I do not own twilight.

Well here is the next chapter as promised and this one is even longer than the last. I hope you like it, because I am getting really excited about what's coming soon. Stay tuned!

Chapter 14

Sophie/Bella's POV

This time around Laurent and I traveled by plane with Irena to return to the states. Irena managed to stay relatively calm during the majority of the flight, but was practically bouncing in her seat by the time we started to descend. The whole flight Irena was trying to prepare me to meet her family. She went over their backgrounds briefly and then tried to describe their personalities. I cringed when Irena expanded into their extended family the Cullen's, telling me how I must meet them. Laurent was quick to deter her from any other conversations about the Cullen's and I was grateful; he knew exactly how I would react to having to see the Cullen's again. During the entire plane ride Laurent seemed to be managing his thirst quite well until we finally landed. While we were graciously waiting to exit the plane behind all of the slow moving humans, Laurent seemed to be very uncomfortable; he complained that we were going to need to make a hasty exit from the airport. However, his quick escape plan was spoiled when four sets of golden eyes where waiting for us as we exited the gate.

Irena grabbed my hand squeezing it just a bit before releasing it and then ran up to and tall inhumanly beautiful strawberry blond woman. From the descriptions, Irena gave me on the plane I was able to determine this must be Tanya, the leader of their coven. To Tanya's left, I was able to identify Kate and on Tanya's right I knew the man and woman must be Carmen and Eleazer. Tanya's eyes watched Laurent carefully as she hugged her sister and then at the last minute her gaze shifted to me before she released her. The uncertainty there was not lost on me; perhaps Laurent was right about it being a bit more difficult to win over the rest of the Denali coven. Once Irena had hugged all the members of her family, she turned back and reached out for me. I stepped forward cautiously as all eyes turned to me and Irena introduce me as her daughter.

"Hello Sophie, I guess I am your Aunt Tanya then" she said as she smiled warmly at me. I tried to keep my heart beat steady as I returned her smile, but I was more than a little nervous. Kate was next to introduce herself to me and seemed a bit more trusting. She was bold enough to reach out and hug me, which I was not expecting. Then, I was turned to greet Carmen and Eleazer. Carmen seemed nice enough and shook my hand, but Eleazer was looking at me quite strangely.

"You are quite remarkable child" he said looking from me to Laurent.

"I thought you would think so Eleazer, but perhaps we can begin that discussion back at the house" Laurent responded. Eleazer nodded and without another word the group turned and started to make their way toward the exit. When we got outside the group headed for two cars, Tanya and Kate got into the front of one car and Carmen and Eleazer got into the front of the other.

"Laurent, maybe I should ride with Sophie and you can go with Tanya and Kate. The trip to the house will take an hour and you know how shy she is" Irena suggested. Laurent turned to Irena and rubbed her shoulders as he spoke.

"She is a big girl Irena, just because she is our child doesn't mean you should baby her. I'm sure she can handle herself, plus I think it would be good for her to speak with Eleazer he might be able to help her to understand her gift" he said as he opened the car door for me to ride with Eleazer.

"I'll be fine, mom" I told Irena as I got into the car and Laurent shut the door. Eleazer and Carmen were both turned around in their seats looking at me when I finally looked straight ahead.

"You are remarkably calm for a newborn, how do you do it?" Carmen asked.

"Um…I …I really have no clue. I have never met any newborns before, so I didn't realize I was so different" I told her. Eleazer puller away from the airport swiftly and seemed to be watching me very carefully, but didn't say anything the rest of the trip. I watched the trees as we drove by quickly, almost silently; my phone suddenly vibrated and I reached in my pocket. Only three people had this number since Laurent gave me the phone; but I was fairly certain it wouldn't be Laurent or Irena. I flipped open the screen to see the message.

F: I will be waiting when you return, Sophie. Please don't stay away long.

