Chapter Thirteen: Old Piano
What's that you're saying there oh well
rain rushing window pain
can't see what space i'm in oh well
but i'm safe inside me here oh well.
Frou Frou - Old Piano
It was dark when Lucy woke. She had been blindfolded, though she could hear the sound of a creek near by... she then realized that she heard a lot more than she should have. It was as though an amplifier had been placed in her ears, making everything much louder... A breeze brushed across her skin, though she felt confused as she couldn't truly feel it. Then she sat up quickly, jumping to her feet as she reached her hands up to her head. She couldn't feel anything. Her entire body felt numb, yet she was entirely aware of herself. A strong smell greeted her senses, it smelled both revolting and entirely delicious at once. It reminded her of a mushroom she had once smelled in a biology course that initially smelled of a delicious barbecue, though the after smell burned her nose and made her nauseous. Pulling the blindfold from her head harshly she looked around, smoke wafted to her nose, causing her to spin around.
Her eyes widened as she surveyed the scene before her. There were body parts strewn about a small clearing in the woods, and blood was everywhere. The moonlight glistened on the body parts, torn clothing littered the field. Glancing down with a gulp she saw that her hands were covered in dried blood, her skin glistening slightly in the pale light. Waves of confusion were overwhelming as she became somewhat frantic. She was a vampire, and she had just killed at least three people, as she saw three different legs. The fire was burning a deep purple, the smell putrid in her nose. Frantically she piled all of the pieces in to the flames, remembering once that fires killed vampires.
Running towards the stream she was shocked at her speed, wondering if this was how the vampires had felt. The river was softly babbling as she walked down to it. She gasped, clumps of blood had dried in her hair, giving it a stringy texture, while her skin was covered with stains of it smeared. Though the most shocking wasn't the blood that covered nearly every visible part of her body, but the shockingly red color of her eyes, though as she stared at it, she noticed it was fading. Jumping in quickly she decided she would rinse off, and then find a way to get home, the Cullens would help her. They would know what to do.
Footsteps began nearing as she felt her body getting warmer, though the water stung her skin; she was shocked, her heart seemed to begin thudding quietly in her chest, and she felt like throwing up. It was as though her heart had simply skipped a long beat, and now her body was warming up quickly. She felt as though she was on fire. Without realizing it she began vomiting violently.
"Oh no, our dear little Elixir of life is getting quite ill." A silky voice wove through the woods. Lucy's head shot up instantly, wiping the deep red liquid that had just exited her mouth from her chin. The metallic taste that filled her mouth tasted more repulsive than anything she had experienced before, the slightly acidic mixture to it from her stomach made it burn even worse. "You put on quite the show."
"Who are you?" She spoke, her voice was rough, her larynx burned from being raw. The acids were eating up the delicate skin lining her mouth and throat. A man appeared on the edge of the woods with a smirk; his skin was chalky with an odd olive hint to it. His hair was long, and a deep red. His eyes a shocking crimson. Glancing back down self-consciously she noted that her eyes were now an awkward mixture of green and red. She looked like a monster.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you're safe." He said to her, his voice was smooth, and enticing. She splashed her face with water, but was stopped when he suddenly came out of nowhere, sweeping her out of the water. The trees blurred past, her vampiric abilities had disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. She gulped as the contents of her stomach once more threatened to spill. Her eyes tightened in an attempt to fight off the churning.
"What do you want from me?" She asked, fighting down the waves of nausea.
"I provide people with a service... there are many of our kind that want something like you." He told her with a grin; she didn't need to see his face to know that he was smirking at her. His malevolent expression as he held her firmly against his chest. "You give us a chance to be human again... though we never suspected that while we temporarily become human, you temporarily become one of us."
"I want to go home." She said stubbornly. She sounded like a sour five year old, but she didn't mind. She wanted to go home. She didn't know where she was, how long she had been there, or even how far from home she was. Location had never been a very important thing, but she had finally found a family, people that she could feel comfortable with, and now she was kidnapped in the middle of no where.
"You say that every time. But don't worry, you will forget all of this after your next snack; you always do." he laughed boldly at her. The thought made her stomach flip sickly, 'you'll forget all about this... you always do.' She could have been gone for months without having realized it. The last thing she remembered was going to sleep after a warm bath, and feeling slightly ill. What if they had drugged her? She had no recollection of anything, and it frightened her. Her memory had always served as a curse, though suddenly she wished that she had it more than ever before. Memories seemed to disappear with each frantic thought of what was going on. It may, or may not, have been due to her nerves, though logic had no place in her mind at that moment; she was frantically worried about what was going on.
"Sleep, my dear. We'll be there shortly." The man spoke softly in to her ear; she wanted to stay awake, to fight him... but something stronger seemed to lull her in to a deep sleep.
Lucy awoke to finding herself unceremoniously dropped on the ground. Her back hurt, and her muscles all felt stiff. Glancing around groggily she saw that the nameless man began a large fire.
"I like to start the fire for you, so that you can dispose of the bodies afterwards. You see, it's two birds with one stone; my enemies are killed, and you forget everything afterwards." The man chuckled to himself as he tore trees apart and tossed them in to the flames.
