The dinner was awkward.
I could see that none of the vampires were enjoying their meal. I could see that Freyja saw that as well. She her kind blue eyes were watchful, she could see that the Cullens were at unease. She kept asking if she could get anyone anything else to eat, and once I saw Jasper nearly answer her, but Alice glared at him and Edward kicked him under the table. I stifled a giggle, and Vivian shot me a murderous glance to shut me up. It worked.
I made an effort to look like I was enjoying the meal, which wasn't hard, in all fairness. Freyja was an amazing cook.
We were eating roast lamb and potatoes, and sauce garnished it to give it a really unique taste. I made a mental note to ask for the recipe after dinner.
Conversation between Esme, Carlisle, Freyja and Sergio was easy and light. From listening in I learned that Sergio and Freyja had been married for eight years, and lived on a farm in Montana with the kids up until now. Freyja was Norwegian ans twenty-nine years old, and Sergio was of Italian decent and was thirty-three, and they met in a café in Denmark years ago.
In stark contrast, the Cullen kids and the Romlan kids conversation was strained. Emmett and the tall Mexican boy, who I assumed was Rocco, talked about hunting for a while. Emmett had a smug smile on his face knowing that he could out hunt anyone without even any weapons, but Rocco had a peculiar smile on his face as well, a smile that I didn't fully trust. I don't know why I felt that, all I know is that I didn't like it.
Jasper talked uneasily to Vince, until Vince got distracted by Rocco, and they started arguing again. They were both quite explosive and intense.
I noticed Rocco's eyes for the first time since meeting him. They wouldn't have caught my attention if they were on anyone else at the table, but they just stood out so strongly on him. Since Rocco was Latino, I would have thought that he would have the typical dark eyes. He instead had a strange blend of what looked like dark brown, but with a sheen of a light bluey green over it, giving it a nearly milky hue over the black base. It made him look blind.
Vivian and Pandore chatted to themselves, as did Rosalie and Alice, occasionally speaking to each other about designer brands or shoes. Pandore looked as if she was going to throw up any moment, but I noticed that she ate a lot for such a small girl. Come to think of it, they all did in that family. The portions were huge, much to the Cullens' despair. Rosalie had to leave the table on two occasions to presumably choke it up. The others just grinned and bore it and pretended to enjoy the meal.
During the course of the meal I spoke mostly to Edward and Dexter. Dexter was so nice and easy to talk to, he reminded me a bit of Jacob. He also reminded me of an actor I had once seen in a movie about a stuntman, I couldn't recall the name of the movie, but the leading man and Dexter had the same large mouth. It made him look like such a nice person, like he was chatty. And he really was.
We talked about movies and music, I couldn't really join in in the conversation about the latter as Edward and him just talked about music that I had never heard of. I just nodded and smiled. Dexter had such an obscure music taste.
When it came time to leave, everyone had loosened up. Freyja hugged everyone goodbye, Rocco gave a small salute and smiled and Vince gave a crooked smile as they said their goodbyes, and then the two boys returned to bickering. Vivian nodded in recognition and Pandore gave a huge grin, the first I had seen all night, and I wondered if she was feeling better. Dexter and Sergio walked us to our cars, and as I got into Edward's Volvo, Dexter grabbed my hand.
"See you in school tomorrow, Bella," he breathed in my ear.
"Okay, I'll see you then, then," I choked out. He pecked me on the cheek as I got into the car. I smiled awkwardly at him as we drove off. Edward had either not noticed that last thing or just didn't care, as he didn't say anything about it. That gave me a knot in my stomach. Edward noticed everything.
He drove me straight to my house, and dropped me off at the front porch. He kissed me on the cheek and whispered "I'll be around later, love."
I walked in to see Charlie watching sports on the television.
"Hey Bells," he greeted me. "Did you have fun at dinner?"
"Yeah, sure, the Romlans are lovely people," I answered simply.
"I hope you didn't get too friendly with the young men in that family," he said disapprovingly. "They're quite a handful,"
"For your information, dad, Dexter is very well behaved and polite. He is a very nice guy, so don't judge him yet." I said.
"If it's the young blond boy you're talking about, I wasn't referring to him. It's the other two that I'm worried about. It took more than just me to get them down to the station the last night, Bells," he cautioned. "They were fighting down near Cleary's late at night. It was proper fighting as well, not just a brotherly tiff. It took me, Jim, Henry and two other bystanders to even get them apart. Mark my words, they are a hell of a lot stronger than they look! Big, ropey muscles on the both of them."
"Really? What was that all about?" I asked.
"I don't know. I got a call from Mrs Cleary saying that there were two men fighting outside her store. When I arrived, I couldn't get them apart so I called for backup. When I finally got them to the station for questioning, they were getting on again, saying it was just play fighting. Dr Romlan and his wife seemed pretty peeved when they were called in, but from the sounds of it you'd know it's not the first time they've been called in."
"Wow. I'll stay away. Anyway, I'm spent. 'Night, dad, see you in the morning."
"'Night, Bells," he said, returning his focus to the television.
I walked tiredly up to my room. When I got there I saw Edward sitting on my bed, reading one of my books. He looked up and smiled at me as I went to sit on his lap.
"Hello, love," he said, kissing my hair.
"Hi," I said back, throwing my arms around his neck.
"What did you think of dinner?" he asked.
"It was good. Have fun choking it up afterwards?" I said with a grin. Edward grimaced.
