Assumptions
Alexander Hale laid in his stone cabin, listening to the soft howl of the shore wind blow grains of sand against the window. In the distance, through the pitch black night, waves beat against the shore rhythmically. He could hear that well on half moon nights, well enough that it drowned out the hard snores of Nikki and Aysun on the other side of his cottage.
That was how things worked for Alexander's kind. The closer they came to a full moon the stronger and stronger they became, and the more their senses elevated. They also became hungrier and became more in tune with their animal instincts. Their hair become thicker at a more rapid rate, their skin became stronger. Their temperature rose and their voices became deeper and the less sleep they needed. The day before a full moon, they were like newborn vampires. Once the full moon's light hit them, it would feel like all flesh had been stripped from his body causing instant pain.
That was when he was totally lost it. He had killed two people on those nights, or so he heard. Werewolves like him couldn't remember anything that happened during their transformations. It was sort of like waking up, not knowing you were asleep in the first place. For them though, it was the fear of what happened in those long dark hours.
But as time moved on the less superior they became. By the new moon, they had the strength of highly athletic humans. It was so strange; as much as he hated become such a monster, it was through becoming it he found the security he desired since that terrible April night.
He stopped in his thoughts for a brief moment. someone was walking along the sandy shores, someone that smelled strongly of flowers. This one, however he could sense from a mile away on a new moon. It was her, his beloved wife, Beyza, a vampire who gave him-a werewolf such peace after a long life of fear. Even though he was only the physical age of twenty-two when time stopped for him, he had lived longer than most old men. He was born into a rich family, that seemed perfect, with a father who was a banker and a mother that took care of the home. They were well off, even in the Depression. His family was the kind nothing bad happened to until lighting struck, breaking that security and cutting into their home like a knife.
That bolt of lightning had a name. Royce King.
Alexander shook his head with guilt. He thought King was a creep the moment he set eyes on him. Nikki, who was a child at the time, had an extreme dislike for him because he 'didn't seem right'. His parents and sister dismissed Nikki, because he was just a boy, so Alexander didn't say anything to Rosalie. She seemed so happy. Instead both of them would badmouth King behind his back dreading having to be related to him.
Nikki barely remembered his older sister. He was in the fifth grade when it happened. Alexander was a freshman in high school and even though it was during his human life, he still had a clear picture of Rosalie. Neither of them was close to her, but her disappearance caused their family to fall apart. Alexander let out a sigh remembering the last time he saw his sister. She was going to a friend's house. He had a test coming up, but he could no longer recall the subject. She walked Nikki to his friend's house, he doesn't remember the friend. Nikki remembered kissing her on the cheek, and the softness of her blonde hair, that was it. She was a faded memory of their human life. Alexander remembers her bright smile she had when someone gave her a complement. He hoped, if the letter was true she still had that smile.
That evening was still very clear to him, he remembered him and Nikki complaining they were hungry but his parents insisted on waiting for her. Eventually their mother gave in, and hissed angrily that she was going to have dinner cold. It was around Nikki's bedtime his parents moved the couch to the door, to sit waiting for her to walk through. Nikki made a joke on how much trouble Rosalie was in before they went to bed. After the fourth call to the Carpenters, his father woke him up and said the police were on their way.
It was at a spot near the ally where they found her hat and ripped coat, along with a significant amount of blood. All sense of security was gone, then and there. Royce said he was out of town, and had five friends confirm it. It wasn't long afterwards the man at the liquor store said him and the friends who confirmed him had bought liquor from him an hour before Rosalie had left Vera's house. When his parents found out, they developed an instant hate for him.
His father wanted to be there when they arrested him. Nikki didn't understand what was going on, they told him she went to heaven, but unlike their grandmother Rosalie would only have a memorial, no funeral. It was after the service they went to arrest Royce.
His entire family, along with Vera and her husband wanted to be with the police when they arrested him. They wanted him to be locked in the darkest cell and have Rosalie be the only woman he ever touched. They wanted him to live with regret. They even paid the guards to hold him until the police came. Royce, however outsmarted them. When they got there he was already dead. It was assumed he committed suicide and killed his men. Alexander broke from him his thoughts with a sniff, another instinct he had as he heard the door open.
He remembered watching his parents break. They moved to California afterwards to get away from it all; the memories, the looks, the talk they wanted nothing to do with it. Yet, the emptiness followed them, along with the pain and fear. His mother blamed herself, and sunk into a zombie like depression. She was also paranoid, they were the only children being walked to their school that was a only block away. The guilt seemed to consume her. She no longer groomed herself to perfection. They watched her beauty slip with her depression until she was hit by a drunk driver a couple years later. After that, their father became a drunk, and eventually drank himself to death in an attempt to drink away the pain. By the time Pearl Harbor came around, it was just him and Nikki, alone in the world. So of course when they enlisted in the service, they were assigned to the same camp. Since there was no one to put a star in their window, the government kept them together.
