Just an idea bouncing around in my head. :) Oh, this story is during New Moon. I changed the timeline a little too. Instead of being in the winter when Bella finds the meadow again, its the spring. So instead of Februaryish, its more like Aprilish.

Also, Katie is not mine! Well, sort of... but she was mentioned in New Moon. She was the new girl at the table, when Angela and stuff were talking about the 'bears'.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Saga. Plain and simple.

-StephJoy

People don't understand that sometimes things aren't always as they seem. Take me for example. Just because I don't enjoy talking during class or going to the beach every Friday, I'm dubbed a loner. Of course not to my face or anything, but I know that's what my limited amount of friends think. In reality, I'd like to think I'm a pretty cool person.

I draw – a lot. It's something that I'm very passionate about. Colors, lines, shapes…I just think it's amazing that I can turn something as simple as a straight line into a master piece. Alright, maybe not a masterpiece, but I've got to say, when you do nothing but paint all day everyday, you get pretty good at it.

The wind blew, rustling my paper. I silently cursed, trying to hold down the sheets while also not smearing my lead.

Crunch. I jumped, my eyes shooting to my left, where the noise had sounded. The woods were thick, and I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Just the leaves, trees, and tall plants with small animals hiding in them. Probably just a small animal or something equally harmless like that. I thought, looking back to what I was doing.

The meadow I was in was beautiful. I had found it yesterday, when I was out hiking. I guess that's another thing I like to do that girls my age would find weird. I like being outside, a lot. There's so much more to paint, or draw in nature. Take this meadow for example. You'd never find these beautiful oranges, yellows, pinks, purples, green, or browns in your bedroom. These colors are just things that can't be duplicated.

Crunch. My head shot back to my left.

"Hello?" I called out hesitantly. As much as I tried to make it not, my voice shook in uncertainty.

"Shoot, aw! Stupid tree," A girl's voice floated to my ears, and I instantly relaxed a little. At least it isn't a bear, or some other kind of wild creature.

"Who's there?" I called out again, slowly standing up and shutting my drawing book.

The spot where I assumed the girl was moved again, and soon she emerged. "Bella Swan?" I asked, confusion coloring my voice.

The girl in question looked up at me, her usual zombie-like eyes filled with one emotion: disappointment.

"Oh, I didn't realize other people knew where this was," She said, pushing her tangled brown hair behind her ear.

"Ah yeah…I hike a lot, so…yeah," I finished lamely, sending her a half-hearted smile. "How'd you find it?"

Bella's eyes dimmed even further, if that's even possible, and mumbled, "My…friend…he found it once,"

I nodded, the awkwardness of this conversation heavy. Me and Bella…we were never what you'd call 'friends', but I was friends with a couple of people from her group. I came in halfway through the year, but she was already in full zombie mode. Angela Weber, one of my few and limited friends, said that she had gone through a bad break-up. How anyone could be special enough to knock you into a comatose state for nearly seven months is beyond me.

"Oh, that's nice."

"You're…Katie, right?" She asked, and I was silently surprised she even knew. I mean, sure, I sat at her table and everything, but it's just like she was never…there. She always stared off into space, and no one dared mention anything about her old boyfriend…not that I knew much about that anyway. Actually, the first time she even talked during lunch was about three weeks ago. That was one of the biggest surprises ever…Angela was talking about how her and Ben had seen some giant bear, and Bella seemed to be really into the conversation, saying that the place where she worked had a hiker that said he saw it too.

"Uh- uh yeah! Katie Murray, I moved here from Seattle two months ago," I stuttered back to her.

"That's…nice," Bella said, obviously trying really hard not to be mean. It was obvious she wanted to leave.

Suddenly I heard a noise. It was faint, but it still made my ears prick up. I was about to shake it off as another animal when I got this intense urge to get up, run away, and never look back.

"Do you feel that?" I whispered, slowly inching closer to Bella. "I feel like…I feel unsafe," Terrified was more like it. Bella looked at me oddly, obviously not feeling it too.

"I don't feel anything, in fact, if anything–"

"Shh, listen," I interrupted, putting my hand up to her face.

We both paused for a second; all that could be heard was my nervous breathing and the babble of the nearby stream.

Bella looked over at me nervously. "I don't hear anything,"

"Exactly," I whispered. "Something scared all the animals away,"

Bella finally seemed to grasp the situation. She gulped, starting to inch towards me also.

"Maybe – maybe we should leave," I whispered, a slight tremor in my suddenly high voice.

