18 - Explanations
I stood there on the other side of the porch, waiting for something to happen. For Phil to attack, or whatever he planned on doing. My heart was pumping at lightning speed, a sudden rush of adrenaline pushed away all my fatigue.
Instead of moving towards me he stayed on the other side of the porch leaning casually against one of the posts. My olympic quality jump had not surprised him, if the curling up of his lips was any indication he had found my athletic feat amusing.
The pale green eyes were a little bit disconcerting, especially since I had become so used to them being brown. "So which color is the right one?" I pointed towards his face, hoping he would understand what I said.
"Ah you noticed the eyes?" his absolute calm was starting to leech into me as usual. "They are normally green, but it makes people think I am too exotic. The brown helps me fit in more."
The brown might help him fit in, but the green eyes matched his personality more - it made you pause and take a second look, and Phil was one of those guys that most certainly was worth a second perusal. They made his face look a lot more interesting, especially when they contrasted with his dark skin.
"What do you mean they are aliens?" I heard Rosalie's shriek from inside the house.
"I knew it, where do you keep the flying saucer?" Emmet asked with a great deal of excitement in his voice. "I should have made the bet Carlisle was beamed up by the aliens."
My eyes must have bulged out of my face. "You are an alien?" I was so shocked it was almost impossible to get the words out. I would have never thought this possible, not in a million years.
He made a face before moving his head around in a circular gesture not really giving a yes or no answer. "Not exactly," he told me in his usual uninformative way.
"I want to know the truth." I said moving back towards Phil not caring if he was dangerous anymore. Anger over having been lied to making me more brave than I should have been.
"The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" Phil asked in a serious voice. "Leah, the world is not black and white, I would think you would know better by now."
"Well I want to know your version of the truth, no more lies." I growled inches from his face. Like I had noted before, he was much better than I was at these word games.
"What do you mean Leah? When have I ever lied to you?" Phil said with a completely innocent look on his face.
"Like about the fact that your were human." I growled again.
"I never said I was, how is it my fault that you just assumed that I was human?" Phil asked turning my words around on me. "Though technically speaking it would not be a lie if I told you I was human." He did not yield his stance, instead herded me until I was backed up against one of the posts that held up the roof over the front porch. I put my hands behind me holding onto the square piece of wood for a little extra support. Straightening to my full height and squaring my shoulders I looked up into his smiling face. He had placed both arm on the railing beside me, effectively caging me in - a small shiver that had nothing to do with the cold January night went down my spine.
"You are not going to get away with your usual cryptic crap tonight, I want answers and you will tell me the truth no matter what I have to do." I told him with a less then effective glare, I was hoping that he thought my increased rate of breathing was due to my anger; the truth was closer the the fact that his intimidation combined with his smell were getting my body a little too excited. Down libido, down.
"I will answer any question you want, but not here." He might have been smiling, but his words sounded genuine.
"So where are you going to tell me?" Why would he not tell me here? Was there something wrong with this place?
"At my home?" He made a vague gesture with his hands.
"You want me to go to the cabin with you?" I was not about to admit how tempted I was to escape to the cabin and forget about the outside world. We could go back to pretending we were both human, I almost did not even need an explanation if we could just go back there.
"No I want you to come home with me," he emphasized the word home. "But first let us go inside and see what your pack is doing." He stepped back from me, I felt a twinge of disappointment. Dominant Phil was kind of sexy to watch, I never knew being pushed around was a turn-on for me - but it might have helped that despite my current uncertainties deep down inside I trusted Phil, he had always gone out of his way to make sure I was all right.
Phil waved his hand, indicating that I should go first, I glared at him before marching into the house; there was not need to encourage his bossy behavior. Things had not changed much in the past few minutes, Esme was still embracing Carlisle while the others hovered. If vampires could possibly cry she would have been bawling, she was staring up at Carlisle like he had been gone for months instead of the few hours. The wolves were looking around with concern, not knowing what to do.
Phil went to one of the chairs, I followed him watching for any false moves. He flipped the chair before straddling it. Was it wrong for me to thing it was sexy for him to sit like that? Come on Leah focus on what is important. Not the long legs incased in jeans.
"I knew I should have investigated you further," Jasper said with a growl and a glare sent in Phil's direction.
Phil and Carlisle looked at each other and laughed. "That was precisely what I told him when I first met him." Carlisle explained the joke to the rest of us.
"And my reply then was that you would not have found anything, I am really good at what I do." Phil gave him a small smile, I could practically hear Jasper grinding his teeth in frustration.
