Edward Cullen sat morosely behind the steering wheel of his Volvo. He sped silently and speedily through the damp and winding roads of Forks, Washington. Emmett sat in the front seat next to him and crammed into the back seat were the rest of his siblings. Bella, the love of his immortal life, was ensconced in her own truck, since as part of her punishment for running away to Italy Charlie had decided she was no longer allowed to accept rides from her boyfriend, nor was he allowed to visit her at the Swan residence during the duration of her grounding. Charlie's efforts were futile for the most part, since Edward still snuck in to see Bella nightly right under his nose, but there was nothing to be done for the car situation.
It was just another one of the many well-intentioned but misguided attempts the police chief was making to protect his daughter from the teenage boy he perceived as being a bad influence on her. To be fair, most teenagers would be conflicted about sneaking out at night, whereas Bella had fled the continent to see her at the time ex-boyfriend. Charlie's reluctance to see them back together was understandable, though of course his interference was unwelcome by all parties involved. So here Edward was stuck, driving his siblings all crammed in his small silver Volvo home from school, just as he used to do in his life pre-Bella.
He pulled onto the long gravelly driveway that led to their house. Jasper's distaste for Edward's current mood drifted through his mind, but he made no attempt to curb his emotions. Jasper could go hunting or something if Edward was bothering him. Rosalie's distaste for life in general also crossed him, but it was quickly overlapped by her delight in Bella's absence, further souring his already foul mood. Rosalie had once been his closest sibling, their shared upbringing forging a bond between them before the appearance of goofy Emmett, seer Alice or war-torn Jasper. It used to be serious Edward and serious Rosalie bonding over their mutual hatred of their vampirism, a bond that lasted even after Rosalie had found Emmett and grown to appreciate the path her life had taken.
Edward had been supportive at the time, happy that his sister had found happiness even if he hadn't. Perhaps that's why it hurt even more to know that Rosalie refused to grant him the same courtesy, letting her resentment and hatred of Bella drive a wedge between them and taint what should be the happiest time of his life. Edward contemplated going on a run himself to clear his mind, but vetoed that thought immediately as he didn't want to remain far from Bella on the off chance that she needed him.
He finally pulled up to the house, all of his siblings vanishing through the front door before he'd even put the car in park. He walked in slowly behind them, practicing his human pace. Rosalie and Emmett had disappeared into their bedroom for activities he was trying very hard to block out, and Alice and Jasper were set up with a chessboard. Though Alice could see Jasper's future moves, Jasper had enough of a mind for strategy that he was able to manipulate her decisions with moves he hadn't even made yet. Overall, they were pretty evenly matched.
Edward himself was about to drift to his piano so he could occupy his hands while he followed the match from his mind when the air was startled by a knock on the door. Everybody paused, scenting listening and tasting the very air and finding… nothing. There was no indication of their unplanned visitor even existing. Edward was beginning to doubt that the knock had even existed in the first place, but the memory was at the forefront of both Alice and Jasper's mind.
Edward noted uneasily that a steady heartbeat was noticeable if he listened closely through the thick wood of their front door, though any scent their guest had was kept outside by their thorough weather proofing, as it allowed no air in or out. The heartbeat, an indication that their visitor was a harmless human, should have been comforting, but it didn't explain the lack of crunching gravel or a purring engine that usually announce someone's approach. Even the quiet thrum of the heartbeat should have been audible much sooner, from several hundred feet down the road, yet somehow they had all missed it.
Edward probed gently with his mind to see who it was and what they wanted, but found nothing. He smiled slightly as he realized it was Bella, the only person whose mind he couldn't hear. His heart warmed as he realized she'd likely missed him and had been willing to risk Charlie's wrath to visit. He was slightly startled that he had been too preoccupied to hear the roar of her ancient truck on the driveway.
Mentally shrugging it off, he moved to open the door when a thought that was not his own flitted to the forefront of his mind. It was one of Alice's visions. She'd peered just moments into the future, watching Edward stride towards the door, open it and then… the vision went black. The whole sequence ran through again as Alice sought a different outcome, but it ended again in the same disconcerting blackness. Once more she frantically checked, this time with Alice herself answering the door, but the result was the same. Edward processed the visions anxiously, realizing that there was no reason Alice should be having trouble seeing Bella on the other side of the door.
