** Hello! If you're reading this then you've stuck with me past that mess of a first chapter. I did attempt to section off two parts; after "Alice!" and when I switched to first person, but it didn't come through on FF and I didn't notice until just after I posted. Sorry if that was jarring and confusing. Just know that I'm aware and it wasn't intentional. I'll be breaking in a different way going forward, as well as writing in first person unless the plot calls for third. I'm just a technophobe and don't know how to fix what I already published lol

Thanks M, for your support and your input, it means a lot and I agree.

Also, thanks Earthdragon, as I can't respond to you via private message, I'll do it here. I haven't written fiction in about six years, purely essays and chemistry reports, so your feedback on possessive apostrophes is helpful, I'll keep an eye on my use of them. Everything else I hope to explain away as I continue. I'll fight to the death about humourful being a word, though. May not be a good one, but it still is.

Thank you all for the support and feedback, it's always appreciated. **

Sybil Loset

Carlisle had gifted me his office in order for me to conduct my research on the mysterious half-vampire child—whom I had yet to meet. My Coven records held extensive knowledge on every vampire my family or I had come across, as well as a smattering of other creatures roaming the shadows on our realm. I knew these would be useless, as given my covens elusive nature we didn't come into contact with very many people outside of our own race. The Cullen and Denali covens were of course the exception, for clear reasons. If anyone had met anything new, it was incorporated into our early education system, so we weren't caught unawares. However, it was best to be thorough and have all bases covered. Too many times I had searched high and low—even in Argentina, once—for an answer that was right under my nose and in my library already.

Unfortunately, as I slammed the last tome closed in a dusty thump of air, unaware was what I would continue to be for the time being.

'Have you found anything yet?' Olorin unfurled from his curled position by the fire onto his back, giving quite possibly the largest stretch and yawn I had ever seen, before getting back into position with his grey tail wrapped around himself. Blue eyes looked at me through half closed lids.

I huffed and tucked a closed fist under my chin, "Not yet, sweet-pea… but we'll get there, I know it." Truthfully, I didn't know where to start. The weight on my shoulders was heavy, and only time will tell if I'll be able to carry it.

A soft knock on the already open door caught my attention, and I looked up to catch Rosalie hovering in the hall outside. Very much like when I first remembered her as a child, she was easily the most beautiful woman I had the pleasure of knowing. With hair like spun gold in a retro twist framing a perfectly symmetrical oval face holding the most captivating pair of round tawny eyes, she stole the attention in any room she stood in. She was a centrepiece, and if she didn't look at me with the gentle upturn of her pale pink lips like she was now, I'd be terrified of her.

"Hey, Rose. What brings you into my neck of the woods?" I teased, and her slight smile grew brighter. The sight was almost overwhelming.

She took this as intended and made her way further into the room and toward the oak desk I was sat at. Her slender hands were clasped together in front of her elegantly, and she regarded Olorin with a nod in his direction. "So, this is where he was hiding when I saw you earlier, typical." Her voice was like honey, "He was the same when Emmett and I first found him, you know. He was tiny, too small to be away from his mother, shivering from the rain. As soon as the heat was on in the car, that was all he cared about."

At hearing one of his favourite people on this earth, he retired his space by the crackling fire and trotted over to leap onto the desk in search of some chin scratches. Rosalie obliged with a gentle laugh, eliciting a very strong purr from the small feline.

Behind Rosalie's aloof and prideful mask, held an extremely nurturing woman. Fierce and protective over anything she deemed worthy of her time. Though, the list wasn't exactly very long. She had brought Olorin to me on my fortieth, a spoiled and round bellied little ball of fur. I had been looking for a familiar at the time, as I had come of age in my studies. He was already besotted with her then and hadn't stopped since. Oh, how he sung her his praises every time her name came up in conversation.

"He's too spoilt here, he's going to get fat and lazy." He didn't dignify me with a response and instead swished his tail against my forehead as he spun circles around Rosalie's gentle attentions. "What was is you came to me for, love?"

Her amber eyes met mine once again, "Renesmee, Edward and Bella will be here shortly, I thought you might want to meet her."

The ball of nerves in my gut returned with full force, and I found myself mourning the fact that Jasper wasn't here to help me with it. Knowing Renesmee existed was one thing but meeting her seemed a whole other ball game. It wasn't the child's fault that she caused a constant state of stress for everyone inside the Cullen home, but the stress remained, nonetheless. Still, I nodded, straightened my spine and stood from the plush red Chester armchair, reaching for Rosalie's offered hand. Her cool temperature was a comfort, as always.