"Are you even a doctor?" Jake asked with suspicion.
"Of course, went to medical school and all that fun." Phil explained to him, not at all bothered by the accusation. "Phila over here has her Ph D. Everything is legit."
So that was who she was, I should have guess. His good friend, Phila, the one that loved Colin Firth. I was half tempted to blurt out that Colin Firth was gay, but that might start a fight I might lose.
I kept waiting for something to happen, for them to turn green or for the tentacles to come out. Phil looked exactly the same as I remembered. Well almost exactly, those pale green eyes were going to take some time to get used to.
There was something out of place, something not right but it was not Phil or Phila, it was actually Carlisle. His hair and clothes were completely different, if I did not know better I would surmise that he had gotten a makeover. "Carlisle did you get a haircut?"
"What happened to you?" Esme asked finally noticing that he had changed.
"The Katinator." Phil said in an ominous tone, but I could hear the undertones of humor coming from him.
Carlisle laughed. "I encountered his aunt Katie, she is a little bit discriminating as to what I was allowed to wear. Though she might only be a small thing, she can be quite intimidating."
"It is best to do as she orders." Phila added with a smirk on her face. "Or you can do what Phil does - avoid her if you want to be able to pick out your own clothes."
"Carlisle, why are you blocking me?" Edward asked all of a sudden sounding angry and frustrated.
"Not for any malicious reason, I just did not want you to get overwhelmed." Carlisle made some futile gestures and seemed to look at Phila and Phil for help.
"I am blocking him so that you cannot hear his thoughts." Phil said in a quiet voice.
"But I could hear your thoughts before." Edward said. Was it just me or was he really starting to whine?
"That was because I let you in, normally I have blocks up so that my mind cannot be entered." Phil clarified for Edward.
"Why did you let me in before?" Edward asked, nope it was not my imagination. Edward was starting to whine like a five year old being denied that ice-cream sunday.
"It would have looked suspicious had you not been able to read my mind. I let you into a compartment of it, so that you would be appeased." Phil explained. "Sorry about the blood thing last time but I knew you would not be able to examine my thoughts too closely if I filled them with thoughts of doing surgery."
"I see," Edward said, we could almost hear him grinding his teeth in frustration. It was interesting to note that Phil knew that we had been investigating him, and he had even let us gain some intel on him - but only enough for us to abandon our search.
"Do you?" Phil asked, "No I do not think you understand, but an explanation can be provided. Just not in this place." There were murmurs around the room, they too got a dose of Phil's cryptic answers and did not like it very much. Ladies and gentlemen let me introduce Phil, the man who can answer all your questions without actually telling you anything.
"Let me close the blinds first." Carlisle said, going to a panel and pushing a button that caused steel blinds to come down on all the windows. All the wolves jumped, but neither the vampires nor the Guardians moved. Wow I guess the vampires were a little paranoid, their security system was insane.
Phil paused for a moment trying to consider things. "I guess you would want to know how we are associated with the guardians? And probably what our intentions are towards your family?"
"If we wanted to take you out, we could have done it a while back," Phila repeated her earlier statement in a bored tone. I had known from the moment I saw her standing there that I would dislike her, she was not really changing my original opinion of her. Gone was the friendly smile, which was her true personality? the friendly green eyed girl? or this cool woman?
"Thanks for reassuring them, that helped relieve the tension," Phil's voice was chock full of sarcasm. "What you are about to be told does not leave this group, you do not discuss this with anyone ever. We keep our secret much better than the Volturi, you tell anyone outside of the people in this room and either their minds will be wiped or they will die. My family has survived as long as we have because of our anonymity and I will not have you endangering that." He sounded more serious than I had ever heard him. He was not helping us relax anymore than Phila. "Do you understand?"
We all nodded or murmured our assent. Did he not know who he was talking to? We all knew what it was like to keep secrets, it was like second nature to us at this point.
"All right, for the sake of security we will not be having this discussion here." Phil nodded at Phila who went to stand next to him.
"Woot I knew it, can I drive the mothership?" Emmett blurted out and we all looked at him. If he had not been a vampire I would have guessed he had been smoking the crack pipe. "Come on just once around the solar system, I promise to bring it back with a full tank of gas and everything."
Phila laughed loudly, the friendly woman was back. "Sorry to disappoint you but there is no mothership. We do own a couple of helicopters, if you have a license you are welcome to use one of them."
