Not even fouty eight hours away from his family, yet somehow, reuniting with them was like a balm on his soul. Emmett was waiting for them on the beach, no doubt the one being on watch that night. He wasted no time wrapping them all in big hugs, practically tackling Jasper as they hauled the boat up onto shore. Though he was used to the overbearing hug, he couldn't help the smile that stretched across his face at Lettie's shock, Emmett practically swallowing her against his chest.
Carlisle and Esme greeted them just as warmly, hugging them and asking for details, curious as to how their trip that originally was going to take days to weeks instead turned into a weekend. Edward could see their clothes were still halfway in their suitcases, a testament to their speed. Rosalie barely gave him a second glance, checking in with Jasper quickly before planting herself beside Alice and Lettie on the couch.
Despite her obvious curiosity, Lettie remained quiet, keeping her eyes from wandering too far from the family, mind trying to keep focus on the conversation and not on the new environment around her, decorated in a style she'd never seen before.
"Alice?" Carlisle asked, skepticism in his voice, as he looked between them. Jasper simply nodded his head, taking a towel from Esme with thanks. Edward did the same. Both remained by the door, mindful to keep their dripping selves away from the furniture.
"I was going to tell you," she answered meekly, clutching her backpack to her chest. "I didn't want anyone to panic before we knew."
"Knew what?" Rosalie snarled, though it didn't stop her from continuing to pat Alice's hair and face with a towel, drying the sea spray that caught her while being pulled along the ocean.
"It's just…It's just…" She sighed. "We still don't know the full story."
"But you obviously came back early for a reason. Did you not find what you were looking for?" Carlisle asked, taking a seat. Esme perched herself beside him, comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Not…exactly. But, it's a start." Carefully, she pulled the waterproof folder from the backpack. Jasper rushed forward, removing everything from the coffee table so she could spread everything out. Everyone leaned forward, eyes hungry for the information Alice was so reluctant to share.
"An asylum?" Emmett asked aloud as he noticed the building's stamp, curiosity and excitement in his voice. Rosalie sent him a small glare. "What?"
"Yes. Hattiesburg Asylum. They specialize in cutting-edge technology for disturbed patients." Alice's voice was robotic, detached, as if she was reading from a script rather than sharing information. "I think-...we know I lived there. When I was human?"
"What?" Esme asked, appalled. Carlisle placed a comforting hand on her knee.
"How did you find that out? Did you remember something?" Carlisle asked, keeping his voice steady.
"No. And I still don't have any memories. But Edward and I…" Alice winced, apologizing to Edward in her mind for accidentally implicating him in whatever she was about to say, "We've been looking into it recently because…well, because of James."
"James?" Alice nodded, keeping her eyes on the papers. Though everyone else was on the edge of their seat, practically jumping at Alice to continue, Lettie kept a calm look on her face, knocking Alice's knee slightly with her own. Alice gave her a small smile, before looking towards Carlisle.
"I had a vision," she said, voice more determined. "On the night in the woods. He was going to kidnap me, and it wasn't random either. He knew me. But, I didn't know him. Or, at least, I didn't remember him. So, Edward and I started looking into my past. It wasn't really the way I wanted to learn about myself, but if James was going to start hunting me, then I needed to know why. We started looking at newspapers around 1900s Louisiana first, then slowly branched out. I found a newspaper, a Biloxi newspaper, that reported about an asylum shutting down due to a typhoid outbreak, but implied it was actually because they were using Electric Shock Therapy and weren't getting good results."
Alice self-consciously ran a hand through her hair, bringing attention to the uneven cut. All at once, the new information clicked in the minds around him.
"Typhoid. Electric Shock. Asylum. It seemed like a good place to start," she finished nonchalantly, as if one of the biggest mysteries of their house wasn't one step closer to being solved.
"And this is…?" Carlisle said after a moment of gathering his wits. Alice gestured to the one closest to her.
"Mary Alice Brandon. Jasper found it for me."
"Yes, after being told by a spirit who haunted the place," Jasper cut in, nearly rolling his eyes as Alice tried to give him credit. Esme nearly stood in shock.
