Chapter 25 –Betrayal

A few days later we reached our destination, and I was grateful that the entire road trip didn't take a year like originally expected. We hit a couple bumps along the way, but as we pulled up to the largest residential house I had ever seen, strangely I felt safe and terrified at the same time.

It was a beautiful place covered in large glass windows which each looked to have amazing views of the picturesque scenery that surrounded the home. Alaska alone was the most gorgeous place I had ever seen, but that house almost completed it somehow. I once heard a saying that had something to do with icing on a cake, and because it originated long before my time, I never understood what it meant before, but looking at the sight in front of me it finally made sense - Alaska was the cake, and the amazing house was the icing.

But I was definitely nervous. Not only did the house contain unfamiliar vampires that I really hoped weren't hungry, but the fact that it was the home of Edward's creator made it extremely worrisome. What happened between them? What betrayal did Edward commit, and how would Carlisle react to seeing him again? I had so many questions, and even though I knew none would probably be answered due to their stupid 'need to know' rule, I couldn't help but hope that I'd at least get some clues.

Before Jasper even opened the door to let us all out, two vampires appeared on the house porch. I watched them through one of the holes in the side of the motorhome, and figured I'd hang back to let the reunions happen without my presences disrupting them.

Alice was the first outside, and she practically rammed right into the male vampire and screeched something about daddy. Was that really Carlisle? The blonde male was beautiful like all the other vampires I had seen, but he looked much younger than I expected. The dark haired female by his side took a turn hugging Alice, while Jasper and Edward made a slower approach towards the scene…

"Well, you told me to bring him if he ever asked to come," Jasper said to the male vampire, which basically confirmed that he was in fact, Carlisle.

"Edward," Carlisle said fondly. "It's good to see you, son."

They stared at each other for a minute, and I was confused as to what was going on, but then Edward shook his head subtly and I understood. They were having a silent conversation, one only Edward could hear.

"Carlisle…I am…sorry for…" Edward said awkwardly. Apologizing was definitely not something Edward was used to, but I was extremely glad that he was trying.

"No need for regrets at this point. Let's just be happy to be reunited," Carlisle said to him warmly.

"Oh, I'm so happy you're home!" the dark haired female said affectionately to Edward before grabbing him into a hug.

"And I see you've brought guests," Carlisle added as he looked towards us. I heard Jacob and Leah jump off from the top of the motorhome, and Leah wolf huffed a call to Seth.

"You better go with them," I told him.

"Aw man, I wanna meet Edward's parents," Seth grumbled.

I laughed once. "Maybe later."

"Fine," he sulked. I watched as he exited the motorhome and shot the vampires on the porch a half wave thing, before phasing into a wolf and following Jake and Leah into the wilderness.

"I think we should go out now too," I told Emmett, who had moved to a protective position beside me.

"I don't like you around vampires I don't know," he said anxiously. He was obviously even more tense since one of the level twos had gotten to me on his watch, but I really doubted Edward would be so casual if the vamps were any threat to me.

"It'll be fine," I tried assuring both of us.

"Stay close to me," he insisted, so I nodded and we walked out together with him in a defensive position in front of me.

"Carlisle, Esme, this is Emmett," Jasper introduced them. "He's the newborn I told you I was going to go train."

"A newborn? How exciting," the female said while looking at Em.

"And you brought him a snack?" Carlisle asked confused while looking at me.

"She's my sister!" Em growled.

"Oh," the female said surprised. Carlisle was also surprised, but he looked curious more than anything.

"Bella is Emmett's human sister…He's very protective of her," Jasper warned.

Carlisle's face immediately stretched into a wide grin. "And there's the proof of the human to vampire bond. Tell me, Emmett, if you don't mind, how long did it take for you to remember your sister and be able to control yourself around her. I have to say, as a newborn you are amazing to be able to restrain from killing a human."

Emmett looked at him confused. "Are you some kind of scientist or something?"

"I guess you can call me just overly fascinated. I have been studying the emotional ties between vampires and their human families for some time now, but with the ban on newborns I haven't met any vampires with living human relatives. I'd really like to ask you some questions when we have a free moment."

"Um…okay," Em said uneasily.

