Chapter 1

Heathens

Why'd you come,

you knew you should have stayed

(It's blasphemy)

I tried to warn you just to stay away

And now they're outside ready to bust

It looks like you might be one of us

Heathens — Twenty One Pilots

Bella Swan couldn't believe someone could feel both ridiculously happy and terribly nervous at the same time, but there she was, holding her vampire boyfriend's cold hand, driving her old-new truck past Calawah River's bridge to meet said vampire boyfriend's vampire family.

Either she was in an overly-fabricated, coma-induced dream, or she was actually beginning to think her luck was changing, and she only discarded the first option because she knew her dull mind would never —in a million years never, come up with something as crazy as that.

She looked over to admire his profile as he looked at the road —was he really looking at the road, or did he just pretend like he was to give her the privilege of staring at him without feeling too self-conscious?

She had done a piece of research for a group project back in ninth grade, for Art Class. She was as graceful as an artist as she was a figure skater, so she helped very little when they were assigned to do a sculpture. She was observant, tho —it made her feel a little proud whenever Edward would compliment her because of that—, so she decided to look into famous sculptures. She quickly ended up in a website with pictures of a big area of the Louvre Museum, in Paris, where they had people in all states of undress carved in marble. She thought they were impossibly beautiful, and then she clicked off, blushing furiously.

Point is, back then she thought those people created impossible beauty standards, and she began to picture their faces whenever she happened to read one of those cheesy love books.

Right now, she could only think that no renaissance artist could ever carve something half as beautiful as the boy —man, old man?— next to her.

"You stare a lot for someone who doesn't like to be stared at." He said without looking her way, the edge of his lips slightly quirking up.

She didn't blush as she thought she would. Perhaps she was getting used to being embarrassed by him. "I told you before, you dazzle me." She said without thinking, but was rewarded with that soft laugh of his that did crazy things to her stomach. She loved the things he woke inside her, making her be braver than she usually was, to say things she would never confess out loud.

They didn't speak another word until they reached a thinning in the woods, and then, as they found themselves in a meadow, the Cullen house appeared before them.

It was fitting, she thought, the house was as timeless as their residents. Rectangular, three stories tall, and painted faded white. The end of the road seemed to double as their driveway, since there was nothing else ahead of them but trees.

She also noticed there was another car parked in front of them. It wasn't Edward's silver Volvo, or Rosalie's red convertible, and since they were driving Emmet's Jeep…

"Whose car is that?" She couldn't help but ask, pointing at the black car. She knew, somehow, that it didn't belong to the Cullen's. It was simpler, older, and very nondescript. The kind of car some of the kids at school would drive. She was proud to admit that she recognized the symbol as a Toyota, the same kind her mother's boyfriend, Phil would drive, maybe an older model.

Edward parked right beside it, but didn't respond. Bella felt his mood change a little, his grasp around the wheel tightened. "We're about to find out." He said in a soft, tense voice that she didn't particularly like.

He got out of the Jeep quickly, opening the door for her and taking her hand to help her down, but his golden eyes never left the strange car while they walked up to the porch.

Bella felt a knot in her stomach. "I can come back another time." She offered sadly. She really wanted to meet his family, to be liked by his family, but she wouldn't want to make him tense if there was something else going on.

"Don't be ridiculous." He scoffed, squeezing her hand just a little harder, probably to reassure her, but his tone of voice wasn't as nonchalant as he wanted it to be. "It's just a guest of Carlisle."

She gulped, smoothing her hair as best as she could.

Edward seemed to notice her nervousness and kissed the top of her head. "You look lovely." He said, and she wanted to believe him.

Some of her unease was forgotten while she admired the inside of the beautiful house. Bright and open, thanks to an abundance of windows and a lack of walls to divide the spaces. An entire wall had been replaced with glass, giving her a clear view of the lawn that stretched bare into the river. In the west side of the room was a massive staircase that reminded Bella of that scene in Titanic, when Jack waited for Rose by the grandfather's clock.

