Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephanie Meyer, sparkly vampires and all.
Authors Note: I am back! Exams kind of took over my life the last two weeks. My school's drama production is opening in about a month and I'm on the crew so I'll be very busy until the end of February. But I'll still try to update as soon as I can! Thank you to all of you who continue to add me to your story alerts and favorites! Thanks MyDarkTwistedWorld for reviewing the last chapter! I hope you enjoy this long chapter that hopefully will make up for the delay. Thanks you to all who continue to follow this story! Read, review, and enjoy!
Chapter 7
Surprise
"Life is full of surprises."
Life with the Cullen's was effortless and a challenge. Almost all the Cullen's welcomed Fred and I with open arms; they made us feel right at home. Within days I already felt I had been living with them for centuries. The only member that made me feel uneasy and unwelcome was Rosalie.
Emmett had tried to convince her that we were no harm to the family, but she refused to listen. Fortunately, I hardly saw Rosalie; she put a great deal of effort in avoiding Fred and I. The few times that I did happen to run into her, she always stiffened and tensed up as if I might explode any minute. At least she didn't openly glare at me with her piercing golden eyes like she did with Fred.
Besides Rosalie's coldness, the Cullen's made joining their coven almost effortless-almost. The only downside about joining their coven was their diet. Not being able to drink any human blood was torturous. Once you've had human blood nothing can compare to it. Nothing. Nothing would ever be able to beat the sweet feeling of hot fresh human blood trickling down my throat. Luckily the Cullen's never got frustrated with Fred or I when we openly longed for human blood.
"Earth to Bree, earth to Bree!" said a slightly annoyed voice. "You're going to have to finish this sometime or another!"
I blinked and sat up straighter, breaking away from my trail of thoughts. I was sitting in the Cullen's dinning room table, with dozens of schoolbooks spread out before me. Alice sat across from me with her laptop in her lap and her flawless nails tapping the table impatiently.
"W-what did you say again?" I asked sheepishly, "I kind of zoned out."
Alice let out a sigh of annoyance before saying, "You seem to be zoning out quite often. I guessing math is not your favorite subject?"
"It most definitely is not," I told her while looking down at the textbook in front of me. Alice had been trying to teach me geometry for the past hour with very little success.
Even though Fred and I wouldn't be attending public school anytime soon, Carlisle and Esme both insisted that we be home schooled, so we wouldn't be far behind when we did get the chance to go to school again.
Being home schooled by the Cullen's wasn't actually that bad. Since Carlisle was the oldest of all of the Cullen's, he taught mostly everything. English, Science, Math and almost all the Cullen's taught History. Since they were all alive during different time periods they could all tell me about it. Esme helped a lot too, she was wiz at Math and English so she and Carlisle took turns teaching those subjects. Much to Fred and I horror Emmett had offered 30 minutes a day of physical education. Luckily for us Carlisle told him it was a nice offer but "maybe we could just take Bree and Fred one of our baseball games sometime." Just looking at Emmett's muscular arms made me shudder.
Usually, Esme would be teaching me math right now, but she had to go get something for Edward and Bella's wedding. So Alice had graciously offered to fill in Esme's position. Honestly I would have rather to skip the whole lesson all together.
"Come on Bree, you only have 5 more questions!" Alice said encouragingly. "Just apply what I just taught you to the questions and you'll be able to finish these questions in minutes!"
"Easy for you to say! You've been doing this for centuries!" I whined. My eyes flickered up to Fred's bedroom door. Since Fred had nearly 5 years more of schooling than I, we were usually were home schooled separately. He was currently being tutored by Jasper. Not that he needed to be though. Fred was definitely a genius at heart, how else was he able to receive a scholarship to Stanford University while he was still a human? I, on the other hand, was not a genius. I wasn't even close to one; I never scored higher than a C while in school. Getting a B was a miracle and getting an A? Well that was unheard of.
"Bree, you're doing it again," Alice said in singsong voice. I had once again been buried under all my thoughts.
"Sorry…again."
"A lot on you mind?"
"You could say that."
Alice looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "Well I know what could help."
I looked at her suspiciously, "What?"
"Finishing you math problems."
"Alice!"
"It's true! Finishing them will definitely take your mind off of many-"
"Aw come on Alice!" I said exasperatedly, "I promise I'll finish them tomorrow with no complaining if you let me be done for today."
Alice looked thoughtful for a moment before giving in, "Oh alright you can be done! I can see that we'll get no benefit if we continue."
