I wrote half of this chapter before I started the last chapter, I kind of wish I'd finished this one first but for certain points I think the previous chapter was kind of necessary. There aren't errors, I promise. What about that line at the beginning about "Mary claimed she had done it to help him suppress his ability." I told you. No errors. We'll see.

The boat ride back was quiet at first. Mary had threatened the life of the driver and the three of them were settled on the deck. Emma had sunk into the back of their head and Holly was leaning over the side, staring out across the water, her foot twitching like a dog wagged its tail. Mary and Collin were laying in the middle staring at the sky. Finally, the silence broke him, he had to ask because it was bothering him. "I don't get it." He said, weakly.

"It's not important for you to get it, Collin. She doesn't have to tell us who she is. She isn't my sister. That's all that matters right now." Mary was so sure of herself and it did nothing but grate under his skin. He loved his sister, he really did, but she was playing the high and mighty I own the world version of herself and that was the version of her he didn't love. That was the version that he hated.

Now his reaction may have been childish and stupid but what was happening was happening so he didn't care. At least for the time. Before he was even fully aware of his actions he'd jumped up and grabbed Mary by her throat.

Mary made a startled cry before what was happening fully dawned on her and she kicked at the other vampire.

The issue for Mary was Collin was strong enough to hold his own against her, he was her creation and one of the few people in existence that could kill her. It was clear by her expression that she was actually scared. It didn't stop her from fighting back though. She grabbed his arm and twisted with enough force it would've broken off if he didn't jump off, letting go of her.

"Collin, don't do this." Mary scrambled back, glaring at him with fear etched into her expression. "I don't want to fight you, brother. Don't do this."

"Stop acting like you own the damned planet." He hissed out in response, stalking towards his sister and creator.

It was ironic really, Mary was physically incapable of killing every single vampire in existence. In return, normal vampires couldn't kill her. They were completely incapable of it. Brady, Collin, and Bella were completely capable of doing it though. Even when Collin was a vampire and shouldn't have been able to kill his creator, he could. Bella could've done it when she was human, Brady could do it too. Mary's biggest strength was also her biggest weakness.

"That isn't what I'm doing." Mary snapped in response, hissing.

"Oh, really? Not what you're doing? Mary, ever since your baby brother woke up you've been on this infuriating power high. I get it, you guys are soul siblings. I've seen what that does to people. Mary, you aren't acting like you."

Mary's eyes darkened to black, "I am acting like me, Collin. You haven't seen me in years but I'm acting like myself. I'm acting exactly like the girl who created you. I've been living the past few years as a laid back girl who doesn't give a shit but unfortunately for you, I am having to stand up yet again to pick up a mess being caused by overly ambitious morons before humanity gets caught in the crossfire. I'm the damned original vampire. I have a responsibility. Remember the bitch that manipulated you into agreeing to this? The one that refused to turn you back when my sister and your mother died? That's me. Remember that, Collin. I am not the little girl that I look like. I'm old, Collin. You keep forgetting that. Everyone keeps forgetting that." Her gaze was steady as she snapped again, jumping from scared girl to strong and confident in a snap. He didn't clearly remember the events around his transformation so when she said she'd manipulated him into agreeing to it he stopped cold, staring at her. Everything else she said barely clicked in his brain.

"You what?"

Mary snapped her mouth shut, guilt covering her expression.

"Mary."

"I'm sorry, Collin. Dammit." Mary looked away from him so she didn't see when he darted across the boat, settling in front of him.

"What did you do?"

Just like that, the conversation had shifted. Collin was confused, she'd manipulated him into agreeing to be bit? From what he remembered of before his transformation she'd asked him if he wanted a way to suppress his ability and he'd agreed to it. Was that not what had happened?

