Bonne Foi
Title: Bonne Foi
Author: Amethyst Jackson
Category: Drama, Romance
Rating: M
Summary: AU. Edward Masen was changed in 1918 and abandoned by his sire. He feeds on human blood, unaware of any other way…until he stumbles across college freshman Bella Swan for a night that will change everything.
Disclaimer: A writer is like a goddess in her universe…but only one writer is making the money off Twilight, and that’s Stephenie Meyer. These are her characters, and I’m just having fun with them.
Chapter Twenty-One
“You’re doing it again,” Bella laughed.
“Doing what?” I asked without opening my eyes. I was content where I was, with Bella’s fingers running up and down my arm, tracing the empty veins.
“Purring,” Bella said. I could hear the grin in her voice, and I opened my eyes to see it.
“It’s an involuntary response,” I defended.
Bella laughed again. “Whatever it is, I like it. It’s adorable and sexy all at once. And I like that you do it for me.”
“I don’t think I’d ever done it at all before you,” I admitted.
“Are a lot of things like that for you? Involuntary, I mean?” she asked contemplatively, drawing idle patterns on my skin.
I shrugged. “Vampires are very instinctual, I suppose. We rely on our animal instinct to hunt, to feed, to survive. We have to turn off our human side sometimes just to stay alive.”
Bella frowned, but her eyes were cast downward, giving me no clue to her thoughts. “But your human side is still there, right? You have the same kinds of thoughts and feelings?”
Ah, so she was concerned about my emotional capabilities. I felt slightly stung. Could she still doubt me, even now? “I didn’t always…for a long time, I lost touch with my humanity. I recognized the emotions I saw in the human world for what they were, but I didn’t feel them myself. Until now…now it’s all resurfacing because of you. And as for thoughts…well, they’re essentially the same, but vampire brains have fewer limitations…we can think of many things at once, and our memories are perfect.”
“Perfect?” Bella’s expression was lighter now, simply skeptical and innocently curious.
“We remember everything, forever. Every last insignificant detail. I could recite every word of a newspaper I read fifty years ago.”
Bella shook her head at me. “Just trying to comprehend that makes my head hurt.”
I chuckled. “Well, you’re only using ten percent of your brain, little human.”
She rolled her eyes. “How un-evolved of me.”
She settled down again and rested her head on my shoulder. After a stretch of silence, her voice startled me.
“There was something else I was wondering about.” The tone of her voice suggested she thought I wouldn’t like her question. I braced myself.
“Go on.”
She bit her lip. “Well, the way you talk about…feeding makes it sound like you can’t do it without killing…I wondered why that was.”
I studied her expression. She avoided my eyes, but I saw more than simple curiosity in the set of her brow. I worried about what she wasn’t saying, now aware of just how much she was capable of holding back.
“There are two reasons. The main one is that when we taste blood, human or otherwise, instinct kicks in. It takes a great amount of willpower to stop. Even if we did stop, the…victim wouldn’t live. For one thing, it’s very…messy. We don’t have fangs like the movie vampires to leave neat little puncture wounds. Our teeth are simply very sharp. The other problem is that we are venomous.”
“What, like a snake?”
I chuckled. “Sort of. At first, the venom causes acute, paralyzing pain…but if we stop feeding, the venom works its way through the body and turns the victim into a vampire.”
“Venom…that’s interesting. I guess it makes sense. Is that the only way to become a vampire?”
“It’s the only way I know of,” I told her. She frowned, looking at me with something like concern.
“So a vampire must have bitten you. You don’t remember who? Anything about them?”
“I only remember the pain,” I said. She was quiet. She still frowned, and I had to ask. “What are you thinking?”
She cracked a smile. “It really bothers you not to know, doesn’t it?”
“Drives me insane,” I admitted, finding her amusement contagious. “But I would really like to know this time.”
“I was just wondering what kind of creature would have left you like that. Beyond the cruelty it would take to abandon you that way…it doesn’t make sense, does it? Why take the effort to stop feeding if you’re just going to leave the person…?”
Her eyes were full of frustration, and I felt for the first time what it was to really be loved. She looked as though she would take on the vampire who had changed me bare-handed if she could.
“I’ve asked myself the same questions a million times or more. Maybe the vampire had to stop abruptly to prevent exposure… I don’t know. I probably never will.”
“That’s horrible,” she grimaced. “Not knowing would drive me insane.”
“You have no idea,” I chuckled. She was growing rather agitated over things that had nothing to do with her. It was cute. I ran a hand along her spine, hoping to soothe her. It didn’t work.
“There was one more thing I was wondering about…but I’ve been afraid to know the answer.”
What now? What more could she have to wonder about? “What’s that?”
She propped herself up on her elbows, lying on her stomach, and took a deep breath. “If you didn’t…kill that girl in the paper…then who did?”
