HOME | DD

Description
I couldn't believe it. There had to be some dysfunction in my brain, rewiring itself around the story and my necklace, making a rather far-fetched conclusion. No, I just couldn't be that, the daughter. . .

But there it was.

I was my father's daughter, and he was the Vampire King.

I was the Vampire King's daughter.

I was completely baffled, and strangely incredibly scared out of my wits. Although it put a small factor of sense into the recent events I have been in, but no one had ever looked at me like I was a source of power or anything close. They looked at me like they wanted to tear me apart, which some tried very hard to do, or that I was absolutely helpless.

When I wasn't paying attention, adrenaline had rushed into my veins. My heart beat rapidly in my ears, and I could feel the veins trying to push their way out of my wrists and neck.

I took a deep breath as slowly as I could, so I wouldn't startle Edward. Seems I didn't do the job right.

"Twilight? What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up and trying to look at my face.

Deflect the question, I thought instantly. I cleared my face of everything except for tiredness; it wasn't too hard.

"What? Oh, nothing," I said, hearing that my voice was starting to clear up from being sick. "Actually, I feel kind of gross. I'm just gonna take a shower, clear my nose up," I said, sliding out from under the covers, placing my feet silently on the carpet.

"Are you sure you're okay? You seem nervous, or worried," Edward said, faltering slightly when he said seem, like he was just going to state I was nervous.

I turned to him and gave him my confused smile. "No, of course I'm okay. If I wasn't then I'd tell you. I'm just gonna hop out for a bit. I'm feeling better so I might be able to start doing some stuff soon," I told him as I started walking up the stairs to get my clothes for after the shower.

He didn't look convinced at all, but he let me go with a grim line of mouth on his face.

When I couldn't see him any more, I let the stress come forward on my face, let itself be shown. It was much more relaxing that way. I grabbed some tight, but stretchy skinny jeans and was about to add a black shirt that had red crosshairs over my heart, but I thought better about that. Instead I grabbed a long-sleeved black shirt that had a grey thorn design wrapping around the collar, hem, and cuffs. I retreated to the bathroom.

I let the water heat up, but not long enough. I stepped into the shower while it was still cool, but it was good enough. I scrubbed my body raw save for the most bruised and injured parts of me, which seemed to be everywhere. I washed my hair with my nails, scratching my head hard until it was as sore as the rest of me.

Then I just stood under the constant stream. It had gotten too hot, so I reached to the knob and turned it down. Now the water was almost too cold, a sting on my scrubbed-raw skin, but if felt good. I let my hair flatten itself against my head, down my neck, the longer strands sticking to my back.

I closed my eyes and thought of the water, clear and clean, no thoughts, nothing to worry about, just molecules running around smoothly together. I wished I could be like that sometimes, especially now.

Without really thinking about it, I turned the water off, wrung my hair out as best I could, and wrapped my thin bruised body in a towel. I didn't care that my hair was still dripping, getting my shoulders wet, the drops running down to my chest and under the towel.

I stared at my face in the mirror. My eyes had too many thoughts in them, which was strange because my mind was numb. They were big and confused, the neon blue filled with a dreaded understanding. I'm the Vampire King's daughter. The thought slid through my mind, and the icy color seemed to get more serious.

I shook my head and dried my body and hair. I brushed my ears and I looked in the mirror. Between all my piercings in my ears, Damien's ruby stud stood out, shining like a drop of blood. I touched it for a second, hoping that he and his family were okay and that I hadn't torn them apart.

I snapped my head away from the mirror, determined to pull myself out of it. Okay, so I'm his daughter, big whoop. It's not like I'm going to attract more freaks now that I know this. They never would've guessed themselves. I mean, I didn't even figure it out for 16 years. Besides, nothing has ever happened to me that's exceptionally weird, other than the last week or so. Okay, so I'm part vampire, whatever, seems like I got just the human characteristics. No weird vampire things to mess me up from being a somewhat normal person.

But I still wondered about my blood, and if it would stay quiet or let itself be known, maybe tearing my body to pieces, at war with the other half. Ugh, that wouldn't be a mess I'd want to clean up, I thought grimly. If that did happen, at least I wouldn't have to clean it up, because the mess would be me.

I pulled my clothes on. I thought there was a piece of cloth on my jeans, but when I looked, I remember that there was stitching above the pockets that made it look like there was a deviant devil in my pocket, hitching a ride. It was a shame that my shirt was long enough that it would cover him, because I liked him hanging around with me all the time. I pulled the shirt on over my head, sadly covering up my little devious friend, and pulling the sleeves halfway over my hands and stuck my thumbs through the thumb holes that were stitched into the shirt sleeves. The grey thorns on the black made it look like I would kill myself from blood loss if I tried to take the shirt off. I kind of felt as trapped as I looked.

