A/N: Sorry it's been a while guys. Life has been a bit busy! But thank you all for the phenomenal response to the last two chapters! I had over fifty reviews for each chapter! Which is the most I've ever had for a single chapter! You all are wonderful!
This chapter is dedicated to everyone who reviewed with a suggestion for a vampire name. It was a very difficult decision, which is part of the reason this update has taken so long! You all gave some great ideas!
And finally… thanks to bug2001 for reviewing every chapter! Glad to have you on board!
December 24th, 2008
10:00 A.M.
He had learned that Bella is unaware of the vampire that hunted her and her mother before her birth, but was unable to learn much more beyond that. Bella, missing Edward's presence upstairs, had come down moments later, effectively ending the conversation he'd begun with Renee. Since then, there hadn't been a moment where he could talk to Renee alone. Bella was always with one of the two of them. So after the most stressful twenty-four hours of his life with only flashes of memories from Renee, Edward had come to a decision.
When Bella slips away that morning for a quick human moment, he moves quickly (perhaps too quickly) to Renee's side.
She jumps slightly at his presence.
"Holy Mother of—"
"We don't have much time." Edward begins. "We're leaving tomorrow after Christmas morning to head back to Seattle, and I have to know your story. I have to know what happened when you were pregnant with Bella."
Renee's eyes flick to the stairs that lead to Bella's room, and he can see her reluctance.
But she might…
He can't pause to listen to her thoughts. Based on Bella's usual habits they only have a few minutes.
"I'm going to let you in on a little secret of mine, even beyond the one you already know."
She looks anxious, but there is an excited gleam in her eyes.
"Some of my kind has abilities above and beyond the normal powers that come with being what I am. The leader of my family believes that it has something to do with bring one's extraordinary talents into
this new life, only magnified. It's difficult to describe, but I promise it's the truth, and I fear it's the only way I'll learn your story in time."
Her thoughts are now positively raging with curiousity.
Extra powers? You mean there's more?
"Yes."
Like what? I mean can't all vampires already run really fast?
"Yes."
And they're all insanely strong?
"Yes."
With amazing senses?
"Yes that too."
"Well then what else could there possibly be?"
She pauses for a moment and he can see her confusion.
That last question sounded different. I said it out loud and it was almost like the others…
She trails off and a look of disbelief crosses her face.
"It's true." Edward sighs. "As a human, I was extraordinarily good at reading people. And as a vampire, I'm even better."
He hears Renee shuffling through her memories of the past few days, worrying that she had done or thought something embarrassing.
"Oh! I'm absolutely mortified! All day I'm going to be worrying about controlling my crazy mind. How does Bella deal with it? It's so embarrassing!"
Edward laughs. "She doesn't actually. Bella is the only person I've ever met whose thoughts are secret to me."
Renee makes a thoughtful expression and her thoughts process the new information, before her mouth settles into a pout that makes her look more like a child than the mother of a grown young woman.
"How unfair."
Edward laughs again. He can't believe how much of a relief this is. And he knows that Bella will find it even more of a relief. He can imagine her expression when she learns that she doesn't have to hide her new secrets from her mother. And the small, masochistic part of him imagines her not having to hide
from her mother when those secrets have become hers to bear as well, when her skin is hard and smooth like his own.
He's shaken from his deluded and selfish thoughts when he hears the door to Bella's room close upstairs.
"Bella's coming downstairs? Are we still keeping this between us?"
Renee glances up the stairwell, a torn expression on her face and then nods.
"Then do you understand what I'm asking of you?"
She nods again, and he's assaulted by a barrage of images, remarkably clear and distinct for a human.
Bella appears downstairs, just as Renee begins to show him Forks, images with which he is already familiar.
Bella's hand wraps around his own and pulls him to the couch, as he is introduced to images of her childhood home, like a reel to a silent movie.
He places a soft kiss on her temple and she blushes cutely, glancing to see if her mother is watching.
She is, and she smiles at the two of them, causing Bella to blush further.
Bella pulls Edward towards the large Christmas tree in the corner, and starts to point out some things.
At the same time, Renee, who has busied herself tidying up the house, continues sending him image after image. He sees her with Charlie, waking up in the middle of the night because of strange noises, having the bizarre sensation that someone was watching her, but she was always saved by someone coming to talk to her moments before her stalker might have made his or her move. Usually her saviors were russet-skinned with dark hair, most likely members of the Quileute tribe.
"I made this ornament when I was in second grade." Bella smiles, "It's made out of clay, and it was supposed to be a star, but while it was drying I tripped and dropped it on the floor. Mom lied and told me that there really were stars that looked like that. I think I believed her well into Junior High."
Renee's memories are interrupted for a few moments to remember that day, and Edward grins at the sight of a seven-year-old Bella. She had curly brown hair and rose-colored cheeks. She might have been the most adorable child he's ever seen. And he's seen many.
