It was cold and cloudy. The smell of dampness hung in the air. Forks was the same as it was years ago, but this time it held a new challenge. Finding the other that was like him. Then facing the one person that would test his skills, Edward Cullen. This was his destiny that Dennis faced. Hopefully he could face it without much trouble.

Meanwhile, back at Forks Community High School, Zac sat in a desk at the farthest reaches of the History classroom. He leaned his feet on the desk in front of him and flicked his spiky, hair. His natural color was black but he'd highlighted it electric blue for the sake of variety. He watched a spike bounce for a moment before turning his attention to the numerous doodles on his paper.

...Hope he's not collecting this...Zac thought. He looked up at Mr. Withers the History teacher. Withers was right - the guy was ancient. His voice sounded like a wavering fern that could be toppled by the slightest breeze.

GOD forks is boring. Wish something would happen to shake things up around here...all this sitting around was making him hungry. He looked around at his classmates. THAT one looked tasty...he imagined the feel of the girl's blood running thick down his throat. "Fucking rules. Fucking Carlisle. Fucking everything." he said under his breath.

Zac was a new recruit to Carlisle's "vegetarian vampire" brigade. Welcomed into the family, he found it hard to resist at least TRYING their way of life. He didn't want them to feel bad. Zac rubbed the dark circles under his eyes and cracked his neck. He'd been through high school before, why the hell should he pay attention to this old windbag?

Dennis settled in the new house. Not much to move when you live on your own. He unpacked rather quickly. When he got to the kitchen where he got a glass and got some water. Dennis pulled the chain from his neck and dipped the blood red charm in there like it was a tea bad. The smell of the water changed. Blood odor filled the air. The water stayed the crystal clear but the stone turned liquid into blood without changing it appearance. It allowed him to feast while be a veggie half-vampire.

Zac sighed in relief when the bell rang. If that class had lasted any longer there would've been a massacre simply from his boredom. He stayed behind a few moments until everyone had left. He hated being caught up in the rush of people leaving. Too tempting to sneak a taste of someone.

Zac didn't bother stopping by his locker. It was just another reason for him to waste time. If he really needed any books, he'd come back later and break in. As if they'd catch him! The idea was laughable. He pulled open the door and stepped out into the cloudy day in Forks. He didn't have to worry as much as the full vampires about being revealed in the sunlight - it only gave him a slightly glowing hue to his skin. With a snort he thought to himself that it was like he was pregnant. People always said how pregnant women looked as though they were "glowing."

He continued chuckling as he headed toward the silver Volvo parked outside in the parking lot. Easily the most conspicuous vehicle there, he spotted Edward sitting on the hood of the car. Zac could tell from Edward's smile that he understood the joke that was running through his head. He had to admit - sometimes Edward's power was pretty cool.

He heard a light tapping sound behind him that heralded the arrival of Alice, his favorite among the Cullen family. Her spiky red hair always looked cool. "What're you two laughing about?" Alice asked with a smile.

"Nothing, never mind." Zac replied. Alice looked inquiringly at Edward, who simply shook his head. "Have you seen anything new?" Zac continued.

Alice bit her lip. "About your mother? No...no I haven't gotten anything yet...but let me remind you not to get your hope up. It's not often that a woman survives the birthing of a halfling..."


Zac turned away so she wouldn't see the pain on his face. "No, I understand, Alice. Just keep looking. If there's any chance at all, I want to know about it." He shifted his face to a carefree smile. "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go home."

The word "home" tasted almost bitter on his tongue. It still didn't feel right...

The house was set. Everything put in the right place. Books place on a self just below the ceiling. It felt like something was missing, a second person. Loneliness was creeping in on the place. School was all that waited him for tomorrow. September 13 a day with interesting happenings and a new commotion about to happen.

The night continued without event. Zac walked in the door, waved nonchalantly to Rosalie and Emmett, who were intertwined on the couch, and continued up the stairs to his room on the far left. He burst into the room and flopped onto the couch, burying his face in the pillow. He wished he could cry, but he knew he couldn't. He hadn't been able to cry in years.

