Futrin 2: Electic Boogaloo

by Gangurokid

I'm pretty sure I need an editor, and I probably should connect it to part 1 at one point. Oh well. Uh, if it's awful let me know. I'm a terrible writer. Also I totally don't own this intellectual property nor do I pretend to.

Leave it to Jasper to have a sister that was not only important, but a dangerous combatant. Edward was confident in his fighting ability but Alec was confident in Jane's fighting ability, and the depth of his feelings revealed this confidence as truth.

The sun was coming up, he hadn't even realized he had been in the hospital all night. He should have figured it was late after Bella had fallen asleep again. But he was fine just staring at her as she slept.

Before she had gone to sleep she had told him that she didn't love him yet, but she could see it turning into love very easily. And if it turned into love then he needed to not hurt her. That if her first boyfriend was her last he needed to keep her heart safe. And he promised he wouldn't hurt her, and if he did it wouldn't be irreparable. And she laughed and kissed him goodnight and slept.

He turned into Forks, still driving slowly, and he immediately picked up the thoughts. He hadn't heard thoughts like it in 40 years, the thoughts of a shape shifted human. Not quite a growl, but not quite human. Had it happened then? Had this generation awoken to the magic? Were they going to be new not-quite allies but not-quite enemies? Gone was the strength and power and boisterousness of Big Will Black, the ready to fight daredevil Jimmy Black, the quiet wisdom of Graham Clearwater, the easy going and clever Jameson Call, the military stoicism of Greg Uley, the irascible and violent Lahote brothers, the kindhearted Quil Ateara, the restless Roy Littlesea and the bullying Rich Cameron.

There was a new generation, new shifters, younger, wilder, and far more reckless. Would they be amenable, or would they want the blood Will and his group denied themselves and Ephraim dealt with passive aggressively. Only time would tell, the shifters they had met were grown men. These were children, they were naturally going to be very different. Especially with the knowledge that the Cullen freaks were much more than just creepy white people.

When Edward pulled up to the house. his siblings were outside, gathered around Rosalie's vehicle. Edward parked and got out.

"Hey Prince Charming, spent the night schmoozin at the hospital?" Emmett asked.

"Is this what you guys were doing? Making fun of me?" Edward asked.

Alice laughed "Nope, Jasper was telling us about the new shifters, and how he almost got sex."

"I didn't almost get nothing, I almost got my foot ran over is what I got. And the new shifters are more interestin' news anyhow." Jasper said.

"Yes, much more interesting. Jasper says it was Uley and the two Lahotes. I guess he's the Omega now." Rosalie said.

"I thought the Uley's were Alpha or something? I didn't think they could be the Omega, is that how that works?" Emmett asked.

Edward shrugged "I have no idea. They never explained and Carlisle was the only one Will spoke to about their methods. Maybe Billy's son is too young to have such a heavy responsibility. Maybe it's a choice that's made. I couldn't begin to tell you."

"I wonder if all their shapes are similar?" Alice asked.

Jasper nodded "At least with the ones I saw, two bears and a wolf. The calling cards of an Uley and the Lahotes." he hitched his backpack up "Come on, I ain't got no interest in missing first period."

Rosalie gave everyone a ride to school, Edward was hoping the day would fly by. Bella was out of the hospital today, and he was going to go see her at the nearest opportunity. The day actually dragged rather interminably, even Spanish class with Emmett dragged, and that was usually the period he got the most laughs specifically because of Emmett.

He got the text from Bella that she was on her way home at 2:45, shortly after Emmett had pretended to fall asleep in class. He hadn't felt so excited to see a woman since Tanya, he would have to tell her about Bella, he knew she would be excited for him.

When school finally let out he was the first one to the parking lot. Beating even Alice who tended to be there first since her last course was yearbook and that was hardly a real class. When Alice showed up the first thing she did was walk right over to Edward and bop him on the head.

"Owwwww Alice, what the hell?" Edward said, rubbing the spot on his head.

Alice laughed and leaned next to her brother, "I just haven't hit you today."

"You know if you keep hitting me I might just oust you from the vaunted position of my favorite sibling." Edward said with a grin.

"You'd never!" Alice said, mock gasping.

Edward laughed "Where's everyone else? I'm ready to go home."

Alice shrugged "You're the mind reader, find them."

Edward grinned "Already have, Jasper and Emmett are on the way. We're waiting for Rosalie."

"What's she doing?" Alice asked.

"Planning for the dance. And a few other things." Edward said, seeing the dance paperwork Rosalie was filling out, the forms, the files and deciding what fundraising would be used to lower the costs.

"Whenever I have my funeral, Rosie is planning it." Alice said, climbing on the roof of the SUV.

Edward laughed and leaned back on the SUV and Alice set her Doc Martens on his shoulders. "You aren't having a funeral any time soon shortstack." Edward said, looking around at the other students leaving the parking lot. Emmett was walking out surrounded by the team, they were laughing and jostling and Emmett was tossing a football in the air. Jasper was bringing up the rear, and Edward was as always astounded by the picture his brothers cut. Two opposite ends of the all-american boy spectrum.

"I love you guys a lot, I'm so thankful to Carlisle for bringing us all together. He… he's a good man, I'll always believe that. Forever I'll believe that." Alice said, watching Emmett and Jasper.

"You and Jasper already existed… you yourself exist because of me." Edward said.

"Not a surprise I was in an asylum. What was I like?" Alice asked.

Edward shrugged "You weren't you… you weren't Alice."

Alice shook her head "I was Mary… did you change me, or did James?"

"I'm not sure, I was getting my ass kicked." Edward said, and Alice laughed loudly.

Jasper and Emmett walked up together, they stood on opposite sides of Edward, "I'm fighting the urge to rest my elbow on your head shorty." Emmett said.

Jasper laughed "He is kinda shrimpy ain't he?"

"I'm 5'9, that's average height. You two are just freaks." Edward said.

Emmett laughed and lifted Edward up while Alice and Jasper laughed. Rosalie was walking up while Emmett was holding a flailing Edward, she laughed "What are you two doing?"

Emmett sat Edward on the ground "Messing with the runt. How's your planning going babe?" Emmett asked.

"About as well as you can expect surrounded by incompetents. I'm ready to go home and sit in the bath all night." Rosalie said.

They piled into the SUV and left school, Rosalie made a stop at Newtons and bought a new pair of steel toed boots for Emmett. When they pulled up to the house Esme was just ahead of them. They parked and got out "What are you doing home so early?" Edward asked.

"Going to prepare for a canned goods drive this weekend." Esme said, "Did you all have a good day? Edwards not scowling so I'm assuming yes."

Emmett laughed, "Nah, his girlfriend is getting out of the hospital today and he's probably pissing his pants to go see her."

Esme laughed and Edward turned red, "Do you have any plans to bring that girl by to meet me and Carlisle?" Esme asked.

Edward nodded, "Eventually. We are probably going to have to move all of the blood out of the fridge."

Esme laughed "Nope, she wants to date you, it's best when your girlfriend knows what you like to eat." and she winked.

Emmett and Rosalie laughed and walked with Esme up to the house, Jasper knuckled Edwards shoulder "Alright, I'm out of here. I'm going to find Leah Clearwater."

Alice raised an eyebrow, "Ohhh, pretty Jasper has a crush!"

Jasper shook his head "Ain't no crush, I'm just worried about the girl."

"Didn't Graham hate you?" Edward asked.

Jasper laughed "That man just didn't like that he couldn't tangle with ole Jasper, you coming with Alice?"

Alice nodded "Yep!"

Alice and Jasper took off down the walk, Edward took his phone out of his pocket, Bella had texted, she wanted to see him now. Edward hitched his backpack up and went inside to grab his keys. Esme was in the kitchen and Rosalie and Emmett were sprawled on the couch watching television. Edward glowed with happiness briefly, he just loved his family so much.

Edward pulled up to Bella's house fifteen minutes later. She was sitting outside on the stairs, her cane next to her. She looked so worn out, but still very happy to see him. Edward got out and walked to her, her head dropped onto his shoulder as soon as he sat down.

"Tired dear?" Edward asked, rubbing her back.

"Exhausted, I don't know how I'm going to make it through school. My dad didn't even want to go to work today, he wanted to stay and babysit. And as much as I appreciated him for it I know work is important, I had to bully him out the door." Bella said, smiling and moving closer.

"I missed you." Edward said.

"I missed you too. You should've seen me in that wheelchair, I was amazing. Not quite as amazing as when I was a sweaty mess muscling through physical therapy, but still amazing." Bella said.

Edward laughed "Is there still pain?"

"Oh yeah, the doc hooked me up with some great pills though. I'm trying to be careful with them, don't want to get all spaced out." Bella said.

"I'm sorry baby." Edward said, "Really, if I could I'd kill James twice for hurting you."

Bella kissed Edward's cheek "You killed him once and that's enough for me. I didn't get to tell you this, but you're literally my hero."

"Want to go inside?" Edward asked, a blush rising in his cheeks.

"Yeah, let's go to my room." Bella said.

"Pervert." Edward said, laughing.

"Not perverted! I just want to lay in my bed and play videogames while you watch." Bella said.

"Uh-huh, have you seen Jacob lately?" Edward asked.

Bella shook her head, "He called earlier, he was supposed to stop by but he got hung up on something. I hope he's ok."

Edward thought of the wolf thoughts he had heard, none of them sounded like what he had heard of Jacob. One of them very much sounded like the boy Embry who had been at the party, and he was as unenthused as his grandfather to be a shifter.

"Come on, do you want me to help you stand?" Edward asked.

Bella shook her head "this isn't a super strong vampire, it's my crippy leg, I can beat it." Bella grabbed her cane and stood up, she lifted her injured leg, grimacing at the pain and walked inside. Edward followed her, Bella sat at the couch, whooshing out a great gasp of air.

"If I had known all of those french dips would catch up with me I'd have said no thank you. Are you sure you don't mind dating a fatass?" Bella said.

Edward laughed and sat next to her, "I'm sure I don't mind dating you. I love your body, I adore it."

Bella leaned over and put her head in Edward's lap, "You make me feel so good."

Edward rubbed Bella's stomach, "You make me feel good. You make me feel human."

"Good. You know I have a question." Bella said.

"I hope I can provide an answer." Edward said.

"How strong are you? Like, what little I saw of you fighting James was amazing." Bella said.

Edward thought about it "Hmm, I'm reasonably strong. To put it simply without moderating my strength I can lift maybe a ton."

"Goddamn!" Bella said, rolling over onto her back to look at him. "That's insane!"

Edward laughed "That's nothing, Jasper can lift two tons, and Emmett can lift four tons. Alice can lift about 1800 pounds, and Rosalie can lift about the same as me."

"Alice? Little Alice can lift that much?" Bella said.

Edward nodded "Alice is quite strong, in many ways."

Bella whistled "Want to fuck me?"

Edward laughed "Yes, but I'm not."

"Worth a shot." Bella said, laughing.

"I like that I turn you on so much however," Edward said.

"You don't even know." Bella said, "Like you make me crazy horny."

"Maybe one day I'll have sex with you, but for now I'll just tease you." Edward lifted Bella effortlessly into his arms and stood up. "Light as a feather."

"You're so strong to be so scrawny." Bella said. "You don't even notice my weight do you?"

Edward shook his head, "Not even a little."

Edward carried Bella upstairs and sat her on her bed, "I'm going to go and grab your cane, would you like something else while I'm down there?"

"A bottle of water please?" Bella said.

Edward nodded and walked downstairs, he grabbed Bella's cane from the couch and walked into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. He walked back into the living room "Hello Jane." he said, in a whisper too low for Bella to hear.

"Howdy Eddie." Jane said, turning her perfectly created face toward him.

"Do you regularly break into houses?" Edward said.

"The front door was unlocked, and I'm sure you picked up my thoughts." Jane said.

"You weren't exactly trying to keep me out. What do you want Jane?" Edward asked. "I'm not in charge of my family, Carlisle is. I'm sure you know that."

Jane nodded, her thick blonde hair held in place with the silver headband. Her eyes glowing, "I know Lord Carlisle is runnin' things, but you're the one killed James aren't you?"

"Yes I killed James." Edward said.

"How'd you manage that? The Hunter was quite strong. And you don't eat humans, so you're even weaker." Jane said.

"Is there a point to this Jane?" Edward said.

"I want to see my brother. I want to talk to him, I want to know what he taught you that allowed you to defeat such a powerful vampire." Jane said.

"Then go talk to him, Jasper is not shy." Edward said.

"He hates me, he's always hated me. Even when we were kids he hated me. But he protected me from daddy and our brothers. And he was so strong, and I just want his love. He's all I got Edward." Jane said.

"You have the Imperium, you have more than we could ever possess." Edward glared at her "Was he all you had when they were torturing him?"

"I couldn't stop that!" Jane hissed "You think I wanted that? You think I wanted them doing that to my brother? I wanted to kill them, but you don't kill men and women like that, you stand aside and pray they don't notice you."

"Even while they tear your brother up?" Edward said.

Jane stood up and walked to Edward, she was dressed quite practically. Her white t-shirt and clean dark blue jeans were in sharp contrast to the dress she had worn. "I am not your enemy. And I am not an enemy of your family, we can be friends."

"Prove it, go talk to Carlisle. And then speak to Jasper." Edward said.

Jane nodded, "I'm going home, I have to get my region under control. When I return, I'll speak to Lord Carlisle. But you got to understand, I love Jasper Whitlock. He's my kin, if you knew the things I've done to see him again you would understand how deep that love runs."

Edward shrugged, but inside of Jane's head he could see her crying as 16 year old Jasper knelt down and pulled her 12 year old self into a hug, leaving her with a small doll and an orange. Him standing up and pulling his greying mother into a hug. And then hitching his leather knapsack onto his shoulder and walking away. He could see Jane standing there on the porch, bawling and crying for her big brother. He could feel her hate growing for their father, for sending her big brother to die.

"Do you see? Do you see how vivid the memory is? Do you see what he means to me?" Jane said, she stepped backward from Edward. "Renata."

The small italian girl appeared in the living room, she was still wearing the small and shapeless white dress. Still barefoot and vapid looking. "I am ready to return home Renata. Goodbye for now Edward, enjoy your girl." Jane said, and both her and Renata disappeared.

Edward stood there, clutching the bottle of water. He didn't know what to do about Jane. Was she even something he should feel he needed to do something about? She was Jasper's problem… Which made her his problem. Which made her everyone's problem. But it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair for her to come back when he was finally close to getting away from all of the hate he held for himself only for her to come and bring it on again. Alice had a pretty good point, why was life so cruel for Jasper Hale.

"Hey, did you die down there?" Bella called.

"No, I just got caught up looking at this shrine to your mother." Edward called back. "Do you think this will be us one day?"

"Yeah, after I die make sure to devote all of your mental energy to making sure every girl afterward has to remember me." Bella called back, laughing.

Edward clutched the bottle of water and walked upstairs, Bella was sitting up in the bed, holding the PS1 controller, playing Symphony Of The Night. "You know, you're much cuter than Alucard."

Edward handed her the water bottle and her cane, kicked his shoes off and sat on the bed, he leaned back against the headboard. "I always figured I was more of a Leon Belmont or Soma Cruz, I never would have compared myself to Alucard. I love my vampire dad."

Bella laughed, "I never would have figured you knowing enough about the characters to make a comparison."

"When you don't sleep you'd be surprised what you stay up all night watching your siblings play." Edward said, grinning.

"Yeah, I can see where that'd be pretty great, I can even see the Soma comparison." Bella said.

"I figured it wouldn't be obtuse enough for you to not understand." Edward said.

Bella saved her game, turned off the PS1 and looked at him, "You're always fighting the monster inside aren't you? Like Soma it'd be so much easier to give in, but you won't do that will you? You're too strong for that."

Edward smiled, blood pooling in his cheeks. "I'm not as strong as I'd like to be, and Soma had Mina to keep him from giving into the monster. Alucard had his mother. They had anchors to their humanity."

"And you have your family, and the goodness inside of you. You have anchors to your humanity too Edward. A monster wouldn't have left Mr. Banner's class that day." Bella said.

"The monster was quite disappointed I left that day. He's disappointed now that I haven't taken your blood yet." Edward said.

"Well keep disappointing him, he's an asshole." Bella said, crawling up the bed and resting her head on Edward's chest.

Edward laughed and stroked her hair "He is an asshole, and making him miserable is my favorite thing."

Bella lifted his shirt and trailed her index finger over his stomach, "You've killed before haven't you? Humans I mean…"

"Yes. I have killed before." Edward said.

"Do you mind… do you mind if I ask why?" Bella said, still trailing her index finger.

"Because… because I thought I was doing the right thing. Because I took it upon myself to play judge, jury and executioner… because I wanted to rebel against my father. Because I was 26 and stupid." Edward said.

"Did you eat them?" Bella asked

Edward thought about lying to her, he thought about telling her that no. No it wasn't about food, it was about justice, it was about doing what he thought was the right thing. But the monster knew better, food was always apart of it. And he could see the crippling hurt in Esme's face the few times Carlisle had lied by omission.

"Yes, I ate them." Edward said.

Bella was silent for a long time before she said "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Edward asked.

"That someone with a heart as kind as yours did such awful things. You're a good person, you're a great person, you're becoming my favorite person. I can't, and I won't judge you for the things you did before I was born." Bella said. "I once ate a box of Fudgicles on a dare and threw up in the back of my stepdad's truck, I wouldn't want you judging me for that."

Edward laughed, god was it possible, was it possible for her to be so good. "I think you being a little glutton is very different from me being a murderer."

"Well, yeah… but still I'm not going to judge you. I'm… I'm sure some good came of it… I won't believe you stained your soul with murder for nothing. I can't believe that." Bella said.

"It's part of the reason I believe I'm not good enough. There are a lot of boys at school who think you're pretty, and they haven't killed anyone." Edward said.

"They also didn't have someone stomp them into a crater to save my life, I don't think I can date a normal person after you. You've ruined me on normal boys, thanks a lot asshole." Bella said.

Edward laughed "He broke nearly every rib I had when he did that."

"It looked pretty painful, but you stood back up. For what it's worth I didn't doubt you'd win for a second." Bella said, her eyes drooping.

"I wasn't going to lose to him. Not twice." Edward said, but she had already fallen asleep.

Edward slid out of the bed and covered Bella with a blanket, she snorted and curled up, saying his name quietly in her sleep. It filled him with an indescribable warmth. He put his shoes back on and walked downstairs, when he stepped outside there were five boys there, on and around his car. "Well you're not nearly as frightening as your predecessors. At least they were old enough to grow facial hair." Edward said.

Paul laughed "Really funny parasite."

"Watch your mouth before you lose it brat." Edward said. "Where are your parents? I have nothing to say to children."

"We've got plenty to say to you bloodsucker." Sam said, "Are you planning on doing anything to Bella?"

"No, I know what we signed up for when we came here. She's safe from me and my family, and who are you to ask me anything? You're what? 19? You're out of your mind if you think you're going to question my motives. Go get Joshua." Edward said, he opened his door and Sam closed it. "You must really be losing your mind."

"We saw the other one. The big hillbilly fucker. He was getting extra close to Harry's daughter. Is that how you leeches do it? Fuck around with humans?" Jared asked.

"That's my brother you're talking about child. What, did he look a little too scary and you thought I'd be easier to intimidate? Get off my car brat, if you want to speak to me go get your father." Edward said.

"My dad says you've got some kind of mind reading deal going on. He says you can hear thoughts. He says a lot of you ticks have superpowers like that. It's pretty funny, kind of an undead version of the X-Men." Sam said.

"I don't need my telepathy to beat five teenage punks with delusions of grandeur. You barely know how to use your new bodies, get some more training and then come and try." Edward sniffed Sam, "Just an Alpha, you're not even worth the time it would take to beat you."

"Oh he's funny, I like him. Gonna like him even more after I kill his ass." Paul said, hopping off the roof of the car. Sam stopped him with his arm. "What're you doing Sammy?"

"We're just here to check on Bella, nothing more, nothing less. No reason to fight the suckhead unless he plans on bringing some of his human killing friends around, and then we've got an issue." Sam said.

"Or if his brother tries to get it in with your ex-girlfriend again huh?" Paul said, and then he laughed.

"She can do what she wants, she's an adult. But you and Gunsmoke and the rest of you monsters need to watch yourselves, you've had some good years, but all of the fun is going to come to a quick end if you fuck up." Sam said.

"I don't know if Jasper's asked already, but do you honestly believe I'm afraid of you? Greg Uley was scary, you're barely perturbing." Edward said, opening the car door and getting in.

Sam leaned into the car and smiled, his teeth were very white, his canines extraordinarily sharp and slightly elongated. "Maybe I'll be scarier than my granddaddy, parasite."

"It would surprise me." Edward said, he backed up and pulled out. He actually would have made Jasper proud with his shit talk tonight. He was honestly kind of sad he wasn't there to see it.

Jasper was actually sitting on the beach with Alice while Edward was laying with Bella and talking to the shifters. He was telling Alice all about the pacific in Mexico, how blue it was, how it seemed to stretch until forever. How white the sand on some of the beaches was.

"Yes ma'am, I used to swim in it for hours. Hours on end I'd be in that water. Just floating most of the time. Spent so much time in the water my hair was damn near white from how bleached the water and sun made it." Jasper said, launching a pebble into the water.

"We should go see it one day. Me, you and Rosalie, we should take a walking trip down to Mexico, like the walking trips we used to take in Alaska." Alice said.

Jasper laughed "I go down to Mexico they'll be shipping me back here in a goddamn box, I don't think I'm hated anywhere in the world more than I'm hated in Mexico, cept' maybe Prague. I've got a pretty bad reputation in Prague."

"Isn't that where you and Carlisle wiped out that really destructive coven?" Alice said.

Jasper nodded "Wallachian remnants, girl you shoulda seen Carlisle with that sword they hooked him up with. You wouldn't think a big softy like Carlisle would be able to fight like he does, maybe it's a doctor thing. Savin' lives by killin' dangerous folks."

Alice laughed, "He used a sword? He's so old school."

"It was what... 1897 when we did that, Carlisle was good with just about any weapon they put in his hands. Used to impress the hell out of me, course the weapons had to be blunted so Carlisle wasn't so much cuttin' as smashin'." Jasper said.

Alice's head perked up, her eyes riveted toward a figure on the beach "Ooh ooh! There she is! She's pretty!"

Leah was jogging up the beach, her headphones in her ears. She was wearing gloves and throwing punches while she ran, Jasper and Alice could hear the swish of the compression pants she was wearing, her tennis shoes were sandy and the thin muscle shirt she was wearing was soaked with sweat. The satchel on her side bounced as she ran.

"She's got a great ass." Alice said, grinning at Jasper.

Jasper laughed, "Goddamn girl, is that the first place your eyes go?"

"Nope! Her tits are nice too!" Alice said.

Jasper laughed again, he stood up and dusted sand off his jeans. "I'm gonna go talk to her, she probably won't have nothing nice to say to me though."

"Do you need a wingman? I'll back you up." Alice said.

"I don't need no wingman, and you ain't about to flirt with that girl. Sit your little ass here while I go and straighten things out with her." Jasper said.

Jasper ran until he caught up with Leah, keeping pace with her they jogged in silence for a while before Jasper said, "Hey, can I talk to you?"

Leah pulled out one of her earbuds, "What do you want?" she didn't even turn her head to look at him.

"Same thing I wanted before, I want to talk to ya. You know last time was mighty uncomfortable for both of us." Jasper said.

"You're not the one who got rejected, what did you have to be uncomfortable about." Leah said, slowing down and stopping. She took the other earbud out and faced Jasper. "You rejected me remember?"

"I ain't reject you, I just wasn't gonna have sex with you. You got to understand I don't do sex. I just ain't the one for it." Jasper said.

"You're 18, you're only a little younger than me. How could you not be one for sex, am I gross or something?" Leah said.

"Not every 18 year old is a pit bull with his dick flopping around, I'd rather get to know you first. I don't have no interest in sleeping with anyone." Jasper said. "That fella whoever he is hurt you, I know about that a little bit, not much but a little. I can help you deal with some of it if you want."

"Thanks but no thanks Hale, you wouldn't even begin to understand what's going on with me and him." She turned to start jogging again and Jasper grabbed her arm.

"Sorry, but wait, just wait a minute. Look you can't keep running this out. It ain't going to go nowhere if you don't talk about it with no one. I get that you're a tough one, but even tough ones need to talk to somebody every now and again." Jasper said.

"Are you going to let go of my arm white boy? Or do I need to knock your teeth out?" Leah said, her eyes glinting in the setting sun.

"I've fought tougher than you Leah Clearwater, if you think you can knock my teeth out you're welcome to try." Jasper said, letting go of her arm. "But you ain't leaving till you settle down and talk to me, I ain't going to let you do this to yourself."

"Beat it before I fuck you up pretty boy, I don't need or want your help." Leah said, Jasper could feel her anger steadily growing. "Talking like you know me, looking at me like you understand. You don't know shit. Do you hear me white boy? You don't know shit!"

"I know you're hurting, and you could run from sun up to sun down and you'll still be hurting." Jasper said, "You got a momma and a daddy, why ain't you said nothing to them yet?"

Leah stepped over to Jasper, she wasn't used to being shorter than boys, but this big stupid redneck towered over her. She looked up at him and jabbed her finger into his chest. "Maybe I should say it like this, since you're too goddamn stupid to get it, fuck off hillbilly. I don't need your goddamn help, and I don't want to talk to you about anything."

"You ain't shut up yet about how little you want to talk to me, so maybe you got something you do want to talk about huh?" Jasper said.

Leah's anger bloomed and she punched Jasper in the stomach, and good god it was like hitting a steel door. But she did manage to make him take a step back. "That's a pretty good straight right you got there, you throw it like shit but it's got some strength behind it. Why don't you try again, I might feel it."

"Gonna give me some therapy while I beat the shit out of you hillbilly?!" Leah said, looping her right fist around to punch Jasper in the face, and just like his stomach it was like hitting a steel door. His pretty face barely reacted to the punch.

"Gonna help you girl, someone's got to. And sometimes you just can't talk to your folks." Jasper said, he grabbed Leah's hand and twisted, the pain was immediate and sharp, she dropped to one knee gritting her teeth. Jasper knelt down "You're smart and you're beautiful Leah Clearwater. But folks just change, it's how it is. Don't mean you ain't good enough for somebody."

Leah gritted her teeth harder and growled out "Fuck off!" before she reached up with her other hand and pushed Jasper away. He fell backwards onto his ass and Leah tackled him to the ground, she straddled him and put her hand on his throat. "You don't know shit! Don't know shit about me! Don't know shit about him! He said he loved me you stupid hillbilly!" She punched Jasper's chest, not caring that she sprained two of her knuckles. "Since I was thirteen! I was thirteen years old when he told me how beautiful I was, and how special I was and how much I meant to him. And then he throws me away! Throws me away like garbage! You don't know shit about that do you!"

Jasper reached up and put his hand on the side of Leah's face, "I know exactly what that's like."

Leah's eyes were wet, she didn't want this stupid hateful redneck to see her cry but she couldn't stop. "He gave me a promise ring when we were fifteen, and he said we would be together. He promised me. I held on to that ring for so long… why would he do that. Why lie? Can you answer that hillbilly?"

"I can't answer that, I only ever promised myself to one person, it wasn't romantic and it's a promise I broke. I ain't never had no love like you're describing. But you're nineteen Leah, it ain't the end of the world that you and him are done. The planet is awful big." Jasper said.

Leah wiped her eyes with the back of her hand "I'm going to school in the fall. Maybe I'll find someone there, someone better than stupid Sam."

"There'll be a line out the door, I guarantee it." Jasper said.

Leah smiled down at him, "You're wise for a teenager."

"I'm dumb as hell." Jasper said.

"Well this is fucking cute." Sam said, he was still flanked by his pack. Embry still looked incredibly uncomfortable. "Is this the best you can do after us? This thing?"

"At least he cares, and I'm not doing anything with him, and even if I was it's none of your business." Leah said.

"You don't know what he is, you don't know what he's capable of." Sam said.

"And she don't need to know, so I'd thank you to keep your mouth shut." Jasper said.

Alice appeared at Jasper's side in an instant, shocking Leah. "Is there a problem here?" she asked, her eyes glinting.

"It funny how a few weeks ago we wouldn't even have seen that?" Jared said, "It's kind of amazing."

"Yeah, I love this. How do you feel about it Dennis?" Paul said.

"Oh it's great man, I'm loving this shit." Dennis said. "Should've happened ages ago, but hey, what're you going to do you know."

"Get off and away from him Leah, he doesn't care about you." Sam said, his eyes hard.

"He cares more about me than you do." Leah said.

"I don't care anything for you anymore, and seeing you on top of that thing makes me wonder how I ever could." Sam said. "But he's not what he looks like, and it's best if you keep away. Do I have to tell Harry?"

