Chapter One

It was raining at the airport, which was of course no surprise in the small town of Forks. I was standing awkwardly next to Charlie as we waited for my sister's plane to let out. Kiara had lived with Charlie before I did, then we'd switched once Renee and Phil went out on the road. Kiara had always been the more outgoing out of the two of us, and had loved the thought of being on the road all time, while I preferred staying in one place. It was a good decision on my part considering the result of my moving to Forks.

I stood up on my tiptoes to get a better view of the airport, searching for my sister's familiar well-tanned face. The face I landed on, however, was in no way tan.

It was Kiara; I could tell that much, but the girl now making her way toward Charlie and me waving happily, definitely wasn't what I remembered my sister to look like.

For one, she was far more graceful. When we'd lived together for the short time Charlie and Renee had been together she was almost as clumsy as me, always tripping over her own feet and bumping into things. Now she walked with such elegance it would make any ballerina bitterly jealous. Her skin also wasn't the familiar deep tan it had used to be. It was now a glowing pale that accented her perfect facial features. Her jet black hair bounced around her shoulders as she jogged over to us. The movement looked fake, staged.

"Dad! Bella!" she called excitedly, coming to a neat halt in front of us. "I've missed you guys so much!"

The change in her voice was remarkable; it was like singing with no music. My mind instantly flashed back to a web search I'd done about a month ago. I shoved the thought of my head immediately. It was completely impossible.

Kiara was hugging Charlie firmly; he seemed to shiver slightly at her touch. Then she turned to me.

"Bella, I'm so glad we'll be sharing a room, we never see each other anymore," She said, a dazzling smile lighting up her face.

I managed to form a smile of my own and responded. "It's really great, Kiara. I can't wait."

"You look pale, honey," Charlie said, obviously appraising Kiara's new appearance.

"Oh, I just haven't been getting out so much lately. It's no big deal." She waved her hand dismissively.

Charlie seemed to accept that, but I didn't buy it. Even if my first assumption wasn't true, there was still something different about Kiara. Even I hadn't seen here in two years, I could see that much.

"Ooh, Charlie can I ride in the back?" She asked, clapping her hands. "I want to feel like a criminal."

Charlie laughed. "Sure, honey. Whatever you want."

As we all piled into the cruiser, my thoughts were racing. Everything about Kiara screamed a word I had trouble thinking. I remembered another time that had happened too.

"So, Bella," Kiara leaned forward in her seat. "Mom told me about Edward. When do I get to meet him?"

The sound of his name made me jump. I hadn't thought about mom telling Kiara about Edward, my (for lack of a better word) boyfriend and vampire. Knowing Kiara, which I did know her, even with all these new changes, she would want to know everything. And everything wasn't really something I was at liberty to tell.

"Well, you start school Monday, so I guess you can meet him then. He's on a…camping trip this weekend, though." Camping trip, hunting trip, not such a big difference, right?

"Okay, sounds good," Kiara said, practically bouncing in her seat.

I was silent the rest of the car ride as Kiara proceeded to ask Charlie questions about how Forks had changed since she'd last been here at age fourteen. Kiara and I were one year apart in age, and I was older. While we were growing up, Kiara and I almost never fought. I usually just went along with whatever she wanted to do, and things worked out fine. I never tried to take charge; I probably couldn't have controlled Kiara if I tried. She was always full of energy and ready for just about anything. We were almost complete polar opposites.

Once Charlie's cruiser parked in front of the house, Kiara's excitement became almost tangible. She got swiftly out of the car and began helping Charlie get her bags out of the trunk. Even while she was handling heavy luggage she looked graceful and completely undisturbed by the weight of the bulky traveling gear. She seemed to notice me studying her and shot me a puzzled look.

"Bella, what are you staring at?" she asked politely, slinging a duffel bag over her shoulder effortlessly.

"Oh I just noticed…you seem a lot," I searched for one adjective to settle on. "Paler than the last time I saw you." I chose the most evident one.

I saw a quick flash of a foreign emotion play on Kiara's face, but it was gone before I'd barely registered it. She composed herself quickly and responded. "Oh…well it has been a while." She smiled uncertainly.

"Yeah. I guess so." I reached out to help her with one of the bags at her feet at the same time she did and our hands touched briefly. Her skin was ice cold. I had a sudden flash of déjà vu, recalling a similar incident from a few months previously.

