Chapter One: Here & There

I remembered the day that my biological mother had me, she concealed me from the rest of the world like I was some dirty little secret. From the time I entered foster care at only hours old, I didn't know much of anything. As time went by, however, and I turned three, I knew that I had parents, plus an older sister, but we would never be a family. I was seized by social services when it came to light that my biological father could be abusing my older sister. I was four when my real mother found me—my real mother, my older sister, Beth—living in foster care. She took me in immediately and, on the day she married my real father, my adoption, along with my younger twin brothers, Luke and Frankie, went through.

I was a part of a very large family, the Cullen family; upon my adoption, my name formally became Seraphina Alexandrine Cullen, but I'd always gone by Sarah. I was almost five when the adoption went through, and I accepted it as an early birthday present. Now, I was almost eighteen, and ready and waiting for my senior year to end. I attended Forks High School, just like my parents, and many aunts and uncles before me had.

We lived with my mother's family, in an addition to the massive house, designed by my grandmother, Esme. My grandfather—Esme's husband—was the lead doctor at Forks General Hospital, while my aunts and uncles had a few odd jobs here and there. I had three aunts—Bella, now a bonafide child psychologist; Rosalie, now Carlisle's assistant and co-lead doctor at Forks General Hospital; and Alice, who now had a popular online fashion consulting firm. There were three uncles as well—Edward, Bella's husband, who was still trying to find something to occupy his time; Emmett, Rosalie's husband, who was now working as a personal trainer; and Jasper, who spent his days making complex artwork and selling it at lucrative prices.

Life was pretty perfect, although there was one thing I didn't understand—my boyfriend, Embry, seemed totally committed to me, more so than most people our age. We'd been together for as long as I could remember, and I couldn't understand his protective nature towards me. I cared for him, of course, but not in the way society—or my family—expected me to. I must confess by the time I reached high school, when we started holding hands and kissing that I did my best to reciprocate, but I couldn't get those feelings of the fact that I lacked overwhelming love for him out of my mind. I spent many nights crying softly in my bedroom—I swear, other than Luke and Frankie, the rest of my family had crazy good hearing—because I couldn't love Embry.

Luke and Frankie were at Forks High School with me, and had found girlfriends almost immediately, and they were all so happy, it made my eyes hurt to watch. Their girlfriends were Pauline, a girl obsessed with English history, and Bridgette, a girl who was the lead in every acting production Forks High School put on. All I cared about was getting good grades and getting as far away from Forks, and Embry, as possible. By the time I turned eighteen, I would be all graduated and, hopefully, my hard work would've paid off. Graduation finally came and all I could think about was my first opportunity to run. I'd gotten into several colleges—my parents' alma mater Oxford University among them—and had decided to attend Yale Law School. I'd realized my dream, at just shy of eighteen years old, to become a lawyer, and crossed my fingers that my family would support me in my dream. Although, at this point, my dream would be to escape Embry's constant stalking behavior...

I'd had a few friends during high school—Clara Matthews and Jackie Barrows among the closest ones—and when Jackie decided that we should be wild and crazy after graduation happened, I didn't move to stop her. Thankfully, Embry gave me enough space to get into Clara's car after the ceremony, and we drove off along the highway; the plan was to get dinner in Port Angeles and then go to a late movie—I know, kind of common-place, but we were getting out of Forks, so it worked.

Even though it was early June, rain came down, hard, and I wondered if it was some kind of bad omen. The clouds seemed to thicken as we went along the highway, and I crossed my fingers that Clara's tires would hold up. When the rain cleared, Clara put her convertible top down and, since we were the only ones by the road, we threw up our hands every now and then and screamed with joy—them for graduating, me for escaping Embry. I found myself utterly at peace, and I was free, at last.

"I'm moving to the East Coast," I confided in them.

"For what?" Jackie asked.

"Yale," I reply. "I got in! I'm going to be a lawyer!"

"Hell yeah!" Clara shouted from behind the wheel. "I'm going to UCLA! I'm going to be a screenwriter!"

"Harvard!" Jackie called out, turning around to look at me, her face shining with pure excitement. "We'll be neighbors!"

