No Matter What

Rain

Jasper needed to get out of the rain. He hated it, the way he always ended up saturated no matter how hard he tried. The way his clothes always ended up muddy. But most of all he hated the way it affected humans. For something that happened so often, they certainly still had a range of explosive emotions. Anger, annoyance, fear, bitterness. And it wasn't the emotions that was the worst part, it was the amount of humans all feeling the same thing. Normally being around humans, all of them experiencing and feeling different things, gave him a headache. But pain was nothing compared to the wave of anger and sadness that consumed him when it rained. Of course there were the few humans who enjoyed it, but what difference did a grain of sand make against the ocean? What difference did the earth make in the vastness of the universe.

But more then Jasper needed to get out of the rain, he needed to hunt. He was certain that if he looked at himself in a mirror his eyes would be pitch black. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. To bite through a human and feel the indescribable fear, the crushing sadness. The resentment. But most of all, the hopelessness. It suffocated him, making home inside of his head and coming out to torture him when he was at his worst. And it was going to go on for an eternity. Or until one of Marias old followers, or perhaps someone he had fought against, (but then again all of them were dead) managed to track him down and rip his head off.

He sighed and turned into a small diner, at least to get out of the rain. He was somewhere in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia most likely. A small bell rung as he walked through the door and there was only the waitress at the counter, an older woman, and a young girl in a booth. When he locked eyes with the girl, he felt an immeasurable amount of delight and excitement hit him, so strong he nearly stepped backwards. After studying the girl for a few seconds he realised she wasn't human, there was only one heartbeat he could hear and it was most definitely coming from the waitress. And yet the girl couldn't be a vampire either, for she had golden eyes. They were surrounded by long, thick eyelashes and her features were small but strong. Her black hair was cut in a style Jasper could only describe as a grown-out pixie cut, but it somehow suit her well. He knew with absolute certainty she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

"Jasper!" she said, standing in front of him in a millisecond. She was much smaller then he initially realised, standing just below his shoulder. "I've been waiting so long."

"My apologies ma'am. I go slower in the rain." he had no idea how she knew his name, or why he was apologizing and making excuses for supposedly being late.

"Oh not like that, you're not late. I've just been very early."

He opened his mouth to ask something but she cut him off.

"And I'm not a mind reader, don't worry. Just come with me, it will make sense. I swear it."

Along with the happiness, he could also sense her sincerity. She was telling no lies, at least none that she was aware of. And so once again Jasper asked no questions, and simply let her grab his hand and walk out of the diner.

He didn't know why he didn't stop her, interrogate her, or at the very least leave her. Perhaps it was his curiosity, the fact that she was absolutely stunning, or maybe it was the fact that he was absolutely enamored with her emotions. He felt drunk of them, and he didn't want those feelings to stop. For the first time in a long time, Jasper felt happiness.

"I'm Alice, by the way." she called as he dragged him along.
"Alice." he said, testing the syllables out on his tongue. It was a common enough name he supposed, yet she was still the first one he knew named that.
"Jasper." she replied almost dreamily, and he felt glad she didn't think he was weird for simply saying her name.
Though, staring at the not-human but not-vampire as she pulled him along, perhaps there weren't many things she considered weird.