They were assigned to Paris first, which was different from most camps. One night, Nikki was off duty, he came back with a brilliant smile, happier than Nikki had ever seen him before. He seemed to be in a very good mood, claiming he met a beautiful woman. He smiled, saying she was from Turkey, and her name was Aysun. She had such strange qualities, like her yellow eyes, a body that was more muscular than his, as well as longer than normal hair. She had unusually warm skin, as well as a long deep voice, that still sounded feminine. Alexander didn't believe him, because it sounded strange a Turkish woman would be here of all places and her description just sounded weird in general.
The next day Nikki was gone, he was sent on a secret mission. Alexander waited, hoping nothing would happen to his little brother because he was all he had. He was overjoyed when Nikki returned, even though he was the only soldier to survive. Soon he noticed something wasn't right. He didn't say anything about what happened, but over the days he noticed something about him wasn't normal. Nikki seemed stronger, tougher and faster than ever before. He notice he was eating a lot more than usual, and he always seemed to be feverish. It was almost as if he wasn't….human.
Then D-day happened. The army was all over the place, yet the two brothers remained together. He watched Nikki get shot in the ear. Alexander was dogding bullets to see his dying brother, but strangely he was fine. The ear grew back and he was perfectly healthy. Alexander was the only one to notice amongst the chaos. He calmed down as the month dragged on and started to become more and more normal. By the new moon he was completely normal. Then he started acting up again, and growing stronger again, his temperature rose along with the other side effects of their kind. Then finally one day before a full moon he told a commanding officer off, something that was truly unlike him.
The last day he was a human was clear in his mind. That morning Nikki had a fever, the kind that would put one in a hospital. He didn't know it was the exact opposite of a normal fever, it was the kind of fevers that him and Nikki would keep for an eternity. After he told the officer, he was sent to cleaning duty, both of them were which really got Alexander upset. Alexander was in charge of cleaning the beds, Nikki was in charge of cleaning the facilities. Alexander remembered coming into the tent, and noticing them. That was where the twins thought would be the place to come out of hiding. Alexander remembered listening to the Turkish language that he did not know at that time. When they went and sniffed Nikki's bed, when they spoke in English.
"He is here." Aysun said looking up towards something. "He was lying awake in this bed."
"It's noon, find him, so we can get him out before sunset." He heard a another voice, which was when he peeked out and saw the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on. He only saw her silhouette through the tent, but he could clearly see her skin shimmering. He wondered if she came from heaven. She had long flowing black hair, that went down her immortal hour-glass body.
She came down, as Alexander hid. He watched as she stole a uniform, and tucked her hair behind a hat to block the sun. Alexander noticed her red eyes as she passed him and he heard Nikki come in as brief excitement came out of his voice while greeting Aysun.
Alexander followed Beyza. She moved faster than lighting through the camp, and stole an army jeep before heading back to the tent. Alexander took his chances and snuck in the trunk. They moved fast, no one, not even the guard saw them leaving. Luckily, Nikki's and Aysun's smell drowned out Alexander's blood so Beyza never caught him.
They found the most secluded area when they got out, Alexander listened as they explained to Nikki what he was, and what happened to him when the sun set.
When they finally caught Alexander, Nikki said he needed to let him go, Alexander said he had no one else. Nikki said he needed to follow his destiny and let him follow his. They got into an argument, as Beyza disappeared then the sun set, and the moon rose. Alexander then saw Nikki's eyes become a dark yellow as his face curled and a monster broke out striking him. He thought he was in pain, unaware he was going to feel worse every month from this point. He thought Nikki was going to kill him. He then heard a sound coming from the trees, it was as if something hit. Alexander looked over and saw another monsters creature like him distracted by the sound. He then felt a strong force pull him out of the danger. He looked up and realized it was his angel. He realized then for the first time in almost a decade that everything was going to be alright.
Alexander could hear her walk in their room. He closed his eyes pretending to be asleep as she went to brush her hair out near the dresser up front. He opened them to observe her.
She was a vampire with marble white skin that was colder than ice. He was a werewolf with skin that was hotter than flames themselves and hair that grew wild. Yet, they matched with each other perfectly. She didn't expect to fall in love with him when she saved him, but she did, two mortal enemies becoming close and safe with one another.
They both found wholeness and security in their inhuman lives.
Beyza looked back, causing him to quickly close his eyes again. She went to put on a long yellow gown that flowed across her body. She walked over to him, he wondered if she saw past his lightly closed eyelids. She sat down beside him and gave him a long passionate kiss-he couldn't fool her.
"Thinking, my dear?" She asked referring to the comment that punk vampire made a couple days ago. They have received insults about their relationship before, and every time he had the same reaction. The first time was when they were trying to teach them Turkish. A vampire asked them if she was training her puppies, which it looked like considering Nikki and Alexander never left the twin's sight. That was, however, the first of many, when they became romantically involved some unintentional comments were made on how it was missed matched. What he didn't like was when someone purposely insulted her, or mocked her immortal courage. He hated that very much, and would not put up with it. He was glad Jane was there to stop them from making the fight more brutal.
