You Can't Always Get What You Want

by Xavier2163

New Moon/BD AU. Edward leaves Bella after their intimate relationship blossoms during the summer after Twilight. Bella is left to face the consequences of her love for Edward as her life changes drastically. NO WOLVES/NO IMPRINTS OOC ExB Lemons. New Updates after long Hiatus.

14. Chapter 14 Growing Up – Part 2

Disclaimer: Written under the derivative fan works act. All rights reserved to the original creator, Stephanie Meyer.

Title: You Can't Always Get What You Want

Rating: M for sexual situations, lemons, and hot, steamy, angsty vampire lovin', underage drinking, smoking, drug use and overall bad behavior.

Premise: Alternate Universe. Edward leaves Bella after their intimate relationship blossoms during the summer after Twilight. Bella is left to face the consequences of loving a vampire as her life changes drastically. OCC ExB Lemons

Alternate Universe: Canon pairings eventually, pretty much OOC, ExB of course.

POV: NPOV (Nessie) Nessie is taking a turn for a while. Bella will continue the story later. Edward and Alice may have another say later on.

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Author Notes:

Please note that this story is rated M for a reason, if you'd prefer not to deal with mature themes, please do not read this story.

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Chapter 14 Growing Up – Part 2

NPOV (Nessie)

Things hadn't worked out between mom and Brad. After that first date, she'd had a hard time even holding hands with him, and she wasn't going to go out and do what she knew would allow them to be together again. The only reason they'd even been able to hook up in the first place was because she wasn't feeling the bloodlust, and there was only one thing that made that go away.

It was just a summer fling, but it made mom happy for a while.

We went back to the pool a few more times that summer. It was fun, and mom didn't want what happened with Brad to be a one night stand while in reality that was what it was. She couldn't truly be around him, and she kept making excuses for why she couldn't go spend time with him alone. She pretended to be busy with work, he went off to college and they drifted apart without making any real commitments.

We moved at the end of summer a couple of months before my birthday. We felt it was the best move to cut our ties and put some distance between our family and the people that had come to know us over the summer.

3 years old – 8.24 human years

I liked our house in Ohio. Mom and I shared a room and bathroom again, but I really didn't mind. I liked being close to mom. Grandma and Grandpa had a suite at the opposite end of the house that afforded them a little more privacy. We could still hear everything, but at least they weren't on the other side of the wall when you tried to pretend that they were just sleeping.

The house was a big white older two-story home a couple of miles outside of Logan on a huge parcel of land. We'd actually invested in this property and had purchased it instead of renting. The idea was that we'd stay here for a while, and then move on and buy another home someplace else. We figured if we acquired a couple of different places, we'd have someplace to go if we had to move in a hurry. This house was south of Lancaster on Highway 33, and about fifty miles Southeast of Columbus, Ohio. It was nice being surrounded by dense forest again instead endless green fields of farmland.

Farmland was nice because the deer were large, well fed and easily abundant, but I liked the variety of game in the forest. There were more predators to choose from, and we didn't have to be so picky. Logan was about five miles from the Wayne National Forest to the east, the Hocking State forest to the southwest, and the Clear Creek Nature Preserve to the northwest. There were wilderness areas and nature preserves within running distance up and down the range east of us with mountains, forest and rivers to explore and hunt in.

Mom had easy access to her own kind of hunting Northwest in Columbus too. She stayed busy with her online classes and spent the rest of her free time reducing the city's crime rate and adding to our cash disposal problems. We could pay cash for a lot of the things we did, and mom had actually registered her private security company so she could claim payments from a list of clients as income as well as being an employee to receive a healthy salary to deposit in the bank. Most of the clients were bogus, but it helped with the cash disposal issues. Regardless, we always seemed to have more cash than we could legitimately deposit in the bank.

Mom still wouldn't let me go into the city with her to hunt humans, but she let me train with her at home. I was taking a martial arts class at a studio in Logan, and mom and Phil sparred with me at home. She thought it was too dangerous for her to take a class so I went to the class and absorbed the lessons. Then I'd replay the experience back for her and grandpa. I had to hold back in class, but I could spar at full speed with mom and grandpa. It was almost like the three of us were all taking the class together. Between what I learned in class, and grandpa's training, we all got better at our fighting skills.

I took on a bigger role in the administrative, research and investigative parts of mom's career and was officially an employee of Swan and Associates. It allowed me to receive a salary as well, and mom was adamant that it was my money. I started playing the stock market and invested most of it.

There was a wealth of information on the internet about the potential targets we picked. I became adept at checking their criminal records, looking up known associates, doing searches on license plates, tracing calls and cell phone accounts. I got good at setting up wire taps and electronic surveillance via the information super highway. I could hack into their bank records and online accounts, and even gain remote access to their secure computer records in many instances.

I could look at the internet, or talk on the phone, and nobody would ever see my face and know I was just a kid. I collected the data and set up the stings. Mom was the muscle, made the busts and kicked ass. We were a good team.

Grandma was bored staying home all the time, but she didn't really want to become involved in the family business. She could be around human more confidently now, so she got a job. She went to work for a small check cashing and payday loan business in Logan. It was the perfect job for her because she was there alone for most of her shift and there was a bullet proof glass window between her and the customers she serviced. She could talk to them through an intercom system with a microphone and speaker, and cashed checks, processed payday loans, and made phone calls to customers.

Grandpa Phil still had an intense interest in sports in general and baseball in particular, but he couldn't actually play anymore. He'd never pass the physicals and random drug tests without exposing us. He spent a lot of time going to the games, though, and became adept at photographing sports action sequences.

With his knowledge of the game, his reflexes, and his natural ability to read the players body language, he could be in the right place at the right time. He became popular with sports magazines and news publications as a freelance sports photographer, and had even wrangled a press pass so he could be down on the field on the sidelines with his camera. He loved it and it kept him busy even if he did still have to travel quite a bit.

I had actually started taking online classes of my own when we moved to Ohio. Mom and Grandma wanted me to have a well rounded education, and signed me up for home school classes. I was a little shocked and disappointed that they actually wanted me to do the entire program from start to finish. Maybe playing up the little girl act around grandma hadn't been such a good idea after all.

Personally, I would have been more than happy to simply take the GED so I could enroll in an online college degree program like mom, but mom and grandma were adamant about me completing the home school course work.

There was no way I was going to sit through this for eight years, so I compromised with them. I agreed to complete all of the course work, as long as I could work at my own pace and turn in the assignments as soon as I completed them. They agreed, and I worked on the school work in my spare time. I finished the first three grades that week. They got mad and said I wasn't taking time to really learn anything or study the material. I countered that I already knew it all, and challenged them to test me on it. I'd read the text books and memorized them. What more did they want?

They backed off and I slowed down. I figured I could wait until I was four to start online high school. Then I could start college online when I was five. I considered that three months per year of high school material was plenty of time to keep mom and grandma happy. I could have just tested out now, but they wanted to see course work and papers, and that would take time to produce.

Mom had really thrown herself into her studies over the last year and carried a full time course load plus a ton of special projects on the side. She'd actually met with some of the professors in person and had done some interning projects for course work that required hands on experience. Originally she wasn't slated to graduate until next year, but I'd looked over her transcript, and she was going to have enough credits to graduate this fall.

She hadn't said anything to any of us about it, and was probably hoping none of us would notice, but I knew what she was up to. She wanted to complete this degree quietly, and then was going to roll seamlessly into another undergraduate degree program to continue her education. She was hoping we'd never find out about this one and assume the next one was what she'd been working on all along.

I didn't really care what degree she was receiving, and I knew grandma wouldn't care either. She'd simply be proud of mom for graduating and finishing college. It was an achievement she should be proud of, not something she tried to hide from us. I wanted to celebrate this, and I was going to get my way.

I'd been keeping up with mom's education, and that was one of the reason's I'd suggested Ohio when it was time to move again. The online school mom was getting her degree from had a brick and mortar campus in Columbus. She was entitled to attend their graduation ceremony this June because she'd have enough credit hours to receive her degree.

Mom hadn't been able to graduate from high school with her class, but this was her first college degree, and I wanted her to be able to walk across the stage and get her diploma. The hard part was going to be setting it up so she wouldn't get wind of what I was planning before it was too late for her to back out. I had some ideas about how to do that.

We'd been using the name Bennett for three years now. We all agreed it was time to retire it and move on to new identities. We'd been leaving a substantial paper trail, and we knew better now how to avoid that than we had back in the beginning. The problem was we had a lot more to move than we had when we first started out. It was a big job. We'd need new birth certificates, social security cards, and new driver's licenses for starters. Mom had her PI license, carry permit, and bail bonds collection certifications to move now too. Then there was her college degree and the special certifications that went with it to think about now. We had the security company to set up so we could disappear and keep running it, so we'd probably have to incorporate it. There were our investments and brokerage accounts, and a ton of other details to consider.

I could probably do it, but it wasn't something we wanted to screw up. We really needed professional help. That meant we needed an attorney that we could trust, or at least one who wouldn't skim too much off the top. We needed an attorney that was willing to work on slightly shady dealings like setting up new identities and forged documents while keeping our secrets.

It could take years to find somebody we could trust, but I made a suggestion to mom. I told her to call Larry Schutz in Rapid City and ask him if he could recommend somebody out our way that might help us out. Two days later he sent a name and address to the e-mail address I had mom give him for contact information.