"I…Collin, you know I have a lot more abilities than the average vampire, some of them are more difficult to use than others. I'm still developing new ones as time passes…" She pulled her knees to her chest, staring at the ground. "I can manipulate the minds of others if I focus…when I turned you, your tenth birthday…let's just say I probably wasn't in the strongest of mindsets. I realized I was looking down eternity alone. I didn't want that. So I acted…a bit rashly. I told you that it was for your mom, because it partially was. I had to take you away from your family for five years to train you to control yourself and you all resented me for it. All of you. So I did a rewiring of most all of your minds. I made all of you forget that I tricked you into agreeing and rewrote the memories."

Collin stared at her, betrayal and anger twisting in his gut. She'd manipulated him.

"Give me my memories back, Mary."

"No." The other girl stared at him evenly. "I can't and I won't try. Yes, I tricked you and yes I rewired your mind. What I didn't do was make you love me. We were barely friends back then. Even after I rewrote you. You grew to love me as your sister and I grew to love you as my brother. Nothing can change that now and you won't use what I did as a twisted way to lash out at me. Hate me if you want but as long as you can kill me you will love me."

Oh how painful it was, he wanted nothing more than to grab his sister and rip her skull from her head just to prove a point. She was right though. He loved her too much to kill her. Even when it came down to it, he wasn't sure if he was capable of turning on his sister.

"Collin, I'll show you that night. What really happened." Mary said quietly, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"How can you show me?"

"I told you. I've been developing abilities. I picked up a nifty trick that used to belong to one Renesmee."

Collin stared at her in confusion, the vampire just rolled her eyes, moving forward and pressing her hand to the side of his skull.

I was so lonely. This was the solution. Help myself, protect him for Bella. "Collin." I muttered as I placed a hand over his mouth in the same instant to keep him from screaming as I appeared on the side of the bed. I was met with a glare as he tried to pull my hand off with no avail. "Quiet, alright? I need to talk to you."

Reluctantly Collin nodded and I removed my hand. I shouldn't have been manipulating my sister's son. It caused guilt to coil deep inside me but I shoved it away with ease.

"So I was thinking about it. About what we talked about this morning." The conversation from that morning rang through my skull, he'd said he'd didn't want anyone to take him from his mom. What better way to guarantee it than this?

"What?" Collin was clearly confused. Of course he didn't remember as clearly as me. He was only a quarter vampire. Not enough vampire to have a fully accurate mind. Maybe that was a good thing, it kept him innocent. Images of hybrid vampires ran across my vision before I focused back on the conversation.

"You don't want your momma to worry about you, right?" Manipulation was far from my nature, I tended to take whatever I wanted without a thought. No. I need Collin to agree.

Collin's eyes widened and he nodded, pushing up so he was sitting.

"I know what to do to keep you safe. It'll be for you and your mom." Collin stared at me with clear confusion. "I want to make you into a vampire, Collin. If I make you into a vampire; you'll be safe. No one will be strong enough to kill you except me. You'll be invincible; and your momma won't have to worry about you." Completely true. Not the reason I was doing it but it wasn't a lie.

Collin stared at me for several moments before I continued, "I know it's a huge thing to ask you, you're so young, but I was your age when I was turned. You get the choice I didn't have. I won't make you become a vampire if you don't want to. I just want you safe."

It hurt to say because it was true. He could have a choice but I was manipulating him into agreeing. It wasn't a choice because I was going to make him do it whether he really wanted to or not.

To say I was surprised when the boy wrapped his arms around me was a bit of an understatement. My siblings didn't really hug; they knew it wasn't something I was accustomed to. However, something about the warmth of his body on me broke me. I relaxed into the embrace, leaning into his hug and returning it.

"If I do it now, I'll always be a kid?"

Eternity as a child, a curse I was all too accustomed to. It hurt when I told him, "Always."

Collin hesitated before pulling away from the hug, eying me with curiosity. The same curiosity his mom had a lot. The same curiosity I'd seen in Brady's eyes. "Will it hurt?"

No, this was something I wouldn't lie about, I didn't want him to hate me for it. "I wish I could say it wouldn't but that would be a lie. It will hurt, Collin. It will hurt a lot. You'll scream and cry and beg to die."