"Depends, what are you thinking about?" He asked with a smile, as he felt a strange object in his wife's hand.
"It's called a cell phone, Fred is going to arrange for all of us to have them. He gave Hecate one. She thought we should have the first one." She explained.
"Why, what would be the point if none of them had phones?" He asked as she looked towards the letter along with the stacks of information they found through using the computer for the first time.
He never thought of that theory before, even when he entered this world he never thought of what really happened. He could not think of her with shiny red eyes, ready to kill. Yet the letter said they were animal drinkers, or her coven's interpretation 'vegetarians'. He has been told the vampire world of his old country was nothing but covens making armies of newborns to battle it out for territories, but their recent guests informed them differently.
He remembered the doctor, and his strange wife. He remembered hearing his brother-in-law moving in with them, and that being the talk of the town. He looked back on it now and realized they did move shortly after Royce's suicide. He felt a sudden anger towards Carlisle for casing his family such grief.
'Don't let your human family's curse ruin her blessing.' Hecate's own words when they explained it to them. They had to forgive him, for her sake because he chose her for such an honor. Hecate reminded them of that before they contact Rosalie, like always anyone connected to her coven, she assumes automatically Rosalie and her new coven are also extended family.
"What if it's not?" Alexander asked as he dialed the numbers.
" şansınızı al" She reminded him again. It was the first words he learned in Turkish, he smiled at that.
"I'll take my chances," He finally pressed send.
It rang, he thought of how the safe and comfortable life was shattered after her disappearance. It rang, he thought of the brave new world he has entered the world of vampires and werewolves, he wondered if it was possible his sister disappeared into it as well. It rang, than it answered.
"Hello," A voice called, it was her voice he was speechless in the shock. It was her voice, he listen to it as she asked. "Who is this?"
"Is it them, babe?" He heard a male say in the background, he wondered if it was the Emmett she mentioned.
"Rosalie," Alexander finally let the words out as a big breath came from her mouth.
"Alex," She said as if their last conversion was yesterday.
Forks, Washington
"Does she know where this place is?" Rosalie asked as I pulled up to the tiny trailer. It was tucked away in a grassless yard. We were driving separately, but with my advance hearing I could still hear both their comments about the property Heather's family rented.
"I would assume she does," I answered, knowing that only they could hear. I didn't want Heather or Kelly to catch what I said.
As I parked the car, I looked over to see Heather on the porch holding Neveah. Her frizzy, curled hair was pulled into a ponytail and tucked behind a cap. Neveah was fumbling around in Heather's arms reaching, out to Collin, who stood next to Heather. He was trying to zip Neveah's pink jacket.
As I watched, Kelly came out carrying an old, worn out car seat, wearing all black as usual, as well as her usual piercings.
"Emmett we need to get out, I want to make sure the seat is adjusted right, since the baby is riding in Felix's car." Rosalie said in a low voice, so only the vampires could hear.
"Hey," Heather smiled happily coming up to me. "Thank you so much. You didn't have to do this," She said happily as I shrugged. It didn't seem like that big of a deal to me.
"It's no problem, and it's nice to see you too." I said as she looked over to see Rosalie overseeing Kelly and Collin putting the car seat in one of the Cullen's cars.
"What is that?" Heather asked shocked.
"It's a car," I answered. The Cullens kept track of every brand of car they had. To me they were all cars. I didn't understand the hype. However, I was sure that was because I had become used to Caius's well used cars that only lasted a few weeks.
"You wanna sit up front?" I asked. "Collin can sit in the back with Neveah."
Heather didn't respond, other than the astonished look she gave all of us.
"Do I need a towel or something?"
"No," Rosalie answered noticing Heather looking at Rosalie's attire. As she observed, I noticed an almost embarrassed look came on her face. Before I could comprehend what her expression mean, Neveah began to grow excited, running up to Rosalie and Emmett.
"We're going on a trip today," She said happily, coming up to Rosalie's side.
"She really likes them," Heather whispered to herself. Nearby, Rosalie was listening to Neveah's small voice, as she buttoned her jacket again. As soon as she finished, Rosalie removed a hat from her pocket and placed it on the girl's head, taking care to cover her ears.
That was when I heard a stumble from inside as well as a woman muttering to herself, "Sometimes I wish those girls where never born, than I won't have to deal with them."
"Alright, are we ready to go?" I asked wanting to get them out before she made her way to the porch.
"Yes, Kelly, you can ride with us," Emmett said quickly as Rosalie buckled Neveah in and shut the door, trying to lead Kelly to their car. They were making it very clear Kelly was not going to be home alone with her.
"What the hell is going on out here?" The woman shouted as she stumbled out. My shoulders sag, realizing we were too late.
