Bella let out a long sigh of relief, and slowly opened her eyes.
The fur under her hand was soft and warm, thicker than she could imagine. As she took in the huge mass of the animal standing before her, with its long reddish fur, she noticed the creature's eyes. They were long, slanted, black, and beautiful. I
t looked at her with intelligent eyes, and she stared back. Then slowly, as if trying to reassure her that it wasn't going to hurt her, the animal slowly moved his massive head beneath her hand, as if it was encouraging it to pet her.
She smiled, and rubbed his massive head-she was sure that through all that fur the creature could barely feel it. But the animal seemed to be enjoying Bella's soft massage, and rubbed against her, almost knocking her over.
They stood that way for a minute, when suddenly Bella felt him tense against her. A light breeze blew through the trees around them and the animal growled-a terrifying sound that sent vibrations through Bella's entire body.
It leapt from its relaxed position and, with a quick glance back to Bella, it loped, quite gracefully for its size, back into the bush. Just as its furry tale went out of sight, another being walked into the small clearing, this one being human.
Bella gasped as she took in the face of the intruder. It was devastatingly beautiful.
He looked to be about her age, possibly older, and had the most memorable face she had ever seen.
His skin was pale, paler than Bella's even, and he had a hair colour that was quite unusual-a sort of warm copper colour.
He looked at her in an appraising way, but remained silent. "Hello" said Bella quietly. He did not respond to her greeting, but said, "I wouldn't be doing that".
Bella was taken aback by his abruptness, and also by the smooth velvet tone of his voice.
"Doing what?" she asked him, genuinely confused.
"Fraternizing with…animals" he said.
Bella almost laughed but instead said "Why not?".
He looked at her for a long minute, as if deciding something, and then said
"Because that was not someone's pet."
"He seems pretty friendly to me" said Bella stubbornly, though she could sense an undertone to the boy's words.
"Just trust me, don't get too friendly with them-they can be friendly, but they are also some of the most dangerous animals around here" He said.
"What do you mean by they?" Asked Bella, who had noticed that he was using the plural form.
The boy replied "there is a pack of them, they kill a lot of farm animals around here. They are basically the neighbourhood monsters"-he paused, smiled to himself, then continued-"but they just can't be caught".
Bella shivered at the thought of such a large animal hunting near her.
He looked at her for a moment, and Bella saw an emotion playing under his beautiful features. He looked frustrated, she decided, but did not comment.
"I'm Edward, by the way, Edward Cullen."
Bella was shocked. This boy, this quiet, almost rude boy, was related to the gentle kind woman she had met before?
"You're Esme's son?" asked Bella incredulously. He smiled, a crooked smile that was so beautiful that it made Bella blush, and said
"I am."
"He's pretty cocky" Bella thought to herself after her blush had faded.
"So were going to be living…" Bella didn't finish her sentence
"Next door too each other, yes" Said Edward, not looking too pleased about the idea either.
"We should be heading back" he said "Esme maid a big dinner and she's not going to be pleased if it gets cold"
Bella nodded and they began to walk back down the trail.
"So I hear you're going to be here a while"
Said Edward, after about two minutes of walking in silence.
"About a month" Said Bella quietly.
He nodded and looked at the path ahead.
"Have you met any of my siblings yet?" He asked curiously, though never meeting her eyes when he spoke.
"No, I just got here" said Bella, not sure now if she wanted to. "How many do you have?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation going.
"Too many" He said with a smile. "Actually, I only really have two related to me by blood. That's Alice and Emmett, But then my parents adopted two more kids, Jasper and Rosalie, and they have been living with us ever since. You should know, Alice and Jasper are together, and same with Rosalie and Emmett. They have been for a while."
Bella struggled to take it all in.
"and you?" she asked, unable to help herself.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
He smirked, and Bella instantly wished she hadn't asked the question.
"I do" He said, and Bella couldn't help but notice that he didn't look too thrilled at the mention of her.
"Her name is Victoria, she's at the house too."
"I see" Said Bella. "She doesn't really get along with the rest of my family, so it can get a bit tense at times" He said.
"Great" thought Bella, "I'm gonna be such a third wheel. Well, I guess in this case a seventh wheel, even worse"
Suddenly Bella tripped over a branch on the path, but without looking at her, Edward reached out with one arm and caught her before she hit the ground. She jumped as his hand made contact with his skin. A shock ran through her, and she felt that his skin was ice cold. He kept walking without looking at her.
Bella chased after him, and asked "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" he replied in a dull monotone
"Just catch me like that. You weren't even looking at me!"
He sighed.
"I have good reflexes"
Just then, they came out of the clearing and the beautiful house came into view. Bella followed Edward to the door, which he held open for her.
Sounds of music drifted towards her, and Bella recognised the rock tune as "School's Out" by Alice Cooper.
"Thanks" she said awkwardly, as she stepped through the door held open for her.
"How can he be so polite one minute and so rude the next" she thought to herself.
But before she had a chance to answer her own question, a "CRASH" coming from somewhere below broke her concentration.
The crash was followed by a loud curse, and then a low, beautiful, but venomous voice said
"Emmett, if you don't put her down in three seconds-" This was followed by another crash a few seconds later.
"They're gonna be in trouble" Said Edward in a singsong voice, that Bella couldn't help but notice was beautiful, like the rest of him.
Another voice that was louder and deeper than the first said
"Jasper, chill man, she's like, indestructible".
"Emmett you idiot that's not the point its-"
another crash filled the air as Bella was taking off her shoes. Edward waited patiently. Suddenly another voice, this one a woman's, said in a tone that rang with authority.
"Jasper, calm down, Emmett, put Alice on the ground. We don't need any more-"
"Would you just shut up and stay out of this?" said another womans voice quietly.
Bella and Edward made their way down the stairs, both of them listening to the conversation. Edward suddenly froze beside her at this last comment, all traces of laughter gone from his face.
"Shit Rosalie keep your mouth shut" he said under his breath.
"How dare you!" screamed the first female voice.
"Guys, calm down"
Said one of the male voices.
"The girl is going to be here soon, could we at least try to act human?"
Edward opened the last door and said to the room "Actually, she's already arrived."
