Welcome back and thank you to ShelbyDuncan, Birthd, Jesspots1704, crystallinecollie, KathrynLMalone1, Guest, KittenAlice2, Sharpeyes, 4, IsabelaGomez, Guest, Noee, Tristan, Guest, Letyoursoulonfire, and Reconstitution.
I want to thank you all for your wishes. I am doing much better now. Still have a nasty congested cough and sneezing… and still always tired, but other than that, I am doing better! My mom is doing well, as well. She had to undergo a blood transfusion because it became so bad, but after two and a half weeks, she began feeling better. Now I am back in college again for Spring Semester. Very annoyed because I was supposed to graduate this semester but 20 hours was too much. So, will have to make up 1 class in the Fall. Ugh.
Sharpeyes, I appreciate your wishes, and I do say I will not be upset to no longer hear from you. I write this story without pay… it's just something I enjoy doing. If you want a to read about a teenage girl that is completely responsible with all of the wisdom in life and never makes any mistake along with having 0 morals about killing someone…. Well, you are going to have to find that elsewhere. Do I regret my choices about what I did with Abigail? Yes. Your interpretation for how Abigail should have been was my initial approach, but I am not an experienced writer. I had trouble creating that personality in her and chose the route instead that Mrs. Weaver showed pity to Bella, so Abigail did too.
Noee, Thank you so much. I was waiting for your review the most! I do apologize… senior year has been hectic with school. Upper-level classes have been kicking me. And you are right, if people don't like the story, they don't have to read it. And that is fine! Thank you for understanding about Bella making mistakes. She is a teenager that was turned at such an adolescent age without any help.
Tristan, THANK YOU. I appreciate that you understand that Bella is still a teenager who will make mistakes. Her youth will naturally show stubbornness, impulsive nature, emotional conflict and envy. This is all new to her. Her whole life changed without her decision to do so, and her morals still cause conflict with what she is. This chapter will dive a little more into Peter and Charlotte, but the main objective for their knowledge is that they are nomads. They don't settle down in one place but instead travel, meaning they are exposed to more information around the world and about what inhabits it. The Cullens are less exposed to it because of their determination to appear human. And yes, Bella does not know the answers. This life of hers is new to her and she's only so young and has been raised with her parents in a mortal world where vampires and werewolves and succubi never existed.
Guest, thank you! No, Edward did not expose to his family that Bella is a succubus. He wanted to respect her privacy and allow herself to be the one to announce it when she was ready… but Charlotte beat her to that. And you're exactly right. Peter and Charlotte never do get enough exposure. So, in Midnight Sun when they were introduced after the hunting trip in Goat Rock, I knew that I could use them! And I do appreciate that you acknowledge that what is is known in folklore that she is a demon. We will see how that plays out.
Reconstituion, Thanks for your review! So, the "holding gaze" thing. I don't like to repeatedly acknowledge that Bella will divert her eyes to certain areas on someone's face to avoid direct eye contact because it does become repetitive. But I do add that in every now and then. So in those moments she will stare at the bridge of their noses, the whites of their eyes, or the irises. As long as she doesn't make direct eye contact with them, as such as staring into their pupils, the lure will not connect. The reason Edward got upset at Peter was because Peter was about to say a "succubus" And Edward didn't want anyone to find out until Bella was able to tell the family on her own. But, Charlotte spilled the beans anyways. And yeah, I wanted to do a lighter chapter with a party because she is in high school with high school friends. Highschoolers party. And yes, this has been a hard year for her. She isn't able to be around anyone of her own kind and is basically just learning on her own considering no one really knew of what she was or how to help. And losing their mind? Well, if you remember from Breaking Dawn, Edward did go into "shock." And vampires are considered demons!
Chapter 20: Delicacy
Monday
"Who is this?" She asked, glancing back at the family with a delighted smile on her lips. "Carlisle, you didn't tell us your family held affiliations with a succubus."
I froze when the word was rolled off her lips as she stared back at me with the enlightenment in her smile. The house had gone still, quiet, and the recognizable faces in the living room had their attention directed towards me. Horror? Awe? I wasn't sure.
My breathing came out in a slow spur between my lips, waiting for the revelation to settle on their faces, but they only stared. Unmoving.
Their faces were gone from my view when a blur flew down the steps into my direction. Not even a second to flee was granted to me before two cold, hardened hands were gripped tightly on my upper arms, with a figure blocking my way of sight. I looked up in dismay, seeing heavy golden eyes boring onto me paired with eyebrows that were pinched together as a deepened v formed in between them. His jaw had jutted out and his lips snarled in disapproval, but I could see the panic that was causing his eyebrows to twitch as he stared back at me.
My own horror rose at the concern in his eyes, feeling my lips parting as I could feel the frigid muscles tensing his in grasp.
"You can't be here," Edward whispered with frantic impatience. "You have to go."
There was a sense of apprehension in his voice as he spoke to me. The twitch in his cheek as his jaw slid forward, but his eyes were still cold. Holding a depth in them as he tried to mask his uncertainty.
"Wha—?" I asked in surprise. "What do you mean?"
The expression that I could see on his face was a cover, but alarm and guilt was apparent behind his eyes, and the twitch on his tightened lips had caused me to understand that he never had intended for me to be here. Not at this hour, especially not near the two pairs of red eyes in the home that still glowed with the reflection of the moon at me.
But it was the hold of his grip on me that caused a rush of coolness to spread to my feet. The persistent strength in the length of those fingers that held me there. My attention to them had almost allowed me to forget that there were vampires only yards away that now knew of my existence. With my attention diverted, I still detected no movement in the house. Only silence. I wanted to move out of his grip, to peek behind him to confirm my expectation that none of the vampires had moved. To confirm that their curiosity still honed onto me. To confirm the potential threat.
I tried to pull my left arm out of his cold grip that still held firm, pushing my foot past him as I mustered control of my shoulder into his chest, but his own management on his actions held true.
He began pushing me backwards, causing my feet to lose balance from underneath me before he began spinning my body away from the house, and tucking me under his arm as he pushed my body against his chest. He began a forward pace into the darkened forest in front of us.
"What are you doing?" I questioned.
