Author's Note: This is now the fifth time I have tried to write an author's note. For some reason the site keeps deleting anything I edit. Anyway THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THE REVIEWS! THEY MEANT SO MUCH TO ME! This chapter is longer than normal, just for all of you! I can't access all of your names (again the site won't let me, its weird) but I appreciate all of you! I will probably be reposting this once the problems get fixed with the site :-D
Disclaimer: Steph owns Twilight.
Talking with Carlisle
We rounded the corner to see Alice standing at the front door, a knowing smile on her face. I, however, had little energy to think about anything other than the vampire I was racing. Because shapeshifters naturally have the fastest speed of any other mythical creature, protectors were given the speed of a wolf shapeshifter. However, it seemed Edward was giving the wolves a run for their money.
As the house came into view, the two of us pressed on ever faster, trying to edge ahead of the other. However, though we tried, neither could get ahead. The ground flew by under our feet, and within seconds the two of us were at the door: the unspoken finishing line.
Reaching the door, I put my hand out, attempting to beat Edward to the finish; never before had I run faster. Placing my hand on the door, I was shocked when it broke of the hinges, falling forward onto the ground with both Edward and me on top of it.
"Edward!!" Esme called out, furious that we had destroyed her door. The two of us jumped as though shocked as the vampire mother of the family called out. I cowered back in the face of the carmel-haired vampire, not wanting to upset her further. "You are going to replace my door, is that understood?" Esme placed her hands on her hips, glaring at her son. Being a model son, Edward bowed his head in shame of his actions.
Behind me, I could hear Alice stifling a laugh as Edward replied, "Yes, Esme," as he began the descent to the basement. I was appalled at my behavior, I was a guest here! And here I was, breaking people's doors! I looked down at my feet before Alice came over to me, seeing my expression.
"Its okay, Bella," clearly she was attempting to keep from laughing again. Of course, it probably would look funny to another person. "Emmett has broken more doors over the course of this century than an entire home department store could hold in a year."
At that moment, it seemed the person in question heard of our conversation. "Hey! I resent that!" Emmett called from upstairs before appearing next to us in less than a heartbeat. Though he sounded upset, I could guess it would be very hard to actually tease Emmett successfully. He just took everything as a joke.
Again, Alice's laugh rang out before I heard another. The sound of musical bells met my ears as Edward resurfaced from the basement, carrying with him a large door to fit the place of the one we had broken. "You know its true, Emmett." Edward said, his eyes twinkling with mirth as he gingerly placed the door up against the wall.
"I agree with Edward, Emmett. You have broken more doors than it would be possible to count." Alice said amused.
"Now that, I agree with." Emmett said, surprising us all, including me. What on earth was he talking about. Here, Alice doubled over laughing, with Edward following right afterward. Now, Jasper came downstairs, a puzzled look on his face.
"Why are the two of them emitting such strong emotions of hysteria?" Jasper asked, stuttering over the words as he attempted not to laugh himself. Clearly he was annoyed enough that the other emotions hadn't completely overrun his senses.
"Yeah, I want to know the joke!" Emmett demanded childishly. Easily, I could compare him to a little child at the fair, wanting to know why he couldn't have another cotton candy. I almost joined in on the laughter just hearing his voice. Upon a pleading expression from Jasper, however, I was able to calm my emotions.
"Emm..ett." Alice was able to make out between laughs though she was calming down. Now on the ground, Edward attempted to calm himself as well, gulping in unnecessary air to quit his laughter.
"Well?" I asked the pair as they stood up. "What just happened?" Would they ever give me any answers.
"Most likely, Bella. Alice had a vision which Edward saw in her mind, leaving the three of us to stare at them while they laughed at some joke which none of us knew." Jasper said, casting his wife a glance, silently asking if he was correct.
"Exactly Jasper!" Alice chirped in response, though she offered nothing else in explanation. When the three of us just stood there, waiting, we just gave up. It really wasn't worth it right now.
"Okay, Edward," I turned to face the striking bronze-haired vampire who was now finishing repairing the door. Not surprisingly, he was almost finished. How I loved being able to move at a much faster speed than humans...how had I managed before?
"Hmm," was the only response I received as Edward was so intent upon completing the door. When I began to tap my foot, however, Edward turned to me. "Sorry," he smiled sheepishly. Just with that smile, I forgave him.
"Its fine. But I was wondering..where does Charlie think I am?" Suddenly that thought had jumped unbidden to my mind, but I was glad it had. Gosh, Charlie was probably having a heart attack right now!
