CHAPTER I
The summer days within Black Forest Colorado are certainly the most beautiful I have ever experienced in all 48 years of my life. Though my time in this world might be considered by some simply a blink of an eye for a Vampire. However as a young half-ling my sense of time is much different from that of my father's and his servants. The last 28 years since my Father, Joham, randomly decided to depart the two of us from my sisters after a falling out none of them will discuss with me have been the most peaceful years of my life. My father was kind enough to create a beautiful home deep in these magnificent woodlands of Colorado, the land in which my mother and her family originated from. Having the opportunity to see what she may have seen in her earlier years of life before she became a doctor and decided to travel the world to help those in need makes feel connected to her in a strange way. Talio, my servant and sworn protector from the moment I was born, had even been allowed to go as far as to look into her family's history. Over the last 8 years I have had the privilege of being able to meet my mothers younger brother and his two sons, something I never thought possible. Of course they had no idea who I was as my father made me swear to protect our secret for our safety and theirs. I unfortunately hold no resemblance to my beautiful mother who was a white woman with long silky blonde hair my father says was nearly white the summer they had met. Her eyes were bright green and her body thick and filled well as if sculpted by gods hands himself. Joham had commissioned many paintings and had taken many photographs of her in their time before I came along as he could not believe her beauty to be in existence among the humans and go so unnoticed by other men.
My long hair which grew uncontrollably especially when I fed more than I needed too is a dark blonde, nowhere near as light as hers was and my own body had never fully burst from puberty as my mother and my two older sisters had. My father couldn't explain why and once I fully stopped growing it was at first a great point of sadness for myself as I began to feel lesser as a woman. However unlike my sister I retained my ability to ovulate and continued to have a monthly bleed every 3 months. This act of nature was truly where the division between me and my sisters began as they have only had a handful of periods between the two of them and they have always been random. As modern science grew they begged my father to see a modern gynecologist but he demanded they stay hidden for fear of their distraction. Being 5 foot exactly was also a great point of annoyance as I was shorter than all of my siblings making it increasingly impossible for any of them to see me as anything but a child. My skin is white but more ghostly like that of a vampire which has always freaked me out and I certainly am nowhere near as beautiful as my mother, father or any of my siblings. The idea that my sisters could be jealous of my potential ability to have children is ridiculous as if any man would ever want anything to do with a small ghostly woman with a hunger for blood. As if I would want anything to do with any of them. There's also the fact that unless Joham suddenly combusted there is no way he would allow a man with the slightest thought of courting me to live longer than a millisecond within our territory. I love Joham but he is most certainly the reason for my lack of growth, if it was up to him I'd still be in diapers.
"I can not believe this! Those serpents think they have the right to judge me for my creations after all the hell they have sired into this world! This is madness!"
As I entered the living room to show my father my freshly plucked flowers from the garden he had planted in memory of my Mother I heard his voice booming with anger as he threw a handwritten letter onto the floor in a fury. He walked slowly in circles brushing his fingers through his long blonde hair as I walked to pick up the envelope the letter had been torn from. The envelope had the word or perhaps the name "Volturi'' written on the front in a handwritten font that was just as beautiful as the words on the letter. Such elegance and grace it seemed as if it could have been an invitation to a ball or something grand. My curious nature decided to burst forth before I could stop myself as I walked towards the letter to see what could have upset my father. Before I could pick it up my father quickly snatched it from the floor and took his lighter from his pocket to burn the paper and threw it into our empty fireplace. In a moment it was completely gone and my fathers eldest servant, Olivia, who looked even more miserable than usual, threw a splash of water onto the last of the flame. It saddened me for a moment but knowing he had the information within the letter and that I could most likely pry it out of him if I pushed just enough was enough for me to find myself content again quickly.
"Father? What is it? What did the note say? Who or what is-Volturi?" I asked as I looked over the beautifully crafted envelope for clues.
"Tell Talio to pack your things immediately Jennifer, we are leaving for Norway in the morning."
"Why? I thought Serena and Maysun weren't talking to you anymore. Did something change? Have you three reconciled?"
"Enough with the questions Jennifer! Go now!"
