Chapter 3

Beau's scream cut itself of after six seconds. This was Archie, this was his best friend. He gently ran his finger down the cold, marble surface of the head before the emotion welled up inside him and took over.

"WHAT THE FUCK EDYTHE?"

He looked over to her, but she had her gaze locked to the floorboard. Beau angrily grabbed her blouse, trying to jerk her towards him. The effort was futile and the blouse did nothing other than rip. In any other circumstance the expanse of smooth skin only covered by a lacy brassiere would have excited him to no end, but now, with his anger bubbling over, it only served to irritate him.

"Why, Edythe? What the fuck did he do that you'd would do something like this?"

Still not moving her head, she spoke quietly. Clearly, but not very loud, almost soothing. "Nothing. He did nothing Beau."

Not able to control his rage anymore, he swung a fist at her. The fist didn't move more than a foot before her hand gently wrapped around it, slowing it until it landed gently on her face. "Please, Beau, hitting me will only cause you pain. I know you want to hurt me, I know that you're in pain."

"Pain? This was your brother, Edythe. He loved you, and you loved him. How could you do this to him?"

Edythe sighed. "He would never have allowed me to get close to you, Beau, he kept delaying me from following you. I had to make a choice, you or him, and I chose you. Maybe one day he will forgive me, but I doubt it will be anytime soon."

Beau looked at her before realizing that Archie was actually still very much alive. He would remain so until he was burnt to ash. His anger was quashed with relief. "Can he hear me?"

"Yes, and to an extent he can speak, though without lungs his speech can not be heard or deciphered by a human. Even my ability to hear him is lost when he is within that box."

Beau looked at his best friend before saying, "But you don't need any of that, you can read his mind. What is he thinking now?"

"He's both overjoyed and horrified. He has missed you greatly, Beau, and his joy in seeing you again is overwhelming. But he is scared for you, knowing that I have you with me."

Beau nodded, whispering to Archie, "I missed you to, buddy."

Edythe cleared her throat, "He wants me to tell you that you can not trust me. Nor can you trust anything I say to you. Even if I say it comes from his thoughts. He is certain I will try and manipulate you in any way I can."

"Won't you?"

Edythe nodded as she started the car up again. "To an extent, I am willing to do so. Of course, I will only do so to further our own interests."

Beau's eyes widened as he look at her. "Our interests? Edythe, there is no us, or our, or anything like that. There is my interests and your interests."

Edythe all but ignored his statement. "Please, place him back inside the box, Beau. I'm not sure why, but the light is painful to his eyes. He can hear just fine and I will happily relay anything he thinks to you. Once we are back in Forks I have every intention of piecing him back together."

Beau nodded, though he was uncertain that he believed her. If she had hidden Archie's body in Forks, then her family would have uncovered it. At the very least, Beau knew Jessamine would not stop looking. Jessamine would never abandon Archie, even if it was just his ashes. Which meant that Edythe was lying, or she planned on contacting her family with the news that she was headed home. Not eager to have another conflict, he didn't bring the issue up.

"Was there really no other way? Did you have to do that to him, Edythe?"

"He made his position clear that he never had any intention of letting me get to you. And my family stood beside him. Perhaps, had it only been Archie, I would have been able to subvert him, but with him watching my every move and my family hounding my every step, I had no hope. He and I were out alone together, hunting. It was when he was feeding that the idea to decapitate him struck me. I knew I had to act on the impulse quickly, as Archie would see it immediately after I made the decision. I had only just wrapped my hands around his neck when I felt him having the vision. As I separated his head... I'm sorry, Beau, this is upsetting for you, isn't it?"

It was quite true that he had gone pale in the face, but the knowledge that Archie would be whole again made the story bearable. He nodded, but finished her story for her. "I imagine he was pretty pissed in his thoughts?"

