A/N1 The Twilight series belongs to Stephenie Meyer and was published by Little, Brown. I don't have any rights to the stories

A/N2 This is my first story written in a first person perspective. After reading the series I felt that it was fitting to write this in the first person. Hopefully I didn't too badly of a job.

Italic print is mind-reading thoughts

"What now?!" I uttered out to no one. I was alone driving through Forks, Washington while on my way back to college for another boring semester. It had snow here in Forks several times during the past couple of weeks. Except for the shoulder of the road, the roads were clear… mostly, but off the roads, there were five inches or more of snow.

This trip should've only taken me a couple of days tops even with driving appropriately for the road conditions, which included an eight-hour rest stop just before Forks, but because of my navy blue ten-year-old Ford Escort acting up I'm behind by a few hours. This time I heard something snap, and then all of the important dash lights came on along with the steering being overly stiff. My oldest brother Michael was the family mechanic. Well, I do know a little bit about cars… Michael's idea for me to learn not mine, and this time I'm thinking it was one of the belts that snapped.

"Damn you, you piece of shit," I hissed to the car as it came to a rest on the snow-covered shoulder. I just recently had my nails done and I was hoping that they would last a little longer before I did something to break them. Well, at least I was wearing an old pair of blue jeans; a sweater, which was covered by my light tan winter coat, and winter boots and not a dress and high-heals. Of course a dress wouldn't go good with the thermal pajamas that I was also wearing underneath it all. Why did I have to leave my gloves somewhere along the way?

While letting out a sigh, I shut off the engine. I didn't bother to take the key from the ignition as I reached for the hood release. Once I heard and saw the hood pop up to the first catch, I opened the door.

"Brrr," I let out through my chattering teeth while flinching as the cold January air came at me full force. It must have dropped twenty degrees since I left the hotel about three hours ago.

I pulled my left foot from the car and as I put it on the ground it crunched through five inches of snow. Great! At least it wasn't snowing at the moment… but judging from the scary looking cloud-filled-sky that could change without a moments notice. 2:28 P.M right now and it might as well be dusk

Once I was out of the car, I automatically hit the lock without really thinking that I should or shouldn't and shut the door.

I waded through the snow to the front of my car, lifted the hood and put the hood support in place.

I blew into my hands to warm them up as I started looking over the engine, and it didn't take too long.

"I knew I broke a belt." I broke the main belt in fact; the belt that ran all the other pulleys and belts. I then got a whiff of something that reminded me of when I accidentally stepped in dog shit. I instinctively looked at the bottom of my shoes first and when I didn't see anything, I looked around. Again it didn't take very long to find the source.

There was a fresh or semi-fresh pile of shit five feet from the passenger's side of the car. The large size of the pile and the large paw prints in and around it suggested…

"Oh shit!" I uttered out as I twist my head in every direction while looking for what mammoth animal that had shit recently.

Except for the road that I was on there were snow-covered trees in every direction. More paw prints of some large animal were also in every direction. As to how many paw prints there were, there had to be more than one animal. Also, left, ninety degrees from the front end of my car, I could see an odd color smoke rising above the trees and mixing with the low hanging clouds.

In spite of the presence of the paw prints, there were no animals in sight; however, my first pass in every direction didn't satisfy me and I continued to rapidly look around in every direction as I hurried back to the driver's door. I felt my way to the handle of the driver's door, and when the door didn't opened when I yanked on the handle my heart started to pound as I panicked.

"No!" My head twisted around and I peered through the car window of the driver's door. There it was. My key's in the ignition and every car door was locked. And yep, my purse with my cell phone in it was sitting on the passenger's seat, just where I left it. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

My eyes went quickly to the ground. Yeah, right; as if I'm going to find a big enough rock under all this snow that would break out one of my windows. I then turned towards the smoke that I saw earlier. "Where there's smoke, there's fire and where there's fire, there has to be someone who had created it." At least I hope my logic held true.

