AN: I know, I know. I took forever in updating, don't shoot me.
Anyway I'd like to thank the people who reviewed, added the story to their Favorites & Alert list. And I'd also like to Thank my Beta, David, for his help. He had to correct so much in this chapter that it's not even funny... well, maybe a little. XD
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Vile Beauty
Chapter 9: Break & Enter
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It had been a little over two months since I had moved to Forks. Things at school had settled down a bit. I was cautious about what I said around the animal-drinkers- I had to be in order for them to relax a bit and get comfortable again. I remembered that on the second day of school Emmett had been very careful around me in class, and it had continued all through the week.
The outcast –Edward- has also been that way, constantly watching me in class, but I pretended not to notice. I had also detected a bit of frustration on his part, for some unknown reason, but after some time I was able to understand why- he couldn't read my mind, and it irritated him.
He, along with the rest of his siblings at school save Emmett, remained very cautious around me all of September, before they began to relax mid-October. Now November was coming to an end and things were about to change for them.
For the last few months I had refrained from doing anything other than observing them in their most unguarded of moments. And so I came to learn many things about them that might help me later on.
For example, I knew Jasper was having trouble adjusting to their animal diet. Edward was constantly in a sullen mood- loneliness finally taking its toll on him I suppose. Blondie was the ice queen and Emmett was her faithful and loyal servant- he was an idiot, period. The pixie had a bubbly attitude and was their psychic. The snow-white woman was the motherly figure; she spent most of her time at home when the rest of the coven was away. She would clean the house and decorate it from time to time, but never too much- she was your typical house-wife. And the vampire named Carlisle was the coven leader and the oldest of them all. He was also a doctor who would read books or talk to his wife in his spare time.
I didn't particularly like any of them; they tried too hard to be human and fight their instincts. It was pathetic. We were what we were and they were clearly in denial, trying to change and ignore it.
I jumped off the tree branch and landed in a low crouch before I slowly rose and began to make my way calmly over their yard towards the front door.
They had all left fifteen minutes ago to go hunting and I decided I was going to use that time to explore their residence a bit. There was nothing better than a good old-fashioned breaking and entering to make a day better- for me at least.
When I walked into their house the first thing I noticed were the dark wood floors; the bright, white and cream walls; and the wide open space.
I explored the ground floor finding an empty kitchen, a door that lead to a large garage, a dining room, a spacious living room, a small library and what appeared to be a decent-sized game room.
Exiting the game room I saw a large, elegant black piano next to one of the windows. I walked over to it, letting my hand run over its reflective surface before I reached its cool white keys.
I sat on the bench and pressed a few, playing a song from my human youth with my closest friend. It was a song that we had written together before we were sent to different private schools. I had only made slight alterations to it over the course of the past several decades.
Too soon, the song was over. I sat there, staring at my fingers on the keys, before finally getting up and ascending the stairs, admiring the wrought-iron banisters.
I went from room to room, searching for things and taking them when I found them. They would be necessary for my plan to work as intended.
The last room I entered had pale walls with shelves of CD's and books, and in one of the corners closest to the window wall was an expensive-looking stereo system. The floor was of the same color as the rest of the house and in the center right of the room was a dark gold carpet and black leather couch. I realized that the room had to be that of the outcast vamp.
I walked into the room and noticed two doors on either side of me. I chose the one on the left and discovered a bathroom, so I closed that door and tried the other one.
This one revealed a closet with a small part of the right side being nothing other than a few drawers. The greater part of the left side was nothing other than your typical closet with its clothes hanging in place, but something seemed off to me. The closet seemed too small and when I carefully moved the clothes aside I saw why. There was a small door that when opened revealed a much larger room. It was another closet, but with an array of clothes from years past. The oldest clothes I could find were from the end of the First World War, around the time of my change.
I took down a cardboard box from a shelf directly on top of those clothes and found a few letters, music sheets, news paper clippings, and a felt ring box. I decided to take the last item with me.
