Chapter Eight

I silently counted down to the day where I would be taken to the Cullen House and for me to meet the family officially, which meant I would officially become Edward's girlfriend.

Disgust crept up upon me, as though I was someone who had kept poisoning myself in order to try and become immune to the poison. I would end up immune, and death wouldn't take me.

For the time being I was still mortal, so I had to play the sweet and innocent, naive human girlfriend of Edward Cullen. I just had to remind myself that I wouldn't have to be with them any longer than necessary once I would be given the one thing I wanted in the whole world.

Well technically there were two things I wanted: Immortality and the death of Renee Dwyer (née Higginbotham).

The day finally came, and I stood awkwardly in front of the mirror that was in the corner of the room. I had on one of my nicer sweaters, a deep burgundy hue that was a turtleneck but was quarter length when it came to the sleeves. A pair of comfy jeans that weren't too tight nor too loose and black slip-on shoes finished off the ensemble. I braided one of my side bangs and pinned it back with a crimson ruby rose hairpin I had found the last time I had been at the mall.

"You look beautiful, Bella."

I fought the urge to both jump out of my skin and punch the living shit out of said 'vampire boyfriend' that I was using, when I turned and saw him climbing through my windowsill. I wondered what he would think if I led him upstairs to the attic where I had the paintings of both Lauren and Mike propped up.

They both had blood in the paint, hopefully the chemicals of the oil paints had made sure to cover up the metallic scent of the blood. That was if vampires could still smell long dead blood from corpses, without said corpses anywhere near their blood.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spook you. I'm excited for you to meet the family, they want to properly welcome you to the family," Edward explained a moment later, earning a small smile from me as I nodded my head, allowing him to know I understood.

"It's fine, I'm just nervous after all. It's the first time I've ever had a boyfriend…especially when it comes to him introducing me to his family," I confessed, which was actually true when it came to the boyfriend part and the whole being introduced to family.

There came my disorder again, I wasn't interested in romance like a normal girl.

Edward reached his hand out and let it move a few inches above my hair as though he was stroking my hair. He still didn't know how to properly comfort me. He wanted to have something with me, but we didn't really kiss, in fact he had been the one to initiate any type of romantic smooches and hand holding. We were going at his pace, which was slow as fucking hell. He probably was a snail or a sloth in his past life with how fast he was with what he did.

"I just wanted to come through the window and see you before going through the front door. I saw Charlie cleaning his shotgun…." Edward chuckled nervously at the shotgun part, enough for me to roll my eyes and slowly lean forward so he could notice that I was moving towards him. He held his breath, like he had done so when he kissed my head or on the cheek.

He left a second later through the window again and I had barely grabbed my leather purse off of my bed when the front doorbell rang. Charlie gruffly proclaimed that 'Edwin' was here and I chuckled a little bit myself. I corrected him with the pronunciation and actual name, enough for him to roll his eyes instead as I opened the front door.

The drive to the Cullen Residence was spent with little conversations with each other. Not too many, thankfully, but Edward seemed to think if he spoke about his homelife I would be more interested in it.

To be honest I couldn't care less about his homelife, but this charade would have been strong. So, I nodded my head and asked questions at appropriate times. He was listening to me without any issues, and he listened to me with complete faith. I thought he was nothing more than an imbecile.

The Cullen Residence was off of a dirt pathway, covered on both sides with beautiful trees. Edward drove his Volvo up the pathway without any issues, when he drove it was as though he was driving on a smooth surface.

I glanced around at the scenery, finding that it was beautiful. I had to admit I was not someone who cared about small towns, but I had to appreciate the beautiful scenery around me. Especially when my eyes landed on the mansion in front of me.

A three story (if you count the attic with a small balcony to it) white house sat in front of me, in the middle of the meadow, where there was a long-whitewashed porch with the simple railing around it and the cliche wooden front porch swing. The front door was rounded and an old oak that was stained but not too much. The windows were long and simple crossed in the middle, along with flower boxes under each window, filled with all different types of flowers that somehow coordinated without clashing with each other.

Overall, the house reminded me of the houses that were in the historical section of the town. A house that you would expect was taken in by the historical society, and you could only do so much with it. It surprised me how it looked as though it had been there for as long as the town had been around, only for me to learn that it had been built right before the Cullens had moved to the town.

