Some of you have been asking—where's the romance? I thought this was an Edward/Bella story? Well, I can tell you, it will be trickling in with a lot more frequency in the ensuing chapters. Then, without realizing it, you will find yourself almost drowning in it.

Chapter 11

I think I might actually kill Edward; slaughter him in his sleep. Or maybe something more sadistic.

For one thing, his constant waterfall of snarky comments regarding my obvious inability to survive in the wild have, driven me to the edge. When he said he was going to go hunt for something to eat, and I shuddered, he just rolled his eyes and replied 'fine, starve'. But he brought back enough food in spite of it.

Second, although he brought food and dropped the whole pet thing, it seemed as if he was just too determined to get where we're going; heaven forbid I want to rest every millennium or so. I guessed it was his lack of comprehension of just how little physical preparation I had, but he visibly saw that. He just kept pushing me; he was holding a fire under me. Like he was cracking a whip to keep me going.

Anyway, I took a look at the map, and we were almost there (after three full days of hiking); the village, strangely, did not have a name, merely a number. My father lived in village 261. Edward said that only the recorded villages, there are many more out there.

When I wasn't lost in my thoughts, I found my murderous impulses could be stifled, but not easily; I no longer wanted to cause a disturbance in the seemingly indestructible forests of the male side and attract more bandits. I'd had my fill last time. Edward was right (in that instant) if more robbers came, and they weren't as gullible, we would be dead. However he wouldn't believe that, I wasn't sure how strong he thought he is, but surely, he had enough reason to deduct that if I hadn't jumped in, he would have been beaten. Or worse.

I was losing myself. I found I thought about my side less and less, everyday, and that it didn't worry me as much as it really should. And as much as Edward made me want to knock someone out, his attitude kept me grounded and away from having a complete mental breakdown. With his cynical humor, I have no time to fret about the conflict inside me. Sometimes, I did want to strangle him, but other times I wanted to thank him for being hospitable.

Oh Alice, I thought to myself, if only you could see me now. Would you recognize me?

Poverty, violence, and utter stupidity were things I'd been kept from on my side. It's as if I'd woken up from a dream by coming here. At first, this world had seemed like the dream, a nightmare even. It still was a nightmare. But now…I wasn't sure which side was real and which was the dream.

I took the liberty of learning how to start a fire; I'd felt too vulnerable having no knowledge in this field, and I didn't want to have to depend on Edward. Starting a fire roots back to Miss Newton's lessons in science…friction causes heat (like Edward had tried to explain before); simple enough.

It looked pretty on paper, but actually doing it was even harder. It took me almost two hours to gather up enough friction to create a spark, and by that time, my hands were blistered and about to bleed. I was ready to give up when a small fire popped up. I was elated by the fact that I created something with my own hands.

Then it started to rain.

As much as the forest was a picture of hell, it was also a majestic portrait of beauty; earlier, I'd seen a tiny, little fawn, struggling to walk. I'd never been so entranced by an animal, but when I tried to touch it, it ran away faster than I could blink.

Later, when Edward had brought back a dead animal, I thought I'd throw up, just like I had the first time he brought back raw food from a hunt; but I found my stomach was only a little bit churned by the sight. Edward said it because I was getting used to it; I prayed that he was lying. Getting used to eating freshly dead animals was not on my bucket list.

He cooked it over a fire (one he'd built. Of the course the rain hadn't come when he built it), and I surprisingly ate my entire share. I was deeply astonished at myself, before I had been scared to eat trail mix, when it was just dried up fruit. I loved to eat trail mix, now. Nowadays, I was eating freshly dead animals. What was next? Cannibalism?

I was not as tired as I used to be when I walked; I could feel my legs muscles getting stronger, myself getting stronger. I could walk farther and farther every day. My body was adjusting to the conditions of nature. That was a very good thing; it showed I at least had some strength to endure.

Now, I trudged behind Edward, as the sun set over the horizon; the map indicated we only had a less than a mile to the village, but I hadn't seen any signs of civilization. We weren't going to take a break until we got there. It made me wonder how we were going to find a place to stay, but I was so eager to just get there, I didn't bother asking.

My heart beat fast, but not because of the physical exertion. For the past three hours, I'd been practicing what to say to my father when I saw him. I also had been flipping over the necklace again and again to read what he'd written there; to be sure he'd be happy when he saw me.

Would he recognize me? Certainly not, I'd grown so much. Did he ever meet me? Would he be happy to see me? Or would he have changed over the years and not want to see me? Would he mistake me for a man? Would he ask about Mother? Did he still love her? So many questions I longed for an answer to.

Soon enough, my enthusiasm had taken over and I passed up Edward and took the lead; he didn't protest, which I was thankful for.

"I'm excited!" I exclaimed to Edward, with a big grin on my lips. He had a warm smile upon his sympathetic face, like I was a child he was watching get a brand new toy.

I twiddled my thumbs anxiously as I saw a small glimpse of light up ahead, the light of society; my stride grew faster, and soon I was half running. Shortly after, I felt a hard tug on the hood of the cloak.

"Alright Bella, before you get ahead of yourself, you have to be careful. First of all," He turned to look me in the eye, I just stared back, and pouting that he'd popped my happiness bubble. He took the hood in his hands and pushed it over my eyes. "Cover your face. Second, keep your head down, and walk behind me like a shadow. And just to cover all our bases, let me do that talking. You're officially a mute."