"Mom, this is my friend Felix," Heather explained backing towards me, not leaving my side. From a few feet away, I heard Kelly let out a hiss as Rosalie and Emmett kept her between them.
Kelly was different from the rest of her family. She wasn't like the grandmother who was constantly making excuses for this woman, nor was she like Heather who ran around like a hen and making sure everyone else was taken care of. She wasn't like Natalie who would find any excuse not to be home. She would stand her ground and always told her mother the truth. She got in trouble in school a lot, but something about her was different. She had this strange sense of knowing she didn't have to 'take crap,' as Heather put it.
"Oh, are you screwing him?" The woman asked looking at Heather and I. "Handsome enough if you ask me."
"No," Heather answered mortified. "He's my friend, he's taking me to visit Cassie."
"Tell her to take her things," The woman said looking towards Neveah, who sat in the car with Collin guarding over her. "And do you expect me to believe that he's just a friend, from the way he's looking at you. Wow, you're more stupid than I thought."
"Come on let's go," I said pulling Heather away. The comment had made me angry, oddly enough. Something about her made me understand why Carlisle had an extreme dislike towards her.
"While you're there, tell Cassie to get that baby out of here, she's waking me up at night." The woman sniffed and Rosalie let out an angry hiss just as Kelly stepped out of their grasp.
"She's a baby what do you expect?" Kelly yelled as Emmett and Rosalie went to stand beside her again. "Just because you've been nothing but a selfish bitch, doesn't mean we have to be the same."
"What's that supposed to mean, you little brat?" The woman yelled, coming at her as Rosalie leaned over towards her in a protective manner.
"I should just…." The woman stopped as Kelly glanced directly at her, she got dizzy for a moment shaking as if aches had come over her body. Kelly then looked up towards Emmett, who opened the car door. Rosalie pulled Kelly by the shoulder into the car as Heather gave me a thankful look. Collin got in the back seat with Neveah and we left.
"I am so sorry," Heather said, souning shocked, as we drove out of the driveway. I turned the wind shield wipers on; it looked like it was going to rain.
"It's alright," I said trying to comfort her as she let out slow heavy breaths.
"No, it's not, she humiliated you!" Heather said sounding as if she was going to cry.
"Calm down," I said, I couldn't stand seeing her like this. "Don't let it ruin your day."
Heather began to take deep breaths and slowly calmed down. The car was silent for a minute as she tried to calm down. After a few minutes, the silence was cut by the buzzing of a phone.
"Do you want me to check?" Heather asked.
"I can," I said reaching for it.
"But you are driving." She pointed out. "It's from your sister, it says 'Slow down, you have a baby in the car.'
I almost smiled as I obeyed, dropping the car to sixty miles-per-hour, a slow crawl compared to the pace I'd been making seconds before. I looked in the back Collin had his iPod on and was silently looking at Neveah, who was falling asleep.
"What kind of music do you like?" I asked as I debated on turning on the radio. I then got another text from Rosalie. Once again, Heather wouldn't let me answer because I was driving.
"She wants you to ask me if she's been fed. Why are they coming?"
"I don't know," I answered, which was the truth, considering Rosalie expressed a hated for Cassie to Leah Clearwater.
"They are a nice couple, how long have they been married?" Heather asked.
"A couple years," I answered.
"Why don't they have children?" Heather asked wondering.
"Health issues," I answered trying to cover for them as I noticed Collin waking up and giving me an odd look. I needed to change the subject. We were silent for a couple minutes, while I was thinking of a subject.
"Well it was nice of them, Neveah really likes Rosalie." Heather pointed as I notice Collin texting in the backseat, we were silent for about five minutes I then muttered to myself. 'What can I do to get her to think of something else?' low and in a language that I normally thought to myself in.
"What was that?" Heather asked turning.
"Nothing," I answered quickly, I wondered if she notice me slipping out of my fake American accent.
"It sounded like another language, what was it?" She asked.
"Danish," I answered honestly.
"You can speak Danish?" Her eyes beamed in wonder. "How in the world did you learn that?"
"My parents," I said telling her the truth.
"Oh," She gave me an odd look. "Were they from Denmark?"
"My father was, my mother was from Estonia." I answered, hoping she wouldn't ask what year I was born. She was silent for a minute as if she was thinking to herself.
"Did they immigrate here?" Heather asked.
"Yes," Collin spoke quickly, answering for me.
"Interesting," She nodded, looking at the window silently. "What did they do to you?"
"Huh?" I questioned.
"To have them take you away, and put you with Cullen's?" She asked again, I couldn't lie about my parents, Bella told me that would be a good thing to say when her father was questioning why, unlike the rest of the Cullen's, I had trouble obeying the human rules. I wanted to ask them since when they were so concerned with following the rules anyway.