Standing on the front porch were Esme and Carlisle, both of them in coordinating tan and white ensembles.

Carlisle in an oxford button up shirt, along with khaki dress pants and brown oxford dress shoes. Esme was wearing a cream white dress with tan high heels along with a simple locket necklace resting around her neck. She waved happily at me, not even aware of the darkness inside me and thinking I was an angel sent to Edward.

What would Esme have done if she learnt the truth of me, and what would Carlisle do? Did he think that he could save me, and I would come to their side.

I hadn't imagined I would go to the light side, the happy side. The side where there were rainbows and butterflies and peace signs. I was on the dark side, where there was gore and bones and blood and poison. Most people wouldn't want to be around me if they learnt the truth, but I had a feeling the Cullens would try to help me, try to tell me how to do the right things instead of letting me do the wrong things. It would be useless, nothing would change.

Edward parked and came around the car to help me out of my seatbelt and then the car. I shot him a warm smile and let him help me out, before I leant forward on my shoes to kiss him on the cheek. He gave a sharp breath, not thinking I would initiate any type of romance with him. Anything positive and touchy was from him.

After hugging both Esme and Carlisle when I reached them, we went through the front door and directly into the living room. Off to the left side of the large living room there was a spiral staircase, all made of wood and wrought-iron railing that had lights strung around the railing to let out a whimsical feeling to it. I had to admit the place was nice, I could see myself living here but it would be darker and more gothic than the light and modern aesthetic it had.

The walls were an old school antique golden and white wallpaper you would find in old houses that was taken care of quite well. The floorboards were light brown wood, nothing that was too deep and nothing that was too light. It was the perfect wood that was an excellent shade.

The furniture had both modern and vintage pieces, a perfect balance. The long couch was a light bluish, gray hue in a soft velveteen fabric. The armchairs that were facing each other, in front of the couch were brown leather with golden metal armchairs that were gilded. The fireplace was surprising since it looked as though it was taken out of an antique house and rebuilt in the house. It was old brick that had been cleaned off to make it look brand-new. As brand-new for a fireplace that must have been as old as a century.

There were so many paintings and photographs that were lining the walls. Some of them were what looked like family members of the past, along with paintings that had the initials of J.H. on them and E.C too. The oldest male Cullen that wasn't Carlisle and Esme both had extraordinary talent. I would have asked them to make a piece for me.

"Do you mind if I take you around the first floor so you can have a tour of it? Edward can take you upstairs to the second floor, and the attic where his bedroom is. Of course, he'll leave the bedroom door open. Won't you, Edward?"

Esme sent a pointed look towards Edward, as though she was getting onto a human boy instead of a prude vampire that seemed as though he would rather die a virgin than actually have a sex life. I wasn't against sex, that wasn't anything romantic in my opinion, besides the kind of sex I would want would be something that was welcomed in the BDSM community.

I ignored Edward as he nodded, before Esme grabbed my hand and gently pulled me into the kitchen/dining room that were in the same room.

The room was that big, and as we entered, I saw the ceiling was made of refurbished glass windows while there were some windows on the exterior walls. The walls were made of shiplap, white and horizontal. The kitchen and dining room combination had the cabinets (both over the counters and made in the bottom cabinets) were refurbished and white, while the countertops were marble. The window frames were painted black. The dining table was long, with wooden legs and the tabletop was made of mosaic tiles along with Seaglass. It was quite interesting to say the least. The chairs were the same wood from the dining table legs.

A long Persian rug was underneath the dining table, and there was a quite big kitchen island with matching wooden barstools as the dining table legs. A fresh bouquet of flowers from the garden I could see outside. To say the least the kitchen was something that one would find only in the most unique kitchens, just like the unique house this was.

As Esme rattled off about the idea of the house's interior along with its exterior I acted as though I was interested in it.

I mean, she had a talent, and I would totally live in the house if it were more like an Addams Family house but to be honest, I couldn't care less about this. This was a front, a formality for me to be really in the family. It wasn't as though I was planning on marrying Edward. I would find other vampires to become a vampire if it came down to it, but it would be all the sweeter if I ended up managing to trick the Cullens into biting me.

It was soon Edward's turn to take me upstairs, where there was also another spiral staircase to where I expected Edward's bedroom was. He led me down the second hallway, passing by the bedrooms of the couples of the coven.

