Sight Unseen 45

“I don’t like how easy that was.”Irina said as she took a seat in the passenger seat of Tanya’s car. Tanya took the driver’s seat while Bella sat in the backseat. The trio had just exited the courthouse where they finished the process of Tanya and Irina gaining custody of Bella. Before they visited the courthouse they spent less than a half an hour at the police station where they had met Bella’s father to ask for custody of Bella. Irina and Tanya had prepared all kinds of replies to every question they expected to be asked. Even for questions that they likely wouldn’t be asked. All that preparation was for nothing however. Bella never even introduced Tanya and Irina. She simply told her father she was accepted with a full scholarship by an art school in Sweden, she needed a guardian to go with her and that Tanya and Irina offered to do it. Irina had been shocked when all Charlie had asked was if Bella wanted to go and when Bella said yes Charlie told them they could do it. Tanya and Irina hadn’t even said a word and the man had given legal responsibility for his child to two unknown strangers. Tanya of course didn’t hesitate to provide all the paperwork he needed to fill out to make it legal. Irina had expected that at least the man would ask them some questions while he did it but he didn’t say anything. He just finished the paperwork, told Bella that he wouldn’t be home for a few days and if he didn’t see her before she left to have a good time. He didn’t even ask her to stay in touch.

“I’m not surprised.”The meeting went exactly how Bella thought it would.

“I at least thought he would want to speak to us or even know our last names.”Tanya was just as shocked as Irina about the meeting.

“Does your father abuse you?”Irina asked Bella.

“No he doesn’t abuse me. Listen my dad is a good guy. He’s also a damn good cop. It’s just when it comes to parenting he doesn’t have the interests or skills to be a good at it. I truly believe that he loves me but he has no clue how to raise a child. So instead of being present in my life he just tries to support me in the things I do. He means well but he just doesn’t know how to be an actual parent. I personally think that having a child scares him because he has no experience taking care of one. That said he really was excited I was moving in with him and I know he will feel somewhat sad that I am leaving.”Bella wasn’t mad at her father for the way he acted. The man just wasn’t meant to be a parent.

“That doesn’t excuse his..”Irina was cut off by Bella.

“Please don’t rag on my dad. He is actually a really great person. Plus from what I have learned about vampire bonds is that your bond mate fills a need in your life. If my mother and father were better parents I would have rejected both of you. If anything it’s your fault I had shitty parents because by having the bond they couldn’t be anything great.”Bella blamed the bond for the way her human parents acted.

Tanya frowned hearing that. It was true you when you bonded with someone you filled a need in that other person’s life like they fill a need in your own. Bella filled the want that both Tanya and Irina had for having a child of their own.”I don’t like that you are probably right.”

“I don’t either.”Irina said.

“It doesn’t matter either way. They are my biological parents. I can’t trade them in and have a totally different life. Besides if they were better parents they would have caught on to my ghost activities and locked me in mental institution keeping me doped up out of my mind hoping to fix my problems.”Bella liked that her parents were neglectful. It kept her safe.

“There is that.”Tanya agreed with that being a positive in the horrible situation.

“Now that you have custody when can we leave for Alaska?”Bella wanted to be away from Forks and the Cullens a soon as possible.

“We need to get a truck to use to move all your, Emmet, Alice and Rosalie’s stuff but it won’t take long to rent it or load it up. You need sleep so we will leave first thing in the morning.”Tanya was excited to get Bella home and out of the Cullen’s reach.

“Emmet and Alice decided to join?”Bella didn’t like that at all. She would support it though because there was no way she could leave them with Carlisle.

“They asked last night and told Carlisle this morning while you were out with Victoria and Rosalie.”Irina had wanted to go with her daughter and her mates but had only found out about the trip after they left.

“How did Carlisle react?”Bella guessed not good.

”He was furious. When they told him he started screaming about how he forbid them from leaving and how they were to go school right that minute. Then he started accusing them of stealing his money again.”Tanya had never seen the man so unhinged.

