Luminosity Read online

  Alice decided to illustrate this last sentence by getting up, jumping into the air, and landing on one hand, which she used to support herself with no visible effort. "One comes to have more vampires than one had before by taking a human and adding venom. Easiest way to get that is from a bite, but according to Carlisle, if I cried into an open wound I could turn someone that way too. The process is not fun. I can't remember mine, and wasn't there for any of the others', but I am told that it takes three days and is emphatically not fun. You can't undo it. Afterwards we don't age. We have to move around a lot so people don't wonder about that too much."

  I stared at her.

  She pushed off the ground, did a little flip, and landed on her feet, then sat back in her chair. "Questions?"

  * * *

  "Did I actually summon you here by deciding to go to Charlie, or was that a coincidence?" I asked.

  "You summoned me, sort of, but please don't make too much of a habit of that," said Alice. "When that firmed up we all flew into a panic. It would be a huge problem if police started investigating us. We'd have to move. Probably abroad for a while just to be safe, maybe split up."

  "Is this all of you, or are you split up from some others now?" I asked.

  "This is all of our family. We have some friends up in Denali, and a few acquaintances scattered around elsewhere," Alice said.

  I nodded. "Uh... why wouldn't it be a good idea for me to see you eat?"

  "Because when we hunt we're not thinking very clearly," Alice explained. "Humans smell a lot more appetizing than animals do. If we're hunting, and a human wanders by - we might be able to pull back, I know Carlisle - our father, Dr. Cullen - could at least, but there'd be more risk than there is just attending school with us."

  "And attending school with you is... how much risk, approximately?" I asked. A little shiver ran up my back.

  "With me - not much," Alice said soothingly. "Or Rosalie or Emmett. Jasper has more trouble than most of us, but we look out for him - if I saw him losing it I'd get him out of the building in plenty of time."

  She hadn't mentioned Edward. I looked at her pointedly.

  "Edward is... very controlled," Alice said. "Normally I wouldn't think he'd ever be a danger."

  "Normally," I prompted.

  Alice winced. "Um. Will you promise that you won't flip out and run away and never talk to Edward again?"

  "I will promise no such thing!" I exclaimed. "If Edward's going to drain my fluids like I'm a Cadbury creme egg I really think I ought to know, whether or not this will cause me to do something that will hurt his feelings."

  "I really really really don't think he will!" shrilled Alice. "I don't see it - not anymore - but you're right, you should know. Um, humans smell very tasty. And some humans smell... tastier... than... others. To... specific vampires."

  I dropped my head into my hands. "Right. And I smell very, very yummy to Edward."

  Alice nodded. "You should put more water in your lentils," she said. "They'll burn soon."

  I went to the sink to fill up a cup. "Why," I asked, "did he come back to school? I realize it's a hassle to move, but if he's likely to lose it around me, why didn't he just stay wherever he went that week he was gone? I think my life ought to be worth some hassle."

  "He went to visit our friends in Denali," supplied Alice. "He came back because... It's complicated. We missed him - especially our mother Esme. And he... is curious about you."

  "Wants to know what I taste like with dijon mustard?" I asked scathingly, returning to my seat.

  "Ew," said Alice, wrinkling her nose. "No, I mean - I'm not the only one with a power. Edward - and Jasper - have them too. Edward can... read minds."

  I stood up so fast my chair fell over. "What in the name of everything decent and sane is he doing around people?" I screeched, pulse racing.

  "Bella! Bella, please! Calm down!" begged Alice. "It's not as bad as you think!"

  "How could reading minds be anything other than a flagrant and unconscionable violation of privacy that everyone around him has every reason to expect?" I cried. I'd been worried someone would steal my notebook, would make my thoughts public in that condensed and encoded form. (I'd once considered actual code - some simple cipher to make the writing opaque to a casual observer - but I hadn't managed to develop one I could read fluently. It was a tradeoff.) It had never crossed my mind that anyone would be able to wander by and casually pluck them directly from my brain.

  They. Were. Mine.