"You going to live in the dorms?" I asked.

Jackie nodded. "Yeah."

I lean forward slightly. "My grandfather got me a place in Webster—all paid for, right on the water, a total party house! It has five bedrooms or something... Want to come and live with me?" I ask.

Jackie's eyes widen. "Are you kidding?"

I shake my head. "No, I'm not kidding."

Jackie squeals, turning around in the passenger seat and throwing her arms around me in a moment of pure joy. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cries. "This'll really help my parents a lot with my living expenses..."

I grin at her. "No problem."

College passed by in a blur. All I cared about was getting my degree and staying away as long as possible—because of Embry. When I turned eighteen, nineteen, twenty, and twenty-one, I didn't notice. I made my way through college life quickly and quietly, not dating anyone or going to any parties. Jackie was a good roommate in that she didn't bother me when I was trying to study, as Clara would have done. We were both done with our degrees in three and a half years as planned and returned to Forks that summer, on schedule. We decided to do the same thing we did upon high school graduation—take in dinner and a movie in Port Angeles. As we drove, Jackie urged me to be in her selfie, which I begrudgingly agreed to.

"Let me in there!" Clara shouts, and let's go of the steering wheel as the rain kicks up again, and we slide headlong into a tree off the road.

"Clara!" I scream. "Road!" The car immediately bursts into flames; Clara and Jackie are dead on impact; I feel my scream leaving my body as I lower my eyes. The tree has gone through the car and has impaled me, and I am pinned against the seat. Blood is everywhere, and I raise my eyes upwards, to the sky, and find myself drifting above my body. The tremors I felt as soon as the car hit slow down, and I find myself looking down at the accident. I float up, over the trees, and back towards Forks, where I fly over my house and see my whole family—well, my parents, grandfather, and a few others—stream out of the house. They get into their cars and seem to floor it, and they all drive way over the speed limit. I can't think what's happening, and suddenly they're all pulling out onto the highway, driving like there's no tomorrow. I slowly drift along, following them, and then I suddenly zoom back into my own body as they all arrive at the scene.

"Baby!" my mother shouts, and she's over at the car in an instant. She cradles my face, her golden eyes full of sadness and fear, her raven locks cascading down around her face. She turns to my grandfather then, shouting, "Carlisle!" as he stampedes to my other side to get a good look at me.

"She's impaled pretty good," Carlisle says, reaching down and prying open my eyes just a little bit further, shining a light into them. "Sarah? Sarah? Can you hear me?"

"C...Carlisle," I barely manage to get out; I barely heard myself, but my grandfather seemed to hear me perfectly well.

"Beth, you have a decision to make," Carlisle says quickly, raising his eyes to my mother, his voice firm. "If I take the tree limb out now, she'll likely bleed out before I can get her to the hospital or the house..."

"What's the alternative?!" my mother sputters, choking back sobs.

"Honey," my father says, putting an arm around my mother. "It's okay..."

"Don't tell me 'it's okay'!" my mother shouts, slamming her fist into the side of the car. "That's my little girl down there!" She grips the side of the car, locking eyes with Carlisle. "If you were to change her..."

"Babe..." My father tries again.

Carlisle sighs. "Is that what you want for her?"

My mother nods. "I want her around forever—she would've gotten this choice eventually, Carlisle, you know that..."

My grandfather nods. "I know..." He sighs, looking up at her. "I'm right here, but..."

"What?" my mother asks.

"How would you feel about changing her? I know it's a scary thought, but Beth, I know you have it in you..."

My mother looks down at me then, and I can see through her eyes that she is absorbing my own pain and suffering. She lifts my arm that is closest to her, and sighs, an unnecessary move on her part—she never seemed to breathe—and lifts my arm towards her lips. "I love you, so, so much, baby," she whispers, dipping her head towards my flesh.

