Chapter 9

APOV

The comforting warmth of the morning sun cascaded down on me, bringing me out of my intoxicated sleep. I sat up and slid open my eyes, only to completely regret doing so. The brightness of the light caused my head to throb and my body to subconsciously throw itself back against the bed.

"Oh good god…" I groaned, as I slowly started waking up and the nausea quickly became apparent. Realizing I needed to wake up at some point, I opened my eyes again. I looked around me, noticing I wasn't in my own room. What happened last night?

"What the hell?" I scoured my brain for information on what happened, but I couldn't remember. Sighing, I started to get out of bed only to be greeted with a dull ache from midway through my thighs to the top of my hips. I moved the comforter off of me to see that I wasn't wearing any clothing. It took only a few seconds of confusion to realize what happened. A silent tear escaped my eye and slid down my cheek. Losing your virginity was supposed to be a big deal, right? It killed me that I didn't remember any of it. I looked around the room again, trying to push my feelings down. Figuring I was in Quil's room due to his backpack unzipped and torn through on the floor, I started to wonder where he was. Guessing that he went to the kitchen, I walked towards the bathroom to take a shower.

The moment the hot water touched my skin I felt much better. My muscles relaxed, the pattering of the water against the shower floor calming my mind for a moment. I stopped midway through shampooing my hair with Quil's shampoo and dropped my arms to my sides. I just lost my virginity. I didn't even remember what happened. I lost my virginity to Quil. More tears started to flow down my face as I slumped down to the ground, the reality of the situation dawning on me. Did he wear a condom? I felt so dumb and reckless. I had barely gone to second base with a guy, and I just give it up in one night to someone who isn't my boyfriend? Not only did I act recklessly, I didn't even remember how it had happened. I closed my eyes, pleading for the regret to stop bubbling in my chest.

"You're so beautiful Alice"

"Oh god, Alice, so amazing"

Although I couldn't remember exactly what had happened, those two phrases suddenly slipped through my intoxicated mind and claimed a spot in my memories. I kept trying to concentrate, trying to will myself to remember any part of last night. I remembered Bella getting upset at me yesterday because I told Quil what had happened between Jacob and her. After that I remember Edward saying he was leaving for the night to go help his brother. Then…the Jose. I quickly finished shampooing my hair and rinsed, hopping out of the shower. I grabbed a fresh towel on the counter and went into Quil's room to search for the tequila. I came across the bottle, finding it empty.

"Holy shit, we drank it all?" I was flabbergasted. I didn't hold my liquor that well. I sat back down on the bed, more flashbacks coming at me.

Quil told me I was better at being ghetto than he was. I kissed him.

I had initiated everything. I shook my head like I was trying to etch-a-sketch the whole night from even my diluted memories. Getting up from the bed, I walked to the door stopping to take one more look around the room. I started walking towards my room, remembering Bella was in there. I knocked on the door lightly, hoping I wasn't waking her.

"Bella? Look Bells, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have told Quil, but he wanted to know why Jake just got up and left us stranded. There's no excuse for disobeying your trust, but it's the best reason I have." I heard light movement in the room. A sigh escaped from behind the door as it was unlocked and opened. I stared at Bella for a moment, her eyes surrounded by purple circles from lack of sleep.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry," I moved quickly towards her throwing my arms around her. After a few seconds her arms gradually went around me, reciprocating the hug. She backed away rather quickly and I gave her a questioning look.

"I do forgive you Alice, but shouldn't you put some clothes on?" I looked down and realized I'd forgotten I was just in a towel. I giggled and ran into the room towards the armoire. I pulled out a pair of pants and found a shirt. I slipped into some underwear and a bra and put the rest of my clothes on and met Bella back in the room.

"Look, I have something to tell you…" Bella turned around to face me and as I looked up from the ground, a slight hint on concern laced in her stare.

"What's wrong Al? What happened?" A tear slipped down my face as I summed up the courage to tell her what happened. I looked into her eyes and received the courage tenfold.

"I had sex with Quil." The silence in the room was deafening. She just stared at me for a long moment, wondering when I was going to laugh and spout out "JUST KIDDING!". When it didn't show, her eyes went wide and her head turned away.

"Are you serious? You lost your virginity to Quil?" She got up off the bed and came towards me. She had an incredulous look on her face, her eyes lost in the shock of what I told her.

