Chapter 4 – The Cullens –

Outside the car, the world had gone black. I stared out of the window at the back of the car, trying to think about anything but about what had happened a few hours ago. As much as it was embarrassing, it was making things too complicated. How should I act around Alex now? Should we talk about it? Did this mean that there was something more between us?

He was driving, so I was saved for now, but soon enough, we would be alone somehow and I would be too insecure to say anything. I would have thought that things like that changed as soon as you became a vampire, because you had nothing left to lose. But I knew, there was something I could lose. The last ounce of self-respect I had left.

It was bad enough that all the others knew. We hadn't been that discreet, I must admit. There was something different about making love with superpowers and 3 others around the house, who would hear even a pin drop. Nobody had said a word to me since we had gone onto the ride to Forks. I wasn't mad about it, but I still would have liked to know what they were thinking.

The landscape flew by and changed into a thick forest. I supposed, we must have been quite close now. It was raining heavily. At least, Alex pulled onto a porch in front of a huge house. I was amazed, I had to admit.

It was timeless, there were lights everywhere, a wide staircase leading the way to the front door. I slowly opened the door and stepped out. I didn't care about the rain, but even enjoyed the wetness on my skin, when suddenly the door opened and a tall figure stepped out of the house, the shadow was easy to see against the light that was flowing down the stairs now. I saw William stepping forwards, the others keeping their distance.

We must have looked quite weird. All the others standing a few feet away from me. I grinned sarcastically. I thought, I would have to find somewhere else to live quite soon. "Carlisle.", William said cheerfully and walked up the stairs. The two men looked at each other, and then laid their hands onto each other's shoulders. "William." This Carlisle had a voice so soft and soothing, it felt strange to me. Although every vampire was able to sooth their prey because of their voice, his sounded a lot more natural in this tone than any other I had heard up till now. "Come on in." I saw the others moving and slowly followed. There was a weird feeling that slowly crept its way into my mind.

We stepped into a large room that seemed to be some kind of living room. There were 6 other vampires. Three men, three women. I positioned myself behind the others, wanting to have a look at them first.

All three men were tall and muscular, but still too different to be compared to each other. One was the bear-like type, with heavy muscles, that showed from underneath his shirt. The red-haired one looked at us with watchful eyes. I recognized that all of their pupils had a slight golden colour. I frowned. It looked weird, as you considered their nature. All of the women were beautiful, but the blonde one was the most beautiful. Still, she looked as if she was adamant. William and Carlisle followed us, I could see that they were familiar. I had never seen William this open except with Mary. "I'm really glad to see you again, my friend.", he said and smiled. "So am I.", Carlisle answered. "And here's my family." He moved closer to the woman that seemed to be his mate. "This is Esme. And my sons, Edward, Jasper and Emmett. As well as my daughters Rosalie and Alice." 'My family', he had said. Again, it seemed weird to me, but there was some kind of connection between them that seemed almost capable in the air. The way they stood there, close to each other, a protective look on all of their faces. This was nothing compared to the coven, William had build up for himself.

William stepped forward and greeted each one of them. Too much politeness, I thought to myself and leaned against one of the white walls. All I wanted was either to leave or to get some answers about the thing with the "vegetarians", William had mentioned before. Maybe that was why their eyes had this strange colour…

"So, would you like to introduce your coven?" I looked up again. William was turning towards us, I stood straight again. I had promised to not make mistakes. I would hold onto that for now. "Of course. This is Mary, my mate." Mary stepped forward and stood now very close to him. I was sure that she didn't know anyone of the strange golden-eyed vampires as well. "Alexis. Madelyn." Both of them made a step forward and politely nodded at the others. I got slowly bored… "And Lana." I forced myself to smile a bit and stepped forward as well. I looked into the eyes of Carlisle, that had the look, you'd imagine of a father, of a wise mentor.

But suddenly, his gaze froze. He shot a quick glance at William. "She's a newborn." It was the one fact, that suddenly made them all turn into my direction. The tall blonde guy was suddenly next to Carlisle, staring at me. I folded my arms across my chest and slowly backed away. I could see it in their eyes.

They were afraid. Nobody said a word, when everyone of the other coven positioned himself around Carlisle, building up a front towards me. I imagined a mouse trapped in a mousetrap. "Yes, she is, but she's under my supervision.", William said slowly. "She won't do any harm.", he added with a quick glance at me.

I shook my head and laughed quietly. "I'm not eager to stay.", I said and brushed a strand of hair behind my right ear. "I can leave right now." They all looked at me, frozen in their places. I saw the red-haired guy putting a hand on Carlisle's shoulder. I heard him mutter something that sounded like "I can't hear her.". I didn't understand it, but either of them did.

And then, as I looked into his eyes, and his gaze met mine, a thousand pictures flew through my mind. I gasped. Pictures of places, I'd never seen, people, I didn't know, thoughts, I had never thought. I felt arms grapping me, someone calling my name – and suddenly, it was over. I inhaled deeply, Alex face above me and I realized that I was on the ground with him kneeling beside me. "What happened?", he looked at me, stroking my forehead. I shook my head. "I don't know." He tightened his grip and easily pulled me up into a standing position. I closed my eyes, laying my head against his shoulder. Where did all these pictures come from?

"Edward, what happened?" Behind me, voices were babbling, nearly shouting at each other.

"There were pictures of my past… My parents, the Denalis, Alaska…", he said. And I froze in my position. There had been snow in some pictures and people, vampires. I recalled them now, as they had been too fast for me to really appreciate them before.

"Lana?" I recognized the voice of Carlisle and slowly lifted my head. "Can I talk you to alone for a minute?" I felt Alex' grip tighten around my waist, but I didn't care. "Yes.", I managed to choke out and slowly followed him, past all the others that looked at me as if I had done something very, very wrong…

What do you say? Something weird going on, right? There's gonna be more details next chapter, I just had to get through the introduction at first… Review! :) Love, B.