Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, just my own characters.
Renesmee Cullen
I woke up with a panging headache.
Being a hybrid meant that I never got sick –at least not chronically sick.
But that didn't mean I didn't get headaches. I don't think anyone could avoid that, vampire or not.
This was different though.
Usually my headaches caused slight, mild discomfort but it was nothing a little water or caffeine wouldn't fix.
Not this time.
I think I needed a lot more than water and coffee to cure this migraine. Gimme a cold pack, a heating pad, a set of pills and a dark room immediately!
I clasped my forehead and began gently making soothing rubs with the palm of my hand as I sat up in the bed.
I glanced over to Jake's side of the bed to notice that he wasn't there and then I reverted my focus onto the clock on his bedside table.
7:46am.
I grumbled as I dropped my hand from my temple and arched my back against the headboard, resting my hands on my stomach and leaning my head back as I closed my eyes.
Thenceforth, I found my body slowly –and comically – falling to the side and my head colliding on the soft pillow on Jacob's side.
Last night was such a trip.
I vaguely remember what happened last night in the club after I had one too many drinks in my system.
It was my best friend, Felicity's birthday party.
All I remember from yesterday was having a great time at the concert and then heading to the nightclub to party the night away with my girlfriends.
I feel like things started to get hazy after the fourth drink because I recall having an argument with Jacob at one point but I can't for the life of me remember what it was about. The memories were all pretty fuzzy.
And I suppose I was grateful for that because I don't think it was a memory I would want to relive.
However, I know Jacob probably remembered what went down between us and that sort of terrified me.
I wonder where he was right now.
Is that why he wasn't in bed with me right now? Was waking up with me too much for him to bear in the morning? Was he just not interested in being around me anymore?
Whatever the case was, he wasn't here.
Maybe if I go back to sleep I would forget about the whole thing and possibly get rid of this darn headache while I was at it.
Yeah. I should do that.
Jake was not normally an early riser in our relationship, rather, I was. I almost always woke up before he did.
He only woke up early unless he absolutely had to and that was to go to work, gym, or patrolling with the wolves. Other than that, he loved to just sleep in.
It was then that I heard the commotion of manly voices of the guys echoing from outside the room and the sounds of the TV, microwave and kettle bustling and filling the air.
I grumbled as I decided to hop out of bed and groggily made my way to the bathroom to freshen up before slipping out of the room where I was met with Seth and Jacob laughing and chattering as they watched some highlights from an F1 race at the Australian Grand Prix.
"Aww! Come on!" Seth exclaimed at the television.
"Hey! Be quiet! The girls are still asleep." Jake warned him.
"Oops!" Seth quietened down and silently bemoaned and cheered as the race continued on.
I entered the room soon after that and Jake darted his head up to look at me making an entrance.
Instead of being welcomed with the joyful, loving smile I always got from Jacob every morning, I was met with just an acknowledging look, with a slight hint of a smile but it was still very different. Very weak. Very melancholic. Very…uncharacteristic.
"Hi," He greeted in an attempt to be cheerful and upbeat like he usually is when he greets me in the morning –but coming up short.
"Hi," I whispered back as I awkwardly folded my arms together against my chest and wriggled my toes on the titled floors.
"Oh! Morning, Nessie!" Seth acknowledged in his signature giddy tone and waved back at me as he saw me.
I smiled slightly and waved back.
"Did we wake you up? Sorry if we were a bit loud," Jake told me.
I looked to him. "Oh – No, you didn't! Don't worry." I assured him, nervously biting my bottom lip.
He nodded back. "How are you feeling?" He asked, his concerned voice coming out.
He could probably sense I wasn't feeling so good.
Scratch that, I probably didn't look good at all.
"Uh…I'm really tired. I've got a massive headache."
"Ha! I bet." Seth chuckled. "You guys looked absolutely wrecked last night," He teased.
I blushed, my cheeks burning and my face turning sheepish. Ugh! I was humiliated. Was I really that bad?
"Do you want coffee?" Jake offered.
I nodded. "Please," I said. "Thank you,"
He cleared his throat as he got up from his recliner and I watched him walk into the kitchen where he grabbed a mug from the cabinet. He then went on to retrieve the already boiled coffee from the espresso machine and began pouring into the mug. I didn't know I was staring at him for longer than I should until our eyes met.
He and I shared a brief look with each other as he caught me staring at him. He mustered up a small smile to which I returned back.
After popping a sugar cube and some honey into my coffee, he handed it to me –our fingertips making contact with each other.
He knew how I liked to take my coffee.
"Thank you," I whispered in response after taking the cup and held it up to my lips to breathe in the strong aroma.
Mmm…
This should surely help my headache and bring me back to life –hopefully.
I sauntered my way to the nearest couch and took my seat there, sitting on the opposite single sofa next to Seth.
"So, did you have a good time last night?" Seth asked.
I sighed as I thought for a moment. "I mean, I guess. It was fun dancing and partying the night away with my friends. Also, Felicity seemed to have a great time which was most important."
He nodded. "True," He replied. "I wish I went with you guys."
"It wasn't as fun without you, that's for sure." Jake teased.
I looked up at him with a slight grimace.
Was that subtle dig? Did he not have fun at all?
Did he not have fun with me?
… Could I blame him? I probably wasn't fun –at least not with him.
In fact, I can bet I was curt with him most of the night despite not trying to be.
"Alex is in my room in bed. She looked completely thrashed when Jake brought you girls in. I had to hold her hair back as she puked her guts out before passing out on the bathroom floor so I carried her to bed and she's been out like a light ever since." Seth said with a slightly disappointed sigh.
"She's gonna wake up with a nasty hangover this morning," Jake pointed out as he collapsed onto his recliner.
"Yeah…" Seth exhaled. "Thanks again for making sure she got home okay,"
Jake shrugged. "S'okay, I was the only sober one last night anyway." He laughed.
I smiled. "Thank you for looking out for us and for dropping off the other girls home safely. I really appreciate it." I told him sincerely and truthfully.
He chuckled softly with a smile. "No problem."
"What happened to Embry? Did he make it back?" I probed.
Seth and Jake shared a look before chuckling underneath their breaths.
I frowned.
"What?"
"He made it back home alright. He had a few girls over last night from what we could hear." Seth explained.
I widened my eyes. "Oh,"
"Yeah, we're not sure who they are, though, but all we heard was giggles and loud screaming—" Seth recited but Jake quickly cut him off.
"Um…Seth, I think Ness would gladly be spared of all the details." Jake interjected.
Seth nodded. "Right!"
I giggled as I took a sip of my coffee and glanced back at the television screen.
"You excited for today?" Seth asked me.
I turned back to him.
Ah…
Tonight.
Debutante Ball day.
The biggest night on any girl in town's calendar.
Thankfully, I wasn't partaking in the event but since I was going to be helping the girls get ready, I had a role.
I had my dress ready and fitted so I was good to go.
The other girls had a lot more to worry about than I do. They had to make sure they were pristine with their appearance, their etiquette, their dance routines, their speeches and just basically being stand up examples of being debutantes.
It was a lot of pressure that I was glad I wasn't under right now.
I could liken tonight's event as a Miss Universe pageant show.
It was an ultra sophisticated black tie event – that could even be considered a white tie event given the dress code for the Debutantes and their escorts.
"I'm excited that I won't have any part of it," I laughed. "Felicity's been anxiously anticipating and stressing for months about today and Alex is completely over it." I giggled.
"Yeah, she's gonna hate it but I'm sure she's happy it'll all be over tonight." Seth said.
I smiled.
As if on cue, we heard the sound of the bedroom door creaking open and closing and Alex walking into the room, swapping her "slutty outfit" –her words – from last night for her pajama set and her hair jumbled up in a messy bun.
She didn't look too good, to put it lightly. She appeared deathly unwell and in a desperate need of a pick me up. She looked ten times worse than I did, she probably felt worse too.
"Hey, buddy. You look horrible," I remarked with a soft chuckle as I watched her mosey her way into the living room.
She exhaled as she collapsed right onto Seth, who was sprawled across the couch, and laid her head onto his chest and draped her arms around him as she snuggled up to him.
"Argh! I'm deathly hungover. I don't think I'm going to survive today." She croaked.
"I can see the suffering on your face. That is one mighty hangover you've got there, babe." Seth answered. "You shouldn't drink too much all at once, you're not superhuman,"
She moaned, playfully shoving her hand over his mouth to cause him to shut up, and verbally shushed him.
"Shh! Shush! Shh!" She shushed. "You're too loud! My brain is on fire!" She complained incoherently as she nuzzled up into him.
He chuckled as he rested his hand over her hair and began stroking her head.