There was one step taken that I could hear from behind us, still in the distance, but light movement had been detected. I appeared up at Edwards face that held firm, his lips parting as I could see the desperation in his gaze, and the slight twitch in his eyes as his neck slightly craned behind us.
Edward didn't hesitate his footing, but instead quickened his pace, dragging me along in front of him. I had tried to falter out of his hold, pushing my arm against him to break free, but he was reluctant.
His pace slowed as his eyes widened larger, transfixing his stare onto the darkness in front of him. He hissed under his breath and turned his neck towards the girl far behind us with dramatics. A growl rumbled in his throat as he shot daggers in her direction. When I peaked behind me, Alice seemed unbothered as her arms crossed over her chest on the front porch steps, tapping her foot impatiently.
I looked up at Edward with a gasp as his eyes cut to mine for a moment before he placed another glare in Alice's direction. His eyes scanned the windows of the living room before finding them glued on the two strangers. I knew he must have been scanning the thoughts of everyone in the house, trying to get make sense of them while I stood here without understanding.
But then his eyes transfixed back onto me.
"Why did you come here?" The bite in his voice was clear.
My lips parted to say something, but my voice only came out as a squeak.
"I—" I began. "You weren't at school today."
His eyes darted back and forth between mine, seemingly trying to find something beneath them, but I did my best to not stare back into his and focused mine on the growing indention between his eyebrows.
"You didn't call me," I whispered.
"Told you that you should've warned her." I jumped at Emmett's deep throated voice that shouted in our direction from the inside of the house. But my attention still held onto Edward.
"Warned me?" I looked back up at him, question in my voice. His eyes strained as they closed.
"We have… guests," he said with distain.
My presentation faltered at the realization of what he had said. He had referred the two red-eyed vampires as his family's guests. I wanted to look in their direction, to take another look for myself to evaluate their stance. To evaluate the brightness of the smile that I had last saw on the petite blonde vampire. But they were just guests. Possibly it was my own fault, my own sense of misreading the situation that had caused the alert of a threat in my bones.
"I can see that," I nodded back to him.
The even clacking of heels rang in my ears as I looked over to see Esme coming down the steps inside of their home and through the front door with Carlisle next to her. His hand only lightly was pressed against the small of her back. But it was in his eyes that I could see the conflict in his emotions as his lips slightly raised in an apology. When Esme's eyes caught mine, a warm smile blossomed over her features.
I wanted to question him. I wanted to ask why he had caused such a stur to lure me away from his home. I wanted to question his quickness to get to my side and drag me into the dark forest. I wanted to read the series of thoughts that had been clear behind his eyes. The way his lips tightened as he evaluated each mental notion. But he hadn't voiced any of them.
If there was no threat, then for what was an excuse for his behavior?
Oh right. Blood.
I heaved a sigh, pushing myself out from under his arm. I checked his expression to find a reaction in my reluctancy to stay at his side, but his shoulders only had slackened at my touch against his abdomen as he voluntarily released his arm around me. He must have still been continuing to sort through the thoughts of all those in the vicinity before he spoke.
"Bella, please," his voice broke. "Let me take you home."
"Why don't you instead explain to me what is going on here?" I looked back at the house, glancing through the windows at the two pairs of red eyes that still had transfixed amused expressions on their faces as they looked back at me. I faintly heard another growl erupt from Edward's throat.
"Friends of Jasper had decided to visit for a couple of days," Edward murmured through his pressed lips.
"You didn't think to tell me?" I whispered as I turned to look back at him.
"I didn't think I would need to."
"You could have called," I glared at him as I pulled the cellphone out from my back pocket to hold up to him. "What is the point of giving me this stupid thing if you never call."
"You could've called me," he testified.
My mouth gaped at him.
"Are we seriously doing this right now?" I scoffed, pushing the phone back into my pocket before turning to walk towards the house. It was clear there was no danger and the Cullens were not taken hostage by these two unfamiliar vampires. The softness of Esme's stature had practically caused me to relinquish the thoughts of a threat. Knowing her motherly nature, she never would allow me to walk into a home that would cause me harm.
"Bella, wait," Edward's voice rasped.
"What?" I fumed as I turned around again, planting my feet into the soil.
"Just," The emotions were clear in his eyes. I knew his next words were a request to keep his own mental dilemma at ease. "… stay close to me." He breathed out as he stepped forward to bring his arm once again around me, and his light touch only hovered. He was being careful, and I could see it in his eyes that he was continuing to monitor all the thoughts in the designated area of the house. I looked back up at him, catching his stare on me before I averted my glance to Esme whose maternal smile held on me before she nodded to her son in what looked to have been an conformation in her thoughts.
When we reached her, Edward's arm continued to hover behind me as Esme pulled me into her embrace, holding the back of my head over her shoulder. She hummed her relief as her cold breath grazed my ear.
"It's good to see you again, Bella." She whispered to me.
"You too," I stuttered my breath, glancing at Carlisle who had saw me catch the pinch in his eyebrows. The apology in his smile again seemed wary as he ducked away to head inside of the house.
"Why don't I go into the kitchen and make you a cup of hot tea?" She asked, rubbing the side of my shoulders.
When Esme had helped me into the living room, she quickly left my side to head to the kitchen, but the chill crept back over as I noticed Edward found his place to hover once again. I glared up at him with bemusement, but my expression didn't seem to falter his hardened one.
"Bella!" Alice gleamed at me, wrapping her dainty arms over my shoulder, pressing her small frame against mine. I couldn't help but feel the shackles of nervous jitters faulter as she held me close to her. The scent of her too had been pleasant. Almost calming. I smiled over her as I looked around the rest of the room at Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett, and the two guests. Alice pulled away from the hug, catching herself looking curiously at me. "I'm so happy you are here," she smiled. "I just hate that it had been such a shock for you."
"Yeah," I nodded, looking away from the bloody red eyes in the room. "A little."
She frowned in thought as she looked disapprovingly at my personal bodyguard behind me. "Come sit with me on the couch," she said, taking my hand. Before I could take a step, a cold palm was placed lightly on my abdomen. I almost gasped at the surprised touch as I looked up, seeing Edward's hardened expression placed onto Alice. "She's okay, Edward."
