I do not own "Twilight" or any of its characters, or any other book, movie, or song that gets mixed up in this story.

Warning: Due to the fact that the author is young, wild and probably insane, this story does not abide by laws of continuity or even common sense. In fact, I have taken great liberties with the original text, changing characters and even the year. This shit is set in 2009, so don't write to tell me I'm getting things mixed up and adding pop-cultural references that are yet to be made.

Basically, I was sitting down one day wondering what would happen if Victoria came back in the past and intersepted Bella before she came to Forks. Basically, this happened.

Big thanks to Courtney for betaing this. Your enthusiasm alone makes me write more! (But not now. Now I have emails to answer ;P)

How it all began

I soaked the sun up in our backyard, enjoying the last fleeting moments of peace I had. In a few minutes I was going to leave, begin my journey to a place where I probably wouldn't see light for years.

My mom was fussing around in the house, making sure for the umpteenth time that my luggage was packed and that nothing was left behind. I was sure she would slip some forgotten necessities in my bags, along with a few things I most certainly wouldn't need, but I didn't have the heart to tell her it was fine. It was so rare that Renee acted like a real mother, I couldn't spoil her fun.

Not that we were a "traditional family", so to speak. My parents divorced when I was eight and I've been living with my mom ever since. She was a carefree soul, and since she couldn't forgive herself for marrying and having me at eighteen, she had focused all her energy on making up for the lost time. Renee was sweet, almost childlike in her wonder of the world, and she was also my best friend.

As I was sitting there in the sunlit yard, reminiscing about a subject that I seemed to broach a lot lately, I couldn't help but wonder why on Earth was I was moving again. My mom, my school, my friends, whole life was in Phoenix, Arizona. Hell, my father had to come here during the summer when he was supposed to spend time with me because I couldn't bear a day without sunshine and dryness. The irony was that I was about to move to Forks, Washington, the wettest and cloudiest place in the continental US, was not lost to me.

"Bella!" Renee called from the house "Sweetie, are you done? Vicki called; she's going to be here any minute now."

Resigning myself, I got up and gathered the small potted cacti I had collected. I didn't know if they would survive in the cold and the wet, but taking them with me was worth a try. They'd end up dead anyway if Renee was left to take care of them.

When I got inside, my mom was on the phone again, this time with my dad. It seemed to me like they'd been talking more in these last few months than they had since the divorce. It was partly my fault – after all, I had been the one to suggest moving in with Charlie so that Renee could travel around with her new husband. Organizing the legal and practical details of my moving had been long and tedious, especially since Renee tended to forget a lot of things.

A car horn blared from outside and I opened the door to see Vicki's Mercedes parked in front of the driveway. Renee hung up and helped me grab onto the suitcases.

"Hurry up!" a voice called from the driver's seat as the trunk was automatically snapped open. "We better hurry before the big jams start."

Renee and I loaded my stuff, exchanged a quick hug and kiss and promises to write and e-mail as much as we could, before I jumped in the car and waved, as Vicki Aims drove off.

Vicki was one of my mom's many, many friends. They had met at pottery class and somehow they'd managed to get as thick as thieves over the six months of acquaintance, or at least thick enough for Renee to let her drive me home.

"Thanks again for picking me up." I said.

"You're welcome, dear." Vicki grinned and I stiffened briefly in my seat, before offering a weak smile in return. It's not her, it's me, I told myself and played with the box of cacti in my lap, I just hate traveling.

The truth was that ever since the idea of a road trip had come up, I'd been feeling out of sorts. Nothing in particular, just an overall bad feeling. Strange dreams kept me up at night while at day I often found myself anxious and worried. And sometimes, just sometimes, those feelings would intensify around Vicki, as if my subconscious was trying to warn me about something.

But that was ridiculous. Sure, Victoria Aims was a little different than my mom's usual friends, but that didn't mean I had to fear her. I blamed it all on the fact that she was gorgeous – over six feet of milky white skin, topped with a head full of fiery curls and the strangest, darkest eyes I had ever seen. She was sin incarnate, in matching Armani suit and Gucci stilettos. My anxiety around her was probably a residue reaction from high school, where I had learned to avoid the pretty, popular girls out of fear of humiliation.

Vicki and I hadn't known each other that long – Renee had only introduced us after Vicki had gotten a job at Seattle. That had given my mom the splendid idea of having me travel with her friend – to save expenses and to gain life experiences, as she put it. Oddly enough, Vicki didn't mind traveling with me at all, but since my father had ran a background check on her and found nothing, I assumed that she was safe and left it at that.

We spoke a little during the drive, but we mostly listened to music. She focused on the driving, making sure we didn't run into some idiot or take the wrong turn. I didn't mind – the plan was that we would travel all week long, taking long stops along some places and stuff like that. We'd have plenty of time to talk.

That was what I thought.

It wasn't until the night fell that Victoria's good spirits seemed to rise. I suspected it had something to do with the setting sun – like most redheads; she probably burned easy, which was why she never went outside without a parasol and wore a scarf and goggles in the car. As soon as it was dark, she removed them and chatted easily about different things – music, friends, boys, as if she was my mom. I tried to keep up with her:

"So, Bella, are you excited to start over in Forks? Turn over a new leaf?"

"I don't know…"

"You know, you have a lot of luck – nobody knows you there and you will certainly make a big splash. You know, some people would use the opportunity to morph their personality into something different. Something more… intense." Vicki's eyes were boring into mine as she said that, and I just nodded.

"Sure."

"Oh, I know what the matter is." She grinned slyly and I felt myself shrinking back. Those teeth looked a little too white and sharp for my liking. My sense of anxiety multiplied "You left your heart in Phoenix, didn't you?"

I laughed a little too loud, trying to calm my frazzled nerves. "Nothing of the sort. I've never had a boyfriend."

"Hmm…." She pursed her lips and said "Well, plenty of fish left in the sea." She said empathically. That was when I noticed we had gotten off the highway. Frowning, I looked at the map.

"Err, Vicki, we're not supposed to get off here." I pointed out.

"I know." She said.

"Um, shouldn't we go back to the highway."

"No."

The voice in which the last word was spoken had me freeze in my tracks. Nervously, I turned around to look at her, and her eyes were dark with some sort of emotion I couldn't decipher. Suddenly, I was choking on fear, loud, scary, irrational fear, and barely managed the first syllable of her name before she lunged at me and everything went dark.

A/N - Comments are always appreciated (or horrified screams, whatever works for you).