Chapter Fourteen: Come On, Be One Of Us
I lay wide awake long after Sonny drifted to sleep. My mind refused to shut off.
Victor had caused Sasha Denali's execution.
Victor had tried to kill Alvar and Brice, and in the process killed Sonny and Oscar's mother.
Victor had taken me as his second attempt to impress and join the Volturi. That's why he "saved" me, that was the price they'd have to pay for him handing me over.
I couldn't help but question Victor's sanity; he'dbasically attempted to bribe the leaders of the vampire world.
I remembered the phone call I'd overheard, in which Francesca spoke of "old friends" of Victor she'd found nearby and Oz had said he and Al had followed Francesca's scent from near the cabin. She'd found them, she'd hunted them down for Victor, so he could finally have his revenge. A shudder flew down my spine at the thought. I hated the idea of Francesca getting anywhere near the innocent boy sleeping so peacefully beside me. I'd worked out he must be around seventeen, but his features were so youthful and sweet. I now completely understood Oscar's actions when Francesca had threatened him, the thought of her inflicting her evil on someone so innocent stung me with rage.
Alvar crept through the door, whispering to ask if I wanted him to take the sleeping Sonny to his own room. I didn't let him. Sonny looked too comfortable for me to send him back to sleeping on the couch, and I felt it very comforting having him so close beside me. Maybe I should have told Alvar then, told him how close Victor came to finding them, to finding Sonny. My heart wrenched as I thought of the fact they had unknowingly killed his mate, making the situation so much worse.
Cora didn't escape my thoughts. I couldn't help but believe she had no part in this. I could never believe Cora would let these boys be hurt, especially not Sonny, not after the way she took care of me. Cora had called me her penance; she'd said she would do anything to keep me safe, to bring me peace.
Francesca had joked with Victor over the phone, about the fact she could not bring Cora here to scout the boys out. Perhaps she hadn't known about it. Not like she'd known about their plans for me. She'd let that happen.
{--}
I was woken by the sound of laughter. Sonny was gone and I could hear his voice in the living room with his brothers. I stretched and grimaced at myself; I felt disgusting, still wearing the clothes I was wearing the day I was brought here. But I was leaving today. Half of me thought that was a good idea; that getting me away from them would keep them safe. Half of me thought the opposite; that he would never find us, and I would never find anywhere else that I felt as safe as I did here.
"You're being ridiculously childish Sonny, even by your standards." I stood in the doorway for a second, taking in the scene. Sonny was sat on the floor, his back pressed firmly against the wooden front door. He just smirked as Oscar hovered over him, chastising him and mimicking his little brother's stubborn posture with his arms firmly across his chest. Brice was leaning against the far wall, and it seemed he was clearly enjoying what was playing out before him as there was a wide grin across his face as he nodded me a greeting. Alvar had been sprawled across the couch when I emerged and he hopped up, gliding quickly over to me, grinning in amusement.
"You should be flattered, Sonny's never been awake before 11am in his life, and he's been up since seven, all for you!" Alvar just grinned at my confused look and wrapped his dark fingers around my elbow, leading me to stand beside Oscar before Sonny.
"Morning, Smee." Sonny's hair was poking out in all directions as he looked up.
"Smee?" Oscar, Alvar and Brice all chuckled as I questioned Sonny, but it was Alvar who chose to explain.
"It seems you've got a new nickname. It took poor Einstein over there all night to hack through Re and Ne to get Smee."
"Stop exaggerating Al, it didn't take all night." Sonny ruffled his hair as he spoke, digging his feet into the wooden floor to push his back closer to the door.
"Sonny, what are you doing?" All three vampires smirked at my question and Alvar clapped a hand on my shoulder.
"He's protesting."
"Protesting what?" Alvar inclined his head to Sonny, the gesture showed he wanted his brother to answer for himself, something Sonny appeared more than happy to do.
"I'm not letting you leave." Oscar's head fell back and he barked a loud laugh turning his eyes to me for the first time since I came out.
"You do realise Sonny, she's a hell of a lot stronger than you. You sitting in front of that door will not stop her getting through it." Sonny just shrugged and rolled his eyes.