Leah stood up and backed away, her heart was burning up. He had loved her, and now he was looking at her like a bug under glass and it was killing her. Jasper and Alice however were smiling.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Six of you, two of us. Now I know you're feeling real good right now, laying down the law and everything but… boys you don't want this." Jasper said, and he stood up. "I mean me and Alice would gladly oblige you in a beatdown if that's what you really want. But you ain't gonna do that in front of her - Jasper jabbed a thumb at Leah - , and unless you do you ain't got a hope in the world."

Alice laughed "Yeah that would at least make it kind of fun, not dangerous but at least fun." she laughed again and put her hands behind her head "Look at Paul, he's ready to go."

"I know he is. Oh lawd have mercy, whatever is a poor boy supposed to do." Jasper said.

Paul was growing redder and redder, his temper was flaring. "Yeah, you're burning up to fight. But Sam here ain't gonna let you, them orders are hard to shake ain't they?" Jasper reached out to Leah. "Take my hand, come on with me and Alice. Get some food in you."

Leah looked at Jasper's outstretched hand, then back at Sam who even now couldn't help but look at her with disgust. Leah took Jasper's hand "I'm hungry, let's go eat."

"You're going to regret it." Sam called as Leah walked down the beach with Jasper and Alice.

Tears, hot tears were running down Leah's face while she walked hand in hand with Jasper to his car. She got in the back and leaned her head against the front headrest. "I'm going to regret it."

Jasper and Alice stood outside while Leah cried silently in the car. "Harry is going to find out. And he's going to be pissed." Alice said.

"Since when have you given a shit about what anybody thinks?" Jasper asked, handing Alice a Lucky.

She lit it, inhaled and blew smoke into the air before turning to Jasper with a grin, "I don't, let him be sore. But I don't want her to have shit with her parents because she's with us."

"The agreement was no harming humans, no turning humans, and no violence against the tribe. Didn't say nothing about spending time with one another." Jasper said.

"Oooooh, l'amour." Alice said.

"Fuck off and come on." Jasper said smiling. He got in the car and turned to face Leah. "You come on over to the house, get a shower, we got some clothes that could fit you."

"I'd like a shower… I'd like that." Leah said.

Alice giggled and Jasper punched her in the knee, he pulled off the beach and drove slower than usual back to the house. Attempting in his own way to give Leah time to process. When they arrived at the house nearly everyone was home, excepting Carlisle.

"Fancy. You guys manage to afford 6 cars and this big ass house on two working salaries?" Leah said.

Jasper and Alice laughed, damn if the Clearwaters weren't quick witted. "Well, us Hales come from oil money, me and my sister brought something to the table when the doc took us in." Jasper said.

"I'm sure you did." Leah said.

Alice laughed again and got out, Jasper got out and stretched. "Come on, ladies first and all that." he said.

Leah got out and walked just behind them, Jasper opened the door into the main room. Rosalie and Emmett were sitting on the couch playing Street Fighter 3 while Esme and Edward watched.

"Rosalie is better at this than you. It's honestly kind of sad to watch. And I'm equally sure you're better with Makoto than Oro." Edward said.

"Shut up, she's not better she just GODDAMNIT." Emmett said, as Rosalie parryed three attacks instantly and used it as a lead into a super combo to end the match.

"You are much better with Makoto, I don't understand why you didn't use her, I don't like getting perfects every time darling." Rosalie said, grinning.

Emmett was grinding his teeth as he passed the controller to Esme, "I gotta switch it up. Keep you on your toes."

Rosalie laughed, and picked Alex. "Now Esme, she is a challenge. I actually have to sit up when I play with her."

Esme tittered and picked Chun-li "Challenge? Rosalie I am going to crush you."

Alice hopped over the couch and landed in Emmett's lap, he started to tickle her immediately. "Why didn't you say nothing when you came through the door."

"Cause we got company." Alice said between laughs.

Everyone looked around to where Jasper was standing with Leah. Edward wasn't particularly shocked he didn't hear her thoughts, with shifters unless his antenna was widened they were shut out. And he kept his antenna shrunken to about 2 feet when he was with his family. Esme stood up, "Hi, hello I'm Esme Cullen. You must be Harry's daughter."

Leah stepped over to shake Esme's hand "I am, how did you know that?"

"Cause you scowl just like him." Emmett said, shaking Leah's hand. "Emmett Cullen."

Leah laughed as she shook Rosalie's hand "Rosalie, I'm the civilized Hale."

"Ain't that the truth." Jasper said.

Edward stood up and shook Leah's hand "Edward Cullen."

"Its very nice to meet all of you, your son volunteered your shower however." Leah said to Esme.

Esme laughed "He did, did he? That's just like him, second floor, third door down. Alice would you be a dear and show Leah where the restroom is?"

Alice hopped up, "I'd love to! Come on Leah!" Alice said, grabbing Leah's hand and leading her upstairs.

The family waited until they could hear the shower water running to turn to Jasper. "Dude, dude we are going to have to start fighting. Why'd you bring her here, you know Harry is going to lose his mind." Emmett said "He'll be over here ready to unload shells into each and every one of us."

Jasper laughed, "You scared of a shifter Emmett?"

"Ain't about being scared, I just don't want to get a round of buckshot in my ass. It ain't gonna kill me but that shit is gonna hurt." Emmett said, laughing.

"Y'all know Harry's a good man, he ain't going to be over here firing shots into the air cause we kidnapped his daughter." Jasper said.

Rosalie shrugged "I'm not worried about Harry, we'll be fine."

Edward looked at Esme, "Esme? How do you feel?"

Esme shrugged like Rosalie "I'm not worried about it myself, she seems like a very sweet girl."

"She's a good kid, she's having a rough time right now, I wanted to you know… do the right thing. Do what Carlisle would do." Jasper said.

"I thought you hated Carlisle now." Edward said.

Jasper laughed "I'm like the rest of y'all, I couldn't hate that man. He saved my life."

Alice came downstairs, grinning. "Goodness gracious she's got an amazing body. If Jasper weren't in love with her and I didn't have Katie I would be so interested."

Jasper laughed "I ain't in love with her, I just… I don't know I know it ain't love." he pulled Alice over and put her in a headlock.

"She likes you! So many girls have liked you!" Alice said, giggling.

"Is what Alice saying bullshit or what Eddie?" Jasper asked.

Edward shook his head, "No, she very much likes you. She's apparently liked you from the first time she saw you. I don't know what it is you did to Leah Clearwater, but she's very taken with the blonde haired redneck."

Rosalie laughed, "How interesting is this, the shifter has a crush on a vampire. Will wonders never cease."

Esme laughed, and then Emmett laughed and then they were suddenly all laughing except for Edward, who was merely smirking and shaking his head. Leah came and stood at the top of the stairs, holding a towel around her body. "I'd hate to interrupt this family moment, but I was hoping that Jasper could come and help me find those clothes he promised."

Jasper let Alice out of the headlock, "Uh, yes ma'am I can help you find them clothes I promised. Rosie you got any of them uh, them drawers you keep around? The new ones in the packaging?"

Rosalie nodded "Yes, they're in the spare bedroom."

Jasper walked upstairs, peals of laughter following him. Leah was blushing furiously. "You guys aren't anything like I imagined you would be." Leah said.

Jasper hung back, giving Leah a respectful distance. "How'd you imagine we would be? Buncha snobby white folks going at one another over just about anything?"

Leah laughed and nodded, "Pretty much."

Jasper opened the door to the spare room, it was much like a hotel room, a vanity, a large bed, an empty closet. "Bunch of clothes of all sizes in the drawer over there, a few things in that chest at the foot of the bed. Something in here will fit you probably."

Leah nodded and sat on the bed "Why are you… why are you being so nice to me? Why do you care what I'm going through."

Jasper shrugged "I don't know, I ain't much for thinking ahead. Maybe I just like you Leah Clearwater."

Leah blushed "I like you too Jasper Hale… I uh… I thought about you a lot after my dad kicked you off the beach. I uh… I felt like I was… I don't know. Like I was looking at someone who was like me… I mean… I… I like you."

Jasper smiled, "Get dressed and I'll take you to go get that food like I said, you don't mind if Alice comes do you? She's like my right hand, I do nearly everything with Alice."

"Are you two together? Am I barking up the wrong tree?" Leah said.

Jasper laughed, not at the him and Alice assumption, but at a shifter saying barking. "Nah, me and Alice couldn't be in a relationship if our lives depended on it. She's my precious sister."

Leah shook her head "I don't mind if Alice comes, it's not a date or anything redneck."

"No, it ain't a date Leah Clearwater, it's good food though." Jasper said, closing the door.

Jasper closed the door and leaned against it, he closed his eyes and he could see Maria. Maria who had destroyed him, who had taken him, who had promised him everything and delivered none of it. He had loved her so much, he had burned for her, and suffered for her. And they had taken it all, they had removed the veil of her promises from his eyes and he had seen her for what she was and what he was. He was just a dog, and Leah Clearwater was a wonderful young woman with a future as bright as the sun, and he couldn't bring his poison to her. Beautiful, intelligent, vivacious Leah Clearwater deserved an amazing human, not a dog of a vampire. Not a Whitlock with venom flowing through his veins.

Jasper went into the bathroom and took his shirt off, he looked at his bare body. His body covered in scars, he hated looking at himself, he hated nearly everything about himself. He hated how low he was. He looked at the door and Leah was leaning there, she had found a pair of capris and a flannel shirt that fit her.

"You've had a lot of pain for a teenager." Leah said, her eyes roving over him, Jasper was extremely fit, not slender and waifish like Edward, and not a slab of rock like Emmett, but lean and taut. She wasn't frightened by the scars that covered the length and breadth of his body, they were actually kind of a turn-on.

"My daddy did most of his child rearing with his fists." Jasper said. "Left me with some shit that just ain't heal right."

"Is that why you're kind like you are?" Leah said, stepping into the bathroom and closing the door.

Jasper shook his head "I ain't kind, like Sam said you don't know what or who I am. I'm rotten inside Leah, I'm poisoned. You wouldn't feel like you do about me if you knew."

Leah stepped closer and put her hand on Jasper's chest, "I don't know why I feel the way I feel about you, I don't know what it is. Magnetic attraction maybe, I don't know but I feel it. I feel it Jasper, I want you, I want you like I wanted him. I want to be yours."

Jasper grasped her hand "You don't want me, I'm just a dog."

Leah leaned closer and Jasper could feel the heat from her, "Why would you say that about yourself, I don't know what he did to you but your dad was wrong."

Jasper was still holding her hand "Leah you don't want this. You don't know, you don't know what I am. Let's go and eat."

Leah stood on her tiptoes and looked into Jasper's eyes "Kiss me. Give me a kiss. Jasper I want you, I want you to want me. I… I know you're hurting like me, and that's why you understand."

"I'm just a dog, and you're a beautiful girl who's got so much coming to her. You don't want me, and you don't want me to want you." Jasper said, and he pulled Leah into a hug. "You'll find someone worth you Leah, it just… It ain't me."

Leah was crying again, her head on his chest "You're worth it, you're worth so much more than you think. I know you are."

"Hey, look at me." Jasper said.

Leah looked into his eyes but Jasper couldn't bear to use his ability on her, he couldn't take it from her even though he wanted to "Let's go eat." he said simply.

Leah kissed him, he could taste the heat on his tongue, she was burning up. The heat from her was so desirable, and it flared and roared through him. And he wanted to shy away from it but he couldn't, he put his hand on her lower back and pulled her closer. He hadn't kissed anyone in 120 years, hadn't wanted to, never thought he would but he was now. He could feel her lust pouring into him, it burned brighter than the heat emanating from her. And just then before it could be more than a kiss the bathroom door slipped open and Emmett, Alice, Rosalie, Esme and Edward fell into the bathroom. Jasper and Leah sprang apart instantly, Leah blushing furiously.

"Aww shit, shit man I uh just wanted to brush my teeth man damn Edward." Emmett said.

"This isn't my room my room is down the hall, why did you tell me this was my room Edward." Rosalie said, standing up quickly with Emmett and leaving.

"I just wanted to grab this." Esme said, picking up a bar of soap from the sink. "I love soap." and she left.

"Is it late? It's quite late. Going to my room." Edward said.

Alice stood there briefly, "L'amour." and she left giggling into her hands.

Jasper laughed, "I love them folks, come on let's go eat, then get you home."

Leah nodded "I'm horny as all hell, food should help. I hope."

-Chchchchanges-

When Bella woke up it was 7:30 in the morning. She was blurry for the first few seconds and had a difficult time getting her head on straight, she sat up in bed listening to the pipes rattle in the walls. She grabbed her phone and texted her mother, Jessica, Angela and Jake. She sat the phone back on the nightstand and grabbed her cane. She wobbled downstairs, pausing to take a rest every few steps until she finally made it to the kitchen. Resting her cane she poured herself a cup of coffee and wobbled over to the table, she sat down, blowing her hair out of her mouth.

Charlie came downstairs fifteen minutes later, scrubbed and showered and smelling of Old Spice, a khaki baseball cap was perched on his head with fishhooks attached, his moustache had been freshly clipped and he was wearing a powder blue Magellan shirt and carpenter pants.

"Morning hon." he said, walking over to the coffee pot.

"Morning dad. I didn't even know you came in last night, I was that tired." Bella said.

Charlie laughed while he poured his coffee "Your body is healing, of course you're going to sleep longer and more than normal, but you look better." Charlie said, setting his cup at the table and sitting down. "You feeling alright this morning pumpkin?"

Bella nodded, she felt stronger, less drowsy than she had coming out of her sleep. "Yeah, my stumps still hurt sometimes, and my leg can be painful, but I feel good."

Charlie took a sip of his coffee, "Do you want to see a therapist? After an event like that I know some people need help truly coping."

Bella shook her head "If the guy were still alive yeah I'd definitely need therapy, but he's dead isn't he?"

"Yeah, that son of a bitch isn't anything but dead, that friend of mine gave me the relevant info, we got a couple cold cases closed in quite a few states, murderer like that it was only a matter of time before he went down. You know to look wimpy as he does that Edward has some heart to him doesn't he?" Charlie said, smiling at Bella over his cup.

Bella laughed "You would be totally surprised at how tough he is. Are you going fishing today?"

"Me and Billy and Frankie, Harry was supposed to go but his ticker has been bothering him, chest pains and all that. We're praying the old bastard doesn't have a heart attack, he's going to see Dr. Francis the cardiologist today." Charlie said. "He'd better be ok and stay ok, don't know what I'd do at the cop shop without Harry."

"Yeah, cause I've seen Mark and Junior and they don't exactly inspire confidence at their competence." Bella said, grinning.

Charlie laughed uproariously and stood up, he kissed the top of Bellas head and went to the door under the stairs, he grabbed his fishing gear and walked to the front door "Have a good day Bella, I left some money by the couch if you want to order out, and you can call me if you need anything."

Bella nodded "Love you dad, have fun."

Charlie smiled and left, Bella finished her coffee and grabbed her cane. She walked up the stairs and into the bathroom, sitting on the edge of the tub with her leg stuck out she showered and plucked the little hairs from her chin that grew sporadically. She added the ointment she was given at the hospital to her stitched fingers. She wobbled to her room and after much shaking, grunting and straining managed to get into a clean pair of sweats and a t-shirt.

She picked her phone up from the table, and then turned and walked back downstairs. She collapsed on the couch, her leg was hurting very much, she flipped her phone open and looked at the messages she had received. Two from her mother, three from Jessica, one from Angela and two from Jake.

Jake, Jessica and Angela wanted to come over, and Bella wanted to see them. She flicked on the tv and sat back on the couch, Jessica and Angela showed up just after 10 AM. And Jessica immediately started crying upon seeing Bella's missing fingers. Bella flopped back on the couch and Angela and Jessica sat with her.

"Are you ok Bella? We were so worried about you!" Jessica said. "You looked so wiped in the hospital, and you look wiped right now. Can we get you anything?"

Bella shook her head "Just your company, thanks for coming over guys. I appreciate it."

"No problem Bella, Jess was serious when she said we missed you. But kidnapped by a serial killer, how horrifying. The news said the police barely managed to save you after he set the building on fire." Angela said.

Bella nodded "It was close, I've never been so happy in my life to see all those cops."

Jessica laughed, "Are you going to tell us about it one day?"

"One of these days I'll tell the harrowing story of my abduction by a lunatic." Bella said, thinking privately how good it was that the news didn't mention Edward, that would have brought undue attention to him.

"We'll sit and watch tv with you for a while, then we have to get going. Are you hungry? I'll go and get us breakfast." Jessica said.

Bella laughed "No, I don't have much appetite lately."

Jessica and Angela watched movies with her well into the early afternoon, they laughed and joked and helped Bella upstairs to the bathroom when she needed it. Jacob and Quil came over around 2:00 and they both seemed down, but they both exclaimed vehemently over Bella's fingers. Jacob had earned money from his father going with him on a few welding jobs, and he ordered a couple of pizzas. They sat and laughed and Quil flirted until Jessica and Angela had to leave to help Angela's father.

Jacob sat on the couch eating while Quil brought Bella another bottle of water. "I missed all you guys so much."

"We're sorry we didn't go and visit in the hospital Bella. But my dad was against me going anywhere near Port Angeles." Jacob said.

"So things have been rough for you two huh?" Bella said.

"Not nearly as rough as you've had it, don't worry though, I'd still smash even though you're an amputee" Quil said, and Jacob punched him in the top of the head.

Bella laughed "Isn't giving Quil concussions Embry's job?"

Jacob scowled "Don't talk to us about that traitor."

"Yeah you were saying while I was in the hospital that Embry was having some problems lately." Bella said.

"Yeah, he ditched me and Jacob to hang out with Sam and his crew. Fucking Sam!" Quil said, his tone implying how unbelievable the proclamation was

"Is Sam that bad?" Bella said.

"He's an asshole, but I'm more amazed that he's playing nice with Paul. Embry HATES Paul, like ever since we were kids it was almost a guarantee that if Paul Lahote and Embry Call were anywhere near each other it'd turn into a fist fight, but now they're all buddied up." Jacob said, still scowling. "Paul Lahote! Fucking psycho ass Paul, and Dennis, and that little ass kisser Jared. It's killing us seeing Embry leave school with those clowns."

"Maybe like, maybe he's trying to infiltrate their circle so you three can finally destroy them?" Bella said, grinning.

Quil laughed "That'd be cool, but Embry doesn't even talk to us anymore. He just follows after Sam, it's fucking depressing. I didn't realize how lonely me and Jake really were without him."

"Yeah, we've had to start hanging out with Seth, and Seth is cool and all and he has like a billion video games, but he's thirteen going on fourteen and he just like… god that kid can be grating, and then he brings Brady and Colin with him and they're just annoying." Jacob said

"Whatever happened to his sister? Harry's daughter?" Bella asked.

"Oh man, talk about fucked up, I don't know if Sam was cheating on Leah or not but he's definitely dating Emily now and it's so wild cause it's like nobody cares. Not even their parents, they don't say nothing they're just like 'eh, whatever' and Quil keeps hoping Leah will get desperate." Jacob said.

"Speaking of dating, are you or are you not dating a certain creepy white boy." Quil said.

Bella laughed "Yes, I'm dating Edward."

Jacob gagged "Yuck dude, a Cullen? And not even the cool one? Is it cause he's loaded?"

"No it's not cause he's loaded, he's a really good guy Jake. I think you guys would get along fine if you ever actually you know, hung out." Bella said.

"Thanks but no thanks Bella, you're the new Embry, no way I'm going to turn Ed Cullen into Embry two." Jacob said, gently pulling Bella into a side hug.

Bella laughed "Well I'm not expecting my best male friends to be best friends with my boyfriend. What have you guys got planned today?"

Jacob shrugged "Nothing dude, my dad ain't letting me leave town. I'm on house arrest, I had to basically beg him to let me come over here."

Quil nodded "Me too, my dad wants me around the house 24/7. I'm waiting for him to get me an ankle monitor."

"Didn't you get one of those in 9th grade?" Jacob said.

"Don't put my business out there dude, like show some tact Jake." Quil said.

Bella laughed and lay on the couch, Jacob lifted her legs gently and put them across his lap. "Since I guess you can't do it for yourself for a while." Jacob said, grinning.

"Not for a while, thanks Jake." Bella said, laying back on the couch. "You know, it really is weird not seeing Embry with you two."

"I know right! He's integral to whatever it is we have going on, but dude, PAUL. Paul Lahote! He's a fucking lunatic and Embry was talking to him after school and when I walked by they got all silent and shit." Jacob said.

"Well he'll probably come around, who knows maybe he wants to talk to you two again and he just can't?" Bella said.

"Or maybe he's a traitor." Quil said.

"You two sound like your girlfriend broke up with you." Bella said.

"Well me and him did make out once, and it turned into a reach-around situation, but it was just sex, we never made it official." Quil said, leaning back into the recliner.

Bella laughed and threw a pillow at him, Quil laughed and turned the volume down on the television. They sat there watching tv and gossiping until around 5:30, when there was a knock at the door. Jacob got up to open it and Edward was standing there. Bella had never seen the two of them standing together before, and it was very weird to see.

Had Jacob always been so much taller than Edward? Edward stood 5'9, and Bella could have sworn Jacob was either a little shorter or the same height, but he seemed much taller than Edward. Jacob in his white t-shirt and heavy fireproof jeans, his copper skin and well muscled arms, his thick black hair in a plait that reached the middle of his back, he had a leather bracelet with a brass wolf stamped into it on his thick wrist, standing there at the door looking at Edward in his not-chucks and bomber jacket. His pale skin and thick and messy brown hair, the purplish circles under his eyes, the thin leather bracelet on his thin wrist.

"Oh, hello." Edward said.

"Hey man, guess you're uh, here to see your girlfriend huh?" Jacob said.

Edward nodded "You must be Jacob."

"Yeah, Jacob Black, guess Bella's mentioned me huh?" Jacob said.

"A few times, you're a very good friend to her." Edward looked past Jacob briefly "And is that Quil?"

Jacob looked over his shoulder at Quil "Yeah, that's Quil."

"I guess Chief Swan's is the place to be this weekend." Edward said, much like Leah, Edward could smell the shifter blood boiling through Jacob, the gene was going to activate soon, Quil still smelled very much like a human, Jacob did not. He had that strange no-smell, that smell of magic.

"I guess so, are you coming inside? Or are you going to stand on the porch." Jacob said, eying Edward curiously. He had never been this close to the guy, and he was strange to look at up close. He didn't seem to move much, barely seemed to blink.

"Come on in Edward!" Bella called.

Edward stepped past Jacob and sat in the recliner, Quil was eying him as curiously as Jacob had. He had never seen one of the Cullen freaks up close, and it was fascinating. The dude was kind of built like a girl, not in a bad way, but like he had an androgynous thing going on. Quil sat up "So you're the other Eddie huh?"

"The other Eddie?" Edward said, he sat further back in the recliner as Bella hobbled over and collapsed into his lap.

Jacob smirked and sat on the couch, Quil laughed "We're friends with Eddie Hawkins, the black kid. We call you Eddie Junior."

"Oh yes, Eddie Hawkins, I have spanish with him. He's a good guy." Edward said.

"My brother wanted him to quit basketball and join the football team, he declined several times."

"Yeah, we play with him during the week. Or Jake plays with him, I try and keep up." Quil said.

"Jake?" Edward said.

Jacob laughed "Me dude, Jacob-Jake you know? Like a nickname."

"Oh, kind of like how my brothers call me Eddie, or Ed." Edward said.

"Or Wardo." Bella said, laughing.

"Holy shit dude, Eduardo. That's your new nickname." Jacob said.

Edward grinned "Old nickname, my brother has been calling me that for years. I didn't figure it would still make my teeth grind like it does."

"You hungry dude? I ordered a few pizzas, you're welcome to however much you want to eat." Jacob said.

Edward shook his head, "I'm a vegetarian."

"You could like take off all the toppings? And then just eat the bread and sauce or whatever." Quil said.

"No, thanks but I'm fine, I'm more of a vegan than a vegetarian. Even pizza bread is too much for me." Edward said.

"Is that a rich people thing? You've got to be rich to afford to eat like that." Jacob said.

"It's actually a lot cheaper than you'd imagine abstaining from certain foods." Edward said. "You'll get it eventually, you might even feel quite differently about me once you do."

"I don't feel no kind of way about you just yet dude, but you make my friend happy, so you're cool enough in my book." Jacob said.

"Weren't you just talking shit about him like 10 minutes ago?" Quil said, and Jacob punched him in the top of the head again.

Bella laughed "He's going to end up retarded if you keep doing that, you're going to turn poor Quil into even more of a drooling invalid if you keep that up."

"Eh, he'll be alright, I'm pretty sure there's a layer of scar tissue underneath his head from the punches over the years." Jacob said.

Quil was rubbing the top of his curly head, "You know, you're what? Seventeen, Wardo? How come we never see you anywhere, you never do anything with anybody. Are you guys in witness protection or something?"

"No, I'm just not very social. I don't like leaving the house much." Edward said.

You probably should, all that isolation can't be healthy." Jacob said.

"I'm pretty boring, better off isolated and excluded." Edward said, still grinning.

Charlie came through the door, holding a blood slicked cooler in one hand, and the rest of his gear in the other. He registered the volume of people sitting in his living room in an instant. "Hello boys, you're pretty packed into my living room huh."

Jacob and Quil laughed "Hey Charlie, did you have a good catch?" Jacob asked.

"Sure did Jake. But it looks like you and Quil already ate, you look pretty comfortable Edward." Charlie said, his eyes narrowing.

Edward blushed "I'm fairly comfortable sir, how are you."

"I'm fine, gonna go scale and debone this fish. Any of you interested in learning how to do that?" Charlie said, still looking at Edward.

"Yes, sure. Seems fun." Edward said.

"You aren't allergic to fish are you?" Charlie asked.

Edward shook his head and lifted Bella who was shaking with suppressed laughter off of his lap and placed her on the recliner. He took off his jacket and placed it on the table, and Bella was greeted by that cinnamon smell. Bella sat up in the recliner and watched with Quil and Jacob as Charlie led Edward into the kitchen.

"Your boyfriend is a weird one." Jacob said, laughing. "Vegan? Come on."

Bella giggled "No he really is vegan, his diet is extra simple too."

"Yeah bean sprouts, wheatgrass juice, tofu and whey." Quil said.

"Leave it to Bella to get the weirdest guy in town." Jacob said.

"Whatever, you guys seemed pretty chill with him." Bella said.

"Yeah cause you're all cuddled up with him, we can't hate him if you like him so much." Jacob said.

Bella giggled "Shut up." she grabbed her cane and got to her feet, Jacob and Quil helped her into the kitchen where Edward was using his supernatural physical ability to quickly scale, debone and fillet the fish.

"I thought you said you'd never done this before?" Charlie said, one eyebrow raised.

"I'm a quick learner sir, and I'm just imitating you, you're much better at it than I am." Edward said. "Emmett is the fisherman, and my mother is a… crabber, I think it's called."

"Your mom makes crab Eddie?" Jacob said.

Edward turned to him and nodded "Some of her patients can't abide hospital food, so she's picked up a few tricks and recipes to feed the ones who refuse to eat that swill what they want to eat."

"Well I'll be damned, and Jake I forgot until just now, but your father wants you home ASAP. He's been trying to get ahold of you all day." Charlie said.

Jacob scowled "Crap, just when I thought I was free. Alright Bella, we're out." Jacob said, leaning over and hugging Bella. Quil did the same.

"We'll see you later Bella." Quil said. "Hey good meeting you Edward."

"Yeah man, we'll have to hang out sometime." Jacob said.

"Yes, it was good to see you again too Jim, Quil." Edward said, stepping forward to shake hands with Jacob and Quil.

"Jake dude, not Jim. Jake." Jacob said, grinning.

Edward laughed, "Right."

Charlie was still looking at Edward with a raised eyebrow, "He does look a lot like his great uncle doesn't he?"

Edward shook his head "I wouldn't know sir, I don't know him very well. And I definitely have never even seen his great-uncle."

Jacob laughed "You sound like my dad Charlie, he's always comparing me to that guy. I only ever met him once, and I barely remember it. My dad says he was kind of a jerk."

"He used to come over to my house all the time when I was a kid, he got on really good with my father. There are worse people to be compared to Jake." Charlie said.

Jacob shrugged "Don't remember my grandpa very well either, but let my dad tell it and he was the reason the sun came up. He talks about him like he was a superhero."

Charlie whistled "Kid you need to talk to your pop about Will Black, now that was a one of a kind guy. There wasn't anyone in Forks nearly as cool, at least to me, as Big Will Black. He used to take me, your dad and Harry up to Seattle when the weather was good."

"Yeah, maybe I will. I just never really think about it, like, they're just grandparents you know? Like Quil's dad barely mentions his dad. And Tiffany just gets down when she talks about her dad." Jacob said.

Quil nodded "We don't even have pictures of grandpa in the house, I wouldn't even know what he looked like if it wasn't for Billy."

Edward was thinking, of course Quil IV wouldn't mention his father. They had been incredibly distant. And Jameson… well he hated being what he was, so his daughter would probably hate it too.