  I was evaluating escape plans - ways to get to Phoenix, ways to get my grandma to take me in, ways to get anywhere but near the mindreader - but Alice rushed through a series of placating sentences: "Bella, he can't read you. You're completely opaque to him. You're the only one he's never been able to hear, but he can't, he really can't, Bella, it's okay."

  I decided to provisionally act as though I believed her - there was no way I could be out of Forks for the long term in the hour remaining before eight o'clock anyway - and forced myself calm. I picked up my chair. I sat in it. I folded my arms. I frowned at Alice. "And everyone else?"

  "In the family we're all used to it, we don't mind, it's useful sometimes," said Alice earnestly. "Like, he can see what I see - honestly, if he couldn't, we wouldn't be having this conversation now. He's very trustworthy - if he reads something we don't want shared he keeps it to himself. And Edward thinks other people - humans - are boring. He tunes them out ninety-five percent of the time. He can't turn it off entirely, but he doesn't have to listen any more than you have to concentrate on what people are saying at a crowded party."

  "Right," I said grudgingly. "This has what to do with him being curious about me?"

  "He won't go into much detail... but he's really frustrated that he can't read you. I'm not sure why, he thinks everyone else is so boring. But he's been watching you through other people's eyes -"

  I recoiled again. "Alice, those are my friends. I care if Edward has been reading their minds without permission. That's not okay. It's also not okay for him to eavesdrop on private conversations."

  "I'll tell him that you - I'll remember when he's nearby that you said that," Alice promised.

  "Is that likely to matter?" I asked skeptically.

  "Actually, yes," said Alice.

  That was surprising. "Why would he care what I think of what he does?"

  Alice wrung her hands, and now I realized that the stony scraping noise I'd heard at lunch was her hands, not a pebble in her boot. "I'm spilling the beans so much," she moaned.

  "Didn't you come here specifically to spill the beans?" I asked. I got up to add more water to my lentils and stir them again.

  "Only most of them. So you wouldn't... poke around too much. When I decided to come talk to you, the future where you talked to your father did go away. I don't see us moving anymore," she said defensively as I re-took my seat.

  "Well, yes, I have no plans to send Charlie to annoy a pack of vampires who could pop him like a water balloon to cover their tracks," I said.

  "We wouldn't hurt him..." said Alice uncertainly.

  "I'm glad of that. I still wouldn't send him after you. Suppose you didn't hurt him, just startled him with one of your super-strength tricks or something, and he shot to subdue, and noticed that you are made of rock? And then he tried to go to the media? Do you let him go? Do you put him under house arrest in a bunker in Nunavut for the rest of his life and send forged notes to his friends claiming that he's Patient Zero of the chartreuse death plague and under quarantine at the CDC? Or do you have a snack? Suppose he followed you really persistently, thought you were up to something big, and ran into one of you stalking a delicious bunny? Snacktime? Would Charlie look better or worse than the bunny after that?"

  "Um..." murmured Alice. "If he tried to go to the media, we wouldn't have to hurt him. There are other vampires - who do eat humans - and some of them take it on themselves to keep us a secret from humans."

  I clonked my head on the table. "Rig
ht. How long do I have to live, dear helpful Alice?"

  "Actually..." said Alice with great reluctance.

  I sat up instantly. "I - dear lord, did you genuinely put my life in danger by telling me this? Are the vampire masquerade organizers going to swoop into Forks under cover of night and snuff me because you didn't want to move?"

  "I don't see that!" squeaked Alice.

  "What do you see?"

  "You're going to be a vampire!" she shrieked.

  I sat back.

  I blinked.

  Alice peered up at me through her eyelashes, looking a thousand times more fragile than she really was.

  "Well," I said. "That's something. Turning is a get-in-on-the-secret-free card? No awful death?"

  Alice nodded mutely.

  "When?"

  "That I don't know," she said. "It will happen... but I don't know when. You don't look a lot older in the visions I've had of it, though, so - soonish?"

  Soonish. Incongruous sort of word to attach to the timing of my impending vampirization.

