Esther POV
Nick and I sat quietly in the living room, listening to the voices in the other room. Esme, Alice, Leah, and Rosalie were going over our room plan. Meanwhile Carlisle, Jasper, Seth, and Jacob sat across from Nick and I, trying to figure out what we were. Pulling my knees to my chest, I hugged them hard, more nervous than ever. Nick eventually had it with the staring, and made an excuse to go to the bathroom. Soon it was just me, and four very curious men sitting in the huge living room.
Carlisle eventually spoke after a minute, and it came out carefully, "What are you, Esther?" Biting my lip, I looked over at the door Nick had walked out of, wishing he'd come back. The couch sank beside me, and I jumped looking at the intruder quickly. Seth smiled softly at me, and touched my now dry hair. "Come on Esther. We're not going to hurt you," he promised, and his brown eyes twinkled with excitement.
With a hard sigh, I sat up straight and looked around the room. "Well... It's actually a really long story. Plus, Nick doesn't like me talking about it much," I muttered, rubbing my arm nervously.
"Well Nick isn't here right now, Essy," Seth said, and I stared at him in shock. "Essy?" I asked, surprised he'd use my old nickname mom use to use. Seth looked at the ground blushing, "Uh yeah... I thought it was a cool nick name." Smiling softly, I hugged him and said, "I love that nickname." He smiled and wrapped his warm arms around me. The more and more time I spent with Seth, the more I liked him.
A growl came from the side of the room, and me and Seth broke apart looking over at a very unhappy Nick. He strolled over to me, and sat between me and Seth. Seth laughed, which made Nick shoot him a glare. "Stop Nick," I whispered, not liking his behavior one bit. He was always too overprotective. Nick grunted and fell back into the leather of the couch.
Carlisle cleared his throat, and I looked over at him surprised I had completely forgot the others were in the room. "Esther... We need to get back on topic," Carlisle insisted, and I sighed, nodding. "Okay," I whispered, then shot Nick a look. Nick grunted, but stood and walked to toward the window to the side of the room. "Okay... Tell them Esther," He whispered, his voice breaking slightly.
Biting my lip, I sat cross legged on the couch, and then began. "Okay... Well it all starts before our birth. About twenty years ago to be exact. Our father, Roberto Ross, happened to be a... A half-vampire," I stopped there for a moment, my eyes looking at the shocked faces of the people in the room. Carlisle smiled and said, "So I guess you know we're vampires then."
That made me freeze. To tell the truth, I had no clue they were vampires. I'd just suspected they were different like us. Though I wouldn't have known do to never meeting a full vampire in my lifetime. "No... I didn't know that," I whispered, and Carlisle raised an eyebrow at me. But then he chuckled and said, "Well... You know now I guess... Continue then."
After a moment of collecting my thoughts, I shook the shock out of my head, and then continued. "So, anyway... My father had been living in Idaho when he met my mother at the market one day. She happened to be human, and at once she fell in love with my father. My father avoided her for a while, but he just couldn't stay away. Before the end of the year, they were happily married and living in a small cabin in Virginia. Three years of happy marriage, my mother got pregnant with Nicolas, and my father told my mother about him being half vampire. My mother wasn't at all stunned, and it made her love my father even more.
"Nick was soon born three months after my mom had found out she was pregnant with him. My father at once new Nick was not human. When Nick turned three years old, my fathers theory was proved. Nick had set the barn next to the cabin on fire when he threw a toddler temper. My father theorized that Nick had some of his vampire genes inside him. That made Nick a half-half vampire. Mom and dad were so proud, and for the next few years they lived their life happily..."
Pausing, I looked over at Nick who had his hand pressed against the window. His cold hand made the window fog as he stared out of it deep in thought. His eyes watered as he looked out the window, and I could tell he was watching his life flash before his eyes. It was hard to see my seventeen year old brother cry in front of me. Closing my eyes, I took a hard breath, then turned back to my audience continuing.
"It happened a year before I was born... The great vampire coven, 'The Volturi,' learned about my mom and dads relationship. The leader Aro wasn't happy at all about Nick, and he wanted Nick dead. My parents ran though, only wanting to protect my brother from death. After a year of hiding, I was born the same way Nick was. Dad new I was going to be just like Nick, and he decided the best way to protect us was to face the Volturi alone. He left us on my first birthday, and after weeks of no return, we decided he was dead.
"Devastated, my mother moved us back to Idaho to live close to her family. There I grew up with Nick, and soon discovered my own power. But one of moms sister's found out, and turned us in to the government. They found us as weapons, and decided we were to dangerous to be out in the open. So one day they broke into our home, and..." My voice broke at the memory, and I closed my eyes too scared to remember. Nick however wasn't going to let this story stay untold.
"They murdered our mom and took us captive, then locked us up in a military base, and did various test's on us. We were called experiment, '676', and were treated like mutants. Freaks! Ever since that day they captured us, I vowed never to trust another human again," my brother hissed, and then the room was quiet. Carlisle was speechless, and stared at the both of us wide eyed. Seth and Jacob were totally shocked by everything we had said. And Jasper, well he looked sad.