"Do you want coffee?" I offered.
Alex huffed against his chest. "Please," She mumbled, her voice muffled with her lips on his skin.
I giggled as I got up, set my coffee on the table and made my way into the kitchen.
"Have you ever had an offensive morning after hangover that is so bad, it literally feels like your brain is being eaten by flesh-eating bacteria and your eyes feel like they're being branded by hot coals? That's how I feel. I wouldn't wish it on anyone." Alex expressed.
"Yikes! Looks like you probably need something stronger than coffee," Jake pointed out.
"What did you drink? You probably have alcohol poisoning." Seth stated, his voice filled with concern.
"I lost track of what I ordered and gaffed." Alex answered.
Seth sighed. "Alex…"
"Shh!" She reiterated.
I smiled sympathetically. "Ibuprofen is known to do the trick. Maybe you could drink that? I also have pepto bismol?" I offered.
Alex looked up. "Oh, yes! Hit me up with some Pepto!" She said with a thumbs up.
"You think you'll be able to get through the ball today?" I asked.
She groaned. "Ugh! Yuck! Thanks for the reminder of another reason why my day sucks already. But, I think so…" Alex responded.
Embry waltzed through the apartment door suddenly, looking slightly buzzed but nothing like how Alex was –despite drinking just as much, if not more than she did.
"Whad'up!" Embry greeted, flashing a peace sign in the air before collapsing onto the couch next to Jake. "What a crazy night," He gasped.
"I'll say," Alex murmured before coughing.
"You sure had quite the night, my dude." Jake said, teasingly as he flashed a knowing smile at Embry.
Seth chuckled, tilting his head to look at him. "Yeah, did you get any sleep? It didn't sound like it last night."
Embry oddly looked sheepish which caused both Jake and Seth to chuckle.
"You guys are idiots!" Embry sighed.
"Who did you have over? Who did you meet at the club? Should we expect to see them often?" Seth teased.
Embry stumbled on his words. "Uh…N-n-no, I don't think so. Why? What did you hear? Do you know them?" He asked, almost slightly embarrassed.
I furrowed my eyebrows. "Are we supposed to know them?"
He looked back at me with wide eyes. "No!" He laughed. "No, I mean…they're just two random girls I met at the bar."
" Two girls at the same time in one night?" Seth questioned, cocking his eyebrow in curiosity.
"You could say that with a little less enthusiasm and intrigue." Alex warned him, giving him a look as she and Seth both sat up.
"No—I'm just curious about how that works, s'all." Seth sheepishly dropped his head down, hiding his face in shame from Alex's glare.
"You've never heard of a threesome before?" Jake teased with a laugh.
Seth fired back. "Screw you! Of course, I have!"
"How was it? Was it everything you ever thought it would be? Or was it terrible?" Alex chuckled as she looked at Embry.
Embry smirked at her hazily. "It's cute that you think it's my first one,"
"It's not?" I asked.
He laughed. "No!" He sighed as he rested his head back on the couch. "But if you really need to know, it was…real good." He expressed truthfully with a satisfactory smile.
"You better hope none of the girls have crabs!" Seth joked.
"He better hope he didn't give any of those girls crabs! They don't know where you've been." Alex added. "For all they know you could be carrying some serious genital herpes, gonorrhea, HPV, Hepatitis A and B…" She strained, glancing back at Embry carefully.
Embry rolled her eyes at her. "Ha ha,"
"No! I'm serious!" She said. "Ness, what's that parasitic STD with the really long name that nobody can pronounce?" Alex asked, looking at me.
I frowned as I thought, reverting back to biology class. "Um… Trichomoniasis?"
Alex snapped her fingers at me and pointed. "Yup! That's the one!"
Embry sighed. "Okay! Y'all can stop coming for my sex life!" He snapped, tossing a cushion at her.
Alex gasped. "If you stop being a whore, maybe we will!" Alex joked with a smirk as she tossed the cushion back.
Embry growled as it hit his head but he managed to flash a slight smile back.
"Don't you girls have a ball to get ready for?" Embry probed, turning back at me.
Jake and I shared a look with each other. The awkward tension between us was still palpable and although I vaguely remember our fight last night, I still felt the emotions from that ordeal. I still felt…angry and annoyed. I didn't know if that was towards him or me or the situation itself. Maybe a bit of everything? I don't know.
Regardless, I think we did need to figure it out one way or another.
"Right! Argh, Ness!" Alex called as she shot up to approach me. "I'm gonna need those pills right now, this migraine won't go away if I just sit around."
I giggled as I went to open the cabinet and pulled out some ibuprofen and pepto bismol I received from the girl I met at the nightclub restroom last night. She was so sweet.
"I was able to shake off my headache and get on with the morning. You guys are just a bunch of babies." Embry joked.
"You're not hungover? You drank harder and longer than we did." I questioned.
"Wolf genes. I –or we, I should say– burn off all the alcohol in my system the second I go to sleep. Alcohol can only get us drunk but only for a little while. Think of it like drinking water and getting thirsty after a few hours. It's only momentary." Embry explained.
"I freaking hate you," Alex groaned. "You guys are so lucky! Being a wolf not only gives you superhuman strength, speed and dexterity; it also gives you the ability to be human but also avoid any and all human side effects like you don't get sick, you don't age, you get drunk but you don't get a hangover…You are living the best of both worlds." Alex pointed out.
"Huh. I never thought of it that way. I suppose we are," Jake mused in thought.
"And the same can be said for hybrids, I mean…You quite literally have your foot in one world and the other in another." She pointed out.
I thought. "Sure! But it's not all what it's cracked up to be, y'know."
"Whatever you say! You don't have to try to convince the human that being a supernatural sucks." Alex chuckled.
I frowned.
"Okay! I need a shower!" Embry shot up and made his way to the door.
"Thank god! I wasn't gonna say anything, but you reek!" Seth joked. "You might wanna open up a window,"
Embry flashed a middle finger at him as he walked out of the apartment.
I suddenly felt my phone vibrate on the counter and I went to see a text from Felicity.
Rise 'n shine, princess! The day's finally come! Time 2 get ready! Mandatory final dress rehearsal! Meet up at my house in 40 min! Sharp! – Lecity
I smiled. "Lex – Felicity wants us to meet at her place for a last minute dress rehearsal in forty minutes."
"Forty minutes? Ugh!" She grumbled.
I laughed as I snatched my phone and chugged the rest of my coffee down before pouring myself a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, hearing Seth and Alex conversing in the background.
"Hey, Ness." Jake's voice reached my ears. I spun around. "Can we talk?"
I felt my breathing hitch as I nervously felt my pressure spike up.
Okay.
So we did mutually decide we needed to clear the air about last night.
"I can't right now," I told him.
He sighed. "Look, I know you're mad and you probably think I'm also pissed off about what went down and you probably want nothing to do with me right now but I really think we need to talk about this…about last night –"
I pressed my hand against his forearm. "And I agree! We should talk a-and I want to. Just not right now, okay? Later?" I suggested.
He sighed.
" I promise." I assured him as I pressed my hand against his cheek and projected my true intentions.
He listened and watched before resigning with a nod.
"Okay. Later." He said, mustering his usual friendly Jacob smile that I loved so much.
"Um…So, I'll meet you at the reception tonight?" I expressed.
He nodded. "I'll be there." He smirked. "You girls have fun,"
"Oh, we'll try!" I responded satirically.
He chuckled as he stroked my arm gently before we both resorted to doing other things as he went to make breakfast whilst Alex and I headed to our individual bedrooms we shared with our wolf men to get ready.
… …
Embry Call
I woke up the next morning with a buzz.
Woo!
Holy shit!
What a night!
Last night was trip, I'll say.
I didn't wake up with a panging headache even after drinking at least twenty to thirty drinks last night, but I will admit I felt a lot more fatigue than usual. Tired. Drained.
But still cognitive and mentally energized, I guess.
Definitely not hungover.
A slight hangover was nothing for me. I was happy to get up and continue grinding despite the fact that I drank about ten beers and drowned fifteen shots last night.
The sunlight beamed through the blinds and hit my face, causing my eyes to flutter to an open. I was lying flat on my stomach on the comfortable bed, butt ass naked with my ass sticking out, as I grumbled when I began to gain full consciousness. I groggily rubbed my tired eyes with my hand before traveling down to scratch my ass cheek and then hoisted my upper torso up to scan my surroundings.
Fuck.
The entire room was a crazy mess.
Clothes were scattered all over the room.
Shards of broken wood and ceramic pieces on the floor.
Three no, four, condom wrappers on each corner of the room and bed.
Bedsheets stained with various damp or dried up patches of left over fleshly fluid.
