They Deny Me Blood
Fanfiction: Twilight AU
Rating: K+ for minor swearing
Characters: Edward, Bella, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Carlisle
Disclaimer: Don't own them, aren't making any money. Read and review?
Edward Cullen was staring off into space, absently listening to Alice answer Mr. Varner's questions. Jasper's face passed across her mind and he pulled his focus back, idly examining the words 'Marissa + Tim' carved into the tabletop. He was thirstier than he had been in a long time; he would need to feed and soon.
The minds in the room around him suddenly perked up in interest and he caught an image of a girl's slender, blue-jeaned legs in one boy's mind. He glanced up and saw a slim, dark-haired girl, maybe seventeen, standing shyly at the door. Bella Swan, the new girl. He half-listened to the appraisals in the boys' minds, wondering. He'd seen her in the cafeteria, listened to her questions in the other girl's mind, but...he still couldn't hear her thoughts. A flash of annoyance crossed his face. Not that it was important, but he could sense nothing except a dim awareness of her presence.
She started back down along the aisle toward Mr. Banner, followed by the thoughts of the room's male occupants and Edward watched, curious.
But then she passed his seat and the smell that came off her skin, that washed over him, was completely overwhelming. It was strong, smooth, delicious, the warm, glorious smell of human flesh and blood but laced with something floral and irresistible.
Edward clutched the desk with both hands, hearing the wood groan in protest, the muscles taut in his legs.
Dammit, dammit, dammit!, he swore, forcing himself not to rise. He stared at her, his back stiff. How dare she do this? How dare she...tempt him like this? It wasn't fair, it was...demonic! He realized he was fast leaving rationality.
He tried to calm himself by thinking of Carlisle and Esme, the only parents he had. He couldn't bring down what they had so carefully cultivated, what he knew they strived continually for, as they all did, for this...girl! He stared at the floor as Bella staggered away, shocked, her face a dull red.
Edward tried to compose himself before she came back to the only empty seat by reciting to himself exactly why he followed the life he did, picturing Esme's face if he failed. But saliva pooled in his mouth and his jaw tightened, expectant.
Dammit, no!, he moaned to himself, eyes shut. I'm in class. I'm not supposed to be a blood-drinking monster! Think of Carlisle and Jasper!
A tiny voice in the side of his skull hoped fervently for one of Alice's sudden flashes of insight to save him, but a darker, wilder voice was speaking low, careful, murmured words, polishing and setting them like the wires of a snare and seeing her frightened, curious eyes as she followed him...
Bella walked back at a slow, human pace, the blush beautiful on her pale cheeks, her eyes wary beneath her delicate lids. She sat carefully, drenching him in a stronger, more mouthwatering concentration of the scent than ever.
Edward nearly gasped, his jaw aching. Didn't she know what she was doing to him? His legs jerked reflexively and he realized he was trembling. Before he could do anything rash, he shoved the chair away with a grating noise that sounded harsh to his ears and used the tightness of his legs to push himself away, perching on the extreme edge of his chair. Leaving the room occurred to him once or twice, but he knew if he made any movement at all it would translate instantly into a hunting crouch.
Bella flipped her notebook open, the slight draft wafting her scent teasingly toward him. Her long hair was draped in an embarrassed curtain and Edward tried not to watch that, the way it slid when she moved in sweet-smelling waves across the pale skin of her throat...
NO! His fist clenched against his knee as he stared across the classroom at the paper-cluttered walls, a thousand thoughts rampaging through his head.
He couldn't do this to Carlisle, he couldn't do it to himself! But the darker tone was planning, constructing velvet sentences and schemes, picturing tipping Bella's head back, tracing the smooth contours of her neck with his lips, and...
Stop it!, he ordered himself, tendons stretched across his knuckles. You can't have it, so shut the hell up!
Vampire, hissed a subconscious voice so suddenly it startled him. You can't deny what you are. How can Carlisle expect...He will understand.
Bella stole a glance at him from under her dark hair and her bewildered, hurt expression, the confusion in her eyes made it a thousand times worse. Edward glared at her. She blushed and the spice of her blood rising in her cheeks drove him crazy. Bella did not look at him again and Edward sat clamped to his seat with a fiery indecision tugging at the muscles in his jaw as he fought to not kill her with every audible beat of her heart while the seconds ticked by and he cursed God and Bella and Alice and Carlisle and vampires and the town of Forks and fate and himself and Bella.
The bell rang an octave higher than it should have and Edward, poised for action, sprang from his chair with inhuman speed and flashed out the door.
He found himself shaking behind the steering wheel of the Volvo with no clear idea of how he had gotten there. He refused to allow any thoughts through his head , but instead snapped on some gentle classical music and slumped over the wheel. The thoughts came anyway. How could he? But how could he not? Here in the car it was easier to breathe without her scent clouding his mind. Hadn't he made his decision many years ago? He shook his head, the music a subtle distraction, calming his frantic thoughts.
"I've made my choice," he whispered harshly to himself, "I won't go back on it." Unbidden, the image of Bella's startled eyes flared across his mind, curving back his lips and setting the hollow below his ears aching.