"You can't know that" he whispered.
Her eyebrows pulled together. "No, but you do."
I followed her to the white furniture with Edward not far behind as he shadowed me, leaning against the back of the couch with his hands attached firmly to it.
When Esme came back into the room with a steaming hot cup of tea that I hadn't understood she could make so quickly, I had almost forgotten that my secret of what I am had now been revealed as the gold and red eyes in the room were transfixed onto me. I could feel the heat of my blush blistering onto my cheeks as I slouched further into the couch.
But before I could speak, the petite blonde quickly moved towards us before kneeling on the ground in front of me with her hands placed on my knees. I jumped at her forwardness as her cheeks grew wider.
"Hi," she smiled, taking an extended breath of air into her lungs. There was a slow hum in the back of her throat as her eyes fluttered quickly before she continued. "You must be, Bella. I'm Charlotte and this is my mate, Peter." Her chin pointed in his direction.
"Pleased to meet you, ma'am," Peter said, displaying his heavy southern accent, and tipped his head in my direction. I've noticed that before in movies. Southern men tipping their hats to those they greeted as mannerism. I tried to allow that to ease my fears as I forced a smile on my lips at the two of them. "I apologize if us being here has caused you an inconvenience. We knew that Alice would have saw us coming here if we made the decision to and had hoped it would've given our friends enough time to prepare for our visit."
I hadn't taken notice of the fire that was burning my throat from the two strangers in the room until the soothing scent of the tea leaves filled my nostrils. It must have been the fear that had distracted me from taking notice.
Esme nodded with a pleased smile before taking her seat next to Carlisle. Though, the aroma of the tea wasn't enough now that I had given their scents the attention that begged for me to notice. I took the warm cup, taking a sip from the contents and feeling anxious chills ripple over my skin. But when I looked back at the two with red eyes, both were watching me attentively as I resumed sipping the tea before I placed it back onto the small saucer.
I was too quiet. I knew I needed to speak up.
"Have you two been in town long?"
"No, we had gotten here this afternoon," Charlotte smiled. "We make sure take occasional visits to see Jasper and his family from time to time, but it has been so long since our last one." She frowned slightly before looking back up to me.
It was the southern drawl in both of their accents that caused my eyes to wonder towards Jasper. Alice was leaned against him with one of her legs draped over his thigh, but his eyes were hard as he had his hands placed firmly onto her lap. He didn't seem fearful as he did before when I had intruded. Now he just seemed more anxious, almost unsure. I hadn't heard Jasper speak since my last visit, but I hadn't forgotten the two guests' dialect was very similar to his. It must have been a friendship of ages between the three of them.
"And how pleasant it is to have chosen this time to be here, or we may not have been able to become acquainted to you." She smiled at me again, as her eyes roamed the details of my face. Her lips parted as she took in every aspect, as if I had been affecting her, but possibly not. I was sure that the shock of the hue of my amethyst eyes reflected her awe the same as hers and Peter's reddened ones had done to me. I made sure to divert my stare, to keep mine from latching onto hers as I held my own on the bridge of her nose.
Her hand lifted up from my knee as it reached out towards my face causing me to lightly gasp at her nearness. I sucked in a breath as her thumbs grazed over the underneath of my eyes. She must have taken notice of the darkening circles and grew curious. Why had I let her touch me? I wasn't sure. I just had an annoying sense of trust with this family.
"Fascinating," she breathed, still holding her hovering fingers close to my face. She must not have been shy because she had moved the trailing of her touch over my lips, slightly pulling on the top one to separate from the bottom. For what? I didn't question. But her hand stilled when a rumble in Edward's throat appeared behind us. Her eyes grew distracted as she looked up at him with a playful smile across her lips before looking back at me.
She leaned back onto her heels, reclaiming my baren knee with her hand once again.
"I'm sorry," she looked down with no hint of embarrassment. "I was only curious."
"So," Emmett commented, bringing our attention into his direction at the boom of his voice. "Are we going to bring up the elephant in the room or what?" Rosalie looked up at him with narrow eyes as she made a quick move to lay a fist into his upper arm. He took a step back as he grabbed onto it, to soften the pain, but his smile grew.
I could feel the heat flourish over my cheeks once again. Esme looked disapprovingly at him, and Carlisle's lips flattened into a line. Even the room had felt several degrees colder as it grew quiet around us, but it was Alice who broke the silence with a giggle.
My lips parted to say something, but again, I had been lost for words.
"Eh, she doesn't care, don't you?" Emmett chuckled rubbing his hand on his arm. "I mean, a succubus? Kind of hot."
Rosalie once again went to hit him on his arm, but Emmett was quick to capture her wrist and lean down to place a kiss on the back of her hand.
"No one compares to you, my love." Emmett smiled down at her, but Rosalie snatched her hand back to her side as she rolled her eyes at him. "But c'mon. You really had to hide that from us? I mean, that's cool as hell. Probably a good thing and all to have more experience in that department than Eddie over there. He really could use a teacher."
"Emmett," Esme scolded. "I would hope I taught you better to show Bella some manners and not insult your brother."
Emmett only chuckled more, wrapping his arms around Rosalie as he pulled her back into his chest, rocking the both of them back and forth into place as he kissed to top of her head. I could see she was trying to fight back the smile from forming on her lips as she rolled her eyes, but as she leaned her head back to look up at him, it broke free.
I looked between the two of them as they grinned at me. I knew that they were trying to distill the tension in the room, but their efforts had possibly made it even worse. I felt my face warming under their gaze and brushed some of the strands of my hair over my cheek to hide their eyes. I looked back at Peter and Charlotte who didn't seem to be bothered in the slightest, but their eyes on me had rendered me to become more uncomfortable. It was as if they were staring at me like a wonder or an experiment. I wasn't positive how I felt about that.
"So, you can drink tea," Peter confirmed, looking at the small cup on my lap. "You… still sustain yourself with regular human necessities."
"Oh," My lip pouted as I looked down at it, holding the warm cup in between my palms. "I guess so, yeah."
