LOVE AND IMMORTALITY (RILEY BIERS X F!READER) Book 1

Intermission

THE TUESDAY AFTER LEAVING SEATTLE

I didn't go into work the Tuesday after I came back from Seattle though I desperately wanted to. But the office had humans in it, so I made sure my work was doable at home and I had someone bring work to me; she left it outside so I didn't kill her, obviously. After this past weekend's events, I wasn't sure if I could handle being around humans. I could have easily drained my mate, and that scared me. What would I have done if I'd gone into work and killed the whole office? I mean, I'd done it before to an entire fucking French town in the 1830s, so I knew I could kill a massive amount of people. But that thought terrified me when I thought about almost draining Riley; I wanted to kill him before I left. I hadn't thought about it for the majority of the day, but when I remembered how I left, the only thing I wanted was blood. When Riley and I lay next to each other in that small dorm room bed, I wanted to drain him into a pincushion. And what terrified me was I knew I could. He wouldn't've been able to stop me if he'd tried. I didn't know which of those two facts made me feel worse. I believed I'd done the right thing when I left before he'd woken up. Jason seemed to understand my predicament since he went through something similar with his mate, even though his mate was the one who left. If I never returned, he'd be the one to pick up the broken pieces. But, how long could I stay away?

As I watched life fly by my living room window, I wondered what Riley was doing and thinking about. Was he going to classes? How were his grades? It had even gotten to the point where I was thinking about if he was playing nice with other children, and they're all full-ass-grown adults! Am I seriously that old and that incapable of thinking about my mate as a fully grown man instead of as a child? Probably, and if I was being honest, I didn't know what to think since I'd never felt this way before, but I'd watched it around me for a long time. I didn't know what would happen, and as a mother deer ran by my window with a fawn in tow, I knew I couldn't put Riley into that position again. If I could do something that endangered his life, then I didn't give that thought voice. As much as it'd pained me, it was best to leave him alone.

ONE MONTH LATER

One month after I left Seattle and Riley, my blood bag supply was diminishing and my hunger was increasing. I was hunting a lot more than normal whenever I smelled Bella, her father, or the human female who dropped off my work for me. I also wasn't going out to get blood through hunting the wildlife outside, so I was quickly wasting away. I hadn't even spoken to Carlisle when he first called my landline phone a few weeks ago. I didn't trust myself to stay sane if he came over and opened the door, bringing in Bella's scent. Were the Cullens spending time with her since she'd gotten back from Phoenix? Or was this the thing called prom I'd heard Edward yell out from his silver Volvo that morning when he'd picked Bella up for the dance? I didn't know, and when I heard the Volvo drive off, I exhaled and promptly inhaled again when they drove by. Edward was torturing me with her scent. Carlisle must've put him up to it, and I didn't like it. I contemplated picking up the phone and calling him, but I couldn't since I both didn't know his number and was pissed off. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd gotten to me. However, the landline phone hated me and rang. I picked it up and growled, "What?"

The voice on the other line cleared their throat and said, "Hey, (F/N), it's Carlisle."

I rolled my eyes. "What do you want?" I asked.

Carlisle answered, "I wanted to make sure you were alright. You haven't been answering my phone calls or the door and I was concerned."

I didn't answer as I hung up the phone; who the hell did he think he was to call me and check in on me when I was wallowing and starving? He knew what I'd done to his wife and yet he still thought it was alright to call and include me. Granted, I understood why he was doing this, but I also didn't care because Riley wasn't by my side. If I weren't so annoyed, maybe his calls would've comforted me. I practically threatened to harm him and his family, so why did he bother to check on me? I could hardly answer that question myself. Carlisle cared for me deeply in the past centuries, but things were different. The way he still looked out for me felt strangely inappropriate. I wondered how Esme felt about his constant calls. Did she know about them or did he keep them a secret from her? I didn't know, and to be honest, I didn't care. He was bugging me, and if he didn't get the message, I'd send it to him. I grabbed the cord to the landline phone and yanked it clean out of the wall, taking part of the wall with it. Since I was alone in this house surrounded by humans, I knew it didn't matter what happened. As long as I didn't kill anyone, vampire or human, I was fine waiting out whatever the fuck was happening outside.