It's finally, finally here! I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter posted. As most of you know, RL sort of took over. I'm not making any promises about how soon or otherwise chapter 7 will be up because things rarely go how I plan. I hope the length of this chapter makes up for the ridiculously long wait.
xxx
Chapter 6
~Hermione~
"Ron, it's just a drink! It's not like we're getting married, okay?" I fired angrily, my words getting faster with every second that Ron delayed me. It was as if I thought talking faster would get me out the door sooner which was crazy.
"Think about what you just said Hermione. It's just a drink. Well what does Mister Vampy Pants drink?" Ron asked smugly. He probably thought he was making some impressive point, but I was quickly tiring of his commentary.
I yelled at the top of my voice, words rushing rapidly in a squeal so that by the time I was finished, I'm pretty sure I was yelling at decibels that only dogs could hear. "I'm not an idiot. I know what he drinks! But he asked if he could buy me a drink. Keyword, Ron- BUY! He didn't say 'hey hot wizard chick, let me tap a vein' which is what you would have said if you were a vampire because you have less charm than a teaspoon!"
I snatched my small black clutch from the end table by the door and stormed out dramatically, leaving Harry to talk sense into Ron. Fat chance of that happening, I thought. I should volunteer Ron's services to Eric…that would teach him.
I took a long set of stairs down to the bottom floor of the ship to meet Eric at the club. I thought about how amazing it was to be on a cruise ship with a club and the fact that I was going to that club to meet an insanely gorgeous man. I also thought about how refreshing it was that he wasn't anything like Viktor Krum; Eric had beauty and brains. I reached the door and paused to check my reflection in its glossy, black surface before entering. I cringed at the sight of my hair. While it was much more tame than it used to be, it still wouldn't do quite what I wanted it to. There was nothing else I could do to manage it short of cutting it all off or using a potion to change it, but the effects weren't lasting and I doubted I could find all the ingredients I'd need on a boat. Well, maybe if I sent Hedwig out for them, but it's too late for that now. Oh well. I pulled the handle and stepped inside.
I'd never been in a club before- muchless a supernatural one. It was somewhat like I imagined it would be though. The music was blaring, some fast-paced dance rhythm with bass so loud you couldn't understand the words and a thick fog crawling along the floor concealing dancing feet and claws. It was dark with neon lights of various colors intermittently rolling throughout the room and briefly lighting up the vertical sexing that was taking place on the dance floor.
There seemed to be a lot of creepy bestiality happening in the place. The women were all scantily clad and looking to tease while the men cleaned up nicely, too, but a lot of them just looked like slobs looking to get laid- which they undoubtedly were. Slobs, that is- not getting laid; not by any woman in the room who had a bit of sense anyway. There were all manner of creatures in the club as well. It was a wonder everyone was getting along. I would have thought that there would be natural enemies on a cruise like this where any supernatural was welcome, but witnessing the scene before me made me think, a bit naively I'm sure, that maybe since they were all trying to enjoy a vacation everyone had some kind of unspoken truce going on.
I watched vampires, fairies, centaurs, a small dragon, a few goblins, an ogre, other witches and what I suspected was a demon enjoying their night of reckless abandon. There was even an angel floating among the crowd. Who knew angels went clubbing? I noticed her when I walked passed to search for Eric and I felt a wave of peace come over me. I didn't even realize how nervous I was until I felt it settle. I gave the angel a small grateful smile and she nodded her head in Eric's direction. Apparently the angel didn't have a problem with me having a drink with him so why should Ron? I smiled haughtily. Nothing like divine intervention to make one feel better about any situation.
I made my way to the corner table where Eric sat enjoying a glass of a thick red substance that, admittedly, did make my stomach churn a bit. I pushed the nausea away, turned my haughty Ron smile into a sweet-and-innocent one and went to sit with him. Eric stood up as I approached and waited until I was settled to take his seat again. Very gentlemanly.
"Miss Granger," he nodded. His voice alone was enough to make my panties melt into oblivion and all he'd said was my name. Add to that the blonde hair, blue eyes, his towering height and fuckhot body and Merlin's pants, I thought -I was ready to strip right where I stood. Sheesh- I needed to get a grip. "Hermione, please," I answered a little shyly.
"As you wish. What will you have to drink this evening, Hermione?"
"Not what you're having, that's for sure." I said it before I even consciously thought of it - a nervous habit - and I would have been completely embarrassed, but Eric wasn't easily offended. He just smiled, amused and handed me a menu.
A young waiter dressed in Greek attire came to the table immediately to take my order. He looked me up and down, making no effort to hide the shameless lust that was crawling all over his plain face. I noticed how his eyes lingered at the short hem of my black sequined mini-dress and how he smacked his lips as if I looked like some particularly tasty dish.
"May I suggest the Panty Dropper?" he asked in a peculiarly squeaky voice.
