Chapter Five

The rest of the week went by so slow, at a snail's pace.

So, when the weekend finally rolled around for me to go to the Cullen house, I made sure to dress a little nicer than I normally did. I wore my nicest white turtleneck sweater, light washed jeans that fit me smug, along with a light tan peacoat. White tennis shoes completed the look in a simple color scheme. My hair was simply brushed backwards and given some wavy hair lotion to add some life to it.

I went out of the house and towards my trusty Chevy truck. It wouldn't be anything close to the expensive brand cars they owned but I wasn't going over to the Cullen House so that I could talk trucks and cars with them.

Climbing in I buckled myself in and drove in the direction of where the Cullen house was. I would finally get the answers from Carlisle since he was the head of the family. Otherwise, I was certain that Alice would have told me what they were, since she had physically shown me what she and her family were in order to protect me.

Just like all the other houses that were outside of town there were only dirt pathways that led up to the houses. Trees lined each side of the road, and there was mist that rolled throughout the outskirts of the town. I had to pay attention in order to make sure that I wouldn't miss the address numbers on the mailboxes. I also had to make sure that I wouldn't see them too late only for me to have to make a U-Turn in the end (and I was horrible at making U-Turns).

I finally reached the road and mailbox that had the same address that I had been given by Alice. It was a simple mailbox, looking just like the others.

It didn't reveal anything that let me know more about the Cullens, but then again, I hadn't come up to the house yet. I had been told it was beautiful and stunning, and many people said the house was dream house material. I was excited to see it. I had heard Esme had bought the house and had decided to refurbish and renovate the house.

I noted as I pulled up to the house that it was in the middle of a meadow with multiple flowers that were in mid to full bloom. They were of all vibrant colors and though they were wildflowers it didn't lessen their beauty. Boulders were sprinkled here and there across the meadow but there weren't that many, not that there was any problem with them. They only showed nature at work. They didn't make the meadow look gaudy, it just added to its natural beauty.

The house on the other hand was a perfect balance between modernization and antique vintage.

The house had three floors, though the first floor had tall walls and must have had tall ceilings, for there were sun blocking windows that made up most of the first floor of the house. The windows were black framed, while the bricks of the first floor must have come from an old cottage or home from the 1800's. The front doors had one door which was of cherry wood while the other door was the same sun blocking glass as the rest of the windows in the house.

The second floor of the house didn't go all the way the same length and amount as the first floor. The second floor was cut in half in length as the first floor. The other half of the second level of the house had been converted into a greenhouse. The third floor was the same length and amount as the second floor, with what looked like angled skylights. They were of course tinted but not as tinted as the rest of the glass built upon the house.

There was a small concrete front porch for the first floor of the house with two clay pots sitting on either side of the front doors with professional trimmed bushes you'd see in home garden magazines (they had many angles and curves to them; it was quite impressive).

Slowly but surely, I parked in the driveway by the separate garage that had to be able to fit more than three cars in it. Rich people. I rolled my eyes in good nature, knowing that they were nothing more than kind to me and Alice had saved my life, even though she had shown that she wasn't human. Rosalie had given me back my locket of Avalyn's remains without doing anything other than being sweet and telling me that my daughter had a beautiful name.

I had barely gotten out of the Chevy truck when I saw the wooden front door open, revealing Alice waiting for me patiently on the front porch. She was dressed not as glamorous as she usually was when she was out in public, but the jeans and sweater still must have cost a lot more money than someone with a normal budget for shopping would pay for them. She smiled warmly at me, her golden irises sparkling, and letting me know that this was a safe place.

I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my peacoat and up the pathway that led up to the front porch. I gave an awkward smile at Alice, only to widen my eyes when she threw her arms around me in happiness. "Oh! I'm so glad that you're here! Carlisle is in his office; I'll take you there. He wants to be the one to tell you everything instead of having everyone around you putting their two cents into the whole thing! And by everyone he means me."

I nodded my head as we entered the house, my eyes noting how the first floor of the house was meant for the living room section, the kitchen section, the dining room section, and down the hall was probably a library and Carlisle's office. The other sections than the library or Carlisle's office were open. There were no half walls or ceiling to floor walls. Everything was in cool blues, grays, tans, greens–to be honest though it was beautiful it kind of reminded me of the colors a mental health business would choose for their waiting room.

