Beta'd by Piper Chris Melinda Halliwell

We walked up to the door. I could feel my heart thunder in anticipation and I had a feeling that all of the Cullens could too when I heard Emmett laughing loudly.

Edward opened the door and I gripped his hand tighter. I bit my lip and loosened my grip on his hand when he muttered an 'ow'. He seemed surprised when it hurt. And once again, I heard Emmett laugh.

"Did the little human hurt you, Edward?" Emmett teased from the couch.

Rosalie rolled her eyes and returned her gaze to a car magazine.

A woman with kind eyes and caramel hair hovered near the doorway. "Hello," she greeted. She pulled me into a hug. I was shocked, but relaxed and hugged her gently back. "I'm Esme. You must be Isabella."

I smiled. "Yes. I prefer Bella though."

"So I've heard." She smiled warmly.

Carlisle walked up to Esme and put an arm around her waist. "Hello, Bella. It's nice to see you again. This time unscathed."

I grinned. "It is nice to see you again also."

"Where's Jasper?" Edward asked, with concern burning in his voice.

I stopped listening and observed the room. Rosalie, appeared indifferent, but I knew she was anything but. I picked up a lot of information when I peeked into her mind. She put up a front, pretending to be cold. She was kind-hearted and she was concerned about her family. She feared that I would expose her family to the Volturi – whatever they were – and they would all perish, including me.

My eyes landed on a beautiful piano. It was just for looks though, it didn't have the nicest sound out of all of the pianos they could have gotten.

Finally, my gaze landed on the stairs. Mary stood with Jasper in tow. Mary had her head tilted to the right, curiosity in the lines of her face. She caught my eyes and smiled uncertainly.

"Alice?" Jasper questioned quietly. "Are you alright?"

She shook her head. "I'm...fine."

He knew she was lying, but didn't comment.

I looked into Mary's mind, which she had always detested when Immortal. Blurry memories flashed through her mind. One of a girl older than her, holding her hand as a fire burned. Then of the ocean as they traveled on a boat to the New World. Then, of James. The shapes were all distorted and you could not make out the faces. She remembered me, but she didn't.

"Bella?" Carlisle stood in front of me. He titled my head towards him and I blinked. I blushed and Jasper stopped breathing. He was fine, though, he would never hurt me.

Rosalie stopped reading her magazine and even paid attention now.

Mary dropped Jasper's hand and ran down the stairs at a lightning fast pace. She stood in front of me, still a head shorter, which made me laugh silently. She had to look up to see me.

"Do I know you?"

Oh, God, yes. Yes, you do! Please remember me. Should I tell them? Should I risk my secret? They trust me with theirs, why can't I trust them with mine? I looked at Mary. With ours?

She wasn't Mary anymore, though. I had to keep reminding myself. She was Alice.

Tears stung my eyes. I hated crying. It showed weakness. That was the first thing I had learned when I had to fend for Mary and myself. When you were vulnerable, people attacked. I blinked away the tears.

"No." I lied. "I'm sorry."

"Does she look like someone from your past life, Alice? Are you remembering something?" Carlisle asked.

Edward turned to explain to me. "Alice only remembers darkness from her human life."

I bit my lip and muttered an. "Oh..."

"I..." Alice furrowed her eyebrows. She shook her head. "No." She stepped back and smiled at me. "I'm sorry, how rude of me. I'm Alice." she bound up to me and gave me a hug. She pulled back. "My, you do smell good."

I laughed. "Thank you."

An amused smile teetered on the end of Edward's lips. "Alice."

But I was happy she felt so comfortable around me, to be willing to hug me so spontaneously.

"Edward." She replied smartly. She rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, I know. Don't scare Bella."

"Oh, do not worry." I interrupted. "You could never scare me."

Emmett shot up from the couch. "Challenge accepted!"

"Emmett!" Esme warned. "Don't you dare!"