Thinking this sounded like a blatant come on from a prepubescent jackass, I was taken aback and briefly considered pulling my wand from the front of my dress and causing his body to swell up with puss. That was until I realized it was an actual drink on the menu. My jaw dropped a little as I deliberated. I'd never had any of the drinks listed there before so I didn't know what to choose, plus I was a little nervous that ordering a panty dropper might give Eric the wrong impression of me. Or the right one.
Thankfully, he saved me by taking the menu and giving it back to waiter. He spoke in a clear, confident tone. "I think the lady would quite enjoy a Red Hot Lover, what do you think?" he turned his attention to me, eyeing me in a much more welcome way than the waiter had, blue eyes sparkling with seduction. Normally I would have insisted on ordering for myself, but I didn't know what I liked to begin with so there was no point in arguing. Besides that, the double meaning in Eric's words was much less repulsive than the waiter's and I couldn't bring myself to deny that he was one hundred percent spot on in his assumption.
"Sounds perfect," I said.
The waiter scuttled nervously away, obviously petrified of Eric and I wondered aloud why a Greek God would be serving drinks on a cruise ship and also why said Greek God would be so altogether unexceptional. Eric explained to me that he was a demigod; half human. And not a particularly talented one which is why he was condemned to a life of serving on a ship with leprechauns. It wasn't long before he brought my drink and scampered off again before Eric could effortlessly intimidate him any further. Normally I would find that amount of influence over people unnerving in a man, but Eric didn't have to do anything to be intimidating; he just was. It was a part of his natural demeanor and the power poured out of him just from the way he carried himself. At the same time, I discovered that I could feel positively relaxed in his presence. It was a bit odd, but a very welcome feeling.
I found that I enjoyed talking to Eric. He didn't make small talk or prattle about unimportant things. Everything he said was engaging or carried substance and he was very educated. After a thousand years of existence, how could he not be a wealth of knowledge? He exerted an undeniable radiation of sex and mystery and he was profoundly confident, which I found incredibly attractive compared with the bumbling teenage morons I was usually faced with.
I did realize, however, that I didn't have a chance with him. Sure, I could have cashed in on my Red Hot Lover card at any time and he would have happily complied, but after these four weeks, I'd never see him again. As irresistible as Eric is, that wasn't what I wanted. And what I did want Eric couldn't give me. He was in love with another woman.
Sookie.
I could tell as soon as she walked into the room. He stopped mid-sentence and his eyes traveled as if there was some magnetic pull directly to the door she'd just stepped through. Right on cue, like she was under the influence of the same magnetic allure, Sookie's eyes found Eric's and she rushed toward him, evidently on a mission that couldn't wait until I wasn't present.
"Have you seen Bill?" she yelled over the ear-splitting volume of the music. The colored lights danced across her body highlighting in psychedelic perfection her white halter dress hugging her womanly curves, exposing the smooth tanned flesh of her shoulders, most of her back, arms and legs.
"No. Have you lost him already?" Eric replied smoothly.
Sookie was already impatient, but Eric's response boosted that emotion up a notch. "I have not lost him, Eric. When he woke up he just left and I don't have a clue where he went."
Eric looked thoughtful for a moment before he turned to me and politely expressed his apologies, then he rose fluidly from his seat, gestured for Sookie to sit down and, just like that, he was gone.
I sat quietly, feeling a bit awkward and wondering if our date - or drink or whatever it was - was over. My Red Hot Lover was gone. Both of them.
Sookie laughed unexpectedly and my eyes darted to hers, instantly embarrassed for it was so easy to forget she could hear my thoughts.
"You're what?" she giggled.
My embarrassment quickly turned to anger when I thought I was being made fun of. I cut my eyes at my empty glass feeling positively defensive.
"Oh no, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just funny that Eric would order you a drink with that particular name. Not subtle at all, is he?"
My anger was short lived as I grasped that Sookie was actually very nice and I found it easy to converse with her.
"Better than the waiter. He asked me if I wanted a Panty Dropper after practically drooling all over my lap." And besides, I thought, just look at Eric.
"I know," Sookie agreed. "He's wrapped in pretty paper, but don't get too comfortable with him. Ever heard the expression 'Satan in a Sunday hat'? He can be vicious and everything he does is self-serving. Everything." The last word Sookie spoke was a warning that I didn't know how to respond to.
I'd guessed as much, but I couldn't bring myself to believe that he was entirely narcissistic. I saw the way he looked at Sookie and how he jumped up to help without her even having to really ask. I got the impression that he would do anything for her even if it included finding her current vampire honey when he could just as easily have him imprisoned somewhere to make winning Sookie easier. And it would undoubtedly be easy because even I could see the reluctant admiration in her eyes.
"Me? Admire Eric? Oh honey, I don't think so. I have no problems using Eric when I need something because God knows he's used me enough, but admire him? Hardly," she scoffed.
"You can say that if you want, but I can almost see the lust oozing out of your pores," I teased.
"Do you know what happens when you drink a vampire's blood?" she asked seriously.
