Chapter Three: Behind Red Eyes

Forks – January 22nd

A chilly breeze swept through the forest that was still coated in a thin layer of snow, creating a sound like an orchestra composed of flutes, oboes, and trombones, backed up by somber violins. To mortal ears, the sounds had no rhyme or reason. To an immortal, the tiny deviations in pitch and timing were arranged into a tapestry of music so rich and beautiful that it could melt even the coldest heart.

Yet neither woman running through the wood where that wind played its symphony really heard the haunting melody. They were far too concerned with their own thoughts, as they moved silently, and in near perfect synchronicity. It was almost as though they were the same person occupying two separate spaces. Any human observer would think they were seeing double, if they lived long enough to see the pair move at all.

Their only thought of the song surrounding them was how the crisp winter air felt against their skin. The simple joy of running a reward for a job well done. Not that cold bothered either of them so much, but it was an annoyance that they were both happy was soon to be over with as spring was around the corner.

To an immortal the seasons came as a blink in time. For the rest of the Pacific Northwest, it didn't matter. The town of Forks was always busy, even during the heart of winter. Yet a week before their arrival the weather had broken, giving the residents a taste of spring despite being months away. It brought with it an upswing of life, which was still reflected in the small centralized commercial shopping area. Shops were bustling with business, and it seemed like most of the town had come out to enjoy the day before an evening snowstorm set in, with dark clouds edging the horizon.

Eliza stopped in place as she caught the first whiff of this change in barometric pressure, then let out a deep and exaggerated sigh. "Does this place ever let up?" She kicked at a small stone embedded in the ground near her black boot. Even caked in an inch of snow, leaves and twigs bound together with mud, the once perfect shine of the leather could still be seen above the ankle. The rest of her clothes were black, and utilitarian. It was far from her usual choice of styles but suited their needs over the last several weeks of blood and battle.

Isabella stopped a few steps beyond her companion and looked around as if she were expecting the shadows themselves to come alive and attack. Then she glanced over at Eliza, and gave her a sad smile, and then closed the distance between them taking her hand with a clear understanding of that frustration sketched across her daughter's features.

"I'm sorry to disappoint, but no. Not at all. From what I care to remember from my human life here, there were very few days that weren't awash in rain, snow, and above all, grey sameness. Remember, you wanted to stay here." Isabella took a deep breath and pushed away the memories that threatened to resurface and consume her. There was too much history in these woods, too much pain.

"Mom, are you okay?" Eliza asked neutrally, trying not to directly address the reasons for Isabella's sour mood.

Isabella let go of Eliza's hand, and nodded slowly as they began to move again through the forest to their destination. "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; she could even feel it through their connection.

The choice had been weighing on Eliza, who had been having serious second thoughts. It didn't take much to keep tabs on her mother, scanning her mood and surface thoughts for even a hint of a downward spiral. It wasn't as if she had to guess what happened in Forks, she had lived through it. A side-effect or unexpected byproduct of the bonding that linked them together. As they connected, a torrent of images flowed into each other. Eliza's short painful life shared with Isabella, and in turn Isabella's discordant existence poured into Eliza's conscious mind like a freight train running her over.

Every hurt, every pain, every joy, every laugh, every stolen look, kiss… the good, the bad, and the unbearable. Seen through her mother's eyes as if she were living her life on fast forward. A movie she had no control over, mostly seen in a blur. Except for the deep impactful memories, they were intense, vivid… and tragic. Forks was a place of joy, and a hurt so deep that words were difficult to conjure. Eliza's only hope was that by forcing Isabella to confront her past, the wound that still gaped open within Isabella's soul could start to mend.

After two days in the area, circling around the town to make sure it hadn't been taken by a coven like the cities they had just cleared, she wasn't so sure settling in Forks had been such a good idea.

Not that it made much difference either way, in the long run her gamble would work or it wouldn't. Isabella could be affected by the town, the memories. Or she could shrug them off like she did with everything else. The damage to Isabella was likely irreversible. Her only real capacity for emotion, beyond hate, was the love Isabella felt for her daughter. Eliza knew this, no matter how rarely or indirectly she expressed it. In turn, Eliza showed her love every day to reinforce to Isabella that she was there for her, and to occasionally coax out some measure of joy, if even for only a few seconds.

