Chapter Text
- Edward x Halley
- Carlisle x Esme
- Jasper x Alice
- Emmet x Rosalie
- Bubby
- Buttons
- S’mores
- Snickers
- Sammy
- Jacob x Bella
“Are you ready to head home?” Esme asked, looking at her loving husband.
“I’m ready whenever you are.” Carlisle replied with a smile.
“Do you think the kids are home already?” Esme asked as they walked along.
“Well, it is Sunday night. So—most likely; they do have school tomorrow. And with Bella Swan knowing our secret and is keeping it, they seem to be having an easier time with it.” Carlisle answered.
“And as long as they keep hunting, they’ll be fine.” Esme stated with a smile.
“Yeah… Stop. Wait. Do you hear that?” Carlisle started but then stopped when he heard something.
“I do now. What is that?” Esme asked, listening to whatever they were hearing.
“Whatever it is, it sounds like it’s being attacked. We should make sure we don’t have any unwanted company.” Carlisle insisted, taking the lead to find the mysterious noise.
It took a few minutes because they couldn’t directly pinpoint what they were looking for. At first, it sounded like it was coming from four different directions. But after a while, it all came to one spot. And once they got there, Carlisle and Esme stared in shock:
There was a small bear, feral dog, deer, and what looked like a hawk, all on the ground; four cats were devouring them.
“What in the world?” Carlisle asked in shock, getting the cats' attention; they looked at Carlisle and Esme for a few seconds but immediately went back to their food.
“Have you heard of such a thing?” Esme asked, looking at Carlisle in shock.
“Vampiric animals? Yes, I’ve heard of them—but not like this. Not to mention, the Volturi always take care of them. The other thing that’s strange is how methodical these cats seem to be; Vampiric animals are not this well immersed in one thing. These Vampiric cats seemed trained. Esme? Esme, where’d you go?” Carlisle answered and then explained, only to realize he was talking to himself.
Esme had wandered off shortly after the mention of Volturi; she had heard something and went to investigate. Something was calling to her, and she had to figure out what it was.
A Few Minutes Later:
The cats finished their food; Carlisle decided he’d let them eat and then take care of them. He didn’t know why because this would have been the best time to take them down, but he did.
“Carlisle!” He heard Esme scream, panicked; so did the cats because they took off in the direction she screamed.
“Carlisle!” Esme screamed again.
“What? What is it?” Carlisle asked, finding his wife right away; he also saw the cats; they got there before he did.
Like a regular cat can be faster than a human, a Vampire cat can obviously be faster than a vampire who looks human.
“Oh, this is not good. These cats can take out wild animals and humans…” Carlisle started but was interrupted by his wife.
“I don’t think they hurt or are going to hurt her; it looks like they’re protecting her.” Esme softly spoke, looking at the cats; they were sitting on a young girl, slumped against a tree.
The girl was pale with long brown hair with honey-blonde highlights. Her eyes were closed, and she looked like she was in pain or something.
She was wearing an old-fashioned, teal-colored dress from the 1950s with a light pink ribbon tied around her waist and a pink bowknot collar. She wasn’t wearing any shoes but had torn sky blue socks; she also wore some kind of necklace, but it was tucked under her dress.
“What do we do—take her to a hospital?” Esme asked, worried.
“No. She’s already turned. And from the looks of it; she’s hasn’t been human for a long time. Now, we just have to figure out what to do.” Carlisle stated, watching the cats.
One of the cats—the oldest-looking one was orange with yellow stripes and brown paws and ears; the pattern on its face looked like a butterfly. That one looked like it was in charge.
The next cat—the second in command was black and white: its back, head, and entire right side were black. Its chest, stomach, and entire left side were white. Going down its chest were four black spots in a row and five or six white spots going down its back; they looked like buttons.
The last two were both colorful calicos with the colors: black, brown, orange, white, a little gray. They looked to be the youngest of the cats.
“Carlisle, let’s take her in; we can take her under our wings and care for her.” Esme pleaded with her husband; there was something about this girl that was calling to her.
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. There’s something that says she needs someone like us and our kids. However, there is the problem of the cats; we have to figure out how to deal with them.” Carlisle replied, watching the cats.
“Oh, hello.” Esme greeted the girl with a smile when her eyes snapped open at the mention of how to deal with the cats.
“Don’t hurt them. Please. Please don’t hurt my kitties.” The girl pleaded, trying to properly sit up.
“These are your cats?” Carlisle asked, stunned.
“Yes. Don’t hurt them. Those people promised that none of our kind would hurt them.” The girl panicked. She was also confused; Carlisle and Esme could see a lot of confusion in her deep blood-red eyes.
“Our kind?” Esme asked, looking at Carlisle.
“Those people? Do these people you talk about have a name?” Carlisle calmly asked as not to frighten the already panicked girl.
