Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, not me.
Recap: (Over the previous chapters)
-Bella, after hearing about her best friend Jake's sudden death, immediately runs to Chicago.
-Bella believes Jacob was murdered.
-Whilst looking around Jake's bedroom, she comes across a note with an unfamiliar name and address. She goes to that address.
-She learns about Vampires and that Jacob was a Familiar.
-Out for revenge, Bella ends up at Edward Cullen's condo, and gets 'kidnapped' on Edward's orders.
-For a short period, Bella comes to know that she is Edward Cullen's Singer, and gets drugged – with unusual side effects.-
-Chapter 3 introduces new Vampires and somehow they know Jacob Black.
-In Bella's dreams, she gets past visions of Edward and his parents. C.L concludes this is not particularly good for her at the moment.
-Bella meets Edward's family, but not his parents.
-A Halfblooded Vampire reveals to her that he is her High School Biology teacher – Mr. Banner – and tells her that he was told Bella is going to change the Vampire World.
-Bella bonds with Edward and begins developing feelings for him. She uses this as a reason to run away from Edward.
-Bella arrives at C.L.'s house and is told why Jacob became a Familiar (so his dad can become a Vampire and not die), as well as that Jacob fell in love with a Vampire.
-C.L. sends Bella to another House in Forks and Bella leaves him her watch to show to Edward.
-Bella meets Milk and Tea and settles in her new home. She also receives a letter from C.L. who gives her tips on what to ask Milk.
"Take a seat, Bella," Milk motioned his hand to the sofas in the room. As I sat down, far away from the others as possible, I stared into each of their faces, wondering if I was dreaming, or if I hit my head.
They were smiling. There was a full display of white teeth, so much that their lips curled and nearly to the point where their jaws were going to snap like a rubber band. It was also the genuine kind, the type you wished you saw from everyone you knew.
"Let me introduce you to the team!" Milk exclaimed excitedly, as if he was some seven-year-old showing off his Peewee team to his parents. "You know Tea." I nodded in acknowledgement. "This is Angela, but you must call her Apple," I smiled – not as straining as everybody else's – to a tall, brunette with hazel eyes. If possible, her wide smile got even larger. "This is Lime, also known as Lauren," to a blonde with too clear blue eyes. "Jessica to Jelly," another brunette who shared similar features with me, excluding the blush. "And finally, this is Egg, or Eric." Another dark-haired man, with incredibly pretty dark eyes, winked at me. "Leave her alone, you!" He addressed Egg, sternly. "Berry is a guest here."
I frowned at the name he gave me. "Bella," I pronounced my name slowly and clearly. Milk obviously wanted to give me a ridiculous name, and he pouted, but kept quiet.
"Welcome to the House of Humanity, Bella. We will try to meet your needs and requirements. This home is as much yours as it is ours. Please try to remember that." His words made me involuntarily smile. "Now I understand you may have a few questions, is that right?" I nodded, finding myself shy to actually speak out. "That's your cue to leave guys – Bella might want privacy."
I was surprised to see how Milk communicated with his House; in Foame, it was all formal and borderline polite. Humanity was the complete opposite. As soon as everybody left, the letter felt heavy in my pocket. I was getting answers, something I have been craving for, but why did I feel like this wasn't right? My palms were sweating and I had to keep wiping my hands on my trousers. It suddenly came to me: I was unraveling secrets of others and not just Jake's. There were other people involved in this and I hardly knew them.
"Bella, whatever is said in this room will be heard by everyone else." I arched my eyebrow, wondering what that meant. "We have excellent hearing, remember?" I flushed. "Anyway, there are no secrets in this House. You do not have to tell everyone everything about you, because we do not expect you to. However, we do expect you to be honest, can you do that?"
"Yes," I stated, sure of myself. Milk looked pleased.
"Good." He rubbed his hands together. "Let's get started then. I am a Pureblood, so I belong to the House my family created. My cousin brother was the Leader and had been for a number of years. He visited all the other top-ranked Houses, especially in Chicago…with Foame and Edward Cullen." Milk stopped momentarily to watch my reaction – I kept my face neutral and did not show that his name affected me.
He continued when he was content with my facial expression. "Then one night in Chicago…he went hunting. Came across a family who were camping." C.L.'s family! "You know what happened – my cousin killed C.L.'s wife and children. Somehow, C.L. managed to kill my cousin the next night, blinded with rage. I was told to step up as the next Leader after the death of my cousin…I could not do it. All that responsibility…all of those expectations. I have never liked drinking from humans, never.
"So I left, ran away, like a coward. I put my needs in front of my family's. I came here to Forks and was alone for 20 years, happy enough to be free and feeding on whatever I liked – animals."
My eyes widened. "You drink from animals?" I asked, surprised. He nodded. It made sense; C.L. said this House would not harm me and how could they when they did not drink Human blood.
"It's easier that way. After I drink from humans, the old-fashioned way, I always carried this guilt…for taking away a life. When I was here, I had no one to look disapprovingly at me, or to tease me constantly that I did not have the fangs to feed like Vampires should. I was at peace. Then C.L. found out about me…he became an advanced Vampire killer, but instead of killing me, he sent Tea here. He came to know that I was an outcast, and that I drank animal blood. Tea wanted what I had, so C.L. sent him.