There was a sectional, a light blue, that must have cost both an arm and a leg. Decorative pillows with unique Eastern World designs, a couple of Afghan blankets, were resting in their right places upon the sectional. A silver coffee table with a glass top had a few fashion and architecture magazines (for the architecture magazines they happened to be Dwell, and Architecture Digest). The fashion magazines were nothing more than what one would find in a teenage girl's room, wouldn't surprise me if they were shared between Alice and Rosalie.

Alice led me down the right hallway to where the offices were. One of the offices was for Carlisle while another office was for Esme and her architecture house restoration business.

There was a library for the whole family without any doors to them so you could walk into the room and just read to your heart's content. I wanted to go into the library, but I had plenty of time in the future to do so, even though the library looked as though it had been taken from an old mansion and put here in this house. It was more than tempting to try and reschedule my conversation with Carlisle.

Alice giggled some at me, as though she knew where my mind had gone off.

"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to go and read to your heart's content. Just be careful, all the books are first edition or rare editions," Alice warned me, earning a nod from me seriously, my heart racing in my chest at the thought of actually holding limited editions or first editions of novels from centuries ago (if I was lucky).

Before I entered the office, I noted that there was a large old cross that was hanging above the office door, designed to be on a pulpit most likely. I wanted to comment on it but knew I would find out the story behind it eventually.

The first thing that I noticed when I entered the office was that it reminded me of those old professor offices. It was heavily colored dark, but the walls were a crisp white. There were bookshelves that made up three out of four of the walls, while the one wall that didn't have all the bookshelves had the same floor to ceiling windows as the rest of the house. An antique writing desk had an extendable table, so he was able to put his laptop on there when he was using it.

There was a Persian rug that must have been in houses or offices long before this house had been made. The floor was cherry wood, natural and glimmering a beautiful reddish hue from the light sunlight that managed to come through the windows (very little sunlight).

Two drawing chairs were facing the writing desk, an Edison light bulb inspired chandelier was hanging in the middle of the ceiling, and an exposed flue fireplace that was made of complete metal, in a square shape, was between two of the bookshelves. It was lit though I was certain there might be the chance that none of the Cullens would really be affected by a fireplace being lit or not.

Carlisle sat behind his desk, a simple brown leather desk chair, and was smiling warmly at me. He was so beautiful that it hurt, I couldn't help but admit that if he were my age I would have gone after him without hesitation.

Yet he was a good bit older than me, and he was happily married to Esme, and though I had lost my baby I didn't think I would have been prepared to become the stepmom of teenagers that were all the same age as me. (Physically they were as old as me in looks but how old were any of them? I knew I needed to find out, but this was big)

As though he realized what was happening, he chuckled some, a small warm smirk appearing on the corner of his pouty lips. Alice rolled her eyes before saying, "alright, Carlisle. You've had your fun. Don't make me get Esme."

Carlisle brought his hands up, so that his palms were facing us in a peaceful manner. Slowly but surely when he did this, whatever glo and aura that was around him, pulling me forward without my realization began to go away. My face became crimson red, and I was suddenly back to when I had a crush on my sixth-grade teacher (he had just graduated college, so it was his first year, and it didn't help that the teacher was a Walmart version of Carlisle).

"Sorry, um…I'm sure you know why I'm here. Can…I sit down?"

Carlisle nodded his head as I went to one of the chairs and sat down, Alice nodded her head to let him know that she was going to be in the living room. She left the office and shut the door behind her, which in return both made relief flood throughout me but the tense muscles in me clenched some more. I would have my questions answered and things told to me that I hadn't even thought to ask but made sense to be spoken about anyway.

"Let me start this off by apologizing, I'm usually around the other nurses and the doctors almost all the time. My kind has this dazzling effect on humans that can cause this trance like trace. I hadn't realized I had done so until after Alice had said something," Carlisle started, which in return made me give him a slight nod to let him know I understood.

"Alice informed me about what had happened when she went to Port Angeles with you. I'm thankful she had the foresight, quite literally, to know to come with you. I usually don't condone violence but what she did was the right thing in my opinion. My daughters are quite excited to have met you, Alice because she doesn't relate to many girls. Rosalie because she has dealt with a personal loss similar to yours," Carlisle added.

"Did she?"

