Hi everybody, I'm soooooooooooooo sorry that I have taken so long to update. Long story short, I had two papers, an in-depth study guide, and extensive studying to do (and still do) for my class final. I didn't want to post something that was half-assed or riddled with errors and questionable transitions, so I finally got around to finishing the chapter and correcting it.

Thank you again to all of my readers, reviewers, and those who just discovered this story and added it to their favorites/alerts.

As always, the only thing I own is the plot, and a psycho cockatiel named Sybil (who has multiple personalities, none of which are good). SM is the lucky owner of Twilight.

Anyway on with the show kids!

The Light in His Eyes

Chapter 11: Window of Fear

EPOV

He was almost vibrating, his growls were so intense. The boy's thoughts were almost as frantic as the tremors rocking his frame.

Threat, he's a threat… Eliminate the threat, he's seen you…

You weren't supposed to be seen… She'll punish you… Bad Riley…

Don't think about it, just do it, get rid of him…

Blood, it's everywhere… oh… so nice…

I was becoming dizzy with all of the thoughts swirling through his mind. Usually the mind reading was bad enough if I was in a very populated area, but when it came to a vampire's thoughts, it intensified tenfold.

He was so young, probably a year two younger than I was in human years when I was turned. It saddened me, his life was cut short and I would have to cut his second even shorter. Carlisle had instilled in me his empathy. I may be higher in the food chain, but I tried to retain my human emotions. This vampire was wild, unchecked, and was killing humans. I couldn't allow it to continue; there was too much at stake for vampires to go on killing sprees if we were to live peacefully in society.

I crouched to match his posture, when two things slammed into my awareness. He had said he was sent by someone, and that meant only one thing: one of Carlisle's worst fears. A vampire was turning people indiscriminately, perhaps just for fun, then forcing them to do her bidding. This obviously wouldn't bode well the human population in the US, and it would hamper all of his plans for our peaceful transition into their world. The second thing to register in my mind was the frantic beating of a heart, steadily making its way closer to us. It was a rhythm I would know anywhere.

Bella.

I growled as I realized that she hadn't listened to me when I sent her to the store, my only way of keeping her safe in a time like this. After the shock of her actually approaching us wore off, I had another epiphany of sorts. I should have known by now that Bella wouldn't just stand down; she was just a little too stubborn for her own good, and while I found this to be a little endearing sometimes, it was entirely inappropriate at this point in time. She was going to get herself hurt, or even worse if I couldn't move fast enough if something went wrong.

No Edward, you can't think like that. Bell will be safe on your watch. She will be.

Her footsteps faltered behind me when she registered the tension between Riley and me. "Edward?" When I didn't turn around and acknowledge her, she decided to further endanger herself by coming to a rest by my side. My instincts were telling me to grab her and run, but I couldn't risk him tracking us once he caught her scent. I was capable of resisting the allure of her blood, but it was obvious that Riley wasn't, not by a long shot.

I watched as Riley inhaled rapidly as his fight or flight instincts kicked in when he realized he was outnumbered. As the air hit, his eyes became even more crazed and his tremors increased, this was it.

He could only control himself for a few seconds, until he finally lurched forward in a frenzy to get to the nearest source of blood. There was no me in that moment; just the animalistic creature that I am whose only instinct was to protect what was mine. As carefully as I could, I gave Bella a little shove behind me, just to get her out of the line of fire and charged ahead, keeping Riley in my sights.

Our frames clashed with brutal force, and our growls increased in volume. Despite the fact that he was recently turned and had the extra strength due to his residual blood in his body, my mind reading abilities allowed me to keep the upper hand as we continued to charge at each other. My mouth was overflowing with venom, fangs fully extended, ready to incapacitate my opponent, so I could finish the job, and his was too. There was no doubt that we would be fighting until one wasn't 'alive' anymore. As we flew around the surrounding trees, I always made sure he was as far as possible from Bella. I dimly heard her movements away from us as our skirmish continued.

