Shifting Moon

 Thomas sat back in his chair and began to run his mind over his interactions with Alice, Jasper, and Edythe. 

 "I'm betting Jasper can calm people down, that's what happened the first time we met. He was able to calm me down when I was about to lose my temper. Alice talked about not seeing me… Does that mean she can see the future, but for some reason not me?" He was mostly mumbling to himself. 

 Thinking about the reactions the first day he saw the Cullen's in the lunchroom and later when Edythe was staring at him during their first math class together. "It hurts you, doesn't it? When you try to read my mind."

 Edythe nodded, "Yes, neither I nor Edward can read your mind, and when we try it's like reliving our worst pain. Bella just blocks us but not you."

 "Carlisle has a theory that the Vampire venom when introduced to the human body… Perfects the genes and enhances them to their peak. Not every vampire has an ability though, Rosalie just became more beautiful when she was changed. Esme had always felt the drive to have a large family and now feels a need to care for everyone like they are her children. Carlisle had great compassion for his fellow people and Emmett had great strength. I guess that last one could be considered to be a power."

 Thomas looked up at Edythe, "Where do Vampires come from? Are they a natural part of humanity or an outside force?"

 "We don't know. The oldest Vampire we know of is a friend of Carlisle's from Egypt named Amun. He was turned in around 2500 BC, he isn't sure when because they didn't bother with Calendars much back then. It's rumored that there was an older Coven in Romania that tried to take over and rule the world. However, the Volturi destroyed them and scattered the survivors to the winds. Then they went to every large Coven in the world and imposed their rules."

 Thomas let a breath out, "Well, that touches on almost everything I wanted to know. I guess I can ask more as needed. What do you know of shifters?"

 "I am not sure that's an actual term the Vampires use. According to the Volturi, our greatest enemies as a race are the Children of the Moon. Human history calls them Werewolves, they change to mindless monsters under the full moon. They are supposed to be nearly as strong and smart as us but able to blend into the human race during the daylight. Only under the full moon do they reveal their true nature. If any Vampire learns of a werewolf, we are supposed to send word to the Volturi for extermination. Failure to do so is cause for investigation."

 "What about the Quileute wolves? I take it you do not consider them to be Children of the Moon?"

 "You know about them?" Edythe asked.

 Thomas nodded his head. 

 "Wait." Edythe held up the book Thomas had given her. "How did you find this?"

 Since Edythe had been honest with him so far as he could tell, he decided to be honest as well. "During my walk today, I was attacked by the Vampire Henry." 

 "Are you ok? Did he hurt you? No wait, did you get saved by the Quileute pack?" Edythe asked without pause. 

 "Well… You know that I have ties to the Quileute bloodline through my grandmother, right?"

 Edythe was shocked, "I did not know that, but it makes sense now. Your high temperature, your anger, and your growth. He forced you to change, didn't he? To protect yourself." 

 Thomas took a moment to tell her about what happened and just as he finished, he heard the buzz of the dryer finishing the next load. 

 Edythe sat in silence. Lost in her own thoughts until Thomas came back down. As she watched him start folding clothes she asked.

 "Can I see you change shape?"

 Thomas knew this question was coming and prepared for it as he emptied the washing machine. "I am not sure it would be a good idea with just you and me. When I changed and smelled that Vampire, it angered me. It was most likely because he caused the change, but it could also have simply been because he was a Vampire. I don't want to think of what could happen to you if I lost control and its instinct was to harm you.

 You don't realize how easy it was for me to kill him, Edythe. I was frustrated with how easy it was in that form. In my natural form, I was just as helpless as he was to me when I changed. I felt much more in control later on but that first bit… We need a safe way to show you and an easy escape if I can't control it. Another part is that I kind of explode out of my clothes and am fully nude when I change back. It's going to be murder on my clothing allowance."

 Edythe laughed, "So, where does this put us?"

 "I would like to think we are a good bit closer now that we understand each other better."

 Edythe took a deep breath, "But you haven't asked the big question. Have I ever killed?"

 Thomas shook his head, "No, the big question is. Have you ever taken pleasure in killing the innocent? And I don't think I have to ask you that." 

 Edythe hesitated for a moment and then blurted out, "Willyougotothedancewith...me?" She paused and took a deep breath, "I mean. Will you go to the dance with me next Saturday?"

 Thomas smiled, "I would love to go with you, Edythe." But then he realized what he just agreed to. His fear of crowds could really cause some issues at the dance. "But I don't know how to dance and I'm not great with crowds. So, I hope you won't mind if I stay on the outskirts as much as possible, at least until I am comfortable." He watched her face to see if she was disappointed in his response. 

 "That's fine by me. It will be my first dance too, so I don't know what to expect. But I can dance so we should meet up and teach you enough to make it through. Are you ok with that? Say tomorrow evening, when you get back from the beach?" 

 "Okay, where did you want to meet?"

 "How about I just pick you up here? You can call me when you're leaving the beach and then I can bring you to my place." 

 "You mean you are taking me to meet your family? Formally?" Thomas asked with a bit of a nervous catch in his tone.

 "Well yeah, you have already met all of them but Rosalie and my mom, Esme. I will have to tell them about Henry Burgess hunting us, so that also means telling them he attacked you and you managed to kill him." 

 The two spent another hour just talking about random things. Thomas had a lot of questions about history and being a teen for nearly 100 years. Edythe seemed to take joy in doing things that were not a traditional female role. The law held her interest for a large part, she participated in many of the most important cases in history but from the shadows. Often through hidden communications with the Lawyers who got credit for the case. She was responsible for dozens of lawyers that came out of nowhere to win major cases and after that, they would fade into mediocrity.

 "It would have been so much easier if my Compulsion power had awakened earlier. There were a couple of cases I wanted to help with but the only way would have been to be a secretary or researcher for the case. I tried that once but when I found out that as a young woman, I was expected to 'Help the men relieve their pent-up frustrations' as part of the job, I walked out and never made that mistake again."

 Thomas shook his head, "I can't imagine the hurdles of women back in those days. No matter how smart they were, they were often looked at as dirty secrets of the company or tools for the pleasure of the bosses. As much as I would like to believe it is not that way anymore, I think we both know it hasn't changed much. Just look at the disgusting farce that happened with the Ex-President and his aid. Capitol Hearing's on what constitutes sexual intercourse."

 They sat in silence for a moment when Edythe spoke, "Well we started talking about politics now, so that is our clue to stop here and come up with better topics."

 "Let me walk you out to your car."

 "Seriously? You think I'm in danger from walking out the door to my car?"

 "Not at all, it is simply the polite thing to do." 

 His quick reply seemed to catch Edythe off guard, as a moment later she just nodded and stood up. Thomas followed her out and watched as she climbed into her car and started its engine. After he lost sight of her tail lights, Thomas turned and walked back inside for the night.

A.N.

 Taking a week to rework an issue I found. See you soon.