The small girl stood with her back flush against the tree, eyeing him cautiously. She didn't want to be bitten again, but she had no idea how many times she had been bitten before. Her eyes had never turned red before; she had never attacked anyone before. Her anger had increased slightly, she had been stronger at times... but she had never been vampire. It was a fearful thought, that she would become a vampire long enough to attack people, long enough to kill them while they were vulnerable. Not that they didn't deserve to die, they had, after all, bitten her first.
"I'll leave before you start. Wouldn't want to go and get myself killed." He said with a laugh. He was so casual about it, though his voice had cold undertones. He had made her in to his little pet. He knew little traits about her 'gift' that even she couldn't have suspected. "You seem to get faster each time. One of these days you may just become one of us."
Her eyes widened at the thought. She would hate becoming one of them, so she desperately tried to formulate a plan. She couldn't remember anything; even her memories of her life were becoming dim. It wasn't that she had forgotten everything, but she simply hadn't remembered it all. There were pieces missing, pieces that seemed to have faded like an old photograph that had been placed in the sun.
Think of the Cullens as they bite you. Think about running home. Leave them human, ignore the blood, run. She told herself angrily, hoping that it would work, hoping that she wouldn't pass out, that she wouldn't forget everything again.
If you remember anything, remember to run home. She chanted in her mind as he seemed content with the tall flames, nodding at it appreciatively before turning to her.
"It's a shame, you're quite good looking as one of us." The man tutted to himself before a few people came running through the woods. Her ears pricked to the sound of the ground crunching beneath their feet. It intrigued her to know that her hearing, while not nearly as crisp as it had been, was still quite a bit stronger than it had been before.
"Is this the child?" A woman's voice asked, curiosity peaked as she looked to her. The woman was small, and had long pale blonde hair. The woman was very pretty, and besides her stood a tall man that reminded her slightly of Jasper.
She eyed the pair cautiously as they neared her, her heart racing quickly with each step they took towards her. They moved at a gingerly human pace.
"How old are you, child?" The man spoke, his voice soft, his hair a pale blonde like the woman's.
"I am probably older than you." Lucy hissed angrily, not wishing to be bitten by any more curious vampires hoping to relive their human days.
"You look no older than 18." the man laughed musically; the two seemed much nicer than the strange man that had brought her there.
"I am over 160 years old." She said in a low tone, annoyed at everyone assuming she truly was as childish as she looked. While she may not have been acting entirely mature at that moment, she didn't feel it was necessary; she was having a bad day. Glancing around she realized that the man had disappeared, though no one else had appeared yet, and she couldn't hear anyone else approaching.
"Where are you from? Why are you here?" The woman asked her gently, her voice was a sparkling soprano. She was reminded greatly of Alice, though the woman was much less hyper than Alice.
"I am from Texas." She told them as she walked towards the fire, yearning for the heat as she shivered slightly from a night breeze. "But I lived in Forks... I think."
"Texas?" The man said quietly behind her, he sounded slightly surprised. She kept repeating facts of where she lived, where she was supposed to be going. She could see the image of her house, she could see Esme's warm, inviting face. Carlisle watching her curiously... their faces were imprinted in to her mind, their house stuck out... yet when it came to everything else, it was as though her memories had been scrambled up. "Forks?"
"Do you know the vampires in Forks?" The woman asked her tentatively, Even Lucy was able to pick up on a slight apprehension. Lucy felt her heart leap in the hope that they had known the Cullens, that they knew something more.
"The Cullens, yes. I live with them." Lucy said as she turned to look at them, trying her hardest to conceal what hope she had. "Do you know them?"
"We are close friends of Jasper's. Why are you this far east?" The man said curiously, confusion written plainly on his stony face.
"Where am I? What day is it?" She asked him, panic set in. He knew where she was, he knew where her family was. They could help her... yet they had come here to bite her. Jasper's friends had come to attack her... yet that man, had wanted her to kill them.
"You are-" The man began, but was interrupted as a large group of vampires entered the field. There were at least five of them, their eyes blazing red. She spun to look at them fearfully.
"You must be the amazing elixir of live. I must say, I have been hoping to get a taste of your blood since Romone first spoke of you." A tall man said, his accent leering as he neared the girl. He was shorter than Jasper's blonde friend, though he was much stockier. His hair was tousled, and he looked much more rugged than any of the Cullens.
"I will kill you if you bite me." She said to him smoothly, burying her fear in the hope that perhaps he would see reason and not bite her. Though it seemed unlikely as he began laughing.
"A pretty little thing like you?" The man laughed boldly as he stood less than a foot from her. Angrily she shoved him with all of his might. He fell back in an un-vampiric manor, tripping over a log behind his feet. He looked up in shock, and amusement as he stood; the others laughed on his behalf.
"That's okay, I like them feisty." He leered at her. She knew there was no hope in running; he would be faster than her.
