Melody
I couldn't stop thinking about it. The more the questions and mysteries surrounding her infected me the more I wanted to ravage the forests and mountains to look for her. Was she still here? Had she already moved on to a new place? Who was she and what was her true purpose? All the answers I thought I knew were but assumptions and theories. There was nothing that was set in stone. I hated not knowing. I had a right to know after what she did to me. The mere thought that my memories were swarming around in the mind of someone else was…frightening. My deepest secrets, the most private of moments, and all the memories of my family that I had seen in their minds now belonged to her.
Three days had passed since Carlisle's warning. I had never seen him so nervous before. The revelation that we might be dealing with someone who was believed to be extinct brought out great distress and plaguing images of Carlisle, and revealed a harder side of him. He spent hours in his study rereading the index that I knew he had already committed to memory. He searched every page concerning the ancients. He became obsessed with finding out everything known to vampire kind and preparing for another encounter if there should be one. The ancients weren't like other vampires. Their mere survival over the many ages demanded the respect from the vampire realm unconditionally.
I noticed myself however that for once there were other questions arousing themselves within me that weren't as taunting and annoying. These questions grabbed my fascination. What had she seen if she were who we believed her to be? Nero's day? The rise of Rome? Was she around when Ramses the I ruled? Did she witness the horrors of the ancient vampire wars? How deep did it go? It tormented me to think that Carlisle forbade us to look for answers and put the truth even farther out of reach than it had been before.
"Stop whining and brooding already." Alice was just as tortured as I was; although I wasn't irritating her as much as she was me.
We were back in school, joy. It was lunch time and I had made it through my first two courses without any difficulty. I allowed my mind to be consumed with her, and all the questions that followed. The minutes seemed to decay in a much faster ratio that way. I must have come up with dozens of scenarios and explanations but none of them truly matched to what I wanted to know.
"I'm not whining. If anyone can be accused of whining that it would be you." I spat the statement at her. Alice's vision was clear again. She could see everything just like she could before. The mysterious fluctuations in her sight had disappeared just as soon as they came. She was still uneasy and most of the time was always far in the future. Like me, she was seeking out answers as well. At one point she had actually hoped to see the dark vibrations again because it would mean that we'd meet with her again. Alice generally believed that she was the cause for all her headaches. A vampire who is so unpredictable that not even her far future was certain. However, to Alice's and my disappointment the future was just like it used to be. Out of control and untamed, and there was nothing certain.
"Would you two give it a rest already? You've been at it for days." Rosalie still held a grudge and I haven't decided to apologize yet.
"We've been at it for days because the more time progresses the more infuriating the past scenes become Rose." Alice was right.
"So what? Can't you two just get over it? Is there an absolute need to know everything at any given time? Besides, she's probably already long gone by now. The most interesting thing in these parts is if the sun comes out for more than two days in a week."
"Aren't you interested to know at all why she was here? Don't you want to know why she assaulted Edward against his will and took his venom? Come on Rosalie. You can't tell me that you're not interested one little bit. There is too much confusion that needs clearing up. I for one would love to know everything." Alice's debate was good. Rosalie didn't want to show it but she was very keen on finding out as much as everyone else wanted.
"It doesn't matter now anyway. She's probably already gone. She stayed hidden for a long time Alice and even eluded the Volturi. What makes you think we would even find her? Talking about this is just a waste of everyone's time."
I took a swift glance around the cafeteria to make sure that nobody caught wind of our conversation. Venom and Volturi are words that we shouldn't even be using here. The lunch room was unchanged however. Teenagers talking about their favorite soap operas, upcoming football games, and the endless female gossip about who was the most prominent and handsome young man in the school.
"Well I for one think that she would discuss it further" Jasper finally intervened with a thought that had Carlisle and me in an uproar as well. "It has been a week since we've hunted. One more and we'll be going out again. Of course we could just go off to Oregon or California for some carnivore snacks but I for one plan on staying here when the time comes. We shouldn't be afraid to use our own lands for hunting just because there might be a danger lurking in the forests. We don't even know if she spoke the truth. I for one am not intimidated by her."
Everyone except me silently nodded to themselves when Jasper brought light to the hunting subject. I wasn't thirsty yet. My mouth however was in the process of becoming dryer as the days went by. Soon the monster would want more of the delicious elixir that it so hungrily craved. We couldn't hold out on our thirst neither, especially not with the lives that we had. Being around humans meant that we could never drive ourselves to a point in which we would be vulnerable and weak enough to attack one of them, and it meant that we had to keep ourselves well nourished if we wanted to sustain this life style.
