AN1: I did make vampires here somewhat different from Twilight vampires. One, they are actually flesh and blood as opposed to hard stone. I never understood the appeal of making out with a statue. Two, they are more like classic vampires in that they can feed from humans without killing them as long as they are not too hungry and have enough control. There is no venom to worry about. Three, every vampire in my world has a power/talent. There are no exceptions.
AN2: I changed the title from Wizard to Witch because it sounds better. However every magic using person, including Bella, will still be referred to as a Wizard.
00
The next day Bella quietly got up and went through the motions of getting ready for school. She'd spent the better part of the night berating herself for overreacting the night before and screwing up with Victoria. Just when they had been really getting along by their standards she had to go and screw it up. It's not like Victoria could have really hurt her. In the end Bella had just panicked and was kicking herself hard for it.
She'd gotten ready and walked by Victoria's room to find the door closed. She thought about knocking but knew from experience that it was better to leave Victoria alone in situations like this. Bella went to the kitchen and made herself a breakfast of cereal, eating slowly without really tasting it and shooting the occasional glance in the direction of Victoria's door. Truth be told she didn't even know if the vampire was still in the house. Realizing she would be going to school alone that day Bella washed her dishes and got her things together to leave. After hesitating she wrote a quick note and left it on the kitchen table.
I'm sorry, I screwed up. Please don't hate me. Can we talk about it tonight?
Still feeling rotten she got in her car, a nondescript black Honda civic, and headed for her school. On the way she made an effort to put the problem with Victoria aside and enjoy going to school as much as she could. She'd fought for it and she was going to get as much out of school as she could for as long as it lasted.
She parked and rushed inside barely setting foot in her first class just as the bell rung. Bella gave the teacher an apologetic smile for almost being late before she turned to find a seat. She saw only one seat was open when she saw the guy behind the empty seat staring at her with something like suspicion and displeasure on his face. Bella feels put off before she notices some details that hadn't filtered through her brain at first glance.
He was gorgeous. His skin was smooth perfect pale alabaster unmarred by any imperfections. His features were almost painfully handsome and boyishly charming at the same time. Then there were his unusually colored eyes. They were golden and almost certainly supernatural. Stretching her senses Bella could detect that this was a being that possessed magic.
He must be one of the famous Cullens, she thought, forcing herself to stop staring and take the seat in front of him hoping she hadn't been too obvious in her staring.
Bella was glad that she'd been proven right. He wasn't a vampire. All vampires had red eyes after all so the guy sitting behind her had to be something else. Off the top of her head there was only one type of supernatural being who might impersonate inhumanly beautiful youngsters and mingle amongst humans while at the same time having the distinct taste of magic. She was almost sure the guy behind her was one of the Fey probably hailing from somewhere in the Winter Lands of the Unseelie, out amongst the humans to enjoy himself and possibly trick some gullible mortal into a contract that would undoubtedly turn out to be a fool's deal. It would also explain why they preferred to avoid sunny days. Well, Fey she could deal with. At least it wasn't vampires.
As she sat she half listened to her teacher drone on as she thought about what, if anything, she and Victoria should do about a cadre of Fey taking up residence in Forks.
00
The first thing that hit him was the smell. He smelled vampire.
Edward's head snapped up to look up as a human girl rushed in just as the bell rang. He almost let out a subvocal growl before he realized the girl was not a vampire at all. She was human. He took another breath and smelled the human's scent underneath the scent of vampire on her. It was beautiful. She smelled better than any human he could ever remember smelling. Against his will he felt his fangs drop at her delicious intoxicating smell.
Still he was immediately more concerned about why this human girl smelled like she had recently spent time with a vampire he didn't know. When he tried to read her mind he found to his absolute shock he couldn't. He frowned as this had never happened before. Suddenly Edward was finding the situation very disturbing and he couldn't help but worry that this was a threat to his family.
She finally looked in his direction and Edward saw much to his chagrin that the only seat left open was the one in front of him. He wasn't in danger of losing control and attacking her but her extremely attractive scent would make it hard to concentrate on much else. Unhappy with the situation overall he couldn't keep the displeasure off his face. It had started as a perfectly good morning and suddenly everything seemed to be going all wrong.
