CHAPTER 10 - FAMILIARITY, NOT ALWAYS GOOD

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Renesmee

I went to Grandpa Charlie's. From the stepping sounds inside, I could tell they were awake. And Mom and Dad were still here, waiting.

I waited a little while before knocking the door. Mom was the one who opened it.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hey, Mom," I greeted back. "Sorry I'm so late."

"That's okay, it was necessary for you to be there. How's Jacob?"

"Better. I had to stay to give him some better dreams though."

I reeled back to the moment when I changed Jacob's dreams, when I made him feel better. And when I kissed...

I interrupted myself at the realization that Dad was here.

He emerged from the living room, glaring intently at me.

Oh, great. This was embarrassing.

He coughed into laughter at my thoughts. Bella looked to him curiously. I blew past them into the living room where Grandpa Charlie was reading a newspaper. Grandma Sue was frying sandwiches in the kitchen.

"Hey, Grandma Sue," I greeted.

"Hey, Nessie," she greeted back. "So how is Jacob and Rachel? Are they okay?"

I nodded, reminiscing the morning. "Jacob's had it better, and Rachel is doing fine with Paul's help. It's kind off a relief, you know, considering she's pregnant."

"Yes. Things will probably be a little hectic for them before it can return to normal. Rebecca and her family are coming back tomorrow."

I changed the subject.

"So how are Seth and Leah? Is she doing good in community college?"

She was finished with the sandwiches then. "Yeah, really good, actually. She's doing really well with yoga and she's acing psychology. As for Seth," she flipped the sandwiches on a plate and handed to me, "he's as happy as ever. He actually misses you and Jake."

I chuckled at the idea. What a cheerful wolf-boy.

I chewed into the delicious sandwich.

"Charlie, you better put away that paper if you wanna get served," she called to Grandpa Charlie while pointing to the free sandwich.

He made a grimaced look, and then put away the newspaper and came to our side. Mom and Dad joined us then.

"Dad, will you be busy today?" Mom asked.

"Um, I'll be at the station till nightfall and then I'll probably be down on La Push to help Jacob with the funeral," he answered with a low voice. "Why?"

"We're going back to the house later, but I thought about staying here with Renesmee for the day."

There was gleam behind his calm eyes, even Mom could see that.

"Oh," he muttered, and then a little lower. "I guess I'll have to try getting back a little earlier."

"No!" we both said at the same time, then Mom said. "We can come by tomorrow or something. I mean, Billy was your best friend. You should be helping."

He was thoughtful for a moment.

"What about you? Ain't you gonna go down to help?"

She shook her head. "We're just here for the funeral. We're not supposed to go down there under normal circumstances."

His eyebrows creased and turned to me. "What about Nessie? She was there last night."

She nodded and answered. "That was one of those unusual circumstances that required permission."

He nodded.

After we finished eating, Grandpa Charlie prepared to go to the police station to start his schedule. We departed the same time as he did. Sue decided to head down to La Push to visit Sam and Emily later. I left a note at the door for Jacob to let him know that we were headed back at the old Cullen house.

While we walked slowly back to the house, Dad and Mom started asking questions about what I did at La Push last night. I had my own questions, but decided to put them aside for the moment.

"Jacob had nightmares?" Dad asked.

I nodded. "We didn't sleep half the night. Just all night talking and comforting. When he fell asleep in the morning, I put his head on my lap. Then, he started having nightmares and shivered in anguish and pain." Mom looked away, feeling the sadness seep into her body. I continued, "I wanted to help, but I didn't know what to do. Until I finally came up with a solution."

"What solution?"

"She projected pictures into his mind to make his dreams better," Dad explained in my place, grinning at my thoughts. She looked at him for a moment and then back to me, her eyes a little wide.

"I had to try something. Then I remembered you guys saying about peeping my dreams, so I thought maybe I could intrude his to make it easier for him to handle. It worked."

"What did Billy say in the tape?" he asked at the mention of my thoughts. This was so intruding. He grinned teasingly at me. "Sorry, sweetheart, I'll try to stay out."

Mom held my hand. "Want my help, sweetie?"

"Please," I begged.

"There you go. Your thoughts are all yours."