I shook my head while I read the message. Felix was going to be a problem, it was like Jacob all over again, but without having been friends. I definitely didn't want to piss him off, considering he was well connected, but I knew I didn't have feelings for him. The only reason I wanted to kiss him, was because of bloodlust. I wondered if he knew what he was doing when he came to me like that, I couldn't be sure. I didn't think I gave him the wrong impression when we first met, but in the back of my mind I couldn't help but think that this relationship would be useful. Felix he told me he knew his feelings ran deeper than mine, but he didn't care. Actually, he said he could fix me and why should I try to stop him, I didn't know if he could find a way to heal me somehow. Now that Laurent had Irena, I knew I would need some kind of distraction to keep me from the house sometimes and I was in need of some new friends. I laughed to myself about how Laurent would be so mad at me if I continued to spend time with Felix and how happy that would make Irena. And so my mind was set, I would continue to see Felix when we returned to France, he was better than nothing at all.

S: I will try not to. I am bored already. Tell Aro I was happy to meet him and his brothers.

"Is that your parents?" Carmen asked.

"No, a friend" I told her. We pulled up to the house a moment later, but I wouldn't exactly call it a house. It looked more like a mansion and had wings like a hospital that must have been added on through the years. I got out of the car and followed everyone inside, trying to take in everything I saw. The inside was decorated beautifully with rich wood accents, shockingly different from the Cullen home. It looked at though they were going for a much more rustic feel with all of the warm colors and hard wood floors.

"Sophie" Irena called out to me, I had been so lost in my own thoughts I didn't realize that everyone was already seated in the other room. I walked in and took a seat next to Irena, while she took my hand in hers and held it in her lap smiling at me. I half smiled and looked up to see everyone watching me. I squeezed Irena's hand leaning back almost angling myself behind her; having all of them stare at me at once was rather intimidating.

"How old are you Sophie?" Tanya asked eyeing me carefully.

"She is about six months old" Laurent answered coolly.

"She is so reserved, calm and then I listen to her heartbeat and it is soaring. It's so peculiar. Irena explained that you were interrupted, but why didn't you just rectify that after you realized she was experiencing the change anyway?" Tanya said.

"He let me choose" I responded.

"And that's not to mention I couldn't if she didn't want me too. She has a very special gift, that I was hoping Eleazer would be able to help her with" Laurent said.

"Yes, she is blocking me now, meaning she is some kind of shield" Eleazer said looking at me.

"She doesn't even know she is doing it and we have come to find that some powers do not work on her at all. Aro can not read her and Jane was quite put out as well" Laurent smirked.

Eleazer's eyes were hard as he looked at me. "I have never met a shield strong enough to deflect a power as old as the Volturi. You are exactly the kind of gift they would love to acquire."

"I know, they have already extended an offer to me, but I declined" I told him.

"The Volturi are very powerful, I am surprised you chose to stay with Laurent and Irena" Eleazer continued.

"I have no interest in the way they live, I want to stay with my family."

"Well, you really shouldn't say you have no interest, Sophie dear. I think your boyfriend would be quite upset to hear you say that" Irena giggled. Laurent stood suddenly gripping my shoulders.

"Boyfriend!? He most certainly is not your boyfriend and I don't want you anywhere near him and give the Volturi a chance to suck you in. What happened to staying away from them? Do you want them to take you away from us?"

"He is not my boyfriend and they couldn't take me away from you." Laurent's eyes had been hard during his speech, but softened at my response.

"Yes, I would like to see them try, huh" Laurent laughed a bit and then released me to go back to his seat. Everyone else in the room had been extremely quiet and still during the scene Laurent had just played out. "I'm sorry for my outburst" Laurent said turning the others.

"What do you mean try?" Eleazer questioned.

"Well, perhaps a demonstration is in order then. Sophie, would you be so kind to show Eleazer what I meant about them only being able to try to take you away?" I stood up and walked a few yards away from the furniture and turned back to the group.

"Eleazer, go ahead and try to approach her." Eleazer got up from his seat, looking from me to Laurent. "She won't harm you." I watched as he turned back to face me and walked forward. As soon as Eleazer got a few feet away from the group, I felt my shield begin to tingle as I threw it around myself and smiled. He seemed to notice the change in my face and paused momentarily. In the time he took to pause I saw my reflection in his golden eyes…my eyes stared back white or even a silver color. I turned toward the mirror to my right to see if it was real. My eyes were completely silver and white when I invoked my shield. I knew my eyes were not red like most newborns, but it seemed that when I used my shield they made a complete transformation from the murky brown and grey they were moments before to this. Lost in my discovery I finally felt Eleazer come in contact with my shield finally and I instinctively threw him back without looking. When I turned around to face the group, Eleazer had been able to right himself and land gracefully near the couch where Laurent sat.

