Chapter One
A piece of my ice blonde hair blew in front on my eyes, and I slowly moved my hand up to remove it. I pulled it down, clawing slightly at my temple as I fiddled around with it, forcing it behind my ear. I looked down upon the house at the bottom of the valley, its chimney puffing away happily with smoke. It looked like some kind of picturesque scene; the log house next to the fresh water stream with a large meadow to its right, surrounded by flowers and pine trees, all the way out in the middle of nowhere. That or it was the perfect place for a coven of vampire to live. I was betting it was the second one. I had been traipsing all the way across the state, trying to pick up on the scent that I couldn't seem to forget. With my vampire memory, I still remember his scent and I had picked it up. However, it wasn't a perfect match to the one from my memory. It was entwined with other scents, and I could smell them across the valley, some fresh and some fading. I was almost perfectly sure now though, that I had found the house that I was looking for. With one quick flicker of a smile at the edge of my lips, I began to run down to the bottom of the hill, and down to their meadow. I probably looked a little bit rough around the edges compared to what I looked like the last time he had saw me, but I was still me.
I jogged across the meadow and to the front of the house, where I wiped my feet on the mat, and took in a deep, unnecessary breath, and knocked hard on the oak. Moments later, it opened. There stood a girl, around my height, with dark brown hair and golden eyes. Her top lip slightly fuller than the bottom, and a perplex look was plastered on her pale face. I stood, frozen. She looked at me with the same confused expression that I began to feel spread across my face. We looked at each other, if only for a second, but then, he was behind her.
"Bella, is everything okay?" he asked, his smooth, rich voice as ever so inviting as it once was. Bella said nothing, and she had no reason to, because he looked at me, and instantly knew my face. I don't know if it was the ice blonde hair or the defined cupids bow and full bottom lip that brought back what could only be guessed as a mind full of memories, but he knew it was me.
"Hello, Edward," I spoke, slow, sly and only slightly seductive as I always seemed to. He took a moment before he could gather any words.
"Mattie?" he questioned, though I knew he already knew the answer.
"Can I come in?" I asked, already taking a step forward, being insistent. Bella looked up at Edward; his hands were around her waist, a ring around her finger matching the ring around his. I looked at them, and then smiled to myself. I should've known I guess, that he'd find someone else, and that he hadn't mentioned a word about me either. I'd be surprised if he'd even said anything to Carlisle. Why would he have ever told anyone about the girl who stole his heart, and why would I have told anyone about the boy who stole my mine.
"Of course," he spoke quickly, before leading Bella inside. I followed them in, shutting the door quickly behind me. Their house was perfect, in every single way. It was impeccably cleaned, and had the most tasteful décor. The floors of the living room, and I presumed the rest of the house, were hard wood. In the living room, which was the first room of the house, was a large red couch which sat with its back to the front door, and a large flat screen in front of it. On it, a blonde haired girl sat reading a magazine, and a smaller dark haired girl with a pixie cut sat painting her nails. They both looked up at me in the same instant. The blonde haired girl was stunning, even as far as vampires went, and then the other girl was cute, and looked like she might be lethal if backed into a corner.
"Rosalie, Alice, this is Mattie, an old… friend of mine," Edward worded his sentence carefully, his arm around Bella waist, not looking back at me. Both girls eyes looked me up and down, and the brown haired girl let out a sigh.
"No Alice, you can't," Edward spoke to her, even though she had said nothing to him. I looked at him, confused.
"Please Edward," the girl pleaded, jumping onto her knees and leaning over the back of the couch, her eyes growing big.
"Alice," Edward spoke to her in a stern voice. I looked at Rosalie, who kept her eyes on me, watching my every move. I wanted to stare at her, she was after all extremely gorgeous, but it seemed rude. Edward let out a groan.
"Carlisle, Esme," Edward called out to no one. Then two people came padding down the stairs to the right of the front door, walking at a typical vampire speed. They both stopped when they saw me. Esme's face was warm, but Carlisle was deep in though. In an instant, he seemed away in a memory, one from a very, very long time ago.
"Carlisle, Esme, this is Mattie, Edwards old friend. I was wonder if it was okay if she stayed with us. I was taking a wild swing and guessing she is a nomad, but she lives like us, on animals, based on her eyes. Even if it's not for forever, but I was looking for a reason to redecorate the spare room next to mine, and well, if she stayed, even better!" Alice spoke, her words coming out quickly. There was a light in her eyes that I had never seen in anyone else's.
"Alice, can we please just take this one step at a time," Esme said, raising her hands up in surrender to Alice.
"Yes, I think first we should ask Mattie what she wants and why she is here," Carlisle said, looking at me and then gesturing towards the couch. There was a two person love seat on each end of the red couch, facing in towards one another to create a square between the TV and the seats. I timidly walked to the seats, and sat on one of the love seats, Esme and Carlisle sitting down on the one opposite to me. Alice sprang up and the took the vacant spot next to me, creating room for Edward and Bella to sit next to Rosalie on the red couch.
"Mattie, first things first, why are you here?" Esme asked. Her eyes were kind compared to Rosalie's harsh glare.
"Well, I guess the simple answer is to see Edward. I have been looking for him for years now, traipsing to every end of the earth. I am glad I finally found him," I said, and smiled at her, trying to sound sweet rather than seductive.