"Thanks, Mom." I proceeded to answer Dad's question, "So, Billy told Jacob about his heart condition and all that stuff about children having to leave home when they grow up. Then he said that he left something for him to give to his special one in the future."

An irritation sent through my chest. The thought of Jacob finding someone else... I couldn't quite describe it. One simple word. Worry?

But I couldn't let that affect me. No matter what, Jacob will always be my one best friend. No one will ever compare to him. Perhaps someday, he will find someone more special than me, but the fact that we were friends will stay true. Yes. It will always be. And it won't be enough.

We were back at the old house after a few hours. Aunt Alice was waiting patiently on the porch stairs while Tommy paced around the lawn. When we crossed the river, they turned to our direction. Their expressions were unreadable.

"There's a vampire scent in the house?" Dad said as he read their minds, his expression anxious and surprised.

Tommy approached. "Not just one, but a quite few that followed to the backyard. That's why we didn't catch it until we were inside the house. Carlisle called his old hospital to find out if anything happened. Turns out hikers were murdered these past few days. They suspect it's the work of another wolf assault though."

"Jasper and Emmett followed the trail last night, but it disappeared into the ocean," Aunt Alice took over the conversation. "Rosalie and Esme are running through the town to see if they can catch some recent trail. I called Sam last night to see if he knew anything. They caught the trail a few days ago, but when they arrived, it was too late."

Mom looked away in sadness.

Dad turned to me. "Did you catch any scent at Jacob's house?"

I shook my head. I was absolutely positive that I didn't catch any unfamiliar vampire scent when I got there. And I was sure Jacob hadn't either nor Paul.

"But it could've been nothing," Aunt Alice continued. "I mean, the scent is days old. They were probably passing by."

Dad hid his grimaced look behind a reassured smile. I didn't need his power to know that he was hiding something. Just then, Uncle Emmett and Uncle Jasper came out through the front door.

"We're going back into the woods to see if we can find more of those trails, perhaps they've been somewhere close by," Uncle Jasper explained.

"I'm coming with you," Dad suggested. The four of them shared genuine looks, and it could only mean that they were thinking the same thing. The only ones who weren't in their shared thoughts were Tommy, Mom and I.

"Thomas, our flower arrangements for the funeral will arrive sometime today," Aunt Alice told. "Why don't you stay here and wait for the flowers with me?"

Tommy eyed at her suspiciously, then to the rest of us. A moment later, Aunt Alice grabbed his arm, and he obeyed. We walked silently for fifteen minutes, and then Mom finally asked.

"What's wrong, Edward?"

He took a few short seconds and made a grimaced look. "The scents they picked up -" he looked to Uncle Emmett and Uncle Jasper "- they were the same ones from the vampires that killed Thomas's family."

I stared at him, shocked, and then turned to Uncle Emmett and Uncle Jasper. Mom eyed at them for a moment, as surprised as I was. "You didn't tell him?"

Uncle Jasper shook his head. "We didn't want to upset him. If he finds out, he would lose himself to the rage of revenge. Of course, we don't plan on keeping it from him forever, just till after the funeral."

I remembered the day Tommy became part of our family.

That night, three years ago, I was helping Jacob with his homework with my encyclopedia of 3000 pages.

Aunt Alice suddenly rushed into the living room with a wary look.

"Jacob, you gotta get Nessie upstairs," she urged.

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked before I did.

"Carlisle, Edward and Bella found a family murdered by vampires about five miles outside of town. The only survivor is a young man who's been bitten. It's already too late to drive the venom out of his system, so Carlisle is taking him here right now as we speak."

"When are they arriving?" he asked urgently.

Her eyes went blank for a moment, then refocused. "In 2 minutes."

Jacob gathered all his books and volumes and took me in his arms and brought me upstairs, where we hid in Dad's old bedroom. After exactly 2 minutes, footsteps broke in through the front door. Along with the pierceful cries that echoed to the door. It contained so much pain that I didn't think anyone could be more agonized.

The first voice called through the screeching."Take him down to the basement." It was Dad's voice.

The screaming instantly lowered an inch, but it was still in hearing range.

I looked to Jacob, who stared at the closed door. His expression was hard and anxious, as if he was worried that something would go wrong.

"What iz happen-ning t-to me?" the voice asked as he struggled the pain.

