[A/N: I do not own Twilight or the Swan Princess]
Ch. 6
--Vampire in Shining Armor—
The next day was sunny as well, and just like Seth had said, the Cullens were still gone. I used this time to do some research about the 'cold ones' while I waited for Jessica and Angela. We were planning to go to the town later today, but they had some things to do with their families before they could go. Angela and Jessica wanted to go to town to pick out their dresses for the upcoming ball and I agreed to go with them.
As I was looking through the books nothing even came close to describing what the Cullens were. However, they all said that…vampires…were extremely quick and strong. That was something that I couldn't help but notice because it would explain how Edward got across the garden so fast. Also how he was unharmed by the horse's hooves. I started to think back to all the lunches I had with Edward and how he would never eat anything. The only thing was that he still came out during the day and most legends said that vampires couldn't. That's when I determined it didn't matter what he was, I loved him.
I was putting the final book away when Angela and Jessica came into the library.
"Are you ready to go?" Jessica asked seeming eager to get going.
"Yes," I said as I walked over to them. The real reason I had agreed to go with them was because I wanted to go to the book store to pick up my own copy of this book I liked. They didn't have it the other times I went, but I was hoping that they would have it this time.
"I'm so glad that you can come," Angela said, "It's always nice to have another person to decide which dress is the best."
We all walked to the carriage that only had the driver. Our parents agreed we could go to the city together with just the carriage driver as long as we stayed together. None of us wanted any guards to come so we had agreed to what our parents had said.
On the way Jessica chattered on about all the dates with Mike she had. She said they were going well and that this was going to be the 4th ball that he has asked her to. She was thrilled that Mike no longer seemed interested in me, but that wasn't really the truth. He had asked me to the ball every single year and every year I turned him down telling him to go with Jessica. She then started pestering Angela about her relationship with Ben.
I noticed that she seemed reluctant to answer Jessica's questions so I changed the subject to dresses. Angela threw me a grateful look as Jessica chattered on about how she didn't want to wear a dress that she had the previous years. I didn't really pay attention to Jessica for the rest of the way. The only person…vampire that I was thinking of was Edward. It made sense that he wouldn't come out during the sunlight and it was going to be sunny for a few days by the looks of it.
The town of Los Alamitos was a small, but very lively town with many shops. However, we all had a time limit so it was straight to the dress shop. Jessica started asking me about when I was going to get a boyfriend and I told her that I didn't really want one…well, except Edward maybe. Edward was the only one that didn't seem to care that I was a princess, but that might also be because he is a prince as well. That's when I found out that Tyler had been telling everyone that I was going to the ball with him this summer. I was furious, no I was beyond furious because I had made plans with Edward the day of the ball.
Jessica also told me that was why Lauren wasn't here this summer and why she was so angry with me the previous year. I started to think of ways I could get out of it. Well, he must feel guilty about scaring the horse that almost ran me over so maybe I'd give him the same pleasure. I wasn't good at horseback riding, but I was sure if I was determined enough that I could hit him.
Dress shopping actually went quicker than I had expected and maybe that was because we only went to one dress store. Angela picked a pale pink dress that was long and shape-fitting, but covered her up just the right amount. Jessica's on the other hand was very low cut in the front and backless. She couldn't decide whether or not she wanted the blue or white dress and I told her to go with the blue since it matched her eyes.
Now it was off to go get their shoes and accessories which also didn't take long. Angela and Jessica decided that we should return to the carriage to put their things away and then go to the beach until it was dinner time. I told them that I would meet them at the restaurant because there was a bookstore that I wanted to go to. It took a while to convince them to let me go alone since we had promised our parents not to split up, but after a while they gave in. I waved to them goodbye for now and headed off in the direction I knew the bookstore was. Oddly, the bookstore was closed when I got there and figured that there had to be another bookstore somewhere in this town.
