Chapter 35

Toni's P.O.V.

"Leaving so soon?"

My eyes widened as I took in the man standing before me. He was a tall, pale man with beauty equivalent to that of the Cullen's. He wore a pair of jeans with unnaturally frayed bottoms that were held up by a belt and a green jacket that was opened to showcase his ripped chest. He had long, blonde hair that was tied into a messy ponytail and a bit of stubble on his chin. The thing that threw me off, though, was his eyes which were a bright red color. The only vampires I had seen were the Cullen's and their eyes were a golden color. He was silent, but held a smirk on his face as he waited for me to finish my assessment.

I was scared. I didn't know what to do or what to say and I didn't want to do or say the wrong thing and be killed, so I stayed silent. We stood in front of each other in silence for quite some time before he surprised me and spoke.

"You're the first our victims to not ask the three magic questions," he said.

"Three magic questions?" I squeaked out. I cursed myself internally for sounding so helpless. I didn't want to come off as someone who would easily meet their demise, but I was unsure what this vampire would do to me. My heart felt like it would jump out of my chest any moment and goosebumps popped up all over my arms. I visibly jumped when two more people made their presence known.

The first person was another male. He was a tall, dark-skinned man, though, in a way, he looked pale, too. His hair consisted of long dreadlocks that reached past his shoulders and he had a piercing in each of his ears. Like the other male, he wore jeans with unnaturally frayed bottoms that were held up by a belt and an orange jacket that was unzipped to show his chest. He, too, wore no shoes and had blood red eyes.

The last person was a female. She was pale, of average height, and had long, flaming red, curly hair that reached past her shoulders. Unlike her male counterparts, she was fully clothed. She wore dark, tight-fitting jeans and a green shirt that had see-through, long sleeves. She wore a furry shawl and like the other two, she wore no shoes and had red eyes.

"Who are you?" the blonde man taunted as he answered my question.

"What do you want?" the female taunted.

"Why are you doing this?" the blonde man taunted again.

"You know I don't like playing with my food, but I wonder why our meal is so silent," the dark-skinned man said. His head was tilted to the side as if he was assessing me.

"What is your name?" he asked me.

I did not respond. I did not want to give them my name or any part of me. I didn't want to entertain them when I knew that they would just kill me in the end. My silence seemed to make the female mad. One moment, she was next to the blond man and in the next moment, she was gripping my chin and snarling in my face.

"Answer him!" she snarled. Pain shot through my jaw as her hold on it became bone-crushing. I struggled to get out of her grip, but she wouldn't let up.

"Victoria," the dark-skinned man said as he gave away the identity of the female. She let go of me and went to stand next to the blonde again. I hesitantly rubbed my jaw and winced in pain. I looked back at them and saw they were still waiting for a response.

"My name is Toni," I told them in fear. Tears silently leaked down my cheeks and I wanted to rid of them badly. I knew they would only mock me for my weakness.

The female chuckled and smirked as she slowly walked towards me.

"Toni, eh? Isn't that a boy's name?"

"Not the way my name is spelled," I mumbled under my breath. She must have heard me, for she let out a screech. She walked back towards her companions and said, "Let's just kill her already! A pathetic, disobedient human like her doesn't deserve our precious time!"

"Patience," the dark-skinned man scolded her. "She intrigues me."

Victoria scoffed and the blonde man smirked.

"I am Laurent," he said as he gestured to himself. "This is James," he said as he gestured towards the blonde, "and Victoria."

I knew that if I were to speak, I would scream, so I settled a quick wave in their direction. Laurent laughed in amusement and clapped his hands together. He looked towards James and Victoria with a smiling face, but stopped when he noticed James flaring his nostrils.

"She smells like others," James snarled out. Laurent and Victoria sniffed the air and tensed.

"You are correct, James," Laurent said as he furrowed his brows. "It is faint, but still there."

"I knew we should have killed her," Victoria hissed out. She ran to me, grabbed my head, and tilted it to the side to give her better access to my neck.

"She's only going to bring us trouble. I can sense it." She pricked my neck with her fingernail and shortly after, I felt a trickle of blood roll down my neck and shivered in disgust when she licked my neck to collect it. I saw James make his way to the two of us in my peripheral vision and started to panic. Victoria worsened her grip on my head, causing me to stop moving. I didn't want her to suck me dry, but I also didn't want her to snap my neck.

James hummed and kissed Victoria before he, too, grabbed my head. He tilted my head back and placed his fingers over my pulse. I could feel my heart speed up at his touch and wished that if they were to kill me, they would make it fast. In cases related to myself, I was a coward to pain. Once, a bee stung me while I was swimming and I cried like a baby in response to the pain. Another time, someone pushed me and I fell and scraped my knee. I cried so hard that my mom couldn't get a word out of me.

"I'll get the left side and you can have the right," James said to Victoria.

"Please," I begged. I was never one to beg, but in some situations, I didn't care. If it would help me live, I would do it.

"Please?" Victoria repeated. She laughed and yanked my head forward so I was eye-to-eye with her.

"Please, what?" she asked. More tears sprang to my eyes and clouded my vision of the three vampires. My mouth was tightly closed as I refused to play her games. I would beg, but on my own terms.

"Please, what?" she repeated as she added more pressure on her hold. I shouted in protest and tried to pry her hands off me with my own. James took ahold of both my hands in one of his and moved them to my side.

"Answer her," he said in a dangerously quiet tone.

"Please, don't kill me," I pleaded as I burst into tears.

"Doesn't sound very convincing to me," Victoria chastised me.

"No, no!" I yelled out as they leaned in to sink their teeth into my flesh. I closed my eyes and thought of something nice, something that could replace the image of the two vampires about to sink their teeth into me. If I was to die, I would the last thing I saw to be of something warm and beautiful.

"No!"

I felt them being ripped off me and took a huge breath in relief. I opened my eyes and saw Edward standing in front of me. He was crouched with his knees bent and his arms outstretched. His hands were shaped into claws and he was snarling loudly. Victoria and James were crouched in defensive positions, as well, and Laurent was nowhere to be found. I was pulled back and struggled in their grasps. I stopped and relaxed when I caught sight of Esme's face. I pulled her into a desperate hug and silently sobbed into her shoulder. She rubbed soothing circles on my back and reassured me that I was okay.

Behind her was the rest of the Cullen's. All of them rushed forward to stand by Edward, except for Carlisle who stayed near me and Esme. He looked concerned and pained at the events. He sighed and said, "Do what you must."

That must have been the signal, for the Cullen's rushed forward and chased after James and Victoria, who were fleeing the scene. I watched as they immediately disappeared from my sight. I took a step in their direction, but was stopped by Esme. I looked at her questioningly and tried to pull away in protest.

"Don't worry, Toni," Esme said. "They'll be fine,"

"How do you know?" I said, my voice thick with emotion.

"There are six of them against the other two. Besides, Jasper has experience with these situations," Carlisle informed me.

"Come," Esme ordered. "Let's go to our house and calm you down."

I agreed and allowed them to pick me up and take me home.