claudia | embry call

twenty : cullens

"That's quite the story." Carlisle nodded, looking at Edward. Claudia also gazed up at Edward.

"Incredible." He mumbled, and Claudia breathed a sigh of relief. "She's not lying about anything." Edward looked over at Carlisle. "I...I can't say I've ever heard of anything like her."

"Nor have I." Carlisle eyes sparkled as he looked down at Claudia again. "You're more than welcome in our home, Claudia, of course."

"Oh, thank you." A wide smile broke onto Claudia's face. "Really, I-" She was cut off by Carlisle's hand raising.

"Please, it's our pleasure." He smiled kindly. "Though...this might complicate things with the pack. We should speak to Sam before the meeting tonight, inform him."

"No need." Edward shook his head. "Jacob has been listening from the woods, reporting it all back to Sam."

"And?" Claudia raised her eyebrows. Edward looked out the window, nodding his head lightly before looking back to Claudia.

"He agrees that you're better off here, at least until we know you can control yourself around humans." Claudia was relieved, and Carlisle seemed to be as well.

"Good, good." Carlisle nodded. "Do you need to hunt?" He looked down at Claudia.

"No, I'm okay." Claudia shook her head. "I'm just really tired, being a wolf really takes it out of you." Carlisle chuckled.

"Alice wants to lend her room." Edward spoke up. "She's waiting for you to call her down." Carlisle chuckled again, and there was a small girl at his side in an instant. Claudia had never met Alice before, but she recognized her immediately. Dark, spiky hair, bright golden eyes, and a perfect smile complete with small but noticeable dimples. Alice was beaming at Claudia from next to Carlisle as if they were already best friends.

"Hi, I'm Alice." Alice beamed, and Carlisle and Edward slipped away. "You can have my room, I only use it for the closet anyway."

"Thanks." Claudia smiled back. Alice stretched her hand out and Claudia took it, letting Alice pull her upstairs. They soon entered through the only open door, into a surprisingly bright bedroom. The far wall was entirely glass, with a large bed sitting opposite it, and a door sitting in the corner of the same wall as the bed.

"The bathroom and closet are through here." Alice pulled her across the room and opened the door, revealing another impossibly large room. It was the bathroom, though Claudia could see a hole surrounded by fence in the middle. "All the amenities, of course, I'm sure you'll want to freshen up. But first, down here is the closet." Alice led her to the hole, and Claudia realized it was a spiral staircase. They were down it into a second, revealing another impossibly large room. "We should be about the same size, feel free to take what you want." Alice finally let her hand go, beginning to move around. Claudia stood frozen, staring around in shock. Alice's closet and bathroom were bigger than her family's entire house, it was crazy. "Well go shower." Alice shooed. Claudia looked back to she her waving her hands. "Go. I'll find you some pajamas and leave them on the bed."

Claudia nodded after a moment, climbing the stairs at a human pace as she was still processing. It wasn't long before she was clean, wearing a pair of Alice's silk pajamas-though Claudia couldn't for the life of her figure out why Alice would've had these-and settling into the California-King sized bed. It was easily the most comfortable thing she'd ever touched, let alone laid on, and it only took a few minutes before her eyes rolled back.

"Claudia." Embry spoke. They were in the meadow this time, not the beach. And Embry wasn't next to her, but she could hear him behind her. She looked behind her, expecting to see him smiling, but instead, his arm was bleeding. The dull burning returned, and she took a step forward, before stopping herself. Embry looked terrified, as if he was looking at a monster. It dawned on Claudia, what if she was a monster.

Her eyes rolled back and she shot up, breathing hard. The burn wasn't present in her throat, so she sighed, running a hand over her face. "Fascinating." She heard someone mumble. She jumped out of bed, a hiss coming from her mouth as she whipped around towards the source. Carlisle and another blonde vampire were standing in the corner, the unfamiliar male going on the defensive while Carlisle held his hands up. "It's just us, Claudia. You're safe." It took a few seconds, but she finally relaxed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, I..." Claudia breathed, getting her bearings. "No that's okay. I'm sorry I'm just not used to..." She trailed off. She wasn't used to anything anymore.

"Your gift is...truly fascinating." Carlisle took a step forward, and so did the other vampire. Carlisle looked back at him. "Jasper, relax. We only startled her, she's fine now." She felt slightly uneasy as Jasper's eyes studied her, before he finally straightened up and she relaxed. Carlisle nodded at him lightly before turning back to Claudia. "Do you do that often? Dream like that, I mean."

"Y-Yeah." Claudia nodded. "I can do it whenever I want now, I practiced a lot when Victoria had me. I used it to escape."

"That's right, you mentioned that." Carlisle nodded. "Well it's truly something to behold, if I'm honest. I haven't seen anything like it before, anything like you." Carlisle seemed to shake himself lightly. "Ah, I did come in here with a purpose. We're training with the wolves tonight, as preparation for the battle in a few days time. I was thinking it would be helpful if you came along and watched. Jasper here has a lot of experience with newborns like the ones we'll be dealing with."

"Oh, training...yeah." Claudia nodded. "Okay."

"Fantastic." Carlisle smiled. "It's only nine right now, we leave in an hour. Just come down when you're ready." She nodded, and he and Jasper left. She took a few deep breaths, looking out the glass wall at the forest. She could tell it was a clear night by how illuminated the trees were, swaying lightly in a breeze. She sighed again, wondering if she was even ready to see the pack as she turned around, heading into the bathroom. To her surprise, Alice was already waiting when she got to the bottom of the stairs, a few different outfits laid over a couch behind her.

————————

"I'm not sure this is the best idea, Carlisle." Claudia could hear Edward's voice when her left her room.

"Jasper will be there the whole time, as will the rest of us." Carlisle's voice was reassuring. "If she can't handle it, then someone will bring her back here. It will be fine, son." Claudia realized they were talking about her. She'd only taken two steps before she heard Edward sigh.

"We'll meet you there." When she looked again, Edward was gone.