Chapter 9

When I was a little kid, we had a butterfly bush in the corner of our yard. Every spring it would bloom in an explosion of beautiful purples and blues. Hundreds of butterflies would land on the flowers, making the plant seem alive and magical. It fluttered without the slightest hint of a breeze and created a whirlwind of every color imaginable.

Every day I would lay down right in front of the bush, so my head was just barely brushing the soft green leaves. I had this thought that maybe if I stayed still enough, a butterfly would think I was the bush and land on me instead. I thought the bush held the magic, and I wanted to feel it for myself.

The years passed, the spring times rolled by, and the butterflies always landed on the bush. Eventually I gave up, and instead contented to enjoy the peace and watch the bush come to life from my little vantage point.

It was only after I had given up that my wish came true. The butterfly was small and light blue, with wings so delicate that it seemed like a strong gust of wind would turn them to dust. It landed right on my nose. It fluttered its tiny wings a few times and then settled. I was frozen, commanding my eyes to refrain from blinking. I think I started to feel the magic creeping towards me, or maybe I just imagined it; either way it was short lived.

A few seconds later, I sneezed. It was an almighty sneeze, not just scaring away the little blue butterfly, but making the entire bush of butterflies take flight into the sky. All those years of waiting and it was over before I even had the chance to enjoy it.

When Edward and I walk back into the clearing, the Cullens are perched on my nose. They seem content for the moment to pull me into their arms and tell me how worried they were, but I'm still waiting for the sneeze. My senses are on red alert, trying to detect any invisible specks of dust that could ruin everything.

I notice that Jasper seems the most cautious out of all the Cullens. His eyes never leave Alice when she is within a few feet of me. His muscles seem taut; ready to react at a moments notice. I study his movements and expressions carefully; if he decides that I'm too big of a threat to his mate, I need to be the first to know.

I see Rosalie out of the corner of my eye. She's sitting so still on the opposite side of the clearing that she blends in with the rock she's balanced on. In all the hustle of my return, I failed to notice that her arms weren't part of our giant group hug. I mentally rebuke myself for focusing too much on what was happening right in front of me and not taking in my surroundings.

Emmett notices me looking over at her and smiles. "She'll come around eventually, I promise," he says softly. I nod and try not to let her bother me, but I can't stop worrying. My secret is out now. The Cullens know the thing that I've managed to keep hidden for a century. For the most part I couldn't be happier that they are the ones that found out, but I just can't trust Rosalie yet. She must be a good person seeing as she lives in a coven with six other vegetarian vampires, but so far she hasn't let me see past her ice queen act.

I shake off my worries as best as I can and refocus on the Cullens in front of me. I can tell they all really want to ask questions, but none of them know how to start. I decide to give them a little nudge. "So, I can control fire," I say nonchalantly.

I guess that was all they needed because they all start talking at once. Then they all stop, meaning to let someone else talk. Then they all start up again. It's one of those awkward moments when you can't do anything but laugh it off.

Carlisle dominates the conversation, his thirst for knowledge unquenchable. I answer all his questions as best as I can, but some I haven't ever thought of. I find myself really enjoying talking with him. Everything I've learned about myself or my gifts have been the product of experiments within my own mind. I realize now how limited my education has been without any outside thoughts to provoke my own.

Carlisle and I probably would have continued talking for days, and I imagine we will pick up our discussion where we left off some time in the near future. But, of course, Emmett, being the impatient immortal creature he is, interrupts after only a few minutes.

He wants to know more about my gift specifically; if I can make fire or only control that which is already present. Rather than discussing the matter in depth, which he seems to have no tolerance for, I decide to give everyone a little demonstration.

Before I do anything, though, I put up a thick shield between me and the Cullens. I can't take any chances. With the close proximity, a little gust of wind is all it would take for disaster to strike, again.

Edward is the closest to me; his hand is within a few inches of brushing mine. I make the shield stronger around him. It's not like the solid wall I threw up hastily before, though. With most of my focus devoted on the shield, it is much more advanced. It's more like a piece of clothing than a wall and it follows their movements without ever inhibiting them.

The more I increase my shield around Edward, the stronger it gets. It's a very foreign feeling to me because having shields up usually drains me of energy very quickly. But it's like this shield wants to exist. It takes almost no brain power to completely surround and protect him.

I ignore it for now and focus on the Cullens. Emmett seems to be taking after Alice and is bouncing in anticipation.