My hand reached down to my stomach, and he shook his head.

The only other thing I could think of was, "infertility then. Something must have happened, and she learnt she can't have children."

I didn't pester him to continue on the topic, since I knew that it was something that was personal to Rosalie. He also seemed as though he was the type of person that would make sure to gain permission about certain topics from people before he would hint towards them. He wasn't nodding or shaking his head to let me know if I were right or not, instead I sighed.

"Alright, tell me what you are."

"We're vampires, Bella. We do not turn into bats, we can go outside as long as it is not sunny, and we do not drink or eat. Anything we drink or swallow ends up being spit out of us because we cannot digest anything for humans. We do drink blood but only animal blood, not human blood. If we drank human blood our eyes would be bright red but since we drink animal blood, we have golden eyes. I can tell you some of our stories of how we became vampires if you'd like."

I soaked in all that he had told me and let my fingers tap nervously before agreeing with him. He started off with his own story, which made sense, since well he was the head of the family. He was the oldest out of any of his children and his wife.

He was calm and collected when he told me this, though he must not have told many people of his transformation. He must have gotten permission from the others when it came to telling their stories to me, otherwise I was certain it was taboo to talk about backstories of other vampires without their permission.

"I was born in London, England around the 1640's, so I believe that I am 362 years old. My father was an Anglican Pastor and my mother died giving birth to me. Protestants came into power, there was persecution of Roman Catholics and other religions, which in return led to hunts for werewolves, witches, and vampires–"

I took a sharp breath at the mention of vampires.

I couldn't help but wonder if he believed in vampires before he had become one.

What happened when he had come face to face with his Sire? What did he think when he saw those crimson eyes, and those teeth clamped upon his skin? I did not know, and I didn't know if I wanted to know the extent of those thoughts.

I also knew that the cross above his office door made sense now. It probably belonged to his father, and he took it from the church in memory of him.

"My father was getting old, so I began to lead the hunts for the vampires. I had learnt that there were vampires that were in the sewers so one night we went after them. We managed to chase some of them away from the city, but one of the vampires lashed out and bit me. I ran away into a house and hid in the cellar of the home, in a pile of rotting potatoes. I am thankful towards God that none of the family members had come down to the cellar during my three-day transformation."

I didn't know what I would do if I learnt that there was a human in my cellar turning into a vampire. I would probably think that I was imagining things and probably that the person was experiencing hysteria. I would call upon the local madhouse and they would take him eagerly.

"I did not make a noise the entire time that I was going through my transformation. Perhaps that is the reason why none of the family members were aware of my presence. Nonetheless I woke up and spent much time trying to find ways of killing myself but finding out that it is not easy to kill a vampire and a vampire cannot kill themselves."

My eyes fell onto one of the clocks that were sitting on one of the bookshelves that was ticking away. It was a common sound he must have been accustomed to. He probably had hypersensitive hearing since he was a vampire and either found comfort in the ticking away of time or would have gone insane like I would have if I had to hear that incessant ticking.

"I found I could drink from animals instead of humans, and within a year my eyes went from crimson to gold. I had my temper better; my thirst was not as strong, and I was more Intune to the human side I had taken away from me. I found passion in music, silence and medicine. It took two centuries for me to perfect my bloodlust and eventually I became a doctor. I found my faith again."

"Wow."

I knew it was lame for me to give that kind of one worded response, but it was the only thing that I could say about his story. He gave me a gentle smile nonetheless as though to let me know he understood why I would only have one word.

"Edward was born in 1901 in Chicago. When the Spanish Influenza struck in 1918 his father was the first to succumb to the illness. Then he and his mother fell ill not that long afterwards. I was their doctor and cared for them with love and compassion. Mrs. Masen, as that is Edward's original last name, begged me on her deathbed to keep her son alive. I am certain she knew that I was not human, and I kept her promise, changing him afterwards. I also soon learnt that Edward could read minds, everyone but yours apparently."

That made sense.

That must have been quite irritating for him.

He had been accustomed for about a century to listening to others when it came to their minds. Yet I had come into the picture, and he had no thoughts from me. I hoped that he would embrace my silence instead of a nuisance.

"Then there was Esme. She was born in 1895 in Columbus, Ohio. I had met her when she was sixteen and she fell from an apple tree, breaking her leg. She had a crush on me at first sight," Carlisle told me, chuckling some in fond memories, probably at the memory of a sixteen-year-old Esme being sent to the clinic in town to have her leg casted.

