Miya looked out the window of the car - she didn't know what kind of car it was, she didn't keep up with this stuff.
There were a lot of trees, and they were always the same green. She felt like she was in a tunnel with poor lighting, and had a particularly mental designer that happened to paint the inside a deep, mossy green. She watched the trees flash by in silence before Esme broke the strangely comfortable silence.
"So, Miya - you had quite the attachment to the little girl..." She started off, and Miya gave a little smile. "I've known Kathleen since she was 3, and her parents died in a house fire. When she was brought to the Center, I was the first person to go to her besides the adults. She just...got attached to me. I don't know what it was; she just immediately liked me better than anyone else - even the adults. I practically raised her." She said, sighing. She would miss Kathleen.
Wait...
"Would we be able to stop by the Center though, so I can see Kathleen?" Miya asked hopefully, peering at Esme and Carlisle with pleading.
Esme nodded with a wide smile, and Carlisle chuckled. "Yes, Miya - you'll be able to see little Kathleen. Just say when, and we'll take you or one of the others will." He said, and Miya raised an eyebrow.
"Others?"
"Yes, we have 5 adoptive children - 3 sons, and 2 daughters. There is Edward, Emmett, and Jasper for the boys, and Alice and Rosalie for the girls. Then, there's also Bella, who is married to Edward and they have a daughter named Renesmee." Carlisle said, and Miya raised both her eyebrows. "A lot of people, don't you think?" She said tightly, and Esme looked back at her. "Don't worry, dear. We'll tell them not to touch you and overwhelm you, alright?" She said gently, and Miya cleared her throat as she nodded. These people were doing far too much for her already, and she was starting to feel selfish and guilty.
"I'm sorry for making everything so difficult." Miya mumbled, sinking back down into her seat with her satchel clutched to her side.
Carlisle seemed to be concentrating on driving - Miya knew he wasn't; she knew he was a vampire, and he wouldn't have to with his reflexes - and Esme shook her head. "It's not making everything difficult, Miya. It's really not a bother; we just want you to be comfortable and happy with us." She said, and Miya sighed.
"Still..." She started to argue, and Esme shook her head again.
"It's no problem, dear. Just relax, okay?" The woman soothed, and Miya bit her lower lip before turning her gaze to residing back on the window again.
Her eyes watched the trees whip by, and she could just get a detailed glance of a tree before it was gone and she saw the next one. It puzzled her, but she didn't really care for it much.
"So, how far do you guys live from the Center?" Miya asked slowly, keeping her eyes glued to the passing trees.
The Center was in Port Angeles, so either these vampires had traveled a long way or they lived close by and heard that way.
"We only live in Forks; so not too far." Esme said, and the vampire-hybrid nodded.
Close by, then.
Her eyes looked from outside the window to the interior of the car. It was a nice car. She'd have to find out what kind of car it was.
"I'm sorry, still, for being difficult with this no-touch thing." She said quietly, and Esme looked at her in the rear-view mirror. "It's fine, Miya." She said, and Miya actually believed her this time.
The rest of the ride to the house was quiet and uneventful; none of the three spoke, and there were no questions asked.
Miya felt relieved when they finally pulled into a driveway.
The driveway was long; it seemed more like a street. But, eventually, a large white house materialized with a threshold of trees. The house was, to said in one word simply, gorgeous. She wasn't calling it big, because she had seen larger, but she wasn't calling it small either. The house was just...normal; for her.
Her eyes looked at it through the windshield, and she studied it carefully. There were a lot of windows, and the design seemed majestic and modern with a touch of older style when it moved to the sides of the house.
She liked it.
As the car came to a stand-still, she jolted slightly forward and sighed as she leaned back in her seat. Now, Miya kind of didn't want to get out of the car.
She was scared; she was honestly scared.
How many years had it been - how many centuries - since she had been around more than 2 vampires at a time? She was sure it had been sometime around 3 centuries, and that had been the Volturi then. When they were killing her father - for him wanting to kill her.
She flinched at the memory, and then shrank down in the leather interior of the car, and she watched the windows in fright as Carlisle came around and opened the door.
He frowned and then looked at her with a soft gaze.
"Are you alright, Miya?" He asked, and she shut off her thoughts and held up one finger in his direction.
Slowly, she breathed in and out deeply.
When she felt her apprehension fade, she opened her eyes and looked up at Carlisle. She managed a timid smile. "Sorry...I'm just not used to new people. It's been ages since I've met someone like...you all - the Cullens." She said, her words holding a double-meaning, and Carlisle raised an eyebrow before glancing at his wife, Esme. She looked surprised, and Carlisle was then speaking with his eyes on Miya. "What do you mean people like us?" He asked slowly, watching her carefully. Miya smiled a bit. "People who were so...nice. Didn't treat me like a dog. It's...nice." She said, smiling a bit at him before sliding out of the back seat and keeping her satchel close to her.