When Carlisle's eyes rested on me again, I noticed that they were an odd shade of orange, whereas the dark haired female's eyes were the red I had come to expect on vampires. "Don't worry, you are safe here with us," he assured me gently. "I'm Carlisle, and this is my mate Esme."

"We're so happy to have you here," Esme told us with a smile. When Em still didn't relax she took a step closer. "No harm will come to your sister here," she tried convincing him.

"Em…it's fine, I swear," Edward told him slowly, and because Edward was really the only vampire Em trusted me with besides himself, Em nodded and tried to calm down.

"Well, let's go inside to catch up, shall we?" Esme said excitedly.

Everyone started following Carlisle and Esme inside, but Edward hung back so he could walk in with me. "Where did the wolves go?" he asked.

"I'm sure they're out pissing on trees," Em replied casually. "You know, marking their territory and whatnot."

"You're probably right," Edward said. He put his hand on the small of my back to nudge me forward into the house, and Em decided to walk in behind us, just in case.

Inside was just as beautiful as the outside…and just as cold.

"Honey, go put the heater on for Bella," Esme told Carlisle, and then she turned to me. "Sorry about that, we never had a need to keep the place warm before."

"Oh…I'm fine," I lied. With all the holes in the motorhome, they had cranked up the heater to keep me from freezing to death on the last leg of our journey, so coming from that, the icy chill of the house was difficult to handle.

"She's not fine. Please turn it up as far as it will go," Edward insisted. Carlisle cocked his head to the side and looked at him strangely, but then nodded and went to turn up the heat.

"So…you have electricity here?" Emmett asked curiously as he looked around.

"We use gas and solar panels," Esme explained.

"Why? Vampires don't need the light or to be warm, so what's the point?" Em questioned.

"I'm sure they have their reasons," Edward answered for them. "Carlisle, I really need to speak to you alone."

"Yes, I have something I need to tell you as well."

"Great…Where should we go?"

"You've never been here before, why don't I give you a tour first?"

"I don't need a tour, I need to discuss what I came here to discuss," Edward said coldly.

Carlisle stared at him for a moment, and then nodded again. "Okay, we can go to my office."

But before they even had a chance to leave, another vampire came into the room.

"Did the new batch of blood come? It smells so fresh," the breathtaking blond female said as she breezed in. She paused and looked at all the vampires in the room, but strangely she didn't even give me a second glance like I was expecting. Instead her eyes lingered on Edward, and then she froze.

"What the fuck?" Edward said abruptly with a mix of shock and anger.

"Just give her a minute to explain," Carlisle said to him in a rush.

"Edward," the female said with a small hint of a smile. She looked mostly nervous, but there was something under that…Perhaps affection?

"What the hell are you doing here….What the hell are you doing alive at all?" Edward asked her angrily.

"I…I…I wasn't even sure if you'd remember me…I know it's hard after the transformation," she said quietly.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Alice asked confused. "But we didn't meet her until after you already left," she said to Edward.

"We knew each other as humans," the female said.

"As humans?" I asked quietly, though no one seemed to pay any attention.

"How did you know each other?" Em asked, strangely way more interested than I would have ever expected from him.

"Well Rosalie here, was my wife," Edward stated, completely shocking the hell out of everyone one else in the room except for Carlisle.

But I was sure no one was as shocked as me. "Wait, what?"

"And that's what I wanted to talk to you about," Carlisle said slowly, unsurprisingly ignoring my question.

"I can explain," Rosalie said.

"Yeah, okay, why don't you do that?" Edward asked irritated.

She took a deep unnecessary breath. "Do you remember how…hard things were those last few years? We couldn't have kids, so…I was depressed."

"I remember," Edward said unsympathetically. "Can you just get to the part where you're not dead?"

"Well you're not dead, either," she said defensively. When Edward's deathly glare got angrier, she must have decided to just get on with it. "I wasn't in a good frame of mind, so when you got sick…I couldn't handle it and decided to end my misery….I didn't want anyone to find my body, so I went to an obscure spot on the outskirts of the city, and slit my wrists. I didn't expect to ever wake up…but a vampire had been passing through the area and smelled my blood. He had just fed so he didn't kill me, but he later told me that he was lonely and found me attractive so he hoped I'd be his mate."

