Trixie trudged along with Jim. This wasn’t her idea of a good time, or a hot date. But he had promised to demonstrate what the sun did to him.

It was one more surreal event in the last few months, since she had moved to Forks, Oregon, to live with her dad, Peter. He was an uptight banker who didn’t know how to relate to his now eighteen year old daughter. Her mother had remarried and was traveling the country with her baseball playing second husband. Her brothers were off at college in Arizona and Tennessee.

School had been rough. Most of the kids ignored her. A few had been friendly, like Jessica, but it was the Cullen family that intrigued her. They missed a lot of school, in fact, every sunny day, though there hadn’t been that many, compared to the weather in New York. But they were an interesting family, with no resemblance to each other. Jessica had explained they were all adopted. There was the quirky, gorgeous Alice. Snotty Rosalie who sneered at everyone. Emmett, who had bulging muscles and was married to the snotty Rosalie, and Jasper, who always seemed very, very calm, except for the rare occurrence when he lost control around fresh blood.

But it was the redheaded Cullen that caught her attention. His eyes were greenish-gold, sometimes more golden than green, something she didn’t understand. They were all pale, like most of Fork’s residents, but seemingly more so.

His eyes had trailed her across the lunchroom. She stared back and he looked away.

They ended up being lab partners that first day, when he thoroughly offended her. As soon as she got close to him and the desk, he started turning green and gagging. She hesitated and some of the other students had noticed his reaction to her. There were a few giggles as she took the seat next to him and he looked ready to throw up. Finally he bolted from the desk and out the door, leaving a humiliated Trixie by herself. She opened her textbook and blinked back tears. She tried to discreetly sniff herself. Did she stink that badly? She hadn’t even had gym yet!

But then, there was the day in the parking lot, when Tyler lost control of his dark blue van and it was sliding towards Trixie. Jim had appeared out of nowhere, covering his body with hers, and with one hand, putting a crazy dent in the truck, but effectively stopping it.

Romantic, and sweet. And the time he had saved her from those bikers. Then of course there were the times she was sure he was in her room, watching her undress or sleep. Creepy, those moments. And his skin was so cold, so hard, she had noticed quickly, once he got over his initial revulsion of her.

So when had admitted her was a vampire, she had thought he was crazy. He went to school. He walked in the daylight. He explained they could be up while the sun was up, in fact, they didn’t sleep, but they didn’t go to school when it was sunny.

***

Today he promised to show her why.

“You’ll have to be very patient.”

“I can be patient—if I make a great effort.”

Jim smiled, holding Trixie’s glance, trying to lift her out of her sudden, unexplained dejection.

She tried to smile back, but the smile was unconvincing. He scrutinized her face.

“I’ll take you home,” he promised.

She couldn’t tell if the promise was unconditional, or restricted to an immediate departure. She knew he thought it was fear that upset, and she was grateful again that she was the one person whose mind he couldn’t read.

“If you want me to hack five mile through the jungle before sundown, you’d better start leading the way,” she said acidly.

Jim frowned at her, struggling to understand her tone and expression.

He gave up after a moment and led the way into the forest.

It was as hard as Trixie feared. The way was mostly flat, and he held the damp ferns and webs of moss aside for her. When his straight path took them over fallen trees or boulders, he would help her, lifting her by the elbow, and then releasing her instantly when she was clear. His cold touch on her skin never failed to make her heart thud erratically. Twice, when that happened, Trixie caught a look on his face that made her sure he could hear it somehow.

She tried to keep her eyes away from his perfection as much as possible, but she slipped often. Each time, his supple beauty pierced her through with sadness.

He and his siblings were outcasts at school though, and Trixie was essentially joining them. The few friends she had made were polite, but they were clearly uncomfortable around the Cullens.

Now though, for the most part, they walked in silence. Occasionally he would ask a random question that he hadn’t gotten to in the past two days of interrogation. He asked about birthdays, grade school teachers, childhood pets-and she had to admit that after killing three fish in a row she’d given up on the whole institution. He laughed at that, louder than usual – bell like echoes bouncing back to us from the empty woods.

