I dropped the drained elk, Beside me, Caleb and Sylvia finished as well. The sun was beginning to set.

"Now?" I asked. "Now." Caleb confirmed. We ran back to the house, where we checked the phone for any last-minute message indicating we should continue to stay away from humans. We had texted Carlisle to tell him of the incident the day before, but he hadn't told him about tonight. He hadn't replied yet.

Sylvia grabbed the money Carlisle had left us and put it into her pocket. If we really were successful, perhaps we could do some shopping. Now that we were able to, it would be best to buy things legally.

We ran in the direction of Seattle as the sun disappeared over the mountains. We soon arrived on top of a mountain where we could see the lights of the city. We paused for a moment, looking at our old home. Now that we were returning, how many people would we kill? We were confident that we could remain in control. There was no way we could do this otherwise. Even so, we had spent all day hunting. We had drunk more than we ever had before, except for maybe the time Riley had let us loose on the boat. Even the memory of all that human blood couldn't make my throat burn. It did make my mouth water, though.

We ran down into the city. The plan was to creep around for a bit, get used to the smell, then to go to a park for a bit where there would probably be one or two people. If we could handle that, we'd go a bit deeper. If we could handle that, we might find a store still open and get some new entertainment. If at any point it became too much, we'd run out of the city as fast as we could, taking a route that hopefully wouldn't contain too many humans.

We walked down a dark street. The smell of humans was old- nobody had been here in at least a week. My throat didn't burn at all. We came to a park- the same one we had been to when we first met up. We stuck together, in a group, in order to restrain each other. There was a homeless man asleep on a bench. I gestured to make sure the others were aware. They nodded. I took a cautious breath. The smell of human hit my nose smelling as good as ever, but it didn't burn. As we walked around the park, a drop of water hit my head. Within a few seconds it was downpouring. I frowned- the rain made everything smell stronger. Including the homeless person, who pulled a tarp over himself, completely used to this happening. We slipped into the streets around the park and wandered up and down the dark alleyways. The human smell here was a little more recent, someone had been here in the past day.

After a minute, we came across another sleeping person. I inhaled again- still no burn. It looked like we would be fine making the occasional foray into the city as long as we hunted first. The humans smelled good, but we could handle it. No problem. I turned to Caleb and Sylvia.

"You guys okay?"

Sylvia nodded. "No burn or anything. We should go deeper- find a store or something before this wears off."

Caleb nodded and we turned, heading in deeper. After a minute a car passed us on a street. Another minute we came across a small gas station with a store open 24 hours a day. Caleb opened the door and we went in. I looked around- most of the merchandise was food. Not helpful. I found a few T-shirts, and we grabbed them. Ours were pretty battered. There were a couple books as well. It wouldn't last us long, but this was sort of a test run. If we didn't kill anybody, maybe we could try again somewhere else. We brought it up to the counter and the worker eyed us, not used to beautiful homeless people in his store. Sylvia pulled out a few of the smaller bills Carlisle had given us and handed them to the cashier. It felt a little odd to be making ordinary contact with humans like this after so long hunting them or avoiding them. I'm not sure if the lost hiker thing counted as ordinary. We stepped back outside into the pouring rain.

"Do we go back or go deeper?" Caleb asked once we were out.

"Let's end on a good note." Sylvia suggested. "I'm starting to feel the burn come back. It's only barely noticeable, but I don't want to push our luck."

We went down a different street than we had to get here, now a little more confident, but still wary. We approached the door of an abandoned building where a smallish human was hunched under the eaves to stay out of the rain. We were soaking, but it made no difference to us because we could no longer get cold. Caleb was in the lead and walked past the person. Sylvia followed him. I was right behind her, but as I walked by the human looked up and met my gaze. He froze. I froze. I heard his heart stutter, and Caleb and Sylvia did too, turning around.

"Kristi-" Caleb warned, afraid I was about to attack. Sylvia saw the face of the boy and froze as well. Caleb looked at the three of us in confusion. All of this happened in two seconds, and I only noticed the others in the back of my mind. I stared at the boy's young, familiar face, his blond hair messy, and shadows under his blue eyes that were filled with shock.