I lucked out. The address was in Columbus.

I did the initial research on the name. He appeared to be a pretty standup guy for an attorney. No police record to speak of and he'd attended a good law school. Of course if we were going to him for forged documents and falsified records, who knew if the records were true or not? I dug a little deeper, and couldn't find anything suspicious. Either he was legit, or really good. I called and set up an appointment.

Mom didn't want to let me go with her at first. She thought it was going to be too dangerous, but I was able to convince her that I had to go. Our business dealings had become much more complex from when she'd first started out and I needed to be there to lay everything out and setup what we needed from the beginning of this relationship. It would save on confusion and misunderstandings to get things done right the first time.

Don't get me wrong, mom was very intelligent. She was graduating in the top of her class after finishing a four year degree in three years with special certifications on top of the basic degree. She could have pulled this off with proper coaching. It was just easier for me to go and do it. Besides, this was my area of expertise in the family business. I handled the business side of things. Mom's job was to back me up and make sure he took me seriously.

It wasn't really a coincidence that I set up the meeting with the attorney for the same day they were holding the graduation at mom's college. They were holding the graduation ceremony at seven o'clock in the evening at the college auditorium. I'd called mom's student advisor and told her I was making arrangements for mom to be there in person to graduate. I explained that it was a surprise, and they got everything set up for me. I'd paid the additional fees, and she told me they'd have a cap and gown waiting there for her. All I had to do was get her there on time and she could walk across the stage with her class.

I made the appointment with the attorney for early that afternoon so we'd have plenty of time to discuss business, and then I just had to get mom to the college. I didn't think it would be too difficult.

I let grandma know what I was doing that week, and made her promise to keep it a secret. She couldn't understand why mom wouldn't tell her she was graduating from college, but agreed to keep it a secret. I gave her the tickets I'd gotten from mom's student advisor so she and grandpa could attend the graduation ceremony and she told me they'd be there.

Mom and I dressed up for the occasion to visit our potential new attorney. Her normal work attire wouldn't do for this meeting, or the graduation ceremony later that evening. I picked out a nice business suit for her with a pencil skirt and matching one button jacket in dark almost black grey. She had a nice pair of black stilettos that looked good with it. I tried to tell her that she didn't need the shoulder holster or pistol tucked under her left arm, but I knew she'd ignore me and wear it anyhow. She'd been doing this for a while now, and felt uncomfortable going into the city without it.

I wouldn't actually call my outfit a suit, but I picked out a nice skirt and silk blouse to wear. I had a blazer that looked good with the dark skirt, and I added a pair of three inch heels and a nice necklace for accent. My briefcase had all of the documents and papers we'd need and I tucked my laptop inside for backup, just in case, and I was good to go.

I gave grandpa a hug and kissed grandma goodbye, and then climbed into the passenger seat of mom's Camaro for the ride into Columbus. It was about fifty miles, and took us less than an hour to get there with mom driving.

It wasn't exactly an overcast day out, being an early June afternoon. The sky was a brilliant cerulean blue dotted with thick puffs of fluffy white clouds from horizon to horizon. Mom was worried about being out during the day in Columbus and complained that I should have made the appointment for later in the afternoon. I didn't see why she complained. Her windows were as heavily tinted as we could get away with, without getting a ticket, and nobody would see her in the sun.

"I still don't like this Nessie," mom complained again as she turned onto West Broad Street, across from the Ohio state capitol. I could see her constantly glancing up at the blue sky and the stark shadows cast by the bright afternoon sun.

"Don't worry so much, mom. I checked this place out. There's an underground parking garage under the office building. We can take the elevator up to our meeting, and we'll never even have to go outside."

"Oh… You could have told me that before I sat here for the last hour worrying about how I was going to get into the building without dazzling half of Columbus…"

"Worrying is your natural condition, mom. At least if you were worrying about something simple and mundane like how to deal with the sun, you wouldn't dwell on other things you can't control. Everything is going to be fine. I checked this guy out. He's going to help us. You'll see."

"After what I've seen since you were born, it's not in my nature to trust people. Most of the humans I deal with are all looking to work an angle and they all look out for what's good for them. There's always a hustle going on somewhere."

"Then accept that, and move on. We just need to find the guy that's going to give us the most bang for our buck. I'm not expecting an attorney to be honest. He wouldn't be any good to us if he was. He's going to steal from us. He just needs to understand up front how much we're willing to accept, and what will happen to him if he crosses us. You can handle that, right?"

"Not a problem." Mom said with a feral grin.

"Remember, we want this guy to work for us. Don't give him a heart attack." Mom chuckled and nodded.

"Turn right, fifty feet ahead. You have reached your destination." The pleasant female voice said from the GPS navigation system on the dashboard.

"This must be the place," mom said, and turned onto the ramp down into the parking garage. We were in deep shadow when she stopped in front of the barricade, and rolled down her window to take the parking ticket.

The barricade lifted up out of the way and we drove down into the parking garage. Mom found us a parking place, and we got out of the car to go to the elevators. I looked over the listings and found the name I was looking for. We got into the elevator, and I pressed the button for the thirtieth floor. There was a momentary flash of vertigo as the elevator accelerated up the shaft, and then we settled in for the trip up through the core of the building.

I was surprised we made the trip all the way up to our floor without being stopped by other people getting in or out, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The elevator opened onto a small lobby. There were several offices on this floor, and I looked at the directory.

"C'mon, Bella," I said, indicating a wide hall off the lobby. "It should be over here."

The door said 'Powell and Associates, attorneys at law' on the office door. I pushed it open and we walked into a nice reception area. There was a pretty blond girl sitting behind a reception counter desk. I let mom handle the initial contact.

"Hello, we're Isabella and Vanessa Bennet. We have an appointment to see Mr. Powell."

"Of course, Ms. Bennet. Please have a seat, and I'll inform Mr. Powell that you're here."

We didn't have to wait too terribly long. I knew it was part of the ritual. He made us wait so we'd think he had other important clients he had to service, but he didn't want us to wait too long and make us uncomfortable sitting out here. He wanted clients. It was how he made money. If we waited too long, he'd run the potential risk of us leaving if we thought we weren't important enough to him.

The receptionist answered a call, and then stood up. "Mr. Powell will see you now," she said, and led us through the door to another open office area with doors to several private offices.

She knocked, and then opened the door of the corner office. "Mr. Powell, Isabella and Vanessa Bennet are here for their initial consultation."

We walked into the office and she closed the door behind us. The windows were tinted smoke grey, but I already knew we wouldn't have to worry about the sun in here. Mr. Powell got up from his desk and approached us. He stepped up to mom and offered his hand.

"You must be Vanessa Bennet. I believe we spoke on the phone," He said as he shook her hand.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Powell, but you're mistaken. I'm Isabella Bennet. You spoke with my sister." Mom said.

He looked confused as he looked back and forth between us. "I'm sorry; I thought Becca said that your sister would be joining us…"

I stepped up to Mr. Powell and handed him my business card as I held out my hand. "Excuse me, Mr. Powell, I'm Vanessa Bennet. We did speak on the phone, and I set up this appointment." Mr. Powell shook my hand and then stepped back. He looked shocked as he glanced at the card that identified me as Director of Business Operations for Swan and Associates, but he was dealing with it and regrouped quickly.

"…Yes, of course, Ms. Bennet. Please, why don't you have a seat and we can get started."

I took a seat in the leather chair in front of his desk and Mr. Powell sat down behind his desk. Mom remained standing behind the corner of my chair and glanced out the window at the view of the capitol.

"Now, how can my firm help you Ms. Bennet?" Mr. Powell asked. He looked at me and then glanced up at mom. She was making a show of not paying attention, but I knew she heard every word and was paying close attention.

"I have several business arrangements and documentation issues I need your firm to handle for my family. Before I go into the specifics, I need to insure that this meeting is covered under attorney client privilege, and that nothing we discuss here today will go beyond these walls."

"An initial consultation is customarily considered privileged information, but the protections of attorney client privilege don't actually apply until you hire me or put me on retainer. At that point, I'm working for you, and anything you tell me in confidence is privileged."

"And just to be clear, once you are on retainer, you are not allowed to testify against us or divulge any of our privileged business dealings without risking disbarment or worse, correct?"

"Yes, that's how this type of arrangement usually works. Why don't you tell me what you can about the services you're looking for, and we can decide if I'm the right attorney to handle your account?"

"Ok. Let me begin by telling you that your firm was recommended to us by a Mr. Larry Schutz in Rapid City, South Dakota. We've done business with Mr. Schutz in the past. We were looking for somebody local to work with, and our needs have grown since we dealt with Mr. Schutz. Let me be frank with you, Mr. Powell. Not all of our business dealings fall strictly within the letter of the law, but they do when we're able to work things that way. If you'd like to take us on as clients, we can make this a very lucrative arrangement for you."

"I know Mr. Schutz. He's sent a lot of business my way. Now speaking completely off the record, you're looking for papers? Possibly new Identities?"

"That's one of the services we're interested in. There are some special licenses and certifications we need to follow those identities, along with some college degrees. We also have a business we're looking to incorporate so we can manage it after the new identities are established. There are additional business matters to manage as well."

"Alright, I can provide all of those services for you, but you're aware that this type of service can be very expensive, correct?"

"I am aware of the market prices for this type of service. Before we discuss this further, I'd like to put you on retainer as our attorney so anything we discuss here is a privileged conversation."

