I awoke to my mother and Carlisle's faces inches above mine. My father and Allie were close behind. The other, I gulped, vampires remained still on the couch, their focus on me.

"Mom," I croaked, her anxious eyes on me. "They-these people- they're v-"

Emmett cut me off with a laugh. "Vegetarian vampires. "

I had been right. Vampires. But "Vegetarian vampires?"

Carlisle smiled warmly. "We prefer animals to people, in order to preserve human life." He launched into his story, a tale of sorrow and triumph.

"So you didn't want to be a monster? You decided to feed on animals, instead? That's pretty cool, I guess." Despite my common sense telling me to be frightened for my life, as Allie clearly was, I was perfectly calm and not an ounce scared. I liked these people, at least most of them. Alice, Emmett, Esme, and Carlisle seemed nice enough. I wasn't too sure of the other three. Rosalie was currently glaring as my mother and I hugged, Jasper looked tense and doubtful, and Edward, god-like Edward, I was so inexplicably drawn to him. I didn't know quite how to feel about that.

"Elita," Carlisle spoke again, "the reason we are here is because some, regular vampires are after you. The Volturi are sort of like the vampire royalty and they collect humans and vampires that they think have potential use for them. Many years ago, your mother and Edward made some promises to them, that your mother-who had grand potential as one of us- would become a vampire in the near future. But instead, she chose a different path. However, being as Bella is no longer eighteen, she has lost most of the allure she once had to them. They'll want you now, in replacement. You, and probably Alice, will be changed by them into vampires and your mother and brothers and father will become their dinner. We've come as protection."

"Okay," I said slowly, my voice showing all the bravado I was trying to make myself feel. It was like Allie and I had traded places. Once I had been the timid twin, scared of my own shadow. She was always so much braver, much more extraverted. But now, she was cowering and I was filled with her courage that I'd always been jealous of. "What do we need to do? Should I pack? Do we go into hiding? I'm ready for anything."

Carlisle laughed, "You really are just like your mother was. They are planning on making their trip in about month's time, so we have a little time to plan. They will probably send Jane," he looked at my mother, whose face flooded with panic as she held me tighter, "and their newest addition, Meri. All others will be bodyguards to them. If absolutely necessary, we can call on Tanya, but I feel like I've asked enough of her already and haven't been able to repay her. I don't really want the wolves to help, it's too risky, but if we are desperate, you guys can assist," Carlisle nodded at my father.

"Carlisle, what make the Volturi so powerful? Do they have special powers or something?" I asked. It sounded dumb, but I wanted to know exactly what I was up against.

"Yes, they do. Marcus can read minds through touch, Jane can inflict terrible mental pain by just staring at a person, Alec can make you feel nothing at all, and the new girl, Meri, can influence a person's decisions in order to make them do whatever she wants. None of these work on you however."

"Why don't they work on me?" I questioned, but changed the subject, when I became to worried about the answer. "Do you have special powers?"

"We're not sure why they don't work on you, Elita. They didn't work on your mother either and still don't, which is part of why she had so much appeal to them. I don't have a special power, but Edward can read people's minds, Alice can see the future, and Jasper can affect the emotions of people around him. Edward cannot read your mind, but Alice can see the future about you. We don't know if Jasper's gift works for you," Carlisle said.

"So-so I'm a freak?" my voice cracked.

Edward laughed at my question, startling me, and my mother smiled. "Elita, your mother asked me that exact same question when I told her about our gifts," Edward grinned, his voice smooth and alluring. "My reply was and still is: I tell you I can read minds and you're worried you're the freak?" he shook his head. "No, Elita, you're special that's all."

His statement brought a blush to my cheeks. "Fine, so I'm special," I said, trying to sound indifferent to his sweet tone. "What else is different about me?"

"Well, your connection with your sister, Alice," Carlisle said and we both exchanged a glance. No one knew about our telepathy secret but us. "Yes, our Alice foresaw it," Alice Cullen grinned brightly. "As well as the way you are so intoned to the intentions of others." Sweat beaded up on my forehead. I'd never told anyone, not even Allie, about that. How I would sometimes I would get a flash from classmates or friends or even cashiers at the grocery store- about their genuine intentions. It had always scared me even though it was no more than a simple understanding of their true motives. I guess that was part of why I wasn't so scared of the Cullens- I could tell they meant well and wouldn't hurt me.

"How did you … know about that?" I whispered, as my parents and sister looked at me puzzled.

"Our Alice foresaw that as well," Carlisle told me, his topaz eyes shining with pride at his… daughter?

"Okay, so what can we do?" I asked. My mostly boring, monotonous life had suddenly transformed into an exciting adventure. This was what I had always wished for, for something to happen to me that would throw me into the spot of heroine, that would turn my life upside down. I didn't know whether to be excited that I was finally getting the quest into unknown that I'd always hoped for, or to be terrified that some of the most powerful vampires in the world wanted to take my life away and add me to their collection.

"Well," Jasper said, talking for the first time. His voice had a nice even tone to it; it flowed seamlessly and made me feel a bit more comfortable. "We need to see if my gift works for you. Because if it doesn't, you're even more appealing to the Volturi than we'd originally guessed. So, I'm going to send you a wave of emotions and we'll see if you block them, or if you react like any one else in the room would."

I nodded, feeling a bit light-headed. Then I braced myself for the worst. But nothing happened. Jasper was concentrating hard, I could tell, and for a second, I could feel myself getting a bit angry, but it was only slight. Then I felt slightly happy, but nothing overwhelming. From the look on Jasper's face, I should've felt way more than that. But I only felt emotions that were quite dim, and fleeted almost as soon as they emerged within me. I explained this to Jasper and a look of worry crossed his face.

"Elita, I was trying with everything I had to make you fly into a fit of rage and then to make you really giddy and happy. And you felt… almost nothing?" there was a bit of anxiety in everyone's eyes. Great, now I was even more of a freak than we had originally thought. More of a freak than Mom or my brothers. And that was not exactly an accomplishment to be proud of.

I shook my head and fought the maddening tears that I felt pricking my eyes. My mom squeezed my hand and spoke, her voice unwavering for the first time all day, "Carlisle, I think we need to go into hiding."