Earthshine (Twilight Fan Fiction)

Chapter Four: The Cullen's

I gasped. I could be a part of his family? I saw the look of fear cross his face at my gasp, but I gathered myself before he stepped back again. “I-I would be honoured,” I whispered with a smile, and I saw Carlisle’s face light up.

“Thank you,” he beamed. “But we are… different.” he went on. “We don’t eat… humans.” He was careful of how he phrased it, trying not to upset me. “We believe that humans are equal to us, and do not deserve to die through our own cravings,”

As he said this, a burning feeling rose at the back of my throat, like I hadn’t drunk water for a week. The only food I could picture in my head that was appetising was blood. I frowned. He looked uncertain again.

“You crave blood. Am I correct?” he asked. I nodded mechanically.

“How long have I been like this?” I whispered.

 “An average transformation takes around three days, depending on how much venom is injected. I injected you with quite a lot, and you were out for three days,” He said. “If you like, I could take you hunting,” he offered. I looked at him. Hadn’t he just said that he didn’t eat humans?

“We eat animals,” he said. "Call it... vegatarianism, if you will," he smiled. I also smiled, and swung my legs off the edge of the bed. Without realising the strength I now had, I slipped straight off the bed and onto the floor. Carlisle instantly wrapped his hands around my arm and helped me to stand.

“It’s been a while,” I whispered, and he chuckled.

“You haven’t tried running yet,” he said, smiling. “Oh, and I had to tell everyone at the hospital that you had passed away. One of the laws of the vampire world is to make sure that humans do not know of our existance. We sent a nurse to the prison to tell your father.”

I paused before whispering, “He would probably be happy.”

“I would think otherwise. You have to take into account the fact that he was drunk when he tried to kill you, and your mother,” he said. I nodded. He was right. I held the mirror tighter in my hand, and I heard it crack. I looked down at the crushed shards of glass, and brushed it onto the bed. I was shocked when I saw that none of my hand was even scratched.

“We have very tough skin,” Carlisle said, answering my thoughts. He turned to leave, and raised his hand to me. “Shall we be off? Just run like you would normally.” he said, and I took his hand. We both started to run towards the double doors at the end of the room I was in, and I found myself opening them within a second.

Light streamed in from outside, and we were outside and past the hospital car park in an instant. I felt the wind blow across my face - a feeling I hadn't felt in months.

“Do you still feel hungry?” Carlisle asked me, after we had rather stealthily taken down a bear. I nodded. It was strange. I didn’t feel hungry like I needed food, I just craved the smell of human blood. “It will take some practice to not feel thirsty for blood anymore.” he said, noticing my cringe at the thought of it.

“How did you do it?” I whispered.

“I trained myself and worked in a hospital for many centuries. If I were allured to blood, I would train even harder to resist it. Eventually it worked.” he smiled.

I had only just noticed that we were going so fast the trees were zipping past us when Carlisle’s head snapped up like he could hear something. I listened too, and gasped as I heard the sound of very fast running, heavy feet. What were they?

He stopped running.

“Don’t breathe. They smell like human.” Carlisle said, looking at me as I stopped. “They only want to know who the new Cullen is.”