Chapter 3

BPOV

It felt like someone had squeezed the air out of my lungs as I landed with a thud on some unfamiliar floorboards. I groaned at I lay on my back trying to regain some oxygen that I lost. I breathed in deeply before sitting up and looking around me.

A chuckle came from my right and I looked over to find Edward, shaking with silent laughter as he stared at me, on the floor. I blushed bright red from embarrassment and anger, as I scrambled up until I was standing again.

Edward continued to chuckle and I crossed my arms and glared at him, waiting for him to finish. Finally what seemed like forever, he stopped laughing.

I waited a few seconds, still shooting daggers at him with my eyes, "Are you finished?" I ask impatiently.

He grinned wickedly, and sighed, "Yup, I think I'm done for now" he replied

Silence fell in the room and Edward continued to stare at me, as if I fascinated him or something. His eyes were intense as he gazed into my eyes, searching for something, anything.

Starting to fell uncomfortable and remembering that I hated him, I cleared my throat and said, "Aren't you going to show your captive around the house?" I managed to spit out convincingly.

His eyes grew hard "You came here at your own free will, Bella" he warned

I bristled with anger, "Free will? You blackmailed me!" I seethed

He shrugged, "Same difference" as he turned around to look for something on the small bookcase.

I was about to throw something hard at his head when suddenly a voice came from the door.

"Sir, would like anything to eat or drink?" an old-ish man asked, who I presumed was the butler.

Edward looked to him, "Yes, Ralph, could you please get some English Breakfast Tea and some biscuits for the lady"

Ralph, bowed slightly and replied, "Certainly, sir" and he disappeared out of the room.

I realised that I hadn't looked around the room; I'd been standing in for no more that 5 minutes. All I could say was that….it was HUGE! There was fireplace that was about the same height as me, several leather couches scattered throughout the room, an old vintage desk with inkwells and windows that travelled the length of the walls.

I stared open mouth and I turned around several times, taking in my surroundings.

"You live here?" I asked in disbelief

When I didn't get a reply, I turned to Edward, only to find him staring at me in that way that made me squirm where I stood.

He smirked; he could read me like a book, "Yes, I do live here, along with my five servants, you just met one of them"

I gaped at him and then shut my mouth, narrowing my eyes, "It what way do your servants help you?" I asked

He sighed, "Bella, remember that this is my duty, its my job to deliver the souls into the afterlife." He gestured to the leather couch to my left. "Sit, Bella" he ordered, and by the fire in his eyes I knew I should do what I was told.

Slowly I made my over to the couch and sank down into it and Edward sat opposite me, pinning me with his gaze.

He cleared his throat, "Bella, you have to understand what I do. I know humans, especially you, think that what I do is wrong, and you probably wonder how I can so heartless." He laughed humourlessly. "This has been my duty for over 2,000 years and I'm a lot wiser than you or anyone for that matter." He paused. "It was the year 11 A.D in London. I was twenty years old at the time and I was very wealthy and my status was high because of my father's company and his money. But I was also the most arrogant idiot every to walk the Earth." He smiled, as if reliving his previous life. "Because of my wealth and status, I was to marry someone of similar values. So, I met Tanya, whom I immediately fell in love with because of her beauty and wealth" I felt pang of pain flared inside my chest at his words. "Anyway, one thing led to another and soon Tanya and I were married within no time." He looked up at me to see my reaction but I only sat there with a stolid expression and nodded for him to continue. "Then, a plague broke, killing thousands of people and unfortunately, Tanya fell ill with the plague. I sat by her side for days until she was about to draw her last breath and then I saw Death. I was scared but I would do anything for Tanya. So I told him to take me instead of her, an offer which he accepted."

I sat there, listening in awe at his story and for some reason I found that my eyes were watering. Subtly as possible, I rubbed eyes as if I had dirt or something in them. He looked at me but didn't say anything so he continued.

"He gave me the choice of going into the afterlife or I could become one of them. I chose the latter." His eyes grew hard when he said the next bit, "I found out later though, after Tanya was well again, that she had been having an affair with my father while she was with me."

"Ew!" I shrieked, pulling a face

His lips turned up at the corners, "he was only about 35 at the time but yes I had the same reaction when I found out."

