Author Note: The Twilight Saga is a franchise owned by one, Stephanie Meyer. This is a fanfiction based on that franchise. I do not own Twilight or any of it's characters. I only own Becca Swan and this story.
The rain had finally stopped and for that Becca was grateful. She sat up against the window of the dress shop in Port Angeles; she wore a black and green flannel over a black crop top. Her long fingers played with the velvet choker she wore to match her black high top sneakers and black ripped jeans. She smiled up at Jessica who popped out of the dressing room with a big smile on her face. "Okay, Becca, pink or black?" The pink dress had a long v neck that showed off Jessica's cleavage while the black dress had a crisscross cutout on the back.
"Pink, if you want him to look at something other than your eyes." Becca comments as Jessica changes and heads up to the cashier with the pink dress in her arms. Angela drones on about this new Italian restaurant in the area that she's been dying to try when Becca interrupts her. "Actually, I have some birthday shopping to do for my aunt. How about I meet you guys at the restaurant?"
"Okay, yeah, that sounds good." Jessica says as she grabs Angela and leads her away. The sideway is mostly empty as the sun begins the set. Becca stands looking over the railing taking in the bright oranges and reds. For a small moment she feels normal. Just a normal person, in a normal place watching the sunset. Out of the corner of her eye, the setting sun illuminates an advertisement sign for the bookstore and reality sets back in. As does the cold, when she exhales she can see her own breath. She crosses the street and pushed the wooden door open of the store.
"Evening," the woman behind the counter says to her. "Something I can help you with?" Becca feels her aura, its green with curiosity. Her shields are weak. Stronger than the average human, but if Becca wanted she could break them easily.
"I'm looking Amaryllis." The woman's face changes from friendly to stoic. "I'm looking for something that will give me clarity in times of darkness." The woman nods to Becca as she disappears into the back room. When she emerges again, she hands Becca a small red velvet bag. Becca looks inside to see six unopened vials. She hands the woman two twenty dollar bills and a bar of silver as she grabs the bag. Becca turns to leave but stops in the open doorway as the woman speaks to her.
"Happy Hunting." She remarks to her as Becca takes a deep breath and continues on her way. The darkness of night has fallen. The cool, crisp night of spring leaves its kisses on her skin in the form of goosebumps. The echoes of rowdy college students bounce off the walls around her. Making a quick choice, Becca ducks down an empty alleyway. She can sense them near by. Not vampires, but college frat boys. Their auras are loud; buzzing white noise with flashes of red. They feel hot, a pan in a scalding fire. She makes her way to an empty parking lot behind a building and stops. Closer. She sniffs the night air. They smell sickly sweet, it makes her stomach churn. Booze. Reaching into the bag, Becca grabs a vial, cracks it open and downs it. The fire erupts and burns her throat. She can feel the dizziness of her eyes shifting, her senses heightening.
"Where you going, beautiful?" she can hear the slur of his voice from behind. Ignoring it, she takes a step forward as they emerge from the shadows. The guy behind her touches her hair, moving it and sniffs. "Come on, gimme a kiss." He rounds to face her as she glares at him. His green eyes stare her down as if she's prey. Becca stands, unmoved at his feeble attempts to dominate her. "We just want to talk." he steps forward, almost so his nose is touching hers and grabs her arm. Becca takes a step back, her deep orange eyes glaring at him.
"Don't touch me." the warning in clear and he only smiles in amusement. She'd be screwed if she were a normal teen. If...
"Being alone is dangerous." He tightens his grip on her as Becca grabs his other arm and pulls him close, quickly. Her head rams into his own with a headbutt. He steps back, reeling as one of the other guys reached for her. Becca grabs his jacket, throwing him into the brick wall of the building. It's high pitch then, the screeching of hot tires on pavement. Becca takes a quick breath and a second to reassess her situation as she feels the warmth of headlights on her back. Looking over her shoulder, she sees a silver Volvo pointed at her. As the drivers door whips open, the pale faced driver is suddenly at her side. Edward.
"Get in the car." He tells her as she backs up until her hand finds the handle of the passenger door. The college guys stand as Edward takes a step toward them. His lips curl up like a mad dog revealing the slight shine of fangs as he growls at them. Just as quickly as he appeared at her side, he returns back to the car. Becca opens the door and looks over at Edward as he throws the car in reverse then drive. He steps on the gas, narrowly avoiding an oncoming car. "I should go back there and rip those guys' heads off. Finish what you started." he growls, gripping the steering wheel, his knuckles turning whiter than his skin.
"Uh, no. You shouldn't." Becca answers as she puts her seatbelt on, getting comfortable in the vampire's Volvo.
"You don't know the vile, repulsive things they were thinking." He snarled at her, glancing over at her out the corner of his eye.
