Midnight Rain
Chapter 1: Moving In.
"Ugh, I hate this place already. Remind me, Edward, why did we choose this place?" Bella Swan glared at the green, leafy trees that flashed past the silver Volvo, though she was glad for the cloudy skies. After 18 years in Alaska, it would be nice to get some rain that wasn't freezing cold.
Edward leaned over and brushed his lips under her ear. "You know why."
Sighing, Bella leaned over and laid her head against Edward's shoulder. She did know why. When sunlight hit a vampire, their skin literally sparkled. That was why they were here. It was like Forks, cloudy almost all year round, but a far enough distance from Forks that nobody would recognize her.
Not that anybody would, not now. Bella's ivory skin was even paler now, her beauty enhanced to such that it nearly matched Rosalie's. Her eyes were a deep butterscotch, the shadows under them a light violet. The family had gone hunting the night before, to make it easier for them to settle into this new town.
"I can't believe we're enrolling in high school again. I mean, this place is practically perfect, there's no werewolves here, so it'll be great, but I'm not sure if Rosalie and Emmett can pass for Sophomores… who knows, maybe we can say they got held back in middle school. And I don't know why Carlisle wouldn't let me drive my Porsche down. It's perfectly fine for roads like these. I suppose it's less conspicuous if we bring it down later though..." Alice Cullen chattered on nonstop in Bella's ear, making her wish she still had that human quality of sleep. But she couldn't, so she sighed and tried her best to care about what Alice was saying.
As they drove, Edward kept one hand on Bella's cool, hard arm. He still had regrets, even now. Every so often he would look into her face and wonder if he should have left her human.
His brooding thoughts were interrupted by a narrow driveway that poked out of the thick forest. The Volvo turned onto it, and rumbled down the path, followed by a black Mercedes and Emmett's red Jeep. Rosalie's blond perfect head poked out the window, and looked around before being pulled back into the car. They were almost to the house now. From the picture in Alice's mind, Edward described the house for Bella.
"It's bigger than our old house, and newer. It's a, well, there it is." He gestured with one hand toward the white building that was finally visible as they drove through the last few trees and into the yard.
The house was large and white, a Victorian, with a tower in the upper right hand corner and a small grey porch. It was elegant, with a small brass plaque beside the door that read, "Built in 1879." The door itself was a pale cream color, and as she looked it over, Bella decided that maybe this wouldn't be so bad.
A light rainfall welcomed the family of vampires as they slid fluidly out of their cars and began unloading their things from the large trailer that was attached to the back of Emmett's Jeep. Edward's piano went in first, followed by his couch. In the rush not to get everything wet, they used full speed, and within a few minutes everything was inside. There was already a giant garage, and as soon as the cars were parked Bella grabbed Edward's hand and pulled him inside.
Racing past the two, Alice darted upstairs, and went straight for a certain room. She'd seen the room in a vision, and knew that it was the exact one she wanted. Bella was hot on her heels, laughing as Edward rolled his eyes, then followed. Alice opened the door to the room and raced inside, jumping onto the couch that sat in the middle of the room. It was a deep green, plush, with a soft leather covering and gold trim. There was a small hearth at one end of the room, and a giant window nearly covered the whole east window. Green silk curtains hung on either side of it, and the floor was made of dark mahogany panels. A squeal of joy erupted from Alice's flawless lips as she jumped up and rushed to a wide shelf above the fireplace.
When they reached the room at the end of the hall, Bella and Edward opened the door and walked in, looking around. This was by far the largest bedroom in the house, one whole wall taken up by a window, and a black curtain hanging at beside the door, for drawing across the room to separate it in two. The walls were hung with black fabric, covering up the stereo system that Rosalie had installed for them a couple weeks before. A small square table sat beneath numerous glass shelves, with separators to organize Edward's countless CDs. There were two couches one on each side of the room, and on one wall was a giant flat screen television set. The first couch was the one from Edward's old room, black with gold trim. The other was black as well, but with green trim. Soft black and gold carpet didn't make a noise as Edward walked over to where Bella stood, looking at the picture that hung near the door.
Pressing his lips to hers, Edward slid his arms around Bella's waist, and closed his warm gold eyes. Bella braided her fingers in his bronze hair, and kissed him back, her lips moving against his. When they broke free, she kissed him once more, then turned to go help Alice bring her clothes upstairs.
"So what's the name of this place again?" Bella tapped Alice on the shoulder as Edward ran upstairs again, a giant box of CDs in his hands.
"Coven, I think. Ironic name, huh?" The two stacked a bunch of boxes one on top of the other, then raced upstairs, and dropped them in Alice's room. Their excitement ebbed suddenly, and they looked around suspiciously. Jasper stepped into the room, and laughed. Glaring at him, Bella left to get her own clothes. She didn't have quite as much as Alice, but still, it took her a couple trips to bring it all up.
When they'd finished unpacking, Emmett and Rosalie went to check on the others. Edward grinned as they slid into his room, then stood up from the couch.
"Carlisle needs us." They darted downstairs, and into the living room, where Carlisle and Esme sat on a large grey couch.
"You know what I'm going to say, everyone, so I'll attempt to make this quick. Tomorrow you six will begin high school again, and I'm going to start working at the local hospital. Remember; try not to attract attention to yourselves. Though I'm sure you'll attract more than you need." He chuckled, and then stood up. "I'm going for a hike, anyone care to join me?"
Bella and Edward nodded, and Alice and Jasper followed the 3 out the door. Emmett, Rosalie, and Esme stayed behind. The sun was dimly visible through the trees, perched precariously on the horizon. It would be dark in a half hour or so.
"Twilight." Bella and Edward smiled at each other, the word hanging comfortably between them. The two vampires held hands and ran toward the beginning of a trail that led into the woods, their minds already wondering what tomorrow would hold for them.