A/N: WOW! I've gotten some really fantastic responses to the last chapter! I'm so happy that you guys are loving it, and I'm happy I made you laugh with the Peanut Butter Jelly Time song :-) I was so excited about the wonderful reviews that I got that I just had to write this chapter right away! And now......the moment you've all been waiting for......
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The Truth Comes Out
After I ate dinner, Edward and I left the restaurant. For once since I met him, I felt more at ease. Like part of the weight was lifted off of my chest. Of course there was still this big hefty weight of secrets weighing down on me, but now knowing where I stand with Edward makes me feel relaxed. He admitted he couldn't stay away form me anymore, and I knew I couldn't stay away from him either. We drove back to my house in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. Edward broke the silence.
"Would you like to hear some music?"
"Yeah sure."
He moved to turn on the CD player and a familiar piano tune was playing in the speakers.
"Clair de Lune?" I asked, already knowing what it was.
"You know it?" he asked me back.
"Yeah, it's beautiful. I love classical music."
"Really? I wouldn't have guessed after hearing some of the music you play when you come to school."
"I'm very eclectic, there's nothing wrong with that. I love Classical, all types of Rock, some Pop, like 80s music and some dance music but not that Techno crap that sounds the same, oh and Musicals. I love Musicals! All kinds of them, I'm mostly into the darker Cult Musicals. Like the music you mostly hear from my car, it's this awesome musical called Repo! The Genetic Opera and it's flippin brilliant! It's dark, totally original, and the music's fantastic."
"Interesting. What's it about?"
"It takes place in the future, when organ failure has become a world-wide epidemic. There's this company called GeneCo that provides the organs and performs the transplants for those who need them. If they can't pay for the surgery up front, they have to sign a contract and make payments each month. But if they fail to keep up with their payments, GeneCo sends out the Repo Man to take the organs back."
"That sounds very morbid. It sounds like something my brother Emmett would like."
"Probably. I thought I saw him rocking out to it one time when I drove into school. But you seem more like the mellow classical music type. I think Repo might be too much for you." I taunted him.
"Well maybe I'll watch it and see if I can handle it."
"Ok, I just hope you're not the squeamish type." I giggled at him.
"I'm sure I'll be fine."
"Do you mind if I turn up the volume a bit?"
"Sure, I can do it."
"No it's alright, I can do it."
We both moved to turn up the volume and our hands touched. I quickly moved my hand back, his hand was freezing! I guess I was too into the moment to notice how cold his hand was when I first touched it in the restaurant. He looked away from me, distress on his face.
"What's wrong? Why are you so cold? Do you want the heater on?" I asked him.
"No I'm fine. Thank you."
The rest of the ride was in silence. I couldn't help but be bothered by how freezing his hand was. We made it back to my house five minutes later after I gave him directions to it.
"I had a nice time tonight." I told him.
"Me too, considering the circumstances."
"Yeah." I giggled. "Thank you."
"For what Vivian?"
"For being there when you were. For saving me, again."
"You're welcome."
"I'll see you on Monday."
"Definitely. Goodnight Vivian."
"Goodnight Edward."
I grabbed my purse and my shoes and got out of the car. I walked into the house, trying to drag my feet. I didn't want to leave him, but I had to. I could feel his eyes on me until I walked into the house and closed the door. I heard his car drive off as I walked up the stairs into my room. I changed into my PJs and had another peaceful sleep, filled with dreams of the beautiful and mysterious Edward Cullen.
The Next Morning
I woke up with a smile on my face. I was so happy about spending time with Edward last night. I couldn't lie to myself any longer, I was falling for him and I was falling hard. I think I was finally realizing that just because I'm moving on with my life, doesn't mean I'm betraying Aiden. I know he would want me to be happy, he loved me that much. I would never forget Aiden or the short but wonderful time we had together. I realized all of this in my dream last night:
I was in the forest alone, on my knees with my head in my hands, crying. I didn't want to hurt Aiden, but my feelings for Edward are getting stronger each day. I felt a hand touch my shoulder, I looked up and there was Aiden. He didn't look angry or heartbroken. He looked concerned; he gave me a soft smile of understanding.
"Vivian, please don't cry. You know it breaks my heart when you cry."
"How can I not? You're gone because of me, and I'm betraying you by falling for someone else."
"Viv, listen to me. What happened was not your fault."
"Yes it was! You would still be alive if you never met me. You would have been better off without me. Everyone I love always dies!" I yelled as I broke down into more tears.
"Stop that right now. You know that is not true. Bad things happen to everyone, that doesn't mean it was you fault. And as for me, I'm glad I met you. Our time was short together, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. I love you Vivian, and I always will. I know you love me too, but you have to move on. I don't want you to be miserable for the rest of your life. You don't deserve that. You deserve to live life, and you deserve to have someone to love and be loved by. I'm not asking you to forget about me, and I'm not asking you to wear black all the time and never even talk to another man again. Don't be afraid to fall in love."
