The muted light of yet another cloudy day eventually woke me. I lay with my arm across my eyes, groggy and dazed. Something, a dream trying to be remembered, struggled to break into my consciousness. I moaned and rolled on my side, hoping more sleep would come. It didn't, but a cold chill did and then the previous day flooded back into my awareness.
"Oh!" I sat up so fast it made my head spin and my yell woke my sister from her slumber.
"Your hair looks like a haystack... but I like it." His unruffled voice came from my side.
"Christian! You stayed!" I rejoiced, barely noticing Edward in the rocking chair across the room. I flung myself backwards into a laying position to be eye-to-eye with Christian. In the instant that my thoughts caught up with my actions, I froze, shocked by my own uncontrolled enthusiasm.
I stared at him, afraid that I had crossed the wrong line.
But he laughed.
Finally, I heard Bella shrill in delight; she'd finally woken completely up.
"Of course," Christian answered, startled, but seeming pleased by my reaction. His hand rubbed my arm.
I moved my head to lay cautiously against his shoulder, breathing in the scent of his skin.
I heard Bella in the rocking chair with Edward. "I was sure it was a dream," she sighed.
"You're not that creative," Edward scoffed.
I laughed to myself before remembering. "Dad!" Thoughtlessly jumping up again and heading to the door.
"He left an hour ago," Edward chimed.
"After reattaching your battery cables, I might add," Christian continued. "I have to admit I was disappointed. Is that really all it would take to stop you, if you were determined to go?"
I deliberated where I stood, wanting to return to him badly, but afraid I might have morning breath. I tossed my sister a knowing look, warning her as well. She also jumped up and walked over to me.
"You're not usually this confused in the morning," Edward noted, Christian nodding at his words. He held his arms open for me to return. A nearly irresistible invitation.
"We need another human minute," Bella admitted.
"We'll wait."
We skipped to the bathroom, my emotions unrecognizable. I didn't know myself, inside or out. The face in the mirror was practically a stranger â eyes too bright, hectic spots of red across my cheekbones. Bella and I giggled at each other within our small bathroom.
After I brushed my teeth, I worked to straighten out the tangled chaos that was my hair. Bella waited patiently as I splashed my face with cold water, and tried to breathe normally, with no noticeable success. We half-ran back to our room.
It seemed like a miracle that he was there, his arms still waiting for me. He reached out to me and my heart thumped unsteadily.
"Welcome back," he murmured, taking me into his arms.
He laid with me for a while with Bella and Edward rocking silently, until she noticed that his clothes were changed, his hair smooth. I looked to Christian and saw the same.
"You left?" She accused, touching the collar of his fresh shirt.
"I could hardly leave in the clothes I came in â what would the neighbors think?"
She pouted. I snickered.
"You were very deeply asleep; I didn't miss anything." His eyes gleamed. "The talking came earlier."
She groaned. "What did you hear?"
His topaz eyes grew very soft. "You said you loved me."
"You knew that already," She reminded him, ducking her head.
"It was nice to hear, just the same."
She hid her face against his shoulder.
"I love you," She whispered.
I didn't hear Edward's response over my loud "Oh really!" My sister glared in my direction. I sat up from Christian's hug. "So, you're already saying that, huh?" I probed. Not waiting for her response, I gagged jokingly and fell back onto the bed.
Eventually, between light laughter and quiet conversation, the room grew lighter.
"Breakfast time," Christian said casually â to prove, I'm sure, that he remembered all of my human frailties.
I looked over to see Bella clutching her throat with both hands, her eyes wide. Shock crossed Edward's face.
"Kidding!" She snickered loudly. "And you said I couldn't act!"
He frowned in disgust. "That wasn't funny."
"It was very funny," I added, looking at Christian's displeased face when I said it. "And you know it."
"Shall I rephrase?" Edward asked. "Breakfast time for the humans."
"Oh, okay."
I watched as he threw my sister over his stone shoulder and then disappeared, moving too fast for my eyes to track. When they had cleared the room, Christian wrapped his arms around me once again.
"Let's give them a 'human minute'." He said, mocking my sister.
"I can do that," I breathed.
After ten minutes, I figured that was long enough and seemingly dragged Christian down the stairs to join them. I made it down in time to hear Edward ask Bella about how good her bowl of cereal actually was.
