𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 5:
𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙑𝘼𝙈𝙋𝙄𝙍𝙀 𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙋𝙀𝘿 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙆𝙄𝘿?
"Seth!"
At the call of his name, Seth's face lights up seeing a middle aged couple come running out of their rusted up truck and towards him.
Seth's parents.
Annie sees the glare she's receiving from the parents, the mother in particular, her eyes finding Carlisle's as he speeds in right behind them.
"Mom!" The boy shouts out happily to his mother, trying to get to his feet only to halt at the sharp pain that shot up his leg once he let it touch the floor. He had forgotten about that, his talk with Annie took his mind off of it.
At his cry Annie is quick to act, the concern on her face making Carlisle narrow his eyes In confusion; he'd never seen Annie look so protective over another that wasn't...Esme. You'd find she'd usually keep to herself and let things go their own ways unless it was to do with someone hurting Esme or if she needed help. Carlisle suspected it was something to do with the way she saw her as a mother, he often wondered what their relationship would be like had she saw him as her father too but he could never really find out why she didn't. Edward told him that it could be the age difference but it wouldnt make sense with Esme being significantly younger than the both of them.
It would've been nice to have another daughter but he was fine with the relationship they had now.
"Here let me help you" she swiftly pulls him up to his feet, holding up his weight so that he didn't have to fully lower his foot to the ground. He grips onto her arm with a grateful smile, Annie smiling back until a venomous voice roars angrily.
"Don't you touch him!" His mother sneers, eyes narrowing at the vampire girl with hate and fear swirling in them. Sue Clearwater was known for being a kindhearted woman but with vampires it was a very different situation.
"Mrs Clearwater please, Annie is only trying to help" Carlisle's quick to intervene before anything can escalate, stepping forwards only to be stopped by Andromeda holding her hands up, bowing and stepping away. The blonde man blinks in shock to her easy submission, the lowering of her head to show she was no threat to their son taking him aback.
"It's Alright, I'm stepping away" she says calmly moving back slowly until she was stood with Carlisle, just far away enough so that the two worried parents could go and coddle their injured child
"My poor boy, has she done anything to you?" Sue frantically checks Seth over, holding his cheeks whilst looking him dead in the eye with her own worried eyes.
A mothers love was a powerful one, Andromeda could appreciate that it's why she wasn't offended by sues outburst.
"Mom she helped me, please don't shout at her" Seth pleads, taking his mothers hands in his own to stop her from gripping onto his face.
"Helped you?" With a suspicious glance back to Annie, she strokes her sons cheek and subtly asks for his explanation.
"I was stuck on the tree, I was climbing and slipped and my foot got caught. She helped me down and called her dad to get you" Sue looks at Harry and then to the two Cullens who stood furthest away from them watching, the concern for Seth written all over Annie's face. A thought of conflict crosses Sues mind.
At the use of 'dad' Carlisle gave Annie a little grin, the older woman rolling her eyes at his chuffed smile.
"Really?"
"Yeah, she even checked my foot to make sure it wasn't broken and comforted me until you got here. She's really nice" Seth beams, grinning in Annie's direction.
"Why would you help him?" a vampire like Annie helping a boy like Seth wasn't something that really sat with her. What was the catch?
"Do you think I'm evil enough to let a young boy wail in pain dangling from a branch?" says Annie, her tone still polite and calm despite the subtle insults being thrown her way by the worried mother.
"I've heard of you, you're not like the rest. You're worse, you're the kind that would tear him and others apart if you got the chance" Annie looks down in shame at her words, Seth feeling just a small twinge of guilt at the way her face drops from her statement.
Annie knew she could never escape her past, the people she had killed and the way she killed them went down in history and was talked about through many communities. She would always be known as that vampire and she'd always remember herself that way but it had been a very long time since she had ever done anything of the sort, the last she had done anything truly bizarre- if you could say that- was ten years after she had met Carlisle and then never again from then till now.
"Not anymore I'm not"
"Thankyou" a grateful whisper calls out, Andromeda turning in the direction to see Harry staring intently at her with one hand on his sons shoulder and the other on his wife's.
"Harry?" Sue whips around to face her husband in shock, her son still tightly embraced within her arms as to protect him from the vampire who had just saved him.
