Chapter Three

Learning the Ropes

"This…is how you live?"

We were standing in the forest, well camouflaged by the vegetation that was around us. Up ahead in the clearing was a large herd of Elk. Jasper had just pointed to them and told me to "have at it." I just stood there on the spot and stared at them like they were idiots. Rosalie spoke to me first. "It's really easy. All you have to do is follow your instincts."

"But you really drink deer blood?" When I heard the dark cloaks say it to Riley and our Creator, I thought they were just kidding.

"We could always try for mountain lion or a nice big grizzly bear," Emmett commented. "Much more tastier and satisfying than a couple of deer any ol' day." Over the last twenty minutes I had come to realize that he wasn't as ferocious as I thought. Sure he could still rip me apart in one swipe but he acted like a lovable teddy bear.

"Grizzly is harder to track, Emmett." Jasper said exasperated. "Bree needs to have a lot of substance before she goes back to the house."

Finally, it dawned on me. "This is why you have yellow eyes! You only feed off of animals."

Rosalie smiled at me. "Yes. We call ourselves vegetarians because we don't partake in human blood."

I nodded and looked down at the herd. "Are you sure I'll know what to do?" I had already explained to them that Diego would bring me back something . This was my first hunting trip and apart of me wanted to prove to them, and myself, that I could do this. That I didn't have to be a liability. That I could take care of myself.

"Don't worry kid," Emmett said. "There's no way you could mess things up."

So with nothing left in my arsenal to complain about, I took a deep breath, crouched down low, and stalked down the mountainside towards my pray. A large buck was standing at the edge of the clearing eating the tall grass. He didn't notice me as I came up from behind him and to his left. I watched as the muscles in his jaw and neck worked to digest the cud of grass in his mouth. Before the wind could shift, I lunged and sank my teeth into his neck, right where the arteries were and drank. As soon as the blood hit my mouth I choked, spewing blood down my chin while the artery began squirting the front of my shirt. The elk began to struggle and kicked me off his back. I landed hard on my backside with a loud thump and the elk tried to squirm away. It bellowed, alerting the others in the herd which they all began to scatter. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and made to get up when Jasper came up behind me and pushed me back to the ground. He then grabbed the neck of the elk, who was making quite a fuss in its final death throws, and snapped it like it was a twig. Glaring at me, he bent over and finished what I had started.

Rosalie and Emmett caught six all together as the herd made their mad escape from the crazy hippie vampires. When Jasper was finished, he sat on the grass and glared at me. Sorry buddy that this is my first time hunting a wooly, four legged creature. I thought ruefully to myself. I was beginning to thing that Jasper and I were never going to get along.

Emmett was the first to finish. As he lumbered over to where Jasper and I were having our staring context, I could hear him laughing at me. "Tell me girl," he said as he sat next to his hostile coven mate. "Is that how Riley taught you to hunt? Cuz we've got a lot of work to do." He continued to laugh as Rosalie sat down next to him, giving me a half smile.

"I didn't exactly hunt while I was in Seattle." I didn't want to associate myself with Riley's coven anymore. It hurt to much to think about what he did to me. "Not much of a vampire am I." I looked away from Jasper then, feeling the familiar pangs of shame that I was so used to.

"Nothing we can't fix." Emmett commented nonchalantly. "Ask me one question. Do you want to be a monster, Bree?"

I looked at him and Rosalie. "No."

"Then just think of that when you go for the kill. Its a way of survival. Doesn't taste all that great, but at least you're not killing innocent people."

Rosalie smiled up at Emmett. "That was very profound, babe."

Emmett grinned. "Thanks! Been reading some of Edward's philosophy books."

"We need to find the herd again," Jasper cut in standing up and scanning the surrounding area. "She needs to hunt before she can be anywhere near Bella's scent."

Rosalie rolled her eyes while Emmett continued to grin at me. He helped her up as I got to my feet. Jasper was already off looking for the herd. They hadn't gone too far since it took us five minutes to locate them again. Jasper gestured for me to continue the hunt. "What, you want me to repeat that performance back there? You better tell me what to do so we're not at this all night."

"Chicks got a point bro," Emmett said. "You'd better walk her through the basics."

Jasper huffed like this was such a great burden. "Its instinct really. You did everything you were supposed to back there. Just don't throw up this time."

