Ellen groaned a little when she woke up this particular morning. She knew what was coming. Sure enough, there at the end of her bed, bounced an excited and thoroughly awake Kathryn.

"Are you ready? Are you ready?" she asked excitedly, grinning from ear to ear. The blonde twin made an odd sound in her throat but said nothing distinct as she rolled out of bed and reached for the towel on the bedside table. Kat cheered and bounced back over to her own bed. The brunette had been looking forward to this for the past week. Now, she was dressed in cut-off denim shorts, neon-green flip-flops and her favorite bright blue one-piece swimsuit.

When Ellen returned from her shower, her twin was playing a lively tune on the old piano, as though urging everyone else in the house to get up too. There was an indistinct grumble from Aiden, a floor below, and Ellen felt him pound on the ceiling with a broom. Kat giggled and played even louder.

She's an idiot, and she's loving every minute of it. With a resigned air, the 12-year-old got dressed. When the three of them, Aiden, Ellen, and Kathryn, set out together (Carter had left early for who-knew-what-reason), neither Aiden or his favorite little sister looked pleased. Ellen was dressed in a pair of torn-up black cargo pants and a dark tee-shirt over her black-and-red wetsuit. Aiden wore what looked like his normal summer clothes. Dark, knee-length cargo-shorts, his favorite beat-up sneakers (without socks) and a white-and-red tee shirt.

The school buzzed with the sound of laughter and talk. Students were debating with one another over what to do once they got there, where they would sit and (most importantly) who was carrying the food. When the bell rang, the siblings separated to join their respective homerooms. They would meet up again later, once the buses unloaded. Every teacher in every classroom in that school gave the same basic speech to their students.

"Today is the day of our all-school field trip to the beach." The students cheered. Kat was still bouncing on her seat, though how she managed this feat without actually moving was anyone's guess. "The rules are simple. Stay within sight of a teacher at all times. Any specimens you gather for English, Science, or History, will go in the plastic baggies provided. You are NOT allowed to swim in the ocean." At this, the students groaned collectively. It was the same, no matter where they went. There was always someone who decided to break the rules and ended up getting hurt. The teacher held up a hand. He wasn't done yet. "Lunch will be at noon. If you don't show up at the buses to collect your food, you don't get any." Shortly thereafter, the teachers were once again calling for order as they herded their students out into the hall and to the buses.

Ellen and Kat sat in the middle of the bus, side by side with Ellen staring vacantly out the window. Aiden's class was on the same bus, miraculously enough, and the boy himself was sitting in the very back with his friends. They were joking and laughing, making plans and looking forward to this day off of schoolwork. Kat was chatting excitedly with the older girls from their class. Of course, the twins were easily the youngest in their class, having skipped two grades. However, no one ever questioned them. Kat fit right in with the other girls, giggling over boys and showing her skill in handwriting and music. Ellen was quiet, avoided notice, and acted far more mature than any adult (or teacher, for that matter) thought that she should.

The beach was a wide stretch of sand, littered as always with rocks, beer bottles, plastic grocery bags, sea shells, and other beach-related paraphernalia. Of course, the students that poured out of the buses didn't really care about the trash that lay half-buried in the sand. What they cared about was the clear (and trash-free) stretch of sand between the tide-line and the water. That, and the tide pools that littered the rocks of the cliff to the left of the parking lot. The twins were on the second bus, and happily, they discovered that Carter was on the first. His back was to them as they disembarked and carried their towels down to the sand.

As much as the school tried to pretend that this field trip was purely educational, and that the students were all supposed to be studying tide pools, none of the students (or the teachers) were even remotely interested in studying the pools of sandy water filled with tiny crabs and shrimp that liked to pinch the fingers of any that stuck their hands in to investigate. This was a day for teachers and students alike to relax and just have some fun on the beach before it got too hot for it to be comfortable. Ellen was doing just that as she read a book, sitting on her towel under her umbrella. Or at least, she was pretending to read. In reality, she was sketching. As much as she tried to pretend that art and music "weren't her thing" the girl was an excellent singer, and a gifted artist. Now, she was sketching the profile of her twin, as the idiot frolicked in the waves with her friends. She was wearing sunblock, at least, but Ellen still thought that the risk she was taking was stupid. Vampires burned far too easily for her to want to do anything at all in the sun.