Much like she has done a hundred times before, Rosalie gently smoothed some fly-away ginger hairs back into place onto my head and rearranged my curtain bangs so they wouldn't interfere with much of my face. The rest of my long hair fell down my back and over my left shoulder in deep waves, just the way she liked. I held the affection she had in her eyes right in my heart. I knew it was rare, and I felt blessed to be on the receiving end of such care and attention.

Gesturing to the cat, I said, "Olorin will stay here by the fire, though."

For a home chock full of vampires, it was quieter than ever. The tension could be cut with a butter knife. It made sense though, vampires were a friendly and social bunch on occasion but understandably very selective of their company and this setting wasn't exactly easy going. To me, it seemed like the tense five minutes before a battle, everything seemed calm; but chaos was expected and around the corner. A skittish bunch, Vampires. It made me wish I had a fire cracker to set off, just to see if I really could scare the crap out of a vampire, like I threatened Emmett with ten years ago after he put me at the top of a very large tree and wouldn't let anyone help me back down. For an hour.

A few vampires were scattered around as Rosalie and I came down hand in hand, I still expected Alice to come running up to me and start telling me about some gifts she'd gotten for a member of the family at a million miles per minute. I knew where she was and what she was doing, of course, but I couldn't explain that to the others. I suspected that, while Rosalie never held back in affection with me, she was a little clingier due to the loss of her coven-mates. I couldn't imagine how Esme was feeling. Rosalie left to join Emmett by the large glass wall overlooking the Cullen driveway.

The Irish coven were squirrelled away in the corner of the side room and eyed me warily as I passed. Their eyes were a bright shade of red and I almost shivered for the poor souls that encountered them recently. Apparently, they couldn't trust themselves to be within the property, but fancied their chances inside here better, than outside with Forks and Port Angeles so close by. I wondered briefly how old they were, as Siobhan's ageless face gave no clue. Forever stuck in what looked to be her late twenties. Still, to have a vampire, or a group of them so tempted by human blood, I wondered how often they fed—and an even more morbid train of thought led me to ask, 'how often did they fall victim to indulgence?'

That was the question of the hour, really. Every individual with red eyes, has consumed immeasurable amounts of human blood. Even the so called 'Vegetarian' vampires wasted so much meat and hide to sustain their diet. The whole operation seemed wasteful to me and not at all pleasant, either.

My dark train of thought was interrupted by a whirl of cold air, and out of the corner of my eye appeared the shaggy haired vampire from earlier. We were both leaning against the kitchen counter, over-looking the lounge area.

At any given time, my hands were cluttered with rings both new and old, thick and thin. Some rings were for useless vanity, and others served a purpose. My biggest was my ward ring, a pear-shaped smooth opal, set in platinum. This one was made the month of my birth, opal being the stone of October, given to me as I reached magical maturity at forty. As not to be conspicuous, I twisted a pearl ring set in silver on the second knuckle of my middle finger on my left hand, facing the sea gem toward my new brooding neighbour. If anyone were to look closely—Jasper and Alice so far being the only ones to pick up on it—they would notice that my green eyes were unseeing; for my ring acted like a third perspective and took up my field of vision. I rarely used it, only doing so when I was up to mischief or if my curiosity got the better of me.

Now though, I used it to observe the still smirking vampire that captured my attention earlier. He held his arms in a relaxed crossed fashion, while his weight was mostly held on his left foot, the other sticking out in front of him. It was very human, as usually Vampires had a habit of staying so very still, they didn't look at all natural. I had once watched Carlisle for two hours while he was contemplating, and it was as though Carlisle's own slice of life was frozen. Not even the twitch of a finger.

This nomad however had all the characteristics of a vaguely human-being. The tap-tap-tapping of his index finger against the exposed flesh of his forearm, the scrape of his heel against the polished wooden floor as he shifted it, and the flick of a long curl that fell in front of his eyes. Eyes that were trained on the side of my face out of the corner, as though to not be caught.

With a blink, my dry eyes returned to seeing, and I met his maroon gaze without turning my head toward him. He was caught, and he knew it. Instead of acting the least bit embarrassed, his smirk widened. Before he turned his whole body toward me with a twist of his booted feet.

Following suit, I put a smidge of distance between us, as Garret was rather tall and intimidating. A plucked copper eyebrow raised on a pale and lightly freckled forehead, "Can I help you?" I snarked lightly.

