Oy, sorry it took so long to get chapter two up. It's a goodie. Review, pleaseee! It'd be awesome!
There's not much to say about this chapter, other than; our dearest Eddie and Caterina do not enjoy each other. :D
Love,
Angie Anonymous
Sometimes, when something is extremely disturbing or has upset me in some way, I tend to block it out of my mind and forget about it. So, you may please forgive me when I tell you that my journey to the Cullen's residence is all but black in my mind.
I do remember, however, that it took two plane rides, two taxis, a good deal of running, and a stolen car to get me to the boundaries of Forks, Washington.
It was a rainy town. The skies were overcast to the point of blackness my first day there, and that was a relief, because it had been sunnier in Port Angeles, which resulted in me stealing that elderly man's car. I hoped he didn't miss it too much. I couldn't help but feel remorse for the old one; he'd had trouble getting out of the car, distinctly muttering about bad knees and arthritis. He looked too old to be driving anyway, by my standards, so really I was doing him a favor by taking his car from him. It wasn't a great car -it looked more along the lines of a hearse, really- and it had run out of gas barely outside of Forks. I abandoned it in the woods and continued on foot from there.
It had been three days since I'd last seen Demetri. It helped if I was distracted; keeping my eyes on the road, trying not to kill every deer that crossed my path while running. But now that I was walking aimlessly along the streets of the tiny, dark town, it was hard to keep my mind from wandering back to the man I loved.
I missed him terribly. I wondered what he was up to now, if he'd gotten away yet. If he even could get away. I didn't want to hope that he'd find me, because it would hurt much more when he didn't. It didn't seem to ease my pain by staying positive, positivism had been very rare the past three days. In over a century, I'd never spent more than a few hours away from Demetri. Three days seemed like a million years.
I allowed myself to meander at a human pace across the sidewalks, occasionally imposing on a household's yard when they ended. Forks was a delightfully small town, and the people I passed smiled graciously at me, and I did my best to smile back. I knew from studying myself intently in the mirror back in Volterra that my skin (thanks to my normal Italian tint) looked just dark enough to be considered a pale human. My eyes helped along the ruse nicely, and as long as no one touched my skin, the humans would be none the wiser.
I bit my bottom lip, pausing in my walk to stare around me. Nothing was familiar now; not that anything before had been, but I seemed to have found myself in front of a store called "Newton's". Hiking boots and tents adorned the front display, and an old rusty mailbox sat precariously on the sidewalk in front of it.
A bell jingled annoyingly as I pulled the door open and stepped inside. I reached down to fix the hem of my blue tank top over my jeans. I only now realized that they had been torn in various places from my runs, and cursed myself that I didn't bring some clothes to change into. But how could I have known to pack a bag? Resentment rose like bile in the back of my throat as I swallowed my venom and skipped gracefully over to the front counter, beaming at the teenaged boy who manned it.
"Hi," I chirped, my musical voice filling the quiet room. I put on my brightest, most dazzling smile and batted my dark lashes at him. The answering grin on his face told me I had his attention.
"Uh, welcome to Newton's," he stammered, and smoothed his hideous orange vest across his chest, "I'm Mike Newton. My parents own this store."
I carefully contained the rolling of my eyes. Brag much?
"Wow!" I trilled, feigning as much enthusiasm as I could muster without making myself metaphorically sick, "that's so cool. But hey, I have a question for you." I batted my lashes again, and he nodded.
"Can you tell me where the Cullens live? I'm a close cousin and I've decided to surprise them, but I can't seem to recall," I giggled at myself, hiding another roll of my eyes as Mike's face fell. Clearly, that hadn't been the question he'd wanted me to ask
"Uh, yeah, down that road, left, and a little down the highway there's this really obscure turnoff…I could take you, if you like!" His face suddenly brightened, and Mike began to remove his vest. I placed a hand on his arm but drew it back quickly, smiling at him again. "That won't be necessary, your directions are more than satisfactory," I leaned in quickly and kissed his cheek, "Thanks, Mike!" I called, before jogging out the door and loping down the road at a leisurely human pace.
I turned left at the small road Mike had pointed out to me. He really was a sweet kid. A little forward, maybe, but sweet.
The highway loomed before my sight as the cars rushed past, and I scanned ahead of me. The turnoff Mike had mentioned was just within my line of vision, and I jogged quickly toward it, making sure to stay away from any cars I might damage while running.
