I slept for a long time. The sun was coming up when Carlisle first woke me, gently pulling me upright so I could eat. The soup tasted slightly better this time around because some blood had been slipped into it. It slightly eased the burning in my throat.
My Father also gave me a spoonful of some awful medicine and made me drink a big bottle of water before he allowed me to go back to sleep. Takoda had been receiving the same treatment as me, but Mato seemed to be just fine. He was sitting in corner, happily chewing on his own food and chatting with Seth.
The second time I woke up, I was less sore than I had been before. I moved to rise on my own this time, but Esme still helped to gently push me up off her lap when she noticed my movement. It was dark again now, and I realized I had not only slept through most of the previous night, but also the full day.
Carlisle was again beside me as I sat up, putting a hand on my neck and then my forehead to feel my temperature. He had Esme feed me more soup, and made me eat crackers with it this time. Crackers were one of my least favorite foods in the world- so dry and bland and crumbly. Esme insisted I eat all of them, though, and would dip them in my soup before holding them out for me to eat.
Maybe if I hadn't turned away from every bite, I would have been allowed to feed myself. But Esme did it for me again, holding the spoon to my lips over and over, and breaking off little pieces of cracker to feed me.
The bottle of medicine was pulled from Carlisle's big medical bag, and I moved to fully turn away. I didn't even know what the medicine was for, but it was the most horrible thing I had ever tasted. Esme took me by my shoulders and turned me to face Carlisle again, just as he was pushing the spoonful of thick, sickly sweet medicine towards me.
"Come on now, Love," Carlisle prompted, using his free hand to cup my cheek and hold my head still. "It's for your own good."
With Carlisle firmly holding my face in place and the spoon pressed against my lips, I had no choice. I opened my lips just a tiny bit, trying to ready myself, but Carlisle took the opportunity to push the entire spoon into my mouth. Though he had tried to delude the taste a little by adding blood, it was still sickly sweet and thick and awful.
I tried to turn away so Carlisle wouldn't see the tears sliding down my face, but he held my face still as he made sure I swallowed. Tears dripped from my eyes and landed on his hand. He brushed them away, smiling as I finally got the medicine down. "Good girl, Camellia. Well done. That will be all for a while now."
Carlisle pulled me from Esme's arms and into his own, cradling me as he put the medicine away. "Are you warm enough?" He asked, and I nodded. It was not just warm in this tent, but hot. It felt like a summer day, despite the snow outside. The stove and heater were working wonders.
But then Carlisle reached for the blanket that I was wrapped in, and I suddenly wished I said no. I was naked underneath as he pulled it away, inspecting my body closely. At least now there were less people around- only Esme, Koda, Mato and Seth were still in here. Esme didn't bother me, even though she kept her eyes on me as well. Koda was asleep now, and Mato and Seth were still focused on their game of checkers.
There was a strange pattern of bumps on my chest that Carlisle's eyes focused on immediately. His fingers reached out and gently ran across them. I wondered what he was checking for.
"Is she okay?" Seth asked. My face flamed when I realized both him and Mato were looking at me now, concerned by Carlisle's silence.
Carlisle nodded. "Seth, go into that red tote bag and bring me the white bottle with a blue lid, please. It should have leaves on the label."
Turning to hide my face in Carlisle, I waited until Seth's footsteps had both approached and retreated. I wished that we were in Carlisle's office instead of in a tent where anybody could walk in. What an embarrassing place for a check-up.
A hand on my shoulder turned me back around, and Carlisle dipped two fingers into the bottle. There was a weird, clear goo that he rubbed on to my chest, and I flinched. It was freezing, and left a gross, waxy residue on my skin no matter how much Carlisle rubbed it in.
"There, that should do it," He said. Esme was already screwing the lid back on to the bottle. "It's just a rash from the cold. It can lock in hydration and cause a burning feeling. I put oil-based moisturizer over the bumps. They'll heal within 48 hours."
I nodded, reaching to cover myself with the blanket again. Carlisle stopped me, though. "Be careful, Love," He urged, wrapping it over my shoulder, leaving my entire front side exposed. "Don't wipe off the oil. Here, put this over your lower body. It's warm enough in here that you should be fine with a bare torso until that dries.
Though I wanted to cover my chest, too, I would take what I could get. So I just nodded, allowing him to pull the second blanket over my lower body. The other one remained wrapped around my shoulder, covering my back.
Once returned to Esme's arms, I turned to bury my face in her chest. I hadn't yet had the strength to revel in the fact that she was actually here with me. "How did you find us?" I asked, glancing up at her.
