Chapter 3
"I need to thank you for that back there." Alice said as soon as we were on the road.
"I didn't know what was going on…I just knew that it wasn't good."
"No, not good at all." she pursed her lips in hard concentration.
"Crap."
"What?"
"He's fled to another state…God, leave it up to Edward to do this when we need him."
"What is this all-"
"I'll tell you everything as soon as we get to my house."
"But my car?"
"Jasper will drop it off at your home."
"But, he doesn't know where I live." I blurted, then realized how childish sounded.
"Oh don't be silly Nadia…it'll be fine." she said, still not looking at me but kept her eyes on the road. We reached her home in a matter of minutes. It was down a long path, way back in the forest, away from everyone else. The house was gigantic. Very old and majestic as it were.
"what am I going to with her here? Edward didn't let me know why he was bringing her to the house…how am I going to explain this to them?"
"I can leave if you want…wait til Edward comes back?" I asked and she looked at me shock and then the realization hit her again that I could hear her.
"Oh, I forgot…and no, who knows when Edward will come back."
"What?"
"Let's just go inside shall we? I'm getting a headache." she shook her head.
We walked inside and were greeted with Jasper, Emmett and Rose. They were all sitting in the living room.
"We can go get your car later." Jasper spoke and looked over at me and smiled and Alice eyed him.
"I mean…oh, I don't know what I mean." he shrugged and looked back to the Tv though I don't think he was really watching it.
"I'll let them know that you're here." Alice sighed and left for the briefest of seconds. I was so distracted with looking around the house that I didn't notice Alice walk back into the room with two other people.
"Nadia." I heard someone call my name and I froze. I knew that voice like the back of my hand. I never had forgotten in.
Please Nadia, turn around and look at me. It's been far too long.
Slowly, I turned around almost afraid to look. And yet, there he was, looking just like the way I had last seen him.
"How did you? How could you?" I rambled.
He smiled.
"But how can this be?" I blurted.
"You aren't the only one with secrets Nadia." he said gently.
"I don't understand."
"Well, come so we can understand all of what is happening here. I believe we'll be safe if we tell Nadia the truth…right Alice?" he peeked over to Alice who shut her eyes for a few moments before smiling brightly.
"Yes, yes! She will be very trustworthy…never saying anything." she beamed brightly as she wrapped an arm thru mine and motioned for me to follow her to the dining room.
I just laughed. It was something I learned over the years. Just laugh when things get a little awkward.
"We are going to be great friends….I see it." she said in her light voice.
"Um, okay." I nodded. I didn't really know what she was talking about but I just went with it.
Don't mind Alice, sometimes she talks in circles. Jasper nodded at me as he walked by.
"Nadia, sit here." Carlisle broke my laugh with Alice. I nodded my head and sat in the seat across from him. Before anything else, someone walked in too that I was not expecting to see. She looked just as stunning as she did before.
"Long time no see Nadia."
"Esme?" I asked, totally stunned. Carlisle was one thing but, the two of them? Still here?
"You still look the same my dear…minus the change in hair color, you still look like that mysterious, intriguing young woman I knew way back when."
"You guys knew her?" Jasper asked coming into the room followed by the other two.
"Well sit so we can all share stories." Carlisle pointed to empty chairs.
"So, where should we start?" He clapped his hands together and I just looked around. I felt a little, well a lot out of place.
"Where do you guys know one another?" Alice broke the silence.
"We met when I first came to Chicago." he said and everyone looked at me like I was doing something crazy.
"Chicago? Carlisle, that was way back in the 1900s….are you sure she's the right person?" Rose smirked but he ignored.
"You don't forget people like Nadia."
"What were you guys in some torrid love affair?" Rose asked, feeling a little disgusted.
"No." I spoke gently. "It wasn't a love affair…but, we were in love and we did have to spend most of our time in secret, especially in the hospital." I said, a half smile coming when I remembered.
"Hospital?" Jasper spoke.
"That's where we met." I started again "I was eighteen…I lived there for quite some time with my parents. I was a nurse and Carlisle was just starting out as a doctor."
"She was eighteen Carlisle!" Emmett laughed "No wonder you guys had to hide out."
"Yes, well back then, it really wasn't acceptable for an older man to want to be with a younger woman…especially a teenager."
"So what happened?" Alice asked, she was very much into the story. Apparently she hadn't heard this one before.
"The influenza outbreak reached Chicago and people started dying left in right. Even the doctors and nurses were getting sick and dying as well. It was then that I noticed that Nadia wasn't getting sick. She spent more time with the patients than I did and she was healthy as horse and kept coming to work. And so, I grew suspicious of her…." Carlisle trailed off.
