Note: I realize that this chapter is much shorter than my other chapters have been lately. I didn't mean for it to be so short, but it was the right cut-off place, and I couldn't imagine continuing this chapter any further. I'm sure the next chapter will be longer.
Lissa studied her reflection in the mirror as Alice brushed her long, golden brown locks. Now that she didn't look like she'd spent nearly two decades living in the wild, she could better appreciate her appearance. She'd been pretty as a human, with eyes the shade of the tropical blue waters one would see in the Caribbean and a sprinkling of light freckles across her nose and cheeks. Of course, as a vampire the freckles and aqua blue eyes were a thing of the past, but Lissa couldn't deny the beauty in her face now. Her face was so smooth, her skin an almost ghoulish pale, her eyes striking in their golden hue. Though she'd never been vain, Lissa was secretly glad that she was at least somewhat attractive, and even more glad that her eyes were no longer blood red.
Alice had given her a flattering outfit to wear, a pale pink sweater dress that fell just above her knees, paired with a pair of black tights and a cute pair of boots, also black. Lissa, a bit of a girly-girl at heart, loved the dress, which seemed to please Alice as the dark-haired pixie muttered about how much easier it would be if Bella shared Lissa's obvious fashion sense.
"Perfect," Alice proclaimed with a self-satisfied smile. "You, Lissa, are beautiful."
"You said there were other members of your coven," Lissa remembered. "Carlisle, Bella, and Nessie… You're sure they'll be all right with my being here?"
"Of course they will!" she exclaimed, as if the mere suggestion were preposterous. "Bella and Nessie are on their way now – they'll be here in ten minutes. Just to let you know, Nessie isn't a full vampire. She's half-vampire and half-human."
Lissa scrunched her face in confusion. "How is that possible?"
"She was conceived while Bella was still a human. So she does have a beating heart. It doesn't bother us as much as smelling a regular human would, because her scent is also half-vampire. It helps to mask the scent of her blood."
The thought made Lissa a little uncomfortable, not knowing if she could handle being around a human. She'd avoided it for so long…
"You'll be fine around her," Alice added with a smile. Lissa wondered how she knew what she'd been thinking, but then she remembered Alice had visions. She must've had a vision of this."
"And Carlisle?" Lissa asked. She was most apprehensive about meeting the coven leader. Alice seemed certain that things would go fine, but even with her gift, could she be absolutely sure?
"He'll be here soon after. His shift is over at the hospital. I promise you, he's looking forward to meeting you anyway, and he'll be even more excited when he hears that you've been a 'vegetarian' your entire vampire life. He, Rosalie, and Bella have all been 'vegetarians' since their change, but Rosalie and Bella had others helping them after they were changed. Carlisle was the only one who did it with no outside help. Anyway, how about a tour of the house?"
Lissa allowed Alice to show her around the house, pointing out everyone's rooms (though of course no one slept) and studies. She'd stopped briefly outside one room, telling Lissa that it would be her room, and that Esme would jump at the chance to help decorate it if she'd like. The kitchen was huge, and Lissa came to find out that they used it for more than appearances. Alice explained that Nessie had been imprinted upon by a 'werewolf' named Jacob Black, and therefore Jacob's pack was at the house on a regular basis. ("They smell awful," Alice had further explained, "but they're friendly enough with us overall.").
They'd just walked back into the grandiose living room when the door opened and a child sped down the hallway and into the room. "Aunt Alice, guess what Mom bought me…" She skidded to a halt when she spied Lissa, and suddenly appeared quite bashful. "Hi," she said softly.
Lissa offered her own shy smile. She seemed to be 9, maybe 10. She didn't look quite the same as the others, with the faint flush to her skin and her warm brown eyes. She could hear the girl's heartbeat. Alice had been right. While the warm, pumping blood did tickle her throat, the sweet 'vampire' scent helped to overpower it for the most part. This must be Nessie, she thought. "Hi."
An older teen, maybe 18 or 19 with long brown hair, followed at a more leisurely pace, a few bags in each hand. She was obviously an immortal, with her flawless face and golden eyes. Process of elimination told Lissa that she had to be Bella. The young woman's eyes immediately locked on Lissa, and she studied her, though it didn't appear to be in a threatening manner.
"Great, you're home!" Alice said enthusiastically. "Bella, Nessie, this is Lissa. Lissa, this is Bella, Edward's wife, and their daughter Renesmee. Most of us simply call her Nessie, though it irks Bella."
