In Which There Are Owls Bearing Letters:

The rain fell heavily. I glanced out the window of the small cabin that I shared with Aunt Alice, Uncle Jasper and Jacob. I often wondered how my life would be better, if things had gone differently. If my parents hadn't been killed. Just thinking about it made my resentment towards the Volturi grow even more.

It was because of them that my parents were dead, along with my Aunt Rose, Uncle Emmet and Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme. Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper, along with Jacob had escaped with me as an infant, barley three months old.

It was because of them that we were forced to constantly moving around, always on the run from the Volturi. Once, they had come dangerously close to finding us, maybe within 10 miles of where we were staying at the time.

Alice and Jasper had been out hunting and Jacob had flown back to Forks for Jared and Kim's wedding. They would have found me, if it weren't for Alice. Although she couldn't clearly see visions about me, she was constantly searching for the Volturi's future, and when it became blurred she assumed the worse.

They never left me alone after that. I knew it was only for my safety, but I grew to hate the fact that I was never alone.

While I was constantly in the company of either Alice or Jasper, I still felt hollow inside. How could someone feel so lonely, and yet so crowded at the same time?

The only thing I had left of my parents, and sometimes the only thing that kept me sane, was the lo cket.

The locket. It was a present from my mother, and I kept it with me always. I called it my golden heart. Inside it was a picture of my mother, father, and I when I was very young.

I held it in my enclosed fist and almost smiled.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a birds wing flutter, and peered out the window. I wasn't sure, but I thought I saw a grey and brown spotted owl flying though the rainforest.

Slowly, I approached the window and gently slid it open to get a better look. To my surprise, the owl flew right in the through the window and over my head. I ducked and whipped my head around to see a wide-eyed owl holding a letter in it's left talons.

I walked over to the owl, and took the letter from its leg. The envelope was an off white with a seal on the flap. Opening it carefully, I slowly removed the folded piece of parchment from inside.

Before I had a chance to read it, I heard Alice's distinctly high voice from the other room.

"Nessie, could you come in here for a minute?"

Replacing the letter hastily back in the envelope and back on the kitchen counter, I walked into the next room, my unruly copper hair swayed behind me.

"Yes Aunt Alice?" She was sitting in the large armchair in the corner of the room. She smiled as I walked in, and gestured for me to take a seat on the couch.

"Well, Nessie, it's been a while since we've last moved, and you know we can't stay in the same place for too long." She started off slowly, which was unusual since she seemed to always be chattering a thousand words per minute.

Ah, yes. Even though we'd escaped the Volturi's grasp the first time around, we were still being constantly tracked, and could never stay in one place for to long. We'd been all over South America. I didn't quite know why the Volturi wanted us so badly. I remember I'd asked Alice about it once a few years ago. She'd said that we were all very special, and that the Volturi wanted us because of this.

I could understand why they might want Alice. Seeing visions of the future was an incredible gift, and even Jasper being able to sense and influence people's emotions was nothing to sneeze at.

But me? I knew there were only a few of my kind; vampire human hybrids, but I wasn't quite sure why or what they wanted me for. What use could I be to them?

Every time the name was mentioned, the room suddenly got very quiet and the atmosphere grew tense. It was always worse when Jasper was there. So I didn't bring up the Volturi much.

That didn't keep me from wondering though.

Which is exactly what I had been doing until my train of thought was interrupted by the mysterious owl with the letter had flown through the small window in my bedroom.

Apparently, Alice noticed that I was distracted because she stared at me expectantly; waiting for a nod or some other sign that I was listening.

I shook my head slightly to clear it.

"I'm sorry Aunt Alice, I'm just a little distracted." I told her honestly.

She gave me a small smile and proceeded. " As I was saying, we will need to move again soon." I nodded and she continued.

"When Uncle Jasper and I first left Forks, it was to search for information, about you. The Volturi were coming-"

"You knew?" I interrupted. "If you knew the Volturi were coming, why didn't you all leave?"The Volturi was always a touchy subject, and I'd never been given the full details. Something, up until now, I'd never really cared about.

"We couldn't run from the entire Volturi, believe me." I narrowed my eyes, but didn't say anything. If Alice and Jasper had managed to get away, then why hadn't the rest of my family?

"Anyway, since we left on very short notice, we didn't bring much of anything with us." She paused, gauging my reaction; probably anticipating another outburst.

I just nodded and she continued.

"Which is why we are moving back to Forks." She finished, still looking at me expectantly.

I didn't say anything.

"It should be safe, no one has occupied the house for nearly five years." She added quickly, like that's what I was worried about, it not being 'safe'. I was always safe with Alice and Jasper. They made sure of that, I thought a bit bitterly.

"Why did you and Jasper really leave?" I asked quietly. Alice's eyes flickered away from mine. Her ever present smile faltering. "Why did you leave?" I pressed, leaning forward towards Alice.

"We went…to look for…witnesses. People who could testify…that you weren't…an immortal child." She said carefully, watching my face; gauging my reaction.

"An immortal child?" This was the first I'd ever heard of any of this.