Oh, that. I winced. Should I tell her the truth? Would she be frightened? But she was frowning determinedly at me, and I suspected she would settle for nothing less than complete honesty. “I don’t know exactly. One of my kind. I don’t know if I should be telling you this, but Alice Cullen sort of…sees the future. According to her visions, three of them were headed toward Forks, but she didn’t know which way - “
“Forks?” she cried, stiffening. “They’re going to Forks?”
“Yes…Bella, what’s the matter?” I asked, watching her struggle out of the sheets twisted around her. The sight of miles of bare skin as she searched for her clothes had me longing to drag her back into bed, but I didn’t understand why she’d left in the first place.
“My dad is in Forks!” she said with a dramatic gesture, made more interesting by the fact that she’d just picked up her torn undergarments. “There are people I care about there, and they could be in danger -“
“Bella, calm down.” I sat up quickly. “They probably haven’t even reached Forks yet. Besides, what do you think you’re going to do about it?”
“I don’t know. I’ll…whittle stakes. But I have to do something…I can’t just sit here while someone I love is in danger.”
She was serious, I realized, and I could either talk her out of it or go along with her. I knew which option was easier.
“Hold on, Bella, all right? First of all, you’re not going to kill a vampire with a stake or holy water or any amount of garlic. Those are all myths. There are very few creatures strong enough to take down vampires, and humans are not among them. Secondly, the sun is still up. If you want to go to Forks, we’ll go to Forks, but I can’t go outside for another hour or so, and I’m not letting you out of my sight until these vampires have left the area.”
Bella had worked her way into her jeans and my shirt by now, and she crossed her arms in sleeves that were far too big for her. “You won’t let me go?”
“Bella, this isn’t the time to defend your independence. I will protect you, even if you make it difficult. If you insist upon going to Forks, I will follow you, one way or another - it will be much easier and much better for my peace of mind if you wait for me to accompany you. Besides, if I drive, we’ll get there much faster.”
Bella’s stance had relaxed a little, and I knew she was giving in. “Please, Bella? We’ll leave as soon as the sun sets, I promise you.”
“Fine,” she sighed, sinking onto the edge of the bed. She had her back to me, preventing me from seeing her face, and that worried me.
“Bella? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, reluctantly turning toward me. “I just…when I started thinking about vampires, I mostly thought about what it meant for us… I didn’t think about how many might be out there, or what the ramifications might be. Suddenly there’s this new threat that I’m completely powerless against…and it scares me.”
“I’d be shocked if you weren’t scared,” I said, inching closer to her. I wanted to pull her into my arms and reassure her, but I didn’t know if she would welcome that now. “But, Bella…you have about the same chance of being attacked by a vampire as you do being struck by lightning, and you don’t go around worrying about that, do you?”
Bella frowned. “Edward, I can name seven vampires off the top of my head.”
I chuckled. “Well, you’re probably a bad example. You seem to be a magnet for trouble. Fortunately for you, you have your own personal vampire bodyguard. But the other people you’re worried about - your father, your friends - it’s very unlikely they’ll ever cross paths with a vampire that would hurt them. Even these vampires that are in the area are unlikely to enter the town itself. They won’t want to interact with humans.”
“But you interact with humans, and so do the Cullens,” Bella pointed out, unappeased.
“We’re exceptions to the rule,” I explained patiently. “Carlisle and his family can live all together in one place because their hunting habits leave no evidence. And I…well, I’m strange, for a vampire. I simply prefer living in the human world to a nomadic existence. But most vampires are like animals, roaming the wilderness, giving themselves over completely to instinct. They shy away from exposure to humankind.”
“Are you trying to tell me you’re more afraid of us than we are of you?” Bella said skeptically, her right eyebrow arched high.
I laughed. “No, I don’t think you’ll ever find a vampire who’s afraid of a human. But we do tend to avoid you.”
“I guess that’s something,” she sighed. “I still can’t help worrying.”
“I’ll keep you safe,” I swore, and I meant it.
She smiled, curling into my side. “I know you will. It’s not me I’m worried about.”
I couldn’t quite feel her obligation to these people she worried for, but I recognized that what was important to Bella must now be important to me…and so I would accompany her to Forks, though I would much prefer she stay out of harm’s way. But surely nothing would happen. What were the chances, after all? These vampires would likely pick up on the Cullens’ presence and avoid the territory, understanding that there was a prior claim. Hopefully, I could get Bella in and out of Forks without incident.
“Edward? You’re frowning,” Bella said, nudging me with an elbow.
“Sorry,” I forced a smile. “Just thinking some things through.”
She nodded her understanding. “So what do you want to do until sunset?”
I shot her an incredulous look. She laughed.
“Yeah, that was a stupid question.”
~
The sun set just after six, early now that fall was upon us. Bella ushered me out the door as soon as she could, and she insisted on heading straight for Forks without stopping to pick up any of her things. I tried to tell her she was overreacting, but she wouldn’t hear it.
Soon we were flying down the road, Bella clenching her eyes shut to avoid seeing the landscape rushing by. I could tell the speed bothered her, but she kept her mouth shut due to her own sense of urgency. Crazy girl.
