Remember Me (A Twilight fan fiction)

20. Look Inside

"Will you at least give me a hint?" she asked him as he drove, and the rain seemed to fall like a waterfall against the windshield. Driving in precarious conditions was challenging for Bella, and she was happy that Edward was behind the wheel. There was always that feeling of complete security whenever she was with him...and in that afternoon their relationship had grown significantly.

They were exiting the mouth of the forest, and the windshield wipers swished back and forth furiously to clear the immense volume of precipitation from the glass. Edward's eyes remained on the road as he considered her request. Ordinarily, there was not anything he would have denied her...a new car, a diamond, his very soul... But, the knowledge that she was seeking was still nearly impossible for Edward to bring himself to reveal. He still regretted telling her the truth about James and about himself not being human, worried that as soon as she arrived home, Bella would book that ticket and flee as quickly away from him as she could.

Although, he considered, she had only been asking for was a hint. After all, the first time around she had had help figuring it out. And even though he had resented that Quileute boy Jacob, he felt a little grateful to him for planting that seed in Bella's head because Edward could not bring himself to tell her outright that he was a vampire. "Let's consider the things that you already know about me...."

His voice was musical, mesmerizing as always. She wondered if she could ever get used to hearing that heavenly alluring timbre, or ever tire of it. Holding out her open palm, she pointed to one finger, and then another, counting out the possibilities. "You can read minds; you're incredibly fast...and strong...."

She was quiet for a long moment, and he looked over to her to find an adorably befuddled expression on her face.

"Please don't tell me you're thinking of superheroes," he said with a smirk.

"No, I wasn't," she lied, pushing away her thoughts of Kryptonite and radioactive spiders.

"What about James, Bella? What did you conclude about him?" Once Edward had admitted that James was the source of the half moon scar on her forearm, he had not been able to gauge her reaction.

A sheepish smile curved at her lips, and Bella turned her face to the window. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Yes."

Her head snapped back to face him. "You know, don't you? You've known all along. Why won't you just tell me?"

"Because that's not the way it works. You have to guess."

Although, she wished he would just tell her, the guessing part had felt very familiar. She shrugged her shoulders. "It may sound silly...."

"Or maybe it won't...try me."

Bella took a breath. "Well, he had eyes a color I've never seen before, and I remember that he was also very strong...and he bit me...." She shuddered involuntarily at the mental picture of the golden-haired crazed predator.

"And...."

"Vampire," she stated, inwardly cringing at the way it sounded.

Edward was filled with relief that she finally said the word, even if she wasn't sure that she truly believed it. "You are correct, Bella. You figured that out. So...now...James is a vampire. What... does that make me?"

It was a little startling to her to hear him just confirm it that way. Yes, James was a vampire. That revelation seemed to shatter her whole belief system. And although it was obvious to Edward, Bella was not seeing the connection, but then she snapped her fingers together as she recalled what he had told her at the hospital in Phoenix. "You're a vampire slayer!"