I find I have enough strength to let out a scream as she bares her teeth and bites roughly into my arm. I watch as her eyes widen for a brief moment before letting me go, using her tongue to seal the wound she made shut. She then dashes to the other side of the car, doing the same thing to my other arm, and I let out another scream. Leaning down, she pushes my hair back, exposing my neck, and gives me a third and final bite upon it. I feel something tearing away from me then as my father and Carlisle pull the tree limb out from inside of me, and my mother lifts me effortlessly and carries me to the car. We all climb in, and I see that, for the first time, Rosalie, Bella, Edward, and Emmett are there, too.

Carlisle drives like a madman, and soon we've left the highway entirely and zip through town before arriving at the house. I'm lifted from the back seat of the car and up the pathway, up into the house. I can feel my vision fading as we pass my grandmother, Esme, along with Alice and Jasper in the living room. I remember then that Luke and Frankie, now upperclassmen as juniors, were at some lame party that evening, and would not be around to see this.

I am put down on Carlisle's exam table, whereupon I am laid out much like a corpse would be. Carlisle manages to cut off the dress I'd been wearing, looking away when my mother takes off my bra and underwear, and my father drapes a sheet over me. Carlisle then cleans my wounds ever so slightly, before telling my parents that the time to wait has arrived. I watch as he gives me an injection, and my eyelids grow heavy, and it is then that complete blackness surrounds me.

My next recollection is of flames consuming me, just as Clara and Jackie were consumed. I am on fire; I feel as if I've been thrown on a pile of wood in some medieval world, and that I am being punished for my sins. I remember lying to Embry about being in love with him, and I automatically believe that this is my punishment. I've been thrown onto a bed of flames, and this is to be my life from now on.

I feel myself wanting to scream in pain, but it is almost as if I have been permanently silenced by some unknown source. I find I cannot move any of my limbs, and that blackness wants to take me once again. However, it does not, and I'm lost in this void, somewhere between lightness and darkness, forever trapped.

I'm ready, I think to myself. I'm ready to die...

"Carlisle?"

"Beth. Richard take you out for a hunt?"

"Yes. He thought I'd need it in light of... This."

"I understand. Don't worry. Progression is right on schedule."

"Is it?" my mother asks. "Then why do I feel so selfish?"

"Beth?"

She sighs. "I feel selfish..."

"Don't feel that way, Beth..."

"How am I supposed to feel?" she asks, her voice breaking. "Ever since I've become one of you, Rosalie has respected my decision but this... A life, my daughter's life, cut tragically short by a freak accident... What are the police going to do when they assess the scene, Carlisle? Charlie can only cover everything up for so long..."

"Jasper is manipulating everything as we speak," Carlisle replies, easily. "Don't worry—I know that it was only planned at the last minute. We'll say that Sarah had something to do here and that Clara and Jackie dropped her off." "I feel so guilty," my mother whispers. "Sarah should've been able to decide for herself. I mean, what if this isn't what she would have wanted? And then there's her relationship with Embry to consider... I don't know. I know I shouldn't feel guilty—we've given her an opportunity to live a long, full life, but..."

"Is Rosalie's disapproval all you're worried about?"

"No. Yes. I don't know," my mother says. "I just love Sarah so much... I think when push came to shove, I couldn't bear to lose her..."

"Well, now you won't," Carlisle replies. "She's been out for two days—could be any time now, you know. She can probably hear us..."

"Don't. I want her to rest. Let her rest."

"Of course, Beth."

Once Carlisle leaves the room later that afternoon, the sun streaming in through the massive windows, do I finally permit myself to open my eyes. I can see from the time that it is three in the afternoon, so, judging by Carlisle's timeline, it had been a little bit less than two days. I soundlessly get into a sitting position, and hop off the exam table, making my way over to the attached bathroom, running a hand through my dark brown hair. My plan was to splash some water on my face, but I didn't get that far.

The moment I looked at myself in the mirror, I found I was almost a mirror image of my mother, and that shocked me, considering that, biologically speaking, we were merely half-sisters. I am so shocked at this transformation—perfect nose, plumper lips, brighter eyes—that I lose it completely. My once-violet eyes are now a horrid red color, like Clara and Jackie's blood splattered around after the car accident. My skin is a perfect alabaster, and my body type is an hourglass, perfect... And I am beautiful, and I find myself utterly shocked at this notion.

