I have to admit, this is one my favorite chapters: lots of humor.
Chapter 10
"How long have we been walking?"
"Three hours." Edward replied absently, while I moaned loudly.
"Only, three hours?" I called, feeling my body ache in way I never thought possible before, while he walked with ease.
"Stop being a wimp, it's not like you're going to die in three hours." He brushed it off as it were nothing.
"You may be surprised." I gasped, wanting to rip his head off.
The forest of this side was really the most intimidating place I'd ever wandered through; terrifying sounds came from every direction, causing Edward to laugh at me whenever I jumped. We saw paw prints the size of my head, and he barely gave them a second glance, while all I could do was gawk.
The thick canopy of the treetops only let in modest streams of moonlight. I might as well have been blind. We never had to walk in the darkness on my side through treacherous protruding roots and low branches. And spiders. These forests had an abundance of those, especially nocturnal ones. One even fell on my arm. I shrieked and killed it by smashing my arm against a tree truck repeatedly. Edward only shook his head at my stupidity.
My feet kept getting caught on roots, sending me flying into Edward from behind; after the first few times, he was prepared. Every time he would hear me gasp when I fell, he would gracefully catch me, and then proceed to make fun of me by asking if I needed to be carried. I'd never walked so much in my life, so much that I almost took him up on his offer about carrying me. My legs ached so badly I thought they'd fall off, I was wheezing like a dying animal, and my muscles protested with every step; I didn't want to seem weak by constantly asking Edward when we could rest, but it was unavoidable. He said we would stop when the sun came up.
He just kept sighing and smacking his hand against his forehead every time I would exploit my lack of grace; it wasn't tough to be graceful when the ground was stable, but now it was nearly impossible. I was glad I didn't have my hair to get caught on all the loose branches or act as a hiding place for the various insects.
In all my life, I didn't think I'd ever been so far away from home, where The Wall actually started to get smaller on the horizon. It was still massive in itself, but it wasn't looming over my shoulder like it usually was.
At last, I saw the first peeks of the sun climbing its way into the eastern sky; I almost cried out in euphony. I thought I would start sobbing when Edward at last told me we could sleep.
I fell to the forest floor, which was thick with morning dew, not bothering to wait for him to get out the blankets he'd packed. I believe I slipped into unconsciousness while I was still falling through the air.
I should have expected my torment wouldn't end there.
Accidentally falling straight into an ant pile, I conked out with dozens of angry, ants crawling on me. Edward had noticed after not too long, and after being bitten hundreds of times, he filled a cup with water and splashed it on my face. To get them off.
Consequently, that only makes ants angrier.
With my small taste of sleep gone, I leapt up, screaming; I had to run into the pond he'd gotten the water from.
Wet, exhausted, hurt, and livid, I pushed past Edward and threw his surprisingly heavy backpack over my shoulder; my sore muscles protested out, but I silenced them.
"Where are you going?" He'd called out to me, as I stamped forward, through the grass clenching up my legs, like hands clawing up from this green, moist, hell.
"We're leaving!" I yelled back, he only sighed and picked himself up to follow me.
Fatigue crippling my body, I trekked forward, with Edward following, cowardly behind me; I think he was a little bit intimidated by my aura of rage. He should have been. He was smart to straggle behind, out of my way. For I felt like a tornado, ripping up everything in my path, I thought I could see the little woodland animals cringe into the vegetation. Though it was probably my forced insomnia to add to my already out of control paranoia.
The sun crawled slowly up into the bright blue, cloudless sky; it set a happy, carefree atmosphere— too bad I was already having a terrible day. The beautiful, clear sky above was an annoying bug I wanted to smash; it was the insult to injury. It mocked my sour mood with light, airiness. I silently wished for a thunderstorm.
As I marched forward, the anger that fueled me was starting to wear off, and the exhaustion and fatigue hit me at once like a wrecking ball full of irony and cruelty.
I tried to keep going, depending on my sheer will to keep me fueled; however, this time that was nowhere near strong enough to fight the onslaught of tiredness.
