Chapter 2

You can do this. I told myself. Just go see if they are home. But, what if they aren't? What was I supposed to do? It was easier believing that they would be coming back soon. My curious instincts drove me towards the house. I drove slowly and steadily. Trying to keep myself upbeat. I looked at the trees and tried to think of how long they'd been there. This is stupid. I kept my eyes on the towering house ahead. I parked and slowly turned my head to spot the shiny Volvo parked just a few feet from me. I silently rejoiced in my head.

Go see what's going on. A voice in my head told me. He would've visited you if he could've but he's just been busy. He wants you to go see him. I followed the voice all the way to the front door. I lifted my hand to knock and Alice answered.

"Bella!" She sharply whispered. "You shouldn't be here!"

"I'm sorry...I just..." I didn't know what to say.

Alice sighed. She looked around inside.

"Alright, hold on a minute," She shut the door. I heard murmuring inside.

"...don't know if she's strong enough..." One voice said.

"...won't know until we try..." The other fought back.

I couldn't hear the rest of the conversation. After a while, I decided maybe I wasn't welcome. So, I glumly began walking back to my truck.

"Bella?" Edward said behind me.

I jumped.

"Edward!" I turned to face him. His expression was unreadable.

"Bella...I hate to put you in danger," He sighed.

"Don't do this Edward...I can't live through that again," I felt the tears rimming the edges of my eyes.

He paused for a moment. "Oh. You think...no. No, Bella that's not what I'm doing." He wrapped me in a hug.

"You're not going to leave?" I made my eyes swallow the tears.

"Not unless you want me to."

"Never." I pressed my head into his cold, stone chest.

"Actually, I was asking you if you would like to come in and--"

"I'd love to!" I smiled up at him. He put his finger to my lips.

"Let me finish. Do you want to meet the girl from the meadow?" His eyes tried to read my expression. I couldn't even tell what I was feeling. Do it. The voice said to me. This is your chance to help him.

"Well?" Edward asked.

"I'll do it." I weakly smiled at him. He bent down and whispered in my ear.

"I won't let anything happen to you." He stood back up. I took his hand and we went inside.

Alice was waiting for us. She had been watching from the window. Once she saw me coming she smiled.

"Are you ready?" She took my other free hand. They led me up the stairs to a room at the far end of the hall. Emmett appeared from behind the closed door.

"Hey, Bella!" He grabbed me into a bear hug.

"Hi, Emmett." I smiled at him.

"How is she?" Alice asked.

"She's calm. The red is almost gone out of her eyes." He nodded at Edward and left.

Alice reached for the door handle. I took a deep breath.

"Bella," She smiled at me. "Meet Emmaline." She pushed open the door.

There she was. The girl, sitting with her knees under her chin, staring out the window. She turned to look at me. Her eyes suddenly filled with fear. Alice rushed to her side.

"It's alright, Emma," Alice cooed. "You can do this. You're a very strong girl."

Emmaline stood and walked over to me. When she was a foot away from me she paused. Then she rushed in to hug me. I felt Edward's grip on my hand tighten.

"Careful, Emma, remember, she's very fragile." Edward said.

"I'm so sorry." Emmaline cried into my shoulder. I reached up my free arm and hugged her back.

"It's alright," I said quietly. I couldn't believe this was the same girl who tried to attack me a few weeks back. It was amazing how fast the Cullen's ways changed her. She pulled away from me. Of course vampires couldn't cry, so there were no tears. But, I swore that I could almost see them dripping down her face.

"No, it's not," She walked back over to Alice. "I almost did to you, what the others did to me."

I gave Edward a confused look. Emmaline saw it.

"Can I tell her the story?" Emmaline asked Edward.

"If you want to." She nodded and Edward had me sit in a chair in the middle of the room. Emmaline came to face me and she began.

"It all started about a month ago. I lived up in La Push," She took a breath. My mind immediately flashed to Jacob.

"There was this group of guys who always seemed so secretive. Everyone else thought they were doing good, but I thought there was something more. I never really made my opinions public, thinking they were silly. But, then, they got my friend. He was never really the same after. Never wanted to hang out anymore. He said it was too dangerous. I knew that I had to find out what was going on. They couldn't just take him away from me." She looked out the window again. "So, one night, I followed them. They did normal teenage boy stuff at first, but then they went into the woods. A couple times I swore they saw me, but they never said a word. I followed them deep into the woods. It was dark outside and it was a crescent moon, so there wasn't much light. Then, they stopped. I heard some murmuring and suddenly..." She trailed off, seeming occupied with her hands. "They transformed...into...werewolves."

"Is it the same group as--" I turned to Edward.

"Yes." I studied him for a minute and then looked at Emmaline to continue.

"I couldn't decide what to do. If I should run away, or just stay put until they left. I was too shocked to think though and they ended up finding me. My friend sniffed me and then transformed back into a human. They all did. All I could do was stare. He asked me what I was doing and I explained that I was worried. He got angry, but then he calmed down. He said anger was the trigger for transforming, so I tried to talk calmly. He explained everything to me. After that night, I got to see him more often. I tried my hardest not to make him angry. It was working out fine. Until the others came." Her voice lowered. "The others were vampires. But, they weren't animal-blood drinkers, like us," She looked at Edward and Alice. "They craved human blood, and after they first met me, they wanted to hunt me. My friend never told me this. I don't know why, but he didn't. So, a few days after they met me, they kidnapped me. My friend was alone with me and couldn't fight off the four of them alone. They kept me in an old house, deep in the forest. I was there for three days, until they decided to take me somewhere else. They put me in a car and we drove for a long time until we reached the forest of your meadow. They told me they were going to finish me—that they were vampires. I was so scared. I closed my eyes as they surrounded me. I felt a sharp pain in my neck as one of them bit me. The pain continued, and I was sure I was dead. But, when I opened my eyes, I saw the werewolves. A fight commenced, I didn't wait to flee though. I took one look at my transformed friend and ran. I never looked back. The pain was too much, though, and once I reached your meadow, I fell and couldn't get up. I screamed and screamed for days it seemed, until the pain finally subsided." Emmaline couldn't continue. She walked over to the window and sat down. Alice continued the story.

"When you found her, she was thirsty and young vampires can't control their human urges. So, she attacked." Alice went to comfort Emmaline.

"So, what happened after I ran? And how did you see her?" I asked.

"I could hear her thoughts. She was crying for help, and I could hear her say how much she wanted blood. After you ran, I finally calmed her down by finding her a bear. I took her here and we had a long discussion about what had happened and what was going to happen." He walked over to me and sat in a chair across from me. "Since she's so young, we're going to keep her here. Once we know she's strong, she can decide if she wants to stay or leave. We're going to enroll her in high school now that we know she can restrain herself."

It went silent for a little while. I was soaking in what I had just heard. Edward was reading Emmaline's thoughts—he had a look in his eyes. Alice was watching me, and Emmaline just stared out the window.

"What was your friend's name?" I asked. Everyone jumped at the volume of my voice.

"Jacob." She said sadly.