This is a re-rewrite. This story will be COMPLETELY different from how it originally was. The first version was very confusing and kind of felt like it was an original work of fictional vs. FANfiction so I revamped it a bit. I will try to place recaps before each chapter to keep information fresh in your minds. If I fail, there is a place to write comments.

Also, there is no pairing for this story at the time. The OC will eventually meet both Edward and Jacob, but their relationships will be a steady development. Since I don't like characters falling into the main story line so quickly, there will be OC's left and right until she's like really close with the original Twilight arch. Just think of this as a side story to the main Bella Swan story.

For the memory sequence below, the ages of the kids are as follows:

Dawn: 15
Spencer: 17
Ed & Ned: 16
Heath: 11
Peter: 1

Without further ado, read on!

Prologue

Uncle Jim's family had finally shown up with three liters of soda, a pan of macaroni, and smiles. My cousin, Ed, silently stalked to the kitchen to help put everything away after nodding to Spencer and I without interrupting our game of Chinese checkers. His twin, Ned, smiled before approaching us, taking a seat between my brother and I. We were then pulled into steady conversation about spring break. I asked my cousin where his annoying little brother was. I regretted ever asking.

Heath ran into the house. For some reason, he was ridiculously excited to be there even though he always disregarded anything my brother or I said to him. I could smell the fire burning in the corner of the room and silently wished he would run in front of the fireplace and trip into the furnace.

Our house wasn't terribly big. Just large enough for my parents, brother, and I to comfortably dwell in. It was pasty white on the outside, beige on the inside. A miniature hall was the first thing that greeting guests when first entering through the oak front door. The flooring was wood like the living room while the rest of the house was covered in simple, white carpet—aside from the bathrooms. To the left of the hall was a staircase ascending to all of our rooms. Behind the staircase was the dining room where I was sitting.

There hung a small, silver chandelier above the wooden table. The walls were covered in school projects and pictures created by Spencer and I from grade school. In the corner of the room was a mason fireplace. It's what usually lit up the room at night when I would creep downstairs to have a glass of milk with cookies or ice cream. There were four chairs set around the table but we always kept an extra set of five in the garage for days like this one.

Just outside of the dining room was the green living room. The green couch, a five-seater sectional Riviera sofa, rested leisurely just three feet from a corner and faced the old, brown TV stand holding up our large television set in the center of the room. A plain green carpet spread across the wooden floor, only completing the obsession of green. Sitting behind the television was a large window accompanied by a light teal window seat cushion that overlooked the average, 24' by 16' yard and its small, but old green ash tree.

My mother was humming some 80s rock tune to the beat in her head while trying to make sure the eggs didn't stick to much to the pan too much, her beautiful blonde locks whooshing around her shoulders. Uncle Jim and Ed decided to watch us finish our game since my Dad hadn't been back down with the football. Peter, then one, was on the living room floor with my Aunt Lucy, who was entertaining him with a game of peek-a-boo.

Lucy was a plainly woman, only seeming really pretty when she smiled and was in a great mood. She was a preacher's daughter studying at Boston University for Business and Marketing when she met my Uncle Jim. He was twenty-four at the time working on his business degree while she was just getting her general studies out of the way. She thought my uncle was a pompous bastard, not that it wasn't the truth but my uncle proved her wrong and married her a year and half later.

"Jules, what are ya'll feeding this little monster? Smells like retribution…but for what? I don't know," Lucy complained and chuckled, holding up Peter by his diaper.

"Oh dear!" my mother cried, "That's what I forgot…" She stopped stirring the pot and picked up Peter. "I was supposed to change him hours ago but I ran out of diapers. I went to the store to restock and grab some more mushrooms for the casserole but you know me. I didn't write it down so I ended up walking out without the diapers."

She sniffed him and had to retract from the putrid smell. Lucy stood up and went to her purse, grabbing her car keys.

"You know what? I can run to the store. It's no problem."

"Oh, you don't mind?" mom asked, still holding him far from her body.

"Not at all." Mom slipped her a twenty and started carrying Peter to the kitchen. "We can't have a little monster stinking up the house, now can we?" she teased Peter, tickling his little feet. She laughed. "I'll be right back."