He pouted. "I was only having fun." He sat back down with his arms crossed. "Sorry, Bella." He grumbled.

"No need to apologize." I soothed. My eyes landed back on the piano. "Whose piano is that?" I asked.

"Edward's." Esme chimed. "Did he not tell you he played?"

I shook my head and Edward shrugged helplessly. "You always told me not to brag."

"Well," Esme insisted, "sometimes it's a good thing." She gently pushed Edward towards the piano. "Go."

I held Edward's hand and he left room on the bench for me to sit next to him. He pressed on the key lightly, as if to test it, before his hands flew fluidly across the piano. He played a nameless, soft tune. It was beautiful, and alluring. He suddenly changed to a different song.

"This is a song I wrote for Esme years ago." He informed me.

"What was the first one?"

If blood could rush to his cheeks, I bet he would be blushing. "I lullaby. I wrote it...for you."

I smiled and flushed. "Thank you."

He flashed a grin and transitioned back to my lullaby.

"It is beautiful." I murmured.

"You know, you never did tell me if you ever played an instrument." Edward said while closing the song to an abrupt end and holding my hand.

I raised an amused eyebrow. "You have never asked."

"I'm asking now," he retorted.

"I play violin." I said and looked away. "And piano."

Alice peeped in. "Play something?" The rest of the Cullens came back into the room. They must have left when Edward was playing.

I ducked my head.

"Please?" Alice begged. Her eyes widened and I wanted to hit her. Alice always got her way.

I pursed my lips, but finally nodded. "Sure."

Edward slid over on the bench and motioned for me to proceed.

I sighed and my hands hovered over the shiny keys. I pressed my fingers down into a tune that Alice had written years ago. It was after the fire. She resented our powers and was mourning over family's death.

It was a sad melody. My hands glided over the keys into an angry tone, before ultimately, ending in a tiny, high pitched note.

Esme gasped. "That was...I don't know what it was, but it was beautiful, Bella."

Rosalie nodded shyly in the background. "Beautiful."

~January, 1565, Spain~

"Marvelous!" I applauded. "That was absolutely beautiful, Mary. You have to teach me how to master the lyre. Alas, I will never be as talented as you."

Her eyes were downcast and she looked furious. I could feel her anger. "I shall never teach you how to play." she snarled. "You killed my family!"

I sighed. Mary had been angry with me ever since the fire. I had started it. Mary was a grudge holder, so I did not expect her to forgive me any time soon.

We had found out that we were what Grandmother had called, Immortals. She would tell us stories at bedtime about Immortals. Grandmother was not one herself, but her mother was. She had died by being torn apart by an animal. Her blood was drained and her bones were crushed. She had bite marks all over her skin, the major one ripped open at her neck.

Mary and I fled for Spain after the fire, but she has rarely talked to me. She resented me and I could not blame her. For, I knew, it was my fault.

I was fascinated by the flame of the candlestick, and wondered what it would like if it were bigger. I reached my hand out to touch it and the flame licked at my skin. I was already twenty, but I felt as if I were a child when staring at a flame with such innocent curiosity. The flames did not hurt. Mother walked in and screamed and I knocked the candle over from jumping in a fright. The fire was everywhere before I knew it.

I wiped a tear away at Mary's harsh words. "I am sorry, Mary. I sink deeper in guilt and sorrow each passing second. Forgive me, Mary, please!"

Mary screeched. "No!" She kicked over the lyre and then shoved me to the ground. She buried her knees into my stomach and slapped me. She clenched her hands into a fist and dug it into my nose, and then my eye. She tore at my hair and slapped me again.

I took the beating and let the tears slip out of my eyes silently. Not from pain, but from sadness. My lip was swelling and my cheek stung. My nose was broken and bleeding. My scalp was sore and Alice hit my harder.

"Fight back!" She ordered.

"No." I said gently and took her hands in mine. She tried to take them back, to hurt me more, but it was a useless attempt.

