DISCLAIMER: I only own Alyssa, Samuel, Sarah, and Thomas. Oh, and the shopkeepers, but they don't really matter.
Epilogue
Stories and legends have been passed through generations, told for lesson and entertainment.
Vampires, werewolves, witches, warlocks, and so on are now called mythical creatures.
But what most people don't know is what really walks amongst them.
Humans have changed the stories so much, that now these mythical creatures are portrayed as monsters, the face of evil.
But humans are so naïve; they will believe anything you tell them.
1884, Houston, Texas
Jasper held my hand in his, swing it slightly. He stopped at our favorite tree, a large oak tree that once held our swing.
"Will you please tell why you seem so antsy? What is going on?" I asked him quietly. He took a deep breath and turned to face me. His light blue eyes were filled with pain, indecision, and fear.
"Jasper, are you hurt? Is something wrong with your family? Why are you so pained?" my voice trembled with fear.
"I am leaving Alyssa." He whispered very quietly. "What?" My head began to spin. "I am leaving." He repeated. I shook my head, pursing my lips tightly together. "Why?" was all I could say. All that my head could conjure.
"I have joined to Confederate Army. I shall leave soon." His voice cracked on the last word.
"Jasper Whitlock! Never in my seventeen years have I heard such an absurd idea! What were you thinking?" I was shocked.
The army? No. No. No! I would not let him go. He could not leave me. He would not. Would he?
"I told them I was twenty. I am sorry." I could not believe any thing he had just said. I tried to control my tears, but they would not listen. He lifted a hand slowly, wiping my tears from my face.
"Please do not cry, Alyssa. I have to leave. It is the right thing to do. Please, please do not cry." He begged.
I threw my arms around him. He seemed stunned by this motion, but gently rubbed my back.
"Right thing for whom?" the words were garbled, as I pressed my face into his shirt. He didn't answer me. He most likely did not have an answer.
"Please do not go. Please." My voice was breaking. He squeezed me softly.
"I must. I will be back soon though. Do not fret. Please, take care of yourself. I would not be able to live with myself if something tragic should happen to you." He was really leaving.
"Please." I knew it was useless, but I wouldn't give up. I had to try. "I love Alyssa. Always remember that."
He pressed my tightly to his body, kissing my hair. "I love you too, Jasper." He pulled away and led me back to the house.
"When do you have to leave?" My voice was dull. "In a few moments. Be safe." He pressed his lips to mine gently.
My heart thudded in side my chest. I thought it was going to jump out completely.
"Goodbye." And then he was gone.
Dear Alyssa.
I have just received tremendous news. I am to come home within days. I miss you very much and shall be coming to see you as soon as I am back. Keep safe.
Love Always,
Jasper Whitlock
Months passed had passed since he had left. But my hope clung onto his simple letters.
Just a few words would reassure me, enough to go on a bit longer. To know he was safe for a short amount of time.
"Alyssa. This is gone to far. You must do something! Shall we go for a walk? You haven't been outdoors for a very long time." Samuel begged me.
I lay slumped over in a chair. My life had no meaning with Jasper gone. He was my best friend, and I loved him dearly.
I looked hideous now. My cheeks lost their color, once rosy now white as chalk. My eyes lost their sparkle, just a dull green. My pale blonde hair lost its shine, its bounce. It lay flat on my shoulders. I hardly had the strength to blink let alone move.
"Jasper will come back alive. I promise to you. His is strong boy."
Samuel's promises meant nothing. He did not know if that was true.
"Fine. I will go for a walk." I sat up slowly. Samuel smiled timidly at my effort.
"Thank you. Shall we?" he held out his elbow for support. Samuel never grew impatient with my pace. I made a turtle look like a cheetah.
The sun was setting over the horizon. Twilight. We were alone on the street; all the occupants that lingered here early were safe at home.
At least, I thought we had been alone. A tall man steeped out from the shadows. I gasped at the stranger.
He was beautiful, yet looked very dangerous. He had dark purple bruise-like marking under his eyes which stood out on his pale translucent skin. But his eyes were a strange tint of maroon, with black rims.
