Explanation time! ;)))

Chapter Seven - EJ's POV

"What?!" I snarled, springing out of my chair. Mei tried to grab my hand to hold me back, but I wrenched it free and stalked towards Ciel. She stood in the door frame, shoulders slightly hunched, eyes wary as they traced my approach. I stopped a few feet away from her and Dad, my upper lip still curled in disgust and anger. "What would they want with you?"

She fiddled with the ends of the tight dark purple T-shirt she'd changed into, pulling it over the waistband of her skinny jeans. "It's more complicated than I'd care to explain. Let's just say that I have a...gift."

"A gift?" Granddad's eyes light up with the scholarly curiosity that they so often contained. "What kind, exactly?"

Ciel fidgeted even more, and Grandma stroked her husband's blond hair and suggested, "Why don't we offer our guest a seat? Please come in, my dear."

"Thank you," she murmured, moving around my father to the sitting area. The only available chair was the one Jacob had occupied, and so she sat there, scrunching her nose once the smell of wolf hit it. I meandered back to my own seat as Ciel began to tell her tale.

"As you all know, there are many supernatural abilities that vampires - and even humans - can be born with. In the case of vampires, as Carlisle has noted, they stem from the strongest trait of their human lives. Only those traits that can be manifested into a gift become one; others, such as compassion or kindness, do not become a special ability. In the case of humans, if they have a strong trait, then it can manifest into a gift despite not being a vampire. Take in mind, this is not a random speculation, but fact."

"So I was right!" Granddad said excitedly. "But how were you able to prove this hypothesis true?"

"That all stems from my gift," Ciel explained, leaning forward. "As you all have noticed, half-vampires - whose correct name is the dhampyre race - can be born with gifts, though they do not stem from the same source as vampires do, for they have yet lived. The origin of dhampyres' abilities comes from their parentage. Since vampires are the normally the only one of the two with a gift, dhampyres commonly have only one supernatural power, if they have one at all. Vampires always have one, but dhampyres can have up to two."

"Vampires can only have one gift," Mom restated, glancing towards Uncle Jasper. "So I guess my super self-control isn't so 'super' after all."

"You're right, partially. Your supernatural gift manifested before you became a vampire, but you also had another strong trait you carried into you next life: your maturity. Haven't you always been described as acting older than you really are, Bella?"

"Yes, but how do you know that?" she asked Ciel warily.

The girl smiled wryly, no mirth in the swirling sapphire depths of her eyes. "It's all in the gift. No newborn could act as civilized as you did without some passed on trait - whether prepped beforehand or not.

"But to continue on with my account, dhampyres inherit their powers, but with a literal twist; whichever talents the parents had, the children reverse them. For instance, Edward is a telepathic, while Nessie has tactile thought projection." I didn't miss how Ciel avoided mentioning my reflection of Mom's gift. "This goes for all dhampyres with supernatural abilities; as such, unless their parents have one, they will not gain a gift."

"So what's your gift?" I asked brazenly, forcing her attention to turn to me.

She met my eyes starkly, gaze unflinching and unfeeling. "I have two gifts that sort of blend into one: telepathy and clairvoyance. They amplify each other, and so I don't call myself a telepath nor a clairvoyant - I'm a reader."

"Don't you have a shield, as well?" Dad said, frowning. "I can't read your thoughts."

Ciel gave her usual smooth shrug. I admired the curve of her shoulder blades before remembering that I was supposed to be mad at her as she answered my father. "It's a byproduct because of the enormity of my gift. When I talk about reading people, I don't mean merely reading their thoughts or emotions - I mean reading them. Their whole lives, their whole being, their whole self."

It takes a lot to shock vampires, and this revelation was one of them. My whole family, including me, sat still, frozen at the scale of her gift. I couldn't imagine it; being able to see a whole person, know things about them that they may not even know themselves, discover all their hopes and dreams and fears. It was mind-blowing. It was phenomenal.

It was terrifying.

Aunt Rose inhaled deeply to settle herself, thought the action was unnecessary, before asking in a low voice, "Have you read any of us?"

Ciel hesitated, twisting the watch around her wrist before her gaze returned to mine and she whispered, "Only EJ."

For some reason, it didn't surprise me as much as it should have. Still, I questioned her. "Why?"

"It was an accident," she said in a louder tone, more firm. Her eyes begged for understanding; I could only imagine what my face looked like. "I keep my shield up so that I can't read anyone, and when I do use my gift, I only use it on a low level, to get basics on potential threats. So, really, I've read all of you, but on the smallest scale, gleaning facts mostly: height, age, intentions, etc. EJ is the only one I've done a deep reading on."

