I didn't get tired. I realized I should be getting tired, but I wasn't. My muscles were invincible as I blazed through California. A couple of times I ran across a town or city, but I moved too fast to be seen. I remember at one point, running past a pizza joint. The smell had filled my nose, and I nearly turned off scent receptors because of it. The greasiness consumed the cheese, the oils and fats standing out past the other scents, or rather odors. I recalled the scent of human blood...and pushed it away. It was clear I couldn't eat normal food, and there was no way I was going to eat human food. With a frustrated sigh, I pushed forward with renewed vigor.

Another day later, still not tired. However, the pain in my throat, which I could only assume was thirst, was growing. I felt unhealthy, weak. I quickly turned those sensations into nothing but discomfort. But whenever thirst came to mind, there was a sort of swelling in my throat, like I was swallowing.

At one point, the bustling cities turned into abandoned mountains. I stayed near the peak of one, covered by the clouds, to look around and possibly pinpoint my position. When no landmarks stood out, I ventured what I hoped was north again.

Then I saw the cloudbank slowly sink until it surrounded a city, dotted with people. It was raining. I saw a tree, and without breaking movement, rushed behind it so I could calmly walk out into the crowd. Once I had stopped moving, I looked at my skin; sparkle free. With a start, I headed out into the area, calmly surveying where I could be.

There were a few shops cleverly named, "Seattle's Stir-fry," which told my I was in Seattle. That was a start. A few people stopped and stared at me. I glanced down at my skin again. It was pale, but there weren't too many tan people here. I blinked and tried to ignore their slack-jawed expressions, and headed in some random direction.

I was in a forest. Once under cover of trees, I sprinted off deeper into the woods, dodging the branches and leaves that stood out easily in my path. Running, easy running...

Then there was an opening. A perfect oval like shape, with long, soft grass forming a meadow inside it. It looked fairly peaceful, and even though it was close to perfect; natural. Like Mother Nature's personal haven.

I curled up in a ball letting my head rest on my knees.

And I thought.

My mind stretched out luxuriously as I considered my position. As I thought, however, it became apparent that I was incredibly stupid.

I had no idea what I was. Okay, I knew I was a vampire, but other than the fact that I had to drink blood, I knew nothing about myself. The shocking hollowness of my identity made my entire body lurch; I always knew who I was. I mentally searched my body enough to know exactly how it functioned and how these functions relied on each other. To have all that information made useless...I shuddered.

And the one person who I knew could've told me about myself I ran away from, and took away all his memory of me. What if he was the only vampire in existence? It wasn't entirely impossible; that could be why he kept me.

Then a sudden remembrance came from my human past into my vampire mind, a fact etched forever in this new brain.

"I'll give you to the Volturi, how does that sound?" Roger had said. I had commented on the name...how it rolled off the tongue.

"Volturi," I whispered to myself. They would know something about me, Roger was going got give me to them.

But what if they were dangerous? What if they disposed of creatures like me? Vampire slayers...the idea didn't seem so foolish to me now.

And I could make them not kill me, like I had done Roger. Make them forget my existence...and have them teach me a little about who I was. If they killed my species, then they would have to know just a little about it.

I stood up, and began to leave the clearing to visit this Volturi. I'd find a library, look them up, use a computer or something, when a very familiar scent crossed my path.

Not familiar like the sweet, taunting human scent, but the flowery smell of Roger. I froze. Had he come back for me? Did he remember? Did my mind control fail?

I began backing up, slowly, wanting to catch a glimpse of who I was running from before I left.

And then I mentally slapped myself for being so silly.

I could learn about myself from Roger, I could right my wrongs. And if it wasn't Roger, a different vampire...well, I could learn from them too. And if they didn't come in peace, I could just as easily make them forget me and run off. I tensed, waiting for a verdict...

And a sole vampire stepped into the clearing.

He looked to be in his lower twenties, and was very attractive. His hair was sleek and blonde, and his features; perfect. His stance was comfortable, welcoming, not over-confident like Roger's had been. I kept still.

His arms opened wide, again, in comfort. "Welcome," he said simply. His voice rolled off his tongue like velvet. I kept my position. "I am Carlisle," he said again. I relaxed slightly, taking a deep breath. He smelled very much like Roger, but there was something different, something odd about his face. Different than Roger. I pulled an image of my creator next to the man standing a few yards in front of me, and studied them each closely.

The eyes, I realized. This one's eyes are yellow-ish, Roger's were red. I wondered if my eyes would be purple or something like that. Did every vampire have different eye color?

I recognized an opportunity for knowledge. "What's up with your eyes?" I asked, trying to sound casual. I realized, for the first time, that my voice was also perfect, just like his. I wondered if I looked like him too, perfect.

