Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
This story has been adopted. The original was written and discontinued by Amiiix3. I was graciously given permission to continue the story as I saw fit. Thank you Amiiix3 for your trust.
"I'll go first," he whispered in my ear, his velvety voice sending my heart jumping.
His arms pulled me back, and just as quickly as the warmth of his body had come, it was gone. I pretended not to look disappointed, but it was hard to hide. In the brief moments his arms had surrounded me, I had felt strangely whole, as if there had always been something missing that was suddenly filled.
I ignored the sudden chill in the air and followed behind him quietly, attempting to keep my eyes off his backside.
We traveled for two weeks and, after the heart pounding physical encounter on our last night in New York City, Edward seemed unusually silent. He hardly spoke, only a few sentences on the weather and traveling plans, but his words were cold and unemotional. I had only just met him, the smallest fragment of time in my endless existence, but I felt as though I had known him forever. His silence cut me deeply. I forced myself to ignore it though, and drove on with as icy a shoulder as he had.
It was not until we were just on the border of Alaska, in the Yukon territory of Canada, that I could no longer stay the burning thirst deep in my throat. I was sure Edward had been cheating and drinking from humans on our journey, for they were unavoidable and their blood was luscious, but I had not fed since we left New York.
"Edward," I whispered one morning as we sat just inside the border of a forest, hiding from the light of dawn.
His eyes were cold as he turned to me. "Yes?" his voice was hard.
I gritted my teeth and forced myself not to flinch, adopting the same tone as him. "I know you've been hunting humans for these weeks of travel-"I ignored his twitch- "But I can hardly show the same respect for them as you do. I've not drank for nearly three weeks now." I rubbed my throat, wincing at the chapped feeling in it, the cold air burning with every unnecessary breath.
"Oh," he gasped and his cerise eyes seemed to soften. "You should feed...or you could wait. Only three days and we could be there," he added.
I thought about it. Perhaps I could wait for a few days... but with another burning breath, my will crumbled. I shook my head sadly. "No, I need to hunt. I'm dying of thirst." Edward looked worried and I had to suppress a laugh.
"Not literally dying!" He only snickered, hiding his grinning mouth beneath his bare arms- another reason we could not be seen by others. Surely in the snowy cold of Canada, we were expected to wear jackets or at least some sort of protection from the chill. I frowned down at the white shorts I still wore, now light brown from the dirt.
"You could hunt a human..." Edward suggested meekly. My eyes widened before I could hide the expression and my heart dipped when Edward's eyes became shadowed again, his attempt at hiding guilt and sorrow.
"That's a... reasonable suggestion." I smiled to show him I was not offended. "But I was hoping-" I glanced at him shyly from beneath my lashes, twisting a lock of hair tightly around one finger- "I was hoping that maybe I could... learn how to hunt animals now."
"Now?" Edward cleared his throat, obviously nervous.
"You don't have to teach me how to hunt. I suppose- It's a silly idea, but I just thought that maybe I should have some sort of experience first so that I don't look like an imbecile in front of the others." If I were human, my cheeks would be coated in red at the moment.
"No..." Edward shook his head and I felt my heart drop. He smiled at me. "No, it's not a silly idea. I think- I think I could teach you. If you'll accept that I'll make mistakes."
"You've already made too many to count," I joked, nudging him in the ribs with my elbow. Feeling the muscles through his thin shirt sent a tingle up my arm. "But thank you," I said, so quietly I hoped he had not heard. He seemed not to, but a strange smile had pulled up one cheek.
"All it takes is a little concentration," Edward's velvet voice whispered in the wintry silence.
Our footsteps made no sounds, but the animals' did. I heard a small crack and knew a deer had leapt past from behind. I turned around slowly, sharp eyes hunting for the creature, but Edward shook his head at me, placing a long finger over his full lips. "Not yet," he said quietly and shook his head again.
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes and settled for an annoyed huff. Edward was acting as if we were performing some sort of delicate surgery. I told him so. "And we are," he grinned, pulling back from his crouched hunting pose and leaning against a tree, perfectly at leisure.