"They were killed," I said honestly. "The home I was placed into afterwards is what created difficulty." Aro did have Jane practice her gift on me, I didn't mind, even though Eleazar put up a fight. I still couldn't see why it was any of his business anyway.
"Sorry," Heather said, after a minute of silence. She was convinced, she didn't have any idea about the secret, making her safe.
"So where is Natalie?" I asked after another three minutes of awkward silence.
"At the Clearwater's, where she usually is these days. I swear something is weird with Seth, he became way too attached to her after knowing her from first sight." Heather huffed. "I was there when they met."
"What happened?" I asked glad that we switched topics.
"Well, it happened shortly after New Years. We were grocery shopping, and looking in the freezer section. That was when we first met Seth. He went in to get a loaf of bread, looked up saw my sister and after one glance he was following her around like a puppy." Heather said, annoyed. "She seemed to like the attention, even if he followed us through the check out line, and took us to meet his sister who was waiting in the car. Her first reaction was 'Seth, I sent you in to get some eggs and you come out with a girlfriend.' They only knew each other for ten minuets and already a relationship was evolving. A week later he transferred just to be with her."
"So she's with them?" I asked.
"Yeah, Seth is taking her to the Spring Dance. We were planning on going to the Salvation Army to get her a dress, but Leah and Mrs. Clearwater have their own plans in mind." Heather explained. "Set her up a hair appointment and getting her something new. You would think they are getting married the way the Clearwater's act." I notice Collin letting out a little laugh.
"Have you found out what her half-brother is up too?" Collin asked. That had to be from Jacob. He had been telling us that Sam's pack had something strange going on, apparently from what he told us three of the witnesses were in La Push territory, talking about some vampire that has a gift Sam finds useful. I don't know or care what it is, all I know is for some strange reason he sent Paul and Jacob's sister to test this vampire. Sam was upset that it worked and he came back without her. I would assume most likely she wouldn't want to live with a pack set up to kill her.
"I don't know," Heather said. "Sam doesn't come around much, but apparently he is taking a business trip to Europe. What does he do?" Before he could answer, we got another text message. Heather, of course, answered it.
"They want you to pull over, their car needs gas and they're going to make Kelly get something to eat." Heather explained as I nodded as we pulled into a gas station in Port Angels that had a human restraint right next to it, followed by Rosalie and Emmett.
"My gosh, that girl has a mouth of a sailor," Rosalie said to herself as I pumped gas while Heather came out with Neveah who was waking up.
"Heather, do you want something to eat?" Rosalie asked as she took Neveah without even offering to help.
"No thank you," She answered.
"Are you sure?" Rosalie asked in a concerned manner.
"Yes, I am sure," Heather said as she looked towards me.
"I can get you something," I offered. Even though I hadn't been human for a long time, I couldn't help but notice she had that look humans have when they haven't had anything to eat in a long time.
"Well, if you insist." Heater paused. "But something cheap."
"You can get a sandwich or something when I pay for gas." I suggested. She nodded, following me.
The first thing we noticed when we entered the building was two large men arguing with one another. One of them kicked something, while the other smiled at Heather as she came close to me. It was strange how she found comfort with me, even though I am a vampire and her blood smelled appetizing, yet she still came up to me anytime she thought was in danger.
"You have a lovely family." A woman next to me said, looking directly at me.
"Thank you," I nodded as the man smiled and left, while Heather let out a giggle at that comment.
"Figures, you never eat or drink anything. You think someone as strong and active as you are would need a buffet to keep you going, but you eat less than a super model." She shrugged. "If I didn't know any better I would say you weren't human."
"Would you like some water or something?" I asked changing the subject as Rosalie came back out with Kelly. Rosalie handed Collin a small bag of fruit-chews to give to Neveah.
"Who does she think she is, my mother?" Kelly said to herself annoyed by Rosalie's concern for the girl.
"You can use a better mother," Rosalie mumbled sadly to herself as Neveah started crying. Heather began to comfort her and I stood beside Heather for support. As she calmed the crying girl, a car pulled up.
"Day out with the family?" The man asked as he headed in. I nodded to him as he entered the building. For some reason, I didn't want to correct the people that mistook Heather, Neveah and I for a family. I liked the feeling of it brought of being part of something based on other than duty, something about people assuming I am a father, a husband and a provider made me feel warm. I had been an executioner for hundreds of years. I didn't know how could protecting someone could feel.
With a wide grin, I slipped back into the car. Rosalie went to make sure Neveah was buckled right. As she finished, her phone rang, she answered it and proceeded on arguing with Alice about borrowing clothes. When Rosalie finally got into her car, we continued to make our way to Seattle.
The trip went fairly quietly. Heather slept for much of the long, winding way, waking as we passed the Sea-Tac airport. Once she was awake, Heather directed me to a large stone building that was in a part of Seattle. It look similar to where we found that redhead's army way back when. I found a place to park, since it wasn't a crowded parking lot, but I did have to go through security. It was here that Heather explained why we were visiting so I could get a parking pass. Rosalie and Emmett did the same.