Talk about a wild night!
I glanced at my nightstand clock.
8:01am.
Good thing I didn't have work today or else I would've been late as hell.
I then glanced over to the other side of the bed and then scanned my vicinity again, sniffing the air of the room.
I found a note on top of the bedside table on left side of the bed. I stretched my hand out to retrieve it flipped the paper open to begin reading.
Morning, vermin
Had a fun night with you boo. Would have loved to stay longer but you stink.
Enjoy your life!
Love, Ruby and Jennie ;) mwah
Yup.
Just as I suspected.
Gone.
Can't say I'm surprised.
I would know…
I do it all the time.
This was standard protocol for one night stands. You link up for sex, stay for the night and then you part ways and continue to live your life. No strings attached.
I don't know why I was slightly bothered by it though.
I guess…
I just…
It felt weird to have it happen to me…TWICE by two different girls.
"Fuck!" I sighed as I flopped over to the side, on my back and ran my hands over my face.
I can't believe I had a threesome with a vampire and Jennifer. A freaking bloodsucker, dude!
I don't know how I got to this point in my life where I was bumping uglies in the sheets with my mortal enemy and her vampire friend yet here I am.
Normally, I would repel at the thought of being around a leech, let alone being intimate with one but Ruby…ha…That bitch has superpowers, I'm telling you! I don't know how she did it, I don't know what insane vampire, witchy juju spell she cast on me but she definitely did, I just know it.
Although, I guess I have to take some responsibility.
I'm the one who still banged her at the end.
And I banged her good.
I shuddered at the thought as blurry memories flooded my brain.
But I soon realized there was a silver lining because last night was the night I actually got hook up with Jennifer.
Someone I thought I hated but…was always wildly attracted to.
I enjoyed having sex with her.
It was fantastic.
It was so hot.
She was so hot.
Exceeding any fantasies and expectations I ever had.
Almost so that…I wish it wasn't a one night stand.
At least with her.
And I think she enjoyed it a lot as well.
I mean…
You can't spell awesome without 'ME'.
So of course she loved it.
But then again, she has been a massive bitch to me all year so I don't know.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would wake up with conflicted feelings like this after a hookup. Usually I was able to not feel anything after a night with my pursuits. The girls were obsessed with me but I ordinarily moved on to the next one.
Jennifer though…
She drove me insane.
I certainly wasn't going to tell the guys about what went down last night. That would be suicide.
I think if they found out what went down, they would hold it against me for the rest of my life.
"Embry Call, the vampire bedroom slayer!" I can only imagine Seth coming up with that stupid tagline for me.
The boys would certainly make fun of me, I know that for sure.
And they'd probably be disgusted.
I know I am.
I would rue the day I ever hooked up with a vampire.
…But I don't think I regret hooking up with Jennifer.
I wonder if I'll get another chance to.
… …
Renesmee Cullen
After getting Alex into a semi-recovery and recuperative state from all that drinking last night, we traveled to Felicity's house to meet up with the other girls before we all drove to the debutante together.
Our dresses had arrived at her house from the tailor this morning.
"How are you feeling now?" I asked, glancing at my friend as I drove us through Felicity's neighborhood.
Alex chugged some water down her throat from her water bottle before she gasped.
"The headache still…aches but it's getting better now," She sighed. "Thanks again for sobering me up," She groaned as she wiped some water seeping from the corners of her mouth.
"No problem." I chuckled.
"I can never drink that much again," She told me. "Promise me, you won't allow that to happen…Unless it's your wedding!"
I glanced back at her. "Uh…I would think especially my wedding! I don't want to see you spill your guts out in front of all the guests."
She thought for a moment. "Damn. You're right," She looked at me in realization.
I giggled as I turned into Felicity's driveway.
"How much do you wanna bet Felicity feels worse than we do?" Alex asked.
"I don't know. She didn't drink as much as we did, I don't think." I responded as I parked my car next to Felicity's midnight blue Lexus. "Also, I don't think she'd risk getting hungover the night before the biggest event of her life."
Alex shrugged. "True," She replied as she and I slipped out of the car.
We circled the car and opened the trunk to retrieve our outfits we would wear after the debutante when we all would go to the after party.
"Are you looking forward to today?" I asked.
She gave me a look I should have expected. "Do I look excited to you?"
I giggled.
"The joys of being a founding daughter of Oak Woods," She expressed sarcastically. "This is my life now! You know after you attend your first debutante, you're required to attend any and all debutantes for the rest of your life guests of honor?" She said, tossing her garment bag over her arm.
"They make you do that?"
She nodded. "Yeah, and it's mandatory too! Especially if you're a direct founding daughter and not a legacy." She stated.
"Wow," I remarked. "That must suck for you!"
"I'm so jealous that you don't have to go through all of this, by the way." She mentioned.
"I'm happy to be in the background, cheering you girls on," I teased with a laugh as I nudged her arm as we climbed up the steps.
"Mhmm," She sighed. "You still good with the plan to sneak into the Council Archives?"
I nodded. "Hopefully it all works out,"
I rang the doorbell as Alex and I reached her door.
The door was flung open and our blonde best friend greeted us with a bubbly smile and an energetic pep in her step.
"Good morning, angels!" She hummed with a giggle.
"Morning," I laughed as I looked her up and down.
She was fashionably dressed in a white, floral crop top and a short, hot pink leather skirt with a prominent zipper on the side, giving it a slit and she paired it off with some knee-high pale pink leather boots.
"You look amazing as always," I laughed.
"Finally! Thank god! What took you girls so long!" She squealed as she sped in to pull each of us into a warm, tight hug.
"We literally came at the exact time you told us to," Alex replied as she ushered us into the house.
"I gave you that window to get here earlier!" She sighed. "Anyway, we have a lot to do this morning! No time to waste."
"Okay," I conceded. "By the way, I brought some milk tart!" I stated, bringing the round tray in the air.
She gasped. "That's so sweet of you! My dad and I love milk tart. Thank you," She said.
Felicity's dad go discharged from hospital a few days ago which explains why she's been so elated the whole week.
"What's wrong with you?" Felicity demanded, glaring at Alex. "You look terrible! Like you got run over by a bus."
"Thanks for the subtlety, Felicity." Alex responded sarcastically. "How the hell are you so chipper after last night?"
"I know how to keep my liquor down, Alexandra." Felicity scoffed as we walked through her house and made our way to the kitchen. "Do you honestly think I'd risk getting drunk the night before the biggest event of my calendar year?"
I nudged Alex's arm. "See! I told you!"
"Whatever! I guess I'm the only normal person who doesn't care about this tacky, elitist, gaudy, ultra-white charade," Alex pointed out.
"Your degrading words will not dampen this moment for me, Alex! Not today!" Felicity wagged her finger.
Alex raised her arms. "Degrading?"
We entered the kitchen to see Felicity's dad, sitting in his wheelchair, enjoying his breakfast at the table with her grandmother on the opposite end, engaging in conversation.
"Hey, dad! Alex and Nessie are here." She announced.
Mr. Geoffrey Stone spun his head around to acknowledge our presence. He looked good. Healthy. Way better than the last time I saw him.
He looked to be making some steady recovery since the plane crash accident from nearly a year ago that took the life of his wife and almost took his in the process.
"Morning, girls!" He greeted with an identical smile to Felicity; very warm, bubbly and outgoing.
"Hi," Alex and I giggled.
"Nessie brought us our favorite…milk tart!" Felicity giggled as she set the tray on the table.
"Ahh! That's sweet of you, Nessie." Mr. Stone replied sincerely. "This one here was obsessed with tart when she was younger. Her mother and I practically had to bribe her with it to get her to do her chores."
Felicity rolled her eyes as she rested her hands on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to him.
It was so great to see Felicity reunited with her dad again.
"It's so good to see you, Mr. Stone! To see you back at home with your family. Felicity's been so happy this whole week ever since you got out of the hospital. You're looking good," I mentioned.
He smirked. "Thank you, sweetheart. That means a lot. More thanks go to Dr. Cullen. Your grandfather helped me make a somewhat speedy recovery. I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for him after all the many surgeries." He spoke.
Carlisle was a really good doctor so I wasn't surprised.
"I've still got aches and pains but I'm getting there," He told me as he bit into his bacon and egg sandwich.
I smiled as my eyes lingered onto Felicity's grandmother, Priscilla, who gave me an unfriendly look.
"Hi, Nana Priscilla!" I waved to her warmly.
She mustered up a slight smile and nod. "Renesmee," She acknowledged, less was and more formal.
"Alex, how are your parents doing? I haven't seen your dad in a while." Mr. Stone asked.
