-MAISIE-


Ever the gentleman, Jasper opened the door once we reached the house, letting the rest of us file through ahead of him. He caught my wrist at the threshold, slipping his t-shirt over his head. It was hot on the island, so I had worn only my bathing suit and a pair of shorts to swim. Joham, I was sure, would soon figure out that I was not a hybrid creature like his daughters.

I had often been appreciative of the fact that Jasper could read me so well, but never so much as in that moment. Knowing what Joham had revealed about his abuse of human women, I was feeling exposed in my minimal clothing.

"Thank you," I told Jasper, gladly pulling his shirt over myself. On him, the fabric was fitted to the contours of his torso, but it hung loosely from my shoulders and effectively covered me to my mid-thigh. Perhaps Jasper's scent would cover my own enough, too, that Joham might miss the differences between myself and his daughters.

Jasper gave me a tentative smile, but his golden eyes kept flicking to the living room, where Edward and Emmett had led our guests. I could hear Carlisle greeting them warmly. If Joham had caught on to the gold eyes—a trait all the Cullens, even Jasmine now—shared, he hadn't commented.

"I see you've met my children," Carlisle was smiling placidly, but I could see his gaze alight on each of Joham's daughters. "You have your own as well, it seems. Our family leads a different life than most vampires. We feed on animal blood exlusiv—"

Maysun, the daughter who looked most like Joham, tilted her head, delicately sniffing at the air. "There's human blood in this house."

"Yes," Carlisle continued smoothly. "For Maisie. She requires human blood, but she's the only one who partakes. At home, I work as a doctor, so it's easy to come by human blood from donation supplies so she can feed ethically."

I sat on the couch beside Esme, Jasper choosing a seat on the floor. He leaned against the couch, framed by my legs. Close, but playing at casual. I ran my fingers through his still-damp hair while I watched Carlisle and Joham.

Our guest was just a tad shorter than Carlisle, but wide-shouldered and barrell-chested. "I'm a scientist myself, if only self-proclaimed."

I didn't like Joham's smile. Though it spread across his face and lifted his cheeks and lit up his eyes, it still felt fake.

"My daughters also feed on human blood, as well as myself. Tell me, why did you change all your other children and only sire the one?" I felt my eyes widen at Joham's assumption that I was Carlisle's natural-born child, as Maysun, Serena, and Jennifer were his. Judging by the surprise on Carlisle's face, he was equally thrown by the question.

"I am the creator of most of my family," he explained, "changing my wife Esme, and three of my children—Edward, Rosalie, and Emmett. We're much more of a blended family. Jasper and Alice came to us decades ago, but Maisie and Jasmine are more recent members."

"Ah, so another adoption case. How kind of you. I've never left any of my children to fend for themselves so; she's lucky to have had a vampire family adopt her. I doubt humans would know what to do with a hybrid."

Our blank looks were enough hint for Joham, I suppose. He directed his question squarely at me. "You're not a hybrid, are you?"

"No. I'm human…mostly."

"But you drink the blood of your species." I didn't like the way he worded it, even though he was right. "And there is venom in your body. I can smell it."

"Our Maisie was targeted by a vampire who was dosing humans with minute amounts of venom. It brings a more gradual change, slowly altering the human body to enhance it, but also making it dependent on a blood diet like our own. We've been helping Maisie navigate this unknown ground. I will admit, I never knew that such a thing was possible, though I have been studying both human and vampires for the past few centuries."

Nice, subtle way of showing your age there, Carlisle, I thought. He glazed over the past two years of my life well, condensing and simplifying everything that had happened to me to get me to this point.

"I must also admit I have never heard of vampire-human hybrids, though your daughters are proof-positive evidence, aren't they? I didn't catch their names. Please, sit, and educate us all on your family."

Joham began to weave a tale for us, explaining the conception and birth of his daughters. I knew vampires still had some body fluids—all venom based—but I think it was a surprise even to Carlisle that male vampires would still have viable sperm.

"1810, Norway," Joham began. "Serena, as are all my daughters, is named after her mother. From conception to birth, prenatal development only took one month's time. Serena's mother didn't survive the birthing process."

Here, Serena's face clouded over. I guessed she mourned the mother she never met. That is, until I heard Edward's sharp intake of breath. All eyes shot to him where he stood, having been resistant to Carlisle's invitation for us all to take a seat.

"Edward?" Esme prompted softly, reaching across the back of the couch to rest her hand on his arm. What had he seen?

"Your memories are…remarkably clear, for infant memories over two-hundred years old." Edward eventually grumbled. I wasn't sure what he was more off-put by—Serena's apparent memories or by having to show his hand with his abilities.