I let out a scream at what has happened to me and, instantly, the mirror shatters, but does not go flying off the wall. I let out another, smaller scream at that, and then the door crashes open and my uncle, Jasper comes into the room. He takes one look at the mirror and runs towards me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Sarah, you're fine," he assures me, and, instantly, I feel fine.

"Thank you," I reply, and he looks shocked that I am so receptive to him. "I will be fine, I..." I shake my head. "What just happened?" I ask, pointing to the mirror.

"Carlisle." Jasper's word is quickly answered and my grandfather enters the room and looks a bit shocked at the mirror.

"Well. It was a cheap thing, anyway. Never really liked it..." His eyes go to me, looking at my hand. "Fist?" he asks.

I shake my head. "Voice," I reply, and notice that, for the first time, my voice resembles a chorus of church bells.

Carlisle raises his blond eyebrows. "I have not met someone who has a ballistic scream in quite some time," he remarks almost plaintively.

"She's gifted," Jasper replies, wonderingly.

I feel my eyebrows knitting together then, and quickly wonder if I could possibly have more than one "gift". I recalled, a moment ago, that Jasper had touched me, and thus had emitted a calm sense of reality, and quickly wondered if I did the same thing, perhaps a similar result would take hold. Stepping forward, I placed my hand on Jasper's shoulder and gasped a little. "A solider," I whisper.

Jasper's eyes turn and lock onto mine. "What?"

"You were a solider for the confederate army," I reply, not knowing how on earth I'd come by this information. "You were transformed by a woman named Maria, the leader of the Mexican Coven. You saved two newborns named Peter and Charlotte—well, you let them escape..."

Jasper turned to Carlisle. "What?" he whispered, shocked.

"Sarah possesses Psychometry," Carlisle replies. "By using the sense of touch, she can read anyone's past or future..."

"I see nothing in the future," I reply, regretfully. "Just past..." I shrug. "Oh, well. I guess I can always find out if people are lying to be about their pasts..."

Carlisle sighs. "Aro will be so jealous," he replies, "and think of you as a prize..."

There is a bang from below then and I hear my mother's voice, and Rosalie's, telling my mother that I've woken up. She lets out a small shout and runs up the stairs, and I sense my father behind her. I feel myself become more at ease as they enter the room, but I also find that I cannot bring myself to look at them.

"Sweetheart?" My mother's comforting word of endearment causes me to turn, and she gasps. "Oh, my darling," she says, zooming over to me and throwing her arms around me. "I am so happy that you're all right!"

"You gave us quite a scare there, young lady," my father says, smiling. "Now we have you back and you're safe."

I smile at them, and pull back, holding onto my mother's hand. "Unspeakable," I whisper then, shuddering, as I've now seen the extent of what my biological father did to her. "I am so pleased to see you're all right."

My mother looks utterly shocked and looks at Carlisle. "What?" she asks. "What is Sarah talking about?"

"One touch and she knows your past," Jasper replies.

"Like Aro," my mother says, dropping my hands for a moment in a moment of fear, her eyebrows knitting together.

"Who's Aro?" I ask.

My mother sighs. "Aro is the head of the Volturi, a royal coven," she explains. "They live in Italy and collect our kind who may be of use to him..."

I reach out and touch my mother's hand again. "He also created you," I reply. "You seem to have a complicated relationship with...that vampire," I say softly.

My father visibly stiffened. "Your mother has her reasons," he replies.

I nod. "Of course, Father," I say, reaching towards him. "Carlisle created you..."

"Sarah..." My father began.

Carlisle held up his hand. "Let her speak, Richard."

"You were dying in North Carolina, so beloved Carlisle saved your life during the Great Depression. Then, you decided to save Aunt Katherine as well, and changed her, before becoming nomads for some time before finding Mother..."

My father's eyes dart to my mother's. "There is no way she could know that..."

"She's very powerful," Jasper puts in. "Now, before she meets everyone, you must take her into the woods."

"Into the woods...?" I ask, shaking my head. "I don't understand."

