Ch. 5 - Homecoming
This is the debt I pay
Just for one riotous day,
Years of regret and grief,
Sorrow without relief.
- The Debt, by Paul Laurence Dunbar
I hit the brakes before passing the sign. I got out of my Volvo and stood with the door open, taking in the greenery around me. So far everything looked exactly the same. I took a deep breath, somewhat calmed by the fresh smell of the pine trees.
"Welcome to Forks!" the sign proclaimed proudly.
I had been gone for two years and it was good to be home.
I got back in the car and started the engine again, flooring it as soon as it roared to life. I was so eager to get home and see everyone again. I spent two years in solitude without even my cell phone, so no one could get a hold of me, but I knew Alice would be keeping tabs on me. Just like I knew she'd see me coming home.
I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I took the last hairpin turn at ninety miles an hour and gunned it to the house. The house came into view quickly and I had to laugh at the sight of it. Alice had gone all out for my homecoming. Colored lights were strung to the house and wrapped in some of the trees, and a massive "welcome home" sign was hanging on the garage, streamers made a bit of a web from the roof to the branches of the trees. I shook my head as I turned off my Volvo.
I stepped out of the car, swinging my key ring around on my finger surprised with the silence I was met with. Everyone must've been keeping their thoughts from me purposefully so they could surprise me. I took a deep breath taking in all the familiar scents of my family and one I faintly recognized, but it was as though it were from a distant memory.
I opened the front door and took another deep breath before entering, the new scent was stronger inside. Oddly enough it made my throat burn even though I had gone hunting before I came home. Why did I recognize this scent so much!?
I shook it off and looked around the darkened house, "Hello!"
No one answered, but I heard a voice in my head that didn't belong to any member of my family. The voice sighed, but it was an indulgent sigh, I don't know why Alice suggested this, he can see perfectly in the dark anyway.
I froze in place. The voice continued to ring in my ears. I knew that voice, but I hadn't heard it in over eighty years.
No, that's not possible! I told myself urgently.
I hadn't heard that voice in over eighty years because it belonged to a human, and it wasn't possible because I killed the human that voice belonged to in 1922. But it came back to me, the new scent I didn't recognize, it was cinnamon and honey, her scent. Even now, I could still recall the taste of her blood perfectly and being reminded of it made venom pool under my tongue and my throat flame for it again.
Mechanically, I moved into the living room. As soon as I stepped in, the lights flicked on and my family jumped from their hiding places with a chorus of "Welcome home, Edward!"
Alice leapt over the couch and hugged me tightly, but I couldn't react yet. I scanned the room twice, but the only faces that stared at me were the faces of my family. I sighed, my imagination must've just been playing tricks on me, I decided as I hugged Alice finally.
What's wrong with him? Rosalie wondered to herself, though she was ecstatic to see me.
The next couple of minutes were a blur of hugs and kisses and welcoming. Esme was an emotional mess, which I expected, she hugged me the tightest and the longest. Carlisle was just glad I was home, happy to see I was doing better, and I was; I was fantastic actually. Typical Emmett put me in a headlock while he welcomed me home and told me that he missed me, while Jasper just laughed. I was a little surprised when Rose kissed my cheek and welcomed me back so easily, I do admit.
"Oh! I nearly forgot, Edward, there's someone I want you to meet!" Alice said when everything had quieted down. The way she spoke made my stomach twist uncomfortably, because she spoke with the tone that told me she knew something I didn't.
And then it hit me, my entire family had been in the room when the lights flipped on and I hadn't seen one of them move. Someone else had turned on the lights. As Alice turned me around I still hoped it was my imagination, the smell, the voice… but that hope was gone when I took in the all too familiar curves of someone I thought I had killed eighty-seven years ago.
The skin that was once a healthy cream color was now alabaster white, and unlike I did eighty years ago, I would now likely never describe her muscles as weak. Her skin was perfectly smooth, and her muscles would be as strong as steel. Her dark hair spilled from her scalp and fell like black silk past her shoulders and down her arms. And again, I found myself wanting to touch her, but this time to find out if she was real. Thankfully, as she leaned against the doorframe, her eyes were still focused on the floor so she didn't see me staring at her.
"Edward, this is --"
I cut Alice off, taking everyone in the vicinity by surprise, "Wren Landon."
How the hell -- Her thoughts were abruptly cut short as her head shot up and recognition flashed in her burnt orange eyes, all emotion drained from her face as she pushed herself off the wall before her features were twisted and marred by fury. Wren clenched her teeth hard, "You!" she snarled. There was nothing human in her voice, nothing at all.
Her thoughts were indistinguishable with rage, but one thing was apparent, she wouldn't attack otherwise she would've done so by now. And even if she did, I wasn't entirely sure I would let anyone stop her. Her hands were fisted at her sides and she was shaking terribly. If I didn't know any better I'd have thought she was a shape-shifter about to phase.
