I'm sorry for taking so long. My beta(Miss Vampire Freak; she has good stories!!!) was dying(that's an exaggeration, don't freak out), so she was unable to edit this chapter. I would love you if you would review, because I have a poll-like thing for you, but I'd rather not use an actual poll. When I read stories, I'm not gonna go to the author's site, usually, to check out a poll. I know I can't be the only one that feels that way. Anyway, enjoy the story, then complain at me all you want.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Unless you count the paperback my sis is borrowing or the hardcover in the mail somewhere. But I don't think you were counting those.
-
Visitors
Edward's POV
Bella had noticed my blank-out, and was trying frantically to get my attention.
Renesmee had also noticed, but she had been trapped by a boy, so she was several yards away, too far to call out without attracting attention. She found an opportunity to get away, and quickly excused herself, starting towards Bella and me.
"Edward, what happened?" Bella asked as soon as she realized I was back with her.
I grabbed her hand and ran as fast as I could–at a human speed–towards the parking lot.
"Da-Edward, what about the office?" Renesmee was now right behind me; she had started running soon after she was free of the irritating boy that had been talking to her, and had almost caught up.
"Some of our kind are are going to meet us in the parking lot in a few minutes. Alice saw one of them lunge at a human nearby." My words were jumbled and made little sense to me, but my brilliant wife and daughter understood immediately, even picking up the pace a bit. "Who do you think they are? Are they vegetarians?" Renesmee questioned, not even huffing, though she was running at break-neck speed.
"I don't know. They were facing away in the vision, so I couldn't see their eyes."
We were almost to the lot now. I watched as the pieces of the vision slowly started to fall into place. Alice was by my car, a Karma S hybrid convertible. Jasper had just stepped out of a building nearby, talking to a teacher. He was worried, because he had felt Alice's emotions as she had dashed off after having a vision, but the teacher had already engaged him in conversation. Rosalie and Emmett were out of sights, but I heard their thoughts coming from the other end of the campus. They were–well, Emmett was doing most of it– tormenting a boy that had had the audacity to flirt–or, more appropriately, try to– with Rose. Emmett had been within vampire hearing.
I tuned them out; the most important piece had arrived, just now driving into the parking lot. I could tell from their minds that they were vampires; their windows were darkly tinted, so Bella and Nessie probably couldn't really tell yet, though Nessie had guessed by now that they were. I decided to be polite and not delve further until I saw their eyes. No need to shuffle through their minds if they were vegetarians. I bounded the last few feet to Alice's side, Bella and Renesmee right behind.
Good, you got here in time. I hope it helps. Alice didn't even turn to me as she thought this. Relief flooded her mind, but her shoulders still drooped, and there was no bounce in her. I put my arm around her shoulders comfortingly, trying to calm her some. Too bad Jasper wasn't here yet. I glanced over, since we had a moment till the visitors got out of their car. He had finished talking to the teacher, and he was walking swiftly our way. He didn't know the urgency of the situation to the full extent, so he felt no need to run. He did hurry however, gliding towards us faster than a human could normally walk; he could feel the worry rolling off us from where he was.
Renesmee put her hand in mine, even though it was unnecessary. Will we be able to prevent the attack?
I shrugged. We were about to find out.
The first vampire stepped out of the car that had pulled in front of us.
Ariella's POV
As I stepped out of the car, I reached for these vampire's powers, so I could be aware of what might happen. Every single one of the vampires and the human had a power, though I didn't know what yet. There was something strange about this human, putting aside the fact she was completely at ease with three vampires beside her. I brushed it off. Oddities happened. The more important thing at the moment was the powers. I decided to go with the young male's first. His delighted me; mind reading. I mantled it, and smiled as his mouth popped open.
Hello,I greeted him.
How did you do that?!He was on the brink of shock.
I just smiled wider and turned to the next vampire; a short, pixie-like thing, her power was to see the future. I giggled softly, for this one was also in shock, not over my power, which she was unaware of as of yet, but over my clothes. I guessed she was the male's mate, since he had his arm around her shoulders. No, Bella is my mate.He directed his still slightly shocked thoughts towards another female on the edge of the small group. I felt with my mind as I looked at her. She was fairly short, with long, brown hair. She was really quite pretty. As I thought this, I ran up against a blank wall in my mind. The male explained it quickly.The blank is from my mind reading. Bella has a very powerful mind shield.His thoughts were smug and proud as he continued. Your power must be mental. That must be where the wall comes from.
