The Finding

The first chapter of a new story. What do you think? I know the beginning is a little cliche but I hope the rest of it isn't.

Chapter One

The Finding

Edward

 

 

I looked down at my now dead prey and stood. It wasn’t often that I went hunting on my own, but when I did it was usually to get away from the minds of my family. I loved them dearly, but hearing their most intimate thoughts all the time was a bit too much. I could block them out most of the time, but there were times when it became… difficult. That was usually when I chose to go hunting on my own. I turned and ran back towards my house, not at my normal speed so I could enjoy a few more moments of silence.

 

Emmet had offered to come with me and was rather disappointed when I told him that I needed to get away. He was looking forward to wrestling his next bear. I knew that everyone in my family realized reading minds wasn’t easy, but I don’t think they could ever truly understand the pains of listening to their thoughts constantly.

 

My mother, Esme, worried about all of her children, but her thoughts on if I would get a mate had increased in frequency lately. My father, Carlisle, thought of many things ranging from his work at the hospital to his days with the Volturi which was something that I could live without hearing again. Alice thought of her visions and of shopping. Rosalie thought of being human, married to Emmet with three children, her thoughts were the saddest to me. Emmet thought of his next bear attack, naturally. And Jasper most often thought of blood. It was hard for him since he was still adjusting to our vegetarian lifestyle. He had been with us for a while now, but unlike the rest of us he didn’t live the majority of his life without human blood.

 

I stopped suddenly. Human blood. The unmistakable scent was all around me, and if I had not just been hunting I would have lusted for it, instead my throat only slightly burned. This blood was different than most human blood; it was mixed with a few other smells and one of the smells I recognized to be the venom of one of my kind. Whoever was bleeding had been bitten.

 

But who could have done it? I didn’t smell another of our kind except for my family for miles. Did that mean that Jasper had lost control? Did Alice stop him, but not in time for the poor human who was now undoubtedly transforming? If he did, and Rose didn’t kill him, I would definitely be speaking with him.

 

He didn’t do it Edward. The thoughts of my sister Alice suddenly came into my mind. She wasn’t far from where I was, but she wasn’t moving any closer. It had been about a week since she had hunted. Get her to the house quickly or it won’t be pretty. Carlisle already has a room set up for her. She instructed and I quickly obeyed. I knew that arguing with Alice was a lost cause and this was not something I wished to argue.

 

It was easy enough to find the girl. I simply followed her cries of pain and the smell of blood. She was lying in the grass, withering in the pain of the transformation. Her green eyes were glazed over as she looked at the sky and her deep mahogany hair was sticking to the blood on her neck and around her red lips. Judging by the fact that her neck had yet to start healing she wasn’t bitten too long before. The blood around her lips smelled different than her own blood, it smelled… older, almost dead.

 

I held my breath as I gently picked the girl up. I may have just been hunting, but being so close to human blood was not easy. She barely registered that something cold had touched her before screaming in pain again. That was when I realized she was mentally screaming.

 

I ran quickly to my house, past Alice who was thinking that she should hunt. She decided against it because she had a feeling we would need her. Instead she decided not to breathe around the girl.

 

“Quickly Edward,” My father said, holding the door open for me. “Take her to the basement.” He said and I ran the girl to the basement, Esme was holding the door open for me. I’m sorry Edward. She thought as I ran past her. It had been longer since she had been hunting and was quickly gone with Jasper and Emmet for a quick hunt.

 

I sat the girl on the soft bed and looked up as Alice entered the room. “Do you know what happened to her?” I asked as I searched her mind for any clues about the transforming human.

Alice smiled sadly as she looked at the girl. No. She thought just as sad. “I only saw her after you smelled her blood. She seemed to come out of nowhere.” She can’t be more than nineteen. She thought. I wish that I knew what happened to her.

 

I looked at her as well, but for a different reason. The girl’s thoughts had gone silent, her eyes were still glazed in pain, but she was focusing on me. He saved me. She said in her mind. “Do you know what happened to you?” I asked urgently. I needed to know where this girl had come from and who had bitten her.

 

A flash of a boy’s face came into her mind and she opened her mouth to say something but it only came out as a cry of pain.

 

Carlisle came down the stairs then, holding a bowl and a rag to clean the blood off of her. “It is okay.” He told the girl as he stood next to her. “I know that the pain is difficult, but I need you to try and think of something happy. Do your best not to think of the pain.” Gently he reached out and brushed her hair from her face. “You will be fine. We will help you when the pain goes away.” He reassured her.

