Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of its characters. I only own my OC's and my ideas.

Chapter 5

Encounters

It had been two weeks since I moved into the Cullen's house. I had enrolled in online courses at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. I was taking twenty credit hours. If I had done this as a human, I would have considered myself crazy, but since I don't need sleep, I have all the time I need to study.

Also, Esme had finished Edward and Bella's house, so the last couple of days, I have been spending shopping for paint, furniture and many other things for my house. We had already order my TV, a 35'' flat screen HD TV. Emmett had been in the house with us and tried, unsuccessfully, to get me to go for a bigger screen. I told him that I did not want anything too fancy.

One sunny morning, Esme and I returned from paint shopping to an empty house. Carlisle was at work, while everyone else was at school. "Where do you think we should start?" I asked Esme.

"It's your house." We had gotten Pueblo for the front room. The house I had grown up in had quite a bit of Pueblo and I liked it.

"Let's start in the front room, that way, when it's done, I can watch some TV when we are not decorating." We grabbed the Pueblo and paint supplies and headed over to my house. It was not big, but it was just the right size for me. We put down the tarps and put up the blue painter's tape and then got started. We worked most of the day, only stopping when the kids showed up. Even though they were all older than me, except for Nessie, I still liked calling them kids, since they were pretending to be younger than me.

Alice was more than willing to help us, and she roped Jasper into helping. With four people, we had the first coat on before Carlisle got back from work. "That's a nice color," said Alice, once we were done.

"Well, it was used in my human house, and I really like it." We headed back to the main house. Emmett and Rosalie were flipping through the TV channels. I headed up to my room and turned on my computer and started working on my English homework. I currently did not have a major, so I was taking all my general education courses.

Once I was done, I headed back downstairs and out of the house. I just want some alone time, I shouldn't be far. Edward nodded and I made my way through the forest. I made my way to a place that I had found a week ago. It was a small clearing, much like where I currently lived. I just laid down in the grass and relaxed.

After several hours of just laying there, I got ready to leave, but I picked up a scent. It was not one I recognized. I could tell immediately that it was vampire. I took my defensive crouch and sent a mental message to Edward.

Across the clearing from where I waited, three female vampires came through the clearing. Two had dark brown hair while the third was jet black. "We won't attack you," said the black haired one. They all had a relaxed posture. I could hear the Cullens getting close. Edward, I'm fine. I let you know if I'll need help. I could still hear them coming. Edward! I shouted mentally. This time they stopped. I relaxed my posture and they came forward.

"My name is Annabel," said the black haired one. "These are Naomi and Rachel." Rachel was the taller than Naomi but not by much.

"My name is Chloe. What brings you to these parts?"

"We were passing through and picked up your scent and came to see who was in the area." Rachel had been staring at me for awhile.

"What is with your eyes?" she asked. "They are golden." They had been for a few weeks.

"I do not feed on humans."

"How do you survive?"

"By feeding on animals." All three were taken aback by this.

"How can you not stand to drink human blood?"

"I did when I was younger. I have only been feeding on animals for not quite two months."

"Very interesting," said Annabel.

"I would ask that you do not hunt in this area. The rest of us need to keep up our human pretenses."

"Rest of you."

"I live with a family that also abstains. They maintain a more permanent residence near by." Edward?

In seconds, the remainder of the Cullens joined me. All three of the women were taken aback, once again, by the sheer size of their family. "Welcome," said Carlisle. "I am Carlisle and this is my family." He introduced everyone, apparently, Jacob was still in the woods. I knew how much our smell bothered him, and with so many of us in one place it would have been, unbearable. "You are welcome to follow us back to our house."

"Thank you," said Annabel, it was very clear that she was the leader and voice of the coven. "It has been awhile since we were able to wash." We ran through the woods.

"We'll explain in the house," said Edward, apparently someone had thought asked a question. That brought more confusion among the coven. We reached the house and went inside. We all sat in the front room.

We talked well into the night. Annabel was 150 years old, Naomi was 80, and Rachel was only a few years older than I was. Annabel had created Naomi. Rachel was much like me, in the fact that she did not know her creator. She had met up with them three years ago and joined them.

Once were done, myself being one of the few who shared their story. Nessie's was explained just to ease their confusion. None of them had any powers, but they were all talented fighters. Even though Rachel was young, she had been taking Karate lessons when she was human, so she had some fighting, and Annabel and Naomi helped her when they were together.

The following morning, it was cloudy out, the three nomads got ready to leave. "Do come and visit again," I said.

"We will," said Annabel. I had really gotten close to them, especially Rachel. I hugged each of them and then they were off. My "cousins" got ready for school, while Esme and I got ready to continue working on my house. Carlisle did not have to be in until later, so he offered his help. We worked on my bedroom, which was going to be a really light blue. Once we got the coat done, we did the second coat of the Pueblo. We were done before lunch.

Carlisle had to leave for work, so Esme and I decided to go hunting. We did not go far from the house, and soon found a herd of deer. I could tell that Esme was watching me on occasion.

As we got ready to leave, we both picked up several vampire scents. We both took defensive crouches and watched as three vampires came into the clearing near us. The group was made up of two males and one female. Once I got a better look at them, I let up. "It's okay, Esme," I said. She let her guard up. I ran over to the three vampires and gave them a hug.

"Hey, guys," I said. It was my old coven. At the same time, they all saw my eyes.

"So the stories are true," said Andrew. "How long have you been feeding on animals?" I was glad I did not have to explain.

"A month and a half. I found a family of vampires who also abstain. I've been living with them for a month."

"I thought you weren't going to be part of a coven?" asked Alexandra.

"Things change," I said. Esme came over. "This is Esme, my aunt for all intents and purposes. Esme, this is Andrew, Alexandra, and Matt."

"Pleasure to meet you. I've heard so much about you. You are welcome to come back to our house if you wish."

"No thank you," said Andrew. "We were just passing through."

"It was nice seeing you guys again," I said.

"You as well," said Matt. They ran past us and into the woods at the other end of the clearing.

"They seem nice," said Esme. "I'm surprised on why you left them."

"I just wanted to try life on my own," I said. "They are really nice, but I just wanted to try something new. It was nothing against them, and I might rejoin them again someday, but right now, I like where I am.

A/N. Please R&R. Hope you are enjoying. So Chloe was briefly reunited with her old coven, met a new coven and worked on her house. Originally, they were going to play baseball, but I wanted to do something different.

Preview: Chloe's house gets finished.