"Well, it's no irritable grizzly..." she murmured. I heard Christian cough behind me, figuring he was hiding his shock and laughter from Edward.
Christian went to join his cousin in the middle of the kitchen while I grabbed a granola bar and sat at the table.
"I'm no human, but I feel like that's not enough food." He chidded.
"If you didn't notice, she didn't eat last night, either." Bella quipped, dodging a glare from me.
Christian looked like he'd just been slapped. "I'm pretty sure that humans need food to survive, Alex." The attitude was practically dripping. When I ignored him, he continued. "So, when're you thinking, Ed?"
"When for what?" I asked, earning a dead stare from Christian.
"We're going to meet their family," Bella informed me.
"The family that doesn't like us 'family'?" I was incredulous.
"I told you!" Bella yelled at Edward.
"They'll get over it," Edward responded. "But you didn't answer my question. Are you going to tell Charlie I'm your boyfriend or not?" he demanded.
"Is that what you are?"
Christian raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged. Can't control my sister's attitude. I was hoping Christian wouldn't add us into the conversation.
"It's a loose interpretation of the word 'boy,' I'll admit."
"I was under the impression that you were something more, actually," she confessed, looking at the table.
"Well, I don't know if we need to give him all the gory details." He reached across the table to lift my sister's chin. "But he will need some explanation for why I'm around here so much. I don't want Chief Swan getting a restraining order put on me."
"Will you be?" she asked, suddenly sounding anxious. "Will you really be here?"
"As long as you want me," he assured her.
I looked to Christian as my sister said something about 'wanting him forever,' but I stopped paying attention when I saw he looked almost sad, maybe even yearning. It flashed away almost instantly when he noticed my prying eyes. I wondered to myself if Christian wanted to be having this conversation with me, and was then thankful Edward couldn't read my thoughts to relay this information on to him. I was pulled from my reverie when Bella jumped up from the table.
"Get dressed â I'll wait here."
Christian ushered me up the stairs with her. Once in our room, it was hard to decide what to wear. I doubted there were any etiquette books detailing how to dress when your vampire takes you home to meet his vampire family.
So I asked my sister. "What should I wear?"
"I'm going with this," she replied, holding up a long, khaki-colored skirt and a dark blue blouse. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail.
"You look like a librarian." I joked. "How about this?" I pulled out black skinny jeans from a bottom drawer and a Rolling Stones white tee â even though I don't listen to them â and took a black pleather jacket from our little closet.
"You look like you're going to meet vampires from a Dracula movie."
I shrugged and ran a hand through my hair quickly and we went down the stairs together.
"Okay," Bella bounced. "I'm decent."
Edward was waiting at the foot of the stairs and he steadied her as she bounded into him. "Wrong again," I heard him murmur. "You are utterly indecent â no one should look so tempting, it's not fair."
"You two are disgusting," I said pointedly.
"And you, my fairy, are dressed like you're expecting coffins." Christian called, walking in from the kitchen.
I took my eyes off of my sister and her undead boyfriend for two seconds and I heard Edward's worried voice.
"Bella?" He was alarmed.
"You... made... me... faint." My sister accused him dizzily.
I rolled my eyes and walked towards the door; their blatant love display weirding me out.
Christian caught up to me, apparently thinking I was envious. "I could make you faint, y'know." He flashed his perfect teeth in a large smile. I attempted to push him, but to no surprise, he didn't move.
The truck was far too small for four people, so Christian and I rode in the open back, while Edward drove and Bella sat shotgun. I realized, as he drove the truck out of the main part of town, that I had no idea where they lived. We passed over the bridge at the Calawah RIver, the road winding northward, the houses flashing past us growing farther apart, getting bigger. And then we were past the other houses altogether, driving through misty forest. I was going to ask Christian to clear it up when Edward turned abruptly onto an unpaved road, throwing me sideways against the solid metal. I screamed inwardly and let out more noise than I would've liked as my hands caressed my hip bone, hovering around the injured area. I had felt Christian reach for me when I slid, but he hadn't seemed to realize how close I was to the side. Not so great at everything then, I thought through the blinding pain.