"A long time ago, there was a problem with people creating vampires…out of infants." Eyes still on me, she saw my own grow wide. "They were beautiful, but couldn't be controlled, we were in danger of being exposed. Of course, the Volturi had to intervene, but many died. Entire covens were destroyed, many lost their mates, it was terrible.

"Obviously, it became strictly forbidden to create such a child."

"But why would they think that I was one? An immortal child I mean."

" Irina." She said simply, and her face filled with sorrow. I wondered if this was all of an answer I was going to get, before she continued.

" She had come…to visit. She didn't know about you, how could she? And from a distance, you looked remarkably like an immortal child. She went to the Volturi."

"But…that…why would she do that?" I knew enough about Irina and her sisters to know that their coven was like family to ours. Why would she make such an assumption, without any further investigation? And go to the Volturi about it?

"You have to understand, Nessie, Irina and her sister have had first hand experience. Their creator…their mother, had created and immortal child. They never knew about it until the day the Volturi showed up. They burned her, with the child in her arms."

If my eyes were wide before, they were absolutely huge now. I couldn't imagine it, watching my own mother die…for another child. I guess I understood her reasons somewhat, but not enough to not to be angry with Irina. She was the reason my parents were dead.

It was time to get back to the original question. "But why did you need witnesses?"

"If we could have gotten the Volturi…to pause. If we could have proven to them that you weren't an immortal child it all could have been avoided."

"Why'd you have to leave, weren't there already a bunch of vampires with us? Why couldn't they have testified?"

"If you haven't noticed, Renesmee, there aren't exactly a bunch of half human half vampire hybrids running around. There are only a handful of your kind in the world. The Volturi had never even heard of such a thing. They'd need to see some evidence that it was possible, that you could even exist.

"I went to South America, there were legends about…your kind. I thought it would be best to start there."

"Did you find any?" I asked hopefully. I'd never met anyone like me before, and we were in South America, maybe I could meet…

"No." She replied, but something in her face told me that this wasn't the case.

A moment of silence past between us. Our eyes locked and something past between us; something that confirmed my suspicions that Alice was keeping something from me, and somehow Alice knew that I knew she was editing the truth.

She sighed before she quickly said, " It would have been to late anyway." Her eyes flickered away from mine.

I waited. If Alice had had so many opportunities to prevent what ever happened between my…between our family and the Volturi, why hadn't she? Or what could have prevented her this time? I decided I wasn't leaving without an answer. I looked at Alice in a way that I hope conveyed this decision.

She sighed again before continuing. " We did find…someone, well, two people actually. Nahuel and Huilen. Nahuel was like you…he was a hybrid. Huilen was his aunt. His mother had died…giving birth to him." The last part she added hesitantly, her eyes snapping back up to meet mine, always waiting for my reaction.

I didn't no what to say. If Alice was successful in finding her 'witnesses', then what was the problem? Then I remembered what she had said before…

"How were you…to late?" I asked

Another sigh, "I talked to Huilen and Nahuel, got our story straight. I had some idea of when the Volturi would be coming, but everything was blurry. Between you and the wolves, it was all guess work.

"By the time we got back to Forks, the Volturi were already there, and I could…see that there was nothing we could do."

"Nothing?" I said in disbelief "There was nothing you could do?"

"Alec." She paused for a moment, thinking about how to continue. "Alec has the ability to…cut off the senses. We thought your mother…could hold him off, because of her shield, and she did…for a while." Another pause. "It was only for a split second, but her shield…faltered. For a split second, her shield snapped back from where it was protecting…all of them, and Alec was able to…desensitize them.

"When I saw it happening, it was only about fifteen seconds before it happened, and we were on a plane. There was nothing I…nothing we could do." She finished.

I was at a loss for words. "W-w-what about me?" Wouldn't I have been desensitized as well?

"You had already left, with Jacob." She said, her eyes lost in thought. I noticed they were dark; almost pitch black. It had been well over two weeks since we'd last hunted.

Now that I though about it, I was rather thirsty myself.

"Aunt Alice, can we go hunting?" I asked

Alice's eyes snapped back to me and she nodded. "Sure Nessie. It's been a while hasn't it?"

I nodded. "Would you mind…I mean…would it be okay if it was just the two of us?" After our little 'talk' it had come to my attention that I knew very little about my own past. I needed some answers, and Alice was my best bet on getting them.

Not that I didn't love Jasper, but I felt the closest to Alice. Plus, I knew I would be feeling some pretty strong emotions. I always did when I talked about my parents or lost family, and I didn't want them being manipulated.

Alice gave me a real, Aunt Alice smile and said, "Of course, Nessie. We have a lot to talk about don't we?" And then, she winked at me.

H-how, did she know that that was my intention for our sudden hunting trip?

It was like she had read my mind.

But I was all the way across the room! Whatever, I'd figure it out later.

I went to the kitchen to grab my shoes, when I noticed the half-opened letter on counter. I'd almost forgotten about it.

I reached for it. Maybe I could-

"C'mon Nessie." Alice called from outside. I turned in time to see her tap the small window on the other side of the tiny kitchen.

I sighed. I guess I'd read you later, I thought towards the letter.

I shoved it the letter back into the envelope once again and set it back on the counter.

But before I did, I caught a glimpse of the seal on the back.

"Hogwarts"

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