Riley's thoughts were becoming more erratic as he vacillated from staying to finish the fight, or to return to whoever she was and relay his activities for the night. It was becoming more difficult to pinpoint his next move, and if it was possible for my kind to get a migrane, I'm pretty sure I was experiencing one right now.

Run… Fight… Escape!

Finish him; you weren't supposed to be seen!

BLOOD!

She won't be happy with you; you didn't finish your job.

Just a taste….

A sound that will haunt me for the rest of eternity reached my ears as I was pushing Riley back into the trees, preparing myself for the inevitable: his destruction at my hands. It was a cry of pain, anguish, and I never wanted to hear it again. Distracted, I shot a quick glance toward the sound, and was met with the sight of Bella, cradling her left wrist to her chest, gritting her teeth in an obvious attempt to push through the pain. Suddenly, she dropped to the ground, out like a light. That scared me more than everything that I had witnessed in my century of existence.

Riley saw his opportunity to break free as I was preoccupied with Bella, and made a dash for the forest, heading north, towards Canada. I would have followed him, but she was much more important to me in that moment. Spitting out the remaining venom in my mouth, I took a couple of unnecessary breaths to calm myself. I couldn't quite control my instincts, so my fangs remained exposed, but I couldn't wait any longer.

I cautiously made my way towards Bella, trying to get a handle on my more animalistic tendencies, until I was kneeling by her side. Thankfully, her heart was beating steadily, just a little faster than normal, but was slowing down. Slowly, as not to injure her any more than she already was, I lifted her arm to inspect the damage. Her wrist was inflamed, but I didn't think that it was broken, just a bad sprain. Since my shirt was torn from my conflict with Riley, I created a splint (just in case it was broken) with a small branch from a nearby tree. With her arm in place, I started to prop her up against a tree trunk, hoping that she would wake up.

I was relieved when I heard her heartbeat and breathing pattern speed up, signaling her waking up. When her eyes opened, they were a little dazed, but cleared up rather quickly. "Edward? What are you doing?" Her voice was so small and sounded so tired that I felt bad. One night with me and her life had been in danger, and she had been hurt because of it.

I sighed, sat down, and slowly situated her on my lap; I was sure that weren't any other dangers amongst the trees, so we were safe. In this position, our faces were on the same level, and she was staring into my eyes quite intensely, full of questions and patience. So with another (although resigned) sigh, I recounted what had happened, and in doing so, the terror of seeing her in pain resurfaced, consuming me.

Bella touched my cheek with her good hand, and ran her thumb across the surface of one of my fangs, and smiled a tiny smile, her eyes alive with compassion and love. It was a look that I would never tire of seeing. The feeling of her skin on my fang elicited a more base response, and I let out an involuntary, possessive growl.

"I don't blame you at all, Edward, got it? I know I can be a little pushy 'pain in the ass' as Tanya affectionately calls me, so what happened wasn't your fault." She finished her declaration with a soft smile, and she carefully wrapped her arms around my neck, burying her face, into my chest.

Although I wanted to forgive her right away, I simply couldn't. She had placed herself in a nightmare that Chief Swan would have a heart attack over if he ever found out the truth. I just couldn't fathom what was so important that she would potentially throw her life away.

I had to confront her (even though I loathed to) about this. Steeling myself, I began, "Why, why on earth would you do something so… stupid Bella? Do you realize how dangerous that situation was? I mean, I know you are an independent person, but there are times where I think my opinion should count a little more. Seeing you hitting the ground like that, and hearing you in pain almost destroyed me. Do you know what I mean?" I was close to shaking her shoulders just to get my point across, but I restrained myself.

By the time I had finished my little rant about her being safety conscious, I realized that I had looked away from her as I had gathered my thoughts. I quickly shifted back to her face, and saw the shame emitting from her expression. She quickly looked down, and took a deep breath. When she jerked her head back up, I saw some defiance flaring in her eyes. She opened her mouth and so began her own rant.