"Pretty sure I can guess, Edward." She said, looking out the window. He was flying. Street signs and stores flew by in a blur. They blended, and reminded her of a painting.
"Can you talk about something else? Distract me so I don't turn around." He asked of her, his hands still gripping the wheel. Becca rolled her eyes, before she let out a huff.
"I failed to pick out a prom dress." she said matter-of-factly as she could see his grip loosen slightly.
"What?" Edward's lips formed into a slight smile. Confusion. He looked almost attractive in it.
"I failed to pick out a prom dress. They didn't have the right shade of black." A few seconds of silence passes between them before Edward smiles, loosening his grip and lets one hand fall into his lap as he chuckles in laughter. He looks over to see Becca smiling at him. His aura burning bright and like a moth, she was caught up in his flame.
Edward parks the car outside of the restaurant. Un Piccolo Pezzo D'Italia. Fancy enough, Ange. Becca thinks to herself as she approaches the two girls waiting outside the restaurant. "Guys, I'm so sorry." Angela and Jessica look up at her as Jessica rolls her eyes.
"Where the hell were you? We left you messages."
"I'm so sorry. My phone died." Becca was doing her best to keep her quiet resolve. It helped to keep normal humans from noticing her eye color or her heighted awareness. Angela glared at Jessica who huffed in annoyance.
"We waited but we were starving so we..." Angela trails off as Edward approaches and stands beside Becca.
"I'm sorry I kept Becca from dinner. We ran into each other and got talking."
"No," Jessica smiled as she gently elbowed Becca, "we totally understand. I mean, that happens, right?" Angela, stunned, looks at Jessica to break the spell Edward had them under.
"Umm, so we are gonna head back." Edward wrapped an arm around Becca's waist as he looked at the girls. Angela who was still starstruck says with her jaw practically on the sidewalk. Real subtle ladies.
"I'm gonna make sure Becca has something to eat. I'll drive you home myself." Edward smiles at her, carefully hiding his fangs now. Becca nods, blushing slightly. There he was again, dazzling her. She blamed the effects of the serum for her inability to hide her likeness towards him. Jessica and Angela turn away, giggling as Becca hears them call from behind her.
"See you in school tomorrow!" as she walks up the steps of the restaurant with Edward in tow.
The room feels comfortable as she settles into the booth. Edward sits across from her, sheathing his jacket to reveal the black tshirt he was wearing underneath. Involuntarily, he flexes as he shifts to get comfortable. He sure is well built indeed. No, stop it, Becca. She mentally scolds. Becca stares at leather bracelet around his right arm. It's hand woven and done with years of practice. She looks at the object, feeling the aura around it. There is none and it leaves her a bit disappointed. Whoever it belonged to is long gone now. She shifts her weight in her seat as Edward smiles at her. Deep down she was swooning looking at him so comfortable, so in his element. Yet she was annoyed at how thoughtful he was. He was making things harder for her. It shouldn't be this difficult! she scolded herself again. Yet here she was, out to dinner with a vampire. Although she appreciates him making sure she was well fed, this behavior was making her comfortable. Not comfortable on her own terms. It made her vulnerable. The waitress waltzes over with a glass of lemon water and the dish Becca ordered. "Here is your beef tagliata."
"Thank you," Becca responds as she cuts into the steak. Red flows out as the sunset within the meat is revealed in the cool light of the restaurant.
"Rare," Edward says, leaning on his arms as he smiles at Becca, "A woman after my own heart." Becca winks at him from across the table as the waitress lingers longer than appreciated.
"And you're sure there isn't anything I can get you?" She flirts with Edward, rocking back and forth on her heels. To her dismay, Edward keeps his eyes locked on Becca and Becca only.
"No, thank you." He coldly dismisses the waitress. As she walks away, Becca smiles.
"If she laid it on any thicker, I'd have a demi glace." Edward smirked at her joke as she plucked another piece of steak with her fork and ate it. Pausing, she takes a sip of her water, "You really not gonna eat?"
"I'm on a special diet." He says, laying his arms on the table, hands clasped together.
"I'm gonna need more than that." Becca squints before eating another piece of her meal.
"Only if you match me." Edward smirks, amused by her challenge of him.
Becca took a moment to think before she smirked in return, "How did you know where I was?"
"I didn't." he answered. Becca rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her drink and placed her napkin on the table. She got up from the table and looked right at him.
"Okay, well, if you can't be straight with me..."
Edward reaches out, his eyes a bit sad, "Please, don't leave." until she sits back down, picking her napkin back up.
"Did you follow me?" Becca studies his facial features as his aura pulsates. It was weird. Most vampires that Becca felt had constant auras. They didn't waver. They were steady. Yet, Edward's was pulsating with heat. It calmed her, even when she didn't want it to.
