A/N: Once again, I don't own the rights to anything you recognize-that all goes to Stepanie Meyer. I'm debating throwing in an alternate POV soon of a certain Volturi King, though I'm not sure.
We wound up all gathered in the living room again, the Cullens all present, as I had demanded. Rosalie was clearly not happy, and I couldn't tell if I was more annoyed at her aggressive glaring or at the way the rest of them were blatantly staring me down.
"Listen, I seriously just want to know what's up with that painting in the study. Plus, you guys are really strange, so I guess I want to know what's up with that as well. I mean, we'd all be lying if we said you weren't hiding anything."
"Dee!" Bella hissed out; she honestly gave blonde barbie a run for her money with the glare she threw my way.
Emmett laughed, his whole body rumbling only for Rosalie to turn around and smack him upside the head. Momentarily free from her wrath, I turned toward Carlisle expectantly.
"Now Didyme, I'm not entirely sure what you mean. The painting in my study is one I found on a vacation overseas. The painter mentioned his inspiration for the piece came from the characters of a little-known novel." Carlisle managed to look entirely innocent, and I couldn't be sure how.
"I'm not stupid. You know exactly what I'm talking about. And again, I'm well aware that your family is hiding something, and I'd like answers," my voice remained steady up until the end of my words. I suddenly felt a bit guilty; Charlie had mentioned how ostracized the Cullens were.
To my right further down the couch I sat on, Alice shifted with a pout. The guilt I had started feeling a moment ago amplified. Was I no worse than the other people of Forks? No worse than Jessica Stanley or Lauren Mallory.
With a sad look in her eyes Alice turned to me, "Didyme, I know you're still upset with Edward because of the Phoenix accident, but we really don't know what you're talking about. I know we keep to ourselves a lot but that is simply because we know that people talk."
I sat back feeling like a scolded child. Of course, I still had my doubts, but that really put into perspective the idea that I was making this all up. Was I really so desperate for explanations on my silly dreams that I was falsely accusing this family? Jasper reached out and grabbed Alice's hand, pulling her further into his side as I looked about the room. Every single Cullen looked equally innocent or understandable upset at the accusations.
"Really, we fully understand your upset at what happened with Bella, and I full heartedly apologize for the upset I caused. I'll be honest, the accusations you're making are very upsetting, are you sure you're feeling okay?" Edward looked justifiably concerned as the feelings of guilt were now joined by shame and remorse.
I was almost positive now that I had fabricated everything now, maybe I was so sleep-deprived that I was hallucinating things? How could I be so sure that the men I'd been seeing for years matched the ones in the painting? Especially as these visions usually were only a couple seconds at length.
Just as I had resolved myself to acknowledge that I had made a grave misjudgment, I looked over and made eye contact with Bella.
Growing up with Bella, especially as twins pretty much guaranteed that we understood each other to a fault. We knew when the other was upset, when they were angry, every single little quirk we had each developed individually over the years was clear as day for the other. All this is to say, I know when Bella is lying, she's absolutely horrid at it. She'd never been one to fib growing up, her inner moral compass had all but made it impossible, so I was the one who resorted to lies when it was needed.
One look at Bella was more than enough. Her eyes widened, she shuffled a little in her seat, and immediately started picking at her cuticles. She was nervous, not nervous about me-no she was nervous about what the Cullens were telling me, scared I wouldn't fall for it. I immediately sat upright, casting a glance at the family around me, making eye contact with Edward and holding it.
I released my breath and stood, passing through the living room without so much as a peak behind me. Of course the Cullens were manipulating me, whatever guilt and shame I had been feeling washed away and I was determined to leave without that changing.
"I'll be in the truck Bella," I spat out the words coldly and left the house in a huff.
While I didn't get concrete answers today, my mind was set that the Cullens really did know more than they were letting on. I was determined to figure out what they were hiding, and how it involved me.
_Line Break_
The one thing I hated most about Forks was the everlasting rain, somehow Forks managed to rain almost 24/7 no matter the season. The last few weeks proved that fact, as school let out for summer before Bella and I would start our senior year, there was almost a constant downpour of rain. The earth seemed to soak up all the water surprisingly well, the woods surrounding our home ever green and lush.
