Chapter Thirty
A tan woman in her mid twenties with a full and round face and deep brown curly hair answered the door, her smile large enough and bright enough to blind a pilot. Her eyes were the same golden hue as Carlisle, but her general demeanor was more akin to Esme. "Carlisle!" Her voice sung out like a morning dove, bright and clear. "Esme!" She ushered them inside and turned her attention to Edward and I. "Edward, it's so nice of you to have finally brought her around, I'm so glad you decided to come here so we could all meet her." She then moved her gaze to me and softened her smile out of what seemed to be a habit. "You must be Arabella, I'm so pleased to meet you, I'm Carmen! Come in come in!" Her voice had a soft spanish accent that I only just noticed as she spoke my name.
"It's so lovely to meet you," I responded back, giving an encouraging smile. "But please, just Ara."
"Oh why yes of course! Come, meet the rest of my family." She shut the door behind us, and Edward helped me shrug off my heavy coat, encouraging me to set the bag in my hand down. I took Edward's hand once more, moving to hold the crook of his elbow with my other hand, all but adhering to his side out of social anxiety. We walked through the entryway into a living room, the layout being extremely similar to the Cullen's, proving once more that Esme had a hand in the design. Carmen gestured to the other side of the room, where three strikingly beautiful women were locked in conversation. They stopped when they realized we had entered the room, each of their golden gazes turning towards me simultaneously. "Arabella, this is Tanya, Kate, and Irina. Ladies, this is Ara." Carmen announced proudly, gesturing to each of the girls as she spoke. The three girls bore a striking resemblance, each in their varying ages. Tanya seemed to be the eldest of the three, looking to be more in the twenty three to twenty five range, whereas Irina struck me as sixteen or seventeen. Kate was almost decidedly nineteen or twenty, giving off the general air that she fell fairly even between her sisters. Each of them looked as if they had stepped directly out of a painting, they fit so perfectly into the renaissance look that I questioned how any of them were able to blend into society today.
Tanya stepped forward, her shock now over and a smooth smile spread across her face. "It's lovely to meet you Ara, it's very interesting to see who finally cracked the ice cold heart of Edward Cullen." Her gaze flicked to Edward in a teasing manner, Kate and Irina giggled in the back. "You'll have to forgive us, Eleazar is out at the moment and won't be able to come back for a few hours. It was a minor emergency, but nothing to worry about, I promise." Her voice sounded as if it had a faint Russian accent to it, peaking my interest into the history of this coven.
"Oh no, you're fine, it was a long trip anyways." I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly as I tried to ignore the tightness in my chest. I felt such relief that I wouldn't have to meet every individual all at once. It gave me time to repair the pit in my stomach and remind myself that breathing wasn't optional. I felt Edward squeeze my hand slightly, his thumb rubbing mine in a reassuring manner.
"Very well," Tanya smiled then gestured at Kate, "will you show Edward and Ara to their room, I'm sure Ara is very tired." Kate gave a slight smile, stepping forward and gesturing to the stairs at the other end of the room.
"I'll grab those." Kate spoke quickly, her voice also giving way to a slight Russian accent. She took the bag that I was reaching for before I even had a chance to pull back from the motion I had begun, and then flounced up the stairs, Edward encouraging me forward as we began the ascent. I heard the buzz of conversation begin as we reached the hall, there was something they wished to discuss in private, something they deemed I was not to hear. I was curious what the details of the secret conversation were, though I knew no prodding of Edward would reveal those answers.
The room Kate led us to was at the end of a long hall, it had a simple bed placed against the glass wall, and the room itself reminded me faintly of Edward's. The air hung heavy with the scent of lavender incense, a curious detail that made me wary of both the Denali's and Cullen's intentions. Surely Edward was aware of how easily this smell made me drowsy, and based on his movements, he was expecting me to go down soon. I gave him a pointed look, letting my mind fill with the accusations, earning a sympathetic smile in return. "Ara please, you've barely slept the last week." Edward sighed, placing the bag down next to where Kate was setting hers. He gave her a smile and a nod, then she slid out the door, latching it behind her. "I had half a mind to have Jasper come along just so he could make you sleep." His voice was pleading now as he pulled me toward the bed. I had to admit, any sleep I had gotten in the past week had been fitful and broken, but I couldn't shake the fear and nightmares that continued to plague me. "Ara, I mean this from such a loving place in my heart… but if the bags under your eyes get much bigger I'm going to have to have Carlisle sedate you." Edward gave me a stern look in his eyes, but a slight playful smile on his lips. He was fully aware of how silly it sounded to say, but knew that was how he got through to me.
