A/N: Thank you again for all the feedback! Here is a super early update! I'm hoping to make the next chapter longer but hopefully this chapter is enough to answer any questions or confusions some of you had been wondering about in the reviews. With further ado, enjoy the read :)
I slowly stirred awake and groaned before staring at the usual view of the hospital wall. I didn't even remember falling asleep. As I glanced around the room I saw that my parents weren't here either. They must've gone home a while ago considering the room was completely dark.
Great, now I'm all alone.
I propped my elbows up and tried to sit up against the thin mattress but it was kind of hard to even move with my stiff and heavy as shit leg cast in the way. I winced in pain as I tried to move it.
I hated being in the hospital, I just wanted to get better soon so I could get back to my normal life.
I scoffed. Is my life really going to be normal again though? Because of this stupid cast, I was probably gonna lose my spot as captain of the volleyball team. Hell, I'm not even sure if I would still have a spot as president of the student council. I was near the verge of tears once I realized I wouldn't be able to go to prom either.
My social life was practically ruined.
Not to mention I would most likely need therapy over what happened.
At the thought of Bella, I suddenly felt slight guilt tugging at the back of my mind for being so selfish and worried over something as trivial as my social life.
I should probably just be grateful that I'm alive.
I gave a heavy sigh and decided I should just make the most of being alone and unable to sleep by getting something to distract myself with. Speaking of which, where is my phone? I could just call or text Lauren and Angela and see if they were still awake. Scratch that, I would just wake them up myself unless I wanted to die of boredom.
My hand shifted across the mattress as I patted the blankets to look for my phone. I brushed my hands underneath the blankets but couldn't feel any metal object either. My gaze eventually fell on a phone charging cord from across the room, and then I saw my phone set aside on one of the chairs connected to a charger.
I angrily sucked in a sharp breath to keep from swearing out loud. Well, there goes my only form of entertainment.
"You gotta be kidding me." I whimpered, letting my head fall back against the pillow in defeat. My mom must have put it to charge there before she left.
"Jessica."
My eyebrows knitted together in confusion at hearing a male voice in my head. Am I hearing things...?
My eyes suddenly shot open and I literally froze.
No.
My head turned towards the direction of the voice so fast I nearly got whiplash. To my complete horror, I could make out half of Edward Cullen's pale face as it was being illuminated by the moonlight being casted through the window. His other half was difficult to make out, being blanketed underneath the darkness of the room.
In other words, he was literally just standing there in the corner glowering over at me like some creepy ghost you would see in a horror film.
Panic surged through me as my whole expression immediately contorted into a look of terror. I opened my mouth to scream but he flung his hand over me before I had the chance to let out as much of a squeal.
"Don't scream." His steely gaze was inches away from mine and I could feel him breathe against my ear. My hand instinctively flew up and caught his wrist.
His skin was so abnormally cold it nearly hurt to touch. Not to mention his hand was over my mouth, ugh, his skin feels so unnatural and corpse-like I feel like I'm going to vomit.
As he stared at me, his mouth slightly twitched into a frown.
I tightened my fingers around his wrist and dug my nails into his skin, hoping to draw blood, but it just felt like I was trying to scratch a wall.
A tired sigh escaped his lips. "It's useless to struggle, you can't hurt me."
I angrily breathed against his hand. We'll see about that, asshole. My hand left his wrist and reeled back into a fist before landing a punch against his face. His expression remained impassive, without as much of a flinch. That didn't even hurt him. My pride swelled a bit, but not as much as the full blown pain I was now experiencing in my hand.
My face contorted into a grimace and I groaned in agony. What the hell is this guy made out of? Stone?
"That's not going to work on me either."
I glared at him.
His gaze gradually softened. "I'm not going to hurt you, Stanley. I promise."
"I just need you to trust me."
Trust him? Yeah, right. Does he think I'm stupid? My body stiffened and my breathing gradually relaxed as I felt his hand begin to shift from my mouth.
He arched an eyebrow, concern visible on his features. "I'm going to take my hand off now, but please don't scream."
The second he took his hand off I shoved his arm away and screamed bloody murder.
"Help!" I shrieked. "Help, this maniac is trying to kill me!"
He merely gave me a look of annoyance before we heard footsteps rapidly running down the hall and coming towards this direction. My eyes went as wide as a tennis ball after I watched him just disappear out of the room in a blur, leaving nothing but a breeze of air behind in the spot next to my bed.
"Wait!" I miserably glared at the empty space. "Come back, you son of a bitch!"
The nurses ran inside of my room, their alarmed expressions turning into confusion once they saw that nobody else was in the room besides me. I stupidly pointed at the corner next to my bed.
