Chapter 4: Wandering Into the Woods.
A/N: I'm so sorry it's taken forever to get this to you my lovelies, I hope the wait was worth it!
This chapter is dedicated to Never The End Shall Meet, who couldn't wait for the vampy times. ;)
Massive thank you once again to my beautiful, magic-working Beta Sapphira Majoram, this is totally your baby too darling. :)
Aaand on with the story!
"Are you sure you know the way, Rose? I've seen that weirdly shaped tree three times now."
"I thought the woods were near Charlie's house, we need to double back."
Alice let out a wail. "We're lost aren't we, as thoroughly lost as Rose's virginity in high school."
Rose threw her a dirty look from the driver's seat. "Would you two relax and give me a break, I know what I'm doing."
"Yes, you're getting us lost."
"We are not lost!" She bellowed.
It felt like we'd driven around the entire Olympic Peninsula when finally, the car pulled to a stop and we stepped out into the moonlight. The trail into the woods was obscured by many overgrown trees, waving hauntingly in the darkness.
"Anybody else think this feels like the start of a horror movie?" I said, wrapping my arms around myself as a barrier against the biting wind.
"Don't be such a wimp." Alice chided, seizing mine and Rose's hands and tugging us forward.
She was chattering animatedly as we fought our way through branches and roots to stay on the winding path. I kept my eyes down, concentrating hard on where I was placing my feet. After my fifth stumble headfirst into a tree, Rose sarcastically offered me a piggyback. As I opened my mouth to retort Alice flung an arm out, catching me hard in the stomach.
"Hey!" I scowled.
"Shhh." she said, pressing a finger to her lips.
As we stopped to listen we could hear music carrying on the wind. Alice turned to beam at me; I could just make out her eyes sparkling in the gloom. She tugged us eagerly deeper into the woods, heading off the trail. I barely had time to appreciate the irony of humans hunting vampires before she'd stopped dead and I ran into her back.
A low overhanging branch was blocking a view of a beautiful clearing. The moonlight shone down brightly into it, trees were surrounding the edges and the grass was overgrown, dotted with wildflowers.
I let out an involuntary gasp as my eyes focused on the scene in front of me. Rose clamped a hand over my mouth.
There was a gathering of people in the clearing. Some were leaning against tree trunks, others lying contentedly in the grass. There were even a few sitting high up in the trees. My eyes swept over the scene, and I counted eight figures. The music seemed to be emanating from an iPod docking station resting against one of the tree trunks.
It wasn't simply the fact that there were eight people in the depths of the woods looking completely at home that had made me gasp. It was the appearance of these people, although by now I was sure they were definitely more than mere people. Their skin was the purest alabaster white, paler than even my ghostly complexion. Each set of eyes had deep purple smudges underneath them, as though they'd suffered insomnia all their lives. And the eyes themselves were all the glorious golden colour of honey. They were breathtakingly beautiful, every single one of them. Inhumanly beautiful. I was amazed by how quickly I accepted that these people were not human. But when faced with their glorious beauty, it was painfully obvious to me. I'd never seen anything like it before.
In the five seconds it had taken me to take all this in, one of the figures had broken away from the rest and appeared before us in the blink of an eye. The branch that I assumed had been hiding us was swept away instantly. I stared up, terrified and found myself looking into the eyes of a huge guy. He had to be at least 6'5", towering over us like a giant. Though his curly dark brown hair and young dimpled face made me realize he wasn't much older than we were, I knew he could overpower us in about a millisecond. He was built like a fucking bear. I felt Alice let out a frightened squeak next to me.
"Hey guys, who ordered food?" He called. As he looked us up and down, he rubbed his stomach. "Man, it all looks so good; I don't know what to eat first."
Run, run! I screamed inside my head, urging my legs to move and carry me away from the nightmare we'd walked into. But they wouldn't move, not an inch.