"Kristi?" he whispered. His voice was from a different lifetime.

"Brandon." I whispered, too frozen with shock to say anything else. The boy leapt to his feet and threw his arms around me, sobbing. My breath hitched in my throat. Was this the vampire equivalent of crying? I didn't even flinch from the close contact with the human. But Caleb did.

"Careful!" he said. "What is going on?"

I shook my head, unable to reply. Sylvia answered his question for me.

"That's Brandon… Kristi's little brother."

"...Oh." Caleb said, surprised. "Is that safe?"

Sylvia frowned, worried. "I think so. I'm not sure. I barely feel a burn, I think she's handling it. As long as she doesn't crush him."

Memories flooded through my mind. They were dark, fuzzy, from my human life. In the back of my mind, Sylvia's words registered. I wasn't thirsty, but I could crush him. My cold, hard skin probably freaked him out, but he didn't let go. I gently pulled him off of me and held him at arm's length.

"What happened to you?" I asked. He smiled sadly. "I could ask the same… But yeah, a lot has happened."

"Why are you here? You should be at home. This isn't safe." I said.

"I know. I've been living like this for a few days."

"Days?" I hissed. "What happened?"

"Well… first you disappeared. Of course, we all assumed you were dead. The murders and such going on...we thought you were victims. Your names might have shown up in the paper." Sylvia and I winced. Yes, we had been victims. Only we were a few of the lucky victims who became the murderers.

"Of course, we were all really upset." Brandon took a shaky breath. "Things started to get a little better after a few months. We were coping with it for a few weeks… and then a few days ago Mom and Dad were driving up to Forks to visit a friend or something. They got into a car crash and got stuck at the hospital there. Then it was just too much… I ran away."

I gave him another hug. He tensed a little. "Thanks. You're really cold… are you sick or something?"

I winced. "Yeah… or something. Have you seen Mom and Dad since the crash?"

They had to be okay. They just had to.

"Yeah, they're hanging in there. They'll feel better once they know you're alive. Even though you're… different. You actually kinda look like one of the doctors there. What happened to you?"

I frowned. "What do you mean, I look like one of the doctors?"

"White skin, gold eyes, shadows under your eyes, face like a supermodel."

I snorted at his description, but my mind was racing.

"Carlisle." Sylvia said at the exact instant my mind made the connection. "We know the doctor. We should visit your parents."

"Um, Sylvia, first of all I'm not sure about that. Second, we're talking about a hospital. You can see why that isn't a good idea?" I said, mentally willing her to make the connection. A hospital is where people go when they're injured and usually bleeding. Sylvia sighed.

"I know, but we'll have to risk it. Brandon's right, knowing you're alive could be what helps them pull through." Of course, I had forgotten Sylvia's talents. She could see what had happened in the months after we vanished, and she could see the aftermath of the accident.

"It's bad, isn't it? Really bad." I said, turning back to Brandon. He hesitated.

"I don't really… yeah, I think so."

"They must already be weak after losing you." Sylvia put in. I understood the 'must' was for Brandon's benefit. She was right- I couldn't let my parents think I was dead any longer. They were dying, but they would live when I returned this hope to them.

"Thank you, Brandon… we really have to go." I said. The sooner we contacted Carlisle the better.

"No!" he cried, grabbing my arm. "You can't leave me here. I don't want to go home without any of you there. Take me with you."

Caleb and Sylvia stiffened. "Kristi…" Caleb cautioned, "I'm not sure that would be safe. Especially after a few days."

My mind raced. How could I fix this? I really couldn't leave him here. I desperately wanted to take him home with us, for him to be my brother again. But we could end up killing him.

"Why don't we do it just for a few days?" I asked. "We can figure out what to do with him after we talk to Carlisle."

"What do you mean, 'figure out what to do with him'?" Brandon interrupted. "Why can't I stay with you? Where are you staying, anyway?"

