"You got this, my sweet angel. Focus," he whispers in my ear. His voice is smooth and loving. He is a handsome man, with olive skin, short curly blonde hair, and celestial blue eyes. He's athletically built and looks like he'd never grow a beard. He looks young, maybe in his twenties. The gentle touch of his hands scoots mine up along a bow. The arrow is pulled back to my ear and both eyes are open as I aim for the target across the yard. The landscape is full of trees and obstacles, a hard target to reach for a girl of six.
"What if I miss?"
"You'll just have to try again; we all make mistakes but we can learn from them. Now take aim," he pulls away from me. The bow is small and to my size, but the string is taut and stronger than the arm that holds it, which is beginning to struggle. I let go, and the arrow flies above the target, missing completely.
"I missed," I pout, looking back at the young man. He doesn't look displeased but instead has a warm smile on his lips.
"I wasn't perfect at first…."
"Don't you lie to her," the woman from my other memory comes out of the house behind us. She leans on the sliding door with her arms crossed and a smile on her face. Her green eyes glow under the sun. "Your daddy is just different from us, but you'll get it. One day you'll be just as good as him."
One day….
"Furiae," someone's voice calls out to me, blurring the image of my dream in my mind. My parents disappear into the blur, leaving me alone in icy darkness. "Furiae." The voice is feminine and familiar. Forcing my eyes into slits, I notice in a grogginess that Bella and Edward sit at the front of the car. Edward in the driver's seat and Bella in the passenger. My face rests against a clear window that looks out to a beautiful glass house with three stories of windows. The forest encroaches around us on all sides except for a trail that appears to be the driveway. We could definitely be in Forks, but not La Push.
"Where are we?" I ask, sitting up. Glancing at the clock above the radio, I notice it's almost 2 a.m. It took us three and half hours to get here.
"We're at Edward's house," Bella smiles. "It's pretty early in the morning so I figured we can get some rest and I will take you to the border of Forks and La Push in the morning."
"Oh, okay."
After explaining to the two of them what happened to me the night I disappeared, they've been gentle and understanding with me. Bella had gone through some things these last few months also. She was being stalked by a vampire as well, whom they killed along with a small army of newborns. But there is a rift between Edward and Jacob that Bella can't always cross. Instead of taking me all the way to Jacob's, she promised to take me to the border so as not to interfere with Jacob. I wasn't sure what she meant by that.
Climbing out of the car is harder than I thought it'd be. My legs and arms ache from being in the same position for the last couple of hours. The moment I am free of the car, I stretch, earning a few cracks here and there. Edward and Bella both smile at me.
"I don't think Rosalie will be happy we're bringing another human to the house," Bella mutters.
"That's if she is human. I can't explain away what happened with that vampire," Edward frowns, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Well, let's go anyhow." She nods to the front entrance of the house that is up a few steps of a wooden porch. I follow close behind them, walking up the steps that don't creak under my weight. In the first room, right after the entrance, I can already see Edward's family standing and waiting. They are all beautiful but only a few have smiles on their faces. They all have a similar trait: liquid gold eyes.
I was told that the eye color marks them as vegetarian vampires; much different from the red eyed Giovani that we fought. They all have perfect pale skin with no marks, pink lips against the white of their faces, and well-tended hair and clothes. There are six of them, not including Bella and Edward.
The further we enter, the clearer I can see them. There is a short pixie hair girl with a bright smile, and a male beside her that looks like he's having a hard time maintaining his cool. His eyes are narrowed and he is stiff like a statue. Another male is tall and very bulky, with a wide grin on his face. The two in the center are very parental-looking, maybe the mother and father of the group. The father is blonde with a short cut, reminding me of my father from my dream, and the mother is brunette with a warm welcoming smile. And lastly, is a long blonde hair woman who scowls at me with her arms crossed against her full breasts.
"Another one?" The tall, muscular man says while crossing his arms against his firm chest. "Just can't keep them away, eh, Edward?"
"Emmett," the father figure chimes. He's the most professionally maintained looking one of the group. A soft smile graces his sculptured face.
"This is my family: Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, Carlisle, and Emse," Edward waves casually to each person he introduces. "This is Furiae."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Furiae," Carlisle says.
"Welcome to our home," Esme smiles.
"Carlisle, she has some sort of strange ability. I was wondering if you may know something about it," Edward gets straight to the important stuff.
"Strange ability? What kind of strange ability?" Carlisle asks, walking up to me and holding out his hand. "May I?"
I allow him to take my left hand, his own is ice cold to the touch. He places two fingers on my wrist and counts to himself, all while looking me dead in the eyes. "And I am assuming you don't know about this ability yourself?" He asks.
"I lost my memory a few months back from a cliff diving accident. It hasn't fully returned to me yet. It has only happened twice now, both when I felt threatened."
"Interesting."
"This isn't good. If the Volturi find out about her and learn about her ability, they may want her," Esme says, a worried expression taking over her beautiful pale face.
"Or worse, they'll want to take Edward, Alice, and her, and kill the rest of us. She is still human, a human who now knows our secrets thanks to Edward - again," hisses Rosalie.
"She might not be human," Edward says casually.
"What do you mean?" Esme asks.
Edward's eyes turn to me to explain but before I can, Carlisle clears his throat.
"Not human?" Carlisle asks, his golden eyes still watching mine. "Do you have any idea what you could be? You obviously are not a vampire, or anything I know about personally."
I bite my bottom lip and sigh. "The vampire that was chasing me called me a Demi-god."
Everyone except Edward, Bella, and I freeze. It's like someone paused time.