"So controlling." I rolled my eyes when he gave me a hard look. "Sure, I'll do it."

"Good, let's go." I leapt up and started jogging downhill toward the village.

Not knowing what to expect, I broke through the fringe of trees—

— And my jaw dropped to ground. A village?

It was a colossal metropolis. It was bigger than Hollow Wood! It had reflective buildings, made out a metal looking material, though they were almost as tall as the towering trees. The streets were lined with merchants, and the streets were filled with buyers. Men rode of the strangest contraptions with two wheels, with metal bodies. They pedaled while they moved.

"What are those?" I blurted out, forgetting I was mute.

He gave me a warning look. "Bicycles. Now get behind me." Edward whispered in my ear as he moved to block me from view. "Follow me." He murmured lowly in my ear, I just nodded soberly.

Just play it cool, the voice echoed in my head, and I did without any argument. I looked at my feet as I shuffled slowly behind Edward through the crowds; I accidentally gasped sometimes when a man would bump into me, but I tried to stifle it.

Be a shadow, be a shadow.

It grew even darker in the city (Edward taught me that word for places that were too big to be villages, towns, or even colonies. It was hardly just a village), and we walking into what looked like a suburban area, and Edward took a sharp turn left to a relatively nice looking house. There was much of this 'concrete' Edward had talked about back at home—I mean his house.

"Okay, just stay out here and blend into the wall," His eyes snapped over to a few men walking by, who were glancing at us suspiciously. "Don't draw attention to yourself, we'll stay here for tonight and find your father in the morning." His eyes were mediated, serious. I could only nod, feeling much too tired for a reunion at the moment anyway. I turned around and hid on the side of the house, trying to look inconspicuous.

In much shorter time than I had predicted, Edward came around the corner, with a warm grin on his face.

"Come on, but don't look the owner in the eye, and remember 'mute'." He prompted me. I rolled my eyes: you slip up once, and you're branded for life.

"Fine." I squeaked, eager to do whatever it took to get some sleep in a bed. One that had no horrible, poking, springs and wasn't the forest floor.

I hadn't questioned how Edward had gotten the man to agree to let us stay there, but at the time I frankly didn't care.

We walked through an arched doorway, and I made sure to keep my head down, as I said I would. Edward smiled to him in a friendly way.

"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.

"Edward," I started cautiously. "What did you…why was that man—"

"Shaking?" He finished, sadly.

"Um…Yes." I admitted.

"He's a terribly sick old man." He answered with a hint of melancholy in his eyes; my heart sank. And I had possessed suspicions, I was so terrible. I felt so awful at that point for doubting him.

"Oh, that's so depressing." I sighed, looking up at him.

"It is." He agreed. Then, his started to pull his shirt up and over himself; my arms shot to cover my eyes, as an instinct. What was he doing?

"Why are you shirtless?" I gasped, shocked, that certainly wasn't an acceptable thing to do on my side. I peeked over my arm to look at his face; it was contorted in confusion. I kept my arm over my face, only letting me peek up to see his face.

I didn't want to admit that the glimpse I'd caught with his shirt off pleased me in a way I didn't understand.

"What?" He shrugged as if it were no big deal.

"Your shirt."

"Don't be so flattered, I didn't do this for your enjoyment; it's just really stuffy in here." He rolled his eyes.

"Moron." I spat and rolled over. "By the way, you're sleeping on the floor." I commanded, pointing. I felt a twinge of sadness—why did part of me want for him to be in the bed with me? It must have been exhaustion…

"You couldn't get me in there with you if you held a knife to my throat." He taunted, crossing his arms over his chest; a splash of black caught my eye.

"What's that on your arm?" I asked, still eyeing it. It was an intricately designed tattoo in black ink, his eyes glanced to it.

A look I didn't understand flashed across his eyes, then, as soon as it had appeared, it was gone. It had looked like he was worried, like I wasn't supposed to see that.

"Don't tell my dad, alright? Jas, Em and I were being idiots one day and we all got tattoos, no big deal." He joked lightheartedly, I merely smiled.

"Sure." I rolled my eyes and got myself settled in the bed.

"Night."

"I hope you never wake up."

And so the plot thickens… Well, sort of. The events that took place in this chapter may seem insignificant now, but in all actuality, something important happened. It will all be revealed later.

If you haven't guessed already, I usually have a short chapter right before a long chapter with lots of drama in it. If not, I haven't been doing my job… So you can guess now that tomorrow's chapter is majorly important (since this is roughly only 2,400 words)

You know the drill, review for the rest of the teaser:

Then suddenly, he took my hand in his.

I gasped; a tingling sensation in my hand began climbing up my arm. Our hands fit together perfectly. I could only gawk as my hand grew warmer and warmer; I didn't dare look at him. What was I to do? Keep it there? Pull away? I knew the logical answer was to pull away, but as I started to, I found something tugging within me to stop and to keep it there. I was shocked at myself, stop being stupid, I scolded. He seemed to be as confused as I was, for he didn't make any move closer or away.

My heart beat took off, and my thoughts cluttered—the only clear image being my hand in his.

Why did this feel so new? I'd held hands with Alice, when we were younger, but only out of friendship. I loved her like a sister, I would die for her, but it never felt like this. My head was screaming to take my hand away, but something inside me wanted to keep it there; why was this tiny gesture so meaningful, and complicated?