Endless Secrets

It’s Saturday – the day after I had reluctantly agreed to meet Jasper’s family. Waiting for him in the forest, I lean against a tree and brace myself for the worst. I had completely refused to go to his house on my own; I had absolutely no idea what would happen. The whole situation makes me nervous. I don’t know how Jasper’s family will react to me. Will they like me? Will they have a similar reaction to Sam, unwilling to allow Jasper to be in a relationship with a shapeshifter?

I don’t even want to think about how Alice will react.

To my left, I hear the rustling of leaves. Turning my head, I see Jasper approaching me with a bright smile. “Ready to go?” He asks, reaching out to grab my hand. I nod; I’ve been preparing for this all morning – mentally and physically. This morning, Marisol helped me pick out an outfit; something I rarely allowed. We ended up choosing something simple; black shorts, a cream blouse with a black beaded collar, and black sneakers.

“Aren’t you going to shift?” Jasper asks after a moment, pulling me out of my anxiousness.

I grin at him. “Nope, let’s go.”

I run off them, leaving Jasper behind. Of course, it took seconds for him to catch up. Glancing at him, I saw confusion etched onto his face. That was expected; he probably didn’t realize I could run at nearly the same speed as him, as a wolf or not.

Unfortunately, we got to his house in less than five minutes. I stare up at the massive, modern house, admiring it. I had seen it before, but even now, it was still impressive. As we slow to a walk and approach the front door, Jasper grabs my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. I quietly take a deep breath as Jasper opens the door and announces our arrival to the rest of his family. He leads me through the house to what I assume is the living room.

It takes me a second to realize that everyone was in the room, standing around and staring at me. I blink, starting to feel more overwhelmed and claustrophobic rather than my initial nervousness. As best as I can, I ignore the feeling and smile warmly. I think everyone notices my discomfort because after a moment, they sit down and spread out around the room. There seems to be a place for everyone; a window seat, two couches, and a loveseat between two bookcases. Jasper wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me down onto a couch, where I sit next to a lovely brunette woman. Esme, I think. Jasper has told me about each member of his family; he’d done a pretty good job at explaining. Without them introducing themselves, I’m positive I know everyone’s name and general personality.

Jasper quickly kisses my cheek, leaving both burning in slight embarrassment. I glance around the room at his family; everyone seems amused at both of our behaviors. I always thought I was good in any situation – I guess meeting the mate’s family is the exception.

Nearly as soon as Jasper moves away, Esme wraps her arms around me in a tight hug. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you, Silvia!” She exclaims with a content sigh.

My eyes widen in shock for half a second before I awkwardly return the hug. I hadn’t really expected to be in such close contact with anyone. Normally I don’t really like personal contact, but I guess Jasper’s another exception to that.

I smile at Esme as she backs off, hoping she doesn’t think I’m a total bitch. She seems to completely ignore my awkwardness and instead tells me how everyone has wanted to get to know me. Esme then apologizes for what happened last time; I just shrug. It wasn’t as if Esme or anyone else had anything to do with it; they definitely didn’t tell Alice to try and kill me. Besides, honestly, if I had been in Alice’s position, I would have done the same thing.

I mean, I did “steal” her mate.

Looking around the room, I try to keep the smile from my face as I notice Alice isn’t anywhere to be found. Maybe today won’t progress as badly as I had expected; everyone seems kind. Or, if they don’t like me, they certainly aren’t expressing that thought.

Esme has everyone introduce themselves, even though I already know who’s who. Rosalie and Bella, who are sitting on the other couch, are quick to bombard me with questions about my life. Esme was right; they do seem to want to get to know me. It doesn’t even seem nosy; they just seem genuinely curious.

I answer all their questions as much as I can, until Carlisle’s voice interrupts them. “I can’t seem to place your accent,” He says, leaning forward from his spot on the loveseat, “Where are you from, Silvia?”

“I was born in Italy, but I’ve been travelling for years.” I tell him, wondering just how long I’ve been away from home. “There are probably dozens of other accents mixed in with my Italian. I’ve been away from home for a while.”

“How many languages do you know?” Rosalie asks. “I only bothered learning French and Italian.”

