Disclaimer: I own nothing.
twitter: monamumbles
Previously
A timid knock sounded against the door. Carlisle pulled away from his study to stand in front of the door while giving us all a look as though to tell us to prepare ourselves.
Prepare for what? One of us was dead if she decided.
"Please…" An unfamiliar, small voice echoed through the night air. "I'm sorry. Please open the door. Please…"
She could rip it to shreds if she chose to. Carlisle turned to face the big, wooden door as though he was about to take down a coven full of ravenous vampires all by himself. Esme appeared at his side with a questioning look on her face. She was scared. We all were. His hand moved onto the knob.
"Carlisle," she warned. He simply nodded and opened the door. We were all at our feet. Gone was the dangerous vampire. She was simply a timid girl with red eyes, who was just as unaware of her power as any other newborn. Her arms were around herself as if she were cold, but we knew that would be impossible. I think it was just to comfort her.
"I know my first name is Isabella…" was all she whispered before falling forward into Carlisle's arms.
Edward | s t r ay .
Isabella.
Carlisle moved swiftly to swing an arm around the back of her knees and under her shoulders to lift her up into his arms. She was looking up at him with huge, burgundy eyes just as innocently as a young child would look up at a father. Jasper and Emmett stood guarding their women like cavemen while I stood between Carlisle and Esme.
It was eerily silent. Not just in the room, but also in my own mind. Of course, there were times when the others went off to go about their business, and I could only hear myself think. I savored the few moments when I could be in my own solitude, not having to hear the private professes of love for another or the foul perversions that some people would never want another to ever hear. But there was never a time when my family was all around me when I couldn't hear what any of them were thinking. I felt suddenly selfish at how I instantly felt as though a massive burden had been lifted from my shoulders. Right now, they would be screaming at me. I also felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Although having the ability to hear someone's every thought was often sickening and repulsive, I had grown used to relying on that ability. For a hundred years, it had become a part of me. It made me who I was and separated me from who I was not. The irrational feeling of inadequacy that Alice seemed to be struggling with earlier was now budding inside of me.
Esme broke the silence and I wanted to thank her for it. "We should take her to one of the guest bedrooms." She was absentmindedly wiping dirt away from the girl's left brow.
"She isn't a guest here, Esme. She tried to kill you!" Rosalie's voice rose in frustration and anger, but mostly irritation that Esme would comfort someone that was clearly planning on taking us all out just hours earlier. The girl groaned and murmured something about being sorry once again.
"Esme is right, Rosalie," Carlisle agreed. "She looks extremely drained of energy. I don't think she is up for another fight."
"Well, isn't that lucky for us?" Rosalie's voice was drenched with a retched tone, but Carlisle held his compassion, as always.
"Rosalie, I don't blame you for being frightened of what she's capable of, but I would rather her be here where we can try to keep the situation under control than have her out there being a terror to the town. The type of attention that would cause…" Carlisle adjusted the girl in his arms so that he wouldn't drop her to the floor. She wouldn't thank him for that. "If you would like to leave while I sort this out, you are more than welcome."
Rosalie folded her arms across her chest, huffing. "I wasn't…frightened." Carlisle gave her a small wink and a smile before walking towards the stairs with Esme and Alice in tow. I gave Jasper the standard ten seconds before he would follow her. He gave in at the seven second mark. My options were very limited. It was either I stay down in the living room, watching Emmett comfort Rosalie while she sulked or I could go upstairs and tend to one of Carlisle's new strays. I was already at the top of the stairs when I saw Emmett and Rose become a little too affectionate.
Isabella was lying across the guest bed when I entered the doorframe. Alice stood on the opposite side of the room, leaning against an oak armoire. I'm sure vampires didn't get sick, but if they could, they would look exactly like she did.
"Whatever you're doing…please stop," Alice pleaded holding on side of her head with her hand. "It's giving me a headache."
Jasper furrowed his brows. "A headache? How is that possible-"
"I-I'm not doing anything," Isabella told us. She was sitting up with her hands out in front of her. Carlisle reflexively took a step in front of Esme. "I know you probably think I'm playing tricks-" Rosalie's loud scoff echoed clearly upstairs. "-but I don't have any idea how to make myself stop or how to stop hurting these people."
She rested her elbows on her knees, and put her head in her hands. Esme stepped from behind Carlisle and took a seat next to the girl as if she was just another one of her children. She didn't hesitate to put an arm around the girl's shoulder. Carlisle's composure grew tense, ready for the worst.