Think of home. The Cullen's. Forks. Home. Forks. Home. Forks. She chanted to herself as the searing pain shot through her body. Everything blurred, though she tried her hardest to continue chanting in her mind, her eyes shut tightly as a warm tear slid down her cheek. She lost track of how many had bitten her; the pain numbed her body. Each bite sent a burning sensation through her body, followed by what felt like being immersed in icy cold water. Idly she suspected that this was how people felt when they were gang raped; each person jumping off quickly as the next took their place. Her stomach churned disgustedly at the wonder of how many nights she had done this; how many times she had truly been bit. She would never know.
Home. Cullens. Forks. She thought with determination. And then, as suddenly as the pain had numbed her body, it stopped. She realized then that she was no longer standing; she had fallen to the ground. It took only a moment to realize that it had happened. Everything had disappeared for a brief flash, and finally she awoke, glancing around. Her eyes were sharper, she could hear the quick beating hearts of those that had bit her, their loud voices as they spoke amongst one another.
"Amazing." The man who had bit her first spoke, his voice was much harsher than before, her throat burned in desire for his blood, to kill him as he had done to her.
Home. Cullen's. Forks. Her mind popped up quickly. She glanced around; noticing that Jasper's two friends were still pale, their hearts still silent in their cold chests. She glanced between them, and the figures of those that were now humans. A tall woman was feeling her body excitedly as she proclaimed how amazing it felt to be soft and warm, a man was looking around eagerly, entertained at the fact that he was no longer able to see and hear everything.
"Please help me go home." Lucy spoke quietly, her tone pleading as she looked to the two blonde vampires. She ignored the burning in her throat, not breathing, as she had remembered Edward once telling Jasper to do. They looked surprised at her.
"You are very strange." The woman spoke softly. "We will run, it is a two days run if we hurry. Can you run?"
"Until the venom wears out. I may pass out. I don't know. I forget everything." She said, trying to remember what she could about before she had been bitten... all she could remember was wanting to go home to the Cullens, their faces flashing in her mind like a beacon of hope. She knew she would forget everything, but she tried her hardest to remember that; and it was all she could remember. She felt hopeless with the knowledge that the only thing she would remember was that she couldn't remember anything.
"Run while you can." The man said to her. "We will carry you the rest of the way."
"Thank you." She said softly, watching as they pointed in to the distance to the west. The humans hadn't even heard them speaking. They ran quickly, away from the alluring scent of humans.
Being a vampire was amazing; she knew that she was a freak of nature, and the ill feeling that came told her that it wasn't something she should do frequently. The thought nearly made her laugh; the idea that someone would chose to get bitten regularly, as though it were a fun way to pass time. Her thoughts turned to wondering if she would be like a new born every time; if she would ever get used to it, if she would ever remember what had happened.
Everything seemed to meld together as she ran; she could see with great distinction as she followed the two vampires that she hadn't even formally met. The sun was beginning to rise before she even wondered how long she would be able to run for. She slowed down as the sun reached the sky; her skin was radiant, reflecting the light in every which direction as though she had embedded diamonds in to her skin. She had been accustomed to seeing her vampire family doing it, though it was an entirely strange concept to have herself like that.
"I need to eat." She said suddenly, it wasn't that her stomach was grumbling, or that her throat burned particularly strong... but she felt as though she were growing angrier with each passing moment. She needed to feed on something.
"There's a small town about a mile that way." The man said, glancing to the south a ways.
"I can't be around humans." Lucy said, her eyes widened at the thought of killing a human; she couldn't kill a person... but she was a vampire; yet, the Cullens didn't need to survive on humans. "Couldn't I eat an animal or something?"
"There isn't any large game around the area, though once we reach the mountains there may be some." The woman said casually. "Though I think I'd like something before she returns to her human state."
"Are you sure you wouldn't like a human? We can bring one back for you." The man said softly. It was tempting, part of her wanted nothing more than to eat a human; simply the thought was enticing... her mind registered that it was what her thirst wanted... but it also told her that eating people was not something that she should be doing. She would only throw it up later and the guilt would kill her.
"No, you can go, I will stay here and wait." She said quietly, fighting the inner urge to eat a human. She was probably the one person in the Cullen family that hadn't gotten the lecture on upholding the morals of not eating humans, and yet right now she had the strongest urge to.
Her senses were stronger than normal, and she was definitely exhibiting vampiric traits, though Lucy knew that the two had been running slower than they would have on their own. She slowed them down, and she knew that she was tiring. Sitting against a tree she mused as her skin sparkled in the sun; suddenly, however a fierce growling caught her attention. There was a single mountain lion, crouched and prepared to attack. With a fierce leap she jumped on to it, having no interest in fighting the animal. While she couldn't remember how good a human tasted, she sensed it was much better than the animal beneath her. Though she felt her energy slightly restored, and within a minute the two blondes had returned.
"You got a snack." The woman smirked, her eyes seemed a brighter shade of red than before. Lucy cringed to herself, but tried to hide it from them. They were helping her, she didn't want to seem ungrateful.
"Yes." Lucy said dimly, words didn't seem to really explain what she was thinking. She wanted to go home, to Forks. With the Cullens... they were really the only thing she could consciously remember. Small bits and pieces came to her, though nothing fit together.