I dried my hair and brushed it out until it was totally dry, running the towel through it a few more times too.

I'd been in here long enough that the mirror had lost the steam on it, and only a few water droplets were left on it. I was feeling a lot better, or at least I didn't feel sick any more. I still felt run down by my recent realization. But I could cover my face up with my normal mask of everything's-fine. I had used it a lot since my mom had started dating.

I opened the door quietly, and stepped onto the carpet, looking around the hallway. I sped my way across the hall into Edward's room where everything I owned now was. I rummaged through the clothes and found a pair of socks; my feet were getting a little cold, and I wanted to go outside soon to clear my head. I put my iPod in my pocket with a pair of headphones. I made my way silently down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Edward was, of course, waiting for me.

I smiled at him as I came down the last few steps. "I feel way better now, that shower was great." I opened the fridge, found nothing. I turned to the counter and grabbed a plain roll and started eating it. "So I was wondering, could we go shopping? Real local stuff, I just need a few medical supplies and other miscellaneous items. I just need a ride there; you can stay in the car."

He gave me a sideways look, then turned fully to me. "Are you really feeling better?" he asked, as if not believing me.

"Yeah, totally better. Well, my ribs still hurt. And my face. But those are just bruises. And my cold's totally gone away. I'm happy about that, especially," I said. "I hate being sick."

He was quiet for a while, studying me. I just looked at him with a waiting face and wide eyes, pinching the skin of the inside of my mouth with my canine tooth. "Where would we be going?"

I smiled and said, "Thanks. We should probably go to some backpack store, like REI, to pick up a backpack. Then just a clothing store and a pharmacy," I said, but it seemed like Edward was expecting me to say more. "And that's it." I gave a quick smile.

He breathed out, saying "Okay, then. But this time we're taking the car."

I shrugged, like it didn't matter to me. It really didn't, but this time I actually wanted to ride in the car rather than on the motorcycle. I would just roll the windows down.

I walked off to the garage with Edward following, locking the door when he was out. I opened the passenger door and slid into the sleek car. Edward got in, turned the car on, and pulled out of the garage. We stayed on the driveway till the door was closed. He pulled onto the road and sped off, slipping in a CD. A song I knew came on, so I sang along. I rolled my window all the way down and put my arm out, cupping my hand like I was trying to hold on to the air passing by me so quickly. The outside was a green blur of trees. I looked at the speedometer. It showed 85 mph. I turned away and watched everything speed by us.

--

We got out at an REI, and though I told Edward he could stay and wait for me, that I wouldn't be long, he still came with me. I shrugged again.

I bought a small backpack, one that was small with nothing in it but could really hold a lot, and had a few buckles in the front, as well as a few packets of dried food because I like it. Edward thought he was buying, but I paid with my mother's card without looking at him. He put his card back in his wallet after he looked at my hand for a second.

I bought a few clothes and bandages at the other stores. I hadn't bought much, and it all fit easily into the backpack I had bought, so there was no need for plastic bags. We drove back to the house. Edward hadn't lighten up his mood, but I wasn't going to let it affect me.

When we got to the house, I threw the backpack full of the new purchases next to my messenger bag, pulling out a little of the bandages. I wrapped them around my ribs because they were still sore and had a few cuts on them, so I decided I would be safe and keep them covered.

I walked downstairs. "So what's wrong with you?" I asked straight out, not looking at Edward until I had finished talking. I waited for him. He still didn't make eye contact with me.

He sighed, saying, "I feel like you're keeping something from me. And my instincts are almost always right. So what's wrong?"

I gave him an exasperated look. "Nothing, I'm totally fine. I just wanted the backpack because I don't like the messenger bag. And I love dried food. What could I be hiding? There's nothing to hide."

He looked me over. "Earlier today, you got nervous, or worried. No I'm not guessing, I know that's what happened." He took a breath as I looked at him. "I've always been super sensitive of how people are feeling; guilty, happy, sad, angry, remorseful, longing," he sighed and said, "My becoming a vampire only seemed to hone that sense." He turned his eyes to me. "So please tell me what made you have a mini-freak out this morning."

Make something up. That was my instant reaction. And, thankfully, I'm good at inprov, as well as lying.

"Okay, fine. I was just thinking about what you said, about how many people died even though most were spared. And I thought about Damien's family. I mean, their werewolves, at least some of them. Then I worried how he was doing. I mean, the last time I saw him was when his house was attacked with his family inside. That can't be good," I said, my pulse staying cool, my face and voice not giving anything away. "So I freaked out, because whatever happened to them, well, it's my fault. I seem to attract trouble."

