Twilight Afterglow*Chapter Eleven.

Once upon a time, I asked myself about the realms and hidden truths of legends. I questioned whether there was buried legitimacy in ghost stories, monsters and magic. And when I discovered that ancient creatures did indeed shroud themselves in the fringes of small, unsuspecting towns, meeting mythological enemies in traditional confrontation, that I realized each legend was based on a long buried, factual foundation.

Yet I thought I had uncovered all that existed by now. But I was right back to a place of wondering what else might be sheltering in the shadows.

'It's mildly unsettling when you do that…' Rosalie broke my trance, wandering in at lunchtime after spending the night away in a mountain cave with Emmett. I'd been staring out the window of Edward's old bedroom at the main house, unmoving for more than an hour.

'You look exactly like a statue,' she decided. Such was my dedication to a composure I craved as a human, but could never achieve back then.

Super. What I thought was poise and self-discipline was creepy immobilization.

Then Alice suddenly appeared, manifesting into the room like a spectre from nowhere.

'More unsettling than that?' I asked Rosalie.

'What are you two talking about?' Alice ventured, curling herself, feline-style, into an armchair.

'Rosalie was just pointing out my disturbing traits, which I'm completely ignoring. But speaking of talk, there is something specific I'd like to chat about,' I directed at Alice. 'Such as exactly what you're not sharing with us from your visions?'

Rosalie sat herself down too, listening with interest.

'I have lots of visions every day. Is there anything in particular you mean?' she evaded.

'Really? With a supernatural circus show setting up on our doorstep, you're going to be sketchy? Okay, I'll clarify; what prophecy did you and Aro talk about? And what did Marrakesh mean when she said something is headed our way?'

'Who's Marrakesh?' Rosalie frowned.

'You'll find out in half an hour, when we have a family group meeting,' I relayed without taking my eyes from Alice.

My pixie-like sister squirmed a little. 'If I ask you to wait until I can interpret more clearly, would you?'

'No.'

'Fine. But all I can give you right now is glimmers. There are literally no substantial images of the future in my mind. And what I do see is constantly changing,' she bit her lip. 'The clearest one I see is you, and two people I don't know – humans, I think – facing a gathering of sleeping people.'

'What the hell?'

'You asked!' she countered. 'Look, I know it sounds unrealistic, and it might not even be a real vision. But it can't be helped. With all the supernatural creatures appearing in Forks, and the number of new wolves turning, my clairvoyance is shot to pieces. Especially with the packs freely roaming our land. I'm barely seeing anything concrete at the moment.'

'Does that mean you won't know next time I sneak your Gucci clutch?' Rosalie smirked.

'You're not funny!' Alice cried.

'And you're not helping either, thank you Rose. Alice, calm down. All I'm really concerned about is this mysterious prophecy, and why Aro is so confident vampires worldwide can still be controlled without the Volturi's reign?'

'The second one is simple. We've sent word in all the right places that the Volturi haven't dissipated, but moved from Voltaire to avoid human detection, and are still very much watching all lone and vampire covens. Not knowing where the Volturi reside is much more terrifying to vampires; they don't know where they're being observed from anymore – even though they're truthfully not. And Aro seems to think that by the time our species know the truth, it won't matter anymore.'

I mulled this over, part irritated, part unsettled. 'Why won't it matter? Is Aro planning to rule again, alone?'

Alice shrugged. 'If he is, he hasn't decided it yet. But I can see a new…benevolence and understanding in our vampire laws. Please don't ask me what that means, because I have no idea; I just know our species won't ever be ruled with terror again. And as for the prophecy; it's a castle.'

'A castle?'

'Yep. A huge castle in the clouds. Glass, bluestone and terracotta.'

I eyed her wryly. 'I'm guessing that's all you know on that too? No location, no back-story…?'

She gazed back with her golden cat's eyes, not bothering to state the obvious.

'Well, it's been completely unenlightening, thanks Alice,' Rosalie stated, unravelling herself from the sofa. 'But my special insight tells me Carlisle wants us for that meeting. Right about now.'

'How did you sense something like that?' I asked suspiciously.

She smirked. 'Because he's standing behind you.'

Unexpectedly, Leah and Astor were gathered in our living-room with Jacob, Seth and the covens.

'I thought you were going to the airport?' I questioned.

