Shades Of Gray

by Xavier2163

AU Bella Swan begins to discover the dark mysterious underworld of magick beneath the veneer of the modern world when she's sent to live in Forks. Can love save her from the dark evil that threatens her? Is Edward a part of that evil? OCC ExB Lemons

2. Chapter 2 Exile

Disclaimer: Written under the derivative fan works act. All rights reserved to the original creator, Stephanie Meyer.

Title: Shades of Gray

Rating: M for sexual situations, lemons, and hot, steamy, angsty vampire lovin', underage drinking, smoking, drug use and overall bad behavior.

Premise: Alternate Universe. Bella Swan begins to discover the dark mysterious underworld that lies beneath the veneer of the modern world when she's sent to live in Forks. Is love enough to save her from the dark evil that threatens her? Is Edward part of the evil? OCC ExB Lemons

Alternate Universe: Canon pairings eventually, pretty much OOC, ExB of course.

POV: BPOV (Bella), Bella starts the story. Edward and Alice may have a say later on.

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Author Notes:

Please note that this story is rated M for a reason, if you'd prefer not to deal with mature themes, please do not read this story.

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Chapter 2 Exile

I had been right that night in Phoenix when I told Mandy that Renee couldn't afford military school or one of the religious parochial schools she'd threatened me with. I hadn't considered the possibility that she might sell me out to the enemy. Yet here I sat in the small puddle jumper prop plane that shuttled between Seattle and Port Angeles. I couldn't really see anything out the small window beside my seat through the near perpetual cloud cover that we were flying over. When there was a break in the clouds everything under them was just too green.

Nothing but clouds and green and the one tiny speck of civilization where I had been born existed for me on the other side of the rain streaked glass. I had chosen nine months in my own personal hell over nine months in lockup. Nobody had to know I was only planning on staying for nine months. I'd be eighteen then and I could leave and nobody could stop me. It was ironic that I'd be walking out the same way my mother had when she was only a year older. At least I had sense enough not to get knocked up first.

The seatbelt sign came on but it didn't matter. I hadn't unfastened my seatbelt from when we'd taken off. I felt the change in attitude of the small plane and I knew we'd begun our descent into the abyss as the unwitting crew carried me closer to my own personal hell. I couldn't really tell if we were getting closer to the shifting gray mass below, and then suddenly we were in it and we'd left the sun behind. We dropped below the cloud cover, and thankfully it didn't appear to be raining again. We landed safely, and I was two for two. Apparently I wasn't destined to fall out of the sky in a fiery ball of death. Sometimes you just couldn't win.

I unbuckled my seat belt, only struggling with the simple piece of technology for a couple of minutes. At least the stewardess didn't have to come help me figure it out this time. Most of the other passengers had cleared out by the time I could get out of my seat. I stood up and collected my carry on item out of the overhead bin. It was my parting gift from Renee.

I took the heavy winter coat and held it close for a second as I thought about the things I had done that had driven her to this extreme. I had done things that hurt me so that Renee would be hurt too. Hurtful things that had made her feel pain because she was my mother and she cared about me. I shook myself out of my reverie and made my way to the exit. She had done a lot of things too that had driven me to my actions, and I wasn't ready to forgive yet. I loved my mother but even someone with as forgiving a nature as me could only take so much.

I walked down the narrow aisle between the rows of too small seats and stepped out the hatchway onto the stairs down into the cold wet hell. The air was too wet and it stuck to my face and hair. It wasn't oppressively humid. Renee and I had driven through the Midwest one summer on a trip to Chicago, and I knew the difference between humidity and the crisp cold wetness I was feeling now. It was like tiny individual droplets of wetness hung in the air. Too small to call rain, too nebulous to call mist, the air was just wet. The moisture condensed in tiny droplets on the skin of the plane and ran in tiny rivulets to drip and pool on any convenient cool hard surface. I shuddered as I made my way down the stairs that the ground crew had rolled up next to the small plane.

I shrugged into my coat at the bottom of the steps. I hadn't wanted to need it, but Renee was right. It was cold here and I was grateful for the warmth although I regretted the need for it. Nine months I reminded myself. Then I cold go someplace warm and dry again. I walked across the tarmac to the small terminal building, and followed the signs to collect my luggage. I didn't have much. It surprised me how seventeen years could be distilled down into a large duffle bag and two suitcases. Renee had promised to ship some of my things to me, but it still didn't amount to much.

I had some time to kill until I would have to face the inevitable awkward reunion I was dreading. An earlier flight had been cancelled due to mechanical difficulties, and my flight had left Seattle ahead of schedule. I hadn't minded. It meant a shorter lay over in Seattle. I was just disappointed that I'd missed the flight with mechanical problems. Of course it wasn't fair to the other passengers to wish them an untimely death, but it would have solved a lot of my problems. I rented a cart from the machine to wheel my bags to the door and went outside to have a smoke while I waited.

Renee had confiscated all of my contraband as we'd gone through my room to pack my belongings for my move. She had taken my cigarettes and lighters and tossed them in the box with the more overt drug paraphernalia. She didn't tell me what she planned to do with the box and I didn't ask. I seriously doubted it would show up on my doorstep with the knick knacks and mementos that I'd packed for her to ship to me, but I could always hope that she'd mix the boxes up and ship the wrong one.

It had been easy to buy cigarettes during my lay over in Seattle despite the fact that you were supposed to be eighteen to buy tobacco products. Most shops didn't bother to ask for ID, and the few cashiers that were likely to be trouble were easy to spot. I could have simply asked one of the other travelers to buy them for me, but if you looked like you were doing something normal and didn't act nervous most people didn't give it a second thought. I had always been rather mature, despite recent evidence to the contrary. Renee used to joke that I was born thirty-five and got closer to middle aged every year. As long as I didn't act like a kid most people mentally tacked on a couple of years and thought I was older than my ID would have shown.

I really needed a cigarette right now to calm my frazzled nerves as I stood on the walkway outside the terminal building waiting for my date with destiny. I was by no means a chain smoker and a pack of cigarettes would last me several days or even a week depending on my mood. I was smoking my second cigarette since I landed in Port Angeles when the Forks Police cruiser pulled up to the curb and stopped in front of me. I was looking down at the sidewalk, studying a crack in the concrete when the door opened. I heard the footsteps as the officer got out of the car and walked up to me.

"Hello, Isabel… You smoke now?" I recognized the voice, although I was more familiar with how it sounded on the phone. It had only been seven months since we spent our customary two week long vacation together in California. I looked up and he hadn't changed, but I wasn't used to seeing him in his uniform.

"Hey, Charlie, yeah nervous habit," I gave him a weak smile as I read the disapproval on his face.

"Renee tells me you've picked up some other habits as well. You know you're supposed to be eighteen to buy those, don't you?"

I held out my hands to him with my wrist together. "Guilty as charged, officer. Arrest me and take me away." I said with a miserable excuse for a smile on my face. I was trying to lighten the mood, but I was also nervous to see how he'd react. It would be an indication of what I had to look forward to living here.

"I hear that was your other option," and he plucked the cigarette out of my fingers and dropped it on the sidewalk. He crushed it out with the toe of his boot. "I'm glad you made this choice, Isabel," and he leaned in and gave me an awkward one arm hug. Charlie didn't show his emotions easily, and I guess I got it from him. I didn't like to put myself out there either and I was a little stiff as I hugged him back.

"Thanks' for letting me come, Charlie. I'll try not to cause too much trouble."

"You know, I'd really appreciate it if you'd call me dad. It might make this easier, Isabel."

"Hi, dad," I said as I tried to turn the corners of my frown up into a smile. I had a feeling I failed miserably. "I'll work on that Ch… dad… I've just gotten used to Charlie, though, its how I've always thought of you for the last seventeen years. It's what we called you when Renee and I talked."

"Yeah, well let's get your things loaded, and then we can talk on the drive home."

I nodded and grabbed a suitcase.

Home.

This was home now. That fact finally started to sink in as we loaded my things into the trunk of the cruiser. Nine months. I could survive this for nine months. Women all over the world survived worse than this for nine months and came out of it alright. I could survive in this cold wet hell for nine months and then I could run. I didn't know where I would go yet. All I knew was that it would be away from here.

I was numb as I slid into the passenger seat of the cruiser. I fastened my seatbelt and stared blankly out the window as Charlie drove away from the airport and got us onto the highway heading west out of Port Angeles. It was an hour drive to Forks, maybe a bit longer if Charlie followed all the traffic laws and kept his speed down.

"You know, Renee and I had a long talk about you and you coming to live with me. She told me everything. Or at least everything she knows about." Charlie started once we were on the highway.

I gave a little shudder. I'd been dreading this conversation, but I couldn't put it off any longer. "What did Renee tell you?" I asked.