"I can't sleep with these nightmares Edward." I looked at him desperately, I had been ignoring them the best I could, but having a full night's rest was nearly impossible. "I'm sure velociraptor high tea was going to take a horrific turn before long too." I let go of Edward's hand, flopping my arms in defeat.
Edward stepped forward, placing a hand on either side of my face. "Listen, I'm here, nothing is going to happen to you." I stared him in the eye, unwilling to admit how my head felt like it was full of cotton balls and my legs full of lead. "I promise." His words rang in my ears like bells, but that didn't make me move any more.
"Just because you say it will all be okay in the end doesn't mean it will actually be all okay in the end." I whispered, tipping my chin down so that I could look at him from just under my brow line. Coils of my hair fell forward from the side braid, and I was sure I looked like a disheveled mess when Tanya and her sisters looked at me, but I lacked the capacity to care as the lavender scent seeped deeper into my nose. I took a deep and shaky breath in, pouring into Edward's palms with heavy eyes. "Okay fine I'll give sleeping another shot, but if it doesn't work out you know it's not on me." I pointed at him, hoping it was a determined action, but fully aware it was sloppy and nearly drunk in appearance.
Without a second thought Edward swooped me up and pulled me under the covers of the bed, but I pulled him right along. Well I attempted to pull him, his unwavering statue-like presence usually stood in the way of my influence, today however he seemed to melt into my embrace. "Ara, you need to sleep." He mumbled into my hair.
"Under the covers or over the covers what's the difference?" I grumbled as I clung to him, frowning as I pulled my head back to look at his face. "Just stay." He pulled his own head back to look me in my eye. "Please." We held each other's gaze for a few moments longer before Edward conceded with a smile and a performative sigh. I gave him a satisfied smile of my own and pulled myself closer to him, laying my head against his chest as he settled more onto his back.
"I'll always stay for you." He mumbled into my hair once again.
Loooooserrrrr I thought mockingly, earning a chuckle.
"Go to sleep, love." He kissed the top of my head then began humming lightly. It was no particular song, but the lulling melody was enough for me to completely collapse under the weight of my own exhaustion.
•••
When I finally woke up, the sun bathed the entire bed in bright golden beams. I stretched and pulled in a large breath, when I released the sigh and slumped back against the pillow again, I heard the door open and close softly. The shattered twinkle of light that I had grown accustomed to danced on my eyelids as weight was added to the bed and cold fingers gently caressed my jaw. I let my eyes open slowly, and smiled as I looked at Edward. "Good morning sleeping beauty." He teased, sitting beside me and gazing down at my face, which was undoubtedly covered in the shattered rainbows that bounced off of him in the natural light.
"How long was I out for?" I rubbed my eyes and sat up, a wave of dizziness hitting me for a moment. I felt far from fully rested, but I chalked that up to the stress around the contents of next week.
"You successfully slept for six hours." Edward smiled triumphantly. "I was actually on my way up to check on you, you sleep like you're in a coma half the time, and Eleazar returned home while you slept." My eyes got big and I shot up immediately into a stance atop the duvet, my mind racing. Edward pulled me down from the bed so that I was standing on the floor between his knees in front of him. With a cold hand placed on my neck he tapped my sternum with the other hand, just twice, and I knew instantly what he meant. He was pacing his breathing in an obvious manner, encouraging me to control mine.
