~Chapter 3~

Neither woman made any sound as they moved through the woods. It was mid-March and the Pacific Northwest was enduring the last gasp of a long winter. They were both clad in black, wearing heavy black overcoats.

Isabella looked around as they moved through the trees, glancing over at Eliza, who held her hand as they walked. It was slightly ironic. Holding hands being a gesture of comfort, only in this case Eliza was comforting her.

"Mother, are you okay?" Eliza asked quietly, focused more on her mother than the area they were moving through.

Isabella nodded slowly as they moved through the forest to their destination. "Yes sweetheart. I'm fine." She gave Eliza a reassuring smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. She knew how much Eliza was worried about her, could even feel it through their connection.

The two months it had taken them to clean up the three cities had been a source of frustration for the both of them. While they had managed to take care of the current newborn threat, they hadn't found the vampire who'd been turning others.

Despite extensive interrogation of several newborns they'd captured, before executing, they were unable to even determine a name or turn up any sort of lead. Something they'd dutifully reported to Aro and the other Volturi. The only thing which mollified them somewhat, is that Jane and Alec were reporting the same problem. Eliminating the newborns, but unable to find the person creating them.

Eliza had been having second thoughts ever since asking her mother to return to this town. She watched her mother carefully. She knew exactly what had happened in this place. She had seen it through her mother's eyes when they originally bonded. She had seen everything through her mother's eyes. Every memory, every hurt, every pain. While seeing her mother's life as a whole had been like watching a movie in fast forward, the deep and impactful memories were intense and vivid.

Eliza knew how much and how deeply this place hurt her mother. But Eliza had hoped coming back may have helped her Mother confront the past. Now she wasn't so sure it was a good idea.

However, she wasn't sure what else she could do. Eliza loved her mother. Eliza knew her mother loved her, despite the fact that her Mother had never actually said the words. But her mother was damaged. Eliza knew, even her mother knew. Most of the time Eliza knew her mother kept her emotions completely walled off. Eliza was the only one with whom she expressed any feelings whatsoever. Usually you could see it in her eyes, though they were red, they were also dark and usually completely void of any positive emotion, unless Eliza managed to coax it out of her.

Eliza knew why. She didn't blame her mother. But… she wanted to see the fun exuberant woman she had seen in her mother's memories. She wanted her mother to stop just existing and live again.

Her mother shook her head again and squeezed her hand in reassurance, as they emerged into a clearing, their destination.

Eliza looked at the house nestled into the wall of the mountain. It overlooked a gorgeous small waterfall. The house itself was built out of sturdy brick and stone and looked like it was built to last, which it was. It hadn't been cheap, but being a member of the Volturi had perks. Membership has its privileges they used to say.

Beyond being gorgeously scenic, the house itself was built right over an entrance to an underground system of caves, so it was also suitable for fight or flight if necessary.

Built next to the house was a small garage, with its door shut. Eliza rushed up the stairs, excited, pulling her mother along with her inside the open door with an exuberant giggle. "This is PERFECT!" She exclaimed spinning around as she stepped into the main room. The rooms were already furnished, though things weren't decorated. She moved through the rooms practically skipping as she went.

Eliza was genuinely excited. This was the first time in her life she actually had a place to truly call her own.

Eliza stopped in the living room with a jolt, as a male, in his mid-to-late 40's stood in the middle of the room smiling politely.

"Who the hell are you?" She demanded with a frown, before her mother could say anything to shush her.

The man did not look the least perturbed at being addressed so bluntly, though he did appear to be somewhat confused. "My name is Henry Jansen, and I'm here to assist you in any way you may need."

Isabella stepped around her daughter to regard the man curiously, immediately taking note he was human, which relaxed her and Eliza, though they still regarded him with confusion. "A generous offer... Henry, but I don't think we'll need any assistance."

Henry frowned a moment looking back and forth between the two of them. "Aro didn't tell you to expect me?" He asked curiously, which prompted the two of them to look at one another.

Isabella frowned further. "No he didn't say anything about you."

Henry looked embarrassed, and nodded slightly. "I'm sure it slipped his mind. Please call him to verify before you do anything... rash. I'd hate to end up as a snack at this early date." He said, smiling in a disarming way then sat down on the couch to wait patiently.

"Watch him." Isabella told her daughter. She frowned and pulled a cell phone out of her coat, stepping back outside to call Aro, the screen door closing automatically behind her.

It was 5 minutes before Isabella came back in muttering, "Sorry to be so long, there was a slight issue on the other end."

Henry raised an eyebrow, an amused smile on his face. "Let me guess, he broke his phone trying to learn the complexities of Tetris again?"

Isabella smirked and murmured, "Bejeweled actually."

Eliza daughter burst out laughing. "Well that proves he certainly knows Aro."

Isabella nodded to her daughter. "Yeah, Aro told me he helped get the house set up and he is here for whatever need may arise. He is one of the human affiliates, though he did mention Henry was a rare one, and Henry could elaborate for us." Isabella turned to him with a curious look.