There was a brief flash of fear in his eyes and for a moment I feared he'd decide not to do it. When the one word I needed to hear left his lips I felt better, "Okay." He said quietly. The words that followed me broke me, I almost turned back, "For momma."

I couldn't though. "Lay down, Collin." I said softly, he did as told and I crawled to his side, pressing my lips to the vein in his neck for the first and last time. I would never turn him back. I would curse him to eternity. He would be mine. That mindset should've bothered me, it didn't though, instead I bit.

Collin blinked several times when he was pulled out of Mary's memory. Something about witnessing the memory directly from her perspective rather than using his ability was…strange. It left him feeling…empty, lonely. Was he getting the residual of her feelings at the time? Nothing like that had ever happened to him. Normally he was left feeling for whoever he relived the memories of, not feeling what they'd felt.

She'd felt so alone, so empty…it had been her solution to her loneliness, make someone else to suffer through eternity with her. It wasn't possible for him to imagine living millions of years with no one except a sister who wanted to wipe out humanity, a sister she was destined to kill. The concept just…it was overwhelming and hurt his head a bit. Could he blame her for manipulating him? Not really. Did he wish she hadn't? Absolutely.

"Collin." Mary's tone was wary.

He swallowed unnecessarily. Just because he understood why she did it, it didn't mean he'd immediately forgive her for it. What she'd done was painful for him, she'd manipulated their minds, made them all believe she'd done it to help him. Even if he'd known it was for something more. Rather than pushing that, he changed the subject. "Vegas, right? What exactly is happening there?"

Mary slumped to the ground, glancing towards the edge of the boat where Holly was completely oblivious or had just ignored to their argument. Maybe that was a good thing. Her focus moved back to him and she smiled weakly. "A few months back I got some information from a certain person inside, Mele had been speaking with a shifter pack. There were rumors going around that I wasn't as powerful as I made myself out to be. Which is completely true. Up until very recently I didn't know anyone knew that I could die to you, Brady, and Bur. I didn't want Brady to get drug into a game of power because I knew it'd force Bur into the open. As much as I love your cousin, Bur is the key to me holding my position. That soul bound connection between siblings, you've seen it in action, under normal circumstances, it's the biggest strength we have. Being able to communicate like that…I'd forgotten how great it is to see through my brother's eyes." Mary trailed off, staring off for a couple minutes.

Collin didn't interrupt her when she got lost in her thoughts. Instead he moved his gaze over to Holly who was still wagging her foot like a dog wagged its tail. Who was she? Why was she keeping who she had been a secret? There was something else nagging at him, he'd seen those facial features before. If he could just place where.

"Anyways," Mary cleared her throat, drawing his focus back. "I wasn't really worried they'd try to make a move. I didn't think they were stupid enough to try something."

"What about those werewolves?"

Mary flinched, looking down at the ground. "They don't matter."

"Are you joking, Mary? They do matter. They tried to kill me."

"They wouldn't-"

He shook his head, growling as he cut her off. "They were striking to kill. They tried to kill me. They may not have tried to kill Bur but they went for the kill on me. Why were they turned in broad daylight? I know you're keeping something from me."

Mary gnawed on the inside of her mouth before looking towards Holly and answering. "All of us have to have an origin. I was the first vampire, Ak was the first shifter, it leaves reason to believe that werewolves would have to have an original as well as humanity. Werewolves didn't exist until around a million years ago. I never really looked into them because they kept to themselves. For the most part, they are isolated creatures. I was able to flip the switch in Rosalie's mind to force her to change all those years ago. It leaves reason to assume that, if there is an original werewolf around like myself, it could do the same and more. Similar to Ak and her shifters who she could control at the flick of her wrist, this werewolf might be capable of making the werewolves obey her or him at will."

Collin took this information with discomfort, Mary was near impossible to kill and if it hadn't been for Dol binding their essence to his mother she wouldn't have been able to kill her. The originals weren't weak creatures, they were scarily strong, if Mary was right and there was an original werewolf…there was one thing that didn't add up about this though.

"Why would it be working with that shifter pack? You don't work with anyone."