"That's all?" Edward asked, sounding almost relieved. I stared at him. "Twilight, they're fine. When I was there I hardly even smelled any werewolf blood, it was all vampire. They're fine and they're going to stay that way." He looked at me and smiled softly.

"Okay," I said, letting the end trail off. I was actually worried about Damien and his family, but I added a little bit for drama.

"Hey, since it's been pretty hectic, what do you think about going somewhere to eat tonight? Nothing fancy. I know a really good restaurant, kind of out of the way, but that doesn't matter. It's five stars, and I can always get to the top of the waiting list. Connections with the owner," he explained when he saw my questioning look.

"Um, okay, what type of restaurant is it?" I asked.

"Chinese."

"Okay, sure." It would be nice to go eat a good meal. "Where's it at?"

He explained by roads, which I didn't really know. I think he caught on because he started using land marks like stores and other restaurants, some of which we had passed.

He was explaining the road leading to the restaurant, mentioning that it passed by a Walgreens.

"Wait, a Walgreens?!" I asked. "Can we stop by there? They sell this aspirin I can't find anywhere else, it looks like an M&M and kind of tastes like them."

He gave me a weird look but agreed.

We decided to play some video games in the meantime. I mostly watched, but I played every now and then. I played online and swore loudly into the headset whenever someone shot me.

Eventually we left the house, driving the sleek black car in the night. I had brought my new backpack along because I was toying with it a few minutes before we left and had found some tissue paper in it. I was trying to take it all out. Apparently there were a lot more pockets on the pack than I thought there was.

I picked up the aspirin I had wanted and was still taking out tissue paper when we arrived at the restaurant. I decided it could wait till after dinner for me to get finished.

I hadn't thought Edward was serious about the five-star thing, but he was, and there was a large waiting room, not totally full though. He just walked straight up, told the host his name and was led to a table. My eyebrows pushed themselves up on my forehead.

I sat across from him and we ordered. We had decided not to talk about recent events, or anything that involved vampires and werewolves or anything of the sort. So we talked about normal stuff, like books and movies and shows. I almost didn't even realize our food had come because I was so into our conversation. As we ate it continued, going from books to a psychopath killer that had turned out to be a fraud story, to stars and constellations, to Greek mythology, and back to books.

I let myself relax around him, and it felt normal and right. He was easy to talk to, with his charming smile, looks, and eyes. I saw some of the waitresses trying to take glimpses of him, but they were too busy.

After an hour and a half, the last part of which was just us talking, ignoring the check, Edward put a hundred dollar bill in the check, writing a note for the waitress to keep the change she had been so good.

We left the restaurant, his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him. I relaxed and leaned in, breathing in his sweet smell. He opened the car door for me then went around to the driver's side.

"Oops, no gas," he said, looking at the gas level. It was almost totally out. I laughed at him for being so forgetful, and he stuck his tongue out at me. I laughed harder.

We pulled into a gas station, and when he started filling up the car, I got out to throw away all of the tissue paper that had come out of my new backpack. I was amazed at how much there was; so was Edward.

"Any more left in there?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, a few more pounds, you know, not much," I replied waving my hand like it was no big deal and smiling. "Hey, I'm gonna go get a water bottle, there's still a little spice in my mouth," I said, walking away from him, putting the hood of my dark grey hoodie up. It wasn't raining too hard, but I didn't feel like getting wet.

"'Kay, I'll be there in a bit," he said.

I walked into the store with my hands in my hoodie's pockets, separated by a silver zipper. I walked straight to the refrigerated area, the glass doors showing what was behind them. I looked at them, trying to decide what was best. I decided on a big bottle of green tea. When I pulled it out, the door dinged, and I turned to see that Edward had walked in. I smiled and waved.

A strange look passed over his face, but when I blinked and looked at him again, he was smiling as if nothing had happened. I wondered if something had happened.

"Bathroom," he said, pointing over to where the restroom and employee's only doors were. I shrugged and waved, turning back to the teas. Yep, I'm keeping this one, I thought with a sharp nod. I walked up to the cash register, but no one was there. I waited for a bit, then started to wonder where the employee was. I ringed the bell a few times and looked around. No one. Not even outside with our car. There were a few people crossing the street and walking on the sidewalks I could see, but no one was coming in.

I sighed heavily. I turned back to the tea section and came back up to the register. I paid the amount it was worth and left the money on the counter. I wondered where Edward was. I looked over at the three doors right when I heard a muffled thump from the employee's only door.

