Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters
Chapter Two: Keeping Secrets
They were kind enough to let me clean up and change before starting our next round of questions, but I knew they would want to discuss and compare what they thought of me. While I was soaking in their tub, Alice bounced into the bathroom with a change of clothes she managed to scrounge up for me. Looking at them as I put them on, I realized they had actually been bought for me, years ago. How ironic.
Dreading the questions that were bound to come, I trudged down the stairs at human speed. They were all down there and all seemed welcoming and friendly except for one, Edward, he had crammed himself into a corner, remaining far more separated from his family then I had ever known him to be. I was not, however, shaken by his cold manner because I presumed it was because I seemed like the human I once was (especially in the same outfit I had worn once) and he was angered by it, but I sent him a questioning look anyways, just to keep up the act of not knowing them.
I took a seat across from Carlisle, knowing most of the questions would be coming from him. "Thank you very much, it felt wonderful to be able to take an actual bath. I really wouldn't want to impose any longer, unless you have any other questions?"
They all seemed a little surprised at the fact I had no intention of staying, except Edward, he seemed…relieved? I guess he really did hate me, I sighed inwardly. Most vampires didn't really enjoy the company of others, but the Cullens had lived as a family for a long time. "I'm sorry, maybe that sounded a little harsh or sudden. It's just I don't think it would be…best for your family if I were to stay any longer than necessary."
Several furrowed brows met my divulgence. They obviously believe me to be a simple lonely vampire; they had no idea that I was being hunted. Carlisle broke the silence, "by best for us…you mean that you're dangerous in some way?"
I couldn't help but smile at his question. "I don't want to cause any of you harm, certainly not after the kindness you've shown me," just how much they would never truly understand, "but to put it plainly, I am being tracked by some other vampires that are none too happy with me. They are extremely focused, so I have no doubt that they would leave you be, but being caught up in a confrontation is something I'm sure you don't want."
Seven set of wide eyes looked at me, I knew all of them were reeling at the idea of little ole' innocent-looking me being hunted by others, but thanks to Alice's visions I knew I didn't have much time. "You're being…tracked?" Alice's voice was no more than squeak, she sounded aghast.
I smiled kindly at her, "yes. They really don't seem to like me, not that I blame them." I chuckled rather darkly only to receive more wide-eyed looks.
"Why? What did you do? What could you have done?" Esme appeared to be struggling with the idea that I was not as cute and innocent as I seemed.
"They don't like some of my actions, or my methods for that matter." I smiled to myself, "I think they're also pretty angry they haven't been able to catch me yet. They've been going at it for years." I realized a little too late that I now had their attention and it would be even more difficult to leave quickly. Making a split-second decision, I settled myself further into my soft seat; I would just have to finally have my long-awaited confrontation.
The Cullens didn't seem to be getting over my brief admonishments very quickly, so I let my gaze wander as they collected themselves for more questioning. Jasper leaned forward slightly, looking very confused and yet eager. "Why can't I feel you?"
I had been expecting something along this lines but his wording still made me laugh hysterically inside. I put on a look of slight confusion, "because you're not touching me…?" My tone implying there may be something wrong with his sanity.
He, and the rest of his family, reacted just as I expected. Jasper's eyes widened ever so slightly as if realizing both his mistaken wording and the fact I wouldn't understand the question anyways, while the rest of the family either cracked a smile or laughed. He seemed to recover, "I'm sorry, I should have explained. I can feel and manipulate emotions, but there's nothing coming off of you, it's like you don't exist."
Alice shifted uncomfortably in her seat, obviously she had yet to tell everyone that, according to her visions, I didn't exist. "Oh. I guess you would say that's my power. I have kind of a barrier, for both my mind of my body. I can lift the one surrounding my body but it takes effort. It's nice, it's like I really don't exist sometimes, at least to others."
His eyes widened considerably. I knew this was a formidable gift, I had used it to my advantage quite a lot. "Really…" he barely breathed.
I smiled wide, quite glad my years of solitude had honed my acting skills to perfection. "Would you like to…feel me?" I smothered my laughter at using his way of asking. He nodded eagerly and I could see all seven pairs of eyes on me once again. With a small piece of my mind I lifted the physical barrier. Jasper looked shocked and yet happy to feel my contentment and ease, his smile faltered when he felt the slight pain buried underneath. His power must have gotten stronger in the time I hadn't known them. Another mistake.
