"Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down."


Chapter Eleven: A Different Kind of Burning

The driveway was longer and darker than I remembered. The trees that lined its sides loomed wider, blending together to block out any flickers of the moonlight. Even the few lanterns dotted up the gravelly path seemed to contribute nothing to the dense night. The house that lay before me was clearly distinguishable though; a few of its windows glowed from the gentle lights behind them. I knew that this was my old home; this was the house where I was born. I was suddenly terrified at the sight of it, and it felt as though a great weight was strapped to my chest, making my breathing difficult.

I knew I had to go in, somebody was waiting for me, and I had to go.

The silence of the night exploded into a mass of terrifying screams. The screeches and roars that came from the house were only magnified when its front door crashed open, and three very familiar vampires raced out of it. Victor crashed out first, racing from the screams still coming from inside with his hand pressed into Francesca's. Cora raced behind, but she did not follow them as they ran into the trees, instead she came to me.

"I'm sorry Ness, I had no choice!" She was crying, not a dry, vampire-sob, but there were actual tears streaming down her gentle face. "It's over now, I promise!" I could hardly make out her words over the painful commotion still leaking from every room of the Cullen house. Victor and Francesca were shouting from the trees, calling the two of us to them. From everywhere came sounds of pain, but the only pain that bothered me was Cora's, as her sad, desperate eyes looked into mine.

The eye-contact between us was shattered when Cora's body was launched across the driveway. The impact of Francesca colliding into her sent them both rocketing into the trees, snarling wildly at each other. I tried to follow them, desperate to drag Francesca from Cora, desperate for us both to be away from the torturous sounds still filling the night sky. But a pair of cold, vice-like arms came around me, dragging me from Cora's screams, back into the silence of the woods.

{--}

Achieving sleep had been torment. And now, as I looked down on the tiny, battery powered clock beside my bed, I found I'd only managed just over an hour of rest before being thrown awake by the most vivid dream I had ever had.

I felt disturbingly refreshed for saying it was five AM, and I'd had barely an hours sleep. I didn't let my thoughts linger over the reasons for my maximised energy; I'd done more than enough of that last night.

The living room was empty. I crept out from my room, my eyes taking everything in despite the lack of any light. A big paper bag on the coffee table caught my attention. Inside were my human maintenances, the ones Cora always brought to me without fail. I leaned inside, fishing out the contents as my childlike excitement crashed against my very adult emotional brick-wall. Batteries; about thirty of them, I smiled as I remembered how the number had increased with each package. An individual bag crammed with underwear; Cora and Francesca didn't do laundry. A few new pairs of pyjamas, a stack of magazines, three books, four CD's (Cora had come to know my taste well and now felt confident enough to choose herself), and a vast selection of toiletries. I flipped open a bottle of the shampoo and breathed it in; it was organic so that it the chemical smell wouldn't bother any of the sensitive noses around the place, but there was a hidden scent of cherries. The package made my stomach twinge and my eyes water as I remembered what had transpired between Cora and I last night. I scooped the bag back up and hurled it onto my bed, grabbing all the toiletries, a towel and change of clothes before heading to the bathroom to shower.

{--}

A lack of hot water's not such a problem when your internal body temperature's inhumanly high. Ok, so it's not ideal, but it's not uncomfortable. After drying myself off I dressed. It was hard not to think of Cora as I slipped on the garments, each of which she had got for me. I threw on pale denim shorts, a loose black cami and a long grey cardigan; I then slid the navy suede boots I got for Christmas over some high black socks. I stared at my feet for a second, hoping with all I had that Cora would be there when I threw open the bathroom door.

No such luck, the only face that I encountered was Francesca's; looming outside the bathroom, that sickening grin of hers out in all its glory.

"Mmmm, you smell delicious!" I shoved past her and went straight to my room to retrieve my CD player; I was definitely going to need to block her out if I was to refrain from launching an attack on that smug little face of hers. When I turned from my bed she was there again, a pathetically false frown on her face. "Aww, Poor Nessie. Did Cora tell you off last night?"

"I suggest you leave me alone, human blood's had a funny effect on me." She just laughed, moving her face closer to mine.

"You couldn't hurt me little girl. You have no idea what you're messing with, do you? It really would be sad if it wasn't so funny!" I shoved her arm from the doorframe it leaned on and pushed through the space, dropping down onto the couch. "How about next time, you find your own food though. I really don't like sharing."

"There won't be a next time. I'm never doing that again." I hated that her laugh was so innocent, it should be an evil, menacing cackle.

"Like you have a choice! You really did make it too easy last night; I thought there'd be a little resistance. But no, you sucked her dry without so much as an ounce of hesitation." My breathing was deep and quick as she dropped herself on the couch opposite me. I clenched my jaw to speak, not prepared to snap and stoop to her level.