It took me a matter of moments to reach the dirt drive. It wound before me, tire tracks etched almost permanently into the grit. I slowed to a walk as I paced across it, my nerves jumbling in my chest and making it difficult to breathe. Several scents hit me at once, then, and I wondered vaguely if the human girl was still, well, human. The rusty smell of blood flooded my nostrils, knocking away the rest of them. All except for one.
"Werewolf?" I muttered to myself, folding my arms and furrowing my brow in confusion. A low growl echoed from the trees behind me, and I whipped around to view my attacker.
Black curls hung in the man's face, his golden eyes glinting with anger. His muscles stretched as he lunged at me, razor teeth barred. I hissed in his direction, swinging out of the way. His claw-like fingers tangled in the back of my long hair, pulling my head back to expose my throat. His teeth edged dangerously close, and I whimpered involuntarily.
"No! No, no, I don't want to hurt-" My words were cut off by another grisly snarl, and a fair-haired vampire crept upon us, both of his hands securing my arms.
"Got her, Emmett?" the blond man asked, locking his arms around mine and linking his wrists. The dark haired man -whom I presumed to be Emmett- nodded, his teeth scraping over my skin. I gasped and writhed against the blond vampire's hold, and he jerked my arms closer together and hissed in reply. "Stop struggling," he ordered, the finality of his tone ceasing all movement on my part.
"I'm not going to hurt you," I said, frantically casting my eyes around as they both lifted me from the ground and carted me slowly toward the large, Elizabethan mansion just on the edge of a dark fringe of trees. The blond's chuckle came out as a snarl.
"Whoa, wait, Jasper," the large one suddenly said, untangling his fingers from my hair and allowing me to snap my head forward. My knees hit the ground hard as the one called Jasper lowered me, his arms still locked around mine. "What?" He asked, impatient. Emmett pointed. "Look at her eyes."
Jasper's striking face appeared beside Emmett's, one of his large hands still wrapped around both of my small wrists. His own golden orbs widened as he surveyed mine.
"What…what are you?" he asked, his voice laced with amazement and fear. I looked up at them both, my face pleading mercy as my chest rose and fell rapidly. "Same as you," I explained, shrugging to the best of my ability, "The venom that changed me wasn't strong enough, it left my eyes." I stiffened as Emmett's nose grazed across my neckline. He hissed.
"She wreaks of Volturi scum!" he cried, his fist finding my hair again. Jasper lifted me with ease as Emmett's mouth closed over the hollow of my throat, the most dangerous place for a vampire, and mostly every other creature on earth.
And suddenly, a new emotion wiped away all the fear, the uncertainty of the situation. It had always been fight-or-flight with me, and now that I was as strong as the attackers, I could always attack back.
A growl rose in my chest before I could stop it, bubbling past my lips as they curled across my pearly white teeth. Jasper's fingernails dug into the skin of my hands as Emmett's teeth relinquished their hold, and he staggered back, a snarl of his own permeating the air.
The noise that found it's way out of my chest next sent Emmett staggering again, and caused Jasper to release my arms. The blond vampire found his way to his comrade's side and they both crouched low, rocking forward on the balls of their feet.
I grasped my throat, my eyes widening a fraction. I held my remaining hand up to them, my eyes beseeching. "Please," I whispered, my hand still outstretched, "Don't. I mean no harm, honest."
And then Jasper suddenly straightened, his golden brows raised. "Damn," he muttered, laying a hand on Emmett's darkly clad shoulder, "she's telling the truth." Emmett glared. "How do you know?" he demanded, rising slightly from his defensive crouch.
Jasper took a slow, deliberate step toward me, and I suddenly felt very calm. These men wouldn't threaten me anymore, and I found myself closing the distance between myself and the tall, muscular man.
"Honesty and fear were radiating from her, it nearly knocked me over," he laughed, a beautiful, baritone sound. I found myself smiling. Emmett straightened as well, a cheek-ripping grin stretching across his face.
"My apologies," he said, offering me his hand to shake, "I'm Emmett Cullen. That's Jasper."
I shook their individual hands, Jasper bending down to place a kiss just past my knuckles. I couldn't help but giggle. "I'm Caterina," I finally said, stifling myself. "Well, Cat," Jasper said, one hand folded at the small of his back, the other sweeping across the aged porch steps before me, "Welcome to the Cullen household, our family should be arriving outside shortly." I gulped audibly, my joints locking together like a frightened colt.
