Wow...I was the one making you guys wait...

Sorry for making you guys wait for so long-I wasn't expecting that downpour of reviews! If only I could get the same progress out of my other stories…sort of makes me sad. Don't you guys like any of my other stories? (sniff)

Anyway, on with the show!

Appeal of the Forbidden

By: Lucas McDrake

Chapter 2-Proof

I scowled at him. "Just because I'm little doesn't mean I don't know big things. Tell the truth."

He laughed at me. I just kept glaring. He stated, "I am."

"Oh, yeah. Sure. Get in your coffin," I offered.

His booming laugh made me fall off the bed. Before I hit the floor, I was suddenly in his arms.

"What happened?" I asked. I swore that I was just falling-why didn't I hit the floor?

"I caught you," he said, as if it should have been obvious.

"I didn't see you catch me," I mumbled.

"That's because I used my speed," he explained.

"But-but," I tried to find proof he wasn't a vampire.

I came up blank.

"Convinced yet?" he asked, smiling in triumph.

"Yeah," I mumbled. I didn't exactly like things to be rubbed in my face.

"So, now can you tell us why you were all alone in the jungle?" he asked.

"Why not?" I started.

I explained to him that my parents were explorers, and brought me along for their trip a month ago to the South American jungle. The helicopter had crashed along the way, though, killing my parents, but sparing me.

"That's about it," I finished.

It was super silent. I looked up to see that he was shocked to hear about this.

"Where did you live?" he asked as he recovered.

"Colorado," I replied.

"Does anyone else know that you were stranded in the jungle?" he asked, a smile threatening at the corners of his lips.

"No," I replied, getting suspicious. "Why?"

"Want to be adopted?" he asked.

I didn't exactly want to be sent to an orphanage. "Sort of," was all I said. "First, I'd like to know your names."

Out of the blue, I was sitting on the couch, all alone in the room. Wind was rushing past me. Was that a vampire type thing?

I wasn't alone for long. Suddenly, there were six other people-vampires?-in the room.

There was a pixie-like girl with black, spiky hair, a devastatingly beautiful blond woman, another blond man, a maternal woman that stood close to the first blond man I had seen today, and the black-haired guy. All of them had different shades of gold eyes.

The black-haired guy pointed at the spiky-black-haired girl, and said, "Alice."

Then, he pointed at the second blond guy, and stated, "Jasper."

He moved from one to another, telling me their names as he pointed at them. "Rosalie." He said her name like it alone was a jewel as he pointed at the painfully beautiful woman. "Carlisle." That was the first blond I had seen today. "Esme." The woman standing beside Carlisle-who looked naturally maternal.

Lastly, he introduced himself. "And I'm Emmett."

I liked his name the best. It fit him so well for some reason.

Emmett broke me out of my reverie. "Want to be one of us?"

I stared at him, and I realized the double meaning in his words-to be adopted, and become a vampire.

"Can I stay human?" I asked.

This seemed to disturb most of them. Their mouths started moving with blurring speed, but I didn't hear a single noise.

Finally, Carlisle said, "I guess we could take you in until we find some of your relatives."

This upset me. "Why can't you just adopt me?"

Carlisle sighed. "We vampires have something like a royal family. They don't exactly rule over us. They just keep our one law unbroken."

"What's your one law?" I asked.

Carlisle hesitated. Rosalie was the one to respond, with acid in her voice. "To keep ourselves a secret."

Her tone made me feel unwelcome. I cringed. Maybe that was what she meant to do-make me feel unwelcome with the likes of them.

"You don't need to be afraid," Alice reassured me, while glaring at Rosalie.

I hesitated, observing Rosalie, before asking, "If that's the case, then why did you tell me?"

Carlisle explained, "You saw too much. I'm surprised you didn't believe Emmett when he told you."

I remembered mine and Emmett's first encounter. "What was Emmett doing?"

"I was hunting," Emmett replied for Carlisle. Emmett smiled at me. "How you stopped your heart from beating, I'll never know. That's the only reason why you're alive."

My instinct had actually saved me? How odd.

"Why were you hunting?" I asked, confused now that I knew what he had been doing. "Don't you drink human blood?"

