Talented

By James Buck

It had been ten years since the stand off with the Volturi. I am currently attending classes at Dartmouth. My attention is wondering as I sit in the library pondering the fact I am a sophmore and suprisingly happy to be at school.

It is odd that I am attending college with my daughter. Even stranger, she is posing as my sister. I look around and realize the place is nearly deserted. A sudden burst of mischief swirls in my thoughts. I consider what would happen if I stacked books in the form of the New York skyline. I could do it and not be seen. Then just as I'm considering it someone walks in the entrance.

I look up and see a dark haired girl coming in my direction. She has her face buried in a book and is apparently oblivious to her surroundings. Her turn in my direction brings her within twenty feet of me. Her scent hits me hard. I immediatly stop breathing and try to regain my control. She is now four feet from me, but luckily my composure is back.

Wow that burns.

I have never tasted human blood (as a vampire anyway) and will not start now. Patiently I wait for her to pass me so I can leave. I am making my plan to escape her scent as she looks up from her book. Staring directly at me, she stops dead, wide eyed, and in slow motion (to me at least) opens her mouth and screams bloody murder.

I'm not sure what to do so I stand up and reach for her. She just crumples to the floor. Unsure what is wrong, I lift the veil and call for Edward. He is at my side in moments. God, even after so many years his face still makes my mind flutter. He has a look of confusion on his face as he sees me kneeling next to the girl. I lift the veil again, to explain.

"Edward I dont know what happened. Her smell was incredible, but I was getting ready to leave"

Edward whispers, "so you didn't bite her or touch her "again with the confused look.

" No I didn't. She wasn't even paying attention to me."

Now it was my turn to look confused.

" She looked up as she was passing and screamed like I was ghost or something. Then she just passed out."

It was a mystery to us both, we quietly debated until the girl started to stir.

I thought to edward," Should we just leave her here".

Edward whispers below human hearing "no its better to wait and see what is going on. We can always leave later if there is an issue with her".

I was considering that as the girls first words shattered my returning peace of mind.

She said," You don't have to leave on my account ".

I slam the veil back down. She stares at me for a moment then turns to stare at Edward . The look on his face was somewhere between horror and fascination. The look on her face is easy to read as she takes in Edward's beauty.

Then another look begins to surface, fear. I hear her heart begin to speed up. She trys to scoot back, away from Edward. Her heart is beating so hard that I am afraid she is going to have an attack.

Then, another odd moment, Edward looks at me and says, "she can hear us."

I sift through this strange statement. I consider it, she shouldn't be able to hear any of his words. They were too fast and too low for a human to hear. It dawns on me, he said us. In my perfect memory I realize that I only thought at him and never spoke.

I blurt out "she's a reader!"

Edward just nods as he stares at the teenager. His expression is odd and intense. He is talking to her. I lift the veil to tell Edward I need to go outside. The lack of breathing is making me uncomfortable. Of course I don't need oxygen, but like all vampires the sense of smell is important. Like most vampires I feel a little naked when I hold my breath.

The moment I lift the veil on my mind the girls head snaps in my direction and her eyes widen. Yes, she is something other than normal. I don't wait for an answer. I just turn and (even though I want to flit away) walk as slowly as my spinning mind will allow.

I emerge out into the late winter and take a cleansing breath of night air. I begin to speculate about where we go if we have to leave. Maybe I should visit my mother. No. She knows something isn't right. It was a mistake, even for the short visit I had with her two years ago. Denali was like home, but as close as kate and I had become Irinas death was still raw.

My speculation continues even as I hear Edward call to me with a warning, he is coming to me with the girl. I take a deep breath and wait. He comes around the corner moving towards me. I notice the girl is tiny. She can't be more than five feet tall. She looks like a child next to Edward. She is hugging herself like she is frightened and/or cold. I can't help myself as the smile creeps across my face. She reminds me, a bit, of Alice. I walk toward the lighted area to meet them and as I approach the girl looks up at me. Now that is strange in itself, since I am not tall. She sees the smile on my face and suddenly she begins to grin.

She turns to Edward and he says " you will have to speak out loud bella doesn't read, she only blocks".

She faces me and of all the things I expect her to say she surprises me and says,

" I'm sorry."

Her grin turns to a smile as she gauges my reaction.

" I'm so used to hearing people that when I looked up and saw you and couldn't hear you I freaked out. I heard your conversation as I was coming to. Then, all of a sudden, you where gone again it confused me."

she pauses and considered her next thought as I listened to her heart still beating very fast.

" Then I began to listen to Edward and I realized why he was there. He was there in case you made a mistake and bit me, because I smell good to you".

In that second I realize, again, how dangerous Edward's gift is. I also understood that this childs life was over if certain people found out what she had stumbled onto tonight. My smile fades and suddenly I felt that prickly sensation around my eyes.

Edward, ever vigilent, catches the change in my face and now looks worried. I shake my head at him. He understands and nods.

Edward turns and speaks to the girl" Athena I don't need to tell you not to speak about any of this to anyone."

The girl nods and once again her heart rate spikes

"Bella and I would like you to come to our home tomorrow. We need to discuss something important with you."

He hands her a card with the address information on it. Athena nods and walks away. I can tell he offered her a silent reassurance, as I note her missed step and hesitation before she moves away. I hope we can follow up that reassurence, knowing what Aro would do if he found her. Worse what others would do if they found out she knew our secret. I feel that prickly sensation around my eyes again.

Please don't let anyone find out about her. I don't want anyone dying just because they had a random encounter with me.