Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

AN: Don't take this too seriously. I don't. *Follow The Bouncing Muse.*

Beta'd (and a lot of dialogue written) by Scarletdewdrops.

... ... …

It was feeding night. Jasper and Peter were stalking a group of boys, just waiting for them to separate. No need to kill more than necessary, after all.. One was clearly the loner of the group, standing apart from the rest. Eventually, the boy gave a wave and parted from the group, walking with his shoulders hunched and thumbs hooked into his pockets.

Ah, the carelessness and security of youth.

The two vampires shared a look and nodded but Jasper stopped them before they continued. A second boy broke off from the group and playfully jumped on the unresponsive loner. Stretching his powers to get a read on their feelings, he picked up teasing-happiness from one, but the other was oddly baseline bored. No spike of irritation, amusement, or even resignation. Just bored. One-sided friendship, Jasper concluded.

With that confirmation, the pair resumed their stalking of the loner and, now, his companion. Once Jasper was certain there would be no witnesses, he gestured to Peter and they attacked. Being the faster of the two, Jasper got his pick of target and went to the bored one, latching onto his neck from behind and sucking in hard. The other boy let out a faint yelp before Peter crushed his windpipe and silenced him forever.

Jasper's meal was so peculiar that he paused to contemplate the oddity. Not for long - fresh blood's siren call was strong. The strangeness wasn't because of the taste, but because of the genuine, pure, untainted relief he had not once felt before. Such an overwhelming feeling of peace. It was heady. The vampire Major relished in the feeling until Peter actually pulled him away from his kill.

"What!?" He snarled, turning on his friend. "I'm not finished!"

"I know!" Peter gasped, mouth red from his meal. "You have to stop!"

Jasper bared his teeth at the newborn. "If I don't, then he will turn!"

"I know!" repeated Peter, "He… needs to be?" his confusion was apparent, but as he spoke he became more resolute, "I can't explain it Jasp, but this boy… he needs to be turned."

The blond paused, recognizing this moment for what it was and forced himself to not finish the boy. "Fine," he spat. Peter had been getting moments like this more often recently, whether it was called 'knowing' or 'instincts' or a 'gut feeling', he had been right and it hadn't steered him wrong yet. After all, that was part of why he didn't want to kill Peter. Jasper dreaded the day that Maria remembered Peter was over a year old and ordered the newborn dead.

After taking an unnecessary breath to calm himself, Jasper released the slowly changing boy from his hold and stepped back, looking to the other. "Is he taken care of?" The words were ground out through clenched teeth.

Peter nodded, eyes darting around, "I'll deal with the body," he declared, hefting the corpse and disappeared with a soft, "I'll meet you back at camp."

The blond nodded in return and picked up his own… child? Is that how one was supposed to think of those they turned? He knew Maria didn't feel that way… Except possibly with him. Well. To be perfectly honest, he hoped not. It would be bad form to take your own child to bed, after all.

(Remember that, Jasper. Remember that.)

Returning to camp, clutching the body close, Jasper could feel when the pain started, but it was a minor thing as though the excruciating transition into the undead was nothing but an itch. He relaxed as he watched over the newborn-to-be, empathetically bathing in such a rare instance of consistent positive emotion untainted by constant hunger. No anger, no fear, just a steady relief that was slowly drifting away into a deep-seated joy that confused Jasper more than anything.

Why was this boy, his new… child? So happy to become a vampire? He'd have to remember to ask him later…

… … …

It took a few days for the boy to finish his change, completely average and unremarkable in Jasper's eyes- who had seen so many newborns since his undeath. However, the boy's reaction upon waking was very different.

One moment Jasper could feel the ferocious hunger of a newborn and then it just stopped. The blank space where the boy laid was quickly replaced by joy. Nearly sadistic in nature. Bright red eyes flicked open and Jasper braced himself for the attack he assumed was coming.

Instead, the boy stretched out his limbs- as if he had just woke up from a long nap or something- and grinned. He looked around the tent they were in and made eye contact with Jasper and somehow that grin got wider. (In all honesty, Jasper found that smile very eerie, almost… macabre.)

"Hello," the new vampire spoke in English but it was accented like most people in the area. His skin tone was olive now, denoting his Mexican heritage.

"Hello?" Jasper responded, relaxing from his defensive stance but still wary of the newborn.

"Who are you?" The newborn turned his body to the side on the blanket, folding his legs to sit like some kind of Indian.

"... Jasper," replied the vampire cautiously, lowering himself to sit on the ground as well. Judging his emotional state, Jasper assessed that the risk of his newborn attacking was low to nonexistent, which was... new.

That grin, stretched too wide, opened once more to show off those fancy new teeth. "Are you my sire?"

Jasper blinked a few times then allowed his confusion to show.

"You know. Sire. Right? You bit me? You turned me? I'm a vampire now?"

"How do you know about that?" Was he already using his talent? Something similar to Peter, perhaps?

The boy shrugged, "I really like to read."

The confusion didn't abate, but the boy wouldn't allow him to dwell on it.

"So where are we? I know where I was when I, I'm assuming, died, but where are we now? Why a tent? You don't have a house? Are there others around here?" The boy stopped to take a deep breath so he could scent the air. How did he know that was something he could do? "What is that I'm smelling?"

Jasper took a moment to do the same, nostrils flaring. "Newborns. Like yourself."

"Really? I thought I was just smelling a nasty locker room full of unwashed bodies. I suppose the concept is similar."

The new word 'locker room' flashed through Jasper's mind, confusion once more furrowing his brow. Again, his new child…? (this didn't feel like a child though…?) wouldn't let him think more about it.

"Can I meet them? Should I feed?" The boy put his legs under him as if he would stand up, but then he aborted the movement and actually flopped backward onto the ground. Jasper noted the boy taking in the new textures of grass and dirt with minute strokes of his fingertips. "I mean, I could eat, but… I'm not that hungry."

This revelation was a shock to Jasper who had always seen nothing but bloodlust in the eyes of other newborns.

"This is very interesting though," rambled the boy, looking at his own hand. "Cool color. And shiny!"

'Cool?' wondered Jasper.

"You look very different from me. What are all those? They look like bite marks. Do you let others bite you often? Kinky."

Jasper finally held up a hand to stop the boy. "Enough," and the boy clicked his teeth together to show he would just. Stop. "That is enough. Tell me your name."

"I didn't say it already?"

"No."

"Oh. I'm Emmanuel. But... you can call me Elly." The grin that crossed Elly's face then made it seem as if his name was some kind of joke. Maybe it was, but Jasper certainly didn't get it.

… … …

Jasper was impressed by his new… vampire.

(He really needed to figure out what he wanted to call Elly because 'child' definitely wasn't it. Even once the boy revealed that he wasn't even eighteen yet, it was hard to think of him as someone that much younger than him. The boy was just… mature beyond his years.

And crazy. Definitely crazy.)

Elly was powerful and his control was stronger than the few adult vampires Jasper knew. Elly's control was better than his own, which he knew was terrible because of his powers. Though, Jasper did realize that the more time he spent with his new vampire the better his control was. When Jasper's control was tenuous, he could always turn to Elly's steady emotions to help him ignore the wild mood swings of the others around them.