Harry gives his wife a look before bowing to the girl. A show of respect that was rarely given between the two species, Carlisle and Annie are dumbfounded by his gesture; Harry and the rest of the Quileutes hated vampires more than anything else on this earth, they wouldn't think they'd ever come to be on their good sides.
"Thankyou Andromeda, for helping my son" he was truly grateful, he knew of the nomadic monsters roaming this very town and he was grateful that Annie had gotten to his boy first before they could've. Had someone else come upon him and gave him a fate worse that death, he didn't know how he'd cope.
"How do you-" it takes Annie a minute to process his words, only just realising the man had used her real name instead of the name she used for herself. Barely anyone knew of her real name around here, only the Cullens but even they knew not to use it.
How did he know?
"You live in legends, young lady" was all he says, a glint within his eyes that gave nothing away. Andromeda had never wished for Edward to be somewhere with her, but she wished he was with her now to tell her exactly what he was thinking.
"Wait...what do you mean?" Seth blinks up at his dad confused, not having heard the legends about Annie just yet...no they were saved for the older members of the tribe.
Not even Annie herself knew of them.
They were dark and twisted with an ultimate shock at the end that no one could comprehend, some of the first elders had written them up after meeting her many centuries ago, Andromeda Cecily- the vampire that wasn't what she seemed to be.
"You'll know when you're older son" Harry smiles down at his boy once again, receiving a a series of blinks from the confused Seth.
"But-" why would his new friends be in legends? She was only eighteen.
"Come now, let's get you home so we can look at that injury" Harry begins to steer his family away with a last grateful look to the vampire girl that still stood in shock.
"I can take a look" Carlisle offers, stepping forwards until Sue shakes her head.
"You've done enough...Thankyou" she was grateful yes, but they were still vampires and she hasn't processed it all yet and needed her son to be safe away from them. She begins to try and walk them away until Seth calls out in a panic.
"No wait, I need to say goodbye!" Seth exclaims, looking up to his parents with wide doe eyes before trying to steer himself back around.
"Goodbye?" Sue raises a brow, why would he want to say goodbye?
Seth turns and leaves his parents embrace before hobbling back over to where Annie stood, her head tilting as she steps forwards to meet the injured boy half way. When she reaches him, she looks down at him sternly.
"You take care of that foot okay? And don't come back here climbing trees or anything of that matter. It's dangerous" her words have Carlisle smiling, she sounded like an overprotective mother scolding her child.
"I can't promise anything" Seth chirps cheekily, trying to wink but ending up blinking to which the girl infront of him huffs in amusement. He was a funny kid.
"Seth!" Sue is quick to tell him off, her heart pounding within her chest letting the vampires know she was still worried for her son.
She didn't trust Annie, or any of them. Not yet.
"I'm kidding mom" Seth rolls his eyes, himself not wanting to go through being caught in a tree another time. There might not be anyone to save him the next time.
What Annie hadn't been prepared for was for Seth to wrap his arms around her middle and crush her into a bear hug, his head on her chest and arms clasped around her waist. She hadn't been hugged in a very long time, her unbeating heart felt as though it was pulsing again from the affection from the boy... he was so much like he'd own brother from when she was human.
Gently, with caution to his parents reactions, she wraps her own arms back around him and softly pats his shaggy black hair, the boy beaming up at her with a smile that could light up a midnight sky.
"Thankyou Annie" he whispers into her chest, his arms squeezing around her middle to try and offer some warmth to her freezing cold body.
"You're welcome Seth" she whispers back laying her head atop of his, letting herself enjoy the embrace. She quite liked hugs.
"I'll come back to visit you" he promises as he pulls away, his smile still unwavering.
"Don't you dare"
"Try and stop me...Andromeda" he teases, using the name he heard his father say to test the waters. He liked that name more, it was unique.
The blonde doctor stood behind them watches closely for her reaction, she usually blew up when being called her human name. It reminded her of who she was too much, as a human and as a different vampire, but she seems to smile when Seth says it.
"I will. Now go to your mum, she's worried sick" she steers him in the direction of his mother, quickly stepping back when Sue walks forwards to support him instead.
