Authors Note: Sorry, Longtime no update ;) Well, here's the chapter... This by far is the longest chapter, and I think the best.
I need your opinions. My question is would y'all like to see Henry and James already done with soon, or do y'all like Henry and want more chapters with him and Alice? I need to know so I can figure out how to pace the story based on what you guys want. :)
Also, thank you to all who reviewed that last chapter! CrazyCountryLove3, XxNonstoppSmilerxX, Jenn, Mikela and everyone else, THANK YOU SO MUCH! This chapter is for you guys! :)
xoxo Region and District xoxo
Disclaimer: I own no rights twilight...Major frowny face...
Chapter 6: Three Simple Words
(Alice's P.O.V.)
After Margaret had left, I sat on my bed, drowning in my thoughts.
I had more questions than I had answers, and the lack of answers only gave me more questions. Henry, obviously, wasn't normal. Nor, was Margaret. She was in on whatever Henry was hiding from me, and he was planning on paying her for her silence. I couldn't trust her, but the vision of him flinging her across the floor of the office made me cringe.
How could he have done that to her? He had always been so gentle to me, but his voice had been filled with such hatred in the office, it sounded like that of a monster.
No, not a monster. I refuse to think of him as a monster. That's exactly what he is worried about, but I won't give Henry the satisfaction of me being scared of him.
Was I scared at him? No, I knew I wasn't, but wasn't I right to call him a monster? How much did I really know about him? Not anything, really, and it bugged me. How could I choose to trust his judgments and not those of my best friends?
I think this over, but every time I think of going against Henry, my heart squeezes tight. For some reason, I trusted him, and I know it was wrong, but I couldn't help it. Ever since I met him, I'd trusted those eyes of his, black or gold, and inviting smile.
I had never been afraid, unlike now.
I suppose I fell asleep, but the dreams didn't come. I had stayed up late last night, finally coming to different conclusions:
Henry was afraid he was going to hurt me, and was hiding something.
Margaret was in on it.
I should trust my dreams, for they seem to be more reliable then anyone else.
And most important, it seemed vitally important that I find out what he was.
xXx
My breakfast sat untouched on my desk when Margaret came into my room. "Hey, Miss Alice. How are you doing, today?" She seemed to be forcing a smile, but her smile didn't reach her eyes.
"Just fine, thank you," I say, looking her up and down. Has she seen Henry yet? By the way she avoided moving her right side, I assumed yes.
Margaret sat across from me on the starched white sheets, and I decided interrogation should work on her.
"Margaret," I begin, "Have you seen Henry today?"
"No," she says, staring at me, hoping to not give anything away. Foolish girl. "He's still out."
"Hmm, that's funny, because I have lived in this town all my life and I have never seen a forest, or much of one. Now why would Henry go to one?"
There was fear in her eyes now, as she begins to try to piece together what I knew.
"Where's his office, Margaret, I wish to speak to him." I say, standing up, heading toward the door.
She jumps up and blocks my path.
"How do you know about that?" she asked, shaking slightly.
I smile and yank up her sleeve, exposing dark marks that were the formation of bruises on her pale skin. "The same way I know about this. I'm "Physic", Margaret. I'm not stupid."
I'd seen Henry and Margaret get out of the one way door enough times to find my way out of my room fine. I wasn't really sure of where to go now. What had I expected? So I did the only logical thing. I walked down a long hall filled with doors, until I reached the main room.
The receptionist was an old woman with graying hair and a friendly smile. "How can I help you?" she asks.
"Where can I find Mr. Merewether's office?" I ask politely. "He told me to come by, yesterday."
She didn't even suspect anything of my lie, just pointed down a long hall opposite of the way had come. I thanked her, and hurried down in the direction she had pointed, trying to move quickly before I could talk myself out of confronting him.
I had to know the truth.
The long hallway seemed to stretch out before me, elongating my path to the lone door at the end. His door.
As I reach the door, my palms are sweaty and my heart is beating quickly. I took a deep breath before raising my hand to knock, but before I could, the door swung open to reveal Henry, hair in a tousled mess, looking surprised.
"Miss Brandon," he questions, "what on earth are you doing here? Where's Margaret?"
"She never came in today, that she had taken the day off to nurse some wounds. Seems she fell and bruised the right side of her body." By the look of his eyes, he believed the lie.
"My, what a clumsy girl."
"Indeed." We stand there, staring at the ground for what seems like ages. I finally take in his appearance. His pale feet were bare, and his brown trousers were rolled up past his ankles. His white shirt was unbuttoned halfway down, revealing a white, marble-like chest.
When I reached his eyes, they were dim, almost darkened from the gold, and purplish blue shadows were begging to form, as though he hadn't had enough sleep.
"Why don't you come in," he asks, gesturing into the room. I nod, and follow him inside.
Nothing in this room was unfamiliar to me, as it was the exact same as in my dream. The only thing out of place in this room seemed to be the small pile of books lying on the floor, carelessly thrown. Or knocked over.
I don't say anything as I take a seat at the small desk, facing toward the door. Henry stands there, studying me.
I have no idea how to start, but luckily Henry speaks for me.
"You don't believe that about Margaret," He didn't say it like a question, but more as a observation.
"No, I don't, just like I didn't believe you went to a forest. You couldn't have had her come up with a better lie? If you didn't want to see me again, then you should have said so." As I said the words, I realized that they were true. It had felt like he was avoiding me, even if only for a short time.
Henry laughs slightly, saying, "You really think I was avoiding you? I couldn't leave you alone if I tried," The unspoken words I have seemed to hand in the air, and though he didn't say it, I knew he was thinking it.
I glare at him. "Well you seem to be doing a pretty good job."