They seemed relieved, and then Carlisle closed the car door.
Her eyes watched the house carefully, and Carlisle and Esme started walking toward it. Miya followed them slowly, and when they got to the front door and opened it, she picked up her pace and was soon through the threshold and into the house.
Then, she froze when a girl immediately started heading toward her.
The girl had dark, spiky hair and she looked friendly.
Miya backed up, still, and Carlisle gestured at the girl. "Alice, this is Miya. She doesn't like contact, so I'm afraid a welcoming hug isn't allowed." He said, and Alice frowned. "Not even a handshake?" She asked, and looked at Miya with a pleading glance. The vampire hybrid shook her head, backing away a few steps when the small vampire took merely one toward her. Alice frowned, then sighed before stepping back. Miya relaxed, and took one step forward.
"I'm sorry." She said softly, and then stared at her feet in what was almost a guilty manner.
Alice laughed slightly, and Miya could hear the material of her clothes rub as she assumed Alice was shaking her head. It assured her as much as it scared her. Miya wasn't used to the reactions of others; she didn't know whether this was good or not. She was used to associating with children - their reactions were always very straight forward most of the time. Older beings though...especially vampires...well, she didn't know what they used to interact like this. Miya wasn't a social thing - she couldn't even bare to call herself a person - and she didn't know how others took things...
Apparently, her antisocial behavior wasn't a good thing to Alice.
"I'll just go ahead and show you to your room, then." She heard Alice say, and Miya glanced up at her to see a smile on her lips. Alice's voice was cheery, and it personally kind of scared Miya even more.
Looking at Carlisle with wide eyes, he gave her a warm smile. "It's fine, Miya. Alice is just being friendly - as always." He said, and Miya raised an eyebrow as she looked back at Alice. Then, she gave a slight nod and clutched her satchel tighter. Alice rolled her eyes, and then started for the stairs. "You'll get my brother's old room - his name is Edward. But Esme built him this little cottage...well, you'll see what I mean later! Anyways, just follow me..." Miya pursed her lips, but followed Alice silently after she glanced back at Carlisle and Esme once more. She was leaving them - they were the only ones in this house that she trusted even in the slightest. Alice was...scary.
It was a while before they stopped, but Miya had memorized the path that they took. So, when they stopped in front of a door, she immediately stopped 5 feet behind Alice.
Alice glanced behind her at Miya, a small smile on her lips that dimmed in the slightest, then, she opened the door and stepped in. "Come on - I won't touch you." She said, and held up her hands before putting them behind her back. Miya watched her warily. It wasn't that she didn't somewhat like Alice - she just didn't trust her.
Reluctantly, Miya came toward the door and when she got to the doorway, she rushed through and spaced herself away from Alice again.
The small vampire rolled her eyes, then gestured around the room.
"This will be your room as long as you'll be living here - which I hope is longer than a month," she hinted, and Miya bit her lower lip looking around the room. It had 2 walls that were glass, and the other two walls were probably not glass only because they were pointed toward the frame of the house or had a doorway. Her eyes surveyed the room, and she nodded a little. Miya's eyes caught a large bookshelf that held novels upon novels. Adjacent to it by the mere obstacle of a full bed was another like bookshelf except it's contents were different. There were a few collections of CDs, and DVDs on that shelf in the lower region of it. Most of the music was alternative, classical or pop. There were a few rock CDs but the rest of the room was taken up by DVDs.
Most of the DVDs were romances or romantic comedies - something any human teenage girl would be interested in.
Miya...she wasn't too interested in that kind of thing.
Her eyes swept over the bed, which was covered in some dark violet silk sheets, with black and white pillows. The bookshelves had little slots that held space for what would be considered the side-table or night-table - whatever the things were called nowadays. Both held compact lamps that had the shades adorned with elegant designs - swirls and little curves. It almost looked like it was out of a magazine with that easy casualness to it that kept it from being that pristine.
The vampire-hybrid kept these factors in mind before she turned back to where Alice was still standing in the doorway.
"You can go if you want to - I'm just going to explore the room a little more. I'll only be a few minutes." She said quietly, and Alice nodded before turning to leave.
When the door shut behind her, Miya let out a long breath and sat gingerly on the bed.
"I'm probably in way over my head with this - trying to live a normal life." She muttered to herself, running her fingers through her dark hair. It stuck up in little tuffs for a moment before falling in a lazy array that resembled the former arrangement. Her hands slid from her hair to holding her face, and she shook her head. "I'll more than likely be gone in less than a month - it always happens. I always get someone hurt..." Her voiced thought trailed off and she closed her eyes.
Her fingers clenched her head, with her nails digging into her skin.
