A/N: So here's the next Cullens chapter. I might break with tradition for a moment and next chapter may also be in the present. There is a much needed talk that's coming so, look for it soon! Read, Review, Pass it on!
-Wish
Vancouver, Canada 2009: Exploration
After Edward, Bella, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper left for school, the house seemed even larger. Perhaps it was because now only five people occupied it, rather than the eleven from before. Or perhaps it as because Anna was given leave to explore the house alone. Esme and Carlisle had disappeared somewhere, and Jacob had taken Nessie out into town. What they were doing, Anna didn't know. It seemed like a big secret between the two of them. She didn't want to infringe on that secret.
Anna found herself back upstairs again. It was quite a large house. She'd only seen a small part of it between the front door, Bella's room, and the living room. There was a whole upstairs section to see still.
Anna climbed the front stairs and made her way, at leisure, down the hallway. She stopped at Bella's room, hesitant about entering. She wanted to know more about this family, but it was an invasion of privacy to just go in their rooms, even if the door was open. But Anna's curiosity, and her need to know what she was dealing with, overrode her sense of moral. She could apologize later.
Anna walked inside and really looked around for the first time. The room was a good size. With the headboard against the fair wall, the largest piece of furniture in the room was a Queen-size bed. It seemed odd to Anna, since vampires didn't sleep. She went over and laid her hand on the comforter.
Images flashed through her mind, ones that caused her to pull her hand away quickly. She shouldn't have wondered. Anna moved away from the bed, looking to the walls. There was a bookcase in the corner. A quick brush of her fingertips revealed to Anna that the books were Bella's, and that some of them had been hers since she was a human. There were particularly a lot of memories on the Wuthering Heights book.
Across from the bookcase were shelves of records, CDs, cassettes, and a player for each. Anna confirmed that these were mainly Edward's. Some of them were originals, while some were copies, and others, his own compositions. The CD in the player was blank, one of the recordable kinds. Anna pressed the "Play" button, and a soft melody drifted from the speakers. She listened to the lullaby for a while, before turning it off and leaving. She briefly checked over the room to make sure everything was how she'd found it, before moving on.
The next door down was Nessie's. Her name was carved into a piece of wood on the door in meticulous letters. Nessie's room seemed to be a mixture, like her. There were expensive things, like a flat screen TV, a pink, mini laptop, and a full-size Tempur-Pedic™ bed. But then there were handmade trinkets, like a small, Indian doll, a hand painting of a cliffy beach, and a small, fringed backpack with beading. Anna learned that most of the handmade things were from Jacob, while most of the expensive things were from Edward and Bella. Nessie seemed to cherish both equally.
Moving on, Anna found Jacob's room, small and messy, across from Bella and Edward's room. The whole room had a sort of rustic feel to it. All the furniture looked like it belonged in a log cabin, rather then this sort of mansion. The room was a bit messy, clothes strewn on the floor, dresser drawers open. It seemed like the owner of the room was always in and out in a hurry. The bed was unmade; the sheets twisted and bunched at the foot rather than laid out neatly like the other rooms she'd seen thus far. Anna only lingered over a few items, a handmade bag, similar to Nessie's, a few books. The room wasn't cluttered, just messy.
The next door down was closed, though by touching the knob, Anna learned that it was Alice's and Jasper's room. The curiosity overruled her manners. She opened the door and stepped inside. The very first thing Anna noticed was the closet. Its doors were open and it was huge, possibly bigger than the bedroom itself! Anna steered clear of there. Instead she looked around the main room, looking for personal items. The room seemed surprisingly sparse. There was some music, but no collection like Edward's. There were some books too, but not nearly as worn as Bella's. The most personal thing Anna could find was a worn guitar. It rested in its case, propped in a corner. Anna removed it tenderly and let herself be swamped by the memories. It was Jasper's, possibly his oldest possession. Alice had bought it for him, as a birthday present almost thirty years ago. It's seen much use since then. Anna stayed and watched memories of songs Jasper had played. Many of them were sad, but there were a few that were happy and even thankful. He never seemed to play it for anyone except himself, and Alice though.
