Chapter Three

Carlisle P.O.V

It was nearly 7:00am now. I sat with Max until she closed her eyes. I snuck my arms under her and brought her back upstairs, then snuck out of her room and quietly closed the door. My Max thinks she's a burden to me? Quite the opposite. I walked down to the kitchen to see Alice standing there. She took me by surprise. "Wow that girl must really distract you." She giggled. I put my hand over my eyes trying to hide my smirk. "How much did you hear?" I sighed. "Enough." She replied smiling.

"I had another vision." Alice frowned. "What happened?" I questioned. "Why don't we go sit." She suggested. I nodded towards the living room. She followed. She sat on the couch silent. "Alice?" I put my hand on her shoulder. "The Volturi wants to meet Max." She stated. "How did they find out about her?" I had a stern look on my face. "I don't know. It's the future so maybe they don't know yet. All I know is that they are going to want to meet her. I don't know when. It could be tomorrow, it could be three months from tomorrow. I'm sorry Carlisle. I thought you'd want to know." She pulled me into a hug. "It's okay Alice, it's not your fault. Thank you for telling me." I gave her one last squeeze before letting go.

"Is Max family now?" Alice seemed hesitant asking. I stared into Alice's eyes not saying a word. She smiled. "Okay, so we will all protect her like we protected Bella from James and the Volturi. We protect our family." I smiled at her. "I'll let you know if I 'see' anything else. I'm going to get back to Jasper." Alice stood up, waved at me, then rushed out the door.

I sighed. How am I supposed to explain to Max that the vampire counsel that are over thousands of years old that rule over all vampires want to meet her? Why do they want to meet her? Maybe they won't want to see her for a while. Like Alice said it could be three months from now. I rubbed my eyes. I just can't wrap my finger around it unless they found out about her wings. She is in no shape to meet those vampires.

XXXX

The clock just hit, 12:00 pm. I was reading an anatomy book on none the less, birds. I was curious if Max had any similar traits. She was still sound asleep. Her heart beat is faster than a regular humans and her bones are lighter. I could tell the second I held her fragile presence in my arms. I continued to read until the doorbell interrupted me. I hadn't heard a car pull up. I squinted my brow and went to the door.

"Hello?" I said to the strange man that stood before me. He seemed off. "Hi, I believe you have one of my...uh..well you know...experiments." The man was sweating. "Excuse me?" I spat. If this man was talking about Max... "You may know her as Max?" He stated. "What do you want?" I spat. He swallowed. "Well, I want her back of course." He looked me in the eye. "You need to leave now before I call the police." I pointed to the road. How did this guy even get here, there was no vehicle in site. He sighed. "If you won't hand her over, I'll just take her." He then pressed a button on his cellphone.

I heard shattering glass from Max's room. I was there in seconds. Standing before her were 4 great big wolf like creatures. They didn't really resemble wear wolfs, they looked more human with loads of fur. Maxs' eyes snapped open. I had already snapped all four of their necks. "I'm so sorry." Max said quietly. "Don't you dare say sorry this wasn't your fault." I picked her up and went downstairs to the living room. The man was gone. I looked at Max. She didn't seem scared. "How does your knee feel?" I asked. She shrugged..

I went to the kitchen and grabbed her some food and a glass of water. "I'm going to go clean..uh..those things up." I was unsure what had just happened. "Erasers." She chimed in as I headed to the stairs. "Pardon?" I stopped at the bottom of the stairs. She cleared her throat. "Those things are called erasers." She said. "Oh." Everything was starting to come together, or so I thought. Maybe those are what killed Max's family. How did they find her here? It only took about 10 minuets to clean up. I had thrown the 'erasers' bodies into LaPush beach. Then cleaned up all the glass.

After I was done, I headed back to Max. She was just sitting there playing with her fingers. I sat down next to her. As always she wouldn't look me in the eye. "Max, would you mind telling me what's going on?" I was concerned. She stiffened. Taking in a deep breath she began. "Erasers are from the school. The school is where I was created, or whatever. Scientists preform experiments and keep you in dog crates. They are after me and my flock because we had escaped. I'm the only one left so they probably want me dead too.." Her voice trailed off. Dog crates? She lived in a dog crate? I clenched my jaw. "I won't let them hurt you. I promise."