“So what is your father going to say when you turn up unannounced with me in tow?” I asked in order to distract her.
“I have no idea. I’ll think of something to tell him, I guess.”
My phone began to ring just as the words left her mouth. I fished it out of my pocket and was rather unsurprised, all things considered, to see Alice’s number on the screen.
“Hello?”
“Ask her if she’d like to stay with us this weekend,” she said excitedly, sounding more like a teenage girl than a well-aged vampire.
I sighed and glanced at Bella, who was watching with curiosity and puzzlement, no doubt wondering who would bother to call me.
“It’s Alice Cullen,” I told her, rolling my eyes. “She’d like us to stay at their home this weekend.”
Bella’s eyes widened in surprise. “How did she - oh, right, she sees the future. Uh…if they really want us to come…I guess it would be easier than explaining to Charlie…as long as he doesn’t see us there, that is…”
“Their house is in the middle of nowhere,” I assured her.
“And tell her we’ll help protect Charlie,” Alice piped in over the phone. “The last thing we need is the Chief of Police dying mysteriously and drawing suspicion to the freaks in town.”
My mouth twitched with the urge to laugh. “Alice says they’d be happy to help look after your father.”
“Oh…that’s very kind of them,” Bella said as some of the worry in her face slipped away. “I guess we should stay with them, since they’re being so nice.”
I could hear Alice celebrating her victory and waited for her to cease before trying to talk to her.
“That’s excellent, I can’t wait,” Alice gushed. “I can’t see where the other vampires are right now, but Jasper and Emmett are patrolling around the town to try to intercept them, if need be.”
“Good. I think I can make it there in an hour or less. Oh, and thanks for the warning earlier, by the way,” I added in an ironic tone.
Alice just laughed. “If I’d warned you, it wouldn’t have gone nearly as well, trust me. We’ll see you soon.”
I heard the click of her snapping her phone shut in lieu of a goodbye. I shook my head as I stuffed my phone back into my pocket.
“That was…odd,” Bella commented, still looking rather bemused. “Does she…do that a lot?”
“If you’re referring to her calling at random and interfering with whatever I’m doing, then yes. She’s a force of nature, that one.”
“What are the other Cullens like?” Bella asked. “I know the doctor, of course, but I’ve never met his wife, and I never really talked to the others in school.”
I described each of the Cullens as best as I could for her, explaining how they’d each come to be part of the odd clan and trying to describe their personalities from what little I knew. Bella listened attentively, as though trying to memorize everything I told her.
We were some twenty minutes from Forks when my phone started ringing insistently again. I was seriously considering ignoring it when the decision was taken out of my hands - in the form of something leaping quite suddenly in front of my car.
Bella screamed as I slammed on the brakes, tires screeching painfully as the vehicle skidded to a stop. I looked quickly to Bella to check her over. She was breathing quickly and her heart was pounding, but she appeared to be uninjured. I turned my eyes back to the road to see what creature had been suicidal enough to leap in front of a vehicle going a hundred miles per hour.
At first glance, he was so ordinary, he looked human. Brown hair, average height, average build. But the differences were apparent enough to my eyes. He was a vampire…and if his black irises were any indication, he was thirsty.
I quickly considered my options. If I tried to take off, he would give chase, and I doubted he would have much trouble stopping my car if he set his mind to it. With Bella in the car, so easily wounded, I couldn’t take that chance.
Perhaps if I talked to him, he would leave. Perhaps he had no idea there was a vampire in the car he stopped - maybe if he realized what I was and that Bella was mine, he would retreat. And if not…if not, I would tear his head off.
“Stay in the car,” I demanded of Bella as I opened my door. “No matter what happens, am I clear?”
Bella nodded slowly, and my stone heart twisted at the fear in her eyes. I’d have to reassure her when it was over.
I lingered close to the car as I stepped out and faced the other vampire. A quick scan of his thoughts told me what I needed to know - he’d known exactly what he was doing when he stopped me. He knew Bella was mine and simply because of that, he was determined to have her.
“Do we have a problem?” I asked, keeping a close watch on him. At the same time, I kept my senses on alert for any others - he was likely one of the three Alice had been seeing, and that meant his friends wouldn’t be far away.
“Not at all.” He sauntered closer with a lazy smile. “I just caught a whiff of you and your little snack there and thought you might share.”
“I don’t share,” I growled. He simply chuckled.
“Interesting. I would say you were merely territorial if you didn’t seem so attached to the human. Her scent is…all over you. And she sure doesn’t look too eager to get away from you. Just what have you been doing with the girl?”
“That’s none of your concern,” I snarled.
“You’re right…my only concern is getting a taste.”
He made a quick lunge for the passenger side of the car where Bella sat watching. I leapt after him, tackling him to the road, but he was quick to shove me off. I grabbed his ankle as he got to his feet and pulled him down. His head slammed against my car with a crunch and I let out a furious snarl. That was going to leave a dent.