"I'll see you soon" he promises, already planning so many activities they can play when he sees her again. She was now his best friend, stranger or not, they would be the bestest of friends.
"You very well won't" Andromeda shakes her head.
"I'll find you again, you're my new friend" there was no 'no' being taken as an answer.
"Friendships can't be one sided" she tells him, clasping her arms behind her with a shrug following.
"That's just mean, you know you'll
Miss me" Seth pouts, crossing his arms.
"Oh yeah, sure"
"And make sure to always bring a coat! You're so cold"
"Don't you worry about me"
"That's what friends do!" he laughs, waving enthusiastically to which the girl waves back with a smile and a shake of her head before he turns around and lets his father hold his weight as he pulls him away.
"Can we stop at Emily's? I want a muffin" he asks as he hops in sync with his fathers steps, his arm around his shoulder to regain balance.
"We can stop at home where you'll be grounded" is Harry's sarcastic reply, sending a stern looks Seth's way.
"What?!" The boy bellows.
"You know the rules Seth" his father gave him a pointed look, tapping him upside the head.
"But- but I made a new friend" Seth looks over his shoulder at Annie a pout, a 'can you believe this?' look upon his face.
"Just wait until Leah finds out" is the last threat Harry gives him before hoisting him into the passenger seat of the truck.
"Please don't tell her!" Seths voice is muffled by the door as it shuts in his face.
"I assume this miscommunication is settled?" Carlisle steps beside Annie again, nodding his head towards Sue who still stood in her previous spot; she had kept her eyes on Annie the whole time.
"Very much so" Sue nods.
"I apologise for making you worry about what I would do to your son" Annie apologises quietly, Carlisle once again being shocked at her actions. Annie rarely ever apologised for something that wasn't exactly her fault.
"Annie, come on"
With a final bow of her head she turns to leave with Carlisle, only to be stopped in her tracks as the woman calls out to her again.
"Wait"
"Miss Clearwater?" She acknowledges.
"Thankyou, for helping him. Something worse could've happened to him if you hadn't of been here to show him kindness" it took her a lot to say that, Annie could tell by the way she was tense with lips pulled into a straight line.
"He's a kid, I wasn't going to let him suffer" the vampire brushes it off, she wasn't about to let any child suffer and not help them.
"They say you're the one without a heart" Sue tilts her head, her arms crossed over her chest as she squints her eyes to analyse the immortal infront of her.
"What are you getting at?" She knew what people say about her, she started those rumours herself by the way she acts so it was no surpise.
"From someone who hates your kind even I can say from now that those stories are only that. Tales. You're one of the good ones, stick to it" was the last things Sue says before following after her family, getting into the truck and leaving without another word. Seth waving out of the window until they were out of view, Annie waves back stills shellshocked from the woman's words.
She was one of the good ones.
"Annie"
"Carlisle?"
"I'm proud of you" the doctor grins, so happy for the girl.
"What?" She looks down sheepishly, if she would've been human she's had been blushing from so much praise in one day.
"What you just did. I'm proud of you"
"I just sat with the boy?" She shrugs, beginning to walk off so he couldn't see how flustered she was getting. She wasn't used to so much praise.
"You let yourself bond with someone, you cared for him"
"What else was I meant to do?"
"Can you take the praise?" Carlisle laughs, pushing it just a tad by pulling her into him and wrapping his arm around her.
"Thankyou for being proud of me" she mumbles, letting herself fall into his side for the first time ever. She'd let herself enjoy one more act of psychical touch for the day, there was no harm in it she had found.
She'd never admit it but she did miss it.
Carlisle couldn't wait to tell Esme.
"Did you feel thirsty? Itchy around him?" He wonders, still figuring out how she managed such a good self control with how close they had been. Even though she wouldn't have hurt him, she couldn't control the feeling of bloodlust.
"No...I felt- it doesn't matter" she couldn't really put it into words, he was the first 'human' she never felt thirsty around, saying that her cravings felt at ease when around him.
"Tell me" Carlisle urges, the girl still tucked into his side.
"I felt protective of him, like i wanted to keep him away from harm" it was a feeling that she'd never really felt before, not since she was human.
