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Chapter 3: A fresh scar

Jasper’s POV

I didn’t know what to expect when I came outside. The nomads advancing on my newborn sister? my Alice caught in the arms of one of the males? Or my brothers and father being torn to shreds? I stiffened back another growl.

I shoved past Emmett on the back porch to find a most confusing scene. The range of emotions was perplexing me. Anger, irritation, shock and joy?

I heard Shayla laugh as she dodged the smaller blond-haired nomad’s grab for her by ducking and doing a tumble turn on the ground so she ended up behind him. She spun around, half crouching on the ground, and leapt forward, digging her knee into his back before a snap was heard. She had never fought our kind before, only Emmett and I and we went easy on her, so she was overconfident. The nomad she attacked collapsed onto the ground from the blow just as the second, dark-haired nomad snatched her arm and suck his teeth into her arm, ripping her shirt in the process. Shayla cried out in pain as she was flung away.

“C’mon, we have to help her!” Emmett boomed and he ran forward, barging into the biggest nomad with the reddish-coloured hair and started to grapple with him. The nomad who Shayla had first tried to attack rose and went for Emmett's unguarded back.

I leapt off the porch and ran towards him and shoved him roughly out of the way and into a tree. The tree shuddered from the blow just as Shayla leapt from out of no where; I could see the wound on her arm was still wet with venom, and back flipped in midair, one of her bare feet making contact with his chin, snapping it back. She landed crouched on the ground from where she leapt a determined smirk upon her face. She launched forward again just as the nomad went to attack again but her teeth was on his neck in an instant. His head fell, dismembered from his shoulders and Alice ran to help, snapping his limbs off before tossing them into the fire that Carlisle and Esme had started with the firewood.

“Nice work Shayla!” Carlisle called. Shayla shot a bemused grin in his direction before holding her hand out to Alice for a high 5. Alice slapped her hand against Shayla’s and they ran to assist Emmett.

Edward had dealt with the other nomad, he and Rosalie managed to tear him apart easily, but it was the leader that was the problem. He was strong and I nearly wondered who was stronger: him or Emmett. Emmett let loose a roar as he restrained the nomad and then to my surprise, Shayla responded with a snarl as she leapt at the nomad, her fingers and toes morphing into claws as she dug them into his arms and legs. She bit down hard on his neck, severing his head and leaping off, just before Emmett tugged at his damaged limbs, dismembering them and killing the nomad.

And then, it was over. The bodies were in the fire and everyone was accounted for.

Emmett had a dislocated shoulder which Rosalie had cracked back in place for him. Alice was shaken but unhurt and Edward had a small bite wound on his forearm but he had managed to suck the venom out. I was fine and so was Carlisle and Esme as they had avoided the fight by being in charge of the fire.

“Shayla?” Alice called to her sister, who had taken refugee under a tree. She was nursing her arm, wincing slightly, which was oozing venom. She looked up at the sound of her name.

“Over here,” she called as she rose from beneath the tree. She walked over to Alice, obviously ignoring the pain in her arm.

“Are you okay?” Alice asked her. Without waiting for an answer, she moved forward to Shayla and looked at her arm. The sleeve of her shirt was dangling by a shred of fabric and the whole bite had taken a small chunk out of her arm. There would be a huge scar, one that would nearly go around her whole bicep.

Carlisle was by her side too. “Come inside so we can clean it out.”

Shayla walked inside to the kitchen with Carlisle. The others went upstairs but I decided to stay with Shayla. I hovered in the doorway, watching.

She was sitting at the kitchen bench by the sink where Carlisle was wetting a towel. He then sponged the venom out of her wound, slowly as not to cause her pain but she still flinched. After he was sure all the venom was out, he wrapped a white bandage around it.

“This will keep it clean until it heals,” he told her. “It’ll heal faster though if you’re not thirsty.” He lifted his head from his work on her arm to check her eyes. They were crimson red and the shadows underneath were faint. She wasn’t thirsty at all thanks to the bear cub she drank from before.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Damn, it hurt though!” I heard her swear under her breath. Carlisle smiled at her before leaving to place the towel in the wash. He was moving at human-speed.

I chuckled as I entered the kitchen. “Yes, it does, doesn’t?” I rubbed one of the scars on my arm self-consciously.

“I know how you feel now Jasper,” Shayla said sadly.

She was worried about my scars again. But wait a minute, wasn’t she the one that got bitten?

“Hey, weren’t you the one that got bitten?” I laughed. “Don’t worry about me.”

If she could have flushed red with embarrassment I swear she would of. I chuckled again and she glared at me.

“Where are the others?” she asked suddenly asked.

“In your room. They’re waiting for you.”

She gave a sigh and darted up the stairs at superhuman speed with me on her tail. Before I could get to the door though, I heard Emmett whoop with joy. “Dammit Shayla, why didn’t you tell us you could kick ass like that!” There was a great crash and I heard Shayla swear under her breath again.

I entered to find Rosalie and Alice sitting on Shayla’s bed (she insisted on having a bed, God knows why) and Edward leaning against the opposite wall from the door while Emmett was flat on his stomach near the right-hand wall which now had a huge crack on it. Shayla was sitting cross-legged on him, a superior smirk on her face.

“You going to get off me anytime soon?” Emmett asked Shayla. Shayla smirk grew wider in response.

She pretended to ponder her response. “Hmm… Depends.”

“On what my I ask?” he said, raising an eyebrow as he tried to get up. Shayla shifted and forced him back down.

“Oh Rosalie!” she sang, turning towards my ‘twin’ sitting on the bed.

“Yes Shayla?” Rosalie answered sweetly. I never heard them talk so nicely to each other before. Rosalie though Emmett and Shayla had romantic feelings for each other. But I and everyone else knew that they were just close. After all, he was the one who brought her to Carlisle to be changed.

Shayla gestured to Emmett in a rather amusing fashion. Alice and Rosalie both giggled and I laughed out loud along with Edward. It was a funny sight after all. Emmett, a big, brawly vampire who looks like a 20-year-old had a lean, skinny 15-year-old Shayla on his back, holding him down with almost no effort.

