Chapter 2
Passing of the Torch, Part 2
And now forever trapped at nineteen, young Carlos had grown to be the most dashingly handsome young debonair in the coven, almost the spitting combination of Ambrogio and Edward; he bedazzled everyone with the glow of his golden brown eyes, and his dark wavy had been cropped short – and stuck up in a similar manner though not as promptly as Edward's.
With his pale skin and chiselled form, Jacob sometimes referred to him as 'The Living Vampire', and Carlos took it as a compliment every time for he was so proud of his vampiric heritage. But as such, he glowed slightly brighter than the rest of the hybrids in his family; almost to the point of sparkling himself.
Carlos's POV
Graduating high school for the first time, I had to admit, was a pretty good feeling; Isanja's speech was quite inspiring, though partially thanks to me – and being dressed in ridiculous yellow graduation robes, well... now we had the beginnings of making our own cap collage.
But naturally not all the memories I was taking from this place were good; there were some awkward and challenging moments during our years of high school, though what person on earth had not experienced such moments. Most of which were difficult for me in way my sister could never understand because there were times, many times, when I wanted to hurt those who had disrespected me or my sister – but luckily her countering gift was just enough to keep me under control.
But the most uncomfortable moment was when an absurd rumour arose just before we had taken one another to prom.
Our family circumstances often prohibited us from having any relations with the humans – which meant that we never dated, although many had asked us, particularly my sister, by means of their silly infatuations – but still even with the knowledge of our bloodline and because of the protective closeness that we had, some of the other students began to assume that our relationship had gone disgustingly inappropriate.
I believed that rumour arose after I had turned down a girl who asked me out to the prom; a girl who seemed highly influential to her peers – the sort of girl who had it in her mind that nothing was out of her reach. But after I had turned her down; she gave birth to the rumour that I was committing incest with my sister.
But no matter, it was all water under the bridge now, and it was a true relief to finally be free from such judgments... well, at least for now... though I intended to enjoy it while it lasted – playing the role of the 'mysterious outsider', taking up what the Cullen's had left behind, was enjoyable. In university I was off to study Medicine with my sister, as well as Psychology and Criminology; but as much as I enjoyed these subjects, I found it was not for filling an inner hole in my chest – something in my life I knew was just missing.
But after saying goodbye to Great-Granddad, we finally made to Alaska; we were greeted by our grandparents, and afterwards the Denali family.
"How have you been?" asked Edward, "And congratulations on graduating, I wish we could have been there for the first time; Isanja your speech was incredible."
Obviously, from his facial expression, Father had just fed Edward all he had seen during our ceremony, and more.
"Things couldn't be better, Grandpa." Isanja replied, and a wave of good feelings just saturated all of us – it was like being covered by an invisible blanket of thick soup that just made you feel happy for no apparent reason.
It was wonderful to see all of them again; we had not seen the Denali family since the first few weeks we spent with them just after birth, but I remembered everything as clear as day. Which was even better since, even though I knew she was taken, I did have a little thing for Katrina; Kate was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Though I think Tanya had developed a small crush on me, having finally gotten over Granddad Edward; but the feeling was rather mutual for I kind of liked her too. Well why not; she was more enchanting than the stars – though not as mesmerising as a nebular like Kate – but Tanya lacked the certain flare of attraction that I was looking for in a potential mate.
That afternoon, after we unpacked, we all went into the national park together to hunt.
To me, Kate was even more beautiful when she was hunting; watching her long golden hair wave in the breeze, the sun dazzling her skin, and the way she smiled to me often left me breathless – but most of the time my fantasies were cut short every time when I saw Kate trying to kiss Garret without shocking him.
Tanya and I shared our kills with one another, sometimes I looked at Father and Granddad; seeing the smirks on their faces led me more to believe my hunch about her feelings for me, or maybe they were amused about my infatuation with Kate. But never the less, in the few heavenly months we spent in Alaska, the days of summer began to die – giving birth to the beautiful winter, as the snow began to fall over the planes.
We were going to visit Volterra for the second half of our holiday – since we had an eternity to worry about going back to school so Mother and Father were spoiling us with a year off for travel – but on the morning before we left; I was out hunting with Tanya. We shared our meals and she smiled as I picked her a small crystallised flower.
"She knows you know, by the way." Began Tanya,
I looked at her confused, "Excuse me?"
"Kate. She knows you like her, Edward told her on their last hunting trip." Suddenly I felt the blood rush to my cheeks, even more so when Tanya placed her hand around my arm. "Don't worry, she's flattered... but I can honestly say that I envy her now more than ever."
I looked at Tanya, to hear this from her was something different – since I was told that, when Mother was pregnant with my sister and I, she didn't even like me simply because I was the grandson of Aro and the 'Evil Twin' – so why did she seem to be interested in me now?
"You envy that I like Kate?" She would be, since she was convinced that she was the most beautiful of the former three sisters.
"Of course, after all she has a mate; and still she manages to attract the eyes of others. I loved Edward but he refused me, I bare him no ill will for that; I am happy that he is happy, but now I see before me a young male... who I consider to be impossibly better than Edward."
My surprisement had turned into shock, "Tanya...?"
But before I could think of anything else to say, she had forced herself onto me; the feel of her lips upon the corner of my mouth were almost longing, as if she had been waiting to do this. As we parted, her kiss had planted me to the ground; she even had to pull me to make me move.
She smiled at me and began pacing away in a gorgeously taunting manner; giggling and laughing, we chased each other through the trees – I tried my hardest to keep up with her but she was too fast, and I too inferior. After some time she took mercy on me and stopped the chase; and with her hands firmly on my arm, we waltzed back to the grand cabin.
"Carlos, what would you say about becoming a permanent member of the Denali family?" asked Tanya,
Again I looked at her confused, this was happening just a little too fast for me; the sudden confession of her feelings, and the timing of it all, seemed just too off. Yes, the offer was gracious of her but I already belonged to a coven – in fact I was torn between two – but to become part of a third was just too much right now.
"Tanya, what is this?"
"What is what?"
"The timing of this; I had only just finished high-school for the first time, and now... don't I deserve, at least, a few years to enjoy my new freedom." Tanya's grip on my arm loosened slightly, "Listen, Tanya, I'm sorry; I do like you, but I'm just ready to become your mate... I pray you understand."
A moment passed and she didn't look at me, but then she smiled and nodded, "Of course."
As we walked back to the cabin, I saw Father and Granddad on the timber porch; their facial expressions were the same but with a subtle difference, as Edward's face seemed more pleased than my father's. My father's telepathy was far more powerful, being able to see past memories from a far; so maybe he had seen something that Edward had not.
That afternoon our grandparents and cousin clan bid us farewell; Tanya hugged me firmly, but my heart nearly jumped out of my chest when Kate kissed me – lightly catching the corner of my lip – or maybe she might've shocked me lightly. Either way I enjoyed it.
And so we made the long trip to Italy to visit our loved ones on the other side.
