Stay

Something In The Way You Move

Here goes nothing, I thought as I stood in front of the house in the middle of nowhere. I knew someone lived here; music was played and I heard laughter. Maybe these people were kind and hospitable. Maybe they were murderers. I hoped they were nice people to let me in and explain where I was.

I've been running all over America. I went to New York City before the blood was too much, then everything past that is history. I've met a few other vampires, Garrett and Charlotte and Peter. Charlotte and Peter told me of a coven up north that had a few great friends of theirs and that I should seek help from them. So I followed their directions and left them.

I've been standing on the porch of this windowed house for nearly twenty minutes while I've been debating on knocking. I've never truly trusted vampires. Yeah, I am in the same species as them, but when I met the Volturi for the first time, they were so...intimidating. Ever since I left, I haven't been all that trustworthy to anyone, regardless if they are human or vampire.

Without my brain working, my fist pounds on the door. Now there's no going back. Immediately the music and laughter from inside had stopped, and I heard whispers.

"Who is it?"

"I can't tell."

"Maybe an attacker."

"Attackers don't just knock on the door."

The door opened to reveal a man with blond hair. He had on a warm smile. But, his eyes weren't any typical human color or vampire-red eyes. They were almost like topaz catching a ray of light from the sun. They looked calm and peaceful, almost like the man didn't want harm to join our conversation. Honestly, I was hoping that there wouldn't be any fights.

"Hello," the man greeted me.

"Hello, I'm Vera," I answered. I probably should've thought this through more when I was going through ideas of post-knocking on the door. Apparently, I never thought anyone would answer. Stupidity coursed through my bones.

"I'm Carlisle." His smile never faltered. "Do you need to come in? You seem troubled."

"Yeah, that'd be great," I answered. He opened the door wider for me to enter, and he escorted me to the kitchen, where six other vampires were. Immediately I recognized one of them, Jasper. That's what Charlotte and Peter had called him. They seemed friendly with him, and even showed me a picture of Jasper.

"Who are you?" A blonde woman asked. All of them had the topaz eyes like Carlisle. Oh. I knew what they were now. They drank animal blood, not human blood. Human blood makes red eyes, animal blood makes golden eyes. Me, I was the outlier with bright red eyes.

"I'm Vera."

"Well, this is my coven. There's Esme, Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper," Carlisle introduces his clan to me.

"So you're the famous Jasper. I've heard a lot about you," I walk up to Jasper and shake his bony hand. He looked at me oddly. "I've running all over America for twenty years. I met Charlotte and Peter a few years back. They told me to tell you to visit them with Alice. They seemed annoyed that you don't visit anymore."

"I've been trying," Jasper chuckled uneasily.

"So, what's happened to you? What's your story?" Carlisle asked. My face faltered a little. I knew, once I said one word, they'd panic and kick me out. It took a while for Charlotte and Peter to accept me.

"And what's your gift? I can't read anyone's mind right now," Edward prosed. Immediately, all the vampires except Jasper, Esme, and Carlisle saw me as a threat. Teeth bared, crouching low, intimidating faces.

"Sorry about that. I'm still tweaking my power. Never really got to training it," I apologized. Immediately, my mind fuzzed for a second before Edward sighed, mumbling he got his mind-reading skills back. "Anyways, I'll tell you everything."

"Great," Emmett exclaimed, and quickly everyone sat down. I sat on the piano stool across from them, putting my bag on the floor by my feet.

"I was born Vera Gray on May 21st, 1977 in Volterra, Italy. On May 20th, 1995, the day before my eighteenth birthday, I was changed into a vampire. Two months previous to that, I had wandered in the Volterra Castle and got my three friends with me killed. Over the two months, I learned a lot about the Volturi there. They changed me on May 20th, and I don't really know who exactly changed me. All I know is that I woke up on my birthday the next day and I was a vampire. Aro told me to follow him to drink a human, and I couldn't. I couldn't believe I was a vampire, an immortal, and the grief from my friends sent me jumping out of the window there. I didn't know what to do, so I left Italy, figuring Demetri wouldn't bother trying to find me. I've nearly run into the Guard a few times when there were conspicuous newborns and such, but nobody knew who I was.

"My gift...it's different than what Aro has seen. I had no idea what I could do. But, after I left Volterra, I encountered a vampire. He tried to kill me. But, I found myself using Jane's gift. Then, I could see relationship bonds with others like Marcus does, and track people like Demetri. I found I had the Volturi's powers. I killed the vampire, and realized what this meant. I could copy others' powers and use them to my advantage after only visiting them once. Sorry Edward, that's what happened when you couldn't read minds. I'm still trying to get it so that the other vampire won't know about me....downloading their gift, if you may," I explained. I looked at everyone's faces. They all looked shocked, confused, amazed, and curious all rolled into one.

"Wait, so you can read minds and manipulate emotions and see the future?" Rosalie asked. I nodded. "That's a cool gift."

"Would you like to stay here for a while and join the coven?" Carlisle asks. I hesitate before nodding. "Welcome to the coven, Vera."