Elly seemed to have only two emotions: joy and boredom. If he had powers, they weren't useful in battle or even obvious like Jasper's, which disappointed Maria greatly.

"If only he had been like you," she lamented after hearing of his newborn. "If he had as much potential as you did, my dear, then I would have had you turn a whole legion of newborns. We would win this war with that."

He could have told her that having the strength of a newborn with the control of an ancient vampire was a power on its own, but he knew Maria well enough to know her attention was best placed elsewhere, and Jasper was left to train his newborn alone as per usual.

Training him was rather delightful. He understood what Jasper wanted him to do with very little instruction. It was as if Elly had been a soldier like he had.

(Hahahahahahahaaa…)

But Elly didn't want to contribute. In his debut battle, he barely did anything and just swatted a few of the other army's newborns away. Jasper could feel the boredom radiating from where he was leading the charge and chanced a glance back just in time to see the newborn yawn before ripping the arms out of another newborn and beating her head in with them.

Brutal. But efficient.

"Jasper!" Maria hissed to her second-in-command after the fifth battle and was unimpressed by Elly's lackadaisical attitude toward slaughter. "Do something about your newborn."

The blond sighed softly but nodded, having no objection to moving closer to Elly's comfortable boredom and away from her petulance. More and more these days Jasper spent his time with Elly. Peter too, but definitely with Elly the most.

Much time had passed and they were preparing for what would be Elly's sixth battle. In fact, the front lines of newest born, least 'talented' vampires had already launched at each other, and Elly stood back at the sidelines with his fists raised in the air, slowly guiding his hands into each other and then making a noise with the back of his throat. It reminded Jasper of cannon blasts.

"What are you doing Elly?" Jasper asked, stepping up behind him and staring.

"Playing. Action figures." He gestured with his empty hands and the blond slowly closed his eyes and opened them again. "Watch. Look at my hands," Elly explained and Jasper did as suggested.

It was like an optical illusion. Elly held his fists underneath the 'feet' of a pair of vampires in the distance, hands moving along the same path as the fighters and when they crashed together, his hands did too and he made the noise again.

Jasper leaned away, eyes fluttering, and listened as Elly giggled. "See? I'm playing."

The sire of this crazy vampire heaved a deep sigh, the unnecessary action showed just how much Jasper needed to express himself at that moment. "Just… Go fight, please. Maria is very … upset with your actions as of late."

"Oh, is she now." Elly rolled his eyes, groaning. "Fine, fine. I'll go kill some newbies for her. Will she stop bothering you about it then?"

"Possibly."

"Alrighty then. You got it, sire." Elly winked and then shot off quickly to join the fray, taking the head off of an approaching newborn as he did and dropping it, only to kick it into the distance where it took off the head of another vampire.

Again, brutal but efficient.

His first bitten child really did him proud when he ran at his top speed with his arms out and was able to decapitate seven more vampires before he reached the other end of the battleground. He was less impressed when Elly turned, gave him a thumbs-up, and sat back down.

Jasper had the inexplicable urge to slap his hand to his face but withheld. Barely. Thankfully, there was a newborn from the other side nearby that he could destroy to vent his exasperation.

… … …

Unsurprisingly, time passed quickly. The war kept them busy. It had been nearly a year since Jasper had turned Elly. When Jasper got on Elly's case, he would prove himself in battle- just enough so Maria wouldn't demand the newborn's immediate death. Elly was a ridiculously efficient killer. It was a little disconcerting.

Finally, though, it was too much for the leader of their coven, and Maria confronted Elly.

"Look here," she hissed at him, a finger pressed to the younger vampire's chest. "I know you are Jasper's child," the phrase caused an odd cross of warmth and amusement to shoot through Elly who nearly started laughing in Maria's face, "but if you do not start pulling your weight around here, then I am going to kill everyone you've ever loved and tear you apart bit by bit, starting with your toes and working my way up."

Elly waited and just stared at her, then asked, "Are you finished?" He smiled. "You're done? Because, honestly, I've heard better. I mean, 'I'll kill everyone you've ever loved,'" the newborn's voice took on a mimicking tone, hand opening, and closing to mock their leader more. "How clichéd could you get?"

Jasper watched as Maria snarled at Elly, getting up into his personal space but his newborn just put his hand right over her entire face. "Listen, coño, I'd really like to see you try. I am stronger than you. Smarter than you." He pushed her back via the hand on her face, "I'm even prettier than you and all around just more powerful."

She finally grasped his wrist and wrenched his hand from her face and scoffed. "If you had any powers, they would have manifested by now. It's been a year and you haven't even developed proper bloodlust."

Elly took a step back, but Jasper knew that it wasn't because he was afraid. The loud laughter that Elly let out at Maria's statement proved his feelings for all to see. They were attracting a crowd (of course they were, Elly's dressing downs were the closest thing they got to an operetta at camp). Apparently, Elly didn't care. He never did.

His newborn, still laughing, turned his back on Maria and began to walk away.

Jasper sensed her feelings and jerked forward in a protective manner to HIS newborn as she launched herself at Elly's back, a poor mimicry of how Jasper had originally attacked the boy.

No one could have expected what happened next.

Jasper was the only one who knew him well enough to have even slightly anticipated it, but even with the help of his empathy, he never would have guessed. It was simply… beyond imagination.

He stared, shocked, as he felt his child's bloodlust for the very first time.

Elly turned his head back to spot the approaching vampire leader and then a line opened along the side of his body as if a seam was unraveling there. The definition between his left arm and torso blurred, the hole so black that light seemed to be absorbed by it, and from this pit formed dozens of pearly white teeth. This new mouth, for it could be nothing else, stretched from Elly's jaw to his hip. It engulfed Maria and she vanished within.

It took barely a few seconds but the leader of their coven was gone and Elly was wiping his bottom lip as if he had just had a delicious meal.

Jasper stumbled, even though he was standing still, then ran for his newborn. He could feel how much pleasure Elly took in eating their leader because eating is exactly what he had done. He had seen his child feed a few times, but nothing satisfied him the way Maria evidently did.

"Elly, what have you done?" asked Jasper once he reached Elly, grabbing his newborn by the shoulders.

"It was self-defense," Elly replied, licking his bottom lip as if still savoring the taste. His eyes were the brightest he had ever seen them. Had his child ever been this satiated? This full? Jasper couldn't remember.

Someone finally approached them and of course, it was an enraged Nettie.

"How could you!"

Elly turned to her and his mouth split unnaturally wide across his entire face, almost like his body had and she skid to a stop. "I have no compunctions about eating you as well Nettie." The vampire's name was over-enunciated, somehow turning it into an insult.

This brought her up short and his newborn turned to him. "Do you want to stay, My Sire, or shall we find a coven elsewhere?"

Jasper's eyes went wide. Was that even an option?

Elly raised an eyebrow at him and grinned.

… … …

Jasper felt it was amazing how quickly time could pass. The world around them seemed to spin slower now that every moment of his life wasn't spent surviving or training others to survive. For the first time in his life, he could travel. Pick up a new hobby. Marvel at the new inventions or fads that raced across the nation every time he turned around.

Being with Elly was fun.

Of course, a steady supply of Elly's controlled emotion made his own control issues much easier, so when he was finally approached by a woman calling herself Alice and preaching about a 'vegetarian coven' he felt something he hadn't in a long time.

