Chapter 20: The Others

We stayed outside Helena until 1987. By then it was once more time to move on. I had been hearing odd rumors for a while by then. Rumors of a coven in Alaska, with gold eyes. There were four females and a male. Irina, Katie, and Tanya were sisters. Carmen and her mate, Eleazer, had joined in the 1700s. They kept a more or less permanent residence outside Denali, Alaska. Since coming to America, I'd never actually met anyone who was even willing to consider taking up my family's lifestyle. But this coven had developed "a conscience" on their own. I was intensely curious to meet this Denali coven.

When our time in Montana drew to a close, we packed up and drove north. By 1987, the cars were actually fast enough to merit driving more then running. Although we never got tired, we could definitely carry a lot more if we took a car.

So Edward, Esme, and I drove in my Mercedes 560SEC and Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper drove the Land Rover One Ten, heading north. We drove at extreme speeds. Our vampire reflexes and Edward's gift allowed us to do so without risk of crashing or being pulled over. Even if we had crashed, the cars would've taken more damage then us! The drive still took almost two days. We arrived in town during the night as the stars sparkled overhead.

It was bitterly cold (not that it bothered us) and overcast, which was really good. We could go outside more often and our cold skin wouldn't seem so out of place. We moved into a house on the edge of town. It was smaller then some of our past residences, but each couple got their own room and Edward got a downstairs room with a set of double doors for privacy and curtains for the two small, ground-floor windows.

We stayed home for the first three days, setting up the charade. We unpacked our props (like a toaster oven) and formed our background story. Rosalie and Jasper would once more play brother and sister, my niece and nephew. They'd be living with us as their parents were away on an expedition to the South American rainforest. Jasper would be younger this time around. If necessary, we could "kill" their parents. Edward, Alice, and Emmett would be adopted children of course. We didn't think it would matter if they knew we moved from Montana.

Once the story was ready, Edward and the others went down to the local high school. Edward, Alice, and Jasper enrolled as freshmen, while Emmett and Rosalie enrolled as sophomores. For Emmett, pretending to be in tenth grade was a stretch, but the younger they started, the longer we would be able to stay. And Emmett didn't want to be a year ahead of Rosalie.

I had applied for a job at the hospital before we'd left Helena. With my credentials, they had been more then happy to take me on right away, even thought the pay wasn't nearly as much as it should have been. Money wasn't an object though. We had plenty of it in banks around the world, collecting interest.

To be honest, I wasn't sure how to find the Denali coven. If they kept a permanent residence, then they had to keep low human contact. That meant there probably wasn't much chance of meeting them on the street in town. Esme suggested waiting. They probably already knew we were in Denali. They might even be interested in meeting us too. In the end, Alice settled our plans with a vision of us meeting the coven in the national park.

We waited the week and then went on a "hiking" trip for the weekend. The park was popular with hikers. We wouldn't stand out. My family and I walked at a normal human pace, keeping to the trails. Alice and Edward led the way. We didn't pause at all, even when Alice had her visions. The speed we were walking at was so slow, we all probably could've walked with our eyes closed and still had stayed on the trail without tripping. She finally called us to a halt at a small creek that ran through the mountainous trail. It probably flowed down to a lake from the mountain's snowy peak. Stepping stones had been placed as a make-shift bridge by the park rangers, who maintained the trail.

"We need to leave the trail," she said. "They won't come near the human trails when they hunt. I don't really blame them."

Emmett charged into the trees, not bothering to be careful of the foliage. Alice sighed and flitted after him, gently steering him towards the creek. The soil was already worn there. He'd make less mess. The rest of us followed more carefully. Jasper and I attempted to repair the damage as much as we could. Jasper's technique was sometimes to create more damage to make it look like an animal had done it. We removed all trace of human footprints until we were deep enough into the woods to not worry about it. Here the tall trees were thick and no humans ventured in them. It was far from any human trail. So far we couldn't even smell the ever tempting human scent. Alice took the lead here as Emmett slowed with uncertainty. She and Edward were really the only ones who'd seen the Denali coven. They knew where we could intercept them.

As we travelled, we sometimes hunted. Jasper wanted all of us strong, in case something went wrong and they weren't as friendly as Alice and Edward saw. Alice's visions were right a lot of the time, but not all of the time. We had just come across a heard of some sort of herbivore when we first knew we had company. The wind changed and blew in new scents that were enough to make me defensive and forget my prey. My family went rigid too. The scent was too good smelling to be animals, and too sweet to be a human. Automatically, I looked to Edward where he held one of these unknown animals in his iron grip. Edward's head was turned to the northeast, scanning the line of trees. Obviously he heard something.