"Let's beat it out of here Quil, I need to go and get chewed out by my dad. See you if I can get out of prison Bella." Jacob said, walking out of the kitchen. Quil waved on his way out.

"I'm going to have to leave as well, I'd rather not interrupt family time." Edward said.

"You aren't hungry kid?" Charlie asked. "I do a pretty good fish fry."

Edward shook his head "No thank you sir, I'm vegan."

"Vegan? That includes fish too?" Charlie said.

"That includes fish too sir, yes. My diet is pretty different. Have a wonderful evening, bye Bella." Edward said. He leaned over and hugged Bella, then walked into the living room and grabbed his jacket. He put it on and walked out of the house.

"Now that is a weird guy, does he have a medical condition or something? Boy barely seems to blink." Charlie said, turning back to the counter.

Bella laughed "So do you or don't you like him?"

"I don't know how I feel about him, he's respectful, friendly enough, and extremely bright. But the boy is just weird, way too intense, talks like an adult. How old is he? 17?" Charlie said.

Bella nodded "Yeah, 17." going on 106.

"He's just not what I've come to expect a 17 year old boy to be like. And now that I've been around them I'm noticing his brother and adopted siblings are strange too, like they're playing at a role. Something about it feels real artificial, they say all the right things, and do all the right things, but it's almost like an act. It's like they're just playing us all and we're too goddamn dumb to get it." Charlie said, scaling another fish. "You should have seen him, Emmett and Jasper's sister in the hospital, it was honestly kind of frightening. It's like they shrink into themselves in town, turn themselves off here, and they forget to keep it off when they're somewhere else. It's just very strange, makes the cop in me perk up."

"Well he's a pretty serious kid, wouldn't you want me dating a serious boy instead of one of these jokers around town?" Bella said.

Charlie turned around, grinning, he pointed the scaling knife at the door. "Bella that boy who just walked out of here ain't a kid, I don't know what Edward Cullen is but a kid ain't it. Doctor Cullen must have had him in something accelerated somewhere, because no 17 year old in history acts or talks or carries themselves like that."

Bella rubbed her neck, her dad was way too perceptive sometimes, "Well, I think he's pretty great."

"I'm glad you feel that way, I'm also glad the boy is serious as he is, you're not wrong about that. But a man who carries himself like that has different expectations for his girlfriend, I couldn't imagine what a boy who carries himself like that would expect."

Bella was staring at her dad, "No wonder you make such a good cop."

Charlie laughed and turned back to the fish "I trust you Bells, you're a weird kid too, Edward might be the one getting more than he bargained for dealing with you instead of the other way around. Are you hungry?"

"Maybe, do you have french fries and tartar sauce?" Bella asked

Charlie smiled "I have both of those things, do you want ketchup with your fries?"

Bella laughed "No I just dip the fries in the tartar sauce."

"Christ you eat like your mother, ketchup goes with fries. Dipping the fries in tartar sauce is how aliens eat I bet." Charlie said, washing his hands at the sink before opening the cabinets for flour and spices. "Bells, I was terrified earlier this week. I… I thought I'd finally got my baby back only to lose her immediately after, but you're strong, and you're lucky, and you made it… and I'm very proud of you."

Bella blushed "Dad… You know that knife you gave me came in really handy. It kind of saved my life."

Charlie started seasoning the flour and fish "I bet, that was a Spyderco, it's currently sitting in an evidence locker somewhere. I'll have to make sure to replace it." Bella could hear his voice cracking.

She stood up from the table and hobbled over to him, she put her arms around him and buried her face in his back "I love you dad."

"I love you too, I love you very much. And I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you." Charlie said.

"Nobody was going to take me from my dad. Nobody." Bella said.

Charlie laughed and sniffled, wiping his eye with his shirt sleeve. "Go and sit at the table, I'll bring you a plate when it's done."

Bella went back into the living room and sat at the table, she opened the copy of Johnny Mnemonic sitting there and started reading. Charlie brought her a plate of hot fish and fries thirty minutes later.

"Thanks dad, I was starving." Bella said, blowing on a french fry. "This smells really good."

Charlie laughed "Bells my diet might be shit, but thats because I only need to feed myself. I don't mind sharing cooking duty with you."

Bella smiled and started eating, Charlie left to fix his own plate and grab his after work beers and watch ESPN. Bella finished her plate and went into the kitchen to put her dishes in the sink. She went back to the living room, "Thanks for dinner dad, it was really good. I'm going to go and lay down."

"Go ahead honey, just call if you need anything." Charlie said, giving Bella a smile before he turned back to the television.

Bella went up to her room and closed the door, she opened the window and Edward was there. "Hey handsome." Bella said.

"Hello beautiful, how are you?" Edward asked.

"Full, do I smell like fish?" Bella asked.

Edward laughed "No, you just smell like Bella."

"Well, that's good. I'm glad you got my text." Bella said, sitting on the bed.

"It's important to spend time with your parents, but I wanted to see you again." Edward said.

"Is Jake that much like his uncle?" Bella said, setting her cane against the nightstand.

Edward nodded "Jacob looks and acts very much like his great uncle. Jimmy Black was the only one of them who truly warmed up to us, William, - Jacob's grandfather - rarely dealt with us. He only interacted with my father."

"What's your dad like?" Bella asked.

"Carlisle is… he's… he's wonderful. My father is a great man. He is just, and noble and kind. He's very much like your father, a great man with a big heart." Edward said.

"My dad is kind of onto you. He said he feels like maybe you're not 17, that there's no way a 17 year old could act like you do." Bella said.

"That's very perceptive of him, most people don't pick up on that. I look 17 so they see 17, they don't see past that. But you don't get to the position of chief of police if you're not perceptive." Edward said.

"You're not bothered?" Bella asked.

Edward shook his head, "Your father is perceptive, and intelligent, but he could never see the truth. Charlie left the fantastic behind a long time ago, at most he'll assume my father had me in some form of accelerated learning courses, or started preparing me for adulthood at a young age." Edward said.

Bella giggled "That's exactly what he said!"

"He's smart, so he'll go with the most logical answer. And the only logical answer is that I'm accelerated and not a mixture of a 105 year old man and a 17 year old boy." Edward said, grinning.

"Hmm, I guess I shouldn't tell him that I'm the one who wants sex and you don't." Bella said, laughing.

"I don't know, that might change how he feels a bit." Edward said, he was sitting on the floor by the bed his legs crossed.

"Are you a virgin?" Bella asked.

"What kind of question is that? Why would you ask that?" Edward said, raising an eyebrow.

"Cause maybe that's why you don't want to have sex, you're a virgin. It's ok, I'm a virgin too." Bella said.

Edward shook his head, "No Bella, I'm not a virgin. That's a stupid concept anyway."

"So you've had sex before?" Bella said sitting up in bed.

"Yes, it was a very long time ago however." Edward said.

"How long ago?" Bella asked.

"Why do you care? It's a silly topic." Edward said.

"Cause I'm curious, how long ago was the last time you had sex?" Bella asked.

"About 30 years ago, give or take." Edward said.

"That's a long time for sure, was it a guy or a girl?" Bella asked.

"Bella, seriously." Edward said.

"Guy or girl?" Bella asked.

"It was a girl." Edward said.

"Was she human? Or was she like you?" Bella said.

"Does it even matter?" Edward said.

"I just want to know, what's so hard about telling me?" Bella said.

"It's not hard to tell you it's just that it doesn't matter." Edward said.

"It does matter and I want to know, was she a human or a vampire?" Bella said.

"She was a vampire, her name is Tanya." Edward said.

"So Tanya's still alive?" Bella asked.

Edward nodded.

"Do you still see her? Are you trying to have sex with her again?" Bella asked.

"I just told you the last time I had sex with her was thirty years ago, and now I'm with you, I'm not trying to have sex with her again. And as for do I still see her, I get a casual chat every now and again to catch up. She's currently in Kyoto, Japan, and when she's in America she lives way up in Alaska." Edward said.

"Was she prettier than me? I bet she was, I bet she makes me look fucking terrible." Bella said, laying back on the bed.

Edward took his shoes off and stuffed them under the bed, he got on the bed; sat next to Bella and crossed his legs "No, she wasn't prettier than you."

Bella laughed and rolled over onto her side, looking at him. "Yeah she probably was, that's the beautiful vampire woman you should be fucking. You should be with her, not the dumpy, frumpy chubster you're not fucking."

"Bella, I'm with you, not her. It doesn't matter at all what she looks like because you are who I want to be with. My having had sex literally before you were even born shouldn't affect what we have at all." Edward said.

Bella scooted closer and put her head on Edward's lap, "I know it shouldn't, I know I sound crazy, but still. You're my first boyfriend and you're perfect and I just, I just don't want to lose you. Edward you don't understand how good you make me feel."

"Bella, I'm with you because I want you. Tanya doesn't want to be with me, and I don't want to be with her. We are just friends." Edward said, smoothing Bella's hair.

"That's good I guess. Cause if she looks anything like Rosalie I'm fucked." Bella said.

Edward laughed "You're not in any danger, when I say you are my first girlfriend I am speaking the literal truth."

"So why won't you have sex with me then?" Bella asked.

"Because I am waiting for the time to be right, something about having sex with you now just wouldn't sit right with me. I don't want to just yet." Edward said. "That and I don't want to hurt you, I don't want to lose control and bite you, or break something.

"Right, super strength. Ok I get it. I won't keep trying to force you past boundaries you're not comfortable with, that's selfish and unfair to you." Bella said, she sniffed his belly. "Why do you smell so good all the time. Right now you smell like honey and black licorice, earlier you smelled like cinnamon."

Edward laughed "It's because you're human, you would be surprised at the smell other vampires smell."

"Do you smell gross to them?" Bella asked.

"Extremely, it's the animal blood. It's why my eyes look like they do, and why I look like I'm going to keel over all the time. Animal blood isn't exactly nutritious." Edward said.

"You guys must really value life if you're willing to… I guess ostracise yourselves like you do." Bella said.

"We do, we have a strong reverence for human life that is distinctly uncommon. Most of our species view humans as little more than livestock, an even more popular view beyond food are toys. Though there are some that see future soldiers, there are many who view humans as wasting their potential by remaining human." Edward said.

"I think it's cool, I think defying your nature cause your morality is so strong and your conviction is so solid is majorly cool." Bella said, her head still on Edward's lap.

"Cool huh? Other than Alice no one has ever called me that before." Edward said.

"Thats nuts, I don't think you're the lame Cullen brother. You're just as cool as the other two." Bella said.

"Do you want to come over? Meet Carlisle and Esme?" Edward asked. "Actually spend time with everyone outside of school."

"Yeah, that would be awesome. Maybe I'll get to see what it was my dad was talking about when he said that you guys turn yourselves off." Bella said.

"We do. We have to, it's the only way to blend in. Living ostentatiously calls attention, it is counter to our goals. Even a very good doctor and nurse can't afford for us to live like we do, each of the children own's a vehicle and the oldest is 18? That makes little sense, so our current line is that Rosalie and Jasper have oil money." Edward said.

"Cause they're pretending to be from Texas?" Bella said.

Edward nodded "Jasper is actually from Texas. Houston I believe. We met Rosalie when we were living in Wyoming."

"Where are you from?" Bella asked.

"Chicago, I was born in a Macy's department store in downtown Chicago June 20th, 1901." Edward said.

"Have you ever been back?" Bella asked.

"Briefly, when I lost my mind and took it upon myself to be murderer Batman." Edward said, "It wasn't a pleasant visit, Chicago hasn't been my home in a very long time."

"What's it feel like when you eat a person? It has to feel good huh?" Bella said.

"Do you want the truth?" Edward asked.

Bella looked into his dirty golden eyes "Always."

"Yes, it feels good. It feels extraordinarily good, it is like a drug. It increases our strength, speed, durability, endurance, reaction time, regeneration and abilities 2-fold. It boosts our perception as well. To prevent a mental overload we dull our senses, my hearing is exceptional, and it can be even more exceptional when I actively enhance the sense but it comes with strain, however when I imbibe human blood my hearing is tuned to it's finest at all times and I can handle it with no strain." Edward said.

"So what? You're like a male Claymore?" Bella said.

"A what? The sword?" Edward asked.

Bella laughed and rolled over to the bookshelf by her bed, she grabbed a manga from one of the shelves. "This is a Claymore, it's about these people that fight monsters, but all of them have to be girls because when the boys do it the feeling of power feels like coming and pushes them closer and closer to being monsters, most men can't handle it and go over the edge and turn into the monsters they were created to kill."

"That's kind of comparable, but shapeshifters have a harder time with that than vampires." Edward said.

"Shapeshifters?" Bella asked.

"Another type of being, they can turn into animals, however by communing too deeply with the animal they run the risk of losing their human selves and turning into an animal permanently, however the closer they get to the animal the stronger they are." Edward laughed, "They're very difficult to beat."

"Do werewolves exist too?" Bella asked.

"Yes, lycanthropes exist and are our natural enemy. They are dangerous to all life, the beast takes over completely during every transformation, and their beast seeks only to eradicate life and propagate the virus, my family and I have fought them before, and we've only encountered 3 that were capable of keeping their minds, and even at that they were still misanthropic." Edward said.

"Wow, that sounds uh, intense." Bella said.

Edward laughed "It was, it was very intense. Jasper, Alice and my father were the only ones who could stand up to them in our family, the 3 I'm talking about were very powerful."

"What were their names?" Bella asked.

"Arkady, Bellinger and Khalil. My father killed Khalil on his own, Jasper and Alice tag teamed Arkady, and me, Emmett, Rosalie and Esme fought Bellinger." Edward said.

"Wow. Wowowow, but you're so strong. You're crazy strong, and Emmett looks like a mountain. He couldn't fight one of them on his own?" Bella said.

Edward shook his head "No, we had no experience with them. We were not prepared for how fast and strong they would be." Edward lifted his shirt and showed Bella the five long and rippling claw marks across his upper abdomen and chest. "They possess a venom that retards healing, those three were just much more dangerous in that they would apply the venom to their claws as well as their fangs. My father's ability is a type of healing, and he could heal the superficial wounds we were dealt, but the truly deep wounds left scars that don't heal. We are all of us scarred, we're lucky that they didn't take anything with them."

"Are they the ones that did that to Jasper's nose?" Bella asked dragging her fingers across the scars.

Edward shook his head "Arkady's mate did that to Jasper's nose a very long time ago. It is part of the reason he sought to fight Jasper."

"This sounds so nuts, this is the world you live in?" Bella asked.

"Yes, this is the world I live in. You'll never be apart of it I won't let that happen, but excepting James things have been… they've been peaceful, or as peaceful as they can be." Edward said.

"I think it's great that you guys emulate humans though, I think that's… it's flattering." Bella said.

"We love humans, we were human and we seek to live as close to that as we can. I already said that life is precious, that humans are our equals. A world that vampires rule would be a nightmare, a hellish place. I could never abide a world were my equals aren't treated as such. Even the absolute rulers of our world, despite their distaste and disdain of humanity realize that humans have their place. That humans have value, even if what they value is the fact that humans create society." Edward said.

"I bet your president is a lot better than ours." Bella said.

Edward shook his head, "Lord, we have lords. And no, they're pretty equal in their violence, and possibly in cahoots through proxy companies owned by our lords. They have been around for a very long time, and as such are tied quite deeply into human society. They used to be far more open about it, but no longer."

Bella sat up in the bed and backed up against the headboard, "Did you know you're amazing? Has anyone ever told you that you're really amazing?"

Edward laughed and sat against the headboard with her "I'm not amazing, I'm not anything. I'm just an old man who's absolutely infatuated with a very young and beautiful girl."

Bella rested her head on his shoulder "I'm infatuated with you too, dangerously so I think. I can't stop myself from thinking about you, I think I might be obsessed. No I'm definitely obsessed with you. Maybe it's cause you're my first boyfriend, maybe it's cause you're strong and brave and thoughtful, maybe it's cause you saved my life. What do you think it is?"

Edward shook his head "The only thing right in that sentence is that I saved your life, I'm not… I'm not strong, and I'm not brave. If I were those things I could have left you alone, I could've been selfless and not brought you into my life. Your life wouldn't have needed saving if I weren't involved with you."

"I'm glad you didn't stay away." Bella said, and she lifted her right hand. "This is a trophy, it is proof of your love for me. It is evidence of the consequence of falling for a vampire. It didn't scare me away, and everytime I look at it I'm reminded of how much you care about me, and what you were willing to do to get me back alive."

"Other than your parents telling me to leave I don't think I could, I couldn't… I'm not strong enough." Edward said. "I think I'm falling in love with you. I think I might be falling desperately in love with you Bella Swan."

"I think I'm falling in love with you too, I'm falling madly in love with my sullen vampire boyfriend. It's past like now, I've entered firmly into the realm of being in love, and I want to be with you until I can't be." Bella said.

Edward nodded and wrapped his hand in Bella's "What are we going to do now, we're in love. What do we do now that we're in love. What do I do now that I'm in love with the 17 year old human girl that fills me with life."

Bella kissed Edward's cheek and moved closer, "You love me, and I love you. That's what we do now. You love me every day, and you make me feel good every day, and you'll hurt me, and I'll hurt you and we'll fight and we'll struggle and it will be hard but we'll just love each other. And one day I'll be grandmother Bella, and I'll have adopted children, or little children with you. And I'll have my grandchildren over, and a very handsome 17 year old boy will come and visit. And the kids will ask, 'who's this mom?' and I'll tell them "he's a very wonderful young man.". And that wonderful young man will sit with me, and he'll drink tea with me in the parlor, and we'll laugh, and we'll be reminded that a long time ago that wonderful young man held my heart in his hands and he took care of it."

Edward smiled "I'm not even sure if I can have children."

"Then it will be even easier to explain." Bella said, and she moved closer. "I really love you a lot Edward. I love you so much it hurts."

Edward scanned, "Your dad's asleep, come on." and he stood up from the bed and put his shoes back on.

"Come on?" Bella said.

"Come over to the house, come meet my family." Edward said.

"How are we going to do that?" Bella asked.

Edward sat on the bed, "Wrap yourself around my neck and I'll hold you."

Bella wrapped her arms around Edward's neck, he stood up and grabbed her legs. "Comfortable?" Edward asked.

"Very actually." Bella said, blushing.

"Do you have any goggles?" Edward asked.

Bella nodded and pointed to the drawer, Edward opened it up and handed Bella a pair of goggles. "Put them on, and make sure they're on tight. I'm going to move pretty quickly, and it won't be pleasant without them."

Bella nodded and put the goggles on, Edward stepped up onto the windowsill. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Bella said, grinning.

Edward took off, if asked Bella would have said it was impossible for someone to run that fast. To move as quickly as he did, to sidestep trees and boulders and leap streams with a dexterity that seemed impossible. It was incredibly exhilarating, and she found herself wooping loudly several times. In what seemed like no time at all Edward was slowing, and he finally came to a stop outside of a rather large house well on the outskirts of town.

"You guys drive these souped up vehicles, so why are there two parent cars parked out here." Bella asked, giggling.

"Because my dad and Esme didn't feel like they needed anything fancier than what they have. They used to run to work if you can believe that." Edward said, still carrying Bella piggyback.

Bella nuzzled closer to Edward's back, "You're so small, but your back feels so huge."

Edward laughed and opened the door, he stepped into a rather large living room. There was a master staircase to the left, and on the right there was a Piano set into a recess in the wall. There was a large and quite well made rug on the floor, the main room was large and resembled a library, as there were several bookshelves filled with novels. Off to the right there was a large sofa and several smaller couches surrounded an equally large television with just about every video game console sitting underneath it. The only thing missing was people. Bella slid off Edward's back and he handed her her cane.

"I sort of love your living room." Bella said, her eyes wide.

"My dad is kind of really important in the vampire world. He's modest about it, but he's… he's expected to present an image, were it up to him we'd never live in a place like this." Edward said, blushing and rubbing the back of his neck. "And we uh, we've earned some money doing… hunting dangerous vampires, and the whole lycanthrope business earned us some money. A lot of money… it's… well it's something."

Bella limped over to one of the bookshelves, she dragged her hand across the titles. "God, you guys are… you're not children at all are you. Talking about it is very different from the reality of it." Bella said.

"No, none of us are children, none of us have been children in a very long time." Edward said.

"Where is everyone?" Bella asked.

Edward scanned, "My father and Esme are in the kitchen, they can't hear us because they're not paying attention. Alice and Jasper are in the gym at the back of the house, and Rosalie and Emmett are upstairs, Rosalie is showing him her new makeup."

"The kitchen? Are they spicing some blood for dinner?" Bella said, turning to Edward with a grin.

Edward laughed, "I like a little bit of garlic pepper in mine."

Bella limped over to the couch and ran her hand over the material, "Nice, I could sleep on this couch forever."

"You'd be the only person in this house who's ever slept on that couch." Edward said, tossing his jacket on the coat hook and walking to stand next to Bella.

Bella laughed, "What's over that way?"

"The kitchen, and then further down the hallway is the gym. There's a second bathroom that way, and you can get to the garage through there. It's where Rosalie keeps her project vehicles." Edward pointed toward another split. "Jasper, Alice and Emmett keep their little cave that way, there's another television in there and some other stuff, mostly arcade cabinets. My father's study and the library are over that way as well."

Bella walked around the front of the couch and looked at the collection of video games on a bookshelf next to the television. "Jesus, you guys have everything."

"When you have forever to live, you have to find ways to occupy your time." Edward walked over to the shelf, he grabbed a copy of Tekken 4. "If you're ever feeling masochistic, you should ask Esme to play this with you."

Bella laughed "I'm pretty good at Tekken myself, maybe instead of feeling masochistic when I play her I'll be feeling sadistic."

"That would be quite the sight Ms. Swan." Esme said, walking into the living room with Carlisle.

Bella turned around, Doctor Cullen was a tall blonde man. His hair was butter yellow, his eyes were kind and patient and his face was as extraordinarily handsome as his pretend children's. He was wearing a grey University Of Washington sweatshirt and light blue jeans. The woman standing next to him was short and curvy, she was also beautiful, but her face was one that allowed no argument, that commanded authority, but also was loving and more than capable of empathy. Her light brown hair was pulled into a messy bun, and she was also wearing a grey UW sweatshirt, only underneath she had dark blue nurse pants.

Bella moved her hair behind her ear and limped over, leaning on her cane. "Uhm, hello, I'm uh. I'm Bella…"

"Hello Bella, I'm Carlisle." Carlisle said, shaking Bella's hand.

"Esme." Esme said, shaking Bella's hand.

"I was just uh… I was uh… I'm just here." Bella said, blushing furiously.

Carlisle smiled his kindest and most patient smile, "We're glad to have you here Bella, you are more than welcome into our home."

Edward was suppressing a laugh, "Has Edward offered you anything to drink? He has a tendency to be rude to company." Esme said, grinning.

"Do uh… I mean…" Bella said, still blushing.

Carlisle laughed "We don't just store blood in the refrigerator Bella, we have things here you can drink as well."

"Do you have any Coke?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, we've got coke Swan." Emmett said from the stairs. "It'll run you about fifty a gram though."

Rosalie laughed, "Hello Bella."

Bella understood what her father was talking about in that moment, Carlisle and Esme looked like adults because they were clearly adults, but Emmett and Rosalie looked more adult than Bella had ever seen them in school. They looked like themselves, but bigger. Somehow more alive, more vibrant. As if they didn't have to pretend anymore. Emmett in his muscle shirt and blue jeans, his gigantic body seemed to be steel. Bella remembered thinking no 18 year old could be that big, and Rosalie in her yoga pants and t-shirt, she looked like Athena, a modern day goddess of wisdom and war standing next to a modern day Ares.

"Hey Rosalie, hey Rudie." Bella said, "Your makeup looks amazing Rosalie."

Rosalie laughed, "It almost always does, I tried something different with my eye shadow today. I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out."

"I tried to tell her it looked good too Swan, but I guess it takes a girl to compliment a woman huh." Emmett said, and Rosalie elbowed him in the side.

Bella understood the contacts, their eyes were pretty but unsettling. And perhaps as a consequence of her shield their allure didn't affect her, and she could see them for what they were. They were all quite good looking, but their maturity, their age stood out. It stood out in sharp contrast to their youthful faces, these weren't attractive teenagers, these were attractive adults, attractive ancients in Carlisle's case.

"Goddamn girl, you're gonna tear my head off if you keep punching me that hard. Hey Carlisle, you're gonna need to replace the - oh, company." Jasper said, he was shirtless and wearing jeans that had been torn in several places. His body was a roadmap of scars, he was wiping blood from his chest with a towel.

Alice was laughing, but stopped when she noticed Bella. Her body was scarred as well, not quite as terribly scarred as Jasper, but still scarred. Her compression shorts and white hand wraps were stained with blood, the sports bra she was wearing was also stained with blood, and there were smears and smudges of it on her face. "Oh! Hi Bella!" she said.

"Hey Alice, hey Jasper." Bella said, "Edward said you were uhhh… You were…" she was momentarily distracted, Alice was extraordinarily well muscled. Her stomach was flat and hard, her abdominal muscles were - even to Bella's untrained eye - amazingly solid. Her thin legs were equally well developed, and Jasper looked to have been carved out of marble. Angela would not survive it if she were ever to see him shirtless.

"We were trainin', it gets kind of intense, neither of us believe much in pullin' a punch." Jasper said, and Bella watched as a gash in his cheek knitted itself closed. "Good evenin' Bella, wasn't expecting you to be here, I'd have been a bit more decent."

"Alice don't know the meaning of pulling a punch." Emmett said, "But I can't fault her, I don't either." And he walked over with Rosalie and sat at the couch, he turned on the PS2.

"Gonna go get changed, and uh, you're gonna need to fix up a few of them walls in the gym there Carlisle. Alice decided to try Sambo, and then Judo, and then Vale Tudo. I don't know what it is with y'all and all that fancy shit, ain't nothing on Earth needs more than a solid right hook to beat it." Jasper said, walking past Bella picked up his scent, he smelled like smooth and supple leather, Alice laughed and walked past as well, and her scent was citrus, it was the scent of citrus fruit. Alice hopped up onto Jasper's shoulders in one smooth and impossible motion.

"That will be what? The third time I've had to do that?" Carlisle asked, smiling.

Esme nodded, her smile large "We need to just let those two have a solid steel container to fight in. And Edward you still haven't gotten Bella a drink."

Edward nodded "Come on Bella, let's go get you something to drink."

Bella smiled and followed Edward into the kitchen, it was as fancy as the rest of the house. Edward went over to the refrigerator and opened it, Bella was expecting it to be full of jars of blood, instead there was regular human food. Cans of soda lined it, different juices, bottles of water, beer. Sandwich meat and vegetables and fruit. "Oh, I uh…" Bella said, as Edward handed her a bottle of Coke.

"You were expecting a blood bank I suppose?" Edward said, grinning.

"I was… this looks like… like normal I guess." Bella said, opening the freezer side, it was filled with frozen meat, ice cream, sorbet, other treats.

Edward laughed "Sorry to disappoint, aren't we interesting enough without a refrigerator full of blood jars?"

"You guys are incredible." Bella said, sitting at the kitchen table. "You're all so… you're amazing. Not because of the vampire, but in spite of it."

Edward laughed and grabbed a bottle of apple juice, he sat at the table with Bella. "We keep the refrigerator filled with blood on the second floor."

Bella laughed "I knew it was here somewhere!"

"I love your laugh." Edward said.

Bella blushed "It's obnoxious, I sound like a goose."

Edward leaned closer, "Want to see something? It's not just my eyes that give me away."

Bella leaned next to him, staring into his eyes. "Show me something else vampire boy."

Edward smiled and extended his fangs. "I don't use them often, but they're there."

"That's extremely cool." Bella said.

Edward retracted his fangs and opened his juice, he drank half. "I'm going to have to eat soon and I don't want you around for that. So I'm going to take you home. Your father is still asleep, but he'll be waking soon."

"I'll have to come over tomorrow, I want to hang out with you guys more. Maybe Rosalie can use her magical makeup to make me look less horrible." Bella said.

"You don't look horrible, and you're not even a makeup kind of girl." Edward said.

"How do you know?" Bella said.

"Because Jessica has thought several times that if you were you would be the perfect friend." Edward said, and he winked.

Bella laughed "You chode!"

"What, not like I can just turn it off." Edward said, laughing.

"You dork, take me home, I'm super sleepy." Bella said.

"Come on then." Edward said, helping Bella onto his back. He walked her into the living room where Rosalie and Emmett were playing FIFA 06 and Jasper was reading an old detective novel, Alice lay across his legs absorbed in Homer. "Alright, I'm taking Bella home now."

"Come on over tomorrow Bella, I'll barbecue." Jasper said.

"You're going to make a pile of food you can't eat?" Bella said.

"Have Emmett bring the leftovers to school, hand out plates. I've been wanting to fire up a grill for a long time." Jasper said.

"Later Swan." Emmett said, not taking his eyes off the tv. "We'll get in some laughs tomorrow."