'Reagan's flight was delayed. She'll be here by tonight though.

I nodded as Carlisle fronted the room.

'As you all know,' he began, 'things in Forks are unfolding in an uneasy and bizarre manner. I'd like to bring you all up to speed, and go through some of the more daunting factors before tonight.'

'What's happening tonight?' Rosalie, Kate and Tanya asked in tandem.

Carlisle, already so gently spoken, softened his voice even further to deliver the blow.

'Some of our family members – along with a few of Jacob's pack – experienced a new encounter by the cliffs at LaPush yesterday. Late in the afternoon, toward evening, five Undine made their way to the coast of Forks. Edward shared the news with me last night; I wanted to wait until all of you returned from hunting before calling this meeting.'

There was a number of vampires in the group who did not know of this development. In fact, with the exception of those who had been there, and those who we returned to tell, only Carlisle, Esme, Carmen and Eleazar were privy. The others, arriving back home during later stages of this morning, had no idea what had taken place.

Some did not even know of the word Undine.

And the vampires who did hissed with unconscious alarm.

'I've been at sea many a time, during many a war!' Garrett roared. 'And those she-devils were responsible for plenty of my fellow soldier's death. There is only one way to deal with the Undine; lure them ashore and torch their bodies!'

Rosalie looked dazed. 'Would someone mind explaining what an Undine is?'

'I'm wondering the same thing myself…' seconded Kate.

'Demons of the ocean! Murderers of the deep!' Garrett continued to rage.

'Mermaids,' Eleazar added more helpfully.

Rosalie couldn't suppress a snort. 'You're carrying on about mermaids? Those cute little girl-fish?'

'I didn't know they even existed outside of Disney,' Tanya also sniggered.

Garrett's eyes narrowed. 'You might think the idea of them is sweet and harmless now, but you'd reconsider if you'd ever seen their savagery. There is nothing funny about your vessel lying in festoons, crashed on the rocks. Or watching while your shipmates swim for their lives, only to be picked off by flesh-hungry vermin. I saw it though; their teeth extend like knives, and they wore the innards of my friends wrapped around their neck like prize necklaces. Still sound amusing?' he fumed.

Everyone was silenced, and slightly surprised when Huilen addressed the room. The regal, serene vampire spoke in a low voice.

'I have to agree with Garrett. I too have witnessed the Undine's ferocity. Not long after Nahuel came into this world, and upon my transformation, we both had to flee persecution from our village. As you all know, we lived as nomads, and for a time, we travelled along the Amazon river fringe. Nahuel and I came across a village of terrified humans; they believed some sort of water-demon was stealing their young. So we helped by exploring the surrounding estuaries. And Nahuel and I…' she trailed off, as though it were too painful to finish.

'We found a lone Undine living in a canal there, among an underwater lair filled with child's bones,' Nahuel shared for her.

Nobody was laughing, smirking or joking any longer. Carmen put her face in her hands. Tanya and Kate were hissing unconsciously again. Emmett developed the same carnivorous look he wore just before he lunged at a bear.

Edward suddenly stood and faced the room with Carlisle. 'I can reassure you all, we have nothing to fear from this particular shoal.'

'Shoal?' Garrett snarled. 'That's what they call their murdering legion? Ha!'

My husband spoke again with soft patience. 'I've seen inside their mind; they communicate with telepathy, and for this reason they cannot lie to me. I swear to you that they come here as friends.'

'Why did they come in the first place?' Kate demanded, sounding defensive alongside Garrett.

Edward and Carlisle exchanged a look of trepidation.

'They received the same calling to Forks as we did...,' Carlisle gently shared.

But no matter how benign Carlisle's delivery was, the reaction was volatile. There was snarling, hissing and uproar as the vampires mentally perceived the worst.

'I've had about enough! If this sickening calling that beckoned us all here is bringing monsters too, there's nothing good on the horizon!' Garrett raged. 'It's an energy fostered by evil. We need to proceed assuming the worst, and protect our own. That means slaughtering the Undine immediately!'

'We must unfortunately agree,' Nahuel and Huilen agreed. 'They are soulless beasts of nature. Eliminating all threat is the safest way for us to prepare for whatever else is coming.'

Kate, Tanya, Emmett and Rosalie were nodding fiercely alongside them.