"He's just making an observation, dear," Charlotte smiled, running her finger softly over his chest. "I think we both are a little captivated by you, so you will have to excuse our intrusiveness. It's like seeing something being discovered after extinction." She laughed, tilting her head back, but her throat didn't halt even when Edward had grumbled at her snickering. She winked in his direction as she connected her gaze from him to me. "It's quite amazing, indeed. Maybe it would be something like if a human were to find a dinosaur in the woods after believing for all these years that they were wiped out by a meteor!"
"Um," My eyebrows furrowed in thought. "What I am is supposed to be extinct?"
"Well," she crossed the floor in front of Peter. "Not exactly. Extinct was the wrong word. Unicorn in favor over a dinosaur, presumably. Really, I should have used another for something to be of existence when it never was so supposed to be in the first place. A legend you are— a myth."
"But" Peter placed his hand around his mate's waste. "Not exactly the myths you read about in human text or in today's picture media. Similar in more ways than one. But no, you are of a real myth. A myth to our world, exactly."
"If you don't mind my input," Carlisle commented, leaning forward. "I am curious in what legends our world has for Bella. When…" his smile turned into embarrassment, and I could have sworn his cheeks would have become rosy. "We were curious about her ourselves; we went through our journals and encyclopedias on different unknowns, but she still had remained a mystery to us. Well, all of us except my son, Edward. He had found of what you are, Bella, before us."
"It wasn't my secret to tell," Edward mentioned. "You would understand that all too well, Carlisle."
He nodded. "Of course."
Charlottes eyes danced in Edward's direction, but his didn't dare fall into hers.
"You had found out?" She questioned. "How so?"
Edward looked over to me for confirmation before he spoke. He did not want to tell a tale that had been a night of pain, nor giving away what I was uncomfortable with. Though, I couldn't imagine not laying it out on the table now that what I am in this life has been given. And honestly, I was curious that if whatever Edward had to say would encourage explanation or information from Charlotte or Peter. They had seemed to know exactly what I was the moment they saw me.
I nodded to him, unsure if I could tell it myself.
"I followed Bella one night," Edward nodded. "She had told me that she would be planning on going to Port Angeles that afternoon to go find a bookstore. At the time, I didn't understand for what she needed to travel that distance to the bookstore was for, but I understood later. But that isn't an integral part of the story. I shamelessly had shadowed her around the town, hiding in the darkness where she may not notice I was there. I was spying. I wanted to learn more about her and grew impatient. But—" he paused.
"There were these men whose thoughts grew louder the more I focused on them. Thoughts that I had recognized, but not individually. Just thoughts as a whole that I was familiar to listening to not long ago when I—" Edward's eyes turned to Carlisle who nodded at him with understanding. Edward's eyes closed briefly after his finger unflexed from his fists. "The men were surrounding a young woman in a dark alleyway, away from others who could view the scene. They had been planning the unspeakable. They had been planning with what to do to her, as they have done to many others before. I was going to stop Bella from taking action.
"My plan at first had been to get in her way because I have a habit of underestimating her. But to be completely honest, I had no want or desire to read the thoughts of what the men would plan for Bella, even if their attempts would have failed. But it was when she had found them," he smiled, but it fell as quick as it came. "Would I say she had interrogated the men? A shy bit, but it was the girl that her main focus was on to save. Before I could intervene, Bella had handled all of them, letting one go who had no participation in the events except being a harmless by stander who had no clue what the two others were up to. And then, I saw their minds and what was reflected into them."
I winced at his words when he spoke of the projections in their minds. I didn't understand them myself at the time either until Abigail had explained. In particular, I wouldn't deny that it was uncomfortable, seeing a completely different setting through my eyes, but I remembered the salvation their energy brought to me when it had been seasoned with intense lust and fantasy.
"I still have no explanation for what had happened in those thoughts unless Bella would like to explain, but then it was their sounds of their hearts. The uneven beating escalating before the organ came to an abrupt silence when her lips connected to the two men and leaving their bodies lifeless. I then concluded what she was."
"Wait," Rosalie's eyebrow raised. "The men you had us clean up, Edward?" Carlisle and Esme's eyebrows raised into their direction and back to Edward and me. I wonder if they had not known about it. Alice and Jasper hadn't stiffened, so I assumed she had seen the clean-up process and mentioned it to Jasper.
Edward nodded in her direction, holding a deadpan expression.
Rosalie's jaw fell slightly as she looked in my direction. Her eyes widening as thoughts swarmed causing Edward's own to darken. She must have put an end to them because the relief in Edward had taken over.
"That was quite… violent," Rosalie sighed, taking a seat on the arm of the chair. Her tongue clicked to the roof of her mouth before parting her lips repeatedly as she formed a conclusion to what was on her mind. "They deserved it."
Carlisle's face had broken its trained content expression as he looked up at her. Was it sympathy that crossed over it when he looked to her? I couldn't tell, but from what I know of Carlisle's morals, a human death is never to be deserved in his eyes.
Emmett snorted in amusement as he looked at me with the most appeased expression than the others in the room. "Violent?" he bellowed a heavy laugh. "That was an absolute blood bath. A couple of smashed skulls and broken limbs. If it didn't take us so long to have gotten there to clean up the mess before the blood became cold and unappetizing, I might've broken that human diet of ours."
"Emmett, can you just be quiet?" Alice hissed.
I didn't even want to look up at the eyes in the room. It was silent with only snickers from Emmett continuing in the background. I just stared at the contents of the tea, running my finger along the rim of it. I wouldn't even exhale a breath of air, because I already knew. I could easily assume what their thoughts were of me. I was a killer. But maybe if I looked at the two whose eyes were red, they wouldn't think too ill of me. They also fed on human lives, but before I could glance up, I felt a chilled hand on my shoulder. Was it to comfort me? Possible.
I looked over at Edward whose face was almost expressionless, except for the small smile on the corner of his lips as he wanted to tell me: It's okay. No one is blaming you.
But I was. I was blaming myself. Did I regret their deaths? No. They had plans for far worse for that girl in the alleyway, and then for me. But I wondered if there would have been another way. I pondered the idea that I could have helped in some ways instead have taken their lives. Maybe my gift could be used for good. Changing their mental patterns, encouraging them instead to never do such a thing again. Change them for the better. But it was too late now.
