Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the Twilight series. I gain no money from this, just the enjoyment of sharing this story with you.
Don't worry. I am still continuing to write 'Seventeen Again'. Check it out if you haven't already.
This story smacked me in the head last night while I was dreaming and told me to finish it. So even if no one likes it, I'm going to keep writing. If you do though, by all means, leave me a review.
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Chapter 2 – Flesh & Blood
BPOV
I awoke the next morning with the sound of birds pecking at my window. I was in no mood to put up with them, so I closed my curtains. Pulling on my robe over my nightgown, I left my room to see if Charlie had left yet. Once I made it to the stairwell, I could hear whispering downstairs. It was definitely Charlie and Renee. Charlie's tone was angry. I needed answers right then and there, so went downstairs without even freshening up first.
"Mom, I see you made it here safely." I said angrily.
Renee stood, walked over to me, and gave me a tentative hug. Even though I'm mad, I hug her back.
"Are you both finally ready to tell me the truth?" I asked suspiciously.
"Yes, honey. Please sit. This will be a long story." Renee added, motioning to the couch. Charlie sat in his lounge chair and Renee faced me in the armchair.
"Wait. Let me ask one thing first." I implored
"Sure, go ahead."
"Is this a little thing you are about to tell me or a huge mind and life altering thing?"
Renee made eye contact with Charlie, paused, and said, "Life altering."
"Lovely."
"So will this tell me why I have become Fork's own Dr. Dolittle?"
Renee chuckled. "Yes, it will."
"Charlie and I were hoping we would never have to tell you this. We didn't want you to feel you were different. But it has now become evident that this conversation is inevitable." Renee reached over, takes my hand, and continued. "Let me start out by telling you that when I met Charlie I was already pregnant with you."
"What?!" I was a completely at a loss for words. My dad of 18 years wasn't really my biological father.
What else has she been lying to me about?
"While Charlie isn't your father by blood, he is still your dad."
"Of course, he is. He raised me. This doesn't change anything." I patted Charlie's knee. It seemed to reassure him.
"So who is my father?"
"His name was Fionnlagh. He was a wood nymph."
"A what?" I widened my eyes in response.
This is getting too weird.
"Well, Bella, you know how I get obsessed with things sometimes. A month before you were conceived I was on a hiking kick. I got lost near Glacier National Park. Being the idiot I am, I didn't bring any flares and enough food or water with me. I sprained my ankle and had lain in the forest for about a day before a beautiful dark haired man with piercing green eyes found me. He skin glowed with a green light. At the time, I thought I was hallucinating from hunger. I passed out in his arms and woke up a couple days later. I remember hearing his voice comforting me several times while I was out but I couldn't force my eyes to open. I once heard arguing, his voice kept saying 'She glowed to me."
"When I awoke, I walked out of the hut I was in. I realized I was in a city of trees. The trees were hundred feet tall and had several huts, like the one I was in, attached to them. Every one was linked with a staircase. Your father met me at the steps and took me in his arms. He told me he had worried about me and was so glad I was alright. Even though it sounds insane, I was immediately in love with this strange man."
"Actually, I think I know how you felt." I added, fighting back tears. That's the way it was with him.
"He told me that 'The Elders' were not happy that he brought me here. He said when he found me and I glowed to him, he knew I was meant for him. Nymphs glow to their mates and their mates glow to them. There is only one mate for each one of them in the world. Your father had waited 376 years for me."
Just like one singer for every vampire.
"Per your father's request, the Elders decided after much deliberation to give us the official mating ceremony. See, the Elders can't interfere with pairs that glow for each other. No matter how much they may want to. Pairs are set on the wheel of fate and grown into the web of life. No one but Gaia has the power to intervene."
"You mean, the woman who spoke to me?"
"Yes, the very same. Though she isn't really a woman. For a lack of a better term, she is Mother Nature. The bringer of life."
"Who is this Camlin guy?"
"He is the Sage of the West Vale. He is also a wood nymph and essentially the leader of the Elders. There are four nymph cities: West Vale, located in Montana – Home of the Wood nymphs; North Vale, located in Greenland – Home of the Ice nymphs; East Vale, located in Egypt – Home of the Earth nymphs; South Vale, located in New Zealand – Home of the Fire nymphs. Each vale has their own sage to lead them. The sage visits those who haven't grown up in the vale or have left of their own volition. During this visit, he or she tells the maturing nymphs to return to the vale so they can be taught how to control their powers. Nymphs do not start to mature until age 18. There have only been 3 others that are what they call 'half breeds', besides you. You are half human and half nymph."
I stayed quiet, completely shocked at what I was hearing.
I am not human.
"Are nymphs immortal?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yes and no. Once male nymphs turn 18, they become immortal. They can mate any time in their life. Female nymphs do not become immortal until age 25. They only have from age 18 until 25 to mate and bear children. Their immortal bodies will not allow for children."
"So essentially, guys stay 18 forever and the girls get stuck at 25?"
"Exactly."
"So if he had just waited 7 more years, I could have been with safely with him." I slipped.
'What?" Renee gave me a bewildered look.
"Edward," Charlie answered.
I jerked my head toward Charlie in astonishment and screamed, "You knew what he was and didn't tell me?"
"What is she talking about, Charlie?"
"Mom, guess what? My biological dad and I aren't the only things that go bump in the night." I growled.
"Jesus, Renee, you couldn't tell from the prom pictures we emailed you?" Charlie scoffed.
Renee looked completely lost.