Jasper, despite not having the same knowledge of the situation as either Alice or Rosalie, could tell from their uneasiness that something was wrong and summoned Emmett and Rosalie from their room, where they'd thankfully not had enough time to get very far at all.
"What?" Rosalie snapped irritably from the top of the stairs. Emmett followed not far behind, wearing nothing but his boxers and wearing a self-satisfied smirk that told them all far more than they needed to know. Edward ignored his thoughts as best as he could and jerked his head pointedly towards the door. Rosalie's mouth twisted into the start of a snarky question before she noticed the beating heart on the other side. She paused for a moment, listening, before her mouth twisted into a sneer of revulsion at the obvious sign of a human. "Who is it," she asked loftily, attempting to make both her distaste and disinterest apparent. All that was missing was the upturned nose and pouty lips and the image would have been complete.
"Alice can't see them, and I can't read their thoughts," Edward informed his siblings, not surprised when they all stiffened warily. Normally they would let Carlisle handle a situation like this, but the coven leader was at work, and Esme was in a city three hours away working on an architectural project. Edward, as the eldest childe of the coven, or at least as the one who had been a part of it the longest, was expected to step in instead. For some unknown reason, Edward found himself hesitant to fill the role.
Another round of knocks sounded at the door. Edward took a very human breath, before turning the handle and pulling the door open in one swift, seemingly confident movement.
Standing on the other side of the door, perched delicately on their wide porch was a boy, or perhaps a young man. His shoulders were hunched forward and his feet shuffled in the classic pose of nervousness. His head, topped in a scruffy black mop, jerked up when he heard the door opening. The face that peered up at him is handsome, if not very masculine, but there is something distinctly off about it. He just looks sickly. His skin is too pale, his cheeks gaunt, and there are dark bruises around his eyes that are even worse than the bruises that form around Edward's own black, unfed eyes.
The stranger looked up to meet Edward's examination with a strangely piercing gaze, freezing the vampire in place. Those glowing green orbs locked Edward's body for a split second, prolonged in Edward's racing mind. The boy suddenly shuffled back nervously, as if he didn't possess the power to freeze a hundred year old vampire with just a look. His arms came up protectively around his chest, breaking the moment, his verdant green eyes returning their gaze to the floor.
"Oh, hi, um…" he cleared his throat, before continuing in a raspy tenor, "Is Carlisle, um, Cullen here?"
Edward quirked one elegant eyebrow, in an attempt to appear in control of the situation. "Who, might you be?" He drawled with just a touch of the arrogance he'd sifted out from others' conceited mind, mostly Rosalie's. He wasn't at all keen on giving this stranger and potential threat any information on his sire or coven he didn't have to.
Blood rushed to the boy's face, staining it the ruddy red of embarrassment. Edward watched warily, waiting for the inevitable ache in his teeth and flash of fire in his throat that usually accompanied such an overt reminder that there was blood, real fresh human blood just waiting for him to take. He was even more wary when the ache didn't come, and the scent of food never hit him.
"That's, um, I'm Harry. Carlisle is, that is…. He's not here?" Though he'd still been fighting off an abashed flush when he'd begun speaking, the short time it'd taken him to return to the topic of Carlisle allowed a tint of desperation to invade his voice and drag at his expression.
"Carlisle is at work," Edward answered evenly. He watched, a little aghast as the boy's whole body seemed to deflate. Like a balloon with a puncture, all of the nervous tension drained from his shoulders and limbs, but so did whatever other forces that seemed to be holding him up. Now he looked like a child whose body was too heavy for him, a puppet with the strings cut. The liveliness in his eyes, already scarce, fled entirely, clearly not up to the challenge of battling back the dead depression that already infected every other part of his countenance.
From Jasper's mind he examined the boy's emotions. The desperation that had peeked out just moments before was definitely there, but it was almost overwhelmed by crushing depression and loneliness. Swirling in the dark swatches of emotion were flashes of guilt and hope as well.
INVITE HIM IN, Alice screamed into his mind. It took him a moment to realize that she'd probably thought it several times, and he'd failed to notice, consumed as he was by his own thoughts.
