Midnight Star

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Thirteen: Revelations

Alice dragged me all the down the hall and pushed me into her and Jasper's bedroom, which looked like a cross between a designer's studio and a movie star's closet. Through a door off to the side, there was an open closet that looked bigger than the bedroom itself and there were more clothes in that one room than I had ever seen, more clothes than I could possibly wear in one lifetime.

Suddenly, I was reminded of Edward's commented of how Alice could never refuse an opportunity to shop as she pulled me into the closet. For such a small girl—even for a vampire—she had a surprisingly strong grip, I noticed as she dove into the closet. I stared at all of the clothes around me, marvelling at how many clothes could be in one room. How could she possibly find anything in this madhouse?

"So I've been looking around for something that would look adorable on you," Alice called from where she was, in the back of the closet. "I was already looking around for you by the time that Edward asked me to find something. If I'd waited until the last second, then you would have been stuck with something off the rack and where's the fun in that? Anyway, I finally found something that I think you'll look absolutely amazing in," she said as she finally reappeared with a garment bag in hand, unzipping it and revealing an incredibly beautiful dress. "Tell me what you think."

I've never been much of a dress girl; whenever I went to the mall for clothes shopping, it was usually because Valentine dragged me, but even I had to admit that the dress was incredible. Actually, it was more than incredible; it was the most beautiful dress that I had ever seen.

It was the perfect shade of blue, the colour of the ocean on a clear day with a long billowing skirt. The sleeves were long and see-through with seashell patterns on the fabric. It looked like something that a princess would wear, not a monster-fighting demigod.

"So?" Alice asked impatiently, her golden eyes glowing as she held it up against my chest, pulling me towards the mirror, where I could see my reflection with the dress held up to me. "What do you think?"

"It's . . . incredible," I said honestly. I never in a million years would have picked out something like this to wear for myself, but Alice had picked out something that would suit me perfectly. "It's beautiful, Alice, thank you. I've never been much of a dress girl, but this is incredible. Thank you so much," I said, surprising her by hugging her.

Alice laughed as she hugged me back, her smile wide and friendly. "I thought that it would suit you and I was right. Besides," she added as she took the dress and replaced it in the garment bag, "it's nice to have Edward looking at someone the way that he looks at you. We had just about given up on him finding anyone. And he needs someone like you to push him around." She made a face, cocking her head. "Yes, you do!" she said loudly. "And stop listening in, Edward, this is girl talk only."

"Is he listening?" I asked, already knowing the answer, smiling.

"Of course," Alice said, laughing as she hung up the dress.

"So are you going to the homecoming dance too?" I asked her. "You and Jasper?"

Alice nodded, her face glowing with excitement. "Of course we are," she said, clapping her hands together in excitement. "Rosalie and Emmett are going too. She never misses an opportunity to show off," she added with a grin. I covered my mouth to stifle the snicker, but I think that some small noise escaped, because she was glaring at me later on. "I've been planning our outfits for months; did you want to see?"

"Yeah, I would love to," I said. Alice smiled in appreciation and gestured for me to follow her further into the closet. It was a good thing that I did, because I was bound to get lost in this place. Malls were easier to navigate than this thing. I swear, Alice would fit in very nicely in the Aphrodite cabin, I thought in amusement.

When we finally reached some garment bags, Alice pulled out a particular one and revealed a dark forest green gown with sequins all over the bodice, which was much more revealing than anything that I would ever consider wearing, but it would look amazing on Alice. She wasn't as self-conscious as I was.

Rosalie's gown was black satin and very revealing, even more so than Alice's was. Every boy's eye was going to be upon her as soon as she entered the room when she wore this, which probably wasn't going to make any of the girls very happy, I thought, smiling in amusement.

Maybe it was because she reminded me of Valentine, but I actually enjoyed chatting and hanging out with Alice. She was fun to be around and it was hard for anyone to feel ill at ease with her.