"Ah, your son is gifted. Telepathy? I'm sorry, I would have warned you had I known. Serena's birth wasn't a pretty sight by any means. Hybrids are born with a full set of teeth, as razor sharp as any vampire's. Rather than the traditional route through the birth canal, a hybrid fetus will utilize their teeth. After birth, hybrid children develop and grow quickly, reaching maturity in seven years."

"You remember your entire life?" Carlisle asked, directing the question at Serena, Maysun, and Jennifer. They all nodded, but only Serena clarified.

"Unfortunately, the first memory of my life is the last moments of my mother's."

"Human physiology, namely the mother's womb and abdominal wall, are no match even for a prenatal hybrid."

I didn't know about anyone else, but I was stuck on the part where human-vampire hybrid children eat their way out of the womb. Whatever Joham said after that part, I wasn't really comprehending it. Nightmarish imaginings were dominating my mind instead. It wasn't until I heard Joham say my name that I stopped thinking about it for a moment.

He wasn't addressing me, I realized, but rather asking Carlisle a question.

"…Maisie? I wonder if the same would be true for her as it is for my daughters." My hand stilled in Jasper's hair, trying to piece together what Joham was asking.

"She doesn't have periods anymore," Rosalie spoke before Carlisle could, a growling edge to her voice. Joham's eyebrows came together over Rosalie's sudden hostility. Carlisle cleared his throat, smoothly latching onto Rosalie's lie. Lucky for all of us, I was not currently having a period, so the lie was sellable.

Jasper did nothing, as far as I cold tell, to quell the anger that had risen in Rosalie over Joham's intrusive question. Her lovely face was stormy as she glared at the man.

"Yes, the venom in Maisie's system has stopped her menstrual cycle." Carlisle's clipped tone left no wiggle room for other questions. "Explain more about yourselves, if you don't mind, girls. I noticed your skin doesn't react quite as aggressively to sunlight, and you have human eye colors."

Serena explained hunting. "It's much the same for us. We all learned from Father, but none of us are venomous, so there is no risk of accidentally turning prey if we can't finish. Just like vampires, we only drink the blood. Our thirst is not so great; we can go longer between feedings, especially if we supplement with human foods, but only Jennifer has developed a taste."

Jennifer smiled. "There's just a lot more variety. Father says that blood tastes different from human to human for him, but it all tastes kind of the same for me."

"But there's really no need for it," Maysun expanded. "It pales in comparison to the nutritional benefits of blood. It keeps us healthiest. We are just as immortal as any vampire, but hypothetically easier to kill. Our bodies are still dependent on a heartbeat, and our skin isn't quite so resilient. None of us have ever been sick, as our immune systems are resistant to human illnesses. We are nearly as fast as vampires, though not quite as strong. Our senses are just heightened, though."

"And you, Maisie? Your scent is identical to that of my daughters', though now that I'm listening, your heartbeat isn't quite as fast. It seems their biological makeup and your 'doses of venom' have rendered comparable results."

I didn't like any of Joham's focus directed at me. I let my hand trail down the back of Jasper's neck and along his shoulder. He reached up, taking my hand in his, before I answered. "Um, I haven't been sick since I started…drinking blood. I can see and hear better, and, um, I guess I'm stronger. I still eat and like normal food, though."

Jennifer smiled at me over this commonality we shared. I tried to smile back at her, but I was put off by Joham's careful gaze. There was no doubt he was cataloging the differences and similarities between myself and his daughters, and I didn't want to be a part of his 'scientific' knowledge. I was lying as much as Rosalie was, not wanting him to know that I had been strong enough to dent and crack vampire skin in the past.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Joham eventually commented to Carlisle. "I wonder at the process of dosing a human with venom. The dosage amount, the frequency. How many did she have?"

"Three, though I haven't a clue to the amount. We came to South America hoping to unearth some answers. A nomadic friend of ours sent us this direction, though I am starting to believe the beings said to be like Maisie are your daughters. You've provided us with much information, though they are answers to questions we didn't originally have."

Quick as lightning, a darker emotion flickered across Joham's face before he spoke again. "Likely it was Nahuel, my son, rather than my daughters. He lives in the rainforest with his aunt, Hulien. My daughters and myself are nomadic, just as your friend. Though human legends do exist about a liboshomen—a demon that impregnates human women—and I do suppose I have had something to do with the development of those tales."

