to laugh and leaned against a large rock near him.
"Tell me your name."
The request sounded more like an order, even to his ears, so he wasn't terribly surprised when she snorted at him like he was funny.
"Why? You make a habit of knowing your food, red eyes?"
He shrugged and made a mental note of how she referenced his eye color. As far as he knew, all vampires had red eyes.
"Who said I was goin' to eat ya, kitt'n?"
She smiled for the first time since he saw her. It lit up her eyes and a flicker of mischief flowed out to him.
"Me."
Oh she definitely was a bundle of surprises alright.
AN: So, not too bad right? I look forward to playing with this Jasper a bit, as well as a spunky Bella.