"Why?" Emmett asked, his voice boomed every time he spoke.
"Because no human being could be around so much death and illness and not get sick herself."
"What did you do?" Alice asked.
"I asked her upfront about it…at the time, she denied anything was wrong…that she was just lucky, that's all she ever said. Was that she just lucky that the illness hadn't gotten into her system?"
"I did say that didn't I?" I smiled and he just nodded. It looked a little hard for him to talk about it.
"And so, we went about the rest of the time at the hospital trying to heal people….but I soon began to realize that something was wrong between us. There were too many secrets, even on my part. I wanted answers from Nadia, but she wouldn't give them to me. I was young, figuratively speaking of course, and I didn't know what to do…so, I did what any normal person would do…I broke up with her, I broke her heart." he said gently.
"That's when I found Edward and eventually Esme…" he began up again "And I fell in love with her….Nadia was so heartbroken….it was even worse when she fell ill about a month later. They told me a few days later that she had died in the night and that was the last I heard about her…"
"But she didn't die did she?" Alice breathed heavily "She was still alive, she was heartbroken…so, she finally "gave in" and pretended that she got sick and "died."
"Oh I didn't pretend, I actually did get sick…but I got over it in about two days." I smirked as if it was nothing.
Damn this girl is sort of a badass…Emmett looked straight at me, as if he was thinking of having an arm wrestling match or something with me.
"Then what happened to you?" Carlisle spoke, obvious pain in his voice. It was my turn to tell my side of the story apparently.
"When you left me Carlisle, I was devastated. There were so many things I wanted to tell you but I knew I couldn't because you wouldn't have believed me. I could hear what you were thinking…all the possibilities of what could be. But, you left me and you found Esme and I was so sure that you two were just going to grow old together and forget all about me. But, clearly that's not what happened. But, I couldn't tell you because there were already others who were suspicious of me as well. Neighbors. They thought so many horrible things about me. And so, that day you left me, I went home and went a little off the deep end. I began answering the thoughts they all had in their minds. My parents tried to stop me but there was no use. That was all the confirmation they needed….they called the insane asylum and I was taken away. My parents left before they even arrived to take me. They assured me they'd get me out by the next day. And so, the next day I "died" but not really. I was just locked away in a padded cell. Them, trying to get answers from me….but to no avail. I ended up being in there for a year. My parents had a hard time getting in. It finally came down to the point where I had to "really die" and them to bury me for my parents to be able to come and get me." I looked up and met all their eyes looking at me in shock and then back to Carlisle and he was feeling an insane amount of guilt.
"I'm so sorry Nadia, if I had known…I would have never let that happen to you. When they told me you died, I was devastated and I left. That's when I started creating my family if you will…and then, about ten or so years later, I got word of a young nurse in Los Angeles who had just died and when they described you…I knew it was you, and when I saw your picture I was dumbfounded. I wondered how this could be! How could you be dead…again?? So, I went to your home one night, the night after you died and you and your family were planning to move away and there you were, just how I remembered you…talking to your parents about how you had heard the thoughts of the other nurses when you 'died'…I knew then, I had made a horrible mistake to leave you…"
"You knew all this time Carlisle? And all this time…you were alive? All this time, I thought about you every time I moved. I wondered what ever happened to you. And, all this time…you knew!!" I yelled at him across the table and I could feel a pain in my chest. I couldn't help it…before I knew it, a silent tear escaped down my face. I was shocked as were the rest of them. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jasper wincing in pain in his seat. I was about to ask him when I heard something.
Holy crap Carlisle, this girl is still in love with you…
"No, no I'm not!" I snapped, looking over at Emmett and he looked away from me, almost ashamed that I had heard him.
"No you're not what?" Rose looked at me funny. I couldn't find any words to tell her. I didn't understand how this was so hard on me. Alice had seen things being fine…she told me herself. Maybe, we needed to get thru this first?
"Well, I guess…I guess we would've been better off if we had told one another the truth in the very beginning."
"Excuse me?"
"You weren't the only one with secrets Nadia." Carlisle spoke gently.
"I don't understand any of this…I knew the moment I saw Jasper and Edward, I knew there was some sort of connection between you and them…I just didn't expect you…well expect you to be alive." I shook my head, my eyes still damp from my unexpected tears. I felt like a fool.
He could only laugh at that.
"I always knew there was more to you than meets the eye." he smirked.
"Can we please get on with the story?" Alice breathed impatiently. She really wanted this to all be out and us to be friends I guess.
"Yes, yes of course….well Nadia, where would you like me to begin?"