"Bye Bella, Edward you get her home safe." Alice said.

"Bye Bella." Rosalie said, waving at Bella and smiling.

"Bye Bella." Esme called from upstairs. "It was lovely meeting you."

"Bye Mrs. Cullen!" Bella called back. "Where's your dad Edward?"

"Work." Edward said, "He went to work maybe fifteen minutes ago. He likes to assist at night."

Edward walked out of the house, and after making sure Bella was secure and comfortable he took off, moving at a brisk pace toward Charlie's, the return trip was equally exhilarating and Bella was almost disappointed when Edward was clearing the yard, scaling the tree and landing almost soundlessly on her bedroom floor. Bella slid off of his back, and he lifted her and placed her on the bed.

"It's like being on a motorcycle." Bella said, her cheeks red. "It's incredible."

Edward laughed and kneeled on the floor by the bed, his face close to Bellas. "I'm slower than my Camaro."

"That's probably true. But you can fit quite a few places your Camaro can't." Bella said "I mean it's not like your car could fit in my bedroom."

"It couldn't, you're right about that." Edward said.

Bella put her injured hand on his cheek, "I love you. A lot, like… like I've fallen really really hard for you."

Edward placed his hand over hers "I love you too."

"You know what you haven't done today?" Bella said.

"What?" Edward said.

"Kissed me." Bella said.

"Well lets correct that grievous error." Edward said, leaning in and kissing Bella.

She put her hand on the back of his head and pulled him closer, her tongue met his and that heat started in her stomach and that feeling of wetness immediately started between her thighs. Edward crawled into the bed, Bella reached into his shirt and Edward reached into her pants. Bella arched her back as Edward slid her pants and panties off. Bella pulled his shirt off and Edward deepened the kiss, Bella put her hand on the front of his jeans and god Jessie might of been right and then Edward disappeared from the bed lightning fast and Bella was pulling the blanket over her naked lower half and Charlie was knocking on the door.

"Uh, yeah come in dad!" Bella said.

Charlie opened the door, his sleep tousled hair looked very much like Bellas. "I was just going to go to bed but I wanted to stop and say goodnight honey."

"Goodnight dad, thanks for dinner." Bella said, her already red cheeks steadily growing redder.

Charlie closed the door and Bella heard him walk into his room, Edward's face popped up from the side of the bed "Well that was fun." he said, he was grinning as he got back into the bed.

Bella laughed "You were this close to getting some white tail."

Edward laughed "Some what?"

"Just a gross expression Quil uses." Bella said, grinning.

Edward kissed her and got out of the bed, he put his shirt back on. "Get some sleep, I'll come over tomorrow."

"Promise?" Bella said.

"Promise." Edward said, leaping out of the window.

Bella turned on her side and tried to ignore the desperate warmth growing inside and in between. After fifteen minutes, she sorted herself out and it still wasn't good enough. But sleep would happen regardless, she just had to lay there and not think about Edward. About his mouth, and his strength, and his hands on parts of her body she would have sworn would never be touched by any man. She fell asleep, once again thinking about Edward Cullen.

-Fwip.

While Bella was sleeping peacefully Jacob Black was tossing and turning in his bed. He was having the nightmare again, the nightmare about the wolf. The gigantic chestnut colored wolf, the one that called to him. The one that came out of him.

The nightmare was never consistent, the only details that would remain the same were that Jacob would be naked. His body exposed and bare, and utterly different. Too tall, too strong. But never stronger than the wolf, the wolf that would sometimes be benign, but not friendly. The wolf that would lay him out and rip his guts from his stomach while he screamed "What do you want!?"

Sometimes in the nightmare the wolf would merely laugh, a frightening clacking noise, and lead Jacob deep into unfamiliar woods, it would lead him to other wolves that would bend the knee. And Jacob would be afraid, why were they bowing, and he would turn and the wolf would be there. Laughing. Calling him boy inside of his head. Telling him he wasn't ready, but he would have to be. Telling them that to destroy monsters he would have to become a monster.

The nightmare that made his sleep terrible tonight involved him chasing the wolf, he was running far too fast, he was far too agile, the wolf didn't appear to be trying to lose him, but it was moving like no wolf Jacob had ever seen on television. It lead Jacob through unfamiliar mountains cloaked in mist, through burning hot desert that singed his feet, through torrential downpours, through cities where extraordinarily beautiful men and women drank what looked like blood from fountains and pools, through dark and empty castles. The wolf ran, and Jacob followed.

It lead him to the fire, the fire that was burning. It was a blazing inferno, it's heat was incredible, inside of it there appeared to be people dancing, cavorting. The wolf came from around the other side of the fire. "WHAT DO YOU WANT!" Jacob yelled at it.

The wolf made that clacking noise and was gone, in it's place was a naked man. He was short, wide and heavily muscled. His thick black hair was cut short, he was laughing, laughing at Jacob.

"I suppose you'll have to do." the man said. "Billy would have been better, but he'll do in a pinch huh Jim?"

Jacob turned around, there was another man there, his long black hair was tied back in a ponytail. His leather jacket had the sleeves rolled up, he was barefoot and wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. "He'll do in a pinch I guess."

"What. What is this? What do you want?" Jacob said, he wanted to wake up. He wanted to run. Run anywhere.

"No running, duty can't be avoided any longer. Duty, destiny and the end of youth. Billy Boy managed to avoid it. And I'm sorry you can't Jacob. But such is our lot, such is our duty." the man who was a wolf said.

Jim laughed "You really did turn into dad didn't you?"

Will grinned at him around the confused and frightened Jacob. "It was bound to happen, great will and spirits and all that." Will walked over to Jacob and put his hand on his chest, Jimmy walked to Jacob and put his hand on his back. "Whether you want this duty or not isn't important Jacob Black, it is our destiny. It is our duty. You'll understand one day."

"Understand? Understand what? I don't understand anything?! It's a nightmare! This is a nightmare!" Jacob shouted, he wanted to run, but he couldn't move. He was riveted to the spot.

"Christ, was this me Will? Was I like this when I was a kid?" Jimmy said.

Will laughed, "Jim, you were something else."

"He'll be alright huh? He'll be ok?" Jimmy said, and in the nightmare Jacob could feel his hand sinking into his back, just behind his heart, pushing it forward.

"He'll be ok Jim." Will said, and he pulled out Jacob's heart, and he was the wolf again, holding Jacob's still beating heart in it's jaws. And that's when Jacob woke up, screaming, his sheets plastered to his body with sweat, his heart racing, his heart that was still in his chest. Already the nightmare was fading, he couldn't remember a single detail, other than the blazing fire. Other than the word "chestnut" the nightmare faded as nightmares do in the waking world. Jacob's hand shot to his mouth and he stumbled out of his bed down the hall, he retched into the sink, a thick black gunk. He turned on the taps to wash it all down the sink and looked desperately into the mirror, splashing water on his face. His eyes were still the same color, he opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out, it was still the same.

He left the bathroom and walked downstairs, his sister Rachel was sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels. "Hey Rach." Jacob said.

"Hey Jake, what're you doing awake this late?" Rachel said.

"I've been sleeping like shit lately, so I'm always awake late." Jacob said, sitting on the couch next to his sister.

"You know I'm home for a few days, it's not just a men's house anymore, you could put on pants and a shirt." Rachel said, still flipping channels.

Jacob looked down at his boxer briefs, they were the only article of clothing he was wearing. "Deal with it, I'm not putting on clothes just cause you're taking time off of being the family genius."

Rachel laughed "I kind of hate school. I have to work twice as hard as everyone else and they still treat me like a charity case, dumb redskin bitch who's only there or else she'll sue."

"That's not true, you know you earned your spot fair and square." Jacob said.

"The wolf doesn't know that." Rachel said.

"The wolf only knows duty." Jacob said automatically.

"We have a duty." Rachel said.

"The duty of the Omega will be shared this time." Jacob said.

Rachel changed the channel "How's school going for your?"

Jacob shrugged "Status quo Rach, just learning and shit. Would rather be anywhere but there."

"You know when you apply yourself you're actually really brilliant Jake. You would probably finish early if you gave more of a shit." Rachel said.

"There are monsters everywhere. Just past where we can see." Jacob said.

"There is nothing that escapes a wolf's eyes, even the monsters that slither and skulk." Rachel said.

"It's hard giving a shit you know? I just want to be a mechanic, dad keeps pushing me to go to trade school, be a welder like him. Like I'd ever want to do that." Jacob said.

"That's an awesome job though, it's let dad take pretty good care of us." Rachel said, still channel surfing. "A billion channels and nothing on."

"The hunt is the highest form of entertainment." Jacob said, "Purpose and duty. Protect those who cannot protect themselves."

"Always and forever." Rachel said.

"Is dad home?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah." Rachel said, turning to one of the movie channels. "He's in the garage."

Jacob got up and went back to his room, he grabbed a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt and went back downstairs. He went out to the garage where Billy was working on a welding machine.

"What are you doing awake Jacob?" Billy said, wiping his hands on a rag.

"Couldn't sleep." Jacob said, pulling up a chair.

"Restless?" Billy asked.

"Thinking. Hey, dad, what was grandpa Will like?" Jacob asked.

Billy looked at him "Why are you asking that? Normally you just ask me about your mother." Billy said.

Jacob shrugged "The Cullen kid, Edward called me Jim earlier, and Charlie started talking about my grandpa and great uncle."

Billy laughed "Well he was like Charlie's second dad, my father and Harry's father Graham took up the lion's share of looking out for Charlie after his mom got sick and his father Geoffrey spent most of his time taking care of her."

"What were they like?" Jacob asked.

"My father… god, Big Will Black hung the moon and the stars kid. There wasn't a thing on Earth my father couldn't do. He was the kind of man only comes along once in a lifetime. I remember being a kid and thinking he was a 100 feet tall, and then I was a teenager and it turned out he was actually 200 feet tall." Billy said, and Jacob laughed. Billy smiled "I remember how happy he used to make my mother, used to be the person me and my sisters ran to whenever anything was bothering us. My dad seemed to have an answer for everything, and was he smart? Shit kid, that man could talk your ear off if you let him."

"Charlie said you're like your dad." Jacob said.

Billy shook his head "I'm not like my dad, he wouldn't like it if I were like him. He wanted us to be individuals. Didn't want a repeat. I think a lot of those dead men would be disappointed at how like them their kids turned out to be. In more ways than one."

"Am I like my great uncle?" Jacob asked.

"Uncle Jim was different… had a different set of expectations. I guess living in my dad's shadow had to be exhausting, as big a shadow as that man cast. Uncle Jim was tough though, and resourceful, and he had his own uhhh, what's that word you kids throw around, starts with a V?" Billy asked.

"Vibe?" Jacob said, grinning.

"Yeah that's it! Exactly it, he had his own vibe. My uncle Jim didn't march to anyone's beat but his own, in that way you're very much like your uncle Jimmy." Billy said. "That and you're about as quick tempered as he was, if you threatened what was his, even if he was imagining you were threatening what was his my uncle Jimmy had 10 friends ready to throw in your direction."

"Does my wolf speak to Jimmy or William?" Jacob said, in the voice he had as a child.

Billy put his hand on the back of Jacob's neck. "Your wolf speaks to Jimmy. Rachel's speaks to William. You're too young, the duty must be shared."

"The chestnut wolf is here, I've seen him in my nightmares." Jacob said.

"They are only nightmares because you don't embrace the wolf, but you will." Billy said.

"It's scary, the wolf, the bear. They are scary." Jacob said.

"Duty always is, but you'll both rise to the occasion. You will see much of the world in your pursuit of protection. You will see many monsters, some of the monsters are a necessary evil, all others are to be exterminated." Billy said.

"Will you guide my Nephew and Niece? You gonna look out for them little Bill? Not as their dad, but as their elder Omega." Jimmy Black asked.

"I will, that is my duty." Billy said.

"Proud of you kid, always have been." Jimmy Black said. And Jacob stood up from the chair he was sitting in and left the garage. Billy sighed and picked up a wrench, but he couldn't remember what it was he was doing, and even if he had, the tears that were steadily falling from his eyes would have made it blurry work anyway.

While the wolf was awakening inside of Jacob and Rachel Black, Leah Clearwater was having a nightmare of her own. She tossed and turned and occasionally cried out. Jasper was there, in her dream, only he wasn't as she knew him. He was walking through a field full of ash, a great battle raging around him. His face was empty of everything but a rage that was frightening to see, there was something wrong with his mouth, his teeth, there was something wrong with his big blue eyes. Fangs, long needle sharp fangs were extended from his mouth. His eyes weren't blue but the color of brightest gold. The poncho he was wearing was blood spattered, his chambray shirt was blood spattered, the shapeless burlap pants he was wearing were spattered in blood. The stetson hat he wore around his neck was spattered in blood, and he walked casually among the chaos. As people were torn to pieces, heads removed from shoulders, arms torn from bodies, men and women ripping out one another's throats with their teeth.

Leah prepared herself to call out to him, and the gigantic bear at her side grabbed her hand with it's teeth. She started to shout but it released her hand and simply nodded toward Jasper. Leah looked at the bear, it had frightened her, not nearly as badly as it had when it first appeared in her nightmares, but it was still off putting. It's very size was off-putting, but it never hurt her. She looked back toward Jasper, watched with her hand over her mouth as two men attempted to attack him and immediately dropped to their knees. Jasper struck out, and took the first man's head from his shoulders. The other was shaking, struggling to stand again, Jasper knelt down and wrapped his hand in his hair. Even through her horror, her fear, Leah could see the smile on his face. His pretty, kind face. He leaned forward and whispered something into the man's ear Leah couldn't hear, before he tore his head off.

He stood up and kept walking, still holding the severed head, in the center of the battle there was a beautiful mexican woman in an elaborate dress. Her brown skin shone in the brilliant sunlight, her hair was thick and black and heavily curled. There was a mole above her lip. She spun slowly on the spot, her eyes the same bright golden color. She was taking in all of the chaos. Jasper walked to her, dropping the head as he went. He fell to his knees, his face holding a reverence for the woman that made it appear as if he were looking at something divine. She looked at him, and her gaze was hungry. She leaned over and kissed him, and he kissed back as the battle raged around them.

This wasn't him, this couldn't be him. It was a nightmare, it had to be. He was 18, he was barely an adult. He wasn't... he wasn't whoever this thing was in the center of what appeared to be hell kissing this woman. Leah turned to the bear "Wake me up, wake me up. I don't want to see this."

The bear shook it's great head and spoke into her mind.

This is who and what he is. This is what Jasper Whitlock is. This is the man you've chosen granddaughter. A monster. A demon that feeds on the innocent. A monster who can walk through these fields of slaughter with a smile on his face and a song in his heart. Look at him. Understand who you've let touch you.

"I don't want to understand." Leah said quietly, watching as Jasper stood up and bowed. He moved away from the beautiful woman, casually tearing hearts from their chests and tearing off more heads. The look of rage had been replaced by one of joy, but not anything like happiness. It was horrifying, it was a black joy as endless and frightening as the night sky. It was the face of a man who loved what he was doing, and what he was doing was horrible. "I want to wake up. I don't want to see this. Wake me up. Please I don't want to see him like this anymore."

This is what he is. The most dangerous of them all. The one that even other monsters fear. The dog of Maria. The dog of the Imperium. The dog that hunts wolves. See him for what he was.

Jasper turned and looked in her direction, but he couldn't possibly be seeing her, standing naked in the battlefield. He reached out to her and the world broke apart, and she woke up screaming. Fighting her way out of the blankets and falling onto the floor. She landed painfully on her stomach. Leah shot up and backed on her butt until her back was against the bed. She pulled her knees up and sat there, shaking as the dream faded. After a minute she couldn't even remember what the dream was about.

Nightmares all the time, ever since Tiffany and Billy and her dad had explained to her about Sam's very unusual condition she had been having nightmares. She had been having nightmares about a great animal, a great duty she didn't want. In her waking life she couldn't remember them, couldn't remember anything but the bear, and the duty. And they were just words, words with no context at all.

Leah stood up and put on a sports bra and a t-shirt, she grabbed a pair of underwear out of her dresser and put on a pair of shorts. The digital clock on her nightstand read 10 past twelve. But she wasn't going to go back to sleep, she didn't think she'd be able to sleep again tonight anyway. She opened her door and poked her head out, she could hear her parents snoring peacefully. She crept downstairs quietly, sliding into her slip-ons and walking outside. Seth was sitting on the stairs, staring up at the moon.

"What are you doing awake?" Leah asked.

Seth turned to look at her, "The bear woke me up. He said it was too nice a night to sleep." he turned back to the glowing moon.

Leah went and sat next to him "I think he woke me up too."

"He's really nice, he takes me to some pretty cool places. In my dreams I climb on his back and he takes me all over." Seth said, the light of the moon filling his eyes. "He tells me about duty, about protecting. About protecting you, and dad and mom. And a lot of other people, so many other people."

"Do you want to?" Leah said.

"It's scary, there are so many people in the world. It's such a scary thing. Being responsible for it. But I've got you, I can protect you while you protect me. What kind of little brother would I be if I didn't look out for my big sister sometimes." Seth said.

Leah pulled Seth into a hug and then stood up, she started walking. "Are you going to go see him?" Seth said.

"See who?" Leah asked.

"The monster. The one the bear calls the monster." Seth said.

"Yes. I'm going to go see the monster." Leah said.

"Be careful." Seth said, he stood up and walked back into the house.

Leah walked steadily, the moon shining down on her. She knew he'd be awake, they'll all be awake. They don't sleep. How she knew this was a mystery to her, and she was utterly unbothered by the sets of glowing eyes creeping along in the bush. She knew deep down they were kin. The bear started to whisper to her as she walked. When she finally arrived at the Cullen house it was close to 2:40 in the morning. She rang the doorbell.

After a minute the skinny one answered, the one that always looked close to tears. He was fully dressed, a thin t-shirt and blue jeans, a knit cap on his head, the little leather bracelet he always seemed to be wearing. He was barefoot. He regarded Leah with little surprise.

"It's late, Leah." Edward said.

"I know it's late, you're pretty awake for it to be so late." Leah said.

"So are you." Edward said.

"Couldn't sleep, is Jasper home?" Leah said.

"He's here, yes. Come in." Edward said, stepping aside.

Leah walked into the house, the living room was empty. "Have a seat on the couch, I'll go and get him." Edward said, closing the door.

Leah kicked her shoes off and walked over to the couch, she sat down. Edward stopped at the archway leading into the back of the house "Would you like something to drink? It's quite a long walk here from where you live."

"I'm not thirsty, I just want to talk to your brother." Leah said.

"Ok." Edward said, and he started walking again.

Leah leaned her head back and stared at the ornate patterns on the ceiling. Where could they all be this late.

Jasper came into the living room fifteen minutes later, Leah had never seen him in anything other than those long shirts and denim jeans. So he looked very strange to her in the white t-shirt and loose chino pants he was wearing, his horribly scarred arms standing out sharply. Like Edward he was also barefoot, his honey blonde hair was as perfectly coiffed and thick as it always was, underneath his big blue eyes were dark circles.

"What you doing over here this late? Ain't you got sleep you need to get?" Jasper said, sitting on the couch next to her.

"Why's your house so empty?" Leah asked.

"Family ain't here, they went up to Seattle for the night. It's just me and Eddie." Jasper said.

"What were you two doing?" Leah asked.

"Watching tv." Jasper said.

"I guess it's not too unusual for teenagers to stay up extra late on a Saturday." Leah said.

"Nothing unusual about that at all." Jasper said.

Leah pulled her legs up on the couch and looked at Jasper "Do you still love Maria?"

Jasper raised an eyebrow "Do I still love who?"

"Don't lie, do you still love her? Do you still kill people for her?" Leah said.

"I don't have an idea what you're talking about Leah Clearwater." Jasper said.

"The bear told me. It wouldn't lie. It showed me." Leah said.

Jasper nodded his head, "Even you huh."

"Do you still love her." Leah asked again.

"No, I haven't felt love for her in a very long time." Jasper said.

"You're not human are you. You're not 18 either." Leah said.

"I haven't been 18 since 1862." Jasper said.

"How old were you when you were in the desert killing people. How old were you when you were tearing their heads off like it was the most natural thing in the world. How old were you when you were covered from head to toe in blood." Leah said.

"I was 20. I've been twenty for nearly 150 years." Jasper said.

"Why did you lie to me?" Leah said.

"I ain't lie, you never asked me nothing I needed to lie about." Jasper said.

"You said you cared, how could you care. We're enemies aren't we?" Leah said.

"You ain't my enemy girl, I don't have no enemies anymore." Jasper said.

"Because you killed them all, you killed them all for her. For Maria." Leah said.

"Stop sayin' that name." Jasper said.

"I'll say it all I want monster." Leah said.

"I would ask if that's what I am now, but it's what I've always been. And I'm warning you, don't say her name again." Jasper said.

"Why not?" Leah said, her anger rising. She got in Jasper's face "Does it make you all gooshy? Does it turn you on? Is that what I have to do? Be her?"

Jasper didn't move, he sat there, his face expressionless. "No, you don't have to be her. There ain't no her. She's long dead."

"Why did you do what you did for her, but you can't have me. The bear wants me to stay away, it thought that showing me all of that, by making me remember it as I walked I'd hate you. By showing me what a monster you were, you killed children." Leah said.

"Children, old folk, men, women. I bled people out in the street, I butchered entire families. And those are just things I did as a vampire." Jasper said, his face still expressionless.

"You're a monster. A vampire. The undead. You prey on the weak, the defenseless." Leah said.

"I did, once. I ain't hurt a human in years." Jasper said.

"I hate you." Leah said.

"I hate me too." Jasper said.

"If I could I would shift right now and kill you. I would kill you right here in this house for all the evil you've done you soulless thing. Sam was right, you're a thing, you should be destroyed. " Leah said, pushing Jasper onto his back on the couch. "How do you kill monsters like you."

"Simplest way is to take our heads off. That usually does the trick." Jasper said, still laying on his back.

"I should do it. I should take your fucking head off tick, I should tear it off. I want to, I'm going to." Leah said.

"Then do it, kill me. You think I ain't ready to die? You think I'm scared of dyin' Leah? Death ain't nothing a man like me would be afraid of." Jasper said "Ain't nothing on Earth I'm afraid of."

"Did you fuck Maria? I bet you did. I bet you slithered on your belly like a snake and fucked her." Leah said.

"I did. Once upon a time." Jasper said.

"I hate you. And I hate how repulsive and evil you are. And I hate that I want you." Leah said.

"You don't want me." Jasper said.

"Oh I do. I want you so badly. You can't break me, but you can bend me. I'm stronger, I feel it in full. You can do whatever you want." Leah said, crawling on top of Jasper and pulling her shirt and bra off. "Do it, right now. Do it, make me yours."

"I ain't gonna have sex with you Leah, you don't know what you're asking for." Jasper said.

"I know what I'm asking for, I'm asking you for sex again. Make me come. I know you can." Leah said. "Take what's yours, I'm yours. I've been waiting for you for nineteen years, and you've been waiting for me for one-hundred and forty-two. Do you feel how hot my pussy is? It's burning up for you, fill me up."

"I don't do sex." Jasper said.

"You can do it with me, fuck me. Come inside, I want your come inside of me. I want you inside of me. I feel you growing, and it feels good, put it in my pussy, I've been waiting for you." Leah said, her eyes glowing.

"You don't understand, I don't got an interest in sex. I don't have sex." Jasper said.

"You're lying, you're afraid you'll think about her, afraid you'll think about Maria. She's dead but I'm alive, and my pussy is so wet for you Hale. Feel it." Leah said.

Jaspers face was sad, miserable, withdrawn. "You don't know what she did to me. The memory is still fresh, it never fades. Leah she took somethin' from me I ain't never getting back."

"Take it back right now. I'll take it away, what she did to you. What your father did to you. They call you Dog, mate with the child of wolves." Leah said, "Let the animal inside me help fix the animal in you."

Jasper put his hands on Leah's sides, his right hand traveled up her body. He cupped one of her breasts and Leah moaned "That's the way monster, it's yours. Take it, it's always been yours. I've been waiting for you."

"You been waitin' on me." Jasper whispered.

Leah leaned forward "I've been waiting bright eyes. I've been waiting and didn't know it. Take me upstairs."

Jasper sat up on his shoulders "I'm not good, don't you understand? You say you saw me, you saw me for what I was."

"Was. What you were. Not what you are now. It's all past tense baby, it's what you were but aren't anymore. The monster is dead and you're still not filled. Alice fixed a lot, and then your family fixed more, and now I want to do my part. Let me help fix something too." Leah said, "Take me upstairs."

Jasper bit his lip, "I can't."

"Don't be afraid, I thought you weren't scared of anything." Leah said.

"I'm not afraid of nothing but hurting folks, hurting you." Jasper said, his eyes filled with shame.

"I just told you that you can't break me pretty boy, but you can bend me. You can bend me over anything you want. Take me upstairs." Leah said, her eyes reflecting the overhead lights.

Jasper lifted Leah in his arms and stood up, he placed her on the floor and put his hands on her shoulders. "Leah, you're better than me. You're such a good gal, you're better than Maria's dog."

"You're not hers anymore. You're not anyone's but yourself, you're Jasper Hale. You're a good man, I want you to be mine and I know now that I'm yours, it was never right with Sam like it is with you. And I want you to take my hand this time, and walk me upstairs." Leah said.

Jasper took Leah's hand and walked her up the stairs, he walked her to his room. It was quite plain, a bookshelf, a bed, a Pac Man arcade cabinet. There was a rack on the wall with several hats on it.

Leah slid out of her shorts and underwear and lay on the bed. She rolled onto her back and opened her legs, "Come here. You're thirsty aren't you? You can drink from here, right here I'll fill you."

Jasper stripped off his clothes, slowly, furtively. Leah devoured his body with her eyes. "You're beautiful, you are the most beautiful man I've ever seen. Come, come and drink from me. Come here." Leah said, and Jasper went to her.

Edward sat in the gym, still lifting weights. He and Jasper had been lifting weights since shortly after the family left to Seattle to spend time together. It was funny what Rosalie had said, the shifter falling for the vampire. Leah coming wasn't altogether unexpected, and it wasn't particularly a bother. Though him and Jasper had been having a very good laugh at Jasper doing 1000 handstands. They had also been debating appealing to the Imperium to be officially licensed Hunters. Carlisle had seemed enthused at the idea, there were many dangerous vampires out there. Not to mention the creatures that existed alongside vampires, werewolves and shifters, the Hunters the Imperium employed were always willing to add additions to their ranks.

Edward kept his antenna as small as he could, he didn't want to be in their business. And in the last 10 minutes their thoughts were beyond his business. Edward was lifting 1800 pounds, and he barely noticed the strain anymore. He placed the weights on the bar and sat up, he looked around the gym. He could punch the heavy bag, but he didn't want to work himself up. And he didn't feel like hunting either, he felt like Bella. Like he wanted to see her, maybe it was a residual echo of Leah and Jaspers coupling, or maybe it was just his quietly growing obsession with Bella Swan. He reached into his pocket and texted her, something nice for her to see when she woke up he guessed.

To his great surprise she texted back, Edward smiled and asked her what she was doing awake at 5 in the morning. She texted back that her dad had woken her up with his shower, getting ready for early morning fishing. He was on his way out. Edward took the hint and left the gym, he went to the shower and turned on the water. He let it run until it was blistering hot and bathed, he stepped out and wrapped a towel around himself. He opened the linen closet and grabbed a plain black t-shirt, fresh underwear and blue jeans. He dressed quickly and picked up his old clothes, he pulled his wallet and cellphone out of his pockets and put the clothes in the hamper. He slipped on his leather bracelet and grabbed his cap off of the table in the hallway.

When he went into the living room Jasper was sitting there, the glare of the television on his face. He turned to Edward, smiling. "Headed out bright and early Ed?"

Edward laughed "Headed out, yes. You look like you're in a good mood."

Jasper nodded "Pretty good mood, guess I've got a girlfriend now. Feels pretty strange, ain't never had one before."

"Were you rusty?" Edward asked.

Jasper shook his head "She seemed to enjoy it quite a bit I think. She's asleep, gonna have to give her a ride to the line when the sun comes up."

"I'm uh… hey I'm happy for you." Edward said.

Jasper turned back to the television, one foot on the table in front of him. "Ain't nothing to be happy about, I'm still a fuckin' mess. Just wish I was dead a little bit less."

Edward grinned and gave Jasper a hug from over the couch. "Boy what are you doing?" Jasper said, laughing.

"You only ever hug Alice, I get jealous sometimes." Edward said.

"Get off me and go and do your early morning creep. The hell out of here." Jasper said, pushing Edward off.

Edward laughed and grabbed his keys off the hook, "She's dreaming about you."

Jasper turned the channel, "Is it a nightmare?"

"No, it's quite the opposite." Edward said.

"Have fun with Bella. Make sure to bring her over later." Jasper said, still staring at the television.

