Truths revealed
AN: I am sorry this took so long to update. We have had major family dramas going on. My father was fighting for his life, my grandmother died and now my 8 year old daughter is hospitalized and we are not sure when she will get to come home. Right now I am using this as an escape technique as long as it works so I may write a bunch in the next few days but my emotions are all over the place so if I get down it may be a while. who really knows. I did not have this chapter beta'd because honestly I am just to depressed to deal with it right now even though I do have the best beta in the world I know she is really busy right now to so I hope you can still enjoy this.
Nope I am not Stephenie Meyer I own no right to play with the Cullen clan but I am glad she lets us
LPOV
After watching The Secret People with Audrey Hepburn and Valentina Cortese two of my favorite classic actors I decide I need something a little less familiar. I nearly fell asleep during the final scenes and I don't want to ruin Alice's sleep over for her. Alice is taking care of the empty plate of chips and my empty water bottle so I go to the DVD wall to choose a newer movie I have not seen before in hopes of keeping myself entertained enough to stay awake. Hmm, A Captive Love I haven't even heard of that one before, I guess this will work. I put it in the player and return to the couch grabbing a blanket as I pass the love seat. Leaning up against Alice during the last movie has chilled me to my core.
Alice dances into the room carrying a fresh water bottle for me and another half full bottle for herself. She did not even drink the other one she had. Why did she get another? A little nagging worry starts in the back of my mind Alice has not taken a single bite or drink since she picked me up today. She is going to make herself sick if she does not eat something. I know some people don't like to eat in front of others but come on this is getting ridiculous. I exhale deeply concerned as I sit beside her wrapping myself in the blanket and lean my head tiredly against her hard cold shoulder. The movie has to be the worst movie I have ever tried to watch. Leaning against Alice I ponder the strange occurrences today. Human body temperatures are supposed to range between 96.5 and 99.6 for healthy people, I swear Alice feels like she spends time hanging out in a deep freeze and is frozen to solid. I've met people who have cold hands or cold feet but her entire body feels like an ice cube, that is simply not possible. As my thoughts stray over other strange things that happened today I feel my eyelids growing heavy and my mind loosing focus. Well so much for this movie keeping me awake. I guess I will just have to figure out what is going on tomorrow. I hope Alice is not to disappointed in me falling asleep during our sleep over. Hmmm she is really still, is she even breathing?
APOV
Lenai mumbles a bit more incoherently but has quit whispering her suspicions. I guess I need to get her up to bed and go face the firing squad. There is no hope that Esme and Carlisle have not figured out what is going on by now. They are waiting for me right now waiting for the explanation I dread giving them.
"Come on little Lenai." I whisper in her ear as I slide my arms under her light frame lifting her with ease and carrying her upstairs to my and Jasper's bedroom. I lay her soft warm body down in our large bed and cover her with blankets to keep her warm. This just has to work out, for Edward's sake.
"Alice, we know she is asleep. We would like to speak with you in the office please." Esme speaks in a voice inaudible to any without our enhanced senses.
Heading down the stairway I pause leaning up against the wall as a new set of possible futures flood my mind. A fire rages out of control burning a large structure to the ground in minutes. The fire fighters are unable to restrain the flames which leap to several surrounding small frame houses. I have never seen this area before but for some reason I am overcome with fear.--Bella leads a group of very tan teenagers through the halls of Forks High as she directs the group to split off into several different class rooms. Lenai's smiling face peeks through the doorway of one classroom as two of the young men walk through, she waves to Bella as she passes. -- Emmett and Jasper restrain Edward by the arms pulling him out of the school in front of a large crowd of students his eyes blackened with fury --
Lenai standing in the field surrounding Bella's house playing her violin as dark menacing shadows approach from deep within the woods a low growl just audible over the wind and notes. As dark as all of these somewhat unfocused visions are I take a measure of comfort from them. They all seem intrinsically linked and they all seem based on the fact that Lenai and Bella stay here in Forks, and so do we. Lifting my head slightly higher with this realization I walk through the office door ready to face my parents.
"Alice, would you like to tell us what is going on?" Esme asks in a quiet but authoritative voice.
"Yes Alice, I believe you owe us an explanation as to why Bella's granddaughter is sleeping in your room." Carlisle asks in a voice of utter disappointment laced with a touch of anger.
"This all goes back six months ago. The same day I had the vision of Ms. Armejo figuring out who and what we are. That day I started searching our futures at your request trying to find the best possible place for us to relocate to. Every location we have been to in the last sixty years looked bad. Every single one. None of them ended positively. I could not share that with you right away so I took a few days to search deeper. Two possibilities opened up, neither were great but we would be able to settle at either place for a few years at least. One was here, the other option was Edward's parents estate. I did not think that would do much for his emotional health especially the way he has been for the last four decades." I add with a smirk.
"You knew Bella was still here and you thought it would be better for Edward's emotional health to face her than to face his childhood home?" Carlisle asked incredulously, the anger no longer hidden in his tone. "You did not think this was something we all should have known about before we made our decision to move here? I am having a hard time understanding what could have driven you to be so manipulative of this family. I know you have used your visions before to manipulate events to fit your preferred outcome but gambling with the lives of not only your brother but Bella as well with the damage both of them have sustained in the past is completely unforgivable."
