Author's Note:

I do not own any of the Twilight characters that may appear in this world… or Call of Duty… or a yellow Porsche 911 Turbo. To be fair though, I wouldn't be caught dead in one. I have standards. It would have to be black.

Hello.. Hello.. Hello… is there anybody out there? Just leave a review if you can hear me… is there anyone at all?

Chapter 6: Monster Hunter

"Heresy" Edward sneers behind me. I sigh again. Can't say I wasn't expecting this reaction. I've never tried speaking with anyone about my mission for a reason. But, given that these are vampires, members of the supernatural themselves, I figured I'd get a smidgeon more open mindedness than this.

Turning, I address Edward with my straightest face. "Look, believe me or don't, I don't care. I don't need your validation. But, you have witnessed me pronounce each of your family members' crimes… or lack thereof," I say, eyeing Rosalie again. "Can you say that any of my pronouncements have been false?"

"No" Edward admits with regret. "But…"

"And what is it that you think I am looking at when I inspect the air around you Edward?" I interrupt. "How is it that I can see that every single human you have killed was either a murderer, or a rapist, or a child molester?" I punctuate each point with a finger jab. By now I'm on my high horse, and there's no bucking me off.

"I don't…"

"That's right… you don't know. You have no idea if you have a soul or not, because you can't see it. But I can tell you with certainty that I can… and it is a beautiful thing. I'm going to guess that you are a Christian, aren't you?" I watch as he affirms my belief. "Early 20th century American?" Again, Edward nods. "Figures. Turn of the century Christians were pretty staunch in their faith. Pretty little boy like you probably went to church every Sunday and believed every word the good Father said, didn't you? It's ok Edward, he didn't know anything either."

With a huff, I sit in the middle of the only couch without anyone on it and cross my arms. Stupid religions. They cause more problems than they solve, all because someone wanted to gain a modicum of control over the masses.

"Wow." I look up at the new voice. "I'm Emmett by the way," the big guy says, offering me his hand in greeting. I take it lightly, not sure if these vampires have control enough to not crush my bones. "You may be my new favorite human. Move over Bella, there's a new bestie in town!" Emmett cries, plopping down next to me.

I immediately move to the far end of the couch. "You've killed people too, Emmett. It might have been more than 20 years ago, but I can still see it."

"Yeah but you won't judge me forever for that. Hey, do you like Call of Duty?"

The atmosphere is tense in the Cullen household, and getting more so by the minute. I'm staring at everyone in turn, trying to gauge what is going to happen next. They all seem to be perfectly content with their own thoughts. All except Rosalie, who won't stop staring at me. Bella was right, I can see where she would think Rosalie hates strangers, but I don't think that's it. I quirk my eye in question at the blonde, silently asking what the deal is. She huffs and turns to stare at Emmett instead, who is still on the couch beside me.

"So, blondie, is that your Porsche out in the drive?"

Surprisingly, its Alice that squeaks at this comment, and I turn to look at her in surprise. "Absolutely not, Firefly is mine, thank you!"

"Firefly? Seriously" I intone, disbelief thick in my voice.

Alice turns to me and gapes. "What's wrong with Firefly? Does the name not suit her? Every car needs a name." I can't help but agree with this.

"Hmm, I guess I just didn't put the car together with you. Sorry about that." I feel a bit sheepish at my assumptions.

Rosalie is staring at me with slitted eyes. She isn't going to let this drop. "And why would you assume that I drive a Porsche? Do I look like a Porsche kind of girl?" Oh, so this is how it's going to go? Ok Blondie!"

"You look like a pretty rich girl, so yeah, I can see you in something so ostentatious as a Porsche. Or a BMW. Hell anything German would fit your image just fine. I bet you've got a red BMW stashed somewhere around here, don't you?"

Fire seethes from Rosalie's eyes, but next to her, Emmett has his hand over his mouth as he fights his own amusement. Maybe I hit that nail right on the head.

"You little…" Rosalie approaches me, hovering as if to make me feel threatened. I don't back down though.

"You aren't going to hurt me Rose. We both know it. If you want to posture, fine, but it isn't going to affect me the way you want it to. However, if it will help, I apologize for making assumptions about you. That wasn't fair. What do you drive anyway?" I can't help the small smile that creeps onto my face at the end.

"Only family gets to call me Rose." Rosalie huffs, stalking from the room. Its too bad really, I like her. I'll have to find a way to crack that tough exterior she's got.

Just as I'm starting to calm down and settle back into the couch, every vampire in the room perks up and looks at the front door. This must signal the arrival of the family patriarch. I eye Bella again. What was it she said about waiting until I see Carlisle? With that thought, the man in question strolls into the room, briefcase and white lab coat in hand. On sight of me, he stops and stares thoughtfully.

"You must be Alexa. Hello, I'm Carlisle". He offers me his hand with a gentle smile. I take it graciously, again struck by the sight before me. Carlisle chuckles. I'm guessing that my face must be a mask of consternation by this point.

Not a single mark. No pressure, no aura. This guy is a vampire, right? I look around as I hear several chuckles from the room, loudest of all Emmett's. I realize that I've been shaking his hand for too long, and jerk my arm back out of his grasp.

"What do you see?" Bella asks with a knowing smile.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." I can't take this anymore. I need some air. "What are you people?"

"Vegetarians" comes the reply from behind me. With a start, I realize that I had lost track of Jasper through all this. He is standing so close to me as to seem invasive, and I realize he had just been sniffing me. With a shriek, I have my torch lighter out and pointed at his face as fast as I can, but obviously not fast enough. He snatches it right before I can activate the flame. "You seem to know a lot about us. About our weaknesses, as well as our strengths. Tell me why I shouldn't make you disappear right now."

