A/N Okay everyone! I was… iffy about this chapter. But tell me what you guys think! And by the way… there WILL be more action- don't worry! It's coming. Also, I'm not trying to make Amalia too perfect. You'll soon find out why Edward is falling for her so quickly and is so protective over her… 3
Alice races down the road back the way we came. We flew past the school and down the road until there were barely any cars or buildings in sight. Eventually, all there was were trees around us. She stops at the last part of pavement before the forest and parks the car.
"Don't want to mess up my car," she says with a smile. I smile back and we all get out of the car. I follow them through the forest and soon there is an opening in the trees. We walk through it and all I see is open land at first.
"Alice? Where are we…?" I ask nervously. There has to be about over 2 football fields' worth of dewy green grass before I spot a big house in the distance. We walk to the house in silence and when I approach it I find that it ISN'T big… it's HUGE. Its front is entirely glass, and it looks like it goes 3 floors up. It's beautiful. Alice smugly looks at me and smirks. Rosalie does the same.
Alice leads the way, into the perfect white door that leads into the big house. When we walk in, we find Emmett sitting on the recliner chair, watching sports in the big living room, next to Jasper, who's on the big black sofa. They glance up, and once they see me, 1st they have a look of shock, surprise and fear in their eyes. But once they contain themselves, they smile and nod at me before going back to the TV. The house is silent aside from the soft hum of the TV in the background. Alice leads us to the kitchen, where we find what seems to be Esme and Carlisle, sitting down at the table, having a conversation. When they see us, they look at me in surprise. They stand up and make their way over to us, smiling all the while.
"Esme… Carlisle… this is our friend, Amalia," Alice explains, giving Carlisle a look that I don't understand. Carlisle nods and looks at me, smiling, showing a row of gleaming white teeth. His blonde hair is combed back neatly, and he has topaz eyes like Edward.
"Hello," he greets me in a soft voice. "I'm Carlisle Cullen. I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new?"
"Nice to meet you," I say, smiling back. "And yes, I just moved here."
Esme has silky brown hair that falls to her shoulders, and she is wearing makeup that makes her look very sweet, but polished. She has those same golden eyes as the rest of the Cullens, and she's dressed in a high waist black skirt that reaches below her chest down to a little above her knee, and a purple shirt with ruffles. She smiles sweetly and greets me as well.
"Hi, sweetie. I'm Esme. It's so nice to meet you," she says to me. I smile back at her.
"It's nice to meet you too," I respond.
"Anyway, glad you guys have met. Now, Carlisle, we have something serious to talk about," she says. What was she talking about? "But we need everyone to be together."
Carlisle nods in response. "Edward! Bella! Emmett! Jasper! I need you in the kitchen, please!" he calls as he makes his way to the long dining room table.
Esme follows behind him, but I quietly wait behind with Alice and Rosalie. When Jasper waltzes in from the living room, confused, Alice links arms with him and they follow Carlisle. Then Emmett comes in behind Jasper and Rosalie smiles lovingly at him before gesturing for me to follow behind them. I reluctantly do so as Bella and Edward stroll downstairs, hand in hand, Edward wearing a worried expression.
Carlisle and Esme sit across from each other at the first 2 seats on either side of the long table. Alice and Jasper do the same, Alice next to Esme and Jasper next to Carlisle. I sit next to Alice, and Rosalie sits next to me, Emmett across from her. Bella and Edward sit across from each other like everyone else, Bella next to Rosalie. I don't know if they can see that I'm worried and confused, but I do my best to hide it, running my hands through my hair.
"Carlisle, I think there may be a possibility that…" Alice whispers the rest so quickly that I can't understand her, as sharp as my hearing is. Carlisle looks at her then nods understandingly while everyone else gives each other worried looks. They seem to have heard her… I look down and fidget with my bracelets, deciding to wait till everyone tells me what's going on instead of asking. Carlisle turns to me.
"Amalia, have you experienced anything… unusual or strange or… DIFFERENT about yourself, even when you were younger?" he asks. What was he talking about? Alice looks at me and back to him before I can speak, she explains to him.
"She has no idea… and she told me that when she was little… she couldn't see her shadow. And I… saw that she is," Alice says. Carlisle sighs.
"Do you like food? I mean… do you eat 3 meals a day?" he asks, everyone's attention turned to me. Great, now I'm the center of attention. I hated being the center of attention. But whatever they were talking about, it seemed pretty important that I answer honestly.
"No… I prefer to just drink and stay hydrated… I also um… have drunk blood before, because for some reason, it satisfies me more than food… I'm sorry, I know that's weird. Please don't be grossed out- it's just that you guys seemed like you needed to—" I respond, beginning to ramble. Why did I tell them that? It just spilled out… no one knew about that except… me.
"It's okay," Carlisle cuts me off, smiling a bit to comfort me, as everyone looks at him expectantly. "We need to know things like that… Amalia, sweetie. There's something I think we need to tell you… but I'm not sure how to, or how you'll take it…" he says, his expression turning worried. Whatever it was, I'm sure it couldn't be that bad or surprising. They were a family of serial killers on the run? They were undercover ninja-spies? I mean, anything's possible…
"You can tell me. I've heard just about everything…" I respond with a smile. They look at me gratefully and worried, still. What was everyone so wound up about?
"Amalia, we're… not human," what was he talking about? I just didn't understand.
"Then… um… what ARE you?" I said obliviously.
"We're… vampires," he explains. THAT WAS NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING.
"Um… excuse me?" I say stupidly. Now Edward speaks up.
