Forbidden Fruit

Carlisle/OC

Romance/Drama

A/N: My first Carlisle/OC fic, so be gentle. Also, this is pre-Twilight. Esme does feature in this one but the romance with Carlisle was never really there and they married out of convenience more than anything. So there. Also, I don't own anything, except Carlisle, who is trapped in my basement right now. Mwahahahahahaaaaa! Just kidding. I wish!

It was a normal day for Dr. Carlisle Cullen in Forks, Washington; the skies were – thankfully – clouded over and grey, he'd come into work fifteen minutes early to get some paperwork done and escape his loving family's antics, and the quiet hum of the beginning day was like music to his super-sensitive ears. Several patients were already waiting for him; his first was a teenage girl with mysterious bruises on her face and neck. She'd been sent over from the school when she'd refused to let the school nurse examine her. The nurse that had taken her vitals had written on the chart that it looked like abuse. He already felt bad for the girl. No doubt she was terribly frightened of her abuser and would have to be coaxed and reasoned into allowing social services to protect her. And besides that, her parents had given her a horrible name that bespoke of their dislike for their daughter.

A nurse approached the good doctor and said, "Good luck," as she walked by, and Carlisle wondered why. He entered the examination room and shut the door behind him without looking up.

"Good morning, Demona," he said, looking up. He stopped short when he saw the girl. Yes, she was bruised, but that wasn't what gave him pause. She was beautiful in an unpretentious sort of way, and reminded him of the fairy tale of Snow White; her hair was black as night with a sheen to it that made it look like polished onyx stone; her skin was pale-white and translucent over her face and neck, the only skin exposed as she was covered from neck to foot in black garments, which beside being pale was mottled with purple bruising; and her lips… Her lips were a dark red that rivaled the color of a rose, and she wasn't wearing a stitch of lipstick to simulate that color. Her eye makeup was done so that she looked dark, dangerous and smoldering, like a predator, and he had the feeling that's exactly what she wanted the world to see.

"Are you going to gawk at me all day or actually do your job?" the girl said caustically.

Carlisle felt a knot in the pit of his stomach that suspiciously felt like irritation; he quelled it, chastising himself for his lack of patience.

"I'm sorry for staring," Carlisle said, smiling. "I was just taken back by how pretty you are."

"Great, I end up with the pervy doctor," she said bitingly. "Just my fucking luck."

"The language isn't necessary," he said hotly, surprising himself. Another surprise: she smirked at him when he snapped at her.

"Well, someone has a temper," she said cheekily.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I didn't mean to snap at you, it's just…"

"Don't be sorry," she said, leaning toward him on the hospital bed. "I was being a bitch. Besides, I like getting a reaction."

"Well, anyway, why are we seeing you today?" he asked stupidly. The bruises on her face were quite evident.

"Try again," she said, still cheeky and a little flirtatious.

"How did you get those bruises, if you'll forgive my bluntness?" he asked, regaining some sense; her beauty was startling, and it was clouding his thoughts, not to mention her quick tongue was giving him a run for his money.

"Take a guess," she said snidely. "I'll bet you get it right."

"Someone hit you?" he asked unsurely. It was obvious, but he wasn't sure how she'd react to hearing it said aloud; she was a bit of a firecracker.

"Ding, ding, ding!" she said with an arched eyebrow. "We have a winner!"

Carlisle paused, toying with the chart he held in his hand while he thought. She was being a little too forthcoming; something was definitely off.

"Was it one of your parents?" he asked cautiously.

"My dad," she said, sounding a little bored. "You're on a roll today."

"You do know you'll have to talk to someone about this?" he asked. "I'll have to have social services come in and talk to you; this is too important to let go."

"That's not going to happen," she said matter-of-factly.

"Really?" said Carlisle, not liking her tone. If anyone in the world could make him lose his temper, it was her.

"Yes, really," she said in the same tone, but this time a little more sharply. "You aren't going to tell anyone about this, Carlisle, because if you do… Well, you have secrets of your own to keep, don't you? And if they were to be told, it's not as though you'd be the only one hurt, would it?"

She couldn't know, Carlisle thought wildly. How could she?

"Yes, Carlisle, I know, so you can stop running circles in your head trying to figure out if I mean what you think I mean. Do you want me to say it for you?" she said, leaning so close to him her lips brushed his ear as she spoke. "Vampire."

The one word froze him completely and had he been alive, his face would have gone deathly pale. For one maddening moment, all he could do was take in her scent: the forest, woods, trees, earth, wild flowers, stream water, this beautiful, earthy smell that drove him wild for something other than blood. For one maddening moment, he wanted her.

