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The Journals
By Everleigh Allen
Chapter 9
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Gatlingburg, Tennessee
Smoky Mountains
1935
Carlisle tried to make the man's change as painless as possible, but the painkillers burned off before they could be of any comfort.
Almost as soon as he woke up from his change, Carlisle and Esme watched in horror as the man mauled by the bear and now newly changed bounded up from the cot and went straight towards Rosalie.
She never saw him coming.
He grabbed her by her waist and bounded through the nearest window to take her deep into the forest.
My laughter was the only indication and confirmation that all was okay.
Rosalie was more than okay.
I could see his thoughts.
She was his "angel that saved him." The same angel who faced a bear all on her own and carried him to safety. "Only an angelic being could do that."
We were all aware that she whispered her thoughts and dreams unto him as he writhed within the pain of the three day change.
Esme viewed the whole exchange with a sense of romanticism.
Carlisle saw him as a possible asset to the family and was interested in testing his strength in his newly changed form.
I saw a hostage with possible amorous affections to my would-be sibling. Perhaps he was keen on her because he was deprived of womanly affection and succumbed to her suggestion that she was his mate. But was it fated or only by occasion since she was his rescuer?
That remained to be seen.
I know that he was unable to escape the bear, but would a match with Rosalie be a far worse fate?
But as time moves forward as it inevitably does, I can now appreciate in amusement Rosalie trying to handle a brutish but often hilarious, jovial man like Emmett McCarty as her mate.
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When they returned, we told Emmett what he became. We fully expected his reaction to be much like mine and Rosalie's but he didn't seem to mind.
"If this is Hell, at least I get to have an angel with me," he said.
Rosalie radiated.
I rolled my eyes and clawed at my hair, willing the images he projected out of my mind.
Esme swooned.
It was as if Rosalie and Emmett were instantly and passionately in some kind of greedy, coveting desire.
I could see the regard between that bound them into their amorous affections but I didn't understand it.
I am, alas, curious in the mating aspect of the unions of our kind. Is the mating connection inherent or is it something based out of obligation?
I was changed by Carlisle, as was Esme and Rosalie and we remained with him as companions- a family. Although Esme's connection to Carlisle is amorous and carnal, Rosalie and I still accompanying them as part of the clan.
But do we remain with him as a part of the family because we share the same crux of venom that changed us into our very nature?
Or because it's a moral obligation?
Would we all just know our soul's match?
Perhaps it's both the venom and the inherent moral obligations and attractions that bind us to Carlisle, but not to each other or him to us?
Would those whom possess your venom within them feel bound to you as their originator?
My thoughts go to a possible mate in my mind. My allusive mate is faceless. She's a silhouette within the shadows of my mind. Her back is arched, her body ready and willing and wanting for me to change her.
Could I do it?
It is maddening.
I know I could easily live without Rosalie for any amount of time happily and the sentiment is likewise, so the mating connection must have more fruition than just random circumstance or the same venom.
I didn't feel the connection with Tanya, either. She has had countless intimate connections and none of them she changed. Could have they been possible mates and she didn't know?
Why else would one so willingly give their self to another? There has to more than just to feed from and discard them?
Perhaps I have an antiquated sense of propriety that others like me don't possess.
These thoughts plague my time, teetering on the splendid knowledge of eventually finding a suitable mate and a knowing that I won't.
The constant chatter within anyone's mind is a reminder that I won't.
I would pick apart her thoughts, feelings, and actions. I would know if she if she was telling a fib and any secrets. I would know her most intimate desires and I would know if they were not of me.
It would be a painful existence for both of us to be mated together.
So, alas, she doesn't exist.
-EAMC
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Although I am glad Rosalie had the foresight to build additional cabins for each of us, it did little to mute the sounds of each couple coming together as often as they did.
I stayed in my own cabin or wandered the forests to get away from them.
On one such occasion, I couldn't help but see the visions of three perspectives from Rosalie, Emmett, and the woman's mind. Rosalie yelled at him in annoyance as she watched Emmett succumb to his nature. At least she tried (but failed) to stop him.