The bell rang and ended our plotting. I looked at my tray and all the food that would go to waste. There were broken down bits of carrots and a small opened carton of milk that I never took a sip out off, and torn pieces of pizza that I brought to my mouth several time for show but then discarded back onto the tray. This was indeed growing most tiresome.
My next two classes past rather fast too which surprised me even more. It was strange but somehow the discomfort that she caused within me was helping. I couldn't focus on anything but it and many times it trapped me within the barriers of my own head trying to find conclusions. While I did so the hours seemed to simply fly by. Not even the petty thoughts of other students around me seemed to bother me as much anymore. At times I swore that I couldn't hear them at all.
When everyone gathered in the Volvo after school was over I sped down on the open road back home. I had a mission tonight. I had to go to town and pick up my tuxedo from the dry cleaners. Carlisle's small banquet at the hospital was coming up in two days and we were all invited. Esme's hard work shouldn't go to waist either after all, and we had to hire a deliver guy to bring the mountains of baked cinnamon rolls down to the hospital. His face when he saw all the baskets and trays consisting of the sweet goods was hilarious to all of us. He thought he had made a wrong turn and came to bakery instead. It was even funnier when his mouth began to water and turned beat red when Esme handed him one of the rolls, and tripled his heart beat with her beautiful smile.
"What do you guys think it would be like anyway? I mean to have lived for thousands of years like Aro?" Emmett tried to lighten the mood.
"Well first you have to able to imagine it. I for one can't. Maybe once I get there I'll be able to give you a better answer." Alice chuckled.
"Yeah. Maybe once we're the ancients we can go around and confound vampire communities and attack helpless little vamps like Edward here; weather permitted." Emmett's booming laugh rocked the car. Rosalie joined in as well but she only did so to get back at me. Jasper smiled brilliantly at Emmett's joke. I didn't think this was funny so far.
"What was with that ridiculous behavior of hers anyway? I mean she acted more like a newborn than anything else." Jasper tried to joke along with Emmett but as usual it wasn't long before he turned on Jasper.
"At least she wasn't making fun of my microscopic endowments." He snickered at Jasper whose lips pursed and the shadows beneath his amber orbs darkened.
"HEY! Jazz has nothing to be ashamed about. At least he can hold a note." I can't believe they were actually talking about this. Alice came to Jaspers defense immediately with some verbal abuse of her own.
"What do you know about my notes? Have you ever heard me doing soprano when Edward plays the piano." Rosalie shook her head embarrassed while Jazz and Alice combusted with laughter. I chuckled to myself too. Fortunately Emmett wasn't serious and only used ignorance as a form of humor. I had to admit that it did get me into a better mood.
The drive home as always didn't take long and before no time at all had passed I pulled in the driveway. I dragged behind the others as they hastily entered the house. I heard Esme humming a tune to herself out back in the gardens. Carlisle was still at work and prepping with the other doctors for the banquet. I figured I'd give it two or so hours before I would go and retrieve my tux from the cleaners. I picked up my pace and hurried upstairs to my room. Jasper and Emmett were going to continue their silly Play Station game in which for once Emmett was victorious and it was Jasper demanding a rematch. Rosalie went to watch them while Alice danced outback to assist Esme.
When I rounded the corner to my room I came to a sudden stop. I looked down the corridor leading to Carlisle and Esme's rooms and Carlisle's study. There was a faint aroma though I couldn't put my finger on it to what it was. It was definitely vampire but the scent was too faded for me to detect anything odd about it. It might as well have been the faded scent from Carlisle this morning. Yet, I could however distinctly identify the smell of burning fire. It smelled like somebody had lit a fire hours ago and the smog hadn't cleared yet. It was a sweet smell. I walked down the corridor leading to Carlisle's study investigating the strange occurrence. The closer I got to the study the stronger the smell of fire became. There were no other scents but it. I opened the door to Carlisle's study.
There was nothing wrong here. Everything was where it had always been. The monumental bookshelf's that covered all the walls with hundreds and hundreds of books, and his wooden desk and chair were all where they were supposed to be. There was however a trail. It was like following a thin path of fire that had been ignited on the carpet. I followed it intrigued by the sweet smell of flames. They lead behind Carlisle's desk and came to a sudden stop where his chair stood. Was Carlisle experimenting with something out of the ordinary? I crouched down and took a look beneath the desk and discovered nothing but white carpeting as far as the eye could see. I took a deeper breath and closed my eyes concentrating on the smell. It wasn't just on the carpet, it was airborne too. It encircled the drawer on the bottom that had a lock on it. It was where Carlisle kept the vampire index from Aro. I pulled it open and was surprised to find that Carlisle had left it unlocked. But then I took a better look at the metal mouth that protected the secrecy of the drawer, and it was broken.