"I know that," He turned his eyes to me "They've been filling me in on what you are all morning. Al paid particular attention to describing the part where you pinned Oz against a wall!" Sonny winked at me before turning his eyes back to his brother. "Besides Oz, it's a symbolic gesture, I don't actually want to refrain her from leaving, I just want to convince her to stay."
"Oh no, Sonny I can't.." I trailed of as Sonny fired his palm in my direction, staring me into silence.
"Don't say no, Smee. Hear me out." Oscar sighed, rolling his eyes as he slid over to the far wall to stand beside Brice. "Where else are you gonna go? You'll be homeless and lonely" I went to talk but Sonny silenced me again, causing Alvar to chuckle at my side. "I know you're half vampire Smee, but you're kinda also a human, just like me!" I swallowed back a chuckle when Alvar murmured,
"God help anyone who is like him." But he spoke too low for Sonny to hear, so he continued talking.
"Smee, I never had any human influence or anything. I never had anybody to eat with, only people to cook for me. I never had anybody around who sleeps, I've always been the one who wakes up in the morning scared they missed something fun whilst everyone else was awake. I don't care if you're faster than me, or stronger or that you're only seven years old.." His eyes moved over me as he pondered my age, I was sure he didn't quite believe it. "I don't care, I just don't want you to go." His expression melted my heart. He looked so helpless and needy. I looked slowly around the room. Alvar's golden eyes smouldered into mine, one side of his mouth curved into a gentle smile. Brice's head was leaned back against the wall and he had his bottom lip between his teeth as he stared at the ceiling, deep in thought. Oscar's expression was a scowl, aimed intensely at his brother.
"I can't Sonny, I'm sorry." Sonny's smacked has palms against the wooden floor in frustration and Alvar swung around to stand before me, blocking him from view.
"We would all like you to stay." My eyes narrowed at his words. It was as though he'd read my mind. I knew Sonny wasn't in charge around here, he might be his brothers main priority, but he didn't come close to calling the shots, so it wasn't his invitation to stay I needed. My eyes swept around the room until they fell on Brice; the boss.
"Not only do we feel it would be wrong of us to let you go out there alone, but we think it'd be good for Sonny to have a little normality in his life, someone he can relate to."
"But not just for Sonny. We like you; we think it would be pretty cool having you around." I breathed deep as Alvar stared at me as he spoke, his gaze still captivated me the way it did the first time I saw him.
"Yeah, I always wanted a little sister! So will you stay?" Sonny said, before Brice's calm tone came from across the room.
"It wouldn't need to be permanent. If you ever felt uncomfortable you could leave at any time." I did another sweep with my eyes. Sonny and Alvar's gazes were both filled with desperate anticipation; Sonny was almost bouncing on the spot. Brice looked calm as he smiled at me and winked, Oscar's eyes didn't meet mine though.
"Ok, I guess I could stay, for a while." Alvar jumped once and pulled me into a hug. With one long stride Oscar moved from Brice's side and pulled Sonny to his feet before storming through the door he'd been blocking.
"He's mad." Sonny wiped away his expression of both anger and shock with a shrug as he took my hand in his and dragged me to the kitchen.
"Nah, ignore him. He's just weird. Time for Breakfast!"
Breakfast was the same as the day before. Mushy cereal that came from a tin with a plastic lid, and the milk was made from a powder and water combination. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. I sat talking with Brice, Sonny and Alvar all day. Brice commended me on my knowledge of vampire history, at which the two boys groaned, begging him not to start one of his long, factual rants. I felt quickly at ease in the house. Sonny gave me a grand tour, which lasted all of ten seconds. All there was was the living room/kitchen, the room that Alvar insisted was now to be referred to as my room, Sonny's room, and a bathroom. After a long bath I'd finally got some new clothes. The jeans were a pair of Sonny's and hung off me. Alvar's navy hoodie and was so drenched in his sweet scent I had to force myself to refrain from ducking through the head-hole so I could drown in the smell.
Dinner was battered fish with vegetables. It was delicious but I could taste the preservatives and tell it had been frozen for a while; it seemed nothing in this house was fresh.
That night I discovered Sonny's one true passion; movies. The TV in the living room had no reception so everything had to be a DVD or VHS, of which Sonny had a wide selection.
