Bella didn't know exactly where she was going, but as long as it was away from what she had just done, she would keep running. Her feet made hardly a sound on the soft dirt as she raced further from the house than she had ever gone before. She needed to get away.
The look in Didyme's eyes as she had stared up at her from the floor wouldn't leave her mind.
Bella was new to being a vampire. She was new to the bloodlust, the speed, the strength. Most of all, she was new to the fear she could inspire. Billy Black's cautious looks hadn't prepared her for this. She'd thought that she had come to terms with this. With her inhumanity. But this was a startling reminder that being a vampire was more than just blood drinking and shiny skin.
She was what people had nightmares about.
Bella couldn't entirely interpret the look that Didyme had given her before she'd sped away from her shame, but the smell of fear in the air, as overshadowed as it was by blood and that unidentified unique smell, was palpable.
Bella had scared the woman. She had given into the draw of that crimson nectar like Didyme had meant nothing to her.
How could she have done that?
After everything. After vowing to never harm the innocent. The fucking second Didyme spilled one fucking drop of blood and she turns into a mindless beast?
She had attacked her! Bella had literally stalked her into a corner. She'd pushed her up against a wall and licked…
Oh my god.
Bella came to a halt as previous events washed over her more fully. She had licked her blood off her finger? Bella's head fell into her hands as she groaned. Now she had to deal with the overwhelming embarrassment as well as the shame of nearly hurting her friend.
When she lifted her head from her hands, Bella finally took in her surroundings. She had run all the way into the town that was near Didyme's house.
The night sky overhead hid Bella from view as she skittered along the edge of a house to hide further in the shadows. There weren't too many people out and about now, but Bella didn't want to take too many risks. It was a larger village than Bella would have expected, but, she supposed, all of those suitors for Didyme had to have come from somewhere.
Bella wandered around the town, sticking to the shadows under roofs and along walls, but she didn't come across anything that took her attention away from her thoughts. She briefly considered heading back to the house by the cliffs, but a flash of Didyme staring up at her from the floor made Bella shake her head to remove the image and continue exploring the town.
After not too long, Bella had circled the entire town. She dug her feet into the dirt, staring down the path that would lead her back to Didyme. She didn't know if she could face her. After nearly attacking her, nearly killing her? How could she just walk back up to her with nothing but an 'I'm sorry'. It just didn't feel right.
Luckily for Bella, a sound in town caught her attention and drew her away from her decision for a moment. A stifled scream came from a small house on the edge of the town, and Bella drifted over to it, wondering if some poor inhabitant of this village was having some nightmare.
The sound came again, muffled by more than just walls, and it was followed by sounds of shuffling and something else. It sounded like maybe the person was thrashing around in their bed. Bella approached the door to the home, opening just a fraction so she could slide inside, but not letting it make a sound for fear of waking up the owner and having to deal with hiding before she was seen.
Another small noise and more thrashing sounded from the small room to Bella's left, and she approached the door to it silently. She felt a bit creepy, sneaking into someone's house like this, but she needed something to keep her away from Didyme, and she was getting desperate. Her curiosity kept her in the house.
The sound came from behind the door again, this time followed by something Bella wasn't expecting. Another voice sounded, making a small shushing sound, followed by some words that Bella hadn't learned yet. She felt rather stupid for not noticing that there were two heartbeats coming from the room. The one with the nightmare already had someone there to console them. With that thought, Bella turned back to the door, intent on finding some other distraction for the night.
Then she smelled it. Fear.
Her body stiffened up as she took it in. She knew it was fear, both from some primal instinct that had awakened when she became a vampire, and from experience with Didyme earlier that night. That made sense, she supposed. Whatever that nightmare was about must've been really terrifying to that person if this much fear was leaking out of them. It was clear even from a room away.
Another muffled scream and a 'thump' and more whispered words struck Bella still. The whispers that Bella had confused with comfort had a different tone. Less calming. More threatening.
If Bella had blood, it would have run cold. Then boiled.
A rage Bella didn't know she had took her over, and she zipped back to the door to the bedroom without even a whisper of a sound. Opening the door, she practically glided over to the sole bed, seeing one much larger body on top of a smaller, struggling body.
Her face contorted in a snarl, her eyes pitch black and her fingers curled into claws as she reached the bed. The wide, tear filled eyes of the woman on the bed met Bella's, and somehow grew wider. Bella barely registered this as she reached down and grabbed the large man by the back of his neck, yanking him up and away from the woman on the bed. His startled shout was cut off as Bella covered his mouth with her hand.
Even through the rage, she knew that leaving a dead body in the middle of this poor woman's home would lead to questions, so Bella ran. The man was surprisingly easy to carry, weighing almost nothing to Bella. He squirmed in her grasp the entire way to the tree line and clawed at the hand she had around his mouth as she pulled him deeper into the trees.