Miya sighed, and clutched her satchel to her midsection as she fell back onto the bed. At that moment, though, it occurred to her that she had never heard Alice walk away after closing the door.
The vampire-hybrid froze for a moment, not breathing.
'I hope she doesn't suspect...something.' Miya thought vaguely, sitting up before she sighed. Her eyes looked around the room, and she loosened her grip on her satchel.
"I wonder when -" She started, playing it off like she was speaking to herself.
At that moment, there was a light knock at the door.
"Miya?" Alice asked, sounding as though she had just come back. Said vampire turned the knob of the door, and it opened to reveal the vampire bearing curiosity, concern, and her natural, regular brightness. Miya looked at her, and nodded at her to continue.
"I came back to come and get you to meet the others..." Alice said, trailing off a bit before she entered the room completely. Within a short moment, the petite vampire stood 5 feet from Miya with a questioning, unsure look.
Odd.
"Okay then." The vampire-hybrid said softly, and then arose from her seated position with her satchel in hand.
Alice's eyebrows furrowed at this. "Aren't you going to leave that here in the room?" She inquired, the scrunched lines on her forehead smoothing out before she arched an eyebrow.
Miya clutched it closer to herself, and shook her head a bit. "No...I don't go anywhere without it." She said, her jaw slightly taut.
She couldn't leave without it - she wouldn't.
Alice saw the defensive manner of the girl, and nodded quickly. "I was just curious - but anyways. C'mon; they're going to be inside in a minute!" She said, and then went to grab Miya. The vampire-hybrid fell back onto the bed to avoid the contact with Alice's skin, and nodded stiffly. "I'll follow you." She said, and Alice huffed impatiently. "Why won't you let anyone touch you?" She demanded, narrowing her eyes at Miya. The vampire-hybrid raised an eyebrow at the vampire's sudden hostility. She didn't take it to heart, though, knowing Alice was only being this way because she was frustrated and confused.
"I am terrified of being touched - its a phobia of mine. It's called chiraptophobia. So, I'd really appreciate it if you would respect that mental illness of mine." Miya said, looking at her warily.
That had come from the top of her head, but it made complete sense if they thought she was human.
A human who had a major opposition to being touched, and would even fall off of something if it meant that she could avoid touch. It would work for her.
For now.
Alice gave her a hard stare for a moment, then relaxed and nodded with a tiny, apologetic smile.
"Sorry about that, then. But, seriously Miya - we gotta get downstairs."
Miya nodded, and then got to her feet when Alice took 10 steps away - toward the door.
She hurried after Alice as soon as the vampire set off on a quick, brisk pace out of the room and down the hallway that Miya had been led down to get to what was now her room.
They went through the halls, and then finally came to the stairs that the two had gone up to get to Miya's room.
Miya and Alice both hurried down the stairs, though the latter was quicker and about 10 feet in front of the previous.
Oh well.
They both got to the bottom, and Miya skidded to keep from bumping into Alice. The vampire though, was still and looked out the back windows of the house with a wide grin. There were people heading to the house from outside, and there was one guy who was shrugging a shirt on. The vampire-hybrid looked away from the people and then sighed as she finally slid the strap of the satchel onto her shoulder. Then, she lifted it over her head so the strap was stretching across her torso diagonally and made it more difficult to get off.
She rested her arm against the fabric of the satchel, and then moved to stand close to a wall. Miya looked at the wooden floor, her face being shaded by her dark hair, and she heard Carlisle and Esme enter the living room.
"Oh, Miya, Alice. Are the others...?" Esme asked, and Alice said a cheerful 'yes'.
Then, the off-to-the-side vampire-hybrid heard a door open and a few different pairs of footsteps come in. There was quiet chatter, but really not much noise in general.
Miya could only hear 3 beating hearts; 2 loud, steadily thumping ones and then a light, quick, upbeat one that was how hers used to sound.
Her own heartbeat sounded like a human's - so her rate and volume of heartbeats was somewhere in between the hummingbird heartbeat and the heavy-seat beats. It put her on edge to only hear 3 more hearts than her own, but she shrugged it off. The thing she should really be worrying about should be the fact that she was in a room with...
Her senses picked up 8 vampires.
Sadly, though, that was the least of her worries when she caught the scent of the others.
Shapeshifters - shapeshifters big time. There were two shapeshifters present in the very room she stood.
The other, she could tell, was one of her own kind. A vampire-hybrid. From it's heartbeat, Miya could tell that it was younger than she.
She could feel the stares of everyone on her, but there were 2 or 3 that were particularly intense. One seemed...irritated, agitated, another anxious, and the last...confused. Confused in a very strong way.
This would be interesting for Miya.
Someone cleared their throat, and she recognized the person as Carlisle. She peered through her hair, being able to see very well - regardless of the thick layers and the dark color.
