The Immortal Children

Party Day

I stared out the window as members of the pack filed into the Cullen's home. There were two girls with them, keeping close to the pack. Though several of the wolves were casting wary glances around the yard, the two girls just looked excited as they took in the balloons and streamers that Alice had set up. 

It was Ashlynn's ninth birthday today. The party that she had been so excited for now seemed daunting. It wasn't the attention or lack of aging or even the guests that she had never met that were making us all uneasy. It was the two vampires who were still downstairs.

For almost three days now, Tanya and Kate had been staying with the Cullens. For almost three days, my siblings and I had kept ourselves shut inside of Chris's bedroom. For almost three days, the Cullens had attempted to coax us out. But there was no more stalling now. With the party day here, it was no longer an option to keep ourselves locked away.

The two girls who had come with the pack were the other imprints that Esme had contacted. The older girl looked to be about my age, so I assumed she was Claire, since Esme said she was eleven. She was standing next to Quil, wearing a casual dress. Nine year old Sarah, though, was dressed up like it was Halloween, wearing a fluffy pink dress and fairy wings. As they entered the house and disappeared from sight, I heard footsteps approaching Christopher's door.

My siblings heard the footsteps as well, and they both darted behind me. I wasn't worried, though. From the beginning, I had been so cautious around the Cullens that I had memorized the differences in their footsteps. They person approaching was light, airy. A pixie. Very fitting for today's fairy tale themed birthday. 

"Kids! Time to stop hiding and come greet the guests". Alice's voice was as perk as ever, seemingly oblivious to the very real threat that awaited my siblings and I once we exited the bedroom. We all stayed quiet, not responding to her. I saw a sad look on Ashlynn's face, and I knew that she had made up her mind. If it meant avoiding Tanya and Kate, she would accept missing her party. Noticing our silence, Alice called through the door, "You have twenty seconds before I knock down that door and pull you three downstairs".

Ash and I glanced at each other and Chris tightened his grip on my arm. This felt like a trap. But there wasn't a doubt in my mind that Alice would follow through with her threat. If she did that, there would be no door to Chris's room. We would lose our sanctuary completely.  Making up my mind, I raised my chin defiantly and strode towards the door, yanking it open. 

Ignoring my expression, Alice squealed and entered the room, pulling my sister into a hug. For the first time since our arrival, Ash looked uncomfortable in the embrace. While I had never trusted the Cullens, Ashlynn seemed to feel betrayed. She had truly expected the Cullens to tell Tanya and Kate to leave. 

"We have to get you into your costume," Alice insisted, pulling Ash from the room. "You two need to get into costume, too". Chris and I had started following after them before Alice even implied that we had to. With the Denalis still lurking in the house, we had to stay close to each other. 

Once we reached Alice's bedroom, she pulled out three costumes. Ashlynn's was an extravagant princess costume, complete with a pink cone-shaped hat. Chris had a knight costume that was bright and shiny, a sword tucked into it. The costumes fit my sibling's personalities, and the party theme, perfectly.

Then, there was the costume clearly meant for me. It was a Peter Pan costume, but they had somehow perfectly converted it into a dress that would fall to just above my knees. There were green tights to go with it, and the brown shoes even had the worn leather look that I had seen so many times when I watched  Peter Pan. It was an amazing costume, and I fell in love with it instantly. 

"I don't want it". My voice was cold, effectively hiding the longing that I felt. I wanted to enjoy this party. I wanted to pretend, for even just a few hours, that I was a normal twelve year old at a birthday party. I wanted to dress up and laugh and lose myself in giddiness. But I couldn't afford to. I needed to wear flexible clothing, in case Tanya and Kate attacked. I needed to stay focused.