A/N: I'm updating fast it seems. I guess I just want to be able to get some things done before I end up hitting the mattress today. Then again, that's gonna require caffeine and some sort of food. Ah. Food. I'm starving. Even after all I ate yesterday. XD So. Let's get started!

"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs the torments of man." - Friedrich Nietzsche

IN THE BEGINNING: There Was SOMETHING

The men of the Cullen household sat around on the floor, as Emmett picked up a green and black box, a game made by the one and only Volturi Applications Gaming. We had found a vibe to it, not just the design that entranced us. The border, was black, and the rest was green. On the front and back, was a beautiful view of modern day Seattle, and two vines whipped down the middle of the back and front, ending in points, with a thorn jutting out of the thickest vine. Just below the thorn was the city, and then the water area. In the water, with thick golden letters, was City of Thorns; A Vampire Game In Modern Day Seattle'. The back, however, was different, it contained critic reviews, and nothing more on how it was made, or by who it was made. The Volturi were thorough this time, I guess.

As the game turned on, our screen on the plasma went completely black, and the sequence started. To the right, was a picture of an Native American man, and behind him were three, horse sized, wolves. On the left side, was a different story. The rules of the game, scrolled for about a minute, then the storyline followed. It explained how Jacob, the boy to the left, and his pack of 10, were werewolves, and the main villains of this story were them. Then, after the story rolled, the picture slid left, and now was showing Jacob and a brown haired, female vampire fighting. On the right side, however, now resided the main menu, consisting of 'Creation, Destruction, Multiplayer, Plotline, FAQ, and Chatroom'.

With a sigh, Carlisle clicked the Creation option, and was then asked if he was creating a group or single. He clicked 'group' and proceeded unto naming us the 'Cullan's'. Our group was added to the 'Group Software', and the list was shown, with a few real covens, and some slightly new ones that we probably would have never heard of, seeing as this game was only distributed to vampires in the world. Carlisle released a small gasp as he was scrolling to the bottom. He had found the staff group it seemed, and they had called themselves the Volturi.

After a moment of silence, he shrugged it off and continued onwards into the game. He was told to move any extra places out of the way, and to get a perfect shot of himself with a camera. He ushered us out for a moment, before we saw an audible flash of the screen. He called the three of us guys back in, and on the screen, now stood a replica of our father. After the picture process, he picked the variated name of Carlisle - Carlyle. Under the name, was age, and he typed, quickly, his 489 years, and hit 'no' on the power options. After that, he had a character overview, and then was asked to save, he of course hit 'save'. We then all repeated this same process, for all of use, choosing everything to our own likings, we then were pushed into multiplayer and chatroom.

As soon as they were into multiplayer, a message appeared in the chatroom, and they were asked to accept it from player number one, Ysabella Volturi. Carlisle exchanged a glance with us off screen, before clicking 'yes'. The message then unfolded on screen with yellow parchment paper, and the letters were elegantly written in black ink. Very detailed the Volturi were this time, too.

'Welcome Cullans, or should I say Cullens, to City of Thorns. I'm quite glad that you were finally able to join us in this realistic game. I was quite enthralled when your mates had joined us merely last week, with their own system. If you're wondering, we are the real Volturi, if we have 'Volturi' as our last name - there're only four of us. The rest are just staff that were chosen wisely. I shall see you boys around soon. Farewell. -Ysabella'

We understood quite a bit of the message from Ysabella, except for a few points, but we ignored it, and just looked at the graphical scene that had been the chosen background in our chatroom. It was of the Seattle Space Needle, which still stood to this day, and was quite nice looking too. Before we could memorize certain things, another chat message arrived, from player number two, Aro Volturi.

Emmett begrudgingly muttered a 'wonderful' to himself, as Carlisle wearily clicked the accept. We then, all, proceeded unto reading Aro's parchment that was received.

'Good evening old friends! I'm glad to see that you have made your way into lovely Ysabella's game today! She was the first Volturi High Guard to ever ask permission to make a vampire-only game for us all, and ask to use 'Volturi' for the staff group! Oh, how successful she is...However, I must say, good luck in both the plotline and the multiplayer, some of the players, and NPCs, are pretty gruesome. -Aro'

Emmett turned his head and his gaze to Carlisle, with a sigh. "You're actually friends with that man?" he asked, as Carlisle gave a shrug and then panned around the screen, searching, it seemed. The city, or the part we were in, really was extremely beautiful, minus all the vampires with gold and red eyes running amongst human NPCs. On the bordering area, was a forest, fully stocked all types of feed, or so a sign said in the distance. Perfect eyesight in games too. Very thorough. One could say it was a vampire paradise.

A/N: I believe that's a good place to stop for 1:30AM. You should be very proud of me. I made it. XD -Heather