Interrogations and Explanations

[Alice Cullen]

Finally the other three reached the landing and Alice all but dragged them into the room, she could hear the others leaving, and Rose and Emmett still working downstairs. The multitude of bags were already on the floor in the walk in wardrobe ready for the two men to put away at a later date and the straightener was sitting on the desk heating up as she waited.

Alice wasn’t that totally obsessive that she didn’t realise that the man didn’t like other people playing with his hair, it was pretty obvious to see when they were downstairs and she had mentioned it. So she went and sat on the bed instead of pushing him down in the chair and setting to work. She saw the frown from Bella as she and Nessie walked in and joined her on the bed, all three of them sitting cross-legged on the king sized bed.

“How come your not forcing your fashion on him!” Bella said with indignation, she for one didn’t think this was fair, when it came to her Alice was always trying to use her as a living barbie doll and here she was with someone more like her and she was sitting back and allowing him to do his own hair how unfair was that.

“Because unlike you, Dale appreciates fashion, and knows what he is doing, I can trust him to dress himself and do his own hair”

Little Alice said with a grin poking her tongue at Bella for a moment a smug look on her face and the look Bella now gave her. Laughing it off she turned her attention to the human, after all he was the interesting one right now.

“Ok so how did you come to be travelling with Chris? And how much do you know? Once I know these things I will explain everything to you, including how we knew you were coming”

She said shifting so she was laying on her stomach feet up in the air and her head resting in her hands watching the young male as if he were the most fascinating thing on the planet.

[Dale McCall]

Dale chewed his bottom lip, in an absentminded fashion as he compliantly followed the ladies into the room now deemed his own. His grey eyes flicked a little nervously towards the walk-in wardrobe, where all their clothing now sat, then to the straighteners being heated on the table, before settling on the petite vampire sitting on the single bed. All three vampire’s began to settle themselves, sitting comfortably beside one another, and Dale couldn’t help but feel a little more easeful at the friendly scene in front of him.

Crossing the small room, Dale decided to join them, climbing onto the king sized bed and arranging himself into a crossed-legged position in between Bella and Alice. Instantly, Bella began to scold Alice on the fact that she was ‘forcing her fashion on him’. Wait, no she wasn’t was she? Dale was a twenty one year old man, sure he was a little child-like, and a little naive but he knew well enough if he didn’t like something, he had the free will to say that enough was enough. He was about to point out just that, before Alice piped up instead, attesting for him. Hang on though, to say that Bella didn’t appreciate fashion may not have been a fair assumption either. Sure she could probably do a little more with her hair... a little root booster and the right shampoo and conditioner could fix that. But there really wasn’t anything too wrong with her choice in attire. Could have been allot worse, I mean, look at Chris.

He did appreciate that Alice trusted the fact that he was capable of dressing himself. Though the word’s sounded a little harsh, Dale could see though, that Alice had not meant for them to sound as harsh as they did. Right?

Suddenly his attention was back on Alice as she shifted her small frame to lay on her stomach, head resting on her palm’s as she looked up at him with rapture. The other two, appeared to be identically as interested, though seemed to have a far easier time discussing it as their pixie-like friend. Not that he didn’t like the attention. In all honesty, he was loving it!

“Oh um,” Dale perked up, sitting a little straighter as Alice asked him how he had met Chris. He was quite eager to have a few of his own questions answered himself. With an almost unconscious gesture, Dale brushed some of his jet-black hair from his forehead and tucked it behind his ear. “Well we me’ in London,” he began. “There were these two hood’s y’see, an’ I’d sor’a gotten into a bit of trouble with ‘em. Chris came outta no where an’ just started to defend me. Ended up breakin’ both their arms.” Dale mimed the break, making a little ‘crack’ sound with his voice for emphasis. “’Course he had to tell me abou’ ‘is lil secret didn’ he?”

Dale still flinched at the memory of it. He didn’t think he’d ever been so frightened before. The pain had been almost tolerable; he’d been beaten harder by his father in his youth before. It was the swelling he cringed at, and the blood. He remembered Chris telling Dale about the blood lust that came over vampire’s when they smelt the sanguine fluid, expecting to frighten him most likely, but instead Dale had been in awe. It must have taken allot of self control to hold himself in check as he tended to Dale’s blood nose. He had been so patient too, afterwards when Dale’s nose had bruised and he’d locked himself in the bathroom. Dale had been convinced he’d never look the same, and yet Chris managed to coax him out and convince him otherwise. Turns out Chris was right. His face was fine in a few days.

