Chapter 2 ~ A Rival No Girl Wants to Have

I was crazy. I was crazy and deluded and I was going to die. Crazy, crazy, crazy. But here I was, in front of this house. This enormously huge house. And inside…were…. vampires. Vampires! The shock of it all seemed to be hitting me now, and I wondered if I should just forget about all of this, go home, and just let the story play out by itself. After all, I was pretty sure it was true now, wasn't I? What if I changed something? What if it all went wrong? But then, why would those books have been there if I wasn't supposed to change something? And I knew in the back of my mind, that there was something that I desperately wanted to change about that story. But I just couldn't put my finger on it, couldn't figure out what it was that was bothering me so much about how my life had turned out in the end. So here I was, standing in front of this great big white house, my hand raised to knock…

And rationally, I knew that they already knew that someone was here, not knocking. They would have gathered that I was contemplating knocking, but hadn't been doing so for the last 5 minutes. They would have heard the bus that stopped just a ways away. They would have heard my every step as I walked down the pavement. As I walked up the steps, they would have heard my ragged breath. They would have heard my heart pounding in my chest. And worst of all, they would have smelt my blood, rushing through my veins. And they would have had to control themselves, however small the instinct was now, it was still there. And she, she had probably come on to my Edward. My Edward? When had I started calling him that? He wasn't my Edward, not mine, not yet.

And it was so embarrassing, the fact that they knew I was hesitating. So I took a deep breath, and knocked. Just like that. There was a pause, I knew they were trying to move at a human pace. Human, slow. They must think me so slow. And slowly, they door opened to reveal the silken strawberry blonde curls that I'd been dreading.

"Hello?" She smiled slightly, trying not to scare me I suppose. Her voice tinkled like the chime of bells.

She was beautiful, so very beautiful. And right then I hated her, for being so beautiful. I wanted to be beautiful for him too. How could I possibly catch his eye the way I was now? How could it be possible for him to be more attracted to me than to her? How could he love me and not her? How? Then I realized I'd not responded, even humans weren't this slow.

"Umm… Tanya?" It was the wrong thing to say, I shouldn't have known her name. She looked at me, a little crease forming in her brow.

"How…?" I smiled, trying to remedy my fluke. And then I just went with the flow, I was being bold. Where did this feeling come from? I must be going crazy.

"Oh, well, I suppose you haven't been in contact with Alice too much lately, then." I tried to look like I knew everything.

"Alice?" The crease in her brown increased. Oh my god, I was wrong. The story was all wrong. Alice didn't exist, he didn't exist. Tanya was human. An extremely beautiful human, but a human no less. I tried to look for any sign of color in her cheeks, blood running in her veins to confirm that she was in fact human.

"Alice Cullen, I …" she cut me off.

"How do you know Alice?" I was wrong. My mind was reeling, but I tried not to show it. What should I say? Another wave of that same crazy, lying high hit me. Was I becoming a good liar, fnally?

"I know things, like Alice…" That was very vague. I hoped she wouldn't press for details, because I most certainly didn't have a gift to see the future. And I most certainly wouldn't be able to lie about that without having the blood rush to my cheeks. "Yes, but you're such a bad liar that it doesn't really count." The quote came back to me, and I could almost hear his voice in my head. How I craved to hear that voice, the voice that would sweep me off my feet in all its velvety wonderfulness. I wanted him, and I'd never even met him. There was just one more thing I had to be sure of: Tanya existed, which meant that Kate, Irina, Carmen and Eleazar existed. Alice existed, which mean that the rest of the Cullens must exist as well… but, vampires?

"I'm sorry, I haven't really introduced myself correctly have I? I'm Bella Swan, nice to meet you." I held out my hand, begging her to take it. I had to feel the cool touch of her hand, to make sure she was supernatural, that my fairy tale was really coming true. She touched her hand to mine for just a moment, a courtesy I supposed. It was cold, ice cold. Relief flooded throughout me, and brought a warm color to my cheeks. It was a strange and irrational relief, but I'd been so sure that it couldn't be true, this fairy tale. She looked at me, probably wondering why I was so elated over a handshake. She must think me mental. Sigh.

