Chapter One
A house in the woods
Katrina Roman felt the first snowflakes of winter hit her face and instantly melt against her hot skin. Her breath came out in carefully controlled puffs as she made her way through the towering pine trees, their thin needles sheltering her slightly from the icy flakes that were drifting down lazily. She slowed her pace to a jog as her house came into view, the large structure's many windows reflecting the gray monotony of the Montana sky.
Katrina paused for a moment, her hands on her hips as she turned to survey the forest she had just emerged from. Her heart was still pumping quickly, the only sign that she had just run five miles.
She could see the slight glimmer of the frozen lake that lay behind her family's house. She usually ran around it every morning, waking before the others and taking in the quiet stillness of the pine forest that lay on the edge of the Rocky Mountain foothills. The house that lay opposite her family's across the lake had always lain empty for the ten years that Alexandro Roman and his wife, Serena, had lived there. That had changed, as Katrina had discovered, today. The house that had long been dark had glowed with soft light, looking warm and inviting as Katrina had run past.
Now, as she detected it's faint light through the trees in the distance, she wondered when exactly the new people had moved in, and what she and her family were going to do about it.
Katrina new that they would have to be more careful now, there were people close by. Too close for Katrina's comfort. Carter will have to be especially careful, thought Katrina as she turned towards her house, her thoughts on her family.
Her family was unique in more ways than one. Alexandro Roman and his two daughters, Katrina and Natalie were originally from Italy. Rome, to be exact. Alexandro was a deacon of the Catholic church before his first wife Lara, also Katrina and Natalie's mother, had been killed in the same tragedy that had changed the two girls forever.
Lara Roman had been killed by a vampire. Though Katrina had often tried, her father didn't like talking about the incident to her, though he had told her that she and her sister had also been bitten by the vampire and would have been turned into vampires had their father not procured some of the Vampire's blood which she and her sister had drunk. The vampire had died. The whole thing was a bit of a mystery to Katrina, who remembered nothing as she had been four at the time and her sister only two.
Her father had long been fascinated by tales of demons and otherworldly things. Had it not been for his knowledge of the lore of supernatural creatures, Katrina and her sister might have died that night. After that, Katrina's father left the church and traveled around with his children for two years. Teaching them himself as the changes that had been incurred by their drinking a vampire's blood became known.
From reading legends, Alexandro had thought that by drinking a vampire's blood the change from human to vampire would merely be halted, but this, it seemed, was only half the story. By drinking a vampire's blood, a human was forever changed. The blood, once inside a human body would react with the human's blood releasing a chemical that made it's way through the bloodstream and eventually to the brain. Once it reached the brain, the chemical would cause a change in the brain, often causing the human to develop...powers. Such as the power to shift objects with the mind, telekinesis, the ability to control others minds, the power of invisibility, mind reading, controlling fire, and even being able to heal others. All powers found in Katrina's family. Alexandro had guessed and pieced together much of what they now knew, as he researched and searched for answers about his daughter's conditions.
In the years after Katrina and Natalie had drunk the vampire's blood, they developed their powers. Katrina, telekinesis and the ability to control minds, and Natalie the ability to turn invisible. As they traveled the world with their father, they came across three more children in similar circumstances. Johnathon Roth, Carter Roth, and Rose Roth had all drunk the blood of a vampire. Alexandro had found them in the countryside of Switzerland, abandoned by their parents and being cared for by Serena, an American woman who had taken them in after the tragedy.
How the Roth children came to drink the blood of a vampire was unknown, Johnathan had been the same age as Katrina when he was turned, his brother and sister were both even younger and had no recollection of the event.
Serena and Alexandro had fallen in love and married and moved to the United States where they settled in the foothills of the Rockies in Montana and had stayed there for the last ten years.
"Katrina!" Katrina was startled from her thoughts by Rose waving to her from the deck, already dressed for school. The Roth's and Natalie had all decided to go to the local public school instead of being taught by Alexandro. Katrina was the only one who preferred to stay at home with her father. Katrina smiled and took her light blond hair out of its pony tail as she climbed the deck stairs.
"It's snowing!" Rose's dainty features smiled happily at Katrina as she held her hands out to the sky. Rose was the youngest of the five children, and at thirteen she was still thought of as the baby of the family. She was a gentle soul, and her power to heal fit her perfectly.
"Nice observation skills Rosie, shouldn't you guys be leaving for school soon?"