"Emmett slipped." I said loud enough for Carlisle and Esme to hear me. They could probably hear the woman's screaming anyway but it was still necessary to inform them in case they wanted to go help, which they did.
That night we learned that Emmett loves apple pie.
Perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise when he ran straight from Rosalie and towards a woman hanging laundry just outside her home.
He said he ate the woman because she smelled like the pie his mother used to make and couldn't resist seeing if she tasted like it, too.
She did not.
But as we pack the few belongings we've acquired since moving here months ago, it's time to leave again with Emmett's mishap.
The plan is to go straight to Washington, finally.
Emmett was upset to have to leave his family. Even after his change, he managed to provide game for them to survive on since just as he did since he was fifteen. I could tell from his thoughts that he was worried about how they'd manage when there suddenly wasn't anyone providing for them.
So, just as we did for others like Rosalie and Esme's family, we helped Emmett put together a package to leave behind to help them out, too.
It was enough of a small fortune so his family would be okay without him.
From then on Emmett never looked back.
-EAMC
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Town of Quillayute, Forks Prairie
Clallum County Washington
1936
We made it as west as we possibly could when we arrived in the town of Quillayute, otherwise known as Forks Prairie.
We just call it Forks.
"Forks" Prairie was named because Ford's Prairie was taken.
That, and the town sat forked in the vicinity three rivers. It was claimed as a homestead by the Ford family and settlers soon came by river by boat or canoe to claim their parcel of land as well.
I knew that Carlisle had a property somewhere in Clallum County but I didn't know he had more than one. He clearly and successfully blocked his thoughts about it, which only served to intrigue me more.
He's also refusing to acknowledge my glares which inherently piques my curiosity.
Something is amiss.
Esme looks from me to Carlisle but doesn't say anything. We know that Esme's sister still resides in the other home that's farther inland. We stopped by with a basket of fresh items and another porcelain animal before Carlisle claimed we would be going farther west.
We all thought we would be closer to her than this coastal town.
Carlisle has clearly been to the town of Quillayute, err Forks, before.
The town is small and mostly inhabited by the Quileute tribe with a few handfuls of families that work in the lumber and fishing industries.
I notice as we drive into town there are a few odd looks.
"I'm going to introduce myself as the new doctor," Carlisle says quietly. His tone sends an ominous vibration throughout the whole car as he parks in front of a set of small prairie buildings that runs straight through the town. "Their physician is older now and I've set up that I'll be the replacement. You three will be our children- if you would like- so there will be fewer questions."
I cannot shake the feeling of being watched from the windows as the townsfolk start to notice our arrival. Their minds are a mix of curiosity and assumptions.
We watch Carlisle get out of the car in his hat and scarf strictly in place. He nods in greeting but He looks far too dashing for the lot of them. Many men and women seem to be taken by surprise as he walks by them until he finally disappears through the door where he'll soon be working.
Esme turns to us with bright eyes and a soft smile. Just as she's about to speak, Rosalie cuts in. "I'm not going through high school."
Emmett quickly agrees but I take too long before Esme says that it's fine and that I could go alone.
I'm not fond of such a plan, but there's little alternative at the moment. I'll talk to her privately to share my concerns with schooling situation or the lack there of.
I look far too old as most my age are already working for their families.
I know that Emmett is keen on the railroad, specifically the logging trains. He seems to think it would be hilarious to throw the logs on the train while the loggers look on.
Rosalie and Carlisle can thwart his plans, because I would personally like to witness it.
Carlisle comes back to the car, blocking me again, and announces it's time to go to our respective homes he had built before we got there.
-EAMC
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We see the plans for the main house under construction. It's is larger than the Tennessee home and thankfully much more spacious.
My house, however, is smaller and hidden deep within the forest next to a small pearlescent pond and an equally small prairie. It's not hard to see that the whole area used to be a small lake at one time.
It's just enough for me and far enough to shield the voices and amorous feelings of my family members.
For that, I am grateful.
The cottage is simple. The roof is made of wood and steel to help shield it from the snow. The walls are set in stone river rock, but much more professionally done. It looks like it could come off the pages of a storybook and I instantly love it.