To the left, on a raised portion of the floor that made it look like a prize on a pedestal, was a grand piano. Bella's curiosity peaked even more. "Who plays the piano?"

Edward pulled her ponytail playfully. "You're gonna have to guess." He laughed, pushing her by the waist right past it.

They were on another area of the main floor, and Bella would've relaxed at the familiar sight of a kitchen, if it weren't for the three people that occupied it.

Dr. Carlisle was every bit as handsome as she remembered, even without his white coat, and the small woman next to him wasn't any different, with her caramel-colored hair, heart-shaped face and rounded features, she was a vision out of a silent movie. Edward's mother, Esme, looked more like a mother, more human than Bella expected. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen were dressing in light colors, almost matching, and that was partially the reason why the third person in the room stood out so much.

It was a man —not one of Edward's brothers, unless they'd gone out and adopted another one while she wasn't looking. An inch or two taller than Dr. Cullen, his straight, long hair was dark brown, and the shade of his skin was warmer than the other's, an ashen shade of what once was olive, but his most remarkable feature was his patchy beard and mustache, both thick but trimmed short and neat. Bella didn't know vampires could grow those —then again, she only knew the Cullens. He dressed in darker colors, a simple black jacket and matching jeans over a thin, dark blue cotton shirt; practical, discreet, and probably not designer.

"Doc—Hm, Dr. Cullen." Bella greeted with a small wave.

He smiled. "Please, call me Carlisle. You're very welcome." He extended a pale hand and Bella shook it. "Allow me to introduce you to my beautiful wife…"

"Esme." The woman said, with an equally warm smile. "It's very nice to know you."

"Thank you," Bella said sincerely, she was mesmerized by Esme's classic beauty. "I'm glad to meet you, too."

Carlisle cleared his throat, mostly to gain Bella's attention. He then stood straight against the stranger in the room. "This is Aberforth Winchester, a very old friend of mine."

The man nodded his head in Bella's director. "Just Abe's alright." Bella blinked in surprise when she noticed his heavy British accent. She finally got a good look at his eyes, expecting them to be amber, but she was a little unsettled when she saw they were coal black, like Edward's when he was hungry. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Bella, Edward."

She was confused for a second, and she looked at Edward. He was staring at his adoptive father, his lips moving ever so slightly, as if they were having a quiet conversation.

"Son, why don't you show Bella the rest of the house?"

Edward nodded once. "Alice and Jasper?"

"Upstairs."

Esme went to open the refrigerator. "I'll get some water boiling for the tea."

"Wonderful," Carlisle kissed Esme's cheek with tenderness. "Abe, we can finish our conversation in the study."

As if on cue, the four vampires in the room looked outside the open door. Bella frowned, but Abe scoffed. "Reckon we'd need a rain check on that."

It was almost a minute later when Bella could hear what caught their attention.

A sound that she was very used to hearing late at night back in Phoenix, when college kids would race for money on their motorcycles, speeding through the never-ending streets. The roar of an engine, followed by the screech of tires against pavement. Someone was taking the curves in a hurry.

"Wonder who that might be." Esme muttered, her attention back to the kettle. She didn't sound worried at all.

Carlisle and Abe walked slowly to the porch, and Edward followed closely behind. Bella wanted to go ahead, too, but Edward pushed her softly so she was behind him.

The roar of the engine became louder until the machine in question appeared, fast as a bullet into the road. It was a pretty motorcycle, the kind that Phil would whistle at appreciably as it sped past them on the highway, and Charlie would snicker at when he'd seen them during the Summer he'd spent in Phoenix with her. Bella didn't know the first thing about bikes, but she was sure it was a classic model, given that the handle was higher than the seat.

The engine went silent as it parked right next to the black car. Bella couldn't make out the driver yet, since it was dressed in all black, from the Army-style boots, to a shiny leather jacket zipped all the way up. They wore a black helmet, too.

"Cool." She whispered from behind Edward before she could help herself, and she saw him raise an eyebrow at her. "What?" Bella shrugged, but was allowed to move a few steps closer.

