SWAN SONG

MEETINGS AND MEMORIES

Eve Swan simply loved London this time of the year. Autumn really was a time of poetic beauty in the city. However, the same could not be said for her destination this evening. She wrinkled her nose as she approached the Slug and Lettuce Bar on Stoney Lane. The smell of sweat and booze was as stifling as ever, especially with her vampire senses. Why her brother insisted on meeting here, she would never understand. Sighing loudly, she pushed the door open and stepped inside. She could feel all the men staring at her. This was a perfectly normal occurrence. Eve was the kind of woman who was impossible to overlook. With her tall, willowy figure and exceptionally fine features, she was easily any man's dream. She radiated confidence as she effortlessly glided through the room.

Politely refusing a drink from one of her many admirers, she quickly scanned the room for her twin brother. Spotting him at the bar, she raised her hand in greeting. But Adrian wasn't looking at her. He was fixated with the attractive blonde at his side. This was also perfectly normal. Sipping his vodka martini, he flashed a disarming smile and leaned forward to whisper something in her ear. Blondie giggled, completely enamored with him. Eve briefly wondered if her brother had used his mind compulsion to bend her will. He certainly didn't need to. Adrian's charm was one of his greatest gifts.

Adrian still hadn't noticed her. Looking around to make sure no one was paying attention; Eve focused her attention on Blondie's drink. It was sitting right next to her arm. She imagined the glass tipping over and the contents splashing onto her dress. Immediately, she heard an indignant shriek. Adrian managed to placate the girl and Blondie ducked into the restroom, her face red with embarrassment.

"What the hell, Eve!" her brother exploded, as she slipped into the now empty seat next to him and ordered a drink. She shrugged casually. "What? I had to get your attention somehow. Don't get all huffy now."

Adrian glared at her for a minute, before shaking his head. "You know I can't stay mad at you for long."

He was over six feet tall with a lean, muscular build. He looked a great deal like his sister -they were twins after all. Both of them had inherited their mother's dark hair and their father's emerald green eyes.

Their father.

It was absurd how much resentment she harbored towards a man she had never even met. He had left her mother before they were born. As far as she knew, he had no idea of their existence. Quite frankly, she preferred it that way. She had no wish to meet him.

Shaking away all thoughts of their father, Eve turned to Adrian. "Gianna just called. Apparently, Aro was serious about us visiting Volterra next week. I told her that we won't be able to make it."

"Phew! Good call. I hate going to that freak show. They didn't throw a fit or anything, right?"

"Of course not," Eve scoffed. "After everything that happened, they're much too scared of us for that. As they should be."

The two of them had a long, complicated history with the Volturi but were currently on cordial terms with them. The good news was that they no longer had to be wary of being attacked any second and be ready to run at a moment's notice. The bad news, however, was that they were forced to attend parties in Volterra every now and then just to 'maintain their alliance' as Aro put it. The man was a bit too flamboyant for his own good.

"So," her brother interrupted her thoughts, "I was thinking. It's been a while since we saw Mum. Maybe we should go visit her? I think she'd like that."

Eve, who had been sipping her tequila nearly choked at his words. "When has she ever been happy to see us? I don't think it's a good idea, Ade."

"She is still our mother. We can't just abandon her. Besides, don't you want to see how Uncle Anton is doing? I know you miss him," he persisted.

"Fine," she conceded with a grimace. Their mother had never really been there for them growing up. Eve and Adrian reminded her too much of her precious Edward. It was Anton who had raised them.

Twenty years ago, Anton Hoffman was a lonely vampire who lived a nomadic life. He had perfected his self-control to the point where he could taste human blood without going into a frenzy. He preferred to live off of blood bags. During his travels, he met a vampire named Victoria. He didn't particularly like her but they become allies of sorts. He quickly learned that Victoria was seeking revenge for her dead mate. She convinced him to help her.

Anton accompanied Laurent to Forks where he met Isabella Swan. He was horrified that Victoria's idea of revenge involved torturing and killing a hapless, abandoned human. He felt strangely drawn to young Isabella. He couldn't bring himself to go through with the plan. Quickly changing gears, he proceeded to kill Laurent and fake Bella's death by staging a car crash. He then took her to safety. It was then that he discovered the horrific truth. Bella was with child. A vampire's child. He knew enough of the South American Ticuna legends to realize that this could be potentially fatal for the young human.

