Chapter 21

Nessie's POV

Telling the Tale

"Guys, go back to the house. The wolves will back me up here."

"Renesmee…" Tanya trails off, eyeing the visitor in the tree with almost astonishment. "I… I'm staying here. Everyone else can go back."

I'm confused by Tanya's reaction, but not enough to tell her she should go home. She doesn't look threatened by his presence so I just nod. The other Denali coven members dash into the trees, heading toward the house.

With Tanya by the tree I turn toward the wolves-my wolf. "Jacob, listen. I know you don't trust him." Jake growls in response. "Yes, yes, I know, he hurt me. Newsflash-I'm ok." He snorts ever so slightly, a wolfish laugh. "Listen, I'm going to explain everything to our visitor, so I'm not sure if you want to be in the house, but you know the rules. No wolves inside." He smiles at me goofily.

I turn back to the tree and smile softly at our visitor. "The house is through those trees a few miles." I say, pointing into the trees.

"You have an actual house?" He sounds skeptical. Rightfully so, not many vampires can manage a permanent place of residence.

"Well… not me. My grandparents." I say not thinking.

The vampire is shocked to say the least. "You're heart beats, I can hear it. But you know about us, and you're fast. As fast as we are, but slower than your wolf friends. What are you?"

"Um… how good are you with weird?" I ask slowly.

"Pretty good I guess."

"Well… let's see. I guess I should tell you the story of my parents. My mother's name is Bella-short for Isabella, in case you're curious, and my father's name is Edward. My dad is a vampire. He met my mother when he was posing as a high school student here in Forks Washington." I sense his confusion before I realize what I've said.

"Your father-how old was he when he was changed?" That's what he's asking?

"Seventeen. He was changed by the person I call my grandfather, and he was the first in the coven with him. His name is Carlisle, and he's an amazing person. It's hard for me to tell my story without telling theirs first." I say, apologetically.

He nods, and we continue walking, though I can hear the wolves and Tanya following us.

"Carlisle was changed a while before that, though he resented his need to drink human blood. Carlisle valued human life and I can proudly say he's never drank human blood." The visitor freezes in shock. "I know, my family is very unorthodox. He taught himself to drink and thrive on animal blood. It keeps us strong, and keeps the thirst manageable."

"You say 'us'," The visitor interrupts, "Does that mean you live off animal blood too?"

"It does. I do live off animal blood, at least part-time. I can also live off human food." He nods and I continue. "So, when Carlisle changed my father Edward he taught him to drink animal blood as well. They lived together for some time, until Carlisle changed a woman, who became his wife, Esme. She also lives on animal blood.

"The family continued to grow from there. Carlisle changed my aunt Rosalie during one of their stays in a town and she was unhappy for some time, until she found my uncle Emmet. He was being attacked by a bear, though I won't go into anyone's story too deeply, they should tell you themselves. Anyways. My aunt carried him home to Carlisle so he could change him.

"They were together, and Esme and Carlisle were together, and my father, Edward was still alone. The family was still growing though." I say, though we've reached the house and we're heading inside.

"We can sit, and I can finish the story." I say, gesturing to the couches.

I notice, in some part of my mind that Jacob hasn't come inside yet, and I'm assuming he's phasing back into a human.

Despite that, I don't pause in the story, except to allow the vampire-who's still nameless at this point and myself to sit.

"Um… Oh! Yes, so the family was still growing. My aunt Alice and uncle Jasper came together to find Carlisle and join him in his unusual way of life. They came from unusual backgrounds, but in respect of their privacy I will allow them to tell you-or not tell you, themselves. Though if you're confused about anything please don't hesitate to ask."

"Then, may I ask what you mean when you say 'to find Carlisle'?"

"Of course!" I say brightly. "I'm sorry I forgot to mention these things. Some of my family is talented. My father, Edward, he reads minds, both vampire and human. My uncle Jasper can control emotions, and sense them. Finally, the talent that will answer your question, my aunt Alice can see the future-with limitations, though I'll explain that later.

"Long story short, she saw her life with Carlisle and his family and she couldn't wait to be a part of it. That's the problem with seeing the future, my aunt Alice often lives in multiple time periods. For example, if and when she meets you, she'll most likely call you by name and act as though she's known you for years, probably because she really has.

"Anyways, she came with Jasper, her almost husband at the time, and they were both accepted quickly. The diet of animal blood makes bonds tighter. That means that my coven is much more like a family than most. Their 'vegetarian' lifestyle allows them to coexist easier and be much more 'human' so to speak.

"That pretty much brings you up to speed on the family dynamic when my father met my mother."

"When you say 'met' you mean that she was a human high schooler?"

"Yes. It's not a simple story to tell, complicated as it is, but I will do my best."

All the sudden Jake comes in the back door his face worried, until he meets my eyes. He quickly sits beside me on the couch, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

The visitor's nose wrinkles in disgust and he leans away, "Don't take this the wrong way," He says to Jake. "But you stink."

Jacob actually manages a laugh, "Right back at you, bloodsucker." He says smiling. Then, thoughtful, Jacob turns to me, "What's his name?" He whispers in my ear, knowing the other vampire can probably hear us.

The visitor answers, "My name is Fred."

Jacob nods, "Jacob." He says, surprising me by actually giving the newest arrival a very 'guy' type of greeting in a nod of his head.

"Nice to meet you." Fred says, cordially.