"A spirit-"
"No one was hurt," Edward assured before Esme could say more.
"We nearly were," Jasper added, making things worse.
"But we weren't. Lettie managed the spirit, and Jasper got us out of there. All the information we needed from there is now with us." Jasper huffed but didn't deny his claim.
"So, you really were a freak in an asylum?" Emmett asked affectionately. "Awesome."
"Seriously?" Rosalie asked, exasperated.
"I was apparently having visions before I turned. That's why I was sent there."
"Incredible," Carlisle said breathlessly, leaning back in his chair. "Eleazar did say you possessed an incredible gift, but I thought he just meant for a vampire. But, to have your ability present before you're even turned…" Carlisle's mind was racing.
"And they cut your hair?" Esme asked hesitantly.
"Yes. Edward and I are pretty sure it's because of the typhoid outbreaks, but it could have been for treatment as well. I haven't had a chance to look through all of my file yet."
"What's that one?" Rosalie asked, gesturing to the other file on the table.
"Oh! That one belongs to the brother of the spirit we met."
"Why would you take that one?"
"He might have been the one to turn me."
Thanks to Carlisle's forward-thinking, despite the remote location, Isle Esme was fully equipped to have one working computer, even if it was incredibly slow. Alice locked herself in one of the guest rooms, spending hours combing through newspapers and any informational database she could find. There were, unfortunately, many Mary Alice Brandons in Mississippi around the time she spent in the asylum, so her search was taking much longer than she wanted. Edward helped where he could, but he could tell Alice needed to do her research on her own, and find out her past without someone else holding her hand through it all.
Though Jasper was still on high alert, now aware that James was after Alice personally, spending most days of the summer patrolling the beach, he did join them when they did something altogether. Emmett and Rosalie spent time together on the other side of the island, doing things Edward would rather die than learn the details of (even though anytime he saw Emmett it was all that was running through his mind). Carlisle and Esme tried to entertain him, but now that both their Christmas and Summer romantic time was interrupted by family drama, he felt they deserved time together. So, he brought Lettie to the beach with him nearly every day, bringing a chess board, a book, and a blanket to keep them busy.
He hated to admit it, but chess with Lettie was the only thing keeping him from going crazy as they lounged on the sand. She knew of chess, but not how to play it, so nearly all of their moments speaking to one another were about chess, about the rules and strategies, and the direction to move pieces, as they were far too heavy for Lettie to pick up on her own. He tried his best to keep out of her mind to make it fair, but he wasn't ashamed to admit he was over the moon whenever she praised him in her mind, forgetting he could hear her, as he played good move after good move. On the rare occasion he would laugh, overjoyed as she slowly got better, but every time he did, Lettie would watch his mouth move, eyes catching the point of his canines, and the image of him tearing into the deer would flash in her mind. They would play the rest of the game in tense silence after that.
June rolled into July, the weather getting even hotter during the day, keeping their island warm throughout the night. Once a week Edward would leave Lettie at the house to go hunting, trying as hard as possible to keep himself clean so he wouldn't return with any blood to have her think unpleasant thoughts. With no humans on the island, except for the stray cleaners coming in every once in a while, the family was content to keep their hunting to a minimum so as to not over hunt the wildlife of the island. Emmett and Jasper preferred to hunt sealife, but Edward was too nervous to leave Lettie alone for that long.
"You need to talk to her," Jasper told him one day, the hottest night of the summer. He and Emmett were going to go on another hunt, a shark hunt if they could manage it, to wash off the humid air. Despite their cold bodies, the South American sun was blazing enough to bring their skin to human temperature and then some, something they only dreamed hot broth could do for them in the winter months up North. Emmett, ever the lover of his vampire life, missed the feeling of his cool skin, and was dragging Jasper to go deep sea diving, so deep their skin would turn back to its icy temperature.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Edward said, despite knowing exactly what he was talking about.
"You and Lettie. It's suffocating."
"I'm sorry," he said genuinely. Though he knew Jasper was feeling the tension between them, he still hadn't found the nerve to talk to her about what happened. Besides the awkward tension, everything seemed to be fine.