I was kind of apt to agree as well. Removing danger as it arose seemed an intelligent, if not aggressive, way to minimize threat before it become uncontrollable.

Garrett was on a tangent. 'Then we go into the forest and kill the Sasquatch too!'

Okay…I hadn't foreseen that.

Suddenly, the vampire of many wars turned on Aro. 'And isn't it a peculiar coincidence that this all amounted as you happened to arrive?' Garrett's voice had turned from a roar to dangerously soft as he took a step toward the ex-Volturi.

The covens instinctively coiled in preparation. If Garrett attacked Aro, there really was no telling who would come off best. Garrett had many wars under his belt, but Aro was ancient, and no doubt had collected many tricks and talents over the millenniums.

I could feel the anger-paralysis of Jasper's gift begin to seep throughout the room. But before he could anesthetize the coven's tension, everyone was stunned into to silence by my daughter.

'Stop it!' she hollered. 'I'm the one who's had enough! You're all acting like school bullies; ready to destroy what you don't understand. Ready to crush anyone or anything different to you!'

Nobody said a word. Such was Renesmee's infectious sweetness, that no-one would deny her anything; not even a rounded insult aimed at all. But more than anything, they were in gobsmacked shock because my daughter never, ever screamed at people. Even Jacob looked taken aback.

But being born the natural empath she was, Renesmee took a moment to breathe calm into herself before speaking again.

'Has nobody thought that all these new species might have actually come to help us?'

After the Sasquatch had torn Wade's throat out, it's something I'd silently considered.

'They might be here to stand with us against whatever is coming our way,' she went on, facing Garrett. 'I understand what the Undine have done to you. But there is good and bad in every breed. There is evil in our very own – or was once.' Now she looked pointedly at Aro, who looked sadly away. Renesmee's eyes roamed over us as we stood attentive to her every word.

'Everybody seems to be missing the most obvious fact here; you're vampires, and so am I. But Nahuel and I vary from the rest of you – even though we're more or less the same. And yet because we are different to you, do you think of us hybrids as monsters? No, you don't. The Sasquatch have golden eyes and feed on blood. The Undine have golden eyes and feed on blood. So why has nobody considered that perhaps they're just another version of us? Not monsters, but the same species with a different appearance? Vampires in other skins?'

Now everyone in the room slumped like they'd been slapped with their own stupid. Why hadn't any of us thought of that? Vampires with fur. Vampires with fins.

I had the feeling this might have gone through Carlisle's mind once or twice ahead of us though. He was the only one who appeared unruffled. Or maybe, as always, he was soothed by relatable and understanding conclusions.

'We'll find that out this evening,' he imparted. 'When we meet them at LaPush on the stroke of midnight.'

Plenty of time for me. Angela had called three times. I had business to attend to.

Jacob left to discuss a bunch of vampires meeting on Quileute land with Sam. Renesmee took that time to stroll through the ferns, admiring the snow sheathed trees, like lace cloaks made by ice gods. Feeling a soft whoosh through the winter air, she turned to see Alice had joined her in the woods.

'You did wonderful in there,' Alice hugged her.

'Thank you,' Renesmee gripped her back. 'That means a lot.'

But Alice was instantly unfocused, not listening. Her eyes had widened with a gaze that lingered in the future. It wasn't often, but sometimes she saw two insights. A double tabloid in her mind that showed one outcome, rich with vibrancy and abundance. And then the other, dark and void, with suggestions of horror and despair. She chose to focus on the joyous scene of celebration, somehow knowing the ominous fate had not been decided, or indeed who would get to decide.

She let her mind step inside the vision of Renesmee, floating down an aisle in ethereal white, framed by thousands of fragrant and silky white flowers. And Jacob waiting, resplendent in blue, a bursting grin on his face, beaming love and disbelief at his luck. There was a vast gathering clasping their hands together in delighted approval. Alice heard the couple's vows, so tender and pure, their love a promise of the greatest future adoration.

Alice completely ignored the castle in the clouds, lingering like a mirage in the backdrop. She had no idea what it meant, or whether it was truly part of the vision. She knew she now had to second guess her insights.

But the one thing she couldn't ignore, she faced Renesmee with. Alice placed her arms on Renesmee's shoulders, forcing her niece to meet her gaze.

