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Disclaimer: I do not own twilight, but the mermaids and other original points are mine. Please don't take them.
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Chapter 44: New Guests – BPOV
At some point during the night, whether consciously on my part or not, I fell into an easy sleep on the makeshift living room blanket-bed beside my sisters; the three of us wrapped in each other's arms. I was snuggled close to Riana's side, my head on her torso, while Kali used my stomach as a pillow. Edward had silently risen and left, only pausing long enough to stroke my cheek as I sleepily protested. My murmurings were soon lost to slumber.
I only stirred once, when quiet mutterings broke my sleep. I realised belatedly that the others must have returned from their hunt but I didn't have the energy to open my eyes. Perhaps the others' exhaustion had somehow transplanted to me through our mental link.
"Where did they come from?" Esme whispered, her voice soft and surprised. "Are there any more of them?"
"Great," Rosalie huffed, "we're going to be overrun at this rate."
Edward hushed her quietly. "No, there are no more of them, just these two girls. They wandered out of the woods calling for Bella at around midnight. Apparently, they've been searching for her since she was taken from the sea. They had a tough journey getting here, judging by their thoughts, and were very hungry and tired."
"You didn't offer them a bed, Edward?" Esme objected. "They could have had ours."
"Of course I did, Esme, but the idea of using a bed made them uncomfortable. They preferred the floor; it reminds them of the seabed, apparently."
Carlisle whispered, "They spoke to you?"
Emmett's chuckled quietly. "Managing to put those Mermish skills to further use, eh?"
"Yes." It sounded like Edward was smirking. "Carlisle, it's extraordinary. I don't think I'd have seen it if I hadn't met more of them, but…" He seemed to pause for dramatic effect, "they communicate, principally, by using telepathy. It's amazing, they can share: images, memories and feelings. It's so complex, multi-layered. That's why their vocabulary is so…"
"Deficient," Rosalie added, a little scornfully.
"Basic," Edward said, somehow managing to admonish her with the word, "Because they don't need to use words. Words are for Land-walkers."
I almost smiled at that phrase: words are for Land-walkers. It was Kali's.
"That's quite an interesting quirk," Carlisle commented, "and I guess you're right, you never would have discovered it if you knew Bella alone. What with her mind being the way it is."
Jasper spoke quietly then. "I wonder why her mind blocks yours but not theirs."
There was a sigh from Edward. "I've been wandering that myself. At the risk of sounding like the teenager I am – it's not fair. And even with their thoughts converging I still cannot read Bella specifically, just whatever she… projects… I suppose that's the word, to them. The other two's minds are crystal clear like any other humans or vampires. Bella's however, is still as blank to me as it has ever been. I only catch glimpses from her when the other two search her thoughts, just foggy snippets. But then, that's more than I ever thought I would hear from her." He sounded like he was smiling by the time he'd finished speaking.
There was a smile in Carlisle's voice too. "It sounds like you've had an interesting night, son."
"I'll say," Emmett said, "we leave you with one girl and come back to find you with three. You've established a harem in our absence, brother." He chuckled quietly and Jasper joined in with a snigger. "No wonder you wanted the night alone."
Next came Edward's half-amused half-exasperated sigh. "I don't appreciate the insinuation, Em, especially when one of them is still a child."
"That one is very young," Esme added soberly.
"Her name is Kali. She's older than Bella from what I can gather. I can't be sure how old exactly, she seems to have lost track of time in the ocean."
"Older?" Carlisle questioned. "So she is ageless? Frozen?"
There was a sharp intake of breath from someone as Edward said, "It appears so."
"Then that means that Bella…" Carlisle did not finish the statement and Edward did not respond aloud. I assumed he nodded. It was a clear thing really.
"And the red-head?" Esme asked, breaking the silence.
"She is Riana," Edward paused uncertainly for a moment, before hesitantly adding, "She's the one who took out the first boat at First Beach – I saw it in her memories."
Jasper spoke then. "I remember her from the missing person posters from Seattle. We assumed she was another victim of Victoria's army, apparently we were wrong."
"Bit of a fiery temper then?" Alice quizzed.
"You could say that…" Edward said, "but I think it was more to do with the blood in the water than their rage at the attack. Riana has very little control, she's still quite young and the younger ones have more trouble with the scent than the rest. Just like our own newborns. That's what I've gotten from her mind at any rate."
"But Bella's younger than her, isn't she?" Esme said. "I mean in terms of being turned. And Bella hasn't had trouble around humans."
"That's because we haven't exposed her to any yet, not really," Edward reminded her gravely. "And the wolves don't count. Their blood-scent is very different."
"Remember how she looked at that boy in the boat on Emmett's tape," Rosalie remarked quietly, "she looked at him like he was something to eat."
"We never even thought… I should have after seeing…" Carlisle murmured, sounding troubled. "But then, Bella seemed to be so much herself when she returned, except for the obvious physical differences, and even those are transitory. Not like a newborn at all."
"I didn't make the connection either, Carlisle," Edward reminded him, "or I refused to, I'm not sure which…"
"It looks like we've had a stroke of luck with this revelation then. Better to know now."
"On a brighter note, she hasn't asked for blood," Emmett said, ever the optimist.
"Yet," Rose added.
"Actually," Edward said, "from what I heard from Riana's thoughts Bella has displayed an intense aversion to blood. It still makes her nauseous, and while with them she avoided going on 'human' hunts. You remember the beach we came across that day Bella used the cell-phone to call here, of course. Well that was another mermaid's doing, someone called Lilith. Riana and Bella were with her but when Lilith tried to get Bella to… feed… she refused. The others took the kill away, and, according to Riana's thoughts, that's when Bella found the phone and called us."
While what he said was true, it was not entirely truthful. My sleepy mind lapsed into melancholy as I recalled the sweet scent of orange-blossom and camomile that had wafted from Mike's skin when I had come across his search party one day, and the way my eyes had been drawn to that boatman's neck at First Beach, the way his blood had thrummed. No, I was no exception. I was averse to the idea of taking blood, but I was not averse to the blood itself. Not anymore. And he knew that too, I had told him after Emmett had found that tape. But I had made my choice not to partake of human blood, like Carlisle, Like Edward… like a Cullen. That thought relaxed me some and sleep tugged, lulling me under.
Carlisle quietly chuckled. "It sounds like you have learnt a lot from them tonight. I'd be very interested to…" His voice faded along with the soft press of footsteps. Had he and Edward left the room? No matter, I had my sisters to comfort me in sleep. They surrounded and warmed me, their soft breaths whispering in the still night air.
"The carpet is stained with blood and dirt," Rosalie commented, a little haughtily, "and they reek of seawater and mud."
"Then perhaps tomorrow you would be gracious enough to offer them the use of your bathroom, Rose," Esme lightly scolded. "I'll sort out the carpet now before they wake. And then we need to set up some more permanent living arrangements, should they wish to stay."
"I don't think they have anywhere else to go," Alice said sadly.
"Perhaps then you can collect together some clothes for them. And Emmett, dear? Would you please prepare the spare room for an extended stay?"
"Yeah, sure," he muttered quietly.
There was the soft swoosh of fabrics and then the room fell quiet once again, save for the slight stirrings of mermaids in sleep and the gentle rhythms of their hearts.
"Huh," Jasper said to the silence, "we're going to need a bigger fish tank."
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