In the distance I saw a woman crouch onto all fours and spring towards us, her strawberry blonde hair whipping behind her with the speed. "Save some for me, you greedy pig." She demanded as she approached us, hissing.
They circled round us deliberately, like cats stalking a bird. Like lions stalking an impala. Like fucking vampires stalking three stupid humans. And still I couldn't move. The fear was prickling up my back, plummeting into the pit of stomach and surging like acid through my veins, but still my useless body wouldn't act to save itself. I could hear my own pulse throbbing in my ears, wondering how much time left my heart had to beat. I thought briefly of Charlie, of Renee, and even of my goldfish back in Phoenix as I stood, facing the last few seconds of my life.
Suddenly, the male straightened up and in a flash was an inch from my face. I shut my eyes on death, clenching my fists and willing myself to not scream. But inside my head I was yelling fit to bust.
A loud, deep laugh filled my ears. Shocked, I allowed myself to peer through my eyelashes at the boy towering infront of me. He was heaving with laughter, and held out a giant hand to haul me up. I hadn't realized I'd sunk to my knees. Unable to accept the relief flooding through me, I opened my eyes fully and looked over at the woman. She too was straightening up onto her feet. "I'm on a diet anyway." She winked.
As I was pulled to my feet, I watched shakily as he offered the massive hand to Rosalie and Alice in turn. Seemingly they'd fallen as well.
He flashed us a wicked grin, the dimples on his face widening. "Don't worry, we're what you might call vegetarians. So unless one of you three has some carrots on you, you're safe."
As he led us into the clearing, Alice faced him bravely. "So you don't eat people?"
"That's what I said, shortie."
"But we know what you are, you're vampires." she said, clearly throwing caution to the wind. I felt like kicking her; she was challenging someone as to why they weren't killing us. The situation just got more ridiculous.
He turned to her, his face alight with amusement. "Well spotted, I'm impressed. But just because we're not going to attack you, doesn't make it wise to wander around the woods in the dark you know." Although his words were stern his face was still etched with a delighted smile.
He ushered us into the center of the clearing now, and I glanced around me, getting a better look at the impossibly beautiful people surrounding me. My eyes were drawn immediately to a boy with messy bronze hair sitting with his back pressed against a tree trunk. He was scribbling intently in a notebook, seeming not to have noticed our arrival. He was wearing a gray trench coat, but I could make out well formed muscles on his slender chest. Not that I was looking.
I turned back to Rose and Alice, the former was chatting to our would-be-murderer as though this sort of thing happened to her everyday. The other vampires began gathering round us with interest in their liquid gold eyes, and he introduced us to them all.
"This little succubus is Tanya." He gestured at the strawberry blonde woman who, moments earlier I thought was going to rip my throat out. She stretched out her hand and we smiled nervously at her.
A dark haired couple stepped forward now, their hands interlinked. I noticed a slight olive complexion in their pale faces. "This is Carmen and Eleazar." He said.
"Good evening." said the man, Eleazar in a gentle Spanish accent.
The three of us nodded shyly, subconsciously pressing close to each other. "You haven't told us your name yet." Rose shot at the bear/man/vampire.
He turned to face her. "Well you haven't introduced yourselves either." He pointed out with a grin. "But I'm Emmett." He held out his great paw of a hand and she shook it.
"I'm Rosalie, and this is Alice and Bella." She waved an airy hand in our direction. I was taken aback by how unafraid she was, considering she'd not been exactly keen on this whole idea.
The introductions were interrupted by a loud squabble breaking out in the far corner. We all craned our necks to look.
A tall man with sandy brown hair held up in a ponytail was prodding at a woman with the palest blonde hair I'd ever seen. He appeared to be goading her into something.
"Garrett, don't be ridiculous." The woman grumbled, with a high pitched laugh. "I'm not going to do it."
The man playfully jabbed her in the ribs and backed away, almost like a boxer. "Come on, one little blast. You know I annoy you enough to do it."