"Edward was a vampire, Renee. A freaking vampire that ripped her heart in two."
"You LET our daughter date a vampire?"
"Edward was different, Renee. He only drank animal blood. He was a good boy until he left our daughter broken in the woods." Charlie replied. Regret and anger seemed to seep from his pores.
"I cannot believe this, Charlie Swan. Of all the stupid dangerous things you could do. Is that why she got hurt in Phoenix?" Renee screamed, her eyes wild with anger.
"Yes, Mom. A nomad came tracked me, lured me to my old dance studio, and bit me. If it hadn't been for Edward sucking out the venom, I would be dead now."
"So not only was he your boyfriend but he got to suck you blood, too?" She spat and rose from her chair.
"What Edward did was the hardest thing any vampire could ever do. You know how you said there is only one mate for every nymph? Well, there is only one singer for every vampire. A singer is more irresistible than any other human to that vampire. Like heroin to an addict. I was Edward's singer. He tasted my blood and stopped drinking before he drained me. Vampires have trouble stopping with normal humans. Imagine how hard it is when the human is their singer."
I'm not sure why I was defending him. After the way he left, he didn't really deserve it.
Renee gasped and sat down. "He stayed with you for over a year and you were that irresistible to him?"
"He slowly desensitized himself. The temptation was still there but he had learned to control it. He said loving me kept him from hurting me." I added, tears flowing down my cheeks.
He loved me…
Past tense.
Renee took me in her arms, "I had no idea, honey. I wish you could have come to me."
I pulled away when I felt rage build up in me. "How does it feel to be lied to? If I had known what you had been keeping from me, he might not have left me. We might still be together now." I broke down and fell to my knees.
"I miss him so much. So much...," I cried, my body wracked with sobs.
"I'm so sorry. There was a chance you wouldn't start maturing. Some half breeds don't. We were hoping you could have a normal life."
"Obviously, that was never in the cards for me. First him and now this." I replied while drying my tears.
"Why didn't you tell me you knew, Dad?"
"Well at first I thought you didn't know and I figured it was his responsibility to tell you. Then I saw how happy he made you, so I figured it didn't matter."
"How did you figure it out?"
"Well, Renee taught me about all sorts of mythical beings. You'd think she'd remember her own teachings," he gave Renee an incredulous look.
"That's one of things they teach at the Vale. Your biological father gave me a crash course." Renee explained.
"Are there any other mythical creatures I should know about?"
Charlie and Renee exchanged worried looks. "Don't you think it's about time you are completely honest with me?" I demanded.
"Well, Bells, you know the Quileutes? All the boys on the rez are….shape shifters, wolves to be exact."
"Oh my God, really? What about Jake?"
"He is one too."
That certainly explains a lot. The crazy growth spurt, fevers, and the detachment. No wonder we never speak anymore. I thought it was just me that pulled away.
I have to find out more about this whole messed up situation.
"So why did Gaia visit me instead of Camlin?"
"I'm not sure. What did she say?" Renee asked.
I replayed the scene for her, filling her on every last detail. "Well, I can only guess that conversation means one or two things: Gaia thinks you are very important and/or there is something is wrong with Camlin," she replied.
"Sages aren't like normal nymphs. They are so closely knit with the environment that it does cause them to age, but very slowly. The more damaged that is caused to nature around them, the faster they age. Camlin must be over 1000 years old though he looked in his eighties when I last saw him."
"Can sages die? I mean if they can age wouldn't their body eventually give out?" I asked.
"I suppose it's possible if the environment around them is severely impacted," She answered with a worried tone.
"Either way, you need to take a trip to the Vale. You will find your answers there. I can take you to the border but I can't enter. I am not welcome there anymore."
"Why are you not welcome there?" I inquired.
"Because they believe I killed your father. Or at least my presence did."
I gave Renee confused look and my heart falls. "So my father is dead?"
"Yes, he died a couple weeks after we mated. What you have to understand is that each Vale city is cloaked. A nymph has to call to the Vale to make it appear. Little did I know, humans had been searching for me for two weeks. Someone, the Elders weren't sure who, called to the Vale and allowed the humans to see it. They came into the city and took me away. Your father tried to intercept them and became infuriated. To come between a nymph and their mate is suicide, especially if the female is with child. But it is against nature for a nymph to kill an innocent human. Once a nymph does, he dies. Fionnlagh's rage brought forth a natural disaster that killed the search party. Since they were taking his mate against her will, they were not innocent. But unknown to your father, their young sons had followed them, hoping to feel grown up. Your father accidently killed them. That act sealed your father's fate." Tears filled my mother's eyes as she spoke.
What she said brought me unexpected sorrow. I would have like to have known my father. To die because of a mistake is terrible. Essentially, he died protecting my mother and me.
"If you aren't welcome, then why should I be? I am your daughter."
"You are also Fionnlagh's daughter. He was a great warrior and well respected. You will be welcomed with open arms."
"What if I don't want to go to this place? To see these people who obviously are unkind." I spat. Charlie and Renee shook their heads.
"As you grow older, your power strengthens. Without the right training, you will not be able to control it. You could kill innocents. I know you, Bella. You have a big heart. You couldn't stand that," pleaded Renee.
I laid my face in my hands. Thoughts barraged me from every direction in my head.
Who am I?
What is my purpose?
Do I even care?
Do I care about a world without him?
Do I want to be a monster?
"Bella, I think Edward would want you to go." Charlie said softly, while stroking my hair. I had never seen this much affection from him before.
I must continue to be woman he loved.
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