I examined it closely before my eyes and noticed that it was simply smashed. I took a nervous look inside and was hoping to find the index, and prayed that it hadn't been abducted. Although, the smell of fire didn't belong to a human, and surely Esme would have noticed if any humans had emerged in the house. The index sat neatly in the drawer and seemed untouched. The smell however was surrounding it as well. I took the liberty of removing it and placed it on the desk. I flipped it open. At first glance it seemed like no one had tampered with it but then I noticed that the first page was loose. I carefully placed my fingers on the tender papyrus moving it up and down to find it barely attached to the spine.
What was this? I flipped to the back of the book. I figured that if there was something wrong with the first page then the last page must be the culprit. I would have easily thought that there was something wrong with the last chapter in the book if there was a last chapter. The last page was gone! It was the page that mentioned and listed the oldest names known to vampire kind. I flipped swiftly through the well preserved century old pages to make sure that it was in fact missing. Did Carlisle take it out? But he would never damage the book in such a way. It would be an easy fix though but why was the last page missing?
Maybe Carlisle removed it but why? I knew that he was currently obsessed with studying the history of the ancients but that insignificant reference held no information that could be considered worthwhile. He must have taken it out though. No one else could have. Everybody knew better than to mess with this old thing. It contained all of our knowledge and our secrets, and on top of that it was a gift from Aro and Carlisle held it dear. Aro thought that Carlisle could be trusted with the information on all of our kind which Carlisle felt very flattered by. If anyone could have done this than it must have been him but it was strange indeed why he would risk damaging it. And why would he break the lock and not just simply use his key? I would definitely want to question him about this later.
I placed the book back in the drawer and closed it and placed the broken lock on top of his desk. When I began to walk out of the study my thoughts about this strange smell returned to me demanding a good explanation for its existence, and some detective work on my part. I didn't have time for this now though. I would ask Carlisle later when he came home which was still about three hours away. I'd have to wait.
I secured the door behind me and flew down the hall to my room. No strange odors here but my own. I tossed my unnecessary schoolbooks on my desk and turned on my stereo. I skipped through the CD's inside of it until I ironically came to a stop when the melody of Serenata Immortale began to play. Why not.
The next two hours I had decided to wait out passed rather slowly. I decided to write in my journal which now housed an entire section dedicated to the mystery of her. I recorded every single detail I could remember of every encounter that I had with her. The events of the clearing and the frightening confrontation in the alley of Port Angeles were all listed here. I had also written down everything that Carlisle could tell me about the most ancient of vampires. I even went as far as creating bulletins and points A and B's in my pathetic attempt to draw a conclusion to all of this madness. I however always ended up in the exact same place as before when attempting to figure her out; a brick wall. Sometimes I felt like the answers were right there in front of me and all I had to do was turn on the light but I was unable to find its switch.
In the most peculiar aspects of these events though, I found myself no longer bored. It was like there was something to look forward to now. There was a mystery that needed unraveling. The more the mystery intensified itself at its very core the more I tried to journey there and uncover the secrets sleeping there. Of course the annoyance and gigantic amounts of irritation had to be a constant side effect.
The sky was already getting dark when the clock finally pointed at five. In an hour Carlisle would be coming home and I would be standing next to the door waiting. I wondered why he tore out the page with the ancient names. Maybe he wanted to catalog them elsewhere in the book. I tossed my journal aside and got up for an unnecessary stretch. Surprisingly the evening was cloud free but wore a dark shade of blue. The cleaners would be closing at seven tonight so I'd better make my way down there.
I checked to make sure I had money, and car keys in my pocket and headed downstairs. The others were nowhere to be seen. I heard them outside in the back yard. It sounded like Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie were throwing a football back and forth whilst Alice and Esme were discussing the plantation of various more flowers in the back. I didn't know why they even bothered. Winter would soon be upon us. It was already October.
I got to my car and brought it back to life and backed out of the drive and headed in the direction leading back to town. I turned on my lights just for show. It was actually more comforting knowing they were off rather than on but I'd better. I exhaled noticeably as I sped down the road. I really didn't want to go to the banquet but I didn't want to disappoint Carlisle either so I had to choose the lesser of two evils. I could always tell when I got right into town since I was always bombarded with hundreds of thoughts.