Carlisle steps forward. "Sarah, what are you used to vampires eating?"

"Humans," I reply, almost as if it's not even a question. "Their blood..."

He nods. "Yes, most of us do suck human blood, but not us. Your Denali cousins are the same way—we drink the blood of animals."

I raise my eyebrows. "So, we're like hippies now or something?" I ask, and hear the tell-tale laugh of my uncle, Emmett, from downstairs.

Carlisle smiles. "No. But we do call ourselves vegetarians."

I nod. "I see." I shrug my shoulders. "How will I know if I need a hunt?"

"Your throat will burn," Jasper tells me. "Feeling anything?"

I shake my head. "No... Well, faintly, but I could ignore it..." I roll back onto the balls of my feet and don't fall over. "Seems very strange behavior... I mean, aren't new vampires like new babies? We need food all the time?"

Carlisle inspects me; he finds that my skin is strong, my eyes are the correct shade, and—once I'm outside—I'm able to run faster than anyone in the house and I snap a tree in half without being asked. I apologize to Esme when I realized it was a prized fruit tree, and swear to plant a new one. "I've never seen anything like it," my grandfather remarks. "Even with Bella and your mother, the moment they wanted to hunt, they hunted..."

"Something's wrong with her, Carlisle," Emmett says.

"Careful, Emmett," my uncle, Edward, says. "Remember what Beth did to you on her first day out. I'd be wary if I were you."

I shoot up to Emmett's side then and touch his shoulder. "Oh," I say, letting out a laugh that can only be described as delicious. "She threw you into the knothole of that tree," I say, and promptly point to it.

Emmett's eyes flash to my mother. "You told her?!" he demands.

My mother shakes her head. "Not guilty," she replies. My tallest uncle turns to me then and stares downwards at me; I am the exact same height as my mother and Aunt Bella, so it is quite a drop to which he looks. "How the hell could you possibly know that?" he asks, accusatory. Due to his high-stress job as personal trainer, he can't be beat—by anyone.

I extend my fingers and touch his arm again. "Mauled by a bear, my, my, my," I say, giving him a grin. "Playing too rough with the creatures of the forest, there, Uncle Emmett?" I ask him, laughing.

My aunt, Alice, steps forward and looks me over. "Ever since you were adopted into the family, I could see you becoming one of us. When things went down with the Volturi just after your parents got married, however, I couldn't see your future for days..."

"Why?" I ask, confused.

Alice smiles and extends her arm. "See for yourself."

I reach forward then, and my mind is flooded with images before I pull my hand back and turn to my mother. "I would've only turned into a vampire if I fell in love with one or if you changed me," I tell her.

"If you fell in love with...?" my father asks, confused. "Sarah, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

I sigh. "I suppose you all should know that this so-called 'imprinting' thing with Embry didn't work."

My aunt Bella, at Edward's side, shares a glance with her husband before looking at me. "I know that Jacob would've imprinted on me if Edward didn't come back, because then I'd be receptive to his advances but..." She shakes her head. "We later found out that he imprinted on Renesmee because it was her pulling him to me the whole time. Maybe it's someone you know, pulling him to you, which is why you don't love him."

I smile, shrugging. "I mean, it's whatever. I have eternity now, right?"

"If you don't piss the Volturi off," Emmett puts in.

Jasper steps forward then, seemingly assessing me. "She's in full control, Carlisle..."

"Of course, that might change if a human decides to show up," Emmett says, and Jasper fixes him with a look.

"You're not helping the situation, Emmett," my mother puts in.

"All I'm saying is, the sooner Embry gets here, the better," he says, cracking his knuckles and looking like he's going to watch a sports game.

Rosalie puts a hand on his arm. "Emmett, be a little sincere," she whispers.

I step towards my blonde aunt and place my fingers on her arm. "Oh, no," I whisper, and shake my head, recoiling instantly.

"What is it?" Rosalie asks.

"Sarah just saw your last night as a human," Edward tells her.

Rosalie locks eyes with mine, fear inside them. "No more," she says, and flees into the house, Emmett following her.

