"So what are we going to do first?" Bella asks as Buffy leads her into the abandoned warehouse the Hex teleported her into.
"Just some basic things today. The first lesson being, when it comes to self defense, anything goes. Eyes, hair, balls, whatever you can attack, go for it. This is no time for modesty or to pull punches…but, here's a far more important lesson." Bella notes Buffy's changing expression, becoming more mature than most of the people she's met in their age range. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to run away. I know that sounds counterintuitive to self defense, but trust me, there's no shame in that. You aren't out to prove anything to anyone. It's all about staying alive."
"Did something happen to you, Buffy?" Bella asks.
"Me, my friends, my mother, people I don't know…sorry, I'm probably scaring you right now, aren't I?"
"No…maybe. Ok, I'm not scared for myself, but for you. Do you want to talk about it?"
Buffy's been through a lot of things, but the idea of discussing her life story with a fictional character sounded bizarre even for her, so she just politely shook her head no. "I've learned to deal with it by now; somewhat at least."
"If you ever want to be an open book, I'm here for you," Bella says, holding one of Buffy's hands.
"Thanks, Bella," Buffy says giving the other girl's hand a squeeze. "But this isn't about me," she began to say when her voice starts to trail off. Buffy opens her mouth to try and speak, but no sound comes from it and the area around her and Bella starts to turn black.
Bella herself is completely frozen and when Buffy tries to move, she discovers she too is frozen. Panic set in and her heart starts to race as Bella becomes consumed and then Buffy feels herself propelled through the darkness; helpless to move or act because of whatever force was acting on her. Then just as quickly as it started, everything came rushing back and Buffy finds herself on top of Bella pinning her to the floor.
"What just happened?" Buffy asks.
"Sorry, I got careless," Bella apologizes. "I'll try better next time." Buffy notices that Bella is dressed completely different from just a few seconds ago. She looks at her clothes and notes they are different as well.
"Did you see what just happened?" Buffy asks.
"You mean me leaving my left side completely open? Yes and again, I apologize for not following your instructions."
"Um…no apologizes necessary," Buffy says. Her cell phone starts to ring and she sees the call is from Xander. "Take five. I need to take this," Buffy says helping Bella to her feet. Bella goes to her backpack to take a sip of water and Buffy walks to the other side of the warehouse. "Hello."
"Buffy, please tell me you saw everything around you just vanish and then suddenly you developed a four day gap in your memory."
"Four days!?" Buffy mistakenly shouts. She looks over her shoulder at Bella, who seems interested in what Buffy just shouted about, but then goes back to her water. "How do you know it's been four days, Xander?"
"When the terrifying sea of death spit me back out, I noticed the calendar in my hospital room changed dates. What's going on?"
"I don't know…wait. Willow mentioned she found a way to reduce our time in the books. That must've been what we just experienced."
"She couldn't have found a less terrifying way for us to experience it?"
"You know how things work out for us, Xander," Buffy sighs. "I've gotta go now, but I'll come by so we can talk more about this later. Bye." Buffy hangs up the phone and rejoins Bella. "That was Xander wanting to discuss-ah!" Buffy cries out and grabs her head. A plethora of images surge through Buffy's mind showing her and Bella training, Bella's social circle crowding around them, and Edward mysteriously watching them from a distance.
"Buffy, are you alright?!" Buffy opens her eyes and sees Bella kneeling beside her. Buffy realizes she's on her knees and takes a moment to shake her head and get her bearings.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," Buffy lies. "Just a bad headache. I think we better call it a night."
"Me too," Bella agrees and helps Buffy get to her feet. They two of them cooled off, changed back into their regular clothes, and exited the warehouse. Just as they got close to Bella's truck, something caught Buffy's attention from the corner of her eye.
"Wait," she says and they both stop. "Edward, I know you're there. You should know that being stalked isn't what most girls consider to be a turn on." Edward steps out from around the corner into their view at her comment. "Just why the heck are you following us?"
"I have something I need to discuss with Bella," he says. "Alone," he firmly adds.
