SM owns all things Twilight. Just like life, this is rated M.
This is my first fanfiction, I've been lurking around reading fanfiction for about 6 months without reviewing or writing anything. I've finally gotten up the courage to do both, so here goes. I'd love to hear what you think. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite stories, the ones that were so good I stayed up all night reading them.
Worst of Weather/Rose Like Thunder – yellowglue
How to Save a Life –
Dark Cravings – readingtime
Empty Panes and Pretty Things – AydenMorgan
The title comes from a Lightning Seed song in the movie Clueless. I guess you can tell when I went to high school. The prologue is different from the rest of the story, so please don't give up on me until you read through the first chapter.
You Don't Know What To Do, So You Do Anything You Like
Summary: Edward leaves Bella in New Moon and never returns. In her sophomore year of college, she runs into him again. But he has changed . . .
Prologue
In the last few months, he had tracked rumors and ghosts across eighteen countries and three continents, sometimes staying weeks and other times mere hours, until a clue sent him richocheting to another corner of the globe. He ignored his thirst recklessly. He ignored his memories, the pain of leaving, and the agony of staying away. When he arrived at last at a decrepit mansion on the outskirts of Rio, his face was sunken, and the purplish bruises under his eyes had turned almost black. Although the night was so dark that even his vampire eyes struggled to make out the front porch steps, no light escaped from the windows or doors of the house. The door opened in front of him before he had even lifted his hand to knock, and a pale figure in a dark cloak towered over him. She was over six feet tall, but so thin and willowy that she seemed to sway with every slight breeze.
She looked at him dispassionately for a few moments, her yellow eyes not bothering to focus on his, and when she spoke her voice sounded almost bored. "What have you come here for pretty one? Are you here to die?" She did not seem to be threatening, so much as pointing out an inevitable outcome.
He told her what he wanted, and she looked at him with calculation.
"What are you offering?"
"What do you want? Money?" She stared steadily at him, not bothering to answer. "Services? I have some special abilities that might interest you."
She looked nonplussed. Why do they always think I'm going to be impressed with a little heavy lifting and how fast he can errands. Maybe he can go 10 minutes without talking about how thirsty he is, that would be a special ability for a vam—
" I never mention how thirsty I am," Edward interrupted her thoughts, his lips quirking upward in a weak shadow of his signature crooked smile.
She started and looked sharply at him. Her indifference fell away as she realized what he had done, and a salacious grin spread slowly across her cruel features.
" I think perhaps I am interested in your abilities. But I am so terribly forgetful about returning things that I borrow, I prefer to purchase outright. Would you be willing to trade your gift to me forever?"
"Yes."
The grin of her wasted lips grew wider still. "No hesitation? My dear little blooddrinker, is there anything that you would not be willing to give?"
He stood silently in answer, she could find out his limits, or lack thereof easily enough by starting to refuse him, so it was pointless to bluff.
She expelled her breath in smug satisfaction, like the devil blowing on the ink of Faust's signature.
"I will do it foolish young one. But you won't find out the payment I have chosen until it is done." And maybe not even then.
He hesitated slightly, doubt seeping into the hope that had filled him at her quick assent. Her mind was unusually difficult to read, and he seemed to only pick up bits and pieces. Or maybe he just didn't want to know the price, since he had already decided to pay it. "But whatever you take, you will only take from me? Not from my family or from . . . anyone else?"
"Yes my sweet vampire, whatever I take belongs to you alone."
Edward nodded his head once, stepped through the doorway, and disappeared into the dark.
Questions? Concerns? Reviews?