The morning after was much more bearable for me than it was for Jenna. After initially waking feeling the worst I'd ever experienced, my achy head snapped back to normal almost instantly after a shower and some aspirin. Jenna, however, spent the majority of the day either passed out in my bed, or vomiting over the porcelain. I took my role as best-friend seriously: I held her hair back whilst trying to control the urge to gag as the smell of her vomit hit me like a freight train; I kept her hydrated, walked to the nearest food vendor to get us food, and, I mocked her and laughed at her misery. She also starred in my latest sketch – correctly labelled as 'Jenna's Finest Moment'.
If one positive came from last night, it was discovering something new about myself. My venom didn't mix well with alcohol. A positive was that I believe it was thanks to my venom that I recovered quickly; a negative was that it resulted in my having to be carried back to my room. Even worse was that it was Edward and Alice who escorted us back. I was concerned that I'd let something slip in my drunken haze, but I figured whatever I may have said, or thought, would have been too incoherent for anyone to understand. At least, I hoped that was the case.
When I'd called Bella that afternoon, she did not sound impressed at my antics but accepted it once I'd told her that neither Jenna nor I would be participating in that activity any time soon. She took great delight in sharing our conversation with Dawn, Jenna's mom, who was apparently visiting. Our phone call ended with an exuberant 'see you soon', as the event for parents was now only two weeks away.
-o0o-
The text that alerted me to my family's whereabouts had me running – at human speed – from my dorm, ready to meet them at the south entrance gates. I ignored my surroundings, my sole focus was that Bella and Charlie would be here soon.
One voice that did manage to grab my attention was Alice, calling my name as I passed one of the designated parking lots for the event. When I snapped my head in her direction, I saw her wave her hand to me in greeting. I waved back at her whilst quickly analysing her companions. A blonde male stood beside Alice with his hand wrapped around her waist; his eyes solely focused on her. I looked passed them slightly and noticed Edward leaning casually against a modern silver Volvo. His face looked animated as he spoke to a slightly older couple that stood next to a black Mercedes. The male of that couple was also a blonde; however, his hair was closer to platinum than honey. His stance screamed authority, telling me that he was the leader of this coven. The woman at his side had light brown hair that reflected gold in some places – almost caramel. Her hand was toying with Edward's unruly hair in a motherly attempt to straighten it.
This was the coven they belonged to.
My observation took less than two seconds – just enough time for me to return the gesture on my way to meet my own family. I was anxious about Bella finding out about the vampires, but it would be inevitable. There was no way Alice would go unnoticed. I realised that with my mom around, Alice and Edward would also find out my true identity today as well. I'd contemplated all of this already and had decided to simply let fate lead its course.
I reached my destination in time to hear a horn sound from a midnight blue pick-up that Charlie sometimes borrowed for his distant fishing trips. I felt my cheeks tighten at the strain of my smile as I watched my mom jump from the passenger side and make her way over to me before she scooped me into a hug. I giggled as she spun me around.
I peeked over Bella's shoulder and saw Charlie stood awkwardly with his hands out in front of him and his moustache twitching. I giggled and ran into his embrace, forgetting that he wasn't as sturdy as Bella was. He staggered back but remained upright as his throaty chuckle vibrated in his chest.
I buried my face in his neck. "I missed you, Grandpa."
"I've missed you too, kid," he replied before loosening his arms from around me. "What's the plan?"
"Well, I was thinking I could show you around campus, introduce you to my teachers and let you sample the food around here. The main event is happening in the Conference Centre so we'd have to go over at some point, but we're free to roam," I told them. "Is that okay with you, Dad?" I teased.
He smirked before he held out his arm for me to take. I threaded my arm through and looked up at my mom who was smiling down at me. We walked through the grounds for a while, my mind set on showing Charlie my room first. Fate seemed to have a different plan for me though. As soon as we entered the lobby of the building, Bella stiffened and inhaled deeply through her nose before I saw the defensive vampire instinct flash in her eyes. She turned to look down at me and I knew she'd seen my guilty expression as I lowered my gaze to the floor.
"When were you going to tell me?" She demanded, arching her brow.
Charlie turned to observe the exchange between us.
