I stared at them. I stared for a good ten minutes. I just stared. Blinked occasionally. But kept on staring.
"Oh dear."
"I told you that wasn't the best idea."
"Just give her a second."
"Lila? Honey, are you okay?"
My wolf nudged me with his nose and I broke out of my trance.
"Vampires aren't real."
"Oh but honey, they are." Esme soothed.
"That doesn't make sense." I shook my head.
"I know it doesn't right now, Lila, but it will in a second." Bella came closer and pleaded with me in her eyes. I took a deep breath in through my nose, and then let it out, feeling the air as it passed out of my body. My mother always had this saying she'd tell me when I was going through an anxiety attack: Breathe in space, breathe out peace. I thought of how afraid I was when I was attacked the first time. I thought of how I made it through that. I reminded myself that I made it through again. I reminded myself that life goes on.
"Okay, please explain." I said when I'd composed myself.
"Alice?" Carlisle cued his daughter.
"Well, Lila," Alice smiled at me as she began, "we're all vampires. Except for Bella, of course." Alice and Bella shared a look, that contained some unspoken communication that I didn't bother to decode.
"That seems highly unlikely."
"Please let me finish, Lila, or we'll never get through."
"Right, sorry." I rubbed my hands into my wolf's thermal coat, trying to stay as calm as possible.
"Thank you. So as I was saying. We're all vampires, and some of us have gifts. My gift is the gift of sight. And my sight also happens to come as visions into the future, which may change, mind you, based on decisions made. And it just so happens that before you came here, I saw you in a vision."
"Me?" I asked, bewildered. "Why me?"
"We've been trying to figure that out, you see?" Jasper cut in with a slight southern twang. "Why you would be a tactical advantage."
"Tactical advantage?"
"I was getting there." Alice smiled to Jasper. "In my vision, the Volturi, our sort of government, decided that they wanted you. Their leader, Aro, has the ability to see into people's minds, and you saw you in a particular vampires mind. Now I don't know exactly what he saw, because my vision didn't go far enough, unfortunately, but I know he saw value in you for some reason. And that's why you were attacked tonight."
"I was attacked by crazy government vampires?!" My breathing became uneven again and I started to panic. One crazy guy trying to kill me is one thing. The police can handle that. One crazy vampire is another. Apparently I had a whole family to handle that. But a whole horde of vampires who RULE the other vampires after me?
"Oh please calm down sweetie."
"We have a plan, if you'll listen!"
But I couldn't listen. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. I'd already thought too much. At this point I was breathing out my mouth but I still felt like I wasn't getting any oxygen to my lungs. My wolf stood up and sat in front of me, bringing his head down to look me in the eyes. His large, brown orbs showed concern. I felt dizzy and displaced, but I couldn't move, frozen in my position. Suddenly, my wolf brought his large, wet nose over to mine, and let them touch. Instantly, my panic attack vanished. I breathed heavily, staring with clear vision at the giant wolf. He stared back, still worried, though somewhat calm.
"So where does this fucking dog come into all this?" I asked as I lifted my nose away.
"He's your protector." Edward answered.
"So my baby sitter?"
Emmett boomed a laugh from the couch. "Kid needs his own baby sitter."
My wolf growled and I felt his whole body shake beside me.
"Protector." Edward said again.
"It is his job to make sure you live a happy, safe life." Carlisle elaborated.
"And why in the world would a wolf think that's his job?"
"Remember what I told you about certain wolves having special bonds?" Edward asked.
"Yes?"
"This wolf DOES have that bond with you. It's hard to explain right now, but someday you'll understand."
"Why not today?"
"Because today is not that day."
I frowned and crossed my arms, grumpy that all of my "answers" only created more questions. A wet, warm tongue slopped across my face.
"Ewww!" I giggled and shoved the stupid fluffball out of my face.
"So what do I do with him? Keep him in my tiny room?"
All of the Cullens laughed. "He can take care of himself." Bella assured me. "But spend time with him!" She urged.
"Yes, spend as much time with him as you can. If you're not with him then you should be with one of us." Carlisle nodded to his family. "You're not safe at any time, so always be prepared."
"Speaking of which," Jasper moved forward, "you're training starts tomorrow."
"Wha-train-but-I-huh?" I sputtered out. "Training does not sound like a good word. I'm the unathletic, let's play some tennis like freaking Forest Gump, type girl. If you're thinking breaking my back doing so silly exercises is going to stop a bunch of vampires from eating me then you're unfortunately mistaken."
"Lila, you have some sort of ability that Aro clearly wants." Alice said. "If we can find that ability and train you to use it, then maybe you can protect yourself."
"Protect myself." I repeated it. No more nightmares. I could . .
"I'm in!" I squealed, and everyone smiled, happy that I agreed to their suggestion.
"In the meantime," Carlisle came over and extended a hand, which I grasped, and he pulled me up, "you should go home and get some sleep."
They all pushed me to the door and my wolf got down low so I could climb on his back. Before doing so, however, I stood in the doorway and looked at them all.
"Vampires?"
"Yes."
"But you won't eat me?"
"Vegetarians." Edward smiled.
I pointed to my wolf. "Protector?"
"Yes." They all chuckled at my antics.
"Name?" I questioned.
They all looked a little worried and unsure of how to answer. Bella however, stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder.
"He's your protector, so you'll find his name when you find his heart."
I laughed out loud at her. "No wonder you and Jacob are best friends, you both have the same cheesy lines."
Everyone went rigid.
"Guys?"
"We'll see you tomorrow Lila!" Alice jumped up and hugged me, and then Emmett picked me up and shoved me on my wolf's back. The door shut suddenly, and I flinched at the lack of salutations.
"Bye." I said at the door, wishing the world of vampires and protectors didn't exist.