"I'm sure you're familiar with most of it. It started with cutting school and ditching your classes. Your grades went to hell and you started hanging out with a different crowd of friends. You dropped out of the honor society and basically gave up on school. You know she was really worried about you when she found out about the drinking. She knew you were getting high and smoking pot a long time before she ever confronted you about it."

"She thought you were just angry with her and that you'd get over it and go back to your old habits. I told her I didn't think that would happen, but she never would listen to me."

"Renee called you and talked to you about me?"

"Yeah, Isabel, she was worried about you. I was worried about you too. She was frantic on the phone the first time she realized you snuck out and you weren't in your bed when she went to check on you. She wanted me to fly down to Phoenix and go look for you, but you came home before I could book a flight. I told her she had to confront you about it and get you to talk about what was bothering you, but she wouldn't listen to me."

"Renee wouldn't listen to me either. She's been preaching to me about how not to ruin my life for seventeen years, and then she just threw all the rules out the window when she met Phil."

"Yeah, I figured it was something like that. Is there something in particular that you don't like about him? He hasn't tried anything…"

"No! Nothing like that! Phil is great… He's just too damn young for her! Hell, he's closer to my age than he is hers. People used to think he was my boyfriend when the three of us would go out. I told her it was a mistake, but she shut me down and told me she could decide how to live her own life."

"And you figured if she could break the rules then so could you. I get it, but I'm not going to let you ruin your life because you're pissed off at your mom, Isabel."

"Ok, so where do we go from here?" This was the hard part. This was where he was going to lay down the law. Worst case scenario, I'd be grounded for the next nine months. Maybe some random drug tests at the police station. Would he want a copy of my fingerprints too?

"Renee sent you here because she was expecting me to be a hard ass cop and lay down the law. She figured it would be like sending you to juvee but without the criminal record to haunt you in the future. I think you're mature enough to know right from wrong and recognize the shades of gray in between. So I'm gonna cut you some slack."

"What…?" I turned and stared at Charlie with shock plain on my face.

"You're starting with a clean slate, Isabel. As long as you keep your nose clean and don't break the rules we'll let what happened in Phoenix stay in Phoenix. You've got a clean record in Forks."

"That's… Thanks' dad…" I didn't know what to say. I hadn't expected this… Renee had always been so critical of Charlie. Maybe I had let her point of view color my opinion of… my dad. Then I knew I had to ask the next question. We had to be clear about this if we were going to make this work. "So what exactly are the rules? If I have to live up to them, I want to know up front what I'm agreeing to."

"Ok. First off, you're not grounded anymore, but you have a curfew. I'll expect you in the house by ten o'clock on school nights, and eleven thirty on the weekend. If you need more time than that because you have plans, I'll expect you to ask me in advance to make arrangements. If you say you're going to be someplace, I expect you to be there. If your plans change then you need to call me and let me know."

"Alright, I can live with that." He cared about me and wanted to keep me safe. I couldn't argue with that. He just wanted know where I was, and it made sense.

"I talked to the high school, and I got you enrolled. Winter break ends next week. You start Wednesday morning, and I expect you to be there for all your classes. No more ditching school and you're going to get your grades turned around and get back on track. You might not care about your future now, but you are going to graduate from high school."

I was starting school on Wednesday. A new school. A new small school. A new small school where everyone had grown up together and knew everyone else in school since kindergarten.

It was still hard to imagine how drastically my life had changed in just the matter of a couple of days. I was celebrating Christmas with Renee and Phil on Monday. We were making a phone call to Charlie on Wednesday morning. I'd spent the rest of Wednesday and Thursday sorting my belongings and packing, and now I was sitting in Charlie's Police cruiser on Friday afternoon. Monday was New Years Day, and I'd be starting school on Wednesday.

One week and my life had been completely turned upside down. It still seemed so unreal, like I was waiting to wake up and laugh about the strange dream I'd had. I looked out the window at the trees flashing past and touched to freezing glass of the window where my breath condensed to fog the glass. This was as real as it gets.

"Ok, Char… dad, no problem." I lied. He didn't need to know that I was going to be gone in nine months. If I followed through with my plan, I'd miss most of my senior year in high school, but I could always get a GED. Hell, I could probably pass the test now, but Charlie would expect me to go to school regardless. Turning my grades around would be easy if it kept him off my back and kept me from being grounded for nine months.

"We'll split up the chores around the house. I don't expect you to move in and take care of me. I've done ok on my own. You'll do your share of the laundry and cleaning, and I'll expect you to pick up after yourself."

I nodded in agreement. It was only fair. Actually, I'd been in charge of the grocery shopping and most of the cooking in Phoenix. It had started off purely for survival if I expected to eat edible food. Renee liked to experiment, and I had taken over the kitchen as soon as I was old enough to reach the stove. I had a feeling it would be the same here from the stories Renee told me.

"Ok, now, this is the deal breaker. No second chances so don't screw this up. No more drugs. Are you clear on this one, Isabel? No pot, no coke, no prescription drugs that don't have your name on the prescription, no weird designer crap. I have to insist on this. It's my job and I can't look the other way. I won't have it in my house, and I won't have a drug addict for a daughter, Got it?"

"Ok, Ch… dad… I understand." I knew this one was coming, and it was going to be hard. I might have started off experimenting because I was mad at Renee, but it was fun and I liked it. I hadn't done any of that other stuff he talked about. Just some pot with my friends, but he had a point. He was the Chief of Police, and if I screwed up he'd have to go harder on me than some random kid in town. He'd have to make an example if I got caught. I'd have to make sure I didn't get caught.

"I can go easier on the rest and compromise. I know you kids like a party as much as anyone and we all need to blow off some steam now and again. That doesn't mean you can come home all liquored up or falling down drunk. A couple of beers never hurt no one, and I'll be the first to admit that I had my fair share when I was your age. You will not drive drunk, and you won't get into a car with anyone that's been drinking. As long as you can walk a straight line and act sober, I won't hold it against you as long as you're smart enough to not get caught. If I get called, I gotta do my job. Come home puking your guts out, and hung over in the morning, and we'll have this discussion again, but I won't be so lenient the next time. Are we clear?"

"You know, Charlie… dad…, I probably couldn't walk a straight line without tripping cold sober. I know what you mean, though. Just take my natural clumsiness into account and don't hold that against me. I can do this. I won't let you down." This one was easy to agree to. It was about what I was already doing with rare exceptions, so it should be an easy rule to follow.

"You can keep your cigarettes if you have to. I don't like it, and I wish you'd quit, but I'm not gonna try and make you be perfect just because you're coming to live with me. Your mom and I both used to smoke when we were your age. Your mom quit when she found out she was pregnant with you. I quit cold turkey at the same time to make it easier for her. I haven't had one in more than seventeen years. Never felt the urge to start back up after she left. You will not smoke in the house or my car. Otherwise I'll expect you to follow the law as best you can."

"I didn't know that about Renee… She never told me. I can live with that. It's not like I chain smoke as it is. It just helps settle my nerves sometimes…"

"Yeah, I get it. Like I said if you have to smoke something I prefer a cigarette now and then to something else…"

I nodded, relieved that this wouldn't be a constant battle of wits as I tried to hide everything and Charlie tried to catch me. I was more comfortable with things out in the open like this. I might be his daughter, but he was treating me like an adult as long as I proved I deserved his trust.

"Now this next one is a little more difficult for me to talk about. I haven't really gotten to see you grow up, and most of the time I still think of you as my little girl… Renee tells me you date? I assume you didn't have a steady boyfriend, or you would have put up more of a fight."

"No, no boyfriend. I've gone out on some dates, but nothing serious…" I shivered thinking about the last guy I'd been with.

"Ok… I assume Renee has talked to you about what to expect and what boys want…"

"Charlie… dad, Renee has given me "The Talk". We don't need to go there… I know how to say no, and where to draw the line. How does this pertain to our rules?"

"Right… I won't tell you that you can't date, or have a boyfriend, but I want to meet them first if they want to take you out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not gonna try and run them off or anything. That doesn't mean I won't try to put the fear of god in them. If some guy wants to go out with my daughter, they'll show you the respect that you deserve. It's just that you're new in town, and you don't have experience with anyone here. You haven't grown up with them or had a chance to get to know them. I want to know who you'll be spending time with so I'll know if I can trust them. Can you live with that?"

"Going caveman on me Charlie? I suppose that's a reasonable request. I don't really date much to begin with, but I'm telling you up front. I have the final say on who I go out with. I'll honor your wishes to meet them, so you know who I'm with, but you don't get a veto. I choose who I'll spend time with or not."

"Ok. You might not want to hear this, but god you remind me of your mother. I remember her giving almost that same speech to her parents when we started going out. I can't fault her choices, and I'll trust you to make good decisions too."

