MANIPULATIVE || Edward Cullen

Vulnerable

So they would go to Underland. They would know what to do. They were stuck in the void of Celia's mind for years, and although they didnt solve the problem directly, they would know. Celia insisted they would know.

"I'm going with you." Edward murmured. Alice's body stood in front of him, but it was Celia he spoke to. From within Alice, Celia protested, knowing exactly what Edward would do if he came face to face with his mates kidnappers. Edward scrunched his nose in disapproval, insisting that the girls would be safer with him there. Eventually, out of exasperation mostly, Celia agreed, making Edward promise he would be practical and cautious.

"I promise, Celia. I would never forgive myself if..." he trailed off, shaking the thoughts of losing his newfound Light out of his head.

Close your eyes, just relax. Celia instructed, slowly forgetting what they were even supposed to be doing. Alice did as she was told and sat on the couch between Edward and Jasper.

"How do you know this will work?" Rosalie questioned. Alice's eyes stayed closed and she focused on Celia telling her to open her mind. Edward looked to Rosalie and explained the best he could.

"Well, since Celia can basically fall into Underland effortlessly due to so many years of practice, we're hoping she can do it even from inside Alice's mind. 

Okay Alice, I need you to just focus on me. Celia instructed lightly. Alice focused on the presence of Celia in her mind. The slight pressure she felt when Celia spoke or expressed an emotion. Celia felt herself slowly melting into Alice's being, and holding Edward's hand through someone else. She tried to keep her mind on the task at hand, but she began to veer off course.

"Celia, let's go to Underland," Edward mumbled, and as soon as the place crossed Celia's mind, she felt it pulling her to it. She remembered the decade she had spent locked away and it scared her. She nearly backed out, but Alice was concentrating on it, too, and the three of them were practically thrown into the world.

Celia gasped as she hit the hard ground, feeling breath fill her own dead lungs instead of Alice's. She gripped at her body, feeling everything she had come to miss in the short time she spent away from it. The feeling of relief and comfort faded quickly as she looked around. 

No Alice.

No Edward.

Nothing but white.

"no," she whispered, jumping up from the white floor and looking around at the cameras. "No, no, NO!" She banged her fists against the walls and door. "Someone LET ME OUT!!!" She pleaded. Her vampire strength did nothing to penetrate the barriers, and she finally gave up, letting her body slide down the wall into a sitting position with sobs racking her body. She touched a hand to her face and pulled it back shakily, a tear resting upon her fingertip. 

She was vulnerable, weak. This place made her weak.

She only hoped Edward remembered his way through Underland, and that he and Alice were still their usual indestructible selves.

What felt like hours had probably only been minutes, but Celia was already numbing up to the room, remembering the decade she spent imprisoned there. She wasn't sure she could do it again. There was so much to remind her of her time there. The room, the cameras, the loneliness, even the tears that streamed down her face had been absent since her last time in the world. 

She sat on the cold floor, feeling temperature was a distant yet familiar sensation. Her eyes stayed locked on a camera across the room. She knew they were watching, she could feel it. If looks could kill, they would have all burned through the camera by now. Everything human about her brought back horrible memories. Breathing, crying, sniffling. Eventually, she felt hunger begin to spread in her stomach. It was different than the hunger she had experienced as a vampire. 

Everything about her was human again, and she despised its creeping up on her. Even her thoughts began to become cluttered and sporadic once again.

EDWARD POV

We landed harshly on the brick path, a sensation slightly familiar to me. We stood, and I gritted my teeth as I realized Celia was absent from Alice's mind. Alice seemed to realize as well, because she began searching frantically around us for my mate's body. 

"This way," I mumbled, not waiting for Alice as I made my way down the path. I remembered where Celia had taken me the first time I visited Underland with her, thankfully.

"Where are we going?" Alice asked. A sultry voice in the tree answered her before I could. 

"Ahh, that does seem to be the question, dear Alice," he spoke. Alice and I looked up at the tree branch, a strange cat with a wide, human like smile stared down at us with glowing eyes. I didn't hesitate to try to grab him, planning to force him to explain where Celia was. I held hatred and anger for these creatures who imprisoned and tortured my mate for 10 years of her existence. 

My hand grasped thin air as the cat vanished before us. I growled in frustration, turning around to see him staring down from a different tree. His eyes met mine, and if looks could kill he would have fallen rigid.

"Where is Celia?" I asked, venom dripping from my voice. The cat gave me a cheeky wink as I glared back. He turned his attention back to Alice and laughed.

"We simply wanted to show our dear Alice--" 

"Her name is Celia!" Featherless birds cawed and fled from the trees above us as my voice boomed through the garden-like world. The echo seemed to travel for miles. 

CELIA POV

I could have sworn I heard Edward whisper my name. 
I longed to hear his voice telling me everything was okay. I longed to feel his embrace, which I had grown numb to the temperature of since my turning. I knew if I touched him now, I would feel the cold burn against ny skin, and I longed for that, too.
I savored the vulnerability that came with my tears and labored breaths. I had forgotten the years they were there to comfort me throughout my childhood. I had forgotten the feeling of hopelessness, and of fear.
I heard a small buzzing like sound, and looked over to a camera across the wall. It was moving, slowly aiming itself at me.
Staring into the lens felt like staring down the barrel of a loaded gun. I had no clue who was on the other side, who might be watching me in my weakest state.
Nevertheless, I stared back. I wouldn't let myself look away; I hoped whoever was behind the screen could see the pain I felt. I hoped, for a moment, that my friends were my friends again. That Hatter would come galloping in with his goofy long legs and pick me up off the floor. That the Tweedle Twins would make me giggle, that the White Rabbit would wipe my tears and tell me, "there's no time for crying, dear."
But they wouldn't, would they? My last decade spent in their presence was in this room, with these cameras.
Then, I began wishing my family were there. Thoughts of my mothers gentle touch and my fathers humor swirled in my mind. They were things I never got to notice as a human, and would never get to learn as a vampire. Even Cathleen seemed to take up a corner of my brain. I used to fall asleep to her voice while she spoke on the phone; I'd have given anything to hear her voice in that moment.
Then, of course, there were the Cullens. Carlisle and Esme, who so kindly and gently taught me the love of parents when I couldn't have my own. Emmet and Jasper, who gave me the gift of laughter and humor like no one had before. Rosalie, who was almost as motherly as Esme, but with attitude. Her fierceness that showed me how to be treated by men and others. Alice, poor Alice who I had accidentally dragged into this world. She was more of a sister than I ever got to experience, but I imagine it was what people spoke of when they said their siblings were their best friends. Alice really was a sister and friend and amazing support. I felt guilt course through me as I imagined her wandering around Underland, hopefully with Edward, lost. I hoped the creatures here didn't bother them much, or hurt them like they'd done to me.
Then I thought of Edward, again. It seemed he was usually on my mind. I had never even thought about being loved the way he loved me. I had never dreamed of having someone that saw me so wholly and completely and still held on, still had the nerve to whisper my name in the dead of night while we lay on the forest floor, wide awake. I had never imagined someone fighting for me the way I knew he must have been.
Just then, I had an idea.