This interaction could change everything, and the panic that thrummed through my body left me trembling and unable to draw a full breath in. Edward, what if this reveals something about my biological parents? What if there is something wrong with me? Or worse what if there is nothing explainable behind this? What if Eleazar takes one look at me and we all realize I'm actually just horrifically deformed and something is broken inside of me and that's why my mom didn't want me. That's why she ga-
"Arabella." Edward shook my shoulders gently as the edges of my vision darkened. I opened my lips slightly and pulled in a hard gasp, I had been holding my breath, letting the pressure build inside until it began collapsing inward. "No matter what happens today, you are still you. Nothing changes that fact." I covered my face with my hand and laid my head against his shoulder, pulling in shaky breaths as he hugged me around my waist. "Who is or isn't your parent doesn't define you. You are the one who makes your own destiny. You choose the paths you are going to go down, and while things may happen that are out of your control, those things don't define you either." I fought back tears as he spoke, crushing myself harder into him as his words resonated deep in my soul. "Loving someone doesn't fix everything that's wrong in the world, and some people aren't prepared to handle that fact. It's not your fault that all the love your bio mom had for you couldn't fix all the wrong she had in her life."
Slowly I pulled away from Edward, the tears fully rolling down my cheeks now. "Edward… I love you." My voice was barely a whisper, but I knew it would ring as clear as a bell to him. He reached up to my face to wipe away my tears, his mouth cracking open slightly, when I placed my hand over it and earned a shocked eyebrow raise. "No…" I whispered, "don't say it back… not right now while I'm crying and all a mess." The words began tumbling from my mouth and gaining a small increment of volume. I continued forward with my words, still barely over a whisper. "Don't say it just because I said it first and now. When you're ready to say it, say it in the moment. Say it when it overwhelms you and makes it feel as if you couldn't take another breath until the words were said… just… don't say it now. Not if you truly do." Slowly I dropped my fingers from the spot they sat, blocking his mouth from speaking.
We sat there in the embrace for a moment, soaking in each other's closeness, before I finally broke away to go shower and change my clothes. Edward gave me my desired privacy, likely informing the Eleazar that I would be down to meet him in a few minutes. When I stepped into the bathroom that was connected to the room I had been granted for the visit, my arms full of my clothes and hygiene products, I found my jaw dropping. In shock of the size of the shower, my shampoo bottle slipped from my grasp and slammed into my toe. GOD DAMN! Son of a bitch, you rat bastard. Immediately blush spread over my cheeks as I realized my string of profanity was undoubtedly being caught by Edward. I hoped he could see that I was also flipping the bottle of shampoo off before dumping my clothes onto the bathroom counter. The whole room was huge and white, thoroughly modern in its appearance and when I explored the room further I found there was also a large jacuzzi tub in the corner of the room. Opting to return to the ridiculously large and glass shower, I walked over and retrieved the Shampoo bottle from the floor as well as the products that I had left on the counter top.
I let the shower's amazing pressure and scalding water work the knots from my shoulders. Once I was finally out and smelling like lemons and lilacs, I grabbed my clothing. I wore a pair of ripped jeans and a hoodie, sad that it was too cold to wear any of my cuter items. I made the mental note that when summer came around again I would be wearing my adorable crop tops and high waisted shorts once again. My excitement for warmer days carried me to my makeup bag, and since there were no plans to go out I wouldn't do a full face, but having a little eyeliner and mascara on never hurt.
Finally I emerged from the room, Edward meeting me at the door just seconds after I closed it. "Are you ready?" Edward asked, and I felt panic spike through me once again.
"Oh we are just jumping straight into it huh?" My palms were already sweaty with the idea, and I couldn't seem to remove from my face the hard line my mouth had formed into.
"It's going to be okay, I promise. Besides, Esme and Carmen are cooking you breakfast and are entirely too pleased with the whole experience." He shook his head and laughed, taking my hand and not flinching at the dampness of it. He led me down the hall and back down the stairs, his pace slower than my normal. It took me a moment to realize I was literally dragging my slipper clad feet. I was led back through the main room and into a bright and shiny kitchen. Apparently Carmen and Esme had gone shopping earlier and decided to make me both muffins and an omelet. Though my stomach was churning with anxiety I would likely force myself to finish the food out of respect for the actions they had taken for me.
"Ara!" Carmen exclaimed excitedly, spinning around with a pan in her hand still. "Come sit, we are almost done with your breakfast, and Eleazar and Carlisle are upstairs."