“He still hasn’t figured out where his money went?”Bella hadn’t made it that hard for Carlisle to figure out where she left the false trail to where the money was transferred to.

“Oh he figured out where it went he just hasn’t figured out who stole it.”Irina told her.

“How did he react to finding out where it went?”Bella had hoped for Carlisle to die of shock when he saw where the money went.

”He was extremely angry and repeatedly asked each of us if we had any connections to a lesbian resort in the Bahamas. Although he whispered the word lesbian every time he said it.”Tanya had enjoyed listening to Carlisle being forced to say the word lesbian so many times.

“Did he contact the resort and ask them for the money back?”Bella asked.

“He actually did.”Irina laughed thinking about it.”He spoke to a manager who tried to explain to him that she had no control of the resort’s bank accounts to which Carlisle replied by screaming a bunch of homophobic hate speech at her so she reported him to her boss and informed Carlisle that he was officially blacklisted from the company. Meaning if he called back they would hang up on him and if he showed up on their properties he would be made to leave by security or the police for trespassing.”

Bella laughed.”That’s even better than I imagined. I would have thought Carlisle would yell for a few minutes and then contact a lawyer. Now the resort has it on record that he called and harassed them. Plus those calls are always recorded so they will have proof that he is a huge homophobe. He ruined his own case. Not that he had one to begin with.”

“Why did you make it obvious where you put the money?”Tanya didn’t understand why Bella left a trail.

“I didn’t do it but if I did I would have laid a fake trail so that Carlisle would think that he gave over 8 billion dollars to lesbians taking vacations. I wouldn’t have even put the actual money near the resort’s account. As a matter fact now that I know he figured it out I would erase that trail leaving no evidence it was ever thing to begin with. I would do all of this because Carlisle’s father told me to and made me promise that I would fuck with Carlisle while I did it but I didn’t do it.”Bella explained.

“Sure you didn’t do it.”Irina knew Bella did it.

“How much money does Carlisle have left?”Tanya had been curious about that when she found out about the theft.

“If I had to guess I would say Carlisle has less than 25 million left. I would also guess that Carlisle hasn’t realized that I found the bank accounts that he has forgotten about over the years. One them had been active since the 1930’s and has been collecting interest since. They’re a few like that and the profits from that interest all went to Alice, Emmet, Rosalie and Jasper. Carlisle, Esme and Edward have to share the 25 million.”Bella couldn’t bring it to herself to give them qual shares after all the trio did. Gerold hadn’t come back to yell at her so Bella thought he approved.

“He won’t survive long on 25 million. Unless you left him some investments.”Irina knew even with there only being three of them Carlisle couldn’t survive long with so little money.

“His investments were cashed out. All the money Carlisle has left has been moved to one single account. So all Carlisle has is less than 25 million dollars cash plus whatever properties he owns. The idiot doesn’t even get a salary from the hospital because when he accepted the job he arranged for his paychecks to all go to charity. If he asked for it to stop he would look like an asshole and there is no way Carlisle would risk people thinking badly of him.”Bella knew without a doubt Carlisle wouldn’t ask to be paid directly.

“I’m glad we aren’t enemies.”Tanya wouldn’t ever want Bella targeting her. The girl destroyed lives with a startling ease and quickness.

“It wasn’t my idea to do that to Carlisle. I just didn’t want to be anywhere near him. As long as that happened he would be left alone. It’s the fact that the man drives people to want to kill him that is reason this happened.”Bella wasn’t responsible.

Tanya pulled into Bella’s driveway and got out of the car. She wanted for Irina and Bella to get out to speak.”I still find it hard to believe the person we have known for centuries has lived a life that makes his father a priest want to kill him. Carlisle always annoyed me but I hadn’t realized what a bastard he was until you talked to his father’s ghost.”

“I didn’t trust him for a second when I met him. He has a bad aura around him.”Bella said as she unlocked the fancy new door Kate installed and entered the home.”Do you want to see my room?”

“We would like that yes.”Irina wanted to see Bella’s personal space. Walking up the stairs Irina smiled seeing the pictures of young Bella hanging on the wall. She would have to ask Bella for copies of pictures from throughout her life before they left for Alaska.