"You planned that?" She threw her feet onto the coffee table, connecting her hands across her stomach.

"Sort of. But it was in your best interests Nessie, I assure you. You're going to need all the strength you can get pretty soon." My eyebrows furrowed and my lips pursed to question her when the front door creaked open.

Cora seemed shocked by my increased speed as I leapt into her arms, she dropped the bag she was holding and I felt so relieved when she wrapped her arms around me in return.

"Oh Cora, I thought you'd left me. I'm so sorry, I'll be better I promise."

"No Ness, I'm sorry. I should never have yelled, I addressed the situation all wrong." Her hand came to lift my head from her shoulder to connect her eyes with mine. "I'm so sorry I was so hard on you. I was just worried about you Ness." Francesca slid behind us.

"Well this is truly touching. But I'm off to hunt for a few days, I'm famished. I didn't get my fill last night; someone stole my desert!" I growled at her as she slid past me, shooting me a wink. "Try not to miss me too much."

I inclined my head down to Cora's feet.

"What's in the bag?" She retrieved the paper bag, similar to the one I'd found this morning and pulled me over to the couches, setting it on the coffee table before me. "It smells … familiar."

"So it should. Seriously you should have seen me in there this morning. I was completely lost, so I just followed this man around and got everything he did." I peered into the bag, and as the aromas inside hit me stronger I pulled my head back and wrinkled my nose. Cora looked disappointed.

"I thought it would be a good idea, you know, after last night."

"No, yeah it is. Its just been a while … I guess I'm more vampire than I used to be, huh." Cora just giggled her giggle and stuck her hands in the bag, pulling out a mass of items and dropping them in my lap. I'd never rejoiced in a sound more than I did in that giggle.

"So, are these any good?" I smiled, sifting through the pile.

"Well let's see. Raisins, Pasta, Jelly, Chicken Soup, Peanut Butter, Ketchup and an Onion. Um, I suppose I could make something out of this. What else you got?"

"Uhhh, just this." Cora's wrist dashed into the bag and pulled out a foil wrapped rectangle.

"Oh. My. God. Chocolate!" She smiled as I snatched the alien object from her. "I swear to God, so long as you bring me candy of any sorts, I'll be no threat to any human." Cora gave me a gentle but disapproving glare. "Sorry, bad joke. Are we okay?"

"Sure, just don't make anymore."

"I meant, are we okay?" She exhaled deeply and bit her bottom lip before speaking.

"Yeah, we are. I thought about it last night, and I decided I'm not giving up on you. Hence the bag of … food."

"I can get better. I figured that, I can never go back. I can't be the person I was anymore, the pain of thinking about my … past, it would kill me. But the new me doesn't have to be heartless. I am slowly but surely going to reintroduce emotion into my life, I promise."

"Well, your promise is good enough for me." She placed her hand on my cheek and smiled.

"Cora, will you make me a promise in return?"

"Sure."

"Next time you go food shopping, you take me with you, okay?"

{--}

Francesca was gone for a total of three days, and in that time the Cora that had dragged me away from high school returned. The one who fidgeted, giggled and got excited by everything. She'd take me into the nearest town and we could both walk in the sun without anyone seeing us sparkle and glow. When possible she'd hide human scents from me, though it wasn't necessary, there was no temptation at all. What surprised me most, though I never mentioned it to Cora, was that my shield never went away. I was sure that it would disappear as soon as my parents realised I was gone, but here I was, months later, still having to lower my shield so that Cora could "hide" me. She'd make us visible as she dragged me into bakeries and café's, picking out the cakes and sandwiches she thought were "prettiest" and giggling excitedly as I ate them. The returning trait that I'd missed least was her mystery. Once, in passing, I'd politely inquired where she got her money from. She muttered something about "not needing it, but saving for a rainy day" before quickly changing the subject.

{--}

I still didn't feel things about my past, it didn't hurt, it didn't make me angry, and I rarely thought about it much. But I did feel changes, the first being my affection for Cora. I didn't realise it hadn't been there until she danced into my bedroom one day. My head flew up when an unfamiliar scent filled the room, fanned around as Cora span around in her sleeved white dress.

"Cora, I can smell you!" She just smiled, still spinning.

"I know, I'm letting you remember it."

"Why?"

"In case you ever need to find me." She giggled and stopped spinning. "Of course, I'd have to want you to find me first, but you never know." I wanted to clamp my hand into hers. Tell her this wasn't necessary, because she was never to leave me, she couldn't. But that would have been weak, and I wasn't ready to be weak yet, or even ever. So instead I took several deep, desperate breaths, letting Cora's sweet scent burn itself into my memory.

{--}

When Francesca returned, I felt my second feeling. The hatred hit me like a freight train when she waltzed over the threshold of the cottage. Cora stayed around for another couple of weeks, despite the thirst creeping into her irises. I wanted her to hunt, but I was still a little apprehensive about what Francesca had said "You're going to need all the strength you can get pretty soon."

