Author's Note: I know the prologue was short, but it's a preface. They tend to be short. This is a bit long to me, but it probably is short to you. It's not the best piece of writing in the world, and I don't think it's the worst, either. There are probably a few grammar and spelling fails in here that I didn't catch, and if you find some, feel free to tell me.

Disclaimer: Ash, Hollis, and Nyx are mine. Everyone else, unless specifically stated, is property of Stephenie Meyer and Summit Entertainment. No money whatsoever is being made off of this story.

'Standing there by a broken tree.

Her hands are all twisted, she was pointing at me.

I was damned by the light, coming out of her eyes.

She spoke with a voice that disrupted the sky.

She said walk on over here to the bitter shade.

I will wrap you in my arms and you'll know that you're saved.

Let me sign,

Let me sign…'

-Robert Pattinson, 'Let Me Sign'.

Chapter One-One is the Loneliest Number…

Third Person POV

Alice Cullen glanced from her daughter to her adopted father, Carlisle Cullen. "And you're sure about this?" She frowned worriedly, her eyes darting back to her child. "The Volturi. They will find out, Carlisle. She's only nine years old. She is still a child. We just can't do it, we're only dragging out the inevitable-" She caught herself in the middle of what she was saying, and stopped talking then. Alice coughed a bit, then gave Carlisle a grave look and mouthed 'death sentence'. Carlisle nodded, understanding what Alice was trying to mouth.

Feonyx Hale looked from her mother to her grandfather. She was laying flat on a cot, and she didn't have a clue as to what her mother was talking about. They never tell me anything, Feonyx thought bitterly to herself. She made a mental note to ask her grandfather or her one of her many family members what was going on later.

"Well, if we try to see if she gets better, Nyx might die, Alice. Scratch that, she probably will die. The illness is spreading fast. The meningitis is spreading along her spinal cord, it's about to reach her brain, and she only has so much time left before she dies." Carlisle told Alice, frowning as he pulled out a clipboard with Feonyx's medical charts. "The antiviral drugs didn't work on her, so drugs won't help her. It's really the only way we can save Nyxie" Carlisle added promptly.

"Not a Nyxie." Nyx groaned in somewhat annoyance at the seemingly idiotic nickname she had been given as a child, closing her eyes and whimpering. Her face was paler than usual, almost stark white compared to the other human children, and she looked gaunter. Her breathing was more rapid and broken off than before she had meningitis, and her hearing had been lost a bit.

"So…it's the only option left?" Alice questioned.

"Most likely, yes. Unless you would prefer Nyx die. It would probably be a very peaceful death, one where it would happen in her sleep…It wouldn't hurt much for her…" Carlisle sighed wistfully, glancing over the stack of Nyx's medical records once more. He glimpsed a cursory peek at Nyx, who curled up under the thick grey blanket, moaning a bit in pain. She bit her lip as to withhold the cries of discomfort.

"Never!" Alice screeched in mere panic. "Don't ever say talk about my daughter like that again!" Alice hastily growled. Carlisle nodded, a bit wide eyed in fear-for pixies are very creepy and possibly traumatizing when they have growled effectively-and quickly turned around to scribble something down on a sheet of piece of goldenrod-tinted paper.

"Mommy, what's wrong?" Nyx managed to croak out, looking up at her mother. Alice quickly avoided eye contact with Nyx, ignored the question, turning around to leave the room. Carlisle swiftly followed the pixie-like girl, leafing through the papers and scribbling something down on a sheet of puce-colored paper. Nyx scowled weakly to herself, and then closed her eyes again, spreading the ash-colored blanket around her chest and waist as best as she could.

She wanted Maggie and Carmen to come back to the Cullen residence again. They had left one day in late February, after the daily home schooling Nyx attended, promising they would come back soon. It was early October now, and they still hadn't returned. They were the only friends beside Nessie and Claire that Nyx had, and since they had left, Nyx felt lonelier than ever. Maggie…she was special, nicer than most, and Nyx had always favored Maggie out of everyone else, because she was more childlike then Nessie or Uncle Emmett, and she could always come up with something fun to do. Carmen was a different type of friend, one that could listen to a budding preteen girl's problems, and she never seemed to complain about it. In fact, Carmen seemed to genuinely care about the probably pointless events that went on in Nyx's life. Nyx suspected her mother told Maggie and Carmen she was sick, and said it was best if they stayed away from her for a little while.

Nessie-Nyx's cousin-was still around the home, but she could never come and visit Nyx. Uncle Edward was too overprotective of Nessie, and while Aunt Bella didn't seem to mind as much, the two just decided to distract Nessie with Jacob. Nyx never liked Jacob-he always took Nessie away whenever they tried to go play in the forest. She loved her Aunt Bella and Uncle Edward, of course, and she loved Nessie, too, but she just didn't like Jacob.

