Chapter #2 - The Third Letter

"Say that again." I folded my arms across my chest.

"Why?" Edwardo asked, the oh-so-serious expression turning uncertain, and slightly annoyed.

"Because I told you to," I said simply, looking at my nails and standing like a total girl. Alice, probably having seen my upcoming joke, giggled quietly.

"…Alright then." He cleared his throat awkwardly, looking confused. "We've received a third letter…?"

There was a brief moment of silence. Then…

"OH, MY GAWD! Are you cereal?" I put on a façade of shock, though I knew it looked unreal and mostly mocking. Good. Both hands flew up to my cheeks and I shrieked erratically, "O-M-F-G! We're all gonna die!"

Right then Edward's face was priceless, and I wished I had a camera. Really, there's no way to depict it, but all I can say is he looked pissed. Bella was quiet, bouncing the kid in her arms, but she looked irritated too. What can I say? I'm a joker.

Alice was trying not to laugh, I could see. I decided right then that I liked her. She was cool.

Edward sighed, his butterscotch eyes glaring daggers at me. "This isn't a game, Maximum." Then he turned and the four of them started off toward the trees, out of which Alice, Bella, and Renesmee had appeared.

I stood there, staring after them. "Crap."

"Hang on a minute," I said, having to jog to catch up with them. Dang, they were fast - even when walking. "I demand to be a part of this!"

Only Sparkleboy turned, the others passing him without glancing back. "Being a part of this may include getting killed."

I paused for a minute, but suddenly recalled how much my life sucked. "Hell, getting killed is far more favorable than having to live with the memory of a death."

He only scowled and continued walking. I followed, several steps behind. Once I picked my way through the dense shrubbery and into the shelter of the forest, I found myself alone. Only a couple dust trails had been kicked up, to point me in the right direction.

Ah, great. Thanks, guys.

There was no clearing in the trees, so I pulled myself onto the nearest branch and started climbing. By the time I reached the top of the tree, I had one or two thin scratches on my arms, from sharp twigs and stuff. I didn't care, they'd be gone in two seconds.

I stood up, balancing myself on the thin branch, and took off my jacket.

My wings flexed automatically, having been squashed uncomfortably to my back beneath a bulky jacket.

I did an up and away, my feathers catching and gathering the wind easily. The air was dense, and with only a few down strokes, I was golden.

I followed the general direction the trails pointed, and within minutes, I came to a huge house in a grassy feild. I circled it from way up, just to make sure this wasn't some forester's house or something. It wouldn't be all that great to let myself into a stranger's house and ask for a sparkling vampire, now would it?

But then my sharp eyes made out the figure of Edward, basically looking like a twinkling dot; a star on the Earth. He and Alice were standing in the middle of a long gravel driveway that snaked from the house, back into the woods, and emptied out onto a large road, maybe a quarter mile from the house.

I tucked my wings in and came down fast, enjoying the exhilarating thrill of free fall. Maybe a hundred above the ground, I snapped them to full span, slowing quickly for a safe landing. My feet touched the ground, and when I looked up, Edward was staring.

"What?" I said nonchalantly. "Never seen a flying mutant bird girl before? You need to get out more."

Past him, I saw five pairs of eyes watching me from the front steps at the porch of the house, with those same topaz irises. Neither Bella nor Renesmee were among them, and I guessed they were inside.

I started walking toward the house, Edward and Alice behind me. "Heyla," I greeted them, starting to feel self-conscious. Their stares made me feel like I had a bright neon sign above my head, saying. "MUTANT BIRD FREAK HERE."

Edward did the honors of introduction. The boy whose hand was intertwined with Alice's was Jasper (he looked like he was majorly sleep-deprived); the extraordinarily beautiful blondie was Rosalie, the huge buff guy beside her, Emmett; and the two that looked more like grown-ups were the parental figures, I guess, Esme and Carlisle.

Esme was really sweet; she offered me a bunch of food once we were inside, while everyone else sat down around an oval table in a really nice dining room. Carlisle was sophisticated, very gentle. Rosalie didn't bother to look at me, for which I was grateful, and Emmett, who sat beside me, just flat out bugged the hell out of me by poking my wings through my jacket.

I'd turned to glare up at him, like, twice to get him to stop. At first, he'd scared me, had me on my toes, but now I wanted to smack him upside the head.

Edward was on my other side, and I felt surrounded. And with all the inhumanly beautiful people in the room, my self-esteem dropped to about zero on the scale of one to ten.

Carlisle was carefully opening an envelope. It was sealed the old fashioned way, with a red wax seal. The wax was molded into a weird 's' symbol with sort of an eye above it. I'm not really positive as to what it signified, but it sure looked cool.

I watched, munching busily on my Cracker Jacks, as he pulled out a folded parchment, much like the one Edward had shown me back in the circular meadow. It wasn't long, and much of the paper was blank. He read it aloud for us to hear:

"The Cullens - You have received our second and final warning, and you ignored it. And now, in your Third Letter, we acquaint you with your sentence. By the order of the Hellsing domain, we summon you forth to explain your inattentive actions. If you are not at the given location within two days, I shall send an agent to personally destroy you. Signed, Integra F. W. Hellsing."

The eight pale faces were rigid. The only sound in the room was my chewing of caramel popcorn and peanuts, while the Cullens exchanged glances.

The opened envelope I saw had a return address on it, and a tiny grin crept across my lips as I read it. In my best English accent, I announced, "Pack your bags, chaps. We're goin' to the Big Smoke!"