Killing Softly ✞ (gxg)

17 | jasmine

"J-Jasmine?"

Or, at least, that's who she firstly assumed was standing at the top of the staircase. She heard her voice, except it was laced with something different, her tone richer and bolder than it ever had been. Her skin looked like her skin except it had a deeply rooted pallor to it that made her look sickly but strong at the same time, like a porcelain doll made of impenetrable fiber glass. Her lips were no longer their natural light pink color, but instead they were painted with a dark purple color that was nearly black. Her eyes were coated with dark makeup, but the thing about them that instilled the most fear into Lily's gut was the fact that they were glowing red, her irises no longer their beautiful chocolate depth. They were a swirling crimson, a bloody hue that made Lily's lips part in shock.

Peter was quicker to accept Jasmine's strange appearance for what it really was. His own lips parted, and his fingers quickly found Lily's elbow without moving his eyes from the creature before them. "Lily..." he whispered, the sudden dryness in his throat making his voice croak.

But she could not hear him nor even feel his cautious grip on her urging her that they needed to run. Her feet were frozen where they stood, her brain incapable of registering what the red tint of Jasmine's eyes were telling her silently. She felt no danger; she couldn't because of the ineffable shock paralyzing her senses.

"Jasmine," she was able to mutter breathlessly as the girl she once loved took a step towards her, an unfamiliar smirk playing on her lips. She wanted to feel fear, especially because of the way she was lurking towards them with her head tilted as if reflecting upon an intriguing thought—Peter was weary of this thought she was obviously chewing on.

Jasmine continued to walk closer, prompting a rushed, "Lily, we need to go," from Peter who no longer stood right beside Lily but instead a bit behind her, his fingers tugging on the sleeve of her dress desperately.

"What have you done?" Lily asked in despair, her blonde brows slanting upwards as her baby blue eyes filled with sadness, shifting down the vampire-turned-girl's body.

Stopping a few feet in front of the blonde, Jasmine looked at her for a moment with a lively sparkle in her eyes before her thick lips split so that a bone-chilling laughter could ensue, one that revealed two sharp and slightly jagged fangs stemming from the rest of her teeth.

Lily's eyes widened at them and a small gasp proceeded, her palpitating heart knocking some sense into her and making her take a step back.

Jasmine noticed her fear, her smile fading only slightly as she tilted her head. "What's the matter, my dear?"

The blonde could suddenly feel Peter's rather harsh grip on her arm, and she quickly pried it off and turned to him. "Go," she whispered, her eyes warning.

He looked at her incredulously, shaking his head as he returned his hand to his side. "I'm not leaving you here with her."

Lily looked the ground, her eyes hesitantly trailing the patterns of the wooden floor up to the newborn vampire's shoes and up the length of her body until they met those red eyes that were somewhat taunting. "We need to talk in private, Peter." She gulped at the fear boiling in her stomach as she turned back to him. "So go." Her eyes pleaded him to save himself, to not get involved in whatever Jasmine was there for. She didn't want him to get hurt because of her; she needed to face what she could feel was waiting for her alone.

He hesitated, looking between Lily and the girl whose eyes were no longer playful and instead had turned stone cold and dull red. His jaw clenched as he looked to Lily one last time almost apologetically, before he turned away and carefully walked to his room and locked himself in it.