Dusk

#25

Bella

We walked through the deep shade up to the porch. I knew she could feel my tension; her thumb rubbed soothing circles into the back of my hand.

She opened the door for me.

The inside was even more surprising, less predictable, than the exterior. It was very bright, very open, and very large. This must've originally been several rooms, but the walls had been removed from most of the first floor to create one wide space. The back, south-facing wall had been entirely replaced with glass, and, beyond the shade of the cedars, the lawn stretched bare to the wide river. A massive curving staircase dominated the west side of the room. The walls, the high-beamed ceiling, the wooden floors, and the thick carpets were all varying shades of white.

Waiting to greet us, standing just to the left of the door, on a raised portion of the floor by a spectacular grand piano, were Rosalie's guardians.

 I'd seen Dr. Cullen before, of course. At his side was Esme, I assumed, the only one of the family I'd never seen before. She had the same beautiful features as the rest of them but, like Emmett, was black. Something about her heart-shaped face, her soft raven-colored curls, reminded me of the silent-movie era. She was small, slender, yet less angular, more rounded than the others. They were both dressed casually, in light colors that matched the inside of the house. They smiled in welcome, slowly making their way towards me.

"Carlisle, Esme," Rosalie's voice broke the short silence, "this is Bella."

"It's great to see you again, Bella," Carlisle said, raising his hand towards me. "Without injuries this time."

Chuckling softly, I shook hands with him. "Yeah, it's nice to see you again, Dr. Cullen."

"Please, call me Carlisle."

I nodded, shaking my hand with Esme this time. She smiled warmly at me.

"I'm glad I'm finally meeting you, Bella," she said sincerely. "Rosalie has talked a lot about you."

I glanced at Rosalie, only to see her scowling playfully at Esme. "I'm glad she does."

Having enough of us teasing her, Rosalie asked, "Where is everyone?" They didn't answer, as they had just appeared at the top of the wide staircase.

"Hey, Rosalie!" Alice called enthusiastically. She ran down the stairs, a streak of black hair and tan skin, coming to a sudden and graceful stop in front of me. "And hey again, Bella." Unlike the others, Alice hugged  me instead of shaking my hand.

"Hey Alice." After letting the smaller girl go, I turned to Jasper. "Hello, Jasper."

"Bella," he spoke with a slight southern draw. Jasper kept his distance, not offering to shake my hand.

Rosalie's hand touching mine made me turn back to her. "I'm gonna show Bella around." Her family nodded and sped off to somewhere else. "Come on."

"Who's piano?" I asked, gesturing to the beautiful instrument.

"It's Edward's really," she told me. We took a seat on the piano bench, moving her fingers over the keys. "I play sometime, but not as much as him."

 "Will you play for me?"

Rosalie leaned in to kiss my forehead. "Soon, I promise. They like you, you know. Esme especially."

"Really?" She nodded, giving me a reassuring smile. "Well they do but, Edward and Emmett."

Rosalie scoffed. "Don't worry about Emmett. He really wanted to be here, to actually talk to you but Edward took him somewhere."

"So he's the one that doesn't like me."

"Edward struggles the most with what we are," she explained. "It's hard for him to have someone on the outside know the truth. Not to mention he's a little jealous."

I laughed softly. "Jealous? Of what?"

"You're human." She shrugged. "He wishes that he were, too."

"Oh," I muttered. "And Jasper..."

"He's still sensitive to human blood," she said. "So he's keeping a safe distance until he is used to you."

How thoughtful of him. "Carlisle and Esme?"

"Are happy to see me happy, actually. Esme doesn't care that you're human, neither does Carlisle." Rosalie grabbed my hand to play with my fingers. "There's something I need to tell you. Alice sees some visitors coming soon. They know we're here, and they're curious."

"Visitors?"

"Yeah. They aren't like us, in their hunting habits, I mean. Hopefully, they won't come into town at all but I'd feel a lot better if I was with you until they left."

"I agree," I muttered, squeezing her hand. My eyes started to wander again around the spacious room.

Her eyes followed my gaze. "Not what you expected, huh?"

"No," I admitted. "It's so...light. And open."

"It's the one place we don't have to hide," she whispered, smiling softly. Clearing her throat, Rosalie quickly stood from the bench and pulled me with her. "Let me show you the rest of the house."

We walked up the massive staircase, my hand trailing along the satin-smooth rail. The long hall at the top of the stairs was paneled with a honey-colored wood, the same as the floorboards.

"Edward and Emmett's room...Carlisle's office...Alice and Jasper's room..." She gestured as she led me past the end of the hall, staring incredulously at the ornament hanging on the wall above my head. Rosalie chuckled at my questioning expression.

"It is sort of ironic," she said.

"It must be very old," I guessed. I didn't touch the dark cross that hung on the wall. Though I was curious if the aged wood would feel as silky as it looked.

"Um...early sixteen-thirties, more or less." She shrugged.

I turned away from the cross to look at her. "Why do you keep it here?"

"Nostalgia. It belonged to Carlisle's dad."

"He collected antiques?" I suggested doubtfully.

"Actually, he carved it himself. It was from where he preached."

"Wow," I scoffed. "How old is Carlisle?"

"Three hundred and sixty-two," she said nonchalantly. Rosalie looked at me, probably seeing the many questions in my eyes. She smiled at me. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

"Only a couple."

Her smiled widened. She started back down the hall, pulling me along by the hand. "Come one, then," she encouraged. "I'll tell you." 

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Guys, I swear I'm not a vampire

Last time I check, I was 100% human

Anyways, what type of energy/vibe do I give off. I'm curious on what y'all think.

Bye!