"I don't know if I can."
"You can and you will. I won't hate you for meeting someone else. Now you better start being happy or I'll haunt you until you come to your senses." he said jokingly to me.
I giggled at him. Aiden was right; I had to live my life.
"Ok, I will. I love you Aiden, I'll never stop loving you."
"I love you too Viv. I'll always be in your heart."
With that, he kissed me with so much love and passion, and I gave back just as much. I didn't want to let him go, but I knew it was time to. He let go of me and gave me one last beautiful smile before he disappeared and I woke up.
I felt like a new person now. I got out of bed to do my morning routine and got the stuff I needed for the beach: towel, bathing suit, Aunt Hope's wet suit and surf board. I was surprised when she told me that she likes to go surfing, and that we were the same size. Then she told me that I better not start calling her fat instead of old. Now she really set herself up for that!
I went downstairs to have a quick breakfast before I had to pick up Jess and Angie. Aunt Hope was already eating some cereal, so I made myself a bowl and sat down and ate with her.
"Good Morning Vivie."
"Good Morning Aunt Hope."
"Are you ready for the beach my little Gidget?"
"Gidget? Wow, now you really sound old naming me someone from those old corny surf movies from the 60s."
"Don't start with that you little ingrate."
"Well you were asking for it."
"Zip it."
"Ok Dr. Evil."
"Damn straight you call me 'Doctor', respect my authority."
"Ok whatever Grandma, I'm out of here now. Try not to break a hip while I'm gone, I don't know when I'll be home."
"Oh hardy freakin har, get out of here you little brat." she laughed at me.
I left with my stuff and set out to get the girls. I picked up Angie first and then Jess and we were off to the beach.
"Vivian this car is awesome!" Jess told me as soon as she got in the car.
"It really is. I've never seen a car this cool." Angie agreed.
"Thank you, thank you very much." I replied with a really bad Elvis Presley impression.
We were all joking around and laughing the whole way to the beach. On the way there, Jess asked me something I knew she was aching to know.
"So Vivian, what's up with Edward?"
"Oh nothing much. We were just hanging out; he's a pretty good guy."
"Really? That's interesting."
"Why's that interesting?"
"Because he never talks to everyone."
"Maybe it's because everyone's a bunch of wussies that are too scared to try to talk to him or his family."
Jess looked shocked at what I said.
"I'm sorry Jess. It's just I don't think it's fair to judge people before you know them."
"That's alright I understand." Jess smiled at me.
"So what did you guys talk about?" Angie asked me.
"Oh nothing much, just music and stuff like that. I invited him to come to the beach today but he said he couldn't."
"You invited him?" Jess asked.
"Yes I did."
"OMG you like him!"
"Tone it down Gossip Girl, we're just friends."
"Yeah, sure you are." Jess replied with a sly smile on her face.
We made it to the beach and the boys were already there. We quickly changed into our wet suits and got out of the car to meet with the guys. As we were walking to them, I saw a familiar quintet heading our way.
"Hey guys!" I yelled as I ran to Jake, Leah, Embry, Quil, and Sam.
"Vivian!!!" Leah yelled back as she ran to me.
We made it to each other and gave each other a bone crushing hug. The guys made it over to us and were laughing at our display of affection.
"Hey Vivian." Jake greeted me.
"What's up Jake?"
"The sky." he said as he pointed up at the sky.
I stuck my tongue out at him. I gave each of the guys a big hug and we all walked over to my school friends.
"Hey guys, these are the friends I told you about. This is Jacob and his oh-so-beautiful girlfriend Leah, Quil, Sam, and Embry. Guys, this is Jessica, Angela, Mike, Eric, and Tyler."
They all said Hi to each other, and things were all fine and dandy.
"So what are you guys up to?" Jake asked us.
"We're going to do some surfing, ya know hang loose bro." I said in my surfer dude impression.
"Cool." Jake replied laughing.
Then Jess had to open her fat mouth.
"Yeah, but Vivian would have liked it if Edward came along."
"Dude, I am never trusting you with anything again." I told her.
"Edward? Edward Cullen?" Mike asked.
"Yes Edward Cullen. Geez guys don't get your panties in a bunch! He said he couldn't go anyway." I was getting really irritated with them getting all freaked out about the Cullens.
"It's just as well too. The Cullens don't come here." Sam said with a deadly serious tone in his voice.
O-k this is weird. It seems like they don't care too much for the Cullens. I was going to have to ask them about that later. But right now, we came here for surfing. Everyone was having a blast, this was my first time surfing and I freakin love it! I had some trouble staying on the board the first couple of times, but I got the hang of it. After probably a half an hour of surfing, I decided to take a break and ask about the Cullens. Embry, Sam, and Quil left and it was just Jake and Leah.