"Edward, I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you, but honestly, are you that dense that you don't realize what was so important for me to 'risk my life' as you put it? You! It was you, you idiot!" She gave me a little tap on the head for emphasis as she called me what I hoped wouldn't be my new nickname.

Reluctantly, she continued, "I guess I also need to apologize to you about your opinion in my decisions. I really never thought that I disregarded you so much, but now that you pointed it out, I see that I have, and I'm sorry." Her eyes glazed over with unshed tears and when I went to wipe them away, she stopped me. "Wait, I need to finish this thought, you know how scatterbrained I can be sometimes." This earned a chuckle from both of us, and she started speaking again. " I had no idea what I would be walking into when I made my way towards you, and I admit that was stupid, but you mean so much more to me than my own safety, and I couldn't not be there with you. Can't you hear my heart beating? I wasn't seriously injured; it was just me tripping over my own feet again."

I was so overwhelmed with emotion at her declaration of throwing caution to the wind for me that I couldn't get close to her fast enough. I brought my hands to the sides of her neck and my thumbs nudged her chin up. I leaned in and placed a lingering kiss onto her chest, just reveling in the soothing rhythm.

Mine. My mind kept repeating the word like a mantra as I skimmed my mouth upwards and sucked on the hollow at the base of her throat, inhaling her scent, much more powerful there because the skin was so thin there. I could feel her hum in contentment and I smiled into her flesh and then swooped in to attack her lips.

After we parted (mainly for her to breathe) she surprised me with the most random question. "So, would you consider that our first real fight?" It was actually quite funny when she asked this because her eyes lit up with hopefulness, as if fighting was a good thing.

I gave her a bewildered stare for just a minute, and then burst into laughter at the absurdity of the moment. I just shook my head and kissed the tip of her nose.

When Bella asked me about Riley, I knew I couldn't lie to her; she had developed the uncanny ability to decipher my statements and deem them truthful or otherwise. It was actually sort of scary and saddening for me, because it reminded me a lot of Alice. If I ever tried to lie, the future would change, and she would then make a decision to 'out' me to the rest of the family or the friends we were visiting with. Yes, she was definitely my juvenile sister.

We stayed in the trees for just a few more minutes, but we couldn't escape reality forever, and I had to get her home. Unfortunately, she wasn't in the pristine condition that she had been in when we left. I was sure that once I got her home, I could help her take care of her wrist. As usual, she tried to let me off the hook as I drove the truck back to Forks. With her wrist clasped in my hand to keep the swelling down, she tried to placate me by giving me a run down at how well she could take care of herself.

"Seriously Edward, your worry is completely unfounded. I have hurt myself before, and I will again. This actually reminds me when I was in elementary school. You know how they have lines painted onto asphalt, and that magically creates a playground? Well I was skipping, and I use that term loosely, towards my class since lunch was over, and I wasn't looking where I was going. Of course, an older kid ran into me doing the same thing, and I fell and hit a tree. As I fell my ankle twisted and lo and behold, it was sprained. Oh and then there was this one time…"

The tales that I heard on the drive back made the trip relatively short and some were quite astonishing to hear. I had never encountered a person that was so prone to accidents and injuries before, and it made my protective side flare up.

By the time we were pulling up her driveway, I was even more resolved to help her despite her protests. Although she was more than capable of taking care of her injuries, she was also more than capable of creating them in the first place.

Unfortunately, Chief Swan had other plans. He was waiting up (as usual) for her, and when he saw her wrist, he, as Tanya would say, 'flipped his shit' and started yelling at me. Bella wouldn't have any of it though.

"Dad, seriously it wasn't a big deal, I just tripped over my own feet in the woods." After the words left her mouth, Bella's eyes widened, while I froze, a natural reaction to surprise. I was going to tell Chief Swan about Riley eventually, but I had been so worried about Bella, that her well being overshadowed my anxiousness about the vampiric situation I had found myself in. She had slipped up, and Chief Swan went into interrogation mode.

