Chapter One
Edward was pacing back and forth by his magnificent piano with an empty expression on his face, continually glancing over to the peaceful and sleeping Bella on the couch. Charlie gave his approval and allowed Bella to sleep over providing that I promised Bella would sleep in the bedroom furthest away from Edward. Of course that was a reasonable compromise, being a father myself; I know what it is like to worry for your children even if they are adults. The sun shone through the glass wall illuminating everything within the room. Alice and Jasper sat motionless huddled together in the corner quietly, oblivious to all in the room. Emmett and Rosalie were out hunting, hunting being an excuse for Rosalie to spend as little time around Bella as possible. I made my way into the room and took my place beside my beautiful wife, Esmee, who was sitting on the couch opposite to Bella. She greeted me with an embrace so gentle and heart warming: everyday I thanked God for giving her to me. Or was she given to me? I chose her fate for her, some days I still can't forgive myself for turning her into a monster. Of course she says she wouldn't have wanted anything else but to be with me, but still I can't help but curse myself for taking her humanity away from her. It's times like these that I can familiarise with Edward's position, not wanting to take away Bella's humanity because she has a choice. She does not have to become one of us. Although I do believe we are different from any others. We can redeem our souls if we do good and help society rather than destroy each living soul slowly but surely. That is not who we are. I for one could never be that way, and I believe that my family are far better than that.
It is moments like these that are memories to be cherished through good times and bad. The Cullens together, almost, relaxed and at peace the way things should be. Nothing makes me happier than having the whole family together without having to worry about any threats from others of our kind. Although they may be adults, watching Alice and Jasper together especially reminded me of young children playing happily together without a care in the world. And yet Esmee and I could not completely put our minds to rest. Edward was unsettled by something, but we did not know what. I focused my gaze on Edward, still pacing back and forth across the room. Esmee leaned closer to me and whispered to me.
"Carlisle, talk to him. He is clearly worried about something. I swear my mind will not rest until I know what is bothering him. You're his father, he will tell you."
Whispering was unnecessary as Edward would be listening to Esmee's thoughts, so he would already know the conversation that was soon to arise. Unless Esmee was able to concentrate hard enough on something else that is, but I doubted that. Esmee is a brilliant mother to all these young vampires that she worries easily about any of them as soon as one of them becomes unsettled, just like any other mother would.
"Of course I will. It's bothering me just as much as it is bothering you." I replied, my voice low in the hope that I would not wake Bella, because Edward would hear regardless of any attempts at covering up what I was saying or thinking.
I looked away from Edward and watched Bella sleeping so innocently, just like a newborn baby. I have always found it interesting watching a human sleep; the way they can lay so still or sleep restless and irritated, the way they breathe so gently and calming without a care in the world. I concentrated on counting Bella's heartbeats, clearly audible to any vampire, in the hope that Edward would not be able to read the upcoming conversation I was planning in my head. I very rarely close my mind to Edward. Being family I don't see the need to as I don't like to keep secrets from anyone, but sometimes I do need the privacy just for a while so I can collect my thoughts. As this conversation would be with Edward, I did not want him to avoid any questions that I have by changing the topic or hiding the truth by giving minimal detail. Neither of us could postpone this conversation any longer. Whatever was wrong could be dealt with. He couldn't keep it from us any longer, and as his parents, Esmee and I have a right to know what is making our son so unsettled no matter how bad or ridiculous it may be. Edward. We need to talk now, it is very important as you may already know. We can talk in my office and the others needn't know for now.
Edward, reluctant as he was, looked longingly towards Bella, cautious to leave her and then moved his way towards the door. I did not move until I had seen that he was at the bottom of the stairs. He was to go first; I did not want him trying to get out of this conversation like I knew he wanted to. I followed close behind him as he walked up the stairs, although being vampires our walk must seem like gliding to humans, almost as if we were superheroes. Human pace does not seem strange to me at all, not after having to pretend to be a human myself for all these years, especially after working at the hospital I have found the humans pace to be much more calming even if it is a little on the slow side. I admire them very much for taking their time with life and enjoying what is left of it, not everyone is as lucky. We both reached my office within seconds, Edward leaned against the glass wall with his head bowed, staring at the antique carpet, tracing the unique patterns with his eyes. I closed the door gently, not wanting to make any unnecessary noise that could wake the sleeping Bella downstairs.
"Edward. You probably already know why I asked you up here."
"Carlisle. You and Esmee worry about me too much. Everything is perfectly fine." Although his words were carefully selected in an attempt to reassure me, the tone of his voice and the distant look upon his face contradicted everything he had said.
"Do not insult my intelligence Edward. Or my instincts for that matter. Something is on your mind and it is clearly bothering you. You have been acting like this for the past week. We do not keep secrets in this family Edward; you should know that better than anyone." I replied in a parental voice, trying to be both strict and caring at once. "Please Edward. You're my son and I do not like seeing like this. Esmee is worrying herself sick about you."
"I know. I'm sorry. I just thought that I would be able to erase it from my mind, but obviously I need more time." His jewelled eyes fixed on my mine horrified. "It's probably a misinterpretation… I can't get everything right all the time." He hesitated, reluctant to move forward with what his was trying to explain.
"Edward, what ever you heard or thought you heard will not change anything. Surely it is better to tell me about it. The others needn't know if you do not want them to know. Of course that depends on how serious the situation is." I tried to encourage him, hoping that he would not flee before I knew the whole story.