"Why have you been looking for Edward?" Bella asked tentatively. I knew she was threatened by me, I could tell by the way she gripped him tightly, like he was her life.
"Because I have wanted a family, ever since he told me about what I could have rather than being a nomad. But I guess I couldn't understand what that meant, to not be selfish, and to live under the radar. Don't get me wrong, I've been living on the blood of animals for a long time, but I never knew it could be possible to live in one place, for more than a few days," I explained, trying to calm her down, and prove that I wasn't trying to steal her man away from her. That would be the last thing I would try to do.
"Well… I suppose we could offer you that, if everyone is okay with you staying. If you like it, I think we would be more than willing for you to stay here with us," Esme said, speaking for everyone. I smiled at her gratefully.
"So she can stay?" Alice said, her voice teeming with excitement.
"If she likes," Carlisle spoke this time, a slight chuckle to his words.
"Oh my gosh, yay!" Alice squeaked, then she grabbed my hand and I was being pulled up the stairs and then down a long hallway, around a corner, and another, before reaching the last door on the right.
"Sorry about the 'dragging you' thing. But this is your room. And this is what we are going to be re decorating this weekend, because we have school tomorrow. Oh crap, we will need to enrol you won't we?" Alice spoke, going off on a tangent. What a bubble of energy she was. It was only slightly adorable.
"Nah, it's okay. It's just nice to see that there are caring people out there, and that you're so enthusiastic about seemingly everything," I said, smiling at her. Her lips were extremely plump, and were a dark burgundy, and were spouting up into a smile too.
"Can I ask you when the last time you washed was?" Alice said, trying to ask in the most polite voice possible.
"I really have no idea. Am I that dirty?" I asked, my eyebrows creasing, and if I could, my cheeks would be flushing slightly pink.
"Just a tad bit," Alice said, and then she smiled apologetically to me.
"Can I borrow a shower?" I asked, hopeful.
"No, but you can use mine. Please don't move it, I'd prefer if it staying in the place that it is," Alice said, giggling. I laughed along, being polite. Alice lead me into what I presumed was her room, and then into the en-suite.
"Take as long as you need," she spoke, then pecked me on the cheek, and left the room, and left my skin burning and my heart pounding from her lips. I tried not to ponder her innocent action, and stripped down, then turned the shower on, and let the boiling hot water burn away the dirt, as there wasn't really any point in using body wash if I could just boil the germs.
I pressed the leaver down, turning off the water, and stepped out of the shower. The door to the bathroom opened, and Alice walked in. I was standing there, completely naked, and she didn't even notice it… or not that I could tell. She handed me a pile of fresh clothes and then once again, pecked me on the cheek, and left the room in a delicate dance. I got dressed, taking in the sights of the room. The walls and floor were completely white with tiles, her counter white with medium brown wooden cupboards. On top was a large array of perfumes and lotions, and decided to steal a swig of a Chanel perfume. With a slight sigh, I left the room, my hair still dripping wet. Alice was sitting on her white bed, with a tiffany blue wall behind her. Her bed had brown throw pillows and a tiffany blue heart pillow in the middle. It seemed a little excessive since vampires didn't sleep, but I guess since they had to keep up the human look it made sense. She smiled at me, then stood up and took my hand, leading me to her vanity, and sat me down. She turned on her hair dryer and began to dry and then style my hair into a side braid, but it looked slightly more complex than it seemed, because it somehow managed to stay there without any help from hair ties or clips.
"It's so pretty, thank you, and thank you for the clothes as well," I said, looking at her in the mirror, placing my hand on hers which sat on my left hand shoulder. I saw her smile in the mirror, and couldn't help but have that if I were human I would be blushing feeling come over me again. Alice then spun the chair around, and placed her hands on my knees, her face instantly close to mine.
"You're very pretty, you do know that right? What colour were your eyes?" she asked, looking into my now golden eyes.
"They were bright grey," I said, and then moved slightly closer to her, and waited for her to flinch back, but she didn't. I bit my bottom lip, and then tilted my head slightly to the right, hers tilting to the left, and then we both moved together, and our lips met, and we began to kiss. Venom welled in my mouth, I had to swallow down against it as she wrapped her arms around my neck, and I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her onto me, sitting her down on my legs. She ran her fingers through my hair, and bit my neck playfully. I could feel every inch of my body scream out for her, and in the moment when I wanted her then most, she stopped moving and then stepped away from me.
"I am so sorry, I have no idea what came over me. I… I have never kissed a girl before, let alone been attracted to any," Alice spoke so softly, she seemed far too calm for the words escape her luscious and delicious lips.
"I can't say that anyone has really become so overwhelmed with passion so quickly around me," I said, but mentioned nothing about how insane she was driving me right now. Her blouse was unbuttoned and I could see her cleavage more prominently, and her jeans had managed to unbutton and unzip themselves. She was there for the taking, but I couldn't, because she didn't want me, not how I wanted her. There was a knock on the door, and it opened.
"Alice, we're back," a male spoke, and then he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pecking her cheek.
"Oh Jasper, this is Mattie, she will be living with us. Mattie this is, I guess you could say, my boyfriend, well lover. We have been together for the last 30 or more years," Alice spoke. My face stayed calm and collected. She was taken, but that wasn't going to stop me. I knew that I liked her, liked everything about her from her pouted lips to her delicately curved waist, to her elegant dance that she choreographed with each step. Jasper was not going to stop me from getting Alice.