A/N: Sorry about the long wait. I took off on vacation last week, and have been trying to get back in the swing of things at home for the past few days. I hope I still have readers left! This isn't as long as I hoped it would be, but hey- what doesn't get said here gets said in the next chapters. And on that subject, I once again remind you that this story is almost over. I would say less than five chapters left, and then it may come to either a sequel, or perhaps the Bellice I have wanted to try out for quite some time. Opinions on this? If I wrote a Bella/Alice fic, would you guys be interested? I am a Bellice fan, and I know some of you are, as well. Okay, enough from me, here's the story, and please as always, feel free to review.
Disclaimer: I own ZERO things Twilight. Not Alice, not any of the Cullens, nor the wolves, nor the idea that they all co-exist uncomfortably in Forks, Washington. That was Stephenie, not I. Andie, however, is my beesh, and her story with Alice, yeah that came from my brain, too.
AndiePOV:
I'd been shut inside myself for years, years of burning and seeing nothing, but hearing everything around my prison, the voices of those who had felt this pain, who had been locked inside as I was now. Their voices and the sensation of Alice's arms around me were anchoring me into keeping a sense of who I was. It was proof that this wasn't the end, that there was more... that there was Alice, my Alice, my pixie-like goddess, the one who danced behind my eyelids even now, when the pain was consuming me.
After I heard Carlisle say that it was twelve to fourteen hours, I reeled because it had only been YEARS since it began, I couldn't remember the time before the burn. Only I knew it hadn't really been years. I knew there would be more years contained in the time period, though sounding so optimistic, and considered "lucky". Could they remember what this felt like, truly? Alice had warned me, had told me. This was an informed decision. And now I paid the price of having Alice forever, lasting through the endless flames that seemed to singe my essence, through the flesh and bone. A small price to be paid for her, this was cheap for the reward.
She had not whispered words of comfort to me for quite a moment, as she had kept a constant stream for the long of the change occuring to me. She was still, I couldn't even feel her breath, though I was aware of the weight of her body on my chest, her ear pressed hard above my heart. It was speeding up to paces that surely would explode it before the venom could poison and freeze it for eternity, and it made me want to make a sound, but I knew if I even so much as whimpered I would start screaming again, so I kept my jaw locked shut, gritting my teeth against the roasting fire. How ironic was it that these very flames contained in my veins would change my body and my heart into ice? There is a poetic beauty there, but I'm not sure if I am the one to weave those words. So I lie in silence and cook into a perfect ice sculpture.
Alice shifted for the first time in months when she heard the sound of my heart sped to a cresendo, and I felt my fingers flex on her forearm, keeping her against me, if she were trying to move away. It was the first movement I'd given since they'd dressed me, but the burn was fading... my legs no longer felt it, I could move my toes; my fingers were nimble again as I opened and closed them on her arm, drawing a sharp gasp from Alice. The burn was only in two places now, my throat and my heart, but as the thrumming became a hum and then stopped, the fire only remained in my throat, and that was the first place I touched as my eyes opened for the first time. Silence hung heavy in the air, not a soul breathed nor moved for the first minute of my vampiric existence, and I read the words etched into the spackle of the ceiling above our bed. As I read the words softly to myself, I realized what they were. "Alice?" I said, my voice now a bell just a tad less high-pitched than hers. I flinched at the sound, but continued. "You have the lyrics to every Beatles' song ever written scratched into your ceiling? Really?" I giggled as I turned my face to look at her, but the giggle died in my dry throat as I saw her face for the first time.
