Chapter 6 – Getting To Know You
Alice reclined on her side, one small fist tucked beneath her chin, her spiky hair splayed out in a messy disarray over her pillow. Beside her lay Bella, who was slumbering deeply. Despite the fact that her physical wounds had healed rapidly, Bella seemed to flounder within a drained and exhausted state. The brunette woke late in the mornings and took frequent afternoon naps only to drop back into the cradle of sleep not one hour after the sun had set. After a week of witnessing no change in Bella's sleep habits, Alice had confronted Carlisle about it, wind milling her hands almost comically as she sought to wrangle a medical explanation from the doctor. It had taken Carlisle almost half an hour to reassure his daughter that Bella's need for sleep was perfectly normal; she was renewing her spent up energy reserves. Carlisle also implied that Bella's swift healing might have zapped her of her strength as well, resulting in the need for extra rest.
Alice sighed softly as she evoked the memory of the brief but insightful conversation she had with Bella regarding her extraordinary gift. As the memories floated across her mind's eye like a reel of film, she could not help but shuffle closer to the still sleeping brunette.
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"Are you..." Alice did not know how to continue. Her budding relationship with Bella as strained to say the least. Yes, the first building block of trust had been laid down but Bella was still skittish and Alice had to monitor her every move and word to ensure that the brunette would not relapse into her initial and instinctive fear of vampires.
Bella's brows knitted as she observed Alice closing her mouth, unable to structure her sentence coherently. She snuggled back against the pillow she was propped up against as she popped another French fry into her mouth. "Am I what, Alice?" Bella mumbled around the piece of food.
Alice momentarily forgot her train of thought; watching humans eat their food was a fascinating sight for her and always brought a peculiar blend of envy and resignation to the vampire. Alice had no memories of her human life and therefore she had no memories of food. She often wondered what an apple would taste like, or even something as simple as water. However, being a vampire did not allow for a human diet; their stomachs rejected the food as quickly as it was swallowed. Alice would know. She had tried ingesting a piece of bread once and knew it was a huge mistake the minute she had tried to swallow. Not only was the smell off-putting but the small morsel had clambered so fast up her throat and spilled onto her tongue and over her lips in a dizzying rush of bile and pain that the pixie vampire had doubled over from the sensation of it all. After that harrowing experience, the seer never went near human food again. Nevertheless, it had not quelled her curiosity in watching people eat.
"Alice?"
The vampire in question shifted golden hued eyes onto malted cocoa ones. Bella sat opposite her, her face clearly wearing an expression of that of a teacher waiting for an answer. Alice picked at her thoughts, swimming around for an answer to a question she did not quite remember. Then it hit her. "Oh," she murmured sheepishly. She bent her head slightly, tousled strands of midnight black hair tumbling over an eye. "I was just wondering if you were human," the vampire mumbled quietly.
Bella's brow arched. "Of course I am!" There was a harsh ring of indignation in her voice. She inhaled a calming breath of air as she realized why Alice has asked her that. "It's because of how I heal, isn't it?"
Alice picked her head up and chewed on her lower lip. She nodded shyly then tossed Bella a wry grin. "Are you a special kind of human then?"
Bella chuckled, knocking back another handful of fries. She chewed thoughtfully as she arranged her thoughts together. "I don't know how I can heal that fast. I've been this way for as long as I can remember." She swallowed and continued. "It's like rapid cell regeneration, I guess. But it takes a lot of out me."
Alice screwed her face up in apt confusion. "I've never heard of a human with that kind of cellular structure." She thought of her own premonition powers, which she had when she was human herself and shrugged. "Then again, who am I to talk?" She caught Bella's questioning glance. "I apparently had visions when I was human," Alice explained. "I did some research on myself. I was put in a mental asylum for it."
Bella's eyes clouded at the matter of fact tone Alice used. "I'm sorry," she offered uselessly.
Alice smiled. "It's ok. I don't remember any of it." Alice's eyes traced over the features of Bella's face briefly, honeyed eyes lingering at soft lips before moving back up to drown in those chocolate depths.
