Edward POV
It had been three months since I walked out of Bella's life. I silently tormented myself day and night about how I ruined the only ray of hope I'd ever experienced since I became a vampire. I frequently thought back to the time when James had bitten Bella, and I struggled with regret that I had stopped her from going through the transformation. At the same time, I knew that Bella's continued status as a human was for the best. I had no right to want to inflict my cursed life on anyone else.
I wasn't surprised to be banned from ever seeing Bella again. I knew Jacob Black doubted my word that I would stay out of her life for good. I saw Jacob Black's mind as we stood on either side of the treaty line, and I knew that it was ingrained in him to never trust his enemy. His thoughts were very loud and clear. He believed that at the first opportunity that came about, I would kidnap Bella and disappear with her. His fears were true. The selfish part of me had considered kidnapping and changing her, but Alice had seen the outcome, and that was the end of that plan. I was relieved that Alice was there to protect me from myself because the outcome of that plan would have been tragic.
I knew as long as Bella was in Forks or La Push, there would be no access to her. So I'd planned to ask Bella to secretly meet me in Seattle. Once she arrived, I would have lied and told her that Alice had a vision that the Volturi would be coming to check and see if she had been changed. If she wasn't, then they would have made her watch them kill Charlie, changed Bella themselves and took her to back to Italy with them. I thought if I involved Charlie, then it would have caused her to willingly come with me to be changed so her father would have been safe. Alice showed me what the outcome would have been if I'd gone through with it.
However, Bella wouldn't go along with my plan. She would have refused to be changed and would have attempted to leave to go back to Jacob. Bella had faith that Jacob and the rest of the La Push pack would keep her and Charlie protected from the Volturi. I was consumed with jealous rage that she had chosen to put all her trust in that mutt instead of me, so I had decided to force the change anyway. Once she had transformed, Bella was so filled with anger and bitterness that she would curse the day she had ever met me. Once Bella had her bloodlust under control, she would go back to Forks. Jacob would be devastated because now she was his mortal enemy.
Everyone would know that she was changed against her will but the result would be the same. Bella would be as good as dead to Jacob, and no matter how hard he tried, the wolf inside of him would never allow himself to get past her vampire state. Whatever human feelings that Bella had left would die when Jacob rejected her and sent her away. She would leave Forks for good and join the Volturi. Of course, the Volturi would be furious with what I'd done because I went against their wishes. The Cullen clan and werewolves would be wiped out to prove a point. Which was: don't disobey the Volturi.
I promised Alice that I wouldn't go through with my plan. I gave her my consent to call Bella and tell her that the Volturi were not expecting her to go through the change anymore. She would have the human life that she wanted.
After I had given my fateful consent, I spent a lot of time playing the piano and taking walks outside. Today was a sunny day, but where we lived the chances of a human seeing any of us was very unlikely. I ran though the forest and came to a halt when I smelled the scent of another vampire. I found myself inhaling deeply as I realized that the scent caused feelings inside of me that I thought I'd never feel again. I continued to move forward, and there she was, sitting on a rock looking toward a river that rushed past her. She had a sketch pad on her lap and was drawing something.
I stood still quietly for a few minutes and didn't say anything. I waited for her to acknowledge my presence but she didn't turn around to look at me. Just when I was about to introduce myself, she said, "Hello, my name is Raven. Please don't think that I'm being rude, I just want to finish this before I turn around to see you face-to-face. I want to know if I got this right."
I found her comment to be a bit strange, but I didn't say anything. I continued to wait patiently for her to finish. After about five minutes she sighed. "I'm finally done, come here and tell me what you think."
I walked toward her and looked over her shoulder; I couldn't believe the picture that I saw. It was a sketch of me! It looked so life-like that it was unbelievable. The detail was amazing. I asked, "How did you do that? You never turned around to look at me! How did you draw me so perfectly?"
Raven responded, "I have the ability to see the future. I saw you coming so I decided to draw a portrait of you. I must say you are very handsome."
Raven finally stood up and turned around. If I still had the ability to breathe she would have taken my breathe way. I didn't think that I had ever seen a vampire as beautiful as her. She had wild black curly hair that stopped at her shoulders, almond shaped eyes that that radiated warmth, a soft delicate small nose, and smooth looking lips. She was almost as tall as me and very slim. She was the definition of beauty and Raven's eyes were amber like mine. I had never thought that I would look at another woman and be attracted to them as much as I had been to Bella, but I felt a connection with Raven that I had never felt before, not even with Bella.
Raven stared at me with a smile on her face and said, "What is your name, stranger?"
I shook my head and realized that I'd been staring at her like a love sick puppy. "My name is Edward, Edward Cullen."
Raven smiled as she stepped toward me. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Edward Cullen. What are you doing out here in the forest? "
"I was going for a run. I live a couple of miles away from here with the rest of my family."
"You live around here? In a house like humans do? What do you mean with your family- you mean your coven, right? You don't live with humans do you?"
"Yes, I live around here. It's a coven, but we care about each other very much and we consider ourselves a family, like I said. Of course, I don't live with humans. I'm a vampire, remember. That wouldn't be very wise. I couldn't help but notice the color of your eyes. Than you hunt animals instead of human blood. Since you don't seem to keen on human relationships than why are you a vegetarian?"
"I guess it's a gift or a curse, depending on how you look at it. I detest the taste of human blood. I get the same reaction that I would get if I eat human food. I can't even stand the smell of it. For some reason though, I do like the taste of animal blood. I get the craving for blood but only animal blood. Please don't misunderstand me, I don't hate humans. I just don't have the desire to befriend them."
"Are you alone, or are you traveling with other vampires?"
