Hey! I'm back! So, I'm not going to do a long A/N here, so it'll be at the bottom. Anyways, here's chapter one, which takes place months before the preface.


Chapter One: The Letter

Bella's Point Of View

As I was driving home, my mind wandered back to my past. Back to him. I had honestly thought that I loved him, but now I wasn't so sure. In fact, I hadn't been for a while now. It never really seemed like he cared all that much for me, either. He was so very controlling, even the rest of his family seemed overbearing. I just didn't know.

Edward had left me the previous week, and I was still moderately in a depressive state, though there was just too much to worry about to spend much time thinking about him. Of course it hurt, and of course I cried, but…

The buzzing of my cell phone startled me out of reverie. I flipped it open, and cradled it between my shoulder and my ear-I wasn't the best single-handed driver, and it was better overall to just not risk it.

"Hello?" I asked.

A deep, whispery voice answered: "He's coming for you."

A chill went down my spine, and I froze, almost ramming into the back of another truck. The driver honked, flashed me a finger, and then sped up, driving further away from me in my shocked condition. "Who's coming for me? Who is this?"

I was met with the dial tone, and snapped my phone shut and dropped it into the seat beside me. My body was still shaking, still having convulsions, and I hurriedly drove home. The road would be a much safer place with me off of it.

I passed by The Lodge, the only restaurant in Forks, and then Newton's Outfitters, the camping store that Charlie had wanted me to work at. Finally, I came to the beginning of my neighborhood, and I pulled in, parking in our driveway.

Jacob was sitting on the porch, his long hair flowing around him. He stood up, smiled, and waved at me as I was getting out of the truck. In three long strides he was over to me, closing the door.

"Hey, Bella."

"Jake. Hi."

He pulled me into a quick hug, and kissed my cheek, earning himself a smack on the arm. I wasn't angry at him; I just preferred he didn't do that.

Charlie wasn't home yet, so that meant I needed to get the mail. He had been waiting for a new fishing magazine he had ordered the other day, and it would be something good to surprise him with. He definitely deserved it after the hell I had put him through lately.

Jake following behind me, as I crossed the street to the mailbox, and got our newspaper. I handed Jacob the paper, and as I came across a bill, gave those to him, too. Eventually, I was left with two things: The magazine and a letter.

The letter was in a yellow envelope, and it was addressed to me. The return address said Virginia. Mystic Falls to be exact. I gasped, and dropped the letter as if it had burnt me.

Jacob stopped, turned around, hesitant, and looked to the ground where it laid. He bent over, picked it up, and checked the back. He obviously didn't recognize it, and he wouldn't know why it was so important to me.

"Gosh, Bells, what's wrong? Who lives in Virginia, anyways?"

Ignoring him, I plucked the envelope out of his hands, and I stuck my forefinger under the flap and carefully opened it, pulling the white parchment out.

And this is what it said:

Dear Isabella,

I'm sorry that this is the first time that I would have spoken to you in years, and I wish it was under better circumstances that I call upon you. However, I need your help, desperately. Some "friends" of mine have gotten into a lot of trouble, and we need all the backup we can get. I was hoping you'd be willing to help an old friend out, but, if you are unable, I will understand.

Best regards,

Alaric

My hand flew to my mouth, and I looked up at my best friend. I couldn't let him see this, because he barely knew anything of the supernatural. No need to confuse him anymore than he already was.

"Jake, I have to go," I whispered.

He frowned, and stuck out his hand expectantly. "What's wrong? Why do you need to leave?" Jacob looked hurt, but I couldn't help that, not really.

"Um, my…uncle, Uncle Rick, is sick, and he needs me to go and help take care of him. He's all alone you see, and he really needs someone there with him." Not everything I told him was a lie, so my conscience was fine. For the most part.

"Doesn't he have any family there?"

"No, it's just me and Charlie. I'm sorry, Jake, but I need to go tell Charlie bye right now. The sooner I get to Virginia, the better."

I leaned up on my tiptoes, and placed a kiss on his cheek. Wow, I was a huge hypocrite. Whatever. "Bye Jake. I promise I'll be back sometime, you won't even have time to miss me." Taking the mail from him, I jumped back into my truck and raced quickly to the police station.

When I got there, I parked haphazardly in the parking lot, opening the door before my truck even came to a stop. I didn't even stop to close my door before I charged into the station, scaring everyone half to death.

