To Please the Monster Inside [Carlisle/Jasper][Chapter Twenty-Nine]
Title: To Please the Monster Inside [Chapter Twenty-Nine]
Pairing: Carlisle/Jasper, Jasper/James
Rating: M
Disclaimer: Characters owned by Stephenie Meyer.
Summary: The monster inside Jasper lusts for human blood. When the desire is too strong to resist, there is only one who can help. Carlisle tamed this monster once, and now he must try again.
After New York they moved up toward Canada, spending a few days in cities that they particularly liked on the way. Using money taken from the dead bodies of their victims, James and Jasper booked into five star hotels, hiding out in the rooms by day, hunting by night. On rainy days they would go shopping, dressing themselves in expensive gothic fashions.
It was a perfect night, the deep navy sky glittered with stars as they set out to hunt. As per usual, James lead the way and Jasper followed behind. The empath sensed something different in the other vampire tonight - a certain excitement that wasn’t often there.
“You seem different tonight, James.”
“Do I?” He smirked.
“Yes.”
James inclined his head to the side, glancing at Jasper from the corner of his eye. “Different, how?”
“You seem eager for this hunt - far more than usual.”
“Hmm…”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jasper felt his skin prickle as he realized where James had led him. They stood outside a boarding school for children from the age of six through to twelve. He closed his eyes, calming himself before he opened them to glare at James.
“So this is why you’re so excited.” Jasper muttered darkly.
“Oh yes.” James whispered. “We’re in for a treat tonight, sweetheart.”
“I don’t think I’m ready for this.”
“I do.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Just… something that I’ve seen in your eyes.”
“I don’t know what you think you’ve seen, James.”
“Neither do I.”
The hunter scanned the third storey windows until he found what he was looking for - an open window. He turned to Jasper and smiled, and then he jumped, slinking silently through the window.
Jasper breathed deeply and followed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The room they stood in had three beds, and three young boys sleeping in them. Despite himself, Jasper was instantly drawn to the boy on the furthest side of the room. His scent wrapped itself around the empath immediately, pulling him in with sickening sweetness.
James noticed. “Go on.” He urged.
Jasper shook his head but moved closer nonetheless. “I can’t…” he breathed, bending over the small body.
“Do you want to?”
“I… my body wants him. But my soul…”
James laughed, quiet but mocking. “Your soul? Jasper, my pretty, sweet little Jasper - you don’t have a soul.”
Jasper clenched his jaw, the sarcasm in James’s voice filling him with anger. “Yes,” he spoke firmly, “I do.”
“Oh, okay. Did Carlisle tell you that?”
“We’re not discussing Carlisle right now.”
James stayed silent, standing back slightly to watch Jasper. “If you truly desire freedom, Jasper, take him. Let everything go and take him.”
It was with fear and disgust that Jasper bent low over the boy. His eyes darkened, becoming glazed. Hunger burned his throat, ravishing his insides. Growling low and soft, he let his fingers lightly trace the curve of the boy’s slender neck, his skin hot and supple, sending shivers down Jasper’s spine. The boy was completely calm in his sleeping state, relaxed and content. Jasper allowed these feelings to flow into his own body as he gently placed a hand over the boy’s mouth and sunk his teeth straight into the fresh, tender flesh.
He moaned loudly the second the blood hit his tongue. Never had he tasted something so… clean. It was the purest, sweetest blood he had ever swallowed. It filled his stomach with bliss, and his body with warmth. He climbed onto the bed and straddled the little body, humming softly as he drank. The boy’s feeble attempts to squirm free only excited Jasper further, filling him with a feeling of supreme power.
James watched with gluttonous satisfaction, his trademark smirk in place on hungry lips.
Jasper drained the body of life and continued to drink even after the boy was dead. He didn’t stop until there was barely a few drops left. James put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back with caution.
Jasper shrugged him off violently, snarling, warning the other vampire to stay back.
He looked down at the cherubic corpse beneath him. The skin was pale, tinted by a grey hue from the loss of blood. The boy’s lips were parted in a voiceless gasp, his eyelids closed. Jasper touched his face, it was warm. He felt himself shudder, vicious tremors of remorse rolling through his conscience, through his soul.
Confused, Jasper sat back on his knees, waiting for the familiar blood-high to hit.
But there was nothing.
Minutes passed and all he felt was a deep, dreadful blankness.
He turned to James, frowning and biting his bottom lip.
“What’s wrong?” James took a step forward, his brow creasing with genuine concern.
“I don’t know… I don’t know.” Jasper whispered.
“How do you feel?”
“…Grotesque.”
“What? I don’t understand… Surely you feel… beautiful? Perfect?”
“No, no.” Jasper shook his head very slowly, blinking. “I feel cold.”
James took a second step closer. “You’re not joking, are you?” It was more of a statement than a question.
“I feel cold.” He repeated, his voice sounded miles away.
“I think we should go.” James walked back, heading for the window. “Come on.”
Jasper didn’t even think about his movements as he climbed from the bed and glided to the window.
As he walked down the street, away from the school, he couldn’t remember jumping from the window.
“Jasper, are you alright?” James was keeping a comfortable distance between their bodies.
“No.”
“Can I do anything for you?”
They walked two blocks before Jasper answered. “I need Carlisle.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
They fought that night, in their own way. James continued to tell Jasper he needn’t feel shame, or guilt - that they were unnecessary emotions. He said there was nothing wrong with what he did, he was a vampire, after all.
And then Jasper had hit him, and told him that he hated him.
James glared for a moment, fists clenched at his side. He turned his head to look away, and Jasper felt no anger, but pain, a sharp, dull pain. James was hurting now, and Jasper wondered if he should care.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
At the hotel, the empath spent more than two hours in the shower, trying but failing to wash away the sickness he felt.
James hadn’t returned to the hotel with him.
It was almost morning.
Dressing slowly, Jasper decided, against his better judgment and his will, to go and find the hunter before sunrise.