Cullen - Origins [English Version - FINISHED]

Chapter Eleven

- Carlisle ?

The doctor looked back at his wife, Esme. Her face, like his, was racked with worry. The young woman was surely thinking about her lost child. He was about to open his mouth to comfort her, but she didn't let him.

- There's news. Edward has returned.

The young man had indeed taken advantage of the turmoil in the village to slip away at the request of the doctor - who could not leave without reason at a time like this. Carlisle wanted clues, proof, something, anything that could help them to clear up this mystery and the reason why Garrett and Astrea had left without warning.

The doctor followed his wife into the living room. Edward was waiting for them there with a look that did not inspire Carlisle to look at each other.

- So, what did you find ? Urged the doctor.

- Worrying things. I went back to where the body was found; I did detect the scent of Garrett and Astrea there. I followed their trail. They went through the whole forest, to a small village. They spent the night there. The innkeeper confirmed it.

- Are you sure it was them ? Esme asked.

Edward nodded.

- Quite sure. The innkeeper described them to me, no doubt about it. But his description of Astrea confirms our hypothesis : someone did bite her to make her a vampire. He said that her skin was as white as the one of the man who accompanied her, and that she didn't look very well.

- If she's a newborn, he's lucky to be alive. Carlisle remarked. Go on.

- He told me they'd left late in the morning, but hadn't ordered any food for the road. I asked to see their room, and the man at first refused because he hadn't cleaned up yet. I insisted. And that's where it gets complicated.

- What do you mean ?

The doctor, who had previously been quite calm, became alarmed at the tone of the young man's voice.

- As soon as I walked in, I could smell the blood of Astrea and Garrett. Their mingled scent permeated the air. I then found sheets soaked in their blood in a bag, hidden in the corner of the room. They must have changed the sheets on the bed before they left, and the innkeeper didn't notice. Then I came back here. I couldn't find any trace of them with all the humans that had passed through the village.

- Let's hope nothing bad has happened to them... Murmured Esme.

Carlisle, who had been pacing back and forth since Edward's story began, stopped short.

- You said their blood was... Mixed ?

His interlocutor nodded. He stared at the doctor, and Esme looked at them in turn without understanding.

- Carlisle, what's going on ? What are you thinking about ? She finally asked, growing more anxious.

Her husband turned to her, staring into space. His brain was racing.

- If Garrett's and Astrea's blood was mixed, it could only mean one thing.

- They are now one... Edward whispered, a little frightened by his own words. But, Carlisle, I thought it was a legend.

- I thought so too.

The two men met their eyes. Esme could wait no longer and demanded an explanation. The tension in the room had become almost palpable. 

- The legend we are talking about, Edward and I, is about the possibility of two vampires becoming "one" by drinking each other's blood. Carlisle began. Normally, they would be able to read each other's minds, to feel everything the other feels. A bit like twins, if you like. Except that if that's what happened between Astrea and Garrett, there's something wrong.

- Astrea isn't normally a vampire yet, just a newborn. So they shouldn't be mixed up since in the legend only two adult vampires can do that. Embraced Edward.

- I think I have a book about this legend. The doctor muttered as he hurried out of the room.

Left alone, Edward and Esme were deep in thought. The young woman was very worried about Astrea, who must be completely lost because of the Transformation. She still remembered the feeling she herself had felt when she had become a vampire. Anger, anger at not understanding what was going on.

- We'll find them, Edward assured her.

Esme looked up at him. He was right, there was no need to despair. They would find a solution. Carlisle came back into the room just then, a book in his hand. The binding looked badly damaged by time, and the pages were all yellowed. The doctor stopped in the middle of the book and read frantically. The other two bent down to do the same.

They looked up at the same time, and looked at each other with perplexity in their eyes.

- I'm not sure I understood everything... Said the young woman. They talk about what you explained to me, but that doesn't explain why Astrea and Garrett could become "one".

- On the contrary, there is a possibility.

Edward and Esme turned to the vampire without understanding. He continued, his eyes still lost in thought.

- The book talks about two vampires who can become "one". But it also says that these two vampires do not have to drink each other's blood when they are adult vampires. If, for example, they drank each other's blood when they were humans or newborns, their "one" will be triggered when they become vampires.

- So what ?

- Edward, it's obvious. Astrea drank Garrett's blood when she was little. If Garrett turned Astrea, he also drank her blood.

- But, Esme protested, Astrea is still a newborn... It's impossible.

- Unless Astrea is already a vampire.

A heavy silence dragged on after Carlisle's statement.

- Are you sure of what you're saying ? The young woman whispered.

The doctor nodded, his gaze serious. There was no other alternative for him. 

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