"Um, maybe from the beginning would be nice?" I shrugged.
"That might take awhile.."
"How about a condensed version?"
"Alright then…well to make a very long story short, I have been around for much longer than you probably thought."
"Like how long?"
"More than three hundred years, easy." he said with such a calmness that it gave me this uneasy feeling.
"Three hundred?" I said more to myself than to any of them.
"Yes, that would be correct."
"But how is that possible?"
"How is it possible that you've been around for so long?" Emmett smirked. He sure liked giving me a hard time didn't he? I just blushed and nodded.
"He's right…go on.. I'm sorry."
"Well, I would like to know what you're thinking may be the reason."
"Oh c'mon Carlisle, I don't want to play your minds games right now." I smirked.
"Just tell me, and we'll go from there."
I looked around the room. There was something there, I just couldn't put my finger on it…it was right there in front of me I could feel it. But, in almost unity, no one would answer me in their thoughts. Whatever.
"Well, clearly this is something that effects you all right?"
"Mhm."
"And, well I don't know Carlisle. Clearly this isn't the same as my situation. I've never met another group of people who were just like me, yet completely different."
"how so?"
"How so what?" I laughed.
"How are we different, how are we alike?"
Oh great, more mind games.
"We're alike in the sense that we're still alive obviously and it doesn't look like we'll be dying for real anytime soon…and well I guess we're different in the way that even though you guys look all very similar, you all look very different. Like, like…you all might be the same age but that doesn't make sense either…"
"You're getting closer." He smiled.
"That's all I got." I shrugged.
"It's true…Alice, Rose, Emmett, Jasper and Edward are not my biological children. But Esme, Esme is my wife." he said and I felt a twinge of hurt. Way to throw that fact in there.
"Are
they adopted?"
"In a sense?"
"In a sense! Either they are or they aren't." I laughed again. This was making no sense whatsoever.
"Well, they aren't adopted in the sense that would be normal I guess you can say. Take a closer look at all of us." he said, almost daring me to look at them all over again. I saw the same similarities in all of them. Rosalie with her beauty, Alice with her intrigue or everything, Jasper with his brooding looks, Emmett with his huge, buff body, Esme not looking a day over twenty five and Carlisle…looking like a seductive doctor.
"I'm sorry Carlisle, I just can't---" I cut myself off when something hit me. I backed up a little bit and then looked back at Esme. She really didn't look a day past twenty five. And her "kids," they were all seventeen or eighteen right? But how is that possible. How can they all be the same age? Looking at their pale skin, they suddenly looked very…very immortal to me suddenly. Pale skin, cold skin I recalled them having…no it couldn't be! This was too much horror flick than reality. But then again, none of this looked like reality to me. Wait…wait a gosh darn minute!
"Oh crap.." I mumbled, suddenly feeling the truth hit me.
"what? Are you okay?"
"Jasper." I breathed.
"Huh?" Alice looked up.
"It makes sense now. Yesterday at lunch, when you & Edward…you guys weren't eating anything…I thought it was a little strange…but then, now that I look at you…with the pale skin and cold skin and Esme not looking a day past 25.…this can't be true can it? You don't really exist?" I looked over at Carlisle.
"Who?"
Say It. He breathed.
"Vampires?"
"Vampires?" I heard something drop on the other side of the room. Rose was staring at me with gritted teeth.
"Rose…" Emmet placed his hand on her shoulder.
"How did she? Who told her!" she looked around the room.
"No one?" Alice replied.
"Who thought it!" she yelled.
"Calm down Rose." Jasper snipped rubbing his head.
"No one told me anything Rosalie." I eyed her, she really didn't like me did she? Oh well.
It was probably Jasper. He's been eyeing her since she walked in the door. God, if Alice wasn't so much in love with him, she'd ripped his throat out by now.
"That's it!" I cried and they all looked at me.
"Thank
you Rose…it all makes sense now."
"What?" she eyed me
strangely.
"Jasper?" I called and he looked up at me.
"Yes?"
"Remember yesterday, when I came to sit with you and Edward?"
"Yea."
"Do you remember what you were thinking?" He seemed a little embarrassed by me bringing up is thoughts from lunch yesterday.
"Well, not everything Jasper…just one particular thing remember? Right before I left." I looked over at him and saw him think in the process. Then, things all clicked in his head.
"Oh." Was all he could say.
"Oh! What did you think Jasper!" Rose yelled at him.
"I thought about biting her…but I wasn't going to I swear Nadia!" he held up his hands in defense. Oh, and how sweet that bite would've been…no Jasper! He pursed his lips and looked away.