"Ok. Just so you're aware, my standard charges are one hundred fifty dollars per work hour billed plus any special fees that accrue during the course of our business arrangement. I have a schedule of fees for different type of documentation services. Normally I ask for ten percent of the estimated contract cost as a retainer, which will be applied to your account fees. I can provide you with an itemized billing statement upon request."

"That should be a satisfactory arrangement. Do you have a retainer agreement?"

"I can have Becca type one up for you…"

"That won't be necessary." I set my brief case on the desk and opened it. "I brought one with me. Please look over the terms, and if it's satisfactory, we can sign it right now." I handed him the contract, and he sat back to read through it.

"This is very specific, and the terms are very generous. I'm surprised you would put language like this into a contract. The services you require are actionable, and this could be used as evidence against you in a court of law. Actually this contract could be challenged in court, and I wouldn't necessarily be bound to honor it."

"That is a personal service contract, and will never see the inside of a court room. We don't intend to need a court to be able to enforce it. It spells out the limits of what we will accept as satisfactory conduct on your part while you represent our interests. Let me be perfectly clear with you, Mr. Powell. Should you choose to represent our interests, we will require a particularly diligent degree of loyalty to maintain our secrets. We will be trusting you with matters that cannot under any circumstances become public record. In the event that you abuse our trust, we won't be looking to the courts to redress our grievances." I looked up at mom and nodded.

This was where mom shined in our partnership. I did the talking; she backed it up and put teeth in it, literally. She reached up and opened the button on her blazer, and shrugged her shoulders slightly so it hung open and the butt of her pistol was obvious in her shoulder holster under her arm. She smiled at Mr. Powell and let her teeth show as the beast within made it's appearance. It was more of a feral grin than a happy smile as the predator showed through the careful human facade, the way a shark seemed to grin at you before it tore your leg off and ate you.

Mr. Powell's heart rate spiked and took off like a jack rabbit being chased by a rabid dog. I could smell his fear and a sheen of cold sweat broke out and beaded his forehead, but I had to hand it to him. He made no other overt reaction to mom's display beyond the involuntary physical response to imminent danger and held his poker face.

"Of course on the other hand, loyalty and jealously maintaining our trust will be richly rewarded. I'm prepared to offer you fifty thousand dollars cash as a retainer and down payment for services rendered." I reached into my brief case and laid several thick stacks of cash on the edge of his desk.

"And if I was to refuse this very generous offer?" Mr. Powell asked, but I could see him eyeing the money.

"We're not criminals, although we're often forced to skirt into the grey areas of the legal system. Sometimes we're forced by circumstance to operate outside the legal system. Nothing will happen to you if you decline our offer as long as this conversation remains private, but I have to insist that this conversation be covered under the terms of the agreement I gave you whether you accept it or not."

"Yes, of course. I'm assuming you're expecting an immediate response?"

"The offer is quite literally on the table. We can proceed if you are amenable to the terms of the agreement."

"Alright, I'll accept your offer and take you on as clients. Let me call my assistant in to witness this contract. She can notarize it and get you a copy for your records."

"Ok. Please proceed."

Mr. Powell pressed the button on his intercom. He called the receptionist and told her to bring in her notary stamp. He signed the papers when she came into the room. I signed the contract, but I was a minor, so mom countersigned it for our family as well. Then the assistant left to go make copies. We waited until she came back. I let Powell keep the original, and put the copy in my briefcase. Then I slid the cash across the table to Powell.

"That cash doesn't exist, and isn't traceable back to us, but I'll expect it to be credited to our account. I'll assume that's a satisfactory arrangement?" Powell nodded and made the money disappear into his desk.

"Ok, now that we have an official working relationship, why don't you explain specifically what you're looking for, and what you'd like me to do for you."

"Sounds good, I have some documents printed out for you to take a look at…"

I got into the meat of what I wanted him to do for us then. We laid out the new identities we would be creating and went over the special licenses and certifications we'd need. We talked about incorporating the security firm, and Powell was interested in that and how it worked. He said that he might have some clients that were interested in the services we offered and asked if he could send us some referrals. Mom talked to him about that, and agreed to accept new clients as long as they met our standards.

She didn't mind doing some honest investigation or body guard duty as long as we didn't get on the wrong side of the law. She didn't do much fugitive recovery, but she had collected bounties in the past for returning fugitives to stand trial. It depended on whether or not she caught them in the act and how much they resisted. Some of his potential referrals made a practice of offering high dollar bail bonds to clients of questionable integrity.

We spent several hours discussing everything and getting the information set up so he could go to work for us. The sun slowly sank into the west, and it was twilight before we were finished. Mr. Powell had our contact information, and would be in touch when he was ready to move forward with the work. We weren't anticipating actually needing new identities for more than six months, but we wanted to be prepared when the time came. The details of the security firm were more pressing. We wanted to set it up as a legitimate business to filter more money through as profits and salaries, and then we'd have to set it up so we could continue to control it when we moved on and changed identities.

It was dark outside when we finally left his office and walked down the hall to the elevator. I looked at my watch and checked the time. This would work out perfectly. We should have just enough time to get to the college.

"Well that worked out well," mom said. "You were great in there, Nessie. You acted very professionally."

"Yeah, not bad for a fourth grader. Any chance you'll let me test out of the rest of the classes and start college now?"

"Not a chance. I don't care how smart you are, you need to do the work and earn it. You'll thank me in the long run."

"I can do the work, but you still complain about how fast I do it. Why should I have to slog through grade school when I can read your text books and proof read your assignments?"

"It's the principle of what you're trying to accomplish that's important. Someday you'll be proud of the fact that you completed all of the work instead of just taking tests. There's something to be said for building experiences. I wish I could send you to a regular school so you could be around other kids. That's what we're really looking for out of all of this. If we can't have that, at least you can experience the class work."

"Fine, but I'm gonna finish grade school by my birthday and do high school next year."

"You don't have to rush through it, Nessie. The whole point is to enjoy the experience."

"That's my point, Bella. I'm not rushing. It's that easy for me. If you want me to have the experience, then send me to school…"

"You know we would if we could. You age too fast for us to do that. We're doing this for your own good. You'll thank me someday."

The elevator doors opened, and we stepped out to walk to the car.

"So, are you ready to head home?" mom asked. I looked at her suspiciously, but she didn't let on that she thought anything was up.

"No, we have another stop to make."

"Oh? Ok, where do we need to go? You didn't say anything earlier."

"I've been doing some research, but the library I was looking at didn't have an electronic copy of the material. There's a library at the university here that has a hard copy in their collection. I figured while we were out here, we could stop by and take a look."

"Ok. I'm always up for browsing a library and looking at books. How do I get there?"

"Here, I programmed the route into the navigation system." I tapped the touch screen on the GPS on the dashboard and started the itinerary I had programmed in, and then sat back while mom drove us to the college.

The route I had chosen took us in the back way so we avoided the crowds that were there for the graduation ceremony. Mom parked the car in a parking lot on the back of the campus, and we got out to walk to the 'library'. Mom didn't seem to be at all suspicious until we got closer to the auditorium, but we were approaching it from the back, and there weren't any signs to see. I think the crowds around the building started to tip her off.

"Is something going on here tonight, Nessie? There seem to be a lot of people here at this time of night. Is there a play or a concert scheduled?"

I was leading mom to the back door where there was a crowd milling around outside the door, and I had to tell her before she overheard the conversations and figured it out on her own.

"Mom, I wasn't totally honest with you. This is your college graduating class. Tonight is your college graduation."

"What!"

"I talked to your student advisor and made arrangements for you to attend the graduation ceremony in person instead of simply receiving your diploma in the mail. I know you didn't want to, but I'm doing this for your own good. You'll thank me for it someday."

"Nessie! No way! I'm not walking out there in front of all those people…"

"Yes you are, mom. You didn't get to attend your high school graduation because of me, but you've worked so hard for this. You deserve to have the recognition that goes along with it. I'm proud of you, and so are grandma and grandpa."

"Nessie, you didn't…" mom asked horrified.

I nodded. "They're out there in the audience waiting for you to walk across the stage."

"Oh my god!"

"Take a deep breath, and relax. You can do this. You've earned it, and you can walk out there and get your diploma."

"I didn't want mom to know… She always seems so disappointed with the choices I've made. I wanted to wait until I was getting a degree she could be proud of…"

"She is proud of you, mom. She recognizes your achievement. She knows you're doing what you have to for our family. Now c'mon, they have your cap and gown waiting for you. You just have to check in and collect it."

"I don't know if I can do this, Nessie…"

"You can. I know you can. I'm proud of you, mom."

I held her hand as we walked through the loose crowd at the door and went inside. There was a table inside with a lady seated there looking over a list on a clipboard. I led mom over, and the lady looked up at us.

"Can I help you?" she asked with a smile.

Mom didn't say anything, so I answered for her. "Isabella Bennet," I said.

The lady looked over her list. "Yes, I have you right here. Let me see… ok." She looked through a stack and took out a box and handed it to mom.

"Everything is in the package." She looked at the clock on the wall. "You have about twenty minutes to get ready. Then we'll show you where to stand. We'll line up in alphabetical order. You should be fairly close to the beginning, Ms. Bennet. There's a ladies room down the hall if you need a moment to get ready."

