In human years, I'm six. In my world, I like to think I'm around seventeen. There isn't a set timeline for people like me. I wish I was like the average teenager, hanging out with friends, going to sleepovers, and prom. Instead, I spend my time running through the woods hunting for my next juicy meal and hiding from the town. I love my family more than anything, but sometimes it's hard being different from everyone. Including my own family.

I stared into my vanity mirror and studied my brown eyes. They're the same color as my mom's when she was a human. My dad always said they're the most beautiful eyes he's ever seen.

My fingers fluttered across the vanity desk and found my pencil. I sketched my eyes onto the self-portrait I've begun. Drawing is something that brought me peace, much like the piano for my dad. I'm brought out of my sketching as the soft murmurs of my parents filled the other room. I wandered up the hallway and heard the faint swoosh that signified one of them leaving. I rounded the corner and saw my dad sitting on the couch alone with a book in his hands.

"Hey, dad." I plopped down on the couch next to him, grabbed one of the throw pillows, and hugged it to my chest.

"Hey, kiddo." He smiled at me and set the book down on the coffee table.

"Where did mom go?" It was odd that she was leaving without my dad. They hardly went anywhere without each other. I tried to study his face and see if anything was amiss. Surely they didn't have an argument, I would have heard that right?

"No nothing like that," he answered my unspoken worries. "She's going hunting with aunt Alice, aunt Rose, and uncle Emmett."

"Why didn't you go with them?" Something must be up. He always went hunting with my mom. I looked over at his eyes and noticed they were missing the normal liquid gold hue. He had to be thirsty.

"I'm not thirsty," he said with a shrug. "I'll just go tomorrow."

I can't believe him. I trusted my dad, but something was up. His eye color told me that he was definitely thirsty. "I don't believe you." I let out a frustrated huff, "I wish I could read your mind so I could know what's going on." I often found myself envious of my parents' gifts. I wished I could know everything like my dad, yet protect myself from everyone like my mom.

He laughed softly, "reading minds isn't as fun as it sounds. Sometimes you hear an awful lot of stuff you don't want to hear." Sometimes my dad spoke about wishing he could turn his ability off for some peace and quiet. If I had to constantly hear people's embarrassing desires and secrets I would probably want that too.

"Like what?" I prodded for more answers in hopes that I could get him to open up about what's going on. It might not work but it was worth a shot. It was ironic that my dad loved to see into the minds of others, yet didn't like to reveal his own thoughts.

"Hmmm let's see. Some of the worst thoughts are from when your mom and I went to Forks High School. That place was full of gross and uncreative idiots." He sighs, "I can't say I was thrilled about Jacob's thoughts towards your mom either."

I groaned, "Daaaaad please don't go into how uncle Jake was into mom again." Hearing my parents talk about their love triangle always made me feel weird.

He laughed softly, "I won't Nessie." Suddenly his eyes darted towards the door. My eyes followed his but I didn't see anything. "Your grandfather Carlisle is here."

"Grandpa!" I tossed the pillow I was holding to the floor and in a flash, I'm to the door and have it open. A smile beamed on my face and I pushed myself into his waiting arms. For a moment I completely forgot about my dad's odd behavior and was comforted by the soft hug.

"Hello Renesmee, how is my favorite granddaughter?" He smiled down at me, his hand rubbed a gentle circle on my back. He's the only one that doesn't call me Nessie, but I was okay with that.

"I'm good. Earlier I was doing some sketching on those new notepads you gave me." My family always loved to spoil me, making sure I had everything I could ever want. Sometimes I felt guilty because I had everything I could ever dream of and more. I stepped back from the hug and felt my dad's presence beside me.

My grandfather looked at my dad with his classic smile. An unspoken conversation began between them. My father shook his head and after another second passed by he nodded.

I want to know what you're talking about. I looked up at my dad, wishing I could be included in this conversation. I pushed more questions into my thoughts. What are you guys trying to hide from me?

"Nothing Renesmee, it's alright I promise." He gave me a weak smile and leaned down to press a kiss on my forehead. I could tell that whatever short conversation they just had was important. It was rare that my dad ever looked this uneasy.

Finally, his words caught up to my brain. Renesmee? He hardly ever called me Renesmee. I could count on one hand the number of times my dad used my full name. It was reserved for when I was in trouble and when something serious was happening. My guess was that this occasion was the latter.

My grandfather spoke up to break the silence, "Your father and I are just going to go on a little walk. We'll be back shortly."

A puzzled expression crossed my face. Since when did they take walks in the woods? Walking and vampires didn't exactly go hand in hand. I decided to voice my curiosity. "Why are you guys going for a walk?"

My dad tried to save my anxiety and cracked a joke. "I've been feeling a little pale lately and I think a walk with some sun might help." He nudged my side in an attempt to get me to laugh.

While I found his joke funny, I stared back with a deadpan expression. "Haha very funny dad, but I'm being serious."

"Nothing for you to worry about just yet. We'll let you know when it's time." My grandfather's words don't help comfort me. What could he possibly mean by "just yet?" Is something major about to happen? Change isn't something that I'm overly fond of.