I shook my head, unaware that one could even do that - I thought it was only the other way around.
"Lot's of things, but one of them is that you bond with them. Like…you start to feel things for them that you wouldn't normally feel. And the dreams." She sighed, "oh God, the dreams. They're erotic and disgusting and none of it is real. So whatever you see oozing out of my pores is the blood talking. It doesn't have anything to do with my real feelings."
I just stared at her.
"Okay maybe a little of the lust is genuine. But only a little!" Sookie admitted. Then she changed subjects completely. "Hey listen, I never thanked you for your help with Bill. That fight he got into was pretty bad so I really appreciate you and your friends breaking that up. That wolf would have killed him if you hadn't."
"You're quite welcome," I replied simply.
"'Course, I'm gonna kill Bill myself if he doesn't turn up soon," she nearly growled while looking around the room impatiently.
"I don't think that will be necessary. Or maybe it might," Eric said grandly as he reappeared out of nowhere. Sookie perked right up, asking Eric to clarify, but just as he started to explain the ceiling to the left of us exploded.
Slivers of steel plundered to the floor in the midst of a set of tables all arranged in a semi-circle with a black suede couch lining the wall around them. The lights and music continued to pulse as pieces of metal were thrown haphazardly about the room. After my eyes adjusted to the chaos, I realized there was a man doing the throwing. A vampire who had bits of metal protruding from his skin which he was plucking out with forceful precision and tossing to the side as if they were just minor and slightly painful annoyances. He snatched a particularly large one out of his big black boot and stood up with an angry grunt, while searching for more smaller pieces to free from the rest of his body. He scowled at the gaping, jagged hole left in the ceiling where other patrons were staring down at him from another floor up above.
How far had he fallen? I couldn't see clearly through the darkness or the heads filling the hollow in the roof, but judging from the debris and the amount of blood left behind, I assumed it was from the very top floor of the ship. The music kept on, but every eye in the place was trained to the vampire who'd just, quite literally, crashed the party. His gaze traveled from the ceiling and scanned the entirety of the room in a few quick seconds before he dusted himself off, popped his neck with what sounded like a very uncomfortable snap, nonchalantly flicked a last shard of steal down to the floor by his booted feet and came strolling straight toward where Sookie and I were seated with Eric standing right beside us. He was headed for the door or so I thought before he stopped at our table.
"You."
He pointed to me, eyes narrowed, nostrils flared.
What could he possibly want with me? I didn't do anything and I didn't even know who he was. I recognized him from the dinner on the first night, but I never got his name. He didn't give me much time to wonder what he wanted with me and honestly, I should have known.
"You're a witch," he said assuredly.
"Yes," I managed to whisper, not confused anymore, but worried.
He nodded a few times while chewing slightly on the inside of his jaw, nostrils still flared in understated anger.
"And you can do hexes and jinxes and all that boogally-woogally stuff, right?" He waved his hands in the air, flitting his thin fingers back and forth like some sorry impression of jazz hands as he said the words 'boogally-woogally'. It would have made me laugh at any other time seeing how manic he looked and hearing those particular words. I noticed he paused for a moment, stared at his hands lingering longer over his right one at his naked index finger and then his jaw clenched before he stiffly put his hands back down by his side.
"In translation, you mean magic? Yes."
He gave me a millisecond smile while cocking his head infinitesimally to one side and mimicked me.
"Magic. Yes."
Then he changed tacts, looking at Sookie. "I'm gonna need you, too, Telepath."
Need us? Need us for what?
"My name is not Telepath and I'm not helping you with a damn thing. I know you're the one that killed Bella," Sookie shot back bravely.
Oh. Everything clicked into place with Sookie's words.
Just about everyone had heard what happened involving some of the vampires on board. Bella was Edward Cullen's girlfriend. Edward had inadvertently almost killed her, but the Salvatore brothers saved her. And then one of them, Damon, killed her again for some unknown reason.
Damon immediately went on the defensive. "Hey! I did not kill her!"
Sookie gave him an oh-please-I'm-not-an-idiot look to which he responded quickly, "okay, I did kill her, but not dead dead." He shrugged his shoulder's and added, "she'll wake up" as if it was a fact that any imbecile should have been aware of.
"As a vampire!" Sookie shouted.
"And?" Damon replied indifferently, his expression oozing of that carefree, what's-your-point facade that suited him so well.
"I just need you to come with me so you can let me know if the walking mound of pixie dust is planning on pulling anything." He made an agitated gesture to his right hand. "And so you can tell me where the hell he's hiding my ring."
"I'm not coming with you," Sookie stated baldly.
"Oh yes you are." His voice caressed the words, making them sound both seductive and threatening.
I looked at Eric who was standing in the background simply observing. He didn't look as if he planned to intervene anytime soon. "And what do you need with me exactly?" I spoke up.
He made one of those inquiring faces at me as if to say the answer should be obvious.