"So you have a mate?" Edward asked evenly.

"No…I mean, I love Garrett, but we were never right for each other. Besides, I was married… Carlisle believes that you take the most important attributes with you when you're turned…well, the biggest part of me was my depression…from not being able to have kids…your kids. I never forgot you, and so I never really moved on."

Edward's irritation doubled. "Sorry, but I didn't even remember you until recently," he said harshly.

She smiled heavily. "That's ok. I understand."

"Whatever," Edward mumbled. "How the hell did you get here?" he asked, wanting to hear the entire story.

"It's been just Garrett and me since I was changed, but about eight years ago, we met Tanya and her sister Kate. Garrett and Kate immediately were taken with each other and became a couple, so we came up here with them and that's when I saw Carlisle. I remembered that he was your doctor after you got sick, and he remembered me as well, so he confessed that he changed you. He told me that you went your separate ways, but he was hopeful that you'd return one day, and I've been waiting here for you ever since."

I glanced at Edward's face and wondered how he was reacting to everything, but his face was void of emotion and it actually scared me a bit. He had said he didn't love her, but she was his wife, and she was there. Perhaps he would remember that he loved her after all, perhaps his primal mating instinct would kick in and he'd realize he still belonged with her. It made my chest ache. If he chose to be with her, what was I supposed to do? How could I just leave and forget how much I loved him? The answer was simple - I couldn't.

"Um…Bella, why don't I take you out for some fresh air," Emmett said suddenly. I looked around the room and was shocked to see all the vampires staring at me with a mix of confusion and concern; I realized then that they must have all heard my heart rate accelerate as I considered the possibility of Edward leaving me.

"Oh, heaven's no," Esme said quickly. "It's much too cold out. If she needs some space, why don't you take her upstairs?"

"That's a good idea, thank you," Em said, and without even really giving me a choice, he pulled me by my arm and practically dragged me up the stairs.

"I'm fine, Em," I tried assuring him as we went.

"No, you're not," he said when we reached the top of the stairs and hopefully safely out of the super hearing range of the vampires below us. "You're freaken out by your lover's wife…its understandable really. I just can't believe you're the other woman; I thought dad and I taught you better than that," he teased me.

"Oh, shut up!"

Em chuckled. "I really don't think it's something you should worry about, Bella. He certainly didn't seem too happy about her being around, so I doubt he's even considering leaving you for her."

"Oh…I know," I lied.

"I have to admit though, that woman is fucking sexy as hell."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Of course you think she's attractive, you're a man."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, unsure if he should be offended or not.

"She's gorgeous, what man wouldn't find her attractive? And I'm…well, look at me?" I grumbled as I just happened to find my horrible reflection in a mirror hanging on the hallway wall. There was definitely no comparison, and Edward would be insane to actually pick me over his perfect wife.

"Oh Bella, knock that shit off. You're beautiful, and you're human. Anyone with vamp venom running through their veins could look good, I mean, they're all attractive. But it takes someone pretty special to look good as a human with the world the way that it is."

I laughed once. "Thanks Em…but you're my brother, so you have to say shit like that."

"No, I don't," he said seriously.

"Well, thank you…I just don't really believe it."

"You have trouble believing a lot of things that I know are facts," he said suggestively.

"True," I agreed.

"Whoa, what's that?" Em asked, suddenly averting his attention to the room at the end of the hall. The door was cracked open slightly, so he must have been able to see something that really sparked his interest.

"What?" I asked as I followed him towards the room.

"Holy shit," he said as he pushed open the door and walked inside.

"Emmett, I don't think we should…" I let my sentence trail off as I saw what he was seeing. Half of the room was full of odd looking metal gadgets of some sort, and the other side of the room almost looked like a chemistry lab with colorful liquids in beakers, and… "Is that blood?"

Emmett leaned in and smelled the red substance, and then shook his head. "I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know? You're a vampire, how could you not know if that's blood?" I asked incredulously.

"It's weird….It smells like blood a little…but it's different."

"It's a blood substitute," Edward said, suddenly appearing in the doorway. "Carlisle has been working to create a blood alternative so we wouldn't have to rely on the consumption of humans."

