Title: Bonne Foi

Author: Amethyst Jackson

Category: Drama, Romance

Rating: M

Summary: AU. Edward Masen was changed in 1918 and abandoned by his sire. He feeds on human blood, unaware of any other way…until he stumbles across college freshman Bella Swan for a night that will change everything.

Disclaimer: A writer is like a goddess in her universe…but only one writer is making the money off Twilight, and that's Stephenie Meyer. These are her characters, and I'm just having fun with them.

A/N: No, Carlisle isn't Edward's sire. Don't go making assumptions!

Chapter Fourteen

After carrying in and unloading groceries, I slipped outside to inspect Bella's truck while she did some cleaning. I had meant to anyway, but now it was a convenient excuse to get away from Bella and think for awhile. I was afraid that Bella in all her perceptiveness would notice my preoccupation and question me.

I focused half my attention under the hood of the truck and the other half returned to the encounter with Dr. Cullen.

He was unlike any vampire I had met. For one thing, he fed from animals, and had been doing so for many years, from what I could deduce. Obviously, he had been on this diet so long that he didn't even consider humans as a food source anymore – not if he was a practicing surgeon. How long had he been doctoring humans, I wondered? He was clearly quite good at his work if he had patched up Bella after her near-fatal accident. From what I had seen in his mind, Bella's pelvis had been…crushed. The fact that she was still up and walking was a miracle, and from what I understood of female anatomy, he'd only had to remove her uterus…otherwise, her sex drive would be extremely diminished. But all that blood… How could he physically stand it?

And his coven, too, was strange. Six of them. That was the largest coven I knew of…besides the Volturi and their guard, if one could call them a coven. All of them were mated, too – extraordinarily rare for my kind. The blonde and the muscular one he'd thought of as Emmett were together, as well as the little one he'd called Alice who had the visions and a scarred blond…and then, of course, he and the female Esme, who had a garden. Since when did vampires garden?

They all shared the doctor's diet, too. I'd seen visions of hunting expeditions in his head, the memory of Emmett taking on a massive bear. I'd never considered going for large game. Maybe I should try that…it looked more enjoyable than chasing deer. More of a challenge.

But the most astonishing thing about the vampire doctor was his memory of my mother. She'd been flushed and sweating in his memory…she must have been sick with the influenza by then. I didn't have many memories left of my human life, but those last dark days full of terror stuck with me. I remembered my father and mother growing ill rapidly. They'd gone to the hospital. I had been old enough then to fend for myself. But then everything faded away, and the next thing I remembered was the agonizing pain of transformation. I woke alone, in a dark alley in Chicago, and I fed on the first person to walk by.

Once my thirst abated slightly, I had been overwhelmed by the noise. So many sounds, so many voices all at once…it had taken me days to realize I was hearing thoughts, not spoken sounds, and that was when I fled the city.

Had the doctor been a doctor all those years ago? Had he been treating my mother? He hadn't recognized me, but had he been aware of other vampires in the area? Maybe he would know who changed me and why.

I would have to seek him out somehow. Track his scent…maybe I could find him at the hospital? Then I wouldn't have to encounter all the others with him. And even if he didn't want to cooperate with me, his thoughts would likely tell me everything.

Settled, I pushed down the truck's hood. The vehicle was hopeless. Repairing it, even if I did all the labor, would require more money than the truck was worth. More than Bella could spend, for sure. But she couldn't afford to purchase another vehicle, either.

I would offer to be her means of transportation myself, but after her reaction to the cell phone, I didn't think she would go for it. Perhaps I could sneak out early tomorrow and head to Port Angeles to purchase what I would need to repair the truck. If I left early enough, Bella might not even wake before I returned. Especially if I kept her up late tonight… She needn't know how much I spent on it.

I wandered into the house and found Bella scrubbing away in the bathroom upstairs. Bent over the tub, her bottom stuck out adorably.

"Now that's a sight to behold," I remarked out loud, leaning against the doorway.

Bella shot up, startled. "Jesus, Edward, I didn't even hear you come in," she complained, pushing her hair out of her eyes with the hand that wasn't holding a sponge.

"Sorry," I lied.

