A/N: Hey! I got a pretty good response for yesterday's chapters (which made me REALLY REALLY HAPPY!!!!), I hope the trend continues! I already updated the playlist and I'm still open to any suggestions you guys might have! I lay out a little more "history" in this chapter, so same disclaimer from yesterday applies, it's just me being creative! Hope you like it! Stay tuned for more tomorrow!

Chapter 9

When Your Heart Stops Beating

We drove for some time, until I no longer recognized the roads, yet Sean assured me we were still in Hardgrave. The usually packed suburban houses had dispersed into thicker forest than I was used to. Sean turned onto a dirt road that wound through the trees. My car groaned a little at the bumpy road, but persevered nevertheless. Finally we came upon a small wooden house set in an oasis of forest. The shades of green and brown in the trees bounced off the wooden house and created the perfect image of comfort in fantasy. The lawn all around the house was filled with greens that I assumed would bloom lovely colors when the air warmed enough. Right then, however, the air was still frigid enough that I could see my breath. I pulled my coat closer around myself.

"Well," Sean said lightly, "This is home."

"It looks very…" I searched for an appropriate word, "…woodsy."

Sean laughed at my attempt. "Harper is a nature lover. He's just waiting for summer so he can plant some flowers around here; I doubt all this plain green and brown will satisfy him for long, but we couldn't exactly move to Florida. Your New England is fortunate to have a steady cloud cover for the majority of the year; it's easier for us that way. We can go to school, go out during most days, not have to wait for nightfall…"

"So, does your skin really look like diamonds when you're in the sun?" I asked.

"I think I will let you be the judge."

Hmm. So apparently we would be spending time in sun soon…

The house was a two story Cape house with natural wooden siding and a honey colored door that matched the shutters and little window boxes that were currently under a layer of ice left over from the last snowstorm. A two car garage of the same styling was attached to the right side of the house. Out of one of the three dormer windows I saw a sparkling, pale figure staring down at us crossing the frozen lawn. A flick of long black hair told me it was Lisa before I had identified her face.

About twenty feet away from the house, the front door flew open and Scarlett dashed out at an inhuman speed.

"Finally!" She burst, "We've only been waiting forever!"

I had to blink a few times to register her movements. Not only was she not limiting herself to any burdensome human velocity, but her beauty was such that to look directly at her almost hurt my eyes. The distorted light that filtered through the thick clouds over head bounced off her pale skin in the most attractive patterns. There just wasn't any part of her that wasn't beautiful.

She stopped short in her strides toward us, her face confused.

"I really can't smell her! It's incredible! It's like there's no one there, just the image…"

"Like a ghost!" Roger leaned out of the open door, his grin wide. "Boo!"

Roger and two other people I didn't recognize except for their pale skin and unrivaled beauty followed out the door and gathered around us on the lawn.

"Hello, Tessa," the woman said amiably. "We've been looking forward to meeting you! I am Alison, Sean's adopted mother."

"And I am Harper. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The couple stood close, choosing not to extend hands in greeting, a nicety I was glad for, as my frozen fingers weren't likely to make an kind of good impression with a handshake. Alison was fairly tall, probably around five eleven, if my estimations were right. I had always considered myself fairly tall at five seven, but I was literally shadowed in Alison's presence. She had stylishly short mahogany brown hair that managed to emphasize her height even more. Her husband was shorter, though it wasn't hard to be, and he had cropped light red hair. Like the rest of their family, their eyes glowed amber, a color I was learning to trust more and more.

Roger worked his way around the crowd that was forming around me to weave his fingers through Scarlett's. The gesture was unacknowledged, like it was more normal than breathing.

"You'll have to excuse the baby's impatience," he chortled, kissing Scarlett's cheek, "She's been up all night just waiting for you to show up."

"And I bet that really wore her out," Sean laughed sarcastically.

"Oh, stop talking about me like I'm not even here," Scarlett whined, cringing away from Roger's affections for the time being. "I was just excited. Can you blame me? It's the first time in fifty years I've had a new friend!"

I smiled at her feebly. The cold was getting to me quicker than the others, but of course, their skin already felt frozen.

"Umm…" I whispered, my voice shaking, "…I don't suppose we can go inside? It's a little chilly out-"

"Oh my goodness! Of course," Alison said abruptly. "Silly vampires, forgetting how cold it is, you must be freezing! Let's get you inside," she hurried to move everyone indoors.

