Chapter 8: Confrontation

I pulled into the parking lot, determined to confront Edward about all that I'd learned. I couldn't deny that the thing I was about to accuse him of was positively absurd. But I had to do it. It was like an itch I had to scratch.

Bookbag slung around my shoulder, I exited my truck and then leaned against the door. I watched as the members of the Cullen clan pulled into their designated parking spaces one by one. The first to arrive were Emmett and Rosalie. For once, she spared me her icy and venomous glances, and opted instead to enter the high school, her arm draped loosely around Emmett's waist. Next, Alice and Jasper arrived. She danced out of the driver's seat door and waited for Jasper to meet her. They too entered the school arm-in-arm, him looking generally uncomfortable, her walking forward on the tips of her toes.

Then-finally-Edward pulled in, parking his ink-black Volvo in his usual parking spot. I watched as he stepped out of the car, his jacket swinging loosely in his hand. He pulled it on and, as he did so, he glanced around the parking lot. As if we'd planned it, his eyes connected with mine and he stopped. I raised my brows and then indicated that he was to follow me.

I turned and, without looking back, as I knew he was following me, headed for the woods that surrounded the back of the school. Though I couldn't hear Edward's footfalls as we approached the entrance to the woods, I somehow knew he was there.

Finally, after a few minutes of walking, we reached a small clearing. We were deep enough into the woods that all traces of the school were concealed by the thick underbrush and mist. I stopped and, taking a deep breath, turned to face Edward. I'd expected him to be standing closer to me. But he was keeping his distance. Hesitant.

I levelled him with a calm and steady gaze. "Anything you want to tell me?" I asked, wishing and hoping that he would say the words and spare me from having to do so.

Edward took a single step closer. His honey gaze was skeptical and almost… frightened? He shook his head. "No, Bella," he whispered, though it wasn't in answer to my question. He was urging me not to continue. Somehow, his plea instilled in me a heightened sense of confidence.

"Well, I have something I want to tell you." I took a deep breath and took several steps closer to him. He stood his ground as the underbrush and twigs crackled beneath my feet. "I know," I murmured, raising my brows slightly. "I figured it out. I know."

Edward's brows tugged together, forming an almost pained expression.

"I know what you are," I continued, holding his gaze steady. Edward flinched at my choice of words. "You and your… family. You don't go outside when the sun's out. Your skin is pale and ice-cold. You're uncommonly strong. You all look like you were sculpted from stone by God himself." I couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of what I was saying-what I was accusing. "It all finally makes sense."

Edward shook his head and broke our gaze for the first time. His expression was pained and anguished. "Say it," he finally muttered, flicking his golden irises back to mine once more. They were cold, calculating. "Say the word. Out loud. Now."

I held his gaze, raised a brow. Took a breath. "Vampire," I murmured.

Edward's eyes slid closed. He took a hand and ran several fingers over his brow, clearly in dismay. Then, he suddenly closed the distance between us, standing mere inches from my face. "Are you afraid?" he asked, and the calm in his voice frightened me far more than his proximity.

I steeled my gaze and raised a brow. "No," I answered, my voice merely a whisper.

"You should be."

"Try me." I must admit I was surprised when Edward's hand wrapped around my wrist. He moved so quickly, I couldn't even process the movement before he was pulling me deeper into the wood. His stature was tense, aggravated. I began to regret my decision to confront him.

"What are you doing?" I asked, the first hint of fear in my voice.

"Taking you higher up the mountain. You need to understand."

As he dragged me higher and higher up the side of the mountain, I had the distinct sense that Edward was holding back for my sake. His entire body was practically itching with a desire to run, to move fast-far faster, I suspected, than my human body could manage.

Finally, after what felt like hours, but must have only been a few minutes, we arrived at a small clearing. I suddenly realized that a ray of sunlight was streaming through the trees, which meant we had moved far enough up the mountain to be clear of the constant cloud of mist and fog. My eyelids fluttered open and closed out of surprise when Edward suddenly released my wrist from his grasp. I watched hesitantly as he appeared to take a deep breath before moving slowly towards the stream of light.

"You need to see," he murmured, seemingly to himself. "You need to see what I am. You need to understand why you and I could never…" He trailed away and, as he did so, he started to take off his coat. I watched with a raised brow, growing increasingly uncomfortable when he then removed his shirt. Though, I had to admit I was momentarily dazzled by his bare chest, which really did look like it had been sculpted from stone by Michelangelo, himself.

My concern quickly grew to confusion, however, when Edward turned to face me, his coat and button-up in his hand. "I know that people wonder why we always disappear when the sun is out. I'm sure you've wondered the same thing. Just as people have wondered why Carlisle bothers to work in this small town, when his qualifications would clearly merit better work elsewhere. Well… this is why." Edward took a dramatic step backward, into the ray of light. It washed over his body. His eyes studied me carefully, a deep sadness within them.

At first, as I held Edward's gaze, I couldn't understand what I was supposed to be seeing. But then, as my eyes took in his entire form, it became clear. My lips parted just slightly.

In the ray of light, Edward's skin had become nearly translucent. I could faintly make out his muscles and bones beneath his smooth, creamy skin. It was as if the light had made him opaque. He looked like a strange skeleton-a combination of bones and flesh. Though a part of me suspected that I should be frightened by what I was witnessing, I was merely fascinated. I wondered how such a thing could be possible physiologically, genetically possible.

"What are you thinking?" Edward asked, his voice just a murmur.

I smiled and shook my head. "How is this possible? How is any of this possible? It's incredible."

