Twilight belongs to SM. Plot belongs to gaara king of the sand. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. I might revamp it later. And it's only two in the morning this time! Well... half two. XD
"You're a vampire?" Louise asks, stating the obvious.
"Yes," Tom states, nodding at her, trying to look her in the eye. She looks away.
"You drink blood," I say next, more of a statement than a question.
He nods again, looking down at the table. "Not humans," He mutters. "Only animals. Never humans. Never again."
"Have you ever killed a person?" Louise asks, and I can tell by the hard look in her eyes that she is - for the moment, at least - unwilling to defrentiate Tom from us, to call him a seperate species altogether, to accuse him of killing our species.
"Yes," Tom answers bluntly, and somehow I'm not suprised. He said he met Dr Cullen over a century ago, and I bet he's older than that. I doubt he has been drinking animal blood all that time. "Everyone does, in their first year at least. There aren't many animal drinkers out there."
"Why in the first year?" I ask, genuinely curious.
"When we are first changed," He replies, "The thirst... is so... overpowering and consuming and painful, that we can't help but slaughter the first human we come across, unless we're in the middle of nowhere or our creator is there to stop us, although not many creators don't want their creations to kill a human. In fact, there is only one vampire I know of who has never drank human blood, and his creator wasn't even with him. Now... Bella, you know who I'm talking of, of course?"
"Dr Cullen," I reply, my eyes widening.
Tom smiles and nods, his golden eyes sparkling with laughter. "Your Carlise is very unique... Although, if he created this family of his, I don't doubt that he isn't so unique anymore."
I frown at him. "He's not my Carlisle," I tell him, and he chuckles, shaking his head.
"You have met him, no?" He asks, and I just raise my eyebrows. He laughs again, at some memory, I presume. "Then he is definitely your Carlisle. He is enthralled with every single human he meets, whether you are his patient or not. Whether you like it or not, Bella, you have yourself a pet vampire, even if he keeps his distance."
My eyebrows raise higher, and he laughs again. Louise is staring at him in a mixture of fear and wonder. "Are your eyes that colour because you're a vampire?" She asks suddenly, and she has that lovey look in her eyes again.
Oh God...If they start kissing I'm leaving.
"Yes," He nods. "Although gold is unusual. Animal blood... Dilutes? The colour, I guess. You can tell which vampires drink human blood because their eyes are red, although when we're hungry our eyes turn black. I've noticed that my eyes turn black quicker now that I drink animal blood than when I drank human blood. Animal blood doesn't make us as strong as human blood does, so I guess that's why we get weaker quicker... I guess." He looks slightly confused himself as he finishes his explanation.
"Why did you seem surprised when I said there were seven Cullens?" I ask next, as it seems Louise has run out of questions. Even I feel as though we know enough about vampires already, so now I want to know about my vampire neighbours.
Tom laughs again, and Louise stares. I look away slightly. "Well," He says, eyes dancing with amusement. "Vampires usually travel alone, maybe in twos or - rarely - threes. And if they're travelling in pairs they are almost always mates. We just don't have the capacity to hold friendships as you do. Even when we travel in threes it's very easy for the one who isn't mated to leave. Now, there are only two covens I know of who have more than three, although there are probably more. Firstly, there's the essential vampire kings, if you like. A coven in Italy names the Volturi. They keep our kind in line, but they're human drinkers and often get into scraps with each other. In fact the only reason they don't fight for food. Humans tourists are found and their food is literally given to them, they have no respect for vampire or human life. Secondly, there's Carlisle's coven. Seven vampires, living as a family. That's completely unheard of. I think it's the animal blood. There's no point in fighting for it as it tastes vile and the hunt isn't as exciting as hunting humans. It gives us a larger capacity to love." He pauses for thought, looking up at the dark ceiling. "Well... There are huge covens in the south, but they're armies more than anything else. There's a lot of fighting for territory over there, which, personally, I don't understand. It's very sunny. Very hot. The humans are often sweaty and don't taste as nice. But territory seems to be a big thing to the vampires down there. There's lots of battles. Most of the vampires down there are pretty scarred."
He and Louise are staring at each other as he trails off, and I can tell that she has taken almost everything he has said to heart. Soon, they will have a very quiet conversation about what will happen now she knows he's a vampire, and then, they might start kissing, and the 'let's ignore Bella' game they like to play will begin.
"You don't sound like a big fan of the Vulteri," I comment, leaning back in my chair.
"Volturi," He corrects, still staring at my friend. "And no, I'm not." He leaves it at that. I think it's time for me to leave.