"I'm sorry, I hadn't meant to push you away…it was instinct because I was preoccupied." I turned to Laurent suddenly "you didn't tell me they turned silver when I used my shield."

"I thought you knew, dear" he said coolly.

"I have never seen such a gift. You seem to have defenses against both mental and physical attacks, it's nearly unimaginable. Have you experimented with your shield to see if you can protect others?" Eleazer asked.

"I didn't know that I could do such a thing, but if you can teach me I will try" I said.

So in the weeks that followed that first day, I developed a new routine. Everyday, Eleazer and I would train for a few hours; spending half the time on theory and the other half on experimenting on theories. Eleazer explained that every skill is different…some can be fixed, but others can be molded. He had me practice on trying to make shapes out of my shields. My default shape always seemed to be a bubble, but that was always the way I described it. Eleazer wanted me to imagine it as square or flat or see if I could make it creep along the ground or up a tree. By trying to shape it to what I wanted I was able to use my shield for other things, like molding a shield around an object and then drawing the shield with the object inside towards me. It was almost like being telekinetic, but it was the push and pull over my shield that allowed me to do it. We also discovered at I could make more than one shield at a time. Over time, we realized that I always had a mental shield, but that the physical one was another one all together. My progress was slow day to day trying to create and hold multiple shields at a time, but I progressed nonetheless. Kate and Tanya had even taken an interest in my training. Besides Eleazer's gift to be able to read someone's talent, Kate was also gifted. She was able to run an electric current across her skin to zap her enemies' at different thresholds of pain.

It took me almost 10 hours of practice before I was able to keep Tanya from being shocked by Kate when I was touching her, and then we tried it at a distance and zilch. It was extremely frustrating as I watched each painful face Tanya made when I wasn't able to exceed at my task. I remember how Laurent said that emotion can be tied to a vampire's gift, so I let my aggravation simmer inside of me for a few moments before I tried again, and I did it! Eleazer and Laurent were very proud and asked what helped my resolve, which I was forced to tell them that my anger fueled my ability. Quickly, Eleazer asked how much anger it took to be successful, but I didn't answer his question. I couldn't help but think of the day in the marsh when I had destroyed everything in a hundred yards of me, because I let my true emotions out. Training was beginning to take a toll on me day after day. It had been almost a month since I had slept to relieve what few remaining parts of me were human and the bruise like shadows under my eyes were not fading after I hunted anymore. I was in danger of having another painful attack, but with so many people here it was going to be hard to hide.

Somehow through my daily training and hunting with the family, I had begun to develop a relationship with Tanya. Even though I never talked much when I was around her, I listened and that seemed to be good enough. I was finally feeling like I belonged and Tanya and Eleazer had stopped giving me strange looks like they thought I was hiding something…now we seemed to really blend. I had even agreed to go out shopping with Tanya and Kate while the couples were preoccupied. Shopping with Kate and Tanya was nothing like shopping with Alice except for the platinum credit cards. Tanya didn't feel the need to race through the store, but looked casually while we chatted over the racks.

"Sophie?! Are you even going to pick something up?" Tanya asked me.

"Umm, I am not very good at this kind of thing. Anything I pick for myself, Irena tells me is boring, so I gave up letting her pick out my outfits" I said back staring at a table of cashmere sweaters.

"Well, you just need some tips is all. You can't dress like a human anymore; you are far too beautiful now. Don't buy the same color all the time and always try on styles you don't think you would like, because you never know how good it looks until you have it on. Here try these" Tanya said handing me a few things. I looked at the dozen things she gave me and laughed to myself. Sure, just try a few things… Once we had purchased several hundred dollars worth of clothes each, Kate pulled us over to a bench where we could people watch. She was very good at pointing out what people were doing wrong concerning how they dressed themselves in the morning. We must have sat there for two hours laughing at some of the concoctions some people put together…if I had been anymore human I think I might have peed myself on more than one occasion. It felt so good to laugh…I hadn't been able to laugh like that in forever it felt like.

