Disclaimer: These are not Stephanie's vampires.
Chapter Nine
Isabella Swan
Alice is nothing like I imagined. I'd assumed she would be the blond girl that was at the diner with Edward's brother and I couldn't have been more wrong. Whereas the other girl was statuesque, Alice was more like me – a waif, a few inches shorter than me, with light brown hair cut in a very 20's inspired bob. It occurred to me that she might have actually been a flapper.
I made a mental note to make it a priority to understand as much as possible about the nature of vampires. Clearly, myths had gotten them all wrong.
They went out in the sun.
And they ate food. Though, perhaps that was a supplement to another food source? It was just another question that needed to be answered.
Alice brought two large expensive meals from one of the nicer hotels in Seattle – who knew they did carry out? It was too much food for me but I did my best to eat as much as I could, savoring the rich sausages and sweet bear-claw Danishes under the ever-so-watchful eyes of two vampires. I knew that their eyes were riveted on me and it made me terribly self-conscious.
Their conversation, however, was very interesting. Edward had been opening up each of the heavy-duty Styrofoam containers and examining the contents with great interest. "And you're sure this was the best they had to offer? These eggs are not fully cooked, Alice," he says, looking up, his perfectly angular nose scrunched up a bit.
Alice's eyes are wide. "I was assured they are meant to be served like this."
"It cannot be healthy."
"The humans at the restaurant seemed to enjoy it."
Edward swiftly closes the lid and places it carelessly into the bag it came in. "She will not be eating this," he tells Alice, though his eyes look at me when he speaks and it's clear he meant it as an order.
I narrow my eyes at him, about to argue, but realizing that it was pointless; I don't even like sunny-side-up eggs. I continue relishing my Danish, studiously ignoring them as they bicker like siblings over what humans should and shouldn't be eating. My sausage makes the do-not-eat-this list and Edward makes a move to take it away; I might slap his hand away at the expense of a brief, sharp pain flowing through my fingers.
He might have growled a little at me, petulant.
I may have rolled my eyes again.
Alice giggles. "Oh, you are good for him. Who knew the Pri-"
"Alice, do not continue," he orders.
Promptly, Alice nods and I'm left wondering what the rest of her sentence could be.
And why Edward didn't want me to know something.
Now, I wasn't sure, but I thought perhaps it went against vampire protocol to lie to one's mate. But what did I know? I was just the human in this situation.
Regardless of that unwavering fact, though, I would be quick to make sure Edward knew that certain things – like keeping secrets – would not fly well with me. I had the idea to let him know exactly that as soon as Alice took her leave as I was under the impression that Alice worked for him in some capacity and, really, what boss wants to be reprimanded in front of an employee?
Though, observing them some more, Alice didn't exactly behave like an employee. She was respectful, of course, and relaxed – but I could also detect an undercurrent of reverence for Edward in the way she behaved. She didn't seem to be an old lover. No, it was something more. The amount of respect she had for Edward was akin to how the English nation bowed to their Queen and it struck me as exceedingly odd.
I thought of my Cinderella metaphor and wondered, just for a second, if Edward really was a prince. But I decided that it was a ridiculous notion and brushed it aside – royal vampires? I didn't think so.
Alice is quick to clean up my containers and napkins after I am done. "You eat a lot for a human," she observes. "But your frame is very small. Do you binge?"
"Alice!"
She blinks at Edward, completely innocent, while my face heats up in a mixture of shock and hurt. In passing, I'd heard that very thing my entire life – people had always suspected that I indulged in a past time of poking my head into a toilet and purging the food from my body to keep my willowy figure. I didn't. I never had. There was never a need to, since I was naturally like this. But that didn't stop the girls in my high school gym class, even if I was a few years younger than them. I wasn't sure if it was on account of jealousy or just being catty or genuinely not realizing she was being offensive, but Alice asking that brought back painful memories that I thought I'd buried.
I don't answer her – too embarrassed or mad, though I can't decide which is the prevalent emotion – but I can feel Edward's eyes heavy on my face. Tears sting behind my eyes and I clench my jaw, refusing to let them fall.
Somehow, Edward can sense it – hell, maybe he can smell the tears – and a low growl feels the room. I glance up, watching as he stands tall, towering over Alice, putting himself between me and her line of sight.
Alice, for her part, begins to quake with confused fear.
"You will apologize," Edward orders. His voice is deeper and laced with a rough growl.
A warning.
It makes my stomach drop.
I was quick enough to understand that Edward was about to punish Alice for making me cry.
It was touching.
It was also a little bit scary.
Alice hardly hesitates; her face, more pale than before, crumples in sincere sorrow and she sinks to her knees on the floor and I realize, as Edward steps to the side, that she is bowing to me. "My Lady, I am most apologetic. I was not thinking in mortal terms," she whispers, looking up at me. I'm shocked to see light pink tears trailing down her fragile face. "I'm am truly sorry. It is my most sincere wish for my Lady to forgive me."
