I'm eager to get past this section of the story. It was unbelievably difficult to write, but one of the most necessary as well. I'm dreading the next part as well, but I'm hoping it'll be a bit easier to get through. Just know, some secrets are found out while others are just beginning to be revealed. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for all the nice comments!
I couldn't sleep that night. Anytime I tried, I'd see Edward's face twisted in a sadistic grin, and my eyes would shoot open to survey my room.
It was just too hard to believe. Sure, the van incident made a whole lot more sense now, but I couldn't even feel satisfaction figuring out how he did it finally. There was no way that Edward was the same as that vampire that had bitten me. I didn't want to believe it; I couldn't believe it.
As the meager light of Forks began to filter through my curtains, I stood and began my morning routine. Though my mind was going over a mental checklist of everything I knew about the Cullens, I still had the capacity to complete all my tasks and then some. My multitasking skills had been okay at best before I'd come to stay with Dad, so I knew the whole vampire transformation had something to do with it. That was one of the very few pros of being a vampire that I was thankful for.
The first thing I had noticed about the Cullens was their eyes. For the most part, they were a honey-gold color that stood out brightly against their pale skin. Though there were days where that honey-gold would change into something closer to amber. The difference was subtle but extremely noticeable to my keen eye. The most noticeable though was when their eyes went black. My thoughts flickered to Edward on the first day of school. While he was the best and most memorable example, I'd also noticed that his "siblings" had the same odd eyes. They'd get continuously darker over the week before suddenly returning to that striking shade of gold once again.
They'd also begin to act differently depending on the color of their eyes. Jasper, the quietest out of the Cullen bunch, was the one I'd observed this in the most, besides Edward, of course. While Jasper was always detached from everyone around him-besides Alice-and kept his head down, something changed when his eyes were dark. He'd stare at people as they passed more, his eyes lingering just a bit longer than what was considered appropriate. He'd also tense up as if he was holding himself back from doing something. I'd just chalked it down to something odd about the Cullens and left it alone. Now, it made sense to believe that their eyes were connected to their… thirst. I'd never been able to see it myself because I was never usually in a right enough mind after I transformed to look at my reflection. Blood was always at the forefront.
Something else I had noticed about the Cullen's was how they never actually ate. Sure, they grabbed lunches every day and picked at them, but not once had I seen food actually go into their mouths. When they all got up to dump their trays, they had the same amount of food as they did when they'd first gotten them. While it was a blatant waste of food, I hadn't thought much of it. Now, I was wondering if maybe they just couldn't eat food. That would explain why Edward hadn't eaten anything last night.
I continued to pick at every single memory I had of the Cullens as I finished getting ready for school. A part of me was terrified and wanted to miss today, but I reigned that impulsive side of me in. If they were going to do something to me, they would have done it by now. Besides, Edward wouldn't hurt me. Even amidst my panic knowing they were vampires, I knew that fact for certain. That didn't mean I wasn't going to exert caution around him and his family until they gave me a reason to feel differently.
Even though Bella and I left the house at the same time, she made it to school a few minutes before me. If that didn't say how slow I was driving, I don't know what did. I didn't play music like I normally did either. I needed the silence to focus on my thoughts and go over everything one more time. By the time I was parking in my normal space, I'd come up with a plan of attack. It wasn't the best idea to confront Edward about it at lunch where anyone could overhear, but there was no way I couldn't bring it up. He and his family had information and knowledge that could help me understand everything about what I'd become, and I desperately needed answers.
Stepping out of my car, my eyes immediately went to the space the Cullen's normally parked. Sure enough, Edward's Volvo was parked and his family was standing around it as usual. Edward was nowhere to be s-"Looking for me?"
"Holy shit!" I jumped and held my hand over my racing heart as I turned to see Edward's grinning face behind me. "Don't sneak up on me like that! Make some noise next time or I'm gonna have to put a bell on you." My hand smacked against his chest, and though he leaned away so the impact wasn't as hard, it was like hitting a brick wall. Now that I thought about it, the book had mentioned the cold ones having hard skin.
"My apologies. I didn't mean to frighten you. I just wanted to come over and say good morning and ask how you slept." Gosh! With that grin and those sparkling eyes, it was so hard to feel anything other than attraction towards him. That's probably how they lure in their prey. As much as I hated to admit it, even the vampire who'd bitten me that day had been more attractive than average.
Blinking a few times, I tried to clear my mind, not wanting him to catch on to where my thoughts were headed and began walking towards the school. Edward followed. "Um… I actually didn't sleep last night." I saw no reason to keep the truth from him.