We entered an open foyer that was simply decorated. Mainly light colors, creams, yellows and blues, decorated the walls, and a nicely modeled staircase led to the second floor where I heard a door slam closed simultaneously as we walked in the door.

"You don't have to hide up there like a bat in the attic, Leece," Roger spoke gently, as if she were standing right in front of us. "Sean wasn't exaggerating. I can't smell her at all!"

There was a moment of silence and everyone's face but my own turned to a frown. No one chose to inform me why, so I prodded, "What is it…?"

Sean looked at me and quickly changed his expression to a forced smile. "Nothing, don't worry about it." And he pulled me into the living room where several comfy-looking chairs were gathered for a sitting area, but a large, relaxed wingback by the electric fire place particularly caught my attention. It was exactly where Sean led me, and I sat down, warming up immediately by the flames.

None of the others seemed at all uncomfortable in the current setting, like literally nothing could bother them. Not the temperature, or my presence. In fact, if I watched closely, their movements were at a velocity they never would have used in normal situations, like school. It was as if the fact that I was a human, not a fellow vampire, didn't register in their reflexes. They were comfortable to just be themselves.

"Is there anything I can get for you, dear?" Alison asked. "Coffee or tea?"

"Oh, no thank you," I responded automatically. "I just ate, actually."

"Lovely," she said, her gaze dropping just a little. I glanced through the gap between her and Harper into the kitchen where I saw a tea pot and china all set up, steam rising from the lid, set on the counter, in case I had said yes.

"Then again," I said, "I might like some tea in a few minutes, when I've warmed up some more."

Her face perked up instantly at my request, "Of course, after you've warmed up."

Sean gave me a knowing look, but I just smiled back innocently.

"So," Harper began, taking a seat across from me, "Sean's told us a lot about you. He says you play the French Horn?"

"Yes, I do. That's how we met, actually." I felt odd, making small talk with vampires. I wasn't sure how to behave around them in all honesty. They all just watched me, expectantly, like I would break out into song and dance at any moment. Of course, I could have been the most interesting thing they had seen in years. I sort of doubted it, however.

"I've heard her playing," Scarlett commented. "She's pretty good, for a human. Almost as good as Annoying, over here." She gave Sean a playful nudge, who pinched her right back. "You should know, Tessa, back in the seventies, Sean decided there was nothing more he wanted to do than get accepted to the New York Symphony Orchestra. It didn't matter that he had never played the horn in his life; he picked one up and practiced for a solid month, not taking any breaks-" she paused, "-well, except for a few crucial hunting trips- and he made it in. He lost interest in the orchestra within weeks-"

"For which we all nearly killed him!" Roger laughed. "You have no idea how annoying it is to hear him practice that thing for a month straight! Cause it's not like he ever got tired of it!"

"-But he kept up his musical interest," Scarlett finished. "It's stuck with him ever since."

"And stuck with us too!" Roger exclaimed. "As in, he had to learn every instrument before I could go one night without hearing a trumpet, oboe, viola or harmonica."

I laughed. "Wow, that must have been really terrible."

"Thanks," Sean said sarcastically. "You know, as a fellow musician, you're supposed to be on my side."

"Hey, not even I would practice for that long. I don't care if you think it's cause I'm human or something, but that kind of dedication is insane."

Everyone laughed, and I felt a little more at ease.

"We love Sean's music, we really do," Harper assured me.

"Yeah, ok," Sean retorted. "Don't even pretend like you weren't in on the conspiracy to steal my saxophones."

"Dude, I'm sorry," Roger chortled, "but there is nothing more annoying than hearing a saxophone for a week straight."

"They're in a better place now," Alison assured him.

I smiled at the banter that went back and forth.

Alison reoffered me a cup of tea, and I accepted politely, following her to the kitchen. The rest of the family drifted off to different parts of the house. Roger and Harped contentedly sitting in the living room watching a football game on the mounted flat screen television above the fireplace. It sounded like Scarlett had gone upstairs. I could hear her singing a pretty, wordless tune, her voice the sweetest soprano I had ever heard. Whether she was going to try to reason with Lisa or just go about her business, I wasn't sure. I wasn't about to ask, either.

Sean followed me like a magnet, every so often placing a hand on my shoulder of knee, as if they didn't want to leave my skin. This didn't thrill me, as his touch was ice cold, as always. However, I had a warn cup of tea to counter the coolness of his fingers.

Alison stood with us in the kitchen, chatting lightly about how the family came together.