It was on one of the rare rainless (yet still overcast) days that I found myself outside the Black home, I was there in hopes to find Jacob and question his knowledge about the Cullens. She hadn't even thought of this herself; Charlie had been grumbling about Billy, and when she had questioned him, he had relented and told her how the Quileutes greatly disliked the Cullen family. If the dislike for the Cullens truly ran so deep, then Jacob Black would be a good place to start for getting answers.
I stepped down and out of the truck, and looked up at the little red house, it was just as I remembered it from years ago. I hadn't been by the Blacks' since Bella and I moved back to Forks, though they had been by our house. I had also tagged along with Bella on a La Push beach outing months back, but it truly had been a while since I had seen either Jacob or Billy.
The door opened and Jacob came bounding out, letting out a chuckle, "How long are you going to stand there before knocking?"
I laughed then started toward him, "I was wondering if you'd want to take a walk down the beach? We're blessed with no rain today."
_Line Break_
The beach was just as beautiful as the rest of La Push, the dark roll waves of the ocean slamming against the shore, moving sand with the water came and went. The weather stayed relatively nice-though it was significantly colder on the beach by the water-the faint sounds of seagulls soaring and crying far above the cloud cover. We were making small talk for roughly about 10 minutes walking the length of the beach before I decided to hint at what I really wanted to talk about.
"Jacob, have you ever wondered about the Cullens? Have you ever thought they might be kind of strange?"
Instantly Jacob's face shifted, he looked as if he had expected this, "You know I shouldn't be shocked you're asking. Bella asked me about the Cullens months ago." He cast a glance over at me and continued, his eyes troubled, "The Cullens don't come here for a reason Dee, my tribe has a legend, and everyone seems to believe it, no matter how insane it is."
Jacob stopped and sat on a rather large piece of driftwood, and I followed suit quickly. I leaned forward in anticipation as he cleared his throat and looked out over the water. Gesturing for him to continue, I settled my forearms on my knees and pulled my hands into my sleeves to combat the chill washing over me. Was it solely because of the weather or were Jacob's words already getting to me before I had heard anything of substance?
"The Quileutes are said to be descended from wolves, as a form to protect our people. The Cullens are said to be the thing that our tribe needs protection from, the legends refer to them as Cold Ones". Jake looks at me, maybe to ensure that I'm interested and listening.
As Jacob spoke, I listened with a bated breath, weary about the Quileute and whether or not I should put faith in the words of it. I did know however, that this step into investigating my sister's boyfriend and his family was going to change everything.
_Line Break_
As soon as I got home, I parked, shut off the truck, and booked it inside the house up to my bedroom. Slightly out of breath from both the stairs and Jacob's legend, I slammed the door behind me and slumped against it. According to the Quileute tribe, the Cullens were part of the supernatural-blood sucking creatures of the night. Admittedly, I had never seen the Cullens rip someone's throat out or drink from their heart like a juice box, but legend seemed to reverberate around inside my head. The Cold Ones. Could it be, were the Cullens really capable of that?
Peaking my head out of my room and around the corner, I awaited any sign that Bella was home. Hearing nothing, I moved quickly toward her room and knocked on the door-sliding in, shutting it quickly behind me. Letting out a sigh I looked around the room, not quite sure what to look for, it's not like Bella would have a box labeled 'Cullen Secrets' or 'Cold Ones'.
"Come on Bella, can't you be a stereotypical teenage girl for once and at least have a diary," I grumbled as I ruffled through the papers on her desk, moving to her bookshelf.
Finding nothing of substance, I abandoned the idea and logged onto her computer, trying to search for any indication of the Cullens. Searching her saved browser pages, I couldn't help but notice a few and clicked the links to each one. Page after page of the same subject confirmed my suspicions-the signs all pointed to this. They were cold and hard, I couldn't ever recall seeing them in the sun, they never ate in front of me-only pushing around the food they would buy at school. The fact that these tabs even existed on Bella's computer, the knowledge that she had questioned Jacob on the Cullens before me, and the look in her eyes at the Cullen house that day weeks ago all cemented it.
The Cullens are vampires.