DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Twilight nor any of the characters in this story. This right belongs to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N: I know it was quick but review anyway?

Chapter Two

A heavy silence followed Angela's plea and I swear my heart stopped beating. Angela's dark brown eyes were dead serious and her lips were pursed so tightly that they were hardly visible; the previous hesitance in her countenance had vanished completely and unsettled me.

"Bella," Angela leaned forward and grasped one of my hands as if to hold me there, "things aren't right there." And that's when I took in her posture and realized something was very wrong here. Angela's knees were bobbing up and down in anxiety under the table and when I looked back to her face and really looked, I saw the heavy concealer around her eyes. Angela hadn't been sleeping.

"You know," I whispered in a stunned disbelief. How had Angela found out? Had she…

My throat constricted as my mind supplied me with possible answers, each more disbelieving than the last. By the time Angela managed to look astonished at my words my mind had already come up with irrational idea that Angela had somehow been imprinted upon and learned of a plot to use or harm Charlie.

Angela stared at me for a moment before large tears welled up in her eyes. "You know what they turn into?" Realization dawned on her face and I briefly wondered how much Angela would demand to know. How much did she already know? It hadn't taken me very long at all to figure out what the Cullen's had been, but then again I had disregarded the wolves altogether. Had Angela done the same? "Is that why you stopped going to the reservation?"

Now would be the perfect time to know exactly what Angela knew because I had no idea how much to tell her without divulging too much information. But even if I had to keep information from her, I didn't want to blatantly lie to Angela's face, she had at one point been a good friend of mine and the only person I would dearly miss when I thought Edward was going to change me. Even after a long period of absence Angela was still a person I wanted to be close to.

Then there was the only law that I knew the Volturi enforced with no mercy. Humans must never know about vampires.

"How did you find out Angela?" I dodged her question with another question and I tried not to let my relief show. My earlier paranoid ideas had been disproven by Angela's question; if she had been an imprint she would know everything. I felt ridiculous that such a ludicrous idea had even popped in my head.

"I was out on the cliffs my first night back in Forks down on a little ledge that Ben and I had found and-" Angela paused a grabbed her abandoned mug only to grimace and set it back down, by now the coffee had to be cold. "I don't know who it was but he was young, maybe seventeen or eighteen, but he was with an older guy he called Sam. They were talking about checking a perimeter and when I stood up and peeked over the ledge. That's when I saw the younger one- he- exploded into a wolf."

It could have been anyone that Angela had saw with Sam and it didn't really matter who it was, it was none of my concern anymore. They had made it beyond obvious that I was none of their concern anymore and so they were none of mine.

"I'm so relieved Bella," Angela let out a breathy sigh and a small smile had formed on her lips. "I half thought I was crazy and anyone I told would have agreed. But there's still one thing I don't understand."

"Only one?" I teased her playfully. My mood had taken a sudden turn for the better without me realizing it at first. Now that Angela knew I had someone to confide in. Sure I couldn't tell her everything, but now I could be close with her on a whole new level, one with less secrets and a new level of understanding. I was almost hoping that Angela asked the right questions so that I would be forced to tell her everything, from the Cullen's and the nomads to Jacob and the pack. The idea of having another human, Angela especially, that knew everything…well I didn't realize quite how bad I wanted a friend like that until this moment.

Angela grinned sheepishly, "Okay I have about a hundred questions, but those can wait. How could you let Charlie move to La Push knowing what they are?" I was taken aback by how hateful Angela sounded, how she drawled the word them as if she were speaking of particularly vile thing.

"What do you mean Ange? The pack wouldn't-"

Angela cut me off with an angry expression, "You were there Bella, you told Ben and I, how you saw a giant wolf in the forest back when all those hikers and locals were being killed in the woods. Those were not bear attack that was "the pack." They are murderers Bella!"

I could only stare at her while I tried to form some sort of explanation, and much to the warring excitement and reluctance I was feeling, I realized I had two options. I could let Angela believe that the pack was a bunch of murderers or I could tell her the truth, the whole truth and leave nothing out. For the first time since the Cullen's had abandoned me I could speak freely about shifters and vampires.

"The pack didn't murder those people Angela," I said, feeling my excitement win out and I sat up a little straighter. Angela's expression said that she clearly didn't believe me.

"Then why did you-" I knew exactly what she was going to ask and I cut in.