There is no way to properly depict the angular perfections, or the shimmer of the thousands of shards of stained glass that made up her skin. I can't describe past the mundane colors of black and ebony to describe the dark eyes that met my own, and you wouldn't believe me if I whispered of the billions of unnamed colors in the spectrum of Alice's eyes. Even every strand of her hair was different shade of what one would call the same color, but I have seen that it is indeed not. Blacks and browns and mahoganys and even some red strands danced in the melody of a swish when she tilted her unspeakably beautiful face up to take in my features as well. I reached down hesitantly, releasing my neck, and she closed her eyes as my finertips grazed her cheekbone, following it to her jaw, and tracing down around her chin. She was warm to the touch, and soft, not at all like I remembered her being. Her skin still had the silky feel despite that I could see now what Alice had meant the told me that vampires glittered, but now it gave beneath my fingers, and was far from the icy statue I had loved to feel against me for so long. But this? I let my hands wander down her shoulders, massaging the flesh, staring at her in wonder as it rolled easily beneath my hands, squeezing her bicep, then pulling her up to eye level with me. This is natural, I thought to myself as her lips tugged up on one side, and that single dimple creased in, making me melt at the sight of it. I remembered this crooked smile, I remembered it very well. And now with the movement from her lips catching my attention, I found I couldn't move my eyes away from them. I wanted to test how well they would give under pressure now.
"Andie?" The sound of her voice was what broke the spell her lips had cast upon me, not so much the usage of my name. I looked up into her dark eyes once again, and it hit me for the first time that she was thirsty. And as that thought crossed my mind, my own throat prickled at the thought of hunting. I touched it again, and Alice's eyes flickered down to the column of my neck where my fingers rested lightly. "Let me get dressed and we'll go," she said quietly, with an undertone of... disappointment? Was she not happy with me?
"Alice?" I said her name, hurt and confused, and pulled her back to me when she tried to get up. "Are you upset? Am I not...?" I let my sentence die as the expression on her face changed to surprise and incredulity.
"Andie! How can you ever think- what gave you the idea- come here!" She hauled me out of our bed and in front of a mirror, standing behind me as I saw myself for the first time. "Do you see, love? You're just as beautiful as you always were," she said, and I stared at the image reflecting back at me. My eyes... they were a deep burgundy, with an almost plum overtone, and I wondered briefly if it had anything to do with the blue eyes I'd had as a human. My cheeks weren't as round as I remembered, and my eyes weren't too far apart anymore. I opened my mouth to see if my front teeth were still crooked... no. I lifted the tail of my shirt, gasping at the muscles that rippled there, and feeling the sensation of blushing as I saw my tattoo had survived the transformation, the butterfly still penned into my hip. The dark beauty mark on the other side also remained, though now a lighter color and probably only visible to one with vampiric vision. My hair was gorgeous, and I fet relieved that I never did the drastic act of shaving it off.
"Then why did you sound disappointed?" I asked Alice softly, locking eyes with her in the mirror before turning around to really face her.
She ducked her head bashfully, and glanced up at me from beneath her long eyelashes. "I... wanted you to kiss me. I've missed you. It was hell, watching you change, and knowing how you feel now, with the thirst... I was being selfish again."
My throat seared a bit at the mention, but I was starting to realize that as long as I was focused on something else, it didn't seem to bother me so much. I ignored the burn, even now. Instead, I looped my arms around Alice's waist and pulled her to me, leaning my forehead to hers. "Never feel selfish for wanting to kiss me," I scolded her, her lips centimeters from mine. "I don't know what this guilty, selfish complex is you've got going, but you've got to let go of it, Alice."
"I know," she whispered, pulling me even closer.
"I wanted this, too," I reminded her, and she nodded.
"I know."
"I love you," I whispered, and she tinkled a laugh.