Alex didn't respond.
I turned to her to see she was dazed off, probably zoned out from the conversation completely because she still hasn't gotten back to reality.
I nudged her arm which immediately zapped her back.
"Um…what?"
"Your dad. How is he?" Mr. Stone probed.
"Uh…He's okay, I guess. He's busy with work at the moment but he sends his regards." She replied.
"Hmm…He visited me in the hospital a few months ago, I don't think I told you. Told me we should meet up again for our Saturday night whiskey suppers. Back in the day; your dad, Robert Reed, Atticus St. Clair and myself used to meet up to discuss business, family and other things. And then Robert died…" He trailed off as he reminisced.
Robert Reed was Rea's dad who died over six years ago. He was very close to Mr. Stone because they were also business partners who had stake in each other's companies. Robert invested in Geoffrey's company and helped kick-start it over seventeen years ago.
Alex's dad, Alessandro outsourced a lot of the security, protection and surveillance from his own security company to Reed Industries and Stone Enterprises. This connection lead to Alex, Felicity and Rea being childhood friends and essentially growing up together.
"I'm having a meeting with Oliver Reed tomorrow." Mr. Stone informed.
Felicity stared down. "What? Rea's brother? Why?"
"To discuss business. Reed Industries, the largest oil and mineral conglomerate of California, has been a longstanding partner of our company for almost two decades. It's only natural I would strengthen that relationship if we want the company to continue to succeed."
"I get that but why can't your business partners do it? Hershel? Jackie? Haven't they been running the company while you were in recovery?" Felicity probed.
"And now I'm back…" He told her. "Pumpkin, I'm the CEO and Director, I need to oversee what's going on in my business. Hershel is only the CFO, he deals with the financial aspects of the company and Jackie is interim manager. They can't handle all the workload the way I can."
"But dad, you've just came out of yearlong stint in the hospital after a traumatic accident? You should be taking it easy!"
"Your daughter is right, Geoffrey. This family needs you to be in good physical health and safe." Priscilla finally spoke, emphasizing the last part as she glanced back at me.
"I'm still adhering to doctor's orders. I'll just be working from home. Taking it light, of course. Nothing too heavy. At most I'll just be sending a bunch of emails and returning calls, okay? You can monitor me if you have to." He tried to assure his family.
Felicity sighed. "Okay."
"Okay?" He said, tickling her sides gently.
She giggled. "Okay! Fine!" She conceded.
"You ladies getting ready for the debutante ball tonight?" He asked.
I nodded. "Yeah! I'm not part of it but I'm here to support the girls."
"Rea and Gina are supposed to be here any minute now! The dresses have arrived and the hair and makeup team will meet us at the Council House. Justin and Luke will be picking us up with our chauffer in about an hour." Felicity apprised, browsing through her schedule. "You still good to be there, dad?"
He nodded after taking a sip of his juice. "Of course! I'm not missing my daughter's first debutante for the world."
"Okay! So, Grams, you'll make sure he gets ready on time? I really don't want him to be late or else that'll look very bad for my chances of being Gem of the Ball –which is already a stiff competition as is. I can't have a founder being late for his daughter's big debut –"
"He will be there," She assured her.
Felicity inhaled a heavy breath before exhaling. "Good! Good!"
As if on cue, the sound of the doorbell ringing filled the air and our ears.
"Oh! Rea and Gina are here! Let's go girls!" She clapped her hands and kissed her dad's cheek.
She skidded up to us and grabbed our hands before essentially dragging us out of the room.
"Enjoy!" Priscilla and Geoffrey called.
"Bye!" I waved back.
Felicity flung the door open and welcomed the rest of our core group of girlfriends and escorted us to her bedroom where she kept our evening dresses and debutante gowns that had arrived this morning.
Justin and Luke arrived with the chauffeur about ten minutes late –much to Felicity's wrath– and we all dashed out of the house with our garment bags and makeup kits and headed straight to the town council house hall.
… …
Debutante Ball
When we arrived at the Town Council House Hall, I was flabbergasted at the scenery. Although everything was still getting prepped, it looked magical. There were florists creating a canopy of an array of floral plants and flowers enclosing the entrance and trees surrounding the palatial building. There were some other ornate decorations such as ferry lights vining every corner of the house, lanterns and popup lights being dangled and hung from the canopy roof and don't get me started on what they were doing for the interior.
It looked like a royal occasion.
"Wow!" I mused as I looked around, taken aback by the whole scale of everything.
Alex whistled. "Damn. Talk about lavish. The mayor and town council spared no expense it looks like,"
"I know! Now you see why I've been looking forward to today for years." Felicity pointed out. "Come on! This way," She gestured to the one building, Apartment B1 which was where all the debutante young women would all be getting ready.
Each debutante received a large dressing room but since we had more girls this year than normal because of it being international. Usually it was local girls of 16 but now we've got 30 participating this year.
"Because we're local founding daughters we get the presidential suite!" Felicity whispered giddily before opening the baroque doors, leading our gaze to the most extravagant, considerably huge, palatial room fit for royalty.
Crystal chandeliers dangling from the elaborate ceilings, vintage, artful and gold plated walls with ancient paintings and relics plastered against the stone, shiny titles with patterns and carpeted floors with a story of their own. Furniture you can pluck out of the 16th century imperial houses. It was majestic, rich and stately.
"Wow," I gasped.
"What in the world…" Gina remarked in awe.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Opulent is the more operative word," I scoffed.
"I'd say outlandish," Alex cringed.
"Sheesh!" Felicity scolded her. "The presidential suite is the best room of this entire building! Only the best for my best girls!"
I smiled as the girls and I hung are garments on the rack or the chair.
"So this is the hair and makeup squad who will be getting all of us dolled up for today!" Felicity gestured to the group of eight men and women.
I waved my hand and greeted the hair and makeup team.
"We have about four hours to get ready! Pick a dresser and let these brilliant artists fabulize you!" She gave our marching orders as she spun around on her heel and ran to her set of hair and makeup team.
The girls and I all shared a look.
"Let's just roll with it," Rea sighed as she was the first one to give in.
An hour and a half of getting our hair down had past and we were now doing our makeup and mani's and pedi's.
"I don't understand why you're all not jazzed up about this as I am!" Felicity pointed out. "A debutante ball is all a girl could ask for. It's glamorous, opulent, and formal and totally legendary!"
"Don't forget out of touch and totally classist and elitist!" Alex fired back.
Felicity groaned. "Alex, if that's how you feel then why are you doing this?"
Alex glared and chuckled. "Because I have to! My dad forced me to do it and it's mandatory. I couldn't back out of it. Believe me, I tried." She stated.
"Don't try to deny it! You love it!"
Alex laughed. "No, I don't! People spend all this money to see their daughters dance in front of strangers for attention. Who wants to partake in an event where girls have to prance around in puffy dresses to be considered eligible and desirable babymaking women in society? Who wants to be ole' prim and proper and pretend to be posh?! I'm not a freaking duchess."
"That's archaic thinking –antiquated, Alex! A remnant of a different age! You're thinking back to the 17th century when this first started. The debutante is so much more than that right now." Felicity defended. "Every single girl presented at the ball learns how to be respected in a male dominated society and have a place in this world as independent, strong women! That's the whole point of it."
Alex sighed. "Whatever helps you sleep at night,"
Felicity rolled her eyes and turned to me. "You agree with me, Ness?"
I shrugged. "Hey! I have no skin in this game. I see both of your points." I spoke. "As long as you're happy, I'm happy."
She sighed. "Gina? Rea?"
"…I agree with Alex," Rea said.
Alex high fived her. "Thank you!"
"Yeah, me too. But I do like the puffy dresses!" Gina said with a bright, kind smile.
She muttered something under her breath, ignoring them all as she pulled her iPad out from her tote bag.
"It's the first International Debutante Ball in over five years! It's supposed to be after four years but with everything that happened last year we had to postpone it. But now we're back and the competition for Gem of the Ball is stiffer than ever!" Felicity said whilst the makeup artist applied foundation on her cheek.
I glanced back at my other friends who shrugged their shoulders.
"The local debutantes don't have a shot. I mean…I love you girls but you won't win." She expressed.
Alex fake gasped as the makeup artist clipped on fake lashes. "Oh! That's not very nice!" She whispered sarcastically.
"Alex, you don't even want it!" Felicity pointed out.
Alex shrugged. "Eh,"
"…Brittany Holmes would've been competition but she missed practice because of her meningitis. Veronica Salamanca is too young, I mean she's only just turned sixteen and it's very rare the judges consider that. Melissa St. Clair may be the mayor's daughter but she's talentless, the only way she wins is because her dad had something to do with it which wouldn't be surprising –damn nepotism." Felicity pouted.
