- P r e f a c e -
« Edward. »
"It's not safe for you here."
A chuckle in Emmett's mind echoed into my own, but none of the others were the slightest amused. I wasn't at all.
The corners of her mouth curved slightly, a soft smile on her features, but it could have easily been the face of nonchalance. Her chocolate brown eyes hid behind bandages that almost blent in with her pale skin... Her cheeks were flushed, but her skin was no match for this cold weather. They only flared a soft, faded crimson, matching her full lips. She looked almost... cruel.
Her stance, however, was defensive, as if she believed her meek self could block us. And as I thought of this particularly, her small smile vanished, and her arms extended at her sides. Two years ago, I would have suppressed my chuckle, and cupped her warm face to press her lips against mine. Would have told her how silly she was, and watched her kitten-tiger scowl change to an annoyed pout. Would have held her frame close, and intertwined my frozen fingers in her hair. Would have—
"What are you doing here, Bella?" I growled, cutting off anymore thoughts.
The soft breath that escaped her lips sweetly smelled of freesia.
How had her scent escaped me? We had been following Jacob's trail, and her scent had not gone unnoticed. It was well hidden, but I flinched and froze in my tracks when the aroma hit me full in the face. It smelled bittersweet... I was the only one who would have recognized it, and my family had proven me right. They stopped as well, surprised, noticing my pained expression. Alice was the next person to notice, and she spoke the question we all wondered. Why was her scent intertwined with Jacob's in the wilderness of Washington... and stopped in Canada, just miles above the northern Montana border?
Her aroma fully conquered the air around my family and myself as I waited for an answer. Her mouth curved down, and the face she made when she was determined to be stubborn began to take shape on her features. However, she ignored my question.
"It's not safe," Bella repeated, her voice down to a murmur. "Leave."
Her last word was curt, but I could almost taste... worry on her bottom lip. "Bella—"
"Leave... please."
Her face implied pained pleading, but her eyes bandaged as they were, I was not able to tell. Her face had once again become that burned book with torn, missing pages and blurred words. A book I could not read. But nevertheless, I gazed at the bandages over her eyes, hoping to see something through the chalk-white fabric. I failed, and the need to tear the wretched thing away from the face I missed overwhelmed me—... as well as the need to be close to her skin.
I breathed in slowly, and my thoughts drowned within the scent of freesia.
A need, not a want. This realization evoked my cold body to take a silent step towards her warmth, to approach her like the magnets we were. Seeing her now, the almost 2-year-old promise felt unnecessary, irrational, uncaring... How could I leave this brittle creature on her own?
As I feared, she took a step back, her body stiffening. I paused to gaze at her quivering lower lip, and could almost feel my cold, dead heart drop to my stomach. Plunk, it would go, into a pool of blood from an animal I had slaughtered. Blood. A need... with it, I could happily walk away. I could mingle with pleasure and without fatigue for the following two weeks. How was this any different from what I felt for my Bella? I wanted to be with this stubborn little girl with big brown eyes and soft brown hair... this girl in front of me, who's body was made of the finest glass.
But like a glass of wine, it made my being selfish, only wanting more of this — of her. Thinking back now, I would bet my Vanquish — my books, my music collection, whatever you would like... my very existence — that I left my humanity within Bella. I would drink this wine no more, and then left her to fix the dents in the wine glass for me. How could I believe that a human — ... no, how could I believe Bella could forget this ... unnatural love we had? Unnatural, irrational, selfish... love. But real, unbelievable— and for me, unpredictable. I would never understand why I would travel miles, sprinting across states and their borders chasing this... girl that had left her mouthwatering aroma smack in the middle of a wildlife park miles from Seattle.
A century before this, I would believe in chasing her across states so I could place her flesh against my mouth, but never because I loved, cherished, and adored what my kind considered an exquisite meal.
Unlike us, humanity changes, and Bella was part of that change. However, knowing this fully well and watching the human era change through my unchanging self... I got the taste of full blown agony down my burning throat anyway, down to the tips of my fingers... down, down, down... until my ankles felt frail, unable to support my cold, stone body.
Rejection.
I realized I had been holding my breath, and fought to release. My body relaxed, and I racked my brain for words and my body for actions. My fingers twitched, seeking her skin. My mind commanded me to fall to the snow and press her soft fingers against my lips, pleading—
Instead, I commanded,"Go home, Bella."
How terrifyingly selfish I was.
My thoughts and body contradicted each other over and over as I watched her carefully for her next move. She shook her head. Her face, her hair, her hands all smelled of her fragrance, but were veiled cleverly by Jacob Black's wet dog odor. Where was he?
I glanced past her, searching for his loud thoughts hiding in the trees. I heard nothing but the low buzz of my siblings' and parents' thoughts in the background.
Edward.
It was Alice, and I didnt need her gift to already know what she was going to say.
Let me at least take her home. She's my family too, you know.
I sighed silently, and nodded once as I approached Bella once more. Her body immediately took on a attacking stance, her crouch low to the snow, like an Olympic runner ready for a race. A pained scowl replaced her features, and she faced me fully.
Could she see past the bandages that hid her eyes?
Her unnatural pose along with the envy of my thoughts caused me to stop once more. "Bella," I started again, "Alice will take you home. You don't belong here."
Her scowl softened slowly into a face of curiosity for a full minute, and she smiled in amusement. Suppressed laughter?
Bella shook her head.
"Leave." she murmured once more, her mouth turning into a pleading frown, and I could tell her eyebrows creased in worry behind the bandages. Her fingers brushed back slowly into the melting snow, exposing the wet grass and dirt underneath and once again took her position.
But she couldn't lie. Bella was afraid. The tips of her fingers trembled over the snow.
Edward, wait—
But it was too late. I took a confident step, raising my arm to grab her, and Bella pounced, closing the distance between us faster than I had ever imagined a human could. She was a lioness, her small hands reaching for me in midair, and her face, her hands, her body... all faded into white.
I never heard Alice finish her sentence. I never felt my body slam against the ground, or skid against the cold, melting snow, the grass... the dirt underneath it all... I never felt Bella's body, cold from traveling in the snow, press against mine.
...instead, I dreamt... for the first time in more than a century.
First, i'm happy that you've taken the time to read this! n.n If you thought it was good, please review! If it was terrible, I'm sorry. T~T ... but please review as well! c: This is only a preview of what's to come, so I hope you all keep up with me to read the rest!