Carlisle was looking at everyone else, or at least where Miya had heard the procession stop.
"This is Miya," he said, and she saw him motion toward her. "Miya," he said, and she hesitantly looked up.
Now she knew the stares.
The agitated one was a vampire that was good-looking in it's species standards, and he had reddish-brown hair that was tousled. He was tall, and his golden eyes were fixed on her with intense, frustrated concentration.
The anxious gaze came from Alice - no surprise there. Except it seemed to be something more...
And the confused gaze came from one of the shapeshifters - the shorter of the two. He still had boyish features, and looked to be younger than the other. But now, the confusion melted away into a look of awe and...bliss. He seemed joyful, yet still seemed like he was hazy. His dark brown eyes were fixed on her, and Miya stiffened as she took another step back. It was unnecessary in circumstances for everyone else, but for her - well, she needed the step back.
Carlisle had gone quiet - and now everyone else was looking between her and the younger male shapeshifter.
It seemed like Carlisle was the first to come to his senses.
"Miya," he repeated, a smile coming to his lips, "this is Edward," he gestured to the agitated vampire, "and Bella." There was a female vampire next to the annoyed male vampire with the tousled hair and she was by far the most beautiful female vampire that Miya had seen. She had wavy, dark hair and her skin was pallid with a soft look to it. Her eyes were gold with the slightest hint of amber to them when it got to getting around the pupil. She was noticeably shorter than the male, Edward, beside her, but she was still a good, average size in height.
"Hello," Bella said, smiling at Miya. Miya gave a short, small smile.
Edward gave a stiff nod, and Bella rested her hand lightly on his arm - it seemed like a silent warning that had an underlying question.
The irritated vampire Miya now knew as Edward gave Bella a hard, knowing look and Bella's eyes widened slightly before nodding a little.
"Now," Carlisle said, and Miya looked back at him.
"This is Emmett and Rosalie." He said, and motioned to the bulky, dark haired vampire who had a huge grin on his face. There was a tall, blond, super-model like vampire next to him - a female.
"You already know Alice," the head Cullen said, chuckling slightly, "but the man next to her is Jasper." Carlisle said, and Miya looked with slight curiosity over at Alice. Sure enough, there was a tall, blond male vampire with shaggy, curly hair standing next to her.
With a nod to continue, Carlisle continued with the introductions.
Miya was tense from how the younger male shapeshifter kept staring at her, never looking away.
"And the girl behind Bella is Renesmee - their daughter - and next to her is Jacob Black, her fiance." Carlisle said, and Miya was hesitant to look at them.
But she did.
The vampire-hybrid - Renesmee - had reddish-brown hair that was long with waves and curls. Her eyes were a warm chocolate brown, her skin peachy, and she was slim. Jacob was well built, tan, had dark hair, dark eyes, and looked to be in his early twenties. He towered well over everyone in the room, with his only competition being Edward and the other shapeshifter.
"And last but not least, Seth Clearwater is the one on the left - your left - of Edward."
So that was the name of the stare guy.
He had dark hair with his dark eyes, and was tan as well. He wasn't as built as Jacob, but he still had a good amount of muscle on him. He was lanky, though, and Miya only spared him a nod before glancing back to Carlisle. He gave her an assuring smile and she managed to breathe.
"I'm Miya - Miya Kelson." She said, her voice quiet as she looked at all the people she had been introduced to for a short moment before clearing her throat and looking down.
"Miya is severely opposed and scared of being touched, so, if you would respect her and keep a healthy distance from her, she'd probably appreciate it." Esme said, her voice stern.
"So...we can't even shake her hand?" Renesmee asked, frowning now at Esme and then she looked to Miya.
Miya shook her head quickly, and bit her lower lip.
"I'm sorry." She said, her voice soft and she glanced at Esme.
"Can I go back up stairs now?" She asked, a slight bit of pleading in her voice. Esme gave her an apologetic, soft look and Miya felt devastated. From the corner of her eye, Seth frowned when the depression showed on her face.
Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath. Then, she opened her eyes and let it out. "Okay then," she said, her voice sounding tranquil.
She thought quickly for a moment.
"Can I go for a walk then? I don't like being confined in buildings for a large amount of time..." She said, shifting her weight back and forth between her left leg and right leg. It made her part of being antsy with staying inside seem more believable, and she saw Esme give in.
"Yes, Miya - go ahead. Just don't go too far, alright?" The motherly vampire said, giving Miya a soft look that had some sternness in it.
"Here, Esme - I'll go with her." Seth said, and Miya stiffened. Then, she gave him a murderous look before covering it up. She shook her head, and then rushed out the room and to the back door.
When she got outside, she took a deep breath and got some distance between herself and the back door.
Only to be less than a foot away from Seth Clearwater when she looked behind her.