Edward, I thought instantly, with a grim half-smile. I walked up to the door and knocked on it with the back of my knuckles. Nothing. I rolled my eyes and listened while staring at the ground. There were noises coming from there, sounding like a . . . fight?

I pushed open the door into a small store room. The sounds were louder. I saw another door and pushed through it without thinking, of course.

The door opened to a gruesome scene. There were at least three employees lying on the ground, dead, with huge gashes in their necks and torsos. But there was hardly any blood, like it had been sucked from every vein in their bodies.

I froze.

I saw Edward, crouching low, his shirt and pants ripped, his hair ruffled like he just woke up. But it was the exact opposite; he was on-edge and ready to kill what was in front of him.

At first I thought it was another person, this one alive and dressed in ugly brown, standing against the wall. But its hair was falling out, the pale skin seemed to be stuck to his bones, like the air and fat had been vacuumed out of him. His eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of his head at any moment and make his head explode. His hands were curled into claws with sharp, yellow nails.

Then I realized its mouth was covered in blood. It dribbled down his chin and spattered the clean white linoleum. It ran down his neck and onto his shirt, turning it a deeper shade of the disgusting brown.

His head swiveled toward me, the action so fast that it looked like it should've broken his small neck. His nostrils grew in size as he sniffed the air, smelling me, a human. His pupils got bigger when he smelled what I was, and smelled my fear. He opened his mouth like it was watering, wanting to taste me, dessert to the three employees.

"Twilight! Get out of here!" Edward yelled, never letting his eyes stray from the thing on the other side. "Take the car and just get out of here!"

His yell startled me, and I jumped about two feet into the air, landing with my knees bent and hands up to kept the thing away from me.

It did a weird screech-growling thing when I jumped, as if angry that I would disobey its wishes and move when all it wanted was to taste my blood. All of my blood. I fixed me with a deadly stare, its too big eyes showing rage that I had moved.

"GO!!!" Edward yelled.

The thing took its eyes off me and aimed it on Edward instead, giving him a deadly screech. I saw Edward move toward it in my peripherals, but I turned around and got out too fast to know what happened. The second door slammed shut by the time I reached the front of the gas station mart, running for the car.

But something was wrong when I got in the driver's side. I looked in the ignition; no key.

Okay, I thought in a nerdy voice for some reason, problem identified. Next: find the key, solve the problem. Don't screw up.

I rummaged for the key in every place possible, even under the seats and the almost-non-existent backseat. It wasn't here. Then I remembered that Edward had zipped it up in his jacket's pocket. That was on him right now. As he was fighting that thing.

I was not going back there.

So I did the best I could for myself. I grabbed my backpack, still packed with my new clothes that I had been hoping to add to the ones at Edward's place, shoved the green tea that I was still holding into one of the bigger pockets. I hoped I didn't lose it in all the other pockets.

I locked the doors of the car and shut the door, hard. I paused after I slung the backpack on and was fiddling with the straps. I promised myself I would make it up to the store, if I ever remembered. I ran back inside, grabbed the money I left on the counter, and ran out while shoving it into my pocket.

I ran away from the gas station, taking a right. I was surprised my hood was staying up with how fast I was running from the place, but the next step I took my hood flew back, letting my hair stream out behind me.

The buckles on the backpack's straps were waving around. As I ran, I clipped them with their partners, tightening them to fit snugly to me so it wouldn't bother me when I was running away.

After a few blocks of panicked running I let myself slow down and take a quick breath. I was near a park, dark without any lights. I ran to a tree and hid behind it, taking in gulps of air after my run. Still breathing hard, I looked around the tree to see if the thing was chasing me, if it somehow got away from Edward.

I saw a shadowed figure walking in my direction, and though it was a lot bigger than the thing in the storage room and was walking a dog, my heart almost stopped. I whipped my head around and pushed off the tree I was leaning on, running into the dark park in fear.

The park had trails that lead into a forest. I can't remember when, but I was running on a cleared path one moment, and the next moment I was jumping over a fallen branch and almost tripping on vines on the ground. I didn't care, I kept running, the forest had to end some time.

After running for some time, I slowed down, aware of how loud my foot falls were when I was running. I started walking, sacrificing my speed for silence. The bushes didn't rustle too much when I walked past them, and nothing underfoot crunched. I ducked low branches and hopped over ones on the ground. I threw my hood back up when I got a huge rain drop in the center of my head. I couldn't hear as well, so I pulled it back down, not caring.

I looked behind me and saw nothing. I stood still. Nothing, nothing but blackness.

It was enough to get me walking deeper into the dark forest.