His mate spoke then, oblivious to her mate's and my mental conversation. "Hello, my name is Bella, this is my sister Alice, husband Edward, and daughter Renesmee." She pointed to the pixie, her mate, and then the human.
Wait.
"Daughter?" I latched onto the word. "How is that possible?"
Donovan, whom I had momentarily forgotten about, had by now gotten out of the car and was standing beside me. He patted my shoulder gently. "She's a half-vampire, Ari. Like I told you about."
Understanding flooded me. "Oh, I see. Pleased to meet all of you." I offered my hand to the half-vampire, Renesmee, first, inspecting her as I did. She had beautiful curls the color of her father's hair, and was about 5'4", the same height as her mother.
Likewise.I was startled by this. Was this girl's power to know other's powers, or similar to mine? How did she know I'd mantled her father's power? I reached out to feel it. Ah, I see. She could convey her thoughts by touching other's skin. Interesting. The opposite of her father's. And, we believe, her mother's too, since she can get through Bella's shield. Now, aren't you going to introduce yourselves? The male, Edward, raised an eyebrow at me.
"Oh, yes, of course. I'm so sorry. I am Ariella, and this is Donovan. We were curious as to what other vampires were doing here. We were worried you would be a danger to our secrecy. We have a permanent residence here, you see. Apparently, our fears were slightly pointless. You are, at least, non-human drinkers." I directed my look to each pair of golden eyes before me at this last comment. The half-vampire had deep chocolate brown eyes.
"Oh, yes, we are vegetarians. Now, I apologize for this act of rudeness, but Donovan, I would appreciate it if you would hold your breath and let Edward here hold your wrists for the next minute or so. If you don't, you'll be the one doing the exposing."
The pixie spoke quickly, and the source of her agitation returned to her.
I understood, but Donovan's face and thoughts were covered in shock, anger, and confusion.
"May I hold his wrists?" I figured Donovan wouldn't fight if I did it. I didn't even glance at Alice before I did; the yes came in her head, and the spoken one was lost as I explained to Don. "She has visions, Donny, and she had one of you pouncing a human. Don't look so upset, she's just being cautious." I gently but firmly took a grip on each of his wrists.
"Yes, of course, if you say so." He was still confused, but his angry and shocked thoughts had subsided. I heard him stop breathing, and just in time. A human walked by, practically oblivious to us, deeply engrossed in a phone conversation with someone who had a very nasally voice. The scent that wafted to us from her was very citrusy and sweet, and it made my throat go up in flames; I needed to hunt. None of our clan had hunted recently, and this appetizing human almost had me at her throat. I could see why Don would've pounced. He had missed the last hunt, and if the scent almost disarmed me, it would've completely gotten him.
As the air cleared, Alice spoke again. "Well, that was a very nice scent. I see why you lunged in my vision. Enjoy the bear you find on your hunt you take before you come visit us later!" Abruptly, she squealed and took off running towards another vampire approaching. I had lost my concentration when the human passed, so I no longer had Edward's power mantled. I didn't bother to put it back on; I could tell from Alice's delight in seeing this male that he was her mate. He was tall, lean, and had blonde hair. I felt for his power in habit. He could feel and control emotions surrounding him. Fascinating.
"Jazzy, these are Ariella and Donovan. I'm sorry I ran off, but I really didn't want Donovan to kill the human. They're coming over later, and I'm going to convince Ariella to let me give her some decent clothes. Oh! Ariella, Donovan, this is my soul mate, Jasper. His power is to control emotions. Show them, Jazzy!" Alice was bouncing in place by now, when before she had been scowling at me–or my clothes. Not to mention she was speaking at the speed of light, it seemed. Even I, with my heightened hearing, had trouble following what she said. Somehow I managed to get everything. A miracle.
