AN: We don't intend any copyright infringement. We do not own Twilight or any of the characters within.

Chapter 1 - The Haunting

I got the letter on a Sunday morning. The post doesn't run on Sunday, so I knew it was something special. I was working as a fashion model in New York, and I got more than my fair share of fan-mail. But this really was something different. The gentle scrawl across the envelope was oddly familiar. I opened the delicate pages and unfolded the treasure within.

My Dearest Stephana,

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you on the television, but I could never forget your face. And it breaks my heart to know that all of my fathers and my efforts couldn't save you, and that you've become one of us. You look just as you did the last time I saw you, that sunny spring day. I've thought about you often, and I'm hoping this letter gets to you with haste. I would love to invite you to stay with my family and me at our home in Washington. I think we have a lot of catching up to do.

Yours,
Carlisle.

Carlisle. It had broken my heart when he died all those years ago. Hunting vampires was a dangerous job, but who was I to tell him that his human efforts would be useless against the power of untamed monsters. When he died, I felt like I had died all over again. But he hadn't died. Somehow, they had turned him into one of us; Carlisle was a vampire.

Too many years had gone by since I had thought of him. Being as old as I, your old lovers don't get a chance to come up in conversation. Traveling from place to place, using name after name, I've developed so many lives for myself throughout my long and drawn out history that it's hard to keep them all straight. But Carlisle was the only human I ever told my real name to. He was the first human I had let that far in. I wanted to see him again. I wanted to see him again, but I'd moved on. The love I had with Carlisle was beautiful, but it was the same love I've had hundreds of times. But this was the first time that it had come back to me.

He had a family? I didn't know what kind of trick he was pulling, but it was obvious that he wanted me. Who didn't? I was beautiful. I mean duh, I was a model.
So, I had decided. I would pack myself a bag and I would be off to Washington. I looked out my window onto the street twenty stories below and saw traffic at a stop. With a sigh, I turned to pack a suitcase for myself, knowing I would need to run to the airport. Waiting in traffic just made me so impatient. I didn't want to stand out in Washington too much, I'm sure all they wear there is lumberjack shirts and overalls, so I packed the least flashy portions of my wardrobe. With a quick sweep of my loft, was out the door and down the stairs, and onto a very busy fifth avenue. I walked quickly around the building, to a much less busy alleyway, then took off for the airport. People could never really tell that I was a person as I ran by at full speed, so I was usually safe.

When I got to the terminal, I tried to wait as patiently as I could for the airplane, and finally I was in the air. Airplanes are a bit difficult for us vampires. Well, not me as much, because I've lived long enough to master my hunger, but for others. With so many scents around you for such an extended period of time, you have enough opportunity to pick out individuals, and determine who smells good and who smells bad. The length of trips always compounds the hunger, because you just sit there, smelling the delicious aroma, and not being able to move. Of course first class, where I flew, was much easier, because the people were in less crowded quarters, and sweat less than poor people.

When we landed in Seattle, the weather was rather dreary, which put a damper on my mood, but also meant that I didn't have to concentrate on being too visible - I was able to control my appearance in the sunlight. I glided through the airport with the grace of a thousand cats, and I swooped into a waiting cab out front. It smelled like fish and gym socks, but Forks couldn't be too far from Seattle. I often forgot that in this era I was a model, and quite a recognizable one at that, so as I spat out the address at the cabbie, I was forced to tip him to keep his eyes away from my ample cleavage. Somehow, men had evolved to think that the more famous a woman is, the more it's okay to gawk at her breasts. If only he had known how many men had jiggled my jugs, he'd probably change his tune.

The ride all the way to Forks took quite a while, but I have all eternity in front of me, so really it wasn't that long. I thought that a phone call to Carlisle would be appropriate, being that showing up just at his door would be ever so rude. The phone rang and rang, and finally a machine picked up. I hoped that someone would be home when I arrived, I was beginning to think that Forks was a town void of a Four Seasons. I blurted out some quick something about who I was and when I would be arriving, and slammed my phone shut with a sigh. I looked out the window and saw a whole lot of green. I forgot how green this part of the world was. I much preferred the dry brownness of the Middle East. I don't do well with moisture.

When we finally pulled through Forks, I was at first a bit upset that Carlisle would have chosen such an ugly place to live, but then remembered that he must have chosen it for its practical applications - he wouldn't have to worry about the sun while the depressing amount of clouds covered the sky, and he was probably the only vampire, or coven, within quite a large radius - probably the only on the peninsula. He wouldn't have to compete for resources. I handed the cab driver a wad of cash - I didn't really need to count it, it probably contained quite a tip. I hopped out of the cab in front of some sort of outdoorsy REI type store, with their sad flannel shirts and silly khaki travel pants, and sniffed the air, trying to catch Carlisle's scent. There were no other people outside, which made sense considering the gross weather. I walked up the street a bit, until I finally caught a whiff, and started to sprint in the direction of his smell. I ran up to a small building - well, small by NYC standards. It was probably the second biggest building in the town, after the high school. A large, blue-and-white sign in front told me that this was Forks Community Hospital. I could smell him inside.The receptionist inside greeted me kindly, but her smile failed when I cast her an Icy glare. "I have an appointment." I said brusquely as I walked past her. I followed his scent until I found a small office, door closed with "Dr. Carlisle Cullen" etched on the front. As I raised my hand to knock on the door, it sprang open.

