Chloe –New friends–
After the hunt I felt strong enough to resist human-blood and entered the little town Forks. Although it was already dark outside and nobody seemed to be out on the streets I stayed invisible in the forest. I was new in this kink of diet and I didn't want to overstress my self-control. I walked towards the direction where the well-known smell of vampire was coming from.
The new friends I made in Denali –Tanya's family– told me that the Cullen family was built up by nine members. Some of them were talented, like me. I called Eleazar's words back into my mind.
"A fortune-taller, a mood-changer, a mind-reader, a mind-shower and a shield" That sounded very interesting. I wondered whether the fortune-taller –Alice– would have seen me coming. Tanya had answered my question with "Yes" but I couldn't really believe it. And the mind-reader –Edward. Kate said he would hear me as soon as I entered Forks. That was also something I could barely imagine. Was it possible for him to read my mind without ever have seen me before? If yes, this truly was a powerful gift. Although my gift wasn't limited on a fixed distance, either, I had to see at least one person to use my gift. I've already met a lot of different people; some were humans, others were vampires like me; but the Cullens were surely a unique group. Meeting the Denali-coven was already an unforgettable experience and I wondered what the Cullens would be like.
Driven by curiosity I sped up and began to run. I felt soft moss and grass under my feet in which my steps were almost soundless, even for a vampire. Cool air stroke the smooth skin of my face and made my hair dance in the wind. I smiled in anticipation and ran faster; I couldn't wait to finally meet the Cullens and…
A strange smell suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I've never smelled such a fetidness ever before. I wrinkled my nose in disgust and looked around; searching for the source of the smell.
"Tap… tap…. tap…" The source of the steps was about fifty metres away from me. No matter who or what there was, it was definitely big and stinking. I swallowed. The fetidness chased tears into my eyes –if they had been able to produce tears. I held my breath and ran silently away. When I was sure that the bad smell was gone I stopped and sucked hungrily the fresh air into my lungs.
'What the heck was that?'
Then, suddenly, I remembered what Kate told me before I left. She had been grinning when she said something about "unique creatures" and "nowhere to be found but around Forks". Was the thing I just met one of the "unique creatures" she talked about?
I thought about it. –Nasty smell, big and heavy… but apparently not very fast and intelligent or else it would have followed me. I sighed in relief and just wanted to start running again.
But wait!
The foreign creature was also heading to the Cullens' place. So the Cullens and those creatures were friends. That meant if I wanted to become friends with the Cullens, I had to deal with those big stinking… things, too.
'Ugh. It can't be helped, I suppose.'
I sighed again, but this time it sounded a bit agonized.
Fine. Now I knew that the Cullens were in bond with some big creatures with bad smell. That could help me to prepare myself. I had to control myself and did not do something like wrinkling my nose; that would be very impolite neither would it help me to be good with the Cullens. But the fetidness was really strong, even in a distance of fifty metres. Well, I would have to be wary of inhaling deeply and talk as less as possible. As if my lungs wanted to make clear their protest I inhaled automatically the fresh air.
I stood there for a few more minutes and then continued my way to my goal.
When I saw the lights of the house, I slowed down and inhaled deeply again. The nasty smell filled the air but it was covered by the usual vampire scent and not very intense. I could handle it.
The next things I heard were steps. They were obliviously made by different persons. Some were as light as mine, maybe other female vampires and others were heavy and a little bit louder. Two of them were as loud as the steps from the creature I met in the forest. Two strange creatures at once. Great.
'It can't be helped. Just try to not inhale and all will be fine.'
I took a step closer, then another and another. Slowly and carefully I walked towards the light.
When I was at the edge of the forest I heard one of them greeting me. He was a tall male vampire with short blond hair and a gentle smile. He seemed to be the leader of them –Carlisle Cullen. "Good evening. Please, just come nearer. You're very welcome."
His smile was so sincere that it made me got over my shyness and I stepped into the light.
Here they were –the Cullen family for whom I've travelled almost around the whole world. They were standing on the other side of a river in a straight line.
The speaker –Carlisle– was standing in the centre. Next to him was a female vampire with long hair and a warm smile on her full lips. The color of her hair was very similar to mine, perhaps a slight shape darker. I saw that she and Carlisle were connected in a very intimate way and concluded that she was Esme Cullen; Carlisle's wife. Next to Esme stood another couple –a very big guy and a beauty with golden hair. Emmett and Rosalie if I interpreted Tanya's descriptions correctly. On Carlisle's right side was a tall slender guy, holding the pale smooth hand of a pixie-like girl with short black hair. Jasper the mood-changer and Alice the fortune-taller.
I smiled in my mind. The couple Emmett and Rosalie's relationship were really different form Jasper and Alice'. They were both very intimate but in a completely not comparable way. Interesting, indeed.
Next to Alice stood a very tall boy. He was definitely not a vampire. His skin was brown, his hair ink black. From his muscular chest I could hear the sound of a pounding heart. He was staring at me like… I couldn't found a fitting word to describe it. It was like he was dazzled by my appearance. It was kind of weird. But the weirdest thing was that my feet felt like wanting to run towards him to let him take me in his hot burning chest –I could feel the heat even across the ten metres distance between us. I blinked my eyes to get my brain back to rationality and looked to the next one in the line before I could think about accommodating the will of my feet.