"I hate you, you murderer!" she screamed. "And Mother for leaving, and Father, and Grandmother! They all left." she cried. "They did not even try to-to g-get out of the f-fire."

I tried to pull her close, to comfort her, but she got up and kicked me in the side.

"I hate you!"

She ran down the hallway and into our bedroom. She didn't like sleeping alone, she would rather sleep with me, even when she hated me, than sleep on her own.

I pulled myself up weakly. I cried as I went to clean myself up.

~Present~

"Marvelous!" Alice cheered. "That was absolutely beautiful, Bella. You have to teach me how to play the piano. Edward always gets impatient with me. Of course, I'll never be as good as you."

I wanted to cry. I nodded and smiled at her. "Of course I will teach you."

"I never get impatient with you, Alice." Edward said as Alice sat next to me on the bench. "You get impatient with me."

She stuck her tongue out and Edward chuckled. I explained to her the notes and taught her how to play Chopsticks.

She giggled as she pressed the wrong key. "Sorry."

"It is okay." I smiled.

After a couple minutes, Alice threw her hands up in the air in defeat. "I give up. I'll just buy a keyboard with the light up keys." Her eyes lit up. "Or you could teach me the violin! I've always wanted to play the violin, but I've been," she cleared her throat, "otherwise preoccupied." She glanced over at Jasper.

Emmett laughed. "Boo-ya!" he slapped Jasper on the back. "Nice, man."

Rosalie cracked a smile at her boyfriend, or husband's antics. Rosalie stared at me curiously before flicking her eyes to Edward.

"How do you deal with it, Edward? She...smells amazing."

"Mind over matter." he replied simply.

I raised my eyebrow, but shrugged nevertheless. "I would love to, Alice." My fingers tumbled down the keys and switching to Für Elise by Beethoven.

Alice squealed in delight. "Excellent...Now I just need to buy a violin."

I laughed quietly and closed the song to an end.

"Do you want a tour of the house?" Edward asked with a smile.

I nodded. "Absolutely."

Edward pulled me up in a swift moment and I laughed as suddenly we flew up the stairs. I glanced curiously at the wall where there was a beautiful, ancient cross.

"My God." I gasped.

Edward smiled lightly. "Do you like it?"

"It's...exquisite." I gently touched the wood and I felt as if I was traveled back in history. Of course I had been religious, everyone was back then. Mother and Father took us to the Anglican church whenever they could, and when we couldn't, she would read from the bible to me and Mary.

"That's Carlisle's." Edward informed me.

I whipped around to look at him. "You aren't disgusted by religion. Aren't you burned by holy water and the cross? I mean, you can't even go into church, right?"

He chuckled. "No, actually, if anything I try to embrace God. I hope he forgives me for being...this."

I rolled my eyes. "You could be worse. You could kill humans for blood, but choose not to." I touched his cheek. "No offense, Edward, but you shouldn't be pitying yourself. You have a wonderful life going here." I looked back at the cross. "Now, tell me more about this, please?"

"Sure, but I think it would be better if you heard it from Carlisle, come on." He directed me towards an office and knocked on the door lightly. "Carlisle?"

I heard a fast shuffle and he opened the door with a welcoming smile. "Come in."

"I heard your conversation about the cross, I hope you don't mind. Being a vampire you hear everything."

I leaned forward eagerly. "No, don't be sorry. I am very curious about your background."

He smiled. "Well, after a lot of thinking, I have to believe I was born in 1634, In London." Great. I was older than him. "To an Anglican pastor. I was his only son." he frowned. "They burned a lot of innocent people back then."

I know.

"My father grew old and he wanted me to start chase down the 'monsters.'" He shook his head. "I chased them every night, not catching one. On a cold night in February 1657. I was twenty-three. I followed – with a crowd – them. We held pitch torches from the lack of light–"

I stopped listening, propelled to a flash back.

~London. February, 1657.~

"Can we go out, Isabella?" Mary asked with a pleading tone.