"If you think I'm just going to leave because you told me to," Buffy starts, but Bella clears her throat.
"It's ok, Buffy. There really is something he and I need to talk about." Bella hands Buffy the keys to her truck. "Edward will take me home when we're done. Won't you," she says. Edward smiles and nods. Deciding she could take this time to discuss what's going on with Willow's spell with Xander, Buffy nods.
"Just remember what I said about a man's weak point," she reminds her. Bella nods and goes over to Edward.
"So, are you hungry?" Edward asks.
Bella would pinch herself if she felt so inclined to do so. Sitting here with Edward for dinner was something she never thought would come to pass. But here the two of them are, sharing a meal together. Sort of. Edward chose not to eat anything, claiming to be on a special type of diet. Just another riddle to add to his growing enigmatic personality.
"Ok, you wanted to talk, so let's talk," Bella says getting down to business.
"The floor is yours."
"You've been noticeably avoiding me for the past four days. Why are you suddenly talking to me now?"
"I've been trying to figure out a way to explain myself. It's not the kind of thing one just jumps into talking about."
"But you're ready now?"
"Ready to talk about some things, at least."
"Like how you can read minds?" Edward opens, then shuts his mouth when she asks this. "Don't try to beat around the bush. I remember how you looked when I mentioned that four days ago."
"You're right," Edward sighs. "I can read minds. Well, every mind in this room except for yours."
That's convenient, Bella thinks then stares blankly at Edward for a few seconds.
"I'm serious. I can't read your mind," he states as if he knew what she thought anyway. "I'd try and prove it to you, but everyone else's minds in this restaurant are kind of boring and generic. They're mostly consisting of money. Sex. Money. Sex…cat?" That last one earns him a laugh from Bella.
"You said there was something about Buffy you didn't like. Did you read something from her mind?" Bella asks him, hoping her new friend doesn't have any scary skeletons in the closet.
"I haven't read anything from her since that day at school with the dodgeball game. I've tried to stay out of her head because I don't want to read her mind and find out something that could make me act rather rash." Bella is naturally curious as to what Edward read from Buffy, but forgoes asking him. "Let's just say Buffy knows more about me than she should," Edward continues to explain.
"You sure you can't read my mind?" Bella asks him.
"Whatever you thought, I promise my response was a legit coincidence".
Bella laughs, but then another thought crosses her mind. "What Buffy knows about you, is that a problem?"
"I don't know. This is new territory for me. Up until now, you and her are the only people outside my family that knows about what I'm capable of."
"How long have you been able to do this?"
"For…a while now."
"So what made you want to be honest with me now?"
"Figured it was obvious. I like you, Bella."
"You could've fooled me," Bella says finding herself taken aback by Edward's direct response.
"You're right, I do have to explain myself regarding that. But for right now, can we just enjoy one another's company." Not wanting to spoil the progress the two finally made, Bella gives him a nod.
The rest of their time in the restaurant flew by with Bella talking about her life before Forks and Edward reading the minds of a few other people while giving hints to his own past. Ordinarily the vagueness would annoy Bella, but the fact that the two of them have gotten to talking without the awkwardness of their prior encounters excited Bella too much to care. There was one other thing that piqued Bella's interest as they left the restaurant, however. She noticed how Edward deliberately seemed to avoid making any physical contact with her. She wondered why.
"Help! Someone help me!" They hear someone scream. Bella looks across the street at an alleyway as a man forces a woman against a wall. Without thinking, Bella rushes forward.
"Bella, wait!" Edward yells after her, but she's already halfway across the street.
She reaches the alley and freezes when she sees the man bite the woman's neck. Her cries die out and after a few seconds, he pulls away leaving a noticeable mark where he bit the woman. He casually drops her to the pavement below and turns towards Bella. She gasps at the blood dripping down his teeth and his face weirdly distorted just like that man that attacked her and Edward a few nights ago. He starts heading straight for her and she prepares to run, when Edward is suddenly in front of her.
