Chapter Text
Pt. 1-
Savannah sits on the piano bench, intently staring at the keys as her fingers dance over them. She is playing a cover of "On the Nature of Daylight" by Max Richter. It has become one of her favourite melodies to play. It's late, around 3:30 am, but she does not need sleep, so the time doesn't matter to her.
"Can you play something happy for once?" Taisia mopes as she slumps on the piano. Savannah was too focused on her playing to notice the little redhead enter the room. Savannah smirks and stops playing, glancing up at the Russian girl who giggles and skips over to sit on her friend's lap. Savannah can't help but note how much the redhead reminds her of a young cat, who is in constant need of attention and always is eager to curl up on someone.
"Where's Evangeline?" Savannah asks as she runs her fingers through her friend's long red hair.
Taisia shuts her eyes and smiles, appreciating the physical touch. "She's on the phone. She didn't say with who, but she rushed off pretty quick to answer it, and she's been there for over an hour." She responds. Another set of footsteps enter the room, and a second later, and Aron joins them around the piano. Savannah avoids eye contact with the Polish vampire, but she can practically feel his gaze on her. Taisia shifts forward and blocks his view on her face. Evangeline comes walking quickly into the room. She's usually smiling, but today her face is downcast.
"What's wrong?" Aron asks and crosses the room to stand beside her. She forces a smile and shakes her head.
"I'll tell you all when the others return from their hunt." She assures them while the forced smile remains on her face.
She refers to the remaining family members; Kristian, Bryce, and Vivienne. In total, there are seven of them, and they span from different places and backgrounds.
Evangeline was the first to be turned. It was 1675, and she was serving as a maid until one night changed everything. After the attack and her transformation, she was confused and frightened and wanted nothing more than her eternal torment to end. One night, in London, after trying to starve herself, she became too wild and attacked a group of merchants. None other than Carlisle Cullen heard the commotion and grabbed the young vampire and pulled her away before any sort of authority to arrest her. He became her sanctuary and her carer, and honestly, Evangeline thought she would stay with Carlisle forever, but eventually, she craved freedom and abandoned him. Doing so, she stumbled upon the members of her family.
Aron is the second oldest- after his turning in 1772. Evangeline found him in Poland, crazed and bloodthirsty. But she controlled him, tamed him, and over time, befriended him. She gave him a choice to stay with him or leave to make his own life. He can't be alone, he hates it, so of course, he stayed with her.
Next was Kristian from Germany in 1790. Kristian was handsome, a hard worker, and had a fiancée, but a jealous vampire put an end to his idyllic life. The vampire meant to kill him, but Aron chased him away before he could. Aron and Evangeline didn't know whether Kristian would live, but the young man managed to transform. He wasn't as blood-crazed as Aron when Kristian initially turned him, but he was angrier. Losing your life and everything you cared about is the worst hell anyone can be put through, so of course, Kristian was angry. He lashed out at Aron because Aron could handle violence better than Evangeline could. It took years for Kristian to calm; thirty years, to be precise. During that time, they moved him from Germany to France to a small cottage in the woods. There was a small village fairly close to the cottage, and the people were terrified of Evangeline, Aron, and Kristian. They claimed they were witches.
But, while they were there, they discovered Vivienne. Vivienne was full of herself, and she demanded attention wherever she went, and that would be the end of her. Kristian found her bleeding and screaming on the road and took her back to their house. They thought she would die, but Aron, enchanted by her beauty, made a rash decision and turned her. Evangeline and Aron took care of her, and she calmed down after ten years. And then they moved to America because Vivienne was too well-recognized in France. While there, they found Savannah. She was a maid, but one night, while she was walking down a dark alleyway to get home, she stumbled upon a beautiful but frightening woman: Vivienne. She was thirsty, and because she was only a few years old, she attacked the frightened woman. Aron then found them, pulled Vivienne away, and tried to save Savannah by sucking the venom out of her skin, but he knew it was too late in the end as too much of it flowed through her veins. He carried her back to their home, and he stayed with her through the pain. When she woke up, her throat was sore and dry. He was the one to take her away to a hospital where people were almost dead, and they were subsequently their food supply. They variated between them, animals, or blood banks later, but they didn't have a lot of choices initially. Not long after, they found Taisia. She was a beautiful, small Russian immigrant working as a prostitute. Aron and Savannah found her, screaming and writhing on the cold street. She never told her family how she was attacked. Bryce was the last to be turned. He was a well-liked, attractive man, but a jealous woman attacked him and left him to die. It was Vivienne who found him and turned him.
