Circling Stars

🌟Chapter 6🌟

Of all the things I might of imagined he'd say this wasn't one of them.

"I know you think I am mad. I did not expect you to believe me without proof." Jasper stood and picked up a rock. "Do you see this?" He handed me a heart shaped grey pebble. I nodded and gave it back to him. "I will throw this to the opposite shore and catch it before it falls." He threw it, waited five seconds and suddenly he was gone. A form, his form was twenty feet above the lake. He'd jumped. I saw him land on the other side. Then he was back at my side before I could blink. My hair blew back as he stopped before me. He handed me the pebble.

"You are really a vampire?" I asked dumbfounded.

"Yes."

"Your family?"

"Also vampires with the exception of Jacob."

"Jacob's human?"

"No, a shapeshifter whose dual form is a wolf."

"Werewolf," I said numbly. "But you're not evil. It's not like people are going missing or dropping dead all over town. Do you compel people like the myths?"

He shook his head lightly. "No, vampires do not have that ability." He knelt on the rocky shore and placed his hands lightly on my knees while looking up at me. "My family and I feed off the blood of animals. Most do not and when they feed on humans, they kill. Vampires like that have red eyes. For both types our eyes fade to black to indicate hunger."

"Why don't you..." I couldn't bring myself to finish, it didn't matter though. He knew what I was asking.

"I have made many mistakes in my long life. I used to feed on humans but then I met my sister Alice and we found Carlisle. He showed me there was a better way, that we had a choice. I do not want to kill people. I have not fallen for more than two hundred years."

"When were you born?" I asked curiously.

"1844, Houston Texas."

I felt my eyes nearly bug out of my head. "So you're three hundred and seventeen."

"Yes," he confirmed. "I was turned into a vampire against my will during the Civil War. I am physically frozen as a teenager for eternity."

I licked my lips. "You're fast and you drink blood. What else is different about you?"

"I am much stronger than a human, heightened senses, no heart beat, and I am always cold. I don't need to breathe it's just a habit and to a degree, a necessity as humans would notice eventually if I didn't. My skin cannot be penetrated easily. I never sleep. When I, or any vampire, steps into sunlight our skin sparkles. It almost looks like we burst into flame. There are some vampires with extra gifts."

I turned over the pebble again and again in my hands, studying the texture and speckles of grey in the rock. "Like what?"

Jasper took a breath. "My brother Edward can read minds, his wife Bella has the ability to protect her mind from such mental manipulation and she can project to protect others. Their daughter, Renesme can transmit images into the mind through touch. Alice sees the future and I can feel and change the emotions of others."

"An empath." I met his eyes.

Jasper stood and looked up the shore. "Yes. I feel this is overwhelming for you. I should take you home."

We got back on the bike and drove away. Thoughts and feelings swirled inside me but strangely none of it was fear. I tucked the heart shaped stone into my pocket.

"Jasper," I asked as I handed back the helmet, "are you changing my emotions right now so I'm not afraid of you?"

He shook his head. "No, I would never do that."