"Protective? In a m-" Carlisles theory is cut off by her pushing him away in evident disgust.
"God no Carlisle! He's a baby!" Annie shivers, not even wanting to think about anything of the sort. The little boy as her mate?! Was Carlisle having a giggle or did his head get screwed on incorrectly within the last hour?
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! What did you mean?" He laughs, apologising for saying such a thing but it's the first thing that came to his head. Maybe he just wanted her to find her mate.
"In a younger brother sense, it felt like he was my little brother" it was such a human feeling, one that she did share with her human self. She knew what it was like to have a younger brother to protect from the dangers of the world, she had lived that and had done her best through the ten years she had gotten to be with him to be the best big sister he could've had. And she was until the very last second that the stupid illness took him away from her and up into wherever it was you went when you died.
"That's why you were able to bond with him so fast?"
"Yeah"
"How strange" Carlisle hums, tapping his chin in thought.
"What do you mean"
"Our instincts normally flare up to attack around shifters, actually shifted or not so it's strange you felt protective of a child from the line" it's why there was such a divide between both species, it was natural instinct to hate eachother.
Shifters and Vampires were in no way meant to get along, it was only in some situations that they ever did.
"Could just be my guilt eating away at me" her urge to help children after what she had done hundreds of years ago came forth whenever she saw a child in need; she thought helping as many children as she could would perhaps make up for the life she had taken.
"Could be but look on the bright side, you helped him and didn't hurt him" he brings her back into him again, ruffling her hair like a proud father.
"He thinks I'm his friend now, that poor boy wouldn't look at me the same If he knew what I was" the girl pouts, she didn't want someone like Seth with so much innocent and kindness to ever know what someone like her was. She wanted him safe from this world, protected and happy but if he did turn out to be a shifter then that happy boy she helped today would turn into one who wanted to tear her apart.
"Well maybe you don't have to be who you make yourself be with him. Maybe you can be the person you want to be"
"What do you mean?" blinking confused, she looks at him like he had grown two heads; having no idea what on earth he had meant.
"That boy obviously favours you now, promising to even come back and see you. With us and others you've let yourself be known as the girl that doesn't want to love and can't keep control, maybe with him around you can learn how to be the girl that deep down you know you want to be" if only he knew it wasn't as simple as that.
"I can love...of course I can but I just.."
"You what?"
"I'm scared to" she confesses, her guard being down and her feelings being let out freely for Carlisle to finally see.
He knew she was scared to love but now that she had finally admit it was the first step in her road to healing.
"What happened with her would be nothing like what would happen if you were to open your heart to someone else" Carlisle stops them, turning her to face him whilst holding onto her shoulders.
"How would you know? You cant trust anyone in this shitty world" she looks up to him, eyes resembling that of a frightened deer. She was still a young girl at heart, no matter what she thought she still needed support and parental guidance.
"I know but believe me when I tell you, when you find the one you'll know and that person won't ever hurt you in the way she did" Carlisle promises, he felt like he could never love either but then he found Esme and he couldn't ever imagine a life without her.
He knew there was someone out there for Annie and if he had to help search for them himself, he would. There was no one who deserved happiness more than the woman infront of him.
"I killed a child because of her, she was jealous and used my uncontrollable hunger to teach me a lesson. She knew how much I loved children, she knew it would break me so she did it; I tore that girl apart and let her head drop to the floor off of her tiny shoulders" Annie whispers, her fingers clenching into her palms as venom pools within her eyes. She wishes she could cry, she wishes she could break down and ball to let out her emotions but she couldn't. She couldn't ever feel sorry for herself because what she did haunts her forever.
"That wasn't your fault, surely you know that" Carlisle whispers, caressing her raven locks with the most gentle touch. He could see the thoughts and nightmares swimming around in her head, trying to calm her as best he could.
"I'm a ripper Carlisle, I'm a pathetic vampire that feeds until she cant stop and rips people apart. That's definitely my fault" she spits with self hate, storming off to stop the man infront of her from seeing her upset. She hated being seen as weak.
She hated remembering who she was.
"You were in a time and around people that made you that way, that didn't teach you control or resilience to keep that side of you dormant" Carlisle follows after her, grabbing her arm to pull her back so she'd look at him.
