A New World Full of Strangers

Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use.

Author's Note: This story is a continuation of the story "A World Full of Strangers: Prelude." Reading that story is critical to understanding the full premise of this one. For those of you who have read the Prelude, this may seem repetitive (I've tried to make it interesting), but I wanted new readers to get a flavor of what is to come.

Chapter 1: Prologue: My Old World

"Renesmee, honey?"

"Yes, Daddy?" I reply.

"We are going to be stopping for gas soon," he says cheerfully. "You should think about what you want to get to eat."

"Okay," I say. "But I'm really not hungry."

He frowns at me into the rearview mirror. I sigh. I know that my lack of appetite is beginning to worry him, Momma, and Esme, but it's not like I can force myself to eat. They offered to stop and go hunting, but I didn't feel like that either. But how much of an appetite can I really have after just sitting around all day? And worst of all, there is nothing for me to do except think.

As we drive northwest across the Canadian prairie towards our new home of Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory, I begin to find the scenery monotonous. The land is very flat, and the speed of the car turns everything into a green and blur. Except when we pass by a field of sunflowers. Then it turns yellow for a bit.

At first I was interested when we passed a large onion-domed building. Daddy explained that it was a Russian Orthodox Church and that a number of them settled here because it reminded them of the Siberian steppes. For a while it felt like they were everywhere. But after a while they became boring too.

Daddy is doing the driving now, with Esme in the other front seat. They keep switching back and forth. I don't know why, because it's not like they get tired or need to rest. But maybe they get bored too. I am starting to wish that we had flown like the others, or just driven up through British Columbia. I am starting to learn the geography of my new country, but it is easy compared to the United States.

When they decided to leave Forks and move to Whitehorse, the family talked about how we would go. It was decided that Carlisle, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Auntie Rose would fly up right away so get things ready for when our stuff arrived. They would buy a house, enroll in school, and Carlisle would establish himself at the hospital.

The rest of us, Momma, Daddy, Esme, and I would drive east across the US through Washington, Idaho, and Montana to North Dakota. Then Esme and I would drop off Momma and Daddy in Grand Forks so that they could run across the border through the wilderness and meet us in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When we crossed, Esme would be pretend to be my mother. She's going to be my mother, at least to the humans, when we are out in public in Whitehorse.

So now we have been driving back northwest across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia towards the Al-Can. That's the road that will take us directly to Whitehorse. We are going in such a roundabout way for two reasons. The first reason is that they want me to get used to the idea of living in a new place.

In fact, sometimes Daddy and Esme have been telling me about Canada because they lived there before. The second is that they didn't want Jacob following us. Carlisle is afraid that he will make another scene and say some more things that he might regret.

I am sitting curled up against Momma in the back seat. I am glad that she isn't doing any of the driving. I feel better when I am close to her because I think that she understands my Jacob better than anyone. He was her best friend when she was human and Daddy went away. She doesn't talk a lot either. She seems to be thinking about a lot of things as well. It's going to be the first time that she is going to play the human charade with the rest of the family. I think that she's worried about it.

Every once in a while, Carlisle calls to talk to Esme. They miss each other very much. That is the hardest part of the move for them. Daddy and Momma got to stay together. Auntie Rose and Uncle Emmett got to stay together. Auntie Alice and Jasper got to stay together. But Carlisle and Esme split up for practical reasons. He had to go ahead to Whitehorse to establish things, while Esme had to be my mother to get me across the border into the country.

Looking at us from the outside, no one would believe that Daddy and Momma are my parents. When they were turned into vampires, they were only teenagers. Daddy was seventeen and Momma was eighteen. Well, Momma was only three days short of nineteen, but don't remind her of that or she will get mad at you. She doesn't like being older than Daddy. And throughout the rest of their existence, they will never age.

But I was born before my Momma became a vampire. Momma and Daddy got married and it was less than a month before I came along. It was a very big shock to everyone because no one ever thought that humans and vampires could make babies together. But Momma and Daddy did. And even though I killed my Momma's human life, Daddy was still able to save her, to turn her into a vampire like him.

When I first heard about that and understood what it meant, I was sad. I didn't mean to kill her. But she explained that she had wanted to be a vampire anyway. She said that even if I weren't born that Daddy would have changed her. They had made a deal. She would marry him while she was still human and then he would change her into a vampire. She told me that no one had expected that they would get a beautiful baby girl as a result. She said that she would do it exactly the same way again, just to make sure that she would have me.

And I made everyone happy when I came along. Auntie Rose and Esme had always been sad that they never had their own babies. And when Momma got back from Isle Esme and was pregnant with me, they helped Momma. Daddy was really scared that I could kill my Momma. They had met someone in Brazil who told them that there were legends about women who got pregnant with vampire babies and died. She said that the babies killed them. And Daddy didn't want Momma to die.