Edward walked out to his car, pausing briefly to smile and wave at the sets of glowing red and yellow eyes in the brush. "Good morning." he called out, and he heard that clacking sound in response. He drove slowly, listening to the blues music pouring steadily from the speakers. He arrived at Charlie's just after 6 am, the sun was slowly peeking just over the horizon. Bella was sitting on the porch steps, a big blanket wrapped around her, a cup of coffee sat, steaming, next to her. Edward parked and got out. She looked worn and drawn, underneath her eyes looked almost as bruised as his own.

"You need more sleep." Edward said, sitting next to her.

"I know, I'll get some." Bella said, yawning and putting her head on Edward's shoulder. "It's just hard, this stupid asshole keeps invading my dreams and he makes me want to see him in the waking world."

Edward laughed "What's he look like?"

"He's taller than me, needs to run a comb through his hair, really skinny and way pretty. Like he's really pretty, and he's always either frowning or laughing." Bella said, "Oh, and I think he wants to eat me."

Edward laughed "I don't always want to eat you."

"I've got Cool Whip for blood." Bella said, moving closer. "Your soap smells really good."

"It's manufactured in Italy. Esme imports these really huge boxes of the bars. She puts them in gift boxes, distributes them to new mothers and things like that." Edward said. "We usually just use what's left over."

"You showered before you came to see me though, that's so cute." Bella said.

"I was exercising, I might not be capable of sweating but I feel disgusting when I don't bathe after physical activity." Edward said.

"I probably should have a shower, but I wanted to see you first. Want some?" Bella said, lifting her cup.

Edward nodded and took a sip. "Sweet."

"I like a lot of sugar. Charlie says I'm ruining the flavor." Bella said, glowing with happiness at Edward's drinking from her cup.

"Maybe, still tastes good though. What do you want to do today? It's a beautiful Sunday." Edward said.

"Uhm… I didn't have plans, I was thinking maybe going over to Jessica's. But she's got this math decathlon thing for next week and she's packing and buying stuff with her mom." Bella said.

"Want to come over? Spend time with us." Edward said.

"I'd like that. A lot." Bella said. "Do you want to come inside with me? Or do you have cool vampire stuff to do today?"

Edward shook his head "No cool vampire stuff today, I do have 9 homework assignments sitting around that I should probably do, but I'd rather spend time with you than do homework."

Bella laughed "You are just the worst student."

"Actually yeah, I'm pretty much the underachiever. Me and Emmett are the only one's without a four point average. I think Emmett is hovering somewhere around 3.0, just enough to keep playing football, and I'm doing enough to graduate and nothing more. You should've seen Jasper when they were covering the Civil War." Edward said.

"He's that old?" Bella said.

Edward nodded "Yes, he's that old. He fought in it, I think he was a lieutenant or something. Let him tell it he just told assholes what to do and they did it. He actually taught the class for a week while they were going over it. It was pretty funny, I remember teachers coming up to me asking if he was an historian or something. But Jasper's age is nothing, my father was born in the 1600's."

"He looks 30, he looks younger than my dad." Bella said, her eyes wide.

"He's younger than that, I think he was changed in his late twenties. He doesn't talk about it much, he's only ever mentioned the person who changed him once, and it was a weird story. But we're all extremely young for what we are. There are vampires that have been around since ancient times, I've never met one, but my father tells me he's met Dacians, Greeks, Romans, Africans from the year 300." Edward helped Bella stand and walked her into the house, they sat at the couch and Bella turned on the tv. Bella settled into the couch before she lay her head on Edward's lap.

"I love doing that. And I love talking to you." Bella said, closing her eyes.

"I love talking to you, you're a wonderful listener." Edward said.

Bella yawned "If I fall asleep don't sneak out again, or I'll find you and cut you."

Edward laughed "You'll what me?"

"I'll cut you, I've already gone a round with one vampire, and he couldn't kill me. So I'll- Bella yawned again - I'll… I'll cut you." And she fell asleep.

Edward laughed and shifted into a more comfortable position; Bella shifted with him, pulling the blanket further around herself and curling up. Edward grinned and changed the channel to the news like the boring senior citizen he was.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're very frightening Jane Whitlock?" Edward said.

Jane sat in the recliner across from Edward "I may have heard it a time or two." her light gray dress was unadorned, her thick and curly hair was piled on her head, she was wearing a hat around her neck. She crossed her legs. "How're you Eddie?"

"I was fine until your impromptu visit Jane, what is your ability that you can just show up here soundlessly?" Edward asked.

Jane smiled "Now you know better than to ask that Eddie, I may have to fight you one day."

"Don't be shy, you know what I can do. I want to know what you can do." Edward said, turning his head to look at her.

Jane laughed, she had a very pretty laugh. "I have several abilities, my primary ability let's me use other's abilities. But there are a few rules, I can't just steal what others can do at will."

"That's kind of a cheat Jane." Edward said.

"Isn't it? I've only got five right now. But they're quite effective." Jane lifted her hand and extended her index finger, a small ball of light popped from it. "I borrowed Alec's ability this morning, want me to demonstrate it?"

Edward raised an eyebrow "So what? He can control light?"

Jane laughed "Something like that."

"It seems like the more vampire abilities I see, the more boring mine seems in turn." Edward said.

"Your mind reading is a fancy gift, you're just not creative enough with it is all." Jane said.

"How can you walk in here soundlessly?" Edward asked.

"Another borrowed ability, it creates a pocket area for me and whoever else I want. That girl ain't affected by it cause she's touchin you, but anyone who decides to walk into this house won't see or know we're here, cause we're not." Jane said.

"So your real ability is being able to use all of these abilities all at once. You Whitlock's sure are gifted." Edward said.

Jane smiled again "Something like that."

"Have you spoken to Jasper yet?" Edward asked.

Jane's smile went away "I'm scared of him. I'm scared of what he'll do. How he'll react."

"Only way to know is to try." Edward said.

"Introduce us. Bring me by the house." Jane said.

"Not happening. You're a Governor, just go." Edward said.

"That's right, I am a Governor. And I have it in my power to rescind your comfortable little lifestyle here. I ain't asking for much, just bring me to the house." Jane said.

"The first half sounded like a not quite veiled threat." Edward said.

"It was. Bring me to your house and let me talk to your brother, or you can say bye bye school and bye bye Bella." Jane said.

"That's kind of an asshole move Jane." Edward said.

"Ain't it just? Do we got a deal Ed?" Jane said.

"I don't have much choice, so yes. We have a deal." Edward said.

Jane smiled again "Good. Renata."

The small girl appeared again, she was wearing small blue overalls. She was still barefoot, still dull eyed, her throat still a mass of scar tissue. Jane stood up and grabbed her hand.

"What is wrong with her?" Edward said.

Jane looked at the small dead eyed girl. "She's a tool, tools don't need to speak or think. Would you ask a hammer its opinion on pounding nails? Or would you just use it to build a deck." Jane said, before disappearing.

Edward stared at the spot they were, Renata had a completely empty mind. No thoughts, no ideas, no concepts. Just coordinates, locations, places, orders. She was exactly a tool.

Edward watched tv quietly for a few hours before Bella snapped awake, she sat up and looked around wildly, wiping a bit of drool from the corner of her mouth. "Shit, I fell asleep. What time is it?"

"Quarter past 10." Edward said, smiling.

"Shit. I'm going to go shower." Bella said. "Take me to the shower please."

Edward laughed and lifted Bella from the couch, he pulled her close and walked her to the bathroom.

"Undress me." Bella said, blushing furiously.

"Have you been reading romance novels?" Edward asked, grinning.

Bella blushed even harder "No, I just really uh… I don't know I know a lot of uh… I want you to take care of me in a way other people can't."

Edward kissed Bella, setting her gently on the edge of the tub while he did it. He pulled away and put his hand on her face, "I want to take care of you in a way no one else can."

Bella gazed at him, her blush full, her chest heaving. "I… what is it that you do to me? How do you… Edward you are… you're going to make me come and you haven't even done anything."

Edward grinned and helped Bella undress, "How hot do you like your showers?"

"Pretty hot." Bella said, covering her chest with her arm.

"I've seen you naked before you know." Edward said.

"Yeah at like, 3 o'clock in the morning. It's different." Bella said.

Edward moved Bella's arm from her chest "You're beautiful, I don't want you hiding anything. I want it all."

Bella blushed and stepped into the shower, Edward scrubbed her back and then sat on the toilet. "You keep having firsts with me, I've never been in the bathroom at the same time as a woman before."

"Is it fun?" Bella asked, soaping up.

"It is, you're built so wonderfully." Edward said.

Bella blushed and closed the curtain "Pervert."

Edward laughed and stood up, he opened the shower curtain. "For you, yes I am."

Bella blushed "Want to get in?"

"If I had thought to bring spare clothes I probably would." Edward said.

Bella laughed "You're so persnickety."

Edward pressed Bella into the shower wall and kissed her, the spray plastered his hair to his head and dripped down his chin, Bella reached into his shirt and placed her hand on his still chest, so different from the pounding in her own. "Well, I am an old man."

"You're the oldest man." Bella said breathlessly, "You're the most amazing man."

"I'm so into you, you beautiful girl, I'm so enamored by every part of you. I can't wait to see the woman you grow into, you're going to be amazing, and I'm going to want to be with you every step of the way." Edward said, kissing Bella again.

Bella wrapped her hand in his wet hair and pulled his face closer, she couldn't get enough, it felt like it was never enough. His mouth, his face, his taste. She could never, ever get enough of him. "I'm jealous you don't have to breath, I could kiss you forever." Bella said, still trying to catch her breath.

Edward laughed "It's not as nice as you'd think." and he reached out and cupped Bella's breast, his thumb drifting over her heart. "That thump in there, that thump funneling your blood, I love that thump. Now that I've heard it." Edward kissed Bella again, "And felt it, I can't imagine a day where I don't hear it."

Bella squeezed Edward's hand "You can hear it, you're holding it. You'll be holding it for a long time."

"Is it mine?" Edward asked, his smile hopeful.

"It's yours, everything I have is yours." Bella said.

Edward kissed her again and pulled his thoroughly drenched head out of the shower, "Let's get dry and go and get you something to eat."

"You're so cruel vampire boy." Bella said, stepping out of the shower.

Edward handed her a towel and used one on his own wet hair, "I'm pretty nice I think. Do you feel like eating here? Or do you want to go somewhere else?"

"I don't know, can you cook?" Bella asked.

"Ehhhhh, I think I can. Following a recipe is easy, the food just doesn't have any taste to me." Edward said, following Bella to her room.

Bella threw her towel on her bed and dug through her dresser for a pair of panties, "Now before I put these on, are you sure…"

Edward laughed "I'm sure, get dressed."

Bella laughed and put her panties on, she grabbed a bra out of another drawer and clipped it on. "You know whenever I finally do get some I'm probably going to go nuclear from just seeing you all the way naked."

"It's not that impressive." Edward said, sifting through the PS1 games underneath the television. "You saw me shirtless what? Yesterday?"

"Yeah and it was amazing." Bella said, walking over to her closet and grabbing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"It's boring, my body is dull. Have you ever seen a pomeranian? I'm built like one of those." Edward said, he was sliding out a copy of Megaman Legends 2 and looking at the back of it. "I haven't played this yet, is it fun?"

"Did you like the first one?" Bella asked, putting her shirt on.

"Esme did, I couldn't get her off the PS1 while she was playing it. And she was over the moon about Misadventures Of Tron Bonne. We've got this sitting somewhere around the house, I haven't had the chance to actually try it." Edward said, setting the game back and picking up a copy of Bushido Blade.

Bella was lacing up her shoes, "I thought it was really fun, and Esme plays video games?"

Edward nodded "Esme likes games. Cards, board, tabletop, she's into all of those things. She comes up with the most elaborate D&D Campaigns."

Bella laughed "Not being able to sleep does have it's advantages, like being able to be an awesome nurse and then go home and game hard for the night."

"It used to be awful, but you learn to live with it. I can't remember the last time I honestly missed sleep." Edward said putting the game back on the shelf.

"What's Carlisle do all night?" Bella asked, sitting on the bed.

Edward had picked up one of Bella's Sci-Fi novels and was flipping through it, "Read. He goes and he reads, medical journals and periodicals mostly. Sometimes he writes articles, other times he does correspondence with other doctors."

"And you? What do you do all night?" Bella asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Edward asked.

"Yeah huh." Bella said.

"I draw, or I read, or I compose, or I play the piano, or bang on Emmett's drumset, or I train with Jasper and Alice, or I play cards with Rosalie and Esme. Or I sit there and watch television, or watch them play the game, or I talk to Carlisle, or I do any number of things. There used to be a time, long long ago, before even your father was born, that I spent most of my time wandering around the hills and woods. I used to be so restless then, so directionless. Did you know I used to be a miner?" Edward said.

"No kidding?" Bella said.

"No kidding. In my time I've been a miner, a carpenter, an electrician, taxi driver, there was a brief period during the 80's where I was a bouncer, I hauled freight for a while at a trucking company in Denver under the name P.J Milligan." Edward said.

"So how often are you Edward Cullen?" Bella said.

"Only in the last few years, now that everything is plugged in we require a bit more assistance from our government fabricating our lives and identifications. But at the same time there are so many human employees in so many places, and so many unusual vampiric abilities. It's actually incredibly easy for us to do whatever we want." Edward said.

"I bet P.J." Bella said, grinning.

Edward laughed "What are you hungry for?"

"Breakfast, a huge breakfast. Like the whole 9. Eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns. And a carafe of orange juice." Bella said.

"Then breakfast you shall have." Edward said, "Do you need your cane?"

"Of course." Bella said.

Edward helped her downstairs, Bella paused on the porch and called Charlie. He picked up after the first few rings. "Hey Bells." Charlie said, Bella could hear Harry laughing in the background.

"Hey dad, is it ok if I go over Edward's house and eat breakfast?" Bella asked.

"Is it going to be just the two of you?" Charlie asked suspicion in his voice.

Bella laughed "No, his whole family is going to be there."

"Oh, well that changes everything. Go ahead and get a free meal." Charlie said.

"Thanks dad." Bella said.

"No problem, I'm going to be out here with these jokers for most of the day, so I'll see you around 7 or 8." Charlie said "Love you sugar."

"Love you too dad, have fun!" Bella said, hanging up the phone.

She walked over to Edward's car "New paint job?" Bella asked.

Edward nodded "Acapulco Blue, new plates too. And a little something extra spicy under the hood to increase the performance. Rosalie did it for me after I talked to her about the parking garage, she said if I want to play Batman I should have my own Batmobile. And I should be smart about it." Edward said, turning the engine over.

Bella laughed "Jesus, it sounds like a jet taking off."

"Rosalie knows cars." Edward said, reversing and driving off.

"You know they talked about those guys on the news. You fucked them up really badly." Bella said, grinning.

"I was trying to be nice, I pulled my punches pretty well." Edward said. "Jasper and Rosalie are better at that than me though. Emmett and Alice either can't or refuse to pull a punch."

Bella laughed as Edward pushed the car to 90, "Now before you ask, no I'm not in danger of a ticket, and no I'm not going to hit anyone."

"If that's the case, push it faster." Bella said.

Edward pushed the car up to 130, and in what felt like no time at all they were pulling up the long drive leading to the house, Edward dropped down to 20. "Jesus you can drive."

"Second best in the family, Emmett is number one when it comes to driving." Edward said, parking and getting out. "One of the best fighters at least." Edward said, winking.

Bella laughed and walked with him into the house. Jasper was sitting on the couch with Leah on his lap and Alice leaning her head against his thigh. Edward had never seen Jasper so relaxed, so at ease. Alice sat up when she heard them come in. "Hey guys! Good morning!"

Jasper and Leah turned their heads toward them, Jasper's face was like his thoughts, unusually content, and Leah appeared to be glowing with happiness. "Hey Bella, you look like you're expecting a meal." Jasper said.

"I was, Edward said something about breakfast." Bella said. "Uh, hello, I'm Bella." Bella said, walking over to Leah to shake her hand.

Leah wasn't quite sure what to make of Bella, she was obviously human, and even though Jasper explained to her that they didn't eat or harm humans, she still seemed quite at ease around them. Maybe the chubby little white girl had some heart. Leah shook Bella's hand "Leah."

"Oh, you're Harry's daughter." Bella said. Leah Clearwater was kind of gorgeous, kind of really gorgeous. Tall and fit, her thick black hair cut short. Her features appeared to have been sculpted, her lips were turned up in a small smile. Her arms were muscled and heavily tattooed, and Bella could see a belly button ring pressing through her t-shirt.

"You know my father?" Leah asked.

"That's Chief Swan's kid Leah." Jasper said.

"Ohhhh, you're Charlie's girl. My dad has mentioned you a few times." Leah said.

"Did he say I was terrible?" Bella said.

Leah laughed "No, apparently you're a pretty cool kid. And I love your dad."

"Dillinger Escape Plan? Bella you need a sonic enema." Alice said, shaking her head.

Bella looked at her shirt and laughed "I went through a phase Alice, they happen."

Alice stood up, her bare ankles standing out over her small black boots. She was wearing a Bad Brains t-shirt and leather pants, the red belt was wrapped around her waist, hanging from it unbuckled. She had trinkets and bracelets running up the length of her arms. "I think I may have gotten stuck in my phase." Alice said, walking over to give Bella a hug.

They weren't wearing their contacts, so maybe Bella wasn't the only one in on what was going on. More than likely Leah knew too, but she was as at ease around them as Bella was, maybe they just made a habit of spending time with humans. The better to fit in Bella supposed. But if that were the case, why did they seem so isolated at school.

Bella hugged Alice back, "What were you guys doing?" Bella asked.

"Sittin' here, I was supposed to make Leah something to eat, but she can't decide exactly what she wants. You're simpler to feed, Eddie, go and boil Bella up a big ole' pot of blood huh?" Jasper said.

Alice laughed and Edward smirked "You really are a smartass." Edward said.

"Ain't I just? Go on and make your girl something to eat." Jasper said.

Edward walked into the kitchen with Bella and opened the fridge "What are you hungry for?" Edward asked.

"Breakfast. What have you got in there that's breakfast like." Bella said.

Edward pulled out four eggs, he started juggling them. "Eggs?"

"Yeah, of course eggs show-off." Bella said.

Edward laughed and placed the eggs on the counter, he grabbed a package of bacon out of the fridge. "Open that door over there and get the bread for me."

Bella opened the cupboard door and took a step back, it was packed with dried goods, huge bags of rice, canned vegetables, dried fruit, trail mixes. "Jesus, what do you guys do with all this stuff?" Bella asked.

"Hand it out, donate it to charity, homeless shelters and things like that. Helping to provide for those who can't provide for themselves. There's only so much we can do since we have to keep a lot of it underwraps, but Carlisle and Esme and the rest of us couldn't live with ourselves if we didn't give back." Edward said, cracking the eggs on the heating skillet.

Bella grabbed a bag of marble rye bread off the shelf and handed it to Edward. "So how do you want this? Scrambled? Fried? Frittatas? What?"

"Scrambled, always scrambled. Were you raised in a barn?" Bella said, laughing.

Edward grinned "I think Jasper was."

Bella laughed again "What's that smell like? It smells super good to me."

"It smells like eggs, like scrambled eggs. It would just taste like ash." Edward said, sprinkling cheese into the skillet.

"So what's next?" Bella said.

Edward reached under the counter and grabbed another skillet, he placed it on the burner. "Next is bacon, and then you make your toast, our coffee isn't quite as good as Charlie's, but it's good enough I think." Edward pointed to the cupboard. "And you can add all the sugar you want."

Bella laughed and opened the cabinet "Have I mentioned how much I love hanging out with you?" she grabbed a bag of coffee beans that smelled rich and dark.

"You have, but I absolutely love hearing you mention it again." Edward said

Bella handed Edward the coffee bag, "Alright, now reach up into that cabinet and grab the coffee grinder."

Bella opened another cabinet, this one was filled with a million kitchen knick knacks. Bella reached up on her tip toes and grabbed the coffee grinder. "Got it."

"If you open the cabinet right next to that one the filters are in there." Edward said, Bella could smell the bacon, and it was fantastic. She opened the second cabinet and grabbed the filters out of it. "Next?"

Edward turned his head to her and grinned, "We grind our own beans around here princess."

Bella laughed "Dickhead." she said, grabbing the bag and pouring the beans into the grinder. Before long the competing smells of bacon and coffee were filling the kitchen. Jasper and Alice wandered into the kitchen.

"Ain't this just adorable Alice? Got a couple cooking in here." Jasper said.

Alice laughed "It's such a Hallmark moment!"

Bella laughed and Edward grinned "Yeah, we're full of those in this house. Where's Emmett, he wouldn't judge me." Edward said.

"I'm pretty sure him and Rosie are fuckin', they walked inside and went to their room." Jasper said, leaning against the door jamb.

"All of this love in the air is so romantic though!" Alice said, going and sitting at the kitchen table. "Edward and Bella, you and Leah, Rosie and Emmett. What is there for lonely Alice."

"Don't you got a girlfriend?" Jasper said.

"A girlfriend that's always working, and when she isn't I don't even get to see her that often." Alice said.

"Alice has a girlfriend?" Bella asked, sitting at the table with her plate and coffee.

"Tanya's sister." Edward said, sitting down next to her.

"Ohhhhh, that's so cool." Bella said, digging into her food.

Alice laughed "Cool, I think so."

"I kind of thought that uh…" Bella started.

"No, never. I don't know where folks get that idea from." Jasper said, shaking his head.

Alice mimed gagging "Yuck."

Bella laughed "Well that's what everyone thinks."

"Like I said I don't know how y'all get that idea, you ain't never had a relative that you were close to Bella?" Jasper said, sitting at the table.

Bella shook her head "I haven't had anyone I was really close to other than my mother."

"Well just cause me and the skinny punk girl spend a lot of time together don't mean it's romantic, you can love someone with all you are and not be dating them." Jasper said. "Alice is more my right hand than my true love."

"And Jasper's my left." Alice said.

"And what am I Jasper Hale." Leah asked from the doorway.

"The pretty girl whose daddy is probably gonna kill me." Jasper said and Bella snorted into her coffee.

Leah came over and sat with them, resting her hand on Jasper's knee. "He's not going to kill you, he'll understand."

"Doubtful, about fifty years ago your grandfather tried to beat me to death." Jasper laughed "You remember that Eddie?"

Edward nodded "Didn't he tear your hand off? I vaguely remember you fighting him with one hand." Edward said, grinning.

Jasper nodded "It was the first move of the fight, took my hand clean off. I think he was going for the entire arm. Word to the wise, don't punch a 10 foot tall grizzly bear with an arm stump."

Alice laughed "I remember that! He challenged you to a duel! It was so old-fashioned!"

"My grandfather challenged you to a duel?" Leah asked.

Jasper nodded "Oh they had all of them picked out one of us to kill. Graham wanted me, I remember Jimmy wantin' to fight Emmett, who was it wanted to kill you Alice?"

"Jameson, he never got his shot. I was really sad we never got the chance to fight. At least Edward was lucky enough to fight both of the Lahote brothers." Alice said, shaking her head.

"That fight was horrible. They very nearly killed me." Edward said.

"Wait, hang on. Wait. What?" Bella said. "Are they vampires too?"

Jasper burst out laughing, "Vampires? Right, naw, they ain't nothing like us Bella."

"Is it ok to tell her?" Leah asked.

Edward shrugged "She knows about us, I don't think it would bother her too much. She's friends with Jacob, and when he starts showing up worn out and about a foot taller she should know why."

"Shapeshifters, we're shapeshifters Bella." Leah said.

"Edward mentioned those once! He said you guys like, turn into animals!" Bella said, spraying food out of her mouth.

"Not so much animals, as two particular animals. I don't know if we can pick and choose what we turn into." Leah said.

"So what? Do you guys like… do you hunt vampires?" Bella said.

"Nomads, we hunt nomads." Leah said.

"Nomads?" Bella asked.

"Nomadic vampires, they're usually psychotic, unpredictable, violent. Look at James if you want a brief overview of a nomad." Edward said.

"I wouldn't say he was a brief overview, he nearly killed you." Bella said.

"Well, James was a special case… those of us with abilities are… we're different, we're stronger." Edward said. "But his behavior, traveling, the destructive impulses… that's nomad protocol. Quite honestly most of our species are antagonistic toward one another. Those of us that aren't are referred to as aberrations, our government is made up of aberrations. We take that a step further and are referred to as deviants, as far as I can tell we're the only deviants."

"Is that why there are 7 vampires in this house and you aren't all constantly trying to kill one another?" Leah asked.

"That would be why Ms. Clearwater." Jasper said, snatching Edward's coffee cup and finishing the rest.

"Dick." Edward said taking the the cup back and walking to the coffee pot. Alice laughed.

Leah looked at her watch "I've got to get home, my parents are going to lose it. I've got to figure out a convincing enough lie to tell them about where I've been all night."

Jasper stood up, "I'll give you a ride. Come on Alice."

"I don't want to intrude on your alone time." Alice said, making googly eyes.

"Get your little ass up and come on girl." Jasper said, laughing while Leah blushed.

"We'll see you later on Bella." Jasper said standing up from the table.

"Bye Bella." Alice said, waving as she followed Jasper out of the kitchen.

"Bye Bella, it was nice meeting you." Leah said.

"It was nice meeting you too." Bella said.

"Interesting huh?" Edward said, sitting back at the table with Bella.

"Very… what other supernatural stuff exists?" Bella asked.

Edward shrugged "We haven't encountered much other than shapeshifters, werewolves and other vampires. My father tells me that there are some other things that exist, he's kind of widened his views on the supernatural."

"That's so… incredible. Everything I've learned since I've met you has been so incredible." Bella said.

Edward snorted and laughed "It's only incredible when it's not your gut's hanging out because two ten foot tall bears thought you were murdering people."

"Well yeah, I bet it kind of sucked then." Bella said.

"Want to go and see a movie?" Edward asked.

"Like out in public? You and me?" Bella asked, blushing.

"Yes, out in public. You and me." Edward said.

"I uh, I would love to. I'd love to go to a movie with you." Bella said.

"Come on beautiful." Edward said, standing up and taking Bella's hand. They walked hand in hand to the front door where Carlisle was coming through the.

"Hello Bella." Carlisle said.

"Good afternoon Mr. Cullen." Bella said.

Carlisle laughed "Feel free to call me Carlisle, Bella. You don't have to call me Mr." Carlisle said.

"I mean… you know, show respect to your elders and all that." Bella said, blushing.

Carlisle smiled "Well, manners are important. It appears you two are headed somewhere, far be it for me to er, hold you up."

Edward laughed "Just going to a movie, what have you got planned for the rest of the day?"

"I haven't any idea. I was thinking I might take Esme to an art show, or possibly the museum. Or maybe I'll end up sitting with Emmett and Rosalie through one of her Dungeons and Dragons sessions." Carlisle said taking off his jacket and setting it on the hook. "The night is young as they say."

"That is what they say." Edward said, laughing.

Carlisle laughed, gave Bella a quick hug and went upstairs. Bella walked outside with Edward and got into his car. "Can your dad fight?"

Edward nodded "He's incredibly dangerous, he's also hesitant to fight. He prefers to solve things through speaking and understanding before engaging in combat. He hates violence."

"Where are we going to see the movie?" Bella asked.

"Wherever you want." Edward said.

"Well then let's go to Port Angeles, their selection was amazing." Bella said.

"Port Angeles it is." Edward said, starting the car.

-KERSPLAT.

The months passed so quickly Bella had barely noticed. It felt like between one blink and the next and school was ending and summer was halfway finished. She had come to love Forks, she had come to truly and deeply love her father, and she had come to truly and deeply love Edward Cullen. Even his family was so wonderful, so kind, and they made her feel at home every time she went over. She had also come to deeply love and trust Jessica and Angela, who continued to be her very best friends. She didn't really see Jake anymore, it was mostly just Quil coming over now, Bella assumed it was shapeshifter business. That whatever had kept Embry away before was now keeping Jacob away.

Bella stepped out onto the porch, the sun was shining brightly and the sky was as blue as she'd ever seen back in Phoenix. The light but chilly breeze lifting her hair, Charlie stepped out after her. "You're looking pretty happy there." he said.

Bella laughed "I'm feeling happy, my senior year is coming. It's going to be a good year."

Charlie shuddered "I'm trying to imagine my baby as an 18 year old and it's killing me."

Bella laughed again and moved her hair back with her right hand, "I'll still be your baby, you don't even let me pay rent around here."

"That little 7.50 you make at Newton's isn't going to pay for anything in this house Bells." Charlie said, laughing and walking down the steps. "I've got to get going to wander the woods with Harry."

"Are you two wandering the woods? Or having a gay love affair?" Bella asked.

"First of all, Billy is my gay lover. Secondly smartass we've got animal attacks up there, three or four folks got mauled by bears we're guessing. Tore em' to pieces." Charlie said "Real fucking mess."

Bella swallowed, "Torn up? Like, how bad?"

"Don't worry sweets, it aint the psychopath that hurt you. He's long dead, this is definitely the work of animals, no human could tear a person up like this." Charlie said, getting in his cruiser and pulling off.

