Alrighty-o. Because you begged so wonderfully, here is the second chapter to satiate you for a while. I think I'll post the second chapter to all of them, but I won't fully update them until after Stuck! and Tube are done. And you might want to give me a little bit. My graduation is this weekend, and my exams are coming up in early June.

I hope you enjoy this! It's still my uber favourite, because you'll see!

deux is two in french!


Deux:

I woke with a start. The sounds of screams fresh in my mind. I opened my eyes and sat upright in my bed, noticing immediately that this was not my home.

There was terrible screaming from somewhere in the house. I shook violently as I pulled the bed covers closer to me. Whatever this place was, it could not be safe. Whoever was in here was being tortured in the most gruesome ways imaginable. The yells and moans of a man and woman rang clearly to my room, frightening me to the core. Apparantly, I was being spared of such pain, or it was being saved for later.

I threw the covers down to my feet, noticing that I was wearing a very light, short blue nightgown. I looked at my leg, where I had thought a piece of wood had speared clear through. There was a light scar, but it should have only been hours ago that it was impaled into my calf. I let out a breath I had no idea I'd been holding and looked around my surroundings.

Which, was when he caught my eye.

A man stood in front of the window, the light from my bedside candle cast him in a shadow, but I could clearly see his arms crossed over his chest. Was this my punisher? Was he here to make me scream like the others? I grabbed the blankets and pulled them back up towards me. The man stood up straighter, taking his weight off the window.

"You're awake," he spoke in a velvety smooth voice. It calmed me immediately. "I'm sorry, for the noise," he said, referring to the screams. "It'll only be another day before they're done." He started taking steps towards me, but I tensed, pushing myself closer to the wall.

"Who are you?" I asked warily. I was shocked by my voice. It seemed smoother than it had ever been. The screams subsided for a moment. "Where am I?" I tried again.

The man cautiously stepped forward and sat in a rocking chair close to my bed, putting himself in the light. My breath caught. He was stunningingly beautiful. His hair was in a mess on top of his head, falling in front of his eyes and curling around his ears. His lashes were long and thick, framing his beautiful topaz eyes. His face was chiseled, as if from marble, his jaw strong and he was striking. I'd never seen anyone as beautiful as him. My hands shook as I relaxed, letting the blankets fall to my waist.

"My name is Edward," he said finally, pleasing me with his lovely voice. "You've been here for three days. The city is completely burned to the ground." My stomach flipped and I swallowed heavily. "I found you and two others outside, you were seriously injured. My family and I took the three of you in. But... you're not exactly alive anymore."

My brow furrowed as I looked at him. Edward sat forward in his chair, studying me curiously. "What am I, then?" I asked quietly. Almost afraid of the answer. Edward took a deep breath and looked down to his hands.

"You, me, my entire family, and soon the two you were with... we're all vampires," he said seriously. My stomach lurched again. My hand flew to my chest and I realised that there was no pumping against my breast, no tell-tale heart that usually gave me away.

"My heart's not beating..." I murmured. Edward shook his head.

"You've been frozen in time, essentially," he explained. "You, like the rest of us, are stuck in this half life. You're far from alive, but you're also far from rotting six feet under."

"What exactly... do I do now?" I asked, fighting back a sob.

"We'll have to start training you, I suppose. You'll need to learn to control your strength, and your... bloodlust." I froze.

"We drink blood?" I stammered. There was loud screaming.

"Yes," Edward said grimly. "It is the only way for us to survive. We can drink human blood or animal blood. Humans satiate us better, but ethically, it's probably better to hunt animals."

"I don't want to... eat a person," I mumbled grimly. Edward chuckled.

"We're more than happy to oblige," he said with a cute grin across his lips. "My family will be pleased to hear that. We all drink from animals, and we'd be more than happy to help you." I nodded and just stared at him. We were both quiet for a while, the screaming continuing in the background.

"May I get up?" I asked softly. Edward smiled and nodded, standing up and holding out a hand to help me. I took it, and swung my feet out before standing up, finding myself barely reaching his chin.

"There is a bathroom, through that door," Edward said, pointing towards a small, white door, sitting in the cream walls. "I'll be waiting out here for you. I'm sorry, but I can't really leave you alone." I stood up and nodded, walking shakily towards the door.

I turned on the water, running it over my face and tried to gain control of my shaking limbs. I leaned into the sink, taking deep breaths to calm myself. I was dead essentially. I stood up straight, flattening out the wrinkles in the nightgown and looked into the mirror.

I jumped.

My hair waved almost beautifully around my shoulders and down my back. My face, which I had tried to avoid looking at was striking, paler than before and my lips were full and red. My eyes, as well, were a terrifying shade of crimson, and I realised that what Edward said must have been true. I once again placed my hand across my heart, not entirely missing the panicked beats. I don't know how long I stared at myself, the terrifying image of myself, but eventually I turned towards the door, the single hook holding a robe nailed to the back of it was just another dull white against the cream. I opened the door and stepped through, looking up to see Edward standing across the room, watching me nervously.

"We're in the lighthouse, aren't we?" I asked, glancing out of the window at the ocean. I hugged my arms awkwardly, to keep from thinking about how small the nightgown was.

He nodded. "My family and I have been living here from time to time. our last time here was about twelve years ago." I sat down next to him on the bed and watched him curiously. I tried not to stare, though it was very hard to do. Edward watched me as well.

"My siblings were certain that ghosts lived here. Alice said that a woman saved her from drowning when she was younger. I suppose that that was all of you." Edward smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes, and nodded. We sat in silence a few moments longer, neither one speaking, both staring.

Finally, Edward broke our silence. "Do you want to go into the city?" he asked. "And, see what we can salvage?" I nodded. The screams lessened for a moment, and I realised it would be a very good idea to get away from them, whatever they were, for a while. Edward stood up and reached into the small cupboard adjacent to the bed. he pulled out some clothes and placed them in front of me, passing me a coat and a pair of boots from the closet as well before he left.

I slipped out of the nightgown easily, folding it and placing it near my pillow. I shimmied into the brown tights and pulled on the woollen socks, then slipped the peach dress over top, buttoning it up the front. I pulled on the dark peacoat and the tall, fur lined boots. I flicked my hair onto my shoulders and untied the pink ribbon from my wrist, tying back the hair to the side of my face. I opened the door and met Edward outside. He was dressed as well in his winters finest and smiled brilliantly at me, passing me a new pair of mittens. I imagined that mine were ruined, covered in my blood.

Edward took my hand in his, before I could pull on the mittens and led me down a winding staircase, at the end of which was the front door. Edward held out a key and unlocked the door before taking my hand again and leading me outside. What I wanted to know the most, was if he had felt the wonderful surge of electricity that passed through me when I felt his touch.


Snap. I hope you like. I've got up to chapter six written, but I REALLY want to wait until I'm regularly updating this before I start posting it. Review!