Prologue
No. No, this could not be happening. Not here, not now. Not again. Someone screamed, and I felt the heat of a fire as I threw open the door, trying to run before I even knew what I was running from. No, that's not true. I knew what I was running from. I always had. I was running from them. From the Hunters, from the government, from the guard. I was running from it all. A flickering light caught my eye, and I slipped back into darkness just fast enough to hide myself from the long, flickering shadows of 3 Hunters. They were yelling at each other, no doubt blaming someone else for losing what they'd come all this way to get: me. They didn't seem to know I was still well within their reach, and although I was glad, I didn't have a choice but to step out of my hiding place, revealing myself to them; at least if I wanted to get out of here alive. I have one last chance though, one last place to go. I just prey my brother will take me in, after everything that's happened. I prey I will live long enough to give him the chance to take me in, to see me again. I prey he won't hate me, I prey he'll forgive me. I prey he won't get hurt for doing so, and I prey Demetri won't find me there. Or James, or Laurent, or Victoria, or Phil. And I prey, above all, that they won't find each other, and band up in the world-wide hunt for Isabella Swan, the girl made to destroy.
This is it. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the thick black smoke surrounding the beautiful flame, its delicate tongue licking the old, run-down apparent building I spent so many nights in, and stepped forward, finally revealing my slight frame to the three deadly creatures scattered in front of me, knowing I must look like the innocent 17 year old I wished to be. But that's the thing, you see. That's not me. I'm not the innocent little girl curled up in the corner of the room, a well-worded novel open in my lap as I make a wish to one day take the place of the character, to live the action-packed fantasies of an author's imagination. No, that's not me. I already have a life of fantasy and adventure. And I hate it. I'm Isabella Marie Swan, and this is my complicated mess of a life; or, to put it simply, the art of deception.
3 days later
LPOV
"YES!!! Oh, take that Emmett!!" I pounded my fist in the air, smiling like mad as I turned to Emmett, the big bear of a man pouting like a five year old as I, yet again, kicked his ass at the new x-box game he had come over to test out. He could be such a kid some times. "Rematch!!!" he all but demanded, his eyebrows knotting together in frustration. It was a comical sight, and I couldn't help but laugh as the scariest thing in Forks High School attempted puppy dog eyes. "You cheated! I want a rematch!" he repeated, and I was saved from answering by a soft knock on the front door. "Sorry Em, maybe later." My smile widened at his answering pout. "Who is it?" I called, getting up off the floor in front of the wide-screen TV and heading to the front door, curious as I brushed a stray lock of dirty-blond hair out my face. I wasn't expecting anyone, and was pretty much a loner in this small town, my only friends the Cullens. I preferred it that way, though, and besides, even Rosalie was preferable to Lauren, the queen bitch of a crappy high school and the one person who made me think my strong build, soft brown eyes and mattered hair were a bad thing.
No one answered my call. I frowned, trying again, but was met with nothing but an urgent knock. "Who is it?" Em called up at me from his new seat on the living room couch, turning his head to take in my frown. "I don't know." I answered honestly, puzzled as I threw open the door. A soft gasp escaped my lips as the figure in the doorframe fell into me, injured and crying. Oh god, what happened to her? "Shh, relax. You're safe now." I whispered tenderly in her ear, pulling her outside ever so gently so Emmett couldn't see her slight form. Em must have heard my words of comfort, for he got up, making his way over to me. "Luke, who is it?" He asked again, but I just shook my head, turning my back on him to hide the figure in my arms. "I think it's time you went home, Emmett." I said in a rough voice, not caring if I was being rude. He looked up at me, shocked, but nodded anyway, turning towards the door. "No." I interfered quickly, not wanting him to see my guest. "Out the back." I could feel his eyes boring into the back of my neck, but heard him turn anyway, making his way out the back door as slowly as his big feet would let him. As soon as I heard the back door slam, I threw open the door once more, pulling the figure inside as quickly as possible and slinging them up into my arms, still whispering words of comfort as I took in her battered body. Again. You'd think after seeing her so close to death so many times, it would get easier. But it doesn't. It never does. Tenderly, I laid her down on the king-sized bed that took up most of my room, running a hand down her body until a thick, warm liquid ran into my hand. Pulling up the bottom of her shirt as gently as I could, I carefully inspected the wound. It was half-way heeled already, but still pretty gory. It looked as if someone had hit her, waited until it had healed, and then done it again, creating a sensitive spot caked in dried blood and ripped skin. Well, it wasn't as bad as last time. Taking a deep breath, I ducked into the kitchen, taking out a first aid kit I kept for such occasions, and headed back to the bedroom. It was going to be a long night.
EmPOV
"Who is it?" I called up to Luke, honestly curious. He didn't really have any friends besides us, and the others were at home. "I don't know." He called back, hand on the door handle and sounding just as puzzled as I felt. I watched curiously as he threw open the door, gasping quietly as something fell into him; or rather, someone. Listening to his gentle voice and worried words, I grew cautious. This was not right. I smelled blood- lots of blood. So why wasn't my throat burning? This was wrong. "Luke, who is it?" I repeated, a little firmer. "I think it's time you went home Emmett."What? This was not like Luke. I headed towards the door. "No." His words stopped me. "Out the back."
APOV
Emmett's huge frame came tumbling through the doorway exactly 10 seconds after I had announced it to happen, a frown on his face and confusion evident in his golden eyes. Edward walked in to the lounge, taking a seat beside me on the soft leather couch as he took in what was happening from my most recent vision, a frown flooding his features as he no doubt read Emmett's mind on the day's events.
My vision for school tomorrow was filled with 5 tense vampires, anxious for some unknown reason, and disappeared as soon as we sat down at our lunch table, the doors opening and the entire vision turning black. The same thing had happened about a minute ago, when a vision of Emmett losing yet another x-box game to the only human we could hang around with, Luke, (his scent was different for some reason, and no where near as tempting) spiraled into darkness. To say I was worried would be an understatement. So here I was, waiting for Emmett to come tumbling through the door and calling Edward to see if we could put to and to together.
"What happened at Luke's?" My usually chirpy voice was anxious and strained. My visions had never failed me before, and now two of them had just…disappeared. His gaze swept the room, and he hesitated before answering, stressed. "We have a problem."