We meet to go hunt within the forest and it feels good to be so free.
We can hear that there's a herd of deer close by and we quickly circle them and hunt them down, quenching our hunger.
It isn't my favorite meal, but it fills the need sufficiently-
I can hear panic in my mind and I stop feeding.
My family follows suit.
I stand hunched over our kill, waiting for them to show themselves. But the vision of them is completely unexpected.
Out of the foggy trees, we watch as three men with wooden wolf-like helmets and animal pelt shoulder covers cautiously come towards us for a closer look at us.
The say something in a language I don't understand.
Their thoughts are frantic, that much I can tell. I know they are confused.
They know what we are; at least I think they do from the pictures playing through their minds from ancient stories.
I quickly explain to my family that the Quileute's have come across our kind before.
Carlisle mind quickly goes to question if it's the same nomads he once met in Italy who begged to be sent to the Americas. Carlisle, on request from Aro, had accompanied them for a while until they disappeared while hunting the last time they all were here.
The nomads didn't disappear like Carlisle may have thought they did. They were destroyed.
I can see the similarities and I confirm Carlisle's suspicions, although I suspect he already knew.
I suck in my breath as the pictures play in their minds as they shout at us. I quickly repeat it to our family so they are also aware and ready for anything.
There is shouting from them and we stand, dropping the deer at our feet.
Emmett moves in front of Rosalie as Esme slips behind Carlisle so it looks like we're evenly matched; less of a threat.
"We mean no harm," Carlisle says to them, hoping they understand.
They seem to… they still for a moment and are watchful. With a few tentative steps forward they are too close for my comfort. If they faze into wolves, they could overpower us quickly.
But I see it in their minds they are trying to see our eyes.
The color.
"They want to see our eyes."
One man treads carefully closer, understanding my words. He drops the arm that's holding his useless weapon down at his hip.
Carlisle steps forward too, gently, and with slow, carefully placed steps. He starts rambling that we are new to the area that he's a doctor- the new doctor that is replacing the old human in town and that we are not like the others nomads that may have come before us. He tells them that we feed from animals, never humans, and that seems to appease them.
I hear the man register Carlisle's golden eyes. The color we get from feeding on animals and not the red like the others like us. I step closer, too when Carlisle looks at me. The man sees my eyes, gold, and then Esme smiles kindly and they see hers, too.
Rosalie and Emmett stay back. Hers are blacker from hunger and his is a mixture of gold and red that resembles dark amber, but it doesn't seem to matter.
Their broken English is quiet but we can all hear them clearly.
They believe us.
We decide to meet again in the morning and try to make an agreeable treaty based on our land and theirs.
Carlisle agrees, of course.
I am wary.
As they fade back through the fog, our dinner is now cold and we quickly dispose of it and search out another.
I can't help see the images of their legends play in my mind:
A small boy is running through the woods.
He's laughing and there are feet behind his catching up. He thinks it's his brother, but it isn't. It's a man with black eyes and cold, hard, skin. He hits the boy off his feet with impossible strength and watches as the boy hits the ground with a thud. But to the man's amazement, there's a few snapping trees and a wolf appears.
He's snarling, pacing back and forth and watching his prey, ignoring the soft whimpers of his brother.
The brother has no idea the wolf is his kin.
The man hisses and crouches, deliberating how he's going to get his arms around the wolf somehow.
There's screaming in the distance. The man hisses as the smell of blood fills the air.
Grinning wickedly and sniffing the air, the man shows the malice etched into his features. His thirst is visible within his black eyes. He darts towards the smell of the blood, but it's too late.
The wolf follows closely behind him but on wobbling paws. He stumbles and falls as he bounds through the forest. He's not used to running as a wolf. But he chases the man into their village the best he can.
The sight before his stops him in his tracks.
Several tribes' members lay dead and gray.
A elder woman is standing with a knife in her stomach and the wolf boy suddenly wails out in pain fumbling forward. It's enough of a distraction for the red-eyed woman and her mate. They are quickly ripped apart by two other wolves.
When the dust settles, the cold ones were ripped apart and thrown into the fire as their chief, his wife, and several others lay dead.