Edward looks at me with a blank face and I shake my head absently, not understanding what's happening or what he wants me to do but knowing that something was happening in my dorm room that wasn't normal – not even by vampire standards.
My mind runs a quick review.
Alice brings a terribly expensive breakfast.
Edward tries to suggest what I should and shouldn't eat.
Alice makes a mindless remark that she obviously didn't consider an insult – she was probably curious and I could understand that. I mean, from my interaction with vampires so far, they didn't seem like they were around humans all that much.
And now, Alice was bowing to me and Edward was baring his fangs at her, hissing out a command while Alice began bawling in fear.
As for myself, I was still confused but one thing was glaringly obvious – Edward held a certain amount of power.
That or he was so crazy that everyone feared him.
My dorm window snaps open and a compactly built blond male vampire enters the room, alert, his dark eyes roving. He spots Alice crying on the floor at my feet and his fangs click down; and then he sees me and the way Edward is still standing to my side and growling and the blond vampire's face becomes resigned. "Sire?"
"Get her out of my sight," Edward growls.
The blond vampire makes a reluctant move forward.
And then someone yells out and it takes me a moment to realize that it was me and that I just said "Wait!"
Three sets of vampire eyes are on me instantly.
I swallow, feeling Edward's tension and Alice's honest-to-God fear.
Then, my verbal-filter apparently flies out the window. "What the hell is happening right now?"
"Alice insulted you," Edward states blandly. "You did not accept her apology and now she must be punished."
The way he speaks chills me to the bone – like punishing people was some everyday occurrence for him.
I had the notion that it probably was.
"What? When did I not accept the apology?"
One of Edward's brows lifts just a smidge.
Apparently, Vampire Fact Number Four is super-control over facial muscles.
"You shook your head," he tells me.
I scowl at him, not appreciating his slightly condescending tone. I ignore him altogether and get down on the floor next to Alice; our knees touch and she gasps, looking at me with wide eyes, pink stains on her cheeks. "I accept your apology," I say quietly. "I'm sorry you got scared. I didn't know what was happening. I still don't know. But you shouldn't be punished for no reason."
"My Lady," she gasps again. "No, you cannot possibly apologize to me. I'm not worthy of-"
I'm quick to cut her off. "This carpet is gross," I say, flicking a piece of lint away. "Let's stand up, okay? It's totally forgotten."
Alice studies me for a moment, very slowly wiping the pink tears from her face. She glances up at Edward and then fluidly stands. I'm a few seconds slower on account of my being human, but when I do stand, I am met by Edward's blank face.
I can't decide if he's unhappy or not – and if he is unhappy, is it because of what Alice did or is because I stopped whatever was about to happen to Alice?
Edward waves his hand and both the blond vampire and Alice are out the window in broad daylight.
I cross my arms over my chest. "What was that about?"
"It is the way vampires operate," Edward tries.
I shake my head. "I'm calling bullshit," I say, poking him in the chest.
Disbelief washes over his face as he stares at where I poked him. "Excuse me?"
"That blond guy called you Sire! And what was Alice going on about, calling me Lady and My Lady? And bowing down? To me? That's not – Edward, I'm not even a vampire!"
He looks down, jaw clenched. "But you are my mate."
Like that explains everything.
"Should I call you Sire, too?" I snark. "Perhaps Your Royal Jackass?"
He growls a little at me.
I think I was supposed to be scared.
I was just too mad at him to consider the possibility of being frightened of his little growl. "You say you're a vampire, but what does that mean, Edward? Why are these people treating you like you're some king? Why are people being punished for making mindless comments?"
He doesn't answer me.
I poke him again in the chest, as hard as I dare, and he doesn't so much as flinch.
I admit to not knowing about these non-mythical vampires who ate food and frolicked about during the day and who apparently had some sort of hierarchy.
I didn't even pretend to remember some of the random vampire lore I picked up from Interview with a Vampire – mostly because I remembered everything about it.
I did, however, do the one thing that I hadn't ever imagined doing.
As soon as I did it, I knew I'd activated some sort of vampire voodoo magic that the creatures had to bend to.
And I was just too mad to give a shit about it.
"Get out of my room," I tell Edward firmly.
Immediately, Edward looks stricken and he reluctantly begins moving to the closest exit, which happened to be the window. "Bella-"
"If you're going to keep secrets, then I want nothing to do with you," I whisper, not able to look at him anymore. I was feeling uncharacteristically emotional, from the nightmare to this little episode that just happened with Alice.
I needed a really long human moment to process.
I hear his hands clap onto the wood of my window and the protest of the material as he tries to stay inside but is forced outside by some unseen force. "Bella-"
I allow my eyes to flicker up to his for a second.
His arms are strained and his face is tight.
He is physically fighting the pull out of my room.
I don't have it in me to care.
"Bella, you don't understand," he grits out. "Alice had no right to speak to you in such a way and as your mate, I couldn't allow her to go unpunished. I have to protect you. How can I not? If someone does you wrong, they must be punished and I have to be the one to do it," he rushes out.
