Still a transition chapter, but it explains a few things and we get Catherine's POV. Enjoy!
Chapter Three
Catherine shivered. The car ride had been bad enough, with both Emmett and Edward crowding the backseat, but their home itself...it was too big, too empty; it reminded her of her time at Volterra. It also smelled like bleach - she decided not to dwell on what more smells that one was masking. It was best if she did not know.
She kept a respectful distance from everyone and, even if what she really wanted was to curl up next to the fireplace and sleep, she accepted the cold bedroom that the doctor's wife graciously offered. Esme was her name; she had to remember that.
Once inside the room, she took off the offending clothes. After God knows how many years without using them, even the finest of fabrics made for an unpleasant feeling against her skin. It didn't help that it smelled like vampire. Catherine jumped on the bed and pulled her knees to her chest, thinking about the people she had come to meet just a couple of days before.
She liked some of them, and could come to like the others. The doctor and his wife - Esme, she's called Esme - were kind, Emmett was funny, and Edward needed only a bit of friendship, which she was more than ready to offer. Catherine liked to think she understood his perceived need for relief; although she liked her own life well enough, it was lonely and much too empty, just like his. But he was looking at the wrong solution, and she could help fix that. Maybe.
The short girl - shorter than herself - seemed a bit controlling, but not intent on disliking her. Her mate, on the other hand, was, but that didn't bother Catherine. She had done enough during her life to warrant such feelings and always did her best to understand them - which did not mean she would go down without a fight. And she was fairly confident in her chances of winning.
That left the beautiful blonde and Bella. Though the blonde was intimidating, she was Emmett's wife, and she knew there was no chance he'd married a bad person, not at all; Catherine was much more worried about Bella. The brunette was a newborn, of that she was sure, for her handshake had left visible bruises on Catherine's hand. She just didn't know whether that had been intentional. Bella was obviously not scared - and, had Catherine not learned to give people the benefit of the doubt, she would have been certain of being antagonized.
A soft knock on the door interrupted her musings. She dressed quickly, struggling to stick her arms up the right holes, and opened the door to reveal an amused Edward.
"You don't like the clothes?" he asked, his eyebrows shooting up.
"They're beautiful."
"That is not what I asked," Edward replied, his amusement deepening.
Catherine huffed. "I'm not used to clothes," she admitted. She hadn't actually worn any in the last few years.
The small grin on his face vanished, replaced by a pained expression. He warned her softly, "You've put them on inside out. Do you want me to call Esme?"
"For Heaven's sake, just bring her already," said the blonde's voice from downstairs. "It doesn't matter if she's naked."
"Yes indeed," Edward said wryly. "I'm sure Emmett wouldn't mind in the least."
"What do you mean?" she asked at the same time that Emmett groaned.
Catherine was intrigued, but decided not to take part in whatever plan Edward had put in motion. "Bring me where?" she asked instead.
"Family reunion," he explained. "If you're going to stay here, we need to get to know each other."
Catherine nodded and hid her bruised hand in her pockets. Together, they descended the stairs slowly, none of them in a hurry to face the questions that were about to be made.
The dining room was spacious, its most memorable piece of furniture being the enormous, lustrous ebony table in the middle of it. The doctor welcomed her warmly, performing - again - the introductions. Rosalie, the blonde, was in a sullen mood, while Emmett looked chagrined. The rest of them wore blank expressions, waiting for the reunion to start.
Carlisle motioned for her to sit next to Bella and farthest from him. She obeyed, slightly worried at the setup. He sat himself at the head of the table, close to Edward and Esme. "Catherine," he began, ignoring Rosalie's loud snort. "Do you have any questions for us?"
She did. "Why do all of you have yellow eyes?" Catherine blurted out something that had been bothering her since her first meeting with Edward. Their eyes were not unnaturally bright, like hers, but rather human. She found them beautiful. "You smell like full vampires to me, but your eye colour tells me you're different."
"Full vampires?" asked Esme.
"Well, yes," Catherine answered dryly. "But I believe it's my turn to ask questions."
