Renewal [Emmett Cullen] (1)

[42- Longest Lecture]

Where was Alice, I suddenly wondered? Hadn't she seen me killing the girl in a multitude of ways? Why hadn't she come to help—to stop me or help me clean up the evidence, whichever? Was I stronger than I thought? Would I really not have done anything to the girl?

Unusually as I breathed in more of her delicious scent, the urge to kill her became more manageable. Her scent was still potent but the desire to kill was fading. It helped to think of her as a person, not prey. She had goals, dreams, family, friends; I couldn't be the one to end them.

My fingers strummed my laptop's keys, effortlessly recording a perfect transcription of the lecture, not that I needed the notes, I would naturally remember every word the lecturer uttered.

At the end of the lecture, I hastily packed up my belongings, trying to leave her desirable scent as fast as possible while at a human speed.

Emmett was waiting for me outside. I sighed in relief as the influx of fresh air filled my lungs. He read my wild expression for a moment, immediately enveloping me in his gargantuan arms. I could hear the murmurs of the passing students, most of them noticing his height. At 6'5" he towered over the other students.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his perfect voice filled with concern.

"I almost broke."

He nodded painfully, immediately understanding what I meant, "I know the feeling. Are you ok?"

"I think so. I don't know if I can stay here. I was about to kill her-"

"But you didn't," he interrupted my ramble, "That proves you have control." He gently tilted my chin up to his flawless face, "I have complete faith in you. You should as well." Our lips then met quickly but with passion.

We parted again for our final lecture. Thankfully, the girl wasn't there. I knew I would see her again, after all we did share the same class. At 4:30, when our classes ended, we met by my car.

Apparently Alice knew me better than I knew myself, she never saw me harm the girl. Jasper was amazed. I continued to surprise him with my behaviour that was often seen in mature vampires, years, even decades old, not newborns.

"El, can we talk privately for a minute?" Jasper asked when I parked in the garage. I nodded and Alice and Emmett went inside. He went to sit on the hood of Alice's canary yellow car. I followed, and leaned the wall beside him.

"I just wanted to thank you."

"For what?" I questioned, confused.

"I'm sensitive to the emotions of others, I got relief from my depressive tendencies when I'm surrounded by people who were positive and happy. It's one of the reasons I fell so hard for Alice. It was the same thing with Emmett, when I first met him, his obvious happiness in his new life attracted me like a magnet. Now that he's found you, that positivity is multiplied by a thousand times. Just being around you two makes me a better person." I was temporarily speechless, his words warmed me to my core.

I smiled and gave him a hug. Jasper was only a few inches shorter than Emmett but his lean frame made him seem much smaller than his brother. Hopefully this would be a solid starting ground for a close brother-sister relationship.

For the rest of the week, my classes were interesting but uneventful. The girl, who's name I eventually found out was Ruby, shared several of my other classes but she thankfully sat at the front with her new friends. Phew.

On Friday night, we drove back up to our house in Plymouth. Esme and Carlisle were waiting expectantly by the front door. Esme reached for me, hugging me fiercely, yet awkwardly, because Emmett kept his arms around me, too.

"Did you like college?" Carlisle asked, excitement filled his eyes.

"Definitely! The classes are really interesting!"

"Carlisle," Alice trilled, "Eleanor's self control is incredible." She recounted her vision, including what I had told Emmett after my first lecture.

His eyes were suddenly beaming, an amazed smile beginning to form on his face. It reminded me of before, when he'd wanted the details on my transformation experience. The thrill of new information. I could almost see hypotheses forming.

"El, would it be alright if I ask you some questions?" He said eagerly.

Esme gently nudged him, "It can wait, they just got home."

Carlisle smiled and changed the subject, "Alice, you were right, the two visitors did stopped by a couple of days ago."

"Visitors?" I didn't realise until then how many vampires existed, how many times our paths could crossed. I use simply be a human, what if I was unfortunately in the wrong place, at the wrong time. The existence of vampires was tethered to that of humans and not all were peaceful like ours.

"Yes like us, but not. They were nomadic vampires, their hunting habits are very different to our own. I asked them not to hunt nearby, as a courtesy, and most likely they won't have a problem with that. But we can't do more, for a variety of reasons."

"What did they want?"

"They seemed interested in our lifestyle, especially our permanent residence." So these nomads were friendly but I wondered how many weren't. How many would be hostile and aggressive, after all it was an innate part of a vampires nature. I was worried, worried that I would be caught off guard. It seemed odd, even though I was dead, that I had more to live for.

"Emmett, can you teach me how to fight?"