Cain spent the rest of the ride chatting about his first day back in school. A smile played on Cain's face as he put the thoughts of Edward and Bella to the back of his mind. He was surprised by how much he enjoyed school after so long. Having hated the need to sit in a room and listen to the teacher drone on over the quiet whispers of the students.
However now it brought calmness to Cain. He had spent his entire imprisonment either in complete silence or with the almost robotic scientists. The slight chaos mixed with the teacher's lecture was surprisingly therapeutic.
Just like now the calm conversation with his family and the sounds of the car moving through the woods toward his new home was more than enough to make the tip of the tail on Alice's lap flicker in between her playing with it. Her slender fingers combed through the bushy fur and her head leaned on his firm shoulder. The chill from her cold hand firmly held in his hand reminding him he would never again be alone.
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The sight of the house on the hill still brought awe to Cain as they arrived home. As the car came to a stop Esme could be seen at the door waiting for them to inside. Her smile was bright as she watched Cain hopping out of the Jeep with a big smile on his face.
"We're home mom!" Cain yelled like a little kid as Alice jumped onto his back like a koala before they walked toward the house. His feet paused at the realization of his words as did everyone else. His ears folded down afraid of her reaction.
He knew in his heart it was unwarranted, but the heart and mind think differently. His worries proved false once again as Esme's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Welcome home Cain how was school." Elation is evident in her voice.
Hearing her joy at being called mom in a nonsarcastic way for the first time in decades Cain perked back up. Alice's hand petted his head as they closed the distance. Her smile was just as bright as Esme's. Everyone knew how much she wanted to be a proper mother but it was hard for everyone to see her as such as she felt more like a sister to them.
"It was nice. The chattering of the students was a nice change. I never realized how I missed socializing with others. I was never big on talking to people but not doing so for a while really changes things." Everyone followed Esme back into the house as Cain went on about his first day of school like an excited child.
"I am glad you enjoyed yourself. Anything interesting happen?" Esme questioned as they settled in the living room. Well, all except Edward who went up the stairs to his room. Cain watched his back for a moment before turning back to Esme as Alice curled up in his lap asking to be spoiled.
"Ya, there was another transfer student that turned out to be the daughter of the man who found me. She is from Phoenix Arizona and a little awkward but she seems like a nice girl who's fun to tease." Alice hit his chest lightly hearing him talk so excitedly about another girl.
Stroking Alice's hair Cain smiled as he continued. "Don't worry Alice she ain't got nothing on my little pixie." Alice once again relaxed but her ears perked up as Emmett decided to speak next. "Ya, but there is still the problem with her and Edward." All eyes turned to him as all but Esme became a little serious.
"It seems like Bella is Ed's singer. Cain was in class when they noticed it and was able to help distract him." His words towards the end couldn't help but lighten as he remembered Cain's retelling of Edward's misfortune.
Esme on the other hand gasped as she covered her mouth in shock. However, before she could go down a rabbit hole of worry Edyth soothed her worries. "Don't worry we have it figured out… Well, Cain figured it out even though we should have thought of it much sooner."
"We don't need to breathe so we can just stop and decrease the amount of them we smell making it more bearable. I just wish one of us thought of it when we I met Ashley…. She would still be alive." The cheerful boy became somber as he remembered his past singer and friend.
Rosalie quickly pulled the bulky boy into her embrace. Although she was jealous of the time he had spent with the now passed singer she still felt bad about how things turned out. It was from that incident that they started keeping greater distances from humans.
Even normal humans could cause a thirsty vampire to lose control. To keep himself in check Emmett had to eat daily and sometimes twice a day to sate his thirst due to his lack of control. But that is in the past now.
"At least now we can stop Edward from making the same mistake now." Having calmed down Emmett reaffirmed the point at hand. "However, we have another situation with him that might not go as well." Spoke up Edyth from the side of Jasper who was also starting to calm down from the influx of emotions from his family.
A gust of wind blew through the room as Edward ran downstairs once again glaring at his sister. "No, she is not!" His voice rose into a yell as he tried to deny her claim yet spoken. She matches his gaze calmly as he fumes.
"Ed you know I can see what goes through your mind just as clearly if not more so than yourself. It's the same as when I met Jasper she is your mate and nothing can change that." Silence controlled the room as her words sank in.
"It doesn't matter even she really is! I will never turn her into one of us! I will never make her a monster!" Growing tired of his nonsense Edyth stood with a glare of her own. "You know that won't work. She is your mate she will be drawn to you just as you are to her. It will rip both of you apart!"