"But how are you related to the guardians, Carlisle here says you are them but honestly you don't look like a walking corpse." This was from Edward who was clearly still upset that Carlisle's mind was closed to him.
"Our interaction with the Volturi is somewhat complicated and I really do not feel like explaining it all here. That is why we are taking you to our island. That is where Carlisle went when the group disappeared from the woods." Phil stood up from his chair, he pulled something strange out of the back pocket of his jeans. A thin silver rectangle, he started touching one side of it, almost like he was typing away at a keyboard. The side facing away from him had no marking on it, so I could not identify it.
"Yes it would be much easier to explain on the island, if you would like to come with us that is." Carlisle chimed in, his reassurances going a long way to making us feel a lot more at ease. He had been there and obviously had not been harmed, so it should be relatively safe.
Phil stopped touching the silver rectangle, and looked up at us. We were all wondering what the hell he was doing. "It takes a while to calculate the proper coordinates, this is not one of those things you want to mess up."
"How are we getting to the island?" Edwards asked, his voice was thick with curiosity.
"Beam us up Scottie," I heard Emmett murmur under his breath, Rosalie reached over and popped him on the back of his head.
"It is much easier to show you than actually explain, but think of it this way, we will bend the fabric of space to do it." Phila said as she too watched Phil continue with his calculations.
"And that little silver plate is capable of bending space?" Emmett asked dubiously, he sounded very disappointed.
"No I can bend the space, this thing just tells me how to do it." Phil answered him without looking up.
We watched as he touched the silver thing with the tip of each finger on his right hand. They started to glow and soon his entire hand was coated with the light, then he seemed to throw the thing at the middle of the living room.
There was something there but you could not quite see it. Almost like a mirage over the desert, or some sort of distortion in the air at the center of the room.
"Now we walk through it," Phila said making a sweeping gesture at us like she was expecting us to go near that thing.
We kept waiting for something more concrete to happen. Something along the lines of a space ship appearing would have been nice.
Phila sighed and after saying something derogatory about our bravery walked through it, she disappeared as soon as she got close enough to the bubble in the air.
"Hey Princess, I dare you." Phil told me with a smile that brought out his dimples full force.
I narrowed my eyes at him, did he think I was foolish enough to do something just because he dared me? I think it was a combination of curiosity, the dimples and a huge amount of stupidity. I squared my shoulders and walked forward. I could hear Jake telling me to stop, but I ignored him.
I walked towards the mirage all the while glaring at Phil. After a few moments of hesitation I walked into the blur.
I have to admit I might have closed my eyes before I walked into the mirage thing. I was not quite sure as to why I had actually taken Phil's dare; but as he had noted before being the only girl in a pack of boys made me unable to back down. I could have been walking into some alien trap, maybe I should have kept my eyes open.
There was a tugging sensation, like something had taken a hold of my entire body and pulled. The next step I took was into something cold and wet.
"Woah this is so awesome." I heard Embry's voice right behind me. I guess he had not taken long in following me.
I finally got up the nerve to open up my eyes, and surprise flooded my entire body. I don't exactly know what I was expecting but this winter wonderland was not it. We were in a field of snow again, this was a lot deeper than the stuff that had fallen this morning near the Rez. It was a good yard or so thick along the edges. This had not happened overnight, it had taken several snowfalls to build up to this depth.
It looked like this place had seen a great deal of traffic, the snow under my feet was trampled; footsteps were leading away from the field in all directions, I do not know how far they went since they disappeared into the trees.
The primordial looking forrest that surrounded us looked pristine and untouched. I could hear the small animals scurrying about in the underbrush, it sounded like there were more of them here than in the forest I was used to. The trees seemed to be mainly evergreens but there were a few ancient gnarly trees, I could not tell what they were since they had no leaves on them.
All around us was a circle of flag poles with long ribbons of different colors streaming down from their tops, they were moving slightly but there did not seem to be enough wind for them to truly fly. The thick ribbons of fabric were long enough that they almost fell to the ground.
There were no manmade lights around us, the only light seemed to be coming from the sky. I looked up and saw more stars than I had ever seen in my entire life. And two moons?
"We are definitely not in Kansas anymore." Quil muttered under his breath. I might not know much about astronomy or such things but I was pretty sure we were no longer on Earth.
"Where are we?" Edward asked, I looked around me to note that all the vampires had joined me in the field. Phil suddenly appeared, he had been the last one to come through.