I will protect Max. Nobody will ever lock her in a cage again.

Max P.O.V

Carlisle made a promise. Promises are hard to keep, especially one like his. Not to mention I'm not even sure if I want to live anymore. I clenched my jaw. I could just take my own life, at least then I'll be with my flock. I sighed. I started to like Carlisle. I got the impression that if anything happened to me, he wouldn't forgive himself. Maybe I should tell him I want to die. He was still sitting next to me. "Carlisle." I said in a whisper.. He looked at me and smiled. "I want to die." I said looking away from him. His smile turned into a frown. "Max, please don't say that. You're beautiful and smart, you are more than you think. I don't want you to die." Carlisle replied. I shifted in my seat swallowing hard. He then grabbed my hand in his. "I will be here for you. I will take care of you. Please don't ever take your own life." He began to rub circles with his thumb on the back of my hand. I relaxed a little. "Thanks for saying that." I said. I didn't feel like more. I felt useless. Carlisle's words were comforting but how am I ever going to feel ok again? I don't know how.

"Why are you so nice to me?" I questioned Carlisle. Maybe he was like this with everyone. "Because you are special and one of a kind. After I saw you for the first time I wanted to help you. I saw a beautiful girl in a bad moment. I needed to save you. I will be patient and take the time to get to know you. I can show you happiness. I'm not going anywhere, I'm here right now with you and that's right where I want to be." He caught me off guard and kissed my forehead. That's more than Fang had ever expressed to me. Maybe we could take down the school and avenge my flock and anyone else they have hurt. Maybe Carlisle really will make me happy. I can't remember a time where I can honestly say I was 'happy'.

Hours passed by as we sat on the couch watching tv. Carlisle was in an out. We watched a movie together, and then he had to do some work on his computer. He always came to check on me. I wasn't a big fan of watching tv all day but not being able to walk really limits your options. Carlisle had just went back to his office after checking on me. I began to get hungry. I looked down at my knee. I heal faster than humans I figured that I might be able to walk on it now. I scooted my legs over the edge of the couch. I slowly stood on my right leg and began to put a little pressure onto my left. I winced at the slightest pressure. I took a deep breath. I then began to wobble my way over to the kitchen. Finally I had made it. I was out of breath. Leaning on the counter my elbow hit a chrome mixing bowl knocking it to the floor. Carlisle was here within seconds. I blushed. He came to my side and put a stool next to me. I sat down. "You really need to stay off your knee. Is it feeling better?" He was gentle with his words. I shook my head no. "I'll take a look at it, but first I'll make you some dinner." He smiled. "I never had a reason to use the kitchen before now." He stated. He was a good cook. Then again, it didn't take much to satisfy my stomach. He cooked up some food and handed me a plate. I ate it while he did the dishes. Once I was done he took my plate and put it in the sink.

"Why don't we go upstairs and I'll take a look at your knee." He picked me up and carried me to his office. He had a medical table in here that he had set me down on. I stiffened. I remember being held down and having needles and scalpels poke at me. Jeb telling me that it's for the greater good and that I had deserved it. Maybe I did deserve all of it. Better me than someone else right? "Max are you alright?" Carlisle put his hand on my shoulder concerned. I nodded slowly. He then rolled up my pant leg. His fingers felt soft on my skin, gentle and cautious. Not mean and hateful like those low life scientists at the school. I relaxed. He un-wrapped my knee. I felt the cool air brush against it. "It's healed a lot more than I had expected! Its only been a day." He was surprised. "I heal faster than humans." I said. He began to poke around the tender area. I clenched my jaw. It still hurt. I heal faster than humans, but this was a bad injury. "Does this hurt?" He said pressing on different places on my knee. "A little." I replied. "Alright, it's healing up well. You still need to stay off of it for a little while. The stitches will go away on their own." Carlisle said. He wrapped my knee back up.

