Chapter Five

Ten days passed since I was brought into the Cullen household. Surprisingly, we were all still alive. I figured if I had to stay more than a night blood would be spilt, yet here we were acting like a semi functional family. I didn’t go through a change of heart—in my mind, vampires will always be evil, even the Cullen’s couldn’t change that—but these golden eyed vamps weren’t too bad. They fed me, gave me clothes, basically gave me control of the house. I couldn’t complain.

By the eighth day I regained my strength. I must have inflicted more damage than I thought to stay down that long; my previous record had been three days. When I could skip in a straight line I asked for my gun on my way to the door. Carlisle immediately disapproved, saying he wanted me to stay for observation. Just to make sure.

Whatever! I threw a fit but he was serious about keeping me. So here I was in this grand house, waiting to retrieve my weapon—which I never found, despite all my snooping—and find the nearest bus stop. It was about time I got to Rainier.

In the meantime, I could enjoy my last few hours in their amazing house. The furnishings screamed “Rich family here, please rob us!” but they weren’t so opulent they were gaudy, in fact everything was surprisingly well picked and placed. The house was painted with warm colors, the floors made of parquet wood all in beautiful designs. I’d searched the upstairs on the rare occasion the house was empty.

Four rooms were filled with personality. One had a huge stereo system and a wall full of CDs, audio cassettes, and records with no bed. There was a seriously girly room full of ancient Vogue magazines. Another room was only defined by its giant bed, and then there was Carlisle and Esme’s room filled with medical journals. My gun wasn’t anywhere to be found.

Carlisle often spoke about his family so where were they? Did vampires take vacations? It was an interesting thought—imagining vampires on a beach in the Bahamas was especially funny—but I quickly shoved it away. Three extra vamps out of my hair was a blessing, I wasn’t questioning it.

I was thankful to have my strength back and took full advantage of walking on my own two feet. While the vamps were away I busied myself with work out routines and escape plans. Without my gun—forget it, I wasn’t going anywhere. They knew this, that’s why they hid it so well. Why they didn’t want me to leave was still unknown. Observation, sure, that’s a perfectly good reason to keep someone holed up.

At least they gave me run of the house.

The plasma screen was nice, making my own food even better, but the best part was the warm shower after all I’d been through. Smelling like strawberries wasn’t preferred but definitely better than sewage pipes and baby wipes. After my first conscious shower I felt so much better, but my clothing situation made me uncomfortable. The guest room closet had been filled with correct sizes in everything—pants, skirts, tops, dresses, even shoes! Were these vamps expecting me or was there someone in the house with the same size? Did I really care? Not so much. I only cared to have a bigger shirt; I wasn’t used to wearing brand name blouses with a “flattering figure,” according to the tag.

I glanced at the clock on the stove while I chopped lettuce for my salad. Four o’clock and still raining; it was nothing new, but the weatherman promised sunshine. Can’t ever trust them. I had hoped to go outside, get some fresh air, do something productive, but I didn’t have a coat to ward off the rain and had no idea where to find one. Not that I’m afraid of rain, I just didn’t want to ruin the clothes.

My eyes then traveled to the phone for the hundredth time in ten minutes. I knew the number of our contact in Rainier, Charlie had me memorize it in case something happened and we had the ability to call. Should I risk it? I could call for a rescue, ransack the house for human servants, and be on our way before the vamps got home. I bit my lip and set the knife on the counter, moving towards the shiny piece of black technology. I had a dial tone, hesitantly punched in the numbers, holding onto the edge of the counter.

Someone please pick up, I silently begged. What if something happened? What if Mike and Tyler had been followed and . . . no, that wouldn’t happen. We had been tracked by amateurs; they wouldn’t let good blood go to find a bigger herd.

The phone rang three times before a gruff old voice answered cautiously, “Hello?”

I slid down the wall with relief. I knew that voice! “I am so glad to hear you, old man, you have no idea.”

“Bella? What in the world is going on? Why are you calling from Portland?”

“I’ll tell you in a second, just answer me this. Have Mike Newton and Tyler Crowley passed through?”

“Sometime ago, yeah. I heard about the accident. Everyone thought you were dead.”

“I thought so, too,” I sighed. “Turns out I was found and cared for by a doctor.” I swallowed the uncomfortable lump in my throat, my hands shook with the next words out of my mouth. I had to ask. “Hey, Old Quil, has Seth. . . .” I couldn’t say it; it was hard enough to say his name.

