The Unwanted Imprint

Chapter 4

Nichole had been sitting cross-legged on the bed when there was a knock on the door, and Alice entered the room. "Hello Nichole, I'm Alice. Do you mind if I sit down? There's something that I want to talk to you about."

Nichole nodded her head. "Yeah, sure thing," she replied, and Alice smiled as she sat beside Nichole on the bed. "So...we were all just discussing things, and the majority of us, well...we would love it if you were to become a member of our family."

"Really?" Nichole asked in surprise, and Alice nodded her head eagerly. "Really. I'm one of the youngest, and I've always wanted a little sister. But before you can join our family and become a Cullen, there's some things that you need to know about us...but no matter what happens, you need to promise to not tell a single soul."

"Uh, alright." Nichole said. She figured that the family had some weird quirks or traditions or something like that. "I promise. Not that I have any friends to tell anything anyway." When Nichole's mother had died, the friends that Nichole had had slowly started to drift away, and Nichole realized that they hadn't really been her friends in the first place.

Alice took Nichole's hand, and the teenager shuddered at how cold it felt. "Alice, you're freezing."

"That's what tends to happen when blood stops flowing through your veins."

Well, that definitely hadn't been the answer that Nichole had been expecting. "You...what?"

"Nichole, my whole family, we aren't exactly human."

"Alice, you're starting to confuse me a little bit. What the hell are you talking about? How can you not be human?"

"We were human once. Nichole, everyone here...we're all vampires."

Nichole blinked. "Vampires?"

"But you don't have to be scared of us." Alice added quickly. "We're what you would call vegetarians, we only drink animal blood."

If she was expecting Nichole to be frightened, then she was going to be surprised. Nichole wasn't frightened, what she was more than anything else was intrigued. Nichole's mother had always told her to believe that nothing was impossible. "Do you have the, you know..." Nichole tapped her teeth.

"The fangs?" Alice chuckled before nodding her head, and Nichole watched in fascination as fangs grew out of the black-haired girl's mouth.

"Woah..." Nichole whispered, and Alice laughed. "Most people would run at the word 'vampire'."

"When I was little, my mom would read Bram Stoker's Dracula to me every night before bed. I've been fascinated with vampires and the supernatural ever since. What else can you do? The super-strength, immortality, is that all true too?"

"As well as super speed." Alice affirmed. Suddenly a thought occurred to Nichole. "To stay with you guys... am I going to have to become a vampire too?"

"No." Alice's answer was immediate. "No, we don't turn someone unless they're on death's door. And since you seem to be recovering from your injuries rather nicely, I don't think that Carlisle will see a need to turn you. Maybe later on down the road if that's what you want, but right now I don't see it as a possibility. Another thing that you need to know about us is that we have certain gifts that other vampires don't have. For example, I can see the future. My brother Edward can read minds."

None of the stories that Nichole had read said anything about vampires having unique abilities like that.

But another, much more worrying thought occurred to Nichole, and it had nothing to do with vampires or other supernatural creatures. "What if my father finds me?"

Alice frowned at that. "I don't think that he's going to, I haven't seen anything that suggested he would find you, but we were planning on moving soon anyway. Since we don't age physically, we can't stay in one place for any longer than a few years. I think that Carlisle mentioned something about moving to Washington, a small town called Forks. But don't worry, Nichole. None of us are going to let anything happen to you, I promise. You're family now, and we take care of family."

The concept of family had become almost a foreign thing to Nichole, it certainly wasn't something that she had experienced in recent years.

There was a gentle knock on the door, and Carlisle entered the room. "I gather that Alice has explained things to you?"

Nichole nodded her head. "She told me that you all are vampires, but that doesn't make any difference to me, you all seem like decent people."

"We try to be, as much as we can. We all have our moments where we slip, but to err is human after all. I must warn you though. Not everyone was on board with you joining our family. Most everyone was willing to welcome you with open arms, but Edward and Rosalie were a bit...hesitant about having a human living with us indefinitely. It's nothing against you, they just didn't think that it would be safe to have a human in a home filled with vampires."

Nichole nodded again, she could understand their concern. "If it's going to be too much of a problem for me to be here-"

"They'll grow acclimated to you in time. Besides, it is crucial that you remain here with us, for your safety in the long run."

"What do you mean?" Nichole asked as her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

"Nichole..." Alice spoke in a quiet, gentle voice. "You remember how I told you that I can see the future?"

"Yeah..." Nichole's voice trailed off, she had a feeling that she wouldn't like what Alice was going to tell her, and it turned out that she was right.

"I had a vision." Alice continued. "It was a vision of the future, of your future. I saw you getting put into the foster care system, but somehow your father manages to regain custody of you, and you...you die. Exactly one month from today."

Nichole's mouth fell open in shock. "I...I die?" She repeated, and Carlisle nodded his head. "Naturally we couldn't let you go back to that kind of environment, especially not if it meant your life ending. Esme and I, we already feel an attachment to you, the same attachment that we feel for Alice and Edward and all of the others that we've taken in. We're going to take care of you, Nichole, remind you of what it's like to have a loving family. Your father isn't going to lay a single finger on you, we'll all make sure of that."

Nichole couldn't understand why they were all already so willing to protect her. They didn't even know her, not really, and they were already willing to go to great lengths to make sure that she didn't get harmed. Nichole quickly blinked back tears that had started to form in her eyes, but it was too late, Alice had already seen them.

"Are you okay?" She asked, and Nichole looked at her. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Nichole was more than okay. She was finally starting to feel whole again, to feel like she was wanted. Nichole thought that she was safe now, but more dangers and adventures awaited the fourteen-year-old, as she would find out in due time.