Mystery Child

Chapter Ten

It was eerily quiet. The rain that had sung me to sleep had since stopped. Rays of sunlight shone through the window and directly into my eyes. A groan escaped me as I rolled away from the sun. My muscles protested any form of movement. Pulling the blankets up over my head I attempted to fall back into blissful unconsciousness. Sleep never came since I realized that I was not in the same position I was in when I fell asleep. For other people, this may not be a cause for concern, but I have been told many times that I "Sleep like the dead".

When I had fallen asleep, I was on top of the blankets horizontally across the bed. Now I was underneath the blankets vertical on the bed. I guess I shouldn't complain; this seems like a more comfortable way to sleep. The main issue is the idea of who moved me in my sleep. After everything that happened yesterday, I figured that everyone would leave me alone. Surely by now, everyone knows what I said to Edward, and every desire for me to be in the family was gone. I know that if someone hurt someone, I loved the way that I hurt him I would never forgive them, let alone show them any act of unnecessary kindness.

Giving up on the idea of me getting any more sleep I threw the blankets off myself and sat up. Looking around the room I tried to find any evidence of how much time has passed or who had entered the room. Other than the sun shining through the windows the room is the same as it was when I fell asleep. Walking over towards the window I peered out.

This place looked so much like home, yet it felt so alien. Like someone was trying very hard to make this place look like Forks, but they were missing one special piece. The trees were green, but not green enough. The rain poured just like back home, but there was something off with the way it fell. Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's that I am looking at it from the high window of a gorgeous house, and not my bedroom back home. No matter what the cause is it doesn't change the feeling. This place is an imposter of my home. A home that is no longer mine to go to.

I felt the tears rush to my eyes once again. Violently I wiped them away. I needed to get a hang of this whole "crying at everything" situation; it is getting old. Turning away from the window I sat back down onto the bed. This is a nice room; I wonder how long I can hide up here.

A few seconds later my stomach growled, answering the question. Oh, my human half; how you screw me over. As it always has my need for food, human or otherwise, shoves whatever plans I might have had aside. That doesn't mean I couldn't put off the inevitable, and that giant tub in the bathroom is calling my name. Ignoring my stomach as it growled once again, I made my way into the bathroom. Soon the tub was filled with steaming hot water and half a bottle of bubble bath that I found shoved under the sink.

My skin burned on contact as I lowered myself into the tub. I can't remember the last time I took a bath. Sharing one bathroom between three people didn't often allow time for a bath, and then once my mom got sick, they took too much of my time away from her. My skin went numb, and I soon adjusted to the water. The bath was lovely; it made me wish I has some candles to light around it. It did eventually get boring, however, and I have never been one to deal well with boredom. I should have gotten out of the bath but being bored had to be better than what was waiting for me outside of the bedroom door.

I found myself entertaining myself using the same method I would use when I was younger; seeing how long I could hold my breath. When I was little, I used to do this every bath I took. My record was about a minute. When I was sixteen and I found out what I truly was I thought about doing this experiment again, but I could never bring myself to do it. I didn't want another reminder of how different I truly was. Now, in this bathtub, being different was the least of my worries.

...

My stomach grumbled once again as I stepped out from my haven. The smell of food cooking wafted through the air and into my nostrils. That was the encouragement I needed to take the next step forward. Gingerly I made it down the hallways to too the top of the staircase. With one final deep breath, I continued down the stairs. The house seemed to be rather empty with no one in the living room. I didn't take the time to investigate, however, my stomach would not allow it. My nose led me to the kitchen.