I placed everything back in the box carefully and put it back in its place before I left the hidden closet, making sure everything looked undisturbed before shutting the main closet door and leaving the house.
I ran through the forest, my feet not making a sound and leaving no evidence of disturbance as they touched the ground.
I easily jumped over the brick wall that surrounded my back yard, opened the back door and saw that Jennifer was there, storing some blood in the fridge.
"Hello Jen."
"Hi Isabella," she replied, closing the refrigerator door and facing me.
"When did you get back from hunting?" I asked her, sitting down in the nearby chair.
"Just a few minutes ago and as you can tell, I brought some back."
"That's good. We almost ran out and we might have needed some soon."
"I know. So how's your prey been?" she asked me, raising one of her eyebrows.
"Which one?" I asked, laughing quietly.
"Both."
"Well the human is getting comfortable around me and the animal drinkers have relaxed, but that's going to change very soon."
"What do you have there?" she asked suddenly, her eyes looking at the small bag that I had in my lap.
"Oh this?" I asked her picking it up and moving it in a circle, "this is just a bag of souvenirs." I set it down and opened it, tossing the box containing the ring her way. She caught it easily.
"Wow," she said as she opened it, "this looks old and a bit expensive."
"It should be- he's had it since the end of World War One," I replied, catching the box as she threw it back.
"How are you sure about that?"
"I found it above some clothes form that time period."
"Are you sure you're not mistaken?"
"I was alive during the nineteen hundreds Jennifer- there is no way I can be mistaken." I rolled my eyes and got up to go to my upstairs room.
When I got there I opened my window and was just about to move away when my hand brushed over the window frame and my sight went black.
I opened my eyes to find myself in the middle of my room.
I looked towards the window and noticed that it was nighttime- a slight breeze wafted from outside. I turned around and saw my body was in bed, seemingly asleep. The digital clock on my nightstand read November 24th, one fifty-eight A.M.
My attention was drawn away from the clock to the window by a soft sliding noise.
I looked over to see someone climb into the room.
I quickly realized that it was the vampire named Edward. He just stood there by my window for a moment and glanced around the room before he began to walk towards me.
I backed up until my back hit the room wall and sighed in relief when I saw him turn towards the bed.
At that moment I wanted to do nothing but slap myself at my own stupidity. "Of course he can't see you- this is a vision you idiot."
With this comforting realization I made my way towards the other side of the bed, taking in his appearance.
He was wearing dark jeans and a dark blue turtle neck that showed a slight hint of the lean muscles he had underneath. His hair was a mess, like always- you'd think he'd never heard of a brush or hair gel. I chuckled to myself; he probably hadn't.
I saw his hand move from the corner of my eye and my attention was quickly caught by the book he held in his hand- it was my sketchbook. "Oh Damn," I thought just as my sight returned to normal.
I groaned and threw myself back on my bed, throwing my arms over my eyes in the process. How the hell am I going to stop this from happening? Curse you, gift. I growled to myself before I stood and went to hide the things I had brought with me from their residence.
"What now?" I heard Jen murmur to herself softly down stairs. That is just so very insulting.
I held back the growl that was beginning to form in my throat and instead jammed the items in the black bag I held in my hand into another black plastic bag before I hid it in a shoe box. Vampires never check the shoe boxes. They're rather cliché as a hiding place.
I'm really not in a good mood right now…
Published: Friday January 15, 2010
AN: So what do you think? Please review and tell me what you think... I wonder if you guys can give me 10 reviews for this chapter by the end of the week. (Translation: I want 10 reviews.)
Anyway, the poll has closed. The question was: How do YOU think 'Vile Beauty' should end? Three people voted and all 3 were in favor of Edward and Bella getting together at the end. I wonder if the story will end like that. (Yes, I'm writing the story and I don't even know)
So the next chapter is being typed and written and I've gotten a slight case of writers block, I'm sure I'll get over it soon enough, but it might still be a while before I update again so bear with me.
And my semester finals are coming up next week, so you can imagine how busy I'm going to be.
Until next time,
~Medea (Formerly Artemis S. Cullen)