Bella's POV
Only hours after Charlie left, the phone call from Romania finally came. Edward and I had moved back to our positions on the couch, lying on our sides with him spooning me from behind, as soon as the others had left the room. When we heard the phone ring, we sat up and made our way quickly down the stairs, walking into the living room as Eleazar was handing his phone to Carlisle. On automatic reflex, he put it on speaker as we sat on the couch beside Esme, who immediately took my hand in hers.
"Hello, Kate," Carlisle said. "How are you?"
"I am well, Carlisle," Kate said. Apparently, she'd decided to do away with small talk, because she immediately launched into the reason for the call and their trip overseas. "Our trip has been fruitful."
Carlisle nodded to himself. "Yes, Eleazar said you are with Stefan and Vladimir?"
"We are, yes," she answered. "Vladimir has agreed to speak with you, so one moment, and I will give him the phone."
"Alo? Buna ziua, pot sa ma auzi?" The man's voice was thin and breathy, and I looked over at Edward for a translation.
"He said, 'Hello? Hello, can you hear me?'" Edward murmured into my ear.
"Yes, Vladimir," Carlisle assured the man. "Would you mind speaking English, if you please? We have one young woman here who does not speak your beautiful language."
"Yes, of course," the other vampire said.
"How are you and Stefan? Is everything at peace in your part of the world?" Carlisle asked.
He had to be the most polite man—human or vampire—I knew. I was anxious as I waited to hear what the Romanian had to say, but I knew Carlisle wouldn't want to rush things.
"Yes. Yes, things are well. Now, what is it you need, Carlisle Cullen of the Cullen Clan? I do not like this modern technology and wish to be back to my normal schedule most quickly." His English was perfect, although his accent was heavy. "Ms. Denali mentioned something of familială de sânge? How do you say it? Familial blood, correct?"
"Yes, that is correct," Carlisle confirmed. "One of my children mated with a young woman who has recently been turned after an attack by a nomad. She has a child and a father, and if our beliefs are correct, she is immune to the scent of their blood. We did some research and—"
"Yes, yes," Vladimir interrupted. "I'm well aware. I have never seen it personally, you understand, but my brother and I have been around a very long time. It is not something that is well-documented, but you are correct. Familială de sânge is...not as appealing to others of the same bloodline. That is not to say it does not smell good—appetizing, even—but it is slightly easier to resist, even for true vampires such as myself."
Carlisle gave a thoughtful hum. "Do you know why it works as it does?" he asked curiously.
Vladimir huffed arrogantly, as if to say of course he did. "To help grow the population of vampires, we are made to be somewhat immune to the blood of our family. You see," he said somewhat haughtily, "we are more able to bite our loved ones and turn them instead of draining them."
I felt my eyes grow wide at all the information.
"Now, add that in with the talent the young woman possesses, and it is no wonder she has been resistant. Gifts...talents tend to run in families," Vladimir continued, "so evolution has given vampires a way to become even more...powerful than they already were. If a vampire has a talent, they are especially apt to be immune, since latent talent tends to be genetic.
"Does that explain it to your satisfaction?" the old vampire asked.
I watched as Carlisle looked at Edward and Eleazar, who both nodded.
"All right," Carlisle said into the phone. "We are in your debt for taking your time to speak with us." He took the phone off speaker as Kate got back on the phone and asked to speak to Eleazar.
"Good news, yeah?" Emmett said, grinning over at me. "Lil' sis, guess what I see in your future? And I'm not even an all-seeing pixie!"
Everyone laughed as Alice stuck her tongue out at him from her perch on Jasper's lap.
"What does that mean?" I asked, looking at Carlisle and Eleazar, who'd just hung up the phone.
"It means, dear Bella," Eleazar said, smiling, "that it's time to take our testing up a notch."
Edward drew in a deep breath from beside me, and I looked over at him.
"What?" I asked, wondering what had him suddenly so tense. "What did he mean?"
~*~FC~*~
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked Edward for what felt like the hundredth time in the last few hours.
Edward didn't bother responding, as I was sure he knew I'd been speaking rhetorically. He just squeezed my hand and turned with me when I spun around to stalk the other way. Jasper had commented on my inability to sit still—so unlike that of most vampires—but apparently, I was just abnormal in one more way. I needed the movement pacing gave me, or I was going to go nuts.
We were waiting in the woods outside Charlie's house, waiting for him to go to sleep. Emmett was tapping out some beat on his thighs to a song only he—and Edward, I supposed—could hear in his head. Alice was in Jasper's lap as they sat at the base of a tree, speaking quietly together. Carlisle and Eleazar were off to one side, also quietly conversing, and Edward was beside me as I paced, sat, and then paced some more.
We hadn't really needed that many people, but Emmett was the only one with us without a true purpose for being here. He'd argued that doing this—the "test drive," he'd insisted on calling it—had been his idea in the first place, so he had a right to come with us. Plus, his strength would be advantageous should anything happen. Alice and Jasper were both needed with us because of their talents, Carlisle and Eleazar wanted to witness everything firsthand so they could learn and therefore help better in the future, and Edward... Well, Edward was there purely for my peace of mind. I didn't know if I could've done this without him beside me.