I took a seat at the barstool that had been apparently decorative prior to my arrival. The barstool sat at a butcher's block island just across from the glass top electric stove where Carmen and Esme were crowded. "You really didn't have to go through all the trouble of this Carmen, really." I smiled at her sincerely as I wiped my hands off on my pants, and Edward settled in next to me.
"She says this every time someone does something remotely nice for her." Edward gave Esme a knowing look and smiled at Carmen. Just at that moment Tanya and Irina walked into the kitchen with smiles on their faces. "I don't know, you'll have to ask her yourself." Edward answered the unspoken question they seemed to have asked him.
"Oh fine, spoil sport." Tanya rolled her eyes and directed her attention back to me. "We were wondering if you would like to go shopping with us while you are up here."
"You remind us so much of Alice, the way you dress yourself, and we thought it might be fun for you." Irinia added in, her eyes hopeful.
Kate walked through the door not a moment later, an equal smile on her face. "It would be all three of us by the way, you don't have to if you don't want to. It would just give us a chance to get to know you before you leave."
I found myself awestruck, the idea that these three wanted to get to know me in any capacity. As soon as I began to open my mouth for a reply, my phone, which I had placed on the counter, gave a hard ping and lit up. It was a text from Alice, and when I unlocked my phone just two simple words stared back at me.
Say yes.
•••
Once I had eaten, had an entire conversation with everyone in the kitchen, and then moved to the living room where Edward and I relaxed on the couch, I finally felt as if my nerves wouldn't make me die of a heart attack at fifteen. Edward looked down at me and smiled, which only raised my suspicion. Turns out it had been rightfully raised, because when I turned my attention to the sound of someone walking down the stairs, I saw Carlisle and a stranger who I could only assume was Eleazar. I quickly straightened out of the ball I had been curled in and gave a nervous smile to the new face. Eleazar had bright golden eyes, as if he had just come back from a hunt, and his hair was a color I would call 'deep ocher brown.' He himself was tan, not as tan as Carmen, and like all vampires there was the underlying paleness associated with the lack of blood and blood flow. He had freckles however that indicated he had spent an extraordinary amount of time outside in his human years. The freckles danced across his entire face and down his neck just slightly. "Hello." I smiled awkwardly, and then realized the golden eyes of the final member of the Denali coven were looking at me strangely, almost curious.
"Oh, yes. Hello." His voice was equally curious as he apprised me for another moment.
"Ara this is Eleazar, as you may have guessed." Carlisle said with a smile, walking a short distance to Esme, who had entered the room curiously from the direction of the kitchen the moment she realized that they had emerged from the study. Carmen soon walked from the kitchen as well, freezing for a moment when she saw Eleazar's face, then quickly regaining her composure and joining him where he stood motionless, still staring at me.
"It's nice to meet you finally." I spoke, but the panic bubbled in my chest and I struggled to put a lid on it. I struggled even more when Edward nodded in Eleazar's direction, and slowly stood up and stepped away from me. When he did both of them gasped audibly in shock. "What!? Is something wrong?" The panic was officially boiling over, I felt as if my entire body was vibrating with the excess energy. Coffee jitters couldn't hold a candle to the explosion of panic in me now.
"I'm sorry Ara, nothing is wrong…" Eleazar raised a hand to rest on his chin as he stared. "I just have never seen such a strong power signature in one human before. At first I thought Edward's own light was amplifying the appearance of yours, but now I realize it was the other way around…" He shook his head and continued to look at me. Except, I realized, he was not looking at me, but rather around me. Like the air around me held all the answers he was looking for, and all the questions he had yet to discover.
"Wait what does that mean?" I asked nervously.
"It means that when Eleazar came down the stairs," Edward began to clarify, "he didn't even realize you were human at first. Normally he has to work harder to see the latent abilities, but yours may as well have gotten up and shook his hand when he looked at you."
"You will make an exceedingly powerful vampire, Ara." Eleazar spoke again.
"I won't because I don't want to be one." I fired back, almost defensive.
"Oh! My bad! I really am so sorry."