"Biting her? Oh Jasper." I heard Esme speak in shock.
"Why would you think that you idiot!" Alice sneered and I was a little surprised.
"I didn't know she could hear me. Alice, I'm so sorry…"
"You were going to murder my best friend before I even got the chance to meet her!" she actually growled this time. I was taken aback. She was mad that we wouldn't have had the chance to be friends but it didn't seem to bother her that Jasper wanted to bite me. I thought it was a little weird. It made me actually giggle on accident.
"How is this funny?" Alice looked back over at me, her eyed blazing.
"I just found it funny how you were more concerned with us maybe not being able to meet than the fact that Jasper wanted to er, um bite me?" I said. It sounded ridiculous and didn't make a lot of sense but it was true. At least I was glad to know the truth.
"Of course Jasper wouldn't have bitten you in public Nadia…sometimes he just can't control his thoughts. But, he loves us too much to put us in danger." She shrugged, like she knew it was all true.
"Oh."
"Well, now that you've figured us out…I think it's your turn." Rose looked at me and I noticed that her eyes weren't as cold anymore. They actually had a twinge of compassion. A fellow freak I guess.
"My turn?"
"What's your story?" Emmett clarified.
"Oh, well my story isn't as captivating as yours is." I looked around.
"Spill" Jasper encouraged.
"Well, I guess some simple facts would be a good start. Hmm, well I was born in 1900 as a normal child I guess you can say. I did have a biological mother and father for a brief period of time I've been told. But, when I was six years old, something happened. I don't have a lot of memory prior to my change I guess you can say. But, I do remember being there with my parents, and although they weren't saying anything, I could hear what they thinking! And, being a child, it scared me so I told them what I had heard and they grew terrified. No one had ever heard of such as thing…only in stories and ideas of witchcraft. Well, like any concerned parents, they took me to the doctor but the doctor reassured my parents that something like that could never happen. But then, like a fool I realized later, I answered the doctor's questions in his head. He was taken back, to say the very least. It was then that he decided I was different. That there was something wrong with me…that I would need to be, taken care of." I could feel my voice catch in my throat.
"Taken care of?" Rose whispered.
"Yea, taken care of."
"How so?" Alice asked.
"The doctor suggested to my parents that I be put in a mental institution right away. That, because there was something seriously wrong with me I would need to be put away so I couldn't harm myself or anyone else around me."
"And your parents agreed?"
"No…that part I remember clear as day." As I began my story again, I thought back to the day when it all happened.
"Mr. & Mrs. Williams, I'm afraid there is no other choice." The doctor looked up from his papers and eyed with me with great suspicion.
"No! There is nothing wrong with my Nadia…she's a perfect little girl." My mother grabbed hold of me tighter against her.
"She's a threat Mrs. Williams."
"No, I won't let you take her…tell him!" My mother turned and looked at my father. A noble man, a man who wouldn't let go of his status. Even if it meant hurting the ones he loved.
"Susan, maybe he's right…maybe Nadia needs to get some help. Help we cannot give her alone." My mother's eyes opened as wide as saucers.
"Of course we wouldn't abandon her my dear, we would just let the doctors take care of her." He tried to reason with her. While he tried to talk her, I could hear the doctor. Listening to exactly what would await me in the mental hospital. They would try and perform some type of shock of therapy on me. At least, that's what they would tell my parents. He was already convinced this was some form of witchcraft. And, when I was killed, they would tell my parents I died of some disease I caught while there.
"No Mommy, he wants to hurt me…he's wants to kill me." I shrieked against my mother, tears streaming down my face. Both my parents looked at him and he was pale as a ghost.
"Is this true?" my father stood and eyed the doctor. When the doctor didn't say anything, they knew it was true.
"You are NOT touching my daughter!" my father shouted, standing and grabbing my mother and me and taking us with him out there.
"It would only be in the child's best interest." He yelled back but we were already outside. He drove us back home, my mother in hysterics the whole time.
"Be calm Susan, you're going to scare Nadia." He whispered as we drove back home.
"They want to take her away from us…our precious baby girl." She cried harder.
"No one is taking her…if it means we leave tonight then so be it. No one is EVER going to touch her." He said through gritted teeth as we reached our home.
"Quickly Susan, grab only what you need for you and Nadia. Any important papers, things you want to keep with you always. I'm going to call and make arrangements for us to stay with my brother in Bridgeport." My mother nodded her head as my father carried me into the house and began helping her pack things quickly. I could hear their every thought as they did it. We had only been home for about thirty minutes when there was a quick knock at the door. My parents froze. My father nudged my mother and he went to answer the door, looking as calm as he could. He opened it to find two men standing there.