“Volt something…” The girl softly answered, unable to sit up. Not because of the cats, but because she had no strength.
“Volt something? Volturi?” Carlisle asked, very shocked.
“I think so. They promised I could keep them as long as I behaved. They wanted me to stay, but we left; I didn’t feel comfortable there.” The girl softly spoke, fading in and out.
“When’s the last time you fed?” Carlisle asked, looking at the girl.
“Fed? I had a doughnut earlier.” The girl spoke, confusing Carlisle and Esme.
“Blood, Dear.” Esme spoke.
“No… Will not hurt anyone. Will not hurt people—no more.” The girl babbled before passing out.
“Well, we’re definitely taking her in. Seeing as she doesn’t want to hurt people, it shouldn’t be too hard to get her on a “vegetarian” diet. But we have to get some kind of blood in her; she will die without it. By the looks of it, she hasn’t fed in a long, long time. I also have a feeling, if she doesn’t find some place soon, the Volturi will come for her; she must be special. If they’re letting her keep her cats, they want her—and they want her bad. Also, for them to let the cats live—they must be well trained and behaved.” Carlisle calmy but seriously told his wife.
“Right. But how do we get to her?” Esme agreed and then asked, watching the cats; they weren’t moving.
“What are you going to do with her?” The older-looking male cat asked, looking at Carlisle and Esme.
“You talk?” Esme asked, shocked.
“That’s—interesting. So, you’ve all been able to understand us this entire time, then?” Carlisle asked, looking at the cat.
“No. Well, I can—to a point. The others only understand what I tell them. And I’m the only one who can talk. I’ve also been with the girl the longest. Now, who are you? Spies for those Volturi? What do you plan on doing with her? We will not let you take her from us.” The oldest cat informed and interrogated Carlisle and Esme.
“Well, that’s certainly very interesting.” Carlisle spoke, still too stunned to say anything else.
“No, of course not. Sorry about my husband; he’s just a little shocked. Quite frankly, we both are: we’ve never come across a talking cat before. No, we don’t want to hurt the girl or give her to the Volturi—and we’re not spies for them. We actually want to keep her safe.” Esme apologized and told the cat.
“The Volturi; they won’t hurt her unless she breaks the rules. And they won’t hurt her at all. I think I can see why you’ve been spared; you can talk. This girl: she’s special, isn’t she? She has a special ability—a strong special ability?” Carlisle asked the cat.
“Abilities. Yes.” The cat answered.
“Abilities? As in more than one?” Carlisle and Esme asked, shocked.
“That’s what I said. Yes, she has multiple abilities. But it’s not my place to say. Not that it really matters; she doesn’t use them often—if at all. She either doesn’t like them—or is afraid of them. For as long as we’ve been how we are, she still doesn’t understand or get the concept of it all.” The cat spoke.
“How long have you been vampires?” Esme asked, watching the cat.
“Vampires, you say? I’ve read about them—and now, I guess it all makes sense. I do not know how long we’ve been vampires. I’m a cat; I don’t keep track of time. Neither does she. And before you ask, I do not know how old we are anymore. What did you mean earlier when you said it shouldn’t be too hard to get her on a “Vegetarian diet?” What did that mean?” The cat answered.
“You read too? Wow. I can definitely see why Aro likes you.” Carlisle spoke.
“My name is Esme, and this is my husband, Carlisle; we have five other adopted family members as well. We hope you’ll meet them later. We would like to take her, you, and the rest of your family in and take care of you. None of you would have to be separated ever—and you could be part of a bigger family. And the “vegetarian” diet is living off of wild animals instead of people.” Esme introduced herself and Carlisle before answering the cat’s earlier question.
“You can protect and keep her safe?” The cat asked, looking at the two.
“Yes, of course. We’ll protect her and you four as if she and you were our own.” Esme promised.
“I suppose that would be good—especially for her. She’s not exactly the brightest bulb in the bunch. Yes, that’s true; she’s not very agile and is very accident prone. And yes, she’s usually getting herself into some kind of trouble. And I thought human-looking vampires ate humans while animal vampire animals ate other animals.” The cat started talking, saying what he was thinking; he then answered the other older cat when it mewed at him.
“That’s how it is for most. But there are some covens, like ours, who only feed off of other animals. Animal vampires tend to feed on whatever they get their fangs in. That’s why the Volturi normally have them eliminated; too much risk our kind would be found out by humans. However, you four seem to be well disciplined.” Carlisle explained.
“Well—she may go for it; she won’t have to ever think about having to kill humans. But I don’t know because she doesn’t like killing anything. But I guess—as long as we get to stay with her and she’s safe, we’ll willingly go with you until she says otherwise.” The cat spoke.
“Great. Don’t worry; we’ll talk to and explain everything to her. Can you tell us anything about her and her abilities? All of your names? Esme, can you get the cats while I get the girl?” Carlisle promised and then asked, moving to pick the girl up.
