Chapter 7: Interrogation
After what Alice had seen, the vampires in the backyard had rushed inside. Bree had been ushered to go to her room before she had even managed to step inside properly. It had made her anxiety rise more. She was scared, terrified even.
Her eyes scanned the room she was in, sure that she was in danger. What if the pixie had seen Fred? Were her hopes of getting rescued going to crumble to the ground? Her stomach felt heavy with worry. She needed to figure out what the other vampire had seen. She had to. If she wouldn't, she couldn't do anything else except wish that everything was going to be okay.
The newborn closed her eyelids. Her ears were trying to listen keenly to the conversation taking place downstairs. She attempted to concentrate on it, focusing on the sounds of the yellow-eyes.
She wasn't able to make out many words. They were mumbled, silent like insects had been when she was human. It caused frustration to build up in her body. She had to focus harder. Her body leaned forward as she decided to move right next to her door. Her ears pressed against the white wood.
The Cullens were speaking too silently. Clearly not wanting her to hear them. Their silent whispers rang in the house, luringly, wanting to attract curiosity towards them. They didn't seem to want to be heard only by the immortals in the kitchen. They wanted her to listen to them and figure out the mysterious words that were being said.
The whispers became louder for a second, their pitches rising angrily. The sudden pitch change didn't make the brown-haired girl any calmer. It seemed like the conversation was making the vampires in the kitchen tenser. Her body stiffened. Her curiosity rose every second. If the thing Alice saw had something to do with her, she should be in the conversation too. The yellow-eyes were not going to get any brownie points from her if they kept what was being said a secret. She had a right to know what they were talking about.
Sure, she didn't trust the Cullens, nor did she specifically like them, but it was still unfair that she didn't get to hear what they were talking about. She wanted to know. No, she needed to know, for her own safety.
She almost let out a frustrated growl as the voices stopped abruptly. She wanted to kick the door open and run downstairs. She wanted to demand to know what the others had talked about. That was the least they could do after kidnapping her and forcing her to stay with them. She deserved to know, especially if it was about her.
Her irritation soon turned to fear as steps started to echo in the house. They were coming to her room. She needed to get away from the door. The emotion swirled inside of her. It's grip tight as a steal. The yellow-eyes couldn't know she had been eavesdropping on them. Eavesdropping quite badly, but still, she didn't want them to know that.
She tensed. The steps were now closer to her room than before. She had wasted her time by thinking, while she should have run. She got ready to get caught, but the steps stopped on another door and went inside it.
Oh, that's right, there were few other rooms in the hallway she was in. She felt a tiny bit of embarrassment flow through her. She was an idiot. Why had she thought the person coming to the third floor would have come to her room? It was a ridiculous thought.
Her throat protested as her head detached from the door's surface. It flared painfully, reminding her how she had not yet taken care of it today, demanding that she would caress it with delicious blood. She had to go ask if one of the Cullens could take her to hunt. She was desperate to feed now that her throat had announced itself. It wouldn't stop bothering her until it was satisfied.
Bree liked to think of it as her pet. She had to feed it frequently, or else it would be dissatisfied and hangry. It would attack her, scratch her skin until it got what it wanted. Maybe even climb to her head. She was truly convinced that her bloodlust had a mind of its own. It was too stealthy and too quick. She wondered what would happen to it if she didn't take care of it for a prolonged amount of time. Would it kill her? Or perhaps literally leave huge scratch marks on her skin. Maybe she would look like Jasper with her skin so badly covered in them. She shuddered. It would be horrible.
"Bree, sweetie."
The teen's frightened eyes flashed to Esme. The caramel-coloured-haired woman had come to her room's door without her noticing. She was horrified by her own senses. Why hadn't they picked up the other vampire? Had she been too deep in her own thoughts? Nevertheless, it was not a great thing to realise that your own senses had betrayed you. She could have been killed.
"Yes?" The young girl gulped. She stood up, moving herself further away from the Cullen matriarch. They were way too close to each other for her liking. It was dangerous to be so close to other vampires. She couldn't have forgiven herself if something bad had happened.
"Me and Carlisle wondered if you'd like going on a walk with us." The caramel-haired woman requested. Her voice was warm, like a hug. "We'd like to chat with you a bit. Get to know you."