"As always," he said sarcastically. "So what do you think of the Romlans?"
I thought for a moment. What did I think of them? I liked Dexter. I knew that, he was just great. He was fun, chatty, and just a great guy to be around. His brothers freaked me out, they both had a wild look in their eyes that made them seem unstable. And the girls… Vivian was fierce, and intense. Pandore was too sick to judge just yet.
"They seem… very nice." Edward arched one perfect eyebrow.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, as curious as always.
"Well, Freyja seems lovely. Sergio comes across as a nice guy, and Dexter is just charming. But the others… I don't know. What did you think of them, seeing as you have such a better insight?"
"Well, Vince and Rocco, although it may not appear so, are very close, the term that comes to mind is blood brothers. Vivian is very observant, she is the only one who noticed that my family were reluctant to eating human food. She's also very protective of Pandore, for some reason. Very sisterly. And Pandore was very interesting… she's been sick for the past three days, very violently, and it definitely wasn't a flu."
"What was it then?"
"I don't know. I saw that she has been having heavy nosebleeds, and throwing up blood. Nothing I've ever seen. I was worried that she might get a bleed at dinner, but it seems that her sickness has passed. And also," he said with a smirk, "she's obsessed with Vince."
"Really? I did not notice that. But… tell me about Dexter." Edward shifted uncomfortably.
"What do you want to know?"
"I don't know… stuff."
"Well he likes classic rock music, and he drives an old mustang." was all he said.
"I meant what was he thinking during dinner?" I said, rolling my eyes. Edward was so obtuse sometimes.
"To be honest, Bella, he was thinking about you mostly, and how beautiful you are. It unsettled me." Edward sighed. "He wasn't thinking about you in the typical teenage boys way, like that vile Mike Newton. He was… quite sweet about. I resisted the urge to rip his throat out just about all night."
I was stunned. Dexter really thought that?
"Oh…" I mumbled. "You know it's only you that I love," I said, kicking off my trousers and climbing under the duvet. The sudden tiredness was taking over me.
"Yes, love, I am aware. I love you too. Now get some sleep."
I mumbled in agreement, and snuggled against his wintry chest.
As I drifted off to sleep, my mind wandered randomly to the first time I had spoken to Edward. It had been snowing that day, and the last thing I remembered thinking was how good Edward's hair had looked, with the snow all melted in it…
I don't know exactly when my memories turned to dreams.
All I know is that one moment I was lying in my bed with Edward, and the next I'm walking down a snowy street at night. From the dim streetlights I can see that I'm not alone. There are two tall figures walking alongside me.
One of them was wearing a hood, so I couldn't be sure who it was. But the other figure was unmistakably Sergio Romlan. He wore a grim expression, and instinctively I knew that there was something going on.
We stopped outside a hospital. I didn't catch the name of it, because my focus was turned to Sergio, who was talking quietly to the hooded figure. Their voices were hushed, but I found that if I concentrated I could hear them.
"…just let me help, Serge, I caused this. If I don't help, I'll never forgive myself. I have ruined more than one life here, I need to make this right… Please…" she sobbed. She was so vulnerable, it was strange.
"No, Vivian, you have to leave. If anyone saw you, this could get ugly. Go to the cabin in Alaska and stay there. Sort yourself out. We'll come see you when this is over, okay?" Sergio nearly hissed. The wind blew, and Vivian's hood came down, showing her beautiful russet face and long dark, slightly curling hair. But her teary eyes were different. Instead of their chocolate-chip ice-cream colour, they were now nearly pure minty green, save a bit of brown at the outer edge, shining in the pale moonlight.
"In a few hours, if you're still here, we'll have an even bigger problem. Do you want to make this worse for us? Do you want to draw attention to us? Do you?" He demanded.
"If I can't help you with her, let me go help Freyja and Roc find the male that's loose in the area. He's big, and Freyja is so fragile… Just let me help…" she pleaded.
I felt myself walk dreamily over to them. Vivian looked at me pleadingly with her teary mint eyes.
"You have to go, Vivvy." I said coldly. As soon as I heard my voice I knew who I was. I recognised the soft Californian accent. I was Dexter Romlan. "Freyja is tough, and Rocco is good at what he does. They don't need you. You can't stay."
She looked at me with resignation, turned on her heel and sprinted down the snowy street. Sergio smiled at me sadly.
The cold, dark scene dissolved around me and suddenly I was aware that I was standing in a hospital, observing the dreamlike scene of pandemonium around me. There were nurses and doctors running about franticly. I spotted Sergio speaking to another doctor, who looked incredibly stressed. I heard the words 'gruesome' and 'homicide', but they barely registered. I noted that the hospital looked slightly outdated, not quite in 2009 from the looks of the clothes on the people and the machinery. Suddenly Sergio was at my side.
"We have to be quick," he said. I followed him down an empty hallway, and we were suddenly at a door marked, 'Aceline Snow, 34A'
"She had just woken from a coma. She was expected to make a full recovery." He said in a small, melancholy voice. I put my hand on is shoulder. I felt the need to comfort him.
He opened the door to reveal a bloody scene. There was blood everywhere. On the walls, the floor, the roof… and there were shreds of bloody clothes lying on the ground, and the windows were smashed. My stomach lurched, and my head swam.
"She was only sixteen." Was all Sergio said. "Oh well, lets do this quickly. The police will be here soon."
I woke up screaming.