The walls inside Isabella were tall and thick and could be seen behind eyes that were usually completely devoid of emotion. To some it was the bright red of Isabella's eyes that were disturbing, but to most, even the hardest of the Volturi guard, it was something deeper. While Eliza knew the reasons explicitly, and knowing the history explained why her mother was practically made of stone she was so unemotional, it didn't stop her from wanting to see the fun, exuberant and kind woman she had seen in Isabella's human memories. Eliza wanted more for her mother than to simply exist, or at least more than just the small rush from the violence she was so good at inflicting. She wanted her to live again.

The short walk through the forest ended in a massive clearing butting against a mountain wall. Built into the sheer granite was a house unlike any either of them had seen. More like a castle than a typical wooden house, the front facing them was two stories with a central gabled roof, and several other flat roofs jutting off in odd directions. The black slate shingles could just be made out underneath the recent snowfall, and looked good against the stonework that covered the first floor walls and thick horizontal wooden siding painted dark grey that covered the rest of the house to the rooflines. The house itself was situated to give the illusion that it was carved out from the mountain, and the effect was gorgeous… and intimidating. Enough to make even Isabella almost smile at the sight of it.

Neither of them knew enough about construction to know if that was true, or if it was just a trick of masonry and architecture. On the east side of the house a small waterfall cascaded from higher up on the mountain face, ending in a small pond that had only half frozen over. A wrap around driveway paved with river stone extended out from the four-car garage, which disappeared around a copse of trees several hundred feet to the west of the house. The grounds were simple, with small flower beds ready for spring, and a giant tree that must've been a thousand years old dominating the center of the clearing.

"It's gorgeous." Eliza's jaw was almost on the ground she was so taken aback. Perhaps the perks of being in the Volturi were greater than she realized.

"Yes, it's nice. I like the waterfall." Isabella said with a small nod. Her impassive expression giving Eliza a momentary tickle of frustration.

"Nice? Mom. It's perfect!" Eliza's enthusiasm was infectious enough for Isabella to crack a smile and nod warmly at her.

"You're right. It is perfect." Isabella took a deep breath and led the two of them towards the entrance.

"There's no way Uncle C signed off on this, it had to be Aro…ooo the hell are you?" Eliza said as they crossed the threshold, stopping mid-step as they came face to face with an older man standing in the middle of a gorgeous but relatively empty foyer with a polite smile on his face, apparently waiting for them to arrive.

"It was Marcus to answer your question." The man said replying to Eliza's conjecture.

"Um, okay. Mom?" Eliza looked at her mother with a very confused expression.

"You will answer her question." Isabella said in a way that was clearly a threat, rather than a polite inquiry.

"My name is Henry Philip Jansen, and I'm here to assist you and your mother in whatever you may need or want." He didn't seem at all perturbed by the implied violence, or the bluntness of her demand. He also directed his answer at Eliza, effectively obeying Isabella's command explicitly. Isabella stepped around her daughter defensively and examined the man for a few seconds before shaking her head.

"A generous offer… Henry. But we have no need of assistance." Isabella managed a polite, but dismissive smile.

"From a human? I assure you I am far more valuable to you than as a meal." Henry said with the same polite tone, as if he were completely accustomed to talking about himself as nothing more than a happy meal on legs.

"Look, I'm sure you are really great at your job. We just want to be alone; I mean what the hell are you doing here anyway?" Eliza said, trying to break the tension a little.

"Aro didn't mention me? I imagine it slipped his mind." Henry's eyes flickered a touch of frustration when he spoke Aro's name, but nothing came from his tone or posture.

"No, but I can only guess what he'll say. Gimme a few minutes." Isabella sighed and took out her cell phone before walking outside.

Eliza fidgeted a bit in the awkward silence left in the room as Isabella left. "So, are you like a butler or something?"

"Not exactly, I don't clean. Although I have found that vampires tend to be fairly tidy creatures." Henry said with a thoughtful nod.

"You should've been with us last month, yuck. I had to burn my clothes." Eliza said shivering slightly at the thought of the basement of corpses, and the man that she should've been able to save. Isabella interrupted the thought, as she re-entered the house with a small frown on her face.

