First Blood | Ed. Cullen & B. Swan

Chapter 23

Simon sat at the edge of a wall, staring out into the mountainous landscape that surrounded the dark citadel.

He breathed in the cold air, his body relaxing as the brisk wind tousled his hair.

"It's a pleasure," He murmured, glancing at the companion who sat next to him on the ledge. "Being here again."

"We know how much our home pleases you. We've seen our section of your portfolio."

Simon quickly looked away as he bit his lip, fighting to hide the small grin that threatened to take place.

As embarrassed as he was, he knew exactly what his friend was referencing. Every time he visited –and even sometimes stayed– he took several photos of the Romanian's home. He had a whole album dedicated to it, and it was nearly finished. Soon, he knew that he would need another one.

"Săvânăm?" Vladimir suddenly spoke, slipping into his native tongue as he gazed up at his friendly companion.

Simon froze at the question, his posture tense. After a moment of debate, he slid off of the ledge, free-falling until his feet hit the ground.

He gazed up the walls of the citadel, catching Vladimir's eyes as the older vampire leaned over the ledge.

"Ever a show-off, I see," He heard Vladimir mutter before the vampire dropped off of the ledge.

"Will you still abide by my rules?" Simon asked as he glanced at Vlad.

"Oh, they are more than willing," Vladimir said with his signature smirk. "That much is still true. But you must also abide by our rules. We chase."

"I know," Simon said with a small sigh. "Is Stefan joining us, soon? Lee-lee and Paul might even be willing to join us for the chase."

"Soon, yes. He is informing the volunteers. Your...friends are welcome to join, as long as they don't interfere with our lifestyle."

"They are uneased, being around us carnivores, but they've sworn not to interfere with your hunting as long as no one dies."

"Good," Vladimir murmured, "They shall be ready in a few minutes. Get your companions, and meet us at the forest's edge."

Simon nodded his head, before he left to find his two friends.

***

"I didn't take you for such a messy eater," Paul found himself speaking as he walked next to Simon.

"Whatever," Simon huffed as he rolled his freshly new scarlet eyes, "I haven't actually hunted in a while. I'm not used to catching my meals."

Leah grimaced at his choice of words, whereas Paul had to suppress the urge to gag.

"Like you're one to talk. I've seen you clear a whole table of food by yourself," Leah said with a smirk, knocking her shoulder with Paul's.

Paul scoffed, but he decided to remain quiet this time. He glanced at his two friends, where his gaze briefly lingered on the side of Simon's face.

"Any word on how the honeymoon is going?" Leah spoke up, breaking Paul out of his trance. Paul looked away, focusing on where they were heading in the giant citadel.

Simon shook his head, his shoulders falling in defeat as he processed his thoughts.

"No," He said. "There were a few pictures of the trip toward the beginning, but that was it. I've talked to the others, though. Everyone's good at home. Seth has been around more, helping Esme out around the house. It surprised everyone at first, but Esme likes having someone to cook for, so there hasn't been much complaining from everyone."

"What's she like?" Paul asked, briefly glancing back at Simon. "Esme, I mean. She's your sister, right? What was growing up with her like?"

Simon pushed open the large doors, walking into the spacious room they had all decided to share. Clothes were thrown across the two beds and some of the furniture, the main evidence that they had been living here for the past couple of days. There were only two beds, but Simon didn't need to sleep, so it was perfect.

Simon flopped down onto one of the beds, where Leah and Paul joined him. He laid on his back, his arms above his head as he gazed up at the ceiling. His eyes briefly flickered to his two friends.

"Do you really want to know?" He asked, looking back at the ceiling as he got two nods in response.

"We're half-siblings. We have the same father, but he married my mother after Ms. Marie –Esme's mother– passed away," He began, his eyes becoming unfocused as he retold his memories.

"My favorite memory from my childhood was when I got hurt. I was playing with some of the neighborhood kids, and we got too rough with one another. I just remember that I got bruised and cut up. I don't remember how bad I was actually injured. Esme found me crying outside by myself, because the other kids got scared and ran off when they saw me bleeding..." Simon trailed off, briefly caught off guard by how vivid this memory seemed to be to him. He had never realized that this was one of his clearest human memories.

"What happened after that?" Leah asked quietly, listening intently to his words. Throughout their friendship, she had never heard Simon say so much about his human life. She knew about the part with Edward, but she has never heard anything about Esme.

"She just held onto me. She pulled me into her lap and rocked me back and forth to calm me down. She told me she loved me, and that everything would be okay. I don't remember much of my mother; I know she was around, but those memories aren't as strong as I'd like. But with Esme was the first time I remember feeling loved. It wasn't from my parents. It was from my sister, whom I knew I would protect from that moment on."

"Do you miss it?" Paul found himself asking. "Being so close to her?"

"I..." Simon trailed off, before he slowly nodded his head. "I do. Not as much as I thought I would, but I do. It's okay, though. She has her new family, and I have you guys. And I have the most amazing partners I could ever ask for. I've got all I need."

"As weird as our friendship is, you're right about one thing. You are stuck with us in our strange little family," Leah said, grinning smugly at her two friends.