Summary - "Bella is an average girl, struggling with her homosexuality and her life at home. Can the love of not one, but three vampires help show her that she shouldn't be afraid? A/B/R/V".
Author's Notes – Inspired by my dear friend Hollowgo.
AN: To - Perfectionista - About your review if you are going to put something as stupid like that down at least have the nerve to make sure what your saying is right then make sure you use your real username and don't be a loser. Because no where in the last sentence does it say that Shelia and Alicia are in Washington. Neither is it implied that Shelia's parents are buried in Washington.
Rating - Older Teen to Mature
By: WDG and Lash_Larue
The Garden of Four - Chapter Eighteen – Past Histories
The next morning after Charlie had left for work, Bella got up and promised to meet Alice at school after a quick shower and some breakfast. Alice nodded and kissed Bella on the cheek before heading home to do her own quick morning rituals and change her clothes.
Upon entering the house, Alice heard the sounds of Rose and Victoria going at it for a quick morning round, and shaking her head she made to run up the stairs when she caught sight of her father figure getting ready to leave. She stopped him and told him, "Bella would like to speak with you later if you have time."
Carlisle nodded, "I am always free to have a chat with her. What time would be good to meet up with her?" Alice paused and stared off into space.
"How about today after you get off work and school lets out?" Carlisle nodded.
"That's fine by me, but now I have to get to work." He gave Alice a kiss on the forehead before heading out to work.
Alice watched him go and then sped up the stairs and into her bathroom for a quick shower and a fresh change of clothes. Once done, she made her way downstairs and was met by Rose and Victoria on the couch, both of them smelling like sex and each other. Alice smiled and walked up behind Victoria and kissed her on the neck. "You two were having fun I see, soon we all need to sit down and have a chat with our little Bella...say in about two weeks from now, is that good for you two?" Rose looked at Alice and smiled and nodded, Victoria grinned and nodded as well.
"Yes, that is good for us."
Once all the boys where ready they headed off to school and to meet up with Bella, spotting said girl, Alice ran and jumped into her arms and gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before all of them headed into the school building.
Shelia rolled over with a groan and slammed her fist down on the beeping clock. Cracking open her eyes she sighed and read the numbers before rolling back over, and pulling Alicia's naked body close to her own she nuzzled her neck and gave it a soft kiss.
Alicia rolled over and snuggled up close to Shelia and mumbled out a soft "Good morning, my love." Shelia grinned and rubbed her lover's back softly with the pads of her fingers, tracing soft skin and curvy hips before a slight shove stopped her. Looking up into her lover's face, she was met with sparkling eyes and a smile. "Uh-uh, not right now you have a meeting to go set up my love. If you did not, I would gladly follow your lead and stay in this bed all day, but sadly you have things to plan out and I have a class to go teach. Now go and fix us some coffee while I make up the bed, please."
Shelia sighed and nodded and gave Alicia one more kiss before doing as she was told. Moving to grab her boxers on the ground beside the bed she pulled them on and walked out of the room to get started on the coffee.
A few cups of coffee and a shower later, Shelia was dressed and ready to head out. After kissing her lover goodbye she made her way into the town of Forks as discreetly as possible. Thinking back on some of the brief memories she had gotten from Bella, she knew there was only one way to set up a meeting with her, and that was to talk to a man she had not seen since she was last in Rome about three hundred years ago. Walking into the hospital, she smelt him right away, and she walked up to the desk and smiled at the lady sitting behind it and said, "Hello, I am an old acquaintance of Dr. Cullen. Could you please tell him that I am here and would like a minute of his time?"
Carlisle had just finished up with a patient when he got the page that he had a visitor waiting for him in his office. Walking to his office, he paused outside of the door at the smell coming from inside, and grinning like a boy he walked in and said, "It has been many years my friend. How are you doing?" He closed the door and walked up to Shelia, gave her a hug, and then sat behind his desk
Shelia sat back down. "Yes, it has been many years since we made contact, I myself didn't even know your little coven had moved up here until just recently. Carlisle, it seems that I have done a great wrong to a stranger that came upon my land a few weeks ago, a girl by the name of Bella…" Shelia watched Carlisle for a reaction.
Carlisle frowned before sitting forward in his sea.t "Do you have a problem with Bella? Because friend or not, if you try and harm her in any way…" Shelia sat up and waved her hands.
"Whoa…whoa, no it's not like that, she hasn't done anything, I just…I am the one that …that, well changed her, and I would like to meet this girl that made my control slip. I would like to help her understand more about her new self, and well, apologize for even harming her to begin with."
Carlisle looked on in amazement "It was you the changed young Bella? That's..I don't believe it was you." He paused and stared hard at the girl. "You have such strong control over yourself." Shelia blushed and looked away.
"Yeah, I know, it's another reason why I want to meet her, this girl that made centuries of control go right down the drain." She slumped in the chair. "I would love to meet her, Carlisle, but if you can't set something up I understand…I will leave now and let you think on things," she reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to him. "If you are ready to talk, give me a call would you? Even if it's just to tell me you can't let me near her."
