Chapter 7

Author's Note: Okay, adventure, yes. Don't know if this is exactly what you guys wanted, but I'm giving it a shot. I'm glad I've gotten at least three or four reviewers…just wish there were more. Boy, Carlisle and Dawn sure do have an odd love-hate thing going on, don't they? Well, maybe hate's just too strong of a word. It's hard to imagine our beloved doctor hating anyone…

Carlisle: "Are you going to give them the new chapter anytime soon?"

Me: "Why are you in such a hurry? You don't have to worry about aging."

Carlisle: "I want to be with Esme. I miss her. Surely you can understand that."

Me: (snorts with laughter) "Sure I can! I'm the only college-age girl in the whole world who's NEVER had a boyfriend.

Carlisle: (gives strange look)

Me: Yeah, fine…back to the story. And quit giving me that puppy look with those big gold eyes. You're going to make my heart turn to jello.

Carlisle wasn't sure what he would find as he ascended the hill where the castle ruins were.

The illusion of castle ruins, he reminded himself.

"Carlisle!" Edward was trying to catch up with him.

"Something's wrong," Carlisle told him, "I feel it."

Apparently, he wasn't the only one to feel it. Alice was on his other side in an instant.

"I know where the door is," she said, her voice dark with grim determination. Feeling around what seemed like open air, her fingers brushed against what felt like wood. Fumbling around, she managed to get it open. It seemed weird to all of them, walking into what looked like open air. Once the door closed behind them, however, the illusion suddenly disappeared. It was very dark inside.

"That was weird," Bella commented.

They all jumped quite suddenly when the room was flooded with blue light. A candle on a nearby table had lit itself. The candle was black with a ghostly blue flame that cast eerie shadows everywhere.

"Where is she?" Edward asked.

Carlisle inhaled deeply.

"That way," he said, pointing to the left. A hallway that yawned into the darkness was all they could see. Carlisle picked up the odd candle and carried it with them.

All along the hallway, there were numerous paintings. Carlisle assumed that they were Dawn's work. He halfway wished he had time to stop and examine them. By what little he could see, each one contained progressively more skill than the last one.

"Edward, can you hear her?" Carlisle whispered as they ventured through the cavernous castle.

"She's keeping completely quiet, but she's angry," Edward said, "it appears she had an unexpected guest. Several of them, rather."

"Who are they?"

In his mind, he was thinking what are they.

"Vampires. But not just any vampires."

Carlisle didn't need to hear the rest. Apparently, the Volturi were paying Dawn a little visit. The Cullens came to a huge staircase. Luckily, it was a relatively open space. One by one, they sprang to the top of the stairs rather than climbing them. More paintings filled the wall up there; many of these were on larger canvases, however. The smell of acrylics still hung heavily in the air. There were at least a dozen doors up here. They split up, investigating where each door led.

Alice emerged onto a balcony that overlooked the woods below. She found it strange that she could still see the castle when she turned around, but she hadn't been able to see this spot below. At least she didn't seem to be walking on thin air. Deciding that there wasn't much else to this place, she turned around and went back inside.

Edward emerged into what appeared to be a kitchen. The smell of cheese, eggs, mushrooms, and ham told her she'd made an omelet recently. The skillet still lay in the sink, partially buried under soapsuds. The hum of the refrigerator said that she had electricity out here, although he wasn't sure how.

Rosalie and Emmett emerged into what they suspected was Dawn's art room. Splatters of paint littered the stone floor and numerous easels held half-finished paintings. Tube paint, brushes, and other artist paraphernalia littered the small tables and chairs in the room. Two large windows with sweeping sheer white curtains stood open, causing the curtains to billow softly. Dawn wasn't in that room, either.

Jasper emerged into what appeared to be a music room. Beanbag chairs stood on a fuzzy red rug. A beat-up old acoustic guitar lay across one of them and it appeared to be used frequently. There was also an electronic keyboard and a drum set. He could smell human scent here, so perhaps Dawn's band practiced here. Was it possible that they knew what she was?

Bella opened another door. A candle was already burning in this room, but it had a normal orange flame. The room was bare except for what looked like a rocking chair and small table. All over the walls, there were paintings. Holding the candle up so that she could see better, Bella realized that Carlisle was in almost every single one of them. In some of the other paintings, she had included the other Cullens as well. A painting of Jacob and Renesmee playing in the clearing made her smile. She wanted to stay and look at the other pictures, but she knew that it was important that they find Dawn.

Carlisle opened the last door left towards the end of the hallway. He ventured inside carefully.