His dark eyes just closed further as his smirk grew into a grin, and his slouch straightened, eyes still trained on me. I fought not to think about how good his eyesight was, how many pores my nose had or how long ago I touched up my 'Stache. I scolded myself at such a trivial thought. "I just wanted to introduce myself to you personally. I must say I am, well… Curious, of you." he started, and he spoke slow as though he had all the time in the world to complete his sentence. He was relaxed. His voice was deep, accent so very American. He stuck a pale hand out, "Garrett, from New England, at your service."

When my warm hand was clasped in his, what I felt wasn't so cliché as to say I sensed sparks, though the skin that touched his felt like I had been laying on it funny. Pins and needles, my aunt would call it. "Sybil, from… Everywhere, I suppose." My hand leaving his felt like a loss, but I pushed the thought to the back of my head. I was not here to fall victim to the tall vampire with alluring scarlet eyes. "But what did you want to know, Garrett-from-New-England?"

He leaned in, and his chain necklaces clinked together as he did so. "I'm curious as to why you're one of the few living and breathing things in the vicinity. Surely it makes you nervous?"

I snorted at the silly notion that I was somehow this little lamb in a house full of Wolves, as that was the image that his comment conjured into my mind. While red eyes made me nervous, and my little cat similarly so, my worry was not misplaced in thinking that I couldn't protect myself. It came from being viewed as a being that was inherently lesser than them, whether that was true or not. Shaking my head with a sardonic smile on my face, crossing my arms over my chest and defiance I said, "I might be nervous if there was anything here that I couldn't protect myself against, but it just so happens that there isn't, I promise you that." This wasn't necessarily true, while I could realistically leave this place unscathed, it wouldn't be without great difficulty and a great exertion of power on my end. Eighteen or so vampires against one small ginger witch and her little cat? "Besides, I thought vampires were a little more civilised than to cause a ruckus in friendly company." I teased, voice far-away.

The line of questioning was rather odd, and to be quite frank I shouldn't even be entertaining such a conversation. Before my time—before anyone in my families time really—we were hunted for our power, our potential. Our blood was thought to bring upon magical properties of those who drank it, if even for a little while. Our people were slaughtered in droves, entire covens and cultures decimated for a short-lived myth. Humans, Vampires and even Werewolves once sook to destroy our existence. Only the Sióga of the Wood were our allies in that time, shielding us so we may live in peace.

Though, this was the reason a ward ring held its determination of keeping a wandering witch such as myself safe. My Opal ward ring had the purpose of warning me of people's true intentions if they were to stray toward harm. However, said gem kept silent, as did my familiar who is sleeping soundly by the fire upstairs. There was no doubt in my mind that Garrett was just innocently questioning me, out of curiosity he said. With that though, came the reminder that I was putting myself in a position to be exploited by the very organisation making their way to destroy the Olympic coven, for a crime they did not commit. After this, regardless of the outcome, my life would never be the same again. In protecting my friends, I would be endangering myself.

"Where have you gone?"

My internal monologue was interrupted by said vampire, who was now leaning closer in concern. His hand twitched as though to reach for me, but ultimately it stayed in place on the black granite countertop of the kitchen island. For a second, I contemplated reaching out for his hand in comfort. My right hand instead reached to the black obsidian crystal hanging from a thin silver chain around my neck, and I used it to help rebalance my spiritual and emotional energy. Thinking too hard about my immediate future, since Alice met with me in Canada, tended to send me into a spiral that was hard for me to get out of. I straightened my spine and inhaled a sharp breath, dispelling those negative thoughts from my head and I returned back to the moment.

Garrett was looking at me with concerned eyes, the smirk was gone and instead his features held a look of calm patience. My own expression schooled itself into one of mirth, "Nowhere I haven't been before, New England." Pushing myself away from the counter, I made my way to the middle of the room as my completely average hearing picked up on people coming through the front door. In my peripheral vision, I noticed Garrett followed close behind. Perhaps in curiosity.

While my relationship with the Cullens was always positive—Rosalie caring for me as a child, Emmett being a boisterous tomboy's best friend as a teen, and in my twenties I grew to adore time spent with Esme and Alice—Edward and I were never close. As I grew up he didn't interest me beyond him helping us refine our defensive talents against his own, and he shared a love of music with me—though half the albums in my playlist he would burn if he got the chance. This relationship with Edward was never something that we would pursue. Edward would rarely visit us, and when I visited it wasn't to see Edward. His brooding nature wasn't compatible with my own erratic personality. He was so unhappy, for as long as I knew him.