It was dark by the time Star Wars finished, (Sonny had almost passed out when I said I'd never seen it. Alvar had just hugged my shoulder and said "You're lucky. Sonny went through a phase when he was seven, these movies were never off!") The fire Brice had built was dying and I could see Sonny's eyes growing heavy. I was exhausted too and my weight had slowly begun to droop onto Alvar who was seated beside me when he straightened up suddenly.
"I smell Oz!" Oscar hadn't returned all day, something that had made me more than a little anxious. I didn't want my presence to push him from his home.
"Is that bad?" I was rubbing my eyes as I spoke but Brice and Alvar were already out of the front door, me and Sonny followed slowly.
"Not really, it's just weird. See, Oz is so fast you don't get a chance to know he's coming." I remembered how he'd startled me the other morning. In the distance I heard voices so I stumbled through the front door beside Sonny. I'd never looked outside the cabin before, and even in the dark it was beautiful. There was nothing but a mass of trees visible for miles all around. The only thing that caught my eyes was a rickety looking building at the start of a dirt road about half a mile away.
As Al, Oz and Brice came closer to the hut I made out some irregular shapes around them.
"What the heck is that?" Sonny was leaning forward over the railing of the elevated porch, his eyes squinted to try and see better what my eyes were already making out. Brice and Alvar both had huge rectangular shapes held over their heads. Alvar's was bending in the middle and its ends bounced a little as he moved. In Oscar's arms were large rolls wrapped in plastic. "Is that, is that a bed?" Sonny had finally become able to see in the moonlight. When he made out Brice's grin as he held the double, wooden bed frame over his head with ease, Sonny scoffed and murmured "Show-offs," before wandering back inside.
I followed them as they manoeuvred the huge bed and mattress into my room, whereas I thought they'd take it to Sonny's. Instead Sonny's little single bed was moved back upstairs and the new bed was put in its place.
"Is this for me?" I couldn't help but gawk at it. It was oak, with intricate details carved at either end. Oscar just nodded slowly as he unwrapped the sheets and pillows from their plastic packaging. I felt warmth inside me from the gesture, and had to refrain from throwing my arms around Oz, I wasn't sure how he'd react if I did.
"This is for her!?" Sonny was in the doorway pointing at the bed. "I knew it! I knew nobody would care about me now. It's how it always happens, when the new little sister arrives, everyone forgets the used-to-be-cute older brother!" We all laughed, even Oz stifled a snigger as the spread the duvet over the bed.
"I'm sorry, Sonny. She's just too much cuter than you, but hey, thanks for getting her to stay bud." Sonny punched Alvar playfully once he'd finished his teasing.
After crawling into bed I teased Sonny about how comfortable it was as Brice pushed him up the stairs. I got a quick and sincere thank you in to Oscar before he slipped from my room, but all I got in return was a distant smile.
"He doesn't like me, does he?" Alvar was propped against the foot of the bed.
"Of course he does." He waved his hand over the extravagant gift Oz had been out all day getting for me. "It'll just take him time, longer than it's taken the rest of us." Already today I'd become so comfortable in this house, laughing and talking with Brice and Alvar as easily as I'd spoken with Sonny the night before. "Let me tell you something Smee,"
"Oh, not you too. Just call me Nessie!" Al laughed as he came to kneel beside the bed.
"Not gonna happen, Sonny's been pretty strict on the whole "Smee" thing. But anyway, what I was going to say is that it's just been the four of us for a long time. The way we found you was so dramatic that it's gonna take a while to get used to. I think Oz is just weirded out by the way we've all grown so attached to you so quickly, but that won't last forever. Once he trusts you, once he sees how happy you make Sonny, how happy you make all of us, he'll come round. And once he does," Al's gaze drifted from me, and I immediately missed it, his eyes had a strange hold over me. "Let's just say that once you're important to Oz, nobody will ever hurt you, he'll protect you from anything, do anything to make you safe." I nodded slowly, remembering how Oz had saved his baby brother's life. "Goodnight Smee." I rolled my eyes, figuring I was just going to have to learn to deal with the nickname.
"Night Al." He gave my hand a squeeze and was gone, and I'd decided. I couldn't tell them about Victor. I couldn't risk ruining all this.
The name for this chapter is a quote from my favourite movie of all time, Lost Boys.
I figured the whole, joining a vampire gang thing was kinda relevant to this chapter.
Next chappy will be back to a Cullen, a pretty blonde on to be precise.