“Alright, let him up,” Rosalie said. Shayla rose and leapt off Emmett gracefully. I’ve never seen her look or feel so happy. Emmett sat up before sitting on the bed next to Rosalie before pulling her into his lap. I leant against the wall at the end, near where Alice was leaning against the same wall on the bed.

She caught my eye and smiled. I could fell love and happiness radiating from her. I leant over and kissed her cheek. I sent another wave of love at her as she took my hand in hers and we entwined our fingers together.

“Alright, fun and games time is over,” Edward said with his voice serious. “We need to talk to you Shayla.”

Shayla’s brow furrowed in confusion. “’Bout what?”

Rosalie sighed in irritation. “I think you could figure it out.”

Shayla’s eyes widen as realization. “The fight with the nomads? I didn’t think I did anything wrong though. They just wanted to hurt you and I couldn’t bear to see that happen…”

“Shayla, relax. You’re not in trouble,” Alice spoke quietly. Calm, Shayla. Her eyes snapped towards me and narrowed in irritation but she then gave a small bemused smile.

“We want to thank you for helping us. Even though there were more of us then them, they still had the advantage of surprise and they had less to protect. But you helped us. And we’d like to thank you.”

“I would do anything to protect my family,” Shayla said simply.

Family… It was odd that a simple word could have so much meaning. As Shayla said that word, love radiated off her and into me. I sent it back out to everyone in the room. But Shayla’s words were enough to emphasise how much she loved and cared for us.

There was a silence before Alice gave a squeal of delight and threw herself at Shayla, giving her a bone-breaking hug. Rosalie hissed something from the bed but then a bark of laughter cut it out. Shayla was laughing and hugging Alice back. Her mouth was formed into a huge grin, identical to Alice’s.

“Let her breathe Alice, geez!” Emmett laughed from nearby.

“Dude, I don’t even need to breathe so it’s all good,” Shayla grinned.

The room cracked up into laughter just as Esme came in, stiffening giggles. Obviously she heard us. “Carlisle would like to see you all downstairs,” she told us.

We all ran downstairs to the dining room. Carlisle was at the head of the table but standing this time.

“There will be no need to sit,” he said. “I only wanted to give Shayla something. I was saving it for Christmas but I think she deserves it now.”

Chapter 5: Revenge with Rosalie

Rosalie’s POV

I ran swiftly through the darkening woods, following Shayla’s musky scent until I came to a hill and the sound of her footfalls, only detectable by vampire ears, fell silent. I slowed down and carefully walked up the rocky hill, staying low and downwind so she couldn’t smell me and run off. Carlisle and Jasper had warned us not to sneak up on her, even as a joke. Her instincts could kick in any time and could either attack me or run like the wind.

At the top, I found her sitting on a boulder, looking down at the valley below where the small village of Mengo was located. It was mainly a collection of farms where over half the population of 250 people worked and lived. It was so small that it wasn’t even put on maps. The children and teenagers that lived there went to school in Forks, the closest town with about an hour drive to the north. We attended the school there as well. The students avoided us like they knew they should.

“Shayla, you okay?” I asked cautiously as I walk closer to her. I touch her shoulder, grasping it to somehow comfort her.

“Yeah, I think so,” she answered as she stood up from the rock. I noticed that she seemed to glare at the town as though it had insulted her.

“How’s your arm?” I asked her. She moved her arm, testing how sore it was before unrolling the bandage. The bite was already healed with a large scar resembling two crescent moons, one on each side of her arm.

“Its fine I suppose,” she muttered. She tossed the bandage over her shoulder and down the hill. Something was bothering her, I could tell.

“Something’s troubling you Shayla, isn’t there?”

She bit her bottom lip, looking more human then I have ever seen her, before answering. “Well, I have been debating on whether or not I’ll pay a little visit to a certain… person,” she said, hissing out the final word but I didn’t know what she was going on about. That was until she ran a finger over her hip, tracing her scar through her shirt.

“Your abuser?” I asked. She nodded before giving a low hiss.

“He needs to pay!” she growled with such ferocity that I took a step back, slightly frightened by her reaction. She realised her mistake and stepped back too, lowering her offensive stance into something that would be considered as submissive. “I’m sorry Rosalie, it wasn’t meant to be directed at you.”

“It’s okay,” I say, moving forward again. Everyone including Edward, the smart-mouth, had told me to be careful around Shayla. She was as stubborn as a mule and Emmett feared we would clash. I admit I did have a bit of a fiery personality but I doubted that Shayla and I would fight. Even though she is a bit of a smart ass. “If you want, I could help you deal with him,” I said, changing the subject.

“Yeah, that’ll be helpful. I know how proficient of an assassin you are,” she joked, stifling a giggle.

I raised my eyebrows at her. “How did you –”

“Know? Emmett told me,” she confessed. “I don’t blame you for doing it either. Those monsters, they deserved to die…” She looked away, embarrassed that she expressed her opinion. Except for Carlisle, none of the others talked about me murdering Royce King and his boorish friends in Rochester many moons ago.

“Yes, well, I can make him pay, like you said, but you’ll need to help,” I said curtly.

She nodded in response. “I have some personal items I would like to retrieve anyway.” She paused before taking a long breath. “I would really like to go now and not tell the others. I know you would want to tell Emmett but I would really prefer it if we kept it to ourselves.”

She glanced up at me, judging my reaction. My fingers twitched in annoyance but I kept my face calm. How could she not expect me to tell my mate where I was? Emmett would be fretting around like an injured puppy dog if I was gone for not even an hour.

“Fine!” I sighed, knowing that I wouldn’t win an argument with her. “Let’s just go, okay?”

She nodded before running down the hill, leading me towards the village. We stuck to the shadows, keeping in the darkness until the sun had fully set.

We stopped in the woods outside of a small property, just by a pasture of cattle and horses. Shayla glanced into the pasture, her eyes focusing on each animal as though she was searching for something. She licked her lips, wetting them with venom.