"Uh, sorry," I stammered, placing the strap over my shoulder.

Kiara smiled and nodded courteously. She seemed almost unaware of my sudden reaction toward touching her.

Once we had all of the luggage up in my room (or I suppose it's our room now) I began to help her unpack. As I folded a purple blouse and placed it on a small stack on the left corner of the bed, I decided to get some answers.

Kiara had a pair of bright orange jeans in her hands and seemed to be studying them intently. She was being very careful not to glance at me, but kept her high energy nature going.

"So Kiara, I wanted to ask you-"

"Hey, girls!" Charlie burst through the door. "I thought we could get something to eat tonight to celebrate. What do you think?"

As I was about to decline the offer Kiara piped up immediately, her new ringing voice reverberating off the walls. "We'd love to, dad!"

"Great," Charlie said, smiling. "Just come down when you girls are ready." And then he was gone again.

"We're talking later," I whispered. I knew she could hear me. "He has to leave us alone sometime."

She raised her head from the clothes to look at me, and I was startled by the stunning blue of her eyes. They had always been a light azure color, but the intense blue they were now definitely didn't fit. As I looked closer, I noticed her skin was blemish free, completely flawless. Deep purple circles were etched under her eyes, making her look worn and tired.

"Fine." Her voice was almost as cold as her skin.

The Lodge wasn't crowded. We were seated quickly and served our drinks. While we looked over the menus, I snuck a glance at Kiara. She looked as if she were trying to solve a tough calculus equation while staring at her menu. The passing bystander would just assume she was figuring out what to order, but if my silent theory was proven correct, she was really trying to find an item on the menu that wouldn't completely repulse her.

I studied Kiara carefully. She couldn't decline the meal since she was the person who had agreed to come. A thought seemed to strike with her, and she beamed a glowing smile at me, almost smugly. Before I could question her, the waitress was back and asking for our orders. Charlie and I ordered quickly, and then turned our attention to Kiara.

"I'll have the steak," she said cheerfully.

"How would you like it?" The waitress asked, tracing her pen across a small notepad.

Kiara smiled again, her eyes on me and said very clearly "Blood rare."

She was good. A sixteen year old girl ordering an almost uncooked steak was odd, but not close to impossible. I had to give her credit, she was excellent at this. But even I knew that eating the steak still wouldn't appeal to her. I had given up on any other option; there was no other explanation that would fit. Nothing else made sense except for the theory that had been building in my head since I'd seen here at the airport: my sister had somehow been transformed into a vampire.

"I didn't know you liked your steak rare," I stated, glaring at Kiara.

She was unaffected by my obvious attitude and tone and replied sweetly. "Oh, just an acquired taste. I tried a bunch of things traveling with Renee and Phil. It just stuck with me."

"You know," Charlie said, shooting me a look. "I hear having steak rare is actually pretty healthy."

"It can also give you salmonella. You might want to be careful of that."

I knew I was being inexcusably rude, but I had every right to be. Kiara and I had always been open with each other. We never kept secrets. Now she was keeping one of the hugest secrets I could imagine from me. If I hadn't had experience with vampires before, I would have never known what happened to my sister.

Kiara just shrugged and stared out the window, ignoring my obvious mockery. The table was silent until the waitress returned and set our food on the table.

"If you need anything else, let me know," she grinned, obviously hoping for a tip, and turned to walk away.

All through the meal I watched Kiara, who seemed to be picking at her food. Cutting her steak into small pieces and then chewing them so fast I wasn't sure she'd even eaten anything. Charlie and I finished before Kiara. We waited until she pushed her plate away, declaring that it wasn't prepared correctly, and that she wasn't hungry anymore.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick girls," Charlie announced, standing up.

"No!" Kiara threw a quick frantic glance at me, and then looked back at Charlie's startled face. "I mean…uh okay dad, we'll wait here."

Charlie looked confused, but nodded and headed off toward the men's room. As soon as he was out of sight, I turned my attention to Kiara. She was looked down and deliberately messing with her hands, making sure not to look at me. I cleared my throat loudly.

"Look Kiara, we don't have much time now, but just so you know, I do know something up with you. I know you've…changed." I emphasized the final word as obviously as I could. "And you will talk to me about it later."

Kiara's stone cold face glared at me and she nodded swiftly. "Fine. Deal."