"Well done," Edward smiled, nodding his approval.
"It's done?" I asked in a tiny voice, as I glanced down at my hands.
Drenched in blood.
Lovely.
"Yes, you're all done. Unless you're thirsty for more?"
I brought a hand up to my lips, sucking my fingers dry with a low hiss.
"I'll take that as a yes."
I nodded excitedly, switching to the other bloodied hand and sucking that one dry as well.
"I don't quite remember what happened," I sighed, dropping the hand to my side, "but I do know how it made me feel."
I took a deep breath, testing the air for more prey.
"And... how is that?" He asked, as I took another breath.
Bingo.
"Alive," I exhaled, crouching down and scanning the area for whatever it was that was giving off such a delicious smell.
I heard Edward crouch down beside me.
I instinctively flinched away.
That made him hesitate before speaking.
"Bella... I believe the scent you've caught is that of a young bear cub."
"Bear?"
Sounds yummy.
"Yes. A bear cub."
I turned my head to look at him, curious as to what the big deal was.
"So?"
"It's young, still forced to remain close to the mother. Can't you smell her?"
I took another breath, and wrinkled my nose in confusion.
"Well, you'll grow more educated on scents soon enough. The more you smell, the more you learn," he shrugged.
"But I don't get it. Why does it matter that the mom is there?"
"Because, it will make this meal much more of a challenge than the last. The mother will be very aggressive, she won't allow you anywhere near her cub. She'll need to be taken out first."
He paused, surveying the area carefully.
Skillfully.
"At least I don't smell the father around. We should consider ourselves lucky for that one."
"Aren't we just a little bit stronger than a bear?" I scoffed.
He glared at me.
"That's just the sort of attitude that gets newborns like yourself killed."
I looked down at my hands, shamefaced.
"I'm sorry."
He paused.
I chanced a quick glance back over at him.
He was staring at something off in the distance. Probably the bears.
He looked back over at me, searching my face for something.
Before I could ask him what he was doing, he let out a sigh of defeat.
"Go. Now."
Don't need to tell me twice.
I tore out across the land, the mother bear locked in my sight.
She saw me.
She let out a ferocious snarl and dove in front of her cub, standing up straight on her back paws.
As if she could scare me off.
As if she could make it out of this alive.
But that's when Edward's words came back to me.
"That's just the sort of attitude that gets newborns like yourself killed..."
I slowed to a stop just a few feet away from my meal.
Easy, Bella.
Don't rush into things.
I heard a growl from where I left Edward crouching down, as a large paw came at me - aiming for my head.
I ducked down, at my new, inhuman speed.
This seemed to stun the creature, as she did a sort of double take at the empty space her paw had just swatted.
I guess speed is the key.
With that in mind, I shot around to her back, leaping on to her shoulder before she even had a chance to blink.
That was when the monster began to yell at me again.
FEED ME
FEED ME
FEED ME
I closed my eyes and dug my teeth into her neck, easily latching on to a vein.
Next thing I knew I was laying flat on my ass, blood covering my shirt, as the mother bear stood over me.
"What was that," I whispered no one in particular, trying to blink away the white haze that clouded my vision.
The bear roared then, aiming a giant paw right at my head again.
"NO!" Edward roared, flying in from out of nowhere and tackling the creature to the ground.
I heard the distinct sound of bones crunching as I stood up.
"Bella, are you alright?" He asked, standing up from the creature and coming over to inspect me.
"Man... If I had a pulse right now, it would be going crazy with adrenaline," I muttered with a breathless chuckle.
"This isn't a game!" He growled, grabbing my shoulders forcefully.
I flinched.
He quickly released his grip and took a step back, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "But Bella, this isn't a game. It's far too serious, something that should not be taken lightly. This is life or death."
"You... didn't seem to have a problem with it..."
He dropped his hand and glared at me.
"That's because I have nearly a hundred years of experience. You don't."
"Okay," I nodded, shuffling my feet nervously. "I'm sorry."
He let out a deep breath.
"It's alright. Just please be more careful the next time?"
"Of course."
"Good."
His eyes then trailed from my eyes down to my chest.