“‘E didn’ tell me allot. Jus’ the basic’s, like that there was always tha’ chance he could loose control. I kinda made a game outta it, see how far I could push ‘is temper. Like when we were stuck in the car,” Dale grinned at the fresh memory. “I was drummin’ my fingers against the dash board, just to see how far I could take it.”

He had to think back a little more, trying to remember what else Chris had told him. “He told me tha’ he ‘ad a choice whether or no’ he wanted to drink human blood or not. Then ‘e told me about you guys. Or what li’l ‘e did know anyway. Said that you were ‘vegetarians’, you only drink animal blood, an’ that ‘e wanted to join ya. I though’ he’d leave me after that, so I told ‘im tha’ I was alone. Which was true. I wanted to leave London, so I came with him, an’ hear I am.”

He wasn’t sure what else to tell them. To be completely honest, he was itching to ask them all questions too. “So, how long have you been vampires? Is i’ anything like on the movies? Do you have pet bats? Or vice versa? Tha’d be genius.” He grinned.

[Isabella Cullen]

I sat on the king sized bed, legs crossed under me as I listened to Alice and Dales chatter. Renesmee was equally quiet beside me both of us content with just listening to the two, they were so similar in their heights and their obsessions with fashion, Bella was totally different in this last respect. It was interesting to hear about how he and Chris had happened upon each other and it made me wonder what sort of trouble Dale had gotten himself into, but Alice didn’t seem worried and to be honest I didn’t think it really mattered too much.

I had to laugh when Dale asked about being a vampire, especially when he asked if it was like in the movies and if we had pet bats. It made me remember when I had first realised that Edward was a vampire. The first time he brought me to his house, this house I had been shocked at how open and light it was, I had expected a dark shut up house, with coffins and all. I guess it was just natural to think like that, after all it is what all normal people are lead to believe about vampires.

“We have all been vampires for different lengths of time, Renesmee and myself are the newest here, I’ve been a vampire for 10 years and Renesmee was born a vampire 10 years ago, Carlisle has been a vampire for over 300 years, and no its nothing like in the movies, and we don’t have pet bats, though we do drink blood.”

I answered him amusement in my voice, it was hard to believe that 10 years ago I was human, so many things had happened since then. I couldn’t remember details of my human life the way I could remember my vampire life, everything from before seemed fuzzy and incomplete when I thought about it. Though I still remember the attacks from James, Laurent, Victoria, the Volturi, the newborns, those things were still clear as a bell in my mind.

“Every vampire has basic enhanced abilities, like speed, hearing, sight, smell, and we of course never need to sleep, we also don’t need to breath, we tend to do it more out of habit and because it helps us know who’s around us, but there are some of our kind with extra abilities, like Edward who can read minds, everyone’s except mine, Alice can see the future, Jasper can change the emotions of a room, and Renesmee can project her thoughts into your mind through a touch”

I continued explaining to him the basic powers we all possessed and the added ones that some of us also possessed. As I was talking the rain had slowed and eventually it stopped, the sun came out for a rare appearance and filtered easily into the room through the tall windows of the room. When it hit the four of us sitting on the bed, I saw Alice’s skin sparkle like millions of diamonds, and I knew that mine would be doing just the same. Renesmee’s skin however stayed pretty much the same, since she was half and half her skin didn’t reflect the way ours did.

I wasn’t paying all that much attention to our sparkling skin, it was normal for me now. True it made more of an impact on me when I saw Edward this way, to me he was the most gorgeous thing on this earth especially when his skin sparkled like diamonds in the sun.

I was looking at Alice who had been sitting easily on the bed one second listening to the explanation I gave to Dale and then next she was staring off into the distance. Her eyes glazed over in a look I knew all to well, she was getting a vision of the future, but the small pull between her eyes told me that it was confusing her.

“Alice … Alice what do you see”

I asked shifting to sit in front of her my hand reaching out to touch her shoulder.

“Chris … Leaving … it’s not clear … I cant find the cause …”

Her words confused me for a time, it wasn’t normal for Alice’s visions to be confusing like this, surely she would see what it was that would make Chris leave, wouldn’t she?

“Alice, what’s going on?”

