Stephenie Meyer is the genius behind Twilight!

Proposal

They gave us our instructions. We were to come alone. If they sensed anyone else from our family nearby, they would hurt her. We heard her whimpering in the background, so we knew she was alive. They assured us that they only wanted to talk. As we drove, I called Alice and explained to her what was happening. She tried to focus on the new vampires. She was quiet for a couple minutes, then she told us we would be alright. She confirmed that they only wanted to talk. Jen was fine. When I got off the phone with Alice, I was even more confused. I wanted to ask Edward a lot of questions that I knew he didn't have answers to. He was sitting there thinking that he didn't want me anywhere near them. He wanted to keep me safe. But he knew he couldn't keep me from going with him.

We crossed over into Vermont, and then continued north. We drove for a couple hours, then we pulled off the main road and followed an unmarked dirt road off into the darkness. We knew when we were close. We could smell them. We pulled up to a very nondescript house. It appeared to be abandoned, but we knew better. Edward came around and helped me out of the car. Not only because he was being a gentleman, but because he wanted to protect me. I couldn't help but smile as he walked slightly in front of me as we approached the front door. The inner door opened and we could see a pale figure through the screen door, standing in the darkness. We all froze, assessing each other. When he felt that we were not a threat, he pushed open the screen door to let us in. Our eyes adjusted easily to the darkness. It felt as if we had night vision built into our eyes. We were finally face to face with the two strangers.

"I'm Tristan. This is my brother, Trevor. It is... an honor to finally meet you." I gasped when he finished his sentence. I looked at Edward, and saw in his mind that he was just as surprised as I was. They led us to a couch, but before I sat, I asked to see Jen. They looked at each other, then Trevor nodded and we followed him to the room adjacent to the living room. Jen was on a bed and appeared to be sleeping. I listened closely and could hear her breathing. I was satisfied, for now. We returned to the couch and sat down this time. We had no idea what they knew about us. We had absolutely no idea about them. I knew Edward would be scanning their thoughts to make some sense of what was happening. I, of course, kept track of what he was finding. It was all very interesting. We were surprised that they were more than willing to tell us everything they were thinking.

"Trevor and I were sent to find you. We represent a small group, if you can call it that, who are ready for some changes. We became what we are, not so long ago. We are brothers. Our parents didn't survive. We didn't choose this life, but we're trying to make it work. We have heard stories... about you." He was looking at us. I was concentrating on reading Edward's mind. Tristan was sharing the nice version of what happened. We saw them on vacation in Italy. A typical family touring the romantic, European castles and towns. Outside one city, high up on a hill, a beautiful woman approached this family and invited them to join her on a special tour of the castle. They accepted the invitation gladly. It was their last family vacation before Tristan went off the college. Tristan was 18, Trevor was 16. They were very close. So close, they could anticipate what the other was going to say or do. Marcus noticed them when they entered the castle turret. He ordered for them to be spared, not to live, but to become one of us.

Edward was still apprehensive about their intentions. Although I felt for them, I had a few questions .

"Were you in Washington before you came here? Why didn't you speak with Carlisle? Why did you come here and take Jen, of all people? If you wanted to talk to us, why didn't you just approach us?" I saw Tristan look down, like he was ashamed, when I asked these questions. They were being honest with us so far, so I didn't try to read their thoughts. I listened to his explanation.

"Yes, we went to Washington first. That is where we heard your family spent most of the time. We were curious about how you managed to stay in one place for so long. We know nothing of Carlisle, except that Aro was quite impressed with him. He spoke of Carlisle as a friend, so we didn't know if we could trust him. We left Washington and followed a trail north. We found your house there. We just missed you, but we would not have approached you there either, we were outnumbered. We are still outnumbered, which is why we used this girl, Jen, to draw you away from the others. We do not intend on hurting her, we simply wanted you to come to us." We knew he meant it. We could see he felt bad for taking her, but we could also understand why. I was just hoping that her concussion was severe enough that she would think this whole experience was a bad dream.

"So what do you want from us?" Edward interrupted.

"Your help." Just then Trevor turned on the lamp on the table next to the couch. We could see their faces more clearly now. The first thing I noticed was their eyes. They were more like ours. I felt even more relief as I comprehended what that meant. They were both very handsome. Tristan had wavy brown hair that came down to the top of his shoulders. Trevor's hair was short and brown, but he had streaks of blond highlights. They were both dressed very simply in jeans, long sleeved cotton dress shirts, and light sports coats over that. They looked like very nice guys.

"How can we help you?" I was surprised at Edward's tone. I looked at him for answers. Edward was thinking about the timing. He had been so excited about coming to Dartmouth so that I could have the college experience I never had. We just reached a place in our lives where we thought we didn't have to worry about vampires who were out to get me. Also, he was so thrilled that our family, every member of the family, was finally reconciled and happy. Edward did not want anything to destroy the peace we were finally enjoying. I squeezed the hand he was holding. He glanced at me, trying to smile.

I looked up to see Trevor looking intently at Tristan. Then Tristan nodded. Edward's head snapped up to look at them, then he began to chuckle as he realized what just occurred. They were both staring at us.

"It's true, you can read other's minds can't you?" Tristan looked excited at he spoke. Trevor, however, looked worried. They were looking at both of us. "Trevor and I can only read each other. That's why we were spared. But to be able to tell what anyone is thinking, wow, that would be so... helpful."

I was about to speak, but Edward put his hand out in front of me, indicating to me that I should wait. "We have gifts, but we won't use them to... injure others. We use it only to protect ourselves."

"That's not true. You use your vampire skills to help others too, like Jen." Trevor spoke, which surprised us, because he hardly said a word since we arrived. "We've been watching you. You're careful, but you still make mistakes." He was looking at me. I knew he was referring to the nature hike, when I first interfered with Jen. It was true, my human instincts were still strong, and I haven't learned to control my actions. I looked down, chagrined.

"Bella did nothing wrong. Her heart is pure, her intentions were good." Edward spoke defensively. I could hear a low growl deep in his chest. I squeezed his arm with both of my hands. The growl dissipated. I looked up to see Tristan had moved to stand closer, in front of Trevor. When Edward saw it, he let out a sigh. "It appears we both have something we wish to protect. But we need time to discuss this with our family. You can trust us. We mean no harm to anyone. We will, however, need to return Jen to the hospital."

Tristan nodded. Trevor walked to the bedroom. He picked Jen up gently, then carried her to our car. Edward opened my door and let me get in. He stood outside, looking at the brothers standing in front of the house. "We will contact you when we have made a decision." Edward's voice was filled with finality.

I was grateful Jen was fast asleep as we drove back to the hospital. There was a gurney right inside the emergency entrance. We decided not to draw anymore attention to ourselves, so we left her there and watched until someone found her minutes later. I felt so relieved knowing she would be alright. Now, however, we had to go home and discuss another big decision. To help, or not to help. That was the question.