He might have been expecting fear from me, but instead I was just pissed. "If you kill me, you die too. That's why."

The air here is lovely, I find myself thinking as I try to relax outside. Esme must really enjoy her gardening. The grounds surrounding the house are just as impressive as the building itself. Or, maybe I should say buildings. I hadn't had the time to notice before, but there is a long, low building off to the south of the main house. I can only assume this is a garage or stable of some sort, as I can't imagine any other use for a building such as that. It would make sense, a family this well off must have several vehicles to cater to their needs. Of course, they could just run everywhere.

Inside, I can hear Carlisle trying to calm everyone down after my overt threat. Jasper had seemed to want to kill me on the spot. I could tell he was not used to a human not being afraid of him. I could also tell that he took protecting his family very seriously, and I have to have some respect for that.

With a small swishing sound, the sliding back door opens so that Esme can join me. "You really riled us up." she tells me. "We aren't used to a human who isn't instinctively scared of them."

"Yeah," I say. What else is there to say really? "You don't seem that upset about it."

Turning to me, Esme regards me carefully. "I supposed I do not. After Bella though, the thought of having humans in our lives is starting to grow on me."

I guess that does make some sense. She seems very comfortable catering to humans... the cookies were delicious after all. "Your flowers are lovely. Did you do all this yourself?"

"Thank you dear, and yes. Gardening is one of my many joys in life." She looks very satisfied with her work. "Would it be too much to ask if you could share a bit about yourself? It will make us feel a bit better."

"I can do that, but I doubt it will ease all of you very much." With another of her small smiles, Esme guides me back into the house. There, I find everyone that I've met so far seated around the dining room table. It is a massive thing, and imposing all on its own.

With one last thought for just walking out, I take the seat that has been left for me. I sit at the foot of the table, opposite Carlisle, where everyone can see me.

"Alexa," Carlisle starts, "I understand that you know quite a bit about us. Would you mind if I asked where you learned about vampires?"

I ponder the question for a second. How honest should I be here? Nobody is going to believe the truth… but then nobody will believe a lie either. Vampires can hear heartbeats… I might as well be strapped to a lie detector as be sitting in a room with seven vampires. Again I sigh as I realize that it doesn't really matter.

"The first time I saw a vampire, I was in Persia. I didn't really get an education about them until years later though, in Italy." I could see several eyes widen at this. Here we go…

"Persia… you mean Iran?" Carlisle asked.

"Um, no… I mean Parthia. I don't know what it's called today." I haven't tried to keep track of geography and the borders of the world for a very long time. They change so much any way…

"Parthia. As in ancient Persia? As in Alexander the Great?" Rosalie says with about as much doubt as I have come to expect. "You expect us to believe that you met a vampire 300 years before Christ?"

"I don't expect you to believe anything Rose." I state. "You asked me a question. I answered. I don't have any way of proving what I've said, so you can either believe me or not. Again, the choice is yours."

"Settle down please." Esme asserts, eyeing Rosalie purposefully. "Lets all just calm down."

Seeing that everyone intends to allow me to continue, Carlisle asks his next question. "How old are you Alexa?"

"Seventeen" is my reply. It is true, after all. This body is that age.

With a huge grin, Bella asks, "How long have you been seventeen." I don't understand the look that she gives Edward, but his answering smile at her is pretty adorable. "And don't say 'awhile'. That would be too weird."

"Um...ok? Will 2500 years do for an answer?"

Silence.

To say that every vampire at the table is shocked would be an understatement. Every one of them is completely frozen. Some even have their jaws on the floor. The only one moving besides myself is Bella, and she is staring at me with wide eyes as well. I wonder if I could get up, make myself a sandwich, and sit back down before they snap out of this?

"2500… that would make you older than most vampires," Carlisle breathes finally. "Except maybe the Romanians."

"Yeah, I mean, give or take." is the only reply I can come up with. "Calendars were different, and the common people didn't really keep track of time. Plus any time I spent dead doesn't really count, right?"

Again, this got everyone's attention. "Dead?" Emmett asks. "Like, 'not like us' dead?"

"Like, 'escorting souls down the River Styx' dead." I intone, putting as much seriousness into the pronouncement as I can. I stare at everyone, looking from face to face. "Look, why not just let me start at the beginning?" I can see that this will be the only way to help them see the whole picture.

"My story started somewhere around modern Germany, or maybe Greece. Again, no maps back then. My village didn't even have a name. We were simple people, living simple lives. I was maybe a bit younger than I am now, not yet marrying age. I adored my mother and father, and did my best to help them with the land that we farmed.

One day, I was out in the woods gleaning herbs to sell when the wind brought me the smell of smoke and burning meat. I rushed home, thinking that maybe dinner was burning. Instead, I found devastation." With surprise, I felt a tear roll down my cheek. "I'm sorry, I've never told anyone this…"

"It's ok dear. Let me get you some water." Esme responds.

I've got to end this one here. So far, this is my longest chapter, and there is a lot more of Alexa's history to come.

What do you think? How did Alexa get the powers she seems to think she has? Is she a demi-god, or is there just something not right in her head? I bet you can guess which one of these Edward believes.

So, stay tuned for the next installment of "Alexa", where we find out how many vampires Alexa has killed, what the family thinks of her past, and Rosalie's view of the car Alexa drives.