Sunlight - Book 3

Catatonic

I sat outside my parents bedroom watching as people came and went. The most frequent visitor was Charlie aside Carlisle and occasionally Jacob. No one else my father would allow in. Not even me. I knew nothing about how my mother was doing, only that whenever Charlie went in and came back out his face would be splotchy and tear strewn. That meant it was bad.

On several occasions I tried to coax information from Jacob but he was relentless. The only information I got was overheard from Carlisle when Charlie had opened the bedroom.

My mother was in a catatonic schizophrenic state.

I watched several times as they exited the room and reentered. By the time the sun began to set I had enough. The only excuse my father had told me about why I wasn't allowed to see my mother was because I wouldn't be able to handle it because I was too young.

I rose to my feet and opened the bedroom door and went straight to the stair case where Charlie was ascending. I quickly followed to the second story where my parents bed was.

Laying in the deep blue hues of the sheets was my mother. Her gaze was locked on the ceiling and her body was board straight, the only movement from her was when she reach out before her and make movements as if she was stroking someone's face. Once that movement was over her limbs returned back to her bed.

"Renesmee I asked you not to come in here." My father said as he placed his hand on my shoulder.

I turned around to look him in the eye. "That's my mother you are trying to keep me from. I deserve to see her." Without another word I turned back to look at my mother whose lips were moving as if she was speaking only no words came out.

Very gently I took a seat beside her and pulled her hand into mine.

"Red mom tree. Exclusivity, its done." I heard my mother mumble. Then like before she reached her hand out to touch something that wasn't there. "Red... red secrets." she said and then was silent once more.

"What's happened to her?" I said, my voice shaking as I rose to my feet. "Dad?"

"Carlisle's theory is that the mental stress that she has been keeping inside her was kept at bay by a wall that suddenly cracked at the mention of her mothers death. How long she will be like this we don't know."

So it was my fault my mother was like this. I had brought the subject of grandma  Renee up.

"I'm going to go to my room." I said before I disappeared quickly down the staircase.

The second I closed my bedroom door behind myself I began crying. At some point during the tears I threw myself to the ground and began screaming. Luckily the walls were sound proof so I didn't have to worry about being interrupted. At least for now.

By the time I had exhausted all my tears and stopped crying the sun had left the sky. When I looked at the clock it read well after 9pm. I wondered if my family had turned into their regular night routines like my father had expressed to me.

Wiping my face I rose to my feet and grabbed my bag I used when I spent the day with my father. I switched out my wallet, phone, camera and a few other things and put them into my satchel. I changed out of my day clothes and put something warmer on before I tied my hair back into a pony tail and left my room.

My current objective was getting into the basement without being caught. From there I would try and find the secret tunnel -if it existed- and see where it led to.

Cautiously I made my way down the hall to the stairs. From there I made my way down the stairs. The entire time I kept on high alert. Any movement around me could mean capture and then I would be found out. I couldn't risk that.

Luckily I made it to the main floor without no disruptions. Just like my father said Emmett was watching the television which I could hear from the stairs. He wouldn't suspect a thing as long as I didn't make much noise.

Five and a half steps I took in order to get to the door to the basement that I had seen my aunt come out of.

I looked left and then right and listened carefully for any sign of a problematic issue. I got none but I still couldn't find it in myself to reach out and turn the knob. I was scared.

COME ON NESSIE YOU CAN DO THIS!

Closing my eyes I inhaled deeply and reached out for the handle. Very slowly I pulled the door back until I had enough room to slip through. Then I was gone.

I carefully closed the door and faced the room before myself. A light illuminated the room that was filled with boxes that stacked high. Here and there were labels on them. I was just able to make out a few that said property deeds in bold black letters.

Walking through the maze of boxes I found in the very back corner a door. I opened it with a slight creek and stared at the long path laid out before me. The only illumination came from lanterns that hung every few yards from the ceiling of the tunnel.

I smiled. This was it. This was the tunnel.

I took a quick peek behind me as if I was making sure I wasn't being watched and entered into the tunnel before closing the door tightly behind myself. Then I took off at a run.

The loose strands of my hair whipped around my face as I ran through the tunnel. After a few minutes I stopped as the single path before me branched out into a fork. I could go left or I could go right.

On the wall of each fork was a small placard. One read 'work' the other read 'city.' That narrowed it down to which way I wanted to go. I took the branch to my left and continued on the path to the city. After another ten minutes of running quickly the path branched out again. This time the plaques read 'shopping' and 'entertainment'. I wasn't much of a shopping person so I headed to the right towards the entertainment.  When I finally made it to the end of the tunnel I came out in the basement of an opera house.

When I closed the door a large painting was staring back at me. It was of a the Cullen Crest. My family must own this venue.

Very carefully I made my way out of the basement and did my best to blend in with those that had just got out of their show.

"Excuse me miss, may I see some identification?" a man asked me.

I turned around to face him and felt my mouth go dry. This man that stood before me was handsome. His face was strong yet gentle, crystal blue eyes set them and blonde hair frame it.

I fumbled to get my identification from my bag and handed it to him. He took one look and his eyes widened. Then he bowed gracefully.

"Forgive me Miss Cullen I didn't recognize you." He said as he handed my identification back.

"No, it's fine." I said nervously as I put my id into my purse. "I'm just wandering. I've never been allowed in the city after hours."

"Do your parents know where you are?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Of course not, they would never let me out on my own. They are so protective."

"And they are right to be. Bad people aren't the only things you need to worry about when the sun is down. The city plays host to many secrets." His voice seemed to carry a deeper meaning to his choice of words. Maybe even a warning.

"Er. Thank you but I can take care of myself." I blushed before I turned and strode towards the door.

The door man opened the door for me and I took my first breath of unsupervised night air. I smiled to myself and continued into the night. I could take care of myself, plus there is nothing to worry about.