The devil was the first thing that came to mind. Only the devil or a demon could have red eyes like this one did. But Samuel had a different perspective.
"Vampire." His voice was tinted with disgust, fear, and shock. I inhaled deeply. But before I could say anything, the vampire spoke.
"Hello. My name is Daniel. And your names are?" his voice was like honey, oozing with sweetness. I couldn't breath.
Something told me to run, but something also told me to go to him.
"Alyssa Rockwell." I breathed out. The breath I had taken so many moments ago would stay. It made me woozy.
The man tensed up, and sprung at me. I didn't have time to scream at the attacker to get off. But I did scream when I felt a sharp immense pain in my neck.
Samuel staggered back. "Get off of her, bloodsucker!" The words caught me by surprise.
I was being drained. Samuel grasped it shoulder tightly to pull it back, only to find it wouldn't budge.
"Samuel!" I screamed in pain. It pulled away and turned to my brother.
Samuel threw his fist at the man's face, but with an inhumanly speed, the man caught his fist, biting deeply into his hand.
"Ugh!" Samuel crumpled to the ground. I heard another growl and the monster pulled away. I turned, to see a woman.
She was absurdly beautiful with brunette hair that flowed in a thick wave. Her eyes were a bright red, and her skin was a pale white.
"Back away from them! It shall be too suspicious if we take anymore from this town. We don't want the Volturi to get involved do we? We'll feed in the Dallas!" she hissed.
Her words frightened me and sent chills down my spine. I felt an intense burning in my neck, as I screamed.
She eyed me, her brilliant eyes wide in fear. "Hurry! We must leave now." She was gone.
The vampire glared at me. "You are very lucky child that I must follow her orders." His voice was no longer silky, it was sharp and hard.
"Alyssa. Are you all right?" Samuel's voice was pained. "What were they?" I whispered.
He hesitated. "I believe they were--vampires. He took some blood from us both." I stared at my brother in disbelief. "Va-vampires? So-so does that mean that we are going--"I cut off, gulping at this alarming news.
"I believe so. We must leave. We will be killed if we do not or thrown in the asylum." He sat up, clasping his hand.
I screamed. The pain was unbearable, like a fire running through my veins. He clamped his hand around my mouth. "We must be quiet. Follow me."
He ran into an ally. I followed. I clenched my teeth, trying to keep my voice down. Tears flowed down my cheeks.
Samuel went to the farthest end of the ally and into an empty cellar. I crawled through the window. "We shall stay here until the transformation is complete. Then we will run."
He whispered gasping in pain. I laid down on the soft dirt, not caring that my dress would be ruined.
After what seemed like a century, it only really being three days, the pain began to cease. We were still in the dark dusty cellar, but a thin light peaked in.
"Samuel. I can not feel the pain! It is gone!" I whispered attempting not to have our cover blown. I was extremely relieved of the disappearance of the unbearable pain.
"So has mine." He stretched up slowly. I gasped as he came in the direct path of the sunlight. His arm and face sparkled as the light bounced off him.
"Samuel! Your skin! It sparkles!" he looked down pulling his arm from the sunlight. It had looked like he was made of crystal. He put his arm in the light again. It reflected again, taking my breath away.
I noticed something particular, not about his fascination with the sun and his skin, but with my senses. My eyesight was sharper; I could see Samuel's face easily, even though it was very dark.
My hearing was outstanding. I could hear someone at the end of the ally. This is amazing! I can not believe that the sun does this! I heard Samuel's voice.
"It is quite something." I turned to him. He looked at me. I wonder if her skin does the same. "I do not know. I will see." I held out my hand. It sparkled too.
"How did you know that I wondered about if the same happened for you?" he asked me cautiously. "What do you mean? You spoke that aloud, did you not?" I asked him, confused.
He shook his head. I believe the pain made her insane. I scowled at him. "I am not insane, Samuel! You take that back!" then I gasped realizing his mouth had not moved.
"I can hear your thoughts!" I was bewildered. "Excuse me?" I shook my head. "Think something. Anything!" I hissed at him.
