Liam paused idly outside of Forks High, frozen somewhere between the parking lot and the sidewalk, lingering a moment before he crossed the boundaries into the school. There was a fine misting of rain sprinkling down over the heads of the students as they ducked and weaved around the parking lot, aiming their bodies in the general direction of the doors.
Behind his blue colored contacts, Liam's eyes glimmered red, sparkling with interest as the scents of the humans bustling around him assaulted his senses. He could taste them now, each individual blood type lying thickly on his tongue as he inhaled them a little greedily. He blew out a breath as his predator instincts began to hone in on the humans transporting the blood that smelled particularly sweet to him, and reminded himself that he was in public. Any rash, illogical ideas his mind was already concocting to pounce had to be roped back in and discarded.
One false move and his cover would be annihilated.
It wasn't that he was particularly attached to Forks, but he hated the process of uprooting. He'd been here for a year, and it was acceptable enough that he had no immediate plans of relocation. For now, he had everything he needed here. He wouldn't move again until he began to feel suffocated by routines and familiar faces. He couldn't allow himself to grow too comfortable in any one place, because he knew how quickly things could change.
Besides, for the time being, Forks held enough entertainment to amuse and content him. He'd found a clan of vegetarian vampires upon his first stroll into the boundaries of the dreary place, and he was intrigued by them. Though they'd already made it quite clear that they didn't approve of him.
Liam smirked to himself. As much as he could tell that they wanted to be rid of him, the Cullen clan—as he'd come to find out was their name—could do nothing about his choice of living arrangements. If he found their little game of charades amusing and had decided to try his hand at it, they could do little more than murmur protests.
After all, if they decided to reveal him, he could easily reveal them as well.
Vegetarian vampires. What a joke. Liam didn't understand why anyone would go against their natural purpose. Human blood was a delicacy the Cullens obviously did not appreciate.
But that was all right, Liam ammended. If nothing else, it brought him amusement, and he could appreciate the blood they refused.
His fake blue eyes lingered on a blonde as she strolled past him so dangerously close that their arms nearly brushed. Though there had been no contact, Liam detected a steady, even pulse thrumming somewhere underneath her flesh. The rythmic beat stirred the sleeping predator once again, and, for a moment, Liam played along and followed the blonde into the school, imagining how her blood would taste on his tongue.
~!~!~!~
Upon reflection, Liam had to admit that foolishly following the human and goading his thirst had been a tad bit naïve and was going to cost him. The persistant burn that he'd managed to mildly subdue the previous week with a trip into the city began to faintly gnaw around the inside of his throat.
However, he handled himself, as always, without any significant problems, through the rest of the day, and, for the brief span of lunch time, his attention was even mercifully diverted. Testing his own limits, Liam habitually placed himself at a full lunch table, as much as to blend as to toy with his restraint. It might not have been wise, but Liam was keen on distractions, and he'd take them any way he could get them.
Now, however, as he sat wedged between two chattering girls, Liam's eyes lifted briefly and at the precise moment to catch Edward Cullen's disapproving golden gaze from across the cafeteria. Liam suppressed the grin that wanted to respond, and merely lifted a blonde brow.
Of course he'd known from the beginning that the whole Cullen family was a vampire clan in disguise as their scent was unmistakable, but it'd taken him some time to come to the conclusion that Edward, the quiet, speculative, mysterious sibling, had a little more underneath the surface than just immortality. He had his suspicions that Edward was a mind-reader. Of that, he was almost one hundred percent certain. Though it never hurt to test his theory.
Knowing that Edward's gaze was still trained on him, Liam glanced to his left. A brunette occupied the seat beside him. She was a full head shorter, but her hair was trimmed short to frame her oval face, and her neck was generously exposed. A thin silver chain hung about her throat, but it would hardly prove to be much of a barrier.
With a calm, composed face, Liam imagined, in wonderful detail, ducking his head and sinking his teeth into her tender, unguarded throat. While invisioning this, he glanced Edward's way again. Edward had not shifted the focus of his stare, but his gaze had gone bitterly cold, and his face was a marble statue carved into a mask of barely subdued disgust. Underneath that impenetrable façade, Liam knew that he'd gotten to the younger Cullen sibling.
Almost as if in response, Jasper, Edward's less physically imposing brother, turned abruptly to stare in his direction from across the table. As if they'd silently communicated with this slight movement, Edward's jaw tightened a fraction, and Jasper turned his attention away again.
Liam had yet to guess what Jasper's secret talent was (maybe mind reading as well?), but he figured he had plenty of time to figure that one out.
Pleased with the results of his test, Liam let thoughts of the brunette beside him filter out of his mind, and he shifted his attention to the Cullens, as fascinated as always. To Edward's left was his large mass of an elder brother, Emmett. Liam didn't figure Emmett needed any special talent, as his size alone would intimidate anyone. Liam pegged him as some sort of unspoken bodyguard for the entire Cullen clan.
At Emmett's opposite side was the lovely blonde goddess of the family, Rosalie. She had a face he could appreciate in a distracted sort of way, though one he imagined a mortal would kill for, but it often remained cold and remote, unless it turned to Emmett. Then there was a noticeable softening of the features. Curious.
Across the table were Jasper and Alice, a duo that always seemed to be pivoting around one another, as if they were in tune. Even now the spunky Cullen sister with short hair and an almost innocent, childlike manner was leaning, almost unnoticeably, toward Jasper, while his body seemed to be doing the same.
It seemed that each Cullen sibling had a significant counterpart in the other. Except for Edward. Liam's gaze shifted to him again. Edward's case was much more unique. On his right side sat a human. A meager, plain, and, from what he'd seen, somewhat clumsy human girl. He'd learned her name was Isabella Swan, but he hadn't needed the annoying mortal gossip to quickly understand the fact that there were significant feelings between Edward and Bella. The vampire watched her like a hawk. Even when his eyes weren't on her, Liam could feel that he still saw her. Everything about him seemed to be geared to a protective mode when the human was near.
Even now, as her face occupied his thoughts, Liam could detect the subtle shift in Edward's expression from across the room. Without so much as moving his lips, it felt as if Edward was growling, "Mine." Obviously feeling that his territory was being encroached.
Liam spared the oblivious human a glance. She took turns between nibbling disinterestedly at her food and flicking quick, almost unnoticeable glances up at Edward, as if to ascertain he hadn't magically disappeared. Liam wanted to roll his eyes, but merely pursed his lips.
"All yours," he thought for Edward's benefit.
He didn't want any part of whatever it was the idiot vampire had gotten himself into. Love was for fools and mortals.
~!~!~!~
"What did he want?" Jasper questioned Edward quietly. He'd stolen a few moments in the hall after Edward had deposited Bella in her next classroom. "Bella?"
Edward's face was grim but yielded little to no more information than that. However, Jasper detected his exasperation and anxiety, and it curled into his own body, making him as uneasy as he suspected Edward was.
"No," Edward replied. "He's interested in us."
Jasper's eyes narrowed. "That seems to be a reoccuring theme with everyone we meet."
Edward's gaze trailed once toward the classroom door behind which Bella was sealed safetly. He hoped. No, she was safe. No matter what. The classroom was just a shield, and he was her protector. He wouldn't let anything happen to her, even if Liam Gray's intentions did suddenly change.
"He hasn't done anything yet," Edward reminded his brother.
Jasper was unconvinced. "What color are his eyes?"
Edward frowned, a faint twist of the corners of his mouth, and his own uncertainty flickered in his golden eyes.
"I've noticed that," he admitted. "We'll keep an eye on him."
That was all they could do. For now.