"This is the island, our home." Phila said with a smile. She liked this place, this was her home. Her voice was filled with pride and love, there was also a hint of something else I could not identify. Maybe a suggestion of benevolence, she was doing us a favor by bringing us here and showing us her home.
"This is a cool island," Emmett noted moving towards the flags.
"No don't touch them," Phila said in a stern voice. We all watched in amazement as she moved to touch Emmett and actually managed to pull his arm back so that he could not touch the ribbon. Just how strong was this girl?
Emmett looked surprised as well, he was having a bad year. First Bella beats him in an arm wrestling match and now this Phila pulls him back without looking like she even tried.
"You are strong," Emmett said his eyes narrowing in annoyance.
Phila laughed out loud, of course it was perfect sounding. I was starting to dislike her even more, especially when Phil went over to her and bumped into her. I knew they were good friends but I was starting to suspect that at least at one point they were more than friends.
"No I am not stronger than you, I just cheated a little." We all gave her a confused look, how can you cheat when it came to strength? "I use my mind to pull on his arm, putting my hand on him was just a guide for myself."
I looked over at Phil, he had done all the talking earlier, but now he seemed content to let Phila take over the tour.
I watched with surprise as his eyes suddenly got darker, they were now a deep shade of purple. His face had gone blank as well, he seemed frozen on the spot. I must have made some sort of noise of concern, I did not know how to do this articulate the problem.
Phila must have notice my expression because she looked over her shoulder and sighed. "Well I am sorry to inform you we are experiencing technical difficulties, but we will be back to your regularly scheduled programming as soon as possible."
"What?" I asked finally finding my voice. I started to move towards Phil, his girlfriend or whatever the heck she might be did not seem overly concerned but I was not going to take her word for it.
"Phil are you all right," I reached over to touch his cheek but he did not seem to hear me.
"He is having a vision," Edward stated. "If it comes true it would be best for us to either move or everyone hold their breath. There is a bleeding body that is about to come through ... oh amazing."
"Edward," Emmet said in a frustrated voice. But I noticed he moved closer to Jasper, the vampire of the family who had the least amount of control. I guess Emmett was prepared to intervene if necessary.
I watched as Phil seemed to take a deep breath and start moving again. He looked down at me with a confused smile. "What is wrong Princess?" Much to my relief his eyes were back to the pale green color. I swiftly removed my hand from his cheek.
"And we are back." Phila stated, like we did not already know this fact.
"Josefine and Kendrick are coming with a child." He said looking past me to tell Phila. "Aurora has the clinic been informed?"
"Yes, eta is less than two minutes." A emotionless voice stated. I could not see who was talking, I did notice that Carlisle did not seem to be looking around for the owner of the voice like the rest of us.
"Who is available to care for the child?" Phil asked.
"Bee, Gaerwn, Mari, and Beth have all confirmed their availability. Still waiting for Emese and Rose to confirm."
"Why is Rose being called in?" Phila asked sounding bothered by the fact.
"The child is from the continent of Africa, there is a high probability of infection with numerous pathogens. I determined that Rose would be qualified to help treat the patient." The voice continued. It was kind of creeping me out, not seeing who was talking to us.
There was a small sound like the wind and two figures appeared in front of us. One was a huge guy that was taller than anyone I had ever seen. He was wearing camouflage pants with an army green tank top. His entire left side seemed to be completely covered with a celtic tribal tattoo. I did notice that he did not have the pale green eyes of that I had encountered in Phil's family, his were a strange lavender color. Next to him was a bundled up figure, it looked like one of the zombies from earlier today, except it did not smell like one. This one was carrying what I quickly realized was a small child; both of the new additions had strong heartbeats, the child did not. I could also smell the strong scent of blood. Someone or something had completely torn this child apart to the point where it could barely be recognized as human.
"Kendrick, Josefine, how bad is it?" Phil asked moving over to examine the child.
"Her heart stopped a few seconds ago, we have to go get her frozen before the brain deteriorates." The tall one said in a hurried voice. I assumed he was Kendrick because he did not look like a Josefine to me.
"The clinic is ready for you." They moved with swiftly, away from us carrying the burden. I noticed that Josefine lifted a hand to pull the hood further down, I guess she really did not want to be seen by us.
"What happened to the child? Was that done by the guardians?" Esme asked in a quiet and terrified voice.
"No, that was done completely by humans. It is an intimidation tactic. Kill the young men and boys, and play with the girls." Phila said in a tired voice. I was only guessing at this point but I got the impression this was not the first time they had encountered this.