"Nice to meet you both," Lissa said, her southern roots shining through even now.
Bella smiled, and Lissa felt just the tiniest bit relieved. "It's nice to meet you, Lissa. Alice hasn't scared you too much, yet, has she?"
Lissa chuckled. "Not yet. I didn't mind being dressed up like a life-sized doll. Alice has a good sense of fashion."
The smile on the brunette widened. "Fantastic! Alice has a new shopping buddy in you, so she can stop torturing me."
"Not hardly," snorted Alice. "Why would I stop trying when you are in an obvious need of a fashion education, Bella?"
Bella rolled her eyes. "It was worth a try."
Alice turned to Nessie. "And what did your mother buy you, darling?"
"The Complete Works of William Shakespeare!" Nessie exclaimed, taking a bag from Bella and pulling a thick, leather-bound book from within. It has thirty-seven plays and all of Shakespeare's poetry."
"That's wonderful. I'm sure it will keep you busy for a week, maybe." Lissa marveled at the thought of a child Nessie's age reading through any of William Shakespeare's work. She thought she remembered reading Romeo and Juliet at some point before being bitten – many of her human memories were fuzzy – and she didn't remember it being exactly easy reading. "Tell me, Ness, did your mother manage to buy you some new clothes while the two of you were out?"
"Of course I did," Bella interjected. "And your niece picked out every single piece, so there will be no blaming me for anything that doesn't fit your fashion criteria."
Alice snickered. "Well, if Nessie picked them out, then they must look good!"
Throwing her arms in the air, Bella huffed, "I give up. Where's Edward?"
"At the cottage."
"Great. Come on, love, let's go show your father what you found today." Lissa watched as Bella and Nessie headed back out the front door.
"So…" Lissa said, feeling somewhat awkward. It seemed she'd met everyone other than Carlisle and this werewolf named Jacob. They all seemed to be okay with her, but who knew if that would last?
Alice seemed to bounce on the balls of her toes. "Ooooh, Carlisle's home!" she said happily, clapping her hands. Lissa couldn't hear him yet, but she'd figured out already that if Alice said something was happening, it probably was.
It didn't take long for her to hear a car coming up the drive. From what Lissa could tell just by listening, the car was being parked in the garage she'd seen on the way over. Separate from the house, but not too far away. She felt herself growing nervous, and imagined that if she'd still been human she'd have a pair of sweaty palms. It was surprising, how much she remembered about being human, despite the fact that it had been so long and that she had been living a lonely, nomadic existence since her change.
Soon, she could hear someone moving along the path to the front door. It opened, and a young man, early-to-mid twenties in age, stepped into the house. He had blonde hair and movie star good looks. She knew from his smell that he was a vampire, so she knew he wasn't Jacob. That left only one option…
When his eyes locked with hers, she knew something was different. He froze, studying her for a few seconds, though to Lissa it seemed to be hours. Then, just as suddenly, he seemed to come out of his trance. He offered his hand to her, which she took hesitantly.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I was caught off guard for a moment there. Please forgive my rudeness. I'm Carlisle, and you must be Lissa."
"It's okay," Lissa said as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "It's nice to meet you, Carlisle, and I understand. It must be a bit of a shock coming into your home and finding a complete stranger."
Carlisle smiled. "Oh, it's not that, my dear. We've been expecting you for days. I'm sure you've had a chance to witness Alice's gift, by now. We've come to trust her visions. I was just surprised by the resemblance you bear to a picture I've seen of a young lady who went missing years ago."
"Really…" Lissa had an odd feeling about his admission. "By chance, what was her name?"
"Elizabeth Kent."
Lissa went rigid. That was her… it had to be her. How many Elizabeth Kent's could have gone missing who resembled her, even in this immortal state? Someone was still looking for her? She couldn't imagine who. Her mother had died when she was just a toddler, and she'd never even heard mention of her father's name, much less met him. Her mother's parents had raised her up until their deaths, just months before she'd been bitten. It had been foster care those last several months. She didn't figure the foster care system looked for missing kids much once they reached eighteen.
Had there been posters? Were the posters still there? Lissa had a million questions, all of them floating in her head simultaneously thanks to her vampire brain.
She heard a throat clear, and her head whipped around to face Alice, whose expression was somewhere between sympathy and amusement.
"You okay?" the pixie asked, though from the look in her eyes, Lissa was sure she already knew the answer to that, and was asking more for Lissa's benefit.
"Yeah, sorry. It's just that… my real name is Elizabeth. Elizabeth Frances Kent."