Slowly but steadily our guests began to arrive. Some were old friends, and it was nice to see everyone reacquaint and catch up. Of course our interaction with the guard was a frequent topic of discussion and my part in sending them on their way made me quite the celebrity. I could have easily done without that.
But as I said "SOME" were old friends. Some were just people who heard the buzz and came to see what was going on, and some were extra nightmare inducing. I am glad I no longer sleep, because there were two who sent chills up my spine. They were the "Romanians" They were the rulers of our world before Aro, et al overthrew them. They were here to stir the pot and incite a revolution. They had no care for anything but destroying the Volturi, specifically Aro, Caius, and Marcus.
None of my family were looking to overthrow anything, we just wanted to warn others of what was going on, and Carlisle thought in person was the best way instead of a shady phone call in the middle of the night with a vague warning of "something going on". That is what we were going to do, except Alice said all our futures disappeared when we decided to do that, and as soon as we decided to invite instead she saw visions of us all in the future doing things.
It is difficult to guess, but maybe if we had just called around, Aro would have come straight for us? We now had over 50 vampires here at Carlisle's, well now I have to stop doing that. I keep getting corrected by Esme, or Carlisle when I talk about this like it is their home, and not mine too. Although, I had no part obviously in setting up this house, or paying any bills, as they tell me time and again, "This house is more of a home because I am in it, so that makes it my home too." Well, I love them all so much I am going to have to learn to accept their unconditional love and support. I am still healing I guess, although I think I am past it, I am still grieving my lost life, my choice made for me.
I had an accident today. No not a car crash. But I fed on human blood. I took a wrong turn in the hallway and walked past the kitchen where we have the donated human blood stored. One of our guests had just opened a bag and was warming it to drink it and I killed that cold, and tore the refrigerator door off, and made a spectacular mess, the walls, the floor, the ceiling, Alice made it just in time to watch me covered in blood realize what had just happened... I felt so bad, I was doing so well, now it is red eyes again. Alice held me while I sat filled with guilt and a sense of failure. The whole family, and extended family tried to cheer me up, telling me it was to be expected etc... Yeah, expected.
Once they moved from trying to cheer me up to telling me about their slip ups mistakes they had made, that was when I started to feel better. Hearing the stories of their past mistakes, and how they felt when they slipped, they knew what I felt, they really did. Here I am feeling sorry for myself, and it was only donated blood that I have drank, they actually killed someone when they slipped, except for Esme, she did something similar to what I did. She was working in a hospital as a nurse, alongside Carlisle. She had to go to the blood-bank in the hospital's basement, and a bag slipped off the cart when she was pushing it towards the door, it caught on a screw on the side of the cart and tore. Esme's vampire reflexes were fast enough to catch the bag before it hit the floor, but the blood in the air in a confined space and she lost it. But Carlisle was there before she did any damage like I did. Still it was funny to picture in a way. When I let out a half chuckle at the mental picture everyone else laughed, then I laughed and pretty soon I did feel better, not happy about what happened but knowing I am not perfect, but at least trying makes me a better person.
Esme was quick to have her revenge though. "Emmett, since you think my little slip is funnier than any of yours, how about you show Bella, how to repair all the damage once you, and Alice clean up the blood?"
Emmett laughed at that even as he got up to help. I offered to help, but Alice looked and saw me losing it again and since we did not have an infinite supply of blood for our guests...
Carlisle came in and announced that we were all going to have an informal meeting tonight and if I would be so kind as to spread the word. SO I went the other direction from the kitchen and found every one of our guests and told them we would like to all talk tonight, and what time, and where. Going down my mental list I had found everyone except the Romanians when they found me, and told me they had heard and would be there.
So with a shudder I headed inside to find Carlisle and tell him that everyone had been informed.
Next Chapter: The meeting, chaos, order and a bit of fun.