"Now, now," A voice said, causing both me and Bella to jump. I looked up, and suddenly a man was standing there. He had dark skin, with flawless features. His black hair was in dread-locks, and even from here, about forty feet away, I could tell he was trouble. "Don't leave just yet,"

"Laurent?" Bella asked, her body completely relaxed now. I shot her a quick look, silently asking, "You know this guy?"

"Bella?" He asked, seemingly surprised.

Bella nodded enthusiastically, almost excitedly, and mumbled, "You remembered,"

Laurent smiled, and I noticed his teeth looked super white against his dark skin. Super white and sharp. I corrected myself, slowly backing up. Bella stayed in place, and if anything, she seemed to be edging closer. I couldn't understand how she seemed so at ease…the man, Laurent, as she called him, creeped me out.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Laurent said. His voice…it was like an angel was singing – no, like a whole choir of angels were signing. It was so…pretty.

"I live here…I thought you were still in Alaska?" Bella replied.

The Laurent guy cocked his head to the side, slowly walking forward. Bella didn't seem to notice, but I sure did. I matched each of his steps forward with one back.

"Oh, I was…I've just never been one to stay in the same place for long," He said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I like the whole idea of staying in one place, sure. It's just it's so hard…" He trailed off. "Sometimes I cheat," His face broke out into a grin, and something about his sentence made me queasy.

Sometimes he cheats with what? The question was unexpected, almost like another voice had entered my head. Great, now I'm crazy and I'm pretty sure this man is going to kill me. Great, just great.

Bella seemed to freeze. One of her feet started moving back, but his head shot to the movement and she stopped. He walked a little closer, and I stepped back farther. The closer he got…the more I could see that his eyes were an unnatural red color. It was unnerving.

"O-oh," Bella stuttered, although I could tell she was trying hard to sound brave. "Jasper has problems with that too,"

Is Jasper her ex-boyfriend? I wondered.

"Is that so," He stated, even though it was supposed to be a question. "Is that why everyone left?"

"No…" She trailed off, obviously lying. "Did you ever find Victoria?" She asked, quickly changing the subject.

He had been walking towards us again, but this time, her question seemed to surprise him. "Oh, yes…yes I did. I'm actually here as a favor to her,"

"Really?"

"Yes, and she really isn't going to like what I'm about to do, either," He looked down at the ground, seemingly regretful. I didn't let that fool me for a second. He was a monster, and he wouldn't regret anything.

"What's that?" She asked, nervously stumbling back towards me. I had finally hit the thick circle of trees that surrounded the meadow, and I cursed in my head. Well, looks like I'm dead. My mind flashed though every horror movie I've ever seen, and in everyone, when the heroine – or I guess the friend of the heroine in this case, being Bella's doing all of the talking – dies as soon as she's backed into a corner.

"That I'm going to have to kill you," He glanced back at me quickly, obviously just remembering I was there too. "Both of you,"

My eyes widened, fear slamming into my chest. I knew he was probably going to kill us, but hearing him actually say it…it made it that much more real.

Laurent had finally reached Bella. He grabbed her wrist, tugging her to him roughly. "I think I'll start with you. Don't worry, this won't hurt that much." He added after Bella tried to stumble away from him. "In fact, you're lucky it was me that found you…" He trailed off, an evil looking smile filling his face. "What Victoria wanted to do to you…let's just say, this is a much, much better option,"

Suddenly growling filled the air behind me. It was quiet, but not any less ferocious.

I whimpered, shooting a glance at Bella and Laurent. They were both staring at something behind me. Great. Now something that scares even the creepy Laurent dude is standing right behind me! Could this day get any worse?

Laurent released Bella and slowly started backing away. "I don't believe it…" He uttered, seemingly awestruck.

Something brushed against my leg, and I looked over. A large, black…bear/wolf creature slinked out from behind my tree. It looked up at my face, and I stifled a scream. Its eyes…they looked so human.

The wolf turned away, and stalked towards Laurent. The man in question had a horrified look on his face.

"I don't believe it," He stated again.

The wolf growled lowly, viciously snapping its teeth in Laurent's direction. Suddenly Laurent spun around, and made a mad dash for the tree line. The black wolf chased after him, and four more ran from behind me, flanking him.

They all disappeared so fast…Laurent was there one second, and gone the next. No one can run that fast… Why did they only chase him? I highly doubt wolves have some honor code where they only eat bad people…

The forest came back to life slowly. Birds started tweeting, animals scurrying. I looked over towards Bella, but she was gone. That bitch left me alone in this damn forest with those freaky wolves!

Oh, I also have a question I forgot. I was thinking of making this an imprint story...yay or nay? And if so, Paul or Embry?