"Felicity, we all got here with nepotism!" Rea pointed out.
Felicity rolled her eyes and ignored her. "It's the international debutantes that will be packing on the heat! I mean look at the material!" Felicity said as she fearfully flashed us images of the debutantes from the website on her iPad.
"The Grimaldi twins from Monaco will be attending and they're immaculately gifted and trained in music and dance along with theater! Madeleine Karlsson from Sweden is a gifted ballet dancer who knows how to twirl a baton. Elsa Gulbrandsen-Solberg from Norway comes from one of the wealthiest families in all of Europe. Lady Helena Beaumont from Gloustershire, United Kingdom is aristocratic. Belle Francesco-Dumont from France played the piano and harp like a melodic genius. Priyanka Acharya is an Indian contortionist with an operatic voice of an angel, Lucia Gonzalez from Cuba is our first Latina-American debutant and the first African debutant, Zara Abebe from Ethiopia is a literal princess so they'll probably get the diversity vote..."
"Real sensitive, Felicity." I mentioned.
"Omg! I'm so sorry! That was horrible of me to say but, it's true! I don't know how I can compete with all of these girls!" The energetic blonde crossed her legs together and continued to overanalyze the lineup of girls.
Alex rolled her eyes and sighed as she sank back in her chair and plugged her wireless headsets in her ear to tune Felicity out.
"I believe you're gonna win Gem of the Ball, Felicity." Gina sweetly assured her. "You've got this!"
"Really?" Felicity looked up with bright, hopeful eyes. Gina nodded. "That's not enough! I need to think of something better for my showcase. Something extra."
Gina and I gave each other a brief look before I shifted my focus back onto myself as I stared at the mirror. The other girls started conversing with each other or with their makeup artists as they got pampered up.
"Do you want a blush?" Noelle, the makeup artist, asked me.
I smiled. "Um…not too much! A natural blush," I told her.
She grinned back. "You know, you've got incredible bone structure and an amazing face with impeccable skin. You could be a model. Did anyone tell you that?"
I giggled and blushed. "Thanks. My fiancé and mom tell me that all the time…" I said but trailed off after I uttered my mom's name.
I hadn't talked to her in weeks.
Every day I keep wanting to call or text her, but I always chicken out in the end out of fear.
Not fear of her.
But fear of myself…
What I might say.
What I might look like.
I didn't want to appear weak but I also didn't want to appear cold. She was still my mother after all.
Although, I was still so angry with her, the more time I spend trying to avoid talking to her the less angry I feel and that emotion is replaced by pain instead –which is just worse come to think of it.
"Well, they're right and you should consider it." She laughed. I smiled as she patted my cheeks with a powdered brush. "Congratulations on your engagement by the way. When is the big day?"
"Not for at least a year," I told her. "Late spring time next year."
"Fantastic time to get married! My husband and I got married five years ago in New York City around the springtime as well." She told me as she patted my right cheek.
"That's funny because I'm actually moving to New York in a few months." I chuckled.
"Oh! You're gonna love it. Winters are cold. And the traffic is madness. The streets are always busy. And there's rodents and roaches all over the city. But there's a charm in The Big Apple that other cities just can't replicate, y'know." She said.
I smiled back. "I know," I replied.
Whilst she continued my makeup, I noticed Felicity looking overwhelmingly apprehensive look on her face –which is honestly, a constant state for her majority of the time.
After we got our makeup done, Gina and I got dressed in our evening gowns because we weren't part of the event so it was quicker for us to get dressed, but for the rest of the girls it would take an extra hour because of just how many layers of clothing they had to wear.
The theme was gilded age meets early 1940s with the dramatic, puffy skirts and corsets.
Presently, I was helping Felicity get into her corset as we stood in front of the long standing mirror. Felicity sported her overwrought and thoughtful facial expression as she rambled to herself whilst Gina helped Alex get into her dress and one of the makeup artists helped Rea with hers.
"Thanks for helping me," Felicity told me.
"Don't thank me just yet…I need to be sure I get these lace knots right," I replied as I fiddled and fumbled with the sartorial knots.
"Do you think the updo is a little too…unapproachable? I was told having an updo makes you appear more regal and elegant but I fear I might look standoffish and snobby," Felicity ranted as she fretfully, yet carefully tapped her delicate French updo hair, twirling the two tendril strands that were dangling from her face.
"Shut up! You look spectacular! You have nothing to worry about." I assured her, gazing right into her eyes.
She smiled back at me through the mirror, showcasing a genuine smile that told me that my words of encouragement seemed to have helped ease her nerves.
"You look gorgeous, by the way!" Felicity mentioned to me. "Pfft! As always – You're never not serving!"
My lips curved into a soft smile. "Thank you, Lecity."
She grumbled. "God…I feel so nauseous! I didn't even eat anything this morning because I didn't want to get bloated and not fit in my dress."
"Felicity, you should eat something. You're going to wear yourself down before the event even starts."
"I drank a food substitute pill this morning and had a spoonful of applesauce. I think that'll get me through the day and night. Oh! And water! I need more water." She exclaimed, reaching for her bottle on the dresser.
"Ah! That's better." She expressed after drinking several sips before placing the bottle back on the dresser. "Continue," She told me.
I sighed as I began cinching her waist with the corset tie bands and laces. She gasped as I tugged on the laces.
"Is it too tight?"
She shook her head. "No. It's fine. Our ancestors had to do this every day!" She responded, laughing nervously as she then read off her cue card notes for her customary debutante speech.
I could sense she was petrified, which had begun to cloud her excitement the closer we got to the event starting.
"Why is this thing so important to you?" I asked boldly, looking at her through the mirror.
"It's not!" She denied, although it wasn't convincing. "It's not…uh…I don't know, maybe it is." She sighed.
I turned my attention to her.
She noticed me staring and realized she wouldn't get out of it as easily from me and gave in.
"Look, my mom –not my birth mom, but Linda my stepmother was a debutante. And we've dreamt of this moment pretty much since I was a little girl. I mean I used to dress up in wide, inflated princess dresses and waltzed around the living room with my dad, standing on his toes as if he were my escort. My mom would take videos of me, do my makeup and hair, and just…it was an amazing bonding experience. I always envisioned her being there to see me debut into society, the way she did." She recited.
I felt my heart sink for her.
Her mom…
She didn't have her mother with her to witness this momentous and pivotal moment in her life. The fact that she lost her as she is about to enter into adulthood, a time when many young girls need our mothers the most, I can only imagine how lost she must be without her.
And it made me realize what exactly I have and how fortunate I should be that I still have my mother around. Not many people are lucky to say they'll get to be with their mom forever and ever.
Was this anger I felt towards Bella petty?
Why couldn't I just forgive her and move on?
I missed her right…
Shouldn't I just be the bigger person and let this rage against her go, so that I can have my mom back?
But I think in order to move past this with my mom, I needed to confront Jacob first.
"Your mom is definitely with you, Felicity. She's with you in spirit and she is so proud of you." I assured her.
She smiled as her lips quivered just as the tears welled up in her eyes.
"Oh, no! I'm tearing up – I can't be crying! I don't know if it's waterproof." She said, immediately grabbing a tissue and blocking the tears from falling.
I laughed as I tied up the last few laces of her corset before leaning in to kiss her cheek gently.
Approximately thirty minutes later, after I got Felicity into her dress, Justin and Luke stopped by to bring over the gifts the girl's parents had bought for the girls and Felicity couldn't wait to open hers. Her dad bought her a sparkly and expensive tiara that she immediately slipped on her head. She snatched Gina –who had background in royal etiquette – to help her walk around in a tiara.
I used the fact that she was distracted to drag Rea, Alex, Justin and Luke to the side to discuss the plan of action to sneak into the archives.
"Have you got the keys?" I whispered as I looked at Luke.
He scoffed. " 'Have you got the keys?' Of course I do! What do you think?" He laughed as he dug into his tuxedo pocket before beginning to panic. "Uh oh,"
"Do you have them?" Justin asked impatiently.
Luke didn't respond as he frantically searched for the keys all over his body.
"You're such an idiot!" Alex snarled at Luke with a surly and curt moan.
I rolled my eyes as I gritted my teeth. "Don't tell me you lost them," I groaned.
"I've got the keys! I've got the keys! Jeez! Calm down," He responded as he frantically fumbled around in search of the keys before finding them in his back pocket.
I exhaled a sigh of relief.
"Got 'em!" He raised the two keys in the air before handing them to me. "I had to nick 'em from my dad this morning while he was asleep. He doesn't know they're gone yet but he's gonna probably wanna use them later so you need to be fast."