"Incredible?" Edward scoffed, malice dripping from his voice. "I'm a monster, Bella. I've killed people." He took a step closer to me, out of the ray of light. His skin returned to normal-no more translucent flesh and bones. "I wanted to kill you, that first moment you stepped into the classroom. Your scent…" He closed his eyes. "It was so… overwhelming, so tantalizing. I wanted to…" He squeezed his eyes shut and drew his head back in clear agony. "I still could. You have every reason to be afraid of me."

I smiled, shaking my head in disbelief, which only angered him more. He stepped closer to me. Instinctively, I took a step backwards and gasped aloud when I found I had managed to back myself up against a particularly large boulder, which stood several feet taller than myself. Before I could protest, Edward had crowded me against it. He placed a hand on either side of my body and leaned impossibly close. I could feel the tension rolling off him, could smell his uniquely appealing scent.

He opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him. "Okay. Now I'm afraid."

Edward immediately relaxed and backed up. "Good."

"Only because you're acting like a predator!" I exclaimed. "Any girl who gets cornered in the woods-alone-by a guy who is acting the way you are right now would feel the same way. Would you cut it out with all this 'woe-is-me' stuff? You're not going to scare me off. Whether either of us likes it or not, our stories are linked now. It can't be undone."

Edward's lips parted just slightly and his brows pulled together. He looked confused and mortified.

I settled my hands firmly against his chest and gave a shove. Although he backed away, I knew it was purely for my benefit; he could have planted himself there if he wanted to. I crossed my arms and stared at him. "I've done far more than my fair share of work. Now it's your turn talk." I could see Edward's resigned expression and knew suddenly that I had broken through. My heart skipped a beat in my chest with anticipation and excitement.

"Fine," Edward murmured, grabbing his discarded shirt and coat. I watched with impolite and socially unacceptable interest as he re-dressed. There was no denying-Edward Cullen was beautiful.

"Perhaps," Edward suggested as he did up the last few buttons of his shirt, "we could have this conversation while walking back down the hill. We are both supposed to be in school, remember?"

I nodded my agreement and gestured to Edward, indicating he was to begin the descent.

I listened intently as Edward explained as much as he could in the time it took to trek back down the mountainside: how Carlisle Cullen had found him dying of Spanish Influenza in 1918; how his family hunted animals instead of humans; about their incredibly heightened senses; and even how some of his family members had other gifts.

Though I wanted to press him more about his family's "other gifts," I chose instead to ask, "Hey, why did you react like I was the most repulsive thing you'd ever encountered on my first day of school?

Edward ran a hand through his hair, clearly embarrassed. "It's difficult to describe," he said, shaking his head as if he were going to try to avoid this particular avenue of conversation.

"Try your very hardest, then," I drawled.

Edward examined me, as if he were sizing me up. Apparently deciding I had passed whatever test he mentally put me through, he sighed and said, "I've been this way for over a hundred years. I've become dulled to the blood of humans-we all have."

"That's kind of incredible," I murmured.

Edward shrugged. "You would get used to the smell of sirloin steak if you were surrounded by it every day."

I grimaced playfully at the comparison. "Well, I'm glad to know I'm a sirloin steak and not a Salisbury steak or something." I laughed out loud when Edward merely stared at me quizzically. "You'll get used to me," I said with a small smile. Please continue.

"As I said, it's been decades since I've been enticed by the smell of human blood. I've grown so used to it that most days I can't even distinguish it from the other smells of daily life. But when you walked in that day…" Edward's eyes slid closed and his mouth parted just slightly. I could see his teeth closed together inside his mouth and I suddenly felt very uncomfortable, as if I was invading upon a private moment. "God," he whispered, turning away from me. "It was like I was a newborn again. I've never smelt human blood as potent or alluring as yours." He opened his eyes again and stared at me. "I thought I wasn't going to be able to control myself."

My heart accelerated in my chest. Edward's lips twitched. "You're nervous," he said quietly.

"Uncomfortable," I corrected. "You can hear my heart?"

Edward nodded.

"It must be… distracting. Having senses that are so attuned."

He shrugged. "Just another thing we all get used to."

"Right. Anyway…" I cleared my through uncomfortably. "So-you were filled with an all-consuming desire to drink my blood, then?"

Edward stared at me with a quizzical expression on his face, as if he couldn't figure me out. I suddenly recalled our conversation from last night at the restaurant. Turns out that-apart from being able to hear the pace of my heartbeat-Edward really couldn't figure me out. I was the one mind he wasn't privy to. Unlike everyone else, my thoughts were mine and mine alone. For the first time, I appreciated that privacy greatly.

"I've never wanted a human's blood so intensely. I thought I wasn't going to be able to control myself." Edward trailed away, staring at the forest floor. His eyes were filled with a deep sadness and self-loathing. A silence fell between us.

I reached out and touched Edward's arm with my fingertips. "But you did control yourself," I whispered. "And that's all that matters."

An appreciation and understanding passed between us then. An uncontrollable shiver ran down the length of my spine and I removed my fingers from Edward's coat. "Well, that was a very… enlightening conversation." I nodded towards the school. "I suppose we should head back." I checked my watch and realized that we'd spent almost the entire school day in the forest, walking and chatting. "Whoops," I chuckled, rolling my sleeve back down over my watch. "At least I'll have time to make it back for P.E."

"Your favorite?" Edward asked in amusement.

I scoffed. "Have you seen me? I trip over cracks that aren't there. I am definitely not coordinated enough to enjoy P.E."

Edward smiled and then gestured in front of him. "After you."

I smiled and trudged through the last few feet of brush and grass. As Edward and I walked back to the school, a comfortable silence between us, I was suddenly overcome with a singular realization: my life had changed monumentally today and it would never be the same.