A/N: Introducing someone new in this story. Just an added dimension for now xx Alexis
Apart from the several stops for hunting or stocking up on things Belly-boo might need, Jasper is tanking across the good old USA. When I asked why he sighed and I knew I'd forgotten something, something important.
"Em, just because Isabella isn't actin' like a normal newborn doesn't mean her thirst won't be. So where would you rather be when we find out? Out here in the open or in a controlled location?" Jazzman asks and I see what he means,
"Damn man, I didn't think. I'm still acting like she's human because she isn't acting like everyone said a newborn does!" I say annoyed with myself,
"Don't sweat it Em, you've never done this before and it takes a couple of times before you get a feel for it" he replied giving Esme the side eye,
Hell, he's right she's seen it twice and both Rosie and I were totally different, but I sure had a severe case of bloodlust. I also ripped Eddie's hand off twice when he tried to tell me what to do, I was only listening to Carlisle and Rosie not that jumped up asshole! So that's why he wears that cuff, not to look cool but to cover the scars. Now I come to think of it Esme never got involved during my newborn year like not at all! She was always in the background well out of the way, was it because she didn't want to help or wasn't allowed too? All I remember hearing from her was about swearing, what was it with Esme and swearing? The more I think about it, it seems a little obsessive! Did her abusive husband, when she was human swear as he beat her? Did she think it was the only thing she could control?
Or was it the only thing Edward would let her control? Because it would be him and not Carlisle calling the shots. I realised the only thing Esme has done for Bella is to change her clothes, but only after Jazz asked her too. She hasn't actually spoken to her directly even knowing Bella can hear and understand her! Does she think that newborns are not a thing that women should be involved in? Or is it a case of her who doesn't want to involve herself? If my Rose had been here, I would have asked her if Esme was involved with her change. I know she was told the same lies as us, but now Esme knows they are lies why is she still blindly sticking to Carlisle's party line? Yes. He's her mate, but come on no mate is perfect! Look at me and Rose, we have much to discuss and try to sort through. But we will, because we are mates!
I wonder if Rose has realised yet that I never blocked her from our bank accounts? I found that a strange thing for Esme to do, treating them all like children. Alice and Edward yes, but chastising her mate by stopping his pocket money seems a tad infantile! The more my eyes are being opened, the less I like what I'm seeing. There is nothing at all vampire-like about this family, that being the first problem. We should never have been anything other than a coven, but it was that way when I arrived because of one vampire. Yes, Edward was the one to start their downfall from day one! He had insisted Carlisle act as his father and not his coven leader. The whole way they approached this second life was wrong and twisted to fit in with one child of a vampire's thoughts on how it should be.
RNFSG
I can feel the pull from Emmett getting further away, it has gone from a tug to a severe yank. We have never been this far apart or for this long before and it is starting to be painful and causing me and of course Emmett as well, serious aggravation. But this time I will be doing what is right and not what I think is my right! For the first time in our lives together I would be putting Emmett's wants first. It is said vampires only change when confronted by a life-changing event, well, this is mine. It's not as if all the signs weren't there, they were, I just chose to ignore them as irrelevant to me. Everyone could see and could have told me that this would blow up in my face but would I have listened? I doubt it and now it's up to me to fix this. The only good thing was it could and would be fixed.
Being mates is the main reason why I will be able to fix this. We are heading into day three since Edward destroyed our staid and as it turns out fake life! Carlisle's explanation of the truth had both angered and annoyed me. But I wasn't as surprised to find out what we thought was the truth, were nothing but fabrications of Edward's repressed mind. Never has it been more apparent he never grew up or left his era. Yes, I know I have often hidden behind my own, but I have embraced much of the modern world. Way more than Esme and Edward that's for sure. There is much I dislike, but you can't live in the thirties when you repair and detail muscle cars and the over-the-top jeeps Emmett loves. So therefore I would class myself more in the bracket of resisting each new decade, not refusing to conform to them.
The Swans memorial will be the day after tomorrow once Renee Dwyer arrives. Carlisle has brought home an eye-patch for Edward, letting it be known he hurt his eye while distraught, over the death of his girlfriend and her father. He had started to say he was refusing to go, but at the threat of losing his balls he changed his mind. Esme's absence has been explained away, stating she was abroad with Jasper and Emmett looking at Universities in Europe and that Alice went with them for moral support. This was my idea since Carlisle and Edward were both wandering about completely lost without Alice's input! Why had I never seen this before? They were both absolutely useless without someone else directing their every move.