"What'cha drawin' Widow?" The venomous use of her nickname made Ellen glance up. Her sketchbook was jerked out of her hands, and the girl let out a growl of protest. It was Carter. He towered over her, his short dirty-blonde hair was spiky and wet as he held the sketchbook over her head. He was taller than the 12-year-old by a good two feet, with his bulging pectoral muscles even with the top of her head. Carter was broader at the shoulder than Aiden, who was only a year his junior. At eighteen years old, he was the oldest of the Millet kids, a senior in high school, and easily the most popular figure in school. Now, surrounded by his 'friends' and admirers, it was time for Carter to show off his supremacy by bullying his little sister.

"Carter, give it back!" Ellen snapped, dark eyes shining green as she stood up. This didn't do much for her, considering how much taller her brother was. Carter laughed, grinning at his friends.

"Ooh, what'cha gonna do if I don't, Squirt? Draw on me?" The group of boys laughed, and the couple of girls behind them giggled. Ellen's face flushed slightly and backed away a step or two. She was young, but she wasn't stupid. However, that sketchbook was important to her. She wouldget it back. The boy was dressed in nothing but his swimming trunks now, his thickly muscled chest bare for all the girls to swoon at. Ellen supposed that if he were even remotely like he portrayed himself to the adults, then he would be a very attractive person. As it was, he was a monster that was capable of things so horrendous that not even his friends were aware of them. The girl knew better than to try to attack her brother. No... she would bide her time and wait to take it back once they were overconfident or just plain bored.

"C'mon, Elle. Why don't you take it back? Are you scared?" Carter taunted, still grinning maliciously. She'd been following him and his friends for about ten minutes now, and they were starting to become brave enough to poke fun at her themselves now. Seeing that Carter didn't defend her, his friends had started to push her, throw things at her feet and trip her. Ellen had yet made no comment to them, but her brother's challenge lifted her gaze to his face.

"No." This had not been the answer that he had expected, apparently. Her tone had been flat and serious, and there was no anger, sadness, or (truth be told) any other kind of emotion in her dark green eyes. Carter stared back at her, his own eyes so dark they were almost black, but glimmers of green glowed in the depths of them. Before he could decide what to do with her, one of the girls attached herself to his arm.

"Carter... why don't you leave her alone? We can go do something more... interesting." Her breathy tone was unmistakable, and one of the guys wolf-whistled. Carter grinned and tossed the sketchbook at one of his friends. Ellen was his least favorite sibling, and he really didn't care what they did to her. With one arm around the girl's shoulders, the blonde steered her away, aiming for a secluded, shady little spot near the cliff. The girl asked something about her, and Ellen listened as Carter laughed.

"She's my sister. She'll be fine." The girl giggled and leaned against him. Ellen stared after them, wishing she could do something to warn the girl. But it was already too late. Carter would punish her for it later if she said anything anyway. Seduction was his primary sport.

"Give me my sketchbook, please," Ellen said evenly, holding out her hand to receive the little book. But Justin, the brown-haired "friend" of Carter's, decided to carry on his leader's work.

"Why should I, pipsqueak?" Ellen grimaced. This was getting ridiculous. She could feel the telltale sting of heat on her cheeks that meant she was already beginning to burn, and she had no intention of letting these humansget away with this. For the first time in anyone's memory, the girl smiled. Her canines seemed unusually long and sharp-looking, turning her smile into something far more threatening.

"You should, because I asked politely. Now, give it here." The funny thing about fear is that sometimes it backfires. This was one such situation. Whereas Justin might have taken the threat seriously earlier and given her the book, the past minutes of taunting and torture had emboldened him. He held the sketchbook farther away, grinning at her.

"Why don't we take little Widow here for a swim, eh boys?" The guys surrounded Ellen and laughed. They thought this would be fun.

Aiden looked up from where he was playing a game in the surf (no one was quite sure what the game was anymore) at the sound of a muffled yell. The beach was full of the sounds of a hundred-odd students shrieking, talking, and generally having fun. But this yell sounded different. It was a familiar voice at an unfamiliar level. Ellen. The boy's dark hair gleamed gold at the tips as he twisted his head around to look for Kat. She and Ellen had been at lunch, sitting together in the shade of the bus. He'd been sure to check on them. Yes, there was the brunette, braids flying, playing freeze-tag further up the beach. But when he checked under Ellen's signature black umbrella, there was no sign of the blonde. Aiden felt his heart skip a beat and he scanned the beach. He would never admit it to anyone, least of all to Kat, but Ellen was important to him in a way that even his school friends weren't. The girl was nowhere in sight. Telling his friends some bologna about going to the bathroom, Aiden made his way up to where he'd stashed his towel, dried off and put on his shirt. His eyes panned the beach. No Ellen. Then- movement up above. A group of boys on top of the cliff. They were out of sight of the nearest teacher, who was leaning against the bus and smoking a cigarette. But there was a smaller figure with them, writhing in their hands. They were too far away to hear now, but Aiden could guess what was being said. Green eyes locked on them, Aiden started walking across the beach.