"It seems… we have much to discuss. Would you like to come in?" Fear struck me, I hadn't thought through the possibility… but what if Edward was here? The Cullens seemed to travel all together usually, but what if Edward had taken a solo trip to visit his friends in Alaska? What if, when I walked into that house, my life ended because the love of my life couldn't control his urges yet? The love of my life? I hadn't met him yet, I had to get a grip on my imagination. I should just ask Tanya, she probably already thought me a bit crazy.

"Um…" I hesitated, "Is Edward here?"

She looked confused, "Edward? No, why?"

I sighed with relief and took a few steps into the foyer, "Just, it would be very bad if Edward were here. For me at least…"

"Tanya?" A voice called, "Sister, we're back… who's that with you?" Four vampires entered the room. Kate, Irina, Carmen, Eleazar. Kate's flawless face was framed by the most beautiful blonde locks, cascading down her shoulders in waves of soft curls. Carmen's black locks were tied up in a ponytail, and next to her, stood her mate Eleazar, tall and intelligent looking. Which left Irina, thin and beautiful. I could almost detect a hint of Russian heritage in her. I felt chagrin, would my baby cause her death? That would be something I would have to change, I couldn't break up this coven, this family.

Eleazar was regarding me with the most peculiar expression. He stepped forward, out of Carmen's embrace, raising an eyebrow. "But…human!" he muttered, his eyes wide with shock. Oh, he must sense my shield. So I did have shield. That made me feel quite proud of myself for some reason, that I had a supernatural power. Something that could protect my loved ones. If I could master it, Edward would never writhe on the floor in front of Jane, and maybe, he would be able to hear my thoughts…and he would see how much I loved him. Eleazar came closer.

"What are you?" I smiled. "Human."

"But, your shield! It's so powerful, and yet still, you're…." he trailed off.

"Yes, can you just imagine what it'll be like when…" I frowned a little at the thought, how was I going to get Edward to change me? Sigh. So many obstacles to go through. "Tell me Eleazar, can humans project?"

He looked taken aback by the question. "Well… I, no one's ever tried. How do you know so much?"

"It's complicated, but come now, Eleazar, can I learn to project?"

"Project?" Kate stepped towards me. "What can you do?" She looked eager, I suppose she hadn't met someone with other gifts in a while.

I smiled, then I walked up to her and put my hand on her arm. "Shock me." Her eyes widened, and then, seemed to focus. There was determination, then confusion, then incredulity, and finally joy. "Wow!" she was awed, "I've never met anyone who couldn't feel it. Or, do you deflect it? I wouldn't be surprised if you could project…"

"Bella."

"Bella, so very nice to meet you. Oh, this is so exciting, would you like to practice? Projecting I mean, only we'd have to have a guinea pig help us. I'm sure none of my family would enjoy being shocked repeatedly. Hmmm."

And then I noticed Irina's cold face. She was not happy with this. I could tell. "You are human." It was not a question. "You know too much."

"Come now, sister, we have told her nothing. The Volturi would not touch us for that." Kate protested.

"It is not the Volturi, it is for our own good, the good of our world. What if she tells someone?"

"Then they will throw her in an insane assylum. Be calm Irina." It was Tanya who responded. Beautiful… "I prefer brunettes." I needed to hear his voice, so badly.

Kate turned back to me, "You can stay as long as you like. But I'm afraid you'll have to provide yourself with food. We don't have any for… er… obvious reasons." she smiled. "How long are you staying? Please say you'll be here for long, projecting takes a long time you know, centuries, and all I can do is run a current over my skin, its very tiring." she sighed.

And just like that, I became a guest in a vampire family's home.