Ok, so here's the next chapter. Midterms have been kicking my ass, but luckily it's Christmas break now, and I have time to actually concentrate on writing. I tried to get this out as quick as possible, but it still be good and long. This is, again, in Bella's POV, and the next chapter will probably be in Edward's. So, enjoy. And please, for the love of God, REVIEW! xoxo-- BlueEyes
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or any of the characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyer.
DEAD ALIVE
"So, Bella…how are adjusting to your new life?" Kate sat across from me in the large living room. In the week that we had been living here, she had been the nicest of The Three, as I called them. Of course I'm referring to the three Slavic sisters that were part of the Denali coven. Both Eleazar and Carmen had been welcoming and warm, so I liked them the best. They were almost like family, though it has only been a week. The Three however… Tanya and Irina hardly spoke to me, and when they did it was very short. Kate's the only one that is at least civil to me; even though she has me call her Katrina, unlike the rest of the Cullens and her family who were allowed to use the nickname.
"Fine," I answered quietly. "It is…different. But I have Edward, and the rest of the Cullens to help. And, you guys…of course," I made sure to add the last part. Even though they weren't very nice, the Denali family had been helping quite a bit with my…hungers. Along with the Cullens, they were teaching to squelch my urges and use self-control.
" That's nice," Kate, or Katrina rather, smiled tightly and looked away after that, to a book in her lap. I too adverted my eyes, and looked at the large glass doors that led to the woods around the house. So far I have been hunting in those woods almost everyday I have been here. Edward said that I would feel the need to eat more often than the others, and that the feeling would go away over time.
Right now the woods were fairly calm, except for the occasional sharp wind that blew through the trees. It was fairly light outside, probably more so than it had been all week. My eyes roamed over the foliage again and again. I did this for a while until I realized what I was doing. I was searching…for prey. I was still adjusting to my new animalistic instincts, and hadn't quite mastered them. I sometimes find myself unconsciously hunting for something to eat.
I got up from the chair that I was sitting in, and walked to the doors. Katrina didn't even acknowledge me, and continued to stare at the book in her hands. I opened the doors and a cold gust of wind hit me. With it came smells of wood and pine…and blood. I could smell some of the animals that were in the area, probably miles away, as if they were right next to me.
Suddenly, I found myself running through the woods. I ran until I caught the distinct scent of a deer. I followed the trail until I was right up on it. It wasn't a very big deer, but I was so hungry that nothing mattered but the blood pumping through its veins. My teeth sunk into its skin before it even had a chance to realize that I was there. I crushed its neck and began to greedily drink from its body.
The hot blood that ran down my throat and tasted so sweet. In that one moment there was nothing else but the feeling of the sweet liquid filling my senses. There was nothing else that I wanted, nor nothing else mattered. All I cared about was satisfying my thirst…my hunger. Then the blood stopped coming and the rest of the world came back into focus. My senses were cleared as I dropped the lifeless body of the deer to the ground.
"Bella?" My name came through the trees as nothing more than a soft whisper. I whipped my head in the direction of the speaker. I turned in time to see Edward step towards me from behind a tree.
"Hey. Kate told me you came out here, I was worried," he started to come closer. "You know you shouldn't go hunting alone." He wrapped his arms around me and cradled me to his chest.
"I'm fine," I said, though it was muffled in the fabric of his shirt. I stepped away and looked into his eyes. "No big deal."
"Well, still I think you should have someone with you when you come out here," Edward took my hand as he said this. His eyes roamed over my body, and I glanced down to see what he was looking at.
My shirt was soaked through with blood, and almost all of my arms were crimson. I looked back at his face and met his eyes, which were boring into me.
"I guess I should change," I said sheepishly as I ducked my head. His hand cupped my chin and lifted my head back up. This time when I looked at him, his eyes were filled with love. He smiled at me.
"Come on, let's go back," he said, and took my hand. I let him lead me back through the woods to the house. We made our way up to our room once we were inside. Rosalie and Emmett shot us confused looks on our way to the stairs. No one else was around.
I went into our bathroom to shower off while Edward waited in the room. I removed my now ruined clothes and left them in the sink. I turned the water to its hottest, and stepped into the shower. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the hot water on my cold skin. Since I was changed, I had noticed the lack of warmth in my body. My insides, as well as my skin, were cold and frozen. There was this feeling in the pit of my stomach, that felt almost…dead, as obvious as that sounds. I literally felt dead inside.