"We should go." The man said, the three nodded to one another before starting back westwards, following the woods towards mountains. "We want to pass over the mountains before you return to being human, otherwise you could catch a cold."
"I won't catch a cold. I'll be fine." Lucy told him with a laugh. "I am fairly indestructible for being human."
"All right." He said to her politely, bowing his head.
It wasn't until the sun started to set that she began feeling ill; her stomach churning, her head burning up. She wanted nothing more than to lay down. The two seemed to notice that she was slowing; her legs were beginning to burn from fatigue.
"I'll carry her to the mountains, and you can carry her the rest of the way." The man spoke to the woman quietly. Lucy yawned; The world was beginning to spin and grow darker with each passing second, and the light wind prickled against her skin.
It was cold when she awoke, the bright light nearly blinded her despite her eyes being shut. She was being held in someone's arms; she suspected it was the tall man. They were running, she could feel it, though her stomach was churning violently as the wind howled against her. A shiver coursed through her body involuntarily.
"We'll be through the mountains soon enough." The man spoke to her softly. She could hear the woman laugh lightly. The sounds were familiar, though she couldn't remember where she was going; where the two were leading her. Her mind gave her a brief, and blurred image of two blonde vampires, as though to tell her that they were the ones she was with; they were helping her. The movements were almost soothing, lulling her back in to an ill feeling of sleep.
When Lucy finally awoke she was wet, and cold. Glancing around, it seemed to be early in the morning, just before dawn. The smell of the forest was familiar. She had been set down on the ground, and the two vampires were talking quietly to one another. She was close to home, she could smell it.
"Unless we can find a vampire to bite you, we will have to walk the remainder of the way." The woman said as she glanced over to the girl. "We can try to run quickly, though you have a strange effect over our abilities."
"Okay." She sad daftly. The two were taking her somewhere, they were helping her with something. "What is going on?"
"You..." The woman trailed off, her frightening red eyes softening on the girl. "What do you remember?"
"You're helping me. They bit me. There was a fire. Are you taking me home?" She asked, trying to conceal her confusion; it was as though her mind had drawn a complete blank. She hated the emptiness that filled her mind.
"Yes, we are taking you home." The man said, glancing to the woman tentatively. "We should try to run, if anything, they will be alerted of our nearness and come to seek us."
"If that is what you think would be best." The woman spoke softly. Before Lucy could do anything she was hoisted on to the woman's back, and was riding piggy back through the woods at a fast pace. Images raced in to her mind, her heart beating rapidly at the hope of being home... away from the man. She couldn't even fully envision what he had looked like, only that it had been a man. His voice cut through her memories, icy and cold... sharp in it's callousness.
The movement stopped suddenly, causing her to glance up. Lucy's eyes widened as she looked to the large, welcoming vision of the Cullen's house. The blonde woman set her down warily, watching as Lucy steadied herself slightly. Her legs felt uneasy; she felt as though she couldn't even walk a few feet without her legs buckling beneath her. The woman seemed to understand, wrapping her arm around the girl; they were roughly the same size.
"Thank you." Lucy said with a sheepish smile; she had traveled hundreds of miles with these two, yet she didn't even know who they were. "I am Lucy."
"I am Charlotte, and this is Peter." The woman said softly, motioning towards the man that Lucy had assumed was her mate. "We are always willing to help out a friend of Jasper's."
"Jasper and I aren't exactly friendly." Lucy said slowly with apprehension, fearing what they would say, that they may have suddenly regretted having brought her there. Though the man just laughed.
"Jasper doesn't usually get very friendly with mortals... or in your case, people who have blood. His control isn't very strong." Peter laughed heartily, their feet made a soft squishing sound on the damp grass as they walked closer towards the house. The house was still a ways away, though she suspected that they were becoming more human with each passing moment. Their running had slowed before having stopped, and his cheeks seemed to hold a slight flush.
"We knew one another before we became immortal, so it's just sort of weird to be around one another now." She admitted to the two. There was no other way to truly describe it; she couldn't fully remember everything that had passed between the two, though she knew that he had not been happy with her before her disappearance. The sudden worry that perhaps the Cullens hadn't wanted her to come back set in, the fear that perhaps they had been behind it, they knew the nature of her condition more than anyone else.
They were still at least twenty feet from the house when the door swung open. A frantic brown haired woman darted out in a blur.
"Lucy!" Esme cried out, clutching the girl in to her arms. "You look so horrible! What happened to you?"
"You're squishing me." Lucy strangled out as Esme crushed her beneath her cold arms.
"Oh, Lucy." Esme said, pulling back as she ran her hand over Lucy's head, she froze, however, when she took in Lucy's face, as though she hadn't truly looked at the girl before this. "Lucy."
"We-" Alice began excitedly, running in a blur out to the lawn where they stood; she froze when she saw the small girl. Lucy bit back a look of shock as everyone looked at her as though she had somehow sprouted horns. "Oh, Lucy."
"We never should have left you alone." Esme said quickly, pulling the girl back to her chest.