I brushed her hair wet hair. "No, Mary, what if we get caught? You know it's unladylike to be outside without an escort."

She laughed and flew out of her bed. She slipped out of her nightgown and into her dress. I laughed with her and hurriedly tied on my own dress. She walked over and helped me with the strings and I turned around to help with hers.

I pulled her hair up and she did the same with me before she pulled me eagerly outside into the dark night.

There was a tiny light in the distance, and Mary, her curiosity peaking, ran towards the light. I ran after her and suddenly stopped in front of a crowd.

Mary looked at me with fear in her eyes as the leader of the crowd illuminated our faces with the torch light. He had golden blonde hair pulled back at the nape of his neck and blue eyes. He seemed frightened but also proud that he found us. He had stress lined in his face and under his eyes. He was weak and blinded by power and women, like every other man. We could fight him, he was mortal.

"W...Witch!" he seemed happy.

I grabbed Mary by her hand and ran. Suddenly arms wrapped around our waist. Mary closed her eyes and started to hum. The arms slowly unlatched from our waists. They took a step away from us. We got a good look at them. There were three and their eyes were an astonishing crimson. They hair was dirty and their faces were shallow and pale. They looked hungry.

I pulled Mary away from them and ran back towards the house. I tore through our bedrooms grabbing everything we needed, our knives.

"We have to leave." I told her. "They could find us and we could be burned at the stake." I pulled her close and kissed her on her forehead. "I'm sorry." I gave her her dagger and pulled her towards the direction of the ocean. "We'll go to the New World. Where no one will find us."

~Present~

"I started to run after the women. I was so happy. I knew my father would be proud. I was suddenly stopped by arms encircling me. It didn't waste any time and bit into my neck. I threw the torch in it's face." He paused from the story to explain, "Vampires have a fear of fire. But as I was saying, the flame scared him away. I was a fast runner, so I ran as fast and as far as I could with his poison coursing through my veins. I ended up in an alley way and I hid under a sack of potatoes." He chuckled to himself.

I was still a little shocked to find that Carlisle had tried to kill me and Alice. "Thank you...For telling me the story. It was very interesting to say the least."

He smiled politely back at me. "It's really no problem, Bella. I was more than happy to tell you. We don't get visitors often."

"I believe it." I said more to myself than him.

"Phone, Carlisle." Alice said from down stairs.

Carlisle's hand hovered over the phone, waiting for the ring. He picked it up as soon as it made noise and answered with his doctor's status. It must be his work phone because I heard a nurse on the other line. He hung up after a minute and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, it was the hospital. If you'll excuse me." He smiled again and grabbed his doctor's coat and walked out of the room before running out at vampire speed.

"Emergency surgery." Edward answered a silent question. "He's the only one who's free all hours to help."

"Do you miss him?" I asked curiously. "He must be gone often."

Edward mulled it over, obviously not really thinking about it before. "I would...prefer if he were here. He's like a father to me. He did turn me into a vampire, plus he's more paternal than my actual father ever was. Since woman couldn't work, my father was gone everyday for hours and hours at a time." He shrugged. "But a lot of the times, when we move, he'll take a couple months off before getting back to work. He likes to spend time with us." He stood up and offered his hand to me. I took it and we walked farther up the stairs.

"That is sweet of him. You should tell him that." I smiled. "I bet he would love it."

He opened the door to the only room on the highest floor. The room was spacious. There was a couch in the corner and shelves of CD's lined the walls. A full sized bed with black covers was set right next to the door. The wall next to the couch and adjacent of it was all glass giving a beautiful view of bright green leaved trees.

I turned to look at him. "I bet Esme would love it too."

He smirked slightly and leaned forward, whispering not-so-secretly. "She can hear you."

I arched my eyebrow. "I do not see your point." I chuckled and whisper screamed, "Edward loves his mommy!"

I heard twinkling bell laughter down stairs. Edward grinned. "She says she loves me too."