"My coven has a different diet than you do, I'd guess," he said, looking calm. "May I ask your name?"

"Yes," I retorted.

"Excuse me?" He asked, slightly confused.

"You may ask me for my name." Impulse, I always did that to my friends or teachers. I felt extremely stupid saying it to a man who had the ability to rip me limb from limb.

However, her just chuckled and rephrased his question. "What is your name, then?"

"Sophie," I said, still wary. Roger was my only impression of a vampire, I couldn't be sure others weren't like him.

Then there was another scent. I jolted my head up; there was another vampire close by. Another half a second later, a tall woman was standing next to the one called Carlisle.

"Hello Sophie, I'm Esme," she said, smiling warmly. She reminded me of a mother that would make you cookies when you had friends over, or would take you to the movies and buy you a present every other day. I subconsciously shifted closer. She was just as beautiful as what I presumed to be her husband, judging by the way they were holding hands. My perfect eyes did not miss the rings placed elegantly on their finger.

I didn't detect any other scents; the air was clouded with the incredibly familiar vampire odor. Which is why it took my by complete and unnecessary surprise when a voice appeared behind me.

"Hi, I'm-"

I whirled around, unable to help myself and screamed, "Back!" pushing my hand back at her in an irresistible command. She flew backwards, ramming through a tree, but I knew it couldn't hurt. "Freeze," I whispered, and she didn't move. I held onto her mind in my head while I froze all the others as well.

Then there were five new minds in the field, I could sense them easily now. I froze them all too...and only counted seven brains locked onto mine. I let the last brain go; maybe my limit was seven. I held onto their minds and hurried north, probably into Canada. I wondered idly if there was a gate, then realized I could jump it without anyone being the wise.

Further and further I ran, and then the minds were lost from my grip. I couldn't figure out why or how it happened, so I assumed I couldn't hold their minds for that long either, or maybe from too far a distance.

I sped up.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps on my left, then a few more pairs of feet behind me; I decided not to bother counting. The entire, what was the word Carlisle had used? Coven, was after me. I struggled to make my footsteps stretch out, tried to force my legs to come at a greater speed, but even with my Herculean effort, there were still footsteps drawing closer. I pushed further, then made a daring right turn. I kept running, not sure which directions I was going now, when all of a sudden-

I hit a beach. It was cold and raining, but there was no denying it was a beach. I ran along the coast, and then from my peripheral vision, I could see the eight vampires trailing along behind me. I pushed fast, and came up on a cliff. Not doubting my strength, I leaped up onto one rock face, then the next, keeping the vampires behind me in sight.

I was moving so fast, and yet they were still gaining on me. How was that possible? I sent a command with my hand back to their minds, but they were blocked. I tried again, but for some reason, there was nothing to grip on, like trying to hang on to wet plastic, or gripping at smoke.

I tried to speed up, when they were a mighty crash at my side.

It hurt. I blocked out the pain, and hurt a quiet vampiric gasp behind me. Then someone was running right alongside me. I saw another vampire, with those same golden eyes. His hair was reddish, and he looked to be about twenty, or in his late teens. He was holding my arm now, and was gradually running slower, forcing me to shorten and skip over my strides, almost tripping. Then there was a big one, with jet-black hair that was cut short, still absurdly gorgeous, however, and was clinging to my arm as well, bringing my pace down.

One what seemed to be a mental countdown, they lifted me from the ground, and each held onto one of my arms. I tried hopelessly to freeze them, but it seemed my powers had gone away. Fearing pain and death, I removed all pain from every nerve, and let myself hang limp.

No pain...no pain...

We were back in the clearing, and they eight vampires circled around me, forming an inescapable prison. I let my nerves feel again, ready to turn them off at the slightest instant of pain. I would not die writhing on the floor.

"Sophie, we don't want to hurt you," said Carlisle. I looked away. Then why did he bring seven other killing machines?

A strange feeling came over me then, one of intense relaxation. The almost-adult with reddish hair rolled his eyes, for a reason I couldn't imagine.

"Sophie, I'm Alice," said a pixie-like voice. I looked at the source; it was the same vampire I had frozen earlier, the one who snuck up on me. "You don't need to apologize for earlier," she added. I blinked. I was going to apologize, for she seemed nice enough. My first impression of her was quirky. I looked around the circle surrounding me.

"My name is Bella," said a girl who looked like she was in her late teens as well. She was holding hands with the reddish-haired one, who was next to introduce himself.

"Hello Sophie, my name is Edward. You don't have to worry, we won't hurt you." Though his voice was soothing, I didn't trust him.

