Esme Cullen
Dazzled
Vegetarian Vampire
The Mother
Posts: 164
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Post by Esme Cullen on Nov 28, 2008 15:42:41 GMT -5
Esme's smile was warm as she greeted the girl. "Welcome," she said to Jayden, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Esme took a breath in, Jayden's scent was different, one she had never known before. She cataloged it into the back of her mind for later reference, just in case. Esme pondered what this different scent could mean. It was obvious the girl was at least part vampire, but Esme just thought hybrids were something of legends. She kept her face a calm and serene mask as her mind trailed off at what this could mean.
Did anyone know these half vampires...half humans, maybe, existed? Furthermore, did the Volturi know...? And what if they didn't? That could mean more problems for their family....
Esme silently shuddered at the thought. Her family didn't need anymore trouble. But they had to give Jayden a chance to explain, before they made any assumptions.
Esme returned to the present conversation. "Please sit anywhere," Esme said to Jayden, even though Carlisle had already told the girl, gesturing towards their large, open living room.
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Post by Edward Cullen on Nov 28, 2008 16:20:44 GMT -5
Edward listened to Carlisle's thoughts and knew that his father was right. This could be too dangerous of a discussion to have out in the open somewhere. He allowed his stare to lose intensity looking more calm and welcoming now as he waited for his father to introduce them (though he had already overheard the girl's name"
He nodded politely at her as Carlisle spoke his name. "Hello" He said with a polite smile, but not as cheerful as Esme's smile. He knew he couldn't pull that one off without it seeming out of place for him. She hadn't come here to cause problems, her thought pattern was had no hint of malintention to them, which put him more at ease. Now he'd just wait for his curiousity to be satisfied by learning more about here.
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Post by Jayden Murphy on Nov 29, 2008 18:18:47 GMT -5
Jayden moved forward into the large, open plan living room. She didn't sit insted she let her eyes wander around the room. She wondered how they could have such a normal house, such a normal home. Her father and her had never had anything so homely. They had moved arouns from place to place, a trend which she had maintained since his death. The young male seemed to be the one most uncomfortable with her visit. Though she knew that no one in the room was very at ease with the situation. Perhaps once they had all discovered more about each other, maybe the situation would feel easier. Though Jayden knew sharing personal information with strangers was not in her comfort zone; even if they were more her kind. Her gaze roamed back to the three vampires in the room. "So, you are family?" She questioned.
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Post by Carlisle Cullen on Nov 29, 2008 20:11:21 GMT -5
Carlisle took the lead on this one.
"Yes," he said, walking past her towards one of the white sofa armchairs. He was on a mission to put her at ease and had suddenly realised that trying to get an uncomfortable guest to sit and relax in a strange, dangerous house with half the family stood around her in an imposing manner, was probably not the way. Thus, he flopped himself down in the most casual way he could managed without losing his patriarchal dignity. He leaned forward a little once sat and leant his forearms on his thighs, looking up at Jayden.
"We are most definitely family, Jayden. You won't find one closer, if I do say so myself," he left it there, hoping the that the suggestion that their loyalties ran thicker than in most vampire covens wasn't lost to her. His warm eyes slid from the stranger to Esme and Edward to highlight the point, a look which did not need conscious engineering to show the girl the love that ran between this family.
"So what of your family, Jayden?" Carlisle asked, his voice lowering and his gaze returning to her. "Why did your father send you here?"
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Esme Cullen
Dazzled
Vegetarian Vampire
The Mother
Posts: 164
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Post by Esme Cullen on Nov 29, 2008 22:25:04 GMT -5
Esme quietly glided to stand behind the white sofa Carlisle had taken a seat in. Her smile was still warm as she listened to Carlisle explain that they were family. She lightly put her left hand on Carlisle's right shoulder, a natural gesture. The touch relaxed Esme, any worries she had before seemed to fly to the back of her mind. Esme watched the girl, waiting for her to answer Carlisle's questions.
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Post by Edward Cullen on Nov 30, 2008 0:18:03 GMT -5
Edward let Carlisle answer the girl's questions. He couldn't help but smile in response to his father speaking of how close their family was. His family and Bella were the best things in his life. He knew not many groups of vampires bonded the way that their family had. They were closer than any Edward knew. The way they had stuck by him and Bella showed Edward just how close they were. Any other vampires would have left as soon as trouble arrived.