There were people doing their homework, people planning for dinner, and other youth inspired disturbing thoughts that shall remain unsaid. I could see the lights in the dry cleaners when I pulled up in their small parking lot and found them not to be very busy, as usual. The one thing I enjoyed about Forks was that the density of its population was considerably lower than any other towns around, and not to mention the cool breeze of the night air.
I took a peek into the cleaners through their glass windows before opening the door and saw a girl from school behind the counter, her name was Lauren. She heard me opening the door and turned around with glistening eyes. She was a blonde and considered popular at school, and seemed to always hang around with Jessica Stanley. Her main interest was a young man named Tyler but that didn't stop her from trying to get to me.
YES! Oh great. This should be illuminating.
I walked up to the counter planning on making this a quick visit before she'd get the chance to ask me out to dinner. I wasn't in the mood for devising a good back out plan.
"Dry cleaning for Cullen please." She smiled at me and I noticed how her eyes traveled the length of me.
"Of course. I'll be right back." She tried unsuccessfully to put a seductive tone in her voice and disappeared behind the swinging doors. I heard her mental thoughts deliberating a good strategy to use in order to ask me out. Oh please I was really not in the mood for this.
She emerged back from behind the doors with my tuxedo neatly wrapped in plastic wrappings. She placed it slowly on top of the counter in front of me and threw me what must have been seducing glances?
"That'll be ten even Edward." She said my name slowly and let it roll of her tongue that made me wish my mother had given me another one. I kept a friendly smile on my face and withdrew a twenty dollar bill from my pocket and handed it to her. When she reached for it I saw her plan of making physical contact but I wouldn't allow her my cold touch. As soon as her finger tips graced the bill I withdrew my hand back into my pocket.
She did a good job of hiding her disappointment and with quick reflexes captured the money before it floated onto the floor. She collected my change from the cash register and held out the ten dollar bill with her middle and index finger trying to once more come over as seductive. In a slow motion I snatched the bill from her and secured it in my pocket and reached for my tux and planned on hastily existing the building before she could execute her plan.
"So Edward…" Damn these human paces we have to pretend.
"There is a nice little Italian restaurant in Port Angeles and I've been meaning to go there for a while now but I'm a little scared of going by myself. Interested to be my protector?" She showed her semi white teeth and graced her tongue on the edges of her teeth. Smooth.
"I really don't like Italian. The cuisines just aren't my taste." I was hoping that would settle it but she had a couple of contingency plans.
"There is also a cute little Chinese place I've wanted to try too."
"I don't appreciate fish that much either." My god she had a million of these.
"How about a simply snack at McDonalds then?"
"I don't eat junk food."
"There is a nice little coffee shop in Seattle where books are a main source of discussion." She obviously noticed my main attention at school which was books.
"Coffee doesn't become well of me and my opinions are mine alone."
"There is a Halloween fest coming up in Port Angeles in just a few weeks how about you accompany me there?" She couldn't stop herself could she?
"I'm not much for parties. If you don't mind I'm usually very busy and don't have much time for things that you are suggesting. I hope you find someone else though that could escort you to all those places. Have a good night Lauren." This time I said her name in a much more elaborate and seductive tone that she could ever summon.
I heard her clenching her fists as I turned around and started to stalk out the door. There were quite a few rude comments made in her head and I had to stop myself from laughing at her failed attempts. I'm sure though that that wasn't the last time I would hear from her.
I put my wrapped tux in the back of the car and got back in the driver's seat and saw Lauren goggling at me from behind the desk without even making an attempt to be discreet about it. I put it in reverse and speedily pulled out of the lot and away from the dry cleaners. In the future I would be taking my business to Port Angeles.
Mission accomplished I thought wearily while I raced down the road. Carlisle would be home in about half an hour and I would be able to ask him about vandalizing his own book. I didn't think he would do such a thing though but nobody else regularly examined the index but him. Then there is that weird smell too.
I was on the dark highway now that let back to the manor when I saw what appeared to be a hitchhiker. It wasn't anything new, there were many around these areas. The figure walked in a slow motioned human pace and was examining the dark tree lines that were covering both sides of the highway. When I got closer I noticed something rather troubling. There were no thoughts. I should have heard their thoughts a mile away but nothing.
No way… It couldn't be. When I got closer the details of the dark figure became cleaner and I was able to distinguish shapes. The shape was that of a female with dark hazelnut brown mahogany hair that traveled down to the middle of her back and she wore a long black coat with an upside down V shaped hole in the back. IT WAS! I gripped the steering wheel tighter than before and heard the leather screeching beneath my fingers as I passed that dark figure. My eyes quickly traveled to the right side of the road when I saw my suspicions coming true. IT WAS HER!