"Well, Ak had her pack of abominations though it wasn't really for her own benefit. I have my motivation, Ak had hers, I imagine that this werewolf would have to have one."

"It isn't killing anyone." They both blinked, looking over at Emma as she spoke up, her brown eyes a distinct sign of who they were talking to. "Sorry." She muttered, turning to face them, her eyes brown now. "I was listening. From what I've heard, you work to protect humanity. Keep the balance. You killed off a bunch of vampires and a chunk of humanity. I also heard that Ak wanted all of humanity gone. That was her purpose. Beings as old as you have to have a purpose, right?"

Mary nodded slowly, looking at the ground. "Without a purpose, we will sink into depression or madness. You're right. If this werewolf does exist it should have a purpose. Whether it's derived from living for a long time or one of those things. I'm not sure what it is though."

"It's targeting you."

Mary frowned at Collin's words then shook her head. "No. I don't think it's that simple. That shifter seemed very sure about her own intentions. I need to think for a minute." Mary got up and walked towards the area where the person was driving the boat.

"So are you going to apologize?" Collin stared at the girl with confusion. "For threatening my life." She clarified.

"No. I still don't trust you. I think Mary should be threatening your life right now."

"Too scared to do it yourself? I'm surprised." He glared and she smiled innocently. "I'm screwing with you. Look, Collin. I know you don't like this. I know you don't trust me. I may be a bit up on my high horse right now because I have protection which I haven't had in a very long time." A sad look flashed across her expression before it vanished. "Let's at least try to be civil."

"Fine." He surrendered to the part of him that just wanted to talk to the Old Soul. "If I ask you about your life will you take it as me trying to get information?"

"I'll be careful what I say." Emma smiled sadly and sat down in front of him. "Sit." He did as told, watching the Old Soul. "What exactly do you want to know about my life?"

"Where did you die?"

"That's a rushed question." When he didn't respond she sighed and slumped her shoulders. "Make it difficult why don't you? Okay. I'm sure you've pieced together that I was in Missouri."

Absently, he had noted that, it was the only thing that explained her knowing about Renesmee.

"Well I died in Missouri."

"How did you die?" She pressed her fingers to her lips and he sighed. "Fine. Too much. How long were you there?"

She paused for a moment, clearly tearing at her thoughts. "A long while." Was her answer.

"Not going to elaborate on that?"

"Never."

"Fine." He paused for a moment, "Did you know my mom?"

Emma paused for a moment, a brief flurry of emotions crossing her expression before vanishing. A sad look covered her face, "I knew her. I also knew Dol. I won't tell you how I knew them."

So she had known his mother and his aunt. That cut down the list of who she could be immensely. Unless…

"How honest are you being with me, Emma?"

She pressed her finger to her lips, not answering the question. Some of the details she knew had to be true. There was no other way she could know those things, unless she'd heard them from the pack…

"I know what you're thinking, the pack raised the girl you named Holly as a wolf. What I know about Missouri is all my own information."

"I thought you didn't want me to know who you were."

She frowned, chewing on her lip before answering. "I can't tell you who I am. You can't know. It doesn't mean I don't want you to know. It just means I can't tell you. I have to be very careful about what I tell you because of this. It doesn't mean I don't want to tell you. It means I can't."

"Why can't you?" He pried, pleading, because this was driving him insane.

"I just can't." The girl snapped.

"Collin, stop being your aunt." He jerked his head around to see Mary emerging from the small room that housed the person driving the boat.

"Don't compare me to my aunt." He responded with irritation.

"Then stop acting like her. Her curiosity and pride nearly got her and your mom killed." He stared at her.

"Your mom was very open with me, Collin. You forget. She was my sister and I was the only person in existence that could understand her on soul sibling bonds."

He opened his mouth then shut it again, staring at his sister for several moments.

"I'm not an open person, Collin. I don't understand why you are always so surprised when you learn something about me." Mary shook her head and slumped down to the ground. "So, Vegas. Wonderful."

"Why don't you want to go?" Emma asked curiously.