"I know. I don't know what happened."

"But you- you hate Quil."

"I know, Bella."

"You think he's horribly immature, and whenever he makes a sexual advance towards you, you get that grossed out, Im-going-to-vomit-watch-out look."

"You don't think I know that Bella?" I ran my hands through my hair, realizing I had started to pace back and forth.

"How- Well not HOW- but, why did this happen?"

I took a deep breath before I started to reason with my stupid mistake. "Well, I was upset because of our fight, so I may or may not have gotten completely blitzed off of Jose Cuervo and I may or may not have almost literally no memory of what happened after I took a couple swigs off the bottle."

"Hoooooly shit. You- You don't remember having sex? Then how do you know you did?"

"Well, I woke up naked with horribly sore upper thighs, hips, and vag. I'm pretty sure I had sex." The reminder of the pain brought it back slightly, making me rub my inner thighs. Bella cleared the space between us and brought me in for a big hug.

"I'm so sorry! Oh Al, I'm sorry it had to happen that way."

"It's ok, I think. I mean, it definitely wasn't the way I had planned it, but when does it ever go that way, right? I just wish I could remember at all, the important stuff though. Like, did he wear a condom? Did he enjoy it? Was it HIS first time?"

Bella rubbed my arm gently, giving me her slightly motherly smile, "Well, the only person who can answer those questions is Quil. Why didn't you ask him when you woke up?"

"He wasn't there when I woke up." When I said it out loud I realized how messed up that was. I'd just lost my virginity and woke up alone, hung over, and scared. Suddenly I was extremely mad at him.

"Are you serious? Are you sure he didn't just leave for a moment? Quil's a special kind of special, but he isn't a douche."

I shrugged and nodded. "Maybe he went to the kitchen, but I dunno. I was a while in the shower, and he still didn't come back."

"Maybe he's eating in the kitchen, I mean, with his appetite and all. Let's go check it out." Bella and I proceeded towards the kitchen only to find it empty. We searched all of the areas we've been in before, and looked outside. Coming back into the kitchen, a weird current traveling in the air. Where could he be? The front door slammed, making us both jump up and we ran towards it.

"Quil?" we both shouted at the same time, only to run into Edward.

"Ah, no, sorry to disappoint." Edward sheepishly smiled at us. Bella giggled in a weird way I'd never heard her giggle, and I rolled my eyes. Figures. Of course she'd swoon over the extremely creepy innkeeper in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania. It was so like Bella to dive head first into destruction. I shook my head, remembering more important events transpiring.

"Have you seen Quil?"

"No, sorry, I just got home from Emmett's. Is he missing too?" Edward shot me a confused yet worried look.

"Well, I haven't seen him all morning and…certain things happened last night, and I really need to talk to him. I tried to find him, but no such luck. It's like he vanished."

Edward chuckled nervously and shook his head, "Well, he couldn't have just disappeared. Why don't we all split up and take a floor to search. I'll take the third, Bella can take the second, and you can take the first."

I nodded and headed back towards the kitchen.

BPOV

I watched as Edward walked up to the third floor. He seemed a little more anxious than normal. Something was up with him and I just wished he would tell me what. I couldn't even begin to fathom the connection that I felt with him. I felt like a schoolgirl with a crush on her professor. Pathetic Bella. Jake's been gone a couple of days and what, I move on to the next closest thing.

I followed Edward up the stairs but stopped on the second floor. The house was quiet, too quiet and I began humming to myself, trying to distract myself from the oddities that had occurred since we got here. I peeked briefly into the room Quil had occupied, nothing. Jake's room was empty as well and I realized I could say that without wanting to cry. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts as I walked into another guest bedroom.

This was ridiculous. Quil would never hide from us, especially after the whole Jake fiasco and definitely not after what happened with Alice. Gosh, I still couldn't wrap my head around that. To say I was shocked was an understatement. But then again, this whole trip was nothing what I expected it to be.

A hand tapped on my shoulder and I jumped a foot in the air. I spun around, clutching my chest and found Edward.

"Shoot! Oh my God, Edward! You scared me!"

A small smile played on his lips, "Sorry, I didn't mean to. Have you found anything?"

