I'm back again! I, once again, am incredibly sorry for how long it's been taking me to think of what to write for this chapter and on top of all that, I thought of a NEW ONE!!! I feel really guilty now. Please forgive me.
Either way, I hope I at least did well enough to earn your enjoyment and reviews for this chapter. Please review and above all, ENJOY! (And if you have time, I would appreciate it if you would check out my new story, Atra Luna. I know it has Ocs but I hope I've done well enough to earn your approval.
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight unfortunately, I do, however, obsess over it.
I smelled the air again and froze instantly. The smell was...repulsive. I couldn't understand what it was. I looked around at everyone's tense stances in a circle around me and understood immediately. I gasped, "Human..."
Chapter 6: Emerging With Grace
Edward nodded silently. He had been ripping my arm and was beginning to get uncomfortable. I squirmed under his grasp until he realized and loosened his grip immediately, a worried expression contorting his face. "Edward, I'm fine. Really," I assured him, smiling.
His expression turned to confusion and he stared at me skeptically. "Don't you smell it?" he asked quizzically. Did he really think I was that unstable? To go after something that smelled so horrible? I nodded grimly and inhaled deeply to show that I did indeed smell it.
"I thought you said that humans smelled good," I wrinkled my nose in distaste. I'm sure that even Jacob would smell better than that, and I knew how much they despised his scent. Emmett, Alice, and Jasper were all grinning. Alice had obviously seen that I wouldn't attack the human, Jasper had probably felt my confusion and repulsion, and Emmett was probably just grinning because it was him.
"What do you mean, Bella?" Edward was apparently the only one having trouble grasping the concept that I was not, and never would be, normal.
I smiled, "It smells horrible!" He seemed content by this revelation. He released his vice grip on my arm and wrapped it instead, gently around my waist, leaning into me.
In less than a second, my had shot up suddenly. I could faintly hear what sounded like a child sobbing. The gut wrenching sound was gradually growing steadily louder as falling branches indicated that whoever it was, was fumbling their way through the thick underbrush, towards us.
"Edward, can you hear it?" I turned quickly to face his worried expression. Surprisingly, he shook his head. "You...can't?" My mind reeled. Could this be my power? I briefly considered that I could just be insane and hearing voices until Edward's expression turned to surprise.
"Bella, you never cease to amaze me. How did you hear that?" I shrugged and turned back to the direction of the weeping child. "Should we go find her?" I nodded and pulled him towards the sound. He looked at me questioningly and stopped asking, "Can you handle it?"
I felt like I was about to burst into hysterical laughter, which would have backed up my insane theory. I laughed anyway, and, gasping for breath, blurted out to a dumbstruck Edward, "Edward! I just said it smells horrible! Do you honestly think I would eat something that repulses me?"
He looked shocked for a moment and then a smile pulled at his lips. "I guess I hadn't thought about that. Well, that helps us, in a way." We began walking again. His comment had thrown me off guard.
"How does that help us?" I asked curiously, walking swiftly over a fallen tree and marveling at the fact that I wasn't lying flat on my face yet. I still wasn't sure what exactly this would mean for my old human traits. I wouldn't have been surprised if I was the world's one and only clumsy vampire.
He smiled at me as he pushed a hanging branch from in front of us. "Well, how soon do you want to go to college?" I hadn't been expecting that.
"College? Edward, I haven't even finished high school yet!" I looked at him incredulously. He couldn't possibly be thinking about that yet. I was still a junior in school and, unlike him, I didn't have all of the knowledge in the world. (A/N: I can't remember if Bella is actually a junior but since she graduated in Eclipse I'm just taking my best guess.)
He laughed heartily and shook his head. "Bella, you're going to be living with us now, and you don't need sleep, remember?" He still seemed somewhat sad about that fact but smiled nonetheless. "You can learn everything you'd ever need to learn in high school in a week and a half with us."
His laugh was a magical sound that filled me with so many strong emotions. I felt a strong wave of lust as soon as the sound left his mouth, or maybe it was the revelation that I would be living with him, for eternity. A smile danced around my lips and I suddenly took his face in my hands and brushed my lips forcibly against his. He didn't seem to object but he obviously wasn't expecting it. I looked down, embarrassed. "Sorry," I mumbled quietly.
"Silly Bella," he breathed, "what are you apologizing for?" he laughed. "Do you ever think I'd mind?" He lifted my chin with his finger and traced my lips with his thumb. The slightest touch sent shivers down my spine, aching for more. He leaned forward, gazing into my eyes as if he could see straight into my soul. I could feel his cool breath on my face and inhaled greedily, savoring his heavenly aroma. It hadn't changed and, if anything, just got stronger and better. "Don't you think we should find that girl still?" he whispered.
I grumbled as I unwound myself from from him and almost tripped over a tree root. I guess I did still have some of my human qualities. He laughed behind me and pulled me up by my waist, wrapping his arm around me for support. The weeping was close now, and loud, almost uncomfortably so. We walked through a hedge of baby spruce trees and sure enough, a small figure was huddled against a boulder, her head between her knees. She looked to be about five at most.
I nodded to Edward to go up to her, since my new looks would probably scare her more than she already was. He walked slowly up to her, enunciating each step to announce his presence. She looked up, startled, and huddled herself closer to the rock. "It's okay, I won't hurt you," his velvet voice assured.
She shuddered but looked calmer. I could feel Jasper's calming waves having their effect on her also, I would have to thank him for that later. "W-who are you?" she stuttered shyly, loosening her little fists that were balled up so tightly that her knuckles were bright yellow. She was pale, almost as pale as us. Her long black hair cascaded down her small back in soft waves, accenting her round, childish face.
She wore a simple, white turtle-neck sweater and black sweat pants rolled up to her ankles. It looked as if she had found them on the ground and had been out in the wilderness for quite a while.
Edward smiled sweetly and replied softly, "I'm Edward." He looked over and reached out to me. I walked forward with my head down and stood next to Edward. "This is Bella," he gestured to me, "what's your name?"
As I looked up, a small gasp escaped the girl's lips and she rushed to cower behind the other side of the rock. I frowned, "Don't worry. I promise I won't hurt." I could tell I still looked depressed because Edward wrapped his arm comfortingly around me.
She shyly peeked her head back around the rock and whispered, "I don't...know." Her voice was so quiet that I could see Edward straining to hear her. She had a sweet, melodic voice, almost like Alice's, who was remaining behind the trees with the family so as not to frighten the girl more than she undoubtedly was already. I could already see the tears beginning to spring to her eyes.
"Well, where's your parents?" he urged calmly. This pushed her over the edge. The tears began to flow freely now and she lunged forward to wrap her small body tightly around my leg. I gasped too quietly for her to heard and Edward looked at me concerned. I nodded to show I was fine and assured him tat it was just the sudden closeness.
She felt extremely hot against my freezing skin. I realized now why Edward enjoyed touching me so much as a human . It felt...soothing, in a way. I leaned down and picked her up gently, cradling her in my arms and whispering soothing words.
She hiccuped softly and buried her head in my shirt right as Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, Carlisle, and Esme walked into the small clearing. She clung to my neck but, discerning that no arm was mean, calmed down quite considerably as they introduced themselves. Rosalie and Esme had a look of absolute adoration and awe, Emmett and Alice were grinning madly, Jasper looked empathetic as always, and Carlisle merely looked contemplative.
As we walked in a human pace back to the house, the unnamed girl lying asleep in my arms, I voiced the question that I knew everyone was wondering, but no one wanted to voice it aloud. "So, what's going to happen to her now?"