My eyes caught a glimpse of a clearing, before I fell to my knees (checking to make sure I was near no ant hills) and lay in the tall, swaying grass. The cloak I wore covered me, and I wrapped up in it like a security blanket. We'd come to into a gorgeous meadow with wildflowers swaying in the wind, and purple mountains standing tall and timeless in the background.
I felt him sit down next to me as I started to float on a cloud of dreams.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" He whispered, watching the landscape, I guessed.
"I'm sleeping." I groaned, telling him to shut up.
"Ant hill." He said quietly; reflexively I leapt up, screaming. My legs began involuntarily kicking wildly.
"What? Get them off me!" I screeched, not this again. What was it with me and ants?
"Kidding." He laughed, I, on the other hand, didn't see the humor.
"Does my suffering bring you some kind of sick joy?" I growled, exasperatedly, throwing my fists on my hips. I glared at him, I don't know why, but I think I somehow hoped my intense glare would begin to burn a hole in him.
"Sometimes." He shrugged, and returned to face the meadow. I sighed, rubbing my eye.
"If I keep this up, I think you will be the most joyous person alive." I groaned, more to myself, and kicked him lightly before resting back in my place I'd made in the grass.
I closed my eyes and fell straight into a deep sleep.
It felt instantaneous: I closed my eyes, and when I reopened them the sun was across the sky, and a few clouds partially covered it.
Had it really been that long? It must have been about three o'clock. My joints and muscles ached as I tried to sit up straight. The wind wisped what was left of my hair back; it didn't go far. I clutched the cloak tighter as the mountain air whipped at me.
I slowly turned to finally take in the colossal mountains. They were much bigger than the trees, I could say that much. They stood, forever unchanged, in their enormity. I'd only seen mountains in paintings, but I never dreamed I'd be able to see them in real life.
Had we really walked that far yesterday? We certainly couldn't have seen these from where Edward lived.
I was not meant to live outdoors. All the years of physical education in school, which had seemed like torment, seemed like child's play now.
I suddenly felt ashamed of myself, for complaining so much. These mountains had been here for all time; they made my problems seem so trivial. So far, Edward has proven I can trust him (plus I didn't really have any other choice), and he promised I'd be back on my side. And I'm going to see my dad; this is something that never would have been possible without his help.
This forest has stayed the same all these years, and it will stay that way until an outside force acts upon it, whilst my life was changing rapidly. It reassured me that some things still stayed natural and untouched. My heart swelled, and I looked back over to Edward.
He was on the ground on his side, his eyes were closed a small smile rested on his lips; I grinned to myself. I took my hand and ran it through his bronze hair. It was soft and luxurious between my fingers.
I brought my hand back up and smacked his arm harshly.
"Rise and shine." I smirked cruelly; I had the pleasure of watching him leap up violently as if he were about to be attacked. He got in a fighting position as I sat comfortably on the ground. After a few moments of him waiting to defend himself, and me just observing, comprehension flickered in his wide eyes.
He turned his head and glared at me. "What was that for?" He shook the grass of himself, and continued to look at me with irritation.
"Payback hurts doesn't it?" I grinned impishly, and thrust myself off the ground. "Now come on, we're losing daylight." I walked triumphantly towards the fringe of pine trees.
Soon, my legs grew tired again, and I let Edward take the lead, where he began to drag us along due west, vigilantly through the mountains; my legs were utter jelly, but of course I couldn't tell him that.
After walking for what seemed like hours, I let my eyes graze to my right. I saw the same weird tree with the hump that I'd already seen three times already. I looked anxiously up at Edward, who was studying the map closely. His footsteps weren't as sure, and they seemed to be wandering a bit.
"Edward?" I asked flatly. "Where are we?"
He looked at me humorlessly. "The forest. I thought we established that."
"Apparently the forest makes your sense of humor go rotten." I remarked. "I meant do you know exactly where we are?" I pressed.
He hesitated. "No, not exactly." He calculated over the map some more.
"So we're lost?" I said hopelessly, knowing it was the only option.
"No. No, we're not lost." He replied quickly.
