Nick stayed where he was, somewhat behind the group of vampires who began to congregate around the door and right outside the old stone house. The visitor stopped in the center of the circle. Nick watched as Edward moved forward to him, stopping several feet away from him. They stood, not shaking hands, not speaking, just matching gazes.

The other man had the pallor and beauty of a vampire but his eyes were red. He was of average height and slight build, with blond hair and an almost feline face.

After a seemingly endless pause, the other man nodded and spoke Edward's name respectfully but cautiously.

Nick moved closer so he could hear them speak.

"What are you doing here?" Edward asked. The other vampire looked over his shoulder and gave a slight nod to the others.

"Seven of you and a human," the visitor spoke, ignoring Edward's question. "You'll need more than that to last more than a few moments against the guard."

"Do you come to threaten us?" Edward's voice was hostile. The man shook his head.

"No, I've come to stand with you. You can read my mind, you know why I'm here."

Edward stared at the man for a moment and then gave a slight, distracted shake of the head. "That's what he wants but who's to say that he knows what he's asking for." The blond man set his jaw.

"But your friends need the numbers," Edward stared at him for a moment longer and then turned back to the house. "He'll die anyway, if this is all you have." The man's words made Edward's shoulders drop slightly and then he nodded.

"Come on, then. Let me introduce you." He walked to the house and it's inhabitants. He introduced the man to them. When Demitri reached Nick he appraised him carefully and then gave him a slight smile. His face didn't seem to be accustomed to the action.

"Nick, you've made your decision?" Demitri asked him and then glanced at Edward.

Nick nodded. "It's my choice," he said, looking to Edward as well. "I don't mean to be disrespectful but it's what I was born for, right?" With that he glanced at Cyril and Andreas. They nodded solemnly. Nick spoke again, addressing the Cullens.

"So I don't need your permission but I don't want any contention." He looked around at their faces and slowly, eventually they all nodded acquiescence.

"You should do it as soon as possible," Demitri said. "You don't have more than a week."

"We will change him and then Nick will hear your story," Cyril spoke, in a voice that brooked no argument.

Demitri nodded.

The elder vampires began to make preparations for Nick's change while Nick went out to watch the sunset.

Demitri's story:

I was born just before the turn of the last century in a small village near the Carpathian mountains. My village has been part of Austria-Hungary, Romania and Czechoslovakia. Now it is considered Ukraine. As you might guess we concerned ourselves as little as possible with these politics. Often our village would change hands and we wouldn't know for months. We were isolated enough that generally these changes in regime had little affect on our lives

My father was a farmer and as his only son I was expected to care for the farm. But my mother's brothers were the best hunters in the village and I preferred to escape the tedium of the fields for the excitement of the forest. The dense forests of my country felt safe to me and while I hunted I felt comfortable, complete and free in a way that I never did under the eyes of my father and in the village. I learned everything that my uncles could teach me quickly and soon surpassed them. I had a gift for tracking animals. I would discover that my gift extended itself to men soon after I turned nineteen.

I was forced into fighting in the Great War on the side of the Germans and when my commanding officers learned of my abilities, they enlisted me to track defectors.

Young men are supposed to be proud to be soldiers but I was not. I thought only of returning to the forests of my village and being with my mother and little sister. My hunting had brought food and income to my family and I worried what they would do since my father and uncles had also been enlisted by the desperate Germans.

Additionally, hunting the unhappy men and boys who had left the army was a thankless and dangerous job and one that had little reward. I encountered men who had defected to take care of their families and to return to their former lives. It was devastating and dangerous and I had little love for it.

Then I received a letter from home and I became one of the very men whom I had hunted. My father was dead, my family farm in disarray and my mother feared that they would not survive the coming winter.

I left my post immediately and returned to my village with a fair amount of confidence. There was no one to track me who was as skilled as I was and I had no doubt that I could remain hidden in my mother's home.

I tracked game in the dense forests and what we couldn't eat my sister would sell. I've no doubt that people of the village knew I was home but they kept our secret. We were not the only family to hide their sons and fathers in order to live.

We made it through that winter and the war in Europe ended. It looked for a while as if a group of Western Ukrainians would form their own republic but the area around my village was quickly taken over by Romania and then handed over to Czechoslovakia in that treaty that the old men of Europe came up with to bring Germany to it's knees.