“Why is everything already packed?”Tanya asked.

“I have only lived here over a week and I was planning on leaving as soon as I could.”Bella took a seat on her bed while Tanya and Irina snooped.

“Where were you planning to go?”Irina was very unpressed with the state of Bella’s room. The wall paper was dated and pealing, the curtains were old and dirty and the window pane was cracked. At least the bed and bedding looked new.

“I didn’t have any plans. I just knew I wouldn’t be safe living with a cop full-time.”Bella told her.

“That makes sense.”Tanya looked in Bella’s closet examining Bella’s clothes.”You said Carlisle had a bad aura. Did you mean that literally?”

“In a way. I don’t know why but I can just tell if someone is a good or bad person. Even ghosts. I just get this feeling when I am around people or ghosts that tells me if they are a capable of horrible things. I originally thought I was just really paranoid but that feeling has never been wrong before so I trust it. When I saw Carlisle for the first time that feeling that said he was capable of horrible things was so overwhelming my vision blurred for a few seconds. I felt the same way the first time I saw Edward in school.”Bella always followed that feeling when dealing with people.

“I wonder if that is another gift or part of your others.”Irina would speak to Eleazar about it.

“It’s a good ability to have in our world. You need to know quickly when meeting a new vampire if they are going to be a problem or not so you can protect yourself.”Tanya thought Bella’s ability to spot bad people would be incredibly useful in the future.

“What are in all this industrial grade trunks?”Irina couldn’t figure out what Bella put in the over a dozen locked high quality trucks of different sizes.

“Things I need to help ghosts that are either fragile or it wouldn’t smart to leave them unprotected.”Bella explained.

Irina held back her initial reaction to demand Bella show her so that Irina could take it away from her daughter. Taking a deep breath Irina released it before she spoke.”When we renovate we will make sure that we add a room for you to be able to set this stuff up and use it when you need to.”

“It would be nice having a space. When I made my documents for the Ralph trip I had lug three of those trucks into the woods so that my dad wouldn’t catch me.”Bella hated having to drag things places.”It would also be nice to get a desktop computer set up.”

“We will make sure you have space and we will help you get the proper computer you need.”Tanya like Irina was holding back from lecturing Bella on how it was wrong to make illegal documents. It was hard but she knew what Rosalie told them was right. Bella didn’t have a choice and because she didn’t Tanya would support her daughter in any way she could. Even if that meant buying Bella computer equipment the human would use to break the law. Tanya would do it because it would help Bella not get caught to have the best tools to do the job.

“How big is your house now?”Bella asked.

“We have nine bedrooms. Three are occupied one by each couple. There is a large living room with more furniture than six of us needed but will come in handy now that all of you are going to live there. What else? We have a large library, a greenhouse, a kitchen that I’m glad we added now. A four car garage and that’s about it. Plus a thousand acres of land all around us that keeps the humans away.”Irina had originally been against having the kitchen but was now happy Tanya convinced her.

“That’s a lot of bedrooms.”Bella didn’t understand why they had so many.

“Don’t worry you will get your own.”Tanya told her.

“I am going to share with Rosalie and Victoria. We already decided.”Bella wasn’t going to change her mind about it.

“It’s not appropriate for someone your age to share a room with your mates.”Irina thought Bella was too young to be mated let alone to be sharing a room with her mates.

“I’m not that young and it’s up to me and mates what we do in our relationship.”Bella held up her hand to stop any replies.”Please don’t make me fight you on this because I’m not changing my mind.”

“I don’t want to fight you. I just want you to see where we are coming from. You are a seventeen year old human. You don’t feel the bond as strongly as Rosalie and Victoria do. The pair of them could easily lose themselves in their instincts and accidentally hurt you. Also you are still young. It isn’t appropriate for you to be involved in a physical relationship with anyone. You need to be a little older.”Tanya hoped Bella agreed with her because she didn’t want to fight Bella.