Rosalie gasped at her impertinence - she was prone to such silly, human reactions - but Esme only laughed. "Noted," she answered in much the same tone.
Carlisle tapped on the table, effectively drawing Catherine's attention. "We're vegetarian," he said simply. At her blank expression, he clarified, "We don't hunt humans."
"You drink from animals?" She understood quickly, as that was her current diet, too. "I don't think that's what 'vegetarian' means."
Emmett gave her a wide smile, showing his sharp teeth. "That's the joke."
Catherine displayed her own. "I suppose you don't want me to hunt humans either?"
At the general noises of agreement, she continued, "You can rest assured; I haven't done that in years."
The atmosphere around her relaxed at once. Carlisle breathed a loud sigh of relief, but she didn't miss Edward's subtler one.
"Do you have any more questions?" Emmett asked. "Don't worry about the time, it's not like we have to attend college or anything, anyway."
"Emmett!" Esme chastised him. "Don't be rude. You can start a few days late."
"A few days? Because of a mutt?" Rosalie almost growled. "I refuse."
"I don't have any more questions," Catherine said politely. "And I don't think anyone but Carlisle is curious enough to want to hear my answers. Feel free to do whatever you want."
"I don't need your permission," she snapped. "Let us go, Emmett."
Emmett shot her and Carlisle an apologetic glance and followed his wife upstairs. She was wrong before, she decided; Emmett could have married a bad person.
Being mean to you doesn't mean someone is bad, Kitty, said a small voice in her head. She reluctantly agreed.
"Does anyone else want to go?" Carlisle asked. The lanky guy - Jasper - looked ready to take Alice away with him, but ended up staying. Catherine surmised it had something to do with the pixie's stubborn expression.
When the sounds of Rosalie's vehicle faded in the distance, Carlisle turned to her, his eyes sparkling. "So, full vampires?"
"There are full vampires and there are hybrids," Catherine said simply. "The latter are the result of a vampire and a human's," - she made a face - "reunion."
"Is it possible?" he asked, perplexed.
"They're uncommon, but not that rare. Have you truly never seen one?"
"Not ever," Carlisle said. "We have a few friends in Alaska who engage in certain activities," he looked like he would be blushing, if he could. "with humans, but they never had any children, and I do not think it possible. Unless it's only a possibility to male vampires?"
Catherine nodded, not liking the subject in the least. Luckily for her, Carlisle started grumbling to himself. Unluckily for her, however, Alice was also curious. "Would you tell us your story?" she prodded, her expression eager.
The question wasn't a surprise, so Catherine answered quickly, as if reading from a manual. "I was born in Utah, 1954. A werewolf bit me when I was nineteen. The Volturi found me when just after I got out of my newborn stage, around 1995, and I stayed with them for five years or so. That's where I met a few hybrids. Been alone since I left them, mostly fooling around Russian mountains." She didn't wrap up or made any attempt at giving them a better understanding of herself. Let them wrench it out of her.
"Well," said Alice. "That's awfully little. And you're not fifty, you're over sixty."
"Ask me whatever you want and I shall do my best to answer." Catherine ignored the last remark; she wasn't about to tell them she had completely lost the notion of time during the last decade.
Alice tried to say something, but Edward was faster. "Who bit you?"
"The name's Marvin. He died an awful death." There was no emotion in her voice. She had wrenched that out of her heart long ago.
"Your newborn stage lasted more than twenty years?"
"Yeah. Werewolves are unruly, far more so than vampires, so they are driven by their basest instincts for far longer. It's one of the reasons for the Volturi to kill them."
"And yet, they didn't kill you."
"No," she agreed, no pride in her tone. "I was stealthier than most."
"Could you tell us how?"
"I'd rather not, but I'm trying to earn your trust here," she smiled wanly. "At first, well, I hated what I'd become, and avoided humans as much as possible. This...abstinence stretched my control thin, but it worked for a time." She decided not to dwell on the time when it didn't work. "Then I learned to see my condition for what it was: not better, not worse, just different. And I strived to make the best out of it. In learning to channel my instincts to non-lethal activities, I put myself under control.