I glared at him. "That's all you're going to tell me?"

He shrugged again. "Practice makes perfect. Your instincts already knows what to do. Try it again."

I looked to the other two for help, but they both nodded. Pissed that they wouldn't help me, I trudged off into the brush. The nearest one, a doe, was two yards off by my estaminet. Before she could realize the danger, I ran towards her. Quickly, I jumped on her back, severing the spinal column and began to drink. Everything in me wanted to choke it back up again, and some of the blood spilled out of my mouth since I was having a hell of a time keeping my lips sealed around her neck. She didn't struggle as much as the elk did and within moments she was gone. I pushed her body aside and turned to the others. They were waiting for me, sitting on a pile of rocks. Emmett and Rosalie were holding hands and as a got near Emmett got up off the rocks and helped Rosalie down, and wrapped his arm around her. It was so casual it caught me off guard..

"Are you two together?" I asked.

They both laughed. "Yeah, Emmett's my mate. We're married you see." Rosalie smiled.

I raised my eyebrow. "But we were told you're siblings."

"That's the public story that we give so we can blend in." Rosalie said with an actual smile on her face. "Jasper and Alice, Carlisle and Esme, Emmett and I are all mate. So are Edward and Bella for that matter."

Emmett's voice boomed, "looks like you're going to be the odd man out this time. He laughed like it was a joke and even Jasper cracked a smile.

"Do you think you're finished, Bree?"

I felt discussed by the thought of hunting more elk. "If I said yes, do we have to continue?"

"No," Jasper spoke. "Do you feel like you just ate Thanksgiving Dinner?" Rosalie prompted, trying to be helpful.

"Yeah," I lied. Jasper looked at me like he could tell that wasn't the truth. I brushed it off, trying to look normal. "I'm full."

"You did better this time," Rosalie offered. I was beginning to like her.

Emmett took Rosalie's hand and they took off to the west. Jasper motioned for me to join them. I guess he wanted to follow me again. As I walked past him, he stared me down, distrust and resentment evident on his face. He made me feel like a prisoner, more than guest to the coven.

We traveled fro several miles with no one talking before I heard Jasper grunt. "What has gotten into you, Rosalie? You hardly like anyone yet you're happy that she's with us now. You're never like this when Bella's around."

Rosalie glared at Jasper. "You of all people should understand. Even I can feel how scared and confused she is. Carlisle offered her a new and different life. She didn't choose to be like this, so the least we can do is make her feel happy."

"She should have died with the rest of the newborns," Jasper grumbled. "Now the Volturi will be watching our every move, just waiting for her to mess up." He turned to me. "And if she's so scared, she's sure capable of giving me an attitude."

"The Volturi has been watching us since Edward went to Italy," Emmett pointed out. "I think it will be fun having two newborns to watch over. Just think Jasper of all the adventures we can have."

"This existence isn't supposed to be one big play time. We have to be responsible and make sure that no harm comes to the ones we love." Jasper said to Emmett.

"Why can't she be one of the ones we love," Emmett looked at me and grinned. If I hadn't been still a little frightened that he would hurt me, I would hug him right now.

Rosalie, on the other hand, lay in on Jasper. "She's just a child. She didn't know the rules or what she was doing. Stop being so hard on her. You're giving her attitude as well."

"Someone needs to make sure she stays in line!" Jasper yelled.

"She's too afraid to step out of line!" Rosalie fired back.

"Stop it!" I yelled. "Stop fighting." I glared at all of them. "I'm sorry I was a part of the coven that tried to destroy you all, but in my defense, I didn't want any of this." Turning to Rosalie, I explained the rest. I figured she would be my ally. "I don't want to be a monster. I never really belonged anywhere and I most definitely didn't in Seattle. The only good thing that came out of all this is I got away from Him." I had become so empowered by my little speech that I forgot I wasn't supposed to say anything about that. Embarrassed, I looked away.

Rosalie was the one that came over and touched my arm. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Fine," I said quickly still not looking at them. "I just don't want to talk about it."

"You know," Emmett began. "It's really hard to keep a secret in this family with Edward's mind reading and Alice seeing the future." Then he smirked at Jasper. "Not to mention you making everyone feel like they want to spill their guts."

