1. Disclaimer: NOT SM. Deal.
2. Sorry for Non-Updatingness.
3. Doing all A.N. stuff here as to not ruin the ending. And
4. Next update won't be until June (which isn't very far away…)
5. When you're done reading this, I have very VERY important news on my profile. Feel free to PM or email me if you have questions.
6. I don't really have anything for number six. Do you?
7. I like the number seven. I also like Jedadiah from Night at the Museum. Who else saw the new movie?
8. I feel like I should let you read the chapter now. Because it's been so long and all.
9. I like numbers. Speaking of numbers, there are only a few chapters left. Can we try to get to 200 reviews?
10. This chapter hasn't been beta'd because I finished it about thirty seconds ago, and my beta has mysteriously vanished.
Cocoa =D
Emmett's POV
I stared at the note in my hand again. Catherine McCarty. It couldn't be possible. There was no way.
"What the- Carlisle?" I yelled, storming out of Catherine's room. I heard Rosalie walking out behind me, but I was too busy to notice. I reached the stairs and took them three at a time, trying not to dent the steps like I had last week.
I hated Mondays. Things like this always happened to me on Mondays. It figured. Maybe I was changed on a Monday. That would make sense… but I was getting off topic.
"Carlisle!" I yelled again, my voice echoing through the house. Alice was standing on the landing below me. I stopped on the third step so we would be at eye level.
"I didn't see this. I swear. I would have told you." Alice said quickly. "This changes things. No wonder we haven't been able to find anything about her. I can't believe this. Catherine McCarty? This can't be a coincidence." She took a long breath, and then continued. "Where's Carlisle?" I rolled my eyes.
"If I knew, would I be asking?" I said with exaggerated patience. Rosalie put a hand on my shoulder. Alice acknowledged the point with a nod.
"Right. I'll try his cell." She disappeared, and I continued down the stairs.
Edward saw me coming down the stairs and very wisely kept his mouth shut. I glared at him and he shrugged. I heard a phone go off, and soon I heard Alice's high voice quickly passing on this new piece of news.
She soon appeared, her forehead wrinkled. "He's hunting with Jasper and Bella. They'll be back in a few." Esme walked in the door with a stack of books. When she got a good look at our faces, she set down the books and sat on the couch.
"All right. Everyone sit down and relax. What happened?" I sat on the step next to Rosalie. Edward sat on the loveseat, drumming his fingers on the armrest. Alice sat on the arm of the couch, next to Esme.
"Look." I finally said, tossing the wad of paper to Esme. She read it, and her eyes got round. She blinked a few times, stared at the note again, and tossed it back to me.
"She doesn't like to think about this. It's easier to go with the other name." Edward said in answer to a silent question. He was staring at Rosalie as he spoke. "It's probably best to not say anything. We shouldn't jump to conclusions."
"Her last name is McCarty, Edward. What am I supposed to think?" I said, my short temper snapping. Carlisle came in at that same moment.
"Note, please." I tossed him the note, and he read it and passed it back.
"Let's examine our options." His voice was calm.
"It could just be a coincidence. A really freakish coincidence, but a coincidence nonetheless." Bella said, sitting down on Edward's lap.
"She has a point," Jasper said. "You said it yourself, Em. There are a lot of McCartys out there."
"That's an option," Carlisle said calmly. "What else?" I opened the note and stared at it again. Jonathan McCarty. Those two names fit together. Where had I heard that name before?
"The Witness Protection Program." Bella suggested. "I remember Charlie bringing that up once."
"That's another option." Esme said.
"What about the one everyone is just dancing around?" I asked, attempting to keep my temper under control. "She's Catherine McCarty. I'm Emmett McCarty. There's a chance that she's related to me. " The room was absolutely silent.
"That's an option as well." Carlisle finally said quietly. "It's a possibility. Now, are we done here?" Without a word the others stood up and left. I was left alone with Carlisle in the living room.
"Office." He said to me. I followed him upstairs, considering what he wanted to know that was so private that he only wanted the two of us to know.
When we reached his study, Carlisle sat down in his chair. I sat down on the other side of his desk, momentarily distracted by the amazingness of his chairs. They were so cushy! They were the comfiest office chairs I had ever been in. Why didn't the school have chairs like this?
Carlisle coughed, bringing my focus back to the situation at hand. He leaned forward to study me. I squirmed like a schoolboy sent to the headmaster's office for sticking a toad in a girl's coat. Hadn't I done that before? Maybe in first grade…
Carlisle spoke, bringing me around once again. "Now, Emmett. Be honest. Before you were changed…" I moaned. I knew what was coming. It would be "was there anyone else?"
Yeah. This is one of those Mondays that really don't work out for me.
"Was there another girl, maybe? Nothing serious, just a summer romance? Something of that sort?" I had to hand it to him. He was making it seem like we were discussing the weather, instead of my sex life.
I groaned and tried to remember. "There was never anything serious. It was always just Rosalie. But, there might have been one or two, a few summers before I was changed." I sorted through my fuzzy memories.
"There was this one girl. Now that I think about it, she looks a bit like Catherine. Gina was her name, maybe. And there was Jackie. That was it. I wasn't into the girls as much. It was just poker and hunting mostly for me and my buds." I thought for a moment longer. "That's it. Can I go now? Please?" Carlisle nodded absent-mindedly, his fingers tracing patterns in the wooden desk.
"Go ahead." He said finally. I bolted out of the cushy chair and flew out the door, slamming it behind me.
I walked to my room, shuddering. It was beyond awkward having to discuss this with your dad.
The worst was yet to come. Rosalie sat on our bed, arms crossed.
"So. Gina and Jackie, huh?" Yeah. I hate Mondays.
Edward's POV
I ignored the conversation taking place up in Carlisle's office. There were some things that you just didn't want to know.