I elbowed her in the ribs and shot her a look. She realised what she’d done and mumbled an apology.

“Which one is this ‘Mark’s’ house?” I asked her.

She pointed to the old, wooden cottage. “That one. I shared it with him, his wife and my father. My father…” she trailed off as she blinked her eyes, as though she would cry.

“It’s okay,” I soothed, patting her back affectionately. “He won’t get hurt, I promise.”

“No it’s me that I’m worried about,” she whimpered as she flinched from my touch before moving away from my hand. I drew it back hastily. Newborns didn’t like to be touched as a general but I feared it was something more with Shayla. “Remember what happened when we girls were all out hunting? That was a stranger and yet I wanted his blood. What if I lost control and drank from him? I’ll never be able to look Carlisle in the eye again! I –”

“Whoa Shayla, stop,” I ordered. She shut up, but her mouth was twisted into a pout. “You won’t lose control; I’ll be there with you. Here’s our plan. You go to your room, grab everything that you need and then we’ll kill him. But not a single drop of blood is to be spilled though. You won’t be able to resist.”

“So, get in there, get my stuff, break his neck and go home, right?” she said as she cocked an eyebrow at me, a smirk developing on her face,

I give a quiet laugh at her before resuming my attention on the house. I could hear the clinking of glass on wood and several men’s loud, jubilant laughs.

“They’re drinking,” Shayla told me in a whisper. She adjusted her position so she was kneeling down, one knee on the ground, her hands dangling just above the ground with her fingers barely touching the bare dirt. I imitated her position while a ripple of anger coursed through me when she said the dreaded word. Drinking. Human men lost their humanity when they drank and instead became the monstrous pigs that I had suffered at the hands of. And so had my new sister as a matter of fact, but I secretly hoped not in the same way. I suddenly felt pity for the man we were going to murder, he was going to suffer so much when we were through with him. I hissed softly.

“This should be fun,” Shayla then chuckled evilly from my side. I raised an eyebrow at her but she missed the gesture.

“Alright let’s go,” I said.

We jogged forward to the cottage where the lights were now getting switched off. I stayed near the front door, keeping as a lookout, while Shayla circled the house, searching for a way in. I heard her call me in the softest whisper and I found her standing besides a huge tree which long branches shot past the first floor. One was extremely close to an open window.

She scaled the tree with ease before turning to check on me. I gracefully leapt up the tree and together, we crept towards the window. She slipped in but then stopped, half-blocking my view of the room.

“Shayla!” I hissed at her. “What’s wrong, what’s going on?”

“It’s… It’s my room,” she whimpered. She moved forward and sat on the bed, gazing around the room.

“This was your room?!” I asked, thunderstruck. It was a lot different from the one she lived in now. This one was completely bare except for a closet, bed and a bedside table. The wall were painted plain white but worn, chipped and cracked in many places. The bed was merely a mattress on an old wooden frame with the dirty sheets strewn around. The closet door was slightly ajar and I could see the plain clothes inside. Not like the expensive clothes I had bought her, but these were all ragged and torn.

“These were your clothes?” I asked as I pulled a pair of jeans from the closet. They had a hole on each knee and they had loose threads hanging off them.

“Yeah…” she replied, uninterestingly as she reached under the bed and pulled out an acoustic guitar. She strummed on it, making it emit a beautiful noise before slinging it on her back via the leather strap.

“Their so… frayed,” I said softly as I rub a thread between my thumb and forefinger.

“Well, I think we bought them second hand. Maybe, can’t remember the details exactly.” She shrugged as she pulled a photo from the drawer. Her face drew into a confused expression as she examined the photo. It was very old and when she flipped it over, I saw that is was a very old photograph of a baby being held in a women’s arms. The baby was playing with the necklace that hung around the women’s neck, a pendant with a charm shaped like an ‘S’.

“Shayla and Sienna- 14th of February, 1955,” she read off the back. “Mom?” she then asked to no one in particular as she drew her mouth into a frown.

“Huh?” I took the photo from her hands and looked at it. Even though there was a huge difference in age and the photo was only in sepia, the similarities between the two were astounding. Their face were both slim but yet still full, their eyes seemed to be of the same shade and they both had a rather goofy, crooked smile.

“Your mom?” I asked her as I gave her the photo. She folded it up and placed it in her pocket before answering me with a shrug.

“Let’s just get this over with, hey? This is all the stuff I need,” she said, changing the subject. “Oh and this…”

She lifted her mattress before pulling out a flat, green container and then opening it to reveal silver chain with a pendent shaped like an ‘S’. The ‘S’ had tiny green gyms set into it.

“Is that…” I start to ask but she cuts me off quick.

“The same pendent that my mom is wearing? Yes, yes it is.” She puts it on around her neck and rubbed it affectionately between her fore finger and thumb. “It’s my most treasured possession. I never really wore it because I was scared that someone would steal it or I would lose it.” She sighed and walked to the closed door and opened it a crack, just enough so we could hear the men leaving.

The lights clicked off downstairs and I saw a burly man stumble up the stairs, rubbing his stubby fingers through his greasy black hair. He banged into the doorframe as he entered a room down the hall.

“Go home Rosalie,” Shayla suddenly growled from the door. She turned her face towards me and all I could see the in darkness was anger on it, a cold mask set over her real face.

“But –”

“Go!” she barked at me harshly before I obliged and slipped out the window. I hit the ground running and flitted back through the black forest towards home. As the trees thinned I could see Emmett was waiting patiently on the back porch step. He rose as I came into the yard. Before I could blink he had swept me up into an embrace and had planted his lips on mine. I returned the kiss, wrapping my arms around his stone neck. He gave a small throaty growl as I traced his bottom lip with my tongue just as someone coughed unnecessarily behind him. I pulled away from my mate with difficulty and turned to glare at the interruption.

It was Edward. “Rosalie, what’s going on? What have you done?” he growled at me. “Something is going on so you better tell me!”

I flinched slightly as he shouted at me but my courage perks back up when I feel Emmett’s hand on the small of my back.