I raised my eyebrows; talking hurt my burning throat.
"We're not quite deep enough in the forest yet, and these woods are too thin, so even if you're right in the middle, you'll still smell the humans. So if your bloodlust takes over while you're feeding off an animal and you smell human blood, what do you think will happen?" He drew a line across his throat with his pointer finger.
I shook my head. How was it that I had killed for four decades and it was only now that I could hardly look at a human without feeling remorse? Was it normal not to feel the full guilty conscience until almost half a century later?
"All right," I sighed, feeling my raw throat scrape. "Let's do this your way." Edward crouched right in front of me, peering over a row of thick hedges.
"What do you see?" I asked, unable to see over his shoulder.
He turned around sharply and cast me a reproachful look. "Shhhhh..." he said loudly, placing a finger to his frozen lips. The deer we had been watching suddenly lifted its head and with a frightened look in its eye, dashed away through the trees.
Edward groaned and fell forward onto his knees, cupping his face in his hands. "You did it again! I told you not to talk!"
"You're the one that scared it!" I shot back, but this was the fifth deer we had scared away and it seemed I had a fair part in ruining our hunts. My throat burned so much it made my head spin and the fresh aromas of human blood grew stronger. "Let's just get this over with quickly," I coughed out. Edward looked like he was going to retaliate with some witty comment, but seeing the look on my face, he nodded and turned back, immediately serious.
"I apologize," he started as we glided between trees, our noses in the air.
"It's been only a few years of not hunting, and I'm afraid I've lost my touch."
"I thought you said it comes naturally?" I turned, thinking I had smelled something edible, but a tiny rabbit scurried across my path and disappeared beneath the burrowed roots of a large tree.
"It does- I mean, it should. It's fairly natural, but I suppose it does take some getting used to." He frowned, disappointed in himself, and my heart tightened uncomfortably. We walked on for a few more minutes, smelling nothing but the human scents which were now falling further behind with every step.
Watching around me, I did not see Edward stop. I ran right into his back, and was met with a momentary shock that ran through my skin, especially where my fingertips brushed his arm, held out. "Oh," I huffed, stumbling back from him. Even as a vampire I was strangely clumsy. "Sorry," I mumbled.
He turned back to me and grinned, wrapping a hand around my wrist and squeezing it kindly. It was a strange gesture to me, but imaginary warmth trickled through his skin and into mine.
"There's one there," he pointed ahead, leaning close and directing me to it. It was unnecessary, as my ravenous thirst had already directed me to the deer- a large male.
Without knowing what I was doing, I crouched low and pounced on the deer. Its neck snapped easily beneath my fingers. My mouth pressed to its skin, feeling the fur beneath my lips, still warm. With a single nick, its blood trickled into my mouth, first a few drops and then as my teeth sunk in, a fountain fell past my lips.
I drank as a man dying of thirst would, and when there was no more blood left and its heart had stopped its quiet drumming, I dropped the carcass to the ground. The thirst had left a bit of the monster in me. I felt Edward could see it in my eyes, standing just where I had left him across the clearing. I stared into his ruby eyes for a long time and licked my lips, tasting the sweet but missing, flavor on my mouth.
He crossed the clearing in three long strides and stepped over the deer's body to stand before me. I registered vaguely that he was closer to me than usual. He took my shoulders in his strong hands and my body turned to jelly beneath his demanding touch. Without him holding me, I would have melted to the ground.
He grinned down at me, leaning close. My eyes fell to his lips, full and angular, pink and well fed- and delicious. Just as I thought his lips were about to close on my own- my eyelids were fluttering and my heart accelerated- his face brushed past mine. He pressed his cheek against my own and his icy breath caressed my ear.
"That was perfect." It sounded as though he purred the last word. I shook under his touch, chastising myself in believing he was about to bestow upon me those sacred lips, that angel kiss. Despite the forced anger at myself, my heart pumped rapidly, bouncing into my throat.
