The Cullens: Part One

*********Just so you know, I decided to go with the book's original description of the Cullen house simply because I like it better than the modern house used in the movies. I apologize if some of you don't like that, but as it is my vision I can only feel so bad. Happy reading!

Marcus, apparently having no notion of money, handed the driver three hundred dollars for his services and exited the cab in a slow and calculated manner. Adrianne did the same and stood shivering in the rain while the cabbie got her suitcase out of the trunk. The driver gave Marcus one last, uneasy look before getting back into his car and driving off. Adrienne turned to look at Marcus. "Well, now what?" she asked, looking around.

The driver had dropped them off in front of a small restaurant. She could see people looking at them through the window, obviously wondering who had come to disturb their peaceful morning. Marcus bent down and grabbed her suitcase. He inclined his head slightly and started walking, obviously meaning for Adrianne to follow him. He brought her around to the back of the restaurant and turned quickly. Seeing no one, Marcus grabbed Adrianne and the next thing she knew they were in the woods about a few hundred feet away from the main road.

He stood looking down at her for a moment before speaking, wanting to choose his next words carefully. "I…do not know how you will be…welcomed here", Marcus breathed, "this could very well be a foolish decision, though it is perhaps the only option available to us. The clan that resides here is known as the Cullens, their leader is a vampire by the name of Carlisle. He is gentle natured. I am relying heavily on his…hospitality. They will know we are coming".

Marcus moved to pick her up but Adrianne stepped back and brought her hands up in front of her body. "Wait", she said quickly, "just wait. How many vampires are there? How do they know we're coming? How do you even know them in the first place?"

Adrianne was feeling a strong sense of panic coming over her. In the past week her life had changed faster than her mind could keep up with. The reality of her situation was crashing down on her and Adrianne was trying hard to keep her emotions in check. Marcus stood motionless, waiting for Adrianne to calm down. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting the air out slowly through her nose. "Okay", she said cautiously, "I'm good. But answer my questions!" She opened her eyes and gave Marcus her most penetrating look, knowing without a hint of doubt that she couldn't make him do anything that he didn't want to. The thought was slightly depressing.

When he was sure that she wouldn't interrupt him, Marcus whispered softly, "The number of vampires, as of three years ago, had reached nine. I know not if this number has changed. They will know of our coming for, like the Volturi, those in this clan hold certain…advantages over the rest of our kind. As for how I know them…" here he trailed off.

After a second Adrianne raised her eyebrows "Yes?" she inquired.

Marcus shifted ever so slightly. "Carlisle and the Volturi go back several centuries", he said quietly, "he was with us for a very short time. He never agreed with our…lifestyle. As for the rest of his clan…." Marcus locked eyes with Adrianne, holding her gaze with his impenetrable stare. "The Volturi attempted to kill them three years ago".

"Kill them" she yelled, "great, that's just perfect!" Adrianne dragged her hands slowly down her face and held her breath, waiting for Marcus to say something. When he didn't Adrianne glared up at him, finding him starring at her with the same blank expression that he always had. "And what, exactly, do you think is going to make them help us?"

"You", he said impassively.

Without any further elaboration Marcus lifted her up and slung her around and onto his back, careful to avoid the bruises that still covered her body. He set off at a quick yet steady pace; Adrienne was quiet and watched as the trees whirled by her head in a mass of green. "I did not know how to get to the Cullens from the main road." Marcus explained quietly, "Out here, I can smell their scent. It will be mere minutes before we reach their home. I hope you are ready".

"Me too", she said and held on tighter to his body.

In less time than Adrianne thought was possible, Marcus had stopped by a long, half hidden driveway in the woods. She squinted into the distance, trying to make out a house, but all she saw were trees. The path curved and disappeared into the endless greenery. Great, she though, they probably live in a rundown, haunted mansion or something.

Marcus, sensing her obvious concern, said softly, "There is a clearing ahead that your human eyes cannot see. That is where they wait". He tilted his head slightly to the side and breathed in a long, slow breath before wrinkling his nose in what she guessed to be disgust. "They are not alone…there are other…phenomenon in this world that your kind have no knowledge of, though I doubt you will see them today".