"Don't be afraid, Kitten," Emmett called, obviously proud of himself for deciphering another nickname for me, "They're all pretty sweet."
The door opened then, and a procession of equally pale, angry faces appeared. At the front, another blond man in a doctor's lab coat held tightly to the waist of a woman as strikingly beautiful as he. All six of the vampire's topaz eyes bored into my skin; I could physically feel the heat. I instinctively shrunk closer to Jasper.
"She doesn't mean us harm," he quickly explained, and I felt the wave of serenity he pushed forcefully toward his siblings and parents. A tiny, pixie-like female with spiky ink hair was the first to smile. "I could have told you that, Jazzy," she said affectionately, pulling away from the rest and bouncing toward me. "I'm Alice," she sang, wrapping her tiny arms around my waist and pressing her face to my chest. I fumbled with myself for a moment, before gently placing my arms around her back. She squeezed, squealing, "I'm so glad we're going to have another sister! We still outnumber the boys!"
Low, resounding chuckles dispersed around us as Alice released me, her delighted smile infectious. I soon found myself grinning rather stupidly back at her, but it faltered when the other blond man, whom I assumed to be a doctor, began to speak.
"I'm Carlisle," he said, stepping forward to shake my hand, "and this is my wife, Esme." The woman with reddish hair flashed her teeth at me, her motherly smile nearly making me melt. "Caterina," I said, as my words were drowned out by a roar to match a lion's.
"What, are you crazy?! You're absolutely insane!" the bronze haired man on the porch cried at Carlisle, his arm protectively shielding a dark haired woman. She had her hands across his cheeks, and she was speaking slowly to him, attempting to calm him. Jasper sent another wave of ease, but the raging boy deflected it.
"You cannot be thinking of letting her stay! She's from the Volturi, Carlisle, she'll betray us all!" he shouted, pushing away from the porch and standing at the steps in one stride. The woman carefully closed the door to the house and strode forward too, but he blocked her again. "No, Bella!" he said, his lips curling over his teeth.
The dark haired woman plastered a disbelieving look in her face, her full lips frowning. She placed her hands on her denim clad hips and cocked one eyebrow. "Really, Edward," she muttered, rolling her dark gold eyes and beginning to push past him.
The undisputed rage from earlier quelled in my chest again, throwing another snarl from my lips. The man called Edward whipped around, his face shocked. His own growl answered mine, and I soon found myself face-to-chest with him. Edward leaned over me, shoulders hunched, sneering at his all too obvious height advantage. I may be short, but I was no sissy.
I growled at him, alarm for my safety adding an extra edge. The one called Carlisle -obviously head of the family- placed a hand on his son's shoulder, attempting to pull him away. "Edward, no," he said, his tone firm, but Edward ignored him. His reddish hair fell in his eyes as he glared at me, the surprise in his eyes confessing that he expected me to back down. I only snarled louder.
"Cat-fight," I heard Emmett call, while Esme shushed him angrily. Edward shook off his father's hand and advanced a small step, causing me to crane my neck to glower up at him.
"You're putting my family in danger, do you know that?" he hissed. His cool breath hit my face and I winced, but folded my arms across my chest. "I'm putting no one in danger, not intentionally, anyway. I don't think I'm that dangerous," I hissed back, each word dripping with venom. "Oh, I'd disagree…" a gorgeous blonde woman replied, as she hung on Emmett's arm. Edward threw up a hand to silence her.
"How dare you use that tone with me."
"You don't own this household. And you started it!"
Edward's chest quivered with the strength of his answering caterwaul.
"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, dammit, stop threatening our new sister!" Bella's voice echoed through the clearing, her words sharp. Edward turned to face her suddenly, and Carlisle took this opportunity to yank me away from my shivering opponent.
"Bella, see sense. All of you, please!" Edward suddenly begged, his tone edging on the verge of hysteria, "She's going to get us all killed! When the Volturi come to look for her, we'll all die trying to save her. Don't get attached! Send her away!"
The words cut me like a serrated knife, digging deep into my chest. I gasped, but quickly attempted to hide my shock and hurt with indifference. "'Come to look for' me?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest again, willing the tears to stay behind my eyes, "They won't come looking for me, stupid. I'm not…I'm not wanted." I cast my eyes down as the whole family turned to stare at me, all except for Jasper and Emmett. They glanced at me with sad little smiled playing their lips, nodding toward me to continue. I pointed to my eyes.