"We've been going in circles." I stated, deadpan.
"I'm the one with the map; therefore I know what I'm doing." He shot defensively.
"Clearly, you don't, Edward—"
"Yes I do!"
"Oh, shut up!" I collapsed on the ground and covered my eyes with the heels on my hands, blocking out everything. "We. Are. Lost." I pronounced carefully.
"No, we're not." He said stubbornly, taking a seat next to me to look at the map some more.
I sighed. "Look, I've been seeing tracks, wheel, human, and horse tracks; we're probably close to a village. We can stop and ask for directions." I resolved logically; he let out a bark laugh.
"We're not stopping and asking for directions. We don't need directions, we have a map." He argued, making imaginative hand motions.
"Why not get both? Why not get directions from people who live here to see if they correspond with the map?"
"I am not stopping and asking for directions." He said with finality.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I yelled. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "Let me see that stupid map." I yanked it from his hands; I looked it over carefully. He'd made a line of our trail, and where we were. Or, where we were supposed to be. I checked the legend.
"Edward?" I asked emotionlessly. "Tell me; is that river about twenty yards over there on this incredible map?" I replied smartly, pointing to the river in the distance.
"Ah…" He groaned, turning the map front ways and back ways and searching for the river. "…No." He admitted unwillingly.
"Okay Mr. I-Don't-Need-Directions, where to next?"
"Just follow the tracks." He said angrily and got up to lead to the closest village.
After we had gotten to the village, we stopped and asked directions. Turns out we had gone down the wrong side when we had come to that fork a few hours back. The nice man pointed us in the right direction; to tell the truth, Edward was still fuming about being wrong. That wasn't something he was used to.
The good thing was I got practice for being in public. I just stood behind Edward, kept my head down, and only nodded or shook my head if I was addressed. I was once, but Edward answered for me, thankfully. I was sure my voice would either sound very high, or really fake.
As we continued, we passed through many unfamiliar places; he showed me the biggest tracks I'd ever seen. He'd said they were wolf tracks, as calmly as if he'd been saying they were deer tracks. I couldn't fathom how he could so unruffled by paw prints so big
When nightfall hit, I felt as if I would die. When he said, "We're too deep into the wilderness to be travelling at night, we can rest." I felt as if I could sob in joy.
I grabbed the blanket out of the backpack and rested my poor limbs on them; my head hit the ground and I found myself staring right up at the star filled sky. I'd never truly looked at the stars before, they seemed so different now, and I'd never had a chance to just look at them.
"Wow." I breathed, watching them twinkle, Edward's head popped up.
"What?" He asked inattentively.
"The stars." He peered up. I turned my head to what he was doing. He had a bunch of wood piled all together and he was rubbing them together.
"What're you doing?" I mumbled curiously; what good would those things be to us? He took a double take between us.
"Starting a fire." He muttered as-a-matter-of-factly.
"How do you start a fire by doing that?" I sat up now, crawling over to the future fire.
His eyes probed my own as I observed it. "Well you see, when the wood rubs together, it causes friction, which causes heat, thus it—"
"I'm tired—just do what you need to do." I stopped him, while patting his shoulder.
"Have you been living under a rock or something?" He teased, pushing me; he took a small twig and began rubbing it violently against the bigger pieces of wood.
"You could say that." I said in a monotone. Returning to my spot, I listened to the sounds of him rubbing the wood together, and was entranced by the rhythmic sounds it made. Not completely in sleep, but not in full consciousness.
Rapidly, a small light began to shine from where he was building the fire, and I felt the warmth of the fire's glow on my face; prying my eyes open, I saw a tiny clump of flames, desperately climbing towards the sky. And, in one moment, the make-shift camp was brilliantly lit by the blaze.
I was spellbound by the beautiful flames reached upwards. I'd heard of campfires, but I'd never had the chance to sit down and just watch fire act; to watch a creation of Mother Nature act in its barbaric, yet somehow, reserved manner.