"I know," she said cockily, pressing her lips to mine finally, and kissing me like it was the first time all over again. Only this time, she held nothing back, and everything she could never do, she did with this kiss, making my entire being go into a dervish spin, and suddenly my hands began to wander, finding everything they wanted to find, as she had never robed herself after the bite. Right when I had my hands full of her and was lifting her up to carry her to bed, she pulled away from the kiss and gently tugged away from my hands. "Hunt, first," she said reluctantly, dancing to the closet to dress herself, and I did a double take at the way she moved. When not keeping up her human facade, she was a whirl of energy on the tips of her toes, a tiny ballerina. I felt something inside me shift. She was mine. Now the burn I felt was pure pride, as she waltzed out of her closet in a simple black button up and skinny jeans, pint-sized Timberlands laced up her ankles. She had an almost identical pair in her hands, offering them to me. "We don't really need them, but you've got to get used to the routine," she explained, and I took the boots from her to put them on.
Thankfully, Alice hadn't forced me into waking up in evening wear as she had Bella, but I felt that had more to do with Rosalie being the one to actually dress me, as I wouldn't let Alice budge. I smiled in relief as I straightened up and went to the mirror once more, straightening the black button down over shirt that I quickly opened to the white t-shirt beneath, and adjusting the belt in my baggy black jeans. Yes, this was definitely more my style. I gave a sniff, smelling for the scent that I had registered as Rosalie when she lain beside me earlier, and found it not for from where Alice and I were, maybe a wall between us. "Thank you, Rose," I said shyly, and she chuckled at me.
"Anytime," she replied and Alice gave an annoyed little snarl, making me grin and pull her to me where I stood.
"Look, Alice," I whispered, making a gesture at the mirror's reflection. "We finally look like we could actually be together... I finally match you."
"You're not a silly human anymore, you're an even sillier vampire," Alice scoffed with a smile, despite her tone. But then she turned her face to mine and pressed her lips to the tip of my nose. "We've always matched, Andrea, and don't you dare forget that."
"Yes, ma'am," I answered, my eyes falling to her lips once again, and she smiled at me before allowing me to catch them with mine. I inhaled her scent as I kissed her, and caught a strong waft of a warm, sweet scent, like baking cookies with brown sugar. It was intoxicating. What was that, I hadn't ever smelled that on her, and I thought I knew her scent by heart. My mouth followed my nose down, kissing down her neck, sucking greedily at the spot her pulse once beat, and she tangled her fingers in hair with a tiny moan. The scent was stronger here, but still not the source. I heard a roll of thunder in my ears, and it took just a moment to realize it was me: I was purring/snarling in pleasure of the task to find that delectable scent. Alice's fingers tightened their hold at the sound, and I nipped at her collarbone as I ripped her shirt back open, buttons flying and clattering on the wooden floor. Before I knew it, I was on my knees before her, and the smell was stronger than ever, the source being... her arousal? I looked up at her in shock, and she was staring down at me with her chest heaving, her fingers still in my hair. I could smell her arousal. Oh, God, and it did not help my own.
"Andrea... we have to hunt. If we get into this here and now, like this, we will destroy the house," Alice said flatly, hauling me to my feet and disappearing once more into the closet and flashing back out with a different shirt of the same style buttoned and ready to go. She went to the large bay window that faced the oncoming sunrise, and lifted the catch, allowing it to swing forward. "Follow me," she said with a wink, stepping out of it as if she were just taking a step forward.
I came to the edge of the window and saw her waiting below, looking up at me with a teasing grin. I leapt after her, and she took off at a run to the trees. I flashed off after her, dodging trees and roots effortlessly, not growing winded at all as I needed oxygen no longer. It was a thrill, the speed at which I followed my mate, and I felt the urge to jump, so I did. I grabbed a branch maybe thirty feet above the ground and swung myself easily through the trees, laughing gleefully at the sensation. Alice was directly below me and she giggled at me with a tiny shake of her head. Ha, I'd give her a reason to giggle. I launched myself outwards, dipping my head back to follow through with a back flip, landing on my feet about five feet ahead of her when she stopped. "What ya laughin' at, huh?" I said tauntingly, stalking towards her with a sly smile.
She turned so that we began to circle one another, both of us bending slightly into a crouch, but playfully smiling at each other. "You don't want to spar with me, not yet," she warned, and I laughed.