"There are more than just shifters in the world Angela." I paused and took a breath, "The pack didn't murder those people, they don't take any human life…directly" I added on bitterly at the end. I knew I would die at the hands of Victoria, it was only a matter of time, and for the pack to turn on not me as Bella Swan, but me as a defenseless human when they had the power to kill vampires…my blood would be on their hands just as much as on Victoria's.

"The pack protects the Reservation. That perimeter check you heard them talking about was the patrols they do to protect Forks and the Reservation."

Angela seemed in half state of shock but she also looked extremely pleased, as if I had just confirmed something for her. "What do they protect people from? What killed those hikers?"

"Vampires." I nearly whispered the word, almost reverently, but Angela heard. Her eyes went wide and I expected some sort of denial or shock or something.

What I hadn't expected was for her to nearly shout, "The Cullens!"

Nearly three years had passed since the Cullens had abandoned me, four since I had vowed to never tell a soul of their secret. Yet here I was, nodding as Angela had her hand over her mouth, confirming her deduction. "The Cullens didn't kill those people either Ange, they are what they call vegetarian vampires meaning they only drink the blood of animals and never humans. That's why their eyes are gold. There are human drinking vampires and they have ruby red eyes. Those hikers were killed by human drinkers."

I watched Angela process this new information with a cocktail of emotions; relief, anxiety, excitement, the list went on. Her head fell until her forehead rested in her hand that was propped on the table with her elbow. "I knew there was something different about them- but…oh my god Bella is that why they left? Because you uncovered their secret?"

I sighed and shook my head, "No I had known Edward was a vampire before we started dating. Jasper lost control and attacked me on my eighteenth birthday when I got a paper cut; Edward freaked out. He said his world was too dangerous for me and he refused to change me. So after school the next day he took me on a walk in the woods and dumped me. That's how I got lost."

Angela's mouth dropped and her lips formed a small 'o'. All I could do was smile bitterly and nod.

"Is that why he always looked like he was in pain?" I mentally applauded Angela's quick deductions.

"The thing about vampires is that some of them have a certain gift or ability, like a super power added on to their already superhuman senses-"

"Edward, Alice, and Jasper," Angela rushed out looking as if she had had some major revelation.

I stared at her in shock for a moment, "H-how could you possibly know that?"

Angela appeared not to hear my question and continued thinking, mumbling softly to herself and scrunching her eyebrows together. "Bella I think- I mean when I was around the Cullens I got this…I'm not sure if I can explain it but I got this kind of warmth in my head...or- I mean maybe like some sort of glow. It was really subtle and it took me a long time to notice it. I had written it off as just really liking their company, but it only happened with Edward, Alice, and Jasper. I liked Emmett and Rosalie alright but they didn't produce this feeling. And-"

I found myself at a loss for words. Was it possible Angela had some sort of gift? Could she be able to pick out those who had gifts? Was it even possible for a human to have gifts? How had Edward not picked up on this? He had been in Angela's head often; he had told me that her mind was enjoyable place to be in. That her thoughts were pleasant and Angela had a welcoming mind, could that not only be because Angela was a friendly person but because of the warmth she got from being around him?

"Have you ever felt this before with anyone else?" I was literally on the edge of my seat waiting anxiously.

"Well yeah I feel it with you Bella."

"What?" Angela felt that feeling with me? But I had no gift. There were no weird feelings like Angela or any accidental happenings or even any skills I was really good at. I was a clumsy girl who liked to read and hated attention. There was nothing even remotely special about me except for that my blood smelled unusually good for a human and that-

"Edward couldn't read my mind."

Angela choked and coughed at my words, "He could read minds?"

"I don't understand," I continued as though she hadn't spoke, too wrapped up in my train of thought. "Alice could see my future and Jasper could feel and change my emotions…but Edward couldn't read my mind? Almost like I…"

"Shielded him?" Angela offered and I nodded. How many times had I been so thankful that Edward couldn't read my mind? Countless… I had thought my brain just ran on a different frequency but in all honesty having a gift was much more plausible than one brain in billions being different.

"Bella," Angela squealed excitedly and grabbed my hand, breaking me from my thoughts and infecting me with her enthusiasm. I sat back and truly smiled for the first time in who knows how long.

"We're both gifted," I said after a moment of bliss, "Angela what are the odds that two gifted humans find each other? I mean-" How could I explain to her what a big deal this was? "Vampires are more often than not, not gifted…but for two humans, who just happen to know each other, to be visibly gifted?"

"Winning the lottery jackpot twice in a row is more probable," Angela said quietly, the awe filling her voice.