"Thanks' Charlie, I really don't date that much. I haven't even been to Forks in what ten years? I'll let you know if I'm interested in anyone, but I seriously doubt that's going to happen." I didn't add that the last guy I'd been with had tried to date rape me. Besides, I'd be gone in nine months, and having a boyfriend would just be an unnecessary complication when I was finally ready to leave. I had no intention of getting tied down here, and the easiest way to avoid getting tied down was to not put down any roots. Besides, who could possibly be that interesting in a quiet little backwater town like Forks?

"Well, that's it for the most part. Go to school, keep your grades up, stay out of trouble, and I'll be happy. Now Renee told me that you've been thinking about buying a car?"

Sure, I wanted to buy a car. Forks was a small town. There wasn't much to do there and not many places to buy the things I'd want. The library had been pathetic even when I was only seven the last time I'd visited. There wasn't even a book store in Forks, and no place to buy clothes beyond a t-shirt or hiking pants. Port Angeles was an hour drive back the way we'd come, and Aberdeen was almost two and a half hours to the south. It was a three and a half hour drive and a ferry ticket to go to Seattle, unless you flew from Port Angeles, but then you'd have to rent a car to get around or take cabs.

Wanting to buy a car went beyond the basic teenaged need for a sense of independence here. If I wanted to go anyplace I needed a car. Besides I didn't like the idea of Charlie having to drive me around in his police cruiser.

Unfortunately, cars cost more than the price tag on the windshield. I had about three thousand dollars saved up in my bank account, but that was supposed to be part of my college fund, too. Cars needed gas and a multitude of other expenses. There was insurance to consider, and maintenance. Things like oil changes and new tires and repair fees if it broke down. Sure, I might be able to afford some late model beater, but there had been no mention of an allowance, and I didn't want to push my luck by bringing the subject up. I was lucky to be getting off easy without asking for perks.

"Yeah, we'd talked about it, but there wasn't anything decent in Phoenix that I could afford with my savings, and still keep something put up for college. I suppose it's just as well, I wouldn't have been able to bring it with me."

"Well, you know you're probably going to need a car of your own out here. There isn't any public transportation unless you go to Seattle. I can't just buy you a car, or your mother will think I'm trying to bribe you to not break the rules. You're going to have to make the decision whether or not to live up to our agreement, but I'll make a deal with you. Shop around for a car and see what you like. Follow the rules, and get your grades back on track. You hold a 3.5 GPA or better, and I'll go fifty-fifty to help you buy a car. Deal?"

"Ok… That's very cool… it's just…"

"What? You don't think you can hold up your part of the bargain? You used to be 4.0 every report card."

"No, it's not that. I think it's great that you're giving me the benefit of the doubt, and a second chance to prove myself, but cars take gas and insurance and oil changes and new tires. Once I buy a car how am I supposed to maintain it?"

"That's a good sign, Isabel. You're responsible enough to realize that cars cost money to own. I thought about that too after I talked to Renee about you moving out here. I did some checking around town to see what I could come up with. The sales girl that works at Newton's Outfitters just gave her two weeks notice. She's getting married and moving out of town. I talked to Karen Newton, and she hasn't posted the job or found anyone to fill the position yet. She owes me a favor or two, and she said she'd try you out for the job if you want it."

"You got me a job?"

"Only if you want it, and you'll have to prove yourself to keep it. She's just giving you a shot because she owes me, but it's up to you whether or not they keep you on. Its minimum wage and you'll only get about twenty hours a week because you're a student. That should cover gas and car expenses plus a little extra for some spending money. Keep your grades up and I'll pay for your insurance."

"Ok. I can do that. Exactly what kind of business is this Newton's Outfitters? I worked at the book store by our house in Phoenix last summer, but it didn't work out when I went back to school…," because I got fired for showing up to work drunk. Charlie probably didn't know that. I hadn't told Renee the real reason, but she had to suspect the truth.

"They sell camping gear and sporting goods. I didn't know you had retail experience. You shouldn't have any problems then."

"Alright, I'll give it a try. I don't know anything about camping or sporting goods, but if they're willing to train me I'll give it my best shot."

Charlie nodded and I figured the conversation was over. That was the most Charlie and I had really talked in years. It was probably more meaningful conversation than we'd shared on my last three vacations with him put together. I guess we'd never really had anything to say to each other before. I supposed it was my fault that it took something like me totally screwing up my life to get him to open up to me, but I was glad we'd talked. I felt closer to him now. I knew he cared about what happened to me and he seemed less like the ogre that Renee had always portrayed him as.

We drove in a comfortable silence down the highway through the dense green of the surrounding forest. Charlie and I were both quiet private people at heart, and neither of us felt the need to fill the silence with meaningless chatter just to hear the sound of another voice. I watched the trees flash past as we drove west on highway 101 and the green didn't seem quite as oppressive from down here. I couldn't really see the sky past the tops of the trees out the window, and that helped me to forget about the gray overcast sky for a while. We were past the halfway point in our journey to my new home when Charlie broke the silence.

"I don't know if you realize this, Isabel, but you have a truly unique opportunity here. You're getting a second chance to reinvent yourself. A lot of people talk about starting over. Turning over a new leaf and making a new life for themselves, but their past usually catches up with them eventually. I see it all the time in my work, but it's different for you."

"You're only seventeen and you don't have a record that's going to follow you and haunt background checks. Besides your mother and me, nobody that has anything to do with Forks knows anything about you here. Your mother isn't likely to show up anytime soon and she'll say what we ask if she knows it's helping you…"

"You can be anyone you want to be when you step out of this car. You can start over and you get to decide who you're going to be and what people know about you. I understand that it can be scary, and your first reaction might be to cling to what's easy or familiar, but nobody here knows you yet. It's a new town, new friends, new school, and a new opportunity. You don't have to be the girl that lived with Renee in Phoenix anymore."

"I know you're still angry with your mother. She broke your trust, and maybe you started acting out so you could hurt her too. I'm pretty sure it's more than just that now. Your eyes were opened to new possibilities, and maybe you liked the freedom that you felt cutting loose and partying with your friends. I understand that, but you've gotta set limits. You saw Renee break the rules and you wanted to break some rules too. I get it, but you're living with me now, and I haven't broken any rules. I've given you my rules, and I hope you're willing to live by them."

"You and Renee aren't together anymore. You divorced her… Isn't marriage a rule?"

"Renee left me, Isabel, and she took you with her. I made it official, because she wasn't responsible enough to follow through with the paper work. You know I'd take her back in a heartbeat and forgive her if she showed up and asked me too."

"I didn't know that… about the divorce… I'll try to follow your rules, Charlie. I really want to make this work…"

"It's just that you can be whoever you want to be here, Isabel. You don't have to live up to anybody's preconceived notions about who Isabella Swan is. When we get home and you step out of this car, you get to decide who Isabella Swan is going to be, and what the world knows about her."

I just nodded to acknowledge that I'd heard him so he wouldn't think I was ignoring him and he was just talking to himself.

"You just think about it, Bells. You can be your own person here. Be who you want to be."

Who I wanted to be.

I'd never been who I wanted to be. Frankly I didn't know who that was. I'd always been whatever everyone else thought I should be. I'd always been a rather closed off person to be honest, and I never really fit in with any crowd at school in Phoenix. I had maintained an excellent GPA, and had kind of fallen in with the honor society crowd by default. I wasn't really friends with any of them, and none of my teachers really knew me. If truth be told, I suppose I had been something of a geek until I had embraced the dark side and let my rebellious streak show through.

I had participated in extracurricular activities only as a spectator. I would follow my small group of almost friends to plays, pep rallies, and football and basketball games, but the majority of my peers never really knew what to say to me or how to interact with me. I had bought my way into the party crowd by being free with my meager cash reserve to bank roll the party. I had reduced my bank balance by half buying liquor, beer and pot to try and have a good time while I broke all the rules.

Well, maybe not all the rules. Ditching school? Check. Drinking? Sure. Drugs? Well I smoked some pot but nothing harder. Boys? I drew the line there. I might be breaking rules, but I hadn't gone insane. The upside was that I started dating, but I hadn't had time for it to get out of hand yet except for one glaring exception. I'd never really tried to have the right kind of fun or let anyone in.

It was like I'd gone from the light side to the dark side overnight and skipped over all the shades of gray in between. I'd been the good girl that didn't do anything wrong, and then suddenly I was the bad girl that did anything I wanted too as long as it pissed off Renee. Maybe it was time to explore those gray areas and find some balance. Charlie seemed to understand about the gray areas, and was willing to accept that things weren't always black and white.

