Darkness Will Come to Light [1]

XXXI. Not One of Us

Melaina took her time walking across the busy parking lot to the Cullens' shiny silver Volvo and cherry red Convertible. She pulled out an earbud only to hear her brothers bickering about their wrestling match.

Again.

"I won fair and square, Emmett. Strategy over strength," Jasper said, irritated.

"Come on, Jazz, you scared to take me on again?" the burly vampire taunted.

"Don't be a sore loser!" Mel grinned widely at Emmett, knowing he'd take mock-offense.

"What did you call me, baby sis?" Oh, it was on. Emmett and Melaina teased back and forth as they waited for their last sibling.

Edward arrived with dark-eyes and a deep scowl.

"Edward?" Alice said, alarm in her voice. Edward only shook his head at the pixie, but Emmett wasn't having that and demanded to know what happened. He received a growl.

Alice, Jasper, and Melaina piled in while Edward held his silence from the driver's seat. He reversed from the parking space and peeled rubber out of the school lot. Rosalie and Emmett followed behind at the same accelerated speed.

Jasper and Mel looked at Alice to see if she knew something that they didn't, but the petite Cullen shrugged. She only saw the future, not the past. So Alice did what she did best and read into Edward's future decisions.

"You're leaving?" Alice whispered suddenly.

"Am I?" Edward hissed through his teeth. His already dark eyes flashed, and Mel worried for a moment about her safety. She was warned from the beginning that Jasper Hale was the vampire to watch out for when it came to thirst, but right now, Mel was getting anxious at Edward's behavior and leaned into Jasper for support. Jasper placed his arm around Mel's shoulders to calm her with direct contact, and she breathed a silent sigh of relief when the panic dissipated.

The ride from school to home lasted less than three minutes. "I'll miss you," Alice told Edward. "No matter how short a time you're gone." Alice and Edward shared a bond that only they truly understood, and Mel could see that when they interacted, but she also knew that it went deeper with their mind connection.

"Drop us off here," Alice instructed. The car squealed to a stop at the beginning of the long driveway. "You should tell Carlisle yourself." Edward nodded.

Jasper and Alice slid out of the car, and Mel followed in confusion. Jasper grabbed Mel's bag off the car floor before Edward sped off down the road. He slipped it onto the shoulder opposite of his own backpack, so Mel wouldn't have to worry about carrying it. Alice watched Edward leave, her eyebrows pulled together in anxiety.

"What is going on?" Mel complained. She hid the shaking of her hands in the large pocket of her Linkin' Park hoodie.

"I'll explain when we get inside," Alice promised.

Rosalie pulled into the driveway. "Do you want a ride to the house?" she offered to Mel. Melaina glanced at Jasper and Alice who had started to talk amongst themselves in a hushed tone. She agreed and climbed into the backseat to save herself the walk home.

~*~

Melaina shuffled into the kitchen and froze when the chatter cut off. She pushed her glasses up her nose and stared questioning at her new foster family. Apparently, they were holding a family meeting without her.

Mel felt a flash of despair that she was--once again--an outsider in her new home, but she quickly quelled it when Jasper stood. "Melaina..."

Oh, how she hated when they said her name like that. It made her feel like a small child.

Mel grabbed a banana off the counter and backed out of the kitchen. "Sorry to interrupt," she mumbled, knowing that the vampires could hear her easily. Edward was gone, so her mind was safe for the time being, but she knew her moods and actions would be closely monitored.

~*~

Another rainy day in Forks. A day perfect for sleeping to the sound of the rain pattering on the roof and window.

Without warning, someone cannon-balled onto Melaina's bed. Her breakable human body lifted and dropped back onto the mattress. Melaina would have guessed Emmett if she didn't know any better, but...

"Time for school," Alice chirped. "I have your outfit picked out. It's in your bathroom. Let's get a move on, gorgeous."

Melaina groaned and wrapped herself more tightly in her blankets. "I'm not in the mood." She rolled away from the pixie.

"We're going to school, not shopping. No one is ever in the mood. Come on."

"I'm not going. Leave me alone."

Alice sat on the edge of Melaina's bed. Her voice softened. "Is this about last night?"

"No." Mel opened her eyes and peered at Alice from inside her cocoon. "Yes."

"We didn't mean to make you feel excluded. The topic was Edward, and we didn't know if our discussion would scare you."

"That's not for you to decide."

"I know. We know. How about I fill you in at breakfast?"

Melaina dressed in the clothes chosen by Alice and quickly brushed a light layer of makeup on her face before heading down to the kitchen.

As Mel shoveled scrambled eggs into her mouth, Alice explained to Melaina that Bella Swan was "la tua cantante" to Edward--his blood-singer. For some reason, this girl's blood was a thousand times more potent to Edward than any blood that he had encountered in the last hundred years. It was dangerous for the vampire to be around such a temptation, and it was just his doomed luck to be partnered with Bella in class.

Alice detailed the visions she saw that day. Either Edward was going to kill the entire classroom of innocent students or he would control himself. Melaina knew the outcome, but with a sudden realization, she choked on her bite of buttered toast.

"He would have killed me!"

"That's why this was a sensitive topic, Mel. He put your life in danger, and that's not okay."

"I could have died. In biology. That's a horrible way to go out."

~*~

Edward hid away in Denali while the rest of the Cullens continued through the school days like nothing was amiss. Mel even sat with her siblings at lunch, now that her mind was free to roam without being judged.

Jasper felt her relief and cocked an eyebrow at her. Mel only shrugged in response. She would not apologize for her love of privacy.