The sensation of the voice appeared in my head. Fire is beautiful, so free, so hot to the touch…It cajoled. A chill ran down my spine as I became more disturbingly entranced by the flames. My mind seemed to freeze in place, being controlled like a puppet, and the voice being its master. I felt as if I could get lost in the flames…
Suddenly, Edward smacked his hand around my wrist and ripped my hand upward.
"Are you crazy?" He cried, his gaze burning into my eyes with ferocity.
"What did you do that for?" I yelled. A part of me angry for breaking the trance.
His eyebrows knit together in confusion. "You were reaching your hand to the fire, like you were going to touch it or something. You can get burned really badly by doing that, so knock it off."
I'd been reaching my hand out toward the fire; I'd done it without thinking. A chill of silent dread rang through me, as if I were hallow. I hadn't done that on my own accord. I did not do that.
Not only was this strange voice making me merely feel, it was making me act.
Panic rushed through my veins, and I felt unsafe; like I was dangerous. I only stared at Edward dumbly for a few moments, before I broke his reverent gaze; his eyes held worry and confusion in them.
"What did you do that for?" I heard him say, but I was too far gone in my own mind to pay any attention; I just rolled up into a ball under the blanket, and let the cloak block myself off from him. I held my palm to my chest and I let a few tears slip.
I was going insane. I covered my face with the heavy velvet of the cloak and refused to let him see me.
I was losing my mind. I was losing my grip on reality; I would become one of the crazies who lived on the streets. Little, ignorant girls would listen to my inane tales of the male side, and the older, sane, women would brush me off like trash. I would lose myself to this demon-like voice that haunted me, leaving me anxious and watching my shadow, nervously awaiting its return.
Edward had stopped my hand—but what if he hadn't?
I could have been seriously injured; what if I didn't react at all? What if I had let myself get burnt? What if this voice made me do things much worse? I was a threat to everyone I was close to.
I tried to keep my now labored breath low enough so he couldn't hear, but it wasn't without difficulty.
Get a grip on yourself, I chanted to myself, the voice only comes at certain times. If you can avoid it, you can go on without trouble. I sighed, it was true. It only came certain times, if I could avoid it, maybe its visits would become less frequent. What was making me go insane though? I'd always been completely normal, this only started when I awoke on this side.
Maybe it was the new scenery. I just had to get back to my side, forget about meeting my father.
The voice's presence returned almost instantly at that.
I froze internally, not thinking anything. Why had it returned so easily? It came when I didn't want to continue any further…maybe that was it. I could use this to my advantage.
Alright, I thought consciously, I'll keep going and meet my father, and I won't go back until I do…? I thought cautiously, testing out my newfound theory. And, as quickly as it had come, it disappeared into oblivion once more.
Huh, interesting. Maybe, just maybe; I could grab this thing by the harness and control it, rein it in. Whatever this was. I would not give into this schizophrenia… or whatever it was.
The inklings of a loosely put together plan, with many grey spots, began to fall into place; as my head worked, I felt the cool rush of air when the cloak was pulled back. My head snapped up, and I found Edward staring at me curiously with worry dominating his eyes.
"What's wrong with you?" He asked, worry plaguing his voice, perhaps because of the unanswered, unorthodox display that I so elegantly exploited only moments ago.
"Sorry."A lie bubbled up my throat and into my mouth. "I was just tired is all…?" His eyes remained in their suspicious manner.
"Are you sure you're alright?" He put his pale hand on my shoulder; I sighed and looked away, unable to lie thoroughly whilst we held eye contact.
"Yeah, I am." I put on a pitifully fake smile, not like the ones Mother gives women she despises, but a smile where I was trying to hide my raging insides. The only time I truly wished for her ability to keep composure, and it eluded me. Just my luck.
"Do you need something to help you sleep?" He asked, kindly. I was dumbstruck for a second—kindness without the sting of sarcasm wasn't something I was used to from him.
"No, thanks." I murmured, rolling over to ignore him.
"What's with you and this pushy independence thing?" He muttered.
"What's with you and this pushy dominance thing?" I replied, irritation flaring up.
"I'm just trying to be nice." He pressed.