Bella’s human eyes had finally caught up to what was happening, and I heard her give a screech, but I kept my attention on the vampire coming at me with teeth bared. His teeth sunk into my arm as I deflected his lunge for my jugular. I swore. Vampire venom hurt like a bitch.
I was about to bite back when he was suddenly pulled from me. A female voice cried out, “James, stop!”
Scrambling to my feet, I saw a redheaded female clinging to the other vampire’s arm - but she was staring at me.
“I knew it was you!” she cackled delightedly. “James, it’s the little sickly boy you wouldn’t let me keep!”
I froze. “What?”
But I didn’t need to ask. She was reliving the memories now - me, practically crawling through the streets of Chicago, consumed with fever…her, taking me into an alley and biting me, determined to keep me…James, furious, dragging her away…
James hadn’t made the connection between me and that human boy initially, but he understood now, and he was even more determined to kill me. Great.
“You were such a cute little thing,” the woman cooed, as if I’d been a puppy at the time. “And I was so bored…I thought it would be fun to have a newborn around. But James here wouldn’t have it, and I had to leave you. I’m glad to see you’ve made it on your own. Perhaps you’d like to come with us now?”
“No, thank you,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Pity,” she sighed. “We would have had fun together. But it seems you’ve been having plenty of fun of your own with that little human. There’s only one way to get someone’s scent all over you like that…only one fun way, at least.”
“Victoria,” James hissed, jerking her arm. “It’s time to go.”
I heard what had alarmed him just as she did - two vampires approaching rapidly. I heard the mental voices of Jasper and Emmett, and I felt acute relief.
“Come on,” James urged again, and he and Victoria darted across the road, into the tree line. Moments later, Jasper and Emmett appeared.
“Are they gone?” Emmett asked, sounding disappointed.
“Yeah,” I sighed. I was about to tell them more when I heard the car door open behind me, and I turned just in time for Bella to throw herself onto me.
“I thought I told you to stay in the car,” I said as I caught her.
“Shut up,” she said in a strained voice. I realized she was crying.
“Bella, it’s okay now…” I said, rubbing her back helplessly.
“You could have been killed!” she cried, pulling back far enough to glare at me - as if it were my fault.
“But I wasn’t,” I reminded her gently. “And we have friends here now.”
“Alice sent us when she saw them cross your path,” Emmett explained, then added conventionally, “Good to see you again, Bella.”
She forced a smile for him. “Hi, Emmett, Jasper.”
“What happened, anyway?” Jasper asked. “Looks like you got a bite there.”
“It was just the male at first. He went for Bella and I attacked him, got bitten in the process. The female showed up just after that and stopped him.”
“She stopped him?” Bella repeated, echoing the confusion in the others’ minds.
“I’ll explain in the car, but we should get moving. If they meet up with the third one, they might be crazy enough to attack again.”
“We’ll run alongside you,” Jasper said, already slinking back into the trees. Emmett moved to the other side of the road where the other vampires had fled. I ushered Bella back into the car and hurried into the driver’s seat.
“All right, explain,” Bella demanded as I hit the accelerator. “If those two were together, why would she stop him from hurting you?”
“Because…apparently…she was the one who turned me.” I could hear the incredulity in my own voice.
“What?”
I told Bella what I’d seen in her mind, feeling suddenly drained. I’d waited so long to find out the mystery of how I’d become a vampire, and that was it? Just some bored chit and her jealous mate? And worst of all, the story didn’t seem to be over yet.
“Seriously?” Bella gaped. “She was bored? That’s just…that’s so…selfish. And to just leave you like that! How could either of them do such a thing?”
“They are selfish. Selfish, possessive, and greedy. That’s the way human-drinking vampires are…the way I was,” I admitted. “And they haven’t changed, either. She’s still determined to have me, and he’s still determined to be rid of me. Unfortunately, this time, I have something he wants, which gives him all the more reason to come after me.”
“Come after you? What are you talking about? What does he want?” Bella asked, almost hysterically.
“Bella, the male, James, thrives on power. He needs to assert his dominance over what he has, and he gets a thrill from taking what belongs to others. Here, he has the perfect power game - take out the threat he perceives me to be, and in the process, get the human I fought to protect. I’ve seen his type before…he’s ruthless. Nothing short of death will stop him now.”
Bella shivered, the air in the car filling with the scent of her fear. “What do we do, then?”
I shook my head, wishing I had an answer. “We’ll figure that out when we get to the Cullens’ place.”
~
A/N: I feel like I do this all the time, but I’ll say it again…sorry for the wait. I do try to update weekly, but sometimes, it just doesn’t happen.
This was another difficult chapter for me. Turns out, the one thing harder than make-up sex is action scenes.
Also, sad news - Bonne Foi didn’t win any Bellie awards. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bummed, but it was up against super stiff competition. Fortunately for me, I have awesome readers, and that’s better than any award.
