Chapter 9

"Get me down!" Roy demanded.

"You're very bossy today. Is your little newborn being rebellious?"

"No."

"Really. As far as I can see, Edward plans to terrorize the village. What will you do if he gets his first taste? Newborns aren't easy to train if their first taste is of human blood."

"He won't. I will stop him."

"Roy, you are in no position to be yelling demands. Now stay still, I don't want to shoot you." Riza said and pulled out her handgun.

"This is concrete from the foundation; there is no way that you can…"

Riza fired a whole clip and the concrete hand crumbled. "You've been with me for 102 years and you still underestimate my ability?" She smirked.

Roy grabbed his jacket and boots and ran after Edward; he would have to thank Riza later.

####

Edward smiled and breathed in the fresh air. He could barely remember the streets of Central, they were so confusing. Edward smelled new things, some things he had no idea that they even had a scent, like concrete. It was so bright outside; the sun was hurting his eyes. The soundest were the hardest to deal with. He could hear every conversation within a mile, dogs barking, the hums of automobile engines, shouts from train whistles, the pounding of feet as people walked by him, and many other things. It was giving him a headache.

Edward walked to the park, where it was quieter. His head was hurting and he was so thirsty. He tried to drink from a water fountain, but it didn't sate his thirst at all. He sat on a bench, just needing to think.

A blue ball rolled over and hit is foot, coming to a stop. He picked it up as a little girl with pigtails ran over.

Edward smiled softly and offered her the ball.

She giggled and thanked him before accepting the ball and running off with it.

Edward's mouth watered a little when the girl's red pigtails whipped to the side, revealing her neck. Edward could see the blue veins, just beneath the skin.

Edward stood and followed the little girl. He just wanted a taste. Instincts controlled his every movement as he approached her.

####

Roy tracked Edward's scent and found him in the park, ready to attack a little girl. Roy ran in and grabbed Edward from behind.

Edward had no idea what was happening at first. "Roy?! What the hell?! How did you get out?!" Edward asked, struggling against Roy's hold.

"Stop struggling. Come with me or you might do something, you will regret."

Edward calmed down, coming to his senses. "What's happening to me Roy?" He asked, scared.

"I will explain, but please, just come with me. You need to feed."

Roy led Edward to a forest and told Edward to sit still as he got Ed something to eat. Roy disappeared into the woods and appeared suddenly with a rabbit that he snapped the neck of. "This is dinner." He said, handing the rabbit to Edward.

The normal side of Edward wanted to throw the rabbit aside and demand to know why Roy was acting so weird and going on about all this vampire crap. But Edward's instincts took over, Ed's fangs elongated and he bit into the rabbit, drinking.

"That's a good boy."

The rabbit tasted horrible, but it was sating Edward's thirst. Edward noticed what he was doing halfway through his rabbit. "What's wrong with me?" Edward looked up at Roy scared, half his face covered in blood.

Roy held Edward close. "Nothing is wrong with you. You are perfect." He kissed Edward on the top of his head, smelling the golden hair. "I will teach you how to conquer this."

Edward hugged Roy, dropping the empty husk of the rabbit.

"I love you Edward. Are you still thirsty?"

Edward nodded.

"Alright. I will be right back. Stay there." Roy ran off and returned with a squirrel.

Edward drank his fill. "This is disgusting."

"Yeah." Roy agreed. "Animal blood sucks. But I need to teach you self-restraint for a good 50 years before I can let you even have a sip of human blood.

Edward's eyes widened. "50 years?"

"You and me will have a lot of time together." Roy smiled and kissed Edward's forehead. "But until then. You will be drinking animal blood. Consider it like tofu, it has all the nutrients and meat has without being the real deal. The bad thing is that the flavor is a little…undesirable." Roy remembered the newborn stage; it was not exactly an appealing time. "Let's go home, you had a big day."

They walked home and Edward took a shower, just wanting to clean up. As Edward dried off, he looked in the mirror. He was pale and his hair looked brighter and longer. The biggest eye catcher were his eyes, They were blood red.

Edward walked into the living room and saw Roy reading.

Edward curled up beside him and Roy held Ed close as he tried to finish the chapter of his book.

"Ready for bed?"

"No. I'm not tired." Edward admitted.

"Yep. Vampires don't really sleep. We just do it for fun. But as a newborn, I would suggest it. Newborns tire easily and don't have as much energy as grown vampires."

Edward sighed. "But I don't want to."

"I'll sleep with you if you want." Roy offered.

Edward nodded quickly.

"Oh! One more thing." Roy said as they got up off the couch to go to the bedroom. Roy took Edward's hand and slide the engagement ring onto Edward's ring finger. "Edward, will you be mine? Forever?"

Edward just stared at Roy for a few minutes with surprised red eyes. Those eyes filled with tears and he fell into Roy's arms. "Of course, you idiot."