"Isabella," Esme began. "I know you're confused and scared, but you need to trust us. None of us will hurt you. Just try your best to relax, okay?"
Isabella nodded. Her eyes were glossed over, but I knew that this was just the venom. If she were human, she'd be crying. Her voice cracked when she spoke, "I know that I'm like you guys-"
"Vampire," Carlisle interjected. "You are vampire now."
"…But I don't want to be. I don't want to kill people."
"That is not the way of our family. If you're willing to adopt our beliefs, we're willing to help."
How can I trust him? He probably wants to hurt me. They all want to hurt me after what I did…
As the girl listened to Carlisle's words, I heard her voice in my head. In fact, I heard everyone just then while Alice physically stood a bit straighter in my peripheral.
Edward, do not move… Alice's voice was cautious as she mentally shouted. Having just gotten back my ability, I was caught off guard by her warning. I searched her mind for whatever she was seeing, but was immediately cut off with the great block again.
Carlisle was talking, but his voice droned with a hum. My attention was focused on Isabella who sat looking up at him, giving him a peculiar look. She was very suspicious and confused, but she couldn't be blamed for that. She had the burden of an amazing power within her, yet didn't have the ability to control or contain it. Despite my sympathy, I took heed to Alice's words and moved as slowly and as obviously as humanly possible. Again, the voices swarmed in my head like wasps.
Alice was searching quickly for a vision to show me.
Jasper was concerned about the girl's powers and Alice's safety.
Carlisle thought of how difficult this process would be, but was prepared for whatever came his way.
Esme wondered if the girl would stay.
God, no! My throat is beginning to burn…
Alice saw me in the air, but before I made contact with anything, her vision was cut short by the white shadow. She stifled a groan. Carlisle looked at Alice's worried face and settled on mine.
"Is there something?" Carlisle asked.
"She's very worried about the thirst, Carlisle. It's coming on stronger," I told them what I had heard. The girl sat up straighter, appearing very guarded.
"What is he doing?" Isabella asked with her eyes locked on mine.
Esme kept her voice soothing and calm. "Edward, like you, has a special ability. Three of the members of our family do. Edward happens to be telepathic-"
Like a light had been switched on, her face filled with fright and rage. "You've been reading my thoughts?"
Before I could speak, I found myself being lifted up into the air and thrown into the wall behind me. The pictures on the wall had not yet fallen before Rosalie was upstairs, holding Isabella down onto the bed. A bloodcurdling scream came from beneath Rosalie who was sent flying off of Isabella and sent backwards into Carlisle. They tumbled to the floor with a loud, hard thud. I could see her coming for me, but I had no strength to move. With one swift movement, her teeth clamped down on my chest. The spot felt like it been set ablaze.
I growled, tearing her away from me. Looking up from my position on the ground, I could see her evading Jasper and Emmett's grasp and bolting out of the room. The front door swung open and her footsteps became fainter.
"Carlisle, I think she's going hurt a boy." The whole room stopped moving at once. I ignored the burn on my skin to search through her fragmented vision.
There was a Quileute boy standing around in the night air with flashing lights dancing off of his face. Isabella was standing from a distance, watching the boy with a peculiar look.
"I know it's painful for you, but try to push past it," I told her, but the vision stayed the same.
Everyone was staring at Alice and me, waiting to be in on the conversation. We could have lengthy conversations without either of us giving any indication to the other parties around as to what we were talking about. I could see how that would be very frustrating to my family especially at a time like this. It was like having two people whisper secrets about you while you were still in the room.
Carlisle stood between us with an urgency about him. "Will she hurt someone – tell us what you saw."
"She thinks Isabella will attack a Quileute, but the vision is very weak," I informed them all.
"The wolves will tear her apart for that-" Rosalie began to say is if it was a triumph, but Carlisle quickly interjected.
"We will try to prevent this boy's death," he said as Rosalie grit her teeth to hold in some comment about people dying all the time and surprisingly there were more cases of vampire related deaths that people thought were accidental or unexplained homicides. "We need to save him in order to save Isabella from the wolves' wrath. Alice can you see any distinctive features around him?"
Alice stood pensively for a moment. "Lights. Lights are flickering-"
Emmett asked, "Like candles?"
"No, like…-"
"Like fairy lights," I ended up finishing her thought.