She rolled her eyes and seemed to go into deep thought, her face creasing slightly. Then she stretched out a pure white hand to the man. He clasped it eagerly in his own, clearly anticipating something. In a flash, his knees buckled and he collapsed flat on his back.
Emmett let out a roar of laughter. "Garrett and Kate." he told us, as the man got to his feet, looking dazed.
He whipped around, quick as lightning, to face a tree. "Jasper, get down here and meet our new guests." My eyes followed the direction of his and found myself staring at yet another beautiful figure sitting high in the branches. He too was very tall, slender and had honey blonde hair. I watched with interest as he sprang up, leaped to the ground with apparent ease and landed stealthily on his feet like a cat.
He approached us with caution, looking as though he were in great discomfort. "Ladies." He inclined his head politely.
I heard a gentle intake of breath somewhere to my right and glanced down to find Alice quite plainly ogling this Jasper guy. "Hi Jazz." she said, with a tinkling laugh.
Jazz? I rolled my eyes. Jasper seemed surprised too. He shot her a quizzical look, but said nothing.
As soon as Jasper had joined us, I'd felt an overwhelming sense of calm that I couldn't explain or put into words. My whole body seemed to relax in his presence, and I allowed myself to breathe. I hadn't even noticed that I'd been holding my breath but now I let the tranquility wash over me. Even with my new calmness, it hadn't escaped my notice that Emmett hadn't called the bronze haired boy over.
"So, it seems that these three know we're scary vampires." teased Emmett.
"Edward won't like this." said Jasper, softly. His eyes were fixed firmly on Alice, who was smiling beguiling up at him.
"We won't tell anyone." she promised, staring up at him from beneath her eyelashes.
Oh jeez, we hadn't been here ten minutes and it'd started. I tried to catch Rose's eye to share an exasperated look and my jaw dropped. She was leaning cozily close to Emmett and squeezing his biceps, a dreamy smile playing on her lips. Was I the only one not drooling over the immortals?
Emmett and Rose had struck up a conversation about cars. That's it Rose, go for the jugular. I smirked at my own pun. Like most mortal guys, Emmett had been bowled over by her knowledge on the subject and I could tell she was working hard to impress him. Her eyes lit up when he started to talk to her about his jeep and they were soon discussing her baby back home, a shiny red BMW.
Jasper and Alice were similarly paired. I watched as Alice worked her magic on him, gazing up at him like he was the only guy in the world as he spoke, nodding at everything he said. His guarded expression seemed to soften around Alice, and he smiled warmly as they chatted. They seemed to have an instant connection that went beyond words.
Trust my girls; they could get vampires eating out the palms of their hands.
"…unlike Bella, she drives the rustiest, slowest Chevy I've ever seen in my life." Rose was saying, flipping her hair casually.
"Watch your mouth." I retorted. "You're quick to insult my truck, but when you need a designated driver I'm the first one you call."
"Only because I know you drive so slow that the only collision we could have would be with a snail."
Emmett let out a deep, appreciative laugh and draped his arm over Rose's shoulder. "Easy now, miss fiery."
"Emmett," I said quickly, cutting through the insult I sensed Rosalie was about to fling at him. "Who's the guy in the corner?"
Emmett rolled his eyes. "That's Edward, our charming brother. Don't waste your time, Bella."
I bristled slightly. I had no intention of wasting my time, or drooling over these strangers, unlike my more hormonally charged friends. "Don't worry, I didn't plan on bothering him. I was just asking."
"Emmett, stop being a jerk." said Rosalie, pouting at him. "Bring him over and introduce us."
Under Rosalie's command already, Emmett muttered "Don't say I didn't warn you," and called over in the bronze haired boy's direction. "Eddie, there's some pretty girls here who want to meet you."
We all shrieked our disapproval at Emmett's words while the boy called Edward sighed, set down his notepad, and came over to greet us.
