It was quiet… very quiet. Due to me hearing Alice and Rosalie speak yesterday I knew I would have been able to hear something if anyone was home. But the entire house was silent. 'They left,' my mind whispered as I slowly opened my eyes and sat up.
Everything was so bright and vivid. I gasped in surprise but quickly held my throat when an intense burning choked me up. 'You're thirsty' my mind whispered again.
I growled softly in response and began looking around, searching for a mirror. I walked towards the bathroom and pushed the door open. Even though the light was off I could see myself clearly in the bathroom mirror.
My dark brown hair lightened up a couple shades and flowed slightly past my shoulders. For the most part I looked the same, just with fewer blemishes, and all of my scars were missing. The greatest change about my appearance was the now ruby red eyes that stared directly at me. There seemed to be a somewhat animalistic look in my eye which occasionally faded into one of pain. I knew I would have to be very careful about what emotion my eyes let the Cullens see. If you ever see them again, they left… remember? My heart ached.
It was the oddest feeling. As though the pain in my heart increased as the heartbeat decreased. Who knew an undead heart could feel so much hurt and pain. I grunted under the strain and rubbed my chest where my un-beating heart lay.
Something in the air shifted as a new scent wafted through the bathroom. I could hear the soft feet of one of the Cullens entering the house and ascending the stairs.
"Anna?" Alice called out my name. I guessed she had a vision of me waking up and came back. But why would she come back if the entire family left? 'Guilt is a very strong emotion, Anna,' my mind chastised.
I sighed in response to both Alice and my mind. The throbbing feeling at the back of my throat was beginning to get painful as Alice entered the room and leaned against the doorjamb of the bathroom.
She gasped when she saw me and instinctively I tried covering my body with my hands. Looking down I couldn't help but look towards the mirror again. 'I'm not that ugly am I?'
I could see Alice's and my reflection and realized that it was true. Even when I became a vampire, I was nothing compared to her beauty. All hopes of being good enough for the Cullens shot out the window as I closed my eyes and viciously turned away from the mirror in disgust.
"Anna? Are you okay?" Alice asked in a worried voice. Even though my eyes were closed I could feel her hand move from her side and extend towards my shoulder.
Stepping out of her reach, I opened my eyes and flashed her a cold look. Alice quickly pulled her hand back to her side and took a tiny step back.
"Anna?" she asked again, caution coloring her still worried tone. "What's the matter with you?"
"With me?" I chuckled darkly without humor. "If only you knew."
"So tell me, then," Alice whispered, looking me in the eyes. "Why keep it to yourself? Families are supposed to help each other!"
"I don't have a family," I spat, almost regretting it when Alice's face crumpled, hurt.
"Yes you do," Alice whispered quietly, looking down at her feet.
Pain swirled around my heart clenching it for all it was worth. She said I had a family… families don't just leave you! 'You have no one,' my mind continually whispered, causing me to shake faintly. Why does she keep doing this to me?
The pain jolted in my heart once again as I held my breath. This was ridiculous! I was positive that if I was a human still my knees would have buckled and I would have been a sobbing mass on the floor. But I continued to keep a straight face, holding the war within myself deep in my body so Alice couldn't see it. Even if I hated the Cullens I loved them more than anything in this world. And I never wanted to do anything to hurt them, even though that was all I seemed to be doing lately.
"We're your family," Alice whispered again moving forward slightly when I didn't reply. She reached out for me again, and I let her. I couldn't move, paralyzed by pain. But I quickly clenched my eyes shut and jerked my hand away once I felt her soft fingers brushing the top of my hand.
"Just stop!" I shouted at her, causing her to jump in surprise. "Why can't you just leave me alone? You already did what you sought out to do, you broke me. There's nothing left of me now, so why are you still playing your little game? Why can't you just… let me go?" My voice cracked as I tore my eyes off my feet and risked a look at Alice.
She was shaking faintly and I could see the battle raging behind her eyes. 'Look what you've done!' my mind shouted at me. I quietly sucked in my breath and held it. 'Too bad you can't die from that,' my head muttered cruelly as I bowed my head again in embarrassment.