I walked through the crowded streets that were filled with people getting ready for the ball. I continued to make my way through the crowds not paying attention to where I was going since my mind was elsewhere. I couldn't help but think about him…a week until Edward and I go out together. I shook my head frustrated at how I almost always seemed to be thinking of him. It was very stupid on my part since there was no way that he could like me. He must just be treating me nicely because we were both royalty.
I just kept walking still not paying attention to where I was going. I just hope I was going in the right direction to get to the restaurant that I'd be meeting Jessica and Angela at. The crowd started to thin which I was thankful for. That's when I realized that I had no idea where I was in the town. It looked like the docks where the ships would come in, but there were so many warehouses that I couldn't tell which way to go.
A group of four men came around the corner in front of me. They weren't dressed nicely like most people would be in town and they were coming toward me. The four of them didn't look that much older than I was and seemed to joking around about something. They seemed friendly, but I didn't want to take my chances and went to the other side of the road to give them some room. I walked past them quickly, but they stopped and turned around.
"Hey wait!" The one with blonde hair said. "Aren't you the Princess?"
"No," I said as I tried to walk off faster, but the smallest of the group with sandy brown hair grabbed my shoulder. Shoot. I was caught.
"Hey, you are the Princess." He said, "What are you doing down here? Do you want to have some fun with some peasants like ourselves?" A large smirk appeared on his face.
"Stay away from me," I warned him as I backed up trying to sound confident, but I didn't really get much sound out for some reason.
"Don't be like that princess," The larger blonde one said coming closer to me. I braced myself for him to come at me. I tried to remember the self defense lessons I had with Jasper, but I was falling flat. What was it? S-I-N-G? What did each letter mean? I couldn't remember. How was I going to make it out of this?
Another one that was hidden in the shadows started to come closer to me and I was getting ready to scream when there was the loud sound of a horse's whinny. I groaned at my luck, the horse was back to get me for good this time and Edward wasn't here to save me this time. I turned around to face my fate only to see the beautiful familiar face riding upon the stallion.
"Get on!" Edward commanded as he held out his hand. I didn't even stop to think and took his hand. It was icy cold like I expected and with no problem at all he lifted me onto the stallion. He wrapped one arm around my waist so I wouldn't fall off and pulled on the reigns with his other had to run away. I leaned against his chest and tried to look up at his face, but I couldn't see him well. He suddenly stopped and I was able to turn around completely. I noticed the murderously angry expression on his face.
"Are you okay?" I asked as he closed his eyes.
"No…" he replied angrily.
"What can I do to help?" I asked hugging his cold body that went stiff. He looked down at me with a confused expression.
He let out a sigh, "Let's go get you to your friends before they leave the restaurant." He seemed a bit calmer now, but not completely. We went to the restaurant where Angela and Jessica were coming out and heading back to the carriage. "Go get them before I have to track them down too. I don't know if I could control myself if I ran into your other friends."
"How did you…" I shook my head and smiled. "Never mind..." I didn't matter how he knew what restaurant I was planning on eating at or that Jessica and Angela were getting ready to leave. I was about to get off the horse myself, but Edward lifted me up and set me down on the ground. He then dismounted as I ran over to Angela and Jessica.
"Angela! Jessica!" I shouted to get their attention. The turned around and ran over to where I was.
"Are you okay Bella?" Angela asked with concern, "Where were you this whole time?"
"I got lost and ran into Edward." I said motioning to Edward standing next to me. "So, are you ready to eat?"
"Actually…Bella, we already ate." Angela said looking down sadly, "Sorry…"
"That's okay, let's just go home." I said walking over to Angela and Jessica only to feel a cool hand on my shoulder.
"You should eat something," Edward said and then turned to Jessica and Angela. "Do you mind if I take Bella home tonight?"
Angela and Jessica looked at each other for a moment and then they nodded.
"I guess we'll see you tomorrow then." Angela said with a smile and grabbed Jessica's hand as they ran off to the carriage.