The driver jumped off smoothly, taking the helmet off. A cascade of disveleshed, glossy, dark brown locks fell down to her back —because it had to be a her, or a very clean hippie. The woman left the helmet hanging by the mirror and walked towards the entrance with a strut. She wasn't tall, 5'5" at most, but she was slender enough not to matter. Half her face was hidden by large, aviator-style sunglasses, but Bella could make out the sharp edges of a well-defined jaw, small lips, and an upwards nose.

Bella immediately knew she was a vampire, and physically not much older than herself. "Hi." She forced herself to break the silence.

Once the girl had strut up the short set of stairs, she ignored Bella, instead standing in front of Carlisle's friend. "Well?" She lifted her chin to make eye contact with Abe. "Care to explain why the banshee thought it was necessary for me to fly all the way from fucking Tijuana to keep you from doing something stupid?"

Her accent was somewhat familiar to Bella, definitely from the East Coast. Abe simply scoffed. "Constance put you up for this? I'm surprised she didn't come here herself."

"You know how she gets, I just drew the short straw." She leaned against the fence and looked back at the greenery. "So, am I getting an explanation as to why I had to find you in the middle of nowhere with a coven of…" She looked up at the second floor and Bella could see her frown. "Seven little bloodsuckers?"

"Katherine, these are the Cullens." Abe politely pointed at Carlisle and Edward, introducing them briefly to the newcomer. "Carlisle, Edward, this is Katherine."

"Pleasure." Carlisle nodded. "I've heard a lot about you."

Katherine gave him a sideways smile. "Can't say the same about you, doc."

"Right, that's enough." Abe grabbed Katherine by the elbow and dragged her to the side. The two of them began discussing something in low but heated whispers.

Edward was tense by Bella's side. "Carlisle?"

The doctor sighed, getting closer to them to explain: "Right, Aberforth's coven is a little different…"

"He's famished." Edward growled.

"They kind of always are. They live out of the bag. Aberforth's been around for way longer than I have, and he's always done one thing only…"

"He hunts vampires."

They were silent for a beat. "He-he what?" Bella stuttered in disbelief.

"Yes," Carlisle gave Edward a disapproving look. "Aberforth has a very strict belief when it comes to murder… He's not so fond of our kind, but we called a truce a long time ago…"

"But, how?" Bella was too worried to think straight. "How can you welcome a-a-a murderer into your house! How can someone kill their own kind, what kind of sick…"

"Get a grip, doll-face." Katherine barked from the other side of the porch. "It's not like humans don't kill each other every day. Call it community service."

Katherine sped up until she was chest to chest with the leader of the clan. Immediately, a whoosh of wind ruffled Bella's hair and she turned to see Alice and Jasper standing right next to her, both looking very tense.

"Ugh," Katherine complained as she turned her face to the very wary vampires around her. "Can the rest of the Brady Bunch chill for a second?"

She turned her face back to Carlisle's calm features and studied his eyes. "Yellow." She said simply, although Bella couldn't believe someone could refer to a color as beautiful as theirs as merely yellow. "How peculiar."

She took her sunglasses off and the rest of her face was even more beautiful than Bella expected. High cheekbones, thick lashes framing big, round eyes tinted a dark shade of what seemed like very dark brown, but held a faint crimson glow under the right light. Bella took a sharp breath as she studied the burgundy of her irises. "Your eyes are red."

Katherine raised her eyebrows. "Aren't you a proper Nancy Drew?"

"Carlisle." Edward said sternly. "I can't hear her."

The doctor turned to his friend, a slight wrinkle of worry between his eyebrows. "Abe? Something we should be worried about?"

"It's alright, she's a friend." Abe said in a firm voice.

"How long has she been a friend?"

"I'm right here, folks."

Bella had a faint sense of deja-vú.

"Well, she's more of an acquaintance." He confessed casually. Edward tensed and pushed Bella behind him so she couldn't see anyone. Alice's cold hand was on Bella's shoulder in a moment. She gave her a kind, reassuring smile that didn't quite reach her amber eyes.

