Falling Stars

whitlock

Chapter IV

"I'm surprised your father has let me be this close to you," Jasper said, as he went to stand beside Kallias on the balcony.

"He may not like it, but he understands the importance of a mate bond."

Kallias stared into the endless forest, letting the light mist in the air chill his skin. Jasper was ice cold, but he already felt the heat of the vampire's presence.

"So you're really a hybrid then? Like the child?"

"Yes," Kallias turned his head to look at the vampire. Jasper was already watching him with sharp eyes and furrowed brow, analyzing the hybrid.

The vampire had never met a creature quite so fascinating.

"And you only feed on blood?"

The word human was unspoken, but Kallias knew what the vampire was attempting to ask. Though he couldn't tell whether or not Jasper was upset with his dietary choice.

"I can eat human food," Kallias said, "but I prefer blood."

Jasper hummed, and seemed satisfied with the answer, "Tell me about yourself." It wasn't a question, but not quite a demand. The vampire was just curious to know more about him.

"Well, I was born in the 18th century. My father ran away from his coven to be with my mother. We've lived with shifters around the world, and now we're here."

Jasper huffed, "Give me a little bit more here."

Kallias frowned, and found that answering Jasper was more difficult than it should have been. Surely he had accumulated interests over his few hundred years walking the earth? He knew he enjoyed listening to his mother's ancient stories that she carried on from her people, and bonded with his father over learning combat. He had a fondness for the traditional music shared from the many shifters around the world, and if he had to pick a genre, would prefer anything with a Tanbur.

While he truly did prefer blood over human food, he currently found himself obsessed with anything to do with tea. He blamed Kōji, the brown bear shifter from Hokkaidō, for introducing him to the wonders of expensive tea that had encouraged him to be a bit pretentious when it came to the drink.

He tried to give as little explanation about his family's history of killing vampires.

"You're much more interesting than you give yourself credit for. I can't say my life has been as colorful and adventurous as yours."

"What about you? Who is Jasper Cullen?"

It was Jasper's turn to frown, "It's Hale, well actually it's Whitlock, but I haven't gone by that name in a long time. I can't say my story is like yours. It's definitely not a happy one."

Kallias was silent, encouraging him to continue.

"I was born in 1844, in Houston, Texas," Jasper started, "I grew up wealthy enough to be comfortable and my family had a large farm that I remember running around on as a young boy. It wasn't until I began to grow up that I realized things weren't right in the world around me."

"My family relied on slave labor to help the farm function. My father didn't seem to care that the men he forced into labor were just as human as us, and while my mother didn't support slavery, she was indifferent. I still don't know which was worse."

Jasper's hands tightened on the railing of the balcony, "It made me sick to my stomach. I felt vile. Eating our crops made me feel just as responsible, but I felt I could do nothing other than offer kindness. I wonder if I could've- should've- done more."

"When the war hit, I was drafted... I was- I was never so conflicted. I felt disgusted by the cause we were fighting for, but I still mourned the young men who lost their lives. Some of us were already too indoctrinated in our belief system to really grasp the reality of what we were supporting, and I know it's not an excuse, but if you see someone's brains splattered on the ground beside you, you can't help holding onto that trauma."

"I had the opportunity to be a spy for the North, but was found and turned by a vampire named Maria before I had ever gotten the chance. I'm an empath; she saw an opportunity. So I helped her create a newborn army. I turned them, trained them, executed them when they didn't comply."

Kallias tried to hide his shock. He'd fought against many newborns that ran in groups, but never an army. He couldn't imagine how to defeat a hoard of that size.

"It all became too much. I didn't just kill them, but felt them die. I eventually built up the courage to kill Maria, and then went off on my own. Alice found me, said she'd seen me and we'd be, in her words, the bestest of friends."

Kallias tilted his head in confusion.

"She can see the future," Jasper explained, "We came to the Cullens and I've been here ever since."

Kallias couldn't say he knew much about the Civil War; he'd never been in North America before. He was, however, familiar with watching people be slaughtered and forced into labor for no justifiable reason other than sick pleasure. His family had killed a fair number of Conquistadors, as well as other colonizers when they were in other parts of the world. It was almost a hobby.

For his mother, it was a futile attempt to purge herself of her own sins. Her people had been well known for conquering.

While his father only followed whatever his mother did.

Kallias just liked killing humans- especially ones like that.

Honestly, he found humans disgusting. If they weren't already killing each other, then they were busy planning on how to kill each other. He was glad he wasn't mortal.

"I'm sorry you've lived with such pain. Though I'm not surprised you're an empath. You feel deeply," Kallias reached out a hand and placed it over Jasper's.

"I'm scarred," Jasper whispered, "not just mentally and physically, but my heart too. I can't promise that I can give you everything."

"I'm not asking for everything. I'm just asking for you," Kallias intertwined their fingers, "I don't think you know how long I've been waiting for you, Mr. Whitlock."

Jasper laughed, but it was a bit broken at the edges.

"I think I can take a guess, darling," The grip between their hands tightened, "because I've been waiting all my life for you."

Kallias smiled, and they settled into silence. The breeze ruffled Jasper's hair and Kallias smelled dried flowers and sunshine.

He supposed he could always be here, side by side with Jasper for eternity. It didn't matter if the vampire's soul was worn at the edges, Kallias could help him mend the tears. After all, broken things could always be put back together.