"Where did you find her?" Esme asked softly, her hands running through Lucy's tangled mess of dark hair.
"Near the coast of Newfoundland. When she told us that she was from Forks we immediately thought about your family, and asked. She asked us to help her come home." Peter spoke, his voice smooth and gentle. Lucy didn't relax in Esme's arms; rather she felt herself growing anxious and worrisome as the woman seemed to be freaking out. Memories of her life flashed before her eyes, as though she hadn't truly forgotten any of them; though her short term memory seemed non existent.
"Are you hungry? When was the last time you ate?" Esme asked quickly as she pulled back. Lucy felt guilty for the pained look that Esme gave her when she looked at the girls face.
"I had a mountain lion a couple of days ago, and the night before that I think I had a few people." Lucy said, there was no point in hiding it. Esme's eyes went wide, and Alice gasped slightly. "To be quite honest, I don't remember much of anything. I found the dismembered bodies, I was covered in dried blood, and once I woke up I began vomiting it. How long have I been gone?"
"It's been almost two weeks." Esme said softly. Lucy wanted to choke, she had missed two weeks of school; it wasn't that she needed to go, but she had never missed that much school. She had only made it to about half of her classes the first two weeks back from spring break, and now she had missed two more. The thought flickered so quickly in her mind that she felt confused; Why was school so important to her?
"We told everyone that you crushed a lung in the car accident, and that you had contracted pneumonia." Alice told her, putting on a cheerful face, though even Lucy could see the falseness in it.
"Alice, why don't you help Lucy get cleaned up while I make her something to eat." Esme said in an authoritative voice. Lucy hated the feeling that everyone was suddenly taking pity on her, she was confused about it, but she didn't think it had been that bad.
"Okay." Alice said eagerly; before even able to protest Alice had scooped up the slightly larger girl and disappeared in to the house.
"I think I can walk fine, Alice." Lucy said as Alice opened the door to the house. Alice frowned down at her, but obliged to setting her on the porch, her arm around the girls waist. Lucy grimaced to herself as the door opened, revealing Emmett and Jasper, eager to see what was going on. Neither of them spoke, they both looked absolutely shocked, and taken back by her appearance. She glanced down at herself. Her nightgown had seen better days; it was torn up to her thigh in places, and had a few cuts in it, and was now a dark permanent shade of almost purple from the dirt, and had dark streaks of caked on brown blood. She was barefoot, and her arms had a few new scars on them from hitting trees, but she didn't look that bad.
"I am so sorry for leaving you." Emmett said quickly, in the most sincere tone that Lucy had heard him use before. He had wrapped her in to his arms much like he would an injured child.
"Emmett, I'm fine. I don't get why everyone is pitching such a fit over me." Lucy said sternly, pushing him back a bit.
"Have you seen yourself lately?" Emmett asked her as he looked down to her, concern in his golden eyes.
"Yes, in one of the many mirrors that are placed throughout the forests of North America, I stopped every chance I got to make sure that my hair looked pristine." Lucy said dryly. "Right after I sucked their blood, and threw their body in to the flames."
"I'm going to clean her up, you can bother her later." Alice said as she scooped the girl back up. Before Lucy could protest or complain she was now standing in the large bathroom.
Turning slowly after Alice had set her down, the small dark haired girl took the first opportunity to see her reflection. Her hair was matted, and poofy, small twigs and leaves sticking out at odd angles, dried blood was on her face. Her lips were dried, though they seemed dyed a permanent deep red. Her eyes were perhaps the most striking of all her; they still had hints of her normal golden green, though the strong shoots of red made them look nearly orange. Her body looked thinner than before, which worried her perhaps more than the red eyes. She had never lost weight before, yet she looked nothing short of gaunt, and as she felt the boniness of her arm she felt strange small bumps that she hadn't noticed before, looking closer in the mirror she gasped. Her arms, and her neck, and her chest were covered in tiny scars, scars that resembled teeth. She gulped slightly glancing to Alice.
"These..." She began, trailing off as she tried to feel on her back; her fingers traced the small bumps harshly, trying to feel any slight change in the surface of her skin. They littered her shoulders; they covered her body. Jumping down she began feeling at her legs; she found a couple, though it didn't seem nearly as bad as her upper body.
"They're from being bitten." Alice said softly, the door to the bathroom was shut. Lucy felt her legs shake uneasily and she slumped on the floor against a wall; she was hideous.
"I'm a monster." Lucy whispered in to her knees, burying her head in her folded arms. She smelled horribly, and her skin felt disgusting, but it matched how she looked. Her skin was not smooth, she had wanted to lose her girlish looks, but she hadn't wanted to replace them with this. She had endured wars with less impact than this.
"No you're not. You did nothing wrong." Alice said quickly, wrapping her cold arms around the smaller girl. Lucy clutched her arms to the smaller woman, sobbing in to her chest; the pressure from everything had finally reached a climax; she had taken enough.
"What have I done to deserve this?" Lucy said through the sniffles in to Alice's shoulder. "I did everything my mother asked. I devoted myself to helping others. I became a nurse, I served in the army. I did red cross. I was never selfish, and I never wanted anything more than to help people."
