Chapter Four
The sun was well into the sky by the time Bella awoke. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and groaned.
"Oh. My. God!" she muttered. "My head is freaking killing me!" She rubbed her temples and down to the base of her neck. "What the hell time is it, anyway?"
"It's after eleven," I told her, standing up and stretching for the first time in hours.
"Holy shit! Why did you let me sleep in so late?"
I quirked an eyebrow at her. "Did you have to be up for some reason? You have a hot date I don't know about or something?"
She was ruffling through her bag, but she paused for just a moment, glancing up at me. "No," she finally replied. "There's no reason that I need to be up." Her voice sounded so…sad. She finally located what she had been looking for, a bottle of aspirin. She took a couple with water and disappeared into the bathroom.
It's obvious that Bella is not a morning person. I smiled to myself as I remembered how good it felt to hold her while she was sleeping. I never wanted to let her go. "Pull it together, Edward," I muttered to myself.
Bella finally emerged from the bathroom, but she kind of looked like hell. I mean, her hair was brushed and she was wearing clean clothes, but she had this little furrow in her brow and her eyes were narrowed. She plopped down on the chair and closed her eyes.
"Are you okay?" I asked. She certainly didn't look okay.
"I will be as soon as the aspirin kicks in." Her voice was barely above a whisper and she didn't even open her eyes to look at me.
"Do you need something to eat or something?" I asked.
She sighed. "It probably wouldn't hurt." But still, she didn't move. I wasn't sure what to do, so I waited. And I paced. And I listened to her breathing and her heartbeat to assure myself that she was fine. I have never seen a human sit so completely still for such a long period of time. It seemed like forever, when in reality it was probably like a half an hour later when her eyes fluttered open and she took a deep breath.
The little furrow in her brow was gone, but her eyes still looked tired. She stood, placing the palm of her hand on her forehead and visibly steadying herself.
"Better?" I asked, not entirely sure that she was.
"I am," she nodded. "Not great by any means, but better." I watched as she made herself a peanut butter sandwich and opened a bag of potato chips. She ate slowly and when she was finished she took another aspirin.
"Hey, look at that," she said suddenly. "The sun is out!" She opened the back door and stepped onto the porch. The thick trees filtered most of the sunlight, but it was obvious that outside of the forest it was a beautiful day.
"Do you feel up or a hike?" I asked her as a thought occurred to me. "I know a place a few miles from here that you would love."
"Sure. Give me a minute, okay?"
"Of course." But her 'minute' lasted more like twenty minutes. She changed her clothes, replacing the sweater she had been wearing with a t-shirt. She pulled her hair back in a ponytail. Then she grabbed a granola bar and stuck it in her back pocket, and she took a few more aspirin out of the bottle and put them in her front pocket. She picked up a bottle of water and looked up at me with a little smile.
"Okay, I'm ready. Lead the way."
We walked through the forest in silence for a little while. She was enjoying the walk, taking in the scenery and listening to the wildlife. It was nice to see her having a good time.
"So Edward," she said eventually, breaking the silence. "You said you had family in Forks? What's that all about?"
Fuck. She would have to ask about my family, wouldn't she? I kept walking, buying time while I figured out exactly what to tell her. But then I realized that she wasn't right behind me. She was standing ten paces back, leaning against a tree.
"I told you about my dad, so it's only fair for you to tell me about your family." She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. Waiting. I measured her resolve and sank just a little bit into those brown eyes. That's when I realized that it was hopeless to resist. I would give her anything she wanted. And I would tell her anything she wanted to know.
"Fine," I relented. "Come on. I'll tell you all about the Cullens." I waited for her to catch up to me before resuming our hike and delving into my past.
"Carlisle is the vampire that changed me. I was dying of the Spanish Influenza and he saved me, so to speak. Not long after that he found Esme, his mate, and changed her too. For all intensive purposes, they are my parents. A few years later my sister, Rosalie, was changed. And a few years after that she found her mate, Emmett.