“No, not yet, anyway,” he answered quietly. “Sue and Leah are still here, do you want to talk to them?”

“Oh no, I c-couldn’t! I-I don’t even know what to say.” My fingers idly twisted the hem of my shirt. If Seth didn’t check in . . . he was dead. Even if he was bleeding out he would find some way to show up in Rainier. Who should tell Sue? How could we tell her?

Old Quil immediately changed the subject by asking, “Why don’t you tell me how you made it to Portland? I never took you for one to skip a check point.”

I recounted what happened to the best of my ability. Being unconscious for most of it made things blurry. I told him of the highway chase, about Seth, splitting up and fending off the vampires. When it came to waking up in Portland, well, I had to smudge some details. If Old Quil knew I was in the company of vampires he’d cross himself (if old Indian tribe leaders did that), have a heart attack, and send an army out to get me. I didn’t need that just yet.

“The doctor said he found me on the side of the road and I’ve been in his house ever since,” I finished, hoping he didn’t notice my stammering lies throughout.

“What took you so long to call? We were worried sick! Your father was ready to send out a search party,” he laughed.

“He didn’t before?”

“You’re a tough kid. He had faith.”

That made me smile. He believed wherever I was I still had the strength to fight. “You know we never carry phones so I wasn’t sure what to do. I was unconscious for a while, bedridden for eight more days. My back is still a little sore but I feel so much better.”

“That’s good, you need to keep up your strength.” There was a quiet voice on the other end and I heard him tell Sue I was still alive but no word on her son. Crap, it was going to be bad if we kept denying it. “Should we be expecting you at our door any time soon? Sue made a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies.”

I laughed but it came out more as a defeated sigh. “As good as that sounds, no. Now that I know everyone moved on I don’t want to backtrack; I checked in, I can take provisions from here. Unfortunately I don’t know who I’m looking for here.”

His raspy voice crackled like a hundred wrinkling pages, laughing at me; seriously, the guy was like two-thousand years old. “His name is Billy Black, he’s from the rez, as well. Do you have a pen?”

I jumped up to pull open random drawers. Silver ware, linen napkins, cooking utensils—what the heck? Why do vampires need all of this? Where was their junk drawer? Finally the middle drawer on the island produced results. I couldn’t be bothered with paper that could easily fall into the wrong hands and wrote the information Old Quil gave me on my arm, repeating it back to make sure I had it right. I really hoped it was only a bus ride away.

“By the way, Bella, who are staying with?” Old Quil asked. His voice was waning and I realized this was the longest I ever heard him talk; it was probably wearing on him.

“Dr. Cul—” A sound from outside cut me off. A car door. Esme said she wouldn’t be home until six!

“What was that, Bella?”

Two more doors slammed.

“I have to go,” I murmured into the phone.

“Bella,” he sounded frantic, “please don’t tell me you’re with Car—”

I ended the call and grabbed the knife I had been using. Call it common sense, but I had a feeling the guests were not human. I barely peeked out the window facing the garage to see an unknown silver car sitting in the rain. Esme had a normal red car, Carlisle had something a little sleeker in black, but this one I had no idea.

The doorknob jiggled before the lock clicked, keys withdrawing. I took a wide stance and prepared to pounce.

The second the door opened I pushed it aside and plunged the knife into my closest target. I blinked and my wrist was stuck in midair, inches from a girl’s face; she and the tall guy restraining me didn’t look surprised at all. He squeezed my wrist, the knife clattered to the floor.

I stepped back, wrenching out of his grasp, before charging again. Sure, my bare fists wouldn’t faze a vamp but I had to protect myself. No one told me about visitors, they were probably here to kill me! I barely had enough time to swing my fist at the guy before he disappeared. One second I was rushing toward him, the next my arms were pulled behind my back and I was eating the polished wood of the hall floor.

“Who are you?” he demanded. Even if I wanted to I couldn’t answer him; he had a hand on my head, pushing my face down.

“Don’t hurt her, Jasper, she’s meant to be here,” said a lilting voice. Jasper, apparently the name of the manhandler, let up on my head yet kept my hands secured. I liked how careful he was being about my presence but the weight he was putting on my back slowly sent off numbing tingles of pain. I was about ready to squirm if I knew it wouldn’t hurt me.

