Ch. 10 – Shock and Denail

With the sensation of gliding over a smooth glacier, we appeared in front of a very elegant looking house. It wasn't a mansion or anything like that, but it was still nice. I wasn't really sure where we were—but I knew we weren't in Forks anymore.

"Welcome to our house," said Mr. Diggory, smiling. "I hope you'll be comfortable here."

I was nearly speechless. "It's beautiful! Of course I'll be comfortable… wow, thanks sooo much!" It indeed was beautiful, once my eyes adjusted to the light a little more. It was old style, and seemed to smile benefactorily over the neighborhood. But, looking around, I realized there was no neighborhood! There were only trees surrounding the place and nothing more. Walking up the path, I decided that they lived on the border of the woods somewhere.

As soon as I opened the door all the way, I thought I was going to just feel over. The godlike, divine faces all smiled at me, and I could barely wrap my head around it. There were seven of them, five of whom I did not know. Mikel and Cedric smiled at me the widest. The others were all older, past Hogwarts age.

"Hi…" I began, quietly.

"Ah, I see you've met my family," said Mr. Diggory from behind me. He smelled nice. Well, they all smelled nice. "Well, introductions are in order! Family, this is Bella Swan. She's a friend of Cedric and Mikel's."

"Hi," said the family in union.

"Hi," I echoed back.

"Alright… we'll start from the left. That's my wife, Esme. Next to her is Alice, then Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and you know Cedric and Mikel, of course," Mr. Diggory finished.

"Wow, nice to meet you all! But I thought, Cedric, you said only had one sister…" Clearly there was more than one. Maybe he didn't want to scare me away with such an extensive family. As if something like that could defer me from him. I don't think anything could… only if he wasn't human or something.

"Well, that is true," said Cedric, "I have one sister. Well, I had a sister. She died in the Paris uprising. Everybody you see here are my adopted siblings."

I was confused. "When was the Paris uprising?" I asked. You'd think I would've heard about it in the papers or something.

"Uh… it was… uh… will you be surprised if I told you?" Cedric looked and sounded hesitant.

"No, of course not," I replied. Why would I be?

"It was in, well, the 1800's." He looked meek, as well as the rest of his family.

I stared at him. "And she was your sister…" What the heck? Was it some kind of joke they were all playing on me? "That was two-hundred years ago!" What are they going on about?

Cedric nodded. Most of the family looked away from me, hiding their faces with their hands.

"Bella, you're smart. You can figure it out. Give it a shot," said Mikel, in a tone similar to exasperation.

"You guys are all… immortal? Ha, that's ridiculous. Sorry, that was a bad guess." As if!

"A bad guess?" asked Esme, a slight smile on her face. "I should think not." Emmett and Alice giggled.

"Oh, you are immortal. My mistake." I rolled my eyes with annoyance.

"Yup," agreed Rosalie. "No joke."

"And we're not just immortal. We're… not human," pointed out Alice.

I thought about my Defense Against the Dark Arts class and what we learned about immortality. A little idea popped into my head. But no, it was a stupid idea. Sure, they all matched the description. They were all very attractive, and rather appetizing. I had doubted their immortality, but now I could see a certain age whispering in all their faces. But there was one thing that didn't fit…

"Nothing?" asked Mr. Diggory. "We're not allowed to tell you, so you'll have to guess."

"All I got… well, no. You guys don't drink blood, so no. You can't be vampires." But that was the only thing that fit…

They all burst out into wide smiles. I felt like laughing as well. They were all very good actors!

"Very good, Bella," said Mr. Diggory. "Indeed we are vampires. But we're… a different kind of vampire. We don't drink human blood. It's a bit grotto, really. So instead, we prey only on animals."

"Yes, so there's nothing to be worried about," said Esme in a comforting voice.

"Oh, no. Of course not. Riiight." I was still a bit skeptical. They were going to have to prove it to me! "Prove it!" I demanded.

"All too easy," said Cedric, grinning. Before I knew what he was doing, he ran over to me in a blur of hotness before running back to the couch. The whole trip took like, two seconds. I was dazed, and I was having a hard time keeping my balance.

"Oh, alright. You proved it. In the pudding," I said slowly and distantly. They family laughed as I tried to wrap my head around things. I was alone in a room of vampires who may or may not want to suck my blood. Well, I had my wand… if I was fast enough. Well, they had been exposed to humans and I'm sure they didn't go crazy, so I guessed I would be okay with them. If not, hopefully my dad would figure it out.

"Bella, you look a bit piqued. Do you want something to eat? We have a ton of stuff in the fridge you might want. Not dead animals, though. How about some fruit and vegetables?" offered Alice in a complete normal tone.

"Erm, uh, no thanks. I think I'll just change and go to bed. Long day, you know." I was truly tired. It had nothing to do with the fact that two of my best friends weren't human.

Edward took my backpack and led me upstairs. He showed me what appeared to be his room, where I was to sleep. There was no bed, because vampires don't sleep.

"Sorry there's no bed. You can use my couch, though! We'll wake you up in the morning, and Alice will make you breakfast. She's a very good cook." He gave me a loving smile and hug before placing me gingerly on the couch. "Sleep tight!"

"Thanks. Good night!" I smiled at him as he left the room.

I wondered if anybody else knew. I mean, they fooled me for a while. I never would have guessed if they haven't given me clues. I fell asleep and dreamed of beautiful people running very fast.