DESTINED, jasper hale [book 01] ✓

ii. nineteenth birthday present

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𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃

❀ 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰: 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵

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𝐤𝐚𝐲𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞

     TWO YEARS HAVE PASSED since the day Kaya would have lost her virtue to a man who was not her husband, and she met two strangers — Jasper and Maria — that changed Kaya's reality. In the past two years, she married a man and gave birth to a child whom she christened Jaida — a strange, combined name of Jasper and Maria. Although those years were the happiest of Kaya's known existence, she knows that it is all about to come to an end. After all, it is her nineteenth birthday, and Maria warned Kaya that she and Jasper would return.

     Kaya caught sight of them in the market earlier whilst she was out buying food for Jaida, and she knew that her life was about to change forever this time. Jasper smiled at her, and his red eyes glimmered with happiness at seeing Kaya once again, but all she could muster was fear at what Maria wanted of her. At that, his smile dissipated and he shook his head — appearing to tell her either that she is not going to die, or not to be scared.

     All Kaya did was give him a tight-lipped smile and hurry on her way back to the house she had moved into only months after Jasper and Maria came to town. However, Kaya never forgot about them. Maria's features blurred beyond recognition in her mind, but Jasper's stayed crystal clear, and chills spread across her scarred flesh every time she remembered his deep voice. Though she should not mention it, and it should not have come to pass, when Kaya's husband and herself spent the night together, Kaya pictured that it was Jasper with her — not the man she had wed.

     Now, it's the moment of truth.

     Kaya waits hours for her husband to fall into a deep slumber, and, the moment he does, she climbs out of their bed and pulls on a simple charcoal dress and a black cloak to blend into the night. Grabbing the bag she instinctively packed hours ago, Kaya walks over to Jaida's cot, smiling down at her daughter and placing a soft kiss on her forehead. Whispering goodbyes to her family, Kaya walks out of the house and into the dark of the night — the night filled with monsters; vampires. Yes, she discovered what they were, and, the fact that Maria wants Kaya to meet her and Jasper in an abandoned church, means she wants Kaya turned.

     The darkness swallows everything and twists objects into something unworldly; something that make the hairs on the back of her neck stand erect. Fighting her instinct to flee back into the safety of her house, Kaya dives into the darkness and makes her way through the deserted town. Soon enough, in the faint moonlight, Kaya makes out the form of the old church her mother and father used to force her to attend every Sunday.

     That is, they did that until Kaya set it alight one night in order to stop them from forcing their beliefs upon their daughter.

     Walking into the half destroyed building, Kaya instantly sees Maria sitting on one of the front pews, but Jasper is nowhere in sight. Swallowing down the lump of fear in her throat, Kaya walks over to Maria, sitting in the pew across from hers. A small smile graces her face as she looks over what remains of the alter, and then she turns to look at Kaya, her vivacious red eyes shimmering with delight and playfulness. Kaya give her a small smile in return and lowers the hood of her cloak, making Maria's smile grow.

     "Hello, Kaya," Maria hums, her musical tone ringing in Kaya's ears. "It's nice to see you again."

     Kaya nods. "It's lovely to see you too, Miss Maria. May I ask, where is Jasper?"

     "Jasper is currently outside. He finds it difficult to be around someone who has no control over their emotions, as well as humans. He has yet to restrain himself from killing them all on sight."

     "I see. It's because of me. I understand."

     "Do not take it the wrong way, girl." Her musical voice becomes sharp. "He wishes to be here to help you, but, in this instance, he cannot be here yet."

     Kaya undoes her cloak and allows it to fall to the seat as she swallows. "You intend to turn me, do you not?"

     "How perceptive. I've not met a human who has known of our kind and not run for fear of their demise."

     "I am not like my kind. I do not fear what I do not understand, and that is due to fear only being created due to not understanding something."

     Maria stands and walks to the aisle, holding out her hand. Standing upright, Kaya walks over to the vampire and takes her hand, staring up into her eyes. She is only taller than Kaya by four inches at the very most, but it feels as though Maria is a good foot taller than Kaya in this instance. If it were Jasper standing here, despite him being over six feet tall, it would feel as though she and he were the same height, and that's because he does not intimidate Kaya as Maria does.

     The vampire in front of Kaya leans down and lightly kisses her, something Kaya is not expecting in the slightest, causing her to jump in surprise. Maria pulls away from Kaya and smiles playfully. This is just a game to her, and she is enjoying every moment of it. Swallowing, Kaya meets the vampire's eyes evenly — much to her disappointment. She pouts lightly and then shrugs a moment later, all playfulness and delight vanishing from her frozen features.

     Gripping Kaya's hand tighter, Maria raises the wrist to her mouth and instantly bites down. Pain like nothing she has ever known encompasses Kaya's body — acid flowing through my body being the closest thing she can describe it as. Just as a scream goes to tear itself from her lips, a hand clamps over Kaya's mouth and an arm wraps around her waist, holding her against a firm body as she thrashes in an attempt to stop the pain.

     Throwing her head back, Kaya meets the brilliant red eyes of Jasper. They're filled with pain and worry, and all she can do is wish that he could not feel what she's feeling in this instance. At that, he smiles lightly, but his hold tightens as her eyes squeeze shut and the pain worsens. Hands clawing at her chest in pain, heart feeling as though it's about to literally melt, warm liquid coats Kaya's fingers as she breaks through skin. Jasper growls and grips her wrists, pinning them to her abdomen as he fights to hold her still in order to prevent any other damage.

     Screaming against his hand, Kaya feel tears begin to run down her face as the pain grows to a whole new level. Her head begins to scream in pain and all she can do is let those screams out. As her bottom jaw drops open, Jasper's hand slides up slightly and she is able to suck in fresh air. As another scream threatens to break free, Kaya instinctively bites down on Jasper's hand, causing him to growl loudly in surprise.

     Kaya's body gives out only moments later and her jaw goes slack, releasing Jasper's hand. Grey clouds roll in her vision as she goes limp in his hold, head lolling to the side as darkness encompasses her. She welcomes it; a world without the pain she's feeling right now. The last thing Kaya sees is Maria smirking at her, and Jasper's pain filled face staring at her with worry.