"Thank you Alice you're the best!" I told her while happily slamming my textbook shut with a loud thud.
"Yes well we already knew that didn't we?" She said jokingly while closing her laptop with a small click.
"What have you been doing on that for the past hour by the way?" I asked gesturing toward the shiny laptop resting on the table.
"Oh I've just been shopping for you and Fred," Alice said with a small shrug.
"Of course you have," I said rolling my eyes at her. Alice had been shopping for Fred and I since the day we had arrived. Fred and I had been betting on how many trucks would be arriving filled with just clothes on Thursday; the day when the orders were set to be arriving. She seemed to be determined to fill our closets before Fred and I would even be able to make up our designs for our rooms. Which both still remained a plain boring white.
"You really are trying to make that vision of yours come true aren't you?" I teased her as we made our way to the living room.
"Just a bit," Alice said smiling and lightly plopped down on the couch. "Speaking of which, do you have any ideas about your room yet?"
"Well…actually I do." I said hesitantly. "It's not that good really…its just been roaming my mind lately and—"
"Ooh never mind if it isn't that good, tell me!" Alice squealed excitedly. It was amazing how many things she got excited about.
"I think it would be better if I showed you actually," I told her getting a bit excited myself. I walked back to the dining area and groped under all the textbooks for the pictures I had printed off the computer early this morning. Once I had found them I nervously showed Alice the images.
There were four of them. One was a picture of the Great Wall of China looking grand and strong, another was the beautiful shores of Hawaii the sun shining brightly above it, the third had a brilliant view of the Temple of Athena in Greece, and finally the last one had a splendid view of the famous Effie Tower in Paris with a breath taking sunset in the background.
"These are all place I'd really like to visit someday," I explained to Alice. "I was wondering if somehow we could transfer each on these pictures onto one of my walls in my room."
"Bree that's—" Alice started to say.
"I know it's pretty stupid I just though it would be cool." I said quickly cutting her off.
"Bree what are you talking about?" Alice asked me smiling "this is a fantastic idea!"
I blinked in surprise, "wait…really?"
"Yes it's brilliant! I never would have thought of it," Alice gushed excitedly. "You also happen to be in luck too, Rosalie just happens to be a great artist. She would be able to draw these pictures on the walls for us, and then we could all help paint them together!" Alice said getting more and more excited.
"Yeah…fun…" I said, suddenly feeling less excited about the project. The idea of making Rosalie design my whole entire room didn't seem exciting to me. I was pretty sure she wouldn't be too thrilled about her involvement in the project either.
Alice on the other hand seemed oblivious to the problem and excitedly started to make of list of the supplies we were going to need. I watched in amused as Alice fretted if we would be able to finish the room before the wedding.
My head snapped toward the upstairs as I heard Fred's bedroom room door opened. Fred and Jasper walked out together and casually made their way down the stairs. They seemed to be in a deep conversation about something that had to do with biology. I smiled fondly at the two of them; it was amazing how close they gotten over the past week.
"So what are you two girls doing?" Jasper asked after he had kissed Alice lightly on the cheek.
"We're just planning Bree's room," Alice told him.
"Sounds like fun," Fred said winking at me before taking a sit across from me.
"Loads," I said seriously. "So what were you two talking about? It looked pretty serious."
"We were just discussing the project I had been working on for a professor of mine before I was turned."
"Really? What did you do?" I asked him curiously. Fred had never told me about his life before he was changed, even though we had known each other for a couple months now. Then again I had never told him about my past life either so I guess it was only fair.
"He wanted me to find and study specimens along the coasts of Oregon and Washington beaches. I'd usually camp for most of the trip, and sometimes I'd going several days without seeing anyone. It was a very solitary trip." Fred explained to us. "Riley found me on one of the beaches along the Oregon and Washington coast." Fred's eyes harden as he told us, "I remember he asked if I was interested in some excitement. " Fred paused for a moment staring intently into space before continuing, "I of course refused the offer. I told him I was content with the work I was doing and did not need excitement in my life. Riley…he…" Fred furrowed his eyebrows as if trying to recall the memory he had kept a secret for so long. "He told me he understood and wished me luck with my studies. After I thought he had left, I turned back toward the ocean. It was…a clear day. The sky was clear blue and the sun was shining radiantly over head…"
"Fred, you don't have to tell us everything if you don't want to," Jasper reminded him.