"Can I help you?" he asked calmly.
"We're here for the child." One spoke in a deep voice while pushing my father away.
"NO!" he yelled trying to reach me before them but the other man grabbed him and held him back. The man grabbed me in his arms and briskly carried me out the door in to an awaiting car.
"Mommy…" I screamed but the car had already driven away.
I looked back up at them, their faces emotionless. Well, except for Jasper. He looked on the verge of tears. If that was possible.
"And that was the last I ever saw of my parents." I sniffed, not really wanting to tell the rest of the story.
"What happened to them?" Alice said, grabbing my hand.
"They were murdered in the house…then they made it seem as though I had killed them. Me! A six year old child…I was instantly put in the mental hospital and I was basically 'killed' off within a few days. They threw me out in the woods somewhere…so I'm told." I shrugged.
"Then what happened to you?" everyone leaned in. Clearly, they were excited.
"From what my parents told me, they found me in the woods where the doctor's dumped me. I had been there for about a day or so. I had already been dead for quite some time but that didn't matter to my mother…she begged and pleaded with my father to change me."
"Change?"
"Yes, change…my parents have the ability to transform people into immortals. It's something that dates back to…well, I'm not exactly sure. And, at the time, my mother's ability wasn't strong enough to turn someone who was already dead into an immortal. And so, my dad did it…he changed me. And, the first thing I remember when I woke up was the last image of my human life. Of three doctors standing over me, with all sorts of needles and machines…placing them against my skin, shocking me…until my heart stopped."
"That's awful." Esme sighed, pain all over her face.
"So I guess that's my story…and here I am." I tried to smile but there were still tears on my face.
"Well now that we all know about one another…honestly, I want to personally welcome you to our family Nadia." Carlisle smiled, but still a little upset over everything.
"The family?" I raised my eyes at him.
"Yes yes of course. We know your story and you know ours….we're bound to each other now. And, as soon as possible, I would love to meet your parents…well adoptive parents of course."
I blushed a little. "Um, I don't know about all that Carlisle." I smirked
"Why not?"
"Well, you see when you left me behind…and I went thru everything that I did, my dad sort of blamed you for it all happening. He was just being over protective of course but it might be a little hard getting him to come and see you just so soon. My mother I'm sure has already seen this coming and she'll probably be excited to get to meet people who are like her as well."
"Well, as soon as possible then. And, whenever I do get to see your father, I will personally apologize for everything…all the pain I've caused you and your family."
"I'm sure you won't need to say all that. A simple apology will be fine." I laughed.
"Then it's settled!" he clapped his hands. Everyone instantly stood and began hugging me and smiling.
"Another sister…well lucky me!" Emmett approached me and embraced me tightly.
And yea, I still think you're gorgeous…maybe one night me, you & Rose…
"That's enough Emm." Rose said pulling him away and I couldn't help but think how right she was. She gave me the smallest hug ever. But, from the way they looked at me, it must have been something major for her to do.
"Rose has never even hugged me." Alice pouted.
"Welcome to our family Nadia." Jasper whispered the last one to 'welcome' me. When he hugged me, I felt him linger just a little bit longer than should be appropriate. It didn't help that I could hear what he was thinking.
Okay Jasper...let go, in five, four, three, two, one…sigh I don't want to.
"Um Jasper?" Alice called and he pulled away, a little embarrassed.
Yea like that wasn't obvious. Rose laughed in her thoughts as she and Emmett went into the living room.
"Wait!" I called and everyone turned to look at me.
"What is it?" Alice came to my side in an instant.
"What about Edward?" I asked quietly.
"Oh
he'll be fine…he just needed time to think."
"But, he was
going to hurt Bella….why?" I asked.
I should tell her the story…but she'll probably like it if Jasper tells her.
"Either way….as long as I know." I looked at her.
"Hmm? Oh shoot…um, Jasper you want to tell Nadia sort of the rules of the house around here?"
"Um, yea sure why not. C'mon Nadia…let's go outside." He said grabbing my arm gently and made me follow him. Why is Alice sending me out with Nadia? I mean, I don't mind. I just hope this isn't another one of her little tests.
That'll be interesting. I wonder if Jasper will try anything. He shouldn't I think. At least, I don't see him. But, there's something about her that draws him so much to her…I wonder if…no! That can't be possible. Alice thoughts rambled as I looked back at her, confused. Maybe I was Jasper's what???
*This one was a little long I know…but, the story needed some time to be told. The next chapter will go much faster I promise…*
