Eventually I heard a ringing noise. I wouldn't have heard it over the birdsong if I still had my human hearing.

"That'll be Carlisle." I said. I secured Brandon on my back and jumped out of the tree. He yelped in surprise as we fell through the air and I landed lightly on the balls of my feet. I darted into the house, picking up the phone only five seconds after it had begun ringing.

"Doctor Cullen?"

"Is this Kristi?"

"Yes."

"Why do you need to speak?"

"You got our message about what happened with the hiker?"

"Yes. Congratulations, you have gained amazing control for your age."

"We thought that if we could handle that, it would be safe to go to Seattle and get some supplies."

"What happened?"

I launched into an explanation of our trip and what we had learned, and what we were currently planning to do.

"So, we were basically wondering if you could help us with Brandon and if it would be possible to visit our parents." I summed up. The doctor was silent for half a second.

"What are the names of your parents?" he asked.

"Andrea and Cyrus Blackwood." I said, pulling up my human memories of them.

"You are confident with your control?"

"I think so… Yes. I used to not be able to be within a mile of a bleeding human."

"That is the main reason I might consider allowing this. You seem to have wonderful control for your age. This is very risky, but it would certainly help speed their recovery if you were to visit them. Could the four of you be at Rainier Field tomorrow morning before sunrise? It is the field where the battle was held. I will judge if you are ready for this, and if you are I will take you."

"I remember it. We'll be there."

"Good. What are you doing for your brother right now?"

"We're hunting more often. Instead of doing it all at once and waiting a week between hunts, we're doing a little every few hours. That way the burn never gets bad. We try to have at least two of us with him if we can. We can help keep each other in control."

"Good. I will escort you through the hospital tomorrow, if it is safe to do so in the first place, and I will judge your control. If it is unsafe for Brandon to continue staying with you, I can make arrangements to keep him somewhere else."

"Thank you so much." I said fervently.

"You are welcome. I will see you tomorrow morning."

He hung up and I went outside to talk to the others. "You heard?" I checked.

"Every word." Caleb replied. "And we explained to Brandon at the same time."

"So, we're visiting Mom and Dad tomorrow morning, right?" Brandon checked.

"Yes, if he thinks we're ready." I confirmed. "We'll have to work on explanations for our parents."

"Sure, I can do that." Brandon agreed, yawning.

"How much sleep have you gotten in the past few days?" I checked, suddenly worried.

"Not much. It's kind of hard to sleep in the cold rain. I guess I found places to stay out of the rain, but it was still cold."

"You should get to bed. I think there are a few upstairs. Pick one you like." I told him. He didn't argue, and went upstairs.

"I'm starting to forget all this human stuff." I said, laughing. "It's been so long. What else…" I smacked myself on the forehead. "Food! Duh! Can you guys stay here while I go stock up on human stuff?"

Sylvia smiled. "Sure. Just watch the sky and make sure you're under cover if there's a break in the clouds." She glanced up. "Which is unlikely. Good luck."

I took the wallet of money and ran to Seattle. Before I entered the city, I checked the sky again. All that was visible was a thick gray blanket of clouds. I breathed shallowly as I prowled through the streets, ready to hold my breath at a moment's notice. I didn't think I would have any problems, being around humans for several hours had made me a little less sensitive. I found a different gas station from the one we had visited the night before. I got a bunch of junk food I remembered Brandon liked. They didn't really have anything healthy. I would have to find food somewhere else if he stayed with us for a while.

I returned back to the house, where I found Caleb and Sylvia playing chess. We had found the board and pieces in a closet a few weeks ago. It was untouched by vampires who had occupied the house previously because it had been upstairs. Nobody ever went upstairs.

"How did it go?" Caleb asked.

"Nobody died." I said.

"Excellent." Sylvia said, killing one of Caleb's pawns with her bishop. Caleb killed her bishop with a castle, and Sylvia moved one of her castles forward. "Checkmate."

"We played a game before this. I won." Caleb told me.

I snorted. "Of course. Did she beat you before that?"