"She eventually grew up and married Charles Evenson. He abused her and went to war, only to come back and abuse her even worse–" there was a strong growl that emitted from Carlisle, a protectiveness that radiated from him in the memories.

"She was twenty-six and she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, before deciding to run away from her husband in order for a different and safer life away from him. Only, days after she had run away her baby died from the harsh weather and having a lung infection–"

A shaky breath came from me, as I reached my hands up that were quivering to my mouth.

I shook some, as tears came to my tear ducts and cascaded down my cheekbones. I still had many months until I would have had Avalyn but to know that Esme gave birth to her son only for him to die a few days later made me know that we would be kindred spirits in the future. Our trauma would unite us together in an odd way, we would become each other's support.

"She jumped off of a cliff in her pain and ended up in the morgue. I had gone to bring a body down to the morgue only for me to hear her heart beating still. I knew she was my mate when she was sixteen and planned on going to her eventually, but I hadn't expected for me to be reunited with her the way I had. I changed her and it took months before she would open up to me. She is the light of my life and my best friend."

I wish I could honestly say that I would have kept on living if I were Esme and not have been rash, but I would have been lying. I knew if I were in the same boat as her, I would have done the same thing without hesitation.

I probably would have done the same thing with Avalyn if she were born and she died only days later, I had contemplated on suicide to be honest and sometimes I still did to be with her again, but it was worse the first three months without her. I still had thoughts, but I would never act upon them, too afraid I would be damned in Hell to be honest.

"I will leave Rosalie's story for her own to tell. Two years after she became a vampire she ran into Emmett in the Appalachian Trails. He had been mauled by a grizzly bear and she knew he was her mate. She carried him hundreds of miles to me and begged me to change him. I did so and I have not regretted doing so. He makes sure for us to see the bright and humorous side of things, sometimes when it's not needed but especially needed in times that are dreary."

"And Alice and Jasper?"

"Alice doesn't remember her human life. The only thing she knew when she woke up as a vampire was the fact that her name was Alice. She has precognition and can see the future. Jasper on the other hand is the second oldest in our coven and he will tell you his story in the future. He is an Empath and can feel everyone's emotions."

Knocking on the office door made me turn around as Edward popped his head into the room. His eyes landed on Carlisle first and then his eyes landed on me. He came forward and sat down in the chair next to me.

"Carlisle left out something important between you and I."

"I knew that it would be better if you told her than me. I will be leaving now. I'm going to go and spend time with Esme."

Carlisle stood up from his spot and came around the desk, pausing next to me so that he reached his hand out and put it on my shoulder. I shivered some from the sheer coldness that came from him. I couldn't imagine having that kind of coldness like he did. I did like having warm skin even though I often joked that I had horrible blood circulation.

"I'm glad that you decided you would come and let us tell you what you are. I hope that you will decide in the end to become better friends with us."

I nodded my head, watching as the vampire doctor left the room and shut the door behind him. I turned my attention away from the doors and to Edward. "So, what is it that you want to tell me?"

"Well, I'm certain that you've heard from many different legends and myths that vampires have mates. Their second half, their soulmate. I personally have not met mine. I instead have met my Singer. A Singer is someone who's blood sings to them, the person that creates the most bloodlust for a vampire. It just so happens that you are my Singer."

Without thinking I pushed the chair backwards and stood up, the chair toppling over and hitting the wooden floorboards and rug in a loud thud. I flinched from the intrusion of sound and Edward gave me an understanding look before he came around and picked up the chair, putting it back in its proper place. His golden irises went towards me again.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Bella. I just thought you should know. Let's leave the office now, I'm certain that you'll want to be in an open space now. I don't like spending too much time in this office, I feel like it should only be Carlisle's."

I didn't know if I could truly trust the Cullens despite the fact that they were kind to me, but I knew I would give them a chance. After all they had welcomed me with open arms, and I wasn't screaming with my arms above my head in horror. So that was something.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: update 1 in 3.

as always Twilight doesn't belong to me

-Emmy

Marcus will be introduced into the fanfiction in chapter 7 when he arrives, but he won't have one-on-one time with Bella until the chapter afterwards.