Finally, Bree's back :)

To those new to these stories, welcome. Please note that this is a sequel, so I would suggest reading the first story, "Mirror", before reading this one.

To old fans, welcome back. I'm excited to be working on this plot line again, and I hope that it doesn't disappoint.

This is all still happening in the time between Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.

Enjoy :)

I do not own any of the characters or settings.

"Carlisle, please," my voice was closer to a whine than I cared to admit. But I couldn't force myself to sound angry in order to make him to stop. It seemed criminal to deny Carlisle information when his eyes were gleaming with such excitement, no matter how much he was beginning to annoy me. "It's not going to work," this time I tried to sound reasonable. My pleading hadn't changed his expression, but maybe logic would.

From his place on the couch, Jasper snickered quietly. His attention was focused more on the television then on Carlisle and I, but I could just imagine how my emotional climate would amuse him. He ignored the quick scowl I threw in his direction before turning back to Carlisle.

"It won't work," I repeated. "I never wanted to make anyone else disappear. Just me." I hated explaining this, not in the least because I was sure he already knew it. I didn't want to talk about my human memories more then was absolutely necessary.

"Bree," Carlisle said. His tone wasn't wheedling in an attempt to make me cooperate; he sounded more like someone who already knows he's won the argument. "It won't hurt to test the theory."

"Sure, but honestly Carlisle…." I trailed off halfheartedly when I locked eyes with Alice over Carlisle's shoulder. She had just walked in through the back door and was busy shaking her head at me in a "don't bother" gesture.

"He's going to win," she mouthed silently.

I groaned. "Fine."

I thrust my hand out and waited for someone to come to me. Alice may have seen me giving in, but I wasn't going to make things too easy.

"I'll do it," Alice volunteered happily. She didn't wait for Carlisle's agreement before walking slowly over to stand between us. Her speed drove me crazy. It was appalling to think that eventually I would have to move that sluggishly on a regular basis.

Alice winked at me, and then turned around to face Carlisle, positioning herself so that my hand was poised over her shoulder.

"Go ahead, Bree," Carlisle said, his excitement now more pronounced. It amazed me that he could look so hungry for information when the scent of human blood never affected him.

Reluctantly, I touched my hand to Alice's delicate shoulder and turned myself invisible. The second I vanished, Jasper's head snapped around to watch us. From the corner of my eye I watched as he stared intently at the spot where I was standing. Since he couldn't see or sense me, I knew that he was concentrating on hearing me instead. The set of his body was tense, prepared to catch me if I made any strange or unpredictable movements. He'd done the same thing each time I'd used my ability today. I doubted that he would ever truly trust me. I didn't blame him.

I focused back on where my skin connected with Alice's with some hope despite my doubts about this experiment. It was so easy to get caught up in Carlisle's seemingly undying optimism. But I'd been right. There was nothing visible touching Alice, but her shoulder was still in clear view, as was the rest of her.

Without waiting for permission, I brought myself back into view. "See? I told you, I can't make anyone else invisible. I only wanted to hide myself."

"Hmm," was Carlisle's response. There was a brief flash of disappointment in his eyes, but he pushed it away quickly. "Let's try with the cup again. I want to see if—"

"Carlisle, no!" I snapped.

Immediately, Alice's hand went to mine, grabbing it tightly to restrain me. Jasper was half-way off of the couch, ready to push between me and his mate.

Carlisle's reaction was less violent. He put one hand up with the palm facing me, and spoke quietly, "It's all right, Bree. We don't have to do any more."

I closed my eyes and counted out ten, slow breaths. When I was calm again, I gently took my hand back from Alice. She let me, but did not move aside.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm just…tired." The word didn't exactly fit, but it was close enough. We'd been testing the parameters of my ability for the last two hours and my mind felt stretched beyond its limit.

Carlisle shrugged indifferently, but his attempt at a nonchalant smile was strained. "Don't worry," he checked his watch a little too casually. "I need to be at the hospital in fifteen minutes anyway."

I smiled slightly and shook my head. The concept of a vampire doctor was one that I would never be able to comprehend.

My smile put the others at ease; Jasper sat back down and Alice moved aside to give Carlisle room to walk.

When he passed me, Carlisle gave my arm a reassuring squeeze. "It's okay," he whispered for my ears only, then he disappeared behind me.

I stood alone on the space of living room floor. Alice had gone to sit beside Jasper, probably to assure him that I really was done with my fit of temper. I started toward the stairs without bothering to glance at them. It wasn't worth the effort. Jasper would be watching me warily, waiting for me to snap again, and Alice would be holding his hand comfortingly. Nothing changed.