"For the longest time it was just Sean and I. He was my first friend to this new life. We met Harper around the turn of the century, and I fell in love with him in an instant." She turned to smile at the back of her husband's head. "And not long after, Roger came into our lives. We met Lisa during the fight against the Volturi, and she became part of our family as well. Scarlett's always been the baby, of course."

I heard the beautiful singsong voice upstairs called out "Not anymore!"

Alison literally glowed with happiness when she talked about her family, but there was something that seemed off about the way she spoke, almost as if it was staged. If I were to put an age to her beautiful features, it would be late twenties, early thirties. If she had never gotten the chance to have her own family in life, then this must be the closest thing to a remedy. Surely this must be the family she always wanted, what was most important to her? I didn't follow her too carefully to pinpoint what it was that disturbed me, but I did notice that she never mentioned Joseph when she talked about their history.

"How did you all become vampires?" I asked, not thinking that perhaps this was a personal question.

Alison didn't act as if it was. "Well, I can't recall when I was changed. I believe it was sometime around the civil war. I honestly don't remember any of my human life, except that my husband had gone off and died in the war, and I was alone, taking care of home, and letting rooms out to strangers who needed a place to stay. I suppose that one of these strangers thought me kind enough to grant me immortal life. At the time, there were so few humans around at all, the only things alive were animals, so that was what I consumed." She checked my expression, fearing that she would push the subject too far, but I kept my face straight and composed as possible. "The first other vampire I met was Carlisle Cullen, who had done his own service in the war as a doctor, and passed through my town on his return home. He found me, explained some of the rules of the life, how he was able to survive on animals as well, and then he parted, heading west. I decided to make my own way in New England. Not long after, I met Sean."

"I was one of the first generation of Irish-Americans," Sean explained. "My human parents came over in the 1850's. I was born and raised during the war. Then, one day I met Alison in the woods, found her hunting. She couldn't smell me, like I can't smell you. Once I learned her secret, I convinced her to change me as well."

"He wasn't just like you," Alison added. "He just didn't smell like a human. More like an animal, a sheep or a cow."

"He still smells like a cow!" Roger yelled from the other room.

"Harper was different," Alison continued. "We found him at the brink of death; a rowdy group of men had beat him and left him in the road. The blood had drawn us to him, and as I said," she smiled, "I fell in love. I couldn't let him die. Vampire venom can save any beating heart, but I gather you already knew that."

"And then you met me!" Roger yelled cheerfully from the next room, keeping himself in the conversation.

"Yes, and we've been stuck with the Happy Hooligan and his wallflower ever since," Sean remarked teasingly.

"Hey!" I heard I cry from upstairs and suddenly Scarlett was in the kitchen, pinning Sean to the tile floor with her hands around his neck. "Call me a wallflower again, I dare you!"

Sean was laughing too hard to answer.

"Oh come on, babe," Roger cooed, entering the room and wrapping his arm around Scarlett's waist to pull her off Sean. "We all know you're the most gorgeous girl around." He kissed her cheek to distract her while Sean got himself up off the floor.

"How did you become a vampire?" I asked Roger when he was done soothing his girlfriend.

"Series of unfortunate events," he said, blasé. "It just so happened that two unfriendly vampires decided to fight over my mouthwatering blood, and ended up killing each other, leaving me with two bites in my neck to change over by myself. It was by mere happenstance that Alison and Harper stumbled across me when they were traveling. That, I suppose was a rather fortunate event." He smiled.

"And none of you have a problem with the diet?" I asked. Everyone laughed a little hesitantly. "What? I think it's a reasonable question."

"It's just that you were so forward about it," Alison assured me. "Most humans would simply be grateful that we chose to find our meals elsewhere."

"I much prefer that I'll never be one of the idiots fighting over a human's blood," Roger laughed.

"I'm grateful enough that I never turned into dinner, after serving meals that were never eaten to this buffoon for so long," Scarlett smiled at the man with his arms around her waist.

Sean didn't say anything.

"It's just one of the choices that we've made," Alison added. "All of us feel stronger as a family this way. So do most others like us. Just look at the Cullens! They're the most famous of our kind, and they not only have the largest clan across the continent, but they've made alliances with werewolves, and humans alike! They're living proof that we're not the monsters of myth, and it's refreshing to know that we're part of that success.",

"I guess the Cullens are like celebrities among your kind, aren't they?" I prompted.