I had embraced my dark rebellious side and started my life on the downward spiral into the dark. What had happened with James was just a taste of what I had to look forward to if I didn't make changes. I'd wasted so much time being afraid to put myself out there and let people in. I'd wasted so much time trying to be what other people wanted to the point that I didn't even know what I wanted. I'd wasted so much time trying to make Renee hurt like I was hurting when she betrayed me.

This place could be different, this time I could be different.

I had a second chance to reinvent myself. I didn't have to be the girl that had lived with Renee in Phoenix anymore. I got to decide who Isabella Swan was going to be, and what the world would know about her.

I could have friends here. I could have the right kind of parties here. I could have study groups and sleepovers and date nights. I could laugh and smile and allow people to get to know me. I could be happy if I wanted to. Well, happier, anyway. Until I left. Nine months of happy. It sounded better than nine months of hell. I could learn how to be a different person, and I'd have nine months to practice.

Charlie had the wipers going now, but it wasn't truly raining as we drove into town under the steel gray overcast sky. I let my fingertips trace across the freezing glass of the window of the cruiser where the moisture in the air condensed, beaded up, and ran in rivulets across the glass. We were coming into town now and we drove past the sign that boldly stated "Welcome to Forks" population 3122. Isabel Swan would have been despondent over the fact that she was driving into the last place on earth that she wanted to be. Isabel Swan would be upset by this weather and would brood and sulk and allow it to ruin her day. Isabel Swan would have reveled in the desolation of it.

I didn't have to be that girl anymore.

I got to decide who Isabella Swan was going to be.

Not Isabel.

Isabel Swan was a girl that lived in Phoenix and got into trouble. No, I would reinvent myself. A new town, a new school, a new me; I deserved a new name. Isabella Swan? No, people would make up a name for me if I didn't beat them to the punch, and I was taking charge of my life from here on out.

Bella? Yes that sounded better. I would be Bella Swan in Forks.

Bella wouldn't let the weather get her down. Bella was going to roll with it. It rained almost every day in Forks. Bella would understand that. Bella wouldn't let it get to her. Bella would find balance in her life and decide which shades of gray suited her between the dark and the light.

We were in town now, cruising down N. Forks Avenue. Not much had changed in the ten years since I'd been here last. We had driven past a Subway franchise on the way into town, and that was new, but the rest looked the same as I remembered it. Sully's Drive-in was still there, where Charlie had taken me for ice cream when I was little. The Forks Coffee Shop was still there on the corner of B Street and Forks Avenue. We'd eaten dinner there almost every night I was here the last time I'd come to visit. I still remembered the huge pancakes they served.

I knew the Bank of America was another couple of blocks up the street. I'd called my local branch in Phoenix, and they'd told me there'd be no problem transferring my account. I'd just need to stop in and sign a new signature card and order new checks.

We turned right onto B Street. If we would have turned left, we would have run into the school on the next block. I'd never gone there, but I knew where it was. Forks was a small town and it was hard to get lost. B Street turned southeast after a couple of blocks and became Bogachiel Way, and we cruised past the Forks Community Hospital.

Even in the small amount of time I'd spent in Forks in visits when I was little, I'd still had the misfortune to become familiar with the hospital emergency room. That seemed to be a recurring theme in my life wherever I lived. I moved, I fell down, I went to the hospital. I was practically on a first name basis with the emergency room staff in Phoenix. I'd probably be back here soon to get reacquainted with the nurses and Doctors here in Forks. At least it was close to home.

Charlie turned left onto Seventh Avenue, and we drove the six short blocks all the way to the corner at the end of the road. He followed the road around the corner to turn right onto K Street and we pulled into the driveway of the little white two-story house three houses down from the corner. 775 K St, Forks, Washington, I was home.

I got out of the cruiser and looked down the street as I walked back to the trunk and waited for Charlie to open it. The street matched the picture I had in my head of what I remembered from visits as a little girl. Small houses mostly single story scattered down the street in large yards. There weren't any fences separating the lots unlike the residential subdivision where I'd lived in Phoenix. There was too much landscaping and… vegetation… I wasn't used to yards filled with trees and bushes and all manner of plants and… greenery. The manicured yards in phoenix did good to simply keep a lawn green, let alone being overgrown with enough shrubbery, bushes and trees that they blocked the view of the house from the street.

There was a girl standing on the sidewalk as we pulled into the driveway. She was standing in front of a house down on the next block a couple of houses past Eighth Avenue. She stood watching as Charlie walked back to open the trunk, and waved as I took out a suitcase. Charlie grabbed my duffle bag and the other suitcase, and closed the trunk. I waved back at her as we walked into the yard, and then my view was blocked by the shrubbery as we walked up to the porch.

"Charlie? Who was that girl down the street when we got here? She waved to me when we were getting the bags out."

"I think that was Angela Weber, Isabel."

"Bella, Charlie," I corrected, praying that he'd accept the change. "Call me Bella now, dad. I thought about what you said, and I'm starting over. Isabel Swan was a girl that lived in Phoenix and got into trouble. Bella Swan lives in Forks with her dad, Charlie Swan."

"Bella, huh?" I glanced at him and saw the wide grin on his face. "Ok, I like it. You know I called you Bella when you were a baby, but Renee wouldn't hear of it. She'd always wanted an Isabel, so the name stuck."

"Thanks', dad. So that girl was Angela Weber?"

"Yeah, she lives down on the next block. You probably don't remember her, but you two played together when you were little. She's the same age as you, and she's probably in your class at school. She's a nice girl. Her father is a pastor at the Lutheran church. You should get to know her. I think she'd be a good friend for you."

"Meaning she's a good girl, and doesn't get into trouble? What if I'm a bad influence on her?"

"Angela's got a good head on her shoulders, and she knows right from wrong. You won't lead her astray, and she might be able to help you."

"Ok, Charlie, I'll think about it."

Charlie's cruiser was pulled up in front of the detached single car garage that was painted the same shade of faded white as the house. At first glance the little white house looked exactly how I remembered it. The faded white paint was almost a dull gray from years of weathering. The shutters next to the windows had been painted blue to try and add some color, but it didn't look like they had been touched since my mom had lived here with Charlie. There was something different about the house, but it wasn't an obvious difference, and it hadn't really registered yet. I'd have to give it some thought. We walked up the steps onto the porch, and Charlie reached up under the eave for the key and unlocked the door to let us in.

I walked through the door and I was standing in the middle of the house after half a dozen steps. The downstairs was all living room and kitchen with a stairway that led upstairs to the two bedrooms and the bathroom. There was a laundry closet under the stairs with a washer and dryer. You wouldn't have much luck trying to hang laundry out to dry here. There was a doorway in the kitchen that led down to the basement, but it had been unfinished and wet the last time I'd visited.

Charlie followed me into the house and shut the door. He didn't stop, and headed up the stairs. I sighed at the wave of nostalgia I felt, and then followed him up the stairs. He turned to the door to the room at the front of the house, and pushed the door open.

"Bathroom's still in the same place, at the end of the hall…" He said as he nodded in the direction he'd indicated. Then he stepped into the room.

"Yeah, right, just one bathroom…"

This would be interesting sharing a bathroom with my dad. I hadn't really had my own bathroom in Phoenix, but Renee had her own bathroom in the master bedroom suite. The bathroom in the hall by my room had become my bathroom by default. I cringed at the thought of what this would mean, but we'd make it work. What choice did I have?

I sighed and followed Charlie into the room that had been mine since I was born although I hadn't set foot in it for ten years.

The room looked pretty much the same, but I was pleasantly surprised at the changes. The walls were still painted a bright blue. Renee's attempt to brighten the nursery for the boy she had been convinced she was carrying. Originally there had been an ancient crib in this room. It had been replaced with a twin bed that I'd slept in when I'd come for my yearly two week visits until I was seven. Now the twin bed had been replaced by a much newer looking double bed. There was a bright purple comforter on the bed and two pillows at the carved wooden head board. There was a matching wood footboard, and a purple and white lace bed skirt surrounded the lower half below the mattress.

There was a polished wood night stand or small bedside table next to the bed. It had a reading lamp on top, and there were a couple of drawers on the front. My grandmother's vanity with the large oval mirror and red velvet covered bench was next to the closet, and the matching dresser was on the wall beside the door. My grandmother's rocking chair was in the corner by the window looking out of the front of the house. There was the same large off white oval rug that I remembered from my visits lying on the floor next to the bed. The sturdy looking old fashioned but serviceable desk on the other side of the window was new. There was a desk lamp, computer monitor, keyboard and mouse sitting on top. There was a printer on a shelf at the back of the desk, and the computer tower was under the desk. I could see a cable stapled along the wall behind the desk and running through the wall under the window. Charlie must have gone all out if that was a connection for a cable modem. There was a new looking office chair in front of the desk on five casters.

