Love in Cold Blood
Chapter 30: Thread
Chapter 30: Thread
“Winnie!” I heard from behind the door “Winnie!”
“Alice!” I said louder “We’re both awake; you can come in!”
“I know!” complained the culprit “But it was kind of fun.”
I crumpled my eyebrows over her comment as I folded the cover on my bed and grabbed my bag. “I looked okay, right?” I asked Alice
My roommate responded instead “You look fine; you’re not going to New York City or anything.”
“Are we?” I asked Alice genuinely curious.
“No, do you want to? You know I can get you back.” She skipped toward the door.
My roommate laughed “You are silly Alice!” she turned to me “Does she always joke like that? Did she try to convince you to go to Los Angeles?” she laughed
“I had no choice.” I said seriously. Rachel laughed again. She thought I was joking.
“Let’s go!” I commanded my near sister and we walked out the door. Well, I walked; she danced.
“So where are we going?” I asked when I had gotten seated in Alice’s Porsche
“Just the big mall in the next city. What’s it called?” she asked
“I think its called Cornell mall.” I said
“Even if it’s in the next city?”
I nodded
“Oh.”
We both walked out of her car and headed toward the large glass doors of the mall. I couldn’t help but notice the stares that we directed toward Alice. I could never help but notice the stares toward Jasper either. The stares made me angry… and jealous.
“Do you like this blouse?” questioned Alice as she held up a neon blue shirt with buckles on the side.
“Yes, I amazingly do. You really pay attention Alice.” She beamed “What about this for you?” I showed her a soft pink cardigan.
“Is that cashmere?” she asked as she felt the fabric.
We walked through the store and several more trying on clothes and accessories and doing other ‘girl’ stuff. Alice even insisted on a manicure for me. We finally stopped in the café area and I bought a Panini. Mid-bite Alice asked me a question.
“Do you love my brother?”
“Of course!” I said quickly “You know I love him more than my own life.”
“More than your own life.” She mused “You would be willing to do anything for him?”
“Yes.” I answered even though I wasn’t sure I was liking the direction our conversation was headed.
“You know you won’t live forever.” She looked up at me
“I’m hoping I will.” I said seriously. We looked at each other for several seconds.
“So you have considered that?” she whispered
“Of course, from the beginning I have always planned to become one of you. Why do you ask?”
“I’ve seen things.” She stated “I’ve never told you this, but I had seen you a very long time ago.”
“How long ago?” I asked mystified
“Before I had met Jasper.”
“That long, huh?”
“Yes.” She closed her eyes “And I just want you to know that I saw two things, you becoming a vampire and living with us. And…”
“And?!” I asked franticly “And, what?”
“Dying during the transformation.”
“So you know what I want to do, and you’re telling me the risks. Why now?” I asked
“You’ll have to make a decision soon, and you should have that information in mind too.”
I nodded “Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“Alice?” I questioned “Was that the reason you came down here? Was the shopping a ruse?”
“Maybe.” She snickered “But it was fun!”
“Yes.” I agreed
“Bye Alice!” I said at normal volume even though she was zooming out of sight. I knew she could here me.
“Hello, darling.” Whispered Jasper from behind me.
“Good afternoon.” I greeted him.
“Did you have fun?” he asked as he took my bags.
“As I promised.”
“I’m glad.” He whispered as he and I walked to my room. I carefully unlocked my door and he just laid the bags inside the door.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Okay.” I said slightly nervous. I thought of Alice and mine conversation from earlier in the day.
“Let me take you some where.” He said quietly as he lifted me on his back and we flew out the dorm into the night. He ran me pretty far from the dorm but it wasn’t long until we hit light.
These lights were the white Christmas lights you can buy in those big strings and they were wrapped over a large number of big fir trees.
“Jasper?” I began to ask as I took in the millions of Roses dotting the floor of the small clearing we were standing in “Jasper?”
But he wasn’t where I expected him to be; standing next to me, his head a foot higher than mine. Instead he was below me. He was kneeling there, in a suit I hadn’t seen him change into and in his hands he had a small black box. I began crying; he took my hand.
“Winifred.” He whispered full of emotion.
