19. VISIONS

I went downstairs to make Beau some lunch, afraid he'd screw that up for himself too. I saw Carine there and she smiled at me – it wasn't a polite or happy one, just kind of sad; apologetic, maybe.

"Thanks, honey." She said. I wasn't even sure why though, but I nodded my head anyways. Everyone else was gathered in the living room – well, everyone except Beau, of course. Carine went to join them, tying her hair up in a messy ponytail. As I grabbed a plate from their cupboard, I stole a quick glance at Edythe, who was sitting down on one of the couches with Earnest. Her shoulders were hunched forward a little in a way that made it look like she was slouching – a rare thing for any bloodsucker to do in general. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her eyes – black; thirsty – were narrowed, her lips pulled down into a deep, troubled frown. She turned to look at me just then, catching me by surprise and my heart beat twice in my chest very loudly. I looked away again and busied myself with spreading the mayonnaise on the white bread. Concentrating hard on my sandwich-building, I thought of how funny it was that the mayo almost disappeared completely into the bread because they were such similar colors since that thought kept me anonymous; impenetrable to Edythe's searching eyes. I knew she was looking for something in my head - maybe what Beau was thinking of her, for example; if he was scared of her - but she wouldn't find anything too interesting in there right now, I'm sure. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction. I debated whether to say – or think of - something disagreeable or insulting, but thought again; better of it. I guess she already felt pretty bad about what happened, maybe I didn't need to punish her anymore. Besides, I had better things to do – not letting my best friend starve, for one thing. To take care of him. That's what was most important. I opened the fridge again and put the mayonnaise away before grabbing a pack of lunch meat from the clear shelf on the inside of the door.

Huh. I wonder if Edythe saw me as such – lunch, that is. I scoffed but shook the thought away, remembering my intention to cut her some slack today. Too late. She looked at me again – offended, is how I'd describe that look - and I averted my gaze. I finished making Beau's sandwich and cut off the crust – just the way he liked it – before hurrying back upstairs.

When I entered the room Beau was staying in, he showed me a smile. I returned it and sat down beside him on the bed, slamming the door shut behind me.

…

The next day, they tried to take Edythe out hunting again so it was just me and Beau alone in this gigantic house. I remember hearing Carine on the phone with her boss yesterday, asking him if she could get off her shift earlier this afternoon to take care of her daughter. They let her, easily. She'd be coming back soon with the blood bags just in case that hunting trip didn't go too well today either - just so you know, my money was on that outcome. I thought to check in with Beau again, wanting to suggest we take a walk outside later on in case Edythe came back hungry. I found him in the computer room, looking things up on Google. I don't think he heard me coming in, and creeping up behind him I peered over his shoulder to see what he got. My eyes scanned over some document about nausea, vomiting, its causes, things like that, but I think it was safe for me to assume that none of those were actually the culprits. I was about to say something about it but then I saw him clicking out of the website and switching into Private browser mode. There, he started looking things up about vampires – more folklore; myths. All their weaknesses. Apparently unsatisfied with the results though, he scoffed and deleted the text in the search bar and put something else in – something more specific. I held my breath as he began typing the words out very slowly.

Vampires and Pregnancy.

I couldn't stay quiet anymore.

"You know my mom was just messing with you, right? You shouldn't take her weird comment seriously." I said, giving his shoulder a shake. I tried to make my voice a calm, even sound, like the thought was totally crazy for more reasons than one.

He looked at me, his cheeks blazing red again. "I have to take into account every possibility, Jules." He said very quietly. Every possibility, huh? I wasn't ignorant, I knew what those words meant; what they confirmed. I couldn't just go on living in my blissful ignorance anymore when the truth of the matter bubbled up like that. I swallowed hard, not wanting to think about the very obvious reason why he just had to look up this particular thing. There was a hot, prickly feeling in my stomach that moved stealthily up to my chest and my head began to hurt, badly. I couldn't stand the thought of him doing all those things with her; of her touching him like that…

It made me sick.

I lurched away from him and threw myself hard onto the chaise in the farthest corner of the room, hearing it slam into the wall with the force of my body weight. I didn't need to torture myself like this. Why the hell was I even here again?

To protect him. Obviously.

Because I love him.

It was the only thought that stopped me from walking out that door.

Someone called up to us from downstairs.

"I'm home, Beau; Jules." It was Carine.

Beau jumped up from his seat, shutting down the computer real quick. We went downstairs together and he helped Carine with a plain white cardboard box like one you'd find in an office supply store. There was a lid on it, and I'm pretty sure I knew what was inside.

"Whatever you do, don't look in there, Beau." I whispered, nudging him in the side with my elbow.

He almost dropped the box. "Oh, right." I saw his face turning white again and his knees buckled – he almost looked like he was about to swoon. Quickly, I took the box from him, pressing down on the top of it. I brought it into the kitchen and set it down on the counter. Making sure Beau was turned away, I lifted the lid a little to peek at the things inside – blood. Bags and bags of blood. Nice. I gagged. Shutting the lid tight again, I pushed it aside.

"You really think these will work?" I asked Carine, raising my eyebrows.

"I very much hope so." She sighed, packing the bags in the fridge. I gagged again. There was just something about blood bags being pushed right up against the milk carton and the eggs that didn't make you feel so good. Throwing my hands up, I turned away and walked to the living room. Beau was already there.

"Um, Carine?" he started, standing just as I came up to him.

"Yes, Beau?"

"When do you think they'll be back?"

