Poisoned Blood ↠ Edward Cullen ✓

11 ; aidez moi

The next day after the baseball game passed by slowly.

Caden was stuck in his bedroom, with Alice constantly at attention. She was trading shifts with Emmett every few hours.

The rest of the Cullen's were out in Forks in search of James and Victoria. Whom where leading them all around town with different trails and falsehoods.

The last Alice had heard from them, they had been in Seattle, following yet another trail left behind from Victoria. They assumed that wherever Victoria was, James couldn't be to far away.

Caden's Aunt was clueless to the vampire living in her nephew's bedroom. She got up for work every morning, only peering into Caden's room to check if he was alright while Alice hid in the closet. Then, she would go to work and Alice was able to walk around the house without risk.

Which is what she was doing now.

"I have to go to school," Caden said, his hands cupping a mug of tea. He was avoiding Alice's stare from where the tiny girl was standing by the fridge. "I've missed a day already. The last thing we need is for them to contact my Aunt and tell her that I've been skipping."

"I know," Alice said, her voice gentle. She seemed like she hated admitting that Caden was right. That just because some crazy vampire was out there trying to kill him didn't mean that Caden's life needed to stop.

Well, maybe it did but he wasn't going to let James ruin his education.

"Edward won't like it," Alice spoke again, and Caden met her gaze then. Alice's face was twisted into discomfort. Yet, there was a question behind her eyes. "But I could appease him by coming with you. My gift will allow me to make sure nothing life threatening happens. Plus, James wouldn't be foolish enough to confront you at school. Too many witnesses."

Too many witnesses. Caden's blood ran cold in his veins.

"I'll get dressed," Caden said, placing his mug into the sink and heading up the stairs. He moved on auto-pilot, getting himself ready without the usual cheer of seeing Edward awaiting him in the driveway.

Edward. It had been too long since Caden had seen his face, and he was all to blame for that. They hadn't spoken since Edward had tried to drive him out of town. That night Caden had been too angry to voice rationally how alarming Edward's domineering behavior had been for someone like Caden, who had been so immensely independent his whole life.

Now, Caden missed Edward but he was too busy to deal with the rift between them. Too busy trying to make sure Caden lived to see his twentieth birthday.

"Ready?" Alice asked from the doorway, appearing like a shadow.

Caden blinked back the dull pain behind his eyes and nodded. Once he had placed a signature beanie over his tight curly black hair, Caden clomped down the stairs with Alice. As they opened the front door, they weren't greeted with Emmett like usual.

"He went to hunt," Alice said, noticing Caden's confusion. "He wasn't happy with the idea of you leaving but he remembered who he was dealing with."

This caused Caden to crack a tiny smile. "Emmett's smarter than everyone gives him credit for."

It was Alice's time to smile now. "He'll be happy to hear you say that. You're his favorite human after all."

Once they were in Caden's car, a place where Alice looked so starkly out of place it was almost comical, they drove to the high school. They were silent, Alice sitting rim-rod straight in the seat, eyes lost in another future.

As they pulled into the parking lot a few minutes after the first bell for class rang, Caden saw Alice come back to herself. She was frowning softly, a crease forming in between her eyebrows but she didn't warn Caden of anything as she left the vehicle.