Rio de Janeiro
Jasper had kept my family supplied with all of the records we needed to play our parts in the human world. We each had birth certificates, social security numbers, and passports. They came in handy now as I easily left the United States and flew to Brazil. Waiting on documentation would have had me chafing. I probably would not have been capable of waiting, would instead have made my own way there on foot. Grateful once again for the family I had left behind, I passed through the checkpoints with barely a glance from the officials.
I spent the flight to Rio thinking about killing. I had killed and fed on humans years ago and had known myself to be a monster then. Since that time, I had fed only on animals. I had felt murderous rages on more than one occasion, but had not given in to them. As badly as I had wanted – needed – to kill the human who had threatened Bella in Port Angeles, I had not killed him. I had asked for Carlisle's help to incapacitate him instead, leaving him for the human police to find and incarcerate. I had daydreamed of killing Mike Newton, the horrid human boy who went to school with Bella, and for whom I harbored an unreasonable and overwhelming sense of jealousy and hatred, but I had not harmed the boy.
Now I had killed three times in two months. That they were not human was irrelevant. I knew what I was capable of. Turning those damned creatures into ash was only reinforcing my own damnation. I deserved to be ash just as much as they ever did.
The humans on the plane around me, the business man with his laptop beside me, the newlywed couple across the aisle, the child crying behind me and his mother who was singing to him softly, every one of the hundred humans on the plane were in danger from me. I wanted to kill each one of them. Their blood called to me, but their scents were as nothing compared to my memory of Bella's blood.
I loved her more than anything, more than my own worthless life, more than even my family. But every second I spent in her glorious presence was dangerous to her. Because I still wanted to kill my Bella, my pure, sweet Bella with her oh so tempting blood. Because I was a killer. And because I knew that someday I would kill her. I ached, missing her so much, but I knew that what drew me – pulling me home with an unwavering, irresistible force – was not just the memory of her love, but of her blood. The monster in me wanted to kill her even now.
The desire was building in me. I had to go home! I needed her! The need was worse with every passing second. She consumed my thoughts, my mind filled with her scent, my skin burned with the memory of her touch. My throat was parched, dry and aching. The flowing venom was like acid, making the thirst so much worse, though my eyes still showed the evidence of my hunt in Superstition Mountains. It was not animal blood that I craved.
My muscles remembered the feeling of ripping Maria apart, of tearing the predator in Seattle into pieces. I had killed again. The knowledge tore at me and I huddled in my seat, wrapped my arms around my knees, and tried to see some way to make my existence bearable.
My single suitcase had fit easily in the overhead compartment so that I didn't even have to wait for the baggage to be unloaded. Not wanting to be tied down with my luggage, I stored it inside of one of the airport's lockers. Unencumbered now by changes of clothes, I made my way out of the terminal and stood under the rainy Rio sky.
I hailed a taxi and tried to contain my impatience with his excruciatingly slow pace as he wove through the streets past the tourist traps and into the darker parts of the city. He tried to engage in meaningless conversation which I ignored, casting my mind out, listening, once again, for the thoughts of a predator.
Rio was an entirely different type of city from the ones I had prowled searching for Victoria. Closer to the earth, less mired in science, and more open to superstitions than its counterparts in America, Rio was a sprawling contradiction. It was a paradise; with gorgeous beaches and an almost never-ending party, the scents of cooking food filled the air – I imagined to a human they probably smelled good, but I was slightly nauseated – the different languages were a melodic background to the constant sounds of music and laughter. But Rio also had a dark side and there was heavy trade in the occult.
It had been over a decade since the last time my family had come here. The city had not changed much. We had a residence nearby, but I had no intentions of going there. I knew that seeing the beautiful house on the beach would only heighten my feelings of loneliness.
Unlike the previous cities in which I had searched for Victoria, I had contacts in Rio and would not be reduced to pacing the streets. This was a good thing as Rio was larger by far than any of the cities I had previously searched. The chances of running across a vampire, much less one who happened to know Victoria were slim to none. There were more people living in the city of Rio than in Phoenix and Houston combined, with millions more visiting each year.
My family tended to stick to rainy cities, the cloud cover serving to provide us with protection from the sun so that we could go outside in the day. Phoenix and Houston were far too sunny for my family and we had never spent any time in America's southwest. Rio was a tropical location with many months of monsoon rains. February was one of the hotter months in the southern hemisphere and right in the middle of the rainy season. I couldn't have picked a better time to visit.