"I feel very protective of you." That's a yes. Becca thought as Edward's eyebrows furrowed, his hands leaving the table as he crossed his arms.
"I can protect myself." Becca told him as she sipped her water.
"Yes," he smiled, reflecting, "I'm aware."
"So, you followed me."
"I planned to keep a distance unless you needed my help. And then I heard what those lowlifes were thinking." Telepathic. That explained a lot of things. Edward was no normal vampire, he was special. This made them more similar than Becca thought. She was special too, the only hunter of the West Cost Vigil that could read auras. It was a special ability that she gained during her joining. The price; pain. Becca pushed the memory away as she rubbed her left arm.
"You can hear people's thoughts?" Her curiosity caught his attention as he looked at her. "You're a mind reader?"
Edward leaned forward, the scent of his body wash stronger than before, "I can read every mind in this room apart from yours." Becca put her utensils down as she wiped her mouth before answering him.
"Makes sense. I always have my guard up." She smiled plainly as Edward looked at her, puzzled.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" He was curious of her too. She could tell that he knew she wasn't a normal eighteen year old. That there was something off about her.
"Self defense classes. Not being able to read me must be frustrating." She was changing the subject. She didn't want him to know what she was. She didn't want to ruin the evening. Why do I even care? Because it was too public, because she didn't want him to know. She was basking in the ignorance that they were any other high school students out on a date, even if the truth was that they weren't.
"You have no idea. Look, Becca, I don't have the strength to stay away from you anymore." Edward looked at her, the sincerity in his eyes was too genuine. Becca sat back in the cushion of the booth and looked down at the table for a few moments. She thought about everything. She needed to get close to him. She needed to know if he was a danger to her and to Forks. But she didn't want to use him. She didn't want him to feel as if he was nothing to her. He should be nothing to her. And he wasn't. Becca took a deep breath before she faced his golden eyes.
"Okay, then don't."
Becca sat in the leather of Edward's passenger seat. The rest of their dinner had gone smoothly, the ride home was in awkward silence though. She kept her body closer to the glass. She had grown accustomed to his scent. The smell of frosted glass stained with sandalwood. She can see Edward glance over at her as she rubbed her arms. "It's a bit cold in here, can I turn up the heat?" She can see Edward nod as she reaches for the dial. But as she does, so does Edward. BZZZZZZ! The shock from their touch leaves Becca reeling. The electricity cut straight through the air with the loudest clarity that she had ever felt. Impossible. Edward must have felt it too as he withdrew his hand. She had already known that his skin would be ice cold, she remembered the feeling of his stone chest, pressed up against her from the incident. "Your hand is so cold," she remarks as she leans forward and turns the heat up, "You must be freezing." she smiles, as he relaxes.
"If you call me popsicle..." he trails off, the corners of his mouth forming into a smile.
"Nah, more like Mr. Freeze." Edward smiles as he reaches over the center console, his hand resting out in the open. Almost tempting her to hold it. Bright flashing lights catch her attention as they see the Forks Police Station ahead. Several cruisers are in the parking lot with their lights on. "Whoa, what's going on?"
"That's my father's car at the end." Edward points out as he pulls into the station.
"My dad's cruiser is still here." Becca comments, her voice racked with concern. Edward puts the car in park as Becca gets out. He joins her at her side as Carlisle Cullen walks out. "What's going on?" Becca asks him as her hand brushes against Edwards once more. This time the electric hum, rotated around her head as she did her best to block it out.
"Carlisle," Edward pleads with his father who lets out a sigh.
"Waylon Forge was attacked. I just examined the body."
"Wait," Becca crossed her arms, "he died? How?"
Carlisle looked at Becca with the same golden eyes that Edward had, "Animal attack."
"Do you think it was the same animal that killed that guy in Masen county?" This was huge. This could possibly be the answer Becca needed.
"Most likely." Becca turned from Carlisle and Edward as she pulled out her phone.
"I need to make a call." The Vigil needed to know this. Gallia needed to know this. Carlisle reached out, putting his hand on Becca's shoulder turning her back to them.
"Actually, Becca you should go inside. Waylon was your father's friend." For a moment, Becca nods and puts her phone away. There would be time to call later. Her father needed her right now. As she stepped inside, the air was stagnant. Dead. Empty. Through the thick glass that lined the Chief's office windows, Becca could see her father hunched over his desk, his head in his hands. Becca knocks on the glass catching his attention.
"Hey," she smiles at him as she steps into his office.
"Hey, Becca." Charlie sniffs as he wipes tears from his face.
"I'm sorry about Waylon, Dad." she steps beside him and leans down, wrapping her arms around him. Charlie buries his face into her arm and lets out a silent wail before once more, stifling his grief.
"Thanks, Rebecca." It was so rare when her dad called her by her name. Rebecca. "Let's head home."