I can't stop thinking about Alec. Cold. Pale. Beautiful. Graceful. Ageless. Never eats or drinks. Fast. Strong. What is up with this crazy Volturi clan? With the boy I've fallen so hopelessly in love with over the past month?

It is snowing outside, and I hope it doesn't go so much that we won't have school tomorrow. I think that might be the first time I've ever hoped such a thing. But even though I've lost all my friends, being with Alec makes up for it all.

But I still don't even know what species he is. I promised him I'd drop it, but I just can't. I need something, anything, that will help me figure this all out. There has to be a clue in this old house somewhere!

"Evalyn." An unfamiliar, female voice whispers from behind me. I fall out of my desk chair whirling around to face it. No one is there.

"Evalyn." The voice comes again, this time from outside my door. I slowly stand up and, with shaky hands, creak open my door. The house is so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Everyone is asleep, tucked away in cozy beds. I'm letting my imagination wonder again.

"Evalyn." But there it goes again, whispering from the darkness to my right. I stumble to the light switch and flip it on. No one is there.

"Evalyn." Its coming from the attic. My breathing ragged, my heart drumming painfully in my chest, I creep inside.. No one.

"Evalyn." I can feel breath as chilly as death breathing down the back of my neck. I twirl around, giving a shriek as I see the oddest thing. A glimmering, fuzzy figure of..me? Wearing the dress from my dream.. No. This isn't me. This is much worse. This is Elizabeth.

"E-e-li-" I can't say anything more. I make a mad dash for the door, but an invisible force jerks me back. I then realize the force is not invisible. It is Elizabeth's hand, wrapped around my wrist. But I can't even feel her.

"Don't be frightened. I want to help. And I need your help." She whispers, big sapphire eyes that seem to hold all the pains of the world boring into my own.

"Help?" I squeak, cowering away from her.

"Look at me. I died when I was 22. But I'm seventeen again. And I'm wearing the dress Alec gave me, the one he left me in. You know that. I showed you." Her smile is faint and there is absolutely no trace of humor to be found. Only pain.

"Y-you did?" My voice is still several octaves too high.

"Yes, I did. My life ended the day Alec left me. I moved on, got married, had a daughter, but I never felt the way I did when I was with Alec Volturi. He was my whole life. And I know he left me for my own sake, and I know how sad he has been ever since. I don't think I'll be able to rest peacefully until Alec's soul is at peace. And I think you might be the one to help me there."

"How?" I am memorizing every word she says so I can write it all down later.

"You need to become like Alec." She says evenly, staring at me without blinking.

"And what exactly is Alec?" I ask fearfully.

"Being a member of the supernatural myself, I am not allowed to give away another member's secret to a mortal. But look," She drifts without touching the floor, as my mind wonders to her words about Alec being supernatural (what else did I expect?), over to the far corner of the attic where a floorboard is slightly raised. "My diary is under here. Inside you'll find everything you need to know. The only way you can put at peace the soul of both Alec and I is to join Alec. It is your destiny. I know you love him, more than you realize yourself. You will soon be testing yourself to see just how much you love him." She begins to flicker, like a light about to burn out.

"Wait! Where are you going?" I cry.

"Walking amongst mortals isn't easy. I'll be watching over you. Call for me in time of distress. Good luck, Evalyn." She gives me a ghostly smile before disappearing. My heart is hammering. I have to get that diary.

An hour, a dented crowbar, three broken nails, two splinters, and five cuts later, I'm holding the yellowing pages of a century-old diary. It is a dark plum color, and in fading silver on the bottom reads Elizabeth Johnson. I run back into my room, locking the door behind me. I curl up on my bed with a flash light and begin reading.

At first it is just a boring, day-to-day schedule of a high-society young lady of the late 18th century. But then I find it. The day they met. Tucked in it is a horrific surprise.

It is a picture of Elizabeth, wearing an elegant gown with pearl pins tucked in her hair. And by her side is a tall, dark-haired boy smiling joyfully at the camera. Its Alec. Alec Volturi. How can a boy that goes to my school, is in my grade, be in a photograph with my great great great great grandmother? That was my first thought, but then I remembered that Alec is definitely not what he seems. And I think if I squint hard into the background, I can make out Jane watching the happy couple with a smile on her face.

This is impossible. This is all so impossible. There is no way this is happening. I study the picture further and realize Alec's eyes are wrong. Even without color, I can tell the shade of them is off. They are too dark to be the bluish color they are now. They're red there. Colored contacts hadn't yet been invented. Shouldn't that have scared Elizabeth off in the first place?