Anna replaced the guitar so that it stood exactly how she'd found it, in its case. Anna lingered at the doorway as the knob showed her a memory of a tender moment Alice and Jasper had shared, as Alice held the same handle. It wasn't a kiss, or even a hug. All they did was look into each others' eyes, but that in its own felt too private. Anna finished pulling to door closed and removed her hand.
Anna drifted down the hallway further, laying her hand on the next doorknob down. She was startled at the graphic nature of the memories she witnessed off this door. This was Rosalie's and Emmett's room, and Anna didn't want to go in there. She quickly moved across the hall. This room seemed safer; it was the very last room. At least the door was open. The room was painted in neutral tones, like the rest of the house. The bed was Queen-size, with a deep, burgundy comforter. The window looked out onto the front of the house. Curtains in a flowing, almost Victorian style hung over the window, pulled back so what light breached the cloud cover could trickle into the room. There were two bed-stands; one held a few paint cards and a small notebook, while the other held a very battered copy of the King James Bible. Anna laid her hand on the Bible's cover. Sure enough, she saw memories of Carlisle, sitting and reading and making notes in this Bible. This was his and Esme's room.
Anna looked around with a closer eye for the details. But there weren't many. What seemed to be Esme's side of the room held a few architecture books and some family photos. The photos were interesting. They seemed to range in age. There was one where there was no Bella, Nessie, Jacob, Alice, or Jasper. Then there was another of the family playing what seemed to be baseball, when there was no Bella, Nessie, or Jacob. One of Bella and Edward when Bella was still a human. Then there was one of the whole family, minus Jacob. The newest seemed to be of the whole family, sitting outside the front of the new house, Jacob included. This was the only picture of him on the wall. Carlisle's side only held one or two old, medical journals and that was it.
Strange, Anna thought. She sat on the edge of the bed, but was careful to keep her hands off it. Those were a few memories she definitely didn't want to see. Anna had thought that Carlisle would have more in his room. He'd been around for over 300 years. Surely that amount of time generates a lot of memories.
Apparently not, Anna answered her own speculations. She stood and left, not bothering to look back and make sure everything was how she'd found it. There hadn't been anything she'd touched, aside from the Bible.
Anna retreated back down the stairs, mentally cataloguing what she'd learned. It hadn't been much. Nessie liked Jacob just as much as her parents. She'd known that though, from Nessie's own memories. Bella liked books, while Edward liked music. Okay, that was good to know for birthdays, but that didn't really help her assess how dangerous they were. Jacob was a slob. What boy wasn't? Alice liked clothes, while Jasper liked his guitar. Again, great for birthdays. Then Rosalie and Emmett, gross. And Esme seemed to be into architecture and design, while the only bit of Carlisle Anna had found was the King James Bible. So, did that mean he hadn't given up his Anglican faith just yet? He was doing better than she had. Anna had stopped attending church after her mother died.
This must seem horrible for him, Anna reflected. Carlisle had hunted monsters like this, and now he was one of them, and so was his only biological daughter. And his wife had committed suicide, though Anna wasn't sure if Carlisle knew that yet.
I need to talk to him, Anna resolved. I need to talk to him alone, and get everything out in the open. And I should do it while the others are at school. Anna closed her eyes and zeroed in on the sounds around the house. There was Esme, in the kitchen. She was humming to herself. A second set of lungs breathed in and out over long intervals accompanied by the soft scratching of a pen and a turn of a page, towards the front of the house. That must be Carlisle. Anna moved off, in the direction she'd heard the breathing. Her hearing brought her to a set of double doors of deep wood. The right side one was cracked open. Anna took a deep, unnecessary breath and knocked gently on the door.