It was my cell phone that woke me. Its usual electronic hum was suddenly interrupted by the cackle of energy that cued the ring. In a dazed state I withdrew the sleek rectangle of silver from the breast pocket of my jacket and flipped it open.
"Edward?" It took a moment for me to recognize the voice on the other end of the line as Esme. I was confused by the concern that edged her voice.
"Edward, is everything all right?"
Unsure how to answer I greeted her, "Yes, I am sorry. Hello Esme."
"Oh, thank havens! I was so concerned since Alice…" I panicked. I should have known; Alice would have seen the interview coming. My mind reeled, trying to find some way to respond.
"Esme, I would like you to send my deepest apologies to the whole family. I should have asked you before I said yes; I understand if the rest of the family is unwilling to attend…" I rushed the words.
"What are you talking about dear? I only wanted to check on you because according to Alice, our futures have vanished."
I balked. This had never happened before, and surely could not be a good sign.
"I am on my way home now Esme." I flipped the phone shut, feeling a slight regret about covering the truth from my mother.
I ran to my car, ghosting across the empty lot.
The drive home lasted both a moment and infinity in itself. Concern for Alice, my sister in the truest sense, made me even more anxious to get home. I knew I was being silly; she was in good hands. It was my apparently unexpected announcement that made the thought of staying in the book store back in Port Angles appealing.
Snow was gently beginning to fall as I came to a stop at the end of our house's ridiculously long drive.
The mansion looked vacant to the normal eye:its dark windows and smokeless chimney made it look inhabited. We often forgot to turn on lights and heat in the house, having no need for the usual necessities when they were not required for show.
I could here restless movements and whispered voices from within. Scrambled thoughts of worry and anger filled the unusual silence.
I noticed at once that Esme had been correct: Alice's mind, which was most often a disarray of thoughts and visions pulled from many different possibilities and futures, was quiet except for her own voice.
"Hello," I said, walking into the dining room where the rest of the family had gathered, "How is everything?"
"I'm still not getting anything, but I'm sure it will all be back to normal soon," responded Alice. I didn't know how she still managed to sound so sure of herself without the visions. "It's just a somewhat unexpected inconvenience," she explained, massaging her temples for emphasis. "I think, Edward, that you should tell everyone your news, since that's when my powers decided to skip out."
I gave a furious glance, of course that would have been the last thing she saw.
Pinching the bridge of my nose I started, "People Magazine is coming here for an interview tomorrow, with all of us. I'm sorry, I didn't realise it would be at our house or that all of you would be interviewed; I agreed before I got to that. Arleen just promised…" I was interrupted suddenly by a clock that Rosalie had decided to throw at my head.
"You invited humans over to our house?!" she squealed, "Only you could do such an idiotic thing, Edward. Do you realise…"
"Please Rosalie," Carlisle cut her off, "Edward didn't do this on purpose. Let him finish, and we will figure the whole situation out."
"But he's a god damn mind reader! How could ne not have known?!" Carlisle looked at her evenly before nodding for me to continue.
"As I was saying, Arleen promised that this is the last interview that I will have to do. I would really appreciate your help with this, but if you prefer not to, I understand. I realise the risk it puts all of you at." I finished, unable to look my family in the eyes.
* * *
I paced the hall in front of the front door nervously. The People crew would be here at any minute to start getting set up. My family watched from the staircase. Even Rosalie had been convinced to stay and help put up our façade.
"Shouldn't the scary red-head be here by now?" Emmet asked, earning a jab in the ribs from Alice. I had realised this too.
"Yes she should," I replied, reaching for my phone to see if I had some how missed a message, though it was very unlikely. It rang just as I pulled it out. "Speak of the devil," I muttered under my breath.
"Hello?" I answered the phone only to wrench it away from my ear when I was greeted by static.
"Edward, are you there?" Arleen yelled.
"Yes I am here Arleen, where are you?"
