sparks fly~ paul lahote

ⅴ. billy black

The girl folded her hands in her lap as Billy Black studied her confident stature. She kept eye contact and remained calm but she was polite. He had never in his lifetime been approached by a vampire in this way. He hadn't ever felt respected by a vampire, except for maybe Carlisle, who was indeed very kind.

Diana had wanted to get on the wolves' good side. Playing good girl was how she could do that, but she had hoped that her confidence peeked through just enough to let Billy know that she didn't have to ask permission, it was her decency, her respect, bringing her here. She had asked the favor she needed to ask, now she just needed to wait.

"So, you want the freedom to roam Quileute land?"

"That is what I'm asking, yes. Just for the time being of course. I'm not staying here for long and I wouldn't dream of hunting over here, ever."

The man pondered the vampire before him. She wasn't a Cullen, therefore the treaty didn't technically apply to her, yet, here she was asking for permission to roam his land. He had never in his life encountered a nomad quite like her. And that was exactly the impression Diana had wanted the old man to perceive.

The only question now was, could he trust her? A vampire? Her eyes were a honey color, not red. That was a good sign, but that was also one of the only signs he could outwardly see. Still, respectful or not, she was a vampire.

"I cannot find a reason to say no," he admitted. "However, 'yes' is not an answer I'd normally give a vampire, either. Even one as... tame as you seem."

"I completely understand, sir," Diana nodded, but she wasn't about to give up, "Is there anything I can do to change your mind? Anything I can do to prove myself?"

Billy paused, taken aback slightly. When had any vampire, kind or not, wanted to prove themselves to a wolf shifter? The old man paused, his instincts battling with themselves. She was a vampire. But, she was not like any vampire he had ever met before. There was a long moment of silence. Then, Billy came to a decision.

"You may not roam unaccompanied, ever."

At his words, Diana smiled slightly. She nodded, and Billy went on, "You must visit sometime soon, to meet the pack, so they know who you are." Diana nodded again, her smile didn't falter, even though the thought of being alone with a bunch of wolves terrified her.

"You will have to prove yourself over time, but, for now, there will be a shifter watching over you to make sure nothing... goes wrong."

Diana bit her lip, she hated that idea. But, sometimes sacrifices had to be made. She let out a cautious breath, "After I meet them..."

Billy glared ready to insist she was watched before then, but his glare softened and his mind changed when he saw how vulnerable Diana looked. It was almost like she was... scared?

"Please?" she asked, softly.

Billy sighed, "You will need to explain some things, your past, and everything to do with what we're dealing with here," Billy said curtly, "You have two weeks. I'll see you on the 15th."

There wasn't anything else to say, so Diana simply nodded. Diana bid the shifter farewell and left the house. She joined Bella and Jacob at the tailgate, to find that they had already unloaded one of the motorcycles, "You took your time, I hope you weren't snooping or anything." Jacob joked.

Diana chuckled, "Your father's very friendly... and talkative." she lied. She hated lying, but there wasn't really another way.

Jacob laughs and starts pulling the last bike from the truck. Bella was smiling, and Diana was enjoying the relaxation her friend's happiness brought. The breeze fluttered, and the sun shone on her back, then she smelt it...

Just a whiff of cedar, apples... and wet dog. Diana stiffened, her chest tightening. The blood... she could feel his blood thrumming in his veins, hot and sweet. The girl began choking on her breath, settling to hold it deep in her chest. Not willing to breathe anymore, in case she lost it.

She turned her head slightly, ears straining to hear them. She couldn't pick up a heartbeat, but she made out several growls. She turned further, this time her body followed her head, and she faced the edge of the woods.

Three men stood watching them. They all had cropped hair, sleeveless shirts, and cut-offs. Diana found it unsettling when they didn't break their stare, even when she had seen them. That had to mean they knew, they meant for her to see their glares.

Diana immediately recognized the one in the middle as the Alpha, the boy to his right was most likely a higher rank but the one to his left stirred something within her. The ferocity in his stance, the hate, and... the confusion?

She stared at them with utter distaste, "God damn it," she muttered. She hadn't intended the shifters to hear the uncertainty in her voice, but they did. The Alpha's glare faded, just slightly. Diana swallowed, still refraining from breathing. She may hate their kind, but she was not here for conflict.

Unfortunately, Bella distracted her from her observations, "Diana? Are you coming?"

Diana turned and nodded, "Yeah, just a sec."

When Diana turned back to the woods, the Alpha and Beta had disappeared, leaving the third still staring. She felt the pull, she hated it, but she did. She knew he did too. That had to be why he was glaring still.

She was nothing like him. In fact, she was everything opposite him, and yet... still... there it was. That painfully familiar pull. She blinked away tears that would never fall, then, she turned away.

⎿✶⏋

Diana couldn't sleep. But, this was nothing new as she hadn't slept a wink in a century. So, she was well equipped with activities to distract herself. You would think one would never get tired of being awake all the time, but after the first few decades, you run out of hobbies to occupy yourself with.

Diana rewatched movies, sketched in her journal, read a few books, cleaned, completed a puzzle or two, cleaned some more. She found it best to keep as busy as possible to leave no room for boredom, which came very easily to a vampire of her age.

Even the littlest things, like switching laundry loads (though she really didn't need to do laundry at all), and double-checking that her room was tidy, made the list of 'todos'. No stone was left unturned. This evening, however, Diana found herself sitting, alone, on the front steps.

As she sat, she watched the sky, the moon being her object of interest. She recalled an old story she once read; a love story between the moon and sun. It was about how, the sun loved the moon so much that he died every night, to give her his light. For years, Diana choked on the story, unable to admit that her 'sun' had died for good and taken his light with him.

She couldn't believe how it had happened, but right now, her world meant nothing. He wasn't here, and neither was Diana. She was incomplete, slowly dying... suddenly tired. Then, there was the thirst for the wolf boy, the shifter.

She hadn't been able to stop thinking about his scent. The blood. The heat, the thrumming, the smell. She kept imagining what it would taste like, not that the scent wasn't otherworldly in itself- it was, but it made her crave more. She knew it was wrong and she hated herself more and more as the thoughts kept burdening her mind... but she couldn't fight the instincts that she had been trying to bury.

Now, as she dreamt through the hours, the stars, the clouds, all of it slipped away. Slowly at first, then, as the morning hours approached, everything seemed to be moving double its natural speed. And suddenly, the sun peeked through the darkness and kissed her creamy skin. She stared hard at the trees in front of her, neglecting the sunrise.

Diana went inside a few hours later, as it was nearly 7, and she dressed for school.