'It's not the right time to tell Bella and Edward about the wedding,' she advised.

Renesmee's mouth fell open. But she of course didn't ask Alice how she knew. While Jacob was out of her radius, her aunt could see inside her future.

Renesmee nodded, but Alice hadn't finished.

'Listen to me carefully. I want you to stay out of the forest alone. In fact, don't go wandering anywhere by yourself. Not LaPush, not to Forks, not even to the letterbox.'

Renesmee tried indulging Alice, but couldn't help a mild frustration bubbling. 'I thought we decided that the other species are here as friends –'

'It's not about that!' Alice cried out. 'I have to find a way to direct a protection detail around you, without anyone else knowing why – though they'll know soon enough. But right now they'll all panic over your safety and the outcome of your future.'

Renesmee had no idea what Alice was going on about, and was a little alarmed as her aunt drooped against a boulder and put her face in her hands. She looked up at her niece with frightened, yet overwhelmingly tender eyes.

'I'm so, so very happy for you, and I know there's so much beauty and wonder for you and Jacob ahead. But we have to secure that destiny. You've just become our most important and protected family member.'

Renesmee willed away a spark of condescending and gave her a reassuring smile instead. 'I can look after myself exceptionally well, Aunt Alice, in case you hadn't noticed.'

Alice looked up at her, and Renesmee was locked on the starkness of her stare.

'It's not your capabilities I'm worried about. I'm guarding over both of you.'

The blood drained from Renesmee's face as she unravelled the words. Her hands flew to her abdomen as she searched her aunt's face.

Alice nodded. 'You're pregnant.'

Twilight Afterglow*Chapter Eleven (Part B)

It was almost perverse, the way I snatched the elk and drained it. I told myself I was hungry. But both me and my fast developing split personality knew it was an act of releasing frustration. I teetered constantly, it seemed nowadays, between gratitude for all that I had, and acrimony for anything that threatened it.

At least I wouldn't be tempted to attack any mermaids by the moonlight.

I hadn't planned on hunting. All I'd thought to do was take a long, calming walk and meet Angela at the Carver Café. My power of compartmentalizing was slipping, and I was tired of feeling in the dark about everything. Because there is one thing that dominates our own dark spaces. Fear.

It was a feeling I'd grown unfamiliar with over the years. I wasn't thrilled about the idea of it hanging around again.

I wanted to feel full-time contentment once more.

So perhaps I had needed the blood of the elk. As my body absorbed its vitality, a surge of strength and much needed peace began running through my veins with each step I took on the dappled path.

It helped to be alone in this arctic utopia too. The echoing silence was joined by a faint crescendo of bird song in the distance, and bubbling rivers hidden in the surrounding miles. The fir and cedar giants wore a tapestry of ice-crystals, towering in a glacial archipelago.

I hadn't yet thought what I would say to Angela, mostly because I had no preconceived notion of what she had to say. Would she be mourning Wade? If not as a husband, as a provider and father? Would she suspect I'd had something to do with his disappearance after our last meeting?

What I had thought of was her future as a sole parent. I had transferred one-hundred thousand dollars into a trust; a shelf company set up with Angela as CEO and board member. So it was all above board, without meaning to pun. Carlisle wouldn't have minded, or much less missed it if I'd taken the cash from our family money. It just might have been a little tricky explaining to Carlisle how I felt responsible that Angela's husband had been devoured. And though I personally hadn't eaten him, I'd certainly prepared the platter.

So it was my own money I'd provided.

Over the decade, I'd grown somewhat astute with investing. I'd always been frugal, yet now that I didn't have to be, I'd taken some chances that paid off.

Alice and Edward had taught me to look for trends. And our family's marginally shady lawyer, J. Jenks, advised where these trends might need money sunk into them.

The first investment had been in a phone app that located your nearest hairdresser, masseuse and beautician. It proved a goliath hit for anyone who were on holiday, or relocating to a new town, state, country. It was so intricately deigned, it could locate your needs right down to any suburb, country, zip code or street, worldwide.