She smiled at me, moving a stray lock of hair that fell across my eyes. "We came from the most direct route from the house, hoping to intercept you on your way home. But you had gotten a little off-track, so we had to go all the way to Tanya and Kate's house and then follow your scents. Thankfully, ice preserves scents well, since it's unchanging."
Like me, I thought with a humorless smirk. "And what about..."
"Elody?" Esme asked softly and I nodded. "Edward handled it."
"But how-"
"Edward handled it," Carlisle interjected, glancing first at me and then at Mato. I hadn't realized that Mato had turned away from his game, interested in the conversation. "She is no longer a threat, and that is all you need to know."
I nodded, knowing better than to try and pry when Carlisle used that tone. Maybe Nessie would know, and I could ask her when we got home. I had heard Esme mention that Rosalie, Renesmee and some of the wolves had waited at the house for us, in case we made it home while the rest of the family was out looking for us.
Stretching, I reached out to grab Cuddles. She was a little too far away, but Carlisle was quick to hand her to me. I was careful to hold her against my stomach instead of my chest so the oil wouldn't have to be applied again.
Mato didn't seem as satisfied with Carlisle's answer. "Her eyes were red," He pointed out. "She tried to grab for me, and at first I thought it was a different vampire. I thought she was a vegetarian."
"It seems she thought her best chance against you was when she was at her strongest- which our kind only reach when we've freshly hunted humans." Carlisle explained. I froze, shocked by his words.
She had hunted humans? Elody had run to a town and hunted humans. Because of me. Because I had made her angry by playing with blocks. Someone- maybe multiple people- had lost their lives because of me.
Turning into Esme's chest, I was careful to hide my tears from everyone. Esme's arm tightened around me, though, and her other hand gently ran through my hair. So I think she knew. But she didn't point it out, at least.
Takoda stirred a little bit, and Carlisle rushed to his side. He seemed to be stronger now, turning over himself as his eyes focused on me. "Ammie," He rasped. "Are you okay?"
I nodded, pulling the blanket more tightly over myself. He must have noticed the redness on my chest. "It's just a rash," I promised, smiling at him. "It'll be gone soon. How's your shoulder?"
Koda moved his shoulder a little. "Better," He mumbled. I winced at the memory of Carlisle having to pop it back into socket, the sound of Koda's screams still fresh in my mind. It had been even worse when Carlisle had needed to re-break his ankle to get it set back in place. Over Koda's shoulder, I saw Mato grimacing, too. He must be thinking of the same things as me.
Takoda seemed done with sleep now, and sat up, leaning towards me. He had his stuffed dinosaur in his arms, and I realized they must have given him Nugget sometimes while I was asleep. "When are we going home?" He asked.
My eyes flew to Carlisle's, eager for an answer.
"Well..." Carlisle considered, glancing between me, Koda and Mato. "Edward arrived with the Jeep a few hours ago. Any time you kids feel up for traveling, we can make our way to a hotel. The drive from there will be about a day and a half"
I nodded eagerly, and Mato piped in, "Where are we anyway? I got sort of lost after the sun disappeared. It was so cloudy..."
So that was why we were off-track. Mato was an excellent navigator- as long as he could see the sun and stars. He must have been all turned-around by the endless clouds in the Alaskan blizzard, which had resulted in us needing to find shelter instead of actually making it back to Washington.
"The nearest town is Northway," Seth said. "But there probably won't be any open hotels there, if there are any at all. It's a tiny place."
Edward entered the tent, and I had to stop myself from pulling the blanket over my chest. The oil. I had to remember to let the oil dry.
Edward hardly glanced at me, though his lips quirked up slightly. Oh, yeah. He thought it was ridiculous that I was so modest when I hadn't even hit puberty. Well maybe he should try to be alone his entire life, with complete privacy, and then come talk to me.
A chuckle actually escaped him then, and I clenched my fists. Luckily, he didn't feel the need to address my thoughts, and instead turned to Carlisle. "There are no hotels," He confirmed. "But there was a lodge just outside of town. I have it on hold for us, whenever you feel it's alright for the children to travel."
'On hold' probably meant he was paying for it already. But the Cullens were so well off, they didn't care if they paid for a lodge they weren't even staying at. It was just another technicality to them.
"I want to go!" Koda insisted, getting on to his knees. He wobbled slightly and both Carlisle and Edward put out an arm to steady him. "I'm sick of being out here," He muttered, embarrassed by his lack of stability.
Mato also said he wanted to leave, but I stayed quiet. The idea of exiting the tent was scary to me. The last thing I wanted was to be back in that wind again, back in the cold.
But then eyes were on me, waiting to see what I would say. And after the hope I saw in Mato and Koda's eyes, there was nothing I could say except for 'yes'. Edward came to kneel beside me.
"The Jeep will be right outside the tent," He promised. "We'll have it heated up when you get in, and you'll be all bundled up. You won't feel a thing."