I then looked around in every direction again before I took off towards the smoke. I was walking through the trees for only a short time when I realized that the snow was deeper in the woods; it was barely below my knees… and great! I could barely feel my feet now. Well, if I have to wade through this, I might as well make the best out of a bad situation.

I cleared my throat to ready my singing voice and I let it go, "Over the river and through the woods to grandfather's house we go. The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh, through the white and drifted snow, oh…"

I was starting the song again for the fifth time when he came into view. I'm five-foot six with the weight of one hundred and twenty pounds. He was a few inches taller than me, so I was guessing five-eleven… give-or-take an inch, and he looked as though that he could be at least one hundred and eighty pounds. He was dressed for the casual cool weather with his albino skin at his face, neck, and hands exposed, and his chocolate brown hair cropped short. My face and hands were exposed too, but I was numbingly cold and he looked as if he was comfortable. Plus my neck was somewhat covered by my long deep-black hair.

He smiled greedily at me. I didn't know if it was the cold, his perfect smile or his dark circled eyes—eyes that made him look as though he hadn't slept in weeks—that ran a chill through my spine.

His walk was more of a float and as he came towards me, I took note that he was the most hansom man I've seen in my life, and for some strange reason I felt the sudden urge to flee for my life… which was stupid. I came out here looking for someone and someone was what I found. However, this someone was making my dark skin turned as white as he was… well my skin wasn't really all that dark; not in comparison to how dark my African-America father's skin was. Of course I'm still darker than my white mom; no matter how many times she went to the tanning salon.

"Hello," I squeaked out. Okay if my face wasn't showing him my fear, that certainly told him. I then cleared my throat and took a better breath before I started again. "Hello. Err, my car broke down on the road and stupid me locked my keys and cell phone in the car. Can you help me?"

"I will do my best."

His accent was Italian, I'm sure of it. Everything about it reminded me of Raymond… my roommate's boyfriends when he exercised his excellent singing voice. Ray was from a small town in Italy… a town that I could never remember the name of. This person wasn't singing though.

"You from Italy, aren't you?" I asked before I realized that I did.

Again he flashed his perfect smile before confirming, "I am. My name is Fabian. And you are?"

"Honey. Honey Grey. Hey, aren't you cold?"

"The cold doesn't bother me, Honey Grey." Fabian then gestured towards my footsteps in the snow, which had shown the way to my car, but before he said anything he swung his head around as if he heard something disturbing.

I followed his gaze before asking, "What is it?"

He said something under his breath that sounded almost like, 'Damn, werewolves.' Werewolves? Obviously I didn't hear right.

"What? I didn't catch that."

I was looking curiously at him one second and then the next second, I was on my back in the snow and Fabian had his teeth sunk into the bare skin at my throat. The second after that, monstrous size dogs knocked Fabian off of me.

With my hand over my gaping wound so the blood wouldn't gush out, I looked over at the sight. Four very large dogs were ripping Fabian from limp to limp. The sounds of him being ripped apart didn't match the sight that I was seeing. It sounded like ripping metal.

I scrambled to my feet while trying to keep pressure on my neck. It burned. Why would it burn? I went through the deep snow as fast as I could and in the direction of my car. I fell at least every third step and I was praying that these monstrous dogs didn't get bored with Fabian. However, it didn't really matter how far I could get from these dogs. The blood trail that I was leaving behind was making it impossible for me to hide from them, and I'm sure that my fast-pace rhythmic heart was making my wound bleed even more than what it would have if my heart was beating at a normal rhythm.

The burning pain then got worse and it was now in my chest, my upper arms and my lower face as well as my throat. Why was it spreading?

When I fell for the twentieth time I didn't get back onto my feet; in fact I deeply buried myself faced down within the snow in order to put out this flameless fire that was raging and spreading out of control.

