Chapter 7: Family

I had successfully attacked and drained five other humans before I began to feel that my thirst was becoming quenched. I ran back to the meadow soon after I was done so I wouldn't get caught. I found the flowers and the musical noise of the stream comforting. I rested on the grass in the shade of a large sycamore tree when a small noise startled me from behind. I sprang up and spun in a circle to se what it was. I saw nothing, so just to be safe; I climbed the tree and sat in one of the up most branches. I lay thinking about the long day in my head when I heard another noise, but this one came from above me. Was something following me? I climbed several branches up and looked around. I settled back there, and began to think again.

"I can't believe you didn't see me." A tinkling soprano voice asked me from behind. I jumped up in surprise at the voice, and turned around to see a short, white-skinned girl sitting on the branch behind me.

She had super short black hair, and eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. I noticed that they were the same color as Edward's.

"Who are you?" I asked to the mystery girl.

"My name is Alice Cullen," she held out a small hand to me, and I shook it cautiously. It was the same temperature as mine. Something about her name made something click in my brain.

"Did you say your last name was Cullen?" I asked.

"Yes." She replied.

"Are you a vampire like me?"

"Yes."

"Do you know Edward Cullen?" I was really going for the twenty questions tonight wasn't I?

"I do, do you know him?" She asked.

"I do, actually. He was the one who changed me." I explained. Her gold eyes widened at the end.

"Tell me everything." She pressed. I launched into my tale of meeting Edward, and the wedding, and how my cravings got the best of me. I skimmed over the part about all my slayings. When I was done, she looked at me with a nagging question deep in her eyes.

"Were you the newborn who killed those eight people?" she asked gently. Well, she caught me.

"Yes." I admitted. "I couldn't help myself, though. I hadn't hunted yet, and a hiker had wandered to close to me. He didn't satisfy enough, so I set off towards the city, looking for more." I defended myself. She smiled gently.

"It's okay we all slip up sometimes. And you're a newborn, so that makes it harder to bear." She said comfortingly.

"Thank you for understanding, Alice." I said. "Is there any more Cullens?" I asked after a moment's silence.

"Oh, yes. There's me, my husband Jasper, my brother Emmett and his wife, Rosalie, and Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle and Esme took us all in gratefully; Edward, too."

"How did Edward come into the picture?" I asked curiously.

"I knew you would ask," she smiled at me. "He was dying in a hospital in Chicago when Carlisle found him. He bit him to put him out of his misery and he stuck and ID with the name 'Edward Cullen' on it into his pocket before he left him. He felt terrible about leaving him, but I guess since he's still alive today he's been getting along good." She explained.

"Oh," That was my lame response.

"Shall we go find Edward?" She suggested. I nodded eagerly and we leapt down from our branches and hit the forest floor. I realized that it was light outside when we were out from under the trees.

"Do you know where his house is?" Alice asked me.

"Um, I've been following his scent, and I think it's over by the stream somewhere." I pointed towards the general direction of the water.

"Well let's go find him then!" she said brightly. We set off through the trees and found the clear, sparkling stream. I turned to my left, and I saw the cutest little cottage ever.

It was made out of a purple tinted stone and the shingled roof was obscured slightly by dark green ivy. The front door was polished cherry that gleamed out in the shade.

"Found it." I said to Alice. I walked up to the door and knocked gently. He answered the door almost immediately, and gasped in shock when he saw the two of us standing there in front of him.

"Bella!" He exclaimed and he scooped me up in his arms and kissed me passionately. The monster that had not popped out in a while was caught by surprise, so I didn't overreact this time. I kissed him back, and when we finally broke apart, he set me down with a curious gleam in his eye.

"Why do your lips taste like blood?" He asked me. I smiled sheepishly and confessed to my murders. He sighed heavily.

"I thought your eyes were brighter than they should be." He sighed again "I knew I should've gone after you. I thought that when you had calmed down you would find the house." When he was done, he must've realized that Alice was standing there, and he asked her who she was.

"My name is Alice Cullen, and I am in the same family as the man who changed you into a vampire." She replied.

"Really? What was his name?" He asked eagerly. She told him about the rest of the Cullen family.

"By the way, why are you guys here?" I interrupted sometime later.

"Carlisle is a doctor and he was called away for a business trip here in London and we came along. Would you like to go meet them?" she asked.

"Sure." Edward and I answered at the same time. We look at each other and busted out laughing. Alice smiled at our happiness.