I sighed. "Brandon, I know this is all really weird. Believe me, I would love to tell you exactly what is going on. You'll just have to trust me. There is a reason for all of this."

"Why can't you tell me?" he demanded. "I can keep a secret."

"Brandon," Sylvia said, "It's not so much that you can keep a secret. It's just that knowing the secret will put you in danger. You'll have to change like us to stay safe."

Brandon looked at us. "So? You're alive. I can't leave you again. Big deal, I look different."

"It's a lot more than skin and eye color, Brandon." Caleb warned. "We can't tell you what else changes or you'll have to change."

"Maybe not…" Sylvia said cautiously. Her eyes were unfocused- she was looking at memories she had collected. "It was an accident they learned that Bella knew. I think there are more people than we know who know the secret without being one of us. They weren't originally planning on changing Bella, but they found out and they have to now. If they find us, we can promise we'll change him. Only if we have to." Sylvia almost seemed to be pleading with us. Why would she do that?

Caleb looked at Brandon, who did his best to look innocent and trustworthy. "All right, we can give it a shot. Only if you're okay with it, Kristi."

I considered for a moment. Would my brother be able to handle my world? It could scare him at first… but he would deal with it if it meant he could stay with me. After he got over the shock, it might even think it was cool. He would beg to be changed into a vampire.

I sighed. Why was life so complicated? We would have to be very careful- hunt daily, and keep Brandon away from all sharp objects. We could do it- we had proved it with the hiker and the trip into the city.

"You can come with us." I told him. He sighed in relief. "Thank you." he said, hugging me again. I turned to Caleb and Sylvia.

"Do we tell him back at home or here while he can still run?"

"The house." Sylvia suggested. "This might take a while, and if it does we don't want to be caught in daylight." Brandon frowned, and I saw gears turning in his head as he considered the possible meanings of her statement.

"Okay, let's go. Do you have anything you want to take with you?" I asked Brandon. He shook his head. "I can go now."

"Follow us." Caleb said, and we continued down the dark alleyway out of the city. Caleb and Sylvia led the way, with Brandon and me following. At first he seemed nervous, but our obvious fearlessness soon calmed him down. He commented on it as we walked.

"You know, most people are scared of walking down dark alleyways at night." he muttered to me. "What are you guys?"

I smiled grimly. "I suppose increased confidence is one of the perks of being us. You're right, we aren't afraid of anybody who would try to give us trouble here… I'd almost like to see them try."

Brandon looked impressed and a little shocked by my answer. "You weapon dealers or something?" I laughed. I'd forgotten how funny he was and how much I missed him in the fog of my human memories. "Not even close. But I'll tell you this- it is really dangerous for you to stay with us. Really dangerous. We'll all be taking extra precautions, but even so you could die."

"Why, you have ugly friends back at home who might not like me much?"

I snorted. "None of our friends are ugly. And the three of us live alone. But hopefully you will only be staying with us for only a few days and the doctor can figure something out."

He sighed. "You really don't want me? Why are you trying to get rid of me?"

I put my hand on his shoulder. "Believe me, I wish you could stay with us forever. Literally. But when a small mistake could get you killed… it's not a good idea to push our luck."

"So, I could get killed, but nobody else lives with you? Is the house storage for bombs or something?"

"The house is fine."

"Then what would kill me?" he said, confused.

I bit my lip. "This is the part where you might want to run away screaming. One of us would kill you."

Brandon frowned. "But you would protect me, right?"

"I hope so. If the wrong accident happens, I might be the one to kill you."

His brow furrowed, and he now looked a little apprehensive. I let him think for a moment. I wouldn't like it if he had said he might kill me in the near future.

"But why?" he asked.

"When you hunt, it doesn't matter who it is who is about to die. You forget everything… but we're trying to be different. Believe me, if we were normal, you would already be dead. Sorry."

"Again, hunt? Kill? What have you become? You used to be against violence in any way, shape, or form."

"You'll find out when we're back at the house. The only reason we're different is because we do hate violence. It might even be the reason we're still alive."