"No."

"Just checking."

"You want to play, Kristi?" Sylvia asked. We were fairly well matched in chess.

"Sure. I just want to check on Brandon first." I replied.

"Neither of us drank his blood… I think." Sylvia said, glaring at Caleb in mock suspicion.

"I didn't do anything." Caleb said quickly. I rolled my eyes and darted upstairs. I listened and heard his heartbeat in the first room I checked.

"He still alive?" Sylvia asked when I got back downstairs.

I grinned. "Barely. I found him in the first room I checked that had a bed. Poor kid must be exhausted."

"Who wouldn't be?" Caleb agreed. "I hope he doesn't have nightmares. Daymares. How old is he, anyway?"

"He's fifteen, about a year and a half younger than me." I remembered. I sat down and played chess with Sylvia. She beat me within a couple of minutes.

"Nice." I complimented her. "You should play against Brandon. He slaughters me every time. I wonder who would win now that we have our new and improved brains?"

"I'll have to find out." Sylvia said thoughtfully. I started a game with Caleb while she went inside to see if there were any games we had missed earlier, or if there were any good ones that needed a minimum of four players that were now available. She returned a few minutes later with a few games I'd never heard of and a deck of cards. She watched our game, which lasted about twenty more minutes and ended with Caleb checkmating me with one of his knights.

We continued to play board games until a couple hours past noon, then we took turns hunting one by one, sticking to our rule of having two of us at a time with Brandon. I was relieved that he seemed so easy to live with so far. We weren't having any issues as long as we had hunted within a day. Sure, it was irritating. He smelled good, but I couldn't foresee anything going wrong unless we were forced to not hunt for a longer stretch of time or if he started bleeding. I had planned ahead and bought a simple first-aid kit at the store earlier that day.

Caleb was teaching us a new card game when I heard Brandon's footsteps upstairs. It was about three in the morning. Brandon stumbled down the stairs and shook his head at the scene of us playing on the floor.

"You guys really don't sleep, do you?"

"Nope." I answered, placing down a card. "But we'll probably leave in about an hour now that you're up. Just to be safe. In the meantime, is there any human stuff you need to do?"

"C'mon, it sounds like I'm the weird one when you put it that way. Actually, do you have any food?"

"Yep, I remembered to stock up yesterday. I also grabbed more clothes because you'll go through them faster. The only reason we'd need to change is if they get shredded by a bear or something."

"Shredded by a bear?"

"It doesn't happen very often. We've gotten much better at taking them down quickly." Sylvia said, her eyes still on her cards.

"And I got a first-aid kit. You should always keep it with you." I added.

"You're starting to sound like Mom." Brandon complained.

"The difference is it might actually save your life. So stop grumbling." I put down three of my cards and counted them. "Fifteen points." I said, and Brandon walked into the kitchen where i had stuck the food. He returned with cookies and watched us finish the game. We still had forty-five minutes until we had to leave.

"Brandon," Sylvia began after we had put the cards away, "Would you like to play a game of chess? I hear you're pretty good."

"I'm not that good, just a lot better than Kristi."

"I'm about as good as Kristi is… except I have a vampire brain, and you don't. Want to try?"

"Sure." Brandon agreed. "Put this on the list of things I never really expected or wanted to do during my lifetime. Play chess against my vampiric sister's best friend." He sat on the floor across the board from her. The game lasted a while, about twenty minutes. I think it was fairly close, but I didn't know much about chess.

"Checkmate!" Sylvia cried triumphantly. "Vampires are officially better at chess than humans."

"Good game." Brandon said. "I haven't had a chance to play against anyone besides Kristi in a while, and she really stinks."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "We better go hunt." I said. "We'll take turns again. We should fill ourselves up, we are going to a hospital after all."

I left first and was back in ten minutes. I wasn't picky this time, just taking everything I could get until I was too full for anything more to matter. Sylvia left and was back in another ten.

"You guys go ahead." Caleb told us. "I'll catch up." He ran into the woods and Brandon climbed onto my back again. I quickly referred to our map, double-checking we were going the right way, and I ran in a different direction, Sylvia following.

