Today was the day I would be making my first day out as part of the Cullen coven. I had my stomach full, with half-animal blood and half-human.
Carlisle had that idea at the hospital. He managed to take a blood bag home with him and combine it with animal blood. He said it was just a temporary solution to my problem.
One which Jasper apparently envied, the southerner had grumbled teasingly when he watched me sipping the blood through a straw and out of a 'dad of the year' mug Rosalie had jokingly bought for Carlisle.
Letting Rosalie smooth out the outfit I let her pick for me, I stood still as my mind raced. If a human walked in here right now, they would probably mistake me for a statue or a mannequin.
My mate gave me a knowing smile as she fussed over me. "Everything will be okay. Alice has seen a few outcomes, and we know what to look out for" gazing into my eyes, she pressed a kiss to my cheek, "I won't let anything happen."
Thinking over her words, I frowned "a few outcomes? So it could go bad," I questioned, remembering how Alice and Esme explained the short pixie girl's power and how my date with Rosalie had many outcomes, but it was the bad one that happened.
As if reading my mind Rosalie took my hand into hers with a reassuring expression before pulling me down into the living room where Jasper was sitting at the chess table with Carlisle.
Alice and Amber walked into the room, giggling with each other as Esme followed not too far behind, watching the two with a motherly smile. Edward was the only one unaccounted for, but I'd learned that he often likes his own company.
Meeting the bronzed vampire's eyes, she gave me a pretty smile. "You look very pretty, Geneviève" her eyes reminded me of Esme's. They held such a kind gentleness.
The two women didn't have actual powers, but you could say their kind-hearted gentleness was a gift they shared.
"Thank you. Rosalie picked it out" I rushed out after my appreciation, and my mate giggled as she pressed onto a kiss on the top of my cheekbones.
Was it possible for a vampire to develop social anxiety, or was I just not used to people praising me?
A wave of calm came over me, and I saw Jasper give me a subtle nod, and a small smile turned at the corners of his mouth. If he was trying to shoe his way into being my favorite brother, he was definitely in the lead.
Esme and Carlisle talked lowly among themselves, and I could see the slight worry written across the pretty woman's face, which quickly dissolved when she saw me looking.
"Right, you girls have fun" Carlisle smiled, putting his arm around his wife. My stomach fluttered with nerves. It had been a long time since I had been shopping.
Eva and Juliette did most of my shopping, even Lee and Kameron did more shopping than I did. They all enjoyed it more than I would have anyway; trying to clothes endlessly just wasn't something fulfilling to me.
That and it's been a long time since I had been a part of civilization. Everything was going to be new to me. Credit cards, online shopping, and even cell phones confused me.
I came from a time when if you wanted to talk to someone, you had to do it in person; not everyone could afford to have a telephone.
Alice gave a small cheer kissing her mate before she all but pulled Amber out of the house after her. The petite pixie had been bouncing off the walls all night, knowing we were doing this today.
She had already walked me through most things like what the 'mall' actually was, and I didn't have the heart to tell her that Eva had already done that, so I let her ramble on.
I got a grateful smile from Jasper for that.
Pushing away any trepidation, I nodded and held Rosalie's hand as she walked us to her car, where Alice and Amber were sitting, already animatedly talking about the stores they wanted to visit.
Getting into the passenger seat, I instantly grabbed Rosalie's hand when she started the car, I could count on my hands the number of times I had been inside a vehicle, and I was still in awe of them.
"Ready?" I let out a sigh but nodded once again. My mate gave me a proud smile as she held my hand tighter, setting off towards the shopping mall Alice wanted to go to, which was a few hours away.
Hours that would seem like minutes the way vampires drive.
The car ride was quiet for me; I was content to stare out of the window watching the world pass by as the other three talked among themselves, their voices lulling me into a calmness.
Nothing could happen right now. I was in a moving metal vehicle with no humans in sight. I wasn't emotional, so my fire couldn't flare up for any reason.
I could relax and gather myself before they unleashed me upon the human world. Amber had given me some dark contacts to go over my still reddish eyes. The darkness covered my actual eye color and gave it a dark brown effect.
It had been a while since my eyes had been anything other than red. If there was anything I could remember clearly from my human life, it was my eyes, they were a brilliant blue color, and I loved them.
That was the first thing people had commented on was my eye color.
"We're here!" Alice squealed as I jumped at the sound of it. I never knew that a person could make that type of sound. Amber smiled at me in pity but raised her eyebrows in amusement, following the tiny vampire out of the car.
"Babe, you're gonna break the door handle," Rosalie said as she leaned across the car and pressed her lips into mine, gently moving my hand from the handle.
"Sorry," I wince, knowing how much the blonde loved this car, and I almost just crushed a part of it. I let out a long unnecessary sigh. "Let's do this. Alice said only a few things could go wrong, so we'll just avoid those, right?".
Wrong.
Things had been going very well at first; I did the trick that Jasper showed me of not breathing around the humans. Yes, it made us look weird, but at least it worked.
Alice and Amber's hands were full of bags. The short pixie had already made a few trips to the car and back. Then there were things Alice had ordered to go straight to the house.
I had seen numerous eyes following the four of us and the whispers that weren't quite enough for us not to hear.
Humans were all the same; if they weren't talking about our appearances, then they were offended by our relationship. The mortals didn't understand mates had no gender. Your souls were one no matter what sex you were born as.
Soul mating and bonding was sort of a gender-neutral thing. Souls didn't care if you were a boy or a girl.
Hearing people be offended by mine and Rosalie's love made a heat flare up in me. Feeling the warmth of my hand, the blonde just pulled me closer, glaring at anyone looking our way.
"Rose, I want to go now," I whispered as Alice's ear pricked up at the sound of my pleading. I wonder if this was one of the options she had seen in her vision.
The smaller vampire spun around immediately. "Amber will go pull the car around the front," she said as her eyes held no pity but more understanding.
I suppose she used to this with Jasper.
Rosalie nodded as she handed the caramel-skinned vampire the keys. Alice gently pulled me along to a quiet corner of the mall. This must be one of the plans they had put together if everything fell apart.
"It's okay, babe, just block them out," My mate stated like a mantra over and over quietly as she pressed herself into my side. I tried to focus on the feeling of her lips on my temple until a scream rang out.
The scent of blood washes under my nose before I even see the woman who had fallen. Letting out a growl, I ducked down, ready to jump at the hurt human as Alice and Rosalie both grabbed at me.
Fighting away from the two, I notice the smell only getting stronger the more I drive myself into a frenzy. I could almost feel my teeth sinking into the woman's neck and the taste hitting my tongue.
The two of them struggled to get me to stay away while fighting the smell themselves. "Geneviève, please," Alice begged as my mate stayed silent, pushing me back.
But it was too late for that now. I wanted that human, and I was going to get her.