Hope.

Or maybe that was just her feelings he felt?

There was something that seemed to surprise Alice though, who met Elly's eyes across the diner table as if staring into the face of some kind of monster.

(Jasper's memories of every time Elly fed surfaced and he realized that maybe that wasn't exactly a wrong impression of his 'child'.)

"Who are you?" Alice asked, voice wary of this person she did not See when looking for her mate.

Elly smiled, not at all disarming and completely full of teeth. "I'm Elly."

Jasper sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Elly, no. It's fine."

His child pouted at him then huffed, leaning back into his chair. "Whatever."

Alice looked between the two, settling on Jasper. "He is…?"

"My child. I turned him." The woman was wide-eyed with shock, looking at the pair again. Jasper could feel her distress. Why was she distressed? "What's wrong?" He decided to ask.

"I didn't… See it. Him," came her whispered response and his raised eyebrow prompted her explanation of her talents.

"How quaint," Elly drawled when she finished, "Our own little pocket Seer." Even though he didn't do it, Jasper could feel his child's eye roll. And his boredom. "And you didn't see me coming, did you?"

Alice shook her head just the tiniest amount, leaning back until she was resting against the chair. It wasn't a retreat, but…

Jasper, like he usually did around Elly, sighed with his need to emote. Honestly, his child.

"Why did you come seek us…" At Alice's look, Jasper amended his words, "me… out?"

Here her feelings immediately changed and she moved forward, grasping his hand. Her joy flooded him anew. "You're my mate."

Next to him, Elly made a noise of disgust, but his feelings didn't change at all. Jasper, however, didn't know what to feel. Mate? The question was voiced aloud and Alice nodded.

"Yes," she declared, then went on to explain about the visions she had Seen and what it meant and how much better their lives would be, together, if they went to find the Cullens.

Elly had left the table during her little speech, but Jasper could feel that he was still nearby, those steady emotions he always associated with his child worked like a beacon in the sea of chaos of everyone else's.

Slowly, thinking over what Alice said, her hand still clasped over his, Jasper stated, "If I go… Elly comes with me." Jasper watched Alice with a blank face, feeling her emotions shift with his declaration but he was resolute on this and it would seem she could See that.

"That's fine," Alice eventually acquiesced. "It should be fine," was quickly amended, her eyes narrowed before smiling. It was like nothing could keep her down. Jasper offered her a tentative smile of his own. "Come on, we need to go west to find them. I Know it."

… … …

I know it. That seemed to be Alice's catchphrase because she said it a lot. What was interesting is that she was nearly always right. She was even able to read some things about Elly that helped to change her opinion of him.

Such as the fact that being around his child helped Jasper deal with his control issues. Switching to vegetarianism wasn't the easiest for Jasper, but with Elly around it was a lot easier.

Alice was a little curious why Elly didn't want to hunt animals with them, but Elly brushed it off by declaring, "I don't need to eat as often as you." She had looked a little hurt at the dismissal, so Jasper decided to address Elly's uncalled for behavior towards Alice.

Elly stared at him, boredom draining away to show utter blankness again. It was very uncomfortable, especially considering the last time he'd felt that lack of… anything Elly had just risen from the change.

"I don't like how she is subverting your free will."

That wasn't what Jasper was expecting. "What?"

Elly rolled his eyes and sighed, but Jasper still felt nothing. "Alice uses her visions as both a crutch and an excuse. She sees something and assumes that her 'gift' is perfect, so she'll push and drag everyone around her along until it comes true instead of treating it as what it is: a possibility.

"Everything she sees is a prophecy that she forces into fulfillment. If we'd just said she was a crazy person and left, she would have seen a new future in its place. But because you're just…" Elly waved his hand in a few circles then continued, "following along, she gets her way. And if you keep doing that, she's just going to steamroll over you every time until the point where every little thing is her way because she saw it 'that way'. Because she KNEW it.

"You want to go to Paris? She saw us in India, so of course that's where we'll go because she Saw it. You want to have cruelty free bagged blood?" What a novel idea, but Jasper couldn't even dwell on it because Elly wasn't done. "Of course not, your eyes are never red in her visions."

Elly finally stopped and Jasper had a moment to consider everything his child had said. It wasn't… wrong.

"And since when do you follow blindly like this, Sire? Even with Maria, Chaos curse her to a riveting afterlife, at least with her you knew her reasons and motivations. Revenge, reclaiming her territory, defending the current one..." Elly shrugged, "I'm not saying they were great reasons but at least you knew where she stood.

"But… What's Alice's game? What's her purpose? To shop through life with money she doesn't have and drag you along for the ride?" Elly scoffed, a twinge of his feelings finally slipping through whatever barrier he seemed to have on his emotions.

Jasper was shocked. He had no idea his child had these thoughts. Then again, he hadn't asked. But he knew now and Jasper had plenty to think about in the future. After all, it was only eternity on the line, right?

For now, Jasper couldn't decide. Using those skills he had honed years ago during the war, he knew he needed to gather more information before he came to a decision. So, they continued to head towards the Cullens. He could admit, at least, that the idea of their lifestyle was appealing to him.

Ultimately, Elly did wind up going hunting with them. His eyes were dark with thirst and Alice was shocked- repulsed really- by the way his child fed. Jasper had been around it long enough that it didn't even phase him anymore to watch the younger vampire completely engulf his prey in shadows and watch them disappear. It didn't leave any kind of a mess, which was definitely a bonus. (Brutal. But efficient).

So Jasper knew that Elly had made the effects of this particular feeding much more visceral in an attempt to scare his mate. "Elly," Jasper sighed as Elly stood back, licking his chops. "No…" On one hand, Jasper didn't want his child scaring his (possible) mate, but on the other… These were the few moments where Elly felt something other than boredom. Who was he to deny his child that?

The thing that Alice really didn't like was the fact that Elly refused to become strictly vegetarian, like she was trying to be and was trying to make Jasper be, too. Their eyes had changed to what Alice called the 'normal' for vegetarian vampires. When Jasper looked in the mirror and saw gold instead of red… he could see a whole new path open before him in the new color of his eyes. An obvious sign that proved he survived another day without feeling the pain and fear of another sentient being in his grip.

On the other hand, Elly's eyes constantly flipped. One week they were bright red, sometimes they were burgundy, occasionally they darkened to near black and at others they were gold like his own. Every time the gold-eyed Elly left and returned with red eyes, Alice would cringe and shy away from his child… Jasper didn't like that she would do that, but then she would turn a near-blinding smile onto him and he would almost forget about it.

Her emotions were intoxicating.

But they were also sobering.

The first time the three of them encountered another vampire, a teenage girl who was still practically a newborn but in control enough to target her preferred prey of neighbourhood children, and Elly ate her, Jasper was overwhelmed by Alice's emotional reaction.

Both of her hands flew to her mouth, covering her gasp. Elly, bored with the situation, used his thumbnail to pick at his teeth, but Jasper knew there was nothing there. He wasn't a messy eater. He was like a duck, just swallowed it whole.

(A snake would be a better analogy, Jasper.)

As per usual, Elly completely dismissed Alice and left the area they were in. Alice was left with Jasper, the woman filled with terror at what she had just seen.