"Edward, are you there? I cant hear anything!" she huffed angrily. "If you can hear me, listen up: I can't get over to your house in time for the beginning of the interview because the snow storm just decided to hit. Don't worry, though, because the news said that it will pass by midday. I'll be over as soon as I can, so don't screw up without me! I expect you to be on good behaviour. I'll see you when I can, Kiddo. Ciao." The static-filled connection ended.
A huge smile broke out on my face as I ran to the living room and flipped on the news. The storm was coming from the north-east so it had not reached our house yet, but it had hit town. If I had any luck the People crew would be stymied by the storm like Arleenwas. I wish I had a better way of knowing, but Alice's visions were still down.
Apparently luck was not on my side. From the middle of the room, I could hear the sound of an unfamiliar vehicle turn into our drive.
Pinching my nose between my fingers, I returned to the hall to await my death sentence. I stood, silently at the front door waiting, not bothering to fill everyone it with the information I had gathered because I knew that the others had already heard the stranger's arrival.
An old motor sputtered as the engine was turned off and a single set of feet made their way up the front steps, careful on the slippery ground.
I frowned as my family took their positions. Why could I not hear a single thought coming from whoever this person is? Taking a deep breath, I plastered a smile on my face and answered the nervous knock at the door.
I didn't know whether to be shocked, in awe, or if I should start laughing.
A single young woman stood in our doorway, swathed in winter gear and clinging to the doorway to prevent herself from falling on the slick wood of the deck. She smiled warmly and looked me in the eyes with her own brown orbs as she said, "Some weather, huh?"
"Please come in," I replied, my "people skills" kicking in, "let me take your coat." She handed it to me gratefully.
"Thanks. I'm Bella Swan, and you must be the famous Edward Cullen." She stuck out her hand, and I took this time to appraise her.
Bella seemed to be close to Carlisle's age with a pale, clear completion and long deep brown hair. Her face was heart shaped; lips slightly too large; and eyes rich brown and expressive. She was beautiful, but I could not get a single thought out of her. This made me nervous because I would be unable to monitor her reactions to us.
"It's lovely to meet you," I said, shaking her hand. "We were expecting more people. Did the rest of the crew get stuck in the snow storm like my publicist did?"
"Yes, the rest of the crew is stuck at the hotel in town, waiting for the storm to pass. I grew up in the area, so I'm used to this weather. HQ sent me ahead to get started. I hope that's okay."
"Of course! Let's head into the living room, and you can meet my family."
She seemed to notice the house for the first time then, as her attention was pulled towards the walls and furnishings of our home. It unnerved me for some reason that she was able to take her eyes off of me. I was so accustomed to the lingering eyes of most women, and some men, on my body that I felt nervous when her attention was divided rather than the relief I would have expected. What was she thinking?
We came to the living room then. My family sat at ease conversing between each other until I announced our arrival.
"I would like you to meet Bella Swan, everyone," I said. "She will be taking care of the interviews until the rest of the team gets here."
Bella's cheeks lit up, blood rising to the surface of her skin, as I introduced her to my family members. Her shoulders dropped ever so slightly as she seemed retract into me. I tried to lean back subtly away from her enchanting perfume. She should not be this close.
"It's nice to meet you all. You have a lovely home." Bella said. "I would like to start with a little one on one with Edward first if that's ok and then we can move on to a whole family interview. If it becomes necessary we could also divide in to groups or have single interviews with the rest of you. We'll play it by ear, sound good?" Her courage grew towards the end of the explanation, and my family gave their murmurs of assent.
.
"I think it would be best, Edward, if you and Ms. Swan started your interview in the living room," Esme suggested. "It is nice and bright for you. The rest of us will go to our rooms and give you two some privacy." She explained everything aloud for Bella's benefit.
I nodded.
"Let us know if you need anything, dear," she threw over her shoulder as they all trailed from the room.
I lead Bella towards the sofa and watched as she pulled a series of things from the messenger bag that she had kept at her side the entirety of her time in our house. She placed a small, black recorder in the middle of the coffee table that divided us before looking up at me with a pencil and notepad in hand then. With a smile she, began the interview. "So Edward, tell me what it's like to be a vampire."
