DESTINED, jasper hale [book 01] ✓

xiv. the descendants

•─────────•°•❀•°•─────────•

𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃

❀ 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴

•─────────•°•❀•°•─────────•

𝐤𝐚𝐲𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞

     A WEEK LATER KATHLEEN and Kaya are in Houston, Texas.

     Kaya walks into the post office and picks up a small bundle of letters, feeling sick to her stomach at the vast amount. Walking out, Kaya sits beside Kathleen and opens the letters, scanning over them and discovering the life that her grandchildren lived while she was gone. Now, their children are in their early thirties and still live in this city. Addresses are noted on the final letter, as well as handwritten goodbyes from the two children Kaya loved almost as much as Jaida.

     Stuffing them into her handbag, Kaya links her arm with Kathleen's and they walk through the dreary streets of Houston. If the weather had been sunny, they would be indoors away from the revealing sunlight and wait until a day that it rains. Luckily, it's not sunny. Although, Kaya can quite clearly see the disdain that the darker skinned individuals are being treated with — albeit nothing like back in the nineteenth century, but still horrific to Kaya's eyes. Once out of eye sight, Kaya shoves a particularly cruel man into the nearest dark alley and drains him dry.

     Walking down the familiar street, Kaya knocks on the door that hides her family. The instant it opens, she is greeted by a young male who resembles Jaida and all air is expelled from Kaya's lungs as his green eyes take me in. His eyes widen in recognition and he opens the door wider, allowing Kaya and Kathleen to enter. As soon as they do, the familiar face of Kaya's grandson appears in the sitting room. The older female vampire falls onto the couch beside him and holds him as he cries, Kathleen awkwardly sitting on a couch across from them.

     Minutes later, Kaya pulls away from him and smiles. "Jasper, my grandson, there is someone I would like you to meet."

     Jasper's aged eyes move to Kathleen and he almost cries out in shock. "She looks so much like Grandfather Jasper. How is that possible?"

     "She is mine and Jasper's daughter. Do not ask how, it will take too long to explain."

     "I wish my sister were here to see the day you returned."

     That's when Kaya knows. "Kaya isn't... Please tell me she's not gone, Jasper."

     The elderly man bows his head. "I'm sorry, Nanna, but she has been gone for about five years now. She came down with a fever and passed almost a year later." Jasper shakes his head and his eyes move back to the younger female vampire. "Now, who may you be, young lady?"

     Kathleen moves around the wooden table and sits atop it, gently holding the elderly man's hand. "My name is Kathleen Whitlock. I dare say that you can call me your aunt."

     "Aunt Kathleen, it's a pleasure to meet you."

     "You're sick."

     Kaya's eyes dart to her daughter. "Kathleen, what is it? What do you feel?"

     Kathleen's red eyes darken, but not in hunger. "Jasper is in pain, and it's because he's sick. He wants to die. It'd be a saving grace."

     Jasper merely smiles weakly. "You have the same ability as Grandfather Jasper, but there is something different about it."

     "I have to be touching another being."

     "Ah, I see. Alas, Nanna, Aunt Kathleen is right. I am dying, and I wish for it to end tonight."

     The instant Kaya sees where he is going, she shakes her head. "Jasper, no. Do not ask us to end your life. Please, my grandson. Do not do this."

     Jasper looks at his grandmother with dulled hazel eyes, begging. "Please, Kaya. I do not want to live the remainder of my days in pain."

     Reluctantly, she agrees to his dying wishes.

     As the sun sets low below the mountains in the distance, her grandson lays in his bed, skin pale and hair greyed beyond recognition, and both his lungs and heart barely supporting him. Looking over at Jasper Whitlock Masters the Third, Kaya's great-grandson, he smiles sadly and walks out of the room, not wanting to witness the death of his own beloved father.

     Kathleen hovers in the corner, not knowing if she will be able to control herself once her nephew's blood is spilt before her eyes. Giving her a reassuring smile, Kaya walks over to where her grandson Jasper lies, dying, and runs her fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his face. He smiles at her softly as Kaya places a kiss on his forehead, and she has to fight her instant urge to kill him just from his overwhelming scent.

     Whispering a final goodbye, Kaya moves her mouth to his throat and bites down, his blood streaming into her mouth almost instantly. Jasper croaks out a pained gasp at first, but he soon relaxes as Kathleen staggers over, eyes black, and holds his hand. She bites down on his wrist and manipulates his emotions through physical contact, allowing him to be peaceful and without pain in his final moments. As his heart slowly thuds to a stop and air enters his lungs no longer, Kaya pulls away and breaks down into tears beside him, clutching his cold, limp hand in mine.

     The newest Jasper of the family — that Kaya is aware of — walks back into the room with a young teen by his side. "Nanna Kaya, this is my son, Jasper Whitlock Masters the Fourth. Jas, this is your great-great-grandmother, and your great-aunt Kathleen."

     The teen stares at the female vampires, disbelieving. "They're so young."

     "They are vampires, and it is our duty to protect their secret and their story; our secret and story. It is also the story of your great-great-grandfather, who is only two years older than Nanna Kaya."

     "So, we don't have to be afraid of them?"

     Smiling, Kaya moves over so that she is standing in front of her descendants. "Listen to me, Jas. Any vampires in our family will never hurt you. If they do, you warn them that the Volturi will hunt them down. Alright?"

     Jas smiles up at her. "I promise! Does that include the bad vampires too, Nanna Kaya?"

     "What bad vampires, sweetie?"

     "The ones that glitter in the sunlight and kill the coloured people."