"Hey guys, where are the others?"
"They had to go home. It's their turn to be on watch back at the reservation." Leah replied.
"Oh ok. I have some questions to ask you."
"Ok. We're listening." Jake replied as the three of us started walking.
"Alrighty. What did Sam mean when he said 'the Cullens don't come here'?"
Jake then proceeded to tell me about the Quileute legends about the 'Cold Ones'. Apparently his great-grandfather knew some of them, and made a treaty to keep them off the Quileutes' land. His great-grandfather saw a few of them hunting in Quileute territory. But they were different from others of their kind; they hunted different from them so they weren't dangerous to the tribe. So the truce was made to keep the Cold Ones off the territory.
"But I don't understand. If they're not dangerous, then why make the treaty?"
"There's always a risk for humans to be around the Cold Ones, even if they are civilized like our clan was. You never know when they might get too hungry to resist." Leah replied.
"'Civilized'?" I asked.
"They claimed they didn't hunt humans. They were supposedly somehow able to prey on animals instead." Jake informed me.
"I still don't get it, what do the Cullens have to do with this? Are you saying they are like the Cold Ones your great-grandfather saw?"
"No. I'm saying they are the same ones."
"Say what?" I asked, shocked.
"You heard me. There are more of them now, a male and a female."
"When you say 'Cold Ones' and 'hunt animals instead of humans', what exactly do you mean by that?"
"They're blood drinkers." Leah replied with disdain in her voice.
"Like vampires?"
"Exactly." Jake replied.
"Whoa. That's trippy. But I thought the Cullens just moved here."
"Or they just moved back." Jake and Leah said at the same time.
After our interesting little chat, I had to say bye to Jake and Leah since it was getting late and cold. I gave each of them a big hug Goodbye.
"It was nice seeing you guys again." I told them.
"Yeah it was fun. Don't forget, we still have to have Repo night at your house." Leah replied.
"Oh don't worry we'll definitely do it. Maybe some time this week?"
"Yeah totally, just give us a call and we'll be there." Jake said.
I drove Jess and Angie home, and then I drove home with a lot on my mind. I spent all of Sunday researching the Cold Ones. I told Aunt Hope about what Jake and Leah told me about the Cullens and the Cold Ones. She didn't seem too worried. She said that if they really aren't dangerous then it's nothing to worry about. She's always optimistic like that.
I found a lot of legends about the Cold Ones on good ol' Google. They were exactly what Jake told me about. I also saw the characteristics the cold ones have. Freezing pale white skin, never come out in the sunlight, never eat human food, they drink blood, and they live forever. I was remembering all of the strange things about Edward and the Cullens. They were all so pale, I never saw them eat. Edward wouldn't even eat at the restaurant. They all have the same eye color but are not blood related, Edward's eyes would be black one minute then golden brown the next. I remember the cold touch of Edward's hand. I remember the day he first saved me; he was so fast and was able to fight off the Four single-handedly.
I closed my eyes and I can see myself. I'm lying on a bed, candles surrounding the room. I'm wearing a night gown and Edward is laying on top of me. He bites into my neck and I can feel the blood leaving my body. My eyes shoot open and I just sit there in shock. Jake was right! The Cullens are vampires! And I'm in love with a vampire. I have to talk to him. He has to know that I know, and he has to know the truth about me. With that, I fell into an uneasy sleep.
The Next Morning - Monday
I woke up nervous as hell. I couldn't believe what I found out last night. But most of all, I'm afraid of what he will think of me. I know he's been suspicious about me as well as I am about him. What will he think when I tell him what I am? Will he hate me? Will he want to kill me? Will he still want me? I took a quick shower and then dried myself off and got dressed. I skipped breakfast and rushed to school in hopes of seeing him before school started.
I parked in my space and got out of my car, not bothering with my backpack. I wouldn't need it. I stood outside waiting for him. I saw his car pulling in into his space. His family parked their cars and left for class. Edward got out of his car and saw me looking at him. I think he could tell by the look on my face that I needed to talk to him. I started walking towards him, my eyes never leaving his. I walked past him and headed towards the forest. I didn't have to turn around to know that he was following me. We walked until we were deep into the forest and I stopped walking. I broke the silence and just cut to the chase.
"You're exceedingly fast. And strong. Your skin is pale white and ice cold."
I could hear him walking closer to me as I continued.
"I've never seen you eat anything. Your eyes change color. You say you can hear what people are thinking. Sometimes the way you speak, it sound like you're from a different time. You never come out in the sunlight. How old are you?"
"Seventeen." he softly replied from directly behind me.
"How long have you been seventeen?"
"A while."
