6. Edward Cullen

I didn't know where I was going and why, for that matter. Why did his curious gaze disturb me so much? I should just go and ask him what his problem was.

No. He would think that I'm paranoid.

I looked around for dad and found him talking to someone who looked very similar to the Cullens. He was probably Dr. Cullen. Not wanting to disturb them, I went outside towards the parking area. I needed some time to figure it out.

Suddenly, my foot caught something and I tripped, letting out a cry. Falling at an awkward angle, I got a sprain in my left foot. It pained terribly. I tried to get up but couldn't.

"Are you all right?" asked a voice behind me. I looked back to see the owner of the voice. It was him.

"I'm fine." I squeaked. This was embarrassing.

To add to my embarrassment, he came to my front and sat down. Thankfully, the ground was dry and I wasn't covered in mud. There wasn't much light, but I could see his face. He looked concerned, worried and.......... gorgeous. I hadn't seen up close before, and now even I would admit he was breathtaking.

Before I could prepare myself, he placed his hand on my ankle. I jerked away my foot, despite the pain, not because of the coldness of his skin, which was strange on this summer night, but because of the current which rippled through my skin at his touch.

"I'm sorry." He said, without meeting my eyes. What was he sorry about?

He looked at me at last, scrutinized my face for three long seconds and then gently put down his hand on my ankle. The flow of current was there again, but now it was tolerable. His hand felt like it was made of ice. But the cold felt good in this humid heat.

Still keeping his eyes on my face, without any warning he twisted my foot. I let out a cry, more out of surprise than pain.

"Can you move your foot?" he asked.

I tried to, and surprisingly the pain had gone.

I nodded at him. "Thanks." I said.

"You're welcome." He replied, with the corners of his mouth twitching. It seemed like he was having a hard time fighting a smile.

"What's funny?" I asked him.

"Nothing." He said, his smile breaking free.

I didn't realize I was gaping open mouthed at him like an idiot until his smile disappeared.

"What?" he asked, obviously questioning my stability.

"Your eyes. They are different." I said, unable to find anything else to comment on.

This time even the traces of smile vanished from his face. It looked like a carefully set neutral mask.

"Different? How?" He said in an extremely controlled voice.

"On the plane.... they were black." I was losing coherency now. Great.

"I think you are making a mistake." He said with certainty, without any hesitation.

Maybe I was. I wasn't perfectly stable on the plane. Maybe this was all my imagination, the black eyes, the hatred in them. Maybe he was telling the truth.

I looked up in his eyes again. He stared back without any guilt. Then, suddenly, he looked away.

"I should go now. Would you be able to walk?" he said, getting up.

"I'll manage." I told him.

He turned and walked away at a faster pace than normal. I kept looking at him until he was out of sight.

Was I really wrong about this?

No, he had looked away in the end. He was just a good liar. But why did he have to lie about this? He could simply have told the truth, which would undoubtedly have been contact lenses.

I got up quietly, with the gears of my mind running. Deciding not to return to the party in this messed up condition, I resumed walking towards the parking lot.

Surprisingly, I found dad waiting there for me.

"Didn't like the party, Flora?" he asked.

"I liked it, dad. I'm just a little tired." I told him, unable to share the problems which even I didn't understand.

We drove home in silence and I replayed tonight's events in my head.

What the hell was wrong with me? Had the shock of leaving Hogwarts unhinged something in my brain? Why was I worrying so much about inconsequential muggle affairs? Okay, he lied to me. So what? Muggles lie all the time.

But he was not an ordinary muggle. There was something special about him, something wrong about him, with all of them. I just.... felt it.

I woke up at first light the next day. I didn't want to go to school I had had enough of it last week. But I knew dad wouldn't be happy about me skipping school, so I quickly got dressed, had my breakfast and went to school.

Unlike every other day, I was late. I parked in the only vacant spot. I didn't realize where I had parked until I got out. Edward was there, leaning against his car, next to mine. He gave me a smile.

I acknowledged by waving my hand and reluctantly, turned and started walking towards the class. Before I got far, I heard a scream. A shrill, high pitched scream. I was loud enough for everyone on the school grounds to hear, obviously coming from the forest beside the school.

Soon, the school security officials were informed and a search team went towards the forest. Student were told to go inside, but everyone was too excited to do so. People started forming groups and inventing their own theories to what had happened. In all that commotion, I noticed Edward, not very far from where I had seen him a minute ago. He looked tense and was looking intently at something far away. I followed his gaze to find Alice, who was also staring across the parking lot at him. It looked like they were communicating.

I decided to ignore that and walked towards the forest, hoping no on in-charge would see me. I had almost reached the edge, when Edward blocked me. "Where are you going?" he asked me.

"I work at the forest department." I told him, holding out my badge, trying to be funny.

He didn't find it amusing. "You shouldn't go out there, right now. It's not safe." His concern was genuine.

"Will you rat me out?" I asked him.

"I might." He answered, without any hesitation.

"No one likes a tattle-tale." I told him, trying to think of a plan to get into the forest.

"I don't care. You're not going out there today." I was a bit taken aback at his authorative voice, more so at his confidence."

"You know what happened out there, don't you?" I raised my eyebrow.

"No. How could I?" he said, in the same sincere, confident voice he had used when he lied about his eyes.

I remembered the meaningful stare he shared with Alice and looked around the grounds trying to find her. She wasn't there.

"Where's Alice?" I asked him.

"In her class, literature, I think."

"Is she?" I knew he was lying.

I started walking towards the school building to prove my point (or his lie). He did not follow me. I looked back to see him standing right there at the edge of the forest, trying to concentrate on something.

I was a little too caught up in staring him, that I forgot to look ahead. This time my foot him a step and I fell again. Hard. On my face.

"Hey, you okay?" said a voice, clearly frantic.

How was this possible? He was standing meters away from me just now.

I felt a shooting pain in my head as I raised it too tell him I was fine. My vision blurred for a second. When it was clear again, all I could see was an empty corridor. He wasn't anywhere in sight.

I tried to get up and the pain hit again. And I knew no more.