Patty was a chatty one, though Edward shouldn't have been surprised. It took nearly 45 minutes for her to classify everything in the box, with the accuracy of a layman rather than the expert she claimed to be, wiggly handwriting covering the donation form that was now tucked into his pocket. Despite her endless tangents, he could tell she deeply cared for the town she lived in and the history it had.

"I personally love the 50s," she had said as if her outfit didn't state that obviously, "But we have plenty of people here who love all the different decades this town has survived. Plenty of material to go through, thanks to the careful records kept by the Historical Society."

"That's unusual," Edward commented politely, his eyes straying to watch as Lettie poked her head through the nearby wall to see what was on the other side.

"Oh, yes. After that big fire, the town went into a bit of a frenzy collecting works to replenish the library, what with nearly all the original documents burned." Now that caught Edward's attention. "Worked out in the end though, because people came together to tell all about their family histories and gave plenty of things to back up their claims like copies of legal paperwork and letters between trades. Most impressive community project ever done by most standards. Now we're known all around for our impressive collection of accurate historical records."

"Is that what the building outside was?" he asked, watching as she sorted the items behind her in some sort of organizational system. What that system was though, he wasn't sure.

"No, just behind it though. That one is the old dance hall."

"I'm surprised it's still standing." Patty laughed at that.

"You and me both. But between the two of us," she leaned forward conspiratorially, "Havannah's husband runs one of the lumber companies in town and he's rebuilt most of the basic structure. Any sign of crumbling and he shows up the next day with his tool kit and half a dozen men and has it fixed before we start tours in the afternoon."

"That's generous of him." Patty rolled her eyes, jotting down an estimated value of the piece she had been examining, before adding it to one of the piles.

"Well, you know Joel. Havannah bats her pretty eyelashes and he drops everything to make her happy." Despite the jeering words, Patty's eyes held nothing but fondness as she spoke, her mind conjuring the image of the happy couple. "Most spoiled girl I've ever met."

"Do you know what happened originally? I mean, to cause such a big fire."

"Only vaguely," she remarked, putting the matching chalices behind her before giving him her whole attention. "There was a dance that night, the closest thing to a party they had back then, when suddenly the top floor caught fire. Spread too fast for most people to get out unscathed. As far as I understand there was only one casualty, thank the heavens, but a lot of people were injured and that whole cluster of buildings was too dangerous to get near for a long while. Too many injuries after too." Edward caught Lettie as she appeared beside him, her brows furrowed as she listened. "Was actually the reason why they moved the Town Hall further into downtown, and why the Historical Society is here now. Town believed those buildings were cursed for a long time, rumors of a howling coming from them for days after the fire happened." Patty smiled at Edward's disbelieving face.

"...really?"

"Scout's honor." She raised her hand in a mock salute. "How else do you think we could have gotten this big of a building for such a steal."

Edward hummed under his breath, sorting through the new information.

"You sure are knowledgeable about this," he finally remarked.

"Well, it's my job, being your resident museum tour guide and all." She laughed. "Gotta know all the juicy details to make it worth the money. Otherwise, we'd just offer people the book and have them walk around on their own."

She would be a force to be reckoned with if she was turned, Edward mused to himself again, a paper bag with the town's gift shop logo now swinging at his side. According to both Patty and his new history book, thanks to that large fire, the town expanded bidirectionally instead of a typical omnidirectional style, leaving this half free to be reclaimed by nature. It was extremely interesting to have the original cobbled street turn into a dirt path, the blending between society and nature that much more obvious, but it did allow the town to have a pretty nice outdoor communal space, picnic benches and grills dotting the area. Several dirt paths branching in all sorts of directions to entice a nice walk through the greenery. Each one was marked with a small sign depicting the length of the hike, possible challenges on the route, and any notable things along the way.

Edward easily spotted the slopping downhill path Alice wanted them to take, 'cleverly' named Old House Trail, gesturing for Lettie to follow behind him as they began the hike.

"Will your feet be alright?" Edward finally said after a few minutes of silence. He offered his arm without prompting, Lettie giving him a bashful smile as she used it to balance her weight, her other hand gathering her long skirt to step over an unruly tree root.