"Actually no. He didn't have thoughts for the first two months of my actions. It was, without a doubt, the lowest moment of my entire life. Not only were you gone, I had been convinced that, should I put my brother back together, he would never think again. The only reason I didn't flee to the Volturi for what I had done to him, was the hope that you might take me back. Had his thoughts not returned, I might have gone mad, waiting for you to leave Gatlin. Fortunately, he did, and while he was extremely bitter and angry with me, his thoughts kept me company when the loneliness was overwhelming."

"How mad are you going to be at Edythe once you're whole again, Archie?"

Edythe smiled and responded. "He says he's going to have Jessamine hold me down and he'll tear my head off for a few years. See how I like it. But only if you allow it though, Beau."

Beau looked at her dead in the eye and responded, "Seems fair."

Edythe pouted for a few seconds before smiling. "I suppose I'll be happy to accept the punishment, if you promise to stay with me through its duration."

Once again, Beau wanted to say yes, and lie to her, but he was still incapable. "Not a chance."

Edythe's smile didn't waver. "Well, I suppose I have a few days on this road trip to change your mind." Edythe then frowned immediately after. "That language is horribly inappropriate, Archie. Please refrain."

"What did he want to say?"

"Well, the gist of it was, 'Beau will never let that happen'."

Beau smirked, "Word for word, unfiltered, Edythe."

Edythe sighed, "He said, 'You're a cunt, Edythe. He's not gonna change his mind because you're a cunt."

Beau snorted. The words were really awful, but the sight of prim and proper Edythe Cullen uttering the word 'cunt' was just hilarious.

Edythe cracked a smile as well, before frowning. Beau knew it was something else from Archie. After all, Archie's thoughs were the only thoughts she could hear, no one else was on the rural interstate they were driving down.

"What else did he say?"

Edythe's frown vanished and she smiled at him. "Now, Beau, I told you I would repeat things he wants you to hear, I won't violate his private thoughts and share them."

Beau nodded, "Sorry Archie. Didn't mean to pry." The apology felt weird to him, but he wanted Archie to know that he still considered him his best friend.

"I can only imagine that you're famished, Beau. What would you like to eat?"

Beau hadn't thought about hunger. His nausea from earlier had quelled that. But at her mention of food, he realized that he was, in fact, famished. He was debating what meal they could get nearby the interstate, before looking to Edythe, and her red eyes. He realized that he didn't trust her around other humans.

"Lets just stop by a gas station. I'll go in and grab some snacks and we can get back on the road."

Edythe wasn't buying it though. "I'm not sure why the sudden change in plans, Beau? Archie was just envisioning you and I at a Cracker Barrel, and suddenly that vanished. I quite like the first idea. Lets go with that instead."

"No!" His response was a tad more forceful than he wanted.

Edythe then proceeded to do the one thing he absolutely loathed when she drove. She took her eyes off the road and looked at him. He knew she wouldn't wreck and he knew that she had full control, but the sight had always made his stomach clench. Clearly she must remember that, so she was doing this to help herself interrogate him.

"Please tell me that you're not worried about my being around humans, Beau." Her tone was sardonic, but Beau knew that it was masking hurt. She was hurt that he thought so little of her.

"Can you really blame me?"

Edythe stopped staring at him so intently, returning her eyes to the road. "No, I suppose I can't. How am I to expect you to see the good in me when I threw it all away? You're right, of course, my heart is blackened by the deeds I have committed. Far blacker than it was when we met."

Beau sighed, turning his gaze to the passenger side window. "I don't think your heart has gotten blacker or anything like that Edythe. I believe you when you tell me that the people you killed were the worst of the worst. There is no doubt in my mind of that. I just want to be safe rather than sorry."

Edythe hummed. She did so for a few seconds. "Is it fair to say Beau that your worry stems from your lack of exposure to my new found control?"

Beau shrugged, "Not sure I'd phrase it quite like that, but for all intents and purposes, yeah."

Edythe nodded, "So, if I were to prove to you, without a doubt, that I am firmly in control, do you feel as though we might be able to enjoy a nice dinner together?"

"Er, yeah, but I'm not too sure how you're going to man- OW!"