"Sorry about that, Aro was having… difficulties." Isabella glanced at her daughter and Eliza grinned widely.

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 burst out laughing. "Well that certainly proves he knows Aro. Who else would play games that old?"

Isabella nodded, "I guess. Anyway, Aro told me Henry is here to help us get the house set up, and for whatever other need that may arise. He is one of the human affiliates, although he did mention Henry was a rare one, and he could elaborate for us." Isabella turned to him with a curious look.

"Well, you know the law. A human with knowledge of vampires is either going to be turned or end up as a meal." Henry said with a carefully modulated tone of voice, mostly pleasant but with a touch of some understandable tension.

Isabella nodded, "The council has 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 at him in confusion. "Then... why?" Eliza eventually asked.

Henry smiled, "Why work for them? I'm a historian, and I'm curious by nature. Exotic culture, lost histories and real mysteries captured my imagination from a very young age. I like to call myself an archeologist of the impossible, and I am lucky enough to be a part of the secret history of the immortals. A past that most humans don't know or would even want to know. I've explored half the world looking at things most people would discount as fantasy. While I was in Italy, I happened to discover the story of Saint Marcus, and came to Volterra. After a lot of research, going through historical documents dealing with property and succession, well, suffice it to say, I'm good at ferreting out secrets. I never realized the walls had eyes and ears, and the next evening Aro showed up at my desk with his usual smile. I don't think that it went the way he thought it was going to go, because after he offered to turn me, I turned him down. I feel rather proud to have stunned him, his expression was priceless."

Both Isabella and Eliza couldn't quite suppress their mirth upon hearing of Aro's frustration. Henry failed to notice their expressions though and continued his story after a brief pause.

"Anyway, he then politely gave me two options, death or immortality. It took me all of a second to tell him if those were my options then he should go ahead and kill me. That was the first time his smile faltered; it was clear I had thoroughly confused him. We were staring at each other for what must've been a full minute before I made him a vow; I would never divulge anything I learned. That I would happily help however I could, but I was content with remaining mortal. Of course, he insisted that he 'read' me, since then I've been in the employ of the Volturi in some capacity. That was nearly ten years ago, I believe he is hoping I will eventually change my mind."

Eliza frowned, "Why wouldn't you take the offer? Many have begged for this life, who are you to turn it down so easily?" she asked.

Henry shrugged, "Honestly, I don't want to live forever. I want to discover what comes after this life, if there is such a thing. The greatest mystery of them all. While I'm in no hurry to get there, I also don't want to risk the chance of never finding out."

Isabella tensed slightly at the implication, and Eliza put a hand on her shoulder to restrain her.

"I hope you're not referring to your soul." Isabella said through gritted teeth.

"Not at all. I have no stamina for your kind of immortality, it would be torture to live as an observer of history rather than a participant." His answer immediately calmed Isabella who shrugged at him.

"Okay, then why are you here specifically?" Isabella asked with a touch of curiosity.

"I grew up in Oregon originally, so I'm familiar with the area. I am also very familiar with Seattle, and I know how to source your needs here. That kind of resource seemed invaluable to Aro, so he insisted I come here and start. I hope the house suits, it had to meet certain… requirements." Henry said with a curious expression and slightly furrowed brow.

"Requirements?" Eliza asked curiously.

"Three-fold, it had to be sturdy for obvious reasons. Second you needed to have easy access to the nearby town but provide enough distance so that extracurricular activities wouldn't draw attention. Lastly, there had to be a secret back entrance that had natural concealment. Behind the waterfall is a series of caves that connect to a concealed door in the basement."

"Interesting. I assume you have taken security into account?" Isabella had one raised eyebrow and was giving Henry an almost appreciative look.

"Of course. The cave entrance is monitored, as are all the grounds. Connected to a system that you will both be able to access from your phones." Henry said with some mild pride.

Both Isabella and Eliza exchanged looks and then turned back to him. "Well then, I guess we can't object."

Henry smiled and bowed 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 would you like a tour of the house?"

Eliza tried to contain her excitement as Henry led them through the various rooms. Living room, dining room, kitchen, sunroom, den, an office with a loft, powder room, game room, and a private training room that seemed designed with Isabella in mind all on the first floor. The second floor was split into three sections. Two of which were massive master suites with a private sitting room and closets that were larger than Eliza's massive walk in closet in Volterra. The third section contained the five guest rooms and two additional bathrooms.

