We pulled up to the beautiful white house. I sat back in awe. Who had the ability to design something so simple, yet so extravagant at the same time? Probably Esme. Edward had said his family was a lot like him, which meant they were vampires too. They were all beautiful and pale skinned and had the eyes that changed from black to gold to black again. I wonder what made their eyes change.
I thought back to the ride home. It had been very quiet, Edward watched me a lot, so I starred out the window, when I felt his gaze upon me.
We didn't say a lot, I answered the questions that Edward asked me, and he answered mine. Like questions about my family, how they treated me, and about siblings.
"I've never had any, so there isn't much to say about that. I had a distant uncle, who didn't want anything to do with me. My mom was an only child and both of her parents were dead, so no relatives on that side. My grandparents are all dead, my grandmother on my father's side committed suicide after I had lived with them for one year. I was there, and I saw the whole thing, but I can't remember much about that. Just that there was a lot of blood, and she used a piece of broken mirror to do it.
"I remember staring at her, I was angry and I don't remember why, but I was staring at her, so angry I was shaking, I watched as a piece of glass impaled her, a piece she was holding."
I kept the fact that I had broken the mirror and that for some reason, I felt I killed her, even though I hadn't been any where near her, to myself.
--------------------------------------------------
I slowly climbed out of the car. I looked around the little clearing and then my eyes found Edward pulling my few suitcases out of the trunk. He led me inside.
WOW, I thought, it was huge in here. One wall was made entirely of glass, exactly how I wanted my house. The room we stood in was very spacious, a flat screen TV stood across from a couple of La Z Boy chairs and a white couch. Everything was pale in color.
"Would you like a grand tour,"Edward asked.
"Sure,"I replied.
"Emmett, will you take Liz's stuff up to my room. After the tour, can I have everyone outside, so that I can show Liz, what I promised to show her?"
I blushed.
He led me towards a large curving staircase and past it.
"This is the dining room,"he pointed out.
I marveled at the beautiful wooden table with matching chairs. The wall here was also made of glass, so this entire side of the house must be made of glass. We walked through a doorway into a room, that was obviously the kitchen.
"This is where we store the food. And since your human, we can cook for you if you want, or you can make your own if you prefer,"he gestured to the cabinets and stainless steel stove.
I stared at the beautiful tile floor and the counter top that looked nothing like the tiles, but went with it perfectly.
We walked back to the the curved stairs and for the first time I noticed a hallway behind him.
"Back this way is the bathroom and a cleaning closet, your free to use either, if you feel the need."
I smiled at him.
Then we headed up the ornately carved staircase. On the second floor he pointed out each room. Carlisle's office, Rosalie and Emmett's room, Alice's room, and Jasper's room. On the wall hung a beautifully carved wooden cross hanging on the wall.
"So, religious stuff doesn't hurt you?"I asked.
"No, that's a myth, like the sun, and we don't sleep."
"You don't sleep,"I whispered appalled.
"We can't."
"That sounds boring. What do you do at night, since you can't sleep?"
"Play the piano, read. What else is there to do?"
"I don't know, how old are you, both physically and realistically?"
"Well physically, I'm 17. Realistically, I was born in 1901."
I did the math in my head. If he was turned when he was 17, then he was turned in 1918. It was 2006 now, so then he was 105 years old.
I felt my mouth drop open and my eyes pop. I couldn't remember how to close my mouth.
"You're 105 years old?"
"Yes, you seem surprised."
"Well, yeah, you're an old guy trapped in a 17 year old body."
"Yeah, but I still feel like I'm 17. So what does it matter if I'm actually 105?"
"It doesn't really matter, but I guess I'm just shocked is all."
"You know, this cross is from the mid 1600s, Carlisle's dad made it. Carlisle was turned by a wild vampire whose coven was living in the sewers under the streets of London. He changed while he stayed quiet, a surprising thing, since the change is so painful. He tried killing himself, but it's really hard to kill a vampire. He never fed on a human, he was hiding in the forest, away from civilization when he realized he could live off of animals. So starved was he that he drank from deer. He became more civilized and over time, he swam the channel to France. He made his way to Italy, where he met another coven of vampires, this one more civilized than the wraiths under the streets of London. They are the Volturi, they're the royalty to us vampires, the law. He stayed with Aro, Marcus, and Caius for a decade, trying to persuade them to try animals, while the tried to persuade him to keep the natural food source. He decided to come to the new world."
"Poor Carlisle, to have to fight what he is, just because he was turned."
"Carlisle changed me, and everyone else in my family, except Alice and Jasper. Jasper was the youngest major during the civil war, while Alice was in an assylum for her human life. Carlisle only changed us because we were dying. I almost died of the Spanish Influenza, Esme jumped off a cliff, they took her straight to the mortuary. Rosalie was beaten by her drunk fiance and left to die on the street, she saved Emmett from a grizzly bear and brought him to Carlisle."
I stared at the floor, poor people, known of them chose it. They all were suffering, but I've always wanted to be a vampire, I could deal with the blood drinking and pain of the change, as long as I got to be beautiful and strong, and could see so much. It would be so cool. Now I knew one, so maybe my wish would be fulfilled.
"Well, let's continue our tour, shall we?"
He led me up a second set of stairs. There were five doors, one at the end of the hall, and two on either side of it. The two doors on the right were Alice's fashion room and the Library. On the left were Carlisle and Esme's room, and Esme's office. The door at the end of the hall was Edward's room.
He opened the door and I gasped. His room had a glass wall, so it must be facing the same way the living room and dining room were. The carpet was gold and the walls were a lighter shade of gold. In the middle of the room was a king size, if not bigger, bed with gold and black covers and black iron roses welded to the head board. He had a black sofa pushed against the north wall and a complicated stereo on the other side of the bed. Nailed to the walls were shelves and shelves of CDs. There were enough CDs here, that it could have been a music store.
"How are these ordered,"I asked my eyes wide once more.
"By year, than by preference."
I walked along the walls, reading each title, there were just so many.
After that I jumped on the bed. I noticed my stuff in front of the couch.
"So, if you don't sleep, why do you have this very comfortable bed here?"
"Well, Bella,"he winced,"used to sleep in it, and I didn't feel like getting rid of it."
"Oh,"I couldn't think of a more sympathetic answer.
I looked out the window wall an for the first time noticed the beautiful view.
"Wow, what a beautiful landscape."
"Yeah. I can't argue from my view point either."
I looked over at him to see where his viewpoint led and he was looking at me. I blushed and smiled as I looked down.
"Ready to see what we can do?"
I smiled wider as I looked up at him.
"Of course."
Then he took my hand and led me back down stairs.