A/N: Here is chapter 4... 5 is in process... hopefully posted within the week... finding the timeis a tough thing to do, but I love it so much, rest assured that it WILL continue!
My mind reeled; A vampire? Surely he did not expect me to believe that. And yet, some piece of me believed every word he spoke without question. "So… I talk in my sleep and that's why you aren't going to eat me?" I tried to put as much indifference into my voice as I could, but I doubted it had the effect I had hoped for.
He smiled again, "No, you were talking about your mother… your father, Charlie. You're from Forks, Washington, am I correct?" I nodded. "We have a house there, in Forks,' he said, 'well, outside it actually, but within the informal city limits. I wouldn't want a tragedy so close to the home we are preparing to go to so soon…nothing that could connect me or my family to such a crime." He paused for breath, I took my chance. "You're coming to Forks?" I asked; part of my heart thrilled at the thought, to have this unbelievable creature so close to my home every day. Another part of me absolutely terrified that anything so dangerous could come to the little town I had come to call home.
"Yes, at the end of the summer. My siblings and I will be starting Forks High School. I expect we will be classmates." He said easily. I frowned… "Teenage vampires, you have a family?" He chuckled, "Bella, I hope you got a lot of sleep, we have a lot to cover tonight. Yes, I have a family; teenagers…yes and no – we all look like teenagers, but the youngest of us is about eighty or so, give or take a few. I am 107 years old myself."
"Edward, you said you knew Eros? How could you, he's a myth, right?" I tried to steer the conversation and my mind away from the idea of vampires living in Forks. It was just too much to process right now. "Ah, Eros, yes…well aren't I supposed to be a myth as well? Eros is not how I knew him at first; he is effectively one of the oldest vampires in existence. I call him Aro, and he was around when the stories of Eros were popular here. He did not create them, I think, but he certainly did not help disprove them. We vampires, as you can imagine have special abilities… we can run faster than your eyes can see, speak faster than your ears can hear, and are stronger than your body could ever be, or your mind fathom. His brother, Marcus, did not help dispel the rumors of Heracles… he liked to show off his strength. There was also a Psyche. I have met her. In fact her name was actually Psyche. She is now Aro's wife."
My eyes were wide with wonder. Did all the myths that began of old have grains of truth? It certainly seemed like the ancients weren't crazy old codgers, but were simply describing the things they saw in what they believed to be gods. Who, even today, could see such things and not believe the same; certainly they were not human, what else could they be? "That was before there were rules on what we could and could not let humans see… it is because of Aro and Marcus that they had to set rules down in the first place." He added.
"Are they all as beautiful as you?" I asked, and was immediately embarrassed by my bluntness. I blushed furiously and immediately he seemed closer to me than before. His red eyes gazing down into mine, I could feel his breath on my skin, and he seemed to be breathing harder than before. "Yes." He whispered. "But none are as beautiful as you when you blush like that. " His eyes were intense upon my own, I could see the hunger in them, and for a moment, I was as frightened as I should have been all along. He was the predator, I was his prey.
My heart kept skipping beats. He smiled as he heard the cadence it was drumming out, but his intense ruby eyes never left mine. "I could have you right here, no one would hear, no one would know. Surely they wouldn't connect it to my family in Forks. Only I would know." He whispered as he leaned forward, his face next to mine; his cold, white cheek brushed my own as he leaned past my face, his lips very close to my neck, barely brushing it. "I can hear your blood, Bella, rushing through your veins under your skin. I could trace every vein you have in your body with my finger, even those which are hidden from my view, because I can hear your pulse in every one of them."
His breath, cool and fragrant was on my neck, causing chills to run down my spine. I should have pulled away. I should have run, pointless as it would have been, but I didn't. Instead I leaned into him, inhaling his delicious scent in deep, greedy breaths.
He paused, placing his hands on my shoulders pulling me back from him, he studied my eyes carefully. "What?" I asked. He frowned, it did not mar his exquisite features, only enhanced them. "I was about to ask you the same, Bella. I should repel you, not draw you to me, especially after what I've told you. You were to be my dinner yesterday Bella. Why do you not withdraw from me?"
"I don't know. I know I should want you to leave, but I don't. You smell good to me too." I said, I knew my words were pouring out of my mouth in jumbled bunches, but at this point I was operating mostly on emotion. I leaned closer to him, his hands, still on my shoulders, did not resist me, though they did hesitate at my willingness to close the space between us.
I gently pressed my lips to his neck; his skin was like cold stone. I could hear his breathing getting deeper, he was nearly gasping. I raised my hands to his shoulders, I was on my knees now in front of him, and his hands had slid down to my waist. He was irresistible…drawing me in like a honey to a bee. I kissed his neck, tiny little kisses along his jaw line, stopping just before I reached his lips. My mouth hovered right over his, his eyes on mine; the ruby had deepened into a dark crimson. "We shouldn't Bella… I know…you think you want….me… I could kill you…in a second it would be over." He breathed the words onto my mouth.
If I was going to die in a few measly years, be it eight or eighty, I could not think of a more beautiful angel to take me to my grave. I covered his lips with my own. At first he sat, his hands on my waist, very still. I wasn't sure if he was in shock or if he were trying very hard not to breathe. And then I knew… it was both, but he responded, hungrily to my kiss. He pressed his mouth into my own, his tongue running lightly over my lips. He pushed me back with his body onto the bed, his hands sliding from my waist to my hips, his granite form pressing me into the bed. I wasn't sure if he were going to continue kissing me or if he was about to devour me, but for some reason I did not care. All I could think of was getting as much of this creature as I could before I died, if I was to die… what was wrong with me?
"Bella! Are you ok? Honey, I lost my key! Let me in!" Jessica yelled from the outside of the door. Before I could register it Edward was across the room from me, his eyes downcast, and his hands gripping the bureau for dear life. "I'm sorry, Bella. I should go. I won't be any more trouble to you. Goodbye." And before I could answer him he was gone. The only sign that his presence had not been some sort of lucid dream was that the curtains were pulled through the window so that they were hanging on the outside.
"Bells what took you so long?" Jess asked as I opened the door for her. "Were you going somewhere?"She said. I frowned. "What?" I asked.
"Your clothes… you look nice. I thought you might be feeling better so I came to check up, see if you wanted to go out for bit, maybe some dinner. You okay?" I nodded. "Yeah, dinner, nice…let me get my purse."
I took one last glance at my room before I headed out the door. I wanted nothing more than for the summer to end and to get back home so school could start.
A/N: Please Review! I do so love hearing your thoughts and ideas on the story; I've been known to actually work in suggestions from my readers from time to time so don't be bashful about critiquing!