Rosalie made a growling sound, looking incensed. Jake and I looked at each other, we had no idea what her damage was but she was practically vibrating with fury.
The noises she was making also garnered Phil's attention. "She will survive but she will need a great deal of care afterwards."
"Why are you telling me this?" She said fiercely, but I noticed her eyes had not moved from the spot where the figures had disappeared into the woods.
"I am telling you this because as of today that little girl is an orphan, she needs a mother." Phil had done his poker face trick again. He was stating facts waiting for Rosalie to draw her own conclusions. I could see the wheels churning in her head, she was thinking so fast there should have been smoke coming out of her ears.
"I cannot take care of a human child." Rosalie said with a great deal of disgust. But we all could hear the regret underneath. Jake had said how desperate Rose was to have a child.
"I see," Phil said shaking his head in disappointment.
"Before we head out, I need to get you past the defense system." We watched as Phila walked over to one of the poles and touched it. The ribbon attached to the pole seemed to move on its own accord and wrapped around her wrists. "Come I need you to touch this while I am touching it. Aurora these will be new members of the family, give them access to all parts of the planet."
We were somewhat hesitant but we walked over to her and did as she had asked. Phil stopped me before I could take my turn. "Leah is already in the system."
I looked over at him in confusion. "What exactly do you mean by that?"
"I had to add you to the system when you were staying at the cabin, Aurora watches over that place as well. So she already recognizes you." He said with a shrug like this should all make sense to me.
"Who exactly is Aurora?" I was not sure I liked some voyeur watching my every move.
"She is the AI, the family database and watchdog all rolled into one." Phil explained to me.
"Is that how you knew I had gone by the house that one time you called?" It made a lot more sense now. I had been somewhat bothered by the fact that he had called to tell me to turn the alarm system off.
He smiled at me showing the full dimples. "Yes, she called to inform me you had entered the house."
Well I guess that explained one mystery, not that it did not create a whole slew of others. There was one question I really wanted to ask him, but I could not seem to make myself. Why did you hang out with me for the past few months? Was it because I was an easy target to spy on my family?
Phil narrowed his green eyes at me and then he started laughing. I growled at him, it felt like he was laughing at me. At this point in time I was not in the mood to be made fun of. I could feel my hands starting to shake. I was past my breaking point, the smallest thing would set me off at this point.
"Princess, there are a great many words I could use to describe you but easy target is not one of them. Add that to the fact that you did not spend enough time with the Cullens to actually have useful information on them." He had stopped laughing and was much more serious now.
I did not like the fact that he had read my mind but I was glad I had not been used simply so he could get closer to the vampires. For some reason I still could not figure out I trusted Phil, at least to believe him about this. I wondered how much he was leaving out. "So why did you hang out with me?"
"Could it not be because I liked your company?" He asked with another smile.
I snorted, my company had not been exactly pleasant especially when he first met me.
"You are much better company than some women I have had the misfortune of having to deal with. It is refreshing to meet someone who is as strong as you. You seem to have gotten that trait from your mother." He said with a smile.
Whatever answer I may or may not have given him was prevented by the arrival of two people from the forrest. It was strange, everyone seemed to be in pairs.
The first one seemed to be the biggest one I had seen yet, he made Emmett look like a skinny teenager. He was not as tall as the Kendrick we had just met, but he was freaking wide. It was his face that seemed to be the most arresting, he had a huge square head with a wide forehead, thick dark eyebrows that topped his prominent eye ridges. If I had to take a guess I would almost say he looked more like a Neanderthal. This guy was definitely not human.
Emmett noticed this as well. "There is one ugly man," he mumbled under his breath.
The man turned to Emmett looking throughly offended. "For your information I happen to be the female of my species, and I am considered pretty by many." He, I mean she, had the deep voice of a man.
"If this is considered pretty, I wonder what is considered ugly," Embry muttered under his breath. I shuddered, I could not even begin to imagine what she would look like.
Open mouth insert foot, Emmett seemed to be good at doing that. We don't know what was worse the fact that Emmett had already managed to insult one of them or that she was considered pretty. She did seem to have the green eyes that seemed common to most of the members of this group.
"I guess you would not do her huh?" I mumbled quietly. I could see Embry twitching out of the corner of my eye. I tried to suppress a laugh, I guess he did not think this girl was hot, unlike the Melissa we had met earlier.
All of a sudden the ugly girl flinched. I could not be sure but it almost looked like the small figure behind the ugly woman had punched punched her in the side. "Please excuse Myles he was dropped on his head a great deal as a child."
