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Caroline's POV:
2 days…. It's been TWO freakin' days! Since I've come to the wettest and greenest place I've ever been to in my entire life. Not that I mind the weather so much. It feels good to be out and not have to worry about the sun and if my ring is in its place.
No, what worries me the most right now is Bella. In some ways it's worse than what Charlie described.
She hasn't even acknowledged my presence, much less come down to dinner the night I arrived. Truth be told, I don't think she even heard it when Charlie made our introductions. I felt so sorry for him when he left for work this morning. He's totally lost in what to do or how to "help" her, especially with the frequent nightmares.
I guess this is where I come in. This is also our first time being alone in the house together. Okay, this is it.
"Time for plan A" I whispered to myself as I knocked on Bella's bedroom door. "Bella? It's Caroline, I brought you some lunch!"
No response, I knocked again.
"Bella!" Nothing,
"Bel-!" I cut myself off, trying the doorknob and realizing it was unlocked. I slowly and quietly entered the room. There was another person's scent in here but it was faint. My eyes focused on the living statue, sitting in the chair by the window.
"Bella?" I asked again, putting the plate on the bed as I walked over and lightly put my hand on her shoulder. She tensed up but didn't say anything. Just kept staring off into the oblivion. I then came around to face her.
"Bella, this has to stop. This behavior isn't good for you or Charlie. Do you hear me?" I asked capturing her face in the cup of my hands. Bella instinctually tried to jerk her face from my hands but I was too strong, being a Vampire. She began whimpering,
"Isabella Marie, I will not hurt you. But you need to stop this!"
My pupils dilated as her eyes widened, banishing the 1,000-yard stare.
"Wh-What are you doing?"
"Bella… I don't want to compel you. I don't want to do that to any human but I will if I have to"
"Compel?" Her eyes now narrowed, as if she was trying to make sense of the word. Strange? I thought she'd been around Vampires before?
"Mind Control," I explained to her none the less. The girl now looked a mixture of fascinated and amused for some reason.
"You…Control minds? You're a Hypnotist. I have to admit that's a new one. Then again, I used to know a-" She cut herself off and grimaced before gulping and finishing with "Mind Reader."
I mentally filed that information away for later and continued to focus on the task at hand as for the first time Bella's eyes locked with mine.
"What are you doing here Miss Mind Controller?"
"Charlie and my mother sent me here - To help you, get over Edward."
"WHAT?!" Bella screamed, falling over backwards in her chair. My clumsy cousin quickly tried to crawl away, scrambling to her feet as I came closer before backing her up against the wall. "Go ahead and try it," she hissed at me, but I could tell from her heartrate that she was panicking. "Ed- He couldn't read my mind, so there's no proof you can control me either"
"Bella, I don't WANT to control you. I remember what it was like for me. But Charlie… is… Desperate. Do you understand?
You are HURTING him, Bella.
Twenty-four hours a DAY for the last two months, that's exactly what you have been doing. Since you won't leave Forks and get help. He's bringing "help" to you"
Bella's eyes widened as she digested the information. "Charlie- my father, ordered you to do this?" she now asked in a scared and crushed voice.
"He wants me to help you. Compulsion for me is a last resort. But Bella…you really need to pull your head out, and stop playing the Victim here. Do you honestly think that you are the only one who entered into a relationship with a Supernatural and had it end badly?"
"Sup-What are you talking about?" She blinked,
"I'm talking about Vampires, Witches, and Werewolves Bella"
My Cousin gasped, "Wh-What-are you talk about that stuff for? They're not r-real, just somebody's im-imagination"
I rolled my eyes before grabbing her wrist, one that was revealed to have bite on it as the sleeve rolled down.
"You suck at lying Bella. Don't you dare try and give me that bullshit when we both know it's true. Even Charlie knows it, he just doesn't want to believe it. Why else do you think he swallowed all your lies last year about Phoenix and what happened there? Your Father is not stupid and it's about time you started respecting him."
I released her before backing away a few steps. "I will see you at the dinner table tonight. If not? You want act like a mental patient, then I'll start treating you like one. Starting with an ice-cold shower tomorrow and spoon feeding you applesauce. So, when Monday rolls around, you won't stink and have something in your system to make your brain function. I'll see myself out" I told her, walking out the door and shutting it behind me.
I could hear Bella starting to have a crying melt down as I made it to the stairs. I took a deep breath; this first encounter with her was not how I wanted it go. First impressions and all that.
True, Bella needed a serious wakeup call but I think I should've handled it better. Maybe a little more patience? This is so hard though; I want to be sympathetic but I also don't want to coddle her. She has the potential to be strong, I know she does.