"What, there were more of you?"

"Yep. We liked peace, so our enemies who are actually the good guys let us go. We trust them more than we trusted those we lived and fought with. It was a risk coming home every day. Again, we're really lucky we survived. We were almost destroyed a few times."

"We spilling the beans on everything, Kristi?" Caleb called back.

"Why not?" I replied. "If he knows the big secret, he won't get in any more trouble by knowing a few smaller ones. They aren't really secrets, but they'll help him understand what he's really dealing with."

Caleb made no further comment.

"You disappeared during the time when all those people were being murdered." Brandon prodded.

"Yes. It has everything to do with that. We were victims, but they changed us into the perpetrators. We got lucky."

"You mean, you actually did kill people? It would almost be better if you were dead!"

I winced. "That's kinda the point. And that's what the people who used to be our enemies kind of thought too. That's why we're different. Yes, we killed people, but we didn't have a choice. We didn't know any other way. We were horrified by what we'd become. Like I said, we're different. We haven't mastered it yet, we've only been trying for a month, actually. But the others… if worst comes to worst, I'm fairly sure you could live with them and not be killed. They have someone like you who practically lives with them. But she will become one of them soon."

"She wants to become a killer?"

"Not a killer. She wants to be different, too. In fact, as far as I can tell, she's afraid of how many times she'll slip up. But nobody in their family has killed in decades."

"Decades? How old are they?"

"Here's the thing- the doctor you met is their leader. The oldest. He's never killed anybody."

"He's the oldest, at thirty at the latest, but his younger family members haven't killed in decades?"

"You'll understand when you learn the secret. I can't say more right now. We're going to start running now."

We had followed Sylvia and Caleb out of the city during the course of the conversation and I smelled our scent from a few hours before.

"Run? Are we trying to escape or something?"

"No, it's just faster and more convenient." Caleb said, turning. "We'll have to find a way for you to keep up…"

"How about Brandon rides on Kristi's back?" Sylvia suggested.

"Good idea." I agreed. "But first, let's only run a short distance. Brandon, this is one of the things that makes us different from you. If you want to run away, let me know, and I'll take you back to the city."

"Okay…" Brandon said apprehensively as I knelt so he could get on my back. "But what about your friend… Sorry, what's your name?"

"I'm Caleb." Caleb replied.

"Yeah, him. I thought you couldn't carry me? If you're running, how can you possibly keep up with them?"

I grinned. "I love being me most of the time. Watch and learn, little brother." I gestured for him to get on. He put his hands on my shoulders.

"You sure?"

"You're going to want to hold on tighter than that. Go ahead and stick your arms around my neck, you won't strangle me." I grabbed his legs and stood up. He felt no heavier than a very light backpack. "Let's go. Brandon, let me know if you want to stop. You can watch if you want, but I would recommend closing your eyes."

He kept his eyes open. I sighed. "Okay, go." Caleb and Sylvia seemed to vanish. Brandon said "Whoa" but I started running a second after them. I ran at full speed for ten seconds, then slowed to a stop. "You still good?" I checked with Brandon. He nodded. "That was awesome. I really miss you, Kristi. This is a really weird dream."

I laughed darkly. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. But it's not a dream. I learned that when I learned I would never wake up again."

"That sounds really morbid. Are you dead? The undead? Like a zombie?"

"No. Unfortunately, that was your closest guess so far. You still coming?"

"Okay." I broke back into a run, holding tight to Brandon, but not very tight considering my actual strength. We caught up to Caleb and Sylvia, who had paused to wait and see if we were coming. They broke into a run beside me.

"How can you see anything?" Brandon yelled as we darted through the forest.

"We have good eyesight."

"You wear glasses. And good eyesight doesn't help when you go too fast to see things in the first place." He went silent for a moment, thinking. "Is that why your eyes are gold? Magic contacts?"

"No contacts. And I'm fairly sure it's not really magic involved."

"I meant for that to be a sarcastic comment. You're fairly sure?"