"I'm a freak, see? The Volturi don't tolerate freaks for little more than a century, you know," I said. Edward sent me a scathing glare as he swept over my yes, taking in the pale blue with a grimace of revulsion. He turned swiftly on his heel and crashed into the house, slamming the front door in his wake.
Bella watched him go, a reproachful glare on her face. She turned toward me then, and replaced it with a welcoming smile.
"Sorry about him," she said, coming to stand with the rest at the bottom of the stairs, pooling around me, "He's got a bit of a temper."
"A bit?" I asked incredulously, throwing my arms out at my sides. They laughed.
"Come, let's get you inside. We were just planning the move, actually, so you decided to show up at a wonderful time," Carlisle said, a smile plastering his lips, but his eyes kept flicking uncertainly toward the window at the front of the house. I glanced up, and distinctly saw the dark curtains flicker.
"We just started packing all of our things, but I'm afraid we don't have any extra rooms until we get to the new house," Esme explained, her hands finding my shoulders as she steered me through the door. I smiled. "That's perfectly fine, I can stay on the couch, or the floor," I offered, "It's not like I'll be sleeping." They laughed again.
Bella placed a hand on my shoulder, smiling. "I'll go check on Edward. You look like you could use a good soak in the shower, love. Your shoulders are so tense," she wrinkled her brow as another wave of tinkling, bell-like laughter cascaded across our ears. Loud, obnoxious guffaws followed. I snarled.
The smell was like a wet dog, covered in rotting tree-bark. It stung my nose and wove itself through my senses, making my eyes water. I backed away as the shadow fell around the corner.
The dark skinned man had to be at least six foot seven feet tall. His muscles were straining against his white t-shirt, and his cut-off jeans were dirty. His black hair hung in his face as he reached around to pull it into a small pony-tail at the back of his neck. When he saw me, the werewolf froze.
"What the hell?" he asked, and Bella scooped up the small girl who had been prancing next to him. "Renesmee," she said, kissing the girl's long, dark curls, "this is your new aunt, Caterina." The small one turned her deep, brown eyes to me and smiled tentatively, which I returned in earnest. She was gorgeous, even for a child, and her scent explained the blood. I nearly shied away, but I'd grown accustomed to the scent of blood over the years, and it no longer made me want to purposely induce vomiting.
Renesmee threw out her slender arms and reached for me, her fingers stretched forward. I glanced at Bella nervously, who nodded, and propped her daughter into my waiting arms.
Renesmee pulled her hands through the ends of my hair, which she retrieved from around my waist with some work on Carlisle's part. She looked so intent on examining each and every strand, glancing from the tips clasped in her fingers to the darker plait at the top of my head. With her free hand, she reached out and touched my cheek.
'Why does it get lighter?'
I gasped, my eyes widening. She smiled, and touched my face again. 'Why?'
I couldn't help but smile, then I shrugged. I held her closer to me, resting my cheek across her forehead. She snuggled into the curtain of my hair, still toying with the ends. "I dunno, bambina, it just happens that way."
She touched my cheek again, 'Bambina?', and an image of eight confused faces dominated my inner site. I glanced around, to see that the rest of the family was staring at me, just as I had seen.
"It means 'child' in my language," I whispered to her, and she nodded. I felt her lips curve into a smile across the skin of my neck as she wrapped her arms around it and hugged me closer. I was completely taken aback by this child. She was so sweet, just like her mother, but how could her father…?
I banished the thought as Renesmee reached for the wolf. He stepped up and wrapped his dark hands around the girl's midsection, pulling me from her roughly. I barred my teeth.
"Jacob," Esme scolded, waggling a finger at him, "be nice." His scowl lessened slightly, but the reproach in his eyes was evident. "Hi," he said, reaching a hand toward me. I took it, wincing at the impenetrable heat that encased my freezing appendages. Jacob shook it quickly, giving me a tiny smile, before plopping down on the couch, with Renesmee tucked safely in his lap.
"Come on," the blond woman said, wrapping her arm around my shoulders, "I'm Rosalie, by the way. You can use my shower to freshen up. Alice, Bella, and I will find you some clothes to wear while we take you shopping." Her grin was breathtaking, and I stared at her.
"Shopping?" I asked, bewilderment clear in my voice. Alice and Rosalie rolled their eyes. "Yes, shopping, it's my strong suit," Alice sang, ushering me up the stairs. I twisted around to look at her as I was shoved through a door and then into a nice, golden hued bathroom. Rosalie reached down and started the water for me. She turned it up all the way, not bothering to touch the cold water dial. She and Alice turned and pranced lightly out the door, grinning back at me as they did. "We're going to go find you some clothes now," she said. "Take as long as you like."