"Yeah, but I wanted to say good morning to you." Katrina grabbed Rose and hugged her to her side as she led her inside.
"Thanks kiddo, now why don't you go get in the car." Rose nodded and skipped off through the kitchen, narrowly avoiding a collision with her brother Carter as he skidded to a halt in front of the stairs leading down to the garage.
"Hey Trina! Carter waved, his dark eyes gleaming mischievously as he grabbed his skateboard. "Bye Trina!" He pounded down the stairs his tall frame moving quickly. Carter was fifteen, and the daredevil of the family. He knew no fear and his ability to create and control fire only aided him in his trouble making pursuits.
"Carter, you're dead meat!" Natalie, Katrina's sister stormed into the kitchen, her face dark. She and Katrina could be twins except for the fact that Natalie was far more fashion conscious than her sister. She and Carter were both freshmen (though Carter was already 15 and Nat still 14) and the boy let no opportunity to annoy Nat pass. Katrina was sure that he had done something to make Nat mad that morning as she waved absentmindedly to Trina and stalked down the stairs after Carter.
Following Nat out of the hallway came Johnathan, his hair carefully mussed as he sauntered through the kitchen. He was the same age as Katrina, 16, and he was undeniably attractive and unfortunately, a shameless flirt. He glanced at Katrina and smiled slightly as he descended the stairs.
Katrina grabbed an apple and waited for Serena to appear, her stepmother rounded the corner a moment later, her dark hair thrown into a hasty ponytail as she followed the kids down the stairs.
"Bye Trina! See you in a bit!" Trina smiled at her stepmother's back as she left the kitchen, heading for the shower. The house was always much quieter after everyone else left. Though Serena, worked from home as a writer, the house was always much noisier and hectic with the other kids at home.
As Katrina changed out of her sweats and got into the shower, she heard the sounds of her father getting ready for the day.
Her father, after leaving the church, had become a columnist for The New Yorker a position he had maintained through the years. In his years as her teacher,he had taught Katrina much, taking her through history, science, English, math, as well as martial arts and mythology. Her rather unusual education was perfect for Katrina. She was rather quiet, quite the opposite of her sister, and she preferred to take things at her own pace. She didn't socialize with other kids her age outside her family, a fact which she did not regret.
The more unusual aspects of her education, martial arts and mythology, served to educate her about the world into which she had been thrust at an early age. Though none of the Roman's or the Roth's had had contact with any vampires since their change, they still sought information about the creatures. Katrina knew that someday she would come across one and she had to be ready. She would not be the weak prey she had been as a little girl.
A light frown creased Trina's brow as she stepped from the shower and toweled off, her hands pausing slightly over the silvery outline of the vampire bite on her neck, the lingering reminder of her past. Biting her lips softly, Katrina finished getting dressed and pulled the comb through her long hair. The long strands hung down her back, wetting her t-shirt. She and her sister had inherited their mother's looks. Lara had been tall and slim, and she shared the same clear blue eyes as Katrina. The only distinct feature that had been passed on from Alexandro could be seen in Natalie's vibrant green eyes.
Sighing softly, Katrina headed towards the study her thoughts returning to the new inhabitants of the house across the lake.
Opening one of the double doors that lead to the study Trina stepped inside to where her father was already waiting, his head bent over some papers at his desk.
"Dad?" He looked up and beckoned her in.
"I just found something you might be interested in, it's a version of the story of Finn And The Salmon of Knowledge, I haven't come across it and the differences between others I have seen are-"
"Dad!" Alexandro paused, his eyes focusing on his eldest daughter. "Someone moved into the house across the lake." Katrina sat down at her own desk, watching her father as he sat back in his chair.
"Did you see any of them?"
"No, I just saw the lights."
"We'll have to be more careful." Katrina nodded as she watched her father carefully. "Don't worry Trina, they're just another family? How much is there to worry about?" Katrina smiled. She knew her father was right, he usually was. But that didn't explain the tight feeling that had settled in her gut.
"Come mio bella, let us think on Finn and his knowledgeable salmon"
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"Dad!" Katrina looked up from her book as the front door crashed open. "Dad!" Natalie rushed into the family room, her face anxious. "Trina! Where is Dad?"
"No idea." Katrina turned back to her book flipping the page idly.
"Oh you're sooo helpful!" Natalie headed out of the room kicking off her high heeled boots as she did, pausing for a moment in front of the fireplace where a roaring fire was lit to ward off the chill of the snow that had been falling on and off throughout the day.
