The First Drop Of Rain

Chapter Thirty Six

Anger was definitely the first thing I felt, anger that he even bothered to show himself. Surely he knew what was waiting for him.

"What are you doing here Edward?" Saying his name was like dumping ice water over my head, it sent my whole system into shock.

"I can't just let you throw your life recklessly into the wind anymore." He said the words like they were so completely rational, like it made sense for him to be following me like a predator in the night.

"Throwing my- WHAT!?" I tried to smother my rage, but the fine line between love  and hate kept it burning bright. "Edward, would you for once pull your head out of your ass."

"Arabella please, just listen to me?" Edward pleaded, but my heart was clad in iron to him now.

"I gave you your chance, you got one chance, and you blew it. You took my boundary and played hokey pokey with it, I'm not going to let you continue to hurt me." I felt smaller now, smaller than Angela ever made me feel.

"At least let me walk you home, I know you were freaking out. It's okay that you still hate me, honestly that's easier than you missing me." He stepped forward again, attempting to close the distance between us. For the second time since meeting Edward, I realized I was afraid. I had been scared into shock in the hospital, so scared I unlocked my powers. Now I just wanted him to leave, I wanted to finish my walk home in peace and think about the date I had just been on.

"Just leave me alone, will you!?" I started to storm away, hoping he wouldn't follow, but he caught my wrist in that iron icy grip of his. "Edward!" Another wave of ice water seemed to rush down my spine and chill me to the core.

"God Arabella! Don't you ever just let people help you?" He snarled the words, clearly holding on to a lot of anger with me.

"Is that what you call helping? Because I think I call it unlawful detainment of a minor." I snap back, trying to pull my wrist from his hand with no success.

"For once, just accept help from someone, let someone look out for you." He pulled me closer, and I knew if he got his arm around me he would take off with me at his whiplash speed.

"Last time I let you 'look out for me' my father thought he was going to have to bury another family member because of that bridge!" I thrashed against him, anger filling my whole body as I stared up into his black eyes. Black... he isn't eating. Not consistently like he used to. Fear stabbed my heart once more, knowing that even in this state of being he was still so much more powerful than me. "Just let me go home." I tried to keep my voice steady, but I had no idea what Edward might try to do, and my disadvantage in strength and size finally started to sink in.

"Just let me walk you, I won't even force you to be in the car with me, just let me walk you." His plea felt so confusing to me, why would he reveal himself just to walk me, when he could so easily have stalked from the trees? His grip on my wrist had not lightened, but now my hand felt warm and tingly, like tv static ran through my veins. I caved.

"Just let go of me and then you can walk me I guess, my hand is falling asleep though, and I do plan on keeping it." I gritted my teeth, angry that I ever had to concede in the first place. Edward's face seemed to brighten a small amount, and he dropped my wrist.

As we began walking in the general direction of my house, the wind shifted and wafted a breeze rich in sent towards me. The part of me that longed for Edward still hoped that I would catch the smell of honeysuckle, that it would be caught in that breeze that now stirred my hair. I was mildly heartbroken to find it was not, and I was left with only the smell of wet earth, trees, the thick smell of the ozone as it geared up for another storm, and an unmistakable floral scent. The floral scent was one I didn't recognize by name but I had smelled before. The image of the flower popped into my head, I had seen it growing in large expanses. Tall woody stems with fern like leaves, and bright yellow flowers that sat wide and flat at the top. The name still escapes me, not having that particular one memorized from the times my mother and I crowded over her book "the language of the flowers."

Other thoughts began to circle my mind, thoughts that wondered what Edward could possibly have meant by me supposedly endangering my life. I watched him now through the corner of my eye as he matched my pace, his tall lean figure pale in the almost watery moonlight. He looked more like a vampire to me now than he ever did when we had been so close. The distance gave way to his otherworldly features, the moonlight exacerbating the circles beneath his eyes, the shadows darkening his already black irises. The man I knew had given way to the monster I feared, the one with enough strength to shatter me, with enough speed that I could never run. This man left me with more fear than my own death, I feared for my loved ones, for everyone who would be tied up in the world that hid beneath our own. I feared for Gaia, who had begun her unwitting journey into the world of monsters, and the hysteria that may follow.

"I'm sorry." Edward's voice broke my musings, and when I glanced over, I realized he had been staring at me for a long moment.

"How much did you hear?" I asked regretfully, moving my attention back to the road in front of us.

"None. Your mind was silent... that's how I know how much I've hurt you." His voice sounded remorseful, the pain filling in every note. The knowledge that he wasn't hearing my thoughts at the moment shocked me, and what shocked me more was realizing my head wasn't its constant buzz.

"Well I'm glad I could finally bring you some peace." The resentful bite in my voice was unmistakable, I could almost taste the words as they spilled out like a green poison. Just then, Edward spun, moving faster than my eyes could track. I went from freely walking along the road to trapped in his arms. It took me a moment to get my bearings straight, and I found that my back was pressed against a tree and the space between Edward and I was paper thin. I could feel his cold skin leaching the warmth from my body. "Edward what are you-"

"Shhh." He pressed a finger to my lips to hush me, not even a minute later a truck drove by quietly with its windows down and radio playing lightly. I recognized the vehicle immediately, it was Paul. He had to be leaving Gaia's house now. I wanted to fight against Edward's grip, run to the road, yelling for Paul. I knew he would hear me, I learned early on how powerful the pack was even when not in wolf form. Edward must have heard my thoughts however, because his grip tightened on me, locking me in place and refusing to relinquish me.

Anger flared in me once more, and I swelled my lungs to scream, but it died behind my lips because just as it began to release, Edward had his entire hand clamped over my mouth. I was rendered entirely silent. A growl escaped Edward as he gazed down at my face. Then, without speaking, Edward swooped me up in his arms and the world around us blurred and rushed by. "Edward! Let me down!" I thrashed against his immovable frame, hoping to throw myself from his arms. At this point I didn't care that he was moving faster than a vehicle, I would splat against a tree to be free of him. Instead of releasing me, his grip tightened, his arm snaking around my waist. In the annoying speed of vampires, I was now slung over Edward's shoulder. Even though I knew it would barely affect him, I beat against his back and kicked my legs violently. The bruises would be a deep purple tomorrow, but my pride would be intact, and that's all I needed to rage that hard.

When he finally set me down and the world stopped buzzing around me, I was in my room. Edward stood just past my window seat, and I was sure his face would be a deep scarlet if it had access to blood flow. "I was doing that for your own good Arabella."

Even though Ara has never been my official nickname, not hearing it from him hurt worse than I had been prepared for. My whole body thrummed to the beat of my heart as I stared at him, now an apparent stranger to my life. "I think it was more for your own good but whatever." I grumbled, knowing he could hear me at whatever volume I chose.

"I'm sorry." His voice was the only thing left behind, still stringing through the air to pierce my heart, while he disappeared through my window for the first time in five months.

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As im sure youve noticed, there was a name change and a cover change that happened randomly on the 24th. thats because i spent my whole birthday (the 19th) brainstorming new titles because i hated the one I had. Well guess what- this one won because I was writing out another chapter and a taylor swift song was playing and it just all fell into place. (Yes i listen to taylor swift. usually its Twenty One Piolets when im writing though... if you were ever curious.) ANYWAY hope you like it, because I do, and ive just been writing four 4 hours when i only meant to write for twenty minutes. The next chapter is a big one. My word count jumped up 3 thousand by the time I finsihed all the things I was doing (I wrote more than one chapter.)