"He…" she muttered, voice muffled under her hands, not that it mattered to a vampire. "She was a child?" Her terror became mixed with confusion. If the girl Elly had just eaten had been left to live, it wouldn't have been good and apparently Alice could See that now. But her mood shifted. "She was a vampire."

"Yes," Jasper replied to the unasked question.

Alice persisted. "He ate a vampire."

Jasper pointedly looked at the scars from newborns on his arms and then back to her.

"That's different, you can't feed from another vampire."

"Says who? Have you ever tried?" Jasper shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Elly can."

The woman, his potential mate, shook her head. "No, it's not possible. We have no blood to feed from, unless…"

"Unless we've fed ourselves, right? You saw that girl just as well as I did, Alice. She was very well fed."

Alice shuddered and turned away from Jasper. She didn't like this side of him. When Jasper sided with his unnatural, atrocious child. Didn't he know that their future together was to be part of the Cullen coven? As a family? Not an army leader who needed to know how to compartmentalize and rationalize brutish behaviour. She'd seen how calm and loving and perfect he could be. She Knew it. So why did he keep turning towards his past?

Jasper could feel her conflicting emotions. Why did things involving his child always cause Jasper to emote? He sighed, and took a step toward her. "Come on, Alice. Let's move on. Where are the Cullens now?"

The shift in topic delighted Alice and she bounced back, the emotional whiplash almost painful this time, and declared they needed to go north.

… … …

It took two years in total for them to finally meet the Cullens. Apparently, Alice's Sight didn't give great directions. At least, that's what Elly had said ad nauseum by the time they finally spotted them.

Before they went up to talk to the family, Alice whipped around and pointed an accusing finger at him. Jasper had a feeling of déjà vu. It was like Maria all over again. "YOU WILL NOT RUIN THIS MEETING FOR ME- US! I mean for us! But you put one fang out of line, kiddo, and I will make you regret it. I swear it. I'll take you to fashion week if I have to."

Elly blinked at her blankly for a moment, and Jasper knew when the mental image had processed because Elly's full-body shudder was obvious. He strangely also put his hands over his cheeks, as if protecting them.

(Elly-Harry was locked in a horrific memory-nightmare of the last time he'd gone to fashion week with Grandma Miranda. No more pinching his cheeks. No matter how hot the models were, no matter how adorable a kid he was, never again.)

"I mean," Elly finally stated, staying as blank as possible, "I wasn't really planning on it? I know my Sire has finally made up his mind, after all. Unlike some, I'm not a sore loser."

Jasper felt a tiny smile twitch onto his face and he gave his child a squeeze on the shoulder. With that, they went and got themselves adopted by the Cullens.

… … …

Apparently, Elly could pass for a slightly more tanned twin of Edward and the pair were declared BROTHERS. Edward and Emmanuel were now siblings. Elly was unsurprised but also irritated that Edward was a few inches taller.

So Elly was now a Cullen, but Jasper was a Hale, given his similar looks to Rosalie.

Elly hated it.

He pouted about it for five years.

FIVE YEARS.

They had finished with high school, Jasper, Elly, and Alice for the first time, and were on their way to university before Elly finally decided he was done feeling 'grumpy' about it and his mood switched from 'reluctant appeasement' back to 'bored'. Jasper let out a sigh of relief at the return to normal.

Alice side-eyed him, knowing him well enough by now to identify his tells for a change in the emotional atmosphere around him, but not well enough to figure out if it was a good sigh or an exasperated one. Either way, it was about Elly, the cursed brat, since he was the only one who could get her mate to emote that much. That should be HER job, thank you very much.

Her mood was drastically improved when whatever decision caused Jasper's change also let loose a very pleasing Sight of their future together. She sighed, happy again. Her happiness bled into Jasper and he was happy for it, too. His child and his mate were back to normal. He could focus on university now.

… … ...

In the household, the only ones that Elly actively liked were Jasper and Esme. He tolerated Carlisle and Emmett and clearly disliked Rosalie and Alice. In his defense, Rosalie disliked him first. Emmett thought Elly was a riot, especially with the reactions he brought out of his 'brother' Edward.

As Elly promised, he never went hunting with the family. At first, they were worried. After all, Elly showed up with red eyes while Alice and Jasper had gold ones. However slowly, over the following weeks of their first meeting, his eyes did shift to 'vegetarian gold'.

The first time he returned with red eyes though the family was very disappointed in him.

Jasper was the only one on his side and Elly was exasperated when he stated he hadn't eaten a human, but a vampire from the neighbouring city who was killing pregnant women.

The declaration caused most everyone's emotions to sync perfectly in a moment of disbelief, but Edward was the one to bring up the keyword in Elly's statement. "Eaten?"

Elly grinned and his mouth stretched in a preternatural way and Jasper pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, you know, when you open your mouth, put something inside, and swallow?" He gave a few grinny chomps for good measure.

Rosalie recoiled in horror, dragging Emmett with her. Edward, and unsurprisingly Carlisle, were academically interested in this difference.

Alice was just disappointed. She was so disappointed. Her eyes were closed, trying to See a way to fix this situation.

Emmett, from his new Rosalie-induced place at the back of the room, wondered, "I wonder what his chubby bunny score is?"

Silence followed what Emmett said before Elly asked, "What in the name of Death is 'chubby bunny'?"

And just like that, Emmett diffused the situation. Jasper was relieved.

Even though a few of the coven members were curious why Elly 'swore to death'?

Because the cat was out of the bag, so to speak, Elly began to join the family on hunts. The first time he swallowed a bear whole, as he was wont to do, Carlisle actually fell over in shock. Elly laughed, bright in joy and pleasure from a good meal. Jasper knew how much his child enjoyed his apex predators. Jasper felt even better because Carlisle's shock wasn't tainted with horror or disgust, just astonishment followed by interest as he no doubt thought of questions to ask.

The best person he could have shown it to, to be honest.

By and by, once the teens had all finished in University with varying degrees of history, music, or the sciences, it was decided they needed to move again. They had been in one place for too long, Carlisle proclaimed, so they packed up and moved.

And they started the process all over again.

Elly was emphatically unimpressed. Jasper was just glad that his pouting only lasted two years.

The only thing that stopped the pouting this time was the discovery that Elly could EAT.

… … …

Jasper was sitting in the kitchen working on his homework while he watched Esme baking, a fresh batch of cookies already resting on the cooling tray. His 'mother' looked human-housewife-ideal in her floral dress, apron, and pearls and he had already told her as such. Esme smiled kindly and said she would offer him a cookie, but…

Elly came into the room then and said, "I think you look great too, mama." He gave her a peck on the cheek, accepting Esme as his mother more easily than he did Edward as a sibling. His child then picked up a cookie and shoved the entire thing in his mouth without thought.

Jasper knew he wasn't even considering what he was doing- his emotions were a pleasant low hum of joy and boredom, his normal when encountering Esme and Jasper in the same room.

His child's emotions spiked with pleasure and Elly gave an audible hum of delight. "Oh man, just… the perfect chocolate chip cookie."

Esme dropped the tray she was holding, shock and worry warring for top contender and both radiating off of her in nearly visible waves. "Elly, dear… are you … okay?"

Jasper watched as Elly blinked and then actually realized what he had done. He looked at his hand, the tray of cookies, and then at his stomach. He closed his eyes and seemed to be concentrating really hard (or maybe he was actually constipated? Jasper had never tried to eat human food, he didn't know what would happen.)