Mom just nodded and stared in shock. I took her hand and led her down the hall to the ladies room. She finally snapped out of it when I opened the box and took out the black gown and tried to shake out the wrinkles.

"Oh my god! I'm graduating from college…"

"Yes, you are in about fifteen minutes. Now put this on."

I held the gown for her and helped her slip it on over her suit. Then I handed her the gold honors cord to drape around her shoulders. I handed her the cap and took her purse for her.

"You can do this mom. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you, Nessie. Thank you for doing this for me. I love you, baby."

"I love you too, mom. Will you be alright? I'm going to go find grandma and grandpa before the ceremony starts."

"I'll be fine. Thank you so much, Nessie."

Mom and I walked out of the ladies room, and she went to find out where she was supposed to line up, and I went out to find grandma and grandpa.

I found them seated at the front of the auditorium behind the chairs reserved for the graduating class in front of the stage. Grandma seemed very stiff and uncomfortable with so many people around, but she was dealing with it. She had made amazing progress over the last three years. She still wasn't as comfortable around humans as mom or grandpa was, but she could do it if she absolutely had to. Something like mom's college graduation was important enough to get her to come out in public like this.

They were saving me a seat and I moved through the crowd to sit next to grandma.

"Hi, Grandma," I said, "How are you holding up?" I asked with concern.

"This is hard, baby, but I can do this for Bella. How did she take it?"

"She was in shock for a couple of minutes, but she snapped out of it when I helped her into her gown. She was afraid that you'd be disappointed in her. She's worked very hard for this grandma, so please just be proud of her achievement. It means a lot to her that you're here."

"Why wouldn't I be proud of her? I've dreamed about this moment since she was a little girl."

"She switched majors. She didn't think you'd understand."

"Oh…"

We didn't have time to keep talking. The strains of 'pomp and circumstance' filled the hall and everybody stood up as the graduating class filed into the auditorium. It wasn't a huge class, only a couple of hundred students who decided to come in person to receive their degrees. Mom was about twenty back from the front of the line. They took their places on the rows of seats at the front of the room.

The dean stood up and introduced the graduating class of 2004 and listed some of their achievements. Then there was a guest speaker that gave a motivational speech about achieving your dreams and getting the job done.

Finally they got to the part we were waiting for and the president of the college started calling up the graduates to receive their diplomas. First he called their names, and then listed their honors, degree and any special notice they had achieved. We waited for the first several graduates to walk across the stage, and then he called mom.

"Isabella Marie Bennet. Ms. Bennet is graduating summa cum laude with a four point oh grade point average. She is receiving a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice with a concentration in private investigation and special certification in crime scene investigation."

Phil's camera flashed as he took her picture to capture to moment for us. I looked at grandma and she frowned for a second, but then she smiled and stood up and clapped with the rest of us. Mom turned with her degree in her hands and smiled back at us as the camera flashed again. I knew she was looking at grandma, and grandma just gave her the proudest smile a parent could have for their child and clapped even harder.

Mom went back to her seat and we sat down through the rest of the ceremony. Finally the graduates filed out, and we made our way through the crowd to find mom. I spotted her outside at the edge of the crowd. She waited for us as we came over to her. She could have met us, but she was standing upwind of the crowd, and I knew she was thinking of grandma and trying to make it easier for her to be out here with us.

"Congratulations, mom" I said and hugged her. She hugged me back, and then I let go and held her hand.

Grandma reached for her next and pulled mom into her arms to hug her. "Congratulations, Bella, I'm so proud of you." Grandma said.

"Really? I thought you'd be upset, mom. You always seem so disappointed in the choices I've had to make the last couple of years. I try to make you happy mom but this just seemed to fit better with what I've been doing with my life."

"I'm always proud of you, Bella. I'll admit, I don't like some of the choices you've made, but I know you try to do the right thing. I'm proud of the way you've stepped up to provide for our family, and I know we're better off because you've been so strong for us. I guess I always thought you'd be a teacher like me, but your dad was a cop, and he always had a very strong sense of right and wrong. He always wanted to do the right thing too. I see a lot of your father in you. You take after him a lot, even if you've lived with me most of your life."

"Thanks, Mom. That means a lot to me."

Grandpa Phil hugged mom next and told her congratulations, and then we started for the parking lot. Grandma walked along side mom and held her arm around her waist, hugging her close as we walked. It was good to see grandma accepting mom's chosen career path. They seemed closer than they had been for years.

4 years old – 10.57 human years

Jesus Christ! Where the hell was mom?

I checked my watch again and then picked up the phone on the desk. I knew the line was secure. I'd setup the wiretap myself, and I knew it wasn't monitored by anyone else. I dialed mom's number, but she didn't pickup and it went to voicemail again. I hung up the phone again and looked out the window. The sun was finally dropping below the horizon and it was twilight out now.

She should be here anytime. I checked the download progress. It was at eighty percent. If she wasn't here by the time the download finished, I was bailing and making a run for it. The dead bastard in the next room had a meet setup for tonight, and the buyers were due any time now. I wasn't going to hang out and wait for them to show up.

This computer was secure and wasn't connected to any internet sources. The only way to access it was to physically be in the room with it and hardwire a connection. It was the only reason mom had agreed to let me do this. It was my first undercover job. I fit in with the kids at the daycare center, but the shit had hit the fan when they all left for the day and I was left here alone.

I was cloning the hard drive to make a copy of it so we'd have a copy of this bastard's records. It would allow us to track down the rest of his network and find out who the rest of his business contacts were. How the hell was I supposed to know he was the pervert we were hunting? He ran a goddamned daycare center for god's sake!

The door opened and closed almost silently, ghostlike silent footsteps rapidly crossing the room. No heartbeat, so it wasn't a human. I breathed a sigh of relief and was about to call out to her.

Then I caught the scent.

Oh shit! Could this get any worse?

It wasn't mom.

I'd been around grandpa enough to recognize a male scent, but this had no trace of human in it at all. There was another vampire in the next room, and he was moving this way.

"Hello little one," the deep voice said from the doorway. "Are you able to control yourself?" He asked in a skeptical tone of voice.

I looked up at the vampire in the doorway. He was tall with a lanky build. He wore his long, sandy-colored hair tied back with a thong. His eyes were deep ruby in color.

"This isn't what you think," I said, and he raised an eyebrow, intrigued by my response.

"Apparently you do have control, little one. Perhaps the stories were exaggerated. Tell me, do you know what I'm thinking?" His tone was friendly and inquisitive. Maybe this wasn't all bad.

"If you mean, can I read minds? No, but it's pretty obvious from your questions. You think I'm an immortal child, but that isn't the case at all."

"Please enlighten me then. You look like a vampire. You smell mostly like a vampire, but I attributed the difference in scent to your youth. Your eyes are red like a vampire, and there's a freshly drained corpse in the next room. What am I missing?"

"The heartbeat? Surely you can hear my heart pounding in my chest?"

"That is coming from you, isn't it? It doesn't sound like a normal heartbeat, but your skin is flushed. Curious, very curious indeed. To be honest, I have to admit I've never encountered another creature quite like you. If you don't mind my asking, what are you?"

"I don't mind. I suppose you could say I'm a hybrid. My father was a vampire, but my mother was still human when I was conceived and she remained human until I was born."

"And does your mother still live? From your statement, I have to assume she is no longer human?"

I heard the door open and close again as another silent body entered the building. The vampires head turned toward the door the same time mine did.

"No, she's a vampire, too. I believe that would be her now…"

A feral roar ripped through the room and suddenly mom landed in the doorway in a battle crouch. She didn't look at all human as she inhaled sharply to track the scents in the room. Her teeth were bared, ready to tear and rend, and her hands were curled like talons ready to rip and shred her opponent.

The vampire in the doorway had the good sense to get out of her way and had bounded to the far corner of the room.

She roared again and slowly advanced into the room, clearing the doorway. Then she yelled at me. "Nessie, get out! Now!" Her eyes never wavered from the vampire in the corner of the room as she prepared to pounce.

The vampire raised his hands in a sign of peace. "I have no quarrel with you or your child. I mean you no harm. I tracked the evil doers to this establishment where they were preying upon innocent children. I only came here to mete out punishment for their heinous crimes."

Mom stopped. She relaxed her battle crouch infinitesimally. "You're hunting the child pornographers too? How did you know they were here?"

"I've been back tracking their distribution network. I questioned some of their delivery drivers before I sent them to perdition. Their answers led me back here. How did you find them?"

"We tracked the missing children's reports back to this daycare center. It isn't just kids that are disappearing. Older siblings have been abducted as well. Most of them are girls. We think it's a white slavery scam for sex slaves and prostitution. That's why Nessie wanted to get into their computer records. We wanted to find out what was happening to them."

Mom had relaxed now that she was talking shop, and didn't look like she was ready to pounce anymore.

"Yeah, well I hacked their records, and I'm cloning the hard drive. It's done… now. Dead guy there in the closet was running the child pornography ring. He's got a meet setup with some buyers tonight. They're supposed to meet him here…"

Then mom turned and looked at me for the first time instead of the other vampire.

"Oh my god, Nessie! What did you do?"

"The bastard put his hand up my skirt and touched me! He was gonna tie me up and take pictures while he raped me! What the hell was I supposed to do, slap his hand away and tell him to be nice? I broke the bastard's neck!"

"Your eyes are red! You didn't have to drink his blood too! I didn't raise you to be like that!"

