To Wonder

By: Exic

Oh. Wow. I didn't really expect everyone to give me positive feedback. Not that I'm not glad, but I didn't realize that so many people read pairings other than Bella*Cullen's. I thought I'd get some major flames for this. But, onward. I would love to thank my steadfast reviews, listed henceforth as:

14 J-chan (who has updated the most so far. I think. Wonderful and thank you.)

redrum (whose reviews have made me laugh. I love reading them. Excellent and thank you.)

Forgotten Password (again) (I loved this review. It opened my eyes to reader variety. Inspiring and thank you.)

Kizzy90210 (I love your name, and your review made me laugh. In a good way. I like laughing at reviews. It's a good thing. Amazing and thank you.)

DarkMignightSun (Your review lifted my spirits! Terrific and thank you.)

MilitaryGirl24 (I looked at your review and thought, "She spelled 'keep' wrong." Then I laughed at my perfectionist attitude. Jubilant and thank you.)

mikeloverr (Your review was probably the first one that actually inspired me to keep it up. Readers, this is what I like in a reviewer: someone who tells me to keep going. It's forceful and it makes me do it. I love it. Fantastic and thank you.)

Caro (I positively loved this review. It was the very first review to make me think about how I wrote this story. Thoughtful and thank you.)

razzle-dazzle-rain (Oh, I loved your review. It pushed me on and congratulated me. Heartfelt and thank you.)

soulless is what I am (You know I love my first reviewer. Loving and thank you.)

I love my reviewers. Though this may be the only time I actually write it out like this, but I love ALL my reviewers. Thank you so much to all of you. Oh, and sorry this took so long. Hope you enjoy.

BABABABABABABABABABABABABABABA

Bella stared into the night. Her heartbeat was shallow and fast. She felt the cool air enter her throat, then her lungs. She exhaled.

"Love," Aro's beautiful voice purred to her.

She sighed. He had been saying her name all day, and she was determined not to answer it. Her body felt the usual electric shocks shiver through it as she heard him call to her again.

"You want to talk to me," his voice whispered. Her mind automatically responded with a violent, "Yes!" but she wouldn't let her body be tricked. Her eyes felt heavy and she sensed sleep drifting over her. She yawned and curled up on her side.

She had told Charlie she would stay with the Cullen's for a few days, and he had reluctantly agreed after he had suspiciously gone 180 degrees around the parental presence with Carlisle. Carlisle had smoothly told him that he would keep an eye on them and cracked out a few cheesy jokes before Charlie was persuaded (More like tricked. There wasn't a soul in the world that could turn down Carlisle's silver-lined generosity and reassurance) to let Bella stay here for a while.

Bella's mind wandered as she slowly surrendered her mind to sleep.

She saw Aro's face, blurrily at first, as she was just swallowed by her tired mind, but it became clearer as she drifted farther and farther asleep.

His eyes glittered in the light of the moon that reflected in them, and he held out a white rose with curious red tips to her. Bella was struck by his beauty. He was wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt, like the princes in the old fairy tales used to wear, and black pants. His black hair fell around his shoulders, like a dark shadow around his head.

"Bella," he called to her, stepping closer. He was barely four feet from her.

She felt a quivering in her toes that raveled all the way through her body, like it seeped into her veins and flowed throughout her. "Aro," she breathed, loving the taste of his name on her lips.

He stepped closer at the sound of his name. He was only a foot and a half away by now.

"Bella," he said, sweeping the rose along her jaw line and across her lips. She tasted a sensational taste, one that exploded in her mouth. It was like someone had set off a bomb on her tongue, one filled with lust and passion and endless possibilities.

She wanted more, yet she had no way of knowing what this extraordinary substance was. She heard Aro swallow roughly. She licked her lips and tasted the curious taste on her mouth. She saw Aro shiver. His pleasure was obvious as he stared into her eyes, with a scarlet tint reflecting in his.

"Bella," he said again, his voice husky. His voice wasn't the sweet, tinkling bells she had heard in her head or even in person before. His cheery exterior was broken, showing his lust and passion for her from underneath. He stepped closer to her, so close she could feel the cool radiating off his body, and she could hear the irregularity in his breathing. Vampires didn't have to breathe, but it was mostly a habit.

She took in a short little breath when his hand reached out to sweep across her cheek. He swallowed again and let his hand travel down her body; down her neck, down her arm, caressing her skin, and finally wrapped around her waist, pressing her gently to him.

He brought his lips down to kiss the side of her neck, and as he did, she looked behind him. Through her lustily-blurred vision, she saw a man lying on the ground. She studied him and the odd way he wasn't breathing or moving. It was strange… Then she stopped breathing.

The man was dead. His throat was marred with a thin line, with blood seeping out of it. She was disgusted and horrified to find how drawn she was to the man's blood. Her mouth watered as the smell of his blood reached her nose, and it was then that she knew what the taste was.

It was blood.

Her stomach clenched at the thought. She licked her lips as she felt Aro lift his face to hers and kiss her cheek. As he was doing so, three things happened at once.

Firstly, Bella realized with a horrifying gasp that the man lying on the ground was Mike Newman, one of her friends from school.

Second, Aro stopped kissing her and looked into her eyes.

And, third, the scene shattered into a million pieces as she awoke in the chair in a cold sweat and gasped for air.

She swallowed and tasted the lingering taste of blood in her throat.

ABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABAB

Read and review, please.