"Isabella Marie, what were you doing in the woods, and don't you dare lie to me!" I swear, his face turned purple as he said that. Like a typical teenager who was actually respectful of parents, I shrunk back from the ferocity of his tone. Bella was not much better; she started to stutter, which surprised me even more, I had never heard her stutter like that before.

"D-dad I, uh, well…" I couldn't take it anymore and stepped in for the both of us.

"Chief Swan, I'm going to be honest with you, remember the homicide I discovered a couple weeks back? Well, I found the one responsible. I recognized the scent and found him in the woods near Port Angeles. He was there to feed, and it seemed like he was on some sort of scouting mission for another vampire." When I told him this, the purple hue of fury drained from his face, replaced by a puce complexion. It seemed that he put two and two together.

He rounded on Bella again. "Are you insane Bella, you were there, weren't you! Haven't I taught you anything about keeping yourself safe? My God! You could have been killed!" He was shaking his head and pacing around the living room. His thoughts were probably traveling the fastest I had ever heard a human think.

This is dangerous; I'm going to have to radio the surrounding stations to be more cautious and more aware… Jesus, a rogue…

How could Bella be so oblivious to danger? Surely I taught her better than that.

I know Edward is trying to stay on my good side, but why is he the only one experiencing these things? I may be just an overbearing parent, but my current worries are warranted, aren't they?

Just thinking about this is making me tired. I need a Vitamin R right now…

Bella needs to go to the hospital…again. She's becoming such a magnet for trouble. Thank God I got medical insurance when she moved in; otherwise we would be flat broke.

I felt somewhat guilty about the whole situation since it was my idea to go to Port Angeles tonight. It was obvious that Chief Swan loved his daughter very much, and I wanted to ease his worries.

"Chief- uh Charlie, I'd be happy to take Bella to the ER for you; I feel responsible for this, and I want to make it up for you." I made sure to keep steady eye contact to convey my sincerity.

He mulled it over in his head for a few seconds, and decided to reject my offer and take her himself. Bella had other ideas.

"Dad, I don't need to go to the ER, I know that my wrist is sprained, and I've visited enough doctors to know what they're going to suggest I do: ice it and keep it wrapped. It's not rocket science." She punctuated the last statement with an eye roll with a dramatic sigh and exaggerated shoulder shrug.

Although, her argument had merit, Charlie was as stubborn as his daughter. He put his foot down both figuratively and physically. "Bella considering your actions tonight, I'm going to say this once: you're going to see a doctor, and that's that." He reaffirmed his words with a nod and turned his attention to me.

"As much as I appreciate what you did for Bella tonight, as well as the general public Edward, I think it's best if you would head home now." Both his thoughts and eyes were pleading with me, and I couldn't turn him down.

I responded somewhat despondently (I wanted to stay with Bella so bad), "Of course Chief Swan, I'll just leave now." I turned toward the front door and started to leave, not wanting to upset Bella's father any more than I had tonight.

Bella followed me outside onto the porch and closed the front door as Charlie collected his keys to the police cruiser. She turned to me and pulled me into a hug. As I wrapped my arms around her small frame, I rested my chin on the crown of her head. I just enjoyed the warmth radiating from her body, when she finally pulled away.

Looking into my eyes she raised her hand to cup my cheek. "Edward, it seems like I've apologized all night long, so why stop now, right?" I raised an eyebrow for her to continue. "I'm sorry for Charlie's behavior tonight. Really, he was mad at me and he took it out on you, I'm sorry."

I smiled and covered her hand in mine. "Really, Bella it's fine. I just had as much to do with the danger earlier, so in a way, he was justified."

She sighed, then stood up on her tiptoes, so I leaned down in response. She gave me a quick kiss goodbye, since her father was coming.