 

Again a boy’s face flashed into her mind along with the name Derik. “Who is Derik?” I asked softly as Carlisle began to wipe the blood from her face. I have never smelled blood like this before. He thought to himself.

 

He can… hear me? The girl reached her hand out towards me. Take it. She thought, and I hesitantly did as she asked. The cold… calms… the flame. Such pain.

 

“Do you know what happened to you?” I repeated the question and Carlisle gave me a look. Not now Edward. We will figure it out when she has changed. He thought sternly.

 

She screamed in pain again, this time not in her mind. Derik! She thought loudly. I don’t know… He attacked me… I can’t… don’t…there was blood… so much blood…Her thoughts were becoming erratic and the screams more frequent as the venom spread through her body. It was easy to tell that something about the girl’s transformation wasn’t right. The venom should not have been spreading as fast as it was.

 

Alice’s thoughts were suddenly in my mind as she appeared across the room. She was having a vision of the girl, only it was hard for her to focus on the girl. “Her transformation is accelerated.” Alice said as she looked at the girl. Something isn’t normal about this girl. She thought looking at me. I tried to see what she might be thinking about, but her thoughts were as cloudy as the visions she was seeing.

 

I looked back at the girl as her thoughts began to form words again. Derik… it was dark…there was blood…so much blood…he attacked…and pain … She started screaming again. It wouldn’t be long before the venom reached her heart.

 

“It’s okay; don’t think about what happened to you. Just think about happy things.” I told her softly. As bad as I wanted to know what happened to this girl and where she had come from I wouldn’t force her into anymore pain.

 

“We need to keep her quiet.” Alice told Carlisle suddenly as she had a vision of a hunter finding our house and hearing the girl’s screams. He would call the police and we would have to come up with an excuse. It wasn’t something that we had the time for.

 

Carlisle nodded. Edward do you think you can keep her quiet? He asked. I simply nodded at him as he went to get Jasper from his hunt now that all of the blood had been cleaned up. He could help us greatly with his ability to influence emotions. It wouldn’t ease the girl’s pain any, but it may make it easier for her to focus on something other than the pain.

 

I gently brushed the girl’s cheek, “Hey,” I started softly and the girl’s screams started to become quieter. Her thoughts were still of screams, but no one except for me could hear them. “I know that it is hard, but I need you to try and not think about the pain. Think of your most happy memory. Focus on that and not on the pain.”

 

Alice’s vision of the hunter changed almost instantly. “It’s working Edward.” Alice said with a soft smile. I wonder if she will be his… Alice’s thought stopped then, even though I knew where they were going. I glared at her.

 

I don’t… I looked back at the girl. I can’t… I only remember… blood… pain… such pain...Derik… darkness… blood… pain… and… darkness… and then you… I don’t… I can’t… remember… What is… who is Derik?… the pain! … Fire … I’m on… fire… the pain… I have to be… I’m burning… I’m going to…die… And the girl’s thoughts went silent and she started convulsing.

 

“Carlisle something’s wrong!” I nearly screamed and instantly my father was with the girl. Convulsing was normal in the transformation, but it was happening too quickly. Just as the rest of her transformation. Something was not right about this girl.

 

Carlisle quickly examined her, shining a pen light in her eyes and listening to her heartbeat. That was something all of us could hear. It was fast and only getting faster. Soon it would stop and the transformation would be over.

 

“She is going into shock. The venom must have reached her heart.” Carlisle said simply. “All we can do is wait for the transformation to stop.” His thoughts had been confused since I brought the girl in because he knew better than anyone in the house that the transformation never happened this quickly.

 

The girl then began to scream so loud that I was sure the Denali’s could hear her. I looked around the room, but no one else seemed to hear her, in fact their thoughts were worried because she wasn’t screaming. I looked back at her to see she had her eyes and mouth closed tightly. She was screaming in her mind and it was defining, then just like that she was silent and the only sound in the room was her heart beat.

 

Her transformation was strange. When I found her she appeared to have been bitten not long before, but the transformation took nearly two hours. It took three days at best for the transformation. So why was she transforming in two hours?

Reviews

[Ana Drake]

I liked this a lot, and I'm really interested in seeing what's coming next. So don't give up :) I really loved the fact you started before Edward and Bella, so theres no definite way to see where this is going. I've written bit of twilight fan fiction myself, so if you get the chance check it out and tell me what you think.

[Miss CB]

This was really interesting to read. It kept me on the edge of my seat while reading.
Well done!