"You're fine, it is what it is." One simple shrug later, and I was already ready for the interaction to be over. This had done nothing to quell my anxiety and left me with more questions and no apparent answers. "Do we know what this means for me… I mean in the long run. Is there a way I can learn to control it? Does it… does it tell us anything about my bio parents?"
"The only thing It can really tell us about your parents is that one of them must have been very powerful and come from a line of individuals who were also powerful." Eleazar explained, not seeming to be taken aback by my questions. "You will be able to control it, no doubt, though I am curious. Which ability do you mean to control?"
"I'm sorry… what do you mean which!?"
This was when Edward stepped forward, he had been frozen with shock the moment he stepped away, obviously watching the encounter through the eyes of Eleazar. "Ara… you have two abilities, and one of them we didn't even know about."
"Well what is it?"
"The best way it can be described is… attraction?" Edward looked to Eleazar for help in the description.
"There really isn't a term for this ability, it is most common but not heavily sought after." Eleazar carified, finally acknowledging Carmen's presence and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Honestly it is more of an aura, some would just regard it as a personality trait more than an ability, but it is an ability none the less." His eyes studied me a moment longer before he spoke again. "You seem to have the ability to make others around you care for you, but not in a selfish way, and it seems to have varying effects on those around you."
"The best example is, when Jasper and Emmett met you, they immediately felt protective." Edward now walked back over to me, sitting on the coffee table in front of me and staring directly into my eyes. "Alice felt as if you were family immediately, and Rose felt affection and familiarity, almost like you had been her friend when she was human." A faint smile played on Edward's lips as he remembered the first interaction each of us had. "I felt oddly protective, but also intrigued. You seemed like a mystery to me, and I couldn't help but want to know more." He reached up and brushed a loose strand of my hair from my face, placing it behind my shoulder. "Each of the Denali's felt the same as Carlisle and Esme, compassion and familial responsibility were first. Then they all seemed to feel as if you reminded them of Alice, which is a curious effect."
"Oh my god…" I slowly sank my head into my hands. "I'm a free will stealer!?" I could feel the tears forming, but before the first could fall I felt Edward grab my chin and pull my gaze gently back it him.
"No, that's the part I was getting to. It is that you make people feel this way by force. It's more that you accelerate through the first impressions and bring them to what they would inevitably feel about you. You don't just make them feel anything, you make a person see you right off the bat how they were destined to see you. It seems the effect only lasts through the first interaction, because after that you don't influence it further. It is just that everyone you've met already has that comfortable emotion to sit in, that it feels natural to continue with it." Edward's assurances did seem to make my heart at ease, but I still felt nervous that I had too much of a one two combo with the other more obvious ability.
"What about the other one?" I turned my attention to Eleazar, who was still appraising me.
"It seems like it's just straight forward compulsion. It is a line of defense, much like Kate's ability." I felt curious about his answer, not realizing Kate was one of the talented few vampires I had met. "Most effective with eye contact or physical contact, though it wouldn't surprise me if you ever did become a vampire that you would be able to use it without either of those things."
"Is there a way I can control it so I don't accidentally make my loved ones not have free will?" The thought of my father that night with Sam came to mind, and Edward gave me a reassuring squeeze of my hand, which I hadn't even registered he was holding.
"With time, it appears you only recently fell into your full access to this ability, it seems fresher than the other one, I wouldn't be surprised if the other one you exhibited the moment you were born."
So my mother was always supposed to feel detached from me… great.
"Ara, I dont think it's that simple. If your mother also had abilities like we are hypothesizing, she may have seen something that was yet to happen, or known something that was yet to happen." Edward sighed, running his finger along my chin.
"I guess that makes it a little better." I mumbled, feeling emotionally exhausted from the whole experience. "Well I guess I at least got an answer." All I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and disappear for a little bit, but the reality of the timeline was setting in, and something in me knew that it was going to change.
Everyone in the room seemed to understand how overwhelming the news of all of this was to me, and left Edward and I to sit in silence on the couch. Edward moved to sit with his arms around me, pulling me into his chest where I buried my face in the fabric of his sweater.
Maybe everything would work out.
Maybe…