"He was dead. I was curious. I couldn't see letting it go to waste. I liked it, so sue me. It's how we're supposed to live, mom. It's what we're evolved to do. I agree with you that it's wrong to prey on innocents, but he was as bad a predator as they come."

"That's no excuse…!"

"And why didn't you answer your phone? I called you like six time to tell you the shit hit the fan. Who the hell did you think was calling? The dead asshole? He didn't even have your cell number!"

"You know the protocol. You set it up. No calls on a land line phones. Only encrypted cells when we're in the field… I got here as soon as the sun set."

"I so want my own cell phone…"

"We've talked about this. Not until you're older…"

The tall blond vampire was studying mom, and then he spoke. "Your eyes are different. I have seen this before. You abstain from drinking human blood? I am curious, is this a religious conviction? The other vampire that I met was the son of a clergyman."

"No, I'm not particularly religious, although I do not dispute the existence of a supreme being. I don't drink human blood when I can avoid it. I'll confess that I have had more than my share of accidents, but I don't seek it out. This vampire that you knew, was his name Carlisle Cullen? I knew him when I was human. I suppose I share his philosophy to a point."

"Yes, his name was Carlisle Cullen, but I haven't seen him for over a hundred years. Is he well?"

"I knew him five years ago. He is quite prosperous now. He leads a coven of six others besides himself. All of them abstain from drinking human blood and survive by hunting animals. There is another coven of five in Alaska that abstain from human blood as well."

"That is truly amazing. It's truthfully hard to believe that you have the fortitude of will to withstand the call of the blood the way you do."

"Thank you," mom said, but she was still glaring at me. "I'm not through with you yet, Miss. We're going to have a long talk about this when we get home."

"Please don't be too harsh on the little one. Aren't we all entitled to our own opinions and philosophy of life? To be honest, I must say I share her opinion about our existence and physical needs. Her philosophy on our means of subsistence is the same as mine as well. I do not partake of innocent blood, but seek out the criminals and evil doers that plague our society. It helps to salve my conscience that I am performing a service to my fellow man by reason of my existence."

"Thank you… I'm sorry; I didn't catch your name?" I asked

"Please excuse my oversight. I did not have the opportunity to properly introduce myself. I am Garrett."

"Just Garrett? Is that your first name or your last name?" I asked.

He smiled at me and shrugged. "Nobody was ever curious enough to ask until now, little one. It is my surname, but it has served me well enough alone these two centuries past."

"May I ask what your first name is then?"

"Nessie! Don't be rude. He'd tell you if he wanted you to know it." Mom said, shocked at how forward I was acting.

I was just curious. I'd never met another vampire besides my family. Particularly one who lived the way I thought we should live too.

"No, it's alright. My given name is Bartholomew, but it trips ungainly from the lips and I rarely make use of it."

"Bartholomew Garrett. I like the sound of it."

"I suppose I should make our introductions as well," mom said. "I'm Bella, and the little scamp over there is Nessie."

"I suppose Bella is short for Isabella, but I'm at a loss for Nessie. Would you be Agnes then?"

"Huh, never thought of that one. No, it's short for Renesmee, but I usually tell humans my name is Vanessa. I don't care for any of my names either, so I'm just Nessie."

"Renesmee, that is uncommon, but I like the sound of it."

"See," mom said. "It's not as bad as you thought."

"Yeah, perfect. All of the two hundred year old vampires I know like my name. Hold on while I go have nameplates printed for my library."

Garrett chuckled. "I suppose you have me at a disadvantage. Have you a surname as well?"

"Well, as long as we're being totally honest, I was born Swan, but we're currently using Brandon on our papers and ID's to fit in with the humans." Mom answered for us.

"You coexist with the humans and blend into human society? I have always been curious about trying to attempt that, but to be honest; I have always lived a primarily nomadic existence."

"You seem like a good and honest man, Garrett. The nomads I knew when I was human weren't nice people."

He shrugged. "Everyone is different. Many of our kind become jaded by our existence and lose their humanity. I strive to maintain the convictions and morality I was raised with as a human. That is why I seek out the wrong doers to sustain my existence."

"I can share you sentiments about hunting criminals. I've kind of made a career of doing just that."

"If I may be so bold, why do you hunt criminals if you do not partake of their blood?"

"My father was a policeman, and he raised me to have a strong sense of right and wrong. Using the gifts I've been given to stop criminals seemed like the right thing to do. Besides, when I was a newborn, it was difficult to be around humans enough to find a decent job. I found that if I stopped criminals, I could relieve them of their ill gotten gains and put their money to use supporting my family to allow us to blend into society more easily. It's proven to be a most lucrative career."

"So you don't kill them for the blood, but for the money. We are both vampires after a fashion then. I suppose I can't complain. I often take enough of their money to provide for the necessities of life as well. They are criminals after all, and the outcome is the same. They are dead and the world is a better place without them. I have never tried to coexist extensively with humans, so I will have to take you at your word that the money is necessary for your existence."

A car pulled up outside and stopped. The motor shut off and doors opened and slammed shut. Footsteps moved to the door. There was a knock.

"Ok, that's going to be dead guy's buyers." I said speaking quickly. "They're here to setup a new distribution contract. Bad guys at twelve o'clock, can we kick ass now and talk later?"

"You want their money?" Garrett asked mom.

"Yes, you want their blood?" Mom asked.

He nodded "Yes. We have an agreement then?"

Mom nodded "Agreed, Let's do this. Why don't you get the door and invite them in? They're expecting a man to answer."

He nodded, and then moved past mom into the next room. Garrett moved to the door and opened it.

"Please come inside," He said with a flourish as he held the door open for them.

I could smell them as they walked in and heard their footsteps and heartbeats. There were three of them, two men and a woman.

Something was wrong though, the car had sounded heavier when it drove up and stopped. I analyzed how their footsteps had sounded as they walked away from it to the door. I moved to the corner of the window and peeked out.

Shit!

I knew it! The driver was still in the car.

"You're here to set up the new distribution contract?" mom asked in the other room.

"Yes, but we thought we'd be dealing with Mr. Truman…" the woman said.

I moved to the side door and slipped out of the building…

"Mr. Truman was delayed. We're his associates. I'm Bella and this is Garrett. We're capable of dealing with you."

"Ok… Do you have the samples of the new collection to show us then? Truman said he had something special for us tonight when we spoke earlier. One of his little friends was going to entertain us?"

I moved through the shadows, stalking closer to the car…

"Yes… do you have the cash? Show me the money, and then we'll take care of you…" Heavy snaps on a case flicking open, the squeak of oiled leather as a case flexed open.

"It's all there. Would you like to count it? I'm anxious to see what you've got for us…"

The car windows were open. I crouched as my muscles bunched to pounce…

"I'm sure you are. You know, Truman was going to have my daughter entertain you…" One piercing scream, suddenly cut off. Bones popped and the sound of her neck snapping was a sound I was all too familiar with. The scuffle was brief.

The driver was getting anxious. I could smell sweat and adrenaline. The driver's hand slipping into a pocket reaching for a cell phone when she heard the scream…

I launched myself through the open car window and wrapped my arm around her neck. The seat belt resisted and bones popped as I dragged her into the back seat regardless. There was a single startled yelp and then her eyes were glassy and staring when her neck snapped.

The body went limp, but her heart would keep beating for a few more seconds. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. I didn't understand why mom was so squeamish. She knew what this was like. Why did she resist so much? I'd gone this far and there was no sense letting her go to waste…

My teeth sank into her throat…

The faltering heartbeat still pumped the blood and the glorious flood splashed into my mouth and flowed down my throat.

This was thousands of times better than any animal blood. Bliss flooded through my body for the second time that day, and it was every bit as intense and wonderful as the first time. I had never experienced anything like this in my short existence, but it was a feeling I could get used to as the hot thick nectar flooded my mouth.

There was no loss of awareness. I didn't have bloodlust like mom. I didn't lose myself in the moment, but was able to fully savor every drop of the intensely magnificent experience. It was over all too soon again as the carcass ran dry and I released the corpse. She collapsed limply onto the floor between the seats.

I opened the car door and got out. This one wasn't going anywhere for now, so I went to the door the other three had entered by.

I was pretty sure there were two bodies on the floor. The woman's body was literally torn limb from limb and scattered across the room. I had to count the pieces to be sure of the body count but there was very little blood splashed about.

Garrett was still finishing off the last one as he knelt over the body cradling it as he drank.

Mom had her back turned so she wouldn't have to watch. She was holding the case with the money.

"You missed one," I said. "The driver stayed in the car. She was going to make a call when she heard the scream. I took care of her."

Mom turned; startled I supposed to have me behind her when she thought I was still waiting in the next room.

Her eyes were ruby red when she looked at me.

"Well, it looks like everybody had a little snack tonight. Are we having some anger issues we need to work on?"

"I thought about what she wanted to do to you… I got mad… I couldn't help myself…"

"I thought you had a deal with Garrett? Wasn't he supposed to eat them, and you got the money? Maybe he deserves a cut."

"I do not want their money," he said as he stood up and turned to us, "but I would take enough to rent a hotel room so I can have a hot shower. If that's not asking too much…I will honor our agreement."

"You don't have to go to a hotel," mom said. "We have a house outside of town. Let's get this cleaned up, and you can come home with us if you like. You're more than welcome to use the shower, and we can get you some fresh clothes too if you'd like."

"That is a most gracious invitation. I will accept your offer."