“Why should I? It’s mine and Shayla’s business and not even your little mind tricks will get it out of me!” I shouted out the last words before storming into the house. Jasper yelled at me as I entered.

“Rosalie calm down! You’re giving me a headache! If that’s even possible…” Alice giggled at his comment from the lounge room.

“Rosalie what’s going on? Where is Shayla?” Edward snarled at me again as he followed me inside. Emmett stood to the side, unsure whether to intervene or not. Edward stood in front of me, his hands in fists as he struggled to contain his anger. Did he and Alice see what were planning? Obviously not or Alice would have been yelling at me as well. I stopped in the kitchen and turned to face my brother.

“Nothing, and not telling,” I answer him calmly as possible but I was angry. He didn’t need to know what Shayla and I had planned and he wasn’t going to find out.

But he caught the trail of my thoughts. “What!?” he shouted. “Rosalie, she is only a month old! And you told her to go…” He glared at me angrily and I proceeded to respond. If he wanted a fight then he would sure as hell get one.

“I did it when I was only a few months! It was her idea and she needed to–”

In a few seconds, we were screeching at each other, yelling insults and arguing over my decision. I seriously thought he was over reacting. Poor Emmett stood to the side looking broken as he watched his brother and mate fight over his little sister. In a few seconds, Carlisle, Esme, Jasper and Alice had joined us.

“Rosalie, Edward, stop that! Now, what on earth is going on here?” Esme demanded as she stood between us.

“Rosalie ‘encouraged’ Shayla to go do murder!” Edward spat at her, his face and eyes filled with fury. But his rage wasn’t needed. I had done nothing wrong and nor had Esme.

I glanced at Jasper, trying to tell him without speaking that Edward needed to be calmed down.

It worked. Jasper held his hand on Edward’s shoulder, just touching him gently, but when Edward tried to shrug the hand off, Jasper’s grip tightened and calm bleed out over us. Edward sighed and sat on one of the stools lining the bench. He had calmed down significantly.

“Alright, now what is this all about, really?” Carlisle asked calmly. Emmett strode over to me before he pulled me to him to comfort me. One of his hands rested my shoulder and the other held one of my own hands. He squeezed it gently, letting me know it was okay to continue.

“Well…” I start to say before hesitating. There was another encouragement squeeze from Emmett; I continued when I felt it. “Shayla was feeling a bit down and she suggested that she got some revenge with some assistance from me.”

Alice closed her eyes before furrowing her brow as she tried to see the future. “Urgh, why didn’t I see this!” she eventually groaned.

“It was a sudden decision on her part. I should have never encouraged it but she wanted me there. She knew about my past from Emmett…”My husband stiffened beside me and I squeezed his hand, letting him know that I wasn’t mad at him. “But once we got to her old house, some unpleasant memories of hers arose and she kicked me out so to speak.” I frowned slightly as I think back to the incident.

“Why though?” Jasper asked. “She knows she could lose control even if one little drop of blood is spilled. And so do you Rosalie!” He shook his head at me. “How could you be so irrational? Shayla is young, much younger then you were when you committed your murders. She has only been one of us for a month for God’s sake!”

I cut him off before he can speak further. “Look, I know what I did was wrong but she needed to do this! It was torturing her and I simply encouraged her to do what was best– for her. Not for me– for her.”

“You were a fool to leave her alone though,” Edward growled at me, his temper arising. “She could have exposed us and then we’ll have to move again!”

I opened my mouth to respond but Emmett beat me to it. “Shayla is a responsible, mature girl, especially for her age. She can control herself, I know she can! Rosalie is not a fool at all!”

Edward went to respond but Carlisle cut him off. “Okay, okay everyone, calm down and control yourselves. Let’s sort this out. I’m sure that Shayla is fine. She’s a strong, independent girl and like Emmett said, very mature and responsible for her age.”

“She would never do anything to harm herself or us,” Alice said. “She is extremely loyal us, perhaps even more then any of us when we first joined the family.”

A feeling of pride set into me, like I had just won a gold medal at the Olympics. I glanced at Jasper who gave a small smile. “That sense of pride is what Esme feels,” he explained. “And I think we should too. She’s has only been one of us for just over a month now and she’s already that loyal.”

Esme beamed. “She’s my daughter now. How can you not expect me to be that proud?”

Edward chuckled, apparently over his mood now. “We can’t.”

Chapter 7: The search

Carlisle’s POV

Esme and I were running at breathtaking speed through the woods to hunt. How, I loved to watch her hunt. It was fascinating that such a soft and slender woman could take down an animal almost twice her size with such ease and grace. I wasn’t thirsty so I sat up in a tree under cover while I waited for her to finish up in the pouring rain. My thoughts began to drift back to the night’s memories only a few hours ago.

Rosalie rolled her eyes at me when I told her to tell us where she had last seen Shayla.

“Carlisle, we don’t need to look for her,” she replied, stubborn as ever. “She’s fine by herself.”

“Rosalie, we need to know,” I said sternly to her. I rarely had to use such a stern voice with any of my children– I left that to Esme– but if I had to, I would.

Rosalie stuck out her bottom lip, pouting a bit. “Alright,” she finally sighed. “Follow me.”

She ran gracefully into the woods and Emmett charged after her, his run more aggressive then hers. The lion and the gazelle. Or rather, the grizzly and the deer. But unlike their animal counterparts, these two were made for each other.

Alice grinned widely and she too darted forward with Jasper on her heels. The only two I had not created, those two powerful vampires were indeed, as Shakespeare once said ‘star-crossed lovers’. They were soul mates. They had been married for far less then Rosalie and Emmett, and Esme and I, but it was obvious that they were truly in love.

I turned to see my final son and wife standing on the back porch.

“Good luck son,” Esme said before giving Edward a peck on the cheek. She had to strain to reach him.

“Thanks Esme,” he answered before the cheetah my son is sprinted off.

I turned and wrapped an arm around Esme while pressing my lips to her forehead. She moulded her body to fit my frame before wrapping both her arms around me. “Well, good luck,” she finally said. “Please find her.”

