The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide (43 page)

Charlotte was different from the other newborns. Usually Maria selected humans she thought would make good warriors, but during her brief interludes of peaceful living, she was less picky. There were some women, a few physically older individuals, and some who were too young to be of much use. They were just numbers. Charlotte was one of the vampires who did not have physical attributes or life experience that would lead to her being a good warrior. She was very small physically, and scholarly by nature. She was the most self-controlled of all the fresh newborns, which gained Peter’s attention. She was able to carry on a conversation, a rarity for newborns, and Peter found himself spending more and more time with her.

At first Peter did not think he was in danger. Charlotte was interesting and oddly pleasant, but still just another newborn. She was also very pretty in a delicate way, but all the female recruits were beautiful. She was fun to talk to, but that was just killing time. It wasn’t until nearly nine months had passed that Peter suddenly realized she would be destroyed
soon—and it wasn’t until he imagined her gone that he realized how much she’d come to mean to him.

Peter waited for a good moment, and then spoke to Jasper about maybe preserving a few of the newborns. Jasper brushed him off, saying Maria would make that decision. In truth, Jasper had seen nothing special about any of the group. They were poor soldiers; he wouldn’t make any recommendations this time. Jasper could tell that Peter was agitated, but he assumed it was a similar emotion to his own depression. He thought Peter was opposed to the coming destruction in a general sense. Jasper knew Peter would need to get over that weakness in order to stay alive.

As the time for Charlotte’s demise approached, Peter agonized over his options. To his understanding, the world was entirely made up of warring factions of strong vampires surrounded by newborn armies. He had powerful allies in Jasper and Maria; he was in as good a position as possible for a three-year-old vampire. His best option was to convince Jasper to leave Charlotte alive. Peter could barely conceive of trying to strike off on his own with Charlotte—they’d be massacred in no time.

Charlotte’s time grew closer and Peter became more frantic. Again he tried to talk Jasper into letting him save the ones he wanted. He never said Charlotte’s name, worried that drawing attention to her would prove dangerous for her. Jasper told him to relax and not worry about it—there was still plenty of time to make a decision. He promised to talk to Maria. Peter thought that sounded promising, so he waited. Jasper actually went to Maria to ask, for Peter’s sake, but Maria felt that three permanent vampires were enough. She didn’t want another Nettie/Lucy situation on her hands.

The night of the purge came a few weeks sooner than Peter had expected. As it began, he tried to control his panic.
He begged Jasper to let him keep one or two. Jasper was adamant; Maria said all of them had to go. Peter tried frantically to come up with an answer as, one by one, he helped Jasper destroy the newborns. Then Jasper brought Charlotte out. She had no idea what was going on; she smiled when she saw Peter there.

Though he absolutely believed he and Charlotte would be slaughtered on their own, it was the only option he could think of. He didn’t want to live if Charlotte was dead. He yelled for her to run, worried that she would be confused and hesitate. She didn’t. He bolted after her, expecting to feel Jasper’s teeth at any second, but there was no pursuit. They ran hundreds of miles before Peter paused to explain.

They lived very cautiously in the beginning; it took them a while to figure out that not all vampires lived Maria’s way. Over time, they grew very comfortable with their new world. Peter’s only regret was leaving Jasper behind. He knew Jasper was his true friend because Jasper had not killed him for leaving. He also knew that Jasper was unhappy, and he was sure that, just like himself, Jasper had no idea of any other way of life.

Peter’s only regret was leaving Jasper behind.

Peter decided to go back for Jasper. He told Charlotte he could move more inconspicuously alone, but in fact he was trying to protect her. Peter knew Charlotte felt no loyalty or friendship for Jasper; she should not have to risk her life to try to help him. Peter would take the risk alone.

Peter was shocked that Jasper was ready to leave after just one conversation. On the road, Jasper explained how things had changed with Maria. Peter was all for going back together and killing her, but Jasper was happy to not have to destroy her.

As pleased as Peter was to rescue his friend and have his
company, he couldn’t miss the fact that Jasper wasn’t much happier with him than he’d been with Maria. Peter tried to discover what was making Jasper so miserable, and he noticed how much worse Jasper’s mood became after eating. This was a contrast to how he and Charlotte felt—relieved and well. He discussed this with Jasper, and Jasper recognized the source of his problems. He tried to go without hunting, but struggled. Peter could be of no help to him in this, so Jasper left.