"So what about that boyfriend of yours, Sophie? You sure have been receiving a lot of packages in the mail" Tanya laughed. I tried to hide my face, but Kate just grabbed my face saying I couldn't keep it to myself any longer. I have been receiving "packages" rather frequently since I arrived in Denali. All of them were from Felix, and in the beginning they were all pretty extravagant, but slowly they transformed into something more appropriate. I don't know whether he figured out my taste more from our regular conversations about my time with my family or if he broke into my room in France to figure it out. Either way, I was glad he wasn't sending, jewelry and fancy dresses. Irena was over the moon with the gifts I received, and she was more than happy to hide all of the "packages" from Laurent so he wouldn't get upset.

Felix and I had actually become somewhat close through all of our long distant chats. He stuck to the basic conversations and eventually we broke into in depth discussions about places I have always wanted to travel to and places he had already been. This friendship hit close to home a lot and I always thought of Jacob when I got off the phone with Felix. It seemed I was doomed to always have my friends want something more. I liked Felix and I wanted to make him happy, but I didn't love him the way he wanted me to. I have to admit with Jacob at the end before I left I thought maybe he had worn me down enough that there might really be something there. That maybe…just maybe I did start to have feeling for him too and someday I would be truly happy with Jacob. Obviously fate had other ideas for me.

"Well, are you going to spill or not?" Kate asked me quite defiantly.

"He's nice?" I said sheepishly. Kate and Tanya burst into laughter at my reply and I even laughed too. "He has been a good friend, but he wants a lot more then I can give him. And the gifts are just…I don't know…it feels like he is trying to make me love him with all of the things he sends. I am just not ready to love someone again" I told them and realized I said too much.

"Again?" Tanya asked, her eyes trained on my expression. I could feel the anxiety swell inside of me and my eyes closed as I tried to push back the memories of his face. I tried to take a calming breathe, but it hitched as I felt a tear escape. Traitorous tear, I thought as I shook my head. I did not want to share this with them, but I knew I needed to say enough to make them not want to ask again. I looked up at them and they were waiting ever so patiently for me to continue.

"I'm sorry… but I can't relive what he…what he and his family did to me. Please… don't make me explain" I said to them and if I didn't know any better I would say they were on the verge of tears with me. The rest of the trip, Tanya and Kate made no mention of my emotional outburst and it seemed as though they were taking it upon themselves to return my mood to the one of laughter before the dreaded question was asked.

When we got home the house was quiet, I took my purchases up to my room and started to put them away when I heard Irena and Kate laughing about all of the awful things we had seen people wearing. I finished putting away my things and went down to join them only to find the whole family had come to hear the stories…and then one story rolled into another about other strange experiences the Denali's had had with human since living here. When the laughter died down, the conversations rolled over to other strange vampires they had met along the way and they slowed down on those stories, Carmen asked about the Cullen's.

"Have we heard from the Cullen's recently?" Carmen asked and my stomach plummeted.

"No, not since a few months ago. I have been meaning to give them a call and see how they are doing, especially Edward" Tanya said. My mind was in over drive and I struggling with myself not to show signs of stress, but I wasn't sure how I was fairing. I left my eyes on the floor, only to look up once and see Laurent watching me with a guarded expression.

"Oh Tanya, will you never leave him alone. You are completely insatiable when it comes to Edward Cullen" Kate said. I was confused by her tone, but the meaning was not lost on me. Clearly, Tanya had pursued Edward at one point or another and she was still very much attracted to him.

"Let me explain to Sophie before we go on. The Cullen's are another vegetarian family like ourselves and we have been friends with them so long we like to think of them as family…cousins or something like that. There are three couples in the family and then Edward is the odd man out some would say. Tanya has been chasing after Edward almost since the beginning, but has never been close to winning any of his affections and until recently he has never shown any kind of interest in any female. However, almost two years ago he supposed fell head over heals for a human girl. Tanya was quite upset as you can imagine that he would show any interest in anyone besides her, but more so because she was just a human. Tanya had a brief fit that a human could be more attractive then her, but then the Cullen's told us they had to leave…that their mere presence to the human girl was putting her life in danger."