The burning increased rather than decrease, and it was now in my torso, my arms and my entire face. I screamed out; my scream was muffled slightly by the snow though. Suddenly, my right arm just below my shoulder was grabbed within a vise-like grip. Oh god, the monstrous dogs were done with Fabian and were still hungry. Hopefully death would come quickly with these dogs than the slow roasting torture that this flameless fire was doing.

"She was bit," a voice said as I was being pulled over onto my back. "The venom is in her system. It's too late."

"Don't…" I weakly gasped before losing my breath. My eyes were so badly blurred. I couldn't see who were here or how many. If they moved me from this snow, no doubt that this flameless fire will consume me.

"Don't?" another voice echoed as a question.

"She doesn't want to be move," the first voice told the second voice. "She's burning and she fears that the burning will get worse if we move her from the snow."

"The snow won't make any different at this point," the second man said while inches from my ear. So I assumed that he was talking to me. Something was then jabbed into my arm. "I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen. I have just given you a sedative."

"Doctor," I again weakly gasped

"Shsh, don't try to speak," Carlisle told me. "It will be alright. Save your strength."

"It burns," I whispered.

"Yes, it will for a while," Carlisle said honestly in a gentle voice. "I promise the burning will go away."

"When?" I muttered. It sounded incoherently even to myself.

"No time soon," Carlisle again said honestly and in the same gentle voice. "I'm sorry, but this burning that you feel will get worse before it gets better. But it will get better. I promise."

"When," I muttered again and in the same incoherent tone.

Carlisle sighed before he answered, "In three days." He then spoke to the other voice. "Edward, lift her into a sitting position so I can wrap her wound."

I felt myself being lifted. I wanted to assist the doctor myself so he could wrapped my wound, but my body felt heavy and when I tense my muscle the fire got worse. So I stopped trying. I laid their like a ragged doll while allowing them to put me into the position that they wanted me in.

'Mind over matter,' my mom told me more times than I can remember. Well mom I sure hope you're right, because mentally I don't want to be here.

I clenched my teeth tightly and I decided to revisit my past. I went back to the very first memory that I could remember. I was four years old and I very slowly moved forward from there. I didn't leave any small detail out no matter how painful or disturbing the memory was. In fact, none of my past pain was bad compared to this raging fire.

"How is she doing?" I heard Carlisle asking Edward as Carlisle wrapped my wound.

"She found an escape to it," Edward answered.

I barely heard his answer. I didn't know why he had said what he did and really I didn't care, but he was right… to a degree. Forcing my thoughts onto my past and not my present was helping. The pain was still there and getting worse, but I was slightly disconnected from it. I clenched my teeth even tighter and concentrated even harder on my past memories.

I very slowly went through year after year while trying to remember every last detail of my twenty-year-old life, which included song lyrics and movie plots.

During my first round of my life's history I was moved and then transported. I kept my eyes closed and I refused to think of anything else besides my memories so I could be in Seattle or even New York as far as I knew.

I finally reached the point of me meeting Fabian. I refused to think of what happened after we met, so I started at the age of four again while trying to remember any detail that I might've missed.

As I was going into my fourth round of my life's history, the feelings in my arms and legs had changed. The fire was dying out and receding. Was it over?

"It won't be much longer," Edward told me as if he was answering my unspoken questioned. "You're doing well, and it will be over shortly."

The fire continued to recede… not as rapidly as it came on, but receding nonetheless. It was now mainly in my throat and torso. It was beginning to feel like a worse case of heartburn that I had ever felt before. I wasn't sure how much longer I had to wait until the fire ended completely so I once again turn towards my memories. I restarted at the age of ten, but before I could reach the memories of my eighteenth birthday something went drastically wrong.

My heart sped up as if it was place into overdrive. Within seconds after that, I heard a loud thud as if an engine had just locked up from lack of oil and my throat burned as hard as it had burned before.