The newborn looked at her suspiciously. "I don't know if I want to." Her mind didn't like the idea of going alone in a forest with two of the Cullens, but then again, she had survived living with them for two days now.
"It would mean a lot to us. Please, Bree," Esme said. Her gaze was focused on the brown-haired girl, not letting go of her.
"Fine." Bree muttered. Her mood shifted to determination, a feeling she hadn't really felt yet when living with the Cullens. She could attempt to figure out what the yellow eyes had been talking about downstairs. Going to the forest could also be the perfect time to search for Fred's scent, and if not that, leave her own scent in the air. If he ran past it, he would smell it and realise she was still alive.
She could also hunt.
"Thank you." Esme smiled, relieved. She seemed pleased with the teen's choice.
"Where is Carlisle?" The sixteen-year-old newborn asked. She wanted to leave for the forest as soon as possible, now that she had a few tasks. She had to get them done, or else she would be in trouble.
"Downstairs. He went to finish his patient's paper." The yellow-eyed vampire answered. She offered her pale hand to the girl. "We should head to him."
Bree declined the offer by walking past the woman. She did it carefully, worried the other vampire would get mad and hurt her. Her steps increased drastically as she heard the soft steps of the woman following her. The emotions inside of her dropped from determination to terror. Why hadn't she just accepted the vampire's hand? She could be in danger because of her own stupidity.
Her sneakers creaked on the wooden floor as she moved shiftily forward, towards the downstairs. With all her senses tightly on the female behind her, she started walking on the scary stairs. They still creeped her out. How could anyone walk on them calmly? They were a death trap. Transparent trap.
While walking on them, she understood how birds felt about windows. The poor things were probably deathly afraid of them, waiting for their inevitable faith in splashing straight onto the stairs and deceasing. How could humans create something so cruel like glass? It was horrible and the biggest problem for the birds and Bree. How could mammals exist and decide to create something that killed so many creatures? Who in their right mind made the transparent material?
A new thought came to her mind. Were vampires mammals? They didn't give birth to living creatures, so were they really one of them anymore? Did the immortals have their own category in the animal kingdom? And if yes, what? Or were they something completely different—were they even animals? The girl's eyes widened as she stopped at her place.
"Bree? You don't need to be scared of the stairs. They are not going to hurt you." Esme's voice hovered behind her. She sounded confused, not mad. The young teen felt relieved. She wasn't in danger anymore. The woman had probably forgotten her refusal to hold her hand.
"I'm not scared." The newborn hissed. She realised she was clutching the stair's railing. It stood strongly in the air, holding the glass stairs in their places as it swirled to the ground. It was the sole reason why she wasn't dead, lying on the ground as a corpse.
The caramel-haired vampire was wrong. She wasn't scared. She was terrified. The glass could break at any given moment and make her fall to the ground. She technically wouldn't die from the fall, but she still didn't want it to happen to her. Her skin might have been hard, but she wasn't. She couldn't mentally handle falling down and would end up dying metaphorically.
"Alright, let's continue our way down the stairs then. Carlisle will be ready soon." Esme spoke softly, not sounding like she believed her.
The girl loosened her hold on the railing reluctantly and took a step down on the death trap.
The forest shone with glee. The trees were full of life as the sunrays played soft shadows on the ground. The birds sang in the trees, and the insects crawled on the ground.
Bree's steps left marks on the soil as she moved behind Carlisle and Esme. The couple's hands were entwined together like vines, refusing to let go of each other. It would have been slightly funny if she hadn't been so nervous. The feeling ate her insides, telling her to be careful.
Carlisle's golden eyes turned to her warmly. "I'm pleased to know you decided to come with us." A small smile played on his lips. "As my family's leader, I need to know more about you. I'm afraid the chat with you earlier left me curious. It's an unpleasant feeling. So I'd like you to tell me something about yourself, like what you do as a hobby."
"H-hobby?" The young teen repeated shakily. She had not expected the question, thinking that Cullen's leader would want to talk about the Volturi situation with her. But about something so unnecessary as hobbies? Had they really invited her to stroll in the forest for her answer to such mundane questions? She wasn't sure how to feel.
