IRIS

Intro

I took a breath and I could smell elk north from where I was. My throat burned when I smelt the thick blood running through their vanes. I ran hard, wanting to put an end to the pain. I got close so that I could pounce on the unknowing animals. I jumped into the air, landing right in front of a full grown male elk.

I could see the surprise and alertness in his eyes. I looked away and reached my hands out as I broke his neck, putting him out of his misery. I went to his neck and sunk my teeth in, letting his hot moist blood soothe my burning throat. When I had drained him I felt much stronger.

I turned away from him and froze. I looked at the pale figures in front of me. My heart sped faster, I screamed as the largest one lunged at me. "Emmett, her eyes!" an angelic one screamed.

The large one, Emmett I assumed, stopped in front of me and looked at me threateningly. I coward away and wanted to thank the angelic one for saving me, so I did. I had a talent, sending thoughts and emotions. His eyebrows pulled together, he was confused.

The group was a clan of full vampires, if something went wrong I didn't stand a chance. I attempted to send fear to them, if they were afraid they would let me go. I turned and ran, I didn't get very far, two sets of hands grabbed my arms, stopping me. They turned me back to the group.

I tried again to send fear to the group. "Stop that."

The blonde curly haired man that was holding my right hand yelled at me. I was confused, how could they tell what I was doing. They must have a talent. I tensed as the angelic man walked over to me.

"If they let go, will you stay so I can talk to you?" he had a calming voice.

I was hesitant, but they didn't seem to be a threat, at least the man in front of me didn't. I nodded but one of them protested, "Carlisle, she's a threat."

The blonde, nice one said, "She as a heart beat. You saw the way she acted kindly to the elk, she is one girl. How is she a threat?" and with that I felt the grip loosen from around me. I stood up and looked the man in the eyes. "I'm Carlisle, this is my family." he pointed to the people behind him.

I looked to the people behind him. There were seven of them, I knew the largest was Emmett, he was standing next to a blonde woman who looked very intimidating. Next two them were the other two woman, one with brown curly hair, the other had strait reddish brownish hair, she looked like the eldest woman, she also looked like the sweetest.

I remembered the other two behind me, and sent a thought to Carlisle, Who are they?

He laughed, "Edward and Jasper, they wont hurt you, none of us will. You are safe." I nodded, but the two behind me still glared, as did most of the family.

The eldest looking woman came to me with a smile. "I'm Esme, what's your name?"

I thought back to my first memory I had, it was of my mother before she died, "Dylann Aleise Withers." I told Esme.

"Well Dylann, would you like to stay with us tonight?" she asked me.

I shook me head, "No thank you, I- I have a place of my own." it was a weak lie. I honestly wanted to stay with Esme and Carlisle, but I could tell my answer was what the rest of the family wanted to hear.

"Oh come on, just for the night, you can get washed up, we can give you some clean clothes and some money and you can be on your way." Carlisle nodded, these were very compassionate people. I didn't want to impose on them, and then leave the next morning with their clothes and money.

"Thank you for the offer, it's very nice. But I think its best if I just go my own way." I pushed people away, if you get close to someone you will just loose them. Plus the last coven I was in seemed nice too, until they took me to their home, if you can call it a home.

"Please Dylann, just a night, you can stay in Carlisle's office, it has a nice couch. My daughter Alice, she has lots of clothes, she would love to give you some. And we have another like you at our house, my grand-daughter Renesmee would love to meet you." Why was she trying so hard?

I heard a growl from behind me, I looked at Edward and saw it was all he could do not to tackle me then and there. His eyes were dark with thirst and the phrase if looks could kill passed through my mind.

I looked up to Esme and Carlisle, Thank you very much for the offer, you are both very gracious and nice, but I don't think the rest of the family feels the same way you do about me.

"She's right!" Edward growled behind me. I hadn't sent the thought to him, mind reader maybe? There had been one of those at the old coven. His talent had been a bit different, his name was Aro.

Edward stopped, "Is that why- Are you running from the Volturi?"

I turned to him, "Not exactly, I'm not running from them, they think I've been…destroyed." I shut my mouth and cut off my thoughts, they didn't need to know more than that.

"Destroyed?" Carlisle asked me.

"Yes, they…expose of the uncooperative half breeds." I told him calmly. Maybe I should be a little more traumatized, but even after everything I saw and experienced I wasn't.

"Will you come home with us, we can discuss this further?" Carlisle asked.

"I-I can't, I've already said way too much. It isn't any of your concern. I've been told the coven's were destroyed." I reassured them. I went back to the coven a month ago and saw it for myself, the vampire's and houses were gone, disposed of I assumed.

