Rating/Warning(s)/Note(s): T, Shadows
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Prompt: Dark

Alice walked with me through the Atlanta airport, changing directions with a roll of her eyes at one point and dragging me with her. An announcement came on about a gate change right after that. As we walked along the moving sidewalk I kept looking at her askance but every time I opened my mouth to ask her a question she shook her head at me and said, "Not now."

The short hop to Jacksonville was quiet until we were taxiing to the gate. "Tell your mom you brought a friend along," she whispered. "I need to stay with you."

"What, are rogue vampires still looking for me?" I asked, sarcasm making my tone biting.

"No, not a rogue one," she said with a smile. "Edward will be here this evening. It'll be easier for him if I'm close to you. Besides, it'll give us time to get to know each other better."

"My mom is going to kill me. I didn't tell her anyone was coming."

Her expression went blank for a second. "No, although she will fuss a little when she thinks I can't hear her. Just tell her it was a last minute decision on my part, that I didn't want to go skiing in Colorado with my family." She gave a little laugh. "It'll also work to explain why Edward shows up tomorrow."

Great, I was going to have vampires at my mother's house in Jacksonville. "What are you two going to do all day? I thought you'd burn up in the sun. I don't think there are two dark corners we can sit you in."

The announcement came on that we were free to retrieve our luggage so I climbed from the seat to grab my carry-on. It wasn't until we were walking to baggage claim that she answered me. "We don't burn up, but we can't go out in it either. Luckily it will be rainy; there's a small tropical storm that will hit tomorrow and last all weekend."

"Great," I said. So much for going back to school with a tan.

Renee was actually pretty happy to meet Alice, gushing about how nice it was to meet one of my friends and that she perfectly understood why Alice didn't want to go skiing and of course her brother could come visit as well. The last was said with a pointed look in my direction. I groaned. I knew my mother would try to get me alone and give me the third degree about him.

It was late so my mother's husband, Phil, insisted on taking us to get a light dinner, sure we were hungry after our long flight. Alice blatantly lied that she ate on the plane and so didn't need anything, giving me a wink when neither of them were looking. A shiver ran down my back as I looked at her. I suddenly understood why it was she couldn't leave me alone with Edward.

"He wants to eat me?" I mouthed as we headed to the restaurant, continuing how we talked on the plane.

"More like drink," she whispered into my ear.

"What are you girls whispering about?" Renee asked, turning around in her seat.

"I was just telling Bella what Edward likes for breakfast," Alice said, sending me into a coughing fit from shock.

"You feeling all right honey?" Renee asked. "You look a little paler than normal."

"Fine. Just swallowed wrong," I said.

Phil picked that moment to pull into a steakhouse. "Now Bella," he said, "I know you don't like a lot of red meat, especially if it's rare and there's a lot of blood on the plate, but these guys have a great New York Strip."

Alice found this highly amusing. "You don't like blood?" she asked.

"It makes her nauseous," Renee said, rolling her eyes. "Not a good thing for someone as accident prone as she is."

Turning to me with a grin and a wink, Alice said, "Don't worry, you'll grow out of it." For some reason, that didn't make me feel any better.

After consuming far too much food to be healthy we finally went to my mother's home. It was a quaint two-bedroom bungalow right on the beach, complete with a sun porch facing the ocean. At the moment a million stars were lighting the sky so Alice and I walked out onto the beach. "I thought you said it was going to rain all weekend," I said, pointing out a shooting star.

Alice directed my attention to the southeast where a line of clouds was barely visible. A flash of lightning revealed towering heights that seemed to extend up for miles. "Wow," was all I could say. Renee and Phil joined us, bringing beach chairs so we could watch the storm move in. The power of the weather was beautiful to behold, but when the lightening started to strike a little too close for Renee's comfort we moved inside.

A shard of lightening split the sky right as a downpour began. I glanced at Alice, wondering where Edward was, but she was unconcerned. Renee made sure we were comfortable sharing the queen-sized bed, which was fine considering Alice was quite small, and asked again if she should make up the sofa-sleeper for Edward.

"No, he'll get in quite late tonight," Alice said. "I'm a light sleeper, so if you don't mind I can just let him in." Renee accepted that readily, she was tired. After checking one last time that we were comfortable she and Phil retired to bed.

When my head hit the pillow Alice started talking, telling me about being a vampire. "You need to know this one day," she said in between stories of not ever sleeping again and how being a vegetarian, only hunting animals, gave their eyes a different color than other vampires. I'd imagine having bright red eyes could be a trifle inconvenient when trying to fit in with humans. Sometime during her explanations I fell asleep.

I'm listening to the music of canning jar seals setting. The last batch of pumpkin butter is processing as I type, hooray!

Tomorrow, yes, then I'll finish my shopping for Christmas! Riiiight.