"He-there was a guy in my room and he's trying to kill me." I stuttered. "He was right there."
One of the nurses paced towards the side of the bed to check my vital signs and heartbeat from the monitor.
"Are you sure? We didn't see anyone come out of your room." She gave me a questionable look after checking my IV's.
"Look, I know I sound crazy, but just hear me out." I slowed down my breathing to make myself sound more calm. "I'm really not making things up!" I insisted. "He just..vanished into thin air!" I took a long pause before sighing and rolling my eyes. Maybe I should just shut up, I'm only making myself sound even more insane. It's useless, they were never going to believe me.
The nurses exchanged glances with each other, probably questioning my sanity at this point. One of them gives a discreet eye roll. Two of them left the room while one stayed behind.
"Miss Stanley, it must've only been a nightmare." She assured. "In the meantime, try to get some rest. Do you need anything? Do you want me to call your parents?"
I shook my head in defeat. "No, just forget it." My forehead creased as I tilted my lips into a frown.
She gave me a curt nod before leaving the room. Probably to go talk shit with the other nurses.
After all the commotion died down, I nearly have another mini panic attack when I see Edward suddenly standing in front of my bed this time. His frustrated glare met my uneasy gaze.
"I told you not to scream." He muttered.
I had the sudden urge to shove him out the window. Maybe it would actually hurt him if he fell off a five story building. How the hell is he so strong and fast? What kind of steroids are you on, Cullen? I ignored his previous statement, my fingernails digging into the palm of my hands to keep from trembling.
"You're not human. You're not normal."
"If you'll let me explain-"
"I don't want you to explain anything to me!" I angrily hissed, trying my best to keep my voice down to prevent the nurses from hearing again. "What I want is for you to leave me alone!"
His eyes slowly narrowed. "I can't do that."
I scoffed in disbelief. "What, do you have some sick obsession with me now or something?"
"Don't flatter yourself, Stanley." His jaw clenched, a sign his patience was wearing thin. "Last time I checked, you were the one who was obsessed with me."
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my anger in check. Instead of swearing at him, I merely rolled my eyes. "Trust me Cullen, I've been over you for a long time now. To be honest, I don't even know why I was attracted in the first place. You're not even that cute." Okay, maybe that was a lie. I glared at his gorgeous alabaster face that seemed to be structured by the gods themselves, and a jawline so sharp it could cut steel. But like hell I would ever let him know that.
"You just said that was a lie."
My eyeballs practically bulged out of their sockets. "What?" I nearly shrieked until I realized I was being too loud. "No I didn't!" I huffed, my lips slightly parting into a baffled expression. I only said that in my head. Realization suddenly sunk in. "Are you serious-you can read minds now or something? What next? Are you gonna shoot red laser beams out of your eyes and fly too?"
He slowly blinked at me. "No, I'm not Superman."
"Then what are you?"
There was a long pause until he gave a deep sigh, a look of reluctance was visibly etched across his features.
"I'm a vampire."
There was an even bigger pause this time. I didn't even know how to respond. To be honest, nothing he said would really surprise me considering the fact I obviously already knew he had super mutant powers. I was expecting an alien, but a vampire, seriously?
"Great, you're even more of a freak than I thought." I sneered. He slightly winced at the harsh comment, but I could care less how mean it sounded.
I was surprised as a look of hurt appeared across his gaze for a few seconds before being replaced with that same look of impassiveness they held before. I didn't even notice before, but this time his gaze was pitch black instead of gold like it was at the scene of the accident. His eyes were hollow and visible purple shadows outlined his eye bags, like he hadn't slept for weeks. His eyes looked depressed, like someone who lost any ounce of will to live.
That being said, I didn't regret insulting him and still hoped he would go die in a ditch.
"I know you despise me right now, and you have all the reason to..." His gaze lowered before glancing back up with a stern glare. "But your life is in danger."
"Yeah, genius, my life is in danger from you."
He muttered a curse under his breath. "I already told you I wasn't going to hurt you-" He paused and his gaze softened after falling across all of my bandages and injuries, some of which he caused. "Anymore." He solemnly finished his sentence before giving me a look of sorrow. "I'm truly sorry that I did."
"Then what are you doing here?" Frankly, I could care less about his apology. He can shove it up his ass. I hope you can hear that too, Cullen.
Apparently he did, since his eye twitched in mild irritation.
"I'm here to watch and make sure you don't get killed by the monster who is hunting you." He finally explained.
"What monster?" I questioned. The only monster I see here is you.
He ignored my thoughts as he continued on. "That man you thought you ran over, he wasn't a human, he's a vampire. He caused the crash on purpose, in hopes of killing you two for food. He only managed to kill one of you-" I swore I heard his voice slightly break. He was thinking of Bella. A pang of sadness flashed across his gaze as he struggled to continue. "So he's after you now." He murmured.