I can't be in class with her again, Edward thought wildly, forehead creasing against the grey vinyl. Another day like today...No, I'll rotate my courses, stay away from her. They can't know...it's hard enough for Jasper as it is. No, I'll go to Tanya's, stay there until...
Until what?, the dark, silky voice asked. Until she's gone? You're letting Isabella Swan, a seventeen year old human girl, drive you away? Wouldn't it be easier to finish her and done? And so satisfying. You can't fight temptation forever."
"YES-I-CAN!" Edward bellowed, slamming his fist against the dash and startling a sophomore girl crossing the parking lot. Edward sighed, his knuckles alternately convulsing and loosening on the wheel as each thought broke over him. He remained rooted to the plan: He would change his schedule quickly and efficiently at the office and return to the car to wait for his family. He would NOT go looking for Bella, he would NOT watch her in other's minds and he would NOT delay. He closed his eyes while the CD played through three times, checking Alice's mind every few minutes to see if she had noticed anything. Evidently, she hadn't. So, it wasn't decided yet. He could still go either way...The thought gave him a savage pleasure.
One of the more dramatic pieces, Stravinsky's 'Sacrificial Dance (The Chosen Victim)' began for the fourth time, just as the bell rang loudly. Edward started; he hadn't realized he'd been sitting here for an hour. He clicked off the CD player and pushed the door shut behind him, striding single-mindedly toward the office. The wind tossed his hair about, framing his gaunt, tense face like a vengeful god. He was going to be late getting back to the car and the others would wonder why.
"Ms. Cope?" His voice was strained and rough in the warm office.
"Yes?" She turned, her eyes a-glitter. Edward ignored this.
"I have a...conflict with my schedule and I would like to see if I can change my sixth hour to another time."
Ms. Cope pursed her lips. "Well, let's see...Cullen...you're Edward, right?" Her fingers tapped quickly across the keyboard.
"Yes."
"Alright. Hmm...Yes, here it is: sixth hour Biology with Mr. Banner. When were you looking to change?"
"Anytime." The door slid open and shut quietly behind him. Edward ignored this as well. "Whichever is most convenient."
"Well, I'm sorry, but I don't see how we could do that."
"There isn't any other time I could trade sixth hour for?" His voice became low, persuasive, insistent. Ms. Cope looked flustered.
"Well, no. Mr. Varner isn't allowing any roster changes this late and none of the other teachers' course schedules match Mr. Banner's sixth hour. I'm sorry, Mr. Cullen."
Edward opened his mouth to argue, but the door swept open, filling the room with frigid outside air and the scent of two people: a perfumed, sweat-shirted Freshman and Bella Swan.
Edward's breath caught in his throat, an uncontrollable electric shiver running across the roof of his mouth. His back stiffened and he turned slowly, conscious of the hate stamped across his features. Bella cringed, frightened, against the wall and Edward almost smiled. Fear was such an exhilarating smell. His mind was oddly calm. The Freshman ducked out the door, cold air tossing Bella's hair again and Edward thought, Only one frail human, so easily dealt with...and you. You should be afraid. Anticipation clotted in his throat, his body tensed to spring. He knew if he had a heartbeat, it would be racing, his teeth on edge, his dark eyes intent...
He spun to face Ms. Cope, excitement and haste rendering him nearly incoherent. "Never mind, then, I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." He whirled, determinedly not looking at Bella and vanished out the door.
She slunk forward to the desk, eyes downcast, face very white, to turn in her paperwork. Preoccupied, she pushed open the door, turned the corner and very nearly ran into Edward Cullen.
"What's keeping him?" wondered Rosalie in an offhand tone, watching a group of Seniors laughing across the lot. Alice shrugged and closed her eyes, curious herself. Nothing. Jasper and Emmet were rough-housing behind her and it was very distracting. She opened her eyes and shrugged again.
"I don't know, but the sun is going to break through the clouds for a few minutes soon and we don't want to be here then." Rosalie scowled and pranced off around the car to settle gracefully into the passenger seat.
"Emmet, Jasper, let's go." They stopped shoving each other around and stared at her.
"Edward?" Jasper asked.
"I don't know, but the sun is coming out soon, as in right about now, and I would rather he get caught in the sun than all of us. He can find his way home. I think he's wavering between two decisions and that's why I can't get a clear view. Whatever it is, I hope it's worth it."
They obediently piled into the car and Alice slammed the Volvo into reverse as, per prediction, the sun struggled past the low clouds and illuminated the parking lot.
Edward smiled and reached out to steady her with a cold hand. The heat of her skin was glorious. "Hello. My name is Edward Cullen. We weren't properly introduced. You're Bella Swan, right?" Her face registered surprise and disbelief.
"Y-yes."
"I want to apologize for behaving so rudely earlier. I had...other matters on my mind. Walk with me, please, and I'll explain." There was something dark in his tone as he swept his arm toward the playing fields, but Bella didn't seem to notice.
"Sure." It came out a gasp. They walked over the slick grass toward the edge of the school grounds where the shadowed forest waited, a careful five feet apart. Alarmed voices were protesting vehemently in Edward's mind, but an oily, sinister craving silenced them one by one, tuning them out, until there was no going back. His stance shifted perceptibly into that of the hunter, but Bella was focusing on not hyperventilating and didn't notice. Edward watched with black, hungry eyes, listening to her heart beat faster.
