Author's Note: Well, Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays to all. Let's hope you all see this as a present instead of coal, and as for you, JimmyHall24, I promised, didn't I? Here's the delivery, hope you enjoy it, you sure have waited long enough after all. Thanks for pushing me to get this out there.

Chapter 1

"Maggie."

The teenage vampire recognized the tone in Liam's voice, and knew that meant trouble. However, she had no idea what she had done to warrant that tone. So instead of admitting to whatever trouble she had gotten into, she feigned cluelessness. Of course, it wasn't hard to feign this time, as she really did have no idea what she could have done. As far as she knew, she had been good today.

"Don't worry, I ain't gettin' into any mischief today. I didn't even leave the house," Maggie said without so much as glancing over her shoulder, more so that her two coven mates wouldn't notice her eye roll. They were both a mix of sibling and parent to her, and they had trouble leaving her alone. Not just because Maggie enjoyed doing some more...naughty...things once in awhile, but because they were simply completely, absurdly over protective. They acted like she was a young human babe and not a vampire.

"It's not you this time," Siobhan spoke up, which definitely caught Maggie's attention, as those words rarely left Siobhan's lips. Turning her entire chair around to face the two older vampires, Maggie cocked her head in curiosity. There was a brief pause, as Siobhan and Liam seemed to struggle with whatever truth they had come across, but Siobhan continued with a heavy sigh. "It's the Cullens. They've moved recently."

"And?" Maggie pressed, needing to hear the news. What? She never denied that she was a bit nosy. What was wrong that after so many years on the Earth, Maggie wanted to hear whatever gossip she could get her ears on? She had to keep her life exciting, which was pretty hard with two overprotective coven mates and a dull repetitive routine.

"The place they used to live in is called Forks, Washington. It's an old favorite place of theirs that they had settled in quite a few times over the years. As their friends, we know how long they tend to stay there before moving on. Not only did they leave much sooner than usual, but there is quite a bit of mystery as to why they left," Siobhan explained. "We're worried as to why they left, and what they might have left behind."

"You think they're hiding something," Maggie said, a little surprised at the thought. The Cullens had always been such goody two shoes, to the point where they never needed to hide anything. Maggie knew this, of course, as in all the time Maggie had spent around them, they had rarely lied, and even then, they had only done so for stupid reasons.

"Yes," Liam admitted, looking like it truly pained him to think such things about close friends.

"They won't talk to us about why they left, and suddenly changed their minds about staying with us for awhile when we asked questions as to their sudden departure." Siobhan gave Maggie a knowing look, and Maggie nodded in understanding. Spending even a few days in close quarters with their coven meant that the Cullens would only be able to avoid Siobhan and Liam's questions so much. And with Maggie around, any lie they told would immediately be called out.

"Sooooo," Maggie said as she kicked her legs, waiting to see where exactly they were going with this. They weren't going to suggest their coven hunt the Cullens down and demand answers, were they? That would definitely damage their friendship, not to mention the trouble their own coven was facing at the moment.

"We hate to do this, but we see no other choice. With the uprising a few young vampires are trying with us, Liam and I can't leave. But at the same time, if the Cullens left something that needs to be dealt with behind, they could be putting their entire coven, if not more vampires, in danger."

No way. There's no way that Siobhan was saying what Maggie thought she was saying. Holding her breath, Maggie stared wide eyed at her leader, trying not to show her excitement in case Maggie was wrong or Siobhan changed her mind.

"We need you to go down to Forks and figure out what made them run," Siobhan continued, clearly not happy to be saying this. "You would have the easiest time doing so, and if whatever it is that the Cullens left is dangerous, it might be best for you to take care of it."

That was another side to Maggie's gift. Being able to tell whenever someone was lying taught Maggie just how far the truth could be bent, and how to make even the most crazy of lies look like the truth. Which meant that whatever the Cullens did or didn't do wouldn't matter, as Maggie could make it look like nothing had ever even needed taking care of.

