Disclaimer: I do not claim to own the Cullen House. It belongs to Stephanie Meyer, and i'm only borrowing it
I wasn't sure where exactly I was, but I'd come across a hiking trail so I'd slowed to human pace. I could hear someone walking it, so I went behind the trees on the side of the path. I could smell him, and it burned my throat. I hadn't hunted since I'd Dorothy's house. Regret filled me. How could I not hunt? What will happen? What if I can't control myself? No, I wasn't going to lose control, I can't lose control.
I closed my eyes and stopped breathing, hiding behind a tree. I could hear his heartbeat and his footsteps. I was gripping a branch and it snapped suddenly. The footsteps faded, but the heartbeat was still there. When the branch snapped, I gasped and the sweet aroma filled my airway. Suddenly I couldn't control anything. I came out from behind the tree, the smell was too much. It was stronger than anyone I'd ever smelt before. I crouched, ready to attack. No, no, no! Stop! Stop it! I screamed at myself, but my body wouldn't listen. It was a man. He stared at me. He seemed to sense something was wrong, because he started running. That was a bad move. I sprang forward, and missed him by inches. I ran towards him, catching up in seconds. I jumped on him, and sunk my teeth into his neck. He screamed in agony, but I didn't let him go. His warm blood cooled my burning throat. When I'd drained the life from him, I dropped his body.
What have I done?! I killed someone! I'm a monster. A shiver that had nothing to do with cold ran through my body. I backed away slowly; I picked up my bag and ran into the woods. I found a cave and curled into a ball. I had to rest before moving on, what if I met another human? I shuttered at the thought. I deserve to die, I'm a monster! I sighed, can vampires die? How could I possible ride myself of this world? I don't deserve to be here, if I can't control myself.
~~0~~
At dawn, I decided it was safe to get up. I stood, listening for any sign of a human. I heard nothing, so picked up my bag, and found my way through the forest. I checked my map; I determined I wasn't quite to forks yet. I wondered around for awhile, looking for something to identify where I was.
I found a road eventually, and followed it from behind the trees. I'd been following the road for an hour, when I saw a sign that said: 'The city of Forks welcome's you'
I stopped; I couldn't go into town quite yet, not when I just attacked a human. I turned and walked deep into the forest. I looked down at my blood soaked clothes, this was the last pair of clean clothes I had. I definitely had to find something to wash them in before going into town.
I saw an old tree that had fallen to the ground; I went over and sat down.
What was I going to do now? I suddenly realized I didn't have a plan for after I got here. I wonder if the burning will ever cool down any, or it will always be this bad? I just sat there, thinking about what to do.
Suddenly, I heard something, like someone was running. I smelt blood too, but it was strangely strong, like the animal was hurt or bleeding.
I got up and followed the smell. I had been walking for a few minutes when saw something. I stopped cold. There was a girl, about my age leaning over a dead deer. The girl looked a little petite, but wasn't too much shorter than me. She had black hair that stopped just above her shoulders. I couldn't tell what her face looked like, because her back was facing me. The only blood I smelt was the deer's so, was she the same as me? I took a step forward, and a twig snapped under my foot. The girl spun around so fast that to a human, they wouldn't even have seen it. I, however, did see it.
We stared at each other. The girl had pale white, marble-looking skin. She had almond shaped, Carmel-colored eyes, a small nose, and thin lips. She had a fierceness about her which made me want to stay off her bad side.
Suddenly, her face lit up into a smile.
"I've been waiting for you" She said cheerfully in a voice like chimes.
I frowned, "Excuse me?"
"I saw you coming, and I've been waiting for you."
"Saw me?!" I asked, confused.
She seemed to sense I didn't know what she was talking about, because she smiled apologetically.
"Sorry, of course you don't know." She said, talking more to herself than me.
"I can see the future." She explained, smiling at me.
"Oh, so, you mean we have special powers?" I asked, amazed.
How come I couldn't do anything?
"Well, no, not really. Only a few of us can."
"Oh" I said.
So that's why.
"I'm Remi Jones." She said, "What's your name?"
"I'm Reagan Taylor" I said, starting to warm up to her.
She grinned, "Cool."
"So are you just visiting? Or where you planning to stay? Because my family is sort of a permanent residency at the moment." She said.
"Oh, well if you don't want me here, I could leave….." I said.
"Well, I'll have to talk to Kevin and Julie. Would you like to meet them?"
"Uh, sure." I said.
We were both silent for a few seconds.
"How come you were drinking animal blood?" I asked curiously.
"Me and my family are sort of, vegetarian, I guess you could call it. We don't believe in killing humans." She said.
So I wasn't the only one?
"Really?" I asked, my surprise sounding in my voice.
She just nodded.
"Well, I'm sort of the same" I said sheepishly.
Now Remi looked surprised.
"Seriously?"
"Yes" I said.
"But your eyes, they're…." She trailed off absentmindedly.
I just stood there, looking at her.
"You're a new-born?" She asked.
"If that's what you call a new vampire, then yes." I said.
"And you chose to drink animal blood all on your own?" She asked.
"Yes" I said, nervous for some reason.
Her face lit up in a smile, "That's brilliant! Kevin's got to know about this!"
Before I could say or do anything, Remi grabbed my arm and pulled me with her. She ran through the forest, pulling me along. We jumped over a river, and then stopped in front of a huge house.
The house was beautiful. There were six primordial cedars that shared an entire acre with their vast sweeping branches. The trees held their protective shadow right up to the walls of the house that rose among them, making obsolete the deep porch that wrapped around the first story. The house was timeless, graceful, and probably a hundred years old. It was painted a soft, faded white, three stories tall, rectangular, and well proportioned. The windows and doors were either part of the original structure, or a perfect restoration.
"Wow" I said, "It's so beautiful!"
Remi grinned, "Wait till you see the inside."
She led me through the front door and stopped to let me take it all in.
She was right; it was even more beautiful than the outside. It was much less predictable, also. It was very bright, very open and very large. The living room must have originally been several rooms, but the walls had been removed from the first floor to create one wide space. The back, south facing wall had been entirely replaced with glass, and beyond the shade of the cedars, the lawn stretched to the bare river. The same one we'd just crossed, only form a different spot. A massive, curving staircase dominated the west side of the room. The walls, high-beamed ceiling, the wooden floors, and think carpets were all a varying shade of white. To the left of the door on a raised platform, stood a beautiful, black grand piano.
"Stay right here." Remi said.
I opened my mouth to protest, but she disappeared up the staircase. She returned seconds later with a pile of clothes in her arms.
She handed them to me, "Here, put these on you could use some clean clothes."
"I can't take those, I don't even know you" I protested.
What was it about random strangers giving me things? Did I look desperate?
"If you don't put these clothes on, I'll do it for you!" She threatened, shoving the clothes into my hands.
I sighed, and mumbled thanks.
"You can change in there" She said, directing me towards a bathroom.
I went into the bathroom and set the clothes on the counter.
I unfolded the shirt. It was a green, long-sleeved, turtle-neck. It took off my old shirt and put on the new one. The pants where just a pair of jeans. The clothes actually fit really well, for belonging to someone else. There was no way these belonged to Remi, so I assumed there was at least one other girl vampire in the house. When I was done changing, I came back out and joined Remi.
"Perfect!" She declared.
"Now all we have to do is find Kevin!" She said happily.