I have worked non-stop on Bella's truck and have managed to fix many of the faults that had not so much been neglected, but botched by a less than efficient mechanic. Thankfully I have the paint here so I can respray it as well, since we have no money to speak of at present. Actually I haven't even checked to see if my account is locked or not. I mean my personal one that I share with Emmett, not the joint Cullen family chest. Really none of us used it, since we all had our own money, well except Edward. He used it daily since he never made any money of his own ever. So really I guess if I need anything I should at least check on our account, but really I don't. I was going through things I already had and was actually enjoying wearing what I wanted and not what Alice told me to wear!
I had arranged for the haulers to come the day after the memorial to take my car, Emmett's jeep and Bella's truck away. I really was intending on going to Tennessee but the pull felt way more East coast so for my sanity I changed it to my own house in Rochester instead. This way I would be nearer, but not encroaching on them. I will for once be taking this in baby steps, because this is the most important thing to me, because Emmett is the most important part of my life and world.
RNFSG
I'm bored, bored, bored! I'm so tired trying to be what Siobhan and Liam want me to be, but I'm not a little girl and never really was. Yes, technically in this era I would be classed as a child, but not back in 1847 when Siobhan changed me to save my life. I was the unwanted daughter and therefore the free dogsbody of my own family. I have no idea why the didn't marry me off to some unsuspecting soul. I could have been married for three years before my death and been a mother too by then, but no they needed someone to look after their parents and I was it. I often go across the water to England and spend time with the London coven, they at least treat me as an adult. A couple of them were my age too, but unlike me they were treated as such, maybe because they were mated.
I know it was my gift that everyone hated, even as a human I could tell if someone was lying to me. But it's only lies that are directed at me I pick up on without thought. To tell if they are lying to others takes intense concentration and I try to avoid that when possible. It wasn't like it gave me pain, but it was uncomfortable and even a little disorienting at times.
"Maggie, we're going to Paris for fashion week, do you want to come with Agatha and me?" Clara asked ans I nodded,
"Oh, yes I'd love too. Could you ask Mathias to call Siobhan, pretty please, she won't say no to him?" I wheedled,
I knew if I called she'd make up some excuse to have me go back to Ireland. Her wants were never lies, but the weren't pressing needs either and just mere excuses to keep me close. For some strange reason I had felt trapped lately and had an urge to run as far and as fast as I could. This trip to Paris might be what I need right about now. It's not like I was obsessed with clothes, but I knew what I liked and enjoyed seeing what was going to be new for the next year or so. I was lucky, other's turned as young as me looked eternally immature but I had hit puberty early and had a few curves and my hair thank god was long and wavy. I miss my green eyes though very much. I was named Máiréad, the Irish equivalent of Margaret and hence everyone calling me Maggie, but I prefer Mái.
The best thing about hopping over to the continent was just how quick the flights are, hell even the Eurostar isn't that bad, but long tunnels are not my thing. Not that anything would happen to me if it collapsed, but I just don't care for underground anything's! Oh, nothing like fashion to bring out the vampires of the world, the Denali sisters were here and that strange little vampire Alice Cullen as well. Ooh! Now why is she lying to everyone, I just realised it wasn't only me but everyone she spoke to. As she scuttled away everyone turned to me and I shrugged and said,
"I don't know what exactly she's lying about, but that was a load of baloney!"
We just avoided her after that and enjoyed ourselves. I found out later one of the Denali sister phoned Carlisle Cullen and did he have a tale to tell! Clara and Agatha just rolled their eyes, they had no time for him at all. But the Denali's were invested it his sob story that's for sure! The gist was Alice tried to have them all killed and Major Whitlock was her weapon of choice, but he saw through her lies and she fled. I have a feeling there is more to it, but it's nothing to do with me. We were staying over for another day as Bente was coming from Norway to meet up with us. I really liked her she was semi-nomadic and had friends all over the world including the Whitlocks. The vampire world is quite small on the grand scale of things, if you know one and they know two and on and on, it eventually gets back around to you.