He gave a cursory glance over the thoughts of his other siblings. They were all suitably wary, especially Jasper who was paying far more attention to the guilt the boy felt than Edward personally found necessary, but none of them seemed opposed to inviting him in, Rosalie excepted of course.
"Carlisle will be home in just a little while. His shift is ending soon," Edward lied. "Why don't you come in and wait for him?" He stepped aside to allow the boy passage into the house. The boy hesitated for only a moment for silently nodding his acquiescence and shuffling into the Cullen home.
"I'm Alice," the shortest Cullen introduced herself, with just a touch more reservation than she normally had: reservation born from a lack of knowledge and an innate wariness towards anyone her vision couldn't lock onto.
"Harry," the boy intoned, eyes downcast. He didn't even give the house a cursory glance. If Esme were here she might be affronted.
"I'm Edward by the way," the eldest Cullen introduced himself. The room fell into an awkward silence. Emmett and Rosalie stood at the top of the stairs, within sight but unnoticed by their guest. Jasper meanwhile stood as a silent sentinel by Alice's side, but made no move to introduce himself, his own unease probably furthering the awkward atmosphere without his knowledge.
"Can I get you a drink?" Alice finally broke the silence, "some water or tea perhaps?"
"That would be lovely, yes," Harry responded rather tonelessly.
Edward could have slapped himself when he realized they were still standing in the doorway. Esme would have his head for his lack of hospitality. "Please have a seat," he said, ushering the newly dubbed Harry into the living room while Alice disappeared into the kitchen to make a phone call under the guise of preparing a cup of tea. Edward settled himself across from Harry on the settee, where they remained in silence.
In the next room over Edward could hear the clunk of the kettle being set on the stovetop, the tic tic tic of the knob clicking the flame to life. Alice rustled in her pocket for her phone and punched in the two buttons required to speed dial Carlisle.
"Hello, Alice?" Carlisle answered in his usual jovial tone, though it was brushed by confusion at the uncharacteristic call— uncharacteristic, but not yet worrisome.
"Carlisle," Alice muttered rapidly in hushed and urgent tones, "there's a person here to see you, and neither Edward's nor my abilities work on him."
"That's unusual to say the least," Carlisle noted lightheartedly, but there was a hint of concern in his voice that wasn't there before. "I don't suppose this visitor has a name?"
"Harry, no last name," Alice informed him, "He's pretty short, pale, green eyes, dark hair."
The line fell dead silent.
The long pause extended worryingly, on and on, until finally Carlisle heaved a shuddering breath.
"Carlisle?" Alice's voice trembled with concern.
"Don't let him leave," Carlisle growled suddenly, fierce, harsh, and altogether unexpected. "Whatever you do, don't you dare let him leave."
"Carlisle, who is he?" Alice tried to ask, but the line went dead.
Edward could help the wave of apprehension that washed over him at Carlisle's terse words. He didn't need to peruse his siblings' thoughts to know they were equally alarmed.
Alice returned shortly with a full tea tray, one cup for their guest and a handful of cups for the rest of the present Cullens, if only so they could maintain their façade of human hosts. Harry accepted his cup graciously as did Edward and Jasper. All four of them proceeded to sit immobile without taking a single sip. It was only five minutes later that Carlisle's thoughts appeared on the periphery of Edward's mental range, indicating he was within a few miles of them.
Carlisle's mind was in total disarray, flitting through thoughts and memories and images and flashes faster than Edward could process them. Predominantly, his mind featured an image of Harry—a version so very different from the boy presently. The image in Carlisle's mind appeared about the same age, 16 or 17, but that was where the similarities ended. Carlisle's memory was happy, with a full face, pale but creamy skin and a lively, mischievous glint in his vibrant viridian eyes. The picture was nothing at all like the phantom before him.
Finally the sound of Carlisle's car speeding up the driveway became audible. He spun to an aggressive stop in front of the house, the sound of spraying gravel alerting even Harry's human ears that the Cullen patriarch had arrived. He shot to his feet as Carlisle sprinted at inhuman speed to the door. The vampire slapped aside the heavy mahogany door, not bothering to stop it as it slammed against the wall, rattling the windows.
The world held its breath as green met gold. The Cullen children watched, entranced as their sire froze in the doorway, his chest heaving with anxious breath.
"Harry," he whispered.