"I hate getting involved. The fact that they're dragging me in to deal with them means there will be bodies dropped. I am going to kill some of them. Which means I will have to restructure the Head Counsel, again. For some reason this millennium is full of power hungry halfwits with no respect for their elders."

Collin couldn't help but laugh at the irony of her being classified as an "elder" considering she was probably physically the youngest vampire on the planet. Vampire laws stated no one under twelve could be turned, making Collin, technically, an outlaw vampire. Mary was an exception because she was the original and her protection over him was the only thing that kept him from being executed.

"Oh bite me, Collin. Look. When we get there, you need to stick to my side no matter what. Emma, I am leaving you with someone while the big bad vamps deal with the Head Counsel.

"Wait, you're leaving her?" Collin stared in disbelief at Mary who rolled her eyes.

"Of course I'm leaving her, Collin. You're kidding, right? A human in the middle of the Head Counsel who are planning on turning their backs on me? I may be stupid but I'm not a complete moron. I bring her in there, they're going to slaughter her just because they can."

Emma swallowed audibly, clearly the prospect of dying bothered her.

"Who are you leaving her with?"

"An old acquaintance." When Collin glared at her she sighed and elaborated. "Someone that you can't kill, Collin. I am well aware of what he did to your aunt but he's been my inside man on the counsel for years."

Collin wanted to kill her, he knew exactly who the other vampire was talking about and he was not ready to begin trusting Alec of all people with another Old Soul.

"You've seen who he was to your aunt. What happened with your grandma was a tragedy, truly, it was, if I'd known I'd have executed Jane to keep Brady from losing the last of his family. Just like every other moron who has grown to like your family, he's loyal to all of you. Whether you like it or not, he's trustworthy."

Collin growled at her, baring his teeth. "We aren't doing this, Mary. I trust Alec as far as Emma can throw you. We're not trusting him."

"You forget, Collin. It's not a matter of we. I can go in there alone. I'd prefer to have you by my side though, because as it stands, I'd rather not be alone. If I'm right, they're going to try to subdue me, and, if they have enough strength behind them, they can do it. Almost dying, it's not fun. They can't kill me but they can hurt me. If they get me again, these are vampires, it won't be as simple as it was to get me out of the shifter's nest."

Collin stared at Mary. She was forcing him to choose between a girl he barely knew and her. Normally, his instinctive answer would've been choosing Mary, his sister, it was what had been engrained in him for a long while. Protect his sister. Stand by his sister. Bella had been blindly loyal to Dol and it had nearly gotten her killed, multiple times. Collin wouldn't make that mistake. He loved his mother but her and Dol had been overly dependent. He wouldn't make that mistake. There was a line and right now he was still angry with Mary for manipulating his memories.

"I'm not leaving her with Alec."

Mary stared at him for a moment before sighing in exasperation. "For the love of God, Collin. Yes, Alec's sister killed your grandmother. I feel for you, I do, but right now your insistent need for vengeance against someone who didn't even directly harm your family is just plain ch-"

He cut her off with a hiss, "Childish? Don't go there, Mary. If you didn't want childish behavior from me, you should've waited. We aren't leaving her with Alec. End. Of. Discussion."

"Do I get a say in this?" Emma finally broke in.

Mary spoke before Collin could interject a no. "Yes. Let her decide. After all. That's why you're in such a bad mood, right? Choices being made for you. So let her decide."

Collin glared at his sister but didn't speak up, because, yes, that was part of why he was so angry with her.

"Who exactly is Alec?"

"Dol's first love." Mary spoke up before Collin could, "Probably the only person she ever loved in the romantic aspect. Before you throw in your thoughts, Collin. Yes. He loved her too. Stop throwing that fact out the window just because you're angry with him. Bella would've taken Dol's side to her last breath because of her loyalty to her and she would've never killed her. I was there. She wasn't going to let it happen. Alec did kill his sister, because of Dol, it broke part of him and he bolted, but he did kill her, he did avenge the death of your grandmother. Even if it was forced. Get. Over. It."

