Ghosts of His Forgotten Past
Past Havens
He hadn't been here in almost 50 years.
The scenery had changed but the weather had not. The wind still blew in gales, pushing and pushing and pushing with all its might against anything that stood in its way. People doubled over, trees bent into horribly disfigured shapes and garbage littered the streets and skies; everything succumbed to its forced.
But not he.
He stood tall as his coat whipped around him, jeans stuck to the back of his legs and hair blew into his eyes. He stood like a wall that even the Big Bad Wolf had no chance of blowing down, never mind the brute force of the famous Windy City's turbulent weather.
Nothing could sway him; or his family.
It's beautiful, even after all these years. I can't believe it's still standing, a feminine mind sighed. Its history has elegance that I haven't seen in a long time.
Ok, so maybe not everything had changed. His childhood home still clung to its foundations and stretched tall all the way to its chimney stack. They had taken good care of it, and for that he was grateful. The whitewash stone was crisp and clean save for a few watermarks here and there from the heavy down pour over the colder months, as well as on the windows. Everything looked well maintained; the door, window frames and sills; the small front garden, which had only been unattended for the past two months; the iron gates and fencing had not rusted. All in all he was pleased.
The caretaker had written to him once that a storm had taken on a portion of the roof and some of the upper windows; and he could see with his heighted sighted where the tiles and a corner of the chimney breast had been replaced, he doubted a human's eye could spot the defect to the original building though, and he again thanked its keeper for keeping his home as much as it once was.
Son, it was Carlisle, placing a firm hand upon his unmoveable shoulder, would you like to go in now?
I was thankful for my family for letting me do this and happy that Carlisle was there with his comforting presence. It was a hard decision to make coming back here and for an undetermined amount of time, but it was time for him to embrace his past and relish in the good times this place and environment bought to him as well as come to terms with pain and suffering he had left behind.
Yes, he thought, and removed his key from the pocket of his jeans, strode purposefully across the street and slid it into the rusted lock of the wooden door.
It smelt different, but ahhh was it good to be home.
"Dibbs on the first floor bedroom with the park view."
"Alice!" our mother scolded, "Remember where you are. You haven't even taken two steps inside and you are already deciding the living arrangements. Edward has the final say; he has graciously offered us the use of his home after all."
I chuckled as I waved her off, "It's okay Esme, she's known she'll have it since we made the decision to come here. Plus, it's your home now too."
"Oh Edward, you are such a sweet boy. But it still would have been more polite to have asked first, even if she knew the outcome." She gave a mock glare at Alice but smiled as soon as she received a pouty 'Sorry', though she was still bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement.
"Now what say you about tiding up this place, and getting rid of these ugly dust sheets?"
I gave her a huge smile, "I would love that."
~:O:~
It hadn't taken us long to clean the place up; the old caretaker and his wife had retired two months ago and moved down south to enjoy a warmer and less windy climate, and left the house in impeccable condition apart from the dust and overgrowth of the garden. He had looked after the place so well I had given him the keys to a quaint little bungalow in Missouri.
They had obviously refused at first but Esme, with her kind persuasion, had pushed them into keeping it without them feeling guilty for taking such a large retirement package for his last forty-five years of work from me.
There weren't that many people like the Suttons anymore.
Esme had done a wonderful job washing the drapes and linens, polishing the ornaments, trinkets and my mother's prized tableware and crystal.
Emmett had tackled the parquet flooring until it had shined a rich dark oak. It would have been quicker for him to have gotten on his knees and scrubbed but he enjoyed using human machinery. I could have definitely seen him as a construction worker or carpenter if he ever decided to get a job instead of repeating school over and over. Jasper took on the rest of the woodwork such as the staircases, doors, window frames and skirtings and dadoes.
It was Alice and Rosalie's job to arrange all our belongings we had decided to bring from our last place of residence in Dauphin, there was quite a lot of it and I hadn't realise how much stuff we had accumulated over the years. It was fortunate the house housed many large rooms and a spacious attic.
Carlisle was currently looking for a job in one of the local hospitals and clinics; not something that took that much effort, but he liked to be somewhere he felt he was making the most difference. The hospital he had worked in over a century ago had been torn down and replaced with office blocks. I didn't know how to feel about that, it was not only the last place I had been while human but also the last place I had seen my parents alive, then again, it was not something I wanted to remember them like. Especially my mother.
It was my duty to find a school for us 'children' to go to. I had attended Wheaton Academy back in the day, but again, I didn't want old memories to get to me especially a school that prided itself on its history. I was debating on a few public schools or branching out on my own for a couple of years and attending The Chicago Academy for the Arts. That way I could enjoy the music and playing and not standout as much with so many accomplished musicians around me. It would also be somewhat exciting to have discussions with my peers who held the same love and passion I had for the classics, not that we ever got close to many humans, but it was a nice thought.
Alice would butcher me a live for it though; she had a thing for us staying together. Esme also felt the same; but if it was helping one of us to progress in our talents and passions she wouldn't have such a problem with it, as long as I was in the same state of course.
It took us just eighteen hours to get everything done and my family settled in. So with the house much quieter than it had been since we first walked through the door, I ventured up to my old, now new, bedroom.
It was on the top floor just over Alice and Jasper's room so I too had a view of the park across the street. I let out an unneeded breath and turned the handle to push open the door.
The familiar feeling of stepping into a room that held all your childhood memories washed over me, not that I had many, but with every object that my eyes passed over from the very much out of date and faded wallpaper to the writing desk standing against it (and the long overdue school papers that littered the top), my box of tin soldiers to the balding teddy bear sitting on my metal-framed bed; it had me feeling like I had never left. The wave of forgotten nostalgia was unexpected yet welcomed.
Everything was as I had left it apart from the new, and not so new, belongings I had bought with me that stood next to the large mahogany armoire. I had asked Alice and Rose not to unpack my things as I was not yet ready to give up the presence of my youth just yet.
The sun was peeking through the tree's leaves outside the window creating a mottled pattern of orange and green light mixed with shadows. I didn't breathe, too scared to move and disturb even the dust motes flowing in the air, and even though I knew my family had already been in here to clean up the space, it felt sacred. I hadn't felt this way when I had walked into my mother and father's bedroom, which now belonged to my new parents. It's rather strange how we feel connected to certain spaces.
This was all mine; my haven and my past, the place where it all started.
The place I felt most safe.
~:O:~
Author's Note:
I know I shouldn't be doing this, what with my DM/HG fic pining for attention, I just couldn't help myself with sinking my teeth into something new, like a totally new fandom kind of new. But don't worry I haven't given up on it; it's just taking me a lifetime to get back into the swing of things.
So until then, I hope you enjoy some Twilight love.
Oh, and by the way, please keep in mind that I am British and I current have no beta, so if you spot some Brit-slang in there I don't mind if you correct me; though I have tried my best and done my fair share of research.