"Oh yeah," Roger laughed.

"There's not a civilized vampire alive who doesn't know about the Cullens," Harper commented, joining the conversation while the football game was at halftime. "We're all living in their legacy, after all."

"You already know most of the story," Sean told me. "About how they made the first stand against the Volturi, and it ended in a draw."

"Oh," Scarlett jumped, "You've read the Twilight books too? I thought they were just fantastic! Even if they did take a detour from history a little…" Sean glared at her until she stopped her rave.

"A better time for book discussion, perhaps," he said meaningfully. "Anyway, after that first gathering of vampires to aid the Cullens, the benefits of their way of life convinced almost all covens to change to the new way. Enough that the Volturi felt it a large enough danger to attack again."

"It was the worst battle in history," Alison said gravely. "I've never seen so much fire, or heard so much screaming. It was a miracle none of us died."

"You mean it's a miracle that Bella Cullen is god among us mere immortals," Roger chortled. "With her amazing skills, no one on the gold side could be touched."

A confused look on my face prompted Sean to inform me, "They call it the Red and Gold War, because of the opposing forces," He pointed to his golden eyes.

"Oh, of course," I said, nodding.

"So, continuing story time," Roger said cheerfully, "The Volturi and all their followers bit the dust, and the Romanians returned to power, but they don't interfere with us vegetarians so much. The Cullens are famous, the rest of us go home safe and sound, and with a long list of new pen pals to send Christmas cards to. End of story."

"Speaking of Christmas cards, Peter and Charlotte didn't send us one this year, do you suppose they'll be visiting soon?" Harper chimed in.

"Oh, I bet they will be, they were always the ones for surprises," Alison replied. "Of course, I would have liked a little notice as to when, if only Lisa-"

The entire room froze as her name was mentioned and I strained my ears for any sound of the girl who was sulking upstairs, for the singular reason that she hated me.

I took my cue to politely excuse myself. "Well, this has been a wonderful visit, I'm sure I'll be back sooner than you know it. I think have some homework to get to though-"

"Of course," Sean was quickly at my side. "I'll take you home."

"That's not really necessary, I mean, we did drive my car."

He smiled innocently at me. "I just want to make sure you get home safely."

"Okay, I guess…" I wouldn't push the subject, I could already sense that there was no way I could win.

The whole family smiled at me as I headed toward the front door.

"It was lovely having you over, Tessa," said Alison.

"I'll see you at school, I guess," Scarlett said with a hint of remorse to see me leaving so soon.

I flashed her a special, friendly smile. "Yes. I'll see you on Monday." Her face lit up at my promise, and I said goodbye to the rest of them. Then Sean and I were out the door.

Once we were in the car, I felt safe to talk about them. "Your family is very welcoming."

"Of course they are," he said, "They know you're a part of us now, they want you to be welcome."

I hesitated when he said "a part of us," but didn't say anything. "It was very nice to get to know most of them."

He caught my insinuation. "I'm sorry about Lisa. I warned you that she wouldn't be very friendly."

"Sean, how good is a vampire's hearing?"

He was surprised by my change of subject but answered the question anyway. "Well, we can hear pretty much everything that's said in the house, even some things outside. I can usually hear things clear across the cafeteria at school, even with all the jabber."

"So Lisa could hear everything we were saying when I was there?"

He frowned. "Yes."

"And you could also hear if she said anything."

"Yes."

"Then what did she say when I first walked into the house?" He paused, unwilling to tell me. "Please?"

"She was just being bitter. She doesn't feel safe that we're letting a human be part of our secret."

"Just tell me what she said, Sean."

He sighed. "She said that the only way to be friends with a human is if their heart stops beating."

"You mean if I died?"

"Or the other option."

"Like…?"

"Becoming one of us."

I gasped, because I suddenly realized what his plan had been all along, why I was now "part of the family."

"Look," he said quickly, "I told you: Lisa is just being bitter, it doesn't matter what she says. Let's just forget it ever happened. Until she can behave, I'm going to ignore her, and you should too."

I nodded, but I knew what would really happen. Unless Sean decided that I was going to become a vampire like the rest of them, Lisa was going to decide for him. And who knew which way her decision would go; for immortal life, or other ways.

Another quick note, I mentioned Charlotte and Peter in this chapter making a visit in the futur. I didn't actually write said visit into the story, but if you guys think I should, I'd be more than willing. Tell me what you think! Reviewwwwwwwwwwwww please :)