"Thank you," I mentioned appreciatively as he handed them to me.
"It's all I can do to help for now but if you get caught, I can't protect you from a court of law. I'm already flirting with jail time from all the shit I did and still do with my dad so let's just say…I'm on a tight leash. And the next time he finds out won't be pretty. So if anything happens…. I will run and leave you all for dead." Luke stated nonchalantly.
"I promise! I'll be quick!" I guaranteed him.
"So, what exactly is the plan?" Rea asked me.
"Sneak into the archives to gather intel of everything we know about Cassia." I simply responded.
"Can you further explain with a Venn diagram? A diorama? Some of us deserve a more detailed explanation," Luke said smartly.
I rolled my eyes. "It's not that complicated! Most of the guests should be already congregated in the ballroom in about thirty minutes. The guards will be too preoccupied with getting everyone in that they won't pay much attention to anyone going out,"
"Isn't that a dangerous risk to take?" Justin asked. "The Town Council Archives are the most sacred, carefully guarded town treasures. They keep some really valuable and classified things in there. They've got cameras everywhere!"
"What if you get caught?" Alex added.
"Only if I do it alone." I told him.
"But why are you even doing this in the first place?" Rea probed. "Can't we find another way to find more info about her? Have you tried google?"
I glared at her. "Google isn't gonna have any record of her. I've looked. She's intentionally inconspicuous about her whereabouts which is different from Charles Ainsworth whose history was pretty easy to find online,"
"Charles Ainsworth…" Alex sighed. "Never thought I'd hear that name again,"
"And he's still around, right?"
I nodded. "We just haven't encountered him yet but I know he's gonna come back sooner rather than later."
Charles still wanted his revenge on my family for keeping his most valuable possession. Carter.
Luke sighed. "…I'll see if I can hack into the security system and block out some of the CCTV cameras. Maybe I can redirect them elsewhere. You'll just need to give me the go ahead when you get in so I can do it quick."
"Thank you," I expressed sincerely.
He smiled back as he wrapped an arm around Rea's shoulders. I still couldn't believe those two started dating. They seem so vastly different but I guess, opposites attract I suppose.
"Okay! Back to Cassia…" Justin urged.
"According to Ray Parker, Cassia has a history of attending debutante balls in the 1700s-1800s and so I wanna dig into the town archives to look for any information I can get from there about her. Messages, memoirs, pictures, transcripts, anything and any dirt I can get just so we know who we're dealing with and what we need to look out for." I informed.
"But we know she has the ability to wear many different faces." Justin pointed out.
I nodded. "That's true but at least if we can get her real face, we won't be going into it completely blind and we'll be one step closer to stopping her before she attacks. Despite her ability, I think she leaves trails behind. Clues. Easter eggs of her presence."
"Like The Riddler…" Luke stated suddenly with a nod.
We all looked at him.
He shrugged with a frown. "The Riddler? One of Batman's archnemesis who leaves riddler trophies?"
We all simultaneously ignored him.
"You don't think she'd show up today, do you?" Rea asked me.
I shrugged. "I'm not sure but I wouldn't put it past her to make an appearance."
"Does she know about all of us or just you and your family?" Alex added.
"I don't know about you guys but she knows about my family and Justin…" I said, looking back at him.
"Me?"
"It only makes sense doesn't it? You're Ray's beta wolf! She has a history with Ray. You're also one of the only werewolves in town." I mentioned.
"We're also your friends, Ness. Maybe she does know about all of us." Alex added. "If I was a psychotic stalker maniac like her, I would be sure to have minions doing my dirty work for me and scouting any of my closest friends and relatives."
I nodded. "That's true. She probably does know about all of you, which is why you need to all be on the lookout for anyone and anything suspicious. From everything that Ray has said about her, she sounds unhinged and unpredictable. But if we work as a team, we can…"
"…beat her at her own game." Luke finished.
I nodded.
"Safety in numbers, as my dad would say." Alex uttered. "So what do you want us to do?"
I inhaled. "First, I want you – Luke and Justin, to distract the guards so I can sneak in to the archival room. It'll probably only take thirty minutes, tops! I'll be done before the ball starts."
Luke and Justin nodded.
"Then, I'm gonna try to get Gina to help me sneak into Apartment A1 where they keep the old Town Council artefacts and retrieve the old Founding Fathers monograph –without her knowing the reason of course. Maybe there's something in there that can help us." I added.
"Gina…" Justin began as he glanced back at the girl. "Do you think it's a good idea to involve her in all of this?"
He had taken a liking to her so I understood why he was apprehensive about getting her involved in this, even though we haven't explicitly let her know about us.
To be honest, I didn't know how I felt about it either but Gina was extremely helpful. She was smart and knew a lot about history. She knew what kind of artefacts were authentic and which ones were counterfeit.
"Look, I get that you're worried about involving her in our world. After all, she is only human but I promise I'll keep her safe." I reassured him.
He sighed but conceded with a nod. "Okay."
"Jacob, Seth and their friend Embry will be there to also be on the lookout but they don't yet know the full scope of our strategy." I told them.
"Seth? As in Mr. Clearwater?" Luke probed. "He's a shapeshifter too?" Luke demanded.
"Yeah, you didn't know that?" Justin asked.
Luke shook his head. "No! I just thought he was a boring, ole' History teacher who just hung out with Nessie's boyfriend!"
"Hey! Mr. Clearwater is not boring!" Alex defended.
I glared at her with narrowed eyes. Don't make it obvious you have feelings for your teacher! I gripped her hand and transmitted the message in her head.
"Uh…I mean, he's boring yes but not that boring. Pfft!" She tried to save herself.
I chuckled slightly.
"And what about us?" Alex asked as she and Rea looked to me, changing the subject.
"I'm gonna need you two to do everything in your power to make Felicity win the Gem of the Ball tonight because she needs it but also, I think it'll keep her distracted from the plan. I don't want her to get suspicious because I think if Cassia does show up, she can smell fear and fear is at a constant state for Felicity."
"So that's why we aren't filling Felicity in about this plan?" Luke asked.
I nodded. "Yup! Oh, and Justin! Please also be on the lookout for any weird supernatural scent you come across to. I'll try my best but my senses just aren't as acute as yours,"
"You've got it." He winked.
I sighed. "Okay! So that's the plan guys! Um…I guess we'll see you guys in a minute?" I turned to Alex and Rea.
They nodded their heads in response.
"Good luck tonight," I said to them with an encouraging smile.
Rea and Alex sighed. "We're gonna need it." They both said.
I giggled.
"What are you guys all talking about over there?!" Felicity called.
Our heads darted towards her.
"Nothing!" We shouted in unison.
Subsequently, Gina and I made our way out of the suite after helping them with their dresses and we made our way out of the building and to the Town Council House Hall where the guests were all congregating for the debutante ball in the state banquet hall.
I noticed as I walked past the large, decorative canopy leading to the entrance, guests racking their necks around to sneak glimpses at Gina and I as we walked on by.
"Everyone's staring," I whispered to her as I looked around self-consciously.
"They're all looking at you," She nudged me.
"Me?" I yelped as I glared at her. "Why me? I'm not even a debutante."
"Have you seen yourself today? Do you realize how beautiful you look?" Gina pointed out. "I'm embarrassed to even be seen next to you,"
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, stop it! You look great." I told her.
She shrugged.
"Um…Gina, you're a fan of history right? And you know a lot about ancient relics, artefacts and books, right?" I asked, ensuring that she was up for the task.
She nodded. "Mhmm!"
"Well, I was hoping you would help me with something."
She frowned. "What do you have in mind?"
I was slightly distracted by the vast group of people around us.
"I'll tell you later." I spoke to her.
I inhaled a heavy breath as we sauntered through the intimidating crowds, bowing my head and politely smiling at everyone I met eyes with.
I didn't want to draw any undue attention to myself but I guess being part vampire and the product of two of the best-looking vampires alive, that can't always happen.
I wore a royal blue cape that tied around my neck over my dress –that peaked out in the front– and even that didn't stop the stares.
I was dressed in a floor length deep midnight silver-blue strapless liquid dress with a plunging necklace and a swooping sheer top covering –leaving only my neck and shoulders bared– that had an open back, embedded with baroque applique embellishment.
The dress had dramatic lace sleeves that turned into a cape on the wrists that stretched all the way to the floor and a thigh high slit on the left side, showing off my legs and sparkly six inch heels. I left my long, bronze-copper hair in a side part blowout that was very 1960s, Old Hollywood.
Alice said I should go big or go home for an event like today.