Beau quickly covered his stinging arm. It had felt as though an insect had bit him, hard. Moving his hand over to look at it, he saw nothing more than the smallest nick on his arm, with a thin line of blood coming from it.

"Jesus, what kind of bug did that?"

Edythe laughed. "I'm not really certain I enjoy you referring to me as a bug, Beau, but as you can see, I am smelling the scent of your blood, and I haven't destroyed the car."

"Oh." Beau hadn't expected that from her. Edythe had always handled him with the utmost care, as though he were made of glass. Which he may have well been, considering what her kind was capable of.

"It never ceases to amaze me, Beau, how at ease you are around me. Even though you do fear me consciously now, something I loathe with a passion, it seems that your subconscious remains aloof in my presence."

Edythe had a point, he knew. She hadn't flipped out like she had over three years ago. She was calm and poised, her face lax. "Does it really not bother you anymore?"

Edythe shrugged. "Bother, no, not really. In truth, I'd prefer you to always be bleeding a slight amount. Your blood smells amazing to me, still sings to me. But even though the scent of you stirs an aching hunger inside of me, its quite easy to ignore. Even if I were to take things a step further..."

She gently reached towards his arm and with one pale, dainty finger wiped the small amount of blood from his arm. Beau then had a front row seat to view possibly the most erotic thing he thought he might ever see. Edythe stuck her tongue out to lick the tip of her finger, where his blood was smeared. The guttural moan that left her mouth a second later went straight through him and he wanted nothing more than to smash his lips against hers in another heated kiss. Edythe slowed the car and pulled over on the side of the road.

"Mmmm, bad idea Edythe." Hearing her talk to herself like that made Beau panic slightly.

"Are you okay?"

Edythe nodded, closing her eyes and rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Yes, I wasn't expecting the thirst to burn quite so much though."

"Should I leave for a bit?" Beau honestly was trying to help her, but her responding laugh told him it wasn't what she wanted.

"Leave, quite the opposite Beau. I just need your help to get my mind on other things." All of a sudden Edythe was on his side of the vehicle, her knees touching the edge of his seat, with her head above his. She moved at his pace afterwards though. When her lips met his, he engaged her fully. Had he not been desiring this just moments ago?

Kissing a vampire would not really be something enjoyable, as far as the physical act goes. Edythe's tongue was cold and wet with her venom, which gave it a slimy feeling. But kissing someone was as much a mental act as a physical one, and Beau truly could not get enough of it. His hands did not remain idle, as her entire body was close to him. At first he attempted to pull her towards him, possibly even onto the seat with him, but she did not let her body budge. He wasn't discouraged in the least, though, and his hands parted ways from her hips, one lowering down to cup her ass, and the other raising just high enough to lay on her back.

He felt her breath hitch into their kiss and knew she hadn't expected him to be so bold. Beau himself couldn't have explained where this was coming from, he just knew he needed to touch as much of her as intimately as possible. He marveled at how her backside could be cold and hard, but still supple molding to the pressure of his hand. As though she was made of a fluid metal rather than stone. Eventually she pulled away from him gasping, even though she didn't need the air. He commented on it.

"You don't even need to breathe, why are you out of breath?"

Edythe laughed almost giddily. "While I do love you far more than you may ever know, too much of you addles my brain. I breathe to clear out the scent of you so I can form coherent thoughts."

Beau rolled the words around his head for a moment. "So... you get... drunk off my scent?"

Edythe resumed her position in the driver's seat, gently getting them back on the road. "For lack of a better term, certainly. I am, most assuredly, driving intoxicated right now."

"Well I hope you sober up before we get to Forks. I'd hate to see the police chief pull us over."

"You perhaps, but your father will be ecstatic to see you. Your departure years ago was abrupt and Charlie has always blamed himself for it somewhat."

And there goes the mood, Beau thought. "I wish he wouldn't. I should talk to him more. Hell, I can't even remember the last time I did."

"It's been two years."