So they became a family living in the forests, usually in small cottages. Some teenagers once tried to sneak in, and Vivienne lost her temper. One died from a heart attack; the others went into the hospital due to fright. Now, the family is living in Northern Ireland. They have had their fair share of complications with every family, made even worse by the fact they're temperamental, immortal beings. Despite the tempers, relationships have blossomed between the members like Evangeline and Kristian. Whether or not it was a romantic love; or a comfortable dependency on each other, neither of them care to admit. “Mates”’is an easy word for the codependency. Bryce quickly fell for little Taisia, but it took years for her to finally open up and accept the tall, goofy individual who will do anything to make his little mate laugh. The other three are just coping as well as they can with their immortal existence.
Presently, Aron is sitting on the couch; his eyes flicker over to the dark-haired woman sitting on the piano bench, her scarlet orbs staring intently at the sheet music. Aron listens to her play for hours on end. A noise at the door alerts the four vampires to the return of their kin. First to enter is Vivienne, the stunning blonde, who flicks her hair and glides over to Aron.
Bryce comes over and sits beside Savannah and Taisia on the piano bench, and Taisia climbs onto his back, smiling and nuzzling his neck. Kristian doesn't show this outward affection towards Evangeline, nor does she ever expect him to. He instead leans against the white wall, nodding at her. She clears her throat, and the five vampires look at her intently. She sighs and crosses her arms.
"I got a call from Carlisle Cullen earlier, and he wishes for us to pay his family a visit where they have relocated to a small town in Washington. He was brief as to why, but I know he would not call just for a leisurely visit." She tells them and waits for her family to respond.
"Why is he calling you?" Taisa asks in her thick, Russian accent and stares at her friend with a quizzical expression while she hangs off Bryce like a monkey on a branch.
Evangeline shakes her head and bites her lip, looking unsure if she wants to answer her little adoptee. Kristian stands up straighter and stares at her with intense eyes.
"What aren't you telling us, Evie?" he asks and closes the distance between them, his tall form towering over her.
She sighs deeply before finally facing her family and offering an explanation. "They have a child amongst them-"
"What are they having moral issues?" Vivienne snaps, growing impatient at having to wait around. Taisia punches her in the arm and growls, shutting up the tall blonde, who just rolls her eyes and looks back at Evangeline, who is waiting for them to be quiet.
"The child is a hybrid."
That statement makes all the vampires snap their heads up and look in shock at Evangeline. Before anyone can speak, Bryce is on his feet and snarling.
"That's an abomination. It has to be destroyed." He says. Bryce is passionate about the life they lead, and his kind and unholy creature, like a hybrid child, could cause their life to unravel- especially if more humans get involved. The thought alone infuriates him. The only fate for an immortal child is death.
Evangeline walks over and puts her hand on his bicep, silently telling him to calm down. "I agree. I've known Carlisle for many years; I cannot possibly see his reasoning for obtaining a hybrid. Nevertheless, he has summoned us. He is my friend, but I can only go if all of you agree because our family will not separate us."
Bryce nods, anger still set in his face. Taisia quips in agreeance and Savannah will follow without any question. Aron nods, and Vivienne shrugs.
"Alright. Let's go see this immortal child." Evangeline says softly, and all her children quickly get up to prepare for the journey, aside from Kristian. He is still beside her, and his rough hand is resting on her shoulder.
"Why did Cullen contact you?" he asks her quietly.
She shrugs as her thoughts drift to Carlisle. "You know why." She answers. Had her heart been beating, it would be fluttering. She and Carlisle took their respective mates, and Evangeline does not doubt he is in love with the beautiful Esme, but she knows her feelings towards him have not diminished. She suspects they never will.
Because Carlisle met Evangeline not long after the vampire turned her, she was a young, blood-crazed vampire, and this caused her to become reasonably reliant on Carlisle, who had vowed to help her. Leaving him had broken her heart.
o0o
Carlisle stands against the window, facing the vast forest which surrounds their house. It was a rare moment of calm in a chaotic time. The birth of Renesmee has caused his home and the occupants to be thrown into a dangerous situation, but of course, they'll face it for the family. A few groups of their allies have arrived to meet the Volturi, and he's so thankful. But there is one group, particularly; he is eager to see if they even come: Evangeline's family. His thoughts often drift back to the English woman who he has known for so long.
"Are you okay, darling?"
He glances and sees Esme standing beside him, the concern written clearly across her face. He smiles and kisses her head, nodding afterward. "Fine. I'll be along shortly." He answers, and she nods before leaving the room again, so he is once again alone with his thoughts in the bright, white place. Once again, his thoughts went back to her.