"They're here," he intoned in a low voice that only reached our ears. "There are three of them. They have been tracking us through the park. They were surprised when we began feeding on animals. They didn't know anyone else did that."

He went silent again, listening carefully. Nobody dared to even breathe. Edward had always been our "sentry" or sorts, warning us when people began to wonder, or if one of our kind was hostile, even if a human made a lucky, yet very accurate guess about us. We'd come to rely on Edward to help us avoid danger and exposure.

"They're coming towards us," Edward confirmed. "They're going to try to talk to us. They don't want violence, but they're ready for it. I think it's Carmen, Eleazer, and Tanya. Kate and Irina are elsewhere, but they aren't thinking of where."

We heard the first sound of passage as Edward trailed off. We heard soft rustling in the trees a few miles away and it was getting closer. It wasn't an animal for sure. Animals flee from us. And it was moving too fast to be a human, not to mention there wasn't even a trace of human scent around us. My family converged at once, preparing to meet the newcomers. Edward had said they had no thoughts of violence, but Jasper didn't want to take any chances. He took a place on Alice's right, at point. To Alice's left was Edward, and to his left was me. Esme stood on my other side, an arm wrapped around my waist. On her other side was Rosalie, and then Emmett stood at the other point. Edward was still listening intently.

When the group came through the last row of trees ahead of us, they paused. We really were a large coven. Most vampires can't stand to live with more then three others of their kind. Here we had seven of us, obviously all unified. And Jasper's appearance brought everyone up short. It was just an instinct.

Edward had said the three were Carmen, Eleazer, and Tanya, one of the tree original sisters. I could pick out Tanya. She was obviously the odd-one-out, with the couple on her right. She was quite beautiful with strawberry-blonde hair. If there was ever a vampire to rival Rosalie in the beauty department, Tanya was her. Eleazer was the male who stood in the middle, holding the other female's hand (Carmen). He looked at us with a curious expression and I wondered what he saw. Did he see a threat, or the chance of an alliance? He and the other female, Carmen, had dark hair, and a darker-olive tone to their skin that was much more common among the vampires in the Mediterranean Europe then in America.

Eleazer spoke first. "We are curious," he said simply. "We haven't met anyone who drank animal blood before, outside of our coven that is. I'm Eleazer, this is Carmen and Tanya." He gestured first to his right, then to his left.

"I'm Carlisle," I answered. "This is Emmett, Rosalie, Esme, Edward, Alice, and Jasper." I gestured from left to right, down the line.

"You have a very large and gifted coven," Eleazer remarked. "I don't think I've come across anyone like Alice."

Jasper hissed and moved Alice so that she was partially concealed behind his back. I was curious as to what emotion from Eleazer had set him on edge, or if he was simply listening to Eleazer's words. Edward hadn't so much as flinched.

"It's alright Jazz," Alice soothed, using the nickname we'd given him. But she didn't move. Jasper wouldn't let her.

"I meant no harm to her," Eleazer replied, both palms outward in a sign of peace. "Like I said before, I'm simply curious."

"Eleazer can sense the nature of others' vampire gifts, and the 'latent ability' of humans," Edward murmured. "It's really alright Jazz." Jasper relaxed a bit, letting Alice go.

"That's right!" Eleazer said. "I know that Alice can see glimpses of the future, sometimes involuntarily. I know that Jasper can sense others' emotions, and even influence them. And I know Edward can read others' thoughts, much like Aro of the Volturi. Except Edward can hear without contact, and only the thoughts that are passing through the mind in the present."

The mention of Aro set me on edge. Since leaving the Volturi, it didn't take me long to realize most vampires didn't want to involve the "royal family" of the vampire world. It was odd to hear Eleazer speak of one of their kind with ease.

Edward had moved closer to me. "Eleazer was part of the Volturi guard for a while, but he met Carmen and left."

I saw Eleazer smile from where he and the two females, who had remained silent thus far, stood patiently. They were waiting for something, but what was it?

Then Edward hissed. "Kate and Irina are here. I don't know how they kept it from me for so long. Be careful."

Two more vampires (females), emerged from the trees. They stood by Tanya. One had long, straight blonde hair. That one was Kate, based on the description Alice had given me from her visions. The other also had blonde hair, a pale shade so light it almost looked white. That was Irina.

"Carlisle, this is Kate and Irina, Tanya's sisters," Eleazer said, unnecessarily. He introduced them as if there was nothing wrong with their sudden appearance. And nothing would be wrong, for him.