"I know the….'boogally-woogally," - I felt ridiculous just saying it and I'm sure that showed plainly on my face and in the sound of my voice - "but what specifically?"
Damon looked at me seriously, saying one word perfectly clear. "Edward."
How dumb did this vamp think I was anyway? Like I didn't know that already. Irritated, I spelled it out for him.
"I can't exactly walk up to Edward Cullen and hex him. He'll know what I'm planning before I can even get my wand out of my bra!"
Damon arched one of his perfect eyebrows, lips turning up ever so slightly into a sexy half-smile. "You keep your wand in your bra?"
My face heated and I looked away embarrassed that I'd let that slip. "Only in this dress and that's beside the point," I mumbled looking anywhere but directly at Damon. What is it about the men on this boat all being gorgeous and able to rid a girl entirely of coherent thought?
Eric finally spoke up taking the attention away from me, for which I was grateful. "This has all been very enlightening," he said in his satiny-smooth voice, "but you're an idiot if you think either one of these women would help you to retaliate against him. I assume he's the one responsible for your grand entrance. Am I correct?"
Damon's only response was to make a yeah-duh face to which Eric nodded, not surprised in the least. "You should handle that. Before the sun comes up." Eric's voice had a ring of finality to it along with the hint of a threat.
I could feel the heat pooling in the pit of my stomach again making me have a brief fantasy of stripping Eric right at the table. Upon seeing it in my mind, Sookie made a strange face somewhere between disturbed and elated.
"You don't speak for me!" Sookie shot out of nowhere, probably as a distraction for the visual I hadn't quite managed to shut down yet.
Eric gazed down at her, his expression and tone slightly exasperated. "Did you not just tell him you would never help him?"
"I did. But that was before you started speaking for me. And besides, your date isn't over and I'd really like to make sure that this asshole," nodding her head at Damon, "doesn't hurt my friend. Edward had every right to do what he did and I think I should go to make sure the confrontation stays as civil as possible."
"You are no longer worried about Bill, then?" Eric questioned.
Sookie deliberated, clearly at odds with her decision to help Damon as it was plain to everyone present that she was only doing it to spite Eric. After a moment, she licked her lips and a cover of resolve seemed to slip over her face. "Bill left me tonight without saying a single thing to me and I don't have the slightest idea why. I've been looking for him all night. I even stayed at the bar with Stefan for an hour and didn't see him once. He has no choice but to come back before sunrise so….no. I"m not worried about Bill. Irritated. Pissed off. Confused. Yes. Worried - absolutely not."
She turned to me and smiled briefly, "enjoy the rest of your date," before turning to Eric and warning him in a sharp voice, "and give it a rest with the misleading sexual innuendoes. We both know you don't have a red hot anything. You might as well have ordered her a dicksicle - at least that would have been believable."
She turned to make a hasty exit from the room when Eric smirked and replied softly, "we both know, huh?"
Sookie seemed to realize what she'd implied and quickly came back with, "what can I say? I've had a lot of great vampire sex. With Bill."
The last two words she spoke wiped the smug look off of Eric's exceptionally beautiful face making it possible for Sookie to make her dramatic exit after all. Damon, having stood there and watched the entire exchange while silently seething, followed behind her, his face plastered with a calm facade to cover the murderous rage he was obviously feeling. I suspect he did laugh about the dickcicle comment after they were out of sight though.
After they both disappeared through the black double doors, I glanced at Eric trying to get a read on his mood. The evening had become awkward and I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue with it, but I also didn't want to leave Eric alone after the low blow he'd just been dealt. He seemed perfectly at ease once more, the brief flash of hurt having been wiped away completely and covered with a flawless indifference. He was staring at the chaos around the room; the pieces of steel, the gaping hole in the ceiling, the cruise creatures frantically clearing it away as half the patrons stared and talked animatedly amongst one another with the other half still dancing away to the pounding beats under the glowing lights. They definitely didn't waste any time getting things back in order, that's for sure.
I sighed and brought my wand from my immaculate hiding spot called cleavage and gave it a swish. "Repairo," I commanded in the direction of the debris. Every piece soared upward back into the ceiling, threatening to spear every person and creature who didn't immediately move out of the way. I felt a bit guilty for not thinking to warn everyone first, but it didn't seem as if anyone had been impaled and Eric was looking at me with this proud, sexy expression so, naturally, the guilt didn't last long before the lust engulfed me.
I wanted nothing more in that moment than for Eric to invite me to his room. I knew I would say yes like a playboy bunny in heat, but I also knew it wasn't the smartest idea so I didn't give him the chance to offer, assuming he even would have.
"It's been a wonderful evening, but I think I should head back to my room now. With all the distractions, I just think-"
"It's fine," he assured me quietly.
I barely heard the words escape his lips over the blaring music, but knew they were sincere. He didn't need or expect explanations and I assumed he had a lot of thoughts to sift through, most of which containing a certain blonde beauty who had very recently lit a match under his "dickcicle".