"Edward has always had some inner turmoil over what we are, so he refused to change her and thus left her to live out the rest of her days, which is quite dangerous. You see humans are not supposed to know about us and if the Volturi ever found out that there was a human walking around with that kind of knowledge, they could all be killed. But nevertheless, they came and stayed with us for a few weeks before they left for the East Coast, but the whole family is in shambles over the loss of this girl. I think they got too attached and never imagined Edward would be so stubborn as to not change her, but he is convinced that this is the only way. Last we heard the arguments over what happened in Forks were so bad that they separated. Edward left the family only days after they came here and they haven't seen him since. As far as Carlisle and Esme and the rest of their children go, they have also split up and are currently living apart. They have never been so broken before and I hope that this won't be permanent but we don't know" Irena said.

All this information swirled in my head. Edward left because he thought his family was putting me in danger and apparently the rest of them didn't agree with Edward's choice, but it didn't make sense. If they didn't want to leave me then why did they…Edward is not the boss of them. How did I know that the Denali's even had the real story? They could have told them anything so they didn't look like the bad guys for all I know. But Alice…I always believed Alice at the very least would come back for me when I was in trouble, but she never came. I have been so close to death in the last year that I have run out of fingers and toes to keep track of them all. So what conclusion am I supposed to come to other than Edward told me the truth that day…that they didn't want me…that they never really loved me…it was all an act or a game to them to manipulate a human. Irena was still talking about them, but I couldn't listen anymore. The searing pain in my chest was flaring up at the mere mention of them and I was on the verge of an emotional breakdown if I continued to think about them. Slowly I rose from my seat and slipped out while they continued to talk about whatever. I was glad no one took notice of my escape as I ran from the house.

I let the tears have full rain over my body and when I got far enough away I collapsed to the ground, letting the sobs rack through my body. I didn't know what to believe…he told me he didn't love me, but the Denali's were painting a different picture. But if he did care for me, then why leave me…why would he want me to die. There was no way he loved me, because if he did he would not want me to be in such pain. No, whatever they told Tanya was not the truth…I shouldn't let this make me backpedal…I have been doing so well lately. I have made new friends and while the hole in my chest still throbs occasionally when something reminds me of him…I have managed to push through the pain to still function. I do not want to go back to dead Bella. I am Sophie now and I have parents, and a family and even possibly a boyfriend. Somewhere deep in the back of my mind I know I wasn't fooling myself. I knew that I was taking these things hoping that by adding them all up I would end up happy, as stupid as that was, but for now I needed to believe it, because without this delusion, my life would be nothing. My soul was lost without this plan.

Just when I thought I had reigned all of my emotions back in, I felt something else beginning to burn in my chest. I gasped at the feel of the pain as it shot through my body with a vengeance. I couldn't breath, I could hardly think and the pain was everywhere. It was worse than before, swelling to a new level of pain I never felt before. I choked out a scream as my body contorted on the ground. I dug my hands into the soil around me trying to find my bearings, but the pain was too much. I was too disoriented to be able to tell which way was up or down, I had forgotten where I was now. I could see clouds above me, but then I would see flashes of memories…James biting me in the ballet studio…Laurent biting me…Edward leaving me in the woods. It was like a reel of all the most painful moments of my life, this pain that I was feeling now was making me remember all the things I didn't want to because it was the same…the same inferno coursing through my veins. I cried out a few more times while my back arched and my legs flailed…how long would it last this time?! Somewhere through the blackness I saw, I could hear voices…I couldn't feel anything but the pain, but I could hear Laurent and Irena talking quickly.

Eleazer's POV

Somewhere between all of the stories Sophie had gotten up and left. Irena announced she was going to go see what she was up to and Laurent was quick to say he would accompany her. Ever since Laurent returned I just couldn't shake this bad feeling about him that I had. I kept trying to tell myself it was only because he caused Irena so much pain while he was gone, but I didn't trust him. His story about Sophie just didn't sit right…it was hard to believe he had no idea she was gifted before he so mistakenly sunk his teeth into her. I think he knew exactly what he was doing and had created this whole story in order to keep her with him. She was extremely powerful and had still not tapped into the full potential of her capabilities.

