Chapter Six
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June 10th 2012 Update: Thanks to Writing2StayHalfSane and beautifulnighmarex from PTB!
I woke up in the morning feeling thoroughly nervous and for a completely illogical reason. Today I was going to follow Edward's suggestion and meet Esme and Carlisle, his parents. He had assured me that Alice would introduce me after school. After all, nothing ever happened in that household without her knowing about it, so she would see my decision anyway.
I had no idea what I was feeling so nervous. Maybe it was because they were Edward's parents – adopted or not, I felt that this meeting was very important – or maybe it was because something didn't seem quite right about them. In the end, I decided that it wasn't the latter, but the first option, although I had no reason to be nervous about that. Why did it matter if I made a good impression or not? At this rate Edward was never going to get out of the mirror. And besides, didn't people only stress heavily like I was if they were meeting their boyfriend's parents? And Edward wasn't that. He would never be.
So why did I care?
By the time I had reached school in my Chevy, my anxiety still hadn't eased. Alice didn't seem to notice my inner turmoil and greeted me in her usual bubbly way, cheerfully adding that we were going to her house after school before I could even get a word in edgeways about my mixed feelings on the visit.
Then again, I wasn't planning on telling her about my anxiety.
Classes rushed by feverishly and before I knew it, lunch had dawned. Fortunately for me, the table's hostility had decreased a little. Alice's boyfriend Jasper had begun to slightly warm up to me but still kept his usual distance. I didn't mind; I was a little intimidated by him and wouldn't know what to say in any case. Emmett looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't, and his ice queen girlfriend still glared at me as per normal. None of the other students dared approach me. I gathered from my peers' expressions that it was something to do with the Cullens – that they had an aversion to them, but I didn't know why. With the exception of Rosalie, they all seemed like pretty nice people.
Then again, it wouldn't have surprised me if Rosalie's antagonism had outweighed the other Cullens' affability in some people's views.
Having nothing else to say, I asked Alice where her house was, curious as to where she and her outlandish family lived. She said in reply that it was somewhere remote from the other houses in town. This was probably another reason why the Cullens were seen as indirect outsiders.
I offered the use of my truck, but she declined, stating proudly that I hadn't ridden in a proper car until I'd ridden in her Porsche. My jaw pretty much dropped to the floor when I heard this.
How rich were the Cullens?
I now knew for sure that money would play no part in freeing Edward. His family had probably spent millions of dollars already. This got me thinking on what their house looked like. Was it a luxurious mansion or a remote cabin?
Did they treasure solitude over luxury?
Then again, they were supposedly immortal; forever would be enough time to accumulate more money than the richest half the population combined, most likely.
I was a bit worried about what would happen with my truck when I went, but Alice assured me that Jasper would drive it back to my house. Dubiously, I asked why he would go to that much trouble for me. Replying in a matter of fact tone as if it were so obvious, she said that he would do anything for her.
I didn't question the strength of their relationship again.
I was a little surprised when I entered Alice's Porsche at the end of the school day. I didn't know what I expected of such an expensive car, but it wasn't this. The interior of the Porsche was very comforting and the windows had dark tinting so I almost didn't realise how fast Alice was driving. But when I did, I felt more scared than I did when I found out that she was immortal.
"Why the hell are you driving so fast?" I demanded, clutching onto the leather seats for support. "Imagine if my dad pulled us up! Slow down!"
"All of us drive that fast. We can't die remember?"
"Well I can," I muttered. "Wait…did you just say that you can't die."
"I told you that we were immortal."
"You forgot to mention the fact that you can't get injured or sick!"
"I saw that it would freak you out if I did." She frowned.
"Well…" I hesitated, unsure of what to say, and not wanting to be rude but also not wanting her to freak me out anymore with this impossible knowledge.
"Just think of us as people with really good immune systems," she suggested. "I'm not that different from anyone else, besides that insignificant little fact."
For some reason, something sounded odd about her last assurance, as if she were leaving something out for my benefit. She probably was, but as curious as I was to know what she was hiding, I decided not to question it.
"Do they even want to meet me?" I asked, desperate for a subject change.
"Of course they do, especially Esme!"
"Why though?"
"You'll see. I think Esme will express herself well enough."
"Why do you have tinted windows?" I asked, unable to abate some of my curiosity, trying to keep my thoughts off the blurring landscape.
"Er … well it feels more private," she said, begging with her tawny eyes for me to drop it.
