Chapter 1
"Bloodlust"
I placed my ancient copy of Romeo and Juliet on the oak side table when Alice's quiet footsteps intruded on my attention. I've read the overrated book more than I care to admit and I still conclude that I hate it every single time I reach the tragic ending. I wasn't sure why I felt the need to keep revisiting the world of the Montagues and Capulets; the tangled lives of the two young lovers were far from something worth envy.
"Can I help you?" I asked Alice, raising my eyebrows when she poked her head through the doorway.
Chess? she thought at me.
A hopeful, one-worded question from the single person who should know better than to ask. I understood why she always came to me—despite the fact that she already knew my answer—and part of me regretted my constant dismissal. Alice and I, we had more in common with one another than we did with the rest of our family, and we had bonded through the years over our odd gifts. Hearing voices in your head and seeing visions of the future wasn't easy, and we tend to stick together.
"You'll cheat," I replied truthfully, sitting upright.
"So will you," she argued.
"The difference between the two of us under these circumstances is that I can't help it. You choose to cheat at games. Why don't you ask Jasper?"
"You know I did—I asked all of them but they won't play with me." She pouted, as if that would make me do want she wanted. "I can see that you won't change your mind but to answer the question you're going to ask me in approximately four seconds... I will go hunting with you instead."
I rolled my eyes, standing up slowly.
Count me in, Emmett thought from down in the living room where he was watching the first Seahawks game of the season with Carlisle and Jasper. The three of them missed it last week for a hunting trip, and left Rosalie in charge of recording it for them. They'd stayed away from any sort of internet and television so that their fun wouldn't be spoiled. It being September 13th, they were almost a week late. I found it incomprehensible how they could—after so long—still be entertained by trivial human sport.
"No one invited you," I answered his thought rudely.
Well, that's a shame because I'm coming anyway.
"Emmett is coming with us," Alice announced, obviously only paying attention to the future she was seeing in her head.
"I don't know if you missed that conversation just—"
She told me to shut up before skipping out to my balcony and leaping over the edge, landing as gracefully as ever on the concrete below. I followed her no more than a second later, just as Emmett practically flew out of the front door, a grin plastered on his face. He tried to shove me playfully but I dodged his hand smugly. He turned on Alice but of course, she saw him coming, so his attempt was futile.
"No wonder nobody wants to play chess with you." He chuckled before taking off into the familiar forest ahead of us.
"He infuriates me," Alice hissed, a frown on her face as she sped off too.
Don't let them kill each other, Esme pleaded from Carlisle's study.
"I'll try my hardest," I promised my mother in amusement before following two of my four siblings.
I hadn't moved six steps before I heard Emmett's wail of frustration. I reached them moments later to find him emerging from the river, dripping wet. I suppose it didn't matter that the rain had now stopped, not for him at least.
"Why didn't you warn me?" he snapped. "Or better yet, why didn't you physically stop her?"
"Because." I shrugged nonchalantly. This isn't the first time Emmett has ended up in the river. "Let's go."
We began our run simultaneously, all three of our minds becoming solely focused on what we were made for. When we give our senses to the hunt, there is little that could prevent us from killing our prey. As much as we wish it wasn't, blood is a necessity. We could live without it, but the desire would never go away and it would only get progressively worse—until we aren't able to control ourselves any longer.
That's when humans would be in critical danger.
We hunt creatures we can find in the forest or in the mountains. It is the way of existence we'd chosen, but that didn't mean humans were not still at risk. Our instincts tell us that we crave blood, but we don't get to choose whose blood we want. If we're strong enough, we are capable of resisting the humans. However, the desire never goes away.
The day was young so darkness had not yet fully left the sky. This made it easier for us to find larger prey. The nocturnal creatures aren't as satisfying as the deer, or the grizzly bears, or the mountain lions. They will all be beginning their morning as we are. Our most common prey is deer, simply because they roam closer to home and are quicker to catch. My family, with the exception of Emmett, aren't inclined to fight with our food or to chase it too long. The quicker it's done, the better for all of us.
"There's a herd by the waterfall. Head West," Alice told us to save the time we would waste trying to catch scent of something.
We swerved left to head in the direction Alice pointed out. I knew the area well as it was near a meadow I often escape to. I could find it blindfolded. It's the perfect place to clear my head, with no humans nearby. My mental gift means it's difficult to ever find silence. However, my family give me my space as much as I try to give them their own. It's a messy system but we make it work.
As we drew closer, the flames in my throat rose. The anticipation to cure the burning was overwhelming, just as always.
I could hear the herd now. There would probably be a few fawns, perhaps with their parents, and another couple of adults. It was hard to tell but I'm usually quite accurate with my guesses. We would leave the young ones, primarily because they aren't much of a meal. It was almost sad, truthfully, that they would be left with no means of protection. It was likely that something else in these woods would kill them, or they would starve. That, however, was the pitiful reality of life.
We reached them then and I realised that my guess was on point.
I waited until the absolute perfect second, giving the largest male no time to make a run for it, and I pounced.
"Edward, when you're done you always manage to look just as you did before you hunted," Alice told me approvingly once she had finished the slim female she had taken down.