-0-

"So, when you say that you have never tried to coexist extensively with humans, what exactly does that mean? Are you comfortable with modern conveniences and technology?" I asked as we drove down the long driveway to our house.

Garrett chuckled. "I do not go out of my way to blend in or live among humans, but I don't live under a rock. I change with the times and adapt. I can use a telephone and drive a car. I have a laptop computer so I can use the internet. I have a bank account and a debit card, but I do not maintain a permanent residence or attempt to hide my identity. I only acquire as much official paperwork as is required to live in this modern world. I find that the documents provided by the government serve my needs. I rent a post office box for correspondence purposes, but I do not visit it more than a couple of times a year."

Mom parked the car and we got out to walk up to the main house from the garage. This house was bigger than our house in Ohio. Mom and I each had our own room and bathroom this time, but I didn't mind. I was getting to be old enough that I enjoyed a degree of privacy now. Both of our rooms were upstairs and next door to each other. Grandma and grandpa had a separate suite downstairs at the other end of the house so they could have some privacy.

There was a large study that mom and I shared on the first floor. We used it as an office for our business dealings and worked on our online classes there. Mom was working on her master's degree in criminology, and I was doing high school online.

Mom still wouldn't let me test out of high school, and I was frustrated at how slow I had to go to complete enough credits to graduate. The school wouldn't let me carry as many credits as I wanted to, and mom wouldn't let me dual enroll in two schools at the same time to finish sooner. At this rate, it was going to take me two years to finish high school, and I wouldn't be able to start college until I was six.

Grandma and grandpa had realized we had a visitor and were waiting for us in the living room when we walked in. I could sense Garrett's surprise, and I could see the recognition of that fact on Grandpa Phil's face. He was sensitive to body language and picked up on people's moods.

Grandma had found a job managing a check cashing and payday loan company branch office for a large franchise chain after we moved. She still maintained the mostly private work environment, but was responsible for running the store now too. Grandpa was still working as a freelance sports photographer, but was doing some scouting too on the side now.

"Mom, Phil, this is Garrett. We met him in town this evening. He was hunting the same predators we were tracking, and he helped us with them. I asked him to come home with us to visit for a while. Garrett doesn't maintain a permanent residence, and I offered him the hospitality of our home. Garrett, this is my mother, Renee Dwyer, and my step father, Phil Dwyer."

Garrett extended his hand to shake hands with Phil. "It's a pleasure to meet you Phil." They shook hands, and then he turned to mom to shake her hand as well. "Mrs. Dwyer, thank you for welcoming me to your home."

"Oh, please, call me Renee," Grandma said. "We don't often have company, and it'll be a nice change to have somebody we can talk to openly." Mom led him into the living room and indicated he should sit in one of the arm chairs as she took a seat on the sofa next to Phil.

"Please excuse my curiosity, but you are not like any vampires I have ever met. Are you hybrids too, like Nessie? I don't see how that could be possible if Bella is your daughter…"

"I guess Bella and Nessie didn't have time to tell you our story yet. Phil and I were both born human. Nessie changed us. We're like this because of her hybrid venom, instead of being turned by traditional vampire venom. We share a lot of her unique characteristics, but we're more like other vampires than you'd think at first sight."

"Obviously your eyes are different, and your scent isn't quite like other vampires. I can hear your heartbeats. Are there other differences?"

"We can eat some human food, but most of it tastes disgusting. We live on a diet of primarily blood. We still have the same strong bloodlust like traditional vampires, and our skin sparkles in the sunlight. Our senses are enhanced, and we have most of the strength and speed. We don't have unlimited endurance though, and we can sleep."

"You sleep? Truly, I must admit that of any of the things I might miss from being human, it is the ability to sleep. I have spent over two hundred years in one long endless series of days and nights without respite. It leaves too much time for introspection and contemplation of the human condition. There are time when it pains me to see what has become of this land that so many fought for and gave their lives to buy our freedom from oppression, only to breed in upon our own doorstep and within the halls of government."

"Two hundred years?" Phil said slightly awed. "You fought for independence in the revolutionary war?"

"Yes, I was a free tradesman in New England when the congress declared independence from England. I was a patriot and enlisted in the militia to fight for the cause of freedom. The vampires that had come to the colonies and made their home in the new world rejoiced at the onset of war and the free flowing bloodshed it left in its wake."

"You were turned during the war?" Mom asked.

Garrett nodded. "I was with a small detachment of troops skirmishing with the British and foraging for supplies in the countryside when we were set upon by a vampire. He decimated our company and set to feeding. He had sated himself upon eight of my companions before he fed from me, but he was already beyond full and could drink no more. It was not his intention to turn me, and he struck me a grave blow to the head to end my life. He did not do as much damage as he thought, and the venom coursing through my veins healed me as I burned through the change. I awoke three days later to this new life. That happened in 1780. I never knew the name of the vampire that turned me. I never saw him again."

"That must have been terrible waking up alone and confused and not knowing what had happened to you," Grandma said. "How did you resist the temptation to…? I suppose you didn't, did you…"

"I had heard legends and stories, much as you probably had been exposed to, but I didn't believe them until I was forced to accept the truth. It was a time of war, and I did not have to resist the temptation to feed. I was surrounded by enemies that I had already been charged to destroy and drive from the land we claimed. I did my patriotic duty, feeding upon our enemies."

"What did you do when the war ended?" I asked, but I already knew.

"By the time the war ended, I had learned control and limited my feeding to wrong doers and criminals. It was a different time, and the majority of the criminals that fill our prisons today were executed then. I felt no shame in preempting the hang man and meting out the punishment they were due. To my way of thinking, it did not matter if a jury of their peers had condemned them to the gallows if the evidence of their misdeeds was evident for all to behold."

"So, have you always lived in Pennsylvania, Garrett?" Grandma asked to change the subject. Talk of feeding and eating humans still made her uncomfortable, and she preferred not to discuss it.

"No, I am originally from the Boston area, but I have traveled the length and breadth of this continent. My forays into the south were brief, though. I did not wish to become embroiled in the conflicts that are commonplace among the southern covens. They squabble over territory and hunting rights and their numbers often grow to the point that they attract the wrath of the Italians."

"Yes," mom said. "I've met some of them. The Italians, that is. It's best to avoid them if at all possible."

"I do not trust them, but I suppose they serve a purpose. They keep the southerners in check. Why do you wish to avoid their notice?"

"I thought that would be obvious. You mistook Nessie for an immortal child, and only recognized the truth because you were close enough to hear her heartbeat. You can imagine what would happen if rumors spread and stories got back to Volterra. They'd hunt us down and destroy us before we had a chance to explain ourselves."

"Your family is less of a threat to our secrets than many vampires I have met. It is easier for you to blend in with humans than traditional vampires, but you have the same needs for discretion and anonymity. I can't believe they would consider you to be a threat, but I understand your trepidation with your concern for Nessie's safety. I will guard your secrets. None shall learn of your existence from me."

"Thank you Garrett. Hopefully in a few more years, it won't be an issue anymore. My biggest fear is that some vampire will see her and make the assumption that she's an immortal child and turn us in to the Volturi. In another couple of years, she'll look old enough that it won't be a problem anymore."

"She does not share your immortality? I should have realized when she said she was born…"

"Nessie grows, and apparently she ages. She grows very much faster than a human child in fact. I don't know yet if she's immortal as well… Her scent has changed as she grown up. The vampire scent grows stronger every year as the human scent fades. I would like to believe that when she reaches her full maturity that she'll stop aging and she'll be immortal like the rest of us, but I suppose we'll have to wait and find out."

"It would seem like a logical conclusion. I have never met a vampire that was not immortal, and if her vampire scent grows stronger as you say, then it is likely only a matter of time. As you say though, only time will tell. I pray that you are correct in your conjecture."

"Thank you. Now, I promised you a hot shower and some fresh clothes. Would you like me to show you to the guest room so you can freshen up? Then I can show you the rest of the house and some of the local attractions if you'd like."

"Yes, please, Bella. I would appreciate that."

Then mom turned to me. "I'll get Garrett settled in, and then we're going to have a talk, Miss."

I nodded, and sat stoically, waiting to face the music. This conversation had been building for years, and it was time to talk about it. Grandma finally took a close look at me for the first time since we'd brought Garrett home.

Grandma gasped, and the blood drained out of her face as she studied my eyes. "Oh my god! What did you do, Nessie?" I knew it was a rhetorical question. She knew exactly what I had done. Now it was just a question of how they would deal with it.

"Wait until mom get's back, and we'll talk."

Grandma turned to mom, about to speak, and then she finally noticed mom's eyes as well. "Oh my god, you too? I told you it was too dangerous getting Nessie involved in your work!"

"I'll be back in a minute, mom, and then we can talk about this."

"I can go if this is a troubling time for you…" Garrett started.

"No, we just have some things to discuss as a family. You're welcome here, and I offered you our hospitality. You don't need to leave. C'mon, I'll show you to the guestroom."

Mom led Garrett up the stairs and they disappeared down the hallway. She was back in a minute and sat beside me on the sofa.

"Ok, show me what happened," mom said.

I took her hand, and then I looked over at Grandma and held my hand out to her. "You should see this too. Then we can talk." She got up and took my other hand and then sat beside me.

When I was little, I had started off sharing my visions by touching their cheek. As I got older and my gift developed and got stronger, I discovered I only needed physical contact to forge a link.