As the sun rises the next morning, it is calm and eerily quiet. The purplish smoke from the pyre mixes with the remaining fog from the night and filters into the evergreen trees.
It is ominous.
The wolves pace quietly.
Alert.
They don't know how to faze back into their human selves yet, nor do they want to if there will be any other threat.
There isn't, but they don't know that. One seems to think there was another cold one, but isn't sure.
They can speak to each other through their minds.
One vampire sits as high as he can in the trees, hidden by the fog and smoke.
He doesn't come close to the tribe.
He stays far enough away, watching.
Edward looks at Carlisle.
He's unsure when the tribesman's memories moved into Carlisle's memories.
"You were there."
"Yes," Carlisle looks forlorn. He blames himself for coming later, for noticing too late that the pair had evaded him.
This was one of the reasons that Carlisle chose then not to go back to Italy.
Aro would see everything Carlisle witnessed and he'd know of the wolves, how the vampires got away from him and their demise.
"And now that we're back?"
"A whole other set of wolves will faze." He answers quietly, even though I can read his mind.
I am left to my own thoughts as Carlisle relates everything back to the others quickly and we make plans to sign the treaty in the morning.
-EAMC
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Bella shivers as she closed the journal and set it on her lap. Her mind went back to the night that she and Charlie were invited to the bonfire night where they relayed the mythology of their ancestry. Most of them didn't believe the stories but then again they heard them often. There was no real proof anyone in the tribe changed into wolves, although most of the teens there wished they would.
It was an interesting night and one that she tucked in her memory.
But something troubled her in the back of Bella's mind.
They, the Cullen's, were there in Forks again when Bella was there and before she ever arrived.
How come the tribe never said anything about the Cullen's?
One man, Sam was larger than most of the other males. He watched Jacob carefully and Bella remembered it made him uncomfortable.
She took it as animosity between the two boys.
But thinking back, Bella remembered there were other boys that were just as muscular, just as strong as Sam. She remembered watching them jump off the cliffs and throwing other, smaller boys over, too.
They were mean.
Bully's that she stayed clear from.
But now she knew the truth.
Taking a bite of the apple, Bella wiped the juices that gushed over her chin. It was the best apple she ever tasted, probably.
At least that's what she told herself as she greedily consumed it.
All too soon, Bella made her way out of the greenhouse with the journal in hand, through the small closet and out of her room.
She was going to explore the house's secrets and maybe, just maybe, she would find Edward.
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A/N:
I shouldn't say Thursday because then the fates will conspire against me, which they did. I spent my days off helping my husband lay masonry walls for my back garden after my son smashed his fingers helping. He didn't listen to me when I said to go to another store to buy the right concrete gloves. He got the wrong ones. He got chemical burns all over his hands from mixing concrete by hand. But he's fine and my garden is taking a back seat.
Yes, I work in a haunted house in a haunted town that no one actually lives in anymore! (Technically, there's a fireperson who stays there overnight at the station just in case.) The town now is a series of old houses that consist of various stores and an ominous, tragic history. (Bonnie and Clyde even robbed the local bank and the gunshots are still there to this day.) The house I work in is 125 years old and said to be one of the more haunted buildings. It has a colorful history. The town was even showcased on the travel channel. It used to be a family home, a boarding house, a church, a doctor's office, apartments, a funeral home, and a hippie commune to name a few. The first day I started I was early and accidently tripped the alarm. I moved through the house and turned it off. I then went to unlock the store door and it green lit the code but the door refused to open. I tried again and again and nothing. Finally, I stood back for a minute or two and decided to wait for my coworker when the door unlocked on its own and I was allowed in. HA! She's got a mind of her own. There's nothing to fear, of course. Ghosts were people too. ;)
I alluded to a mating connection in the chapter and I had the following story in mind. If you haven't read the Mating Connection by witchyvampiregirl, you should. It's a favorite.
fanfiction s/ 6913926/1/ The-Mating-Connection (remove spaces)
Thank you for taking the time to read and review. I knew the word "casted" was wrong but I couldn't think of anything better at the time but now it's been changed. Thank you for letting me know it doesn't fit.