A/N- Sorry this took so long everybody. School's been really hectic and I wanted to make sure that this was good. Please review and I'll try to get the next chapter out quicker!

Chapter 3: Parrots and Porpoises

EPOV:

Where a river starts and ends, a friend will meet you there. It starts with an R, but ends in speed by the sea. There you will find what you need.

But what could that mean??… There are thousands of rivers in the world. But only a few start with R… Rio Grande, Riviera, Rhone, Rhine, Rubicon… Hmm… We have friends in Rio de Janerio, which is on the Rio Grande, which sits by the sea! Yes, that must be it!!!

It had taken me the hour run (I had left the car for Bella) to the airport to figure this out, but I was sure of it now. I quickly purchased a first class ticket and boarded the plane to Rio. I pulled out my iPod and turned on Staind. I tried not to think of Bella, knowing how her forehead would crumple, how I ached to touch her face, and smooth out the lines. I shook my head, I must not think of her or I wouldn't last long. This would be a long two weeks, but the rewards would be worth it. I concentrated on the music for the duration of the flight.

It was night when my flight arrived in Rio, and I was thankful. I could run in the dark. I got off the plan as quickly as humanly possible and started off towards downtown Rio. Our "friends" in Rio were composed of various service people who attend to Isle Esme… There was Kaure and Gustavo who serviced the house, and then Ricardo and Juan down at the docs. Kaure and Gustavo worked for Feather Cleaners International. I guess I would try their downtown office first, see if they have a clue what's going on. I walked quickly down the streets, reminiscing about my last trip here with Bella.

What a honeymoon! I smirked as I remembered the events that transpired. Then I had to shake my head again to concentrate. I wasn't going to fair too well these next two weeks without my Bella… I started a light run, to take my mind off of her. The office was open, surprisingly, so I smoothed my hair and put on my 'non-scary' human look before opening the door and walking in.

OH MY!! Is that Edward Cullen? He hasn't been here in forever, oh my... *swoon* I forgot just how beautiful the Cullens' were…

"Good afternoon! Mr. Cullen, isn't it? Welcome to Feather Cleaners International!" she said, slightly dazed my presence but no less exuberant. Welcome indeed! Yum Yum! I tried not to laugh out loud at her thoughts.

"Yes, my name is Edward Cullen. I was wondering if Kaure or Gustavo were here, I need to speak with one of them."

"No, I'm sorry, Mr. Cullen they are not here. But I believe I did hear Kaure talk about going down by the docks for a bit, maybe you can catch her there. Lucky bitch… I wish that Edward wanted to talk to me. He is sooo gorgeous. Oops, did I just drool?

"Was there a problem with their services, because we can deal with that, Mr. Cullen" Ya, I'll deck her, and then fire her. She'll never have the privilege of cleaning your house again. HA! Oh how fun that would__"

"No No! Nothing is wrong" I rushed to stop those malicious thoughts. I rather liked Kaure and Gustavo. My words came out harsher than I had meant them too. I watched the young receptionists face closely.

Wow… She took a step back. What the?

"I'll just go down to the docks now, thank you so much for your help." I said quickly turning and heading out the door as fast as I could while keeping up my ridiculous human façade. I had to walk to the docks; there were too many people out in the streets. When I got there I went straight to our yacht, I was not surprised to find Kaure waiting for me.

"Good evening Edward, Carlisle called me a few days ago asking a favor. I trust you know what I have for you?"

"Yes Kaure. May I have the egg now?"

"No, there is a task you must complete first." Of course... How could it ever be easy…? I love my father, but right now, I was seriously considering changing my mind.

"What do I have to do?"

"You have to collect 4.5lbs of feathers from local birds, and stuff the pillows you ruined. Then you have find a pod of porpoises and take a picture with them."

"What the heck? Fine. Can I meet you back here?"

"Yes, I will be waiting." I nodded to Kaure, though I wanted to glare. I stalked off to the far corner of the dock, and stripped down to my boxers. Then I sighed and dove into the water. The swim to Isle Esme was revitalizing, I had forgotten how much I enjoyed swimming. Once I got to the island I went inside the beach house and put on a pair of emergency clothes that Alice has stored of us all. I grabbed a trash bag on my way out the door, and ran as fast as I could to the far end of the island. I was thirsty so that factored nicely into my plan for getting the feathers. I'd never dined on bird before so this would be interesting…

I tested the scents in the air and found a few that were unfamiliar but not entirely un appealing. I followed them to a big palm tree on the tip of the island. Perched in its branches were a large Macaw and a medium parrot. I sighed quietly and then raced up the tree grabbing one bird in each hand, snapping their necks before they could make a sound. I jumped out of the tree, landing silently on the balls of my feet, smiling at my success. I laid the parrot down on the sand and plucked the Macaw at vampire speed, throwing the feathers into the trash bag as I went.

Then I raised its neck to my mouth, the scent was less appealing now but I didn't want to waste it so I steeled myself and bit in sucking deeply.

"That is the most disgusting thing I've EVER tasted!" I shouted to no one, spitting out the blood as best I could. "It tastes even worse than those mutts smell! Uh!" I threw the bird into the water, watching as it bobbed on the surface of the water. I smiled widely as I watched the two sets of shark fins swim toward the bird. Turning back to the parrot, I plucked it as quickly as possible then threw that carcass into the water also. Why waste it?