"Edward!" Christian yelled at the cab and I felt the truck slow immediately. The road we were on was unmarked, barely visible among the ferns. The forest encroached on both sides, leaving the road ahead only discernible for a few meters as it twisted, serpentlike, around the ancient trees.
Edward was in the back of the truck before I blinked and I heard the passenger door open and slam back shut as Bella climbed in, too.
"Is she okay?" he asked.
"I don't know! I'm not a doctor!" Christian barked at him.
"I'm just dinged," I interrupted the boys. "I'm not gonna die, but I'll probably bruise."
My sister looked concerned, which was no surprise to me, but then she piped up. "At least your dad is a doctor."
I chuckled and Christian glared at me, probably upset that I chose now to be in a humorous mood.
"We're almost there." Edward said as he raced back to the driver's side.
Bella decided to stay in the back with me, too, so Edward remained in the cab alone.
And then, after a few miles, there was some thinning of the woods, and we were suddenly in a small meadow, or was it actually a lawn? The gloom of the forest didn't relent, though, for there were six primordial cedars that shaded an entire acre with their vast sweep of branches. The trees held their protecting shadow right up to the walls of the house that rose among them, making obsolete the deep porch that wrapped around the first story.
I don't know what I had expected, but it definitely wasn't this. The house was timeless, graceful, and probably a hundred years old. It was painted a soft, faded white, three stories tall, rectangular and well proportioned. The windows and doors were either part of the original structure or a perfect restoration.
The truck was the only car in sight. I could hear the river close by, hidden in the obscurity of the forest.
I didn't have much time to admire it, because before Edward had the truck turned off, Christian had me in his arms and he was up the drive. He walked â or sped-walked â through the deep shade up to the porch. I knew he could feel my tension; his thumb rubbed soothing circles into the back of my shoulder.
He opened the door and immediately called for Carlisle, the doctor. I didn't get to see the interior of the walkway, because we were in a room with the door closed almost instantly, leaving my sister behind somewhere in the grand house.
Carlisle was there, too, and came to check on me.
"What happened?" He asked Christian.
"Edward was reckless," he replied through gritted teeth. It was odd to hear him call Edward by his full name and I suppose this was the show of his anger.
"Calm down. She isn't badly hurt." As the doctor confirmed it, I was confused as to why Christian was getting so agitated. It's not like I was dying. "Her bone is bruised, so she'll be sore for a short time, but she's fine. Nothing cracked or broken," Carlisle finished.
After assuring Christian almost thirty times that I escaped mostly unscathed, Carlisle led us back into the parlor where we entered. The inside was even more surprising, less predictable, than the exterior. It was very bright, very open, and very large. This must have originally been several rooms, but the walls had been removed from most of the first floor to create one wide space. The back, south-facing wall had been entirely replaced with glass, and, beyond the shade of cedars, the lawn stretched bare to the wide river. A massive curving staircase dominated the west side of the room. The walls, the high-beamed ceiling, the wooden floors, and the thick carpets were all varying shades of white.
Waiting to greet us, standing just to the left of the door, on a raised portion of the floor by a spectacular grand piano, was Edward's mom. Carlisle left us and walked to her, kissing her on the head and she beamed at us.
Esme, I assumed, was the only one in the family I'd never seen before. She had the same pale, beautiful features as the rest of them. Something about her heart-shaped face, her billows of soft caramel-colored hair, reminded me of the ingénues of the silent-movie era. She was small, slender, yet less angular, more rounded than the others. They were both dressed casually, in light colors that matched the inside of the house. They smiled in welcome, but made no move to approach us. Trying not to frighten, I guessed.
I wished I hadn't worn black.
"Carlisle, Esme," Edward's voice broke the short silence. "This is Bella, and her sister, Alexandra."
"You're very welcome, Bella, Alexandra." Carlisle's step was measured, careful as he approached us. He raised his hand tentatively, and I stepped forward to shake hands with him.
"It's nice to see you again, Dr. Cullen." Bella chimed.
"Please, call me Carlisle."
"Carlisle." She grinned at him, her sudden confidence surprising. I could see Edward's relief at her side.
Esme smiled and stepped forward as well, reaching for my hand. Her cold, stone grasp was just as I expected. She turned after and reached for Bella's.
"It's very nice to know you," she said sincerely.