"Cold ones, as the natives call you," she continued, not seeming to notice her effect on him. "Drinkers of blood, usually human, but in your case, animal, deer to be specific. You wonder how I know these things? Because I simply do, my dear doctor. I was born different. I don't know why, I don't know how, I don't know if I'm the only one of my kind or if there are thousands like me; all I know is that if you tell my secrets, you and your family will pay. I will not go back into the system, not ever, are we perfectly understood?"

"Yes," he said, his voice having a mind of its own as he remained drunk on her scent. "Yes, I understand."

"Good," she said, jumping down from her seat on the hospital bed and grabbing her backpack, tucked beneath. "Now that we understand each other, I have school to get back to. The bruises will heal and you'll forget all about this in time. You're doing us both a favor really."

"Why won't you let me help you?" he asked, his mind clearing a little now that she wasn't so close.

She stopped on her way to the door and turned around to look at him, the saddest smile on her lovely face.

"You really have no idea what 'helping' me could end up doing to me, do you?" she asked quietly. "What the system is really like? Oh, doctor, you have no idea what keeping your silence will spare me. I've been in the system before, love, and it's ugly, far worse than what I put up with at home. Be thankful you don't have that on your conscience."

And with that, she was gone, like a wisp of smoke, evanescent. He stood there for a long moment, contemplating the impossibility of what just happened before springing to action. He had to keep himself from running out of the room, and stopped briefly at a nurses' station where a short, plump woman manned the phones.

"Janice, please cancel all of my appointments today," he said quickly. "There's been a family emergency and I'll be leaving immediately."

The nurse couldn't even ask if everything was alright before he was gone.

"So what's the big emergency?" Rosalie asked. "You pulled us out of school, so it has to be pretty big."

Carlisle stood before his gathered family in the living room of their beautiful home, not even sure how to begin, only that he must.

"Give Carlisle a moment to think, Rosalie," Esme said calmly, then turning to her husband. "Take your time, Carlisle."

Carlisle felt immense guilt over his earlier desire for the beautiful Demona, but she had been so irresistible that he couldn't help it, and that wasn't even his biggest problem. How did he tell them that someone knew their secret with no other explanation other than the one she'd given him? It was maddening.

He met eyes with Edward and looked pleadingly at his son, who understood immediately, quickly filing through his thoughts for the ones Edward would need. Edward's eyes widened at what he saw and heard in Carlisle's mind.

"Someone knows about us," Edward said, keeping silent on Carlisle's other thoughts about Demona. "A girl that Carlisle met at the hospital today. She knows about us."

"What?" Rosalie said furiously.

"That's not possible!" cried Alice. "I didn't see anything coming, nothing like this."

"How does she know, Carlisle?" Jasper asked, laying a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder.

"I don't know," Carlisle said calmly, feeling Jasper help him out a little. He smiled at the boy and continued. "She said she just knew, that she was born different and that had something to do with it. I don't know if that means she possesses powers like us or if she's lying to intimidate me into keeping silent about her case."

"Her case?" Rosalie said doubtfully. "What could possibly be so bad about her case that she blackmailed you into shutting up about it?"

"I can't say, Rosalie," said Carlisle firmly. "I can't break the confidentiality clause, even under these circumstances."

Rosalie was about to make a nasty retort when Emmett spoke up to deliberately keep her from saying something vile.

"So what do we do?" asked Emmett. "Do you think we're in danger?"

"I don't think so," Carlisle said confidently. "She doesn't seem vindictive, so I think as long as I don't say anything about her case, she won't say anything about us, but we should be vigilant. We must take extra precautions not to be seen while feeding, and especially avoid sunlight."

"We already do all that," said Rosalie.

"You don't think we'll need to move on, Carlisle?" Alice asked, half-afraid of the answer. "We can't, not until Edward meets that girl I saw, Bella."

"Alice, I told you to leave that be," Edward said irritably.

"You don't understand, Edward," said Alice. "She'll make you happy, happier than you ever thought possible."

"Alice-" Edward began warningly.

"That's enough, both of you," Esme said firmly. "We have other things to worry about right now."

"Yes," said Carlisle. "Edward, I want you and the others to keep an eye on this girl for me. She's a quiet, dark girl, Goth I think. Black hair, pale, red lips, all black clothing. Her name is Demona."

"That's a hell of a name," said Rosalie irritably.

"Rosalie…" Esme said warningly.

"Don't approach her," Carlisle continued, as though the interruption had never happened. "She's volatile and if she feels threatened she may be pushed into exposing us. As I said before, she's not vindictive, so I don't think it will be necessary for us to leave unless I don't do as she's asked, and I won't do anything to threaten the safety of this family."

"Sounds like a covert mission," said Emmett, smiling like a little boy. "I'm down with it."

"Everyone else?" Carlisle asked. They nodded their assent.

"Tomorrow should be interesting," Rosalie said sardonically.