Disclaimer, Stephenie Meyer is the great and powerful Twilight originator and owner. I appreciate her work more than I can say. I own none of these characters, but I sure am having fun making them jump through my hoops.


Chapter 2

~~~Choices~~~

"Guys, I'm so sorry." I was sitting on the couch, my hands holding my aching head. Vampires didn't get headaches, but mine sure wasn't feeling very good. I felt Jasper ratchet up the calming effects he was sending my way. I glanced at him in thanks, and he nodded.

Esme and Alice sat on either side of me. Emmett was leaning back against Rosalie's feet where she sat on the loveseat. Jasper and Carlisle were seated in chairs on the other side of the coffee table.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am that you were there for me. I haven't ever felt that way before." I shook my head at the remembered aroma; it still called to me, hours later. "What was that?"

Carlisle spoke softly, "Il tuo cantante." We all looked at him, our eyes wide and inquiring.

Esme translated, "Il tuo Cantante---Your Singer? I've never heard of that."

"Let me try to explain." Carlisle paused and looked at each of us. "During the time I spent in Italy so many years ago, I was fascinated by the history and the science of why we are the way we are. I found myself spending hours and hours perusing the papers in the library at Volterra."

There was a pause as we all considered Volterra. It was the seat of the rulers, so to speak, of our kind. The unholy trio of Aro, Caius and Marcus passed judgment on the rest of us. They had a vanguard of soldiers with assorted vampiric gifts who kept tabs on the rest of us. They also dealt with any problems that arose. The number one rule of being a vampire was: keep the secret.

The Volturi existed to enforce that rule. From some of the stories that I'd heard, I think they enjoyed that part of their life very much.

Carlisle had been to Volterra hundreds of years ago. But none of the rest of us had ever been. One really didn't seek out the Volturi. It was better to keep quiet and mind your own business. The Volturi didn't keep the same diet as we did, and every one of us in the room shivered a bit to think about the Volturi way of life.

"At one point, I heard about an effect that some humans' blood had on a vampire. It occurred so rarely; there really wasn't much information, but it intrigued me, and so I learned what I could about the situation. I wondered if it would ever happen to me." Carlisle shook his head. "It hasn't yet, and I am grateful." Carlisle, along with Rosalie, Alice and I had never partaken of the "traditional diet" of a vampire.

"Yes, Esme, 'Il tuo Cantante' means 'Your singer'. That's what they call a human whose blood calls--in effect sings--to a vampire so strongly, that almost nothing can stop you from taking it. Almost nothing can stop you from drinking until it's gone, and then you're still thirsting for more." Carlisle's eyes darkened.

Esme looked around at her family, and her gaze paused on Emmett. His face was so sad. He looked so ashamed. "Emmett?" she questioned. "What's the matter?"

Emmett was nodding his head. Rosalie leaned over him and put her arm comfortingly on his shoulder.

"It happened to me once, about 50 years ago. Rosalie and I were on our second honeymoon. We were in the south of France. We had been walking in the countryside when a storm came up. As we ran back to our chateaux, her scarf blew away. After the storm passed, I went back to find it for her." He smiled up at his gorgeous wife. "I had gotten the scarf for her. It was an Hermes, and she really liked it." He looked back down at his hands and continued, "Twilight was deepening, and it was so peaceful after the storm. An apple orchard had just been harvested. I could smell the ripe fruit. It really smelled good. The air was so clean and fresh. I saw an elderly woman in her yard. She was pinning her sheets up on the clothes line. I guess she wanted to capture that smell." His eyes closed as he remembered.

"A breeze wafted over her and blew her scent to me." He swallowed deeply. "I had been drinking animal blood for more than 15 years at that point, and yet when that scent hit me, I didn't even pause for a second."

He swallowed again. "Hours later, Rosalie came to find me. She found me sitting in the middle of the apple orchard. She talked to me and told me that it was an accident; that she still loved me." He smiled gently up at her. "We extended our honeymoon until my eyes had returned to gold. I was too ashamed to tell you all what had happened." His gaze swept the room slowly, as if he wondered if he would find condemnation there.

He didn't. Every one of us looked at him with love and concern. Esme reached out to him and took his hand, holding it in both of her own. She looked him right in the eyes and smiled at him, her love shining like a beacon into his heart. She had been in his shoes. She had killed and still felt remorse for that lapse.