“I promise I will Esme. I’ll do anything and everything in my power to find her,” I promised her before kissing her again, on the lips this time. She returned the kiss before releasing me and pulling back.

“I’ll stay here in case she comes back,” she told me. “Hurry love or the kids will be calling out for you.”

As on cue, I saw Emmett bound into view and wave at me before booming, “Hurry up Carlisle!”

I laughed and kissed my wife once more before leaping off the porch in a single bound and sprinting to meat my son. We ran together before I smelled Rosalie’s scent mixed in with Shayla’s, both a few hours old. Rosalie had a fresh scent trail nearby and I followed it. Her, Alice, Jasper and Edward were hanging round on an outcrop of rocks.

“Someone’s slow today!” Alice teased before giving a laugh. I laughed along with her before Rosalie spoke up.

“Shayla and I went up this hill here.” She pointed to the hill that we were now at the base of.

I ran up to the top and from there, I could see everything. The village, our house, the entire forest…

And then, I saw Shayla. I called my family in a whisper and they were by my side in an instant, looking down at the village.

Shayla leapt from the second storey of a house with a bundle in her arms. She glanced around, looking to see that no human eyes have seen her, before tearing into the forest at newborn speed.

“She did it,” Rosalie breathed. “I wasn’t sure that she would but she did.”

Edward grumbled a growl. “I still think that was a bad idea. She was that close to risking exposure!”

Rosalie hissed at her brother. “Well, read the thoughts around you and see if she was seen then!”

Edward stood still for a moment while he listened to the voices in his head. “No, she wasn’t,” he admitted after a while.

Rosalie smiled smugly. “She’s a smart girl Edward,” I said, trying to reassure him. “But instead of arguing over her decision, we need to find her, just in case.”

They all nodded before Alice spoke. “It’s going to storm badly. Lots of lightning, thunder and hail.”

“Aw, so no chance of baseball?” Emmett groaned while slumping his shoulders as he spoke.

“Not until we find my little sister,” Jasper answered with his voice rather proud. He loved Shayla dearly and I knew Shayla thought very highly of him.

“Let’s split up,” Edward suggested. “We’ll cover more ground.”

“Good idea,” agreed Jasper. “Alice and I will search up and down the river, the clay pits and the surrounding forest in the east. Meet you all back here in an hour.” He took Alice’s hand and the two ran off.

“We’ll take the woods around the village,” Rosalie stated before she and Emmett ran down the hill.

That left Edward and I. “Where would you like to go?” I asked him curiously.

He pondered for a moment before speaking. “We could try and track her scent. But I’ve never tried tracking before.”

“Nor have I but I heard it’s quite similar to hunting. Except that you have to follow the scent rather then the heartbeat,” I said. I sniffed until Shayla’s now-familiar musky, hay-like scent reaches my nostrils. It was animal-like but still human in a way. It reminded you of rolling hills in the countryside, hay bales staked high and horses running free in the wide world. It was clearly a farming scent.

I exhaled and looked at my son. “Ready?” I asked him.

“Ready,” he answered and he took off down the hill. I followed, just keeping up to him until Edward looked at me and smirked, before racing forward, and no matter how hard I tried, her always stayed a few feet ahead. He loved to race. But unfortunately for us, he always won. Shayla hadn’t had a chance to race him yet. I secretly hoped she could beat him.

“Not a chance,” Edward laughed from up ahead.

Edward rarely laughed but when he did, it was a boisterous sound. I laughed with him before we slowed down and shifted into a crouch as we snuck around the house. Shayla and Rosalie’s scent were both strong but Shayla’s was stronger.

“It appears that she was here for about an hour before she headed into the woods with the body,” Edward noted.

“Okay, let’s head there,” I said before running, following her scent and the scent of the dead human.”

As Edward and I ran, he talked to me, staying in pace with me instead of streaking forward. “Do you think her decision was wise?” he asked me.

I furrowed my by brow in thought. “I don’t know,” I finally admit. ‘I only want what is best for her.’ I thought to myself, forgetting that he could hear.

“So do I, Carlisle,” he answered my thoughts. A crack of thunder rumbles the sky followed by a flash of lightning. Rain began to bucket down and more thunder rocks the sky. I glance up at the sky, only just visible through the canopy of trees, and it’s covered with olive-grey storm clouds. Alice’s prediction was right. We could rely on her better then the local weatherman.

“Too true,” Edward murmured.

And then all of sudden, the stench of death hits up. The result of a poorly buried corpse. The smell of blood was absent which was a good sign but I was curious to see who the body belonged to.

Edward and I slowed to a stop and it a small clearing, a mound of brown dirt showed where a shallow grave was situated.

“Should we?” I asked Edward while tilting my head towards the grave.

He gave a stiff nod. “Shayla was here defiantly.” He looked at the grave. “She did a pretty digging job I might add.”

I sighed heavily and bent down to the grave, rolling up my sleeves as I went. Edward imitated me and we glanced at each other before nodding. I reached down and began shovelled the dirt away slowly with one hand before adding my other hand and getting faster. Edward was going the same, getting quicker and quicker.

We kept digging until my fingers grazed something cold and wet. I reached further in and wrapped my hand around something. With a tug, the dirt easily parted and I ended up with the dead man’s body in my arms.

As a vampire and doctor, I was used to seeing dead bodies, both human and animal. Death was all around us, unavoidable and threatening to plague all that were mortal. It was foreign to me and all of my family but yet still familiar.

I laid the body down and Edward and I leant over it. Edward once studied medicine at night school during our stay in Ohio. He had learnt quite a lot and I was quite proud of him.

“Time of death, approximately an hour ago,” he murmured. “Maybe even less.” He glanced at me, checking to see if he was correct.

“Very good,” I observed. I leant over the man and even though it was pitch black (for humans) and pouring down rain, I could clearly see the bruise marks on the mans neck, shaped like a slender sixteen-year-olds fingers. I ran a finger over the back of the man’s neck, feeling his bone. When my fingers came to just behind where the bruises were located, I could feel where the bone had been shattered.