No, a human couldn't tear a person up like that without tools, but a vampire could. Or a werewolf. Or a Rakshasa. Bella reached into her pocket and called Edward.

"Hey kid, do you need something?" Edward answered. Bella could hear the dull thud in the background that had to be Jasper or Alice punching the heavy bag.

"Edward, my dad just told me that there are animals in the forest killing people. It can't just be animals can it?" Bella said.

Edward was quiet for a second, before saying "Animals? I don't know, I haven't heard anything about this. But I also haven't been watching the news much lately either, give me a second to check the internet and I'll get back to you."

Bella went into the house and up to her room, she turned on her laptop. She hadn't really been paying attention to the world, she had been too wrapped up in her own. She couldn't help but kick herself over her complete lack of paying attention. Privy to information others weren't, and she did nothing with it.

Aside from the murders in the forest there was very little activity going on in the area, the only item of note was a kid from town, Riley Biers, had disappeared into thin air. Bella thought about this briefly, the name was vaguely familiar. She couldn't place where she had heard it, but she was reasonably positive she… graduation. Riley Biers was in the graduating class this year. Bella picked up the yearbook sitting on the computer desk, Riley was only 20 people before Emmett. Short weasley looking brunette. And he disappeared in Tacoma right after graduation. Coincidence? Probably. Bella wasn't Sherlock Holmes, she wasn't even Basil from The Great Mouse Detective. But it put her on edge, Edward had explained to her that there were a lot of coincidences with James too.

Her phantom fingers tingled, maybe it meant something. Maybe she should have asked more questions. Was James alone? Did he have companions? Edward had a family, so maybe James did too. Maybe James was another aberration. Aberrations don't travel alone, they had covens. But that's a bad road to go down, that somewhere out there was someone like James ready and willing to tear her to pieces. Even though she did have some very powerful people backing her up Bella had learned that if you really wanted someone dead odds were good you would find some way to get them dead. She shook her head, too much Godfather 2 in her life. Her phone rang and she jumped, Jasper was calling her. Jasper hardly ever called her.

"Hello?" Bella said.

"What'd you tell that boy? He's over here talking about people getting torn up in the forest." Jasper said.

Bella explained to him what Charlie had told her, Jasper was quiet while he listened. Finally he said "The redhead."

"The redhead?" Bella asked.

"James, he had some friends with him. A redheaded girl who Alice beat the shit out of but didn't finish off. And this pesky little guy who I killed. So red is probably out there trying to get a little bit of payback, and she ain't gonna come for us, she knows better. Probably building up a little group of folks to distract us while she tears you apart." Jasper said.

"Can she do that?" Bella asked.

"Depends, most folks don't survive the change. Takes a special kind of person to actually transform, they don't necessarily have to have an ability, but not just anybody can get turned. Venom usually just burns em' up. Problem is even knowing it might be her don't mean we'll be able to get our hands on her, if she can get away from Alice she'll be able to get away from the rest of us." Jasper said.

"Oh." Bella said quietly.

Jasper laughed "She ain't going to be able to get near you. Alice put the fear of god into that girl, she ain't going to get close till she's got some muscle behind her, and at that point we'll just kill em'."

"You make it sound so easy." Bella said.

"It will be. Be easy Bella, ain't nothing gonna happen to you or nobody else. We got a little bit of backup, don't see us needin' it but we can't protect everyone." Jasper said. "Like I said, don't worry, it'll be fine."

"Alright, you guys are badasses, but the rest of us aren't." Bella said.

Jasper laughed "You're badasses, don't worry. I'm gonna go put this boy in a headlock until he calms down, you stay aware and keep your head on straight. We'll get this sorted out." Jasper said, before hanging up the phone.

Bella flipped her phone closed and sat it on the desk, she went and lay on her bed, she flicked on the tv and opened a book, distractions would help. Or at least take her mind off of psychotic redheads wanting to tear her guts out.

That particular redhead was currently sitting in a dilapidated old hotel in Seattle. There were three or four teenagers wandering the halls, waiting for the sun to go down so they could hunt. Riley was standing in the room with her, anxious and skittish, still having difficulty coping with his new life. On top of that Victoria was in a bad mood, most of the people he had brought her to change had not survived, and the ones that had were, in Victoria's words "Fucking worthless." adding to the stress and anxiety a visitor was coming, a visitor even Victoria couldn't run from and that made Victoria even more anxious, and when she got that way she usually started hitting.

"What time is it fuckstick?" Victoria said, staring out of the window.

Riley looked at his watch, "Almost 6:30."

Victoria sighed "Great, the queen bitch of cunt mountain is going to be here soon."

"That's Queen Cunt of Bitch Mountain red." Jane said, stepping into the dirty room. Alec was following her, and his face was completely different from what Edward had seen. His black hair was now stark white, his lips were thin and his cheeks sallow and sunken. His adams apple stood out and he appeared emaciated but excited, he was wearing jeans and a cardigan. Jane was wearing a simple grey sweater and black slacks.

Victoria swallowed nervously and Riley looked at the ground. "Good evening Jane."

"Don't pretend like you got manners girl, we both know you're about as classless as they get. I see you managed to get 3 or 4 retards for your little scheme here. Nicely done." Jane said.

"It's a lot harder than you think it is." Victoria said.

Jane shrugged "Wouldn't know, all the fellas I picked turned out to be right as rain."

Alec laughed "I wouldn't say right." he said, his voice that of an old mans.

One of Jane's newborns came in, a beefy teenage fellow named Arthur. Riley had picked him up at the bus station, "Hey, it's almost night, can we go hunt?"

"After she's done talkin' to me you can go and do whatever you want. Do any of your little retards got manners?" Jane said, looking at Victoria.

"Arthur, fuck off alright? I'm in the middle of something." Victoria said.

"Who's this?" Arthur said, eying Jane questioningly.

"It's a guest, fuck off." Victoria said.

"You scared of her or something? She don't look like much." Arthur said.

Jane laughed and Alec smiled "I surely don't, why don't you come on over here." Jane said. "I mean you're a newborn and all that, bet you're feeling pretty tough."

"Bitch, I could've broken you in half before all of this." Arthur said.

"He's pretty bold mistress." Alec said.

"He sure is, lemme get some light Alec." Jane said.

Alec opened his palm and a glowing orb of light popped from it, throwing everyone's shadows across the darkened room. Jane stepped forward so that Arthur was standing on her shadow. "That's a shame, you're already dead." Jane said.

Arthur raised an eyebrow "What?"

Jane laughed again "Come here."

Completely against his will, and to his great surprise, Arthur took several plodding clumsy steps toward Jane, until he was standing right in front of her. "What? What the fuck!?" Arthur said.

"This is a nice little ability, a little too situational, but nice on it's own." Jane said.

Victoria opened her mouth to protest and Jane looked at her "Shut. Up. Woman." Jane said.

Riley had backed into the corner, he was staring, his eyes wide, the other newborns were staring, watching. Victoria closed her mouth and watched.

"Yeah, I remember what that was like, all brand new and strong and scary. But there are some real scary people out there, and you ain't nothing like scary boy. I've seen scary, and now you're seeing scary too. Open your mouth." Jane said.

Once again against his will Arthur opened his mouth, he was struggling to move, struggling to break the control. "Won't work, you ain't got the strength of will it would take to break it. Alec, come on over here and show these folks something." Jane said.

"I'm not sure if I have enough of a charge mistress." Alec said.

"You'll be fine, we'll charge you when we get home. Come on over here and do what I'm telling you." Jane said.

"Yes mistress." Alec said, he walked over to Arthur and placed a glass prism into his mouth. He stepped back and with his hand not creating the glowing orb he fired a beam of light from his fingertip into the prism that refracted into multi colored lasers, incinerating Arthur's head and chopping several things in the room to pieces. The headless body crumpled and Alec, appearing even older than he had when he entered the room walked slowly to the prism and picked it back up. He placed it slowly into his pocket and went to stand by Jane again, the glowing orb had shrunken considerably.

"Goooood, I like it when you do that. It's real pretty ain't it red?" Jane said.

Victoria was goggling, James had never told her about things like this, about people like this. The newborns had scattered, Riley was still in the corner feeling that if his heart still worked it would be pounding. "I said it's pretty ain't it red?" Jane said.

"Yeah, I mean… yes, yes it was pretty." Victoria said.

"Now for business, I'm going to allow this whole create a fucking retard army to exist cause I want that stupid little black haired bitch dead. I want her dead. I don't care what happens to your retards, I don't care what happens to you, I don't care what happens to anyone else. You can get your petty little revenge on Eddie, and you can kill the human, but above all else you make sure that little fuck dies. Do you understand me? Am I getting through to you?" Jane said.

"There are so many of them, I need to make more newborns." Victoria said.

"How much time do you need?" Jane said.

"A few months, they… it's hard finding people that can survive the change." Victoria said.

"That's cause you ain't worth much, so you pick trashy people." Jane said, she raised her hand and Arthur's ashes reformed into a headless body. "I borrowed this from Lord Ammon. It's an amazing ability, it's one of my favorites, I hardly ever get to use it. Works on living vamps too." Jane said, letting the body turn to ash again. "Get the message?"

"You don't need to threaten me, I get it." Victoria said.

"You know what I get? I get that that stupid little bitch beat your head in, I get that you let that fucking pretender, that stupid little freak beat you. I get that she thinks she can take my family from me. I get that. I understand that. Do you understand!? Am I getting through to you?!" Jane said advancing on Victoria, she stood over her, her hands curled into claws.

Victoria shrunk back, "Jane, she was fast, she was strong."

"No, she's not fast, and she's not strong. She's trash, she's trash and I want her dead and you'd better fucking kill her. After you've built up your little army of fuckups, and you go marching down to get your petty little revenge, I want Alice Cullen dead. I don't give a fuck which one of you does it, I want her dead, put that at the top of your goddamn list. Kill that little bitch!" Jane said, and she grabbed Victoria by the throat and hefted her up the wall.

"You let her beat you. You let that bitch beat you. I should tear your fucking face off!" Jane's arm swelled, bulged and exploded the sleeve of her sweater, the force making Victoria choke and gasp. "And kill the other one too, the bitch that thinks she can replace our name. Kill them both. Do you understand? Am I getting through your thick fucking skull?! Kill them both or you'll never stop screaming."

Jane waited for an answer, but all Victoria did was clutch her wrist with both hands, choking and gasping. Jane grinned "I'm going to loosen my grip, and if I hear anything other than yes, I'm going to snap your head off red and find another way to get at those two bitches."

"Yes!" Victoria gasped out, and Jane dropped her. Victoria coughed, "Jane you're an Imperial, you can do whatever you want!"

"Are you fuckin' stupid firecrotch!? I can't just kill them, they pay their taxes, they break no laws, and they're under protection. MY protection you dumb bitch. MINE! I have to protect those stupid little bitches! ME!" Jane shouted, and Riley and Victoria covered their ears, the force of the shout breaking one of the windows.

Alec walked over, his steps were slow, plodding. He put a gentle hand on Jane's shoulder "Mistress, please calm yourself."

Jane looked at him with wild eyes, her fangs fully extended, then back at the cowering Victoria and Riley. "Yeah, you had better be scared, you had better be good and scared. And if your army of fuckups comes close to hurting my brother, or if you even try and mention a syllable of this to The Lord's I'll know and I'll fuck you up red. Do you hear me talkin' to you? Answer me you worthless bitch."

"I hear you Jane." Victoria said, her eyes downcast.

"Look at me bitch. Do you hear me?" Jane said.

Victoria looked at Jane "Yes Jane, I hear you."

Jane smiled brightly, her face radiant "Good! There's hope for you after all!" Jane walked over to Victoria and knelt down, she put a gentle hand on her face. "I don't want to have to hurt you Victoria, I'm only rough with you because you made me be rough with you. Don't you understand? I don't want to hurt your pretty self, so don't make me hurt you. But I put a lot of work into this, and I'll hurt you so badly if you disappoint me. Do you understand me? Tell me you understand me."

"I understand Jane." Victoria said, her eyes wide.

"That's good, that's very good. It's what I like to hear, you keep me happy and I'll keep you happy. Renata." Jane said, and Renata appeared. Jane stood up and put her hand on her shoulder, as did Alec. "Take us home Renata." and they all of them disappeared.

Victoria stood up, she looked at Riley who was still cowering. "Go out and get some more, I need more bodies. I need to finish this."

Riley stood up "Ok Victoria." he said, his voice meek. He went out. Victoria turned to the window, she watched the pinpricks of light in the distance, she would have her revenge, there would just be an extra target. The blonde with the big tits who had chased her with the caveman, she had to die too. But not her brother, the one that had killed Petey.

"I'll kill them James." Victoria whispered, "I'll kill them all."

It took time for Victoria to gather bodies, allies, people who not only could survive the transformation but were dumb enough to be controlled, unaware they were being controlled, and mentally weak so as not to see their own personal leverage in the situation. By the time Victoria had additional people it was sliding into September and Riley had only acquired runaways and street kids. There was one, a big, burly biker who showed some promise but he also wasn't good enough. He was too disobedient, too attached to his human life and vendettas. He had to be disposed of. Which meant that Victoria had to keep making do with the runaways and project rats, and the 10 she had weren't nearly enough. The runt who murdered her beloved could kill half of them at a stretch if he could murder James, and the little monster could kill the other half. She simply needed more bodies.

Adding to her frustration they were recklessly dumb, they were easy enough to control but so goddamn dumb. They ran on the same asskicking equals authority principle most newborn nomads ran on, i.e Victoria could destroy them easily so they obeyed, but they were also complete tools. Violent and ignorant and convinced of their superiority. One of them had taken it upon himself to wipe out nearly to the last man a rival set, and when the bodies turned up on the news, garnering police attention Victoria was furious, so furious in fact she tore the newborn to pieces and spent several days afterward in a deep rage. But she calmed down considerably after realizing that the situation was a gift, she could use this to her advantage. The faggot liked playing hero, liked swooping in and saving the humans. It would give her a chance to get back into the Forks area without the worry of the early messaging system, she would just have to wait, and he would come running. If he hadn't already.

Edward had been anxious, he had been anxious since Jasper had called Bella. He had been anxious about the disappearance of Riley Biers. He had been anxious about the not altogether unusual but still unnerving amount of disappearances in the Seattle area. Since no bodies turned up and many of those that had disappeared were troubled children and gangbangers, the police weren't as invested as they were in the murders James had been perpetrating, but when twenty-six Tre Eights were first missing, and then found in bits and pieces scattered throughout the city, Edward knew it had to be Victoria and her chuckleheads. The police indifference would make it simpler, but still difficult. The Imperium would never know, however Jane would, and it was at her discretion whether to proceed. But she was based out of Oregon, and her region was exceptionally large, she might be truly unaware, or she might take the police line that the Eights were murdered by either the Kings or the Aryan Lord's. Edward reasoned an investigation on his part would be worthwhile regardless.

After school let out Edward went home immediately, he rushed up to his room and grabbed the kitsune mask he kept. He switched out of his school clothes and into a pair of black jeans and a black long sleeved t-shirt. He opened his closet and grabbed a pair of black steel toed boots. He went over to his dresser and opened it, inside were several cases filled with different colored pairs of contacts, he switched out his green contacts for blue. He bounded down the stairs to Alice standing in front of the door, "Where are you going?"

"Seattle." Edward said.

"All on your own?" Alice asked.

"Reconnaissance Alice, it's best if the telepath does it. If I need help I'll call." Edward said.

"Edward be careful, I'm getting a lot of static, I don't think you should do this alone." Alice said.

"It will work out fine, I'll be back." Edward said.

Edward left, he debated taking his Camaro, but opted to run, he could pick up more thoughts that way. He made the three hour trip in two, he went into a Starbucks and ordered a cup of plain black coffee. He sat there, drinking coffee and reading until the sun went down. He looked at his watch, it was coming up on 9:15.

Edward got up from his seat and jogged over to one of the rougher neighborhoods, the large and abandoned buildings towered over him, and he caught the thoughts immediately. Hunting. Two newborns were hunting. Edward picked up his pace, arriving at a scene of absolute chaos. The newborns were dragging a screaming and struggling woman from her car, her small child screaming in the backseat. Edward yanked his mask down over his face.

"Shut up, you're next." The taller newborn said to the toddler, dropping the woman on the ground.

"You gonna eat a kid? Fucked up man." The other said, tearing open the woman's shirt.

"Just a fucking human." the taller one said.

Edward sidled up behind him "Aren't they all?" he said, and he grabbed the newborn by the forehead with his right hand, braced his left hand against his neck and yanked his head back, snapping it off.

The other one stood up, surprise plastered on his face. He registered Edward briefly and threw a punch, Edward grabbed his wrist and brought his arm down, he pushed the nomad back still holding onto his wrist, and yanked him forward, using the momentum to kick his left leg off at the thigh. He pushed him backward again and punched his jaw off. The newborn yelped in surprise and threw another punch, Edward caught it, pulled him in and wrenched his arm off. Then jammed his fingers into a manhole cover, lifted it and broke off his other arm and leg. The newborn fell over, oozing blood, Edward stepped back and kicked him into the side of a building, dislodging several bricks. "Wait there." Edward said, he knelt down to the woman, her eyes were wrapped in tears. "Are you alright?"

The woman spoke rapid spanish calling Edward an angel, thanking him over and over again. Edward would have to thank Mrs. Alvarez tomorrow. He helped her to her feet and into her car, he told her to drive and not stop until she made it home. When her taillights were a good distance away Edward picked up the newborns jaw and walked over to him he lifted his mask. "Hi. I'm a hunter too, how do you like my hunting?" Edward said and he kicked the newborn in one of his bleeding stumps, the newborn made a bubbling moaning scream. Edward knelt down next to him and grabbed his head "I'm going to put your jaw back on, and you're going to tell me who made you. I also need you to understand that you are going to die tonight, but if you tell me where your creator is you can die painlessly. Blink once if you understand, blink twice if you don't." Edward said.

The nomad blinked twice and Edward gouged one of his eyes out, he screamed again. "Hurts doesn't it? Good." Edward stood up and slammed his foot down on the nomads pelvis, crushing it. The newborn screamed and Edward walked back to his head.

"Thank you." Edward said, raising his foot and crushing the newborn's skull. Waste of time, the newborn did not know anything. It could be Victoria or any number of people.

It's me murderer. Come and get me.

Edward whipped his head around, Victoria was standing at the end of the street. Edward had never seen her before, but her feelings of rage were extreme. His neck was tingling, she was leading him into a trap. Alice said she didn't have an ability, and Edward was confident he could kill any number of newborns he had to, but what was her angle.

"I'm going to tear you apart just like I did James." Edward called to her, pulling his mask down.

Then do it.

Victoria turned to run, and Edward pursued. She really was quite quick, Edward wasn't sure what it was. He could keep up, but she seemed to slip and slide through cracks and gratings and windows and up fire escapes. Her thoughts were a buzzsaw of fury that blanketed his telepathy, he had no idea where she was headed, only a growing surety that she was undoubtedly leading him into a trap. But if the opportunity existed that he could end her threat tonight he was going to.

She lead him to another abandoned hotel, it was rotting and falling apart. Edward stopped as Victoria ran through the darkness of the entrance. He stepped backward and looked up, 14 floors. He scanned, picking up nothing but the buzzsaw of fury in Victoria's mind. He followed her into the darkness.

His antenna was widened to its utmost, and he was still picking up nothing. The building was dark and drippy, but not completely abandoned. There were traces of human squatters, old drug paraphernalia, dirty clothes and crushed bottles.

"Come and get me!" Victoria called out, she was on the third floor of the spiral staircase. Edward ran up the stairs, and he could hear the steady patter of Victoria's feet as she managed to stay just one step ahead of him. She stopped on the seventh floor and ducked into an empty suite. Edward walked up to the door slowly, pulling his mask up again. He tapped on the door with his knuckles, and the door drifted open slowly.

Edward stepped into the suite, it was quite empty.

"In here!" Victoria called out.

Edward walked into the bedroom, Victoria was standing there completely alone. She was holding a cell phone in her hand.

"Calling a few of your soldiers for backup?" Edward said, closing the door behind himself.

"Something like that." Victoria said, and she snapped her hand closed, crushing the burner phone.

"By the time they get here you'll be dust, and I'll be gone." Edward said.

"I doubt that." Victoria said.

Edward had only taken a step forward when he heard the urgent, militarized thoughts. The street lights went out outside. Edward looked at Victoria. "Police."

"SWAT actually. Are you going to kill them? Because they're here to kill you. And in a few minutes, there's going to be a few very pissed off Tre Eights looking for the guy who took out a few of their guys, it's going to get very hectic here." Victoria said.

"Guess I don't have much time then." Edward said, but before he could rush Victoria the bright lights of the helicopter were blazing through the window. Edward shielded his eyes and Victoria slid past him, he reached out and grabbed the barest thread of her jacket before she was out of his grip and down the hall. And then the megaphone was blaring, demanding he freeze and surrender himself. Edward turned and made for the door, the shots from the AR-15 tore through his side, shredding his shirt and making him stumble into the hallway.

They were moving upstairs, an entire squad of them. More downstairs, more coming. Humans, can't kill them. Wearing body armor, heavily armed, dangerous enough. Edward stumbled again before regaining his balance, he pulled his mask down with one hand and dug the bullets out of his side with the other. He ran to the main stairs, punching the first three SWAT he passed. Knocking their helmets from their heads and rendering them unconscious. He hopped onto the railing of the stairs and jumped from the seventh floor to the eighth, pulling himself up as a rain of bullets slammed into the mouldering plaster. He crawled on his belly into a hallway, getting to his feet he kicked open a door and ran inside. Kneeling briefly to dig several bullets out of his right leg. He slammed the door shut and ran into the bedroom, the lights of the helicopter greeted him immediately, as did another hailstorm of shots. He pushed his way through the door into the adjourning suite. They were outside, Edward could see one of them using breach rounds on the door. Edward jumped onto an old television stand and dug his way through the ceiling to the ninth floor.

He had just managed to pull himself through as the shots started again, he hopped to his feet and pushed himself through the door into the hallway. The bright lights mounted on the AR-15 rifles shined directly into his face and another volley of shots forced him to push through to the room directly across the hall. He tossed the few bullets he had caught to the ground, and jumped onto another television stand. He clawed his way to floor ten and was greeted by a heavy boot, the officer cried out as his ankle snapped from the kick and Edward grabbed his foot and yanked him through the floor. He pulled himself up and backed against the wall, desperate to avoid another series of shots.

"And here come the party crashers." Edward said darkly, as several additional people piled into the hotel. The sounds of gunfire grew even greater. And another set were fired into the room he was in, he scrambled to his feet and stumbled into the mercifully empty hallway, which would only be empty for another 10 seconds if what he was hearing was accurate. He ran to the main stairs, he pushed the two men standing there down the stairs and went to floor 11. He couldn't make it to 14, he wasn't going to make it that far. Too many people, too much chaos. Too much organization.

He ran to the end of the hall, and turned into the very last room. He slammed the door behind him as the hallway was filled with shots. The Eights were losing their fight with the SWAT quite badly, and were little more than a temporary distraction. The room was as empty as the others, and Edward ran across the floor and leapt from the window. He grabbed the fire escape on the building opposite and it broke from the wall, he scrambled to the top of it as it fell but it did little good. He hit the ground hard, snapping three of his fingers. The lights of the helicopter shined down on him, so did the bullets. He rolled away from them to his feet and started running, he hopped over the van blocking the alley. He pushed the SWAT on the other side into the vehicle and kicked one of the tires off.

He ran into an abandoned corner store on the opposite street, pushing his way through the back door into another alley where there were two more SWAT posted. Edward snatched one of their pistols and smashed it across their faces, he was discarding the weapon and running before their bodies hit the ground. The helicopter was still following, still firing. Edward grabbed a stone from the ground and tossed it, knocking the rifle from the shooters hands. It hit the ground with a clatter and broke.

He ran, he ran to the bright lights of the city. His arrival was unnoticed but he could see more SWAT headed toward where he had been. He stumbled through the crowded downtown streets, bumping into people, eyes watching him suspiciously. His shirt shredded, his pants shredded, blood drying on him. He picked up the thoughts and ducked into an alley, he yanked the door knob off the back door of an empty department store; pushed out the lock with his thumb and walked in. His breathing was ragged, heavy. They were already putting out the APB on the Tre Eight that had injured several SWAT and escaped. They believed he would be heading to a hospital in the area, he had to have been wounded. And he was, catching the bullets had done a number on his hands, getting shot had done even more of a number. He couldn't take much more of it.

Alice. Alice was close. Alice was waiting. He went to the back door of the department store and stopped. The footsteps were coming, the thoughts were coming. Front and back. He ran back into the store, up the empty escalator, he ran to the roof of the building. The goddamn helicopter was back, shining it's light on him. He ran to the edge of the building and jumped, sailing through the air and through the plate glass windows of the bank adjacent to the department store. He broke through, lacerating himself in several places, hit the ground hard and rolled, knocking over desks. He stumbled to his feet and kept going, he ran to the end of the floor and fell through a second window, falling to the ground below. The dumpster buffeted his fall and he fought his way out of the trash. He clutched his slowly healing ribs and stumbled to the end of the alley, Alice was there, in Jasper's GTO.

"Hey! Get in! Hurry up!" Alice called.

Edward stumbled over the hood and into the passenger side. Alice put pedal to the metal and whipped out of the alley, "Use your ability, hurry!" Edward said.

Alice moved over two cars, then three. Then she slowed down. Then she suddenly sped up. She took three side streets, then drove slowly into a quiet neighborhood. "Jesus! What did you do?! You're all over the news!"

Edward groaned in pain and started digging bullets out of his body, "Clothes in the back, and something to help you heal." Alice said.

"Do they know it's me?" Edward asked, tossing his pants, shirt, and shoes into different trash bins at intervals Alice told him. He lifted the mat and stowed the mask in a compartment underneath then put on the clothes Alice had brought that were stored in a duffel bag in the backseat, alongside a thermos.

"No, but there's definitely a supercharged gangbanger running around out there right now." Alice said. "White male, about 5'9, blue eyes, brown hair, wearing a mask. Extremely dangerous, does that sound familiar?!"

Edward took out the contacts and threw them out of the window, Alice handed him another case and he put the familiar green ones in. "But they don't know it's me?"

"Not like you'll leave any DNA around, but they'll definitely wonder why they were shooting cows and deer and elks all night." Alice said, turning down another street. She parked the GTO. "We need to wait, that's what I'm seeing."

"We can't wait! Victoria!" Edward shouted.

"We can and we will! Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, Esme and Carlisle are in the woods waiting. She won't be stupid enough to try for Forks, and if she is she's got a huge surprise headed her way. We need to wait for the road block, and we are going to wait Edward "Batman" Cullen!" Alice said.

Edward sat, anxiously scanning. He could see the disorienting reel running through Alice's head, her pictures morphing and changing. Twenty minutes later she was starting the GTO and pulling out of the neighborhood while Edward drank slowly from the thermos filled with V8 juice and cows blood. Alice pulled up behind a line of vehicles, she drove until the officer was shining his flashlight into her face.

"Good evening young lady." the officer said, his name was Daniel Bolton. He was 50, yeasty, balding and disgruntled. But the gorgeous and tiny black haired girl in the black tank top and black jeans with the lapis blue eyes and bright red lipstick cheered him up considerably.

"Good evening officer." Alice said, her smile glowing. "Got some trouble?"

"Bit of trouble, looking for a guy. He might be trying to get out of the city." Bolton said.

"Oh no! That would be awful!" Alice said, her voice suddenly saccharine. "I'd be so scared if someone who requires a roadblock were to come near me!"

"Don't worry, that's who we're here to protect you from." Bolton said, he turned the flashlight on Edward, who was staring ahead, pretending disinterest. "Can I see your license and vehicle registration? Protocol you know."

"You sure can." Alice said, shifting and taking her wallet out of her back pocket. Edward hadn't brought his wallet, but when he opened the glove box to hand Alice Jasper's registration there it was, sitting next to his cell phone. He smiled briefly and handed over a license and the vehicle registration.

Bolton flashed his light at the licenses and the back at the Cullens. "Alright Alice, Thomas. What are you two doing out this late in Mr. Hale's GTO?"

"Shopping, I adore shopping. The prettier the clothes the better I look on a sweet sugar daddies arm!" Alice said, giggling as she took the licenses and registration back. "And I drag my brother along because it's good for everyone to get out of the house."

"I know that's right, say, would you mind opening the trunk? Protocol again." Bolton said.

Alice popped the trunk, Bolton went around to it and there were indeed shopping bags. Lush, Sephora, Bath & Body Works, JCPenney, Barnes And Noble, a few things from John Cabela's. Bolton poked around, finding nothing suspicious. He closed the trunk and walked back to the window.

"Alright Ms. Cullen, Mr. Cullen you're cleared to go." Bolton said.

"Thank you, you have a wonderful evening officer!" Alice said, driving past him and the officer on the right waving traffic.

