Chapter Seven: The Vow

I arrived home later that evening and managed to pull my father's car appropriately into the driveway without causing any untoward scratches or dents to it. I was fully aware of the law enforcement officer living across the street, and I knew full well that if something hit the fan, he'd be the first to know about it. I slid out of the car, purchases in tow, and locked the car door behind me; heading up the small set of stairs proved not to be a challenge as I managed to find my house key and let myself in.

I go upstairs and add my new Russian nesting doll to the collection, as well as filing away the books I'd bought on their appropriate shelves. Perching on the end of my bed, I took out my cell phone, finding a text from my father, saying that he was pulling a double and wouldn't be home until three o'clock the next day. That meant that he had two days off, so I made a mental note to go shopping the following day and buy a few cookbooks online and to get some suitable groceries for the house. Meat would definitely be on the menu, I then reasoned as I picked up a book and made myself comfortable.

I awoke the following morning at around nine-thirty a.m. and decided to get up. I went to my en suite bathroom to grab a shower, before blow-drying my hair and selecting a pair of jeans and a T-shirt at random. One of my many pairs of sneakers completed the ensemble; I had decided to go shopping first, whereupon I'd come home and go for a run, deciding then to finalize what I would be making for dinner. I head downstairs, pulling on a light sweater as I go, and make a grab for my father's keys, deciding to fill up on gas on the way to the only supermarket in town, the Thriftway.

I get twenty dollars' worth of gas for my father's car before putting hand sanitizer on my hands as I get back into his car. I drive back on the main street, passing Forks High School, and mentally wonder what it will ultimately be like to be a student there. I arrive at the Thriftway promptly, parking the car and heading inside, grabbing a grocery cart. I find I can hear the rain on the roof above, and I know that I will have to run from the entrance and back to the car to avoid getting wet. I buy some chicken—breasts and three whole ones—, steaks, sausages, and meatballs from the meat department before heading over to the produce section, picking out some potatoes and leeks as well as ready-made Caesar salad kits.

I go to the pasta aisle and pick out various shapes of the simple carbohydrate and go to the dairy section and buy a wide variety of cheeses as well. I even bought a few baking essentials, including but not limited to baking powder and soda, as well as the official Panko breadcrumbs. Garlic powder was also a must-have for the cabinet too, as I'd realized my father only kept salt and pepper in the house. I bought a dozen of brown, AA cage-free eggs and puttered around the store, wondering if I needed to get anything else. Thinking that I'd bought enough, I go into the check-out line, using the credit card used for food money and accepted the bags from the clerk.

Heading out into the rainstorm, I quickly make my way through the parking lot and towards my father's car. I unlock the trunk with the push-button activation system and load the groceries into the car, before slamming it shut and getting back into the vehicle as the rain continues to fall. I make my way home along the slick streets, navigating myself carefully so as not to be crushed by oncoming traffic. Pulling off the main street and out of town, I make my way towards my father's street and park the car quickly, fetching the groceries from the trunk and heading inside hurriedly.

I pull my hood down, quickly setting down the bags on the small kitchen table as I set to work putting them away. I am glad that I bought some dishwasher detergent, knowing that once I explain to Dad how to use it, the dish cleaning ritual will become easier. I put the perishables into the fridge and the other things like crackers and other room-temperature snacks into their proper pantries before folding up the bags—I'd splurged a little and got some of those reusable ones—and set them on a low shelf by the kitchen back door. Rolling my shoulders, I realized that it was not prime weather for a sprint or long hike so I decided to relax at home that afternoon.

I went upstairs to my room, knowing my mother would want me to call her at some point, so I compromised and texted her, telling her that it was raining and that I'd just been on a trip to the grocery store. Due to the small-town-ness of Forks, I could give her a white lie and say that I didn't have enough cell service to call her. I tried it, and she took the bait, telling me to be safe, as that mysterious note had done. I debate going on my computer to see if we'd gotten some sort of welcome email from any teachers—at my former school, there was usually a pre-reading list to adhere to, at least—but decided against it. I still had a few weeks and knew that, even if I spaced out any prior work to be done before the school year began, I'd have more than enough time.

Walking over to my window, I saw a car pull up across the street at Charlie and Sue's house and thought it was a very nice vehicle. Edward and Bella got out from the passenger and driver's seat respectively, while the back doors opened and a young woman with long, bronze hair and a young man who looked to be a part of a Native American tribe from an old fairy tale trooped out behind them. The front door of the house opened and Charlie and Sue stepped out; Charlie hugged Bella and embraced the young woman—I took this to be Renesmee Cullen, daughter of Edward and Bella—while he shook Edward's hand and merely looked warily at the second man, who I took to be Jacob Black. As I watched this family greeting, I was shocked when Edward turned around, staring me down from several yards away.