My breath caught in my throat as I got a better look at him, I couldn't help myself. He had the most gorgeous face I'd ever seen in my life, it could have been carved by angels. His jaw was strong, his lips full and I had the strangest urge to nibble them. I shook my head, trying to snap myself out of this pathetic notion.
"Edward, this is Bella, Alice and Rosalie." Emmett pointed us out.
Edward raised his eyebrows at Emmett's arm around Rosalie. "Hello there." he said, his voice low and musical. "To what do we owe this pleasure?" His eyes met mine briefly, and I felt my heart flutter like a traitor.
"These three beauties stumbled right into our laps, didn't they Jasper?" said Emmett.
Edward's brow creased into a frown. "And you intend to keep them prisoner?" He asked coolly.
"Oh I sincerely hope so." said Jasper, in his charming Southern accent.
Alice let out a squeal of delight at this, and nestled into his side. I saw Jasper's body stiffen slightly, saw his chest rise as if he'd held his breath and then, gradually, he relaxed.
I felt Edward's eyes on me again. "So, you're Bella." It wasn't a question. I felt myself blush like a tomato, which was absolutely ridiculous. He scowled at me, as if my reaction angered him.
"Do you blush at everything?" he said rudely, but his lips were twitching as though he found it entertaining. "I've seen you do it at least four times since you've been here."
"Only in the company of vampires." I snapped, annoyed that he'd noticed.
He bristled and fixed me with a torturous look. "They know?" he shot at Emmett.
Emmett shrugged. "Apparently." he said, as if he couldn't give a damn.
"The Volturi are going to be insufferable." he commented blandly.
"Well, that'll make a pleasant change." said Jasper.
I didn't know or care who these Volturi people were, they sounded fairly sensible to me. Of course the face of perfection would be arrogant, I thought to myself. But arrogant didn't quite cover it; every time he looked at me I saw something else in his eyes. He seemed bothered by my mere presence, angry at me for existing.
"What was that you were writing earlier?" I blurted out, cursing myself for my curiosity.
He smirked. "You were watching me were you? You little stalker." He seemed almost smug with the knowledge I'd been looking at him.
"Your brother made me think you were all going to attack us. So I was sizing you up, seeing if I could take you."
He raised his eyebrows, looking thoroughly amused. "It's usually me that does the taking, you know."
Instantly I felt the flush creep up my cheeks again. I was furious with myself.
His reaction was even more dramatic than last time I'd blushed in his presence. He was clenching his fists, looking like he wanted to punch me.
"I don't doubt it. Apparently you don't take girls like Jessica Stanley though?" I questioned mockingly.
He chuckled darkly. "And live for eternity with the memory? No, thank you."
"So, are you going to answer my question about what you were writing, or are you just going to scowl at me all night?" I retorted. He was bothering me more than he should.
"I haven't decided yet." His voice was velvet and delicious. And thoroughly fucking annoying.
"Never mind. I imagine it's just some angst filled diary entry about how your hair won't lie flat." Apparently something about this guy made me use third grader comebacks.
His lips curved upwards into a crooked smile. If I wasn't so pissed off, I'd have found it adorable.
"I find it hard to believe you can stand there mocking my hair, when yours looks like that." He gestured to my hair.
"What's wrong with my hair?" I said quickly, raising my hands to it.
"It looks like a haystack."
I stomped my foot and turned my back on him. Why did no one tell me vampires were so infuriating?
My girls were still entwined with their respective vamps, making plans to meet up the next evening.
"We'll take you to this great bar in Port Angeles." Emmett was promising.
Alice raised her eyebrows at him. "You go to bars?"
"Of course. You think we have to drink to dance, shortie?" He teased. "Anyway, we'll pick you up at 10.30. Where are you staying?"
When Rose told him the name of the hotel, I thought I saw Emmett and Jasper exchange a fleeting look but seconds later I was sure I'd imagined it.
"Ok blondie." He flashed her a cheeky grin. "And we'll bring dearest Eddie along for you too, Bella. Keep that sexual tension bubbling." He winked and I scowled.
