XX. A Vampire.

I had managed to convince my mom to let me stay home from school. I feigned a sickness but I knew she didn't believe me, still, she allowed me to stay home, seeing that even if I wasn't sick, something was wrong. I tried it again the next day but she wouldn't budge.

My sanity was really slipping and I was a mess. I didn't think Edward was a vampire, but I was still scared to face him. He wasn't normal, that I knew without a doubt. The more I thought of what I read, the more I thought of how it nearly perfectly described Edward and his mysterious behavior. But it was impossible. Vampires didn't exist.

I arrived late to school and the parking lot was practically empty, the bell had already rang. When I climbed out of my truck, my gaze landed on Edward Cullen. My eyebrows furrowed as I stared at him. He was standing by his Volvo, looking like a sulking child.

He silently stared at me, his hands shoved into his coat pockets. When he began approaching me, my body tensed up and my heart pounded hard inside my chest. I took a deep breath, clenching my fists together.

"I assume we should talk." He muttered as he came to a stop in front of me. He couldn't meet my eyes, his gaze cast down onto his feet.

My eyebrows furrowed and I stumbled back a little, bumping into the bed of my truck. "Talk about what?" I asked as I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms over my chest.

Edward's nose scrunched up as his eyebrows furrowed. "You know what." He whispered as he hesitantly looked up at me with those golden eyes, but all I could see was those dark eyes from the first day.

"How do you know what?" I asked him softly as my head tilted to the side and I raised my eyebrows again. Again, Edward Cullen knew more than he was supposed to.

He swallowed and then turned his face away from me. "You know." He muttered in an eerie tone of voice.

My lips parted as I stared at him. Was he confirming everything I had read two days ago? Everything that was going on in my head? How did he even know the things I had been thinking, the book and the website I had found? "It doesn't make sense." I voiced my thoughts as I shook my head.

"No, it doesn't." He agreed with me as he shook his head, a deep sigh slipping from his lips.

I turned around to face my truck, leaning with my arms against the bed. I lowered my head and closed my eyes, letting out a shaky breath before speaking up. "You're impossibly fast. And strong. Your skin is pale-white, ice-cold. Your eyes change color. And sometimes you speak like... you're from a different time. You never eat food, or drink, or come out in the sunlight." I listed all the strange things from him and he listened intently. "And you said no to the beach trip only after you heard where it was. Because of the treaty." I assumed as I glanced at him over my shoulder and his eyes were cast down on his feet again. "How old are you?" I asked softly.

Edward was silent for a second, his gaze darting around on the ground. "Eighteen." He replied softly. My eyebrows furrowed. Why was he in my grade if he was a year older? Was he just a year older?

I pushed my tongue around the inside of my cheek. My heart felt uncomfortable and heavy in my chest, like it was weighing down into the pit of my stomach. "And how long have you been eighteen?" I asked him hesitantly.

"A while." He replied vaguely as his eyes returned to me. I stared at him over my shoulder, struggling to break eye contact with him. "Say it, Ana. I know you know, so say it," he demanded in a low voice.

I sniffed as I turned my face away from him. "No." I refused as I shook my head, inhaling shakingly. My gaze darted around, but never once wandered towards Edward again. I felt so many emotions in that moment. But strangely enough, fear towards him was not one of them. I was supposed to be scared of him, whether he was just crazy or an actual vampire...I was supposed to be scared of him. Why wasn't I?

"Why not?" Edward asked in frustration as he stared at me. I could feel his eyes on the back of my head, staring at me with coldness.

"Because it's insane." I snapped as I spun around to face him, furiously shaking my head. "Impossible," I demanded as I waved my hand aimlessly in the air.

"As impossible as stopping a van with my bare hand?" he questioned as he raised his eyebrows and I inhaled sharply. He admitted it. "As impossible as stopping you from getting assaulted when I wasn't even following you? Maybe as impossible as being by your side in a split second when I was all the way across the parking lot." He spoke harshly as he stared down at me.

I stared up at him, my eyes slightly widened. He admitted to all of it. To all the things he called me crazy for questioning. Now, I felt less hell-bent on understanding all the strange things he did. I didn't want to understand any of it. "No...it...it can't be true." I stuttered out as I furiously shook my head again, staring at Edward with furrowed eyebrows, a frown tugging at my lips.

"Feel my skin, Ana." He demanded as he held out his hand towards me. I silently stared down at his hand for a second. My trembling hand hesitantly reached out and pressed against his. His skin was as cold as it was that night in the car. As cold as the skin of someone who was dead, I'd presume. You couldn't be this temperature and still be alive. But there he stood in front of me. "Do you think it's possible for anyone with a pulse to be this cold?" He asked softly.

"No," I whispered as I slowly shook my head, staring down at our hands with furrowed eyebrows.

His other hand lifted and gently took hold of mine. I let out the softest gasp at the cold feeling on my skin. He moved my hand, pressing two of my fingers against his wrist. "Feel my pulse," he whispered as he pressed my fingers a little harder against his wrist.