"Bella's human." Carlisle reminded Abe.

"No shit, Sherlock." Katherine scoffed, obviously tired of people speaking for her. "Look, I don't mingle with your kind, or hers for that matter, and you can be sure this is not a social visit." Bella shivered at the thought that it could've been Charlie. "Your little human is the last of my concerns."

Katherine pulled a silver flask from her back pocket and took a short gulp. When she lowered the flask, Bella shivered at the sight of a single drop of red liquid in her bottom lip, which Katherine licked clean. "Cheers."

Carlisle, Edward and Alice glanced at Jasper, who looked as if he was in pain, but Abe simply shook his head at the girl. "What she meant to say, in her completely impolite, tactless way, is that there's no reason to fear for Bella's life, or the life of any other human."

"Alice?" The short-haired beauty stared at the empty for a while, not reacting to Edward's pleading voice. Bella saw her ethereal features turn a little sour. "Alice!?"

She blinked many times before turning to Abe and Katherine, but lingering on the latter a linger longer than necessary, as if she wanted to say something. Bella turned to see if anyone else noticed, but it appeared she was the only one.

"They won't be a liability, but Abe is going to ask you to help him snatch a few bags from the hospital." She gave him a soft smile. "He favors O neg."

Katherine gave a step forward, but was blocked by both Edward and a very protective Jasper. "Hold up, you're telling me Liza Minelli over here can read minds?"

"Alice," Carlisle corrected. "can see the future, my son Edward is the one who can read minds."

Bella expected Katherine to be impressed, but the girl merely glared at Abe. "Oh, I see what this is. Maybe the banshee will be right for once, have fun digging your own grave." She began to march at a human pace—an angry human pace towards her bike.

Abe scolded. "Isn't it a little hypocritical for you to ignore my calls for years but show up at the only place where you're not wanted and have the balls to be angry at me?"

"Suck a cock, Aberforth!" Bella's eyebrows shot up at her choice of words. "If this is a set up, you can be sure it's the last time I bother to check up on your suicidal ass…"

Katherine twisted the key and turned on the engine, but Abe grabbed handle with such strength that she couldn't reverse. A cloud of white smoke quickly began to form behind the bike. "You're not the center of the universe, darling. You've made it quite clear that you won't help me, and I will not keep begging you…"

"Fine, die in a ditch then," She yelled back before wildly whipping her head back to the porch. "And who the fuck is trying that emotional mumbo jumbo on me?"

"Jasper." Alice whispered to her husband, shaking her head. Bella immediately knew Jasper was using his gift to try and ease the mood.

Katherine turned to Abe, a sneer in her pink lips. "Really? Three in a single place? Quite the bloody water you're setting up for the sharks." Her eyes quickly scanned the crowd before going back to Abe. "Let me go."

"Let's not do something we know you'll regret."

It was a rather intense stare-off, in Bella's opinion. There was something quite unsettling about the way they stood, something Bella had only seen in nature documentaries, when two predators would face each other. The weird part was how her brain tried to adjust to the idea that a girl who was really not older than she was would stand against a man who was apparently older than Edward's very old vampire adoptive father.

She looked at him square in the eyes. "I said… Step back."

As soon as the words left her lips, the older man let go of the handle and stepped aside almost robotically. Katherine, revved the engine a few times, hesitating.

Bella looked over at her boyfriend questioningly, but he simply shook his head.

"You're still very welcome, if you wish to stay with us, Katherine." Carlisle offered politely.

Bella recognized the internal struggle in Katherine's face by the way her eyes darted around everyone's faces for a moment and she bit her lip.

Katherine turned to shoot Aberforth a hateful glance that made Bella shudder, it was intense and full of unspoken bitterness. For a moment, Bella thought she was going to say something, but Instead she revved the engine and disappeared into the road, leaving Bella and the Cullens with nothing but questions, and Alice with a bitter taste in her mouth after a particularly confusing vision involving the newborn and her husband.