Chapter 8: You're a What?
drum roll And now, the chapter you've all been waiting for...
Bella
I smiled as Edward's Volvo came to a stop. It felt good to be back.
Edward looked over at me as all three of us got out of his car. I could tell that he was trying to guess what I was thinking, as usual.
"Don't worry Bella, I'm sure they'll like you. How can they not?" And, as usual, he knew what my thinking was about. He gave me a reassuring kiss on the check as we walked up to the house.
"I'm not worried." I informed him as the front door opened and I stepped inside. I'm sure he saw through my obvious lie, but at least I tried.
I looked around as we walked into the living room at the six strangers in the room. They were all younger looking than me, and I didn't see any wings at all- maybe they had folded them inside their clothing or something. I smiled self consciously, wondering what they thought of me.
"Hi! You must be Bella nice to meet you my name's Nudge I love you're shirt where'd you get it do you think I talk too much I can't help it sorry!"
I blinked at the young African American girl standing in front of me who had managed to say this in under ten seconds. "Uh... hi."
"Nudge, honey, you know I love you, but sometimes you need to talk less. Or at least slow down." The speaker was a tall blond girl. Presumably that was Max- the fifteen year old that had punched my husband-to-be and lived to tell the tale.
We seemed to have something in common then; both of us had punched a mythical creature and broken our hands because of it. Maybe we could swap stories later.
Max
I watched from my vantage point high above the Cullen house. I saw the Volvo coming up the ridiculously long drive way (seriously, does it have to be that long?) long before it arrived at the house.
I swooped down and entered the house, putting my confused feelings aside for the moment.
Time for some introductions, and an explanation about who and what these guys were. I looked around, but no one else was in the living room. I called out that they were back and Iggy came in from the kitchen and announced that there wasn't enough food for breakfast. Oh, great.
I sat down to wait while the rest of my flock and our hosts came into the room.
Fang walked carefully over and sat down on the couch next to me. I tried not to look at him, but failed and ended up smiling.
I didn't have time to dwell on this, however, because I heard a car door shut and voices from outside. I tried to look friendly as the door opened and a nervous looking girl came into view.
I studied her carefully: she was pale, but not as pale as the Cullens, with brown hair and eyes, and not particularly beautiful but not ugly. She must be Bella.
Fang quietly described her to Iggy while she looked around at us, just as curious about us as we were of her.
Nudge, in true Nudge fashion, wasted no time and rushed through an introduction and questions all in the same sentence, which left Bella understandably confused.
There was an awkward silence then, as we all tried to think of what to say next.
Might as well get this over with, confront the elephant in the room or whatever that saying is.
"OK, well I'm guessing they told you some of our story." I paused, and Bella nodded. "So I'll get the obvious thing out of the way."
I stood up and glanced around, making sure nothing was in the way. Our wings were folded tightly and hidden from view under our jackets or shirts currently, out of habit. But luckily, our clothing had slits cut into it to allow for fast takeoffs. I took off my jacket, which didn't have slits because that tended to attract attention in public, and allowed my wings to unfurl slowly, watching Bella's face as I did.
Her face pretty much ran the full spectrum: shock, amazement, confusion- yeah, it was all there. But she was handling it surprisingly well. You know, considering the usual reactions of 'Ahh! Flying mutants!'
Still, she had to ask the inevitable, "Can you really fly?"
I didn't respond with words. Instead, I walked calmly past them all and went outside. I waited until I was sure that Bella was looking, took a running start, and launched into the air. I did a few loops for emphasis and then came back down to earth.
I couldn't help but smirk at her expression when I came back inside, "Yeah, we can fly."
Edward
After the flock had introduced themselves to Bella and Max had shown off her aerial acrobatics, we went into the kitchen and sat down. Bella's reaction to Total was priceless, and Total took it in stride by asking sarcastically, "What? Never seen a talking dog with wings before?"
I managed to cover my laughter with a cough, but Emmett wasn't so subtle. He laughed loudly for at least a full minute as Bella blushed and apologized profusely.
Max got straight to the point after Emmett's laughter stopped, "I think it's time you explained to us what's going on."
Max
I studied the Cullens and Bella as I said this, hoping their faces would give me some clues about everything, but their faces were all carefully blank, except for Bella who was still looking at Total.
Carlisle nodded slowly, "I suppose I should be the one to narrate, being the oldest of us."
He sounds like he's from the 1800's, I thought.
"Before I begin, I want to remind you that my family and I mean you no harm." He paused to let this statement sink in. It must be bad, if he wants to reassure us beforehand.
"My family and are are... not human."
I knew it. They work for Itex and this is all a trap of some sort. I tensed, ready to bolt.
"We are vampires."
Fang snickered, "Vampires? Come on, at least try to come up with something decent." He turned to me for support, "Max, you don't seriously believe that crap do you?" He seemed amazed when I didn't support him with an equally snide comment.