Myles let out a booming laugh. "The look on your face was priceless kid. I can't believe you actually apologized."
Emmett looked confused for a second before he too burst out laughing.
The small figure moved out from behind Myles. He was the complete opposite of Myles, in all ways possible. Where Myles was tall and sturdy looking, this new figure was tiny and delicate. He had dark hair that was closely cropped, pale skin and dark brown eyes that could almost be mistaken for black. His most striking feature was the birthmark on his face. It covered his nose completely and spread almost like a butterfly covering his eyes and cheeks. I would have thought it was a bruise but it had a blue and silver metallic quality to it.
"I am sorry, I have met Myles but I do not believe we have been introduced." Carlisle said walking towards him.
"We have been introduced, I am Stef, this is just me wearing my work clothes." Stef said with a smile.
"Oh I am sorry, I did not recognize you on account of the..." Carlisle made some awkward gestures that I could not seem to understand.
"Not a problem, speaking of work. You added the wrong buffer to one of you experiments. I corrected the problem, but it does mean it will take a few hours before the sequencing is complete." Stef said with a smile.
"Oh really?" And Carlisle proceeded to go through some science geek mumbo jumbo that I did not understand. I was standing there looking around, having given up on trying to follow what they were talking about.
Myles rolled his eyes, and I tried not to laugh, he must be used to this by now. He moved a little closer to me. "So are you the famous Princess?"
"Um, I think so." I said reluctantly, I don't know if I wanted him to call me that, but I also had learned from Phil that complaining would only end up with being stuck with the name.
All of a sudden I was picked up and squeezed. "So, how are you doing?" Myles asked, after putting me down. I assumed by the big smile plastered on his face that I had been given his version of a hug.
"Stop harassing her, Myles." Phil interrupted.
"I just was happy to finally meet the person you kept talking about...constantly." Myles pointed out, his smile getting even bigger.
"Mother should have drowned you at birth, it would have made my life a lot easier." Phil said in a sour tone.
"Oh come on big brother, don't be such a party pooper." He said giving Phil a big shove.
This was Phil's brother? Now that it was mentioned they did look a lot alike, Myles' features were a little more exaggerated. He was also far more muscular, but I should have know they were related. They both had that funny skip to their heartbeats.
I don't know why but all of a sudden it became too much. Usually I was a lot stronger than this but the emotional roller coaster I had been on for the past few weeks finally managed to overtake me. The second burst of energy that I got from Phil and Phila showing up had worn off. This constant influx of new people had gotten too much for me. My mind could not figure out why Myles was being so nice to me, a total stranger. I wanted to go somewhere quiet and completely safe, actually I wanted to go back to the cabin in the woods, pre-Volturi time. Hell while I was wishing I wanted to go back to pre-vampire and werewolf time. I don't know if he read my mind or it was just visible on my face but Phil somehow noticed the change in me.
"You can go with the rest of the pack if you wish, or you can come with me. I promise it will be much more quiet at my house." Phil said quietly moving beside me. I had been so busy in my own little world that I had not noticed everyone was moving away from the field.
I watched as Carlisle took his family one way and Phila took my wolf pack another way. Phil and I were the only ones remaining in the field.
"Come on Princess, do you want me to carry you?" He asked gently, he always knew when I needed to be treated delicately and this was one of those times.
I was trying to get my mind working enough to tell him that it would be pretty pathetic to be carried but Phil beat me to it. Picking me up bridal style, I let out a squeak of protest as he put one hand across my back and the other behind my back before lifting me off the ground as if I weighed nothing. "Hey what do I look like? A sack of potatoes?" I was feeling a little self conscious about being in his arms.
"You don't have on any shoes, I am not letting you walk through the snow without any boots." Phil did not set me down, instead he started walking in strides that quickly took us to the edge of the tree line. As we passed them it was kind of creepy the way the ribbons seemed to reach out and touch us, almost like they were moving deliberately.
"I am too heavy for you," I complained worried about him carrying me, it was not like I was some dainty girl that could easily be picked up.
Phil immediately started wobbling and it looked like we were going to fall over or slam into a tree, "wow you sure are heavy, have you considered going on a diet." I grabbed onto his neck and let out a small scream as he nearly dropped me. It took me a while to register his words.
I looked up into his face to notice he was smiling ear to ear. I narrowed my eyes at him and let go of his neck with one of my arms to punch him in the side. "You are such a jerk." I could not help but smile.