"Bella, Tea came from Foame." I froze. This was unexpected. "Tea is a really old Vampire and was not happy at Foame. He was personally close to Edward Cullen and Cullen knew how Tea felt about being a Vampire. At first, the other Vampires here thought being a Vampire would be a dream come true. Then they got changed and their whole opinion changed. Vampirism is not for everyone Bella. C.L. sent them all to me, and we make a lovely bunch, don't you think?"
I did not say anything but smile.
"So, what haven't I covered?" he asked. He took a seat opposite from me and leaned back. I hesitantly took the letter out of my pocket and skim read the last bit of the letter.
"Why is the House named Humanity?"
"Aah…Humans. Very special, very interesting creatures. I would give my right eye to become one." I pressed my lips tightly to prevent myself from correcting him, after all I was just a guest, and did not know how hotheaded he was. "A human life is very precious, as death is inevitable. Humans die, Bella. They have things to live for, you know, family, lovers, money, food…the list is endless. And they have so many imperfections."
"Gee, thanks," I muttered. Although his choice of wordings did not offend me, I was upset over the fact that it sounded to me like I was not good enough for Vampires, particularly an Edward Cullen.
"I did not mean it as a bad thing. Imperfections such as being physically deformed, having a terminal illness or a disability for the rest of your life…being harmed by another person, being where you don't what to be in life. Humans have that – they have diversity. The imperfections make you special. We Vampires don't have that; we're perfect in every way. We are against Vampires harming Humans because there are Humans on this Planet who care about weaker creatures, like Badgers, and try to help them. And I think Humans deserve the same treatment from us. So I named this House in the honour of Humans."
"Wow," I complimented, his obvious love for Humans awed me. There should be more Vamps like him, than Edward Cullen and the other bloodthirsty assholes.
"Does that explain things?" he asked, a smile touching his face when he saw how impressed I was by his answer.
"Pretty much," I answered, "I would like to know the whole Jacob story, as well. And no editing!"
Milk sighed, "It's really complicated, not to mention it's not my story to tell."
"What do you mean?" I leaned forward and noticed how hard his hands were shaking – not out of fear, but maybe he dreaded answering.
"Jacob was a Familiar at Foame and his father-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know that bit. Start from when he got here," I rushed, completely impatient; I was closer than ever to know what happened to Jake.
"When Cullen eventually found out about Jacob's reasons to be a Familiar, C.L. immediately brought him to me here in Forks, like he did with you. Jacob settled in well and got along with everyone," he hesitated here, "And fell in love. With Tea."
My mouth dropped open and my eyes involuntarily widened significantly. The questions rushed to my head: Jake was gay? Why didn't he tell me? For how long did he know he was gay? Did Billy know?
Milk spoke gently and I continued to listen intently, "Homosexuality is a massive no-no in the Vampire world; you can't be gay, lesbo or bi. You have to be straight, and that's a Vampire Law. Edward Cullen's Grandfather made a whole bunch of laws like that. Anyway, somehow Cullen found about that too and sent him a threat that his father would receive all of Jacob's punishments. Jacob obviously returned to Chicago and Edward Cullen killed him. That was his punishment…I had to swear an oath as a punishment because I concealed illegal doings from the Vampire Officials.
"I'm not allowed to leave Forks, not ever. Not only am I bound to this place until I 'die', it lessens my chance of finding my Singer. Normally it's fate, but in a small town like Forks…" He had a faraway look in his eyes. I cleared my throat and he snapped out of his reverie as if I had burnt him. "C.L. was given the same punishment as me and Tea was off the hook."
"Why?" I found myself asking. Why Tea? Did he not reciprocate?
"Cullen knew Tea, and even though Tea left Cullen, he was still in his good books. Cullen's like that – very protective of his own. Tea had a horrible Human life and his transformation into a Vampire was even worse, so Cullen one day stood up and took him under his wings. That's the only thing I liked about him…"
It didn't feel right to ask about Tea's past, so I asked Milk what C.L. did after the death of his family. Milk already revealed that C.L. became the male version of Buffy…
"He killed a lot of Halfbloods, very painfully I might add. My cousin was the only Pureblood he killed. That is pretty much it. Any more questions?"
I thought more about C.L. I wanted to know if he was safe and how he killed the Vampires.
"Can I write a letter to C.L.?"
"Sure, no problem. Tea will give you paper and then someone will type it up for you and send it. Do not worry about someone reading it and judging you; we all get letters now and then and we do know how to respect each others' privacy."
He flashed me one last smile, rose from his seat and opened the door for me.
"If you're hungry or thirsty let Tea know."
I nodded as I walked out the door and followed Tea. He looked different to me now, maybe now that I knew Tea knew Jake intimately changed my whole opinion of him. Tea was no stranger – he was my best friend's lover. And I had a right to know him. I wondered if Jake talked about me, I thought, as I had to fasten my pace to catch up with Tea.
A/N: Will try to update sooner. Next chappie will be a bit different though...until next time!