I knew mom was expecting me to show her what had happened at the daycare center and why I felt justified in killing the bastard that was going to do those things to me. I would get to that, but I went back further to lay the ground work for this conversation.

I started at the beginning.

I went all the way back to my first flickers of awareness when I knew I was different and I wasn't human.

I let them feel the love I had felt before I was born.

I shared the all consuming conviction and knowledge that following my instincts was the right way to live my life and that humans were our natural prey animal.

I showed them mom's fears that she was bringing a monster into the world and the fact that she was correct if you viewed me from a human point of view.

Then I showed it to them from my point of view, but then I wasn't human, and I never had been.

My family tended to think of me as a little girl trapped in a half-vampire body. They felt sorry for me and wanted to cast me in a human mold, when that was the furthest thing from the truth. My reality was that I was a vampire trapped in a half-human body, and I would willingly embrace my true nature if I didn't know how that reality would hurt my family.

I flashed forward to the events of this afternoon. Mom had called in to the daycare center according to plan, saying she had car trouble and would be there late to pick me up, and Mr. Truman saying it was fine and he'd stay late to watch me. It was a setup to give me time to hack his computer. We didn't know that he was the predator we were hunting, and had assumed he would be busy cleaning up after the other kids left for the evening.

I was supposed to be playing a kids computer game in the office, but I was busy hacking his secure computer. I found his hidden files and the child pornography videos. I flashed through the series of pictures and videos I had discovered so there was no doubt whatsoever in their minds that he was anything but the lurking predator we had been searching for. I was viewing his collection of naked pictures of kids from the daycare when he came into the office. Many of them involved sexual acts with children in the room I was sitting in. I switched screens to the game when he walked up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. He asked me if I wanted to play another game, but I told him no.

I was shocked for a minute when he pulled my chair back from the desk, spun it around and put his hands between my knees. I saw the rope and the camera, and I could picture the scene from the pictures I had just been looking at. I knew what he had planned. Then his hands were sliding up my legs under my skirt and he touched my panties. He touched me and stroked between my legs as the rage built inside of me.

Then I lunged at him. My arms wrapped around his neck as I flipped onto his back and used the momentum and leverage to fling him across the room to land sprawling in front of the walk-in closet file room. I heard and felt his neck snap as I launched him across the room. My leap carried me across the room as I registered the scent of my fresh kill and pounced to secure my prey.

I didn't feel bloodlust like mom, but my instinct roared at me that this was what I was evolved to do. I had made my kill and this was my natural prey… Instinct and curiosity warred with what I had been taught all my life. I wanted to keep mom happy but I knew this was what I was supposed to do… He was already dead, and he had deserved to die. Was it really so bad? Why should I let him go to waste? When I was little and couldn't finish a whole bear by myself, mom had shared with me so we wouldn't waste the kill…

Instinct and curiosity won out.

My teeth sank into his neck and I drank…

Grandma had never experienced human blood. I didn't hold anything back and shared the entire experience. The texture and feel of the hot blood in my mouth, the taste, the scent, the ecstasy as I savored every drop as it rolled down my throat, the disappointment when the corpse ran dry and there was no more to drink.

I flashed forward to meeting Garrett, and focused on how mom had looked as she leaped into the room and stalked toward Garrett to defend me. She was clearly not human at that point.

I flashed forward to the arrival of the new group of predators and her agreement with Garrett.

I played through all of the sensory data that had led me to believe that one of them had stayed outside, the conversation I had overheard, and then I ran through my stalk and kill of the human predator in the car.

My point of view followed my path inside and the tableau I walked in on with bloody body parts scattered around the room.

I was up to the point where mom explaining how she had gotten mad and snapped as she turned toward me with her ruby red eyes when I realized something profound.

I instinctively knew that I was in control of this situation. All those shopping trips where mom shopped with me despite her aversion to shopping and I got my way, the times I had talked her into doing things that were good for her but she wouldn't do them herself, but had done then to please me. Suddenly it all made sense now.

They hadn't tried to pull away and they were accepting everything I showed them, but it went deeper than that. Somehow I was causing an irresistible compulsion for them to accept what I was showing them. I realized for the first time that I could extend this control and alter their perceptions. I wasn't simply projecting visions and memories, I could influence there basic belief systems and alter their reality to accept my point of view.

It hit me like a ton of bricks.

I could make mom embrace her instincts and want to be a vampire. I could impose my point of view and alter her reality if I wanted to.

Somehow I instinctively knew I had that power, but I knew in my heart that I couldn't possibly do that to her. It made me sick to even think about doing it. I shied away from even remotely considering doing that to her, although I knew I had I could do it.

I wanted her to want it, but it had to be what she wanted because she accepted it herself. I couldn't take away her freewill, although she'd never know it if I did. I didn't want her to want it because I made her want it. I wanted her to accept it because it was how we were supposed to live, not because I made her want it.

The unexpected realization of the power I held broke my concentration and suddenly the visions stopped.

"Oh my god!" Grandma gasped as she snatched her hand away and lurched off the sofa. Her hand flew to her mouth and she stumbled into the bathroom. Phil was up off the other sofa and following her as we heard her being violently ill.

"Nessie! That was uncalled for! Mom didn't need to see all of that!"

I was still reeling from the discovery I had just made, but I couldn't think about it now. I couldn't tell them about what I had discovered, or they'd never trust me again. Besides, Garrett was in the house and I didn't want him to hear us discuss it. I just stuck to my original plan to present my arguments.

"Yes she did, mom. It's the reality of how we live. You all keep treating me like I'm a human girl. I'm not. I never have been. Humans are my natural prey animal. This is how we're evolved to live."

"We do not eat humans! It's wrong!"

"Why is it wrong? Did it feel wrong tonight? I'm willing to concede the fact that we shouldn't eat innocents, but why is it wrong to prey on the predators you hunt?"

"They're people, Nessie! I cannot condone feeding on intelligent human beings…!"

"That's your left over human morality speaking and causing you to try and reject your vampire instincts!"

"Well, I'm sorry! I was born human and I feel it's wrong to eat humans…!"

"That doesn't seem to stop you from killing them. Does it really matter if you drink their blood too after you put a bullet in their brain or snap their neck? Who's being the hypocrite now? If it's alright to execute them for being criminals and make the world a better place because they aren't a part of it anymore, does it really matter whether or not you live like your instincts demand? Why are you fighting what you are so hard, mom?"

"Is it so wrong to want to hold on to some shred of my humanity? Perhaps I am a hypocrite because I kill to make the world a better place while denying my nature, but it's how I choose to live…! I don't want to be a monster…!

"I'm not human, and I never was, mom. I look at this instinctively from the vampire perspective. You're only a monster from a human point of view. Is a cheetah a monster when it eats a gazelle? Is a polar bear a monster when it eats a seal? Is a house cat a monster when it keeps the mice out of your kitchen? You're a vampire, and your natural prey animals are humans. You see yourself as a monster because you insist on looking at this from the human perspective!"

"I'm not going to stand here and argue with you about this! Go to your room! We can sit down and talk about this when we've had some time to cool off!"

"You're sending me to my room? Don't treat me like a child! We need to discuss this!"

"You are a child, Nessie! Goddamn it, you're four years old, and I told you to go to your room!"

"Fine, I'll give you time to think about this," I turned and flew up the stairs to my room and slammed the door behind me.

That didn't go exactly how I had planned, but I'd said my piece. I knew mom would think about it now and that was good enough for me for now. I wanted her to make her own decisions, and accept how we were supposed to live because accepting and following our instincts was the correct way for us to live. I knew I could not impose my way of thinking on her, even if I now realized I had the ability to do just that. I wanted her to accept how we were supposed to live, but I knew she needed more time. I lay back on my bed, and listened to see what would happen now.

Footsteps moved across the room. "Mom, are you ok?" Mom asked at the bathroom door.

"I never realized it would be like that… It was like that for you every time? How could you possibly fight something like that…? And you're still able to resist?"

"Yes…"

"You're so much stronger than I gave you credit for, Bella… I didn't appreciate how intense the experience would be…"

Grandma got up off the floor, and I heard them move back to the sofa.

"What am I going to do mom? I don't know what to say to her… She's right… I am a hypocrite… It is what she was evolved for. She is a predator, and its how she's meant to live… We're all predators…, but I still can't live like that… There's no way I can believe in my heart that it's ok and the right way to live… No matter how different I am, I still see them as people. Even the ones I've killed… I have to believe I'm serving the greater good if only to maintain my own sanity…"

"She's young, but she's not a four year old, Bella. Her intelligence gives here a degree of maturity beyond her years, but she isn't an adult yet either. I'm sure you've noticed how her body's changing. She's going to need you to guide her and teach her. She's growing up and entering the equivalent of her teenage years…"

"She's like twelve years old physically mom. I figured we had more time."

"You got your period before you were thirteen, and you were a handful at that age. It's natural to expect some rebellion. She's going to question your authority and wonder why she has to live by the rules you set. Sometimes you just have to be the parent and say that's how it is just because you said that's how it's going to be. Right and wrong doesn't always matter if you're firm in your conviction that you're right. You're going to have to make rules for her and then make her abide by them."

"That seems awfully draconian…"

"Do you want her to hunt humans?"