"I didn't know how to bring it up, but they're not bad!" I argued. "They-"
"Wait, 'they'? There's more than one?" She questioned; her anger building. I knew from past experience that, yes, some of her anger was directed at me, but the majority of it came from the situation we faced. I'd anticipated this very reaction right from the beginning. "I can only smell what appears to be a female, so tell me, Renesmee, how many are there and why haven't you told me about them?"
Charlie finally realised the direction of our conversation and his eyes lit with understanding. He spluttered on nothing but his voice before he strung together his sentence, "There's...you know...some here?" He looked behind him as if expecting them to be stood directly behind us.
Despite mine and my mother's nature, he still had trouble processing the supernatural world of vampires and werewolves that he had been sucked into. Most of the time, he hid it well.
"It's a girl who looks my age and her 'brother'," I explained. "That's it except their 'family' is here today. The girl is in my art class and although I'm keeping my distance as best I can, she's persistent. But, she seems a nice girl. I don't talk to her brother; just an occasional greeting now and then when he feels like it, but like I've said: they wouldn't hurt me or Jenna. They think I'm human. Plus, they're vegetarians." I finished my argument with a large exhale, waiting for her reaction.
She raised her gaze to the wall above my head as she thought. I hoped she wouldn't feel too threatened about this and force me home. Thank fully, when she looked back at me, her expression was loving – the way she'd looked at me my entire life. "I trust your judgement honey, never doubt that," she promised. "I just worry about you, that's all, and I know you can handle yourself, but I'm your mother and you can't blame me for being protective of you; not with everything that I've seen."
I nodded in understanding and smiled at her acceptance of my strange, sort-of-unofficial friendship with a fellow vampire.
"Well, now that that's settled; can we move on?" Charlie asked before he pulled me down the corridor, not waiting for an answer from either of us. I chuckled to myself at his actions; Bella of course heard me and sent me a smile as she walked along side us.
We didn't stay in my room long as I was more eager to show them the different buildings and history I'd learnt from being here. I felt that if I demonstrated all my knowledge and passion to learn, then they wouldn't feel as though they'd made a bad choice in letting me go.
We were walking toward the life science building when I heard a very familiar voice call my name, "Hey Nessie, wait up!"
I turned around to see my best friend walking over to me flagged by two other blonde-haired individuals. All their features were the same apart from the eyes: the female had golden eyes – a sure sign of her diet – but the male had the most incredible green coloured eyes I'd ever seen in my existence. Any human would envy that simple facial feature. The female's face was also more prominent and defined than the male's, which in turn was more distinct than Jenna's.
They were beautiful.
The scent that lingered around them and travelled through the wind told me exactly what connection they held to Jenna, even if their resemblance did not. This was her family: mother and brother. Bella surprised me by calling out a greeting to Dawn before approaching her and embracing her. Charlie followed aimlessly behind trying to maintain a safe distance. Both Bella and Dawn immediately started a conversation between themselves, which I though best to ignore, as I made my way over to Jenna and her brother. Before introductions could be made by ourselves, my mom and Dawn took care of it and I found myself being introduced to vampire/Mom, Dawn Hart and hybrid/brother, Justin Hart.
"Hey, fellow hybrid," Justin greeted pleasantly, "nice to finally meet you."
Justin held out his hand as greeting. I placed my palm in his and watched as he pulled it to his mouth and kissed my knuckles before slyly winking at me. I noticed that his accent held less of a British twang than Jenna's did.
Jenna fabricated a gag before talking, "Ignore my dear brother, please. He thinks he's a lady man – which he isn't."
Justin smirked, "I'll have you know that I am simply being friendly to another of my kind. Something you are not familiar with, little sis."
Jenna glared, which I couldn't help smirking at, "Do not call me little sis; I am older than you and always will be so keep that shut before I knock your teeth out of it," she threatened, indicating to his mouth which held a devious grin.
"Aww, you're an adorable pussycat when you're pissed, Jen," he teased, ruffling her hair. "I'll have you know that for one, I look older; two, no way could you knock my teeth out. My mixed genes equal perfection, just like Nessie's here do too."
His expression held playfulness and I knew that he was only doing this to annoy Jenna. It was lovely seeing their relationship with my own eyes.
"You're far from perfect, sunshine," she mumbled.
"I have to disagree," he declared teasingly. "I can actually hold my liquor-"
"Okay!" Jenna exclaimed, shutting him up before he could continue. He barked out a laugh. "Mum, we're going now so he can't embarrass me anymore. Please."
