Carefully she picked up the phone and began dialing the only number listed on the single sheet of paper that her father had left for her. His final words still haunted her mind.
"Iris you have to find Carlisle Cullen. He is the only one who can help you now. I am so sorry…I love you"
Tears slid down her cool cheeks as she listened to the rings. Then a soft voice that felt like it was a song was speaking. Sighing to herself she knew at once he was a vampire.
"Can I speak to Carlisle Cullen please?"
"This is Dr. Cullen. How can I help you?"
"Dr. Cullen I realize this is quite a surprise but my father has sent me looking for you for help. My name is Iris. My father said you were my only shot."
"What is your fathers name?"
"Daniel…Daniel Curtis."
"Where are you Iris?"
"I am here in Forks. Can I come to your home please?"
"Iris…did your father tell you anything about my family and myself?
"Yes sir…he told me everything. It would be much easier to explain everything in person. "
"I believe you are right. We would be happy to have you visit our home. Please come over. Do you need a ride?"
"No Dr. Cullen. I defiantly do not need a ride. I will explain everything about myself when I get there. You can expect me in about three minutes." As she was speaking she realized she was slightly laughing. Dr Cullen was going to be mighty surprised when he mets me she thought, This was going to be different for them. Hanging up the phone she stepped away from the phone. Looking down at the picture of the Cullen's house I had printed off the internet Iris closed her eyes and let her mind find the house. With a smile she chuckled to myself…"Better then GPS." Then she began to run. In exactly three minutes she was standing in front of the house. Carefully she closed my eyes again and let herself get a feeling for the inside. She could feel six people moving inside. No heartbeats…with a sigh she realized she always felt much safer in a house of vampires then in a house of humans.
Knocking on the door a beautiful blonde man answered.
"You must me Iris. Please come on in. Forgive me but you are obviously not a human by your smell but you are also not a vampire. Am I correct?"
"That is correct. No one will feel the need to feed off me if that is what you are concerned about."
"No not at all merely curious. I don't believe I have ever met someone quite like you but please come inside and we can talk further."
Stepping inside the house she curiously looked around. Standing in the room and looking at her with apprehension were all six people she could feel moving around the house.
"Iris, this is my family. My wife Esme, sons Emmett and Jasper and my daughters Rosalie and Alice."
"Hello. I am sorry if I interrupted anything. My father made it a point that due to my extreme situation I was not to stop and speak with anyone else until I spoke with you."
"I understand. Come on in the living room and sit down and we can speak further."
"Ok. Sure." Stepping into the large living room I could suddenly feel the poking in my head of a psychic. Glancing around the room I could see Alice looking at me strangely.
"Sorry Alice but if you want to read my future…which is what it feels like you do...then you will have to give me a chance to trust you enough to open my mind up first."
Looking surprised Alice mumbled an apology and let Carlisle begin the questioning.
"Ok Iris you are obviously in a bit of a situation. Why don't you tell us why our dear friend Daniel has sent you to us?"
"My father is dead. He was killed by a member of the volturi. Before he went before them for his last time he told me if he did not return I was to seek your family out. You would understand my…issue and help me. He gave me this watch to give to you. He said you would understand the value of the gift." Reaching in her bag she withdrew a gold pocket watch that she had been carrying faithfully for over 2 weeks. Looking at it one last time she carefully handed it to this man who was supposed to be her saviour.
"Ahh…I gave this to your father shortly after he helped me when I was in a bit of a situation myself. I would love to say I can help you Iris but you seem reluctant to tell me what kind of help you need."
Looking carefully around the room and judging there reactions Iris took a deep breath and stood up. " I have a hard time discussing this with people for obvious reason's. You were right before I am neither human nor vampire. I have the features of a human. I have the strength and power of a vampire but there is more to me. I am what is called a Phoenix." The gasps in the room told her they had heard of her kind before.
"A phoenix. That is extremely rare to find. What level of a phoenix are you?"
"I don't know. We had to keep my powers secret to prevent any situations from occurring in our village in Italy. I know of what I can do but I don't know the extreme I can control it at. I can obviously shield very well since both Alice and Jasper have been trying to read either my future or my mood since I walked in the door."
Laughing Carlisle looked over at Alice in utter amazement. "Well Iris you are more then welcome here in our home. I need to ask you some questions and also make some requests from you as well. We will need to eventually see what level you are to provide some understanding as to your limits. I am sure when the Volturi hear where you are they will be making a visit. Since they normally do not allow your kind to live due to the fear since you are the only kind that they can not control. I also need to request you do not use any of your powers on the people in the area. We keep this as a permanent home and do not want to arouse any suspicions. Now do you have any special needs that we as vampires do not need? Forgive me but there is not a lot of knowledge about the Phoenix."
"I will do anything you ask. I do need to sleep but only for short periods of time. If I use my powers more then I sleep more. The stronger the power is the more drained I get when I use it. Food wise…I eat like you. I live off the blood of animals. That is why my father sent me to you. I actually need to hunt soon if that is ok. I haven't eaten in awhile and my body is starting to feel week."
"Of course. Alice and Emmett will take you hunting up in the mountains while Esme and myself prepare your room. My other son Edward and his wife Bella will be home later on this week. They are currently on there honeymoon. They will take the bigger room and you can have Edwards's old room."
"Thank you. I am ready whenever you are ready Alice, Emmett."