Jasper rolled his eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Rosalie must have understood what I was going through because she quieted the boys, then put her arm around me. "Would it help if Carlisle was there when you talked? I'm sure he and Esme will understand things."

I remembered the feelings I had when Carlisle and Esme had offered me the chance to live. If the truth was known, I was jealous of this coven. They had people that loved them and everyone acted like a family. Something I've always wanted. As I watched Rosalie, I felt the same way I did with her that I did with Carlisle and Esme. Nodding I looked at Rosalie questioningly. "Can I ask you a question?"

Rosalie smiled pleasantly. "Of course Bree."

"It's actually Jasper's question. Why do you like me?"

She didn't look at me then, instead turning to Emmett. Smiling at her husband she touched his face tenderly. "You look like Emmett."

I didn't get what that had to do with anything.

Then the phone rang.

Jasper pulled it out of his pocket while I watched the other two make goggly eyes at each other.

"Alice, is she gone?"

"Yeah, she just left for Charlie's," came the voice on the other end. I recognized that it sounded like the little black haired girl. "Carlisle is on his way here. He should get here before you. Make sure Bree is properly feed before she gets here. I don't see her doing anything but it's good to be safe."

Jasper looked over at the three of us and chuckled. "How does the conversation go?"

"Which one?"

"The one you're most excited about."

There was a pause for a moment the, "Perfect! I can't wait to tell Esme!" Then the phone went dead and Jasper chuckled again. Well that was cryptic. How many conversations was I supposed have with these people. I still wanted to find Fred.

"She gets over excited sometimes," Jasper said wryly

"Sometimes," Emmett scoffed.

Jasper just rolled his eyes, then glared at me. He did this a lot I'm starting to think it was his favorite hobby. "Shall we go home?"

The boys lead the way home. When we got a hundred feet from the property, I began to recognize their scent. After the four of us cleared the river, Jasper created a cage with his arms around me. I struggled, only because my instinct told me that this was supposed to be a threatening gesture. He just held tighter and growled. This was beginning to become annoying. Rosalie rolled her eyes at him. "Jasper, give her a break."

"Bella's scent is all over here. Her instincts could kick in and she'll follow the trail."

Before I could defend myself, the back door to the house opened and the mind reader, Edward, walked out on to a wide, wooden, porch balcony. "Her thoughts are clean, Jasper. And Alice doesn't see her doing anything. Give it a rest."

Jasper reluctantly let go, but stayed by my side while we crossed their vast lawn. The house was huge. Built in a rectangular frame structure, I could tell that the siding was white. But the whole back side of the house was open like a giant window. I could see into every room that wasn't drawn by a curtain. Although it looked really cool, I don't think that I could be that open. I liked to have my privacy. The top part of the house, just before the roof was sided off with only picture windows. I looked to be three stories up. The back side of the house looked very lovely and well cared for. Like, perhaps, someone knew what they were doing.

There were flower gardens everywhere. Every shape, color, and kind were scattered all over in well, landscaped plots and hanging baskets. It was mesmerizing. I'd only seen yards like this when I would have to walk home from school through the "Ritz Carlton" portion of town-as He used to call it-because the school bus wouldn't get me close enough to the other side of the tracks. "I am not in Kansas anymore, Toto." I uttered to no one in particular. Of course, Emmett got a kick out of that.

"Can we keep her," he asked Rosalie as he opened the door, like I was a puppy being brought home for the first time. She giggled and followed Jasper into the house.

I was the last one in the house. If I thought that the outside was beautiful, I was proven wrong when I looked around. We had entered through the back door. The tiny hall way lead to both another door which I assumed was to the garage and to the kitchen. Along the walls were pegs where you could put your coat and a shoe rack held an assortment of every shape, size, and variety of shoes on this planet. I followed the others through a door which led to the kitchen. Everything was so clean. The granite countertops sparkled along with all the stainless steel appliances. I wondered why on earth vampires need to have top of the line appliances when they didn't even need to use them. Edward chuckled. "We have to blend in somehow. People would start suspecting something if we never went to the store."

"But doesn't the food spoil?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "Bella eats here and what we don't use we donate to the local food pantry."