I stand, my chair scraping against the floor. They look up as though someone just shocked them. "I'm gonna go," I tell them. Louise stands too and hugs me. I make sure not to touch her back. Her future is in Tom's hands now, and I trust him to take care of her. "I've got to fly home tomorrow," I say. "But it was really nice to see you again." I turn to Tom. "And it was nice to meet you, eventually."
He smiles slightly, standing and putting an arm around her waist. She smiles slightly, and I can tell by her expression that she is still getting over the fact her boyfriend is a vampire. I don't blame her. I'm still getting over the fact that I have seven vampires living down the road, and one of them is my doctor!
The next day I fly back home after a very teary goodbye from my mother, and an awkward hug from Phil. Charlie seems happy to see me as I walk in around lunch time and almost immediately go up to my room, flopping back onto my bed, sighing as my head hits the pillows. How the Hell am I going to face school with five vampires tomorrow?
The next morning I consider pretending to be ill, but I just shake myself out of it and steal myself for what is to come. I roll my eyes at myself. I sound like I'm going to war. As usual, I walk to school, avoiding using my truck. I definitely don't want to draw attention to myself now. Once at school I go to my locker to sort out my books, but me being me I drop most of them. Before I even have a chance to pick them up, however, a white hand has them piled and in front of me. I look up to find Jasper Hale standing there, with a strained look on his face. "Here you go ma'am," He says, and I detect a hint of a southern accent. As I take my books from him I notice a ridged, cresent shaped scar on the palm of his hand as the light reflect off it. Tom's voice fills my head: There are huge covens in the south... There's a lot of fighting for territory over there... Most of the vampires down there are pretty scarred.
I almost drop my books again in shock. Is it seriously possible that this teenager was in a war? A vampire war? Well, considering he's an immortal he might have even served in a human war before he was turned. Maybe even world war one or world war two. Or the battle of hastings, but I doubt that completely. He can't be that old, surely.
"Are you alright?" He asks with concern. and I exhale heavily, nodding my head.
"Yes," I answer, and I'm proud my voice doesn't break. He nods, but also moves his spine so it's almost a bow, and swiftly turns away, almost jogging back down the hall. The small assembly of students already making their way to homeroom (A/N Have I got that right? We have form here in the UK, so I'm not sure about schools in the US) look at his retreating figure in shock. A Cullen actually helping someone and or talking to someone? Wow.
I manage to get through until lunch without any more vampire interaction, and even at lunch I get to the cafeteria before they do. Jessica waves me over to their table, and I smile as I walk over. "Hey," Jess squeals enthusiastically. "How are you?"
"I'm good thanks," I say, toying with the end of my left glove. Jess notices, and before I even get a chance to ask her how she is, she is asking another question.
"How come you always wear gloves?" She asks, and I sigh before answering.
"They're comfortable," I shrug, and she looks like she's about to object until Angela and Ben sit down next to her.
"Hi guys," Angela says quietly, in her usual manner. "How were your weekends?"
Jessica immediately launches into a conversation about how she went down to first beach and is probably going to end up dating one of the guys from La Push. Angela and I share an amused look, smirking slightly as she rambles on. Half way through her story I notice all five of the Cullen children walk in and sit down. Today I sat so I would be able to see them when they walked in. Finally, Jess finishes her story, and Angela turns to me. "I went to Arizona," I tell her, and she smiles, telling me to go on. "It was nice... I saw my mum and my friends. My friend Louise has a new boyfriend. I think he's a relation of the Cullens."
In the corner of my eye I see every single Cullen tense, even Emmett, who I always think seems pretty easy going. "What do you mean?" Angela inquires.
"He was inhumanely good-looking," I tell my friend, exaggerating imhumanely. The Cullens tense again. I almost laugh; but I have to back-track now, as I don't want them suspecting me, not just yet. "But that's it really. He was tanned, isn't adopted, plays for the school football team. He moved over there when we were eleven but we never paid him much attention; we get loads of new kids. But he's a nice guy; he's decent."
The Cullens visibly relax as they hear my lies, and, once again, I almost laugh. They're so easy to mess with; so paranoid. Well, I guess I would be in their situation too. In fact, I am, although there's more chance of it being discovered they're vampires than there is of someone finding out I can see the future. Plus, there's can be proven. Mine can't, as far as I know. I'm not even sure why I'm being this mean to them, but when you have some leverage on the most dangerous people in town you have to experiment a little bit.
Well, either way I'm going to stop now. I don't want them knowing anything has changed.
Next I have biology with Edward, and for most of it he ignores me. But towards the end he speaks. "Hello Bella," He says politely. "How was your weekend?"
"I'm sure you heard in the cafeteria," I answer. "It is a small room."
