Nightshift 49: Homeworld - Forks, Washington
[From here.]
He was staring blankly at the room laid out in front of him. He had been doing this for several moments, in fact. Half of the reason he was doing so was from surprise. The other half was his mind was suddenly forced into accepting and acknowledging the natural senses he had abandoned in Landel's, and it was taking more than a short second to accustom himself to being able to see every single dust mote floating in the streaks of light coming from high set windows.
It hadn't even been a week, but Edward swore he had forgotten how large the opening room was, or the smell of the lacquered piano sitting nonchalantly on a raised platform near the stairwell.
A rather annoying thumping was interrupting his train of thoughts (though that train had certainly been stalled); it took a moment to realize it was the beat of Venom's heart. He had not heard the sound since he had met the man. but now it was akin to a base drum sitting next to his ear. Pounding.
In some lofty portion of his mind, Edward was thinking about how being transported to a mirror of your memories was something that happened to other people. Venom seemed a victim of bad luck, after all. It certainly wasn't meant to happen to him. What threat would Landel find in Forks, of all places? A stray bear wandering into town, perhaps?
If the sight of the dust motes and the sound of Venom's heart and the smell of the blood pumping under his skin and how startlingly strong he felt - like he could run forever, and it was quite possible he could - were any indication, that wandering bear would hardly be worth his notice. Nothing was, really. Not while he was here.
He might have been more hopeful, seeing the lit, airy bottom floor of his home if two things hadn't occurred to him: Venom's Guild, and the knowledge of his family. Alice would have seen his coming. Esme would have felt it. Carlisle would have come running. All of them would have smelled him, heard him - and most definitely the human with him. But there were no signs of any other vampires in the house; no sign of any thing, living or dead. And Emmmett - Emmett, who he had not talked to in a day, which was much too long for him - was not mysteriously beside him, looking at home with him. The pang he felt at the memory of his long-standing family was painful; a knife in the heart that turned slowly in time with the second hand of a clock.
Edward took a few steps forward into the room, lifting the cover over the piano's keys - cleaned and oiled well, it moved on silent hinges. Just as he had left it. He pushed one key down, and the tone echoed throughout the room. Still tuned.
"My home," he said, lifting that same hand to tentatively press against his cheek. The cuts on his face were gone. He wasn't dressed in the gray sweats anymore - a shirt and jeans, the same clothes he had worn when Bella had made her final decision about Jacob.
He wished she was here, standing with open arms, ready to greet him back home. So he could touch her, and be strong, and ask her what he should do now. Looking at the house around him, he didn't know himself.
He was staring blankly at the room laid out in front of him. He had been doing this for several moments, in fact. Half of the reason he was doing so was from surprise. The other half was his mind was suddenly forced into accepting and acknowledging the natural senses he had abandoned in Landel's, and it was taking more than a short second to accustom himself to being able to see every single dust mote floating in the streaks of light coming from high set windows.
It hadn't even been a week, but Edward swore he had forgotten how large the opening room was, or the smell of the lacquered piano sitting nonchalantly on a raised platform near the stairwell.
A rather annoying thumping was interrupting his train of thoughts (though that train had certainly been stalled); it took a moment to realize it was the beat of Venom's heart. He had not heard the sound since he had met the man. but now it was akin to a base drum sitting next to his ear. Pounding.
In some lofty portion of his mind, Edward was thinking about how being transported to a mirror of your memories was something that happened to other people. Venom seemed a victim of bad luck, after all. It certainly wasn't meant to happen to him. What threat would Landel find in Forks, of all places? A stray bear wandering into town, perhaps?
If the sight of the dust motes and the sound of Venom's heart and the smell of the blood pumping under his skin and how startlingly strong he felt - like he could run forever, and it was quite possible he could - were any indication, that wandering bear would hardly be worth his notice. Nothing was, really. Not while he was here.
He might have been more hopeful, seeing the lit, airy bottom floor of his home if two things hadn't occurred to him: Venom's Guild, and the knowledge of his family. Alice would have seen his coming. Esme would have felt it. Carlisle would have come running. All of them would have smelled him, heard him - and most definitely the human with him. But there were no signs of any other vampires in the house; no sign of any thing, living or dead. And Emmmett - Emmett, who he had not talked to in a day, which was much too long for him - was not mysteriously beside him, looking at home with him. The pang he felt at the memory of his long-standing family was painful; a knife in the heart that turned slowly in time with the second hand of a clock.
Edward took a few steps forward into the room, lifting the cover over the piano's keys - cleaned and oiled well, it moved on silent hinges. Just as he had left it. He pushed one key down, and the tone echoed throughout the room. Still tuned.
"My home," he said, lifting that same hand to tentatively press against his cheek. The cuts on his face were gone. He wasn't dressed in the gray sweats anymore - a shirt and jeans, the same clothes he had worn when Bella had made her final decision about Jacob.
He wished she was here, standing with open arms, ready to greet him back home. So he could touch her, and be strong, and ask her what he should do now. Looking at the house around him, he didn't know himself.