In Dire Need of Cessation

Two

Logically, I started to clear the interior of the house with the main hall first, picking up the ruins of a chandelier before sweeping the floor with the broom Alice supplied me in my car. Admittedly, every single slight shift in the wind had me on alert. I was looking behind me every so often, to see only the bare wall. Paranoia was hardly a well-known acquaintance of mine, as ever since my transition I had been lackadaisical of my surroundings, under the belief that I couldn't be harmed by a mere human.

If it wasn't for my ridiculous behavior, it would have seemed that everything was okay. That nothing had happened as the house stood still, feigning innocence while a sinister feeling bit the air. 

With the focus on trying to make this house at least suitable for my family, I used my full speed to flash around the house, amassing together the debris and destroying ruins of what used to be furniture. The music in my ears, transported from my phone, was advantageous on my part, as it meant the silence didn't shroud over the death of the house, suffocating everything living with its tail.

Suddenly, interrupting my music, the familiar tune of my ringtone sounded through the white plugs as I was collecting the scattered pieces of various different objects from the floor in the drawing room. Without much thought, I swiped to answer, seeing the caller identification of Esme while doing so. I kept my earphones in, using them instead of hastily trying to sweep the floors while balancing my phone between my shoulder and chin.

"Hello, Esme." I smiled naturally in greeting, still not stopping the task at hand.

"Edward," Esme said. "How is everything?" What was meant to be an innocent start to a probable request from my mother figure, turned out to be a serious dilemma when answering. How was everything? Certainly not okay, nor normal. I was getting increasingly paranoid that something was behind me, watching, predicting, waiting, while I was incapable of doing anything. My family was thankfully safe and with each other, doing a more productive job than what I was entertaining, while I was captured in the house's curse and games, going more delusional by each passing second.

So how was everything?

"Great!" I answered with a fake enthusiasm that everyone would fall for- apart from when Jasper was around. I knew what I had to do to act; smile, make sure to keep it moving and not just plastered on my face like wallpaper, laugh, and chuckle, keep it light and not too heavy, and raise my voice at the appropriate times to ensure they fall into the trap of my fake happiness.

The perfect act that had been practiced for quite some time.

"I was unable to retrieve any furniture, sadly," I continued while my mind was thinking about the ball of metal that was once a baby carriage outside the front door. "However, I am just clearing some of this rubble, in time for you all to come back home."

Keep my voice light. Not sounding too desperate when saying 'you all to come back home'.

"Excellent." I could practically see Esme nodding thoughtfully. "Carlisle and I are just looking into those stairs, I have the measurements with me," she informed, surprisingly not adding more to the subject. Perhaps, like most times, when Esme was worried or stressed, her answers became less detailed and more brusque.

"That's good, I hope you're coping alright in Seattle. It is quite a crowded place," I replied, cocking my head to the side while looking at the wooden doors that I originally placed to the side, leaning against the wall as the hinges were too weak to support them. Something was different.

Esme laughed. "Yes, we're coping just fine, thank you, Edward. Although, I do have a question to ask."

Both doors, oak and frail with copper handles that were chipping with rust, and once beside each other, were adjacent to the other. One door on the original wall, and the other on the wall that cornered the other; creating an equal length 'L' instead of a straight front facing picture.