Highway to Hell

1. Birthdays

The meadow lay before me.

Gaillardias, their yellow petals bursting out like sunrays. Pink and cloudlike clusters of queen of the prairies. Purple geraniums carpeted the earth. Lilac lupines rose like floral cattails. Orange daylilies and white daisies and yellow asters dotted the field between the thin stalks of wildgrass that grew hiphigh.

Encircling all of it was a guardian ring of firs, heathers, and poplars, their branches entwined and so full of leaves as to keep the world without at bay. Above was a sky peppered with only the lightest of clouds, until the sun shone down in patches of light like beams from heaven. The air was clean, scented with earth and green grasses, ancient wood and moss. I stepped beyond the bushes and the firs and let my fingertips brush along the grasses and flower petals.

So entranced by the array of colors and scents I didn't notice the man across the meadow until I was several feet from the safety of the trees.

I recognized him immediately, though I'd only seen him once. With bright blue eyes beneath thick dark brows and a handsome face, he was easy to remember. His cryptic warning and disappearing act made for quite the impression, even without the good college-boy looks. He stood just beyond the treeline, dressed in the same grey cable knit sweater and khakis he'd worn the night we'd so briefly spoken. His expression was as flat as then, but his eyes were watchful as they focused on me.

I stared back, wondering what he was doing here, in the meadow. I'd come to think of this as a secret place, almost holy. In the middle of the gigantic Olympic State Park outside of Forks, Washington, it was far off the beaten trail. I doubted even the rangers knew of its existence.

A rustle in the trees behind me managed to pull my sights and thoughts from the strange interloper as I turned to the sound.

A vampire stepped from the deep, dark shadows lurking beyond the treeline. Dressed in a black suit, Edward's chalk-white pallor stood out starker than usual. That didn't detract from his otherworldly beauty. Instead, it only enhanced it. A pale god in a dark shroud, stepping upon now consecrated ground for his passing. His bronze hair was swept back, his warm honey-gold eyes meeting and ensnaring mine. He stepped further from the safety of the shadows, closer to the first falling ray of sunlight.

And realizing what he'd reveal to the stranger across the meadow, my heart began to pound. "Edward, no!"

But Edward kept coming. And at the first touch of the sun's pure light upon his face, rainbows danced across his diamond skin. Edward stepped ever closer, more of his exposed skin sparkling as the light brushed across it.

Instead of reexperiencing the awe I'd felt the first time I'd witnessed Edward in the sun, there was only a sinking in my gut and a terrible dread. I whipped around, back towards the stranger. He was still there, blue eyes still watchful. There was no way he'd missed Edward's otherworldliness.

I turned back to Edward, alarm in my voice as I called his name.

But Edward approached me steadily, no change in his relaxed expression as he joined me at my side. Instead of sharing my worries and newfound fear, he took my hand and smiled gently at me. I blinked back, confused but also heartened to feel his cold flesh surround mine. After a moment, Edward lifted his gaze away from me and over to the man across the meadow.

With a slight tug, he began walking.

I swallowed, but followed, raising my own eyes to the interloper. The stranger showed no indication of moving. He showed nothing, really. His expression remained flat as he stood with an unnatural stillness.

Edward led me fearlessly through the flowers and grasses. Every so often, a ray of light would land upon him, causing him to sparkle once more. The stranger took this in without so much as a twitch of the eyelid. He seemed utterly inured to the sight, though he watched our approach intently.