"Don't worry, Alice called and told him you were going to be over at our house until late." Edward smiled at me, relieving my worries. Now, onto my second worries.
"And Edward," I paused wondering how to phrase this. I turned to face the other vampires in the room, but to my shock, they had already disappeared! I whipped back around at Edward, a quizzical look on my face. "Do they always disappear like that?"
In response, Edward just shrugged his shoulders, "More or less." Apparently it was just an ordinary occurrence at the Cullen house. However, what worried me was the fact that they were able to leave without alerting my senses.
"Did you realize they had left." To that, Edward simply laughed, as he placed the door into the hinges with a crack.
"Of course," he shrugged it off as he bent the hinges into the right place. "There." He clapped the dust off of his hands as he admired the finished door.
"But..how?" I asked, still completely unsure of how Edward could have picked up on their departure...and why hadn't I picked it up?
"Mind reading." He said simply. "We have all become skilled at leaving without notice over the years; only Alice and I are truly able to know when someone in the family leaves while we are enraptured in something else. Our scents are so potent in this house that we can't use that to distinguish departures, plus when we are engaged in a conversation our minds really aren't tuned to what else is going on."
My mouth formed an "O" as he finished his explanation. Though I should have realized that the Cullen's had left the room, I supposed they had about a century's worth of practice over me. I would really have to do some catching up in the next few years....
"Now, I believe there was something else you wished to talk about." Edward asked me, observing me from his post at the doorway. How was it that he knew everything? Was I really that easy to read? Maybe Edward's powers actually did work on me....but no. They couldn't...there just wasn't any possible way.
For the moment, I shook it off. That was a conversation for a later time. "Well, what was I going to do about the wolves?" As I spoke, I played with my fingers, refusing to meet Edward's gaze. Even with my head down, I could practically feel Edward's burning golden eyes scrutinizing my every move.
When he finally spoke, it caught me by surprise. His words were slightly slurred, though I supposed he was just trying to keep his emotions in check...the wolves and vampires were naturally enemies. "We need to speak to Carlisle. Alice can tell Charlie you are spending the night here if necessary." I nodded. As much as I was anxious about speaking to the wolves, it needed to take place sometime...
"So is Carlisle here?" I asked Edward, glancing around the house. When I realized how stupid that probably looked, I stopped, a familiar blush rising to my face.
Edward chuckled, "Your blush is cute." I think I went four shades redder at that moment. From like a coral to a full-out cherry red. Sparing me the embarrassment, Edward continued, "Yes, Carlisle is upstairs at this moment in his study. Do you want to go see him?" The bronze haired vampire watched me intently, ready to interpret my answer.
Did I want to see him? No, not really. Not that I had something against him, quite on the contrary actually...but this conversation did not bode well. I mean, really what would I expect? I wanted to go learn from the Cullen's worst enemies! However, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. After all, Carlisle certainly came off as a rational...being. So I nodded an affirmation to Edward's question. Surely it couldn't be so bad? Could it?
"He won't bite you know," Edward said, probably seeing the hesitation evident in my expression.
I snorted, however. That sentence was too cliche. I gave Edward a look, "Really? He won't bite me? Coming from the vampire..."
When Edward realized what he had said, he laughed, "Okay, really I did not mean to make that very, very bad pun. What I meant to say is...well I can't really come up with a good analogy, so I hope you know what I meant."
"Alright, lets just get this over with." I told him, and together we walked up the stairs. Now that I was listening, I could hear the sounds of Alice in her bedroom with Rosalie, as well as the sound of the two boys wrestling outside.
Once we reached the second flight of stairs, Edward turned toward a large mahogany door and knocked, the sound echoing throughout the house. Some part of my mind registered that the act was unnecessary, as we could tell by the shuffling papers inside what Carlisle was up too, and he most certainly would have heard our conversation down stairs. Either way, we were greeted by the sound of "Enter," before we stepped through the door.
"Ah, Edward, Bella, what can I do for you?" Carlisle asked, though remaining hunched over his desk without looking up. It was then that I realized the Cullen family still did not know of the discussions Edward and I had in the meadow. Racking my mind, I thought about all that had been said downstairs...all I could recall was that while I had mentioned the wolves, I hadn't actually mentioned why they were relevant.
