"Who are you?" Bella hissed at her. I could guess that she was contemplating if this woman before us is an enemy or not. I mean Alice surely did.
"You can call me Zafrina." She introduced herself.
God she had such a beautiful deep voice. I bet she could sing the alt lines so well. Can she sing? I had to find out later.
"You did this to us?" Alice asked, referring to the overwhelming illusion that was on her and Renesmee until now.
"Yes. I tend to herd others away from our territory." She told us simply. I could see she is not the type who beats around the bush.
"You herded us?" Alice asked suspiciously.
"Yes." Zafrina told us matter of factly. Bella and Alice exchanged a look. Did she can help us?
"So you live here?" Bella asked this time.
"For a while now, yes." Zafrian replied.
"Can we speak? We had a few questions and you might be able to help us." Alice offered kindly. She straightened up from her protective stance signaling that she meant peace. She immediately saw the opportunity.
"We could... I had my own curiosity." Zafrina's red eyes traveled at Bella and then behind her at me. She was interested in why we didn't fall for her illusion. And of course why would two vampires protect two human children...
I smiled at her brightly. I could have stepped closer if Bella wouldn't have kept me so tight.
Our short conversation got distracted as we heard fast feets approaching us. Shortly Edward, Jasper and Jacob rushed out from the trees. Jacob in his wolf form. He looked around and when he saw Zafrina a dangerous growl left him. He clearly saw her as a threat.
"We heard screaming." Edward told shortly and he measured the situation with his telepathy. Jasper did the same with his empathy.
"Oh it is alright. Guys this is Zafrina. And Zafrina they are our family." Alice introduced them to each other like she was introducing an old friend of hers.
"He is my husband Jasper." She danced at his side and pressed a kiss on his cheek to make him relax.
"He is Edward, Bella's husband." She gestured at them.
"Oh and by the way I am Alice. I forgot that. The wolf here is Jacob, the family's friend and the twins are Renesmee and Carlie Edward and Bella's daughter." She finished with a bright smile like this will solve all the tension that was still in the air.
It didn't fully. Zafrina stood stiff as she judged our clearly huge and dangerous coven. Now it was her turn to decide that we are friends or foes. At the end her curiosity led her to ask.
"Your daughters?" And she looked at Bella and then Edward. Edward was already standing next to Bella covering Renesmee's side.
"Yes." Bella smiled fondly at us. "They were born when i was still human." She revealed shyly as if she wasn't sure that this is the right thing to do.
"Will you turn them?" Zafrina asked. It wasn't an accusation, just a simple question.
"No." Everyone answered at once. It surprised her but didn't react to it badly. Zafrina looked over our group. What a strange bunch we were.
"We can talk but I would like you to meet my sisters too. They are a bit uneasy around strangers." She told us.
We agreed and followed her deeper into the jungle. Jacob stayed in his wolf form as he felt more in ease this way. Me and my sister sat on his back so we would be able to keep up with the others who were running at vampire speed. I think we could run with them if we really try. I once overran Irina too, so speed is not that big of a problem. Maybe we run out of stamina. But of course we couldn't find out just yet as they thought we were too young to run with them...
We ended up in the heart of the wilderness. Zafrina halted before a set of huge trees. When I mean huge I mean like building sized, huge. And I was just talking about their thickness. From where I was it seemed like these great giants grew straight into the sky. Renesmee and Bella were as speechless as I was. They saw something like that for the first time too. The others nervously stood in a circle. From somewhere above us we heard soft movements. Someone was clearly jumping from one huge branch to the other.
"I brought some guests!" Zafrina yelled out. Her voice was raw and forceful. Not the kind of refined voice that we were used to from our vampire family.
"Guests? Why?" A female appeared on the branch right above Zafrina. She was gorgeous dark skinned like Zafrina but her posture was more slim. Her dark hair was tied up in many braids. Her deep red eyes noted everyone of us. She couldn't understand why her sister would bring so many strangers to them.
"Why did you bring them here?" Another more demanding but kind voice asked the question.
She stood behind and above us on another branch. The woman was shorter than the other two but she shared the same traits. Only that her hair was a wild mess that somehow worked to her favor and she was much more muscular than the other two. I wouldn't be surprised if her physical strength were higher than a normal vampire's. Her demeanor said she is the boss here.
"They want to ask some questions and I found them interesting." Zafrina answered straight to the point.
Yes we clearly were a sight. Two pairs of vampires, a huge foreign wolf and on his back a pair of twin children. Also the others wouldn't necessarily use the interesting word to describe us.
"Let me introduce ourselves." Edward took the lead this time.
"My name is Edward and they are my family. My sister and her husband Alice and Jasper. My wife Bella and our children Renesmee and Carlie. The wolf is Jacob, our friend." He went on from less difficult to most difficult.