"Yes, they're exactly like fairy lights, except much brighter. Almost like a street in Las Vegas."
There weren't many places in Forks, Washington that were lit up like the sign of a sleazy strip club and it hadn't been a significant holiday so there would be no need for fairy lights.
"Flickering, blinking lights…" Jasper muttered to himself before his eyes got wider. "The arcade…the arcade! Could it be that?"
"I think you're right, Jazz!" Alice jumped to wrap her slender arms around Jasper's neck, kissing his face in multiple places. It only took a moment for her to turn back to us with a grave expression. "It's nine-thirty! The arcade is going to close at ten which means the lights won't be lit for much longer. We have to go now!"
Before Carlisle could say anything else, Alice was out of the door.
"Alice!" Jasper was right behind her.
"You three, go after them. We'll catch up soon enough," Carlisle spoke to Rosalie, Emmett and me, looking at the clock on the wall. "Stay in the shadows, make sure you're not seen."
I turned and was off through the door, already making it through the trees. Alice was not too far ahead; I could still smell her scent in the air. Rosalie was behind me, thinking of all the vile things she wanted to do to the young vampire. She was running as fast as Emmett with a determined pace. I knew then I had to run faster because there was no telling what Rosalie would actually do if her hands found their way to Isabella first. I pushed myself harder, breaking through the protruding branches ahead of me. I could see Jasper alongside Alice just as she was about to race beside the central road that led into Forks' main streets.
"Alice, what are you thinking?" I practically yelled to her when we were running at the same pace. She didn't look in my direction, nor did she even slow down.
"There's no time to talk, Edward,"she told me. "We have to intercept somehow. We can't let her be destroyed."
Alice pushed harder than I'd ever seen her push.
Go ahead of us, Jasper pleaded. I don't want Alice to get hurt. You're much faster than us. Go on ahead and I'll try my best to keep up.
I growled, letting out my frustration. I was growing more and more exhausted as time went on which was very strange. We never grew tired and I could run for hours at a time without ever realizing how far I had gone. This was like trying to punch my way through an invisible, elastic wall.
Then, a voice in my head that I couldn't decipher as my own or the others said, We're almost there. Perhaps it was all of us, but soon after there was complete stillness in my thoughts again. I then smelled Isabella's florid scent being distorted amongst sickening sweet smell of candy, the evergreen trees, and wolf. We were close, and so were they.
Alice nearly collided into Isabella from behind. It was hard coming to such an immediate halt once we had been running fervently for so long. Isabella didn't look hungry or crazed at all as any newborn should be by all the potential victims swarming around her like bees in a nest. She was simply staring at this frightened boy with immense confusion and intrigue written all over her face. She raised a hand as slowly as possible and it looked as though she would touch the boy's face if Alice hadn't yanked her back. The boy visibly shook with, unable to move.
At that same unfortunate moment, two familiar faces stepped out from the crowd with the intent to kill on their minds. A young lady with russet skin resembling the boy too much not to be related to him stood alongside a man bearing the same complexion. He was shirtless, and his chest heaved. Clearly, he'd been running just as fast as we had.
Maybe faster.
"Get behind me, Seth," Leah Clearwater said, pushing the boy behind her.
Emmett caught up before Jasper, Rosalie, Esme, and Carlisle. Emmett snarled, involuntarily at the offending scent whirling through the air.
"Leah, take Seth home," Sam Uley ordered with an extremely baffled look on his dark face. He was staring at Isabella who still hadn't budged.
"If I see you around my brother ever again, I will personally rip you to shreds myself-" Sam immediately put down Leah's pointed finger quite harshly.
"Leah," he said sternly and his word was final. Leah took one last look at Isabella, staring with cold onyx eyes before grabbing Seth by the wrist and leaving. I could almost hear Jasper's fists unclenching as he looked across the inadvertent circle we formed to the newborn girl. He must have been wondering how she held back the urge to attack when he himself wanted to confront Leah's threat. Instead, Isabella remained vulnerable. I would give anything to read her thoughts at that very moment.
Two more men arrived, breathing wild. They all were looking at Isabella as if they'd been staring at a ghost. For lack of a better word, she was a ghost of what she once was. We all were.
Their heart rates accelerated, thumping a loud and violent song in our ears.
"You left me to die." Isabella looked up at the tallest wolf in the pack that looked as though if he were to be in wolf form that he would have his tail between his legs. Was this the reason her clothes were soaked with the mongrel scent? I refused to let myself breathe the air around me as it was clouded in thick, wet dog.