The second was an usually themed café in New Zealand named Hands-On, which allowed customers to don gloves and move along a deli-style buffet to make their own sandwiches. As a major shareholder, my bank account became somewhat indecent when the fortieth store opened across the globe. Then came the old-fashioned style lava-lamps, refashioned into light-light crystal balls. An aqua-treadmill. Solar phone chargers that gained energy simply by attaching them to a window facing the sun. And the author in Australia who'd been continually told by ignorant traditional literary publishers that there was no call or fan-base for horror novels in her own country, and who so desperately wanted to begin a company dedicated to supernatural stories to prove them wrong. I was so impressed with the Australian talent I read, as J. Jenks continually emailed me manuscripts of harrowing storylines and haunting descriptive excellence. Not only did the author achieve colossal success with her new publishing company, but proved there was enough money in horror to give both our piggy-banks stretch-marks.

Life wasn't so bad after all, I decided. And I as smiling by the time I reached the entryway of Carvers.

Angela sat waiting at the same back booth as before. Her head hung low, her face wilted in despair. Oh no, what had I done? But when she looked up and saw me, Angela quickly leaned in to whisper in my ear.

'Quick, change seats with me!'

Not something I was keen on doing, as it were my purpose to remain anonymous as possible in Forks. But I found myself facing out at the café, nonetheless. And then suddenly it didn't matter, because of Angela's face.

It transformed. It glowed. No, it positively beamed. The misery had merely been a public ruse to cover her hidden exhilaration. I understood; it wasn't small-town acceptable to have a mardi-gras attitude when your hubby were on the missing list.

'Thank you!' she reached across the table and gripped my hands.

'For what?' I evaded.

Like the school-girl I remembered, before life blinded her with regretful choices, she bit her lip in unbridled excitement. Her eyes literally danced behind her specs, and I was taken back to that effervescence she possessed at Forks High.

'The first time I saw you again, I knew there was something different, powerful. You have the same remote mystery as the Cullens did back then. But I don't care what secrets you have. I only know it was you that saved me. You took him away, made Wade disappear.'

I chose my words carefully. 'Let's imagine a scenario though, where he's gone forever. What would you say to that?'

She didn't hesitate. 'I would say, do you promise?'

I finally allowed myself a slight smile too.

'Bella, I'm not a stupid girl, but I have been an ignorant one. I took a wrong turn somewhere, and I didn't know how to put my life in reverse and find the right avenue to go back. You've done that for me. Eventually Wade would have killed me; either physically or spiritually. And I would have been better off dead than living as the husk I was. But you've given me life again. Not just financially, but freed my heart too.'

I gave her mittened hands a squeeze. Not too much of one, so her bones didn't shatter.

'I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't do anything,' I grinned back at her. 'But you're completely welcome.'

'I have to pick up the kids from school,' she rose and we walked together out of Carver's front door. 'I'm so sorry it was such a short visit, when I owe you the world.'

'You don't owe me anything,' I replied.

And as we stood in the car-lot facing each other, she looked at me for the first time with grave seriousness.

'Yes, I do. I owe you my life. I don't know or care how you did it, but Wade is our secret until the grave. And I also don't know or care what you are; goddess, fairy, sorceress, I'm your faithful friend forevermore. Bella, for the rest of my life, anything you need from me is yours. If I can ever help you in return, I'll come running.'

I was smiling even wider as I crossed the roads and re-entered the woods.

How amazing it felt to give life, instead of taking it. Such a rare opportunity for me these days. I pondered, with elation on Angela's behalf, what new and adventurous paths she would choose, given a second journey.

I was halfway through the forest on my own venture home before I realized the birds had stopped singing. In the deepest, uninhabited part of the woods, and unnatural darkness seemed to settle. I couldn't hear, smell or see danger, but I sensed it, slithering in like a noxious fog.

No light penetrated the path anymore, and the trees were blanketed with murk, both in atmosphere and appearance. Something told me to stop and remain still.

There was no doubt whatsoever I was being watched.

Then I saw what it was watching me, and there was no chance of moving even if I'd wanted to.

A grey mist, ambiguous, but loosely a human silhouette, hovered between two huge cedars, showing its towering scale. At least eight feet in height, the obscure figurine was where any human similarity ended. I thought perhaps this was a trick extended from Alec, Jane's brother, with his unfurling and blinding dark tendrils. But then I saw its eyes, gleaming and narrowed, like evil had changed colour from black to white. And it was evil, no doubt about it. This thing was made from pure spite, malice and hunger. Nothing good resided in its filthy gloom. I braced myself as the human-shaped cloud hovered toward me with arms outstretched, vaporous hands manifesting from fingers, to claws, to talons and pincers. Ever-changing weapons. Yet its billowing clasp met with stone resistance.