"I know, trust me." Jasper sighed, clasping a hand on Edward's shoulder. "But things will only get worse if you let it continue. Lettie's a smart girl. She knows we hunt to survive, and she knew it wasn't going to be pretty. Didn't you say she knew about vampires long before us?"
"Yes, but fictional ones."
"In any vampire story, they hunt, they kill, and they drink the blood of humans. Lettie knows this. So, talk to her." Jasper gave his shoulder another squeeze before letting go. "She'll understand, Edward. But shutting her out like this is just hurting her more. She deserves the truth, and right now, she's incredibly confused. Help her."
So, while Jasper and Emmett were out hunting, Alice and Rosalie were nose-deep in research, and Carlisle and Esme took a walk along the beach, Edward did the last thing he expected to do, and invited Lettie to go on a hunt with him.
Though the island itself wasn't big, it was largely uninhabited, meaning the natural flora and fauna were able to thrive without the interference of humans. Carlisle and Esme kept their footprint contained to the natural clearing they found, sourcing material from the mainland to preserve as much as possible. The jungle was as thick as it was in the rainforest, making the trek an up-and-down journey, even for a vampire. After struggling with the brush and wet earth for several minutes, Lettie finally relented and let Edward carry her, at least until they were able to find solid ground again. His squelching shoes were the loudest part of their walk, nature scattering as they stomped through. Despite her reluctant agreement, Lettie hadn't said a word since they started, and he was starting to get worried.
Just as he opened his mouth to break the suffocating silence, Lettie asked, "Who is Eleazar?"
"Oh," Edward nearly stumbled, question throwing him off guard. He tried his best to play it off, jumping from tree root to tree root, adjusting his hands around her legs. Not what he thought she was going to ask. "He's an old friend of Carlisle's. Do you remember when I told you about the other coven up in Alaska?"
Lettie hesitated, mind sifting through information, before giving a hesitant nod.
"Your cousins. The Denali's." Edward nodded, a shot of pride coursing through him.
"He lives with the Denali sisters and his mate, Carmen. He has a special ability, like Alice and Jasper and I, only his ability is to see and identify other people's gifts. He can tell if a human will have a gift or not, and knows what a vampire's gift is as soon as he sees them. It came in handy when he worked with-..."
It was only at that moment that Edward realized Lettie had no clue what the Volturi was, to no fault of her own. In their vampire world, to know the Volturi was one of two things; common sense, or a death wish. If you did not follow the rules set forth by the Volturi, you were asking for death, even if you didn't know the rules to begin with. A broken rule was a one-way ticket to being beheaded, that is, unless you caught Aro on a good day, and possessed something the Volturi found useful. It was how Carlisle found them all those years ago, a Volturi member noticed Carlisle helping some humans and assumed he was turning humans for a price. When Carlisle was brought before the Kings, he pleaded his case, showcasing his medical prowess and overwhelming control. Aro, who was having a very good day, spared Carlisle's life, and asked him to join their inner circle, despite protests from many of the guard.
"When he worked with…" Lettie mimicked, waiting for him to finish his sentence.
"It's a long story," he evaded, jumping easily across a small river. "But, he was paid for this service for a long time before finding refuge with the Denali's. And, he's been with them ever since."
Lettie stayed silent for a moment, mind spinning.
"The Denali's…" she started, mouth moving as if he was unsure how to phrase her question. "They are very alike to your family. Their diet…?"
"Yes," he cleared his throat awkwardly. This was the moment. He easily scaled the small hill, finally finding solid ground. He let Lettie slide off his back before turning to her.
She deserves the truth. She's incredibly confused. Help her.
"There are parts of me that I've…kept hidden. Separated. Part of it was because I was scared for you to know the truth about my kind, about what we have to do to survive, and partly because I didn't want you to think differently of me. But, I should have told you sooner, and I should have apologized that you saw what you did. That's not how I wanted you to find out about our diet."
"I have known-"
"Knowing is so different to seeing, Lettie. Ever since that day, I know you've been thinking about me, about us, differently. And that's okay, it's what I expected, but I can't help but feel guilty that you had to see it, even if that's what needed to happen to get you to understand." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We're dangerous killing machines."