The cloud cover, the large residential population, and the constant influx of tourists made the city a vampire's paradise. The surrounding jungles were filled with many animals for my family, making Rio a popular destination for us as well. Jasper especially loved to hunt the jungle cats, enjoying leaping through the trees as he chased his prey. We had stayed here often and made friends with the local coven, assuring them that we would not hunt in their territory. I didn't know anyone named Gustav – the name Maria had unwillingly given me – but I was sure that the local coven would be able to help me.
The taxi drove to the western side of the city, past all of the tourist destinations, and into the industrial district. There were many manufacturing plants in Rio which provided numerous large buildings and a lot of waste. There were plenty of abandoned buildings where the vampires were able to set up house within easy reach of downtown and the beaches. There was no need for the coven to look any further for a home, food, and a discreet disposal method of the bodies of their victims than what the industrial district of Rio provided.
I knew in what area to search, but didn't know which building the coven was using currently. Upon arriving in the industrial district, I had the driver stop, though he eyed me dubiously at my choice of destinations. I paid him well enough to stop his questions and set off on foot, searching once again for the thoughts or scents of a predator.
I had prowled among the factories for several days before I finally found what I was looking for. Or rather, before they found me. The rain washed all traces away quickly, so that, though I probably crossed their paths several times previously, I had been unable to detect them. As I strolled past an old paper mill, I was accosted. An iron arm wrapped around my throat and I felt physical pain as a hand gripped my arm.
"State your business," a voice growled in my ear.
"My name is Edward Cullen. I'm looking for Rafael," I explained calmly, speaking in Portuguese. I had heard him approaching and forced myself to submit to their customs.
"Cullen?!" the voice shouted in my ear and I was released, only to be grabbed once again, this time from the front as my back was pounded in an exuberant welcome. The vampire released me, a broad grin on his face as he grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously. "My good friend! Edward! It has been too long!"
I smiled slightly, giving a rueful laugh. He was always so expressive. "Rafael, it's good to see you, too."
"But where is your lovely sister? I was just saying the beautiful Rose needed to come and visit me again, and here you are!"
Rafael had a fondness for my sister that she did not return. He was convinced that she should leave Emmett and come to Rio to be his mate instead, insisting that the dining opportunities in Rio would convince her to give up her aberrational ways. Our family was considered an entertaining oddity and they had sometimes watched us as we hunted in the jungles. Since meeting Rafael, Rosalie had refused to join us in the city during our visits to Rio, sticking instead to the beach house and going out of her way to hunt in the jungles far from the city.
"Rosalie isn't here, Rafael. I'm sorry." This was a blatant lie. I was far from sorry that Rosalie wasn't here. Our relationship had never been an easy one. Although we had been close enough as brother and sister, since I met Bella, her attitude had made our relationship unpleasant.
"Ah, what a loss! But perhaps I will go and visit her, eh? Maybe she could show me how to hunt in… where are you staying now?"
"Alaska," I told him. As far as I knew, they were still there.
He shivered dramatically, making a disgusted noise. "Yeesh! You Cullens' are one strange family. Why live in a frozen wasteland eating rabbits when you could prowl paradise?"
"Paradise can be found in other places in the world than just here, Rafael. We make the best out of what we find." I was tired of the banter already, but to push him into giving me what I wanted without engaging in pleasantries first would be insulting and he would be less accommodating.
"Well, you are here now, are you not? Maybe you will join me tonight?"
"Thank you, no." He mouthed the answer as I said it. "If you knew the answer ahead of time, Rafael, why ask the question?" I asked, annoyed.
"One can always hope," he laughed at me. I sighed, not in the mood for his games. "Come in, come in!" he said clapping a hand to my shoulder and guiding me inside of the broken down factory, gesturing around as if showing off a palace. "Welcome to our humble home!"
"Thank you, Rafael. I appreciate your hospitality, as always." I told him, wondering how much longer he would keep me discussing trivial matters before allowing me to get to business.
"Meet the newest member of my family," he gestured to a male so short I thought at first he was a young boy. "This is Joaquim. I found him on a hunting trip inland." He laughed, "We were going to dine on him and his family, but he was so beautiful that I decided to make him my son, instead of my dinner!"
I could see what drew Rafael to the man. His eyes were unusually expressive, large and framed by long lashes. He had long hair, a deep black mop of rings that fell to his shoulders. The transformation to vampire had turned his naturally deep brown skin into an interesting almost golden hue. His angry expression though, evidence of a fury that bubbled just under the surface, turned his strange beauty into a terrible demon-like visage.
