A/N: - My most heartfelt thanks to findthewill, without whom this chapter would not be. I feel humble and undeserving of you! Merci beaucoup!
Mad love to my super fantastic beta, Slovesemmett. Your red pen is a welcome sight!
So, a few questions I had expected from chapter 6.
What did Brooks mean by "This was not as we planned it. We had hoped for a few more years before the end was set upon us."?
How did William Crest know that to find Harry was to find Brooks?
Well, nobody asked so, on we go with the story!
Thanks so much for the PMs and in response to your question, *your_only_male_reader* (very presumptuous and flattering), yes, I know there are many ways to kill a cat; the most popular though must be curiosity albeit not entirely the most assured way. Thanks for sharing this story with your friends at work!
Thank you for the anon comments, you rock and your theories had me laughing so hard!
Tons of appreciation to all who read, review and have me on alert; you absolutely complete me.
Show some love if you like it! Please!!!
7. THE UNLIKELY HEIR: DISCLOSURE
Carlisle
Oh Edward!
I glanced at my son's retreating form once more as I headed out for the hospital. Trying for a smile was pretentious and I knew this as he must also, that no matter how hard I struggled to hide it, I was despairing. Somehow, the evidence was hardest to ignore so, to keep from seeming callous, Edward avoided me all night. It was painful in many ways; aside frustration, I felt a bitter hopelessness and desperation grip the very edge of logical reasoning. If only it was sure to make it all go away, I would scream till my throat fell out.
It was inexorably wrong – no matter what – and that it happened to 'save' an already lost life was not exactly comforting either. However, was there any justice in his actions? He swore justice was his driving force but still, was it the best sentence for their sins?
Granted that this life was in no means the easiest, the suppression of instinct, the revolution against what was natural, disobedience to a call so strong it could only be achieved through an even greater faith and tremendously adamant discipline, but Edward had displayed a disposition of strength and passion in many other positions so I knew this was not unachievable for him.
How wrong was I? His eyes were wild in anxiety and uncertainty as he looked up to offer his explanation. He threw his hands up in frustration and kicked the chair he stood from across the room; the wood splintering loudly as it hit the concrete wall.
Temper down son. I'm here, I'll listen.
"It was the only way Carlisle, she deserved some justice," he growled in a low voice while pacing across the room.
Yes, but is murder for murder the best justice?
He turned abruptly, stalked forward and stood right before me. His narrowed eyes bore into mine and I held mine to his. Let him see now how wrong his actions were, that I mean him no harm and that I am willing to work it out with him if he'll let me. We stood shoulder to shoulder, red to gold, vampire to vampire, father to son?
"It was my only choice Carlise," the menace nearly lost from his tone as he begged my understanding.
"Choice or rage?" I countered quietly.
He flinched and scampered off down the hallway, leaving the wooden door shaking in its hinges.
Doing my best to swallow the raging disappointment and encourage him as a good father should, I placed a hand on his shoulder when he strode into my study this morning. My efforts though, could be equated to naught as he shrugged off any support and continually turned away from me. His face was etched in deep deliberation as he warred within and it crushed me further to see him so morose. I love you I thought once more in a last frantic attempt to reach out and confirm my faith in him, but as he run through the back door, my fears became substantial again – will Edward stay?
It was barely morning and the skies were clear enough to hint at another bright day. I hurriedly climbed into my vehicle, making sure to focus only on my hasty exit while I sped around the corner towards the docks. The fish market further on was teaming with sweaty bodies and its fresh catch, so it was very likely no one would notice my loud automobile as it passed through the bustle. Still, I had learned my lesson well when Harry explained that I was not as careful as I thought. It shook my hollow unfed core violently that he had followed me to the Brooks mansion and had kept a distance that even I couldn't detect. Better not to court attention even if it brought along some good.
Even though Edward assured me that Harry suspected nothing, I asked him about it yesterday at the hospital and his excuse was that he wanted to thank me somehow for righting his broken leg so he paid closer attention to me. Scary! Then he shrugged lightly and said, "Obviously you were interested in finding the man when you asked Rev. about him that morning at the Church so I figured why not." That had been the day I asked that he be brought to the hospital? Not exactly stealthy on my part then. I accepted his explanations and continued to finish my ward duties.
Yet still, I shuddered slightly at the memory and slowed the car to a quiet crawl to avoid unwanted stares as I passed the market by. At the crossroads that led to the hospital, I turned the other way and drove on towards Ohio. Once the road was devoid of early morning risers, I depressed the accelerator harder in my fervor to find seclusion and release from the budding pain.
Sorrow scorched equally with mortification. It was just as bad as it had when my son came home hours ago, and while it was still unabated, it was well hidden until I could pretend to leave for my early morning call. Oh Lord, how did this happen? My deficiencies were evident in my son's eyes and a harsh reminder that I woefully failed at parenting. Had I been so inadequate as a father that Edward had no qualms about defying me? An old guilt emerged and seared my better side for its faults. What makes you think anybody else could live as you do, do you think it's fair to restrict the natural and inevitable? It chided.
I had come to trust Edward so much that it never crossed my mind that he would so blatantly rebel against me. During his newborn year, I had expected a few lapses but they never came. Why now then? I slowed to a stop along the deserted interstate and stepped out into the sun. My skin shone and reflected like the dazzling ruins of a broken mirror, throwing shimmering colors in different directions in the sun and I cared not for those who looked on. I looked up into the blinding light above and said a silent prayer, a plea for help to clear my head and return some sanity to its chaos.
After a while without much success, I turned back towards the town as the sun slowly hid behind thick black clouds. If I went to the hospital now, I wouldn't have to leave until it was sufficiently dark to come out once again without revelation. Maybe, if I immersed myself in work, I could think less about my paternal inadequacies and focus more on solutions.