I laughed. "It does not surprise me. You should see the way she looks at you."

He tilted his head curiously. "What way?"

"With adoration. She is so proud of all of you." I explained. "You should ask Jasper. He can tell you."

"What way does she look at the others?"

"She looks at all of you with love. She admires the strength you all possess." I answered generally. I walked up to the cases of his music and ran my fingers across the dustless spines. "She admires Jasper for his strength."

"Strength?"

"You say he has problems with blood, that you have made clear. But you also said he feels emotions. Who said blood lust was not an emotion and that he could not feel it?" I asked rhetorically. "He cannot only feel his own blood thirst, but all of yours, too."

He seemed a little shocked. "Yes...That does make sense."

"Rosalie obviously has a rough past."

"How do you know?" He asked.

"She closes herself off and tries to act tough when there is still some part of her coping. Esme admires her strength too, even if she does hide it."

"Alice. Blackness." I said simply while lightly pulling out a CD from the late nineties. "It's blank. She remembers nothing. No siblings. No parents. She does not know how old she is. She does not know if Alice is even her real name, does she? Yet she still has a bright smile on her face and makes the most of everything."

"Emmett." I paused. "Emmett's a little harder to decipher. He has a past...a unique past, doesn't he?"

Edward nodded hesitantly. "Yes."

"Raised all of his brothers and sisters. His mother died from child birth and his father from a bear attack. He had to take care all of them. He feels guilty from leaving his brothers and sisters, just like his parents had done. That is why he hates bears. He taunts them to show that he is stronger now. He jokes, though, trying to push all of his guilt to the back of his mind."

"Carlisle. His strength with trying to make himself less evil as to not disappoint his father. He ignores his basic instincts and decides a harder, but more humane, way out. He was able to change all of you, except Jasper and Alice, without killing you."

"And me?"

I smiled sweetly and put the CD back. I walked up to Edward and took his hand. I took my other hand and pressed it against his face. He back was stiff but I gently relaxed his shoulders after unlacing out fingers. "You can be around me. Thirsting for my blood like you have no other. You resist...so you can...be with me." I smiled to him and hugged him briefly.

I untangled myself from his arms and asked. "May I?" while motioning towards his music collection. He nodded and I put on a classical song.

He appeared behind me and asked me tensely, "How do you know all of this?"

"I am perceptive."

He breathed and offered me his hand. "Would you like to dance?"

I laughed at the absurdness of it. "I stumble."

"That's nothing." he said dismissively. "It's all in the leading."

He pulled me into the waltz, which I was actually good at. His dancing was beautiful, he was very graceful. He pulled me to a stop suddenly as he heard Rosalie and Emmett yelling.

"Rose," I heard Emmett say. "She didn't mean anything by it. Don't go u–"

It was too late as Rosalie opened the door and sent me a withering glare. "Who the hell are you? Who gave you permission to talk about me like that, because I certainly didn't!"

Edward pushed me behind him and I glared at his back. I could take care of myself...but he didn't know that.

Alice appeared in the doorway and ran to stand next to me. "Sorry about Rosalie...She's uh...yeah. I've got your back if anything happens."

"Don't talk to Bella that way, Rosalie." Edward warned harshly.

Her eyes seemed to break and she turned around with one last weak look.

"Wait!" I called. I walked up to her and bit my lip not knowing what exactly to say. "I...I must apologize. I did not mean any harm. It's just...you...look so sad, Rosalie. No one wants to talk about it, when you have to. I do not know what happened." Lie. "But I do know that if you want to move on, you need to talk to someone."

She tried to send me a dirty look, but instead ended up frowning. She didn't say anything, but pulled Emmett away to go out to the forest.

I turned around and smiled at Alice. "Thank you, for backing me up."

"No problem, Bella." She hugged me. "You are like a sister to me. I'd do anything for you."

But I couldn't do anything for you.

I hope you enjoyed it, lovelies!