I opened my mouth to speak, though no words met the ears of the vampire's in the room. I imagined I looked something like a goldfish, with my mouth gaping; immediately I closed it again. For a minute, I closed my eyes and bit my bottom lip, a habit I had seemed to acquire. My thoughts were spinning, I needed to figure out exactly what I wanted to ask Carlisle. Did I want him to set up a meeting with the wolves? Well, that might not be a bad idea.
However, the more I thought about it, the easier it came to me that a meeting with the vampires might not be the best way to get them to help me. I didn't know the wolves at all though! Who was to say they would help me at all?
"As Edward said, I am not going to bite." Carlisle said, as I opened my eyes. Apparently the two had once again thought I was afraid. When would they realize I didn't scare off that easily? Glancing at Edward, I saw a scowl on his face. It took all of my self-control not to burst out in laughter from the sight of it.
In response to Carlisle's statement, I just shrugged, "It probably wouldn't make a difference whether you bit me or not. Either I am immune to vampire venom or the vampire traits in me would reveal themselves a little earlier. To me, it really woudn't matter either way."
When I had finished my speech, the two looked at me as though I had grown another head. Which, I might actually be able to do one day... hmm that might be interesting. "Well, its true." I responded to them, only adding to the thoughts they were probably thinking in their minds. I could see cogwheels turning in Carlisle's mind; I was actually just waiting for him to pronounce me mental...
"Anyway..." Edward spoke, filling the awkward silence. "Bella asked me in the woods about what she would do when the rest of her...characteristics began to reveal themselves." Here he glanced at me, silently asking if I wished to continue myself.
"And well, I needed to know first of all what the wolves are like." I asked, having made up my mind on what I needed to know first and foremost.
Carlilse studied me, his hands folding together as he leaned back in his chair. "Well first off, do you know what the wolves are?" I nodded in confirmation, the book had told me of the first shapeshifters, and how their descendants had inherited the gene. Carlisle looked pleased by that knowledge. "Good, then you know more than I thought." I was barely able to stop the scowl forming on my face. "Though, judging on what you knew about vampires I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." Thank you, that was better. I was not some ignorant human; I was the guardian of the mythical races! It was my job to know these things.
"Bella, what exactly are you wondering?" Edward asked, clearly confused as to where I was going with this as I already knew about shapeshifters. Hmm, maybe I should be more specific.
"Who are the wolves," I asked. "That would probably have been a better question." I told the two of them, realizing my mistake. I was, of course, aware that they were human. I knew there was a pack in Washington; also, I knew that the Cullen's had some sort of treaty with them judging by the dialogue I was hearing. The book had said there was a family of vegetarian vampires who knew the local wolf pack. Once Edward had said that they knew the wolves, I had put two and two together. Now, what I needed to know was exactly who the wolves were; surely if Edward was involved with the treaty the Cullens would know their identities, right? Racking my mind I remembered something about a Quillette pack. Who were the Quillettes? The name sounded familiar...
"Well, in the time when we first made the treaty, Ephriam Black was the alpha of the pack." Black, black where had I heard that name before? Not in the book, that was for sure...the book hardly ever mentioned specific names. Really, it should. It would have been so much more simple if I was simply told who certain people were. If I had known that one of the two vampire covens with gold eyes was called the Cullens, I would never have been afraid when I had met them...
"Who is in charge now?" I asked, hoping to gain more clues. I didn't know detective was part of the protector's job description, but apparently it was.
"A man by the name of Billy Black, Ephriam's son is the chief of the tribe, though I think a different man is head of the pack. Though I have only spoken to him once through a phone call, it sounded like he was older. Perhaps his son is alpha, I am not aware." Carlisle spoke slowly, trying to make sure he didn't leave anything out.
"Billy Black, are you sure?" Please tell me no...this might not turn out so well if this was the same man that I thought he was. My breathing was close to hyperventilating. What on earth would he think? I was practically a third daughter to him....
Edward's eyes creased, looking concerned at how worried I was. My eyes were wide; I could feel my heart rate increasing considerably. "Bella, are you alright?" Carlisle, too looked concerned for my well-being.
"Are you sure?" I asked again; I needed answers. And fast.
"Yes, I am certain." Carlisle said, not a trace of hesitation could be found in his expression. So there was no doubt...none at all.
So Billy Black, Charlie's best friend, was head of the tribe. The tribe to which a pack of wolves belonged. This could not go over well.
Author's Note: Hope you liked it! Review please!!! I spent 3 hours on this, so please :-) Until next time..
~Dreams of Bubbles~