Edward decided to follow Carlisle's lead, seeing he was obviously trying to put the girl at ease with his physical presence as well. Edward moved over to the corner of the couch and sat down leaning back and slouching a bit. It was a mannerism he had picked up from the teenagers. It seemed to show a relaxed stance. Or at least he hoped it would seem less threatening than him standing over her.
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Post by Jayden Murphy on Nov 30, 2008 20:14:11 GMT -5
Seeing the family sit did little to relax her, or make her feel at ease in this strange environment. Jayden had never been around covens of other vampires, let alone a family. From the size of the house Jayden assumed the family was larger then these three before her. Jayden perched lightly on the egde of one of the sofas and stared down at the ground as she tried to give the best answers to the questions Carlisle had asked. She wasn't entirly sure why her father had sent her to this stranger, or why she'd taken so long to come. As for the family question. well her family had disapeared when her father decided death over life without her mother. Jayden took a shallow breath and looked up. "My family is gone. My father died...if thats the right word for a vampire's passing." She half laughed with a half smile. "He's been 24 years now." It could have been a thousand years and Jayden knew it would still hurt. "I'm not sure why he sent me here, to you. He only spoke of you once; that was before he left to die. I'm not sure why I even came." Jayden quickly stood. "I'm sorry this is silly. I'm following a voice of a man who left me alone. I should just go. I'm sorry to interupt." Jayden turned to leave, but inside her head some logical voice rooted her to the spot scream for her to atleast talk with this man. Give someone a chance.
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Post by Carlisle Cullen on Dec 1, 2008 14:26:51 GMT -5
“I think you came because you needed help,” Carlisle shifted forward in his seat a little, though not enough to dislodge Esme’s hand, and continued to lean across his knees. He had noted Jayden’s rapid ascent from her precarious position at the edge of her seat and he would try to help her, explain to her, but he wouldn’t keep her here if she wanted to escape.
“And because you know that really, when it came down to it, your father loved you dearly. More than himself, I dare say. An eternity can be hell when you’ve lost half of yourself,” his eyes narrowed with feeling and he placed a hand on Esme’s briefly, considering the exact luck he had in discovering her in that morgue at the right moment. “And he bore it for you until you outgrew him. As far as I can see.”
He ended with a very matter-of-fact statement, raising his head to gauge the girl’s response before adding. “But I am very sorry for your loss.”
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Post by Jayden Murphy on Dec 1, 2008 14:36:58 GMT -5
Jayden stood frozen in her tracks. Before she could check her temper or reaction the words flew from her mouth. "How could he love me as much as you think when he left me?" She turned and norrowed her eyes glaring at each of the others in the room. "He left me alone. You have each other. There are thousands of your kind all over the world." She spat out the 'your kind' comment. She looked down at the ground in an attempt to compose herself. When she looked up she eyed each of them in turn. She spoke calmly this time, "I was alone even when i was with him....I'm different you see." She said, guessing that they probably had grasped that.
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Post by Edward Cullen on Dec 1, 2008 14:57:38 GMT -5
Edward was getting bits of the story from what Jayden was saying but was learning more from what she was thinking. Anytime she spoke of her father, or the past, he got bits and pieces of it that flowed through her memory. From what he saw, her father did love her. Edward couldn't help but think of Bella when she asked how her father could love her and still leave her. He had left Bella, and he had loved her more than anything in the world. He had left because he loved her. But Bella had told him after how alone she had felt when he left, how she thought he didn't care about her anymore. That had to be how Jayden was feeling now. Maybe Jayden's father's motivations were different than his own, that much wasn't clear from her thoughts right now, but leaving didnt change that he seemed to love her.
"Just because he left doesn't mean he didn't love you" Edward said softly, empathizing with her father. He then looked over at Carlisle, giving an apologetic look for speaking out of turn. Edward didn't need her to say aloud how she was different, he had figured that much out, and thought that Esme and Carlisle would also have a pretty good idea themselves.