Alyssa you are scaring me. What is going on? "I can hear your thoughts!" I repeated more loudly. "You can?" I smiled and shook my head. I stepped forward.
He gasped. "Alyssa! Your eyes! They are scarlet red!" I stared at him, shocked. His were too.
Then I felt it. The thirst. My muscles tightened, my mouth filled with a liquid. My throat began to burn. "Ugh. Fire is back!" I gasped.
"We need blood, fast." He said quickly. I looked at the sunlight.
"Perhaps we should wait, at least until the sun goes down. I do not think us sparkling like chandeliers will go over well with the humans. There are also many things we do not know about this lifestyle. Perhaps we should also see how much we have excelled. My senses are extremely sensitive now; I do not think they are the only things…" I trailed off.
"You may be right. We'll stay here until nightfall." I noticed my sense of smell was also tremendous. I smelled many scents, wonderful scents. Scents I was not accustomed to.
I sat on the ground. He gently sat next to me. I was thoughtful, listening to voices from the outside. Their problems seemed so usual, so innocent. Nothing compared to ours.
"Samuel. I do not want to kill innocent people. Is there anyway not to harm them? Not to be monsters?" I asked, troubled by the thought of killing someone.
He pondered for a moment. "Humans are not the only race that has blood, now are they?" I looked at him curiously. I saw images of animals in his head. Many animals, mostly deer and elk.
"Animals have blood. It may not work, but it is something we may want to experiment with. Did we not eat venison in out past life?" he shrugged his shoulders.
I smiled. "Of course. You are ingenious my dear brother." Now she realizes it. I glared at him. "I can hear you, you know."
He sighed deeply. This will take some getting use too. I laughed a bit. He rolled his scarlet eyes. "Our senses are enhanced, are they not? So I believe our physical abilities may also be." For being so young, Samuel was logical.
"Hmm. You may be right. Well let me see." I sat up. He watched me carefully. "What are you doing?" he asked. I held up one finger.
I pulled back my fist, planning on hitting the bricks. She is going to hit the wall! Is she gone completely insane? We don't have time to go to a doctor, let alone be able to.
Suddenly Samuel was across the room, holding back my hand. I turned, surprised by his speed. "We do not have time to go to a doctor if you injure yourself." I tried to pull away, but his grip was like an iron grip. He let of my hand go.
"You got over here very fast." He pulled back his head. "I suppose I did." He smiled widely and then was gone. I saw him flash around our large holding cell. It took him a millisecond to get back to where he had been standing before.
"Speed, one of our advanced abilities." I smiled and turned around. I punched the wall before he could catch me. Surprisingly, it did not hurt. The bricks crumbled to the ground. My eyes grew wide at the sight.
Samuel whistled. "My god! Superhuman strength." We sat through out the afternoon experimenting with our new found abilities.
We found out that we can not sleep, which would be good when we need to feed.
Finally when sun began to set, we climbed out of our prison, which had been my own personal hell with the fire brought on by a devil.
As we walked down the streets, I noticed our clothes were very grungy. People stared at us. I also felt a strong twisting in my stomach. I gripped his arm, but he did not notice.
"Samuel. We need to change clothing." He nodded and led me to a store. The people we passed by shied away.
I have known most of them my whole life, yet they seemed not to recognize me. When I smiled to them, they froze. Who is she? That young folk over there are beautiful. Lucky man.
As he towed me along as I noticed a sign posted on the window. "Samuel! That sign says we are missing! There is a reward too." He looked at the sign and shook his head.
Follow along. I nodded my head. His brawny arm wrapped around my waist. I glared up at him. I said follow along. I sighed deeply.
My muscles tightened up. I felt a rush of liquid in mouth. A cinnamon scent and a lavender scent filled the shop. I felt Samuel tense up too.
"Hello. May I help you?" the shop keeper asked us, eyeing our clothes. Keep your head down. Do not let him see your eyes. I turned to look at a dress on display.
Beautiful couple. Unruly garments though. "Yes. My wife and I are traveling and are in need of a new set of clothing." His voice sounded like honey.
"I'll have you fitted right away. Jezebel!" A young maiden stepped out of the back room. "Help this woman fitted into the dress of her choosing." She nodded shyly. I pointed to a light blue dress and she grabbed the model.
