Heartbreak tore at me as I tried to suppress memories of the past. Jasper's strange calming influence dulled the pain, but not much.
Alice was on the ground and halfway to the stable before I fully realized we had stopped moving. Tearing the giant Off Roading harness off, I jumped from the cab, not even noticing the dull ache of the scars on my stomach.
Running to catch up, I heard a horse whickering from inside the new building. My throat constricted and my breathing was labored as I recognized the sound as my old horse. Sprinting into the stable, I rushed strait to my spotted gelding.
"Hey," I murmured to him, "I bet you missed me, didn't you Zacky?" He nuzzled my face in greeting, but reared up when Alice approached me. His eyes rolled, and I made a grab for his massive head.
Dragging his head down to my level, I leaned on him, calming him. Sliding his stall door open, I slipped inside so I could hold him down easier.
Alice looked warily at the massive beast before deciding to approach a couple steps more to stand just outside the stall.
Zacky reared again pulling me with him. My toes were barely grazed the ground as he stumbled and fell over. In my momentary shock I gripped his head tighter, then tried to push him away just before we hit the ground.
My horses' heavy head slammed into my stomach and his body fell across my legs. His scrambling hooves scraped at my shins as he desperately tried to stand.
A wet trickle signaled blood dripping down me. Lying gasping in the hay, I wanted the horse to get up, to get off of me.
Alice darted into the stall and hauled the horse up, just to drag him out off the stall. She did it in less than 10 seconds, her body a blur, moving with inhuman speed and grace.
Jasper stood against the far wall. His eyes pitch black and his face gaunt. His fingers gripped the wall, digging in as if to hold himself there.
With the panicking horse thrust outside into the corral, Alice raced back in and jerked Jasper outside.
My eyes squeezed shut and pained sounds came from my throat on their own accord.
A cold hand rested on my wrist, another on my forehead. My eyes still squeezed shut, and my breathing labored.
"Carlisle," a familiar voice said, "She's going to be fully conscious soon." The hay beneath me poked my back as I writhed in pain. A groan was upon my lips with the slight movement.
A shiver rolled down my spine, making me shudder and moan. Carlisle's cold hands moved expertly along my body, checking for broken bones and who knows what else.
I winced as he put a slight pressure on my ribs, my breath pausing with the pain until I was dizzy and needed to breathe. The sharp pain in my ribs continued as Carlisle gently shifted my around, wrapping gauze around my blood soaked stomach.
My heavy lids slowly fluttered open to reveal Jasper sitting with his head in his hands and Alice hugging him, whispering in his ear. Carlisle's granite arms gently lifted me off the hay and carried my fluidly outside the stables. A large pick-up truck was parked next to the jeep.
He placed me on the open tailgate, and reached over me to grab a black bag. Pulling out a small needle and syringe, he filled it with clear liquid from a small bottle.
"Noelle, this is going to stop the pain okay? Just blink twice if you understand what I'm saying, don't try to move or talk, alright?" I blinked a couple times and a second later I felt a prick in my arm.
My breathing slowed and my eyelids dropped as I fell into a dark abyss.
"Can't she stay here while she's recovering?" a voice I recognized as Carlisles' brought me back to reality. A strange voice answered him.
"No. She knows our true identity. You know the rules Carlisle. She must come with us." Who's 'us'? What rules and whose true identity is he talking about?
My breathing turned slightly panicked. I couldn't leave. The Cullens were now my only family; I can't just leave them!
A calm sensation flowed over me, trying to penetrate my mood, trying to calm me. I felt it trickle over me like water over a stone; like leaves drifting in the wind, Jaspers' influence seemed to drift away. A dull pain in my ribs sharpened with every passing second and with every panicked breath.
I forced myself to calm when the pain was almost unbearable. I regained focus just as Alice started talking.
"I don't think she knows, I see her acting like she always has around us, except she has more trouble with her scars because of the new one." I've heard people talking about Alice seeing things before, but what did it mean? Was she psychic or something?
"We will leave her with you for now, but we will be checking up on her and on you." The strangers' voice seemed too loud in the quiet room.
My ribs protested as I took a large breath. I whimpered in pain and was immediately comforted by an ice-cold hand on my ribs. I took smaller breaths and opened my eyes a crack. The room spun momentarily. My eyes opened fully when the room settled. I blinked rapidly with the sudden brightness, waiting for my eyes to focus.
When they did I could see Esme standing next to Carlisle above me. Alice was on sitting in a desk chair a few feet away.
Wait… was I in my room? Weird, I am in my bedroom. My head pounded and my ribs ached. My shins dully ached from where the horses' hooves had scraped and flailed.
Alice stood up and gave me a weak smile before leaving. I didn't even try to return one. I was too tired and too sore. Carlisle murmured into Esme's ear, and she nodded at him before silently stepping out of the room.
I coughed and winced when the pain in my ribs flared. Carlisle pushed a button on a small remote, and my bed started to lift into a slight sitting position. He then handed me a small plastic cup of water with a bendy straw.
Sipping the water, I winced slightly when I swallowed. My throat felt so raw.
"What happened?" I asked Carlisle. My voice rough. I already knew what had happened, but I wanted to be sure.
"When you were at the stables the horse reared, and while he was unbalanced he fell on top of you. Alice and Jasper called me, so I came and got you. From the fall you have a bruised rib with a gash above it, scrapes on your legs, and a slight concussion."
Wow. The horse really hurt me.
"Stupid horse." I mumbled, "Stupid horse was scared of Alice and just had to fall on me. I don't even know why I ever liked that horse." I ranted into the air. I sigh slightly cringing with pain.
"It wasn't the horses' fault, he was acting on instinct." Carlisle told me. Acting on what instinct? Having reached no conclusion I asked, "What instinct?"
"Noelle, you know there's something different about us don't you?" I nodded. I had known something weird was going on with them the day I moved in.
"Yeah. It's pretty obvious that you guys are different. I don't know what you are though, and I'm not sure I want to know."
His face clouded, "Not everyone reacts well to what we are, and we have rules we have to follow, we can't let anybody find out."
I nodded again and rested my head against the raised bed behind me. Why does he sound like he's going to say that they are mythical creatures? I can understand why somebody wouldn't react well to that.
Carlisle continued, "The Volturi are a type of police for us; they think you know what we are, and the penalty for that is either die or turn."
I gave him a slightly disbelieving glance. His face told the story; he really believed what he was saying. The whole family was insane… or maybe he was telling the truth?
"Noelle…" He hesitated, "We're vampires." He finished softly. I blinked. I blinked again.
"Ok… and what? Are you expecting me to run away, screaming and yelling? It doesn't seem like I can or like I'm thinking about it."
His golden gaze rested on my ribs and the thick gauze around them; "No it doesn't look like you're going to run away. But practically anybody would be freaking out right now."
"I've had a lot of surprises in my life, I've seem a lot of bad things too. I may seem like a fragile teenage girl with issues, but I know how to handle myself and I know that you can't be any worse than what I've already seen. To me it seems like wars go on in my head every second of every day, the only peace I've gotten from them came from this family. I know you aren't as bad as you think you are."
