"It's so light...so open" Bella continued, pointedly ignoring Edward's teasing. When he responded, Edward was less teasing than he had been when he said the previous statement.
"It's the one place where we never have to hide."
The song that Edward was playing, the lullaby that he had composed a few weeks ago, drifted to an end.
"Thank you" Bella murmured, sounding like she was fighting tears. There was a long silence.
"Do you want to see the rest of the house?" Edward finally asked.
"No coffins?" Bella asked, sounding nervous. Edward laughed.
"No coffins," he promised as we heard their footsteps begin to come upstairs.
"Rosalie and Emmett's room...Carlisle's office, Alice's room..." Edward explained to different rooms and their purposes to his girlfriend. As they came to the end of the hall, their footsteps stopped suddenly, Bella's a split second before Edward's. Edward chuckled once.
"You can laugh," he told her. "It is sort of ironic." So Bella was examining the big wooden cross at the end of the hallway. There was no laugh that followed.
"It must be very old," Bella guessed eventually.
"Early sixteen-thirties, more or less." Edward told her.
"Why do you keep this here?" she wondered aloud.
"Nostalgia. It belonged to Carlisle's father."
"He collected antiques?"
"No. He carved this himself. It hung on the wall above the pulpit in the vicarage where he preached." Only Edward would know that much. I listenedd carefully, but there was only silence.
"Are you alright?" Edward asked worriedly. Bella's expression must have been something to see.
"How old is Carlisle?" she asked him in a quiet, shocked voice.
"He just celebrated his sixty-second birthday." Edward told her in the same volume. Literally. Alice had insisted that she throw a full party, with the only thing lacking being the guests. The cake we donated to a charity.
"Carlisle was born in London, in the sixteen-forties, he believes. Time wasn't marked as accurately then, for the common people anyway." I snorted quietly. Carlisle had told me about his human life, and he was not a common person.
"It was just before Cromwell's rule, though." Bella would certainly know that one. They put that in History classes in school.
"He was the only son of an Anglican pastor. His mother died giving birth to him. His father was an intolerant man. As the Protestants came into power, he was enthusiastic in his persecution of Roman Catholics and other religions. He also believed very strongly in the reality of evil. He led hunts for witchs, werewolves...and vampires. They burned a lot of innocent people, of course the real creature he sought were not so easy to catch. When the pastor grew old, he placed his obedient soon in charge of the raids. At first, Carlisle was a dissappointment. Hi was not quick to accuse, to see demons where they did not exist. But he was persisent, and more clever than his father." I smiled. Of course! Carlisle was always been, always WOULD be brilliant!
"He actually discovered a true coven of vampires that lived hidden in the sewers of the city, only coming out by night to feed. In those days, when monsters were not just myths and legends, that was the way many lived. The people gathered their pitchforks and torches, of course, and waited where Carlisle had seen the monsters exit into the street. Eventually one emerged." Edward's voice was very quiet as he continued with his story.
"He must have been ancient, and weak with hunger. Carlisle heard him call out in Latin to the others when he caught the scent of the mob. He ran through the streets, and Carlisle - he was twenty-three and very fast - was in the lead of the pursuit. The creature could have easily outrun them, but Carlisle thinks he was too hungry, so he turned and attacked. He fell on Carlisle first, but the others were close behind, so he turned to defend himself. He killed two men, and made off with a third, leaving Carlisle bleeding in the street." Edward paused, editing out the gory part that Carlisle had told me.
"Carlisle knew what his father would de. The bodies would be burned - anything infected by the monster must be destroyed. Carlisle acted instinctively to save his own life. He crawled away from the alley while the mob followed the fiend and his victim. He hid in a cellar, buried himself in rotting potatoes for three days. It's a miracle he was able to keep silent, to stay undiscovered. It was over then, and he realized what he had become." Edward suddenly paused in his story.
"How are you feeling?" he asked Bella.
"I'm fine" she replied. There was a pause.
"I'm sure you have a few more questions for me." he said with a smile in his voice.
"A few."
"Come on, then. I'll show you." he said, walking down the hallway with her.
Carlisle suddenly sat up.
"Oops, they're probably going to go into my office" he murmured to me. "I've got to be there." Carlisle slipped out of our room, sliding into his office so quickly that Bella wouldn't have seen him pass. I heard a heavy book open as Carlisle began reading.
"Come in" I heard him call from his desk as Bella and Edward paused outside his door. The door opened, and I listened carefully for Bella's reaction.
"What can I do for you?" Carlisle asked them.
"I wanted to show Bella some of our history, well, your history actually." Edward told him.
"We didn't mean to disturb you." I smiled affectionately as Bella apologized for something that probably hadn't been done. What a sweet girl. I could easily see why Edward had fallen for her.