"So," I had a question to ask a while later. "Will we have to walk through the city?" I asked.

"Oh, I forgot that it's not safe to put you with humans." Alice recalled.

"I have an idea," Edward piped up. He had been rather quiet when we were walking today. Mostly Alice and I would talk; I think we would become good friends.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"You can try fill up on some animal blood so it will dilute your human cravings." He told me.

"Well, I'm too full to drink anything else, but I could just hold my breath and we can run the whole way." I suggested.

"We should just do that." Alice agreed. "Plus, I would know if you would attack again today, but your future looks clear." I was so confused. My future?

"What about my future?" I asked her, stunned.

"Oh, I must've forgotten to tell you about that. Well, me and my husband have 'special powers', if you will." She said.

"Powers? What powers?" Edward interrupted.

"Yes, I can see the future, but it has limits. The smallest change of thought can make the whole future shift. And Jasper can control and influence emotions on a crowd of people, or only one person." She explained.

"Well that's cool." I told her brightly.

"Very cool," Edward agreed as he bent down to kiss my forehead. The monster in my stomach stirred at that simple touch. Luckily this time I pushed it back down so I wouldn't hurt anyone. Plus, we had a guest near, and I don't think she wants to us sucking face. I shot a brief glance at her, and she shook her head as if she had seen a vision of me and Edward kissing. I smiled slightly and we broke through the trees t the edge of the city.

"Okay, follow me." Alice instructed. "Oh, and Bella, remember to hold your breath," She added. And with that she dashed off through the streets with Edward and I following close behind.

After a minute or two, we reached a professional-looking hotel and we strolled inside.

"Bella, pretend like you're asleep. Edward, carry her." Alice said out of the corner of her mouth. She approached the desk and Edward took me over to a nearby bench. We could hear her talking softly to the clerk and she turned to gesture toward us. Edward smiled and Alice turned back around to face the desk. After sitting for a couple more moments, she turned and walked toward us.

"The clerk gave us a key to get into the suite that the rest of my family is staying in. Come on." We followed Alice to the elevator and she pressed the button to get to the top floor. When we arrived at the door, Edward set me down and we walked over the threshold into the biggest hotel room I had ever seen.

The walls were an off-white color, and there seemed to be several different rooms. When we walked through the door, five vampires greeted us from opposite doors.

One of them was huge and he had curly brown hair, and the female that was clinging to his arm was probably the most beautiful thing to walk the earth. She had long, golden blonde hair that hung down to the middle of her back and a body that could only be seen on the cover of a Sports Illustrated magazine. The other couple was standing closest to us, and the male had a fatherly look about him, and he had light blonde hair. The woman had a more round figure, not as thin and skinny as the others, and a warm smile that went well with her billows of caramel-brown hair. The lone male was tall, and had honey-blonde hair that was slicked back.

"Bella, this is Carlisle and Esme," Alice pointed to the couple nearest to the door. "This is Emmett and Rosalie," She had moved on to the burly man and the beautiful woman "And this, is my wonderful husband, Jasper." She strolled over to the vampire standing by himself, and he planted a kiss on her forehead. "Family, this is Bella and Edward." She introduced us. Carlisle stepped forward to speak.

"Edward? The same Edward that I saved?" He asked, staring in amazement, and Edward smiled.

"The very same." He answered. "This is Bella, I changed her several days ago, and I have to confess that she was the one who committed the eight murders yesterday." I looked down, embarrassed about the crime I had done.

"Hi," I said meekly.

"We are very glad to meet you, Bella, and I hope you will be able to come back with us to America." Esme said. I was stunned. They wanted to keep me.

"That would be very nice." I told her.

"Let's go get you cleaned up," Alice said as she walked over to grab my arm and drag me to the bathroom.

Once inside with the door closed, I was able to see what the venom had done to change me. I had to stifle a gasp when I saw the alien reflection staring back at me.

The woman in the mirror was exquisitely beautiful, and her eyes were the brightest color of red I had ever seen. My hair was damp and matted together with dirt, and I realized that my dress was in tatters. After filling a bath with warm water and vanilla scented suds, Alice graciously helped me strip down and soak my nerves away.

When I was done, and my hair was nice and clean, Alice provided me with a pair of clothes that fit me perfectly.
I put them on and I walked out of the bathroom to see the rest of the family lounging on the couches, bags packed, and clearly waiting for me. I walked over and sat in Edward's lap. He leaned down to tell me something in my ear.

"Bella, our flight leaves in one hour. We're going to Forks."