Underestimation
Disclaimer: I own zip. Meyer rules all.
Summary: Bella meets someone who doesn't exactly want her to live.
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Adrenalin dashed through her veins, making Bella more excited than she already was. Books, she thought, are absolutely amazing.
Bella inhaled deeply, committing the aroma of freshly printed pages to her memories so that she could reminisce whenever after being turned into a vampire. She doubted that any bookseller or librarian would allow her to step into their stores with her flaunting her ruby red eyes.
Edward stood behind her, pressing his face into her hair. "As you wished, love," he whispered.
Alice bounced next to her, annoyed that precious time would be wasted amongst things that couldn't be paraded in. "Can you hurry, please, Bella? I just saw the finest diamond earrings at Dior and they look splendid on you!"
Bella chuckled. "Oh, you would know best of all, Alice," she said dryly.
Edward frowned at his sister. "Let her enjoy herself before she crosses the threshold of night forever. Buy whatever you want, Bella." Bella smiled at Edward before dashing away to pull off the shelves The Complete Literary Works of William Shakespeare before indulging in the heartbreaking romance of Romeo & Juliet.
A young man discreetly sniffed the air around him while the young saleswoman scanned his items. There was a peculiar yet familiar smell in the air, one so delectable that it made his mouth pool with venom. There was a human somewhere with blood more appetizing than those of royalty. And he desired to sink his razor sharp teeth into them, robbing them of their blood and essentially, life.
"Excuse me, Miss," he began to say in a caramelized voice. "Do you think you could mind my books here? There's something I must do, extremely important."
The saleswoman was enraptured in the eyes of a predator. "S-s-sure," she stuttered. "I'll leave it under the desk, but please Sir, what's your name?"
"Completely irrelevant to you, Miss," he said harshly to the stunned woman before walking away.
He let his senses lead to the winner's prize, swerving around people with coffee cups and children in their hands. The departmental store was rather large and today it was crowded, ironically. Finally, he stood before the slender person that was making his senses go into overdrive.
"Hello," the stranger said in a musical voice.
Bella swivelled around to meet the unfamiliar person, gasping when she immediately noticed the dull red eyes. "What do you want?" she gulped.
"I want to talk to you, Isabella," he responded calmly. Bella's heart started to pound.
"Edward!" she shrieked. "Alice!"
The man laughed, his expression one of mockery. He snapped his fingers and Bella felt everything literally freeze around her. Instinctively, she clamped her eyelids down, refusing to open her eyes.
"Isabella, open your eyes. Don't be afraid, it's alright now. Come out, let's play hide and seek under the groves now." His voice gently coaxed her like a mother singing a lullaby to a newborn child. Bella opened her eyes.
Everything was in greyscale with touches of fuzziness and buzzing in the background. Bella straightaway thought of Channel 70 which always had bad reception on Charlie's television set. Everything was grey, she noticed, except for him and herself.
"Where are we?" Bella asked.
"This is my world, Bella. My place, my home where no one exists but I and the people I bring with myself. This is where I come to think, where I come to speak my mind with the statues around me. This place does not exist. We are frozen in time.
"Look around yourself, Isabella. Except you and I, the world is grey, an in-between place. This is neither heaven nor hell, but simply purgatory. I have stopped time."
Mutely, Bella tried to grasp a book from the shelf behind her. Her hand simply floated through it. She gasped, awestruck yet afraid of the reality.
"Who are you?" she breathed.
The man shrugged, rocking back on his heels. "Tell me: what do you see?"
Bella curiously observed. Translucent skin, tall, brown hair and immaculately dressed. Gorgeous yet dangerous. Familiar. "A murderer," Bella answered.
Quirking an eyebrow, he said "Oh, that's a paradoxical statement, coming from you. You, who spend every waking minute of your life with a coven of vampires which you have befriended without a moment's hesitation? You, who has claimed to be in love with one of them, you, who is now branding me a murderer? My, my, aren't we the ultimate hypocrite, Bella!"
Bright spots appeared on Bella's cheeks. "I'm not a hypocrite!" she spoke indignantly.
"Oh, I think you are," he mocked. "But I haven't come to debate with you over such trivial issues. I win, let's leave it at that." Bella glared.
"Do you remember James? The hunter who tried to kill you a couple of years ago? And Victoria, who tried to avenge him?" Not waiting for Bella's response, he continued on ahead. "Well, your vampire sweetheart thought he had eradicated the world of that line. But he underestimated his possibilities. Why, is it that farfetched for one vampire to have another brother?"
Bella's breath hitched in her throat, stars swimming in front of her face. Mentally, she compared the genteel hunter with the sardonic one standing within two feets distance and picked up the likenesses. Similar stature, alike hair, devilish countenances. Belatedly she realised that she was going to die.
"I'm sorry about your brother, really, I am," Bella attempted.
He chuckled amusedly. "Edward always muses about what an intellectual and preceptive girl you are. I fail to understand what he means. Does he exaggerate? Is he delusional? Or are your thoughts going haywire now? Surely, famous Bella would know that apologizing wouldn't help at all now!" He started to laugh loudly, the sound travelling everywhere.
"Then kill me now, bloodsucker. Drain me of my life and leave me here to rot." Bella's defiant glare threw the vampire off course. He tapped this chin thoughtfully.
"I think not, Bella. I still want to talk. Why don't we play twenty questions? Seeing as you're the more vulnerable species in the conversation, why not go first?"
Without hesitation, Bella asked "Where are Alice and Edward? Why didn't Alice see this coming?"
