Donation Drive Prologue EPOV

“Someone is coming, someone that will change everything. That is really useful advice, Alice.”

My sister's laughter rang through the house, waking two of the donors whose rooms were near Alice and Jasper's suite. She had a vision of me answering the door but she quickly blanked out her mind from there. Alice's mind shifted to listing out thousands of kanji and then back again to speaking once more, a silent conversation meant just for me.

“You might want to wake Jacob. The person coming is a guest for him, I think. Tell him to clean his room, he'll be sharing it for a few days.”

It was not uncommon for our live-in donors to have guests, although they rarely stayed overnight. It was even more of a surprise accompanied by Alice's vision of seeing a stranger on the stairs months from now. The vision was murky at best because of the visitor's relationship with Jake. She saw all of us sitting at the dinner table, our goblets in hand as we had our meal along with the donors.

We have six donors on site at all times, three men and three women. Emmett and Jasper drink from theirs directly only in private while they enjoy other activities with them. The thought makes me shudder with distaste. That their mates allow them such indiscretions is beyond me. Sex is sacred; I will wait for my mate to find her way to me. Our marriage bed will be special, for the both of us.

My siblings consider me old-fashioned, even for a vampire. I abstain from their prolific games of sexuality. I have not taken on a dedicated donor. When Carlisle has an extra bag in our personal blood bank downstairs, I am known to enjoy a goblet with the rest of them at dinner. Otherwise, I have maintained my diet of animal blood in the woods around our home.

Due to this, my eyes at the present moment are a warm gold while my family tends to have a brighter orange or sometimes red tint to their eyes. The color itself is determined by the concentration of human blood within our veins. Emmett's eyes have been the worst since the Volturi allowed Covens to become donation centers. He has rarely abstained more than a day without drinking from Lauren or Jessica. He keeps two contracted- or bonded- donors, although both made their displeasure known when I did not choose them as my own.

Jasper has a small slip of a girl, a blond version of our own Alice it would seem, whom Carlisle came across in the hospital. She had no family, no job, no way to pay for her health care. Charlotte saw us for what we were and offered us her service. After seeing the ridge down her arm from repeated donations with a vampire not used to sealing the wound properly, Carlisle gladly procured a contract from the Volturi and she signed it, right next to Jasper's name taking her on as his personal blood donor.

Jasper drank from her only in the presence of Alice, he was worried of losing control and sinking his teeth into her flesh. Jasper is fairly even-tempered but if anyone, save Carlisle, so much as approaches Charlotte when thirsty, his growl echoes through our home.

In general donors, Carlisle or I utilize a syringe blood draw system as they do in blood donation sites. There was no utilization of our venom to seal the wound. Personal donors however, tend to be messy. The recipient makes a small incision either by a sharp blade or a quick stroke of a fingernail, moving faster than human speed. The vampire then places his or her lips upon the wound and draws. The danger of losing control is not as great through practice, but the risk is always there. We are careful to prevent transferring our venom into the bloodstream of the donors; a quick lick is placed over the wound, making certain that the incision is held flat and the arm or neck is relaxed. Our venom quickly heals the skin, leaving a faint silver line, but the amount is not enough to start the change.

Carlisle has retired from the hospital although he still performs research at the college in Seattle, teaching occasional lectures or workshops on his latest breakthroughs. Esme watches over our home and often pretends to be human, taking care of our donors as if she were their mother.

Jake, Sam, and Seth came to us a year ago. When the gene responsible for the Quileute shape-shift ability was triggered for whatever reason, the first two to change sought us out. They believed it best for everyone if they used their additional strength and stamina in giving blood so that “normal” humans did not. Their blood satisfies our kind as well as a human's, but in a way it is an easier gift to receive. The shifters are not as breakable, making it less dangerous to go to them when thirsty.

Sam and Seth have not spoken about what they do with their weekly stipend although it is typically all spent in the city before they return. Their thoughts are carefully guarded from me and due to something in their nature, perhaps their changeling abilities, Alice is blind to them. While Sam and Seth had their own interests outside of our donation center and home, Jake however, had come to us and asked for help setting up a bank account. His father had been in an accident and they need the money to keep their home. Jake continues to put half of his paycheck into a checking account his father can draw on and then puts the rest into Alice's hands for investment, keeping a small amount on hand for his luxury expenses.