The place was a rather strange. It was a tall brick building with barbwire fencing surrounding the place. We got out of the car, where Rosalie looked around as Emmett kept Kelly close between them as always. Heather got out with me, and help Collin unbuckle Neveah who insisted on being carried by him.
"I'm fine, quit worrying." Kelly came out rolling her eyes at Rosalie as they fought over wearing a jacket. She whispered to herself not knowing we could hear.
"My good gosh, never had someone care that much, why couldn't of you been the one to pop me out."
Rosalie looked at her, it was clear she wasn't suppose to hear that but I saw a tiny frown came from her as Kelly let out a sigh. Underneath the smartass behavior, Kelly liked Rosalie. Kelly for some reason seemed to know more than she let on, I overheard her once call Seth and Collin annoying fur balls. One time I visited them, she said 'I see superman's here.' She seemed to just say whatever was on her mind, no matter who was around.
We walked into the building, it smelled of human blood, but it wasn't at all desirable. A newborn wouldn't even have a problem in this place. If a vampire was living in this place, the only humans that would have a problem would be the administrators. I had a feeling the security in this place was not near as good as they thought they were.
"We are here for visiting hours." Heather explained as Neveah left Collin's arms, heading to Emmett.
"Your tall guy aren't you?" She asked.
"Neveah, shhhh." Heather whispered softly as Emmett smiled at the young girl.
"Who are you here to see," The security man asked getting Heather's attention.
"We are here to see Cassie Henziburg, I am her sister Heather O'Malley, she asked me to bring her daughter Neveah." Heather explained as the man nodded looking towards me. "And your with her."
"Yes," I nodded.
"Who else?" The guard asked as he brushed Heather and I to the side looking straight at Rosalie and Emmett. "I take it you're the parents she is waiting for?"
"What?" Heather questioned to herself as the guard looked towards Rosalie and Emmett.
"Yes, I guess." Rosalie answered not knowing what else to say.
"And you," He looked towards Kelly and Collin.
"Collin Smoothstone." Collin answered.
"Kelly Roser," Kelly answered.
"And you are with them." The guard asked as they nodded.
"Make this one go through security." He said after one look at her.
"Dude why?" She asked angrily as another guard came up with a metal detector reaching out for her.
"Think about it." The man answered promptly as a security guard grabbed her by the arm. Kelly then turned and the man stopped, touching his forehead.
"What a headache." He mumbled.
"She's with us," Rosalie said quickly coming beside Kelly. "We are her legal guardians and coming down here might be inspiring to her, right, dear?" She asked Kelly.
"Yes," Kelly smiled towards Rosalie. "As a matter of fact, I call her mommy dearest. They never let me out, so I can't get into any trouble." She said with a sarcastic smile.
"Fine then," The security guard nodded. "Tell Cassie that the couple is here with the rest of the family. Also say her sister and brother-in-law brought the child." The security guard said into a radio before we left.
"Like I would really be getting messed up with that shit," I heard Kelly mutter to herself as we walked through the halls.
"The man thought you were my husband." Heather said coming up to me.
"Strange," I said with a shrug.
"Probably because Cassie and I have different last names." Heather shrugged. "You think they notice I am not even eighteen yet."
"Funny," I said. You'd think the man would notice we were just friends.
"Ready?" Heather asked as she held Neveah. I opened the door to the visitor's room letting her and everyone else into the room.
I wasn't surprised by Cassie's appearance, she did have similar features to her sisters. Except she was different; I could sort of tell right away she wasn't the attractive one of the four. Even though Heather described her as being a great beauty, I couldn't see it. She was a lot skinner than normal human beings. Her face was nothing but bones and worn-out leather skin with strange marks along her wrist.
She must have been beautiful at one point, I could imagine her worn down, hay colored blonde hair was once a flowing and shiny veil of gold silk. Her skin must of been smooth and shiny. Her clouded green eyes could have caught any human boy's eye.
Out of all the sisters, she was the least attractive. Perhaps if she had a different life and made different choices, things would have been different.
I saw her looked towards Neveah, with a sad smile, knowing the child didn't recognize her.
"She's grown well, thank you for taking good care of her Heather. Kelly, nice to see you."
"Wish I could say the same. But you didn't just call us over for a social gathering, did you?" Kelly asked as she glanced down towards Cassie's abdomen. I noticed, probably right as she did, that something was different about Cassie. She had a smell about her, similar to Mrs. Collar, along with the strange sound of two heartbeats.
"Now, this is just plain unfair," Rosalie whispered to herself as her eyes shot at Cassie's fingers, rubbing the skin above her unborn child.
"You got to be kidding," Heather asked upset. "Is this why you called me down?"
I was a little embarrassed to admit, I didn't know what was going on. I hadn't been human in such a long time, I forgot certain things human went through that vampires didn't have to deal with, some of the things that brought joy and fear at the same time.