The burning water was a nice contrast to feeling of my icy exterior. I finished washing the blood off my body, and shut off the water. When I got out of the shower, I wrapped myself in a towel, and then stepped out of the steam-filled bathroom. Edward was lying perfectly still on the bed. His head turned toward me when emerged, wrapped in the lose towel. I saw his eyes flick over my body, and his face crack the briefest of smiles. Then he looked away, probably giving me privacy to get dressed. Not that I would've minded if he had watched me.
I went to the dresser and pulled out some underwear. I looked at Edward in the mirror, but his head was still turned. I let the towel drop to the floor and started to dress. Next I put on a pair of jeans and a simple black t-shirt. I pulled my wet hair into a ponytail, then went to sit with Edward on the bed. He was still looking away from me, and I was starting to get annoyed. I mean, a minute ago I had been completely naked in front of him and he hadn't even shifted his eyes in my direction.
I placed my hand on his hard cheek, and he turned to kiss some of my fingers. I smiled. He is still the most beautiful man I have ever seen. I still shiver when he looks at me, and tremble under his touch. If it were possible, I would still probably faint from his kiss. His very essence was like a drug for me. I don't crave his blood like he did mine, but I just crave him. He is the sun in my universe, the moon in my starless sky, heroin to my addiction. He looked into my eyes and smiled back at me.
"You're so beautiful, my sweet Bella," he sat up and kissed my nose.
"Now that I'm not human and plain, you mean?" I rested my head on his shoulder. He softly stroked my hair.
"You've always been the most beautiful creature on Earth. Even though your features are more distinct, you're just as gorgeous as ever," his lips grazed my ear as he said this. "If not more so."
I smiled, "You're lying."
"To you? Never," he almost sounded offended by the idea.
"You'd never lie to me?" The thought had to be too good to be true.
"I promise I would not," he whispered. His hands reached under my hair and brought my face to his. His kiss was soft and gentle, and I leaned in to deepen it. I let my hands roam over his chest, and kissed his neck. I want him; I've always wanted him. He kissed every bit of my skin that was uncovered and when he ran out, he lightly pulled on my shirt. I let him take it off of me, and his lips worked their was down my body.
I moaned and arched my back as his cool mouth flew over my stomach. As he pulled off his shirt and began to work on my jeans, I realized that this is what I wanted. This is euphoria. If this moment could be my forever, then I would always be at peace.
When we're together like this that dead feeling deep down inside was eased. When he touched me and kissed me I felt instantly alive. He was the one that could make my entire being light up like I was on fire. He is my preferred poison.
His kiss was like white lightning.
"Edward…" the small voice outside the door whined again. "Come on you two, I'm bored. Everyone else is going out."
Edward and I lay entwined on the bed together. We hadn't gotten out of bed all afternoon, just enjoying the feeling of each other.
"Go away Alice, we're busy," Edward called, trying to get rid of his sister. I placed a small kiss on his bare chest as Alice let out another pathetic whine.
"No, no you are not. You're just lying there. And as much as I love you two, and love you two together, you have got to get up. For my sake, please," she was almost yelling at this point. It was almost comical, her attempts to rouse us out of bed.
"No, go away!" Edward matched her tone and volume with the last part.
"Be nice," I chastised. I was absentmindedly stroking his chest now.
"Please…please, please, please. Bella, come on. If you love me you'll go with us," Alice was guilt tripping now. Apparently, everyone was going to some local bar or club in town. When Edward and I had opted to stay home, Alice had begun her pleading.
"Maybe we should just go," I whispered. Edward quickly shook his head and silently mouthed "no".
"I heard that," Alice's voice rose in excitement. "Yes! Bella I knew you wouldn't let me down. Come on, both of you, let's go have some fun." After that we heard her tiny footsteps retreat down the hall to her and Jasper's room.
"Bella," I could hear the complaint in Edward's voice. "It's really not a good idea for us to go. What if there are humans there? You shouldn't be around them. You're not ready yet."
"I'm sure one or two humans won't make me snap, and –"
"All it takes is one human with the right smell to make you lose control," Edward cut me off.