My dad felt my body go stiff and grabbed my hand to give it a squeeze, "We'll be back soon Nessie. Your mom should be home soon, you two should have a girls night."

While the idea of a girls night sounded perfect, I couldn't shake the anxious feeling of knowing something big was about to happen. Something big that's out of my control. My dad and grandfather said goodbye and with a gush of wind, they disappeared into the night. I shut the front door behind me and headed to my room to contemplate.


Sure enough, my mom returned a few hours later. Her beautiful voice shouted my name as she walked through the door. I could hear her feather-light footsteps as they came to find me.

"Nessie? Where is my beautiful Nessie?"

"I'm in my room mom!" After my dad left, I decided to return to my sketchbook. Sketching was a way to help me feel calmer.

She walked into my room and looked at my sketch over my shoulder. She planted a kiss on the top of my head, "Oh Nessie that looks beautiful! I always had an inkling that you would be really good at art."

I sat my pencil down and turned to face her, "What made you think so?"

"Your dad is amazing at everything art-related." Her lips curled into a smile, "I'm not too bad myself, but your dad is the real artist."

"I think dad would say the exact opposite."

Her laugh echoed across the room, "You're probably right. He always wants to act like I'm perfect." The love that my parents had for each other was evident in almost every conversation they had about each other. They always spoke about the other like they were the pinnacle of life and perfection. It made me happy to know that my parents loved each other that much. It made our little family feel perfect.

Despite my mom's cheerful mood, I couldn't shake the anxious need to ask her about what happened earlier. It was so out of character and I needed answers. "Hey, mom?"

"Yes, sweetheart?" She crossed the room and sat on my bed. Her elegant body barely even ruffled the sheets. I could tell she was bracing herself to answer difficult questions.

"Why is dad talking to grandpa Carlisle in the woods? They were both acting weird, like they didn't want to tell me something. Dad wouldn't even speak out loud." I muttered under my breath, "Which was highly annoying."

After a short pause, my mom swallowed hard and began speaking, "They need to discuss something important." She paused briefly before continuing, "Our family has a lot of tough decisions we need to make."

My heart dropped instantly. I could feel the fear starting to take hold over me. I wanted to scream and ask what the tough decisions were but I let her finish.

"I don't want to talk to you about this without your dad, sweetheart." She looked at me with sympathetic eyes. I could tell she desperately wanted to share the news but also understood this was a discussion for all of us to have at once.

I nodded silently and swallowed hard. It was the type of swallow that aches as it goes down the back of your throat. I croaked out, "Will we talk when dad gets back?"

With a silent nod, my mom confirmed my question. "I promise as soon as he gets back we will talk to you about this."

I picked my pencil back up and returned to sketching. I spoke in a voice barely loud enough to be heard, "Can we also talk to dad about how annoying it is when he has silent conversations with people."

My mom laughed softly. I knew she could sympathize with me over his silent conversations. I had caught her a few times asking him to share. "I don't think he's going to change that Nessie. I know how much it annoys you, but that's just part of his gift. Sometimes I think it's easier for him to have conversations that way."

I let out a groan, "I know it's just annoying when he keeps big secrets like this."

"He doesn't do it to annoy you, he does it to protect you." She got up and walked towards the doorway. "Look on the bright side, it shields you from when your dad and I have some really romantic, and probably embarrassing for you, conversations."

My hands flew to my ears in an attempt to cover them. "Ew, that's gross mom. I don't want to hear about your sex life."

Her response was a soft chuckle as she fluttered down the hallway.


Just as promised, my dad returned later in the evening. I was beginning to contemplate going to sleep when I heard the front door close quietly. I heard the quiet murmurs of conversation so I tiptoed my way over to my door. I pressed my ear to the wood so I could make out part of their conversation. They were obviously trying to talk as quietly as possible. Even with my super hearing, it was difficult to make out everything being said.

"I know you were trying to protect her but it really freaked her out, Edward."

There's a pause and then an answer from my dad, "I thought it would be best if she didn't hear it from me only."

"I agree. That's why I didn't tell her earlier. I insisted we would wait for you. I promised that when you got home we would talk about it."

"Is she asleep?"

Silence filled the house. They were listening for my heartbeat to determine if I was asleep. I sucked in a sharp breath and slowly backed away from the door. I barely had enough time to take a single step back before they were both standing in my doorway with the door open. I stopped in my tracks and gave them a sheepish smile.

"I believe she was listening in on us," my mom chimed.

I grimaced, "Sorry." I finish walking back over to my bed and sat down in the center. I quickly braced myself for whatever conversation was about to happen. I looked up at both of my parents. They had an odd expression on their faces that I couldn't quite place.

My mom broke the silence, ready to take the conversation head-on "Renesmee," she began. "You're starting to get older and people are going to start to notice that we aren't changing. Your grandpa Carlisle and the rest of the family have decided it's time."

"Time for what?" My voice got quiet as the realization of what they were about to say set in.

My dad is the one that delivered the deafening blow. "We have to leave Forks."