Still, she was crying and Sadness is an emotion. The first emotion she's probably felt in a while, so that's progress? About a half hour later, I heard the shower going. Great. She was doing something at least…
...
Bella's POV:
Even under the hot water I couldn't quite stop the trembling. Charlie brought her here? The Hypnotist.
I know things have been bad and he's been looking at me funny. But this?
I honestly haven't meant to hurt him. I just-! And what was that she said? "Charlie knows about the Supernatural?!" How? Why?
After all we - I've done to protect him? He's known but hasn't said anything because he doesn't want to believe? Why? I guess it doesn't matter right now.
This girl, this Hypnotist is scary. How she knew all those things? About Phoenix? She actually accused me of Playing the Victim and acting Mental. I winced, remembering about Alice and discovering her human roots.
"Take care of yourself, for Charlie's sake." That's one of the things Ed-He requested of me that day in the woods.
I closed my eyes as my head went further under the spray, washing away the fresh tears that ran down my face. I failed him. The fact this girl was even here was proof of that.
There was something else about her too. How strong she was when she held my face and later grabbed my arm? It didn't feel natural.
There was also a dangerous vibe she gave off, giving me goosebumps. Kind of reminding me like how I first interacted with the Cullens but different too. She couldn't be a Vampire but maybe she was something else? Maybe it was worth investigating? I certainly don't want to keep up my "Act" anymore. I have a feeling that girl means what she says.
I took my time slowly coming down the stairs. She was there, sitting on the couch, talking on the house phone with notebook in her hand as she wrote down some information:
"Sure…ah huh…Yes! That sounds perfect! Right. I'll see if I can come in tomorrow? Thank you so much- Bye" She hung up.
"Are you just going to continue standing there on the last step Bella? You can come in the living room. This is your house too" That was freaky.
So definitely put a check mark on the box labeled: "Super Advanced Hearing". I didn't answer her as I came and sat on the opposite end of the couch. The blond girl was quiet as she looked over her writing.
"Is there something you want to ask me?" She said, finally looking in my direction. I shrugged,
"Come on Cousin, I can hear your racing heartbeat from over here. Just spit it out"
Did she just say "Cousin?" "What are you?"
The girl scoffed, "I thought it was obvious: I'm a Vampire"
Now it was my turn to scoff before smirking, "No, you're not"
"Yes, I… am"
She tensed before her blue eyes dilated to pure black, causing her dark blood vein vessels to seemingly pop out on face as couple of her teeth extended into fangs. "Is this enough proof? Or do you want me to drink from you?" I could tell that last offer was sarcastic.
"That's enough," I said, totally taken back as I watched her face returned to normal.
"Good. Anything else?"
Yes. I only a had a million questions.
There was another kind of Vampire out there besides Ed- The Cold Ones?! But this kind wasn't as cold as their "cousins". This Vampire had touched me, and her skin temperature wasn't that much different then mine. Speaking of Cousins…
"You said "We were Cousins?"
The girl smacked her own forehead in frustration. "Yes Bella. Forgive me… My head is not exactly in the right spot right now. I was so focused on trying to finally get a response from you that we didn't get properly introduced." She held her hand out in a shaking gesture:
"Hello My name is Caroline Forbes. I'm Liz – or Elizabeth Forbes' daughter from Virginia. Charlie is my mother's first Cousin"
This was news to me; I didn't think my dad had any family left besides me. Renee never mentioned anything. My hand met hers in the middle with hopefully an apologetic look.
"Hi I'm Bella, but you already know that…I'm sorry, but I don't remember you"
Caroline scoffed before a smiling encouragingly,
"That's not surprising. You and I only met once or twice before the age of five, when your parents' divorce was being finalized. Your mother had to return to the state, and you guys were camped out in a hotel room in Seattle when Charlie took you for a weekend or two and my parents and I were up here. At least, that's how it went down according to my mom. Charlie and her are both Cops, so their jobs keep them busy. It's only recently that they reconnected"
I nodded to show her I was listening, my mind still reeling from the new information. Both from our family connection and what she actually was. I have a Vampire Cousin?
Caroline's POV:
Just great, already I can tell that Bella's fascinated by me. Not me as a person, but rather what I am.
Maybe I shouldn't have confirmed it, but she already had her suspicions. What to do? What to do?
In the meantime, I have to think about somehow grabbing a ride to Port Angeles tomorrow, so I can go to the store, getting supplies for school and pick up a cheap prepaid phone until I can get something more permanent.
Yes, I gave my phone back to my mom, and it's been great. Not having to put up will the annoying "plotting" texts. But I miss my friends. I miss my mom; we had just started getting close again… I miss Tyler, though he's been gone a lot longer than I have. Hell, I'm even missing…
Dare I say it? Klaus…
