Elastic Heart

-chapter twenty nine-

It was like a standoff. 

My family on one side. 

Me on the other. 

I'm staring at them. 

They're staring at me. 

My hands shake as I grip on the handle of my new guitar case. 

My family is vampires. 

We're standing outside a castle, doing nothing but staring at each other. 

"Jolene," Carlisle breaks the silence. 

Poor Alice looks like she's going to cry. 

Esme looks like she wants to hug me. 

I try to block my thoughts from Edward. 

Nobody knows what to say. 

So I start. 

"I still love you guys." I blurt. "This changes nothing." 

"But we have a new problem." Jasper pipes up. 

Alice doesn't care though. She closes the distance between us and throws her arms around me in a large hug. 

"I couldn't see anything and I didn't know how you would react. I was so worried-" Alice rambles. 

"I'm okay." I promise her. "Our relationship hasn't changed." 

"Awesome!" Emmett then scoops me into a hug and since Alice was still wrapped around me, he took her too. 

"The kings wish to speak to all of us." Jasper pipes up. 

Carlisle looks at his son with confusion. 

"Jo..." Edward's head darts to look at me, no doubt seeing what had transpired. 

"I need to confess something." 

-elastic heart- 

"There is this man and his name is Nico." I wring my hands together. I was standing in front of the three thrones as I retell my story to the Cullen's. Rosalie was by my side, her hand reaches to become entwined in mine. "He's been hunting me for a long time." 

They stare at me. 

"Nico is a vampire." 

"That's bullshit!" Emmett booms. "Why didn't you tell us about this Nico guy!?" 

"I thought you were human!" I defend. 

"That's why you've been pulling away." Edward whispers. 

"I tried to tell you once. But you brushed it off because I was ill." I squeeze Rosalie's hand. "So I didn't try to tell you again." 

"We believe Nico to be a powerful rank with two gifts." Aro pipes up. "The gift of evasion and compulsion." 

"How many visits have you had with Nico?" Carlisle questioned calmly, too calmly. 

"I dunno." I admit. "Four or five. Sometimes it was just a message sent through something or someone. Other times, he waited until I was alone. The first time was in the forest." 

"What were you doing in the forest?" Esme scolds. 

"My friend Colton and I built a fort, our place of sanctuary in hard times. That particular day, I was talking with Colton about bringing Rosalie there. It was on my way back when he approached me." I whisper. 

"I'm sorry that we couldn't tell you what we are and that you felt the need to hide this from us." Carlisle starts. "You shouldn't of had to go through that alone. Are these encounters the cause of your nightmares?"