Chapter 10
Away
As I sped away from the club, and from Aubrey, I wished I could be human again. I had wished this before but not at this magnitude. How could I let myself fall for a human? A human who had to know by now that I am not human.
My phone vibrated in my pocket but I ignored it. No one could change my mind, leaving was the only way to keep her safe.
I got home a shoved a few outfits into a duffel bag, grabbed my emergency money from under my floor board, and went back to my car. Where I found Stacy waiting.
"Where are you going?" She demanded.
"Away." I opened the passage side door and threw the duffel bag on the seat.
"Where, why?" She asked stepping behind me.
"Listen Stacy, I do not have time for this. Can you not understand that I have to leave?" I turned to face her.
"Christopher, it's ok if you love her. All we have to do is change her and then you can be happy. You don't have to leave." She placed her hand on my face.
"No Stacy we cannot change her. She deserves better than that." I shook my head at the thought of putting Aubrey through the pain of the transformation. "I have to go now, and you better not change her while I am gone." I said furious at her suggestion. Then I looked at her face and she looked so distraught. "Listen." I started, softening to her. "I have to go and get some answers, but I will come back. And when I do can we let this go?"
"Yes." She nodded and stepped out of my way.
"I love you." I said kissing her on the forehead. "And I will see you soon."
"I love you too." She said hugging me. "And you better bring me something from Alaska."
"How did you know?" I looked at her confused.
"Oh please Christopher; where else would you get answers to a problem like this one." She said smiling. I smiled too, then shut the passenger door and got into the driver side. As I put the car in drive I saw Dex run up my driveway. He stopped next to Stacy. I simply waved to him, I was ready to leave.
It took me three and a half hours to drive from Ridgway to Colorado Springs, though it is supposed to take five. Colorado Springs held the closest Airport that has flights to Kenai, Alaska. The place where I was sure to find the answers I needed.
I knew that the vampires I was going to visit would see me coming but I decided it would be the polite thing to at least send them a text to let them know that I would be visiting them. I would have called but I was not ready for the questions that can be so easily asked over the phone. I had to sort out my thoughts before I could share them.
Hello friend. I hope you don't mind but I would like to take you up on the offer you extended. I am going through some things and could use some friendly advice.
I sent the text to a number I am ashamed to say I barely use. We vegetarians are so few and far between that you would think we would keep in touch more than we do.
I had heard you would be making a trip up here. I also know what your trip is about. I would be happy to answer your questions, though I'm not sure my answers will help.
He texted back.
Thank you, they have to help. I am at a loss of anything else to do.
His advice would surely help. I had to believe that even if he did not.
I see, and I will see you at the Astronomical Twilight.
I pulled into the parking lot of one of the motels by the airport. I booked a room and scheduled my flight for ten p.m. that night. That would be the flight I would have to take if I was going to arrive during the Astronomical Twilight. Great that meant I could sit in this room for twenty-one and a half hours and think. I guess I did not have to leave right away, but I sure wanted to.
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What seemed like a lifetime later, I handed the Stewardess my ticket and boarded the plane. I placed my duffel bag in the compartment above my head and took my seat by the window. I had also purchased the seat next to me so I would not have to sit so close to a human. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. I was not physically tired, but emotionally I was exhausted.
The flight was long and boring. They played a movie but it was one that I had already seen and it did not take my mind of my situation. Finally the plane landed at four forty-two a.m.. There were not too many people on the flight and the passengers exited the plane fairly quickly. When I stepped into the airport I saw a few familiar faces.
"Hello friend." Carlisle Cullen greeted me with his hand out.
"It has been a long time." I said taking his hand.
"Too long!" Edward Cullen chimed in also shaking my hand.
"Yes, I am sorry I did not make it to your wedding, or stand witness when you needed me to. Stacy was going through some things and asked me to stay with her. A better friend would have been there for you." I said letting him know the guilt that I felt.
"Well it sounds like if you had been a better friend then you would have been a worse brother." Edward chuckled. "Seriously though, don't worry about it things worked out in the end." He said no doubt reading my thoughts that were still guilty.
"True, but I will not miss your next wedding, if you decide to renew your vows." I assured him.
"You mean like Rose and Emmett? I doubt Bella would be up t being the center of attention again, she likes the sidelines." He laughed.
"Oh, well I cannot wait to meet your wife, I have heard a lot about her." I said.
"I hope it's all good." Carlisle said as he led the way to the parking lot.
"Yes…well most." I said walking between Edward and Carlisle. At this Edward stopped.
"What have you heard that isn't good?" He asked curiously.
