BONKERS || Edward Cullen

Rats, Realities, and Realization

December 18th rolled around and the snow fell heavy. It stuck in Celia's eyelashes and on her blonde hair as she walked to school. She spoke to her friends the whole way, teeth chattering ever so lightly. As she entered the parking lot, it looked as though she was speaking to herself to the students that did not know about the friends in her head.
It was only in the few days prior that she had begun to seek out the Cullens when she got to school. She would look to their parking spaces, smile, and wave back at them. She would join them at their cars and hug them all.
On December 18th, however, the Cullens were not there.
'seems they don't care as much as you thought.' the Cheshire cat teased venomously.
'hush up, you twit. They probably just needed to hunt. I'm sure they will be back by lunch.' She fired back.
However, the Cullens were not back by lunch. Celia sat at their usual table, writing in her journal, doodling pictures of the friends in her head.
Once school ended and the Cullens hadn't yet showed, Celia gave up on the hopes of seeing them that day. She sat through her detention that she had gotten from refusing to dissect the rats in biology.
Detention ended and she walked out of the school with her head down. She began to start her trek home, but stopped when she heard her name being called. She recognized that voice, and it wasn't from her mind. She turned around, hope in her eyes, and saw Edward. She ran to him with excitement on her features.
"Hello, Edward. I didn't think I would see you today." She said shyly. He chuckled and threw an arm around her shoulders.
"I'm sorry my family and I weren't at school today. We had some unexpected company during the night." He explained, making Celia triumphantly tell her friends 'i told you so.'
"Do not apologize." She said softly as he opened his passenger door for her.
"Would you like to go to my house and meet our cousin clan? They're like us, they feed on animal blood." He asked once starting the car. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.
"I suppose that couldn't hurt." She smiled. Edward grabbed her pale hand in his and pulled out of the parking lot, both ignoring the blush on Celia's cheeks.
The ride was silent other than Celia's occasional humming. Both pale skinned, odd people enjoyed the silence.
Pulling up to the Cullen house, Celia could see figures passing by the hall through the glass. Edward led her into the house and to the kitchen.
"Are you hungry?" He fretted. She shook her head slowly and pursed her lips as her friends sneered at her.
'we haven't been out in days'
'and even then you brought him'
'theyre too odd'
'theyre dangerous'
'youre going to get hurt'
'they don't really like you'
'the father is a white coat!'
The last thought stuck in Celia's head and she shook her head, attempting to force the thoughts out. Carlisle Cullen was too kind hearted to be a white coat. She looked up to see Edward staring at her, concerned.
"Are you alright, Celia?" He asked, placing his hand over hers. She nodded and grabbed the man, surprising them both as she pulled him into a tight hug.
'these are my friends, too.' she left no room for argument.
The two walked into the upstairs living room where people the blonde did not recognize sat. Three blonde women, who Celia learned were sisters named Irina, Kate, and Tanya and a dark haired couple, Eleazar and Carmen.
Eleazar gasped aloud at the sight of the girl. He had never seen a gift like hers. He was able to sense when others had gifts, and what they were. Edward was quick to look into Eleazar's mind.
That was when they found out that Celia was not just visiting her own mind. She was visiting another reality completely.

Edward and Emmett drove Celia home. She sat in the backseat and wrote in her journal.

Edward couldn't stop thinking about what he had discovered from Eleazar. She wasn't collapsing into her mind, she was jumping into different realities.
Emmett pulled up to the address Celia had given him and both vampires gawked.

"Celia, this is where you live?" Edward asked, turning to the girl. She finally looked out the window and sighed, nodding.
"Yes. This is my house." She stated simply. She gathered her things and went to open her door, when three figures came running out of the house. She rolled her eyes and shared a look with Edward, who got out and encouraged her to do the same.
"Celia! Where have you been?!" The older woman shouted, pulling her daughter into a hug. Celia shrugged her mother off of her and looked back at Edward as an explanation.
"I'm sorry for keeping her. I gave her a ride after school and took her to hang out at my home." Edward apologized, holding a hand out for her father to shake, "I'm Edward Cullen."

EDWARDS POV

Her parents's and sister's minds were full of worried thoughts. I was plagued with images of Celia screaming, shoving people, throwing things, and having meltdowns. I saw her holding knives and threatening people. I saw her letting out animalistic growls at her family.
It was the first time I truly saw why Celia was gone the first few months of school. She had gone to a psychiatric hospital. Images flashed in her parents minds of her sitting in the chairs during visiting hours, staring blankly until they pushed her to talk, which only led to her screaming and pouncing at them. I couldn't believe the images I was seeing were of the sweet girl I had come to love. I saw, in the sisters mind, Celia standing over her with a match. I couldn't watch any longer after seeing the match fall from her hands onto her sisters bed.
I looked to Celia, shocked. The innocent look on her face proved that she was not mentally stable. The realization was bone-chilling.
I did not love her any less. She was still my mate, and if anything I was only shocked and guilty that she had gone through so much pain.
There was no doubt that her parents cared about her, but according to their minds, they had grown tired of the constant insanity that was their daughter. It was selfish of me, but all I could think was that vampires could not have mental illnesses.

(AUTHORS NOTE: Hello all, it's your author here. I just wanted to touch up on the ending of this chapter because I see all of your comments and concerns surrounding the "inability" for vampires to have "mental illness." I added this into the story to try to show that in THIS reality Edward (as well as the other vampires) is a lot different from the Twilight series BECAUSE he doesn't suffer from depression or other chemical imbalances that he did in the original works. I hope this clears some things up! I never meant to overlook their mental illnesses or take away from them, they're simply different characters in this work of fanfiction 🙂)