Obligatory Disclaimer

I do not own any of the characters from the Twilight series. I do not own the town of Forks. I do, however, own "Paranormality, Inc.", and all affiliated characters.

Project is dedicated to Briana/Banana3/PrincessofPolitics.

Chapter 1:

Isabella Cullen, formerly Isabella Swan, sat up quickly. Even after seven years, she was still very much in awe of how her life had progressed.

She glanced toward the resting form of Edward, who was relaxing after yet another round of the horizontal tango. Letting him think his own thoughts, she gracefully rose from the bed, idly draping a silk robe upon her self.

Walking out of the room, she glanced toward the open doorway that led to what had once been Renesmee's, before she had finally moved out to stay with Jacob. Both Bella and Edward, seeking to find their own path, had moved away from Forks hardly four years ago, and now stayed in Phoenix, Arizona.

Despite the cautioning of the other Cullens, Bella had been very adamant about wanting to return to this place. Even with the constant sun, they had managed to keep their existence a secret from prying eyes. Although, she laughed to herself at the thought, there would not be much that could be done even if they were noticed. It was not as though any humans could harm them, anyway. Not since they became vampires.

Stepping into the kitchen that they did not use, she idly glanced toward a calendar on the fridge. Her pale face faded to an even lighter shade.

"EDWARD!!"

Hearing her shriek, he dashed into the room, having only barely managed to retain the cognizance to put on his pants. His gaze darted quickly about the room to find the reason for her outcry. Not finding anything, he turned to her and asked, "What's the matter?"

"We're going to be late!" Already, she was bustling about, busying herself with some task that involved gathering things and shoving them into a sack.

"Late for what?" He tilted his head, watching her movements with a bemused expression on his face.

Stopping in her tracks, she stared at him wildly, wondering why he was not rushing, as well. "The reunion! Esme's going to be ticked if we don't show!"

Knowing she was right, but not entirely concerned as to whether Esme would be upset, Edward nodded before returning to the bedroom to gather any clothing they might need.

It was only a few moments before they were dressed, packed, and had their luggage loaded into the Guardian. Bella, still being uncomfortable with the over-sized sedan, made certain that Edward drove.

Despite the distance being a good day's journey, Edward's driving got them there in half the time. Having left at nine that morning, it was nine that evening as they pulled into a gas station in Forks to refuel before their arrival.

Bella remained inside the Guardian as Edward stepped out. He slid his black card into the machine and lifted the nozzle before inserting it into the vehicle. A scent caught his attention. It was both familiar yet foreign.

His attention was pulled to a black car on the other side of the fuel pump from him. Nondescript, it seemed of little importance except for the tinted windows that were so dark that nothing inside the vehicle could be seen. The person that had gotten out was the one the scent came from. Noticing that Edward was watching him, the man gave a two-finger salute, his silver eyes staring into Edward's golden.

"Evening." The man gave a polite nod, then returned to occupying himself with watching the ticker count to a rather absurd number. "Gotta love those gas prices, eh?"

Edward eyed him up and down, the man's black suit seeming to indicate that his mention of the prices was an attempt at friendly chit-chat. "I suppose." Edward's voice carried a tint of hostility. The eyes and scent had told him enough. The man was a werewolf. "You are not of the Quileute tribe."

A smirk was the initial response. "So you noticed. No, I'm not." Brushing his gray bangs back into his slick, black hair, he shrugged. "But what of it?"

Instead of answering, Edward focused on listening to the wolf's thoughts. What he heard, though, did not come from the werewolf, but from someone, something, inside the black car. Unlike the thoughts he was used to hearing, these were not audible words but a quiet whispering of many voices, speaking of many different things all at once, none of which were in any way connected so far as he could tell.

Seeing his expression, the werewolf grinned. "Ah, you must be the one called Edward. It's not very polite to invade people's privacy, you know."

Edward was taken aback and tried to block out the whispering, which had suddenly begun chanting his name. A chorus of laughter began to drown out the whispering, a blending of playful children and wicked, deranged cackles.

Not waiting for the fuel to stop, Edward ripped the nozzle from the car, slamming it back onto the pump. Almost tearing the door open, he jumped inside the Guardian, revved it, and sped away.

Bella stared at him in concern. "What's the matter?"

It was a good mile or so before Edward replied. "Something wasn't right. There was something in that car."

"What?" She looked back in the direction of the gas station, but they were already too far. "Why are you so bothered by it?" She glanced to him. "Nothing can harm us. The Quileutes stay on their reservation, and we'll be with the other soon. And you know the Volturi have stopped bothering us."

Edward grimaced before shaking his head. Swallowing hard, he nodded, before smirking to himself. "It was probably just some sort of scare tactic. The driver was a werewolf, but there wasn't enough room in the car for enough of them to be a threat." Flashing her a dazzling smile, he added, "And you're right. There's no need for concern."

A few moments later, they arrived at the Cullen mansion. Once parked inside the garage, Edward and Bella got out before unloading their luggage. Alice came out to greet them, her perky smile soon letting them forget what had happened at the gas station.

"I can't believe you two drove all this way! Wouldn't have been faster to take a plane?"

Bella nodded, then replied, "Yes, but we wanted to avoid being stuck around people as best we could."

Alice nodded in comprehension before leading the two inside. "You'll both be staying in Edward's old room. Jasper and Emmett were a bit put out. They'd rearranged it into a makeshift pool hall."

Edward rolled his eyes as he headed up the stairs, taking Bella's luggage as well so she could mingle with the others.

Jacob and Renesmee had already arrived, and were sitting on a couch beside one another when Bella walked in.

"Hey, mom!" Renesmee waved eagerly to her. Jacob simply nodded. Even now, it seemed that he still was not entirely comfortable with how things had turned out. However, he looked happy enough.

The next few hours were spent with catching up. Jasper, Emmett, and Alice had been taking classes at Bates in Tacoma, as it was the closest college in the state and they did not want to stray too far from the coven. Carlisle was still working at the local hospital. Jacob and Renesmee had decided to move to Calgary, but had, like Edward and Bella, returned to Forks for the reunion. Esme, as always, stayed at the coven to keep things in order, and Rosalie had simply been helping Esme.

A sudden knock at the door broke them all from their reverie. Edward and Bella glanced at each other. Carlisle rose and went to the door. The others looked to Alice, wondering why she hadn't said anything. Alice shrugged, indicating that she hadn't had any visions of visitors.

Everyone rose and went to windows to peek out, seeing the same nondescript black car that Edward had seen at the gas station. Edward swore under his breath.

Carlisle opened the door. The werewolf was there, but standing off to one side. Directly in front of the door, a man in an even finer suit stood silently, black eyes looking from one Cullen to another.

"Sorry to intrude. My name is Lauric Peklo. May I come in."