In one corner, there was a huge bed with gold and red covers. Pillows were piled onto the bed, making it look very soft and inviting. A cup of tea sat on the table beside it, steam still coming from the contents. The bed was next to a huge stained glass window. Carlisle imagined that the sun would come through the window every morning and cast bright colors over everything. A flat-screen TV was mounted on the wall at the foot of the bed. A large comfortable-looking couch lined the other wall. More paintings decorated the otherwise barren stone walls. A fireplace was on the third wall, embers glowing hotly. There was another door a few paces away from the fireplace.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I left for a reason, now get the Hell out of my castle!" Dawn's voice snarled.

"It's been much too long, my dear," a voice purred, "you were always my favorite. I wouldn't dream of leaving you again."

"Again? We were never together, you idiot!"

There was a scuffling sound which Carlisle assumed was a struggle.

"Aro misses you. Marcus misses you. But I especially miss you."

Carlisle opened the door. It was a bathroom, large and ornate just like the rest of the castle. Dawn was pinned against the wall by a burly brunette vampire who had one hand around her throat. It didn't appear to be hurting her; she seemed more annoyed than anything. Luckily, she was in her natural form. A pool of water and her glistening skin suggested that she'd been taking a bath when she'd been interrupted.

"Ah, Carlisle! I didn't know that you and Dawn were neighbors! It's good to see you again!"

Carlisle recognized Dawn's uninvited guest immediately. His name was Victor.

"Let her go, Victor."

Carlisle was dead serious as he said that, but Victor just laughed.

"I would, my friend, but we have some unfinished business to attend to. I'm sure you understand."

Dawn gave Victor a hard smack, which echoed sickeningly through the room.

"The only unfinished business I have with you is not sucking out your soul when I had the chance," Dawn snarled.

Carlisle stared at her in shock. Something told him that she could actually do such a thing.

"If you kill me, Aro will know and he'll come after you," Victor taunted.

"Aro would probably thank me," Dawn retorted.

The other Cullens had found the room by then and crept in unnoticed.

"As it is," Victor said coyly, "you're in a very compromising situation. If Aro finds out about what you've been doing up here in jolly old England, he won't be happy at all."

Dawn's glare was hot enough to fry an egg. Carlisle could see the irritable exchange between them. Clearly, Victor knew about something illicit that Dawn had done and was attempting to blackmail her.

Before Victor had actually formed the thought to jump on Dawn, Dawn was surrounded by all of the Cullens, crouching and growling.

"You're just lucky you're Aro's pet!" Victor snapped at Carlisle, who was at the front. He slid open one of the windows and crouched on the ledged, ready to spring. But before he did, he turned his head and gave Dawn a sickening smile.

"This isn't over," he snapped before leaping out. Dawn walked over to the window and slammed it shut.

"Bastard," she muttered.

"What the Hell is going on?" Rosalie yelled.

Dawn turned and picked up a crimson towel. Carlisle hadn't realized until that precise moment that she was naked. If he would have been human, he would have blushed. None of the others appeared to be paying attention.

"Suffice it to say that I'm not exactly a peace-keeper and I've been in trouble a few times," Dawn said, searching for a robe, "you know, bad decisions and so forth."

"What kind of bad decisions?" Carlisle demanded.

She looked at the faces around her. Most of them seemed curious and slightly annoyed by the interruption of their peaceful night. Rosalie looked the most irritated.

But Carlisle's was the only one she truly noticed. His golden eyes had hardened, trying to see beneath her smooth golden skin. She felt as though he could see past it, past her ribs, her shivering lungs, and pounding hearts. She felt like he could see her less than perfect soul and it hurt.

"Look," she sighed, "I know you guys hate my guts enough as it is. If something happens to me, I don't expect you to save me. In fact, I would rather you didn't."

They were silent.

"If you really want to know, meet me..." she paused to think for a moment, "on the balcony in a minute. I'd like to get dressed."

They left.

Dawn stared at her reflection in the mirror. Mental exhaustion and fear clouded her face. She couldn't believe that the Cullens had actually come to her rescue. She'd done nothing to deserve it. Pulling on some fleece pajama pants and a halter top, she decided it would be safer for Carlisle if she stayed in her original form.

The Cullens had all made themselves comfortable on the balcony. Carlisle, Edward, and the werewolves were talking.

"Take Renesmee home," Edward said, "we'll be there shortly."

"But Dad-" Renesmee started to protest.

"Home," Edward repeated firmly.

Jacob nudged Renesmee gently with his muzzle. She sighed and followed him.