Although the rooms were already furnished, there were no personal touches or decorations. Not that Eliza cared, she moved through the rooms practically skipping as she went. This was the first time in her life she actually had a place to truly call her own. Eliza took a long time to decide which room she wanted, because Isabella expressed no preference. Eventually she picked the one with the view of the waterfall out her window. Not that it mattered, because Eliza knew her mother would take the attic anyway.

During the tour it was clear the attic space suited Isabella perfectly. It was totally open, and had a large skylight window for viewing the stars, and served as access to the roof. "Two master suites, and you pick the attic. You're getting predictable Mom." She teased slightly.

"Hardly, I just prefer my space. Plus, you know me better than anyone." Isabella said staring out a smaller window facing south, where the large tree was dominating most of the view, a small smile finally spreading across her face.

Eliza grinned mischievously, and then quickly darted out of the room. Isabella narrowed her eyes as she heard a truck come to a stop just outside the front doors. She moved over to the window she had overlooking the front of the house, and from the angle she could only make out the shape of the box truck, but couldn't see the opening of the cargo area or what was being delivered. Although curious, she didn't want to spoil Eliza's surprise, so she moved back to exactly where she was standing and resumed the exact same position.

It took Eliza all of four minutes to take her three large boxes into her room, and the other three up to the third-floor space that Isabella had claimed. Isabella didn't look back at first, waiting for Eliza's prompt. Instead she took in the snow as it began to fall, wondering what their new life would look like in a month, a year, a decade. She rarely let herself look forward but found surprised that it didn't feel like unrelenting darkness. This place, despite the memories, felt right.

"Okay, you can look now." Eliza was standing next to Isabella's closet in which she had hung up over two dozen outfits, ranging from jeans and t-shirts to crisp tailored suits. Coats, dresses, skirts with several choices of blouses. Boots, shoes, and even a pair of black heels. For a long second Isabella almost gawked at it, her expression bordering on furious. Then she settled down, and an unspoken question settled on her face.

Eliza shrugged and answered with a small grin. "I love you Mother, but your wardrobe needed some additions to it. You can't wear all black all the time."

"I swear, if there is hot pink or neon anything in there, I'll make you regret it young lady." Isabella scolded her daughter, only half-teasingly.

"Does underwear count?" Eliza said, sticking her tongue out slightly, and then shaking her head with a chuckle as Isabella's eyes widened with a mix of horror and anger.

Eliza finally let out a laugh, before continuing. "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 a reject goth from a century ago." She teased, and then laughed again when her mother groaned and rolled her eyes.

"You weren't alive in the 1990's, how would you know? Anyway, I don't know why you're so excited about going to school. It's not as much fun as all the movies make it seem." Isabella warned her daughter for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Eliza shrugged, "I know they're just movies, but fiction is always based in some kind of reality... even from that era."

"I hope you aren't using them as a reliable source of culture." Isabella said with palpable worry, "look, I just don't want you to get your hopes up."

"It doesn't matter. I never got the chance to go to school. So, however it turns out, it'll be a new experience for me." She didn't give Isabella a chance to argue with her, grabbing her mother's hand and leading her back down the stairs.

"Come on, I thought we could dine out tonight." Eliza said as they passed a bewildered looking Henry who raised a hand to get their attention.

"The population here is small, even a single resident would be missed." Henry's protest didn't even phase Eliza.

"I'm not talking about humans." She shook her head at him and took off out the front door with Isabella in tow. "We'll be back later Henry"

Soft flakes of snow pelted against their faces as they raced towards the tree-line. A black blur against the white expanse of field which made up their property. The fresh air and drop in temperature gave them both a rush as they caught the scent of a large predator just a mile off. Although both had no qualms about hunting humans, they had both effectively sworn off killing since they had discovered blood bank rejects. A hunt was still instinctual, and even chasing something with a small chance of escape was a thrill.

After a couple of hours, the fun had begun to rub off on Isabella. A small unconscious smile was fixed on her face, and she almost laughed as the large mountain lion they had been chasing suddenly and unexpectedly found a natural tunnel through some brush that made them lose his trail. When suddenly Isabella's smile fell and she stopped in mid-motion. It took everything Eliza had to twist and catch a lower branch in midair to keep from leaping right into her mother.

