1. Encounter
by O2Shea
A/N: Disclaimer follows story rather than preceding it in order to avoid
tipping my hand.
***
Chapter 1
It was an ordinary night – or as ordinary as they got since I left Bella behind
me – when I decided to test the notion that misery loves company. Since
there is at least as much misery as congeniality where alcohol is served, I
ducked inside a bar.
The air was filled with a haze of smoke, the light was almost nonexistent,
and it seemed so old it might have been one of the first buildings the
Portuguese erected in Rio. Then, again, it might have been some decorator’s
idea of ambiance. Whatever.
I sat at the bar, ordered a beer, and let the clamor of the place blur into white
noise as I thought about the last evidence I’d found of Victoria’s presence in
Rio. It had been a couple of weeks ago and I knew I’d have to head north to
follow up on the only lead I had. I really didn’t want to turn toward the north
because my heart wanted to go home and that was the last place I needed to
be. I had to reassure myself of that every day.
My brow was furrowed as I pondered that and considered whether there
were any reasonable alternatives. Not finding anything I wanted as I picked
through the ideas in my mind made my mood even bleaker. I wasn’t paying
attention to anyone else in the bar, not even when another vampire entered,
spotted me, and chose to occupy the rickety stool next to mine.
His scent alerted me first and I glanced at him, only to find that he was
watching me with a cocked eyebrow and a sardonic smile. Anyone should
have been able to tell that I was not in a sociable mood, but the fellow had
the nerve to be congenial.

2. “You’re a little young to be in here, aren’t you, kid?” Great. His accent was
British.
I gave him a dark look and answered abruptly, “I’m older than I look.”
He barked a laugh and said, “Aren’t we all?” Then he rose, clapped me on
the shoulder, and said, “Let’s go. I know a place that I think you might like
better than this one.”
There was no reason I should have gone with him and it was odd that he was
shepherding me about as if we were friends. He was a more typical vampire
than my family was, but I liked the black humor in his thoughts and it had
been a long time since I actually conversed with anyone. What the hell. It
couldn’t be worse than the dive we were in.
I was wrong. For one thing, it was underground. It was located outside of
town and we passed through a cave complex before stopping in front of the
entrance – a ladder leading down. I gave his mind a quick scan before
descending, but it turned out to be one of three actual ways into the place,
which seemed to be patterned on a rabbit warren.
Once inside, he hustled me past other patrons, including the strangest – umm
– entities I’d ever seen. It really stretched the definition to call them people –
of any kind. My guide moved to a table in the back, making sure I was still
with him. We sat and I glared at him while he smiled amiably back at me.
An odd looking server appeared and the vampire across from me read my
dark eyes and the shadows under them while I read his thoughts. He told me,
“I know what will help fix you right up.” He turned to the server and said,
“Two steins of blood.”
“No… thank you.” I told him. I avoided his eyes. “I’m on a special diet.” At
least I hadn’t abandoned my family’s philosophy even if I had pretty much
abandoned them.
The vampire across from me narrowed his eyes and took a closer look at me.
The gold was so dark it would look black to anyone else, but he was able to
discern the color. When he did, he sat back and shook his head in wonder.
“I’ve heard of you. Most of us don’t believe you exist, but here you are.” He

3. turned to the server and said, “Cancel my original order.” Then he asked,
“Do you have any animal blood available?”
“Animal blood?” the server repeated doubtfully. “I’ll check.” He/she/it left
us.
“I don’t know your first name, but your last name is Cullen, I would bet. Am
I wrong?” He spoke like someone who already knew he wasn’t.
“No.” For someone who was willing to converse, I wasn’t finding it easy to
do so.
“Look, boy, you obviously have it bad and I know, having been there
myself. What kind of girl is she? Another vampire? Some kind of demon? A
witch?”
The server returned. “We don’t have any on tap, but since you are a regular,
the owner is willing to step out and go get some animal blood fresh. There
are plenty of animals around here.”
“Please tell him thank you,” said my companion. “I will have a stein of
regular and my friend here will have a stein of animal blood only. Be sure
not to confuse them.”
“Yes, sir.”
When we were alone he looked across at me expectantly, “Well? What kind
is she?”
I looked into his eyes and told him. “Human.”
“Bloody hell. I had a feeling she was. Couldn’t be easy, could it, boy? I
ought to know.” He shook his head, uncrossing his legs.
A quick read revealed information that startled me. “You’re in love with a
human girl too.”
“Ah, a statement, not a question.” He raised his brow again and looked at me
curiously. “How did you know?”