"Sometimes," he began in a low, inadvertently seductive voice, saliva glistening on his teeth, holding himself back, "I dislike decisions I've made. My family...well, they are very supportive, but..." His angelic lips lifted, curled over his teeth and he almost growled as her scent fluttered off her long hair and into his lungs.
"Sometimes the decisions made aren't the best for everyone. I've been denying myself for the good of others and, well, selfish as I am, it has to stop. It's...very frustrating and I'm sorry I took my anger out on you. I didn't mean to scare you." They were almost to the forest edge now, and Edward's pace quickened involuntarily. Bella frowned.
"You didn't scare me," she lied, "I just didn't understand. But, that doesn't necessarily make you selfish, I mean, you've got to do some things for yourself, right?" She was nervous, the words pouring out. Edward smiled privately.
"Oh, child," he whispered, too low for her to hear, "I am very, very selfish."
"What I don't understand," Bella continued, "is, well, what that has to do with Biology class." Edward acted as if he hadn't heard her.
"Only one thing, really, but a very, very important one." Bella's curiosity got the better of her timidity.
"What is it? I mean, if you don't want to..." She trailed off awkwardly, doing her best not to stare ravenously at his face, just as he was doing the same. Edward grinned, turning to face her, the tree line just feet away. He cocked his head, smile dazzling, need burning in the tips of his fingers and back of his throat.
"You want to know? You really care?" Bella gazed into his hypnotic black eyes and became confused.
"Yes, of course I do." Edward's smile turned evil and a trace of fear troubled Bella's eyes.
And then the sun pushed away the clouds and Edward stood exposed in the streaming light. Bella gasped and Edward looked down at his own glittering, sparkling diamond skin.
"Pleas," he begged, "don't be afraid." The words sounded hollow on his own ears, too full of excitement and hunger. But Bella was far from being afraid. She stared, wide-eyed, at the shimmering hand he extended to her in a staying gesture, awe stealing her words, her heart beating faster, faster and took two steps forward. The Hunter lunged.
With stunning speed, he lifted her in one hand and plunged into the forest. Bella screamed, but the sound was dim in the dark forest and blinding speeds, the air rushing past her, her body pressed trembling against Edward's cold torso, listening to his lungs pump and another sound, a hair raising, blood chilling sound: a deep, vicious snarling resonating in his chest. They stopped abruptly and she gazed, terrified, up at his ebon eyes, cold, alive, hungry and full of a dull red fire, the marble skin of his forehead bunched, his full lips pulled over glistening teeth. She whimpered and he let her slide to ground where she stayed, motionless, as he stood over her, tall and pale in the cool, dark clearing, powerful and terrible as a young god.
"Get up," he whispered, urgency in his velvet voice. Bella parted her lips for a quiet sob and shuffled backwards over the damp, muddy ground. He followed effortlessly with two long strides.
"Get up, Bella." She scrambled to her feet, still backing away and found herself cornered against a huge fir. Like lightning, he was there, his exquisite face inches from hers, his breath cool and fragrant.
"The one thing they deny me, Isabella Swan," he murmured, placing one hand on her frozen, horrified shoulder and the other on her pale face, thirst driving him insane, "is blood." His lips lifted in a deranged smile over his perfect teeth and a low, teasing growl escaped his throat. He leaned closer, his lips brushing her chin, across her mouth, his teeth tugging at her lower lip, his onyx eyes absurdly beautiful even now. Slowly, he placed the sculpted ice of his perfect lips over the racing throb of her pulse.
A few feet from the turnoff, Alice suddenly gasped and slammed on the brakes. They all jerked forward and Jasper asked, "Alice?" in a worried voice.
"Edward," she whispered, face frightened. Gunning the engine, she threw the car into first and raced up into fifth, bouncing over the narrow lane. "We need Carlisle now."
"You're sure?" Carlisle seemed calm, but worry was etched in his golden eyes.
"Yes, positive. I saw him in the forest with the new girl, Isabella Swan, somewhere in the forest. This is something happening now, not a maybe. It may be too late."
"Bella Swan." Emmett's tone was clipped. "Chief Swan's daughter."
"We need to find him as soon as possible." There was urgency in Carlisle's voice. "Rosalie-"
"I'll take the school area."
"Good, Alice-"
"I'll search near her house."
"Jasper-"
"Edward." It was as much a warning as a greeting and they stared first at Jasper and then turned.
He pushed open the tall white door and stepped into the light. He stood with a blank expression on his face, stained hands loose and dripping at his sides, his clothes spattered with deep crimson and a shine of ruby blood on his cold lips. As they watched, he licked it away with a self conscious motion. He stared at Alice wordlessly and his eyes were a livid scarlet.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, but they could hear the raging success in his every syllable; it filled his voice, his scent, his eyes, his stance.
"The girl is dead, then?" Carlisle asked lightly, wariness in his eyes. Edward turned to him, past the shocked, horrified faces of his family and nodded once.
"The girl is dead."
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