"Your sure?" Edward asked me.

I nodded, "I've seen it myself. I assume the rest of the Volturi realized what was going on and decided to put an end to it."

"Alright, but why haven't we heard anything about this?" Edward asked me.

"I'm not sure, but I guess it's because the Volturi doesn't want people to know that Aro started the covens. I mean, do you think the Volturi would advertise the fact that they started four experimental covens of half breeds? They don't want people knowing that some of the Volturi is beginning to have troubles within itself. The Romanians would attempt to over throw them, knowing they are weak." I felt like he was doubting, not that I needed him to believe me, but it still made me angry.

"How old are you?" Esme asked.

"I'm seventeen." I told her. She looked at me with sad eyes.

"I see, well your more than welcome to stop at our house whenever you need to. We can give you anything you need, are you sure you can't just stay a night?"

"Please stay, I would really like to talk to you. You can leave when you'd like." Carlisle begged of me.

I sighed, "I guess I can stay for the night."

Chapter One

I went with the Cullen's while they finished their hunting. I mostly stayed with Carlisle and Esme, who I felt comfortable with. When they were done we ran to their large house outside Rochester, New York. The rest ran ahead of us into the house. Carlisle stopped me outside the door sending Esme inside.

"Alice and Renesmee are the two most… eccentric members of my family. They will probably greet you with hugs and welcoming words, which will probably upset the rest of the family. Also, my grand-daughter Renesmee, she is eighteen, has been imprinted on by a shape shifter, he shifts into a wolf, his name is Jacob Black. He's very moody and aggressive, but don't be afraid." like I was afraid of a dog?

Carlisle continued, "Esme and I will be near you the whole time. If you need to voice anything personal just let us know through your thoughts. Just know if that's how you choose to communicate, my son Edward can read thoughts. And you might not want to do that to everyone else, it might frighten them a bit. And I would like you to not speak of your past with the others, especially your life in the covens."

I nodded as he spoke, I wasn't sure what to expect. He opened the big door, and I followed him into the living room. My adrenaline was pumping, I felt as though there was an extreme threat near me. There was a whole group of people talking, about me by the way, but it all stopped as I entered. I smiled as to reassure them that I meant no harm. One of the girls I hadn't met in the forest started to come to me until a tall russet man put his arms around her.

I noted the man was Jacob and the girl was Renesmee. Renesmee was about my height, maybe a bit shorter, she had red- brown hair that flowed down her back. Her brown eyes smiled a welcome to me.

I noticed that beside the color of our hair and eyes we looked relatively alike, the way our hair curled was the same, with different lengths, and she had full bangs across her forehead. I had bright turquoise eyes with a dark green rim around them also golden blonde hair. Our size was within inches of each other, I assumed I was 5"3, she was probably 5"2. I could tell she saw it too as she looked me up and down. I sent her a thought, Crazy, huh?

Her eyebrows pulled together, I forgot I wasn't supposed to do that. "You can send thoughts?" I nodded and she jumped up and down, "That's so cool, so can I! But I have to be touching the person to do it."

"Wow, I've never met anyone with the same talent." She tried again to come to me but Jacob tightened his grip.

Just then a small, shorter than us, girl hopped over to me. She was merely stopped by Jasper, but she was faster than him. She wrapped me in a hug and then pulled away, "I'm Alice, I can see the future, but I couldn't see you coming because I can't see half breeds or shape shifters."

She talked so fast that I was sure if I was full human I wouldn't be able to understand her, "Hi, I'm Dylann."

She smiled at me and I realized that despite the ones who didn't like me being here, I was still glad I came. It had been along time since I had any interaction, let alone some nice interaction. And I'll bet these four kind strangers didn't even know they were making my day.

Plus, having some kind smiles amongst the frowns wasn't so bad. It felt good to know that I was welcomed, I might even just stay the night. I looked to the sour looks and just gave them my sweetest smile, I didn't try to make them feel love for me.

I knew Edward would just realize I was doing it, I guess that other one, Jasper would know too, though I wasn't really sure how. Also, I didn't want these people to only like me because I was making them.

"Let me introduce you to everyone." Alice chirped up. She went down the line starting with the ones I already knew, "This is my husband Jasper, my brother Edward, my sister Bella, her and Edward are married, this is their daughter Nessie, her werewolf Jacob. This is Emmett, his wife, my sister Rosalie. They may all seem a bit harsh now, but they'll lighten up, don't worry!"

She was very over whelming, I could tell she meant well, though. The others loosened a bit at that, maybe she was right. "Right, well," Esme came behind me and grabbed my shoulders, "I think Alice, Nessie and I will go get Dylann cleaned up."

