Part Three - Flight
To you, the reader, without whom I would have no reason to continue. You all inspire me and give me the energy to do what I do every day.
One misstep, you're mine
And you better stay clever if you wanna survive
Once you cross the line
You'll be wishing you would listen when you meet your demise
- Monsters, Ruelle
Chapter Nineteen - Joy
Edward POV
Charlie and Juliet had made leaps and bounds since they were both changed. Charlie, unexpectedly, took it in complete stride. Perhaps we should have given him more credit when he was a human - he wasn't weak. He never was.
Charlie's gift was discovered by Jasper. We did a test, carefully introducing him to Juliet and Renesmee. When Jasper was sensing his emotions - there was only happiness at seeing his granddaughter.
We did another series of tests after that, eventually exposing him to human blood from the blood bank. He looked at it with distaste. We didn't know how this was possible, a vampire that didn't thirst for human blood. Bella threw a fit when she found out. She claimed her venom was defective and that she really was a freak.
Emmett's theory made more sense. Charlie protected humans for a living, ever since he was young. That was such an integral and serious part of his existence that when he changed, it multiplied. He was now unable to want to harm a human. As he was an avid fisherman and enjoyed meat, he seemed to like the animal blood diet more than most of us.
Renesmee was over the moon when Charlie moved in with us. A little embarrassed that one more person would hear her sneaking into Jake's room at night, but still overjoyed.
Renesmee POV
"Hold still, will you?" Rosalie ordered Juliet. "If I mess up, you're gonna get mad."
"I can't help it, I'm antsy!" Juliet protested. Rosalie snipped her long hair evenly. I swept up the discarded locks and dumped them in the kitchen trashcan.
"You're done," Rosalie rolled her eyes with a laugh. Juliet flew off the stool, calling out a thanks before disappearing upstairs. Juliet was totally nervous to get back to school. I just shook my head. There was nothing to be scared of, except for people noticing the sudden shift in her appearance.
Including her rapidly growing hair. A fun hybrid thing was that our hair grew like the dickens. She looked pretty similar to when we left, only she was paler and her features a little more defined. I wouldn't say she was "more beautiful" than before she changed. She was attractive then and attractive now.
Once we were all ready, we chose our preferred methods of transportation. Outside it was dreadful and damp. Thankful that I never got cold, I hopped on the back of Jake's bike while Juliet joined Seth.
We'd waited around two weeks to bring Juliet back to school. She went through "human training" with the others because she had to get the hang of not acting like she had above average strength, speed and abilities. We also had to test her blood resistance - thankfully, though, she didn't actively thirst.
I'd been going to school in the meantime. The students didn't typically dare to ask where Juliet was. The teachers, however, were another question. When they asked, we would coolly answer that it was a simple case of pneumonia and that she was recovering well.
In the school parking lot, we dismounted from the bikes and removed our helmets in one fluid motion. Students began to whisper almost immediately, huddled together like farm animals. Juliet grabbed Seth's hand and I grabbed Jacob's - I could confidently say he was my boyfriend now, and wasn't subtle in that fact.
We strode confidently into the building together. Juliet's newly added grace made it even better. I had to admit, I was secretly having fun.
Harper was walking down the hallway with Lewis. Juliet straightened her chin and kept walking along with us as though Harper were a stranger, not interesting enough for a second glance. Lewis, however, broke forward and threw himself excitedly at her.
"Jules, oh my god!" He wrapped her up in a big hug. "I heard you were sick, and people have been saying things. You look so pale, are you sure you're okay to be here?"
"I'm fine," Juliet snuggled into his neck. "I missed you, buddy. I'm so sorry for not calling, I just thought… Well, I'm so happy to see you."
"I understand," Lewis nodded, taking a step back and looking her over. "Well, you look good, anyways. Love the new clothes. They really suit you."
"Thank you," Juliet glanced across the hall at Harper, who was fuming. "You might want to get back before he causes a scene. I'll text you, we can hang out."
"Certainly," Lewis smiled, his eyes apologizing for Harper's attitude. "Good seeing you. Renesmee, Jacob, Seth."
Lewis nodded a friendly greeting to us before spinning on his heel and loping back to Harper. We resumed walking, Harper chewing his friend out audibly in the background.
Class was boring all day. Juliet got the warm welcome back from all our teachers, less from the students. After the last class, we were accosted by Amber.
"I was wondering when you'd show your nasty face around school," Amber snapped. "Pneumonia? Seriously? Pregnant, more like. Who's the baby daddy? The entire Cullen family?"
"Amber, for once in your life can you act like you've got an ounce of damn sense in you or is that too much to ask?" Juliet snapped. "What the hell is with this weird obsession you have over my family? My brothers and my dad, Amber? Really? If you want to fuck them so bad go ahead and try but then you'll be dealing with their girls and trust me, darling, they're a lot more ruthless than I am."
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Amber yelled, red in the face. People were stopping and staring in the middle of the hallway. "You're just a whore and you have STDs and nobody is ever going to love you!"
"I love you, Juliet," Seth kissed the top of her head.
"I love you, Princess," I kissed her cheek. Jake threw his arms around the three of us.
"And I love you guys," Jake crowed. We laughed and walked through the doors of the school, out into the overcast parking lot. We left Amber behind. It didn't really matter what she had to say - it never did.
Author's Note: This chapter is horrifyingly short and I apologize. I just had to get this first part of Flight out so I can REALLY get into the plot that I have planned for this. I'm so excited to see how you all react.
There's MUCH more in store for Volume II and Volume III. The world is changing, folks. That's all I can say now. I'll probably be really sappy and emotional when Cliff's Edge ends. And then excited and crazy when the next installment begins. Rinse and repeat. - Eli xx