"It's just me, I used to belong to a coven that included the vampire that made me and we were together for a while but we grew apart so I decided to go my own way."
I didn't want our conversation to end, so I asked, "Would you like to come with me and meet my family?"
Raven agreed that she would come back with me to my house, but we would have to drive there because she didn't want to leave her car. It was about five miles away from where we were standing. As we ran, it dawned on me that I couldn't read her mind. What was it about the minds of the women I seemed to be attracted to? How were they able to block their thoughts from me?
Once we approached her car I was impressed: it was a red Cooper Countryman. They weren't even on the market in the US yet, so how did she have one?
"I like your car; how did you get your hands on this and they are not even out yet?"
"Well, Edward, I'm a vampire and can be very persuasive when I want to be, especially when it comes to the opposite sex. The car salesman was glad to jump through hoops to get me this car once I asked very nicely."
Raven tossed the keys at me and said I could drive. I got in the driver's side and we took off. I looked at Raven and said, "I haven't gotten to tell you about my gift. I can read minds, but I have noticed that I cannot read yours. Do you know why that is?"
"I'm a shield; I have the ability to block my thoughts from others at will. Whenever I'm in a new environment I have the shield up. I don't like being at a disadvantage and I also like my privacy. But for those who I know and I trust I can let my shield down. If they are mind readers they can know whatever they want. Maybe if you're really nice to me I might let you in."
My hands tightened around the steering wheel and I felt a warm sensation flow through my body. I felt like there was a double-edged meaning behind what she said. I'd just met Raven but I thought that there was a possibility that I may have found love again.
We arrived at my house and got out of the car. Alice was on the porch jumping up and down thinking, "This is great, my brother will to be happy again, oh my goodness and she has great fashion sense. Oh, we will have to go shopping!"
Once we reached Alice I said, "Alice this is Raven, Raven this is Alice, my sister."
Alice shook Raven's hand and said, "Raven, it's very nice to meet you. I knew you were coming and I've already got your room ready for you."
Raven smiled and said, "Thank you."
We walked into the house and I was shocked to see that everyone was home. Then it occurred to me that Alice must have seen us coming and told everyone to wait for us in the living room
I looked around the room and said, "Everyone, this is Raven. We met while I was going for a run."
I squeezed Raven's arm and said, "Raven, I would like you to meet my family." I began to point everyone out to her. Everyone welcomed her. Even Rose was pleasant and gave her a genuine smile. We were all curious about her background so she was kind enough to share it with us.
"I was sixteen when I was turned. I'd been in this immortal body for thirty-three years. To most vampires I was still considered a child still but I'd had my share of experiences. For most vampires once they were turned they forgot their human lives and for the most part I had, but I'll never forget the week that led to my human death and the birth of my vampire existence.
It was a Monday night and I had just finished up a report at the library for school. It had started to get dark outside and my father was due to pick me up. So I packed up my books and went outside to wait. While I was outside, the sun was setting and I noticed a man standing across the street from me. He was staring at me and I found myself staring back at him. He had me mesmerized by his beauty. This stranger was tall with black shoulder length hair that had a mild wildness to it. He was very pale and muscular. I felt drawn to him. I was overcome with the need to cross the street and talk to him. He smirked at me and motioned with his head to come to him.
I forgot about who I was and that my father was on his way to come and pick me up. I stepped off of the curve and was on my way to my death and didn't know it. Suddenly, I heard my name being called and it snapped me out of my trance. I turned toward the voice and realized that it was one of my friends from school. I waved at her and turned back around but the man was gone.
I didn't think much of it after that. I never told anyone about what I almost did. The week went by with no incidents and then it was Friday night. I was dating this guy that I had known for a couple of months. We met at a high school dance at his school and we liked each other very much. We went to the movies and saw "Audrey Rose." We were on our way to my boyfriend's car when all of a sudden the same guy from Monday stood in front of us. Instead of me being fascinated by his looks I was horrified by his blood red eyes.
I knew that my boyfriend and I were going to die. I remembered feeling a piercing pain when he bit my neck and a sudden overwhelming burning sensation that overtook my body. I remembered wanting to die so that the pain would go away. I mourned my human life but the vampire that made me never left my side. He guided me and taught me the ways of the vampire. He explained to me that when he ran across my scent while I stood in front of the library, he knew that he had to have me for his own.
I resented him for a long time. He didn't give me a choice to want to be with him. Over time I did fall in love with him and we spent many years together and were happy. He helped me to fine tune my gifts which were to see the future and my ability as a shield. The only conflict that we had was that I couldn't drink human blood. I reacted to it the way I reacted to eating human food. I could drink animal blood but that was it. He didn't like it and he felt that it was all in my mind and I didn't want to fully accept what I was.
After a while we ran into another couple and we became a coven. We drifted from place to place. Then one day I decided that I didn't want to be with my mate anymore. I told him good-bye and I left. We haven't crossed paths again. I've been on my own for about ten years now going from place to place. I've always liked to draw so I have lots of sketches of people and places that I have been."
Carlisle told Raven that she was more than welcome to stay with us for as long as she wanted to. She accepted and he told her the rules that we lived by. We were all confident that she wouldn't be a problem so that was more of just a formality.
I went with Raven to her car and helped her take out a couple of suit cases and showed her to her room. I stood in her doorway and watched her unpack her belongings. When she was done she sat down and patted the space next to her. I walked into her room and sat next to her. Raven looked at me and said, "So, Edward, what is your story? I don't mean about how you were turned, we can talk about that later. I want to know about why your eyes look so sad… what happened to you to cause you to look so broken?"
Thank you Twilightrocks122 and Little Miss Mionie for Betaing this chapter. Also thanks for the story alerts and reviews. So…what do you think about Raven?
