here is chapter 21 and because I am doing this without a beta-er and English isn't my native language I am only using just a spell checker so please bear with me till I find some one guys!
I do not own Twilight or any of the characters, just Grace...
After I had shut the door behind me I walked into the forest which lay around the house. They had an overwhelming amount of privacy but I knew now that they needed that. I wandered further and further away from the house and ended up in a clearing. It was huge, it was a large round spot with a creek that ran through it. It was a warm summer day and I walked to the creek, took my shoes and socks off and let my feet in the water. It felt wonderful. I thought about everything that Carlisle had told me. I could not believe what I had heard the last few hours, werewolves and vampires, who would have ever thought? And they didn't even drink human blood. Jake was talking about animals, but what sort of animals? Rabbits and small rodents or deer or even larger animals? And what about the fact that they could just go out during the day? I suddenly remembered that Esme had not been there, Carlisle had mentioned her when he was telling how his family was formed but when he was telling about what they could do he didn't mention her. I knew they had troubles but Esme seemed convinced that they could work things out. I was suddenly full of questions I wanted an answer to.
"May I join you?" I heard someone ask.
I looked back and saw Carlisle standing, the sun was shining behind him and I had to put my hand up to shield it to see him. What I saw was unbelievable.
"That is the third time I catch you staring at me Grace." Carlisle said, laughing.
He walked towards me and sat down in the grass next to me, I felt myself blush and looked at my feet in the cool water.
"How did you know I was here?" I asked.
"Alice." he answered.
"Oh yes, the one that can see into the future." I said.
"She had a hard time to find you because you didn't know where you were going."
I smiled and looked at him.
"You sparkle." I said.
"In the sun I do, yes, so we must always make sure that we remain in the shadows. This is one of the reasons we came here, the sun doesn't shine here that often."
"That's true," I agreed,"Jake told me that you feed off animals?"
"That's right, we must feed every three days, that is if we feed off a large animal, a deer or a bear. If we take smaller animals, we have to feed more often."
"Have you ever slipped up?" I asked.
"We all did, except me."
"You've never fed off a human?" I asked incredulously.
"No." was the short answer.
"You're not 23 are you." I said suddenly.
Carlisle looked at me and smiled.
"Is there a point to deny it?" he asked.
"Come on, you hold doors open for me, you want me to remain seated in the car so you can help me out, you take my bags from me, men like that don't exist anymore."
"What men are that?"
"Real gentleman's." I replied.
"Your right. I was born in the 1640's in London, England, as the son of an Anglican pastor, he hunted creatures as witches, werewolves, and vampires, with other pastors. Sometimes mistaking humans for them."
"That's why you knew you could not go back home." I remembered him telling me.
"Yes, horrified by what I had become, I tried killing myself many different ways, but all failed due to our immortality. One night, going crazy with hunger, I heard some deer passing while I was hiding in the woods and I fed on them. Then I realized I could avoid feeding on humans, the only thing I had to do was to learn how to resist human blood. "
"So you became a doctor. You would be surrounded by humans and blood all day, making yourself numb for it?"
"I could at least try, that's also how I met Edward. While treating patients with the Spanish Influenza, I was treating this woman who was very ill she had a son that was only 17 years old. He was dying and she begged me to save him."
"But you hesitated." I said.
"Yes, It was a big risk, especially in the beginning, newborns are very strong, they have almost supernatural strength and their hunger for human blood, it's overwhelming. . But then again he was dying I had been alone for a lot or years and realized I could use a companion. "
"So you changed him."
"I changed him."
"What year was that?" I asked him.
"1918."
"Edward is 92 years old?" I said incredulously.
"I'm about 370." he said and he looked at me.
"So you've been, what, alone for almost 280?" I asked.
"Not quite alone." he said.
He looked back toward the woods and I had the impression that he didn't wanted to talk about what happened so I decided not to go there. I had plenty of other questions but one in particular.
"When did you meet Esme?" I asked.
I could not see his face but I noticed he had a certain sadness coming over him.
"1911, after breaking her leg I treated her in the hospital. She married Charles Evenson, but he abused her. After finding out she was pregnant, she ran away and gave birth to a son, who died a few days later. She was heart broken by his death so she attempted to kill herself by jumping off a cliff. Presumed dead, she was brought to the morgue of my hospital and I remembered treating her years before, I was able to hear a her faint heartbeat and transformed her into a vampire."
"Then you have been together for a long time." I said.
"Maybe too long." he answered.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
He looked at me and smiled.
"When I met Esme I could barely remember what it felt like to be with a woman. To do things together. I had been a long time since I felt love."
"And you think now that it was not love?"
"Oh I don't doubt that there was something between us, something strong. Maybe I confused love with friendship because of that. Maybe I wanted it to much. I recently came home with the divorce papers but Alice had seen it in a vision at a time that Esme was here too. "
"And she was not happy about it?" I asked.
"You see her anywhere?" he asked me looking around.
"She still loves you." I said.
"I am really sorry for her and how she found out but I can't go back to her. And even if I could I wouldn't."
"Why not?" I asked.
"There is someone else." he said.
"Oh," was all I could say I hoped he didn't hear the disappointment in my voice,"I hope she realizes what she has."
"She doesn't know."
"Why not?"
"I've been with Esme for so long, I wouldn't even know how to tell her what I feel," he said and he looked at me,"but there is an exhibition next weekend which she would love to see." he said.
"Ask her to go with you."
"And what if she says no?"
"Then she is an idiot." I said smiling.
Carlisle laughed and got up.
"What is the exhibition about?" I asked.
"London." he answered.
Before I could do anything he got up and he was gone. It happened so fast I didn't even see where he went. Bewildered, I sat in the grass, did he say London? He new I was fascinated by anything that had to do with London and he did promise me he would tell me more about the city. Was he talking about me? Was I the other woman? No, that couldn't be, why would someone like Carlisle be interested in me?