"I'm just trying to fend for myself." I leaned closer, our face inches away.
"You want to fend for yourself?" He stood up quickly. "Fine, I don't have to be here, by all means, you go on." He stood pointing in the direction he dared me to go.
The pride turned to rage faster than I could blink, and in one motion, I was up too. "You are so rude!"
"Me? What in the world did I do?" We were shouting now.
"Ugh! You are the most infuriating person I've ever met!" I screeched my voice raising an octave, and stamped my foot hostilely; I knew in the back of my head, I was blowing this way out of proportion, but I couldn't stop now. The blood was already flowing.
"Really? I was just about to say the same thing about you!" He shouted, fire burning hot in his eyes.
Our voices echoed off the trees as the argument escalated, and all the little animals that once surrounded us, hid in fear. Inside, I was at my boiling point, about to explode.
"Well—" I started.
Edward fell silent and his eyes widened. He clamped his hand over my mouth with the quickness of a cat. What nerve this boy had! I was tempted to bite his palm.
In one split second, the scene went from both of us standing, to Edward grabbing me roughly by the waist and throwing me to ground. I hit the leaves with a thud, I was about to fight back when he started dragging us both to a clump of bushes. What was he doing? I didn't think he'd be violent about this.
"What the he—?"
"Be quiet." He said harshly into my ear, his eyes burning, commanding me to listen. He lifted off me slightly, to lift his head above the bushes.
I was cut off with harsh realization; he wasn't just keeping me quiet for whatever reason I'd concocted. This wasn't just out of anger.
Something was out there, and he hadn't wanted us out in the open.
His eyes were scanning the forest fervently; his body got rigid, in the hunter's mode I'd seen only a glance of before. With a trained motion, he hastily threw some dirt over the small fire he'd spent so long to build, extinguishing it. He was waiting for something.
"We're being watched." He whispered. keeping me in the loop; pure fear shot through me.
I didn't know if it was by a man or a vicious, carnivorous animal. I wasn't quite sure which was worse. Everything around me slowed down, I wasn't far from being found. Before, I'd been in the security of his home. "Things aren't as tame over on this side; it's eat or be eaten," Edward had said, that phrase hadn't seemed as real to me as it did now.
Now I was out in the real world. I'd taken that too lightly; the cloak was meaningless in protecting my identity if I didn't keep the act up. But, I figured it would be safe in the forest.
His arm was across me protectively as he craned his head to examine the surrounding forest; I laid there, silently, shaking in fright.
His eyes flickered to mine, and he thrust his chin toward the bush, "Men." Naturally. "Crawl behind the bush and stay low, let me handle this."
"You're sure you can handle this alone?" I wanted to help, but if I was scrutinized enough, my true identity would be uncovered. At that point, I would be of help to nobody.
"Nope." He shook his head grimly and pushed me a little to go behind the bush; I, unwillingly obeyed and crawled, like the coward I was, behind the mediocre cover of vegetation.
Once I was safely hidden, I saw Edward stand up from the fleeting safety of his hiding place, without another glance to me. My heart pounded as I tried to sink deeper into the vegetation. But, the possibility that they were somewhere behind me kept me frozen; my knees started to scream in protest from carrying my weight, but I barely noticed. I was too enveloped in watching Edward, hoping whatever was watching us would leave.
With no fire, the night was black, with the exception of the pale moonlight of the full moon.
We stayed in that position for a full minute, with Edward bravely (and stupidly) out in the open and me securely (and selfishly) in hiding. And, the once still scene was propelled into motion and filled with life.
Out of the shadows, three, big, tall, silhouettes stepped forward; and they didn't appear as friendly as the men I'd met so far, with their glistening blades and rough looking ropes. This was the dangerous part of this side Edward was referring to.
I was hyperaware of the odds; Edward stood, sturdily in the middle of the treacherous circle that was slowly forming in front of my very eyes, but he didn't let any look of fear into his eyes. He must have been pretending, because, I wasn't even a part of the situation and I felt like a quivering mass of hysterical panic at the moment.