"Charlie!" I screamed, and waited until I saw him run out from his office before I pulled him back inside behind me.

He looked panicked, though I couldn't blame him. All of his officers probably thought that I was psycho, a madwoman who was on something illegal. Honestly, I couldn't blame them if they did think that.

"What's wrong Isabella?"

"It's Alaric."

He froze, his eyes widening as I thrust the letter into his hands. "See? He sent us this letter. Something's wrong, and they need my help. I have to go, I have to save them. They need me. Charlie, I have to go back," I whispered.

He quickly scanned the paper, then sighed, plopping down into his chair. He laid his head on the desk, then brought his fist down upon it so hard, the old table almost gave way, and wobbled underneath the force. "Damn it, Bella! I thought we did this all to protect you! You can't just go back now, not after everything that happened!"

Charlie rarely got upset, especially this upset. He was absolutely livid. Not at me, but at what I was doing, what I was sacrificing. I knew, however, that he would relent. If it had been anyone else, anyone but Alaric, Charlie would've said no. But, it was Alaric, and he needed my help, and Charlie couldn't leave him hanging. Not after everything they had been through themselves.

He lifted his head and looked at me, his eyes boring into mine. "Promise me you'll be okay, that you'll come back home."

I smiled down at him, "Of course. I always have."

He stood up to hug me, knowing that I needed to leave as soon as possible. There wouldn't even be any time to pack anything of importance. I wrapped my arms around his middle and squeezed.

With tears pooling in my eyes, I thanked him, and walked out the door. Then I turned right around and walked back inside his office. "Here," I said happily, handing the fishing magazine to him. Then, I actually walked outside without coming back in.

I was standing in the lobby of the station, and everyone was trying to inconspicuously look at me, to see if I was going to have another conniption or not. I smiled sheepishly, waved, and apologized. "Sorry for earlier. Our neighbor ran over my cat."

The secretary gave her sincerest regrets, crying a little, before giving me a cookie. I gladly accepted-she might have been a little batty, but who says no to cookies?-and then hurried back outside to my truck.

In record time, I drove to the Seattle-Tacoma Airport, and boarded a plane bound for Virginia.


Did you like it okay? I know it might be going a little slow, and the chapter is a short, but, please, bear with me. And, some things that seem one way, will actually be another way completely.

Anyways, I want to thank anyone who put myself CTF on alerts, I feel so honored! Sweetie7smiled, hvnsllbbygrl, GeorgiaW97, nightworldangel, HotChick9076, jasminahmed, s87griffin, Emmetts-Embers01, alla-bella, xtubbyx, Sam21tvd4ever, Dark-Supernatural-Angel, and Twilight Gleek. I don't think I left anyone out, and I'm sorry if I did. :(

Next, I want to thank Dark-Supernatural-Angel for my first review EVER, and Twilight Gleek, for a really nice one! I screamed so loud when I got them that my mom literally fell off of the couch. If you haven't ever put a story on here, reviews actually DO mean a lot to us authors! I used to think differently, but, I was wrong! It's awesome.

Also, I plan to update this daily, but I make no guarantee.

One last very important thing: I don't own VD or Twilight. I do have some glitter though, which is always fun. It's close enough, isn't it?

Okay, I have more to say, sorry! Basically, I already have the main plot...plotted, but if there's anything any of you want to see or anything, tell me, because I aim to please. Also, if you want to tell me it's crap, go ahead. Because I will probably scream over that one, too. Ha.

Question time!

1.) What do you think is goint to happen?

2.) Did a neighbor ever run over your cat? If so, here's a cookie from a batty girl. (Not an actual cookie, or those virus kinds. They're malicious.

3.) Who's your favorite guy (VD or Twilight) for Bella to end up with? It probably won't make a difference, but I want to include you all in this.

4.) Do you see many continuous typos? If you see a 3/4 sign, sorry. I used a big hyphen (I'm not sure what those are called, but they're bigger versions of this -) and whenever I post with one of them, 3/4 happens.

5.) Any questions? I'd be happy to answer anything! Yes, my life is truely this pathetic. Misha's cool with it, though. (That's my computer's name. It's a boy, and if you are a crazy fan of a certain show, you'll know who he's named after)

6.) Do you know who Misha's named after?

I guess that's it. I'm having so much fun with this that I might post another chapter early, though I'd have to write it first. It's not likely, but keep your eyes open!

~Shecanandshewill