With that Shelia nodded and left the room, leaving a stunned Carlisle deep in thought. Looking down at the paper, he read it… Apprentices Inc. School for the Gifted and Unusual looking at the strange card for what seemed like the hundredth time, he just chuckled and said to himself, "Still teaching those in need, aren't you Shelia…" he sighed and a sad smile came to his face. "You still won't let go of your past mistakes, will you my friend….I will forever be in your debut…now if only I can help to ease your pain."
Shaking his head he put the card into his pocket and went back to work. His head was filled with thoughts of a dying family that he couldn't save, and a little girl that had stared back at him with such pain and with sobs so heart breaking that they tore into his soul. Her icy blue eyes seemed to say to him that it was all her fault. Shaking his head once more he tried to forget those memories.
Bella grabbed her lunch tray and was making her way to sit with the Cullens when the most indescribable pain hit her in her heart. Stumbling a little, like the old Bella, she just barely made it to the Cullen table when a second pain almost splintered the back of her mind.
Flashes of red filled her mind, bodies of people she didn't recognize filled her thoughts, and the heart-breaking scream of a little girl was all she could comprehend before she was jerked back to the present. She expected to meet Alice's golden eyes, but instead she was met by Rose's caramel ones that seemed to scream concern with their gaze. Looking away from those eyes she felt herself crying for no reason she really knew.
Rose looked around for Alice or Victoria, seeing neither of them around because they had stayed back to chat about something. She sighed softly and helped Bella up and out of the lunch room, into the hallway before taking her into the girls' bathroom. Once inside she opened the window to let the cool air in and turned to the sink, grabbing some paper towels she wet one and began to clean Bella's face softly.
Bella was hiccuping and felt her heart clench once again, words whispering inside her head - 'It's my fault..all my fault I led them here, I did this to them….it's my fault that they died…I killed them…mommy…daddy, don't leave me…I am sorry, just change already, please…forgive me for my sins…..' The most disturbing scenes came with the words, pounding in the back of Bella's head, flashes of a woman with blonde hair and green eyes who was smiling so softly and motherly, then a man with snow white hair and deep blue eyes and a grin so like her own dad's it was scary. Then in the next instant they both were dead, with identical bite marks on their necks, and a sobbing girl with silver blond hair and blue eyes standing beside them. She was crying and had blood on her lips and chin, and there was a shadow standing beside her.
She shivered as she felt herself coming back once more, soft caresses and soothing sounds filled her senses, Rose was washing the tears from her face and making soft, shushing sounds that calmed Bella's racing heart and eased the pain somewhat. Leaning forward she gripped onto Rose tightly and breathed in her scent, helping to ease her mind.
Rose almost flinched at the touch, but kept in mind that this was Bella. She wasn't Rose's ex-husband from her human past, Bella would never rape anyone. Plus this was Bella, this was her future mate, gently she pulled Bella closer and held her softly. Scratching her scalp and rubbing her back she tried to ease whatever pain Bella was in. When the girl began to finally calm down she pulled her face back and smiled at Bella, and finished wiping her face off in the silence before drying it. "Are you okay now, Bella?" asked Rose.
Bella nodded and blushed at the sudden feelings she was having, Rose had just done what Alice normally did; she had taken care of Bella and held her while Bella was having what could have passed for a mental breakdown. She didn't know what the hell had happened, but Rose had been her knight in shining armor and Bella could not help but love her all the more for it, which Bella felt was so wrong because she had Alice, and there was also fact the Rose was Alice's sister, adopted or no.
Rose watched the emotions fly across Bella's face, and right as she was going to open her mouth the door to the bathroom opened and in came Alice and Victoria. Both had questioning looks on their faces, and Alice quickly walked over to Bella and wrapped her in a hug followed by a soft kiss on her lips. Alice pulled back and looked over at Rose who just mouthed they would talk about this later. Victoria watched Alice and Bella leave before turning to Rose. "What happened? We came into the lunch room only to find you both gone. Edward said that Bella was in some kind of pain or something, that she almost fell before she made it to the table, and then she started to cry…what happened, Rose?"
Rose sighed and leaned against the counter, "Honestly, Vic baby, I don't know." She paused before going on. "One second she was fine and was making her way to our table like normal, and then all of a sudden this look came to her face when she was only about five feet away. Then when she moved quickly to get to the table she about missed the chair, and when she did sit down I reached out to help her and was going to ask what was wrong." Rose shivered. "Then our eyes met and…the pain I saw in those blue eyes…that's right Vic…her eyes had turned blue, her wolf was in pain too." Rose could feel the tears that would never fall gather in her eyes. "She was in so much pain, I looked around for Alice or you…but I couldn't see either of you so I brought her in here before she could break down…and then she did just that, she broke down in here and I helped the best that I could until you guys arrived."
Victoria frowned before pulling Rose close. "You did good, my Rose," rubbing her mate's back, she kissed the smooth cheek before nuzzling into Rose's neck. "You did good….you didn't freak out when you were holding her, either."
Rose spluttered, "I never said I held her," she looked away from Victoria and out the window.
