Taking a short break from Wandering Star to finish the follow up to One Fateful Night. Should be back writing this by the end of the weekend.
Incase you didn't know, All the twilight things aren't mine.
Chapter Four: Visitors
A glance at my shocked face subsided his snarl. Jacob quickly looked around the room, just as my father had, before growling his way through the rest of the kitchen, sniffing everything.
"What the hell is going on? Where is everybody, and why did Jake just dive through our Kitchen window?" Nobody was listening. My Dad just nodded at Jacob, who ran out of the room to investigate the rest of the house. I went to follow him but was stopped in my tracks by a shout,
"Renesmee Carlie Cullen, you stay right here where I can see you!" Nothing about that sentence was ordinary. My father's voice was raised like I'd never heard before. He called me by my full name, which had only ever happened on the rare occasion I'd only thought about misbehaving, which was the only opportunity he'd get to tell me off. Any other time, and I just had too many people defending me. Third; and probably most strange, was the order itself. Sure my parents were protective. But I'm not like most kids, and they knew that. I slumped against the wall, trying to figure out what was happening when the back door flew open, and the remaining members of my family blew in. They were all crouched, ready to pounce and looked panicked. Jasper was at the front, he looked over to my father who just nodded and shrugged.
"So nothing, it just disappeared?" Emmett was frowning when he spoke to my dad, who took a deep breath and calmly replied.
"It looks that way, there's nothing here. Jacob's gone to check, but I'm pretty sure." Jasper spoke next,
"But that's not possible, Edward. We all caught the scent and it was heading right here."
"But I think we all agree it didn't get here Jazz. Whatever it was, whatever Alice has seen, it didn't come here. It just….disappeared, like Emmett said." Grandpa was still frozen in the doorway when he spoke,
"No, it was here." The whispers that everyone was exchanging were silenced by my Grandfathers comment. I moved closer to everyone to hear, and my mother took me, wrapping her cold arms around my shoulders while my grandfather continued. "It was here, I'm sure of it. I'm not sure how I know, but it was just now, before you came Edward."
"So you saw something?"
"No Rose, I didn't. I can't explain it. I didn't see, hear or smell anything. But there was something, right outside the house." That explained how intently Grandpa had stared down the driveway just minutes ago. I'd figured it out now. My family had been out looking for something, or someone but whatever trail they were following had vanished. So this panicked them, sending them all racing back to the house to protect the person who was in most danger. Me.
Alice was stood in the doorway as Carlisle had been. Her face was scrunched up again as she tried to figure out who or what was causing all this trouble. I'd lost track of the time as I watched my family members move about the house, mostly staring into space. By the time I looked at the clock it was almost 1:30.
"Shoot, I have to get dressed."
"Why? You're not going anywhere." My mothers hand was fixed around my wrist, and she stared right into my eyes.
"Yeah, I'm going to the hotel. To see everybody before they leave."
"No Renesmee. You have to stay here." I was getting a little fed-up. Nobody was explaining anything to me, everything I knew I'd had to figure out myself, and now I was under house arrest.
"Mom, I'll be fine. It's like a ten minute run, what could happen?"
I'd debated with my mother as I got dressed, but in the end I won. The whole family were running in and out of the woods anyway, searching for the scent, so they'd be able to keep track of mine too. I wished I could take my new car, but I hadn't a clue how to drive it, so I'd have to wait until everyone was less preoccupied. I took a slow walk down the driveway, smelling the air for myself. There was nothing unfamiliar, only my family and the visitors from last night. The shortcut into town took me through the woods, and that's where I first caught it. It was a scent I'd never encountered before, vampire definitely. But it was just one trace. Like whoever it belonged to had been standing there, then disappeared. I continued my running, and caught it again, but this time there were two. One new one added to the one from before, and they both disappeared in the same way.
Grandpa Charlie laughed when I pushed away my second plate of apple pie. Sue had brought it down from Forks especially for me; her homemade Apple Pie was to die for.
"Well, you sure were hungry. They not feeding you up at the house?" Grandpa's question was in jest, he remembered all too well the skills my mother had in the kitchen, but the joke had a different meaning for Billy, whose wheelchair creaked beside me when he laughed.