We arrived in the field, Caleb getting there fifteen minutes after us. As we waited, Caleb and Sylvia started a conversation. I ignored them, preoccupied with my own thoughts. What would my parents think of what had happened to me? Would they be glad to see me, or would my changes scare them? What would they assume had happened to me? Kidnapped by the gang of murderers in the papers who were also plastic surgeons?

Would it be safe to be with my parents after this? I couldn't return home to live with them once they recovered, there was too much of a chance I would attack somebody. But they didn't know that. How can you explain the changes I had gone through and the fact I couldn't live with them anymore when they couldn't know the secret? My mind went in circles, but all the excuses I came up with were weak, cruel, or just plain crazy.

Eventually I noticed the gradual lightening of the sky that signaled the approach of sunrise. At the same time I heard a new set of footsteps slow from a vampire run to a human pace. My head snapped up and I sniffed the air- it was the doctor. There was another vampire with him. I thought I had smelled the scent before, but I wasn't sure who it was.

"He's here, and he brought someone else with him." I told the others. Caleb and Sylvia had noticed the footsteps, but Brandon's hearing wasn't good enough. Brandon got up from where he had been sitting. The rest of us remained standing. It was just as comfortable as any other position, we never felt the need to sit or lie down anymore.

We stood still as they approached. I recognized his companion- she was small, and had short, spiky black hair. She was Alice, the one who could see the future. They came to a halt a few feet away from us. Brandon stepped forward to shake their hands. Not at all afraid to meet the local vampires… or maybe he wanted to make a good impression.

"It's nice to see you again, Dr. Cullen." Brandon said.

The doctor smiled. "I'm glad I can help. Please, call me Carlisle. This is my adopted daughter Alice." Alice smiled cheerfully at us and waved.

"I'm Kristi, and they're Caleb and Sylvia." I said. Carlisle nodded.

"Brandon is your younger brother?" he checked. I nodded.

"And he knows everything?"

"Everything we knew to tell him." Sylvia replied. "We didn't see the point in holding back. Once he knows the main secret, the others seem less important, but they help reinforce the reason the secret should be kept."

"Good. How is your control coming?"

"Good, I think. None of us have tasted human blood since we made our decision. It got a little close with the hiker because we weren't prepared." Caleb said. "We had to stop Kristi from attacking, but later he skinned his knee and she stood about a foot away from him and gave directions. We all went to Seattle and found Brandon, and Kristi went to Seattle one more time."

"Impressive. How old are you?" Alice asked. Her voice was high and she sounded like a singer. Most vampires did.

"Kristi and Sylvia are a little over two and a half months, and I'm about five and a half months."

"Very impressive." Carlisle agreed. "When was the last time you hunted?"

"About half an hour ago. We knew we were going to a hospital, so we drank a lot."

Carlisle turned to Alice, and she nodded. "You're good as far as I can see."

"It seems you are ready, then. Alice is coming with us to make sure nothing will happen. I am only allowing this because Alice cannot see anything going wrong, but that could change. Try to stay in control. I will be watching closely to make sure this isn't too much for you. Follow me." Carlisle said.

He and Alice disappeared into the trees he had come from. I wasn't worried about losing him, his scent left a clear path. I grabbed Brandon and we followed, running through the forest for a few minutes until we stopped next to a black car. It hadn't occurred to me that of course the doctor would need a car to pretend to be human. I hadn't really expected to run all the way to the hospital, but I hadn't expected a car either. I was more focused on what would happen at the hospital than how we were getting there.

