I know I just said I'd be posting weekly but it's Friday and we all deserve a little treat.
Thanks for your comments and follows. I had a question about the type of vampires in this story - I grew up watching Buffy, so these vampires do things more like Whedon's vampires: they can get drunk, they smoke, they sleep. At no point will they sparkle.
No copyright infringement intended.
CHAPTER FOUR
The boy was left outside of the police station on the outskirts of town. In the shadow of the woods nearby, Bella collapsed to the ground, frantically scrubbing her arms of the invisible burns from running through the gaps in the trees, her breath coming out in thick, harsh gasps. Glancing up briefly, she noted that the boy stood quite still, afraid to move or speak, his eyes still clenched tightly and his lips a thin line.
While the boy refrained from trembling, Bella did not. Hot pinpricks of anger trailed along her spine, her limbs shook. She considered the cause of her ire as she worked to get her breathing under control. It wasn't wholly Alice that caused her this pain. Sure, Alice had threatened to kill in front of a child, perhaps threatening to expose their existence, but it occurred to Bella as her cold hands rubbed at her bare arms, now just stinging, slightly smoking like the dying embers of a fire, that Alice was merely a product of her environment. She had been tortured as a human and carried that with her into the afterlife.
It was also what lived within them all. The monster Bella worked to keep at bay.
Alice had lost herself, her humanity, long before her change due to the supernatural torture of James and the inhumane treatment she received at the hands of her family and supposed doctors. The demons lurking within them now only provided an easy scapegoat for what Alice had almost done - take the life of a child. Wasn't that what really bothered Bella? Her own nature? Alice was merely an example of what Bella herself could do and become.
If actual humans - with their supposed souls, ethics, religion and philosophy - could dehumanize, maim and kill, how were they different from beings like Alice? Was she really monstrous for doing what she had done, or had thirst and madness driven her? Was there any hope for Bella to be any different?
Realizing she had been holding her breath for quite some time, Bella let it out in a whoosh as she watched an officer finally approach the boy and usher him inside the building with soothing words.
Systematically, Bella began unlocking her muscles and considered her options: she would heal from the invisible scars from the harsh light of day. She could run, but it was likely that she would officially be unable to hide from Alice now; she could find somewhere to sleep it off, hope it was all a bad dream; or she could do what Peter would - get drunk. She decided on the latter.
~~~~
The doors of the kitschy bar swung open like she was a gunslinger in an old cowboy film. The locals didn't pay her any mind, but several of the tourists' heads snapped up at her entrance. She was sure her gray t-shirt was dirty, and she brushed off her jeans.
The bar was moderately busy for the early afternoon - a group of young college students peered at her curiously as she found a spot at the end of the bar. Bella leaned forward, using her hair as a curtain and ordered a stiff drink with which to brood.
The freedom she had felt when she arrived in town had vanished the instant Alice wrapped her tiny hand around the hiker's wrist and squeezed. It felt like she would never be free of James, of what he represented.
As she nursed her third whiskey sour an hour later, she felt Alice's presence. Swirling her drink in her hand, she stared hard at the knotted pine of the bar top.
"Vodka soda, extra ice." Alice's dreamy voice fluttered next to her. She drummed her pale fingers on the counter, flashing the bartender a fake ID.
As the bartender walked away, Bella let out a soft snarl so low that the stools vibrated around them.
"Did I frighten you earlier, pet?" Alice asked, sounding like a petulant child. "I understand. I lose myself a little when I get thirsty. Things are much clearer now."
"Frighten isn't the right word." Bella countered as the bartender slid Alice's drink down the bar, a trail of condensation left in its wake. Alice caught it with deft fingers and Bella watched as she swirled the liquid in the glass haphazardly. Some sloshed over the side. Alice licked it up with the tip of her tongue.
Alice sighed through her nose. "I wanted to give you options," she mused. "You're like a caught bird, afraid to get its wings clipped."
Bella's eyes finally raised to Alice's, which were now a brilliant ruby. The open birdcage above the bed flashed in her mind.
"Go ahead." She gestured for Alice to provide her these said options.
Alice smiled briefly without teeth. "Option one: you get Jasper up here to help with James. You and I are a formidable team, but we cannot do it alone. We could use extra gifts." The hand not holding her drink flitted in the air.
Bella shifted uneasily on the stool. "It won't work. Jasper and I can't both leave María. One of us always stays." It was an unspoken rule. María knew they wouldn't fully leave each other; their loyalty ran deep.
"Oh, pet." The smile was back, this time with teeth. Her sharp canines glowed in the low lighting of the bar. "María will meet her end."
Bella ignored the diminutive. "That leaves Victoria and James the entire Chihuahuan Desert..." She sighed. "I don't feel -"
"Comfortable? I see." She sipped her drink as Bella lifted her own glass to her lips. Alice held the napkin that came with her drink out to Bella. "Option two," she teased with a lift of her chin, "little birdie finds her mate."
Bella sputtered whiskey all over the countertop. "What the fuck?" She hissed, ignoring the napkin in Alice's outstretched hand. Whiskey dribbled down her chin and she wiped it away with the back of her hand.
Alice took another sip, her eyes glazing over as if testing the future.