RNFSG
We are finally in El Reno, well so Peter says and I'm ready for this crap to be over. The only improvement was when Peter told me the Major said Bella felt like she had cocooned herself in her shield. So I tried pulling up the sides and now I'm floating in a canoe and not on a raft any more. I wont go all the way around me, but this is much better at keeping the lava away from me. Charlotte has left to be with Bella since Esme was leaving them in the lurch. The more I learn about the Cullens, the less I like them! They sound like a lot of trouble and are practically a waste of space. Their leader didn't lead at all, no he left that to two immature children and it turns out one was mad and the other is a narcissist. He refused to tell them the mandated rules and then wonders why they run amok and fall foul of other vampires.
The way I see it, Edward will be no loss to anyone and many would be relieved when I kill the little fucker. Carlisle and Esme need to be forced out of the human world, they don't fit in there any more than they do in the vampire one it seems. Emmett seems to be the only redeemable one from the Cullens and he's beyond pissed with not only them but his mate as well! Alice will be removed by the Major for her plan to kill my kiddo, why he's so invested, I'm not sure and Peter is being tight-lipped about that. He has been seriously pushing the sanctity of mates onto me, so I have a feeling that might be something I am going to find out. They seem to think I would stand in her way, but I fell in love at eighteen too and understand that no-one can sway you at that age.
If he turns out to be her mate, that would be something I could accept, hell anyone would be better than Edward, even Peter!
"Thanks Chief! Jeez you barely know me" he huffed but I knew he wasn't really insulted,
Also I won't be able to see Bella for a while due to us both being volatile newborns. I don't think I would hurt her, but I would never take the chance when it comes to my daughter's wellbeing. I was wondering if their would be someone out there for me, but some vampires wait centuries and others never find their perfect fit. Charlotte and Peter were amongst the lucky ones, not for how and where they met but the fact they did. I have also realised that they hold the Major in high regard, he is their sire and in their eyes a saviour as well. I won't know how I fit in here until I'm back on my feet and have time to digest all the nuances of our dynamics. By all accounts this is a very progressive coven in it's loose configuration, Charlotte explained that to me.
She said that usually covens keep their people close and rarely intermingle with others for long periods of time. But because they were a mated pair and their single leader they spent swathes of time apart, but he was the one in charge even when he lived with the Cullens. God alone knows how he stood that level of incompetence on a daily basis because I could never have held my tongue.
"it's complicated Chief, the Major is not just one man! He split himself in two to save his own sanity and became Maria's Major and Jasper Whitlock to only Char and me. But that wasn't enough for Maria and she starved, tortured and denigrated the Major for almost a century until she got the killin' machine she wanted, but could not control 'The God Of War'! He is death incarnate and never recognises anyone, be they friend or foe. That was who Alice hoped to release on the Cullens" Peter explained and I was shocked and afraid for Bella,
"Don't worry she is the only one he can't hurt. Bella is a shield and I believe she and only she will be able to get through to him if we ever see him again. He's been contained for fifty years due to the animal blood and that is the only good thing the Cullens ever did" he says now and I relax slightly,
Jesus, that boy must have an iron will to contain both alter-egos! I understand to a degree, because everyone has two sides, but to have to stay as one for decades only to have it broken as well, Christ Almighty! Wait a minute, Major Jasper Whitlock, I recognise that name.
"Yup, he's exactly who you think he is. Maria destroyed a war hero for her own perverted desires and she revelled in that and rubbed it in his face every chance she got! Bitch that she was, she tried to eliminate everythin' good in that man and she failed!" Peter spat in a mixture of pride, anger and disgust,
Well, she sounds like a psychopath, how come so many bad people end up as vampires? Wow, there is so much out there that humans no nothing about and thank God they don't! To find out my black and white world was nothing of the sort was eye-opener and there is probably more that even vampires are aware of, because they seem rather insular.
"If anyone knows it would be Marcus Volturi, he keeps the archives of Volterra up to date and nobody ever asks him what else is out there" Peter mumbles answering a question I didn't really ask,
Yes, he seems like someone I would enjoy meeting and I'm sure there are so many more out there to who could benefit the vampire race given half a chance. From what I'm hearing the other two leaders are a warmonger and a megalomaniac! That really isn't a good mix of leaders, but like in the human world some people just outstay their welcome!
"It's almost time Chief, the last part will hurt like a fucker, but don't linger long. Remember you know me and don't focus on the scars, okay?" Peter says now and I realise my heart is galloping faster and faster than it ever has.