Then she watched in confusion as Isabella's eyes began to turn black, and her head whipped around towards the south, a snarl escaping her throat. A second later Eliza caught the same scent and realized what was happening. "It's a vampire's scent, but one like you've never encountered before." Eliza's voice confirmed through their connection, which Isabella only symbolically grunted back in confirmation.

As Isabella moved, the smell grew stronger until it converged on several other trace lines of a similar kind. Not a single vampire, several. It felt impossible, they had covered the area thoroughly. No group of vampires, no coven could be that careful… Eliza's eyes flared open as she realized what was happening. It felt like their new world was falling apart as they ran together along the scent trail that led towards a destination they had purposefully avoided.

"I can't be right; I have to be wrong." Isabella muttered to herself, but Eliza caught it clearly as a surface thought from her mother. Then they found where the scents converged. A carcass, a deer buried under an inch of snow decorated with macabre clarity by a small pool of red visible around the neck.

"No, no! Not here! Not them! Not now!" Isabella screamed through the link, her whole body began to shake, as she crouched over the corpse of the animal. Eliza couldn't quite follow the thread of emotions; things Isabella hadn't allowed herself to feel since the day when her human life ended. It was several long minutes, Isabella's emotions ranging from rage to grief to pain. She felt Eliza's arms wrap around her, and let in her consoling emotions, which were practically a flood of all the love her daughter could muster. Surprisingly enough, Eliza managed to push through the turmoil, and after a few minutes Isabella calmed down enough to finally pull away and slowly stand.

"I guess you already know." Isabella said, her voice and tone getting calmer by the second as she regained control.

"The Cullens are here." Eliza spoke quietly, Isabella smiled ruefully.

"It's the only thing that makes sense. I thought it was one of those newborn covens at first, but this deer was killed and drained less than a day ago... it's their scent." Isabella replied, once more steeling herself, walling up the emotions she had let get the better of her.

Eliza didn't speak for several long seconds before responding. "Then let's leave Mother, coming here was a mistake. I didn't mean for this…" Her voice trailed off, filled with regret. Not for leaving, but for putting her Mother through this. Isabella hesitated for several minutes. She was tempted. God knows she was tempted to just leave this place behind, leave those people behind. But she slowly shook her head.

"No… no. I'm done giving them power over me. Done letting what they did hurt me. I even asked Aro to hide my presence from them the two times they came to visit Volterra, but I have to face them. I guess sooner or later it was inevitable." She felt her anger bolstering her determination and stood a little straighter as she met Eliza's eyes.

Isabella saw Eliza give her a careful look before replying. "I won't argue with whatever you decide. But you say the word, and we're gone. I mean, can you handle them being here? Can you see them without acting, possibly interact with them without giving into anger? Are you okay with them knowing you're alive?"

Isabella frowned as she looked down at the deer at her feet, before raising her eyes to meet her daughter's. "Let's find out, shall we?" And without another word she took off running, with a clear destination in mind. Eliza immediately followed but kept a careful distance. The route felt familiar to Eliza, although she had never walked it. The memories of the forest moving like a blur, came with the knowledge that they weren't memories of Isabella's vampiric speed, but Edward's. It wasn't until they leapt over a creek bed still full of patches of ice scattered across it's surface, that Isabella spoke to her daughter again, this time through their link.

"Conceal us!" She ordered, a command Eliza followed without question.

Isabella slowed as she approached the house. It felt like a dream to both of them, framed through human memories. While not quite as large as the house they now owned, it was far more ornate. The architecture was almost a work of art, with the second floor nearly floating on large floor to ceiling windows throughout. They approached the house quietly, and there she saw traces of them.

Living in the same house, as though they had never left.


Author's Notes:

This chapter covers chapters 3 - 5 of the original. They felt short and disjointed, using first person which doesn't suit the narrative flow, and they were basically one scene split in three. The title "Bejeweled Actually" felt dated, although the line was kept with a reference to how antiquated the Volturi are.

Thank you all for reading this revision and for all the lovely reviews, we cannot wait to share what is coming in the next several chapters!

Next chapter: Counting Snowflakes