In the Grip of Twilight

By: Olivia Tannis Moore

Chapter Seven: Questions

Edward's bare back was to me when I regained consciousness. He was crouched over the creature that had just attacked me, staring at it as he scrubbed its blood from his muscular chest with what remained of his tattered shirt.

Slowly, I sat up and watched as Edward's head tilted ever so slightly to the side and he listened to me stir. "You alright?" he asked, his voice low and tinged with worry.

I felt as if I were one gigantic bruise. My head throbbed. But all I wanted to do was look at him. I didn't think I'd ever get the chance again. "I am now," I answered, sliding across the ground toward Edward.

But he held up a wet, dark-stained hand; it glistened in the moonlight, "Don't come any closer, Bella. …I…I don't want you to see me like this."

"I'm sure I've seen you worse—" I said, aching to touch him.

"It's not just the blood…" he said, which left me puzzled. If not the blood, then what?

He seemed unhurt, but I crawled the few feet to where he crouched. "Edward?" but he just kept his head down, staring at the carcass of the creature.

"Is it dead?" I asked, trying not to look directly at the large mound of fur below us. I was searching Edward's face. In the darkness only his eyes glowed; they were a brilliant topaz, and I wondered if he had fed on the creature.

As if he knew my thoughts, he covered his face with his dark, streaked hands. His distress made me anxious.

"Yeah, he's dead," he said oddly. 'He', as if he knew the creature.

"Won't you tell me what's wrong?" I pleaded. "Please, don't shut me out."

Abruptly he stood up. "Got to get back to the house. I have to tell Carlisle what's happened."

My legs were wobbly, but I managed to stand. "You knew this creature," I said, not willing to let it go.

"Not personally."

"Then what's going on? Tell me."

He stared down at the creature with a mixture of pity and regret. "He bit me."

I didn't know the significance of what he'd just told me. Vampires were immune to those dangers, or so I thought; they were nearly indestructible—so I didn't understand how a bite from this wolf creature could affect him. Suddenly, I remembered that the creature had pressed its mouth to my own neck as it pinned me to the ground. Its tongue had probed for my pulse…did it bite me? My hand went to my throat, searching for puncture wounds.

"You're safe," Edward told me. "I checked for bite marks while you were out."

My face burned. Knowing Edward, he had checked thoroughly. I chased the image of Edward's hands roaming my body from my head. "It's some sort of werewolf, right? So what does it mean if you're bitten?

"I'm not sure, exactly. That's why I have to get home and talk to Carlisle. We have a truce with the Lykens; but this guy…he's was a little different. "

"Different how?"

But he ignored my question. "We have to go," he said firmly. "Come on, I'll take you back to Charlie's."

I couldn't conceive of us parting. "I'm not going home right now," I told him stubbornly. "This is my fault… and I want to help. I'll call Charlie and tell him something to keep him from worrying, but I'm coming with you."

"Bella—" he growled. But I just shook my head and folded my arms. "I'm going with you," I told him.

"Well then, it's going to be a cramped ride," he said snidely.

"Cramped?"

He pointed at the heap of fur. "He's going back with us."

***

Within half a minute Edward had created a stretcher from tree branches and trumpet vine. I eyed it suspiciously. Surely I wouldn't have to ride along on the rickety contraption with the dead beast. As fast as Edward traveled, I'd probably fall off or end up crushed beneath the creature's weight yet again.

Edward draped the wolf creature's carcass across the stretcher. Not only did the body take up the entire stretcher, but its disjointed arms and legs dangled to the ground. I looked on it with curiosity now that it posed no threat to me anymore. "Shouldn't it have returned to its human form when it died?" I asked, remembering the legends.

"He's not like the others," he told me as he twisted the long length of vines into a rope. "He's evolved over the millennia."

Millennia? It was hard to grasp a creature living so long. "So he's like their ancestor?"

"Something like that. He's called the Forgotten." Edward looked up into the canopy of trees. "He shouldn't be here. He's at least thirty miles outside his normal range…and he never ventured beyond his territory. He liked his solitude and he didn't make trouble. All he wanted was to be left alone."

"Why then?"

Edward shrugged. "That's something we'll have to find out."

I sighed. In the soft light of the moon, and given what Edward had just told me, the creature didn't look quite so evil as it slumped lifelessly on the stretcher. I, too, given the chance, could pity it. After all, it hadn't kill or maim me, thanks to Edward. I gazed on its misshapen head; right below its ear a large chunk of fur was missing, exposing its purplish skin. I leaned closer, the moonlight at the right angle to illuminate the area—and then just as quickly stepped back. The creature's skin was festered. But that wasn't what caused me to move away…something was crawling just beneath the surface of the creature's skin, something slender and wormlike. I shivered.

"Edward?" He stopped twisting the rope and looked to where I pointed, his eyesight a thousand times sharper than my own in the inky darkness.

I watched as his eyes narrowed. "Let's go," he told me, still looking at the creature. "Now."

And then I was tossed onto his back and he was pulling the stretcher along at a hell-bending pace. I closed my eyes and held on to his bare shoulders with all the strength I possessed.

***

( I shouldn't give the titles of the upcoming chapters anymore. This story has its own idea of where it wants to go. *wink. –OTM)