"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am, sir. I apologize for my wife's mood swings. I'll take care of that right now." He had a wonderful southern drawl underlying his words. I didn't pay much attention to that, however, because right about then Alice stopped jumping, and a blanket of calm covered me.
"Jasper Whitlock Hale Cullen, that is not funny!" Alice may have stopped bouncing, but in instead she was scowling. She didn't appear to appreciate Jasper's teasing.
We all laughed, then Bella looked up at me. "Well, it appears that you are all coming over later. If you don't mind, that is."
I was pleased by the friendly offer and accepted. "Of course. We'll have to go home first to get everyone else, but we will definitely come."
Bella clapped her hands delightedly. "Wonderful! Ren, please go fetch Rose and Emmett." Renesmee nodded and ran off to find 'Rose and Emmett'.
She looked back up at me as her daughter dodged a teacher and turned a corner. "How about thirty minutes or so? That will give you time to hunt on the way. We just hunted last night, so you could follow our scent there."
"That would be excellent. Thank you."
"What would be excellent?" A deep, booming voice came from the direction Renesmee had run off. I spun around to find the source, and saw the lovely half-vampire walking next to a giant with dark curly hair, who I assumed was the speaker. Next to him was an angel. Even for vampires, this female was exceptional. She was blonde, tall, and statuesque. My 5'6", bluish-black, thin self next to her was, in comparison, hideous.
Bella must've seen my expression, because she reached for my hand and squeezed it tightly. "Don't worry, Rosalie has that effect on everyone. You get used to it."
The blonde stopped in front of me and held out her hand. "Hello. My name is Rosalie Hale. This is Emmett. You are...?"
"Ariella and Donovan O'Conner." I gestured to Donovan when I mentioned him, taking her hand with my own.
He stepped forward and also offered his hand. "A pleasure." Emmett grabbed it and shook heartily.
I had touched around to see if Emmett and Rosalie had any powers during our greeting. Edward answered for me, speaking out loud since he knew I no longer had his mind reading mantled. "No, they don't have any powers. Unless you call Emmett's strength and Rose's beauty powers."
"Oh, I see."
We got quizzical looks from everyone. "Ariella's power is quite interesting. She can... Actually, I think I'll wait till our visit later to have her tell you, and I won't say anything till then." Edward gave a wicked grin towards his daughter. She must really want to know. "Dad....!" Yeah, she did.
"Alright, well, I suppose we'll go then so Renesmee can find out sooner." Donovan had been fairly silent, but he spoke up now.
"Nessie, please. Or Ren. I don't mind." She said, pleased Donovan wasn't teasing her.
"As you wish, Nessie. You may call me Don." He smiled down at her.
"Well, in that case, we should go. I'll see you then!" Renesmee– Nessie, she had said– bounced up and hugged me, then quickly stepping back, looking up shyly from under thick lashes and bronze curls. "Oh, sorry. I wasn't thinking."
I was surprised, but I didn't mind. I told her so.
"Oh, good!" She promptly hugged me again, and I hugged her back. After she let go, I got back into my car, a 1975 Mercury Cougar, a very old, classic car, with a very modern engine. After I started the car, I waved at the small group of new friends. Once Don closed his door, I turned the car sharply and sped home.
Jacob's POV
I was reading Pride and Prejudice–under penalty of death from Bella and Renesmee– when my wife and all the other school-going vamps got home. I jumped up, throwing the hardcover classic on the floor, and was flying to the door, when I realized I'd made a dent in the floor. Crap. Esme will kill me! She just finished redoing the floors this morning! But I needed to see Nessie so bad, so I prayed for the best and threw a quick, "EsmeI'msorrydon'tkillme!" over my shoulder as I continued out the door. Before it had closed all the way behind me, I heard her laughing quietly from her upstairs bedroom, so I figured she'd understood and wasn't too angry.
The car pulled up right as my feet hit dirt. Nessie jumped out before the car came to a complete stop, and flung her small frame at me. I twirled her around and around, covering her face in kisses.
When I finally set her down on the ground, she reached up on tiptoe and put her small–compared to mine– hand to my cheek.
