Shifting Moon

(Edythe POV)

 I looked at the leather book Thomas handed me and looked at him questioningly.

 "I think you should do a quick scan of the book before we talk much about it. I think it will save a lot of time."

 I opened the leather-bound book and started reading as quickly as I could, but after the first page my mind went blank. {How did he come across a book written by a vampire? Does he suspect?} I started reading again, and in less than 5 minutes I turned the page to see an intricately drawn picture of Rosalie. I started to grind my teeth at the thought of this vampire leaving a book like this out to be found. I now remembered where I heard the name Henry Burgess from. That English dick that thought because he was a stooge of the Volturi, Rosalie belonged to him just because he wanted her.

 The shocked look on his face when Emmett tore his arm off and burned it was what she remembered the most, not his name. But damn it all, if he is here hunting us, it could be a problem. As I finished the last page, I looked up at Thomas who was watching me intently. Now comes the decision, lie or tell him the truth. The answer was easy, once the question was asked. I can not lie to him, not for this.

 I took a deep breath and let it out, "I am sorry Thomas. You finding this book has just made your life infinitely more complicated. There are rules about humans that learn of our existence. They must be silenced in some way or turned themselves."

 "Is your being a vampire the reason for your distance and the staling of our possible relationship?"

 I nodded my head, "I wanted to get to know you as much as I could before it came to this. Before taking the chance of pulling you into this world."

 "Do you have to tell someone that I know, or will it be reported somehow? Are you magical? Is that what this is?"

 "It's hard to explain but let me try." Just as I was trying to gather my thoughts and start explaining everything, there was a buzz from upstairs. 

 "Saved by the buzzer, give me a minute to start another load of laundry and I hope you don't mind but I'll be folding clothes as we talk."

 The thought of Thomas doing something so mundane as folding clothes as I spoke about Vampires and our lives was very funny to me all of a sudden and I broke down laughing at the absurdity of it all.

 Thomas smiled as if reading my mind and went upstairs where I heard clothes rustling and the clanking of metal doors. I tried to gather my thoughts again and wondered how to explain it all when even I didn't know it all.

 When he came back downstairs, he was carrying a basket of clothes that he dumped onto the chair he had been sitting on. "Go ahead, I am listening." He said as he grabbed a shirt and started to fold it.

 "It's a little hard to know where to start, but I guess the best place is with me and my brother. We were born in Chicago on June 20th, 1901, Edward Anthony Mason and Edythe Anna Mason. Our father was unsurprisingly a stone mason, and as was normal at the time, our mother Elizabeth, stayed at home to care for us. It was a good normal life. We grew up happy and my biggest fear was that when Edward turned 18, he would join the services and enter the war going on at the time.

 Mother would always start our mealtime prayer with the wish that the wicked war would be over soon and the boys in town would come back safe so I could marry and start a family of my own. A lot of my memories of that time have faded and been forgotten, but then came the sickness. It was an epidemic of Spanish Influenza; it killed my father almost immediately. The whole family was sick, and my mother was trying to stay strong to take care of me and Ed. That's where we met Dr. Cullen. I remember his cold touch standing out the most to me as I wasted away in that sickbed, it was soothing to my feverish body. His skin was so white and his eyes so gentle that in my delirium I often spoke to him thinking he was an angel just waiting for us to die so we could go with him to heaven.

 My mother had used up so much energy trying to care for Edward and me that she was the first to go, but before she did, I heard her begging Dr. Cullen to do what others cannot do and save her children. I fell asleep after that, not expecting to wake up. But I did wake up, I woke up to the pain of the Vampire venom turning me. I won't go too much into detail, but it was not pleasant. Carlisle watched over us and taught us about what we had become. He explained our nature now that we were Vampires and also how he survived on nonhuman blood. We knew he was always speaking the truth because we could read his mind. Knowing that he wasn't trying to trick us kept us happy with the animal blood for a long time.

 You see, most all Vampires revel in their perceived superiority. They hunted humans so humans were lesser than them. Some get a thrill from the hunt or a buzz from proving how strong they are. Carlisle was the first anyone had heard of a Vampire sustaining their life on animal blood alone. He even spent time with the Volturi, both trying to show the other a better way of living."

 Thomas interrupted, "Are you talking about the Aro Volturi that Henry wrote about?"

 "No, The Volturi are a group of Vampires, they are led by a group of three named Aro, Caius, and Marcus. Think of them as the U.N., they don't exactly rule as much as watch over the Vampire world. If someone is doing something that could expose our existence to the human powers, then they step in and correct them. Usually with lots of fanfare and witnesses so word spreads quickly that the righteous have punished the wicked. The number one rule is to keep our existence secret. Break that rule and you will get a visit from the Volturi and it will be at their whim if you survive or not."

 "Really? Just the one rule?" Thomas asked as he folded the last shirt and placed it on a stack on the coffee table. Then he paused as if frozen for a moment. "You were awful fast to go past the part where you and Edward can read minds. Can you read my mind all the time?" His face was very red as he asked that question.

 I gave an exasperated sigh, "No, you and Bella for some reason are completely closed off to us. I have never come across anyone my powers haven't worked on until you pair. It's very frustrating."

 Thomas gave a sigh of relief, "Thank god, even I am not comfortable with everything I think. Would you like it if I could read all your thoughts as you have them? All of them??"

 If Vampires could blush, I would be blushing furiously, {I have had more than a few fantasies about Thomas and his question caught me flat-footed. Is he having the same thoughts about me???} 

 "Anyway, back to my story. Carlisle, Edward, and I moved around a good deal as we worked on our control. Next to join us was Esme, apparently Carlisle knew her even before me and Edward but resisted turning her despite falling in love with her. She had been found at the bottom of a cliff and brought to the hospital where Carlisle and Edward worked, it was a miracle that Carlisle came across her when he did. Knowing that the only way to save her was to turn her he did so and luckily, he found out that she had always returned his feelings. The next to join us was Rosalie and later she brought Emmett to our family. The last to join us was Jasper and Alice in 1950."

 Thomas had sat back down in the chair he dumped the laundry in, "And these abilities? Is that how the Volturi would know if someone knew about the Vampire race and wasn't turned?"

 "Well, every ability is different, much like every person is different. They have a lot to do with how we think and if they manifest as humans. Edward has always been able to sense what people thought about him. He knew when people lied to him or tried to hide things. I had the same ability but not as strong. I could however get people to go along with what I said rather easily. When we turned it seemed to have enhanced our abilities tremendously. Edward can hear almost everyone in a 200-meter area around him, unable to shut it off. I have to concentrate on a person to read their mind and can't reach as far as he can, also I can convince people to do what I want by looking them in the eye and speaking my wishes to them.

 Everyone's abilities are slightly different, so it is possible that the Volturi have someone who knows when a human learns about us. But I think it's more likely that they have spies out watching and reporting like this Henry was doing."