"I enjoyed your company this evening, Hermione. Be safe walking back to your cabin." He nodded his head in my direction, hands resting casually inside the pockets of his grey dress pants.
The awkwardness swooped back in as I realized he wouldn't be walking me to the door, I wouldn't get a kiss, a hug or even a goodnight handshake for that matter. Oddly though, I understood and didn't take offense. I gave a polite smile and turned to leave noticing that Eric was still looking in the direction Damon had come from, not taking a seat or even giving any sort of indication that he planned to. I couldn't help the sympathetic feeling that overtook me as I touched his arm and spoke.
"You know, Sookie told me about the blood and the feelings attached to it." He looked a tiny bit surprised as he gazed down at me, but I continued. "She also told me that notall her feelings are about the blood." I looked into his eyes only for a moment; long enough to see that he understood what I was telling him. I saw an almost indiscernible spark of relief and hope there before letting my hand drift down the length of his jacket until it fell short at the place where his hands were resting in his pockets and walked out of the club.
As soon as I was out the door the sound of the music dissipated, my ears ringing in the silence. I started back to my room, but once there, I heard Ron and Harry's voices filtering through the door. I had hoped that they would be sleeping by the time I returned. I didn't stay to listen to what they were saying, instead turning away to go find something else to occupy my time. I wasn't ready to face Ron fearing that we would only lash out at one another again. It was always something with us and I didn't feel like dealing with that stress anymore tonight.
I walked upstairs to the upper level of the ship to see Damon and Sookie appearing to have some sort of heated exchange. I decided to go see if I could help. At the very least, I could freeze them and call someone to carry them to their rooms so the bickering would stop. "Hello again," I said to make my presence known. Yeah, it was lame, but it got the job done.
"There she is! Please!" he yelled holding his hands out imploringly toward me. "Please immobilize the fuck out of that motherfucker so I can get my ring back!" He pointed to a door directly across from where he and Sookie stood.
"Don't!" Sookie countered.
"Why not? I was under the impression that Damon couldn't come out in the daytime without his ring," I said seeking clarification as to why they would be arguing over whether or not I helped him get it back.
"Exactly. Which means he won't be bothering anyone at that time!"
Damon rolled his eyes and shrugged Sookie's words off as he turned to me with an almost desperate expression. Or as desperate as I imagined Damon ever got anyway.
"Look, Bella's going to be awake soon and I need to be there to explain the transition to her. I just want to help her get through this and I can't if Sparkly Pants doesn't hand over my ring because if he doesn't I'm going to kill him and then his family and Bella will hate me and try to kill me and then Stefan will have to kill them for revenge, but eating bunnies doesn't exactly make him the epitome of strength and power so he'll probably just hurt himself and then Elena will have to save his pussy ass and get herself hurt…." He rolled his eyes again, let out a gusty breath and continued with his enormous run-on sentence. "It's a vicious cycle. Do you get what I'm sayin' here? I want it back. Tonight. Or I swear, I will make things a hundred times worse than they are now."
I didn't even consciously consider the answer before I strolled the few feet over the Cullen's door and knocked. A beautiful woman with caramel colored hair and a heart-shaped face answered seeming to know immediately who I was, if not what I wanted also and smiled kindly as she extended her arm in invitation. I thanked her and she kept the door open telling Sookie and Damon they could both come in as well. The expression on her face told me she probably knew they were there the whole time. She was just waiting for them to decide what they were going to do.
Once we were all inside, the first thing I noticed was that the room was quite crowded. Then, I noticed the still figure peacefully laid upon the bed that the whole group seemed to congregate around. Edward sat by her side looking for all the world like the most desolate soul to ever glide across the Earth. It was heartbreaking and I understood instantly why he would want to smash Damon through a few floors of pure steel. What I didn't understand was why he took the ring and I wanted to hear his side of the events before I made a decision as to whether or not I would help Damon. I wondered if it would do me any good considering both Edward and Sookie could hear my every thought and Edward could stop me from doing anything before I even came to a conclusive decision. He seemed like an honorable man, though, so I was wiling to give him the benefit of the doubt. He shook his head, empty eyes gazing at the floor as that thought flowed through my mind. I couldn't be sure if it was my thoughts he was disagreeing with or someone else's, but that wasn't the important thing at the moment. There was business that needed be attended to and I was happy to play the mediator because it meant I didn't have to go face Ron for another hour at least. It had to be after one in the morning already. He was probably going crazy wondering what I was up to. I smiled inwardly before speaking to the room.
"Sorry to intrude. I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Hermione."
The woman with the kind face smiled and looked at me with compassionate golden eyes. "We know dear. I'm Esme and this is my husband, Carlisle and our son, Edward." She gestured to a very young, handsome, blonde-haired man first and then to the boy with the ageless sadness emanating from him in electric waves.