Author: Amethyst Jackson
Category: Drama, Romance
Rating: M
Summary: AU. Edward Masen was changed in 1918 and abandoned by his sire. He feeds on human blood, unaware of any other way…until he stumbles across college freshman Bella Swan for a night that will change everything.
Disclaimer: A writer is like a goddess in her universe…but only one writer is making the money off Twilight, and that’s Stephenie Meyer. These are her characters, and I’m just having fun with them.
Chapter Twenty-One
“You’re doing it again,” Bella laughed.
“Doing what?” I asked without opening my eyes. I was content where I was, with Bella’s fingers running up and down my arm, tracing the empty veins.
“Purring,” Bella said. I could hear the grin in her voice, and I opened my eyes to see it.
“It’s an involuntary response,” I defended.
Bella laughed again. “Whatever it is, I like it. It’s adorable and sexy all at once. And I like that you do it for me.”
“I don’t think I’d ever done it at all before you,” I admitted.
“Are a lot of things like that for you? Involuntary, I mean?” she asked contemplatively, drawing idle patterns on my skin.
I shrugged. “Vampires are very instinctual, I suppose. We rely on our animal instinct to hunt, to feed, to survive. We have to turn off our human side sometimes just to stay alive.”
Bella frowned, but her eyes were cast downward, giving me no clue to her thoughts. “But your human side is still there, right? You have the same kinds of thoughts and feelings?”
Ah, so she was concerned about my emotional capabilities. I felt slightly stung. Could she still doubt me, even now? “I didn’t always…for a long time, I lost touch with my humanity. I recognized the emotions I saw in the human world for what they were, but I didn’t feel them myself. Until now…now it’s all resurfacing because of you. And as for thoughts…well, they’re essentially the same, but vampire brains have fewer limitations…we can think of many things at once, and our memories are perfect.”
“Perfect?” Bella’s expression was lighter now, simply skeptical and innocently curious.
“We remember everything, forever. Every last insignificant detail. I could recite every word of a newspaper I read fifty years ago.”
Bella shook her head at me. “Just trying to comprehend that makes my head hurt.”
I chuckled. “Well, you’re only using ten percent of your brain, little human.”
She rolled her eyes. “How un-evolved of me.”
She settled down again and rested her head on my shoulder. After a stretch of silence, her voice startled me.
“There was something else I was wondering about.” The tone of her voice suggested she thought I wouldn’t like her question. I braced myself.
“Go on.”
She bit her lip. “Well, the way you talk about…feeding makes it sound like you can’t do it without killing…I wondered why that was.”
I studied her expression. She avoided my eyes, but I saw more than simple curiosity in the set of her brow. I worried about what she wasn’t saying, now aware of just how much she was capable of holding back.
“There are two reasons. The main one is that when we taste blood, human or otherwise, instinct kicks in. It takes a great amount of willpower to stop. Even if we did stop, the…victim wouldn’t live. For one thing, it’s very…messy. We don’t have fangs like the movie vampires to leave neat little puncture wounds. Our teeth are simply very sharp. The other problem is that we are venomous.”
“What, like a snake?”
I chuckled. “Sort of. At first, the venom causes acute, paralyzing pain…but if we stop feeding, the venom works its way through the body and turns the victim into a vampire.”
“Venom…that’s interesting. I guess it makes sense. Is that the only way to become a vampire?”
“It’s the only way I know of,” I told her. She frowned, looking at me with something like concern.
“So a vampire must have bitten you. You don’t remember who? Anything about them?”
“I only remember the pain,” I said. She was quiet. She still frowned, and I had to ask. “What are you thinking?”
She cracked a smile. “It really bothers you not to know, doesn’t it?”
“Drives me insane,” I admitted, finding her amusement contagious. “But I would really like to know this time.”
“I was just wondering what kind of creature would have left you like that. Beyond the cruelty it would take to abandon you that way…it doesn’t make sense, does it? Why take the effort to stop feeding if you’re just going to leave the person…?”
Her eyes were full of frustration, and I felt for the first time what it was to really be loved. She looked as though she would take on the vampire who had changed me bare-handed if she could.
“I’ve asked myself the same questions a million times or more. Maybe the vampire had to stop abruptly to prevent exposure… I don’t know. I probably never will.”
“That’s horrible,” she grimaced. “Not knowing would drive me insane.”
“You have no idea,” I chuckled. She was growing rather agitated over things that had nothing to do with her. It was cute. I ran a hand along her spine, hoping to soothe her. It didn’t work.
“There was one more thing I was wondering about…but I’ve been afraid to know the answer.”
What now? What more could she have to wonder about? “What’s that?”
She propped herself up on her elbows, lying on her stomach, and took a deep breath. “If you didn’t…kill that girl in the paper…then who did?”
