7. Outcast

The female vampire stepped into the room carefully, her eyes guarded, careful. She never took her eyes off of the Volturi Leader, Aro, even though she wasn't afraid of him. Not in the least bit. But she needed him for the moment. She needed his help and whether he knew it or not, he was going to give it to her.

Each face of the Volturi Guard was shocked at her appearance, which didn't surprise her. She wasn't supposed to be here, she knew that, but she had to be. She just had to protect the one she loved, and if that meant joining them, so be it.

She took another step closer.

The guard moved with her, as if they thought they could stop her. Ha! They couldn't touch the female. She knew it and they knew it.

Aro held up his hand. "Peace dear ones." his tone was it's normal, cheerful self. He smiled at her, motioning with his hand to come forward. There were some anxious murmurs in the room, but Aro hushed them with a wave of his hand.

The female stood right in front of him, her chin held high, but she was in so much pain. She couldn't hide the fact of how much it shattered her heart to be away from them, but she had no choice. She had to make sure they were always safe and away from the Volturi's grasp. They may not know of their power yet, but they are connected in such a way that could make a great threat to the Volturi. Even she could see it in their midst, but the Volturi has always been blind, and they would still no longer see them.

She looked around the room, her red eyes resting on every vampire in the room, especially Jane. She felt her lips curl back as she saw her, and then the witch vampire skidded back, her eyes full of fear. The female vampire's laughter filled up the silent room.

"I wish to join you, Aro." she said peacefully, her body still tensed, ready for any sort of fight she could win easily.

Aro shifted on his feet. She saw in his milky red eyes that he was full of joy. He had missed his prize possession. But in truth he had no idea what he was bargaining for. By choosing her, he didn't get the most powerful beings in the world right now. The very creatures that could kill her in a heart beat with their gifts put together like they were meant to be. And she had to make sure no one found out about these two. They needed to be safe from them. She owed that to them.

"What?" Jane shrieked. "Surely, master, she can't come back! She has already chosen her path!"

"Peace, Jane." Aro said quietly. "If it is her wish to come back home to us, I will not let her." Aro looked back at her, his smile warm.

The female faked a smile. She didn't want to be here. She hated this place and the people in it. But this will never be her home. Her home belonged with the most powerful people on planet Earth, the very ones who thought she was dead.

Her home belonged with Jason and Jonathan Greenfield.

Swish.

Another three pointer with nothing but net. I back off, my hand still curved in the air, a cocky smile on my lips. I felt the slaps on my back from my team mates, everyone but Jason. Yeah he was still pissed.

He passed the ball to me, but his eyes never touched mine. He never looked at me, or made any notion that I was even alive. For all I knew I was dead to him. Well he's dead to me too. He's been dead for a while.

Last night had been horrible. I tried sleeping on a park bench, and for a while it seemed like it had worked, but then I was getting harassed by a hobo. A hobo! I mean really? So after leaving that frightening conversation I decided not to sleep. I mean I don't need it, so why waste my time?

I looked into the crowd of fans screaming my name. it made me forget all my problems for just a second. It made me think of the life I have here in Ohio. Sure this place had bipolar weather, but this place was also home to me.

That's when my eyes hit someone in the stands. A person that shouldn't be there. I didn't want to see that person standing there, so I tried to change it. And when I blinked, my vision blurred on only that one person, and it seemed like her body changed. so I believed it when I told myself that I was seeing things and I moved quickly to steal the ball.

Only one second had passed.

When I looked at her again, she was looking at her hands with disbelief, but also like she knew what was going on. Like she had just proved her own theory correct, but I couldn't really tell. All I knew was that she was a vampire. She was the only one who had piercing red eyes.

Just like-

"Jon, get your head in the game!" coach yelled.

It almost made me want to break out into a high school musical song, but I just smiled to myself and shot another three pointer.

Swish.

The buzzer roared, signaling that the game was over. When I glanced at the score board, I knew we had killed them. Not even Jefferson, home of the dangerous black guys, could defeat one very white and pale blonde kid. I laughed as I hit the door to walk into the locker room.