The next one was a female vampire again. She had dark brown hair and a heart shaped face. She looked at me shyly. She was holding the hand of a little girl who seemed to be in elementary school. Her long bronze curls fell over her slender shoulders to her small waist. She watched me curiously with chocolate brown eyes. She must be Renesmee –the half-human or half-vampire. She was the reason I've travelled so far. I smiled at her. She smiled back. So the girl holding her hand was her mother Bella and the boy with the same colored hair was Edward –the mind-reader and her father. He was looking from me to the guy with the dark skin. He seemed to be confused about something. Maybe the big guy was thinking about something strange. I just hopped that it had nothing to do with me. The end of the line was made by a very tall boy. He was even taller than Emmett and the boy between Alice and Bella. He wasn't a vampire, too. His body was as brown and muscular as the strange boy starring at me. Maybe even a bit more muscular. His heart was beating in a regular rhythm. If the two of them weren't vampires then they had to be two of the "unique creatures" Kate told me about. Because I was prepared I didn't felt surprised. What made my eyes got wider was the relationship between the dark guy at the end of the line and little Renesmee. They were connected in a way I've never seen before. It was definitely love, but also something else; something more. He was completely hers, without any ifs and buts. That was really something unique.
I smiled in satisfaction. The Cullens were more than interesting –they were amazing. The long journey was really worth it.
"Thank you for this lovely welcome. My name is Chloe." I introduced myself. "I'm very happy to finally meet you."
"The pleasure is also at our side." Carlisle continued. "I'm Carlisle Cullen. This is my wife Esme. And these are Emmett and Rosalie, Alice and Jasper, Edward, Bella and Renesmee." Until now my guesses had been all right. Then he turned towards the two foreigners. "And these are our friends from La Push –Jacob and Seth."
The one at the end grinned at me. "I'm Jacob Black. As the Alpha of my small weird pack I say 'Hi!' and 'Welcome to Forks'."
I smiled back weakly.
"Er… thank you, Jacob." Alpha? Pack? What was he talking about?
Someone chuckled.
"I think you should give her a few more information, Jake." My face must have given me away because it wasn't the mind-reader who talked. It was Emmett. Edward was still staring at the strange boy called Seth.
Jacob's grin got wider.
"Yeah, would be helpful, I s'ppose." He turned to Carlisle. "Do you want to explain or should I take over that part?"
Carlisle shrugged the shoulders, still smiling. "To be honest, I don't care. Don't you want to do it? It's your… story after all."
Jacob scratched the back of his head. "Actually, I don't care, either. I just thought that you'd explain it in a more… understandable way. But's okay. I'll do it."
He looked at me. "Er… Chloe, right?" I nodded with a smile. "'Kay, Chloe. I'm not very good with words so I'll say it straight."
I nodded again. "Go ahead." Ugh, I should take better care of my oxygen reservoir.
He grinned again. "Fine." He inhaled deeply. "I think you've already recognized it. I'm not a normal human. I'm the leader of one of the two bonded packs from La Push. Seth here is one of my two pack-members." He nodded towards the boy whose eyes seemed to drop out of their sockets soon. He had been staring at me all the time. Jacob didn't notice it. "We're not vampires, about what I'm really glad. No offends, Chloe."
I smiled.
"We're something else but also a very part of the weird supernatural world like you vampires are." He made a little pause and then said the final words. "We are werewolves."
My eyes got wider and my mouth dropped open.
"What?" I gasped. "Werewolves?" And with that all my left oxygen was gone into thin air.
I looked from one face to another in disbelieve. Waiting for someone say something like "April Fool". But nothing came. It was perfectly silence. Instinctively I took a step back.
The horrible fetidness; the big muscular bodies; the beating hearts –it explained it all.
Werewolves!
"Please calm down, Chloe." Carlisle said and took another step closer to me. He gave Jasper a swift nod. And from one moment to another I calmed down. My muscles relaxed and I started to breath again. The werewolves' smell was burning in my nose but the dominating vampire-scent covered it a little bit and made it tolerable.
"I beg you to listen to me first before you jump to any conclusions. Jacob wasn't very… accurately, so I'd like to make it clearer for you. Would you, please, listen to me, Chloe?"
I thought it over for a second and then nodded. I was scared but my curiosity stopped me from running away.
Carlisle smile thankfully. "Good. Thank you very much for your appreciation. You are one of the few vampires who are willed to listen to our explanations without any opposition. This is truly amazing."
I smiled abashed.
Carlisle nodded with a smile and continued. "I think you know a few things about werewolves. Is that correct?"
I nodded and tried to not think back too far.
"Then, you surly know when werewolves usually phase, I suppose. –At full moon. Now, Chloe, would you please have a look upwards?"
I obeyed and looked up to the dark overcastted sky. I looked closely and discovered a round shining plate beyond the layer of thick grey clouds.
I blinked in astonishment. "It's full moon." I turned back to Carlisle and then to the two "werewolves". Jacob was grinning widely. Seth was still staring at me with that difficult describable look. "But… how… why…" I stammered. "I mean… you're werewolves. Why didn't you phase?"
"Sorry for frightening you, Chloe." Jacob laughed. "Actually, we aren't werewolves. It's just that we've thought so for a very long time and I can't get that wrong appellation of my brain anymore. Actually, we are… er… what was it again, Carlisle?"
"Shape-shifters."
"Thank you. Yeah, shape-shifters, that was it. We are shape-shifters who just decided by accident to phase into big wolves and are not interested in changing that."
I sighed in relief. Shape-shifters who had fun at turning into giant wolves. Well, at least better than true werewolves.
"So you can relax, Chloe. We don't attack our friends' friends." He winked at me with one eye.
I chuckled. "Good to know."
The others joined in. Everyone except of Edward and Seth. It seemed that they didn't even notice the little conversation we had.
"It isn't very nice to let a guest standing outside in the darkness." Esme said with a warm smile. "Especially not when the guest is such a charming girl."
I smiled shyly.
"You're right, Esme." Carlisle agreed. "Chloe, may I invite you into our modest home?"
"That's very nice of you. Thank you."
And with these words I jumped across the river.