"Does it work?" Em asked curiously.

"I think he's getting closer. Of course, when I just told him that we've been surviving on animal blood, he called himself an idiot for not thinking about that himself."

"Is this shit why his eyes are that strange color?" Em asked.

"He tests out his inventions on himself, yes."

"So, Carlisle is a scientist," Em concluded.

"Of sorts. When the Spanish Flu hit the country in nineteen eighteen, Carlisle and his friend Eleazar posed as doctors to search through the dying for anyone who could have a potential gift…That's how he found me. But I suppose that was also when his interest in this type of scientific experimentation began."

"Did you have a chance to talk to him yet?" I asked with forced casualness.

"No…not yet, I was too busy telling my undead wife that she's delusional for waiting all this time for me."

"I really hope you weren't as mean as I know you can be," I told him, feeling better and worse at the same time.

"I am not mean…just being honest."

"Brutally."

"Hey, if people can't handle the truth, then that's their own issue."

"Edward, the woman waited for you for a century, can't you at least be compassionate enough to understand her feelings."

He scrunched his face at me. "The words 'understanding' and 'feelings' don't belong in the same sentence."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Hey, so what is all this stuff?" Emmett asked while pointing to all the metal scraps.

"Weapons."

"Really?" Em asked excitedly. "What kind…and why are they here?"

"Well, this one," Edward said as he picked up a metal cylinder shaped thing. "I believe, is a flame thrower. See these straps? They're so a human can wear this on it's back and protect himself against any vamp that comes close."

"Hold up, these are weapons to protect humans against vampires?" Em asked shocked, which was pretty much the same reaction I had.

"Carlisle always had a disturbing keenness for humans," Edward said plainly.

Em snorted. "You have no room to talk; I bet Carlisle's never fucked one before."

Edward shrugged carelessly.

"So…Is this why he's in hiding?" I asked slowly, trying to piece everything together.

Edward noticeably locked his jaw. "No, I'm the reason he's in hiding….but I suppose it all started with this shit."

"What do you mean?" Emmett asked.

I was about to tell my brother that Edward wasn't really the most forthcoming individual so he should stop asking such questions, but then he surprised me and actually opened up.

"I was…disturbed by Carlisle's growing fascination with the human race. We were the superior species, and yet, Carlisle started talking shit about vampires and saying we weren't natural. He had said he regretted turning any of us because he felt we were robbed out of the gift of humanity and the natural course our lives were supposed to take. We all would just laugh at him and dismiss it as Carlisle's mid-life crises, so to speak, but then he took it a step further and began making these weapons…among other things."

"The fake blood, you mean?" I tried to clarify.

"The fake blood never bothered me as much as the other compounds he made, some of which had the potential to threaten vampirism completely."

"What could do that?" Em asked confused.

"It doesn't matter what it was, because it didn't work…But I was pissed because he was doing all his experiments without the leader's knowledge, and at the time I was moronically loyal to them."

"Oh," Em said once he understood. "So you ratted him out?"

"I told Stefan and Vladimir that he was making concoctions that could hurt vampires, but I honestly just thought they'd go destroy all of his work and then leave him alone, I didn't know they'd want him to pay with his life."

"So you forced yourself into solitude because you felt guilty?" I assumed.

"Or maybe I went looking for a way to fix it with the leaders," he said unexpectedly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Edward locked his jaw again, and then looked around the room at anywhere other than me. "After the takeover...most of the humans were wiped out over a couple years' time, so ever since then the leaders have offered rewards for any knowledge of hidden human cities."

"What?" I asked angry and horrified, knowing exactly where he was going.

"I spent the last decade searching," he continued. "And then I just happened to have been hunting in the Washington forest…and caught your scent on a breeze."

"Oh my god."

"I went there and was shocked by how many humans were living there in secret. If anything could get Carlisle pardoned, it was telling them the location of your village."

I shook my head slowly. "So…all this time…you were planning to betray us too?"

"I was going to take you to the mating colony, and then leave you there and tell the leaders about it. Once we got to Phoenix, I saw in one of the guard's minds that Jasper was with Emmett and they went to Florida. I never gave a shit about Emmett, but I was hoping Jasper would help me get in with the leaders."

