DISCLAIMER: This is a sand castle I built in Stephenie Meyer's sand box. The sand is hers, the castle is mine.
The Twilight universe belongs to SM, not me, if you believe otherwise Apparate youself to St. Mungo's.
CHAPTER 13: Midnight Talks
Bella didn't say much as she drove to her place. I kept my eyes to the window, wanting to know where she lived. As it turned out she lived on the outskirts of town, about a quarter of the way around town from where my family lived. Her car drove like a dream. I could tell that someone had worked on the engine, and I wondered who it was.
"The engine of your car seems to be more than it must have started with from the showroom," I said, wanting some conversation between us before it got even more awkward.
"Oh, yes. Goodness, Courtney would kill me if I let the cars remain as they come. She gets under the hood of every car we own. Even my own baby. She beefed up this engine just last month. Completely redid the interior engine. I must say it drives much better since!" Bella said.
I found the fact that she let her "little sister" handle the cars interesting. I knew my way around cars but I allowed Rosalie to handle the mechanics once it was in the garage. Even my own "Special Occasion" car, my Vanquish. So letting her sister handle the mechanics said nothing about her knowledge of car mechanics.
"I know what you mean," I replied, "Rosalie takes apart the engines of all the Cullen cars. Mine, Emmett's, even Carlisle's. And, of course, they run much better afterwards. So I don't complain, even though I can do most of the reworking that she does. But if I spent the required amount of time on my car it would eat into the other work I handle." I hoped I didn't sound pathetic, letting my sister be my mechanic. Or arrogant and conceited, saying I had more important things to do than mechanics.
"I'm the same way, almost. I can do some stuff, and I can beef it up, but nothing fancy. I've got too much else to do. I'm the elder, and the head of the house, so I'm the one who works so we can live civilized."
"I'm not too surprised; Carlisle is the only one who consistently works in our family. I've helped from time to time, back when things were less restricted. But how do you work and go to school?"
"Easy, after I had earned enough that I could attend college, the first degree I earned was in journalism, so I could write my articles at night and take care of my education during the day. I got my legal degree next to earn some big bucks I could put away and not have to work all the time. I kept a savings I could fall back on when attending high school.
"I usually keep the same name and identity for about ten years. That allows me to attend one to two years of high school, four years of college, and either four to five years working, or a few more years attaining a master's or doctorates degree. Once I kept the same identity for fifteen years. Once I'd earned my medical degree I worked for five years at a hospital."
I was stunned. She had kept an identity for fifteen YEARS?! I had only managed a maximum of nine, and by the end we had realized we should never push it that far again! There wasn't much that could be done to change a vampire's appearance. We were frozen in time, forever young. How had she managed so long with only a single identity?
I must have voiced this concern aloud, because she was answering me. "Well, I didn't stay in one place the whole time. I started out in Poole, a tiny town in Michigan. I was there for two years of high school, and then went to four years of college at Michigan State University to get my Bachelor's degree. While I was there, everyone thought I looked old for my age. I then left to get my medical degree at NYU. After four years I left there to work at a hospital in Boston. At each phase I never ran into anyone who knew me long enough to wonder about my aging.
"I leave my hair down and loose, and wear too much make-up and typical teen clothes while I'm playing the high school and early college student. Then I begin to wear more…adult appropriate clothes and loose the heavy make-up, but leave my hair down and I appear to look my age. The people I first meet assume I merely look old for my age. The next group I meet think I look my age or younger than. In the third place I was I put my hair up in an elegant bun and that made me look years older and as long as I was in a different location I an pull off the same identity. That way I can use the degree I earned before I have to start forging it."
It was a remarkably simple idea that somehow my family had never thought of. I'd have to mention this idea to Carlisle sometime; maybe we could try it. We'd arrived at her house some time ago, but had continued to sit in her car as we talked. Her house was spectacular. It was simple, yet elegant. She drove up the rest of the way to park her car in her garage. Were I human my mouth would be agape at the cars sitting in her garage. It was large enough to hold five cars, and the other two sitting there were amazing. I felt the purple sports car defined what I knew of Bella Swan so far. And the "space engine" like flames on the sides were awesome. Did I really just describe the physical appearance of a car to be "awesome"? I was allowing this generation to corrupt me!