The moment Gina and I waltzed and stepped into Town Council Hall, we were absolutely floored and awestruck by the majesty and grandeur of the display before our eyes. I had never seen so much gold, crystals and granite in my life. I also had never seen so many modern human beings dressed in such regal attire before.
Men were not only dressed in classy tuxedos, but there were men who were dressed in military regalia, morning suits with top hats and other classy outfits. Some of the women dressed in outfits you only read about in Jane Austen and William Shakespeare novels and others dressed in modern yet elegant outfits. It looked like a royal palace.
"My goodness…" I remarked as I untied my cape from my neck and shrugged it off my shoulders.
The second I slipped my cape off and handed it over to the entrance attendant, I watched all eyes train onto me when virtually everyone in the room glanced to acknowledge our presence.
Well…
Crap!
Now I wanna wear my cape again.
"Who is that?" I heard people murmuring in the shadows as Gina and I meandered our way into the room.
I nodded my head and smiled at the guests who greeted us.
"There's more people staring now than outside," Gina muttered awkwardly. "Oh! There's my brother!" She mentioned, pointing towards one of the waiters standing by for orders.
I followed her gaze as she gestured to her brother who looked very tall, maybe about three or four inches shorter than Jacob –around six ft. three if I hazard a guess. He looked extremely athletic and handsome with enviable glossy black hair that reminded me so much of Jacob's.
I noticed a familiar young, abrasive yet wildly intriguing, tatted up man beside him –the man who Felicity apparently met in the woods during the camping trip.
I didn't know why else he looked familiar until I realized something. He had a tattoo of his name on his neck. Lloyd Dunhill. He was the rude man I bumped into at the Halloween party last year.
The night Jake got abducted by…
Cassia.
Could it be connected?
Our eyes locked for a brief second before he initiated the departure when he noticed Gina standing beside me. He acknowledged her with a nod.
"You know him?" I asked her.
She looked panicked. "Oh – Him? Uh…Not really. He's just a friend of my brother's – I wouldn't even consider him a friend! Much less an acquaintance – Hehe. I think they're just coworkers." She said unconvincingly.
I frowned.
But I decided to let it go.
Surely I had nothing to worry about. He was probably just a random abrasive dude who just so happened to come across my best friend one night.
A mere coincidental circumstance.
I then caught the sight of Ray Parker's large build walking by, dressed in all black; a leather jacket, buttoned down black shirt that was open at the top and black dress pants and shoes.
Shit! Ray was here?
Okay.
So he had to be expecting Cassia to make an appearance too because he never comes to these events –even though he was part of the council.
"I'm going to speak to my brother for a second. Meet you there now," Gina said to me before she lifted her flowy, pink dress up and walked over to her brother.
I inhaled a shaky breath as I was now left alone to battle with my nerves as eyes continued to train on me.
Thenceforth, I continued to walk until I reached the very top of the balcony of very long grandiose staircases that led to the considerably vast ballroom floor, populated with hundreds of guests –who had their heads craned to look up at me as I made my entrance.
"Um…"
Straightaway, I was met with inner turmoil as I grappled with the fact that everyone was gazing at me as if I was the centerpiece of this whole event when in actual fact, it was supposed to be about the debutantes. I guess, I could thank my mom for being awkward when it comes to situations like this.
Moments of uncertainty like this are usually quelled when I had Jake by my side. Beyond the sea of faces, I searched for only Jacob's dark brown eyes that always provided an element of calm to me in the midst of chaos. I was thrilled when my eyes landed on the very eyes I fell in love with and the rest of the world didn't matter. Everything else around me was just blurry except for Jake who was shining bright like a light in my eyes.
Subsequently, I released a much needed sigh of relief as I hoisted my dress up and began descending the staircase –my focus still firmly on him and vice versa. He looked absolutely awestruck as he floated his way to me, each of our steps in sync the closer we got to each other.
As I reached my final two steps, Jake stood in front of me –impeccably dressed in a dark velvet tuxedo blazer with a navy turtleneck, tailored dress pants and shiny Italian formal shoes. His hair was slicked over to the side in a neat, presentable look. He looked ravishingly handsome.
After standing in silence for what felt like hours, he finally spoke.
He cleared his throat. "Wow…" His first word he uttered out. "Ness, you look absolutely…just…" He was at loss for words as he looked me up and down. "I'm so lucky," He expressed with a proud smile.
I felt my cheeks burn a scarlet red as I bit my cherry flavored lips and glanced down at my feet, shying away from him briefly before bringing my face up to meet his loving eyes.
"You clean up good yourself," I mentioned.
He chuckled. "How does it feel to be the most beautiful woman in the room –in the world at this moment?"
I giggled as my cheeks burned brighter. "Certainly, daunting. Everyone's staring," I whispered yet I didn't shift my focus from him as I didn't care about them anymore.
"Can you blame them?" He expressed. "And I get to call you mine."
I smiled brightly at him. "You do,"
"God, I love you." He told me with so much emotion as he looked deep into my eyes, the depth of his gaze caused my knees to shiver.
I gnawed my lip. "I love you too,"
He smiled widely as he extended his hand out to me. I looked down at his stretched out hand and gladly took it as I rested my small hand into his warm palm. I instantly felt at home as our skin made contact.
He smirked. "Do you mind if I wear my glasses? Your dazzling beauty is blinding me." He clichéd, jokingly.
I trundled my eyes. "You're so corny," I giggled.
He guffawed as he then led me down the final steps and allowed me to wrap my hand around his large, bulging arm as he lead me to where Seth and Embry were.
"Whoa! Stop the presses! The Belle of the Ball is loose!" Embry teased. "Princess on the run! Princess on the run!"
I rolled my eyes. "Hey, Em!" I said with a giggle.
"You look stunning, Ness." Seth said to me as he leaned in to give me two pecks on my cheeks.
I returned his embrace. "Thank you, Seth. Alex looks even better," I told him.
"I can't wait." He said truthfully with an excited and besotted smile, obviously thinking of his girlfriend.
"Want a drink?" Jake asked, handing me a non-alcoholic sparkling champagne.
I wondered if he did that because he didn't want a repeat of last night.
I gladly took it. "Thank you," I replied as I quaffed a sip of it.
Jake rested his hand on my waist; pulling me close to his side as we watched and listened to the opera singer chant a lovely tune from the stage.
"Alice and Jasper are here, by the way." He informed me in a whisper.
I gasped as I glared back up at him in shock. "They're what?"
He looked down at me. "Mhmm, we bumped into them on the way in." He said before tilting his head around to gesticulate to the other side.
I followed his gaze and immediately spotted my aunt and uncle several heads away from us, admiring the scenery and listening attentively to the singer showcasing her extreme vocals as she sang a rendition of O mio babbino caro by Puccini.
Darn it!
Now this would be a wrench and obstacle in my plan.
Alice…
The psychic would have surely known what I planned to do tonight.
Or maybe not…
This was an event I wasn't shocked to see her attend. She loved all this pomp and circumstance. I'm almost surprised Rosalie and Emmett aren't even here themselves –because I knew they would get a kick out of this extravaganza too.
I assured my family I wouldn't be meddling in the Cassia business on my own but I feel like this is one thing I can and should do on my own. If my family found out, they would instantly want to get involved and I honestly feel that would draw even more attention to ourselves than we intended to. Cassia would for sure know we were up to something if everyone knew I was looking into her past.
I had to try to avoid Alice and Jasper at all cost tonight if I wanted this strategy to ever succeed.
The sudden eruption of cheers from the swarm of guests pulled me back to reality, after the songstress finished off her final set.
"She was good!" Jake stated.
I smiled back. "Yeah! She was…" I said, trailing off as I noticed Justin motioning for me, hidden out in the corner of the room.
Oh! It was time!
"Um…Would you give me a minute?" I asked Jake as I handed him my glass.
He frowned. "What? But you just got here?" He pouted.
"I know! I just need to do something quickly before the debutante starts but I promise I'll be back in no time." I told him, planting a quick kiss on his lips before backing away.
He sighed. "Be back soon!" He called.
I gave him a thumbs up as I hoisted my dress up with both hands and quickly skidded my way over to Justin who led me to through the passageway.
"My dad has all his henchmen guarding the place so the security will be really tight. Luke is currently distracting the henchman guarding the archival room. We'll have to sneak through the backdoor." He told me as we trotted through the foyer.
"I thought Commissioner Fitzpatrick and the deputies from the police department were providing the security?" I asked.
"They are," He replied, briefly scanning the surroundings. "But my dad provides more of a stealthy form of security. Also, they're taking extra precaution in case anything supernatural breaks out. Especially after what happened last night," He told me.
I frowned as I looked at him. "What do you mean? What happened?"
