Circling Stars

🌟 Chapter 46 🌟

FIVE YEARS LATER—OCTOBER 31, 2167

"Happy birthday dear, Sean and Ariel! Happy birthday to you!" We all sang and clapped as the twelve year old boy and five year old girl blew out their candles. My brother and Ariel, Nessie and Jacob's daughter, ended up sharing a birthday. The girl grew at the rate of a normal human child, but was far stronger than any of the others her age or four times her age for that matter. I hadn't been present for the birth of my niece. At the time she was born I was in South America traipsing through the Amazon with Jasper. It had taken three and a half years before I got my thirst under control and was able to be near humans. Two years before I was able to smell the individual and unique scents to each person I met. 

In my five years as a vampire I had not tasted human blood. Though there were close calls when my family had to tackle me and drag me into the woods to hunt. Those days haunted me but I was grateful that I had Jasper and the rest of our family to help me.

Steady sunlight streamed in through the windows casting the nine vampires skin in the diamond hues. The entire family was vacationing on Isle Esme. Even Alice, Sven, and Anna were here; the couple was actually on their honeymoon. In fact this was were Carlisle and Esme had taken Sean a few months after the adoption. Nessie and Jacob had followed soon after. Ariel had been born on this island. It had become a true home for Sean and Ariel.

It had become a refuge of sorts for me. I had wandered for three and a half years. I stood on top of pyramids so deep in the jungle that humans couldn't get to them because of the dense rainforest. I'd gazed at the stars from the Nazca lines while Teddy and his team were blasted to Mars. But my favorite journey had been climbing Mount Everest with Jasper and watching the sunrise and set from the top of the world. It was the closest I'd ever get to the stars. We'd done that several times in the off season and each one took my breath away. With how indestructible I was now it was amazing that anything could make me feel small but completely in awe at the same time.

But finally being able to come home to my brother was the greatest joy I'd known, next to becoming Jasper's wife. Our wedding was a very small affair and unfortunately it had just been the Swans in attendance. In fact it wasn't really much of a wedding since I didn't wear a gown, just my normal attire and Jasper hadn't dressed up either. Jasper and I just signed the papers before all present and left. I'd wanted Sean, the Marxs and Brandon to be able to at least watch it but it wasn't possible. I felt they would try and pressure me into seeing them before I left if they watched my wedding. It would have been too painful for me.

Well Sean actually had watched it and had given me away but through video chat. After my transformation, Carlisle and the others explained what they were and what I had become to Sean. But for the Marxs and Brandon it would have required an explanation I wasn't ready to give them. Even with the makeup that concealed the diamond shine of my skin it was absolutely clear that my body was changed. All imperfections, my scars, my posture, even my voice was changed, and then my eyes would instantly set on edge everyone that had known me as a human. My human eye shade wasn't one that could have been replicated by colored contacts.

Even if I wore a similar shade that might go unnoticed by most, Shirley would see the difference even if others couldn't. Plus she also knew I had allergic reactions to contacts so there was no way I'd be wearing them. A disastrous comic con had taught us that the hard way. We'd been keeping in contact through email but I could tell that Shirley and Brandon's patience with me ghosting them in person was nearing an end.

There was a full moon out this Halloween night and Sean and I were admiring it from the tallest point on the island.

"Did you enjoy your birthday?"

"Yeah." Sean was happy but something was troubling him. He picked at the grass and let the blades go in the wind.

"What's wrong?"

"I missed mom and dad today."

"So did I." I put my arm around him. "They'd be proud of you, Sean."

"Are you going to leave again?"

"I—I was going to wait until after the New Year. You do understand why I leave, don't you? I'm trying to find the man responsible for our parents deaths."

"What if you never find him? You've looked for so long and haven't even caught so much as his smell."

Soon after my transformation I'd gone to the Woodard home and stole several items of clothing then sealed them away. When I could tell human scents apart I'd reopened those bags. Since then part of my wandering was a desperate attempt to find that man. What I would do if I actually got my hands on him I wasn't sure.

"Do you want me to stop looking for him?"

"Yes. No. I don't know, Theo. I don't want him to get away with it either but I want you to be with me too. And as long as you're searching for him you're not with me." His voice broke a bit and it pulled at my heart strings.

"I won't go," I promised.

"Good." He slumped against me and fell asleep. I gathered him in my arms and jumped off the cliff before running back to the house.