The second month of my immortal life was perplexing, even to my super brain. I was constantly at war with my need to feed and my need to explore. Poor Alec on more than one occasion had to help me sink a boat to hide the evidence of my thirst. But not once did his patient support waver.

He followed me into the depths of the Atlantic after I decided I had had enough of Africa. I found that I loved the ocean and hated it. I was bewildered by its beauty and scared by its remoteness. In all our exploration of Africa, never once had a meal been more than an hour's run from me. Africa had provided a level of comfort to me that I hadn't realized until it was gone.

The Atlantic Ocean was the biggest dream and the worst nightmare to my newborn mind. My curiosity wanted nothing more than to dive into the ocean and not resurface for a month. My thirst made that desire terrifying.

This was unintentionally my first step towards any semblance of self-control. For weeks I spent my time close enough to the shore that I could have my daily meals. In order to do this however, I had to learn how to feed without ripping out the throats of my victims so that I could conserve their blood. I had decimated thirty two villages in Africa because I could not control myself enough to properly bite my victim. Alec assured me that if I learned to control my biting my intake would go from whole villages a day into a handful.

So I practiced relentlessly on the north eastern coast of Africa. Learning biting restraint took one village and Alec had been extremely pleased. I no longer came away from meals looking like a horror movie extra and the population of the village was saved for later. With that huge accomplishment under my belt I took to the water with reckless abandon. I walked along the bottom of the ocean until I found either sunken ships or exotic fish that caught my interest. I was delighted to swim with them. Even better than the schools of small fish were the sharks two or three times my size.

Not only did I not have to chase them down but they sought us out.

The next step in my blood thirst lessons was going from feeding every day to every other day. When Alec suggested this I lost all grasp on my small emotional range and flew off the handle. For an entire day any time Alec tried to reason with me he was met with snarls and animosity until I dove off into the water. We had been lucky that night, or more like I had been lucky that night when I found a shipwreck that screamed shiny treasure. We hadn't gone through even half the ship when the burn in my throat alerted me it was feeding time.

I panicked; my insatiable curiosity and my insatiable thirst fought World War III inside of me. Once again Alec had been there despite temper tantrum, his eyes never leaving mine, never judging or commanding. He simply waited for my decision. It was a startlingly reminder of my last human day and how since I had met him Alec had been there to hold me in balance. He had been my rock. I clutched Alec to me tightly trying to convey my need for him at the bottom of the ocean floor. He must have saw my panic and understood the fear in my eyes because he held me to him tightly, showering my face in kisses in reassurance.

That had been all the motivation I needed to continue exploring our treasure ship for another half a day. Over the last half of the month I pushed myself harder and farther than I thought possible. By the end I had made it a full three days without feeding and Alec and I swam from the coast of Sierra Leone to the eastern most tip of Brazil.

Comfortably I could go a full two days without feeding, if needed and no food was around I could last three but my sanity waned greatly. I had felt so proud of my achievement and the look on Alec's face was worth any excruciating pain I endured.

Our relationship changed dramatically from the time we stepped on the shores of Africa to the time we arrived onto South America. Alec had gone from interesting in my life to being someone I didn't think I could live without. We didn't talk much, at least not of anything of great importance. Our conversations mainly covered questions I had about what was happening to me and tips or things I can look forward to accomplishing. Somewhere in the back of my mind more serious questions began piling up but they never saw the light of day, my childish brain was too selfish and my emotional range too stunted to be able to consider anything out of my limited interests.

By the time Alec and I set out to explore the Rain Forest, a place he had never been before, our clothes were all but decaying off of our bodies. I had surprised Alec greatly when I had shred my clothes but along all our travels in Africa, we had yet to run into another immortal. Logically I knew they existed but they seemed so far away that the world consisted of me and Alec and the humans we hunted. I had no modesty around either, the humans because I was incapable of seeing them as anything more than food and Alec because there was just no reason. He was my everything and I held nothing back from him.

Weeks melded together as we explored the Rain Forest. We made a tree mansion in the tops of the tallest trees and wrestled with the largest anacondas. I swam with flesh eating fish and lay out in the sun while tarantulas tickled my skin. I swung and leapt from tree to tree as we explored deep into Brazil and in to Paraguay. I loved every minute of the Rain Forest but its population was sadly lacking. So Alec and I pushed farther south into Argentina. Our original plan was to run straight south through Argentina and curve around and head north through Chile.

However one of Alec and I's games got a little too competitive and we ended up crossing through Argentina at a southwestern angle and we ended up in southcentral Chile.

This was where our plans skewed horribly.

