Nine
"The Cullens? What do you wanna know about the Cullens for?" The Chief asks with a skeptical look, leaning back in his chair with a cup of steaming coffee in his hand.
I shrug, trying to look nonchalant. Probably wasn't smart to barge into his office without so much as a 'hey, Pops!' before I started pumping him for information
"I met a few of them at school, heard a few stories, it's made me curious." That sounded casual . . . Right?
"Curious about what?" Charlie asks, his eyes narrowing.
"God, Dad, what's with the suspicion, I'm just . . . curious."
Charlie gives me blank eyes. "Yeah, about what?" He repeats slowly.
"The kids at school-"
"Oh for Christs sakes!" Charlie explodes jumping in his chair and slamming his coffee down.
"Look, I don't know what those little idiots at school said, but I've met Dr. Cullen, he's a good man, coulda worked at any hospital in the country and made a ton more money doing it, it's just lucky his wife wanted to live in a small town. And I haven't heard a peep from those kids of his or their women! Wish I could say the same thing about some of the other kids around these parts."
Uhh . . .
"You seem to, uh . . . have very strong feelings about this, why?" I ask.
Charlie realizes he had started forward in his chair and shifted back to his original position, but not nearly as relaxed as before.
"This town is just too gossipy for its own good, is all, doesn't realize how incredible havin' a Vamp doc is. Did you know that my good friend Sarah, she works at The Diner, went in for a mammogram last year, got a clean bill of health from a human doctor but when Dr. Cullen took a peek at the results, he noticed that cancerous cells were just beginning to form. They weren't visible to the X-rays yet, hell I bet a microscope wouldn't have shown anything — human eyes seeing it? No chance. But with Cullens Vamp eyes, he spotted it, made sure she got treatment right away and stopped the cancer before it could even really get started."
He eyes me seriously to make sure his lecture is sinking in.
"And I don't need you, of all people, buying into all them rumors."
Ohh, ok, I get it now.
"No, Pops, you misunderstood me," I reason, "I'm not judging them, kids at school were, but I talked to two of them, they seemed nice, but I just had some questions is all"
Charlie's eyes widen, "Oh, ah, okay, well — that's fine."
Picking his coffee back up he waves it at me to continue.
"Do you know why they're in school?"
Pops furrows his thick eyebrows. "What's so weird about vamps goin' to school? Vamps been puttin' their kids in school with human kids for about, oh, I don't know, maybe fifteen years now."
"Yeah," I edge, "when they're of an age that they need school. Dr. Cullens sons, or at least two of them, are mated, so that means at least 18, but I was kinda watchin' 'em, and I bet even older than that, by decades at least. So, why are they still in school?"
Charlie's eyes widen and sucks in a breath.
"Holy shit, kiddo, I didn't even think of that . . . damn my dame, I haven't got the foggiest clue, then."
"You said you know Dr. Cullen? Y'all never talked about it?" I ask.
"Our conversations have mostly consisted of the nature of injuries the folks I bring in have. Like car crash victims and the such."
He took a long pull from his coffee before speaking again.
"One day, when the Cullens were still new to the town, we got called over to a terrible motorcycle accident, the rider got smacked into by a car doin' eighty and not bothering to mind the stop sign. Driver of the car was perfectly fine, hell even tried to flee the scene, driving over the motorist again to do so, but got blocked off by some other cars."
"That sounds pretty exciting for Forks." I comment as Pops takes another pull of coffee.
"Both drivers were from Seattle, just passing through, anyway, when we got the motorist to the hospital he was in a bad way — he was drenched in blood, his face was dented inwards, you could tell from just lookin' his scull around his eyes was crushed, his body had been speared around his middle with large bits of metal and had perforated his bowels, his legs were mangled and twisted —"
"Alright! Dad, I get it, please, enough." I interrupt, not able to stomach anymore descriptions.
Pops grins. "Ahaha, you lil light weight."
"Alright, the point is, it didn't seem like the good lord himself could have saved him, the devil neither, but Dr. Cullen did. When we heard he'd live, we almost felt sorry for the som-bitch, we thought he'd never walk again, probably be stuck in a vegetable state and having to shit through a bag attached to his stomach, but that's not what happened. Dr. Cullen not only saved his life but also truly fixed that poor man.
Charlie stands up and takes off a post card from his pin board behind his desk chair. It holds pictures of all his buddies, and even some first place ribbons and the such. I'm a little sadden when I see I'm not on the board but then I immediately notice all the pictures on his desk, all of which are facing towards him, are of me from throughout the years. It's obvious I'm very honored in his office. Hehe.
Lord . . . bratty much?
Pops hands me the post card with a small, satisfied smile.