"So I get to go alone," Maggie said, her voice slow, testing the idea out. A part of her thought this was some strange trick or hallucination, as Maggie never could have imagined the day her over protective coven mates would even consider letting her walk into danger. But both Liam and Siobhan nodded, albeit reluctantly, and Maggie knew it was actually happening.

"Alright!" Maggie cried as she jumped out of her chair, making her wild red curls bounce up and down. "I'll be leavin' immediately to take care of the threat, and I'll be back...well, whenever I'll be back."

Siobhan gave Maggie a hard look. "And you will be keeping in touch. Daily. Understood?"

"Gotcha," Maggie said, trying not to roll her eyes at her coven mate's protectiveness. She quickly perked up with a grin. "Can I go now?"

Siobhan and Liam exchanged a look that could have held a year's worth of conversation between them, then both turned back to Maggie and nodded.

"You may go," Siobhan said, holding out a cell phone, wallet, and papers needed for Maggie to fly to America.

Maggie squealed in excitement, hopping up and down and clapping her hands. This was the trip of a century for her after all, who wouldn't be excited?

Before either Siobhan or Liam could change their mind, Maggie snatched the phone, wallet, and papers out of Siobhan's hand and sped out the door. She didn't stop to consider taking a car, or even clothes; she could get all of that in America, after all. And a part of her was still sure this was some kind of dream or trick, and if Maggie didn't get to the airport quickly enough, Siobhan might call her back, telling her they changed their mind.

It didn't take Maggie long to run to the airport after a quick hunt to quench her thirst, and it was from there that she found herself frustrated beyond belief. Upon checking in to get her boarding pass, the woman behind the desk wouldn't stop looking at her skeptically, as if unable to believe that a teenager like Maggie was flying alone, and without any bags no less. But there was nothing the woman could do to stop Maggie from flying, so she handed over the boarding ticket and told her where to go. Although this only happened after Maggie insisted several times she didn't need someone to escort her and could do everything by herself.

"For the love of all that is bloody, who did that woman think I am?" Maggie muttered to herself as she stalked towards the security line. "She didn't take me seriously for a heartbeat. If Siobhan and Liam had been with me, she wouldn't have given us any trouble, that's for sure. Shite!" Of course, one of the reasons Maggie had been so excited was because Liam and Siobhan weren't with her. She should buck up and prove to them, even if they weren't there, that she could handle anything that came at her without getting all pissy.

The long security line didn't help, and Maggie started to growl in frustration under her breath. For a vampire who had lived for so long, many would think that infinite patience would have been developed. They would have been dead wrong; at least in Maggie's case.

Finally, Maggie made it through security with a simple pat down instead of having to go through the metal detector, and Maggie rushed to her gate at the fastest human speed she could manage. She arrived in plenty of time, and as the whole world didn't revolve around her own arrival, she then had to suffer through even more boredom as she had to wait to board.

This whole lone traveler thing was already starting to wear on Maggie, mostly due to all the looks she was getting, and she didn't like it. This was supposed to be fun! One grand old adventure. And Maggie was definitely going to make sure it stayed that way, no matter how bored she might feel.

Eventually, it became time to board, and Maggie was one of the first people on the plane, thanks to her ticket and her own stubbornness to not be stuck in line all over again. Once seated, she let out a sigh and stared towards the front of the aircraft, as if she could quicken the boarding process by will alone.

As she waited, she remembered to send a text off to Siobhan, stating that she was on the plane and all was well. She didn't even try to add a small teasing message, as she knew how hard it was to catch teasing over text, and she didn't want Siobhan and Liam rushing over in a panic to snatch her right off the plane.

Maggie didn't pay much attention to the man who ended up seated next to her. Of course, that didn't mean she didn't notice him taking stock of her, a disgusting leer in his eyes.