"I can't believe she would do something like that, after you had given up your life for her." I couldn't help but feel sympathy for him, which I mentally slapped myself for.

He smirked when he realized that I had given him a sympathetic comment. I blushed furiously and ducked my head so he couldn't see me. I heard him stand up and walked towards me, kneeling down and I felt him cup my chin in his hand and gently lift my face so I was merely inches from his face.

"You're so beautiful when you blush, Bella, don't hide that" his whispered, his sweet breath fanned across my face and I shuddered slightly.

Looking into his eyes, I felt the back of his fingers trail along my jaw, pass my ear and he threaded them into my hair, holding me in place, and to be honest I don't think I ever wanted to move from that spot. He looked at me for a moment longer before his eyes trailed down to my lips and I felt my breath hitch and my heart skip a beat. Slowly, as if he was afraid he would scare me off, he began to lean towards me, eyes trained on my lips. His sweet breath ghosted across my lips, barely touching and almost teasing me in a way. I wanted to close those few inches and I was about to get my wish fulfilled when a sudden knock on the door echoed through the room.

Startled by my lack of self-control, I jerked away from him, avoiding his gaze as much as possible and I slid down the other end of the couch.

Edward ran a hand through his hair as he said, "Come in," I could feel his eyes on me and I shifted uncomfortably.

"Sir, I have the tea and biscuits for the young lady" Ralph said as he walked placing a tray in front of me on the coffee table.

I smiled distractedly at him and mumbled a thank you, still not looking at Edward.

As soon as Ralph left the room, everything fell silent and Edward still stared at me, waiting for me to say something.

So I did, "Do you mind?" I asked irritated, crossing my arms over my chest and staring him right in the face.

He shrugged, "Nope, I don't mind" he smirk and winked at me, I hated the flutter in my stomach when he did that.

I stuttered slightly as I said, fuming, "Yeah, well, I do mind, so can you quit staring, you creep" and I picked up a biscuit and started to nibble on it.

The room grew suddenly cold and I turned to Edward, whose expression was just as cold as the temperature in the space around me.

I tried not to look intimidated as I went to take another bite out of my biscuit and shrieked out when he was suddenly standing in front of me, grasping my wrist tightly in his hand. I gasped as I looked into his eyes to see a fire of rage blaze within them.

"I've given you a choice to save your Aunt, Bella" he seethed, "and you are throwing it back in my face, so I suggest you stop with the name calling and the insults because it is very childish or I will not keep my promise to spare your Aunt's life." Eyes still blazing, I looked away from him, clenching my jaw, refusing to back down.

"Look at me, Bella" Edward demanded, bending his head so I had to look him dead in the eyes. "Do you understand me? One more wrong remark said towards me and I will take your Aunt's life before you can do anything about it."

I hate him, I hate him, and I hate him! I can't believe he thinks he can walk all over me! I thought to myself.

"I understand," I said through clenched teeth and I jerked my arm out of his death grip. When I did that, he shot daggers at me with his eyes and was about to say something, when, thankfully, Ralph walked in bowing slightly.

"Sir, should I show Miss Swan, to her bed chamber?" he asked

Edward didn't take his eyes off of me when he replied, "Yes, Ralph, she should get some rest and clean herself up and put some fresh clothes on." He still regarded me with a hard expression.

Ralph bowed lower and replied, "Very good, sir. Miss Swan would you please come with me" he swept his hand towards the door and I was more than glad to follow.

I walked behind Ralph for what seemed like forever and finally we stopped in front of a door.

He turned to me "This is your room, Miss Swan, you will find everything you need in there including a bathroom for you to freshen up and a wardrobe with some clothes in it." He didn't wait for my reply as he turned and left down the corridor.

I turned the knob on the door and swung it open and stepped inside. I gasped as I saw the room before me. There was a four-post bed with a canopy over it, a walk in wardrobe and I could the bathroom to the right. I hurried towards it, desperate to the have a shower and to clean myself. I looked in and the bathroom was as big as the room downstairs where Edward and I talked.

I mentally slapped myself for even thinking about Edward and I walked over to the massive shower, turning it on and stepping into it. I sighed as the hot water cascaded down my back and through my hair. I quickly shampooed and conditioned my hair before stepping out of the shower and grabbing a towel.

