Lips of an Angel

Chapter 1-Resisting Tempation

17th November, 2012

Holland Park, London

Being a mythical creature of the night had taken less getting used to that I'd have expected. Carlisle and his family had taught me how not to be a monster, and how to live a life - or an existence, if you want to be technical - around humans, doing something of worth. Carlisle told me that Alice had had a vision that I'd take to the life of a vampire, and he'd saved my 'existence' by turning me into a vampire.

He explained all about the attack on me, and told me that the person that attacked me was also a vampire. A nomad called James. Carlisle said that it was likely that my blood had sung to James - that James had been unable to resist it. I was also told that James was a tracker, and would have been hunting my scent. I owed Carlisle everything, but he took nothing.

It had taken me a few months to get over my attack. One minute I was a human, with a heartbeat, friends, and a life, and the next, I was a creature of the night, aglow in the sun and drinking blood. All because of an attack. Alice and I had become fast friends, although she was often frustrated that she couldn't 'see' my future decisions, due to my gift. A shield. Alice helped me immensely to get over it all. Rosalie, however, was a different story. We constantly rubbed each other the wrong way, and she spent all her time sneering at me.

I became a member of the Cullen family, though I had chosen to keep my own name. I was still Isabella Swan. I decided, after a little deliberation, to become a psychologist. I'd never had trouble with human blood, and I enjoyed my line of work. Rosalie turned her nose up at it, but I had ceased to take any of her moods and harsh words to heart..

I loved my family, but I also loved my privacy. I had chosen to live on my own, while Alice and Jasper resided with Carlisle and Esme. Rosalie and her mate Emmett had also decided to live as a married couple. They'd remarried many times over the years, to keep up appearances, as had Alice and Jasper.

I sighed as I looked down the list of people I'd be meeting that day. It was a pretty average day, I thought. A few people that really didn't need my time, it sounded like, and a couple that were stressing over nothing. Then I had one whom I had very little information on. Edward Cullen.

I started. Cullen? Apparently, he was related, however lightly, to Carlisle. I knew that Carlisle hadn't had any children before he was turned, so apparently this was further back than that. I shook my head slightly, and wondered about Edward Cullen a little. Why did I have so little information on him? It was rare. Usually I had something to go on.

My morning passed quickly, and I gave myself a twenty minute 'lunch break', just so that the receptionists wouldn't begin to get suspicious of my non-eating tendencies. I returned to my office and seated myself, after opening the window. I glanced down at my list of people, and noticed that I'd be seeing Edward Cullen. Well, it could either be interesting, or incredibly dull and exasperating.

Ten minutes later, there was a knock on my door. I called out for whoever it was to come in, and Mrs Cope, the older lady that worked on the front desk in the afternoons, showed in a young man of about my 'age'. My physical age, at least. I was just taking in his dishevelled bronze hair and startling emerald eyes, when a scent like no other hit my nose, and invaded my senses.

Holy hell...

Mrs Cope was speaking, but I wasn't listening. I was more interested in this man's blood. I'd never smelt anything so appetising, ever, in my decades of life. I wanted his blood. I needed it. I craved it. I could hear it pumping through his body, and I could smell the sweet nectar. Oh, to break the skin of his fragile neck and to sink my teeth in. Venom pooled in my mouth as I imagined gulping down mouthful after mouthful of his thick, delectable blood, savouring every mouthful.