"My family is different than 'normal' vampires. They don't believe in killing people in order to survive. They live off the blood of animals instead. They've trained themselves to resist human blood, so they are able to live among humans, working along side them, going to school with them. Living almost normal lives."
I paused so she could digest this information. I knew what her next question would be and it didn't take her long to ask.
"But you feed off of humans." Okay, it wasn't a question.
"I do. I thought that if I used my ability to hunt then I could, I don't know, protect my soul or something. I think I was wrong though."
"Your ability?" she asked as we continued to trek through the forest.
"Yeah." I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. How was I supposed to explain this one? Okay, here goes nothing.
"Some vampires have some kind of a special ability. Mine is telepathy."
"You're telepathic?" she looked at me incredulously. I was kind of hoping she wouldn't know what that meant. "What am I thinking right now?"
I had to laugh. It didn't take a telepath to know what she was thinking. "You're thinking 'bullshit'. But don't worry; I can't hear your thoughts for some reason. As a matter of fact, you are the only person I've ever met like that."
"So, you listen to a person's mind and decide if they deserve to die or not? Like those assholes in the alley the other night."
"Exactly. But even though they deserved everything they got and more, their blood is still on my hands."
A few minutes later and the forest opened up around us. We stepped into a small clearing with a stream running through the middle, disappearing over the edge of the cliff in a beautiful waterfall. We had reached our destination. Bella's eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face as she stepped out into the sunlight.
"Oh my God, Edward! This is just…spectacular!" She motioned for me to join her, but I shook my head no. I guess I didn't think this thing through very well, because I'm pretty sure she wasn't ready to see me in the sunlight. Part of me thought she was denying the fact that I'm a vampire, even though she's seen it with her own eyes.
"Come on. You aren't going to burst into flame or something are you?"
"Don't be ridiculous," I rolled my eyes. "You really shouldn't believe everything you read, you know."
"So what are you waiting for, then?"
I hesitated briefly before taking a deep breath and stepping into the sunlight. The light hit the tiny prisms in my skin and reflected outward.
Bella stared at me for a moment, then her face broke into a grin and she started to giggle. Then the giggle turned into a chuckle. And the chuckle turned into full out laughter. She was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. It was the most wonderful sound in the world. However, it did occur to me that she was laughing at me.
"I'm sorry," she sputtered between fits of laughter. "It's just…you're sparkling! It's so…so…not terrifying! Please sparkly vampire, don't hurt me!"
Oh, hell no! She's not only laughing at me. She's mocking me! I narrowed my eyes, crouched slightly and sprang. She gasped as I grabbed her and ran to the top of the waterfall. To her it would feel as though we were flying through the air. I stood at the top of the waterfall with her in my arms, just long enough for her to register what had just happened. She threw her arms around my neck and I jumped.
Bella screamed as we plunged through the air, splashing into the lake below. When we surfaced she clung to me, catching her breath.
"So you were saying, about not being terrified?" I smirked at her. She narrowed her eyes at me as she tried to be mad, but it only lasted a moment before she smiled and shook her head.
"I'm sorry. You're a terrifying monster," she said. I didn't miss the sarcasm in her voice.
"Don't forget it either," I laughed as I helped her out of the water. I pulled her up on the rocks and into my arms. She didn't resist, settling into my chest easily. She looked up at me and smiled.
"Even soaking wet, your hair is all over the place." She reached up, brushing my hair off my forehead. A jolt of energy went through me at her touch. She lingered there, running her fingers through my hair.
Then my lips were on hers. She was so warm and soft and her lips moved along with mine. Her hands tangled in my hair, pulling me closer. I held her as close to me as I dared. Finally she broke away, gasping for air. I kept kissing her cheek, her jaw, her neck.
She moaned softly as I continued my path towards her shoulder. I could feel the blood pulsing through her body right under my lips. I licked gently right along the vein.
One small bite.
One little taste.
That's all it would take.
And she would be mine forever.
A/N I love that so many people have put this story on alert. I hope you liked this chapter! What did you think of the cliffy at the end? :o)