I heard a noise from upstairs as something thumped to the ground. Thinking my father had simply just tripped, I, along with everyone else, ignored the sound and finished my game with Spencer. We decided to play with all five of us—Spencer, Ned, Ed, Uncle Jim, and I. But before we started, I went to the bathroom upstairs hoping to relieve myself but found something else as I passed my parents' bedroom.

A quick splatter of red liquid shot out of the door as my father stood in front of it without an expression. His eyes were lost and claw marks met at the base of his throat and chest.

"…Daddy?"

I stared at his face, confused and scared beyond imagining. With one blink of my eye, he is brought gurgling down to the floor. Blood fell from his mouth onto the carpet, coating my sneakers.

I gasped and backed away a few inches in shock. Without another moment to think about it, I ran back downstairs, screaming for my father. I raced to the kitchen to find my mother cuddled in the corner with my one-year-old brother in her arms. She was shaking and muttering things about debts and payments. I went to crawl next to her, to cower with her, but I noticed the dark figure standing just a foot away from my mother. Fear grasped my bones and shook me with such force, that I almost threw up.

The man with red hair was covered in red. His skin sparkled intensely in the morning light as he held a brightly lit hand out to my mother. She wasn't giving in, that was until he tilted his head to peer down at Peter.

"No!" I screeched. I was ignored.

After setting down the baby, my mother was lifted into his arms as he moved her blonde hair to the side to smell her neck. Never once did the stranger turn around.

As tears weld up in my eyes, my mother slowly turned her gaze behind him, to me. The look in her eyes told me to be calm. But that was stupid. This was all stupid.

My vision started to blur from my tears. "I'll call the cops!" I threatened, hoping he would step away.

The stranger turned around in his demonized glory, his eyes bloody with hunger and mouth smugly cracked.

"Be with ya in a moment, sweetheart." And then I was ignored again.

I stared at him a little longer before grabbing Peter and running to the dining room to hopefully grab and warn Spencer and Ned. But a body blocked me.

"Spencer! Mom—"

The body dropped to the ground.

"Dearest, the boy is just taking a little nap."

When I looked up, I was met with another set of red eyes. Only it was a woman. I slowly back away trying to process what was happening. "W-who are you? Why is this happening?"

Her red lips raised and she answered me, "Family get-together. It seems our invitations got lost in the mail."

What?

"You've grown to be so lovely…"

My tears grew in quantity and I tried to speak but my lip was quivering too badly. Then she took a step toward me in curiosity and I broke. I turned tail, yanked the front door open, and threw myself out the door. I glanced behind me at the house to spot her still looking at me. So I decided to keep running until I heard a loud honk from next to me. I stopped running to look at the vehicle planted beside me.

"Honey, are you alright? Is that blood?"

The voices became indistinct as bile rose from my throat and my body lurched forward in response—

"—and then I think I threw up."

The detective across from me grimaced but never stopped looking me hard in the eyes. I knew he didn't believe me. eleven months of this strange story. I don't think I even believe myself at this point.

"You don't believe me? Shocker."

He didn't bat an eye. "It's not about believing your little story," I rolled my eyes, "it's just that none of the bodies you mentioned were left at the crime scene—"

"Those bodies are members of my family."

"Yes—yes, I apologize. Family…Other than your parents and brother, there were no signs indicating your other family was there that day at all."

I crossed my arms. "So you think I'm lying? You think my aunt is lying—"

"Miss Flanagan, I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this. I understand this is very difficult for you, what with your parents and brother missing—"

"You forget my cousin's family?" He gave me a blank look. "Ned, Ed…"

"I know who you are saying is missing. But that has yet to be determined. We're mostly focused on your family, Miss Flanagan." I sighed in frustration. This was getting me nowhere. "Shall we go over the important facts again?"

Before I can try to politely decline his offer, Aunt Lucy marches through the precinct, enraged. "Ma'am—"

"Officer, I hope you got all of your questions." Yes! Just what I needed. Lucy does a wonderful job of swooping in and saving my hide. "It's getting late and I must be taking my niece home," she announced, purse clutched under her arm.