"It's not difficult," I told her, glancing at her blood-stained jacket.
"It is," Emmett argued, shoving his hunt to the side. "I'm covered in mud," he whined, swiping his hand up the side of his face.
"Maybe if you didn't wrestle the poor thing you wouldn't be," I responded, straightening my shirt.
He immaturely stuck his tongue out at me, swatting a fly that had just tried to land on him. Why the minuscule creature ever thought that was a wise idea is beyond me.
"I think being wet has made it worse," he said, sending Alice an undeserved glare. "Rose is going to kill me, she bought this shirt."
He grunted, deciding for us all that it was time to start heading home.
I hadn't taken one step forward before the wind carried an extraordinarily appealing scent in my direction. I gasped, my eyes widening in panic. Though I had just hunted, this smell set my throat on my fire, and I clutched Emmett's arm to hold myself there. I was coiled, ready to launch myself in the direction it had come from. The only thing stopping me was fear—the scent was human. It wasn't just appetising, it was too strong. Blood had been spilled and the monster in me was thrilled by this fact.
"Someone must be hurt," Alice said, smelling the blood too, though she didn't react in any way similar to me.
"I think we should leave," Emmett said, taking note of my inescapable grasp on his arm. The face I saw in his mind when he looked at me was horrifying.
"We can't just leave someone if they're hurt," Alice snapped, giving him a look that conveyed the obviousness of her words.
Silence fell upon us.
I could barely concentrate on either one of their thoughts because I was so busy trying to collect mine. I couldn't, for a few thorny moments, think of anything other than this person's blood. The fragrance froze me in place, making me feel like I was about to pass out. Of course I wouldn't, though I wished in this moment that it was possible.
Why didn't I see this? Alice questioned herself irritably.
"Yeah, why didn't you see this?" I hissed, trying to think clearly. "It would have been nice to have some warning."
I gasped again, trying to get some fresh air into my lungs. I couldn't compare the scent to anything I'd encountered in my entire existence. It wasn't something I recognised so whoever it is definitely doesn't live in Forks.
"That doesn't matter right now," she snapped back at me. "We need to go and see what's wrong. Are you going to be able to control yourself?"
I managed to focus for a split second to question whether or not I could handle going near a person who smelled this... perfect. I couldn't concentrate on the fact that this appeal was extremely unusual because I was too busy trying not to kill someone. I wasn't particularly in the mood to deal with the eternal guilt that would follow.
"I don't know," I whispered, doubtful.
"I'm not trying to sway your decision or anything but, other than dad, you know the most about anything medical," Emmett reminded me, though he did not have to. "We'll need your help."
I knew that the three of us, three vampires, were the closest help this injured person had. We were all in the middle of nowhere. No one would hear any screams, nor would they ever pass through to find a body. The fact that we had heard no distressing sounds during our hunt made me ponder how long this person had been here for. Hours? Days?
I could leave now, get as far away from here as possible. I could leave Alice and Emmett to sort out the situation in whichever way they thought was best. I worried, though, that they wouldn't know what to do. Being cautious when dealing with an injured person is imperative, one wrong move can be fatal.
Ha! How foolish it was for me to doubt their capabilities when I might possibly murder this human myself.
There were three options now: kill, run, or help.
What an impossible situation!
Killing an innocent was never acceptable to me, and so I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure it didn't happen. If I were to avoid that outcome definitively, I would have to leave. However, if I leave, the human nearby would most likely die.
Was going towards the wounded the best option, then?
Next, not breathing seemed like a decent plan.
"This might be the most stupid thing I've done in eighty years," I muttered, shaking my head. "I'm going to hold my breath. You'll have to lead the way."
The two of them nodded before sprinting in the direction the scent had travelled from originally. I ran slightly behind them, anxious the whole time that I might not be able to stop myself from... I shuddered.
A stranger would mean nothing to me; nothing at all.
"I think she might be in your meadow, Edward," Alice said, speeding up nervously.
"She?" Emmett repeated.
"The fragrance isn't musky enough to be masculine," she told us. "There's no way this isn't a female."
"I have a bad feeling about this," Emmett said, looking at me, eyes calculating. "Edward, I really think you should—"
"Oh," Alice whispered, taking in the sight before us.
A young girl—no older than 18 or 19—lay almost in the centre of the flourishing meadow. Blood stained her clothes all around the left side of her torso and the sight didn't appeal to me like it should have. Her scent was forgotten momentarily. I was so completely disturbed that I wanted to wipe my memory; I wanted to never see this image ever again.
Dread washed over me when I took note of her stillness.
She was breathing, which was a good thing.
I was not breathing, which was also a good thing.
We moved towards her slowly, all of us testing ourselves before we got too close. Her hands were also covered in blood, possibly as she had clutched her wound to try to stop the bleeding.
Alice moved suddenly, startling me. My eyes widened when I assumed wrongly why she had shot forward. Her thoughts revealed to me that she was simply worried; that she wasn't going to harm her. I had some nerve worrying about my sister hurting her. Alice knelt beside the girl to see if she was responsive in any way. She spoke to her, asking her to squeeze her hand if she could hear her, but she didn't move an inch.