"I'm underage, ya perv," Maggie said, loudly enough for not just him to hear, but everyone nearby as well. The entire time, she didn't take her eyes off of the window, waiting for the plane to take off. She didn't look up, even when there was a commotion, even when she heard the flight attendant tell the man next to her that he had to move due to complaints, and she didn't look up when the man started to protest, saying that he wasn't looking at Maggie in any sexual way, the lies he was spewing causing Maggie's gift to go crazy.

"I'm so sorry about that, Miss," a flight attendant spoke up, sounding apologetic and disgusted. Not at Maggie, of course, but at the man who was currently being moved.

Maggie turned to face the woman, flashing her best smile, which effectively dazzled the woman. "No problem. I just have a problem with staying silent at times."

"You...you should never stay silent about those kinds of things," the flight attendant managed to say after the brief, awkward pause that the attendant had taken to collect herself. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to tell one of us."

"Thanks," Maggie said with a nod, and with that, the flight attendant left Maggie to her own devices. Another person, this time a business woman, came over and ended up sitting next to her. Maggie was content with continuing to stare out the window, willing the plane to hurry up and take off already, but the woman had other plans.

"I heard what happened," the woman said. Maggie felt her start to reach out to touch her, but then the human pulled back, probably sensing that Maggie wasn't someone a human wanted to get close to. Or perhaps just realizing how weird it was to touch a stranger who wasn't even looking in her direction. "I'm really sorry you had to put up with that."

The cursed manners Siobhan and Liam had drilled into her over the centuries had Maggie turning to face the woman, albeit reluctantly. "No problem, I've dealt with worse. Besides, the man was dealt with, yeah?"

Maggie's manners served to encourage the woman. "Well, yes and no. He was only forced to switch seats with me. Honestly, I think he should have been thrown off this flight for the way he behaved."

Honestly, Maggie thought that might be a little much. All he did was give her a disgusting look, then lie about it. However, humans and their ways were strange, so Maggie just gave a small, polite smile and nodded.

Despite trying to make it clear that she wasn't in the mood for small talk, the eensy bits of politeness that Maggie felt forced to show seemed to only serve in continuing to encourage the woman more and more. For a few minutes, the woman continued to talk about how messed up the man was for looking at a clearly underage girl-which Maggie took offence to, as she may look a little young, but she damn well was older than everyone on the plane by far and she was definitely hot enough to at least smudge the idea of her being underage to humans-and when she ran out of things to say about that, she then tried to move to more small talk.

"So, I'm Barbara. What's your name?"

Resisting the urge to tell the woman to fuck off and leave her alone, or even give her a stupid name like Ember Buttkiss, Maggie said, "Maggie."

"And what are you doing flying all by yourself?"

None of your beeswax, you warty little… Maggie started a mini rant in her head, only for Siobhan's voice to remind her, once again, about manners. Usually Maggie would have better control about getting all grumpy, but she was impatient and wanted to get a move on already. Not only was the wait killing her, but so was her own curiosity and excitement. She just couldn't stop wondering about what the Cullens might be hiding.

"Visiting family," Maggie answered, wondering how many more questions the woman could possibly have stored in her tiny brain.

Barbara opened her mouth, clearly about to ask her to elaborate or something, only for a ding to echo through the airplane. The pilot started speaking as the plane got ready for takeoff, and Maggie let out a breath of relief. Thank the gods!

Sadly, Barbara wasn't done with her, and the pilot speaking only delayed her for a few moments before the woman started to speak again.

"Family in the states? Do you know them well?"

Oh, bloody hell...why couldn't a grown woman realize that it might be best to leave a teenage looking girl like Maggie alone?

"Yes," Maggie answered, barely able to stay polite, and pointedly looked away, out the window.

Of course, the woman still wouldn't take the hint, and had Maggie not been surrounded by so many witnesses, she would have bit and drained the woman just to shut her up.

Instead, as the plane took flight, Maggie had no choice but to endure the torture. To make matters worse, unlike the other humans, the woman never fell asleep.