"Did you figure out what's wrong with my truck?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah, it's fixable. If I can find the part, I could fix it for you tomorrow."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up. "How much will it cost?"

"Hmm…a whole weekend alone with me should cover it."

"Edward," she groaned, "I'm serious. How much will it cost?"

"I'm serious, Bella. I'm not letting you pay for it."

"But – "

"Don't argue with me. We both know we need to save your money."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I can spare some. What I don't need is you taking care of me, Edward. I have a father, I don't need another one."

"Fine," I sighed, giving up for now. I would find another way. "I'm sorry. We'll figure it out."

"Okay," she said, docile again.

"How much do you have left to do?" I asked her.

"I'm almost done in here," she said, "but the kitchen is a mess and Charlie has a huge pile of laundry that needs doing."

"He leaves his laundry for you to do?" I said, unimpressed.

"Not intentionally, no. He just usually leaves it until he has nothing left to wear, and this time, that happens to coincide with my being home."

"Hmm." I still wasn't impressed that Bella was stuck taking care of her father. "Well, I'll go work on the kitchen for you. I wouldn't feel right going through your father's laundry."

"You don't have to do that, Edward. You're a guest."

"Yes, but I want your attention," I countered. "So the sooner you're done, the happier I am."

She shrugged, smiling. "If that's the way you want to look at it."

"It's the logical way," I pointed out.

She just laughed. "Okay, sure."

I had to wait forever, it seemed for Bella to finish the laundry. I probably shouldn't have cleaned the kitchen at vampire speed.

Much to my chagrin, she was still in the laundry room when her father walked in the door with a bucket of dead fish. Lovely.

"Chief Swan," I greeted him politely.

His eyes narrowed at me. "Thought you'd have gone by now," he remarked. I stifled a laugh at his passive aggressive interrogation technique.

"Well, I thought I'd stay and fix Bella's truck for her, sir. I'll have to head to Port Angeles in the morning for the part I'll need."

"Hmm. You didn't have time to do it today, eh?"

"Bella wanted to show me around this morning, and I was helping her here this afternoon. She's still doing laundry," I said pointedly. The Chief had the decency to look guilty.

"So how much will it cost to fix the truck?" he asked, neatly changing the subject.

"Actually, sir, I wanted to talk to you about that. I'd like to pay for it myself, but Bella won't hear of it. I thought perhaps you might let me cover the cost and tell Bella you were taking care of it."

He looked at me suspiciously. "You want to pay for it, even though she'll never know you did it?"

"Yes," I replied. "I just want to do something for her."

Charlie sighed. "All right, I'll go along with it. Girl never did learn to let anyone take care of her. Too much like her mother that way. Good luck trying to change that."

I shrugged. "I think it's worth the effort."

Charlie shrugged back and headed into the kitchen with his fish. I took that as a dismissal. No matter. His thoughts were turning more favorable toward me.

Bella came stumbling out of the laundry room then with a basket full of whites.

"Just have to fold these, and I'm done!" she said triumphantly. I reluctantly sat on the living room floor with her and helped fold socks. I'd leave the underwear for her to deal with. Just the thought of Charlie's tighty-whities made me itch.

I suffered through another dinner, and another riveting night in the living room in front of the TV. Charlie went to bed earlier, thankfully, and I was able to spend a little time with Bella before she went to bed…and then I snuck into her bedroom again.

"I had a feeling you'd be back," she whispered, already awake. I was welcomed under the covers this time.

"How could I stay away?"

She smiled and burrowed her little body into mine. "I'm glad you couldn't."

"Bella?" There were things I'd been wanting to ask her about all day, and I wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

"Yes?" Her eyes were closed, relaxed.

"I was wondering if you might be willing to talk to me about something. You're free to refuse, of course. I was just…wondering about the accident."

She frowned up at me. "What about it? You know what happened."

"Well, not completely," I said tentatively, watching for any sign of emotion on her face…but she was completely expressionless. "I know the basics, of course, but I don't know what it was like for you afterward…what the extent of the damage was…"

She bit her lip. "It's kind of hazy, really. I remember the van coming at me, and I remember pain, but then I passed out. I didn't wake up again until after my first surgeries were over. Dr. Cullen had to put all kinds of pins in to keep my pelvic bone together, and I already told you they had to remove my uterus… I had a few broken ribs, but somehow, everything else was fine. Everyone told me it was a miracle that my spine and my other organs weren't damaged at all.