Description
I couldn't believe it. There had to be some dysfunction in my brain, rewiring itself around the story and my necklace, making a rather far-fetched conclusion. No, I just couldn't be that, the daughter. . .

But there it was.

I was my father's daughter, and he was the Vampire King.

I was the Vampire King's daughter.

I was completely baffled, and strangely incredibly scared out of my wits. Although it put a small factor of sense into the recent events I have been in, but no one had ever looked at me like I was a source of power or anything close. They looked at me like they wanted to tear me apart, which some tried very hard to do, or that I was absolutely helpless.

When I wasn't paying attention, adrenaline had rushed into my veins. My heart beat rapidly in my ears, and I could feel the veins trying to push their way out of my wrists and neck.

I took a deep breath as slowly as I could, so I wouldn't startle Edward. Seems I didn't do the job right.

"Twilight? What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up and trying to look at my face.

Deflect the question, I thought instantly. I cleared my face of everything except for tiredness; it wasn't too hard.

"What? Oh, nothing," I said, hearing that my voice was starting to clear up from being sick. "Actually, I feel kind of gross. I'm just gonna take a shower, clear my nose up," I said, sliding out from under the covers, placing my feet silently on the carpet.

"Are you sure you're okay? You seem nervous, or worried," Edward said, faltering slightly when he said seem, like he was just going to state I was nervous.

I turned to him and gave him my confused smile. "No, of course I'm okay. If I wasn't then I'd tell you. I'm just gonna hop out for a bit. I'm feeling better so I might be able to start doing some stuff soon," I told him as I started walking up the stairs to get my clothes for after the shower.

He didn't look convinced at all, but he let me go with a grim line of mouth on his face.

When I couldn't see him any more, I let the stress come forward on my face, let itself be shown. It was much more relaxing that way. I grabbed some tight, but stretchy skinny jeans and was about to add a black shirt that had red crosshairs over my heart, but I thought better about that. Instead I grabbed a long-sleeved black shirt that had a grey thorn design wrapping around the collar, hem, and cuffs. I retreated to the bathroom.

I let the water heat up, but not long enough. I stepped into the shower while it was still cool, but it was good enough. I scrubbed my body raw save for the most bruised and injured parts of me, which seemed to be everywhere. I washed my hair with my nails, scratching my head hard until it was as sore as the rest of me.

Then I just stood under the constant stream. It had gotten too hot, so I reached to the knob and turned it down. Now the water was almost too cold, a sting on my scrubbed-raw skin, but if felt good. I let my hair flatten itself against my head, down my neck, the longer strands sticking to my back.

I closed my eyes and thought of the water, clear and clean, no thoughts, nothing to worry about, just molecules running around smoothly together. I wished I could be like that sometimes, especially now.

Without really thinking about it, I turned the water off, wrung my hair out as best I could, and wrapped my thin bruised body in a towel. I didn't care that my hair was still dripping, getting my shoulders wet, the drops running down to my chest and under the towel.

I stared at my face in the mirror. My eyes had too many thoughts in them, which was strange because my mind was numb. They were big and confused, the neon blue filled with a dreaded understanding. I'm the Vampire King's daughter. The thought slid through my mind, and the icy color seemed to get more serious.

I shook my head and dried my body and hair. I brushed my ears and I looked in the mirror. Between all my piercings in my ears, Damien's ruby stud stood out, shining like a drop of blood. I touched it for a second, hoping that he and his family were okay and that I hadn't torn them apart.

I snapped my head away from the mirror, determined to pull myself out of it. Okay, so I'm his daughter, big whoop. It's not like I'm going to attract more freaks now that I know this. They never would've guessed themselves. I mean, I didn't even figure it out for 16 years. Besides, nothing has ever happened to me that's exceptionally weird, other than the last week or so. Okay, so I'm part vampire, whatever, seems like I got just the human characteristics. No weird vampire things to mess me up from being a somewhat normal person.

But I still wondered about my blood, and if it would stay quiet or let itself be known, maybe tearing my body to pieces, at war with the other half. Ugh, that wouldn't be a mess I'd want to clean up, I thought grimly. If that did happen, at least I wouldn't have to clean it up, because the mess would be me.

I pulled my clothes on. I thought there was a piece of cloth on my jeans, but when I looked, I remember that there was stitching above the pockets that made it look like there was a deviant devil in my pocket, hitching a ride. It was a shame that my shirt was long enough that it would cover him, because I liked him hanging around with me all the time. I pulled the shirt on over my head, sadly covering up my little devious friend, and pulling the sleeves halfway over my hands and stuck my thumbs through the thumb holes that were stitched into the shirt sleeves. The grey thorns on the black made it look like I would kill myself from blood loss if I tried to take the shirt off. I kind of felt as trapped as I looked.