Dawn laughed before speaking in a definite British accent, "Okay, sweetheart."
She turned her attention back to Bella briefly to say her goodbyes, "We'll carry on this conversation later; it was lovely seeing you again, Bella… Charlie."
She then turned to me and offered me a cheek-to-cheek kiss, "I'm so glad to have finally met you, Nessie, I've heard a lot about you. I'll be seeing you again soon, dear."
Jenna mumbled a small 'goodbye' before she dragged her brother in the opposite direction we were heading. I laughed aloud and knew I'd get some verbal abuse off of Jenna later, but at that moment, I didn't care. My day was going great.
As we proceeded to our destination, I overheard Charlie mention Christmas visitors.
"What visitors?" I questioned.
Bella's smile gleamed. "Your grandpa just extended an invitation to the Hart's to join us for Christmas this year," she told me in a telling, sing-song voice.
At first, my grin was one of joy – I'd get to spend my holidays with my new friend – but then it became teasing as a blush ran up to Charlie's cheeks.
A giggle escaped me. "Are you blushing, old man?" I teased.
Charlie looked to me, his moustache twitched. He slung his arms over my shoulders and pulled me into his armpit as he said, "Can it, kid."
We strolled the rest of the distance that way. I pushed open the main door leading to the building's lobby and stepped inside. The smell hit me before my eyes managed to capture the location of its origin. My head snapped in that direction and I saw Alice and Edward along with the other three vampires stood to the left of us in the far corner of the room. I felt my mom move behind me and braced myself to introduce them.
"Mom-" but I was cut off before I could continue to say anything else.
I saw Bella's head snap to look at Alice and her family, followed by a sharp intake of breath. For the first time in years, I heard Charlie growl like one of us before I heard his angry mumblings and footsteps. Heavily confused, I turned my head to look for my family and was taken aback: Charlie's retreating footsteps told me that he had left the room, but to my surprise, my mom had left too.
She had never run before. Never. But now she was gone; the only evidence that remained was the slight swing of the door as it shut behind their exit.
What the hell had just happened?
I stared at the door, utterly baffled. I turned back and looked over at Alice and her family; they were stood talking to each other, not paying attention to anyone else in the room. They'd done nothing to provoke that type of reaction from either Charlie or Bella. They hadn't even noticed my family, so why did they leave? It couldn't have been anyone else in the room.
As if sensing my gaze, Alice lifted her head and looked at me, her gold eyes fixating on mine, head titling as she studied my confusion. I saw her eyes flicker to look over my shoulder, obviously sensing something. Or she was wondering why I was alone when the rest of the students were surrounded by family members. The caramel-haired woman looked up at me, following Alice's gaze, and offered me a compassionate smile before asking Alice who I was. Of course I could hear it, along with Alice's reply, but I couldn't make that known.
Dazed and confused, I turned around and went back through the doors.
Outside, I saw my mom looking down with her eyes closed and Charlie pacing frantically; his breathing was harsh and uneven and his face had turned a deep crimson colour. Bella's head snapped up to look at me and the emotion that played in her usually bright eyes was unexpected. I couldn't find a suitably named emotion to attach to what was displayed on her face. I ran to her confused. As I did, a sob escaped her throat as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I immediately secured my arms around her waist but I couldn't speak. Words evaded me and I couldn't comprehend anything that was happening. I was missing something drastic.
Bella shook in my arms and she sobbed a tearless cry on my shoulder. She took a deep breath then pulled away from me. Her hands came up to cup my cheeks and her eyes flickered frantically as she searched each of my own eyes individually, assessing what she could read. I reached up to place my hands over hers and my questions as to why she left the room danced across her mind.
Her face crumpled again so I immediately removed my hands from hers, but she didn't remove hers from my face.
Charlie spoke before either one of us did. "Nessie, we're leaving and you're coming with us. You're not staying here anymore, not with them." His eyes were blazed and his moustache twitched; a sure sign of his fiery emotions.
What he said flowed through my brain and forced words out of my mouth in the form of a protest, "What! Why?"
I looked over at Bella for back-up or an explanation or something, but found her looking down with her eyes closed again.
Her gaze was heartbreaking as she raised her eyes to mine, her hand dropping to rest on my shoulders. "Renesmee, did you read the scrapbook?" she asked me in a voice so quiet it was nearly impossible to hear her.