I raised my head to see the black haired girl I nearly stabbed kneeling in front of me. She smiled kindly and I noticed she also had gold eyes.

Was this Carlisle’s family?

“I’m Alice Cullen, that’s my husband Jasper,” she said. “It’s a good thing he was there to stop you, otherwise you would have hurt yourself. Great reflexes, huh?”

She grabbed the knife as she stood, Jasper’s weight disappearing, and I jumped to my feet. No way was I lying around on the floor with these two around. I wobbled with the aching in my back and Alice held my arm before I found my footing.

“Careful, that’s a nasty injury you had. It needs more time to heal.”

I grimaced, shaking my arm free. “How do you know about that?”

She grinned mischievously. “Carlisle mentioned you over the phone. He said we should be on our best behaviors and try not to spook you, you’re an escapee from Washington.”

“She’s actually here?” I looked over Alice’s head to find more vamps outside; three of them, in fact. The largest one was smiling like Christmas came early while he grabbed a suitcase from the trunk of a second car. “Awesome, a real human in our house! I thought he was lying to us.”

“Bella, say hello to Emmett,” Alice said pleasantly. “He’s really not as destructive as he looks.”

“I don’t care.” I stepped back only to run into Jasper’s chest. “Who are you, and where did you come from?”

“We’re the Cullen siblings, children of Carlisle and Esme Cullen. We were out of the house on a camping trip, which is how you were found. Edward was the one who rescued you. You should thank him; he risked a lot to bring you here.”

“I don’t thank vampires,” I spat. This many dead bodies were making me bristle. They caught me off guard and now this little vampire was acting as if we’ve known each other forever. Or maybe I was just projecting, but damn it, I was scared. They had the advantage. I didn’t even have my gun; it would give me a slight advantage of range and time. Did it even still have ammo?

The burly one, Emmett, bounded up the steps and got in my face so quickly I pushed myself into Jasper’s chest without thinking. What was I doing? If one of their own attacked me, they wouldn’t stop them—like the blond guy would protect me. I straightened up and stared him right in the eyes. He grinned, his pale face lighting up with the childish addition of dimples.

“You’re kinda scrawny for the badass described to us,” he said.

“Joke all you want I can still put the final nail in your coffin,” I hissed.

“I wasn’t aware we slept in coffins, I thought we didn’t sleep at all!” he laughed. “You’re funny. I like you, Bella. Hope you stick around for a while, liven up the house a bit.”

I couldn’t say the same.

Carefully, like he was a live gun, I stepped around Jasper to get back to the kitchen. Now that I had company my appetite was pretty much nonexistent, but I didn’t want to waste the food. My poor chicken Caesar salad would have to wait—and I was really hungry, too!

Alice appeared at the sink, the knife clattering onto the stainless steel. I jumped and turned to find her frowning.

“I’m sorry if we ruined your day,” she sighed. “I thought Carlisle might have told you about us with your condition.”

Condition? What was that supposed to mean, and should I be insulted?

“He talked about you guys a lot,” I replied. Not like I cared to remember anything he said. “I didn’t expect you to just randomly show up; honestly, I thought you were in Canada or something. He said you all went away for a while, never mentioned when you might be back.”

“That’s odd. Oh, do you need any help? We’re all skilled in culinary arts, you know, we host dinner parties quite often. My specialty is baking. I like to make cookies for Carlisle’s patients; the smiles on their faces make all the gruesome taste tests worth it.”

I stared with open puzzlement as I put the chicken back in the freezer. What was she doing? I didn’t care what she did in her free time, actually I didn’t care to know a single thing about her so why was she making small talk?

“Would you mind if I made you something?” she asked innocently. “How do you feel about red velvet cake?”

“No thank you, I lost my appetite.”

The kitchen was cleaned with Alice’s constant monologue as my soundtrack. She couldn’t take a hint! Aside from screaming in her face I was doing everything to show I wasn’t interested. She kept going, often asking my opinion of something. Only when I left the kitchen did she start to slow down.

I went to the living room to find the siblings already settled in on the sofa watching . . . cartoons? Who cares. I didn’t even bother to ask, just went straight for the stairs. The guestroom was the place I could get away from them. Emmett called after me as I ran up the steps, tripping on the last one. Laughter erupted from below but I didn’t kiss the floor as I expected. A strong hand was wrapped around my arm. I looked up into dark gold eyes and immediately fought to get loose.

