(And now back to Edgar )
Vampire Boot Camp?
"Focus!" Edward scolded me as we strolled along the edge of the woods. I had lost track of the present and brought back memories of yesterday. Her lips; her eyes. "Can't you think of anything but Anastasia?" his irritation was present in his tone. True, I did think about her a lot, but he didn't have to be so rude. My dislike toward him seemed to grow within each second.
"Now, please try again," his tone lightened, patience returning. "You're doing well."
I closed my eyes and listened. It started out as a low murmur, and then grew slowly. One heart beating at a steady pace blended into two; then two blended into three, and so forth. They harmonized in my ears, and I held my breath.
"Each beating heart belongs to a human. A human who feels as we do. A human who loves as we do. A human that has pains like we do," Edward whispered.
The hearts beat together in a rhythmic thumping in my eardrums. One in particular stood out. It had a sweet, loving, sound to it. I smiled as it paced sluggishly along with the others.
"Ah, that is Mabel Osteen. She's eighty-five years old, and has three cats," Edward chuckled, interpreting my thoughts. "Her husband died during World War Two. She never remarried. They were married young and were truly in love. She loves listening to ragtime and shoo-op. Her favorite color is green."
Her heart became engraved onto my mind. I could now recognize it a mile away. Then, it started to speed up. I snapped my eyes open to question Edward with my gaze. His eyes looked so remorseful. Her heart accelerated. Faster and faster it drummed in my ear. Then, it stopped. The silence stung my eardrum. It stopped. Then it hit. It stopped! The shock on my face was apparent even to me.
"I'm sorry," his eyes were full of sympathy. I glared at him. How could he do this to me? He lead me to attaching to this human, right before she was snatched away!
"That's how fragile human lives are," answering the questions storming around my head.
"But-" I protested. " But, she had a life! She loved her husband! What about the ragtime and shoo-op? What about the cats?" The words were spewing out of my mouth faster than I could even recognize them. All I could think about was poor old Mabel.
"This is why I chose the lifestyle I have," he stared at the ground. "Because each person has a story. Has a life. Has love. Just like me."
I knew what I had to do now. Despite how much I despised Edward, he was right. I knew how I was going to spend the rest of eternity: protecting humans.