Ophelia

Edward couldn't believe what he had just heard. He opened his mouth a few times, trying to figure out what to say. He looked at Ophelia and she nodded lightly. Edward stood up and practically shouted out, "Mrs. Ingram? Ophelia's not feeling good...I think she needs to go to the nurse." This was one of the few times...ever, that Edward had lost his cool.

The physics teacher, Mrs. Ingram, stared at Edward for a few moments scrutinizing him. She raised her eyebrows and said, "take her to the nurse then," and continued her lecture.

"What are you doing?" Ophelia whispered so only Edward could hear, but he shook his head and grabbed her arm and dragged her out. As soon as they were out of the classroom, she looked at him and hissed, "what was that?!"

"You need to come with me, now. We need to talk," Edward answered and started walking to his wife and sibling's classrooms and faking their permission to leave. Soon the Cullens and the Hales were staring at Ophelia.

"Edward? What's happened?" Bella asked as she stepped forward and took her husband's hand.

"She's one of us," he said and looked hard at Ophelia. Ophelia cocked her head to the side and looked at them, wondering what to say to that.

"So what?" she asked, her voice sounding slightly different than it had before. Jasper looked at her and noticed she was still relatively calm if not confused.

"Would you come to our house and have a chat with us?" Jasper asked what his siblings seemed to have refused to do.

"Sure," she showed them a stunning grin and followed them outside. Emmett and Rosalie went in their car with Bella, and Edward and Jasper took Ophelia with them. The ride was short, but nonetheless awkward.

****

"This is a beautiful home," she admired when she stepped into the Cullen household, which happened to be in a secluded part of the woods.

"Thanks. It's the one place where we can be ourselves," Edward led them all to the sitting room. Ophelia perched herself lightly on the couch and studied the family's dynamic,

"You're not siblings, are you?" she asked. Their heads whipped in Ophelia's direction, but they nodded.

"This is my wife, Bella. Those are my adopted brother and sister, Emmett and Rosalie and they're married. This is my adopted brother, Jasper. Him and Rosalie aren't twins," Edward explained to her and she nodded. She paused and looked at Jasper for a second and realized he had no mate. Before she could inquire why, Edward start questioning her, "what's your story?"

"My story?"

"Your life...how did you become a vampire. Why are you here?"

"Oh," she paused and a small smile played on her dazzling lips, "Like I said, I was born August 18, 1734. I was born to Adam and Elizabeth Weaver. I was born in London, England. My family was upscale and they had everything they wanted. They were 'in' with the royals and everything was about money to them. I didn't like them too much. They never seemed to care about me or my brother, John, only parties. I got so sick of the show they put on, one day I left one of their parties and took a walk. I came across a man...he wouldn't leave me alone. So I talked to him and after a few minutes he leaned in and bite me. It was dark so I didn't notice his eyes or anything unusual about him. I felt pain, the worst pain ever, but then a second man came. But he...he took me to the hospital...where he helped me until the pain was over."

"That explains why you have a British accent," Emmett laughed. Rosalie rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah...it would. I cover it up because most people wouldn't really understand if I told them I was a 258-year-old vampire, would they?" they all laughed lightly.

"How do you remember all of that so clearly?" Rosalie asked, envious because she certainly couldn't remember details like that from her human life.

"I don't know, honestly. Would you like me to continue?" Ophelia rebounded, although not in a mean way.

"Please do,"

"The man...he helped me for the three long days. He was so kind and gentle. After the pain stopped I realized he was different too, but I wasn't sure what he was. He explained that a vampire had bitten me. I didn't believe of course, I had heard of all the persecutions that had taken place, but after all the changes I noticed, I was sure he wasn't lying. And I craved blood. He told me he was one too, but he fed off of only animal blood. It seemed silly, but I had never fed off of human blood, so I took his word for it. I spent the next few months with him, away from humans, feeding off animal blood, and eventually I left him. I posed as a normal, an orphan, for the next 50 years, moving on when it was time. By the early 1800's I decided I wanted a change, so I moved to the New World. America, by then. I've been here ever since, moving when necessary and keeping mostly to myself," she smiled and crossed her legs. She noticed they were all staring intently at her.

"What was the man's name?" Edward asked quietly, even for vampires.

"Carlisle," she responded. It took her a minute, but she caught onto why they were all acting so strange, "Carlisle Cullen in your father, isn't he?"

"Yes," Jasper said quietly and she nodded. She had a small smile and her mood changed to very happy.

"Can I see him? It would be amazing to thank him after all these years,"

"Have you ever tasted human blood?" Bella suddenly burst out.

"Never. I was started off on animal blood and decided never to try human. It seemed to mean and awful. Besides, I'm very desensitized to the humans. It makes no difference no matter how close they get," she shared and Jasper looked incredulous. If only he had that kind of power.

"Who do you live with? Your family obviously isn't-"

"A group of vampires? No, they're not. They never saw me again, so they faked my death and never thought about me again. My parents were executed about 10 years after my transformation. I was transformed in 1751, and in 1765 they were accused of treason to England for supposedly giving inside information to the American rebels. I never knew whether or not they were guitly, but it didn't matter to me. They deserved it. My brother, John, got married a year after I 'died' and had a good wife and 5 beautiful children. He and wife did a few years apart right at the turn of the century. Some of their descendants, my family, are still alive in England now. I go and see them every 10 years or so,"

"See them?"

"Well, I take a trip to England and keep tabs on them," she grinned shyly, "and I don't live with anyone. I tell everyone I live with my parents and that they're shy so no one questions it or goes to see them. It works out well."

"What about money?"

"I take odd jobs and buy the necessities. I live in a small cabin at the edge of town," she revealed and looked around the room, "it's nothing like this, that's for sure."

"You're rather interesting, Ophelia," Jasper said and looked closely at her.

"I don't really think so, Jasper. You all seem much more interesting than me," she grinned and winked at him. Jasper smiled in spite of himself and looked away quickly.