"I had several more surgeries to reconstruct everything…Dr. Cullen worked miracles…after that, it was bed rest while my bones knitted back together enough for me to start physical therapy. And there were months and months of that. I ended up doing most of my school work from the hospital or from home. Even when I did get back, I was hobbling around on crutches. Everyone knew what had happened, of course, and the gossip had spread. For the longest time, everyone would either look at me with too much sympathy or with contempt for getting all the sympathy."

I shook my head. "That wasn't fair of them."

She shrugged. "When is anything fair?"

That reminded me of something. "Bella…you said they only removed the uterus. You could actually have children some day, if you wanted…"

She laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, by injecting my eggs into another woman like a human incubator. I wouldn't want it that way. A child…should be made out of love, not with science and test tubes. It just feels wrong."

"Hmm. Yes, I suppose I would agree," I said, trying to soothe her. Her heart rate was up, accelerated from the last part of the conversation.

"Anyway," she went on, "I'm just not sure that's what I want for myself. I don't really want my life to become some desperate quest for a baby. I just…want to enjoy my life; I mean, it's a miracle I have one at all."

I nodded slowly, feeling oddly…relieved? But what did it matter to me what Bella wanted out of life? I likely wouldn't be around for that long…

"Dr. Cullen must be a very talented surgeon," I mused, need to focus on something else.

"Very," Bella agreed.

"Amazing that such a gifted doctor would be living in a small town like Forks."

"Yeah, his wife wanted to live in a small town. I asked him about it once," she explained. "He said they thought it would be better for the kids – there are four of them, all adopted. It was kind of odd, too – they were all paired off in couples during high school. I guess it didn't feel weird to them, since they didn't grow up together… Anyway, they must like Forks. They're still here, even though all the kids are in college now."

"Huh." Nice cover story, I supposed, but definitely odd. Why did the others pose as children? They would be less suspicious living apart. Were they really that attached to one another?

Bella let out a hefty yawn and then smiled apologetically. "I think all that cleaning took more energy than I'd thought," she mumbled.

I chuckled. "Get some sleep then."

"Mmmk. Oh, hey, Edward?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks. For caring enough to want to know."

"You're welcome," I said, wondering how my actions always turned into something different than I'd intended with her.

"And thank you, for not seeing me differently. You're the only one who never has…even my parents treated me differently, afterward."

"Hmm. You just look like Bella to me," I told her. She smiled sleepily.

"That's nice," she hummed, drifting. I stayed still as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Around three in the morning, when I was convinced of Bella's deep slumber, I got in my car and went to the hospital.

Before I went inside, I listened carefully for his thoughts. Yes, he was there. That was enough to get me out of the car and into the ER reception. The nurse on duty looked at me skeptically. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Dr. Cullen," I said briskly, acting as though it were a life-or-death situation. "Is he here?"

She frowned. What the hell is a perfectly healthy person doing making hospital visits at this time of night? "He is. Can I ask for a name to give him?"

"Edward Masen," I said, knowing he would remember.

"Very well," she said, picking up her phone and dialing an extension. After a moment, I heard Dr. Cullen's voice over the line.

"Yes, Jackie?"

She continued frowning at me as she spoke. "There's someone named Edward Masen at the front desk asking for you."

There was a short pause on Dr. Cullen's end. "I'll be right out."

"He'll be right out," Jackie repeated to me as she hung up.

I paced the small space until I heard his footsteps coming around the corner. My eyes flashed up to meet his.

"Edward, so good to see you again," he said with a perfect veneer of friendliness. "Why don't we talk in my office?"

I nodded my agreement and followed him back into the labyrinth of hospital hallways. It was a horrible place, reeking with the smell of blood. Used to Bella's scent, this was nothing for me…but how did the doctor handle it?

"After you," he said, gesturing me in the door. "Have a seat."

I sat in one of the stiff chairs in front of the doctor's desk, where the nameplate identified him as Carlisle Cullen. He took the seat behind it.

