Chapter Nine
America was...odd, to say the least.
Zondrea had swam the Atlantic at full speed, not stopping whatsoever. Her clothing had been ruined. The shirt she had been wearing from before she had left was torn from where Caius had tugged on it, and the sea water did not smell pleasant.
She had showered and changed in a local hotel on the west coast, in a city called Baltimore. Zondrea had paid strictly in cash, the money she had taken with her had been sealed tight in a bag so the water would not damage it.
Once she had finally changed in proper clothing, jeans and a lightweight shirt, she had left the hotel, with her bag tightened on her shoulders as she left the city, and the state altogether. She knew the Cullens took residence in Forks, Washington, completely on the other side of the country. She expected to arrive by sunset.
Zondrea mostly stayed out of cities, running through woods and outer limits. Her throat was burning with thirst, another reason she stayed out of the cities. It was bad enough having to smell the scent of hikers that had taken the paths of the woods. She clenched her jaw and kept pushing forward, taking no stops. She was too afraid she might slip up if she did.
But, then again, her mind started to wonder. Maybe she could start of this new 'diet' on her own? It could be easy, all she had to do was hunt animals instead of people, right?
Thinking of fresh, pumping blood drove her long legs to a sudden halt and she instinctvely smelled the air, searching for any blood scent, ears straining to hear a heartbeat, but focusing more on smaller, less strong heartbeats that humans, more of a buzzing noise.
It didn't take her long to find a target.
She could smell it's woody, strong scent that tied into the forest surrounding it. She could hear it's relaxed heartbeat, soft and grazing, very calm, and not expectant of absolutely anything.
Perfect, she thought in deep excitement, jumping in a cat-like way onto a lower branch of pine and gazing into the forest, eyes focusing and unfocusing on certain parts till she found her prey.
It was a big buck, antlers huge and somewhat rotting. The animal must have been older, she could tell by the smell and how it moved in a limping way.
The excitement went down as she realized it wouldn't be much of hunt, but her thirst drove her to still pursue the animal.
Remembering the burning in her throat, she was suddenly rushing the animal, eyes only focused on the creature, limbs moving so fast, feet hardly brushing the forest floor. With exact movements, her teeth sank into the fleshy skin, breaking the jugular with a single bite, blood pooling into her mouth, quenching the burning.
The blood tasted...sour.
Not in a bad sort of way, but in a very different way from how humans tasted so sweet and good. Animals, or at least this one, tasted wild and sort of harsh in her mouth.
But, she drank the body dry, having not fed in days. It was a relief for the burning and throbbing in her throat to calm to a slight tightening every time she breathed in.
Swallowing once more, she dropped the limb body to the ground, wiping excess drops from her mouth with the back of her pale hand. Looking at her skin, she was suddenly hit by how odd it was being outside in daylight, well, she wasn't exactly sure if she'd go so far as to call Forks lighting daylight. She could definitely see why the one coven lived here, there seemed to never be sunlight.
Thinking of the coven she was suddenly reminded of her goal, to find them.
Feeling full enough to hold herself together, Zondrea continued on, careful and cautious as she tried to find a vampire scent or anything similar, it couldn't be that hard in a town this small.
And she was completely right, within less than half an hour she had caught something on the outskirts of the actual town.
It was a dead animal that she had found, freshly bitten into and smelling of the sickly sweet scent of her kind. She smirked in a devious way as she kicked the small body of the doe away and off to the side, red eyes blazing in anticipation.
But, then she heard a loud snap, something definitely not animal.
With quick reflexes, she twisted and jumped, narrowly dodging a hit from the side.
Whipping around she was caught face to face with another and she couldn't help, but slightly gasp in surprise at the person.
It wasn't so much the shocking good-looks of her kind, but really the eyes caught her attention. This ones were a sharp sort of tawny color, instead of the usual red that ran into hers, staining what used to be emerald.
Not only were his eyes a shock, but the boy was big, arms stripped with muscle and face tense as he glared her down, obviously trying to calculate her next move.
"Who are you?" He hissed out, voice deep and menacing, but Zondrea just smiled easily, straightening up and out of her poised position.
"Zondrea Daae," She spoke with ease and in such a precise way, chin high in a proud sort of way, the way she was taught to hold herself by the Volturi.
He rolled his eyes a little bit, but didn't move from his tense position, ready to pounce any moment. "I mean, what are you doing here?"
"Well, you probably should have clarified that in the beginning, hmm." She suggested, her quirky personality pulling through despite the tense situation.
He flexed his bare arms, obviously trying to pull of as a threat. "I'd cut the sarcasm before I decide you're not really amusing anymore." He threatened, tawny eyes narrowing.
"Oh," She smirked even deeper, "You find me amusing?" She couldn't help, but toy with him, it was far too amusing for herself.
"Enough," He growled now, becoming serious and slightly baring white teeth. "Either you tell me what in the world you're doing here, or I tear you apart limb by limb."
"Alright, you can calm down there." Zondrea retaliated, placing one hand on her hip in an annoyed way. "It's not as if I'm here to hurt anyone."
He scoffed, "Your eyes seemed to say different." Then it clicked
That's why his eyes were so odd. He was a Cullen, a 'vegetarian' of a sorts. Eye color had to change with blood consumption. If you drank from humans your eyes ran red, if you used an alternative such as animals, they ran tawny. How peculiar, she thought in amazement.
"Fine then, so be it." The man said with slight excitement as he smirked and sprang, obviously unhappy with her delayed answer.
He may have been very strong, but Zondrea was fast and clever.
She ducked past him, sliding on the damp forest floor and sprang up into a tree, slightly crouched and facing him with a look of wonder. "That was very uncalled for." She glared, he was standing on the ground, head turned skywards towards her.
"Don't be a coward," He grumbled.
"I'm not a coward," She hissed in annoyance, slightly baring her teeth in challenge and gracefully jumping to the ground in front of him. "If you'd give me a moment to explain." She waited for a nod from him and he reluctantly gave one, crossing his arms across his chest.
"As said, my name is Zondrea Daae and I come from a city on the coast of England called Brighton. I heard of your coven from a few nomads," This caused him to raise a suspicious eyebrow.
"What nomads?" He interrupted, mouth slightly twitching in anticipation.
Zondrea rolled her eyes, slightly aggravated that she had to add lie on top of lie. "Just some low life beings that were so wasted away they hardly knew what they were talking about." Without waiting for more questions, she continued. "Anyways, I was alone and getting tired of living the way I did and after hearing about how your kind live, I was interested and curious."
He seemed to consider this, debating whether to trust her or not, and truthfully, if she were in his shoes, she wouldn't trust a stranger like herself.
But, he seemed to be giving her the benefit of the doubt. "Okay, I'll take you to the rest of my family, but try anything sketchy and I'll have you pinned in seconds." He warned, but Zondrea could have sworn she saw the slightest of smiles.
"Of course, and may I ask for your name?" She smirked in a knowing sort of way.
She could tell her was trying not to smile and keep a straight face, but answered in a soft voice. "Emmett," He answered.
She smiled again, dimples showing. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Emmett."