The Immortal Children

No Net Ensnares Me

Everything about the situation felt wrong. My instincts were screaming at me to run, but I knew that I couldn't. Willing myself to stay still, I flinched as I heard to loud snipping sound. It was so, so close to my neck. The only thing that was calming me was my sister's presence. Ashlynn was standing directly in front of me, watching. If the vampire behind me made any sudden or threatening movements, Ash would counter them.

I grimaced as another piece of hair fell away. While getting a haircut had once been a normal thing for me, it felt strange as a vampire. I was so... exposed. My neck, my throat, my back, all just left open for an attack. Not that scissors could do any real damage to me, but the one wielding them definitely could. 

I cringed away as Alice suddenly grabbed my chin between her fingers. "Oh, stop being so jumpy!" I tried to stay still and not shift with discomfort as she stared at my face. I knew that she was wondering if she should cut bangs. I had been very clear that I didn't want them, though, so I hoped she wouldn't.

"You're sure that vampire hair never grows back?" The pile of my hair on the floor was stressing me out. While I knew that less than an inch had been cut off, it seemed like much more than that. And my hair had already been pretty short to begin with. I found myself envious of Ashlynn, who's hair seemed to grow an inch per day back when we were human. I would have started growing it out sooner if I'd known I would become a vampire. 

I would have done  a lot of things differently if I knew how limited my time as a human would be. 

Alice laughed, the sound graceful as she brought the scissors back to my hair. "Of course I'm sure, silly. That's why my hair is so short". Behind the laughter, I could hear the sadness in her voice. Ash shot me a look, and I knew that it meant I shouldn't ask. I nodded my head slightly at her, to let her know that I understood. Despite my nod being just the slightest of movements, Alice huffed and used both of her hands to hold my head in place. I rolled my eyes at the overreaction.

"Are we done yet," I whined. I knew I sounded childish, but I couldn't help it. Getting my hair cut had always been boring, and it seemed to be even worse now that I was a vampire. I felt exposed, and it was as if I could hear a clock in my head, keeping track of every millisecond that passed.

It seemed like Alice was going slow on purpose. After all, with how quickly vampires could move, shouldn't it take less than a minute to trim off an inch? I had been fine with my hair, anyway. But Alice had insisted that it needed to be styled, since I had always just had Mom cut it for me when I was a human.It didn't look all that tidy, but it had worked for me. It wasn't until Ash pointed out to me that I didn't want my hair getting in the way if there was a fight that I agreed to this.

I was starting to regret my decision. I really was putting effort into trying to at least get along with the Cullens, and I knew that if I said no, my siblings would see it as me rejecting a bonding moment. But couldn't we bond by hunting, or watching movies, or even just talking? 

Finally, Alice dropped the scissors onto a table and theatrically announced that she was done. She grabbed my arm and guided me over to a huge mirror that was just a few feet away. My eyes widened as I stared at my reflection. I looked... pretty. But it didn't feel like me. I wanted to grab for the scissors and make a few uneven cuts, bringing back some of the angles. The look on Alice's face stopped me, though. While I had decided to open up to the Cullens, I hadn't expected to really care about their feeling so quickly.

"Thanks, Alice. It's great." She beamed as Ashlynn grabbed my hand and tugged me out of the room. I could see the slight smirk on my sister's face, telling me that she also noticed that my haircut seemed just a little too preppy for my taste. No doubt she was aware that i would leave it as it was for a few weeks just to humor Alice, and then I would inevitably pick up the scissors and add the rough edges back on myself.