She looked at his face and he saw the surprise on her face once she got a good look. Edward didn't know whether to be annoyed that another girl would apparently be drooling over him or smirk at how the human girl reacted to his looks. She herself was actually quite the beauty in an understated way which Edward found immensely appealing. He never could like women who flaunted themselves.
The girl took the seat in front of him while managing not to blatantly stare which was points in her favor. He found himself staring at her back, suspicion and feelings of being drawn towards the girl warring inside him. Her tantalizing smell was not helping as he couldn't help but fantasize as to what her blood would taste like if she smelled so divine. In the end however suspicion won out and he stopped breathing as to not let himself become distracted. Subtly he drew his cell phone and at vampire speed typed out a text message to his siblings at the school explaining the situation.
Met new girl in first period, can't read her mind and she smells of a strange vampire. Keep eyes and ears open for any information.
With that out of the way Edward turned his attention back to the girl, his eyes firmly on her as he tried over and over to read her mind. Every time he failed and every time he became more fascinated with the mysterious girl.
00
Emmett was sitting at lunch with his four 'siblings' paying close attention to them. Everyone was tense and Emmett couldn't help but be somewhat amused by that since it was fairly unusual to see his whole family have the equivalent of a collective apoplexy over some girl who Eddie couldn't read and smelled faintly of vampire. Alice and Jasper had similar looks that were simultaneously thoughtful and worried. Rose, the light of his life, looked like she wanted nothing better than to have something to smash to pieces. When anything threatened their family she was the first to want to take direct and drastic action and while he loved that protectiveness about her he couldn't help but find her bottled up aggression just a little bit funny. However he knew better than to even hint at any of that out loud or he knew he would be the one she would be taking out her frustrations on… and not in a fun way.
The last was Edward and he looked like he had eaten the sourest candy on the planet or like someone had kicked him in the family jewels. Edward sent a scowl his way and Emmett just smiled at him, completely unapologetic. With his talent Edward was almost never put off balance by other people so it was fun to watch while it happened. It would do him some good not to have the edge in every single situation and serve him up a bit of humble pie.
Emmett himself didn't understand what the big worry was. There was one human girl who Edward couldn't read, so what? There was an almost endless variety of people with some small magical talent out there. Sure they were rare but they were well known to exist. Just because one human had a talent to protect her mind didn't make her some big clear and present danger.
The vampire smell also wasn't a big deal as far as Emmett was concerned. Either the girl – Isabella, or Bella as he had overheard students call her – knew a vampire and about vampires or she didn't. If she didn't know it probably just meant she sat too close to a vampire in a bus or at the movies or something for a while. If she did know then they were probably dealing with another vegetarian vampire who meant to turn her eventually. That got him a scathing look from Edward. Emmett just gave him an infuriating smirk that just made Edward scowl harder. If he wanted to think that they were evil and dammed that was his prerogative but Emmett sure as hell wasn't about to apologize for having a different opinion.
Even though he'd gotten used to it Edward's inability to turn his talent off was still annoying. He couldn't imagine anyone ever dating the guy since any little bad thought or doubt they might have he would instantly know about. Maybe that Bella girl would be the only girl in the universe who could stand dating him. That made Edward have an incredulous look of surprise on his face. Emmett smirked and very deliberately thought that a girl who could hide from his powers might just be his soul mate if he didn't scare her away with his self-pitying emo routine. By the stunned and thoughtful look on his face Emmett wondered if he'd just given his 'brother' ideas.
"So what have we found out?" asked Jasper to everyone at the table, shooting glances at Bella who was sitting a few tables away with Mike Newton and Jessica Stanley's group.
"Her name is Isabella Swan. She just transferred in from Seattle. Supposedly she moved here from there with her roommate and they are both emancipated minors," said Rosalie, her tone clearly saying she wasn't happy with that story.
"I read some people's minds and her 'roommate' is more than a little suspicious," said Edward, "she looks like us. Unnatural beauty, unnatural grace, people seem drawn to her and scared by her all at the same time. Only thing was her eyes were brown not yellow or red." He was clearly unhappy with this news if his deepening scowl was anything to go by.