"Why not?" I asked, my eyes roaming her form as we danced the vampires' deadly dance.
"Because," she said, and before I knew what was happening, I hit the ground hard, unecessary air forcing out with a whoosh. "I will win," she finished with a seductive whisper in my ear, lightly licking the lobe, making me tremble beneath her.
Uh, no, I thought to myself with a grin, gathering my strength and flipping us so that I was now the one on top. "Not always," I disagreed, and she tried to wiggle loose, but I held firm. "I told you once before: I could get used to the view from up here."
I kissed her and she gave up her struggle, lifting her body into me instead, and after a few minutes of mind-numbing making out, she caught me off guard and rolled out from beneath me, standing up straight and dusting herself off. "Hunt, Andie, sheesh! You were right about sex being on your mind more than blood, I think."
"You're right," I gasped, shaking my head. "I'm thirsty until I'm kissing you, and then it doesn't even matter anymore."
She helped me to my feet and dusted me off as well, and then took my hand and led me through the slowly lightening forest, until she came to a stop, lifting her face to the breeze. "What do you smell?" she asked me softly, and I took a turn to sniff.
It was a deep woodsy smell, one that was almost repugnant to my senses, but not quite, and as I concentrated on the scent of its blood, the wet slap of its heart reached my ears, making venom pool up in my mouth. "What is it?" I rasped out, flecks of my venom flying.
"Deer, maybe three of them. You'll want at least two of them, I'm sure," she said her eyes also glazed over with the hunt. "It's best to come from above, if you want it quick and easy. If you feel like giving chase, come at them head on... either way, you'll get your prey."
I was in the clearing before she spoke another syllable. There were two large does, and a small fawn. The fawn was weak, not appealing to my appetite, but the doe on the left made a false pivot and ended up in my embrace, my teeth tearing open the flesh of her neck, the tendons providing no obstacle for me. However, just as soon as the blood spilled onto my tongue and the burn began to fade, the doe was spent and the burn was back, stronger than before. "That was it?" I said disgustedly, looking at the limp carcass in my hands, and I heard Alice give a tinkle from behind me.
"There's no such thing as the Unending Fount, my love," she told me with a twinkle in her eye. "However, if we just change location, this will be a satisfying trip. Shall we continue?"
"Yes," I grunted, lying the doe on the ground. "Is this okay? Just leaving her here?" I gestured at the glassy black eyes that stared at nothing in the trees.
"Scavengers will take care of her," Alice said with a nod, holding out a hand for me to take.
We hunted for hours, until the sun was well up in the sky, and Alice was taking me to a spot near her home to show me something she seemed excited about. "I never got to show you before, so I'm showing you now," she told me as she left me in the shade of the forest and walked out into a sunny field, her stained glass flesh exploding into billions of different spectrums, and I couldn't move when she made a motion for me to join her. "It's okay, Andie," she added to the silent gesture.
I took a deep breath, noting there were no dangerous scents in the immediate area, and listened hard for any sounds that sounded abnormal. I didn't like putting myself out in the open as she was, and wasn't completely comfortable watching Alice do so without me close to protect her. I weighed out that I should follow her out, and just suck up the paranoia, as it seemed to be a simple matter of trusting Alice. I walked to her, gasping when my skin burst into color as hers had, and marveled at the reflections of light dance off each other's beams as Alice pulled me close to her. "It's going to rain in about two hours," she said huskily to me, drawing circles across my chest through my t-shirt. "Which means we have a little while to be out here in the sun together..." She kissed me as her hands went further down and her fingers slid into the belt loops of my jeans and snatched me to her. "I don't know about you, but..." She slid my over shirt off my shoulders and didn't blink as it hit the wet ground beneath our feet, soaking in the snow. "I really don't want the entire house listening in the first time we..." She kissed me again, and no more words were said until she heard me give a pleasurable snarl as she journeyed her kisses down my neck, and my fingertips gripped the hem of her jeans, ready to yank them off. "Do not rip my clothes, Andrea Louise Fowler," she whispered firmly in my ear, giving a tug at my hair.