"I'll see you later, I promise." I turned around and dashed my way to Tanya's house. When I was in the foyer, I could hear the television in the living room.

For once, one of Tanya's sisters was with her. I walked into the room and leisurely sat down. I was introduced to Irina, and we made polite conversation, feeling each other out, until we were comfortable in each other's presence.

At first, Irina's succubus tendencies made themselves known.

Hmm…cute.

Sex hair, gorgeous eyes…

I want to suck on his Adam's Apple.

Of course these thoughts caused the discomfort that I was used to feeling regularly to bubble up. I looked at Tanya, pleading with her to make her sister stop. Being Tanya, she smiled wickedly at me and let her sister's thoughts continue to pelt me for another minute, before she took pity on me and revealed my ability to Irina.

This brought about more humiliation, this time from Irina, and allowed me some relief from her more explicit thoughts.

Tanya went further to spare me from her sister in the future by mentioning my ties to Bella. This piqued her interest, but I jumped in with I hope was a good distraction (not to mention a more pressing matter in my opinion).

Quickly, I confessed to both of them what had transgressed this evening. Of course it took a little longer to get through it this time, because Irina's inner teenage girl came to the surface with brutal intensity.

"Edward you have to tell me all about Bella, I only get a very brief description every once in a while from my sister…"

If I had been uncomfortable listening to her more intense thoughts about me, it was nothing compared to what I felt relaying my most deep and passionate feelings I had for Bella to another person. Finally, after half an hour of dissecting everything between Bella and me (and a lot of squeals and oooh's and awww's), I was able to stress the situation that we really should be focusing on.

Quite frankly, we couldn't do anything besides what the local law enforcement would be doing. Any action might cause a larger conflict, and it would snowball out of control.

Tanya thought it would be best if I contacted my family, her reasoning being that the vampire that was turning others indiscriminately; and it might lead to others doing the same thing. Comparing our experiences with others might give us a clue about what we were dealing with.

I called as soon as Tanya suggested it, hoping someone would pick up in the midst of their now hectic schedules.

It took less than one ring before I heard the other phone connect.

A voice I had listened to for advice and sibling betrayal came through clear as a bell.

"Hello Edward."

I nodded knowing full well that she couldn't see me; it was just a human instinct that had stuck with me through the years, and replied quietly, "Alice."

"I'm sorry that I couldn't call you; I know you didn't have the ideal romantic evening. I only received flashes of your night, and by the time you crossed his scent it was too late." she mumbled apologetically.

I sighed, knowing that she had at least caught glimpses of the sheer terror I had lived through in the past couple of hours.

"It's fine Alice, we're fine now. She wasn't seriously hurt, and that's all that matters to me." I tried to reassure my sister that the attack wasn't her responsibility; it was just a random thing that I ran into Riley. The only thing that wasn't coincidental in this situation was the fact that he was sent there. He was in charge of something, and that spelled trouble in my book.

"When I did see what was going to happen, I told Carlisle what I saw, so he is somewhat in the loop, but you'd better explain in more detail. He'll be here in three… two… one…" I heard a door open and footsteps.

"Alice, you wanted to see me?" Carlisle sounded a lot older and more tired than I had ever witnessed when I lived with him.

"Carlisle your son is on the phone for you." She played up the most patronizing tone she could muster, resembling the stereotypical teacher that every student hated with a passion.

"Edward?" Carlisle seemed surprised to hear from me so soon again. As a habit, my calls in the past were few and fleeting.

"Carlisle, how is everything going with your proposals and presentations?" I was hoping for somewhat good news, but either way, my encounter and the information that I had acquired because of it wouldn't brighten his day, and I almost didn't want to in that moment, but it had to be done.

"Oh you know son, politicians arguing for hours on end on a single sentence in my transcripts to the point where I almost want to give up, because there isn't any progress being made, and it becomes an ego-fueled insult battle. " He sighed, and I could picture him sitting down heavily somewhere in the house, rubbing his eyebrow in agitation.