The hike took most of the morning, but he never showed any impatience. The forest spread out around them in a boundless labyrinth of ancient trees, and she began to be nervous that they would never find their way out again. He was perfectly at ease, comfortable in the green maze, never seem to feel any doubt about their direction.

After several hours, the light that filtered through the canopy transformed, the murky olive ton shifting to a brighter jade. The day had turned sunny, just as he’d foretold. For the first time since they’d entered the woods, she felt a thrill of excitement- which quickly turned to impatience.

“Are we there yet?” she teased, pretending to scowl.

“Nearly.” He smiled at the change in her mood. “Do you see the brightness ahead?”

She peered into the thick forest. “Um, should I?”

He smirked. “Maybe it’s a bit soon for your eyes.”

“Time to visit the optometrist,” she muttered. His smirk grew more pronounced.

But then, after another hundred yards, she could definitely see a lightening in the trees ahead, a flow that was yellow instead of green. She picked up the pace, her eagerness growing with every step. He let her lead now, following noiselessly.

She reached the edge of the pool of light and stepped through the last fringe of ferns in the loveliest place I had ever seen. The meadow was small, perfectly round, and filled with wildflowers- violet, yellow and soft white. Somewhere nearby, she could hear the bubbling music of a stream. The sun was directly overhead, filling the circle with a haze of buttery sun shone. She walked slowly, awestruck, through the soft grass, swaying flowers, and warm, gilded air. She halfway turned, wanting to share this with him, but he wasn’t behind her where she thoughts he’d be. She spun around, searching for him with sudden alarm. Finally she spotted him, still under the dense shade of the canopy at the edge of the hollow, watching her with cautious eyes. Only then did she remember what the beauty of the meadow had driven from her mind- the enigma of Jim and the sun, which he’s promised to illustrate for her today.

She took a step back toward him, her eyes alight with curiosity. At his hesitation, her eyes turned wary. Finally, she smiled encouragingly and beckoned to him with her hand, taking another step back to him. He held up a hand in warning, and she hesitated, rocking back onto her heels.

Jim seemed to take a deep breath, and then stepped out into the bright glow of the midday sun.

Jim in the sunlight was shocking. Trixie couldn’t get used to it, though she’d been staring at him all afternoon. His skin, white despite the faint slush from yesterday’s hunting trip, literally sparkled, like thousands of tiny diamonds were embedded on the surface.

She stared so long, he finally stretched out on the grass. He lay perfectly still in the grass, his shirt removed to reveal his sculpted, incandescent chest, his scintillating arms bare. His eyes were closed, and he was humming.

Trixie cocked her head to one size, blinking rapidly. He was sparkling. He was a sparkling vampire. Sparkling. Vampire. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Vicious hunter at the core who…sparkled. In daylight. Sparkled.

And then it happened.

Jim leapt to his feet, and undid the waist of his jeans, dropping his pants to reveal the blue, full body leotard, and slipped the straps of it up and over his shoulders.

Trixie’s mouth fell open.

Jim rose on point, humming, and began to twirl on his toes, kicking his long legs gracefully and taking a huge leap across the clearing. Lost in dance, he never noticed Trixie’s face.

“This has to be a dream,” she murmured. “please, please, please, let it be a dream. Please.”

A sparkling, ballet dancing vampire.

Oh, how Trixie wished to wake up from this nightmare.





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***
Author's Notes

- A big thank you first and foremost to Ryl, my challenge/editing partner who is always a joy to work with and usually on the same wavelength with me. Here's to many more challenges to create in the coming years, my friend!
- Most of this scene is copied word for word from the original scene in Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. Therefore, this word count does not count on my totals.
- Happy Halloween!
- Written for Ryl and Mal's Second Annual Halloween Challenge!
- Original graphic from the Twilight cover, with modifications by me.



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