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Chapter 4: Meeting the Cullens

This house was huge, and surprisingly light thanks to large bay-windows. It gave a feeling of freedom and fullness, nothing to do with these lugubrious manors generally associated with blood drinkers!

It was not until arriving in the living room that I realized that we were not alone. Two other people were waiting, standing near a long sofa: they interrupted their conversation on my arrival. A young woman, small and slight, with short brown hair and a mischievous look, went to Jasper, staring at him straight in the eyes. Without saying a word, she seemed to communicate with him yet: a conversation in which she apparently wanted to comfort him, to assure him of her support and unconditional love. Jasper was still keeping his afflicted look but seemed to find comfort at her side. Another man with curly brown hair gave a hint of a smile at our sight. Despite his imposing appearance, his face was pleasant, jovial: it reminded me of my brother, a bit stronger though.

"Lena, this is Alice and Emmett, two other members of the Cullen family," said Carlisle. They both greeted me, curiously glad to meet me.

But how many are they in this family?


"Seven, we are in seven vampires living under this roof." Edward...

And soon a eighth... Eight vampires and a human? Not easily conceivable: they would surely want me to leave. I did not fit in here... My throat tightened: the idea of leaving Josh was simply inconceivable for me. The mere thought gave me nausea: I would not survive, my heart would break... Edward, for once, did not react to what he was the only one to hear: either he had not paid attention to it, or he dared not answer me. He muttered something, so low that I did not understand what he said, but Carlisle nodded and a few seconds later, the roar of an engine was heard and Edward was gone. His departure relieved me: he gave me the impression of being tapped, unable to think without him knowing it...

Carlisle drove me out of my painful thoughts by inviting me to sit down. We sat on the sofa, while Emmett stood next to the casing of the chimney and Alice was going to join Jasper, sitting in the farthest armchair from us. He seemed to remain there with great effort, and Alice, perched on his lap, gently stroked the back of his hand in a calming gesture. Was it the guilt he had in my sight? Or perhaps the inner struggle he led in order not to inflict on me the same fate as Josh? After all, I was above all fresh flesh and I am not sure there had often been any in this house...

"You must certainly have many questions..." he said, waiting patiently until I decided to talk.

I did not know where to start... Everything was so confused in my head, I wanted to learn more about vampires, the Cullens, Josh and its future, about mine too, although the idea of asking it made me sick... Faced with my inability to formulate a clear question, Carlisle entered the conversation:

"Let's start then with the beginning: I was only 23 when a vampire attacked me. It was in 1663..."

He explained me thus the circumstances of his transformation, how he had faced his new condition, alone, why he refused to steal a human life, only feeding on animals, and that on the contrary he decided to do everything possible to save some, by becoming a doctor. He also recounted his meeting with Edward, whom he has transformed while he was dying of an influenza epidemic in 1918 and, three years later, that of Esme, the woman he fell in love with and which he bit after having found her dying at the foot of a cliff...

"A decade later, it was the turn of Rosalie, I hmm ..." he was reluctant to continue, casting a glance at Emmett, but I did not leave him time to dither:

"Rosalie?" I had not paid attention when Edward had said seven, but now I realized that I had not met the seventh Cullen.

"She left early this morning to hunt, said Emmett, but should return soon."
"I am sure she will be happy to meet you" he felt compelled to add. Yet at the sight of astonished glances that the others addressed to him, I was convinced it was a lie: she had no desire to stay in the area and had left before I woke up... I could not be upset with her however: after all, we were strangers arriving at her home without warning, even if it was without our consent...

"In short, as Edward and Esme, Rosalie was at the dawn of the death, and only in those circumstances, I resigned myself to transform them."

An intense desire to save lives, whatever the cost.

Quite unusual for a vampire! At least I know he will do everything possible to help Josh.

"And then I was saved by an angel, my angel..." Emmett continued. He had been savagely attacked by a grizzly bear and Rosalie had brought him back to Carlisle so that he could save him. He spoke with such adoration that it was not difficult to understand that Rosalie and Emmett were a couple just as united as the one of Jasper and Alice. These had not been transformed by Carlisle. They had joined the Cullens and integrated the family and their culinary habits... Jasper had been bitten while fighting during the Civil War along the Southerners. He had for long years fought other vampires in wars for territories and had nourished humans who had the misfortune to cross his path. Although he adopted the diet of the Cullens, it was difficult to hold to it. It's as if I were depriving myself of chocolate for the rest of my life, while crossing some every day... except that failing, for Jasper, had more serious consequences than taking a few calories... I did not forgive his attitude towards Josh but understood him better knowing that. He might have detected my mood change as he gave me a hint of a smile, thankful.