Thinking I was intruding on this spectacle, I turned away and continued to consider what to make for dinner later that night.

After a long-awaited visit with my father, I find I don't want to return home as quickly as I originally thought. I get behind the wheel of my car, gripping the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles turn even whiter than before. I am pleased when Richard doesn't merely demand that I drive and when I do, I am tempted to slam the bottom of my foot onto the gas and to plummet down the street like there's no tomorrow.

It was almost as if there was no tomorrow when it came to my day-to-day life. With my body never needing sleep, I reasoned that I'd be able to complete as many years of school in half the time, if not less. However, such habits might arouse suspicion—I knew I could never enjoy college dorm life (although, I never believed I ever would) for my roommate would be perplexed at my lack of sleep. Sure, you hardly ever slept in college to begin with—if you'd decided to be an academic—but such things would look odd, especially if you'd decided to be serious about the subject.

Rolling my shoulders, I kept going down the main street of Forks, just watching human life passing me by. I'd made a choice when I went out for a walk that afternoon, I saw that now; I mean, had I not gone, perhaps I wouldn't have been turned at all. I could've remained ignorant to this whole new world that I was now a part of. I could have married a dull man when I hit my mid-to-late twenties, had a couple of kids with him, and then he'd grow tired of me and would run off with his secretary. It was always the old story, wasn't it? Seemingly perfect woman marries workaholic, has his kids, and then he proceeds to bad-mouth her behind her back, thus giving him considerable merit to move on with a considerably younger subordinate...

I find myself on the road to leaving Forks, but I don't care—all the darkened forests looked the same to me now. I remembered the palm trees dotting the roadside down in California and knew I'd never be happy there from the moment I could remember. I remembered Mom introducing me to Andy for the first time, and the unease I'd felt around him from the beginning of their relationship. I remembered it had begun with the little things—how Andy would want to take me up onto his lap, and Mom snapping pictures of the pair of us; it would be a pose here and there, originally, nothing more. Then I had to wear outfits that Andy especially liked, and it slowly progressed from there...

I keep along the road, ignoring the sign from the highway department of wherever, telling us to return to Forks soon. I find that one thing I missed most of all about my human life was the ability to cry—what I wouldn't give for tears to fall down my face, so as to show one ounce of emotion to someone, anyone. How many tears had been shed at what Andy had done to me? Thousands, probably, if not millions, always done behind closed doors; I distinctly remembered becoming an expert at breathing through my nose, due to me holding a pillow over my mouth constantly to keep Andy from hearing me sob over the horrors he'd put me through...

Richard said nothing to me as we continued along the dark, twisted road, and I was glad that he said nothing. I loved him, of course—I had proved as much in Aspen—but, as my mate, he knew when I needed him quiet. One thing he also seemed to know—he seemed to be in sync with me about the whole thing—was when my throat was burning with thirst and I desperately needed a hunt. Once I was able to deduce that nobody was around as we drove off a path and into some woods on the other side of the Cullen house, I found that I could not take it any longer.

I threw open the car door and dashed outside into the cool, midsummer air, Richard closely following me, and darted deeper and deeper into the woods. I scampered up at tree and held my nose aloft, smelling the air for something, anything, to quench my thirst. The dark night was a wonderful time to hunt, for the quiet gave us the heightened ability to discover where our prey was hiding. Finally, a twig snap a good four yards away caught my attention—the bobcat's claws were digging deep into the ground around it—and I moved ever so slightly into a spring positon.

Once I achieved said position, I was off like a light, darting between the twelve feet or so separating us and grabbing the impressive feline around its neck. The creature hissed in protest as I gripped tightly to it, but I couldn't care less. Efficiently, I let go of it and locked my legs around its neck, swinging precariously before pulling myself up to slice its throat with my fangs. The blood quickly flowed into my mouth—warm and appetizing—and I relished in the thought of having a clean kill. Kicking the carcass away from me, I noticed that Richard himself had drained two deer, and, satisfied, we returned to my car to go back to the house.