Victoria grinned "You don't have to honey I can smell Bella on you…you held her while she was crying and didn't let Bella's supposed secret bother you…. " Pulling Rose's face back towards her she gave her a soft kiss and ran her hands over her hair. "You didn't let your past get in the way of your present…I am glad you are finally starting get over the pain that man caused you. I am also glad you know that Bella isn't that man, she would never do anything to you that you didn't want." Rose swore that if she could cry, she would be.
Pulling Victoria to her hard, she gripped her tightly and just held her other lover close. "Yes I know that…but she isn't just my lover or mate for that matter. She is Alice's mate and lover, and yours too. Just like I am not only her mate and lover, I am your mate and lover as well. Or we will be someday, at any rate." She pulled Victoria in for a crushing kiss that the beautiful redhead wouldn't ever forget.
Alice watched Bella walk into her house after school had let out, she had wanted to stay with her, but Bella had said she just wanted some time alone to nap. She would meet up with Alice later when it was time to speak with Carlisle about changing Charlie. She frowned before moving off into the woods and running home. What was wrong with her mate?
Upon getting home she was met by her mother and all of her family in the living room, "What is it, is something wrong?" Alice went to sit beside Rose and Victoria, she leaned into the couch and curled up her legs and waited.
Carlisle took a shaky breath and said, "No, I came across an old friend today. I met her long before I had ever started to doctor humans. She was a unique girl; much like Bella she just had a certain way about her that made her such a kind-hearted child. So it was very unfortunate that she would turn out to be the first Lycan to ever grace this earth. She has many problems with her past, but the one that stands out the most is her 10th birthday…now it isn't my business to explain what happened then, but that was they day we last spoke to each other until about 300 hundred latter after her 10th birthday ago. I met her as a teen in Rome. She had grown into a lovely woman, but she was a withered soul by then, her smile didn't even reach her eyes. She fought in the arena for Caesar himself, and won many a battle, but after that I never heard from her again."
Carlisle paused to collect his thoughts "Until today, that is. She came into my office with some news I am not sure what to do with. You see, it was she who changed Bella in the forest that night months ago." He looked at Alice when he said the next part, "You must forgive her though, she had no control over herself and she couldn't stop. She feels that something compelled her to change Bella. I believe her, because as I said I have known her and I have known of her control, she is one of the Lycans I know that don't see humans as their playthings like a certain group of vampires we all know."
Alice took a deep breath and spoke, "So what does this friend of yours want?"
"She would like to help Bella and get to know the girl that made her lose control of herself, she would also like to ask for forgiveness," Carlisle explained.
Alice nodded "I see."
Carlisle nodded as well, "Yes. It's quite a predicament isn't it?"
Esme rubbed her husband's shoulders, "Why not just do it? But have them meet here, just in case something does go wrong."
Jasper and Edward nodded, and Jasper said "Yes, we will all be here to watch over our newest sister, we won't let anything happen to her. Friend or not, we still don't know much about this friend of yours so this is the safest way they can meet."
Emmett nodded and pounded his chest, "Yes, I agree as well, no one is going to hurt Bella, and all of us can take on one Lycan all right if need be."
Alice sighed and agreed, "Then it is settled, we shall tell Bella and see what she thinks, and then go from there."
Carlisle nodded his head, "Agreed. Now that this is out of the way, how was your day, all of you?"
Rose flinched and looked at Alice before saying, "Not so great, Bella seemed to have some kind of attack at lunch this afternoon, she was in a lot of pain before I finally calmed her down. Do you think your friend can help her with that…if it's a Lycan thing that is?"
Carlisle nodded "I will look into it when I see her, and I'll talk to Bella about it."
"Oh and one more thing, Carlisle, Bella wants to talk to you later. She said she would be over for supper and to play games with Emmett, then she would like to have a word with you. I told you this morning but she changed her mind on the time when we got out of school today, she said that she would like to take a nap, so she won't speak with you until later."
Carlisle smiled and nodded "Yes, I remember this morning. I believe that I can wait and speak to her later tonight if that is what she wants."
Esme grinned as well before asking, "Did my future daughter say anything about what she might want for supper?" Alice just shook her head and grinned.
"No, but I am sure my bottomless pit of a mate will eat just about anything you cook up, she loves your food."
The tension in the room slowly eased off as things went on. Esme and Alice went off to cook some Texas toast with garlic and butter on it, and spaghetti and meatballs with lots of sauce and meat to go with the noodles. Plus some salad to eat before supper, that way they could make sure that Bella would stay healthy and not just eat all kinds of junk food. Jasper, Edward, and Emmett hooked up the two ps3's with four controllers so that they all could play split screen team death match on Call of Duty Black Ops when Bella got there. Rose and Victoria went up to their room to have some alone time, while Carlisle went to his study to read over some files and think about some past memories.
Shelia sat on a tree that was turned over and looked up at the moon, waiting on answers she knows that she will never get. Looking down at the two graves she whispered to the wind, "Father, Mother, please forgive me for my sins…forgive me for killing you both…"
Alicia watched her lover from afar and sighed, "Soon my love, soon I hope your pain eases and you can forget all that happened to you so young."
End Chapter 18