"Kate can cause pain, like that Jane girl in the Volturi," Edward said. I'd never met Jane before, she wasn't in the Volturi when I spent my time there, but from what I'd heard, her and her brother, Alec, were quite formidable. If Kate could do what Jane could, we might have a problem.

"She can only use it through her palms, like Aro and it's not nearly as strong, but it would still drop Emmett."

Edward's words drew Emmett's attention. "You mean she could really beat me?" He looked astonished. I'm not sure why, since both Jasper and Edward had been able to beat Emmett in the practice fights.

"A pleasure to meet you," I told them. Edward's, Emmett's, and my words had all been a quick succession of comments, too low to reach across the distance between my family and the Denali coven.

"Same to you Carlisle," Kate replied, inclining her head. Tension was still high between our two factions, but Alice seemed to find this behavior annoying. With a huff, she skipped across the distance to the Denali coven. Jasper was right behind her with Edward, and then the rest of us.

When I got close enough, I exchanged a handshake with Eleazer, then Carmen and Tanya. Irina and Kate were busy with Edward and Alice. Rosalie spoke with Tanya, Emmett holding her hand and being a silent giant. Jasper hovered over the group in general.

"You mentioned the Volturi earlier," I said to Eleazer. "Edward tells me you used to be a part of their guard."

"A long time ago," Eleazer admitted. "I can see others gifts, so it was mine and a few others' job to search out prospective recruits that might add to the Volturi's ranks. I left when I met Carmen." He rested an arm around his mate's waist, drawing her in closer.

Carmen smiled up at him. "We came here and eventually found Tanya and her sisters. Their mother had been destroyed by the Volturi for creating an immortal child."

If Tanya or her sisters heard Carmen's words, they did not acknowledge them.

"I spent time with the Volturi in my first century, before the 1800s. About forty years. I have not been back since I left though."

"Did you make the choice to feed on animals before or after you visit there?" Eleazer inquired. "I always wondered what they would say to my current lifestyle."

"Before. I have never feed from humans. I only tasted human blood when changing Esme, Edward, Rosalie, and Emmett. When I was there, Aro was constantly trying to convince me my choice was a mistake."

"That sounds like Aro," Eleazer replied.

"And that would also explain why you have such a large coven," Carmen commented. "Other then the Volturi, I've never seen a coven of your size that works so well together. The southern armies fought amongst themselves. They couldn't interact as well as you do."

"Yes. Jasper spent time as part of one of those newborn armies. That's how he was turned. If not for his gift, he would not have succeeded as he did in the south," I added.

"Jasper's skill is very useful among us vampires," Eleazer said with a laugh. "We don't play well with others do we?"

We ran with the Denali coven back to their home, a large cabin that didn't even have an address, let alone a real driveway. My suspicions about the coven had been correct. They didn't interact with the humans in town much at all.

I talked to Eleazer a bit more, before moving on to Kate and Tanya. Carmen and Eleazer had told me Tanya and her sisters had already adopted their "vegetarian" diet when they'd joined the coven. I was interested why. Eleazer and Carmen wouldn't give me a straight answer. They just hinted that the sisters were "lonely".

Tanya and Kate explained Eleazer's comment, abet a bit awkwardly. They told me that since none of them could find love among their own kind, they turned to human men for "company". My mind reeled with thoughts of the amount of control the sisters would have to have to live that sort of lifestyle…they were probably more in control then even I was!

"That's amazing!" I told them. "I work as a surgeon sometimes, but even I'm not sure if I have that level of control! Luckily I have Esme."

Esme smiled briefly at me from across the room. She'd heard my comment.

"Your coven if very lucky," Tanya commented. "Rosalie told me her and Emmett, Alice and Jasper, and you and Esme are all happily married."

I nodded. "It has been 65 years this winter and I still love her as much as I did on the first day. Perhaps even more so now!"

"But Edward has not been so lucky," Tanya said.

"No," I replied. "Edward is waiting for someone." I thought back to the countless conversations Esme and I had had about Edward, my vampire mind playing them back to me perfectly. There had been a lot of them.

Tanya's eyes sparkled as she looked over at my oldest and youngest son where he talked to Eleazer. "Aren't we all," she agreed.

Yay Denali!!! There is one more chapter before we get into more familiar faces so stay tuned. Gosh I sound like a TV special! But seriously. Keep with me and tell all your friends so that they can read this too! Like I said before, I'd like to hit 100 reviews before I get into the events of Twilight!

Thanks to all those who've already reviewed and do so on a regular basis!

-Wish