I lower my hand, shaking. I don't know what to think, when suddenly, the scent of wet dog approaching fills my nostrils and I feel sick. Turning, I see Embry standing there, and he looks completely shocked at my altered appearance. "Hey," I say to him.

His eyes quickly dart to Carlisle. "Please tell me that this was because of an unavoidable accident and that's the reason behind you breaking the treaty," he says.

"The treaty wouldn't be broken, anyway," Edward says firmly. "Because of Jacob and Renesmee's marriage, we can't be harmed."

Embry steps forward, towards me, and stares at me as if I've knifed him in the gut. "Can we go somewhere and talk?" he asks. "Privately?"

I turn to Alice, who nods, and I walk off into the woods with Embry, near Edward and Bella's cottage. "How can I help you, Embry?" I ask him.

He steps forward a second time. "I came by to know why you stopped texting me, but I see you were...indisposed, as it were," he says, looking concerned. "You weren't put up to this or anything, were you?"

"If you're asking me if I made the conscious choice to be changed, no, Embry. There was no decision-making from me whatsoever. Swear."

He sighs. "Sorry," he says, giving me a tight smile. He steps closer to me then and kisses me and I feel like retching.

"Embry, no." I manage to push him away and retreat from him.

"What's wrong? You okay?" he asks.

I shake my head. "Embry, this, us..." I sigh. "I really don't want to hurt you, Embry, but I can't pretend anymore."

"Pretend?" he asks, not understanding. "What do you mean?"

"You never imprinted on me," I tell him.

Embry looks shocked. "But, it was like gravity, and..."

"Embry, stop!" I shout at him. "Imprinting works both ways—it didn't work on me because I don't love you in that way."

Embry steps forward then and grabs me by the arms, forcing his tongue in my mouth and halfway down my throat. When he pulls back, he has the nerve to look satisfied with himself. "Well?" he asks, pleased.

I'd seen something when he'd grabbed me, and I hadn't altogether liked it. "You've done that to my mother, right here, too," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

He looks shocked. "What?!"

"That's right," I tell him. "I'm gifted."

Embry steps back. "What the hell?!" he demands.

I narrow my eyes at him. "You are never to touch me again," I say vehemently at him. "I told you 'no' and you didn't listen. Do you have hearing damage? I think not."

Embry looks hurt. "But I love..."

"Don't say it," I say firmly. "Ever."

Embry lets out a growl then before running a few feet away, shapeshifting and running off into the forest. His clothes lay scattered around in torn pieces, and I don't even bother to clean them up. He knew better than to shapeshift with clothes on, yet he insisted upon doing it anyway...

"Jerk," I mutter.

Embry immediately shapeshifts back upon hearing what I called him; he snatches a spare set of clothes from the knothole of a tree and charges towards me. "What the hell did you call me?!" he demands then.

"I called you a jerk," I reply, standing my ground.

Embry glares at me. "You have no right."

"I have every right," I tell him.

Embry looks like he's about to grab me then. "No right to..."

But before he can finish, I hold up my hands to potentially hold him at bay. "No!" I scream at him as he comes for me then. Just before Embry touches me, a resounding blast issues forth from my palms and Embry goes flying backward.

He hits the ground, hard, but there is no damage. Fuming now, he charges at me. "You worthless piece of—"

"Stop!" I cry out, and the blast comes out of my palms again and stops him.

Finally, Embry gives up and shapeshifts again, so as there are more clothes on the ground before he runs off.

I turn and look towards the woods, knowing that I probably should attempt to hunt. I make a mental note that animals are the only thing on the menu as I dart in between the trees and charge deeper and deeper into the thick trees. I jump over the stream separating Bella and Edward's cottage from the main Cullen property, and continue through the thicket of trees, until something on the wind catches my attention.

For the first time, my throat burns with desire, and I immediately follow the sensation towards a clearing. Immediately, I spot a black bear, probably skulking around for something to eat himself, and grin to myself—he's in for a rude awakening. I wait, poised, for him to come closer and when he does, I leap into the air and grab his throat. The blood soon finds its way into my mouth and I find myself easily satisfied when the beast has died at my hands.

