Chapter Nine

    My heart was pounding as I took in the other person’s face. He was very good looking, having light blonde hair and green eyes. I relaxed a little, taking in the confused way he looked at me. He didn’t know what was going on either. I suddenly realized how pale he was. I jerked my eyes back up to his face. He had light purple circles under his eyes. After being around the Cullens for so long, I immediately recognized him as a vampire. My heart started pounding again.
“ Hello.” His voice was calm and deep, almost soothing.
“ Hi.” I answered, wondering why Jacob hadn’t come back yet. Couldn’t he smell vampires from miles away? I tried to keep my heart rate even, knowing this new vamp could hear it.
“ My name is Evan. I’m presuming you’re Mika?” He asked, gracefully tilting his head.
“ Yeah. How did you know?” I asked, taking a little, hopefully unnoticed step back.
“ You called for me.” He answered, smiling a little at my step back.
“ Um excuse me? I don’t even know you.” I said looking at him again. Maybe I did know him, before he was a vampire. He obviously wasn’t a newborn, because I wasn’t dead yet. He looked to be about my age in body, but I knew he had to be older. His blonde hair was styled in a trendy way and he had on a black band tee shirt and fashionably ripped jeans. He looked like a teenager.
And how were his eyes green? The Vampires I knew either had gold or red eyes. Except…Renesmee. But I thought Renesmee was the only one of her kind. I stared at him, still wondering where Jacob was. What was taking him so long? I glanced around me warily. Nothing. No noise. Just silence. It was creepy.
“ I called you?” I asked, suddenly remembering what he had said.
“ Yeah. Not aloud though. My gift is hearing people’s subconscious feelings. So you didn’t actually call me, but you were wishing for me. So I came.” Evan said smiling.
“ I wished for you? How can you wish for someone you don’t even know?”
“ You wanted Renesmee to have someone to make her happy. You secretly felt bad about taking Jacob away from her. So here I am.” Evan spread his hands, palms up, looking utterly adorable and innocent. I smiled.
“ So are you the same as Renesmee? Mixed I mean. Half Vampire and half human?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.
“Yes. There are not very many of us. But there are a few. I was one of the first one of us born. My family and I had to live in hiding because they thought my parents had bitten me. Which is illegal.” He threw in, in case I didn’t know. I hadn’t known. I nodded.
“ The reason Jacob isn’t back yet is because my smell isn’t as strong. I have human scent too, so the vampire is just a faint trace. To him it smells like maybe a faint trail of a vampire passing a while ago.” He explained.
“Oh.” I nodded. So that explained why he wasn’t back yet.
I stared at him again. He looked like an ok guy. But how did I know he wasn’t in with Jameka? I made myself raise my guard again. Evan was staring at me as well.
“ How do you know Renesmee is gonna like you? Can you see the future too?” I decided to use some of my sarcasm.
“ No. But I’m almost positive she will. I am one of her kind. I know things she does not. I will help her.” Evan stated sincerely.
Wow. This guy was deep. He seemed like a pretty good guy. But there was still just a niggling piece of doubt in my mind. I was just suspicious of all vampires without the last name Cullen. And how did I know this guy wouldn’t kill me? His half Vampire blood made him strong. He could easily kill me if he wanted to. I looked down at my shoes, sneaking peeks at Evan with half lowered eyelids. He looked lost in thought, leaning casually against a tree, his arms crossed.
“ Would you take me to the Cullen’s house, Mika?” Evan’s voice startled me.
I jumped and straightened. “What?” I stammered. I wasn’t for sure what to do. Should I risk leaving here and taking him to the Cullen’s? Or should I wait and check and see if it was ok? More than ever I wish someone was here with me. I wished Edward was here so he could read his mind and see if he was safe. Evan walked forward, obviously seeing my uncertainty of what to do. He put one hand on my arm, comfortingly.
“ Its ok, Mika.”
I flinched at his warm, yet cold hand. I nodded slowly. A peace filled me. Maybe this was what I was supposed to do.
Suddenly a ripping, snarling sound came from the forest. I jumped away from Evan. Jacob leapt from the woods in a huge flying arc of russet fur. He landed, crouched and looked like he was about to attack. His lips were pulled back from his sharp canine teeth. I glanced over at Evan. He was standing there, not in a defensive position. Just standing there. Looking at me. I glanced back at Jacob. Maybe I could get him to shift. But before I could move, Jacob leaped.