That made sense, as insane as it seemed. And I felt a little spark of gratitude swell in my heart of the thought of them giving to charity. Edward and Jasper seemed to notice something had resonated with me, but before they could say anything, I pushed past, avoiding eye contact. They didn't need to know anything about me. They wouldn't care.

"Everyone is in the dining room," Edward said nodding for me to follow the others into the next room. "We need to start the family meeting before Bella gets home from seeing Jake."

I watched his face for a moment. The way he talked about her, like she was his whole world. I'd only seen that kind of look from TV store windows in the off chance they were playing day time soap operas. "You really do love her, don't you?" I said it before I could stop myself.

In return, he gave me a crocked little smile. "She's my everything. I don't know what I would do without her and frankly I don't want to try that again. I asked her to be my wife the other day and she said yes."

"Congratulations!" I said only because I think that's what you're supposed to do to be polite. It felt artificial. I had been apart of the coven who tried to take away " his everything" as he put it. These people saved my life, there was no way I was going to mess that up and give Jasper a reason to rip my throat out, but it still felt phony. Especially since Bella was here first and she was going to be Edward's wife.

"Thank you," Edward smiled. "Now let's go."

Everyone was seated around a beautiful, antique, oak table. Carlisle was back from helping the guy named Jacob. He was sitting at the head with Esme to his right. The rest sat randomly around it, but I noticed that Jasper sat next to Alice and Emmett had his arm around Rosalie, again. Edward sat on the opposite side of Carlisle. There was an open chair next to Esme. She smiled at me and patted the chair. Once again, I felt comfort in being around her. Like I wanted to receive nothing but comfort from her, let her hold me in her arms. Where was this coming from?

As I sat down, Carlisle began speaking to me. "So Bree, how did you like our hunting style?"

"It's weird." No sense beating around the bush.

Carlisle chuckled. "It takes some getting used to. Everyone here has had to take time getting used to it."

"Do I have to live this way?"

Carlisle placed his hand on the table clasped together like he was a great disciplinary. "Not if you don't want to stay with us. If you go off on your own you can do as you please. But here we live this way. Its more humane."

I looked around the table and nodded.

"We all want you to feel safe and comfortable while you are here." I ducked my head at his comment. "So let's begin the meeting so Edward can go to Bella. Bree, I'm sure Riley explained to you the rules."

To tell you the truth, the only time I heard about these rules was a couple of hours ago. I shook my head no and looked down at my lap.

Edward must have read my mind. "She's never heard of any rules until just now."

I thought Carlisle would be shocked but he just nodded his head understanding. "Well then, I guess we will begin from the top. The first and number one rule is you cannot expose who we are. As fat as the world needs to know, vampires are to remain a myth." That made sense to me, since this was probably why us newborns were hunted down by both the Volturi and the Cullens.

"Second, the Children of the Moon are not to be dealt with unless it is to exterminate them."

He lost me there. "What the hell is the Children of the Moon?"

"Werewolves," Edward interjected. My mind flashed to the sound of the wolf-like snarling from this morning. "Yes," Edward answered my unspoken question. "But the wolf pack aren't actually werewolves."

Emmett interrupted, "What are they then?"

"Don't know," Edward replied. "I'm still trying to figure that out."

"Can we continue, Carlisle?" Jasper prompted like an impatient child. From across the table, Esme gave him a look.

"Bearing false witness is prohibited." Now I wasn't religious but that one sounded a lot like a commandment. From the big, Holy book itself the parol officers were always trying to throw at me. Edward smiled in my direction. "Hunting is forbidden in Volterra, the town of residence for the Volturi. They usually bring food from the outside in. I will tell you more about that history when we have more time to talk."

I nodded, not sure if there will be more time.

"If you decide that you don't want to stay with us, hunts must be inconspicuous, with victims unlikely to be missed. You must dispose of their remains and your territory must be changed often. Also, since this pertains to you, newborns must be trained before they can be released on their own."

Keeping my eyes in my lap, I barely raised my voice to ask, "Do I have to leave here?"

Esme answered me this time. "You can stay as long as you wish to, dear. We would love to take care of you."

She was smiling at me and I couldn't help but smile back at her. It was loving, without judgment. I wasn't used to the feeling inside me that I got every time she looked at me like that. Again, I wanted her to hold me.

