Disclaimer: *looks out from a newspaper with holes punched in it as the disclaimer police patrol the area* "nope," they say. "She's not here." *smirks mischieviously*
NOTICE/ATTENCION: Reviewer shoutouts will resume shortly. However, if all who reviewed would look in their inboxes, I have sent you reviewer replies! :D *grins and thinks maybe if she smiles wide they won't kill her* :D Not as good I know. Kind of like giving gift cards for birthday presents, but I PROMISE they will be out soon. It's just, I'm trying to get my ducks in a row. That's what's taken this chapter so long. Right now, they're sort of in a zigzaggy pattern. Oh, and, to my SPLENDIFEROUS beta thefuturemrsedwardcullen, I'm sending the next chapter pronto. So, be on the lookout! LOVE YOU ALL!
Chapter Two - Closer
"Carlisle!" the angel hovering above me roared. I cringed, but only barely.
I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and my vision honed in on it perfectly without having to rotate at all. It was as if my sight range had been expanded, my peripheral sharp and toned as if I was looking straight ahead. I was viewing everything in panorama.
I remembered not having this just a short while ago. Why was still a mystery.
The blonde man approached the bronze one (strange hair color…), step by cautious step.
"What's wrong with her," demanded the latter. "Why can't she remember. She should remember!"
I could tell he was a hop, skip, and a jump away from full-on mental breakdown.
Of course, who was I to talk? I wasn't even quite sure where I was at.
The subject of his tirade looked exhausted and surprised. "I don't know…" he stumbled. "Maybe…."
He didn't have to finish the sentence. The boy's face lifted slightly in desperate hope. "You think?"
"Well, we have no way to tell how much damage was done at the morgue, so… it's possible."
"Then you believe she'll get better."
The older man's eyes flitted toward me. "I can't make any guarantees," he said. "You know that."
Suddenly, a girl, as pale-skinned and immaculate as her companions skipped up beside him, huffing and giving me a glare of… was that impatience?
"Why didn't you see this, Alice?" he growled at her. It was ferocious. Disturbing.
…relatable?
A name suddenly jumped to the forefront of my mind.
"Where's Edward," I asked. "He's important."
The bronze-haired boy tipped his head toward me, but I speculated it was him before he affirmed the appelation. "I'm here," he assured. Then his expressions clouded, and he turned back towards the one called Alice. "You see! Or didn't, at that," he fumed.
"Come here," I told him softly.
He continued his stare showdown with the dark-haired girl. "In a second."
I sat straighter, and had the covers whipped off my body in a blink. "No. Now," I insisted.
And before I knew it, he was there, right beside me where I wanted him. I flinched from the sudden proximity. Something hung in the air between us, great invisible cables. It was as if I had pulled him to my side. In a reaction as involuntary as breathing once was, my mind released its grip.
I chanced a glance at his alabaster face.
It was shell-shocked.
"How…" he stammered, "How did you do that?"
My own countenance mirrored his.
"I did that?"
He nodded, ridiculously slowly, as if afraid he'd spook me.
The one called Carlisle stepped forward. "Fascinating…" he mused. "Wonder why…"
Edward cut him off in a tone that could slice through diamond. "So that nobody can ever leave her."
He appeared hollow, drained, crestfallen.
Edward looked as if he had just been informed that everyone he knew and loved in the world had been executed under a guillotine, and he was ordered to watch. These thoughts, and others like them, bulleted through my head faster than lightning. I insirted synonyms, and expanded upon the thought untilk I could picture it with absolute focus and tint. The colors were real as any I'd ever seen.
Edward was standing in a sqare with the expression he wore now, watching as one-by-one, an endless parade of nameless, faceless souls met their end under the glinting blade. Heads rolled. Blood poured. Still he looked on.
The crystal clearness of the picture, and the fraction of a second with which it had appeared, were frightening. And I wanted nothing more than to make him smile.
At the very least, erase that haunted look from his eye.
I coughed, and an unpleasant sensation took center stage in my throat. It was itchy. I was half-tempted to reach my hand down my esophagus to scratch it.
"She up?" cried a booming voice, and into the room bounded a burly figure. "Finally! Holy jeeze Bella, I haven't been able to watch the game you've been yelling so loudly."
"Emmett!" grated Edward. "Enough. She doesn't remember."
Emmett's face fell. "Anything?"
Edward's head shook somberly.
"That sucks."
Edward rolled his eyes. Emmett approached me and clapped me on the back.
"Me Emmett," he said. "You Bella."
"I know my name," I snapped.
"Somebody changed on the wrong side of the bed," he mumbled. When he caught my eye, he looked surprised I'd caught that.
"Change?" I was different then before I guessed. I just… felt it.
Edward grabbed his arm and jerked him backwards, towards the door. "Out."
"Touchy, touchy."
He stayed but a moment, staring at me with intense topaz eyes, before turning on his heels and following in Emmett's footsteps.
"Wait!" cried Alice.
He ignored her. I tried whatever I had done before, willing him to come back to me in my head. I had just found and clutched the cables when he turned and gave me a stare that simply begged me not to, and much as I wanted, I couldn't. I let him go, despite a better instinct that flinched at the thought.
"Just give me a minute," he said to Alice, before leaving.
The scratchy unpleasantness in my throat intensified then, into a slow, but steady burn. The blood in my vision of Edward and the guillotine looked strangely appetizing.
Instinctually, I knew this was what I needed.
Carlisle sighed, before looking at Alice. "She's thirsty."
a/n: First off, these chapters have titles that do not involve the word 'actually'. Hallelujah. Broke the habit. Secondly, sorry its short. It's been sort of a hectic week, what with breaking a toe. Also, I haven't finished my fic 'Domino' yet, so I am going to have to alternate between the two for a while. I'll try to get three chapters out a week, for the two. Sometimes two a week for Served Cold, and one for Domino. And vice versa. Or maybe you'll get lucky and I'll pump out three! *clamps hands over cheeks* lol. Also, about Bella's power. I, personally, like it a lot. And it's been marinatin' in my head ever since New Moon. Carlisle said that powers originated from a person's talent before they were a vampire. But what about fears? And so her special talent was born. Whoa… this is long. Sorry. I'm back though, as promised. And I thank you for the overwhelming amount of support I've received so far.