He sighed. "Four students went missing after the party at the club last night. Seniors. Their parents have been worried sick, trying to get ahold of each of them but they don't answer. Luke's dad is waiting until Sunday morning to declare it as a missing person's investigation,"
I looked down as we walked down the quiet hallways.
Could this be related to Cassia?
Or maybe it was Charles Ainsworth?
He used to leave a trail of missing people when he was building his 'legion' before we fought them all last year. Could he be rebuilding a new legion of vampires to attack us again?
I wouldn't have pegged him as someone who would repeat the same attack strategy tactic that almost got him defeated but maybe he thinks building a bigger newborn army would get him to succeed further this time around. He would stop at nothing to get his hands on Carter and get revenge on my family.
"How's Luke planning on distracting the guard?" I asked, changing the subject.
Justin snorted. "Let's just say, he's gonna be annoyed having to play a cat and mouse game with a nosy teenage boy."
I chuckled. "So much for subtlety."
He smiled and then spun his head around to scan the area, to see if we're being followed.
"There have been no suspicious vampire scents and activity that I could get a lock on – except for maybe Jennifer and her friend from last night and your aunt and uncle? I didn't know they would be here." He informed me.
"Yup. Neither did I. I'm trying to avoid them." I told him.
He frowned. "This way," He said, resting his hand on the small of my back as he gestured for us to turn right.
"Ray's also here, by the way." I notified him about his alpha.
"Yeah, I know." He said, leading us out the door. "He's also on the lookout for Cassia. He never comes to these things."
"I figured." I spoke.
Justin and I slipped out of the building and inspected our surroundings, checking if the coast was clear as we watched a few straggling guests walking around the garden, before running towards the Town Council House cottage where they kept the archives.
"Did you tell Jacob?" He asked me.
I shook my head. "No," I simply said.
He looked at me and blinked.
"Look, Jake worries a lot about me and doesn't want me to put myself in any kinda danger and so…It's not worth telling him, I guess?" I explained.
He nodded. "Right." He replied. "He's only doing it because he cares, y'know. It would be weird if he didn't show you that he cared."
"Of course! I know that." I said as we edged closer to the cottage. "I just think – I care about him too." I said.
He smiled and nodded his head. "Hold up!" He whispered as he pulled me aside to hide behind the tree. I peaked to see two police deputies patrolling the area as they strolled along the path. I didn't know my heels caught onto a few leaves when the rustling sound reached my ears.
I immediately stuck my head away when one of the deputies turned around to scan the vicinity.
"Shh!" Justin mouthed with his index finger on his lips.
"What is it?" The other deputy asked.
"I thought I heard something," The deputy replied.
Shortly thereafter, the two deputies continued their stroll along the path and disappeared from the scene.
"That was close," Justin murmured. "Let's go!" He said as he looked around before taking the lead ahead of me.
We were now just a few yards away from the cottage, but I started getting an unnerving and uneasy feeling that we were being watched and followed. I skimmed my eyes through my environs, scrutinizing every wind that whooshed past, every leaves that breezed and every air figure that moved.
"I think we're being watched, Justin." I told him as I halted in my tracks.
He turned to me. "I don't sense anything," He informed me.
I frowned. "I don't know…" I trailed off.
"C'mon! There's no time! Let's go!" He snapped me out of it as he took my hand and dragged me.
The moment we reached the back entrance, we were met with a panting Luke who seemed to be hiding.
"Good god. There you guys are! What took you so long?" He demanded as he pulled his portable laptop out of his bag. "I managed to keep the guard occupied by chasing after me after I stole his equipment. I lost him but he'll be back soon so you guys need to hurry!"
I nodded. "Okay!"
"I'm going to hack into the system and disabled the security alarm system and cameras for five minutes. So that's all I'm giving you, Ness."
I thought. Was five minutes enough?
"Ugh! Okay! Fine! Five minutes." I stated.
"I'll give you the cue to go ahead…" He nodded to me.
I thanked him and glanced back up at Justin. "You'll keep watch?" I asked.
He nodded. "Sure,"
Justin and I then snuck around the cottage and entered through the open secret backdoor that led us to an designated, private door. I took the keys out of my clutch and waited for Luke's signal.
"3…2…1…And now!" Luke signaled with a whisper, knowing both Justin and I would hear.
And that's when I heard the alarm system disabling.
"Armed system deactivated!" We heard a voice echo out before I slipped the keys through the doorknob and flung the door open.
The second I opened the door, my jaw dropped to the floor at what was presented before me. I now understood why they kept this place under lock and key. There were so many confidential things locked up in here.
There were not only classified documents sealed in glass and wooden compartments, there were also a lot of other treasures – no…jewels. There were ancient diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires in glass, bar guarded and locked boxes. There were priceless ancient paintings and artifacts. There were also books, transcripts and confidential journals with each founding father's name of history's past attached to them on large shelves.
As I traveled through the archive room, I looked around for any evidence that pointed me towards the history of the debutante. Thankfully, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I saw the label "Guide to the Debutante Ball" book situated on a pedestal in front of the shelf of books, memoirs and journals.
I ran my hands over the cover and then I flipped open the timeworn, ancient book, beginning to read as I rummaged through the thick pages. There was a whole timeline of the history of the ball in Oakland Woods, dating all the way back to the mid-1770s up until the early 1920s. I scanned through the list of female debutantes chronologically from the late 70s when Ray said Cassia made her debut into society.
I couldn't find her name anywhere.
"What?" I whispered to myself.
"Find anything?" Justin called out to me.
I shook my head. "Not yet." I replied. "Still looking," I added.
I traced my finger all over the pages as I skimmed through all the various list of debutants.
Cassia was nowhere to be found.
Wait a minute!
She didn't go by Cassia in the 1770s.
She went by Cassandra Humphrey if I remember correctly.
I should be searching for that name.
That suddenly rang a bell as I recalled the night Ray retold the story of Cassia's origins in Oakland Woods.
Cassandra Humphrey.
Cassandra Humphrey.
Cassandra Humphrey.
Got it!
I immediately found her page that had a brief biography of her 'invented' life at the time, accompanied by an image of her –albeit an extremely blurry, vague, unclear black and white photo of her taken from a distance. This must have been taken by the very early photo lens film cameras at the time.
This wouldn't suffice.
But I decided to snap a picture of it anyway. The information could be beneficial.
"Time's running out!" Justin told me, as he stood watch from the entrance.
"I'm almost done!" I whispered back as I took another photo from a different angle before closing the book again.
As I went to head back, I was immediately halted in my tracks by a journal that caught my eye. It was the Theodore Raymond Parker journal. Ray Parker's ancestor who had a uniquely intimate history with Cassia.
I snatched it from the shelves and began paging through it, reading through the dates. I landed on the first night he met Cassia, he talked about how in awe of her beauty he was the moment he laid eyes on her, how dangerous yet alluring she seemed and then a few pages on, I briefly dug deeper into their tumultuous romance that inevitably led to his demise –turning into a werewolf. And then it got heavy when he discussed the night he first turned and his first kill. I landed on a page that held an old, yet clear photo of a beautiful, captivating specimen of a woman with glowing silver-fox platinum hair, a hair color that looked so striking against her pale skin and blood-red eyes. She looked like a mythical being, a creature you only picture living in the most dangerous, cold, snowy castle on the tallest mountain. She was mesmerizing to look at in a way that screamed to me I should run away.
Her beguiling smile towards the camera and enchanting presence was deeply unsettling.
I have never been so terrified by an image before but I couldn't look away.
"Nessie!" Justin snarled, calling for me.
I was snapped back to reality.
"Yes?!"
"Let's go!" He snapped his fingers.
I nodded as I slipped the photo in my purse and went to put the journal back on the shelf, but stopped mid-air, contemplating whether or not to take it before conceding and taking it anyway.
I sighed as I sauntered my way hastily out of the room.
"Done? You got what you're looking for?" Justin asked me.
"Done!" I assured him as I shut the door and locked the archival room and we ran out of the cottage.
"Finally!" Luke exclaimed as he immediately reactivated the security system back up again as the door shut.
"The guard is on his way back! We need to go now!" He whispered frantically, glancing back around to see the henchmen returning from the forest.
Luke shoved his computer back into his backpack and threw it over his shoulder before me and the boys snuck the hell out of there.
… …
To Be Continued
A/N: Hope you enjoyed that chapter! This was fun to write because it's the actual start of the climax of the story. I know. I'm just about three quarters finished with this story. Now the fun begins –just as danger looms.
Cassia is going to be the new big bad.
But don't be surprised if we hear from Charles or maybe even The Volturi again, who knows.
REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVORITE!