Twilight Fan Fiction ❯ Two Sides of The Coin ❯ If Enternal Torment Had A Face, It Would Be Brooke Sparrow; How Cruel Can One Idiot Mortal Be?! ( Chapter 7 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Moonlight Angel 
Non Anime: Twilight Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Comedy / Adventure / Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 12.28.2008 | Pages: 5 | Words: 10.4K | Visits: 160 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Twilight Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Comedy / Adventure / Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 12.28.2008 | Pages: 5 | Words: 10.4K | Visits: 160 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: I do own or create any of the characters, expect for Cassie and Brooke and their father. The rest is done and created by Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight series. She owns them, not I. I am only burrowing them for my own twisted tales.
Summary: Cassandra and Brooke Sparrow are two sisters with psychic abilities, forced out of their warm California home to live in the dreary town of Fork, Washington, so their father can look for inspiration in the serene mountainside scenery. There they discover appearances can be deceiving when it comes to this boring rainy town. Especially when their closest neighbors just happen to be vampires and they actually go to their school, not to mention the nearby reservation is occupied with werewolves. Their lives are about to spiral into weird ville and the sisters are going to love every minute of it.
Chapter Seven
If Eternal Torment Had A Face,
It Would Be Brooke Sparrow;
How Cruel Can One Idiot Mortal Be?!
(Edward’s POV)
In perfect horror I watched the zealously rebellious child’s fist plow into the side of Bella Swan’s face, the force sending her sprawling to the floor through Jessica Stanley‘s petty trivial mind. An unsightly bruise forming of the side of her fragile ghostly pale face. The out line of Brooke Sparrow’s fist evident. I gripped the edge of the desk, frigidly, the plaster groaning and snapping under the tremendous force of my clenched hand. A low menacing growl ripped softly in my chest.
I felt Alice grabbed me by the shoulder, preventing me from jumping out of my seat and fleeing out the door. “Don’t even think about it, Edward,” she hissed in a whisper, her high musical voice too low to reach any of the mortal students around us.
I turned to glare her, defiantly. My adopted sister scolded me silently. What good would it do you or any of us if you go charging off every time that girl is in danger! You said it yourself, “I would rather perish than endanger our family’s secret.” Brooke is just going to go storming out of the room and she won’t do any more harm to Bella Swan. Don’t fret. Bella is only going to a slight bruise from the next few weeks. It will go away in time… Hesitantly she added. …I think.
I snarled at her, my jaw clenched tight as I battled the urge to throw my sibling aside and pursuit the one who dared threaten some one so much weaker than herself. I had a feeling Jasper would not be happy with me if I did. “Why do you keep defending that… that psychotic berserk child, Alice?!” I demanded through my teeth, teeming with fury.
Alice waged her finger at me. “Because Mr. Overprotective,” she snapped back, “Brooke has some kind of connection with us and I am trying my darniest to figure it out! How can I do that if you insist on tearing that girl’s throat out? Hm?”
I frowned profoundly, and leaned back in my chair, catching the bridge of my nose between my forefinger and thumb. I inhaled deeply, evading the sneering monster inside of me as it flashed its venomous smile in delight at the very thought of draining that chaotic child of her vital fluids and watching her die an slow painful death. I felt Alice jab me in the ribcage.
Honestly, Edward Manson Cullen! If it isn’t Jasper I’m looking out for, it’s you! She chided in her head, glaring at me. I swear these last two weeks; you’ve been nothing, but a grumpy brooding old man. Not that you aren’t usually, but you know what I mean-Look I know it must be hard for you not being able to hear what Bella is thinking, let alone adding the Sparrow siblings to your suddenly growing list of people that you can’t hear! But-!
Alice’s mind clouded over, her eyes becoming glazed. We both became silent as her vision flooded our senses, coming like a gushing waterfall, engulfing us. Brooke Sparrow sat at her usual spot, a table within close proximity to our own. Since her sister stayed home today, the rambunctious child found herself eating alone. Her food laid untouched on the red tray before her, her gaze dismal and brooding, the sharp prompt features in her pale face tight with invisible emotions, something deep and dark stirring at the bottom of her wretched radical soul. When it was time to leave, the raven haired juvenile delinquent rose to her feet, grabbing her coat, and scooping up her tray and dumping the still soundly intact food into the garage, putting her tray away, and heading for the door. I saw myself get up and follow silently, a predator stalking its prey.
Outside the crowded cafeteria the sky lightly shredded its tears across the empty campus. The classes had yet let their students out. A perfect opportunity to execute my malicious intentions for the gothic clad girl. Brooke Sparrow was completely oblivious to my presence. I took my time approaching her. No need to rush. In a few short painless minutes the girl would not be a part of this world any longer. I followed her down the soggy sidewalk as she made her way across the campus, away from the crowds. No innocent witnesses to annihilate in case they spotted me taking Brooke’s insignificant mortal life. The monster inside in me rejoiced, flashing its teeth in anticipation. Suddenly the girl stopped, whirling around to face me, intuition shining brightly in her dark brown eye, while the other was covered by her bangs. She knew? She knew! How could that be? Nobody ever guessed it right! If they did it was only because they saw the characters of horror movies and books in my family and I. I thought we covered what we were perfectly in this crowd of sheep like mortals, but she… she!! I gave her no chance to flee or react. I crouched down in an animalistic stance, feral snarls erupting from deep within myself as I pounced. Poor wrenched child. Brooke Sparrow stood no chance against such a filthy terrifying monster like me. It’s a bloodbath. She didn’t even have time to scream.
“Enough!” I heard myself shout, my hands flying up to my ears, squeezing my eyes shut in utter horror at my gruesome act. I was going to let myself go over to the dark side of our accursed nature? I was going to drag our father’s, Carlisle’s, ideals through the mud just because I let some unruly child’s reckless behavior get the best of me? I was once again, willing to throw it all away-what my family had worked so hard to establish in this dreary rain stricken town, the roots we temporarily put down to live a stable normal seemingly peaceful existence among the unaware relatively small mortal population- just because some dimwitted reckless woman-child decided to torment that which should be not taunted?! I felt over whelming anguish wash over me at the sight of my father and mother, Esme, disappointed faces seeing that we s have to pack up and flee this tiny place of what was once paradise to cover our bloody tracks so generously given by me, their ungrateful miscreant son?!
The atmosphere had grown silent as I tried to keep myself together, my entire frame shaking from indescribable distain at my own destructive nature. I covered my mouth with my porcelain hand in silent gasps for breaths, my eyes wide in horror at my soon to be actions. At what I was willing to give up just to satisfy my own craving to kill!
I felt Alice plant a somewhat comforting hand on my shoulder as eighteen pair of eyes landed on us from all sides. “I’m sorry,” she whispered sympathetically. The math teacher at the front of the room tore her attention away from what she had been scribbling down on the chalk board to glare incredulously at us for interrupting her lesson.
“Is there a problem, Mr. Cullen?” the old woman demanded in distaste, her beady eyes narrowing on us, tapping the end of the marker against her hand, impatiently. “Something you would like to share with the rest of the class if it was so important that you had to blurt it out in the middle of my lecture.”
Alice answered for me, her pleasant voice floating across the room, reaching everyone’s ears. “No, Mrs. Ronald. There isn’t a problem at all,” she responded calmly and sweetly, placing on a charming smile to sway the baffled human students and teacher. “My brother is just suffering from lack of sleep. He stayed up all night last night working on homework and when he does that he acts a little odd. So please, do go right ahead, Mrs. Ronald. We won’t interrupt your class again. Promise!”
Mrs. Ronald appeared less than convince but Alice’s sparkling grin left the woman just as startled as the rest of the class. What queer children, the harden woman thought, shaking her head. She uneasily returned to her lecture, picking up where she left off acting as if nothing happened.
Pst. Yeah right, Ryan Buhler thought, snorting underneath his breath. First of the students to recover and turn his body toward the front of the room. That guy is just plain weird!
I knew it was only a matter of time before that guy cracked, Josh Frecker’s thought satirically, nodding to himself, going back to looking out the window to day dream instead of paying attention to whatever petty facts spilled from Mrs. Ronald’s mouth.
I guess that new Sparrow girl finally drove him to the brink of insanity, Eric Yorkie thought shuddering voluntarily. Note to self: steer clear of Brooke Sparrow so I don’t end up like Edward Cullen.
I was very gracious when the mundane, sleep inducing class ended. I had already passed Pre-calculus three to four times in a row and anything that came out of Mrs. Ronald’s mouth was nothing new or inspiring to these ears.
Alice and I hastily made our way through the dense crowd of babbling students; their trivial thoughts concern with their daily dilemma’s consuming my already too crowded mind. I started humming to myself to avoid from being driven into insanity. Alice was already mulling over what we going to do about the tense situation with the wiry and fowl tempered gothic girl. She was thinking especially loud to draw my attention away from the internal conflict in myself on whether to depose of Brooke Sparrow or not. It would certainly be a huge burden lifted off mine and probably the entire world’s shoulders if I drained the unruly girl to the brink of death and let nature do the rest. Besides her family, surely no one else would miss her. Brooke was already deemed the ultimate pariah here among the mortal student body, so not a soul would have to weep if she were to depart from this world in a premature death.
I fought the enthusiastic monster inside me, to go against Carlisle’s vision of our family not having to kill our natural prey, the human population, and going after the local wild life instead, so we could live and coexist with mankind. I desperately placed the benevolent image of my father figure’s face in front of my mind, reminding myself how I truly was or at least who I wished terribly to be like. I wasn’t going to let some ignorant volatile woman-child get the best of me with her childish antics.
We joined our siblings on the far side of the long rectangular shaped cafeteria. We all deliberately put our trays full of fairly decent cafeteria prepared meals in front of us to make it appear like we were sitting down to eat together as all the rest of the student body did every six period of every monotonous day of the impossibility long school year. Neither of the five of us ever touched the food on ours trays. They were props you could say; something to make it seem like we blended in with every mortal student sitting down and socializing in the campus eating facility. Of course, none of the herd like students ever came near our table. They distanced themselves from us. We were strange to them. There was something about our family that naturally our prey could never put their fingers on. What their insignificant obsolete human understanding and reasoning could never tell them, their primeval instincts did. We weren’t human. We were dangerous.
My eyes drifted to where Sparrow sat, her back turned to us. She hung over the table like a rag doll, her arms folded around her resting head, glaring aimlessly at the tray of untouched food before her. Her black and white streaked hair stuck out in every direction. As unruly as her attitude.
“It looks like Sparrow is in a worst mood than she was this morning,” Jasper commented off handedly, picking at the pretzel on his tray. He nonchalantly flicked the crumbs away. He paused tasting the emotional air around us. “Yes, she’s definitely on the brink of strangling some poor soul.”
Alice sighed, heavily. “She got into a fight with Bella Swan,” she reported, gravely, her tiny eyebrows furrowing, fine lines appearing on her smooth forehead. “Bella ended saying something very unkind that stirred something inside Brooke and she ended up punching her square in the jaw for it.”
“Not a day goes by when those two are causing some kind of havoc on the school grounds,” Emmett chuckled amused, a small carefree smile spreading across his face. “Forks have certainly become interesting since those two showed up.”
“If you ask me, those two freaks are nothing but a nuisance,” Rosalie muttered, making her opinion known. It was plain she disapproved of Cassandra and Brooke Sparrow’s daily antics. I think she and I were the only two at our table who agreed on the fact that having the Sparrow siblings here made our lives unnecessarily difficult and complicated. The others found them amusing, what with their witty come backs and crude immature aggravating behavior, having utterly no reason behind their constant fiascos.
“That’s only because they amuse the heck out of Emmett, so you feel you have to compete with a bunch of hyperactive, spontaneous mortal adolescents for attention, Rose,” Alice murmured through her childishly puckered lips, deliberating slicing Rosalie’s superficial ego in half. She received a furious insulted glare and a low indignant grunt. Apparently the very presence of the two gothic unorthodox children affected my siblings in a way I had not witnessed before.
My eyes wandered back to Brooke Sparrow seated at the table near us. She was still in the same position, her eyes squinting past the tray of undisturbed food, her pale facial features contorted in agitation. A soft sigh escaped past her painted black lips. She sat up straight, grabbed her coat and backpack, while scooping up her tray in the other hand and headed for the trash can
If my heart were still beating inside my cold lifeless chest it would have skip a beat in anticipation. This was the moment in Alice’s earlier vision that I was supposed to pursuit the strange rebellious girl after she left the building.
Edward… Alice sensed the change in my body posture. Her eyes landing on me pleadingly. Please Edward, don’t go through with it.
She knew exactly where my mind had gone, into the deeper and sinister part of my accursed inhuman thoughts. The monster sneered, flashing his teeth, excitedly, lying in wait to be let lose. The other’s intuition soon followed, sensing the change as well. They stared curiously, wondering what I was planning to do. I had called for a cease fire, but with the attack on Bella Swan today, it sent me over the edge with this unspeakable fury and horror that Sparrow would stoop so low as to take out her petty angry on some one more fragile and weaker than herself. I felt that same strange urge to protect Bella Swan from her attacker.
I slowly rose to my feet as Brooke headed for the exit, but not before Alice grabbed onto my arm. Her eyes burning meaningful into mine, apprehensively. “You will do the right,” she warned, in a low soft voice, indicating what path I should pick. “I know you, Edward. You’re not going to go through with it. You’re better than that.”
“Perhaps,” I replied indifferently, shrugging her off. The monster inside of me begged to differ as I turned on my heel, heading for the door, spying Brooke’s aggressive swagger moving across the room. What was I going to do? Follow her out and make my worst fears come to light or could I do what Alice said I would do?
Be better than that, Edward, Alice’s silent prays rang inside the interior of my skull. She doesn’t have to die! Let it go.
I mulled over my options as I stepped in front of the door to block the infuriating girl’s path. Brooke ran head on into my out stretched arm, stumbling back in surprise, holding onto her nose. Indignation shone brightly on her pale face, her eyes narrowed in a fierce glare. A strong whiff of cinnamon and roses flooded my senses, making my head spin. That smell, how could some one so irritating smell so enticing? My body stiffened, the hollow yearning in my stomach tightened to the point of exploding with hungry. The monster inside of me rumbled gashing its teeth looking for a way out.
NO! I can’t let this happen!
I forced myself to concentrate.
Think of Carlisle. Think of Esme! Think of your family, Edward! I ordered myself, locking the picture of my family in front of my vision, blocking those deadly urges that threatened to take over my entire being. I was not going to stoop to that level. I didn’t practice abstinence for eighty-odd years for nothing.
I tried to make myself appear as menacing as possible to the brash young woman standing before me, while she made futile attempts to push past my stone like exterior. I mimicked every move and grow tired of her persistent. How could any one be so determined? Didn’t her dim mortal instincts warn her that I was dangerous? Didn’t they tell her to stay away, to back away? Most humans’ instincts would keep people at a fair distance from my kind and I. We weren’t human like the rest of them. They were weary of our inhuman complexion, our piercing gazes and unspeakable grace but… But this girl- this insane, absurd, irrational child- she wasn’t afraid at all. In fact she only scoffed at my miserable endeavor to be the intimidating creature I born in this world as. I doubted even the devil himself could strike fear into her twisted soul.
Finally she become fed up with our dance and twirled around, heading for the opposite side of the cafeteria, aiming to use to the main doors. To my surprise and horror, my body involuntarily lunged forward, latching onto her shoulder, halting her in her tracks.What was I doing?!
The wisest decision would have been to let the gothic clad Brooke to go on her way, but what did I do? I grabbed onto her shoulder! Fear spasm through my body, freezing me in place as I caught a glimpse of pure annoyance shimmering brightly in Brooke Sparrow’s eyes as she turned to glower at me from over her shoulder in exasperation. I felt all eyes rest on us, my siblings waiting cautiously in the wings, pondering my next course of actions. For crying out loud, I didn’t even know myself?! I wrecked my mind for something to say. Forget the cease fire. The situation I so blindly put myself was becoming worst by the second!
A warning? Yes, a warning. That was simply enough. Any human mind could comprehend a mere verbal caution. Even an unruly gothic rebel like Brooke. Surely, that worked. Well, at least in my head it sounded logical. I made my voice low and threatening. My facial features mimicking my tone. “I want you to stay away from Bella Swan.”
A contemptuous snort came from within Brooke’s fragile throat. Unconsciously, she raised an eyebrow, intuition shining brightly in her fierce aggressive brown eyes. Unlike most brown eyes that seemed flat and dead, hers particularly shone uncannily, looking straight through me. I felt comfortably bare in front of them with the way she analysis me, inquiringly, her gaze judging me, seeming to stare into the very depths of my accursed soul.
She spoke, her voice just as cutting. “And here I thought we were on no speaking terms.” Sharp and catty. Why did this fragile easily dispensable girl feel the need to tempt the fatal?
I was almost sick by her response. Most humans would immediately shy away from my very being. They’d flee in acknowledge at a deadly threat for fear of what may lie ahead if they pushed the subject further, and here, was a girl who lacked that very unconscious instinct to survive! She and her sibling embraced our supernatural presence like it was utterly normal! The way they were completely comfortable to look us straight in the eye and have a casual conversation with us like they were on equal ground! Did they not notice the different between my family and the other students? They did even care for their own forsaken lives. We were dangerous. We were lethal. Couldn’t their dim instincts read that?!
I kept my voice low and even, trying to transfer my silent message that I was dangerous beyond her human understanding. I wanted nothing more than to end this silly game Brooke loved to force upon my family and I. I felt the inquiring stares coming from the other students now. All activity in the lunch room ceased to exist as all eyes fell on our little exchange.
I tried my best to pay them no heed. “We are,” I replied sharply, feeling my face twist even more in repulsion to her lack of self preservation.
Her fists clenched simultaneously, anger flashing lividly in her piercing brown eyes. Jerking herself free from my steady grasp, she whirled around to face me. “Then stop talking to me!”
I didn’t see it! How could I?! Brooke had always been spontaneous in her actions. My siblings and I could never guess what she or her sister was going to do next! My immortal eyes, no matter how alert-detecting the slightest movement, being able to see across great distances- didn’t catch the part where Brooke’s fist automatically drew back and then launched forward plowing into the bone of my jaw. She actually hit me!!
I took the brash blow. A sharp popping noise filled the air. A stinging sensation flooded into the right side of my face, like millions of tiny needles plunging into my preternatural hard skin. It hurt? It actually hurt?!
I staggered back, my eyes widening, bewilderment coloring my face. My hand flew to caress the side of my jaw. It felt tender. This couldn’t be happening. Since when could a mere mortal actually cause damage to one of us? I gaped in perfect horror at the visibly leering girl. Her face twisted in fury, challenging me to say one word. It’s impossible. H-How could she?! She shouldn’t be strong enough to-!
“D-Did you just hit me?”
I was unable to take in the shock. A normal person shouldn’t be able to cause us physical harm. We were too strong. We were supposed to be indestructible, invisible, and yet- here was this girl, the uncannily witty and rambunctious Brooke Sparrow, with all her irrational rebellious zeal, not only landing a blow significant enough to stun me, but I actually felt the powerful force behind it! And it hurt! It actually hurt?!
I gawked at her, confusion bubbling inside of me. “What are you?” I needed to know. No ordinary human could do this. No human…
Brooke’s teeth click together; her slowly reddening face contorted more. She was absolutely alive with fury. It looked to be as if sparks of electricity were literally flying off of her clenched fists. I heard her heart pounding loudly inside her ribcage, pumping fiery blood through her roped veins underneath her seemingly soft mortal skin. She took a deep breath. I had only moments to steel myself from her verbal assault.
Her voice bounced off the low ceilings of the cafeteria, vibrating the suddenly charged air. “That’s none of your fucking business, so piss off!!”
She gave me her middle finger, pure loathing reflecting on her face before storming out of the cafeteria, leaving me utterly awe struck in her wake.
“Are you alright, Edward?” Alice wanted to know, pouncing immediately as soon as I pulled into our eight car garage. The rest of my horrible day was spent in silence. Luckily, my siblings had respected my privacy and let me brood throughout the rest of the mundane school day. I was still mulling over the fact of what happened during lunch. I cautiously touched the side of my jaw and flinched. The spot where Brooke Sparrow’s fist made contact with my jaw stung. It had been a long time since I felt pain and quite frankly, I didn’t like it.
I growled underneath my breath as Emmett’s howling laughter echoed off the high beams of the garage. “I still can’t believe you let her land a hit on you, my brother!” he chortled, enjoying my embarrassment. He had been waiting the last two hours to further rip apart my already torn dignity. “So much for you being the fastest among us, Edward! You couldn’t even dodge a mere mortal girl’s attack!”
Jasper ignored Emmett’s banter and came up to examine me carefully. He sensed the confusion and out rage inside my tormented mind. Not to mention the unmistakable pain I happened to be experiencing.
“Your jaw is still sore?” he inquired, an eyebrow raised in surprise. His frown increased as he shook his head, mirroring my bewilderment. “This shouldn’t be happening. You should be completely healed by now.”
“Well, she did hit him pretty hard,” Alice pointed out, lightly pressing the back of her hand against my jaw. I felt myself cringe as another round of sharp pings ran from the tip of my jaw to where it connected with my ear. She pulled back, scowling as well.
Alice’s brow furrowed in frustration. “I don’t get it. How come I didn’t see it coming?” she questioned out loud, starting to pace. “I should have been able to foresee what was going to happen. I should have been able to warn you!”
Rosalie snorted in disagreement. “I don’t think it mattered whether you saw it coming or not, Alice,” she drawled, rolling her eyes and strolled past us to go into the house. “That girl’s a menace. She’d probably hit him anyway. That is how out of control she and her sibling are.”
With that, she disappeared into our home, leaving everyone to stare after her in dismay. A long silence past before we follow suit, gathering into the spacious white and beige dining room, seating ourselves around an oval glass French antique table to discuss our next course of action. Alice had met Esme in the kitchen. We heard their low voices whispering among one another. Alice was filling our mother in on what transpired during lunch at Fork’s small dreary institution.
Large dark gray clouds that always consumed the skies of Forks moved over head, peering through the glass back wall of our two story mansion, ominously. The dreary sound of rain pattering against the lush verdant foliage seriated us while we waited for our father to arrive home from work. I was anxious to discuss what happened and seek Carlisle’s infinite wisdom on how I need to deal with our little irrational problem.
Carlisle looked quite surprise to find us all waiting for him in the dining room. Alice grabbed him immediately as soon as he stepped through the door. We were all eager to know what his opinion was on the current situation our family just happened to be facing.
He actually blinked a few times, taken back himself. “Oh my,” he repeated for the fourth time in a row. Shock radiated through him just as it had through the rest of us. “Oh my.” He immediately began to examine my slowly numbing jaw. “Does it still hurt, Edward?”
I pulled myself from him grasp, rubbing it carefully. “Yes, the pain is slowly going away.” Slower than what I hoped it would.
This deeply bothered our father figure. His golden brow furrowed, dubiously. He became uneasy. “My. This is an interesting develop,” he murmured, his eyes caught mine for a long moment. What did it feel like Edward? To be hit and actually feel the pain?
I scowled at my mentor. “It’s not something I’d like to appearance again, that’s for sure,” I grumbled admittedly, folding my hands front of me and than leaning on them for support. The sides of my head throbbed with tension. How I just wanted to go and-?! I shuddered, ending the blasphemous thought before it got the chance to finish itself.
All eyes were on Carlisle.
“I see and I understand… I just never thought a mere human,” he paused to chuckle nervously, “could possess the type of physical power to actually harm one of us.”
“It wasn’t just physical power,” I interrupted him. He shot me an inquiring eyebrow. “It…” I mulled over the right term for what I experienced. “It felt like there was an electric current flowing through me as soon as that girl hit me.”
Carlisle, not to mention everyone else’s eyes widened in imploringly, anticipating my continuing on, to elaborate the confrontation that took place between Brooke Sparrow and me. What were my thoughts on the subject? What did it feel like to actually endure physical pain? Something so utterly foreign and rare among our kind after being turned. Vampire’s skin was thick and hard as marble. Nothing man made or natural could penetrate its surface, so why? Why was a mere human, some one so zealously uncouth and temperamental, like Brooke Sparrow, able to land a blow so potent that it caused injury upon me?
Esme walked up behind Carlisle and planted a hand on his shoulder, her eyes landing on me, meaningfully. “Edward, do you feel you need to take some time off from school? To gather yourself and some time to think through you problem? We could always send the school an excuse that you’re planning on spending the rest of the school year with the Tanya Clan up in Alaska-.”
“That won’t be necessary, Esme,” Alice butted in, cutting off our mother in mid-speech. Her famous coy smile was plastered onto her face. My sibling caught my eyes as we all curiously stared at her, warily. “He won’t be going anywhere.”
“Ooh, burn,” Emmett chuckled, making light of the situation, off in the background. Thankfully, Rosalie grabbed him by the ear, kindly guiding him out of the room, allowing us to continue the meeting. We heard a distinct crash coming up from upstairs, hence meaning she kicked her dear beloved Emmett out a window. Again.
I ignored the long line of cursing coming from Emmett as he land flat on his back in the yard, and glowered at Alice, imploring her silently to, please, explain what in the blue blazes makes her think I’m going to stick around and tolerate Brooke’s endless harassment. The girl was driving me absolutely batty!
(A/N: Sorry about the pun… I couldn’t resist (^-^).)
Alice winked at me. Lightened up, Edward, she chided me privately within the confines of her own mind. I watched the others from corner of my eye, as they attentively leaned in, wondering what Alice was meant by her cryptic remark. There are still a few things I want to see play out first before you can start to worry.
I could barely restrain myself from demanding out loud what she was trying to insinuate. I attempt to probe her mind, searching for an answer, but the only answer I received was the theme song to Pokemon, from the first season to ever air in American, not that I actually had seen the show itself, but I clearly remember Emmett and Alice once had an small obsession over it when it first came on the television. Being in the house with two enthusiastic anime fans had been unbearable, but I digress.
She turned to Jasper’s inquiring face as he hovered over her, protectively. She took his hand in hers and turned to the rest of us, smiling. “I believe there might be a connection between our family and the Sparrow’s.” Her face became very solemn. “It’s hard to explain but as of late, I’ve seeing things-very blurry events- that are soon to come as we continue to interact with these strange mortals.”
Carlisle rose in response to Alice’s comment. “Like what, Alice? What have you seen?”
“Will it be good or bad for our family?” Rosalie wanted to know, roughly, coming back into the room with Emmett right on her tail, frowning. Her eyes narrowed at Alice, agitated.
Alice shook her head uncertain. “I can’t really tell. All I see is vibrant colors, shifting forms and deformed figures,” she explained wrinkling her nose in confusion. “Half of it doesn’t make sense to me. All I know is that something is coming. Something big and we’re going to be caught up in its wake.”
This startling new piece of information alarmed me. My eyes widened as Carlisle and I exchanged concerned glances. What did this all mean?
“How long have you been having these visions, Alice?” Esme asked, gently rounding the table to place an affectionate hand on her petite shoulder.
“Every since the Sparrows moved into the house down the road from us,” she whispered, unsteadily, “I’ve been bombarded with loud and colorful visions. That’s why I’ve been trying to approach the two Sparrow sisters, especially Brooke- she’s very important, a majority of the visions evolve around her- since they started attending school. Although I have to say my attempts to become friends have all been less than successfully. I can see that she‘s a very guarded individual.”
“And so very angry too,” Jasper added, nodding in agreement. “Even her hyperactive random sister has walls around her, though Cassie is the more open one of the bunch.”
“Yes, we do have a dilemma on our hands, now don‘t we?” Carlisle muttered, his eyes narrowing at the glass surface in front of them, distancing them from what was going on around him. The atmosphere grew brooding as we all examined the Sparrows more closely.
“There was something odd the minute Cassie step foot into Health,” Jasper contemplated, holding Alice’s hand tightly. “A certain air of mystery.”
“Yeah, I sensed it too when she first came into English,” Alice agreed, looking to me. “You sensed it too, right Edward? That there’s something bizarre about those girls.”
“Hmm… I couldn’t put my figure on it when I saw either of the Sparrow siblings, but the way they carried themselves it was…,” I reluctantly admitted pondering the problem at hand.
“…Like there was something not so human about them,” Alice ended for me, her facial features growing troubled. She watched as I climbed to my feet and began pacing the room before returning her eyes to Jasper. “I could feel this strange pulling and pushing of forces around them. My hair stands on end every time I’m around them.”
“Yes, it’s like their entire being is entwined with some kind of magnetic polarity, like the very air around them is pushed and pulled in spontaneous waves. It’s making hard to actually truly read their emotions. I usually can’t get a lock on exactly what their feeling,” Jasper pointed out, gravely, shaking his head. “Those forces that surround them infer with my abilities.”
“And the way they interact with us!” I scoffed, out raged. “Doesn’t their instincts warn them that we’re not human?!”
“Apparently not,” Jasper guessed, beginning to pace himself. “Emmett, do you remember when the teacher instructed Cassie Sparrow to sit in the empty seat between us.”
Emmett chuckled, his nonchalant composure. “Yes, I remember. That girl held no fear against us. In fact she started talking to us as if we were like the rest of the human students. The girl has guts. I give them that. Both of them.”
“Either that or else they really are stupid little creatures,” Rosalie remarked snidely.
“I don’t think so, Rose,” Alice countered giving our sister a side glance, before returning her gaze to Jasper’s pacing form. “They treat us as equals. They’re not afraid of us. Well… Brooke is still wary of us, but she’s isolates herself from the rest of the student body too, so it could just be she doesn’t trust people. She told Jasper and I that she doesn’t like people, that she can’t trust our fellow peers.”
“What about their father? Isn’t he the only raising them?” Esme interrupted, looking to each of us. “Have any of you seen him before?”
We all froze. I could hear my family’s baffled thoughts as they bounced off the confines of the white walls, echoing each other in the mystery over what Brooke and Cassie’s father was like.
“I’ve only seen him when he picks up and drops off the girls,” Alice admitted, shrugging her shoulder.
“I’ve seen him out in the woods before, wondering around aimlessly. He’s a tall fellow. He doesn’t look any older than thirty-nine,” Carlisle said finally after a long moment of deep mulling over the facts. I saw the Sparrow sibling’s father through Carlisle’s eyes. He had spotted the father while out hunting. Their father looked to be over six feet tall with a fairly muscular built, having the girls’ pale complexion and midnight onyx hair that went past his shoulders, tied in a low hanging ponytail that rest at the nape of his neck. He had such a distinct face, curious and adsorbent, soaking in all the details around him. I instantly recognized Brooke’s keen brown eyes as soon as the father turned toward where Carlisle stood, observing the mortal man’s movement yards away, in the dense undergrowth of the lush green forest.
“He appeared to an intelligent man, a true nature lover,” Carlisle muttered, but let out a laugh. “But at the time he looked to be completely lost, walking through the vegetations, searching for a way out, but he was very calm and distinct about it. I was going to talk to him, but the way he peered through the plants and brush, the way his eyes narrowed and stood completely still, listening, it was as if he knew I was there! Then something truly bizarre happened.”
Every one stopped pacing and immediately came back to the table. We leaned in, inquisitively, begging our father figure to tell us what kind of exchange had taken place. I was especially curious as I watched the event play out through Carlisle’s mind. Esme silently urged him to go by giving his shoulder and squeeze.
He sighed. “I can’t even truly fathom what had taken place between us, but I could have sworn I heard him,” he reported, struggling with the right words. “But… Not in the way people communicate verbally, but more like…” He hesitated, shaking his head befuddled. “….It’s difficult to explain by words alone. It’s one of those insistences you’d have to be there to truly comprehend the very magnitude of what had transpired. I heard his voice inside my head. ‘Do not fear,’ he told me, ‘I know exactly what you are and I understand that you will not harm my family or me. We are on equal grounds in the matters of the world of the unknown.’ And then he continued on his way. It was a very unsettling thing. I sense the power and skill behind his wordless message. So very strange indeed. It‘s similar to your gift, Edward, in a way.”
He sounded utterly puzzled turning to me. I felt indignation wash over me. A mortal possessing a gift similar to mine. Of course it happened in the world of the vampire. Individuals often shared similar gifts, each differing slightly from the other, but a human? I know that when a vampire with an extra preternatural gift is human still they do have certain aware nesses they unconsciously retain, and when that specific individual is turned they carry that ability over into the next life, where the ability is awakened and then refined with experience and use.
For a mere mortal to have awaken while they were still human and able to use it with such skill and confidence-“It’s impossible,” I uttered automatically, but I had witnessed it just as my father experienced through his own eyes. I felt staggered. So much more- There was so much more to the Sparrows than your average normal mortal family… I inhaled, pinching the bridge of my nose, desperately trying to sort through massive chaotic insight given to us by our dear father’s experience with the Sparrow sisters’ father.
“So if he has some of ability…. Does that-?” Jasper started awe struck, his amber eyes, vexed.
“-What happened to Edward this afternoon-?” Rosalie continued her face a perfect display of incredulous conviction.
“That Cassie and Brooke…” Emmett added, shaking his head, trying to wrap his limited intellect around the concept presented to our family in all its horrifying glory.
“Does that mean the girls might have hidden abilities as well?” Alice conclude, mystified, her eyebrow drawn together.
Carlisle sighed, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion. “I really don’t know, Alice,” he murmured. “I really don’t know.”
The blackness of night rushed past me as I weaved in and out of the dense undergrowth of the forest floor. Apparitions of nocturnal animals moving along the brush flew by in dark splotchy blurs. The cool crisp Northwest mountain air filled my lungs, clearing my cluttered havoc incased mind. I needed to think clearly. I didn’t know what I was doing?
“Alice,” I growled, my eyes darting to side the spot my sister’s profile swerving through the greenery along side me.
She closed the short distance between us. I know what your planning, Edward, she retorted quietly. You’re planning to spy on the Sparrows.
I snarled deep in my throat, showing my displeasure. “And so you feel the need to join me?” I seethed, irritated. I was hoping to have some time to rearrange my thoughts and formulate a plan on how to deal with the problem known as the Sparrow sisters. Especially a certain she-demon named, Brooke Sparrow!
Alice smiled, sheepishly. “Somebody has to keep you out of trouble.”
“…”
We’re here, Alice thought, being ridiculously optimistic considering the position our family was currently face. We reached the Sparrow residence shortly after I gave into Alice’s incessant pleading to allow her to accompany me on my observation. We kept a fair distance between the large open meadow-where the two story colonial house perched on the crest of the inclined grassy plain peering through the down pour into the darkest deepest shadows of the Washington’s expansive ancient forest-and ourselves.
I settled myself on one of the giant boulder protruding out of the mountainous landscape like a slumbering giant. Its body cloaked in a mossy carpet, etched with lichen. The pitter-patter of droplets of rain hitting the broad flat leaves of ancient sycamores, oaks, and red woods, simultaneously, echoed in the still night air around us, as the rain trickled down from the canopy above.
No sound or slightest whisper emerged from the lit up windows of the home as darken silhouettes roamed to and fro inside as the Sparrows went about their evening routines, blissfully unaware of our ever vigilant spying from within the safety of the trees, yards away.
“It’s always so quiet in there,” Alice muttered, bored. The water was already soaking through our clothes. Of course because of what we were, something as irrelevant as rain didn’t bother us. “Why do you think that is?”
Yes, that too bothered me, tremendously. Why it was every time we do this, the house is always so quiet? We see the activity; warm blooded bodies moving through the glowing orange windows, interacting with each other. One would think since we have very sensitive hearing, that it would be simple to eavesdrop on the Sparrows’ conversations. Unfortunately, that was never the case. Nothing ever made sense with these mortals. What was it that made them so different-?!
“I spy Brooke in the kitchen,” Alice stated, jabbing me in the ribs, pulling out me of my contemplation.
I followed her gaze to sight the familiar profile of Brooke Sparrow bustling around the kitchen. It appearances for the last few days it has been Brooke in the kitchen making the household meals instead of the father. I wonder why…
The leaves rustled as Alice stood up, startling me slightly. I turned to her with a raised eyebrow. She was running home to go grab a blanket and an umbrella if we were going to be out here for a while.
“Yes, that would be a good idea,” I replied, approving of her plan, my words lingering in the air as she vanished off into the darkness, leaving me alone in the rain. I did not mind. A little alone time would help me put together the missing pieces of the puzzle or else I hoped so.
Brooke’s shadow maneuvered in and out of the glow of the window, her body language relaxed and at peace. She seemed so engross in her work, though I did not know what it was she could be cooking. No smells filtered down from the house into the forest either. It truly did not make any sense at all. What could it be that blocked the inner activity of the household from prying eyes?
I sighed, standing up to better monitor Brooke’s constant movement. On further inspection I was able to make the outline of those unusually dyed white streaks through that unruly head of raven hair. The shadows of her fair complexion highlighted against the bright lights of the kitchen were smooth and tranquil unlike the contorted mask her wore earlier today. Suddenly she paused, her head shifting its position, looking off to the side. I could have sworn I saw her eyes widen and her body darted out of view only to return seconds late agitated. She carried on normally, her shoulders slumping against as she went on with her task. Her figure didn’t stay relax for long though. It completely stiffen, her shoulders raised. Whipping up her gaze to peer out past the window into the gloom, her eyes narrowing. I thought saw her eyebrows furrowing as she gazed into the downpour. I felt my breathing cease. Could she- No it was impossible, my conscious reassured me. That didn’t stop me from anticipating if she really did sense my presence all the way out here far from where her weak mortal eyes could see me.
I exhale, calming as she disappeared from the kitchen window. Maybe she didn’t notice my lurking. Time felt like it paused in it‘s tracks, while I waited for her to return to where she had been stationed before. Relief washed over me as she eventfully returned to her position at the window. I frustrated me though, when she didn’t return to preparing dinner. She just stood there, staring out the window into the depths of the forest. I felt like she was looking straight at me, even though her eyes mortals could not see that far. It vexed me to no end.
Later on after Alice returned with an umbrella and dry blanket in hand, we waited till the lights to go out in the Sparrow household. We spent a total number of four hours out in the rain just sitting there analyzing the Sparrows’ routine as they went about their short mortal lives. Like at a silent black and white movie, Alice and I decided to try guessing what they were doing for something to past the time. It was mostly her idea, but seeing as I had no other choice, I reluctantly complied.
“We really didn’t get far in decoding their patterns, did we?” Alice said, gathering the now soaking blanket.
I sighed, closing the umbrella. It stopped raining a few minutes ago. “Yes, well, it is hard to interpret their behavior when you only have split minute movements in the windows to aid you,” I replied, uneasy as ever. Every muscle in my accursed body itched to approach the silent mystery house as it stood like an apparition in the night. I wanted to discover what made it so impermeable to sound. Was it sound proof glass? The Sparrow family appeared to be anything, but wealthy. I had no idea the occupation their father fulfilled, but whatever it may be it seemed to permeate him a lot of time at home.
Would it be worth it? I pondered my gazing setting itself on the solemn dark house. Would it be worth it to risk everything my family worked so hard build for just one moment of curiosity?
I ached to find out what it was that kept us from happening upon the Sparrow’s secrets. Just like their minds, their home was sealed off from me. It drove me mad. I need to know. My curiosity simply too great, I gave in.
“I’ll be right back, Alice. You can go ahead without me,” I told my sister, stepping forward, setting my sights on investigating the secrets that lied beyond those walls. What is it that makes the Sparrows so unlike any mortal I had ever met before?
“What? Edward no!” Alice’s eyes widened as I raced off toward the house. I ignored her shouting after me. I didn’t listen as she followed.
It was a risk I was willing to take.
For just one second of understanding. For a little light into the strange foreign world which Brooke and Cassandra Sparrow both lived in.
The trees fly by me and disappeared through my peripheral vision as I darted into the meadow, making my way toward the front perch. The house was rapidly approaching. I drew near, coming to halt mere inches away from the front step. The house seen bigger up close than it appeared while I was watching in the forest. I paused to gaze up at the suddenly foreboding exterior of the two stories home. Its face engulfed in deep blue shadows as no life stirred inside.
Edward, Alice’s musical voice hissed in the back of my mind, panic saturating her melodic tone. What do you think you’re doing? EDWARD!!
I didn’t flinch at the pitch rising in her voice as I apprehensively climbed onto the porch, gazing into the vacant black windows, having my very first view of the inside of the Sparrow residence. The medium gallery kitchen, its tones soft and earthy. Splashes of red existed among the counters and mosaic title backdrops. I could see into the dining room past the arched doorway. A lone French designed rectangular dining room table was stationed in the middle of the spacious room under a suspended crystal chandelier. I spied a buffet upon the western wall, its polished surface cluttered with photographs. I was unable to make out what were in the pictures, which may have been family pictures. I noticed the dark silhouette of a black cat slinking along the neatly mahogany floors disappearing around the buffet.
Moving on I peered into another room, which looked to be a study. Bookshelves of every size, filled to the brim with books of every kind, took up most of the room, leaving only enough room for a paper cluttered desk position in the far right corner. A compute with a blank monitor emerged from the piles of paperwork, a printer adjacent from on top of a medium size bookshelf under collapsed towers of books.
I’m guessing that’s where the father works, I thought going on common sense. I tried to pry further to peer past the partially open door on the either side of the room, wondering what lied beyond on. I glanced away from the window, looking around the out stretched porch as it wound around the house. I wonder…
Before I could make any further movements, suddenly, I felt every muscle in my body become frozen on its own accord. My eyes widens as I willed myself move. It didn’t work?! What the hell? I watched in utter horror as my body rose off the floor as some unknown force lifted me. It felt like the air pressure around me had dropped and decided to cling to my clothes. The very hairs on my arms and on the back of my neck stood on end. What the hell was going on?!
SHIT!! Edward!! I heard Alice scream inside my head. She remained in the shadows of the forest, watching the whole spectacle from afar, terror coloring her facial features as her mouth hung agape.
“Uh! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” My lips opened in a scream of surprise as I was heaved off the porch by the invisible entity or force or what ever kind of magic that was manipulating my limps. My body flew across the meadow with tremendous force like something latched onto the collar of my shirt, wheeling me toward the forest. I heard the startled gasp as I slammed into the trees, breaking several branches and weaker thinner trees upon impact. It was until I was several meters into the forest when my body collided with the forest floor. Shrubbery and fern flying everywhere as I rolled across the ground. I tried desperately to stop before crashing into a boulder emerging out of the ground. The collision rumbled throughout the under story like thunder.
“Ugh,” I groaned, my mind whirling, trying to comprehend what just taken place. My thoughts felt like they went through a blunder. How could this be? What was that? What kind of entity or power could throw a vampire, the most powerful killing machine on the face of this Earth and toss it aside like a leaf on the wind? I didn’t understand. My body felt numb, every inch of it tingled. What was going on? Good God, how many times was I going to say that?! My sound logical world was dissolving before my very eyes!
I laid still as I hear Alice’s frantic cries coming closer. “Edward! Edward! Edward!” her voice reaching a feverish high when her eyes landed on my motionless body. “Oh my! Edward?”
“I’m fine, Alice,” I grumbled, rolling onto my back, resting uncomfortable on a pile of rumble of broken stone beneath me. I felt suddenly exhausted and my voice sounded far away and like I ingested gravel for nutrition instead of animal blood. I stared up at the dark canopy, bewildered, my mind trying to come to grasps with how I ended up all the way out here- “And what kind of trick was that? I don’t understand!”
“We can talk about it later, Edward,” Alice said quickly, pushing aside my questions, her head turning toward the house. Alarmed voices filtered down from the meadow into the thick vegetation of the forest. I distinctly picked up on Cassie’s and Brooke’s voices out in the yard.
“Where is he?! Where is that sorry ass son of a bitch? I’m gonna murder that arrogant bastard!” Brooke’s irrational shrieks piercing the tranquil night.
“Brooke, calm down,” came their father’s voice. Though I had never heard with my own ears, it was easy to recognize from Carlisle’s recollection.
“Is he gone?” Came Cassie’s frighten voice.
So she did see me, I thought incoherently as Alice helped me to my feet. To stun to pick myself off the ground, I leaned against my sibling for support. Everything felt surreal. Overwhelmingly so. My mind was reeling with too many questions, too many emotions. I didn’t even know it was possible for a vampire to go into shock.
“Come on, Edward,” Alice murmured, concern filling her voice, her eyes narrowed to the front of us as she spread off through the forest holding onto my arm wrapped around her shoulder as I sprinted along aside her, a mere ghost of myself, my focus somewhere else in time and space.
I wonder what Carlisle will make of all of this, I absently found myself thinking, my eyes rising to the trees ahead. It seems we have a bigger mystery on our hands than we thought to realize in the beginning. The Sparrows… My eyes narrowed my brow furrowing. Just what are they? There is more to the Sparrow sisters than what meets the eye…
A/N: YALO!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Sorry, it took me so long to update and sorry if my Merry Christmas shout out is late as well. Most of Christmas was spent with my lovely relatives as traditions dictates, which really isn’t so bad. Nope, it was pretty fun/amusing at the same time. Anyway, I would like to give a HUGE “THANK YOU” to smilezpleepz as anyways. Her reviews are always nice and hilarious to read. Hee-hee, Iron nutz. Nice!!!
Sorry, it took me so long this time, but since it is the holidays, I thought, “Awe hell, I’m going to give everyone a treat!” Since I rarely do this, I released Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, and Chapter Nine all at the same time!! So MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HONNAKA (sorry, if I misspelled it, please feel free to correct me because I have no clue how to spell the Jewish Christmas holiday. Please don‘t hate me (^-^,)) AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!!! So stay tight in your seat folks and enjoy the rest of the show!! UNTIL NEXT TIME PEACE OUT!!XD
Summary: Cassandra and Brooke Sparrow are two sisters with psychic abilities, forced out of their warm California home to live in the dreary town of Fork, Washington, so their father can look for inspiration in the serene mountainside scenery. There they discover appearances can be deceiving when it comes to this boring rainy town. Especially when their closest neighbors just happen to be vampires and they actually go to their school, not to mention the nearby reservation is occupied with werewolves. Their lives are about to spiral into weird ville and the sisters are going to love every minute of it.
Chapter Seven
If Eternal Torment Had A Face,
It Would Be Brooke Sparrow;
How Cruel Can One Idiot Mortal Be?!
(Edward’s POV)
In perfect horror I watched the zealously rebellious child’s fist plow into the side of Bella Swan’s face, the force sending her sprawling to the floor through Jessica Stanley‘s petty trivial mind. An unsightly bruise forming of the side of her fragile ghostly pale face. The out line of Brooke Sparrow’s fist evident. I gripped the edge of the desk, frigidly, the plaster groaning and snapping under the tremendous force of my clenched hand. A low menacing growl ripped softly in my chest.
I felt Alice grabbed me by the shoulder, preventing me from jumping out of my seat and fleeing out the door. “Don’t even think about it, Edward,” she hissed in a whisper, her high musical voice too low to reach any of the mortal students around us.
I turned to glare her, defiantly. My adopted sister scolded me silently. What good would it do you or any of us if you go charging off every time that girl is in danger! You said it yourself, “I would rather perish than endanger our family’s secret.” Brooke is just going to go storming out of the room and she won’t do any more harm to Bella Swan. Don’t fret. Bella is only going to a slight bruise from the next few weeks. It will go away in time… Hesitantly she added. …I think.
I snarled at her, my jaw clenched tight as I battled the urge to throw my sibling aside and pursuit the one who dared threaten some one so much weaker than herself. I had a feeling Jasper would not be happy with me if I did. “Why do you keep defending that… that psychotic berserk child, Alice?!” I demanded through my teeth, teeming with fury.
Alice waged her finger at me. “Because Mr. Overprotective,” she snapped back, “Brooke has some kind of connection with us and I am trying my darniest to figure it out! How can I do that if you insist on tearing that girl’s throat out? Hm?”
I frowned profoundly, and leaned back in my chair, catching the bridge of my nose between my forefinger and thumb. I inhaled deeply, evading the sneering monster inside of me as it flashed its venomous smile in delight at the very thought of draining that chaotic child of her vital fluids and watching her die an slow painful death. I felt Alice jab me in the ribcage.
Honestly, Edward Manson Cullen! If it isn’t Jasper I’m looking out for, it’s you! She chided in her head, glaring at me. I swear these last two weeks; you’ve been nothing, but a grumpy brooding old man. Not that you aren’t usually, but you know what I mean-Look I know it must be hard for you not being able to hear what Bella is thinking, let alone adding the Sparrow siblings to your suddenly growing list of people that you can’t hear! But-!
Alice’s mind clouded over, her eyes becoming glazed. We both became silent as her vision flooded our senses, coming like a gushing waterfall, engulfing us. Brooke Sparrow sat at her usual spot, a table within close proximity to our own. Since her sister stayed home today, the rambunctious child found herself eating alone. Her food laid untouched on the red tray before her, her gaze dismal and brooding, the sharp prompt features in her pale face tight with invisible emotions, something deep and dark stirring at the bottom of her wretched radical soul. When it was time to leave, the raven haired juvenile delinquent rose to her feet, grabbing her coat, and scooping up her tray and dumping the still soundly intact food into the garage, putting her tray away, and heading for the door. I saw myself get up and follow silently, a predator stalking its prey.
Outside the crowded cafeteria the sky lightly shredded its tears across the empty campus. The classes had yet let their students out. A perfect opportunity to execute my malicious intentions for the gothic clad girl. Brooke Sparrow was completely oblivious to my presence. I took my time approaching her. No need to rush. In a few short painless minutes the girl would not be a part of this world any longer. I followed her down the soggy sidewalk as she made her way across the campus, away from the crowds. No innocent witnesses to annihilate in case they spotted me taking Brooke’s insignificant mortal life. The monster inside in me rejoiced, flashing its teeth in anticipation. Suddenly the girl stopped, whirling around to face me, intuition shining brightly in her dark brown eye, while the other was covered by her bangs. She knew? She knew! How could that be? Nobody ever guessed it right! If they did it was only because they saw the characters of horror movies and books in my family and I. I thought we covered what we were perfectly in this crowd of sheep like mortals, but she… she!! I gave her no chance to flee or react. I crouched down in an animalistic stance, feral snarls erupting from deep within myself as I pounced. Poor wrenched child. Brooke Sparrow stood no chance against such a filthy terrifying monster like me. It’s a bloodbath. She didn’t even have time to scream.
“Enough!” I heard myself shout, my hands flying up to my ears, squeezing my eyes shut in utter horror at my gruesome act. I was going to let myself go over to the dark side of our accursed nature? I was going to drag our father’s, Carlisle’s, ideals through the mud just because I let some unruly child’s reckless behavior get the best of me? I was once again, willing to throw it all away-what my family had worked so hard to establish in this dreary rain stricken town, the roots we temporarily put down to live a stable normal seemingly peaceful existence among the unaware relatively small mortal population- just because some dimwitted reckless woman-child decided to torment that which should be not taunted?! I felt over whelming anguish wash over me at the sight of my father and mother, Esme, disappointed faces seeing that we s have to pack up and flee this tiny place of what was once paradise to cover our bloody tracks so generously given by me, their ungrateful miscreant son?!
The atmosphere had grown silent as I tried to keep myself together, my entire frame shaking from indescribable distain at my own destructive nature. I covered my mouth with my porcelain hand in silent gasps for breaths, my eyes wide in horror at my soon to be actions. At what I was willing to give up just to satisfy my own craving to kill!
I felt Alice plant a somewhat comforting hand on my shoulder as eighteen pair of eyes landed on us from all sides. “I’m sorry,” she whispered sympathetically. The math teacher at the front of the room tore her attention away from what she had been scribbling down on the chalk board to glare incredulously at us for interrupting her lesson.
“Is there a problem, Mr. Cullen?” the old woman demanded in distaste, her beady eyes narrowing on us, tapping the end of the marker against her hand, impatiently. “Something you would like to share with the rest of the class if it was so important that you had to blurt it out in the middle of my lecture.”
Alice answered for me, her pleasant voice floating across the room, reaching everyone’s ears. “No, Mrs. Ronald. There isn’t a problem at all,” she responded calmly and sweetly, placing on a charming smile to sway the baffled human students and teacher. “My brother is just suffering from lack of sleep. He stayed up all night last night working on homework and when he does that he acts a little odd. So please, do go right ahead, Mrs. Ronald. We won’t interrupt your class again. Promise!”
Mrs. Ronald appeared less than convince but Alice’s sparkling grin left the woman just as startled as the rest of the class. What queer children, the harden woman thought, shaking her head. She uneasily returned to her lecture, picking up where she left off acting as if nothing happened.
Pst. Yeah right, Ryan Buhler thought, snorting underneath his breath. First of the students to recover and turn his body toward the front of the room. That guy is just plain weird!
I knew it was only a matter of time before that guy cracked, Josh Frecker’s thought satirically, nodding to himself, going back to looking out the window to day dream instead of paying attention to whatever petty facts spilled from Mrs. Ronald’s mouth.
I guess that new Sparrow girl finally drove him to the brink of insanity, Eric Yorkie thought shuddering voluntarily. Note to self: steer clear of Brooke Sparrow so I don’t end up like Edward Cullen.
I was very gracious when the mundane, sleep inducing class ended. I had already passed Pre-calculus three to four times in a row and anything that came out of Mrs. Ronald’s mouth was nothing new or inspiring to these ears.
Alice and I hastily made our way through the dense crowd of babbling students; their trivial thoughts concern with their daily dilemma’s consuming my already too crowded mind. I started humming to myself to avoid from being driven into insanity. Alice was already mulling over what we going to do about the tense situation with the wiry and fowl tempered gothic girl. She was thinking especially loud to draw my attention away from the internal conflict in myself on whether to depose of Brooke Sparrow or not. It would certainly be a huge burden lifted off mine and probably the entire world’s shoulders if I drained the unruly girl to the brink of death and let nature do the rest. Besides her family, surely no one else would miss her. Brooke was already deemed the ultimate pariah here among the mortal student body, so not a soul would have to weep if she were to depart from this world in a premature death.
I fought the enthusiastic monster inside me, to go against Carlisle’s vision of our family not having to kill our natural prey, the human population, and going after the local wild life instead, so we could live and coexist with mankind. I desperately placed the benevolent image of my father figure’s face in front of my mind, reminding myself how I truly was or at least who I wished terribly to be like. I wasn’t going to let some ignorant volatile woman-child get the best of me with her childish antics.
We joined our siblings on the far side of the long rectangular shaped cafeteria. We all deliberately put our trays full of fairly decent cafeteria prepared meals in front of us to make it appear like we were sitting down to eat together as all the rest of the student body did every six period of every monotonous day of the impossibility long school year. Neither of the five of us ever touched the food on ours trays. They were props you could say; something to make it seem like we blended in with every mortal student sitting down and socializing in the campus eating facility. Of course, none of the herd like students ever came near our table. They distanced themselves from us. We were strange to them. There was something about our family that naturally our prey could never put their fingers on. What their insignificant obsolete human understanding and reasoning could never tell them, their primeval instincts did. We weren’t human. We were dangerous.
My eyes drifted to where Sparrow sat, her back turned to us. She hung over the table like a rag doll, her arms folded around her resting head, glaring aimlessly at the tray of untouched food before her. Her black and white streaked hair stuck out in every direction. As unruly as her attitude.
“It looks like Sparrow is in a worst mood than she was this morning,” Jasper commented off handedly, picking at the pretzel on his tray. He nonchalantly flicked the crumbs away. He paused tasting the emotional air around us. “Yes, she’s definitely on the brink of strangling some poor soul.”
Alice sighed, heavily. “She got into a fight with Bella Swan,” she reported, gravely, her tiny eyebrows furrowing, fine lines appearing on her smooth forehead. “Bella ended saying something very unkind that stirred something inside Brooke and she ended up punching her square in the jaw for it.”
“Not a day goes by when those two are causing some kind of havoc on the school grounds,” Emmett chuckled amused, a small carefree smile spreading across his face. “Forks have certainly become interesting since those two showed up.”
“If you ask me, those two freaks are nothing but a nuisance,” Rosalie muttered, making her opinion known. It was plain she disapproved of Cassandra and Brooke Sparrow’s daily antics. I think she and I were the only two at our table who agreed on the fact that having the Sparrow siblings here made our lives unnecessarily difficult and complicated. The others found them amusing, what with their witty come backs and crude immature aggravating behavior, having utterly no reason behind their constant fiascos.
“That’s only because they amuse the heck out of Emmett, so you feel you have to compete with a bunch of hyperactive, spontaneous mortal adolescents for attention, Rose,” Alice murmured through her childishly puckered lips, deliberating slicing Rosalie’s superficial ego in half. She received a furious insulted glare and a low indignant grunt. Apparently the very presence of the two gothic unorthodox children affected my siblings in a way I had not witnessed before.
My eyes wandered back to Brooke Sparrow seated at the table near us. She was still in the same position, her eyes squinting past the tray of undisturbed food, her pale facial features contorted in agitation. A soft sigh escaped past her painted black lips. She sat up straight, grabbed her coat and backpack, while scooping up her tray in the other hand and headed for the trash can
If my heart were still beating inside my cold lifeless chest it would have skip a beat in anticipation. This was the moment in Alice’s earlier vision that I was supposed to pursuit the strange rebellious girl after she left the building.
Edward… Alice sensed the change in my body posture. Her eyes landing on me pleadingly. Please Edward, don’t go through with it.
She knew exactly where my mind had gone, into the deeper and sinister part of my accursed inhuman thoughts. The monster sneered, flashing his teeth, excitedly, lying in wait to be let lose. The other’s intuition soon followed, sensing the change as well. They stared curiously, wondering what I was planning to do. I had called for a cease fire, but with the attack on Bella Swan today, it sent me over the edge with this unspeakable fury and horror that Sparrow would stoop so low as to take out her petty angry on some one more fragile and weaker than herself. I felt that same strange urge to protect Bella Swan from her attacker.
I slowly rose to my feet as Brooke headed for the exit, but not before Alice grabbed onto my arm. Her eyes burning meaningful into mine, apprehensively. “You will do the right,” she warned, in a low soft voice, indicating what path I should pick. “I know you, Edward. You’re not going to go through with it. You’re better than that.”
“Perhaps,” I replied indifferently, shrugging her off. The monster inside of me begged to differ as I turned on my heel, heading for the door, spying Brooke’s aggressive swagger moving across the room. What was I going to do? Follow her out and make my worst fears come to light or could I do what Alice said I would do?
Be better than that, Edward, Alice’s silent prays rang inside the interior of my skull. She doesn’t have to die! Let it go.
I mulled over my options as I stepped in front of the door to block the infuriating girl’s path. Brooke ran head on into my out stretched arm, stumbling back in surprise, holding onto her nose. Indignation shone brightly on her pale face, her eyes narrowed in a fierce glare. A strong whiff of cinnamon and roses flooded my senses, making my head spin. That smell, how could some one so irritating smell so enticing? My body stiffened, the hollow yearning in my stomach tightened to the point of exploding with hungry. The monster inside of me rumbled gashing its teeth looking for a way out.
NO! I can’t let this happen!
I forced myself to concentrate.
Think of Carlisle. Think of Esme! Think of your family, Edward! I ordered myself, locking the picture of my family in front of my vision, blocking those deadly urges that threatened to take over my entire being. I was not going to stoop to that level. I didn’t practice abstinence for eighty-odd years for nothing.
I tried to make myself appear as menacing as possible to the brash young woman standing before me, while she made futile attempts to push past my stone like exterior. I mimicked every move and grow tired of her persistent. How could any one be so determined? Didn’t her dim mortal instincts warn her that I was dangerous? Didn’t they tell her to stay away, to back away? Most humans’ instincts would keep people at a fair distance from my kind and I. We weren’t human like the rest of them. They were weary of our inhuman complexion, our piercing gazes and unspeakable grace but… But this girl- this insane, absurd, irrational child- she wasn’t afraid at all. In fact she only scoffed at my miserable endeavor to be the intimidating creature I born in this world as. I doubted even the devil himself could strike fear into her twisted soul.
Finally she become fed up with our dance and twirled around, heading for the opposite side of the cafeteria, aiming to use to the main doors. To my surprise and horror, my body involuntarily lunged forward, latching onto her shoulder, halting her in her tracks.What was I doing?!
The wisest decision would have been to let the gothic clad Brooke to go on her way, but what did I do? I grabbed onto her shoulder! Fear spasm through my body, freezing me in place as I caught a glimpse of pure annoyance shimmering brightly in Brooke Sparrow’s eyes as she turned to glower at me from over her shoulder in exasperation. I felt all eyes rest on us, my siblings waiting cautiously in the wings, pondering my next course of actions. For crying out loud, I didn’t even know myself?! I wrecked my mind for something to say. Forget the cease fire. The situation I so blindly put myself was becoming worst by the second!
A warning? Yes, a warning. That was simply enough. Any human mind could comprehend a mere verbal caution. Even an unruly gothic rebel like Brooke. Surely, that worked. Well, at least in my head it sounded logical. I made my voice low and threatening. My facial features mimicking my tone. “I want you to stay away from Bella Swan.”
A contemptuous snort came from within Brooke’s fragile throat. Unconsciously, she raised an eyebrow, intuition shining brightly in her fierce aggressive brown eyes. Unlike most brown eyes that seemed flat and dead, hers particularly shone uncannily, looking straight through me. I felt comfortably bare in front of them with the way she analysis me, inquiringly, her gaze judging me, seeming to stare into the very depths of my accursed soul.
She spoke, her voice just as cutting. “And here I thought we were on no speaking terms.” Sharp and catty. Why did this fragile easily dispensable girl feel the need to tempt the fatal?
I was almost sick by her response. Most humans would immediately shy away from my very being. They’d flee in acknowledge at a deadly threat for fear of what may lie ahead if they pushed the subject further, and here, was a girl who lacked that very unconscious instinct to survive! She and her sibling embraced our supernatural presence like it was utterly normal! The way they were completely comfortable to look us straight in the eye and have a casual conversation with us like they were on equal ground! Did they not notice the different between my family and the other students? They did even care for their own forsaken lives. We were dangerous. We were lethal. Couldn’t their dim instincts read that?!
I kept my voice low and even, trying to transfer my silent message that I was dangerous beyond her human understanding. I wanted nothing more than to end this silly game Brooke loved to force upon my family and I. I felt the inquiring stares coming from the other students now. All activity in the lunch room ceased to exist as all eyes fell on our little exchange.
I tried my best to pay them no heed. “We are,” I replied sharply, feeling my face twist even more in repulsion to her lack of self preservation.
Her fists clenched simultaneously, anger flashing lividly in her piercing brown eyes. Jerking herself free from my steady grasp, she whirled around to face me. “Then stop talking to me!”
I didn’t see it! How could I?! Brooke had always been spontaneous in her actions. My siblings and I could never guess what she or her sister was going to do next! My immortal eyes, no matter how alert-detecting the slightest movement, being able to see across great distances- didn’t catch the part where Brooke’s fist automatically drew back and then launched forward plowing into the bone of my jaw. She actually hit me!!
I took the brash blow. A sharp popping noise filled the air. A stinging sensation flooded into the right side of my face, like millions of tiny needles plunging into my preternatural hard skin. It hurt? It actually hurt?!
I staggered back, my eyes widening, bewilderment coloring my face. My hand flew to caress the side of my jaw. It felt tender. This couldn’t be happening. Since when could a mere mortal actually cause damage to one of us? I gaped in perfect horror at the visibly leering girl. Her face twisted in fury, challenging me to say one word. It’s impossible. H-How could she?! She shouldn’t be strong enough to-!
“D-Did you just hit me?”
I was unable to take in the shock. A normal person shouldn’t be able to cause us physical harm. We were too strong. We were supposed to be indestructible, invisible, and yet- here was this girl, the uncannily witty and rambunctious Brooke Sparrow, with all her irrational rebellious zeal, not only landing a blow significant enough to stun me, but I actually felt the powerful force behind it! And it hurt! It actually hurt?!
I gawked at her, confusion bubbling inside of me. “What are you?” I needed to know. No ordinary human could do this. No human…
Brooke’s teeth click together; her slowly reddening face contorted more. She was absolutely alive with fury. It looked to be as if sparks of electricity were literally flying off of her clenched fists. I heard her heart pounding loudly inside her ribcage, pumping fiery blood through her roped veins underneath her seemingly soft mortal skin. She took a deep breath. I had only moments to steel myself from her verbal assault.
Her voice bounced off the low ceilings of the cafeteria, vibrating the suddenly charged air. “That’s none of your fucking business, so piss off!!”
She gave me her middle finger, pure loathing reflecting on her face before storming out of the cafeteria, leaving me utterly awe struck in her wake.
“Are you alright, Edward?” Alice wanted to know, pouncing immediately as soon as I pulled into our eight car garage. The rest of my horrible day was spent in silence. Luckily, my siblings had respected my privacy and let me brood throughout the rest of the mundane school day. I was still mulling over the fact of what happened during lunch. I cautiously touched the side of my jaw and flinched. The spot where Brooke Sparrow’s fist made contact with my jaw stung. It had been a long time since I felt pain and quite frankly, I didn’t like it.
I growled underneath my breath as Emmett’s howling laughter echoed off the high beams of the garage. “I still can’t believe you let her land a hit on you, my brother!” he chortled, enjoying my embarrassment. He had been waiting the last two hours to further rip apart my already torn dignity. “So much for you being the fastest among us, Edward! You couldn’t even dodge a mere mortal girl’s attack!”
Jasper ignored Emmett’s banter and came up to examine me carefully. He sensed the confusion and out rage inside my tormented mind. Not to mention the unmistakable pain I happened to be experiencing.
“Your jaw is still sore?” he inquired, an eyebrow raised in surprise. His frown increased as he shook his head, mirroring my bewilderment. “This shouldn’t be happening. You should be completely healed by now.”
“Well, she did hit him pretty hard,” Alice pointed out, lightly pressing the back of her hand against my jaw. I felt myself cringe as another round of sharp pings ran from the tip of my jaw to where it connected with my ear. She pulled back, scowling as well.
Alice’s brow furrowed in frustration. “I don’t get it. How come I didn’t see it coming?” she questioned out loud, starting to pace. “I should have been able to foresee what was going to happen. I should have been able to warn you!”
Rosalie snorted in disagreement. “I don’t think it mattered whether you saw it coming or not, Alice,” she drawled, rolling her eyes and strolled past us to go into the house. “That girl’s a menace. She’d probably hit him anyway. That is how out of control she and her sibling are.”
With that, she disappeared into our home, leaving everyone to stare after her in dismay. A long silence past before we follow suit, gathering into the spacious white and beige dining room, seating ourselves around an oval glass French antique table to discuss our next course of action. Alice had met Esme in the kitchen. We heard their low voices whispering among one another. Alice was filling our mother in on what transpired during lunch at Fork’s small dreary institution.
Large dark gray clouds that always consumed the skies of Forks moved over head, peering through the glass back wall of our two story mansion, ominously. The dreary sound of rain pattering against the lush verdant foliage seriated us while we waited for our father to arrive home from work. I was anxious to discuss what happened and seek Carlisle’s infinite wisdom on how I need to deal with our little irrational problem.
Carlisle looked quite surprise to find us all waiting for him in the dining room. Alice grabbed him immediately as soon as he stepped through the door. We were all eager to know what his opinion was on the current situation our family just happened to be facing.
He actually blinked a few times, taken back himself. “Oh my,” he repeated for the fourth time in a row. Shock radiated through him just as it had through the rest of us. “Oh my.” He immediately began to examine my slowly numbing jaw. “Does it still hurt, Edward?”
I pulled myself from him grasp, rubbing it carefully. “Yes, the pain is slowly going away.” Slower than what I hoped it would.
This deeply bothered our father figure. His golden brow furrowed, dubiously. He became uneasy. “My. This is an interesting develop,” he murmured, his eyes caught mine for a long moment. What did it feel like Edward? To be hit and actually feel the pain?
I scowled at my mentor. “It’s not something I’d like to appearance again, that’s for sure,” I grumbled admittedly, folding my hands front of me and than leaning on them for support. The sides of my head throbbed with tension. How I just wanted to go and-?! I shuddered, ending the blasphemous thought before it got the chance to finish itself.
All eyes were on Carlisle.
“I see and I understand… I just never thought a mere human,” he paused to chuckle nervously, “could possess the type of physical power to actually harm one of us.”
“It wasn’t just physical power,” I interrupted him. He shot me an inquiring eyebrow. “It…” I mulled over the right term for what I experienced. “It felt like there was an electric current flowing through me as soon as that girl hit me.”
Carlisle, not to mention everyone else’s eyes widened in imploringly, anticipating my continuing on, to elaborate the confrontation that took place between Brooke Sparrow and me. What were my thoughts on the subject? What did it feel like to actually endure physical pain? Something so utterly foreign and rare among our kind after being turned. Vampire’s skin was thick and hard as marble. Nothing man made or natural could penetrate its surface, so why? Why was a mere human, some one so zealously uncouth and temperamental, like Brooke Sparrow, able to land a blow so potent that it caused injury upon me?
Esme walked up behind Carlisle and planted a hand on his shoulder, her eyes landing on me, meaningfully. “Edward, do you feel you need to take some time off from school? To gather yourself and some time to think through you problem? We could always send the school an excuse that you’re planning on spending the rest of the school year with the Tanya Clan up in Alaska-.”
“That won’t be necessary, Esme,” Alice butted in, cutting off our mother in mid-speech. Her famous coy smile was plastered onto her face. My sibling caught my eyes as we all curiously stared at her, warily. “He won’t be going anywhere.”
“Ooh, burn,” Emmett chuckled, making light of the situation, off in the background. Thankfully, Rosalie grabbed him by the ear, kindly guiding him out of the room, allowing us to continue the meeting. We heard a distinct crash coming up from upstairs, hence meaning she kicked her dear beloved Emmett out a window. Again.
I ignored the long line of cursing coming from Emmett as he land flat on his back in the yard, and glowered at Alice, imploring her silently to, please, explain what in the blue blazes makes her think I’m going to stick around and tolerate Brooke’s endless harassment. The girl was driving me absolutely batty!
(A/N: Sorry about the pun… I couldn’t resist (^-^).)
Alice winked at me. Lightened up, Edward, she chided me privately within the confines of her own mind. I watched the others from corner of my eye, as they attentively leaned in, wondering what Alice was meant by her cryptic remark. There are still a few things I want to see play out first before you can start to worry.
I could barely restrain myself from demanding out loud what she was trying to insinuate. I attempt to probe her mind, searching for an answer, but the only answer I received was the theme song to Pokemon, from the first season to ever air in American, not that I actually had seen the show itself, but I clearly remember Emmett and Alice once had an small obsession over it when it first came on the television. Being in the house with two enthusiastic anime fans had been unbearable, but I digress.
She turned to Jasper’s inquiring face as he hovered over her, protectively. She took his hand in hers and turned to the rest of us, smiling. “I believe there might be a connection between our family and the Sparrow’s.” Her face became very solemn. “It’s hard to explain but as of late, I’ve seeing things-very blurry events- that are soon to come as we continue to interact with these strange mortals.”
Carlisle rose in response to Alice’s comment. “Like what, Alice? What have you seen?”
“Will it be good or bad for our family?” Rosalie wanted to know, roughly, coming back into the room with Emmett right on her tail, frowning. Her eyes narrowed at Alice, agitated.
Alice shook her head uncertain. “I can’t really tell. All I see is vibrant colors, shifting forms and deformed figures,” she explained wrinkling her nose in confusion. “Half of it doesn’t make sense to me. All I know is that something is coming. Something big and we’re going to be caught up in its wake.”
This startling new piece of information alarmed me. My eyes widened as Carlisle and I exchanged concerned glances. What did this all mean?
“How long have you been having these visions, Alice?” Esme asked, gently rounding the table to place an affectionate hand on her petite shoulder.
“Every since the Sparrows moved into the house down the road from us,” she whispered, unsteadily, “I’ve been bombarded with loud and colorful visions. That’s why I’ve been trying to approach the two Sparrow sisters, especially Brooke- she’s very important, a majority of the visions evolve around her- since they started attending school. Although I have to say my attempts to become friends have all been less than successfully. I can see that she‘s a very guarded individual.”
“And so very angry too,” Jasper added, nodding in agreement. “Even her hyperactive random sister has walls around her, though Cassie is the more open one of the bunch.”
“Yes, we do have a dilemma on our hands, now don‘t we?” Carlisle muttered, his eyes narrowing at the glass surface in front of them, distancing them from what was going on around him. The atmosphere grew brooding as we all examined the Sparrows more closely.
“There was something odd the minute Cassie step foot into Health,” Jasper contemplated, holding Alice’s hand tightly. “A certain air of mystery.”
“Yeah, I sensed it too when she first came into English,” Alice agreed, looking to me. “You sensed it too, right Edward? That there’s something bizarre about those girls.”
“Hmm… I couldn’t put my figure on it when I saw either of the Sparrow siblings, but the way they carried themselves it was…,” I reluctantly admitted pondering the problem at hand.
“…Like there was something not so human about them,” Alice ended for me, her facial features growing troubled. She watched as I climbed to my feet and began pacing the room before returning her eyes to Jasper. “I could feel this strange pulling and pushing of forces around them. My hair stands on end every time I’m around them.”
“Yes, it’s like their entire being is entwined with some kind of magnetic polarity, like the very air around them is pushed and pulled in spontaneous waves. It’s making hard to actually truly read their emotions. I usually can’t get a lock on exactly what their feeling,” Jasper pointed out, gravely, shaking his head. “Those forces that surround them infer with my abilities.”
“And the way they interact with us!” I scoffed, out raged. “Doesn’t their instincts warn them that we’re not human?!”
“Apparently not,” Jasper guessed, beginning to pace himself. “Emmett, do you remember when the teacher instructed Cassie Sparrow to sit in the empty seat between us.”
Emmett chuckled, his nonchalant composure. “Yes, I remember. That girl held no fear against us. In fact she started talking to us as if we were like the rest of the human students. The girl has guts. I give them that. Both of them.”
“Either that or else they really are stupid little creatures,” Rosalie remarked snidely.
“I don’t think so, Rose,” Alice countered giving our sister a side glance, before returning her gaze to Jasper’s pacing form. “They treat us as equals. They’re not afraid of us. Well… Brooke is still wary of us, but she’s isolates herself from the rest of the student body too, so it could just be she doesn’t trust people. She told Jasper and I that she doesn’t like people, that she can’t trust our fellow peers.”
“What about their father? Isn’t he the only raising them?” Esme interrupted, looking to each of us. “Have any of you seen him before?”
We all froze. I could hear my family’s baffled thoughts as they bounced off the confines of the white walls, echoing each other in the mystery over what Brooke and Cassie’s father was like.
“I’ve only seen him when he picks up and drops off the girls,” Alice admitted, shrugging her shoulder.
“I’ve seen him out in the woods before, wondering around aimlessly. He’s a tall fellow. He doesn’t look any older than thirty-nine,” Carlisle said finally after a long moment of deep mulling over the facts. I saw the Sparrow sibling’s father through Carlisle’s eyes. He had spotted the father while out hunting. Their father looked to be over six feet tall with a fairly muscular built, having the girls’ pale complexion and midnight onyx hair that went past his shoulders, tied in a low hanging ponytail that rest at the nape of his neck. He had such a distinct face, curious and adsorbent, soaking in all the details around him. I instantly recognized Brooke’s keen brown eyes as soon as the father turned toward where Carlisle stood, observing the mortal man’s movement yards away, in the dense undergrowth of the lush green forest.
“He appeared to an intelligent man, a true nature lover,” Carlisle muttered, but let out a laugh. “But at the time he looked to be completely lost, walking through the vegetations, searching for a way out, but he was very calm and distinct about it. I was going to talk to him, but the way he peered through the plants and brush, the way his eyes narrowed and stood completely still, listening, it was as if he knew I was there! Then something truly bizarre happened.”
Every one stopped pacing and immediately came back to the table. We leaned in, inquisitively, begging our father figure to tell us what kind of exchange had taken place. I was especially curious as I watched the event play out through Carlisle’s mind. Esme silently urged him to go by giving his shoulder and squeeze.
He sighed. “I can’t even truly fathom what had taken place between us, but I could have sworn I heard him,” he reported, struggling with the right words. “But… Not in the way people communicate verbally, but more like…” He hesitated, shaking his head befuddled. “….It’s difficult to explain by words alone. It’s one of those insistences you’d have to be there to truly comprehend the very magnitude of what had transpired. I heard his voice inside my head. ‘Do not fear,’ he told me, ‘I know exactly what you are and I understand that you will not harm my family or me. We are on equal grounds in the matters of the world of the unknown.’ And then he continued on his way. It was a very unsettling thing. I sense the power and skill behind his wordless message. So very strange indeed. It‘s similar to your gift, Edward, in a way.”
He sounded utterly puzzled turning to me. I felt indignation wash over me. A mortal possessing a gift similar to mine. Of course it happened in the world of the vampire. Individuals often shared similar gifts, each differing slightly from the other, but a human? I know that when a vampire with an extra preternatural gift is human still they do have certain aware nesses they unconsciously retain, and when that specific individual is turned they carry that ability over into the next life, where the ability is awakened and then refined with experience and use.
For a mere mortal to have awaken while they were still human and able to use it with such skill and confidence-“It’s impossible,” I uttered automatically, but I had witnessed it just as my father experienced through his own eyes. I felt staggered. So much more- There was so much more to the Sparrows than your average normal mortal family… I inhaled, pinching the bridge of my nose, desperately trying to sort through massive chaotic insight given to us by our dear father’s experience with the Sparrow sisters’ father.
“So if he has some of ability…. Does that-?” Jasper started awe struck, his amber eyes, vexed.
“-What happened to Edward this afternoon-?” Rosalie continued her face a perfect display of incredulous conviction.
“That Cassie and Brooke…” Emmett added, shaking his head, trying to wrap his limited intellect around the concept presented to our family in all its horrifying glory.
“Does that mean the girls might have hidden abilities as well?” Alice conclude, mystified, her eyebrow drawn together.
Carlisle sighed, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion. “I really don’t know, Alice,” he murmured. “I really don’t know.”
The blackness of night rushed past me as I weaved in and out of the dense undergrowth of the forest floor. Apparitions of nocturnal animals moving along the brush flew by in dark splotchy blurs. The cool crisp Northwest mountain air filled my lungs, clearing my cluttered havoc incased mind. I needed to think clearly. I didn’t know what I was doing?
“Alice,” I growled, my eyes darting to side the spot my sister’s profile swerving through the greenery along side me.
She closed the short distance between us. I know what your planning, Edward, she retorted quietly. You’re planning to spy on the Sparrows.
I snarled deep in my throat, showing my displeasure. “And so you feel the need to join me?” I seethed, irritated. I was hoping to have some time to rearrange my thoughts and formulate a plan on how to deal with the problem known as the Sparrow sisters. Especially a certain she-demon named, Brooke Sparrow!
Alice smiled, sheepishly. “Somebody has to keep you out of trouble.”
“…”
We’re here, Alice thought, being ridiculously optimistic considering the position our family was currently face. We reached the Sparrow residence shortly after I gave into Alice’s incessant pleading to allow her to accompany me on my observation. We kept a fair distance between the large open meadow-where the two story colonial house perched on the crest of the inclined grassy plain peering through the down pour into the darkest deepest shadows of the Washington’s expansive ancient forest-and ourselves.
I settled myself on one of the giant boulder protruding out of the mountainous landscape like a slumbering giant. Its body cloaked in a mossy carpet, etched with lichen. The pitter-patter of droplets of rain hitting the broad flat leaves of ancient sycamores, oaks, and red woods, simultaneously, echoed in the still night air around us, as the rain trickled down from the canopy above.
No sound or slightest whisper emerged from the lit up windows of the home as darken silhouettes roamed to and fro inside as the Sparrows went about their evening routines, blissfully unaware of our ever vigilant spying from within the safety of the trees, yards away.
“It’s always so quiet in there,” Alice muttered, bored. The water was already soaking through our clothes. Of course because of what we were, something as irrelevant as rain didn’t bother us. “Why do you think that is?”
Yes, that too bothered me, tremendously. Why it was every time we do this, the house is always so quiet? We see the activity; warm blooded bodies moving through the glowing orange windows, interacting with each other. One would think since we have very sensitive hearing, that it would be simple to eavesdrop on the Sparrows’ conversations. Unfortunately, that was never the case. Nothing ever made sense with these mortals. What was it that made them so different-?!
“I spy Brooke in the kitchen,” Alice stated, jabbing me in the ribs, pulling out me of my contemplation.
I followed her gaze to sight the familiar profile of Brooke Sparrow bustling around the kitchen. It appearances for the last few days it has been Brooke in the kitchen making the household meals instead of the father. I wonder why…
The leaves rustled as Alice stood up, startling me slightly. I turned to her with a raised eyebrow. She was running home to go grab a blanket and an umbrella if we were going to be out here for a while.
“Yes, that would be a good idea,” I replied, approving of her plan, my words lingering in the air as she vanished off into the darkness, leaving me alone in the rain. I did not mind. A little alone time would help me put together the missing pieces of the puzzle or else I hoped so.
Brooke’s shadow maneuvered in and out of the glow of the window, her body language relaxed and at peace. She seemed so engross in her work, though I did not know what it was she could be cooking. No smells filtered down from the house into the forest either. It truly did not make any sense at all. What could it be that blocked the inner activity of the household from prying eyes?
I sighed, standing up to better monitor Brooke’s constant movement. On further inspection I was able to make the outline of those unusually dyed white streaks through that unruly head of raven hair. The shadows of her fair complexion highlighted against the bright lights of the kitchen were smooth and tranquil unlike the contorted mask her wore earlier today. Suddenly she paused, her head shifting its position, looking off to the side. I could have sworn I saw her eyes widen and her body darted out of view only to return seconds late agitated. She carried on normally, her shoulders slumping against as she went on with her task. Her figure didn’t stay relax for long though. It completely stiffen, her shoulders raised. Whipping up her gaze to peer out past the window into the gloom, her eyes narrowing. I thought saw her eyebrows furrowing as she gazed into the downpour. I felt my breathing cease. Could she- No it was impossible, my conscious reassured me. That didn’t stop me from anticipating if she really did sense my presence all the way out here far from where her weak mortal eyes could see me.
I exhale, calming as she disappeared from the kitchen window. Maybe she didn’t notice my lurking. Time felt like it paused in it‘s tracks, while I waited for her to return to where she had been stationed before. Relief washed over me as she eventfully returned to her position at the window. I frustrated me though, when she didn’t return to preparing dinner. She just stood there, staring out the window into the depths of the forest. I felt like she was looking straight at me, even though her eyes mortals could not see that far. It vexed me to no end.
Later on after Alice returned with an umbrella and dry blanket in hand, we waited till the lights to go out in the Sparrow household. We spent a total number of four hours out in the rain just sitting there analyzing the Sparrows’ routine as they went about their short mortal lives. Like at a silent black and white movie, Alice and I decided to try guessing what they were doing for something to past the time. It was mostly her idea, but seeing as I had no other choice, I reluctantly complied.
“We really didn’t get far in decoding their patterns, did we?” Alice said, gathering the now soaking blanket.
I sighed, closing the umbrella. It stopped raining a few minutes ago. “Yes, well, it is hard to interpret their behavior when you only have split minute movements in the windows to aid you,” I replied, uneasy as ever. Every muscle in my accursed body itched to approach the silent mystery house as it stood like an apparition in the night. I wanted to discover what made it so impermeable to sound. Was it sound proof glass? The Sparrow family appeared to be anything, but wealthy. I had no idea the occupation their father fulfilled, but whatever it may be it seemed to permeate him a lot of time at home.
Would it be worth it? I pondered my gazing setting itself on the solemn dark house. Would it be worth it to risk everything my family worked so hard build for just one moment of curiosity?
I ached to find out what it was that kept us from happening upon the Sparrow’s secrets. Just like their minds, their home was sealed off from me. It drove me mad. I need to know. My curiosity simply too great, I gave in.
“I’ll be right back, Alice. You can go ahead without me,” I told my sister, stepping forward, setting my sights on investigating the secrets that lied beyond those walls. What is it that makes the Sparrows so unlike any mortal I had ever met before?
“What? Edward no!” Alice’s eyes widened as I raced off toward the house. I ignored her shouting after me. I didn’t listen as she followed.
It was a risk I was willing to take.
For just one second of understanding. For a little light into the strange foreign world which Brooke and Cassandra Sparrow both lived in.
The trees fly by me and disappeared through my peripheral vision as I darted into the meadow, making my way toward the front perch. The house was rapidly approaching. I drew near, coming to halt mere inches away from the front step. The house seen bigger up close than it appeared while I was watching in the forest. I paused to gaze up at the suddenly foreboding exterior of the two stories home. Its face engulfed in deep blue shadows as no life stirred inside.
Edward, Alice’s musical voice hissed in the back of my mind, panic saturating her melodic tone. What do you think you’re doing? EDWARD!!
I didn’t flinch at the pitch rising in her voice as I apprehensively climbed onto the porch, gazing into the vacant black windows, having my very first view of the inside of the Sparrow residence. The medium gallery kitchen, its tones soft and earthy. Splashes of red existed among the counters and mosaic title backdrops. I could see into the dining room past the arched doorway. A lone French designed rectangular dining room table was stationed in the middle of the spacious room under a suspended crystal chandelier. I spied a buffet upon the western wall, its polished surface cluttered with photographs. I was unable to make out what were in the pictures, which may have been family pictures. I noticed the dark silhouette of a black cat slinking along the neatly mahogany floors disappearing around the buffet.
Moving on I peered into another room, which looked to be a study. Bookshelves of every size, filled to the brim with books of every kind, took up most of the room, leaving only enough room for a paper cluttered desk position in the far right corner. A compute with a blank monitor emerged from the piles of paperwork, a printer adjacent from on top of a medium size bookshelf under collapsed towers of books.
I’m guessing that’s where the father works, I thought going on common sense. I tried to pry further to peer past the partially open door on the either side of the room, wondering what lied beyond on. I glanced away from the window, looking around the out stretched porch as it wound around the house. I wonder…
Before I could make any further movements, suddenly, I felt every muscle in my body become frozen on its own accord. My eyes widens as I willed myself move. It didn’t work?! What the hell? I watched in utter horror as my body rose off the floor as some unknown force lifted me. It felt like the air pressure around me had dropped and decided to cling to my clothes. The very hairs on my arms and on the back of my neck stood on end. What the hell was going on?!
SHIT!! Edward!! I heard Alice scream inside my head. She remained in the shadows of the forest, watching the whole spectacle from afar, terror coloring her facial features as her mouth hung agape.
“Uh! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” My lips opened in a scream of surprise as I was heaved off the porch by the invisible entity or force or what ever kind of magic that was manipulating my limps. My body flew across the meadow with tremendous force like something latched onto the collar of my shirt, wheeling me toward the forest. I heard the startled gasp as I slammed into the trees, breaking several branches and weaker thinner trees upon impact. It was until I was several meters into the forest when my body collided with the forest floor. Shrubbery and fern flying everywhere as I rolled across the ground. I tried desperately to stop before crashing into a boulder emerging out of the ground. The collision rumbled throughout the under story like thunder.
“Ugh,” I groaned, my mind whirling, trying to comprehend what just taken place. My thoughts felt like they went through a blunder. How could this be? What was that? What kind of entity or power could throw a vampire, the most powerful killing machine on the face of this Earth and toss it aside like a leaf on the wind? I didn’t understand. My body felt numb, every inch of it tingled. What was going on? Good God, how many times was I going to say that?! My sound logical world was dissolving before my very eyes!
I laid still as I hear Alice’s frantic cries coming closer. “Edward! Edward! Edward!” her voice reaching a feverish high when her eyes landed on my motionless body. “Oh my! Edward?”
“I’m fine, Alice,” I grumbled, rolling onto my back, resting uncomfortable on a pile of rumble of broken stone beneath me. I felt suddenly exhausted and my voice sounded far away and like I ingested gravel for nutrition instead of animal blood. I stared up at the dark canopy, bewildered, my mind trying to come to grasps with how I ended up all the way out here- “And what kind of trick was that? I don’t understand!”
“We can talk about it later, Edward,” Alice said quickly, pushing aside my questions, her head turning toward the house. Alarmed voices filtered down from the meadow into the thick vegetation of the forest. I distinctly picked up on Cassie’s and Brooke’s voices out in the yard.
“Where is he?! Where is that sorry ass son of a bitch? I’m gonna murder that arrogant bastard!” Brooke’s irrational shrieks piercing the tranquil night.
“Brooke, calm down,” came their father’s voice. Though I had never heard with my own ears, it was easy to recognize from Carlisle’s recollection.
“Is he gone?” Came Cassie’s frighten voice.
So she did see me, I thought incoherently as Alice helped me to my feet. To stun to pick myself off the ground, I leaned against my sibling for support. Everything felt surreal. Overwhelmingly so. My mind was reeling with too many questions, too many emotions. I didn’t even know it was possible for a vampire to go into shock.
“Come on, Edward,” Alice murmured, concern filling her voice, her eyes narrowed to the front of us as she spread off through the forest holding onto my arm wrapped around her shoulder as I sprinted along aside her, a mere ghost of myself, my focus somewhere else in time and space.
I wonder what Carlisle will make of all of this, I absently found myself thinking, my eyes rising to the trees ahead. It seems we have a bigger mystery on our hands than we thought to realize in the beginning. The Sparrows… My eyes narrowed my brow furrowing. Just what are they? There is more to the Sparrow sisters than what meets the eye…
A/N: YALO!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Sorry, it took me so long to update and sorry if my Merry Christmas shout out is late as well. Most of Christmas was spent with my lovely relatives as traditions dictates, which really isn’t so bad. Nope, it was pretty fun/amusing at the same time. Anyway, I would like to give a HUGE “THANK YOU” to smilezpleepz as anyways. Her reviews are always nice and hilarious to read. Hee-hee, Iron nutz. Nice!!!
Sorry, it took me so long this time, but since it is the holidays, I thought, “Awe hell, I’m going to give everyone a treat!” Since I rarely do this, I released Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, and Chapter Nine all at the same time!! So MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HONNAKA (sorry, if I misspelled it, please feel free to correct me because I have no clue how to spell the Jewish Christmas holiday. Please don‘t hate me (^-^,)) AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!!! So stay tight in your seat folks and enjoy the rest of the show!! UNTIL NEXT TIME PEACE OUT!!XD