Stained Glass Windows || Jasper Hale

Three

Korea 1951

Jem could remember his own birth over a hundred years before. It was similar to this, except it wasn't him ripping his way free. They were in a basement of a house, hidden in the dark and away from any soldier above. The woman on the ground was screaming, sound muffled by Annabelle's hand, as she writhed in pain. The skin on her belly moving grotesquely as the infant inside fought to free itself. Jem was knelt over her, hand smoothing over her bare skin and eyes wide with emotion. Wonder, fear, fascination, horror. It was all jumbled up in him in a chaotic nest.

"Should we kill her now?" Annabelle asked in English. The woman was watching the human with a gentle pity in her gaze, long red hair cascading over her shoulder. It wasn't winter, like it had been for Jem's birth, but the cellar was full of a chill that sunk into you. Annabelle was the only one not effected and Jem half wished that he had a warmer jumper. The young woman, or girl as she wasn't much olde than twenty, screamed as something audibly cracked. Jem guessed that it was a rib. "We should ease her passing if we have any pity", Annabelle murmured. Her red eyes still those of a monster.

"She should be able to see her child at least once", Jem replied as he felt his sibling kick under the skin. "I'll make it quicker though". Annabelle nodded and removed her hand from the woman's mouth and rose to retreat to the corner of the room, as far as she could get from the blood about to be spilt.

"I don't want to die. Just help my baby. Please", we're the first words out of the girl's mouth. Jem wondered what her name was. He had never caught it. Weakly, her hand reached out and gripped his wrist. Sweat stained her brow and under the yellow light of their single lightbulb, she pleaded with him.

"I am going to help your baby", Jem promised as he gently released her hold on him. He wondered if he should feel guilt for why this girl was dying, pity maybe? But he had seen enough people die over his years of life to be bothered anymore. Humans were beautiful because they were fleeting. It was their nature and he long since stopped grieving their ends.

His words seemed to reassure her as she relaxed slightly, still shaking with the pain. Under her skin, something moved and Jem could make out a hand. For a second, there was a moment of still. A second as he waited for the first move to be made. It was broken by the girl suddenly writhing and a desperate pain filled howl echoing around them as the infant began to bite and tear it's way out of her. The vampire hardened skin protecting the womb being pierced with sharp teeth and torn open. Jem wasted no time in sinking his nails into the flesh of her stomach and helping. Blood sprayed and the woman gurgled, eyes rolling as he ripped her open. It splattered his clothes, soaking his jumper and covering his face as he leant down to help break that protective lining. She tasted sweet and heavy in his tongue.

Soon there was a hand ripping free and he was pulling the flesh apart. It made a horrible squelching sound as the head was revealed and his hands were bringing the newborn into the world. The mother made a noise as her child was freed from her body. The blood soaking the floor around her as her head lolled. Jem knew that she had seconds left and turned the babe towards her, so that she may see her killer and her descendent. Her lips twitched at the sight and he was surprised to see a smile on her lips. His own mother hadn't left him with a smile, and the sight of it knocked the air from his lungs as he watched those eyes glaze over and heard the heartbeat stop.

In his lap, the infant wriggled. Jem looked down to see his new brother staring up at him. His eyes were a dark chocolate shade of brown and there was a pink flush to chubby cheeks. Dark hair was slick with blood and there was a button nose. He was bigger than newborn human babies, but still so small in his arms. Jem felt himself beam at the little boy in his hold, one hand cradling his head as he pulled him close. "Hello", he made a noise which was half laugh, half sob. Tears were dripping down his face and the baby cooed and beamed back. White teeth gleaming under blood.

"Are you crying?" Annabelle asked, surprise and curiosity in her voice. She was hundreds of years old and he wondered if she was remembering what it was like to cry. He turned to her, blood splattered and the infant clutched in his arms. She was just as perfect as she was when they met that morning. Unstained and put together.

"I feel", he breathed, eyes alight. "So much". He laughed giddily at the words, another sob catching in his throat ad he gently rocked the child in his arms. The boy was blinking at them, fascinated at the world. "I should name him. Oh god, look at him. Isn't he perfect?"

"Congratulations. You're a parent now", Annabelle smiled as she stepped closer. She crouched down and held out a finger for the baby to grab. "Hello little one. Aren't you strong". The baby gurgled at her happily. "I think he likes me".

Jem was barely listening, mind going over the possibilities of names. He hadn't been given a name until he was almost fully grown and had chosen one for himself. He gave himself his own name and it was strange to find himself now bestowing a name on someone else. "San", he muttered as the baby's other hand fisted itself in his jumper. "I am calling him San".

"What does that mean ?"

"Mountain. I have a feeling that he will be as steady as a mountain". Jem smiled, tears slowing as San kicked a little leg.

"Well I guess we should get you and San back to the house to get cleaned up", Annabelle smiled so he stood. Jem had to take a second to work out how to get to his feet without his arms, brain still dazed by the warm body in his hold. He would do anything for his brother, he realised then. He'd burn the entire world for him. And wasn't that a terrifying thought?

"Come on Jem", Annabelle called as she reached the stairs. "We need to get your brother some clothes". Jem looked up and tucked San closer to his chest as he followed her out of the basement and into the night outside. The late summer breeze greeting them with fading warmth and San a reassuring weight in his hold.

Unedited