"Most werewolves hate or love themselves. The former leads them to reject their nature and thus they end up losing what little control they had; the latter rejects taking control even if the opportunity for it presents itself. There is no balance, and without balance there is no life for them to live. The Volturi make sure of it."
The silence at her words was brief; Edward was much too interested. "What non-lethal activities?"
"Werewolves like to have territories, and I made sure I had one. I had space to run, hunt, and even play. We're lonely by principle, so the lack of conversation didn't bother me in the beginning. Mainly, I had time to observe things, and that satisfied me. I never had time to look at the beauty of the world when I was human." Catherine sighed, knowing she had said too much but unable to help it. She hoped they weren't interested in her as a person and wouldn't ask. At the same time, she hoped they were, and would.
Edward chose not to ask, and changed directions, "Why can't I read your mind?"
"What?" She and Bella asked at the same time.
Edward looked embarrassed, but answered. "My talent is reading minds, but I can't read yours, just Wolfie's." Then he grimaced. "Sorry, Bella."
Bella looked, as Emmett would put it, bummed out, and Catherine coloured to the roots of her hair. Had he seen what she was thinking at Narodnaya Mountain?
"That's a nice talent, but I don't understand what you meant when you said you can read Wolfie's mind. There is no Wolfie; it's just me."
He probably had seen it, she concluded, for he looked uncomfortable at that piece of information. Then, to her relief, he asked, "Then why can't I see what you're thinking before you say it?"
Catherine relaxed a bit. "What do you see?"
"Only emotions. My sister Alice can't see your future, either."
Her eyes widened and she turned to Alice. "You can see the future?"
The pixie's expression darkened. "Could. Before you came along."
"Alice!" Edward looked appalled. "Forgive us, Catherine, my sister is still bitter at her loss."
"You're forgiven," she said lightly. "Maybe it's because you're vampires and I'm a werewolf, mortal enemies and etcetera?"
"Maybe," he said dubiously. "But I could read a few shapeshifters' minds, and we are enemies too."
"A shapeshifter is not a werewolf," she said smartly. "We're much more dangerous."
"How much?" asked Jasper, who she hadn't heard speaking until then. His voice was deep and - how could she define it? - menacing.
"Let us say we're much stronger than vampires when the moon is full." At Jasper's furious snarl, she hastened to add, "But of course, you need not fear me. I'm as docile as they come. Just ask Aro."
"Aro has an entire guard to keep you under control," he replied without hesitation. "You shouldn't be here."
"He never needed it," she countered. "But you're right. I shouldn't."
"That's not for Jasper to decide," said Edward. "Carlisle?"
"She's welcome to stay, Jasper. If she was a danger, Edward would be dead already." Carlisle sighed. "Would you leave us for a bit, Catherine? You've told us plenty, and we have some matters to discuss that won't be pleasant. Don't worry, though; it does not involve you."
Catherine nodded and stood quietly. She knew very well what matters they had to discuss; though she wasn't privy to the family dynamics, she knew Edward was important, and that his trip to Russia had not been well received. "I won't get close to any humans," she assured them, and waved goodbye.
Edward snarled, and she realised she had used her bruised hand to make the gesture. Damn her imperfect werewolf memory. Catherine scurried away, not wanting to hear what he had to say about her supposed enmity with Bella; at least, she thought, Jasper would be satisfied to know she could be harmed.
She wandered around the woods for a bit, her thoughts preoccupied. They had barely asked her anything of value. Would they like to see her fight? Would she be forced to? She didn't want that anymore.
What she wanted, she dared think, was what they had. A life.
She had told them truths; werewolves did like to run and to hunt. But she, Catherine, liked to learn, and they were going to college! She'd never had the opportunity. Would they deny her that, if she had the courage to ask? Was she well behaved enough to use clothes, act human, maybe make human friends? She thought she was.
She wanted, deep in her heart, to share the love that had overwhelmed her heart for over sixty years. The Cullens might just have the answer to that.
She let a smile grow and take over her whole face. She was ready to start living.
Am I rushing into things? I'm just so anxious for the romance to start I can't wait skdjsjkdjshk!
Please, leave your thoughts!