"Hey Alice, can I ask you something?" I inquired. She nodded as she returned the dresses back to their proper place on the racks of clothing and headed out of the closet. "That first day of school when we met . . . what did you mean when you told me that I could come over here anytime that I wanted?"

She paused, looking back at me, a faraway look in her eyes. "Well, I thought that would be obvious," she said. "Anyone could tell that you were sad, Susan. Your eyes are a bit of giveaway."

"Sorry?"

"You're like an open book," she explained placidly. "Your emotions are reflected in them for anyone to see. People can read them just as easily as they can read a book. Why do you think so many boys are begging for your attention?" she asked impatiently. "They're desperate to find out why you're so sad and comfort you. Of course, it's not so much anymore," she added with a smile. "You're much happier now."

"I'm a lot happier," I assured her. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time I had been as happy as I am now. "I haven't been this happy in a long time, not since before the war started."

"And I thought that you could use a friend," Alice replied. "Like I said, everyone needs a friend and sometimes it helps if you can share all of your deep, dark secrets with them."

She wasn't wrong, I thought with a smile. I had opened up with the Cullens a lot more than I had opened up with my own brother as of late. Percy didn't even know anything about the Cullens yet—unless Annabeth had told him, anyway. But she had promised that she wouldn't unless he asked her and while I love him, he isn't that bright when it comes to girls.

"By the way, your brother will be calling you when you get home," Alice said as though she had known what I was thinking, as though she were the mind reader instead of her brother. "He's calling to make sure that you're all right and no monsters have killed you." She frowned. "Why do monsters track you down all the time?"

"An unfortunate consequence of being a demigod and especially being the daughter of one of the Big Three," I said dryly. "If there's a monster within a twenty-mile radius, it's bound to find me. And how do you know that Percy's gonna call me?"

"Oh, he made the decision a while ago," Alice said matter-of-factly as Edward appeared in the door, grinning at me.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" he asked, still smiling. "How can anyone so tiny be so annoying?"

I giggled as Alice did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at her brother, making a face at him. For being two immortal vampires who weren't technically related, it was incredible how they could act exactly like brother and sister. They were acting more or less how Percy and I act sometimes. Or Percy and Thalia, our cousin. They never did get along.

"Anyway," Edward said, switching the subject, "it's getting pretty late; I should probably get you home before Charlie realises that you're missing." He gave me a reproachful look. "I assume that you didn't tell him that you were coming here?"

"Hey, the less that my uncle knows, the better," I said, ignoring the disapproving tone. Edward sighed. "And anyway, he wasn't going to be home tonight anyway; he's been working late these past couple weeks."

Edward clearly didn't approve of this, but he didn't argue either as Alice snatched up the garment bag and pushed it into my hands. "Here, I'll come over on Saturday to help you with your hair and make-up," she said as she also added a box of shoes into my hands.

"Should I be worried?" I asked, grinning at Edward, who chuckled as he nodded slightly.

"Terrified," he confirmed.

I said goodbye to Carlisle and Esme and thanked them both for having me over. Esme told me that I was welcome here anytime and not to be shy about coming over here. Even Emmett emerged from his bedroom—though Rosalie stubbornly stayed upstairs—to say goodbye to me, though I had a feeling it was more to check me out than anything else.

"You're sure about this half-human thing, Eddie?" he said, grinning towards his brother. "She sure looks human enough to me. I would have though that you'd have gills or a fin or something like that," he said, his golden eyes filled with laughter.

Of course, it died about a second later as I summoned water from deep within me. I can control any source of water, but I can also summon it, though it takes a lot more effort to do that than it does to just control water and I don't usually do it unless it's an emergency, but what's life without a little bit of fun?

Concentrating on summoning the water, I dumped it onto Emmett, soaking him completely. He sputtered as he was suddenly drenched, his clothes clinging to his body.

Edward had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing and Alice and Jasper burst out laughing while Esme and Carlisle looked high amused.