"Something…something isn't right. I heard some people's thoughts in town. Usually I block them out, but something caught my attention." Edward paused standing as motionless as a statue. "The other kind is among us and they must leave. Forks is in danger." His gaze dropped back to the floor, not wanting me to interpret the expression on his face.
Could this simply be a misinterpretation of someone's thoughts? It might not be as serious as it sounded, but I knew better than to think like that after what has happened recently. Indeed this was serious and soon the others would have to be told, but not yet. I needed some time to analyse all the possibilities of what this could mean. There was no need to trouble the others about this when I could be entirely wrong, it could be something trivial and meaningless to us. Being a doctor, I have learnt how to think logically and consider all the options before making a decision, which has proved to be very useful in the past. Again I would need to apply the same mindset to this situation before anyone could even start discussing any actions. This is was my job after all, to protect my family as well as the citizens of Forks.
"Do not tell anyone about this until I say so. It might not be as serious as we think, but on the other hand it could. I do not want to trouble the others with this. Especially not Bella." The last thing I wanted was for Bella to find out about this, it would only make her panic unnecessarily when we had the whole situation in control. She was safe and that was all that mattered, for now.
"Of course. I don't want her finding out anytime soon, although something tells me that Alice won't be able to keep quiet for long. She saw this coming." He spoke softly trying to hide the unsteadiness in his voice. "Carlisle."
I had no control over my mind; I could not hide my thoughts from him now. My mind really was open to him. "Yes Edward?" Desperate to keep him calm, I kept my expression composed. There was no need to unsettle him any more than he already was.
"Something is coming and it is coming for us. And what is the best way to get to us?" He hesitated before answering his question. " Be- Bella."
"Edward, please do not get ahead of yourself. We don't know whether we are being threatened yet. And as for Bella, she is perfectly safe. No one is going to harm her. We have protected her this long; we can protect her for a long while yet." I knew what I said wasn't completely true.
At that moment, Edward turned his whole body to face me and walked towards me. His head still hung low, burdened with the thoughts of losing Bella. Seeing him this way made me feel useless because no matter how hard I tried, I could not truly reassure him. Not this time. All I could do was be a father to him and comfort him. I wrapped my arms around him as his head fell to my shoulder, while he hugged me back. Edward could only bear so much, especially when it came to Bella. She was his life now and losing her would kill him. The fatherly hug reassured him that I was always here for him, and that I would do anything and everything in my power to defend my family. If vampires could cry tears of sorrow and pain, I knew that Edward would be crying now.
* * *
Forks is in danger. The words Edward had spoken only hours ago echoed in my mind, etching themselves deeper into my memory. This was not something that could simply be forgotten. Of course I do not want to believe it any more than Edward does, but for the safety of Forks and for the safety of my family, I would have to check this out for myself. No harm shall come to anyone and I will make sure of it. Edward kept to his word and told none of the others, but Alice saw this coming and she immediately flew of the handle.
"Carlisle, what are you thinking? We must tell the others, they have the right to know. If you don't tell them, then I swear I won't be accountable for my actions!"
"Alice, believe me they do not need to know right now. It will only do more harm then good, especially for Bella. Why make them panic when the whole thing may be a false alarm? I will look into it myself, and as soon as I think there is any truth in what has been said, then I can assure you that they will be told immediately." I hoped that would calm her somewhat.
"No. No way. Tell them now before it's too late…" Edward cut her off before I had the chance.
"Alice. Have you seen that it will be too late? Is there any danger?" Edward's words made her hesitate to think of the answer.
"I…w-well no. No I haven't seen anything, nothing of any importance anyway. But still, I think the others should be told Carlisle." Her expression was truly confused, an expression rare to see on her slender face.
"And they will be, just as soon as I have checked it out myself. The last thing I want is for any danger to come to anyone of you. It kills me to even think of… of you getting hurt." I stopped myself before I could let any horrifying images come to mind. Imagining such things would not help the situation, only hinder it. I needed to remain calm for everyone's sake, and then I could compose my thoughts and investigate the warning.
If this warning was true then it is obvious that the threat is one of our kind, who exactly is unclear. But one thing that doesn't make sense is the fact that the warning came from the humans. How could they possibly know? It's not like they could possibly have a psychic connection with a vampire, although stranger things have happened in the past. Could they be in contact with a vampire? There certainly haven't been any traces of vampire activity in Forks or Seattle, or anywhere else for that matter. If Forks is under attack then we will have to find out by who and fast. We have to protect the innocent people of Forks, and most importantly, I must protect my family. No one will come to any harm.
One negative thing to being a vampire: no sleeping. Never being able to escape problems or the stress of everyday life to a world where everything is just the way you want it to be is one thing I will always miss from my human years. Just to be able to sleep for one night would be a precious gift. Instead I am left with an extra twelve hours in the day to do whatever I want, in my case thinking. Then it struck me, could this be the work of the Volturi? It is possible that they could have spread the word using humans so that the warning would reach us. They did warn us that they would come soon enough. I rose from my desk and walked towards the painting that hung boldly on my office wall. The Volturi – Aro, Marcus and Caius. "Why warn us this way?" I asked aloud, like I was expecting a response from the painting. "Why risk outing us to the humans after all your work to keep our kind hidden? This isn't like you." I turned suddenly as someone knocked rapidly on the door. Before I had the chance to finish saying "Come in", Edward was through the door and at my side in an instant. "Edward, what is it?"
Edward took a moment to answer, clearly horrified by what he knew. "Forks is in danger." He hesitated before handing me a newspaper, "They have been noticed."