His smile there was rueful. "It's happenstance that we are here at the same time. Nahuel lives farther south on the continent. We try to visit him when we can, though we were on our way to the coast to travel to Africa when we caught your scents. Maisie's in particular piqued our interest, as the possibility of other hybrids is want to do for a family like mine. Though that wasn't the case, I think it's safe to say we're still curious. Thank you for sharing her experience with us."

"Thank you for sharing what enlightenment you could for us." Carlisle gave the four of them the placid smile I had often seen him use when placating a human. "I apologize for any disappointment when you found something different than you expected. Please, don't let us keep you from your travels."

There were handshakes and parting words, all the motions of pleasantries, but I don't think I took a full breath until we watched the travelers swim away from the shore of Isle Esme. Carlisle stood on the beach, bare feet in the tide, watching their departure. Alice was immediately petulant.

"I can't see if they'll be back," she complained. "Those girls make as terrible of a blind spot as the wolves!"

"I heard their thoughts clear enough," Edward grimaced. "We'll still have warning now that I've been inside their heads. I'll not forget those inner voices."

I shuddered to think what Edward must have seen in their memories and thoughts. There was a heavy air to the room, even with Joham and his daughters gone. I don't think any of us quite knew what to do with ourselves. Rosalie moved first, taking Emmett's hand and disappearing into one of the bedrooms. Esme began to fret around, asking me if there was anything she could make me for dinner, she really didn't mind. Jasmine wasn't meeting anyone's eye, obviously uncomfortable with all the information that had been unloaded on us, but she agreed easily enough to play chess with Edward and Alice.

With Esme's spot on the couch vacated, Jasper joined me. Sitting across from me, he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "I hated all of that."

"I did, too," he murmured. Though our visitors were gone, his eyes kept straying to the windows. "I didn't like his curiosity. It was dark. I wish Ali could see if he'll add venom dosing to his 'experiments'."

"I wonder why his son doesn't go with them." Eventually, there was a slight relaxing to Jasper's jaw. He must have decided the potential danger Joham carried with him had passed.

"I wouldn't. That man is crazy, crazier even than Maria had been. He takes playing with human lives to an extreme I hadn't known existed."

"That's a good point," Edward murmured across the room. At first, I thought he was talking to Jasper. But when Carlisle came back inside, he stopped to ruffle Edward's hair, and I realized they were doing it again. They had a habit of lapsing into half-verbal, half-thought-based conversations with one another. Sometimes me or Jasmine would get confused when we heard Edward's snippets, but everyone else was so used to it that they didn't react.

I ate the chicken and rice Esme made me on the couch, watching the increasingly competitive chess matches between Edward and Alice. With his mind reading and her foresight, the game primarily took place in their heads. Only a handful of moves were made, when someone was quick enough, but the real entertainment was in Edward's scowls and Alice's pouts.

Kaure kept her promise, returning to the island at sundown with her husband, Gustavo. I met them on the beach, Kaure running her hand down my cheek, obviously pleased to see I was still human. They brought me something Kaure called platanos calados, a desert made from plantains that sweet and spicy.

"What if they poisoned it?" Emmett asked. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Yeah, because if I were a murderer, I would go through all the trouble of appearing concerned for someone and making trips to an island miles from the coast and bring them dessert." Emmett rolled his eyes back at me, handing Rosalie a new seashell. Rosalie was cracking and breaking the seashells in her hands, turning them to a kind of gravel that was becoming the base of a tropical floral arrangement.

"Humans are weird, okay?" His defense was flimsy, but I left Emmett and Rosalie to their craft. The platanos calados was great, even with Emmett's misplaced skepticism.

After our visitors, the rest of our day was spent inside, everyone kind of orbiting around one another. I think we were all deeply shaken by what we had learned, but no one really wanted to talk about it. I certainly didn't, even though something Maysun had said kept drifting back into my thoughts.

It keeps us healthiest.

I wouldn't call myself sick. But in those days between my weekly doses of blood, I couldn't deny that there wasn't a lose of energy. I grew weaker through the days, my muscles beginning to ache and my throat to itch—which wasn't great for myself or Jasper, since my thirst irritated his own. I was resistant to increasing how often I drank, but that had more to do with my own stubbornness than anything.

I hadn't made my choice yet, between immortality or a shortened human life. In my mind, I felt like conceding to drinking more often—like Carlisle tried to convince me—that I would be leaning into the former option. Obviously, I was not the same as Maysun, Serena, and Jennifer, but the similarities between us couldn't be denied.

I was thinking a lot about Maysun's words and the little leather book Carlisle had given us. I was also throwing it out into my thoughts every so often that I was grateful Edward didn't make a habit of sharing our thoughts with others, because I knew he could hear all my inner turmoil in such close quarters.

