DESTINED, jasper hale [book 01] ✓

viii. this world of war

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𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃

❀ 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵: 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘳

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𝐤𝐚𝐲𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞

     DECADES HAVE PASSED, AND the years Kaya was new to being a vampire were labelled as the American Civil War by many countries, and ended up dividing America beyond recognition. Now, it's the early nineteen hundreds, and another war is on the brink of happening. Over a decade ago, Kaya felt someone being born into this world when she borrowed an ability from a particularly dangerous vampire, and she knew that something was going to come in the way of Jasper's future with our coven.

     It was going to tear him away from it.

     While also having that ability, Kaya saw red eyes, powdery skin, and black cloaks. They are in her future, and she knows that there is nothing she can do to avoid it. They will come looking for her, and it won't be until Jasper has left this coven.

     Newborns have died too much for Jasper, and he's started to become savage from the pain. However, that did not prevent him from befriending a newborn named Peter. He is skilled in combat, and his senses are almost paralleled to Kaya's and Jasper's. Jasper managed to convince Maria to keep Peter alive because of his advanced combat skills and kindred spirit, and surprisingly she agreed to Jasper's wishes.

     "Jasper," Kaya calls, skipping over to him and slipping her arms around his neck. "What are we going to do today?"

     The honey blond looks down at her, his eyes dark as coal and his skin more pale than usual.

     "Jasper, what the devil? You need to feed!"

     Without waiting for a response, Kaya pulls him from their current residence out onto the streets of the early twentieth century, slipping her arm through his and almost dragging him along the dark street. While he's too caught up in his thoughts, Kaya briefly closes her eyes and siphons his ability, releasing him from the emotions flying around the paved streets of the small town. At that, his eyes dart to her and a small, thankful smile appears on his face — one that she is already returning the instant he looks at her.

     Over the decades, Jasper and Kaya have been having what people call 'fornication' due to their unmarried states. However, it has not been constant — or even really existing. To be completely honest, they've been more along the lines of...stress relievers in a way. This new world may be slightly more accepting of relationships outside of marriages, but they're in no way accepting of sleeping with someone outside the boundaries of a marriage. Due to that, everyone who sees Jasper and Kaya together acting overly affectionate are informed that we're 'engaged' — which usually leads to congratulations and questions about how we met, among other things.

     Kaya is pulled from her thoughts by an overly potent scent, and Jasper's head snaps towards the smell. Instantly, they speed to the source and find a young, homeless girl bleeding to death on the side of the street. Kneeling down beside her trembling form, Kaya assures her that Jasper and Kaya herself can end the pain. She agrees — even though she never really had a choice — and the vampires instantly lunge at her, biting down and draining the life force from her body.

     Her pain floods Kaya's body and she bites down harder, focusing on the delight and desperation pulsing from Jasper's being only a foot away from her, and manipulate the human girl's pain into relief. When she is closer to death, real relief floods the young girls' body and she relaxes underneath the vampires, thankfulness battering against Kaya and allowing her to stop manipulating the girl's emotions. Kaya's eyes dart over to her face and she meets the vampire's red eyes gaze, giving Kaya a thankful smile and mouthing "thank you". All Kaya does is blink, unable to do anything else — much less comprehend the situation.

     Too soon she is dry, and Kaya pulls away, looking over at Jasper desperately trying to get more from her body. "Jasper, she's empty."

     He reluctantly straightens up, looking over at Kaya with almost red eyes, but doesn't say anything.

     "Come on. We'll find someone else."

     That's exactly what they do — find another wretched soul and end its existence. It's the best the vampires can do in a dead-end town like this one, and it's all Jasper can bear to do these days. Due to the vast amount of newborns having to be killed, the honey blond has become depressed and is beginning to go insane from the guilt eating him alive. Kaya knows that something is going to cause him to snap one of these years, and it's going to force him to leave our coven.

     Kaya saw a child — her child — growing up in the later half of this century, but not at the normal rate of a human child. They grew at a speed unlike any other, ageing almost three years in a single human year. That future makes Kaya uneasy, because everyone knows that vampires are incapable of reproducing — lest they sleep with a human and produce an offspring that is neither human nor vampire, but a mixture of both.

     Over the years, Kaya has heard about the birth of such beasts who killed their mothers, and they never lived past their first birthday. In that respect, they are similar to the newborns that Maria turns: they never make it to their second year.

     Just as Jasper and Kaya start to leave the town, bells sound and instantly alert the humans to the beginning of their war — their first war; the Great War. Jasper goes rigid next to her, and Kaya instantly feel his unease and fear. This war is going to draft vampires and humans alike, and thus there are going to be more newborns for the slaughter. 

     The human world and the vampire world are soon to be mingled beyond differentiation, and there are going to be a multitude of deaths on both sides.