My impressions of Sophie were a little scattered. She seemed so shy, but when she trained she gave herself over to her instincts completely and gained the confidence of a lioness. She was quite an enigma; her strange change was unheard of. She still had a heartbeat, but was so comfortable with all of her vampire characteristics. She was a natural if I had even seen one and yet she was so reserved; she acted more like a hundred year old vampire instead of only being six months old. God, I just couldn't wrap my head around it! She was so…different than any gifted vampire I have taught and with all of these new found talents she had, she didn't seem happy. There was a sadness about her she never talked about, and for as special as she was and made for this life I kept feeling like there was a huge part of her that was missing…

"Laurent! What is happening to her?! What's wrong with her?!" Irena screamed and as I came running into the main room. Sophie was on the ground writhing in pain, trying desperately to hold back her screams.

"Relax Irena; she has had attacks like this before…I think it's the venom finally making progress through her body. It's been a long time since I knew she had one though, because she has been trying to hide it from me, but they usually only last a few hours and then she will sleep. But I have never seen her react this way before, its like they are getting worse… perhaps she is getting closer to finishing the transformation" Laurent said.

"Attacks? Why have you never mentioned this before?" I yelled at Laurent. I couldn't help but feel protective of her now that we had bonded during her training sessions. I didn't like seeing her in pain; it was unnatural for our kind to experience pain like this. I was furious that Laurent would be so irresponsible as to forget to mention Sophie's condition. "How long will it last?" I asked.

"I am unsure, three maybe four hours and then its as though she is sleeping and she would stay that way for maybe twice as long as she was in pain. I don't know any more than that, she never talks about them" he said watching her body fight. We tried to put her on the couch, but the violent spasms that shook her body didn't allow her to stay still. After two hours she was still in agony, her jaw was clenched holding back sound, fists balled, and her eyes were squeezed shut. Suddenly, her eyes burst open glowing completely white; it was something I saw happen when I had her training extra hard. Before I knew it I could feel wind wiping around the room though no windows or doors were open. She let out the most excruciating scream I had ever heard and I knew it was worse; she was losing control of her gift. Objects in the room started to vibrate and hop around without a reason. A mirror shattered behind me and the furniture began to shutter.

"What's happening?" Tanya yelled.

"She is losing control, her shields are acting wild" I told her.

"What should we do? She is going to bring the house down if this gets worse" Tanya said with fear in her eyes. I had no idea what to do. In this state I wasn't sure of she could hear me or not but I needed to get through to her; she needed to concentrate. I rushed forward against the wind as all the windows in the room burst, throwing glass everywhere. Slowly, I forced my way to Sophie's side and gripped her face. Her eyes were completely white, I couldn't even see her pupils and I wasn't even sure if she could see me, but I had to try.

"Sophie, look at me!" I screamed in her face. "Concentrate on the sound of my voice, Laurent says it shouldn't be long now…it's almost over, but you need to hang on." I looked up at the rest of my family, panic was clear on all of theirs faces, but nothing was exploding so I must be getting through to her. "Sophie, think of the happiest memories you have and used it for strength, we are all here for you and we are not leaving until this is over, do you understand me?" I asked her with as much hope as I could muster. She blinked and very slowly the room was going still again. There were still a few things trembling slightly, but it seemed she had a better grasp while I was talking to her. And then, just as suddenly as everything started, it stopped and everything was silent. Sophie's body rocked a few more times, but then she closed her eyes and seemed to be resting peacefully. I looked up at my Carmen and she was smiling at me; I smiled back. Tanya came forward and picked Sophie up from the floor and carried her upstairs. Laurent watched as Tanya went for the bedroom and turned to me, with a look of relief.

"You! How many of those has she had to go through, because of you?! Finish what you started; that would only mean three days or probably less in her case, of that and then she wouldn't have to feel that way ever again!" I yelled.

"She chose this, it is the way she wants it and I will respect it as long as she chooses it. Do you really think it wise to add more fuel to that fire? That is the work of the miniscule amount of venom that passed to her the first time and now you want me to just flood her system with that. Only if she wants me too will I agree to such a thing!" Laurent said venom lacing every word before he left the room.

