Chapter 5- Cold Blood

1928

Edward walked slowly, even for a human, amidst the foggy shadows of the town square. Today, he did not see the joyous faces of pedestrians or hear their optimistic thoughts. The sun was hidden behind the thick, dark clouds, as if it had finally grown tired of attempting to exude happiness, despite all the pessimism that oozed off of him. There were only a few people walking past him. They each had someplace to go; no one was out for an afternoon stroll, on a gloomy day such as this one.

He left the square and headed down a narrow, cobbled alleyway. It was wedged in between two crusted black, brick apartments. The area was known for its crime rate and gang activity. A few doors ran along the apartments; inside mostly drug dens and brothels. Carlisle had once spoken about the staggering amount of drug overdose patients and assault victims from this area he had treated in the hospital.

It was fairly quiet in the apartments during this time of day. Mostly, Edward heard the thoughts of people getting ready for the night's activities. As he walked, a small young lady emerged out of one of the apartment doors and clutched tightly to her purse. She looked down as she quickly walked passed him and he could hear her anxious thoughts.

I only have a few hours to get the money and the train ticket before Curtis comes home. I have to be careful not to make it too obvious that I've packed most of my things.

Her thoughts showed this man Curtis; he shoved her forcefully against the apartment wall and struck her across the face. She remembered the taste of blood in her mouth as she fell to the floor, hitting her head on the edge of a chair on the way down. The blood from her mouth splattered. The booming sound of her husband's voice rang in her ears, "Did you really think you could just pack up and leave me you little slut?" Curtis kicked her hard in the stomach and laughed before grabbing his half empty beer bottle and leaving her gasping for air and fighting back tears.

Edward flinched at her horrible memories and remembered Esme, who had become pregnant as a human by her husband forcing himself on her. After years of abuse, she managed to escape the marriage before her baby was born. Her son was her only reason for living when he died in infancy. This is why she jumped off a cliff and ended up being found and taken to the hospital. During her first few weeks of being a vampire, she did not tell Carlisle about her horrible past and Edward, being the only one who knew, had kept her secret.

Edward often thought of his mind reading ability as curse, rather than a gift. It seemed like a convenience at times, but it proved only to be a heavy burden. Hearing the deepest and darkest thoughts of everyone around him made it almost impossible for him to keep an optimistic view of humanity. He constantly listened to the thoughts of madmen, killers, torturers, rapists, thieves and anything and everything else a person could think of. It sometimes felt like he had some kind of mental disorder, because he could hear voices in his head that nobody else could hear, knew things that nobody else could know but him and the person having the thoughts.
It was this curse, which forced him to stop dead in his tracks when he heard the thoughts of this young woman who plotted to leave her husband in secret, in the middle of the night.

He turned his head and saw the woman turn the corner, towards the direction of the station. She would buy her ticket in advance, and then she would go home and make dinner, all the while acting inconspicuous so Curtis would suspect nothing. But when he awoke, he would find her and her things gone.

The sound of the ticking clock in the downstairs hallway was the only noise in the house. In his room sat Edward at his desk. He was not playing piano or reading, he was not even moving as he morbidly stared into oblivion. He was deep in thought, but at the same time, he was not thinking at all.

He had successfully tuned out the thoughts of Esme until she glanced in his room while she was passing and stopped and stared at his unmoving frame. Her hair was tied back casually and she carried a basket of laundry in her arm.

Pausing before entering through his opened doorway, she gently placed a folded pile of clean clothing on his wooden dresser. Edward who still did not look in her direction, barely acknowledged her presence, which made her turn before leaving. He could see the back of his head in her mind. She picked up the basket and he heard her ask mentally, bored? Edward did not reply or even move. His lack of response made her turn while she stood in the doorway, he felt her eyes on him as she paused then said, her voice uncharacteristically annoyed, "You know, anyone can hide Edward, but you're not the only one who has ever had anything to feel sorry about and it wouldn't hurt if just once, you at least gave us a hint that you are still present. I know that you still have some sense of meaning left in your heart, whether you know it or not." With that she turned and left.

Edward almost smirked at the mention of him still having a heart. He had lost all of his humanity years ago and with that, lost all meaning. Brushing off her comment, he remembered that he was already damned to this endless wallowing of the earth. He was a villain for what he was planning to do, but nevertheless he was an honourable one. His actions would help an innocent to survive. Surely there was nobleness in that?

Night had already fallen and Edward got up and ran out of the house. He ran all the way through woods and within minutes, he was in the narrow alleyway. He heard music coming from the brothel and their shouting and vulgar thoughts. He climbed the steps of the apartment building and scanned through the thoughts coming from each doorway in the dark hallway, until he got to the room where the woman and her husband lived. He picked the lock, careful not to make any noise that would ruin his plans.

When he was in the entryway, he heard Curtis's snoring radiating from the bedroom and the cautious sounds of the woman gathering the rest of her belongings and placing them in her carry on bag; her suitcases would already be in storage at the station. She had been planning her escape for quite a while.

Edward was in the corner of the living room, outside of the master bedroom listening to her pick up the bag and begin to leave. He could hear the rapid increase of her heart rate when she heard him tiredly mumble her name,

"Jodie?" He sat up and took in the scene before his eyes, she looked at him pleadingly, but in her mind she told herself that she would not let him win this time, not without putting up a fight.

In the time it took for him to process what she planned to do, she was running to the front door. Not seeing Edward creep through the dark shadows of the apartment. It didn't take long before Curtis chased after her, while shouting threats in her direction.

He almost caught up to her at the door, but he was stopped dead in his tracks when Edward blocked his way. Curtis stumbled back with startled eyes. Edward grabbed the man's throat, lifting him off the ground. Curtis tried to yell but his neck was being suffocated by Edward's iron grip. Edward smiled and then tossed the man a full metre away. Curtis tried desperately to crawl away, but Edward was too fast and in an instant, his teeth were sunk deep into his neck.

The taste of human blood overtook Edward and it was not long before he stopped struggling and his eyes went blank. Edward had finished the deed and had not a speck of remorse for what he had done. The girl, whose name he now knew to be Jodie, was safe from Curtis because of him. How could he feel sorry about that? Edward could see his reflection in the flower vase on the table. His eyes were blood red, the eyes of the monster that had now completely emerged from inside of him.