We slowed down. We had reached the house. "Yes, fairly sure." I replied. "You okay? Motion sick or anything?"

Brandon slid off my back, then crumpled to his knees. "Uh-huh… just a sec." he moaned.

"I really hope we don't kill him." Sylvia said quietly. Brandon couldn't hear, but I could.

"We won't. We'll have to be really careful. Just a few days until we can contact Carlisle."

"How'd you hear what she said?" Brandon mumbled.

"We have good hearing." Caleb replied. Brandon snorted.

"Of course you do. This is a really cool dream, I hope I never wake up. I didn't know I was this creative."

"When you figure out this isn't a dream, you'll be begging to wake up." I growled.

"Uh-huh."

"We've all killed people. This isn't all cool."

"What are you?"

I exchanged glances with Caleb and Sylvia. "Do you think it would be better if we told him or made him guess?" I asked. Sylvia thought for a moment. "Make him guess." she suggested.

I turned back to Brandon, who had gotten up off the ground and was brushing himself off. "Your undead zombie guess was the closest." I said. "Maybe you can figure it out from there. But some of what you know about us isn't true. Most of it is, though."

I took a few steps back from him so my closeness wouldn't freak him out if he realized what we were.

"Okay, what have I noticed so far?" he asked.

"Cold, hard skin, gold eyes, speed, good hearing and eyesight, strength, fearlessness for everything except ourselves killing you, and we look like supermodels." Sylvia rattled off. She frowned. "I suppose I mentioned we didn't want to be caught it daylight too. And remember the fact that the doctor is different like us. Most of us are completely baffled as to how he has enough control to work in a hospital. But it's a good thing- his enhanced senses help save lots of lives."

Brandon was silent for a moment. "You said part of what I know is myth."

"Speaking of which," I interrupted, "I did also make that comment about never waking up again. That proves some of the myths aren't true. The most important and commonly known stuff involves the day thing and the doctor thing." I hinted. Brandon nodded.

"I'm scared but this is also starting to feel like twenty questions. You mentioned you don't kill people, but you still mentioned something about extra hunting."

"Animals." I clarified. "Here's another clue- our eyes are gold because of the animals. If we went back to people, our eyes would be red." I frowned. "I think I said too much. How do I explain without giving it all away?"

"Don't worry, you lost me with the eyes thing." Brandon said. "Why don't I just go through all the myths I know? Are you some sort of gods, Greek, Roman, Egyptian or something?"

I snorted. "No. But Riley did tell us we were once. Riley 'babysat' us and around twenty others. We were created by someone named Victoria, but that means nothing to you."

"Okay… superheroes?"

"No. Try thinking more along the lines of the bad guys." I suggested.

"Okay, not zombies. Is it a futuristic thing? Zombie apocalypse, robots sort of thing?"

"Nope. Our kind have been around a really long time."

"Ghosts?"

"Closer."

"Werewolves?"

I smiled nervously. "Even closer. I might have fought a few, but that's not us."

"You fought a few? Seriously? I'll admit that openly admitting werewolves exist freaks me out more than the changes I've seen."

"Then maybe you should stop guessing. Just go with it." I suggested.

"That bad?"

"I'm sorry, the burn is coming back a little." Sylvia said. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I barely feel it, just being careful." She vanished into the woods and Brandon watched carefully.

"Burn?" he asked. "What burn?"

"Um… it indicates… we haven't hunted in a while, I guess."

"Like fire?"

"It feels like it if it gets too bad."

"So… like you're being burned? Like a witch?"

"No. Just…" I hesitated. "on our throats."

"Burning throats. Like your neck is on fire or like you're thirsty?"

I swallowed nervously. "The second one."

"And it indicates you haven't hunted… animals, people…" he muttered to himself. "Thirsty… but what could you possibly..." he froze, eyes wide, and slapped his hand to his neck. I backed away a few steps.

"But… you smiled…" he stuttered. I grimaced. He had it, but the absence of fangs was throwing him off.