We got into the car and put on our seatbelts. Brandon sat shotgun. There weren't enough seats in the car, so Alice took off running to the hospital. She would be practically invisible in the light of dawn as she ran. I stared out the window as we drove. The car accelerated, but the trees did not blur past. They remained clear and defined as ever as a result of my vision. It really hit me now. It now seemed perfectly normal while I was running, but doing this mundane, human thing, something I had done hundreds of times before in my mortal life, I realized I had changed. There was no going back. I was part of a supernatural world. I didn't notice the route we took to the hospital, too lost in my own thoughts. But soon we were getting out of the car. I noticed we were in the middle of a small town. It was strange to be back in human civilization during the day. Almost day, at least. The sun had risen, but it was lost in the thick layer of clouds. I inhaled- I could smell that humans had been here recently, and a few were here also getting out of their cars. The scent was mouthwatering, but I wasn't thirsty. The smell wasn't accompanied by any burn. Now I just had to concentrate and be on guard for any stronger smells, namely the smell of fresh blood.

Sylvia and Caleb sniffed the air as well, testing it. Their faces remained smooth and calm. Carlisle evaluated our reactions and led the way into the hospital when Alice reappeared. I decided if I ever came back to a hospital, I should totally come with a doctor. We didn't have to wait for anything, we just walked through the white, gleaming hallways while the staff we passed simply nodded or said "good morning."

The smell was bearable. I could smell blood, but the scent was old, faint, and masked by the smell of cleaners. Soon we stopped at a door.

"Here is where your parents are staying." Carlisle said. "I will go in with Brandon so he can explain as best he can. Alice, keep an eye on them." It didn't feel like Alice was watching us, it seemed more like she was protecting us. She was, in a way, from ourselves if we came into the wrong kind of contact with humans. It helped that she could only be a year or two older than us, physically.

Carlisle opened the door and stepped into the room, Brandon following. I swallowed nervously. I was glad I could see my parents, but would they accept me for who I was now? What would they think if they ever learned the whole truth?

Sylvia patted my shoulder. "It's going to be okay." she murmured. "You're here to help them. The fact that you're alive should help more than the fact that you've changed should hurt."

"What's the worst that can happen?" Caleb asked. Then he grimaced. "Don't answer that. What's the worst that can happen without revealing what you've become?"

"I'm not really sure. They think I'm dead." I whispered.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." Alice said sympathetically, as she tapped a finger to her head. "I know." Her statement reassured me a little.

Our entire conversation lasted only a few seconds, and I heard voices inside. I was sure I would be able to hear them even if I had been at the other end of the long hallway we were in.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Blackwood. You have a visitor." Carlisle was speaking.

"Brandon?" I heard my mother's frail voice.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad."

"Son, you can't run off on your aunt like that. She's been worried sick." My father's voice. Hearing them made me want to rush inside the room, but I made myself stay put.

Brandon had been staying with one of our aunts? I guess it made sense. Our home was closer to the other end of Seattle than the place we'd found him. We had a couple living in that general area.

"I'm sorry, it just became too much. I couldn't handle it. But I'm fine. I actually brought someone else here to see you."

"Who?" My mother asked. "And is your aunt with you?"

"No. I haven't actually gone back to her yet. The doctor drove me here." A very small part of the way, but it was still true.

"Doctor?" my father asked, confused and weary.

"Yeah. He met... the visitor I brought with me… and offered to help us. She'll come in in a moment, but try not to have a heart attack. She's different, changed, but she's still the same person. She's okay." Brandon said. He sounded like he was trying to reassure them, but I could tell by the sound of his voice he was a little tense too.

"Who?" my mother repeated, confused.

"She really is the same person, but she looks different. I'm not sure what else she wants to tell you, so…" he trailed off. Carlisle's footsteps approached the door and it opened. I took a deep breath. My throat didn't burn. I stepped inside the room. The room was white, clean, with windows along one wall. There was a chair between the two hospital beds, where my brother sat, holding my mother's hand. I noticed this all in a sixteenth of a second, but only took in the figures on the beds. Battered, covered in bandages, with IVs coming out of their arms, were my parents. I looked at them, with my new eyes taking in their faces. My father was tall, with brown eyes and dark brown hair. My mother had blue eyes and blond hair, like me, but my hair was longer and my eyes were no longer blue. I noticed this all in less than half a second.

My mother gave a small gasp and my father just stared.