I found myself once again wondering why all vampires had to be unbearably gorgeous because it was totally inappropriate to be thinking about how fuckhot Edward is while he's sitting next to the almost undead love of his life, not to mention the fact that he could hear me thinking it. And to top it all off, his dad was almost as hot as him.
How creepy is that- that I'm hot for the dad? I thought to myself. Or to myself, Edward and maybe Sookie if she was listening.
I glanced over at her and saw she was shooting blazing glares between Damon and Bill, who she had apparently found at last, which told me she wasn't tuned into my head right now. From what I heard about Edward, he was tuned into everybody's head at all times so there was little to no hope that he hadn't just heard every single mortifying thought that just ran through my twisted brain.
I mentally shook myself to get back on track as I realized Esme was still making introductions. With the part of my brain that was still functioning like an intelligent being, I heard her say the names Alice, Jasper and Rosalie.
Once I regained the full use of my normal attention span, she was pointing at a big, muscular delicious-looking vampire that she called Emmett. Then she gestured to a beautiful brunette named Elena and her boyfriend, Stefan who is also Damon's brother. When she came to Bill, Sookie shot him one of those you-have-a-lot-of-explaining-to-do looks which he tried to ignore as he smiled politely and nodded his head at me.
The last to be introduced was Jacob Black, who I actually did recognize as the wolf from the first night. Harry and I were the ones to transport everyone back to their rooms after Harry broke up the fight. Jacob was the last to go and once we lifted the magic, he shifted from his wolf form to his human form before we were able to get all the way out of the room.
I can't say I was surprised that he was all abs and completely hot, but I was surprised that he'd be hanging out in a room with a bunch of vampires - one of them being Bill who he'd tried to kill recently - when he'd made his hatred of them quite plain that night in his room.
He was yelling at the top of his lungs about bloodsuckers, killers and leeches and how we should have let him tear every one of them apart. He was so angry that he started shaking violently, but Harry and I departed before we could catch anymore of what was coming. I wondered why the Cullens would even want him here with them. He seemed volatile and so full of rage and hatred. Also, he was a wolf! Wolves are awful, vicious creatures!
My attention was brought back to earth by the infinitesimal shift in the curve of Edward's mouth. It was like a half smirk and he looked up and met my eyes for the briefest of seconds, obviously finding something amusing in my thoughts. I had to get back on track. Again.
"And this is Bella," I confirmed gesturing to the still, white figure on the center of the bed. Her mahogany hair was fanned out around her head like a chaotic halo of sorts. Even dead, she was beautiful.
"How long before she's awake?" I asked.
The tiny girl with the short black hair that I think Esme said was Alice spoke up quickly. "Twenty-three minutes." She said it as if she were precisely sure she was right.
"She is," Edward said. It took me off guard for a moment until I realized he was answering my inquiring thought about how Alice could be so sure and exact in her estimate. "It's not an estimate. Alice can see the future," Edward explained. "Well, most of the time," he added.
That's convenient. And pretty damn awesome.
"So, if you can see the future," I addressed Alice, "isn't it possible to see whether or not Damon actually wants to help her like he says? I think if he wants to help, he should be given the chance," I said fairly.
"I can see that he does want to help - that isn't the question at all. You're wondering about the ring, right?"
I nodded.
"Edward didn't take it so Damon can't help Bella. They'd have to stay indoors for that anyway because Stefan informed us that Bella will be very sensitive to sunlight until the transformation is complete at which point she won't be able to go out during the day at all. She doesn't have a ring, you see."
"Okay then, so why did he take it?"
Alice looked back and forth between Edward and I.
"Edward?" I asked.
"I took it because I want to see if he'll be able to walk in the sun without it," Edward relayed tonelessly.
"See, now you're just being a smart ass," Damon exhaled wryly.
"No actually, I'm not. We're going to see if my venom keeps you from exploding when the sun comes up," he said seriously. There was a bit of devilish pleasure in Edward's expression that I couldn't help but admire given the situation.
Damon didn't seem that amused, but he was taking it like a very unfunny joke. "So what, you plan on draining me now, too? Dude, I am so not kissing you."
"Not funny," Edward and Alice said at exactly the same time.
Emmett interrupted before I could ask what the bloody hell they were talking about. "He doesn't have to bite you jackass. He already pumped you full of his venom about an hour ago. All there is to do now is wait."
Damon looked utterly confused. I assumed it was for the same reason as me- I didn't understand when Edward would have had a chance to inject Damon with his venom without Damon knowing about it.
Suddenly, something hit me in the side from the direction Edward was on and fell to the floor with a tinkling sound. I bent down and retrieved a small glass syringe from the floor. It was empty.
"Just before I threw Damon through the floor…" Edward elaborated and nodded a bit toward the syringe that I gathered used to be full of his own venom. "I have more for Bella, but I was afraid to test it on her. I figured he did this to her. The least he could do is be the experiment on her behalf."
Damon looked like he was about to go insane with rage. "You people don't listen at all do you?" he screamed. "This never would have happened if you didn't almost kill her yourself!"