I dried my hair and brushed it out until it was totally dry, running the towel through it a few more times too.

I'd been in here long enough that the mirror had lost the steam on it, and only a few water droplets were left on it. I was feeling a lot better, or at least I didn't feel sick any more. I still felt run down by my recent realization. But I could cover my face up with my normal mask of everything's-fine. I had used it a lot since my mom had started dating.

I opened the door quietly, and stepped onto the carpet, looking around the hallway. I sped my way across the hall into Edward's room where everything I owned now was. I rummaged through the clothes and found a pair of socks; my feet were getting a little cold, and I wanted to go outside soon to clear my head. I put my iPod in my pocket with a pair of headphones. I made my way silently down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Edward was, of course, waiting for me.

I smiled at him as I came down the last few steps. "I feel way better now, that shower was great." I opened the fridge, found nothing. I turned to the counter and grabbed a plain roll and started eating it. "So I was wondering, could we go shopping? Real local stuff, I just need a few medical supplies and other miscellaneous items. I just need a ride there; you can stay in the car."

He gave me a sideways look, then turned fully to me. "Are you really feeling better?" he asked, as if not believing me.

"Yeah, totally better. Well, my ribs still hurt. And my face. But those are just bruises. And my cold's totally gone away. I'm happy about that, especially," I said. "I hate being sick."

He was quiet for a while, studying me. I just looked at him with a waiting face and wide eyes, pinching the skin of the inside of my mouth with my canine tooth. "Where would we be going?"

I smiled and said, "Thanks. We should probably go to some backpack store, like REI, to pick up a backpack. Then just a clothing store and a pharmacy," I said, but it seemed like Edward was expecting me to say more. "And that's it." I gave a quick smile.

He breathed out, saying "Okay, then. But this time we're taking the car."

I shrugged, like it didn't matter to me. It really didn't, but this time I actually wanted to ride in the car rather than on the motorcycle. I would just roll the windows down.

I walked off to the garage with Edward following, locking the door when he was out. I opened the passenger door and slid into the sleek car. Edward got in, turned the car on, and pulled out of the garage. We stayed on the driveway till the door was closed. He pulled onto the road and sped off, slipping in a CD. A song I knew came on, so I sang along. I rolled my window all the way down and put my arm out, cupping my hand like I was trying to hold on to the air passing by me so quickly. The outside was a green blur of trees. I looked at the speedometer. It showed 85 mph. I turned away and watched everything speed by us.

--

We got out at an REI, and though I told Edward he could stay and wait for me, that I wouldn't be long, he still came with me. I shrugged again.

I bought a small backpack, one that was small with nothing in it but could really hold a lot, and had a few buckles in the front, as well as a few packets of dried food because I like it. Edward thought he was buying, but I paid with my mother's card without looking at him. He put his card back in his wallet after he looked at my hand for a second.

I bought a few clothes and bandages at the other stores. I hadn't bought much, and it all fit easily into the backpack I had bought, so there was no need for plastic bags. We drove back to the house. Edward hadn't lighten up his mood, but I wasn't going to let it affect me.

When we got to the house, I threw the backpack full of the new purchases next to my messenger bag, pulling out a little of the bandages. I wrapped them around my ribs because they were still sore and had a few cuts on them, so I decided I would be safe and keep them covered.

I walked downstairs. "So what's wrong with you?" I asked straight out, not looking at Edward until I had finished talking. I waited for him. He still didn't make eye contact with me.

He sighed, saying, "I feel like you're keeping something from me. And my instincts are almost always right. So what's wrong?"

I gave him an exasperated look. "Nothing, I'm totally fine. I just wanted the backpack because I don't like the messenger bag. And I love dried food. What could I be hiding? There's nothing to hide."

He looked me over. "Earlier today, you got nervous, or worried. No I'm not guessing, I know that's what happened." He took a breath as I looked at him. "I've always been super sensitive of how people are feeling; guilty, happy, sad, angry, remorseful, longing," he sighed and said, "My becoming a vampire only seemed to hone that sense." He turned his eyes to me. "So please tell me what made you have a mini-freak out this morning."

Make something up. That was my instant reaction. And, thankfully, I'm good at inprov, as well as lying.

"Okay, fine. I was just thinking about what you said, about how many people died even though most were spared. And I thought about Damien's family. I mean, their werewolves, at least some of them. Then I worried how he was doing. I mean, the last time I saw him was when his house was attacked with his family inside. That can't be good," I said, my pulse staying cool, my face and voice not giving anything away. "So I freaked out, because whatever happened to them, well, it's my fault. I seem to attract trouble."