“Rosalie and Victoria have spent the last two nights holding me while I slept. Nothing happened. As for what’s appropriate for me to be doing with my mates that isn’t your concern. I do consider you as my parents but I feel the mate bond a lot more than I think you realize. Also every night I have slept with Rosalie by my side the ghosts haven’t bothered me. That right there is reason enough for me to share a room with them.”Bella wasn’t going to let Irina and Tanya think they had any say in how her relationship went.

Tanya put her hand on Irina’s shoulder when she saw her nostrils flare to stop her from saying something she would regret.”What do you mean you feel the mate bond?”

“When I made eye contact with Rosalie at school my first day I felt a deep longing to be near her and had the overwhelming desire for her to take me in her arms and never let me go. I ignored that feeling for obvious reasons but with each interaction my feelings grew stronger. When I met Victoria I felt the same way for her as I did for Rosalie. It makes me physically uncomfortable being away from them even only a few minutes. Right now my skin feels to tight because I am away from them. I may not feel like I am in love with them but I have a deep affection that I predict will turn into love very soon. As for our physical relationship that is between us. We will decide what happens and when we are each ready for it to happen. You should understand my feelings because you wouldn’t allow anyone even me to dictate how your physical relationship goes.”Bella told her.

Irina sighed in defeat.”No we wouldn’t and hearing that you are feeling the side of effects of the bond when you are away from your mates proves you feel the bond a lot stronger than both us thought. It would be cruel to force you apart. I do wish to make a request that you allow myself and Tanya to hold you while you slept in the future.”

“I think that is a fair compromise. We can set up a schedule for everyone so that neither of you get left out of my sleep time.”Bella would agree because it would make her mothers not fight the arrangement.

“I think we can agree to that.”Tanya liked that Bella was going to let them hold her while she slept.”You said that a ghost hasn’t visited you at night since Rosalie has been sharing your bed. Do you think being your bond mate she somehow keeps the ghosts away?”

“I don’t know but I have never gone this long without my sleep interrupted. I also am shocked that no ghosts have come to me demanding help now that Ralph and Hank’s cases are done. Usually one shows up within an hour of finishing the job for the ghost before them.”Bella was hoping that she getting a break but wasn’t counting on it.

“I wish that they would give you some time to settle into Alaska before they start pestering you.”Irina wanted Bella to have a chance to get properly moved in before she needed to help a ghost.

“I’m looking forward to having a home I can feel comfortable in and don’t have to constantly be worried about doing something that will get me locked up. It’s one of the reasons I want to get there as soon as possible. It’s the first time I’ll get the chance to let my guard in a safe environment. I think Alaska is going to do wonders for my stress levels and overall mental health.”Bella lived in a constant state of anxiety not being able to trust anyone around her for fear the would put in a mental institution.

Tanya took a seat next to Bella and wrapped her arm around her daughter’s shoulders holding her close.”We are both excited to give you that opportunity and will be proactive in trying to keep the others from bothering you too much.”

“If things get too much I want you to come to us and we will make whatever changes needed to make you feel comfortable in your own home. Even if that means we have to send people away for a couple days to give you peace.”Irina knew for fact they would need to do that in the future because everyone was really excited to spend time with Bella all for their own reasons. Irina didn’t want Bella to get overwhelmed and have to move out.

“I know they are all harmless. Well Kate tries to be harmless. It’s just they get really excited about helping the ghosts. Their enthusiasm  makes me uncomfortable. I don’t think being ordered around by a dead person is a fun time. Ralph got me involved with a hitman and had me steal all that gold, silver and jewelry because he didn’t want his family to have it. Yes I benefited from it but if we had been caught I would have been tried as an adult and put in prison for a very long time for that amount of valuables we stole and it’s not like we can say that Ralph said I could have everything. Plus we have no ties to Ralph at all so we were literally strangers who broke into a dead man’s house and stole millions of dollars worth of valuables. That’s not fun or exciting. It’s stressful and anxiety inducing.”Bella wiped her hand over her face slowly.

