Adrenalin dashed through her veins, making Bella more excited than she already was. Books, she thought, are absolutely amazing.

Bella inhaled deeply, committing the aroma of freshly printed pages to her memories so that she could reminisce whenever after being turned into a vampire. She doubted that any bookseller or librarian would allow her to step into their stores with her flaunting her ruby red eyes.

Edward stood behind her, pressing his face into her hair. “As you wished, love,” he whispered.

Alice bounced next to her, annoyed that precious time would be wasted amongst things that couldn’t be paraded in. “Can you hurry, please, Bella? I just saw the finest diamond earrings at Dior and they look splendid on you!”

Bella chuckled. “Oh, you would know best of all, Alice,” she said dryly.

Edward frowned at his sister. “Let her enjoy herself before she crosses the threshold of night forever. Buy whatever you want, Bella.” Bella smiled at Edward before dashing away to pull off the shelves The Complete Literary Works of William Shakespeare before indulging in the heartbreaking romance of Romeo & Juliet.

A young man discreetly sniffed the air around him while the young saleswoman scanned his items. There was a peculiar yet familiar smell in the air, one so delectable that it made his mouth pool with venom. There was a human somewhere with blood more appetizing than those of royalty. And he desired to sink his razor sharp teeth into them, robbing them of their blood and essentially, life.

“Excuse me, Miss,” he began to say in a caramelized voice. “Do you think you could mind my books here? There’s something I must do, extremely important.”

The saleswoman was enraptured in the eyes of a predator. “S-s-sure,” she stuttered. “I’ll leave it under the desk, but please Sir, what’s your name?”

“Completely irrelevant to you, Miss,” he said harshly to the stunned woman before walking away.

He let his senses lead to the winner’s prize, swerving around people with coffee cups and children in their hands. The departmental store was rather large and today it was crowded, ironically. Finally, he stood before the slender person that was making his senses go into overdrive.

“Hello,” the stranger said in a musical voice.