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Aro comes out from behind his desk and takes to one knee in front of us, leaning down to look me in the eyes. I realize with a gasp that the eyes I had thought to be light brown are actually a dark maroon.
"Your eyes-," slips out of my mouth before I can help myself.
Aro's smile widens but he says nothing of my comment. Instead, he brings a hand to cup my face, trailing a finger along one of my cheekbones. I cringe away from his cold touch, but have too much pride to actually pull away. I maintain eye contact with him, but instead of irritating him, it only serves to make him more amused.
"Yes, you do look remarkably like your father. Not much like your mother however."
"You knew them?"
He laughs again, loud and long. "Knew them? Your father worked for me for several years, girl."
"No!" I barely hear Esme through the pounding in my head.
This is too much to comprehend, too much at one time.
"Worked for you? What are you talking about? My dad was Chief of Police, he would never have…" I trail off and then look behind me at Esme. Edward has his hand wrapped around her wrist, loosely restraining her from coming over to me. She doesn't look to be struggling very hard, but her eyes have a desperate look to them and I cringe.
"Ah yes, your father was quite useful in that aspect. It was nice to have the man running the entire police department of Forks working for me, as dim-witted a mortal as he was." My mind registers his odd use of the term 'mortal'. "Your parents have been giving me some trouble lately, Bella. More trouble than I thought they would be able to cause me. Your Aunt Esme has been helping me track them down, and once we find them, I think you'll be my perfect bait to bring them home."
I can't find the words I want to say, my brain buzzing with shock.
Aro ignores me then, looking behind me. "Edward, take Bella and Alice to Carlisle's with you tonight. I want to see them back here in the morning, both of them. You know what happens if they're not here. And I need to speak with you as well. Apparently there are things you've been keeping from your master, hm?"
A shiver runs down my spine at Aro's tone and I wonder at his words.
I can't help but glance at Edward as we walk up his long, familiar dirt driveway. Alice is holding tight onto my hand, telling me about the book she's reading, and what dreams she had last night, but I can barely hear her over the roar of my own thoughts. I can tell she's trying not to think of her, because she's fidgeting with her locket like she always does when she's thinking of Mary.
The two-story at the end of the driveway is white with green shutters and a wrap-around porch. It's still a very pretty house, though the paint is worn and dirty, and the porch sags with neglect in some places. It's definitely not what I expected from the dark and brooding boy next to me, which makes me wonder all the more.
Edward is smoking again, white clouds trailing from his nostrils. He crushes the bud under his boot quickly as the front door of his house opens. I look over to see a man standing on the porch, waiting for us, his arm resting on the white beam of the entryway. He's very handsome with his short blonde hair and piercing ice-blue eyes that somehow manage to be warm. He looks young but there are wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and mouth that betray his age. I recognize him as one of the doctors at Forks General Hospital, Dr. Cullen, and I wonder what he's doing at Edward's house.
He smiles and waves us in, the dim porch light illuminating the welcoming smile that graces his face. I can't help but smile back, though it's the last thing I feel like doing right now. He pulls Edward into an embrace when he's close enough.
"You've been gone for too long, son. I feel like I haven't seen you in a week."
"Aro's orders." Edward says, glancing at Alice and I. "This is Alice and Bella, Carlisle. Carlisle is my god-father." Edward explains to us.
Carlisle's smile wavers for a moment at Edward's mention of Aro, but then he turns to me and his eyes sparkle with recognition.
"Bella, dear, I haven't seen you around the hospital in a while. You're usually a regular customer." He chuckles, not impolitely.
I blush. "I guess I've grown out of my clumsiness."
"I daresay you haven't, judging by your head wound. Do you want me to take a look at that?"
Alice snorts in amusement behind me, catching Carlisle's attention.
"I see you've brought your little cousin with you, what a delight! We can all have dinner together, then, I was just making pasta. Do you like spaghetti and meatballs, Alice?"
She nods at him, eyes cautiously bright and skips through the door with a quick look over her shoulder back at me.
"I'll be right in." I nod to her.
I turn back to the discussion at hand.
"Bella took a blow from Felix to the head, Carlisle. She needs it looked at." Edward says.
I had forgotten about the hit I took and I graze my fingers over the spot on my head, wincing. Edward hisses and I look over at him curiously. "No, I'm fine. I just need somewhere to wash the blood off my face." I reply, not able to take my eyes off of him.
"You fainted, Bella, I don't think that qualifies as fine." Edward scowls at me, his stare bright as an emerald flame.
"I said I'm fine, Masen. I fainted because of the blood, not a concussion."
"Why do you have to be so difficult?" He growls.
"Excuse me? You're the one being difficult!" I hiss back at him and I realize suddenly we've stepped closer to each other. His heavy breaths stretch the black t-shirt he has on and I want to fist my hand in it and bring his face down to mine. His eyes darken as they zero in on my lips and I can't help but remember the angry kiss he bestowed on me earlier today. I bite my lower lip and feel the blush suffusing my cheeks.