I was flipping through a magazine with Cora as Francesca stared idly into space across the room from us. The magazine was one of those saturated with clothes, and Cora would watch us I pointed out what I liked, always coming back with things wonderfully similar next time it came for me to get new clothes. It was only then the question first bugged me.

"So Cora, what is it with you and white dresses?" Francesca's gaze wasn't idle anymore; it was intense as she snapped.

"She just likes white, right Cora?" Cora raised her eyes to Francesca and nodded slowly. It was such a strange sight to behold; Francesca's expression was screaming Play along, Cora! "It's pretty much our thing anyway, her white, me black. Her good, me bad." My mouth was hanging open; my brain scrambling to work out what strange thing was going on here that I didn't know about. When Cora didn't respond Francesca grabbed her hand, lifting her seemingly frozen body from the couch. "Cora, when was the last time you hunted? You should go, grab a nice, juicy wildebeest or whatever. Nessie and I will be fine." Either Francesca's knowledge of wildlife was non-existent, or we were in Africa. After following her as she dragged Cora out of the cottage and through the green forest that shook in the cool breeze, I decided it couldn't be the latter. Cora's composure returned slightly as she twisted around to me.

"No, no I should stay with Ness." She did look thirsty, and I felt guilty for keeping her so long … hmm another emotion, fun!

"No Cora. You should go. I'll be fine." I wrapped my arms around her and Francesca grinned menacingly as I whispered into her hair. "Just, don't be gone too long, okay?"

{--}

It was still light out so despite me wanting to, I couldn't just crawl into bed and sleep until Cora returned, thus avoiding Francesca completely. So I rolled onto the couch, cranked up my headphones and buried my face into my magazine. When Francesca's hand fell into her long boot, from which she pulled her flashing cell phone, I paused my music. Francesca's glance quickly fell on me as she answered, but she just smirked, making no move to get the conversation out of my ear-shot.

"Hello, my love." She was too far away, even for me, to catch what was being said on the other end, so all I had to go by were Francesca's responses.

"Oh yes, all is well. We have so much to tell you when you return." She shot me a teasing wink, and I snarled involuntarily, knowing full well what she was referring to. She giggled quietly, listening intently to the voice coming through the speakers. "Are you making good progress?" I couldn't help but feel uneasy as Francesca's eyes travelled me as she spoke. "I understand, my darling, and the cottage we are in is in just the right location to visit your … old friends." Francesca's menacing grin showed all her teeth as she spoke. It made me feel very sorry for anybody who would receive a "visit" from her and Victor. "No, it would be a day's journey. Though I cannot be sure, I had to be careful not to be detected of course, and you know I could not have taken Cora!" Francesca's laugh as she mentioned Cora made my nostrils flare and my fists clench. "It really is a miracle we found them, though I suppose miracle is not the right word given the time we have been looking." She laughed again, and spoke a few, slow words before racing from the house so I could not hear. "I know darling, first Nessie, now this, it seems all things are coming together."

With Francesca gone I took the opportunity to jump in the shower. When I came out I was frustrated that it was still stupidly bright outside, so I redressed; making sure to put on the biker boots, they were pretty hefty in case I should have the inclination to give Francesca a good kicking.

{--}

My diet was no longer blood, so I couldn't run as fast or for as long. My speed was a crawl in comparison to the last time I had run through these woods while Cora had been away. I shuddered, pushing the memory of that night, that scent, that taste to the back of my mind. The sun was still high in the sky so my skin shimmered as I came to a stop, dropping into the thick grass and lying back on my shoulders, sticking the headphones into my ears. It was a pain transporting the stupid stone-age technology, CD's and batteries too, but it was worth it. Without anything else to do I just lay in the grass, staring up at the bright blue sky. I watched as a few faint clouds drifted overhead before letting my eyelids close and relaxing to the music.

I thought I knew what instincts were. Simple little things that made me partly human, things I was born knowing. Like how to breathe, how to swallow, how to blink when something came too close. Then there were the instincts that came from the other side of my nature. The ones that dragged me through the woods towards the scent of that human blood, the one that had initially caused me to turn my nose up at the food Cora had bought for me. But they all paled in comparison the primal instinct that threw my body upright from its position in the grass. My feet turned into dead weights anchoring me to the spot, but the rest of my body felt light as a feather, ready to take flight in the opposite direction of what had triggered this whole reaction. It was a scent, no more than a couple of miles away. A scent I had never experienced before but one my senses instantly recognised. An undeniable scent that triggered alarm bells in my head. It was the scent of a burning vampire.


So yeah, there's a vampire BBQ going on and you're all invited! :P
Next chapter I'll be giving what a lot of you have been asking for; we'll be doing the time-warp people.
Until then, what the heck do you think is going on??