"Why didn't you just kill me then? I mean, you could have gone to Jasper without me?" I asked with tears streaming down my face.

"I thought having you with me would make it easier to get in to the colony. Plus, I had a looming fight to the death with Jacob, and even though I wasn't worried about it, I thought I might be able to use him at some point as well."

"So…" I wiped my face, refusing to let my emotions get the better of me. "When did your plans change? I mean, obviously they changed because why else would you be telling me all of this now."

He stared past me unseeingly, and then he sighed and looked me in the eyes again. "Of course they changed," he said so quietly that it wasn't anything more than a whisper. "I...I never expected...you. I didn't see any human as unique or significant, but I was fascinated by you from the beginning, even if I refused to admit it to myself."

"When did your plans change?" I asked again, because he didn't really answer my question.

"Texas," he admitted. "I figured that I could use the people of Austin to buy Carlisle's pardon, instead of your village. And of course, that was when I was forced to realize that I didn't want you dead."

"It's amazing what a little sex can do," I said scornfully.

"I'm sorry," he said, and then abruptly became cold again. "But now you know the truth."

"Why did you bring me all the way up here to tell me this? You could have told me in Florida, or even in Texas or Louisiana. What was the point?"

He ran his hands through his hair anxiously, and then walked in a circle before finally answering. "Look, I knew you'd be pissed at me…so I brought you here to protect you."

"To protect me?"

"Yeah, from lashing out and doing something stupid like running off on your own to get away from me. Plus…you'll be safe here while I'm away."

"And where are you going?" I asked furiously because I already knew what he was going to say.

"Back to Florida… to talk to Stefan and Vladimir."

"Wait, you're not going to tell them about our village, right?" Emmett asked. I had actually forgotten he was even still there, but I was definitely glad he was on my side.

"I'm going to tell them about Texas. That is a huge mass of humans that the leaders would be thrilled to know about, and in turn they're going to let Carlisle go."

"They're going to kill all those people," I protested. "They may have a fucked up system going on there, but it's the only life they know. You can't tell anyone about it!"

"Jasper has to sneak blood here for them," Edward told me intensely. "If the leaders found out he was doing it, they'd kill him and hunt Carlisle down. If it was up to Stefan, everyone here would be just like those stage-threes we took out. Bella, this is my fault, and I'm going to fix it."

"There has to be another way then getting an entire city full of people killed," I tried reasoning with him.

"Vampires don't have money. They don't value anything besides blood, so the only way to undo the shit-storm I caused is by giving them real fresh human blood."

"But those people -"

"I don't give a shit about those fucking people!" he shouted at me. "I don't give a shit about your people either, and the only reason why I'm not going to sell them their location, is because of you."

"You mean, you're going to keep their location quiet unless you find yourself on the leader's bad side again, right?" I asked sourly.

"I never claimed to be a good person, Bella."

"But you're better than this…whether you want to admit it to yourself or not," I said before exiting the room, and heading down the stairs and straight out of the house. I had nowhere to go, but I really couldn't just stay there at that moment either. I needed a break from all things vampire, so I closed myself up in the holey motorhome, and just tried to make sense of all my thoughts.

It was bad enough finding out that Edward's wife was still alive and had waited for him all that time, but then to learn just how dark he actually was, just exhausted me. How could I look the other way while he basically sentenced an entire city to death?

Nothing could make me stop loving him, that I was sure of, but what if it just wasn't enough? Everything that made me who I was - my family, my home, my beliefs, my morals - it was all being ripped from me. Without those aspects that had always defined me, I was left dangling in space, clueless as to who I was anymore, and if I didn't know, how could Edward even claim to love me back? How could anyone love me when I was nothing more than an undefined entity with no sense of self? I just felt so lost.

***A/N: Bravo to those who already guessed that Edward's wife was still around, and a few even guessed it was Rose, so good job!

Spoiler Alert - So we've learned that Edward's human wife was Rose and is also a vampire. Edward betrayed Carlisle and was planning to betray Bella. Carlisle is a humanitarian of sorts and does experiments and builds weapons for human self-defense. But the biggest twist has yet to happen, and no one has guessed what it is thus far…Any ideas?