I clamped my own hand over my mouth as my breathing grew intensely strenuous, I was a goner. Edward couldn't win; it was in impossibility. No matter how tough he thought he was, he had to be realistic. I just prayed that when he started to run, I'd be able to keep up.
The three men looked around our age, only one of them looked like he could take Edward on single handedly. But, then again, I'd never witnessed a fight, and I wasn't quite in full understanding of the male anatomy, so I could be wrong. From what I knew, there was strength in numbers; and that certainly wasn't favored for us.
Ha, us; what right did I have to say us? I was cowering in the shadows as Edward fought; it was more like him.
Although they appeared our age, they were intimidating all the same.
I couldn't see them clearly (and frankly, I didn't have much of a desire to), but I wasn't watching them; I was watching Edward. He'd never looked too helpless to me, though his body language didn't give a hint to it.
"Leave thieves," Edward started in a strong, confident voice. "I have nothing of value." I noticed the 'I' and was suddenly grateful for his ability to lie so thoroughly.
"We'll be the judge of that." The larger one barked in a deep voice, sending a shiver down my spine, and he took a step forward.
In the blink of an eye, Edward was in action; he got into a crouched position and began running straight for the large one, (the one who was obviously the leader). His hand was at his waist, for a minute I panicked, for I thought he'd been hit by a knife; but, I found him taking the long, menacing sword he'd taken out of its sheath.
With a lightning fast motion, he had it out in front of him; he held it skillfully, and it was clear he knew he knew what he was doing. But, the leader knew what he was doing as well.
In a motion just as quick, he grabbed Edwards wrist with such power that it stopped him dead in his tracks; he was now completely at his mercy. My body jerked forward, as an impulse.
Edward couldn't take on those three ridiculously strong men…but, I was so frail, I couldn't help. I would only get myself killed. I wanted to help—but I couldn't! A war raged inside me as my desire to help fought with Logic.
The voice reappeared in my mind, stay back! It commanded, don't you dare move! Usually I did what the voice told me to, as an advantage to my own self. However, this time was different.
I was prepared to listen to this voice, like a good girl. I couldn't see where the man hit Edward, but I saw his eyes glaze over with unimaginable pain.
All else was silent to me except for Edward's cry of pain. A cry I knew would haunt me. I never could have dreamt how painful that was to hear; it was like, I was dying inside. I was aware of the other two moving to pounce on him.
I snapped.
My eyesight started to blur as I scrambled out of my hiding spot and into the open; I acted on impulse, and jumped up onto one of their backs.
My arms wrapped themselves around his neck, and I squeezed. He cried out, not in pain, but merely in shock; I squeezed as hard as possible and held on as he bucked, trying to dislodge me. I stayed, in my stubbornness, and in my attempt to stay alive.
I knew, in the back of my head, that my chances were slim to none, but I obstinately ignored it. The man struggled and gasped for air as I was flailed around like a fragile rag doll; nevertheless I never let my grip loosen.
I'd never imagined I'd ever strangle someone, let alone a stranger. But desperate times call for desperate measures. And someone crazy enough to strangle a man that could snap you like a twig; yeah, desperate times call for that too.
As if my body already knew what to do, my arms moved away from his neck, and my fingers found his eye sockets; I pressed down and clawed like a maniac.
He screamed a horrible, bloodcurdling scream. I couldn't see what was happening with the other two and Edward, for I'd had my eyes closed the whole time. But, in between groans from Edward I could hear him yelling things like 'stupid' and 'run' from him. Which I dismissed immediately, for I was already on the bull, I might as well stay on as long as possible.
As I continued to press down onto the man's eyes, I felt warmth spread down my fingers, onto my hands, and down my arms, I refused to make the connection to what it was. I barely noticed it. Foolishly, I felt a sense of victory come over me.
Just then, I felt something hard, an elbow, dig mercilessly into my gut.
All of a sudden, my strength disappeared, all my endurance, and my stamina evaporated into oblivion. I fell to the leaf covered ground, moaning in pain. A sharp sting began spreading across my gut, and I couldn't breathe. I opened my lips and gasped for air, but I couldn't gather any. I couldn't think, couldn't move, and couldn't focus on anything but the pain. I was a sitting duck for the thieves.
