(Edward's POV)
I could hear the child downstairs. Emmett was doing something that had her in peals of giggles and the others were laughing at her. I scowled and tossed a book carelessly into the box at my feet. Annie had been with us for a few days and she had won over almost everyone in the household, much to my annoyance. Yes the child was cute, I couldn't deny that, but my family had just completely thrown all caution to the wind. It hadn't taken Emmett or Rosalie very long to become wrapped around her finger. I felt guilty, I could see the pain on each other their faces and I knew what they were thinking. Each of my family members was sad they would never have children of their own. I wished with all my dead heart they could. But they can't and it was too dangerous keeping this young human child. Carlisle and Esme decided where we were moving. We were going to the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. A perfect place to hide the child until the news reports for the missing girl settled down. It was an hour from the nearest city where Carlisle was able to get a job. There was a very small town where we would be able to buy food and provisions for Annie. The laughter continued downstairs and I grabbed a book before flopping down into Carlisle's desk chair, and settled back to some history book of Jaspers. It wasn't interesting to me but if it kept me hidden in here long enough until Carlisle got home for us to have a very serious talk I'd deal with it. This would be my last chance to talk to him before we were set to leave in two days. I smelt the sweet scent of the child before her small curly head poked inside the room. Her cheeks were red and her eyes wide with excitement. Her brown curls hung wildly around her face, having come out of the careful French braid Alice had worked so hard on that morning. I watched as she snuck in, shutting the door as quietly as she could.
"Can I hide in here?" She whispered to me.
"Annie!" Rosalie called playfully before I could answer and without my permission she darted in my direction and slipped under my legs to hide under the desk. I stared in shock, not knowing what to say. I sighed and slumped in my seat, pinching the bridge of my nose. I could hear the others trailing around the house, every now and then calling for her, each of them knowing exactly where she was. Every now and then Annie would giggle. I clenched my teeth and picked the book back up, intending to ignore her. It wasn't long before the child became bored with the game.
"What are you reading?" I lifted the book and found her staring up at me curiously.
"A history book." I answered. Before I could continue reading she crawled out and grabbed onto my jeans. I froze as she easily crawled up to sit on my lap. She took the book from me and opened it. I sat completely motionless.
"Can I read it too?" She asked, looking back at me.
"Um…" Was all I managed to say. She frowned back at me.
"Are you scared of me?" She asked curiously. That snapped me out of it.
"No of course not!" I snapped. For a second I thought I'd scared her but then she burst out into giggles and covered her mouth with her hand. I felt my lips twitch at the corners but I resisted.
"You wouldn't like it; it's just a history book." I said, shaking my head.
"Oh I like history." She said, coming out of her giggle fit. I raised a brow and she smiled.
"Annie!" Alice was right outside the door and I stood up, setting Annie on the floor.
"Alice, she's in here." I said as I opened the door. She bounced in and I glared at her.
"You knew she was in here, stop trying to make me like her." I hissed low enough so that the child didn't hear me.
"Oh Edward just suck it up and enjoy it." She hissed just as low, glaring at me. "You are going to love her just as much as the rest of us in less than a week." She shoved passed me and started 'looking' for Annie, who had darted back under the desk.
"Annie? Where are you?" Alice called playfully. She was answered by stifled giggles. I rolled my eyes and leaned against the doorframe as Alice crept around the desk.
"Boo!" She yelled as she dropped to the floor in front of where Annie was hiding. She was met by screams and giggles and I chose to leave at that point. There were a lot of things I needed to pack in my room. I'd come back later when they'd had their fill of rolling on the floor playing 'tickle monster'. As I headed down the hallway I was met by Emmett and Rosalie, of whom both looked pissed.
"Just give up Edward. She's staying with us." Rosalie huffed.
"Leave me alone Rose." I glared right back at her. I changed direction and headed towards the door instead of upstairs. Esme was sitting on the sofa wrapping plates and glasses in newspaper.
"Where are you going?" She looked up when I passed by her and I tried to soften my mood.
"I'm going hunting. I'll be back late tonight." I opened the door and ran out.