"You too." I grab Jake's hand and squeeze it encouragingly. Anything to keep the atmosphere light and friendly.

"Back to the story," I interrupt pleasantly. "My father's family tends to pose as humans in any given environment and they act as young as possible so they can stay in one spot for as long as possible. A little more than seven years ago my father met my mother in Forks high school.

"He had been practicing Carlisle's way of life for more than 100 years off and on, so he was confident in his ability to resist the call of human blood. Unfortunately he had never encountered anyone who smells the way my mother smelled to him. She was, as they call it in Italy 'his singer' because her blood 'sang for him'.

"He's told me before that nothing has ever been that hard for him. He'd never had to resist the call of his 'singer' before, and the time in that biology classroom, as fate had it, was the hardest hour of his life. He had left for some time then, to avoid killing Bella-my mother.

"He had left, to go visit our extended cousins, in Denali." I say, gesturing to Tanya and her family. "They live just as we do, feasting on animal blood-which you can tell because of their yellowish eyes. Animal blood does that."

"But not to you." Fred points out.

"No, but I will explain that later."

"Alright."

"So, my father was off in Alaska, sulking-in essence-about his weakness. Until he convinced himself he could resist. He returned to high school and tried to ignore my mother, though that proved impossible. You see, my mother is the only person who's thoughts my father couldn't hear.

"This made her mind very intriguing for him. Although he soon found that it wasn't just her blood, or her mind that made her interesting. My father, a vampire, had fallen hopelessly in love with a human. You may have seen this before, a vampire finding his mate? It's a very strong connection, and it's also permanent." I say, my eyes sliding toward Jacob of their own accord when I speak of the 'strong connection'.

"My father soon realized he couldn't stay away from my mother and he began to spend time with her-all the while denying the inner monster that told him to drink her blood. It wasn't hard for my mother to figure out that my father wasn't human. Though figuring out what he actually was, that was a little more tricky."

I nudge Jake's knee with my own. "Jacob, here, actually told her what my father was-though he didn't know it at the time. Jake told her about the legends of his tribe, which included the legends about Quileute boys turning into wolves and fighting 'the cold ones'-vampires.

"Then my mother knew what my father was. She accepted him-crazy as that was, and they fell in love. Unfortunately things weren't easy for them. My father believed-well… believes that because of his vampire state he no longer has a soul, and so he stubbornly refused to change my mother into a vampire, despite her wish to remain with him for eternity.

"My father, at one point actually believed it best to leave my mother and go off. He thought it would be best for her, though it almost got them both killed. As it was my mother found a best friend in Jacob, and shortly after their friendship began he phased-for the first time-into a wolf.

"They worked things out, until my father heard from Rosalie-his sister who had never been particularly fond of Bella, told him that Alice had seen Bella 'die'. Part of that was true-my mother had jumped off a cliff, and it seemed to my aunt Alice that she was trying to commit suicide-though she wasn't.

"Anyways, my father went to the Volturi looking to be executed because he didn't want to live in a world where my mother no longer existed. However, at the same time my aunt Alice was going to see if my mother was actually dead-which of course she wasn't.

"Then, seeing the future, Alice convinced my mother to go save my father from forcing the Volturi's hand. Before I get too far in this part of the story, do you know what the Volturi is?"

"No. I've heard their name in passing, though."

"They are, in essence, the law makers and enforcers in our world. There are laws, a few that I'm sure you could guess, and some that you probably couldn't but all the same the Volturi guard is what keeps the vampires of the world in line. You don't mess with them.

"The law of upmost importance is that our kind keeps themselves secret from humans, as I'm sure you've gathered by now." Then a thought occurs to me. "How old are you?"

"I was changed when I was twenty years old, though I doubt that's what you mean. I was changed about eight years ago, by an unknown vampire. Well… unknown at least to myself."

"You didn't know your creator?" I ask, curiosity getting the best of me.

"No, though I can't say I'm sorry I didn't know her."

"It was a female?"

"That much I do remember, yes. It was a female."

"Oh. So, now that you know about the Volturi, my father was going to reveal himself to the humans, by walking into the sun in front of a crowd. The Volturi would have had no choice but to eliminate him. Fortunately before he could do anything hasty my mother stopped him.

"Then my father, Alice, and Bella managed to make a bargain with the Volturi-because no humans were supposed to know about vampires existence, about letting my mother leave alive. The deal was that my mother had to become a vampire for the Volturi to leave her alone. They accepted and left the Volturi's city-Volterra quickly.

"My mother, unfortunately, has the worst luck, and their troubles didn't end their."

Fred looks shocked. "You mean to tell me that your mother caused all this trouble in the vampire world before she was even really a part of it?" He actually smiles a little at this insane thought.

"That's exactly it. And now, I think we're up to their deal. My father promised to change my mother-if, and only if she would marry him first. This deal wasn't easy for my mother to make, because she was only eighteen. Eventually she did cave, though at this point there was an issue with Victoria and her army…" I hadn't realized how long this story would take until I actually started telling it.

Wow! I'm with Nessie. I had no idea how complicated it would be to tell that story to a newcomer. However, the next chapter will be more original because Fred is going to remember his time spent with Victoria's army, and all that good stuff. It's going to also be the end of the story-aside from Fred's questions and other stuff like that. Oh, and what do you all think of Tanya's reaction to our new friend? Hmmmm...

:)

Thanks for reading,

R&R