I had to act fast, this is not going well. "When I first checked the futures for possible locations Bella was not visible in any. It was only after I spoke to you about this being our best choice and the family decided we would give it a try did Bella start appearing in our futures. I did not hide information initially to force any of my preferences on anyone." I paused trying to gauge if they were believing this, it was the truth, but I did not know if they trusted me enough now to believe me. An expression of doubt crossed Carlisle's face as hurt filled Esme's expression. "I do want to stay here. Yes some of the reason is my selfish desire to be with my best friend, my sister, again. The bigger reason I want to stay here though is that I see our family finally finding healing here. This can end so good for everyone. You just have to trust me. You have to trust Bella and Lenai, but most of all you have to trust Edward. I would do nothing to hurt any of them you know that."
"Be that as it may, I forbid you to reach for the future again for the purpose of manipulating it to fit you end goal. We will stay if that is what is to be, but we are not basing that decision any longer on your visions. You perception has been compromised, you are to biased in this decision for us to be able to base our future on what you say." Carlisle sighed showing his true disappointment in me. Esme turned to face the window, her shoulders shaking with silent dry sobs. In over a hundred years I have never been a cause of heartache to my parents until now. I hate having caused this pain and uncertainty for my family but I still feel coming here was the right choice.
"So what do we do now Carlisle?" Esme's voice broke as she questioned Carlisle turning away from the window to face us. Her face stricken with grief.
"We wait till morning and we take Lenai home. We will not play games with Bella. We will let her know we are here and we will do what she asks of us. This is her home and we will not cause her pain again by asking her to share it with us if she is unwilling." He answered Esme quietly and gently wrapping his arms around her pulling her tightly to his chest. "If Bella asks us to leave we will never mention this trip again in thought or words. If Bella does not want us here we will never let Edward know we have seen her again, it would cause to much pain for him." He shot a look of pure malice towards me. "And Alice, you will not be actively looking into the future. I understand you can not stop your visions but we will act on nothing you see in them short of life endangering visions do you understand."
"Yes." I answered simply, I will not go against his will. We are here that has to be enough. I have to trust fate to be kinder this time than last time. There is no question in my mind that this is meant to happen, we are meant to be here right now. I'll sit back and wait for what life will bring this time, but this time I will not do so blindly.
Walking out of the office I decide to bring in all the shopping Lenai and I left in the car earlier in the evening as well as her violin. I know she would not like that being left in the car overnight. Making the third trip up to my room I let my mind wander searching for the outcomes of tomorrow. My vision is blurred as if I'm peering through a thin layer of distorting plastic Carlisle, Esme, Lenai, Bella, and I sit in Bella's living room quietly talking. Bella's face is one of indifference, or is it resigned acceptance? Lenai is sitting next to me her knees drawn up under her chin her arms wrapped around them so tightly her fingers clenching tightly together are white, an expression of fear mixed with confusion painted on her face. Her eyes look glazed. I can hear no words.
Placing the final bag on the floor of my bedroom closet I sit on the edge of my bed watching Lenai sleep for hours hoping everything will be okay. The sun coming through my bedroom window shines on Lenai's face lighting it up angelically. She truly is this family's angel, she has the power within her to save our lost brother and restore the light to our family.
Her eyes open slightly as a small smile spreads across her full lips. "Morning Alice. Sorry I fell asleep. Did you stay up the whole night?" She asks groggily.
"Yah I did, I don't sleep well anyway." I smiled at her trying to hide the sad thoughts I had just been having when she woke up. "Hey I brought in the shopping, do you want to get ready for church?"
"Oh, I didn't event think last night, I don't have any clothes to wear today maybe I should just go straight home. I know Granny would love to have you join us for breakfast."
I almost laughed thinking of how much she is going to learn about us as soon as we get to her grandmother's house. "Okay, I think mom and dad want to come along to meet your granny as well. You can borrow some of my clothes though, I think we're probably the same size.
Her eyes lighting up as she scans the bags on the floor I had carried in last night. I love that she loves clothes. How Bella managed to have a fashion smart granddaughter is beyond me but I am going to have a fun morning. Skipping to the double door entry of my walk in closet I wink at Lenai. "You can choose anything you want to wear, but I get veto power. Agreed?"
"Okay." Lenai replies questioningly. A gasp escapes her lips as I fling open my closet doors.
LPOV
Alice dances over to a set of huge double doors that I assume lead to another bedroom or maybe an upstairs family room. I can't believe my eyes when she flings open the doors. Inside is a clothing paradise, I don't think I have seen so many great clothes in one place ever before. This is like having your own personal mall right in the middle of your bedroom. Most of the clothes still have the tags dangling off of them. I can't help but release a small gasp as I realize she is offering to let me choose what I want to wear. This is so cool.
Leaping off the bed I dash into the closet and turn in circles just trying to see everything. She must have a hundred pairs of shoes. A childish squeal erupts from my throat as I jump up and down clapping my hands, I am sure I look like an idiot but I don't care. Alice joins with me in my giddy happy dance and grabbing my hands leads me toward the back of this massive closet.
"Here I think this section will probably go over best with your granny. I don't think she would like you wearing some of my clothes." Alice laughs, I love the sound of her laughter it makes me think of warm spring breezes making wind-chimes dance.
"Ooh I think I like this one. Would it be okay if I could borrow this dress?" I ask a little shy. Alice said I could borrow anything but this one still has a price tag on it. It won't quite go with my sneakers but oh well, I love this dress.
"Sure, blue is definitely your color. Why don't you take a shower in my room and I will go into my brother's room to shower. I will meet you back in the bedroom for makeup and hair when we're done." She says as she hands me a pair of new lace panties and a matching bra with the tags still on them.
"Okay, but Alice." I say timidly "I can wear my own under-things. I'll just change those when I get home."
"Oh no you won't." she replies commandingly, "That's just gross. You can't shower then put on dirty underwear not in this house." She laughs as she walks out the door. "Besides their blue, I don't really like blue underwear and they match the dress." She pauses for a moment seemingly spacing out. "Just so there is no confusion, I don't want any of this back okay."
The hot shower feels wonderful and to my pleasant surprise Alice even has gardenia scented body wash. I am sure Granny is going to love Alice maybe I can talk her into letting Alice have a sleep over at our house next weekend. I'm sure we will be spending a lot of time together this summer. I step out of the warm shower and grab the clean towels waiting for me on the counter wrapping one around my body and one around my hair. Feeling a bit dizzy from the hot water I walk slowly toward the bed to lie down till my body temperature can return to normal. Alice bounces in the door completely dressed and looks at me nervously.
"Are you okay? You look really red?" she asks.
"Yah, I'm fine I just got the water to hot and I need to cool down a bit."
"I'll run down and get you some cold water. Be right back." Alice tells me as she leaves the room.
I stand up and start getting dressed. The lacy panty and bra set are really beautiful I spin around in front of the mirror for a second before putting on the sun dress. I really need to quit buying my underwear at wall-mart. Laughing at myself for my random thoughts and at how much I like the way I look in 'pretty' underwear I pull the sun dress over my head. Alice clears her throat and hands me a glass of ice water. My blood rushes from my chest up into my face as I realize Alice has just caught me enjoying my half naked reflection and laughing at myself.
"Why are you blushing?" Alice asks in a lighthearted tone. "And may I ask why did you laugh at your reflection?"
"URRG" I growl. " I didn't hear you come back in. You came back much faster than I though you would. I was laughing because I had thought 'I need to quit buying old lady underwear at wall-mart and buy some nice stuff like this because it looks good', and then I got embarrassed because I realized I am looking at myself half naked thinking I look good. I don't think those are exactly normal thoughts and on top of it all you caught me doing it."
"You are absurd Lenai." Alice laughs as she pokes me in the rib. "Those are perfectly normal thoughts and yes you do look good. Oh and don't worry about buying some those fit you well, here." She walks back out of her closet she had went into while teasing me with an armload full of lacy under-things all with tags still attached. Throwing the small pile on her bed and reaching down to empty out a bag from our shopping trip last night.
"I can't take those!" I yell shocked.
"Yes you can, I have to many anyway, this way I will have more room in my drawer, and you will not have to wear Wall-mart granny panties anymore. I can't believe you actually shop there anyway. Yuck."
I might as well not fight, I can see Alice is not going to give up on this. A little guilt is nagging me for taking things that have never even had the tags taken off of them without paying her something but she probably has five thousand dollars worth of clothes hanging in her closet with tags still on them, at least maybe more. Alice fixed my hair for me and let me play with hers, although there is not much you can do with hair that short. After we were done playing beauty parlor I follow her down stairs where her parents are waiting for us by the front door.
"Good morning Lenai, I thought we might accompany you to church today. Did you sleep well?" Mr. Cullen asks.
"Yes I did thank you, I think we are just going to go back to my Granny's house though. I think I am going to skip church today." I reply hoping he will not be upset about me not wanting to go to church today. I'll just call Mrs Esham tomorrow about VBS.
"That sounds fine, would you mind if we join you, Esme and I would love to meet your grandmother.
After all she will be our children's principal next year, and I have a feeling we will be seeing quite a bit more of you around here this summer, she might like to meet Alice's parents."
"I'm sure she would love to meet you as well. She seemed very happy that I have made a new friend, I normally just spend my summers around the house."
Alice and I skip down the stairs and I follow her over to a black Mercedes as Mr. Cullen unlocks the doors using a key remote. Placing my violin and shopping bags in the floorboard I shut the door behind me and secure my seat-belt.
The drive is silent and quick. Alice was right her dad drives like a maniac.
"Bella's house is built on Edward's meadow." Alice tells Mr. Cullen.
Wait a minute, how'd she know Granny's name. I only called her Granny Bell and the kids at school know her as Ms Bell. Who is Edward, and why is she calling my meadow 'Edward's meadow'?
Within moments we were pulling into Granny Bell's driveway.