Getting to my feet, I walk around the corpse and run back to the house, delighting in my super speed. I get to the stream in almost no time at all and leap over it, sailing over the tops of the trees momentarily before landing among them with the elegance of a dancer. I then complete the rest of the way to the Cullen house, and raise my eyebrows when I see that they—apart from Rosalie and Emmett—are all still outside waiting for my return.

"Good job," Edward said.

"Mind reader," I mutter.

"Guilty," he says.

I roll my shoulders, approaching my mother and father. "Ended things with Embry," I tell them quickly. "I'm sorry."

"Because of your mother's feelings?" my father asked.

I shook my head. "No," I say, putting my hand on my mother's arm, "because it was the right thing to do." I gasp then at what I see—my mother, fourteen-years-old, handing over a baby girl. I withdraw my hand then and walk away from her; it is a deliberate motion, so as she will know that I am hurt. I can hear her excuse herself as I leap up the side of the house effortlessly and open the window, letting myself into my bedroom.

"Sarah."

Despite my mother's firm voice just behind me, I deliberately ignore her. I flop down onto my bed, and soon realize that it serves no purpose—I feel no desire to sit down, and everyone knew that vampires didn't sleep. Nevertheless, I picked up a book I'd been reading and stick my nose into it.

"Sarah."

Finally, I looked up. "What?" I demanded.

My mother sighs, sitting on the edge of my bed. "What did you see?"

I shake my head. "Never mind."

"It must've upset you, sweetie."

I shook my head, my eyes back in the book. "Doesn't matter."

My mother swept the book from my hands. "Seraphina Alexandrine Cullen, you answer my question right now!" she cried. "You may be immortal now, sweetheart, but I'm still your mother and I will not tolerate insolence."

I fold my hands in my lap, annoyed. "Fine," I grumble. "You want the truth?"

"Yes," my mother says, clearly just as annoyed as I am.

"Why didn't you tell me that you had a biological daughter?!" I demand.

Her eyes widen briefly before she immediately smooths her features. "Because I was only fifteen when I had her and fourteen when I got pregnant..."

"It was Andy, wasn't it?" I demand through clenched teeth.

She nods. "Yes."

"Where is he?" I demand, my nails digging into my palms. "Where is that son of a bitch who put you through hell?!"

She purses her lips. "I suppose I can tell you now..."

"What?"

She sighs. "Carlisle is of the impression that if humans did you wrong while you yourself are still human, you are permitted to kill them," Mom tells me softly. "So, since Andy abused me, I killed him, and since my mother did nothing, I killed her."

"And then you took custody of the boys?"

"I killed Andy and my mother and kidnapped the boys," she replies. "J. Jenks, Uncle Jasper's lawyer, drew up the documentation immediately afterwards. I was never charged with the murder..."

"How?" I press her.

"Because I had Carlisle, Uncle Jasper, and J. Jenks fake my death," she says. "We lied that I was caught in a forest fire—I loved hiking as a human—and Carlisle identified my body to the fire chief, my father, Christopher. When he heard the news of my death—although I'd been transformed—he was devastated. Your father and I went to see him on the night of my eighteenth human birthday, but it didn't do much good. Your father wiped his memory after the incident, so my father didn't realize he ever had a daughter..."

"What happened to him?"

"He married a woman named Melissa who worked at a restaurant in town," she tells me. "I look in on them sometimes—inconspicuously, of course. They had three boys—Mason, Desmond, and Harold—and couldn't be happier. Melissa bought the restaurant, and that, tied into my father's chief job, got them a better house."

"So, they're happy?"

"Edward says they're happy," Mom replies. "He is a mind reader, after all."

"Did he tell you what happened in the woods?"

"We heard you shouting," Mom says, "but we didn't see anything and Edward, surprisingly, didn't offer any information."

"Okay. Oh, Emmett!" I call in a sing-song voice, and drop down from my bedroom again, my mother following.

Emmett stamps outside, Rosalie behind him. "What?!" he demands.