I gasped softly when I felt nothing. I moved my finger around his wrist, pressing against the cold and hard skin. "You don't-" I whispered as I slowly shook my head.

"I don't have one." He finished my sentence for me as he nodded his head.

I ripped my hand away from him and turned around, my back facing him. "I'm losing my mind," I whispered as I shook my head, letting out another shaky breath.

"You're not." Edward denied as he shook his head. "So say it." He demanded as he hesitantly took a step closer to me, staring me down.

I stared down at the ground as my eyes pooled with tears. "You're...a vampire," I whispered as I closed my eyes. I waited for him to laugh at me, to call me crazy. I would have preferred if he did that instead of agreeing with me.

"Are you afraid?" He asked softly and I could feel him come stand directly behind me. He didn't deny it. There was no denying it anymore. No denying the the strange and unexplainable truth that was right in front of me.

I thought of his question. I felt scared, I felt confused, and insane. But I wasn't afraid of Edward. I wasn't specifically scared of him. "I should be," I admitted softly as I lowered my head, confused with myself for not being scared of him.

"Are you?" He asked softly as he continued to stare down at me.

I let out a shaking breath. "No," I whispered as I slowly shook my head, running a hand over my face.

My answer upset Edward. He wanted me to be scared of him, he wanted an excuse to stay away from me, even if it was fueled with fear. But we both knew, now that I knew the truth, there was no running away from this. "Then ask me the most basic question: what do we eat?" He demanded.

My blood ran cold and I did feel a spark of fear. Not fear for him, but his kind. I slowly turned to face him, swallowing the lump that formed in the back of my throat. I remembered the night at the station and his reaction to Waylon's murder. "It wasn't animals who killed those people," I concluded softly.

Edward met my eyes, slowly shaking his head. "No." He replied, confirming my conclusion.

"It wasn't you either," I argued softly as I shook my head. "You were upset when you heard." I insisted as

"It was still my kind." He argued loudly as he stared down at me. The parking lot was empty as school had started a while back. No one was around to hear our argument. "You should be afraid, Anastasia." He demanded and my nose scrunched up at the use of my full name. "I could hurt you, and no one can stop me." He whispered as his eyebrows furrowed. Even saying the words made him uncomfortable.

"If you wanted to hurt me, you would have." I defended him. Why? I didn't know. I knew in a way it was true, Edward had the opportunity to hurt me if he really wanted to. We've been completely alone on two occasions. "That night in your car, or that day at my house, when we were alone, you could have." I voiced my thoughts.

Edward looked at me with anger, my words upsetting him. "Why are you defending me?" He asked in a harsh tone of voice as he shook his head at me with a hint of disappointment.

"I don't know," I admitted softly as I slowly shook my head, a soft sigh slipping from my lips. He huffed before spinning around and storming off. "Edward!?" I called out as he rushed to his Volvo, getting in a driving off.

I stood there silently for a second, my mind trying to wrap around everything that had just been spoken. Before I knew it, my eyes were pooling with tears again and I was climbing into my truck. I called my mom to let her know I was heading home but refused to elaborate on why.

Once I was home, I tucked myself away in my room. I sat on a chair in the corner of my room, knees pulled up against my chest. I was staring at the wall with a blank look. My mind was a haze. I pushed out everything I had found out the past few days.

When my mom returned home, she tried to talk to me about what was going on. Shamefully I told her I was just having blues about missing Phoenix. A small lie that did her no harm and made her leave me be for the rest of the night.

The sun was just starting to set outside, but the dark clouds looming over Forks made it get darker a little earlier. I was still sitting on the chair, my but numb by now, but I couldn't bring myself to move.

A knock at my window snapped me out of my hazy trance. My heart dropped at the sound. I was on the second floor, my window facing the woods at the back of our house. There wasn't any easy way for a normal human to get up to my window.

I slowly got up to my feet, peering at the window. My eyebrows furrowed and my eyes widened at the sight of Edward's head peaking out behind my window. I rushed over, pushing the window open and he effortlessly climbed in. I glanced out of the window, trying to see how the hell he managed to get up here. There was no tree nearby or a ledge for him to stand on. Nothing.

"Edward, what are you doing here?" I asked as I turned to face him, my eyebrows furrowing even more as I stared at him in confusion. Nothing felt different between us. The truth didn't change much. I was still confused, those golden eyes still plagued my mind, and even after all...I still felt comfortable and safe in his presence.

"I need to show you." he insisted as he stared at me with somewhat determination in his eyes.

My eyebrows managed to furrow even more and my lips parted. "Show me what?" I asked in confusion as I shook my head.

"Everything." He replied simply. He held his hand out towards me. I silently stared at it for a second before hesitantly taking it. He grabbed me and turned around. I gasped as he pulled me onto his back, holding tightly onto my thighs. Instinctively I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

My eyes widened as he walked over to the window and started climbing out. "Oh my God!" I gasped as he jumped down onto the ground. I wrapped my legs and arms tighter around him, my heart pounding so hard, that I thought he'd be able to feel it against his back.