My eyes flew opened and I jerked to my feet while facing the occupants in the room. I didn't know why, but I was fighting mad. I wanted to rip someone's head off and if any one of the three men or that single woman who were staring at me comes forward I'll get what I want.

"We are your friends, Honey," Carlisle said in his gentle voice.

I recognized his voice from the woods and he either knew my name or… or he was just using a pet name for me. Either way it just made me angrier. My lips came up over my clenched teeth and a low growl rolled through my throat. The growl felt very natural somehow.

"We know who you are Honey Olivia Grey," Edward told me. I recognized his voice too from the woods and again he acted as if he was answering an unspoken question. And again this made me even angrier. My low growl was now directed towards Edward.

Edward, go get Jasper, A voice rang in my head.

I didn't know where that voice had come from, but again it didn't sit well with me. I once again growled, but to no one in general.

When Edward just stood staring in an awe at me, I heard the voice again, Edward! Get Jasper!

"She's hearing you, Carlisle," Edward told him. "She's a mind-reader like me?"

She's a mind-reader? Three voices rang in my head.

I grabbed my head between my hands as if that will keep out this intrusion. I was no mind-reader.

You are. A voice rang out in my head.

Why was I hearing strange voices in my head?

"You heard my voice," Edwards said while verbally answering my thoughts. "You're among friends, Honey Grey. I'm a mind-reader too."

I closed my eyes. What was happening to me?

"The man who you met in the woods was a vampire." My eyes flew opened again at Edward's answer. "His name was Fabian. He was going to feed off of you, but the wolves had stopped him."

I saw Edward inching his way closer to me and I growled for him to stay back. I would take his head off if he stepped any closer.

Edward stopped moving before he told me, "I'll keep as far away as you want me." I eyed him and the others suspiciously. Edward ignored my look and continued to say, "The wolves stopped Fabian from killing you, but you had received a good dose of his venom. You're no longer human. You're a vampire, and we too are vampires."

I snarled towards Edward and my growl was now deep and loud. By him calling me a vampire had made me even angrier.

It's true, Honey. A voice intruded my head again. It wasn't Edward's voice this time. I turned to look to see where the voice had come from. When I did, Carlisle repeated verbally in his gentile voice, "It's true."

As I was feeling like I could relax some, a petite woman with short hair and a man walked through the door… or danced through the door in the petite woman's case.

"Alice told me that she's awake," the new arriving man said while walking in.

My loud growl was directed at him now, but after a second my anger was quieting. But I didn't want it to be quiet so I focused on maintaining it. Suddenly a low growl came rolling out of the new arriving man's lips towards me.

"Jasper?!" Carlisle asked to the new arrival.

Jasper seemed a bit shocked from his own actions before saying, "I'm sorry, Carlisle. It was as if she projected her mood onto me rather than the other way around."

Suddenly a series of random images… or TV-like scenes flashed through my mind. I didn't recognize the images and I violently shook my head and growled as if I was going to shake these images from my head.

"What the?" I heard Edward muttered aloud before stopping himself. I didn't look at him. I was too busy trying to get these images from my head.

"What is it?" the first woman asked.

"Alice, leave the room," Edward ordered.

"What's going on?" the petite woman demanded to know.

"I'm not sure, but I do have theory," Edward told her. "To prove it though, I need you to leave the room."

My eyes were closed as I was still trying to shake these images from my head when the petite woman exited the room. Alice I assumed. I heard her footsteps stopping just outside the room.

"Further away, Alice," Edward called after her.

"Perhaps you want me to leave the house completely," Alice said as she walked away.

Within a short time the images had vanished and I reopened my eyes and deeply growled at no one in particular. These people… these vampires were doing this to me somehow.

"You don't have to go any farther, Alice," Edward said before speaking to me. "Honey, I'm sorry… we're sorry. We are doing this to you, but not on purpose."

"Edward?" Everyone in the room asked including Alice out in the hall. I just growled while daring someone… anyone to get within arm's length of me.