"Stay away from her!" He shouts at the man.
He instead sprints forward at Edward, who shoves him back into a dumpster. That thing recovers, grabs the dumpster, and tosses it straight at Edward. He manages to catch it, but the creature uses that distraction to jump up at the fire escape and make a run for it. Edward faces Bella with an uncharacteristically frightened look on his face. "Come on." He doesn't wait for a response and grabs Bella's hand. She gasps at the ice cold feeling of his hand as he pulls her along with him to his car.
"What was that thing?" She asks once in Edward's car. "Was that a vampire? Are…are you a vampire?" Edward remains silent. "You can't ignore me the entire ride home, Edward."
He glances at her still looking deathly afraid. "You weren't supposed to find out like this."
"So you are a vampire."
"Yes, but I'm not like that thing. I'm not even sure if it was a vampire."
"You saw what it did to that woman. How can it not be a vampire?"
"Its face. No vampire I've ever encountered has looked like that before."
"You being a vampire, is that what Buffy knew about you?"
"Yes."
"Is she a vampire?"
"I don't know."
"How can you not know?"
"I just don't, but I want you to know that I won't harm you, Bella. I'd die before I'd ever let any harm come to you."
Bella slumps down in her seat with a thousand questions and counting running through her mind.
However, there was one thing she was definitely certain of. Her life would never be the same.
Victoria sinks her teeth into her victim and drinks him to her satisfaction. Actually, satisfaction isn't the word she'd use. The man's blood got the job done, however. She'll need to be full when she finds her intended target. It definitely goes against her nature to be this outgoing, but she's happy to violate it this time; alone.
Nobody could seek like James, but nobody could hide like Victoria. She always took pride in her ability to slip away from anywhere and remain undetected. Her sixth sense especially came in handy now that she's sent her lover on a wild goose chase, so she could return to Forks by herself. It wasn't like her to want someone's blood for only herself, but that Slayer's blood smelled too intoxicating for her to want to share. Sure, James will more than likely be mad if he finds out that Victoria denied him a hunt, but she'll cross that bridge when she gets to it. The only problem now? Victoria wasn't sure where to begin hunting for Buffy. A couple of days into her leading James into their game of hide and seek, Buffy's scent vanished without a trace; something that shouldn't be possible. She thought that maybe it would return the closer she got to Forks and in a way it sort of did. She could smell traces of Buffy around town; places she's visited or people she's been around. But not a direct line of smell to Buffy herself. It was truly intriguing, but she'll find her though, even if she has to turn all of Forks upside down to do it.
"No time like the present," she states to herself. She marches over to the exit of the warehouse she was snacking in, but stops when just like Emmett and Bella before her, another light from the Hex illuminates the area. She turns to its source and in place of the light stands a man who looks a few years older than her, dressed entirely in black. He looks ready for a fight, but drops his stance for no apparent reason.
This hunt just kept getting stranger, Victoria thinks, watching the man take in his surroundings. He looks at Victoria and appears even more confused.
"Who are you?" He asks.
"Victoria. You want to explain to me how you just appeared from nowhere, whoever you are."
"My name is Angel and I don't know."
"Oh well, it doesn't matter," she states with a smirk.
"I don't want any trouble," Angel says and that's when it hits her. Victoria detects not just the faint remains of Buffy's scent around him, but something else she's never smelled before. It made her wonder and that wonder turned to her sprinting forward at a speed Angel didn't anticipate. Her teeth sink into his left arm and Angel lets out a scream that echoes throughout the warehouse. He shoves him away from his arm and Victoria gasps in pleasure from how his blood tasted.
"I don't know what you are, but that was amazing." If she could breathe, she'd be breathless now. Angel collapses to his knees grabbing where Victoria bit his arm feeling the most foreign sensation of pain in it ever. He's dead, yet there's something coursing through his veins.
"What did you do to me!" He shouts then cries out again from the pain in his arm. Victoria merely stands there, contemplating between putting this man out of his misery and seeing what her venom does to him.
To Be Continued…