She parked her car and I hopped out to open the door for her. Knowing she was from my own time, and that she knew it, I was at home with my gentleman manners I had been taught as a human. Though this was her house, her car, and she was the hostess, I was still the gentleman. She waited until I opened her door and held out a hand for her to take as she stood. She shut her door and locked it, and I motioned for her to precede me.
Her house was warm and welcoming. She gave me a tour. There was the living room, with ideal comfort sitting unnecessary for the vampires who lived here, as they were just as comfortable standing as humans were sitting. There was a flat screen TV, state-of-the-art game systems and stereo all of which Emmett would drool over. The dinning room looked like it came from a magazine cover, with a kitchen to match. I even noticed she had non-perishable foods stored in the cupboards in case of human visitors. She even showed me the refrigerator that was stalked with blood, explaining that some was animal and some human, in jars that hid their contents, which she kept for her family to cut down on extended hunting trips and for any vampire friends who might drop in. The human blood came from blood banks, she told me. She had a library that was stocked with tons of books of every genre.
The house had four bedrooms, furnished for non existent company. She pointed out the door to her bedroom, the master bedroom, but did not show me inside. She also pointed out which rooms were her siblings, and gave me only a quick peek inside, since they hadn't had a chance to set them up yet. Despite the fact that they were together they kept separate bedrooms, in case of company and to give each other space from time to time. The last room was a guest room, decorated comfortably, yet simply.
Finally she told me to help myself to any activities in the living room, while she stepped into her study to work on her article. I decidedto watch her instead. Her study was on the first floor. It was medium sized, with book shelves lining two walls. Her computer was there, on an antique desk. I perused through the titles of the books lining the walls. I saw titles on medicine, literature, law, politics, and psychology. I think these were the books related to her college degrees, and her work. I spent the next hour watching as her fingers raced across the keyboard as she typed her article. Apparently in was on some new legal scandal.
Before I knew it her hand stopped typing and she was checking her work for mistakes. I was hardly surprised when the computer failed to find any. She quickly sent off her work to her editor and shut her computer down.
She led me back into her living room and offered me a seat. Not that we needed to sit, but even though there were no humans around to notice if we sat or not it was helpful to keep up the illusion less we forget when humans were around. Before I got the chance to begin to question her about all the questions raging in my mind she was asking her own questions.
"So, how long have you been here in Forks?" she asked.
"Not long, just two years. We find it best to start as young as possible. And Forks is so cloudy that we hardly have to worry about the sun ruining our human illusion."
"Two years? So you had to play a freshman in high school? That's got to suck, I hate having to play a junior! High school aged humans are very trying on my nerves."
"Yeah, but like I said, the younger we start, the longer we stay. I was only seventeen when Carlisle turned me so freshman isn't too hard for me to pull off, looks wise. We have Emmett, Rose, and Jasper playing seniors now. It'd look really odd if we all played the same age."
"I know what you mean. The kids and I also realized that we cannot all be in the same grade; it would raise too many questioning eyebrows if we tried. We're having Courtney and Alex play freshman this time around. Alex is still fairly young, and I don't want him too far from help if he lost it.
"If he starts having too much trouble we have him send out a "distress signal". He'll send out a wave of panic, just to me and Court, which tells us he's in trouble. He once tried that without the fine control he now has and sent the wave to everyone around. The humans fled into a chaos, he found that that only added to his distress as the confusion would make it easy for him to strike. That's why we had him carry around bottles of blood, in case he really needed it. I was concerned at first, that the little blood he would get from a bottle would only serve to aggravate the problem, but it actually turned out to be a huge help. At first he took along a bottle so he could drink everyday at lunch, but he's got more control now and no longer need the extra boost every day."
"Wow. Maybe Jasper should try that. How is the stored blood you have in stock? In comparison to fresh blood?"
"Well, it depends on the age of the blood, the kind of animal it came from, and the temperature it is. The warmer the blood, the better it tastes. Same for age, younger is tastier. And carnivore blood is better too. But generally the stored blood is like eating herbivore blood when you could have carnivore blood. Though we find that the exotic animals, which we collect from around the world, add variety that strangely appeals to us when we have the option of fresh Elk verses the stored blood."
"Hmm. That's interesting. I should try it sometime," I said.