Collin didn't stop glaring at his sister, most of what she was trying to explain just wasn't going through his brain.

"Grow up, Collin. Get over the fact that you're trapped in the body of a child. It stinks. I get it. I need you to work with me on this though."

There it was. She needed his help. And he saw the perfect opportunity. "Okay. I'll do it. I'll help you with whatever it is that's happening, if, you promise me something."

Mary narrowed her eyes, knowing exactly where this was going. "Collin-"

"No. After all this stupid crap is over, you will turn me back. You will make me human again. You'll free me from this God forsaken curse."

Emma made a pained sound that barely registered in his brain.

"Then, maybe, in a few years, when I'm not trapped in this stupid body, I'll let you turn me back. I can't do this though, Mary."

Mary averted her gaze from her brother. "If I let you grow up, I'll lose you. Don't deny it either. The problem with growing up is, you grow up. Humanity has changed since I was a child. Almost, devolved. I honestly don't think I got you soon enough."

"Soon enough for what?"

"Do you know why immortal children are outlawed, Collin? Why the age of a vampire is so strict?"

"Immortal children…are dangerous."

"Exactly. When a child, my age for example, gets turned into a vampire. Nine by your terms. Normal children my age have habits. Bad habits. Throwing fits, breaking things. Well you've seen how you react. That's with a more rational mind. Normally vampires don't develop mentally from the age they are. If someone from this day and age were to get turned at my age it'd be a dangerous situation. When I turned you, I was sort of hoping for that. It's vindictive and wrong. I know that. Before you get angry listen. The best part of that naivety is this. The mind of those children never truly develops past the age they're at, they can be taught if the vampire has the patience and time. If I'd gotten you just a bit sooner, I would've had what I needed. Since you mentally developed, I'm dealing with backlash."

"What backlash? This isn't making any sense-"

"You're mentally developed to the age of a…twenty-year-old. We'll go with that. You have your childish lash outs because part of you will never mature. Collin, you're falling in love with someone. It's why you're lashing out now. Yes, you've thrown fits before but this is different. You aren't asking to grow up because you're mad about something small, you're asking to grow up so you can be older. Somewhere, deep in your mind, I'm sure you've pieced this together. You want to be able to do what that part of your mind craves but your body is too young to satisfy. I thought I got you soon enough that it wouldn't happen but it is and it's pissing me off." There was the distinct sound of a startled sound from Emma but it barely clicked with him because he was dumbfounded by what Mary was saying, "I won't turn you human, Collin. I'm sorry but I won't. You'll get over this and you'll move on. Whoever you're infatuated with, whether it's a memory or someone you know. It's not going to happen. You'll get over it. You are mine. You're going to stand with me in Vegas because that's what we both know you want to do and you'll get over this puppy crush. We're leaving her with Alec because he is trustworthy."

Collin didn't respond to what she was saying, the conversation had gone so far uphill that he wasn't sure if there was a peak. What was she talking about? He was falling in love? Was it Leah? Had Leah triggered that in his brain and he just wasn't quite there mentally to be able to understand the attraction because of his age? Shaking his head, he turned and walked to the edge of the boat, settling against the side and staring across the world.

Mary had accomplished something, something he didn't register. He dragging his thoughts to this completely made him forget that he was arguing with her about Alec and everything else. Including his leverage to force her to change him into a human. He could afford to sink into a memory, maybe one of his mom and Dol eating ice-cream with their moms. Yeah. Ice-cream. That was what he'd do. He shut his eyes and was sucked into his mother's early childhood.

So this chapter was kind of important. You know, I thought you weren't writing a love story. This won't be centered on a love story. It never is. Who is Emma? That's a secret. Guys, I know who it is. She keeps typing the wrong name when she types Emma. It- Nope. No spoilers. Remember. I answer all questions asked in reviews and try to respond to all reviews either way. Reviews motivate me! Also, if you missed it, I posted another alternate ending on Essence that you should really go check out. Shameless promotion. You can't deny you liked it. Sure, in that sad rip your heart out kind of way. See you guys next time!