"I… Think so?" Elly said slowly, mouth moving side to side. "I could taste it just fine- delicious by the way, Esme, and it went down just fine, I didn't choke or anything… but… I mean, I don't feel like I'm being poisoned, but it definitely doesn't feel like it belongs. It's not digesting, nope, definitely not."

His torso blurred then, going dark, and a secondary mouth formed and on its abnormally large tongue was the chewed up cookie. Elly looked as if he was mourning the treat as the tongue deposited the chunks into the sink and he grinned at Esme. "Hey, look at that. I can eat!"

Esme was shaking a bit and Jasper sighed hard, hand covering his face. "Elly, no… Why did you do that?"

"Well, it was that or vomit it up and that was much easier, don't you think? As much as I'm sure your food will taste just as great coming back up, I've always hated vomiting. Both the action of doing it and hearing other people do it. Blech, no, ew. Gross." He waved his hands as if warding off the feeling.

The humor of the situation finally won the war of Esme's emotions and she laughed in confused delight. "You can eat my food?"

Elly nodded several times, that too-wide grin on his face.

"Then please, tell me what these taste like!" Esme, a beacon of happiness, threw open their icebox to give him something else to try.

'Only my child would reveal his dark side to Esme for cookies,' Jasper mused with exasperation, 'Only my child…'

… … …

The year was 1967 and they had finally settled into their third house. Carlisle announced that he had enrolled everyone at the local high school and Elly stared at him in askance.

"What the heck Carl, again?" He burst to his feet, fists planted on his hips.

Carlisle nodded, the picture of serenity. "Of course, Elly. As my young child," the words stressed and Elly's face shaped into a snarl. Jasper could tell there was no heat behind it, just a slight pout, but he was the only one who did. "You must attend school with your siblings."

"Can't I be the absurdly advanced introverted child who is homeschooled by his totally badass loving mother?" Elly whined, arms folded over his chest now. "I would rather spend literally the entire five years taste-testing than pretending to pay attention to the droning of underpaid school employees." Jasper covered his mouth to hide his laugh, but Edward caught his amusement through his thoughts and gave him a weird look.

"Esme is not a qualified tutor, I'm sorry my dear, so that is not an option Elly," Carlisle shook his head as if disappointed by Elly's outburst.

Elly snorted, "As if 'finding' paperwork is a chore for you."

Carlisle narrowed his eyes in response to that. "That's not the point. We have already been established in the community. You start school next week. End of discussion, Emmanuel."

Jasper watched his child visually bristle. Almost literally too. His emotions even reflected it. It was a surprise to the empath and he stared at his child but did not speak up.

"Whatever," Elly finally announced, "I'm going hunting." The words were spat, almost like a glove across the face. A declaration of a duel. Just try to stop me.

And they couldn't because Elly was gone within the next second.

Jasper stared out the door after him when he was gone. Alice came up beside him, arms wound around his waist. "What is it?"

"I'm worried," he replied, looking down to his small mate and then looking back out the door where his child had disappeared. "I've never really felt Elly feel that way."

"What way?"

"Angry. Not since… well, not since Maria."

Alice looked up at Jasper with wide eyes, having heard her mate's full story by now and her jaw dropped. "Oh…"

"Yes, 'oh'… I should go after him."

"Wait," her hand grabbed his shirt before he could even more and her eyes went out of focus. "Just… Just wait for him to return. He'll come back. I Know it."

She wasn't wrong… but he still wasn't sure it was the right decision.

Elly came back and immediately disappeared into his room in the attic. Jasper, once he felt those blank, bored emotions again, went to meet his child.

He was greeted with red eyes. "Elly, what did you do?"

"Whatever I felt like. Carl may be your coven leader, but he sure as shit ain't mine."

Jasper joined Elly on the bed, sitting next to his child. He was concerned at how blank Elly felt, and wondered why it was happening more often as of late. There'd been brief moments here and there, but never for long and never so muted. It reminded him of the time they had that Chat about Alice.

"Talk to me, my child," Jasper nearly crooned, trying to blanket Elly with the concern he felt for him. It wasn't something that he did often because he knew Elly didn't like it, but he needed to hear what was bothering his child.

"Talk? Why? My opinion and my say obviously hold zero weight here."

"What do you mean?"

Elly's blank stare matched his emotions as he stared into the face of his Sire, and asked softly, "Are you really so wrapped up in the Cullens that you don't see me anymore?"

The words and that look were like an arrow through his unbeating heart. Jasper reached out and clutched Elly's hand and held it tightly. "I always see you, Elly."

"It doesn't feel like it," countered the younger vampire. "It feels like you can only see your shiny, pretty 'mate'," the sarcasm and one-handed air quotes did not go unmissed, "and not your old, dusty, strange, freakish child."

That single word held more emotion from Elly than the entire time Jasper had known him. It leaked and seeped, nearly hemorrhaging through the barrier Elly was clearly holding up while they had this conversation. "Elly…"

"No, don't 'Elly' me," Elly pulled away from his sire and let out a huff of air, everything returning to zero in that single moment. "I don't fit in with this family, Jasper."

Jasper was struck. He'd felt the blanks before, even if they were concerning it wasn't new. But Elly had never once in his entire existence addressed him by name. Sire, Pops, even Fang-Daddy on one memorable occasion, but never Jasper.

"You can't tell me that I do, because you know I don't." As per usual when the pair shared a conversation, Elly barreled on and didn't wait for Jasper to catch up. "We both know I'm an oddball, and the Cullens are so concerned with being so perfectly human that they're trying to force me in line. Unlike you and Esme, they don't show much acceptance for 'other'.

"Carlisle makes a good show of it, but that's mostly academic curiosity. Emmett only cares if he can fight it or get a laugh out of it. Edward…" Elly sighed in disgust, shaking his head. "I spend every moment near him keeping him out of my head, and he won't stop digging. Rosalie… I won't even go there. You already know how I feel about Alice, and none of that has changed. So even though you gave what I said some thought, you obviously thought it wasn't important enough to care about."

Elly shrugged, more defensive than anything. "So. Where does that leave me?" He paused as if he would let Jasper reply, but of course, he wouldn't. "Right back where I started. In high school. AGAIN. Pretending to be human, but not actually making friends with any of them. Because that doesn't stand out at all. So I get to spend four more years clustered at a lunch table with people who don't even like me but unallowed to get to know anyone else because of the horrifying fact of our species."

There was finally a moment of pause and Jasper could think of only one thing to say. "Please." He looked up to his child, eyes a soft liquid gold. "I understand. We can talk to them, but… please Elly. Please, my child," the older vampire crooned again, "Please… for me. Stay. I can't lose you."

Jasper felt when Elly's feeling left that terrible blankness, flickered with a brief moment of resignation, and returned to boredom. Unsure of what it meant, he made eye contact with his child and waited for a response.

And he was his child. Not in the human definition of the word, but Jasper really couldn't find a more perfect word to describe how he wanted to always keep Elly safe and near. It may have taken nearly a hundred years to figure it out, but Jasper knew without a doubt that Elly would always be his child.