I forced myself to walk slowly upstairs as I tried to push aside my irritation, or at least to hide it. I was learning very quickly that at times, it was just as important to hide your real emotions as to control your thirst. Too bad I'd never been a good actress.

I reached my room in a marginally better mood. I'd grown to respect my new family and even suspected that I could come to love some of them—all of them if I made a real effort—but I still enjoyed my times of solitude the most. Privacy was a perk of indoor living that I would never grow tired of. Just the thought of it never failed to cheer me up.

My room was no longer recognizable as the bland, spare space it had been before I'd gotten here. Alice and Esme had seen to that. Now it was full of color; the comforter on the bed was the sea-green shade I'd insisted on and the pillows and lamp shades were done in coordinating blue hues. Night stands and armchairs had been added along with a full length mirror that I'd pushed into the far corner. All props, but I liked having them anyway. The only piece of furniture that was truly useful was the desk sitting against the windowed wall. It was stuffed full of art supplies and rarely a day went by when I was sitting at it, working on some sketch or another. It was a good way to pass the otherwise monotonous hours of vampirism.

The one object that had remained the same was the small mirror hung just inside the door. Alice had insisted on getting rid of it once the bigger mirror was in place, but I'd been adamant and eventually she let me get my way. Sometimes having a temper that others were wary of was a good thing.

Now I turned and looked into that small piece of glass, as was my habit every time I came in here. Like the room, I had changed since getting to this house. I was better dressed for one; my clothing now had designer labels that I could barely pronounce. My hair looked better, less ratty. As usual I had it tied up tightly in a pony tail, out of my way. It was amazing what living inside for a month could do to you. It made you seem like a person.

But I wasn't concerned about any of this. Only my eyes interested me.

I liked to believe that I could see a tinge of orange on the fringe of my irises, but I knew that in reality the only change was that the violent red had cooled. The bright color was no longer wild, allowing me to look almost sane. I longed for the time when I would see a real difference, when first orange and then gold would transform my eyes. It was incidents like today's, however small, that reminded me how very far I still had to go.

Without looking, I raised a hand to trace over the edge of paper I'd hung next to the mirror. Any other day I would look at the sketch I had made of Kriss, a blurry and distorted drawing that looked like my fuzzy human memories. But not today. Today was not a good day for me to think about what I'd left behind.

There was a knock on my door. I allowed myself a small smile before opening it. Alice hadn't needed to knock, I'd heard her light, graceful footsteps come up the stairs, but she respected my privacy and I was grateful for it.

I pulled back the door and was met not by Alice, but by a face-full of clothes.

"Alice, what—"

"For you," she pushed them even closer to me. "Take them."

Obediently I did, to reveal Alice standing in the doorway, holding even more clothes, these sheathed in garment bags.

I leafed through the pile in my hands and found practical yet stylish denims and cotton. They were much better than my last delivery which had consisted only of silk and satin. Not that I didn't love such fancy materials, they were the types of things I'd dreamed of wearing when I was human and money was tight, but I was still too wild to use them without ruining them in some way.

"I don't think I have any more room in my closet, Alice."

She shrugged. "We can always knock down a wall to make it bigger."

I started to laugh before realizing that she was completely serious. "Yeah…Well, at least throwing a fit is good for something, right?" I indicated the clothes like they'd been a bribe to ensure better behavior in the future.

Alice smiled at my weak joke, but she was shaking her head. "It's not a big deal, you know. Your temper is as hard to control as anything right now, but you really are getting better."

I grimaced. I didn't want to be "getting better", I wanted this awkward phase of transition to be over. I wanted to be a person again, not a half-tamed animal in designer clothes.

I opened the door wider and stepped back so that Alice could come in, but she shook her head.

"I can't, sorry. I have to get started on these fittings," she raised her arm slightly so that the garment bags were more visible.

"Oh," I said. I couldn't quite hide my disappointment. Alice was the one Cullen I was always happy to talk to. "What are they?" I asked.

"Wedding clothes," Alice replied simply.

I didn't answer. Thoughts of the upcoming event were always enough to shut me up. I couldn't understand it so I didn't like to think about it.

"I'll see you later, Bree," Alice said with a happy smile. She waved and turned to go back down the stairs.

I didn't bother to count how many bags she was holding as she walked away. It didn't matter. We both knew that there would be no wedding clothes for me. That was probably a good thing since I was still a ravenous newborn. I was sure that slaughtering all of the guests plus the bride would go against proper wedding etiquette.