5. INTRODUCTIONS

IT HAD BEEN FORTY-FIVE MINUTES SINCE WE LEFT THE AIRPORT, AND I SAT in the Mercedes with the comfort of them. The last time three men followed me to a back alley and Victoria was killing them. And turned me into a bloodthirsty monster. All in one night. Except those men were dangerous. There was no doubt about that. Yet with Gabriel, Joseph, and Simon, there was security in them. Simon had a more warm approach than the two. Gabriel was the leader of the coven, and Joseph had a tough persona in him.

Great. I knew them for five seconds and it felt like I knew everything about them.

Gabriel was in the driver's seat and Joseph sitting next to him on the left. I sat at the back with Simon. We sat in silence and I watched the road zooming. I looked to the night sky and saw the bright full moon. In the distance, I heard howling in the forest. I swallowed nervously. My anxiety was slowly rising. I hoped it wasn't them.

"Don't worry about them, Violet," Joseph spoke to me, making my head turn around. "Those Children of the Moon won't bother us."

"Children of the Moon?" I enquired. "Is that what they're called?"

"What do you mean?" Gabriel asked me.

"I think I saw them when I was hiding from the newborn army," I explained my theory about the so-called Children of the Moon. "They were like huskies, except bigger."

"Those aren't the Children of the Moon," commented Gabriel, who was driving.

"Oh," I sounded dumb. "So, what were the things I saw when the newborns were attacked at the battle?"

"Those are shapeshifters," he explained what I saw. "It's a common mistake to mix them up with each other. Shapeshifters can change into a wolf at any time, anywhere. The Children of the Moon don't have a choice."

"So, the Children of the Moon are the proper werewolves," I said and he nodded. "Let me guess, they changed at the full moon and can be killed by a silver bullet."

"Full moon, yeah. The silver bullet, Nah." Joseph said. "It's those stupid movies that humans have seen that gives them this sort of idea."

"You're calling The Wolfman stupid?" I replied, pretending to sound offended.

"No, just inaccurate for the most part."

I don't know what I was freaked out about: that I was being lied to about how to kill werewolves or that these three vampires have seen more movies than any humans alive.

Gabriel continued the topic of werewolves. "A former friend of mine was attacked and almost killed by a werewolf. Since then, he hates them and wants to bring them to extinction."

"I thought you said it was a shapeshifter," commented Simon.

"He also hates them too. Come to think of it, I don't remember which one he said."

Then, I thought about the sun. I remembered Riley telling the newborns that we must not go out in the sunlight or we'll burst into flames. I asked Gabriel a question.

"Hey, um... What happens if vampires are exposed to sunlight? Do they get caught on fire?"

"No, we don't," replied Simon. "I thought of it when I got turned. We do get exposed to the sun, just not the way I thought."

"Then, what happens when we get to the sun?"

"We..." Gabriel said, sounding embarrassed. "We sparkle."

"S... Sparkles?" I didn't get what he was talking about. And I sounded surprised and disappointed at the same time. "You're kidding me?"

"I wish we were," said Joseph.

"So, instead of burning in a fiery pit of Hell, I would be a walking disco ball." I shook my head and placed my left hand on my forehead. This was a lot weirder than I expected. Then, I started to wonder about their age.

"How old are you?" I asked the three.

"Physically, thirty-one," Simon said first. "Reality, four hundred and eighteen."

"I got turned when I was twenty-nine," nextly spoke Joseph. "I'm about to be three hundred and ninety-three."

"I'm older than them," chuckled Gabriel.

"How old?" I continued to ask.

"I was thirty-eight when I got turned. Four hundred and forty..."

"Four hundred and forty?" I interrupted. "That's old."

"No, four hundred and forty AD was the year I got turned. I'm at least sixteen centuries old." Gabriel finished his sentence.

"Okay," I spoke after he was done speaking. "I take that back. That is old."

"You like to talk," said Joseph.

"I'm just getting to know you," I replied.

Silence resumed in the car. It was only for five minutes. And then, Simon's voice was heard.

"Violet," he spoke to me and I looked at him. "How old are you in human years?"

So, we're still talking about ages. Despite this, I answered him. "Seventeen."

"That is young. How did you become a vampire?"

"Well, I ran away from Forks because I have an unless dad. And I'm not saying it horribly. He didn't care." I began. "I arrived in Seattle and then three biker men came to me, starting to follow me. Then, a vampire female jumped between me. Her name was Victoria. She complimented me on not seeing me when she attacked them. And then she bit me. And the rest is history."

"Victoria?" Gabriel enquired me. "Does she have red curly hair by any chance?"

"Yes?" I sounded confused as I answered. "You knew her?"

"I knew of her. I invited her to my coven but she refused. I've heard she's dead."

"Yeah, I was told that Edward killed her."

"Carlisle told you that, didn't he?"

Gabriel nodded and focused on the road. I don't know what this coven was like. Were they gifted like me? Will they even like me? I looked at Gabriel again, his golden eyes staring at the road. Completely focused.

"How many are there?" I asked. "In this coven?"

"There are six of us," answered Simon. "Gabriel, Joseph, me, Helena, Rhona, my wife Alana and her son, Ethan. Although, Toshiro did stay for a while until he left."

"Why?"

"Because he didn't like the idea of drinking animal blood."

I remembered what Carlisle told me when dropping me off. He said they drink both animal blood. "What's that about? Are you all drinking animal blood?"

"I was used to drinking human blood only," explained Gabriel. "It's like becoming an addict. You don't know when to stop. And then, it took over your life and became the only thing to depend on. Then, many centuries forward, I was getting thirsty and I couldn't bring myself to kill a human. Then, I saw a deer walking through the woods, and I killed it."

"And that's how you discovered it?" I asked again.

"Yes," he continued. "It tastes as good as human blood. So I decided to have this blood as part of my diet."

All that blood talking had made me thirsty. My throat burned and I rubbed my neck. Joseph seemed to notice that as he turned around and looked at me.

"Your eyes are black," he said, concerning me. "When was the last time you hunted?"

"I don't know," I said, my throat burning. "About twelve hours ago."

"Okay," Gabriel spoke. "You need to hunt before you can meet the coven. We can go to Epping Forest. They have plenty of deers to hunt."

The car drove away from the motorway and to the forest.