"With almost four years of physical therapy he's made a full recovery and is expecting a baby girl with his wife. Dr. Cullen has become an integral part of this community, but I'm tellin' you this 'cause every time we talked about the patients, you'd be amazed at how much sheer compassion the man acted with. And he ain't no phony, tryin' make it seem like he cares about human life, he just truly does. Vampires had never lived in this town, at least not openly as far as I know, and that's what calmed these scaredy humans off of tryin' drive them out, not that they could, mind you, but still."
I hand the postcard of the happy, smiling couple back to Pops.
"I'm glad to hear that, dad, I only talked to Emmett and Jasper, but they seemed nice. It's a shame the kids at school are too hard on them"
Dad looked at me thoughtfully.
"Emmett and Jasper? The big one and the lanky one, right?"
I nod.
"Hmm, gotta admit that's a bit . . . unusual, Carlisle said his kids can be quite antisocial, especially the lanky one and the one with red eyes."
Ye-e-es, answers.
"So the third brother isn't mated?"
"Nope, and I get what your saying, kiddo, I've seen Carlisle interacting with that one, Edward, I think, at the hospital, and it's not like one would talk to a young son, but an old equal, I wouldn't be surprised if he's older than me by a few decades."
"That's too bad." I whisper, feeling saddened for the mystery Vamp, I haven't even met.
This is so weird. Why am I being affected like this?
After talking to Emmett and Jasper, however briefly, and hearing about Carlisle, who my father obviously respects greatly, it's disappointing their brother and son didn't mate. I've heard it's torture for those that don't.
"What'dya mean?" Pops asks.
Hmm?
"I'm surprised you don't know this about Vamps, dad, if they don't mate within months of their 18th birthday, they never do."
Charlie gasps and his eyes glaze over with thoughts from another time.
"O-o-o-oh, well, that would explain it then . . ."
"Explain what?"
"Well, when I met him, he seemed like quite the oddball to be honest. He'd laugh outa turn, or glare at passing people as if he wanted to hunt them or something. Once, when a nurse passed by, he looked at her with enough disgust to fill a moat. And he'd get real sad lookin' most of all — it was like he had ADHD or somethin'.
"Hmm — except for the sad part that doesn't really sound like the inert behavior of a mateless Vamp."
"Really?"
"Well, I mean maybe if he's, like, really old, and spent too much time being unmated and now he's losing his mind or something, but I honestly have no clue."
"Maybe, nothing's impossible, but I doubt Carlisle would allow an insane Vamp to run around unchecked." Charlie reasons. "Well, anyways, don't listen to those punks at school, the Cullens are fine . . . Uh, people."
A call comes in and I realize I've been hogging Pops's time for the last half hour.
"Damn, old man, you gotta work, my bad," I laugh standing up.
"Yup, why did you come down here, to talk about the Cullens, anyways? This coulda waited until I got home."
"Oh, no, I completely forgot, there's no food at the house and I need money to go grocery shopping, that's why I came down."
"I don't have much on me now, so we'll just order pizza or somethin' when I get home, and tomorrow I'll start leavin' grocery money in the jar above the fridge, Kay?"
I nod my acceptance, give Pops a kiss then head out the door.
"Hey wait, Bells?"
I turn back to Pops who's tryna hide a grin.
"Those boys really talked to you?"
I nod.
Charlie bursts out laughing, his handsome face turning red around the cheeks.
"What's so funny about that? I'm an excellent conversationalist. No thanks to you, ya old doofus."
Charlie's laugh tampers off some and he wipes at his eyes.
"Oh, lord, little girl, it would be you that the vamps take an interest in wouldn't it? Whole town full of people, and it's you."
He starts giggling again and I stomp away. It's not like I asked for the kind of luck I've been dealt in this life.
Although I must admit, I don't consider Emmett and Jasper talking to me, among all people, as unlucky . . . Quite the opposite, actually.
I just don't know why.
I wish I could say that my inquisition of the Cullens cured my curiosity but now I'm just left with more questions, a more addictive need to know all about them.
Get over it, Bella, it's not like you'll ever get to know, know them — they're a coven of vampires for crying out loud and you'll only be here until college. Give up on this witch hunt before you become anymore obsessed.
Humph . . . Shit, I can't! Why do I feel this way? Why do I care so much? How can I get all the answers I desperately want?
Pft, yeah right — Good luck with that
I hope you enjoy disappointment, you lil doofus.
AN: Once again thanks to all my readers and especially all my reviewers, I've been surprisingly good at updating a lot, mainly because those of you that review have given me something to look forward to whenever I post a new chapter. Also thanks to those that understand I need to take my story at my own pace, and not rush Bella and Edward meeting. I'm trying to grow as a writer and this story is great practice for me to stop rushing too much.
Please review and let me know what you thought of the chapter.