Suddenly, church bells rang in the distance and broke through my deliberation, spurring me to look out at the steeple beyond. Its draw pulled taut at me till I succumbed to its promised solace.
I stepped over the threshold and slipped into the last pew in the darkened corner. A quick survey to assess the quaint chapel revealed the wooden altar in the front and the strip of rug laid at its foot designed in bright square patterns. A large wooden crucifix was nailed to the wall behind the pulpit and a couple of small stained glass motifs above streamed in colored light. Instantly, the stirrings of familiarity and serenity engulfed me and I settled deeper into their hold.
Looking up ahead brought back memories of my father's wooden cross, which hung rather brazenly above the window in the hallway of our house overlooking my bedroom door. As usual, Edward laughed every time he passed by it and once commented that the atonement of vampire sins required more than a wooden cross. "Maybe steel, granite or even diamond?" he'd mocked and I had smiled at his humorous logic.
I smiled again now, not from his misconceptions about the man who bore all pain to free those who lay theirs at his feet, but that if we really were less than humans and more monsters, then it was only fitting that one who was greater than humans would have even more pity for the still less fortunate. I smiled at the thought that yesterday had started out as it usually did and ended in tragedy and that it was unexpected but undeniable all the same. Just like the representation of the extravagant love that God gave us all regardless of status, race, creed, and hopefully, kind.
Who would have thought two nights ago, as I sat in the armchair by the unnecessary fire while Edward played quietly on the grand piano, that barely a few hours would herald such turmoil? We had caught snippets of our on-going conversation in between tunes and laughed again at George Brooks's misconceptions. It had not sounded funny at first when Edward mentioned that the man thought Elizabeth had cheated on Edward Masen Sr. with me, making Edward Jr. a product of that impossibility. Such a shallow, but not completely stupid, reasoning. How else would anybody explain the gold eyes and bronze hair along with the charge to find and claim a vast fortune which was privy only to the woman who had the same shade of hair color? Not too far off what could be the most plausible explanation but didn't he know that appearances could be deceptive?
Deception like Scott's and Brooks's usually ended in deaths and the little lady who lay in the morgue was just one of its unknowing victims. Not that they were entirely to blame for her demise, seriously if we had all paid any attention, we might have seen the eminent danger that stalked Mary's steps. Besides her amorous relationship with Brooks, she acted as an intermediary for George and Mr. King as we plotted the best way to retrieve the letters unnoticed.
I had only seen her once before her lifeless body was brought to the hospital yesterday. Fiery red hair framed her face in unruly curls and warred for attention with her rosy cheeks. She was vibrant with a sparkling pair of blue eyes. As she showed Edward and I to the shelf where we could pick out gloves for the coming winter, I saw her bat long lashes at the young man at my side. Usually, it was a hard choice for women to make when we both made an appearance at the same time and almost always, Edward's clenched jaws and set lips lost the-who-is-the-most- beautiful contest which was fine as long as they caused him no pain. Besides, it was easier for me to withdraw from their attentions without hurting any fragile feelings than it was for him when he could read their thoughts too.
However, I was too intent on the woman at the other shelf with her back turned to me to pay Mary any attention. She wore a sundress that seemed too thin to shield her much from the weather and which seemed a bit too tight around the waist. It took a while to register the steady fluttering heart beating inside her. Her hair was held up in a high ponytail with delicate tendrils falling around her face and over the back of her neck. Something about her reminded me of the girl who filled all my vacant thoughts daily. The blue eyed beauty with the gentle smile.
Mary was still unfazed by the brooding look on the young vampire's face and persisted till I politely asked for the bill for our purchase. While she rung up the cash register, Edward made his escape and walked out of the little store. Even then, as I walked out the door to join him, two men in long black cloaks entered and made straight for the counter.
Her death had brought back the reality of the consistent warnings from Elizabeth's letter and George Brooks about the dangers involved in this escapade we had embarked on. The deep ridges that tore through her mutilated body flashed before me and I cringed at the extent of human wickedness Edward described.
Who would be next? I mused. George, who mourned woefully at the loss of yet another love, or Harry, who was his mother's only surviving child? It would kill her if she lost him too.
If I had been at the clearing where they intended to bury her body, would I have done the same thing Edward did? Exactly what would I have done then?
"Father?" a voice that was unmistakably my son's called from behind me and I looked up at him as he settled in beside me on the bench.
"Come to donate a special granite cross to the fraternity of vampires with souls?"I whispered and smiled into his serene face. In the darkness of the corner, no one would see what he tried to hide. His head was bent and his eyes closed as though he was saying a prayer. If anybody paid attention to us, they would only see us two listening intently to Reverend 's inane chatter.
He smiled and whispered back, "No Carlisle, I came to say I slipped and won't happen again."
I know
"Really, that is what scares me the most. You seem to think it is easy for me."
No, it is a possibility if only you set your mind to it. "We all slip and fall Edward, and though it is regrettable, it is no reason not to stand right back up and try again." I added quickly.
We will stay a while longer and judge what people know. Then we'll try again?
He nodded once and opened his eyes to stare at the ground while I stared at him. In that moment, it didn't matter what color his eyes were. All I cared about was the young man who sat next to me and how good it felt to have my son here.
I saw a small smile play at the edge of lips as he raised blood red eyes to mine.
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By Your Side – Tenth Avenue North (Over and Underneath)
Hold My Heart – Tenth Avenue North (Over and Underneath)
Times (Over and Underneath) – Tenth Avenue North (Over and Underneath)
Oh Edward! *sniff sniff * I cried through the entire chapter and I don't really know why!!!
You can visit http:// edwinacullen. livejournal .com for a sneak peek of Chapter 8
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