Beauties | Esme Cullen

Chapter Three

 Sarah didn't step out of her apartment until after sundown. She quietly stepped out of her apartment and closed he door behind her as quietly as possible before slipping down the stairs and out of the building. She was pretty sure no one had seen her, but then she remembered she didn't even know any of the people living there anyway, so why worry over it? 

 There were still plenty of people out, so Sarah simply walked along the streets for two hours until more people went home. Then she began looking for people to feed on. 

 This was the part she had never liked, but it had to be done. She couldn't not feed. She always picked random people and tried not to wonder who they were or who would miss them. She knew that if she began thinking about those things, she wouldn't be able to bring herself to feed, and this was something she had to do to survive. 

 It had been almost two weeks since the last time Sarah fed on anyone. She hadn't even realized how hungry she had come, how frenzied she got after her first kill of the night. 

 By the time the small hours of the morning had come along, Sarah had sucked the blood out of eight people, and left them for dead. 

~~~~~~ 

 Sarah slowly walked through the front doors of the apartment building. Thankfully, it didn't look like anyone was around. There were bloodstains of the fronts of her shirt and jeans, and she probably had blood on her face, too. She couldn't believe she had managed to find her way back to the building without anyone at all spotting her. It was a good thing, though, because she didn't want to have to kill anyone else tonight. 

 Sarah began to hurry up the stairs to the third floor, but didn't make it all the way up before she bumped into someone. 

 "Sarah? You're across from us, aren't you?" 

 It was Carlisle Cullen, and he was staring down at her bloody clothes. 

 "Yes, that is me," she answered, crossing her arms. "Um, excuse me." 

 "Wait, are you all right? You're-" 

 Sarah didn't stay to talk to him. She hurried into her apartment and slammed the door shut behind her. She pulled off her shirt and jeans and tossed them into the corner of the bathroom, not wanting to look at them. She knew she was going to have to get rid of them as soon as possible. 

 Sarah jumped when she heard someone knock on the door. She called, "Who is it?" 

 "It's Esme Cullen." 

 Sarah quickly pulled on a dress and went to answer the door. 

 "Hi, Sarah," Esme said, giving her a smile. "I know we only just met, but Carlisle told me he ran into you on the stairs and you didn't look good. Is everything okay?" 

 "Oh. Um, yeah. I just...had a bad incident." Sarah knew she didn't look or sound convincing in any way whatsoever, but she still went with it. 

 "Are you sure you're okay, though?" 

 "Um...oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." 

 Esme nodded. "Okay. I just thought I'd check." 

 Sarah couldn't help smiling. Carlisle had undoubtedly told Esme about the blood, and she seemed to be genuinely concerned about whether or not Sarah was okay. 

 The door across the hall opened and Carlisle stepped out. "Everything all right here?" he asked. 

 "Yes, it seems to be," Esme answered. "Well, goodnight, Sarah, or good morning." 

 Sarah smiled and nodded before closing the door. She continued to smile until she went back to the bathroom and saw her face in the mirror. 

 She had taken her contacts out the day before, and she forget to put them back in.