Chapter 9: Meet the Cullens
"Can I get you anything?" the brunette woman asked, stepping closer to me curiously. I felt my hand squeeze something inside my bag from the tension and shook my head. The scent of my perfume drifted from the fabric and coated my body in less than a second.
"No thank you," I replied. What could she have gotten me? Surely these vampires wouldn't store food in their house?
"It's her," I heard Edward growl from the couch. I frowned. This was definitely going to be my last day of this life.
"Why don't you come sit with us?" the blonde man asked, motioning towards the living room area. I grimaced and followed him to one of the chairs. Everyone I had met at school gave me hostile glares.
"I'm Esme, and this is Carlisle," the woman said. Everyone turned to look at her. "There's no need to make her feel uncomfortable," she added a little defensively.
"So, you are the one who's been spying on my family," Carlisle said, watching me in fascination. "Tell me, how is it that you know about us?"
"Classified," I muttered, glancing at the mind-reader irritatedly. Before I could think about the actual reason, I let my mind go blank, focusing on the sound and image of static to keep him at bay. They weren't getting any information out of me.
As I expected, they all turned to Edward to see what my alternate answer was. He growled in frustration.
"I don't know," he said angrily, glaring at me. The room was deadly silent.
"You don't know?" Carlisle repeated, slightly disbelieving. A small smile lit his face. "Interesting. Could she be a shield perhaps? It's not unlikely." He was staring at me in awe now, unlike Edward, who was staring at me like he wanted me to die in my seat.
What did he mean by a shield? Was that a talent to keep him from reading my mind? That was what the context implied. If that were true, I would have loved to be a 'shield.' It would make my life so much easier.
"No, I don't think so," Edward replied, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "I can still read her mind, but… like I said, she already knows about my gift, so she seems to have a method of keeping things from me." His lips twitched wryly. "It's quite annoying." I smiled innocently, all too aware of the danger I was in. It wasn't very safe to taunt a vampire, especially when there were seven others in the room with him.
But were they really dangerous? I mean, I hadn't seen them attack anyone yet, but at the same time, they had said Renesmee and Jacob were out hunting… The queasy feeling returned and I leaned back in my seat dizzily.
"I have a few questions for you as well," I said, my voice a little hoarse. I tried to clear my throat.
"She wants to know if we're dangerous," the mind-reader mused before I could speak again. "The thought of Nessie and Jacob hunting humans apparently seems repulsive to her." He smiled wickedly as another wave of nausea hit me and I grimaced.
'Sadist,' I thought. He chuckled darkly.
"Why should we answer any of your questions when you won't answer ours?" Rosalie demanded, her eyes like daggers.
"If you quench my curiosity, it's less likely that I'll come snooping around again," I replied calmly, meeting her gaze. "Of course, I suppose that depends on how you answer." She growled.
"Or we could just kill you now," Edward suggested lightly, "and avoid that process altogether." I glanced at him dully for a moment before turning back to Carlisle, who seemed to be the leader of their clan. I wished more than anything that I could see Edward's emotions, so I could see if he was bluffing or not, but I couldn't. They weren't getting any information out of me.
"Yeah, let's do it!" Emmett grinned and leaned forward threateningly. I examined him for a moment and smiled grimly. I could take him down easily, but I wasn't here to fight. I was here to protect.
"Please just tell me that the humans are safe," I begged. "I've had enough to deal with this week and the last thing I need is for a bunch of blood-suckers to go on a killing spree." I was surprised that none of them flinched at my phrasing. Most vampires would have literally killed me for that.
"We're used to it," Edward answered my unspoken question. "And as for our… eating habits, you don't have to worry. We only drink the blood of animals. We won't harm any of the humans in your town." I sighed in relief. That explained their strange eye color. But why did they live the way they did? Why were they in the middle of a human colony? Couldn't they still smell the blood? Wasn't it still alluring, somehow? I wasn't complaining, but I had so many questions still unanswered…
"We're not giving you our life story," he said coldly. "We obviously can't trust you. You already know too much about us, and infuriatingly, we know next to nothing about you."
"She's interfering with my visions," Alice muttered, staring at the floor angrily. What did she mean by that? What 'visions?'
"I don't see why Alice," Edward said matter-of-factly, a strange glint coming into his eye. "Obviously she's just a well-informed human." I frowned, slightly insulted. I was not a human.
The mind-reader gave me a large smile, and I stared at him blankly for a moment before realizing what I had just done. My breath caught in my throat and I heard myself squeak. He wasn't trying to insult me; he was trying to get more information out of me. And I had fallen right into his trap.
"You got very lucky, vampire," I growled, my eyes narrowing. "But let me assure you, I will not let my guard down so easily again." He laughed humorlessly.
"If that was with your guard down, I'd hate to trick you with your guard up."
Before we could talk- well, argue- further, we heard the sound of a door opening on the other side of the house.
"Mom? Dad? Where is everyone?" Renesmee called.