"Something you never would've wanted if you were given the choice," Grandpa paused. "You're becoming a vampire, young man."

Scream! "Oh, please...," the voice replied. Whether he was being sarcastic or actually believing the words, I couldn't tell. The screeching pain took away all kinds of emotion coming from his voice.

Dad and Mom found us in the room. Their faces were wary. Dad was the first to enter his old bedroom.

"Jacob, Renesmee, let's go back to the cottage," he said anxiously.

"What was going on?" Jacob asked.

After a moment, Mom answered. "It's already too late to get the venom out of his system. Carlisle is letting him join our family and become one of us. The problem is he has not been prepared like Bella was."

They went quiet for a moment.

"He's going to act like a savage newborn," Jacob finally said.

He nodded. "And we can't let him out in the open. Not until he's ready." His eyes turned to me. "Nor can we let him be close to Nessie for the time being."

Jacob immediately began picking up his books. "Let's go."

I reached out to Mom and she picked me up lightly and walked downstairs with Dad and Jacob closely behind. The shrieking, screaming and thrashing echoed louder and louder in the walls as we went down the stairs. I hid in my Mom's hair to block some of the echoes in my sensitive ears - it was too loud, and too clear. I suddenly felt sorry for the boy for having to go through this much pain and the pain of losing his own family, and becoming part of the species that did it.

"Alice, we'll see you tomorrow!" Dad called from the front door.

We were out of the hearing range in no time, but my mind continued to race back to the piercing cries of agony in the house.

"What's wrong, Nessie?" Mom asked. She must've noticed my tense grip around her shoulders. I placed my hand on her cheek and showed her the screaming.

She went silent for a minute, trying to piece together some words that could sound comforting, I guessed.

"Don't worry about him, Nessie," Dad assured, his face was totally relaxed. "He's going to be okay. Your Aunt Alice's vision predicted that he'll make a fine little uncle to you. We'll take good care of him until he can control his instincts."

Jacob snorted sarcastically. "Good luck with that."

They gave him a look. Then Dad changed the subject.

"Unfortunately... as a newborn he won't be able to restrain himself the way your mother could. And we can't let him near so much temptations, especially when we're a 5 mile radius within human society. So I'm afraid the time to leave Forks has come." He trailed off to the rest of us instead of just me.

I looked at him, shocked. Mom and Jacob did the same.

"We're leaving Forks?" he said in a surprised tone.

Dad nodded slowly, reluctantly. "I'm afraid that is our only option. When we came in, Alice had a vision of us moving up to Denali to train the newborn. She could also see that he will go through a difficult time for at least five months. Which means we'll be leaving very soon."

When Jacob asked, his voice was broken. "When are we going?"

"In about one week."

"One week," he whispered to himself.

"I'm sorry, Jacob," Mom apologized.

He raised a hand. "No, don't be. It's okay, Bella. It wasn't like we weren't gonna leave eventually. I mean, we've already planned to move next year, right?"

Yes. We were going to leave soon. The hospital staff was already starting to notice that Grandpa wasn't aging. Everyone agreed to leave after New Year. And we had already agreed to let Jacob come. But it looked like the plan had to be followed through earlier than expected.

Mom said in a sad voice. "I guess I have to tell Charlie now that we're leaving."

Dad put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. "We'll keep in touch with them. And when things slow down, we'll come back to visit."

I touched her cheek to show her the times we had with Grandpa Charlie. A promise that we will always be together. She and Dad flashed me a tiny smile. Then, Mom's face turned to concern and looked to Dad.

"We have to keep Renesmee away from the newborn."

Neither Dad or Jacob disagreed. Me, I was a little curious with my soon-to-be uncle.

In the next four days, we've made it official that the Cullens were leaving town. Mom visited Grandpa Charlie to tell him the news as she had promised years before, and I was taken to see him one last time. Grandpa made the announcement at the hospital. Aunt Alice contacted the Denalis to tell them we were coming, and that a werewolf will be accompanying us.

Jacob had to handle the harder part. La Push was his home. His family and friends, his wolf pack, happy and sad memories. His life was kept here, where he belonged. And now, he had to leave it all behind to be with us. I was happy to know that he was coming. That we weren't going to separate, but that didn't explain why he decided to come at all. Not if it was so hard for him to leave behind everything he had ever known.