He felt a throb in his chest, and his torso hitched, his body fighting for the tears that would never come. He stayed this way all night, hearing the sounds of activity from outside his room. But, blessedly, none of the Cullens interrupted his moping.

The next morning, Zac trudged into the bathroom and flipped on the light. He wasn't quite sure why they actually had a bathroom. Nobody ever had to use it... He glanced in the bathroom mirror. Flawless. As usual. It was kind of depressing in a way. There were no good days, there were no bad days. Just...days. And he had these days all to himself. No one else. It used to make him happy, until he started feeling the pain in his chest. He wasn't sure what it meant.

He'd asked Alice once, since she was the only one he would trust enough to admit something like this to. She had just smiled and told him he'd have to figure it out on his own. Thanks, Alice, what a great help that was. He slid himself into one of his many torn black cargo pants and a tight black t-shirt. He hooked a large silver crucifix around his neck, letting it hang down around his stomach. He looked in the mirror again, and flipped his hair back.

He wondered vaguely why he didn't let any of the girls at school go out with him. He'd been asked often enough and he'd been invited to plenty of parties. But he just wasn't interested. He was never attracted to any of the girls. Even Rosalie didn't seem pretty to him. Something was missing, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

He shook his head, trying to clear away the thoughts. With a sigh he slumped down the stairs and out the garage door to wait for Edward and Alice by the Volvo.

Dennis lived quite a distance from the forks middle school. He never liked driving. He never liked how it mad people a bit lazy. So he biked. It was going to be a new, but interesting day. There was only a few essentials that he need for the day that normal people didn't. There was his charm, the Blood Charm, it had the strange ability to change any liquid without distorting its appearance in to blood; not completely human or animal but it could taste and smell like the blood of the last being that touched it. It allowed him to keep a clean streak without a problem. He wasn't like other halflings. He looked human in every aspect even in the sun his blood smelled the same to everyone else but him, even to a werewolf or full vampire. His sent confused other 'supernatural' beings. He had to bring along his Tarot Cards, it was part of his heritage and he was 100 accurate. His reading took in all possibilities and he was never wrong. The last thing that he had to take was glass rose. It helped him sense the strong emotions of his 'clients' that he did the readings for. He just told them that it changed colors depending on the temperature of the room.

The school day progressed well until calculus. She was in his class. The golden rose to Edward Cullen, Bella Swan. HE had to get close to her so that he could get Edward. "Thank God I learned to shroud my mind from being probed." And he stood in front of the class and gave the teacher the slip of paper to show that he was in the class and was seated behind her. She was pretty but not someone that tickled his fancy. She turned around and introduced herself knowing what was like being the new kid. "Hi. I'm Bella."

"Hi Bella. I'm Dennis." Dennis move closer to her and whispered, "And Happy Birthday." She turned ghost white. Eyes full of shock and confusing like how did he know?


The class passed quickly. And when Edward came to pick her up Bella invited him to come along. Dennis accepted.

They walked to the lunch room and he whispered in a low voice to where only Edward could hear, "I know what you are. You're a vampire. You and your Family." Edward turned around with a look of shock. All Dennis did was smile. Edward subjected we eat lunch then skip the rest of the day. "I like that idea, but let's wait till lunch is over. I want to test my skills against your sisters. Also if you haven't noticed you can't read my thoughts I've trained myself against you ability. As well as Jasper's. The reason will become clear later on. Let's get to lunch now."

Zac slumped into the lunch room and grabbed an apple off the tray of a freshman boy. With half-lidded eyes, he ignored the cries of outrage and walked forward. He loved apples. They're the object of innocence but, biblically at least, were the cause of the downfall of innocence at the same time. The story of the self-destructing origin of man. What could be more depressingly romantic?

He moved fluidly (without really trying) until he saw the new figure sitting at his usual table. He watched the boy and assessed the boy. He clenched his eyes shut and mentally activated his vampire talent. When he opened his eyes there were colors surrounding every person in the lunch room. Every person but one. The stranger. He couldn't see his aura. Eyebrows furrowed, he looked to Edward and Alice to see if he could get a better grasp of the situation.