A phone suddenly rang, which broke the silence in the room. Carlisle stood slowly, and made his way to the phone on top of a small table. He picked it up, and spoke into it softly. Alice flew into the room suddenly, and before I could blink, had me in a hard hug. "Oh Esther! You've been through so much!" She cried, and then she left me and ran up to my brother giving him a hug too.
Esme then entered, followed by Leah and Rosalie, and they all stood, staring at me and Nick with sympathy. Suddenly the front door opened, and a young female voice screamed, "Jakey! I'm home!" Jacob grinned widely, and then jumped up running into the foyer. "Nessie!" He chimed, and I heard a squeal come from the girl. Carlisle suddenly returned and said, "That was Emmett. He called to say that Edward, Bella, Nessie, and him were just getting to the Seattle forest. But it seems little Nessie was faster than everyone else."
"Got that right grandpa!" A girl looking my age, with bronze curls said. She ran up to Carlisle and gave him a hug. Another voice came from the foyer a minute later, and a loud voice boomed, "Honey! I'm home!" Rosalie was the one who left the room this time, and I heard her laugh loudly from the foyer.
Nick and I looked at Alice confused. "How many people are in your family Alice?" Nick asked, getting worried. Alice smiled and said, "Including you two, fourteen!" That made me smile widely. No wonder they lived in a mansion.
Rosalie suddenly returned, tugging a huge burly man with dark brown hair. Behind them, a brunette girl, and a bronze haired boy followed. They held hands when they entered, smiling widely. The girl, Nessie, ran up to them, and the bronze haired guy picked her up smiling. She laughed when the brunette tickled her stomach, and swatted the brunette chiming, "Stop it mom!" That made me suddenly feel a sense of jealousy. I'd always wanted a family, and now I was stuck looking at one. At once memories of my mom flooded to me, and I couldn't hold in my emotions any longer.
As the tears flowed to my eyes, I jumped up and ran out of the room quickly, shoving passed the very shocked family as I did. Nick called after me, but my heart was in too much pain. It had been years since I had last had a breakdown like this, so when I finally arrived in Alice's room and broke into sobs on her bed, I felt all my pain escape me for the first time in a while.
My dad disappearing, mom dying, Nick and I living through hell. Everything broke through me at once, and I cried hard for hours, then finally let exhaustion carry me to unconsciousness.
Nick POV
I'd never seen Esther cry so hard in her life. But standing by the window, watching my sister have her breakdown and run out of the room, I finally understood. She had been hiding her emotions so hard, it had built up for years, until today. "Esther..." I whispered, feeling her pain connect to me. Looking at the family around me, I knew why she was so sad. She wanted a family just like this one, and she knew it could never be that way.
Carlisle placed his pale hand on my shoulder, and said, "You should probably go comfort your sister Nick." My mind told me to go, but my body was unmoving. At that moment, I could relate to my sister. She wanted our family to be back to normal. She wanted mom to give her hugs in the morning, and dad to kiss her forehead like he use to... She wanted to remember them, and she was too young to even be able to picture them. She told the story of our life, but the images were unable to play out in her mind.
Unlike me, who remembered everything. Father leaving with a face of sorrow. Mom kissing my cheek hard as she shoved me into the closet. The loud screams and pleads of my mother as the monsters murdered her. The time of hell Esther and I lived through, being treated like nothing more than a mysterious new species. That was the only part Esther could remember... That bad part of our life.
"What is going on?" The bronze haired guy asked, his eyes glued on me as he questioned his family. Leah walked over to me, her shiny black hair swaying like a rhythm. She matched my height, so she easily took my hand, and kissed me on the cheek with her soft lips. The brunette had watched the whole thing amused, and then her eyes widened with realization. "You imprinted Leah!" Leah sighed beside me, but whispered, "Yes Bella... I definitely did."
Bella shrieked, and ran up to Leah giving her a hug. "Oh, I'm so happy for you Leah!" As the woman embraced each other, I directed my thoughts back to Esther. Her sobs could still be heard through the house. With a sigh, I made my way out of the room, only to be blocked by the huge burly man. "Who's this little shrimp?" He asked, his gold eyes looking at me curiously. "His name's Nick... Him and his sister will be staying with us for a little while," Carlisle said, then said to the whole family, "We need a family meeting, now."
With that, I left the room quickly, feeling uncomfortable at the thought of a family meeting. I was hardly anything to this family, so there was no point in staying for their 'family' meeting. With a sigh, I walked slowly to the stairs, realizing Esther's sobs had stopped. Going up the stairs, I wondered what they were discussing in the living room. Maybe I should have stayed... But Esther needed me right now, and I knew it would be wrong to neglect her longer.
Making my way through the upstairs, I arrived in a room I predicted was Alice's. Opening the door, I had been right. Laying out, passed out on a massive queen sized bed, was my twelve year old sister. With a sigh, I walked over to her and picked up her unconscious form, then lied her back down so that her head was on the pillow. Grabbing the blanket, I put her under the covers, and then sat down beside her. Her tears were beginning to dry to her skin, and I brushed them away softly.
Lying down next to my sister, I quickly wrapped my arms around her, and she scooted over pressing her cheek to my stomach. Stroking her hair, I closed my eyes, images of mom and dad returning to my mind once again.