Over the next few hours, we all watched over Sophie's sleeping form. It was so strange that we all had grown to care for her in such a small amount of time, but she seemed to strike a chord in every one of us. Tanya was bold enough to climb right into the bed with her pulling her into her chest stroking her hair. By the time the sun began to rise, Sophie began to stir and then swiftly she opened her eyes focusing on Tanya who was closest. Sophie gasped and turned her face away from Tanya while she tried to sit up.

"Oh no you don't, you have nothing to be ashamed of Sophie, don't turn away from us when we have been waiting so patiently for you to wake" Tanya said soothingly. Sophie turned back to her with real tears on the brink of spilling over and hugged her. Sophie tried to get us all back to our normal routines, but on the inside we were all terrified of when she would experience another attack. I tried to ask her why she doesn't let Laurent finish her transformation, but she wouldn't talk about it. Sophie and I went back to training a few days later and she was making real progress. She had learned to maintain shields away from herself in order to protect other people. It was amazing…I was beginning to think she could do anything and since her last attack she did seem stronger and she even smelled less human. Maybe Laurent was right to let it over come her slowly, I wasn't sure how well the family would takes days of her being in that kind of pain, but I wasn't going to push the issue anymore; Sophie made it quite clear she wouldn't budge.

I was having Sophie shield herself and then levitate other objects around her with shields when I noticed something. When she shielded herself I saw her lift up just the slightest bit; I would assume so her shield could fully engulf her. I had been having her float things in shields, but I didn't even think about the fact that she shields herself…I wonder if she can move herself!? Just as I was about to announce my breakthrough I heard someone approaching from the east. The movements this person was making were very controlled and they were trying to get as close as possible without detection, but my training with the Volturi was their undoing. Sophie reacted to my tense posture and asked what was wrong. "Listen" I whispered. Ever so slowly, Sophie turned toward the east picking up on the soft foot falls of out visitor. Then the visitor stopped realizing that we had caught on to their approach. Sophie stepped up and placed herself in front of me, I was confident in her abilities, but allowing her to protect me was a little unnerving. I was always the protector, not the protected so it took all my strength to remain where I was.

Ever so slowly, the visitor advanced and then the wind shifted. "Felix?" I said shocked as he stepped through the trees and darted at Sophie sweeping her up in a large hug. He held her tightly for a moment before releasing her and setting her back down on the ground. I was awe struck, but composed myself quickly. "So it is you that the women have been teasing Sophie about. I had no idea you had such a soft spot" I spoke grinning. Felix took Sophie's hand in his left and came forward to shake my hand. He still had a grip that scared the masses, but he smiled back at me.

"I am afraid I have but only a few hours before I must return, would you mine if I stole Sophie away for awhile" Felix asked me. I knew Laurent would not be pleased with this, but I enjoyed seeing him angry.

"Of course, go have some fun, but steer clear of Sophie's father, he would not be pleased to see you here" I laughed as I told him.

"Thank you, Eleazer…Aro misses your presence immensely, I hope you visit soon" Felix replied.

"Of course" I told him, although I had no immediate plans of visiting for now. I headed back to the house to find Carmen and leave Sophie with some privacy. Back at the house Tanya and Carmen were watching tv; Kate and Irena were discussing movies and Laurent was nowhere to be scene. I sat down next to Carmen, kissing her temple and hoped she would catch on to my mood. She grinned sheepishly at me as her eyes looked towards the bedroom and I nodded.

The next day when Sophie and I went out to train, I was able to tell her about my epiphany from yesterday. We worked on trying to get her off the ground for hours before she was able to do it with any ease. It proved to be rather difficult to balance her weight properly in order for her to move in any direction besides up. Plus every time she started to get off balance she lost her concentration, which meant she dropped her shield which meant she dropped herself. I couldn't help but laugh more than a few times. As soon as she seemed to have a hang on it though I told her to incorporate it into the attacks I had been teaching her. There were some very rough run threws, but I developing this skill more would be extremely useful. I bet that no vampire had ever flown before now. Before we knew it, the sun was already setting and we had spent twice as long training today then we did any other day. However the excitement over Sophie's new talent was just too much fun to stop. We agreed to run one more exercise where I attacked Sophie and she was suppose to levitate herself up and zigzag through the field while I chased after her.