As much as Jasper's past was heavy, the one of Alice seemed quite non-existent: "I can't remember anything, she said, I awoke as a vampire and I wandered for years by my own before meeting Jasper and joining the Cullens." She said it quickly, remaining evasive: I felt she did not like to speak about it and I did not dwell on this.

However the revelation of the total lack of memories of Alice for her human life made me nervous. How was this possible? Could one lose all trace of his previous life once becoming a vampire? Was Josh going to forget me? Was I living my last hours in the heart of Josh? Would I be in a few days more than an appetizing dish for him?

Suddenly, they all raised their heads towards the stage. "I'm coming Esme" Carlisle said before leaving the room, not without making sure that I was holding on...

Either I had suddenly become deaf or they had an extremely fine hearing because I had heard absolutely nothing. Alice giggled at my puzzled view:

"There are certain advantages to being a vampire: our senses are increased tenfold. That is why we have heard Esme: she did not need to shout two floors above!"

"And we are also very fast..." added Emmett, who joined me in a split second, as to demonstrate his sayings. "And strong!"

He again undertook to show me while approaching the piano but Alice intervened:

"Emmett, I doubt that Edwards appreciates that you use his piano like a dumbbell!"

He paused a moment, weighing the pros and cons before being forced to abandon his show of force. It is not easy to hide something from a telepath!

"In any case it is quite useful when hunting the grizzly!"

"Grizzly? No kidding!" When they had talked about animals, I thought of cattle or, in the limit, of deer, but the grizzly!

"It adds a bit of spice to the hunt!"

"There are also the pumas..." added Jasper, speaking for the first time. The topic of the favorite prey of every member of the family had relaxed the atmosphere. They told me thus in turn their anecdotes of hunting, the fact of being already dead made hunting less dangerous... I still had the head full of all this information but I felt for the first time since I wake up in the need to clear my head, to laugh, and apparently, they had understood it well.

It was during a battle against a particularly ferocious grizzly, imitated enthusiastically by Emmett, that Rosalie made her entrance. Emmett froze in a rather ridiculous posture:
"Rose! Well, here is Lena." He added while gently approaching her.

Rosalie stared at me scornfully. She was certainly the most beautiful Cullen, although the beauty was a characteristic feature of vampires, to better attract their prey. She was tall and slender, a cascade of golden hair surrounded her flawless face gracefully. Yet she kept a cold and distant air, apparently far from being enthusiastic about my presence in this place. I had prepared for such a welcome, after what Emmett had said, but I was uncomfortable.

In front of the embarrassed silence that had settled, Alice suddenly proposed:
"Lena, you might want to take a shower and change". I welcomed the idea with relief, even if the hint that I needed to take a shower was not very pleasant!

"I must have some clothes in your size..." I doubted it, I was much taller than her!

To my surprise, Rosalie said: "You can see she is too tall! We should be the same size..."

And she turned heels to go to her room. I was quite shocked of the intervention of Rosalie: was she really proposing to lend me clothes? In view of the glances of the others, I was not the only surprised. Even Emmett frowned, caught off guard.

"So when do you intend to come in?" Rosalie snapped at me from the first floor.

I quickly climbed the stairs to reach her: she was waiting for me near her closet, clothes under her arm.

"You can use the bathroom," she said pointing the door at the back of the room.

"Thank you".

She handed me the clothes, with still an uncooperative look. I did not understand: no one had forced her to do so! She was going to pass the doorstep when she turned back to me:

"I haven't seen Edward: he's not here?" She inquired, more by curiosity than by concern it seemed.

"No, the telepath left a few hours ago..." I sighed, my voice tinged with relief.

Oops, if you were trying to make yourself look good, missed it! But I did not do it on purpose, I could only feel but relieved when Edward was no longer around.
But Rosalie had not the expected reaction: she smiled, a genuine smile, as if she shared my views.

It makes us at least one thing in common, besides the same size of clothes!

For a moment, I had the impression to find myself in front of a different person, as if the mask had been dropped. Her face at this time no longer reflected her hard and cold features, but some softness and especially melancholy.

"Keep them," she said prior to state, "they will be imbued with your smell after, so...."

Laughter echoed downstairs and the next second, the Rosalie I met earlier was back, with an inscrutable face, and she left the room without saying a word.


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