Lucy tried her best to contain her cries; she knew that everyone in the house would be able to hear her if she was loud, and she didn't want to look pathetic.
"Is this what all immortals are like? Selfish creatures that live on their own impulses and don't care for anyone but themselves?" Lucy pulled back, wiping her face with her hand, though it did nothing but smear the dirt, and it would irritate her eyes if the dirt got in there.
"No, not all immortals are like that. Do we seem like that?" Alice asked softly, soothingly running her hand through her hair. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."
"Thank you, Alice." Lucy spoke quietly, ashamed of all that had happened. It had taken nearly fifteen minutes, but her crying had stopped. A gaping feeling filled her chest, a sinking sense of dread as she feared what was happening.
"You can take a bath later, though you should eat something first." Alice instructed, starting a shower.
"I think I can shower myself, Alice." Lucy put on a smirk as the girl frowned, Alice was testing the water with her fingers. "You can't even feel the temperature, it could very well scald my skin and you wouldn't know the difference."
"I can tell the difference." Alice said as she looked to the slightly taller girl with a raised eyebrow. While Lucy had once been larger than Alice in both height and stature, she now looked skinnier than the tiny girl. It was unnatural.
"Barely." Lucy scoffed, putting her fingers under the tap; it was much too cold feeling. She turned the cold down, and the hot up.
"I'll get you clothes." Alice said with a sad smile before disappearing.
The once blue night gown was practically pasted to her skin, it stung as she peeled it off. The dirt seemed to be tattooed on to her skin, outlining where the dress had fallen. The water was hot, and it stung her aching body. For nearly ten minutes she stood under the faucet, allowing the water to simply hit her body. Though when she heard the door shut once more she decided to wash her hair and get finished. With an unladylike grunt she tried to pull the clumps from her hair. It was impossible to get all of the strange objects from her hair. She had everything from dirt, to leaves, to rocks, to a strange metal trinket that she would save as a memoir of her horrible adventure that she couldn't remember. It wouldn't have surprised her if a small animal had taken up residence, though she was almost disappointed when her hair began washing clear and nothing more came out. Casually stepping out she jumped back in to the shower door when she saw Alice waiting patiently on the toilet, holding a towel.
"Alice! You frightened me!" Lucy exclaimed, reaching for the towel with a frown, holding one arm up to maintain a fake sense of modesty.
"I bet I could count all of your bones." Alice said with wide eyes as one of her cold fingers touched her rib cage. Lucy jumped back further before pulling the towel.
"Do you mind?" Lucy said, shaking her head with a slight laugh. It was amusing to see the girl touch her skin with such intrigue, though she really wanted to get dressed, and act as though nothing had happened. The thought was impossible, and she knew it wasn't going to happen, yet she still secretly wished for it... rather, she wished that it hadn't happened at all.
"I'm supposed to look for any more bites." Alice instructed. Lucy groaned as she wrapped a towel around her mass of hair. She frowned, placing a hand on her hip as she stood naked in the center of the bathroom.
"This is horribly embarrassing, you know?" Lucy frowned, raising an eyebrow as the girl walked around her like an inspector. "Can I get dressed, or would you like to invite the rest of the family in to look?"
"Don't be cross, we've all been very worried about you." Alice said, handing her another towel. "Did it hurt? What was it like?"
"I don't remember much, and everything that I do is a blur. I lost an entire week somehow. I'm still trying to remember everything about my past; it's the most bazaar feeling." Lucy admitted as she began dressing. Alice had brought her a pair of jeans, and a turtleneck. She was thankful for something that would cover all of her skin; she didn't want the scars to be visible to everyone.
"It's as though every memory from my entire life has been thrown in to a hat, and then they shook it up, and when I remember something, it's as though I take a random memory from the hat and I have absolutely no context, no meaning behind it. I know that I wanted to come home to everyone, but I couldn't remember who exactly you were to me. I didn't even know I was in school until I saw everyone on the lawn." Lucy said with a slight laugh at how ridiculous she sounded, with a sigh she pulled her hair in to a sloppy pony tail, unwilling to deal with it at that moment. She quickly began running her rocks and silvery trinket under the sink, cleaning them up as Alice waited by the door.
"That's really strange. Maybe Carlisle will know how to help." Alice offered, watching her. Lucy held the silver object up; after the dirt had been cleaned off she realized that it was a ring; it looked old, and very dirty. She collected the small handful and walked out with Alice.
"Lucy! Peter and Charlotte told us about what has been happening to you. I am so sorry we weren't there to protect you." Esme said quickly, attaching herself once more to the girl.
"It's no big deal, Esme. I'm still alive. I told you I was good at surviving." Lucy said as she put on a brave smile, awkwardly returning the embrace. Esme let go of the small girl as she glanced over her. Lucy smiled somewhat placidly, setting her handful of junk on the counter besides a large plate of food that she suspected was for her. Emmett and Rosalie were sitting in the living room near by, while Jasper, Peter, and Charlotte were sitting at the table. Nick was sitting on a stool at the counter, and Alice was sitting besides him.