"But I still killed a child!" She exclaims in a broken voice. No matter how many children she tried to help, she could never escape the fact that she took someone else's baby away from them and they watched before she took their lives too.
"Have you killed any children being with me?" Carlisle asks, hating seeing her in such a state. Her gift made him want to help her stop being so sad but it was also him truly caring for her that made him want it more. She was his family.
"...No" she admits, she would have killed herself before she ever hurt another.
"How many people have you killed from 1765 to now?" Carlisle keeps ahold of her shoulders, looking her in the eye as he asks.
"I massacred a whole village" she tells him, watching as he shows no disgust or hate to her statement, he hadn't after seeing the scene and her bloodied state all of those years ago either. He never judged her.
"After that, once I helped you regain control"
"Nineteen" Andromeda confirms, after Carlisle brought her into the animal diet from 1765 she had only actually killed nineteen people, which for a ripper who used to go on killing sprees was very impressive. She had more control than she gave herself credit for.
"Name them" he says.
"You what?" With a breathless laugh, she thinks he's joking before seeing his dead serious expression.
"Name your victims" Carlisle repeats, hoping she knows he's doing this to help her and not judge her like others do. He'd never use it against her, she was who she was and he accepted all of her.
"And what makes you think I know their names?" She snips, she didn't know whether she really wanted to tell him.
"Because I know you" he smiles, caressing her cheek in a fatherly manner before repeating his command.
"Name me the nineteen you've killed from then to now"
With a deep breath, Andromeda begins...
"Braden jones and Daisy jones"
"James Heathorwait"
"Stefan Williams"
"Ethan Grant"
"Elizabeth Arndale"
"Bob Lowe"
"Jonathan smith"
"Tommy little"
"Randal James"
"Frank Deppel"
"Martin Hurst"
"Jimmy Brownhill"
"Aaron Macclesfield"
"Harry Wong"
"David Harlow"
"Mason Baker"
"Sharon Cooper"
That was eighteen, she stills before she says the last one with a glance backwards in the direction of where their household resides.
"And?" Carlisle tilts his head, waiting for her answer.
"Charles Everson" Carlisle clenches his fists at the name but shock flashes his face when he realises who was now the cause of his death. He had always wondered why Andromeda has stormed out of the house that day only to come back with blood drenching her head to toe, the man's body being found ripped limb from limb making it seem like a vicious animal attack.
It had been her.
"Why did you kill them?" He asks, his hands on her shoulders grounding her so she didn't relive the memories for long.
"Because I was bored and felt like it"
"The truth 'Meda" her guard drops completely at that, it was the name her father used to call her when she was human.
"Most were child predators" she admits with a quiet voice, a face pulling into a sneer when she remembers what most of them had done.
"Go on"
"the couple were serial killers trying to mimic Bonnie and Clyde but the ones they killed were there own children" She had found them in England in 1956 when going back to visit her home country, it was just by chance she came across them but when she did she did not hesitate to send them straight to hell.
"Bob, Martin, Mason, Sharon, Stefan, Ethan and Randal were all pedophiles" Annie had caught them all in the act, saving the children and tearing those scumbags limb from limb so that they couldn't hurt any other child ever again.
"Frank Deppel was a serial killer in Whitechapel 1888, I'm sure you can add that one up" Carlisle could guess very well who that had been.
"1985, David Harlow sold off his daughter and let her suffer for money" the poor girl had been through years of torture and suffering by the hands of men, with the help of Annie she had gotten away and was now helping other women who go through the same thing to be free and heal from that torment.
"1969, Tommy Little was a homophobe, he was involved in a lot of gay people deaths and I found him beating a woman's scull in in the back alley of a protest" being gay herself Annie would never stand for homophobia, especially off of dirty men that fetishise women who love women only to then try and make their lives hell when being told their love wasn't for their enjoyment.
"1970, Elizabeth Arndale was..." she pauses at this one, voice cracking before she shakes her head. She didn't want to talk about this one.
"Tell me" Carlisle urges her softly, she needed to get all of this off of her chest.