Carine clicked her tongue and looked up at the clock on the wall, putting a hand on her hip and drumming the kitchen counter with her fingers. "My guess is that they should be home a little after midnight. You don't need to wait up for them though, Beau, if you'd like to turn in earlier than that."

"No, I'll do it. I couldn't sleep if I didn't know how Edythe was doing anyways." His eyebrows furrowed after he said the words – I could tell how worried he was. I looked away and sighed, leaning back up against the couch cushions.

…

I startled awake when I heard the clamoring of several distinct voices ringing out all around me. I was on the couch, a small blue blanket thrown over my lap. I rubbed my eyes and they adjusted to the light coming from the tall lamp which stood in the far-left corner of the room by the piano. I noticed Beau was beside me – I guess he must have been taking a nap, too. As soon as everyone came into the living room though, Beau's back went ramrod straight. Edythe was in the center of them all. Archie helped her into another chair nearest to the entrance of the living room farthest away from us and the way she curled up tightly into a ball and brought her knees up to her chin made me realize that the hunting trip didn't go well at all. My thoughts were further confirmed when I saw her bring a crumpled tissue up to her face, dabbing away another smear of red. Not good. My shoulders tensed and I stepped up in front of Beau with one foot out in front of me, watching her every move. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun that was coming undone and I could see the dark circles below her black eyes from here. She looked… exhausted. And thirsty. Very thirsty.

"Come on, Beau. Let's get you upstairs." I held my hand out for him to take, but he only had eyes for Edythe. She was looking at him, too. Her eyebrows furrowed and she coughed up some more blood, turning away from him when she did that and I saw him grimace as if he were in pain, too. His hands were balled up into two shaking fists and his teeth were clenched tight behind his lips - I could tell he was feeling pretty helpless. I sighed, knowing he wasn't going to be leaving anywhere with me anytime soon. And then he jumped to his feet, the blanket falling onto the floor. He marched straight to the kitchen and Carine followed in after him. I turned to look at them, my mouth falling open. Remembering what Carine had brought in from work today, I think I knew what Beau was going to do, and the thought hit me right over the head. I mean, this freaking guy couldn't even stand the sight of his own blood. How well did he think he was going to fare when he came across someone else's? Actually, scratch that – bags and bags of someone else's blood. I was legit afraid for his heart now. Letting out a long, loud sigh I sprinted to the kitchen, ready to catch him if he fainted. By the time I got in there, his face was already a chalky white and in the next moment I swear he was actually turning twenty different shades of green all over. And yet there he was, soldiering on like a real champ. Carine had cut open a bag of O negative and he was holding a clear glass cup steady for her as she squished all the red out - it was almost admirable. After emptying the bag, Carine threw it away in the trashcan – I had to wonder if you were actually supposed to do that - and I followed as she and Beau went back out into the living room again. Carine moved Beau behind her with one hand before presenting the cup to Edythe with the other and I stood guard.

I watched as Edythe took a sip; then she inhaled sharply through her nose and made a face.

"This is… bloody disgusting." She said with a sarcastic smile, putting the cup down on the table.

Eleanor threw her head back, laughing. "Good one, sis." I was kind of confused - I mean, I thought she'd be going nuts for it, being a bloodsucker and all. I didn't say anything about it though.

Edythe looked up at me then. "It's stale, that's why." She answered out loud. "What I mean is – that's what blood from those blood banks taste like to us, at least." Was it that hard for her to just stay out of my head? I watched as she took another cautious sip again and swallowed. As she finished off the rest of the cup, I noticed the dark circles under her eyes fading away – while she might have hated how it tasted, it actually seemed to be working wonders for her, and she didn't cough any of it up. Her eyes weren't black anymore but a reddish-gold shade, kind of like nectarine skin. Beau's smile was so wide I thought it would hurt his face. Carine and Earnest hugged each other and Jessamine and Eleanor let out a little squeal at the exact same time. Even Royal seemed pretty relieved.

Archie's face on the other hand contorted into a look of sheer terror. His eyebrows raised and furrowed, and his mouth had fallen open as his eyes pulsed wildly out of his head.

"Beau." My best friend's name was barely above a whisper. "Edythe? Where are you?" He then asked in a confused voice, narrowing his eyes. My heart started pounding away rapidly in my chest and I stepped towards him with my eyes wide open.

"I'm right here, Archie." Edythe said, but he didn't hear her.

"I can't see Edythe." His voice was growing frantic.

"What are you seeing now?" Jessamine's voice was soft, but I could still hear it clearly. She was holding either side of his face, trying to calm him down. He grabbed her wrists tightly but still didn't say anything. "Hey. Look at me, Arch. Look at me." She continued. Archie's anxious gaze was trained on Edythe though, and I saw him narrow his eyes in concentration before he winced a little and clutched his head, like he was in pain.

"What's wrong?" Beau asked and ran over to Edythe's side, holding her hand and touching Archie's shoulder at the same time.

Archie looked up again with a gasp, like his head was finally yanked up to the surface of the water after drowning in a deep, dark lake for a very long time.

"I can't see your future anymore, Edy. When I try, I just get this really bad headache – kind of like when I try to see your future, Julie. Or the futures of the other shapeshifters. It's what I'd call a limitation of my precognition." He turned around and gave me a confused look. "But I don't know why that's suddenly happening with my sister." He added, shaking his head. But there was something more, I could tell.

"Why are you trying so hard to see her though anyways, Archie?" I asked without thinking. "I thought Beau was the one in danger here."

"No." He shook his head slowly, still holding on to Jessamine's hands. Everyone was silent.

"It's the Volturi. I think – I think that they're coming for us all."