"She does have an ability, but it's not mind-reading," Edward explained to the others. "She's mimicking our abilities. If I leave the room and go stand by Alice, Honey wouldn't be able to hear anyone's thoughts."

"Fascinating," Carlisle said.

I wonder if Bella could help her to speed passed her newborn phase, Edward's voice rang in my head.

"Good idea," Alice called out from the hallway. "I see it working."

Suddenly I heard the buttons on a cell phone go lightning fast. Alice must be calling this Bella person.

"She is," Edward verbally answered me.

I growled at him and then flinched slightly from the burning of my throat. Was I irritating my already irritated throat?

"You're thirsty," Edward told me. "As like with all newborn vampires."

Water was the last thing I wanted.

"You're craving blood not water."

A slight smile came across my face. I had a short list of three people I would like to start with.

"The Cullen family drinks only animal blood though," Edward quickly added.

I heard the distinction in his voice. His family was unlike other vampires; unlike the vampire that had attacked me in the woods. Suddenly I realized that my anger was less than what it had been. I turned towards Jasper. He was doing this to me somehow I was certain of it. I was pissed off and I didn't want to calm down, so again I focused on maintaining it and growled at him.

He was ready for me this time. He just smiled smugly at me and this was what I needed to keep my anger motivated. When my growl deepen, Edwards said, "Jasper, she knows and she's getting more outraged."

Suddenly I heard an opening of a door. I swung towards the door of the room. Who just came in?

"It's Bella," Edward answered my thought again.

This was getting old and fast. I growled at him as I took an inch forward, which made the quiet big one to step forward too.

I'll rip you from limb to limb if you try it. A voice rang in my head. I'm guessing this was the big one's thoughts.

I glowered and growled at the big one. Big or not he definitely didn't want to mess with me in the mood that I was in. I was so angry and thirsty that I could take down a mountain lion.

Edward chuckled. When I glowered and growled at him, he flashed a memory crossed his mind. Suddenly I got the joke. Some woman… a woman vampire, who I haven't met yet had taken down a mountain lion. My glower and growl had deepened. I got the joke, but I didn't care.

The big one took a stepped closer and his thoughts once again rang in my head, I will hurt you.

I swung around and growled at him again.

"Emmett." Edward spoke to the big one. So Emmett was his name, but again I didn't care. "It's fine."

Well if Emmett would take one more step towards me… all of a sudden my mindset had shifted. I was less primal and more logical. My anger had also lessened when my primal mind had suddenly diminished. I swung towards Jasper. He was doing this. A growl didn't leave my throat this time and I felt an anguish expression coming across my face. Why wasn't Edward answering my unspoken confusion? Jasper wasn't doing this to me, this time. So what was? And why wasn't Edward explaining it to me?

I swung around while sweeping the room with my eyes, looking for what was making me feel less primal. Then I saw her at the doorway, the woman vampire from Edward's memory; the one who had taken down a mountain lion. She was the one who was making me feel like this; like the person who I was before being attacked in the woods.

I scanned the room once again and looked into their eyes. Strange. Their expressions didn't change from before, but for the first time, it dawned on me that their expressions were consoling and concerning… concerned for me; concerned for my safety; concerned for their own safety.

I closed my eyes and began sobbing. "What's happening to me?" At least I think it was a sob. There were no tears.

"Honey," Carlisle cautiously said. My eyes opened and I looked at him. "How do you feel?"

I took a moment to think of his question before whispering, "Confused."

"You were bitten in the woods," Carlisle explained again. "By a vampire."

"I know," I whispered. "Why did I want to rip your head off if I'm now a vampire too… like you?"

Jasper was the one to answer. "You're a newborn… vampire." He said the word 'vampire' as if it was an afterthought. He then glanced at the woman from Edward's memory with a playful and smug grin. "You acted like what a newborn vampire should." The woman stuck out her tongue at him, and he just chuckled. His voice then rang in my head We all know that your brain is wired differently, Bella.