I probed at her mind, trying to decipher if she could hear us but was possibly too weak to respond. I wasn't only greeted by complete silence, I was greeted by a barrier. It was almost as if my attempts were rebounding. The only silent minds I had ever encountered were dead ones. And she certainly wasn't dead, not yet.
"I can't..." I trailed off in disbelief. "I can't hear her."
"What?" Alice asked, frowning at my random announcement.
"I can't hear her thoughts," I said, distress evident in my tone. "Even when people are unconscious I can always hear something, even if it's not intelligible. I—I don't know why..."
I tried reading her again, failing. Of course, knowing my lack of luck, if the situation wasn't bad enough, my one helpful ability had to abandon me and make it even worse.
Alice hesitantly lifted up the girl's shirt. I was so distracted that I was about to question what the hell she was doing. I quickly understood that she was trying to see her wound. It made me want to look away—I didn't want to see this. I couldn't force myself to turn my head, however. Removing the thin fabric from in front of her wound revealed to us that she had been shot.
Stupidly, I lost concentration for a split second because of the shock, and I sucked in a massive gulp of air as I gasped.
"Edward, don't panic!" Alice shouted, trying to help me regain some sort of composure. "I see that you're not going to hurt her! You're going to help her! You're going to help her because if you don't, whether you kill her or we leave her, she's going to die."
She's going to die?
How could I possibly allow an innocent young girl to die for something someone else had obviously done to her? She hadn't done it to herself, there was no gun in sight. If I left her here, that would make me an entirely different kind of monster.
Breathe, Edward, Alice demanded. You have to trust me, you're not going to be able to do anything until you get yourself under control.
So, I breathed again.
And again.
And again.
With every breath of air I took in, I reminded myself that I didn't want to be this. I told myself that I wasn't going to let what I am end the life of an innocent person. But, it was difficult to reason with the monster. I grabbed Emmett's arm again, afraid that I would throw myself at the girl's unconscious body. He wrapped his large hand around my wrist, ready to pull me away the second I attempted anything I would regret.
Look at her, he thought to himself. I wonder how the hell something like this even managed to unfold. What is she doing in the middle of the damn forest on the border of Forks?
"Edward, what do we do?" Alice asked me frantically. "Should we take her to the hosp—"
"No, if we take her to the hospital we'll have to answer too many questions. The police will get involved and they're going to want to know why the three of us were in the middle of the forest on our own at this time nowhere near a trail," I told her, shaking my head. "It's too risky."
"Should we call Carlisle? Tell him where we are?" she wondered, her golden, panicked eyes never leaving the girl.
I shook my head. "It will take too long, she's bleeding out right now. She's going to need treatment and the others won't be able to bring everything he'll need to treat her," I explained, debating what the best course of action was.
I stepped towards the girl, telling Emmett to let go but to stay close behind me. The last thing I could do right now was take chances. I tried to be as calm as Carlisle always was in these situations. It took my father hundreds of years to gain the control that he now has in his medical practice. How could I ever compare to that?
Alice crawled over to sit by her head when I knelt down right beside where the wound was.
Blood was pouring out of her body too fast.
I practically ripped off my sweater, telling Alice to lift the girl's head slightly incase she choked on either vomit or blood. That would be an unnecessary added complication. I tied the fabric tightly around her body, having to use guesswork again because she wasn't conscious to tell me if it was too tight. I shook my head, when it instantly started staining with her blood. Her clothes were soaking; she had obviously been here through the worst of the downpour during the night. The absolute only confirmation to me that she was even alive was her beating heart. She was paler than anything, paler than me, and completely unmoving.
"We need to get her to Carlisle," I said, trying not to look at my blood-covered hands. "Now."
"I would carry her but I'm wet, too, and I don't want her to be colder than she already is," Emmett told me, thinking only of the girl's wellbeing.
"I'll carry her," I said, before Alice could offer. "Alice, I need you to go ahead and get Jasper out of the house. It's too dangerous for him to be there with her. If I can barely hold myself together, there's no way he will. Tell them we're coming."
She nodded, giving the injured girl one more glance, and running back the way we came.
"I need you to stay in case..." I trailed off, knowing he knew what I was referring to.
I stared down at the girl, taking a long look at her peaceful features. She was completely unfamiliar. I had never seen her in person, nor had I seen her face in anyone's thoughts. Her very long, mahogany-coloured hair was spread out around her head, some of it falling on her face. Emmett reached forward, as if reading my thoughts, to move it carefully out of the way.
I sighed.
Take her home or she dies.
Letting myself accept that this was in no way, shape or form a good idea, I moved one arm under her arms and the other under her knees to pick her up as carefully as possible. It was unbelievably strange to have physical contact with a human because it's something we tend to avoid, an imperative aspect of keeping our secret hidden. I wasn't sure how gentle I had to be. Nor was I sure how to ignore the blood gushing out of her body.
"This is a large inconvenience," I whispered more to myself than Emmett.
"Let's go," he mumbled, leading the way.
"You're going to be fine," I whispered to her, unsure of who I was trying to convince with that statement.