"Thank you. I'm glad to meet you, too." And I was. It was like meeting a fairy tale â Snow White, in the flesh.
"Where are Alice and Jasper?" Edward asked, but no one answered, as they had just appeared at the top of the wide staircase.
"Hey, boys!" Alice called enthusiastically. She ran down the stairs, a streak of black hair and white skin, coming to a sudden and graceful stop in front of me. Carlisle and Esme shot warning glances at her, but I liked it. It was natural â for her, anyway.
"Hi, Alexandra! Bella!" Alice said, and she bounced forward to kiss our cheeks. If Carlisle and Esme had looked cautious before, they now looked staggered. There was shock in my eyes, too, but I was also very pleased that she seemed to approve of me so entirely.
"You do smell nice, I never noticed before," she commented to Bella. She then glanced at me almost confused, but shook her head silently and moved on.
No one else seemed to know quite what to say, and then Jasper was there â tall and leonine. A feeling of ease spread through me, and I was suddenly comfortable despite where I was. Christian stared at Jasper, raising one eyebrow, and I remembered what Bella told me Jasper could do.
"Hello, Alexandra, Bella," Jasper said. He kept his distance, not offering to shake our hands. But it was impossible to feel awkward near him.
"Hello, Jasper." I smiled at him shyly, and then at the others. "It's nice to meet you all â you have a very beautiful home," I added conventionally.
"Thank you," Esme said. "We're so glad that you came." She spoke with feeling, and I realized that she thought I was brave.
I also realized that Rosalie and Emmett were nowhere to be seen, and I remembered Edward's too-innocent denial when Bella asked him if the others didn't like us.
Carlisle's expression distracted me from this train of thought; he was gazing meaningfully at Edward with an intense expression. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward nod once.
I looked away, trying to be polite. My eyes wandered again to the beautiful instrument on the platform by the door. I suddenly remembered my childhood fantasy that, should we ever win a lottery, we would buy a grand piano for our mother. She wasn't really good â she only played for herself on our secondhand upright â but we loved to watch her play. She was happy, absorbed â she seemed like a new, mysterious being to me then, someone outside the "mom" persona I took for granted. She'd put Bella through lessons, of course, but like most kids, she whined until she let her quit.
Esme noticed my preoccupation.
"Do you play?" she asked, inclining her head toward the piano.
I shook my head. "Not at all. But it's so beautiful. Is it yours?"
"No," she laughed. "Edward didn't tell you girls he was musical?"
"No." Bella glared at his suddenly innocent expression with narrowed eyes. "I should have known, I guess."
Esme raised her delicate eyebrows in confusion.
"Edward can do everything, right?" She explained.
Jasper snickered and Esme gave Edward a reproving look.
"I hope you haven't been showing offâ it's rude," she scolded.
"Just a bit," he laughed freely. Her face softened at the sound, and they shared a brief look that I didn't understand, though Esme's face seemed almost smug.
"Can you play, Christian?" I asked, trying not to seem too absorbed by Edward and his mother.
"Probably if I tried," he sounded cocky. "But I leave the showing off to Edward."
I rolled my eyes.
"He's been too modest, actually," Bella corrected.
"Well, play for her," Esme encouraged.
"You just said showing off was rude," he objected.
"There are exceptions to every rule," she replied.
"I'd like to hear you play," I volunteered.
Christian scowled at Edward.
"It's settled then." Esme pushed him toward the piano. He pulled my sister along, sitting her on the bench beside him.
He gave her a long, exasperated look before he turned to the keys.
And then his fingers flowed swiftly across the ivory, and the room was filled with a composition so complex, so luxuriant, it was impossible to believe only one set of hands played. I felt my chin drop, my mouth open in astonishment, and heard low chuckles behind me at my reaction.
Edward looked at Bella casually, the music still surging around us without a break, and winked. "Do you like it?"
"You wrote this?" She gasped, understanding.
He nodded. "It's Esme's favorite."
She closed her eyes, shaking her head.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm feeling extremely insignificant."
The music slowed, transforming into something softer, and to my surprise I detected the melody of a lullaby weaving through the profusion of notes.
"You inspired this one," he said softly to Bella. The music grew unbearably sweet.
She didn't speak.
"They like you girls, you know," he said conversationally. "Esme especially."
