So I worked on it, and eventually my technique became more refined, my power of persuasion almost flawless. Now I could literally force someone to change their mind, or to say something they didn’t want to.

It was a good thing I wasn’t a sadist.

I pulled up to the house, which was fairly far into the forest, so I ran to the door after parking. I flung it open and called, “Mom! I’m home!”

I reminded myself of a normal human girl for the first time in two hundred years.

Then I smelled it. Foreign vampires, roughly four by the power of the scent. I growled low in my throat. Why were they here?

“In here Bella, dear,” My mother called from the small living room adjoined to the kitchen where I was currently standing. Her voice sounded slightly strained.

“Hello,” A lilting, melodic male voice greeted me as I walked into the room. I glanced in the direction of the voice, and my golden eyes met with his blood red ones.

I stopped dead in my tracks as my mind digested the image of him sitting on my couch. He was beautiful, possibly the most beautiful vampire I had ever seen. His skin was slightly darker than my own, but still pale, and his face was perfect from all angles. His mouth was currently resting in a pleasant smile, and his eyes looked kind enough, despite their hue. His hair was a beautiful reddish brown, almost bronze. I forced myself to look down from his face and saw what he was wearing.

He had on an unbuttoned black traveling cloak that I hadn’t seen the likes of in over a hundred years, and underneath he wore a black tunic with a small coat of arms embroidered in gold. It said ‘Cullen’ on it, along with a Latin phrase that I didn’t bother to comprehend. He looked like something straight out of a Renaissance Faire.

“I was wondering that myself, Renee,” He said suddenly, and my mother’s eyes snapped up to meet his in alarm. So this was the mind reader. He looked at me questioningly and asked, “Bella, right? You don’t look very pleased to see me.”

“Read my mind there,” I responded stiffly, refusing to think of anything but my displeasure at his presence, even though he had a very stunning one.