"Gills and fins aren't likely," I assured Emmett, smiling serenely. "Although a huge ego isn't entirely out of the question." He sputtered at me incoherently. "Did I also mention that I can talk to horses and breathe underwater? Oh and I don't get wet unless I want to," I added, grinning at him. "I always have to remember to make sure that I come out wet whenever I take a shower and Charlie's home, otherwise it would be a little bit suspicious."

Emmett was still sputtering at me, but he was grinning slightly with a promise of retaliation in his golden eyes as Edward, laughing, pulled me from the house and into the car.

In the few hours since school had ended and I'd been at the Cullens, day had slowly turned into night and the absent sun had descended into the horizon, turning the town dark as Edward drove me home. As soon as he pulled in the driveway, I was surprised to discover that Charlie's cop cruiser was sitting in its usual spot in the driveway and even through the scent of fresh rain, I caught a whiff of burnt cooking.

"Oh, gods," I muttered, shaking my head. "Charlie and I really need to attend a cooking class or something, otherwise we're going to end up in the hospital due to food poisoning."

"You could always sign up for Home-etc at school," Edward suggested. "I could ask the secretary to change your schedule."

"Oh, just like that?"

"Just like that," he said, grinning at me. "You won't believe the favours that I can get from the school."

"You vampires," I said, swatted him playfully. "I'd better get inside before Charlie burns the house down."

"Quite plausible, considering that he's not paying attention to what he's cooking anymore and looking out the window," Edward commented. I gulped; I had forgotten for a second that my truck was sitting in the driveway and I was nowhere to be found. He had probably had a heart attack when he realised that I wasn't home. "You should really tell him, you know."

"Tell him what? That I'm the demigod daughter of Poseidon whose boyfriend is a vampire?" I said lightly. He chuckled, but didn't dissuade my comment. "We never did get around to talking about that, you know."

"Talking about what?"

I took a deep breath and made the plunge, not looking back. "About whether or not you're my boyfriend."

Edward just looked at me with a hint of deep amusement in his eyes. "I would have thought that would be obvious," he replied, reaching out to touch my cheek tenderly, sending an electric feeling through me and I closed my eyes at the touch, leaning into his hand instinctively. "I'm your boyfriend, if that's what you want me to be."

"I do," I blurted out before I could think twice about what I was saying. "I do, I absolutely do!"

His golden gaze tore through me, searching me intently. "Are you sure?" he questioned hesitantly.

"Yes, of course, I do! I absolutely and completely—" I stopped when he started chuckled, fighting back a smile. "You're teasing me," I accused him, scowling.

"A little bit," he agreed, still chuckling. "But I have to admit, I did appreciate the enthusiasm."

I muttered something in Ancient Greek, which caused his eyebrows to go upwards. "You speak Ancient Greek?" he inquired.

"Yeah, it's one of the common signs of being a half-blood," I answered, shrugging. "I have dyslexia only because my brain is hard-wired for Ancient Greek; it's my natural language. It's what my dad's original language is. And the ADHD is my battle reflexes. When those two are put together, it's almost a sure sign that that person is a demigod."

Edward shook his head. "As amazing as all of this is, I think we're pressing our luck with your uncle," he said dryly. "He's about to come out here with his gun."

"Di immortales," I muttered, making a face. "Fine."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Edward promised me. "Bright and early."

I smiled as he moved back towards his car. "Does that mean that you won't be coming over tonight and watching me sleep?" I said lightly. He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to look at me incredulously, but I just smiled back at him before shifting my backpack onto my shoulder and headed up towards the door, pushing it open and entering the house.

As Edward had promised, Charlie was poking his head out the window, watching us.

"Was that the Cullen boy?" he asked almost as soon as I had stepped into the house.

I sighed. "His name is Edward, Uncle Charlie, and yes, it was. He was just giving me a ride home." I paused, scrounging up my nose as the wave of burnt food caught my attention. It was even worse in the house. "What are you cooking, anyway?"