"What is that?" Esme picked up the rock in confusion.
"Things I found in my hair." Lucy said putting on her best cheeky grin as she looked to the woman. "I was disappointed that there weren't any small animals in there. I had hoped for at least a bird with the way it looked."
"This is pretty." Esme commented as she began looking at the ring, she walked towards the kitchen sink and was washing it gently.
"I thought so. I should wander in the wilderness more often, I find all sorts of strange things." She said, bending over the food. It looked delicious, but the smell made her nauseous. It smelled absolutely unpalatable.
"Does it smell bad? I can make something else!" Esme said eagerly, setting the ring on the counter as she hovered over her plate.
"No, it's fine." Lucy put on a smile as she put a fork full of eggs in her mouth. She smiled as she chewed, but not even Esme was fooled as she practically gagged when the food went down her throat. A look of pure guilt washed over her face; she blamed herself for this. Esme felt as though she had been a horrible mother, as though she had failed.
"You don't like them, I-" Esme began, pulling the plate away.
"It's fine, Esme." Lucy said, holding the plate firmly before the woman could pull it away. Her eyes looked slightly shocked at the force she had used to hold it. "I'm just not very hungry, my body isn't used to having human food."
Lucy had meant it to lighten the woman's mood, though it nearly sent her in to hysterics, latching herself once more to the girl. Part of her was annoyed at it, yet another part of her thrived on the closeness... the attachment that this woman had felt towards her. When everything else had been completely ruined, Esme was still there, loving unconditionally. She was proof that not everyone was a monster, not everyone wanted to kill her.
"I think she may want some space, Esme." Alice spoke calmly. Esme began pulling back, in fear of pushing the girl away, but Lucy's arms were latched around her back. She didn't want to lose that feeling. She was the abused child that needed her mother to comfort her, to tell her that she wasn't horrible, that she was truly worthwhile, that she wasn't a wast of space.
"I won't let anyone kidnap you again, Lucy." Esme said firmly. It made her feel comfortable, knowing that she wasn't alone. The darkness in Esme's tone made her not want to ever upset the woman, and was thankful to be on her good side, to be the subject of her protection.
"I killed them all." Lucy said quietly as she let go of the woman, wrapping her arms around herself with an involuntary shudder. "I can't even remember it, but I can still taste their blood in my mouth. I wanted to kill them." She had a familiar taste filling her mouth as she cringed, forcing the bitter sweet taste down her throat. "The venom still pools in to my mouth at the thought. I really am some freak of a monster."
"You produce venom?" Esme asked her slowly, taking a step back in awe.
"I am going to guess that I've got more venom in my body than any of you do. you saw all of the bite marks; each time a little bit of venom is released in to my body, enough to turn a full grown man. And with each bite of the humans, more of the venom that mingled in to their blood filled my body." Lucy said, shaking her head. "Maybe once the venom works it way out of my system my eyes will go back to normal, and I'll be able to eat normal food without getting ill."
"I'll call Carlisle." Esme said disappearing, leaving Lucy to sit somewhat awkwardly at the counter. The air felt fairly tense around her. She twirled her fork on the plate, trying to ignore the smell of the food.
"How are you feeling?" Alice asked her quietly; Lucy glanced up to the shorter girl, raising a dark eyebrow elegantly.
"I spent nearly two weeks as a play toy to hundreds of vampires, and you're asking how I am feeling?" Lucy smirked.
"I..." Alice trailed off, looking guilty.
"Physically, I'm tired. It's a very peculiar feeling; I haven't felt gravely ill in over 150 years, but I feel absolutely deplorable." Lucy laughed slightly.
"How do you feel emotionally? Are you okay?" Alice asked her cautiously, her yellow eyes filled with worried curiosity.
"I'll survive." Lucy sighed, glancing up when Esme appeared back in the room.
"Carlisle is going to bring you some blood... to see if that will help." Esme said quietly, her eyes darting around the room cautiously before falling on Lucy, who had just dropped her fork with a clank.
"I don't want blood." Her voice was firm. She did not want to drink blood, she didn't want to even accept that she could be a monster. She enjoyed the idea that it would run it's course through her body and she would return to being her normal freakish self.
"Please?" Esme asked her, sitting in the seat besides her and grabbing her hands. Lucy cursed under her breath, refusing to look at the woman. "We want you to get better; you're our daughter now."
"Damnit, Esme. Did you have to pull the family card?" Lucy cursed bitterly, she couldn't say no to the woman now. "I'll try it, but I am not happy about it."
"We're worried about you, Lucy. Alice couldn't see your future, and Nick couldn't track you past Idaho." Esme latched on to the girl before quickly grabbing the plate and discarding it in to the trash. At that moment Carlisle came in quickly, he smiled at Esme, kissing her head before glancing down to the girl.
"It is great to see that you're back. We'll get you back to health in no time." Carlisle said to her warmly, pulling a long pouch of a red liquid from his pocket. Glancing curiously to her side she noticed that Alice's eyes were now going blacker with each passing second.
