Dead | Jasper Hale | Book 2

1. New Life

A few people laughed. Alice was one of them.

There was more to my decision on my diet of choice, but it was better to say my temporary red eyes freaked me out than say how repulsed I was to drink human blood. Regardless, the topic reminded me of the dry burning in my throat. My hand cupped my throat as if that could put out the flames.

I couldn't think of anything else but the dry ache in my throat, the urge to drink something thick, warm and with a pulse... My nails dug into my skin. Slowly though, the pressure I was putting on my throat loosened and eventually, my hand dropped to my side. I could feel myself calming down.

It took a moment to realize it was Jasper's doing, that he felt my emotions getting out of control. The corner of my mouth lifted, a small gesture that let him know how thankful I was. Without Jasper's help, I don't know what I would have done. Maybe Edward or Emmett would have forced me into the forest to hunt. Who knows?

"Let's go," Jasper said, grabbing my hand. Although I have already felt the warmth of his skin, it was still a shock to feel the warmth instead of the icy temperature. "You're going to need to hunt as soon as possible."

I didn't fight him on this. Though I was wary about what the blood of an animal would taste like, I was far too thirsty too argue what I'd be drinking. Besides, moral-wise, it was better than humans.

Thankfully no one else was going to come with. It was only Jasper and I who were hunting today. I felt more comfortable with hunting alone with Jasper more than anyone else in the Cullen family - for my first time at least. Jasper wouldn't make fun of me if I made a mistake.

We were out of the door and over the river. The jump I overestimated quite a bit, and ended up landing on a branch further away from the river than I intended. I jumped down and grinned. Jasper was right next to me, the corners of his lips turned up in amusement.

"Are you ready?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Yes," I answered, folding my hand into his. "I'm ready."

--

A bear and a deer later, I'd leaned against a trunk of a tree and assessed the damage of my clothing. Of course the deer hadn't done much damage to it. It was almost ripped to shreds due to the bear. The shirt I wore was torn and was only still on my body due to a few pieces of fabric still holding together. My jeans weren't that bad, just a few tears.

However when I glanced at Jasper, I noticed he didn't have a single tear in his clothing. Hell there wasn't even a spot of blood on him unlike me. I frowned.

"How come I'm a mess and you're not?" I couldn't help but ask.

A smile appeared on his face as he walked towards me. He began to shrug out of his blue button-up shirt, leaving him in an undershirt, and handed it out to me. I knew he was handing me his shirt because my shirt was torn and almost left nothing to the imagination. Quickly I slipped it on and buttoned it over my torn shirt. It was big on me and slipped down past my waist, hitting my thighs.

"Because you're a newborn," he explained to me, crossing his arms casually as he leaned against the tree across from me. "Just takes practice not getting your clothes torn in the process."

I scrunched my nose up. Practice. So I'll have torn clothes again in the future when I go hunting. Perfect.

Jasper laughed, the sound not something I was used to hearing. It was lovely and I wouldn't have minded hearing it more. He said, "I know but you'll do better. It gets easier."

"I hope so," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "Because I'd hate to bring extra clothes each time I hunt."

My eyes flickered to the ground and neither of us spoke for a few minutes. This life, though it had a couple perks, was mine now. It was going to be dark and lonely but I knew I wouldn't be alone at least. Jasper had made a promise to me and I wouldn't let him forget it. There was just one person I needed for the rest of eternity, if anyone, and it was him.

Eventually though, Jasper stepped away from the trunk of the tree across from me and motioned towards home.

"You ready to head back?" he asked.

My teeth grazed my bottom lip as I looked in the direction of home. We'd be there in no time. We hadn't gone far from Forks, just far enough that no hikers or humans would have a chance to become my meal. And yet we'd been gone for a couple hours, I still wasn't ready to head back.

I shook my head slowly. "Do you... do you mind if we hang back for a while? It would be nice to just let things soak in."

Jasper had no issue with us not going back right away. In fact, he suggested a place to go to that he liked. So we took off, Jasper a half-step ahead of me. It wasn't far from where we were at either. Just another fifteen minutes of running - in the opposite direction of home - and we were there.

Although I had clearly heard the rushing of the nearby river, I would have never known that there was a waterfall nearby as well. It shocked me when Jasper had pulled me to a stop at the bottom of it.

The waterfall was surrounded by rock and moss. The large pond was shallow, the water clear enough to see the rocks covering the bottom of it. It was deeper when you got closer towards the rushing of the waterfall and darker.

I turned to Jasper, grinning. "This is beautiful. When did you find it?"

He had sat down on a nearby log when I turned to face him. There was a rock, one side completely covered in moss that wasn't too far from the log. I sat down on it, my legs folded underneath me as I faced him.

"It was one of the times I'd gone on my own to hunt. We were also fairly new to Forks, so this is the first time I've been in this area," Jasper began. My eyebrows furrowed down in confusion. The corner of his lips twitched upwards into a small grin. "Everyone has been here before, once many years ago. Everyone, that is, except Alice and I. We joined them later on."

I nodded, understanding, and let him continue with what he was saying before. He spoke softly, his eyes drifting to the waterfall and the dark waters of the pond. "I'd just finished hunting, actually, when I came across this spot here. It felt nice to sit and relax, to not exactly worry about anything. That's what this waterfall gave me -- a sense of peace."

The two of us fell into silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, not like it would have been with anyone else. The waterfall and the life of the forest around us, it made it quiet and peaceful - just like Jasper said. It was easy to sit here and forget about the things that were bothering you.

If Lexi was here, if she still managed to make it through everything unharmed and all right, I was positive she would have loved Jasper. And the Cullens. Although she wouldn't have agreed and would have fought to keep me human, she still would have enjoyed every single second we'd spend together as vampires. Truly best friends.

"What's the matter? Are you okay?" I heard Jasper ask, his voice close.

My eyes flickered up to see that he was on the edge of the log, leaning in towards me. Biting my lip, I nodded my head answering his question. But it took me a minute to gather my words.

"I was just thinking about Lexi," I told him quietly, eyes on the ground. "I was thinking that if she still somehow survived, she would have loved you. Loved everyone. And she would have enjoyed life a lot more if I'd been at her side as a vampire right with her. Two best friends tackling the world as one. I miss her."

"She sounded like a wonderful person," Jasper said quietly as he placed his hand on top mine.

His was warm. Although part of me expected the cold temperature, I felt more at ease when he felt warm to me. Iciness still put me off and made me want to shrink away from someone's touch. But luckily - no one would ever feel cold to me again.

"She was," was all I could manage to say.

Jasper didn't say anything more or try to relieve the pain of knowing my best friend is gone forever. He simply kept his hand over mine, and sat next me and let me feel the pain until eventually, I was ready to get up and go back home.

Silently we both stood up. As the waterfall became distant behind us, the pain ebbed away as well. I could only think of it as Jasper's doing. And I was glad for it. Because it was more than once that I've thought it. If I could choose only one person in the world to face the darkness with, it would have been Jasper.