Blue Moon:
The Story of Luna Azul Black

I've finally left that detestable hell hole of Cullen Manor, with some unexpected companions. The new Black Coven: Daniel, Natasha and Rebecca! The only one that's missing is Laura, but I'll find her, I swear on it! And, in the last chapter we got a little sneak preview of what the not-so-mysteriously mysterious "Arual" is doing:

"Well, Arual," the blonde growled, "I hope that whatever you want to present, is worthwhile, or you shall suffer the consequences of your own actions."

The woman looked up with half-lidded eyes, "But, of course."

Many questions arise! Who is Arual, and why is she so confident in meeting these "Superiors"? What does she have planned, and are the Cullens and Blacks as safe as they seem? Or is there a darker, more sinister plot in the air? Find out in the next installation of Blue Moon!

This chapter is written in 3rd Person POV.

2 1 – T H E O R Y

"The truth of a theory is in your mind, not in your eyes."

The room was dimly lit, and the only light came from the faint glow of the torches that lined the walls. There was not a single light bulb inside, nor was there a window. Instead, the walls seemed to be decorated with an assortment of elaborate, gold ornaments and royal paintings. In the middle, on a elevated platform that was tiled with a sort of ebony-tinted wood, stood three tall chairs, each made with rubies, and sapphires embedded into its extravagant frame.

Arual walked into the room, her head held up high, and a red dress pooling around her ankles. Behind her, the maid (the blonde had called her Tula, but the barely noticeable name badge on her chest pocket seemed to suggest otherwise) paused at the door, and bit her lip, glancing at the imposing figures that were leaning into the warmth of the chair, and quickly bolted out, the door clicking as she left.

"We were...notified of your rather abrupt meeting just a few minutes ago," one of them said. Arual didn't even bother to turn around and pinpoint the exact source of the voice, because her eyes were trailing over a particularly pretty outline of a crow devouring a human. "I must admit, we were rather reluctant to accept the proposal, but I can't deny the fact that you mentioned that you may be withholding some information that may be of use to us."

There was silence, and Arual could vaguely see a group of guards standing outside the door, their threatening glare boring into the back of her skull. Sighing, she made a dramatic gesture, turning her gaze back to the 'leaders.' Mentally smiling when she noticed the awfully stiff man's eye twitch at her actions, and at the refrained bloodlust that the guards were trying to suppress, she spoke, with a sigh.

"I believe you are aware of the... 'Cullen Incident' of a few years ago," Arual smirked when she noticed the middle one's eyes harden. "Yes, yes, well, I'm afraid to say, that I might just know a bit about it. More specifically, I believe, I have lived it."

"Luna," Daniel began, uncertainly, "Why is it...that I'm not...you know...craving for blood?"

The dark haired girl, who had been alternating between thumbing through a Harry Potter book (which, no doubt, she hadn't noticed was the wrong way around) and burying her face into the plush pillows that decorated the sofa, looked up, slightly startled. She looked down, her voice low, so much unlike the bubbly, manipulative, flirty Luna he knew.

"I...I actually don't know," Luna said, fiddling with her fingers. Natasha looked up from where she was writing in her journal (Rebecca had either gone out shopping or hunting, usually when she said 'out' it meant both) curious. Luna sighed, "I'm not much of a medic, really. But, from what I can comprehend, there were complications with you changing into a vampire."

"Complications?" Natasha spoke, pulling her lip forward with her index finger, so that her two enlarged canines were clearly visible. "I know there was that thing about the voice box, and venom, but I didn't know it was permanent."

"Well," the Shield-Vampire reached for the bottle of blood (which she had keenly disguised as raspberry cordial) beside her, and took a quick gulp, clearing her burning throat. "I...I sort of have a theory. I don't know if its right, but it would explain why L-Laura had such a violent reaction that day."

Rebecca burst through the door, an after-feeding glow surrounding her. She spotted her three companions, and managed to bounce over, just in time to here the remaining part of the conversation. "-have a theory, tell us! It might help us figure out how to turn Laura back to normal, not to mention explain Daniel's situation!"

"Yeah!" Rebecca exclaimed, eager to join in, "Though I have no idea what you're talking about, it sounds good to me!"

"I-I'm not sure," Luna bit her lip, "I mean, I don't want to bring your hopes up or anything."

Daniel cleared his throat, and spoke, his voice still a bit hoarse, "'Na, please. I want to...I want to understand. I'm not used to being...being this. My parents died last year, so I have nothing to lose, really. Besides, it's just a theory, whether we choose to act on it or not."

"I..." Luna trailed off. "Okay. Fine. But, to do this, I have to tell you about my entire Vampire-life. Starting from the time I first moved to Forks..."

Whatever Esme and Carlisle had expected to happen when they were gone, it wasn't this.