I grabbed the trash bag and ran back to the beach house. I knew there was a cooking scale there that I could use. Striding into the kitchen, my eyes searched for the scale. Ah, there, by the stove. I balanced the bag on the scale, silently praying that it was enough. It was thankfully! I looked up at the ceiling raising my hands in triumph!

"Now to find the pillow cases…." I ran to the linen closet in the bathroom and took out two clean white pillows cases. I took them back to the kitchen and grabbed two smaller trash bags. I separated the feathers evenly between the two bags, using the scale to make sure the weights matched. Finally I put the trash bags into the pillow cases and ran them back to the bedroom. The headboard was still mangled; I smiled and laughed at the memory. I threw the pillows on the bed and found the camera Bella and I had left on the desk by accident.

I took a few pictures and then wrapped the camera in a plastic bag (just for extra precautions. The camera was waterproof of course), then I stripped and threw the clothes into the clothes hamper. I ran back to the beach, plastic bag in hand and dove into the water. I took my time swimming back. The sun was beginning to rise over the water and I wanted to enjoy the view. Back on the docks, I redressed and strode toward the yacht. Kaure was asleep on the bow seat. I gently shook her shoulder; she gasped and fell off the seat, crawling away from me.

"I'm sorry Kaure. I didn't mean to frighten you. I just wanted to show you that I've completed the first half of my task" I tried to make my face friendly and proffered the camera to her. She stood up slowly and took the camera.

"It's fine Edward. You surprised me. I still have trouble trusting your family. My people are very conscious of their legends; they are heavily ingrained in me." I nodded in understanding. She took the camera and looked at the pictures. "Good work, now for the second task. Though I think you will either have to wait until evening, or go back to the island quickly."

"I will head back to the island; it is a happy place for me." I smiled at her, though my face must have shown the depth of my emotion.

He really must love her. I wonder….

"Yes Kaure. Bella is one of us now and I must say she has taken to this life with the utmost grace." I smiled even wider, and Kaure smiled in response. I nodded and walked off placing the camera back in its plastic bag. I had a plan for the porpoise picture… There had to be a tourist park around here somewhere with a porpoise attraction. I headed off to the tourist center to check out some brochures. It was still dark enough that I could walk around as long as I stuck to the shadows. I pulled on a sweatshirt and some gloves, pulling the hood up. People would think I was crazy, seeing as it was already 70 degrees, but I needed to be out. Thank Alice for thinking ahead!

I got there quickly and found the right brochure in no time, there was a porpoise park about 2 miles down the coast from the docks. The brochure boasted "fun for all ages" and "low prices". I rolled my eyes, and stuffed the brochure in my backpack, having already memorized the directions. It took me about a half hour, walking human pace to reach the park. I found a nice shady area under some trees to wait out the day. I pulled off the sweatshirt and gloves, resting against one of the trees. I listened to some Snow Patrol, relaxing, knowing that I would have my first egg by morning. I wondered how the others were fairing… I hoped Bella was ok…

Nightfall came at last and I stuffed everything but the camera back into my backpack. It was easy to sneak into the park, and soon I was stripped camera in hand ready to corner a porpoise! The porpoises were going crazy, flipping and snorting and charging the walls of the pool they were contained in. I waited until one of them was a few feet from the wall, then jumped in on top of it, holding it to the wall as I turned myself around and smiled. I snapped the picture and released the poor creature jumping out of the pool in one lithe movement.

It swam to the far edge of the pool and cowered, I tried not to laugh, but it was useless. I decided I would get one more picture just to be on the safe side. This time I had to chase a porpoise into a corner before I could grab them and snap the picture. I smiled smugly as I got out of the pool, toweling off leisurely and then redressing. I ran as fast as I could back to the yacht, Kaure was asleep again, so I dragged my feet trying to make my arrival more human. She woke on her own this time and smiled at me holding out her hand for the camera.

I smiled back as tossed it to her. She turned it on and laughed out loud at the pictures. I smiled smugly.

"You've done well Edward. Carlisle will be proud." I rolled my eyes at her.

"Is that all then? Can I have the egg please?"

"Yes, here you go" she handed me a small plastic neon green Easter egg. I glared at it, so much trouble for such a small thing.

"Thank you Kaure. I hope to see you again soon. I'm sure Bella and I will be coming back for a second honeymoon." I smiled at the idea, and she nodded, gesturing for me to lead the way off the boat.

I placed the small treasure in my lion's head Easter basket and then headed off into the forest. I stopped at a nice small meadow. Not nearly as nice as our meadow back home, but it suited the purpose. I was anxious to read my next clue so I quickly took off the pack and ripped an envelope from the pack. My brow furrowed deeply as I read:

Dices que eres el chico malo, después que nos demuestras una verdad, y vas a esta ciudad con los toros en el flojo. Viajan la costa y las calles del guijarro y recuerdan a Isabel. Caminarás más allá de un viaje que descubra el significado verdadero y en el extremo de esa trayectoria, tú encontrarás lo que has estado necesitando.

Dun-Dun-Duh!!!!!

A/N- Well, what do you think? I hope you like it, it's the first single character chapter of many! Again I'm sorry it took me so long to get out, I'm hoping to get another one out soon. Reviews please!! Thanks – My Vampire Sparkles