I noticed that Heidi would try to distract the women who were in that strange condition so they didn't go in the Volturi tower. It hit me then, a human memory came back to me one from my childhood. It must of been the animal blood, because it had to be the first time in centuries that a memory of my fizzled human life came back to me. That was very long ago, I was remembering my mother, when she was pregnant with my sister. I of course didn't say anything about this realization.
"Do you even know who the father is?" Heather asked like she was giving a lecture to a young child.
"Is that all ya' have ta' say ta' me?" Cassie hissed with improper grammar. "Howa' 'bout hi, sis how ya' doin?" Even though English was not my first language, I could tell she wasn't one to use it properly.
"That answer is obvious, look where you are." Kelly pointed out promptly as Cassie looked towards Rosalie and Emmett.
"Shut up," She said quickly looking towards them. "Just shut up, ya' can't judge me."
"You get knocked up once, and left the kid here, are you going to do that again?" Heather asked her, as she spoke silently to herself. "Why do I have to be the responsible one?"
"At least she's safer with you then here," Cassie pointed out looking towards her daughter, then muttered to herself. "She looks like him, it hurts."
I remembered what Seth said after he caught me killing that man, who was going to hurt Heather. He told me about what he did to Cassie. I glanced towards Neveah, I couldn't help but wonder. However, I kept my musings to myself.
"What are you going to do about this one?" Rosalie interrupted, as all eyes looked towards her.
"I wanna put it up for adoption, I was gonna meet with parents but they bailed out on me," Cassie explained, than looked towards Neveah. "Can I hold her, at least once, she is my baby."
Collin bravely led Neveah over to the woman and sat the toddler on her lap. Neveah gave Cassie a strange smile then looked towards Rosalie.
"Rosy, I want off. I'm hungie." She said in a baby talk like manner and gave Rosalie an uncomfortable look.
"I brought animal crackers with me," Rosalie informed as Heather nodded when Rosalie took them out of her bag. It was then grabbed by Cassie, taking an animal out.
"Here you go, Neveah." She smiled as the toddler let out a screech. "Take it away, take it away, it got no head."
"She doesn't eat the ones where the head is broken off." Rosalie interrupted grabbing the bag as she took out a whole piece. "Here, now what does this one do?"
"Roar," Neveah smiled happily as Rosalie nodded reaching in for the next one when Cassie grabbed the bag.
"I'm her mother, I'll feed her," She said firmly then looked towards Heather. "What's this rich woman doing here?"
"She's been watching Neveah so I can go to school," Heather answered.
"Why can't you leave her with Grandma. I don't want her around my child, she's taken over for me." Cassie said firmly as Emmett came and put his hand around Rosalie. "She's my daughter not hers, why doesn't she make her own?"
"I'll tell you why she doesn't stay with Grandma." Kelly looked over at Cassie with narrowed eyes. "Grandma let Mom move back in."
"What?" Cassie screamed as Rosalie gave her a saddened look. "She let this happen to me, she let him…." She let out a slow deep sigh. "Could someone…is she?" I looked over to Heather, as Cassie looked towards me. "Well, I see you are obviously protected with that boyfriend of yours, but what about my baby? I don't want her living there with her….what about?"
"You haven't been there since she was two weeks old," Rosalie interrupted almost as if she was yelling at her. "And now you are having another one, what are you going to do with this child? You can't just dump him with your sister!"
"I didn't ask to get pregnant," Cassie pointed out. "I just had her, just like I am going to just have this one….what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to be a mother, care for these kids," Rosalie answered. "If you can't then find someone who can, and make sure it is someone who can have them in their life and still have their own life. Heather took time off school to take care of Neveah!"
"What? It's not like she's going anywhere!" Cassie pointed out, as I looked over at Heather who looked down sadly towards the floor. "And she has muscles over there wrapped around her fingers."
"His name is Felix, and he's just a friend." Heather pointed out.
"Some of us do make male friends without screwing them," Kelly pointed out.
"What the hell kind of name is that?" Cassie said. "And what's up with acting like you're her knight in shining armor or something."
"He's Dr. Cullen's son," Heather said quickly. "You remember him, right?"
"The one who wouldn't let us go home," Cassie answered. "Yeah, you think that officer Swan he called would of stopped her. Now, can you do me a favor and get them out." Cassie looked towards us. Heather held tightly on to my arm; she didn't want me to leave her side. Cassie then gazed at Neveah who came to Rosalie, "Please donna goo," She said as she came and touched her face.
"Don't worry, sweetie, your mommy just wants to be with you." Rosalie explained as Neveah stood between her and Emmett confused.
"But your brother Collin's staying," Collin said firmly, making Neveah feel safe. It seemed to calm her as she looked towards Cassie, who nodded giving her permission. Collin hadn't said a thing until that point. As we waited in the waiting room, I couldn't help but worry about Heather, it seemed she was the only thing in my thoughts. Rosalie sat their uncomfortably talking with Emmett, I didn't know what they were talking about but I truly didn't care.
