Stranger Love

2

Jacob stood looking at the waves in the distance. He knew what had just happened and was in denial. He'd wanted so badly to imprint on a girl that would be good for him, but his imagination and the memories from the others did no justice for when it finally did happen. The feeling of the world shifting was stronger than he'd anticipated. He felt as if he'd seen their future flash before his eyes in the moment the imprint solidified. He could see Eleanor in his childhood home, a baby on her lap and a toddler on Billy's as they talked with large smiles. He saw a glimpse of her in white. He saw the pure joy and bliss in her eyes. Gravity no longer held him to the earth. Eleanor did. Her happiness and safety was his purpose in life. He wanted her to have everything in life she desired. Nothing about the way Jacob suddenly felt made any sense to him. Yet he wasn't sure he wanted it to.

Jacob was caught up in his thoughts when he heard the piercing, high pitched scream coming from the woods. The blood drained from his face, leaving the color of it pale, and he was off at a sprint before any of the others could react. He'd never heard the scream before but some part of him recognized it and would know it anywhere. Paul called out for Emily to get the girls back to her house before he and the others followed Jacob, shifting in the process.

Eleanor looked around the small clearing with a smile and shook off the dark feeling from before. It was ridiculous to let her dark thoughts get to her. She was pleasantly surprised to see a handful of flowers growing in the center, somehow surviving all the rain that came with the area rather than drowning in it. She looked up when a branch crunched lightly under someone's foot. The man had cropped black hair. He was lean and fit. His eyes were crimson red, a horrible contrast to his pale white skin. A dreadful smile curled his lips up in a way that was strangely beautiful to her. "Why hello there."

Eleanor's voice caught in her throat. This man was the most beautiful creature she'd ever seen. His skin was pale and the pallor of it was breathtaking. His voice was smooth as it left his lips, like melting butter in some way. He licked his lips in an odd manner. It was as if he was looking at a steak or something. Finally, Eleanor found her voice. She greeted him in an attempt to not be rude. "H-Hello."

"What is a girl like you doing out here all alone?" the vampire asked, tilting his head in a menacing manner.

"Just walking," Eleanor answered quietly. She felt compelled to tell him the truth, though he was just a stranger to her. "I'm with a party on the beach and there were a lot of people. I just needed a breather."

The man nodded in elegance. "Very understandable. I am not a people person, myself."

Eleanor could detect a slight accent in his voice, though she couldn't place where it was from. Something deep inside her urged her to keep the stranger talking. If he was talking maybe he wouldn't have the chance to do anything else. "Are you from Forks?"

The man shook his head. "No. Forks is much too small for my liking."

"Are you lost?" Eleanor blurted. She noticed his neatly pressed clothes, how pristine they were. He didn't belong in the forest in his current attire. The young woman couldn't imagine he'd decided to take a hike in designer clothes and dress shoes. Nobody did that.

"I believe I am." The red eyes sparkled in the dim light, excitement growing in them. The excitement made Eleanor nervous. "I was at a small park with some friends of mine. One of the children lost a ball, and I came looking for it."

Eleanor silently searched the area in her mind. No parks were nearby. A red flag shot up, demanding attention at the center of her thoughts, and she instinctually took a step back when the man stepped forward. She swallowed. "I- I think you want to head east."

The woman pointed in the opposite direction, behind the man. He glanced behind him before focusing on her again. Something about him gave off a frenzied vibe Eleanor didn't like. The pale lips curled into a twisted smile, contradicting his words immediately. "I do wish I hadn't happened upon you. So young, so full of life. Your beauty will haunt me for decades to come."

Eleanor's hands started shaking. Her flight or fight response was urging her to run, but her feet were rooted to the ground. Words spilled out of her mouth without permission, though she only had a faint idea of what might happen next. She didn't understand the surge of fear going through her. "Please, you don't have to do this. We can both just walk away. I can see you're a good person. I'm sure you don't really want to..."

The man was coming closer, moving as if he were floating rather than walking. He was shaking his head sadly. "But I must. You see, I'm so thirsty. And you smell so... mouthwatering."

Eleanor was shaking her head, tears threatening to spill over onto her cheeks. She didn't have anywhere to go now. This man was clearly going to be faster than her. Running wasn't an option. Suddenly the beautiful stranger was in front of her, a tight grip on her arms holding her in place. Eleanor winced as he grabbed onto her hurt arm, fighting the urge to yell out in pain. As if he sensed her injury, the man looked down at his hand and saw the blood beginning to stain Eleanor's sweater. His eyes grew wider than they already were and fell closed as he pulled in a deep breath. Eleanor was shaking in fear now, her legs threatening to give out. The man managed to rip the arm of her sweater open without releasing her good arm. He stared at her blood, now out in the open, before drawing a light finger down the line of stitches. Eleanor hissed in pain, her teeth locked together. The stitches were ripped from her skin in that one movement. Tears streamed down her cheeks in both fear and pain. This man was unreal. The sun broke through the trees and hit the man's skin, causing it to glint as if reflecting diamonds.

"It would all be so much better if you would just..." the man trailed off. He dug his fingers into the gash on her arm, pushing Eleanor into further shock. She pulled in a sharp breath at the movement. The stranger was somehow unhappy with this response as well. He wrapped his hand around her arm once more before digging his fingers deeper into the wound that was now open on the inside of her arm. Eleanor let out a piercing scream of pain without realizing what she was doing. The stranger grinned in pleasure. "That's better."

Eleanor sagged against the stranger, her legs finally giving out and her breathing ragged from the pain and her screaming. The stranger dropped Eleanor to the ground, his bloody hand to his face as he inhaled deeply. Eleanor wasn't exactly sure what she saw was real, but she would've sworn she saw his tongue dart out and lick along the outer edge of his hand. He let out a sigh of contentment and looked down at her.

"I will try to make it quick," he promised quietly. He prepared to crouch down and sink his teeth into her when something caught his sudden attention and he spun quickly to face the west.

Eleanor didn't know what was happening. She lay whimpering to herself, the pain in her arm at the center of her attention. She struggled to keep her eyes on the man in front of her and was surprised when he began to run. His speed was so much more than Eleanor could ever imagine. She could barely see him move. Before the man made it out of the tiny clearing, she saw giant wolves running in from the west. Wolves as big as bears- wolves that shouldn't exist. Her vision was going in and out as she tried to count them. Somewhere in her twisted thoughts, she knew these wolves. She knew they were her friends. She knew the black one was Sam, but only because he was at the front and clearly larger than the others. Another wolf, a russet color, was nearly as large. She thought she saw five wolves in total but knew the pack was bigger than that. As quickly as they came, the wolves were gone. Eleanor couldn't find it in herself to move. Between the pain she was in and the shock of the events that happened, she was shaking hard enough to make her teeth chatter. She was fighting to keep her eyes open, refusing to pass out when it was over. She was awake long enough to recognize the young man who ran out of the trees in cutoff shorts. He jogged over to her and swept her carefully into his arms. She swore he was moving through the trees then, but felt no jostling to indicate they were moving at all. Then her eyes fell shut against her will, her mind flowing with the thought of the wolves she'd just seen.