The Cullens

Tinkling, flowing music played in my ears, a backdrop to a symphony of thoughts. I sat around an old-fashion table with the strangers, and the keys of a piano played a heartwarming tune, which may have brough tears to my eyes had I had any to shed. I was digesting the information I'd just been told. About vampire-humans, about the Volturi, about a new life style that I'd never known to be possible.

The vampire-human. I chewed it over in my head, eyeing the adolescent brown-haired vampire that I knew to be known as Bella. Bella Cullen. She sat close to the protective boy--Edward Cullen. The adults, at either end of the table, were named Carlisle (the "father" figure) and Esme (obviously the "mother" figure), and the other adolescents were members of their coven, or their sons and daughters; the arrogant blond girl, named Rosalie; the playful, juggernaut of a teenager with curly dark hair, Emmet; the tiny, spiky-black-haired friendly girl named Alice; and Jasper, the honey blond boy with gruesome scars all over his vampiric body, and whose eyes seemed to follow me everywhere I went.

The music played, unwavering, and I chanced a glance at the small girl at the piano. So young. . . . But she was definitely a prodigy. A half-vampire, half-human. Reneesme Cullen. The daughter of Bella and Edward Cullen.

Her case boggled me. A vampire-human? How could that be possible? Yes, it was definitely a unique situation: it turned out that Bella Cullen was a new vampire, a human almost a year ago. Reneesme, this gentle vampire-human spawn, had been the result of a romance between a vampire and a human. I marveled at this. Vampire and human! Together, with no violence! I knew, too well, that I could never have done it. Reneesme had been concieved when Bella was human--and poor Bella was turned into a vampire in the process of her birth. More unconditional love. How much love could this family generate?

And then there was their story about the Volturi. I'd always known the Volturi to keep order in the vampire world. And to them I was grateful. How could I not be? They'd always been the only thing I'd known to protect our secrets from the humans. I was more than fond of the idea of joining them someday.

But the stories they told! About their gifts of torture, how easily they could take another life, without a second thought, their willingness to kill a whole army of vampires just to punish them for the child that was Reneesme--and then kill her. I simply couldn't believe it. And I wouldn't.I would reserve my judgement--I wouldn't let their stories hinder my respect for the order-keepers of the only world I'd ever known for forty years.

And then there was that last piece of information, unbelievable, extrordinary. It was the Cullens' lifestyle of peace. For they did not drink human blood. They lived on animal blood! More than lived--the thrived! They were happy. They had the ability to build relationships with others, extending themselves to a world that they were no longer a part of--the human world.

Of course, in my forty years of living, the idea had crossed my mind a few times. How could it not? I had, still, had remorse for my sins--I had, after all, been one of those week, helpless humans before. Every life I took for my own selfish gain was a blow to a community, a wound to a family, and the premature ending of a life, of which I had no right to take. But still, every time the idea of drinking animal blood and sparing the poor humans had crossed my mind, it was quickly replaced by what I knew instinctively.

When on the hunt, I knew it, I could feel it: human blood was my path, my way of life, the only thing that made sense. It was vampire sustainence, and that was the simple truth. Animal blood was not--I knew this, every time I smelled the heavenly scent of my true sustainence.

But these vampires had done it, that which I had given up as impossible. . . . Was it possible for me?

there was no silence around the table, but the chatter of voices. Love. All of these vampires had their soulmates next to them--Edward with Bella, Carlisle with Esme, Jasper with Alice, Emmet with Rosalie. They spoke with contented, happy tones, love simply dripping off of their voices. I felt somehow hollow, empty, remembering the life I had given up along with my humanity.

I cleared my throat quietly, feeling kind of rude as I did so. Only Esme and Carlisle turned to me the others still speaking with their love-saturated croons.

"Do you have something to say, Blaire?" asked Esme, calling me by my name, which I'd told her in the preceding conversation. Carlisle was watching me with piercing eyes.

"I . . ." I said, my voice sounding distant, to me. "I want to try . . . to be like you. To drink animal blood."

I'd caught the attention of the couples. Every eye turned on me. Even the tinkling music stopped, and I knew Reneesme was watching me.

"Are you sure?" The voice was skeptical. It came from Jasper, who was watching me suspiciously. "You think you're able to?" He was very serious.

"She's welcome to try," said Carlisle, and I felt a rush of gratitude--he was willing to give me a chance! "What do we have to lose?"

And they began planning, planning my first hunt, and I was shunted out of the conversation, as I really wasn't sure what to say. Hesitantly, I went and sat next to Reneesme at the piano bench, where she had begun to play her tranquil melody again. She stopped when I sat beside her, and looked up expectantly with her chocolate brown eyes. I held my breath. It was like the little incident between us and her parents hadn't even happened. But I felt the need to apologise.

"I'm sorry, Reneesme," I said quietly. "Y'know, for ticking off your dad. . . ."

"It's okay," she said, in her melodic, childlike voice. "You didn't do anything wrong." I smiled at her.

We sat in silence, until she brought up the question.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" she asked quite suddnely.

"Ah, no." I said, a little confused. But then I realized how all of the people in her life seemed so madly in love with eachother, it's all she's ever known. I sighed. "No, not since I became a vampire when I was twenty," I said, more quietly still but I was sure she could hear me. "About forty years ago."

"What happened?" she asked, such innocence in her voice. I'd forgotten how she'd been used to the idea that vampires and humans could easily forge relationships. I smiled more sadly at her.

"I hurt someone I love." She seemed surprised, and moreover, apologetic. But I waved away her apologies. "It was a long time ago. There's nothing that can be done now, can there?"

Reneesme dissolved into deep thought. So did I.

A/N: Hey! I REALLY wanna thank all of my readers, ESPECIALLY the ones that reviewed! (oh yeah, review, please!) Really, thank you so much. I couldn't keep doing this without the support of my reviewers. Love you guys! Oh, and sorry it took me so long to updat--you know, research papers. . . .