Adrianne felt a shiver run down her spine; she could only guess at what might be worse in the world than vampires.

"Look at me human."

Marcus's whispery voice brought her out of her thoughts. She looked up into his blood red eyes, trying to read what he was thinking but to no avail. He bent his torso slightly, bringing his gaze more to her level. "Your safety is not…guaranteed. I make no promises other than that I will do my best to protect you. Stay behind me at all times. Make no sudden movement. If I tell you to do something, you will do it. Have I made myself…understood?"

"Y…yes", she stammered, unable to mask the fear in her voice.

He gave a small nod and straightened up. Marcus turned and hesitated slightly before walking away. "I hope our journey today is successful. I do not wish for you to die. Follow me".

They stepped off of the road and onto the narrow driveway, Adrianne following a couple paces behind Marcus. She thought about what Marcus had said and hoped that he was right. I don't want to die either, she thought, and I don't want him to get hurt trying to protect me. Adrianne knew that if something happened to Marcus she would never forgive herself. In the few days that they had known each other he had become important to her, and not just because he kept saving her life.

Up a head Adrianne could just make out patches of sunlight, so she assumed that they were getting close to the house. Several minutes later Adrianne stepped out of the woods and into a brightly lit clearing. What she saw when she looked around surprised her. She was standing in what must have once been a huge meadow of sorts that had been cleared of its vegetation. Somewhere in the distance she could hear water, though she didn't know what direction it was coming from.

In the middle of the meadow stood a gorgeous three level, French country styled home. It had been painted a cheerful off white color and had a huge wrap-around porch. Everything about the house looked inviting and friendly; however it was the occupants of the home that looked less than friendly to Adrianne. She counted nine bone white figures standing in front of the house along with one tan, surprisingly human looking man.

Marcus slowed and walked cautiously in front of Adrianne, his right arm tensed and raised in front of her as a form of shield. He bent his body slightly and continued forward, making his movements look ever so slightly cat like. As they drew closer Adrianne began to make out the other vampire's facial features. On either side of the front steps were three figures, spread equally far apart. In the front and back were men leaving two women in between them. On the left hand side stood a hulking, chalk white vampire with layers of muscles visible under his shirt. Off to the right stood the human looking man, however he looked equally as fierce and had muscles that could easily rival his vampire counterpart.

Between the left lines of vampires stood a beautiful looking blonde woman, perhaps the prettiest that Adrianne had ever seen. Behind her was a tall, curly haired man. He looked surprisingly peaceful compared to his fellow companions. Adrianne felt compelled to look into his eyes and when she did a sense of calm fell over her, making her feel instantly better. She could have sworn she saw him wink, but after a second thought she reconsidered.

Opposite to them, standing behind the tan man, was a dark haired female vampire. What surprised Adrianne most about her was that her eyes were a different color than the rest of them. They all had bright golden eyes yet hers were more of a pale orange, with bright golden flecks in them. The girl regarded Adrianne with a curious expression, almost knowing. To be honest it freaked her out. Behind her was an incredibly handsome, bronze haired boy. He had his eyes trained on Marcus and appeared to be talking to the others, his lips moving so fast that Adrianne couldn't make out a single thing that he was saying.

Up on the porch, behind the boy, stood a girl with dark brown eyes. Her skin was less pale than the rest of them and she looked younger somehow. Opposite to her was a frail, pixie looking woman that had a slight smile on her face. She was moving restlessly back and forth on her feet, like she was excited to finally see them, which made absolutely no sense to Adrianne what so ever.

Finally, standing in the middle of the porch was who Adrianne assumed to be Carlisle. He was a handsome blonde man and had a friendly, if not slightly strained look on his face. Beside him was a pretty, almost motherly looking vampire. She regarded Adrianne cautiously, obviously wondering what harm she intended towards her and the rest of her family.

Marcus continued to move forward until he was about twenty feet away from the first two male figures. The muscled vampire tensed slightly and a low growl escaped his lips. Marcus reached behind him and pulled Adrianne closer to his body. She peered out behind his arm wide eyed with fright. Somehow these vampires where almost worse than the ones in Voltera; at least back in Italy she knew she was going to be eaten. Now Adrianne had no clue what these people were going to do to them both.

