Nahuel did not remember what he had been dreaming about before the water invaded his sleep.

But it had been happy, he seemed to recall. Something childish about a magical land of sweets. One minute he was there.

The next, he had been swept off of his feet and was on his back. For a moment he could do nothing but mouth at the bright blue sky, wondering what the Hell had happened. He was moving, he registered, being pulled backwards toward something he couldn't see. Nahuel fanned his fingers out in a web and felt water beneath him. It was water that had hit him. And even though he knew he was asleep, Nahuel suddenly felt clear headed and rational, and fully, fully awake.

"Fuck", he muttered. This was not good.

Knowing he had no chance of fighting, he let the water carry him on and on, pulling and pushing his body in alternate directions and occasionally twisting him around so that he was facing down, with the water covering his mouth. He always thrashed frantically when that happened. Nahuel didn't think that dying in this dream of his would mean dying in real life but he wasn't about to take the chance.

Eventually, after what felt like eternity, he was swept into an ocean. Not the ocean, he didn't think, but something that looked a lot like it. Waves broke over his head, trying to push him beneath the water's surface, and the taste of salt spray filled his mouth. If Nahuel had been human, instead of half-vampire, he would have drowned, he was pretty sure. But he was strong. He had fast reflexes. He had been swimming since he was no taller than his own knees. He managed to stay afloat. But it was hard. And as his lungs filled with water, it got harder and harder.

"I know it's you!" he shouted. "Stop it! If you want to talk, come and talk!"

At that point, the dream got even stranger. A cloud floated down towards Nahuel, and sitting on it was a girl. A beautiful, dark skinned girl, her curly black hair falling down her back like a film star's, her eyes big and doelike, her face wise and ethereal. Only, she wasn't wise, Nahuel knew. The wiseness was an illusion. Part of the halfling style beauty his sister had.

"Jennifer. Hi there", he said, trying to sound relaxed, as if he wasn't going out of his mind with panic drowning here in the water.

"Hello, Nahuel." Her lip curled. "It's nice to see you again."

"Why are you in my dream?" Nahuel asked, although he knew the answer.

"Tomorrow is your birthday, isn't it?" Jennifer sniffed and Nahuel reflected on the fact he had used to love that face of hers. He had used to be happy when he saw her. He had used to miss the sight of her face, when he hadn't seen it in a while, and want to go and see her again. But now the sight brought dread and fear and anger to him.

"Well remembered." Nahuel said it contemptuously. "What, you wanted to wish me happy birthday?"

"I did. I wanted to give you your present." His sister smiled. "Here it is. And I want you to know that me and the others will always hate you, Nahuel." She smiled sweetly. Then she vanished. And then another wave broke over Nahuel's head, forcing him beneath water this time. He struggled and kicked trying to rise back to the surface, but it felt as though an invisible weight was pulling him down. Panic set in. He couldn't breathe! He was drowning! He kicked and kicked, increasingly desperate as the air left his lungs. And then...

...and then he was sitting up in bed. For a moment Nahuel didn't recognise the setting. Then he realised he was in a hotel. The clock on his phone said it was 23:09. He had only slept for one hour. In another hour, it would be his birthday. But there was nothing good about that thought.

Sighing, Nahuel got to his feet and pulled on some clothes. Time to go for a walk and clear his head. After that dream, he needed it.

There were certain things that Nahuel had known about himself for a long time now. The first was that he was a monster who didn't deserve the life that had been given him. The second was that, even though he was a monster, he was at least aware of it and felt guilty about it. Unlike his sisters. The third was that Renesmee Cullen was the most wonderful girl who had ever been lived on this earth. And the fourth was that Renesmee would never, ever return his feelings and it was best if she never knew about them at all.

Somewhere in this hotel, the Cullens would be awake. But Nahuel didn't really feel like speaking to them right now. So instead he took the stairs down until he reached the lobby.

The hotel reception was still open. The girl at the desk looked at him curiously. He smiled vaguely at her and wondered about going out. It was at that point a girl walked through the sliding glass doors and up to the counter.

"Hello, I'd like to check in", she said in a bright voice. Just as if everything was normal, and she wasn't checking into a hotel at 11 in the evening instead of the more normal five o clock. But looking at her, Nahuel was pretty sure there was nothing normal about this girl.

For a start, she was wearing sunglasses. That would be strange anywhere, at this time of night but it got even stranger when you took into account they were in a forest resort. There was absolutely no sun here. And then there was the way the girl was completely white, almost bone white. And on anyone else that would have looked strange, and sickly, but on her it looked healthy, and beautiful. The real cinch, though, was that her smell didn't make him hungry at all. Nahuel never ate humans. But that didn't mean the smell of their blood did nothing to him. And this girl's blood didn't even smell like food.

She was a vampire. Checking into the same hotel as him. The same hotel as Renesmee.

Nahuel was horrified.

"Name?" he heard the desk girl ask.

"Via Red."

Even her name sounded like it belonged to a vampire.

As he watched her head toward the lifts with her room keys, her red-blonde hair sweeping around her head as she moved, Nahuel wondered why 'Via Red' was even checking into a hotel. It wasn't as if she actually needed to sleep.

He almost followed her. But at the last second, he remembered that vampires, most vampires, were dangerous. Just as capable of eating a hybrid as they were a human. Following that girl would be a very, very bad idea.

And then someone tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around and almost leapt in the air.

"Renesmee?"

"Happy birthday, Nahuel." Renesmee hugged him and Nahuel tried to keep from flinching. Her touch always felt like a burn on his skin. Being so close and yet so far from her. It hurt. Physically.

She broke away without pressing her forehead to his, so he didn't get to see her thoughts. She was wearing pyjamas, her red hair in two messy braids. She looked beautiful. Like always. Almost without thinking, Nahuel put a hand out to touch one of the braids. He loved the feel of her hair. Renesmee just smiled at him.

"It's not my birthday quite yet. Why are you up?" he asked.

"Why are you up?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"Me neither." Renesmee touched his face gently, and again he felt that burning sensation. "Is it difficult?" He had told her before about how upsetting he found the whole experience of his birthday.

"Yeah. Well. It's the anniversary of my birth. But the anniversary of mum's death too." Nahuel sighed.

"Want some company?" she asked.

He shrugged.

"O.k. I don't want to do anything much though. Can we just...go back to my room and watch telly?"

"Of course." Renesmee turned around and headed to the lifts where Via had just been. Nahuel was struck again by how kind she was. How perfect. How he might as well be in love with a pop star or something, she was so much out of his league. It was ridiculous to think Renesmee could ever love a monster like him.

Back in his room, he switched on the telly and a games show came on. He flicked to another channel with a sigh. The News. No good. Too depressing. He flicked until he found a movie, and they settled back to watch it. Renesmee's head rested on Nahuel's shoulder and he allowed himself, for a moment, to close his eyes and dream that she was his.

Sometimes it seemed to Nahuel like his whole existence was made up of dreams.