I raised my eyebrows in surprise.
"Umm... your shirt," he stuttered, noticing the place he'd been caught staring at. "It's a mess."
"Oh."
I looked down at it, suddenly feeling very guilty that I'd made such a mess out of it.
If Rosalie wasn't mad before...
"No worries. It's black, even if it does leave a stain it would be difficult to notice."
He paused.
"For human eyes, anyways," he added with a smirk.
"I guess that means we need to go back to your place and get this cleaned."
"It's your place too, Bella."
"Hm," I grunted, not really sure how to react to the kindness of this family yet.
He just smiled.
And began to remove his shirt.
"What are you doing?" I gasped, attempting to shield my vision.
"Relax," he chuckled, holding his shirt out to me. "I just think it would be best if nobody wore that bloodied, tattered shirt on the walk home. And since I'm far too much of a gentleman to allow you to make the walk shirtless..."
I took the shirt from him, muttering my thanks and looking down at my feet.
He chuckled again.
"What's the matter, Bella? Haven't you ever seen a man without a shirt on before?" He joked.
"Ummm... I don't know," I shrugged, thankful for the lack of blood flow in my cheeks.
I could have said "Sure, just not one as good looking as you" but that probably wouldn't have gone over so well.
He cleared his throat.
I glanced up.
"I'll just turn my back so you can change."
He stuck his hands in his pockets and did just as he said, spinning quickly on his heels until his back was turned to me.
"If it would make you more comfortable, you can go behind one of the trees. Though I can assure you right now, I was raised better than to peek."
"Thank you," I smiled, staying right where I was to make the change.
We walked home in silence.
Me, because I was busy trying not to look at shirtless Edward, for the way it made me feel all awkward in a way I wasn't familiar with.
And Edward, because he could sense my awkwardness.
Right once we walked through the front door Alice jumped in front of us, a weird gleam in her eyes.
"You're back!"
"Yes," Edward responded curtly.
"What happened to your shirt?" She asked with a smile that suggested that she did, in fact, know what happened to his shirt.
"As if you didn't see. Did you take care of it?"
She rolled her eyes.
"Come on, you're not playing along. And yes, of course I did."
"Playing along with what?" I asked curiously, looking back and forth between the two.
"Don't pay any attention to her," Edward replied monotonously, pulling me upstairs by the arm.
"What about Rose's shirt?" She called up the stairs.
Edward growled and tossed it down to her. She caught it in her hand stuck her tongue out at him.
"You're welcome!"
"Thank you, Alice," he mumbled under his breath, rolling his eyes.
She smiled proudly and bounced away, as Edward tugged me into his - our - room.
There was a new, large dresser placed on my side of the room.
"Alice took the liberty of buying you a new wardrobe. We weren't sure what you'd like, so it's mostly just the same styles of clothing in a large variety of different colors."
He gestured to the dresser and shrugged.
"I know, it's not very much. But it's only to last you for the weekend."
My eyes widened and I ran over to the dresser, opening up all the drawers to look inside.
"All of this for one weekend? Surely you must be joking. I don't even go through this much in a month!"
He just laughed and leaned against the doorway.
"I'm afraid you'll have to get used to a lavish life style if you plan on staying."
"This... is... wow..."
"Do you like it then?"
"Yes, of course, it's more than I could have asked for. Thank you."
He nodded, and crossed his arms.
"Well, i'll make myself scarce so you can change."
"Umm... okay..."
I glanced down into the top drawer, which was overflowing with shirts.
So this isn't a joke?
Who are these people??
Oh, right.
Vampires.
They've had hundreds of years to save up money.
"I'll be down in the basement if you need anything."
"The basement?" I asked, turning around to face him.
But he had already left.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! Have I said that? If not, well... I have now. Thank you. I really do appreciate it, even though sometimes I space out and end up not replying to some. Really. Reviews are as good as shirtless Edward. :)
I'm trying to update this as often as possible, though I am working on another story - one that kind of taps out my creativity. So, I do have tons of ideas of this story, with most of it already mapped out in my head. But it's hard sometimes to just sit and type it all out, with conversations and explanations to progress the story the way I want.