“Broken neck,” I murmured to Edward. “No hope of surviving.”

“It’s a good thing that he didn’t bleed,” he noted as he glanced up into the sky. A look of shock crossed his face before he jumped to his feet. “Alice has had a vision.”

We quickly reburied the body before sprinting back towards where we first met up with the others. Alice and Jasper were already there, sitting on the large grey rocks and I could hear Emmett and Rosalie coming.

“Alice what is it? What did you see?” I asked her as I bent down close to her. Alice was rubbing her temples as if she had a headache with her eyes closed as she began to speak.

“I see her running, no jogging, back to the house. She’s covered in mud and dirt and seems to be pleased but yet still horrified with herself. She jumps the river and runs towards the house. And then that’s it.” She glanced up at me. “You might need to alert Esme about this.”

I nodded. “Good idea.” I sprint up the hill before disappearing from my children’s sight. It was easy enough to sneak into a human’s house and quickly call Esme. She assured me that Shayla would never hurt her but was shocked when she heard that Shayla actually murdered her abuser.

“Do not worry my love,” I said, trying to soothe her. “Shayla may be headstrong but I believe that she’ll never, ever harm you, me or any of the kids. She’s truly loyal to us. But be careful around her.”

“I know,” Esme sighed back through the phone. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Good idea, we’ll stay out and give you some time. I see you soon darling. I love you,” I replied to her.

“I love you too Carlisle.” She hung up and I exited the human’s house, thinking hard. Shayla was a real worry to the family but I knew that it would all pass in due time even if we had to move. Esme and I had been researching locations that we could live but no where was perfect. We needed a cold, rainy place with almost zero sun and close to where we could hunt without detection or risk.

I sighed wearily out of habit and ran back to my family. They crowded around me as I sat down on a boulder. “She’ll be fine with her won’t she Alice?” I asked my tiny daughter as she graciously sat down at my feet with Jasper. She didn’t answer straight away as she leant back into Jasper’s waiting arms with her eyes blank as she searched the future.

“Yes, Esme will be fine,” she finally said, her voice barely a whisper. “Shayla will be very brave and talk of some dark secrets of hers. But I cannot say what they are.”

“Why?” Emmett demanded to know as he hugged Rosalie to his side on the boulder next to me.

“Well one,” Alice started. “I can’t see what they are. And two, even if I did know, it’s not my place to say.”

Alice was extremely loyal. She would protect anyone of us even if the threat was twice her size. She was one of the sweetest and most caring people I knew.

Emmett gave a frustrated sigh and slumped his shoulders. Rosalie hugged him and rubbed circles with her hand on his back.

“Emmett, she’ll tell us when she wants to,” I said trying to comfort him. I placed a hand on his shoulder. “She likes to keep things to herself. I could imagine that telling Esme was hard enough. Imagine yourself in her position. Would you like to tell your darkest secrets to people you hardly knew? After all, it’s only been a month, we hardly know her and she doesn’t know us. She doesn’t trust us even though she does love us.”

Alice sighed and leant back against Jasper. “I just want her to be happy. Like she was after Jasper took her hunting for the first time.”

It was quite a good sign to see Shayla acting so happily after that hunting trip. I had been worried that she would be quite quiet and withdrawn. My fears were soon realised to my dismay as she soon become just that. She was also very moody at times, preferring to stay out in the forest all night and returning at dawn to. She cheered up slightly after each hunting trip but she soon sunk back into her cloud of sadness. I suspected she might have depression. Jasper soon backed up my theory but until tonight, none of us knew why.

“We all do Alice,” my other daughter said as she clutched as Emmett’s hand. “I thought that… I thought that maybe getting revenge back at her abuser might make her feel better. I was very wrong.”

“But it did, though only temporally,” Edward added. “She believes she is a monster. Her thoughts are getting clearer, not just random words or images. I can hear her from here but only flickers of distant memories.”

“That’s common for newborns,” I said, nodding my head. Newborns thoughts were often jumbled, confused and full of distant human memories. They could process things much faster then older vampires and some of the more well-trained ones were famous for their tactics in the southern blood wars. Jasper had experienced their wrath far too many times.

We remained silent for a long time with each of us worrying about Shayla and Esme in our own way. Edward was pacing, trying to catch their thoughts. Rosalie sat with her head in her hands, her long blonde cascading down her face. Emmett had one of his arms around her, trying to comfort her, but his face was contorted with worry. Alice’s eyes were glazed over as she forced herself to see the future. Jasper had his arms wrapped around her protectively as he tried to calm us down. I could feel it washing over me.

This went on for about ten minutes before one of us spoke. It was Alice.

“It’s safe to go back now. By the time we get back, they would have finished talking.” She rose to her feet with Jasper behind her. Emmett and Rosalie were on their feet next, Emmett eager to see what the fuss was about while his wife was fretting with worry. Rosalie usually never worried about anyone apart from herself, her family and Emmett. Even though Shayla was part of our family now, it was still astounding to see Rosalie care so much for her.

It took little time to return home. I could hear Shayla and Esme murmuring softly upstairs before a laugh echoed through the house, a great, rambunctious laugh. And it wasn’t Esme’s.

I hurried upstairs to find Esme and Shayla, giggling in Shayla’s room. When I asked them what was going on, Shayla had snickered and refused to tell me.

Esme had taken my hand and we had ran downstairs, just after Esme told them to ‘behave’. I always admired her for caring for those young vampires as though they were her own flesh and blood.

We could hear them talking softly but happily to Shayla as we ran out into the woods. I felt a smile touch my lips as I remembered Shayla’s laughter.

She was happy, no doubt about.

“Carlisle, are you okay?” I heard a soft voice ask from the base of the tree.

I jerked my head as though as I’d been brought out of a trance. I fixed my kind wife with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry love, just reliving the night’s memories.”