“I love you more than everything. My life would be nothing without you. I want you to marry me.” He golden topaz eyes burned me to the very core and his golden honey hair flew in the slight breeze. How can I be so lucky? Did he even need to ask?
“Ye…” I began but he hushed me
“You need to understand some things first. I love you, and I’m pretty sure you love me now.” He chuckled “But you will get older and I won’t. If you want to stay together now and you want to leave me later; I am fine with that. If you want to grow old and stay with me; I will be perfectly happy. I don’t know if you will though.”
“I want to be like you.” I whispered “I want to be with you forever, the true meaning of forever. I want decades and centuries to pass by. I don’t want the fifty or sixty years together. I want centuries with you.”
“Okay.” He whispered “I want that to, but you need to know the risks.”
“I understand them.”
“Truly?”
“I could die; it’s very likely that I could die. But, I can find no better way to go.”
He smiled “Can I ask the official question again?” he asked smiling a heart-stopping smile.
I nodded
“Will you?” he asked “Winifred Maxwell marry me Jasper Hale?”
“No.” I said simply and he seemed to die.
“Oh...” he said quietly and began to get up, but I continued.
“I will only marry Jasper Whitlock.”
He face lit. “Let me rephrase that.” He added a little southern twang “Ma’am, will you Winifred Maxwell marry me Jasper Whitlock?”
“Yes.” I managed to get out. I was surprised I could since my throat seemed to be welded shut.
He showed me up close the amazing ring he had picked out; a simple silver band with a crazy huge diamond that threatened to over whelm my finger. He slid the ring onto my finger and we both looked at it.
“My roommate will want an answer in the morning.” We both laughed
“Not to bring the ire prematurely, but when do you want to marry?” My fiancé asked me
“After I graduate. I don’t mind being a little older than you.”
“Ahh, yes.” He reminded me “I’m twenty and when you graduate you will be twenty-two.”
“But you could pass for twenty five or more so it doesn’t count, not really.”
He laughed
“Alice will have a field day.” I reminded him “But I have a feeling she already knows.”
“I’m sure she does.”
My new fiancé kissed me and I felt even more loved with his token, the ring, on my finger. It felt like a tangible thread connected us now.
“Winnie!” I heard from behind the door “Winnie!”
“Alice!” I said louder “We’re both awake; you can come in!”
“I know!” complained the culprit “But it was kind of fun.”
I crumpled my eyebrows over her comment as I folded the cover on my bed and grabbed my bag. “I looked okay, right?” I asked Alice
My roommate responded instead “You look fine; you’re not going to New York City or anything.”
“Are we?” I asked Alice genuinely curious.
“No, do you want to? You know I can get you back.” She skipped toward the door.
My roommate laughed “You are silly Alice!” she turned to me “Does she always joke like that? Did she try to convince you to go to Los Angeles?” she laughed
“I had no choice.” I said seriously. Rachel laughed again. She thought I was joking.
“Let’s go!” I commanded my near sister and we walked out the door. Well, I walked; she danced.
“So where are we going?” I asked when I had gotten seated in Alice’s Porsche
“Just the big mall in the next city. What’s it called?” she asked
“I think its called Cornell mall.” I said
“Even if it’s in the next city?”
I nodded
“Oh.”
We both walked out of her car and headed toward the large glass doors of the mall. I couldn’t help but notice the stares that we directed toward Alice. I could never help but notice the stares toward Jasper either. The stares made me angry… and jealous.
“Do you like this blouse?” questioned Alice as she held up a neon blue shirt with buckles on the side.
“Yes, I amazingly do. You really pay attention Alice.” She beamed “What about this for you?” I showed her a soft pink cardigan.
“Is that cashmere?” she asked as she felt the fabric.
We walked through the store and several more trying on clothes and accessories and doing other ‘girl’ stuff. Alice even insisted on a manicure for me. We finally stopped in the café area and I bought a Panini. Mid-bite Alice asked me a question.
“Do you love my brother?”
“Of course!” I said quickly “You know I love him more than my own life.”
“More than your own life.” She mused “You would be willing to do anything for him?”
“Yes.” I answered even though I wasn’t sure I was liking the direction our conversation was headed.