At first they'd panicked, having smelt the scent of blood from far away. They'd sprinted back home, only to later sigh in relief, having identified it as fairly old blood, that was almost certainly preserved. From where Carlisle could smell it – for his nose was definitely one of the best around – he could ascertain that it had been shielded away, so that nobody could get to it.

Then, their parental instincts kicked in. First of all, how did blood get in there in the first place? Not to mention human blood? And why had they sealed it away, instead of trying to get it out of the house as soon as possible? What had their children been doing this weekend? He hoped to God – or whatever Vampire Deity was looking over them – that it wasn't something dangerous. He didn't want them to get hurt.

Next came...the confusion. Where were Rebecca and Natasha, and why was Edward muttering over Daniel? Why did half the house look like a, wild beast had gone crazy tearing the room apart? After that: suspicion. The blood, where was it from, and why did it look like there were a remnants of a party? Had one of them gotten out of control?

After the story had been told, there were many things: disbelief, followed by shock, and then anger (which looked dreadfully out of place on Carlisle and Esme's delicate features) which were, thankfully, smoothed over my father and motherly concern. After checking each of them for wounds, and carefully clearing up the blood in the kitchen (making sure that Jasper and the rest of the kids were far away, hunting, whilst someone that could tolerate the enticing smell handled the cleaning up.)

After that, Esme took each of them separately and gave them a stern talk-to, which, though it didn't do much, made her feel awfully better, and more like a real mother than a vampire-adopting wife-of-Carlisle. (Though she adored the title, sometimes it felt nice to...you know, prove your worth.)

As soon as the 'children' had been taken care of, a much stressed Esme and Carlisle re-united, discussing the almost gothic-story like setting that had apparently taken place in their kitchen. Finally, they came to the conclusion that the only way to solve this problem, was to take it straight to the 'opposite' side.

After enjoying the argument-free-zone of their bedroom, they both agreed that whenever they would get the chance, they would visit Luna, Rebecca and Natasha, and apologise for all the trouble that seemed to be happening because of them. Perhaps they'd even get the real, less brooding, scathing version of the scene.

"I'm afraid, you're a bit mistaken...Miss Arual," said the the blonde, "We know nothing about this...incident. And even if we did, it is impossible for you to claim that you have lived it."

"Well, the secret of my life, is exactly that: impossibly secretive," Seeing their annoyed looks, Arual laughed, "And besides, your eyes speak otherwise. You cannot lie to me."

Another dark-looking figure spoke, distastefully, "And why is that?"

"It is irrelevant what powers I can and can't use," Arual dismissed the thought, not the slightest affected by the suspicious, and threatening looks she received from the burly guards, "but, it seems that it is me that is answering all the questions-"

"Because it is you that it is in our land, imbecile!" yelled one of the women – someone who was rather new to this organization, Arual deduced – on the sidelines. One of the guards (with the nod of the leader, of course) turned gleaming eyes towards her, and without a word, clenched his fists. Arual, who had been looking over the large motto embedded in a gold plaque, turned her gaze, just in time to witness a pile of burning ash, and hear the last of the woman's tortured screams.

Then, all attention turned back to her.

"My guess is purely hypothetical," Luna said, taking a deep breath after she had just finished recounting her tale to her three now 'siblings' (who were, despite their different personalities, a rather good audience) "Since I'm not a scientist or anything. But – Daniel, you wouldn't know about this – Rebecca, Natasha, whenever you're hunting or right when you were first changed, do you remember how wild you would turn? You have a sort of built-in subconscious that is craving blood. It tells you what to do, how to hunt, and it is generally the darker side of you. I called it my 'Inner Vampire.'"

Seeing Daniel's confused look, she ploughed on, "Anyway, my theory, is that when you are bitten by a non-vegetarian vampire, a part of their soul, or whatever, is transferred into you. When it happens, after the painful process, you are left with a second side to your...personality, the side of your captor. Then you have three choices. You can embrace it, and let it control you. If you do that, then eventually, the 'will' of the previous vampire will eventually develop more of your characteristics, but it will still have the same basis."

"Then," Luna brushed back a lock of brown hair, "you could also work through it. Sort of like what we did. Try to appease our thirst by hunting animals. Then, the 'will' will disappear almost entirely, and will only come out in desperate situations, though it will be more like an 'all-knowing' voice in your head. The last option is when you completely reject your vampire origins, and refuse to drink blood, or anything. This will, obviously, get you killed. Whilst vampires can't starve to death, per say, it will tear up your brain so much, that in the end, if the Volturi don't come to 'put you down' you will commit suicide. At least, this is what I am assuming will happen."

"That makes sense, sort of," Natasha murmured. When she caught Daniel and Rebecca's completely baffled looks, she sighed. "Basically, when you get turned, some part of the vampire's, which turned you, soul will morph in your own body. Eventually, the soul, or 'will' will disappear, like with us, or it will consume your body, like that psychopathic vampire, Laurent."