Carlisle nodded. "Like I said, it rarely happens. At the time of my research, there had only been about 15 documented cases."

"I didn't know there was a name for it," Emmett said. "It almost makes it better. But I've hoped that it would never happen to me again."

A deep growl suddenly erupted from my throat. Every eye turned to me.

"So there's NO HOPE?" I looked at my family. "I have no choice? Unless I go to the dark side of the moon, I'm going to KILL Edward Masen?"

Carlisle leapt to his feet and came over to me. He took my hands in his as he sat down on the coffee table and looked deeply into my eyes.

"I don't believe that that has to be the case, Bella," he said. "I think part of the problem is the shock of the scent; the suddenness of the situation. I believe that's what happened to Emmett." He glanced over at his son.

Emmett nodded his head, "Yeah, that's what happened. WHAM! The scent was just THERE, and it totally took me by surprise. I didn't have time to think, just to react."

Carlisle looked back at me, his face somber. "You have a warning now. And you have a choice. You must choose what to do. Give into the call of his blood…or fight it." He paused, giving me time to think.

"Now that you know that this blood is out there, and you know where it is, you are going to have to make a decision." I nodded, and he continued. "You are one of the strongest people that I have ever known. You have to know that we will all support you in your decision…No matter what that decision may be."

I looked around at the people near me…my family. It didn't matter that we weren't related by DNA. We were related by love and respect. We had lived through some hard times. Emmett, as a newborn, had been quite the challenge. It was tough, but we got through it…together. We were stronger because of it.

Was I going to let this man, this human male, make me break the decision that I had made so many years ago? Was I going to give into blood lust and, finally, after 90 years, drink the blood of a human?

As I thought about that, it occurred to me that I was growing angry…furious, actually. How dare he? How dare he tempt me this way?

Then I laughed, which surprised everyone. They looked at me like I was nuts, and maybe I was.

Edward Masen had no idea what he was doing to me. It wasn't like he planned to have blood that would call me. It was an odd twist of fate that had brought him to my attention at that moment in time. But it may also have been a blessing.

"No," I said, making a decision in my mind. "I won't let the monster in me go. I'm not going to let it free. I am BIGGER than this."

I glanced around at my family again. I saw pride and relief on their faces. "I'm going to need you all to help me, though. I have a meeting with this guy on Thursday, tomorrow, at three, and I'm really not sure just HOW I'm going to be able to get through it."

Words of encouragement and love surrounded me. Plans were already being formed. During a pause, I turned to Alice.

"I know you feel badly about not seeing what was going to happen, but I'm actually very grateful to you." Alice looked surprised. "If you hadn't asked me to go by Jasper's office, I wouldn't have discovered this situation. I would have walked into that meeting tomorrow, been slammed by his scent and then, more likely than not, killed him." I sighed. "That would have taken care of his stalker situation, but not exactly the way that I would prefer to do it!"

Alice laughed and hugged me. "Glad to be of service, Bella. Now that I know the situation, I'll try and focus on it better." She paused, and a funny expression crossed her face. "What I see is confusing right now."

"How so…?" I asked. Everyone stopped to listen to what she had to say.

"I see you happy, joyful even. And I see him, too. He really is gorgeous, by the way." She winked up at me. Jasper growled a bit, and she looked over at him. "Not as gorgeous as you, my darling husband." He smirked, and she continued, "I get the feeling that things are as they should be. I see something, and it's good, but there's bad, too. Some flashes of red? I don't get that part. I just wish it wasn't so fuzzy." She shook her head. "I'll let you know if I see something more concrete."

She cocked her head to the side, then jumped to her feet and flew to the door, "The messenger is coming with the packet that Edward filled out for your meeting tomorrow."

She paused a moment after the knock sounded, and then she opened the door to see Tyler, one of our regular messengers, standing there. "Hey, Tyler," she said. "Got something for us?"

He smiled down at Alice, looking a bit dazzled by her smile. "Hey, Alice," he murmured as he held the packet before him and just stood there. Alice took her smile down a notch. She reached out and took the packet from his hand and thanked him.

