𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 {𝐄𝐃𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍}

𝐕 | 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝟒 𝐔

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

★------------------★------------------★

EDWARD CULLEN KNEW A LOT OF THINGS THAT HUMANS DIDN'T. He had done a lot of things. But one thing he had never done was feel guilty about something he might have done to someone that wasn't Bella or his family, Emmett and Rosalie excluded. That changed when the new girl, Holly Potter (why was that name so familiar to him?), shouted at Rosalie on a "calm level", according to her friend, Luna Lovegood (again, why was that name so familiar, too?).

Now, here he was sitting in the living room, watching Rosalie get put down by Esme for her unkind behavior towards Holly.

"She's dealing with enough right now, Rosalie!" Esme cied, wringing her hands. "Why do you have to hate every human you meet at sight?"

"How was I supposed to know she'd actually come from a war? Or that she had PTSD?" retorted Rosalie. "I don't have empathy powers like Jasper, who could have warned us!"

Jasper flinched at the blow, Esme pushed her finger into Rosalie's chest.

"Don't blame this on Jasper, young lady! He shouldn't have to tell you to be kind towards someone, and he shouldn't have to give you a reason either! Goodness Gracious, it's like the older you get, the worse your attitude is becoming!" Esme was pulled back by Carlisle, who looked both weary and serious. Even with his vampire youth, vague stress lines had formed on his forehead and the tiredness his eyes revealed made him look as old as he mentally was.

"We're lucky she isn't going to file a complaint to the school, Rosalie," he said.

"Why?" asked Edward, confused by the statement.

"She comes from a long line of wealthy ancestors with connections everywhere, especially on her father's side," explained Carlisle. "Even though her family originated from Great Britain, some ancestors of hers built residences everywhere in important parts of America and connections with people in power. I don't doubt that she knows how to use them, too. One single complaint from her is all it would take before the school would suspend you, if not expel you."

"She could do that?!" exclaimed Alice in shock.

Carlisle nodded. "I'm not saying to avoid her, but be careful around her. Edward, you said you couldn't read her or her friends' minds?"

Edward sat up straight, no longer slouching like he had been before Esme's one-in-a-blue-moon tirade.

"Yes, that's true," he confirmed, feeling quite peeved about it again. "I can't understand why, though."

"They couldn't be pretending to be humans, could they?" suggested Emmett. "I mean, they're obviously not vampires, and they're not werewolves, but they could be something else, couldn't they?"

Carlisle took the idea into consideration. "I have no clue what they could be as of right now, but one thing's for sure: there's more to these newcomers than what meets the eye. We must watch ourselves; we do not know if they do not mean harm to us yet."

A few hours later, night fell, and it was time for Edward to go and sneak into Bella's room like he did on most nights. Something stopped him this time, though. He was a stalker, though he didn't like to admit it, and the trio that had arrived had him curious. It wouldn't hurt for him to just pop on over and sneak a peek at what they were doing, right?