Richard and I returned to the Cullen house a full hour after revealing to my father that I was indeed alive. As soon as I walked into the living room, I almost ran to my bedroom, and I heard Richard considerately making excuses for me about the evening. I was pleased to see that Rosalie and Emmett had again put Sarah and the twins to bed, and resolved to book them a weekend trip somewhere romantic to thank them for their impeccable consideration towards me. I opened my bedroom door and shut off the automatic light quickly, having no desire to be bathed in it, and lay upon my bed in the darkness. If there was one thing I didn't miss about being human, it was the feeling of blankets wrapped around me—it made me feel safe.

Richard entered my room soon thereafter, shutting the door behind him and crossing the room to lie beside me. He raised his arm, allowing me to lie upon his chest; he wrapped said arm around me, placing his cheek against the top of my head. "Carlisle and Esme were very understanding, Beth. You could have told them yourself."

I turn to hide my face in my chest. "Couldn't do it..."

"Why?"

I sigh, picking my head up. "This may sound totally insane..."

"What?"

I bit my lip, inwardly cursing myself at continuing to do so. "It really felt like I was cheating on them or something tonight..."

"By going to see your father?"

I nod. "Yeah."

"That's ridiculous! He's your dad..."

"My human dad," I correct Richard. "Honestly, I can't understand it—I mean, I barely knew the guy, because my mom was crazy and she hated him. In her attempts to brainwash me, I was hindered from a proper relationship with him..."

"Seems like the lesser of two evils, doesn't it?"

I blink, looking at Richard full in the face. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, either put up with Andy until you move out, or turn into a vampire... What's worse for you, Beth? A home where you don't feel safe, or immortality?"

"A complex question, I'm afraid," I reply, feeling comfortable in his arms. "I mean, sure, it's something you consider growing up when you're playing fantasy, but seriously... I never dreamed it'd be like this..."

"Like what?"

I smile, hoping that he can't see how goofy I inevitably look. "Having someone that I can't live without, and won't have to live without..."

Richard chuckles. "Why? Because we're young forever?"

I sigh. "Well, that's one plus side... I just hope you won't get tired of me..."

Richard reaches out then, turning my head gently towards him. "I could never get tired of you, Beth. I love you."

I smile, basking in the love of his gaze. "I love you," I say quietly, tilting my head ever so slightly for him to kiss me.

The following morning, I practically run to my adoptive parents and allow them to hold me for a long period. Carlisle's arms were strong around me, while Esme constantly smoothed my hair—back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I knew that, yet again, had I been human, I would have been sobbing—that was one think I disliked about vampirism, the fact that you could so easily mask your emotions twenty-four/seven. Sure, it'd be convenient at the best of times, but most often, it was just sad.

"You told him, then?" Carlisle asked, after what must've been an hour, even though Richard had told them as much the night before.

"Yes," I whisper.

"How did he take it?" Esme questions.

I shrug. "He was in shock," I reply, not knowing how else to describe my father's attitude towards me living. "He..." I pull back from Carlisle and Esme then, turning back towards Richard, standing in the entrance to the living room. "Richard was able to dissuade him from telling the whole town..."

"Dissuade him? Your father?" Carlisle asks, his eyes—which had been locked on my face—turning to look at Richard. "What did you do?"

"I used my mental manipulation," Richard replies, "it is a part of my amnesia inducement and memory restoration. I was always so persuasive during my human life, and my mother and father, before times got bad, would give me whatever I wanted..."

"Would they?" Carlisle asks, intrigued.

"Yes," Richard says. "They'd get this expression on their faces—like the one that Chief Partridge had earlier... Their eyes would glaze over and they'd turn into zombies, shadows of their former selves. I could never explain my ability to anyone, and anybody who saw me do it..."

"You'd wipe their memory?" I guessed.

Richard nodded. "Yes. I suppose I didn't want to get into trouble..."

"What happened?" I whispered.

He forms a tight smile. "That is a tale for another time."

"Fascinating that you're able to retain that ability as a vampire," Carlisle replies. "Alice had hers as a human, as did Benjamin."

"Benjamin could manipulate the elements as a human?" I ask.

Carlisle nods. "Yes. Amun, his coven leader, discovered him in Egypt centuries ago. When Esme and I gathered witnesses for Renesmee's plight, we were told that Benjamin wasn't permitted to leave their compound very much, due to Amun's fear that the Volturi would hear about Benjamin and..."

"Take him," I say softly.

Carlisle's smile is the same amount of tightness as Richard's. "Yes."