Oh, that. I winced. Should I tell her the truth? Would she be frightened? But she was frowning determinedly at me, and I suspected she would settle for nothing less than complete honesty. “I don’t know exactly. One of my kind. I don’t know if I should be telling you this, but Alice Cullen sort of…sees the future. According to her visions, three of them were headed toward Forks, but she didn’t know which way - “
“Forks?” she cried, stiffening. “They’re going to Forks?”
“Yes…Bella, what’s the matter?” I asked, watching her struggle out of the sheets twisted around her. The sight of miles of bare skin as she searched for her clothes had me longing to drag her back into bed, but I didn’t understand why she’d left in the first place.
“My dad is in Forks!” she said with a dramatic gesture, made more interesting by the fact that she’d just picked up her torn undergarments. “There are people I care about there, and they could be in danger -“
“Bella, calm down.” I sat up quickly. “They probably haven’t even reached Forks yet. Besides, what do you think you’re going to do about it?”
“I don’t know. I’ll…whittle stakes. But I have to do something…I can’t just sit here while someone I love is in danger.”
She was serious, I realized, and I could either talk her out of it or go along with her. I knew which option was easier.
“Hold on, Bella, all right? First of all, you’re not going to kill a vampire with a stake or holy water or any amount of garlic. Those are all myths. There are very few creatures strong enough to take down vampires, and humans are not among them. Secondly, the sun is still up. If you want to go to Forks, we’ll go to Forks, but I can’t go outside for another hour or so, and I’m not letting you out of my sight until these vampires have left the area.”
Bella had worked her way into her jeans and my shirt by now, and she crossed her arms in sleeves that were far too big for her. “You won’t let me go?”
“Bella, this isn’t the time to defend your independence. I will protect you, even if you make it difficult. If you insist upon going to Forks, I will follow you, one way or another - it will be much easier and much better for my peace of mind if you wait for me to accompany you. Besides, if I drive, we’ll get there much faster.”
Bella’s stance had relaxed a little, and I knew she was giving in. “Please, Bella? We’ll leave as soon as the sun sets, I promise you.”
“Fine,” she sighed, sinking onto the edge of the bed. She had her back to me, preventing me from seeing her face, and that worried me.
“Bella? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, reluctantly turning toward me. “I just…when I started thinking about vampires, I mostly thought about what it meant for us… I didn’t think about how many might be out there, or what the ramifications might be. Suddenly there’s this new threat that I’m completely powerless against…and it scares me.”
“I’d be shocked if you weren’t scared,” I said, inching closer to her. I wanted to pull her into my arms and reassure her, but I didn’t know if she would welcome that now. “But, Bella…you have about the same chance of being attacked by a vampire as you do being struck by lightning, and you don’t go around worrying about that, do you?”
Bella frowned. “Edward, I can name seven vampires off the top of my head.”
I chuckled. “Well, you’re probably a bad example. You seem to be a magnet for trouble. Fortunately for you, you have your own personal vampire bodyguard. But the other people you’re worried about - your father, your friends - it’s very unlikely they’ll ever cross paths with a vampire that would hurt them. Even these vampires that are in the area are unlikely to enter the town itself. They won’t want to interact with humans.”
“But you interact with humans, and so do the Cullens,” Bella pointed out, unappeased.
“We’re exceptions to the rule,” I explained patiently. “Carlisle and his family can live all together in one place because their hunting habits leave no evidence. And I…well, I’m strange, for a vampire. I simply prefer living in the human world to a nomadic existence. But most vampires are like animals, roaming the wilderness, giving themselves over completely to instinct. They shy away from exposure to humankind.”
“Are you trying to tell me you’re more afraid of us than we are of you?” Bella said skeptically, her right eyebrow arched high.
I laughed. “No, I don’t think you’ll ever find a vampire who’s afraid of a human. But we do tend to avoid you.”
“I guess that’s something,” she sighed. “I still can’t help worrying.”
“I’ll keep you safe,” I swore, and I meant it.
She smiled, curling into my side. “I know you will. It’s not me I’m worried about.”
I couldn’t quite feel her obligation to these people she worried for, but I recognized that what was important to Bella must now be important to me…and so I would accompany her to Forks, though I would much prefer she stay out of harm’s way. But surely nothing would happen. What were the chances, after all? These vampires would likely pick up on the Cullens’ presence and avoid the territory, understanding that there was a prior claim. Hopefully, I could get Bella in and out of Forks without incident.
“Edward? You’re frowning,” Bella said, nudging me with an elbow.
“Sorry,” I forced a smile. “Just thinking some things through.”
She nodded her understanding. “So what do you want to do until sunset?”
I shot her an incredulous look. She laughed.
“Yeah, that was a stupid question.”
~
The sun set just after six, early now that fall was upon us. Bella ushered me out the door as soon as she could, and she insisted on heading straight for Forks without stopping to pick up any of her things. I tried to tell her she was overreacting, but she wouldn’t hear it.
Soon we were flying down the road, Bella clenching her eyes shut to avoid seeing the landscape rushing by. I could tell the speed bothered her, but she kept her mouth shut due to her own sense of urgency. Crazy girl.