"Some parts are myth." I reminded him gently. "Don't be afraid, we really are trying our best to keep you alive."

"You know what I guessed. Am I right?" he asked, looking back and forth between the two of us. He backed into a tree.

"If you would prefer to run away screaming, let me know and I'll take you back to Seattle so you don't get lost." I offered. He shook his head slowly. I sighed sadly. "I know I can keep in control long enough to get you back." I said.

"No… it's okay, I believe you. I can handle it… just give me a moment, I learned that my older sister isn't dead, and she's actually…" He shook his head. "I think I've just received a lot of shocking news today. Tonight. Whatever." He leaned against the tree, and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths. After maybe three minutes he seemed to calm down. He opened his eyes, and returned to his joking tone of voice.

"Nothing would surprise me anymore unless I found out you have a vampire boyfriend or something." I noticed it was the first time any of us had said 'vampire' aloud.

Caleb suddenly started coughing. "I think the thirst is getting to me too." he mumbled, then ran into the forest after Sylvia. Brandon watched him go.

"Wait… WHAT?" he shrieked.

"Um. Not really. Maybe a little." I protested. "You seem to be okay with the vampire thing, but not this? It's really not a big deal. I guess we've saved each other's lives a couple of times."

"Yeah, but-"

"Can we just forget about it?" I blurted, darting forward and putting my hand over his mouth. I realized my mistake a second later.

"Oops. Sorry. I'll stand over here." I muttered, darting back to the other end of the small clearing.

"It's fine. I know you're trying. But you're only seventeen! Actually, never mind, it's impressive you've managed to go this long." He said thoughtfully.

"I don't even know if I'm seventeen." I protested. "We stop aging when we transform. That's why the doctor is the oldest and the others still haven't killed in decades. The doctor is like three centuries old or something, but he's only twenty-three. I turned seventeen during the process, so I'm not sure it counts."

"Wasn't your birthday the day after you disappeared? Were you… transformed… before or after midnight?"

"You know, it might have been after. Sylvia and I were out pretty late. That makes me feel a lot better. I'd rather spend the rest of my… existence… seventeen than sixteen"

"And, you said you birthday could have passed during the transformation process."

"It usually lasts about three days. But the pain… Imagine your entire body on fire. Then multiply the pain by a hundred. Make it last three days, then add the fact that you're aware the entire time. Not unconscious. You feel everything, hear everything. It isn't something I would wish on anyone. And then the pain gets even more unbearable as it leaves your legs and arms and gets your heart… and it stops beating. Then your throat starts burning."

"Ouch."

"Understatement of the year."

"So, what else can you do? As vampires, I mean." he asked curiously, but also hesitantly.

"Better speed, strength, reflexes, sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste. Our skin is unbreakable. No human could possibly hurt us. The only way we can be killed is if another vampire or werewolf tears us to pieces and burns us. I know from experience, unfortunately."

"You killed a vampire?"

"No!" I cried, shocked by the idea. "The only things I have ever killed were food. But I've seen lots of vampires killed. I almost got killed myself. See, most vampires are really crazy when they first wake up. It lasts months. They're called newborns, and they're stronger than mature vampires because their own human blood still lingers and gives them strength. It lasts about a year. And most of them are completely ruled by their instincts. They get upset easily, their emotions take over, and they get into lots of fights. A few of us have a little more sense than others and can restrain ourselves somewhat. That's why the three of us are still alive. We were created to form an army to destroy this other coven of vampires, except it turns out what our creator really wanted is revenge on this particular human that stayed with the coven.

I started to tell him what had happened during the first months of my new life, and about our special abilities. He was impressed when I showed him my invisibility thing. When I was just finishing mentioning how Carlisle helped us go, Sylvia returned.

"Hi. Seeing as you're talking about Carlisle, I assume Brandon guessed right?"

"Wait, Carlisle? Didn't you say that was Doctor Cullen's name?" Brandon checked. "I'm sorry, I've only seen him once but I really can't picture him fighting vampires."

