Author's Note: My first Twilight story, much to Commander Rhade's joy, I'm sure. Enjoy. Let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: Twilight and all related characters do not, and never will, belong to me.
New Beginnings
I was in Philadelphia and it was raining, which meant I could be out during the day. A concept that was still strange to me as I was accustomed to hiding in the darkness.
The daylight aside, I would have been perfectly comfortable walking through the rain, but I didn't want to stand out and to the humans it would have seemed a bit strange and so I headed into a nearby diner. I hadn't fed in a little over a week and there were a handful of people inside but as long as no one was openly bleeding I thought I could handle it. At least my eyes weren't a bright red color.
Upon entering I immediately gave the place a once over to check for any danger, a habit left over from a century of blood and carnage, and I instantly spotted her. Another vampire.
She had short spiky black hair, was rather small, and immediately reminded me of a ballerina. She danced over to me and I tensed for the attack but her emotions confused me.
Happiness, hope, love. Not the normal emotions for one who was about to attack. And I would know. I've lived off of emotions for as long as I can remember.
"You've kept me waiting a long time," she told me, staring up into my face, and oh, was she lovely.
I bowed my head; I couldn't help it. Something in her bell-like voice reminded me of my southern roots.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," I said and she smiled and reached for my hand, which I gave to her without even thinking. Without even thinking! Never had I trusted someone I'd never even met so implicitly! She was amazing. Her name was Alice, and I had never met so exquisite a creature, of that I was certain from the very beginning.
Alice told me of a coven of friendly vampires who had an unusual way of life. They survived of off the blood of animals rather than humans.
The idea intrigued me. Was such a thing really possible? Alice was very optimistic and I couldn't help but be as well. She infected me. I was more content in her company than I'd ever been before and I was still reveling in her wonderful emotional climate. I wasn't about to question her.
It was only a matter of days before we arrived at the Cullen household where we met Carlisle, Esme, and Rosalie. There were two others as well. Edward and Emmett, but they were apparently out hunting. Naturally it wasn't long before Alice had them charmed, greeting them all by name, much to their surprise.
They even gave us Edward's room, going so far as to move all his things into the garage before he even came back. I wondered how he would take it but Carlisle was convinced he wouldn't mind.
Besides, Alice just had to have the view from his room. There was really no denying her.
Edward and Emmett arrived home later that same day and I found that Carlisle was right. Edward was very courteous about the whole situation. I also found he could read minds, which, admittedly, was a bit unsettling at first.
And of course he instantly knew that I had some doubts about whether or not I would be able to keep up with the "vegetarian" diet of theirs.
"You'll get used to it," he told me quietly. "It will be difficult to adjust, but it gets easier with time. You'll even find animals you like better than others. Favorites."
Difficult to adjust.
That was, as I found out, an understatement. In the beginning I found it to be nearly impossible, but eventually, I found, Edward was right. I even found a favorite animal, like he said. Elk.
I still found it hard to adjust, even after finding my favorite. After a century of instant gratification by way of human blood I did have some slip-ups. Something I'm not proud of.
It's still, to this day, difficult, but I've found a home and a family in the Cullens and my beloved Alice, as well as a way of existence that I enjoy and it's worth the effort.
It's worth the difficulty.
The End.
A/N: So, what did you think? Let me know please! Reviews make my day!