"I could go grab you a bottle if you wish. I have plenty and it would allow you to see if it appeals to your tastes at all." She looked at me with a strange expression on her face, was it hope? Did she want me to try this stored blood that badly? I accepted her offer with a small nod.
"Great! Let me warm up a bottle for you. What's your favorite animal?"
"Mountain lion. Emmett is prone to grizzly bears. Carlisle doesn't care. What your favorite?" I asked her as she darted off toward the kitchen.
"Oh, I'm a Feline fan. The only problem is I have to be careful I don't go after any Purlines. You can tell the difference in their scents, but it's only a slight difference, so I have to be careful to watch out for it."
"Which felines do you prefer?"
"I tend to favor leopards, but any feline is good for me." Bella said. A few minutes later she came back with a glass of blood. I took the glass and tried a small sip; after all I had just hunted this weekend before the school year had started. I found the new taste to be oddly nice, different from my normal tastes. I had wondered if her asking me what my favorite meal was meant that she would serve me that or if she was simply curious. I could tell that this blood was not mountain lion, but I was unfamiliar with the taste and could not name it.
"You're right; it is different from my usual. The difference distracts from the slight staleness of the blood. What kind is it?"
She smiled warmly at me, seemingly pleased that I liked the stored blood. "Its coyote. We made a special trip last month to several areas and were able to stock up on several different animals. I've got everything from wolves to hyenas, zebras to hippos. This is only about four weeks old. We find it doesn't last more that four months so it's still fairly fresh, but not as fresh as you're used to."
We continued to talk throughout the night. We chatted about our diets, how we came across our favorite. The conversation turned to our newborn years, about how we woke up and how we reacted to our new life. I did not speak of my rebellious years, when I left Carlisle to hunt the dregs of society. I was still vastly ashamed of that phase of my life. It was probably what made me refuse to see myself as anything other than a monster, a belief that troubled my mother so much. I had less trouble seeing my family as good beings, but seeing that in myself seemed impossible.
Finally the clock rang six times and it was time for me to head home so I could quickly change into new clothes and grab a quick shower before going to school. I bade her farewell and left out her front door to run home. The run felt good and cleared my mind. Running was one of the few things I enjoyed doing; it made me feel free. The only other thing that made me feel so good was composing, but sometimes my music could depress me. I often composed songs describing the love I witnessed in my family, which could be a painful reminder of what I did not have.
But perhaps that was changing. I had gotten to know quite a bit about Bella, and for the first time I found myself interested in someone who was not a member of my family. I hoped this new friendship could last, and perhaps even grow into something more.
When I got home I was happy that the nightly activities were done, I hated being an unwilling witness to the private displays of affection. I took a shower quickly; eager for the first time I could remember to go to school. Bella Swan was having quite an affect on me. I wondered if I might be having any similar affect on her. I certainly hoped so.
When I entered my room after my shower I found an outfit lay out on my bed with a note attached.
She'll love this. Alice. Well I would follow the family motto, "Never Bet Against Alice", if she said I should wear this, who was I to complain. Besides it saved me the worry of how I'd look in what outfit. If any of my other siblings had recommended an outfit I'd be concerned of foul play, but Alice and I were too close for her to do that sort of thing now. Besides, we had a special code for communication when writing notes. If the note had not had this symbol on it I would know it was a trick from a sibling. And the code changed periodically to prevent the others from utilizing it. They weren't mind readers after all.
I put on the dark grey slacks after putting on a pair of black boxers. I put on the hunter green undershirt, over which I wore a dark red button down long sleeve shirt and a black jacket. I shoved on a pair of socks and my black shoes.
"Perfect," said Alice's voice3 from behind me as I looked in the mirror. "She'll be drooling, at least mentally."
I smiled at her and grabbed my keys and book bag and headed out the door to school. I couldn't wait till third period when I would see Bella again.
Author's Notes:
I finally decide that inspiration would only hit after I started writing again! So as my birthday present to you, here's the new chapter! I'm turning 25 tomorrow! (8/16) Yay!
I got the idea that empaths feel the thirst of others came from DeydreamBeliever, author of "Changing the Future". I highly recommend it. It should be noted that she got it from someone else, too.
Remember that I know next to nothing about cars. Therefore the most I can realistically say is that Edward was impressed. Assume that he was also thinking about the specifics if you want, but I can't think it myself.
Reviews make me happy, and more likely to remember that you want another chapter!