His grin fell, and his eyebrows pinched together. "That's not good. Seven to nine hours of sleep every night is what humans need for optimal functioning." If I hadn't known that he was a vampire, I would have just chalked his wording down to the way he spoke, but now, I knew better.
"Well, I'm a high school student; I never get the recommended amount of sleep. One sleepless night won't kill me."
"Was there something bothering you?" he asked, stepping in front of me to get me to stop walking. The intense eye contact was too much for me, and I settled for looking over his shoulder. It looked like just about the entire student-body was staring at us… including his siblings. I moved my gaze somewhere else.
I shrugged. "Yes and no. It's nothing to worry about." I went to move around him, but he moved with me. My eyes shot up to his, and I saw that he looked more serious than before.
"Yeah, well, I am worried about it. Were you thinking about last night? About what I told you?"
I hesitated for a moment. "Yes and no." My answer seemed to frustrate him.
"I can't read you clearly, Addison. I need something less vague."
The bell rang, and I sighed. "Okay, yes, something was bothering me last night, but it doesn't have to do with your whole-" I glanced around to make sure no one was listening- "mind-reading thing. I mean… it kind of sort of has to do with what was bothering me, but that's not the point. I was reading the book of Quileute legends last night, and it made me think about some things that kept me up last night."
"What kind of things?" Just as I thought, his voice was just as tense as his face.
Glancing around the parking lot, I noticed that we were the only two still left… besides his family, of course. They were still standing by their car and obviously staring us down. It took me a moment to realize that they could hear us and were listening in to the conversation. A slight panic began to kick in, and I looked longingly towards the school building that was only a short distance away. Judging by the look on Rosalie's face alone, I did not want to be out here alone with them for much longer at all. Edward may be okay with me, but his family was a different story.
"I'll tell you at lunch, I promise. I need to get to class now." I took a step away, and this time, he didn't move to block me. He simply stared at the place where I once stood with an unrecognizable expression. It didn't sit well with me, and I hesitated by the door. "Hey." His amber eyes turned to me, and the dread was obvious on his face. "Don't worry so much. You get wrinkles when you start brooding, and it makes you look older." I wanted to curse myself for blurting that out. How was that supposed to make him relax?
Surprisingly though, the corners of his mouth quirked up in a tiny smile. "You're going to be late to class." As if to prove his point, the bell let out a shrill ring around the school. I groaned loudly and turned on my heel to book it to class. Hopefully, Mrs. King wouldn't mind too much.
Most classes passed relatively quickly, but that was mainly because I was too lost in my thoughts to pay much attention. How I was going to confront Edward was at the forefront of my mind. I wasn't too worried about his reaction… that much. What was really putting me on edge was how his family would react. Being in a crowded cafeteria both put me at ease and made me nearly want to pee my pants. They wouldn't try to off me with other people around… I think.
The only class where I wasn't dreading the upcoming conversation was English. Never had I found Emmett more intimidating than in that hour. I'd been acutely aware of his presence the entire time. The atmosphere was tense between us, and I knew he could feel it as well as me. Neither of us cracked jokes or passed notes as usual. Instead, we both stared ahead and sat tensely in our seats. Once or twice, I could feel his eyes on me, but I couldn't force myself to meet his gaze. It was almost like my first day all over again. I'd never been happier to have a bell ring in my life.
Now, two classes later, it was time for the most important conversation of my entire life. My pace was slow as I made my way to the cafeteria, wanting to prolong it as much as I could. It could go one of two ways. The first was them taking it alright and waiting to kill me long enough to give me a chance to explain my situation. The second was them ambushing me on the way to one of my classes and dumping my body in the woods. For obvious reasons, I was rooting for the first option.
Finally pushing open the door to the canteen, my eyes immediately spotted Edward sitting alone at a table. It wasn't the same one we'd sat at before. He'd chosen one closer to the corner, and he'd sat in a seat that left me with the one closer to said corner. Gives me less of a chance to get away if I need to. Apparently sensing the atmosphere, no one sat at the tables near him, giving us a bit more privacy.
Edward's eyes were locked on my form, and I took a deep breath before making my way over to him, deciding to forego lunch. I wouldn't be able to stomach anything at the moment. As I made it to the table, I sat across from him without a word. There was a moment of us staring at each other in silence before I finally broke.
"Well, a promise is a promise." I took another deep breath. "Like I said, I was up last night reading Quileute legends. In the book, they mentioned something that got me to thinking. It made a lot of things click into place, and I have a new theory… about what you are." My voice was nothing but a whisper, not wanting to take any chances of anyone overhearing.
His gaze was hard as he stared at me. "And just what do you think I am, Addison?"
