Hello! Once, again, I cannot believe I've been such a lousy updater :( I just finished my other story 'Lost & Found' though, but even that took really long, because - and here comes the cliché, even though it's true - school has simply been a bitch! -.-

I hope that, even if this chapter is short, you'll bear with me, 'cause I'm posting one or two more chapters today ;)

DISCLAIMER: What do you think?

Previously:
I could tell Edward felt bad. He had a twinge of sadness permanently set in his eyes. I wish I could remove it; he came back, he had nothing to be sorry for. I understood why he left; many times had I had to struggle to not just give in and live like a nomad for the rest of eternity. But I had had Isabella as a reminder to stay good; Edward had no one. He felt bad for taking lives, but as I understood, he had only been drinking the criminals; the one hurting and planning to hurt other humans.

Chapter 11

CPOV

We were living in Rochesterand taking a walk around the city a late night after a hunt. Edward was fully back into drinking animals, he even had a few jobs here and there. This time, Esme had taken a job as interior designer, and she was doing really well. I still worked at the hospital; I never grew tired of it. The scientists invented new methods and new medicine all the time, the job was always changing. I could never grow tired of it.

As we were walking towards our home; we had been living there for 3 years, we heard a scream in the distance. We frowned at each other and sped up; we couldn't run, because we were walking in the middle of the city and risked exposure if we walked any faster. I looked at Edward as we neared the place the scream came from. He frowned, and I could see the struggle within him; he was fighting to not kill somebody.

I realized somebody was hurting, and we sped up even more. Few people were out walking and looked at us as if we were aliens.

"Oh no! We'll have to move again, before they get too suspicious." I heard Esme mutter. I agreed, and Edward nodded.

When we finally got to where the scream came from, a young lady, probably 18, lay on the sidewalk, in an alley well lightened, gasping for air that came in shallow breaths. She was near death, and I couldn't just let her lay there, dying. She was covered with blood and her face was beaten to an unrecognizable mask. Her left side was swollen and she had a black eye, her lip was bleeding, one perfectly plucked eyebrow cut in half. She had a broken leg, a sprained wrist and several broken rips. One rip had punctured her lung. She had been raped by several men by the smell of it, and she wouldn't be able to survive, did I do nothing. Esme was sobbing beside me, looking at the poor girl that lay there. I wanted to save her life, and maybe, she could even be Edward's mate. I looked at him, but he didn't seem to have noticed my thoughts.

She had golden hair that waved to her waist, blue eyes and a slender body. Her eyes were unfocused and swimming, but they had a piercing blue color that made them seem like the ocean. For a human, she was incredibly beautiful. I gathered her in my arms and without caring who saw, we ran to our house. I murmured soothing words to the lifeless body in my arms. Her breathing became shallower by the minute; she didn't have long again. I laid her on the couch and whispered in her ear, that I was sorry and it was going to hurt, but she would be fine afterwards. I bit her. She writhed and whatnot in her burning state, and only once or twice did she let out a piercing scream but otherwise she was quiet, only breathing in heavy gasps.

Esme was packing down everything, and Edward helped her. I cleaned the body of the girl and changed her clothes. When she was clean, I realized who she was; Rosalie Hale, the daughter of one of the richest men in town. At this thought Edward became, well, I don't exactly know how to describe it; he wasn't very happy with it.

Edward told me that, while she was burning, she was thinking of her last hours. She had been visiting a friend and had been jealous of her little baby and the utter love she shared with her husband. And then she had been raped by her fiancé and his drunken friends. Poor girl.

Edward and Rosalie's relationship was not what I had hoped it would be. Edward wasn't interested in Rosalie in a romantic kind of way, and Rosalie - who wasn't interested in Edward either - was hurt because Edward wasn't interested in her. She was used to every single male falling at her feet, but Edward, he was different and wasn't like any human male. But they learned to like each other, and so I was happy.

We moved from Rochesterto Appalachiawhere we lived for a little while. Rosalie got her revenge over her fiancé and his friends. I chose to oversee it; the girl had been gang-raped and left to die on the sidewalk by her fiancé and she was damned to live a life in eternity without what she wanted the most; a child.