A silence blanketed the room as the two girls merely stared at each other, each feeling the chemistry and pull to the other. Bella finally broke away, a blush creeping up her cheeks. She stuffed a handful of fries in her mouth, in order to gather her wits.
Alice gave herself a mental shake. 'This is no time to flirt with her!' the petite vampire berated herself. She cut through the sudden awkwardness air with another question. "So you're immune to our venom because of your...ability?"
Bella shrugged. "I guess." She suddenly shivered, her face darkening in the wake of a sudden memory of two particular people who had discovered this particular "talent" and used it for their own sick amusement. She remembered the agony of vampire venom being poured into her veins as she was bitten over and over; it felt like fingers of fire raking its nails down every last nerve with the caress of acid biting down on her blood cells. The pain had been so extreme, so encompassing that Bella wished fervently for death to take her. She recalled screaming herself hoarse, abusing her vocal chords to the point where she could no longer draw air into her lungs without inflicting pain onto her overly raw throat.
"Hey." Alice's eyes glowed with concern as she felt Bella retreat into herself. She slowly reached over and placed her hand on top of Bella's blanket covered knee, keeping the contact light and fleeting.
Bella flinched as she was thrown back into reality. She blinked furiously as she tried to will her mind into believing that she was not being held captive in that dark prison. She tensed as Alice's fingers danced once over her knee but forced herself to relax. She threw Alice a watery smile. "I'm ok," she said, her voice quavering slightly.
Alice gave the knee a gentle pat before drawing away. She knew Bella wasn't ready to talk about her past and as long as it did not rear its ugly head, they had all the time in the world to cross that bridge. Alice slid off the bed and made her way over to a drawer. It was quickly decided that Bella would stay in Alice's room. Nobody made so much as a speckle of protest; Alice had already made it blatantly clear that she would be taking care of Bella. Not that the job could have fallen to anyone else; Bella was still fearful of the rest of Cullens and would shy away from anybody who wasn't Alice.
The seer gave a small cry of triumph as she fished a slightly battered pack of cards out of her drawer. She turned to Bella and waved her prize in question. "Uno?"
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Alice jerked back to the present as a small whimper tumbled out from Bella's slightly parted lips. The vampire immediately shifted until she was almost molded to Bella's back. One hand snaked out and began rubbing soothing circles over a thin t-shirt that was vaguely damp with sweat. Another whimper escaped; Bella kicked at the blankets as if fighting against some restraint. Her arms shot out, clutching at the bedding as she began crying in her sleep, tears trickling from closed lids. Her body jerked and spasmed from unknown attacks and minute cries were bubbling from her throat in increasing intensity.
Alice tucked a tear soaked strand of chestnut brown hair behind Bella's ear. "Shh," the seer crooned quietly. She ducked her head down until her lips were mere inches away from the brunette's ear and began humming a tune. Her hand never ceased the rubbing of Bella's back as Alice hummed tune after tune into Bella's ear. Eventually the jerking stopped and Bella calmed. Amazingly enough, the girl did not wake and for that, Alice was grateful. She did not know how Bella would have handled having Alice in such close proximity after waking from a frightful nightmare that no doubt involved blood-thirsty vampires intent on inflicting pain. The petite vampire listened as Bella's breathing evened out and her body relaxed back onto the bed. Alice sighed in stark relief. She lifted her head slightly, watching Bella's face for any sign of discomfort. Except for the tear tracks, Bella's face was smoothed over with sleep, her brow relaxed and her breathing deep.
Alice gently reached up and wiped away the last few drop of tears that clung stubbornly to Bella's eyelashes. She ran her knuckles gently down Bella's cheek, once again savoring the warmth of her skin. Unable to resist she deposited a feather light kiss on the brunette's forehead, pausing only to inhale the human's intoxicating scent. "Sleep well, Bella." And with that, Alice moved a respectable distance back to the other side of the bed and waited for a new day to dawn.