"How long ago was this?" Carlisle asked. I wasn't sure if the question was specifically asked to anyone.
"A little more than two weeks ago," Edward replied. "It was taken care of."
I could hear the exhale of Carlisle's breath before he kissed the top of Esme's head.
"Ah," Peter's slow remark alerted me. There was a playful smile dancing on the edges of his lips. "So, that of much is true. I would say you are very different, but much the same as our kind as you do feed on humans."
"Dear, you speak as if all of us do the same," Charlotte's eyes glanced in Carlisle's direction. "Though, I wouldn't be sure Bella would necessarily have the same choice as us. Unless from what I can see that she is able to feed normally on a regular human diet and sustain herself."
"No," I shook my head, finding the confidence to speak as my fingers traced the warm of the cup. Everyone knew what I was, everyone knew that I had been a killer. What was there to be nervous about? I needed to get over it. "It only eases the desire."
"How would you describe that desire, exactly?"
"Just as it is right now; it burns," I exhaled, shaking my head. "And I feel weak, malnourished."
"Your eyes," Charlotte spoke. "They are so dark underneath. Darlin', you are growing weaker. You can see it just by your features alone just as if you are a human starving yourself for months."
"Or as if you are a vampire, starving for over two weeks," Peter added.
I nodded. "Yes, actually." I replied, looking back at them. "If you both know what I am, then you must already know that I consume energy from others." I looked at the both of them, waiting for their respective nods. "Without feeding over time, I notice the changes that take affect on my skin first, and then my hair begins to dull, my cheeks begin to hollow, the bags under my eyes darken... but when I do feed again, the change is instantaneous. I look as if I have come back to life again."
Peter's eyebrows furrowed in thought as his eyes scanned my appearance. I knew he must have been cataloguing the features I presented to him; the ones that stood out the most after time. I could feel the heat flaring in my cheeks the more self conscious I became. And I know he had noticed, as well when his eyes dragged back up towards my face. I wouldn't deny that I wasn't looking my best, but I had looked plenty worse before. It had been less than a week since my last feeding in Seattle, so the damage hadn't been close to becoming harsh. The affects mostly were outlined on my skin, but the paleness wasn't too apparent because there was still a warm complexion there. And my eyes, yes they were darkening underneath, but only a keen eye could have noticed that. Not one with a human eye sight, but beheld within the eyes of a vampire, it stuck out.
I felt a light cool brush of a thumb over my shoulder and I flinched at the surprise of it.
"I'm sure Bella and my family are curious as to know how you both had come to the conclusion of her kind." Edward began. "As we are aware, you two travel regularly around the world, hearing passing stories and legends. My family and I find ourselves in more isolated positions. Only traveling when we need to. My family instead are not exposed to what you two have been exposed to."
Edward must have already seen the stories played out in their minds when the two first had noticed me. Though, like me and the rest of his family, we were not gifted with his talents. And I was relieved in the change of the subject.
Peter chuckled. "My apologies, Bella. My mate and I have been too caught up in your presence to shed some light on our knowledge. But if you must know, it was her eyes that drew us to our conclusion. How deep and rare that shade is placed on others, but when one comes to a house occupied by vampires, then you don't normally believe it is just a human with that feature loitering around."
Charlotte patted his chest. "And you are correct," she nodded. "We are more exposed to stories that travel among different lands. Some more outlandish than others. I might not have even believed that what you are is of existence if you weren't here right now in the same room as us. If I could still dream, I wouldn't think this was real. But here you are, carrying those beautiful eyes of yours. I feel envious, honestly."
"Continue," Jasper urged.
Charlotte rolled her eyes. "It's a story that we have only heard less than a few times, especially in our travels during the war. While the humans were facing conflict with Germany, vampires at the time could care less about the issues. Like any war, fields were bleeding red, and naturally vampires found themselves congregating together towards scent. There was no reason to become hostile or protective over our meals because there were just so many to choose from. Death in plain sight wouldn't have been uncommon in that situation. And with this alliance between the gathering of nomads taking what we desired, we also found ourselves enjoying company until the next wave of feeding came.
"It was these two specific nomads we had come across. Funny little accents, but never had asked where they were from. They told us stories, well, more so like rumors. There was no given proof to back up their claims, but they seemed so sure of them."
"Rumors," Peter glanced in Carlisle's direction, "That have much involvement with the Volturi."
The room held a silent pause as glances were exchanged, until each fell last onto Carlisle.
"The Volturi?" Carlisle asked in surprise. "I don't understand what their involvement would have to do with succubi."
Peter smirked. "Oh, Carlisle. You spent two decades with those three cowards. In all your years of learning from them and trying to persuade them to listen to reason of your human values, you would understand that they hold their own secrets that they do not display written in their books in the libraries."
"The Volturi," The name rippled off my tongue in a whisper. I looked behind me to see the expression on Edward's face. He had once told me of those vampires who placed laws in the world.
"While I do agree that the Volturi do hold on to their own secrets, I would have thought that I would have learned whether they had any involvement with a separate species in their lifetimes."
"Oh, such as Caius and his Children of the Moon." Charlotte snorted an eyeroll. "You would have thought. But again, these are rumors." She looked in my direction. "What if I told you that the Volturi are the reason for the massacre and extinction of succubi and incubi?"
Again, glances were shared between each other in the room but instead of falling onto Carlisle, they were on me.
"Those bastards never could control themselves, especially when faced with a threat they weren't so sure of."
"Threat?" I questioned his word. "What sort of threat could I possibly impose onto a vampire? I am not as fast, nor strong as one." I looked around the room. "I don't have capabilities such as seeing the future or reading minds. What sort of threat could I impose?"
Charlotte's brow raised. "We are speaking entirely, Bella. Anything unheard of by the Volturi is a threat to them and a threat to our existence of exposure. The Volturi pride themselves on being able to control our actions with laws that they have placed. If we were to go about by breaking them, we are sentenced to death. But the Volturi cannot control others that they are not. Humans have their own rulers: Presidents, Kings and Queens, Prime ministers, Dictators. We have the Volturi. But who exactly takes over for a succubi species? It was a threat to our existence of exposure most likely in their eyes, but that wasn't all."