"Did you bring that book with you?" I asked Jasper, when we were alone in the blue room that had become my bedroom. Emmett was never one to be quiet, so his victory yells from besting the others in games of poker was a great cover for this conversation.

Jasper didn't beat around my question. He retrieved it from his suitcase, holding it out to me. The leather was soft and worn under my hands, the spine barely holding the covers shut anymore for all the notes Edward and Jasper had slipped between the pages. The book scared me, this little relic of the past that knew more of my future than I did.

Sensing my hesitation, Jasper led me to the little lounge settee near the window. I hadn't bothered to turn the light on in the bedroom, but the moonlight outside was nearly bright as day with the way it reflected off the water. This light streamed into the window, bathing both Jasper and the book in almost eerie shades of silver.

"You can read the whole thing if you want to," Jasper murmured, arranging us so that I was sitting with my back against his chest, his arms around me. In my bedroom at my parents' house, we had often sat in my window seat in much the same manner. It was familiar and comforting now, as Jasper's fingers flicked through the thick, yellow-aged pages and crisp, white notes. "But these illustrations surmise the context entirely."

When his fingers stopped searching, he opened the book flat, revealing to me a diagram of a man progressively wasting away. There were dates beneath the illustrations, charting the timeline of this man's death. 1632, 1636, 1639. That was only seven years. I had already lived through more than one in my current state.

This realization made me suck my breath in. For the first time, I did not feel warm on Isle Esme. A cold realization spread through me. I began to flick through the pages searching for any reasoning as to why the man in the illustrations lived for only that short time period.

I caught snippets of dietary notes and recommendations, noticing that this unnamed man supplemented his diet with far more human blood than I had been. Another timeline—which Jasper had translated from the original Latin, I could tell by the handwriting—listed the progression of blood intake. Only the first few months were spent with such a restricted diet as I had now.

He became too weak to even leave his bed, until blood feedings were increased in regularity.

That was within the first half-year. I was well beyond that point, but I had modern medicine and nutrition on my side. I couldn't pretend that I wouldn't eventually be as weakened as this man from the past was, if I didn't change something now. Maysun had said it herself, and this book seemed to confirm her statement.

It keeps us healthiest.

I felt like I was grieving, as the decision solidified in my mind. Jasper ran his hand down my cheek comfortingly, intercepting the tears that had begun at the same moment. Slowly, I shut the book between my palms, gently setting it on the floor. It wasn't the books fault that it had dealt me a heavy blow of understanding.

"I'll read it later." There was hardly any voice or weight to my words. From the living room came another one of Emmett's victory yells, the contradiction of his joy with my pity party almost making me laugh despite myself. Almost.

I turned my body in Jasper's embrace, so that I could rest my head just beneath his chest. Our legs tangled together, I wrapped my arms around his torso, listening to the gentle rhythm of his breathing. He could feel my tears soaking into his shirt, I was sure, hot as they were with my grief and anger and resignation.

There were no words of comfort that I could be offered, and Jasper understood that. He stayed quiet, running his fingers soothingly through my hair. I felt him press a kiss to the crown of my head. Closing my eyes tight, I forced the words from my mouth. "I think I should probably drink more. Every other day, or something."

Only now did Jasper speak, his hand stilling in my hair for just a moment. "It can wait until we're home, I'm sure."

Home. He didn't mean Forks, but rather Alaska, where we could increase my doses without the scrutiny of the others. Carlisle, I was sure, would be happy. He had always encouraged me to drink more than I was willing, even at the beginning, after the fight with Maria. Rosalie, on the other hand, wouldn't take it as well. She liked that I was having a hard time with this decision, because she herself hated her vampirism even if she loved her life with Emmett and her family.

I tried to convince myself that I wasn't going back on my morals. That this decision wasn't a slight against my human family, a slow turning away from them. It didn't denote a final decision one way or the other.

I didn't need platitudes from Jasper, because we both knew I wouldn't believe them, just as I wasn't believing myself now.


A/N: I won't be seeing you guys until the New Year! So, happy holidays and happy New Year!

I'm going to continue working on the story when I can, but I won't post until January. I have a pretty clear trajectory for the majority of this story, but there's a few plot points that I go back and forth on in my head. Such is the life of a writer, I guess.

Thank you as always for taking the time to read my work!

Also, I know it was hinted at/theorized in Breaking Dawn that Renesmee could, one day, produce children but we're not going to talk about that because it's been years and I still feel icky about the child imprinting that went on in the books. That's why I left it vague in the chapter.