"Yeah, I am, but you are too easy to play with." He steadied himself as we started to walk through the woods, it was much darker under the thick canopy. The moonlight did not filter through the branches of the towering conifers. I noticed he did not seem to have any trouble navigating through the gloom, he must have good night vision.
"You know I am a wolf, the cold weather does not bother me," it was so awesome to be finally able to tell him that.
"Yes it does not bother you, but it does force your body to burn more calories in order to maintain your body temperature. So you need to eat more." Phil told me in a matter of fact tone, making me wonder how he knew all this stuff. I decided not to worry about it, and wrapped my arms tighter around his neck, putting a head on his shoulder.
Soon we came to a small pile of rocks that turned out to be a fence encircling the house that had suddenly appeared. I perked up a little and started to took around, curious to see what his home looked like. I did not recognize the architecture at all, the house was angular and made entirely of glass and that silver metal the people here seemed to use a great deal of. There was what looked to be a garden with several small trees inside of the stone fence, but I could not really tell because everything was covered with snow. Phil quickly covered the small section of yard that had been cleared of snow and headed for the door that was of course made from that strange metal. He balanced me on one knee while he somehow slid the door open.
"Aurora lights please." Phil said as we stepped inside. I noticed dark colors and wood paneling before we headed up a wide flight of stairs, the lights turned on as we walked forward and turned off behind us. Must be nice for conservation of energy.
I was going to ask him to put me down since we were no longer outside in the snow, but it was not worth the fight. When he opened one of the doors in the hall I was greeted with a small room filled with built in book shelves and a few pieces of furniture. Everything looked barren, the bookshelves were empty and the walls were bare of any sort of decoration. The couch and side chair were flanked by small side tables made of simple wood. The lack of pictures and knickknacks should have reminded me of the cabin, but this room looked half-finished instead of the simplistic style that had been applied to the cabin.
"The bathroom is through the door to the right, and the bedroom is through that door to the left." Phil said simply. I guess he could tell I could not handle any more information at this point. He carried me through the door to the bathroom, it looked fairly conventional but a little larger than I was used to. There was an extra large bathtub and a separate shower, the counters had the minimum toiletries on them.
He placed me down on the closed toilet and kneeled in front of me, "are you all right?"
"Yeah, just a little confused right now." My mind was on overload, I mean seriously if I thought about it I was on another planet. Hell I had never been outside of the United States and here I was god only knows where on another planet.
Phil turned around and opened the door to the shower, pushing a few buttons to make it turn on. "Take a shower Leah, it will make you feel better."
He left me alone with the water running, I put my hand underneath the stream it was already hot. I quickly stripped and got under the hot stream. I don't know how long I stood there while the water pelted my skin, but eventually I got enough brain function together to locate something that resembled soap. In a small alcove built inside the shower I located a bottle of some nice smelling stuff, I was going to assume it was supposed to be shampoo. Next to it was a bar of soap that smelled strongly of lavender, the scent was delicate and not at all overwhelming.
When all my parts were finally clean I stepped out of the shower reaching for a towel. I was too tired to try to figure out how to turn off the shower, if Phil did not want me to waste water her was going to have to come in here and turn it off. I was happy to note that the bathroom seemed better stocked than the room next to it. There were thick towels and a robe as well as an assortment of bottles, jars, and tubes of what smelled like toothpaste.
I tried my best to comb all the tangles out of my hair but I quickly gave up on that idea. I decided it would be best if I wrapped myself in the robe, it was thick and fluffy and seemed to be about the right length for me.
When I looked outside the bathroom I noticed Phil was no longer in the center room, so I quickly dashed across to open the door to the bedroom. This room too was sparsely furnished with a large bed, and a dresser being the only large pieces of furniture. I was happy to find some clothes on the bed, they were my size. The fabric was not one that I recognized but the cut of the clothes was familiar. After putting on the pajama pants and long sleeve t-shirt I sat down on the bed. I nearly sank into the soft bed, the blanket was made out of one of the softest fabrics I have ever felt. It looked thick and fluffy, perfect for hiding under on a cold winter night. The knock on the door interrupted my molestation of the blanket. I grunted something, I don't know exactly what.
Phil came in carrying a small tray, "here scoot back a little." He gave me some quick directions and fluffed up a pillow behind my back before placing his tray on my lap. I took a moment to enjoy the comfort of the bed before concentrating on what he had brought. In front of me was a bowl of unknown soup that smelled absolutely delicious, some sort of roll that had been split in two and smeared with butter, and of course the obligatory spoon and napkin were also present.