"But," Rebecca cocked her head, "You mentioned the Volturi? They seem completely in control..."

"Somewhere, in history, there has to be a point where vampires existed like normal people, right? Before they went around biting people, I think there might've been a stage, where pureblood vampires (1) lived, and somehow, they must've died out," Luna said, tapping her chin, "I wouldn't be surprised if the Volturi were made up of pureblood vampires, or at least, those who were raised, and had enough power or control to be considered noble."

"Okay, I think I get that," Daniel nodded, "But what does this have to do with Laura? I mean, she's not a pureblood or anything."

"This brings up the point that not all vampires are changed by blood-drinkers. Rebecca and Natasha were changed from Carlisle, yet they still, at one point, had an Inner Vampire. From what I've heard, the vampire that changed Carlisle was extremely vicious – though I don't know who exactly he/she was. I don't know how Carlisle managed to even get though the phase – Edward said he brought 'willpower' from his past life or something – but he changed you."

"If it is a 'vegetarian' vampire that changes you, then whether or not they have impeccable control over their thirst, the part of them that was the previous vampire, still lingers, however miniscule. That is then transferred over to the victim, but it is diluted, once again, depending on control. I was changed by...Victoria, but I was able to get over the pressure of my 'Inner Vampire.' But, I did this with the aid of my shields. These, however are composed duly of my willpower and...'Vampire magic' or whatever it is called."

Light dawned on Natasha's face, and Luna smiled. It was to be expected. "So...you're saying...that...that Laura?"

Daniel's eyes widened, slightly, and he seemed to be grasping at the strands of information. Rebecca, on the other hand looked awfully impatient (2) – being in a much too bright mood to bother with thinking – and she burst out, "That Laura what? I don't get it!"

Taking another deep breath, she sighed, "When I changed Laura into a vampire, a part of Victoria's self was merged with Laura's personality, however, as soon as I did that, all the shields I had around myself instantly disintegrated, forcing that part to enlarge, instead of doing the opposite. But, that isn't what provoked Laura's change-of-heart. The fact is, as soon as Laura collapsed, I coated her in shields so powerful, that she didn't even have the chance to get used to it. Of course, she retained all her instincts, but her Inner Vampire was locked under a chain and key. And because it was my power, and not hers, it didn't help her adapt the slightest."

"Then, at the Halloween Party," Luna looked down, guiltily, "I let go of my shields, just for a split second. But that second was enough for all the shields that I'd put up came crashing down. I was able to put them back up, for myself, but because I wasn't touching – or even within eye's view – of Laura, I couldn't do anything to help her. But, from what you, Daniel said –"

Rebecca finished my sentence, having finally caught on, "she was in immense pain."

"Right," Luna said, her eyelids closing, mournfully, "I don't know what happened, but I'm hypothesizing that, when her shields were down, her psyche – which was damaged because of the backlash – was attacked, and weakened so much, that her Inner Vampire was able to take full control over her brain. (She buried her head in her hands) I...I hope that somewhere, the Laura I...we know, still exists...and if she does, I'm going to get her back. It's my fault that she turned this way, so I'm going to fix this."

"But," Luna's voice grew quiet, and she began to tremble. Rebecca, Natasha and Daniel looked up, worried. "Now...the woman we are facing...she isn't Laura."

It was only after a lengthy conversation, through which Arual had skilfully and slyly avoided any and all questions that were a little too close for comfort. She knew, had she been just an ordinary person with information of little to no importance, she would've been killed for her impudence, but the organisation in front of her, they needed her.

Dark shadows fell across the three thrones, and at last, the long-haired man stood, and looked down at her, his face a mixture between grim seriousness and childish excitement (which, though blatantly clear to Arual, was hidden rather cleverly) and said, in a high, aristocrat voice, "We have made our decision. From what you have told us, it would be simply foolish on our parts, were we to simply, let you go with what valuable information you have. So, though we certainly don't normally do things this way, I would like to say..."

Arual smirked.

"Welcome, to the Volturi."

"She is, essentially, a twisted version of Victoria."

(1) I'm borrowing this term from 'Vampire Knight.'
(2) That's not to say that she isn't clever or anything, because she is just too hyper to bother. You know, how sometimes you just look at something and you're like, "I can't be stuffed, just tell me?"

A U T H O R ' S N O T E

Sorry for the long wait, but I hope 6 pages appeases you! This is, sadly, more of a Filler chapter so it isn't very interesting. Also, if you haven't figured out who Arual is, you should REALLY pay more attention to what is going on. I've made it rather obvious who it is, but if you STILL don't know, here's a clue: Mirror the name. There! Now you should be able to figure it out.

Soooo, anyway, if you like it, review!

D x