"Amalia, we're…" he begins, but trails off with disgusted face. "But we don't drink human blood. We survive on animal blood. I wouldn't blame you if you walked out right now and never spoke to us again… but you can't tell ANYONE about this. Do you understand?" I nod stupidly.
"I would never tell anyone but… I need a little bit more of an explanation if you'd like me to keep my sanity," I say as everyone chuckles softly in response.
"We don't drink human blood, so just know this: As long as you are with us, you don't have to be afraid. We would NEVER hurt you," Alice chimes in, gently putting her arm around my shoulder. I smile.
"I know that, Alice," I say. She smiles sweetly at me.
"If anything, you should feel protected around us. We wouldn't let anything harm you, either," Rosalie says to me. I nod at her and look at Bella for the first time, and she is taking turns gaping at everyone, a horrified expression on her face.
"But before we tell you anything else about us, we think we know something about YOU as well, that you don't know yet," Carlisle says. Great, now they're psychic? "We believe that there is a very likely chance that you may be… one of us as well, but not completely. I think you are a… half-blood. Half human, half vampire. But we're not 100% sure… I have to run a few test on you first,"
Okay, WHAT? How could I be a… a 'half-blood'? It didn't make any sense… but it did in a way. That would explain why I liked blood better than food, and why I couldn't see my shadow, and why my hearing and eyesight were so beyond perfect, and why I couldn't really feel pain, and why I wasn't sensitive to the cold, and why I was so strong. I was a… half-blood.
"Um… wait… okay, take a step back. I'm WAY beyond confused and overwhelmed," I say, shaking my head.
"It's okay to be confused, honey! You've reacted so well… I'm surprised!" Esme says with a giggle. I smile at her.
"The main thing we're telling you is that we're vampires and you are most likely a half-blood. I'm sorry for their dragging explanations," Jasper says with a smirk, cocking his eyebrow. Suddenly, I feel calm and it is clear to me. I am a half-blood and the Cullens are vampires. I smile back at him. Everyone chuckles knowingly and they begin to explain more to me.
"Some of us have special abilities," Emmett says to me. "I don't have one… I'm just the strongest," he says with a cocky grin. I roll my eyes playfully and smile back.
"I actually have a special ability," Edward says, looking down at the table. "I can… read minds." So the guy knows everything I'm thinking now, too? Great! Just as I think that, Edward smiles understandingly.
"Yeah, it can get REALLY annoying, him reading your thoughts every second of the day and always commenting on them like we're having a conversation with him," Alice says, glaring at him. "I, on the other hand, have a gift that DOESN'T make people want to think of different ways to torture me… and want me to hear them. I can see the future. That's what I said i… SAW. I saw you being a half-blood and some other things about you," she says with a proud smile. So the pixie-like girl WAS psychic? Well I guess I was dead on before… Edward chuckles then rolls his eyes for some reason that I don't even care to know.
"Wow. So you guys are like… mind readers and psychics and… well does anyone else have any special… powers?" I say, and everyone turns to Jasper.
"Well, I have the ability to feel and control other people's emotions…" he responds smugly. No wonder I got all calm and mellow before! That was SO unlike me. I chuckle and respond, "So that's why you always look like you're… in pain?"
"That and… I'm still very sensitive to human blood and it's very complicated and painful for me to be around them all day in school," he explains. "But when we first met you, I wasn't as… thirsty. I guess you being a half-blood explains that."
I smile in return. "Well I'm glad I bring you comfort." Everyone laughs. Bella speaks up for the first time.
"You can't tell anyone about this- do you understand? If you do, your life will be threatened and so will the Cullens and mine. And even though you're a half-blood and all that, you need to know that you WILL be taking a great risk in being with us," she says. Whoa, what happened to feeling comfortable? What was Bella getting so wound up about?
"Bella," everyone quietly says to her. She rolls her eyes and sighs, looking down and blushing.
"Amalia, you are safe with us. If you have any questions about you being a half-blood, Carlisle is always here. If you need someone to vent to or ask for advice, Rosalie and I are there for you. If you need a shopping buddy, our Alice is your gal. If you have any questions about vampires and their history, Jasper is very experienced. If you want someone to just chill with, Emmett is a big log, so he's good for that. If you want to know how it feels… coexisting with vampires, Bella's the one you can go to. And if you need anything at all, Edward is here. He told me how much he cares for you," Esme informs me with a smile. "And if you need a place to stay or anything, you're ALWAYS welcome."
"Thank you, Esme. I really appreciate it. I actually came down here on my own, because I don't have parents… I, uh, ran away from them when I was younger and lived with my aunt, then moved in with my… ex-boyfriend. But I came here so I can get away from him and … start over," I explain sheepishly. I could trust these people. There's a chorus of 'oh's' and 'aw's' throughout the room. Suddenly Edward bursts up out of his chair, banging his fists on the table.
"Who is he? What did he do to you to make you run away?" he growls. I stand up and walk to the other side of the table, where he is having an outburst.
"It's okay, Edward," I say soothingly, rubbing his shoulder gently. "He didn't really… DO anything. He was just very… violent and destructive and ignorant."
"Sit down, Eddie. She's okay. She's here with us now; he won't find her," Carlisle says to Edward, comforting him. Edward inhales and exhales deeply before turning to me.
"I'm sorry, I just… I just care about you," he says, gazing intensely into my blue eyes.
A/N OK, so what did you guys think? Good? Bad? Great? Horrible? Any questions, suggestions, or comments? Please R&R! 3