I curl my fingers into tight fists and hold them out in front of me. I let the smallest bit of fire out into my palms, but not enough that the flames will be seen. Smoke slithers through my fingers and evaporates into the air. I open my right hand and the freed fire twist merrily along my skin. I give it a little fuel and it shoots skyward. I open my other hand now and let its fire match the size of the other. I let the fires smolder for a few moments before clenching my fists again and drawing most of the fire back inside me. I leave a small flame inside my right hand. I stretch out my pointer finger and let the fire dance right to the tip. With a slight jerk of my hand I throw the mini fire ball to my left hand. I juggle it back and forth a few times, and then I add a few more fire balls. After a few moments I catch each one in my closed fist and smother the flames. I let the last one land on my pointer finger again. I raise it close to my face and blow it out with a quick puff of air.

I definitely am being a bit of a show-off, but I can't help it. I've never been able to show anyone what I can do. I find that I actually enjoy it; their awed faces give me surges of adrenaline.

With all the fire tucked safely away, I release the shield over the Cullens. For the most part, it snaps back around me like a rubber-band. But the shield I put around Edward seems reluctant to be drawn away. It takes more energy for me to pull it away from him than it did to hold it there. With a firm command from my mind, it breaks away from him. My shoulders slump for some reason unknown to me, and I see his do the same out of the corner of my eye.

Can he feel my shield around him? No, I tell myself. That's impossible. It's completely invisible to everyone but me. But his brows are furrowed, and his hand is reaching out into thin air, as if trying to grasp the wind. As much as I want to, I can't ask him about it now in front of everybody. I'll have to wait until we're alone.

Emmett's voice interrupts my thoughts. "Wow," he says simply, his eyes so wide I can't see his eye lids.

From across the meadow we all hear Rosalie growl softly. She unfreezes herself and stalks into the woods towards the house. I can practically feel the coldness from where I'm standing. I shiver involuntarily.

Emmett looks completely torn. I can tell he wants to follow her; his feet seem to be trying to lead him away. Yet he is still facing me, his mind demanding more answers. It's a rather comical sight, and if I weren't so concerned about Rosalie I would have laughed. I tuck the image away to revisit at a less stressful time.

"You should follow her," I tell Emmett gently, "you can ask me whatever you want later."

He shakes his head. "No, frankly she's being really stupid. She's always had problems with trusting people, but this just goes above and beyond. I don't really want to talk to her right now."

I smile, but it probably looks more like a grimace. I haven't physically hurt them, but my mere presence is creating a rift between them.

It's awkwardly silent for a moment until Jasper hesitantly asks about why Edward couldn't follow me at first. Everyone seems relieved to have moved onto a lighter topic.

"I put up a kind of shield, or a wall I guess, to protect you from the fire," I say.

"Wait, you have another power?" demands Emmett.

"Not really. I already explained this to Edward, but it's just something that is necessary because of my true gift." They all look like they want to say more so I hold up my hand and tell them to watch.

Just like before, I put up a shield between us. Then I let some fire escape and dance along the barrier that protects my skin. This time, rather than juggling, I flex my mind like a muscle. The shield pulls away from my skin, and the fire goes with it. The fire now seems to be floating in mid air.

"There's a shield that covers my skin that protects me from the fire I create. If it weren't there I would be harmed by fire just like the rest of you. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize how bad that would be. As it turns out, the shield blocks any physical attacks, not just fire," I say to the general amazement of the vampires around me. Their eyes are trained on the floating fire, as if in a trance. I pull back my shield and smother the fire. Their heads snap up, the trance broken.

"That's not what happened before," says Jasper astutely. "That fire completely surrounded you. There was no space in between the wall you put up and your body."

"That's because it was a different shield."

"Let me get this straight," says Jasper, "You can control fire, you have a shield that you can conjure out of nowhere, and you have that mental shield that blocks all of our gifts from working on you?"

I shrug and nod as if to say that's pretty much the gist. Jasper rocks back onto his heels. His breath leaves him in a strong gust.

Little Alice, who has been shockingly silent, finally speaks up. She wants to know about my mental shield. "Can you move that one as well?" she asks excitedly, "Because if you moved it maybe I could finally see you."

"It's much harder to control. I haven't had much practice; I found out about it a relatively short time ago," I say. I think she realizes that I didn't really answer her question.

"What do you mean?" asks Carlisle.