When I asked him about it, he just said, "It's really hard for me to leave my family behind, but it's even harder to be away from you, Nessie. If being with you means I have to leave everything behind me, I would do it. Especially if you asked."

That was enough to make me smile.

The hardest part came on the fifth day. The day when we were leaving. Mom and Dad had finished packing the night before, so there really was nothing I needed to do. I took the liberty to check my now-empty bedroom one last time, thinking back to the day my parents brought me into the cottage. I looked to my painted walls, the perfectly synchronized colors. The wall facing my bed was a huge picture of me and my family together as one.

"Nessie?" Mom called from the hallway before she appeared. "Honey... we have to go."

I nodded, but took a deliberate moment to take in the empty room. After I was finished, I relocated in her arms and met up with Dad outside the cottage.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered and grabbed a suitcase. I leaped out of her arms and grabbed my little bag. Dad balanced a couple of suitcases stocked on his arms and shoulders.

"Jacob is meeting us at the house. Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and Alice left with the newborn an hour ago. He's obedient, even for a newborn."

Mom took a deep breath and then said, "Okay, let's go."

We glanced back at our cottage one last time before leaving. I couldn't forget how special this little place was to me. This was the little home that I settled into right after my birth, and my Mom's transformation into a vampire. Beautiful and somehow very "alive". It was hard to believe that we were leaving it behind. But no matter how much we wanted to stay and keep the happy memories here, there was no going back.

"Come on," Dad said, ending our glance.

We reached the main house in no time. Before we crossed the river, the sounds of thudding hearts and scent of various wolf smells crossed our faces, and there they were.

Grandpa and Sam shook hands with Emily and Grandma standing right beside them; Leah, Seth, Quil, Paul and Embry said their goodbyes to Jacob with humble hugs while Jared, Brady, Collin, Kyle, Michael, Quentin, Brandon, Vince, Ian and Ricky just observed the scenario from across the lawn.

Jacob and Seth were the first to cross the lawn to our side. I flipped myself into the air as Jacob opened his arms to catch me. Seth (and some of the other wolves that I heard) laughed at our synchronized move and patted my head.

"I'm gonna miss you, Nessie," he said.

I touched his chin to show him how much I will miss him, too. Soon we were surrounded by goodbyes.

The vehicles were stocked with packages and boxes that they could barely fit me in.

Grandma and Grandpa took Dad's Volvo while the three of us took Mom's Ferrari, and Jacob sat in his Rabbit. Then we drove off.

My reminiscence was interrupted by the sound of a pounding heart and loud footsteps clearing the distance. We all looked to Dad. He seemed completely relaxed.

"It's just Seth," he assured. "He's patrolling the scents, too."

Seth came through the bushes to our side in an instant. Mom and Dad were most happy to see him, as were the rest of us.

"Long time no see, Seth," Dad greeted with a large grin on his face.

And Seth lifted his lips behind his teeth with a bark. I suddenly realized that I'd forgotten their mutual friendship, the second link we had to the wolves.

He turned to the rest of us and huffed nicely.

"Good to see you too, Seth," Mom greeted with a grin. "I'm sorry we couldn't come on better circumstances."

He turned to Dad again, and he replied in his place. "He's saying it doesn't matter. He's just been missing us."

Uncle Emmett smirked. "Okay, this whole vampire-wolf-goody-goody-friendship thing, very annoying."

We burst into laughter, even Seth barked a laugh.

Then Dad turned serious again. "Seth, we recognized those vampire scents. They were from the ones who killed Thomas' family. You know, the newborn who joined us three years ago."

They went silent for a second, and then Dad said, "No, he doesn't know anything yet. We're planning to tell him after the funeral to ease the tension."

After Seth left for the woods, we went to visit our old cottage. Uncle Emmett and Uncle Jasper decided to follow the trail alone.

It wasn't until we found it again that I realized we were really home. It never changed even after three years, the walls never fell, none of the stone blocks seemed to have moved an inch (not ones that I'd noticed anyway). The little house was as empty as we left it, but nothing seemed to have changed. The only difference was the house was the yard, which had become more dank and covered with weeds.

Being back at our cottage made me think back to all the days we'd spent here. The thought of being back at our little home made me smile.