  * * *

  I looked at the clock. Charlie would be home in half an hour. "I have a few more questions left," I said.

  "Right," murmured Alice. "Fire away."

  "One: What does Edward care what I think?" I asked. Alice grimaced; apparently she'd been hoping I'd forgotten that. "Two: What's Jasper's power? And three: Who are the vampire masquerade organizers, and what else pisses them off?"

  Alice made a small, unhappy huffing noise at having to answer these, but apparently saw that I wasn't going to let it go if she kept evading. "Edward likes you," she said, getting the first part over with in three reluctant words. "Jasper can sense and affect moods in the people around him - it's not a mental effect, just physical, things like pulse rate. The "vampire masquerade organizers" are called the Volturi. They live in Volterra, Italy. We have to keep our secrets, which means that if we create new vampires they have to be kept under control and we can't be conspicuous ourselves. Inconspicuousness doesn't usually mean avoiding feeding on humans, it just means doing it discreetly - most vampires move around a lot so they don't kill too many in any one place."

  I inhaled deeply, then let out a tired sigh. "I have a lot to process," I murmured. "I'll let you know when I think I've ground through it all. By some more conventional means than deciding to out your family."

  "Thank you," Alice said wryly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

  "Bye," I said absently, staring at the bright yellow kitchen cabinets as though if I did it hard enough I could count our plates. Alice let herself out.

  * * *

  At 11:09, it sleeted, and a few minutes later it began to drizzle slowly.

  I did not sleep well.

  * * *

  I cut English the next morning. Just didn't go. I'd drop by after school to hand in my homework. I was at home, abusing my notebook.

  STUFF I KNOW

  - Cullens (& Hales) are weird in many ways. (See last page.)

  - Alice exhibits freaky abilities consistent with telling the future (van, interrupting-w/o-interrupting, showing up yesterday, CARDS & DICE, weather so far (keep checking that)). No other hypotheses.

  STUFF ALICE SAID

  - Cullens & Hales are vampires.

  - Vampires have superpowers, drink blood, are "conspicuous" in sun, are made out of humans (not fun), don't age.

  - Some have extras: Alice can see the future (seen evidence of this), Edward reads minds (not mine), Jasper messes with (physical) components of mood (do not want).

  - I am extra yummy smelling to Edward.

  - Edward likes me. (WTF. This sort of thing did not happen in Phoenix. Worth cutting Govt. too to figure out general plan for this & Mike & Eric??)

  - Lots of vampires around. Most eat people. Cullens & Hales (& their friends? didn't specify) don't.

  - Bad idea to be around hunting vampires.

  - Vampires sorta ruled (unclear on govt. system) by vampires called Volturi in Volterra, Italy. Volturi like secrets & kill to enforce rules.

  - I will be a vampire. "Soonish". (!!!!!!!!!!)

  I drew arrows between things, circled key words in red, scribbled phrases and punctuation in the margins so small that I couldn't read them, and finally tore out the page and copied just the important parts onto the next sheet more neatly.

  Then I turned the page again and thought of experiments.

  I couldn't come up with an ethical way to test Jasper's special ability without letting him use it on me. Which I emphatically did not want to do. Enlisting an informed outside party would spill the family's secret if it was true; using uninformed outsiders would wrong them; using one of the other vampires would be a test of their acting skills, not necessarily Jasper's mood-altering mojo. After a moment's consternation, I decided to skip that test. I didn't think Alice would be lying or mistaken about Jasper's power and nothing else. If my other results all pointed at "yep, magical vampires", I'd take the specific claim about Jasper as part of the package unless I discovered that there was some ulterior motive such that Alice might have chosen that particular supernatural claim to fabricate. For safety reasons, I also did not invent a test for the "drink blood" claim. I came up with some relatively inexpensive tests of several of the other statements. They would not be Absolutely Conclusive; I didn't expect to publish anything in a journal, though, I just wanted to be sure that I wasn't reading way into a few little quirks.