"They are my sisters, Senna '' Zafrina introduced the branded slim vampire. "And Kachiri." She gestured to the leader. The other two above us shifted their stances a bit.
"Nice to meet you." Edward welcomed them.
"So what are you wish to know?" Kachiri asked. He observed us again and her eyes stopped at us. The children.
We were somewhat familiar. We never met, she knew that ,but the way we behaved between four vampires, the way that our hearts beated, our pretty faces with a light blush. Where did she see something like us? Edward caught on her musings too and with a new confidence he answered.
"We were searching for legends. Legends that were about hybrid children like my daughters." He told her.
"They're not human?" Zafrina asked. She thought we were.
"No. I was human when I got pregnant and Edward as their father was a vampire at that time. They are half human, half vampire." Bella explained kindly. She stepped closer to us and when Renesmee signaled her that she wanted to be picked up she did. I stayed with Jake.
"How is this even possible?" Senna asked from above us.
"I can show you more than my mother could tell." Renesmee chimed in. She hated that words holded so little information. Her pictures worked better.
"Show?" Zafrina was immediately by their side.
I had to grab Jacob's fur on the back of his neck so he wouldn't bounce himself between them. Renesmee leaned closer to Zafrina in Bella's hold and touched her hand. Everyone of us waited in silence as Renesmee replayed the key events of our lives. Our birth, her first memory of Bella, my painful first hours, our family, our fast growth, that this caused stress between the family and we are here to find a solution for that. Zafrina's face lit up after this experience.
"You just like me, little one!" She touched her nose lightly and Renesmee giggled at her.
Jacob seemingly relaxed after this. I patted his head, like I would say, good boy. He huffed at it. He couldn't decide whether to be glad that I had him on leash or not. Senna slowly descended from her place.
"You can see it if you want." Edward allowed her. Alice and Jasper stepped aside so she could get closer.
She did and Ren showed her the same memories that she showed to Zafrina. Senna was mesmerized too. My sister's talent is perfectly like Zafrina's.
"So they aren't even a year old?" She asked, concerned. While her sister was stuck at the fact that Ren is talented she moved on easily to the real reason for this meeting.
"No. They will turn one year old in September. As you see they are clearly more developed than their age let on. But around us no one met someone like them. And we don't know when they will stop growing this fast. Or will they stop growing at all. We hoped that maybe in this land we would get some answers as some of the legends spoke about children like them." Edward explained.
"To be honest we have never met someone like them. I am not sure how we could help..." Senna told us. Zafrina nodded as well.
"I met with something similar." Told Katchiri, who all this time just listened to us.
"Did you?" Bella and Alice asked at the same time.
"I did. After I was turned. I ran into him and his aunt when I was hunting. Her aunt Hulien told me a similar story than yours. Her sister got pregnant from a vampire. But I don't remember his name. I am not sure if she ever told me. The girl died in birth and Hulien left to raise the boy. She called him Nahuel. I didn't stay with them for long." Katchiri summed her story up. She sat on her branch comfortably.
"How old was he?" I asked. That was the most important part.
"I am not sure. He seemed like a teen I think. He was still growing." She looked at me sorrowfully. With the main reason for our search she couldn't help. I hummed.
"Do you know where they live?" Jasper asked. Of course, he immediately wanted to track them down.
"No." She shook her head. "Maybe i could find where we lived but it was centuries ago. They might won't be there."
"It is worth a try." I told them before anyone thought it was a dead end.
"It might be a weeks-long tracking. I am not sure if we could do it with the girls." Edward said and rested his hand on my head. I glanced at him angrily. Did you want to play overprotective right now? Before the finish line?
"We are on a good track. It would be stupid to just give up."Jasper told him and started pacing up and down. He always did this when he was thinking.
"I didn't say that we give up. I am just thinking that maybe we should send our daughters home before we start something this big. This trip is as long as it is already." Edward made himself clear.
"No!" Me and Renesmee protested at the same time. We definitely won't be left out.
"We could go home with the girls while you two start the searching." Alice offered herself, Jacob and Bella up.
"NO!" We protested more. Did they really want to ship us back? They seemed to consider the idea.
"They could stay here." Zafrina offered.
"Here? With you?" Bella asked. She would never let us alone with strangers.
"Yes. Katchiri would help you find this hybrid boy and until then the children and you can stay with us." She really wanted to spend some time with us. And with Bella too. She didn't ask her questions about our blocking ability.
"I don't see any problem with it. Me and Jasper could go tracking and you can stay here with the girls." Alice clapped cheerfully. She already saw the end of this research.
"If it is okay with you..." Edward turned to Katchiri.
"It is." She agreed easily.
Then it was decided. We only needed to find a roof where we could stay.