A/N: Here you guys go. On time as promised. Enjoy!
Bella's POV
"Vampire," I repeated doubtfully.
"Vampire," he said firmly.
"Are you trying to tell me you're some sort of Count Dracula?"
I wasn't meaning to be funny, but I just couldn't fathom it. For the past few days I'd been thinking there was something strange about Edward and his family, but I wasn't prepared for the fact that they weren't really human. It was surreal.
The corners of his mouth twitched despite all that was going on.
"Dracula? Really, I hoped at least you weren't as impressionable to the common vampire myths."
"Are you really serious Edward?" I asked him quietly, the reality starting to sink in.
"Bella, I wouldn't lie about this."
Staring into his golden eyes, I knew instinctively he was telling me the truth. I sat back, inhaling deeply. I had refused to consider the possibility a few minutes earlier, now I had to think about it. The surprising thing was, as I thought about it, I realized it didn't really bother me. Edward obviously could have killed me at any time during our brief acquaintance. No one else had tried to harm me either. They weren't evil, that was for sure. No family could be as kind and loving as they and be sinister in any way.
"I'm aware you'll probably want to leave and go away from us, but you'll have to wait until the situation is taken care of and then I promise you," Edward said sincerely, "none of us will ever bother you again. We won't hurt you."
"Why?" I asked after he was done.
"Why what?"
"Why would I want to leave you?"
He stared at me in disbelief. "Maybe because I just told you I was a vampire? Bella, you can't be serious. Maybe that hit to your head did you a lot worse damage than I thought."
I snorted, "Get real Edward, there's nothing wrong with my head. And like I said earlier, I don't see you being different as a problem. I'm just not that type of person."
"Not that type of person," he muttered to himself as he sunk down on the couch beside of me. Out of the ray of sun he looked normal again. Actually that was blasphemy. Edward never looked normal. But he only looked as stunning as possible without the glistening affects. "This is a lot more serious than a simple human variation. I'm not even human. I could kill you so easily."
"Yeah, about that," I broke in curiously, "what do you eat? Now that I think about it, I've never really seen you guys eat anything. Can you not eat human food?"
"We drink animal blood," he murmured distractedly. "It's not as fulfilling as human, but it makes do."
"So you actually drink blood?" My nose wrinkled as I remembered the hideous smell of rust and salt the last time I injured myself.
"Yes, is that disturbing to you?" He looked almost hopeful as he proposed the leading question.
"No, not really, I just hate blood. It makes me sick, and I can't imagine someone drinking it once, let alone to live on. But, then again, who am I to have an opinion on someone else's lifestyle." I shrugged.
"You are certainly one of a kind Bella," he put in dryly.
"Thank you. So does that mean that you guys don't like human blood after all?"
"No," he covered his face with his hands, "it's incredibly difficult for us to resist the . . . temptation of human blood. It's only with a herculean effort that we are able to deny the thirst."
"Is it difficult for you now?"
"More than you could know, but of course, I'm starting to get used to it. It's becoming a little easier."
My eyes narrowed as he stopped. "Explain that please," I ordered.
"Your scent, the scent of your blood, the essence of it if you will," he looked questioningly at me, I nodded encouragingly, "is the most enticing, delicious, delectable thing I've ever encountered as a vampire."
I swallowed, though it came out as more of a gulp.
His eyebrows rose victoriously. "Scared now?"
"No," I lied, managing to keep the small, annoying tremor from my tone.
"Why is that?" I asked, trying to get used to the fact that he was fighting the urge to kill me as we sat here. Poor Edward, maybe I should leave . . .
"I'm not sure, it's rare, I've never heard of it happening before," he rubbed his forehead tiredly. "It's getting easier though, like I said."
"What did you mean by that?"
He smiled, though it didn't quite convince me it was real, I caught myself unconsciously staring at his teeth. They looked pretty normal to me.
"You're full of questions aren't you?"
I shrugged haplessly. "What can I say, it's not everyday my mind's put into overdrive like this."
"I think that the more I'm around you, the more I have to endure the call of your blood, the easier it becomes to resist it altogether. It's almost as if I'm slowly becoming desensitized."
"Well, that's good, isn't it? We don't have to worry about that problem anymore."
"No, Bella," he warned, "I will always be more dangerous to you than to any other, never forget that."
"But I thought that you said . . ."
He looked away. "One slip is all it would take. One slip and the damage would be done."
"But you couldn't," I stopped him softly, tracing over the side of his face with my fingertips. In an instant, he was across the room, in the opposite corner.
"How . . ." I was still breathing fast, trying to comprehend what I had just saw.
"Just give me a moment," he said softly, but loud enough that I could hear.
After a tiny amount of time had passed, he walked over to me cautiously.
"I'm sorry about that," he apologized. "I'm not really used to someone coming close enough to touch me. We seem to repel people. It's like humans know subconsciously to avoid us."
"Except me," I amended quietly.
"Yes," he agreed, "except you."
"Tell me more," I urged him, motioning for him to set next to me again. Reluctantly, he sat.
"Like . . ."
"So the sun doesn't hurt you?"
"No, it's just rather conspicuous for us to be sparkling. It would draw in unwanted attention. Something we can't afford to do."
I sat quietly, waiting for him to continue.
"Well . . . we can't age."
"Seriously?"