They were closed, and I didn't demand for the bedroom doors to be opened. It was their own private domains, and I knew I would have demanded the same if I were in their place. I was very private when it came to my life, if I weren't then I would have already been sent to the hospital for my mental disorder. I would probably be put into a straitjacket because I'd be attempting to kill the orderlies along with the other patients in the facilities.

We reached the end of the hallway, where I saw a pulpit cross above the simple door. The Atheist in me hissed in dismay and mockery towards the obvious religion that was in front of me.

I couldn't stand anyone who had religion.

All I needed was me, myself, and I. I would not worship anyone except for myself, and that would follow me into the world of immortality. I did hope that I would be worshiped like a goddess when I would become an immortal, no one else was equal to me.

Edward softly knocked on the office door and hearing a 'come in' from Carlisle, we entered the office.

It was all in the shades of brown, pale blue, along with white.

Carlisle sat behind the antique desk that was situated in the middle of the office directly in a modern blue chair that matched the walls, and he beamed happily when he saw us. The windows behind me shone out brilliantly, creating an angelic halo around him. Another reminder how he was a Christian, but I couldn't tell what denomination he was.

He welcomed us into his abode and as I went forward my eyes flickered towards the wall to the left, where the entire wall was covered ceiling to floor with paintings, all oil and very old. The rest obviously had all the bookshelves that were covered with books.

My eyes flickered over each painting that was on that wall, and as I slowly went forward my eyes landed on one painting, one of the largest paintings I had ever seen.

The painting was of a marble, white and gold veined ballroom with multiple people from the nineteenth century partying with wine glasses full of blood and wine. They wore their best clothes, their jewelry if they wore some were glistening underneath the imposing chandelier that if came loose would crush many of them–creating a pool of crimson blood that would spread away from the chandelier eventually.

Three vampires stood upon a marble balcony, peering down at the crowd with contentment.

The vampire on the left had long, white, blond hair with multiple jewels braided into his hair. He wore black gloves though he was also wearing a white cloak that had crimson, probably blood rubies sewn upon the cloak in the pattern of roses and vines. He had a wicked look in his eyes, as he studied everyone below him as though he was waiting for one of them to become a traitor only for him to execute them harshly.

The second vampire stood in the middle of the three, automatically sent arousal below my navel within seconds. His hair fell down a few inches above his waist and I could only imagine what it would be like to pull on his hair while having sex with him.

His eyes were the darkest crimson I had ever seen, cloudy some, and the plump lips he had were in a smirk that I wanted to both slap but kiss. His cheekbones were sharp, sharp enough that any sword would be dull compared to his cheekbones.

His eyebrows were thick and stylish, and he wore a similar cloak and gloves as his 'brother' next to him. He must have been in his early to mid-twenties when it came to appearances, just like the blond vampire next to him.

Overall, I wanted to be devoured by him and devour him also. I wanted him to wreck me, and I wanted blood to be upon our bodies as we consumed each other. I wanted the blood to become stringy due to spit upon our mouths as our tongues danced with each other. I wanted him, and I never felt as though I would want another person as much as I did with him.

The last vampire stood with his arms behind his back and a mourning veil upon his features. He was also beautiful, soft but he didn't get another look from me. The one in the middle was the one who I wanted him to bend me over and f—

"Carlisle, do I have permission to tell Bella about your transformation along with the others, excluding Jasper and Rosalie?"

I let my eyes flicker towards Carlisle, as he stood up from where he had been sitting, before nodding his head. He came over and put his hand upon his son's shoulder. Telling him he would be downstairs, spending time with Esme, Carlisle soon left me alone with Edward in his office.

Any other girl would be flattered by this, but I was too busy wanting to ask Edward about the vampire in the middle, though I knew he would not mention the vampires until after he told me the backstories about his family members when it came to how they became vampires.

Edward began to tell me the story about Carlisle.

Apparently, Carlisle had been born in the 1640's, in London. His father was an Anglican Pastor (made sense), and Carlisle's mother had died giving birth to Carlisle.

There was a large age difference between the pastor and his wife. Protestants came into power, the persecution of Roman Catholics and other religions led to witch hunts, along with hunting for werewolves and vampires. Basically, if it weren't biblically good, and they were supernatural demons, then the church went after those creatures.