Minutes went by as the room remained silent; everything was still other than Alice's shallow breathing, which was odd considering there were two of us in the bathroom. That's when I realized that I hadn't yet released the breath I was holding from before.
I slowly released my breath and inhaled deeply, suddenly falling to the ground. An agonized groan echoed through the bathroom. If I was in any less pain I might have looked around to find the source, but I realized soon after another was released that it was releasing those piteous noises.
My throat was on fire. I needed something, anything to soothe the pain. I cried out as another violent wave of thirst rolled through my body.
"Alice!" I rasped. I knew she would know what to do. I closed my eyes as a horrifying thought hit me; what if she didn't help me? She could very well leave me in this bathroom, or throw me out of the house leaving the human population of wherever we were at my hands. Eventually the Werewolves would hear of my slaughter and seek me out and then I would forever be out of the Cullens' hair.
Panic spiked as I visualized how torturously painful my death would be in the clutches of the sadistic Werewolves.
"Shit," Alice cursed under her breath, quickly kneeling to my side and brushing the hair out of my eyes. "Why didn't you tell me you were thirsty?" she chastised as another agonized groan escaped my lips.
"I was a little busy… please," I begged through strained breathing. "It hurts so badly," I gasped as another bolt of pain caused me to cringe.
"Can you walk?" Alice asked, standing up
I tried getting up but quickly folded back onto the floor writhing in pain.
Alice nodded her head as she bent over and cradled me in her petite arms. She then took off running. Now that my sense of sight was so much more advanced, it no longer felt like we were flying at impossible speeds. In fact, I could see everything around me in perfect detail.
"Anna… you need to try and stay calm out here," she spoke quickly, looking down at me.
I remained silent for a second after nodding my head in agreement, but curiosity began to take over and I choked out my question.
"What's going to happen?"
Even though I had been through a lot of stuff in my life, killing and ravaging a live animal was not on that list. A few years ago I had actually gone through an animal activist phase and refused to eat any type of meat. I could have never guessed I would be the one causing pain to the animals now.
"Anna," Alice's voice grabbed my attention, "I need you to stay here while I get you something… can you do that?" Alice asked nervously stopping in the middle of a small clearing. She began putting me down.
"Why are you nervous?" I asked, but the answer came soon enough when a blue jay flew above us. I lunged up from my spot on a boulder but quickly lost my footing and fell to the ground. I was very weak.
I groaned loudly and choked back the sobs. I was so thirsty.
"Stay here," Alice demanded before running out of the clearing and disappearing from sight altogether.
I wouldn't lie and say that I wasn't scared. I knew it was silly to be when I was literally at the top of the food chain. But human memories of being trapped in the forest with Mark and the wolves flashed over my eyes making me shudder in revulsion.
I breathed in deeply once again and swooned at the smell in the air. My body instantly knew what was coming as Alice's tiny body reappeared in the clearing carrying a large buck deer. If I hadn't been so distracted by the smell of the deer's blood I might have laughed at how funny she looked.
Alice looked over towards me and slowly put the deer down a couple meters in front of me. She then moved somewhere to the side but I wasn't focused on her. My gaze was set on the meal ahead of me. I could see a small trail of blood run down its broken neck and I shuddered in need.
Pulling one arm in front of the other I slowly dragged myself closer to the pray, the scent of its blood drawing strength that was hidden deep inside of me. I could practically taste what was to come as I lunged the last meter towards my meal.
The blood gushed down my throat as I moaned in ecstasy. It was unlike anything I had ever eaten before. Soft, warm, thick; I shuddered as I swallowed another mouthful, soothing the fire within me.
And then as quickly as the blood came, it was gone. I tore my teeth out of the deer's throat and farther broke its neck, trying to get more of the precious nectar it should have possessed, but there was none to be had.
I moaned in loss when I heard a couple twigs break behind me. Even though I should have known it would only be Alice, my predator state of mind sparked to action as I turned around and hissed loudly.