A big hand grabbed roughly at the back of my hood and yanked me upward; I was coughing and gasping, only getting a fraction of the oxygen I needed. I saw our bag was being ransacked by one other man, and the last one was holding Edward's hands behind him. I hadn't noticed he was shouting.
I thought it was because of his injury, but he was screaming at me. Because I distracted them? Well my brilliant plan didn't succeed. Perhaps that was why.
'I'm fine' I mouthed to him, (not that he cared) and hid behind my hood.
His eyebrows were downcast and he mouthed 'stupid' to me.
I stole a timid glance at the man currently holding me by the back of my cloak. His eyes were blazing and dripping with blood. I looked down and found my hands were streaming with his blood.
"Are you alright?" The leader said to the man I'd attacked, only vaguely as he glared down at Edward, not letting his guard down.
He let out a string of curses, "No." He growled and yanked me back some more.
As he yanked back my hood, it fell from my head, and my full feminine face was revealed.
"Hey!" Edward shouted. "Leave her alone!"
Her. Her.
Edward, you idiot.
His eyes widened when he realized what he'd said. My fuller lips, my longer eyelashes, my cleaner skin (that wasn't from genetics, it was only proof. I hadn't lived here my whole life), and my heart pendant (which conveniently decided to fall out right then). All ties connecting to that one resonant 'her'.
All the men, except for Edward, huffed in shock; the man holding me dropped me out of surprise and I fell to the ground with a resounding thud.
"It's a… what do you call 'em? Oh yeah, a woman!" The other one exclaimed. The leader stepped up."The legends are true." He gawked; I cringed, expecting them to pounce on me, due to my obvious weak body strength.
But they were the ones that cringed back, afraid. They moved away from me, shuffling back. Fear clouded their eyes. Why?
I sat there, silently, soaking it all in, and they just stared in amazement; finally the leader got irritated.
"Well, come on, get her!" He scorned the one whom I hadn't poked his eyes out, the other man was still moaning at that.
"Why don't you do it?" He replied, a look of pure alarm in his eyes.
"Because I told you to do it." He snarled; Edward sat there, just as stunned as I at this turn of events.
"What if the stories are true, man, what if she can make a man turn to stone with just one look? And the fire thing? And all the other rumors?" The other man asked shakily. Turn to—what? Stone? Fire?
Then a beautiful, horrible, impossible, plan appeared to me, like a beacon; I smiled to myself.
I moved closer to Edward, and they moved farther back; I glared at them as I picked him up by the arm and dragged his frozen self over to where I stood. His expression was one of sheer bewilderment as he sat on his knees.
"That's right," I called; my voice was tempted to shake a bit. "What if the stories are true?" I laughed, trying to come off as confident, in control, and not about to break down crying.
Edward turned to me, his eyes full of confusion, but his face stayed as composed as possible when he leaned over.
"Bella, where are you going with this?" He whispered uneasily. I shushed him and moved to straighten my posture; I stood proudly, trying to look upon them as Mother did the Crazies on the street.
"You have no idea of the awesome power I possess." I raised my hands, and they shrank back. You really have no idea, I thought shakily to myself.
"Wait a second," the leader interrupted an accusing look on his face. "I think she's bluffing." My insides shattered like glass, and I gulped.
"Are you sure?" I cocked an eyebrow, about to turn on my heels and run any second. He didn't reply. "Are you positive you want to take that risk?"
"What can you do, exactly?" The second one asked; my mind raced for the remnants of my imagination.
"I…can make the moon round, look in the sky," I pointed at the full moon, and their eyes followed. "I wanted a full round moon tonight…I did that. We women take turns deciding how the moon is going to look each night... and the weather."
I don't think I'd ever felt as stupid as I did at that moment.
By the way he was staring incredulously at me I could tell Edward thought so too.