"Kristi?" he choked out. "You're…"

"It's really me." I murmured quietly.

"You're alive." my mother said. I saw some life return to her eyes. I had been right to come and give them this hope. I stepped forward and I smelled old blood again, it smelled good, but it didn't bother me. I could tell Carlisle was monitoring my every breath as I walked to her side and took her hand. I could tell she noticed my cold, hard skin, her heart sped up for a moment, but she didn't flinch away. She pulled me closer, and I gave her a hug.

"I love you." I told her. "That didn't change." I was careful to move slowly, at a human pace, as I reached to the other bed and gave Dad a hug too. I was gentle, and though he noticed my cold, hardness, he held me tight to him, with enough strength that I would have been unable to break free if I was still human. I felt my breath hitch in my throat again. I was crying, in the vampire sense. He let go after a minute and I stood between the beds.

"What happened to you, sweetheart?" my mom asked. I saw tears in her eyes, but I wasn't sure if they were of joy or of pain for the last few months. "Did something happen to you, or did you leave? Did we do anything?"

It was definitely pain, and guilt. I shook my head, kneeling by her again and taking her hand. "No. No, you are wonderful parents. I didn't choose to go."

"Were you…" my dad seemed unable to say the word kidnapped.

I winced. "Yeah, I guess I was."

"Oh, honey…" tears started spilling down my mother's cheeks.

"How did you get away?" Dad asked, his face pale.

"We met Carlisle, and he realized something wasn't right. He helped us escape." I said carefully. I was determined to tell the truth as much as I could.

"Carlisle?"

"Doctor Cullen." I clarified. My parents' heads turned to look at the doctor, who paused from noting something on a clipboard. He acted like he hadn't paid attention to our private conversation, but of course he had been completely aware the whole time. I wondered if it had been a mistake to call attention to him. My parents might notice the resemblance- cold, pale skin, shadows under the eyes, breathtaking beauty. At least Carlisle and Alice hadn't hunted in a while, so their eyes were almost black. That part wouldn't give us away.

"You saved her?" My father asked.

"In a way." Carlisle replied. "She did a good job of escaping herself. I merely assisted them." I wasn't sure if he was being modest or was trying to be as truthful as possible himself.

"Them?" My father quickly noticed the plural. "Sylvia was with you when you disappeared. Is she…"

"I escaped with her and another friend I made. They're just outside the door, actually, but they were changed too."

"Have them come in." My mother said. "They went through this too. Were you hurt?" she asked as Carlisle went to open the door. I was glad my friends had good hearing, too. They would know what to say based upon how far we had gone in our conversation.

My mom gave another small gasp as Sylvia and Caleb entered the room and she took in their gold eyes and white skin. My dad looked back at me.

"Were you hurt?" he repeated, echoing my mom.

"I'm fine now." I said, answering his question and reassuring him at the same time. "We actually escaped a month ago. I just wasn't sure if you'd be okay with the way I'd been changed."

"But they did something to you… does this have anything to do with the murders that were going on?"

"Yes… I don't really want to talk about it." I said, trying to avoid the subject. I noticed Alice had silently slipped into the room behind Caleb and Sylvia.

"Honey, I know this is hard, but we can't let these kidnappers and murderers do this to other people. This could happen again." my dad said fiercely.

"Please try to calm yourself, it won't help your recovery." Carlisle said in a soothing voice. "The wrongdoers have already been taken care of."

Dad's eyes narrowed. "But we would have seen something in the news… are you sure?"

"Quite sure. It wasn't a public sort of thing, we didn't want to draw attention to the survivors. They have gone through enough."

Dad calmed down. "Where are the other survivors?" he asked. I looked at Caleb and Sylvia and they shook their heads.

"We're the only ones. Everyone else was killed." I replied. Mom looked horrified. "How do you know? Did you see people killed?"

"I really don't want to talk about it." I repeated. It all seemed more real more horrifying when my parents said it that way. Earlier I had taken it for granted- that was how life was.

But all the hunted, all those burned vampires, they had been people too, there was families they would never return to. And I had seen them die.

