Chapter 7: Truth
I grabbed Elena's hand and we walked down to the kitchen table, where my Dad now sat and my Mom had already been sitting. I chose for Elena and I to take the farthest possible seats from these two people who are now strangers to me. I held onto Elena's hand and looked at my "parents."
"Girls, how much of our conversation did you hear?" my Dad asked.
"Pretty much all of it," I scoffed, my temper flaring up and overtaking the fear. "I think it was when mom asked how Jessica could be a vampire, like the two of you."
My parents exchanged a glance, then my mom said, "Honey, we're not vampires."
"Oh, so you're going to continue to lie to me? Is that how it's going to be?" I said disgusted.
"Lily, it's true, we're both human."
"Yeah, what about the rest of your 'siblings'? I heard what you said about all of them. OH, and don't forget Carlisle and Esme, they're probably liars too."
"Lily, we're all human now. We have been for more than 20 years," my Dad began. "You see, we were all vampires until your Uncle Adam made the antidote to make us all human again."
My mind searched through all of the vampire legends I've heard before. I don't remember ever hearing about a vampire becoming human again. Am I dreaming?
Then, I remembered something else!
"Remember all of those stories you told us when we were younger about Edmund and Gabriella?" I said to my Dad, the similarities in their first names hit me now. I never put two and two before. "Were they true?"
"Yes," my Dad sighed. "I just changed the names."
"So, you didn't drink human blood like Edmund, Carson, Alison and the rest? You guys were 'vegetarian'?"
"Yes," he admitted. Well that's good news, I guess. I looked over at Elena whose eyes were wider than I've ever seen. She had also heard the vampire stories when she came for sleepovers. "Elena, I'm so sorry about all of this..."
"Uh, um, I think it's okay," her bottom lip quivered. "I mean, I've known you since I was 6, and you've never put me in danger before, right?" It took her a long time to say each word.
"That's right, Elena," my Mom soothed. "We love you like you're our own daughter."
"A daughter you lied to." I glowered at them.
"We didn't think there was any reason to tell you. I told you the stories with different names because I thought you should know, but at the same time, we didn't want you to live your life in fear."
"Fear? I'm more worried about what you haven't told me than what I already know."
"You know most of it." My Dad's voice is low. Sad.
I calmed down a little. "What about you mom? Did you really become a vampire just like Gabriella?"
"Yes, sweetie, I did." My mom also sounds sad. "But that was only for a year, then I took the antidote at the same time as your dad."
There was a small silence, then I asked "Am I a vampire too?"
My parents chuckled and both said "No."
Silence again. I let all of this sink in. My whole life had been a lie. Okay, maybe not a lie, but I was lied to. More questions came to mind and I asked, "Mom, Dad? What about Grandpa and Sophia? Does Gammy know?" I wonder if my crazy Gammy Rene knows. She probably does.
"No, they have no idea." My Mom said quickly. "They can never find out, Lily."
"Why not?" Why does everyone need to be lied to?
"It wouldn't be a good thing for everyone to know. It will cause hysteria. One day, you find out, the next day your neighbor does and so on and so forth" My Dad told me. "I lived many years as a vampire and trust me, most people aren't very understanding."
"Ew, you're really old, aren't you?" I asked, remembering that Edmund was born in the early 1900's.
"Yes," he chuckled. "I'm physically 42, but I am older than that mentally."
"And you can read peoples minds?" Elena asked, this seemed to terrify her the most of anything.
"Yes, but it's complicated." We stared at him, and he finally elaborated, "I haven't read yours Elena. You see, it's different than when I was a vampire. Back then, everyones thoughts screamed at me and I could hear you from a couple of miles away if I wanted to. Now, since I'm human, I can only read thoughts if I get very close to you, and even then, I have to really try. I never had a reason to want to know your thoughts Elena." He turned to me now, "I only read yours as a little girl Lily. I wanted to see how your mind worked. I don't do it now."
"But you read Javiers?" I smiled a little because that's kind of funny.
"Yeah," he grimaced. "That boy is ridiculous."
"So that's why you're so hard on him. Well Annie will finally understand when we tell her the truth." I said.
My parents looked at each other wide eyed. Then my Dad said "No, Lily. You and Elena can't tell anyone."
"The family deserves to know!"
"But if we tell the others, then Annie will tell Eve who will tell Brayden, Vera, Henry and William, then who knows who else will find out."
Again, another piece of information flashed in my mind. "Wait a minute, can Alison - I mean Aunt Alice, really see the future?"
"Yes..."
"That's awesome!" Elena said.
"I'm going to get Annie and the twins right now." My face flushed.
"No!" My Mom begged. "It's bad enough the two of you think we're monsters."
"We don't think you're monsters. You have to tell them before they find out the same way we did." I argued.
Again, silence. After a long moment, my Dad sighed heavily and said "They're right, Bella."
"We'll tell them in the morning. I want to give your Aunts and Uncles advanced warning." My Mom relented. "But girls, I'm serious when I say that no one outside of the family can know. Neither can my Dad or Mom. Elena, I'm sorry to burden you with this, but you can't tell anyone either."
"I won't. I promise." Elena seemed pleased to be in on a secret for once.
"Mom? What does it mean to 'Indent' on someone? Like with Mark?" I hadn't forgotten about that either.
"Do you mean, 'Imprint'?" She asked softly.
"Yeah, 'Imprint.'"
"Well you know now that Mark is a Werewolf, right?" Elena giggled next to me and I nodded my head so my Mom continued, "Well, Werewolves have this thing they call 'Imprinting' and basically..." She explained to me what it is. She told me Jacob had imprinted on Ava and she explained how Sam Uley imprinted on his girlfriends cousin, and that's how he and Emily became a couple. Weird stuff.
"Is Jacob still a werewolf?"
"No, not anymore. The phasing stops after a new generation is born." My Dad told me.
"And he's still imprinted with Ava?" I asked.
"Yes, it's permenant, regardless."
"And Mark imprinted on me? I heard you say it before." I looked down at my hands and drummed them on the table.
"Yes, Lily. The first time he saw you after his change, he imprinted." My Mom's voice remained soft. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, it's just all so weird. It's like everything I thought was fiction is now a reality."
"I know exactly how you feel, honey. I went through it before too." My mom got up and came over to me. She held out her arms in a hug and embraced me. She took Elena into the hug as well and kissed us both on the forehead. "Now try to get some rest please. We'll talk to your sister and brothers in the morning."
"'Night, Mom and Dad."
"Goodnight Mr. and Mrs. Cullen." Elena waived and skipped up the stairs next to me.
Back in my room, she said "You have the coolest family, Lily."
"Seriously?" I laughed.
"Totally! My parents are so boring and they're always fighting. You're so lucky." I guess this is better than her hating me or telling my family's secrets.
"You're a part of the family too," I said, getting under my covers and turning out the lights.
"I hope we get to observe your parents telling the others," She giggled again, excited. I joined her.
"Sleep tight," I yawned.
"Sweet Dreams, Mrs. Mark Black." She teased. I laughed, but I felt weird about that. Mark doesn't really love me, he just has no other choice. I thought about it for a long time before falling asleep. I decided I'm not going to let Mark live his life as a slave to some stupid imprint thing when he doesn't really like me in the first place. I'll tell him the next time I see him.
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A/N: Please Review!! Pretty please!!
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