"I must say, I'm surprised to see you again. You're still in town?" he asked, still keeping up the polite act, but his thoughts were a whirlwind of questions.

"Yes, I'm staying with the Swans still," I said evasively.

"Well…why don't you tell me what brings you here to see me?" he suggested.

I sighed. I hated being the first to give up information. "You're…the first of our kind that I've met who apparently doesn't drink from humans."

The vampire raised one of his perfect blonde eyebrows. "Oh, really? You chose this lifestyle without any outside influence?"

I shrugged uncomfortably. "It…hasn't been very long. When I…met Bella, when I formed a relationship with her, I found it…difficult to drink from humans anymore."

Carlisle smiled. A guilty conscience. He must feel strongly for Bella in order for her to have such a strong influence over him. Strange…he must have been feeding from humans for over eighty years…

"May I ask how you came to feed from animals?" I asked. I needed to know what would lead other vampires to such a conclusion, whether any of them had the same problem I did.

"I was born into a very strictly religious family," he began, and I saw flashes of a time long before I'd been born, a city that was clearly London, though it was old-fashioned…I saw a man resembling the vampire who must have been his father, preaching vigorously in a pulpit. "When I was turned…I was disgusted with myself. I wanted to destroy myself, and I tried. I tried to starve myself…one day, I became so thirsty that I attacked a herd of deer. That was when I realized animal blood would suffice just as well as human blood."

"How long?" I had to know.

"Over three-hundred years," he answered.

My mind boggled. He had been living off animal blood for three centuries? I hadn't even fathomed the possibility of my diet being so permanent.

"And how long have you been a doctor?"

He smiled. "Depends how you define the term. I studied in Europe for many years before coming to America in the 1800s. That was when I began practicing as a physician."

I swallowed. So he had been a doctor in 1918. He might have treated my mother. But I couldn't think of a way to ask him about it without giving away that I had read his thoughts, and I wasn't sure I wanted him to know my abilities yet.

"I've heard you have a family. There are others with you?" I questioned.

He nodded slowly. "Five others, yes." They flashed through his mind again.

"And how long have you all been together?" I wanted to know.

Carlisle smiled at the memory of the little black-haired one arriving. "The last two joined us in the 1950s," he told me, but his mind showed much more. I saw him changing three of them – his mate first, then the blonde female, and finally the burly Emmett. From the looks of it, they had all been on the verge of death at the time, covered in blood from lethal injuries. But the other two, the newest additions, had come from elsewhere, already having found each other.

"Would you care to tell me some of your history, Edward?" he asked. I could feel the burning curiosity as well as the wariness. Until he ascertained what sort of threat I might be to his family or to Bella, he would not be at ease.

"I was born in 1901, in Chicago," I said, starting at the very beginning. I was changed in 1918. I don't remember who did it, or why."

Carlisle kept his face carefully composed, but his mind was in chaos. "Your parents…they died of the influenza?"

I tensed, eager for an explanation. "Yes. How did you know?" And there they were in his mind, both my parents…my father died less than twenty-four hours after arriving at the hospital, but my mother had lingered on, begging for someone to find her missing son.

"Your parents were my patients. You look like them…your father's features, but your mother shared your unusual hair color. I always wondered what happened to the son she spoke of so often. I suppose now I know."

"Yes. I suppose you do."

"Edward…I must ask you again to take care with Bella. She's been through more than any young girl should, and I would hate to see her hurt because your control slipped."

"I'm not going to slip up," I argued defensively. What a hypocrite – worried about my control when he held human lives in his hands every day? "I told you, I haven't had human blood since I met her…and I've grown quite desensitized to her scent."

"I'm not making any assumptions," Carlisle backtracked. "I'm just asking you to be cautious."

"I am," I told him.

"All right," he assented with a nod. "I need to make my rounds, but if you would ever like to speak again, you're more than welcome to come to our home. I'm sure the others would be interested in meeting you. There aren't many like us."

I saw five more in his head, ones I'd never seen before – four women and one male. Who were they, and furthermore, where were they? How many animal-drinking vampires were hiding right under my nose?

"Thank you," I said to his offer, rising from the chair.

"I'm sure we'll see each other again," Carlisle smiled, holding open the office door.

I nodded as I left. "Until next time."