"What's wrong?" Trina hesitated to ask, knowing that sometimes it was better not to know with Natalie.
Natalie focused on Trina, her eyes narrowing in on the receiver of her undoubtedly momentous news. "Guess. What." The order was spoken with tightly controlled enthusiasm.
"What?"
"I, got asked out by Jordan Reese!" Natalie squealed and threw herself onto the couch by Trina. "I'm in heaven." Trina stared bemusedly at her sister. Natalie was the drama queen of the family. Her fashion forward zealousness were paralleled by neither the sweetly delicate Rose, nor the practically thinking Katrina.
Natalie sighed and sat up on her elbows. "But, there's one problem." She stared at Trina sorrowfully, her eyes widened to tragic proportions.
"Wait, allow me," Johnathon leaned over the back of the sofa, his hair glistening slightly from melted snow. "There's just one problem Trina, I need you to drive me to my date because I don't want Dad to see that the guy I'm going to meet is a senior and shaves often enough to smell like aftershave."
"How do you know what Jordan Reese smells like?" Said Trina over Natalie's indignant protests.
Johnathon glared at her. "It was an educated guess." Trina snorted and glanced at Natalie.
"I suppose I can drive you if you need me too, but you have to tell Dad, I'm not dealing with the cautionary speech of "keeping the secret" and whatnot." Natalie squealed in happiness and launched herself at Trina, who bore the assault on her personal space with resigned patience.
Johnathon snorted and Natalie pulled herself away from Trina to glare at him. "You're just jealous cause you failed the license test, twice!"
"I still maintain that it was rigged."
"Yeah, I'm sure you driving the car down the wrong side of the road was totally set up." Said Carter, as he stomped into the house and promptly sprawled himself, holey socks and all, in front of the fire. Johnathon glared at his brother and opened his mouth to undoubtedly make a rude retort when Rose walked into the house.
Trina immediately sat up, her eyes zeroing in on Rose's face.
"Rosie what happened." Everyone else turned to look at Rose who was looking strangely puzzled.
"I'm not sure... I..." Katrina stood and steered Rose to sit down on the couch.
"What is it Rose."
"I was, I went down to fill the bird feeder at the end of the drive, the one under that big pine and this car drove by, the new kids from school were inside it and I..."
"Wait, you mean those Cullen kids?" Natalie was sitting up now, her attention fully on Rose.
"Yes. When they drove by I had the strangest sensation that I knew, one of them. Like I knew them from somewhere but I couldn't quite remember where, but they were important, really important."
"Maybe..."Katrina stopped, at a loss for words or theories.
"I don't know, maybe I was imagining things but-"
"No. I felt it too." Carter was staring at the fire, which was shaping into little balls that seemed to pop every so often, like bubbles.
"Carter be careful." The warning came to Katrina naturally after years of repetition. She stood and paced over to the window where, across the lake lay the house where she now knew the Cullen family lived. "This can't all be a coincidence." She murmured. She turned back to the others, her arms crossed.
"Johnathan? Did you...?" He nodded. "Natalie?" She shook her head. So this was limited to the Roth's. Interesting.
"How many of them are there?"
"Five. Three boys and two girls, they're all adopted by some doctor guy and his wife. I think some of them are actually together, like as in dating. They're all really amazingly good looking" Said Natalie. The boys nodded in agreement.
"Who was it you were drawn to Rosie?"
"The small one. The girl," She paused, "I think her name was Alice."
"Carter, John, were you both drawn to the same girl?" They nodded.
"I didn't really think that much about it, I mean she is hot, I'll bet most of the guys were feeling the same way." Carter had rolled onto his back and was contemplating them all from a position that placed his dark hair dangerously close to the fire.
"I thought the same thing. I mean, the other girl was gorgeous, more my type too, but I just thought maybe the Alice girl had some serious pheromone power or something."
"Boys." Natalie rolled her eyes.
Katrina was silent as she looked out the window again. "I think there's only one thing we can do." She and Natalie looked at each other.
"Dad."
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A/N: Howdy there, so I'm really excited about this story and I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm warning you all now, before you read any further, that this story ignores the events of Twilight and all subsequent books in the series, in other words, NO BELLA. Just making that abundantly clear. And, just to cover my ass, all characters originating in the mind of Stephenie Meyer, are hers, I'm just the overly imaginative freak who invites them to come play in my head. So, Read, enjoy, and let me know if you like it!