"And besides, Alice said that it was pretty desolate, so there won't be a lot of people," I finished, ignoring his interruption. He still didn't look convinced though.
"Look, if I feel like I'm having a hard time, then I'll let you bring me home. Promise," I said. "Let's just go for a little while to make Alice happy."
Edward seemed reluctant, but finally gave in. We got out of bed and dressed, then headed down stairs. Everyone was glad that we were coming with them, especially Alice. We all decided to run, and left immediately.
It wasn't a long run to the bar and we all made it there quick. I was still adjusting to my new skills, and I found that I really enjoyed running. The way the wind hit me and being able to just run somewhere, anywhere, without having to worry about anything else was very freeing. I like doing it even more when it was just Edward and I, but running with the others was fun as well.
When arrived at the bar, I saw that it was merely a small, run-down building. It didn't look much better inside either. There were various tables and chairs on the limited floor space. There was a long bar that stretched to nearly the entire length of the building. The lights were low, and the air was smoky. Alice was right about it being desolate. There were only a few habitants at the bar and occupying tables.
The others went straight to the bar, Edward took my hand and we followed. When we sat, a middle-aged looking bartender came to wait on us. It took me a moment to realize that his eyes were a very familiar yellow color.
I leaned over to Alice and whispered in her ear, "The bartender's a vampire?"
"Oh yeah, he's the owner. Most of the costumers here are local vampires," she smiled easily as she explained, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. I quickly looked around me and noticed that the few people in here weren't people at all. There was one human man at a table in the far left corner, but he was sandwiched in between two female vampires. The brunette vampire on the man's right looked up at me and I saw her eyes were a dark red. She smiled lasciviously at me before I whipped my head back around.
Once we got our drinks, everyone dispersed, grabbing tables together or lingering at the bar. Tanya wandered over to the jukebox in the back of the bar and flipped through the selections for a moment before calling over Edward.
"I'll go see what she wants and be right back, ok?" Edward told me quietly. I nodded and he kissed my head before walking off. I watched him go over there and look at whatever Tanya had found in the jukebox. They flipped through the songs and laughed and joked a couple of times at jokes I couldn't hear over the loud music from across the bar. Not that I was really listening any way, just watching. You would think that I might get insanely jealous watching this woman, or vampire, obviously flirt with my husband. But I trust Edward, and I wasn't.
Well, only a little.
A slight tap on my shoulder pulled me from my jealous thoughts, and I turned to see the brunette from the table with the human. She smiled at me, and had a dangerous gleam in her red eyes.
"Did you want some?" she asked.
"Excuse me?" I questioned back in a small voice. She motioned to the man sitting at the table with her blond friend.
"Oh," I said, reality sinking in, "No, thanks."
"You look like you haven't had anything to eat in months," she said.
"I just ate this morning."
"Yeah but nothing good," she said, referring to the color of my eyes, I'm sure.
"No, I'm good," I turned back around. I didn't want to talk to her anymore; I was hoping Edward would come back soon. I glanced in his and Tanya's direction. They were still standing by the jukebox, deep in conversation.
"You like him?" the brunette vampire was still beside me. I could only assume she meant Edward.
"He's my husband," I told her, turning back to her.
"Oh," she looked over at Edward and Tanya. "I would have thought that he was with the pretty blond over there."
I'm pretty sure I heard a low growl escape my mouth, and my eyes must have darkened because the brunette took a small step back.
"Oh, he must be yours. I do believe I detect jealousy," her tone was still light and airy, and she was starting to piss me off.
"Did you want something? Because I'm kind of busy," I snapped at her.
She still smiled at me. "Yeah, I can see that," she motioned to my lonely state; I didn't even have a drink. "Well, I'll leave you to it. I'm Mona, by the way."
She walked away after that and left me. I watched her return to her table, and she kissed the man's neck aggressively. Her eyes flicked back in my direction, and she watched me watch her. I looked away after that, and turned to my husband and his admirer. They were still talking and smiling, and then something he said made her laugh hysterically. I thought about what the brunette, or, Mona said.
I would have thought that he was with the pretty blond over there.
Did they really look like they were together? I twisted the wedding band on my finger and waited patiently for Edward to return. If I were braver, and ruder, I would have gone over there and dragged him back with me. But I know there is nothing between them and my jealousy is misplaced. I'm just being ridiculous. I hope.