He nodded. "In reality, I'm only seventeen, that was when I was changed into a vampire. The number of years I've been here is an entirely different number."
"And how many is that?" I prodded.
"A lot."
I grimaced.
"I wonder if I should tell you this."
"Are you in a midlife crisis Edward? Are you in denial about you age?" I asked coyly.
He rolled his eyes. "I'm much farther along than a midlife crisis Bella. I was born in 1901. I was changed during the year 1918. It was during the Spanish Influenza. Both of my parents were killed during the epidemic."
"Oh," not I felt selfish, making him bring it up, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
As if guessing my thoughts, Edward made a reassuring face. "Don't worry, human memories fade. I barely remember my human life at all now."
We sat in silence for a moment.
"Are you really not frightened at all then?" He finally asked me the question that must have been burning within him for quite some time.
"No, you haven't done anything but save me, so I don't think it's that dangerous."
"But it is," he argued obstinently.
"So you say," I said to myself.
"I heard that," he said irritatedly.
"How?"
"Hypersensitive hearing, also sight," he added musingly. "I have a cornucopia of advantages to the normal predator I guess you could say, superior in everyway."
"Don't we think highly of ourselves," I commented in an amused tone.
Quickly, he circled the room in the blink of an eye.
"Bella," he came to rest once again at my stunned side, "I have super speed, extrasensory hearing and vision, super strength, and an extra gift. Wouldn't you call that superior?"
His hair was tousled now, from the run, and I had to put in a real effort to stop myself from touching him. He, himself was enticing. He might be addicted to my blood, but I was addicted to him. I wanted to touch him so badly, be connected to him in some way. It was like there was a connection between us and whenever he or I strayed too far away, it was pulling us back. At least, that was how I felt. I couldn't answer for Edward. It made me miserable to think that he might not feel as strongly about me as I did him. Although, how could he. I was a plain Jane, normal human, and he was this incredible, beautiful, perfect vampire. I couldn't ask him to stay with me for me, only if he felt for me as well. That would be the only reason.
"An extra gift?"
Now he looked uncomfortable.
"What is it? Is it bad or something?"
"No, it's not bad," he said quickly. "It's just . . . Carlisle created all of us, and he thinks that we all brought something, some extra special quality from our human lives into this one."
"So everyone has a special gift?" I asked eagerly.
"Well, not necessarily as obvious as mine. Rosalie's is her tenacity, Emmett's would of course be strength, Carlisle brought his compassion, and Esme brought her loving nature."
"What about you Alice, and Jasper?"
"Well Jasper has a very unique gift," he smiled to himself, and I pondered the inside joke that was amusing him, "he can read the feelings of people, and create feelings himself. It can get kind of annoying really." He frowned, he even looked sexy frowning.
"Alice?"
"Alice can see the future."
"What? Seriously?"
"Yes, but only after a decision has been made can she see the outcome."
"Has she seen anything about me?" I asked eagerly.
"No," he said abruptly, and the frown deepened.
I wondered at that for a minute.
He seemed to be done, and there was no way he was getting away without telling me his power.
"And . . ."
He sighed in surrender.
"I can read people's minds."
I gasped and sat stock still.
"Are you . . . are you saying that right now, you can hear what I'm-" A blush bloomed on my face.
"No, no," he put in quickly. "For some odd, inexplicable reason, you are the only human and vampire alike that I cannot hear. Your mind is the only one that is completely closed to me."
Relaxing, I gave him a bright cheery smile. "Well, that's something I suppose."
"A little bit frustrating to me," he bit out, obviously irritated that I was immune to him. I smiled triumphantly. This was something I had beaten him at. For a minute there, I had thought he could read my mind all along, and I had just about died.
"Are you done interrogating me now," Edward asked with a patient smile.
"I suppose so."
"Good, because we have serious matters at hand. We need to go downstairs and discuss them with the others. Is your head feeling any better? I'll get you an Advil," he said, without waiting for my answer.
He disappeared and was back in a flash with a glass of water and two small pills. I took them without arguing, my head really did hurt quite badly.
"What matters at hand?" I asked as I swallowed the pills.
"Leighton," the animosity was back in his expression.
"Is that the person who was just here?"
"Yes."
"Was he a vampire too?"
"Yes."
"Why were his eyes red instead of gold then?"
He looked at me sternly. "We drink animal blood, so our eyes are gold."
"And when you are hungry, they go black."
He seemed surprised. "Perceptive," was all he said.
"And so why were his eyes red?" I asked again.
He stared at me as if I was missing something very obvious.
Then it hit me, I knew why the eye color was different.
"He drinks from-he drinks," I took a deep breath, "he drinks human blood?"
"Yes."
"Why was he here then? Do you know him?"
"No, he wanted to join our family without the restrictions on his nutrition habits."
"Oh."
"Bella," he stood suddenly. "I really do have to go talk to my family and you're involved, naturally you need to hear this as well."
"I'm involved?" I said, suddenly shocked.
"Yes," he said grimly. "I'm afraid you're involved just as much as we are. Once we get you out of this mess, you can leave. But like I said, you have to stay until then."
That's what you think, I thought stubbornly.
A/N: Well, hope you liked it. I promised a friend of mine that I would update again this weekend, so I will try really hard to. Reviews do accelerate my writing though. (Hint, hint). Seriously though, I do appreciate each and every single review you guys give me. Thanks so much!
