For days, both Edward and Cara mourned over the belief that the other was dead. However, both had another person from which to conceal any doleful emotion. Each had carved out a portion of the day to be separate, alone and depressed.
Cara waited until Chelsea left to hunt. She sat upon the gray rocks of the forest and wept for lack of any remembrance of her beloved. She wished she kept her ring. She wanted so much to keep the symbol of their love for each other. But she did not. And could not go back.
Edward encountered the exact opposite pain when Carlisle left him to go to the hospital. He found that he had too many things of hers. The room Carlisle set up for her had become a monument for all that Edward lost. In the pale gray light of twilight, he sat on her bed and wept. Each time he opened his eyes, he felt an overwhelming surge of fresh pain, fueling fresh tears. However, unlike Cara, his companion suspected such pain, and in doing so, attempted to alleviate it as all doctors are sworn to do. Carlisle waited for those rare times when Edward would go from the house, to take walks or go hunting, and then Carlisle went into Cara's desolate room. He was unsure of his decisions but he was sure of this. He took a few of her things and put them into a box. He took this box and walked with it into a spare room. An attic, really. It was empty, apart from a few cases he kept of his old medical tools and some dust bunnies. He found an old dining table and slid the box there gently.
He repeated this process regularly. Edward, afraid of his emotions, said nothing, but took action. He took momentous of her each time he left her room. He took her engagement ring, although he was unable to find the box it was kept in. He found a black feather quill he'd given her for her birthday, the beautiful green feather that graced the front center was still in pristine condition. He found a violin string and then twisted it around his finger, securing it with twine. He found Cara's glass necklace, the only remnants of her burned sister still encased within. He found a small, worn pencil that never kept still. On his final trip, he recovered a copy of Dubliners, original copy, it may have even been signed. When he picked this up, a small slip of paper fell to the ground unbeknownst to our love drunk Edward, yet, it did not pass the attention of Carlisle.
The doctor walked into the replica of his former patient's room. It was nearly empty. Only a few books remained along with a few of her more delicate clothing that he preferred to not touch, although he knew he had to at some point. At the time of his entrance, he spied a small slip of paper that read only a few words written in small, spiked letters, Remember the mattress. Carlisle knit his eyebrows together and reread the reminder and turned it over to find no further explanation.
Remember the mattress
He walked over to the mattress, now barren and undisturbed, and studied it. Nothing. He wasn't even sure of what he was looking for. He looked at it at eye level. Curious. A rectangular, tumorous lump lay on the very end of the bed. He walked over to it and felt it, solid and hidden only by the first layer of mattress. Carlisle looked on the side of the bed and undid the hastily made stitches before reaching in and pulling out a semi large desk journal. The book was completely blank apart from the first page dated from a few days ago. Even more curious, considering the quarantine. He looked down at the note and read it silently.
My dearest love,
For nearly ten long and beautiful years together, we have known each other as friends. And I will forever cherish those memories. But now, we are not simply friends, my dear, you have proposed to me. Which I will always remember to be the happiest day of my life. So, to celebrate our marriage together, I give you another journal this year. However, this is much more special than normal. This, my love, you will fill with the anecdotes of our married life. I am so excited to be engaged to you and cannot wait to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you.
I'll love you forever
Your adoring fiancé,
Cara
Carlisle felt a wave of guilt run over him in an instant. He knew that this predicament was his fault, although he never felt every emotion of it until now. He kneeled down and cried, begging for forgiveness and guidance from a God who'd turned his back on him long before this moment.
He left the diary on the floor and disappeared for a moment, returning with a silver tray and a book of matches. He kneeled once more and struck a match on the bottom of his shoe. And ripped out the page. Tears ran down his face as he held the match beneath the paper.
"I am so sorry... So sorry." The first word to burn was forever then the word fiancé, "I cannot keep hurting him. He is like my son." More tears, more words. Soon, he could rest it on the dish without having to babysit it. The note turned to ash. The ash was thrown out a window just as it began to rain. Perhaps God looked down on him in pity after all.
After this, the room was emptied, the items clogged the attic and the door to Cara's former room was sealed off entirely, only to become another coat closet. This forced Edward to make an effort and push all thoughts of Cara from his mind. This worked for some time, even throughout the transition of Esme coming to live with them. However, it did not work one particular day of hunting, our heartbroken Edward saw someone. Or maybe someone who looked like someone else. No. This was him. The blonde hair, the suave movements, the sleek clothing. It could be no one else. Seeing this familiar figure fueled the need for both human blood and a search for Cara. Thus, in 1926, Edward began his lustful double search.
"I want to show you something." Chelsea said calmly while looking through her closet six years before Edward's search began.
"Another dress I should wear that was certainly made for flappers?" Cara smiled.
"No." Chelsea produced a weighty book from the top shelf and handed it to Cara, "I haven't been completely honest with you. I am here for a very specific purpose."
Cara opened the book and immediately closed it, "What is this?" She asked disgusted.
"Recruits." Chelsea breathed. Cara reopened the book and looked upon the gruesome images before her. Photograph upon photograph of men and women alike. Generally between the ages of thirteen and twenty seven. They screamed in pain as blood poured from a huge gash on their neck. Some seemed to be in their homes, others on the street. One picture sent shivers down her spine. It was of a brother and sister. Blonde. Rich. Familiar. Suffering.
"Recruits for what?"
"Well that's the very best part." She sat next to her and held Cara's shoulders, "I guard the most powerful coven of vampires in the world. They treat us like family and train us to be as powerful as we can be." A pause, "I came here to turn people and check on them after they have become stable. But I'm done here. I'm going back home. I would like you to come with me... You will live lavishly and they will encourage any ability you develop. We will care for you. You will always be well fed although you will never have to hunt. You will forget about by your past."
She wasn't ready to forget.
She wasn't ready to be alone.
After a packed trunk and the slow close of a door, she was completely alone for the first time in her life.
"I will see you again. You will want to be with us. The offer is always in affect." This was a threat hidden under a seemingly warm offer.
...
Well, hello, my lovely readers. This, as you know, marks the end of Part 1. Isn't it amazing. I cannot believe we're already twenty-seven chapters in. It seems as though it was only yesterday when I dug out the courage to gather these ideas for this crazy story of mine on paper. I'm so grateful for all of you who take the time to read it and to PM me and follow and favourite and to RetroReaction for always commenting. It's so great, I couldn't ask for anything better. Anyway, before I get misty-eyed. I'd like to note that despite the quarantine, Cara was able to jimmy the lock on the window and sneak this journal into her mattress for safe keeping. This is the first exposure she had to the influenza which actually infected her, although she didn't know. She did this because she wasn't told about the train tickets until later (remember when she came down with the blanket over her? That's where she was). Oh, and in case you were wondering, Aron and Hailey were changed as well. Does this assure a reappearance? Don't know. Until next chapter, my lovelies! Cheers!