A Hard Fall...not just to the ground. {{Open}}

[Bella Martin]

Bella stood on the edge of the water, dipping her toes in ever so carefully. She studied the ripples for a few minutes, before darting back to her easel to paint what her mind unveiled for her.

Swirling her brush in the baby blue paint, she began the soft strokes of the pond's ripples while the sun beat down on the back of her neck and birds sang cheerfully in the background.

She carried on like this for sometime, swirling her paintbrush, then running to the water's edge to mix it up again. She had done this at least 100 times when she noticed that the birds where no longer singing. And that the sun had disappeared behind a particularly large batch of black thunderheads.

Acting on instict, she immediately began packing up her paints, carefully blowing on her painting, and folding up her easel before the rain hit.

Bella shook her head. She could never trust the Canadian weather.

A small rustle in the lush green bushes behind her made her jump and whip around. Her wide eyes scoured the entire area before she turned slowly back to her satchel.

She shoved in a few more jars of paint. The rustling sounded again.

Nervous now, Bella took a cautious step foreward, tilting her head to see through the bushes.

"Who's there?" She asked shakily, her voice barely audible.

Not paying attention to the ground, she hit a rock with her toe and went flying. She hit the ground with a painful thud! Bella was immediately aware of a pulsating throb in her ankle.

Aw, crap! Not a broken ankle again!

The rustling came again, but Bella did not have the effort to lift her neck and give her visitor a lengthy stare. But she did have the effort to listen carefully to the voice that sounding like velvet...

"Are you alright?!"

[Zane Klass]

Zane wasn't the type to spy on people, or just watch them. But watching this girl made him peaceful, he was just walking around Doll's Forest. Other people were absolutely scared of this forest, but he wasn't. And apparently this girl wasn't either.
She watched her more, he had accidentally moved and leaves rustled from where he stood. The girl looked around nervously, than stood up. He saw a big rock, she was walking to wards it. He knew this wasn't going to turn out good, she was going to trip. Of course.
Than a thud and she was sprawled on the ground, Zane instantly yelled out,
"Are you alright?!"
He quickly came out of his hiding spot and knelt down next to the girl, a worried expression on his face. He didn't really noticed how she stared at him in awe. Than he remembered that he was handsome, beautiful. Darn vampire looks.
Zane looked at her foot, her ankle.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, he moved his gaze from her ankle to her face again.

[Bella Martin]

"I'm not sure..." Bella stuttered. "I-I think I twisted my ankle...this is really bad...I'm a gymnast, so this is awful..." She babbled.

Then she took in his looks. Every feature was perfectly shaped, each bone was accented beautifully. Right down to his black eyes. A small gasp escaped her lips.

He ignored her for the most part. He swiveled around and helped her into a sitting position, and then carefully lifted her ankle to check it. Her skin trembled when he touched her--he was ice cold!

"Looks like there is no break, but you are hurt. I'm Zane, by the way." He held out his hand. Bella grabbed it tenderly and shook it fractions.

"Bella." She whispered.

[Zane Klass]

Zane had picked up her ankle, knowing thats where she hurt the most. He saw her gasp, he knew his eyes were black. He thought if maybe he walked around here he would pick up his dinner also.
"Looks like there is no break, but you are hurt. I'm Zane, by the way." he said, extending his hand for her to take. She grasped his hand and shook it.
"Bella." she whispered.
Earlier when he hadent checked her ankle she was talking about something. He racked his brain to remember.
Ah yes.
"I'm not sure..." she stuttered. "I-I think I twisted my ankle...this is really bad...I'm a gymnast, so this is awful..."
Zane smiled at Bella, "No worries though, it will heal quickly." he said resurringly.

[Bella Martin]

Bella smiled with her eyes closed, thanking him, and then struggled to her feet. The strange boy helped her up, gripping her forearm with his startlingly cold hands.

Shivering, Bella made her way back to her easel and finished packing her bag.

"So what are you doing out here?" She asked him curiously. She wanted to know why he had been spying on her. After all, she was just painting. She frowned to herself.

"I could ask you the same question." He grinned, handing her the folded up easel.

[Zane Klass]

"So what are you doing out here?" she asked him curiously. Zane grinned and handed Bella her easel saying, "I could ask you the same question."
Zane was starting to like this girl, she was very calm. He thought all girls started crying when they sprained something.
He looked at Bella's ankle again than at her face. "If you want, I can carry you to where you need to go. I don't want you to walk back through the forest with a sprained ankle.." he said his voice trailing off as he looked back at her ankle. He gave her a quick smile.

[Bella Martin]

She was genuinely surprised by his offer. She had barely met this beautiful creature with icy skin and flawless features...five minutes ago.

"Maybe. I'm a big girl. We'll see how far I can get." She smiled warmly, beginning to like this guy.

They began to walk back, his arm holding her steady.

She decided to answer his question. "I come here to paint. I love it at this lake. So peaceful, and quiet. It's a nice change compared to being on campus." She rolled her eyes at the thought of the noise level.

His eyebrows arched. "Do you go to Greenwood?!"

She looked at him curiously. "Of course. Do you?"

[Zane Klass]

"I come here to paint. I love it at this lake. So peaceful, and quiet. It's a nice change compared to being on campus." Bella said with a roll of her eyes. His eyebrows arched, "Do you go to Greenwood?!" he asked, genuinely surprised.
She had looked at him curiously than answered, "Of course. Do you?" she asked. Zane nodded, a grin on his face.
"I do too. " he looked out over the lake. "It is....actually quite peaceful here." he said the last sentence softly, gazing at the lake. The wind had blown and Bella's scent had filled his lungs, his throat burned like crazy. He held back, he was not going to slip up again. He had been a vegetarian for 5 years almost, he didn't want to quit now. He tried to ignore the sweet scent of Bella's blood and skin as he looked over the lake.

[Bella Martin]

Bella's forehead creased in worry. "Are you okay? You look kind of stressed..." Her eyes scanned his face looking for any clues. He did look stressed--almost sick. His eyes were scorching as they gazed carefully back at the lake, he was gritting his teeth tightly, and his temple throbbed slightly.

He didn't answer.

Carefully, she slowly reached up and touched his arm. "Zane?"

He flinched, and his black eyes turned to glare at her.

Startled, she took two hasty steps back, ripping her hand from his arm. "I'm s-s-s-sorry..." she stuttered.

Zane placed a hand over his eyes and took a deep breath.

[Zane Klass]

Zane was starting to act weird, he was getting hungrier by the minute.
Bella had asked him if he was okay and he turned to glare at her.
He didn't mean it, it was just his hunger.
Bella took one look at his eyes, his glare and ripped her hand away from his arm.
She stuttered out the word sorry and he took a deep breathe and put a hand over his eyes. As if he was trying to hide or something.
He shook his head, he kept his hand over his eyes.

"Don't be sorry, It's me. I must...go." he slowly took his hand away, and tried to smile at Bella. As an apology.
"I'll, see you around." it sounded weird when he said it. This had to be scary, awkward for her. He couldn't believe he ever started to talk to her when he was hunting.

[Bella Martin]

Bella was even more confused than ever. "You're going? Just like that?!" Her tone was infected with frustration.

"What is going on?" She demanded, putting her arms on her hips and putting all her weight on one leg. She teetered a bit, but found her balance and glared at him.

But he was already walking away.

Cussing, she turned around and headed back to campus. Zane repeated his goodbye softly, and Bella threw one back.

"Yea," she said roughly. "I'll hold you to that." She looked carefully behind her; Zane was smiling a goodbye.

Scowling, she turned and walked back to campus.

* * * *