He frowns at that, and pulls up a chair next to me. "If only you knew" he whispered, so low, I'm sure I wasn't supposed to hear it. Aloud he said, "I had to take care of some… business, I'm sorry I kept you waiting."
The way he said business made me shudder slightly. His gazed shifted over my face and his frown deepens, eyebrows coming together. "You're upset about something, Alice. Why don't you tell me?"
I'm shocked that he could figure out something was wrong with me, but I brush it off. What was I going to say?
That I knew he was incredibly fast and strong, causing someone to have full body bruises, by dropping them, much like you would a book.
I knew his eye's changed colors, and he seemed to get grouchier the darker they got.
I knew he never ate, from the amount of time he spends in my room.
I knew he was always cold, though never seemed to show it.
So what was I not getting? What piece of information had I yet to receive?
I realized he was waiting for an answer, and quickly blurted out, "You don't seem normal."
He sits there a few seconds, studying my face before erupting in laughter. I cross my arms and wait for him to finish. When he finally does, he's breathing hard.
"I'm sorry, Miss Alice, but for you to say that it's so," He struggles for the correct word. "Ironic" Henry decides.
"How so?" I ask, eyeing him.
"Well, for starters, you supposedly see into the future. That is not normal." He flashes me a white toothed smile, and then I remember.
"Mary, is it because of him?" Tim gives a disgusted look to Henry who had walked up behind me.
"No, Tim. This is because of me. I don't wish to see you anymore. You need to live your life and forget about me." His calm face turns into one of anger and he begins shouting at Henry. "You stole her away from me! It's your fault!" A long line of curses followed, but Henry remained calm, his arm protectively around me.
That's when Tim hit him. He'd dropped the roses in his rant and had hit Henry square in the jaw. Henry didn't cry out in pain, or even seem to notice, but Tim was screaming, and his hand looked deformed. "What the hell are you?" He shouts, cradling his injured hand against his chest, drops of scarlet falling down onto the roses.
I saw Henry lick his lips. "Your worst nightmare," he said and then he was on Tim, crouching low, mouth near Tim's neck. Without hesitation, he sank his teeth into Tim and blood began to flow from the wound.
I could tell that Tim was in pain, but I didn't dare move. When he was done, Henry turned to me, eyes turned an amber instead of gold. Blood dripped from his chin and onto his white shirt. "Alice, don't be afraid of me, please, mon amour." He takes a step toward me, and I instinctively take a step back, causing a look of pain to cross on his beautiful face.
"I'm not afraid of you, Henry. I just want to know one thing." "Anything, princesse" I smile as he called me princess and take a step forward to him. "What are you?"
He sighs, pick up one of the roses Tim had brought and held it out for me. I watched in fascination as the blood red rose turned black, dieing right before my eyes.
"Buveur de sang," he said, looking me in the eye. "A vampire"
I don't know why I hadn't thought of the dream before now, but it seemed to play through my mind on loop now. I had decided to trust my dreams whole heartedly, but this seemed too far fetched. Henry, a vampire?
The idea made me want to laugh, but staring at him, looking like an angel, made me realize it could be true.
"Henry, when were you born?" I ask quietly. He seemed taken aback for a second, but quickly recomposed himself.
"A long time ago," He sees my face and quickly adds, "I am twenty four,"
Though the last part I had wanted to know since I'd met him, but I was hung on the "a long time ago" part.
I didn't dare move away from him. If he really was a vampire, he could kill me before I could call out for help. But I wasn't scared at him.
He looked at me with confused eyes, and takes my hand. "You can say it, you know," he muttered. "Say what?" I ask, though I already know what he meant.
I close my eyes and breathe in his sweet intoxicating scent. He plays with my fingers, flipping them back and forth between his hands.
"I could hurt you" he says suddenly, causing me to look up from our hands. "I know."
"And yet, you are not afraid of me? I know you know that I did that to Margaret, it's written on your face. Alice, I'm a monster. I don't know how you can sit so close to me." He goes to stand up, but I clench his fingers tight, refusing him to leave. Henry looks down at our intertwined fingers, and sits back down with a sigh.
"You are not a monster, and I have never been afraid of you, nor will I ever," I say, and know my words have their desired effects, when his muscles begin to relax.
"Say it out loud. Please. Say what I am, Alice," He whispers, and I can hear an edge of desperation on his voice, and see it plainly in his eyes.
"Vampire," I say after holding his gaze for a while. When he begins to turn away in shame, I grab the side of his face, and turn it back to me.
"I'm a vampire." Those three words seemed to hold the weight of the world as he confirmed my theory true.
"Henry, now you must say something to me, though I've heard you admit it before. Say, you love me."
All the pain disappeared from his face as a wide smile spread across his lips.
"Before I met you, I was living under an illusion that a rosebud is the most beautiful creation of God," He says, pulling me out of my chair and onto his lap.
"I love the way the light shines off your eyes." He kisses my hand, sending a shiver up my spine.
"I love your warmth when you hug me" Henry says, kissing my nose, causing my cheeks to flush.
"I love saying things that make you blush." He says, kissing both enflamed cheeks, making me laugh.
"I have fallen in love many times, Alice, and each time was you," Then he kisses me. Just as in my room, my heart flutters. The feel of his cool lips beneath mine alone was enough to make me fall for him, but he had one hand around my waist, the other cupping my cheek. Somehow, both my arms ended up around his neck, intertwined with his dark hair.
He pulled away, and both of us were gasping for air. My forehead rested on his and his cool breathe blew on my face.
"I have searched for you, Alice, all my life, both human and immortal," Henry says simply. I smile widely as his lips brush mine once more.
"I love you, with all my heart," he says before pulling away, leaving my heart racing.