I was unable to sit still, brimming with nerves and excitement. As soon as Charlie was out for the night, I would be in the same house as my daughter, and that thought was driving me crazy because it was taking forever to happen.
Sue was already in bed, her soft snores carrying clearly through the air to us, and Charlie had fed Lizzie about an hour before and put her back down for the night. He was shuffling around in the kitchen—getting one last drink of water, setting the timer on the automatic coffeemaker, cleaning bottles...
I felt like my heart was breaking because Edward was able to hear snatches of thoughts coming from my dad, and not many of them were happy. I'd begged him to tell me what Charlie was thinking, but I almost wished he hadn't agreed.
"He's really mad at me, isn't he?" I murmured, turning in Edward's arms to look up at his face.
He shook his head. "Love, I told you. He's not mad. He's worried, yes. He's upset that you didn't talk to him about how you were feeling—that you chose to leave without saying anything rather than talk about it with him. But he knows you wouldn't have left if it weren't serious."
I nodded, sighing a deep breath and wishing... Well, I couldn't say I wished everything was back to how it had been, because then I wouldn't have Edward and the rest of the Cullens back in my life. However, I did wish things could be different, that my future with Lizzie and Charlie wasn't so up in the air.
We were all quiet then as we waited for Alice to give the okay. Jake had texted me twice already via Edward's phone, wondering if we'd gone in yet. I'd promised to call him before we finally did. He and Seth had wanted desperately to be here, but Alice had said she needed to be able to see the future to make sure everything was still okay, and with the wolves there—or even just nearby—she wasn't able to. So they'd promised to stay away, only after making me swear I'd let them know when it was time.
Charlie finally turned off the light in the kitchen and made his way through the living room. The remaining lights we could see downstairs went off, aside from one in the living room, and then we could hear his heavy sigh as he trudged upstairs. He paused as he hit the top step, and I could just imagine him in my mind, waiting outside my bedroom door to listen in on Lizzie, making sure she was settled. After a moment, he moved on, opening and closing the bathroom door quietly.
We could hear Sue snoring softly in the bedroom while Charlie did what he needed to do in the bathroom, and within ten minutes, the bed springs squeaked a bit under his weight when he lay down.
Another twenty minutes went by, and then Alice froze. "It's time," she said finally, shaking herself out of the vision. Glancing at me, she smiled. "It'll be fine, Bella, I promise."
I nodded and then carefully typed out the message to Jake to let him know we were going in before handing Edward back his phone.
He tucked it into his pocket and then took my hand. "Let's go, love," he murmured. "Remember, we're just going to slip into the living room for a few minutes."
Squeezing his hand tightly in mine, I choked out, "You won't let—"
"We got this, Bells," Emmett said from behind me. His voice was upbeat, casual, but when I glanced over my shoulder at him, his expression was serious. "We won't let anything happen."
Taking a deep breath, I nodded. "Let's do this."
Alice and Jasper stayed behind in the trees. Their gifts would work fine from outside. Carlisle and Eleazar stood with them, concern and curiosity etched on their faces. With Charlie and Sue asleep right at the top of the stairs, we'd thought it best that not all of us go in the house. Edward and Emmett would be able to control me, if need be—especially with Jasper's help. The three of us moved with stealth to the back door of the house. Jake had found my keys when he'd taken me from the meadow, so I passed them to Emmett, who unlocked the door.
"Ready, love?" Edward asked, giving my hand one last reassuring squeeze.
At my nod, Emmett opened the door as quietly as he could, but it still squeaked, making us all pause. When neither Charlie nor Sue gave any indication of waking, Emmett glided in through the open door. As soon as Emmett cleared the doorway, Edward nudged me forward.
"It's okay, Bella," he promised quietly.
Three steps, four, and I was inside Charlie's house. I froze momentarily as I became slightly overwhelmed. The scents of my daughter, Charlie, and Sue were much more concentrated here than they'd been when I was outside. The blood from Charlie's and Sue's sleep-relaxed hearts flowed almost sluggishly, heavily, while Lizzie's was faster, lighter. Lizzie's and Charlie's scents were muted—sweet, but almost musty—but Sue's was bolder, sharper.
Mouthwateringly appealing.
I swallowed, breathing deeply as I felt Edward move closer to me.
"Talk to me, Bella," he murmured quietly.
"I'm okay," I told him, having to hold myself back from running upstairs. "I want..." My throat closed, and I stifled a sob.
"I know, love," he said, pulling me into his arms. "We're here. We won't let you get past us."
Shaking my head, I started, "No, I mean... I just..." My emotions were so all over the place, keeping me from expressing what I wanted, so I gritted my teeth and rubbed my fists over my eyes in frustration.
Edward's muttered, "I wish I could read your mind" made me huff a laugh.
I opened my eyes and took his hand again. "I'm okay. It's just hard being this close to her and not being able to go to her."
He pulled me into an embrace, pressing a kiss to my hair, but was silent, letting his hug do what words couldn't at the moment.
Almost an hour later, we were all still standing in the same positions, and I needed to get out of there. Sue's blood was beginning to smell a little too good for my comfort, and I needed to put some distance between myself and Charlie's house before my resolve crumbled and I tested Alice's vision before any of us were ready.
Without a word, I slipped out of Edward's embrace and turned to the door.
"Let's go home," I said to the room before stepping out into the night air.