"Thanks, Tyler, see you next time."

She started to close the door, and I heard him say, "Next time, yeah, um, next time," as he turned away, still slightly dazed. She giggled and turned back to us.

As Alice carried the envelope in her hands, I felt my body stiffen. I could SMELL Edward on the papers. It was fainter than earlier, but still definitely there.

I sighed as the venom pooled in the back of my throat. I swallowed loudly. "This may be harder than I thought. How am I going to get passed this?" I looked over at Carlisle. "It's all I can do to keep myself from grabbing those papers from Alice's hands!"

Carlisle liked to plan ahead, that was one of the reasons he made such a great doctor. He was always thinking forward to what needed to be done next. He did have an idea.

"First, I think that you need to be desensitized to some degree. Maybe by immersing yourself in his scent, you'll be able to gain some control." He took the packet from Alice. "His address is here. Emmett and Jasper can go by his place and pick up, I don't know, maybe an article of clothing that he's worn or one of his pillows." Emmett and Jasper nodded their agreement to go.

He glanced up at me and continued, "You can hold it, breathe the scent in. Then, tomorrow when you see him, maybe it won't be such a shock to your system." By then Carlisle had the packet open and was skimming the papers for the address. He gave the address to my brothers and offered them the papers to smell. They stood up and sniffed the paperwork.

"Wow, he does smell good!" Emmett said. I felt a rumble start in my chest and tried to contain it.

"MINE," was my first thought. I guess I said it out loud because Emmett took a step back, raising his hands in surrender. Jasper, again, forced some sense of calmness over me.

"Easy, Bells. I'm just saying…doesn't mean that I'm going to do anything about it." I nodded at his statement, feeling a bit of control coming back to me.

"Boys…" Carlisle looked at them both and said, "Don't be noticed." They nodded and left.

Esme spoke up next. "Bella, you need to hunt…now. Rosalie, will you and Alice go with her?" They both got to their feet as they nodded their agreement.

I stood, steeling myself from snatching the papers covered with Edward's scent from Carlisle's hands.

A plan started to form in my mind. I could beat the boys to his place; I could go now…Wait! That's not what I really wanted, was it? No. I really need to get control of this situation. I would get control of it, damn it!

As I made the decision, Alice smiled at me. She knew, and the future tightened up just a bit more.

"Hunting is probably a good idea. I better get good and full before I have to see him." I felt my resolve stiffen again. "Let's go and get this show on the road. Maybe we can come up with a plan when we get back." I knew that Carlisle would be giving that his entire attention, as would the rest of my family.

The three of us were out the door and through the backyard heading towards the mountains in moments. Our house was nestled close to the foothills, which gave us an easy way into the hunting area.

My sisters let me take point as we ran faster than the human eye could follow. In just a few minutes, we were far outside the city. Twilight was deep around us, and the sounds of nature filled my ears. In a short while we were beyond where even the most dedicated hikers generally ventured.

I crossed a trail that immediately caught my attention. It was musky and dense. With a nod to Alice and Rosalie, I broke away as I turned to follow it. I slowed, and the few sounds that I had been making ceased. I took several steps and then stopped. There, up in the tree to my right, perched on a branch high above my head, was my prey. It was a tawny colored cat, a cougar. He was huge, and his attention was on the elk that I could hear walking this way. The tip of his long tail twitched, the only thing that moved where he lay, waiting for his dinner. Too bad he didn't know that he was actually going to be my dinner. I'd take the elk later, for dessert.

With a leap, I was on the branch with him. He turned with a growl. I sprang at him, and we tumbled towards the floor of the woods. He tried to get a swipe in, but I was too fast. I was draining his life as we hit the ground. It was good, but didn't quite satisfy the thirst that had been stirred in me earlier in the day.

When I finished, I pushed a huge boulder aside and tucked his body into the cavity. We didn't like to leave exsanguinated carcasses out in plain sight. If there were too many of them, the authorities would have to look into that. I dropped the boulder and turned, sniffing the air. The elk hadn't run nearly far enough. I was soon hot on its heels, letting my instinct take over.

~o~O~o~


Chapter End Notes:

Many thanks to those of you who are reading. And more thanks to those of you who have reviewed! I appreciate you all very much.

Kathie