"Mrs. Flanagan, we're just collecting as much as we can…"

"Sir, I understand that but the girl's barely slept these few months and we have a lot of business to discuss regarding our next steps as a family." She pulled me from the wooden chair and prompted me to put on my winter coat. "I think we can be done for tonight."

Reluctantly, he let me be dragged out of the building by my aunt.

Lucy was a godsend. She was the only family I had left, except for a distant cousin in Norway. She stepped in and turned into my mother instantly. There was no doubt that she was going to be taking care of me. And I appreciated that. I didn't want to be the cause of someone else's misfortune and I was painfully aware of the fact that I wasn't the only one that has been hurt. Her family disappeared on her too. And though she took over very quickly, I think she was using me to distract herself from that misfortune. That's probably why she was quick to go through her things at home, chuck things into storage, and hightail it back here for a year.

She briskly led me to the car with her hands firmly grasping my biceps. We didn't speak until we got to the freeway.

"Hey, thanks for getting me out of there."

"Don't worry about it, 'babe. I was serious about having business to discuss with you. I know I've been living with you since the incident, but...We have bills piled up and I can't afford to keep the house. This city has a surplus of nurses as it is." Reasons for a move, no doubt. "So I asked to be transferred."

The usual response to this statement would be a gasp followed by protest, but I didn't have it in me. I also didn't have any real attachment to this place anymore. Part of me was sort of pleased.

"It's in a little town up North and they really need the help. And as much as it pains me to say this, I think we should move on. The police have no idea what happened to them and I don't think it's something they can ever understand. From what you told me, something definitely happened while I was gone. But why would there be no sign of them—of me—having been in your house. How could it really seem like I was never there?"

She was rambling at this point.

"I mean, are we crazy people. Are we crazy people?"

"Aunt Lucy…I get it. It's a mystery we can't solve."

I had already thought this myself. Absolutely nothing about what I witnessed matched the witness accounts of our neighbors nor my crime-scene-of-a-home. Not only did the man and woman not exist, apparently Lucy's family's presence in town also never happened. There was no evidence suggesting she drove down with her husband and kids. And there was the random email sent from Uncle Jim's email address saying he took the boys and left her. But that didn't make sense. They were in my dining room just seconds before it all happened.

Initially, I had tried to piece it all together with a stupid fantasy of me solving my family's murder like on some crime-drama on TV. I was going to find out what happened to them, they were still going to be alive, and my family would be back together again. But then I realized how stupid that notion was. If the police can't figure out what's going on, how would I—a sixteen-year-old girl with an average IQ—find my answers?

"I mean. Looking for them seems impossible." It hurt my heart to admit this, but it was the truth. This was all impossible.

"I wouldn't say impossible…Just that they can't be found right now. I've beaten myself up about this whole thing every day now and it never makes sense. Now I'm starting to think we just aren't meant to find them right now, as awful as that sounds." She took a shallow breath. "I miss my boys…so much…but it's been almost a year. A whole year without my boys."

Months ago, she would've been in tears by now. But I think we've both ran out of salt.

"…I went to Gordman's last week to look at a new coat for you and I found myself drifting to the men's section. I saw this studded belt and…and I bought it. I bought the belt and brought it back with the coat as if I was going to give it to Ned. He always loved flashy things like that and I…For a moment, I made myself believe they were vacationing somewhere in Europe or something…like I would see him—them very soon."

My eyes had misted over a bit as she said this 'cause I understood. Yesterday, I had accidentally locked the door from the inside. When my hand sought to twist the doorknob and it didn't comply, my mind had gone to that place. The place where things were still normal. I banged on the door and yelled for Spencer to hurry up. After walking back to my room in frustration, I came back to myself and realized what I had done. And then I wailed. Not that Aunt Lucy needed to know that.

"But I'm tired. Tired of being the lost mother and wife, waiting for her family to come home. I think a nice change would do me good." She clutched my hand in her right one. "Do us good."

I looked over at her and saw the tiredness she was talking about. I could also feel it in her grasp. I swallowed the ball of saliva that collected in the back of my throat while remaining silent for a long pause.

"Okay."

She looked at me while we were stopped at a light and I gave her a weak, reassuring smile.

"Dawn, baby. We'll live again. I promise."

I think I'll squeeze some Jacob Black in the next chapter...We'll see.