My shield was an unbreakable stronghold around me. And as I conjured a surge of power for good measure, the strangest thing occurred. It flung the evil wisp creature backwards, as though I had electrocuted the wraith.

But that didn't stop it coming. Now it flew in smoky ribbons around me, looking and prodding for a crack in my shield, like smoke seeking an exit, except it wanted in.

Suddenly a snarl came between us from nowhere. 'Tu Emotae! You are banished from here!'

Aro stood with his arms raised like an angry biblical god on a mountaintop, full of wrath and command.

The black nebulous with white-fire eyes curled in on itself like dying embers, and dissolved back into the silent air.

I starred around the forest for the longest time, disbelieving that it had truly been cast away. But the birds started up their melody again.

And we were alone by the time I turned on Aro.

'What was that? Have you seen it before? How did you know what to say to it? Were you following me through the woods?'

Aro remanded calm at my barrage. 'So many questions at the one time…'

'And so few options in regard to your permanent accommodation, if you don't answer me now.'

'Bella, I have not seen such a wraith before, but know of its existence; they are things of legend. The words I spoke were Latin; designed to keep all forms of evil at bay. And yes, I was following you through the forest. I have been for the most part since I arrived in Forks. And for that reason, maybe there is one imperative question above all. The one you perhaps should ask yourself as to why I shadow you as duty, and aim to protect at any cost.'

I tried not to let my confusion show. 'What question should I be asking myself, rather than you, Aro?'

'Why you see fit to continue mistrusting me, when it is clear I am your dedicated servant.'

The moon soared high, crowning a jewel-box of stars. On the horizon, cumulus clouds gleamed bone-white against the ebony sky. And a roaring foam from the surf, cusping the stretch of bleached sand, created an illusion like a polaroid come to life.

The only colour was a sharp amber warmth from bonfires that wound in serpent formation up the coastline. Started earlier in the evening by the Quileute elders, before stealing back to the safety of the Reservation.

The covens were the first to arrive. Dressed in precautionary black, if for some unseen reason we needed to flee or chase, and camouflage with the night.

Fifteen vampires and two hybrids stood expectant and powerful on the shore in the still of midnight.

From the south end came a vibrating timbre, the effect and sound of wolves padding down the cliff and onto the beach. Huge and impressive, their fur coloured the dark with ochre, sandstone, beige and ecru tones. Even the onyx hued wolves glinted beautifully against the black evening. Sam's pack, at least twenty in total. Here to watch over Quileute lands, and no doubt more than a little intrigued by the mysterious events.

The west revealed Jacob, a walking complexity of coffee-coloured muscles in human form, but so very impressive leading another huge gathering of canines. Just as vast and greatly numbered as Sam's pack, their likewise earthen colours, pounding paws and colossal teeth were a mesmerizing sight as they came to a stop next to the covens, where Jacob did beside Renesmee. Both packs stood to attention, gazing intensely at the ocean.

The Undine softly emerged from the deep. In the moonglow, they shone iridescent, turning the waves around them into the same silvery green phosphorescence. Their eyes were laser-beams of light, rivalling the stars

There was an involuntary hiss in an undertone from Garret, and varying, curious yips from the werewolves. Which turned into alert snarls from one and all as the sound of something else heavy and large lurched through the woods.

From the black umbrella of trees it appeared. Followed by five others. Goliath in size, the ground shook as they scaled the rock-wall, strangely agile on their massive feet. They looped in line toward us all, their landscape shades similarly resonating of the wolves, with pelts of bronze, fawn, ginger and cinnamon. But all with glowing yellow eyes.

The werewolves poised on their haunches, teeth bared and ready to spring. They were alarmed and restless at the sight of the sasquatch's impossible shoulder width and densely muscled arms. But mostly, they were untrusting of those huge saber-tooth mouths.

Both packs would have smelled sasquatch presence in the area, but I was the only individual who had actually laid eyes on one before. The fact that there were six had me gaping with the wolves and vampires who were seeing them up close for the first time. Brutal as they appeared, they were mighty and impressive. And strangely projected the benign energy of a teddy bear.