Fred took a breath, "No its okay. I've wanting to tell my story for a while. That view of the ocean…that was the last clear image I saw as a human. Riley, he must have snuck up behind me and hit me in the head because after that I blacked out. When I woke up I heard voices quietly talking. They must have realized I was awake because the last thing I saw was a pair of bright blood red eyes staring into mine before I felt a searing amount of pain near my neck and blacked out."
No seemed to be able to say anything after Fred had finished his story, it was if we were all wallowing in our creation stories. My thoughts drift down memory land, taking me back to the moment when I had told Diego the events leading up to my own creation. Even though it had been weeks since Diego's death, my heart still ached when every I thought of him. I had no picture of Diego; it was only my memories that showed me his curly black hair and sweet smile. Sometimes I wonder what I will do when my memories betray, and I forget how it felt when he kissed me. Maybe some day I'll search for him on Google or something and find a picture of him but only when it stops hurting so much. But I can't help but wonder if it will ever stop hurting.
All of us broke away from our trip down memory lane when we heard Esme's cheerful voice coming from the kitchen.
"Hello!" she said smiling carrying four huge packages at her sides, but some how still managing to make it look effortless.
We all mumbled hello, still partly buried in our memories.
Jasper was the first to fully emerge from his memories and started to get up when he realized how much Esme was holding. "Do you need any assistance, Esme?" he asked, gesturing toward all the packages.
"No, no is fine Jasper," Esme told him with a reassuring smile. Esme lightly set all the packages on the kitchen counter before joining us in the sitting area.
"Esme, if you don't mind asking, what are all the those packages for?" Fred asked.
"Those are all for Bella's and Edwards wedding, and that's just the beginning of what will be arriving," Esme told him.
I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows, how elaborate was Edward and Bella's wedding going to be? " It's going to be some wedding huh?"
"Yes it will be, it will be the best wedding that Forks will ever have!" Alice told us popping up from where she had been leaning against Jasper. "Speaking of which, I have to run to town and mail out an order form to the flower company, and Bree" Alice said turning towards me. "I'll also go buy some paint for your room so we can get started right away. Hopefully we'll finish your room before the wedding, I don't want the smell of fresh paint invading our house during the wedding."
"You've decided how to design your room?" Esme inquired.
I nodded sheepishly and quickly filled told Esme about the design.
"Oh Bree that's a wonderful idea! It will look so pretty once it's done!" Esme gushed happily.
"Well, I think I'll be off now." Alice told us, she gave Jasper a small kiss before gracefully jumping off of the huge window on the south facing wall. "Oh I almost forgot to tell you!" Alice called up to us.
We all made our way over to the window so we could see her.
"The clothes should be arriving today or tomorrow instead of Thursday." She told us.
"How many trucks should we be expecting?" Fred called down to her "6 or 600?"
"And should we make plans to build a second closet in our rooms?" I added.
Alice stuck her tongue up at us before saying, "You'll thank me someday for all the clothes."
"Yeah…not happening," Fred said. Even from the second floor I could tell Alice was rolling her eyes up at us before she leaped over the river and dashed into the woods.
"Is anyone else feeling thirsty?" Fred asked. We had been sitting in the living for the past hour, all reading a book.
Jasper closed his book softly and gently placed it on the coffee table with a slightly worried expression, "are you thirsty?"
Fred shrugged, "maybe just a little."
"Then how about we all go out and hunt?" Esme suggestion, she too was looking slightly worried. The first couple of days after we had arrived, the Cullen's had constantly asked us if we were thirsty. I guess they didn't want us to go into a blood withdrawal and attack half of Forks. After a while they did stop asking us if we were thirsty every 5 minutes, but they still got worried ever time we mentioned we were thirsty.
Fred looked embarrassed and hastily said, "No no its fine. I'm not that thirsty; I don't want you all to have to come hunting with me just because I'm thirsty."
"Um actually, my throats been feeling a bit itchy for a while too," I admitted sheepishly.
"Then we're going," Esme announced firmly.
"But—" Fred protested.
"Really Fred," Jasper told him who had already open the huge window on the south facing wall. "We don't mind at all."
"Oh all right," Fred said still looking guilty.
"Hey Fred, I bet I can do more summersaults over the river than you can!" I challenged, while secretly trying to make him feel less guilty.
Fred's guilty face was quickly replaced by a smirk. " Yeah right Bree, the last time I saw you try one you landed head first in the grass."