"You like purple, right? The sales lady at the store picked everything out…"

"Sure, Purple is great…"

"I've got internet access setup for you in here so you can e-mail Renee, and work on your homework here if you like. There's notes in the desk drawer with login information if you need it, but the guy from the cable company said it was good to go. I hear some of the teachers at the high school are letting their classes submit home work electronically on the school website, but I got you a printer so you can print hard copies if you need them."

"Thanks' dad."

"I want you to feel at home here…, Bella. I'll leave you alone now so you can unpack."

That was the nice thing about Charlie, he didn't hover. Renee would have wanted to go through my suitcases, and there would have been discussion of where every piece of clothing ended up as she considered the pro and cons of which drawer to put them in. It would have taken her a half hour to decide how to place the clock radio on the nightstand next to the bed, and then almost as long for her to figure out how to set the correct time and the alarm.

I set my small stack of CD's next to the CD clock radio, and put my IPod dock on the desk next to the computer. It didn't take long to empty my suitcases into the dresser, and hang up the few items on hangers in the closet. I didn't know when I'd have an opportunity to wear any of the half dozen pair of shoes I set on the closet floor. I was wearing a brand new pair of waterproof boots now, and I missed my sneakers and sandals. Heck, I'd even trade the kitten heel pumps or the one pair of ridiculously high heels that I owned for the boots, but they were practical and kept my feet dry. I'd see what the other kids wore and see where there were chances to trade off.

I put my small collection of intimate things in the top drawer of the night stand. I figured that was a good place for Bob. Bob was part of my birthday present on my sixteenth birthday. I knew I was blushing halfway to my toes even thinking about it. Bob was the battery operated boyfriend, the vibrator that Renee had given me for my birthday that year. She'd bought me some intimate lingerie too, and we'd had the talk again, but she went into a lot more specific detail this time around. She told me that she wasn't pushing me into having sex, but she knew I was thinking about it, and she wanted me to be prepared for it when it happened.

I'd put my birth control pills into the drawer in the nightstand as well. That had been the other change when I turned sixteen, the visit to the doctor and a prescription. Renee didn't want me to make the same mistakes that she had, and said that an ounce of protection was worth a pound of cure. She knew what could happen in the heat of the moment, despite the best of intentions. Wanting to use a condom and remembering to actually use a condom was too iffy a circumstance in her book, and the road to the delivery room was paved with good intentions.

I think that was what had really pissed her off when she found my ruined panties stuffed into my purse. Renee really didn't mind if I had sex as long as I did it the right way. If I had a boyfriend and was going out for a while and we thought we were in love. She considered sex to be a normal natural part of a relationship, and as long as I took precautions, she expected it. What pissed her off was thinking that I'd just slept with some guy I'd just met out of the blue and had no other connection to, besides wanting to 'get it on'.

I put my toiletries bag, hair brush, and a small collection of beauty supplies and makeup on the vanity, just a curling iron, some light powder cover-up, eye liner, mascara, clear lip balm, a few lipsticks and a tiny collection of eye shadow. I'd never really been much of one for the whole makeup and painted nails thing, but it was a by product of my rebellious period. I had started dating, and my new girlfriends had taught me a thing or two about what boys liked and how to get ready to go out on a date. It was still pretty experimental, but I was learning and I didn't look like a clown or a kid with face paint anymore when I put on makeup now. I had the basics down pat and was getting better.

I sat down in front of my grandmother's vanity mirror and looked at myself. I still looked like the girl that had been Isabel. I was very fair-skinned, with long, straight, dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. My face appeared heart-shaped, wider at the forehead with a widow's peak, large, wide-spaced eyes, prominent cheekbones, and then a thin nose and a narrow jaw with a pointed chin. I thought my lips were a little out of proportion, a bit too full for my jaw line. My eyebrows were darker than my hair and more straight than they were arched. I stood five foot four inches tall in my stocking feet. I was slender and did not appear at all muscular. I weighed in about 110 pounds, dripping wet, and I'd never had any trouble with my weight. If anything it was the opposite and Renee was always on my case to eat something. Renee told me I was pretty, but I felt that she had to say that, because she was my mom. I'd always though of myself as kind of plain, and I felt self-conscious about my looks.

I briefly considered doing something to change my look to go along with the new me. Maybe cut my hair or something, but I rejected the idea. I couldn't change my past, and nobody needed to know about it for me to be a different person here. Nobody here knew Isabel or what she looked like. I'd simply be Bella here, and If I liked her, then she would be the new me.

I got up and folded up the duffle bag and put it in the closet. Then I collected my suitcases and set them by the door. I'd have to ask Charlie where I should put them. I suppose I could have put them in the closet, but it was already much smaller than my closet in Phoenix without taking up the available space with empty suitcases. Of course, I didn't really own a lot of Forks appropriate clothing in Phoenix so there hadn't been a lot to put away. I'd have to talk to Charlie about a shopping trip soon, but I had enough thins to mix and match to get by for a while.

There was a coat closet next to the front door downstairs so I grabbed my new winter coat off the bed. I went downstairs to take a look at the rest of the house and ask Charlie about the suitcases. I assumed it would be easy to find him. There were only two rooms and a couple of closets, but I didn't see him. He must have gone outside for a minute. I hung up my winter coat in the closet and took a look around.

The same three faded green pieces of furniture were in the same places in the living room. I felt a flood of nostalgia as I looked at the sofa against the wall, a matching love seat opposite it, and Charlie's easy boy recliner sitting between them facing the TV. The television set was new. It was a modern forty-two inch flat screen, and it gave me a sense of where Charlie's priorities lay. There was still an older model VCR on the shelf below it rather than one of the newer DVD players, but the cable box beside it looked new.

I glanced around the room and then I took a closer look at the pictures on the mantle over the fireplace. I blushed as I realized that they appeared to be a pictorial history of my life. There was Charlie and Renee's wedding picture from a chapel in Las Vegas. It was eerie how much I looked like my mother in the photograph. She was wearing a long white dress, but it wasn't a 'wedding dress'. She had a short veil pinned to her head, and she'd told me that the chapel had let her borrow it for the ceremony. She was holding a cheap looking bouquet of flowers, but she looked happy. I'd found a copy of this picture hidden in an album in Renee's closet when we'd dug out the family albums during Renee's scrapbooking phase. I'd seen a version of the next picture too. It was the three of us together in Renee's room at the Forks Community Hospital. I was the pink wiggler wrapped in the blanket in Renee's arms. The remaining pictures were a succession of my school photographs standing in frames from my kindergarten class picture on up through the most recent school picture from the beginning of eleventh grade last September.

I'd have to talk to Charlie about this. Maybe I could get him to take them down or put them someplace else. At least while I was here… I went into the Kitchen to take a look while I waited for Charlie to come back from wherever he had disappeared to.

The kitchen looked the same. It was the same utilitarian white as the rest of the rooms. The cabinets had been painted a bright canary yellow by my mother in an attempt to bring the sun into this sunless place. The curtains over the sink matched the cabinets. It was neat and clean with a scrubbed efficiency, but it hadn't been upgraded or improved upon since Charlie's parents had lived here. The same small oval kitchen table that I remembered was still there in the middle of the room with its eclectic collection of three mismatched chairs.

The old gas stove was a vintage antique, probably older than my dad. There was an array of more modern appliances on top the kitchen counter. Toaster, coffee maker, microwave, and an electric can opener, but that was it. The refrigerator was more recent that the ancient stove, but not by much, and was likely the same one that had held my juice when I was a baby. It still had a faded handmade father's day card that I'd made in the fifth grade stuck to the front with a magnet.

There was no dishwasher, but there was a dish rack drainer to stack hand washed dishes to air dry sitting on the counter next to the serviceable looking enameled double sinks. Looked like it was back to basics and old fashioned KP while I served my sentence… NO! That was Isabel talking. Bella accepted how her father lived, and if it meant washing some dishes, then she'd wash dishes. Complaining wouldn't change the fact that the dishes needed to be cleaned.

I looked through the cabinets and cupboards to familiarize myself with where to find everything and where Charlie kept things.

My god! Didn't he eat here? Mother Hubbard's dog had a better chance of survival here than I did apparently. To his credit, I did find a box of instant pancake mix and an almost empty bottle of real maple syrup. There was a sack of flower, a container of sugar, instant non-dairy creamer, and a couple of tins of coffee. There was a box of salt and a tin of pepper, and a handful of spice containers. The chili powder and cayenne pepper looked the newest, and were probably the most frequently used. One cabinet held a box of microwave popcorn packages, two half empty boxes of pop tarts, and a half dozen cans of extra spicy hot chili.