"You think of everything." Edward said.

"I just had to come, my pictures didn't show me specifics. Just Victoria. But you're so reckless Edward." Alice said.

Edward grimaced, pulling another bullet out of his side. "Can you see her? Victoria?"

"I could, my pictures went blank. You know what that means." Alice said, pushing the GTO to 150. "Buckle up."

Edward nodded and buckled his seatbelt. Alice clicked on the radio and "Frankenstein" by The Edgar Winter Group came out of the speakers. Alice turned the music up as loud as it would go and burned the road up on her mad dash back to Forks.

Victoria had made good time, she could have the human dead and be back before the faggot had been finished off. She crossed into the woods, leaping from the trees. Beneath her was an old native american man, his rifle was held limply in his hands. Victoria looked around, about fifty feet away there was a somewhat younger white guy. He was stepping slowly around the brush, looking. Victoria looked down at the old man, they had to be looking for her. She dropped down behind him, silent as death. She reached out to take his head off and the old bastard moved faster than she would've thought possible from his completely relaxed posture, he didn't even fire the rifle, he swung it, like a club.

Victoria couldn't believe the nerve of the old bastard. Couldn't believe he could be that quick, but still too slow. She caught the rifle and snatched it from his hands, then slammed a solid punch into his stomach. The old man grunted and took a few steps back, then threw a punch. Victoria caught it and punched him in the chin, then kicked his legs out from beneath him. The old man hit the ground and rolled, and then he was back, throwing punches. He was pretty fast, not at all fast enough, but still impressive for a human. But she had business to take care of, no time for digression anymore, and she punched the human in the chest. His heartbeat was irregular already, and the punch made it even worse. The old man fell to his knees, clutching his chest, sweat popping out on his forehead. Victoria knelt down, after Jane it was always nice to feel in control again.

"Impressive. For a human." Victoria said.

The old man smiled, Victoria could smell death on his breath and he was still smiling. "Impressive for a distraction suckhead."

Victoria's ability pinged and she stood and turned, stepping through the brush was a gigantic black wolf. It's electric blue eyes glowing in the darkness, it's footsteps incredibly quiet, she never would have heard it and if not for her ability she wouldn't even have known it was there. Was it a lycanthrope? James had claimed to have seen one, but he never described what they looked like. This thing just looked like illustrations she'd seen of Fenrir in books. It's ears were standing up, it's fangs were bared. Kill it? Was it possible? Victoria took a step back, and her ability pinged again. She turned to see two wolves stepping out of the brush, one was chestnut colored, it's eyes were a red that seemed to glow and it was equally huge, alongside it was another one, khaki colored, it's eyes glowing yellow.

The real thing.

Kill it.

We can. I want to.

It hurt him. Tear it apart.

The chestnut wolf charged, it's fangs bared. It's stride made the ground shake, and yet it was far too fast. Far too agile, Victoria had nanoseconds at most to dodge it's fangs. The black wolf was swiping at her with it's claws, it tore a tree to pieces. She tried to push it away and couldn't, all she felt was incredibly thick fur. She ducked again as the chestnut wolf swung it's paws in her direction. They moved around her, charging and darting, tearing apart bushes and ripping up the dirt. The khaki colored wolf circled slowly. Waiting for an opportunity.

The human, Victoria could hear the other human calling out. The wolves stopped and listened and Victoria took the opportunity to cut and run, and they tore after her. The old man stood up and leaned against a tree, his breathing labored and shallow. His ticker was giving up but that was alright, he'd finally gotten his shot. Finally had his chance. The real thing, and it was as glorious as he imagined it would be. When Charlie arrived Harry was slumped against the tree, a smile on his face.

The wolves were thundering through the woods, chasing the parasite. Victoria's fear was on the same level as it had been when the little monster had beaten her. What were these things? Her ability pinged and she dropped into a slide as a gigantic paw swiped through the air and tore a tree down, she gained her feet again and a bear and another wolf had joined the pursuit. They were too fast, too numerous and she had never seen anything like it before. She'd be lucky to escape, let alone complete what Jane wanted her to do. Then an arm in a long-sleeved cotton shirt clotheslined her, nearly tearing her head off and knocking her feet completely from under her. She hit the ground hard and her ability pinged and she rolled back to her feet, bouncing off of a tree into the air as the caveman slammed into the ground with both feet. She landed on the branch of a tree and there they were, one of the ones Jane wanted dead, the big tittied one. And the gorilla, and a blonde guy who had to be Jane's brother. He looked almost exactly like her. There were two more vamps in the tree. One of them was another tall blonde and older than the rest, the other was a short brunette who looked enraged, 5 vampires and 5 monsters. She needed her soldiers, she couldn't manage this alone.

"Howdy red, mighty brave of you to try what you were gonna try." Her brother called out.

"I'd say mighty stupid." The gorilla said.

"Very stupid. Let's kill her, I don't feel like hearing any gloating from them tonight." Big tits said.

Victoria laughed "That faggot couldn't catch me, and that little monster couldn't catch me. No one can, I'm the gingerbread man."

Her ability pinged and Victoria dropped from the tree as one of the wolves sheared the branch she was standing on in half. She landed on the back of the bear and cartwheeled off. The bear moved quickly and dragged its claws across the front of her shirt, tearing it off. Victoria hopped away and turned, she started running again and she could hear them, all of them chasing. Her ability pinged and she cut a sharp left, she leapt from the cliff and dove into the water below.

Everyone chasing her stopped on the cliff, looking into the water. Leah shifted back.

"My father!" Leah shouted, turning and running back.

Jasper grabbed her arm "Charlie's back there, you can't go just yet."

"Let go of me parasite! I need to go and check on my father!" Leah said, throwing Jasper's arm off and running back into the woods.

Jasper started to chase after her and the others stepped in front of him. They shifted to their human forms. Rachel, Jacob, Embry and Jared stood there, stark naked and unashamed.

"If he dies it's on you parasites." Rachel said.

"You're the reason red is here, you brought her here." Jacob said. "You're on a pill if you think we're going to let you go and fuck with Leah right now."

"If y'all don't get the hell out my way." Jasper said, taking a step.

Jacob shifted back, his fangs were bared, his ears standing straight up, his snout was curled. His front right paw dragged across the ground over and over again.

"Do you think you scare us suckhead? Do you think you can scare the Omega?" Rachel asked, putting her hand on Jacob's side. "We'll tear you apart as quickly as we would have torn her apart. Run back to your coffin, or wherever the fuck it is you go."

Jasper started to take another step when Carlisle put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Our conflict is with her, not them. Calm yourself Jasper."

Jasper looked at Carlisle, then back at the still growling Jacob and the grave faced Rachel. "Alright, I'll let it go. But next time you shift to threaten me you'd better be ready to fight boy."

Jacob laughed that clacking laugh, and then howled, the rest of them shifted back and turned to run into the brush.

"Carlisle… hey is Harry going to make it?" Emmett asked.

Carlisle shook his head "No, the stress of the fight, his already weak heart. He's since passed."

"Fuck." Jasper said, kicking the ground.

"I'm officially livid." Esme said. "I was pissed off before, now I'm livid. How did she slip away like that. I nearly took her head off."

"She killed him. She killed him and we couldn't catch her. He volunteered, he wanted to do this." Rosalie said. "She has to die, she won't stop. She won't stop until she kills Bella."

"Edward. Has anyone seen Edward?" Carlisle said.

"Not today, he was gone before we got home, ain't seen Alice either." Emmett said.

Jasper pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Alice. "Angel?" Jasper said into the phone when Alice answered.

"Best friend! I'm on the way back with Edward now. Did Victoria show up?" Alice said.

"She did, caused a stir and took off. You sure she ain't got an ability?" Jasper asked, walking through the woods with everyone else.

"She didn't use one when I beat her up, she just ran." Alice said.

"Did she attack Ed?" Jasper said.

"He's saying she just ran too. Maybe that's her ability!" Alice said.

"Maybe, we had her outnumbered and outmatched and she still got away. If her ability is what we're thinkin' it is, what kinda coward ability is that?" Jasper said.

"I don't know, but we'll be home in 40 minutes, we can all gang up on Edward for being reckless!" Alice said.

Jasper laughed "Alright sugar sounds like a plan." and he hung up.

"A strictly defensive ability. It will make her difficult to catch, but simple to defeat once cornered. We will travel to Seattle and engage the enemy, put an end to her threat immediately." Carlisle said.

"Damn straight!" Esme said. "And I'm coming this time, I refuse to not be involved again while people are being killed."

"We wouldn't dream of not involving you Esme." Rosalie said.

Emmett laughed "You sure did miss the last adventure didn't you Esme."

"I'm not one for being left out, if my family is fighting, I'm fighting. And we are going to need all hands on deck for this one." Esme said.

Esme, Emmett and Rosalie walked ahead, talking. Jasper and Carlisle eased back, walking slower than the rest.

"Well, what do you make of it Carlisle?" Jasper asked.

"I haven't fought in a very long time, I'd like to hope I don't hold you all back." Carlisle said.

Jasper grinned "Ole Nikolai still has that scar you gave him, didn't bother to let his eye grow back huh?"

"You were a witness for that?" Carlisle said.

"Nearly everyone saw that, I remember they had to stop the fight before you killed each other." Jasper said.

"Correction, they had to stop the fight before I killed him." Carlisle said, squeezing Jasper's shoulder before catching up and taking Esme's hand in his. Jasper shook his head and grinned again, then caught up with the rest.

Alice slowed down driving after Jasper's call, she was still driving like a supernatural being with incredible reflexes and a telepath in the passenger seat, but she wasn't going the 150 she was burning out of Seattle. Occasionally she would reach out and punch Edward in the shoulder for being, in her words "a stupid selfish asshole who acts like he has a deathwish." After the 6th punch Edward had to say something.

"Ok Alice, I get it, you're mad at me." Edward said.

"Very mad! You and Jasper have to stop doing that. You have people that care about you, stop acting like you want to die." Alice said, punching Edward again.

"It's not me I want to die." Edward muttered.

"You sure act like it is. I'm not going to let either of you kill yourselves, and you need to stop behaving like you want to. You're sitting in your brother's car digging bullets out of yourself, what about that is right to you Edward?" Alice asked

"She's my problem, I have to take care of it." Edward said.

"She's OUR problem you selfish shithead!" Alice said, punching Edward in the arm again. "She nearly killed you tonight, she was counting on you to do what you did. She know's how you'll behave and she rolled the dice and they came up Edward Cullen is a stupid asshole who doesn't care if he drives his sister mad with worry. And Jasper didn't sound like he had seen the news, so imagine how everyone is going to react when they learn you were shot a million times, imagine how Bella is going to react?!"

"I was doing it for her, to keep her safe. To keep everyone safe." Edward said.

"Not at the cost of your life, Edward if I hadn't been there then what? What would you have done? Eventually you would have exposed yourself, or god forbid killed one of them. You're too smart to be such a dummy!" Alice said, punching him again.

Edward grinned "Love you Alice."

"I love you too stupid, don't make me worry like that again. We'll get her and Bella will be safe." Alice said, and instead of punching Edward she rubbed his back. "I love you a lot big brother. Stop trying to kill yourself please, and even if you're not stop making me feel like you are."

"I'm sorry, really… it's just… I have to do it." Edward said.

"I get it, we have to protect humans. It's one of my favorite things to do, but getting yourself killed doing it isn't protecting anyone, it's just you being a jerk." Alice said. "You can't make that girl fall in love with you and then die two days later asshole."

Edward laughed "I know I shouldn't be laughing, but that was kind of funny."

Alice looked at him and smiled "It was wasn't it?"

"It would be unfair to her to gain her heart and then get myself killed playing superhero wouldn't it?" Edward said.

"Imagine the obiturary on that one. Local asshole gets himself killed pursuing weak vampire." Alice said.

"You don't have a high opinion of her do you?" Edward asked.

Alice made the left turn into town, "Why would I? She was so weak, it was kind of sad."

"Maybe you're just strong." Edward said, turning the radio on. "Does Jasper listen to anything other than classic rock?"

"Blue Oyster Cult is legendary, if you weren't one of my favorites I'd pull over and kick you out right now… in fact, get out. You're walking home." Alice said, pulling over.

"Are you serious?" Edward asked.

"Very! Get out, think about your bad behavior on your walk home!" Alice said.

"It's 4 miles!" Edward said.

"Well if you walk like a human it will give you plenty of time to think, out!" Alice said, leaning over and opening the door.

Edward got out and closed the door "I can't believe you'd treat a man who was shot like this."

"You'll be fine, do you have my thermos?" Alice asked.

"Yes, and I'm going to throw it in the river on the walk back." Edward said.

"You'd better not!" Alice said, and she pulled off.

Edward watched her pull off, he looked around himself, he was somewhere downtown. He shoved his hands in his pockets, the thermos jingling from his pants loops and started walking. He was halfway home when his phone started ringing, he looked at it, Esme was calling him.

"Hello Esme." Edward said, answering.

"You fucking idiot! You nearly got yourself killed! Are you insane?!" Esme shouted.

"I suppose you've been watching television." Edward said.

"Fucking right! There's a very nice shot of you jumping from one building to the next and disappearing! And another very nice shot of you stumbling through the city bleeding like a stuck pig! You could have died tonight!" Esme shouted again.

"Any shots of my face?" Edward asked.

"No, and that's the only good thing to come out of this mess! I'm going to kick your ass when you get home!" Esme said, and she hung up.

Edward groaned, when Esme promised an ass kicking an ass kicking was usually delivered. He'd rather fight another group of SWAT than have to deal with Esme. He picked up his pace, might as well bite the bullet and get it over with early. It was late enough where she might stop punching him before the sun came up.

Perhaps because they'd all known each other for so long, Edward found their reactions to the situation somewhat predictable. Emmett and Jasper thought it was amazing, and they could not resist mocking Edward by rewinding and replaying his daring escape from the police. Emmett found it particularly entertaining when he cleared the department store into the bank. Rosalie wasn't at all surprised that her idiot brother managed to get shot a million times, and Esme spent 45 minutes throwing him around the gym until she was sufficiently calm enough to yell at him for another 45 minutes about how dangerous and stupid what he did was. Carlisle gave Edward a gentle reproof and like usual it was the worst thing in the world, but Edward still managed to get a smile out of it when Carlisle complimented him on his bravery, only to immediately turn around and reprimand him for his recklessness.

And his mood was brought down even further with the knowledge that Victoria had killed Harry, that he had volunteered to go with the kids and help root out the parasite that was coming to kill his best friend's child. But hearing that there had been a casualty strengthened Edward's resolve to catch and kill Victoria, in Rosalie's words, no one was allowed to kill those smug bastards but them.

Edward was sitting on the couch with Emmett and Jasper watching the news before him and Alice had to leave for school. And Edward was irritated that he was the news of the day.

"Man, you run goofy as hell." Emmett said, laughing.

"Look, look he stumbles right there. What'd you trip over a bullet?" Jasper asked.

"I'm so glad you two can take pleasure in my pain." Edward said.

"Gotta get it out of something runt, we just got out of a situation with that lunatic James, and now we've got a problem with his crazy ass girlfriend." Emmett said. "Goddamn, they were really shooting the shit out of you. You're bleeding all over the place."

"Armor piercing rounds, they thought I was wearing kevlar of some kind." Edward said, standing up and grabbing his backpack.

"Have fun at school Ed, don't forget to throw your set." Emmett said, and Jasper laughed loudly.

"Funny. Splitting my sides Emmett." Edward said, grabbing his keys off the hook and walking outside. Alice was sitting outside, her black and red hoodie pulled up. Her small black boots on her feet. "Ready?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, I was just thinking." Alice said.

Edward sat down next to her "Kind of missing the little snot nose huh." Edward said.

"He was a good kid, a really good kid. I hate Victoria." Alice said. "I hated James for hurting you, those humans and Bella, and I hate her for killing Harry. I should've killed her when I had the chance. I had her Edward and I let her escape. Harry is dead because of me. Because I didn't take her seriously enough."

"You aren't the reason Harry is dead, you didn't kill him." Edward said.

"I might as well have. I good as did not taking care of Victoria when I had the chance. She was right there and I let her escape. I thought she was slow because I beat her so easy, but when she used her stupid ability it was like chasing the wind and I let her get away and she killed a good man. A really good man." Alice said, putting her head on Edward's shoulder. "I messed up so bad brother."

Edward rubbed Alice's shoulder "You didn't mess up sister, you did everything right. You did what you could. You were right last night, we'll get her. We'll get her and we'll avenge Harry."

Alice sniffled "Sometimes I'm sad I can't cry."

Edward laughed "Me too, come on, let's get the day over with."

Edward held out his hand and helped Alice up, they walked over to the Camaro and got in. Edward drove slowly, listening to the most classic rock he owned, which happened to be After The Rain by Muddy Waters. Edward loved the record, and it soothed him and Alice both. They made it to school as early as they ever did, which was usually right before first period started. Edward parked and Alice got out, "Coming in with me?" she asked.

Edward shook his head "No, going to wait for Bella. I haven't seen her."

Edward turned down the music and stuck his foot out of the window. He leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. "We've got to stop meeting like this, I'm starting to feel like I might be going crazy. Maybe you don't exist to anyone but me."

Jane turned her head and laughed, Renata was sitting in the backseat, her gaze blank as usual. Renata was dressed like a ten year old, and Jane was dressed like she was in her early twenties, in her N.E.R.D t-shirt and tight denim jeans, wearing two heavy bangles on her wrists. Earrings shaped like hearts with arrows through them dangled from her ears. She looked like an incredibly attractive college sophomore.

"Maybe I've got a little crush on you Eddie." Jane said "Maybe I like talking to you because you're such a cute little thing."

"I don't see it, you're terrifying Jane Whitlock." Edward said. He sat up in his seat, "I was saying it before in jest, but now I'm saying it seriously, you're incredibly off putting. You scare me. You're dangerous, and I can't help feeling like you're a threat to our family."

"Why would you go and hurt my feelings like that Edward?" Jane said, and she pouted.

"What do you want." Edward said.

"You know what I want. It's been months, and you haven't even made a move to take me to your house. I want to see him. He's mine." Jane said.

"He's not yours." Edward said.

Jane leaned over, she leaned over until she was in Edward's face. She reached into his shirt and put her fingernails on his chest, she dug in. "I could yank your goddamn heart out right here. You're trying to keep him from me and he's mine. Don't you understand that? He's mine, he belongs with me."

"He belongs with us, I already told you to go and talk to him yourself." Edward said.

Jane squeezed Edward's chest harder, her nails breaking skin, blood leaked out sluggishly, staining his white v-neck. "You are really tryin' my patience, do you think you'd have your nice little relationship with Bella if it weren't for my kindness? I'll kill you in this fucking car, give him to me. I can't wait anymore, I can't and I won't. He's mine!"

"Your facade is slipping Jane." Edward said.

Jane licked the side of Edward's face "It is, I want my brother. And maybe I want you now, you're strong, and you're brave. And I like that. Maybe I want you and my brother. Maybe Lord Carlisle will see to it that I get you and him, and that big tittied gal, I like her too."

Edward's radar was pinging, and he couldn't pick up a single thought in Jane's head. He had no idea what she was thinking, but he knew what he was thinking, that every Imperial was a psychopath.

"You like collecting huh Jane." Edward said.

"I like collecting, abilities, people. Renata is one of mine, I brought her to the Lords. They were gracious enough to let me keep her." She licked Edward's ear "You're so cute, I see why she likes you."

"Stay away from her, don't make the same mistake James did." Edward said.

"Oooh, muy macho. Don't worry your pretty little head, I ain't interested in Bella, I got interest in my brother. And now I got interest in you, you cute little thing." Jane said, and she reached down and grabbed Edward's crotch. "That's nice. I wouldn't have expected that."

"I wouldn't expect you to." Edward said, other cars were pulling in, the parking lot was going to start filling soon. "Are you finished molesting me? If so I have a class in 20 minutes."

"Don't want to be seen in a car with a hot blonde? Don't be such a square Eddie." Jane said.

Edward was leaning against the door, "I don't want to be seen in a car with a psychotic blonde."

"Where do you get off calling me crazy?" Jane squeezed Edward's chest. "You're tryin' me, and I don't like being tried you hear me?"

Edward looked out the window, and Jane's temper flared, she grabbed his chin and forced his face toward hers "You mind me when I'm talkin' to you boy."

"There goes that facade again Jane." Edward said.

Jane caught herself and laughed, "Mmmm, yeah, yeah you're brave Eddie. I'm gonna let you have your school day, we'll talk more later." she reached into the backseat and put her hand on Renata's knee, and they both disappeared as Bella was knocking on Edward's door.

Edward sighed and rolled down his window, "I know I'm an idiot."

Bella's eyes were red rimmed from crying, she looked frustrated and frazzled. "Yes! You're a huge idiot! Edward you got shot! You're in a gang! You beat up 8 cops!"

"Bella, relax, it's ok. I'm ok." Edward said.

"You are not ok! I saw you on TV! Last night and this morning! And Harry died last night, he had a heart attack! My dad is freaking out, and I am too!" Bella said, "Get out, get out right now and hug me!"

Edward zipped up his jacket to hide the bloodstains from Jane's fingers and got out of the car, he hugged Bella and kissed her forehead "I know dear, I know I worried you, I know I was an idiot. I'm sorry."

Bella buried her face in his chest "You really were, you really really were. They shot you so much, are you sure you're ok?"

Edward nodded, "Most of the bullets passed clean through, and the ones that didn't are gone now. I'm fine, really. I'm sorry to hear about Harry."

"Don't play me." Bella said, squeezing Edward closer "Him and my dad were looking for the "animals", and she showed up didn't she? She showed up while you were getting shot a million times. Harry got killed fighting her off to protect me."

"He didn't die trying to protect you, he died trying to protect all of us." Edward said.

"My dad is really broken up, first James and now this, he's soldiering on, but he was like a ghost this morning. It's awful, I want to kill Victoria myself." Bella said.

"She'll be dead soon enough love, I promise." Edward said.

"You should have come over this morning, you should've let me know you were ok sooner. I was so worried." Bella said, stepping back. "Don't make me worry like that again."

"I won't, I won't make you worry like that again. Come on." Edward said, walking hand in hand with Bella into school. Edward gave Bella a kiss at the door and went to his locker, to his great surprise she followed him.

"You never follow me to my locker." Edward said.

"I haven't seen you in a few days, I want to be attached at the hip." Bella said.

"Attached at the hip huh?" Edward said, opening his locker.

Bella looked inside, there was actually very little inside of Edward's locker, and what was there were just photos. A polaroid of him, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie and Esme on a sofa, another polaroid of him, Alice and Rosalie swimming, another polaroid of Emmett and Jasper chopping wood, a single picture of Carlisle sitting at a desk, a picture of Esme and Rosalie at what looked like a Neiman Marcus, a picture of Carlisle and Jasper sitting on a roof somewhere, a picture of Emmett standing in front of the Chevelle when it was brand new. Bella was actually kind of disappointed, it was all so… normal.

"I have to ask, why do you always look so crestfallen whenever I do something normal?" Edward said, throwing his backpack into the locker.

"Because you're so far past normal, so I kind of expect everything you do to be past normal." Bella said.

Edward laughed and closed the locker, "Aren't you going to take your jacket off?" Bella asked.

"No, I don't have any reason to." Edward said.

"You probably just have half healed bullet wounds you're hiding." Bella said, shaking her head "Though I do think it's sweet you have family photos in there."

Edward laughed and opened his locker again, "Look at the pictures, look closely."

Bella reexamined the pictures, and she noticed that oftentimes their clothes would be radically different from one photo to the next. "Holy shit." Bella said.

"Years apart some of these photos are. This one - Edward pulled a picture out that was him, Carlisle and Esme at a museum - was taken in 1982, shortly after Alice had purchased a camera of her own. And this one - Edward grabbed another picture, this one showing Jasper and Rosalie sitting in front of an NES - was taken in 1987." Edward said.

"Do you have any more of these?" Bella said, her eyes wide.

"I'll show you some when school let's out, if Charlie doesn't need you at home." Edward said.

Bella nodded "He'll need me, and I'll want to be there for him. I don't understand how Harry could die though, how he could even have heart trouble. You said shape shifters are really tough."

"They are, Harry wasn't a shifter. He had some of the strength, some of the speed, but he was still very human. Had he been a full shifter he would have crushed Victoria. His entire generation was passed over, I don't know why but they were." Edward said, sighing. "He didn't have their accelerated healing either, he was simply a man stronger and faster than most men, but not nearly capable of beating a full fledged vampire, would that he was."

"Could Jake and the rest do it?" Bella asked.

"I don't know Victoria's combat ability, Alice says she isn't particularly good at fighting. And I don't know if any of them are trained in fighting, after they shifted I'm sure they could tear Victoria to shreds, in their human forms I don't know. Harry's father Graham was lethal in both human and bear form, as were Jimmy and William." Edward said.

They were walking to the library, Bella didn't have a first period, and Edward came and went from his as he pleased. "So, what about werewolves? Are they like that too?" Bella asked.

Edward shook his head "Lycanthropes are only truly dangerous for the first five nights leading up to the full moon, and the next five nights afterward. Other than that they're like shifters, somewhat stronger and faster than a normal human, but once again, not enough to best a vampire. It's another thing that made Khalil, Arkady and Bellinger so dangerous, in that they could induce the transformation at any time."

"So what? They could turn into giant monsters in broad daylight?" Bella said, holding the library door open for Edward.

"At any time, we fought them in the middle of summer, Dusseldorf, Germany 1973." Edward said.

"Holy shit." Bella said, sitting down with Edward at one of the tables in the library. "Did the shifters come with?"

"The shifters were why we were there in the first place. We take it upon ourselves to protect humans, and as I understand it the shifters were only in place to protect their tribe. This town. William and Jimmy took that further in an attempt to protect the world." Edward said, putting Bella's feet in his lap.

"What about your government?" Bella asked. "Have the shifters ever tried attacking them?"

"No, they consider it a necessary evil. The shifters don't kill Imperials, don't bother Imperials. The Imperium is far too powerful, and vampires are so awful and destructive that we need to be kept in check. It'd be worse for humanity at large if they weren't there." Edward said.

"I bet… you make vampires sound really dumb. Like a bunch of big super powered cats that are really really dumb." Bella said.

Edward laughed "That's a pretty appropriate comparison, vampires are generally little more than superpowered toddlers. I dislike the Imperium not because of their rules, but because most governors and the rulers themselves are sociopaths. Most other vampires dislike them because they dare impose rules, that they have the nerve to tell them what to do."

"Are they really that bad?" Bella asked. "I mean, have you spent much time with them?"

"I've met a few governors, and my father spent tens of years in the company of the Lords themselves. They are really that bad Bella, they're pragmatists, but absolutely not kind. They take the old adage tough, but fair to it's logical conclusion." Edward said.

"I'm glad my vampire is such a sweetheart then." Bella said.

"I'm glad my human is so wonderful." Edward said, pecking Bella on the lips.

Bella was looking down at the front of Edward's jacket, "You're bleeding!" she whispered urgently.

Edward looked down, and he was in fact bleeding. Blood was leaking from the spots that Jane's fingernails had dug into him. It should have healed, it shouldn't still be bleeding. Edward stood up, "I'll be back."

"Hey wait!" Bella called before Edward was leaving the library. He ran to the boys room on the third floor and locked the door, he unzipped his jacket and pulled his blood soaked shirt off, the wounds Jane gave him weren't healing. They were steadily leaking, his stomach was bloodied, his chest was bloodied, the top of his blue jeans were bloodied.

He put his shirt and jacket back on and left the bathroom, he ran back down to the first floor and outside to his Camaro. He popped the trunk and rifled through it, he grabbed a spare t-shirt and ran back to the third floor restroom. He locked the door again and cleaned his chest and stomach with paper towels. Dug quite deeply in his chest were five wounds in a circle. The bullet wounds had healed, not even leaving scars, but these were not. Was it another borrowed ability?

"Lycanthrope blood fingernail polish, it's pretty good stuff." Jane said from behind him.

Edward jumped and turned around, Jane was standing behind him with Renata sitting on the top of the door of one of the toilet stalls kicking her small feet. Jane had changed clothes, a black t-shirt with a picture of Johnny Cash tucked into a tight black skirt, her garter leggings showing quite a bit of skin, her tennis shoes were black chuck taylor all-star.

"What? What blood?" Edward said, backing up toward the sink.

"Lycanthrope blood fingernail polish. One of my boys made it for me. I told you we'd talk later didn't I?" Jane said.

"Yeah, later. Not after one class period." Edward said.

"I saw him. After I left this morning I went to your house. And I watched." Jane walked closer, and she put her hands on Edward's bare chest, and leaned in close. "I watched him so much when I was a little girl. From the age of 3 to when he left I watched him, and I watched him today. Did you know the last time I saw him he was tearing vampires apart in the colosseum, his hands chained, his feet chained. He matched Nikolai, he matched Garrett, he matched Santiago and Kenzo, he matched Hyakkimaru, he matched Lucille, he matched mistress Arezoo, he matched Travis, he matched Jean-Pierre. He matched the greatest fighters the Lord's sent to test their mettle against him. And it was so exciting, he was so exciting. He still is exciting, watching him leave the house today was exciting." Jane's eyes seemed to glow an even more burning golden, as if they were glass portholes through which a fire was burning.