"Blood," Peter continued. "It was their blood that became their demise."
I didn't have to look at Edward to know his eyes were trained on the back of my head as chills rippled down my spine. I didn't want to look, because I knew all too well that he had hunted me down to kill me that one afternoon. Instead, I looked at Carlisle which had also been a mistake. He almost looked as if he was studying me. And so did the rest of the room.
"Blood is what drives our kind. No matter whether it is from a human…"
"Or an animal," Charlotte added.
"In the rumors, it was said that the blood of a succubus had driven the coven mad," Peter began, displaying a humorous smile. "The tales of a succubus was that their skin was thicker and sturdier than the skin of a human, but also not as strong as a vampire's. To our kind, a succubus's blood would mimic the smell of any other ordinary human. Sweet, but easy to resist when fed. Just as now in Bella's presence, you wouldn't have been able to tell from the outside or far away that it would call so frantically to us. So alike to their neighbors around them. But just like their eyes...the change in the scent was evident underneath." Peter paused, breathing in a rush of air before his tongue trailed across his bottom lip.
I could only stare as his tongue lapped his mouth before he looked back at me. His humorous smile was no longer there and instead was replaced with a hardened stare. If it weren't for my heart beating rapidly against my chest distractingly to remind me of the others still in the room, then it was the thumb, that once brushed across my shoulder so lightly, had now felt like heavy stone.
"It only had taken a drop a blood to notice the difference," Peter continued. "And it was the difference that had become the most desired... delicacy."
A pause of silence filled the room at his choice of words and the way his eyes stared heavily onto me. The feeling of discomfort grew by my own presence, knowing what I was had been exterminated by same beings in this room. Knowing that these two knew the stories of what had happened to the others before me. But it wasn't that that had alarmed me the most. No, it was the overwhelming sweet scent that filled my short breaths coming from the direction of Peter and Charlotte. While my focus had been trained on Peter during his tale, I only now had taken notice of his mate next to him. She too was staring back at me, though, her body more rigid and the tips of her fingers were latched onto the waist of Peter's trousers. The room felt colder now. No more did they looked as curious storytellers or sympathizers, but instead as predatory vampires.
Their irises no longer were illuminated with crimson red, but instead had darkened. And their lips had tightened into pressed line, clearly trying to hide what I could smell salivating behind their lips.
I felt my skin pebble with fear as I took notice that the once anxious environment had shifted into frost. Edward had moved from behind me in a blinding movement, placing himself crouched in front of me with his fingers flexed out at his side. His eyes were hardened at the two vampires that were rigid near the far wall. His lips were curled back behind his teeth as I heard a low growl rumble through his throat in their direction.
Jasper, Emmett, and Carlisle too had followed Edward's position, staring at the two pairs of red eyes in the room.
"Alice," Edward hissed a command through his gritted teeth.
Immediately, I was lifted from my seat— cradled and pressed into the small frame of the pixie once beside me who darted down the stairs through the front door of the house before any further action had taken place. Through the night air, the wind chilled over my cheeks as she had ascended the both of us deeper into the darkened forest, dodging past the trees. I couldn't control the rapid beating of my heart as I continued to imagine the two pairs of red eyes in the room daunting at me. With my face pressed against her chest, I clung to her shoulder before I took a peak towards the direction we were heading in.
I felt the air channel down my throat as I gasped at the speed we were traveling at. Even though I was used to my own advanced acceleration, it was clearly unmatched to theirs.
It wasn't but only thirty seconds before Alice had slowed herself to a brisk pace to a stop, setting me down onto my feet in the forest where the lights of the house were long gone. I hadn't even been sure what direction she had taken me as I circled the forest, scanning my eyes through the dark. I listened, but only sounds were of the nocturnal creatures rummaging and the pulse galloping on my throat.
"What happened?" I questioned frantically as I turned to her.
A sound full of disgust escaped Alice's throat. "Vampires is what happened, Bella."
"But, why? Was it because of something I did?" I questioned the possibility that I may have forced a lure. Maybe I had made accidental eye contact while I was engrossed in hearing the story that Peter was telling. But no, I was always careful. Most of the time.
"No, of course not!" She exasperated. "Those two were practically teasing themselves over you."
Delicacy, rang through my thoughts.
"The venom," I remembered. "I could smell it."
She nodded with frustration. "They were drooling over their own imagination and I felt useless not being able to see the outcome of what would have happened."
I contemplated her words as I shifted my weight onto my right leg, looking around through the trees once again, listening for broken branches or oncoming footsteps that would alert if they were being chased. She shouldn't place blame on herself for something that cannot be controlled. Edward once had spoke me to of Alice's visions, telling me there was an exception to her gift.
"You can't see me," I noted.
"No," she shook her head before knocking the back of it against the bark of the tree, causing the trunk to shake in the wake. "It is quite maddening not knowing. When Edward called out to me, I reacted knowing what he had meant. But I couldn't see!" Her fingers were now knotting in the shafts of her hair. "I tried to search, to find any way of seeing an outcome, and even now, I won't know if they are planning to come after you."
"Alice," I said softly. "Why can't you see me?"
Her tongue clicked to the roof of her mouth as her eyebrows pulled together. Her arms dropped as she stared at me with disbelief. "That's what you're worried about right now?"
No, not necessarily.
I shrugged. "I thought it would be a better topic than to worry about what might happen in the next few minutes."
She blinked at me before pulling a wisp of air between her teeth.
"I don't know exactly, but we have our theories. I never saw what had happened to you or to Edward that day you first encountered each other in Biology, I only knew that Edward was running towards an unknown target. And afterwards, blank spots continued, especially throughout the following month. I didn't realize you were apart of the pattern. And then it happened again, but not because of you. I came to realize I couldn't see anything that had involved the wolves either. It was just blurry, or entirely blank."
Her eyes closed as she leaned her head back again against the tree, placing her fingers against her temples as she formed circular motions against them.