I fought to pull back from her. If she didn't want to lose the skins, she was going to have to take them off herself. I couldn't see me exerting that amount of patience and control, not with my monster craving its mate the way it was. Knowing the reason for my brief release of her, she made a quick job of her clothes, even folding them and setting them upon a rock before she was in my arms again. "Oh, you throw mine in the snow and the mud, and you fold yours and put them away?" I laughed, swallowing the venom pooling in my mouth. Could vampires drool? The magnetic aspect of her eyes kept sucking me in, and I kept losing environmental awareness, which bugged me slightly, but the sweet aroma from before was back, full force, and it made Mate Mode take over.
Moments later I was shirtless, topping her with my hand already inside, but barely had thrusted once when I heard soft thuds of footsteps approaching and a rank odor floated up my nostrils. I was on my feet and crouched in front of Alice before I could even finish the thought of protecting her, and I saw coming into sight at the treeline a sleek gray wolf. But there was something about the stench that was off-putting, it wasn't right. I felt the need to attack, to engage this thing so it would not focus on Alice. But how could a mere wild animal... I sniffed again, and I smelled a hint of vampire clinging to its fur. Occupational hazard of being a werewolf, I heard Jacob's voice echo in my head. This was one of the pack.
"Leah..." I heard my mate's voice beside me, as if she were answering my silent questions, but her eyes, still darkened in lust, were trained on the lone wolf in the trees. She was addressing the animal. "Back off, please. She's very new, and can't fight her instincts..."
Her sentence trailed off as the wolf curled it's lip and growled at Alice, making my own upper lip rise to show my teeth to this wolf. I wasn't afraid of it, not at all. Leah. The bitch who snapped at me when I had done nothing to offend her. Heh. Now I wasn't such a mouse. We could lock up, monster to monster... my instinct kicked me to circle the she-wolf, but Alice had wrapped her fingers around my upper arm to keep me still. "Andie, don't do it. She's trying to catch a rise, she's in dire need of a fight or an orgasm, I'm not sure which."
Leah growled a stream of snarls and snaps at Alice, but did not come any closer, and I had the feeling that if she had been human, she might not have been saying very nice things. I coiled my thighs to pounce out of Alice's grip and rip the bitch's shaggy head off, but Alice was there in my face, kissing me as if Leah had never appeared, and after a moment or two, we heard her trot away with low snarls. Homophobic, indeed. That girl was a closet case if I'd ever seen one, and I had seen a fair few. She just needed to find a nice girl to turn her out and I bet her attitude with the would would magically dissipate. Major gaydar dings going off for Fluffy the Big Bad Wolf.
As she evaporated in the forest, Alice pulled back from the kiss with a few soft, quiet lip locks. "Maybe we should go back to the house," she said reluctantly, eyes looking down at the ground. "We should actually get the talk out of the way before we get down to that; we're likely not stop for quite a while, and we don't want to keep everyone else waiting."
"Okay," I said painfully, squeezing my eyes shut at yet another test on my patience and self control. She was driving my body crazy right now, just by merely being against me, and I realized she was already dressed again. I whined, burying my nose in her neck and inhaling for some sort of stability. "Let's go. I'll get my shirt you threw so unceremoniously into the mud," I said, trying to joke so as not to focus on having her in every position I've ever imagined us trying.
"It's because you're getting a whole new wardrobe in just a few weeks, love," she said in a teasing promise. "I'm waiting for you to pass some control tests and your eyes to lighten, and baby, we are going SHOPPING!"
A/N: More delays with the site being weird. I have the secret though! And I wonder what "the talk" will reveal about the next installment for my little world. Oh, and what do you think about Leah's reactions? Leave me some love guys, it's that lil' blue link!