"I'm dealing with it. I don't want to talk about it yet. I'm fine."

Mom looked at Sylvia. "Do your parents know you are alright?" she asked. Sylvia shook her head. "Not yet. I don't know if I'm ready…" She trailed off, unsure what she should say.

"They have been staying with me." Carlisle said. "I've been able to help a little. Of course, if they prefer, they can go right back to staying with your relatives." This was true, in a way, though it was stretching a little. Of course, we wouldn't choose to live with my aunt.

Mom looked at me and I shook my head. "It's okay, I'll stay with the doctor. Besides, I feel safer with Caleb and Sylvia there, and I don't know if any of our relatives are prepared to deal with all three of us." My statement was entirely true, they just wouldn't interpret it the correct way. I wish I could tell them, so they could understand.

Mom sighed. "If you prefer. I just feel like it would be better for you to get back to normal. This had been very traumatizing for all of us."

"I know, Mom. I'm really sorry. I just don't think I'm ready to rejoin civilization yet." Also true. "I don't want to do anything until you are better."

"Okay. Brandon, would you mind going back to live with your aunt? She's worried sick that something has happened to you."

"I'll let her know I'm fine. But is it alright if I stay with Kristi? I've really missed her…"

"Alright. That's fine as long as it's fine with the doctor."

Carlisle nodded. "We would certainly be willing to care for them wherever we can."

I hugged Mom again. "Thank you. You should really get some rest."

I hugged Dad. "We've missed you. Visit again soon."

"I will if I can. I love you." I said. The five vampires and Brandon walked out of the room. Carlisle handed Alice his car keys, and we walked back to the parking lot.

I had mixed feelings towards our trip. I was thrilled that my parents were okay with the changes they knew about, and that we had made it through a hospital, of all places, without hurting anybody. I was worried about what would happen when my parents recovered and there was no way to avoid moving back with them anymore. Would we have to cut them out of our lives altogether?

The car pulled over in the same area we had arrived in. We got out of the car and thanked Alice.

"No problem." she said cheerfully. "It was nice to meet you. Sorry about the situation you're in. I'm not sure if it would be safe for Brandon to stay with us…" She noticed the shocked looks on our faces and laughed. "None of us would hurt him, don't worry. We just don't want to make it too obvious that we're helping you behind the Volturi's back after they killed poor Bree. And as far as I can see, he'll be in no danger if he stays with you. That could change, but hopefully I can warn you in time… keep the phone on you. I would offer a place closer where you could stay to make communication easier, but again we have the issues of the Volturi. And i don't think the werewolves would like any more immortals in the area."

I'd never thought of us as immortals… but it sounded better than 'vampires'. Maybe I would use that term instead.

"I'm sure you can find your way back." Alice continued. "Call us if you have any problems. Or, you know, if you just feel like calling." She smiled. "I'm glad you guys survived. You seem like nice people."

I grinned back. "Thanks again for letting us live. I like being alive."

"Sure beats being burnt." Sylvia agreed, and Caleb nodded.

"See you soon!" Alice called as she got into the car and drove away.

"Do we take her goodbye literally?" Brandon asked. "She can see the future. I don't think she would say something like that casually unless she means it."

I just nodded, grateful for the turn of events that had led me here. I couldn't stop marveling at how friendly all the Cullens were. You could actually enjoy being around them as opposed to being afraid they would rip your head off. Maybe I would take Alice up on her offer and call her sometime.

"Shall we go, then?" Caleb asked, interrupting my train of thought. Brandon sighed as he climbed onto my back.

"I wish we could do this differently. This feels kinda weird." he said.

"Why? Are you not used to your sister being a hundred times stronger than you are?" I asked, amused.

Brandon smiled. "That's probably a big part of it. It does make me feel like there's a ten year difference between us instead of one-and-a-half. I feel like a toddler, being carried everywhere because I can't keep up."

"Would you feel better if I did it?" Caleb offered. Brandon chuckled again.

"Maybe. I'll think about it."