Virgin Sacrifice

I couldn't breathe. My mouth was agape, gasping, but no air was coming in. In an instant my eyes flew open and I sat up, instinctively ripping the sweatshirt off of my soaked body. The air from the open window hit my skin immediately and I welcomed the goosebumps that rippled over my body. I breathed again and this time my lungs were filled with fresh, dry air. Finally coming out of my asphyxiated stupor, I ran a hand through my hair and groaned as it was sticky with sweat. It was at this time that I noticed just how sweaty I was and groaned again. While my torso had dried thanks to the fresh air from the window, my hair felt like I'd just stepped out of the shower and I could feel drops of perspiration dripping down into the crease of my knee. If there was one thing I hated, it was being sweaty. Perhaps that was why I hated physical recreation. However, at the moment I couldn't bring myself to care about physical recreation. All I could focus on was the fact that my legs were still sweating and I tore my sweatpants off also. Finally exposed, drying and cold, my mind was cleared entirely. And then only one thought could occupy it.

Alice.

Where was she? Given my recent struggle with sheets and covers she was not on my bed and I didn't hear a thud that indicated I had thrown her to the floor. She didn't leave did she? Just before I was about to panic, a voice whispered to me from the corner of the room.

"I'm here, Bella."

I quickly whipped my head to the left and my eyes focused on the shadowy figure resting in my desk chair. The window was opened only a crack now and she looked to have taken her jacket off as well, sitting by the wind in nothing but a tank top. Golden eyes seemed to glow at me and made me a bit nervous. Her skin was painfully pale and I stared at it for a moment, noting that she didn't seem to have a single blemish on her body. It made sense of course, but it was still kind of hard to grasp. I glanced down on my own arm and in about 2 seconds counted seven freckles. They looked so normal; I liked it. Not that I didn't like Alice's skin but it, like her, was simply different.

"Why are you over there?" I asked, leaning over to be closer to her, even if by only a few inches. Her teeth appeared to me in the night as she smiled before speaking.

"I sort of got paranoid and thought you were freezing, so I came over here and closed the window a bit." She paused then and inhaled before giving me a look I couldn't quite decipher in the darkness. "Though, judging by your recent actions I'd say that was a bad idea." Her bright eyes travelled lower and I blushed, pulling the sheets over me out of instinct. Alice grasped the point quickly and looked at me again. "Maybe I should go, for real."

"No, Alice, don't go," I urged, the covers falling as I swung my legs over to the side of the bed. I really shouldn't have been this comfortable half naked and with a vampire/succubus thing but my modesty seemed to be worth sacrificing in order to keep her to stay. Alice's eyes hastily looked me over before she turned away, covering her mouth with her hand in thought. I found my sweatshirt on the floor and pulled it on as I headed over to the shorter girl, crouching by the chair she was sitting in. Saying these next few words without sounding like a total creeper was going to be a difficult task. But Alice looked so forlorn that I didn't know what else to do in the current situation. Honesty always seemed to be the best policy with her, so I let her have it.

"I might have…sort of, put on these hot clothes on the off chance that you would sleep with me tonight. I mean, like, sleep next to. Not like…" I drifted, fuming from head to toe in embarrassment, and ran a hand through my hair. Alice smiled and nodded.

"Truth be told, I was kind of hoping that was a factor but…" she too, drifted and looked down to watch her hands entwine with themselves. I waited for a bit to see if she would continue and when she didn't, I leaned forward and gently rested my head on her thigh, making sure that my hair was between the two. I didn't know if my hair would do anything to deter my body heat but it couldn't hurt. I felt the weight of her hand on my head a few moments later and smiled and how comfortable I was. We sat like that for a few moments in silence before Alice finally removed her hand, causing me to look up at her. When I did I noticed that she was staring at me with hard eyes and a furrowed brow.

"Bella I…I feel like I need to know what's happening here."

"Shouldn't you know what's happening here? Or what's going to be happening here?" I touched my head and she blinked a few times. There was silence again and this was one I did not want to break. While I had an inkling of what she was talking about, I wasn't about to further the conversation. Alice brought it up, she could finish it. At least, I hoped she'd finish it. The vampire took a deep breath and rolled her eyes before facing me again.

"It's strange for everything to be so new. Things have been a functional cycle for so long that it's a hard habit to break, or something. Most likely I'm being cowardly." She laughed awkwardly and I smiled as best as I could at her, wanting to take her hand but resisting. "Okay," Alice blurted finally, seemingly coming up with what she wanted to say. Instead of speaking, however, she stood up and took my hands, lifting me up into an embrace. I smiled as I felt the pixie's arms around me and sighed into her shoulder. Alice let her hands linger for a few moments more before she pulled away, bringing one hand back to rest on the back of her neck.