"I don't remember my human life, but what I do know is that I was human before and was changed into a vampire in the 1920's. Ever since then, I have been able to see the futures of both vampires and humans. Humans are a little harder to see, but vampires I see so clearly, either because I am a vampire so that it makes it easier to see other futures involving other vampires, or because I cannot remember my human life. But entirely, it is still the same that I can see both. But I cannot see you nor can I see events that involve the wolves. In theory, we believe the reason for that is because I have never been a what they are nor have I ever been a succubus."
I continued to stare at her while she circled her temples repeatedly.
What she said had made sense. Not being able to obtain from something you are uncommon with. And even with the answers, they still did not relieve her irritation with herself. But I couldn't allow her to continue pressing further into her skull than she had already been doing so. I stepped forward, placing my palm against the back of her hand.
"Does it hurt?" I asked.
Alice's eyes opened, looking back at me.
"Your head," I clarified.
She blinked again, dropping her hands from the side of her face. "Only when I try too hard to see past your future. Feels like my head is going to explode. Possibly the equivalent to human migraines— maybe worse," she sighed. "I have been trying to look for a vision that excludes you, but the pulsing is lessening now that you are no longer at the house. With you far away, I can see much better now." She grinned before looking back towards the way we came, pausing as she continued staring ahead. "We should be able to go back now. Everything seems to be settled within the next few minutes."
When she looked back at me, her grin transformed into a more apologetic one.
"Charlotte and Peter are good friends to Jasper," Alice made note of. "They never would have intentionally meant to hurt you, but they are not accustomed to restraint in the ways that we are. They never had kept themselves from human blood and never had to learn the control to reframe from it, other than in their newborns years when blood was all that drove their minds. It was the thought of your blood and how the Volturi had eradicated your existence that seemed to have piqued their curiosity, questioning themselves what kind of blood could cause such an event, and causing their natural vampiric reaction." She looked away again, back through the trees. "I was even surprised that Jasper had come to your defense. He has the most trouble with controlling his thirst of the seven of us."
My gaze followed the direction she was looking in, wanting to let her continue.
"You were scared," she confirmed, not in question but in acknowledgment.
"Yes," I replied simply.
Her voice grew softer. "I am not ashamed of what I am, Bella. Being a vampire is all I've ever known, but we still are vampires. Controlling our thirst is our biggest challenge that we face. I won't try to push further excuses for how their actions transformed tonight, but I do hope you don't think too unkindly of them for what could have happened."
She didn't need to push excuses for them because I understood what she had conveyed. It was natural. Just as natural as my own desires.
Instead of running back to the house, the both of us took our time on our way. I gave her the needed silence to keep her from distractions as she continued looking ahead for the future, though she had given up knowing her visions would be blank because of our decision on returning and I would be there.
"How's Edward?" I asked, surprising myself.
Her fingers fell from her temples to her side as she looked back at me. I was relieved to see the brightness in her eyes, hoping the migraines have passed.
"He'll be okay," she nodded, fighting the smile at the corner of her lips. "He can already hear my thoughts and knows we are close."
My eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Is that why Edward can't read my mind? Because he has never been a succubus, either?"
"Incubus," she corrected. "But no. Edward is able to hear the wolves perfectly well. We don't know why he can't read your mind. You truly are new to us all," She smiled.
I nodded. So, Edward was okay. He hadn't come looking for us, but I wouldn't have expected him to. I found myself shaking my head in thought as the lights of the inside of the home came into view through the trees of the forest.
Alice stopped the both of us as she took my hand, twirling me around to face her again as a soft smile graced her lips.
"I hope you know we do care for you, Bella. All of us. We would never allow harm to come your way and we would prevent it at all costs." She didn't hesitate to pull me closer, wrapping her arm around my shoulder to press me into a hug. "You are our apart of our family now," she whispered over my shoulder.
-o-
We were all gathered inside once again in our former places on the couch, but instead, Edward had been standing to my left, forming a front between me and the two vampires on the far wall. When I had entered the room, apologies had erupted from each member of the family, including Esme who looked as if she would have shed a tear as she held tightly onto my hands. Of course, I accepted their apologies, but I didn't understand why the Cullens had been apologizing in the first place. They weren't the ones salivating at the thought of my blood. Nor had Jasper fallen into it, though, I knew the reason for the disappointment on his face.
And with Charlotte and Peter, I had accepted theirs too. It was their looks of disappointment that allowed me to see that they were ashamed of their sudden burst of lust. They didn't need to voice their apologies. I understood all too well.
I looked back at Edward, peeking behind me as he was back in his former place— hovering. I smiled lightly up at him, trying to express that the situation had dissolved, but I had remembered his pleading eyes only just earlier before I walked into the home with the two vampires. He was worried, and his eyes never met my the reassuring smile on my lips, only instead they stared darkly at the two vampires.
But now that I was growing tired from all the excitement, I knew I needed to go home before Charlie would wake up for work. It was only around three in the morning, but I needed my own rest— more truthfully, I knew that my remaining presence here would only continue the tension in the room. I needed to allow the vampires to work through the passing events with each other. And they were too kind to do that in front of me.
"Why don't we continue this conversation for another time," Carlisle announced. "I think I can speak for those of us here that we are all eager to learn more of you can share with us, but I would not want to keep Bella from her rest." He glanced in my direction, though, he had looked weary to do so. "Would you be willing to come back over in the evening?"
"I think I have plans after school," I replied, fighting back a soft yawn as my fingers brushed the back of my eyelids. "I haven't confirmed with them, but I am supposed to go to Port Angeles with a few friends from school."
Carlisle nodded. "Well, if you find that your plans have changed, and you decide to come over after all, you are welcome at any time."
"Any time," Esme nodded insistently, forming a warm smile, but it still held guilt. Guilt she didn't deserve to bare.
My attention was drawn back to the two vampires when the female's tongue clicked the roof of her mouth. "Port Angeles," she commented to no one in particuluar. "Isn't that a part of the Olympic Peninsula?"
"Yes," Edward replied, still rigid behind me. "Bella is permitted to feed outside of Forks and La Push instead of being limited to only outside of the Olympic Peninsula."
"Curious," Peter spoke, his eyebrow raised. "Why is that?"