Charlie blinked, then seemed to remember what he had been doing before Edward and I had pulled up and diverted all of his attention towards us. Muttering something under his breath, he half-dived back into the kitchen just in time to keep the hamburgers from being set on fire, although they were burned completely black. Even the insides were black as I discovered when I was halfway through eating it. Maybe I really should drop that computer class that I was signed up for and take Home-etc, I thought.

"So," Charlie said, sounding very uncomfortable as he spoke, "where were you this afternoon? I was wondering when I saw your truck was still here."

"I was at the Cullens," I answered, feeling just as uncomfortable. Granted, I liked Charlie; he was a great uncle and I was indebted to him for taking me in when I needed it, but talking to him about boys was about as uncomfortable as it was talking to my brother about it. "Edward picked me up this morning so I wouldn't have to drop my truck off when he took me over to his place after school."

"Right, makes sense," Charlie said, nodding once. "So . . . is this Edward taking you to the dance Saturday?"

"Yeah," I said, "he is."

How I managed to say that without blushing as red as a tomato, I'll never figure out, but I couldn't stop the soft, happy smile from spreading across my face as I answered my uncle. I think he might have noticed how unbelievably happy or was or maybe he had noticed that the depressed, haggard niece that had stepped into his house months ago had slowly been slipping away in the recent weeks and I was smiling a lot more, because he didn't say a word, just nodded with a small smile, grimacing at the taste of his "food".

But he still asked as he managed to swallow what were supposed to be hamburgers, "Is Edward your boyfriend?"

"Um . . . yes," I said, deciding to go with the truth. I didn't want to keep secrets from Charlie any more than I had to. The boyfriend part, he might be able to handle, but the fact that his sister had an affair with the god of the seas and his niece was half-god might be a little much for him to handle. Most mortals can't handle the idea that there are actually monsters in the world and I'd rather not test Charlie's limits. "Yeah, he is my boyfriend."

Charlie nodded. "Well, good," he said, surprising me. "He seems like a nice young man." I had to fight down a smile at the "young" part; Edward was hardly young, considering that he was over a hundred. "And you seem a lot happier than you were. I think he's been good for you."

"Thanks," I said just as the phone rang. Charlie got to answer it, but I stopped him. "I'll get it; it's my brother, anyway. He said he was gonna call tonight," I said hastily, trying to explain away the fact that I knew that Percy was going to call.

"Oh." Charlie nodded as he sat back down and I got up to pick up the cordless.

"Hi, Perce," I said as I picked up the phone.

There was dead silence on the other end and the Percy demanded, "How on earth did you know that I was going to call?"

"Haven't you learned by now, Percy?" I said, grinning. "All women are psychic." Percy snorted. "So, what's up?"

"I was just calling to make sure you haven't been killed or anything," Percy said as I wandered into the living room, curling up onto the couch. I wasn't really too hungry, anyway, plus Charlie's cooking was worse tonight than it usually was. "And not all women are psychic, Sue."

"Oh, really? So your mom doesn't know when you're doing something that you shouldn't?"

Silence fell over the line and then Percy commented, "You're in a good mood tonight; what did you do?"

"Nothing much, just went over to my boyfriend's house earlier today and hung out with him and his sister, did the whole meet-the-parents thing," I said calmly, inspecting the fingernails on my right hand.

Percy let out a curse that was somewhere between English and Ancient Greek. "Your what?" he all but exploded and I had to hold the phone halfway away from my ear just to keep it from ringing. "How could you have a boyfriend? You've only been there for a couple of months! What in Hades are you thinking? This guy could be a monster or something—" Well, I thought dryly, he wasn't entirely wrong about that, but the Cullens weren't exactly monsters the way that Percy meant it, "—what could you possibly be thinking?"

I stopped listening not too long after that and just held the phone away from my ear, but close enough so I could still hear his voice, waiting for his rant to end. Charlie came in about halfway through and raised an eyebrow as he saw me with the phone held away from me, but Percy clearly yelling at me on the other end.

"Note to self," I said dryly, "never tell your big brother who lives on the other side of the country that you have a boyfriend."