She returned the smile as I leapt down the tree, landing easily on the balls of my feet. Noticing that she had a speck of blood on her cheek, I tilted my head down towards her and licked her cheek, lingering longer then I should have. Esme tilted her head towards me and met my lips but only for a second. I drew back and smiled at her. “I’m sorry my love. You had a speck of blood there.”

“No harm done,” she answered, grinning a little bit. She lifted her head slightly, listening to the almost silent night. I said almost silent because I could also here something. Footfalls were approaching and they were very loud ones.

“The kids are coming out,” I noted, recognising their familiar scent.

“Now I’m no mind reader…” Esme began, a soft smile creeping onto her face. “But I suspect that Emmett wants to wrestle. And they’re finally letting Shayla join in.”

I chuckled. Edward and Jasper were rather sceptical of letting Shayla joining in their wrestling matches. They and I as well feared her newborn instincts would take over and she would harm one us. If she hurt any of them… Rosalie, Alice, Emmett, Esme… I shuddered at the thought.

“C’mon, let’s find them,” Esme suggested. “Someone needs to keep an eye on them.”

I took her hand and we ran towards their quieting footfalls.

Chapter 9: Father

Shayla’s POV

“NO!” A hysterical female voice shouted at me as I lunged at Jasper. He turned and threw up an arm to try and block me. But out of the corner of my eye I saw something speed towards me. And the next thing I know, I was being hurled backwards. I soared over the steep embankment of the rivers, crashed down on the edge in the clay, before tumbling upside down into the deep, muddy water.

I flipped myself the right way up and pushed myself to the surface. I blinked my eyes a few times as I tried to remember why I was in the river. How the hell did I get down here? And then my memories returned to me. My instincts had kicked in like my family had predicted. Damn, damn, damn!

I paddled back to the edge and walked out of the water. Edward and Emmett was there, both of them looked worried.

“You okay?” Emmett asked me as he helped me out of the water. The bank was very steep.

“Yes, just soaking wet,” I answered as he tugged me up the bank. I saw Jasper standing underneath the very tree which I had sat on with Alice by his side. His eyes were wary, cautious, but Alice was calming him down, rubbing his arm and murmuring to him softly.

“Jasper, I’m –” I started to say but he cut me off.

“Shayla, it’s fine, you didn’t get me,” he said quietly. “You don’t need to apologise, it was your instincts and emotions. And it was partly my fault; I shouldn’t have snuck up on you.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” I replied, shaking my head a bit, causing the muddy water to drip out. “It was completely my fault.”

I heard footsteps from behind me. I turned my head to see Carlisle and Esme walking towards us. Carlisle looked calm but Esme looked a bit worried.

“Are you okay Shayla?” she asked me as she came towards me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“I’m fine, I just tried to rip Jasper’s head off that’s all,” I muttered, meaning for it to sound more like a joke then serious.

It worked. Jasper smiled a bit at that while Emmett and Edward sniggered. Rosalie’s lip twitched in annoyance and Alice giggled. I laughed quietly to myself and shook my head.

Carlisle chuckled before speaking. “But have you calmed down now?”

“Yes, I’m fine but I’ll think I’ll just watch.”

I climbed back up my tree but this time Esme, Rosalie and Alice joined me. They sat on the branch were I had before but I sat on the one above them, half-hidden in the leaves with my back pressed up against the trunk.

They were good fighters. Edward always seemed to anticipate their moves before they made them –obviously he was listening to their thoughts. Jasper was more about strategy while Emmett just used brute force. Carlisle seemed to just be going with the flow and seemed to be rather sparring and practising his attacks then being serious.

Cheater, I thought when Edward leapt away from Carlisle at exactly the right moment. Can’t you shut it off and fight fair?

“It doesn’t turn off,” he called to me just as Emmett grabbed him and put him a headlock. Jasper cheered for his brother while Esme, Rosalie and Alice laughed.

“Good one Shayla you distracted him!” Alice cheered up at me.

I grinned and stuck my tongue out at Edward. “Better luck next time Eddie-Boy!”

“Eddie-Boy?” Emmett sniggered as Edward scrambled out of his grip. “That’s a good one!” He let out a laugh and grinned up at me.

Edward glared at me. “It’s Edward. Not Eddie-Boy or Eddie or Ed or anything else along those lines!”

Geez, Edward, cool it! I thought at him. He turned away in a huff.

“Why did you say to him?” Rosalie asked curiously.

“I told him to cool it,” I replied. “That temper’s going to get him in trouble one day.”

“Yeah,” Alice agreed as the tree shook when Emmett threw Carlisle at it. I clung to the branch above me with one hand.

Carlisle righted himself and glanced at his watch just as the clouds above us began to drizzle. “We should head back, it’s nearly midnight.”

I stood up and leapt from the tree, narrowly missing Esme, Alice and Rosalie. I landed on the balls of my feet; half crouched with one hand out to steady myself on the wet earth.

Emmett laughed at me. “Looks like we got the world’s clumsiest vampire!”

“Shut it,” I growled irritably. If there one thing I hate being picked on for, it’s my ability to trip over things that are not there, hurt myself by doing something stupid or just being plain clumsy.

I turned my back to him and instead gazed at the river. A smile formed on my lips as I recalled a long-lost memory…

“Come on Shayla!” A boy that looked about thirteen and whose name I couldn’t quite remember called from outside the barn. I was inside, saddling up my horse. I was thirteen years old and was planning to do something stupid and reckless that would leave me injured.

I just didn’t know it yet.

“I’m coming!” I called back before lifting myself onto the horse. I picked up the lasso and cowboy hat off the wooden bench beside me. I slung the lasso on the special hook on the saddle while putting my hat on. I nudged my horse gently and he walked forward and out of the doors of the barn.

It was a slightly overcast day with rain clouds but still with sun shining through the grey. My father, a tanned-skinned, thirty-something-year-old-man with brown, almost black, eyes and greying hair wandered over to me and patted my leg affectionately.

“Be careful, alright Shayla?” he said to me.

I leant down and kissed my father beneath his hat. “Always Pa. I love you.”

The boy I saw earlier waved to me from across the opposite pasture on his own horse.