"We will not be in town tonight, so if you may please just readjust any item of clothing you have, that would be most appreciated. We will pay extra for your troubles." Samuel said as he grabbed a model.
The way people think how easy it is for us to work with clothing. But if he is willing to pay more…"Of course." The man nodded. "Your wife, she is an extremely beautiful woman. You are a lucky man."
I heard the shop keeper whisper to Samuel. Hmm. I see that to people we must be absurdly handsome. Interesting. I smiled to myself. The young girl was the source of the lavender scent.
I held my breath hoping the scent would not bother me as bad. It helped and I realized I did not have to breathe at all. I kept my face from hers.
She must be as shy as me. I wonder why. She must be use to having people staring at her. They fitted us quickly and sent us on our way.
Once we were out of sight we ran. The wind was exhilarating. We stopped once we reached Lake Conroe.
"Being at that shop was so tempting! The scents were mouthwatering!" I said as I leaned against a rock.
"It was quite difficult. I almost attacked that man, but I controlled myself. Did you know I do not have to breath?" we both we sitting on the boulder. "Yes. I found that out also. It makes it very much easier." I suddenly tensed up as did he.
I smelled it then. A mountain lion, two, actually. My senses went wild and we both launched at them.
A deep menacing growl broke out. Shocking myself as I realized that it came from me. I bit into the lion making it growl in pain. They sound irritated me, so I meant only to cut off the growl, but I snapped its neck in a sickening crunch.
Its body went limp, and fell. I drained the body. Soon I pulled away. That had been absolutely delicious. "That was much different then dinner with Mamma and Papa." He said laughing. I joined in.
I attacked three deer after that. Soon the thirst was gone. I smiled at Samuel.
"Your eyes are changing. They have a gold-ish tint to them now." He smiled back. "As do yours." I see we have some visitors. I flipped around to the sound of a female voice.
"Soon they will be completely gold." She pressed her lips together. A male stood next to her. They looked very young.
"May we help you?" Samuel asked warily. They are newborns. They will need some extent training. I heard an unfamiliar male voice.
"Are you blind, sir? I am not a newborn. I am seventeen years of age." I asked the man.
"Oh, you are a mind reader. How interesting! And you do it from a distance! Not like Aro I assume." He said. "Aro? Who is this Aro you speak of?" I asked watching their every move.
"Yes. Newborns. Aro is part of the Volturi." Again with the Volturi name. What is this Volturi? "Come you have much to learn." The woman waved her hand, beaconing us to follow.
I do not trust them quite yet. Stay. Samuel commanded me silently.
"Hold up a moment. Who are you?" Samuel grasped my shoulder protectively.
"How rude of us. I am Sarah and this is Thomas."
She smiled showing a full set of sparkling white teeth. "And you are…" Thomas's voice was smooth and silky, a voice, if I was human would make me fall for him instantly.
"I am Samuel and this my twin sister Alyssa." They looked at us shocked.
Is that possible? Blood twins? "Birth twins?" Sarah's tawny eyes were slits. "Yes. Is there some peculiar about that?" I pursed my lips together.
"Yes actually there is. I have never in my one hundred and sixty years come across birth related vampires." She held her head back. I gasped at her.
"You are one hundred and sixty? You look nothing close to that age. More like later twenties." They exchanged an amused look.
So much for them to learn. It's a good thing we do not sleep. It may take some time. "You do have much to learn. Shall we?" they again gestured toward the forest.
We stepped cautiously toward them. "Just follow us." And they were gone. I glanced at Samuel to see if it was smart to follow.
"We might as well." And then we were gone. We arrived at a log cabin shortly.
For hours, Sarah and Thomas told us about the rules and traditions and what to expect. At many points, something caught me off guard, which seemed to annoy Thomas.
They then welcomed us to stay for as long as we wanted. They would play our adoptive parents for the most part, or uncle and aunt, what ever the humans wanted to believe.
We have been with them ever since.
A/N: This came to through a dream, sorta like Stephenie and I was intrigued! So, what do y'all think?