Edward's aura was a cold blue. He was frightened about something. That was unusual. A quick glance at Alice showed her to be a confused violet, mixed with the same fear of Edward's. Wow, if someone took Alice by surprise, something was definitely up. He fixed his face in a carefree and lopsided smile and sauntered over to the group. It bothered him to keep his talent active because the colors were so distracting, but he had to see what he normally couldn't.

He walked up behind the stranger, still not seeing his face, and made a brief nod to Edward. He tapped the stranger on the shoulder and puffed out his chest to look more impressive. "Excuse me, but it doesn't look like you're very welcome here. I'd venture to say my family wants you to leave."

Dennis turned to the stranger that held his back. His heart jumped but he showed no response that it happened. "You must be Zac." He pulled Zac closer to him and whispered in his ear. "The wild Halfling. The newest addition to the Cullen Family. What an interesting one you are. Come and sit I was waiting for the perfect person to show Alice how skilled I am at my readings. " Zac waited for a moment trying to figure out what Dennis was up to. Edward was right across from Dennis but he moved down with Bella by his side so that Zac could site across from him. "Sorry that I've been rude but let me introduce myself, I'm Dennis Black and it's nice to meet you."
"I guess the feeling could be mutual, but that not the case right now." Zac said as he took his seat.
Dennis pulled out his glass rose and his cards. "Shuffle this deck and then cut it into three." Zac did as he was told though with hesitation. "You don't need to be alarmed. Yes I know you're confused but this is just something small compared to what I can do. Let me tell you a bit about myself later. I see that all of you are curious, how about at Bella's party tonight. I would love to see what you have done Alice. Now Zac place this pile on the middle." Dennis pointed to the pile that was on Zac left which represented his past. "And place the last one on top." He pointed to the one on Zac's right which represented his Future. Dennis grabbed the deck and laid three cards out. "Only I will know the full truth. I will give you all the detail that you need but if a person's name will show up I will only specify the gender if it is necessary. Now let's see the card of you past." He flipped the card that was on his right. "Ah, the Chariot." The cared showed a card pulled by two Birds one was black and the other was white. "This is no ordinary deck this is a special deck that was sealed away by my family long ago. It held power that lead my mother to committee vampire suicide." Blank stares came from the Cullens as well as Bella. "I'm a Halfling as you call them but as for me I am one but with the way I was created I am cursed. I'll get to that later tonight. Back to the deck. These cards are not like the usual Tarot cards that you see. Instead of these Phoenixes there would be horses. You had a decision to make, finding about you mother on your own or with help. You took a few years of going on your own till you meet the Cullens in England and traveled with them a bit before you became a part of their family permanently. You chose to tame your problem and you found your solution. Let's see the next card. Ah the Star. You've met someone recently. When I say recently and time within the last year. They have or about to change you forever. This is also going to change them." Dennis knew that it was him that was about to change everything. Dennis was afraid of the next card. "Ready for the next card?" Zac slowly nodded. The Rose turned to the color that identified nervousness and fear. Dennis turned the card and it was the card he feared. "Hmmm. The Lovers card. Well all I can say is that the person that is to change your life is going to become what Bella is to Edward."



Zac looked this boy up and down. No denying he was handsome. In fact, when he had first turned around, Zac was momentarily knocked breathless. It was strange for him. He felt something in his stomach. Something that he'd never felt before. Strange...

And how did this boy know so much? Had he been watching him? Zac glanced at Edward for some clue. Without looking at him, Edward gave his head just a fraction of a shake to the side. Shit. Edward couldn't read him. Who was this boy? And what the hell did he want? Alice's aura was still as confused as before and Zac had seen her close her eyes multiple times during his "reading," obviously trying to get some grasp on the future of their interactions.