"How very kind of you." She kept her hand on his arm for a second longer before dropping both it and her skirt to return walking by his side. "However, yes, my feet will be perfectly alright as we stroll." His nod brought them back into silence.

Lettie didn't seem to mind, eyes fluttering around the woods around them, mist not seeming to deter her from the wonder in her eyes. Birds were well awake now, swooping above their heads, morning cloud cover finally clearing to let the summer sun through. Although this town is perfect for his family in all other seasons, a heavy cloud of fog hanging around between snow days, summer provides them with long hours of sunlight and warm weather. Patty wasn't kidding when she said the town became comparable to the bustling city, with more and more folks coming to join their families or work summer jobs, filling the usually empty streets with more cars than available parking. The museum also seemed to be a hotspot, surprisingly, though Patty mentioned that they hosted interns and students over the summers so they had access to their impressive collection. Edward made a mental note to tell Jasper once they returned.

For now, he kept a close eye on the sun as it broke through the branches and kept his ears peeled for any wandering hikers. He carefully thought through the series of questions he wanted to ask Lettie, letting her bask in the new environment for a little while.

"You may ask anything you wish," Lettie finally said, breaking Edward out of his musings.

"I have many questions."

"Wherever would you like to start? My only request is that you would allow me to ask some in return."

"Alright, deal," he held his hand out without a second thought. It was so natural for his family, especially his brothers, to shake hands to signify a deal, the only real way they could guarantee the other would follow through. It was an unspoken rule in the house that breaking a handshake meant the other members of the family, whoever wanted to participate, were allowed to roughhouse with no consequences. It only took one broken promise for the rule to be put in place, and to realize that no one really besides Jasper, Emmett, and Edward would participate in the play fighting. But now, with Lettie looking at his outstretched hand with confusion, he recalled that this wasn't how most people operated.

Especially not Lettie.

Edward huffed when the thought of already greeting each other passed through her mind.

"Handshaking can mean several things," he carefully explained, keeping his hand extended. "In this instance, we shake our hands to signify that we are making a deal based on mutual trust. I promise to answer the questions you pose, so long as you answer some of mine. Once we shake hands, it signals the start of the promise." Lettie pondered on it for a moment, before putting her hand in his, performing the up-down motion just as he taught her.

"Many of your traditions involve physical touch," she observed, her hand sliding over his gently as they parted. Edward didn't have a response to that.

"I guess they do." They continued walking once more. "Would you like to begin?"

"If that would be alright?" Edward nodded. "You told you are on an outing for your Aunt." The unasked question of the lie was evident without the words.

"Ah, yes. Unfortunately, in order to answer that, there are more prudent questions that should be asked first." Lettie raised her brow at him.

"Am I to know what these questions are?"

"If I told you, the game wouldn't be very fun." Edward gave her a small smirk, to which she laughed in response.

"I suppose." She stopped for a moment, leaning down to admire the small purple flowers that dotted the path, before continuing their walk.

"What did you find while you were exploring the Historical Society?" Lettie looked at him surprised. "You didn't ask the question you wanted to ask, so I figured I would start off with an easier question too."

"A gentlemanly choice," she teased. "Though there was little to see. The room was vacant save for some boxes. I could only see the beginnings of a collection of books."

"Weren't you curious to go in further?"

"There are more prudent questions that should be asked first," she mimicked, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. Edward let out a short laugh.

"Alright, fair enough." They lapsed into another short silence.

"What were your family doing at my residence?" Lettie finally asked, taking the outstretched arm Edward offered as they reached a rather steep section of the path.

"Renovating it." He made sure to keep himself steady as Lettie slipped, from surprise at his response or the dirt beneath her feet, he wasn't entirely sure. "We have plans to move there in a couple of years."

"Oh." Lettie's thoughts thundered with conflicting tones all at once.

"We were under the impression there was no one living there for several years. The town sold it to us with the understanding it had been abandoned." A forlorn smile spread across her face.

"There is a mark of truth in that statement." She met his eyes. "There have been many who have used our residence as shelter for many years before your family arrived. No one has ever tried to improve it before now."