I sigh, my shoulders slacking. "I still wonder if Aro's actions were deliberate," I say. "Perhaps he has managed to get himself a vampire with the ability to foresee me and my gifts, thus enabling him to have me created, or to do so himself..." I shake my head. "Could Aro be that brilliant, Carlisle? Could Aro really have a vampire with that ability?" Carlisle smiles, all of his wisdom at his visual fingertips for the taking. "Of course; we vampires can have merely basic abilities or the very rare extraordinary ones we've heard of, or have yet to hear of. Take Benjamin's gift for example, or there is Zafrina of the Amazon Coven."

"What does Zafrina do?" I ask.

"She possesses the gift of visual projection," Carlisle replies. "She can manipulate your mind into seeing a whole other world around you."

"Fascinating," I breathe, considering what that could be like.

Esme steps forward. "Do you think that Aro created you, Beth?" she asks. "Do you truly believe that?"

I shrug. "I don't know—I'm still new to all of this. Thankfully I have an eternity to figure it all out, providing that I don't offend them in the process."

There is a crash from the kitchen then, and I am immediately springing into action, dashing from the living room and into the next room, where Alice is shaking by the massive back wall, made entirely of glass. She turns at the sound of my feet and points below, to where the mailman has left the mail in our box. I run from the kitchen and out the back door, down the path, and towards the mailbox, knowing full well that, had I still been human, I'd be falling into the rocky path below.

Opening the fashionable box, I grab the handful of letters within, wondering what they will possess. Flipping through the ones without my name, I finally get to the one with the words ELIZABETH VIVIEN CULLEN in bold letters, with the Cullen's address below. The return address is Volterra in Italy, and I know immediately that my blood would have run cold, had it still flown through my veins. Setting the rest of the letters back in the mailbox before me, I rip open the letter addressed to me, hands shaking, and scan the words before me, not knowing what to think of them.

My dear Miss Cullen,

So sorry that we haven't been formally introduced yet. From what I've been hearing from the vampire community, you are quite powerful in your own right. Carlisle, your new father, I'm sure is very proud of your great prowess. I also heard that you've slain two people and, while it is not frowned about in our world, you'd do well not to make a habit of it due to your vegetarian lifestyle. Do not fear, however, Miss Cullen, for I am extending a most generous invitation to you and your mate—Richard, is it?—to come and live in Volterra with the Volturi Coven.

I hear your Richard is quite powerful as well, and I also hear that you have two other powerful vampires living with you. Alex and Katherine, is it not? The four of you have impeccable skills and would do well to join us in Italy.

It is merely a request, Miss Cullen—I will not command you. I learned from quite a few past experiences that to command is to lose. I absolutely despise losing, Miss Cullen, but I shall always respect the opinions of my fellow vampires. Never forget, my dear, these words of wisdom which I shall give to you, as I give to all fledgling vampires that I have the pleasure of corresponding with.

Aro Volturi

Also, Miss Cullen, remember not to tell your father about our world. I am sure you know what would happen if one word about it were to accidentally slip out. He could meet a similar fate to your own in the woods, and we wouldn't want that, wouldn't he? I don't think we would.

I raise my eyes then, and, turning, spot Richard at the top of the path. I am gripping the letter, Aro's cursive writing becoming wrinkled as a direct result. I feel my brows wrinkling above my eyes; I cannot speak—I would be clueless as to what to say.

"Beth?" Richard asks.

I shake my head. "Aro..." I whisper. "Aro just threatened my father's life," I say.

Richard is able to assist me in getting inside, holding the other pieces of mail in his free hand as we make our way through the kitchen door. Walking through the kitchen, I find that the living room now consists of not just Carlisle and Esme, but Jasper and Alice, and Edward and Bella as well. I hear Rosalie and Emmett upstairs with Sarah and the twins, and I feel immense relief that they're being kept separated from all this.

Alice is sitting on one of the modern couches, Jasper by her side, a pad of artist's paper in her lap, and a charcoal pencil gripped in her hand. She has sketched something—a lovely woman—and is staring into space, her eyes never once making eye contact with the page before her. Upon looking closer, I can tell that—due to the smooth features Alice has been able to convey—that the woman Alice has drawn is a vampire.

"Who is she?" I ask Alice, softly.

"Jacinda Georgianna Volturi," Alice replies. "A blonde, five-feet-seven, twenty-three when she was turned..."

"Where is she from, Alice?" Jasper asked.