"Would you like me to take you back to your room so you can go to sleep?" He questioned. I shrugged. I wasn't really tired because I hadn't done anything all day. What I wanted to do was go for a fly, but I can't really jump into the air with my knee right now. "Come on." He held out his hands. I grabbed them. I scooted to the edge of the table and then he picked me up and brought me to my bedroom. He carefully set me down onto the bed. I sighed. "Try to get some sleep Max." He kissed my forehead again. I blushed. He walked into the hall and closed the door. I was alone again.

Did he mean what he said? I meant what I said. I feel like I want to die. All I feel is this emotional pain. Come to think of it when ever I feel my knee pain I forget about my emotions for just a little while. Carlisle will be upset if I do anything stupid, but I need to. I need to feel something other than this hurt in my heart. I got up and hopped over to the dresser. Maybe Carlisle missed a piece of glass when he cleaned up the mirror. I felt around under the dresser. At last! I found what I was looking for. It was a small piece of the mirror. I picked it up seeing my reflection. I frowned. I hopped back to the bed and stared at myself through this glass. Taking in a deep breath, I held the sharp object to my wrist. Biting my lip, I took a slash. Warm blood trailed down my arm. Just as I was about to go for round two, Carlisle stopped me. He held me back. "No, please!" I pleaded. He then quickly grabbed a pillow case and pressed it onto my wrist. I could see the worry all over his face. "Please!" I cried again. This time tears escaped my eyes. "I'm not going to let you hurt yourself. Everything will be okay. I promise." He was calm. I began to sob. I needed to feel something else. Something to get my mind off of my shitty life. He began to wipe the tears from my eyes with his other hand, but they kept coming. I felt his strong embrace around me. He was holding me from behind, still putting pressure on my wrist with his other arm wrapped around my stomach. I clung onto his arm. "It's okay, everything is going to be okay." He soothed.

About forty minutes passed by before I had finally calmed down. He hadn't moved a muscle. My sobs turned into sniffles. "May I take a look at your wrist?" He was still calm. I slowly nodded my head and let go of his arm. He removed the pillow case reviling the damage. "It doesn't need stitches but I need to clean it and bandage it up." He brought me back to his medical room. He poured alcohol onto a big Q-tip, then pressed it to my wound. I winced, but I was happy I felt the pain. He bandaged me all up and brought me back to my room. "I'll sit with you until you fall asleep." I bet he doesn't trust me anymore. I don't blame him. He took my hand in his and rubbed circles with his thumb until I finally fell asleep

Carlisle P.O.V

I rubbed Max's hand until she had fallen asleep. Then I quietly closed her door, and sat down in my office. She's depressed. Maybe I should proscribe her some anti depressants. Seeing her cry broke my heart, it needed to be done though. She has had no time to grief her family. How do you grief your entire family when they are all taken from you in the same day? I need her to stay strong. I will be strong for both of us. I loved holding Max in my arms. She clung onto me and I never wanted to let go. Of course these circumstances are not what I had imagined. I know that one day I will make Max happy. I smiled at that thought.

Now to figure out what the Volturi wants with Max. That still frazzled me. Who would tell them? Nobody knows that she's here. Maybe that guy at the door. I frowned. I shouldn't worry about it, I know Alice said it could be a while before they want to see her anyways. "Carlisle?" Max's voice was soft. I got to her door and opened it slowly peeking my head through. "I'm here Max." I said. She swallowed hard. I walked into her room and sat down on the bed next to her. It was silent for a little while. "I wasn't trying to kill myself." She whispered. I was relieved after hearing that statement. "I just..I wanted to feel something else." Her voice cracked. "It's okay to feel the way you do. You get to be upset." I grabbed her hand. "I remember everything from that night perfectly. It gives me nightmares." I was surprised she was opening up to me. I slowly made my way to sit against the head board and put one arm around her. She laid her head on my shoulder. "How can I forget?" She sounded so broken. "You don't forget, you try your hardest to move past it." I soothed her. She then rolled over and buried her face into my chest. I wrapped both arms around her and held her tight. "Please don't die." She sniffled. "I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere." I rubbed her back in between her wings. She relaxed and drifted into sleep.