AN: I do not own Twilight or any of it's characters. Sorry for the wait but I have had a lot of wedding planning going on now that I have less than one year to pull this together. I hope you like this chapter!
It's been three months since I brought Sophie to our new home. It was right where the humans said it would be and I was sincerely grateful for being in the right place at the right time. I had been out looking for distractions from the sweet memory of Sophie's blood, when I happened upon the scent of two humans. I couldn't help myself and darted straight for them, but suddenly I became aware of what they were talking about.
"Do you really think they were doing the right thing when they left? I mean they left everything behind and didn't even notify anyone." The female said.
"Topaz, she is your sister and if she wants to run off with her antisocial husband and leave there mansion unattended for a few years while they travel all over the world then so be it. They have more than enough money should anything happen and with the way they are so reclusive, I don't think anyone will even know that they are gone. I bet you they even left a substantial amount of money in the safe of theirs. That house is so secluded; somebody would have to know it was there. I hardly believe that anyone knows that there is a mansion fifteen miles north of the Rhone River. It abuts La Camargue which is protected and how many people do you know that will trek through the roughest parts of the marsh in the south of France. The likelihood that anyone will stumble upon it is remote." The man said exasperated.
It was that conversation that led me to the decision that Sophie and I would be traveling to France permanently. I had planned to at least take Sophie there for some sightseeing, but this was the break we were looking for. It was a way to make life easier. The mansion was magnificent; even better then the Cullen's home that I had visited in Forks. I found that Sophie and I quickly fell into a routine. During the day, Sophie would sleep and I keep myself busy around the mansion or I would hunt in the marsh. During the first week in our new home I discovered not one but two safes, the contents of which equaled over 50 million dollars. Having that much cash on hand certainly made life a bit easier when Sophie needed supplies. I also found myself enjoying some of the comforts of being well off and I may have indulged in a few toys.
Sophie showed no interest in such things though. She seemed much more content to spend her days and nights in the library on the second level of the home. Apparently it was well stocked with a broad array of topics that suited her quite well. Sophie also spent a considerable amount of time in the green house that was only a few feet from the back of the mansion and was two stories high. I don't know what the appeal was but I occasionally found her curled up leaning against the lush foliage out there. Frequently, Sophie would even sit in front of the grand piano that was on the main level of our home. I would watch her run her fingers across the keys and sometimes she would play a single note, but nothing more.
In the evenings, I would take Sophie into town to eat dinner and then we would take in the sights around the city. The life that we built here in France seemed perfect to me. It was just what I wanted, to live like normal humans would. Ever since seeing how the Cullen's were able to lead a semi-normal life, I had wanted that too. But there was a dark side to this new life with Sophie. As hard as I tried to control my bloodlust, it always got to be too much. I found that I was not able to keep myself from lusting after Sophie's blood along with every human I came in contact with. Sometimes the power of their scent was too much and I had more than one moment of weakness while out in public. Suddenly, I would not be able to help myself and I would go after the first person to walk down a dark alley.
Sophie saw it all, every time I lost my self control and she would break down. The last time it happened she saw it coming and tried to stop me. I didn't listen to her plea, but as I stalked toward my prey, I heard Sophie gasp. I turned on my heals at the sound and the scent of her blood as it blew right toward me. She had cut her wrist on the brick of the building she was next to and then stepped back into the shadows behind her. I watched her as she extended her bleeding arm towards me as she backed into the alley behind me. My mind was racing at what she had done and I could barely move at a humans pace to get back to her. In the dark she waited for me, her back was pressed against the wall when I reached for her. Slowly, I took her arm while watching her eyes.
I raised her wrist to my mouth as she closed her eyes and sunk my teeth into her flesh. The warmth of her blood sent waves of ecstasy through my body, and I was grateful for her sacrifice, but I didn't want to lose her. I wanted to keep her… keep this feeling her blood gave me, but that meant she needed to still be alive, so I remember back to what she had said about Edward sucking the venom from her system after James bit her and I tried to do the same. By the time I was able to stop myself Sophie was hanging limp in my arms. I was terrified that I wasn't able to stop in time, that I had just destroyed a good thing. I carried her back to the mansion paying close attention to the slow steady sound of her heart.
When she made it through the night, I was almost shocked. I had really thought it would not be possible for her to live after how much of her blood I had consumed, but she did. After that night, Sophie's blood was a regular treat for me. She never said no or tried to push me away; when she saw my eyes she just offered up her arm. In fact, Sophie began to speak less and less as our time together progressed to the point that she nearly didn't speak at all. At first, I was angry when she wouldn't answer me, but then again when I looked at her face I could see that she was giving me an answer just not a spoken one.
Another tradition we started was Sophie's continued dance lessons. As the dawn would begin to break, we would dance almost every night. Each day she seemed to get better and I was getting excited to display our skills at the Mask Ball that was held at the Louvre Museum in Paris every year. After a few hours of practice, Sophie would rest her head on my chest signaling that she was beginning to tire and I would bow, kiss her hand and she would depart for one of the many bedrooms.
The closeness that I was beginning to feel for her was intriguing. I was becoming curious about her relationship with Edward. Was it the same relationship we had? Clearly not exactly the same because I didn't see any other bite marks on her besides the ones from me and the one that belonged to James. Just thinking about her with Edward made me angry. Sophie belonged to me and her blood was all mine. I felt so possessive and protective for her now; I wondered if that was what Edward felt for her. What was their relationship? He couldn't have cared for her too much, if he left her to rot, but somewhere in the back of my mind I worried that eventually I might have to deal with the Cullen's again. And then I would think of my beautiful Irena. I wanted to be with her so much, but my inability to control my thirst took a toll on our relationship.
I also wondered how long I could keep going with how things were. Would I eventually kill Sophie? Would I keep her for eternity? She was a human who knew too much though…I had to either kill or keep her. I had never planned for things to actually last this long. When I offered Sophie the choice to come with me, it was meant to be more of an experiment. I wanted so badly to live a different way, but it was so difficult and I knew that Irena was starting to catch on that I wasn't being true to the vegetarian diet. Sophie was supposed to help me fix that, so I wouldn't disappoint my precious Irena, but I found myself on a different path now. I knew Irena was my true mate, but I did want to keep what I have built with Sophie. I never expected to care for her in the end, but I wanted to know how far I could take this.
I wonder if Irena ever considered adopting like the Cullen's. Perhaps, Irena, Sophie and I could begin our own coven. I toyed with the idea of having my own little family like Carlisle, when I began to hear Sophie talk in her sleep.
Every night Sophie would dream, but her dreams always turned into nightmares. Most nights she wakes up screaming. And while she stopped speaking during her waking hours, that didn't stop her from speaking in her dreams. She seemed to always say the same things too. It aggravated me that after being with me for so many months that she still dreamed about Edward even if they were nightmares. She never said my name; she was always asking Edward to come back.
I went up to her room and stood over her sleeping form, watching as tears streamed from her closed eyes and her body rocked. She was curled up in a ball and kept repeating "come back." I truly felt bad for her, but I couldn't do anything to help her and certainly wasn't going to find Edward. As her sobs got louder, I placed a hand on her bare shoulder and she suddenly started to quiet down. I pulled my hand back after a minute and watched as she began to become agitated again. This time I replaced my hand on her shoulder and cupped her cheek with my other hand. Sophie startled away and stared back into my eyes.
"It was a nightmare." I said. Sophie didn't say anything, but placed her warm hand over the hand that I had resting on her cheek. The sensation of her hand on mine was comforting even to me, she was just so warm compared to my frigid temperature. Sophie closed her eyes after a few moments and as I moved my hand from her cheek, it grazed her neck. I could hear and see the blood flowing through her veins and her necks was so…mouth watering to see. Without another thought I bent down within an inch of her neck and Sophie's breathe caught. I kissed it gently and plunged my teeth into her sweet flesh.
That day Sophie stayed in bed all day and practically half the night. I could hear her heart beating and her breathing was steady, but she smelled slightly different…almost sweeter somehow. Human's scents can change quite frequently depending on diet and hormones and considering how much I drank from her I was not surprised she spent extra time in bed. We went back to our normal routine after a few days and as the sun began to rise, I started the music. It was a beautiful piece from one of my favorite operas, but before I had time to fully dissect the harmonies, Sophie entered the room. It was strange, but I almost didn't even hear her coming, but then again I was fully entranced by the emotion of the aria. Sophie stepped forward and I offered her my hand. We waltzed for hours and as the music began to crescendo the tempo picked up pace. I couldn't stop myself from trying to keep up with it, but soon I let my mind run away with the music and I was moving faster then Sophie could handle. Suddenly as I spun Sophie out, she released my hand and stumbled back into the wall with a loud thud, her breath whooshed out of her lungs.
Then her hand flew to her mouth as she carefully felt her lip. The scent struck me like a lightning bolt and I flashed towards her gripping her around the waist and pressing her against the wall. Sophie's eyes watched me almost pleadingly, but she didn't speak. I watched her full lips in awe as a single drop of her blood rose to the surface of her skin where she must have bit her lip when she collided into the wall. I had to have it!
Instantly, my mouth crashed into her lips and I kissed her as my tongue grazed over her lip. It was one of the most sensual things I had ever felt. The combination of the lust I was feeling after tasting her lips and the way her blood tasted was incredible, but the little bit of blood I tasted from her lip tasted strange. I pushed my lips against hers trying to push deeper into her mouth to seek out any other traces of blood, but suddenly I felt her pushing against me. She was resisting letting me further into her mouth and I could sense her arms trying to push me away. The more she tried to keep me out the more I wanted to continue to taste her, I grabbed her arms and held them against the wall and forced my tongue forward. I heard Sophie's muffled attempts to speak, but I didn't pay any attention.
Then in an instant I felt something spring between my body and Sophie's. I looked down into her eyes as a flash of silver flew through them and abruptly the force swelled propelling me through the air away from Sophie. I couldn't stop myself from crashing through the wall into the next room landing thirty yards away! I was so stunned by what had just taken place, that I got to my feet at a humans pace and stared at Sophie through the wall into the next room. Sophie stood there with her back still against the wall gasping for air and looking straight back at me, with her mouth hanging open.
AN: For those of you wondering what the hell La Camargue is, I will tell you. La Camargue is a real place located south of Arles, in France between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Rhone delta. It's made up of mostly lakes & marshland and is also home to some of the wildest, most protected natural reserves in all of Europe. It is famous for the Camargue horses which are beautiful wild horses that run free through the marsh. They are absolutely magnificent, but watch out there are also wild bulls and lots of quicksand too! Google or Wikipedia it to check it out.
Oh and I almost forgot...I am having some trouble trying to figure out how Sophie will react to her new found gift. So I am putting it to you! Do you want her to explore this new talent with confidence or continue to play it safe being mostly helpless? I would really love some reviews!