"I'm going to let you decide," she said finally and with a single nod. "I'm just going to say that I know that this is new for you. And either we can just ease into it, take it as it comes…or you can decide to talk about it, and we'll have an entire Dr. Phil special about it." She smiled and reached for my hands again, waiting patiently for my response.

Truthfully, I would have been satisfied if this talk had never happened. It was always my intention to just take things with this girl as they came. I was always a better kinesthetic learner anyway. Talking never did much for me. But, it also seemed like I was in a bit of denial as well. Deep down, I knew I'd been dreading this talk, no matter how vague Alice had made it. And even though I knew what she felt for me (because I reciprocated it) it didn't deny the fact that I was having feelings towards another woman. Not that I hadn't felt these feelings for other women before. But this, if it progressed, was going to be the first relationship I'd ever had. Ever. Man or woman.

I'd been raised primarily by my mother, who had a couple of gay friends and sometimes I would listen to them talk about rights and freedom and love and I agreed with it all. And I knew that almost all of my generation were accepting or at the very least tolerant of same sex relationships. But even then, this was a big, strikingly new step for me, for anyone to take. I sighed, wondering how my small town father would take it and if my mother would still accept it if it was her own child that was gay. Alice smiled at me, still being patient and I returned it as her words rang through my head. Just take it as it comes. Eventually, I thought, it would all have to work itself out. And if it ended for better or for worse, it was a risk I was willing to take for the woman standing in front of me.

"I'd like to just go with the flow, Alice. Slowly, if you don't mind." Her grin widened and she bit the corner of her bottom lip in her teeth in the most adorable fashion.

"That's great. Perfect, even."

She then leaned in and hugged me again. And while I still enjoyed it, I felt, from her movements, that this was simply a friendly hug and embraced her thankfully. It was weird, feeling that with a vampire around that you were safe. But new things were happening right and left in this backward town and it probably did me no good to sit and dwell on them. Alice released me a few moments later and gestured to the clock on my bedside table.

"It's still early, Bella. Why don't you try for a little more sleep?"she asked me as she headed over to the sheets and placed them back on the bed, folded over for me to climb into. I nodded, the mentioning of sleep awaking the fatigue within me and crawled eagerly into bed. Though I was going to ask her to join me, Alice climbed on the bed after me without hesitation. We got in the same position as before, with her arm draped lazily over me and before I could really note just how content I was, I was asleep.

0-0-0-0-0

"Bella? Hey, Bells?"

I woke up suddenly, and instantly noticed that I was alone in my bed. The voice that I heard wasn't Alice's and I rubbed my eyes to help them focus on the figure in my doorway. Charlie was looking down at me with a sympathetic smile on his face. "Morning, Bells. I was just wondering if you felt up for school this morning?" I returned his smile and stretched under the covers. Alice must have been hiding from my father. It was kind of humorous.

"I don't think so, dad, if that's okay. I'm still feeling a little out of it."

"That's fine. I already called the school," he answered with a chuckle. "They seemed to understand too. The kid driving the van isn't coming in either and of course Alice is out for a while. Say, did you get to see her yesterday? How's she doing?" Charlie's eyes widened a bit as he took another step inside of the door. I shrugged, trying to figure out what kind of reaction would be most appealing and less fishy.

"Well, she was sleeping when I went to see her but Dr. Cullen said that she was out of surgery and would be released soon. He said if I wanted to I could come back and see her. I might do that later today." Charlie nodded.

"That'd be nice of you, Bells. I'll give the doctor a call today and see if he needs anything. Now, I don't want to hear that you were playing hooky and goofing around somewhere, okay? You can leave this house only to visit Alice or head to school. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Do you need anything before I go?"

"No, I'm fine. Have a good day at work."

"Thanks, Bells. Feel better." He then gave me a single nod and closed the door behind him. I listened for his footsteps down the stairs and a moment later the front door opened and closed. Not a second after the front door shut, my closet opened and out stepped Alice. She appeared to be in new clothes from last night and was smiling from ear to ear.

"Good morning, Bella. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, thanks, Alice. Did you?"

"We don't sleep."

"Oh, my bad."

She shrugged and turned to face my closet. I studied her cute designer jeans and top and smirked as I could practically see her scowling at my own meager supply of cheap, comfortable clothes. "Well, I was going to pick an outfit out for you but…they're all the same. So, I'll leave you to get changed. See you downstairs, yeah?"

"Sure, but I think I'm gonna have a quick shower."