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Post by Carlisle Cullen on Dec 1, 2008 16:09:04 GMT -5
Carlisle’s own thoughts in response to Jayden’s outburst instantly turned to Edward, a sudden flash of the memory of him leaving first for Alaska and then for the Volturi. Of course he had understood Edward’s decisions at the time and was thoroughly supportive of his split from Bella, but his thoughts couldn’t even begin to exhibit the hurt that had scarred their entire family when he had left them for the Volturi. He met his son’s eye and shot a smile back at him.
That’s alright, son, he thought to him before responding. Anything you can add is much appreciated. We’ll handle this equally.
Immediately after this conscious thought ended, Carlisle addressed Jayden once more, carrying on from Edward’s gentle reminder.
“And we know it must be difficult being different. We know we are lucky here, there are a few of us across the globe, but we don’t usually bond well. For whatever reason, though, we do,” he paused to allow the thought to sink in. “So don’t give up, Jayden. There is family and belonging out there for anyone that is willing to settle down and embrace it. What you are doesn’t matter.”
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Post by Jayden Murphy on Dec 1, 2008 16:27:20 GMT -5
Still trying to calm down Jayden sat again and stared at the floor, she knew he was just trying to help with his kind words but even they were too much to take. "You don't know how it is to be defferent among those who are already different." she muttered almost to herself though she knew they heard her. What now? she thought to herself. The thing that scared Jayden the most about sitting here was the idea of opening herself up to them as she had with her little emotional out burst. Her human mother had gifted her with a very human temper. Following a close second on the fear scale was the fear of the Volturi. Surely a coven this big would attract attention. One thing at a time Jay She told herself. "My father....you remember him?" She asked aloud as she looked up at Carlisle
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Post by Carlisle Cullen on Dec 1, 2008 19:59:12 GMT -5
Carlisle nodded at Jayden, his eyes looking on past the girl's shoulder as he thought back to the past. He let out a breath sounding rather like a sigh and sat back, crossing his legs without even thinking about it.
"I remember him," he extended her a tight lipped smile. "He joned the Volturi a little after me, I think he'd been wandering for a while - that tends to be what our kind do, what I did for centuries - but when he found the work we did there, together, well, I suppose it provided a sticking point for him. We worked together on a few things, studying, but socialising didn't really go beyond that..."
He laughed a little, a warm sound as an image of the surprisingly human looking vampire wandered across his mind's eye.
"He was actually quite the envy of a few of us, being able to fit in like that, it was amazing really. He could have caused some devastation with that talent of his, but much to my personal relief he followed the same diet as I did myself. You don't come across many vegetarians in our society, I was only to happy that he didn't follow Aro's philosophy..."
He trailed off, the mention of the Volturi leader causing discomfort to ripple his calm veneer. Carlisle did not like to think of his family being in danger.
"He was still in residence there when I left the organisation to get away from their human bloodlust and to pursue my vocation as a medical physician, but as I now understand it, he must have parted with them as well."
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Post by Jayden Murphy on Dec 1, 2008 20:57:45 GMT -5
"Parted. Yes." Jayden said with a smile, it was nice for her to hear anyone talk about her father. "My father didn't accept their blood filled ways either. I, couldn't bear the thought of feeding on another human." Jayden laughted to herself when her father had explained, when she was a child, that not all Vampires were vegetarian. She fell solem again, "He never really talked about his time with Them. He only mentioned your name before he went back to them." It was hard for her to think of that now, "He never said there was a family of you. And this town....how do you keep so secret?"
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Esme Cullen
Dazzled
Vegetarian Vampire
The Mother
Posts: 164
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Post by Esme Cullen on Dec 2, 2008 1:19:56 GMT -5
Esme perched herself on the arm of the couch, beside Carlisle. Completely engrossed in the conversation and the mysteries that were unfolding in front of her. It was nice to understand what was going on; Esme liked not knowing as much as the next person.
The corners of Esme's lips turned up in response to Jayden talking about being different. A concept she was used to. Everything about their family was different, and being "different" wasn't a reason to turn someone away.
Esme continued to listen to the conversations happening in front of her. It was a relief when Jayden smiled, Esme smiling in return, and then further relief when the girl laughed. Smiling and laughing were definately good, she was at least comfortable enough to do both in their home. "You loved him," Esme commented quietly. It was quite obvious in the way Jayden talked about her father.
"It's something we work very hard to do," Esme responded to Jayden's question about keeping the secret. She hoped she wasn't intruding in the conversation between her and Carlisle.
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