Bella's Little Sister

Chapter 10

I received little to no sleep that night, as I had stayed up for hours thinking about everything, and wondering how exactly I was going to tell Bella about who the Cullen's really were. Or rather what they were. After much internal debate, however, I decided it was best to keep Bella in the dark about this. My sister already worried enough about me as it was, so I figured it was probably best that she did not know about our associations with vampires.

Once we arrived at school, Bella went off to join Jessica and Angela, who stood near the entrance to the building making plans for this weekend. Instead of tagging along silently behind my sister like I normally would have, I explained to her that I was going to find an empty table along the side of the school, where it would be much quieter, allowing me to finish up some last minute homework.

What my sister did not know, however, was that I did not have any last minute homework to complete in the first place. She had bought the lie, knowing I had been out late the night before anyway. I walked to an area far enough away from the parking lot, just to be sure my sister could not see me among the mass of students lingering on the lawn.

I waited almost impatiently for Edward to arrive on school grounds. It was overcast today, so I knew he had no excuse not to be here. I scanned the crowd of students, finally seeing him pass between two girls before stopping to look at me. My eyes narrowed as I returned his stare, shouldering past him as I began the long walk up to the forest located just behind the school. It took no more than a second for him to follow me.

After about five minutes of walking, I dropped my backpack on the mossy ground and tried to catch my breath. Exercise had never really been my strong suit, so any amount of walking uphill, no matter how short the walk was, always left me winded. Edward stopped just a few feet behind me.

After a moment of silence, I spoke. "You're impossibly fast," I started, facing away from him as I said the words. "And strong. Your skin is pale white and ice cold. Your eyes change color, and sometimes you speak like you're from a different time. You never eat or drink anything... and you never go out in the sunlight." I could tell he was standing very closely behind me now. "How old are you?" 

"Seventeen." Edward's words were quiet, his voice almost a whisper. 

"And..." I continued after a moment. "...How long have you been seventeen?"

As he stepped even closer, I felt my fingers pressing painfully against my palms. "A while." 

My heart was racing now, though I tried hard to keep my breathing even and steady. "I know what you are."

Edward's next words were like ice, his tone sharp and demanding. "Then say it... out loud. Say it." 

I took a deep, shuddering breath to steel my resolve before turning to face him. "Vampire."

His eyes bored into my own, trying to read how I was feeling through my gaze. "Are you afraid?" 

"No," I responded, though I knew any sane person would have been.

Edward watched me for a few seconds before speaking again. "Then ask me the most basic question. What do we eat?" 

I lowered my gaze from his face, choosing instead to stare at the ground. "You won't hurt me." 

After only a second of silence, he took hold of my arm, his grip almost painful. He began leading me up the mountain, and I struggled to keep up with the speed at which he walked. When I questioned him as to where we were going, he responded with, "Up the mountain, out of the cloud bank. You need to see what I look like in the sunlight."

Before I could even take a breath, he slung me onto his back and began running at an impossible speed. He stopped at the summit, releasing me from his hold. It was just barely warmer up here than it had been further down the surface of the mountain. I watched closely as Edward moved to stand in a ray of sunlight filtering down through the clouds. Edward's back was to me, his fingers moving to unhook the buttons on his shirt.