As I passed her my mind immediately began contemplating. Should I stop? Should I keep going? Before I knew it my foot had slammed down on the break and the tires of my car shrieked in the sudden turn of directions and released white clouds of smoke until I finally came to a complete stand still. I took a daring look in the rear view mirror and noticed no apparent change in her movement. She traveled down the road with regular human speed observing the trees on either side of the road. It looked to me like she was searching for something.
I was faced with a difficult decision now. I should abide by Carlisle's warning and simply return home and go where I was planning on. He wanted no interaction between us and her. Carlisle feared what she was capable off and even more so he was frightened by the things he didn't know. That alone taught me that he very much believed what I did. She was an ancient.
I wanted to do what Carlisle had instructed us to do but the curious part of me held its own in battle against Carlisle's warnings. Technically though, he told us to flee and run away if we were to come face to face with her but I wasn't on foot now was I? The backdoor to his rule was small and very hazardous. My insides screamed at me and ordered me to put the car in reverse and talk to her, and find out all the answers that I sought. Would I get them? There was only one way to find out. Sorry Carlisle.
I put the car in reverse and made my way back down the road while keeping a good eye on her. Her position and posture hadn't changed. Before my electrical impulses could even respond to my minds orders I was already lowering the window on the passenger side. I was not getting out of this car! I came to a stop right before she slowly passed the car ignoring me. I know that she knows that I was here.
I had hoped for some form of response though, anything. I lightly touched the gas pedal and began inching forward trying to keep up with her slow pace as she continued to study the trees. I would have to be the one to start a conversation. As I looked at her I noticed once more how incredibly beautiful she was, more so than any other vampire I had ever met. It looked dazzling how her hair swung delicately in the cold breeze. It was hard to believe Carlisle's words of how she must have come from a dark place in time. She didn't even really look like some ancient vampire unless of course she wanted it that way.
She continued to ignore me. My lips quivered when I tried to formulate words in order to get her attention. Though I still had a small nag to pick with her I decided to approach this politely and indeed heed Carlisle's caution about not wanting to insult an ancient.
"Ex-Excuse me?" I was glad when the words left my mouth and it felt like I had won dominance with establishing the first contact. She paid me no mind. I knew she heard me.
"Hello?" She finally turned her head in my direction and I felt my silent dead heart wanting to revive and beat thousands of times a minute. Unfortunately it was not I that quirked her interest. She looked past me and examined the trees on the others side of the road. However this motion gave me the chance for a better look at her face once more. She looked relaxed and what seemed like patient. Her eyes blinked slowly like she was tired. I wondered what she was looking for. Then I noticed the small movements that her lips made. They moved gracefully in a synchronized formation like she was whispering. For the first time ever I suddenly felt a surge of heat inside of me.
Her lips looked so inviting and smooth. I wondered what it would be like to…touch them or… I shook my head. I had to stay focused on what I came here to do. Suddenly though I noticed a new sound entering the atmosphere. It was very low and almost undetectable if it wasn't for vampiric hearing. I tried to block out the sounds of the engines and the mild howling of the wind and concentrated on that sound alone. It was a melody, like a very slow song. It was her. She was singing.
"Beyond the stars horizons wait… through shadows and the cold abyss…"
Beautiful, just beautiful. The sound of her voice was so light and feminine. There was a perfect pitch to her singing as well. I listened closer than before.
"Forsaken in the dark we were… far away… from white shores.
The weeps of willows are our tears… bound forever… in eternal death."
If I didn't know any better than I'd say she was singing about vampires. Perhaps some sort of ancient hymn?
"A light to reach in the night… stretched out their hands all eight did. Bound forever… by the blood of man.
Now we travel down the road… and alone we fly with the winds. Eternally… hidden… in the hearts of worlds.
Forever shall we live… forever shall we live…
Never will we fade… never will we fade…
Us the Lords of old."
That slow paced song was definitely a reference to vampires, especially the last bit. I played with the idea that maybe she didn't respond because she was too consumed in her song. I tried to communicate with her again once the last word of her song had been uttered but as I was about to speak she simply started the low hymn all over again while continuing her quest of the trees.
I never thought this would be easy but I will NOT be ignored. I will make contact and receive the answers that I want.
Now that she was here, she was not getting away.
(Authors Note) – So, in the next chapter will have a rather heated discussion between the two and Edward will get the first glimpse of the danger that Bella (he'll also learn her name) referred to with her statement "stay away from the mountains". Please review.