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Chapter 15

Father

The trio crested a hill, stopped for a moment, looked down upon the town below them. Rose turned to Bella.

"I swear to God, I don't know why Carlisle makes us live so far outside of the city. Look at this. It's eleven o'clock and almost every light in the town is out!" Bella shrugged. Behind her, Edward laughed.

"That is precisely why he has us live so far outside of the city, Rose. It allows us some privacy, away from prying eyes. We lived in Manhattan during the first century we spent here, and it caused us nothing but trouble. I personally had to dispatch four intrepid vampire hunters, and one priest."

"Priest." Bella looked up at him. "You never finished telling me about how you became a vampire, Edward."

"Did you tell her about Father Felix?" Rose laughed peals of silver in the night.

"Father Felix." Edward's voice held a smile as well. "No, I don't believe we reached that point in the story. Father Felix is almost personally responsible for my vampirism. I say almost because modern science and psychology have helped me to understand that his actions were probably not entirely under his control."

Bella looked at Edward, head tilted, saying nothing. Rose sat down on the curb under a streetlight, leaned back on her arms, stretched.

"We have time, Edward," she said.

"Are you that anxious to hear it again, Rose? I recall – only a few years ago – you shouting something along the lines of 'forget that dead pope' at me."

"That's only because you were in one of your theological phases, with all the questioning about God and all that crap. I was tired of it." Rose's teeth gleamed, her smile having returned from its earlier departure.

"Ah. Yes. God and all that crap. Exactly what I was obsessed with at the time Carlisle brought me into darkness."

"He talks like some Goth poet wannabe. Have you heard him talk about sex?" Rose's tone was conspiratorial, but Bella knew Edward had heard it, despite appearing not to notice. She covered a smile with her hand.

"Father Felix had one outstanding flaw that put him somewhat at odds with the church, though he had gone to great pains to make sure the church was unaware of it. I would likely have been his undoing, if not for my encounter with Carlisle. Father Felix, it turns out, was very fond of young men with a fervent belief in God."

"Oh, no …" Bella was smiling, shaking her head.

"It took five years. I was under his tutelage for that long, from the age of eighteen to twenty-three. I can honestly say I never knew, and never saw it coming. We were closing up the cathedral for the night. It was dark. Empty and warm. I have the suspicion that Felix may also have been availing himself of some drink that night." Edward paused, rolled his eyes.

"I assure you, there are few things more surprising in life than an unexpected kiss from a middle-aged priest. One of those things, though, would be the feel of his hand pressing against your groin." Rose exploded into laughter.

Edward coughed, seemed to be holding back laughter of his own. He shook his head. Bella grinned, nodded.

"I imagine that's the case."

"The vampires I know are sexual creatures, barring Carlisle, and they don't necessarily adhere to traditional sexual values."

Edward glanced at Rose, who waved at him, still giggling.

"Learning more about sexuality since my days as a priest has … opened my eyes significantly. I would not be bothered at all, at this stage of my life, though I can't claim to have any particular attraction to men of any age. But then? I was horrified. Here was the man who had taken me under his wing, taught me many things about the good book, solidified in me my belief that I wanted to be ordained and helped me see it through …"

"And there he was trying to cop a feel in the middle of a fucking church!" Rose rolled backwards in the grass, clutching her knees to her chest, laughter renewed. "It's not that I care, I just … I can picture Edward's face. Oh my god, I'm going to die."

"I was actually so startled that, in my confusion, I asked him if he was hurt. As absurd as it was, my brain had decided that he was perhaps having a stroke or heart attack, and had simply fallen against me." Rose howled laughter at the moon.

"Stop it, Edward! My stomach hurts!" Her laughter was contagious, and Bella found herself joining, although she did not find the scene that Edward described to be nearly as amusing as Rose. Funny, sure, but perhaps the age she had lived in had inured her to these things. Finally, Rose's laughter died down. She lay on the grass, looking up at the night sky, gasping for air and breaking into giggles here and there.

"May I continue?" There was a half-smile on Edward's lips.

"Yes, please." Bella looked back to him.

"I'm sorry, Bella. Really. I mean, it's Edward. Anyone else, it wouldn't be that funny. You know?" Bella smiled. Nodded. She knew.

"When I was finally able to accept what had happened – and no one had moved, mind you. We both seemed frozen after I had stepped away – I shouted something about God's wrath and stormed from the church. I could hear Father Felix stammering, shuffling behind me, calling me back, but it was far too late for that. I was in the London streets, the night was still early, and I let the crowd swallow me.

"I walked for some time without really thinking of anything other than the punishments God would surely hurl down upon Felix. Plague, a rain of fire and brimstone … something. And yet, the longer I walked, the more I came to realize that this, of course, could not have been some spontaneous conversion on Felix's part. He must have been fighting his urges for quite some time before at last giving in, and for all I knew, I was not the first he had approached.

"How was it possible? How could God permit it? How could He let this man, filled with such impurity, become not only His servant, but the head of a large cathedral. It was impossible. Yet it had happened." Edward was looking at the moon again. He smiled.

"Eventually my wandering led me to a graveyard. Chance? Fate? I don't know. I could not remember the path I had taken to get there, but it mattered little. I sat with my head bowed on a stone bench for some time, until finally I implored God to deliver me from this confusion, and light my path before me.

"God did not answer, but from the darkness beyond the graves a voice whispered to me. Carlisle's voice."

Bella shuddered. Her brief meeting with Carlisle was still crystal-clear in her mind. She wondered if it would ever fade.

"Unlikely," Edward said. "He has that effect on people. I remember this first meeting with him like it was yesterday."

"You remember everything like it was yesterday, and stop reading her mind. That's not fair." Rose was sitting up again, leaning her elbows against her knees, chin resting on her palms, grinning at them.

"My apologies, Rose."

"You're just a big show off! You know Carlisle has to be close to people to do it, and you know I can't do it much at all." Edward shrugged.

"It is a gift I am thankful for. I will be curious to see if I have passed it on to Bella."

"He got all the good genes," Rose said. "I'd be jealous, but I don't have to talk to Carlisle, so I figure it's a fair trade."

"What did Carlisle say to you, Edward?" Bella was filled with curiosity.

She could not imagine Edward, or at least the young priest he had been, willingly accepting the vampire life.

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