I sprawled across the living room couch and closed my eyes, drifting into the minds of my families.
Carlisle was pondering how exactly we had gone from a peaceful family to one so entangled in a child's past. His conclusion was similar to mine: when you're family, you do whatever it takes to make everything all right. It had taken me forever to learn that lesson.
Esme was rereading a book. Pride and Prejudice. Supposedly a classic. I never did like it. Maybe that was just me. I couldn't tolerate classics because they were written in my time.
Rosalie and Emmett were bickering up in their room. I quickly ignored their thoughts. I didn't need to hear Emmett explain himself. Emmett did have a point, though. It was long before he ever met Rosalie. Then again, the fact that he had been with someone else was bound to upset Rosalie. I was starting to get how Bella felt way back before I proposed.
Alice was right across the room from me, sketching me while I examined her. She was in an artistic mood lately; we all had them every so often. I would spend days at the piano, Rosalie would string armfuls of bracelets, and Jasper would pull out his Civil War models.
Jasper, meanwhile, was in the backyard, watching the sun rise. He liked doing that sort of thing. A bit of beauty helps him remember that there's still some good in the world. He didn't use to know that.
Bella was bringing a sleepy Nessie into the house across the yard. She talked in her sleep, just like Bella used to. Interesting how genetics work.
I opened my eyes and stared up at the ceiling. Catherine was awake. She knew I was listening.
Hey, Edward. Her voice was quiet. I'm just going to talk. Or think. Whatever. Hi. This bed is comfy. I'm getting out my phone now. I'm texting. I really like this phone. Samsung, right? It has a touch screen. I like touch screens. They're cool. And the little keyboard comes up if you turn it on its side. That's neat.
A moment later my pocket vibrated, and a message from Catherine popped up. Good Morning! =D. I grinned, and opened a chat room.
Morning All. –Ed
Morning!!- Alice
Yo.- Emmett
Emmett, stop trying to sound cool.- Jasper
Why are we doing this again?- Rosalie
Because I feel like it- Alice
More chat rooms opened and closed. Private conversations broke off and rejoined the main chat, which Alice dubbed 'Cullen Chats'.
A moment or two later another room opened. 'Happy Place'. A second later another opened. 'Top Secret'. I joined both, my curiosity getting the better of me once again.
About what? Hi Edward. –Alice. Apparently I had missed the question.
About the last name thing again. Jonathan fits with McCarty. It's familiar. I don't know why. –Emmett. This was going to be another speculation room, I assumed.
I switched back to 'Cullen Chats'. Jasper and Bella were arguing over who had the cooler talent. I joined in.
I win, hands down. – Ed.
Ha!- Jasper.
This was boring. I switched to 'Happy Place', where Esme was chatting Catherine up.
Hey Edward. How are things downstairs? –Esme.
Fine. How are you, Cath?- Ed
I'm fine.- Catherine.
She wasn't fine. She normally had smiley faces at the end of her texts. I switched chats again.
Can you get a read on Cath?- Ed
She's upset about something. Something isn't right.- Jasper
I flipped through the chats again. My foot tapped against the floor, the tempo increasing as my thoughts moved faster.
Wait a minute. Jonathan McCarty. I know why that sounds familiar. –Emmett.
What?- Alice
What?!?! – Rosalie.
Oh jeez. Something isn't right.- Alice.
What?- Ed.
A new message in 'Happy Place'. I flicked across, my foot tapping ever faster.
Is anyone there?- Catherine.
Esme? – Catherine.
Anyone?- Catherine.
I began to type a response. I'm right here. It's fine. Sorry, was away from phone. I was too late.
It figures. I hate this. –Catherine. *Conversation Terminated*
I stared at the words for a moment or two. I shook myself loose and thumbed my way into the other chats.
Someone get upstairs now!- Ed.
I looked up and locked eyes with Alice. Her eyes were huge. I dropped my phone and lunged for the stairs, Alice hot on my heels.
Catherine's POV
I locked my phone and tossed it across the room. I felt empty. My heart hurt. Come to think of it, my whole body hurt. It felt like I was on fire, like a really bad sunburn growing worse, spreading from the back of my neck to my whole body.
I bit my lip hard, and my eyes grew wide. What was happening? I hated this. I hated this whole thing. This was just like always. Everyone always left me, and I felt like I was alone in the middle of a crowd. Two voices kept running through my head.
"If you don't fit in somewhere, you just keep moving on until you find somewhere you do."
"What if nobody wants you?"
What if nobody wants you? I pondered that until the burning sensation became too much to bear and I succumbed to the blackness.
Edward's POV
I threw open the door to see Catherine thrashing silently on her bed. Her face was drawn, and she was paler than I had ever seen her.
A scent in the room was horrifyingly familiar: venom. None of us had bitten her. Yet she was- at least it looked like she was-
Carlisle stormed into the room, his golden hair strewn. "What's going on? Why is she-" He inhaled, and noticed the same thing I did.
"What's going on?" He said angrily. By this time, everyone had gathered by the doorway. Carlisle looked at all our confused faces, than sank into the chair, running a hand through his hair.
"She's- She's changing." He said, his voice and face puzzled.
I sat in confused silence on the couch downstairs. Everyone was shaken by this new turn of events. Emmett was pacing, Alice was trying to see what would happen next, and everyone else was just plain freaking out.
For lack of something to do, I pulled open the remains of the chat rooms we had been using.
I checked 'Cullen Chats' first.
She feels empty. This is wrong. –Jasper.
Something's happening. Move- Bella
Get upstairs- Rosalie.
Then I went to 'Top Secret'.
Jonathan McCarty: I know why that's so familiar. –Emmett.
Why?- Alice.
Jonathan McCarty: That was my brother's name. –Emmett.