"You were a beautiful child." He whispers into her ear.
She glances towards her mother, and seeming to put two and two together, she gives a small smile. She continues pointing out ornaments, some that she made with Renee, others that were gifts, and Edward concentrates on both her words and Renee's thoughts.
He sees the day where the werewolves first revealed themselves to her. She, unlike her daughter, seemed terrified of them, and was reluctant to trust them at first. But she knew instinctually that there was something worse out there, something that had set its sight on her.
He nearly gasps when he sees a memory of her cornered in her own home by a tall vampire with deep black eyes. He doesn't recognize the vampire. He'd obviously chosen the normal diet for most vampires, and he was closing in on Bella's mother. He was lean, but muscled like all vampires. His clothes were torn and his feet bare. A nomad. His blonde hair was dirty and pulled back from his face. He was inches from a very pregnant Renee who was frozen in fear. He pulled his lips back over his teeth growly, and his arms reached for her at the same moment that another vampire joined him. Her movements were fluid and graceful, and her vibrant red hair danced around her face.
She hissed something at the other vampire that Renee couldn't hear, and thus neither can Edward hear it through her memories. The hungry vampire hissed something back, and the woman, who Edward guesses was his mate, gestures towards the door. She slowed down, punctuating her words and Renee understands this time.
"James, they're coming. We have to go."
The male, James, hissed back at her, his stance unmoving. Edward can see it in his eyes. This vampire was a hunter. He lived for the hunt, and he couldn't be this close to his prey and not take her. He wouldn't be leaving, no matter who was coming.
Seconds later, the front door is thrown off its hinges, and a large grey wolf nearly the size of a bear flies into the room. Nearly half a dozen more follow, and the female vampire shrieks in response. She looks once more to her mate, but he has turned to fight. Edward can see the fear and grief in her eyes as she flees alone out the back of the house.
The wolves made quick work of James, tearing him apart almost methodically as though they were made to do so. And Edward realizes that it may very well be so.
For the rest of the memory, Renee stayed huddled in the corner, her eyes wide, and pale, white fingers clutching protectively at her swollen belly.
The wolves left, taking the body parts with them. Two returned moments later in their human forms and proceeded to comfort Renee. She barely spoke to them once she snapped out of her trance. Almost immediately, she flew up the stairs into her room, throwing clothes upon clothes into a suitcase. The Quileutes tried to stop her, to reason with her, but she refused to stay even to talk to Charlie.
Edward looks at Renee, who has stopped her cleaning and is leaning heavily against the wall, her face drawn, and the ghosts of tears shimmering in her eyes.
But the memories don't stop.
He sees her travelling, still very pregnant with Bella. He watches as she returned to Forks little more than a week before Bella was born. Renee tried to stay with Charlie, and she managed it for a while, for Bella's sake. But he can see the toll it took on her to remain in that house. He sees memories of sleepless nights, and he realizes that the Quileutes must have sworn her to secrecy. He sees the memory of her leaving for the final time, simply unable to stay in Forks any longer.
"I hate it here! Just let me go, Charlie."
He's brought back to the present when Bella excuses herself to grab a drink from the fridge.
"You want anything?" She asks playfully.
He of course shakes his head no.
As soon as she's out of ear shot, Renee releases a great, shuddering breath, and the tears begin to fall. Edward places a cold hand on her back, sure at the moment that an embrace from a vampire is the very last thing she needs at the moment.
"It's such a relief." She whispers, "To have someone else know. I've always felt like a horrible mother and a horrible wife, leaving them both there. But Charlie refused to move, and I-I just couldn't stay."
"You should tell Bella." He replies quietly. "She would understand."
"No." She shakes her head fiercely. "No she wouldn't."
"Why not?"
"Because…" She trails off.
Because my mistakes cost her the person she loved most.
He sees another flash of the red-headed vampire, her red eyes nearly piercing in their fury.
Her father.
Edward stumbles back, holding a hand to his chest, as the scene unfolds before his eyes.
Renee hadn't been there, but the Quileutes had notified her immediately. Bella had luckily been on the Reservation at the time, and had been told that Charlie suffered a heart attack instead of the truth—that he had been brutally killed by a vengeful vampire. Renee caught the first flight back to Washington, and Edward's chest burns when he sees fourteen-year-old Bella sobbing into her mother's arms over the loss of her Dad.
"I can't tell her." Renee whispers, "I just can't. "
And Edward understands.
A/N: Well, there it is. Not a huge surprise that I chose James and Victoria. I decided to leave Laurent out of it this time. And who thought James would die before ever getting a bit of action in? I struggled with a long time over using these villains, or creating my own, but in the end I decided the story would be more accessible if I used familiar characters. But of course, I couldn't turn down the chance to once again deviate greatly from the plot of Twilight. I hope you all enjoyed the twist about Charlie's death.
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