"But why?" I persisted, rattled by the thought of her knowing me so...intimately. My mind flashed back to my thought-speak conversation with Dad earlier this morning, and I inwardly grimaced; looks like my dad may have been right giving me that sex talk in preparation.

"It was an accident," Ciel repeated, still gazing at me pleadingly. "I hadn't been able to get practically any readings on you all day, until...that moment. The emotions overpowered my shield, much like they did for your sister."

"So all these little tidbits you know about us, like the one you just mentioned - they're all from using you gift?" Mei asked cautiously, thoughts still worrisome over me.

Fidgeting, the other girl replied, "Well, yeah; for some other things, I get curious and look deeper. I know you all probably see it as unnerving and intrusive, but it just comes naturally to me. But believe me when I say I'd rather live without it. After all, it's the reason the Volturi want me in the first place."

"How did they discover you in the first place?" Aunt Alice asked. I noticed that she'd been unusually quiet, and now her pale face looked strained. "The future is all muddled because of your involvement. I've gotten better at seeing around half - I mean, dhampyres - but not that good."

"Joham lead them to us," Ciel said grimly, her eyes no longer focused on me but on some memory from long ago, yet not long forgotten. "He was associated with my father, who was also a vampire scientist, though not as eager. Père (Trans: Father) lived with my human mother in France. When he was turned ten years ago, he'd decided to remain with her after his period as a newborn was over and he'd mastered control. Mère (Trans: Mother) knew of his transformation. Because she loved him, she remained with him; however, Père was very reluctant to change her - especially since they had two human children.

"It wasn't until Mère was pregnant with me did he reconvene with Joham, who was overjoyed that another dhampyre outside of his own blood was being created: he wanted a mate for his own children. But Père was not interested in having a child - he was worried for his wife. Unfortunately, Joham had been unable to save any of his children's mothers, not that he tried. So, my father did like Edward did; once I was born, he put me aside and turned my mother into a vampire."

"How do you know that unless you've been reading me further?" asked Dad, shifting closer to Mom's side.

"Because of the one I did on EJ," Ciel said, her voice slightly irritated. "As deep a reading as the one I did revealed his origin, starting from the time where he was first conceived. Now, may I continue?"

Dad nodded, running one hand through his bronze hair as she picked up where she'd left off. "My sister, Claire-Amélie, and my brother, Julien, were three and one when I was born. Of course, by the time I was five, I already looked older than both of their ages combined. While Julien was too little to fully comprehend the reason why I grew so fast, Clairie had reached the age where she was old enough to understand..."

Trailing off, Ciel's eyes welled. Always compassionate, Grandma moved swiftly to her side and gave her a gentle hug. Petting the girl's springy hair, she softly murmured, "It's okay, dear. You can rest if you need to."

As she took in a shuddering breath, a sudden envy stole through me. I wanted to be the one holding her. I wanted to be stroking that dark raven hair and holding the slim body whose warmth I knew all to well.

I wanted her.

The revelation left me in a sudden exhalation, and my sister, always attuned to me, grabbed my hand and rubbed her thumb over mine. Dad knew my thoughts as well, and I could feel his eyes on me, though I could not meet them.

Ciel had since recovered, and she gave my grandmother a small smile and said, "A brief respite would be lovely, but I must continue - it'll be easiest to let it all out now. The reason I took a pause is that Clairie's knowledge of vampires, however slim it may have been, is what gave cause for the Volturi to enact their so-called 'justice'; after all..."

Her words died again, and I finished them for her in a cool tone. "After all, she was human, and she knew."

"And that sort of knowledge means only they are two options," Uncle Jasper said grimly, his dark gold eyes hard. "Death, or change."

"Being as young as she was, change was no option for Clarie," Ciel continued, her voice cracking as tears began to leak from her beautiful eyes. The urge to be with her struck once more as she fleetingly glanced at me. "Death was the only choice - for her and my brother. Of course, Mère and Père would not just let their children be killed, so it became the option for all of them...

"For all of them except me."

~~~~~

Hopefully, this chapter has "shed some light on the subject" (anyone know which movie that quote comes from?) and answered some questions! Ciel's explanation goes further, because though Joham lead the Volturi to her family, someone lead the Volturi to Joham...

Any guesses as to who that is? Comment, even if you don't vote - no need for silent readers, though I appreciate all of you! :)