"Well, I've spent most of my life either alone or with humans. The mental shield I have wasn't useful because I didn't associate anyone whose powers I needed to block. I finally found out about it when I crossed paths with a vampire with a gift. He could sense pain in people, whether it was physical pain in humans or emotional pain in vampires. According to him, no one is ever without pain. The pain that arises from loss or injury stays with us forever, though it becomes less prominent with the passing of time. He told me it was as if I didn't exist because I was experiencing no pain. I knew without a doubt that that was untrue, so I began to try to find out why. The vampire was curious about me, I could tell, but I made up some excuse involving losing my memory and left. It took a while after that encounter, but I eventually found out about the shield that protects my mind."

"So, can you move it?" demands Alice impatiently.

I think Edward senses my hesitation because he comes to my rescue. "It's been a long day, Alice. Why don't we head home and we can discuss more of this later," he says softly.

I smile gratefully at him and ignore Alice's pouting. Jasper tucks her under his arm and begins to tow her back towards the house. The others follow behind, leaving just Edward and me standing in the clearing. Edward grabs my hand and we start walking slowly through the woods.

The fire from his touch spreads through me as usual, but this time I feel a sort of tugging in my mind along with it. It's kind of like before when I felt Edward pounding on my shield. I try to ignore it, but the feeling never dissipates. I'm very curious, so I focus on my mind and locate where the tugging is originating. When I realize that it's the part of my brain that controls my physical shield, my curiosity grows.

I relax my mind and focus on the feeling. I slowly pull back my control and let the feeling take over. It acts like an instinct that tries to control my rational thought. The instant I relinquish some control, my mind flexes of its own accord and a shield, more powerful than I've ever been able to create, springs forth. It wraps itself around Edward, surrounding him completely. Energy surges through me and my mind finally relaxes.

My eyes are wide and it takes me a moment to realize that I've frozen in the middle of the forest. It takes me another moment to realize that Edward has frozen too. He turns to face me with questions burning in his eyes.

"What is that?" he breathes.

"You can feel it?"

"I can feel something."

"It's my shield. I guess you felt it before when I was showing Emmett my power, but this time I didn't mean to put it up. It's as if my mind needs to protect you, just as I need to protect myself. I'm sorry, this has never happened to me before," I say, still in awe of what happened.

"Don't be sorry. It's warm, like a blanket. I feel safe and content, and I feel more connected with you," he says and wraps his arms around me.

With my shield around him, the fire is ten times more powerful. I gasp as the energy fills me, and have to focus to keep control. He hums quietly, as if he too can feel the effects. We embrace for a few more glorious moments until Edward freezes. About a hundred feet in front of us, I see Alice freeze as well. She gasps and spins around to face us. Her eyes are wide and dancing with emotions I cannot place. Edward growls.

Before I can ask what's happening, Edward and Alice have taken off in a dead sprint. I quickly catch up to them, but the other Cullens lag behind us, unable to match our speed.

"Edward," I start, and he answers me before I can even ask the question.

"It's Rosalie," he growls, "She's calling the Volturi."

His words hit me with the strength of a freight train. It's a miracle that I'm able to keep running. My heart is pounding so loud in my ears that I can't hear anything else. Volturi. Volturi. The word echoes through my brain. My thoughts are frantic and uncontrollable.

The Volturi are the reason behind my secrecy. In the beginning of my vampire life, I was blissfully unaware of the vampire royalty. I kept my secret because I was ashamed of what I could do, and I wanted to pretend that I was normal. It wasn't until my first encounter with an immortal being that I realized that secrecy was more vital than I ever imagined. The vampire I met was on the run from the Volturi. He had a power they wanted, and they would go to any lengths to capture him and force him to join the guard. His power was the only thing keeping him safe. He could fly. I think he sensed that I had a gift because he grabbed onto my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes. He told me in a whisper to do anything in my power to maintain secrecy. His voice was haunting, the desperation in his words tangible. His words became the mantra that I lived by, and until now, I have honored his pleas. But now, everything is crashing down. The Volturi know about me.

Edward grabs onto my shoulder, and the fire is the only thing that could break me from my thoughts. "We still have time. She hasn't called yet," he says. His words are a life line and I hang onto them with all my strength.

I make a sound that is half a sob and half a growl, and push my legs as fast as possible. Edward matches my speed, but little Alice fall behind us, her little legs too short to match our strides.

We're going faster than when we raced in the clearing, faster than I've ever run before. The Cullen's house appears in the distance and I push myself even faster. We reach the house in a matter of seconds. Edward opens the door so forcefully that it rips off the hinges. I don't know where Rosalie is, but Edward can hear her mind. I follow him as he dashes up the stairs and down the hall.

When we are a few steps away from the last door, I hear her voice ring out.

"Aro, did you send her?"