"Carlisle! You haven't changed a bit, darling!" I flipped my long blonde hair over my shoulder as I gave him the once, and twice, over. Still holding the door open, he was looking me up and down, also, taking in all of my perfection.

"Stephana! Neither have you. I mean," he chuckled, looking around for any evesdroppers, "besides the vampire bit". I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'd been a vampire for quite a bit longer than he, so I just laughed and pushed him aside as I stepped into his office, sitting down in the plush leather chair behind his desk. I rocked back and forth in it a few times, and then kicked my feet up onto the desk and relaxed into my seat. Carlise smiled and shut the door, walking around his desk to prop himself on the edge, facing me.

His desk was covered with paperwork, medical journals, and framed photos. I picked up one of the pictures and examined it. It showed a smiling Carlisle with his arms around a beautiful woman who looked just a few years older than him. They appeared to be on a boat. "Who is this?"

Carlisle took the picture from me and looked at it himself. While it had been just about three hundred and fifty years since we'd seen each other, it felt as if it had only been a few days. I knew I would get to catch up with him, and even in his small office I was totally comfortable in close proximity. "This is my wife, Esme. We've been together for over eighty years. She is truly the love of my life."

The love of his life? What was he writing me letters for?

"The love of your life? What are you writing me letters for?"

Carlisle looked up at me, obviously a little shocked by my response. "I saw you on television! You were a human that I dated when I was still human! Do you understand how wierd this is for me? I had to get in touch with you. It was just nice getting in touch with an old friend."
"Your letter! It just made it sound like..."

"Like I was still pining for you after all these years? Come on, Steph, you're beautiful, but did you really think that we were destined to be together? How long did we date? A month?"

"It was six months!" I my arms were folded across my chest and I had put my feet back on the floor. It had been so long since I'd been around another vampire, around someone who wasn't completely mesmerised my every little move that I made. My beauty had no effect on Carlisle because he was beautiful, too. He was immortal, just as I was. And he was married.

"So you actually wanted me to meet your family?" I came all the way out here, so I figured I might as well at least try to have some fun. I should have figured that Carlisle would have moved on; he had no idea that I was a vampire. I had moved on, many times.

"Of course! I think they'd love you. Everyone is at home, now. Except Rosalie and Emmett, unfortunately, but they'll be home for the wedding-"

"Wedding?" What was I getting myself into?

"Yes! Oh! Edward, he's the first one I turned, he's getting married this summer and I-"

"You're in the conversion business?"

"Well, not really, just a few people and I-"

"You what, Carlisle?"

"I get people out of sticky situations. They were all in terrible shape, and I fixed them!"

I didn't want to push much further, so I settled for pulling a mirror out of my bag and fixing my hair and makeup. Since becoming a famous model, I've had to keep up appearances more than normal. I pulled some hair out of my lip gloss and ruffled my hair so it would look sexy and tousled, but just so. I smacked my lips and smoothed out my eyebrow and shoved the mirror back where I found it. Carlisle was looking at me.

"What?"

"Do you want to go meet everyone? I told the nurses I'd have to take off early today."

I smiled and stood up. I bent down to grab my bag that I had thrown on the floor, but Carlisle already had it slung over his shoulder. Vampires.

On our way to his house we drove even further out into the middle of no where. I didn't think a place like this would actually exist, but it does. Luckily the weather had turned just a little bit, so things were starting to dry out. Pulling up to the Cullen house, I smelled someone delicious. I jumped out the passenger side door and sprinted up to the front of the house, but before I could push open the door, the woman from the photograph was standing in the doorway.

"Hello! I'm Esme, it's so good to meet you!" She opened her arms to hug me, I think, but I just pushed past her, looking for my dinner. I followed the scent up the stairs and into the library, and instantly was pinning a pint sized brunette to the ground.

"Carlisle! You didn't have to pick one out for me! I'm better at hunting than you know, but I never could have picked out one this good!" The girl pinned beneath me looked to scared to scream, and there was a beautiful boy ready to pounce on me. I looked around, and realized that suddenly I had five vampires baring their pearly whites in my direction. "I guess... we could share?"

The beautiful boy had me against a wall in a flash, holding me off the ground my my hair. "Leave her alone." He let go and let me fall to the ground. Dinner had found her way off the floor and into the beautiful boys arms. Carlisle looked flustered, but walked over to me slowly.

"Stephana, I think there's some things we need to talk about." He put his hand on my back to lead me into an adjoining room, but I shrugged him off, looking around for where Dinner went. The audience that had just filled the room had instantly disappeared. I stomped into what I was assuming to be Carlisle's office, and flopped down in a chair. Carlisle calmly sat down behind his desk and folded his hands, leaning forward to speak to me. But I decided to speak first.

"What are you doing with my dinner!? After that plane ride I'm ravenous."

"That dinner is Edward's fiancee, and the thing is, Stephana, we don't feed on humans here."

I looked up from picking at my nail polish at his words. His little partner was marrying a human that delicious? And they don't eat people? And what? I couldn't believe my ears.

"But I'm hungry."

"Well, we're all going hunting tomorrow for some big game, and you're more than welcome to come." He leaned back in his chair to wait for my reaction, but he already knew what it would be.

"Ah!" Was all I could muster up, and I just sat there, mouth wide open. Carlisle went on to explain his whole life story, something about blah blah blah inhumane, blah blah werewolves, treaty blah blah. I didn't really care, but I humored him. Essentially, these vampires had fun pretending to be humans, instead of hunting them. I didn't know how long I would be able to last here, especially with Dinner laying around the house.