For a moment there was silence, then Carlisle said, in a friendlier manner than expected, "Marcus, welcome. Your appearance here has been more than a little, ah, surprising to us. For what do we owe this occasion?"

Marcus did not answer right away, which was not surprising to Adrianne at all. What did surprise her, though, was when he finally straightened to his full height and turned to her. "Do not move", he whispered. Marcus turned and glided to the front steps of the porch, making no noise as he went. Several hisses could be heard from the other vampires at his closer proximity, but none of them moved to stop him.

He halted at the foot of the stairs and knelt down on the ground, bending his head. It almost looked like he was praying. "We have come to ask for your aid", Marcus said in a breathy sigh, "I have left the…services…of the Volturi. The girl was to be changed, Aro found her entertaining". Here he motioned to Adrianne. "I did not…approve".

"You're risking all of our lives by coming here!" snarled the beautiful blonde girl.

"Rosalie", said Carlisle, "that's enough".

"Rose", warned the muscular vampire. Rosalie glared at the back of Marcus's head with hate filled eyes but said no more.

"I am aware of the danger I bring to your family", Marcus said, his voice deathly calm. "I would not have come…though there was nowhere else to go. Yours is the largest coexisting clan known to the Volturi. It is also the safest for a human to reside. The Volturi will always know where I am, there is no escaping them. I am prepared to leave should you offer sanction to the girl. I would lead them away from here, as it is I that they are now after…." Marcus's voice trailed off in a forlorn whisper.

"He could be lying!" the brown skinned man shouted. "How do we know he wasn't sent here to try and kill Renesmee again? I say we burn him and send his ashes back to Italy!"

Adrianne hadn't noticed before, but now she saw that the man's entire body was shaking, like he had just been thrown into ice cold water. He had moved towards Marcus and had his hands balled up into fists.

"Jake" the dark haired vampire next to him muttered urgently, "Jacob stop. Don't phase, just keep yourself together". She moved to put her arm against him but Jacob brushed her off and strode forward. His entire body was convulsing with tremors and he had his teeth barred in a snarl. Adrianne had no idea what he was but she had a strong feeling that this was one such creature that Marcus had been talking about earlier. She backed off as the being neared Marcus.

"I won't", Jake snarled, "I won't let him hurt her!"

The next thing that Adrianne knew she was getting flung sideways and onto her already battered back. A dark shadow passed over her head and what she saw next sent chills through her entire body. An enormous wolf stood snarling at Marcus, who had moved to the center of the meadow.

Adrianne looked around desperately and saw a pile of shredded clothes lying abandoned on the ground. They were the same clothes that Jacob had been wearing moments ago. She looked slowly back at the enraged wolf and held her breath. She wasn't entirely sure, but she thought that she might be looking at some kind of demonic wolf hybrid. Werewolf, a voice said slyly in the back of her mind. And why not, in a twisted way it made perfect sense. Where there are vampires there are werewolves, the voice inside her head laughed.

This new monster seemed more than capable of harming Marcus. He looked so frail compared to the huge wolf standing before him. Marcus took a measured step backwards. In turn the wolf snarled and moved forward into a crouch. Marcus took another step backward and a moment later the wolf roared and lunged at the vampire, who somehow still managed to have a bored expression on his face, as if his life wasn't in danger of ending.

"No!" Adrianne heard herself scream as Marcus became lost behind the wolf's massive frame.

****Wow, so finally, an update! I hadn't realized that it had been eight months since my last chapter was put up (thank you Robyn) but life tends to get in the way of things. Yea, I'm sure some of you thought I'd abandoned this story. If you're one of those people…..gotcha! Originally this was supposed to be one chapter but it was going to go on for a ridiculously long time and I thought it would be better to break it up and at least get something new out. I'm going to start the second installment tonight, so hope for a new chapter within the next couple of days. (Crosses fingers) Hope you enjoyed it, thanks for sticking with me guys. Leave some reviews