"I'm Jasper, and this is Emmett," said one with curly blonde hair, who was pointing to the burly guy next to him, the one who had captured me along with Edward. Emmett, I guess, was smiling widely.

"And I'm Rosalie," said a stunning, amazingly gorgeous blonde. Her face held kindness and sympathy, along with a maternal softness.

"I'm Sophie," I said quietly, then felt extremely stupid for saying so because they all had heard my name. None of them acknowledged my mistake. Carlisle began to speak again,

"Sophie, we would like to talk to you at our home nearby. Would you care to join us?" he said. "I assure you, no one will try to hurt you if you come with us, and we are all friends here."

I wasn't sure. For some reason, my powers were now useless. If they attacked me...all I would be able to do would be to numb the pain. But then again, these were the friendliest vampires I've ever met, and probably the only ones I'd meet in a long time. I sighed, and nodded.

"Sure, I'll come,"

"Thank you," Carlisle said, smiling, and took off at a leisurely pace. I followed behind easily, while Edward and Emmett ran behind, Jasper on my left, and Esme on my right. Bella was running ahead faster than us along with Rosalie. I stared at the ground, thinking about why these vampires could possibly want to talk to me. Because of my...ability? Or maybe they were the Volturi, and they were going to kill me...

"We aren't the Volturi," said I quiet voice behind me. I turned around, stunned, and saw Edward, looking ahead with a casual smile. "The Volturi lives in Italy, and you should have no desire to ever see them."

I frowned. Had I said my thoughts aloud? And how did he know about my plans to go and talk to them about who I was.

"What?" was my lame reply.

"Here, we're home," said Esme, smiling at a tall, grand house. She set her shoes by the doorway on an antique bench. I looked at mine; they were rugged and muddy. I set mine down along her's and the other's all the same; I was the guest after all.

Carlisle sat down in a large armchair in a living room, and motioned to a simple couch. I sat down on the far left, furthest away from Carlisle. However, Alice showed no sign of awkwardness or discomfort as she curled up on the other side of the couch. I waited. Esme seated herself in another chair, while Bella and Edward sat with their backs to the wall on the floor. Emmett and Jasper paced around the living room, looking intimidating. I shifted uneasily, waiting for conversation to start.

"Well?" I asked, impatient.

Carlisle was the first to speak. "Sophie, do you remember when you were bit?"

I nodded. "Six days ago, I think,"

Edward look stunned, Esme confused, Jasper looked disgusted, and Carlisle looked disbelieving and amazed. I didn't look for any other reactions.

"Sophie, do you mean to say that you were fully transformed just three days ago?" said Carlisle, mouth agape.

"...Is that bad?" I asked, confused by their reaction. I remembered how Roger said it was queer that I felt no pain...should I still be in pain? I let all my nerves loose, not controlling any of them. Nothing burst into pain, except my throat.

My throat.

I grasped at my neck, swallowing rapidly, and quickly turned off the nerves, breathing heavily. Then I looked around me to see if any of them had noticed.

Apparently, all of them had.

Edward and Carlisle both had an expression of wonder on their face, Jasper one of worry, Emmett one of confusion, Esme one of compassion...and Rosalie and Bella were nowhere to be seen. I gulped one last time, and looked down. Yes, I was supposed to be in pain. The pain in my throat was enough to drive me...I didn't want to think the word.

Insanity was one thing I feared more than any other disease. Any mental disorder whatsoever. To never be able to think logically again...the mere thought of it made me shiver.

Insanity was always my last explanation for things, which is why I never thought myself to be crazy when I turned into a vampire, or when I started thinking a lot about the mind.

So it upset me slightly when the five vampires' expressions turned to look like they were questioning my sanity. I frowned.

"I'm not making this up," I mumbled defensively.

"No, she isn't..." said Edward, trailing off.

"How do you know?" I asked, feeling uneasy. How did he know about my wish to see the Volturi? How did he know I was telling the truth?

"Sophie," said Carlisle. He sounded as if he was choosing his words very carefully. "Sophie, not all vampires are alike. There are differences, gifts, so to speak. There are also different diets, different ways of living, different rules. We need to, or we'd like to, explain all this to you. Since you've come to our coven, I feel it is our responsibility to teach you. Only if you agree, of course."

I froze. This was too good to be true, an entire coven wanting to teach me, to give me some perspective. Different diets...did that mean I didn't have to kill humans? My throat twitched, not painfully, but oddly. I did not want to kill humans. And to just learn a little bit...

"I would like nothing more than to learn about myse...about vampires," I said, not quite wanting to reveal my inner turmoil's. Edward looked at me, his expression one that someone would show to a friend if they had just lost their pet. I frowned, wondering if he could tell what I was thinking about.

His lips curved upwards. I froze again.