I can't believe there are only TWO chapters left!!!! This one doesn't have Embry in it but the big reunion of Lamia nad Embry will be in the next one! This chapter is mainly a filler but I hope you like it anyway :)
Don't forget to vote and comment!!
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I don’t know how long I was out but when my eyes opened, I knew that I wasn’t in the Volturi lair anymore. My eyes blinked at the light that was on the ceiling. I turned my head to look around the room from where I lay. The room had very white walls and smelled of cleaning supplies. I was positioned on a bed in the middle of the room. To my right was a heart monitor that steadily beeped along with my heart beat. I wasn’t in a hospital so where was I?
“You’re at our house,” Edward said as he opened the door to the room and walked in with Carlisle behind him. Edward came over to you and put a sandwich on the bedside table. I smiled to show him my thanks before he left the room, leaving my and Carlisle alone.
I tried to sit up but it was slow going. My body still ached from the beatings and while I was still in my dirty clothing from earlier, I could still see several bruises prominently displayed on the exposed skin. They’d be there for a few days I’m sure.
I nibbled on the sandwich as Carlisle looked over some papers. I still felt a little awkward being here. I was happy for them saving me and Alice had said that they knew I burned the files but even with all that, would they except me back as friends?
Carlisle came over to me and placed the papers on the bed beside where I sat. He took the heart monitor pad off me, causing the room to go silent except for my quiet breathing. He started to go over my cuts and bruises, cleaning me up as best he could. I finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“Thank you Carlisle for everything. You put your family in a position that they didn’t need to be to save me and for that I’ll be eternally grateful,” I said. He looked up from my hand that he was wrapping to glance at me.
“It was no problem Lamia. Once we found out that you hadn’t given the Volturi anything then we couldn’t just let you die. We had to do what was necessary to help a friend,” he replied with a small smile.
“A friend…,” I chuckled humorlessly, “ How could any of you consider me a friend after all the mistakes I have made. The spying, the deception…hardly something a friend would do,” I mutter and drop my head to look at my lap. I heard him sigh and drop my hand. I saw his feet move until he was beside me and leaning against the bed.
“You know, I always knew that something was different about you when I first met you,” he said which made my head shoot up to look at him and a frown form on my face. Seeing my expression, he continued quickly. “It’s not a bad thing. You just had this way about you even though all those months ago you were completely different than you are now. A shell of a person but a switch flipped on and you just transformed in front of our eyes. You have a good heart Lamia. Perhaps not everyone is ready to forgive you completely but give them time. You have left a mark of some sort on each of us and that will never go away,” he finished.
I wiped away a tear that had fallen during his short speech. That was a nice thing to say. I’ve never been described in such a way. Taking in his words, I leaned my head against his shoulder and gave him a side hug which I returned. “I hope you’re right Carlisle. Thanks for making me feel better,” I said pulling away. He chuckled then returned to his spot in front of me, offering me his hand to help me stand from the bed.
“Everyone’s here, waiting downstairs to talk to you,” he said leading me through the door. My heart skipped a beat. Everyone? Does that mean Embry was here? I couldn’t help but feel excited at the prospect of seeing him again but as I made my way into the living room, the only member of the pack present was Sam which made me mood deplete.
“Where’s the rest of the pack?” I couldn’t help but ask. Sam shifted in his seat uncomfortably. Everybody else smiled at my entrance except him. Did he not see my situation the same way that the Cullens did?
“Until I hear your side of the story and decide for myself, you still aren’t allowed on La Push land. As long as that stays in effect and you remain here, then no one is to cross the border unless I say so. Even Embry,” he admitted almost seemingly embarrassed by his behavior. I gave him a soft smile.
“I understand Sam. You have to protect your pack and lands,” I replied. He nodded at me in acknowledgement. I turned my attention back to the whole room. Everyone had settled in a seat and was patiently waiting for me to tell my story. I stood slightly fidgeting at their stares.
“So I guess I better start at the beginning,” I began, rubbing the back of my neck. This was going to be hard but it needed to be done. I needed to let it all out and this was the place to do it. In front of my closest friends. Well, all except one.
“Well I don’t really remember much about my life before I became a servant for the Volturi. Well…I always considered myself a slave, not a servant. Sometimes I can get images of my parents. Aro said that when I was taken, they were not harmed but I know better. I often questioned why I was taken but I never really got an answer. Maybe because none of them could get a read on my thoughts? I don’t know,” I exclaimed with a shrug.
“For years, I cleaned and did everything that was asked of me. At first I feared for my life but the older I grew, the more bitter I became. I began to hate everyone and everything that had to do with that place. I never made friends with the other human servants because I knew they weren’t going to last as long as I did. They were killed after a few months and I couldn’t stand the pain of being friends with someone just to lose them like I lost my parents,” I said beginning to feel my eyes start to tear up. All the hurt. All the loneliness that I felt. It all was coming back to me. One glance around the room and everyone’s expression was the same. Pity.
“Go on Lamia,” Esme said with an encouraging smile, squeezing Carlisle’s hand. I took a deep, shaky breath and tried to give them a small smile but it felt more like a grimace.
“One day, they offered me the task of coming to Forks to get more information on your family and the La Push pack. Really, it was more about the pack since they practically knew nothing.” Sam bristled a little bit at that but he settled back quickly. “I, of course, jumped at the chance to be out from my captivity within the Volturi’s grasp, no matter how short of time I was given,” I continued.