"Okay then." I frowned.
"We're here," she informed me just before the car screeched to a sudden halt. The windows were too dark for me to see outside, so I was a tad bit wary as I opened the door and stepped out.
I was rendered speechless as I took in the sight before me. The house was more simple and timeless than I expected, more homely, but it still had an expensive quality to it. Lively ivy crept up the side of the white paneled walls and I could tell that it was naturally there, that the whole house had been hardly tampered with, but looked just as perfect. Just like everything else that I had experienced to do with the Cullens and Edward, it looked more appropriate for a fairy tale than for reality.
"Like it?" Alice beamed.
"It's very nice," I responded in awe, unable to keep my eyes off the house's … mystique. "A bit more than nice actually," I added.
"If only…" she trailed off wistfully while I stared at the house, her topaz eyes alight with longing. Lucky for her, I was too distracted by the house to ask for her to finish off her strange sentence.
"When did you buy this house?" I wondered after a few seconds of silence.
"Well technically we bought it fifty years ago but to the town's knowledge we bought it two years ago." She winked.
"Right," I stuttered.
"You'll get used to it." She shrugged, not bothering to conceal her confidence.
"I hope so," I muttered, not knowing quite what else to say. In a move so graceful, I felt a tiny stab of jealousy; I watched Alice dance up the porch steps, while I followed cautiously. I wasn't surprised to see the front door already ajar. Maybe the rest of her family could tell the future too.
The inside of the house was very pleasant in appearance but there was a sense of melancholy in the air, as if a crucial part of the house was missing and the room wouldn't be fully complete without it. At the foot of the stairs stood who I assumed to be Esme and Carlisle. The female – just like the rest of the family – was stunning in appearance with her heart shaped face and curly caramel coloured hair, and so was her husband – who had looks that most men would kill for but not as handsome as Edward. They welcomed me warmly, their faces friendly, and Esme gave me a tight hug.
"I'm so glad that you're here! We're so grateful for your effort in trying to free our son!" She beamed, clearly very excited to meet the person who she believed would free her son.
Perfect.
Esme was another person that I could add to the list of people who I would eventually disappoint.
"Esme." Carlisle placed a restraining hand on her shoulder, sensing my unease.
"I'm sorry. It's just that we've been waiting so long, and I'm so elated with the fact that I may finally be able to see my son again!"
"I'm doing what I can," I tried to say with a smile.
"We're not putting any pressure on you. Esme is just getting a bit ahead of herself. It's just nice to have some hope again." Carlisle smiled, but I could tell that he was holding back his own excitement.
I was feeling guiltier by the second; the probability of me freeing Edward was very slight, even with the effort that I was exerting.
I was giving everyone false hope.
"Do you have any suggestions of what I could do? You have a very nice home by the way," I added conventionally as we sat down on a plush recliner in their sitting room.
"Thank you, I renovated this room myself," Esme smiled, but her warm smile faded as her husband continued on to a more sombre subject.
"We've tried everything we could, but I know that there's something that only you can do which will break the spell. Do you have any special skills?" Carlisle asked.
"Not really, no." I flushed, feeling embarrassed. They never gave a trophy for reading books at an abnormally fast pace or in large numbers. I was pretty much as ordinary as ordinary got.
"I don't think it's to do with skills. Call it a mother's intuition," Esme disagreed.
"Then what do you think?" I wondered.
"I'm not quite sure. Perhaps you have to touch through the mirror. Maybe your touch or voice will do it."
"I've already tried that." I blushed. "Touching I mean, through the glass. All there was was this weird, tingly, warm feeling."
All three of them exchanged glances at this.
"Bella!" Alice gasped. "None of us have ever felt that when we've touched the glass."
"What!" My eyes widened in my shock. How could my touch be different from theirs?
"It's a sign." Esme smiled widely, her dimples showing.
"Maybe it's because I'm not immortal."
"I doubt it." Alice grinned.
"But this doesn't change anything," I reminded them, not letting hope filter its way through.
"It's a clue, a step forward. Something we haven't accomplished in the whole time that Edward's been trapped in there," Esme told me.
"So you think I should try out that concept. The concept of touch," I said uncertainly.
"It wouldn't hurt." Alice shrugged.
"Well I'm willing to try anything at this point," I admitted.
"I know that you can do it! I have no doubt." Alice smiled.
I looked up at all their hopeful faces as they smiled at me, not having the heart to tell them that their hope was being placed in the wrong hands.
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