The Painter
By: Everleigh Allen
Chapter 27
"Today me will live in the moment unless it's unpleasant in which case me will eat cookies." ~Cookie Monster
~O~
He stood at the edge of the woods staring in through the glassy walls of the Cullen home.
No one other than Alice and Edward were home, calmly talking to a human girl.
He watched as Edward's hand moved to cup the human's cheek before she closed her eyes.
A tear fell easily over her cheek as her head shifted into his touch.
It was all so interesting.
Yet disturbing.
He had been sent to the Cullen's residence for a reason and he was to report back soon. But the way they seemed so comfortable with the human girl without killing her was intriguing.
He had yet to keep a human long enough after sex without feeding off of them.
Always killing them.
But he watched the odd male vampire with green-ish gold eyes comfort the small human as if he cared for her was a sight unseen.
He heard his faint, steady heartbeat and the human's heartbeat which thrashed wildly within her chest.
Very, very interesting.
Then, the girl fainted and he watched avidly as she was carried upstairs in one of the rooms as the girl vampire flittered around with worry.
His cell phone rang once before picking it up. "Yeah, I'm here."
~O~
"What she's saying is true, Bella," Edward said and then let the trapped air in his chest out slowly.
He knew his family was a phone call away, lingering in town, waiting for the moment they would come home to explain themselves.
"We're vampires. My father found my mother again at the bottom of a cliff. She was paralyzed from the waist down but they married and tried to build a life together. They didn't know if she could have any other children-"
"Any other children?"
"She lost a son way before I was born."
"Oh," Bella's eyes brimmed with tears, reeling at everything said so far.
"But you said he was a vampire."
"Yes. He kept it from her the best he could- but I think that she would've been okay with knowing the truth. My mother is exceedingly kind and understanding. But they were intimate and they didn't know that a child could be procreated by a male vampire and female human until me. I was a welcome surprise."
"Oh," Bella blushed slightly and Edward tilted his head in curiosity. He wasn't able to read her mind, but she did seem to be a little flushed for a reason. Perhaps it was because they were indirectly talking about procreation. Perhaps she was considering the possibility of such a thing with him, as he has- and had thought of her.
"Cookie?" Alice interrupted Bella's intense stare with Edward. Bella grabbed the cookie and took a small bite. "Edward was born around the same time as me, Bella. He's well over 100 years old."
Bella started choking on the bit of cookie in her mouth.
"I see futures. You'll get through this choking episode on your own in about five seconds. I'll go get the water you're about to ask for." Alice turned and walked towards the kitchen.
Bella's eyes found Edward who was watching her stoically. "I stopped aging around seventeen, but I can make myself look younger or older with hairstyles, accessories, and clothing." Edward said. "But not all vampires are like us."
"What do you mean?" Bella asked as Alice flitted into the room and handed Bella the glass of water. She slowly sipped as Alice sat down next to her.
"We are masters of disguise. Almost like Clark Kent to his Superman. You would be surprised how unobservant people are." She giggled and shook her head. "People naturally have an adverse reaction to us. They find us intriguing yet not enough to want to get too close."
"I don't… feel that way."
"Because you are Edward's and he is yours." Alice said simply, ignoring the blanching of Bella's face. Bella turned toward Edward and he nodded minutely.
"That's why we're telling you all our secrets."
"Any other secrets I should know about?"
"Um, hmmm… You already saw about the werewolves, so probably not."
"The werewolves?"
"At the bonfire? They were showing you that they fought the vampires- the red eyed cold ones- and turned into werewolves to protect their tribe."
"Oh!" Bella exclaimed, putting it all together.
"Yep," Alice giggled and Edward smiled. "You're going to be a vampire, too, someday. I totally saw it."
It was then than Bella swooned, eyes rolled back and she fainted.
"I said way too much." Alice frowned looking at an unconscious Bella laying on Edward's gold bedspread.
"You think?" Edward sneered. He had carried Bella's limp body upstairs and laid Bella in his room. He could guess all of the information was too much for her. He then called Carlisle and beckoned him back from the hospital.
"I got here as soon as I could," Carlisle said easily as he pulled his hospital bag out of the coat closet, just in case he needed it.
"Were you at the morgue?" Alice hissed, "You smell like formaldehyde!"
"As a matter of fact, I was." He sighed with exasperation.
It had been a rough week since they were in Seattle picking Bella up. The other doctors failed to give an adequate autopsy of the last victim. There were now three bodies lying in wait for his evaluations. All were drained of their blood with various vicious wounds. One had the classic wound on the neck, but the other two had more intimate wounds. One was on the thigh; the other was on the breast.
Two were females, but the first one with the neck wound was male.
He surmised that it was probably a male nomadic vampire, yet he hadn't heard of one being in the area.
He needed to ask Alice, Jasper, and Edward to look into it with their abilities.
Carlisle would also have to alert the tribe to look for a red eyed vampire that wasn't with their coven.
Edward's eyes darted to Carlisle, reading his thoughts and assessments about the victims. He was instantly on edge and vying to be closer to Bella to protect her.
She's safe here, son. Carlisle thought with a wary smile.
"Three?"
Alice's head dart towards them. Carlisle instantly nodded and started an almost silent rundown of the wounds and where they were.
"Not a nomad," Alice shrieked. She could see his face as clearly as if he were standing directly in front of them. She gasped as black smoke seemed to circle around him until he was almost invisible. She couldn't even move as she watched the smoke move towards her, inching forward until fingerlike plumes reached over her body, encircling her. Her eyes rolled back, unable to move. Catatonic.
Edward watched Alice's vision in horror, whispering every bit of it to Carlisle as it played in his mind.
Carlisle grabbed his phone and started to text each of his children to come home instantly.
A/N: Smaller chapter so I will try to get another one out quickly.
Thank you for reading and your kind reviews.