He and Carlisle wanted to take me out of Momma because they didn't know that I was just a little baby. They thought that I might be a monster, a killer. But then, while I was still inside of Momma, Daddy began to hear my thoughts. That was when he realized that I wasn't a monster, because I loved my Momma so much. And then he decided that no matter what, he was going to save both my Momma and me.

I don't know all the details, because they say that it is still too hard for me to understand, but Momma got hurt one time while Carlisle was away. So Daddy got me out and Auntie Rose took me to take care of me until Momma was better. And then my Jacob kept Momma's heart beating until Daddy could get enough venom in to save her. And he did. When she woke up, she was a beautiful vampire like the rest of them.

But I am not a vampire. I am only a half-vampire. At first they were scared because I grew so fast. But then they met another half-vampire from South America. He told us that he grew very, very fast until he was seven. And then he was done. I am almost seven now. I still look younger than Momma and Daddy, but not by much. But the really good news was that half-vampires seem to be immortal like full vampires. Nahuel, the man, was already one hundred and fifty years old. But he still looked like a teenager. So did his three sisters.

When we get to Whitehorse, we are going to start over again. Carlisle is going to start practicing medicine at the hospital. Esme is going to spend time renovating and decorating our new house and property. The rest of us are all going to school. That's because the other four look like they are only teenagers too. They were all changed when they when eighteen, nineteen, or twenty.

None of us really look alike except for Daddy and me. So the story is that all of us were adopted by Carlisle and Esme. Daddy is my real "brother" and Auntie Rose and Jasper are twins (because they both have blonde hair). Daddy, Momma, and Alice are going to be freshmen in high school; the others are going to be sophomores. I am going to an elementary school where I will be in the seventh grade.

Because the others (except Momma) have been through high school a lot, they decided that we would all go through the French immersion school program where all of our classes would be in French. You see Canada has two official languages, English and French. So all Canadian school children learn French.

And if French is their native language, they go to French schools and take English. But in areas of the country (most of it) where French is not the native language, students can go to school in French instead of just taking separate French classes.

Daddy told me that school could be very boring if you know everything in the books. And since I know everything in the books, when I study the same things again, only in French this time, it will make them more interesting. But he should know all about that. Carlisle says that if we start out at these ages, we will be able to stay here for about five years. Then we will move again and start over somewhere else.

That is how we have to live because we never age. We are very unusual in the vampire world because we are a family and stick together. Such vampires never have a home, even for five years. Most other vampires are nomads and either travel as individuals or in covens of two or three. But our coven, or family as we prefer to say, has nine.

Our cousins in Denali have six members in their coven, since Tanya finally found a mate after all these years when she met a vampire named Julius. That is the only other family in the vampire world except the Volturi. And they are like us, they only drink the blood of animals, not humans, the Denalis that is, not the Volturi.

The Volturi are really scary. They are in charge of keeping the rules of the vampire world. After I was born they thought that we broke the rules because of me and they came to punish us. But it was all a big misunderstanding. Alice and Jasper found Nahuel in South America and he proved to them that I wasn't dangerous. So they left us in peace.

That's the reason why so many of us can live together and go out among humans. We are not going to kill so many people in one area that those around us would get suspicious. But the Denalis are different from us because they live in the wilderness and never see humans. We don't live in isolation like that because Carlisle is a doctor and practices medicine. And he can only do that on humans. But since he never ages either, he can't stay in one place for too long.

And that was the problem with Forks. We stayed there for too long. So many people were asking questions about Carlisle's age that he couldn't work anymore, except at the Quileute reservation because the tribe knew our secret. It made him sad. And Momma and Daddy were happy to live away from the humans (except for Grandpa Charlie) because they had me to bring up, and each other to love. And Esme was unhappy because the other four were living like nomads.

You see, Alice and Jasper and Auntie Rose and Emmett were tired of hanging around in Forks. So they traveled to all kinds of wonderful places. But they wanted to come home too. You see, it doesn't matter where the Cullens live. They are at home as long as they are together.

So a few days ago, they took a vote and decided that it was time to move. Now we will all be together again, because that is what everyone wants. Daddy assured me that the same thoughts were in everyone's minds. There was no dissent.

The most difficult thing about my Daddy is his mind-reading gift. It wouldn't be so bad if he could control it, but he can't. And sitting here in the car with only one other person that he can hear (Esme), I know that he is listening to my thoughts. Even now, I know that he is listening to everything that I am thinking. I sigh again. There is nothing new for him to know. Momma is lucky because he can't hear her at all unless she wants him to.

It is difficult to believe how quickly the family was able to decide to leave Forks and then just leave for Canada. But Carlisle wanted to move before the school year started because it would make us stand out less. If we entered school late, then everyone would notice us even more.

Emmett said that it wasn't like we weren't going to stand out anyway. But Carlisle says that in places like Whitehorse there is a lot of movement in and out. A lot of people with kids time their moves around the school year if they can. We will only be a few of a lot of other newcomers.