…
(Alice's POV)
"Alice, look!" Annie caught my attention and I looked down as she held up a picture of what looked like stick figures in front of a house.
"Wow who are they?" I asked sitting on the floor beside her.
"You guys!" She said excitedly and then started pointing out each of us in the photo, everyone except for a certain someone.
"Where's Edward?" I asked. Her face fell and she looked down at the floor and rolled a green crayon between her fingers.
"He doesn't like me." She said softly. Then she looked up at me with a frown. "So I don't like him." I almost laughed but was able to bite it back. It'd been a week and a half since Carlisle and Esme found her and Edward hadn't budged with his decision. He'd tried to talk Carlisle out of keeping Annie. Though I knew it hurt them to say it, they told him if he didn't except her then he would just have to deal with it or leave. Rosalie had been mad at him many times before but never had she wanted to rip him apart the way she did now. I, on the other hand, wasn't mad at him because I knew something nobody else knew. Edward would accept Annie tomorrow.
"Honey he likes you." I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my arms.
"Then how come he's always mad at me?" She sniffed.
"He's just . . . shy." I shrugged and she sighed. Luckily Rosalie came in at that time with a plate in her hands.
"Hey Annie, are you hungry?" She sat crossed legged in front of us and Annie nodded enthusiastically and reached for the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
"How's the packing going?" I asked.
"Good. Everything is done." She said, reaching out to brush one of Annie's stray curls that had fallen out of her French braid. Annie quickly finished eating and hopped off my lap to grab another piece of paper and continue coloring.
"Carlisle wants us to go hunting tonight before we leave in the morning." I tried not to smile so Rose wouldn't be suspicious.
"Who's staying with Annie?" I played oblivious.
"Edward's supposed to return from his hunting tonight." Rosalie spat his name out like a bad taste. "He's going to see if he wouldn't mind staying with her. Cause we're not going to leave until they get her to sleep." I nodded and stood up.
"Want to come show Esme your pictures?" I asked, reaching my hand out for Annie.
"Yeah!" She smiled excitedly and jumped up, gathering all her pictures and running ahead of me. Rosalie and I hung back and walked at human pace. By the time we got downstairs to the kitchen she was sitting on the counter and explaining her art to Esme, who was holding the picture of all of us.
"Where's Edward?" She asked. Again, Annie frowned and shook her head.
"I don't like him." She said with a shrug. I saw Esme's face fall a little and I broke in.
"Annie you want some juice?" I asked.
"Can I have chocolate milk instead?" She asked hesitantly. I smiled and nodded. It was cute how she was always hesitant and embarrassed to ask for anything. I poured her milk and mixed in a little chocolate syrup before giving it to her. At that time Emmett decided to join us. And Annie about spilled her chocolate milk everywhere.
"Emmett!" She sat the glass down on the edge of the counter, Rosalie caught it before it fell off, and slid off the counter. She landed with an adorable 'oof!' and fell to her knees. It was only a split second before she was up and charging at him. He knelt down and caught her in a hug before rising up and holding her upside down behind him. She squealed with giggles and I saw Esme wince.
"Emmett, be careful with her!" Rosalie hissed and he winked at her before setting Annie back down. She latched onto his leg and grinned up at him, still giggling.
"Can we play hide and seek again?" She asked.
"Well, I was coming in here to ask Esme something." He answered apologetically.
"Oh." Annie's face fell a little.
"How about later?" He asked. She brightened and nodded, wide smile back in place before skipping back over to her chocolate milk.
"What did you need?" Esme asked, handing Annie her glass.
"Well I know everything you want to take with us is going to be shipped, I just wanted to know if there are any boxes you wanted out in the cars." He said. Esme nodded and pointed to the boxes on the table.
"Those are dishes I'm taking. Put them in the back of Carlisle's car." She said and he gave her a mock salute.
"Annie you want to help me?" He asked. She nodded and handed her empty glass to Rosalie before running back to him. "I need you to hold the doors open for me while I carry the boxes out ok?" She gave him a salute, making him laugh and ruffle her hair, knocking more curls out of place. Emmett picked up a few boxes and Annie led him down the hallway. Everything was done in the house after Emmett finished loading the boxes. So the rest of the day was spent watching Annie 'beat' Emmett and Jasper both at hide and seek. Esme, Rose, and I were in the kitchen fixing Annie her dinner when Carlisle came in.