"That's all?" Edward asked, sounding almost relieved. I stared at him. "Twilight, they're fine. When I was there I hardly even smelled any werewolf blood, it was all vampire. They're fine and they're going to stay that way." He looked at me and smiled softly.

"Okay," I said, letting the end trail off. I was actually worried about Damien and his family, but I added a little bit for drama.

"Hey, since it's been pretty hectic, what do you think about going somewhere to eat tonight? Nothing fancy. I know a really good restaurant, kind of out of the way, but that doesn't matter. It's five stars, and I can always get to the top of the waiting list. Connections with the owner," he explained when he saw my questioning look.

"Um, okay, what type of restaurant is it?" I asked.

"Chinese."

"Okay, sure." It would be nice to go eat a good meal. "Where's it at?"

He explained by roads, which I didn't really know. I think he caught on because he started using land marks like stores and other restaurants, some of which we had passed.

He was explaining the road leading to the restaurant, mentioning that it passed by a Walgreens.

"Wait, a Walgreens?!" I asked. "Can we stop by there? They sell this aspirin I can't find anywhere else, it looks like an M&M and kind of tastes like them."

He gave me a weird look but agreed.

We decided to play some video games in the meantime. I mostly watched, but I played every now and then. I played online and swore loudly into the headset whenever someone shot me.

Eventually we left the house, driving the sleek black car in the night. I had brought my new backpack along because I was toying with it a few minutes before we left and had found some tissue paper in it. I was trying to take it all out. Apparently there were a lot more pockets on the pack than I thought there was.

I picked up the aspirin I had wanted and was still taking out tissue paper when we arrived at the restaurant. I decided it could wait till after dinner for me to get finished.

I hadn't thought Edward was serious about the five-star thing, but he was, and there was a large waiting room, not totally full though. He just walked straight up, told the host his name and was led to a table. My eyebrows pushed themselves up on my forehead.

I sat across from him and we ordered. We had decided not to talk about recent events, or anything that involved vampires and werewolves or anything of the sort. So we talked about normal stuff, like books and movies and shows. I almost didn't even realize our food had come because I was so into our conversation. As we ate it continued, going from books to a psychopath killer that had turned out to be a fraud story, to stars and constellations, to Greek mythology, and back to books.

I let myself relax around him, and it felt normal and right. He was easy to talk to, with his charming smile, looks, and eyes. I saw some of the waitresses trying to take glimpses of him, but they were too busy.

After an hour and a half, the last part of which was just us talking, ignoring the check, Edward put a hundred dollar bill in the check, writing a note for the waitress to keep the change she had been so good.

We left the restaurant, his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him. I relaxed and leaned in, breathing in his sweet smell. He opened the car door for me then went around to the driver's side.

"Oops, no gas," he said, looking at the gas level. It was almost totally out. I laughed at him for being so forgetful, and he stuck his tongue out at me. I laughed harder.

We pulled into a gas station, and when he started filling up the car, I got out to throw away all of the tissue paper that had come out of my new backpack. I was amazed at how much there was; so was Edward.

"Any more left in there?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, a few more pounds, you know, not much," I replied waving my hand like it was no big deal and smiling. "Hey, I'm gonna go get a water bottle, there's still a little spice in my mouth," I said, walking away from him, putting the hood of my dark grey hoodie up. It wasn't raining too hard, but I didn't feel like getting wet.

"'Kay, I'll be there in a bit," he said.

I walked into the store with my hands in my hoodie's pockets, separated by a silver zipper. I walked straight to the refrigerated area, the glass doors showing what was behind them. I looked at them, trying to decide what was best. I decided on a big bottle of green tea. When I pulled it out, the door dinged, and I turned to see that Edward had walked in. I smiled and waved.

A strange look passed over his face, but when I blinked and looked at him again, he was smiling as if nothing had happened. I wondered if something had happened.

"Bathroom," he said, pointing over to where the restroom and employee's only doors were. I shrugged and waved, turning back to the teas. Yep, I'm keeping this one, I thought with a sharp nod. I walked up to the cash register, but no one was there. I waited for a bit, then started to wonder where the employee was. I ringed the bell a few times and looked around. No one. Not even outside with our car. There were a few people crossing the street and walking on the sidewalks I could see, but no one was coming in.

I sighed heavily. I turned back to the tea section and came back up to the register. I paid the amount it was worth and left the money on the counter. I wondered where Edward was. I looked over at the three doors right when I heard a muffled thump from the employee's only door.