The last time he saw Evangeline was fifteen years ago; she arrived with Kristian and Aron at her flank. She was smiling; he remembers that. Their trio was on their way to make a transaction with acquaintances and happened to be passing by Cullen's home in Russia, where they lived briefly for a time.
She smiles and walks up to embrace him. Her figure felt familiar to him, and he hugged her tightly. "Hello, love. I've missed you." She whispered in his ear.
Carlisle had watched this woman develop into a reliable individual, despite the fact Carlisle had hoped she would join him once he had finally found her again after she ran away from him. That day, Carlisle remembers vividly. He is hurt that Evangeline had left without so much of a word, but he knew she needed to be free and find herself.
Despite knowing this, though, Carlisle always secretly thought one day she'd return to join his family, but only when he met her again and discovered she had created a family of her own did he realize the wild woman he knew was gone. She had grown into a caregiver of her own.
o0o
He remembers vividly when she finally offered absolution to him in 1913. That day, she confirmed that she would not return to him. The threat of world war loomed in the air. Of course, it is just a conflict between humans for vampires, but Carlisle fears the delicate creatures. He will be there as a doctor on the Americans' front lines and do what he can to protect the humans.
He has arrived at his small apartment in Columbus after finishing his typical evening shift. His apartment is dimly lit, with sparse furniture littering the rooms. He has a single bed in the bedroom for appearance purposes if anyone visits, but he spends most of the living room. The maroon curtains are always drawn, and he often sits at his mahogany desk, writing or reading his many books. That's one thing that fills his apartment; books. They overflow off his desk, litter the floor, cascade down the velvet couch. He loves his books; they comfort him because he lives a lonely life.
As he enters the apartment and kicks off his shoes, he stops instantly. There is a scent in the air that doesn't belong to him. But he knows it very well.
"Are you here, Evie?" he asks quietly, using his nickname for her.
He hears her footsteps as she walks out of his bedroom, smiling. "Carlisle. I have missed you." She says quietly as she wraps her firm, pale arms around him. He pulls her close, pressing his lips on her forehead. Even though it was her choice to leave him, she missed him terribly. So, once Kristian informed her that he heard there was an ex-member of the Volturi working as a doctor in Columbus, she left immediately to find him. And find him she did.
She reaches up and presses her soft lips against the side of his mouth while his eyes remain closed. She's done this so many times.
"Why did you leave?" he asks her so quietly that if she were a human, she wouldn't have heard it.
"I... I craved freedom, and I wanted a life that was mine that I built on my own. You never left my thoughts, once, though." She responds feebly. He does not answer for a few moments but just holds the woman close.
"Will you come back to me?" He whispers into her hair.
She shuts her head. "I can't. But, my heart will never stop yearning for you."
o0o
Presently, Carlisle snorts. That was a long time ago. He only sees Evangeline every few decades, but he never knows if he will see her again after every meeting. Maybe it is for the best.
When he called her, he had no idea if she would even arrive or what will happen if she does.
His eyes watch as the slight wind makes the trees rustle in the wind. Once again, he hears the door to the quiet room open, and footsteps enter. Not Esme; it's Edward this time. He clears his throat and walks over to his adoptive father.
"She's here." He says quietly.
Carlisle raises his eyebrows and snorts. "Speak of the devil." He mumbles before turning around, exiting the room quickly and making it outside in record time. Standing there, amidst the trees, is Evangeline. She smiles as soon as she sees him. As always, flanking her are Aron and Kristian. The two massive vampires are glaring at the others. Behind them is Bryce, with little Taisia beside him, and Vivienne with Savannah pacing behind the group. Savannah has always been wild and barely tameable. Her dark hair is loose and falling down her shoulders while her red eyes scan each vampire.
"Stand down; we have no enemies here," Evangeline instructs. The wild vampire finally stops and instead glares at Bella, who is stationed behind Edward. Luckily, their child is nowhere in sight. Evangeline is eyeing up all the vampires who now surround them, noting that many clans are there. She sees new faces and old.
"Eleazar, Zafrina. It's been a long time." She says, the side of her lip twitching into a semi-smile, but more of a grimace. She and Zafrina had tension in the past.
Zafrina nods. "A very long time. Your coven has grown." She notes and nods to the six vampires standing behind Evangeline.
"Have you come to help us?" Bella interjects quickly and walks out from behind Edward. Evangeline's eyes flicker to the newborn, trying to pass judgment on her silently. Slight, long hair, and young. Very young.
"I do not believe I have made your acquaintance, child. What is your name?" Evangeline asks and extends her hand. Bella walks forward and grabs her hand, tightening so much Evangeline winces.