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Bella awoke to Alice's scent. It cocooned her in its arms, wrapping tendrils of comfort around the brunette's haggard soul. The girl turned and nuzzled her face into the pillow, inhaling deeply. Alice's scent, an enthralling fusion of honeysuckle, vanilla and cotton candy, wafted up her nose, tickling her senses and drugging her tense muscles into submission. She snuggled deeper still into the pillow; she wanted to get lost in Alice's fragrance.
"I think I'm jealous," a teasing voice piped up.
Bella lifted a groggy head framed by sleep-tousled hair that stuck out in awkward directions. She pried open a heavy lidded eye, wincing as a shard of sunlight shot straight into her iris. She closed her eye and shifted her head slightly before forcing both eyes open. A blurry figure focused itself into Alice, who was sitting cross-legged on the other side of the bed, flipping through a magazine. "Huh?" Bella croaked, her voice rough with sleep.
Alice cast Bella a small grin. "You and the pillow." She gestured at the object in question with a delicate flick of a wrist.
Bella's face flushed with embarrassment. "It smells like you," she admitted, her face feeling as though it were on fire.
Alice's grin widened. "Well it's nice to know that I smell as good to you as you do to me." Her stomach suddenly plummeted twelve floors as she realized what she had just implied. "No! No, that's not…not what I meant!" Alice stammered. She grasped frantically for an apology. "I didn't mean that you smelt appetizing, the smell of your blood doesn't affect me! I-I just meant that you smelled good…and…and…"
Bella cut Alice off by placing a finger over Alice's lips. Over the past week, she had watched Alice walk eggshells around her; she made sure not to say or do anything that would antagonize Bella and any contact she made with the brunette was conducted carefully and only after she had screened Bella's face for confirmation. "I know what you meant," Bella said. "I'm not going to break, Alice. I know you won't hurt me." She withdrew her finger instantly missing the connection. She folded her hands onto her lap and waited.
Alice resisted the urge to lick at her lips; she could feel the remnants of Bella's scent on it and wanted nothing more than to draw that essence into her body. Instead, she dropped a lock over her emotions and smiled self-consciously at the brunette. "Are you hungry? Can I make you breakfast?" The spiky haired vampire's eyes lit up at the prospect of making a human meal. There were so many ingredients, so many food choices. Alice loved to read cookbooks and try the recipes out even though the resulting meal smelt horrible and pungent to her.
Bella chuckled. Alice's near obsession with human food was nothing short of adorable. "Sure," she conceded. "Wait," she asked as Alice moved to slide off the bed. She suddenly remembered what Alice had said during her impromptu rant. "You don't...you don't find my blood appetizing?" Bella internally winced at the inapt phrasing of that question. The last thing she wanted was for Alice to thirst for her blood. Alice was her last grip on sanity; if she lost her Bella didn't think she would make it.
Alice stopped and turned back around. She cocked her head, trying to figure out how to explain without freaking Bella out. Seeing the expectant look on Bella's face, she settled for the truth. After all, Bella herself had said that she was not fragile. "The smell of your blood is intoxicating, alright," Alice began. "But it doesn't make me thirsty." She shrugged a shoulder at the mystery of it all. "It's only like that with you."
Bella's brow scrunched. "Really? That's...odd," she finished lamely, unable to comprehend this sudden knowledge.
Alice's lips stretched into a gentle smile. "Maybe you're just special," she whispered tenderly. Their eyes locked and a few dozen unspoken words passed between them. This time Alice pulled away first. She daintily hopped off the bed and held out a hand to Bella. "Shall we go get your breakfast?"
Bella smiled in turn, as she took the proffered hand, allowing Alice to tug her from the bed and out the room. As they descended the stairs, hands still clasped together, Bella came to an abrupt realization that Alice would become an integral part of her life. The very thought warmed her to the tips of her toes.
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A/N - I, uh, borrowed the whole "rapid cell regeneration" gig from X-Men and Heroes. However, just to clarify, Bella's not immortal. She can die. Oh and a lot of readers asked whether Bella ages in their comments sooo...yeah she ages. Now, now, y'all need to chilax. Nobody said relationships between humans and vampires were gonna be easy. Besides, limiting Bella's ability as such makes room for more creativity. :-)