Edward, I thought instantly, with a grim half-smile. I walked up to the door and knocked on it with the back of my knuckles. Nothing. I rolled my eyes and listened while staring at the ground. There were noises coming from there, sounding like a . . . fight?

I pushed open the door into a small store room. The sounds were louder. I saw another door and pushed through it without thinking, of course.

The door opened to a gruesome scene. There were at least three employees lying on the ground, dead, with huge gashes in their necks and torsos. But there was hardly any blood, like it had been sucked from every vein in their bodies.

I froze.

I saw Edward, crouching low, his shirt and pants ripped, his hair ruffled like he just woke up. But it was the exact opposite; he was on-edge and ready to kill what was in front of him.

At first I thought it was another person, this one alive and dressed in ugly brown, standing against the wall. But its hair was falling out, the pale skin seemed to be stuck to his bones, like the air and fat had been vacuumed out of him. His eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of his head at any moment and make his head explode. His hands were curled into claws with sharp, yellow nails.

Then I realized its mouth was covered in blood. It dribbled down his chin and spattered the clean white linoleum. It ran down his neck and onto his shirt, turning it a deeper shade of the disgusting brown.

His head swiveled toward me, the action so fast that it looked like it should've broken his small neck. His nostrils grew in size as he sniffed the air, smelling me, a human. His pupils got bigger when he smelled what I was, and smelled my fear. He opened his mouth like it was watering, wanting to taste me, dessert to the three employees.

"Twilight! Get out of here!" Edward yelled, never letting his eyes stray from the thing on the other side. "Take the car and just get out of here!"

His yell startled me, and I jumped about two feet into the air, landing with my knees bent and hands up to kept the thing away from me.

It did a weird screech-growling thing when I jumped, as if angry that I would disobey its wishes and move when all it wanted was to taste my blood. All of my blood. I fixed me with a deadly stare, its too big eyes showing rage that I had moved.

"GO!!!" Edward yelled.

The thing took its eyes off me and aimed it on Edward instead, giving him a deadly screech. I saw Edward move toward it in my peripherals, but I turned around and got out too fast to know what happened. The second door slammed shut by the time I reached the front of the gas station mart, running for the car.

But something was wrong when I got in the driver's side. I looked in the ignition; no key.

Okay, I thought in a nerdy voice for some reason, problem identified. Next: find the key, solve the problem. Don't screw up.

I rummaged for the key in every place possible, even under the seats and the almost-non-existent backseat. It wasn't here. Then I remembered that Edward had zipped it up in his jacket's pocket. That was on him right now. As he was fighting that thing.

I was not going back there.

So I did the best I could for myself. I grabbed my backpack, still packed with my new clothes that I had been hoping to add to the ones at Edward's place, shoved the green tea that I was still holding into one of the bigger pockets. I hoped I didn't lose it in all the other pockets.

I locked the doors of the car and shut the door, hard. I paused after I slung the backpack on and was fiddling with the straps. I promised myself I would make it up to the store, if I ever remembered. I ran back inside, grabbed the money I left on the counter, and ran out while shoving it into my pocket.

I ran away from the gas station, taking a right. I was surprised my hood was staying up with how fast I was running from the place, but the next step I took my hood flew back, letting my hair stream out behind me.

The buckles on the backpack's straps were waving around. As I ran, I clipped them with their partners, tightening them to fit snugly to me so it wouldn't bother me when I was running away.

After a few blocks of panicked running I let myself slow down and take a quick breath. I was near a park, dark without any lights. I ran to a tree and hid behind it, taking in gulps of air after my run. Still breathing hard, I looked around the tree to see if the thing was chasing me, if it somehow got away from Edward.

I saw a shadowed figure walking in my direction, and though it was a lot bigger than the thing in the storage room and was walking a dog, my heart almost stopped. I whipped my head around and pushed off the tree I was leaning on, running into the dark park in fear.

The park had trails that lead into a forest. I can't remember when, but I was running on a cleared path one moment, and the next moment I was jumping over a fallen branch and almost tripping on vines on the ground. I didn't care, I kept running, the forest had to end some time.

After running for some time, I slowed down, aware of how loud my foot falls were when I was running. I started walking, sacrificing my speed for silence. The bushes didn't rustle too much when I walked past them, and nothing underfoot crunched. I ducked low branches and hopped over ones on the ground. I threw my hood back up when I got a huge rain drop in the center of my head. I couldn't hear as well, so I pulled it back down, not caring.

I looked behind me and saw nothing. I stood still. Nothing, nothing but blackness.

It was enough to get me walking deeper into the dark forest.