I had been leaping through the tree tops with my bell like laughter following behind me as I outran Alec who was attempting to track me. I often went from ground to tree to river to through him off my scent but he had learned my tricks and I was struggling to come up with new ones. I had spent the previous day tracking him and I planned to get my revenge by deviating off path to throw him off. I was two miles ahead of Alec and hopeful I could lose him. The river converged with my path and I delightedly leapt down to lose my scent in the water.

I froze mid-leap. My newborn mind frantic as I tried to place the sound of a heartbeat much too fast to be healthy. Immediately my body crouched down and I breathed in scenting the air around me. I expected to go into a frenzy, for my mouth to fill with venom and to begin my hunt. But the scent was decidedly different; it didn't smell human at least not completely. It was sweet too, almost like a vampire's but not entirely. I was utterly confused and while my newborn mind was filled with too much curiosity for its own good, this was not something that intrigued me. This was a new something that scared me.

"Alec," I quietly screamed and I stood rooted to the ground. "Alec please," my eyes were filling with venom tears that would never fall and I wanted more than anything to run back to Alec. My fear wouldn't let me move. Up ahead of me was something scary and every instinct I had told me not to turn my back on it.

I heard Alec's speed pickup and within a few moments I was wrapped in his arms as I sobbed noiselessly. "Shhh, it's okay my darling. I won't let anything hurt you." Despite his words I could feel Alec tense as he smelt what I had smelt and heard what I heard. I could see the thick rolls of almost invisible, shimmery mist develop and start to roll outward.

I buried my face in Alec's neck, petrified of something but not knowing what and all the while wishing desperately that I knew what my gift was specifically and how to use it. It was the second time in my immortal life that I had been terrified to lose Alec, but the first time to mortal danger. Right then and there I vowed that if we got out of this, I would discover and master my gift as soon as possible.

Alec continued to weave his gift around me in. He had shown me what it looked like many times before, we had played with our food a few times, and he had even shown me on animals how he could cut off different senses and leave others active. What Alec was doing now was different. With his arms wrapped tightly around me he guided the mist that had spread out around almost fifteen feet up. The mist slowly worked its way in the air, building itself slowly until there was a large dome surrounding us. My eyes searched Alec's in surprise but his gaze never wavered from the trees where the mysterious heartbeat was.

The heartbeat didn't move, the thing didn't try to run or advance. Yet my eyes, which could see through the trees extraordinarily well, could not find the unknown thing.

Finally after a few minutes of nothing but a racing heartbeat, a masculine voice called out to us.

"I did not mean to frighten you, you came upon our land." His voice was rich and deep with a timbre I found strange.

Alec didn't hesitate before replying, "My newborn is frightened only because you don't show yourself. If you mean no harm then we wish you none as well."

My teeth bared of their own accord as two sets of footsteps were heard coming in our direction. I cursed the forest we were in; it was too dense for the wind to alert us to another scent. "Shh my darling," Alec soothed me with a kiss on my forehead before he moved me out of his arms and behind him.

Not a full thirty seconds later a female vampire of obvious Chilean decent with wild curly hair and bright red eyes stepped out of the dense tree line. Her moves were fluid as she came to a halt before Alec's sensory deprivation bubble could touch her. After her came an impossibly dark brown man came out after her and my eyes widened as I examined in, taking in all of his impossibilities.

His eyes were colored like a humans yet I could smell saliva on his breath and the sweetness of venom in his veins, and could hear his heart beating in his chest – too fast much like mine had sound before it gave one last thud and died in my chest. When the man came to a stop next to his companion I realized he moved with the speed of a vampire but yet he lacked the grace.

The man spoke again, his voice as beautiful as any vampires. "We are not gifted; we ask that you not use yours against us."

If my heart still beat it would have died in my chest all over again. My nails dug into Alec's bare back, silently begging him not to do it. We should run while we had the chance. Instead I watched in terror as the mist slowly disintegrated until it was gone. Along with what little security I had.

"I am Nahuel," the impossible man spoke in accented but good English. "And this is my aunt Huilen."

Alec nodded to the man, his arm reaching around to pull me to his side, his gaze never leaving the intruders. "I am Alec and this is Isabella. We do apologize if we have stumbled into your territory; I had no knowledge of a coven in Chile."

Huilen nodded, "We have made our home here for the last century and a half." While her words sounded innocent enough, the accusation in her tone left me on edge.

"I see, it has been some time since I've been so far south."

For all the tension between us I wondered why Alec didn't drop his coven name into the conversation. Surely the threat of such a powerful coven would serve to protect us from the vampire and the thing.

Oh. I looked up to Alec and followed his gaze to Nahuel. Huilen didn't interest Alec in the slightest; it was Nahuel he was interested in.

Nahuel finally met my gaze and I couldn't stop the question from falling from my lips. "What are you?" I asked him as my head tilted to the side, a habit I had picked up from Alec.

