Lost Boy | Carlisle Cullen |

THIRTEEN

His eyes flashed open and he looked around the room in a panic, he knew exactly who he needed to talk to and he was not about to let the issue go. All of the lights were off except for the one that was attached to the wall behind the bed, it shined brighter than anything. The bed- a hospital bed, the pale and scratchy sheets were easily identified after James had spent all of his time dealing with the sepsis contracted through cleaning his lab table. As soon as he recognized where he was, everything started to come to light. The plastic catheter in one of the veins in his hand became incredibly noticeable, he rolled his tendons and quickly regretted it, hissing out of discomfort. 

The solution flowing through that catheter was cold and uncomfortable. There were six sticky circles on his chest, the telemeter, and the rhythm was displayed on the screen to his right. More sticky, plastic tape held a pulse oximeter to his finger, those results were also displayed on the screen. Hard plastic was felt under his nose, the nasal cannula that delivered pure oxygen to his nasal cavities. Everything about the situation was uncomfortable, the worst thing was being alone. 

James flipped his phone open and checked his notifications. An unreasonable number of phone calls and text messages were covering the screen and they were all from Jeffery. Before he could press the green call button on the device, Carlisle walked through the door. James' eyes moved from his phone screen to the man that owed him many answers. His mouth opened in an attempt to speak, but only incoherent babbles fell out. 

His face twitched, "I- Ch- Gr-," he had no idea where to start. He took a deep breath and sat up straight, "What the fuck was any of that?"

Carlisle's face softened and he moved to the chair against the wall, took a seat, and clasped his hands in front of him. "I called your brother."

"Yeah, and?"

"As far as he knows, you felt compelled to drive on an impromptu road trip down the coast. You happened to run into me and my family as we were vacationing in Portland. He doesn't know about the broken rib or the fact that you're in the hospital."

James felt the rib once it was mentioned and squinted, "So I'm in Portland?"

Carlisle shook his head, "Phoenix."

He could feel the anger start to boil up inside of his core, "Who took me?"

A small smile cracked on Carlisle's face, "A man named James," he realized the irony was not comical, "sorry, that's not funny."

"Coincidental." James took deep breaths so that the anger wouldn't overflow. "Why are you here? How?"

"The man that took you," he looked around the room and then got up to close the door, "he was tracking my son's girlfriend. He followed her to Phoenix, assuming after kidnapping you, and lured her to the ballet studio where you were being kept."

"So you were chasing him. Why? Why not call the police?"

"I think you already know why that wasn't an option."

The night flashed through James mind once more, the speed in which the whole family moved, the children decapitating the man who had taken James, another child sucking on the girl's wrist. It made him shake his head, he couldn't comprehend any of it, it wasn't normal. His hands came over his face, he rubbed his eyes and tried to think more on the issue. 

"What are you? All of you? That man, too," James was still mad about being overpowered. Carlisle stayed silent, staring directly at James with a hurt face, "Well you're not human," James dug his nails into his skin so that he wouldn't yell. 

Carlisle's eyes, once a golden hue, quickly became nearly the color of his pupils and his breath hitched. James scrunched his brows together and slowly looked at his palms, his nails had punctured his skin, blood started to trickle from the cuts. When he looked up, Carlisle was gone and the door was left open. Vampires, the Cullens were vampires.