I asked more firmly, I watched as Alice’s eyes refocused, her forehead still knotted in confusion as she looked ahead at me.

“I’m not sure … I think it’s happening now, or at least the cause to it is .. they were running and then they stopped each seeing the same thing but separated … like Zafrina’s visions … there was another vampire, but I don’t know her … why didn’t I see her coming? I don’t understand … its like she used the holes in my visions but how would she know?”

Alice spoke quickly and quietly now, I thought vaguely that Dale would have problems keeping up with Alice’s ramblings, likely only catching a few words here and there.

“Where are they Alice? We have to stop Chris find out what caused this.”

“No you stay with Dale, I don’t think she knows about him … I’ll go, this is my mistake, this is something I missed, besides maybe Dale will have a better chance of fixing your fashion sence then I can”

Alice spoke her voice turning teasing at the end, then in a fluid motion she was off the bed and strolled to the window, without pausing it was open and she stepped out of the third story window, I heard the feather light thud as she hit the ground and knew she was already running to meet the others.

[Dale McCall]

Dale's large grey eyes widened with interest as Bella corrected his assumptions on how he'd percieved a vampire's living conditions. Obviously any assumptions that he had made were incorrect. He had half expected a Dracula's dungeon; stone castle, coffin's, gargoyle statues, candle wax dripping off of walls. Very gothic, really. Everything here, including these vampires, seemed, well, human.

He leaned forwards as Bella explained, his long ebony fringe falling towards his eyes. "Tha's well cool!" He said with a broad grin. So vampires were immortal; he'd assumed correct there. Carlisle had been a vampire for 300 years; how'd he become a vampire, he wondered. Bella had been a vampire for ten years, and Renesmee had been born a vampire ten years ago. They didnt need to breathe to survive either? Even when holding his breath, Dale could barely go over 30 seconds. The thought of never having to breath again was just out of this world, to him.

What sort of power's would he have, he wondered, if he were ever turned into a vampire? If Edward could read minds, and Alice could see the future, what other sorts of power's where there? Mental, he was sure. I mean, he doubted that any could fly, or turn invisible or anything like that. But how cool would it be!

Outside, Dale could see that the rain had subsided into a light drizzle, the sun, peeking it's golden face out from behind the clouds. But then, something he really did not expect to see, began to transpire in front of him. As the suns ray's filtered through the window, both Alice, and Bella's skin began to emmit a glowing sparkle tinge to it, creating a milions upon millions diamond effect. Without realizing it, he had allowed his jaw to drop slightly as he stared. Renesmee's skin, however, remained the same, and he found himself wondering why that was; the sun had lit up the entire room now. Was it because she was born a vampire? Her skin was just as pale, and as smooth and unblemished as the other two. He couldnt help but envy it; though he was very pale himself, and took great pride in the ashen beauty of his own complexion.

He looked towards Alice, now, who appeared to be daydreaming, her golden eyes glazed over as if she were looking at something far into the distance, but as he noticed Bella's shift in possition, and slight look of concern, he couldnt help but feel a slight pull of anxiety in the pit of his stomach. Something was clearly wrong with this picture. She was having some sort of vision. Dale leaned in a little closer, shifting towards little Alice to place a hand on her forearm; uncertain if it would help at all. Her eyes seemed to see right past him. A brick fell into his stomach as her word's reached his ears. "Wha' abou' Chris?" He was unable to mask the anxiety now clear in his voice. "Why is he leavin'? Wha's happening?"

Alice spoke again, but she was speaking so quickly that it was difficult for him to keep up. Something about Chris, that was certain. Another vampire? He didnt know, but it was clear that it meant trouble. Big trouble. "Is Chris hurt?" Dale's voice rose, in a panic. No. No he wasnt. It was something to do with him! If Dale wasnt already sitting down, he knew he'd need to be. He was now terrified – his greyish blue eyes were wide with fear, his face bloodless as his heart began to race. Alice sprung to her feet, making her way towards the window. She was making Bella and Renesmee stay with him. So it was something that had to do with both he and Chris. Oh, what if Chris was hurt? The thought alone caused an unsettling feeling of burning in his throat as his stomach turned. His breath quickened into short gasps. "Somethin's comin' after me innit?" His eyes, through still sparked with fear, dared them to tell him the truth, but Alice had already sprung out of the window.