So the woman at the door was the woman who Alice had called moments before. She didn't seem to have heard Jasper's thoughts. Edward did though. He pleasingly grinned at the thought. He was proud that Bella's mind was wired differently to everyone else's. So why wasn't he answering my thoughts. First I was annoyed that he was answering my unspoken questions and now I'm annoyed that he's not.

"Why aren't you answering me?" I whispered, barely audible.

"Did you ask something?" the woman next to Emmett asked, her tone slightly indifference. "Other than what you just asked."

Edward knew that I was directing my question to him and he gestured when he explained, "Bella. Her ability is a shield. I can't get passed it to hear her thoughts unless she concentrates to allow it." He's right. I can't hear Bella's thoughts either. "You have a mimicking ability by mimicking the abilities around you. You're mimicking Bella's shield as we speak, so therefore, I can't hear your questions or thoughts while Bella is near."

My mom had always told me that I empathized too much with the people around me. Strange that it took something like this for me to believe her.

"We need Bella here though." With a wide grin across his face, Carlisle picked up where Edward had left off. My eyes went to him. "It seems that Bella's natural transitions at becoming a vampire while skipping through the newborn stage is one of her abilities after all. You seem to me calmer now than before Bella had come."

I couldn't disagree with that. "My thoughts seem to be more… clearer… more logical and less primal; less at wanting to rip someone's head off."

A wide smile came across Carlisle's face. "Excellent. Anyway, I think this is a good time for proper introductions. I'm Carlisle." —He gestured to the others as he came to them— "Jasper. Emmett. Emmett's wife Rosalie. Edward. Edward's wife Bella. Jasper's wife Alice is in the hall. My wife Esme is with Bella and Edward's daughter, Renesmee…"

"Daughter?" I looked at Bella with surprise in my eyes. "Vampire women can get pregnant?"

"I became pregnant and gave birth to Renesmee before becoming a vampire," Bella explained. "Just before in fact. Renesmee is half human and half vampire. If you listen closely, you could make out her heartbeat."

There were two separates rhythmic beats as I listened and no other heartbeats. Not mine; not the people in this room or the person in the hall. I could also hear their thoughts. There was one more individual in the house than what I was told. "Who's the third person downstairs?"

"Very good," Edwards praised. "He's Jacob. He's a friend."

"He's still human?" I met Edward's eye for the answer.

"Half human," Edwards said.

"Like your daughter?"

Bella chuckled slightly before answering, "No. He's a… well, he's a werewolf."

"Werewolves!" I exclaimed as the memories of Fabian being ripped apart by monstrous dogs flooded my mind. "Fabian…"

"Yes," Carlisle answered before I could finish. "The wolves patrol the woods while looking for vampires who would feed on humans. The Cullens don't feed on humans, so we're safe from the wolves."

I glanced at Bella before saying, "You feed on mountain lions."

"When we can," Carlisle answered. "When we can't then we settle with elk or the other large animals that are in the area."

Can I come back in now, Edward? A voice rang in my head. This came from the hallway, from Alice most likely. I looked towards the hall at the same time Edward did.

"Hold up, Alice," Edward answered in a tone as if he was answering someone five inches away. I then heard a sigh in the hallway. "Honey, Alice also has an ability. Those images that you saw earlier. Those were images of the future…"

"Possible future," Alice said in a normal tone. I heard it as well as if she was standing next to me.

"Possible future," Edward corrected. "If a person changes his or her mind then Alice's vision would change too."

"So by me being able to mimic other people's abilities, I will be seeing visions of the future when Alice's around me?"

"Yes," Edward answered. "Are you ready for it?"

Ready or not it was going to happen when I'm around Alice. So I might as well get this over with. As I went to answer Edward I squeaked out, "Yes." Okay. That came out as if I was uncertain.