“Let go of me!” I screamed. His hand grew tighter the more I fought. “Get your claws off of me!”

He set me firmly on the landing before letting me go. “What is wrong with you?” he yelled back. “Is it so hard to thank someone?”

“I don’t thank vampires!”

“Edward,” Alice called from downstairs. It had a warning under it, the kind parents used with their misbehaving children.

So he was the one who saved me? I was thankful, but I wasn’t thanking him. I tried to slow my breathing—I felt infected, a vampire touched me!—and turn toward the guestroom but his glare rooted me in my place. Only after Alice called for him again did he drop his eyes to the steps. I ran for my room.

At nine o’clock there was a knock at the door. I knew who it was; he came home hours ago and I’d been surprised he didn’t check on me earlier. I told him to come in although I still felt ridiculous giving him permission to enter a part of his house.

The good vamp came through the door with a smile and peace offering, my salad.

“Ah, so she is still here,” he said to himself.

I rolled my eyes and stretched my legs. “I’m the only thing with a pulse in this house,” I said, accepting the offered plate. It looked even better than when I was fantasizing about it.

“I see you met my children. How are you getting along?”

“Peachy.” They stayed downstairs, they didn’t bother me at all. Yeah, we got along perfectly. “Did you kill all of them?”

“What a rude question. I should know better by now, what with your stubbornness, how brash you are.” He chuckled as he moved towards his usual spot. Apparently he was staying for dinner conversation. Oh goody.

“How could you condemn those kids? I thought you were a—and I use this term lightly—‘good’ guy. Are they accidents of your bloodlust?”

“They were dying,” he answered simply.

“Oh sure, great answer.” I scoffed and speared a piece of grilled chicken, popping it into my mouth. Delicious as always. “Like that actually makes it better.”

“How do you see that as a bad thing? I gave them a second chance at life.”

“You stole their souls like a monster from a perverted fairytale! There was a reason they were dying and you interfered. What does that say about you?”

“It says I’m a good man. There was no reason why those children were dying. Why else would I happen to be in the right place at the right time? Someone wanted me to save them.”

I munched on the crisp lettuce while I thought up a good enough retort. There wasn’t one. He always did this, leading me into these minefields, and on an empty stomach it wasn’t fair. He killed those children and that’s that.

“You’re not as flawless as you think you are,” I told him.

He laughed, slouching further in the chair. “I never thought I was; I know what I am and what it means for my eternal soul. My family understands and accepts it also.”

“You don’t have a soul.”

“This again? How about we agree to disagree and let that subject be? We’ll never persuade each other differently.”

“Whatever,” I huffed.

He was quiet as I finished my salad and downed the unopened bottle of water. What else was there to say to him? Our conversations constantly went in circles; the days we spoke I accused him of being dead and he left me alone. It was a tiring dance. Honestly, I was ready to get back amongst the humans. These undeads were driving me insane.

When I was settled back on the bed, my stomach one happy camper, Carlisle asked, “So how do you plan to get to your checkpoint?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, but my hand tugged on the sleeve hiding the address, anyway.

“It’s obvious you want to get out of here already, and judging by your actions, I think I can confidently send you back out in the world. I saw the address when you took the plate. Writing it on your arm so no one could steal it—very interesting.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“By Rose City Park, about thirty minutes away.”

“That’s by driving?”

“Anything else will take you over an hour. It’s close to where I work, I could drop you off at a bus station, then it’s just a short ride.”

“I don’t know.” Riding with a vamp? Definitely not my thing.

“It’s important you get there, right? Your operation is already behind schedule, a few minutes saved is a good thing. Just think about it.” He stood and came to the bed, taking the plate with him to the door. “I leave at six, you can tell me then. Until that time, we’ll be downstairs if you want to come socialize.” The door closed with a soft click.

Ride with a vampire who killed innocents to make a family? Just because he saved my life didn’t mean I had to trust him. It didn’t change the fact that he was a vampire, that he should be dead, that he was evil. But a half hour with one vampire was looking a lot better than days with a house full. At least I knew Carlisle’s mannerisms a little; I didn’t think he would attack me. I would feel better with a gun in my hands.

I sighed and pulled the blanket over my head. The laughter downstairs seemed incredibly loud in the stillness of the room. How could they act like a normal family? It was disgusting.

If only the world would disappear.