All of these thoughts ran through Zac's mind in what seemed like hours, when really it had only been a few fractions of a second. He held this newcomer's gaze steadily and spoke, his voice saturated with his natural British accent. "So...Dennis. Tell me, why have you come here?" He cocked his head to the side and raised one eyebrow. "You seem to know quite a bit about me, yet I know next to nothing about you. Now that hardly seems fair, does it?" He let a mischievous smile play on the edges of his mouth, covering the very real panic that was coursing through his system. This was where his experience as an actor came in to play. He couldn't screw this up. This was just another performance, and he couldn't let Dennis think his guard was down.

"Nice acting, but there is no reason to panic." Dennis said as Zac stared in shock.

"How did..." Zac started.

"You see this glass rose, it lets me see people's emotions. I'm getting a bit thirsty. I'll be right back and I'll answer one more question." Dennis got p and went to the soda machine and grabbed a bottle of water. He went back to the table. They seem to have just finished a conversation. Obviously about him. "Bella can I see your palm."

"Why?" she asked in wonder he voice shaken.

"I promise that I won't hurt you and if I do Edward can do whatever he want to me." Edward node at Dennis's compromise. Bella held out her palm. Dennis took his chain that held his Blood Charm and placed it in here hand. "Now close your palm squeeze my charm and place it to your mouth and blow into your hand." She did as instructed and handed it back to Dennis. "Now Edward with what I'm about to do can you tell me what smells familiars." Dennis opened his water and dipped his blood charm into the water. The intoxicating smell of Bella's blood emanated from the bottle. All three of their eyes widened in shock. Edward took Bella's hand and looked at it in extreme detail.

"What the hell did you do?" Edward exclaimed softly.

"There is you question. Well I took some of her essence. A person essence is the smell and a bit of the aura around them. This charm was my Mother's. She had left it for me when she died. It uses the person's essence to change the properties of a liquid such as water so that it can smell and test like the person's blood. Now I'll answer more questions if it is alright to go to Bella's party. May I come Bella?" Bella nodded. Dennis took a drink of his blood tonic, as he called it. "Well I best get to the office and explain that I have to leave early for a job interview. Have a fun rest of the day to you Cullen and Bella. Bye." Dennis got up and was about to walk away but turned around, "Oh and I'll be there when Bell is about to arrive. See you guys then." Dennis left for the day.

The silence was heavy as the three vampires sat around the lunch table, completely surrounded by unknowing humans. They had no idea of the hostile situation that had just occurred in their midst. Alice seemed lost in thought, while Edward was still checking Bella's hand for any traces of a cut or lesion in her skin. "I'm fine, Edward." said Bella, rolling her eyes. She pulled her hand from him and stroked the side of his face. Normally, Zac would have made a smart-ass comment on their embarrassing romanticism, but not today. He was more than a little distracted by the visitor.

Firstly, who was the visitor, and how had he found them? It didn't seem as though any of the others had more of an idea as 

to his identity than Zac did. Second, what was that power he had displayed? He'd heard of those tarot cards before, but they'd always been associated with hacks and fakes of psychics. The kind that you went to see in the county fair. Never before had he seen it done with such talent or such clarity. To think that the Stranger, as Zac had dubbed him (he refused to think of him by name until his intentions were clear), was able to tell so much about his past. And, assuming that his power was real, who was the one who was going to change everything in his life? Could it...? No, he wouldn't even entertain the idea. And finally, what was that crystal, and what power did it hold? That was no ordinary show or magic.

He stood up abruptly so that the others eyes followed him. "Where are you going?" Alice asked in her silvery soprano voice.

"I'm going to go see what I can find out. If I'm not back in time for class, cover for me. Tell them I was sick or something." He flashed a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes, and strode away. When he reached the doors to the outside, he pushed them open without hesitation and, with a glance around to make sure no one was watching, began to run. He flew across the sidewalks and streets with such speed he knew none would see him and would only feel the breeze he created as he cut through the wind like a knife. When he stopped, he was standing in front of the large, welcoming oaken doors of the Forks Public Library, his trusted friend and companion. He took a moment to fix his windswept blue-highlighted hair and strode in.