"That's really not necessary, Emmett." I assured him. But he wouldn't take no for an answer, despite my protests and Edward's death glares.
"We'll walk you back to your car." said Jasper, scooping Alice up into his arms. What a protective guy, Alice looked like she was in heaven.
The two sickening couples, the frowning Edward and I, ambled through the woods once more. I tripped over every root, bramble and branch along the way. Edward would stop, haul me to my feet and sigh at me in quick succession. As the car came into sight, about three feet away I quickened my pace. Bad move. Somehow, I slipped over a twig and landed face first in the mud. A goddamn twig.
Edward chuckled, clearly very amused. "Don't you ever look where you're going?"
"Don't you ever take your head out of your own ass?" I ignored his outstretched hand and pulled myself upright.
"You're almost cute when you're angry." He did that crooked smile thing again.
"Says the guy with the wonky face. Can't you smile straight?" My voice was getting higher out of irritation as I jumped into the car, slammed the door and rushed to drive away from the beautiful fucking jerk, trying not to think about how much he'd gotten under my skin.
EPOV:
I watched as she flung herself haphazardly into the car, shoving the door shut with a lot more force than was necessary. I carried on looking as it carried her away from me, the dark haired, irritable creature that had shaken me so inexplicably. It was ironic that I should consider her irritable, she must have thought I was downright insufferable.
When I could finally tear my eyes away from the fast vanishing glow from their tail-light, my gaze fell upon Emmett and Jasper. They both looked as if they'd been simultaneously hit over the head with a frying pan. Emmett's mouth was actually hanging open, his eyes staring wildly in the same direction mine had been moments before. Apparently, he'd never seen women before.
I'd expected a little more decorum from Jasper though. Emmett could be a bit of a typical salivating teenager, but my other brother was surely more of a gentleman. Wrong. His eyes were flickering from Emmett to me with sheer disbelief, one finger pointing at the road, as if he were mutely asking us to confirm that he was hallucinating.
Their minds were filled with numb silence too, which surprised me most. There wasn't even the slightest whisper of crudeness in Emmett's thoughts, which had to be a first.
"What is wrong with you two idiots?" I scowled, clicking my fingers under their noses, hoping to pull them from whatever trance these girls had put them under. Trying to ignore that I felt a little bewitched myself.
"Human girls wander into the forest and you invite them to the party to show them your fangs?"
My words didn't seem to register at all, neither of them even looked at me. They just stood there unmoving by the side of the road, like the palest scarecrows in the world.
"They'd be beyond stupid if they didn't tell anyone about this. Carlisle's going to go insane if we have to move again, and I'm not particularly keen to have people wave garlic at me like Buffy the fucking vampire slayer." I pressed on, my fists curling at my sides as I paced around them standing there like a pair of morons.
Emmett broke from his silence first. "Did you guys see Rosalie?" He threw at us. "She knows about cars, man. I'm serious. A girl like that, and she knows cars." He let out a groan of longing, and leaned back against a gnarled old tree behind him. The tree seemed to protest at having all this weight thrown onto its aged trunk, and bowed slightly.
"Alice.." Came a slow voice to my left. The words sounded so far away and soft, as though the wind had carried them a great distance to reach my ears. If it hadn't been for the accent, I wouldn't have recognized Jasper's voice at all.
I whipped my head around swiftly to get a good look at him. He was still standing desolately in the same place, with a hand outstretched to the night. He didn't seem able to manage another word.
"You can stop pointing now, I did see them too." I muttered irritably, as I strode over and grasped his cool hand in my own, dragging it back down to his side.
This movement seemed to pull him from his reverie. His golden eyes snapped up to mine, even in the darkness I could see the wonder glistening in them.
"Wasn't she beautiful?" He spoke gently again, as though he was struggling with the concept of words.
I was interrupted from the furious remark I was about to unleash on Jasper by a loud train of thought filling my head.