I sprung at her swiftly and she was able to escape quite easily, but as she shifted left and right while hovering over the ground I decided to see if I could jump up high enough to get her. I leapt from the ground crossing directions as she tried to avoid me, but a silver chain around her neck caught my attention and when she pushed her shield out to push me away I was caught off guard causing me to crash into a tree. I was shocked, but the look on my face must have been quite funny for Sophie burst into giggles which abruptly made her lose focus on her shield which let her fall to the ground with a crash too and then it was my turn to laugh. Sophie laughed at herself as she got up and tried to brush the debris from her clothes. As I watched her brush dirt and leaves from herself, something caught my eye. One of the cuffs that Sophie always wore had loosened during the fight and was now sagging down her arm revealing two silvery scars. She was still laughing to herself when she caught my gaze and quickly turned around to hide her arm from sight.

Something wasn't right, how could Sophie have scars on her arms if Laurent had bitten her on her shoulder. I had seen the bite myself and Sophie had never tried to hide it, but her arms…now that I think about it I have never seen her remove those cuffs or if she had she always wore something with sleeves. The scars were clearly bite marks, but why would she feel the need to hide them and why did she have them. She tried to walk away but I caught her elbow before she could make a run for it. I tried to pull the cuff down so that I could see them again, but she stopped me. "How did you get those?" I asked worried about what she would say.

"It's nothing" she tried to say innocently.

"But who gave them to you?" I knew she was avoiding giving me a straight answer but I pushed her still.

"Don't do this" she pleaded with me, but I didn't understand. "Just forget that you saw them and everything will be fine, please Eleazer…let's go home" she said her voice thick with emotion.

"It's all a lie, isn't it? The story he told us about how you came to be with him… it's a lie. What is the truth Sophie? Answer me" I pleaded with her. It couldn't be that bad if she stayed with him, but I couldn't be sure.

"It will ruin everything, if you do this" she said in a whisper.

"Tell me how you got them…I won't blame you, I won't judge you…just tell me the truth. Did Laurent do this?" I knew I should have never trusted him…my gut feelings were never wrong. But I didn't know why he would bite her more…and if he was responsible for the bites on her arm why was she still changing slowly. My brain was in overdrive coming up with scenarios why he would do it, and I let go of Sophie's arm. I rested my face in my hands, with the weight of the worst case scenarios going through my mind. When I looked up, she was gone. In my agony over what Sophie's words could mean she had taken off for towards the house. I raced after her trail, but she had more than enough time to make it back to the house before me. I burst through the door, my eyes locking on Laurent, as I felt the waves of anger rolling through my body.

"What is the real story Laurent?" I said to him…fury clear in my voice. "Why does she have scars on her arms? How many times did you really bite her?" The whole family appeared to listen to his response.

"This is madness; you know how I found her. You are trying to turn her against me aren't you? Now that you see what she is capable of, you want her power for yourself! Well, it doesn't work that way. She belongs to me…she is loyal to me. And I won't stand for your doubts anymore, come Irena we are leaving" he said as he turned to grab Irena's hand.

"Wait I don't understand Laurent, what is he talking about? We can work this out, just tell them what you told me and he will see" Irena pleaded with him; I knew she didn't want to separate from her family.

"I can't reason with someone who questions my every move, I won't do it anymore" he said as he walked out the door towing Irena along with him. Sophie looked at the rest of us and followed Laurent as tears began to run down her cheeks.

"Sophie, wait! You don't need to stay with him" I told her, but she didn't even slow down as she walked out the door and sprinted after Laurent and Irena.

"What the hell just happened?!" Tanya yelled

Sorry if there are a bunch of typos, but I really wanted to get this out to you. I will continue to work on the next chapters, but I am having a timing issue between the next couple chapters because I am trying to describe events happening at the same time, but obviously with different people in different areas. Which I hope you know what that means! Please review and help me keep the creative juices flowing. I will post again after the first!