Bella stood next to the large oak tree on the cliff over the river that ran along the valley her home overlooked. The Missouri River sparkled and gleamed in the fading sun of another hot summer day as it twisted out of sight. Bella watched, amused, as more "River Folk" flocked to Cooper's Landing, eager for the night's drunken activities. She wondered idly what it was like to be drunk. She had once drank two whole glasses of red wine at one of her uncles engagements, but human memories fade and she could scarcely recall the dizziness and disorientation that accompanied the night.

"Bella?" Startled by the sound of her name, Bella turned to see her sister approaching.

"We are going to be having some visitors soon; they'll be arriving after dark. They don't have our advantages." Eleni grinned at Bella, "Have I ever mentioned how thankful I am for your ability?" Even after all this time Eleni was still awed by the fact that she no longer sparkled in the sun, so long as she was still under Bella's shield. It made blending in with the humans so much easier.

"Only once or twice a minute, every day." Bella teased. Eleni grinned in response. "I suppose I should take a shower."

Eleni smirked, the mischievous sparkle lighting her eyes could only mean one thing, a scathing remark was fast approaching, "Go ahead Stinky, I've been waiting for you to say that for weeks."

Bella rolled her eyes, "You exaggerate."

"Only a little."

Deciding to humor her little sister Bella turned and pounced, a playful growl erupting from her chest as she tackled the silly girl. They wrestled briefly before Bella gained the upper hand, pinning Eleni and nipping playfully at her neck.

"Dead." She grinned, Eleni laughed.

"I call a rematch!" She cried as she roughly pushed Bella off her, "Tomorrow, same time and place?"

"Deal." Bella readily agreed as she plucked a leaf out of her sister's curly blonde hair. Eleni beamed her brightest smile before heading inside, pleased to have her way. In truth, Bella would do anything to make her sister happy. If agreeing to yet another wrestling match was all it took to please her sister, then Bella would happily comply. Eleni had been through too much pain and misery in her existence. Bella had sworn to do everything in her power to make sure that she would see no more.

During her shower, Bella chose to recall that fateful day she first met Eleni.

It was an unusually cold night as Bella walked home to her Uncles house. She had been to a friends for the evening, she often found herself lonely now that Carly was gone. It pained her to think her beloved cousin was gone from her life, let alone dead.

"Stupid child," her uncle had said, "went and got himself killed, eaten. Pathetic boy couldn't even kill a monstrosity."

She chose not to think of her Carly as stupid. He was the kindest most compassionate man she ever had the pleasure of knowing. Her cousin was the only person to show her any form of kindness since her parents died. He had practically raised her, as her uncle had no time for a little girl.

As she turned the corner to take a shortcut through an alley that let out on her street, she was startled by the man that appeared before her.

"Well what do we have here?" He said, a malicious grin spreading across his face. He was tall, and dressed raggedly. His clothes did not fit him well and it was obvious he had his last shower some time ago. He had made some attempt at taming his matted blonde hair, tied at the nape of his neck with a black ribbon. If his appearance was not alarming enough, his eyes were a horrid crimson red. As she watched, they darkened to a deep black.

"Now James, let's not play with our food." Bella jumped, turning at the sound of the voice only to find a woman with untamed fiery red hair standing right behind her. Like the man, her eyes shown a dangerously dark red.

"I suppose your right, though I do love it when they run. This one seems frozen." As if his words were a cue, Bella attempted to run. No sooner had she had the thought, before James had her by the throat.

"Hold still little one, this will only hurt for a bit." With that, he lowered his mouth to her throat, his teeth sinking in.

"Geez, is there any hot water left in there?" Eleni called through the door, "Our guests are here and you're keeping them waiting."

Bella dressed as quickly as she could, which was admittedly fast when one chose to take her super-human abilities into account. Putting on a comfortable pair of jeans and a deep blue t-shirt, she headed down the stairs. When she reached the bottom step and turned the corner into the living room she froze. No, it could not be.

"Carly?"

The man she had spotted turned, and when their eyes met, her entire world stopped.

"Isabella?" He gasped, and without another moments notice she was across the room, arms wrapped lovingly around the cousin she lost hundreds of years prior.

"I thought you were dead, Carlisle, how could this happen to you?"

"I could ask the same of you." He chuckled, someone cleared their throat and both parties turned to face everyone else in the room. Suddenly embarrassed Bella took a quick step back, facing the six vampires she did not know. Eleni had already taken a seat on the couch to her left and Bella gladly joined her.