The man scowled angrily and fired back, "Too bad my daughter did not seem as beautiful to you! No! Instead, I wake to find myself here and my family dead! Pah!" He spat at Rafael's feet and stalked off. His mind was full of horror as he remembered himself feeding on humans. How he'd been unable to resist or to stop himself when he woke after his transformation to find a human there, bound and waiting for him. How Rafael had taken him out hunting and he'd killed the happy tourists, and Rafael's delight, watching him kill. He had known, even as he fed, that his daughter had suffered the same fate he was visiting upon the humans who were now his prey.
"I don't know that you did him any favors by changing him," I observed. The man's pain was obvious and I couldn't help but to be reminded of Rosalie. In turning her into a vampire, Carlisle had thought he was helping her, but she was unhappy with her fate and missed her mortal life.
"Ah, well, they would have died within a few years anyway. What's the difference? And they were a tasty snack!"
"The difference?!" Joaquim shouted, the volume of his voice causing the walls to vibrate. He was suddenly in front of Rafael, shouting up into his face. "The difference is that I had a family! She was to be married! I was to have had grandchildren! No! You, you killed them! You killed my future! You stole my life!" he was gesturing wildly, roaring at Rafael, who's face remained calm and slightly amused.
The newborn's face took on a surprised look and his head was suddenly oddly distorted. Joaquim's body fell slowly at Rafael's feet. I looked up, shocked, at the vampire who had come to stand behind him.
"Carlos!" Rafael shouted. "What did you do that for?" I looked down at Joaquim's body and saw that the back half of his head was missing. Carlos, the other member of the Rio coven, had driven his fist through the newborn's head, rather than separating it from his shoulders.
"He was about to attack you. Joaquim was never going to accept our life. I warned you when you changed him that this would happen. Listen to me next time." The vampire glanced at me and then walked slowly away.
Rafael made a disgusted noise. "Carlos." He said the name like a curse and shook his head. "Joaquim had been so entertaining. Now who will I laugh at?" He turned to shout after him. "You had better be planning on cleaning this up!" He sighed and stared angrily at the twitching body of the vampire at his feet.
Seeming to suddenly remember that I was there, he turned to me with a broad grin and gestured for me to proceed down the hall. He indicated another doorway and I ducked through, finding myself on a balcony outside, high above the ground.
"So, my strange friend, how have you been? Tell me of your family!" he said as he leaned his back against the railing to face me.
I was hardly his friend. He liked me for the same reason he had liked Joaquim. We entertained him and entertainment was hard to come by with eternity stretched out before us. If Carlos were to put his fist through my head, as he had with Joaquim's, Rafael would have reacted in much the same way. Annoyed at the mess and at having to find some new distraction.
"My family is well, thank you."
"'Well?' Ah, you must give me more than that!" he protested.
"What more do you want?" I asked, sourly. "I haven't seen them in months, but nothing has changed from the last time you saw them."
"But the same cannot be said for you, I think. You are… troubled. Hmm. What troubles you, Edward? Tell me."
Free at last to ask him the question I came here to ask, I found myself unsure how to start. I leaned my arms against the railing, looking down at the empty street below us.
I took a deep breath and spoke. "There is a vampire I am looking for. Her name is Victoria, she has red hair. Do you know her?"
"Ah, I see, your heart has been touched at last. My poor friend, do not mourn her! As I do not with Rosalie, because there is always the chance that someday she will – "
I cut him off. "No! She is not – She – " I ground my teeth together and held my breath. After a moment, I spoke, calm again. "She's after me and my family. She's trying to find a way to kill us. I was told she came here, to seek out someone named Gustav. Tell me, please, do you know him? Have you seen her? Or a newborn she was traveling with – Ethan?"
"To kill you?" his expression was astonished, but his thoughts were filled with glee. Not at our death, but at the new twist to my story that he had not expected. "What possible reason could any vampire have to kill you?"
"I killed her friend." I gave him the same reason I had given Claire.
He narrowed his eyes at me. "I have never known you to kill anything other than kittens and puppies," which was his opinion of the jungle predators we hunted. "Why now? Why did you kill this vampire?"
"He attacked my family."
"To what end?"
"For the same reason that you are glad to see me, Rafael." I was annoyed now, my tone rude. "Entertainment. It amused him. He underestimated us and we killed him instead. But now she seeks revenge. I have been tracking her, and was told she came here. I ask again, do you know Gustav? Have you seen Victoria or Ethan?"