But they gasped in astonishment, anyway. I couldn't believe it, my plan was working. They were really buying my lies. Which made me second guess the mental capacity of men…
"Wait, what's he for?" The leader pointed to Edward, who vehemently trying to undo the ropes around his wrists.
"Oh," I chuckled and rested my hand on Edward's head, racking my head for something. "He is my pet." I smiled, stroking his hair.
"I'm your what?" He asked flatly, low enough so only I could hear.
"I have the power to enslave anyone I wish, but he was very willing so it was easier." I stroked his head once more. I knew I was going to pay for that later. In an attempt to keep the act up, Edward stayed quiet, but I knew he was fuming inside. I decided to have a little fun with it. I beamed; the lies were just flowing out like a waterfall.
"How come you haven't enslaved us?" The second one asked suspiciously. My act fumbled for a split second before composing myself again; I scrambled for a reply.
"Well, enslaving someone takes a lot of time and… uh womanly magic and you all really aren't as strong and as obedient as him—"
"Wait just a minute." I held my breath, thinking they'd seen through my charade. "So you're saying, we're not good enough for you, but this dandelion is?" They pointed to Edward.
I could hear a low growl escape him; I stoked his hair once more, this time really trying to soothe him. The conversation had taken a very strange turn. I couldn't believe they'd called Edward a dandelion. If he was a dandelion, I must have been like… air or something. But it was pretty funny.
"So…" I started, real confusion coming down upon me. "You want to be my slaves?"
"Well no but… Really him?" The second one asked, in a high voice pointing to Edward once more. I could tell all of this beating down on him was really taking its toll.
"What's wrong with him?" I decided to be nice and defend Edward. "Ugh you all annoy me." I threw my hand over my forehead dramatically. "Leave our things here and flee so I won't have to use my incredible powers to burn you all to crisp."
They just stared unsurely at me, like I held all the answers; I determined that I should take it a step further. I raised my arms once more and took a sturdy stance under the moonlight. "From the power of the…er Moon Goddess, I command you to use your…uh ambient light to burn these wretches to a crisp."
And in a flash, they dropped our possessions and ran like I'd never seen anyone run before; they disappeared through the trees.
I sighed and sat down on the ground, "Glad that's over." I exhaled, glancing to the moon. I waited for Edward to say something. "What's wrong with you?" I shoved his arm, his eyes were downcast.
"Let me explain this seemingly simple concept, to you; which you seemed to turn it into something unnecessarily complex." He turned to me. "When I tell you to 'lay low' and 'be quiet', that does not mean, 'jump out' and 'attack someone much bigger than you like a rabid maniac'."
"Uh…" I started, feeling a blush creep up my neck.
"Oh, oh, and that whole 'I can control the moon, and enslave people' thing was so…" He imitated me. "I mean, if they hadn't been so stupid, they wouldn't have believed it for a second."
I sat there, with a blank expression. "I do not sound like that." Was all I could say, because everything he said was true. "But they bought it anyway."
"Since when did I become your pet? What was that? Why couldn't you have made me have super speed, strength, and stunning good looks?" He motioned with his palms.
I began to laugh hysterically and roll on my side.
"First of all, that wouldn't be consistent; we were focusing on women powers, and they would have expected you to use those awesome powers in battle. Face it Edward: you're just not as cool as I am." I patted his shoulder belittlingly and crawled under the covers.
He grunted frustrated. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight…pet."
Any guesses as to who they are?
Review for the rest of the teaser:
"Thank you so much for letting my friend and I stay here." He said sincerely, I could only smile at Edward's tone, while keeping my head down.
I couldn't help but steal a glance at the owner, but when I looked to him, I found something abnormal. The elderly man was trembling in the most peculiar way; my eyebrows furrowed.
"N-no problem, s-stay here as long as you l-like." He nodded, but his whole body was rigid. I ripped my eyes away from him and glanced at Edward questioningly. What exactly had he done to convince this man to let us stay here? He wasn't looking at me, he was looking at the old man.
Edward's face was genuine, but something was off about the scene.
The man led us to a room and left us alone, that's when I decided it was safe to ask him.