I made my way towards the walk-in wardrobe and gasped at all the clothes I saw hanging up and some pretty sexy lingerie as well. I blushed at the thought of Edward knowing what lingerie I would be wearing. Again, I mentally slapped myself and I turned to look at what clothes I wanted to wear.

I quickly threw on a pair of blue jeans and a red tank top and I made my way back to my room, flopping back onto my overly enormous bed.

Now what? I thought to myself as I looked around my room.

"Screw it," I concluded to myself as I hopped off the bed and marched out the door. I planned on exploring whether Edward liked it or not.

I walked down the corridor and just took a lucky guess at what door I wanted to go through. I chose one, walked through it and after searching for the light switch for some time; I turned it on and looked around the room. I stopped short in my tracks. All around me were marble statues of the most beautiful women, children and men.

They were pretty tall and most of the women had no clothes on. All the men were muscular and strong, all holding some sort of weapon in their hand.

One statue caught my eye and I walked towards it, intrigued. It was a young man, leaning down towards what looked like water, as if staring at his own reflection. Behind him, I could see a young woman, peeping from around a tree trunk, even though she had no pupils, her face was sad and heartbreaking. It almost looked like she wanted to say something to him but couldn't, either because she was scared or she just didn't know how to say it. Her body too, was naked but not in the way that made you laugh and points fingers. She had beautiful curves and her hair was pulled back into a loose braid along with some vines intertwined in her hair.

"She's beautiful isn't she?" a voice directly behind me murmured into my ear. I jumped and spun around and came face to face with Edward, his eyes solely focussed on me and not on the statue.

I cleared my throat, blood rushing to my cheeks as I nodded

He chuckled and pulled me into his arms suddenly, his breath tickling my ear as he said, "You smell amazing"

I shivered, if someone else had said that, I would have been freaked out but when it came from Edward, it seemed…normal.

I pulled back and shimmied out of his surprising embrace

My heart was racing and I replied, "It's called a shower." And he chuckled, "you know, water, shampoo, soap…" I trailed off

"Naked, I know the drill" he winked at me

I hated to admit it but I liked it when he joked around, and my heart always fluttered whenever he winked at me.

I pretended to be irritated, "You per-" I stopped when I realised that I almost called him a name.

He raised his eyebrows when he, too, realised what I was about to say

I decided to change the subject and I turned back to the statue. "So tell me about the story behind these too"

He looked away from me to the statue.

"The story is called Echo and Narcissus. In Greek mythology Echo was a wood nymph who loved a youth by the name of Narcissus. He was a beautiful creature loved by many but Narcissus loved no one. He enjoyed attention, praise and envy. In Narcissus' eyes nobody matched him and as such he considered none were worthy of him. Echo's passion for Narcissus was equaled only by her passion for talking, as she always had to have the last word. One day she enabled the escape of the goddess Juno's adulterous husband by engaging Juno in conversation. On finding out Echo's treachery Juno cursed Echo by removing her voice with the exception that she could only speak that which was spoken to her. One day whilst out enjoying the sunshine Narcissus came upon a pool of water. As he gazed into it he caught a glimpse of what he thought was a beautiful water spirit. He did not recognize his own reflection and was immediately enamored. Narcissus bent down his head to kiss the vision. As he did so the reflection mimicked his actions. Taking this as a sign of reciprocation Narcissus reached into the pool to draw the water spirit to him. The water displaced and the vision was gone. Frightened to touch the water Narcissus lay still by the pool gazing in to the eyes of his vision. He cried in frustration. As he did so Echo also cried. He did not move, he did not eat or drink, he only suffered. As he pined he became gaunt loosing his beauty. The nymphs that loved him pleaded with him to come away from the pool. As they did so Echo also pleaded with him. He was transfixed; he wanted to stay there forever. Narcissus like Echo died with grief. His body disappeared and where his body once lay a flower grew in its place. The nymphs mourned his death and as they mourned Echo also mourned and she too, died later on."

I gaped at him in awe and looked towards the statue again. "That's so sad" I whispered

I heard him shift behind and I was surprised as I felt his arms wrap gently around my waist, his hands resting on my stomach and I surprised myself as I leaned my head back on his shoulder. I took a sharp intake of breath and told myself the only reason why I didn't pull away was for my Aunt's sake, even though deep down I knew I was falling hard for this guy.