"You think I don't know that? That I haven't been sitting here blaming myself for this - drowning in guilt? But she would have been fine! Your blood would have passed out of her system by now and she'd be fine if you hadn't decided you hated me enough to kill the only reason for my existence!"
Damon seemed to calm a little at those words, but I was sure it was one of those calm-before-the-storm type scenarios. He seemed to be most dangerous when one least expected him to be. "You think I killed her because I hate you? For a tortured, self-loathing bastard, you sure are full of yourself. Other than the fact that you're trying to kill me, what reason - before now - did I ever have to hate you?"
Edward was quiet for a moment as he seemed to read whatever was going through Damon's mind. Realization struck his expression at whatever he found and Damon continued to enlighten the rest of us. "I didn't kill Bella to get back at you for anything. I was actually kind of jealous of your pansy ass a little bit and if any of you ever tell anyone that, I'll deny it until the day someone puts a stake through my heart," Damon threatened while pointing around the room.
"You've got the one woman in the whole world that you want and she wants you back. Only you and there's absolutely nothing that can change that - not even me which is something because we all know I'm, by far, the most superior on the Sexy Beast Scale," he joked. Of course Damon would have to mask any sort of vulnerability behind a snarky comment. As he went on though, his face and tone became more somber. "Neither of you could be whole without the other. And that is why I killed Bella. So she could be with your stupid ass the way she wants to be. Forever."
It was silent for a long while so that everyone could digest the news that Damon wasn't actually the cold, calculating son-of-a-bitch everyone thought he was. He actually had a heart and he had a soft spot for love. Where it came from, I wasn't sure, but if things went right tonight, I made it my mission to figure Damon Salvatore out before this cruise was over.
"She begged you to do it because I wouldn't. And I would have known that if I hadn't been too blinded with rage before to look inside your mind and see it." Edward was the first to speak and if the room hadn't been completely silent, I wouldn't have heard his words. If he looked desolate before, he sounded even more so now. "It really is all my fault," he breathed.
"Damn right it is," Damon muttered.
"Damon!" Elena admonished as she rushed toward him.
"What? It's the truth."
"You don't have to rub it in. Things are bad enough already."
"Well I plan to make them much worse if someone doesn't give me back my ring," Damon said in a pleasant, but mocking voice.
Edward started to reach into his pocket, but one of his sisters, Rosalie, stepped up to stop him. "Wait!" she said as she placed her hand on Edward's shoulder. "The sun doesn't come up for another few hours. I think we should still consider this…the experiment."
Exasperated, Damon threw his arms in the air, whirled around letting out a frustrated, growling sigh and spun back to face the Cullens who all seemed to group together around Bella on one side of the room.
"Why!" He exclaimed. "Why is it so important that she be like you? I can get her a ring like mine so she can walk in the sun! She won't sparkle, but she won't explode either. The two of you can go frolic in a meadow somewhere or go live with the leprechauns for all I care - I don't give a fuck! I just need my ring!"
"And what about her diet?" Rosalie countered.
"She can hunt bunnies and cute little golden retrievers with Stefan. Problem solved."
"No, I'm afraid it isn't," Carlisle stated calmly.
Damon shrugged. "Well there is that little matter of her having to feed on a human to complete the transformation, but I wasn't exactly thinking about that part when I did all the Romeo and Juliet, bleeding-heart bullshit. Excuse the fuck out of me."
"There's no need to get defensive son, but we need to figure out what we're going to do about this," Carlisle asserted in a firm but calm manner.
"One," Damon contested, holding up a pale, slim index finger, "I am not your son. Edward is. He's the genius that has all the answers apparently so why don't you talk to him about this mess after he gives me my ring back."
"Two," he pointed at Edward, "he's the one who wouldn't change her for his own stupid reasons and none of you would do it because of him, so I think I have every right to get defensive for helping that girl if I want to. Am I a bad guy? Sure. Yeah, whatever. I've done lot's of awful things that I really don't give a shit about. But I'm not taking the blame for this one and feeling guilty just because I was the only one who gave a damn about what Bella wanted. Do I think it's a dumb ass idea personally? Of course I do. But I can't answer that question for Bella and none of you should have either."
Once again, we all stood in silence. I, for one, was shocked. Imagine Damon of all people being the one to put everyone in their place - repeatedly. I came in the room to get facts, to mediate if need be and to decide which team I was planning to bat for; Damon's or Edward's. But, clearly, they were on the same side even if they were taking completely different approaches. Everyone in this room loved or felt connected to Bella in some form or another and the collective objective was to save her so that she and Edward could be together. It was really romantic. And tragic, because I didn't miss it when Damon said she'd have to feed on human blood to complete the transformation and I gathered that was something that no one really wanted to happen.
But if it didn't, Bella would die for real this time.