Edyth's voice rose to a yell as her eyes started to water. Her voice turned into a low whisper as she continued. "I still haven't gotten over Mom and Dad I don't want to lose you too." Jasper's arms wrapped around her waist as he used his ability to calm her down.
At her words, Edward calmed some. "I know sis… but I don't want her to become like us. You all know how I feel." Edward flopped on the couch beside Emmett and Rosalie. Silence befell the room as everyone had their own thoughts on the matter.
Looking at the somber-looking Alice in his embrace Cain couldn't help but project his question to her. 'Why is he so against her becoming like you?' His question was unheard by the mind readers but her start of an answer was not as Edward answered.
"Because are vampires. Dead, unchanging, soulless monsters. I refuse to condemn her soul like us." Cain just looked at him like an idiot. "Who told you that? Unchanging maybe but dead and soulless nah don't see it."
"What do you mean you don't see it?! We drink blood and you can feel it from Alice we are cold and have no pulse! How can you look me in the eye and say that it's wrong!?" Cain just rolled his eyes as he smirked.
"Aren't you a little old to act like an emo edge lord? Think of it this way there are multiple species that survive off blood both warm and cold-blooded. There are multiple species that have no hearts let alone no pulse. Did you stop developing mentally after changing as well? As for being monsters, there are far more humans that behave worse than monsters than there are monsters.
You are claiming the lack of a soul how or why? Till now there has been no way to discover it till now. Why do you believe that you are without one? As far as I see you are alive and kicking. We just aren't humans anymore." Cain ranted as he stroked Alice's hair like she was a kitten and not like he was denying someone's beliefs.
"He isn't wrong Ed. We may be different and we are no longer human but we are alive. We are just different from the conventional." Edyth put in her input to try to convince him. Edward just stayed silent as Cain's words sank in. Cain then turned to Carlisle and asked. "You are a doctor have you ever done a in-depth study of the vampires biology."
"Yes and no. I did at one point in time but that's was about 120 years ago. Medicine has come a long way since then. The only things I really figured out was our body consists mainly venom flowing though it and it has crystalized our preexisting flesh. I believe that's why we don't age." Carlisle said while holding his chin in thought.
"So what little information you have consists of outdated data. Also did you work with live specimens or dead." Despite his discomfort Cain continued to question. If he can help shed some light and ease the burden on their hearts he is willing to feel uncomfortable about the talk.
"Dead." Carlisle's thoughts started to run a mile a minute. Science had advanced so rapidly since his last tests. Sure he has actively used all the modern equipment on humans but his own kind. Cain also brought up a good point about the alive vs dead. He has seen many instances of a vampires death from his time with the Volturi. The bodies physics change dramatically pre and post-mortem.
Their bodies might still have some functions that are impossible to notice when not active. For example their bodies when "alive" have a give under greater than normal pressure when it's hard as rock after death. All of a sudden his eyes widened and so did Edward and Edith'sas they fallowed his thoughts.
"We may actually have a heart beat…" Carlisle's words were soft. No more than a whisper but they sounded like a cannon blast in the ears of ever here. Looking up eyes wide Carlisle continued out loud. "Our hearts to us sound like they stopped but what if they haven't. What if it's just so slow we don't notice it. The rest of our body is harder than before so it would only make sense for our heart to be so as well. But what if that's all we need to function. A blue whale's heart only beats twice a minute. There is also what if the venom optimizes our body and the function of our body to work like that of a insect's with a open circulatory system slowing it down even further."
Carlisle's eyes were fixated on his had as he moved and flexed it. What if they just never noticed because they just accepted that they moved so it's fine. But a vampire's body is changed at a cellular level across it's entirety. He gave up so long ago and just accepted it as a fact. But he was a doctor. The changes in modern medicine change constantly curing things that were once lethal.
Carlisle stopped his ponderings as he looked up at Cain a bright smile on his face. He pulled Cain into a tight hug that was returned. "I see I lit a fire in you pops." Cain couldn't help but chuckle. "You have no idea. Even now he is holding himself from running off." Edith spoke causing everyone to chuckle as Carlisle rubbed the back of his head.
"I forgot the one of the most important things during my study of medicine. It's ever changing I gave up long ago studying our kind but things have changed so much. Hell with modern advancements and some time I could make our lives easier. Even if I can't figure anything new now what abut 10 years 20, 100 we don't age but the world around us changes. I can spend my life fixing humans but I forgot about us entirely."
Carlisle was worked up into a fervor now pacing back and forth. Esme calmly walked up to her husband and wrapped her arms around him. A bright smile on her face. She hasn't seen him this excited in years. She couldn't help but look at her new son with love. Only officially part of our family for a day and it's was already so much better for it.