Beau looked at her questioningly. She explained further. "I had dinner with him a few months ago. I also don't keep in contact with your father as much as I'd like. He's remarried, by the way."

Beau's eyes nearly popped out of his skull, "Charlie remarried? To who?"

"Sue Clearwater, Harry Clearwater's widow."

Beau slumped in his seat. "Wow, he's gonna be pissed at me."

Edythe laguhed, "I highly doubt your father is going to be angry at you for that. Charlie rarely gets angry at all."

"Fair point, not angry then, just... disappointed."

Edythe pursed her lips before speaking, "Archie says your father will be overjoyed to see you when we arrive. You won't have a thing to worry about."

Edythe moved towards an exit, and Beau wondered where they were headed. "Where are we going?"

"Food, Beau. We are going to that Cracker Barrel I was telling you about."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. I am. I want to talk to you in a warm atmosphere. I want to watch you eat a good meal. I just want to soak up as much of your presence as possible."

Beau nodded, while retreating in on his thoughts. Things were moving way too fast for him. He was being drawn into Edythe far too quickly. He didn't even want it to happen. Edythe was somehow sinking her claws into him and he had absolutely no way to combat it. He didn't want to. He was a walking contradiction.

Did he want her here? Or did he want her gone? He couldn't answer that. And that was the only question that really mattered. Or was it? There were others, he figured, just as important, and far more easy to answer.

Did he love her? Deep down, probably. Did he hate her? Deep down, probably not. Did he despise what she did in the past? Definitely. But if there was one thing that life in the small county of Gatlin taught him, it was that it wasn't his place to hold someone accountable for their sins. While Beau may never have bought into the southern Baptist views of his neighbors, he certainly heard them more than enough for the message to sink in. Judgement was reserved for a higher power. It wasn't his place to cast the first stone.

He sighed, "Alright, Edythe, how long til we make it to Forks?"

Edythe was pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant when he asked. "A week and a half was the original goal." She smiled at him with mischief. "I planned to take my time. Though if I make it a straight shot, three more days. I could do it faster in a better car, but my Volvo isn't quite what it used to be. Of course, I would prefer to get you into a real bed every night so you can rest properly. Sleeping in a car isn't the best. Six days if we meet in the middle."

Beau nodded. "Alright then, lets make a deal."

Edythe smiled. "I'll give you anything you want, Beau, no deals required, just tell me."

"Okay, fine, get us to an airport. I'll go back to South Carolina, and you can go wherever the hell you want to."

Edythe pouted. "Oh, alright then. What deal do you propose?"

"Six days. That's all you get. When we get to Forks I expect a plane ticket back to South Carolina and a guarantee you'll never contact me again."

Edythe finished parking the car, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. "No. That deal doesn't hold anything for me."

Beau scoffed. "Sure it does, you get six days to badger me."

"I kidnapped you Beau, and unless I allow it, you can't escape me. So I technically have an unlimited amount of time with you. So your deal is faulted." She was frowning, Beau could imagine that she didn't like anything he was saying.

"Unlimited time against my will."

Edythe slammed her hand into the console, cracking the plastic. "Damn it Beau! Please." Her voice was tight and Beau could hear the pain in her words. "Six days can't be all I have left with you, please." She slumped forward leaning her head on the steering wheel.

Beau put a hand on her shoulder. "I never said I'd use the plane ticket Edythe, nor did I say I couldn't contact you. You have six days to break my resolve here. That's the deal."

Beau could see her lips moving, but couldn't make out what she was whispering to herself. It didn't matter, because she sat up straight, got out of the car and went to open his door. Holding her hand out for him to take, she dazzled him with a smile. "Considering we've already kissed pretty heavily twice now, I think it's a bet I'm willing to make. However..."

She grasped the hand he placed in her palm and helped him out of the car. "Should you fall for me, I want a guarantee of my own."

"What kind?"

Edythe looked at him coyly. "Should you fall for me again, you must swear to never leave me."