"Bella, Bella Swan. Renesmee is my daughter." The newborn says quickly. Evangeline nods and pulls her hand out of the firm grip.
Before Bella can say another word, Bryce slams past Kristian, fire dancing in his eyes. "Cut this bullshit. Where is it?"
"It!?" Bella screeches and puts herself in a defensive stance. Bryce snarls and his fists clench, but Kristian harshly pulls him back into rank and snaps at him.
"Don't do anything stupid." The German threatens and shoves him back once more. The angry brunette vampire stares at his elder defiantly but keeps his mouth closed. Evangeline has placed herself directly in front of Bella, hand extended onto the feisty girl's shoulders.
"Unfortunately, until we can meet and pass judgment on this creature, we are on the defence," Evangeline says and removes her hand as Edward walks up.
"Do not refer to her as a creature or it, Evangeline." He says warily.
She raises her eyebrows and takes a step back, holding her chin up and snorting. "Do not dare tell me what I can or cannot do, boy. I had walked on this earth long before you did and certainly long before that girl beside you. I have seen things that you could not imagine; I do not pass judgment lightly." Evangeline says in a low and steady tone. Edward nods and takes a step back, hand on Bella's arm, so she follows suit.
Carlisle has been silent during the interaction, merely watching the change in the woman he knew. The quiet nature remains in her voice, but the protection and fierce loyalty to her family are brutally obvious. He wanted to believe she would never fight against them, but now he is not so sure. He walks forward and places a hand on her forearm. She looks up at him, and he gestures to the house.
"Evangeline, may I have a word?" he asks. She nods and follows him into the pristine Cullen home, her family staying grouped. Kristian stares at the two, watching over his leader protectively. Carlisle has never formally asked if they're together, but he didn't need to. He can see Kirstian's eyes on her always.
But whether it be with love or loyalty, or both, he never truly wanted the actual answer.
He leads her into his office, and she smiles when she arrives. Like his apartment in Columbus, there are books everywhere and crammed into every bookshelf he could fit into his room. He has dark maroon drapes hung up, a dark oak writing desk, and two matching wooden chairs with velvet cushions. She walks over to the desk, picking up a book that caught her eye as it was uncharacteristically sprawled out on the desk.
"A Tale of Two Cities? Surely you must have read that already, love." She jokes and leans against the desk, turning the book over in her pale hands. He chuckles and digs his hands in his pockets before stepping closer to her. She doesn't look at him. Instead, she focuses on the book in her hands.
"I need your help, Evie." He says and takes the book out of her hands. She bites her lip and shakes her head, looking unsure.
"An immortal child, Carlisle? What on earth were you thinking?" she groans and rubs one hand over her tired eyes.
"She's not like that; she's safe. She's perfect; please just meet her before you condemn her." He pleads, taking hold of her small hand tightly in his. Had she been human, she would have made a big sigh.
"Sounds like you're all quite taken with her," she jokes, and a small smile appears on her face. Her high heels are ghosting over Carlilse's knee as he stands close to her.
"I love her. We all do; just give the child a chance. The Volturi are wrong about her." He muttered, looking angry for a moment. Her brows furrow, and she leans forward, poking her face under his chin.
"Hey- you're not alone; you have your family," she affirms and smiles warmly. He nods, kissing her quickly on the head before beginning to walk out of the room, but her voice stops him in his tracks. "But, Carlisle, I cannot subject my family to danger, nor can I risk losing any of them if we are not all I agreeance for fighting. I will meet the child and show her to them, but I will not be at your side for this battle if we do not all agree. You brought that human into your life and the lives of your children. Now, the Volturi have turned against you. Your family allowed this to happen, and they may pay for that decision with their lives. But I will not allow my family to spill blood on behalf of the creature, nor her mothers, account."
Carlisle looks at her in shock for a moment. At one time, Evangeline would have willingly laid down her life for an individual who was in danger, but it seems she has changed. "We are protecting the innocent, Evangeline. We've committed no crime." He remarks and crosses his arms over his chest.
She bites her lip again before standing up and quickly crossing the room to be beside him. Her red eyes bury into his, and she puts her hand over his. "That's what I'm doing. You're protecting your family, and I must protect mine. They're my priority above all else. But I will still meet the creature." She promises and exits the room, leaving him behind this time.
At one time, Carlisle thought Evangeline would never oppose him. Still, he sees now she truly has matured and ultimately accepted being the motherly figure to the six vampires in her coven. Perhaps, she will be his ally no more.
Carlisle still hates the feeling he gets when she appears in his life. She comes in and out at will, and every time she leaves, he's left yearning for her to return.