I wondered if it mattered whether one was entirely human or not. Elena was the only person aboard that I knew of who was perfectly human, but if that didn't matter, it meant that Sookie was in danger also. Harry, Ron….and me. But surely we would dock somewhere soon? There were always tourist attractions on these kinds of trips and the boat would have to dock at some point to refuel. What would we do about Bella then? If "we" even made it that far.
"Bella will open her eyes in nine minutes. She's not going to be herself so can we just get all the bickering out of the way now, please?"
"Alice is right," Carlisle sighed.
"Mr. Cullen? You're a doctor, aren't you?" I asked timidly. He nodded politely. "And you drew the venom from Edward so I take that to mean you have supplies here on board with you?"
"Of course."
"Couldn't you just take blood from a human on board to give to Bella to complete the change? Or even order some from one of the bars? That's what Eric did when I was with him earlier tonight."
"No." Damon spoke before anyone else could. "She actually has to make the…uh…attack."
"You mean she has to kill someone?" I gasped.
"Not kill them, no. Just hunt…and then let her new senses take over. The problem with that is that she probably won't be able to control herself and will end up killing anyone she does go after."
He seemed upset by the information even though I could tell he was trying to mask it. Elena was still standing beside him and upon seeing his expression, she laid a comforting hand across his back. I watched Stefan eyeing the two of them like he might rush to get in between then at any moment. Poor guy. So much for figuring Damon out - it was easier than I thought. Elena was his soft spot. And Stefan's.
The competition must be killing him.
"It is," Edward smiled sadly at me and I gave a small smile in return.
Everyone else stared questioningly at the two of us until Damon spoke again.
"So, you think your venom could prevent her from having to feed in order to become a vampire?" he asked Edward.
"There's a possibility. We'd have to inject her with it while she's still part human though and I don't know what other effects it might have. It could make her more volatile, blood-thirsty, put her in a coma of sorts - a whole host of things. It could have no effects at all or it could kill her." His voice became weak and cracked when he spoke about Bella possibly dying. "But there's no way of knowing unless we test it out first. And even if it does have some effect on you, there's no guarantee the changes will be the same for her because you're already a vampire - it won't be the same, I'm sure of it. I just needed some tiny fraction of hope, false or otherwise, that this could work and you were in the position to give it to me."
"Oh let me guess. You figured I owed it to you or something, huh?"
"At the time, absolutely. But now…only a little. That was just a feeble and failed attempt to apologize and maybe get you to sympathize. I'm sorry for attacking you. You deserved it, don't get me wrong - but I should have gone about things in a different manner. Elena, I apologize to you as well. I shouldn't have behaved so in front of you."
So formal.
"No blood, no foul, right? Sometimes I wish I could do that to Damon, too," she laughed.
Damon's eyes lit up momentarily at her words. "I always knew you wanted me," he teased.
"I didn't mean I wish I could tackle you. I was talking about the awesome part that came after that. You might remember…that time you got your ass handed to you by a vampire that glitters."
"Oooh, burn," Emmett said as he and Jasper chuckled.
"Six minutes," Alice chimed.
"If you give me my ring back, I'll agree to your experiment. I'm not planning on going straight out in the sun or anything, but I'll do your little test. And if Bella can't walk in the sunlight again, I'll find some way to get her a ring or something like mine so that she can. Deal?"
"How do we know you won't just disappear after you get your ring back?" Jasper asked rationally.
"Because I'm a dick, not a coward. And if I were a coward, my brother is much too chivalrous not to hold up my end of the deal should I decide I don't feel up to it. Right, Stefan?" Damon gave one of his infamous millisecond smiles to his brother before going on. "And besides that, it's not like I'm offering to go stake myself for the girl- I'm just offering to poke my hand out of a window and tell you if it fries or not- no big deal."
Everyone looked to Edward who was focused intently on Bella. He nodded and said, "he means it."
He reached in his pocket a bit defeatedly, pulled out Damon's ring and held it out to me.
Suddenly, I had an idea. I stared at Edward, silently asking for his opinion while everyone else in the room, with the exception of Jacob, paired off into their own private conversations. His eyes lit up with the most hope I'd seen in them that night.
"That is a good idea, Hermione. If we do it before Bella wakes up and it works, maybe I can give her the venom before then. The transition from human to vampire is a painful one and I'm afraid it will hurt even more if we try to do it while she's awake."
Alice struck a startled glance at us and I assumed she'd just seen what Edward and I were planning. "You have five minutes," was all she said.
I didn't waste any time asking for anymore opinions or even to explain what I was about to do to Damon. I knew I would probably feel horrible about it later, but there was little time to dwell on that now. I pulled my wand from the front of my bra - noticing for only a second how a few of the boys' heads turned in my direction, probably wondering why I was sticking my hand down the front of my dress - before silently invoking a spell that sent a hot, yellow stream of liquid sunlight directly at a ringless Damon.
Too much? Yeah, sorry...I know I'm totally innappropriate.
Click HERE to move on to Chapter 7!
No comments:
Post a Comment