Chapter 1 EPOV

Esme was on the prowl. Preparing for visitors in the Cullen household was serious business and I was just trying to stay out of the way. The house was alive with my family buzzing around, tidying and cleaning every room repeatedly. I busied myself in the living room, dusting family portraits under Esme's wary eye.

"Alice, did you change the linens in the guest bedroom?" she called up the stairs. Her voice didn't reach far beyond a typical conversational tone but Alice heard her from the third floor of our house and was there in a flash of pink blouse, her black hair continuing to move after she did, and bouncing quickly back in place along with her bright smile.

"I changed them fourteen times. I decided to keep the lavender ones with the grey duvet. I think the colors will match Velia's skin tone perfectly." She squeaked.

Esme released an unnecessary breath and smiled at Alice. "Thank you, dear. I'm sorry to question you, I just want everything to be perfect." She wrapped her arms around Alice.

I returned a portrait of Carlisle with his medical staff at Forks to its original position. "I don't think it could be any more perfect" I interjected "Besides, Velia is used to living in caves, do you really think she'll even notice the clinical absence of dust you've accomplished?"

Alice's eyes lit up "It's too late now, anyway. They're coming!"

The whole family piled out onto our large covered front porch to greet our visitors. It was raining and our visitors arrived upon us quickly, shaking water from their hair. Velia and her mate Roshus were old friends of the family. They had been loyal vegetarians since being counseled by Carlisle nearly sixty years ago but were still "wild vampires", constantly on the move, unable to settle down into the mock human existence that we had become accustomed to. Though constantly moving, they still came to visit our pack every five years like clockwork.

Esme and Velia embraced while Roshus, whose physique was even larger than Emmett's, started shaking hands joyously.

After the reunion, we all settled in the living room to catch up. As Roshus told us boisterously about the time they had spent in the Soviet Union, Jasper made his way into my mind.

"Edward, Velia is having some strange emotions". I glanced across the room toward Velia. I hadn't noticed it before now but she did have a strange expression on her face, keeping quiet with an occasional small smile while Roshus spoke. I looked questioningly at Jasper.

"It's something like guilt, nervousness…the emotions are directed at you, specifically."

I frowned. I could not imagine what Velia had to be nervous about with me. We had been cordial during past visits but we weren't close by any means. In fact, the last time we had seen them, it hadn't been long since we left Forks…left Bella…and I was still so caught up in my grief I didn't speak a single word to Velia or Roshus. I thought of searching her mind to see what was troubling her but decided against it. Velia had been a friend of our family for a long time and we trusted her completely. If she had something to say, I would let her say it to me on her own terms. I considered taking her aside but was afraid she wouldn't come with me, or Roshus would see it as a threat to his status as her mate. Velia and Roshus were kind and decent for vampires but they were still wanderers and may have a wild streak in them. Besides, Roshus was much too large a vampire for me to get into a tussle with, even with my family to back me up. I decided to be direct.

"Velia?" I asked, coating my voice with concern. Everyone stopped and looked at me. Velia's eyes widened at the sound of her name. I smiled at her, "Are you feeling all right? You don't seem your usual jovial self today." My family, other than Jasper of course, had quizzical looks on their faces. It wasn't like me to speak openly with visitors other than the standard conformities, although I had become more social in the past couple of years.

Velia's wide eyes cast down toward her knees and she laced her fingers through her auburn hair. I could tell she was considering what to say. Roshus laid a dinner-plate sized hand on her shoulder and murmured "Go ahead and tell them."

Velia looked across the room into my eyes for a moment before directing her attention to Carlisle. It was still in her custom to direct the leader of a pack, although that wasn't necessary in our home.

"Carlisle, during our journey here," she began with a small voice, "we came across a cave on the western coast of Washington. We were going to stop to rest, to spend some quiet time together before making our way to your home but we found the cave was already occupied." She paused, twisting her hands nervously.

