Orion's eyes closed as the world around him warped and shifted. The subtle sensation of the atmosphere changing around his body served as a stark reminder that he had no idea of the location God had chosen for his first stop.
The feeling of his body being encompassed by the distortion appeared, then vanished with almost the same speed.
Cracking his eyes open, Orion smiled as he drew a deep, long breath through his nostrils. A rich, earthy scent, mingled with hints of pine and fresh rain, filled his lungs. Scanning his surroundings, Orion realized he was in a dense forest. Towering trees completely enveloped him, their trunks rising from the damp ground and their crowns disappearing high into the sky.
"Where the fuck am I?" he murmured in wonder.
Tapping into his powers, Orion noted that while God had indeed placed some block on him from figuring out his own future, he could still discern his current location in this new world, and if it connected to any knowledge he already possessed.
'Let's keep the all-knowing powers to a limit for now. I'd rather experience everything without having foreknowledge,' he thought, stepping slowly through the dimly lit forest.
Orion's eyes and ears registered subtle movements throughout his journey, his head snapping towards the sources before he simply brushed them off.
'Is my presence scaring the wildlife into silence?' he wondered.
Though he could easily teleport somewhere closer to civilization, Orion theorized that God had placed him in this specific spot for a particular reason. Thus, he continued to walk through the forest, undisturbed, his mind clearer than it had ever been.
"I must admit, I didn't expect to find you here." A male voice spoke softly in the distance.
Orion's ears twitched. He turned his head towards the sound, which originated a couple of hundred meters away. Moving quietly through the trees, he reached the edge of a clearing that resembled a meadow. His eyes flickered between two people staring at each other: one, a young girl, perhaps seventeen, and the other, a slightly older male.
'Are his eyes red?' Orion questioned silently, paying extra attention to the dark-skinned man. 'I'd assume the humans here would look like him, but he's shimmering in the sunlight.'
The dark-skinned man stood at six feet, with long dreadlocks that fell to his waist. His eyes were a dark red, almost reminiscent of blood. Orion noticed, through his enhanced hearing, that while the young woman had a heartbeat, the male did not.
"Laurent, what are you doing here?" The young girl stammered.
"I went to visit the Cullens, but their house is empty. I'm surprised they left you behind. Weren't you sort of a pet of theirs?" The man, Laurent, said, taking a small step towards the teen.
"Uhm, something like that."
"Do they visit often?" He pressed.
The teen hesitated for a moment, staring off into the distance. "All the time. I'll tell them you stopped by." She said, forcing a fake smile.
Orion remained hidden behind the treeline, his mind processing the conversation, slowly piecing it all together. Though he could simply use his powers for an instant answer, he wanted to observe the unfolding situation naturally.
"I thought you were in Alaska, with Carlisle's cousins?"
"Ah, I'm only stopping through here as a favor for a friend. You remember Victoria, don't you?" Laurent said, taking another step closer.
"You're still friends?"
"More or less. You see, Victoria is a little... put out with you. She mentioned something about exacting revenge against the ones who killed James."
Gathering the spoken information, Orion began to understand that Laurent was here either to harm the teen or to report her whereabouts. 'These Cullens must have screwed up and killed someone, then ditched the girl.'
'Wait, Cullens?' Orion froze, his mind cycling through all the clear memories of his past life, before everything abruptly clicked into place. 'This is Twilight, isn't it? I remember the first movie, but that's it.'
Looking at the girl once again, Orion could see she was a slightly different, yet almost identical, version of Kristen Stewart who played Isabella Swan. Long brown hair that fell over her heart-shaped face, brown eyes, thin lips, and a slender body.
"She feels malice towards the ones who killed her mate, and now she wants to pay it back. You know, an eye for an eye, a mate for a mate." Laurent said, his subtle French accent seeping through.
Bella stepped back, her eyes darting from side to side with worry. "He'll know. Edward will come for both of you."
Laurent chuckled at her words. "I don't think he will. After all, how much could you mean to him if he left you here unprotected? Victoria sent me here for information. She won't be happy about my killing you."
"Laurent, don't do this!" Bella pleaded, as Laurent moved with blurring speed, appearing directly before her. He took a deep breath, savoring her scent.
"No, no, no. Don't be upset. I'm doing you a kindness. Victoria plans on killing you slowly, painfully—whereas I'll make it very quick. And you smell so... mouth-watering." Laurent whispered, the back of his hand lightly tracing Bella's face.
Bella closed her eyes, whispering words of sorrow and longing, her body trembling as she braced herself for imminent death.
"Damn, you're a bit creepy, aren't you, dude?" A voice spoke out from the treeline, snapping Laurent's and Bella's eyes in its direction.
There stood a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, with ink-black hair cut short on the sides, while the top remained longer. He stood at an impressive 6'4", with a robust but lean physique that could be mistaken for an athlete's. The main attraction, however, was his piercing, scarlet eyes, which visibly glowed.
"Who are you?" Laurent said, taking an involuntary step back. There was something indescribable about the person standing before him that awakened a deep, primal fear within him.
Scratching his neck, Orion took a single step and vanished from his spot, reappearing beside Bella. His movements were so impossibly fast that neither she nor Laurent could even perceive them.
"Concerned citizen, upstanding person, random stranger—whatever works for you." Orion said, a light smile playing on his lips. "The real question is what's a vampire doing here acting like a starving dog?"
Ignoring Bella for the moment, Orion focused all his attention on the sparkling vampire, observing the supernatural entity with his eyes, instantly gaining all knowledge on their physiology, powers, and history.
'Huh, a magical experiment gone wrong. Witches existed at one point, but they killed themselves off.'
"What are you? Eyes that are red, but a heartbeat and blood pulsing through your veins. Is this some type of illusion one of the Cullens has placed?" Laurent mumbled, his eyes flickering between Bella and Orion.
Tilting his head at the foolish question, Orion turned to Bella. "Is he dangerous?" he asked.
Staring at him unblinkingly, she merely nodded in fear.
Grunting in acknowledgment, Orion faced Laurent once more before he simply vanished.
In the next second, Orion appeared again, but Laurent was nowhere to be seen. Instead, in his place were two torn arms, legs, and a head, neatly arranged in a pile.
Snapping his fingers, a small flame appeared on the carcass, slowly growing larger and combusting into a roaring fire, the vampire's venom acting as an accelerant.
Grinning, Orion turned around and extended his hand to Bella. "Not the best first meeting, but better than seeing you dead, huh? Orion, pleasure to meet you."