Writer in the Dark - J. HALE

13 - ᴍɪɴᴅ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ

AFTER FINALLY finding a beast that could soothe the blood hunger that enveloped her entire soul, Athena strolled up to the Cullen house on the eve of Edward's confession to Bella. According to him, the whole situation went as well as anyone could expect it to. Bella was confused and had thousands of questions that he answered truthfully, without sparing a detail. Athena noticed how her knowledge had affected Edward. He seemed less dark, less in turmoil with his own emotions. Often she saw the ghost of a smile on his face as he talked about Bella. The amount he talked about her would make anyone think she was some sort of Greek goddess, not just a mortal that they happened to stumble across in life. The sudden emotion shown did not mean that she forgave him for creeping on Bella, that could possibly never occur however she did gain an understanding as to why he had done so. Not that it excused behaviour like that.

She began walking up the steps, wiping vague smudges of blood from the corner of her lip as Alice appeared in the doorway. "I like the necklace," she complimented as Athena walked in the door, shrugging off an uncomfortable jacket she had pulled out of her wardrobe just for the effect that it would bring to the humans. According to them, it was so cold that the winds made it hard to catch a breath. Only a madman would go for walks in this weather, well those and Vampires.

"Thanks, Alice," she smiled, glancing down at the stone that hung from her neck.

"What stone is it?" she asked, interest captured automatically. Those had always been something Alice was fascinated with, in fact, her bedroom had quite the collection but she had never thought Athena would share the same interest.

"Red Jasper, I use it to revitalise the soul," she smiled, picking up the crystal with her two fingers as she traced the wire cage that wrapped around it.

"Jasper?" she echoed with a mischievous grin.

"Purely a coincidence," Athena replied with a roll of her eyes, not knowing that Jasper was in fact currently listening to their conversation as he stood at the top of the staircase. Alice could tell that he had a smug smirk on his face, without even glancing in his direction.

"If you say so," Alice responded with a tone that showed she did not believe a word coming from her mouth. She chuckled softly, the reaction that Athena had did not paint the picture of truthfulness.

"It is! I've had it for years!" she exclaimed quietly, hoping it didn't draw anyone to the conversation.

Alice quirked a brow, "And you only just started wearing it now?"

"Yes, I have a reason that you do not deserve to know due to the earlier insinuation," Athena ended and walked further into the house, struggling not to look back and laugh like Alice was. It truly had been a coincidence; she just thought that if Alice's vision was going to come true, she might as well work on her soul for as long as she could. A visit to evil was not one she particularly wanted.

At around three in the morning, after Carlilse had returned from the hospital, every single memory of the Cullen clan (and Athena) all sat in their living room listening to the dull murmur of the television as they all had discussions about their days. Athena enjoyed the rare moment that every single Vampire had a smile on their face, laughing along with and at the other members of their family. Seeing a happy family like theirs bought her loneliness back in swift kicks in the gut, a feeling that she shielded from Jasper.

"Athena?" Carlisle called, bringing her away from her thoughts. She had just been half-listening to their conversation, feeling ever so out of place. She tried to come up with an excuse that would make the most sense so she could leave them to their family fun.

She cleared her throat, feeling every pair of eyes in the room fixed on her. "Yes?"

"Do you have an ability?" he asked abruptly, causing a slight shock to her system that she did not have the time to hideaway. She involuntarily caught Luna's eye, receiving a comforting smile that shook some of her discomforts away.  "You never said anything about them, I was just wondering," he continued, sensing a sudden shift in her comfort. He asked the question that everyone else had silently been wondering too, especially Jasper.