"Finally," Carlisle continued by putting his arm around Esme, "rebellion against the Volturi is absolutely prohibited." He looked straight at me. "I know that this is a lot to take in and may be overwhelming, but all of us are here to help you and want you to be here."

I nodded and looked around the table. "A lot of rules pertaining to getting on the Volturi's bad side," I said absently. "Who are they to make all these rules?"

"Their sort of like the royal family of our kind," Carlisle explained. "They're the governing force for our world."

"Don't they get in trouble, though?"

"No," Jasper scoffed.

"That seems strange," Considering they break all of these rules themselves.

"What are you up to, Bree?" Edward asked warningly.

"Nothing, I promise." I defended myself. Jasper glared daggers at me and Edward persisted to look at me like I was trying to cover up a secret. I guess I might as well tell them. "It's just that, one night me and a couple of my friends over heard an interesting conversation."

"What was it?" Rosalie asked acting like I had a hot topic of gossip.

I looked at my lap again, feeling shy. "Riley and our creator were talking to the dark cloaks. The girl, Jane I think, was telling them all sorts of stories about the yellow eyes."

"What kind of stories?" Jasper asked already sensing my discomfort.

"That the leader was a doctor and he thought that he could play God while denying his basic need for survival. They also told them how you feed. Personally I was a little skeptic about that until this afternoon."

"Was there anything else?" Carlisle didn't seemed to disturbed since most of these were true.

I looked over at Edward and sent a silent "I'm sorry," before I continued. "They said that Edward kept the human around only so he could fornicate with her." The girls gasped and Alice hissed while Emmett swore under his breath. But the look on Edward's face told me that that wasn't the truth and he was deeply upset. "I'm sorry," I said hastily. "But if that's not "Bearing false witness," then I don't know what is."

"Thank you, Bree." Carlisle put a hand on Edward's shoulder, who looked like he was beginning to calm down. I wondered if Jasper was using his special talent. I looked away again, wishing that I could go run and hide.

"She wanted the newborns to succeed in killing you," I said softly. "Even if these vampires are the "Royal Family" like you say, I wouldn't trust them."

"Thank you, Bree. It was Edward this time. "I know you're just trying to help and I appreciate that."

I gave him a soft smile.

"Well there is nothing we can do now," Carlisle said. "I think we should decide if Bree should become a part of our family." For a moment, I felt myself panic before I felt a little wave of calm. I glanced over at Jasper and saw him watching me. I think I tried to smile but it came out as a grimace.

"I would love to see Bree join our family," Esme said patting my arm.

"So would I," Rosalie smiled at me.

Emmett laughed. "I think it will be fun having two newborns to watch over."

"I don't see a problem," Edward this time and I hoped that I didn't hurt him to bad. I really did want to be his friend.

"You know my thoughts" Jasper stated. I watched Emmett role his eyes.

Alice's eyes were unfocused. "I don't have a problem. But it seems that Bree is holding back on us." Her eyes focused again, this time on me. "She hasn't told us everything."

Carlisle looked at me. "Is there something more you'd like to say, Bree?"

I looked at my hands again, not knowing how to proceed. "I just promised a friend that I would meet him if I survived the fight. He should know all of this you told me."

"We'd be happy to talk to him," Carlisle stated.

"I know, but Fred is kind of…special. I should go find him and talk to him."

"We can go with you," Esme said smiling. Dammit what was with her smile. It made my insides go mushy.

"He'd only trust me."

"That's okay. We want to help," Carlisle smile didn't have the same effect, but it was comforting.

I looked to Carlisle, hoping he'd understand. "I don't know what to think or do. I'm not the greatest at making decisions."

Carlisle continued to look at me, his amber eyes were solace to my aching soul. "Let's talk to Fred and then we'll talk about the next step for you, whether its here with us, or on your own with Fred."

"Thank you," was all I could say, easily holding back the tears that my vampiric little self couldn't produce.

Author's Note: So this week was crazy busy with work and next week is going to be even more insane cuz not only do I work almost every day, but my semi-adopted sister is getting married. So give me some time and I'll have the next chapter out as soon as I can. Thanks for being patient and for your support. During my brief time as a creative writing major in college, I was told that I had no talent. You guys are great and I appreciate the love. One day I'm hoping to publish a book and show those professors a thing or two so your kind words are greatly appreciated.

~Mil