Peter missed Jasper, but couldn’t help but enjoy how much happier he and Charlotte were without him. They pursued a comfortable nomadic existence, mostly in the Americas. Peter kept tabs on his old friend and was thrilled when Jasper found Alice. The foursome traveled together for a while, but Peter and Charlotte’s lifestyle did not help Jasper embrace the way of life he wanted to learn from Alice. Peter never understood the benefits of not hunting humans, but he was glad it made Jasper happier. He and Charlotte stayed on good terms with Jasper and all the Cullens.

O
THER
N
OMADS

MARY
A solitary nomad, Mary was born in Nova Scotia around 1890 and transformed just after her twenty-eighth birthday, in 1918.

RANDALL
Randall was born in California in 1945 and became a vampire in 1963, at age eighteen. Carlisle was one of the first vampires he met, and he’s always considered him a great friend.

J
oham is the father of the four known human/vampire hybrids in existence aside from Renesmee. With four different human women, he fathered three daughters and one son, Nahuel. None of the human women survived. All of Joham’s daughters are on relatively friendly terms with their father and consider him their coven leader for all intents and purposes, though they don’t travel with him. Nahuel, the only hybrid capable of effecting a vampire transformation, lives with his aunt—a full vampire changed by him—Huilen. He is not on good terms with Joham.

H
UILEN

Huilen was a member of the Mapuche tribe in the mid-1800s. Her people made their living farming and raising livestock.

Pire was the beautiful one, and Huilen was the strong, capable one.

Huilen’s closest friend and confidante was her younger sister, Pire. Only twelve months separated them, and they were like fraternal twins in many ways, having their own shorthand language between them. Pire was the beautiful one, and Huilen was the strong, capable one. Because they were so close, Huilen knew immediately when something changed in Pire’s life. However, Pire did not confide in Huilen immediately. Joham had asked Pire to keep their liaison a secret, and such was her infatuation with him that she refused to answer Huilen’s pleas for information. Eventually, though, Huilen saw the bruises on Pire’s skin and was able to guess most of what had happened. Huilen was sure that Pire’s lover was the blood-sucking Libishomen of their legends. Pire refused to believe her or to try to leave Joham, though Huilen did not stop begging her sister to do so.

This situation did not last long. It was less than a month before Pire realized that she was pregnant. She told Joham,
who was very pleased. He told her he had to go away but would return soon, and urged her to run away until the child was born; they both knew that she would be in danger if the truth were known. However, Joham was only truly worried about the safety of the child.

Huilen was a good hunter and protector, and they did well on their own.

Pire turned to Huilen for help. Huilen knew that their people, even their own parents, would insist on the child’s immediate death, though this would mean Pire’s death as well. Huilen and Pire left their people and took to the wild. Huilen was a good hunter and protector, and they did well on their own. Pire’s appetite for raw meat and blood confirmed Huilen’s fears about the child Pire carried, but again Pire refused to hear anything negative about her lover or her child. Even when the fetus was strong enough to break her bones, Pire loved it and made her sister swear to protect it if Pire did not live. She called her unborn child Nahuel, for the jaguar, because of his strength.

Pire did not survive the birth. Huilen, having sworn to care for the baby, truly meant to honor her sister’s wishes despite her own feelings toward it. But the baby boy bit Huilen as she tried to pick him up out of her sister’s body. The pain of transformation hit her immediately and quickly incapacitated her. She was only able to drag herself a few feet from Pire and the baby before collapsing.

When Huilen recovered, she found the boy curled up against her side, fast asleep. She did not understand how a newborn child could have crawled even those few feet, but when he woke she quickly learned that Nahuel was amazingly developed and capable. She did not mean to love him—she blamed him for her sister’s death—but Nahuel was adorable and endearing, and he resembled Pire quite a bit.

Huilen’s appetite had changed, but not her hunting prowess. As a newborn, she became a terror in the area, and several tribes picked up and moved to avoid the new jungle demon. Huilen hunted for Nahuel until he was able to hunt for himself.

Both Huilen and Nahuel were totally unaware that they’d had a visitor in that first week after Nahuel’s birth. Joham, knowing that there was no way Pire would survive the birth, sent his oldest daughter, Serena, to take the child and raise him until he was old enough to live on his own. Joham did not like the bother of dealing with a child. Serena found Nahuel as instructed, but was unsure how to proceed because of Huilen’s existence. She knew better than to engage with a full vampire, and she mistook Huilen for the child’s mother, though she had no idea how the transformation could have come about. She went back to report to Joham but was unable to find him for a few years. When he heard the unexpected news, he went to check on Nahuel himself. That contact was the first Nahuel and Huilen were aware of.