Hey guys! O.k, I was thinking of going over all of these chapters so far and editing them for a few things, maybe make the beginning sound less emo and depressing but not really changing any plot specific details. Any suggestions on what to change? But yea, so a lot happens in this chapter, and if it gets confusing don't worry, it's supposed to for suspense and drama and all that good stuff, so it'll be answered in a later chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer- I do not own any of these characters. Go emancipation.
He recognized me, there was no mistaking that. His eyes ran up and down my form hungrily, drinking in my body. He had a feverish air about him and I felt that if I made toward him or even a gesture of recognition he could dash off any moment, and leave me with only my memories again. He sniffed the air slightly and went statue still. That's when I crumbled. I remembered every curve, muscle and shape of him in a marble statue. I took a step foreward, and he pounced.
Someone inside my brain was shouting that's NOT a hug he's going for! but she was pushed back and shut in a cupboard while the naïve part of me took over and waited for him to lift me into his arms. I just began to breathe in his familiar scent when I was hurtled to the side. I had forgotten that Alice was there. The fall knocked some sense into me, and I remembered that this was not the Edward I knew, this was the negative of him. Everything Edward was--gentle, controlled, caring, this creature was not. I drew back impulsively in fear, forgetting that I was not the same person he knew either, becoming the old, weak Bella in his eyes. He tried to pull Alice away to get at me, but she wasn't giving up easily. Pretty soon they were locked in battle, tearing at eachother's throats emitting noises I had never thought could belong in this world.
Alice broke free briefly, "BELLA!" She gasped, "RUN—just run!" before locking Edward down from around his legs. He may have been stronger than her, but she was fighting smarter—she knew his weak points, and was using them to her advantage. I watched in paralyzed horror until one particularly ferocious roar sent me running.
Five minutes later, away from the screaming I slowed down, and turned around. Oh great, now I've left Alice alone to fend for herself against that…that, I didn't know what to call him, but he wasn't Edward. I was a traitor, worse than a traitor, an unreliable child, running away at the first sign of danger. I had to go back. But, which way did I come from? I started down one direction, then quickly changed after I didn't recognize any familiar smells. I wandered in circles farther and farther away from my actual path, until I had no idea where I had come from. Should I call out to Alice? I thought. But what if that distracts her and…I had it pictured in my mind perfectly, her lifting her head up from battle to answer me and then BAM, right in the throat.
The silence was unnerving and I was scared shitless. Shafts of light streamed down in the forest in a random pattern formed by the canopy. I kept nervously looking around, sniffing around, twitching at any sign of movement. Finally, I caught a whiff of something familiar, but strange. Like when Renee used to try and make me macaroni and cheese as a kid, but last minute added some odd spice to try and be creative like garlic or anchovies. It was the pungant odor of something I once loved now corrupted. I looked in the direction it was wafting from. My sensitive eyes could see the shafts of light being reflected of something. There were gleams as it was refracted off of his diamond dusted skin in the distance. I couldn't see him though, just the sparkling light. I felt as if in a fairy tale, waiting for some pixie in a forest to grant me a wish. Closer, and closer the glittering light came in a steady prowl, and I became very conscious of my human aroma as seconds ticked by and I didn't move. I couldn't move. As sick as it was, I couldn't bring myself to leave him, even if it was only his shell, it was more than I had seen of Edward in days. So this is what it's like, I thought, the classic movie scene with the bride patiently awaiting her death, paralyzed by love and those addictive pharimones to leave. I knew I wouldn't fight him when he came, I knew I wouldn't do anything. He was stronger, and obviously more determined if he managed to come all this way, abandon his family, friends just to see me. Of course he had assured me many times that he would leave his friends, his family, his whole world for me but I didn't think this situation is what he had in mind. I remembered him saying how he was no good for me, and I'd end up dead. Well, at least now he'll be right. It was a bitter joke, but I laughed out loud anyway. He suddenly stopped obviously aware that I saw him. The shape sharply veered off to the right and skittered into the shadows. My laughter died in the back of my throat—now I was really scared shitless.
"You—" A voice croaked behind me.
I didn't even have time to turn around before he jumped me. He bit down, hard, and I couldn't help screaming as he held my thrashing body to him and tried to suck my blood, only to discover there was nothing there. I felt his confusion, his pains, his mania as he held me. I was jerked forward and got a fistful of hair in my mouth, and smelled it's sweet fragrance suddenly I felt I was being torn apart from the inside out, not from him but that sickeningly sweet aroma that I knew was just how I smelled but It still boggled my insides and I had the urge to bite something, someone, but who? Myself? The thought was dizzying and the attraction uncontrollable, and I felt myself fall to the ground and saw Edward holding his hands in his head like I wanted to do and back away. This calmed me down some and the temptation was swept away as quickly as it had hit me, leaving only a dull ache in the back of my head. I closed my eyes to make it go away… There was complete silence. I heard not the sound of my predator, nor my screams as I hit the glass and watched a terrified girl in the mirror shatter to a thousand pieces as a dark figure closed in on her. I opened my eyes, the dark figure was Edward, and he wasn't silent anymore, he was shaking with dry sobs.
"You—" he said again, only this time it wasn't menacing, just laden down with emotions and feelings that I would come to understand later, but for now just confused me.
I took a wary step closer, cautious, but I wanted to go and console him, like I used to all the while ago. He seemed so innocent as he sat there in a crumpled ball, like a child, and I had to go to him.
"STOP." I did.
"Just stay there." I did that too. He looked up at me, his eyes still red with hunger, but not blind anymore. He looked at me and actually saw me and slowly stood up. "You're one of us."
She was beautiful. She was gorgeous before, but now, there was something else to it, a certain maturity to her looks that had seemed so young before. And she wasn't leaving. An unwanted thought pushed into my head, the beast inside trying to get control again. I could kill her now, and end that infuriating maddening fragrance forever. If I couldn't have her then I could kill her. Or I could leave. I shook my head to empty it of such notions. This was Bella, my Bella. If she wasn't leaving, then neither was I.