I held my breath and risked a glance at him. He looked right into my eyes as he flipped open the phone and answered.
" Hello? Oh hello Carlisle. Yes, we did stop again. Yeah, she's fine. Okay, we shall see you about midday tomorrow. Goodbye."
" Ready?"
" Just drive," he demanded playfully and buckled his seat belt.
I'll teach him to make fun of me. I peeled out of the parking lot and sped off down the road to get back onto the interstate. I heard him chuckled beside me as he ejected the CD and inserted something else. The Used spilled from the speakers and he settled on 'A Box Full Of Sharp Objects.' I smiled; I love this song.
" Not bad. Which of my siblings taught you to drive?" he asked looking in my direction. I glanced at him, taking in his relaxed posture.
" Edward did. Then Rosalie decided that I was doing it wrong…"
" Ah…that makes sense. Had you driven before that?"
" No. I didn't have much."
" If you don't mind me asking, what is your story?"
" Well, a little over two years ago, a trio of vampires terrorized the small city that I lived in. They killed my parents and one they called James demanded that I be changed. He bit me and then left, something came up. Another vampire came along not even five minutes later and made the burning go away. She had 'sisters.' I ran across them a few months back and they said that she was killed. I can't remember her name…something Denali. Anyway, I became a wanderer. With no family I really didn't want to stick around. I had no one anyway. I would sell myself off for a place to sleep, a meal, and a shower. I would sometimes go to homeless shelters…I had a woman give me some clothes once. I just got tired of not belonging. So, I decided to end my life…but I chickened out after it was too late."
" That's rough. You are a very strong person. I can feel it. My family, while unconventional, has been my rock for a long time. I'm glad we found you. Now you'll have the support you needed all along," he smiled at he has he placed a hand on my knee, but quickly withdrew it.
The rest of the trip was spent in silence…minus the radio. We switched again after I drove for about three hours and I slept far into the day. Jasper woke me up with about thirty minutes to go and told me to keep an eye out for a road out to the right.
I would have missed it if he hadn't told me what to look for. My stomach fluttered with anticipation as the driveway opened up to reveal a gigantic and gorgeous house. My mouth fell open but I quickly shut it and opened my door before he had fully stopped the car. I counted to confirm that we were the last to arrive. I felt a little guilty for holding him back, but he shook his head to confirm that my guilt was unnecessary.
"EVALETTE!" Alice squealed as she came bounding out of the house and started dragging me inside, " Come see your room! You will love it! We kinda put you off on your own, and we had it super soundproofed. It doesn't work well, but we tried."
I smiled and nodded in all the right places and just let her speak, ignoring the tingly pain in my leg. She led me up the stairs all the way down the left side of the hall to the door at the end. She threw open to door and, for the second time in five minutes, my mouth fell open. She laughed as she pulled me to the center of the room so I could take it all in. In the center sat a king sized platform bed and it looked so inviting that I starting thinking of ways to get Alice to leave without sounding demanding.
" I see you want to sleep silly. I'll leave. The door on the right is your bathroom and the door on your left is your closet. Sleep tight!" She hugged me and closed the door behind her.
I fell eagerly upon the bed and sighed in contempt. I closed my eyes and let myself drift. I did, however, not sleep well. My dreams were filled with nightmares; bloody eyeballs rolling across the floor; slowly bleeding to death; a car crash; my parents death. I was torn from my sleep by the voice of a concerned sounding Edward.
" Evalette? Wake up! Oh good you are awake. You were having the most terrible nightmares. I had to come wake you up. I couldn't take them anymore. I'm sorry, besides, Esme made you dinner," he offered a hand to help me up and left me to fix my appearance before heading for the kitchen.