"Is Edward back yet?" He asked.
"No, he should be any moment though." I answered. As if on cue, said person walked through the back door. He looked calmer than he had this morning, but he still looked unhappy. He froze when he saw all of us standing in the kitchen. Rosalie was already glaring daggers at him. I could only image what she was saying to him in her mind. Esme flipped a grilled cheese sandwich on a plate and shoved it in Rosalie's hands.
"Take her upstairs to the bedroom. Once she'd done get her ready for bed." Esme spoke in a tone that left no room for argument. She obeyed, muttering curses under her breath.
"What's going on?" Edward asked, looking curious.
"We need to hunt before we leave in the morning." Carlisle started. Edward still looked clueless so he must have been guarding his thoughts carefully.
"Would you mind staying here with-?"
"Absolutely not!" Edward cut him off loud enough to make me wince.
"Edward you'll scare her." Esme shushed him.
"I didn't sign up for babysitting duty!" He hissed, glaring at them.
"Maybe not, but do you want to prevent an accident?" Carlisle glared right back at him.
"Carlisle-"
"It's been days since any of us hunted and you're the safest one she can be around at this moment." Esme tried to sound calm but she let some of her annoyance slip through. Edward clamped his mouth shut. He didn't agree but he didn't refuse either.
"We'll leave as soon as she falls asleep." Carlisle said. Edward didn't say a word, just a slight nod before stomping out of the room. I couldn't help but smile. Things were going as I'd seen in my vision. Now all I had to do was keep off of it for the next hour so Edward wouldn't know.
(Edward's POV)
I didn't say anything as they readied themselves to leave. Jasper and Alice had already left since Rosalie was tending to Annie.
"She hasn't had a nap today so she should stay asleep until we get back." Esme said when they were about to head out the door. I still hadn't spoken a word to them.
"Just in case, I'll be back in five hours or so." Carlisle added. I gave a short nod and watched as they left. Once they were gone I sank onto the sofa with a groan. At least the child was sound asleep. The only sound in the entire house was the steady thump of her heart beat and her slow breathing. When she began to dream I flipped the TV on to distract myself from hearing the childish dream of her playing with 'Emmy' and Rosie. I rolled my eyes when I saw the move The Lost Boys playing. Really, the picture Hollywood paints of us. It's quite ridiculous. Since there was nothing else really on I left it on that and halfway through the movie I found myself smiling in amusement. I'd completely forgotten about her, until there was a drastic change in her dream. I could see the horrified expression of a young woman with brown curly hair and bright blue eyes, forever frozen with fear of her gruesome death. Annie couldn't see what the creature bending over her looked like. It was just a dark shadow. The only thing she could see were the glowing red eyes of the creature. Then the images were gone and a piercing scream came from upstairs. Annie was awake and terrified. I don't remember running up the stairs but in a split second I was on the edge of the bed next to the frightened child. When the bed shifted from my weight she looked up at me with large red eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. When she saw she was no longer dreaming she threw herself at me and wrapped her arms around me. I could feel her tears soaking through my shirt as her body shook with sobs. I was frozen in place, unable to think of what to do. After a few minutes I let my arms fall slowly and hesitantly rubbed her back. She tightened her arms around my waist. I relaxed a little more and very slowly wrapped my arms around her. When she didn't shy away I shifted her so her head was on my shoulder. She hiccupped and wrapped her around my neck. After a few minutes her sobs turned to sniffles. Snippets of the dream played in her head and she shuddered against me.
"D-don't let- let him get m-m-me." She hiccupped, pulling away and looking at me. Some of her hair was stuck to her wet cheeks and tears still continued to fall though she was no longer hysterical. Her words struck me hard in the pit of my stomach. She was so innocent and scared. She was still looking at me, sniffling and waiting for me to speak.
"I won't." I surprised myself when I spoke. What surprised me even more was I meant it.