Claire Young didn't come anymore, period. Nyx hadn't seen her since January, and to be honest, Nyx didn't mind as much. She never felt close to Claire, the young girl was always too…hyperactive…weird…well, to be honest, Nyx never knew how to describe the six year old. Claire was a girl who had an obsession with pudding, something Nyx never liked. And while Nyx was reading Romeo and Juliet and Harry Potter with her Uncle Edward, Claire was still reading Charlotte's Web and Dr. Seuss.

Then there was Hollis, a young-looking Irish nomad who clung to Maggie as if she was his lifeline. Hollis was a nice boy, always smiling and laughing, brushing the dark brown strands of hair out of his rather pale face to reveal scarlet eyes. He still came, but the visits were few and far in between, becoming even more scarce over the summer. Nyx always liked Hollis-he was fun. He was like Maggie- a bit naïve, but very serious and terrifying when he wanted to be. Nyx had seen Hollis in a solemn manner before, but only once, and that was when Nessie was born and Alice and Jasper went away for a while. He had growled a lot, muttered some things, and then would have Maggie lead him up somewhere to distract him for a bit. It kind of scared Nyx to see everyone acting like something was going to happen, but heck, everything scared Nyx then.

The young girl shuddered, and whimpered a bit in the throbbing, distracting pain all over her body. She could hardly see with the light blond-colored bangs covering her eyes and forehead, and even though she wanted to take in her surroundings, Nyx was too weak to huff the bangs out of her eyes. She couldn't even walk anymore, and frankly, Nyx felt more useless than ever. She was just a weak human, nothing more. She was just a pathetic human among almost invincible vampires, special half-vampire-half-human hybrids, and fierce, intimidating werewolves.

The preteen frowned again, weakly mustered out a cough that burned her lungs like wildfire, and attempted to fall into a dreamless sleep.

~~*~~In another part of the Cullen home...~~*~~

"Carlisle, I'm not so sure we should go through with this…" Jasper Hale mused aloud, grabbing his wife's hand gently and gripping it. He brushed blond strands of hair out of his eyes with his free hand.

"It's the only way Nyx can live." Carlisle reminded the originally Southern boy, setting the heap of health papers on a small coffee table Esme had bought nearby.

"Why can't we just wait the illness out? Take her to the hospital?" Jasper questioned.

"Jasper, we can't take a young girl who somehow can survive only on blood to the hospital. People would definitely notice. If we wait the meningitis out, it will spread to the rest of her spine and brain, rendering her senses and body movement useless. Her senses are dulled enough as it is; we don't need anymore numbing of the body. Her brain will basically shut down, bodily movements will cease, and she'll eventually die of starvation." Carlisle frowned.

"Jazzy, I don't want it to happen either, but it's the only way Nyx is gonna live through this…" Alice murmured, clinging to Jasper's arm.

Jasper sighed and closed his eyes. "Fine. Carlisle, you should do the job, if you're up to it. You know I can't do it, I just can't, especially when I'm this hungry."

"Come on, Jazzykins, we'll go hunting while Carlisle does it…your eyes are becoming black." Alice said, grasping Jasper's hand and taking him to the forest to hunt.

Carlisle sighed, and turned around. He wandered the hallways until he found Nyx's room.

He opened the door, and Nyx lifted her head up from the pillow gently and slowly. She had almost fallen asleep, that is, until Carlisle came in. "Hi, Grandpa." Nyx greeted, closing her eyes again. Carlisle smiled faintly.

"Hi, Nyxie." Carlisle knelt down by Nyx's bed. Good thing just about everyone was off. Nessie was with Jacob, Edward and Bella were taking a ride in the Volvo, Rosalie and Emmett were off on another honeymoon, Jasper and Alice were hunting, and Esme was off furniture shopping at a store in Seattle. No one would be there to cause a disturbance…

Nyx frowned a bit, and laid her head back on the white pillow. "Now, Nyxie, I want you to be very still for me. You'll feel a small pinch in a few moments, and there will be a lot of pain afterwords, but you'll be fine in a few days." Carlisle told Nyx gently, tilting her head so her neck was sticking out a bit.

"Kay, Grandpa…" Nyx murmured quietly, hitching her breath a little. It was a good thing she trusted her grandfather. Carlisle put his lips closer to her neck, as if he intended to kiss her, then bit down, hard.

The screams rang out from Nyx as soon as Carlisle injected the vampire venom into her veins. Carlisle quickly moved to the other side of the bed, while Nyx kept screaming and convulsing terribly. He had done it successfully.

Feonyx Hale would soon be a vampire.

After note: Okay, so that wasn't the best in the world. But I'd love to hear what you guys think of it.