4. Not wanting to tip my hand to a total stranger, however friendly, I pointed
out, “It was easily inferred from what you said.”
He thought about that and nodded. “You’re right, of course. On all counts.”
Our order came. I carefully sniffed mine before tasting it. Animal blood, as
ordered, with a bonus. It was a carnivore… probably jaguar. I sighed and
took a sip. It had been too long since I had hunted, but I hadn’t had much
incentive to keep going and hunting reminded me of times with my family.
He was watching me. “No matter how low your spirits are, you need to take
care of yourself, Mr. Cullen. Things can always change and you want to be
in good shape, not looking like a love-sick calf.”
“Says the expert,” I murmured.
“Well… yes,” he responded, laughing.
He looked intently at me. “Tell me. Does your girl know what you are?’
I nodded. “She knows.” I raised an eyebrow at him and asked, though I
already knew. “Yours?”
A nod of the head and a bark of a laugh confirmed what I had seen. “Ah,
yes. She spotted me well enough.”
I was surprised. “She’s encountered our kind before?”
That was unusual. Most encounters between our kind and humans did not
leave the humans with opportunities for any type of future encounter.
For once he was cryptic and had also shuttered his thoughts. “You could say
that.”
He looked up. “My lady is beautiful, strong, and exciting. I have hopes, of
course, but no expectation of success. So… we shall leave my problems for
another day while we sort yours out.”
I wasn’t sure how I looked, but I wasn’t at all sure that I wanted to discuss
Bella with him. He had described his girl, so I did my best, “She is beautiful

5. and bright. Her mind is incredible, as is her courage and her degree of
selflessness. She never fails to surprise me.” Just thinking of her and her
wonderful qualities brought a smile to my lips.
“Does she love you as much as you obviously love her?” he asked.
My brow furrowed. “I don’t know. She says she does and she acts like it…”
I shrugged. “But you know humans. And she is only 18…”
“While you are so much older.” He was clearly trying not to smile.
“Well, yes,” I met his eyes and saw his head shake slightly. I added, “At
least in experience.”
“Parent trouble? They don’t want her dating a vampire?” he was trying to
figure out our problem.
“No. Well, I’m sure they wouldn’t want her to date me, if they knew, but
that isn’t an issue. She’s the only one who knows.” I was absolutely sure of
her.
He raised his own brows in surprise. “She hasn’t told her parents and hasn’t
told her friends?”
“No.” I tried to explain further. “We go to school together. My sister and I
are her closest friends…. But she’s not the kind of person who would tell
anyone anyway.”
“Mmm… sounds perfect to me.” He folded his arms and asked directly,
“What’s the problem?” He had given up trying to figure it out and wanted to
move on to solving it. As if that was possible….
“We had a birthday party for her and, while she was opening her presents,
she got a paper cut. Just a paper cut…. But it was enough to incite one of
my brothers to attack her. I saved her by flinging her backward, but that was
into a glass table. It broke and she was injured further. There was so much
blood that the entire room cleared out except for my father, who is a doctor,
and me. She even sent me away, since she knew I was struggling against
being affected.” I looked up, ending my recitation as though that was all
there was to say, but he knew there was more.

6. “And…?”
“I insisted that my family pick up and leave. I told her I was leaving and
never coming back. She wanted to come too, so I had to lie to her. I told her
that she wasn’t good for me and implied that I would soon find other
distractions.” I shrugged. “I knew, of course, that she was the one who
would be distracted elsewhere. How could it be otherwise?”
“Nice birthday,” he observed.
“Yes, well, what else could I do? She is fragile… and accident prone. I
couldn’t take any more chances with her. She’s my soul mate.” I looked at
my hands.
“And anyone can see how well it’s going for you… being away from her,”
he observed.
I knew he was trying to figure things out further, so I explained a bit. “There
was a problem last year with a couple of other vampires. One of them
captured and tortured her, but my family was able to rescue her and
eliminate him. The woman with him got away. She considered him her mate
and is after my girl because she’s mine. Even though I can’t be with her, I’ve
been trying to track this woman so I can kill her and assure my love’s
safety.” I added, “That’s why I’m here in Rio.”
“Uh huh. So she’s here? The vengeful vampire?” he asked, lighting a
cigarette.
I had no idea that vampires smoked. None I knew did. He saw my look and
laughed. “I don’t think I’m likely to get cancer.”
I shook my head. “Of course not.” Answering his question, I shook my head
again, “She was here. I have come to the conclusion that she’s headed north
to the States again.”
“Where your girl is.” His gaze met mine.
“Not necessarily.” I swallowed hard and tried to think up a reason why she
wouldn’t be headed for Forks. Of course she would.