“Little did I know just how much everything here would affect me. I thought that I could get through this without being detected and leave without a blink of an eye but it obviously didn’t go the way I planned. I made friends and had the best time I’ve ever had. I met the one guy that I love and know I will continue to love” I said. Speaking about them and Embry was making me get choked up. Usually I would be embarrassed about showing so much emotion in front of a lot of people but I couldn’t help it. Everything had just overwhelmed me all at once. “You will never know how much I appreciate you for taking me in and making me the person who I was supposed to me. You will also never know how truly sorry I am. Saying it isn’t enough but I will try my best to make it up to you in any way I can,” I finished wiping away a stray tear that leaked down my cheek.
The room was silent except for my shaky breathing and sniffles. I knelt my head down, afraid to look at anyone but also afraid of what they were going to say. I had never disclosed anything about my former life to other people before but it made me feel lighter in some way. As if all my mistakes and the bitter I felt had been weighing me down but now I was breathing easier.
I felt the air stir slightly before a set of cold arms wrapped around me. “Oh Lamia, I’m glad you could tell us about you. I’m so sorry about what happened in the clearing. We should have let you tell your side,” Alice exclaimed squeezing me pretty hard making me wince from pain from my bruising.
“Maybe you should give her a break Alice. You’re hurting the poor girl,” Edward said making Alice jump back quickly and smiling sheepishly. Edward came up and gave me a hug along with Bella and Renesmee.
“I always knew that you had some spunk, even for a human,” Emmett said with a laugh that boomed through the room. One by one the Cullens hugged me and told me different things like how they were sorry and how we needed to go shopping. That last comment was obviously from Alice.
Sam was the last to come up to me. He looked a little nervous and my heart was beating out of my chest at the thought of what he was going to say. The Cullens gave us some privacy, leaving us in the living room alone.
“I’m not sure what to say,” he said running his hand through his hair. I placed a hand lightly on his shoulder which made him meet my eyes.
“It’s ok Sam. Just breathe,” I say with a small laugh. He let out a breath and chuckled a little. He gestured to the couch a few feet away. We walked over and sat down. I turned my body to face him and wait for him to continue.
“I’m sorry to hear that you have had a hard life. I couldn’t imagine going through half of what you did. Most of us probably wouldn’t have survived it,” he said with an exasperated sigh, “When I found out that you were with the Volturi, I went into alpha mode. I went over in my head if there were any signs that I had missed but all I could remember is how nice and quiet you were. Hardly the threat that my mind was telling me you were.”
“Looks can be deceiving I guess,” I mumbled looking down at my hands that were fiddling in my lap.
“I understand why you didn’t tell us. I would be hard to get us to listen to someone we thought was the enemy. But I underestimated you, you turned out to be an ally and even put your life on the line for all of us. For that, I thank you,” Sam said taking me by surprise. I brought my head up to look at him. He had a smile on his face as he looked at me. I was confused at first as too why he would be doing so until he spoke the next few words.
“I lift the ban that I put on you. You are welcome to La Push at any time.”
I thought I didn’t hear him correctly. I must have stared at him blankly for a few minutes before I shook my head to clear to fuzziness. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” I asked, my heart speeding up yet again.
“I said that you are no longer banned from La Push land. After hearing your story and knowing what you did against the Volturi, I don’t see a reason to keep it,” he replied. In a matter of seconds, I launched myself at him and hugged him. First the Cullens save me and welcome me back with open arms but now Sam was lifting the ban against me? I couldn’t believe it.
“Thank you so much Sam. I promise you won’t regret it and like I said, I will do everything to prove that I am trustworthy again,” I said quickly, pulling back to look at him with wide eyes.
“I’m sure you will,” he said, patting my shoulder softly so as not to cause me any pain. “Now, why don’t you go see Embry. I’m sure you are dying too,” he continued with a sly smirk on his face. I turned my head, my cheeks heating a little.
“I don’t even know if he wants to see me,” I replied. Sam standing up brought my eyes back to him. He walked in front of me and helped me to my feet.
“Lamia, he wants to see you. I had to use my alpha command to get him just to stay on La Push land once Carlisle called and said they got you back alive. He wasn’t very happy with me,” he said. I couldn’t help but giggle softly had the idea of Embry pacing around Sam’s house waiting for him to return. I’m sure everyone was tired of hearing him complain.
An idea popped into my head and a small smile graced my features. “Sam, can you tell Embry to meet me where we first saw each other?” I asked him. He looked at me confused.
“And where exactly would that be?” he asked with his eyebrows furrowed trying to answer his own question. I turned him and pushed him towards the front door.
“He’ll know where you’re talking about,” I said opening the door. He nodded and started down the stairs. I watched until he disappeared into the tree line. “I’ll be waiting,” I said to myself.
“Can anybody take me to the beach in La Push?” I called knowing that they all could hear me. Jasper appeared in front of me and bowed like the southern gentleman he was raised to be.
“Allow me,” he said standing up straight. As I walked to him, Alice appeared at her side and grabbed my elbow. She began pulling me towards the stairs. I looked back at Jasper to ask what she was doing but he just shrugged.
“Alice what are you doing?” I asked not putting up a fight since she was stronger than me especially when she was on a mission.
“You aren’t going anywhere like that,” she replied not looking back at me and finally pulling me into her room. I looked down at myself and realized that I was still in the dirty clothes that I had been wearing in the Volturi lair. I’m sure my hair wasn’t any better.
“This better be fast Alice. I want to be there waiting when Embry shows up at our spot on the beach,” I said as she pushed me to sit on the bed as she walked toward her closet. She came back out with a pair of jeans and a slouchy blouse.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be quick,” she said. I relaxed and let her do whatever she had planned. My stomach erupted in butterflies at the prospect of seeing Embry in just a few minutes. I was just hoping that it goes over as smoothly as everything else did.