running.

It had been a very long time since I had left Maria. I have constantly run unless I happen upon a small town or scarcely populated place where I can drain humans of their intoxicating blood. I came upon a small town that had a very odd cozy feeling. I stopped in a café to rest when a petite young woman hopped off of a stool and approached me. She took my hand. “Hello, Jasper,” She greeted me in a soprano voice.
I froze. “How do you know my name?” I asked in a low voice.
“I know almost everything about you, Jasper,” She said picked herself off the ground. She approached me slowly. “My name is Alice.”
She took my hand, and I was too dazed to rip it away from her. “You kept me waiting.”
“Sorry, ma’am” I said. Her eyes were mesmerizing. They were golden, and I had no idea how she had managed to make them that color. I was nearly a hundred and fifty years old, and mine had always been the same deep crimson color.
I took a step back from her, and she released my hand.
“I know it is a lot to take in, and I’m sorry for approaching you this way, but please try to understand, Jaspy.”
With that, I ran out the door, but had to slow to a slow run due to the fact there were humans. How did this tiny beautiful little vampire know so much about me when I had never meet her? She had called me Jaspy. A name no one dared to call me since Maria had used it. I almost despised the name, but somehow it sounded sweeter coming from the lips of the tiny stranger.
“Jasper, please come back. I’m sorry. I’ve been alone for so long that I forgot how it felt to talk to someone. I guess I got a little over excited…please don’t leave me.” She whispered.
I could tell she was far away, but my sensitive ears heard every word of her plea. It was the last few words that had escaped her lips that made me come to a sudden halt. Maria pleaded for me to stay only because I was the best fighter, but, Alice I guess her name was, needed me somehow. She caught up to me and grabbed my hand again. I let her hold it.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“I already told you. My name is Alice.” She said.
“No, I mean who are you?” I said.
“I can’t tell you here in the open,” She whispered when I curious woman passed us on the sidewalk. She led me by the hand to an alley.
“I don’t remember much of my past,” She said in a quiet voice. “I do remember that when I was a child, I could see flickers of the future. They were weak but still clear. My “sight” depends on what I’m looking for. At age fifteen, I told my parents about my visions, and they thought I had lost my sanity. They sent me away to and locked up intuition. I searched for my future to see if anything would become of me, and I saw quick flickers of you. You were running…always running. When I woke from my transformation, I looked for my future. I saw you clearer…still running…”
I could hear the sadness in her voice. I had the urge to hold her, but I didn’t even know her! How could love this tiny vampire who seemed to know? A pained whimper escaped her lips, and I realized she had seen the future. She would see my rejection to her. Sobs rose up her throat, and she turned away.
“Please….don’t cry,” I pleaded. I had never seen such emotion. I didn’t know how to comfort her. I took her face in my hands. No tears were running down her face. Oh, vampires couldn’t cry. I hadn’t realized it because I had never been near a vampire with that level of pain. She pushed on my chest causing me to take a step back.
“Jasper,” She cried, shaking her head at me without meeting my gaze.
I put one hand on the wall beside her and the other on her cheek. “Shh,” I whispered in her ear. Without thinking, I kissed her soft lips. It lasted on a moment, and then I placed my cheek to hers.
“I don’t desire your passion.” Her voice shook as she said this.
“Take your hands off that young lady,” A stern voice commanded.
I caught the scent quickly. I spun and protected her instinctively. I motion for him to step into the shadows with my finger, and he did. Alice’s hands trembled as she placed them on my back. I used my gift and swiftly relaxed her emotions, but I had to suffer hers. A million different emotions flowed through her.
“I’m armed,” the man warned.
I felt her feelings shift. First, she was scared.
“Scared of me? Scared of him? Scared for him? Or was she scared for me,” I wondered.
The man shot, and Alice gasped even though she knew I was alright. The bullet simply bounced off my chest. I grabbed the man and pulled him further into the shadows. My sharp teeth cut through the skin on his neck easily, and I drained him fast. His blood was sour. I tossed his dead body top the side and turned to the unique creature behind me. I was savaged and wild, but when I looked upon her shaking body upon the ground I felt frozen.
“A- Alice?” I asked quietly.
When her golden eyes met my freshly glowing ones due to the blood I had just feasted upon, I knew when her eyes were so different. She was one of the rare ones who only feed on animals. I finally felt the ache in my cold unloving heart. I had lost the chance of having a companion who didn’t edge away from me. I lost my chance of having this creature with me because I had frightened her. I used my gift again to calm her, but I didn’t expect the emotions I took from her. They were utter sadness, pain, and worst of all, agony. The feelings over took me, and I pounded my fists against the wall. My hard nails dug into the bricks, and I bashed my head into the wall. The agony grew worse, and I crumpled onto the ground. I felt her hand on my back, and I threw myself into the stranger arms. All of my one hundred and fifty years of experience, I had never imagined this. The agony I took from her changed. Her mood changed to relief. Smooth arms wrapped around me, and she pressed her cheek to my honey-blond hair.
“Jasper,” She whispered, “do you want me to take you somewhere where we can talk?”
“Yes,” I whispered in response.
It was dark, and no one would see us if we ran. The dead man was forgotten. I was perfectly able to run, but she had me in her arms and running before I could protest. She stopped in the middle of a forest. She set me down and smiled. She tackled me playfully, and she toppled on top of me as we flew backwards. As soon as we came to a stop, she scrambled onto my chest. I wrapped my arms around her protectively.
“Jasper,” She whispered.
I stroked her spine soothingly, and she snuggled closer to me.
“I don’t even know you,” I breathed in her ear.
I felt her body and her feelings tense. I pressed my lips to her forehead, “Relax,” I commanded as I fixed her feeling. “I simply meant that you saw me coming, but I had no idea who you are.”
“I told you everything I know about myself,” I admitted. She lifted off my chest, and stared into my eyes. I felt her mood change. It was a feeling that Maria had once had toward me, but I couldn’t return the emotion. After that, she never gave me a second look as far as lust went. My cold dead heart throbbed. I was in pain. She needed me, but I was starting to realize how much I needed her, too.
She cautioned me with her eyes, and then her soft cold lips pressed gently to mine. I gently rolled and pinned her to the grassed. Her lips parted, and I kissed her passionately. It was the very first time I actually felt passion. Her arm wound around me. I pressed her, stomach down, into the grass. From behind, I lay beside her. I licked her ear.
“Can I keep you?” I asked softly.
Her body tensed, and I regretted asking. Of course I would never be able to have such a glorious person with me. My life had been monstrous, but she was as pure as light. I jumped away from her body and stumbled to a nearby tree. I sank down miserable. My eyes were glued to her still body face down in the grass. I let my head fall in my hands. A long moment past, and then tiny hands caressed my cheeks. She lifted my face up until I met her gaze.
“You didn’t scare me,” She explained. “I saw my future change.” She put her lips to my ear. “Our future was changed.” She kissed down my jaw until she met my lips. After a soft kiss, she took a seat on my lap. She rested her head against my chest, and I rested my cheek against her hair. I bent down to kiss her forehead, but before I could pull away, she caught my lips.
“Alice, you are the first to accept me. I barely know you, but I think I love you.” I whispered in her ear.
“I’ve waited since I was a child to hear you say that,” She admitted, “I love you, too.”