"I'm sorry to hear that Carlisle, I know how much it means to you, much less the rest of us. The process may take a while, but think, if we have the results in our favor, it will be so satisfactory." I knew that he was my father figure, but he needed reassurance like everyone else.

"Thank you son, it's been a long day." He sighed once more before speaking, "So, Edward, was there something you wanted? I don't mean to be rude, but I have to say that this call was a little unexpected."

I rolled my eyes at his postulating, but he was right, so I trudged ahead in this very dismal conversation. "You remember the nomad that had come through and left that mangled body by the high school?"

"Yes, it was very upsetting to hear son, why? Do you have a lead on the case?"

Taking a deep breath, I relayed the story of what happened to Bella and me for the second time, and it still was as traumatizing to me as when I lived through it. Bella meant everything to me, and the thought of her hurt, disturbed me to the core.

After I had stopped talking, I was met with silence. I knew that Carlisle was mulling over the implications of having a vampire amassing servants of some kind for her pleasure.

Finally, he took a deep breath, and spoke, "Well son, you are correct in being anxious about this. Unfortunately, incidents like these have been reported across the country, but having a young vampire scouting for another, obviously skilled vampire is deeply disturbing."

"I just wanted to warn you about the less than optimal developments happening here; it's relevant to your work, and taking it into consideration for your future actions."

"Thank you for the heads up, son. Now, Esme finally got Alice to crack; Bella is now a household name here. She seems to be even more smitten with her than you are." He chuckled and we spent the next couple of minutes talking about Bella, mainly information about her that Esme would eat up due to her mother hen tendencies. Finally, I called it a night, and said goodbye.

After closing my phone, I closed my eyes, wishing for sleep that would never come, listening to the sisters flit about the house, taking care of human chores, and gossiping.

Without warning, I could sense the change in the electromagnetic field near my phone, indicating an incoming call or text. The sweet piano melody ringtone broke the silence of the room, and I knew immediately who it was.

I snatched my phone from my pocket again, and opened it with no hesitation.

"Bella?"

"Edward." Her voice was no more than a whisper. I stiffened up immediately.

"Bella? What happened? Are you alright?" Thousands off scenarios of danger ran through my head.

"Edward, something or someone was outside my window. It was scratching the glass; it woke me up. Whoever it was left a note, and Edward, it scared me more than the noise. Can you please come here? I didn't want to tell Charlie yet; I caused him so much worry tonight, I didn't want to add to it."

She sounded so distressed, I couldn't refuse her. "I'll be there Bella, stay away from the window, and hide as best as you can, don't turn on the lights. And don't hang up!"

I flew out of Tanya's house, barely registering their inquiries as to where I was going as I sped down the road.

"Okay, Edward." I could hear her rapid breathing through the phone, and I could just imagine her fear, heightening my own.

I turned the corner, and headed straight to her house. As I hit the pavement of her driveway, I could smell the scent that had encountered earlier.

Riley.

I quickly scaled the tree by her window, and sniffed around it. He had been here. Here at her house. I was seething.

"Bella I'm outside the window now, your safe, please let me in." I could hear movement in her room, and I saw her climb out of the chest at the foot of her bed with a look of worry on her face.

She ran across the floor, and quickly unlocked the window. I yanked it open and quickly closed it behind me, relocking it.

I took one look at Bella, and scooped her up into a hug, keeping her as close to me as possible. She was shaking like a leaf.

She brought her hand up, clutching a piece of paper so tightly that it was quickly becoming a twisted, misshapen ball.

With an unnecessary breath to calm my nerves, I took it from her and opened it.

Well you guys, any thoughts, suggestions, etc.? How about you? Have you had any embarrassing injuries? The story that Bella told Edward actually happened to me. I was so small when it happened; I couldn't use crutches, and was wheelchair-bound for a few weeks. Remember reviews are like the icing on the cake, so please do! Thanks!

PS 5,000 words!

-gg