"Yes," he said, slowly. "I knew a Gustav."
"Knew?"
"I haven't seen him in many years. Since before I met you. I did not know he was still alive. He moved on long ago."
"And Victoria?"
"No," he shook his head. "I have never heard of this Ethan, either." I heard the truth in his thoughts. He had never known the red haired vampire I sought.
I closed my eyes and leaned back against the building. I had been so sure that Rafael would know her. He was very possessive of his city and, while he might not mind visitors, he always made sure to know of them, just in case they were to cause trouble or draw the attention of the humans.
My disappointment was crushing. She wasn't here! She had never come here! Had Maria lied? And Kent and Claire as well? I didn't think so. However, they could have been lied to.
I thought about what Maria had said of Victoria's survival instincts. Could she have known I was after her? I had wondered that before. If she did, could she have acted to throw me off? Told Maria she went one place, but really gone another? And if so, where?
"Thank you, Rafael." I made to jump over the railing.
"Wait," he placed a hand on my arm. I shook him off roughly, but did not move. "Stay with us. You are in need, my friend. I can see that. I'm sorry I could not help you find who you are looking for, but perhaps I can help you another way?"
"Such as?" my voice was dull.
"Come hunt with us," he pleaded. "Those animals you are living on are not good for you! It's not natural! Come and see what paradise has to offer – "
I cut him off again. "Rafael, I have no desire to hunt humans!" I knew this was a lie as I spoke it. I did desire human blood. I knew it, and so did he.
He smirked at me, knowingly. "Really?"
"I have no intentions to change my ways, Rafael. I know you mean well, but no matter what my nature, I will do what I believe to be right. Killing humans is not. Not for me." I met his eyes angrily.
"Ah, well, I tried." He took a step back and gestured toward the railing, giving me leave to go.
I jumped off the balcony and landed on the street below. Before I walked off, I heard Rafael's parting comment.
"Say hello to your sister for me!"
As I left the industrial district for the more rural areas of the city, I realized I needed to warn my family. I opened my phone and hit redial. Once again, Jasper answered on the first ring.
"Edward." His voice was not shocked this time, but held far too much pleasure.
"Victoria is after us," I told him without preamble. "She seeks revenge for James's death and is hunting ways to kill our family. I thought I knew where she went, but she tricked me. I don't know where to look for her next, but I can assure you that she will come after us eventually."
"She's after us? " his voice was surprised. Apparently Alice hadn't seen this.
I continued, "Take whatever precautions you think necessary to protect our family. Be prepared. She's got an especially strong survival instinct. I think that's how she knows I'm after her. Maria seemed to think that the reason her future disappeared is because she doesn't know how she plans to kill us yet, that her plans keep changing. If B – " I stopped my rapid speech with a gasp. "The same thing could be affecting Alice's other visions, too," I finished, flatly.
"Wait – " he began, but I closed my phone before he could say anything further.
I shoved my phone into my pocket and set off down the street once more. It rang right away, but I ignored it. My family was warned. I had done what I could. I had the answer to Victoria's disappearing future, and that of Bella's, too, I was sure. She had no plans. No more than I did. I was sure that if Alice looked at my future, it would be a blank blur just like theirs.
I had lost Victoria. She had tricked me, just as James had. It didn't really matter, except that I didn't know how or when she would attack my family. They knew she would though, and once she decided how and when, Alice would see and they would act to stop her. My family was safe. They didn't need me anymore.
Bella's future might not be a happy one at the moment, but I was certain that would change. Alice had seen her smile. Had she smiled yet? She was safe. I wanted her to be happy.
I was pacing past the tourists, their happy voices a blur in my mind. I tuned out the many languages, focused on listening only for a predator again. Victoria had tricked me, but maybe she had tricked Rafael, too. If she really was here… I sighed in frustration.
I hadn't realized how much my search for Victoria had consumed me. Without it, I felt lost. I had no place to go, nothing to look for. I had no purpose. Bella was safe, I repeated to myself. Her safety had been my only purpose. Now, with that gone, I was disconcerted. She was safe from me, her future was safe, and it would remain that way as long as I stayed away.
I slumped to the beach, let the rain wash over me. I didn't see the ocean, didn't hear the waves, didn't feel the rain as it drenched my clothes. I had nothing anymore. I had no Bella, I had no family, I had no enemy. Was existing the only thing I had left? What good was that?
I didn't want to die, but I no longer had any will to live.