Pursing my lips, I try to think – I haven’t used any language other than English for quite some time now. It was hard to say exactly how many languages I knew, and what. The number was definitely high. “Um, I’m not exactly sure. Most of the major European languages are easy for me. I learned French and German after English, then picked up on Spanish, Polish, and tons more. Some kind of overlap, so it gets confusing, but once I learn something it usually stays with me. I also know Russian, and bits and pieces of Asian and African languages. Like I said, I’ve been travelling for a while.” I tell her, laughing at how ridiculous it sounds. I’ve had a lot of free time – and communication is necessary when you’re searching for something in a foreign country.

Emmett starts quizzing me on languages, telling me to say silly things in other languages. I teach him how to swear in German and Russian. He says everything sounds violent in them, to which I mostly agree. If you’re looking at those languages from an English standpoint, everything sounds rough and angry. However, I find Russian a rather beautiful language.

I lose track of how long we talk. Eventually, the Cullens stop asking about languages and end up telling me about themselves. They tell me how they became vampires and how they came to be a part of Carlisle’s coven. I find myself surprised by Rosalie’s story; it wasn’t something I’d expected. At the end of it, I can’t help but to add, “Well, I think he got what he deserved.” My voice is quiet, but everyone hears. Someone laughs – Emmett, I think – and Rosalie grins. Carlisle, however, glances at me disapprovingly. I shrug it off; not everyone has to be alright with violence. It’s obvious he’s against it.

I try not to laugh at Bella’s story and all the shit she went through. She’s the only one who wanted to become a vampire from the beginning. However, I try not to judge her too much; everything she did was because she loved Edward. But, in the end, even Bella was turned to avoid death.

I can’t help but to glance at the girl sitting between Edward and Bella every so often. She looks to be fourteen, but I know that she can’t be older than seven, due to Bella and Edward’s stories. I had studied hybrids for a long time, but even now, they still confused me. I didn’t understand how Renesmee could have a beating heart and still be growing, yet somehow be immortal. She could consume both blood and human food, or live off only one. It didn’t seem possible. Then again, a lot about this family seemed impossible. They were the first coven I’ve heard of that has been living as vampire “vegetarians” – I’d heard of, and met, a few nomads, but nothing large.

After a while, I realize Renesmee has been glancing at me every so often, probably as curious about me as I have of her. I wonder how many…wolves she’s met. Certainly she hasn’t met the whole pack; I doubt Edward would want her mingling with them. Jacob had to be an exception. Or maybe, she’s got that whole “running with the wolves” thing going on. I don’t know.

I’m drawn out of my thoughts by a noise outside. It shouldn’t have worried me – except I hear footsteps. Footsteps that are most likely from the person who was nowhere to be found. Quietly, I sucked in a breath, wondering just what was about to go down. Jasper glances at me worriedly; he has to be as tense as I am, waiting for the she-devil to see me getting close to her family.

The room went silent as the door opened. I could hear her footsteps heading toward us, deliberate and angry. It took less than a second for her head to pop around the corner and glare at me with a furious stare.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Alice hisses, leaning towards me rather menacingly. I stare right back at her, hoping I don’t look afraid of her. I might be a little fearful, but I certainly don’t want to act that way.

She turns to stare at Carlisle. “This is all part of her plan!” Alice tells him, her voice rising in volume, “She’s going to get all of you on her side and infect my family like a goddamn parasite!”

Alice lets that sink in for a moment, then frowns when no one says anything. I can tell everyone’s nervous – but is it because of Alice or because of me?

When she speaks again, Alice’s voice is level and unemotional, as if she hadn’t just been shouting and unbelievably angry. “Okay, fine.” She says, placing a hand on her hip. “I told you what will happen. I told you. She’s going to screw us all over, but obviously none of you care about that. You don’t care about Jasper.”

Then she turns to me, and I’m met with a bone-chilling stare. “But, I promise you, when it does happen, I’ll be the first one to kill her.”

“Alice—”

Carlisle calls out to her as she starts to walk away. He looks ill, if it were possible for a vampire. Alice brushes him off and storms up to her room, slamming the door shut.

But that leaves me with one thought. Alice’s powers don’t extend to werewolves or shapeshifters. So how the hell did she have a vision about me?