I run to the other side of the yard—Carlisle and Esme, Edward and Bella, Alice and Jasper, and my parents watching. "Try to run at me."

"Excuse me?"

"Run at me," I order Emmett.

Emmett shrugs; his speed would clearly be the fastest of all of them, and as he ran, even I felt a little intimidated. "You'll be sorry," he warns.

Immediately, I throw up my hands. "Back!" I yell, and the blast comes off my palms and hits Emmett square in the chest, hurtling him backwards and causing him to land, hard, upon the staircase of the Cullen house.

Carlisle raises his eyebrows. "Telekinetic blast—very impressive," he says approvingly as he turns to Esme.

"We haven't seen one of those in fifty years," she says softly.

"You're gonna get it now!" Emmett says, running towards me after recovering.

I let out a laugh and turn away, running into the forest. I hear Emmett's heavy footfalls behind me as I run deeper and deeper between the trees. I leap over the stream and over boulders as Emmett pursues me, and I soon discover that, as a newborn, I am the fastest and strongest in the house, which doesn't bother me a bit. I run faster and faster, leaping over another boulder, when suddenly an unfamiliar scent invades my nose. I stop dead in my tracks, and Emmett does the same.

"What is that?" I whisper to him, noticing that Edward, Bella, and my parents have followed us as well.

"Rogue vampire," Emmett reports. "I'll tell Carlisle," he says, running back off in the direction of the house.

"You're the strongest right now," Edward tells me. "Can't get a read on who it is, but they mean us no harm."

I nod. "I've got it," I say. There is a boulder a good ten feet high above me, and I scale it immediately, peering over the other side. I stand upon it then, looking around. The scent pulls me in, and I jump off the other side and make my way through those trees, just walking, so as not to potentially miss the scent. It smells nice, not wet dog-like, so even though Edward identified it as a vampire, now I was one-hundred-percent sure I wasn't inhaling werewolf.

"Hello?" I call, still getting used to my new voice. "Hello?"

"Hello?" the voice says, and I can hear it—hear her—just ahead.

"Don't be afraid," I say, and step forward.

"I'm not." The second being emerges, and she's far more superior in beauty than I am—she had raven hair and golden eyes, and she measures me up then. "What's your name?" she asks me.

"Sarah," I reply, "Seraphina...for long..."

The young woman laughs. "Rebecca," she replies.

"How old are you?" I ask.

"Nineteen, when I was turned," she tells me. "But I was turned five months ago," she tells me promptly. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-one when I was turned," I reply, "I was just turned recently... Why were you turned?"

"Leukemia," she replies. "You?"

"Car accident," I tell her. "Nomad?"

"Clearly," she says with a laugh. She inhales then, and I know she can smell the rest of them around the boulder. "Your family?"

"My parents and their brother and sister-in-law," I reply. "Come on. May as well meet the family, right?" We scale the boulder together and land, firmly, upon the other side. "Mom, this is..."

"Henrietta!" my mother shouts.

Rebecca raises her eyebrows. "That's my middle name... What...?"

My mother steps forward. "Do you have a birth mark on your inner arm?"

Rebecca raises her arm, a deep brown mark looking like a blotch against her pale skin. "I don't know what to say..."

"I'm your birth mother," Mom tells her. Rebecca steps forward—even her steps are more graceful and elegant than mine, and it sets my teeth perfectly on edge. "Nice to meet you." They stand awkwardly for a moment before the two of them embrace. "Wow... This really sucks. It's times like this where I wish I still had the ability to cry..."

"What do you have the ability to do?" I ask smartly.

Rebecca's eyes snap to me then, reaching out and cupping her hand beside my head. Then, she seems to be extracting something from my mind, which takes on the hue of pale purple smoke. She then seems to mold it—like someone doing origami would—and instantly conjures up a cat, which is exactly what I was thinking of. "I can take my thoughts or anyone else's, extract them, and mold them into reality."

I grit my teeth. "Isn't that...nice?" I ask, and Edward looks away—he knows that I am less than thrilled to share my mother with someone else.

We all troop back to the house together, where I'm sure Carlisle will have more use for Rebecca than he will for me.