Each month, Alice gives Jake a check that is easily five times what he could imagine making in a real job. Here, we provided shelter, food, and basic clothing. True, Rosalie and Alice keep Jake and Seth well-dressed as they drank and played with both of them. Sam is kept for general donation, most often to feed to our guests from other Covens. Tanya, from the Denali group, has become quite taken with him, and has asked a few times for Carlisle to sell Sam's contract to her.

~*~

“Have you fed recently, Edward?” Alice's voice called down the stairs to me while I set the dinner table.

I finished arranging the silverware around the extra settings. Normally, we only set the table for the humans. While we join them, we have our goblets of blood or at least sit and take part in polite conversation before the donors retire to their rooms for the evening. With a guest arriving, one who is unaware of our differences, we must keep up appearances.

“Yes, Alice. I went for a hunt with Emmett this morning, as you had requested. His eyes are a deep orange, almost gold from the bear he took down. The contacts should cover the remaining red tone.”

Get the door. She's here!

She? The gravel of our drive way scattered as the car pulled to a stop. I only heard a man's mental voice though.

“Alice, you're wrong.”

Don't bet on that.

I opened the door, a taxi cab most likely from Sea-Tac was parked in the nearest space. The driver was pulling a small suitcase from the trunk.

“There you go, Miss. That will be,” he paused, sticking his head back into the car and looking at the meter. It read forty-five dollars and twenty three cents, but he only charged her, “thirty five dollars.”

“I've got it. She's a guest of our home. Keep the change.” I pulled a fifty from my wallet and handed it to the driver amid protests from the girl.

“Thank you, but that's quite alright. I have my own money.”

I waved her off as my eyes drank in what the driver had not fully appreciated. Her hair shone in the dim light as if the richest bark of a mahogany tree had been polished and stripped into silken strands. Her eyes were pools of brown that shimmered with an inner depth not seen in other mortals of her age. I guessed her to be around twenty-two.

Searching for her mind, I found nothing. I could feel the echo of a mind's presence but her thoughts were silent.

The wind began to shift and I steadied myself. I was ready for my throat's ache, my body yearning for the blood in front of me. My muscles tensed in awareness, my venom flowing in anticipation. It was always the same; our bodies are meant to digest human blood and we react when in the presence of the sanguine pleasure, in intact packaging or not.

Her eyes widened as she looked at me, cheeks coloring an inviting pink. The girl's face was pale, delicately heart-shaped. It was the face of a nineteen fifties' ingenue, not one of the typical college graduate. She wore no makeup to enhance her features, but I found it was unnecessary. Her blush was comely and lips darkened naturally. I waited for her to open her mouth and end the interest she had piqued. The moment I heard her voice and whatever inane comments she had to make, I could go on to the next boring mind.

“I'm here to see Jake. I'm sorry to disturb you and then to cost you the money. Please, let me repay you and then if you could please show me to Jake's room or let him know that Bella is here, I'll be out of your hair.”

Bella, her name is Bella. It caught in a stray memory from the past. There had been an Isabella at Forks High eight years ago. My family had left so quickly that morning that I did not meet the new girl.

The wind hit Bella from behind, her hair billowing on the breeze. One hundredth of a second later, I was brought figuratively to my knees. Her scent destroyed me and rebuilt my body in dedication to her demise. I would drain her and hide the body, claiming she never arrived.

One step. And then a second.

No, Edward! Alice shouted to me through her thoughts.

What is Alice upset about? “Ali, sweetie, what's wrong?” Jasper reached out to his wife, his gift allowing him to exude a sense of calm.

I ignored them. She was my prey and I was the world's most deadly predator. I did not know that such a divine scent existed. I would have searched for it if I had.

The fire raged and it felt as if my mouth and throat were filled with sand, they were so dry despite the venom running like a river through me.

“Is... this is the right place, isn't it?”

I took another step toward Bella, my hand reaching out for her. I would let her come to me and then I'd take her out into the woods. It would be over quickly for her.

“Bells! You're here!”

Jake came bounding out the door and intercepted me from my prey. My answering growl put him on edge, a faint rippling just barely visible to me.

“Move, mutt.” My voice carried the rest of my threat and he spun around.

She's off limits, leech. I'll rip you limb from limb if you even look at her.

Jake pulled my prey into his arms and carried her into the house.

Alice came out, closing the door behind her.

“La tua cantante.” Her blood sings to you. “I didn't see... It came to me just now; I'm sorry, Edward.”

Her words were accompanied by a vision of us standing before Aro as he demanded to drink from Bella. “She is not bonded, so it is my right.”

Alice bounced back up onto the stair, her yellow heels grinding against the cement. “I told you that the person coming would change everything. You will see, Edward.”