“You know you won’t live forever.” She looked up at me
“I’m hoping I will.” I said seriously. We looked at each other for several seconds.
“So you have considered that?” she whispered
“Of course, from the beginning I have always planned to become one of you. Why do you ask?”
“I’ve seen things.” She stated “I’ve never told you this, but I had seen you a very long time ago.”
“How long ago?” I asked mystified
“Before I had met Jasper.”
“That long, huh?”
“Yes.” She closed her eyes “And I just want you to know that I saw two things, you becoming a vampire and living with us. And…”
“And?!” I asked franticly “And, what?”
“Dying during the transformation.”
“So you know what I want to do, and you’re telling me the risks. Why now?” I asked
“You’ll have to make a decision soon, and you should have that information in mind too.”
I nodded “Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“Alice?” I questioned “Was that the reason you came down here? Was the shopping a ruse?”
“Maybe.” She snickered “But it was fun!”
“Yes.” I agreed
“Bye Alice!” I said at normal volume even though she was zooming out of sight. I knew she could here me.
“Hello, darling.” Whispered Jasper from behind me.
“Good afternoon.” I greeted him.
“Did you have fun?” he asked as he took my bags.
“As I promised.”
“I’m glad.” He whispered as he and I walked to my room. I carefully unlocked my door and he just laid the bags inside the door.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Okay.” I said slightly nervous. I thought of Alice and mine conversation from earlier in the day.
“Let me take you some where.” He said quietly as he lifted me on his back and we flew out the dorm into the night. He ran me pretty far from the dorm but it wasn’t long until we hit light.
These lights were the white Christmas lights you can buy in those big strings and they were wrapped over a large number of big fir trees.
“Jasper?” I began to ask as I took in the millions of Roses dotting the floor of the small clearing we were standing in “Jasper?”
But he wasn’t where I expected him to be; standing next to me, his head a foot higher than mine. Instead he was below me. He was kneeling there, in a suit I hadn’t seen him change into and in his hands he had a small black box. I began crying; he took my hand.
“Winifred.” He whispered full of emotion.
“I love you more than everything. My life would be nothing without you. I want you to marry me.” He golden topaz eyes burned me to the very core and his golden honey hair flew in the slight breeze. How can I be so lucky? Did he even need to ask?
“Ye…” I began but he hushed me
“You need to understand some things first. I love you, and I’m pretty sure you love me now.” He chuckled “But you will get older and I won’t. If you want to stay together now and you want to leave me later; I am fine with that. If you want to grow old and stay with me; I will be perfectly happy. I don’t know if you will though.”
“I want to be like you.” I whispered “I want to be with you forever, the true meaning of forever. I want decades and centuries to pass by. I don’t want the fifty or sixty years together. I want centuries with you.”
“Okay.” He whispered “I want that to, but you need to know the risks.”
“I understand them.”
“Truly?”
“I could die; it’s very likely that I could die. But, I can find no better way to go.”
He smiled “Can I ask the official question again?” he asked smiling a heart-stopping smile.
I nodded
“Will you?” he asked “Winifred Maxwell marry me Jasper Hale?”
“No.” I said simply and he seemed to die.
“Oh...” he said quietly and began to get up, but I continued.
“I will only marry Jasper Whitlock.”
He face lit. “Let me rephrase that.” He added a little southern twang “Ma’am, will you Winifred Maxwell marry me Jasper Whitlock?”
“Yes.” I managed to get out. I was surprised I could since my throat seemed to be welded shut.
He showed me up close the amazing ring he had picked out; a simple silver band with a crazy huge diamond that threatened to over whelm my finger. He slid the ring onto my finger and we both looked at it.
“My roommate will want an answer in the morning.” We both laughed
“Not to bring the ire prematurely, but when do you want to marry?” My fiancé asked me
“After I graduate. I don’t mind being a little older than you.”
“Ahh, yes.” He reminded me “I’m twenty and when you graduate you will be twenty-two.”
“But you could pass for twenty five or more so it doesn’t count, not really.”
He laughed
“Alice will have a field day.” I reminded him “But I have a feeling she already knows.”
“I’m sure she does.”
My new fiancé kissed me and I felt even more loved with his token, the ring, on my finger. It felt like a tangible thread connected us now.