"Fine." I replied with an audible note of dissatisfaction. "Olivia, please throw these away." I said as I turned quickly and tossed the basket my flowers sat within into her hands as I rushed towards the stairs.
"Jennifer, there is no need for your attitude!" My father shouted as I turned away.
"No Father, there is no need for YOUR attitude!" I replied while running now to my bedroom not looking back as I knew this would be the most effective way to show my discontent.
Father would do anything to keep me close the more unhappy I seemed the harder he would try to keep me happy. I found it increasingly easy as the years passed by to spin him in my favor. Unlike Serena and Maysun's mothers, Father truly loved my Mother and had chosen to keep me close in order to honor her memory properly. Because of this we had the best relationship and shared memories from the moment I was born together. This close knit relationship of ours is what has always strained my relationship with my older siblings though Nahuel has always been a kind and welcoming brother Serena and Maysun have struggled since I can remember accepting that Father simply doesn't love them as much as he loves me. I wish they could understand it wasn't a competition if it was I truly wouldn't care much to win. The man is strange and short sighted. Joham spends nearly all of his time in his lab with his creepy little critter experiments. I often wonder what he's trying to achieve or accomplish but I learned at a young age to not ask about things I don't have full interest in as he will explain in detail for days his work and I can hardly bear through hearing him talk on and on about his strange hobbies. To spend over 400 years obsessing over science yet having no successful studies is confusing to me. Why spend so many lifetimes failing at one thing when there are so many wonderful things you can do to fill your time?
"Tailo!" I shouted out as I approved my bedroom door.
"Yes m'lady?" Talio said appearing by my side as if he had been walking with me the entire time waiting for my call.
"Father says we are going to Norway to see my sisters. I will need you to check the weather and pack accordingly. No gold or any stones that are or even look expensive. We all know Maysun is a thief and Serena is the queen of jealousy." I continued as I handed him my diamond earrings I had chosen to wear this morning.
"Your bags will be ready within the hour." Talio replied as he immediately began collecting my things.
"Thank you Talio. I'll be taking a bath, Lucinda, please bring a change of clothes to my bathroom, a simple dress, nothing extravagant or too beautiful. Just comfortable enough to travel in."
"Of course m'lady." Lucinda responded immediately, my second servant who I had known since birth, came into the room and worked with Talio to pack and ready my belongings.
As I entered my bathroom and began to undress I stopped to take a deep breath. I could feel my body begin to fill with stress as I began to think of everything that could go wrong over the next few days. Serena's jealousy was almost as intolerable as her never ending opinions on every aspect of my being. She hated how I walked, talked, and dressed. Once at a family dinner she even mentioned that my way of breathing upset her. Serena's exact comment was "Stop breathing like a dog or I'll have you removed from the table and placed in the kennel with the hunting dogs girl!". "Girl" yuck. That is my least favorite comment. No matter what I do or how I grew mentally or changed my wardrobe to her I was always a child. My father tried to convince me it was all just the way Serena was trying to show her affection for me, that it was typical older sibling behavior, he always turned a blind eye to her bullying. That's why Maysun had gotten away with being such a terror. Since Serena raised Maysun like a daughter she was spoiled rotten and thought she was better than me at everything. In many ways Maysun was much worse than Serena. Maysun had made it her lifelong mission to do anything to try and get me in trouble with father or do anything to almost kill me. When I was two she decided to shove me down a flight of spiral stairs to show me how gravity worked. When I was three she punched me in the face and broke my nose after tying me to a tree and left me there to see how long it would take for me to heal. I was stuck there for three hours before Talio finally returned from an errand Serena had him run and thankfully Talio finally voiced his concerns to my father about Maysun. For a while the bullying stopped but it was never long before it returned. To Maysun a woman who can't save herself is a woman that shouldn't bother living so she has made it her personal mission to take every opportunity to catch me off guard and fight me. However this time I'm more prepared than ever. I've been having Talio teach me the arts of fighting that Serena had convinced my father I was to young for years ago but out from under her thumb my father has allowed me to do so many things I never thought I could and now, at least when it comes to Maysun and her ridiculous need to physically battle constantly, I am prepared. As for Serena… God help us all.