Once they were in the carriage I turned around to face Edward, "I'm not really hungry."
"Humor me," he said with a frown.
"How about we get something to go?" I asked wanting to ask him a bunch of questions and a busy restaurant probably wasn't appropriate for the questions I was about to ask. Edward seemed to think about this for a second and then let out a sigh.
"Okay, but may I ask why?"
"I have some questions I wanted to ask you." I said looking down and drawing an invisible circle with my foot. He didn't say anything and just took me to an outdoor food stand. The person running the stand was female and greeting Edward a bit too friendly. I wondered if she knew if he was the prince or it was because he was dazzling her. Either way I was bothered by it for some reason. She seemed to waiting to see what Edward was going to order but he simply motioned to me.
"Um…I'll have some orange juice and a piece of bread." I told the woman.
"I'll have an orange juice as well," He said flashing her a beautiful smile.
"Um…" she said blinking blankly, "I'll be right back with your order."
"You really shouldn't do that to people," I told him, "It's hardly fair."
"Do what?" he asked raising an eyebrow. Did he honestly not know the power he seemed to have over people…over me?
"Dazzle people like that…" I explained, "She's probably hyperventilating back there." He just gave me a confused look again and then glanced in the direction that the woman disappeared in.
"You really don't know the effect you have on people?" I asked rolling my eyes.
He thought about it again and looked at me with a curious expression. "I dazzle people?"
I let out a sigh of frustration, did he really not notice? "You haven't noticed?"
"Do I dazzle you?" He asked.
"Frequently…" I said looking down with a blush. The woman from before came back with a bag of bread and two cups of orange juice with lids and straws.
He handed her a bag of coins, "Keep the change." He lifted me back onto the stallion and then gracefully got on behind me without spilling the orange juice or dropping the bread. I just had to smile at that because I finally knew why he was like that. He gave me the orange juice and starting drinking it. I hadn't realized I had finished it until I felt cold.
"Cold?" he asked with concern.
"Not really…" I lied, "It's just the orange juice." He let out a sigh and took off his large black cloak I hadn't realized that he had been wearing. He wrapped it around me like a blanket and I noticed it wasn't warm even though he had been wearing it. "Thanks," I said with a smile. He handed me his orange juice and the bread.
"I'm not going into shock," I complained, "I'm fine, really." I leaned against him, "I feel very safe with you." I told him the truth because it was true. Even if he was a vampire he was a good one and that I knew for sure. I had a feeling that it would displease him and I was right when he shook his head frowning. He mumbled something under his breath, but I couldn't make out what it was.
I looked up at him confused, "Usually you're in a better mood when your eyes are so light," Oops, I probably shouldn't have said that. "I…have a theory about that." I said hoping he didn't find out that I knew the truth.
"What?" He looked down at me surprised, "More theories?"
"Yes," I nodded starting to nibble at the bread. "And I didn't get it from a comic book this time." I stated before he could beat me to the line. "I have a few questions though…"
He let out a sigh, "Of course you do. You always have questions don't you?"
"Yes," I nodded, "So…why were you in Los Alamitos?"
"Next…"
"But that's…"
"Next," He said cutting me off. I crossed my arms getting frustrated that he wouldn't even answer the simplest question.
"Fine then…" I glared at him, "Let's pretend that someone could know what people are thinking, read minds, you know. With a few exceptions I would think…"
"One exception…" He corrected me. It seemed that he was more willing to answer this question about how he could read minds.
"Okay, then." I continued, "How does that work? Are there limitations?" I started asking a bunch of questions.
He sighed, "I was wrong…you're much more observant than I gave you credit for. That and you're a magnet for trouble, not just accidents. Anything that is dangerous within a 10 mile radius will find you."
"And you put yourself in this category…" I said knowing that he would.
"Unequivocally." He said coldly.
"I disagree with that…" I said with a smile, "You've already saved me twice now."
