Chapter 15

Eliza had been getting up to follow her mother and Jacob when she felt the grip on her arm. She turned to see Leah's fingers lightly encircling her wrist. Leah's expression seemed a contradiction, needy yet filled with indomitable pride. It was a combination that thoroughly confused Eliza.

She heard Leah say "please?" It was clearly a request and one that Leah seemed to yearn for. This struck Eliza as odd since Leah impressed her as the type who never asked anyone for anything. Her behest was clear to Eliza, and after a moment that for her, lasted a very long time indeed, Eliza made her decision.

She nodded slightly and then called out, "Mother, you go on ahead. I'll catch up later." Without waiting for her mother's reaction she let Leah guide her away from the fire and toward the forest in the opposite direction.

Eliza, while she'd gone her own way many times, had never faced a choice between following Isabella and someone else… she was totally unsure what to make of it.

Leah's grip on her arm loosened, as if she'd won something and she wasn't pulling Eliza along by any stretch, but Leah seemed reluctant to allow her fingers to completely let go of Eliza's wrist, she seemed to be savoring their skin touching. Eliza didn't pull her arm away, surprised at the warmth coming from Leah's hand. It was much warmer than a human's touch. They moved deeper into the forest, away from those who'd lingered, perhaps only in curiousity about Eliza and Leah. Eliza finally spoke, more to break the silence than anything. "So, I'm your imprint huh?" She immediately cringed at how daft she sounded though Leah didn't seem to notice. For an insane moment Eliza thought she could belch and Leah would praise it.

Leah nodded as if she felt guilty, though Eliza could not imagine why. "Yeah. You are…" She trailed off, unsure what to say.

"Does this conversation make the top five list of most awkward you've ever had?" Eliza asked with a grin. She was rewarded as Leah grinned and chuckled."Maybe I should tell you about when Mother and me…no that can wait."

"I have to admit this is not a conversation I ever expected to have." Leah shrugged.

Eliza frowned and then looked around at the forest; she made her way over in the direction of a exceptionally large fallen log then asked "What do you mean?"

Leah kept pace with Eliza and replied, "I sort of gave up on the idea of imprinting. I've been a pack member almost as long as Jacob has, and it never happened. I just thought it wasn't something that would happen to me. Since everyone only gets one imprint, I assumed I must have missed mine or something."

Eliza turned and hopped up so she was sitting on the fallen log making her temporarily taller than Leah, looking thoughtful. "So you had totally given up on it?"

Leah blushed and looked away, choosing to pace in front of the log for the moment, "Well, I thought from time to time about it. But I've been practicing for years to try and manage my anger enough not to shift. So that I could age normally. But it's hard, and I've never managed to go more than two weeks at a time. Too bad there aren't twelve step meetings to avoid shifting to a wolf I guess. I've pictured imprinting occasionally… but I never pictured the conversation going like this."

Eliza tilted her head, she was curious, "How did you picture the conversation going? That is…if you don't mind me asking."

Leah chuckled, "Something along the lines of 'Honey, don't freak out. I'm a lot older than I look, and I sort of turn into a wolf at will. There's a whole pack of us. When does it happen? Oh usually when I'm upset or if I encounter a vampire. Yes, those are real too. But I've sort of imprinted on you and you're my soul mate' Is kind of the conversation I expected to have. Most men or women would have left skid marks at the door before I finished."

Eliza burst out laughing and shook her head. "You know, if your imprint didn't know about wolves first, that's totally not the way it would have gone right?" Leah tilted her head to the side, inviting Eliza to continue.

"It probably would have gone something like 'Honey, don't freak out. I'm a lot older than I look and sort of turn into a wolf… I said don't freak out! No, put down the phone, there's no need to call for an ambulance I haven't gone crazy. No no, don't do that! Honey, put down the knife, it wouldn't hurt me much anyway. I'm not going to hurt you!'…. And it probably would have gone downhill from there." Eliza trailed off with an impish grin

Leah finally burst out laughing "Okay that's probably true. That's much more likely to be the way it would go. I'm not exactly the most eloquent person in the best of times. Often I'm reduced to barks, whines and growls"

"Though I guess that sort of conversation is better than. "Now you know the truth about what I am, and I have to convert you or kill you. If I don't the laws sentence me to death." Eliza gave her a very sour look and Leah seemed abashed.

Her laughter died as her voice became more serious. "But when the others imprinted on someone outside the pack, they seemed to take it okay. It all worked out. I started to believe I would never imprint, but even in my occasional dreams I never expected…"

"Didn't expect to imprint on a vampire? Or… you didn't expect to imprint on another female?" There was no accusation in Eliza's statement; rather her tone was polite and curious.