Jacob growled, "Nessie's staying here, with me."

Nessie squirmed and got away from him, "I'm fine Jake, I'll be right upstairs."

She kissed his hand and followed the others and I up the spiral stairs. They took me down a hall with many doors, each had a set of a names, but I didn't see Edward, Bella, or Nessie's room. Alice opened the door to her room and went to the closet. She gestured for me to follow her in, so I did.

I felt my jaw drop as I looked at the racks and shelves full of clothes. I spun around to look at it all. "What do you want to wear?" Alice asked.

"I-I don't even know, just anything is fine." She laughed and looked around the closet.

"Oh, I know, I know." Renesmee went over to a shelf full of red clothing. She walked over to me with red tank top that had ruffles down the middle and white skinny jeans.

"It's awesome!" Alice yelled, "She can wear it tomorrow, but its already 8:00, lets just find her some comfy pajamas." I felt like they were talking like I wasn't right in front of them. I didn't really mind though, it would be nice to be clean and comfortable.

"You're right, wait here, I'll be right back." she told me. Where else was I going to go? She left the room, but was back almost instantly. "Here," She handed me some soft clothes, "These are like my favorite pajamas, but you can wear them."

I held them out, it was a long white jersey that had blue letters. It had two large numbers on the front, 09. On the back it had her name. the shorts were short, navy blue, and extremely soft.

"Thank you. Can I use your shower?" I hadn't showered in three days since I stayed at the hotel in Albany.

"Sure, you can use mine." Nessie smiled at me, it was like I was looking in a mirror that had the wrong colors. I smiled back.

"You two look crazy alike." Alice had a strange look on her face, I think she was weirded out, I know I was. "Oh, Nessie, she'll need… undergarments."

"Oh yeah, follow me Dylann, we'll get you cleaned up, you can stay in my room tonight." She went out the hall, I followed close behind. She went to the end of the hall, there was a door that read Nessie's Room at the end. She opened it and I followed her.

"Why don't your parents have a room here?" I asked, curious.

"Well, my parents and I live in a separate little cottage, but I still have a smaller room here, for if they go out of town, or if they need alone time." she made a face and handed me a bra and underwear.

"Are you all set? My bathrooms right through there." She pointed to another door in the room that was pink, it said Powder Room. "I'll be in Alice's room when you're done. Help yourself to anything you need."

I nodded and went to the small pink room, closing the door behind me. I walked to the full length mirror and grimaced. I looked horrible, no wonder the family looked frightened at me, I looked like a wild animal.

I took my clothes off and walked over to the shower. I turned the knob so the water was steaming hot. It felt good as I washed away all the dirt with Nessie's apricot scrub. I also found a razor and shaved, I definitely needed it. When I was done and clean I decided I could use a good soak. I put the plug in and let the tub fill with water.

I sat down and the water surrounded me. I set my head back and closed my eyes. I smiled, I was so content I could have stayed right there forever. I was so stressed, but the hot water melted it all away.

I soaked for at least twenty minutes, until the water lost its heat. Plus I thought it might be rude to sit here all night, so I got up and grabbed a big pink towel off of a rack near by. I stepped onto the cold floor and dried off. I got dressed, the clothes fit perfect.

How weird that of all the covens I could run into I ran into the Cullen's. the kind vampires that had Nessie, the half-vampire that looked almost exactly like me. I laughed aloud as I used a brush to run through my knotted hair. I put in some apricot scented hair cream and fingered it through my long blonde hair.

I assumed that Nessie liked the smell of apricots. I smiled at the mirror when I was done, "That's better." I said aloud.

Once I was clean I realized how much Nessie and I looked alike, she was practically my twin. I grabbed my towel and dirty t-shirt and jean shorts. Opening the door I was greeted by the dog. He was looking at me with questioning eyes. "Yes?"

"Can I trust you?" I was confused, what was that question supposed to mean?

"I-I don't know, what do you mean?" what kind of question was that. I wasn't sure what exactly to say to him.

"If you're going to be staying here I need to know you want hurt anyone, especially Nessie."

"Look, even if I could get away with hurting any one here, which I couldn't, I would never hurt anyone here." Why would I hurt them? They had taken me in kindly.

He nodded and left the room. That was a bit weird, I shook my head and set my dirty clothes in a corner of the room and walked to Alice's room. When I entered I saw Emmett and Bella sitting on Alice's bed. "Hey Dylann." Bella said.

"Hi." This night was getting weirder and weirder.

"Did you have a good shower?" She asked me.