I looked down, shaking my head, "No, I haven't found any trace of him anywhere. It is like he just vanished. I mean, we all knew Jacob left. All of his stuff was gone. Quil, on the other hand, has completely taken over one of your guest rooms with all of his stuff. Weirdly, he only brought a backpack. We always thought his backpack was a lot like Mary Poppin's magical purse. And I'm rambling, aren't I?"

His eyes roamed over my face before settling on my neck, "Where's your necklace?"

My hand flew up to my neck, "Oh, I guess I forgot to put it on. It's really uncomfortable to sleep in, so I've been taking it off at night."

Edward shifted slightly, his eyes never moving up, "So, when did you get it?"

"I actually got it as a graduation present, so only about a week ago. My mom gave it to me; supposedly it's been in my family for generations." I was confused as to why he was suddenly so interested in my necklace.

"Well, it's beautiful. It makes your eyes glow."

I felt my cheeks flush at his compliment and then I felt his hand on my cheek. Very slowly it moved down, leaving a burning trail to my jaw. My eyes fell to his hand as his fingers ghosted over my lips before settling on the opposite cheek. Without thinking I turned into his palm and laid a whisper of a kiss. Summoning all my courage, I forced myself to meet his eyes. The green had darkened, not to the black I had seen earlier, more like a forest green at twilight, his lids heavy. He gently pulled me against him, our bodies flush against one another. He was so gorgeous, perfect, like he was molded out of the vision of an angel. I didn't deserve him, but God, did I want him. Torturously slow, his lips met mine.

My brain was trying to process a million thoughts a minute, yet the moment his lips touched mine everything went blank. I couldn't concentrate on anything but how soft his lips were, and how good he tasted. I couldn't even place it; all I knew is that I could never have enough of it. He pulled away slightly and I didn't want it to end. I don't know what came over me as I basically jumped on him and attacked his lips. Shocked for only a moment, he quickly caught on and kissed me back with earnest. I ran my hands up his shoulders and neck to his hair, touching its delicate disarray. Suddenly I felt his tongue push against my lips and my mouth gladly invited him in. His hands eagerly caressed my hair, pulling slightly. A moan escaped my lips, causing him to gasp. Walking towards the bed, he gently lowered us, practically pinning me under him. I could feel him against my thigh and my lower body reacted.

I knew we should stop, that this was too soon, but it was like my body and my mind were disconnected, neither wanting to help the other out.

As his hand started to roam down my stomach the doorbell rang. Ignoring it, he touched my inner thigh and slowly started moving it up. Instantly shying away from something so intimate, I stopped kissing him, making him pull away.

"What's wrong love?"

"Edward, someone's at the door." He rolled over, taking a deep breath. He smiled at me, and put one finger up. Curious, I followed him to the beginning of the staircase towards the first floor where I could see the door. While he made his way to the front door, I saw Alice. I motioned for her with my hand, making her climb the stairs two at a time. We hid behind a wall, wanting to see who was here.

Edward opened the door and through the crack I could see what appeared to be a police officer. Alice tapped on my shoulder to get my attention. I shrugged her off trying to hear what they were talking about but they were too far.

"He looks like Joey Lawrence," Alice whispered in my ear and I had to clap my hand over my mouth to stifle my giggles because the officer did look like Joey Lawrence.

Edward's head whipped around and his eyes found mine. I gasped at the expression I found there. Fear. Pain. Alice tugged on my arm this time and I reluctantly gave in, following her back to her room. She shut the door behind her and leaned against it while I perched on her bed.

My mind finally started catching up with what had just happened. There was an officer here. We had two people missing. I knew these were important issues and we should probably go downstairs and talk to the officer but I couldn't move. I had just made out with Edward. I was still with Jacob. Even after what he did, I still thought of us as together. I had just cheated on him. The word cheater echoed in my head over and over again, causing my chest to constrict. I started breathing weirdly.

"Bella! What's wrong?" Alice was by my side instantly.

I drew my legs up to my chest, "I cheated on Jacob with Edward. I just made out with Edward."

"WHAT?"

EPOV

Who the fuck would be coming to the door right now? If it's Emmett, I swear to god I'm going to kill him…

I opened the door to see a man standing on the porch with his back to me. He seemed to be average height and average weight. A few seconds after I opened the door he turned to face me. I panicked the moment I saw his badge. Jasper. I tried to keep calm as well as I could, acting like the perfect citizen but I felt it stirring.

