This one is a bit different from the last one. Hopefully you like it!
The Fox Fur Coat
"Welcome to your new home." He held the thick oak door open for her to walk through. Bella didn't try to hold in her gasp. She took a few steps forward, her flat heels padding on the unvarnished wooden floor.
"It's beautiful." Edward smiled at her awestruck expression; a proper grin , pearly teeth flashing as he watched his new bride soak up the room around her.
The space was tastefully, beautifully decorated. Leather cushioned seats and chairs, antlers of bucks hung from fixed plaques, a large bear skin rug laid out before the fire. The space was rustic, yet comfortably pleasant, so much so, that Bella failed to comprehend that her new home seemed to be furnished entirely from the skins of dead animals.
"Sit down my love, I have a gift for you." Bella settled onto the soft leather armchair, directed by the smooth voice of her new husband. She brushed the non-existent creases from her skirts, nervous. She didn't know how to act, how to be. Hopefully he would be patient with her.
Edward returned, carrying a large wooden box. He set it on the carved beech table and gestured for her to join him. She did, and panelled chest was placed gently into her hands. Biting her lip to suppress a smile, she carefully removed the intricately detailed lid.
She didn't have the words to express herself.
Her willowy fingers caressed the fur gently, lightly brushing it, as if she was scared that if she applied too much pressure it would disappear. Bella glanced up quickly to meet Edwards eye, checking that it really was hers, frightened that he would take it away.
He just grinned his increasingly familiar toothy smile, lifted it from its wooden coffin and held it up for her to slip her arms through. Cautiously, she wrapped the coat around her shoulders, caressing the fur and revelling in the luxuriant warmth.
He spoke first, "Do you like it, my love?" his voice wrapped gently around her ears as the coat was encasing her body. She closed her eyes and exhaled peacefully.
"Yes, I do. I like it all." She turned and gestured at the horn bowls, the goblets carved delicately and the extravagant furniture. She stroked her sleeve. "This must have cost a fortune…" She was unused to such brash displays of wealth, so felt a wash of unease over take her when she realised that she owned these things.
Edwards eyes glinted like jewels in the sunlight. "Actually my dear, it didn't cost me a thing."
"Nothing? I don't think that I understand…" Surely he hadn't stolen it? As if hearing her thoughts, he barked a laugh, a sound clear and pure.
"Actually, I made it myself. I made all of the furniture in this house actually." Bella's mouth opened to form a perfect "o" and a pink blush softened her cheeks. She wrapped the coat closer to her body, as if getting nearer to his work made her closer to the beautiful man stood in front of her. "Even so, the pelts must have cost a lot." She seemed unwilling to play down the garments worth.
"Not a penny. I caught the foxes and skinned them with my own hands." her blush grew darker and his grin grew wider as she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered,
"Thank you."
Weeks passed and Bella began to grow curious. Every few days, Edward went hunting. This as simple enough, as he had to make his trade. What confused her was that he would set off in the morning without tools. No gun, knife or blade went with him, yet came home with skins and pelts piled high. He left without food and did not eat when he returned. She had come to only one conclusion.
He was seeing another woman. How else would he be fed and be provided with tools? She may even be providing the skins herself! All Bella did know, was that she was going to find out.
He left at dawn, carrying with him only a hemp sack and a thin cotton shirt. Bella followed ten minutes later, wearing her fox fur coat wrapped tightly to keep out the frigid autumnal wind.
She kept firmly to the path. Never leaving it for fear of losing her way. She walked and walked, the sense of foreboding increasing. Why hadn't she seen him yet?
A loud roar punctuated the silence, the sound as terrifying as it was sudden. Fear coursed through her veins, adrenaline pumping her blood faster, her breath refused to leave her lungs. She was sure it was close, it was going to get her, going to kill her, going to eat her if she didn't get away.
She couldn't run, it would catch up, she couldn't run, it would find her. Her eyes darted around, desperate to find an escape. She saw the tree slightly to her left, she began clawing at it, climbing it until she was safe amongst its branches.
She leant her back against the trunk, but was nearly thrown to the floor when she heard another chilling roar. Instinctively, she grasped the bough tighter and turned her head towards the source of the noise.
Through the clearing in the branches she saw a mountain lion, its tawny mane knotted and reddened with blood. It staggered backwards, trying to find an even surface on the rocky terrain, a figure moved in the corner of her eye. Bella gasped as she saw her husband, white shirt spotted with blood spring from the mossy undergrowth and tackle the beast to the side.
She sat shocked as she watched Edward sink his teeth into the beasts neck and, was he sucking its blood?
Bella couldn't move, neither could the lion, who had ceased its struggles when it realised that death was inevitable. The great beast had barely taken its last breath before Edward rolled it onto its back. Horror filled her as her husband dragged his teeth along the animals chest before tearing it open, revealing its ruby innards.
Bile rose to the back of Bella's throat, but she dared not be sick in case he noticed. He had begun to pull out the organs; heart, lungs, liver, all placed on top of the sack that he had brought with him. Once they were all neatly stacked, he licked his fingers, removing all trace of the brutality from his soft white hands.
The sharp cracking of bones filled the forest air as Edward broke them from their fleshy confines and set them next to the organs in a pearly pile next to the blood red one.
Soon, all that was left was the head and the pelt. He opened up the beasts jaw, snapping it from the force of his grip. He held the lower half in his hand as he pinched a sharp fang in his fingers. Without flinching or hesitation, he pulled it clean from the gum and placed it next to the mounds of insides.
A soft whimper escaped Bella's lips before she had a chance to prevent it. She threw her hand over her mouth, as if the action would prevent the sound from hitting Edwards ears. It was too late.
Her husbands gaze snapped round, his sparkling emerald eyes flashed as they met hers. His head cocked to one side as his mouth spread to form the familiar grin, his teeth stained an inky red.
And the moral of this story is...
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