"Yeah" I turned to Nessie, "You like apricots, I guess?" She nodded and we laughed.

"Well, we wanted to apologize for being so…cold, to you." Bella said, I could tell she meant it.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for almost killing you." Emmett smiled big at me. "You just kind of freaked us all out."

I laughed, "It's alright, and thanks for not…killing me." We all laughed.

"We all trust you, but Edward, Jacob, Rosalie, and Jasper, well, their all kind of weary of you still. We tried convincing them you're okay, but they won't take our word for it." Bella started, "You should know that Edward and Jacob will be keeping an eye on you tonight, while you sleep. It's kind of weird ,but they mean well. We also wanted to let you know that if you wanted to stay with us, that would be okay."

I smiled and nodded, "Thank you, but I don't really like to stay in the same place for two long. It's not anything personal, I'm just kind of independent."

"Well, if you change your mind ever, just know you're welcome to stay with us." Alice told me.

Maybe I wanted to stay, I wasn't sure. It was nice to be a part of this family. "We're going to go to bed, we'll take you to Carlisle's office." Emmett gestured for us to leave.

I nodded, "Alright."

I followed everyone to a small room on the third floor of the house. It had a long brown leather couch that looked really comfortable. Emmett and Bella left to go meet their mates after saying goodnight. Alice and Renesmee gave me a pillow and blanket. "Thanks."

"No problem." Alice smiled, giving me a hug. "Good night."

I nodded and turned to Renesmee, I gave her a hug, "Thanks to both of you, for everything."

They left and I turned out the lights and crawled onto the couch. I heard a knock on the door and sat up, "Come in."

Edward and Jake entered and sat on the chairs by the desk. They didn't say a word to me, just sat there. How was I supposed to sleep like this? "Can I ask you guys a question?"

Neither of them said anything so I just went on, "Why are you two, and that blonde one too, why are you all so reluctant to accept me?"

Jacob laughed, but it wasn't with joy, he thought I was stupid, "I don't trust a word that comes out of your mouth."

"What have I done to have you feel that way about me?" The only thing I've said to him was he could trust me.

"Well you can read my mind, what could I possibly be hiding with you around?" I thought I had a good point.

"You're background story is very questionable." Edward told me harshly, "You kept your mind off the subject, like you're doing now."

I was quiet for a moment, he was right, I protected my inner thoughts very well. "That's only because I don't like thinking about it, not everyone has had such a smooth past."

"What makes you think we have smooth pasts?" Jacob asked.

"Well, not everyone has someone to love, let alone a whole family. Everyone I've ever cared for, I've lost."

"That's because you push them away." Edward was picking through my brain.

"Sometimes," I started, "but I never learned how to care for someone, because if you made a connection with someone in my old coven you found yourself risking everything for them. That was too risky, you had to watch for yourself, not anyone else. And it was hard, I made a connection every now and then, but it never turned out well."

I shut my mind there, he didn't need to know everything, "It was too much pain if you let someone down, which was easy to do."

He gasped when I let my mind roam back to the days when I was in the coven. He saw what I meant when I said 'let down'. I meant when you let someone die, you couldn't always save everyone. "What were the covens made for?" he asked.

"They liked to test half-breeds, see how different we actually were from full vampires and full humans. They liked to push our breaking points, see what we could take before we…"

"We have to tell people this." Edward hissed.

"No, trust me. It's better we don't, its over, and if we tell anybody it will get around to the Romanians. We cant have them over through the Volturi, they're 10 times worse and cruel."

"You have a point, but what if it was never stopped, what if they just moved the covens."

"As cold as this sounds, even if there are more, its better to just stay out of it. It's the Volturi we're talking about, we can't do anything to help them."

He looked at me like I was insane, "How can you say that when innocent half-breeds are being treated like animals?" Jacob yelled at me.

"Hey! You don't know what it was like for me! I would do anything to save them, but trust me, there is nothing we could do that would help them. The moment the Volturi found out we knew they would destroy everything and everyone in the covens. The only way you could help them is making the Volturi see that what they are doing is wrong. Which is impossible, they've seen everything and it doesn't bother them one bit." How could they say it doesn't bother me? They haven't seen shit compared to me.

"I've seen some hard stuff, imagine watching the one you love almost die over and over again because of you."

"I have seen that, that's exactly why I don't make connections. Do you remember what it was like watching your wife almost die giving birth to Renesmee? Well imagine seeing that 10 times a day, except these woman had no choice, and they didn't get a happy ending."

They were both quiet, "I'm going to sleep." I turned over and shut my eyes. I hadn't realized how long it had been since I'd slept. I was out with in minutes.