"Good evening Officer. How may I be of service?"

He grabbed the tip of his hat and moved it on his head very slightly. His hand slid down his face towards his light stubble as his short fingertips scratched.

"I'm Officer Crowley. I got a call at the break of dawn reporting a missing person."

I felt my stomach clench. Missing person. Breathe, Edward. I heard a noise behind me and turned to find Bella and Alice crouched at the top of the staircase. Bella's eyes widened when they met mine and she allowed Alice to pull her down the hall.

"Mind if I look around?" The cop asked wasting no time with my answer and pushing past me towards the foyer. "Caller says the missing person is a guest at your inn? Tell me, do you have any missing guests?"

I could feel sweat starting to form as I tried to keep my composure. "Um, I had a guest leave in the middle of the night with no indication of why he left, but other than that, no."

The cop kept rummaging around the first floor, looking in every room; obviously, if I was a killer, I'd leave the corpse in the kitchen for my other guests to see. My heart started beating a little quicker when he hit the stairs. Is he going to look through the entire house? As we walked down the long corridors of my second floor, I could hear faint whispers behind Alice's door. The magnetic pull Bella has practically dragged me into the door, my body and mind wishing with all my might that this stupid cop would've never came in the first place and I'd be with her. I could still feel the electric kisses she laid on my lips, sending shockwaves through my entire being.

In my daydreaming I hadn't realized that the cop had started to go up the stairs towards the 3rd floor.

Shit.

"Don't- Don't go up there!" I shouted towards him as he ascended up the stairs.

"Why? Is this where you're keeping him hidden? Young man, stay down there. I'm going to check around up here." The officer held his hand up to me like I was a dog, commanding me to stay in my position. All of Bella's magic left my body the moment I heard the creaking of the floorboards upstairs. I slumped to the floor in defeat, knowing what was coming next.

UNKNOWN POV

His grasp was thin, wires frayed at the ends, splintering. It wouldn't be long now, not with the other presence that was within the house. I could feel it every minute, a low vibrating hum in the back of my mind, each day growing louder and louder. He hasn't had the nerve to deal with it yet, but I knew he was as aware of it as I was. Did he think this could help him? Did he think this would rid him of me? Did he think I would let him? The humming began again; louder still and I felt something move inside of me, almost a tearing, like I was being torn apart. I staggered.

NO!

I reached out, my hands grasping the closest thing within reach. It was dust at my feet in seconds, whatever it had been. This would end tonight.

A noise sounded in front of me. With each soft creaking of the floorboards under this newcomers worn shoes, my hunger intensified tenfold. Another one. My third in as many days. The smell, mouthwatering…purely human. I let out a low growl and felt him hesitate.

"This is Officer Crowley. Please identify yourself." His voice rang out, confident, strong.

This one would taste good.

I stalked up behind the retreating figure becoming his personal shadow. Where he stepped, I stepped. His shoulders stiffened slightly as if he felt my presence, but he never turned around. Slowly, the human reached towards his hip. He pulled something out of a case; it was shiny, reflecting off the mirror beside me. I sniffed. It was bitter, not too potent. I was intrigued as to what this human was clinging too. Without warning he flung himself around and stood before me in a wide stance, his arms out in front of him holding that intriguing object. His eyes went wide at the sight of me.

I cocked my head to the side. Was this a weapon of sorts? Did he think this would save him? I noticed his mouth was moving, but I wasn't listening. I was too busy watching, waiting.

"Don't fucking move or I'll shoot."

Shoot?

I laughed and I saw him wince at the sound. As I took a step forward I heard a soft click as the human pulled something back on top of his weapon. I walked forward. My eye zoned in on his finger as it began to put pressure on what I assumed was the trigger.

"Fuck you."

That was all he was able to get out as I raised my hand and in mere seconds had him lying on the floor, his 'weapon' on the other side of the room. I crouched over him, breathing in the scent of his blood as it pooled out from the wound at his side. I reached down, dipping my fingers in the gash. His eyes were wide as I lifted my hand to my mouth and tasted him.

"What are you?" he rasped out.

I smiled as I lowered myself to him.

A/N: I am loving all the theories, please keep them coming. The revelation of the "monster" will be known VERY soon!