I barely had time to realize that we were going away when suddenly we were telling my Jacob that we were going and he was arguing with them. But now that I have had time to think about it, I am not really sure of why he didn't want us to leave. All he has to do is come with us. But I think that is because he doesn't think of home the same way we do. We think of home as people, he thinks of it a land.

You see; my Jacob is a werewolf, or shapeshifter. It is his job to protect the tribe from enemies. Since the tribe is so small, they needed magic to help them stay safe. So long ago, some of the Quileutes learned how to change into huge wolves. Jacob's great-grandfather, the last chief of the tribe, was a werewolf too. And he made the original treaty with Carlisle that the Cullens would stay off their land.

The only enemies that the Quileutes have anymore are vampires. Except for the US government, according to Jasper. But he says that they need lawyers, not wolves, to protect them from that. Then Emmett said that lawyers were really just wolves in three-piece suits. Everyone laughed at that but me.

So when the Cullens moved back to Forks after being away for so many years, the descendants of the last three wolves started to turn into wolves again. And one of them was my Jacob. And he really is my Jacob. He told me that he belongs to me now and it's his job to make me happy.

Right after I was born and he had helped Daddy save Momma and me, he went downstairs where Auntie Rose was taking care of me, he said that it was like he couldn't help himself, he just had to go in that direction. And then, the minute he looked into my eyes, he knew that I was the one. He imprinted on me and he would be my protector for life.

He said that no one would ever be able to keep me safer or love me more than him. He said that he would always be there for me. He would be whatever I needed him to be. But now I am still trying to figure how that works. It's kind of like a puzzle that I can't put together because I am missing some of the pieces. Sometimes I think that Momma and Daddy know, but they aren't telling me.

With nothing else to do, I have been running through Jacob's last words in my head over and over. I guess that the most peculiar thing was that he never said anything about why he couldn't come with us. He just said that I couldn't go with my family. But my family said a lot of things about why I should stay with them. And they said a lot of things about why we couldn't stay in Forks anymore. But Jacob never told me why he just couldn't come.

The first thing that he said when they told him that we were leaving was that I stay to stay with him because he had imprinted on me. He called me Nessie, that awful monster nickname that he called me when I was little. Then he called my Daddy a bloodsucker. That made me really upset. One is the worst insults that you can call a vampire is "bloodsucker." But I didn't know why Jacob was being mean to him all of the sudden.

And then he scared me because he said that if I was too young to live with him (even though I would be full grown on my birthday) then I could live with Sam and Emily until I was old enough, like Claire does. But I don't want to live with Sam and Emily. Emily has two little babies to take care of, and Claire too. But Claire is her niece and her Mommy and Daddy live close by on the Makah reservation. My family would be very far away.

It is not that I don't like Emily. She's very nice. In fact she was the one who explained imprinting to me. But she wouldn't spend time with me like my own Momma and Daddy. And she couldn't teach me like they do. In fact, I know more things in the books than she does. In fact, once she told me that I know more than the teachers in the Quileute School.

But everyone got so mad at each other or scared like me that I didn't want to be there anymore. The last time that I saw my Jacob, he was staring at me because he couldn't believe that I was asking him to please talk to Daddy, Carlisle, and Jasper outside. But I didn't want to hear him call anyone else that I loved a bad name. And I knew that he was hurt, and I didn't want to see that either. That was when I got really confused because I could see that there was no way that I could make everyone happy, including me.

But that was the last time I ever saw him. We went home, packed up, and the next morning went to see Grandpa and Sue to say goodbye. And then we left. I asked Daddy if Jacob was coming with us and he said no. Then I asked if Jacob could come with us if he wanted and he said yes. But he said that Jacob would have to want to. And I know that he means it.

When Carlisle found a house that he liked, it had a little cabin close to it on the property. That is the house that everyone liked best, so that is the house he buying. I asked Esme and she said that she would fix it up for Jacob if he decided to come. So he even has his own place to live. It would be closer to me than he was on the reservation back in La Push. Every time Carlisle calls, I ask if Jacob has come yet, and he says that he hasn't.

If it wasn't for the fact that I don't know what Jacob is thinking or whether he will come to stay with me, I could really be happy that we are moving. I have always wanted to go to school and meet other children my age. And I have missed having my whole family around me. In Whitehorse, I get to go to school and be with my whole family. But if Jacob doesn't come, then I am not sure that I can be happy.

I look up and can see that Daddy is looking back at me through the mirror again. He looks concerned. Sometimes I think that Daddy is sorry that he can hear every thought that every person around him is having. Sometimes it means that he has to hear things that he doesn't want to hear.

Author's note: The narration of this chapter may seem a little disorganized, but that is because I am trying to catch the flavor of the way that an adolescent girl like Renesmee might think while ruminating over in her life, sitting in a car, with nothing else to do. So don't be surprised if her thoughts meander along jumping from topic to topic as they come to mind. It is intentional.

And for those of you who may be concerned about Jacob, I will be switching to his POV after a few chapters. You will see things from the perspective of others as well. I hope that you enjoy! HM