Shifting Moon

 I remained at the table in my seat as most of the rest of the family returned to what they were doing before my panicked cries interrupted their afternoon. 

 Esme gently patted my head, "Relax dear, we can face anything together as a family. It will all work out in the end." 

 Alice grabbed my hand, and her eyes went out of focus for a moment. Then she focused her gaze on me and said, "Look at the vision I just had Edythe." 

 When I reached out and connected to her mind, I was amazed to see myself in a blue dress and my hair done up in a feathered look. The dress was long and formfitting, but strapless and more risqué than anything I had worn yet in my long life. I also looked very happy, but a tinge of worry still lurked about my face. Then the vision faded out. 

 I looked at Alice, "What was that? When? I couldn't tell." 

 Alice looked perplexed, I can't be sure, but I was looking at the night of the spring dance to see if Jasper was interested in going and that was part of my vision. Guess I better get started making the dresses for us all to wear. The only one I don't see going is Edward, I will have to look into what he has planned for that day later. 

 As I sat thinking and trying to push down my fears, I heard another ping from my phone. [What about you? Any plans tonight?] 

 I stared at my phone and came up with a plan to ask him to go somewhere with me today so he wouldn't be there with Black. It was a good idea at first but then reality reared its head. If Black was going to say something then he would whether Thomas was there or not. Besides, would he even change his plans last minute for me? 

 I could try to get close enough to Black to use my compulsion on him, but if it wore off, it could be considered me breaking the treaty and I couldn't endanger my family like that. Realizing that I was taking too long to reply, I gave a simple truthful answer. 

 [Nothing special, just going to sit with the family, watch a movie, and then maybe later do some homework.] 

 When he answered, I tried to keep the conversation going as casually as I could. Not being used to this, I think I failed miserably. Why am I asking about movies like I care about them? 

 Waiting for his reply about the theater releases last year, I hear Emmett storming through the house. He was definitely not happy, so I assumed he lost to Jasper again. I wondered if he would ever realize that the times he won were when Alice didn't care about his movie choice, so Jasper let him win. 

 "Don't take it too hard Emmett, Thomas says the Aliens vs Predator movie was a huge disappointment." 

 Emmett looked happy about that for a moment, but then he frowned. "How do I know his movie tastes are any good? I'll just watch it by myself later tonight and decide." Emmett smiled and went looking for Rosalie. 

 The fast change of mood was one of the things Edythe liked the most about Emmett. The guy just couldn't stay mad about anything. Well, nothing not related to Rosalie at least. She shuddered at the memory of the last Vampire that touched Rosalie without her permission. Having your arm ripped off and burnt so you couldn't remember the feel of Rosalie's skin in your hand, was a bit overboard but that was just a part of Emmett. The Coven decided to leave England shortly after that happened. 

 No one really cared about leaving as we were only there looking into rumors about a different species of Vampires. The idea that there was another group of Vampires more like the traditional movie ones was laughable anyway. 

 When Thomas decided to go help Bella set up, I just asked him to tell me if he heard any good stories from the Indian Chief and went to my room to see if I could distract myself with some music. 

 Later I was called down for the movie night and actually found the movie entertaining. But my mind was still on Thomas and the possibility he was learning about the true nature of the Cullen's. As soon as it got dark, I found myself drawn to the woods outside the Swan house. As I did my best to listen in on the conversation in the house, I quietly thought to myself {Stalker much!} 

 The evening conversations ran about what would be normal for a family watching sports until I heard Billy ask about Thomas's ancestry. When I heard the story about Thomas's dad maybe being part Quileute, I thought back and surprisingly enough I did remember a ship from the East bringing silks to the area. They weren't too happy with the prices, but they had been blown off course and with silk being a luxury, they didn't get the best prices. 

 Me being a woman, meant I wasn't allowed to get too deep into the business side of the town back then. Especially since the Ship made landfall at the La Push beach and the family wasn't allowed there. 

 By this point, I had convinced myself that Billy wasn't going to reveal any Cullen secrets, but I couldn't make myself leave just yet. I stayed and continued to listen, even after the Quileute chief left. I watched as Thomas came outside and pushed Bella's truck into the spot Billy Black's truck had occupied not long after it left. Unfortunately, I must have focused on him a bit too much, because he stopped and looked in my direction making me panic and withdraw as quietly as I could. {Damn, he is way too aware of his surroundings.} I thought to myself. 

 I lost a few moments of conversation as I was repositioning myself in the forest and when I concentrated back on the voices in the house, I heard Thomas ask about not bringing up Jasper earlier in the evening. When Charlie told Thomas about the 'Superstitious' tribal story, I hoped Thomas would leave it there. 

 Not long after that, I felt my phone vibrate since I put it on silent mode and opened it up to see Thomas's last message of the night. Not wanting to return home just yet, I decided to follow an old sent left by Thomas walking through these woods. Eventually, I came upon a rock that was saturated in his smell. I know in my head that it was pathetic, but something made me want to sit there and think for a while. It made me feel just a bit closer to him. 

 I started an inner monolog as I sat watching the dark clouds moving overhead. {I need to slow my thinking down. Stop looking to jump directly into a relationship with him. Learn to be friends first and see if he can handle the truth before revealing it to him. Protecting him from the Trollip's of this small town would be a friendly thing to do wouldn't it?} 

 I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't sense Edward getting closer until he was almost beside me. 

 "I got your message. Did Black break the treaty?"

 "No. It seems I was worried for nothing."

 "Then why are you still here sis?"

 "I am trying to get my thoughts about Thomas settled, at least a little. He makes me feel things I never have before. Why do I care about his thoughts so much? Is it because I can't hear them and it's my natural curiosity or is it something more?" 

 "I have been asking myself the same thing about Isabella. The monster inside me craves her blood like nothing I ever imagined possible but... There is something more to her than that. My gift doesn't work on her, my curse wants to devour her. My humanity, which I thought long gone, wants to ask Chief Swan for his permission to speak with her and maybe go for a walk or two."

 Edward takes a deep breath, "Edythe, I am going to ask something unfair of you. Something a brother should never ask of his sister. Just... For a time. Would you hold back on your feelings towards Thomas?" 

 He held up a hand before I could answer. "Look in my mind and see what Alice's visions have shown, and then let me explain." 

 I reached out with my mind and saw a vision. It was Edward running through the woods at Vampire speeds. He had a worried look on his face and I could see he was trying to catch up with someone. When he finally overtook the figure in front of him, I saw it was Bella. But her eyes were blood red and she was a Vampire on the hunt. 

 The vision stopped there and shifted to another one. It was a sunny day and she watched a figure in the middle of a meadow, the skin reflected the sunlight so there was no doubt it was a Vampire and as his sister, Edythe knew the figure was Edward at a glance. As she approached him, she noticed he was hunched over someone. As she drew closer, Edward turned toward her and hissed violently at her. Warning her away from the figure of Bella he held in his arms. Bella was pale and lifeless her eyes glassy and lacking any light. Edward's eyes, however, were bright Red.