The door clicked behind them, and I was suddenly struck by the aloneness of the bathroom.
Sighing, I stripped off my tank top and jeans, pulling off my undergarments as well. I stepped carefully into the shower, letting the steaming water run it's course down my back and arms, coating my hair fully. I sighed again, this time in pleasure, as the steam uncoiled all the knots in my muscles. Bella was right, I had been tense.
I lathered the sweet, apple-smelling shampoo in the palms of my hands, before rubbing my hands across my scalp. It felt nice to finally comb all the knots from my locks; something I'd always hated was for my hair to be knotted and grimy. I soaped up my face and body as well, letting the water rinse the suds away slowly. I knew I couldn't delay said shopping trip any longer. I could nearly feel Alice's excitement and impatience radiating from outside the bathroom door. Rosalie was pacing, I knew that much. The sounds of her airy footfalls were oddly soothing.
I reached down and turned the dial toward the curtain, and stepped out of the shallow basin. There was a black hairbrush and a fluffy white towel placed on the counter top. I ran the brush quickly through my hair before wrapping the towel around my body and opening the door cautiously.
Alice hit me with all the force of a wrecking ball, and I stumbled back blindly. Rosalie reached out to steady me as Alice pressed her cheek to my shoulder this time, obviously seeing that pressing it to my chest would be a compromising position. I weakly hugged her back, smiling.
Bella grinned at us from Rosalie's bed, and she held out a pair of blue jeans, a white wife-beater, a bra and some underwear. I felt imaginary heat creep to my face as I took them, glancing around me. "The jeans are mine," Bella said, smiling. "You have the same body type as me. The bra and shirt are Rose's, seeing as, well…" she trailed off, smiling wickedly. I grinned sheepishly back at her, before Alice, Rosalie, and she each placed a ghostly hand over their eyes. "Go ahead and change," Alice said, and turned her back to me for good measure, "we won't look. But hurry, we're leaving in then minutes for Port Angeles whether you're ready or not!" She ended with a giggle.
I pulled the underwear on under my towel and followed quickly with the jeans. Bella was right, we had almost the exact same lower body shape. Curvy, yet narrow. I shimmied into the pants and buttoned and zipped them with ease. They sagged a little, resting on my hipbones. I pulled off the towel and slid on the simple, white bra. It fit nicely, and I smiled at the thought that the only thing Rosalie and myself had in common was our breast size. The wife-beater slipped seamlessly over my head, trapping my damp hair. It had already begun to dry against my back, curling softly at the ends. Rosalie turned to appraise me with her bright, golden eyes, grinning. "Looks nice," she commented, before clapping her hands together once. "Okay, let's get going! Alice, we're taking the Porsche."
The pixie-girl took my hand, nearly quaking with anticipation. Rosalie and Bella followed behind as I was dragged unceremoniously down the stairs.
The first sound I heard was a grisly snarl, like a lion protecting it's pride.
Edward was poised in front of Renesmee while his family stood about him, confused and angry. Esme inched slowly toward me, placing a hand on my shoulder. Edward snarled again, his lips drawn back like an angry dog. I scowled.
"Edward, please," Carlisle murmured, stepping closer to his son, "stop it. You're being ridiculous." And then Edward rounded on him.
"Ridiculous?! You're all being foolish!" he howled, drawing himself up to his full height. Renesmee crawled into Jacob's lap and buried her face in his neck, looking exasperated. Carlisle looked angry again, but his jaw clenched tight as I spoke.
"Do you have a reason for this?" I called across the living room, and Esme tightened her grip on my shoulder. Edward's suddenly pitch eyes flicked to my face. It was set in a defiant glare, my eyes narrowed. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay? The rest of your family seems to like me enough, and I like them. But I don't like you. And I'd appreciate it if you stopped shouting at Carlisle," I glanced at the blonde man, who's face suddenly fell slack in shock. Obviously no one talked to Edward this way. His temper must get the best of him. But right now, he didn't look frightening to me. He looked like a seventeen year old boy throwing a hissy-fit. What a crybaby.
Suddenly he was in front of me, bearing down with his teeth clenched. I snarled in his face.
"Uh, SHOPPING," Alice said, forcefully dragging me from the house and out the door.