They poised in front of the Undine and bowed their heads. The mermaids returned the gesture. Not altogether strangers then, I guessed.

Regardless of their vast bodies, huge matching skulls, and bizarre humanoid faces, I just knew the one who led was my assassin helper. And I was proven right when he stood before me. I gazed up toward his face, like a child might look up at a giant. Then he stunned the whole beach by dropping to one knee and dipping his head low.

Edward hissed as the sasquatch reached for my hand. The wolves circled threateningly, the covens snarled with warning. Only the Undine seemed unconcerned. But it were a tentative, gentle touch the sasquatch had.

The creature raised his head and looked in my eyes. 'Timon,' he rasped, placing his other hand against his chest in introduction.

I nodded with comprehension. 'Bella.'

Then the beast touched his chest again 'Servus.'

I frowned, confused this time, and instinctively looked around to find clarity. It was only then I noted Aro also stood by my side.

'Servus translates to servant in Latin,' he informed me.

Timon nodded like a command, and abruptly, the six beasts separated into two pairs, walking in opposite directions to take up a stance next to the wolf packs both west and south. I gauged it was a show of alliance to us all. We had no idea how they knew of tonight's meeting, but they were showing they respectfully belonged to it.

The beach was silent with pondering and perplexity. The only sound came from a soft torrent spiralling up the beach.

As if our noiselessness were a preamble for an event, Leah and Astor appeared above the LaPush cliffs in human form. As they climbed down the rocks, a nimble figure scaled the cliff-face beside the pair, deftly beating them to the beach below. A very tall girl came walking across the sand. I heard the wolves, the Sasquatch, Nahuel and Renesmee draw breath. If vampires could do so, each of us would have too.

Because she was unbelievably breathtaking.

I had thought, in all my days, I'd never seen creatures more exquisite than my daughter or Rosalie. But this human was in a different realm altogether. Her face in the moonlight was angelic perfection that sonnets were written about, wars were waged over, legends were borne from. The Seraphim would weep at its symmetry, and the sky would rage in jealousy over the turquoise of her eyes.

And if not for those eyes, beige tan and rosy cheeks, the sculptured perfection could easily have misrepresented her as a vampire. I sensed that she knew full well of her beauty, but simply didn't care. In a long black faux fur coat, and shaved head that showed off intricate henna designs, she radiated seriousness. Perhaps urgency too.

But most of all, she was utterly unperturbed.

She stared along the row of vampires, werewolves and sasquatch without quaking. She gazed out at the mermaids without a flinch.

A battalion of supernatural creatures stared back.

And the human girl smiled. Christ, was she even human? I wondered, stunned by her nonchalance. Because I couldn't think of another mortal who wouldn't be shaking, drooling, and talking to themselves in the corner, after their mind had hailed a spaceship to crazy town…

'I'm Reagan,' she called out to everyone and dipped her head in greeting. 'Astor tells me you've had some mysteries settle over the town…'

Carlisle stepped forward and took Reagan's hand in both of his, welcoming her with his eyes. Which is what we all should have done – if we weren't so busy gawping – since she'd flown across the country to assist us.

Esme leaned in to give her a hug. And still the girl didn't quail.

'As you can see, many alternate breeds have found themselves here together, without knowing why,' Carlisle enlightened her. But Reagan was nodding as if she already knew.

'I could feel it, as soon as we drove toward Forks,' Reagan replied. 'There is a lot of conflicting energy here. And a lot of passed souls too.'

Ghosts? I baulked, feeling a little shaken myself. I'd sensed them in old houses, but never here. Did she mean spirits lingered around our home?

'Anything you can do to enlighten us would be of great help. Aster tells us you're very talented in supernatural knowledge,' Carlisle implored. 'My family and I were beckoned back to Forks by a strange pull. The other species you see around you felt it too, and followed not long after. All of us have received an inexplicable calling.'

Just at that moment, a dove cooed and a crow cawed into the night. Black and white, they soared from the forest, criss-crossing over one another in the back skies.

And finally, Reagan began to tremble. But not due to us. I knew, with mounting horror, we had just witnessed an omen.

'You weren't called,' she said grimly to Carlisle.

'No?' he frowned.

'No,' she affirmed. 'You're cursed.'