"No problem. I'll be waiting." She smiled again and touched my reddened cheeks before heading out of the door. After grabbing a change of clothes I headed into the bathroom and jumped into the shower. I spent a lot of time scrubbing without soap and washed my hair twice. If my scent was super alluring, it'd be best to try and make it as subtle as possible for my first meeting with a family of vampires. Once out of the shower I quickly ran a brush through my hair and tried to make myself look as presentable as possible. And while my calm reflection fooled even me, I was a nervous wreck on the inside. I was meeting a family of super beautiful, super inhuman vampires. That was intimidation for you. When I finally looked as best as I possibly could I headed down the stairs where Alice, as she'd said, was waiting for me on the couch. She lifted her nose in the air as I entered and smiled.

"You don't smell as strongly. Was that your intent?"

"Maybe,"

Alice laughed and rose from the couch. "Well, that's probably a nice idea. Though, when I say as strongly, that doesn't mean that it's still not strong." She then headed around the couch and came to stand near me. "While you were in the shower I called my family and they're thrilled that you're coming. In fact, Esme, my mother, would like to cook lunch for you. Is that alright?"

"You guys can cook?"

"Well…no, but she wants to cook for you. Or she wants to use the kitchen. Probably a little bit of both."

"Sure, that'd be fine. Wait, would I eat it alone?"

Alice thought for a moment, then her face changed expressions as she realized my meaning. "Yes, you would. I know! I'll call her back and ask her to make it to go. No, better idea: Let's head over now and you can help her cook to go." She turned to head to the phone then stopped, shaking her head and turning back to me. "I'm so sorry, Bella. Would that be okay with you? I didn't think to ask and that's horrible of me."

I smiled, shaking my head. "It's fine, Alice. I like cooking. And it would be a bonding experience…or something." Alice grinned and bounded to the phone. I watched as she dialed the number with astonishing speed. When the other end of the line picked up she began speaking so quickly that I from where I stood it sounded like a muffled mumble. It was interesting to watch. When she hung up the phone she bounded over ecstatically to me.

"Esme loves the idea. Are you ready to leave now?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Great. May I drive your truck?"

"So long as you don't force the speed. It's not an Infinite, you know?"

"I know," Alice said with a wink before grabbing the keys, my hand, and pulling me out the door. She opened the passenger door for me and helped me up, which was strange but nice at the same time. Then she bounded over to the driver's side and leaped in effortlessly, starting up the truck. "I like this truck," she said absently as she pulled out of the driveway. "It's…antique. Reminds me of the time of when this truck was in style, not nostalgically so."

"You remember that?"

"The fifties and sixties? Sure. I remember everything since I've been changed. I guess being a vampire also gives you a wonderful memory."

"I could sure use one of those," I muttered, thinking of my own sloppy memory. Alice didn't respond and when I looked over at her she looked like I'd just told an offensive joke.

"Did I say something wrong?" I asked softly. Alice turned to me quickly and shook her head.

"Oh, no of course not, Bella. I was just thinking about something." She smiled and shifted gears in the truck. It groaned as it sped up and I watched the excitement in her eyes and knew that she was serious about me not saying anything wrong. It was nice to be with someone as expressive as her. We drove in silence for a bit and I noticed that Alice kept the truck at a smooth 45 mph. While it was taking a little long to get to her house, it was worth it because she'd listened to what I said about the speed.

"So, is there anything I need to expect?" I asked as Alice turned down the road that headed to their house. We were about five minutes away now. Alice sighed and licked her lips for a moment as she thought.

"Well, you do smell very intoxicating. And while there is no danger," she looked right at me as she said it to emphasize her point, "they might be a bit hesitant around you. Except for Carlisle. Carlisle's as human as it comes when it comes to blood. And Esme will probably smother you. She's the sweetest person, Bella. Rosalie…" She sighed, looking up at the roof of my truck. "Rosalie is not as she seems to you. It's not my place to tell you why but just know that she means well. She does. And Edward will scowl. He scowls because he reads minds, but cannot read yours. And that frustrates him, much to my amusement.

"And Emmett, Rose's husband, is just a big friendly bear. He might play a prank on your or joke around with you and while he can take things a bit too far, he's just trying to be nice. Does that sound alright, still? If you're not comfortable, I can take you back," Alice offered as we pulled up at the house. She kept it running to prove her point and looked over at me. And while I could tell that she was serious, a part of me kind of wanted to meet the family. If nothing else, that they were a part of Alice's life.

"No, I'm fine. A part of me might be looking forward to it." Alice broke into a large grin again and laughed.

"Great! Let the virgin sacrifice begin!" she shouted as she jumped out of the car and ran over to my side.

"That was a joke, right?" I asked as she helped me down.

Alice said nothing but merely winked as she led me to the door, which opened and revealed 5 hungry-looking vampires.