When the pastor became too old to lead hunts, Carlisle was in charge.

It didn't take long for Carlisle to find that vampires were hiding in the sewers. He chased after them with the church and ended up being bit by a vampire. He hid himself in a cellar, within a pile of rotten potatoes for three days (that was how long it took for someone to turn into a vampire) before he woke as a vampire. He tried to destroy himself for a long time before he came to the realization that this was something from God and not from the Devil.

He spent time in France, along with Europe in general. He mastered music, science and medicine. He became a doctor, a dream for him. He had perfected the control of bloodlust and never drank human blood. He only drank animal blood.

I only paid attention when Edward mentioned the painting, which had been painted by Soliemna. An Italian painter that painted the men upon the balcony as though they were gods. I wanted to join them as a goddess, to be next to that middle vampire.

"They are the leaders of the vampiric world, The Volturi and they reside in Volterra. They are neither good nor bad, though I think they only answer for themselves and do what they want. Carlisle stayed with them in the late nineteenth century, for two decades, and both sides tried to have the other side join their diet…" Edward started, and for once I paid completely to him.

He pointed out each vampire king. The one on the far left was Caius Volturi, he was known as the Executioner King for he was in charge of trials that ended up in death. The one on the far right was Marcus, and he was known as the Veiled King or the Mourning King since his wife had died over a thousand years ago, and he had the ability to see mating bonds. The last one, in the middle, was filled with hate from Edward as he said the name: "Aro."

Aro.

"Bearer of Martyrs" and "Exalted".

"Aro is the main king, he is known as the "Collector King", for he collects any vampire that has Gifts for his Guard. Any Gift that has the ability to be used in negative light means they will be added to his collection. There is also the fact that he is the surrogate father of two of the most dangerous vampires in the world…Jane and Alec. Enough of this. Let's go up to my bedroom and talk about anything other than them."

Edward reached over and took my hand, before he pulled me out of Carlisle's office. I wanted to turn around and look at that portrait again, but I knew Edward would notice my intrigue. It was already a good thing he wasn't able to read my thoughts, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten to this stage to begin with. He would have made sure to never talk to me if that were the case.

Edward led me up the spiral staircase that led directly into the bedroom. There was no hallway nor door that kept someone from walking into the bedroom.

It was more clustered than I thought, with a golden carpet and dark walls. There were windows that made up three out of the four walls that overlooked the Sol Duc River. There was no bed, only a lounge settee that was black leather with golden buttons in the middle of the backrest. He slowly brought me to the settee and sat me down, sheepishly letting me glance around the room some more–where I saw the bookshelves on the wall that didn't have any windows filled with books and Vinyl Records, along with a Vinyl Record Player.

Even though Edward had asked Carlisle permission to tell me about Esme and Emmett's' backstories he seemed to decide not to do so after all. I didn't think I would be missing anything; I wasn't really interested in learning the backstories of the Cullens.

He did tell me about his backstory, how he had been born in Chicago in 1901 and was turned in 1918 by Carlisle when he was taking care of Edward and his mother, Elizabeth during the Spanish Influenza. Two decades later they would have Esme join the family and become his adoptive mother just like Carlisle had become like an adoptive father to him.

He had barely said this when Alice appeared in the bedroom a second later, beaming brightly at us in her fashionable clothes that were all in the shades of plum and black. She came skipping over to me and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me.

"It's so wonderful that you decided to become Edward's girlfriend. I see us becoming the best of friends! I'm sorry that I can't tell you my story of how I became a vampire, I don't know, myself. I am glad though that you decided to come here. I would invite you to a baseball game tomorrow because we play baseball during thunderstorms, but we have some nomads that will be coming through. We don't need to risk anything due to the fact that you have a strong scent."

"Thank you for thinking about me. I'm glad that I am here too. The house is beautiful. I can't wait to become best friends with you too!" I chimed in, smirking inwardly at how utterly doomed the pixie-like girl was. I would make sure to eventually kill her when I became a vampire, in order for her to not know my future, no matter how little she did see.

The rest of the time I was with the Cullens, I was confirmed with the fact that everything was going according to plan.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: UPDATE 2 OF 3.

next chapter: Birthday party/Edward leaves.

as always: Twilight doesn't belong to me

-Emmy