Ellen writhed and twisted, trying to get them away from her. But Justin and Karlos were holding her arms so tight that it hurt. It wasn't hard now- her skin was red and raw from the sun. Figured that today was the day that she'd run out of sunblock. But the sunburn wasn't her worry. The boys were towing her toward the edge of the cliff, having every intention of throwing her off of it into the water. The drop was harmless enough- only about fifteen feet into water that was plenty deep and clear of rocks. But to get back to the beach, one had to swim around the outcropping of rocks (about twenty feet out into the deeper water) and then back to the shore. Ellen couldn't swim.

"Let go of me you creeps!" She yelled again, still struggling.

"Relax, Widow. It'll be good for you to get in the water." Every year some idiot dove off of this cliff, and every year that same idiot got suspended for it. Ellen jerked her shoulders to and fro, but she was so much smaller than them, it made no difference. An abrupt shove in the back sent Ellen out into space and plummeting down toward the shimmering green water.

Aiden saw Ellen fall, just as he reached the top of the slope that led up the to cliff. A group of five boys, all bigger than him, all mean, and all (as far as he was concerned) murderers. The vampire let out a low curse, his heart thundering in his ears as he broke into an all-out sprint. The one coherent thought in his head was that Ellen couldn't swim. He shoved through the middle of the group of high school-aged boys, using his bony shoulders to their fullest. One of them, a dark-skinned, gangly youth by the name of Jethro, was knocked off balance and teetered on the edge. Aiden ignored him and the yells of outrage from his brother's friends. He was too busy leaping head-first off the cliff, aiming for the frothy splashing below that was his sister.

Ellen couldn't help it. For the first time in years, she let out an ear-piercing scream, tumbling down through the air. When she hit the water, it felt like someone had hit her across the back with a chunk of driftwood, and the girl was stunned into stillness. Unfortunately, this did not mean that her lungs stopped working. Ellen tried to suck in a breath and ended up with a lungful of water. She surfaced, flailing and in a panic. Still coughing up water, the 12-year-old's world had turned into a wet, chaotic swamp of emotions and sensations. The ridiculous thought flickered through her head that if you put a water-ride into a blender and then dumped it fifteen feet into the ocean, it might feel a bit like this. Trying desperately to keep her head above water, it was all Ellen could do to breathe air instead of salty ocean-water. But even that wasn't working too well. Everything was starting to go all blurry... Something splashed nearby, and Ellen twisted to see what it was. All she could see was water. Then entire world was watery and deep- it had no bottom... she was going to drown. A second splash. Ellen turned, but a hand wrapped around her ankle. Pulling her down. Away from the air-

Aiden surfaced a split second before the boy he had knocked off-balance hit the water. A wave swamped him for a moment, and when the vampire managed to flip his hair out of his face, he couldn't see his sister anyway. Jethro, however, was thrashing at the water, cursing loudly.

"Stupid b****! Stay out of my way!" The fact had barely registered in Aiden's mind that Ellen was underwater when he dove. There! Under Jethro's body (he looked like he was swimming away now) was the small form of his little sister. And she looked like she wasn't struggling anymore. Either she was learning fast, or only barely conscious. Aiden didn't have time to think about it now. He Grabbed the blonde's waist and kicked powerfully to bring them both to the surface. Ellen wasn't moving, and Aiden was scared. But as soon as their heads were in the air again, she began to cough and hack, spitting out mouthfuls of dirty saltwater.

Swimming like he'd seen the lifeguards do it on TV, Aiden towed his sister back to the beach. It was a long swim, and in a hoarse whisper, she told him what had happened. More than once, the pair were forced under by a wave, but eventually, they made it to shallow water. With careful hands, Aiden picked up his baby sister, cradling her against his chest. Ellen protested, but by this time she was tired, bruised, soaked, and in pain. Kat confronted them on the beach, looking pink in the cheeks but no worse for wear.

"Wow! What happened?" She asked, her pale green eyes wide and scared. Ellen made a motion at her that obviously meant 'shut up' and Aiden set his little sister on her feet.

"Don't worry about it, Kat. I'll take care of it." The brunette took him at his word and started fussing over her twin. Now everyone else had noticed too, though no teachers seemed to realize that three different people had jumped from the forbidden "diving rock." Ellen glanced at him, as though acknowledging his grim tone. But she said nothing.