I folded my arms defensively, "Well, I practiced since then."
"Fine then, you're on." Fred told me. Still smirking Fred leaped out of the window and landed lightly on the forest floor. Not wasting a second I effortlessly jumped from the window and started racing after him.
The poor deer struggled feebly under my grasp, trying to escape desperately but to no avail. I easily held it down while I eagerly sunk my teeth in its neck. Almost at once I felt the relief of hot juicy blood sooth the ragging itching in my throat. The flavor was still wrong compared to human's blood, but it was best thing I could have. I finished the deer in a matter of seconds. After I had drank the deer dry, my thirst flared up again though it was less intense.
I easily shoved the deer's carcass aside; it was my third one so far. Standing, I examined my clothing. The first time I had come back hunting with the Cullen's my clothes had been ripped in several places (thanks to a grizzly bear), and I was covered in dirt and blood. Alice had clucked in disapproval when she saw my ruined clothing, but in my defense it had rained the previous day. Now, as I examined my self I discovered I had only gotten some blood and dirt on my clothing.
"I see your improving your neatness nicely," Jasper chimed. He had just finished his own deer and was leaning on a near by tree. He of course did not have a single bloodstain on him.
"I'm still not as neat as you," I pointed out.
He shrugged, "don't worry you have all of eternity to perfect it."
"I guess your right," I said while wiping some dirt off of my pants. "Where are Esme and Fred?" I asked after I had realized that Jasper and I were alone.
"They went off in that direction," Jasper said pointing north, " Fred wanted to see if there were any grizzly bears."
"He does know that if he drinks all the grizzly bear's, Emmett will kill him."
"Let's hope so,"
A faint rustle of leaves could faintly be heard in the distance. I focused all my senses in that direction, just like they had taught. "Jasper, I hea—" I started to say but I stopped in shocked when Esme came bursting into the clearing looking frantic.
Her eyes were wide open with worry and terror, and she was breathily heavily even though she had no need to.
"J-Jasper I-I tried to stop him b-but h-he got—" Esme said in hysterics.
"Esme calm down," Jasper told her soothingly. He gently grabbed hold of her hands, which had been grasping his shirt. Almost at once I felt a calming feeling wash over me.
"Now, can you tell me what happen?" Jasper asked Esme gently, who had calmed down and was looking less like a crazy woman.
"Jasper," she said quietly. "It's a human." At those words Jasper's eyes widen with shock.
I faintly remembered hearing him call out my name, but by then all of my senses was forced on a familiar sent that had wafted toward us. Human Blood.
My brain seemed to shut down from that point on. I wanted human blood and I would get it. A snarl ripped through my throat warning anyone who had any sense to run. Before Jasper or Esme could stop me, I started to run. I ran faster than I had ever run before towards that delicious smell. I darted through the forest, leaving all my human emotions behind me. I didn't care that I might be killed for doing this or about the poor human I was ready to kill. I. Just. Wanted. Human. Blood.
Up a head I saw a lone figure standing with it's back facing me. I got into a crouch ready to attack and finally be able to taste the sweet flavor of human blood run down my throat.
"Bree it's me." The figure said calmly. I got out of my crouch startled. It was Fred.
"Fred," I said walking up to him. "Where are they?"
"Over there," Fred told me, smiling grimly. I looked towards the direction he was pointing at.
There were two of them; a man and a woman. They couldn't have been more than twenty years old. They were studying a map that the man was holding in his hands, unaware that we were standing silently behind them.
I started walking towards them silently and slowly like a cat hunting it's pray. Their scent was a fistful of flames punching at my throat. The closer I got to them, the more painful it became. They smelled absolutely delicious, and my desire for blood won over my conscience.
I prepared to sink my teeth into the girl's throat when something unexpected happened. The girl turned. She must have heard the faint sound of leaves crunching underneath my feet.
The girl had curly dirty blond hair that was pulled back behind her ears by a dark green headband. Freckles were splashed across her face, and I noticed she had bright blue eyes that were wide and alert. She looked startled to see me there, but she didn't appear to be frightened by my sudden appearance. Through her eyes I was just a young girl walking through the forest like she was. She hadn't seemed to notice my bright red eyes yet.
For a brief seconded our eyes met, but for that brief second something amazing happened.
I saw her life.
Author's Note: So can any of you figure out her gift? Don't worry I'll go farther into detail about it in the next chapter. 15 review's guys! Can we make it to 20? It would be a huge milestone for me!