~ Phoenix, Arizona - December 25, 1994 ~

I had only stayed a few days with my Alaskan cousins. After my talk with Tanya it had become too awkward to be around the group. She was hurting and I was feeling guilty about not returning her affections. No one knew the details of what happened between us, but they knew, and I knew, it was something that required time and distance. I had decided to give Tanya and her family both. I also didn't want to spend too much time around Garrett and Kate either. Being around a newly mated pair, who spent their time enjoying the emotional and physical pleasures of their union, only fed my jealously and loneliness.

I had slowly worked my way south through Canada and the mid-western states. It did not surprise me when a couple of days prior to Christmas I had approached Phoenix. Ultimately, I wanted to head down to South America, but I had to check on one thing…or rather one person before I continued on. I still had ownership of the apartment Garrett and I used until the New Year, so I had settled in waiting for tonight to arrive. However, I was not completely idle with my time. I had worked a wide loop around where my singer lived, helping the police clean up a variety of petty and hardened criminals. I made sure not to get too close to my singer. Not out of the fear that I would attack her, but I wanted her identity to remain anonymous. I knew attaching a name to my singer would make it that much harder to walk away after tonight.

Just after 2:00am, I slowly approached my singer's house, which was easy to find given her delicious smell. Only a few conscious thoughts passed throughout neighborhood. These were primarily from two dads trying to assemble a dollhouse and bicycle respectively. As I circled around her house, I could read the mother's dreams with clarity. Instead of sugarplums, the image of a man sweeping her off her feet on a candy cane colored unicorn dominated her sleep state. My singer's thoughts were non-existent; signaling she must have been in a deep sleep. It was not until that moment that I had realized I didn't remember any of my singer's thoughts during that first night. I remembered the Mom's and the other parents, but nothing from my singer. I shuddered as I remembered the bloodlust raging through me. It was no wonder I couldn't focus on anything but the rhythm of her heart that night. That same rhythm, although slower, called to me now.

Once I entered her yard, my throat caught fire as I breathed in her delectable scent. I pressed myself against the side of her house and forced myself to calm down. With each deep breath, I allowed her scent to saturate my senses. Knowing what to expect, I found it possible to steel myself against the greatest temptation I had ever known. After a few minutes I forced myself to walk to the front door. I gently tried the door handle, which I found to be locked tight. I sighed in relief that the mother had the sense to lockup the house. I couldn't help my protective feelings towards the little girl part of me wanted so desperately to kill. Before stepping away, I caught the whiff of something familiar. It reminded me of the sweet sage scent I associated with Alice. I glanced around the yard looking for the source, but the smell was very faint, even for my enhanced vampire senses.

I made my way to the back of the house and found the patio door also locked. I thought it best for me to ensure the windows were also secure, then I would leave, never to return. Before I could continue to satisfy my protective urges, I stopped when I spotted my singer through the very window I was about to try. She was nestled on the couch, covered by a hand made crocheted blanket. Her beloved Santa scarf was wrapped around her neck. I looked around the room until I spotted a very fake and heavily decorated Christmas tree. Underneath it sat a dozen or so presents. Most were wrapped with non-traditional Christmas paper that had strange representations of geometric trees, reindeers, and Santa Clauses, along with sparkling pastel colored bows. Given my brief exposure to the mother's thoughts, I surmised that she must have wrapped these. However, I spotted three small packages off to the side that were wrapped differently with traditional paper and red satin bows. These must have been from another family member, perhaps the divorced father I briefly noted in the mother's thoughts.

I stood looking through the window for quite a while. My singer's breathing was even and her heartbeat was steady. As I watched her slumber, I found that I was happier than I had been since my change. My singer got her Christmas. To my surprise, I barely registered her scent anymore. Knowing she was safe and that she would wake up giddy in a few hours seemed to ground me and insulate me from the call of her blood.

"Merry Christmas, my singer." I whispered. "Have a good and happy life."

I got back to my rented apartment just before dawn. I quickly went through the room to ensure humans could detect no trace of me being there. I placed the apartment key on the counter and took one more look around. It would be wrong and risky for me to return to Phoenix anytime soon. Although I resisted my singer's scent with relative ease during this layover, I knew it would be foolhardy to risk being around her.

As I opened the door to leave, the wall-mounted phone in the kitchen rang. I stared at the device for a moment unsure what to do, as I had never turned on the phone service when I rented the apartment. The phone rang two more times before I picked up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Edward" Alice's cheerful voice came through the phone. "Don't get mad, but I had the phone turned on when I was in Phoenix last week."

"You were in Phoenix? Last week? Why?"

"I had to meet her, Edward."

"You what!" I roared into the handset as it creaked under my tightened grip.

The familiar smell outside my singer's house was not botanical…it was Alice!

"Calm down! I had to meet her. I could see that you felt protective of her, which is really sweet, by the way. You know how my visions work. For them to be reliable, it's best if I've met the person. It helps me…tune them in, I guess. Who knows…anyway, now I can keep an eye out for her and let you know if anything terrible is going to happen."

"What makes you think I want to know if something terrible happens to her?"

"You mean you don't?"

"No I don't." It's a lie. I hated telling Alice it and I knew she will see it as such.

"Yes, you do. I can see that you just lied to me. It okay to care, Edward."

I sigh at Alice's words. I felt protective of my singer, but I didn't care for her. She is just a human child that I almost killed.

I can't care for her...can I?

"Tell me how you met her?" I asked Alice as a means to deflect my thoughts.

"Well Jaz and I took a red-eye in. It was cloudy, so we hung out in Phoenix for the day. Oh, and I also I had your phone turned on so I could make this call. You should really think about getting a pager, or better yet a cellular phone. It would make things so much easier. Anyway, we waited for…"

"Stop! I don't want to know her name! She is my singer. I want to keep it like that…impersonal. I doubt I will ever see her again."

"Mmm hmm" Alice taunted before continuing. "Okay, no names. So we waited for her to get home from school and I just went up to her house and rang the doorbell. She answered. I introduced myself and asked if I could speak to her Mom. Her Mom came and I said we were lost and looking for one of their neighbors. She directed us to go down the street and that was it. It only takes a moment for me to get a read on people."

"Jasper didn't have any issues?"

"No, although he stayed in the car, just as a precaution. Your singer does have a nice, almost flowery, smell, but neither Jasper or I seemed effected by it like you were."

"Alice, I don't want you meddling in her life. Promise me you won't."

"I promise I won't meddle or interfere, unless something terrible is going to happen, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Alice." I did feel better that Alice would be watching out for her. I guess I did care after all.

"That's what family is for, brother dear! Oh! Thank you for escorting Garrett to the Denali's. If you didn't it would've been years before their paths crossed and why shouldn't he and Kate be happy sooner, rather than later."

"You are quite the little scheming match maker."

"Just call me cupid! Oops, the family is coming. I've got to go. Don't be a stranger, Edward. We all miss you, including Rose. We all wish you would come home, but I can see you won't and really it's probably for the best in the long run." I can hear Esme's voice in the background, but I can't quite make out the words. "I've already said too much, so bye!"

I stared incredulously at the handset as the line went dead.