"Well that she was a bit of a klutz as a human, and that sometimes as a vampire she loses her balance." I said smiling, hoping he would find this tid bit of gossip funny too.
"Yes well that is true." He said through a big smile. "Let's go. Esme can't wait to see you." Esme and Stacy were once the best of friends when we lived by the Cullen's. For about twenty years those two were inseparable. That was unless Carlisle was doing the separating. It was that type of love, which Carlisle and Esme shared, that Stacy searched so diligently for. In fact all the Cullen's were lucky to find that eternal flame in their partners that made their love seem so easy. At least that was what I had observed from Rosalie and Emmett, Alice and Jasper, and Esme and Carlisle. I was unsure about Edward and Bella, but according to the rumors the love they shared was just the same as the others…if not more.
"We have been exceptionally lucky in love." Said Edward, breaking the silence I had let fall between us. He smiled at me. "Have you been so lucky?" He asked.
"Not yet Edward, if you do not mind I would like to catch up with the others before I delve into why I have come." I said catching on to his question.
"Understandable, we can talk later." He said as we reached the car.
Carlisle drove for about two hours. He parked the car in an abandoned looking garage practically in the middle of nowhere. From there we got out and ran about ten miles to the community. This was where the Cullen's stayed when they were not in Forks or any of their other favorite places. I call it a community because that is pretty much what it was. The Denali clan stayed here too, and before we moved Dex, Stacy and I each called one of these homes our own. There was a small house for each couple, one for the sisters, and then three extras for others who wanted to come and stay. Though I'm sure Edward and Bella occupied one of those now. I hoped that they had not taken over my old house. I was very fond of the way it was set up. Each house was different structurally and mine had been the one with the least amount of windows.
"Don't worry." Edward spoke as we came to a hault, no doubt reading my thoughts again. "Yours is the only house not occupied." He and Carlisle smiled together. I had to hand it to Carlisle, being on the outside of the conversation most of the time would drive me insane, but he seemed to handle it so well.
"Wait though," Something occurred to me. "I understand that you and Bella would take a house, but who has taken the other one. Has one of the sisters found a mate?" I asked.
"Well yes and no." Carlisle said to me.
"Irina found a mate but he was killed by shape-shifters and she moved back into the house with Tanya and Kate." Edward explained.
"So who lives there now?" I asked still confused.
"My daughter and a close family friend." Edward said simply.
"Oh, I had no idea you had a daughter." I did not even know vampires could have children. Perhaps he meant that he found a newborn and took her in as his own.
"Yes Bella and I have a daughter and she is ours biologically." He smiled.
"How." Is all I could say, I did not think it was possible.
"She is half human and half vampire." Carlisle started enthusiastically. "Bella conceived when she was still human. You see the male vampire can still reproduce as long as he could when he was human. Our bodies are frozen in time when we change, reproductive organs and specimens included." He chuckled at the look on my face; I was still trying to grasp the how. "Renesmee is an extraordinary young girl I can't wait for you to meet her."
"Yes well let's stop standing around here then and go and visit with the others." Edward said leading the way to one of the two bigger houses. Carlisle and Esme lived in one of the bigger houses to accommodate when all the Cullen's wanted to be under one roof, and the sisters lived in the other big house to accommodate for the three of them. The surrounding houses were smaller and cozier, perfect for two.
When we reached the house Alice opened the door and greeted me with a hug.
"Christopher," She said releasing me from a very tight hug. "I've been waiting for you!" Alice always had a way of making you feel like you were just the person she needed to see for her day to be complete. It was a really good feeling. One that I did not deserve the way I had turned my back on this family when they needed me the most. These were my friends, they knew me the way Dex and Stacy knew me; and I had let them down only to show up for selfish reasons. I remember when we would go on men only hunting trips. Dex and Emmett were so alike in their hunting skills. They liked to play with their food; the only difference was that Dex managed to stay clean. Jasper liked the hunt, the strategic way he went about catching his prey, his prey would find themselves defenseless against him even if he were a human. Edward and Carlisle were very similar. Edward was almost peaceful; he would capture his prey with little to no struggle, feed, and walk away looking just as he had before he struck. Edwards kill was quick and concise. I liked the quick part. I did not particularly like hunting, just feeding. So when I located my prey I would pounce and aim for the chest. This way I knew I was close to the heart and my venom would attack there almost immediately. I liked to get in, get out, and get on my way. We used to have so much fun the six of us. I found myself feeling very nostalgic for those days.
"It is good to see you too Alice." I said stepping back to really take her in. Of course being a vampire her physic did not change at all, but she had changed her hair color and her clothes were new…naturally.
"Come inside!" She said stepping out of the way to allow me entry into the house.