“So what is your father going to say when you turn up unannounced with me in tow?” I asked in order to distract her.
“I have no idea. I’ll think of something to tell him, I guess.”
My phone began to ring just as the words left her mouth. I fished it out of my pocket and was rather unsurprised, all things considered, to see Alice’s number on the screen.
“Hello?”
“Ask her if she’d like to stay with us this weekend,” she said excitedly, sounding more like a teenage girl than a well-aged vampire.
I sighed and glanced at Bella, who was watching with curiosity and puzzlement, no doubt wondering who would bother to call me.
“It’s Alice Cullen,” I told her, rolling my eyes. “She’d like us to stay at their home this weekend.”
Bella’s eyes widened in surprise. “How did she - oh, right, she sees the future. Uh…if they really want us to come…I guess it would be easier than explaining to Charlie…as long as he doesn’t see us there, that is…”
“Their house is in the middle of nowhere,” I assured her.
“And tell her we’ll help protect Charlie,” Alice piped in over the phone. “The last thing we need is the Chief of Police dying mysteriously and drawing suspicion to the freaks in town.”
My mouth twitched with the urge to laugh. “Alice says they’d be happy to help look after your father.”
“Oh…that’s very kind of them,” Bella said as some of the worry in her face slipped away. “I guess we should stay with them, since they’re being so nice.”
I could hear Alice celebrating her victory and waited for her to cease before trying to talk to her.
“That’s excellent, I can’t wait,” Alice gushed. “I can’t see where the other vampires are right now, but Jasper and Emmett are patrolling around the town to try to intercept them, if need be.”
“Good. I think I can make it there in an hour or less. Oh, and thanks for the warning earlier, by the way,” I added in an ironic tone.
Alice just laughed. “If I’d warned you, it wouldn’t have gone nearly as well, trust me. We’ll see you soon.”
I heard the click of her snapping her phone shut in lieu of a goodbye. I shook my head as I stuffed my phone back into my pocket.
“That was…odd,” Bella commented, still looking rather bemused. “Does she…do that a lot?”
“If you’re referring to her calling at random and interfering with whatever I’m doing, then yes. She’s a force of nature, that one.”
“What are the other Cullens like?” Bella asked. “I know the doctor, of course, but I’ve never met his wife, and I never really talked to the others in school.”
I described each of the Cullens as best as I could for her, explaining how they’d each come to be part of the odd clan and trying to describe their personalities from what little I knew. Bella listened attentively, as though trying to memorize everything I told her.
We were some twenty minutes from Forks when my phone started ringing insistently again. I was seriously considering ignoring it when the decision was taken out of my hands - in the form of something leaping quite suddenly in front of my car.
Bella screamed as I slammed on the brakes, tires screeching painfully as the vehicle skidded to a stop. I looked quickly to Bella to check her over. She was breathing quickly and her heart was pounding, but she appeared to be uninjured. I turned my eyes back to the road to see what creature had been suicidal enough to leap in front of a vehicle going a hundred miles per hour.
At first glance, he was so ordinary, he looked human. Brown hair, average height, average build. But the differences were apparent enough to my eyes. He was a vampire…and if his black irises were any indication, he was thirsty.
I quickly considered my options. If I tried to take off, he would give chase, and I doubted he would have much trouble stopping my car if he set his mind to it. With Bella in the car, so easily wounded, I couldn’t take that chance.
Perhaps if I talked to him, he would leave. Perhaps he had no idea there was a vampire in the car he stopped - maybe if he realized what I was and that Bella was mine, he would retreat. And if not…if not, I would tear his head off.
“Stay in the car,” I demanded of Bella as I opened my door. “No matter what happens, am I clear?”
Bella nodded slowly, and my stone heart twisted at the fear in her eyes. I’d have to reassure her when it was over.
I lingered close to the car as I stepped out and faced the other vampire. A quick scan of his thoughts told me what I needed to know - he’d known exactly what he was doing when he stopped me. He knew Bella was mine and simply because of that, he was determined to have her.
“Do we have a problem?” I asked, keeping a close watch on him. At the same time, I kept my senses on alert for any others - he was likely one of the three Alice had been seeing, and that meant his friends wouldn’t be far away.
“Not at all.” He sauntered closer with a lazy smile. “I just caught a whiff of you and your little snack there and thought you might share.”
“I don’t share,” I growled. He simply chuckled.
“Interesting. I would say you were merely territorial if you didn’t seem so attached to the human. Her scent is…all over you. And she sure doesn’t look too eager to get away from you. Just what have you been doing with the girl?”
“That’s none of your concern,” I snarled.
“You’re right…my only concern is getting a taste.”
He made a quick lunge for the passenger side of the car where Bella sat watching. I leapt after him, tackling him to the road, but he was quick to shove me off. I grabbed his ankle as he got to his feet and pulled him down. His head slammed against my car with a crunch and I let out a furious snarl. That was going to leave a dent.