Alec stiffened beside me, his arm around my waist becoming tighter. "Isabella – "

"It is alright," Nahuel cut Alec off with a smile and looked back to me. "I am half vampire - half human." I felt my jaw go slack in disbelief as Nahuel continued. "My father was a vampire and my mother was human. He impregnated her and left her. Huilen helped deliver me but my mother's injuries were too great. I bit Huilen and turned her into a vampire."

The silence that fell deafened me. My brain refused to work.

"Who was your father Nahuel?" Alec asked with an air of polite curiosity.

Nahuel's face showed his dislike but he answered, "He is called Joham and he thinks he is a god."

"That's – that's –" my stunned voice trailed off and I made no effort to say anything again. I was completely bewildered.

"Quite a tale." Alec picked up for me, his curiosity was evident. "I would love to hear more about you, I have never come across one such as you."

"We have a cave a few miles from here, we could speak more there. I am curious about your newborn." I stiffened when Huilen mentioned me but Alec rubbed soothing circles at the base of my spine helping me to relax.

"I'm afraid she is only two months old and has never met a vampire besides myself. She is skittish." Neither Huilen nor Nahuel looked surprised and I vaguely wondered how many vampires they themselves knew. Alec looked to me in silent question.

I knew without asking or looking that if I asked him to he would leave with me, but I felt wretched just thinking of it. Alec had always been my supporter, had always watched out for me and cared for me never once asking anything in return. Now he wanted this one thing, both for his curiosity and for Aro. The thought of Aro made me feel even more horrible. I didn't remember him clearly but I do recall trusting him and he offered me immortality when those who claimed to love me had denied me.

I mentally sighed and gave in to prospect of the next few hours of my instincts yelling at me. "Okay, but you're taking me through the Pacific when we're done here." Alec's small smile was all the answer I needed and he kissed my forehead.

"You are so brave my darling." Alec turned to Nahuel who had been watching us while I looked to Huilen who was smiling at me. "Lead the way Nahuel." Trust had still not been earned and we walked side by side to each other, no one willing to take the lead; Huilen on the far left, Nahuel to her right, Alec to Nahuel's right, and I stood on Alec's right grasping his hand in mine.

It didn't take long for us to reach Nahuel and Huilen's cave and even though I had lived naked for the past few weeks I couldn't understand why they would live so barbarically. Once again I found myself missing Volterra from my human memories, murky and dim as those recollections were.

I tried to be good, honestly I did. But when they moved to sit next to the fire I couldn't push myself any farther. I stood frozen at the mouth of the cave. Unknown immortals and a freak species were stressing enough, now I was being shown into a compact space…with a fire. My nerves couldn't take it. "I – I can't, I'm sorry Alec but I just can't handle the fire." I felt venom building in my eyes and I felt so mortified but I just couldn't do it.

"I am sorry Isabella," Nahuel stood up from his place and grabbed a bucket of water from along the wall. The fire died and the steam rose, purifying and soothing my frazzled nerves. "Is that better?"

I hated everything in the world when I nodded, feeling like I was actually a child. "I really am sorry." Alec kissed my temple as Nahuel assured me it was alright. Huilen even patted a spot on the ground next to her with a welcoming smile. I sat next to her pulling Alec with me.

Almost immediately Nahuel and Alec broke into rapid conversation. Huilen turned to me, "Would you like some clothes Isabella?"

My eyes widened as I realized for the first time since I had smelt Nahuel that Alec and I were both very naked. I nodded trying to get my throat to work, "Yes please."

Huilen guided me a few feet farther back into the cave, still close enough to Alec where I felt comfortable but far enough to be able to see her clothes. Huilen dressed me so that I wouldn't shred the clothes. I was wrapped in a dark brown cotton tunic that came to my mid-thigh and she gave me a leather belt that wrapped twice around me. It wasn't fashionable in any sense of the word but I would wear it until we could reach the Pacific where Alec and I were sure to be alone.

"Thank you Huilen," I said gratefully, feeling a hundred times more settled than I had naked.

"You are welcome Isabella."

Huilen and I walked back to the dead fire and sat back down next to our companions. I listened in to Alec and Nahuel's conversation with part of my brain, taking down facts and studying Alec. The other parts of my brain stayed trained on Huilen who had taken up teaching me words and sayings in Spanish.

We spent all night in that cave in Chile, Huilen was intent that I learn as many languages as I could while I traveled the world. I learned from her that they did not travel much. Nahuel and Huilen had mapped out most of South American, from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic, but neither of them dared to go farther North than Ecuador. Huilen was obsessively protective over Nahuel. They kept to themselves and to South America.

By the time we moved on there was a tentative friendship in place between Nahuel and Alec and Huilen and myself. I almost regretted leaving, almost. Alec and I tore through forest together hand in hand, putting as much distance between us and Chile as possible.