Leah frowned and continued to pace, but her eyes never left Eliza. "I am way more thrown by the vampire part. I've always had… an attraction for both guys and girls. I've been in brief relationships with both. I guess I sort of assumed in the unlikely event it ever did happen it would be a guy, because the only other person to ever imprint on their same gender was Rita." Leah searched Eliza's face, half fearfully. "What about you? How do you… I mean.. are you.." She trailed off uncertainly.

"You mean, am I gay?" Eliza asked bluntly, causing Leah to look down and nod in embarrassment. "I… don't know." Eliza confessed softly, her voice softening as she looked down at her feet.

Leah frowned at that and blurted out, "What do you mean?" she seemed puzzled rather than accusatory.

Eliza blushed and looked away. "I mean that... yes I'm physically attracted to women, but...I've never… been in a relationship of any sort before. Ever." Seeing Leah's frown, she felt a need to explain. "I have my Mother, and I have some… I hesitate to call them friends, but vampires in the Volturi guard that I'm friendly acquaintances with. However, that is the extent of my knowledge of relationships."

"What about before you were turned into a vampire?" Leah asked causing Eliza to flinch.

"I didn't have any relationships before I was a vampire." Eliza said, after seeing Eliza frown she half smiled then patted the log beside her. "You might as well sit down, this may take a few minutes of explaining, and when I'm done you'll know what kind of monster you've imprinted on."

Leah frowned, but didn't hesitate in turning and hopping easily up on the fallen log, sitting next to Eliza so that their shoulders were touching, and Leah's mostly bare leg was resting right against Eliza's black pants. Leah was privately pleased to note that at least Eliza didn't shy away from the contact.

Eliza wasn't paying much attention to the contact, though she did feel it. "I am probably the most unique vampire in the entire world. At least as far as anyone knows. I was the only vampire who was never human." Leah frowned, but didn't say anything, letting Eliza tell her story.

"My father was an ancient vampire, he considered himself a scientist, and at some point a few centuries ago he discovered he could impregnate human women. Something no one else in the vampire world seemed to know they could do. Mostly because, compared to us, humans are fragile, not to mention a food source. So to have that kind of control and still manage to… you know." Eliza shuddered at the thought and shook her head before continuing.

"Anyway, the babies conceived between a human and a vampire aren't human, and aren't vampire, but a hybrid. They grow very rapidly, coming full term in less than a month. While in the womb, they feed on the mother's blood until she's unable to give anything more, and then they… we… me… I suppose, claw a way out of the womb. You see our instincts and our mental development are all advanced enough that conscious thought begins in the womb." Eliza's voice was cold, even harsh as she outlined the clinical terms for Leah.

"Then the ancient vampire would take the hybrid offspring, strap them to a table, and begin performing experiments immediately, because the hybrid aged so much faster than a human. He didn't even bother to name them. He just gave them numbers. I was number 17. He tested anything and everything he could think of; testing the effects and changes, what effects different chemicals and different amounts of venom caused in me. He made sure to keep the amounts of venom small so the offspring didn't convert. He kept me alive by feeding me small but regular amounts of blood. He this repeated this dozens of times. Eventually, when the hybrid was too physically damaged or mutated by what he'd done to do anything more with, he discarded them and began the process again."

Eliza shivered slightly as she reviewed her memories. "I didn't understand all of that until I looked back on it in retrospect. The ancient had no interest in educating an experiment." Eliza said the final word with a look of self loathing Leah could not begin to fathom.

"That's where I was when Mother... Isabella found me. I was strapped to a table, and I'd been kept too weak to do anything while he experimented on me. She attacked him and they fought. He hadn't fed recently, excited about something in his experiments some major piece of the puzzle or another, and he didn't expect the attack; otherwise I'm not sure she would have had a chance. He was an ancient, older than Aro, who's one of the oldest of our kind. But they fought, he hurt her, but she managed to hurt him enough to make him flee. She turned and came over to me where I was shackled." Eliza said, her voice shaking a little bit as she visibly tried to get her emotions back under control.

"My memory of seeing her for the first time is very vivid. She was so beautiful, I would have thought she was an angel if I'd understood the concept then. I had literally spent my entire life strapped to that table while that monster hurt me over and over. He didn't seem to view me as anything other than a machine that he could poke and prod at." Eliza managed a very wan smile and chuckled. Leah was literally shaking, as if she might change to wolf any second her face twisted up in rage.

Eliza realized the state Leah was in and she murmured soothingly "Calm down Leah, this is all past," She waited and watched for almost a full minute before Leah seemed sufficiently soothed.

"I'm sorry. I just… that really upsets me." Leah said bleakly when she had calmed somewhat. She was lying, she really wasn't sorry about getting upset. It was a lie, but a sweet lie, a soothing one.