Carlisle coughs and we both jump, turning away from each other quickly.
"Bathroom is the second door on your right." He says, looking amused.
I thank him and hurry inside the door, wondering if maybe I do have a concussion. My cheeks are still warm after I'm done wiping the blood off of my face, so I splash some cold water on myself, trying to get the embarrassing color to go away.
After dinner, Carlisle keeps Alice entertained with his library. She seems fascinated at all of the volumes that cover his shelves; some look very old and are in cases covered with glass. Alice spends a particularly long time gazing at these.
I volunteer to clean up the kitchen and start on the dishes while Edward stares at my back from the opposite counter space. When I finish with them, I reluctantly turn around.
He averts his eyes, his foot twitching and his long fingers itching to reach for the pack of cigarettes in his pocket.
"Did you know, about my parents?" I ask him, looking at the tile on the floor. It's cracked in some places and I scuff at it with the toe of my shoe.
"Yes." He says simply and I hear him run his long fingers through his hair, though I don't look at him.
I say nothing, but nod my head.
"Esme thought it best to keep you in the dark…"
I scoff and lock eyes with him, feeling ire rising hot in my chest. "All those times you were there on orders from Aro, you were talking with her about my parents? My parents? And you thought I didn't deserve to know?"
"Esme thought it would hurt you too much to know the truth."
"Has she contacted them?" I cry. "Has she talked to them without telling me?"
The noise of Carlisle and Alice chatting upstairs has ceased. Edward goes to the kitchen door and I follow him out to the back porch. We're silent for a minute. I try to keep my tears at bay.
"Has she talked to them?"
Edward shakes his head and I don't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. He pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger with a sigh.
"But she knows where they are. It's taken her a while to find them."
I turn away from him and sit on the edge of the porch, letting my head fall into my hands.
"I can't believe this. I thought they were decent people. I mean, sure, parents that ran out on their daughter, but to be involved with Aro?" I let it slip out and then realize my mistake. I look up at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—."
He stops me with a wave of his hand. "Don't say it, Bella. You're right. I'm no good for you. You shouldn't even be involved in this right now."
"The hell I shouldn't be, they're my parents!" I shout. "And what is it with you, Masen? Do you tell all the girls you kiss that you're no good for them?"
He growls and slaps his hands against the porch railing before spinning around and stalking towards me. "I'm trying to keep you safe, Bella, and you're not making it easy." He's so close to me now, if he takes one more step our chests will touch, and I don't know whether to be afraid or not.
"I don't understand you, Edward." I whisper and his eyes seem to soften at the sound of his name.
He turns away from me, his voice quiet now. "You and Alice need to get out of town. I'll talk to Carlisle. He can find you some place to stay while I go back for Esme."
"No. No way. You heard Aro, I'm his bait. He'll kill you if you show up without me tomorrow." I argue. "Alice should go with Carlisle, I'm staying with you."
"I will not allow you to sacrifice yourself, Bella!"
"You don't get to tell me what I can and cannot do!"
Carlisle opens the door, breaking our argument as we turn to look at him.
"I'm setting you and Alice up in the guestroom for now, Bella." He turns to Edward. "If you could get the sheets out, Edward, I would like to talk to Bella for a moment."
Edward goes inside reluctantly, letting the screen door slam behind him, and Carlisle turns to look at me. "I know you've had a very trying day, Bella, and I know you are probably wondering what kind of people your parents are since you heard the truth from Aro."
I nod slowly, wondering where he's going with this.
"I knew your parents, Bella." He leans up against the railing, looking back into the forest that surrounds his backyard. "They were good people, and I think you should know that. Your father made many mistakes and got caught up with the wrong people, the wrong influences, like my son has, but he wasn't a bad person."
"You knew my parents?" I ask.
"Fairly well."
"Do you know why they left me here?"
He sighs. "You were young when they left and your parents were on the run from Aro at that time. I can only assume that they were hoping Esme would be able to give you a better life than what they could offer. Though they obviously didn't consider the danger they would be leaving their family in." I thought of Mary and felt a pang of grief hit me.
"Why now? They left when I was 10 years old, why now is Aro trying to track them down?" I ask Carlisle.
"From what I've heard, Aro has been trying to find them for several years, but only now has Esme gotten a good lead on them. I'm not sure what they've done recently, but whatever it is, it has made him angrier than I've ever seen him."
We are silent for a moment, but something is still bothering me.
"I can't believe Esme would do this to her own sister."
Carlisle sighs heavily, and looks over at me with pained eyes. "Aro holds Alice over Esme's head. Had he known of you earlier, I'm sure a threat would have been made against you as well. There is nothing she wouldn't do for you two. Contrary to what you might believe, she is only trying to keep you safe."
I say nothing, thinking of how many times I've heard those words today, and how very unsafe I feel.
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