"So..." I raised an eyebrow. "You're saying I'm being targeted by another vampire?" My body froze. So that's why the car flipped over after I hit that man. I knew I wasn't just seeing things, he was actually there after all.
"Yes," Edward confirmed both my words and thoughts.
"Why me, though? He wants to kill me just because I survived?" I thought that's what you wanted to do. The sarcastic thought crossed my mind.
A low growl made me slightly jump. "Can you please attempt to control your insulting thoughts, Stanley?" He angrily glared.
"That wasn't an insult, that was a fact." I retorted.
He gave a frustrated sigh. "I only wanted to kill you because I needed someone to blame for the death of my...Bella." He finished the last word with a grimace.
"How about you stop reading my mind, just answer the question I actually ask." I angrily huff. He gave a sigh of defeat.
"Yes, he wants to kill you because you survived. He's a tracker, it's what he does. He never leaves any prey alive."
"Then I'm guessing you're just here in case he comes to kill me so you can kill him and avenge your girlfriend's death."
He remained silent before darkly muttering a "yes."
Exactly what I expected. I bit my lip and gave a soft sigh before planning my next words carefully.
"So in other words, you don't really give a shit if I live or die as long as you get your revenge?"
"If I didn't care, I wouldn't bother telling you that you're being targeted."
Well, he does have a point. I tried to look for any indicator that he was lying in his expression but his gaze remained completely serious.
I relaxed against the pillows as I calmed down a bit. That, and my back was starting to hurt from being so tense. Okay, maybe he's actually being sincere.
He glances over at me as if he's about to say something.
Don't answer that. I glared.
He kept quiet.
"I don't need your protection, I can protect myself." All I have to do is google how to kill a vampire for beginners.
His mouth twitched and he scoffed, trying to mask a laugh. "You can't kill a vampire. You're just a human. They can crush you in seconds."
I arched an eyebrow. "Um, haven't you ever heard of Buffy the vampire slayer?"
"Real vampires are nothing like the ones you see in TV or movies. Our bodies are designed to be indestructible. There's nothing a human can do that can hurt us." "Physically, at least."
"So what the hell are humans supposed to do then, just die?"
His silence was enough of an answer.
I groaned and let my head fall against my hands, slowly massaging my temples as I felt an impending headache. This was too much information to retain all at once. First I was scared that Edward was going to kill me and now I have to worry about another maniac?
"I need time...to process everything." I finally decided before lifting up my gaze back towards him. "Can you like, leave me be?"
He only stood there, frozen.
"Jessica, I already told you I have to stay close by."
I rolled my eyes. "You don't have to leave the hospital, just get out of of my room, please. I need my space right now and frankly, I still don't trust you." I glared.
He remained silent for a moment and for a second I thought he was just going to argue again until he reluctantly but eventually gave a slight nod. At least he has the decency to respect my wishes.
"I can...understand that." His gaze lowered. He made a motion to leave but suddenly paused and sent a stern glare towards my direction. "One more thing before I go."
I curiously waited for him to continue.
"Could you please stop blabbering to the hospital staff about how I'm a 'super-powered freak and trying to kill you? For your sake and mines. I've already gotten reprimanded enough by my family and I would hate to see you thrown in the psych ward."
I scoffed. "You should be thrown in the psych ward."
He grunted in annoyance.
"Okay, you can go now." I repeated, louder this time.
I could feel a breeze of air fall across the room as he disappeared out of the room again without a trace. I was back to staring at the empty space of the hospital walls in the dark room and it's deafening silence, besides the occasional beeping of the heart monitor.
I felt myself instantly breathe a sigh of relief and I let my head fall back against the pillows. My gaze lowered to my hands that were still slightly trembling from that encounter. I had managed to hide my fear from Edward for the most part, but since he was a vampire maybe he had sensed it somehow anyways. I tried to stay calm the entire time he was telling me that man wanted me dead, but in reality I was in panic mode.
If he was right in that humans didn't stand a chance against a vampire, then I was screwed. I didn't exactly feel safe either with him supposedly protecting me. He was obviously under no obligation to keep me safe, he even admitted himself that he was just using me as a trap to kill that other vampire.
My trembling hands shifted across the mattress in search of my phone. I needed to talk to someone, anyone, and just ask them about their day to get my mind off this predicament I was in.
After absentmindedly patting against fabric for several minutes, sweet realization suddenly slapped me across the face as I turned my head where my phone was still being charged from across the room.
Shit, my life would've been a hell of a lot easier if I had died along with Bella.