Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER SIX ғᴇᴇᴅɪɴɢ
My first two weeks at school had gone by swiftly, though were far more eventful that I could have ever anticipated. For days after the incident with Bella in biology, Edward Cullen hadn't been in classes or the cafeteria with his family. Bella looked for him too, she hadn't mentioned him but she looked.
Each day after we sat down for lunch, she would drink her can of Pepsi and eat an apple before turning to gaze at their table, eyebrows knitted together. I was confused by what I could only see as concern on her face. Edward had looked at her with such a hateful gaze that I was stunned that she could even bring herself to think about him.
The way he held his nose and covered his mouth so tightly lead me to believe that it was the scent of human blood that had drive him away from school. But the fact that it was only Bella that he tormented with a glare struck me as odd. It had to be more than that.
I was stunned that I had brought myself to look their way too.
The fact that there were vampires in the school unsettled me still. A full family of them astounded me- I hadn't heard of it before. The only thing that put me at ease was the colour of their eyes: unnaturally yellow.
I wanted to know more about them, about it how they lived together and survived. I'd been alone in this form for so long that I barely knew more than what I could deduce from myself. But the fear of them finding out about me was too strong, I had the gift to hide after all, and I'd settled with staying in the dark for a while longer.
The image of Alice Cullen's stare wouldn't leave my mind either. It held me for days, with her bright, amber eyes flashing across my vision at odd intervals of the day. It was like I was possessed- captivated by her glance, a gaze that was so piercing yet addictive. A true's vampires hold.
But it felt like she'd looked straight through me and yet again I was set with immobilising fear. What if her gaze could shatter straight through my lies? I didn't know what it would do, didn't know what it would mean. After all, this situation was unique in its own.
I walked down the stairs earlier that evening than any. Mrs Rochester was still sitting with her formidable stare at the bottom, her slumped figure hidden by the large pile of papers on her desk. She mumbled a morning as I passed, which I returned, heading straight toward the dining room, the sound of clattering reaching my ears from the small kitchen beyond. The old lady hurried after me.
"Your payment is due, Miss Masters," she squeaked, saying my name as if trying to be commanding.
"The envelope is on your desk, Mrs Rochester. Has been for two days," I said. She scowled, folding her arms. "Now, I came to tell you I won't be needing breakfast in the morning. I'm leaving early for the day."
I was in no mood for conversation- not that she was either. Her brow rose challengingly.
"Fine by me," she sighed, not moving from the doorway.
"Thank you."
I loved passed, heading toward the stairs one last time, shutting the door behind me as I reached the door, the sound of mumbling insults being left behind.
After another pointless night indoors, I set off early morning through the woods behind the inn. I should have gone further, but after half an hour of running, when the sun finally began to peak over the silent tree tops and the mist began to clear, I stopped. I hunted.
I hated it and loved it. Early morning was always my favourite time to be out and feeding- when the mist was still evident enough to lurk in, my skin not even feeling damp from the air.
Hunting always cleared my mind, and as I raced through the trees, stopping once more as I heard the snap of an animal's foot against a branch, I forgot all about the Cullens. I forgot all about Bella and Edward, and Alice's gaze and instead focused on the deer that sniffed about it a tree at the other edge. I was as good as invisible, prowling forward effortlessly, the trees a blur and deer in full clearness, as if looking through a magnifying glass.
