Animal I Have Become

[Edward's POV]

"Now that everyone is in the room," Carlisle stopped walking in the middle of the living room. "I can begin to tell you my findings on the attacks."

The whole family except for Renesmee was there. Stefan and Elena was sitting together on the floor with the latter resting her head on the former's shoulder. And Jacob Black - who seemed to be in better spirits lately - is sitting at the corner with Sam Uley.

I was sitting by the couch, my arms resting on the arm-rest with my fingers on my forehead. I knew where this conversation was going, so I decided to sit back and listen to everyone talk.

"It could've been done by a vampire or a werewolf. Or something else. I'm not sure."

"You don't expect a human to do it, do you?" Emmett voiced out but Carlisle shook his head.

"So that means Nessie was right about Damon keeping his word?" Alice stood up with her face full of optimism.

"Damon is anything but honest," Stefan said but Elena poked him on the ribs. "I mean, I know my brother."

"But Nessie would never lie," Alice protested.

Not when she's drinking his blood, a voice thought to themself and I looked up in fury to find the source.

I spotted Rosalie looking at me before she shifted on her seat uncomfortably.

"What have you been keeping from me?" I questioned, more directly to Rosalie.

"What do you mean, Edward?" Esme asked.

"Can someone explain to me why she hasn't been visiting us lately?" I was still looking at my sister. She tried her best to not think of anything in case I was listening.

Carlisle looked as though he was confused himself. He looked around at the others, his eyes demanding the same question I asked.

"It was nothing," Emmett finally spoke, looking at the rest of us. "Rosalie said some things and Nessie got upset."

Immediately, I turn to glare at Rosalie.

"But she got even angrier when Emmett thought she wanted to attack Rose," Alice added and this time, I turned to glance at my older brother.

He scratched the back of his head in embarrasment. "It wasn't on purpose. You know how protective I am of Rose." To make his point, he brought his wife closer to him.

"Have you not learn anything from your mistakes, Rosalie?" I hissed with my head hung low. It was no use of me to get angry over the same things over again.

"I did no wrong," Rosalie remained mule-headed.

"You treated Bella the same way!" I roared but two pair of hands were holding me back. That was when I realized that I had stood up and was a few inches away from my beautiful sister.

"Edward," there was an authorative tone that was coming from Carlisle.

I shook my head and went to take a seat back on the couch; shutting my eyes instantly and reminded myself to take a few deep breaths.

"I know how important Nessie is to us all," even though my eyes were shut, I could feel my father's eyes on my figure. "It is more important to solve this case on the increasing amount of corpses. In my years of knowledge, I have never come across anything like this."

"What did you found on the victims?" Alice spoke when everyone was still silent about the recent argument.

"Well," Carlisle paused to exhale his breath out loud. "It could've been a werewolf because the victims were almost unrecognizable. The face and legs were badly distorted - bite marks that are big enough to be coming from a grizzly.

"And then there are the teeth marks on the corpse's hand. Teeth marks that could've been from a vampire," at that moment, Carlisle frowned.

"Maybe a werewolf found the victim first and when it was done, a vampire could've been close-by?" Elena spoke her mind.

"Or these two are working together," Emmett added as he pointed to Jacob and then to us. "Just like we are working together now."

"The thing that puzzles me the most is how smart this culprit is. They know exactly how we identify these bodies and thus tries their best to make their victims unknown."

Everyone was silent again. My eyes were still shut but I was listening to everyone's thoughts from time to time. My lips twitched upwards when I heard Jacob's thoughts but refrained myself from chuckling.

"Damon is really good in covering himself up," Stefan said out loud.

Damon would never break his promises, I felt Elena tensed.

"Let's just say," Jasper spoke up and everyone was looking at him - even I opened one of my eyes to look at him, "As an alternative, that your brother is not the reason for all these attacks. What other beings could've done this?"

I opened both my eyes and just stared into an empty space, listening intently.

"Emmett could've made a point. Either these two beings are working with each other or it could be a sadistic psychopath human," Rosalie nodded towards her husband who, in return, gave her a gentle squeeze on her shoulder.

"It could've been a human," Alice agreed. "I mean, we all know I cannot see anything that is a real threat to us."

Is Edward even listening to this conversation, I heard Elena question herself in her mind.

My eyes flickered over to her and when she saw that, she quickly gave a small tight smile, her face flushed red. I couldn't blame her for thinking like that. Vampires do not need to breathe and we don't feel uncomfortable like a human would if we don't move for seconds - people could mistake us for a statue.

"Stefan," I called out and he looked up at me in response. "Did you find the vervain to keep Damon from controlling my daughter's mind?"

"It's rare to find them these days - Damon made sure of that for the past few years now," I felt my shoulders sink but he continued, "But I've a good friend who told me that vervains are now blooming over in Glasgow; England. I'll leave in a few days to go find them with Elena."

"No," I shook my head. "I'll go over to England and find this vervain. I have to stop Damon from influencing my daughter any further. And if it's the only way to stop him, then I should hurry. Besides, you are the only one who he would not hurt."

Stefan laughed a grim laughter but didn't say anything. I took the silence from everyone as a sign of approval so I stood up and got ready for my overseas trip.