sorry it took to long to get this up. please enjoy and review =)
Bella's POV
The next night, Right after sunset, we were on our way through the city to Notre Dame. To say I was nervous is a total understatement. My knees were knocking the whole way there and I felt like Edward had to half carry me there. Almost twenty hours ago, Edward and I were in complete and utter bliss. About twelve hours ago a random vampire invited us to an undead dinner party. What a life.
"Bella, love, are you feeling alright?" Edward asked, steering me towards a small café with a bright, neon sign.
"Never better." I mumbled, my voice slightly shaking.
He steered me to the counter and looked up at the menu. "You need caffeine to calm your nerves. Any requests?"
"Surprise me."
"If you insist." He ordered some kind of fabulous coffee-mocha-cappa-latte thing which, under normal circumstances, I would have loved and raved about.
"It's delicious." I told him as we left the shop and continued on our path. I sipped the chocolate drink and found the sweet warmth of the cup oddly comforting in my hands. However, the good feeling quickly wore off when the tall, dark, bell towers of Notre Dame came into view.
"Try to not to be so worried, Bella." Edward told me, looking around for any sign of vampiric life once we were in the vast courtyard. "You'll be fine."
"Easy for you to say." I mumbled. "You're one of them. I'm just a snack." Notre Dame, although beautiful during the day, looked even more intimidating at night. Hundreds of years old, the stone gargoyles leered down at us. This was such a fitting place to meet vampires.
Suddenly Edward stiffened and looked towards the grand cathedral. I followed his gaze and saw a figure standing in the shadows. It emerged and I saw it was Emma. She smiles a fanged grin and motioned for us to follow her. She quickly disappeared into a small side door. "Are you alright?" Edward asked, leading me into the door.
"As good as I'm going to get." I tightened my jacket around me as we went deeper into the darkness and left the bright streetlights behind us as Edward pulled the large, wooden doors closed. As we descended down the narrow stone steps, it did get colder but the pitch black darkness is was really freaked me out. We walked for what seemed like hours, my anxiety creeping up the whole time. I hated not being able to see anything.
"We're almost there. They're all excited to finally meet you." Edward's voice was so upbeat.
"So they're not going to eat me or anything right?"
He laughed. "No, they wouldn't dare. Besides, everyone has been careful to eat before we came."
"Awesome." I know his words should have made me feel better, since he can read all of their minds and all, but I was still nervous. When we rounded a corner and saw an open, lit door, I instantly heard the twinkle of voices and the delicious kind of laughter that only vampires have. The room was large and stone, still cold, but there was a raging fire that lit up the room and would probably help warm me up. Many vampires were standing in front of the fire or perched on comfortable looking chairs that were scattered about. There were also hundreds of paintings were stacked in piles and lined up against the wall-wait… the walls… they were made of bones! I hoped this was part of the famous Paris catacombs and not piles of the clan's meals…
"Bella!" Emma came forth from the rest of the vampires and held out her arms for a stony embrace. "I am so pleased you two decided to come. Please, you must meet the rest of the family."
"Um… okay." I looked around the room at the beautiful, smiling faces. They all looked nice… but, then again, so did Laurent, and he tried to eat me!
"Hello, Bella." A willowy, black haired girl stood up. She must not have been more than fifteen. "My name is Adeline."
An older, distinguished, man wearing a pinstriped three piece suit held up a silver tipped cane to get my attention. "Mine is Edmond."
"Gaspard." Another, younger man quipped, he flashed me a toothy smile before the stunning, blond woman, holding his hand, spoke up.
"I am Nicolette."
" My name is Gerard." This man looked like a stereotypical Frenchman. He was wearing tight jeans, a leather jacket, and held a Vespa helmet under his arm. And this is my wife, Louise." Louise waved as me with one hand and adjusted her lovely, brown curly hair with the other.
"And I am Phillipe." Another, shy, young man glanced up at me with a grin before looking away.
"That is almost everyone." Emma said, still smiling. "I believe Lydia, Ambroise, and Daphne are still out hunting. But you'll meet them soon enough."
"Well, it's nice to meet all of you." I said, feeling a little more comfortable.
"And it's lovely to meet you!" Louise said, motioning to an empty chair next to hers. "Please sit."
I took the chair, but Edward didn't follow me. I heard him whisper something about Daphne before I left him. I didn't know what to say, so I just blurted out something at random. "I like your… um… lair?"
Louise giggled. "Thank you. No one comes to this side of the catacombs, so it's safe for us."
"Oh so all these bones are just from the catacombs?" I ventured to ask.
"Oh, goodness, yes." Nicolette came up behind Louise's chair. "Do not be so nervous!"
"I'm sorry, I can't really help it." I admitted. "It's not every day I hang out with a bunch of vampires who aren't vegetarians."
"Vegetarians?" Gerard asked.
"Oh… right. Well, Edward and his family don't drink human blood, only animal blood… calling them vegetarians is just like an inside joke." I explained.
"How delightful." Nicolette giggled and looked towards the door. "So tell us, Bella, how is it being a human?"
"Um… good?" I answered with a shrug. "I mean I don't really have anything to compare it to."
"Well I haven't been human since…" Adeline thought for a moment, pressing a slim finger against her cheek. "1842."
"Wow. That's so long ago."
Louise laughed. "Well I have not been human since 1530!"
"She was at the court of king Henry VIII" Gerard added.
"Really?" I was impressed.
"Yes, it is true." Louise said. "It was such an enchanting time. But today is much more interesting."
"So a lot of you have been vampires for hundreds of years… is that why you have a lot of paintings?" I questioned.
"Yes." Adeline answered. "During times of crises such as plagues, war, the French Revolution, we go into the Louvre or palaces and swap the pictures, just in case."
"What do you mean?"
Nicolette looked over at the piles of paintings. "Well, for instance, during the French Revolution, court was held in Versailles. The people were going to ransack the palace and possibly destroy all the art. So we went through the noble houses and replaced their paintings with replicas in order to preserve them until it was safe."
"I guess we just forgot to replace them." Louise giggled. Then, she glanced over at the door. "The others are here."
I looked over and saw three vampires, standing in the doorway. There was an older, skinny woman with brown hair who Louise said was Lidia. A tall, man wearing jeans and a plain black shirt followed her, and I guessed it was Ambroise. Finally, a striking blonde wearing a pale green dress came in. She was obviously Daphne. I didn't know if I should go and greet them, so I decided to just stay put and observe them.
"Edward!" Daphne gasped loudly and crossed the room to where he still stood with Emma. Emma had a worried look on her beautiful face and Edward looked shocked, at best. Daphne threw her arms around his neck and I felt my body stiffen. "It has been too long!"