Soon Rosalie's cell rang, both her and Emmett paused as Rosalie looked at the number.
"It's Esme, I told her to call if you know who called." Emmett nodded looking towards me as Rosalie answered.
"Hello …..she did…so after that whole ordeal she got the idea, that you would be her friend," Rosalie let out a laugh. They were talking about Anthenodora, she was going on how she thought Esme Cullen would make a good friend after Renesmee's trial. "Wow, lucky you, a sweater…I wouldn't either….what did she say? Why would you care?...I don't know, well, at least Renesmee's safe because of this…no, they haven't called….I am waiting for it too…..you too, bye."
Heather and Kelly came out followed by Collin holding Neveah.
"She wants to talk to you," Heather said looking at Rosalie and Emmett. "About Neveah, and the other one." Emmett and Rosalie looked at each other nodded and left.
"What does she want to talk to them about?" I asked curiously as Heather let out a sigh.
"She wants Rosalie and Emmett to adopt Neveah and the new baby," Heather explained.
"Open adoption," Kelly said giving me a suspicious look; it was an hour later when Rosalie and Emmett came out, dead silent. Heather was looking at her, as if she was waiting for an answer. Rosalie was solemn, not wanting to say anything.
We left shortly after. Collin and Neveah road home with them as Kelly road home with us.
Kelly had an attitude, that seemed to put her above others. She was also special, that was one thing I had noticed. It was strange, the way she looked at the guards of the center and they would instantly get cramps and started complaining about neck pains. She was so special, I would be informing Aro about her, but that might mean him turning her, leaving Heather heartbroken. I couldn't do that to her.
I watched as Heather's frizzled hair came across her face when she looked at me…she seemed more beautiful than usual.
"Thank you, for coming," She said to me. "And sorry about my sister."
"It's alright," I said not really caring as she came close to me, almost arm to arm.
"She wasn't always like that you know," Heather explained.
"Who?" I asked curiously.
"Cassie," Heather answered. "She was once rather good at a certain point, her middle school teachers thought she could go far but…."
"She got messed up with drugs," Kelly interrupted.
"Oh," I had a hard time understanding those things. We vampires rarely change. Humans change all the time, they were certainly a lot more emotional than we gave them credit for. They had no problems hurting their mates, it seemed. Vampire covens normally form to benefit each other and most of the time each member does their fair share and if it's not working out a member or couple is free to go. Families seemed much more complicated. They didn't choose each other, but they still stick together even if it isn't for their benefit. Like Heather's mother, she did nothing for them, yet Heather still took care of her despite how drunk and high she got every evening.
I sort of found myself thinking of Heather as part of a coven because of my feelings for her. Kelly sort of reminded me of Jane during those short human years. It was hard to describe but, like Jane, Kelly was able to protect herself despite being human. Like this morning when Kelly's mother tried to attack her, she got all cramped up when Kelly looked at her. Jane was able to protect her family from begetters in their local village before their parents' deaths.
Neveah was protected by Collin, Natalie was protected by Seth both through imprinting. I asked Edward about it once and he explained to me about this imprinting, Seth would do anything for Natalie, Collin will do anything for Neveah. Heather did not even have a clue I was a vampire, because those things were most likely furthest from her mind but she had me. I don't know why I wanted to look out for Heather, but I just did.
It was around eight-thirty when I dropped off the girls and went home.
I was walking up the driveway when I smelled three floral scents, one of them had the fresh fragrance of a newborn. Then two red eyed vampires came out of the house. The tall male blonde hissed at me right away as his mate, who had white-silver hair and was around Alice's size, went from behind him grabbed a tall brown hair newborn vampire, pushing him behind her mate who stood over him like a shield. The newborn didn't say anything as frost started coming from the ground. The two moved aside and let it headed towards me.
"What are you doing here?" The tall blonde male asked, who I would assumed was the creator of the newborn considering the way the brown hair boy obeyed him, in this strange new world of his.
"He's living with us," Jasper walked out calming them instantly. "Felix, I would like you to meet my friends, Peter, his mate Charlotte and their new addition Brian."
"Why?" Peter asked, as Charlotte looked towards Brian as the frost started to fade.
"He just is," Alice explained. "Don't worry, he won't harm him."
"That's not what we are worried about." Charlotte pointed out. "What about…."
"I'm not going back anytime soon." I assured them, they obviously knew the value of what they created.
"Everyone shut up," Rosalie yelled as we all went silent to hear her phone ring.
Just then the phone rang, Rosalie looked at it and froze. "Alice?" Rosalie towards Alice.
"Yes?" Alice asked.
"Who is calling?" Rosalie asked as Alice paused, then answered. "I don't know, I can't see them." She smiled towards her sister as Rosalie took Emmett's hand and went inside.