"Born in Upstate New York, studying abroad for her Master's Degree in Volterra when Aro found her... She couldn't pay her bills on the apartment she had been renting and was starving, desperate. Aro sensed the potential in her, due to her correct assumption that he was a vampire—she was getting a degree in Mythology—and he promptly took her to their home and turned her..."

"What can she do?" I ask Alice.

"She's a Mind Walker," Edward says, speaking for the first time.

"A what?" I demand. "She has the ability to go into people's minds, without disturbing them, and look at their innermost thoughts and memories," Jasper replies. "I met some myself when I was being trained by Maria—she told me never to reveal their powers to anyone, and I never did. It was a curious thing, for someone to invade your thoughts without detection..."

"Far more powerful than simple mind reading," Edward says softly. "She can access the very database that is your memories, including every possibility of past, present, and future—a very invasive practice..."

"Is that all she can do?" I want to know.

"No," Alice replies. "She also possesses Remote Telepathy..."

"Remote...?" Richard asks.

"I don't understand, Alice," Carlisle says.

"Wherever Jacinda is, she can communicate with anyone, anywhere, at any time," Edward replies, shocked himself. "All in mind, mind you..."

"Please tell me that's all," I say, growing overwhelmed.

"No," Edward says. "One more ability."

"What is that?" Esme asks.

"Metapathy," Alice replies.

"Which is?" Richard asks.

"Essentially like Remote Telepathy, but Jacinda can read, sense, communicate with, and control as many minds as she sees fit on a global or universal scale... Dimensions apply, too, if one believes in such things," Edward replies.

"Jacinda," I whisper, taking another look at the paper Alice had sketched on. "She was the link..."

"Beth?" Bella asks, concern etched into her face. "What are you talking about?"

"In Aspen, remember?" I ask her, raising my eyes to meet hers. "I said that I thought that it was possible for Aro to have someone with him, with the ability to discern that potential gifted vampires versus the ordinary ones... Jacinda is that vampire—with her as part of the guard, who knows what the Volturi is capable of?"

Richard quickly puts his arms around me, and I lean into him, grateful for the comfort that he so often brings me. "Don't dwell so much, Beth..."

"Dwell..." I scoff then, pulling away from him. "How can I not dwell, Richard? Aro all but threatened my father's life, and—to top it all off—he's got this Jacinda person on his side to predict our every move! No one is safe, Richard, no one!"

Richard pulls me into his arms then; now that I have been a vampire for nearly a year, he is now stronger than I am. "Beth, don't," he says softly into my head. "Whatever you're thinking, don't you dare..."

"I can't hear her," Edward says softly.

"Damned shield too much for you?" Bella asks.

"It seems to be," Edward replies.

"I can't just stay here and do nothing," I whisper, breaking away from Richard. "What if Aro comes after my dad? Or picks all of us off, one by one? I couldn't..."

"Couldn't what?" Carlisle asks. I sigh. "Listen, it was really nice of you and Esme to take me in like this, no questions asked, but enough is enough. You should take everyone and just run—get away from here, as far as you can! It's me that Aro wants, that's clear—it's so obvious now that he created me for this very purpose, to have another powerful vampire on his side..."

Carlisle approaches me then, taking me firmly against my shoulders. "I want you to listen to me, Beth, and listen closely—for all intents and purposes, you are our daughter," he says, and Esme steps forward at those words. "And as our daughter, you are a member of the Cullen family and entitled to protection of all of us—the Denali's too."

"And the packs," Edward puts in. "I know it may not seem like it, Beth, but you are a younger sister to me, and Renesmee loves all those who I love, so, therefore, you are entitled to their protection as well."

"Except for Embry, maybe," I say softly.

Bella looks from me to Edward. "Am I missing something here?"

I sigh. "Embry kissed me," I reply, looking away, still feeling ashamed.

"I'm sorry. What?" Bella demands.

I nod. "Yeah. Earlier this evening, as a matter of fact—followed me outside and proclaimed his love and everything."

"I hope you hit him," Bella says, narrowing her eyes.

I shake my head. "No—just cursed him before running off like the pathetic teenage girl I am," I tell her.

"You're not pathetic," Richard says softly.

"That's right," Carlisle says, "so don't say it, Beth, ever. How Aro managed to know that Jacinda would possess such powerful gifts, I'll never know..."

"Jacinda won't be a threat forever," Alice whispers, her eyes unfocusing again.

My eyes quickly turn to Alice. "What are you talking about?"

Her eyes return to focus again as she raises her eyes to mine. "Jacinda's going to create an immortal child," she replies.