"Jane." Edward said.

Jane put her finger on his lips "Don't talk, listen. Listen. Even though he excited me so much today, there was a problem as I watched him leave. Him and that big tittied bitch, his "sister". And Grape Ape. I watched them leave. I saw him laughing with them. Balor doesn't laugh. He doesn't. What have you done to him? What have you taken from him?"

"Balor? What?" Edward said, his hands clutching the sink tightly.

Jane leaned in closer and Edward could smell her, smell the fresh human blood pumping through her veins. And her scent, she smelled like spearmint. Like the freshest spearmint Edward had ever smelled. "Balor, the king of demons. My brother is Balor, he is the demon king. And demon's don't laugh, demons don't laugh! What weakness did you put inside of the king of demons. It was her wasn't it? She started it. You people make him pretend, he doesn't have to pretend with me, he can be a demon with me and I'll love him just the same. Can you say that?!"

At Jane's last exclamation the mirrors behind Edward's head cracked, as did the glass in the windows. Edward winced but did not cower, even as a drop of blood leaked out of each of his ears.

"You're out of your mind Jane, and he'll never be yours. Whatever you think Jasper is isn't who he is. What we put inside of him is taking out the poison YOUR people put inside. It's not what we put in him, it's what we took out." Edward said, his eyes defiant.

Jane's punched her fist through the wall by Edward's head, "I should kill you. I should kill you for that. You think you can look at me like that boy? You think you can look at ME like that?!"

"You're quick." Edward said. "I almost didn't see that punch."

"I'm a killer baby, I've been a killer for a very long time." Jane said, and she put the tip of her index finger against Edward's chest and slowly pushed it into his skin. Edward gritted his teeth against the pain, but still didn't scream. "You're tough, yes indeed." and she pushed further, her finger sinking into his chest up to the second knuckle.

"You know who taught me how to be a killer? Balor. And I want him back, I want my brother." Jane said, blood running down her hand to patter on the floor.

"I'm not giving you anything, I already told you what you needed to do." Edward said through gritted teeth.

Jane slid her finger out, and Edward clutched the brand new hole in his chest, his blood running over his hands. Jane gazed at her bloody finger, "He spilt so much of this, and I missed all of it. While he was running around Mexico with that spic whore, I was learning, training, and getting stronger. While the Lords were sending him to tear the world apart, I was still getting stronger, so I could stand by his side. And now, NOW that I'm ready for him you tell me I can't have him. And that's not how this works." Jane dragged her bloody finger across her mouth. "Disgusting. Look what you people put inside of him."

"If you even think about hurting Alice, I'll kill you myself." Edward said.

"No peeking you naughty boy." Jane said, sealing her thoughts again. "I let myself get mad and slipped up and you peeked. You're pretty quick yourself. And why would I want to harm the little retard, what would that do for me? He loves that little freak."

"She's not a freak, she's his sister." Edward said.

Jane jammed her finger through Edward's cheek, it broke through the skin on both sides and she yanked her finger through his mouth, against his every impulse Edward shouted at the bright flare of agony as the skin holding his cheeks together separated. He fell to one knee clutching his mouth. Jane knelt down and grabbed his hair, she lifted his head roughly. "I'm his sister you little cocksucker, I'll kill you. I'm going to kill you right now."

"Don't see it happening, shake the magic eight ball again." Edward said through his mangled mouth.

Jane shuddered, "I could shake this magic eight ball all fucking day. You're gonna fuck me one day you little deviant you, it's the only reason I'm not killing you right now."

"I thought it was my impeccable singing voice." Edward said, and Jane dropped his head and stood up.

"So tough, you're kinda turning me on. You ever fuck in a bathroom boy?" Jane said, and then she laughed. "Get down here Renata, we're leaving until the next time I feel like breaking this little boy."

Renata hopped down from the door and grabbed Jane's hand "Clean up this mess, I can't stand a dirty room." Jane said disappearing with Renata.

Edward got slowly to his feet, he immediately felt light-headed due to the poison in the fingernail polish that was coursing through his body and fell against the bathroom wall. He slid down until he was on his ass, leaving a trail of blood on the fresh white tile. He coughed and hacked out a glob of blood.

His wounds would heal as soon as the blood ran it's course, but school was out for the day. Edward stumbled to his feet. The bathroom was a mess, blood everywhere, the windows and mirrors cracked. He scanned, second period was halfway done, he had time to escape. He texted Alice, telling her to meet him at the car. He texted Bella, explained that he was headed out early, family stuff. He stumbled from the bathroom, he opened a janitorial closet and grabbed a rag and a bottle of cleaner. He stumbled back to the bathroom and cleaned up the splashes and smears of blood. He stuffed the rag into his pocket and ran hot water over the cleaner bottle and left it in the sink. He hopped onto the window sill and opened the window, he dropped down and ran to the parking lot.

Alice was sitting on the hood of the Camaro. "What happened to you!"

"I'll tell you inside, get in." Edward said, unlocking his door.

Alice got in and Edward started the car, while he was driving to the house explaining his run-in with Jane, and what she had been doing to him, Bella was sitting in her third period class freaking out over his bleeding chest. And now he's sending text messages saying he had family stuff to handle. Family stuff my flat white ass Bella thought, she was sitting in the middle of class having damn near a panic attack worrying about her stupid jackass. The rest of the day was a slow grind, and she was visibly distracted at lunch, to the point where everyone kept asking her what was wrong. She was glad she had driven herself to school, she could go right over to the house as soon as school let out.

3:35 came slow, and Bella was the first out of class and rushing to her truck. Angela and Jessica caught up with her right after she had started it.

"Hey, where are you going? We're kind of worried about you!" Jessica said.

"I gotta get to Edward, he's having some serious problems right now." Bella said, "I'll catch up with you guys around 7 if that's o.k?"

"Yeah, call me and we'll threeway. Tell asshole we said hello." Jessica said.

"Bye Bella, good luck!" Angela said.

Bella turned on her tape deck, she didn't even notice the music pouring out of the speakers so committed was she to getting to Edward. She had a pretty good idea where his house was, it was out of the way but that was alright, she had plenty of time to get there and fret over him before Charlie got home from work. He had told her that he healed slower because of his diet, but the wounds always healed. That's why he was wearing the stupid jacket, he had been hurt and didn't want her to see. Stupid jackass, he could have - and Bella was swerving off the road to avoid the man standing there. Her truck smashing into a tree, she was thrown forward, banging her head against the steering wheel and opening a gash. She blacked out briefly.

When she woke up her horn was going off, she was leaned against it, her forehead leaking blood. She reached up and felt the cut, it felt deep enough. She unclipped her seatbelt and stumbled out of the truck, falling hard on the ground. She sat up and knuckled blood out of her eye, supporting herself against her truck she slid up and looked around. She was somewhere near the house, and close to the bluffs. She stumbled to the road, reaching into her pocket. Her cell had been smashed to pieces, Edward's house was two or three miles from where she was, she could walk it if her head would stop spinning.

She looked to her left and there was the man she had swerved to avoid, not man, boy. A teenaged boy, pale faced, his hair short and faded, his eyes a glowing gold. Vampire. It was a vampire. Fucking Victoria. Bella turned and lurched into a stumbling run, she had made it a good quarter mile before the vampire caught up, pushing her into the woods. She hit the ground hard, sliding on the mulch.

"I didn't think it'd be that easy, Victoria says he never let's you out of his sight. She's so paranoid about this." the boy said.

Bella stood up, backing away "Yeah she should be." and she turned to run and the boy was tripping her, she fell on her stomach. "Guess you're here to kill me huh?" Bella said through gritted teeth, the pain making sweat pop out on her forehead, thick blood running into her eye from her cut.

The boy laughed "Surveillance, Victoria ain't tell me to do it. But I wanted to know what all the hassle was about, the rest of us are dumbasses, don't know about sunlight not bothering us. They're on some Nosferatu shit."

Bella got to her feet and started running again, and the vampire boy called out "She's gonna be pissed."

Bella had made it another fifteen feet into the woods when the boy was pushing her to the ground again. "Yeah, she's gonna be pissed. She wanted to kill you herself, but jesus that cut on your head smells good. Like, I'm not even hungry, but whenever I smell blood it's like I gotta eat you know?"

Bella got up to run again and the boy let her, he was playing with her, he knew she was screwed, and he was enjoying himself. Enjoying the hunt. She ran as hard as she could, hoping she could get within range of Edward's telepathy. Alice was no help, her pictures could only show her people she had previously seen, and the ability wouldn't work on her anyway. Victoria knew nothing about this, so Alice couldn't see this even if she wanted to. Bella ran until she was at an empty clearing, and the vampire boy was already ahead of her, standing opposite her about thirty feet away.

"You move pretty good, not nearly good enough though. This vampire shit is amazing, before all this I didn't have nothing. Now I got everything." the boy said, and he closed the distance, rustling leaves and blowing Bella's hair and shirt back.

"You still don't have anything, you're not getting away with this." Bella said.

"Maybe, but you'll be dried up and in my veins in the next…" and he looked at his watch. "Fifteen seconds."

He leaned in to strike when he noticed Bella's eyes go wide, he turned his head around and there were three gigantic wolves creeping out of the brush. Their fur appeared to be crackling with electricity, the one on the far right was the color of cream it's eyes a bright and blazing red, the one on the left was black as tar it's eyes were a pale blue, and the one in the middle was khaki colored with yellow eyes. The tar colored one was at least 6 feet long and just as tall, the cream colored one was somewhat smaller, and the khaki colored wolf was the size of a clydesdale horse, Their fangs were bared, huge white razor sharp teeth coated in thick saliva, thick and jagged claws protruding from giant paws. The vampire boy's jaw dropped, he lowered his hand, completely flat footed.

Oh it's fucking dead.

Leave it to Bella to be a danger magnet huh Jake?

No one hurts the other, other musketeer. No one. Ever. Kill it.

Can I try? Still getting used to this, I want to take it out.

Embry, back him up. I'll check on Bella.

The tar colored wolf and the cream colored wolf charged, they were as fast as the vampire, the vampire looked at Bella briefly, it's eyes wide, before it ran full tilt past her. The wolves each passed Bella on her sides, their stride shaking the ground beneath her feet, their passing ruffling her clothing harder than the vampire's speed. Bella's knees went weak and she fell on her ass, the khaki coloured wolf padded over to her slowly. He nuzzled her. Bella reached up and pulled him close, hugging his gigantic head. "Thank you Jake, thank you so much." How she knew it was Jake she couldn't tell, but it had to be Jake and Embry and Quil, it had to be. They felt familiar, they felt incredibly familiar.

The wolf made a barking sound and smiled, then tore off past Bella, following who she presumed to be Quil and Embry. Bella sidled on her butt until she was against a tree, she was exhausted from adrenaline and running, and in a great amount of pain. She put her head back against the tree and nodded off.

When she woke up the sun was setting, Jake, Embry and Quil were kneeling down next to her. They were just the same, her best male friends, but looking closer they weren't the same. Jake had gotten a haircut, the little bit of hair he had left was close cropped, his face appeared somewhat different, he looked older, at least three years older. He looked nineteen, not sixteen. Embry had let his hair grow longer and it was in full shaggy mode, a tattoo of a wolf's paw underneath his right eye, his face was as serious as always, along with the new tattoo he had a line of sky blue button piercings through his left ear, he also appeared older. Quil had lost his baby fat, he still looked like Quil, still short, still friendly faced, but slimmer, harder. At least they were dressed the same, white t-shirt and FRC pants for Jake, baseball jersey and skinny jeans for Embry, and ironed screen printed tee and jeans for Quil his leather backpack on his shoulders.

"You ok Bella?" Jacob asked, his hand was on her shoulder. "He didn't get a chance to hurt you did he?

"It's nice to see you three together again." Bella said, nearly shaking with relief.

Embry and Quil laughed and Jacob smiled "I guess you're ok then."

"Thank's for the save guys." Bella said.

Jacob shook his head "It's fine Bella, you don't need to thank us. We'd never let anything happen to substitute Quil."

Quil elbowed Jacob in the side, "She's substitute Embry remember?"

Embry grinned "Traitor days are over, we're back to our gay polyamory lifestyle."

"What was he doing here? Do you think he had anything to do with Victoria?" Quil asked.

Bella nodded "One of hers, here to kill me."

"That bitch is dead, oh she has got something coming to her." Jacob said. "First Harry, and then trying to take out Bella? Not on our watch."

"I guess you guys took care of him huh?" Bella said.

"Easily. Well Quil did anyway, he finally got his form. We weren't expecting him to go from training to real thing so quickly, but opportunity knocked. Just wish you hadn't been in danger Bella." Embry said.

Jacob picked Bella up and she held onto his back, so different from Edward's. Wider, his shoulder's broader, his body warmer, almost boiling, instead of Edward's perfectly ambient temperature.

"Were you headed to the Cullen's place? Going to see deer tick?" Jacob said.

"Vegan my ass." Quil said.

Embry laughed, and then his face was serious again. "Bella knowing what he is, what they're like, how can you trust them? One of them killed Harry, and that serial killer, the one that tore you up, he was one of them too wasn't he?"

"They're not like that, they're really good people guys." Bella said, putting her chin on Jacob's shoulder as the three of them walked. "They… they can't be blamed for what evil people do."

Jacob shrugged, his muscle flexing smoothly. "You and Leah are crazy you know, our parents told us a lot. About all of them. Carlisle used to work with their people, my dad said they're called the Imperium. Jasper was some kind of leader in a vampire army, and then after that he worked for the Imperium too. Edward was a serial killer or something in the 20's and early 30's. My dad showed me a bunch of newspaper clippings from back then. Alice, the little perky one killed a lot of people too."

"Get off it Jake." Bella said.

"No seriously, over in Louisiana, and then in Alabama, Georgia, Montana. Alice was killing people, the cops back then didn't know it was her. But my dad and the rest have ways of finding this stuff out. There are only two people in that whole coven with no blood on their hands, and that's Carlisle and Esme. And my dad doesn't even trust them." Jacob said, hefting Bella up higher.

"My mom is pissed that Jasper is messing around with Leah, she say's he's taking advantage of a vulnerable girl. She say's it's sick." Embry said, digging through his pants pockets for a stick of gum.

"It is sick, did you hear any of the shit my dad said about what he used to do? Blondie is definitely a psycho. Or at least he was." Jacob said.

Bella was silent, Jasper was always so sweet. So kind and cordial, she couldn't imagine him doing anything like what they were saying. And Emmett and Rosalie couldn't be killers, they couldn't, they were so friendly, Rosalie was a beauty blogger for christs sake. She knew about Edward's vigilante stint, but Jake saying it like that made her nervous. Was he covering for something? Was he a serial killer once? Was Alice once a serial killer too? Perky punk-rock Alice killing people?

Quil stopped, he sniffed the air deeply. "Got a fake vegan, a psychopath, blood-sucking Eli Manning, fine ass Rosalie and Punk Rock Manson incoming."

Jacob and Quil sniffed the air as well, Jacob used his connection to Rachel "Get ready, bring the beast close." Jacob said.

"You don't have to do that, please don't fight them Jake, Quil and Embry. Please." Bella said. "Promise me you won't fight them."

Embry and Quil looked at her, then at Jacob. "We promise we aren't going to fight, only cause you asked." Jacob said. His eyes darted to the trees, where Rachel, Leah, Seth, Sam, Jared, Dennis, and Paul were waiting.

Edward arrived slightly before the rest, his reputation as the quickest was well deserved. To Bella's eyes he looked awfully injured, the purple rings under his eyes had deepened, the hair sticking out from underneath his knit cap was a messy tangle of knots and curls on his head. He seemed diminished, thinner. His black v-neck seemed to be floating on him, his blue jeans actually fit his waist but still appeared loose. The bracelet on his wrist seemed too big.

Jasper was in his standard chambray shirt and dark denim blue jeans and cowboy boots, the gold circlet holding his hair back. His hands were wrapped up, Alice was wearing an underarmour shirt over black biking shorts with underarmour leggings underneath, she was barefoot. Emmett was wearing steel-toed work boots and an underarmor shirt as well, his jeans were loose and faded. Rosalie was wearing a strapped t-shirt and sweatpants, her boots were greaves however, thick armor plating covered the front of them.

"Kind of failing at the whole protection thing huh suckhead." Jacob said.

"I didn't think she would be in any danger, not after chasing Victoria off before" Edward said, guilt scrawled across his face.

Embry snorted "Some telepath you are."

"Boy, you better think about the next words out of your mouth." Jasper said.

"Or you'll do what? You're here only cause we let you but that can change real quick, you want it to jump off tick? You want it to jump off right now?" Jacob said, and Bella could feel his hair lifting, she could feel an electric tingle over her skin, like he was a battery charging up.

"Been waiting years for it to jump off, ain't gonna be much of a fight but what are you gonna do." Emmett said lifting his hands.

"No! No fighting! Jake you promised!" Bella said, sliding off of his back. "Emmett, Jasper, stop it!"

Emmett lowered his hands and Jacob smiled "She just saved your life parasite."

Emmett's right eye twitched, color flooded his cheeks. Edward put a hand on his arm and stepped forward "Thank you for saving Bella, I shouldn't have… I should have brought her with me."

"Use your head next time vegan, if we weren't here to clean up your mess she would've gotten killed." Quil said.

"And that would've been two more we lost because of you freaks." Jacob said.

"You're about to lose something lumpin us in with Victoria boy. We want her dead and Bella and the rest as safe as much you think you do." Jasper said.

"Maybe if you monsters didn't exist we wouldn't have to protect anyone, but that sounds like a complaint. We've only killed one, but there aren't too many things better than tearing you parasites up." Jacob said, his smile very bright in the setting sun. "My dad says you enjoyed killing vampires when you were Grand High General Jasper, running around at that chick's command. What was her name Embry?"

"Maria, my grandpa tells me her and killer over there murdered hundreds of people." Embry said.

At the name Maria, Jasper's face darkened and he took a step forward, Alice grabbed his arm. "Watch your mouth." Jasper said, his voice tight.

"Keep it up brat, keep pressing my brother, keep pressing my husband, if you insult either of them again I'm going to rip your throat out. And all the super healing in the world won't save you." Rosalie said.

Bella stepped in between them, "Guys stop, please. You aren't each other's enemy."

Jacob snorted, he lifted his hand and waved it in a circle. Rachel and the rest dropped down from the trees. Bella had never seen the rest, Rachel looked nothing like her brother, she was much lighter for one, her hair was cut short, chopped up like she'd used shears on it. Her nose was wide like Billy and Jacob's, but that was the only feature she had similar to them. She was rail thin, not curvy like Leah but muscled similar to her, her face was also opposite Jacob, she looked as serious as Embry. Her flannel shirt was unbuttoned, and her heavy jeans were tucked into black leather motorcycle boots. "They are our enemy, you're human Bella. You shouldn't trust these things."

"We aren't your enemy. We agreed on that long before you were born." Edward said.

"You made that agreement with our grandparents, do you think we'll let you sucker us like you did them?" Sam said. "Trusting you fucking monsters got Harry killed. You tell her about James yet Edward?"

"Shut up." Edward said, he clenched his fist.

"Tell her about James, Eddie. Tell her about how you killed 38 people in Chicago." Jacob said.

Bella looked at Jacob, and then back at Edward. "Edward." Bella said, close like brothers James had said. She hadn't thought about it then, the pain and the fear eclipsed it, and in the hospital she had just been so happy to be alive, to see him again. But James had said they were close like brothers. That Edward had fucked him out of something.

"Jacob, shut your mouth. Shut your mouth right now." Edward said.

Paul laughed and put his hands behind his head "Can't tell us what to do bloodsucker."

"Oh he's getting mad now, you getting mad suckhead? Did we say something we shouldn't have?" Jacob said.

"Shut the fuck up wolfboy. Shut your fucking mouth." Edward said.

"Who was it Billy had that newspaper clipping of? The girl that got killed in his little lovers spat?" Sam said.

"Nancy." Rachel said.

"Nancy! That's it!" Jacob said. "Did you kill her? Or did James?"

Edward punched Jacob in the face, Jacob flew backwards, blood spilling out of his mouth. He shifted on the fly, his clothing exploding off of his body. He hit the ground on all fours in wolf form sliding backward, his fur crackling, his fangs bared, blood foaming on his mouth as his snout curled. The rest stripped their clothes and shifted, Seth was terribly nervous and frightened, and his shift correspondingly lagged somewhat behind the rest. Alice lifted her hands, her palms open, Rosalie hopped from foot to foot, Emmett lifted his hands, his fists balled. Jasper rolled back the sleeves on his shirt, his eyes briefly darting to Leah, and then back to Jacob. The bears roared and the wolves growled, low and slow.

"Stop!" Bella shrieked like a dental drill. "If you fight you'll end up killing me too! I'll deliberately involve myself!"

They all turned to look at her, human. Protect humans first and foremost, it was the single rule that united every person present. "Bella, get goin'. This ain't for you." Jasper said, he had moved closer to Alice.

"It is for me! I'm human! All of you protect humans! You don't fight each other!" Bella shouted, she was close to tears, she didn't know the rest of the shifters, but she loved Jacob, Embry and Quil. She liked Leah. She loved Edward and his family, she couldn't stand it. "And if you fight, and if any of you get killed the only winners are the people who want to kill people! Monsters like James and Victoria win! I'm not nearly powerful enough to stop any of you, but… but you're supposed to protect me… us! Not kill each other! Not you guys!" and then she did cry, and Edward was there, holding her, smoothing her hair.

The shifters returned to human form dressing as quickly as they shifted, Jacob, Embry and Quil looked ashamed, Quil handed Jacob a pair of basketball shorts from inside of the backpack. Jacob kicked the ground awkwardly, his bleeding mouth already healing. "Sorry… didn't mean to upset you Bella, really."

"Look, for lack of open hostility, we work together. Our aim is the same as it always was, protect humans." Rosalie said.

"I shouldn't have struck you Jacob." Edward said.

Jacob shrugged "It's fine, you can't punch for shit anyway. Bella's truck is back that way." and he nodded in the direction they had walked from.

Edward nodded and took Bella's hand, he led her, still crying away from the rest.

"If it's all the same to the rest of you me and my brother are headed home. We've had enough excitement for one day, and it's been an awful couple of weeks. Come on Seth." Leah said.

Seth nodded and followed his sister, Jasper watched her leave, wanting desperately to call out to her. But in the end he said nothing, he turned his gaze back to the Alpha and Omega's. "No hostility, the way things are right now we can't afford to forget who the real enemy is." he said.

Rachel nodded "Alright, that's how it will go then. I'll say this for you Cullens, none of you are cowards." and they leapt into the trees, disappearing into the green canopy overhead.

"What can we do for just one boring day? Is that too much to ask for?" Rosalie asked.

Alice and Emmett laughed, "What's life without a little excitement Rosie?" Alice asked.

"I feel like we've had this conversation before, have we had this conversation before?" Rosalie asked.

Jasper was tapping his finger on his chin, "I think we have. What was it about? I can't for the life of me remember."

"Was it about your psycho hellbitch sister stalking and torturing Edward? Because that bears some discussion Jasper." Rosalie said.

Jasper groaned "Fuckin' mess, I don't know what to do about that. And she ain't my sister, I done said that girl don't mean a thing to me."

"We can talk about psycho woman at home, I need to take a million major chill pills. Thought I was gonna have to whoop some ass today." Emmett said.

"Come on then babe." Rosalie said, taking his hand. Alice hopped onto Jasper's shoulders and the two of them followed.

Charlie was sick with worry when he ended up on the highway next to his bleeding daughter and Edward Cullen looking sick and scared. Lately it was always Edward Cullen. Always that brown haired boy. The far too serious teenage boy courting his daughter, too serious, too intense. Charlie didn't dislike Cullen, but he made him terribly uncomfortable. The feeling that he was pretending was too intense now, Charlie himself had worn PF Flyers as a teenager in the 70's. Seeing him wearing them was surreal, everything lately was surreal. Losing Harry was surreal. Writing a eulogy was surreal. Seeing his daughter holding a clean white cloth to her bleeding forehead was surreal.

"Hey dad." Bella said, she stood up from where she was sitting to give him a hug.

"Hey baby, what happened? How'd you wreck out?" Charlie asked.

"Swerved to keep from hitting a deer like a complete idiot." Bella said.

"Why didn't you call me? And how did he end up involved?" Charlie asked.

"My phone got smashed in the wreck, another thing you're going to have to replace due to me being a crappy driver." Bella said.

"Don't worry about it, you've been overdue for a new phone for a while now. And I'll see if maybe Bill has something vehicle wise for you. You'd be amazed at the crap him and Jake have sitting around." Charlie said, he turned to Edward. "What're you doing here?"

"I was going into town sir, I had to run an errand for my mother." Edward said, and then he coughed, leaving a stain of red on his fingers.

"You alright kid? Got a bit of blood in that cough." Charlie said, his eyebrow raising.

"Bit my cheek earlier sir, and the weather has taken a cold turn. I'm afraid the temperature drop is affecting me." Edward said.

"Guess even doctor's kid's get sick. Come on Bells, let's go and get that cut looked at." Charlie said, getting back into his cruiser.

"Later, Edward." Bella said, not looking at him.

"Bye, Bella." Edward said, and he walked back to his Camaro and got in.

Charlie took her to the hospital to get checked out, and as luck would have it Carlisle was available. Charlie didn't react to him the same way he did the others, perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Carlisle didn't have to pretend. He was able to be himself, older by far than his 28 years, but certainly younger than his 342.

He ran the standard battery of tests regarding a head injury, had Bella shunted into an operating room and stitched the wound quickly. He seemed somewhat regretful when he informed Bella that the probability of her having a scar was quite high. They were alone in the room when Carlisle said, even more regretfully "Unfortunately yet another consequence of your entanglement with vampires."

"It's just a scar Carlisle." Bella said "I've got plenty of those."

"Your life, your safety is paramount. This marks the second time that your life has been directly endangered due to your association with us. We are not safe for you Bella." Carlisle said. "Have you considered perhaps ending your relationship with Edward, and ceasing your interaction with my… coven."

"No, I haven't considered it. I didn't even view it as an option." Bella said, sitting up and brushing her fingers across the stitched wound.

Carlisle sat down, his face was smooth and unlined, as gloriously handsome as any other vampire. But he appeared so old. Infinitely old. "I feel I would be remiss in my duty as both a vampire, and the head of a… coven, not to remind you that human interaction is forbidden. The reason for this is quite simple, we are dangerous. You have been tortured, mutilated, terrified. We have brought chaos and disorder to this town, and we have selfishly placed your valuable lives in the line of fire. I am not your father, I cannot order you to do anything, Edward is an adult, I cannot order him to do anything. But I can advise you both to cease this relationship, for your safety."

"What is this? Did Edward put you up to this? Is he too chickenshit to break up with me himself?" Bella asked, staring at her right hand.

"No, Edward did not "put me up to this". I am simply providing you with food for thought, an alternative viewpoint from someone who has no stake in the relationship." Carlisle said.

"Did he really kill 38 people?" Bella asked.

"Yes. He is guilty of the murder of 38 people." Carlisle said.

"And Alice, she killed people too didn't she?" Bella asked, she was still staring at her hand.

"Yes, I cannot give you the number of lives Alice took. I did not know her then, but she has confided in me that it was rather large."

"Jasper, was he a killer too?" Bella asked.

"Jasper was in the service of a woman named Maria, she sought to conquer Mexico and South America. Jasper is guilty of the murders of more than 300 human beings." Carlisle said.

"Rosalie and Emmett?"

"Rosalie killed for revenge, Emmett killed because he did not understand at first exactly what he was." Carlisle said.

"And you? How many people have you killed Carlisle?" Bella asked.

"I killed a combined total of one-hundred and twenty lycanthropes across Russia, Turkey, Germany, and the country that is now known as Iran." Carlisle said, he was staring out of the window, watching the slowly emptying parking lot.

"Esme?" Bella asked.

"My wife has never harmed anyone, her hands are clean of blood." Carlisle said.

"That's… that's something." Bella said.

"We are dangerous Bella, we are monsters. The world we live in is fraught with horror and bloodshed, by virtue of our existence we must take lives from others to survive. Though I have found another way it will never be the common way, it will always be the way of outsiders and "deviants". Even now we are planning how best to kill Victoria and whatever newborns she has created. This is a world you do not belong in, and you should distance yourself from us, it can only lead to disaster." Carlisle said, still looking out at the parking lot.

"I love him Carlisle, I love him a lot. With my whole heart." Bella said, she was still looking at her hand.

"It is my experience that love oftentimes means doing what is painful in order to do what is truly best for everyone." Carlisle said. "Talk to Edward, ask him his opinion, it is up to you two to decide how you will proceed."