I wasn't sure whether the first chapter was going to be a one-off or not (hence not leaving it on the 'completed' status). Then I got that review from 1stepbehind29, and I decided that I would. Continue it, I mean. These are all going to be little stories by themselves, I have decided. All telling the different ways she nearly died, how Edward saved her, all leading up to the last bit. Though I might cheat on the very last chapter, and make it exactly the same as the first. All depends on how I feel at the time.

On with the Charade!


Snip!

"Edward, where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"You know, it's not good to toy with my emotions."

"Why's that?"

I could tell his attention wasn't on me. Or at least he didn't want to have his attention on me. "Well, you know how prone I am to accidents. I may keel over and-"

Edward looked at me, grabbing hold of my hand, a little too hard. "Don't you talk like that, or I might think you're bringing your death on yourself, just to get my attention."

"Now you mention it, that is a good-"

"No, it isn't." He looked at my hand. "Sorry." He raised my hand to his lips and kissed my fingers, one by one.

I laughed at him. "Alright, I'll shut up now."

"Good." He swerved suddenly, and my stomach lurched.

"Do you have to do that?"

"Not my fault these people drive so slowly. I expect them to go faster, and they just get slower and slower."

"Now, what does that remind me of?" I asked, my voice as dry as oatcakes. In my head, however, I was going through ways to get Edward to turn me. "Bingo."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing." I didn't need Edward to turn me. It would hurt him, but I'm sure someone else would. Alice seemed to like me, and she could help me find out what would work.

"You know, sometimes I really wish I could get inside that little head of yours." Edward stroked my cheek.

"How do you know you haven't already got inside it? For all you know, it could be that there's nothing in here at all!"

"Oh, I'm sure you have all manners of things inside your mind. That's what worries me." He stopped the car.

"Remind me why I agreed to come along with you to a muddy field in the rain?"

"Because I love you?" He leant towards me, our noses almost touching.

"Good enough for me, I guess."

He put his hand on his door, and almost straight after, he was at my door, holding it open. Naturally, I jumped. I had come to expect him to do things like that, but I still jumped when it happened.

"Edward! Seriously, you'll give me a heart attack one of these days!"

"Come on, get out." He pulled me up. The expression on his face was like that of a six year old on Christmas day, right before he opens his presents.

"You know, I sometimes wonder at your sanity. Your excitement at a muddy field is beyond my belief."

"Ah, but this is a special muddy field."

"Special how?"

"Wait and see." He pulled me away from his car, down the grassy slope onto the mud.

"Is it a minefield or something?" As we got closer, I realised that there were at least thirty little holes in the mud, spread all around the field.

"No, unlike someone I know, I'm not trying to kill you!" He pulled me further down the field. "You're more likely to spot them after rain like this. I bet the river's nearly overflowing."

"Okay, now you're just creeping me out. What kind of thing that lives in mud would be worth seeing?"

Edward just signalled for me to hush. He crouched, and crept slowly around the holes. He stopped at one, and beckoned for me to follow. I gingerly made my way towards him, careful not to stand in the holes. I still didn't trust whatever it was that lived in them. When I got to the hole Edward was at, however, I nearly squealed.

That was, until I saw the whole of the thing that was poking it's head out of the hole.

At first, I had seen a whiskery little nose, which had automatically made me assume that I had come to see cute little furry things that lived underground. I was hoping for rabbits. What I saw was a very much furless big-toothed pink… thing. It wasn't natural. It was disgusting.

"It's a Naked Blue Mole-Rat." I looked at Edward, my face contorted in disgust. He looked proud of the thing. "What? It's actually a very rare species. Neurotrichus Azul Gibbsii."

"Why is it called blue? Was the guy who named it colour-blind?"

"It is called blue, because the man who discovered and named it was called 'Azulla'. Something got lost in the translation, I assume."

I almost asked him how he knew this, but I stopped myself. He would probably go on about how a dead guy with an Italian or Russian name had a theory on Quantum Physics.

Trust me, it had happened before.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Just thinking."

"Thinking what?"

"About whether you are partially deaf, or you just like to show off."

"Ah. Well, I would personally say that I have a need to let out my brilliance, to vent it, so to speak. Otherwise my brain would expand until it burst."

"We wouldn't want that, because then you would have a brain as big as your head!"

He tackled me onto the mud, making sure he didn't hurt me, and we play-wrestled, rolling down the slope of the field, towards the river. We continued to roll, and we sped up. He let go of me after a while, stopping and laughing. I laughed with him, and it took me a few moments to realise I was still rolling.

I don't know why he didn't notice, but maybe it's a bit easier to notice if it's you rolling, not another person. At the time I wasn't thinking this, I just laughed, my clothes getting muddier and muddier. I think I probably assumed he was somewhere close by, going down with me.

I remember noticing the sound of rushing water when I was quite close to the river. I was so caught up in my laughter beforehand, I hadn't heard it. I only realised how close I was to the river after I was in the air, still spinning and laughing, laughing and spinning.

But, as soon as I realised I was falling fast towards the river, I was screaming.

Snip!


I have a feeling you guys will know what is going to happen next, but hey. I would say some clever theory about how Cliff-hangers where one of the main characters is about to die make the reader more likely to read on, but I'm not. Truth be told, I might end all of them like that, just before Edward saves her. I might not update for a while, for I will be spending tomorrow with my lovely pals, roaming the Thames and ogling at guys on Skateboards. And BMX's. But they are never as good-looking, truth be told.

But do not fear, I shall be thinking over how I will format this story. Or some other thing like that. I seriously haven't got a clue. I will be finishing up on the computer soon, I decided to take an early night tonight (2am, and what?), but in my absence, please review. Reviews put me in a good mood, and good moods make me think better. Basically, review, and the next chapter goes up quicker.

May Tra'ers guide you onwards!

Razzy