Then he began running towards the woods. The wind smacked me so hard that I lost my breath for a second. His movement was so fast, that my eyes could barely register the threes whirling past us. My head grew dizzy and a nauseating feeling filled the pit of my stomach.

I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my head into the crook of his neck. It was barely a few seconds later when we came to a stop. "Afraid now?" He asked as he tilted his head back to get a glance at me.

I breathed heavily, hesitantly lifting my head from the crook of his neck. "Put me down," I whispered with a trembling voice. Carefully Edward's grip slipped from my thighs, allowing my wobbly legs to lower as I placed my feet on the ground.

I took a deep breath, swallowing down the bile that rose in my throat. I looked back in the direction we came from, eyebrows furrowing when I could barely see my house through the trees. I swallowed again before turning to face Edward.

"I'm a killer, Anastasia." He whispered as he stared at me.

I stared back at him, my face blank. I took another deep breath. "I don't believe you," I whispered as I slowly shook my head. I couldn't believe a creature as beautiful as Edward could kill. I couldn't bring myself to believe my Edward, was a killer.

"Because you believe the lie. The camouflage." He replied softly as he took a step closer to me. "I'm the world's most dangerous predator. Everything about me invites you in - my voice, my face, even my smell." He added. His hand reached out by his side, reaching for my hand, but he pulled away quickly, flexing his hand by his side. "As if I need any of that...As if you could outrun me. As if you could fight me off. I'm designed to kill." He whispered and with a blink of my eye, he was a few feet away from me. He reached down grabbed onto a root of a tree and pulled it out of the ground. My eyes widened as he threw the uprooted tree a good few yards away. He did it effortlessly and without struggle.

I stared out in the direction he threw the tree, my lips parted in shock. When I turned to face him, he was in front of me within a split second. I stared up at him, my eyebrows furrowing. "Have you..." I whispered softly, not able to bring myself to ask the question.

"I've killed before." He admitted softly and my heart dropped for a second as I stared up at him. "It was a long time ago, and they were vile men, but I did." He explained. I thought about it for a second. Vile men. Sickly I tried to defend what he had done. "Me, and my family, we're different from others of our kind. We're not nomadic, we have a permanent home. We only hunt animals. We've learned to control our thirst..." He explained.

I silently stared at him for a second, hesitantly reaching out, and against my better judgment I allowed my fingers to brush over his cold ones. "Then you're not dangerous to me..." I whispered as I diverted my gaze, looking down at our hands for a brief second. He didn't pull away when I wrapped my fingers against his.

Edward silently stared at me. Something in his eyes told me that he agreed with my words. He sighed before reaching out with his free hand, tugging a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Your blood... your scent, it's like an addiction to me." He whispered as his hand dropped to his side.

My eyebrows furrowed at his words. "If you want me to stay away from you, I will," I whispered as I pulled my hand free from his.

Edward grabbed my hand before I could completely pull away. His cold touch was gentle and his hand was wrapped loosely around mine, giving me the chance to pull away completely if I wanted. "You won't." He whispered as he shook his head. "There's something...there's something that keeps us bound." He explained as his eyebrows furrowed.

My eyebrows furrowed once again and my head tilted to the side. "What?" I asked with confusion and curiosity.

"I don't know." He admitted as he slowly shook his head before an amused scoff slipped from his lips. "My sister says we're soulmates." He informed me as he rolled his eyes like he found the thought silly.

"Soulmates?" I repeated as I raised my eyebrows.

He nodded his head as he pursed his lips. "We're destined to be together," he spoke dramatically as he rolled his eyes again. "And nothing, not even our differences, can break the bond we have." He added softly. This time, it looked like he believed the words he spoke, a little more. "That's why you're not scared and why I won't hurt you." He explained.

My gaze diverted down to the ground and I remained silent. At the same time, it made sense and felt completely insane. It was crazy to think about. Vampires and soulmates. Absolutely insane. But it answered many of my questions. I could believe the vampire part, after all I had witnessed.

And thinking about it, soulmates made sense as well. It was the only reason I could give for how I felt. I couldn't stay away from Edward, no matter how terrifying what he was, was. I couldn't feel scared of him. I felt safe and comfortable around him. There was no normal explanation for these feelings.

I think I was past normal now. Or anything explainable.

Edward carefully reached out, placing his cold hand against my cheek. "I can't read your mind, Ana. Tell me what you're thinking." He pleaded softly. And then it hit me. He really could read thoughts. He wasn't lying the other night. He just couldn't read mine.

"All of this...is so insane." I whispered as I closed my eyes, leaning into his touch."But I can't...I can't shake the feeling of wanting to be with you." I admitted as I opened my eyes. "To be close to you," I added softly.

"Neither can I." He admitted as he leaned closer, resting his forehead against mine as he closed his eyes.

Even with my whole world turned upside down, I felt at ease with him.

----

Yes, she is delulu but Alice's theory is not wrong...the book is called Soulmate for a reason.

Also, I know Edward is actually seventeen, but I changed that for the sake of the book and Ana, you'll see why later on.