I looked down at my broken hand and remembered Edward's cold and rock hard jaw. I thought of the vague responses and downright avoidance I'd gotten from them all about themselves, their unexplainable appearance in the forest, and their inhumanly good looks. My eyes met Fang's and realized that a day ago, I'd would have been snickering right along with him.
But Fang hadn't seen me punch Edward- he didn't know that the force I'd put into that punch should have laid out a normal person, but hadn't even bruised the pale teen. And he also hadn't seen Edward and Emmett throwing each other into trees and then laughing it off when we'd first arrived. "I don't know, Fang. I don't know what to believe at this point." I whispered.
Carlisle cleared his throat, "I know it sounds impossible. But yesterday, I would have said that a human with wings or that a talking dog was impossible, also."
"Wait, wait, wait. If you guys are vampires, then how can you be awake during the day?" Demanded Gazzy, "Vampires only come out at night, sunlight makes 'em turn to dust!" The rest of us agreed, and waited for someone to explain.
Carlisle smiled, "That's a myth, created by authors and Hollywood."
Iggy joined Gazzy and began a series of questions about ways to kill vampires that were all answered the same way:
Holy water? Myth. Sacred crosses? Myth. Wooden stakes? Myth.
"Real vampires are much harder to kill than Hollywood's." Jasper said.
"Yeah, alright, say we believe all that, but why don't you sleep in coffins? Or regular beds even? You didn't last night, so where did you?" Gazzy was still skeptical.
"We didn't. Vampires don't need to sleep. Ever." Esme informed us.
"Or breathe." Alice added, laughing as we all gasped in disbelief.
"Eww. That's weird." Angel said in disbelief.
"But you don't have fangs. All vampires have fangs!"
Edward grinned, giving us a clear view of his completely fang-free teeth, "I think we should start at the beginning." He looked over at his father and Carlisle nodded.
"First, all vampires do not have fangs. That's something that got added to the stories to make them sound better. And second, I'm sure you're all wondering what our diet... consists of."
Surprisingly enough, I wasn't all that concerned. I mean, if they wanted to suck our blood out they would've done it while we were sleeping. Probably. That is, if they were even tell the truth.
Carlisle continued, "Unlike the stereotypical vampire, our family doesn't drink human blood at all. We only hunt animals." Good to know, I thought.
"Some vampires have certain abilities, which were part of their human selves that were enhanced during our change. However, every vampire has advanced hearing, smell, speed, sight, and strength, and our teeth and skin are much stronger and harder as well. Even without fangs."
Well, that explains my broken hand, thanks for sharing that after I hit him.
Carlisle was still talking, though. "Edward can read minds,-"
Edward sighed abruptly, "Yes, Iggy. You're thinking of number 62,841,908." Iggy frowned frustratedly.
I bit my lip as I realized that I'd referred to Edward as hot last night. And he had probably heard me. That just figures, stupid mind readers. Now I've got two of them to deal with.
"and Alice can see the future."
WHAT?
"Whatever!" Nudge practically screamed.
Alice closed her eyes and said dramatically, "It's going to start raining in: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."
I jumped as lightning flashed and thunder boomed outside. Sure enough, rain was now pouring down. So either she's a very lucky guesser or... she really can see the future.
Wow, and I thought we were the freaks. Maybe we should get out of here, I've got enough problems with trying to save the world.
All of a sudden a wave of calm washed over me. I looked around and saw Edward rolling his eyes. "Jasper, I think you may have overdid it, they're practically comatose now."
"Sorry, I got a little carried away, but they felt tense-"
"No way! You can feel emotions too?! Just like me? AND control them? That's awesome, can you teach me how?" Nudge seemed to be unaffected by the sudden calmness. Or maybe this was Nudge being calm about it.
Jasper seemed too startled to say anything and Carlisle jumped in and stated the obvious for us, "Jasper, as you can tell, can read and manipulate emotions."
After Nudge had calmed herself down and managed to wring a 'yes' out of Jasper, Carlisle returned to the explanation. "The rest of us have no exceptional talents, although Emmett is the strongest of us, Rosalie could arguably be the most beautiful, although I personally give that title to my wife Esme." He won a smile from Esme with that, "And I... don't have much of a talent but I've been told that I'm a talented doctor, and according to some my self control is something of a talent, for a vampire." He said this modestly, but I could tell that the rest of his family agreed with this.
"I still want some better proof about this vampire thing." Fang muttered.
Emmett grinned wolfishly, "Baseball, anyone?"
(: So... what'd ya think? I hope you like it at least a little; I rewrote this darn chapter twice before I liked it. And next chapter WILL (maybe) be more action.
I'm sure that right after posting this, I'll remember something I forgot or need to add, so if you see a mistake or have a suggestion or just want to bow down to my awesomeness, write a review! Please. I want to get to 100 :D