"Exactly."

Both us just sat there for a moment taking in the enormity of what we had discovered. "Bella we have to figure out how your gift works!" The excitement on Angela's face mirrored my own until that moment. My mind was racing and my heart was pounding and then nothing. I felt empty again. I couldn't figure out how my gift works. Not now. There was no time. The precious two weeks I had needed to be spent planning and figuring out how I was going to survive, not figuring out how my mind shielded itself from Edward. I could not bow down to Victoria. Yes I understood her grief, and yes I understood that I would stand no chance against her, but I could not knowingly offer myself up like snack. I had to try.

"I can't," I whispered to Angela, hating the numb after finally experiencing happiness again.

"What? Why not?"

I had been honest with her so far, not holding details back maybe I could live on with one person knowing what happened to me when I "disappeared". I sighed and held back tears, "I have to get out of town Angela. Those human drinkers who attacked those hikers? It was a coven of nomads, Laurant, James, and Victoria. I was with the Cullen's playing baseball in a field one night when they heard us and came. James was a tracker and decided that I, a human protected by a large coven, would be an amusing hunt. Edward and the Cullens ended up killing James but he was mated to Victoria. Laraunt came back two years ago to watch me on Victoria's orders. Well a year and a half ago he attacked me and the wolf pack killed him.

"When he never returned Victoria raised a vampire army stronger than any the pack had ever seen before. They fought, and eventually the pack won, but they lost Collin and Seth and Jacob were crushed and nearly killed; Victoria used that and got away. After the injuries and loss, and me turning Jacob down again, he finally got it through his head that we were not ever going to be more than friends, the pack decided since I turned Jacob down they would turn me out. Victoria has been trying to get at me ever since but hasn't been able to get past the wolves. But now Charlie is moving to the Rez to be with Sue and the wolves won't have any reason to keep protecting Forks. I have to hope I can get a head start and stay ahead of her."

Angela looked horrified, "You have a vampire trying to kill you! That is more than enough reason to keep protecting it! How could they just stop? How could the Cullens just leave you with this?"

I didn't know if I should try and explain that the Cullens didn't know and that I had no way of telling them, but even I knew that if someone killed my mate I would return the favor. Their naivety and compassion had blinded them, now I was paying the price. I only wished I lived long enough to teach them the lesson they had so brutally taught me. Instead of saying anything I snorted scathingly.

"You can't go off alone," Angela stated in a no-argument tone. "You need someone with you to help you discover your gift and-"

"Angela no," As much as I hated saying those words how could I let Angela knowingly walk into a vampires arms? Sooner or later I was going to be caught. "It's only a matter of time until Victoria catches me. If you go, it's only a matter of time before you die as well."

"You would rather me stay here and do nothing?" Angela asked. "Go back to life as if I never learned any of this? You of all people should know how impossible that is, even with the probability of death. I could go with you and live more in a month than I would in eighty years. Longevity means nothing without significance."

Would anyone have been able to stop me from seeing Edward? No. I knew that every second of every day he thirsted for my blood like no other; that my blood called to him like heroin to a heroin addict. Yet still I slept beside him every night, no more than an inch from death. No one on the planet could have kept me from that, just as I couldn't keep Angela from going with me. She was right, a long life meant nothing without meaning, it was a fact you learned when you learned of the supernatural.

"Okay," I gave in with a sad smile. "But we have to start planning; I have only two weeks before Charlie moves."

Angela smiled triumphantly and sat up straight, I could literally see the gears working in her mind. "Let's meet up in the morning," she said slowly, as if thinking through all her options. "We can think of ideas tonight and make a firm plan in the morning. The realtor from Port Angeles should be here in about an hour for the final walkthrough before she puts it on the market. Why don't you swing by when you wake up in the morning and bring some real coffee with you?"

"I can do that," I said as I smiled at Angela.

I grabbed my cup and poured the cheap stuff down the sink and tossed my cup in the trash bag on the floor. When we got to the door I pulled Angela into a hug and squeezed her tightly, "I'm so glad you know Angela."

"I am too; you shouldn't have had to deal with any of this on your own."

Why did seven vampires and a pack of werewolves not understand what human-

Off in the distance a wolf howled and my blood ran cold. I felt Angela's muscles tense and knew that she had heard it too. It was too much of a coincidence for me to ignore, one of the wolves could have been here.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I let go of Angela and waved as got in my truck. I needed to get home and make sure Angela's new knowledge of the supernatural was not common knowledge.