It still mattered little to us who called our land theirs as long as we could live our lives in peace. Which we did for another two years. Along with the other men of the village I was able to come out of hiding and support my family.

But as famine hit our neighbors to the east in 1921, again things became difficult for us. We were very near the Soviet border and the civil war and ensuing famine led many soldiers of both sides over our borders to steal or, "requisition" as they called it, our crops. The Czech government did little to intercede as we were Ukrainian and they were in the midst of a Czech nationalist revival.

By the winter of 1921 we were starving again. There was little surplus grain and game was scarce, even for me.

I set out one evening desperate to find something for my family to eat. There was an estate belonging to a wealthy family about ten kilometers from our village. The family had departed for Prague some time before but they had left servants to guard their preserves. I didn't want to steal and I didn't want to get shot but I needed to find some way to feed my mother and little sister.

I snuck onto the grounds and began to make my way to the main house. There were no wildlife that I could detect so I hoped that there would be livestock I could steal. I had gotten to within five-hundred meters from the house when a set of strong hands grabbed me and I found myself being spun through the air to face a second man, a boy really. The one holding me must have been enormous but I couldn't turn to see him, his grip was so strong. He held me facing a teenage boy with longish black hair and red eyes. Not human, I thought. Too pale, too silent in his movements. I hadn't even heard them approach.

"What is this?" the boy said, examining me closely. He spoke Russian with a faint accent but I was not so worldly that I could place it.

"He snuck right past you, Alec," a laugh came from behind me, this one was a native speaker of Russian.

"We should kill him just for that but I fear Aro would then be hungry and angry." The boy turned and started to walk to the house, gesturing to the giant holding me to come along.

I began to beg for my life and that of my family but the giant gave me a quick shake and said, "Shut up before I snap your neck, peasant."

They took me into the house which was lit up on every floor but seemed to be empty. There were a few crates in the entranceway and I could see a painting in one of them and some old books in another. The big Russian carried me into a library where a slight man with long black hair was facing away from me. He turned as we entered and I could see those same red eyes.

"Alec, Felix, well done. I hadn't expected a meal so soon." The man walked closer to me. I shivered both in fear and from the cold. Although every light in the house was on the fires had long since gone out.

"This little one slipped past us on our way out. If the wind hadn't changed directions you would have caught him yourself." The one I now knew was Felix spoke in a loud voice. Alec hissed at him and the man glanced in between them with a slight smile. As sinister as the first two were he was even more malevolent in his quiet calm.

"Alec, don't be like that. It's important that I know if our new friend here is special." The man stepped up to me and stood facing me. He looked at me curiously for a minute and then spoke softly.

"What's your name?" he asked me in Russian and then repeated himself in Ukranian.

"My name is Dymtro Ivanchuk Shevchenko," I said, hoping that giving him my full family name might convince him that I was important or at least remind him that I had a family.

"Interesting," the man said, examining me still and then, reaching out to me, put his cold, white hand on my face. I tried to pull away but the big Russian held me in place. I became dizzy, disoriented and I have no idea how long the man held my face in his hands. When my head cleared he was looking at me with a broad smile.

"It seems our little friend, Dymtro, has a gift," he spoke to the others with his eyes still fixed on me. "You two will have to get me another meal, I have other plans for this one."

The man signaled for the Russian to hold on to me and he leaned into me again and bit my neck. As everything went black I could hear him shushing me softly, saying, "Don't fret, little one. It'll be over soon and think of how magnificent you'll be."

What followed was three days of burning agony and confusion, but you just experienced it, right? The difference, Nick, is that you knew what you were becoming and you were among your family and people that you trusted.

I woke up in a strange place, a stone castle, surrounded by creatures I had never seen before. My first thought was for the welfare of my family but Aro assured me that he had sent Felix to give them money and some cattle from the manor. I was also told that I could never return to them, that it would mean their deaths.

I was introduced to what we are by members of Aro's guard. I was taught my place in my new world.

I quickly found that being a member of Aro's guard was much like being in the army. I had no freedom, no autonomy and no privacy, thanks to Aro's gift. I had no control and I had no choice.

This was my existence for nearly thirty-five years, until Isabella arrived.

Must I guard my words here to protect you, Edward? You know that we were lovers, will you begrudge me speaking of her? You are the one who insisted on hearing this.

I know what you are to each other, perhaps better than you do.