My eyes flickered over his shoulder to the table his family was sitting at. Once again, they were all shamelessly staring at me with varying looks of disapproval. Rosalie looked the angriest, by far. She openly glared at me as I met eyes with her. Jasper was the next, but he didn't look like any particular emotion. If anything, he looked detached. Emmett, while not looking angry, still had a serious expression on his face that said he didn't like what he was hearing. Alice… oddly, she was smiling at me. It wasn't the brightest smile, but it was there. She didn't look hostile at all; if anything, she looked excited.
Turning my eyes back to Edward, I tried to ignore their stares. "I know you're a vampire." There, the words were out in the open, and I couldn't take them back. There was no point in beating around the bush now. "The crazy strength, not coming to school when it's sunny, the speed, the not eating anything… all of it points in that direction. The Quileute legends say all that and more about the cold ones."
There was silence on both our ends for a long time. We just stared at each other without blinking, neither of us knowing what to say. "And just how do you know? They're legends for a reason, Addison." He sounded like… not himself. There was an anger and sadness there that made his voice sound completely unwelcoming and harsh. It was a miracle I kept myself from flinching.
"Besides all the things I've noticed about you and your family that I just pointed out, I've got nothing. I just know, okay? It's the same way I knew the Quileutes from the reservation were shapeshifters." My eyes flickered back to his family who were as tense as statues. "It's the same way I know that Rosalie wants me dead for knowing your secret and that Emmett will go along with her because they're together. It's the same way I know Jasper agrees with Rosalie and will do what he has to to keep your family safe. I just... know; if you don't believe me, you can read their minds and see that I'm right."
Never had I seen Edward look as openly shocked as he did at this moment. His eyes were wide, and his lips were slightly parted as he stared at me. Even his family, who'd been glaring at me before, looked surprised. I guess they hadn't been expecting that. "How-"
I interrupted him. "I just told you, I know things." He looked unsettled and was tenser than I had ever seen him. "You don't have to worry about me blabbing to the world about anything. Trust me, it's the last thing on my mind."
His jaw clenched. "This isn't where we should be having this conversation."
"I know; it really isn't, but…" I hesitated, "it's the most comfortable for me right now. As of this moment, three of your siblings think it's better if I'm dead, which means, whether you want me alive or not, you're outvoted. I just need you to answer a few questions here and now; after that, we can go wherever you want. Deal?"
Again, there was a long pause where nothing was said. For a moment, I thought he was just going to get up and walk away, but he didn't. Instead, he clenched his fists tightly and nodded. I sighed in relief. "Thank you. I'm going to jump right into it. Your eyes, they change color depending on how thirsty you are, right? Gold being the least and black being the most?"
His eyebrows furrowed. "I'm assuming this is something you know."
I shook my head, internally cheering for figuring it out on my own. "No, I kind of guessed that based on the way you all acted when your eyes were black versus gold. Speaking of, why are they gold?"
"What makes you think they shouldn't be?" he questioned, eyeing me.
This time, I was the one who paused. There was no point in keeping secrets from him now, though it didn't make it any easier to explain. I took a shaky breath. "Do you remember when I told you certain circumstances led to me believing in the supernatural?" He nodded. "Well, my first day in Forks, I was walking in the forest behind my house when I was attacked by a man. He was a vampire; he had red eyes, not gold."
If I thought Edward looked like a statue before, it was nothing compared to how he looked now. He didn't even look like he was breathing. As I watched him, I was shocked to see his eyes gradually morphing from amber to coal black. It was fascinating to see… as well as worrying. Black meant thirst.
I started to lean back in my seat when his hand suddenly shot out to hover over mine. He wasn't quite touching me, but he was close enough so that I could feel the difference in temperature. "We need to go somewhere else and have this conversation." His was still whispering, but I could hear the urgency in his voice.
"And we will. I just need you to answer my question, please." I had to know what made him different from that other vampire. Until I knew, I needed to play everything safe.
He didn't look at all happy about it, but his words came out in a hissed whisper that I struggled to keep up with. "My family and I are different from others of our kind. Rather than drink human blood, we only drink the blood of animals; it's what gives our eyes the golden color." It felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest.
"And I'm guessing the human-drinkers have red eyes, like the one who attacked me." He nodded, that tense look still not leaving his face. I suspected it wouldn't leave until I told him the truth about myself. Nodding to myself, I let out a heavy breath. "That makes me feel a lot better."
I was surprised to see that he looked angrier than before. "You find out that we're vampires who drink blood, and you say that us drinking animals makes you feel better? Don't let that knowledge make you complacent. There are still times that we slip up, Addison. Every moment around humans is a risk."
The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. The bell rang loudly, but I knew he heard me clearly judging by the expression on his face. "Who said I was human?"