"Esme will do a wonderful job," he assured. "She rarely replaces anything unless she has to, especially if she's buying an old house instead of building a new one. She believes in restoration before demolition."

"Thank you for reassuring me." A sigh escaped her lips. Her voice was quiet as she said, "How strange to no longer have a home."

"Woah, hey." He stepped in front of her, stopping them both in the middle of the path. Her hand dropped from its spot on his arm, and he tried to ignore the desire to reach out once more. "With the new knowledge, I know that house doesn't fully belong to us. I'm sure if I explained everything to Esme we could find somewhere else-"

"No!" Lettie's exclamation surprised him, as did the tight grip she added to his arm. "No, I cannot bear to see my family home fall further to ruin. I've made an unfair statement towards your family. You have been nothing but kind to me."

That's hardly a difficult feat seeing as I have no competition, Edward mused, though he stopped himself from saying it outloud.

Instead, he said, "And you just found out your family home has been taken without your knowledge. It's okay to need time to grieve."

Lettie stopped, flickering between his features, her mind repeating two questions over and over, debating whether to tell him some secret she had that might change his life forever. What the secret was, however, was not revealed.

"Do you not…feel threatened by my presence?" she asked, voice wavering slightly.

"Threatened? Why would I feel threatened?" Her hand squeezed his arm tightly. He tried not to show his surprise as he felt his skin give way in the same way it did when other vampires touched him.

"I feel this game has exhausted its entertainment, at least for the moment. There are explanations you need desperately before you find yourself in deep regret."

Regret was something he was more than familiar with.

Regret was not allowing himself to find joy in the little things, watching Esme deflate when his own emotions caused him to draw away. Regret was ordering his siblings around when he knew they were only doing their best. Regret was turning back to hunting humans after Carlisle treated him with nothing but love and kindness. Regret was the countless humans he slaughtered while he was trying to straddle both his old and new self.

Regret was lying to his family when he met this unordinary creature in front of him.

But it was far too late to change anything. He was going to have to do this alone for now.

"Lettie, what's going on?" Her hand started to fall from his arm, but he quickly added his own on top, stalling her retreat. Her surprise was evident on her face. "I know there are things you're keeping hidden from me, but I can't drop this if it endangers my family in any way."

"Your family is in no danger," she reassured quickly, squeezing his arm. "However, now that you know of my existence, you may be." He gave her a questioning look.

Lettie took a deep breath, shoulder's growing stiffer with every passing second. He could hear her thoughts attempts to calm down, listening to the bird songs and the rustling leaves above. There was a stream, a brook really, trickling in the small space between them, rattling down the carved path and into the undergrowth, bringing life to the forest's inhabitants.

"There are beings in this world that cannot be explained so easily."

Oh, if only she knew.

"These secrets of mine are difficult, and I'm afraid they'll only bring up more questions than answers. The simplest explanation I can give is this: whilst true my name is Leta Carnall, I am not entirely the human Leta Carnall that once lived. I was born as such, yet on the eve of my 18th birthday, I was taken from the world of the living. It is a memory most unpleasant. However, when I awoke, and there was no other feeling to describe what coming to consciousness again truly felt like, there I was, returned whole though my environment was different than my last memory. I nearly frightened my Father to an early grave. And, from that day on, I have felt no hunger, no weariness, no physical pain, nothing to tether my being to my old life except my desires. I kept my Father company until he too left this world, never to appear again."

After a moment, she finished, "I am no human, but a spirit destined to walk to this realm alone. Forgive me, for the moment you touched my necklace, you've bound yourself to me in the cruelest way possible."

An unwanted sort of thrill shot through Edward at the phrase.

"Bound?" Lettie nodded.

"You have well acknowledged that you are the only being who perceives me in my physical form. Your family could not, for they had not made contact with my necklace, nor would they be able to until such a moment. That is how it is, and how it will be. A spirit, nay, a curse has been unleashed upon you to be driven mad, not only by the knowledge that you are the only being left who knows I exist beyond a distant name lost to time, but to the other spirits of the realm who can now see your connection to our plane."