7. He leaned across the table and said, “If that is who she’s after… and your
bird is there without protection, since you and your family are no longer in
the area, I would lay odds that’s where she’s headed, wouldn’t you?”
“Oh, God! You’re right, of course. I need to protect her, while making sure
she doesn’t know I’m there.” I started figuring how quickly I could return to
Washington, planning a call to Jasper and Emmett for assistance. I would
have to ask Alice for an update on the situation… which I really hated to do,
since I told her to butt out and not check on Bella’s future.
I was about to rise, but my companion put his hand out and held me for a
moment. “Just a question more, Mr. Cullen. Have you even discussed
whether this girl might want to become a vampire?”
I nodded shortly… not that it was any of his business, but he had put things
into perspective for me. “She wants to be. At least she did. I don’t know
what’s going on with her now.”
“A word of advice, my friend… What is your name, anyway?” he asked.
“Edward.”
He smiled. “A word of advice, Edward. If she is waiting for you… and from
what you have said, I think she may be, go ahead and change her. If she is
your soul mate it will make the difference between bliss and hell… and you
won’t have to worry about losing her.” As an afterthought, he added, “My
name is Spike.”
I stood and looked down at him. “You really think I should take her soul?”
Spike smiled. “No one knows if that is the case. And she clearly has been
the making of yours. If you lose her, what do you have left?”
I looked into the bleak distance at the thought of eternity without Bella.
“Nothing.”
“Change her,” he said again. “You’ll both be happier for it.”

8. “What about you?” I asked curiously. “Are you planning to change your
girl?”
“Ah, well,” he replied with a sigh. “That’s another story. The fate of the
world sits on her lovely shoulders. I’m in love with the bloody Slayer.”
I didn’t know what the Slayer was and had a feeling, from the name, that I
didn’t want to, but I nodded. Spike rose and we left the bar by an exit into
the jungle. We shook hands and he went on his way.
Quickly making plans for my immediate departure, I hardly noticed the
ringing of my cell phone because I had spent months ignoring it. Since I was
resolved on a new course of action, I answered it. “Hello, Rosalie….”
***
Disclaimer: I don't own either "Twilight" or "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer."
They are both replete with wonderful characters though. (Thank you,
Stephenie Meyer and Joss Whedon.) Playing with them is irresistible.

9. Chapter 2
When Edward hung up from Rosalie’s call he was numb. How could such a
thing have happened? He called Bella’s house, only to have an unknown
man tell him that Charlie was planning a funeral. Beside himself, he was
about to contact airlines for his planned trip to Volterra… Of course he had
anticipated activating the plan in the distant future when Bella, having lived
a normal human life, succumbed to death at an advanced age. She wasn’t
supposed to die at eighteen! Even if he had still been with her, she would
probably have lasted longer than that….
He hung up the phone when he realized that he had destroyed his credit
cards and had very little cash. Living like a hermit did not take much in the
way of amenities and one day he had destroyed them in a fury of anguish
over the fact that even their high credit lines could never purchase what he
wanted most… a life with Bella.

10. Chapter 2
When Edward hung up from Rosalie’s call he was numb. How could such a
thing have happened? He called Bella’s house, only to have an unknown
man tell him that Charlie was planning a funeral. Beside himself, he was
about to contact airlines for his planned trip to Volterra… Of course he had
anticipated activating the plan in the distant future when Bella, having lived
a normal human life, succumbed to death at an advanced age. She wasn’t
supposed to die at eighteen! Even if he had still been with her, she would
probably have lasted longer than that….
He hung up the phone when he realized that he had destroyed his credit
cards and had very little cash. Living like a hermit did not take much in the
way of amenities and one day he had destroyed them in a fury of anguish
over the fact that even their high credit lines could never purchase what he
wanted most… a life with Bella.