I saw Alice's face go blank for a moment and knew the barrier should come back before she saw too much. It was back as soon as I urged it. Jasper looked ready to question my emotions but a gasp from the tiny shop-a-holic caused his and everyone else's eyes to turn her way. I already knew what she had most likely seen, but welcomed the distraction, I looked at her quizzically. She stared at me wide-eyed and slightly frantic before relaying her vision to her family. There was something in her eyes I didn't like: understanding. Suddenly, I wondered exactly how much she saw and what it was.
Certain members of the Volturi were coming to pay Carlisle a visit. They were in the area on business, found the Cullen family's scent, and would be stopping by--in about five minutes. Even while the rest of his family was trying to decide how they felt about this newfound information, Carlisle made sure I understood just who the Volturi were and that they were his old friends. I appreciated being included in the slight panic; it had never been that way when I was a human, they always seemed to assume I would just go along with what they said. I guess you really did have to be a vampire to join this family, not that I could even now.
I sighed, as soon as Aro and his little minions walked through that door they would know anyways, so why not tell them now. I turned to Carlisle and looked at him, my eyes pleading, "I'm really sorry about this, I didn't realize anyone of my kind was in this area. I didn't mean to lead them to you, even if you are their old friends."
I saw confusion on everyone's face, comprehension seemed to spread through Carlisle first and then Edward, obviously reading his thoughts. "You said you were being hunted. You meant by them? The Volturi? What could you have done that angered them?" He sounded incredulous, unbelieving.
"It wasn't so much what I did to them, as what I did to other vampires that caused them to complain to the Volturi. Then as soon as they found me and realized I could actually escape from them, they wanted me to join them. They've been rather persistent, I didn't realize that after 50 or so years of chasing me, they would still be at it." I looked into their horror-struck faces and added, "I guess things are boring over there in Italy," trying to lighten the mood a little.
I laughed a little nervously, they didn't seem to be taking this so well. Damn, why didn't I use Alice's gift of visions to see how they would take this. Stupid. "What…what did you do?" I could tell Emmett was fascinated to know what I did to cause so much anger in the vampire community.
"Um…I'm not exactly sure you would like to know. I mean I know you're curious, but hearing might make you a little wary." They looked at me as if I was slightly incompetent. I sighed again, "Okay, well, after my change I was kind of angry about being a vampire. The one who changed me…well let's just say they didn't do it to let me live a happy forever. I got a taste of battle when I destroyed them. When I began to travel I stayed in the south for a brief period of time." I heard Jasper's intake of breath, I guessed he might know where I was going with this. I laughed nervously again, "while in the south I kind of got caught up in a conflict between to mini vampire armies. They decided I either needed to join one side or die because I was in the way. Well you can imagine I didn't like that idea much, so I fought my way through them. I ended up killing both armies and their 'masters,'" I spit the word.
I now could see a definite look of disbelief on some faces and awe on others. "It seems sort of unrealistic, I know, but you can imagine that with my power I am a little more capable than your average vampire. I was immune to any power attacks that other vampires tried, so it was just hand-on-hand combat in which I had an advantage." At their raised eyebrows I divulged yet more information I wouldn't have otherwise. "I was still a newborn at the start of this whole fight, therefore, I had the strength and speed the surpassed the members of the army, but I had control that a newborn shouldn't have, I didn't rely solely on my instincts.
"I know it still sounds a little crazy, and sometimes I don't believe it myself, but after that…war, I began looking for other vampires creating armies. I especially sought out those vampires that were creating large numbers of newborns to use as their soldiers. Unfortunately most the time I had to…dispose of the newborn soldiers as well, most of them had gotten to the point that their sole purpose of existence was the fight and feed. I was angry that someone could just take away those poor people's lives just to do their own will, so I began to put a stop to it. You can imagine the uproar the other army leaders caused when they realized someone was coming after them. They didn't know who I was, or even if it was an army because there were no survivors, just the news that the wars going on in the next state over had stopped without any real fighting. Il Demone, that's what they started call me." I laughed lightly, remembering.
I looked around, immediately sober. Each face had a mixture of respect, wariness, pity, and some even had anger or fear. Only Alice's face remained unchanged, she still had that look in her eyes and I didn't like not knowing what it meant. "I'm sorry, I'll leave. That was probably a bit much, huh?" I stood up and streaked out the front door at vampire speed, leaving the Cullens looking shocked and confused but locked in place.
I knew as soon as I took my first step outside that I was too late to truly leave unnoticed. I felt their presence just past my visual range. It was unfortunate the Cullens were going to have to see this, but at least I made it outside before anything could get broken in their house.