Seriously, that was it? I did find a jar in with the plates labeled "food money", with a couple of twenties and some smaller bills stuck in it. I didn't count it, and didn't touch it. Charlie must truly be giving me the benefit of the doubt if he was willing to leave cash lying out even though he had agreed to take in his troubled teen daughter. Of course Charlie had said that Renee had told him everything, and I'd never stolen from my mother to pay for my excesses. I'd still had a job at first, and when I burned that bridge, I'd started to dip into the money I'd inherited from my grandmother's estate. It wasn't much. She'd intended it as the beginning of a college fund. I felt guilty now that I'd blown so much of it financing my rebellion.

I shook myself out of my reverie and moved on to the refrigerator. Maybe I'd have better luck there. Or not…

Seriously, how did he survive? A half empty carton of eggs, a tub of margarine, ketchup, and spicy brown hot mustard, that was it? There were a couple of six-packs of beer on the bottom shelf with two cans gone. I was unfamiliar with the container on the second shelf. It looked like a small plastic unmarked dairy container that would hold cottage cheese or sour cream, but the lid was perforated with tiny holes. I picked it up and snapped off the lid to look inside.

Dirt? Why would you keep a container of dirt in the fridge? Then the dirt moved. My stomach did a little flip flop and for a second I thought I was gonna loose it, but it had been a long time since breakfast, and I hadn't had lunch yet. Otherwise it would have been on the kitchen floor.

Worms! He kept worms in the refrigerator in the kitchen? I didn't drop the container, and hastily snapped the lid back on before any of the… things inside… could escape. We were going to talk about this! No question, the old Isabel and the new Bella were both outraged over this one! There would be no worms in the refrigerator where we kept our food!

I set the container back on the shelf and closed the door. Maybe I could sanitize the fridge and salvage it, or maybe I could talk Charlie into moving it out to the garage and getting a new one… We'd have to talk…

I opened the freezer. Ok, par for the course, there were half a dozen frozen TV dinners and a huge stack of foil and plastic wrapped packages practically overflowing out the door. I gingerly took one of the packages out and peeled back the foil and plastic wrap to look inside. Maybe there was something edible here after all… Well, I had to admit it had some marginal possibilities, but I'd have to get creative with this if I wanted to survive. Apparently we had a three year supply of frozen fish. I wasn't a huge fan of seafood, but I could eat it even if it wasn't my first choice.

I sat down at the table with a notepad from a drawer in the kitchen, and made a list of basic necessities and staples. Then I noted down some simple meal ideas and fleshed out the list with what I'd need to make them. I was finishing up when the phone rang. It was an ancient looking wall phone that matched the rest of the room, like some throwback to the nineteen sixties. I got up and reached for the handset that was still connected to the big clunky base unit with a thick coiled cord. Jeez' the phone even had a rotary dialer! Did those still even work? Well I knew it would at least receive calls, it was ringing now.

"Swan residence," I answered the phone.

"Oh… Is this little Isabella? I forgot Charlie was going to pick you up today. Is the Chief around?"

"Yes, this is Bella. May I ask who's calling?"

"This is Officer Mark Chapman down at the police station, ma'am. I really need to talk to the Chief."

"Charlie wasn't downstairs when I finished unpacking. I think he may have stepped out…"

"No, I'm here, Bella. Let me have the phone."

I whirled, startled at his sudden appearance, I hadn't heard him come in. Charlie was closing the basement door behind himself. He locked the sturdy looking deadbolt on door with a loud metallic click as the bolt shot home and he dropped the key into his pocket. So apparently the basement was off limits. It just made me wonder what he had down there.

"It's Mark from the Police Station," I said and handed the phone to Charlie.

"Chief Swan," Charlie spoke into the receiver in his official 'cop' voice, and listened to the reply.

"You sure, Mark?" and he listened.

"Ok, I'll be there in a couple of minutes." He hung up the phone.

"I have to run down to the Police station for a while, Bells. Are you going to be ok here by yourself?"

"I'm seventeen years old, Charlie. I don't need a baby sitter. I'll be fine. Actually, I was thinking about going for a walk and taking a look around the neighborhood. School doesn't start for four days… Maybe I can meet some people." We were walking into the living room as I talked.

Charlie stopped in front of the coat closet, and buckled on his gun belt with his service revolver, handcuffs, pepper spray, and ammo pouches. He took out his keys and opened a cabinet against the wall in the closet and took out took out a dangerous looking pump action shotgun and a smaller object, before he locked the cabinet.

"Renee said you both took a self-defense class together. You're certified for pepper spray, right?" Charlie handed me the smaller object. It was a can of pepper spray. "You know how to use this?"

"Yeah, flip up the tab, press the button. Aim for the center of mass but find the eyes and sweep the target. Don't stop 'til the cans empty then run like hell."

"That'll do for now. Ok, explore town if you want, but stay out of the forest, ok?"

"Sure. What's going on Charlie? What did Mark tell you?"

"I don't want to scare you, Bella, but I won't lie to you. There's been some weird stuff going on out at La Push, some missing person's reports and rumors of something in the forest out there, but nothing solid to go on. We don't have jurisdiction out there, and the tribal council won't let us investigate on the reservation. Some hikers found some remains down south of the reservation, and they're on our side of the line so I need to go take a look. I might be late tonight."

"Ok. Stay safe dad…"

"I always am. Bye, Bella," he said as I followed him out the door.

"Charlie, tomorrow we need to go shopping. Do you even eat here?"

"No, not often really, most nights I eat in town at the coffee shop."

"Well, I'm letting you know, I'm taking over kitchen duty here."

"Fine, Bells. The place could use a woman's touch. Be safe." Then he was gone as he backed the Police cruiser out of the driveway and turned to drive back down to Seventh Avenue.

I walked back towards the porch, and looked the house over again. It finally struck me what was different. The basement windows had all been replaced, and looked newer, but they were shuttered from the inside and blocked the view into the basement. I walked around to the side of the house where the exterior stairs led down to the basement from under the low flat angled cover, but it was different now too. The old warped wooden cover had been replaced with a solid looking metal hatch cover with massive steel hinges and metal locking bar that socketed into solid metal end caps like a bank vault. I knew I wouldn't be getting through this door without a key.

I went back into the house and got my purse from my room and dropped the pepper spray inside, Better safe than sorry, and Charlie was worried enough to give it to me. I went back downstairs and got my jacket back out of the closet and put it on. I stepped out the front door and locked it with the key from under the eave.

New town, new school, new me. I reached into my purse and took out a cigarette and lit it on the porch and then walked down to the sidewalk. This was all about finding balance. Well apparently Bella was nervous enough to really want a cigarette right now.

I turned right toward Eighth Avenue and set off down the block. I wondered if Angela would still be out or if she'd see me and come out to say hi? She'd seemed friendly enough when I first arrived. I didn't really know which house she lived in, and I'd feel real awkward walking up to her door and saying, 'hi, remember me? We used to play together when we were seven'.

Maybe I'd just keep walking and walk around the block and take a look at the neighborhood like I'd told Charlie I was going to do. I crossed Eighth Avenue and I was almost down to where I'd seen Angela standing on the sidewalk watching me get my suitcase out of the trunk. I was walking slowly, checking out the houses as I went. The next house had 'J. Weber' stenciled in neat letters on the plain black mailbox bolted to the wrought iron fence surrounding the front yard and a sign hanging over the front door said 'The Weber's'. I had a pretty good idea that this was probably Angela's house.

I steeled my resolve took one last long drag and tossed my cigarette down into the gutter. It went out with a hiss and a puff of steam when it hit the thin stream of water running towards the storm drain grate. I walked up to the gate at the walkway to the front porch, and I felt the strangest sensation pass through me as I reached for the gate to push it open. It was almost like a sense of dread. I was suddenly wary like I could anticipate something wrong or different. A tingle ran down my spine and fine hairs on my arms stood on end. It was like a fight or flight response as though somebody had scratched their nails down a chalkboard.

I touched the gate and jerked my fingers away when it shocked me. It felt like a strong static electric shock jumped across to my finger tips like the spark of electricity when you dragged you feet on the carpet in a department store and touched something metal. Only this shock was stronger and made my hand numb. I rubbed my fingertips with my other hand and looked up at the house. My jaw almost fell open as I gawked at the house. For a fraction of a second it seemed to shimmer like there was some kind of barrier in the air around the house. It looked like a heat distortion mirage shimmer like you'd see in Phoenix on a hot day when distant objects were distorted by the hot air raising off the sun baked pavement, but it wasn't a hundred degrees here with the hot dry weather that made things like that possible.

This was just too weird, and I'd had enough weird and new to last me for a long time. I wasn't really ready to deal with anymore weirdness right now. I was backing away, about to turn and flee down the street and wait for another opportunity to meet Angela some other time when the front door opened, and the girl I'd seen on the sidewalk was striding down the walkway to meet me. I assumed it was Angela Weber.