I told her my story; how I had lost my child when she was merely 2 weeks old because I was changed. I told her how I had no idea if she survived or not, what happened to her and so on. I loved her like a daughter as I loved Edward as a son, but my heart still belonged to Esme and Isabella.

Rosalie didn't have a power, but she learned to deal with Edward another way. She annoyed him by thinking about herself and her hair, and Edward stopped listening to her.

Then Emmett came and provided Rosalie with a safe relationship where she didn't need to worry. First of all, because she could take care of herself, second of all; Emmett was like a teddy bear underneath his enormous muscle mass. The boy was humongous.

He was a prankster, and no matter how long I lived in America and tried to blend in, and not speak the old dialect of English from my hometown, he would sometimes make me so annoyed that the old accent would come out. Once he detected it, he wouldn't leave me alone about it. He found it hilarious.

"Carlisle." Emmett whined. I raised an eyebrow at him. Rosalie had gone shopping and Edward was out hunting with Esme. I was with Emmett at home (he didn't feel like shopping, apparently), and I was reading a book.

"I'm bored" He said. He just stood there, in the middle of the living room staring at nothing in particular. I laughed; sometimes you wouldn't think he was smarter than most humans.

"What about reading a book?" He looked horrified.

"R-reading? A b-book?" I shrugged.

"Yes. A book" just to amuse him, I gave up my perfect pretend-accent and spoke with my original one. He grinned. I should have never done that.

Emmett found something to do; he cracked jokes and made fun of me until Esme and Edward came home, and he started annoying Edward. It ended with a wrestling match in the back yard. Emmett lost of course; not because he was the weakest, no, Edward "cheated" with his mind-reading. Emmett didn't have a gift either.

There was a knock at the door. We were currently living in Dallas; Edward, Rosalie and Emmett went to High School and Esme and I worked. It was weekend, and we were all just passing time in the living room. So, when somebody knocked on the door, we were all surprised. I don't think Edward had been listening, but he concentrated hard now.

'Vampire?' I thought to him. No human would ever have the guts to come here; they were afraid of us.

"Two" He said. I frowned but put on a friendly face as I walked to the door and opened it. Outside, was a scarred vampire male; he was tall, muscular and had blond hair. His eyes were a reddish-golden; clearly he was trying hard to stick to the vegetarian lifestyle. Beside him, stood a small 4'7'' female vampire. She had black hair and petite face. She had golden eyes, which surprised me. I didn't think there were anybody other than me and my family, and the Denali vampires that survived of off animals.

"Hi!" the small female squealed. I couldn't help but grin at her bubbly attitude.

"Hello. My name is Carlisle Cullen. What can I help you with?" I said in a polite tone.

"My name's Alice and this is Jasper. We were wondering when we could move in?" She smiled knowingly up at me as I stood there shocked.

"Uhm, come in?" she had taken me aback with her announcement.

"Thanks" She dragged Jasper by the hand inside and plopped down on the sofa.

Everybody looked shocked at her.

"I'm sorry Ma'am, for intruding like this." Jasper said to Esme. He was from the South- you could hear it on his accent.

"It is alright young man. I am just a little shocked, I think" Rosalie was on guard; she had a hard time letting people in.

"I'm sorry Carlisle, but I have seen you would say yes." I just stared at her.

"I can foresee the future" She answered my unspoken thoughts.

"Really? That is amazing; you must tell me everything about it." I said, intrigued, and sat down opposite of her. She told me how she knew nothing of her human life, how she was changed and how she met Jasper. They were mates, and had been for the past many years. Jasper told us his own story; how he was changed during the Civil War and had been sort of a commander in a new-born army. He had the gift of manipulating and reading the emotions of both humans and vampires.

Even Rosalie loosened up and let Alice in; they became great friends. Jasper and Emmett were great at the pranks; they became the pranksters of the family. Under the quiet, polite and understanding facade, Jasper was funny and understood to have fun. He and Edward even ganged up on Emmett sometimes.

Alice was an interesting creature; she just woke up and was a vampire, beside the burning pile of her creator.

She'd been moving around alone until she met Jasper; she had seen him in a vision, and found him, knowing he was her other half. All we missed now was another female; Edward was alone, and he was miserable. I wandered around in constant fear that he would leave again. I really didn't hope he would.

So, Alice and Jasper, huh? :)