Emmett chuckled before explaining, "We're vegetarians!"

His booming laugh was the only sound in the room. Rosalie and Jasper were glaring at him, while I just became more bewildered.

Once his booming laugh faded, I urged, "Mind an explanation?"

He looked around the room until he realized his faux pas.

"Oh, yeah," he chuckled. "We suck animal blood."

So that's what he was doing with the boar. "Don't vampires suck human blood?"

"Some of us," Emmett explained. "Animal blood is an alternative. It's less appealing, but it still serves it's purpose-to lessen our thirst."

I was shocked. "So I'm appealing?"

"Well, yes," he admitted, smiling widely despite the two vampires shooting daggers in his back. "It would be almost impossible for most of us to resist drinking your blood if it was exposed."

I noticed that Rosalie was still glaring at Emmett. She hissed, "About done giving away our existence?"

Suddenly, all the vampires turned toward the door. A few seconds later, there was an additional vampire in the room.

His black eyes looked dead. His bronze hair was in a messy, yet attractive, disarray, with a lot of foliage in it. His clothes were a mess. There were some tears in his shirt that exposed his chest and back. He was very muscular, but not nearly as Emmett was. His pants were very ragged, as well. The blue in them was very faded.

I was the only one in shock at his appearance. Alice scolded, "Edward. You need Bella. She needs you. Can't you see that?"

The ragged, dead looking vampire-Edward-looked at the pixie girl with deep loathing. "I'd just ruin her life again, Alice. Like I have already done. I couldn't possibly do any more damage than I've already done without coming back."

The dead tone in his voice was very sad. It brought tears to my eyes. "What happened to you?"

Edward looked at me for the first time. A spark of interest lit his eyes for a second, but was washed away by despair. "I'd rather not talk about it."

I was about to argue with him, but his sadness was very inevitable. I sighed. "Who's Bella?"

He cringed when he heard the name. Alice glared at him. He couldn't respond. Alice turned to me, and explained, "He fell in love with Bella." She exaggerated the name for Edward's benefit. It obviously worked, because he cringed away from the word, as if it alone was an onslaught. Alice continued with the story. "She fell in love with him. They were very happy.

"Then, Edward decides, after it was so obvious that he's the only one that can save her," her acid was directed at Edward, "that he shouldn't 'destroy her life' any further. So, he forced us to live miserably here, thousands of miles away from her, where I'd bet anything that she's wallowing in pain, just like WE ARE!" Her voice grew in volume until she was screaming.

Edward had sank to the floor, bowed in despair, before she finished. He looked so...vulnerable. It was sad to see anyone like that.

Carlisle warned, "Alice. Please don't do that to him. It's hard enough for him as it is without being reminded about her."

"HUMANS ARE BREAKABLE!" she cried. "SHE ISN'T GOING TO HEAL OVERNIGHT!" Then she sank to the floor, hollowly sobbing. "And we won't, either."

How sad, I thought. Bella's a human who figured out, too?

Edward cringed at something, as if it had been said aloud. "Yes, she's a human. She found our secret by herself."

He couldn't talk about her any further. I was shocked. He can read my thoughts?

"Yes," he answered again, barely over a whisper.

Jasper started trying to comfort Alice by hugging her. "Oh, Jasper," she whispered, hugging him back. "What would I ever do without you?"

Edward cringed, again, as he saw that sight-obviously reminded of his own love. He disappeared, leaving everyone in a sad state. I myself was left in a state that I didn't want to ask any more questions.

Carlisle seemed to notice me for the first time in a while. "We will adopt you."

Rosalie, who seemed to be the only unaffected person in the room, argued, "No, we will not."

Everyone glared at her, except for Alice, who was still sobbing into Jasper's chest. Carlisle countered calmly, "I guess that settles that, Rosalie. Everyone else has accepted her. So will you."

So...did you like that? Hate it? Somewhere in between? Please tell me all in your reviews. I'll be waiting for 7 more. Please don't keep me waiting.

P.S.-Sorry for not asking permission, Keiran Pudding. I promise I will ask next time (If there is a next time...)

With that, press the 'Go' button, and review my story, please!