“We owe you an apology. We judged you for what you had done. We thought you actually liked going on the missions for the ghosts and that your depression was because of how often they visited. None of realized that your severe depression was because you were being forced to do things you didn’t want to do. For that we are sorry and you have our promise that we won’t assume to know what you think and feel anymore.”Tanya hated herself for thinking badly of Bella.

“It’s alright. This all new to you guys. You didn’t have the details about how my gift works and were thrust into my world without warning. Plus you just found out you had a bond child and that bond child spent most of her time doing dangerous and illegal things. From what I have learned about vampires your instincts had to have been going haywire imagining all the ways I could have been hurt or killed. It’s no surprise that your entire focus was on preventing me from doing dangerous things and taking things away from me that I use during those dangerous situations. What I’m saying is you don’t have to apologize for acting like a vampire with a familiar bond.”Bella wasn’t upset with the couple. They were being influenced by the bond.

“You are right our entire focus was on your safety. Which will not change in the future. We would still like to help you with your missions by going over ways to keep you safe before you go on one. We would also like to know more about how you feel about certain things. That way we can be there for you emotionally as well. Don’t be afraid to come to us if you need to talk about anything. We promise that we will not judge you anymore and will listen to how you feel about things not just assume we know.”Irina was happy they talked about this subject because it seemed Bella understood why Irina and Tanya acted the way they did. Irina wished that they told Bella about vampires right away but Alice had said they couldn’t. Irina figured Bella needed to be comfortable around them first.

“I will be happy to go over my plans with you because most likely one or both of you will be involved in the mission. Especially because you don’t have to worry about the sun anymore.”Bella expected Tanya and Irina to want to go on every mission.

“We likely will accompany you every chance we get if we can.”Tanya wouldn’t let Bella go into dangerous situations without her mother there to protect her.

“Can you manage the others when it comes to missions. I’m not used to interacting with people and get really overwhelmed in groups. Especially groups that make me the center of attention like when we went to the fair and shopping. When we helped Ralph it was incredibly stressful with so many people there. Me, you two and Rosalie could have easily handled everything. Including the ghost at the fair. Kate’s gift was just the quickest method to ruin the ride. I don’t want you to think I am not grateful for their help but maybe in the future we can limit the number of people who are involved?”Bella couldn’t handle large group coming on every mission with her.

“I want to apologize for them. Mostly Kate though. She is over a thousand years old and lives for drama and adventure. Finding out that you talked to ghosts caught her interest right away but when she learned you actually solved crimes she got really excited about being involved in something she hadn’t done before. She has lived a somewhat sheltered life for about 500 years and has been bored. So your gift and what you do with it is the most interesting thing she has come across in centuries that she has a chance to be involved in. She doesn’t mean to be insensitive she is just doesn’t look at the whole picture and focuses on the stuff she finds cool.”Irina was going to have a decision with Kate but she and Tanya hadn’t had the chance.

“I was warned about Kate and honestly I don’t mind her because I felt like I already knew her before we met. I think I’m more concerned with she and the others bothering me about my gift or them wanting me to teach them some of my skills. I don’t want to be bothered all the time and have to hide in my room to get some peace.”Bella said.

“You actually brought up something we have been meaning to talk to you about. Other than your mates we don’t want you teaching anyone be it members of our coven or anyone else any of your skills. What you do if used by someone else could cause a lot of damage to the world. Especially your hacking skills. If someone was as good as you wanted they could bankrupt countries or leak important secrets that would put the world at war. That’s why we ask that you not teach anyone your skills.”Tanya was only allowing Bella’s mates because of the bond. Plus she didn’t know Victoria that well but based on how Rosalie acted towards the red head she seemed trustworthy so Tanya wouldn’t have to worry about the pair doing anything bad.

“I’m more than alright with that. I just don’t think Kate and Emmet will take no for an answer.”Bella didn’t have to be a seer to know that the pair would badger her constantly to have her teach them things.