Dawn stepped onto the balcony, her wings drooping. What she was going to tell them made her nauseated, but she'd rather them know the truth. At least then, they could make up their minds. The moonlight highlighted them beautifully, like living sculptures. It gave Dawn an idea for her next art project.

"I know you're all probably not very happy with me," Dawn sighed, sitting on a stone bench nearby, "and it's about to get worse. If you decide that you want nothing to do with me, I understand perfectly. I haven't exactly been a gracious host to all of you. And I've put some of you..."

She glanced apologetically over at Carlisle.

"...into some very compromising positions. For that, I apologize. I've caused a lot of trouble over my lifetime."

She took a deep breath, uneasy by all of the pairs of golden eyes staring at her.

"The reason why Victor is angry with me is because I killed his mate. Victor...well, he swings both ways. His last mate was a male by the name of Riley. Aro knew about it and made fun of him on a regular basis, but he was never actually mean to either of them. They'd been together for at least a hundred years. Well, Aro wanted a little demonstration of my powers. I started singing, as usual, and I tasted the most delicious energy. So, I started draining him. Riley started getting really weak, but I just couldn't stop. Some of the guards tried to drag me out of the room before I actually got his soul, but they weren't fast enough. One minute, he was staring at me with this sweet puppy-dog expression, the next, he'd fallen over on the stone floor. They tried everything they could to wake him, but he was gone. Aro defended me, yelling that it was a mere accident. I was punished, of course, but Victor didn't feel as if that did enough justice. He wanted me dead. Truthfully, Aro, Marcus, and Caius would have been the only ones with the knowledge, but it didn't stop Victor. More for my protection than anything, Aro had me imprisoned. I wanted him to let me go, so I started draining his guards. He wasn't happy with that and Jane started coming down there on a regular basis. Everytime I got out of line, she would make me hurt for three or four straight days. Then, I'd finally had enough. I wanted to leave, but Aro said I was too dangerous to let go."

Something told them all that it wasn't yet the worst part.

"So, on the day I broke out of the prison, I killed a massive amount of guards. With their souls broken down into spiritual energy, I was as strong as at least ten newborns. I actually clawed my way out and escaped. Aro was probably glad to be rid of me. It's rare that anyone survives an attack like that, but the vampires that did were left barren of all emotion. They exist in a zombie-like state. They don't speak or feed or anything. They just lay there until they get so weak that it becomes necessary to destroy them, to put them out of their misery. I didn't know that until much later. I can tell you now that I feel horrible for it."

They all stared at her, open-mouthed. It was hard for any of them to visualize even Dawn doing something so horrible.

"I did it to show them that I would always get what I want in the end. But I was wrong. I have to live with the consequences. Victor couldn't get Aro to tell him how to kill me, but he's getting closer."

Rosalie looked like she was going to say something, but a stern look from Carlisle silenced her.

"I know," Dawn said, her voice hardening, "I deserve whatever's coming to me and I don't need to hear that from you."

"How long ago did that happen?"

Carlisle's gentleness hurt far worse than Rosalie's fury.

"About a hundred years ago," Dawn sighed, "but vampires have impossibly good memories and all the time in the world. I can't say I blame Victor for coming after me again."

The others were beginning to murmur a little bit. While they were distracted, Carlisle came closer.

"Did you intend to kill me?" he asked bluntly.

A tear rolled down Dawn's cheek.

"No," she said, her voice quivering, "I could never do such a thing to you. You're the most beautiful being I've ever met. Even when you think I'm being a pain, you've treated me like everyone else. And you have a family. I can't believe that all of you would come up here to help me when I didn't deserve it and you could have risked your lives."

Carlisle suddenly had the urge to take her into his arms, but he fought against it.

"Everyone makes mistakes," he told her.

Dawn looked up at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"I didn't even know I was capable of such a terrible thing until I actually did it. They wanted to use me as a weapon."

She got up, wings dragging the ground.

"Well," she said, recomposing herself quickly, "there you have it. That's what I am. I can't change that I messed things up."

"Let's go," Rosalie said quickly.

Carlisle would have stayed, but the others grabbed his arms and hauled him out of the room. Dawn lay down on her bed facing the wall.

I just killed every chance I'll ever have of being with him, she thought, but I don't want to put him in any more danger. Especially since he shouldn't be involved in the first place....

Carlisle turned to look at the castle as the Cullens walked down the path. The castle still appeared as ruins from the outside. Once, he believed that she'd simply put that wrecked state there just to keep people out. But now, they seemed strangely symbolic of the life that she'd led.