"You think she's a vampire then?" asked Jasper.
Edward shrugged. "I suspect so even though I can't explain how she has brown eyes and could walk around outside on a sunny day. It would explain why she smells of vampire though if this 'roommate' of hers is one," he said with a growl at the end.
"Jealous?" said Emmett teasingly.
The angry glare Edward sent in his direction made him wonder if he'd hit the nail on the head.
"Could it be her talent? To be able to disguise her obvious vampire traits?" asked Jasper thoughtfully.
"I suppose it's possible," replied Edward.
"You've been awful quiet Alice. Can you tell us anything about what's going on?" said Rosalie.
Alice seemed to zone out for several long moments before turning to them and shaking her head. "I can't explain it. It feels like something is blocking my visions deliberately. I can't see anything about Isabella," she said sounding just a little bit panicky. Jasper put his arm around her and pulled his wife close. Emmett knew that Alice's visions had never failed her before and it must be disconcerting to not being able to rely on them when they had two unknowns to worry about.
"What about you Jasper? Can you get anything out of her?" he asked.
The vampire nodded. "I can feel her emotions just fine. Whatever is stopping Alice and Edward's powers from working doesn't seem to work on me."
"What's she feeling now?" asked Edward.
Jasper looked over at the girl in question for a few moments before answering. "She's trying to follow along with the conversation but she's distracted and worried."
"Her roommate didn't come to school today right? Maybe something happened," suggested Emmett.
"Maybe she left town but I doubt we'd be that lucky," said Rosalie.
"Do you think she noticed anything different about you when you were in class with her Edward?" asked Alice still leaning into Jasper.
Edward scrunched his forehead in thought. "I didn't think so at the time but it's hard to tell. Humans usually gawk and stare the first time they see us no matter what. Though if she is familiar with vampires I imagine she did notice a few things."
"If she didn't run screaming maybe that means she knows about vegetarian vampires," suggested Emmett.
"Even a red eye vamp wouldn't attack someone in the middle of a classroom. Still if we're going to approach them we have to know how much we can tell," said Jasper.
"We're going to approach them?" asked Rosalie, hinting that she thought having anything to do with them would be a bad idea.
"We may not have a choice. We have to find out what we're dealing with. Our only other option is violence and we're not going to do that unless there isn't any other choice," said Edward. Though there was a bit of reluctance everyone around the table agreed.
"Well, why don't we invite them over to the house?" said Emmett. At the round of incredulous looks he got he realized he needed to explain more.
"Look, one of us goes over and invites them over and words it in a way that only someone in the know would get the real reason behind it. If Bella knows about vampires and they want to live here she'll know they'll have to deal with us eventually even if it's just to agree to not go after each other. If she doesn't know it should become pretty obvious by whatever response she gives. I say better just to go straight up and ask."
Jasper absently stroked his wife's hair as he thought that over. "That might work. Not a bad plan at all. Minimizes the risks to us pretty handily."
"Didn't know you had such a big brain under all those muscles Em," said Alice teasingly seemingly starting to get over the funk of her powers failing her.
"Of course my baby's smart, not just incredibly hot," said Rosalie seemingly pleased with her husband's plan. She leaned in and gave Emmett a kiss on the lips which caused him to smile and return it with enthusiasm.
"I'll go talk to her," said Edward suddenly.
"Maybe Jazz should do it," said Alice, "he'll be able to get more out of it since his powers work on her."
"No," said Edward firmly, "he can monitor what's going on from a distance. I'm going to be the one to go talk to her."
"Whoa, since when did you become boss of the family Eddy?" said Emmett, a little annoyed by Edward's attitude.
"Just let me do it," said Edward. The it's personal hung in the air left unsaid.
"Sure, whatever. Just use more tact than usual Eddy boy," said Emmett giving in. Everyone else readily agreed even if they were a little puzzled as to why Edward was so insistent.
