"Wow..." I breathed. Carlisle looked at me sharply, then his gaze turned softer.
"Your home is majestic."
"It's our home now, honey." Esme squeezed my shoulders, and I felt myself turn slightly towards her. Carlisle's lips were pursed. Esme lead me up the steps to the mansion, and we entered. I was shown the kitchen- devoid of food, of course- and the dining room, and living room. She took me upstairs to the bedchambers. At the end of the hall, there was a small room. Alice and Jasper were sitting on the bed, and Alice sprang up.
"Do you like it, Bree?"
I looked around. The walls were painted a light olive green, and the furniture was mahogany- dainty, yet sturdy. Strong. The room was filled with books too- I moved away from Esme and ran my finger along the spines of the books- all my favorites were here- To Kill a Mockingbird, Around the World in Eighty Days, and a lot of history books. I let out a little sigh in pleasure. I looked around. Alice and Esme were beaming at me, and Jasper's thin lips were quirked up into a smile. Only Carlisle wasn't smiling. He was just looking.
I smiled at them all, and Alice ran forward to hug me.
"Oh, Bree, you'll have so much fun with me- we can go shopping, we can do your hair, we can do your makeup-" I cringed. I wasn't that good at picking out clothes- I usually just wore whatever was available. And besides, in my human life, I never had any money to go shopping for things like new clothes.
Esme laughed. "Alice, I think you're scaring Bree. How about you leave the shopping for another day?" I sighed in relief.
"Ok, Esme. But that doesn't mean I can't do her hair and makeup!" Alice towed me out of the bedroom incredibly quickly, and soon I was seated in her room, which was pink, white, and covered in fabric, clothes, and magazines.
It seemed like an eternity before Alice was done. I was spun around to look in the mirror, and I was shocked.
"Well... um... It's very nice, Alice." I looked different. I had huge eyes, luscious lips, and perfect hair. I realized that I had never looked in a mirror since my change.
"I just put on some mascara, and pulled your hair back. You're naturally gorgeous, Bree." Alice said, giving me a peck on the cheek. From what I could see in the mirror, it looked like Alice had put more products on my face than just mascara.
I was lead back to my room, which was vacated. It seemed like everyone had gone downstairs.
"Now, you can look through your closet and tell me what you like and don't like. And the clothes that you don't like, I'll keep. We're the same size." Alice said, smiling.
"Ok. Thanks again, Alice." She exited the room, closing the door softly behind her.
I stayed in my room for the remainder of the day. I had gone through my closet- that was scary- and had settled on reading Wuthering Heights again. I was curled up on my bed that night, when I felt the urge to go out and just sit on the porch. I guess I wasn't used to being inside all the time- even in Riley's house, the doors and windows were always open. I left a note on my door, in case anyone should falsely think I went out and killed a few civilians, and I started to walk downstairs when I heard voices.
Uncomfortable, I started to head back upstairs. I could probably just go out my window. But then I heard my name. I froze. I crept down a little, just so I could hear. It was Carlisle and Jasper and Esme.
" I get this weird feeling when I'm around Bree- it's like she doesn't trust us." That was Carlisle.
"Carlisle, give her some time. She'll trust us eventually." That was Esme.
"Carlisle, Esme, I don't trust her. I get this feeling that she's trying to find the right time to hurt us. I don't think she should be here. She's just too dangerous for Bella."
"Jasper! Don't say that! She's just a child." Esme replied, mortified.
"Esme, I agree with Jasper. Maybe she's hiding something from us- I got the feeling that she didn't like us today."
"Carlisle, you were the one glaring at her the whole time during the hunt. She was petrified!" Esme retorted.
"I wasn't glaring at her, Esme. I was making sure she wasn't planning on ripping your head off." Carlisle growled.
I stopped breathing. Now I got it. They didn't trust me. I should go- I shouldn't ruin their lives. I should look for Fred. And maybe... Maybe there's the slightest chance that Diego's alive.
I heard movement. I stood absolutely still, straining to hear the conversation. The bronze-haired boy, Edward, had joined in. I frowned. I hadn't realized that he had been down there.
"We have to get rid of her. She's a monster, you saw the way she looked at Bella. She wanted to kill her, to drink her blood. We have to destroy her now. We can just sneak upstairs, the four of us, and take her out now, she won't stand a chance-" Edward growled.
"No, Edward!" Esme said, standing up.
"Edward, even though I agree with you, we can't do it tonight, ok?" Jasper said.
"And what about you, Carlisle?" Edward said, his voice stony.
"We can't kill her until she actually does something wrong. That way it will look like we had no choice, and the Volturi won't mock us for it." Carlisle replied.
So they wanted to kill me. I knew that this was wrong. I knew that I shouldn't have come. All they wanted was to kill me so I wouldn't be a danger to them, and their pet, Bella.
I creeped back upstairs, as fast as I could. I sat on the window ledge, the doors of the window open, the air whistling through the trees. And I thought.
Morning came. I stayed in my room for a while, trying to get my feelings under control. And to wipe my mind of anything that happened last night. I want Edward reading my mind.
I eventually went downstairs. Esme and Carlisle were sitting on the couch, curled up, watching the gorgeous blond and the well-muscled vampire were sitting on the love seat. I stayed away from the couch. I didn't really feel like sitting next to Carlisle at this point in time. Esme looked a little hurt as I sat on the chair on the other side of the room, staring at the news. I tried not to look at anyone else. I didn't need any reason for them to kill me.
Eventually Esme and Carlisle walked outside into the woods, and Alice bounced down the stairs.
"Bree! Want to go shopping today?" She asked. She glanced over at the blond. "Rosalie, do you want to come with?"
The blond shook her head ruefully. "Emmett and I have to hunt. Next time, though!" Rosalie smiled at me, and I felt a leap of hope. Maybe I had more friends than I thought.
I agreed to go shopping with Alice. She made me change about a million times before she settled on an outfit that, in her eyes, was appropriate for shopping. I ended up wearing a deep purple dress, a peacoat jacket, and some heels. I ended up liking the outfit. Alice also equipped me with sunglasses.
"You don't want people to see your red eyes, plus it goes with the outfit."
I thanked her, and we headed out. As we walked out the door, Carlisle and Esme were returning from the woods. I hurried to Alice's car, and turned around just in time to see Carlisle and Esme look at me. Grabbing one of Alice's fashion magazines, I started reading it avidly. I felt incredibly stupid. It was like I was pretending to be a spy. Eventually, I felt Carlisle's and Esme's gazes drift away, and I realized that they had gone inside.
Alice sat in the car. She looked over at me, bemused.
"You do know that you're holding that upside down, right?"
"Oh... Um.. Just trying to see the pictures better." I stammered. I really sucked at this whole 'being inconspicuous' thing.
Alice laughed, a pleasant sound that sounded like bells, and we drove to the mall.