  1. Get a vampire to pick up something very big. Maybe a fallen log from the woods or a boulder if one can be found. (Fear damage to truck - not designed to be lifted)

  2. Find a wide open space and a spot with a good view of it, measure it, get a vampire to beat the world sprinting record running it in plain sight. Or send one from several miles from my house to retrieve something from my house.

  3. Quietly murmur things far away from vampires & test if they heard. (Not Alice, or Edward who can read Alice.)

  4. Write things and hold them up to far away vampires & test if they read. (As above.)

  5. Find out Edward's range. Write numbers, show them to a different vampire, have Edward sit in mindreading range but out of (vampire!) earshot & eyeshot where he will write down what he reads in the other vampire's mind.

  6. Look at a vampire in the sun.

  7. Continue checking Alice's weather predictions. (All good as of morning 01/26/05)

  I closed my notebook and looked at the clock. To make it to Government in time, I didn't have to leave for another four minutes, but if I went promptly I could drop off my homework at English first instead of waiting until the end of the day. I decided not to skip another class just to figure out why I was suddenly all kinds of popular with the opposite sex. I packed up my things and left.

  * * *

  The teacher didn't seem to care about my poor attendance and accepted my homework with only a small sigh, no ominous remarks about penalties for lateness. I went to my next class, and the two after that, without incident, and then came lunch.

  Alice popped up next to me as I approached the door with Jessica again. "Hello, Bella!" she said in her characteristically musical voice. "Do you want to sit with us today?"

  "Okay," I said. I needed to present my test ideas.

  "Bella," said Jessica, with an edge of a whine to her voice. Uncharitably, I thought Aw, poor Jessica, the vampires are stealing your shiny new friend, but I shoved that thought in a back corner where it wouldn't do any harm.

  "Right, we were going to figure out when to study for the trig test," I said, turning to Jessica instead of impolitely continuing to face Alice as I had the previous day. I didn't think that was why she didn't like that I would be sitting with the vampires, but it was a kinder assumption, and it was a plan we'd actually had. "Uh, call me after school and we'll pick a time then? My plans are kinda," I made a wild gesture, "and I don't think I could nail down a spare couple hours now anyway. Okay?" I smiled apologetically.

  "Okay," said Jessica in an automatic sort of tone, and
I widened my smile a bit before following Alice to the vampire table. Halfway through the trip across the room, she remembered that I needed food and she needed props, and we detoured to fetch them, then resumed course.

  Alice told me that I could whisper without interfering with her family's ability to hear me, while preventing any other humans from getting an earful; the vampires would speak loud enough to hear but choose moments when no humans were nearby to speak. Alice announced that this wouldn't happen to break up the flow of conversation much.

  I wound up sitting at a corner, across from Edward, next to Alice. On Alice's other side was Jasper, who sat opposite Rosalie, and Emmett between her and Edward.

  "Jessica is going to demand an explanation later," Edward murmured to me when I sat.

  "Did you read her mind to find that out?" I asked, carefully cooling the hostility in my voice, and he started to nod, then glanced at Alice and stopped.

  "Alice said she'd tell you," I said carefully, "but I should probably tell you myself. That is incredibly not okay. I understand that to whatever extent you can't help it, well, you can't help it, and I can't actually verify to what extent you can't help it and will give you some benefit of the doubt. But please don't, not on purpose, not my friends, not when it's not even important."

  "Jessica's not much of a friend to you," he muttered. "She thinks some very unkind things."

  "Who doesn't? Don't check," I added hastily.

  "Angela," he answered anyway. "From memory, at least."

  "Great, yay for Angela, but I think unkind things about Jessica occasionally too and it doesn't mean I'm not much of a friend to her, I hope," I said. "She has flaws, I have flaws, there's lots to go around, sometimes people will notice them, and unless she chooses to act on her thoughts in ways that harm me, I'm not going to act on her thoughts in ways that harm her. Especially since I shouldn't even have access to that information. Her thoughts are hers. What kind of policy are you advocating, anyway? Weren't you considering eating me, the first day I was here? What an unkind thought, surely I should shun you."