"Yes, a hobby. What do you like to do with your spare time?" the blond man rephrased his question.
Esme chimed into the conversation. "We would love to get to know you!"
The newborn's dark eyebrows rose. She felt completely caught off guard. Her emotions swam inside of her, confusion breaking the surface. She didn't want to reveal much about herself, that was for sure. What was she supposed to answer? That she liked…watching TV? That wasn't a proper answer. They would expect something else from her. Anything other than watching the bland screen the whole day. But the truth was that she had not done much else while living as a human. Her life had been quite depressing, to say the least.
"I like reading." She settled on her answer, proud of herself for figuring out what to say. She hoped they wouldn't ask clarifying questions. They would ruin her answer and embarrass her.
Carlisle's head tilted, and his smile widened. "That's a marvellous hobby! I am, myself, quite engrossed by my books too. They are a magnificent way to spend some time and ruminate over things. If I may ask, what do you like reading?"
Panic rushed to the girl's face as she gulped anxiously. "I- I like reading my school's textbooks. Especially the geography ones."
"Oh!" Esme gasped. Her eyes had widened to resemble those of an owl. "That's…interesting. That sounds very educational."
Bree stayed silent. She felt a hot flush bump inside of her. Of course, the coven leader had asked her the worst follow-up question to ever exist. Her childhood hadn't been that entertaining. She hadn't really read any novels, except when it was required to do so for a school project. Even then, she had hardly convinced her father to buy her those books. He had hated to buy books for her, so she decided to start reading about geography. She had been interested in travelling from a young age, which made reading the school books more bearable.
She had curled up on her small bed against her comfortable duvet and read about different cultures, countries, and places. It had been exhilarating until her father found her one night and hit her. She had been left alone with a bleeding nose and a torn school book. Apparently she shouldn't have 'filled her head with nonsense' as he had put it.
After that, she settled down to watching TV instead of reading all the time. The memory left an uneasiness in her movements as she walked beneath the trees. Their shadows overcast over her and stopped a metre away.
Carlisle opened his mouth. His eyes were studying her carefully. "It's nice to know you like reading about geography. Most people prefer novels because they are easier and more enjoyable to read, but in my opinion, they should try going outside their comfort zone and read something educational every once in a while." He smiled. "Knowledge about geography can be very handy in certain situations."
The newborn relaxed as she heard his answer. She had thought he would have called her a freak.
The wind breezed around the trio, clearly interested in their conversation. It stroked their hairs while flying past them multiple times, like a restless child coming back to their parents. Its caressing touch reminded the teen of a hug. She smiled slightly at the thought before she frowned. Her mind went back to a moment when Esme had hugged her and kept her in her arms as she sobbed from the revelation of her father killing her mother. A day ago, she experienced a real hug that she was able to remember. A sharp stab sank into her chest.
"What's wrong?" Esme asked. The woman wore a concerned look on her face as she studied her.
"Nothing." Bree said, stiffening her body. Her back straightened as her eyes went to a tree on the left. "I'm fine."
The caramel-haired vampire's eyebrows went into a frown from her answer, and the woman's head nudged slightly. Her amber eyes looked deeply at the teen's irises, trying to make her say something more. Maybe even attempting to make her reveal her darkest secrets.
The newborn did not like it. She refused to look her in the eyes and kept her own tightly on the nature around them. She wasn't about to reveal anything more to the Cullen's. It could be dangerous if they knew her weaknesses. Detrimental to her safety and cause her to succumb to her death sooner than she was already going to. She couldn't let the yellow-eyes use her weaknesses against her.
Carlisle broke the brewing silence. Even nature had become more silent. The leaves whispered their dance as they rolled on the ground. "May I propose that we go hunting? I see that Bree's eyes are getting quite dark already."
The blond man's words reminded the girl of her throat. It was still screaming and pleading to get blood to caress its insides. She wanted to grant that to it, so she nodded to the leader, accepting his proposal gladly.
But before they hunted, she needed to ask them urgently about the conversation earlier. She needed to know what the Cullen's had gathered to talk about. If she didn't, she would lose her mind. She was already on the edge and did not want to lose her last bits of sanity to something as stupid as a secret conversation. She hated them. She hated how secret's made the ones not knowing about them lull in false security. And she did not want to be lulled into that feeling. She would be able to handle whatever the yellow-eyes had been talking about.