"Let's not try for three, okay?" He was quiet for a bit as I nibbled on the bread some more, "I followed you to Los Alamitos." He admitted with a sigh, "I've never tried to keep a specific person alive before…you make it extremely difficult."
"Did you ever think that I was already supposed to be dead and you've been fighting fate since the stallion accident to keep me alive?" I smiled poking at the bread.
"You were supposed to be dead the first moment I met you." He said looking away from me as if he had just admitted to committing murder. I remembered the first time we met as little children and then my eyes widened.
"Wait!" I said a bit too loud, "You were…" I didn't know if I wanted to tell him I knew what he was, but I would have to tell him eventually. "You were human then…" I said softly.
His body became stiff again and he was quiet. I couldn't make out the expression on his face, but I knew it wasn't going to be good. "What do you know?"
"You're…a vampire aren't you?"
"And yet you're still here with me?" he said coldly.
"Yes, because I know that you're good." I said, "And because I decided that it didn't matter what you are."
"You don't care if I'm a monster? If I'm not human?" His voice was hard and angry.
"No," I said shaking my head. He didn't say anything for a long time, "You're angry…I shouldn't have said anything."
"It's okay, it's better that I know what you're thinking."
"I thought you could read minds." I sighed angry that I was wrong about that theory.
"I can, but you're the one exception." He was frustrated that he couldn't read my mind. Now that I thought about it he would have already known that I knew what he was if he could read my mind.
"How old are you?"
"Seventeen," he answered.
"How long have you been seventeen?"
"A while…" he said after a moment of silence.
"Where you human when I first met you?" I asked wondering if he had only been a vampire for a short amount of time.
"No…" he sighed, "One of our friends, Zafrina, has the power to make anyone see what she wants them to see. I was afraid since I couldn't read your mind that her powers wouldn't work on you, but they seemed to have worked."
"Okay," I said, "So all of you have special powers?"
"No," he sighed, "Alice can see the future and Jasper can control the emotions in the room. We are freaks among freaks."
"Wait!" I sat up, "You know Alice and Jasper?" I tapped my chin, "I guess that would make sense considering that you all look…similar. No wonder Alice always knew when I was going to fall."
He chuckled softly, "You are very uncoordinated even for a human."
"Okay," I sighed, "don't laugh, but how can you come out during the daytime?"
"Myth," He laughed.
"Burned by sun?"
"Myth"
"Sleeping in coffins?"
"Myth…I can't sleep."
"Not at all?" I asked surprised. How did the coffin legend come into effect then?
"Never," He replied quietly. I didn't say anything as I thought of all the things that one could do without sleep. "You haven't asked me the most important question yet." His voice was serious again.
"What's that?" I tried to think of all the other questions I had for him.
"Aren't you concerned about what we eat…or drink you would say?"
"Oh," I said, "that…" I smiled and leaned back against him, "I said it doesn't matter. It's too late for me to be scared of you. I already know you're good."
We came to a sudden stop and I realized we had already arrived back at the castle. He lifted me up and set me down. I was expecting him to dismount, but he didn't and just glared at me.
"Never say it's too late." He said with an angry tone again.
"But Edward…"
"No," He said cutting me off, "it isn't right. You're a human…I'm a monster." He looked away, "I'll see you around Bella."
I glared up at him furious, "No!" I shouted, "You won't see me around because I'm not coming back. I told you it doesn't matter. I thought you were in a better mood when you're eyes are lighter." I didn't even give him time to explain himself. These mood swings of his I could deal with…most of the time, but this time wasn't one of them.
I stormed into the castle and found Charlie in his room. "We're leaving!" I closed the door behind me not giving him a chance to ask me what happened.
[A/N: Okay, for all of you that have read Breaking Dawn you know that Zafrina can't make Bella see things, but the sake of this story she will be able to. That was the best way to explain the fact that Edward looked like he was growing up. And yes, they had to have a fight so Bella could leave before Alice gets there. ^^ hehe, but that's the next chapter.]