Seeing Edward walk through the foyer hand in hand with Bella, a small child with his hair darting around his legs and into the arms of a grinning Rosalie, I had never seen him so bright. We weren't best friends, but I always wished a happy life for him. I asked my deities to gift him a happy life more times than I can count. My heart soared, and I dropped my mental barriers enough so he could read what I felt, as I couldn't put my happiness into words.

He spotted me then—though I was under no illusions that he didn't know I was here—and I gave him a teary smile, my chin wobbling as I fought to reign in my emotions. He ambled over to me, an easy and relaxed grin on his flawless face that I couldn't help but mimic. "This is the happiest I've ever seen you, Eddy."

While he cringed at the nickname—Emmett insisted I use it—he didn't lose his smile and gestured to Bella who was waiting close behind to be introduced. "I have Bella to thank for that." He gave her a smile that would melt butter.

Bella herself was beautiful, with chocolate brown hair that fell in long waves. Her eyes were a shade resting between her new-born given burgundy irises and the gold that the rest of her new coven held. She was a little shorter than me, and half as slender. A waif of a thing, oozing anxious energy, but no less stunning than the rest of her family. I always imagined Edwards other half would be someone brazen. I imagined a figure head at the centre of a room, a strong personality. Seeing his mate now, and how well the energy around them buzzed. They were like two pieces of a puzzle slotted together in perfect harmony.

I decided to say as much, "You know, I could never imagine anyone else joining the Cullens, in my mind they were complete, and I just couldn't picture it. Meeting you now, it's like they were just waiting for you to fill a void I didn't notice." I grinned at her, and if she could blush it would go perfectly with the bashful look on her pretty face. "It's nice to meet you Bella."

"Thanks, nice to meet you too," Her voice was husky though feminine, and her lips quirked up at one corner. "Do you want to meet Renesmee?"

She really was a beautiful little thing, with hazel eyes and thick chestnut curls. She had a bounce in her gait that came from youthful optimism and innocence as she walked over from a doting Rosalie. Her skin was as pale as her parents, but the flush on her cheeks and life force streaming from her confirmed what I was told about her. She made her way over to us, and I got down on one knee to level with her. She immediately held a small hand out, aiming for my face, but I stopped her in her tracks. She looked a little put out, and a man I hadn't noticed before explained behind me that she was trying to communicate in her own special way.

Shaking my head, I clarified, "It's not that I don't want you to show me, but if you use your power on me it might hurt you accidentally, and I don't want to do that… So," My own ringed hand held out for her to shake, "Hello Renesmee, my name is Sybil."

She was warm, and under her skin her heartbeat thrummed to life a little faster than my own, but thrice as fast as a human heart would be. Her smile was delicate, her voice light and sweet, "Hello Sybil." She didn't offer much in terms of conversation, but I was somewhat thankful for it. Children and I were usually not the best of friends. Instead, to make up for my unwillingness to see her 'gift', I clasped my other hand around her small one, whispered a small incantation. In lieu of the air between my loosely cupped hands sprung a hummingbird. It's green and pink coat was glossy, and it fluttered around her.

A bright curiosity befitted her face, eyes wide with wonder. "It's a hummingbird, they have a heart that beats just like yours." I explained, and her face was void of the slightly hurt look it held thirty seconds earlier. The conjured animal hovered around, before scattering off and into a puff of blue smoke. I let go of her hand then, and stood, scrunching my nose happily at the half-human and vampire hybrid. In her excitement she leaped at Edward, pressing a hand to the side of his face before he answered her unasked question. As they walked off, I heard the tail end of him explaining the origin of a hummingbird.

Shifting my attention back to the room, my eyes caught with Garrett, who seemed to be toeing the line of being involved and leaving me enough breathing space as to not be overwhelming. I sent him a little wink, before turning on my heel and marching back upstairs to resume my studies. I needed to figure out how I was going to work the bathroom situation, too. I was not—and never have—relieving myself anywhere near the Cullens.

**I didn't know how to end this, truthfully but I figured at roughly 3,800 words was a good place to end it.

I'm trying to keep things organic, I have a story with vampires, fairies, witches… I don't want to push the bounds of what's believable when it comes to relationships and dialogue. I've always hated the fact that Stephanie didn't dwell on the more interesting side characters so I want to get to know them. Help you understand and perceive them a little better. BUT im not writing no mary sue, an Sybil is most definitely not going to be pally with everyone.

Also big ups to my beta, Immersive Reader on Microsoft Word, yer a real one doll. If I missed anything blame her.

Let me know if you prefer this one, but to be honest if you don't then I cant help you**