My heart hammered, my gut clenching. "What scrapbook?"
Her eyes shut tight and she seemed to heave a breath of relief. However, when they opened back up, the heartbreak was still there, clear as day. Before she could explain, Charlie's anger took over. He'd missed the two second exchange between my mom and I.
"You're not staying here anymore," Charlie shouted, spittle flying from his mouth as he spoke, "That's final!"
"Dad," Bella spoke softly. She slowly dropped her hands from me but took one of mine in her own, unwilling to break the contact. "Stop," she begged. "It's not our decision to make."
Bella's soft voice contrasted Charlie's loud, vicious snarling. "You're honestly going to let her stay when the Cu-"
"Dad!" Bella interrupted, her eyes flying open, "She has to know eventually. If she wants to come home after she knows then that's fine, but we can't make the decision for her. It's her life."
If I didn't find their conversation serious, I'd have asked them to stop referring to me in the third person, but instead I asked, "What do I have to know?" My voice was feeble. A small shadow of fear crept its way up my back, evoking a shiver in me.
Bella didn't answer and kept her gaze locked on Charlie, waiting for him to speak. He huffed and put a palm to his forehead before dragging it down his face and combing his moustache, "Fine. But you are not stopping me from talking to Jake about protection, understand?"
"Completely," Bella replied before turning to look at me. "Ness, I need you to listen to me now… Your Grandpa and I have to leave urgently and you'll know why soon, I promise. If I tell you myself you'll see things differently and biasedly and I don't want that.
"Do you remember the parcel I gave you when we first dropped you off?" She asked me, keeping her eyes locked on mine. I nodded in response, not trusting my voice. "I need you to read it before anything else you do. You need to go back to your room and read it. I thought you would have done by now what with you and your curiosity," she said with a small smile.
"Curiosity killed the cat," I retorted meekly.
"This time it's okay to kill the cat," she told me seriously. "I need you to read it, and when you're ready to talk, call me and I'll be there in a flash."
I nodded to her, not really understanding. She pulled me into another hug and kissed the crown of my head, "I love you so much, Renesmee; my little girl."
Tears brimmed my eyes. It was clear as glass that my mother was hurting, and whenever she hurt, so did I. We were two peas in a pod; so similar in everything.
Bella pulled away abruptly and looked up at the door. "Dad, we have to leave. Now," she said frantically. "Mask my scent," she ordered him, pointing at me.
Charlie pulled me into a hug and I felt him breathe in my hair before he let me go and kissed my cheek. Bella grabbed hold of his hand and blew me a kiss before she practically dragged Charlie around the corner and out of sight.
I stood there completely lost in everything when I heard the door open behind me. My mind was too pre-occupied to notice who came to stand at my side.
"Nessie, are you okay?" She asked.
I turned around to find Alice looking at my intently.
"Have you been crying?" She asked.
She took a step forward toward me. Acting on instinct, I countered it and took a step back. Alice looked at me confused.
"I'm sorry, Alice, I have to go," I told her.
I couldn't stay there anymore. I turned on my heel and stalked quickly back to my dorm.
Today was supposed to be about my family seeing what I did here, and how much I loved it. Instead, something caused them to run away, and the only explanation was the vampires she'd seen. There was a secret somewhere; a secret that had been kept locked in many people's mind that had remained unopened. My mom had now given me the key to unlock it and she wouldn't have if it wasn't important.
I could feel Alice's gaze lingering on my back as I hastily retreated in the direction of my room. I didn't feel it leave until I rounded the first corner. My mind was in a whirlwind of emotional thoughts and possibilities, none of which had a plausible origin or outcome. I tried to diminish my confusion with the simple thought of the task my mother had asked me to carry out: read the book.
Something had deeply upset my mother and Charlie. And it was something to do with Alice's coven... of that much I was sure.
Reminder: I understand that reviews can take a large portion of time and sometimes it's difficult to put into words. Therefore, I have developed a quick review system based on Emojis. Now because FanFiction isn't compatible with the standard Emojis, old fashion text work will have to do:
:D = Love it
:) = Like it
:/ = Could have been better
:( = Don't like it
D: = Preferred a previous chapter
:O = I did not expect that to happen
:# = Excited for more!