"Eat so that you can go to sleep," he ordered in a gentle voice as he sat down by my feet. Or at least I thought it was supposed to be gentle but with how deep and rumbly his voice it came out as extra sexy. I considered disobeying his order just out of principle, but the food smelled too good and I had missed his cooking.
He waited long enough for me to start eating before he got up and left the room. "I will be back in a few minutes," he told me before leaving. Now that he was no longer hovering over me and watching me eat I dug into my meal. The bread was still warm, like he had just pulled it out of the oven and I ate it in only four bites. The soup was made out of carrots, celery and a bean of some sort that I did not recognize. The creamy texture of the beans was absolutely delectable, I seriously had missed Phil's cooking.
Between the warm shower and the good food I was starting to feel a little sleepy. It took all of my energy to push the tray aside and leave the cozy bed in order to utilize that toothbrush I had seen in the bathroom.
Phil found me holding the now empty tray trying to figure out where to put it.
"I am surprised you are still awake." Phil noted as he relieved me of my burden. I was too tired to try and be polite so I dragged back the blanket and got into the bed that I assumed was mine for the night. "Here this will help you sleep," he handed me a tall glass of something.
"What is it?" I sniffed it. It smelt like milk and cinnamon.
"Just some warm milk, it will help you relax." Phil said gently. "I know things seem overwhelming now, but it will be better in the morning."
I did not see how this upheaval in my life could get better by the morning. Hello there were such things as aliens though that part had not been explained. There were also things that scared the shit out of the Volturi, that was really hard to grasp. Oh and to top it all off, the one guy I had counted on to be a normal human turned out to be a 'not exactly' an alien and now I was at his home on another freaking planet. Suddenly I could not understand how my pack and the Cullens had agreed to come here.
I looked down at the glass in my hand and was reminded of the crud he had made me drink when I had that awful hangover.
"What was in that stuff? That morning?" I asked looking up at him, the green eyes were still throwing me off, but I could see how they fit him more than the plain brown eyes had.
"The hangover cure? I don't really remember, milk, hot sauce, chocolate syrup, and a whole slew of other stuff." He gave me his big smile, the one with the dimples.
"Why did I drink that stuff?" I mumbled under my breath, not really expecting an answer.
"So that you would think twice next time before you decided to drink yourself senseless." Phil said with a stern voice, but he ruined it by smiling.
"That lesson was learned before I drank that stuff." I told him with a huff.
"That is what my son said when I did that to him." Phil pushed the glass closer to my face trying to encourage me to drink it.
"Wait you have a son?" I suddenly realized this would be something important.
"Adopted son, I even have a grandson." He told me simply, now all of a sudden he had decided to tell me about himself.
"How old are you exactly?" The fog lifted from my mind for a moment and I was suddenly very curious.
"Much, much older than you. Now drink your milk Princess and go to sleep."
I opened my mouth to protest but then I decided I did not want to know, I had learned far too much already today. So I did as he had asked, and finished my milk. He must have put something extra in it because very soon I could barely keep my eyes open.
"Nothing extra in the milk." I heard him murmur. I think I felt him pull the bed covers around me. "Sleep." I might have felt a set of warm lips on my forehead, but that could have been my imagination.
A/N: I am waving white flag, glad no one hunted me down. But it was quick update so you can't really complain.
ABarbieStory: All right I am coming out of hiding, please don't hurt me. I offer up another chapter. Hope you liked Leah's reaction, I think anyone else would have been overwhelmed in a position like this. The surprises just kept on coming before she could recover she was hit with another one. Plus you gotta love Emmet and Myles, those two could get into a lot of trouble together.
Ms Animegoddess: Glad you liked their reunion hopefully this chapter gave you a little more, it is really fun to write about Phil harassing his Princess but taking care of her at the same time. I hope you guys like reading about it.
Yamiik: Welcome to the conversation, hopefully you liked this last chapter.
Twilighter: Glad you could catch up, yeah rewrite is fun, because you get to tweek the scenes you wanted to and you just copy and paste the ones that you are too lazy to rewrite. Not that this chapter was that easy, I combined and pulled from three different ones. It will be interesting how I will be able to add the other parts back in, cross fingers and hope I did not overwhelm people with too much info.
Connect2tjb: The last chapter and this one were changed a great deal from the original. I am trying to give the history of Phil and his family in much smaller portions. Some people have asked me to put up the original, but the chapters are out of order and I am afraid people would get confused if they went back and forth between the two.