"I know what you are."
"Say it. Out loud. Say it." he demanded softly but sternly.
"Vampire."
"Are you afraid?"
I turned around to face him with determination on my face. I confidently replied.
"No."
"You should be."
At that, he grabbed my arm and started walking.
"Where are we going?"
"To show you what we look like in the sunlight."
We walked until he suddenly lifted me onto his back and started running up the mountain. And he was running fucking fast! Faster than anything I have ever seen. He ran until we were high up the mountain and away from the cloud bank. He put me down and walked towards the sun light, unbuttoning his shirt.
"We can't be out in the sunlight. People would know that we're different."
He turned to me and what I saw was mesmerizing. His skin was sparkling like millions of diamonds.
"This is what I am."
I was mentally drooling when I saw his naked chest through his unbuttoned shirt.
"Oh my god, you're beautiful." I told him honestly.
He just gave me a dark chuckle.
"Beautiful? This is the skin of a killer, Vivian. I'm a monster."
"No you're not."
He looked at me with anger in his eyes and walked toward me as he buttoned up his shirt.
"You don't know what you're talking about. Everything about me lures you in. My face, my voice, even my smell. As if I need any of that."
He then ran lightening speed over to a tree that was 30 ft away.
"As if you can outrun me!" he yelled.
He then appeared right next to me.
"As if you can fight me off."
He kicked down the nearest tree and threw it like it was a baseball. If he thinks all of this frightens me then he's in for a rude awakening.
"May I talk now?" I asked, unfazed by his behavior.
He just looked at me.
"You're not a monster Edward. You know why? Because I am the monster. Admit it, you've been suspicious about me as well as I've been about you. Do you want to know how I survived that jump back at school? Or how I got to the forest so fast?"
He kept looking at me, but I can tell he wants to know.
"Well I'm going to show you."
I started taking off my clothes. Edward looked very surprised.
"What are you doing?!" he asked me.
"It's easier to already be naked and put my clothes back on than have them disappear afterwards. You don't mind holding these for me do you? Thanks."
I gave him my clothes to hold without letting him answer. I was standing in my bra and panties.
"I'll explain everything. Just give me a chance before you pass judgment. Try to keep up."
At that, I started running at the same speed he ran, only faster. I can hear him running behind me, trying to keep up. When we were almost to the open field where Edward took me to the sunlight, I motioned for Edward to run around me so he can see from the front. He came out in the open and then I jumped up in the air. My arms and legs were extended and I can feel the change coming. My body stared to glow, my eyes turned gold. I landed on the ground, this time on four paws as a white wolf.
Edward was speechless and in awe at what just happened. I started walking towards him; I rolled on my back to bare my throat and my belly to show I meant no harm. I thought Edward would try to hurt me or want to get away from me, but to my surprise, he rubbed my belly. I licked his hand to show my affection. I can't believe he's not disgusted with me. I thought he would hate me for sure. But then again I guess he thought I would be afraid of him since he's a vampire.
My body glowed as I changed back into my human form. This time I was fully naked. That's the only thing that sucked about changing into a wolf and back into a human, my clothes always disappear. I don't know why but it happens all the time.
Edward tried not to look at my body when he gave me my clothes. I thought I'd spare him the shyness and get dressed behind a tree. I came back out and sat next to him.
"So, now I know what you are, and you know what I am." I said.
"Yes. That actually explains a lot. So are you from the Quileute tribe?"
"No. Far from it. I am a different breed of werewolf. I am loup-garoux. My kind is based in Bucharest, Romania. Centuries ago, the loup-garoux were like Gods. There's a church in Bucharest where the loup-garoux were worshipped, but then humans decided to hunt us down. There's still a whole pack of loup-garoux back there."
"Then why aren't you there anymore?"
"It's a long story."
"We have time."
"Ok, but after I tell you my story, you have to tell me yours."
"Deal."
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A/N: So? What did you guys think? I'm working on the next chapter as we speak, but I might post it tomorrow. I hope this chapter reached your expectations, I worked really hard on it and I did my best. BTW I was listening to this great song Stripped by Shiny Toy Guns, it's from the Blood & Chocolate soundtrack and I think it's perfect for when Vivian sees Edward at school just as they start walking into the forest. Probably not the lyrics but the music is perfect! The song is in one of the B&C videos on my profile, I think it's the first one. So I totally recommend listening to it :-) Oh and another thing, I'm a little stuck on something. I want your thoughts on it, what should I do about Ulf and the boys? What should happen with them in the story? I keep having this nagging thought in my head that maybe James, Victoria, and Laurent kill the Four on a hunt and James goes after Vivian like he did Bella. But I don't know if I should do that. Should I even have the Nomads in the story? Please tell me what you think should happen, and PLEASE REVIEW!!! Thank you :-)