The man shook his head. "That's cheating Bella, you can't ask two questions! But I'll answer anyway. Alice and Edward are just where you left them, sitting on the bench outside the bookstore, waiting for you. Why didn't she see? I assume it's to do with my power. When Alice saw that I was going to freeze time, she must have gotten stuck there too. Same deal with boyfriend – he saw her vision, he's stuck too. Stuck in oblivion. My turn! Do you hate Edward for killing James?"
Bella sighed laboriously. "Yes, sometimes I regret on his behalf his rash decision. But then again, if it weren't for him intervening, I would be dead. What's your name?"
"I have no name."
"Liar. Everyone has a name."
"Fine." He paused. "My name is Adam."
"Adam," Bella repeated, rolling the name over on her tongue.
"Yes. Right now, if you could do anything, what would it be?"
She pondered over the question before replying. "I would drink warm milk, get in bed and read a book before I fell asleep. I'd definitely be calmer then instead of now. How do you know me?"
Adam rolled his eyes. "Isn't that painstakingly obvious? After Victoria told me that Edward had killed James, I wanted to him. But Victoria insisted I do that later. She was adamant on killing you, mate for a mate. She said I could kill your boyfriend later, although that would defeat the purpose of killing you. So I waited until I got the news. It surprised me – your boyfriend had killed Victoria. All the more reason to kill you! So I spied on you and your friends. But to tell truth, I honestly didn't know you were coming here today. I'm not psychic after all. Must just be luck!"
An uncomfortable silence settled over the pair, which Adam broke. "I don't want to savour the smell of entrée anymore. I want to skip to dessert. You." His red eyes glinted nefariously.
Bella swallowed nervously, apprehensive. She stepped backwards but the force repelled her. "Nowhere to run, Bella, and nowhere to hide," he smiled.
He closed the distance between them with one large stride and placed his large hands on her shoulders, steadying her. Bella could feel the wintry air emanating from his lanky body, but it wasn't palliative and refreshing like Edward's. If she were to place the tip of her tongue on his granite skin, she would be able to distinctly pick out the flavours of immorality lingering on the immortal. But she didn't dare do anything like that. She didn't dare move, not even the slightest. Adam swept Bella's mahogany hair behind her and bent down to press his neck against the hollow under her ear, listening intently to the rush of her blood and her heartbeat, melodic yet intense. His hands brushed her collarbone with a feather-like gesture, which Bella flinched at.
"Don't… please, Adam, don't…" she whispered.
Ignoring her, Adam roughly seized her face and stared into her innocent eyes, seeing himself reflected in them. What happened next came as a complete surprise to Bella. Adam pressed his cold lips to her warm ones, encouraging her to respond. Battling with her inner emotions, Bella responded, startling both of them. She linked her arms around his neck, drawing Adam into a passionate embrace. With their mouths connected, Bella thought of how she hadn't even come this close with Edward like she longed to. Reminded of Edward, Bella broke off immediately, panting for air.
Adam, unperturbed, moved his face back up to her hair, his teeth gently raking her ear. "My, my, Isabella," he susurrated. "I never would have thought that you would betray Edward like that!"
"I did not!" Bella cried out hotly.
"Oh, but I think you did… you gave into me so easily! Well then, everything has gone to waste! My brother didn't need to die. His soul mate needn't have died. Your coven needn't have gone to all that trouble, protecting the one vulnerable element that never even loved Edward! I almost sympathize with Edward… what an unfaithful person you are. Nothing was worth it, then. Death, life, nothing. What have you got to say about that?"
"I have not betrayed anyone. I love Edward more than you could ever understand. I would willingly give up my life for him any day. He is my life."
"Why did you kiss me then?"
"You kissed me first!"
"You didn't have to kiss me back," he stated.
"You tricked me," Bella breathed.
"Too right. You're a troublemaker who's caused enough suffering to vampire kind, and I think it's time you paid."
Without any second warning, the vampire moved his mouth to her jugular where he clamped down hard, his razor-sharp teeth tearing at her supple flesh. Bella emitted a bloodcurdling scream, which he briefly grinned at. The blood directly flowed from her into his mouth. Adam revelled at the taste – it was so much better than he had imagined! Sweet and fresh, warming his frosty insides, Adam was hungry for more. He lapped up the trail that had spilt down her collarbone and instantly moved back to the gaping wound that was waiting for him. And how could he forget her screams? It was a beautiful music that would bring tears to any romanticist, filling the vast void.
When his bloodlust was sated, Adam let go of her shoulders and she sunk to the floor in one fluid motion. Bella's breathing was shallow and raspy, her eyes glassy, unseeing. He knew that she would not become a vampire – there was not enough blood. A few drops of blood dripped from her neck, staining nothingness. She quivered a few times, as if suffering from epileptic seizures.
"Goodbye, Bella," he whispered. Adam snapped his fingers before teleporting himself back to the present, this time leaving her behind.
Bella was lost in a world of grey where her corpse would remain forever and her soul would wander desperately seeking refuge. They would all look, but not a soul, human or vampire, would ever find her. Isabella Marie Swan died in the colourless confines of time due to underestimation of bondage and vengeance.
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A/N: This was written for the Fireplace Challenge, where the main idea was to fabricate an original character – in this case, Adam. For any curious mites, no, he DOES NOT exist. I made him up. Hopefully, he wasn't a Gary-Stu. :D
This couldn't have been written without my devoted mother, my helpful father, my eager inspirational siblings, Starbucks grandefrappucino, and Rexona deodorant. /sarcasm
Nadia the demented one