Chapter 11: The Penultimate Day

July 31, 2010

Angela's pov

A year had passed since I found out about the Cullens. A year where I re-invented my concept of life, a year of promise, a year of joy ... a year of secrets.

To the uninitiated, life passed in its usual way. Ben and I completed our schooling, and we applied for jobs in Forks and obtained them. The wedding took the usual amount of work to prepare. There were the usual frustrations, the usual conversations, and the usual parties. But everything took on a surreal quality for me. Everything was extra-special. And that was because I was now a Secret Keeper.

It was a miracle every day, watching the Cullens do ordinary and exceptional things in their extraordinary ways. Not to mention the wolves. I knew everything about everyone. I knew who was who, I knew their talents, I knew their strengths and their limitations. I even knew about Jacob's attachment to Nessie. And I loved it all. It was fascinating. As a privileged outsider unconfined by the burden of living an extended lifespan away from Heaven, I felt blessed.

Ben benefitted from the blessings, too, but he was still innocent of knowledge. He made assumptions when anything seemed fishy, and I did not feel like I was deceiving him. We were both happy, and we were getting married in less than 24 hours.

I drove up to the Cullen house in my Neon, left it in the drive and bounced in through the front door. I was surprised to find all the Cullens and Jacob sitting in the living room. Everyone was regarding me seriously, which was a little discomfiting. I looked to Edward for an explanation. He cleared his throat and drew in a breath to speak.

"Angela, tomorrow is your big day, and we are going to be here to share in all your joy. We are going to be part of your life, and Ben's, for as long as you will have us. We will never abandon you. But something serious has happened, and we are going to have to deal with it in a way that may make you sad. We are going to have to leave Forks for some years."

I looked, appalled, at Nessie. She already resembled an 11 year old, and I was planning on seeing how she turned out.

"Why? Why can't you stay?" I demanded, the tears already making my voice thick.

"Little Angel, we don't age. Carlisle's trying to pass for 38 in the body of a 24 year old. Esme is trying to do the same in the body of a 27 year old. Jacob is always going to look 25. The rest of us are having a hard time passing for 20-somethings in the bodies of much younger people. We can't manage forever in one spot. It's one of the problems with being what we are. Trust us, if we had our way we'd be staying. This has been the best home we have ever known.

"What happened, that you had to tell me this the day before the wedding?" I fumed.

"The hospital director has gotten suspicious. He has noticed odd things about me, and Edward read in his mind yesterday that he has sent away for records of my previous employment. That file will include a picture of me from the security card I used at the hospital where I worked 10 years ago. We are going to have to disappear, and soon. When you get back from the honeymoon, I fear we will all be gone. Jacob, too. We talked to Charlie, Sam, and Billy this morning."

I shut my eyes in horror. Life without the Cullens. My big freaky second family, all gone. I knew they had to go, but what about me? I opened my eyes, and the tears spilled down my cheeks.

"Now, now, sweetie, it won't be as bad as it sounds. Dry your tears," Edward said. "We have a plan that we hope will appeal to you. It would, of course, be too dangerous for you to come with us. We don't know quite where we will settle, yet, and we never know who we will stumble across when we are migrating. But we thought something else might work to all our benefits."

"What's that?" I sniffled.

"Initially, we are going to Alaska to our cousins' place, to consider our options from a safe distance. We will be taking a short trip back at some point to set up new identities. Meanwhile, our cousins are also in need of a relocate. They have never lived here, so we have offered them this house. They are moving in the day after tomorrow. You may have met some of them at our wedding.

"The leader is Tanya Denali. She is the oldest vegetarian we know but she looks younger than the rest of her family. Her sister Kate is also very old. Kate's mate, Garrett, is a recent addition to the family and a recent convert to the lifestyle. They've been together about four and a half years. Garrett is acclimating very well and I think you will be safe around him. Tanya's sister Irina was murdered four years ago, around the same time Kate met Garrett. Irina's mate was named Laurent. He is dead, too. The last two members of the family are Carmen and Eleazar. They are very affectionate people. They look a little older than the rest but they're closer to Carlisle's age than Tanya's. They will be posing as the parents of the family.

"Now, the Denalis make their money by writing trashy novels and sex education manuals. Kate and Tanya make Lauren Mallory look like a nun. We call their kind succubi. They aren't demons, they are sex-crazed vampires. The Denalis do not exactly follow our Christian moral code, but they are good, kind-hearted people and they are lots of fun to be around as long as you make your limits clear. They would not cross any lines with you, should you agree to our plan. I have already obtained their solemn vow not to molest you or Ben. You don't have to worry about them.

"To be frank, we do not want to part with this house, and we'd kind of like somebody trustworthy around to keep an eye on things while we are gone. We can't come back to live here for at least 60 years, when most of the people who know us have passed on or have faded recollections of us."

I must have looked stricken. Will you Cullens leave me behind for the rest of my life? Edward hurried to finish his explanation. "No, of course not. What we thought was, ... how would you and Ben feel about coming to live in the cottage? Taking care of the place for us, and staying in touch regularly? And reporting whether the Denalis are behaving in ways that make people suspicious? We would pay you handsomely, and take care of all your needs, and that way, we could see you occasionally and know all the time how you and Ben are doing." Edward looked at me, waiting for an answer.

I wanted to answer the Cullens immediately, but I was getting married the next day. "I want to say yes, I'd love to, but I should really talk to Ben first, since it involves his life as well."

"Of course." Edward acknowledged.

"He's going to be thrilled. They will be able to live here, and still work jobs outside the home. They won't have to pay for housing, and they'll be able to retire whenever they want," Alice said perkily. "Go call Ben now, Angela. He's been worried about expenses."

I ran upstairs to use the phone, excited for the future again.