'...Take her back to mine... Show her the jeep... That body...'
"Could I get a little courtesy thought filtering please?" I winced, as I got a colorful description of exactly what Emmett intended to do with the blonde's body.
"Sorry." Came the gruff response.
I was slightly relieved at this quick return to normality. Maybe I'd be able to restore some sense to the whole situation before it was too late. If I could get to the girls quickly, spin them a tale, pretend Emmett was just trying to impress them...
"Why were you such a jerk to the other one?" Emmett said, appearing suddenly at my side.
"Bella." I said through gritted teeth. For some reason it annoyed me that he couldn't remember her name. Too wrapped up in his little fantasy with the leggy Rosalie, I imagine. "And you expect me to cosy up to her so you can pull blondie? They're human. Jesus Christ how can you be so stupid." I threw out my fist in rage and landed a punch right into the tree he'd just been leaning against. A branch splintered from the rest with a harsh crack and tumbled down the trunk. That tree was having a rough night.
"Hey, don't go all angsty on us." Emmett prodded my shoulder, trying to antagonise me. He'd like nothing better to fight this out like the monsters we were, and I knew it. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction, we were too civilised for that shit.
Sensing defeat, he gave it one last shot. "Just because she didn't fancy you. What, did you hear her thoughts and realise she thought you were a miserable bastard? Well that's not our fault, mate."
"Don't be so stupid." I scowled at him.
"Well what's your problem with her then? She's beautiful, you should be charming her and earning us all brownie points." He retorted. He always expected me to play wing-man when he and Jasper pulled random women, it was very tiring.
"She's just so fucking fragile." I spat the last word, furious. She really was, and it was absolutely infuriating. She wandered around so freely, looking like she could shatter into tiny pieces at any moment. I had the distinct urge to wrap her in bubble wrap and carry her under my arm like some kind of rag doll. It incensed and amused me in equal measure.
I sighed, and blew the breath out from my mouth fiercely. It would kill me to admit the truth, and I wasn't about to lay myself out like that to be ridiculed. Just because I couldn't hear some stupid girl's thoughts. Just because she was the first in over a hundred years. How could that even be? Maybe she was just such an airhead, there was nothing to hear. Even as I mocked Bella cruelly inside my own head, I knew it was unjustified. I'd seen her cheeks flush a beautiful raspberry hue when I'd embarrassed her, seen her scowl pitifully at me as I teased her. There had to be more bubbling under the surface in her mysterious, impenetrable mind.
Strangely, thinking of Bella had calmed me and washed away the urge to pummel Emmett to a pulp. "You wont get me to spar with you, so try and talk like a normal person." I turned to face him and caught him smirking at me. His head was tilted curiously, waiting for my reaction.
Jasper felt the need to chime in now, and I felt his odd calming power soothe Emmett's mind too. "I cant not see Alice again, human or not."
"How did you cope being so close to her?" Emmett was enquiring, and I had to admit I'd been wondering that too. Jasper was the newest to our vegetarian diet, and usually had a little difficulty with, well, not killing people.
"I don't know." His silky tone was quick, excited. If the girls were here now they wouldn't be able to catch a word of this. "She's just different. I'd hurt myself before I hurt her."
The passion in this statement threw me a little, I had witnessed the strange connection between Alice and Jasper but I still couldn't begin to understand it.
"Either way, we're all taking them out tomorrow night. And there will be no argument from you, got it?" Emmett was challenging me to argue but I was too busy arguing with myself. The sense in cancelling the plans and keeping away was obvious, we shouldn't be putting these girls in danger and risking showing our true identity either. On the other hand, the lure of Bella's deep brown eyes was so very strong. The desire to find out more about her, which would require more traditional methods than I was used to. I knew from that moment I'd be too weak to resist. However fucking annoying she was.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Edward loves reviewers *coughs* I mean.. I love reviewers.. hehe. Xx