She started at the beginning of the day, with Edward and Bella kissing, and showed me how boring all her classes were. I suspected that whenever she skipped stuff–when the pictures didn't flow very well– someone had come up to talk to her, because she slipped on the first one, showing a very ugly guy with black and blonde spiky hair. I gave a guttural growl and she snuggled closer into my arms, but didn't stop with the flashes. Toward what must have been the end of the day, she slowed down a bit, showing me more detail.
They (Nessie, Bella and Edward) left their last class, Spanish, early. On the way to the office, Nessie was waylaid by some random twerp who seemed to think he was good enough to get close to stealing my girl. I wanted to rip his guts out.
A chuckle distracted me from Nessie's day. Edward was leaning against the door frame, and I could see the others through the front window. I'd completely missed them going inside. I shrugged. Ness did that to me sometimes.
"Welcome to how I feel every minute of the school day, Jake. Jazz and I have a harder time than Emmett, because of our powers. At least you couldn't hear that boy's thoughts."
I snorted. "I would imagine so. I'm sure you won't mind, since she's your daughter, but bash the next dork's head in for me, will you?"
He grinned, while Emmett laughed from inside. He was clearly listening in. Well, if he was, everyone else probably were too. I didn't really care, except for Blondie. Even after all these years, we weren't best chums. I spent plenty of my time plotting pranks and finding blonde jokes to tell her. I knew this upset Ness, so I toned it down when she was around. Not by much, but I was doing pretty good, considering everything.
"That is a tad extreme, Jacob, but I will take care to see that she is not bothered again. Not that I wasn't doing so before, of course."
"Oh, you guys! You are both ridiculous. Jake, thanks, but I can bash their heads in myself. Now, if you don't mind, Dad, I need to tell Jake about what happened. Before they get here." And with that, Nessie jerked me back towards her, than jerked me up the steps. Since she was holding my hand, I could clearly hear her agitated thoughts. They cut me. Even though I knew she wasn't truly annoyed with me, I couldn't stand her having any reason to be upset with me.
Before she followed Edward through the door, with me in tow, I pulled he back to me.
"You aren't really angry with me, are you, Ness? I can't stand it when you're angry with me." My eyes bored into hers, trying to find the answer to my question.
You are a silly, overprotective fool: you and Dad both are. The thought that you two might have not gotten along once is crazy. But no, I'm not angry with you. Really.
She pulled me down to her 5'4" level and kissed me to prove her words. The knife was gone; in it's place, a wave of love and passion. She pulled away after a moment, so I picked her up with one arm and swung her legs up into my other arm, so she was cradled in my arms. She giggled and put her arms around my neck.
"I think I'm entitled to being a little–okay, more than a little– overprotective of my own wife, especially when she's as beautiful and alluring as you…" I spoke softly against her ear, so that only she would hear me.
Her second giggle was interrupted by Bella.
"My darling daughter and smelly son-in-law, I hate to intrude, but Ren, you need to tell him about the other vampires."
"Wait, other vampires?" In my shock I loosened my grip on Nessie loosened, and she fell unceremoniously on the porch. Luckily, she had good reflexes, and I was tall, so she had time to get her legs under herself before she landed on her butt. Still, her landing was clumsy.
She smacked Bella lightly as she straightened up.
"Thanks, Mom. You could've waited till I was out of his arms before saying anything, you know."
I kissed her beautiful bouncy curls in apology, then returned to the more important question as I led her inside.
"Other vampires? Renesmee, why didn't you tell me immediately?"
"Because I wanted to give you a proper hello before telling you. We still have fifteen minutes before they get here."
I pulled her all the way into the house, waiting till Bells was out of the way before closing the front door. Renesmee went and sat down on the couch, and I plopped down on the floor in front of her, resting my cheek against her leg and holding her hand.
"That's very kind of you, Hon, but you should've told me immediately. Now, tell me what happened. Everything, please."
She went through the whole scene from them running to where Alice stood by Edward's car to the visitors driving away. There had been two of them; a guy and a girl. The girl was a little taller than Renesmee, had the topaz eyes that all the Cullens have, and was lean. Her hair was black, and kinda reminded me of Leah's, the only difference being that this vamp's hair had an almost bluish tint to it. Weird. The guy was really tall, probably only a few inches shorter than my height of 6'7". He had short black hair. If he wasn't so pale, he might've been able to pass for a Quileute werewolf. A Quileute werewolf who made his hair look nice, at least. It was shorter in the back than the front.