I want to ask further on who the Volturi are, I was only explained a little about them while in the car ride here.
"The vampire that was chasing her was Italian and spoke the language fluently. I read his mind, his main objective was to capture her but he never thought anywhere past that."
"Let's hope the Volturi did not send him, otherwise we may have unexpected visitors. And not happy ones." Carlisle sighs, releasing my hand gently, which falls back to my side.
"I can't see her future," Alice says, shaking her head when she speaks. Her eyes look far away, as if she's trying to see something beyond what our eyes can see.
"And I can't hear her thoughts. Maybe she can block our abilities like Bella can," Edward states.
"Please tell me she doesn't want to be one of us?" Asks Rosalie, who speaks a little more aggressively this time.
"What, a vampire? I'm not interested, sorry," I exclaim, lifting both hands up and waving them a bit.
Carlisle smiles warmly after my comment.
"She's here to see Jacob," Bella mentions.
"Wolf boy?" Emmett asks.
"Emmett," Bella hisses. "She doesn't know."
Wolf boy? All this new information jumbles in my exhausted mind. As much as I want to ask multiple questions, I focus on the main problem.
"Mind explaining? Who are the Volturi to begin with? I deserve to know, especially if they are after me."
They all look at one another, but Carlisle is the first to break free and speak. "They are kind of royalty in the vampire world. They enforce our laws."
"And what would they want with me?"
"If you do have a gift, and are a demi-god, they might find you worth collecting. They like to gather talented vampires and people, and turn them into their guards," Carlisle frowns. "What kind of ability is it?"
I glance at Edward in hopes he may be able to describe it better than me, but he remains silent.
"Well, it's like a burning yellow light that engulfs my left arm and hand. From what I saw, I was able to burn the vampire with it when I was pulling him off of Edward. He was sizzling."
"That does sound like something they may want. We'll just have to keep quiet about this until we can figure it out," Carlisle says. "If you want, you can stay here as long as you need."
I blink, surprised. "Thank you."
"I have much to study now, how about Bella and you, go get some sleep."
I nod, and turn towards Edward to show me the way. My mind wants to sink itself into everything I learned, but my eyes and body says otherwise. I'll need to get some sleep.
Sleeping came surprisingly easy to me in a house full of vampires, after just being attacked by one. The couch in their living room is far cozier than pavement near trash cans or the park jungle gyms. I awoke from the green hue of the sun beaming through the trees into the glass house. It was welcoming compared to the city life of car alarms and sirens.
I lie still, surrounded by a blanket and pillows that smell new and have never been used with my eyes glaring daggers at the ceiling. Questions erupt like a volcano in my mind.
What if Jacob doesn't want to see me? What if those men are there? Will they kick me out again? How will Billy handle seeing me? Was he a part of me being sent away? If I am sent away, could I live off the streets again? Would I be chased by another vampire? Could I find a reliable job and a place to call home? When will I get my memories back? Will they help me with my expedition? What if I am a demi-god, who's the god or goddess that brought me to life?
The smell of a freshly cooked meal glides into the living room, filing my lungs and causing my stomach to bubble. I don't remember when I ate last. My body moves before I can process what's going on. I sit up, throwing my legs off the front of the couch and stand, following the smell into the kitchen.
Esme and Carlisle are behind a white marbled island, a pan on the stove and a mixing bowl on the island. Esme is stirring something in the mixing bowl, her eyes catching sight of me before I can make a sound. She smiles warmly and gestures to the bar stools under the island's lip.
I take a seat on the middle stool and place both hands on the island. Carlisle flips, what looks to be, a pancake in the pan. I see now that there is a stack of pancakes on a plate next to the stove and I wonder who he's feeding. I don't think vampires eat human food, at least, not to my knowledge.
"You're giving us a reason to use the kitchen," Esme says cheerfully.
"Doesn't Bella eat?" I ask. I am sure she stays here often if her fiance lives here.
"She usually eats before she arrives, not wanting to be a burden to us," she says sheepishly.
"I am not a burden, am I?"
Esme stops stirring and places both hands on the island's top. "Of course not, we enjoy having guests over. It's rare we get to entertain, especially for a human."
"Possible, demi-god," Carlisle says, looking over his shoulder with a gentle smile.
"My apologies," Esme says, and begins stirring again.
I bite my bottom lip. "If I am a demi-god, do you have any idea who can be the god or goddess that was my parent?"
"Was?" Carlisle's brows knit close together.
My heart sinks and I frown. "Edward didn't tell you?"
They both shake their heads, glancing at one another before looking back at me with remorse in their eyes already.
"I've been having these dreams and memories return to me of a woman dying. She was killed by this otherworldly monster. It was hairless, gray skinned, small eyes, no nose, large mouth with pointed teeth, long limbs, and bat-like wings. I am not sure about my father, I can't say I will have a memory of his death or not. He could still be very much alive, but I don't know if he's looking for me."
Esme frowns and Carlisle's eyes narrow.
"That is a strange sounding creature," Carlisle says. "I can't say I have heard of it but it might help me find out who or what you are."
My heart flutters. They believe me. Not even Jacob could hide the mask of disbelief when I told him. A small smile uplifts the corners of my lips.
There are footsteps coming from behind me and I quickly look over my shoulder, tensing up before seeing Bella. I relax and sigh.
"Are you ready to go?" She asks.
"Can I eat first?" I ask. "I don't remember the last time I ate."
Bella smiles and nods. "Of course, I'll be waiting in Edward's room." She waves to Esme and Carlisle before disappearing around the corner.
"I hope you're hungry," Carlisle says playfully, lifting up the plate stacked with pancakes.