"Actually no. It's kinda crazy up there this morning, so I just forgot breakfast." Sue was wrapping the rest of the pie in foil for me to take home when she said,
"Oh, is that why Seth went?"
"Huh?"
"Jake came over here a few hours ago, said he needed Seth's help so they both ran off." That probably explained why Louise was slumped on the couch behind me, flicking mindlessly through the TV channels. I should have known, if Jacob was involved then Seth sure as hell wasn't going to miss this.
"So what's going on down there baby?"
"I have no idea. They don't tell me anything"
"Well that's 'cos they don't want you worrying your cute little self over nothin' " Nanna Sue gave my cheek a pinch and placed the pie in my hands. I said my goodbyes, and my heart winced having to leave Grandpa. But he just gave me a wink and told me to send Seth back when I saw him so they could leave.
I walked slowly through the woods, listening to the golden leaves crunching beneath my feet. I thought she was a ghost when I first saw her. I hadn't heard her approach, or smelled her in the evening breeze, but now she stood just a few feet before me, there was no denying she was real. Her scent was new; it wasn't either of the ones I had come across earlier. Her hair was light brown, and flowed freely down to her elbows with only a faint curl throughout. Her skin was brilliantly pale, though against her white dress there was a slightly noticeable tint to it. Her eyes were the deepest crimson, and she didn't blink, she just stared at me. I wasn't afraid though I knew I had reason to be, those red eyes meant that the blood coursing through me made me a target to her. She was so still, that I spoke just to try and provoke a reaction, and prove she wasn't inanimate.
"Hello?" An innocent smile swept across her face and she glided towards me.
"Hello." Her voice was deep and quite breathy. She moved closer and began to circle me. "You must forgive me for staring, but your eyes are so much more beautiful now I see them fixed on me."
"My eyes?"
"Yes. Eyes are wonderful things. The windows to the soul some say, and yours are extraordinary."
"Thanks, I think"
"You are welcome." It was only then, as she swept round to stand before my face that I got a good look at the windows into her soul. The red was terrifying. The way it set against her beautiful face made her look angry. "But of course, you are extraordinary in your entirety Renesmee Cullen." My mouth fell open to ask how she knew my name, but her head snapped round and looked into the distance. She just rolled her eyes and then turned back to me, it was like she had been listening to someone, but nobody was there. "Of course, that is most rude of me. For me to know your name without giving you mine, I do apologize. I am Cora." She extended her delicate hand, and I placed mine into it, her icy fingers wrapped gently around my wrist. "You are very warm Renesmee, how interesting." Her eyes rolled again, like the silent voice was telling her off.
"I guess I am."
"And what is it you have in there?" Cora turned up her little nose as I raised a section of the foil,
"Apple Pie, my Nanna made it."
"Did she? Apples, how nice." It only now occurred to me that I was less than a mile from my home. I thought it very strange that nobody had come to stand beside me with this new guest, especially after that display this morning. I was glad though, Cora seemed nice enough, and any of my family members would just overreact and spoil this. "I have come far to see you Renesmee, to see if the stories were true."
"What stories?"
"The stories of the hybrid; Born to a human and a golden-eyed vampire. The child who halted the vicious Volturi in their tracks, and here you are."
"Stories? About me?" Cora let out a gentle laugh at my shock.
"You are quite the legend you know. But of course with legends, things get exaggerated as they pass on, so here I am, to see for myself."
"You should come up to the house, and meet my family."
"I'm afraid that will not be possible Renesmee. We would be very uncomfortable."
"We? You mean the two others, the scents that disappeared in the woods?" Cora's laugh chimed through the trees again.
"Disappeared. No, I'm afraid that's a little game I like to play. I let the guard slip every now and then, just for fun."
"What guard?"
"Some other time Renesmee, but now I must go. And I must ask that you keep our little meeting to yourself."
"Why?"
"Like I said, my companions and I, we are not too comfortable around your coven. But I know they would very much like to meet you Renesmee. Would that be alright?"
"I guess. But it'll be hard, getting away from my family. I won't tell them about you, but they'll be able to tell you've been around." Cora laughed again, and brushed her hand against my cheek.
"You let me worry about us going undetected Renesmee. We shall see each other soon." And then she was gone, vanishing into thin air.