Despite the serious conversation they were having, the forest around them was as lively as ever. The river was rushing below them, making perfect homes for croaking frogs, perfectly off-sync with the swooping birds overhead. He could hear the trees groaning as animals swung and hung from their branches, feel the earth under his feet shift as snakes hurried through the brush. Despite being covered from the direct heat of the day, the moisture around them was at an all-time high, scratching an almost forgotten memory from his human life, sweat pouring from his weak body as influenza ripped through his body. But, there they were, two undead creatures, too far gone to be affected by the world around them, looking the same no matter where they were, and how they would look for the rest of time.
"When you told me of your past, when you were separated from Carlisle and Esme and hunted humans, I did not think beyond you, beyond the idea that I did not know those humans but I do know of your kind heart and gently nature, so your killings could be nothing more than a fleeting thought." Lettie's voice was soft, lowered to accommodate the atmosphere their conversation caused. "However, when I disregarded your word and gazed upon your…meal of that deer, I could only remember your words from that day."
I've killed, Lettie. Humans.
"I could only imagine it was not a deer in your hands, but a human. And…it frightened me."
Edward felt his unbeaten heart drop into his stomach. It was impossible that he was hearing blood rushing in his ears, but he had nothing else to explain it, nothing else to compare the roaring dread that made his body heavy with dread.
"Thank you. For bringing me with you."
"You're thanking me?" he asked, bewildered. He winced as his voice came out far louder than he wanted. "You just admitted you're scared of me."
"No. I am not frightened by you, Teddy," the nickname, despite the conversation, made his stomach flutter, "but by my lack of understanding."
"You've been nothing but understanding to me ever since we met," he reassured, nearly laughing. With what? Relief? Hysteria? He didn't know, only that the absurdity of what he was hearing was making a laugh bubble up from somewhere deep inside him.
"That is hardly-"
"I told you I was a vampire and you hardly bat an eye. I dragged you across the country, away from the only place you ever knew, and you thanked me for doing so. I nearly made you make us forget about you, and then brought you back like nothing was different. You started going to school, taking classes far beyond your skill level, and worked like a dog so my grades wouldn't slip. You've helped and became friends with my family, even though they wanted nothing more than to get rid of you, and you've never asked me for anything, even when I know you want something desperately. Lettie, you are the most understanding person I know, and I've been around for a hundred years meeting people."
Lettie's face twitched in a hundred different emotions, finally settling on shocked embarrassment. She brought her hands up to hide her open mouth.
"No, no I have…" her tongue rolled in her mouth, stumbling over her words as his compliments replayed in her mind. "I have only been able to accomplish those things because you have been so generous to me. Had you not given me a chance, if you had abandoned my necklace as I so deserved, I would not have been able to experience the things I have."
"Like what? Being insulted by my family-?"
"Your family responded in accordance to the unknown nature of my being." She sighed, hesitating before reaching out, grasping one of his hands in both of hers, keeping her eyes fixed on their clasped hands. Edward greedily latched on, savoring the contact. "Just as they reacted without knowing of spirits or myself, I too have reacted with irrationality towards your survival. I apologize, Teddy, for my uncouth behavior."
"Woah, woah, woah." He reached out, using a knuckle to push her chin until they were eye to eye once more. "You've done nothing but be understanding. You saw something…disgusting. It's only fair you reacted the way you did."
"Yes, but you have told me many a time before that you must hunt for blood to survive, and I reacted-"
"Exactly like any sane person would." He gently tapped her chin, before moving his hand to the back of her head, fingers digging into her hair as he brought her into a hug. She fell into him easily. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. Jasper finally knocked some sense into me." When they pulled apart, he gave her a small smile. "Forgive me? I'm here to answer any question you have and show you every part of hunting, if you want to see it. Otherwise, we can forget this ever happened."
Lettie pulled away, looking at his face for a long moment. Even as he became embarrassed at her intense stare, he held firm, letting her eyes wander his every feature, before settling on his lips. She smiled. A weight lifted from his chest.
"I have many questions."
"And I have many answers," he replied, smiling brighter as she laughed. "Thank you for trying to understand."
"Thank you for allowing me to stay by your side."