"Th-thank you. It wasn't as tasty as I had expected, though." I tugged myself back from him and pushed a lock of stray mahogany hair behind one ear, my hand trembling. "Um...Should we leave?" Edward watched me, an unfathomable expression in his scarlet eyes. I turned away from his unnerving gaze- it felt as though he could see right through me- and dug my toe into the frosty ground, listening closely to the crunch of the grass beneath my foot.
"Shall we...?" I cocked my head toward the thicker woods behind us again, hoping dearly we could forget the disconcerting incident only moments before.
"Wait." Edward held up a hand and turned around. He bent over smoothly and slipped his arms beneath the crippled corpse of the deer. It's neck had a large split it, making my stomach churn uncomfortably; I had done that with my own teeth.
Edward swerved through a few trees and stopped beneath a thick oak. "We need to dispose of the body," he explained.
"Oh..." I nodded, watching his muscles flex as he wrapped his arms around the tree's thick trunk and lifted it clear out of the ground, its roots flailing in the air.
"Push the body under the tree," he grunted, staggering a bit. The trees branches scraped others, creating a ruckus overhead and a shower of leaves. I nudged the deer with my toe and just the slightest bit of strength sent it into the ditch made by the tree. Edward let the tree fall back in its hole with a resounding drum-like thud. He huffed as he dug it back into the earth.
"We need to cover its roots again, so it will keep growing." Edward turned without stopping and picked up a large handful of thick, reddish-brown muck, padding it around the tree. I stood frozen for a moment, unbelieving. Edward was so aware of the earth and its every need. My heart fell and soared at the same moment. How could I possibly deserve as loving a creature as him?
One confused glance from those cerise eyes and I was on my knees, shoving piles of mud to Edward who padded them around the tree with a strange, motherly care. When the tree was carefully balanced, Edward stood up, rubbing the clay-filled dirt from his hands. They had left reddish streaks across his pants. A quick examination of my own clothing confirmed a large patch of brown on the side of one leg of my shorts.
"Ugh," I groaned, attempting to wipe it. The dirt from my hands only rubbed it in further, and I gave up with an angry huff. Edward chuckled, reaching out and helping. His fingers touched the bare skin of my thigh and my stomach twisted pleasantly. A few crumbs of mud fell to the ground.
"Oh, well...," I sighed, throwing my hands up.
He grinned again, and all thoughts of mucked clothing left my mind at the sparkling grin. I felt as though his eyes did not frighten me quite as much even. Though, I could not forget the last few weeks; the sudden mood change was unnerving. I pushed it from my mind and returned his grin with a wide one of my own. "Shall we leave, now?"
"Ladies first." Edward bowed gallantly.
"Why thank you." I swayed ahead of him, pushing my hips from side to side more than I normally would.
"There it is," Edward whispered.
We stood together beneath the shadow of a number of evergreen trees, peering through the thick pine branches at the white house settled in the center of a circular opening. Trees surrounded it from all sides like a bordering gate, protecting it from curious outside eyes.
"Wow," I whispered, but not only for the beauty of the home, how it blended in with the snow so I was unsure where the house ended and then icy flakes began. My surprise was reserved for the families that resided in said home. "Two covens?" I asked again, the idea so alien I could hardly believe it.
Edward smiled. "Two covens." He nodded. I was suddenly nervous. I ran a hand through my hair- once, twice... The third time, Edward took my fingers in his own and squeezed them tightly- it felt too friendly, not nearly as romantic as I had hoped.
"No need to be nervous. They will be absolutely delighted to meet you. And I'm sure they'll love you for bringing me back." He ducked his head and I was sure he felt guilty for having left them in the first place.
"It's all right." I squeezed his fingers before letting them slip from my grip, afraid to frighten him off. I glanced down at my clothing, the same white shorts still covered in dirt.
"Maybe I should change?"
Edward shrugged. "If you want."
Less than a minute later, I pressed myself beside Edward, my toes on the edge of the forest, but my body hidden under the pine branches' shadow. I ran nervous fingers over the creases in my flowing, white skirt. It reached my knees, where I gripped the fabric, almost ripping it in my anxious hands.
"Don't worry," Edward reassured. He twisted his fingers through my own and gave me a beautiful smile. "I'm here."