"Thank you, Doctor." Lucy smirked, he always spoke so clinically. Esme took the blood and was pouring it in to a glass. Lucy could tell that they were all holding their breath. She felt bad for doing this, she wasn't supposed to be the weakest one, she had never been this way before. Even when they had all been vampires she hadn't needed to worry much about them babying her.
"Try this. Do you want me to warm it up?" Esme asked handing the cup to the girl. lucy perked an eyebrow, unable to hold back a smirk at the situation.
"Will you give me a straw and a little umbrella too?" Lucy asked as she took the glass, the corners of her lips turning up as she bared her teeth, though as she leaned over the glass she couldn't help but cringe; it didn't smell delectable or savory. Everyone was watching her as she sniffed it as though it were a fine wine that had mistakenly been put in to a tall glass as opposed to a wine glass. Ignoring their eyes she took a gulp of it, unable to hold back her instinctive cringe at the thought of drinking someone else's blood... but once it hit her mouth, she realized that it didn't taste nearly as horrible as she had expected... it wasn't metallic like as she had remembered blood tasting like, and it didn't have much of an after taste. It tasted slightly sweet, as though there was a hint of sugar in it; it almost tasted like juice.
"It's a little too sweet." She said, wrinkling her nose slightly. It disappointed her that it didn't make her feel ill, it didn't give her the same sensation of nausea that the real food had... rather, it tasted decent, and it made her hungry for more. "Does this stuff freeze?"
"Freeze?" Esme looked confused. Lucy couldn't believe she was asking it.
"Well it would be really nice as a daiquiri or a frozen drink like that. Maybe mix it in with some shaved ice or something. Add a little vanilla to tone down the sweetness." Lucy mused as she took another sip. If there was one thing she had known about herself, it was that she found it impossible to remain upset over something for very long. It took a great deal of force to hold grudges, or to remain angry at something. She had very much been raised to believe that life was the way it was, and that there was no use complaining about it, so you had to make the most of it while you had it... granted, she had lived longer than she had expected, and didn't worry much about making the most of it, but she still saw no reason to be upset over things when she could be happy; Even in the darkest of times there is something that could make a person smile.
"Do you seriously want to make a daiquiri out of blood?" Emmett laughed loudly from the living room, peeping his head over to look at her with a grin. "You're not too bad, kiddo."
"I'm glad all it took was a reference to an alcoholic beverage to make you approve of me." She rolled her eyes, slightly surprised to see that she had quickly downed the entire glass of liquid. She still felt hungry, but wouldn't say anything. she glanced up to Carlisle and Esme, who were both watching her. "So does this mean I need blood now? Am I going to try killing people now?"
"I don't know. It seems very strange, you never had these symptoms before. You said you were bit by a hundred vampires?" Carlisle spoke slowly, each word well annunciated.
"It's a rough guess. I don't remember, Though I am going to assume that every night I was bit by multiple vampires, and I've got more than enough scars to prove it." Lucy said, trying not to be bitter about her now marred body. She had gone through so many events without getting scars; broken bones, torn off appendages, and gun wounds without so much as a scratch. With a sigh she began pulling her sweater off, thankful for having worn an undershirt; Alice must have expected this.
"Those are..." Carlisle trailed off as he walked closer to her, looking at her scars.
"I think this one's my favorite. It's the most gnarly of them." Lucy said as she fingered one on the front of her shoulder, a large bumpy scar stuck up from the skin as though someone had taken a large bite from over the bone, taking the flesh with it. She then pulled the camisole up to reveal a large scar on the side of her stomach. "Though I like this one, too. That guy must have been huge. Look at the size of his teeth!"
"You can't be serious." She heard Jasper say from behind her as Esme clutched on to her. Her grin fell as she turned to look at him, a dark look on her face as she jumped off of the stool.
"Would you like me to start crying? Perhaps I should become severely depressed and mope about the house as I complain to anyone that will listen about how horrible a travesty this is. Would you like that, Jasper?" She spat out angrily. "Nothing is going to change what happened, and I see no reason as to why I should sit around crying about something that I can't change."
"Of course you wouldn't be upset over it; nothing can upset you. You're like the unsinkable Molly Brown, only you've got more pride than every person from Texas put together." Jasper said harshly. "You think you're some sort of saint that can do no wrong."
"I have never claimed that, and simply because I can control myself does not mean I am overly prideful. Though I suppose you wouldn't know much about control." she said viciously. The second the words left her mouth she felt guilty, but she wouldn't apologize. He didn't deserve an apology, he had been nothing but a jerk to her.
"You-" He began snarling at her, taking a step towards her.
"I don't know what I ever saw in you. I wish I had died of malaria rather than be destined to be anywhere near you." She said angrily. The rest of the room all stared at her with wide eyes, she ignored them and walked towards the stairs, her hand holding the wall idly to steady her steps. She couldn't stand to be around him anymore.
A/N: Thank you for all of the lovely reviews. I really do appreciate all of them. This chapter has more Lucy, and the next chapter will follow Lucy and another Character... the chapter AFTER the next one will be all about Jasper. I promise. :)
Please Review and let me know if you liked it. :D