"What did you talk about when I was upstairs?" She asked bluntly, not expecting herself to be so straightforward. She felt pride grow in her stomach as she applauded herself for having the courage to ask the question so boldly. She didn't usually have the courage to ask something like that, so the words coming from her mouth were confusing. but it was a welcome thing to happen. She wondered how she had suddenly said them without any pressure from herself.
Carlisle's and Esme's faces exchanged looks. They looked stunned to hear her words, clearly not expecting her to let the words out of her lips. She had to admit that the words had been a bit out of character for her to say, but nevertheless, she was happy she had said them.
"You see, we discussed your condition." Carlisle smiled, nodding awkwardly as the trio continued walking.
They were completely caught off guard, she noted. A small smile formed on her lips. Their reaction made her even prouder of her sudden bluntness. She was in control of the situation now, not them. She was sure she would be able to get at least something out of the two.
Carlisle cleared his throat. "We want to make sure you're comfortable while in our care."
"What did Alice see in the forest?" Bree's crimson eyes narrowed. She wanted—no, she needed to know.
"In the forest?" Esme repeated, confused. She looked at the blond leader, their expressions contemplating. Both of them stopped walking.
Carlisle sighed, his amber eyes turning to look at the brown-haired girl. "Alice did not see anything in the forest. She is able to see into the future. I'm profoundly sorry that we haven't explained that to you."
The newborn stiffened. She stared at the two. The small pixie was able to see into the future. Thread took over her. What if she had seen something about her plan to escape? How was Fred supposed to come save her when the yellow-eyed vampire's would get notified about that from Alice? She was doomed.
"You don't need to worry. Alice is pleasant to be around." The caramel-haired woman smiled softly, mistaking her stiffness for nervousness.
The young teen continued staring at the two. She definitely did not like the fact that there was someone who was able to see into the future, but she needed to act normal so she wouldn't be suspected by Carlisle and Esme. She couldn't let them start doubting that she was planning something. She needed to act untrustfully and shyly, like she normally did around them.
A fake smile formed on her lips. She shouldn't open her mouth. It would be too risky. She was too nervous at this point to try talking and worried about revealing something by accident. Her eyes moved around the area, studying the environment she was in. She wanted to distract herself from her emotions.
The forest stood still around her. The grass beneath, smelling fresh like the lake she had swam in.
"Shall we go hunting now?" Carlisle asked again. He seemed to sense her unwillingness to talk more. For the first time, the girl felt happy to hear Cullen's leader's words. She was more than willing to get some blood and quench her burning thirst.
After a short walk, the trio ended up stopping again. To Bree's delight, she was commanded to go follow the scent of a bear. Her legs pushed her to its trail as she ran as fast as she could towards her lunch. She was relieved to finally be able to feed. It had felt like forever since she had eaten the last time, but now she did not need to suffer much longer.
She saw her prey. It was jogging calmly on the pliant soil, unaware of the dangerous creature stalking towards it. She smiled, thrilled at the thought of tasting its blood. Even though the animal's blood wasn't the best, it still helped with her thirst, so she condemned it as necessary until she escaped. She wouldn't get away with going around and killing humans while living with the Cullens.
The newborn jumped towards it, letting out a warning snarl. She tackled the brown animal to the ground, sinking her teeth deep into its soft neck. Venom pooled in her mouth as the blood rushed to her tongue.
Its dull taste tattered her mouth, but it was tasty enough to soothe her throat's roars. She had to admit that it tasted better than the deer she had drunk earlier. She didn't understand why but was pleased with the realisation.
She enjoyed her meal until a strange feeling took over. It felt like she was being watched, like eyes were burning holes in her being. Her face rose from the bear's neck as she sniffed the air instinctively. She needed to determine whether or not she was in danger.
The sniff filled her nose with a repulsive smell. It burned her nostrils, making her gag out of disgust. Her expression dropped to a frown. The appalling scent could only belong to-. Before she had time to finish her thought, a sleek grey-coloured wolf sneaked towards her. It's brown eyes studying her, ready to attack.