"You could." Sylvia said, referring to her ability to show others memories. I rolled my eyes. "No, Sylvia, I'm fairly sure he doesn't need that image in his head. Actually, could you explain to him about the Volturi? I'd like to hunt. If it's okay with you, just a precaution." I checked with Brandon.

"Sure, that's fine."

"Okay, where did you leave off?" Sylvia asked. I closed my eyes and she checked all the memories of our conversation, chuckling and wincing a few times.

"Okay, got it. You can go now." she said when she had finished. I checked to make sure Brandon wasn't afraid of being left alone with her, but he seemed fine. I bounded into the forest, following Caleb's scent. I soon found him. He grinned when he saw me.

"Sorry. Hope he didn't give you any trouble."

I chuckled at the memory. "He was trying to make a joke, so he was surprised when he realized it wasn't. He forgave me after a minute, when he mentioned it was pretty impressive I had managed to stay out of this sort of thing until I was seventeen. Then I told him I was never going to get any older than seventeen, and he kind of forgot about it."

"Okay. So, changing the subject, are we going with the hunt often strategy? I assume we're not going for endurance right now."

I shuddered at the thought of Brandon's smell when I got thirstier, and what would come of it. "That sounds about right. Maybe every few hours, but only one or two animals or we'll run out. We might feel a little burn, but we won't really be thirsty. We handled the hiker pretty well, as long as Brandon doesn't cut himself I think we'll be fine."

"You sound like you're trying to reassure yourself."

"Maybe I am. Maybe this was the wrong decision." I murmured.

"Look, it will be fine. We might have to keep our distance, and the three of us should stick together to restrain ourselves, but I think we can do this. Who knows, maybe this experience will help add to our control."

I smiled. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

"Sort of. More like what you keep yourself from killing."

"Technically, that's not true, because drinking blood does strengthen us."

"Well, he'll still make us stronger, just not in the literal sense. Mentally."

"That sounds right." I agreed. I closed my eyes, listening, and heard the heartbeats of a couple large animals. Mountain goats. "Let's go." I said, opening my eyes.

A few minutes later, we returned to the house. Brandon was still alive.

"You good?" I checked, both for his benefit and Sylvia's. They both nodded.

"I'm going to see if I can get a hold of Carlisle." I told them, stepping into the house. I picked up the phone and checked to see if he had sent anything. He hadn't yet, but he should soon- the hiker incident was not the sort of thing he would ignore. I texted him, asking to call us as soon as he could. I couldn't exactly send everything I needed to say in one message.

I came back outside. Brandon and Sylvia were sitting across from each other on the ground, talking. Brandon absentmindedly picked blades of grass and shredded them as she talked. Caleb leaned against a tree a few feet away. I looked at the little scene with happiness. This was my family now. My brother seemed to be accepting my strange new world, willing to take anything to be able to stay with me. We had always been close as brother and sister, there had never been much rivalry. He especially was very supportive of me, and of people in general. I shuddered at the thought of what he must have felt when he believed I was dead. The funny thing was, I had never been afraid of death itself. Of course, I certainly liked living much more, but I was always more afraid for my friends and family and how it would affect them as opposed to what would happen to me. Unfortunately, my fears seemed to be justified. My parents had been in a car crash and them believing I was gone probably wasn't helping.

I looked up at the sky and told myself to think of happier things until Carlisle called and I could do something about it. It wouldn't help anyone if I worried when there wasn't anything I could do to fix it. The sky was beginning to change, get lighter. Sunrise was coming. The birds sang cheerfully in the trees. I wondered what kinds they were. Someday I would have to find that out. It wouldn't be hard, my new and improved vampire mind could easily memorize things as simple as bird calls.

I noticed the conversation had gone silent. Brandon was still absentmindedly shredding a blade of grass. I smiled and walked to him at a human pace, offering my hand. He took it and I swung him onto my back and darted up a tree. I reached the top and set him down on a branch. He laughed in delight when he saw where he was, and I heard the soft movements of Caleb and Sylvia as they joined us. We perched there for a while, watching the sunrise.