She looked to be about the same age as me, but I thought I had been the president of the geek patrol… If this girl was Angela Weber, then she had me beat by a mile. I wasn't going to judge, though. I had been there, and I knew what it was like to have people judge you because of how you dressed or acted around other people. She had to be six feet tall and was thin in the extreme and willowy. I could sense her quiet reserve and an aura of power seemed to emanate from her, but I knew she was kind of quiet and shy like me just looking at her. She had gentle brown eyes and light brown hair with streaks of honey blond in it, but it was pulled back into a bun, held in place with a couple of hair sticks. She wore thick wireframe glasses that looked slightly anachronistic and heavy. She was wearing an ankle length gap tiered maxi skirt in shades of blue and an off white draw string smock style peasant top. It was belted at the waist with a leather and chain belt with an adjustable metal closure. She was wearing a maxi length cable knit cardigan over the ensemble that was open down her front and hung to mid calf and retro style close fitted ladies boots with a pointed toe and lacing up the sides.

"Hi, I saw you getting your things out of Chief Swan's car this afternoon. You must be his daughter, Isabella. I heard you were coming to live with him now. I don't know if you remember me, I'm Angela Weber," and she held her hand out to me.

"Hi, Angela, Yeah, Charlie's my dad, but please call me Bella," and I shook her hand. It was warm and her grip was strong but not over powering. I felt a sense of peace at her touch and felt less self-conscious about meeting somebody new.

"Ok, Bella, I like that. So, Bella it looked like you were going to come up to the house, but then you stopped. Can I help you with something?" She had a friendly smile on her face, and I felt like I could trust her.

"Well, Charlie had to go down to the Police station, so I thought I'd take a walk and explore the neighborhood. I asked about you when I saw you on the sidewalk earlier, and Charlie reminded me that I'd known you when we were little. He suggested that I ought to talk to you, so I was going to say hi, but the strangest thing happened when I touched the gate. I got a shock and felt the strangest sensation like I should leave or get away."

"Well, c'mon then. I'll walk with you and show you around the neighborhood. Actually I was getting ready to go out myself to visit a friend, you can come with me if you'd like," We turned and continued down the block the same direction that I'd been heading. "You said you got shocked? Has anything like that happened before?"

"Well never when it was so wet like it is here in Forks. It was almost like static electricity when you drag your feet on carpet, but that usually only happens when the air is dry, and this felt so much stronger. You know, for a second there I thought I saw a shimmer in the air around your house, like the way things shimmer from the heat off the desert, or maybe a barbecue when you're grilling, weird, huh?"

"Yeah… And you've never seen anything like that before?"

"No… Should I have?" I just thought it was a weird coincidence.

"Oh, I don't know. There are a lot of strange things in the universe. I like to keep an open mind about the possibilities." Angela had a contemplative look on her face and a half smile but I just let it go. If it was important, she'd tell me about it.

We chatted as we walked down the street and got to know one another. Charlie had been right. Angela was the same age as me and we were both juniors at Forks high school. It seemed like Angela and I had a lot of the same interests. We'd read a lot of the same books and liked the same movies. She was a member of the honor society here and we'd shared a lot of similar experiences in school, despite the fact that we had lived thousands of miles apart and went to different schools. The difference was that Angela seemed self-assured and confident and liked who she was while I had never fit in anywhere and was still searching for who I wanted to be.

We turned right onto Russell Road and Angela continued to point out the houses of people that she knew and people that she went to school with. People I would be going to school with. She wasn't critical of anyone that she mentioned and didn't gossip as she shared information about the people that lived in Forks. I couldn't imagine that all the people that she commented on would be quite so forgiving of Angela's apparent eccentricities.

We turned right again onto H Street and then we turned left after a couple of houses onto Ninth Avenue. The street was short with one house on the left side of the street, and then it flowed into a broad round corner where it met G Street. Angela led me towards the large white house inside the bend of the corner. I thought I saw her surreptitiously make a gesture with her hand as we stepped onto the walkway up to the porch, but I pretended that nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Maybe it was just a nervous gesture and or one of her eccentricities. She seemed like a nice girl and I wasn't going to judge. I liked her and wanted her to be my friend.

I followed Angela up onto the porch and waited with her after she knocked on the door. The door opened and there was a boy standing in the doorway. He had a huge smile on his face and I could tell he only had eyes for Angela. He didn't even seem to notice that I was there. He stepped in front of Angela and wrapped his arms around her waist possessively, pulling her to him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulder and leaned down and gave him a quick kiss and then pulled away smiling at him.

"Jeez, Ange, I've been waiting forever. I thought you were gonna drive when you said you were coming over. I didn't think you were gonna walk. I would have picked you up. My parents drove to Port Angeles to go shopping and out to dinner, and we have the house all to ourselves…" I think that was when he finally realized that Angela wasn't alone, and he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye as he held Angela.

"Really guy's, I can find my way home if you want to be alone… I didn't realize… I don't want to intrude," I stammered.

"No, Bella, it's no problem. I wanted to introduce you to Ben. Bella Swan, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Ben Cheney. Ben, this is Bella Swan, Chief Swan's daughter. She just moved here from Phoenix today."

Ben stepped away from Angela but kept his arm around her waist, and really looked at me for the first time. It was like he did a double take, as though he'd been unable to believe his eyes and the first impression he'd made when he looked at me. He had a stunned expression on his face, and his lips shaped a silent whistle of surprise as awe spread over his face as he looked me up and down.

"Wow…" was all he could say as he stared at me. I could tell that he was totally into Angela, and I knew he wasn't checking me out the way a guy would look at a girl that he found attractive. It was like he was looking at all of me and appreciating something unseen that most people wouldn't have noticed, but I didn't know what he could possibly find so awe inspiring about me.

I stood my ground and returned his stare and examined him in return. Ben Cheney was five foot seven and looked like he was of Asian descent with straight black hair, and dark brown eyes. He seemed like a nice enough guy. Angela towered over him, and was at least five inches taller, but he didn't seem to let it faze him, and I knew that he absolutely adored her. They made a cute couple and I could tell they were deeply in love.

"Ok, that's enough staring, Ben. Now invite us in before we freeze out here," Angela said and started to pull him back into the house.

"Yeah, C'mon in Bella, get out of the cold. Can I take your coat?"

"Ok, thanks'," and I followed them into the house. I stopped inside the door after Ben closed it, shrugged out of coat, and handed it to Ben.

The house was nice with modern furnishings and was tastefully decorated. We went into the family room and Angela sat down on the love seat and I found a spot on a comfortable looking sofa across from her. Ben asked if we'd like refreshments and disappeared into the kitchen for a minute. He set a Pepsi down in front of me on a coaster on the coffee table, and sat down next to Angela and pulled her into his arms.

"So, Bella, how long have…" Ben started

"Bella came over to see if I was home this afternoon," Angela cut him off. "The strangest thing happened. She said she got a shock when she tried to open the gate in front of my house."

"She did?" Ben asked puzzled.

"Yeah, we were trying to figure out what could have caused it on the walk over here. You know, I saw the cable company out there last week. I wonder if they grounded everything properly."

"You're serious, aren't you," Ben said, and looked at me with the awestruck expression again.

The conversation turned to more normal topics after that. We talked about school and the people that went to the school. Which teachers were nice and which ones weren't. They told me that although the school was supposed to be a tobacco free zone, there was a spot out behind the gym where people went to smoke and the teachers and faculty didn't harass them out there. Some of the teachers went there to smoke too, so it was considered neutral territory.

We talked about Forks and what there was to do here, and where you had to go for the things that you couldn't find in Forks. Ben was into martial arts, and drove out to Port Angeles twice a week for classes. Otherwise he didn't play any sports in school. That led to a discussion of our favorite movie genres. Of course Ben was in love with martial arts movies and the typical guy action adventure films. Angela liked the more artsy films and dramas, and I admitted that I was a sucker for the typical chick flick romances.

Ben's family had a fairly extensive DVD collection, and he had a ton of new release movies that I hadn't seen. He had a couple of uncles that worked in Seattle, and made regular business trips to China. The family would give them lists of the titles that they were interested in. His uncles would buy them for pennies on the dollar from dealers in China, and bring them home for the family.

We decided to watch a movie, and Angela and Ben let me choose which title we'd watch. Ben dimmed the lights and got me another soda before cuddling up with Angela on the love seat. I wasn't so engrossed in the movie that I didn't notice when they slipped away together and headed back into another part of the house. They were gone for most of the movie, but were back on the couch before the closing credits ran.

It was getting late and I really should have checked by now. Charlie had said he'd probably be late, but if he was home now, he'd be worried about me. I took out my cell phone and dialed Charlie's house. It still seemed odd to think of it being my house too. The phone rang about six times, and then there was a click and the ring sounded different. The phone picked up after another ring.

"Forks Police Department," the man on the phone said. Charlie must have had call forwarding turned on.