When she'd covered a decent distance, Bella snapped.
She released the man, and he stumbled forward onto his knees before shoving himself up and whirling around to face the creature that had abducted him. After catching sight of Bella, eyes black and face the image of wrath incarnate, the man scrambled backwards, nearly tripping and falling back into a tree.
The second he touched the bark, Bella was on him.
She ran forward, appearing before him faster than he could blink, and grabbed him by the hair, yanking his head to the side to expose his neck to her. She could feel the man pushing at her, trembling beneath her grasp like Didyme had, but the smell of fear that poured off him was different than the one Bella smelled from Didyme. And even if it had been the same, Bella couldn't bring herself to feel any remorse.
She was only ridding the world of another monster.
With that thought, Bella's teeth pierced the side of the man's throat, directly over the jugular.
And she drank.
She could hear waning words coming from the man as she drained the life out of him, and Bella recognized them as prayers. When the words finally stopped, and blood stopped flowing into Bella's mouth, she lowered the body to the ground beneath the large tree she had pinned him to.
She stood there for a moment, staring down at his body as the red haze that had taken over her vision with the rage receded. All things considered, she'd given the rapist a merciful death.
She tilted her head back to the sky, a satisfying fullness in her stomach, and let the light of the moon wash over her.
The more aware of the world she became, the more aware she was of the thundering sound that came from nearby. Bella lazily tilted her head back and to the side, glancing toward the source of the sound, and was struck dumb.
She hadn't even noticed.
She'd been too preoccupied with getting the man away from that woman that she hadn't paid any attention to where she was going. Maybe it was instinct, or maybe it was some subconscious draw, but her feet had brought her back to the cabin.
And there, 10 feet from where she had just drained the life from a man, stood Didyme.
Bella couldn't move. She knew, logically, that she should offer some explanation. She knew she should say something to try and get Didyme to understand what had happened. She could explain that she hadn't just gone to town to pick a random man to kill, but her voice wouldn't escape from her throat.
Maybe it would be better this way. If Didyme was afraid of her, she wouldn't be in danger from her. It was best that she knew the kind of nightmare that Bella really was.
She watched Didyme's wide eyes travel from her own unmoving body, to the corpse on the ground, and back again. The thundering sound grew louder, and Bella recognized it as Didyme's heartbeat.
The woman stared at Bella for a moment, swallowing past what Bella guessed was fear or disgust, and Bella watched her throat move in silence.
"This is what I am."
The words seemed to startle Didyme, breaking the heavy silence between them, and those blue eyes locked on Bella's dark red ones. Bella tried to keep her face blank of the panic she was feeling, the absolute conflict waging within her as she struggled with wanting Didyme to not hate her and needing her to know how dangerous she was.
A small crinkle appeared in Didyme's brow as she stared at those eyes, and she swallowed once more, the sound loud to Bella's enhanced hearing, especially in the silence, and then she seemed to make a decision.
Didyme took a step toward her.
Bella didn't know what to do. This woman was walking right toward a predator, and the predator in Bella needed her to know that.
A strange, primitive growl rose up in Bella's throat, and she let it free into the night air, making Didyme freeze once more, but only for a moment. Then she continued her slow steps toward Bella. Each step prompted the growling to grow a bit louder, a bit lower.
When Didyme finally got within touching distance of Bella, her body was practically shaking with the sound. She stood before the vampire, her heart still beating wildly in her chest as she stared at the darkening red eyes before her.
Bella scented the air again, expecting the fear she found there, but it was not quite as strong as she expected from the rapid pounding of her heart, and her confusion just barely showed on her face. She looked back at the body on the ground, and Didyme's eyes were drawn to it as well.
"I kill to live." Bella's words made Didyme's blue eyes snap to hers once more. "I kill people. I feed on their blood." Bella glanced at Didyme's finger, now bandaged, and heard her heartbeat pick up. "This is what I am."
Didyme was staring at her bandaged finger, cradling her hand to her chest protectively.
"I don't know what you thought I was, Didyme." And Didyme's eyes were on her again at the use of her name. "But I am a monster."
The last thing she expected to hear in response to that was a scoff.
"A monster?" Didyme questioned, letting her hand fall to her hip as she stared Bella down. "A monster that helps me cook dinner?" A single eyebrow lifted, and Bella's stillness was broken as she fidgeted. "A monster that keeps me company? A monster that giggles like a child and hides in my furs when suitors come to the house?"
"I don't giggle—"
"A monster that kills a man who was well known throughout the town for taking the women he wants, disregarding the women's choice in the matter?" Didyme turned to glare at the body on the ground, spitting towards it and shocking Bella. "Alexius was more animal than man."