When she was done (the whole scene had taken about ten minutes), I returned to reality. Vampires (besides the Cullens) in Forks, even if they were vegetarians, worried me. I wondered how the pack (whoever was left, though there were probably new ones, because of these new bloodsuckers) at La Push was reacting. I'd have to go down there soon. Tomorrow or the next day. This was not good. From what the female had said in Renesmee's memory, there were more of them. Were they all vegetarians? I needed to contact Leah. Even if she didn't live around here anymore, she needed to know. I'd just have to turn into a werewolf more often than usual, and hope to catch her. I had no clue where she lived. She was alive last time I'd talked to her, two months ago. She'd been in Norway. Traveling. She probably wasn't there anymore. Wonderful time to travel, Leah.
"...Jacob?" Oh. Right. Pay attention to Renesmee. Talk to her. Don't make her worry.
"Oh, sorry, Honey. Um, well, that's interesting. They should be here in 5 minutes, then?" I may have been very concerned, but I wasn't going to let Renesmee know. I wanted her to be at ease, so I mentally asked Edward to get Jasper to help out, since he was sitting close enough to the chill pill to nudge him without Nessie noticing.
I sighed in relief when I was flooded with calm.
"Yeah, probably a little less than five minutes." Ness smiled, completely unaware of what Jasper had done.
I glanced around. Jasper was sitting in an armchair with Alice in his lap, and Bella and Edward were in the love seat near said armchair. Emmett was watching a baseball game in the corner of the room. Blondie was standing in the kitchen doorway with Carlisle and Esme, talking to them in low tones. I assumed she was complaining about the first horrible day of school. That sounded like something she'd do. Of course, even Blondie surprised me sometimes.
I was getting uncomfortable on the floor, so I pulled my self up onto the couch next to Ness. She curled up against me, her hair serving as a blanket for her bare arms.
"I hope Leah, Anthony, and Seth don't get angry about these new vampires. They'll be here in a few days. I'm so excited..." Nessie's words sounded anything but excited. She was clearly exhausted.
"I dunno, babe. I completely forgot they were coming." Convenient. Now I won't have to go out of my way to try and talk to Leah. "But, really, Ness, I think you should go sleep a few hours."
"No, I want to meet the rest of this other clan. I'll go sleep some after that, I promise." Her words were barely coherent now.
Alice piped up at this point. "Don't worry, Jake, she'll be in bed in ten minutes. At least, she'll be out of the house in ten minutes. I can only see all of us sitting here, and you and Nessie are gone in ten minutes. Oh, and the vampires are outside. I can hear them." Alice had jumped up, and was now bouncing by the door. Now that I was paying attention, I could hear them too. Footsteps, all fairly light, as only a vampire could walk. Five sets. Before the last word had left Alice's lips, all the other Cullens were by the front door. Renesmee was struggling to her feet, so I picked her up and made my way over to everyone else. As I stopped moving, a knock came on the door.
-
Enjoy? Like my vamps? Oh, by the way, I do own those. All... Well, all of Ariella and Donovan's family.
Okay, so the poll-ish thing is:
In chapter 4, something is gonna happen to Rosalie. I haven't started writing it yet, because I couldn't decide what POV to do it from. So, I'm gonna let ya'll decide. whichever gets 10 votes first. You can vote multiple times, but put them in the order you want them to happen.
1) Rosalie, because it's happening to her
2) Emmett, because he's Rose's soul mate
3) Edward or Jasper, because of their powers(you can specify if it makes you happy)
4) One of Ariella's family members that you don't know about(randomized)
5) Ariella, because I love her(a.k.a. because of her power)
6) The person doing the unknown thing to Rosalie
7) A Cullen/Black not listed above(say which)
8) a bug by the window
Actually, the last one doesn't count. It's in place of the usual let-me-choose choice because I wouldn't put this up if I could choose. Okay, tell me which. I'll put up chapter three someday. Hopefully soon. We'll see.
~Bellabriggs