You'll be fine, Edward's voice rang in my head and knowing very well that I heard him. After all it was his gift that I was borrowing. "Come in, Alice."

The flood of pictures began flowing immediately as Alice entered the room. I watch them with less panic this time.

I was scrutinizing what I was seeing in my head and after a brief moment, Alice asked, "So how are you doing, Honey?" A shock gasp came out of my mouth. "What is it?"

"My parents… they're on the road. They're looking for me… or will be." I was a vampire now. Could I be around them? Were there rules to this? Would I want to rip their heads off the way that I wanted to do with this vampire family not too long ago? Suddenly I realized that everyone was looking at me with worry in his or her eyes.

"I can't read your thoughts when Bella is in the room," Edward told me just after I noticed them noticing me.

"Bella stays," I snapped. "If she leaves, I might come unglued again."

An amused grin came across Edward's face before he told me, "What I meant was, you need to verbalize your fears or thoughts. We can help you if you let us."

I gave a quick nod. At least I think I did. I'm not even sure if I had even moved. I glanced at their faces as I said, "Can I be around people now? Or do I have to stay here?"

Carlisle sighed before saying, "You're a newborn and as a rule it takes a newborn a year to get where he or she can be around people again without wanting to…"

"Rips their heads off," I supplied.

Carlisle slightly grinned as he continued to say, "Along with feeding on them, yes. Bella is an exception to that rule though."

A big exception. Edward's voice rang in my head. I turned to look and he had moved over to Bella. He now had his arm around her waist.

"Bella had been able to be around humans from just about day one," Carlisle continued to say while oblivious to Edward's ad-lib. I turned back towards Carlisle. "In fact, as a vampire, Bella is only four months old and her father visits her and his granddaughter all the time. Bella's father doesn't know about her being a vampire though and he mustn't find out. No humans can find out about us. Human finding out about us is a violation of our laws and the Volturis takes the vampire laws very, very seriously."

"Who's the Volturis?"

"Aren't you thirsty?" Emmett asked me.

I looked at him and thought for a second before I answered, "Yes. But I'm finding that I can ignore it for now."

Alice smiled delightfully before she said, "Bella's presence is helping her to ignore her thirst."

"You won't be able to ignore it for too much longer," Carlisle informed me. "We will explain everything to you, but right now, you need to go hunt. Bella will go with you…"

"To keep me sane," I jokingly interrupted with a smile.

Emmett chuckled before uttering, "Bella's keeping someone sane? That's the first."

Bella amusingly smiled at Emmett before heckling, "It's just you I like to drive nuts, dear brother."

I couldn't help but to chuckle also at their playful heckling. These… 'vampires' were obviously a close-knit family.

Carlisle smiled too as did everyone else before Carlisle continued to say, "Anyway, Edward; Emmett; Rosalie, perhaps you three can go with them." They all nodded in agreement.

"How long will I have to be around Bella?" I glanced at Bella and saw her staring at me with a slightly appalling expression across her face. Did I upset her with my question? "Don't get me wrong, Bella. I do like your company and all that…"

Bella's expression changed quickly to a grin before she interrupted me with, "You misunderstood my expression. You asked the very question that I was thinking and I thought for a moment that you had read my mind."

A pleasant smile came across my face before I uttered, "Oh." I'm glad I didn't upset her. I could see her and me being friends.

"Let's give it a couple of days, Honey, and then we can attempt to see how you will react after you get accustomed at being a newborn," Carlisle told me.

I nodded in agreement. I wasn't in a hurry to go it alone without Bella keeping me sane, but at the same time I didn't want to be dependent on her or to be tethered to her.

"Let's go," Emmett told everyone.

I followed the group out into the hall, and I couldn't help but to look at every nook and cranny of the house. This was certainly a lovely house. We were on the second floor and a woman, Esme I believed, was waiting for us near the bottom of the steps.

TBC