"Your mate. A mind reader. He'd be most helpful, not just to your… attitude." Alice began dabbing up the mess when Bella remained stiff and unmoving. Then, Alice flagged the bartender, signaling that they'd need refills.
Neither woman said anything for a long while; Alice allowed Bella to think. They continued sipping on their drinks, each lost in their own world. At some point, two young men came over with intent, sidling up next to Alice suggestively.
Bella was just past tipsy and on her way to sloshed and, frankly, too in shock - could vampires be in shock? - to pay full attention to what the men were saying. When she finally came back to herself and realized that Alice seemed to be flirting back, Bella tuned in to their conversation, wary of Alice's intent.
"Do you like flowers?" Alice was asking the man closest to her, his blue baseball cap backwards on his head, brown eyes glossy and searching Alice's cherubic face. His friend shifted uneasily next to him, glancing at Bella with interest.
"Love 'em." Baseball cap replied with a suggestive smile.
Meanwhile, Bella attempted to communicate the danger with her dark eyes. Unfortunately, the friend seemed illiterate in this language.
Alice reached over and played with the collar of his shirt. "I always try to plant chrysanthemums, but they always die." She pouted and dragged one long, black pointed fingernail across the bottom of his throat. His pupils dilated and his breathing hitched.
Bella had had enough. Her hand shot out, and she grasped Alice's wrist tightly, her own knuckles turning a stark white. She wrenched their hands back. "Leave, now." Bella spit through clenched teeth.
They eyed each other briefly and scuttled back abruptly. Baseball cap tripped on his way back to his seat.
"You're no fun," Alice whimpered as the men scrambled.
"Alice," she warned under her breath. "You just ate."
She replied by pouting toward the men across the bar. "I wasn't hungry," she complained, still staring at them. The men shifted so their backs were to her. Bella ignored the exchange, tapping her fingers on the bar top and returning to her thoughts.
She was still pondering her options. On one hand, a mate could be a wonderful thing. One person - okay, vampire - that the Fates decided was hers and only hers. She felt strangely possessive over this person she hadn't met but would come to know.
On the other hand, Bella felt almost affronted: Fate had removed her choice of partner as well. She pictured the Wëird Sisters, withered and choppy, their gnarled fingers playing with the string of her life.
She combed through her hair anxiously, examining it for split ends that didn't exist anymore.
Alice leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, "I don't want to clip your wings, pet." She patted Bella on the arm in a placating move. "If you choose to help me, we can rid ourselves of all of the problems - María, James, Victoria." She counted off each using her fingers, scarlet eyes slightly crossed.
It was true, and yet Bella was so annoyed with Alice for manipulating her in this way. She wanted to be free of the Southern wars and the sunshine that she had grown up under. Suddenly, she found herself missing the moss covered trees of her father's house, the way the morning fog over the mountains would cast a hazy glow in the endless drizzle.
Something inside of her screamed for change, clawed at the bars of her chest.
As Bella finished her fifth drink, the world around her clouded.
"You should fly," Alice's voice drifted dreamily over her.
Her thoughts turned back to her mate. "Mind reader?" She slurred, tapping one finger against the empty glass in front of her.
Alice giggled and it sounded like the sun breaking through the eye of the storm. "Little birdie's head will be safe from his prying eyes." She tapped Bella's temple lightly three times. "Perhaps that is why…" she trailed off.
Bella's thoughts sloshed around her head. "Why what?"
Alice squinted at the mirror above the bar, her nose scrunched in thought. "Perhaps you are his and he is yours and that is why you are silent to him."
It took her quite a minute to figure out what Alice meant. Eventually, her addled brain supposed it would be hard to be with someone who could hear their every thought.
Alice downed the rest of her drink and stood, grabbing Bella's arm roughly and exerting a power that surprised Bella, considering her short stature. Alice flashed a smile to the bartender as they stumbled out into the crisp night air.
Bella allowed Alice to guide her off the streets and into the woods. Their silhouettes melted into the darkness, blending seamlessly as if they were made from it. The woods seemed to purr at their re-entry - the leaves rustled contentedly, murmuring sweet things to them as they enclosed around them like skeletal arms.
Overhead, the wind stirred, twisting and turning the falling leaves into black, cacophonous flocks, like bits of burnt paper wheeling in a blown sky.
But there was no flutter of wings, no cawing crows, no hoot of an owl - just the sounds of their footfalls on the forest floor, the whisper of the leaves above. The leaves spoke of home and flitting shadows and coins in the mouth of the dead.
The cabin arose like Charon, like Bella and Alice had already paid for passage, the moss snaking, curling like his long and tattered robe before them. The empty cabin was like the ferry to the underworld.
Alice tucked her in too tightly and sang dirges in her honey voice, the sticky sweetness coating Bella's thoughts with wilted wildflower meadows and oppressive laughter. Bella closed her eyes tightly, avoiding glancing at the large cage that now held a chirping chickadee preening its feathers.
Bella did not want a lament for the dead. She wanted more.
"Option two," she whispered to anyone listening and faded into unconsciousness, thus sealing her fate. It was as if Lachesis smiled and safeguarded her life's thread, holding it close to her chest.
In the shadows, Alice grinned, her song slipping further into the minor key and growing into a haunted thing.