"I tried to see if I could have control and be with a woman without tearing her throat out but...I couldn't" Annie whispers in shame, it was the first time in years she had let herself get close to a human properly, a woman just so had it been and she had fallen for her. Elizabeth was truly in love with her, whether it had been because of her gift or because she thought she was loveable she'd never know but she let herself try for the first time to return another's feelings and ended up killing her whilst making love to her. Never again.
"It's okay" Carlisle comforts, pulling her into a tight hug to let her know he was there for her. So that's why she didn't want to find her mate, she was scared they'd be human and they'd suffer the fate of Elizabeth.
"The others did bad things too but it's all abit fuzzy"
"Charles Everson? Why did you kill him" Now this one had removed all sadness from Annie's body, anger flooding her body and her teeth baring. Carlisle could understand why, he felt the same.
"He abused Esme, he took away her baby and pushed her to end her life" she spat. Now that was a kill she thoroughly enjoyed, it had taken a while to find him but when she did she was sure to torture that bastard in the ways he tortured Esme all of their marriage. He suffered a fate worse than hell when she got a grip of him.
"You killed people who had hurt others, it may not be the most moral thing and you may have not had control of your ripper urges but you still had enough conscience to know not to harm innocent people" Carlisle holds her chin and speaks to her in a firm tone, had she not been so vulnerable she probably would've kicked his arse for using his 'dad' voice on her but in that moment she didn't care.
"Elizabeth was innocent" she tells him, thinking of the beautiful girl who went against every and all standards made by society and fought to be who she wanted to. She could've changed history if she hadn't of been killed by a vampire who should've known better than to get with someone who wasn't of her species. It would've never worked.
"We all have slip ups, yours are abit different but Elizabeth was a pure accident of yours" that's the thing with Carlisle Cullen, he'd defend her through and through until the very end no matter how many bad things she did.
"I'm a thousand years old and can barely control myself, I'm a laughing stock"
"No you just got the wrong end of the stick, you can't help what blood does to you"
"They were still people and I ripped them limb from limb" that was how she was known, the vampire that detached peoples bodies and left them in piles for anyone to find. It wasn't something she could help which people didn't mention in the stories, they painted her as a sadistic bitch who gained pleasure from ripping people apart but she wasn't, she just couldn't stop feeding once she started and got consumed by the blood leading her to not stopping until they were entirely drained, her strength always being forgotten as she breaks them like they're nothing but glass being crushed under her grip.
Over the years she had managed a few tactics to stop herself from lunging at the smell of blood, she stocked up on animal blood enough that she wasn't entirely hungry, she always held her breath, she plagued her mind with bad things she'd done to feel too guilty to hurt another person somethings too. But having someone around her all of the time helped the most but even then sometimes she did have to be removed from situations where hunger overcame her.
"They hurt innocent children, you said you'd never hurt a child again and that promise you made to yourself made you protect children from others too. Imagine how many children you've saved" she saved so many people in comparison to how many she killed but she just couldn't accept that. Sure she had started being good once meeting Carlisle but before then she killed and killed and fed and fed without any remorse for human life, her hurting a child was a turning point but before them she couldn't give a damn.
She was one of them, she was a warrior, a guard, a weapon and she had no remorse for human life.
"Do you really think someone could love me knowing what I've done?" It was a question that played on her mind everyday, the only person who she was able to love only loved her because she hurt people the same as they did and didn't know any better of it, Annie back then would've done anything she'd have said and did it all to please those around her. They saved her, she owed them her life so they had used that to their advantage until she harshly was awoken to the truth.
"It was a very very very long time ago Annie, if they can't then they're not the right person for you" Carlisle gives her a gentle smile, truly believing that one day she'd be the happiest of them all.
"You may push the others away but you can't fool me, and you especially cant fool Esme. Take baby steps to get where you want to be" they began walking again, Andromeda feeling a lot lighter now she had gotten everything out into the open with Carlisle, it felt nice knowing he knew and didn't judge her one bit. All she wanted to do now was go home and read her book, maybe even draw.
"I'll try"
"I heard you spoke to Angela Webber today" Carlisle gives her a cheeky smile before laughing loudly when she pushes him away.
"Don't start" she groans, speeding away from him with the man right behind her still laughing.
"What? Let's talk about girls!"
"No!"
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