"Ugh," grunted Elly, rolling his eyes. He dropped onto the bed next to Jasper and wrapped his arms around him. "They get one year to change, and then I'm leaving. I can't do this animal bullshit all the time. As delicious as eagles may be, with their fragile, crunchy bones… I prefer something… stronger."

Jasper knew what he really meant. Honestly, Jasper worried what Harry would do if he left. If he found another coven willing to accept someone who ate others of their kind, what kind of coven would that even be? How would they treat his child?

"All right. I'll talk to them."

"Thank you, My Sire."

… … …

Carlisle radiated disappointment when he found out that Elly had gone and fed on a human. (He actually ate the whole human, but Carlisle didn't need to know that.) But with merely a reprimand, a slap on the wrist really, Elly was 'allowed' to stay in the coven and things continued on as normal.

A couple of months later, Jasper nearly slipped and Elly had to rush him away from the school and back home.

Elly and Carlisle's following fight would seal the fate of the Cullen coven.

"THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT CARL!" Elly shouted, gesturing to the still shaking Jasper. "Animals do NOT cut it! We are VAMPIRES. We need HUMANS."

Carlisle scoffed, arms folded over his chest mulishly. "Jasper has been doing fine. It was an accident. He didn't even bite her."

"ONLY BECAUSE I WAS THERE. And I was only there because those idiotic teachers didn't bother to separate the adopted siblings the way they did the actual ones." Elly stopped then and glared at Carlisle. "Did you know they did that? All of us ' blood-related siblings' have been separated in classes. I have no idea what they think it will accomplish BUT ANYWAY, THAT IS NOT THE POINT HERE. FUCKING FATE, CARL. I'm going to get him some human blood," Elly turned to the door as if to leave but Carlisle tackled and pinned the 'teenager' to the wall.

"Elly, no!" Jasper gasped out at the same time that Carlisle growled it.

"Elly, calm down," continued the doctor, holding Elly firm against his struggles. "He doesn't need human blood."

"YES! He does!"

"You cannot kill another human, Emmanuel!"

Elly growled and his edges blurred black for a moment before solidifying back to normal. "Cannot? Laying down edicts for my life, now? Besides," spat the younger vampire, "I wasn't going to kill anyone. Blood banks are a fucking thing, you idiotic doctor!"

Carlisle's grasp loosened in his surprise and Elly wrenched himself free, returning to Jasper's side in a mere second. "Blood banks?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, Carl, blood banks. You know, that handy dandy place where people go and donate blood and hospitals and places keep it stored in those convenient little bags. Oh, also, they throw away a shit ton of it because it doesn't pass any of their tests, so no one would even notice if I grab some. All we need is a straw and it's practically a mother-fucking juice box."

In a small part in the very back of Jasper's mind that wasn't still shaking from bloodlust, he questioned the phrase 'juice box'. It wasn't the first time Elly had spoken of something he couldn't understand. At least this one was self-explanatory.

Carlisle seemed to be having the same thought because he just shook it away. "No, Elly, we can't do that. That blood is for people who need it."

Elly took a moment to gape at Carlisle's selective hearing, then shouted, "WHY DO YOU CARE SO MUCH MORE FOR HUMANS THAN YOU DO YOUR OWN KIND?"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT FROM SOMEONE WHO EATS OTHER VAMPIRES!" Carlisle finally exploded in response and he seemed shocked by his own outburst once he was finished.

"I AM AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY DOUCHEBAG EATER! Humans, vampires, children of the moon! I do not give ANY fucks and I will eat them all if I so desire and YOU CANNOT STOP ME!" Elly's shadows grew with his rage, the emotions causing Jasper to shake for a whole new reason.

"Elly, no…" He whispered, "My child." Elly seemed to deflate when he finally heard his sire.

With a venomous glare from dark, edging on black eyes, Elly turned away from Carlisle and knelt in front of Jasper.

"I'm sorry, Sire. I cannot stay."

Jasper felt as Elly pulled back that nearly overpowering rage, just as Edward came crashing inside their home. Esme followed soon after and then the rest of the family. Jasper dropped his head, the only 'nod of acknowledgment' he would give his child. "I understand."

Elly leaned up and pressed a kiss to Jasper's forehead then turned to the family. "Bye," he said to Esme and only her. Once more, his emotions were blank. In the next moment, his child was gone.

… … …

The family moved not long after that. Jasper was understandably (though not to everyone) upset. Since the moment he had turned his child he had never been separated from him for this long. He struggled to return to normal. Or rather, to find a

It didn't help that Alice seemed to be ecstatic that his child was gone rather than sympathetic. She never showed it on her face, but she wasn't an idiot. She knew that Jasper could feel it. As if so long as she kept a socially acceptable expression it was alright, and if she just felt happy at him enough then he'd be happy his Child was gone as well.

Most of their coven was actually glad that Elly had left. Esme and Jasper were the only two who felt otherwise and Esme's reasoning was… honestly, a bit shallow. She missed someone to chat with in the kitchen and her taste tester. Not Elly.

A couple of months passed before Jasper noticed something on the edge of his range of empathy. Without his child there, that space of blank boredom or simple joy to steady his own emotions, he had been a little out of control with his powers. But then, one day, he could feel … something.

He was in class with Edward when he noticed it, turning to look out the window with a purpose. His 'brother' looked at him and then out the window and back again. Jasper felt Edward's confusion but didn't bother trying to explain what he was feeling.

As the days progressed, the feeling got closer. It took only a few days for Jasper to realize what it was.

Elly had come back.

His entire mood lifted as a result. He wanted to go and rush to his child and was about to do just that when Edward stopped him.

"Jasper," the younger vampire began, holding his arm steady. "He left us, remember?"

The blond nearly snarled, "He left because…" He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Accusations of intolerance wouldn't help anyone at this point. "He's still my child."

Jasper took his grief, his worry, his loss, and all of those protective feelings that he felt as a sire, as an older vampire, as … just who he WAS, his BEING, and pushed them at Edward so he would understand.

Edward's eyelids fluttered under the bombardment and he slowly loosened the hand he had on Jasper's arm. He looked down at those long sleeves that covered the arms full of scars and then back up to Jasper's face. His eyes flickered between both of Jasper's, clearly trying to find something. To really comprehend what the other vampire was trying to share with him.

At last, Edward nodded and dropped his hand. "I won't tell anyone." He understood. It was a sympathetic type of understanding. Edward had never sired anyone, but he knew what it was like to want to protect someone. After all, Edward felt that way towards Carlisle.

That tiny smile that Jasper would sometimes get, that he usually only gave to Elly and Alice, and on the rare occasion Esme, was sent Edward's way and then he was off so that he could meet with his child.

This would be their new normal for the next several years.

Elly would stalk the family, Jasper would occasionally disappear to spend time with him, and Edward would cover for him.

That is, until 1998 when Elly suddenly disappeared.

… … …

Jasper surprised everyone, especially Alice, when he took a leave of absence from the coven to search for his child. The first thing that surprised them that he took so long (in their minds) to finally do so. The second was that he would want to do it at all.

It led to Jasper and Alice's first real fight. One that she could have never Seen coming since Elly was at the core of it.

"ALICE, I know that you're my mate," Jasper was calm. He was a sea of calmness. "But he is my child. I have known him longer than you. He helped me so much more than you have. And I can no longer feel him nearby. He's never disappeared like this before. It's been six months since I last felt him."