"This is where our memories diverge slightly. She remembers biting me first, swearing she intended to kill me. I clearly remember biting her first. The experiments the vampire had done on me gave me venom of my own. The point was though, we bit each other, and that caused us both to change. When we bit each other, we grew together in ways I'm not sure I can even begin to describe. She saw my life through her eyes, and I saw her life through mine. Now we're bonded, forever. We can communicate without words." Eliza said softly.

Leah chuckled dryly and murmured, "Pack mind, I'm very familiar with that concept."

Eliza nodded a little bit before continuing, "I'm told the physical changes were even more noticeable. I don't... ever recall being shown a reflective surface before my change, but Mother remembers me with darker hair and skin. The conversion apparently changed me so that I even look like her. Not that I mind, she was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen. We're still not sure if it's something that happened because of her venom interacting in my hybrid body, or something more subconscious on my part. Though like I said, it's not like I mind."

"And that's why you call her 'Mother?'" Leah asked curiously, she tentatively slid her hand down and intertwined her fingers with Eliza's gloved ones gently, careful to pull back at the first hint of rejection, thankful when there were none.

"The first thing I remember after is waking up is Mother crouched over my body and snarling at Felix, telling him that if he came near me she'd rip him limb from limb. I remember passing out again. I remember her getting me blood. Enough that, for the first time in my life I wasn't just thirsty. It was just… instinct when I called her "Mother." But it was and is right. I remember her looking shocked and then I remember her hugging me. It was the first time anyone had shown me anything resembling compassion." Eliza unconsciously squeezed Leah's hand as she thought about it.

"We've been together ever since. She wouldn't let Felix hurt me, she wouldn't let Aro destroy me, though he may have been too curious to do so. She had me train as a member of the Volturi guard. I'd changed her as much physically as she did me, my changes were just more physically noticeable. We're not normal vampires. We're faster, stronger, we don't feed as much… and we have other abilities. But… we've been a team for years. At first Caius didn't much like the idea of the two of us, especially since none of their powers worked on us, and I can be a bit…creative in my approach from time to time. But even he can't complain with results, because we've been just too goddamned effective."

Eliza finally turned to look Leah in the eyes with a scowl, "Now you might understand, I'm a monster. My very first act before I was even born was to kill my own birth mother. And I've killed since then, vampires and humans alike. Vampires outside the Volturi call us the Assassin and Executioner. I'm the Executioner. How do you feel about your imprint now?"

Leah looked in her eyes, "It doesn't change how I feel at all. Even if I wasn't imprinted; the circumstances of your birth aren't your fault. And you don't sound like you're rabidly killing random people for fun or entertainment either."

Eliza sighed "Killing is not…exactly easy…..I pray that it never will be. I do it because sometimes I don't have another choice."

Eliza gathered herself, and then after several minutes of silence between the two, she frowned and looked at Leah, "What is it you want from me?" she asked very softly.

"I want to make you happy. However I can." Leah replied quietly, not looking away from the deep violet of Eliza's eyes.

Eliza frowned for a moment, her eyes searching Leah's face "And if I'm not ready for a romantic relationship?"

"I would never force or pressure you into anything." Leah said with absolute conviction.

"Then… it would be okay if we start by just trying to be friends? Then we can see what… if anything happens?" Eliza asked.

Leah nodded firmly. "I'd like that a lot, so long as you don't mind me making occasionally sappy remarks and being protective of you."

Eliza laughed and grinned. "So long as you don't mind me doing the same."

Leah grinned and shook her head and then looked nervous again. "But... would you mind me asking one question, as someone who imprinted on you?" Eliza frowned and shook her head slowly.

Leah looked abashed and murmured, "I know it's just ego and nervousness, but do you at least find me attractive?"

Eliza blinked as she looked at her and started to giggle a little bit, though before Leah could look hurt Eliza gave her a slight nudge with her shoulder. "You're beautiful, and don't you ever doubt it for a second." Eliza took in Leah's reaction with a bit of self satisfaction.. She seemed to practically glow as a result of the compliment.

"So, in the interest of being friends… let me ask you an all important question" Eliza said solemnly. She waited for Leah to nod before continuing, her expression utterly serious "What is your favorite color?"

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Here it is, as promised. The other half of the chapter. I hope it was worth it.

I know you're probably getting tired of hearing it. But major props go to DarkBella who is my co-author on this. She edited a TON on this chapter to get it to say exactly what I envisioned. She's scary good at reading my mind.

DarkBella's notes: She wants everyone to know that she ALSO promises that Alice and Bella meet soon. She knows. She's had a vision. We will make it good to read. and she's putting the things she's writing on hold to make this the most bestest, most epicest story EVER. of all time.

I hope you're enjoying the story! Maybe another update tomorrow!

Please read and review! It encourages us to write and edit faster. I love to read what you like and don't like because it tells me if i'm getting character reactions the way I want