Henry looked a trifle embarrassed for a moment before murmuring. "Well, you know the law about humans knowing about vampires. The only ones who can know are ones who are going to be turned or going to be a meal."

Isabella nodded, "The Volturi have a new secretary pretty much every year, most of them end up as lunch." She said coldly, hoping to affect this man's affable demeanor. "So why are you a rare one?"

Henry smiled self-consciously. "Because I have zero interest in becoming a vampire."

Both Eliza and Isabella blinked. "Then... why...?"

Henry smiled, "Why work for them? I'm a historian. An archeologist of the impossible, the secret history most humans don't want to know. I love history and mysteries. When I was growing up, I always wanted to know what was going on beneath the surface in the world. I happened to discover the existence of vampires at Volterra through some historical documents of property and succession. I'm good at ferreting out secrets. Aro showed up to confront me during my stay in Volterra. I was there searching for confirmation of my beliefs. He offered to turn me and I turned him down. I feel rather proud to have stunned him, his expression was priceless."

"He threatened with changing or death. I told him if those were my options then to go ahead and kill me. I thoroughly confused him. I swore I wouldn't divulge anything I learned, and would happily help however I could, but I was happy the way I was. After I let him "read" me, he's had work for me pretty much constantly for the past 10 years. I think he's hoping I will eventually change my mind."

Eliza frowned, "Why wouldn't you take the offer of being converted into one of us?" she asked.

Henry shrugged again, "Because I don't want to live forever, I want to discover what comes after this life. The greatest mystery of them all. While I'm in no hurry to get there, I also don't want to live forever and not know. Such a life would be... torture. As for why have me help you, I grew up in Oregon originally, so I'm familiar with the area, hence the reason I'm here. "

Both Isabella and Eliza exchanged looks and then looked at him. "Well, I guess we can't object."

Henry smiled and ducked his head in acknowledgement, "I had planned to stay here in the house with the two of you, unless you have objections."

Eliza and Isabella glanced at each other, before Isabella shrugged. "If you're comfortable knowing you're living in a house with two vampires, either of whom might want a midnight snack at some point. You're welcome to stay."

Henry smiled pleasantly. "I'm well aware of the risks. I've lived with those risks for years. Now please don't let me stop you from checking out the house."

Eliza made her way up the stairs to look into each bedroom, of which there were several. She picked the one with the view of the waterfall out her window. Eliza knew her mother would take the one in the attic, as it was the most spacious and had a large window for viewing the stars. Sure enough, she heard her mother set the duffel bag on the bed above, so Eliza slipped out of her room and up into the attic to look around.

"Leave it to you to pick the attic, Mother!" She teased slightly, glad to see the small smile on her mother's face.

"Of course, you know me." Isabella replied with a very slight smirk at her daughter.

Eliza grinned and then darted out of the room and back downstairs to the main room, where there were several large boxes. Splitting the six large boxes evenly, she carried 3 up to her room, and then the other three up to her mother's newly claimed room in a matter of a few seconds, blowing past a slightly startled Henry in the process.

Eliza felt Isabella's unasked question so she grinned. "I love you Mother, but your wardrobe needed some additions to it. You can't wear all black, all the time."

"I swear, if you got me a totally pink or orange wardrobe or something, I'll make you regret it young lady." Isabella scolded her daughter, only half-teasingly.

Eliza laughed. "Of course not Mom, we'll be pretending to be sisters at school. Assuming you actually end up going. So I can't have you looking like the dreaded Volturi 'Assassin'" She teased, and then laughed again when her mother groaned and rolled her eyes.

"I don't know why you're so excited about going to school. It's not as fun as all the movies make it out to seem." Isabella warned her daughter for what seemed like the tenth time.

Eliza shrugged "I never got the chance to go to school. It'll be a new experience for me." She didn't give her mother a chance to unpack the clothes or argue with her. Instead grabbing her mother's hand and tugging her back down the stairs.

"Come on, I want to scout the area." Eliza insisted. Isabella chuckled as her daughter pulled her down the stairs and back out the front door.

"We'll be back later Henry!" Eliza called into the house as with her mother in tow.

Both Eliza and Isabella took a breath of the fresh air, enjoying it anew, before Eliza felt her mother give her a gentle shove backward, taking the opportunity to leap away and run toward the tree line calling out as she want. "Let's see if you can still keep up with your 'aged' mother!"

Eliza uttered a playful growl and ran after her, both of them picking up speed as they headed toward the tree line.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXX

It was probably an hour later, the two of them had been "scouting", though the activity largely consisted of wandering aimlessly as they leaped from tree to tree, chasing one another, Eliza had been pleased at the little bit of emotion she was seeing in her mother and feeling in their connection.

Suddenly her mother stopped and Eliza had to twist and catch a lower branch in midair to keep from leaping right into her mother. Eliza watched in confusion as her mother's head whipped around , a snarl escaping her throat as she sniffed something .

Eliza followed suit, sniffing carefully at the air, but it took her a moment to identify what it was her mother smelled. "Vampire, but with a scent like I've never encountered before " she said in her mother's thoughts.