After Dark

16.

Amber's Pov.

Two days already passed. Not much has happened, except that the bite marks have disappeared and the skin had taken a nice alabaster tone.

But then it finally happens ...

Carissa opens her eyes. She looks at me with her red eyes and smiles. Then she jumps on me and hugs me stormily.
The air, which doesn't exist in my lungs, is left to me.
"You are too strong!", I say.
She lets go of me,
"Sorry".

Grayson has also opened his eyes and looks at us with amusement. He comes up to us and hugs first Carissa and then me, what I find strange and beautiful at the same time.

First he doesn't let go of me, he even pulls me closer to him. Carissa looks at us laughing.
What's happening?

But then he lets go of me and touches his throat. He seems to feel the burning. Carissa's feeling it too.
"We have to go hunting now", I say. Since the others were hunting yesterday while I stayed here, I go alone with them.

We run through the forest. They still have a lead, but I catch up with them fast. Now I'm ahead of them. After a while I stop running,
"Stop", I say softly. They stop too. I gesticulate and point to a bunch of deer.
I discover a cougar and bite in it's neck. After the thirst is satisfied, we continue walking slowly.

Carissa climbs a tree and, like a monkey, jumps from branch to branch.
Grayson walks next to me.
"Thank you", he says.
I look at him,
"For what?", I ask.
"For all that", he says.
"There is no reason to thank me, I've finished your lives -",
"And given us an immortal life", he interrupts me.
I think I'm talking against a wall.

Shaking my head, I just look straight and keep walking.
"Being immortal is more like a curse when you've been on Earth for so long, like me ...", I say softly.
"And how long is that?", he asks curiously.
"Very long", I look at him.
"How long exactly?", he doesn't give up.
"About four hundred years", I say.
"Wow, then you've probably experienced a lot", he says impressed.
I nod.
After a perceived eternity of silence, he changes the subject,
"You said that you all have special gifts, which are that?".
"Well, not every vampire has a gift, for example, Edward can read minds, Bella is a shield, which means she can defend mental attacks, Alice can see into the future, Jasper can influence the feelings of others, and I can copy the gifts of others by mere touch, but we can further develop the gifts through training", I explain.
"And how do we find out if Carissa and I have any gifts?", he asks me.
"No idea, that will show".
"What about Renesmee, is she a vampire, too?", he asks. I shake my head,
"She's a hybrid, Bella gave birth to her when she was human", I explain.
"Bella is Renesmee's mother?!", he looks at me puzzled.
"Yes, and Edward is her father", I keep on saying.
"I thought that Bella's really your sister", he says, slightly ashamed and rubbing his neck.
"No, she's not been a vampire for a long time, only seven years, I just look like her", I say.
"Does that mean that Renesmee is actually only Seven?", he asks.
"Yes, but since she has grown much faster than a normal person, she is already seventeen", I explain and start running.

He follows me, so does Carissa. I jump skilfully over the rocks. My destination are the nearby cliffs. But part of it is in the wolves' territory, so I have to be careful that they don't cross the border. We're sitting there now and looking at the sea.
But as it is already late, we go back.

We arrive at the house.
Ren is back and happy to meet us.
"Well, was it fun?", she asks. Carissa and Grayson nod eagerly. We go to the house.
I walk to Carlisle and ask what we should do now.
He says they can stay here for now. When they get used to everything, they'll go home.
But how should that work?

He also means that they have to do the same like me when Charlie is here. And for dinner they should say that they have already eaten outside. That is actually true.

Carissa told me that her parents don't care anyway because they work all the time.
That's sad.
She also says they wouldn't even notice if she and Grayson destroyed the furniture.

Now they have us,
we are here for them!
Forever!

Alice comes up to me and hugs me. Suddenly we both solidify,
"The Volturi come ... when winter ends", we say at the same time. Everyone looks at us in astonishment.

That means that we have to train!