Bella’s human eyes had finally caught up to what was happening, and I heard her give a screech, but I kept my attention on the vampire coming at me with teeth bared. His teeth sunk into my arm as I deflected his lunge for my jugular. I swore. Vampire venom hurt like a bitch.
I was about to bite back when he was suddenly pulled from me. A female voice cried out, “James, stop!”
Scrambling to my feet, I saw a redheaded female clinging to the other vampire’s arm - but she was staring at me.
“I knew it was you!” she cackled delightedly. “James, it’s the little sickly boy you wouldn’t let me keep!”
I froze. “What?”
But I didn’t need to ask. She was reliving the memories now - me, practically crawling through the streets of Chicago, consumed with fever…her, taking me into an alley and biting me, determined to keep me…James, furious, dragging her away…
James hadn’t made the connection between me and that human boy initially, but he understood now, and he was even more determined to kill me. Great.
“You were such a cute little thing,” the woman cooed, as if I’d been a puppy at the time. “And I was so bored…I thought it would be fun to have a newborn around. But James here wouldn’t have it, and I had to leave you. I’m glad to see you’ve made it on your own. Perhaps you’d like to come with us now?”
“No, thank you,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Pity,” she sighed. “We would have had fun together. But it seems you’ve been having plenty of fun of your own with that little human. There’s only one way to get someone’s scent all over you like that…only one fun way, at least.”
“Victoria,” James hissed, jerking her arm. “It’s time to go.”
I heard what had alarmed him just as she did - two vampires approaching rapidly. I heard the mental voices of Jasper and Emmett, and I felt acute relief.
“Come on,” James urged again, and he and Victoria darted across the road, into the tree line. Moments later, Jasper and Emmett appeared.
“Are they gone?” Emmett asked, sounding disappointed.
“Yeah,” I sighed. I was about to tell them more when I heard the car door open behind me, and I turned just in time for Bella to throw herself onto me.
“I thought I told you to stay in the car,” I said as I caught her.
“Shut up,” she said in a strained voice. I realized she was crying.
“Bella, it’s okay now…” I said, rubbing her back helplessly.
“You could have been killed!” she cried, pulling back far enough to glare at me - as if it were my fault.
“But I wasn’t,” I reminded her gently. “And we have friends here now.”
“Alice sent us when she saw them cross your path,” Emmett explained, then added conventionally, “Good to see you again, Bella.”
She forced a smile for him. “Hi, Emmett, Jasper.”
“What happened, anyway?” Jasper asked. “Looks like you got a bite there.”
“It was just the male at first. He went for Bella and I attacked him, got bitten in the process. The female showed up just after that and stopped him.”
“She stopped him?” Bella repeated, echoing the confusion in the others’ minds.
“I’ll explain in the car, but we should get moving. If they meet up with the third one, they might be crazy enough to attack again.”
“We’ll run alongside you,” Jasper said, already slinking back into the trees. Emmett moved to the other side of the road where the other vampires had fled. I ushered Bella back into the car and hurried into the driver’s seat.
“All right, explain,” Bella demanded as I hit the accelerator. “If those two were together, why would she stop him from hurting you?”
“Because…apparently…she was the one who turned me.” I could hear the incredulity in my own voice.
“What?”
I told Bella what I’d seen in her mind, feeling suddenly drained. I’d waited so long to find out the mystery of how I’d become a vampire, and that was it? Just some bored chit and her jealous mate? And worst of all, the story didn’t seem to be over yet.
“Seriously?” Bella gaped. “She was bored? That’s just…that’s so…selfish. And to just leave you like that! How could either of them do such a thing?”
“They are selfish. Selfish, possessive, and greedy. That’s the way human-drinking vampires are…the way I was,” I admitted. “And they haven’t changed, either. She’s still determined to have me, and he’s still determined to be rid of me. Unfortunately, this time, I have something he wants, which gives him all the more reason to come after me.”
“Come after you? What are you talking about? What does he want?” Bella asked, almost hysterically.
“Bella, the male, James, thrives on power. He needs to assert his dominance over what he has, and he gets a thrill from taking what belongs to others. Here, he has the perfect power game - take out the threat he perceives me to be, and in the process, get the human I fought to protect. I’ve seen his type before…he’s ruthless. Nothing short of death will stop him now.”
Bella shivered, the air in the car filling with the scent of her fear. “What do we do, then?”
I shook my head, wishing I had an answer. “We’ll figure that out when we get to the Cullens’ place.”
~
A/N: I feel like I do this all the time, but I’ll say it again…sorry for the wait. I do try to update weekly, but sometimes, it just doesn’t happen.
This was another difficult chapter for me. Turns out, the one thing harder than make-up sex is action scenes.
Also, sad news - Bonne Foi didn’t win any Bellie awards. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bummed, but it was up against super stiff competition. Fortunately for me, I have awesome readers, and that’s better than any award.