I glanced behind me, but the huge room was empty now.
"Where did they go?" I piped up.
"Very subtly giving us some privacy, I suppose." Christian replied.
I sighed. "They like us. But Rosalie and Emmett..." I trailed off, not sure how to express my doubts.
Edward frowned. "Don't worry about Rosalie," he said looking at Bella, his eyes wide and persuasive. "She'll come around."
She pursed her lips skeptically. "Emmett?"
"Well, he thinks I'm a lunaticâ same for Christian, it's true, but he doesn't have a problem with you two. He's trying to reason with Rosalie."
"What is it that upsets her?" I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer.
He sighed deeply. "Rosalie struggles the most with... with what we are. It's hard for her to have someone on the outside know the truth. And she's a little jealous."
"Rosalie is jealous of me?" Bella asked incredulously. I tried to imagine a universe in which someone as breathtaking as Rosalie would have any possible reason to feel jealous of someone like us.
"You're human." He shrugged. "She wishes that she were, too."
"Oh," She muttered, still stunned. "Even Jasper, though..."
"That's really my fault," he said. "I told you he was one of the most recent to try our way of life," he glanced to Christian, "I warned him to keep his distance. For some reason â I guess his upbringing â Jasper finds it much harder to adjust to the vegetarian life than Christian, even though he's had fifty years compared to Christian's five."
I thought about the reason for that, and shuddered.
"Esme and Carlisle... ?" I continued quickly, to keep Christian from noticing.
"Are happy to see us happy. Actually, Esme wouldn't care if you had a third eye and webbed feet. All this time she's been worried about us, afraid that there was something missing from our essential makeup, that Ed was too young when Carlisle changed him... She's ecstatic. Every time I touch you, she just about chokes with satisfaction." Christian stated.
"Alice seems very... enthusiastic."
"Alice has her own way of looking at things," Edward said through tight lips.
"And you're not going to explain that, are you?" Bella asked.
A moment of wordless communication passed between us all. He realized that Bella knew he was keeping something from us. She seemed realized that he wasn't going to give anything away. Not now.
"So what was Carlisle telling you before?" She continued.
His eyebrows pulled together. "You noticed that, did you?"
She shrugged. "Of course."
He looked at me thoughtfully for a few seconds before answering. "He wanted to tell me some news â he didn't know if it was something I would share with you girls."
"Will you?"
"I have to, because I'm going to be a little... overbearingly protective over the next few days â or weeks â and I wouldn't want you to think I'm naturally a tyrant. Even if I didn't, Christian would be told and he would no doubt tell Alexandra," Edward said, looking pointedly at me.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing's wrong, exactly. Alice just sees some visitors coming soon. They know we're here, and they're curious."
"Visitors?"
"Yes... well, they aren't like us, of course â in their hunting habits, I mean. They probably won't come into town at all, but I'm certainly not going to let you out of my sight till they're gone." Edward said.
Bella shivered.
"Finally, a rational response!" he murmured. "I was beginning to think you had no sense of self-preservation at all."
"I won't be letting you out of my sight," Christian whispered to me. I figured that already since he nearly lost his head over a bump to my hip.
I let that one pass, looking away, my eyes wandering again around the spacious room.
He followed my gaze. "Not what you expected, is it?" he asked, his voice smug.
"No," I admitted.
"No coffins, no piled skulls in the corners; I don't even think we have cobwebs... what a disappointment this must be for you," he continued slyly.
I ignored his teasing. "It's so light... so open."
He was more serious when he answered. "It's the one place we never have to hide."
The song Edward was still playing, Bella's song, drifted to an end, the final chords shifting to a more melancholy key. The last note hovered poignantly in the silence.
"Thank you," She murmured. I realized there were tears in her eyes. She dabbed at them, embarrassed.
He touched the corner of her eye, trapping one she missed. He lifted his finger, examining the drop of moisture broodingly. Then, so quickly I couldn't be positive that he really did, he put his finger to his mouth to taste it.
Bella looked at him questioningly, and he gazed back for a long moment before he finally smiled.
"Do you want to see the rest of the house?" He asked, looking to us both.
"No coffins?" I verified, the sarcasm in my voice not entirely masking the slight but genuine anxiety I felt.