I see his fingers slip and tug at the wood; he's begun to leave gouges in the window frame and I'm sure he would soon start attracting the attention of the people in my dorm.
I narrow my eyes at him.
He was trying to blame the obviously twisted morals of his vampire nature on what had just happened?
He didn't care that it would have been wrong to punish Alice.
He didn't care that I didn't understand what was going on.
And he didn't care that he was refusing to tell me important things.
I walk closer to the window, ignoring the look of relief on his face because it hurt me to see it. Instead, I begin to close the window on him. "Stop being so sanctimonious, Edward. It really doesn't suit you."
And as that window closes, I feel like part of my heart closed, too.
Because hearing Edward's weight drop to the grass below, and then hearing his low growls mixed in with the crunching of leaves as he began to pace underneath my window?
It just about broke my heart.
A/N: Okay, well, I admit to being a teensy tiny bit AWOL. I meant to post last night but midterms snuck up on me this week and my last ones are tomorrow and this is the soonest I could get the chapter out. I'm pretty braindead from studying. It would probably explain the slight angst.
Reviews!
Sadie1787 – Lucky you! I'm updating the day you reviewed!
Babe Pryor – Ah, hoping for a double update. Well, there should be something this weekend if I'm still mentally able!
Kimmie41 – Eh, Bella is sort of emotionally stunted not only from the death of her mom, but also from being so smart and entering college so early. She didn't really get a chance to be a kid. She's mature in a lot of ways, I think, but emotionally, she's a bit impulsive and rash.
Lilypad10 – No, the uhh blood exchanges are very much looked forward to by all involved lol
SrslyGiGi – Love them forever until they keep secrets, you mean! Lol
Glitter Poisoned My Blood – Don't kill anyone! Keep calm! Eat chocolate!
Nightlydusk – I do like my reincarnated character
Maggiejoma – I'm looking forward to these particular dirty bits too lol
james3142 – Ah, if only he was attentive enough to realize keeping secrets is a no-no.
CdrIvanova – That part of the myth makes me want to cry it's so sweet lol "Yeah, babe, I knew you were The One because my heart literally told me."
twivampchick – I laughed until I cried, literally. Vampire support groups! Poor things, getting molested all the time….Someone should write a story about that!
celia azul – I admit that I've never actually formally researched reincarnation. If you have any suggestions to add in, I'd be happy to see if I can make it more authentic!
twilight-saga-lover95 – I love the Sookie Stackhouse fanfiction! I marathon read them! Lol
Holidai – The meaty breakfast was cute! I want that, too! Lol
FLOW LIZ – Sorry I made you wait so long! :D
DoubleFate – Ah, vampires. So smart, so strong, so pretty. So…not rational lol Expensive isn't always better, Edward! Geez!
gredelina1 – Swedish and German? Well, well, well…look who gets all the best chocolate! Lol I'm American – I'm obsessed with the stuff. Your review was so sweet!
headinthecloudsss – Ah, Edward does not read minds. I figured I had enough going on here without adding that in lol As far as I know, Alice doesn't see the future. And I do actually plan to have that uhmmm version of Bella later on in the story….
Valentine Rain – You also quoted me! Lol This is the first fiction that I've been quoted!
XhowtosavealifeX – I always hated the glittering vampires a little bit lol But I still wouldn't trade SM books for anything – they gave us the fandom!
Danielleteambellaforever – Oh man, I'm just so happy it was Oktober fest time in Washington because I got two Milke bars lol
Maysnrs – Another quote! You caught that! Lol With these vampires, they don't need to eat but they can if they want – food, that is!
vampyregirl86 – LOL Go ahead and take a break with the awesome reviews. You're so loyal about it!
Kaygou – Me too! I wonder when it will happen! Lol
YesMyRealNameIsBella – You're right; he didn't know he was coming back but killing himself also wasn't an option for reasons that haven't been revealed yet. Edward would have had to suffer until his obligations were over, the poor vamp. And now that he's got her back, he's gone and messed up!
Love M Go Blue – You got me pegged! I can't draw things out! Slow burn doesn't exist for me! How was the vacation?
LunaKaleidoscope – Edward's not a virgin but there are also no Tanya's!
Krystalwinds1990 – Plus, I just can't imagine a penny being sexy! Ah, oh well, to each her own!
whisperwind1886, LazerBeams, Edward's spouse, TwilightVirtuosa, dinotopian, Flavia Ribeiro, debslmac, princessnerra, cbmorefie, Welcome2MyWorldxoxo, pumpkinmykitty and Darkward Darling – Thank you all so much for your loyal reviews! I'm sincerely proud to have each of you as readers! I'm sort of in love with you guys, too! :D
And special shout out to the first review of the last chapter, Twilight Rocker 12 – If you ever can, try German chocolate! Swear you won't be disappointed!
As always, be brutally honest. I can take it.
~cupcakeriot
P.S – Please check out the story I'm beta'ing. It's truly fantastic. If you like my stuff, you'll love Augury by Passionate04! She was sweet enough to check up on me when she heard about the Frankenstorm!