"I live with my father," I replied. I wondered if his question had been to take offense that my feeding perimeter was not as strict as theirs. "He doesn't know anything about what I am, and I go to school just as a regular human would."
Carlisle continued, folding his hands in front of him. "We wanted to allow her to be able to feed as close by as she could without raising suspicion in this area considering her situation." His eyes looked back between Charlotte and Peter separately. "But I want to remind the two of you that you both are still limited outside of the Olympic Peninsula as before."
I worried. I didn't know these two vampires well, except that Cullens trusted them.
"Oh, we know," Charlotte smirked. She stepped forward to come closer to me but had been blocked by Edward in her way. Her forehead crinkled in disapproval at him, so she looked past him in my direction. "I do hope we get to see you tomorrow, Bella."
I nodded at her. "Yeah. Me too." And I had meant that. I wanted to learn more from them and to hear more of their story that was left unfinished. Maybe they could offer me the answers I needed.
Edward had lent me his hand for me to take. I looked back up at him before I took it, wanting to see if his eyes would glance back down at me, as they did not since I had come back into the home. And his eyes were on me, though, I could see the rigidness in his shoulders, knowing he was aware of the thoughts around me. I took his hand and stood up to leave, telling my goodbyes to the rest of the Cullens and the two with red eyes. Edward had followed behind me, walking with me out the front door of the house to the front of the yard where the driveway was beginning to lead to the main road.
"Can I offer you a ride home?" He asked.
I shook my head. "No, Charlie will probably hear your car."
"You're tired, Bella, and my car is very quiet," he replied with a hint of humor in his tone.
I caught Edward's gaze as he looked down at me, a half-smile on his lips, only slightly showing off his teeth. A smile I had seen so often before, but never completely had stared too long at before. It was beautiful. Though I already knew he was beautiful before— they all were. But it was that smile that caught me off guard before I could respond. It wasn't until he dropped his gaze from me that I could I blink. And again, I shook my head.
"Please," he insisted. I knew his intentions were well. He had been careful tonight, staying close to my side in their home. And maybe I shouldn't be so stubborn and perhaps allow him to do this for me. So, I nodded.
He sighed in approval, pulling the keys out of his back pocket and lead us to the garage.
-o-
"Don't worry if you cannot come to the house later today," Edward said, driving down the road. "They already plan on extending their stay."
"They do?" I questioned.
He nodded. "They are as curious about you as you are to hear more from them."
I frowned. "Your whole family seems to be," I whispered. "I thought at one point Carlisle was going to dissect me for an experiment."
That broke Edward into laughter. I was glad to hear it, glad to see that his worries were distilling. "Carlisle is Carlisle. He specializes in medicine and has a tendency to research whatever he possibly can. But no, that was never in his thoughts, Bella. He was worried about how you were feeling the entire time, especially Esme. And dealing with his own internal conflict. Though, he did contemplate asking you for a blood sample." His eyebrow raised.
My jaw dropped. "To taste?"
His grin grew wider. "No, just to run tests on it. He wants to know what makes your blood different, and how it contributes to an un-changing body."
"Do you think he would ever find the answer he is looking for?"
Edward shook his head. "Not likely. He would probably come to the same conclusions as the wolves. When the Quileute's shift and continue to do so, they stop aging. They still have blood flowing through their veins, just as you do. With vampires when we change, our skin becomes a resemblance to stone. When we go through our change, our bodies absorb our human blood through the process and continue doing so throughout the first year. Which would lead to the explanation why we no longer have blood. Of course, that is much different to you, but I do question what would happen if you did decide to quit feeding entirely."
I shrugged. "I didn't feed for almost four months after I changed, but I noticed how it had affected me."
"You may have been surviving off of your human energy that you had left over."
I contemplated that. Now I couldn't even go a week without feeding before noticing the change. "What about vampires? What happens if you stop feeding?"
"We don't die," his eyebrows furrowed in thought. "But we would be driven mad and lose rational thought. Over time, we would most likely begin to just not feel anymore. Our bodies would possibly begin to hibernate in an enteral state, desecrating over time. Though, it is unheard of. Vampires don't normally last too long without falling into their desires."
Desires.
The house was nearing, and Edward pulled in front of the curb, making sure he had turned the headlights off before he put the car into park. I looked through the windows of the home, looking for any sign of an illuminating source that would tell me Charlie was awake, but the only light that was on was the one from the front porch.
"What are you planning to do in Port Angeles?" He asked.
My lips pressed together. "Um, Jessica asked if I could go dress shopping with her and Angela. But…" my eyes drifted away again. "I know I need to feed. I might escape from them for an hour or so to do that."
"Good," he nodded, catching my attention once again.
Good, was the word he used. I felt my shoulders relax knowing he understood. I always felt as if I had to tiptoe around the topic of me feeding on humans knowing that his family were against the idea for themselves, but Edward's response left me feeling at ease with it. To him, it only mattered that I was fed. He made this clear to me before. Edward and I never actually had spoken about Seattle since that day and I wondered if we ever would.
"Will I see you at school?" I asked, unstrapping my seatbelt before opening the passenger door. It wasn't until my hand landed on nothing that I realized he had beaten me to it.
"No," he replied, holding the door open for me. "Not today."
I nodded without wanting to question it further. He hadn't been at school yesterday, nor would he be there today, though I understood. Their family friends were in town, and they would have wanted to spend time with them while they were here. But I did wonder that if Peter and Charlotte had been truthful to extending their stay, that whether the Cullens would be out of school for the entire week.
I stepped out of the car, allowing Edward to close the door behind me. I wasn't sure what to say next as I stood there, looking at my bedroom window. I offered him a soft smile before I walked passed him.
"Goodnight, Bella," he called out.
I paused, turning to look in his direction.
"Goodnight, Edward."
A/N
I would like to thank myfanficaddiction for helping me with the last several chapters! Honestly, not having a beta reader is tough, but having them read my chapters and discuss thoughts and offer input has helped so much!
I hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter. There will be more to the stories about the Volturi and their part with the Succubi in future chapters! I can't wait to hear from you guys and… until next time!(: