The ride to the Cullens took longer than I would have thought considering how small of a town Forks is. It was about a 20 minute drive through the town and another 30 minutes through the forest, Alice and Jasper stayed silent the entire drive...or they just spoke too quietly for me to hear. At some point during the trip I had fallen asleep, I hadn't slept much since I woke up here.
A slight nudging on my right shoulder woke me up, it was Alice. She handed me a tissue...apparently I had drooled a little.
"Ah thanks, sorry, that's embarrassing. I guess I was pretty tired."
"You know, I never did ask you for your name." Alice gave me a small smile.
"It's Rein Eddins"
"Interesting name, well let's head inside." I followed Alice to the front entrance.
The property was surrounded by beautiful wood fencing and stone. The house itself was a very large modern looking cabin. It had the wood beams to hold it up and a wood styled roof but the rest of the house appeared to be mostly floor to ceiling windows. I imagine it would feel a lot like you were living outside.
We walked up a stone pathway that lead to a completely transparent front door. My chest tightened and my heart picked up its pace. I was suddenly becoming quite nervous, my fate was basically going to be decided in a few moments. I was also about to meet the Cullen family which felt weird to even think about. No one was waiting by the front door and I took that moment to take in a large breath of air.
Despite the forest appearing so gloomy, the air here was incredibly fresh.
"The rest of our family is waiting in the living area. We will talk there." Jasper said almost as a command and I followed.
At this point my heart was racing light years ahead of me. I reminded myself to take another breath, it was just about all I could focus on. I didn't even bother to look around. My eyes glanced up briefly and I met a new pair of topaz eyes and just as quickly looked back down.
I mean the anxiety of this was just getting ridiculous.
Another breath.
Another breath.
"Everyone this is Rein Eddins, Rein, this is everyone...perhaps you should all introduce yourselves." Alice broke the silence.
My eyes were fixated on a very sleek pair of black dress shoes. A voice to the left of me spoke up.'
"My name is Edward Cullen." Only on instinct did my eyes lift towards Edward and I had to remind myself again to take a breath. I nodded in his direction.
"I'm Rosalie." My eyes again on their own accord followed to see Rosalie.
Another breath.
Neither of these two looked anything much like how the books or movies described. The coppery hair, topaz eyes and Rosalie's unworldly beauty were all pretty accurate but everything else just seemed wrong.
Rosalie had hair so white it almost seemed to be its own light source, she was a normal height though, she was not a statuesque model nor did she have a mean looking expression. She seemed quite content to just be sitting where she was next to a huge mountain of a man.
Edward had a calculating expression, and a young face. His figure was slim and his face beautiful but nothing out of the ordinary.
"I'm Emmett" I quickly darted my eyes to the giant next to Rosalie. Emmet was actually very intimidating looking, until he smiled and his dimples appeared. The stories made him out to be this huge, sleek looking man but in reality...well he was still a very tall and built looking individual but he definitely was not a sharp fashionable man. He had faded jeans and a white t-shirt on..no shoes. He was a man who belonged in the mountains.
I nodded in his direction and glanced down at the wooden floor.
A light tapping of shoes made its way closer to me as I saw a hand extend out towards me.
My eyes lifted to see a dark topaz set of eyes.
Another breath.
"I am Carlisle. It is a pleasure to meet you, though the circumstance I admit has me perplexed."
I looked down at the hand and on instinct and without reserve I reached out and shook his hand and smiled.
"Yes, I would second that." I replied as I released the handshake.
There was something about Carlisle that kept me from leaving his eye contact. Yes he was a beautiful man, that was beyond anyone's doubt, but his eyes held something that felt so familiar and different. A thirst of knowledge I recognized from myself but a kindness and reassurance from them that I had not experienced from anyone. You could say it was almost breathtaking but not in the obvious ways you would expect.
Another breath.
"So I guess now we should begin to address the tiny human in the room." Emmet cut through my thoughts and my eyes drifted to him.
"Right" I nodded. We had to start already? Of course, what else would I do?
"You can start by having a seat Rein." Edward gave me a half smirk and I proceeded to find a seat that was closest to me. There was a dining room chair moved to the living room so I sat there. Everyone else sat opposite of me along a long U shaped sofa.
This was definitely feeling like an interrogation but then again I suppose it was. I'm unknown territory, even by my standards.
Another breath.
Edward coughed, or what I am to assume was a fake cough to cover a laugh. Vampires don't cough. At this thought Edward stiffened.
"And how exactly would you know that?" Edward questioned me.
"Ahh, umm well since vampires are technically dead, and you don't need air, it would seem unnecessary for you to cough."
Everyone in the house seemed to have stopped breathing at that moment.
"That seems like quite the accusation. Vampires? Walking dead? What makes you think any of those things are us?" Rosalie spoke up.
Honestly this was really a ridiculous conversation. I was already beginning to feel progressively more dumb and insane after the explanation I gave to Alice and Jasper. How are you supposed to explain my situation? I'm not supposed to exist, or well you are all not supposed to exist?
My head began to throb from the stress, a common side effect for me.
"It's what I have read, there is a possibility it is not all accurate. I'd say for the most part it's pretty spot on though. You are all vampires, Edward died of the Spanish influenza and his mother's last wish was for Carlisle to save him...He can also hear thoughts, which he just confirmed for me. Emmett was mauled by a bear, Rosalie, he reminded you of your old friends baby with his dimples. Jasper is from Texas. There is more I have read but that should give you an idea."
"She is also aware that I can see people's decisions." Alice chimed in.
The Cullens stared at me with heavy expressions.
"She is speaking the truth, her thoughts, what she says is true. I can see the books she is speaking about. She definitely knows a lot about all of us." Edward spoke to his family.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be so intrusive. I understand this is a lot to grasp, I am still struggling with it myself. I did not want to have to include any of you in this but I wasn't sure what else I could do anymore. I don't know a single soul here and not a single person knows who I am. All I have on me is my backpack and I have run out of all my cash." I felt like a huge burden. These were really complete strangers, while I might know facts about them I have never met nor interacted with any of them and here I am walking into their peaceful lives with such a massive and insane problem.
"How long have you been here?" Carlisle asked me.
"Five weeks." I know pathetic. To an immortal person that probably feels like five minutes.
"On the contrary, we may have a lot of time on our hands, but five minutes still feels like five minutes." Edward replied to my thoughts.
"What have you been doing for five weeks?" Alice asked.
"Honestly, just staying in that motel room trying to figure out how to wake up from all of this. I've been writing down everything that happened each day, just trying to process it all. I also keep trying to write up different possibilities of how I got here or if I am alive, or in a coma...I don't know."
"Well take it from us, you are very much alive. How do you even test that anyway?" Emmet asked.
"Oh, well I umm…"
"Perhaps you should save that story for another day….and be more careful with yourself in the future." Edward interrupted.
"Okay."
"I...umm I have a question actually. If you don't mind answering. Where is Esme?" I turned towards Carlisle.
"Who is Esme?" He replied