Charlie sniggered, but covered it up with a cough as he headed over to sit down on the other side of the couch, turning on the game.

Percy never did let up on his rant. A half an hour later, he was still going on and on until finally I had to cut him off and tell him that everything was perfectly fine and that he didn't need to worry about me. "I didn't worry so much about your life," I pointed out.

"That's different," Percy complained. "You've known Annabeth ever since you got to camp."

"Okay, Rachel, then," I argued. "I didn't know her until you showed up with her wanting to help you and Annabeth with that project of yours." Project meaning navigation through the Labyrinth; it can be navigated by a mortal with clear sight. "Percy, you worry way too much about me, you know that? Contrary to popular belief, I can take care of myself."

Percy sighed. "I just worry about you, you know? You're my only sister and I don't want anything to happen to you."

"And nothing is going to happen to me, big brother," I assured him. "You don't have to worry about me. Besides, there comes a certain time in every brother's life when he has to let go of his sister and let her grow up."

"Well, that sucks," Percy joked and I could hear the smile in his voice as he said that.

"You can't protect me every minute of every day, Perce," I told him not unkindly. "But I love you for wanting to."

Percy chuckled. "I love you, little sister," he said. "Oh, by the way, I got an Iris-message from Tyson the other day and he said that he fixed your shield. I'm gonna send it to you as soon as I can."

"Cool, thanks," I said, relieved. The shield that Tyson had made me was damaged during the final battle and Tyson had been working on fixing it.

Tyson was Percy and my half-brother, another son of Poseidon, but he's not a demigod. He's a Cyclops. Percy found him roughly around the same time that I was claimed as a daughter of Poseidon (believe me, people were a little shocked at two children of Poseidon being claimed within a few weeks of each other). He works in the Cyclopes forges and after the final battle, he was appointed a general in the Cyclopes army.

"Does Annabeth know about this?" Percy asked sourly and I knew he was talking about my newly found romance.

"No, she doesn't know about Edward and me, but she does know about him," I answered honestly.

"Right," Percy sighed and I heard someone in the background telling him to get off the phone and get to bed. "I better go."

"Tell your mom that I said hi," I said with a grin.

"Will do," he promised. "Listen, will you please call a lot more often than you have been? I can't help but worry."

"I'll try," I assured him. "Good night."

"Night."

As I hung up the phone and replaced it in the receiver, I could have sworn I caught a glimpse of someone outside of the window, someone staring in with red eyes, gleaming even in the dark night.

With a gasp, I spun around, towards the window, the phone clattering out of my hand as I stared at the window. Charlie just about jumped a mile as he heard my gasp, spinning around to look at me.

"What's wrong?" he demanded, getting to his feet as soon as he saw my unnaturally pale face.

"I . . ." There was no way that I could just explain away what had just happened, not even if I knew how to manipulate the Mist. "It's nothing, I just . . . I thought I saw something outside the window." I hoped that he would buy it and leave it alone, but being a cop, Charlie grabbed his gun and went outside to see if there was anyone there.

"Stay inside," he ordered me. It took all my willpower to keep where I was and not run outside and protect my uncle from whoever—or whatever—had being staring in the window, but after a few minutes, he came back inside, replacing his gun where it belonged.

"There was nothing out there," he assured me. "It must have been a trick of the light or something."

"Right," I said slowly, but an idea was starting to form in my head, realisation dawning on me . . .

The mysterious phone calls that I had been getting lately, where someone would hang up as soon as I answered . . .

The near-accident with Tyler, who had been controlled or compelled by someone or something to hit me with his van . . .

The vampires that were attacking people in Mason County and were slowly heading here . . .

And now, someone with red eyes—which were the colour of vampire eyes unless they hunted animals, like the Cullens—had been at my window, looking in? It couldn't be coincidence.

What if the vampire that was hovering around was also the one who had compelled Tyler to hit me with his van? And what if that same vampire was stalking me?

And if that was true, then why and who? And what did they want with me?