Sam turned sharply to the wolf at his side. Before Sam could bark another order, the wolf spoke. "Sam, I couldn't go through with it-"
"So you leave the whole pack in danger? Seth's blood would've been on your hands." Sam escalated voice was causing a few stares from the passing crowds. He gave them a snarl and they quickly hurried away from our gathering. Carlisle took one daring step forward; the pack looked ready to attack at any moment. They were just looking for a reason.
To my side, Alice slowly tried to pull Isabella away from her crouching position that she had been creeping into. Isabella surprisingly complied, letting Alice pull her to the side. Alice wrapped her arms around Isabella's waist. It was partly for comfort, but mostly to try to keep Isabella chained by her side.
"Sam, Isabella showed up on our land with no knowledge of her past," Carlisle began, clearly leaving out the part where we'd been under attack.
"She was a friend of ours until one of your own changed her into…into that." Sam motioned to her as if she was some monster. Alice grabbed my hand- holding onto Isabella tighter –with a faraway look in her eyes. I was about to ask what her problem was when a vision played through my head. They were fragmented from different times and places which did not make sense. They seemed like dreams rather than the future. One moment, Isabella was letting out tearless sobs in the woods by herself and the next moment, she and I were kissing chastely in our kitchen. (My hand twitched in Alice's.) The last vision was Isabella again. She had the same vibrant, golden eyes we saw her with earlier; however; the look in her eyes were feral. She was staring at the tallest wolf, standing on our property, and suddenly attacked.
Each time Alice played the ending, it was fatal.
I let go of her immediately, yet we hadn't shared a look. We would discuss everything later, but for now I went through everyone's thoughts.
"I can assure you that no one in my coven did this." Carlisle furrowed his brows, picturing everyone in his family with amber eyes.
And for the first time, I saw who Isabella used to be.
Looking through the tallest wolf boy's mind, I could see them walking in the forest while the sun was setting one afternoon. She was wearing a much neater version of the outfit she wore now. Her brown hair was pulled back into a low ponytail; a few tendrils fell to the side of her face, abundant with a blush.
Wolf boy held onto her hand, lacing their fingers together. She looked almost shorter than Alice next to him as they stopped near a large evergreen. Holding hands turned into light kisses. His thoughts were scrambled like Alice's vision. Just then, Isabella was writhing in the dirt; screaming came from the pit of her stomach-
Sam and the other wolves chased after a male vampire. "She'll become one of them. You have to kill her, Jacob." The boy wolf phased back, leaning over Isabella's contorted body.
"Please, Jacob. Please," Isabella begged for him to do anything to take her pain away-
Isabella's block had returned again. Her teeth were slightly bared at the tall wolf boy.
"There is no way to control her. Two fishermen are missing and I'd bet that she's the reason behind it."
"Control takes time, Sam. You cannot fault her for what she is and the mistakes she has made. There are mistakes of your own that you have made as well."
I was reminded of the time when Sam's fiancée was rushed to the emergency room. I was there that night when Carlisle and I was supposed to go hunting after his shift at the hospital. He was called in for surgery on a young woman who'd suffered from a severe bear attack. It hadn't clicked that night, but now I figured the attack more than likely came from a wolf.
Sam growled, "I didn't kill Emily."
"We'll take her in as one of our own." Esme became the mediator as more and more outsiders gave our strange group quizzical stares. "We'll help her take control of her thirst. There will be no more deaths. I swear of it. "
"And if there is, know that we will be the first ones at your door." Sam was making a promise. Emmett and Jasper were near them, snarling back making another promise of their own. They would be looking for one hell of a fight. "Jake. Paul. There is nothing more to discuss here. The Cullens know we'll be watching them. Let's go."
Paul-wolf broke off into a run across the lot and past the trees. I could soon hear the soft thudding of paws against the earth. The tallest wolf boy was still staring at Isabella with remorse written across his dark face. This was not the girl he once knew, nor would she ever be the same. Though, unable to flip through his mind, I knew he was trying to say goodbye.
"Jacob," Sam said again, pulling the boy wolf out of his reverie. He turned on his heels as if being taken over by a gravitational pull. He and Sam took off in a run just like the other wolf. Alice, who still held Isabella by the waist, turned around first.
"C'mon, Isabella," Alice gripped her tighter, telling all of us she wouldn't let go. "Let's get you cleaned up."