With that, she turned back to Bella, stepping forward. Slowly, Bella watched as a slim hand came up, fingertips just resting on her face before Didyme rested her palm against Bella's cheek. Bella couldn't help it, she closed her eyes to the feeling.
"You are not human." Bella opened her eyes, realizing that she had leaned into the contact, and her eyes met Didyme's. Didyme was smiling. "But you are the furthest thing from a monster."
A shuddering breath left Bella's body, and she swayed forward, caught in the draw of this woman. She'd tried to scare her, but that hadn't worked. The only thing she had left was self-deprecation and humor. She let out a weary chuckle. "Then what am I?"
Didyme's blue eyes were closer now, and they shifted between Bella's own ruby ones and something just below. Her other hand came up, framing the other side of Bella's face and she took one last step to close the last bit of distance between them. A hesitant smile tugged at her lips, and Bella watched it. She could feel the warmth radiating off of the magnetizing woman, and she closed her eyes to bask in the feeling of it. Bella's own hands came up to rest on Didyme's hips without her prompting, and a stuttering sigh left Didyme's lips.
"You're my Bell." The words were whispered so close to her.
Before Bella could open her eyes, she felt a warm, subtle pressure on her lips. She didn't know if it was possible to feel lightheaded, but Bella nearly swayed into that warmth, seeking that pleasant pressure. A heartbeat, not her own, beat loudly in her ears, but Bella felt no thirst for blood at that moment.
Peace had settled over her.
She needed more. Her hands, laying still on Didyme's hips, crept around her back and pulled Didyme's body against her own. The feeling of being flush against that warmth was heady, nearly intoxicating, and the gasp that came from the woman was neatly swallowed by her own mouth.
The lips against her own trembled, and Bella opened her mouth to lick at Didyme's bottom lip before sucking it into her mouth. That caused the rest of her body to tremble, too. She didn't entirely know what she was doing, but that supple lip and the taste of her pushed her forward, backing Didyme into the tree opposite the one she'd had that man pinned to earlier.
Didyme let out a small whimper as her body made contact with the tree, and she arched against Bella's body, her hands moving to clutch at her back and hold her to her. The sound stirred a kind of frenzy within Bella, completely different to the one caused by bloodlust. The heat from the woman that writhed between her and the tree seeped into her, and she craved to hear more sounds come from those soft lips.
It wasn't until Didyme bit her lip, one hand pulling at Bella's hip to pull her more firmly against her, that Bella released her own moan into the night air. She pressed her hips forward into Didyme, rolling them against the woman and eliciting a whine from her as Didyme's head fell back against the tree with a 'thunk'. Bella trailed open mouthed kiss along her jawline and down her neck, stopping at the thundering pulse beneath her lips, and Didyme froze.
Bella hovered there, her body pressing Didyme's now still one into a tree, waiting for a few moments before she very gently pressed a kiss there.
Didyme melted against her, and Bella let her head drop against Didyme's shoulder as her hands returned to rest lightly on the woman's hips. Didyme reached up, under Bella's arms and grabbed onto both of her shoulders, holding her there. She turned and pressed her lips to the crown of Bella's head before speaking.
"It's been a long night." She whispered against Bella's hair. "I think it's time to get some rest." Bella couldn't respond beyond nodding her head into Didyme's shoulder, then she moved back a step to let the woman step away from the tree.
Didyme glanced at the body. "We'll deal with that in the morning." And she grabbed Bella's wrist and led her back to the cabin, Bella allowing herself to be guided by the gentle pressure. She opened the door, holding it for Bella to pass through without letting go of her. Once she closed the door behind them, she trailed her grip down to Bella's hand, entwining their fingers and leading her toward the pile of furs.
Bella glanced at the bed cautiously, wondering what exactly Didyme expected tonight, and the woman must've seen the look on her face because she let out a quite chuckle and pulled her onto the bed with her. "I'm tired, my Bell. Lay with me."
Bella gently lay next to Didyme, slowly relaxing her body into the furs before glancing at the woman next to her. Didyme's startling blue eyes gazed back, warmer than she'd ever seen them, and she brought a hand up to trace the curve of her cheekbone with her thumb. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she leaned into Bella, resting her head in the crook of Bella's neck as she settled in. Bella wrapped a questioning arm around the woman, smiling when Didyme only hummed contentedly, and pulled her closer.
Didyme's breath slowly even out as her heart slowed, and Bella stared up at the roof of the house with a goofy smile on her face as she cuddled the sleeping woman. The peace of the quite night settled into her, bringing her into a relaxed state as she closed her eyes that was the closest she'd gotten to sleeping since she'd become a vampire. It was incredibly calming.
The calm however, was broken when Bella's eyes shot wide once more.
Holy Shit. I kissed Didyme.
….please don't hate me. IM BACK. Was this enough to stem the tide of rage I can actually feel from not posting in nearly a year?