I nodded, glancing away from him as I wished he hadn't brought up my worry in front of everyone. Why did I always have to be the weak link, the baby? Maybe Elody had been right on some of her points- nobody would ever take me seriously.
Edward had a disapproving look on his face as he heard my thoughts. He just shook his head at me, though, and turned to leave the tent, announcing that he was going to turn on the heater in the car. Esme leaned over and pulled a long-sleeved dress out of a bag, and I realized it was for me- as soon as the oil on my chest dried. Mato was already dressed, and Carlisle and Seth both moved to help Takoda into his new pants and shirt.
Emmett and Edward went ahead to get the room at the lodge- or rather, several rooms. Apparently the 'lodge' was an entire cabin. They wanted to have real food cooking and the heat turned up by the time we arrived.
Mato went to the car on his own, not seeming even the slightest bit afraid of leaving the tent. Koda was carried to the Jeep, much to his chagrin. But he was only opposed to being carried- Just like Mato, he had no qualms about going back out into the freezing temperatures.
I was silent as Carlisle pressed his fingers against my chest, confirming that the oil had been absorbed into my skin. And as the blankets were pulled off of me. And I didn't even protest when Seth walked back in as I was being dressed.
I didn't want to go back out. But I was in Esme's arms, being lifted as she stood. And Esme was safe. She would never put me in danger. So I just tucked my face into the crook of her neck, stiffening as she reached for the zipper of the tent- the only thing keeping the cold out.
There was a flash of wind, but it was over so fast I hardly processed it. And then I was being buckled into the backseat of a warm car, with Koda sitting right beside me. Mato was on his other side, grinning at me.
"Come on, Sticks," Mato teased. "Don't tell me you're afraid of the wind now!"
A real smile snuck on to my face as I stuck my tongue out at him. Koda was chuckling, too, though the sound was still a little raspy. He leaned on my shoulder, and I wrapped an arm around him. My other arm was still holding tightly to Cuddles.
Leaning around Koda's head, I glanced at Mato. "You've been awake most of the time, right?" I asked as quietly as possible. "Did you hear anything about what happened to Elody?"
Mato opened his mouth to answer, but then the driver's door was opened and he wisely clamped his lips shut. 'Later,' he mouthed, nodding towards Carlisle .
I nodded. Carlisle didn't tend to like it when I asked about things he had already told me to stop talking about. And I didn't want to pull Mato into that, either.
The drive was... interesting. Koda had fallen asleep again as he leaned on me, and I kept on hand on the side of his head to try and keep his head from bouncing wildly as we drove through the forest. There was no road, and we were climbing up steep snow-covered hill and rolling over sticks and bushes. After a while, though, Carlisle managed to find a side-road that was still bumpy, but not as bad. It was amazing he was able to drive over such thick packs of snow and ice, though. We didn't slide, even once.
Mato and I silently watched as the trees and white ground whizzed by outside of our windows. Our eyes met, and I knew he was thinking the same as me- it was a much nicer journey when we weren't outside in the intense cold. Now that the threat of hypothermic death was no longer hanging over us, the scenery actually looked sort of pretty.
Not pretty enough for me to ever want to come back to Alaska, though.
We came to a tiny town- maybe the smallest one in the world! There were hardly any houses, and the road was mostly dirt, though there were some paved patches. And after just a few flashes of civilization, we were once again surrounded by trees and sudden bursts of little frozen ponds.
Carlisle took an unexpected turn on to an even narrower road, and this one led up to a wooden cabin. Despite the piles of snow outside of it, the lights were on inside and the steps leading up to the door had been cleared of snow and ice. Just as the Jeep came to a stop, the front door opened, revealing Edward.
I was picked up and quickly carried into the house. Carlisle placed me on a big fur rug in front of a roaring fire, and Mato came to sit beside me. Koda was still sleeping, and Edward carried him up the stairs. There were probably bedrooms up there.
Esme squeezed my shoulder as she passed by, rushing into the kitchen to help with cooking. The smell of food- real food, rather than the canned soup we had recently been eating- wafted through the house. There had been a time when human food repulsed me, but now my mouth watered at the thought of Esme's cooking.
Mato and I were seated at the table to eat, and we both wanted seconds. Edward told me no, though, even as he went to refill Mato's plate. He could see in my mind that I was already feeling sort of nauseous, and was just ignoring the feeling because I was so happy to have the warm chicken and dumplings in front of me.
I made a face at Mato as he smugly started on his second plate of food.
My legs still felt a little shakey, and the rash on my chest left a slight tingly burn as it healed, but other than that I seemed fine. It was strange that just a day before I had been sure that I was dying, feeling my body giving up on me.