Jason was already gone. I could smell his trail that led to the other end of the locker room.

"Great game, Jon." Liam pat my shoulder. "Man, when you rejected number fifty four's dunk, I thought I was going to go deaf from all the screaming…that mostly came from me." he smiled sheepishly.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I heard you too. Weren't you the one screaming 'Get him little white boy'?"

"Maybe."

I rolled my eyes and shut my locker. We left that place and sat on one of the benches in the gym. People were scrambling out the door, trying to not get caught up in the traffic.

"So I'll see you at your place?" Liam asked, getting ready to get up and leave.

"No!" I answered a little too quickly. "I mean I won't be over there…I'm uh…going out."

He nodded. "With?"

Crap. I hadn't thought of that. Well here goes nothing. "No one."

He stared at me, like he was waiting for the real answer.

"I'm serious, no date tonight."

He boomed with laughter. Sometimes it was just so easy to like Liam, especially with the way he didn't judge me.

"Sure, Jon, what ever. Just don't get a girl pregnant, okay?"

I smile wistfully. "I'll try." I tried to make a joke out of it, but even my voice couldn't fake that. I hadn't had a night with no date in years. Actually I've never had a date. Well like Edward said, there's a first time for everything.

I hate it when he's right.

I walked down the side of the street and went down to sit by a tree. Whew. I just sat there and waited for me to fall asleep, but my eyes wouldn't droop. In fact I haven't been tired all day.

So with the feeling of rejection so raw inside me, my thoughts turned to Amber. She was right to stay away from me, to not give in. I would ruin her life like I had ruined so many other girls' lives. I'm not good for her, nor will I ever be good enough for her.

What was I saying?

I'm Jonathan, for crying out loud! I can get any girl I want, any time I want her. Amber is just playing herd to get. She won't be able to resist me for long. And I will play along with her.

So I rested my head against the tree and closed my eyes, trying to make myself fall asleep. Luckily I was so tired from the game, and I hadn't hunted in the longest time, I zonked out in a second.

I just have to make sure he's okay, Claire told herself as she stepped very carefully through the bushes. She jumped a few fences, wondering what the hell she was doing here. She could be seen, which would ruin her whole plan to keep them both safe. But in that moment, it didn't matter to her.

For the first time in years, she saw the face she had almost forgotten.

Jason stood in the kitchen, oblivious to the girl outside that made his world spin. His hair was just like she remembered it, Blonde and bouncy with the familiar honey color. He had grown over the years, maybe a foot or two, but nothing had really changed. Same green eyes, same Adam's apple, same broad shoulders with a muscular tone. She saw the way he talked, the way he moved, and even Claire could tell how much pain he was in.

He was never good at hiding pain.

It was like she could swim in a pool of his pain, she saw that much in his eyes. Then her breath was taken away as Skylar walked into the room. Her stomach clenched as she remembered how much she missed him. It they subconsciously knew she was there, for they all filed in the kitchen, all except the one she was dying to see again.

Angel looked out the window, catching her eye. She gave a silent warning message that she couldn't get too close.

Claire sighed. She wanted to go see them, she wanted to hold them in her strong arms and tell them she was alive and everything was okay. But she couldn't do that. She just had to protect the one she loves.

When she looked back in the window, she saw the only two of the three people who knew she was still alive. Claire needed Angel. And with that she knew that Angel couldn't keep this secret from the mind reading Syd, so she had to let her in on it too. And she couldn't keep it from Edward forever. He would have had to find out sooner or later. She needed all of them, for the time being.

Because one day, she would return to them. Maybe in a few years, maybe days, though she highly doubted that. But one day, they would be together again. For now she had to stay with the Volturi, because she had to keep her loved ones safe. If they knew about Jonathan…she shuddered to think about what they would do.

So looking at Jason one last time, she turned and set out for the one person she needed to see before she returned back to Italy.