He doesn't say anything after that, and neither do I.
After I suffer through gym (Basketball - hooray!) I go back to my locker to resort my books, and basically stuff them all into my bag. But before I've got the second book in my bag, and figure comes and stands next to me. I turn to face him. "Hi," I say curtly, before turning back to my locker.
"Hello," He says, polite as always. "I was just going to apologise for not talking to you in class. It was rude of me to just stop the conversation like that."
I shrug, not looking at him. "Not really. It was barely a conversation, anyway. It's fine."
I finish putting all my books in bag, turning to go. But Edward is still there, and he's blocking my way. I slam my locker shut. "Excuse me please," I say, and he doesn't move, just stares at me with his bright golden eyes.
Animal drinker.
"I was wondering if we could talk," He says uncertainly.
"We just did," I point out, attempting to move past him, but he blocks my way again.
I sigh, pursing my lips and looking up at him. "What do you want to talk about, Edward? The fact that you seem to hate me? The fact that you barely talk to me anyway? The fact that you eavesdropped on my conversation at lunch? We have nothing to talk about! Please, just leave me alone!"
For a moment he just stares at me, and then he opens his mouth as though he's about to object, but suddenly a pale hand slams into the lockers between us. Both of our mouths drop open in shock as we register Rosalie Hale standing with her back to me, and I can see from the side that she is glaring at her brother.
If looks could kill, jeez.
"You heard her," Rosalie murmurs, smiling a deadly smile at her adopted brother. "It's about time you leave her alone, don't you think?"
Edward opens his mouth to speak again, but Rosalie digs her nails into his arm and literally drags him away. He shoots me an apologetic look as he stumbles behind his sister.
Wow.
It seems Rosalie is big on keeping the secret. Well, she cares about it more than Edward, at least. That was... unexpected, to say the least.
Once I finally get home I - as usual - go straight to my room. I quickly get the small amount of homework I was given out of the way before I, once again, lie back on my bed and allow my mind to be filled with thoughts of vampires.
And I thought I was the biggest freak in the world.
After a while I get up and go to my window, watching the world go past. Although, it's not like my house in Arizona where I could see the traffic move past at slightly-faster-than-legal speeds. Here, only the very occasional car goes past. It's dull and slow. I miss home.
Eventually I rest my hip against the windowsill, thinking about nothing in particular, until I remember what I may have realised about a blond vampire earlier in the day. I pull out my phone to call Tom. "Hello Bella," He says, and he sounds cheerful. He must have saved my number.
"You and Louise made up then?" I presume, and he laughs joyfully. I grin.
"Yep," He says, and I can hear the smile in his voice. "She's at school now though. Did you want to speak to her?" He sounds confused, and I roll my eyes.
"If I wanted to speak to her I would have called her, not you. I wanted to talk to you about my, uh, rat problem," I stammer on the last words; I don't want to call them rats, especially not to him. He is one of them, after all, but I have no idea if they're listening or not.
"Yes?" He says grimmly. He knows what I'm talking about.
"Well," I begin, willing my voice not to break as my anxiety spikes suddenly. What if they are watching? "One of the rats, it's a breed specific to hot countries. Like in the South, and it's very scarred; looks like the other rats have taken a bite out of him."
"Ah," Tom says, and I can tell he's no longer smiling. "Animal, I presume?"
"Yes," I answer.
Tom sighs. "Bella," He mutters quietly. "Can you still hear me?"
"Yes," I murmur back.
"I can tell you're worried they're listening, and to be honest they're probably not, but it's best to be safe. They won't be able to hear me at this level unless they're in the room, which I highly doubt, anyway, so keep your answers brief. Now listen, this vampire, if they have survived the southern wars, were probably on a diet of human blood for quite a while, and probably had quite a lot of it. They will struggle with the animal diet. Now, the only way they could have survived the wars was by killing, so they'll be very strategic, and very protective if they are mated. Does this vampire have a girlfriend or boyfriend?"
"Yes," I whisper, shaking slightly now. Tom seems distressed, and something in his tone has my undivided attention.
"Then it's important they don't find out about you, Bella," He says roughly. "Very important. If they find out you know they're vampires then this southern vampire won't hesitate to kill you. If you know then you are a threat to their mate, do you understand? Carlisle is much too trusting. This vampire could easily stage your death as an accident, and he would believe him. You must not give yourself away, do you understand?"
"I understand," I answer quietly after a moment, shaking like a leaf. He says goodbye and hangs up soon after. Am I really in that much danger? Why did I almost give myself away at lunch today? Oh God, I'm screwed.
Well, at least I have another reason to stay away from them, and a good one this time.