I nudged mine again before shifting my weight and muttering in her ear. “Go girl!”

The palomino took off like a rocket and we galloped across the fields. The boy, whose name I now remembered was Alex, followed us as a few more teenagers joined us, everyone on a horse. We all knew each other and we were all the best of friends

We cut through the woods on a trail and eventually found ourselves at The Tree. We called it “The Tree” because everyone knew that it was special. It was very tall and old and very, very climbable. It hung straight over the steep bank of the gushing river and served as a diving board into the shallows but the river was usually going much to fast for us to swim in.

“G’day guys,” I greeted them as I slid off my steed and tied her reins to a nearby tree. She happily lowered her head and began to eat grass.

Everyone greeted each other appropriately. What they all said and what their names were I couldn’t remember but I did remember this. I drew their attention to the tree.

“Okay, I got the rope guys! Who’s going first?’ I asked them, showing them the rope.

Mutters of “Not me,” and “No way I’m going to first!” came at me. I frowned before sighing.

“Fine I’ll go!” I declared irritably as I climbed the tree before tying the rope to what looked like a sturdy-looking branch. When I climbed back down, the old tree creaked in protest but I dismissed the idea, thinking it was the wind or something else.

“You are crazy,” Alex said to me as I lined up to jump the river and swing with the rope to the other side. The boulders there looked mighty sturdy but I thought I would miss them.

“Someone has to be the brave one,” I teased, nudging him in the side with my elbow. He pushed my arm away, grinning. He was a big boy and nothing I ever did could hurt him. He was also quite good-looking with his messy black hair and emerald green eyes. He was my best friend though and I would never do anything to risk our friendship.

I ran and jumped, grabbing the ripe and started to swing across the river. But then the tree creaked in protest just as my feet where inches from the opposite bank.

The branch snapped.

I let out a cry as I fell onto the sharp boulders. I gripped the rock in one hand as pain shot through by shoulder and the fast running water splashed up close to my feet.

I heard my friends cry out in horror. But then, everything went black.

When I awoke I was in a strange bed in a strange room. A tube was inserted in my arm. The opposite arm, the one I had injured, felt extremely heavy and stiff just like my head. The monitors and machines beeping nearby were giving me a headache.

I let out a moan of pain as I tried to sit up but a steady hand forced me back down.

I looked up to see the most handsome man I had ever seen. His blond hair was in small curls atop his head, his nose and jaw line perfectly straight and angular and his skin was a ghostly pale. Even more pale then Jamie, the part-albino I knew. But yet the paleness was what made him stunning.

However his eyes were easily the most beautiful. They were a butterscotch yellow colour and were mesmerising.

“Who are you?” I managed to choke out as I coughed loudly.

“My name is Doctor Carlisle Cullen,” he said as picked up the chart from the end of my bed and began to flick through it, not quite meeting my eyes.

“What happened to me Doctor Cullen?” I asked him, forcing my somewhat sore throat to speak. “I don’t really remember.”

He looked up, a small smile on his perfect lips. “According to several of your friends, you were doing something reckless and foolish again and broke your shoulder.”

I blushed, embarrassed. “Oh… Right.”

He smiled again and adjusted the IV in my arm. It stung a little but I ignored it. “And what reckless and foolish thing were you doing Miss Brown?” he asked.

I smiled embarrassed and shook my head a little. “Um, we were going to swing across the river on a rope but I misjudged the strength of the branch and the sturdiness of the boulders on the other side.”

He nodded before smiling slightly. “That sounds like what one of my sons would have done.”

“You have children?” I asked, slightly confused. He seemed far too young to have children.

He seemed to hesitate before answering. “They are all adopted. My wife took in two of her sister’s children after their parents died in a car crash. They’re twins.”

“That most of been terrible for them,” I answered.

He nodded. “It was Miss Brown.”

“Call me Shayla,” I interrupted him. “Calling me ‘Miss Brown’ makes me feel old. I am only thirteen.”

“My apologies Shayla,” he answered, putting the emphasis on my name. “Anyway, we had to do a small operation on your shoulder hence why you are probably feeling groggy and disorientated.”

“Does my father know I’m here?” I blurted out to my embarrassment.

The doctor smiled again. “Yes, he was but you were still unconscious. Something urgent came up and he had to leave right away. However he said he’ll be back as soon as he can.”

“Do I have to stay overnight?” I lifted my sore arm to check it. A thick bandage was wound around it. I winced and set it back on the pillow.

“For at least three days. You only cracked the bone and it shouldn’t take long to heal. But you’ll be required a week off school at least as well.”

“I don’t go to school,” I confessed quietly. “My father can’t afford it. I get taught by some of the older children at the farm.”

Whatever shock crossed his face soon diminished. “Okay then, well, all I can recommend now is some morphine, if you would prefer some, and lots of rest. Is it causing you pain?”

“Um, yeah, it is quite painful,” I answered rather lamely. He called in a nurse who administered the morphine before exiting the room.

And that’s all I could remember of that day.

Back to the present time, I felt Edward rest a hand on my shoulder.

“Shayla,” he said quietly. “Was that just Carlisle in that memory of yours?”

I looked up at him and nodded. “He fixed my shoulder for me when I was thirteen.”

At those words Carlisle glanced up as Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper and Edward began to move off into the woods, giving us some time to ourselves. “Shayla, was your surname Brown? As in Shayla Kara Brown?”

“I think so; my memory is a bit fuzzy.”

“I never would have thought that you were the same girl,” he said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I reached up and held his arm against my chest in a gesture I hoped that said that I didn’t mind him hugging me. Carlisle was becoming the father I never really got to have.

“You are quickly become the father that I wish I could of had,” I whispered, looking up at his face. “I thank you for that.”

He wrapped his other arm around me and held me to his chest. I buried my face into his shirt as he spoke. “Shayla, you are one of the family now and my daughter. Never forget that.”

“I’ll do my best not to,” I muttered and he chuckled.

“Come on, let’s go back home,” he suggested as I broke away from in before taking my new father’s hand and running back through the woods towards home.