"Bella," Carlisle smiled warmly, "This is my wife, Esme." He said motioning to the caramel haired woman to his right. "These are our sons, Emmett, Jasper, and Edward." He pointed each out in turn.

The big one, Emmett, spoke up as he wrapped an arm around the waist of the gorgeous blonde at his side. "This is my wife, Rosalie."

The final member of the family popped up from her seat on the sofas armrest and came forward, grasping Bella in a quick hug as she announced, "My names Alice. Jasper is my husband. We're going to be best friends Bella." The black haired pixie beamed as she glided back to her seat, happily taking her husbands hand.

Carlisle smiled again before adding, "Everyone, this is my niece, Isabella Marie Swan. We have much to discuss, why don't we make ourselves comfortable?"

"Where should I start?" I mused aloud, "I suppose the beginning would be best. One of my clearest human memories is of the day I came to London to live with my Uncle.

"I was five years old and my parents had passed away during the first wave of a fever that ravaged my town. I did not catch the fever, and after my parents died, my priest sent notice to my next of kin. My mother's brother lived in England and I found that I was to go live with him. A man I had never met, or even heard of. I was terrified, grieving, and terribly lonely. I did not want to leave my home, a small cottage in the French countryside, and go to live in a dark dreary city. When I arrived, I was immediately handed to a nursemaid and I rarely saw my uncle again.

"The only bright point in my life was my cousin. He made my days better. Always there when I needed to talk. He gave me the love and support I needed. One of my fondest memories is of him teaching me to dance."

"It was your first ball." Carlisle remembered, "You were so nervous!"

"I was so terribly clumsy; I just knew something horrible was going to happen that night. I was right, but it wasn't due to my lack of proper balance." Bella grinned, privately laughing at the memory of the look on Lauren Mallory's face.

"You stained that poor girls dress!"

Bella just rolled her eyes, "She deserved it."

Carlisle shook his head, "You still haven't told me the entirety of what happened."

She sighed dramatically before replying, "She called Uncle crazy. Said you were a fool to follow his example. No one insults my family and gets away with it." Eleni giggled, clapping a hand over her mouth quickly.

Bella shook her head at her sister, a soft smirk gracing her lips before she continued, "I was fifteen when the worst thing I could imagine happened. My cousin disappeared. I threw myself into my studies, burying myself in a mountain of books in an attempt to keep myself distracted. I refused to attend social engagements and turned away suitors at the door. After a while, everyone left me alone. I liked it that way.

"It was a few weeks after my twentieth birthday when my uncle decided he'd had enough of my behavior. I was old enough to be married and out of his house, and he was determined to see me off. In retrospect, I believe he might have loved me in his own way. He was very ill and we both knew he was approaching the end of his life. I had no other family, and no husband. Uncle wanted to make sure I was looked after, and with Carly gone, he was afraid I would be alone. Therefore, he forced me to go out and be seen again.

"Of all the places he could have sent me, it was to Lauren Mallory's house for her engagement party. The same girl whose dress I had ruined eight years before. I was two years her senior, and more than embarrassed to be the 'Old Maid' of the party. I did my time though, and left as early as I could without seeming rude. It was on my way home that they found me.

"James and Victoria were two very cruel vampires. They chose me that night to play their games. They changed me and tried to force me to stay with them. They found my gift amusing and convenient. For a long time they led me to believe that killing humans was the only way to survive. I hated my existence. I hated what I had become, a monster, but most of all I hated them for forcing me into this life. I found myself praying they would grow tired of me; rid this world of my existence. Obviously, no such luck." She chuckled humorlessly at that before continuing.

"I went as long as I could between meals." Bella grimaced at the word, "I avoided cities and people like the plague. James and Victoria stopped trying to force me to hunt with them. They always went alone while I hid outside the city they chose.

"It was one of those rare times I was alone, starving, in the middle of a forest outside Paris when I lost control of myself. The bloodlust was too strong it took over me. When my head cleared and I saw what I had done, I was filled with a sense of relief. I had massacred an entire herd of deer, but to me this was a victory. A herd of deer was better than killing even one human.

"I was overjoyed at my discovery. I did not have to be a monster. James and Victoria were not half as pleased as I, and it spurred many years of fighting between the three of us. When I threatened to leave, they finally gave it up. I was free to live my 'Vegetarian' life. Yet I was not free of those two yet.

"A few more years passed and I grew restless. My resistance had grown and I wanted very much to settle down, live in one place. Maybe make something of myself, but it was not to be, because that's when I found Eleni."

Eleni perked up at the mention of her name.