Despite Carlisle's confidence that I was recovering quickly, Esme still rushed to my side as I stood to leave the table. "Here, Darling, let's get you into the bath," She urged, lifting me into her arms rather than allowing me to walk up the stairs. "Carlisle, come with us, please."
Though the bath felt nice, the water was cooler than usual. That was probably at Carlisle's suggestion, though I didn't know if it was a result of my recent hypothermia, or if he didn't want my rash to hurt more in hot water. And there weren't any bubbles, leaving me with totally clear water. It showed off the few remaining bruises and scratches that were on my tummy and legs. Most of them were probably from falling down the cliff, though I did wonder if some of the rocks had hit me when Elody had smashed the rocks above Mato, Koda and I.
Carlisle tucked me into bed beside Takoda, and I smiled. I hadn't even needed to ask- Mato would probably get his own room, just like he wanted. And Koda would get to have his imprint next to him while I was able to snuggle into his warmth. This was much better than Tanya and Kate's arrangement of making the boys share a room and giving me my own. It was nice that Carlisle and Esme knew me so well.
The only bad part was that Carlisle gave me more of that yucky medicine before he allowed me to lean back and go to sleep.
The next morning seemed to arrive quickly- I hadn't woken up at all in the night. It was so nice to be in a bed, rather than sleeping on the floor. Even the tent had bothered me, when all I had wanted was a house. This big wooden structure made me feel safe from the cold and snow and ice.
I went to roll out of bed, but ended up elbowing someone. Mato groaned, flinching away from me as he woke up.
"I thought you got your own room?" I asked as he stretched, begrudgingly waking up for the day. A glance at Koda confirmed that he was still sound asleep. "There are two rooms- didn't Carlisle put you in the other one?"
Mato shrugged. "I just wanted to sleep here." He glanced over and saw the grin slowly spreading across my face. "Shut up."
"I didn't say anything," I reminded him, clambering over him to get out of bed. He shoved me off of him when my knee accidentally landed on his ribs, but he also caught my arm before I could tumble to the floor. So I couldn't be too angry.
Mato had willingly shared a room. And a bed. That was definitely a first. He must have snuck in with Koda and I at some point during the night, because he had definitely already been put to bed in the other room by the time I got out of the bath.
Glancing at the door, I confirmed that nobody was approaching. I leaned closer to Mato before just barely whispering, "So what happened with Elody? You heard more than me."
Despite having watched me check the door, Mato still paused and listened for a minute. Finally, he mumbled back, so quietly I could hardly hear, "They didn't say much. Not in front of me, anyway. But Edward killed her. And I guess Tanya and Kate feel awful, but don't think we'd want to see them."
"Oh," I said, a little taken aback. I had assumed they would be furious with us for getting a member of their coven killed. But everyone had said that Elody was a new part of their family, whereas the Denali clan went way back with the Cullens. They probably considered Edward more their family, and weren't too mad at him.
But that didn't mean they wouldn't hold a grudge against me. So they were right about one thing- I didn't particularly want to see them at the moment. But not because I was angry.
Esme had put a pajama shirt on Mato before bedtime, but as expected, Mato had grown irritated and stripped it off. He pulled it back on before she could see though, yanking it over his head as we exited the bedroom. I felt completely better now- and when I pulled the neckline of my nightgown to the side, I could see that even my chest seemed to be almost entirely healed. The bumps were gone, leaving a barely-visible pink splotch. But no pain or burning or itching.
Mato rushed down the stairs at the smell of bacon cooking, but I moved slower. I hadn't paid much attention to the cabin the day before, and now I could take note of how beautiful it actually was. It had a warm, rustic feel to it and there were massive windows that overlooked the field of snow and trees just out front.
I sat down beside Mato and began eating bacon and eggs from the plate in front of me. Thankfully, when Carlisle came to stand beside me he wasn't holding that familiar bottle of disgusting medicine. Hopefully that meant I was all done with it.
After observing us for a second, Carlisle asked, "How are you two feeling? Any pain or stiffness?"
Mato and I both shook our heads. I wasn't sure why Carlisle even bothered asking Mato- he had been fine this entire time. Despite being the one to lead Koda and I to safety, despite being the center-point of Elody's rage, despite facing her all alone- Mato had no injuries after the fact. He had just been tired. After a nap, he seemed to be good as new. It wasn't fair, really.
"I'm glad to hear it," Carlisle said cheerfully. Then his voice got little more serious. "Come to the living room when you're done eating. I would like to have a... conversation, about what exactly happened to start all of this. And I have a few other things I would like to bring up."
I shared a nervous glance with Mato as Carlisle walked away. Something told me we were both going to make an effort to eat very, very slowly.