Chapter 3
"How much longer, Aro?" an unfamiliar voice whispered.
"Have patience Nicholas, she will wake up soon." The papery voice replied lightly. "You remember what to tell her?"
"Of course, don't insult me."
"She must believe you, Nicholas. There must not be a doubt in her mind that they are dead. We need her broken."
"Have a little faith, old man. Her mind is putty in my hands. This is going to be fun."
Black, red, white, red, red, red. Nothing would come into focus. All I could see were flashes of color that never stayed in my line of sight long enough to be identified. There were so many colors, so many shapes, but nothing recognizable. As I crept closer and closer towards consciousness I felt the burn. Every fiber of my being burned with heat more intense than even Dante could have conceived of. I tried to scream but I had no control over my body. My captive mind shouted inside my head, screaming expletives that I was ashamed to hear myself even thinking. As my mind unwrapped the protective grip that it had held on itself, other sensations bombarded my consciousness. Memories maybe? Flashes of memory that didn't seem to fit together but that wouldn't go away. Red, hot, aching. Black… I felt my mind close in on itself again and I drifted.
My angel sat next to me at the desk in our classroom. "My name is Edward Cullen; I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan"
The image faded and I saw the two of us in the meadow. "So what you're saying is, I'm your brand of heroine?"
"Yes, you are exactly my brand of heroin."
The meadow vanished and we were in another clearing, listening to the thunder roll in and getting ready to play baseball.
Flash forward to last year. "You don't want me?"
"No…"
Forward again to his bedroom. Edward was on one knee, eyes imploring me to take him seriously. "Isabella Swan, I will love you forever. Every single day of forever. Will you marry me?"
Forward once more to the path down to First Beach. Jacob is walking next to me, holding on to my hand loosely. "Remember the first time we got to really talk down here at the beach? I tried my best to flirt with you, I guess it worked."
"It seems so."
"What's wrong Jacob?"
Jacob pulled me close and leaned over to nuzzle my neck, "Bells, there is something I should tell you?"
"Jacob, what are you doing??"
"I'm not Jacob Black." As soon as the words left his mouth I felt the sharp piercing as his teeth tore at the flesh of my neck. The world faded to black.
As my consciousness fought to escape from the clutches of my human memories, two bits of knowledge greeted me. First, I wasn't it any pain. Second, I was hungry, and the importance of the human memories faded to the back of my mind in an instant. I kept my eyes closed tightly as I experimentally stretched each muscle from my toes up to my neck. Rather than the usual loosening and relaxing that I usually felt, I felt the flexing and pulling of thick bands of powerful muscle. I sat up and reached down to run my hands over my legs. I was surprised to feel the outline of perfectly muscled calves and thighs under my hands. I continued my exploration and smiled to myself as I traced my fingers over nicely defined abdominal muscles that expanded and contracted perfectly as I leaned down and sat back up. I was completely in awe of my newfound body when I realized that the perfect stillness I exuded was caused by the fact that I wasn't breathing.
I took in a deep breath and snapped my eyes opened suddenly when a thousand different odors assaulted my nose and jockeyed for position to be processed. I smelled the sweet, clean scent of fresh rain mixed delicately with the hot, steamy aroma of the water evaporating off of the stone streets. I smelled flowers and bread and wine and so many wonderful aromas that I couldn't even recognize.
Then the sweetest, most alluring scent that had ever graced my presence launched its assault on my nose. Without a moment's hesitation I rose and followed the scent, ignoring the dark cloaked figures that eyed me strangely as I walked past. I wandered down alleys and dark passageways, desperate to find the source of the intoxicating fragrance.
Finally my eyes fell on my prey. The rest of the world could have disappeared around me without my notice as I focused on the huddled mass that called to me with a siren's song that was impossible to ignore. My eyes were useless as instinct propelled me forward slowly, taking my time so that I could prolong my contact with the scent of the sweet nectar. My hands reached out and I pulled the huddled mass to me, hugging it and pressing my nose into it as though I had never smelled anything so beautiful in all my life.
As my hands caressed the huddled mass, an ache began to spread through my stomach, covering my body with the dull throb that I knew that only this little creature could relieve. My useless eyes clouded over and I lowered my mouth to the neck of the creature that didn't even struggle in my hands. With gentle movements almost like a caress I pressed my lips directly above the throbbing vein and sunk my teeth into the soft flesh. I moaned as the alluring fragrance that had brought me here filled my mouth and slid down my throat. The taste, I discovered, was even better than the aroma and I drank greedily. As the flow of the sweet elixir began to cease I leaned back on my knees and tipped my head up towards the sky, silently thanking whatever higher being had sent this oasis to me.
Nicholas strode through the corridors with fire in his eyes. Anger seethed through his body as he stormed through the city in search of Bella. From what he had gathered from the member of the guard that he had just taken care of, Bella had simply walked out of her room and through the corridor away from the castle. The guard had told him a story about her gaze making him "feel compelled" to just let her go but he knew that that had to be rubbish. No newborn vampire could have a gift that powerful with such precise control of it.
The longer his search went on, the higher his level of anxiety rose. If he couldn't find her, Aro would certainly have him taken care of just as swiftly as he had personally taken care of the incompetent guard. He wondered what was so special about this girl, but knew better than to question Aro and the rest of the Volturi. He had followed his orders to this point and used his gift to draw her in. He had bitten her and brought her back to Italy exactly as he had been told. Now she had run off and it was up to him to retrieve her again.
Finally he caught her scent and was able to track her to a dark alleyway. He took in the image of the young boy lying dead on the street and backed into the shadows to watch this mysterious girl.
As the dark red cloud of bloodlust fell from my eyes and the haze of my predatory instincts were washed away, reason began to creep in. I gasped and crawl backwards across the alley to press my back against the wall and gaze in horror at the scene in front of me. I choked on tears that were no longer able to fall as I saw that the mass in front of me was in fact the body of a young boy, probably no older than ten or eleven. I rolled over onto my knees and heaved, trying desperately to vomit and rid myself of the prize that I had so eagerly sought. What have I done?
A/N I don't like this chapter. In fact, I kind of hate it, but I've rewritten in 4 times and it isn't getting any better so I am just going to post it and move on. I'm sorry for the disjointed mess... I hope it was somewhat readable.