He laughed, taking Bella's hand, leading her away from the piano.
"No coffins," he promised as he passed me and Christian.
We walked up the massive staircase, my hand trailing along the satin-smooth rail. The long hall at the top of the stairs was paneled with a honey-colored wood, the same as the floorboards.
"Rosalie and Emmett's room... Carlisle's office... Alice's room..." He gestured as he led us past the doors.
He would have continued, but Bella and I stopped dead at the end of the hall, staring incredulously at the ornament hanging on the wall above our heads. Edward chuckled at my bewildered expression.
"You can laugh," Christian said. "It is sort of ironic."
I didn't laugh. My hand raised automatically, one finger extended as if to touch the large wooden cross, it's dark patina contrasting with the lighter tone of the wall. I didn't touch it, though I was curious if the aged wood would feel as silky as it looked. "It must be very old," I guessed.
He shrugged. "Early sixteen-thirties, more or less."
Bella looked away from the cross to stare at him.
"Why do you keep this here?" I wondered.
"Nostalgia. It belonged to Carlisle's father."
"He collected antiques?" I suggested doubtfully.
"No. He carved this himself. It hung on the wall above the pulpit in the vicarage where he preached."
I wasn't sure if my face betrayed my shock, but I returned to gazing at the simple, ancient cross, just in case. I quickly did the mental math; the cross was over three hundred and seventy years old.
"Are you all right?" He sounded worried.
"How old is Carlisle?" Bella asked quietly, ignoring his question, still staring up.
"He just celebrated his three hundred and sixty-second birthday," Edward said. Bella looked back at him, a million questions in her eyes.
He watched her carefully as he spoke.
"Carlisle was born in London, in the sixteen-forties, he believes. Time wasn't marked as accurately then, for the common people anyway. It was just before Cromwell's rule, though."
I glanced at Christian while listening to Edward, wondering if he knew about Carlisle's age. That Christian was the oldest in the house, apparently.
"He was the only son of an Anglican pastor. His mother died giving birth to him. His father was an intolerant man. As the Protestants came into power, he was enthusiastic in his persecution of Roman Catholics and other religions. He also believed very strongly in the reality of evil. He led hunts for witches, werewolves... and vampires." I grew very still at the word. I'm sure they noticed, but he went on without pausing.
"They burned a lot of innocent people â of course the real creatures that he sought were not so easy to catch.
"When the pastor grew old, he placed his obedient son in charge of the raids. At first Carlisle was a disappointment; he was not quick to accuse, to see demons where they did not exist. But he was persistent, and more clever than his father. He actually discovered a coven of true vampires that lived hidden in the sewers of the city, only coming out by night to hunt. In those days, when monsters were not just myths and legends, that was the way many lived.
"The people gathered their pitchforks and torches, of course" â his brief laugh was darker now â "and waited where Carlisle had seen the monsters exit into the street. Eventually one emerged."
His voice was very quiet; I strained to catch the words.
"He must have been ancient, and weak with hunger. Carlisle heard him call out in Latin to the others when he caught the scent of the mob. He ran through the streets, and Carlisle â he was twenty-three and very fast â was in the lead of the pursuit. The creature could have easily outrun them, but Carlisle thinks he was too hungry, so he turned and attacked. He fell on Carlisle first, but the others were close behind, and he turned to defend himself. He killed two men, and made off with a third, leaving Carlisle," He paused. I could sense he was editing something, keeping something from us. "Carlisle knew what his father would do. The bodies would be burned â anything infected by the monster must be destroyed. Carlisle acted instinctively to save his own life. He crawled away from the alley while the mob followed the fiend and his victim. He hid in a cellar, buried himself in rotting potatoes for three days. It's a miracle he was able to keep silent, to stay undiscovered.
"It was over then, and he realized what he had become."
I'm not sure what our faces were revealing, but he suddenly broke off.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Bella assured him.
And, though I bit my lip in hesitation, Christian must have seen the curiosity burning in my eyes.
He smiled and began to take control of the conversation. "I expect you have a few more questions for me."
"A few."
His smile widened over his brilliant teeth. He started back down the hall, pulling me along by the hand.
"Come on, then," he encouraged. "I'll show you."
I followed him with Bella and Edward trailing behind.