“You are now part of a vampire coven. I am the coven leader and also your bond mother. The structure of coven is that the leader is the final word on things. They make the rules and dish out punishments. My world is law. That means if they or anyone else comes to you to ask you to teach them anything send them to me. If they persist you are to come to me and I will take care of them. No matter who it is. Any problems you have with anyone else coven member or not you come to me and I will handle it.”Tanya would kill anyone who upset Bella.

“I feel better knowing that.”Bella liked that as she actually had someone on her side.

“You can also let me know too. I am Tanya’s mate so it gives me a little more authority than the others. Not as much as Tanya but enough to make people listen to me knowing if they don’t it will upset Tanya.”Irina like her mate would kill anyone who upset Bella.

“Me, Vic and Rosalie are worried about having privacy. Is that going to be a problem?”Bella asked.

“I want to promise you you will be left alone but unfortunately I can’t. Not right away. Everyone is very excited about spending time with you so even with our help you are likely going to get pestered. We will run as much interference as we can but it will be hectic for a little while until everyone gets settled.”Tanya would try to keep the others from overwhelming Bella but it likely would only help a little bit.

“We figured if it got too much we would just go on a trip to get away from the craziness.”Bella predicted many trips in the future.

“We will try our best to contain them and if they are getting too much we will send them away that way you don’t have to leave to get peace and privacy.”Irina was going to be very diligent in keeping others from bothering Bella because Irina didn’t want her daughter leaving home for long periods of time without Irina.

“That said I’m going to text everyone and have them pack their belongings, go get the truck and load all their stuff first. If there is time left today they can load yours but if not we can do it in the morning before we leave.”Tanya pulled out her phone and began sending the texts to everyone.

“Are you hungry? Do we need to cook you something?”Irina would love for the chance to cook with Bella again.

“If I’m leaving tomorrow would it be alright to get pizza tonight? The place that makes it is really good and I want to experience it one last time before I leave.”Bella loved that pizza the one time she had it.

“It that’s what you want I will get you pizza.”Irina was sad that they weren’t cooking but would happily fulfill her daughter’s wish for pizza.

“They have delivery so I’ll just order it.”Bella pulled out her phone and pulled up the pizza place’s website to put in an online order. Once done she put her phone on her nightstand.”It will be here in a half an hour or so.”

“What do you want to do until then?”Tanya wasn’t planning on leaving Bella’s side until Bella went to bed. She wanted to hold Bella while she slept but Tanya knew she would be needed at the Cullens.

“Do you want to watch a movie on my laptop? That way we can stretch out on my bed. Plus the couch is really old and very uncomfortable.”Bella hated all the furniture in the house other than her bed.

“I like that idea.”Irina would finally get the chance to cuddle her daughter like she had wanted to do the moment she laid eyes on Bella.

Bella reached over and grabbed her laptop then situated herself against the wall stretching out her legs then putting the computer on them before turning it on.”I have been wanting to see the New Avengers and it’s finally available to stream. Do you mind watching that?”

“We will watch whatever you want.”Tanya said. She took a seat on one side of Bella with Irina taking a seat on the other side. Tanya didn’t really care what movie they watched she like Irina was just excited for a chance to cuddle her daughter. Her daughter who after getting the movie started learned into Tanya. Tanya didn’t hesitate to put her arm around Bella and pull her close. The human responded by repositioning herself so she was half on Tanya’s lap and after pulling Irina close she was half on Irina’s lap as well. Tanya looked to her mate who was smiling brightly. Tanya knew her smile was just as bright. Bella didn’t even seem to realize what she did nor did she seem to care as all her attention was on the movie. Tanya hated that they would only get to watch one because she knew that as soon as the truck arrived at the Cullen’s all hell was going to break loose. As Rosalie, Emmet and Alice’s new coven leader if was Tanya’s job to protect them. Something that would be needed because Tanya had no doubt that Carlisle with Edward’s and probably Esme’s help were going to lash out when they saw actual proof of the trio leaving. It was easy to ignore when they all lived in the same house but now that they were actively leaving Carlisle was going to be desperate to keep them in the coven. Desperation alway produced chaos in some form and Tanya hated that she was the one who had to deal with that chaos.