"No…"

"Then set the rules and lay down the law. When she's an adult, she can make her own decisions. As long as she's the child and you're the parent, then she follows your rules. It's your job as a parent to make rules that she still wants to believe in and follow when she's an adult."

"What if she won't? What do I do if this does turn into full scale teenaged rebellion?"

"Nobody ever said being a parent was easy. You're going to have to decide how much she can get away with and where you draw the line. You need to figure out what you can compromise on and what's off limits. You need to pick your battles and let her have some freedom to test her limits too."

"So when you say pick my battles, Just say no to humans? Where do I cut her some slack then?"

"She's going to start noticing boys soon. That should keep her occupied as long as she doesn't bite them…"

"Mom!"

"Oh don't pretend like you didn't look. You were always just so shy though. I don't think that'll be an issue with Nessie."

"I guess I'm more worried about her fighting me on the human blood issue."

"You could always threaten to send her to live with her father. I seem to remember that he has fairly strong views on this subject…"

"God, Mom! I don't even know where he is…"

"Well, maybe it's time you started looking. You're the private investigator, isn't that what you do? You could find him if you wanted too. You shouldn't have to do this alone. Phil and I will back you up and support you, but maybe you could use a little help from the rest of her family. God knows, we don't have all the answers. We haven't been doing this as long as they have. Her grandfather's never touched a drop of human blood in three hundred years. Maybe you need to talk to him. He has to have his reasons…"

There were ghostlike footsteps in the hallway, and I hadn't even realize Garrett had been standing outside my door. I knew he had heard everything I had heard. He walked down the hallway and down the stairs now to stop in the living room.

"Bella… Thank you for the hospitality you have offered." Garrett said. "I should take my leave now. I can see that this is a trying time for your family, and my presence will likely only exacerbate the situation due to my lifestyle choice. I do not wish to bring strife to your household."

"No, you don't have to leave, Garrett. I told you I'd show you around. Let's do that. I need to get out of here for a while…"

"Are you sure? I don't want to cause trouble…"

"Actually, I'd like to talk to you. I'm sure you have a unique perspective on this situation, and I'd like to hear your views."

"I'm sure it's hardly unique, but I have some experience wrestling with the dilemma you face. I can see that you're still relatively new to this life. I can share with you what Information I have, but your decisions are still your own."

"Thank you…" Their voices faded away as they moved outside and out of range.

I lay there for a long time thinking about everything I had done and said and heard. I realized grandma was right. My body was changing. I'd noticed the differences but I hadn't said anything to mom or grandma yet. Were the hormones that were starting to make changes in my body affecting my moods and emotions and decisions? Were they somehow altering the abilities that I had been born with? I knew my body was maturing. Were my abilities maturing as my body grew and changed?

I knew I was becoming a young woman, but was by body even capable of having a period? Mom and Grandma didn't have one anymore because their bodies didn't change that way. They didn't have a monthly cycle or ovulate, but my body changed. It changed a lot all the time as I grew up too fast. I knew academically that the reason women had periods was because they could get pregnant and have babies. Was that even an option for me?

I knew in the core of my being that trusting my instincts was the right thing to do, and my instincts told me that humans were my natural prey, but I loved mom and I respected her beliefs too much to change them for her. This would be so much easier if mom would trust her instincts the way I did, but she wasn't me, and I most definitely wasn't her. I had waited four years for her to wake up and trust her instincts. Another four years or even longer wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Maybe my judgment was clouded by the changes my body was going through. I knew the right thing to do was let mom and grandma continue to guide me until I was an adult too. We could postpone continuing this discussion until we could all discuss it rationally. I doubted my position on the subject would change, but I was willing to bide my time.

It was much latter that evening when I heard grandma in the hallway before she knocked on my door.

"Can I come in, Nessie?" Grandma asked.

I sat up on the bed. "Yes, Grandma, It's alright…"

She opened the door and came in. she walked over to me and sat down on the bed.

"You can come back downstairs now if you'd like. I think we've all had enough time to cool off and think about everything. Would you like to come down to the study, and maybe we can work on your lessons together."

"Ok… Grandma, I'm sorry I upset you. Mom was right. I shouldn't have laid all of that on you…"

"It's alright, Nessie. It was startling and unexpected, but I always want to know how you feel, baby girl. You shouldn't have to keep all of that bottled up inside of you just to save my feelings. We know how you feel now, and we can talk about it."

"It's been building up for such a long time, grandma, but what I did was rude. I should have warned you, or gone slower to let you adjust to it. I was mad and I lashed out. I guess I wanted you and mom to feel what I'm feeling."

"It's ok, sweetheart. Sometimes you're just going to do things or say things because you're mad, and you don't think anybody is going to understand. Acting out and trying to express yourself is natural at your age. Well, your physical age."

"Your body is changing, Nessie. You might understand intellectually what's happening, but you're entering puberty. You hormones are going to affect your moods and emotions while your body goes through changes. It's normal to feel angry or sad or even happy for the strangest reasons. We'll all help you, and we understand what you're going through. This is part of growing up as you become a young woman."

"Do you think my body will even be able to change that way?"

"I suppose only time will tell, but you've gone through all of the other normal stages of development, albeit at an accelerated rate. You're about four and a half years old, but your body is at about a twelve year old level of development. If you grow up and change like your mother did, you'll probably get your period sometime in the next six months, before you turn five. Do you understand what that means? I can help you understand…"

"No, I'm good…" I knew I was blushing bright red, but I knew what to expect if it happened. "Why don't we go downstairs and work on that school work. Maybe I could use a little help after all."

We went downstairs, and I let grandma help me with my school work. I didn't need help, and could have gone faster alone, but it made her happy and feel useful to help me.

Mom and I talked the next day. I apologized for my outburst and told her I wasn't going to rock the boat and insist on hunting humans. I couldn't guarantee everything would be smooth sailing for the next couple of years, but I let her know I'd try to live by the rules she set. I told her she didn't have to look for my father, and she realized I had heard her conversation with grandma.

Mom and Garrett didn't come back to the house until just before dawn that first night and we were all asleep when they came in. Grandma left for work and grandpa left to drive to a baseball game he was going to shoot that evening. There was no privacy in our house with our enhanced senses, and I knew when I woke up that mom and Garrett were way past being just friends. He didn't stay in the guest room, and mom was smiling again when she finally came downstairs later.

I didn't pry into here private affairs. She was a grown woman and deserved to have a little happiness in her life. So yeah, she lived up to my expectations and hooked up with the first vampire she met, again. But c'mon, He was the third man she'd ever dated in her life, and the second she'd been with in over four years. I'd hardly call that promiscuous, despite her limited opportunities.

She was right about not being able to have a lasting relationship with another vampire that drank human blood. She wasn't going to change her lifestyle like that, and she knew her fling with Garrett wasn't going to last. In the end, he stayed with us for about two weeks before he decided it was time to move on. He had to hunt and he needed to move out of the area so he wouldn't cast suspicion on us when he did.

I knew he had already said his goodbyes to mom. I was a little surprised when he came to see me. Mom had left to go into the city to 'work', and grandma and grandpa were asleep. I was sitting up reading when he asked if he could come in.

I heard him in the hallway and then he knocked on my door. "Nessie, may I come in?" Garrett asked.

"Sure, Garrett, you can come in." The door opened, and he stepped into the room. He closed the door, but only stepped into the room, staying near the door.

"I am leaving, Nessie. I've already spoken to your mother, but I wanted to tell you goodbye as well."

"I'll miss you, Garrett. You're an interesting man, and you tell wonderful stories. I'm sure mom will miss you as well."

"I am comfortable with your mother. She is an amazing woman, but we have fundamental differences in our lifestyle choices. I am not willing to accept her lifestyle, and I would not think to impose my lifestyle upon her if she is not comfortable living that way. I'm sure our paths will cross again."

"I'm glad we had the opportunity to meet. I look forward to seeing you again when we cross paths, Garrett."

"Actually, I wanted to extend an invitation to you, Nessie. I know you are dissatisfied with the lifestyle choices imposed by your family. If you like, I would willingly accept you as a companion if you were of a mind to accompany me in my travels."

"Whoa, I thought you liked mom? I know you guys have been involved for the last couple of weeks. Where is this coming from?"

"I do not wish to become romantically involved with you. I am aware that you are still a child, and I have too much respect for your mother to take advantage of her hospitality in such a callous manner. I'm sure in time you will be a striking and amazing woman in your own right, but I am not seeking that kind of relationship with you. I know you wish to live as a vampire and prey upon humans as I do. You would be able to do so and live as you wish were you to accompany me."

"Mom would freak if I ran off with you. She'd hunt you down and hurt you, and drag me back home. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you, Garrett."

Garrett chuckled. "I appreciate your concern, but I have discussed this with your mother. If you should choose to leave with me, she will accept your decision, and she won't hunt us down. She knows you would be safe with me, and she sees it as the lesser of two evils should you take the notion into your head to leave and strike out on your own. She would appreciate you keeping in touch with her so she knows you're safe, but she knows this is how you wish to live. On the other hand, should you choose to stay, she will assume that you have chosen to live by her rules."

"So if you love something, set it free?"

"I believe that is the essence of the quote. If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they're yours; if they don't they never were. So, Nessie, which will it, be?"

Author's Note:

If you liked this story, please review and let me know what you think. Even if you didn't like it, I'd still like to hear from you. I read all the reviews, even if I don't answer all of them. If you have questions, I try to answer then without giving away too much of the plot.