"I think Edward's got a crush," muttered Emmett in a faux whisper that everyone clearly heard. Most of the vampire's couldn't conceal small smiles at their brother's expense.
"I'll catch her after school," said Edward, a little annoyed at the light ribbing. Emmett just smiled to himself at that. Didn't Edward know by now? Getting annoyed was just the way to invite more teasing. Eddy would be getting jokes about his wedding plans to the Bella girl before the day was over.
00
After the last bell rang Bella decided to go to the school library. She wanted to get her homework done before going back home where she most likely would not be able to concentrate. Sitting down she took out her books and began to work.
She'd been working for almost twenty minutes before she felt someone walk up behind her. That person walked around the desk and sat down in the chair next to her. It was that same handsome guy from first period, the one she had assumed was one of the famous Cullens.
"Can I help you?" asked Bella neutrally. She tried her best to act polite and professional. Even in the supernatural circles politeness was always well received. At the very least they would be nice to you right back before they tried to kill you in most cases. She was a little nervous but she knew that in a semi crowded library she was as safe as she could reasonably expect. No one liked vanilla humans getting an eyeful of the supernatural. It just wasn't done.
The boy gave her a smile and it made him so attractive and handsome it was almost difficult to look at. Bella reminded herself not to be swayed by a pretty face. Anything that took such a human shape was more likely than not someone who purposefully wanted to draw humans in and have them lower their guard.
"I'm Edward Cullen. I talked it over with my family and we thought it might be a good idea for me to come over and introduce myself," said the boy, keeping the smile on his face and studying Bella closely.
Bella paused trying to think of the best way to respond. "That would be for the best. I'd like to make sure there are no misunderstandings between me and your people," she replied carefully. Inside Bella's mind was whirling trying to figure out how she had been identified as something other than a regular human so quickly. Were they able to sense her magic?
"My people?" Edward asked carefully. He was clearly prompting to see if she knew what they were.
Bella bit her lip in thought and decided it would be best just to put her cards on the table. "You're Fey." She said.
Edward raised an eyebrow at that but otherwise his face remained impassive. His silence made Bella think she was right on the money.
"And what are you?" he asked her.
"I'm… special," she said, trying her best at an enigmatic smile.
He didn't look pleased with her answer. "And your roommate?"
Bella was a little put off and worried that they already knew about Victoria and wondered if they suspected there was something unusual about her too. Bella's smile got a lot more frosty at his question. "She's special too," she said with a hint of challenge in her tone.
Edward scowled at that and looked ready to demand answers. Bella cut him off before he could start.
"Don't start trying to intimidate me into talking, I know how the game is played. I already gave you one piece of information for free as a sign of goodwill. Now did you come over here so we could come to some sort of understanding or are we going to have to talk to your leader for that?"
Edward stayed silent as he studied her. "We could just run you out of town. There's only two of you," he said causally but the implied threat was clear.
Bella's eyes narrowed at that. She was not one to get angry but when some supernatural critter threatened her and her family it was a whole different ballgame. "Trying to lay a hand on us would be a bad idea little fairy. A very very bad idea," she hissed loudly at him. The people around the library gave her concerned looks but she could care less as she locked eyes with the boy in front of her.
Edward seemed taken aback by her sudden fierceness. "Peace Bella, that was rude of me. No one in my family wants to resort to violence. I just wanted to see how you'd react. I apologize," he said. Bella thought he at least seemed sincere.
Bella slowly sat back down. She hadn't realized she'd half risen out of her seat. "As long as you remain civil from now on I suppose this minor incident can be overlooked," she said trying to sound gracious. The truth was she was shaking inside with nervousness and adrenaline and trying desperately not to let it show. Dealing with supernatural entities was always a lot of high stakes posturing and subtle maneuvering. Bella hated to play the game but right now she had to. Usually it was Victoria who did that, she was so much better than Bella at that sort of thing.
Edward nodded slightly and just looked at her for several long moments until it started to become uncomfortable. Bella forced herself not to squirm or let her nervousness show as she met his gaze with what she hoped was a polite but slightly bored look. After far too long Edward was the one to look away first and Bella was relieved feeling like she had won some minor victory.