I begin reading carefully.

March 4th, 1891

Oh, dearest diary, you simply will not believe it! I just know you won't! Today, while in Italy with Papa for work, I met the boy I am going to marry, the father of my children! His name is Alec. Alec Volturi. Charming, is it not? Elizabeth Volturi. Yes, I like this very much. He is a bit odd, but I find it interesting. He has hair the color of the midnight sky, and skin the color of the first winter snow. His eyes blaze a fiery red that strikes within me not only fear, but a deep longing. His lips are moist rose petals, and the voice that flows from them is like fine silk. He whispered the sweetest nothings into my ear beneath the moonlight by a large fountain in Volterra, and I fell in love. Oh, diary, I will give anything to make him mine! I must go, for I awake at the crack of dawn to meet him in the forest just outside the city gates. If Papa discovers us, he shall surely forbade Alec and I from ever speaking again. Wish me luck, diary.

~E~

I read through the next few pages quickly, which tells of their adventures together. It is like some kind of Romeo and Juliet tale. He traveled back to America with her, and she even made a list of his oddities as I had. Finally, I got to something that made my blood run cold.

September 16th, 1991

Diary, oh, diary. You are the absolute only one I can confide in. The secret, which I have known for hardly a day now, is eating me from the inside out. I feel I shall burst if I do not share with you, my only friend with not a mouth to spread it along. Today, my dearest love, my midnight prince, has revealed to me the reasons behind his uncanny beauty and startling, flame red eyes. Alec is a vampire. Yes, that is right. The sweet lips that have brushed against my own so tenderly have also sucked the life straight from others veins. It sickens me to think about. But though I spent nearly three full hours having a melt down in the woods where Alec told me right outside my lovely house on Cranburry Avenue, I have come to terms. Alec has already stolen my heart, and nothing can change that. I am willing to leave behind all of society, my friends and family, to join him in the dark. If only he would be so willing to allow me to do so. I have no doubts that I will convince him in time. Alas, the clock has reached the stroke of midnight, and I must retire to bed. I will be sure to express my feelings on this matter further as soon as I rise.

~E~

My fingers tremble. The leather-bound book slips from my sweaty grasp, plopping onto the sheets of my bed. My eyes are wide, my mind is racing. Alec is a vampire. A vampire. An undead, unfeeling creature. A parasite. Oh. Ohh. Oh no. This is worse than I could have ever imagined.

After a bit more freaking out, I force myself to open the book and flip to the back page. It is exactly what I thought it would be. A page with dried, wrinkled splatters of moisture. A page filled with horrible words written in beautiful, curling calligraphy.

March 4th, 1992

This is the worst day of my life. What a gloomy way to start my last entry.. Yes, this is the final one, diary. You hold far too many valuable secrets now, secrets of a world I was mistaken to ever become involved in. I nearly threw you into the flames earlier, but decided I could never be so cruel. I will stow you away beneath the floorboards of the attic, and pray to the Heavens that you shall never see daylight again.

Well, you are probably wondering the source of my distress. You see, my faithful companion, Alec, has left me on this most fateful of days. He took me out into the enchanted woods near my house, to the exact same location where he admitted his true identity and knelt on one knee and bestowed upon me a gold engagement ring but three days prior. Today, however, he told me our time was up. I failed at making him realize I am capable of a life such as his own. He is gone without a trace, and I shall never see his radiant glory ever again. It has been exactly a year since I met him in Volterra, Italy, and my, I never thought a year could be filled with so many joyful memories that are eternally etched in my memory.

Papa is already arranging for me to marry another, some duke of a far off region. I will never love as I loved my sweetest, loveliest, most magical and mysterious knight of knights. My Alec.

Farewell, diary dearest. Rest peacefully knowing you are doing a wondrous deed by protecting the secrets of a dark world I will never understand.

Forever in your debt,

~E~

Tears are streaming down my own cheeks, and I have moved the sheets of my bed up to catch them so they don't smear Elizabeth's words. Elizabeth, a sheltered young girl of times I can't even begin to fathom, had loved Alec so much she was willing to grow up in the blink of an eye to be able to carry his burden with him. She had gained strength from her love, strength to be able to deal with it all and never tell a soul. She had loved him so much she was willing to give up her own future to join him. And now I must do the same.