"By another coven?" Carlisle prompted kindly.

"Yes….I mean, no. By a single vampire. She was alone there. She was wild."

My eyes narrowed and I growled. "Victoria."

My family gasped. We had tracked Victoria for months after leaving Forks, to ensure she stayed away from Bella and her family, but she eluded us. Once we were sure she was staying away for a while, we relocated ourselves to Oregon, to stay close to Forks. Although it had been incredibly painful to be that close to Bella and have to remain hidden, it was the most advantageous place for us to keep watch and make sure Victoria didn't come around. It seemed, however, that she was back.

My hands turned to fists and I sprung from my chair. "I'll be leaving immediately. Roshus, Velia, please direct me this cave. I'm sure she's not still there but it will be the best place to start track-"

"Edward, slow down!" Velia interrupted me. My gaze met hers. Her eyes startled me. They held so much pain that my anger dissipated instantly and I fell back into the chair. "Velia?" I pleaded, needing to know why finding this cave caused her such sorrow. I dove into her head but found no cohesive thoughts, just frantic images. A cave, running during a hunt, a female form.

"It was not Victoria." She spoke to me now. "This was a new vampire. I would guess she's been changed a month at the longest. In fact she told us she had changed there in the cave. She wouldn't tell us how she arrived or who had changed her, or why she was alone…" Velia lifted a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes before she continued, "she was scared and incredibly guarded. We tried to get her to come with us, tried to convince her it wasn't safe to stay there alone. We told her we were going to visit a family called the Cullens and that you would be more than willing to help her adjust to her new life and teach her…" she looked up at Carlisle apologetically but Carlisle just smiled and nodded, confirming that she was correct in making those promises to this new vampire.

Impatient, I urged her forward, "Velia, what happened with this new vampire to make you act this way? Why are you afraid of her?"

"Edward, I'm not afraid of her. I'm afraid of telling you this. Please, be patient with me while I get through it."

Carlisle reached out and took Velia's hand, "Velia, you never have to feel afraid here. Not of any of us. You are a dear friend and no one would make you feel unwelcome in our home."

Velia nodded but looked to Roshus for support. He smiled and ran his hands through her hair.

"Let me finish for Velia. She's has the most sensitive of hearts" he looked down at her admiringly "so this is hard for her to tell you, Edward."

I couldn't imagine what they could possibly say that would be this hard, so I just stared at them, mouth open, waiting for someone to spit it out already.

"When we mentioned the Cullen name to the girl, she became aggravated. She obviously recognized your name but tried to hide that, and became insistent that she could not travel here with us."

I searched Roshus' thoughts and again found images.

Velia standing in the cave, concern on her face.

"We feared leaving her there, so Velia convinced her to go on a hunt before we left and I stayed behind in the cave. I found the vampire's jacket in a corner of the cave."

A black jacket crumpled in corner, a small fire making shadows dance off of it.

"It must have been there since her change, I imagine she would have destroyed it if she knew it was there…"

Large hands pulling out contents. Ear phones. A wallet.

"Anyway, I snooped through the pockets and found this…" he pulled a laminated card from his pocket and looked at me with what – condolences? – as he crossed the room to hand it to me. It was a driver's license. As soon as it was in my hand I could smell it, smell her all over it. My mind struggled to comprehend. There she was, frowning in her license picture. My Bella. Why would a vampire have Bella's belongings?

"What did this vampire do to Bella?!" I roared, turning over the arm chair as I ripped out of it. I was in Roshus' face now, pushing my body against his, demanding his answers. Roshus didn't budge, didn't change the expression on his face.

The vampire, huddled in the dark, her porcelain skin flashes as she raises her head to look at Roshus.

I felt my body become limp as his thoughts registered. "No" I felt myself whimper, although I was now fully unaware of myself, wrapped up in my own horror.

He nodded and whispered, calmly to me.

"Edward, Bella is the vampire."