"What do you mean it's been six months?"

Jasper let out one of those sighs he usually reserved for Elly, turning to look at the wall. "Elly has been following us since he left thirty-three years ago."

Alice's jaw dropped, her emotions flailing wildly between disbelief, anger, betrayal (no doubt she felt she had the right to know this information), and a tiny bead of, if he was right, true hatred.

Jasper could tell how she felt, but he continued. "And I've been meeting him."

It was like a stone settled into Alice's stomach and she couldn't speak, mouth working but no sound coming out.

"I'm going to go and find my child. I will call regularly. But I must do this." With that Jasper left his mate behind to try and find Elly.

He did not succeed.

Twenty four states, hundreds of cities, backtracking their travels all the way to Mexico and contacting friends, acquaintances, even near-hostiles like Nettie who took up leadership of the Monterrey coven after Maria...

He spent the rest of 1998 and nearly all of 1999 trying to find him. As the new year ticked over into a new millennium, Jasper returned to Alice. It took five more years before any hope of seeing his child again had fully vanished.

Just in time for Edward to meet his singer.

… … …

Edward was an idiot.

That was Jasper's main thought as the surprisingly human secretary led them towards the leaders of the Volturi. He thought, for certain, that his coven mate was about to be put to death and he couldn't even argue in his defense because it was such a colossally stupid decision.

Edward shot him a look for the thought. Jasper shrugged in reply. 'Can't hide from the truth when you're eavesdropping.'

Alice seemed scared, Jasper had noticed earlier, the second they had entered the building and she saw a no-nonsense human secretary that looked like she belonged in an executive office, not a vampire lair. She hadn't bothered to focus on the Volturi in so long and now that she was directing her Sight towards them she could See… nothing.

The secretary brought them to what could only be described as a throne room. "Wait here. Harry will be with you shortly."

"What kind of vampire name is Harry?" Bella asked, shuffling in place in that awkward way she tended to do.

Why couldn't she just be still? Jasper wondered, glancing at her from the corners of his eyes.

But that thought was completely derailed when a familiar blankness entered the room. Jasper gasped, actually gasped, a stupid human expression of shock he hadn't bothered with in nearly five years, and whipped his head around to face the large door slowly creaking open in what had to be purposeful dramatic effect.

Edward, following the direction of Jasper's thoughts, turned as well. "Elly?" the younger vampire whispered.

When Alice heard Edward she gasped as well and Elly stepped into the light of the room.

"Thank you, Ms. Potts," Elly declared, for it could be none other than his child, his arms spread wide in welcome.

The human sighed and rolled her eyes, reaching her hand up to adjust her glasses. "I've told you many times Harry, that is not my name."

"Meh," Elly, or was it Harry now?, shrugged, flopping himself over into the largest of the throne-like chairs in the room. "We all occasionally take on new names. Isn't that right, Chelsea?"

One of the vampires that lined the room just smiled and laughed, nodding her head a few times.

Jasper knew there was a joke there that he wasn't getting. From Edward's slightly bemused feelings, he had heard someone's thoughts enough to get it. (damn telepath cheaters)

Elly turned back to look at the group, waving a hand to dismiss the secretary. Jasper could feel the joy that flowed from his child and he basked in it, taking an unconscious step closer. He would have taken two, but Alice reached out to stop him. He turned to look at her and then turned back to Elly.

Alice spoke first, "Elly, where are Aro, Caius, and Marcus?"

"Tsk tsk, little Seer," Elly waggled a finger at her, mouth stretched unnaturally wide. "You shall address me as 'my lord'."

"Elly, no," Jasper denied in a whisper, torn between pride and sorrow for his child. What happened to him that he felt taking responsibility for the entire vampire world was necessary?

"Oh, My Sire, Elly YES." Before Edward could try to glean from the thoughts of those in the room, the new Lord of the Volturi waved them out. It was just the four of them left in there. "No spoilers for the cheaters," he explained with a grin that showed off far too many teeth.

Jasper hung his head, trying to focus on Elly's solid feelings and not Alice's wavering ones or Bella's screaming, terrified ones. This wasn't what he expected would happen. It's not what he wanted for his child. He should have been there to guard him against whatever had led to this point.

"What happened," Alice swallowed, blinking rapidly, then continued as if sucking on a lemon, "My lord."

Elly's grin really pulled then, looking more like the Cheshire Cat than a proper vampire. "Oh, you mean you can't See it? I thought you Knew everything? Shall I let you See, Little Seer?"

Before Jasper could stop his child, having just caught the barest underlying hints of mischief, Alice fell forward onto one knee, the heel of her palm pressing against her forehead in what must have been her first headache of her undead life.

Alice watched as Elly was led by Felix into the very same room she knew she was still standing in, walking side by side with Demetri. In the chairs were Aro, Caius, and Marcus, with Jane and a few other guards and lackeys smattered around the room. Corin and Chelsea were spotted, and Alec was never far when Jane was near.

Elly appeared just as bored as she had always seen him in person, not at all concerned about the fact that he was suddenly surrounded by extremely talented vampires that had centuries on him.

"Emmanuel," Aro began, arms spread in the same type of greeting Alice had seen Elly give.

"I prefer Elly," the teenage vampire replied, using his thumbnail to scratch at his teeth. His eyes were a bright crimson, showing he had recently fed.

Alice wondered if Demetri had been privileged enough to be witness to the horror show that always seemed to be.

"I am so happy to finally meet you," Aro continued, giggling with childish glee. "I have heard so much about you."

"And I've heard very little about you," countered Elly. "Is this going to take long? I really didn't want to come to Europe. I mean, I guess there are some places I could go… France may be nice… I wonder what's in Bulgaria. I should definitely grab one of the Pope's hats for a souvenir. Maybe I'll swing by London. Do you think there's anything good there?"

Aro tilted his head like a confused bird then giggled some more. Never had Alice seen someone ramble the way Elly could. Except maybe her. … She didn't appreciate her own mental comparison.

"I have heard that you could be quite flippant in the presence of authority figures," Aro looked over at his brothers, milky eyes circling the room before returning back to Elly, "But I never thought you would do so in my presence."

Alice Saw how Elly's eyes narrowed and turned to look around the room just like Aro's had. "Woah, wait," Elly said, holding up a hand. "Very not cool, my dudes. No messing with my head."

At the edge of the wall, there was a scream. The shadows had formed what could only be described as a gaping maw of a mouth and they swallowed Corin, Alice could tell, whole. Just the way that Elly would feed. The fact that the teen was licking his chops, even though his body had been nowhere near Corin, just proved that fact to her.

Jane didn't appreciate how Elly treated one of her coven mates, apparently, and Alice watched as she tried to use her powers on him. Elly did actually twitch, turning fully to look at her.

"Oh. Crucio-girl. Hullo," He flashed one of those unnatural smiles that seemed to split his face in half, and then another mouth opened in the shadows, this one below Jane. She didn't even have the grace to look shocked or yelp as she fell into the waiting abyss and disappeared. Geez, talk about brutal.

(But efficient.)

Once more, Elly visibly shuddered, but this time for a very different reason. "Oooo, tasty. I definitely have always liked the psychopaths." He gave a happy little wiggle and turned back to the room. "Who's next?"