He reached in his pocket and produced a blank business card. He took out a pen and wrote on the card before handing it to Bella. Cautiously she took it and looked it over.
"It's the address to our family home. Why don't you and your roommate come by and meet us tonight? You have our guarantee that you will not be harmed. We just want to talk," he said.
Bella worried her lip as she looked at the card considering her options. Promises held a lot more weight in the supernatural world than they did in the human one and to the Fey in particular their word was nigh unbreakable. Doing so had serious consequences. Besides with Victoria's power and some preparation beforehand it should be relatively safe.
"Sure," said Bella finally, "we'll come by tonight."
00
After that Bella packed up her things and exited the library. Edward found himself unable to tear his eyes away from her the whole time as she walked out the doors and turned down the hall.
When she was gone Edward got up and walked to the classroom across the hall from the entrance to the library. Inside were his four siblings waiting for him. They had been hiding by close enough to hear the conversation and to rush in to help on the odd chance Bella Swan turned out to be dangerous.
"Sounds like that went well little fairy. Methinks Bella's got some claws behind those sexy girl next door looks!" said Emmett. That earned him a disgruntled scowl from Edward and a playful swat to his stomach from Rosalie.
"I'm not sure if I should find it adorable or insulting that she thinks we're fairies," said Alice though by the smile on her face she was clearly more amused than upset.
"I guess it's understandable how she might mistake us for Fey. Though that still leaves the question open if she knows about vampires. If I had to guess I'd say chances are pretty good," said Jasper thoughtfully.
"Hope she doesn't panic when she realizes she's wrong about what we are," said Rosalie and everyone had to agree with that. All of them were fairly well versed in the supernatural. What dangers one might expect from one of the Fey were completely different from the dangers posed by a vampire.
"Will we have to report her to the Volturi if she knows?" asked Alice worriedly.
"Not if she's somehow magical or supernatural herself. It's the regular humans and governments that the secrecy law applies to. Given that she has a shield of some sort we can always make the case that she is supernatural. Certainly no regular humans have that," said Edward.
"Don't forget that she's probably already living with a vampire. We'll have to wait and see what that's all about. This vampire might be her lover or something," said Jasper.
Edward let out a low growl at that caused everyone to turn and look at him.
"I don't think that's the case at all," said Edward sounding uncharacteristically upset.
All of his family looked at Edward with varying degrees of curiosity and confusion.
"Oh-kay, well how about we get home and update Esme and Carlisle on all the exciting happenings today. Then Edward can brood about his first crush," said Emmett teasingly but it had some truth to it. Edward had never shown even a remote interest for any woman until today.
"You guys go ahead I'll be along shortly," said Edward. They all gave him odd looks but didn't question him as the filed out of the classroom. Once he was alone Edward sat down heavily in one of the chairs.
Though Emmett might have been joking at lunch the more Edward thought about it the more right it seemed. Everyone was right that it was almost impossible to have a relationship with someone whose mind you inadvertently read whenever you were together. It made perfect sense that the perfect person for him, his mate, would be someone who was immune to his power. After talking to her in the library Edward was convinced that perfect person meant just for him was Bella Swan.
She was just so full of life, polite and demure as a proper lady should be. The fact that she smelled intoxicatingly heavenly to him only further reinforced his conviction that she was perfect for him. Then when she felt she and her roommate were threatened she was so fierce, it was beautiful. Still a lady like that should have a man to protect her so she never felt the need to bring out her strong protective instincts. Edward thought that meant she would make a good mother and lamented how that would not be possible for them.
Edward couldn't contain a growl deep in his chest when he thought about another vampire being so close to what he had started thinking of as his Bella. At least it was a female and Edward already knew Isabella was far too wonderful a young lady to ever engage in any shameful and immoral romantic liaisons with another woman. Bella had far too much class and carried herself with far too much dignity for that. Still it was possible he would have to try and pry her away from the redhead he had seen in other people's memories.
Once she saw what a great guy he could be Edward had no doubt Bella would fall into his arms so he wasn't too worried. It had to be fate that brought them together. After all they were perfect for each other.