“What’s this?” Esme asked when something fell out of the girl’s pocket when Carlisle lifted her into his arms.
“That’s something the only person who was ever nice to her gave her before he disappeared. He told her to return it to him the next time they saw each other. He was the one to give me to her when I was a baby.”
“She calls me Bubby. She calls the rest of them Buttons, S’mores, and Snickers.”
“At this point, I don’t think she even knows or remembers her own name. She got used to being called “Girl” by her parents or “Freak” by everyone else. That’s all we ever heard.”
“Right. A few guys called her Test Subject H953731. That was where she got Buttons, who was called Test Subject B295228, and I was called Test Subject B295229.”
“That place—it’s why we watch over and take care of her. If it weren’t for her, Buttons and I would be dead—and S’mores and Snickers wouldn’t be. S’mores and Snickers are my and Buttons’s kittens.”
“Whoever she lived with after Buttons had our kittens had us “fixed” so we couldn’t have any more kittens. And then one day… Well, that’s all a blur.” The cat, Bubby, explained as they walked.
“Do you know what her abilities are? Why do the Volturi want her so bad that they were willing to allow all four of you to survive?” Carlisle asked as they made their way home.
“Let’s see. She talks to cats—even before she was changed, I guess you could say. Except for me: I could kind of talk before I was changed. Not many could understand me, but that’s why I was a test subject.”
“Buttons was a test subject because nobody wanted her and she was donated simply for whatever they wanted.”
“Our girl here, was there because she could talk to cats, flowers and grass grew where she walked—well they do now; before they just kind of became livelier.”
“She made small barriers and forcefields that pushed people away. It was enough to get us out of there.”
“She could make things float and start small fires with her mind.”
“She was usually able to find people or tell when they were coming. It freaked people out when she’d say, “door” or “phone,” and a little bit later, the phone would ring, or there’d be a knock on the door.”
“That was all while she was human. Now, she can do all of that on a larger scale—but doesn’t.”
“Well, she uses the ability to tell when someone’s coming for her; she’s pretty paranoid.”
“That Aro guy was very interested in her; he liked touching her arms and hugging her. She’s warmer and softer than most of “our” kind, I guess.”
“What did he say? Something about how she has no heartbeat, but she’s not hard or cold. And when she’s near someone of “our” kind, they also start to feel warm and soft like a human. However, if she were to touch a human, they’d turn to mush until she got away from them.”
“Clearly, it doesn’t sustain her, but she can eat regular food. She really likes beef tacos without onions, some kind of white pasta with chunks of chicken and broccoli, and doughnuts. Fucking doughnuts; she eats those like they’re going out of style I do believe the saying is. Other vampires can eat regular food if they’re within ten feet of her. Anything beyond that, they can’t.”
“She can sleep—which is one of her favorite things to do. But other vampires cannot sleep—even if around her.”
“And then, the final thing—only three or four other female vampires can do—apparently. She can successfully become and carry out a pregnancy. I heard that Aro saying one night that she’s the only one who is warm, soft, can eat, sleep, and make it so others of “our” kind who come in contact with her become soft, warm, and can eat.”
“However, she was fifth female vampire they found who could become pregnant and have babies; they had the other three or four.” Bubby answered Carlisle, going into detail about what she could do, shocking him and Esme.
“What happens to the babies?” Esme asked, concerned.
“That Marcus said they grow until they reach the age their mother was turned. Once they reach a certain age—after they’re conditioned, they go out into the world for themselves. Or they stay with their mothers. I know at least two stayed while at least one or two escaped with us. I don’t remember so well. Unless it has to do with her, I don’t remember stuff after so long.” Bubby answered.
“She has a child somewhere, then.” Esme spoke, stunned—too stunned to move.
“No. Yes, she had one—but it didn’t make it. She tried to save it, but she herself was thrown into a wall and knocked out.”
“That’s when your Volturi found us. They wanted her to desperately stay. The older blonde guy with Aro and Marcus—I don’t remember his name, was in charge of convincing us to stay.”
“Then you had those twins. That bitch—my body felt like it was twisting and turning until my girl picked me up.”
“They all tried using whatever abilities they had on us, but it didn’t work—not on her. And my guess, if it weren’t for her, we’d still be there.” Bubby answered.
“That’s so sad.” Esme sadly spoke, trying not to cry.
“She does that too. She’s very emotional—and when she’s around others, whatever they’re feeling can actually come out. Tears and all that.” Bubby spoke.
“Yes, Jane and Alec; they are considered the Volturi’s most dangerous members. They probably don’t know what to do, not knowing why they don’t affect the girl. But yes, their abilities do work on you. Just being around this girl must keep you protected as well.” Carlisle explained.
“You and this girl must be deeply connected to be so close.” Esme noted with a small smile.
“I suppose so…” Bubby sighed before falling asleep…