Aro, enraged at the death of his favorite, gave the order to attack.

That's when Alice saw IT.

Elly's body burst into shadows. Mouths, eyes, tentacles, and other beings of dark imagination completely slaughtered those in the room. Teeth. So many teeth everywhere. The few who had enough sense to run instead of attacking were left alive but subdued by shadows that pinned them to the walls.

"You," Elly approached Chelsea once the darkness had collapsed back into his body. "You tried to mess with my head too, didn't you. But do you even want to be here?"

Chelsea shook her head several times, but Alice could tell it was fear more than anything. Elly seemed … disappointed?

"Well, you didn't try to attack me so I guess you can stay for now. But," here Elly stopped so he could burp, gently pounding a fist to his chest, "But I could always eat more."

Alice gasped as she came out of the vision and stared at Elly. Edward, who had piggyback watched it all with her, was staring in equal amounts of horror. "You killed them all?" she squeaked out and Bella's prior fear spiked anew.

"Well, it was less killing and more gorging on. But I digress," Elly clapped his hands together and laughed. "Those old corpses weren't doing anything for the well being of our kind, just … Maintaining the status quo. Learning to paint, or something. Who even lets themselves be called 'nighttime patrons of the arts'? Old dudes are weird." He rolled his eyes then and rose from his chair, crossing the room towards them.

"That, however, is not why you're here though is it, Edward?" Elly turned to look at the teen who used to be his brother and smirked. "Monumentally stupid of you, trying to expose yourself to my humans."

"My humans?" Bella whispered. Or thought she whispered.

She was given all the attention due to her. Which was none.

"Edward, you are clearly suicidal." Elly raised his arm and let it blur, shifting into something… other. "Maybe I shall indulge you?"

"NO!" Bella threw herself in front of her boyfriend like the little idiot she was. Elly laughed at her. "I won't let you hurt him, Harry or Elly, or whoever you are!"

Elly's laughter got worse and his body solidified as he bent over with it. Oh, this was just too good.

Jasper, from his spot on the floor next to Alice, watched the conversation, and felt his child's glee. "Elly, please. This is Bella… She is the reason Edward-"

"Oh, I know," Elly smiled at his sire, mouth full of teeth. "I know much more than you think. Technology is an amazing thing, after all. Not to mention, I had a team dispatched when my standard surveillance of your coven showed Edward stalking a human." He finally addresses Bella, "Did you know the day you met, he came in your window and watched you sleep?"

"Really?" Bella squeaked, turning to look at her boyfriend in horror. "You watched me sleep? The day we met?" Elly watched amused as her thoughts no doubt spiraled into what she could remember of that day. Apparently she wasn't pleased with the result.

"I-" Edward floundered, staring at Bella and croaking. 'If only I could read her thoughts!' was practically billboarded onto his face.

Elly chuckled. "It sucks, doesn't it? Eternal puberty."

Before the conversation could devolve further, Elly clapped to regain everyone's attention. "Right. We have a decision to make people. I am your lord and so what I say goes. So! Edward, kill Bella."

"WHAT?" several voices cried.

Jasper wasn't one of them. He could tell his child was joking.

"Kidding," Elly stuck out his tongue playfully. "But, no, seriously, you've got to turn her. If you're going to stay with her, she's gotta become a vamp. Otherwise, dis dumb bitch is a liability."

Edward looked at Bella and then back at Elly imploringly, "Please, I need more time…"

"No, why should I? Remember, I'm the lord. My word is like. Law or something."

Jasper finally stood, closing the distance between him and his child and put a hand on his shoulder. Elly blanked and turned to look at his sire. "My child," whispered Jasper (for real this time. Bella heard nothing) before slowly enveloping him in a hug.

The Volturi Lord stayed blank for two more seconds before seeming to melt and return the hug of his sire. Over Jasper's shoulder, he sent his harshest glare to Edward and Bella. "Graduation. That's as long as I'll give you. If she ain't one of us," the phrase managed to echo in the chamber… "by next June, then I'm turning her myself. And I won't be gentle about it. I'll use one of the big mouths right across her face."

"Deal," Edward gasped out, somehow knowing they would never get a better offer, even if he couldn't read his former-twin at all.

From her spot on the floor, Alice let out a soft gasp as she managed to stop viewing the past and get a new glimpse of the future. To her horror, none of it contained her mate. While she could sense happiness for the rest of her coven, Jasper… Jasper wasn't there.

As if to confirm this, Jasper didn't step back from his progeny, just continued to hold his precious child he'd thought lost to him as the doors opened to escort the others away. Edward and Bella zipped out of there, but Alice hung back hoping for Jasper to come despite her Knowing.

"Wait," Alice shouted, even as a vampire guard grabbed her. "Jasper, no!" she cried as the visions wouldn't stop.

Elly smirked over Jasper's shoulder, holding his sire tight. "Jasper, yes." That Eldritch Being replied, and the last sight of the two before the doors slammed into Alice's face was the little shit nuzzling his nose into the crook of her mate's neck.

… … …

When Harry finally opened his eyes in that In Between place, the first thing he did was to make sure he still had Jasper with him.

Sure enough, there in his hand was Jasper's soul. And really, who would have imagined, vampires still had souls.

(Suck it, Edward. You were WRONG!)

"Thank you," Harry grunted looking at the ball of light before looking up to Death. "I know this is technically cheating, but you kind of owed me for that double life not too long ago."

I KNOW, MASTER.

"And that one with the Veil."

YES, MASTER.

"Not to mention-"

OF COURSE, MASTER.

There was silence for a moment as Harry contemplated the fact that his servant had interrupted him. Then he realized he didn't care and moved on.

"Where will we go now? Tell Fate that I want this one to be long. Long and fun." Harry carefully rolled Jasper's soul between his hands, fidgeting as he sat on the non-floor.

Death hummed, a terrible grating sound and Harry got the feeling that the being shrugged.

THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN IS TO GO, MASTER.

Harry grinned, a smile not unlike the ones of Elly, and got to his feet. "Come on, my sire. Let's go on an adventure."

… … …

BN: RudeMinnesotan pointed out that we accidentally wrote Cannibal!Harry. Whoops. Well. Um. It was fun, either way. Nom nom nom

AN: /sorrynotsorry.

AN: Some of the phrases I used were done because of the Time Period they were used in. Such as 'like an Indian' when Jasper and Elly first met and the juice box thing too. People weren't politically correct during the civil war, and the juice box wasn't invented until the 1980s (that scene took place in 1966).

BN: Anachronisms ftw!

AN: In the deadilogue, Harry mentions lives that I haven't posted yet, but are almost completely finished being written. My beta and I spent a very long time discussing where Jasper and Harry were going to go next. We have some ideas, but nothing concrete. Suggestions?

AN 2.0: Massive thanks to the review I got from GammilyIsMe who suggested I fuck up the Volturi. Ask and you shall receive, apparently. My beta and I busted this out in ONE day.

AN 3.0: I want to apologize for my lack of posting for the past few months. COVID-19 hit the country where I live (Korea) really hard at the end of February, almost three months to the day that my dad died. I was in absolutely no place whatsoever to write. Since my isolation ended I've started a few fics, but not finished anything until this. It really helped that my lovely beta stuck around for the entire process of writing this lol.