At this point, Bella was desperate. She certainly couldn't go to a hospital and already a bump was beginning to show. Anton decided that he couldn't leave her there to die. He took her with him to a remote country house in the Rhine Valley, Germany where she would be safe from Victoria. As far as she knew, Bella was dead. The pregnancy lasted over a month. Bella was terrifying detached during the whole process. She would sit listlessly at the window for hours, her face blank and eyes glassy. Except for the occasional screams of pain, she did not speak. She did not protest even when he told her that the only way to sustain herself and the child was to drink blood.

At the end of it, she gave birth to twins – a boy and a girl. As she lay dying on the delivery table, Anton realized that he loved her too much to lose her. Besides, the children needed their mother. He turned Bella into a vampire.

When Bella awoke to her new life, she was furious. She screamed and raged at Anton for not letting her die. Her first instinct was to go the Volturi and ask for death. Anton begged her not to do so.

"Think of the children," he pleaded. "You would put them in danger if you exposed yourself to the Volturi. It is better for all of you if we remain isolated form the rest of the world."

After much cajoling and persuading on Anton's part, she finally agreed to stay with them. But she wanted nothing to do with the babies. She refused to even name them. In the end, Anton named the boy Adrian Alexander and the girl Eve Elizabeth. He took over the responsibility of raising and educating the twins.

They grew at an incredible rate, reaching full maturity at the chronological age of seven and appeared to be about twenty years old. They hadn't changed in the last thirteen years. Being half-vampire and half-human, they shared attributes of both species. On one hand, their bodies functioned more or less like a human being. This meant they could eat human food and, as they were elated to discover in later years, could drink alcohol. They needed to sleep, of course, but not as often as humans and their heart rate was faster too.

However, they were still part-vampire and possessed super strength and speed, though it was exponentially lesser than what a full vampire would have. Their skin was as hard and impenetrable as a vampire's. They also had to drink blood. While human food was an indulgence, blood was an absolute necessity. Anton taught them to control their bloodlust at an early age. They preferred to drink from blood bags like him. However, unlike vampires, the twins were non-venomous.

The twins were, by no means, easy to handle. Adrian was generally quite sweet-natured but Eve could be very temperamental and threw terrible fits. It was during these tantrums that her astonishing talent came to light. Eve had been wailing because her brother had stolen her pancakes. Anton was attempting to calm her down when suddenly the jug of water toppled over for no apparent reason. A similar incident occurred that night when Anton was trying to put the reluctant little girl to bed.

"Nein, liebchen. You cannot watch television any longer. It is past your bedtime," he told her sternly. A book flew out of the shelf and hit him on the head. For a minute, he was too flabbergasted to say anything. Then he began to laugh. The child was telekinetic! Vampires often possessed supernatural psionic abilities. He should have expected something like this. "So, you are behind this. I was beginning to think this house might be haunted. But we must teach you to control it, yes?"

Adrian's talent did not reveal itself for a few years. The twins were psychologically and intellectually around seventeen years old (physically, they were six) when it happened. Anton had just taught them to drive and one afternoon, to his utter shock, Adrian had returned home with a black Ferrari.

"Gorgeous, isn't it? It's Herr Schneider's," Adrian beamed at him. Friedrich Schneider was a rich businessman who sometimes came to stay in the manor house a few miles away.

"You stole his car?" Anton was appalled.

"Of course not! He gave it to me. I asked him."

Anton was skeptical. "Really? He just handed over a three hundred thousand dollar car because you asked him?"

"I swear, Onkel! I know it sounds crazy but that's what happened. His eyes kind of glazed over and he just gave me the keys."

Anton saw the truth in the boy's eyes. As absurd as it was, Adrian had somehow controlled the human's mind. He had heard stories of such abilities but had never found any proof. He thought of Eve's telekinesis. Perhaps it wasn't so absurd after all.

By the way, in my story, Laurent shows up not long after the Cullens leave. Like, a few weeks later. And if you haven't guessed it already, Anton is German.

PLEASE DO REVIEW :) I could really use some advice too, so feel free.