"… You two… know one another?" Esme wondered cautiously.
Wren managed to control her anger for a moment, but whether she was doing it on her own or with Jasper's help, I wasn't sure. She turned her eyes to my mother and I prepared myself for what I knew Wren was going to tell her.
She licked her lips, "Esme, Carlisle, I'd like for you to meet my sire."
I heard Esme gasp and I flinched as if I had been hit while chaos erupted around me. Everyone began shouting and thinking all at once.
"Edward!"
Ha! St. Edward turned someone --
"How can she be sure…!?"
How was that even possible --
"Should've connected the dots with the date and city she gave…"
Now it makes sense why she came here looking for someone, she's been looking for Edward --
Carlisle finally noticed that I was standing with my hands pressed against my ears from all the noise and finally got everyone to calm down and stop screaming. Throughout the whole thing, however, the voice I did not hear was Wren's. I brought my gaze up, she had stopped shaking and was staring at the floor again, but her hands were still fisted at her sides.
Carlisle cleared his throat, "Wren are you entirely sure that Edward is the one that turned you?"
She scoffed, "Unless there was another vampire roaming Chicago in 1922 by the name of Edward Masen, I'm pretty damn sure the person in front of me is him." Then she reached into the collar of her shirt and pulled out a gold chain, holding the pendant between her fingers, "Recognize this?"
I gasped, "My mother's pendant. I thought it was gone."
Wren shook her head, "No, I found it when I woke up under the Michigan Avenue Bridge, where you left me!"
I hung my head, feeling horrid that I had abandoned her like that. "If I had known…" What was I going to tell her? "If I had know you were going to change, I would've stayed"? In all actuality, I would have preferred her to die than be condemned to this half-life as I was. I remembered in vivid detail that night, and I most certainly hadn't forgotten the way she had forgiven me when she thought I had only killed her.
Now, I was worse than the monster that had killed her.
I condemned an angel to hell.
I glanced up, taking in the expression on her face. Her eyebrows knitted together slightly and a small frown pulled at the corners of her lips. She was hurt. "How long have you been here?" I wondered.
"About a month," she answered, her voice still hard. "I hadn't been planning on staying this long, but I've been tracking you and it led me here, and I decided to stay when I realized you were coming back."
"You were tracking me?"
"In my defense, I didn't know it was you." And now that I do, I wish I hadn't followed you.
Wren sighed and closed her eyes for a moment and beside me Alice gasped, "No, please don't leave!"
She opened her eyes and chuckled bitterly as she turned to Alice with a small smile on her face, "I should… it's against the law to kill your sire."
She won't, her anger's dying down and she doesn't have the conviction… she's just confused, Jasper assured me.
Alice went rigid beside me, searching the near future for any signs that Wren might change her mind. I watched the scenes flash through my head as well, but she was going through them so quickly that I only caught glimpses, but from what I could tell, Wren wasn't going to leave.
Then she grinned and looked at Wren, "You won't do anything. Stay, please… I already know you will."
Wren rolled her eyes, "I don't know…" She was eyeing me cautiously, I don't know how Edward would feel about me staying.
How did I feel about her staying? … I wanted her stay, surprisingly. She had been here for a month, gotten to know my family and as I searched their thoughts, I found that they thought nothing but pleasant things about her and if she left they'd all be disappointed to see her go. I would as well, I wanted to know her and I was caught off guard by the intensity of this desire. I wanted her to smile at me the way she smiled at the others of my family. I wanted her eyes not to darken when she looked at me…
"Stay," I said quietly.
Her eyebrows shot up, but she nodded, "… Alright. But I need to leave for a little bit, calm myself down." She turned and began to walk away, but something stopped her and she faced me again, "By the way Edward, no one's called me Wren Landon in years; I've been Wren Masen for thirty-five years now."
Buwaha, I love Wren. :D
So there you go, Wren and Edward meet again!!
Hmm... next chapter is in Wren's POV
and Jacob makes an appearence. (I loves Jacob, I can't help it; I'm a sucker for the underdog!)
And speaking of underdogs... SUPERBOWL SUNDAY! WOOT WOOT!!
I am pumped!! {dances}
Anyhow... I would like to thank: Isabella M.C., twialleyholic-OCD, TFFDH,
w8ing4rain, justanothergaarafangurl, Mrs. Cullen-VAMPIRE xoxo, and
Pseudo Soul (who is really the reason, I'm udating already because
she made me laugh so hard with her review! I was gonna make y'all
wait like another week!)
So, if this chapter gets great feedback I'll probably update a lot
quicker, so review??
-(gxr)-