"Hi, this is Bella Swan. Is Chief Swan still there?" I asked.

"Just a minute, ma'am, I'll check" the sound was muffled but I heard. "Hey, I got a Bella Swan on the phone asking for the Chief… OK." The voice came back on, "He just came in. I'll connect you now."

"Hey, Bella, What's going on? Is something wrong?" Charlie asked.

"No, Charlie, I was just checking in. I called the house, and I got forwarded to the Police station. I'm with Angela Weber and Ben Cheney, and we watched a movie at Ben's house."

"Ok, Bella, I'm glad you're making friends already. I should be home in an hour or two. We still have a ton of paperwork to write up and file for this mess…"

"Tell your dad that you can eat dinner at my house if you want," Angela told me, and I smiled and nodded at her.

"Hey, Charlie, Angela invited me to eat dinner over at her house tonight. I'll hang out with Angela, and I'll see you when you get home, Ok?"

"Sounds like a good Idea, Bells. Have fun, and I'll see you when you get home."

"Thanks', dad, see you later," and I ended the call. I clicked my phone shut and dropped it into my purse.

"So, what's the plan, Angela," I asked.

"Well, it's getting close to dinner time, and you told your dad you were gonna hang out with me, so why don't we head back to my house, and you can meet my family." Then she turned to Ben and kissed his cheek. "Will you give us a ride? It's getting late and it's dark out now."

"Sure thing, Ange, you know I would have picked you up too, if you would have asked."

We got up and Ben got my coat for me. Angela and I picked up the family room while Ben was getting the coats and got rid of the pop cans. I followed Ben and Angela through the kitchen and out into the garage. The garage was large with room for at least four cars. The two spaces closest to the kitchen were empty. I could see some kind of four wheel drive jeep or SUV parked in the next spot, but Ben lead us past it to where a smaller car was parked.

I could tell this was as much a workshop for working on cars as much as it was a place to park it. The walls were lined with toolboxes and esoteric diagnostic equipment and a variety of parts in various states of disassembly. One piece looked like an almost complete motor bolted to a stand with wheels on the bottom to move it around, but it was draped with a cloth to keep dust out, and I couldn't see the details. The walls were decorated with posters of cars and cars racing and cars doing stunts. Most of the posters actually concentrated on the subject matter, and I considered it a sign of Ben's character that the models in the posters were mostly fully clothed and the cars seemed to be the primary interest in displaying the poster.

The car was a late model Japanese import, and I could tell it was a Toyota from the tinted band across the top of the windshield and the stickers on the back windows. It was a two door coupe, and Angela held the seat forward for me so I could slide into the backseat. The car was painted bright red with a black hood and hard top. I could tell a lot of hard work had gone into this car and money too. It had shiny chrome mag wheels, and it looked like a lot of the interior had been replaced with custom seats and a fancy stereo system. Ben pressed a button on the remote clipped to the sun visor, and the garage door opened.

"What kind of car is this, Ben?" I asked as we were backing out of the garage.

I noticed the faint traces of a very familiar pungent odor of smoke from the cushions of the back seat, but I didn't say anything. Ben and Angela seemed like a really great couple and were nice people, and I wasn't going to ruin it by asking then if they smoked pot too. That was in my past, and I had to let it go.

"It's a 1986 Toyota Corolla Levin AE86."

"Ok… What does that mean in non-car speak English? I got the Toyota part, and I've heard of a Corolla before. This is a really nice car, but isn't an '86 kind of old?"

Ben laughed, but I could tell he wasn't laughing at me. He seemed shocked at the absurdity of my comment.

"Yeah, actually it's officially an antique this year. The 86' Levin AE86 is a classic for street racing and drifting. Tuners all over the world collect this make and model to fix up and restore. Used ones are actually imported back into Japan to feed the tuner market over there. I was lucky to find this one in Tacoma. I did all the restoration and tuning myself… well, my uncles helped, but I picked out all the custom gear and did most of the installs by myself. I rebuilt this engine myself, and I'm working on another one to swap in later."

"Wow, you really know a lot about cars, don't you. So is there a lot of racing and… drifting… going on around here?"

"We see our fair share. There really isn't much else to do around here, and there are some awesome roads and turns winding through the forest out here."

"Don't worry, Bella, I keep speed racer here on a pretty tight leash when it comes to the dangerous stuff, but it's fun driving fast sometimes," Angela said.

Ben seemed to know a lot about cars, and I wanted to tell him I was looking for a car to buy and ask for his help, but we were pulling into Angela's driveway now, and I hadn't had a chance to mention it.

"So, are you coming tonight, Ange?" Ben asked.

"No, just be careful and don't let that jerk Newton goad you into doing anything stupid. This is Bella's first night in town, and I want to get to know her better."

Angela got out of the car and held the seat forward so I could climb out of the back. She leaned back into the car and kissed Ben good bye, and we waved when he pulled out of the driveway and drove away down the street.

Suddenly I heard the motor rev loud. The back wheels spun and broke traction and smoked as he burned rubber. The car shot down the street. It spun around 180 degrees in the middle of the road and suddenly he was going backwards and skidded to a stop before the intersection. He flashed the headlights at us, and then purple ground effect lights lit up under the car. The tires spun again as the rear end of the car drifted sideways while the purple lights cast an eerie glow through the smoke and steam form the wet pavement. Then the front of the car was facing the turn and he rocketed down the road out of sight.

"Wow," I said. "That looks dangerous… does Ben always drive like that?"

"No, he's just showing off, but a lot of the kids around here are into that kind of stunt driving. It's what they call drifting. It's really popular in Japan and the other Asian countries. There are competitions starting up over here now too." We had turned toward the house and were walking toward the porch as Angela continued.

"It used to be a problem, and the kids here were causing a lot of trouble for your dad, but Dr. Cullen talked to the City council last year and got them to let the kids use part of the Quillayute State Airport for race nights and practice. I heard that he agreed to pay for the insurance for the airport if they'd let them race out there. It helped quiet things down in town at least. A lot of the kids still like to drift on the roads through the forest. There are still some accidents, but not as bad as before."

We were on the porch now and Angela led me into the house. She took my coat and hung it up by the door and then I followed her through the living room into the kitchen. I could hear TV sounds in the family room beyond the kitchen.

There was a woman cooking in the kitchen, and I assumed she was Angela's mother. She was tall but not as tall as Angela, standing about five foot ten. She had the same light brown hair with streaks of honey blond, but it was cut short.

"Mom," and the woman turned to greet her. "This is Bella Swan, Chief Swan's daughter. She just moved here today, and I invited her to stay for dinner. Bella, this is my mom, Kathryn Weber."

"Hello, Bella. Please call me Kathy. We heard Chief Swan's daughter was coming to stay with him. Welcome to Forks. Dinner should be ready soon. Why don't you show Bella around, Angela?"

"Sure mom thanks." Angela told her and gave her a little hug. I nodded my thanks and followed Angela into the family room.

The family room was a large square room a couple of steps down from the rest of the house, and it looked like it had been added on to the original building. There was a Franklin stove fireplace burning against one wall and a sliding glass door with curtains that led out to the back yard. The floor was carpeted in dark green and brown shag with random hints of orange and yellow and red. There was a dark upholstered couch in the middle of the room facing the TV and a love seat at right angle to the couch with a square table in the corner.

Two young boys that looked like twins, around seven or eight years old, were in the middle of the floor in front of the TV playing a video game. There was a man who I assumed was Angela's father was seated at a desk in the corner working on a writing project. There were several open books scattered on the desk in front of him. He'd intently read through a passage, and then return to the page in front of him and write on the sheet with the pen in his hand.

"Dad?" Angela said, waiting for her father to look up and acknowledge her presence. After a minute he looked up and smiled at her. "I'd like you to meet Bella Swan, Chief Swan's daughter. She just moved in down the street today, and I invited her to stay for dinner. Bella, this is my father, Jonathan Weber."

Mr. Weber stood up from his desk, and I saw where Angela got her height. He was very tall but handsomely filled out for an older man. He wore eyeglasses like Angela. His hair was a light brown but starting to show gray at his temples. He stepped around the desk and held out his hand to greet me.

"Hello, Bella. Welcome to Forks. We heard Chief Swan's daughter was coming to stay with him. I've talked to Charlie about you, he seemed concerned about your future, but he didn't share any of your secrets with me. Will you be joining us for church on Sunday, as well?" I shook his hand, but then stepped back to stand beside Angela.

"Thank you for the offer… I went to some churches with my mother in Phoenix the couple of times she tried it, but I've never really been what you'd call religious…"

"You don't have to find religion to find answers, child. If you ever feel the need to talk or need help we're here for you. Maybe Angela would return to us too if she had a friend to come to church with…"

"Ok, Dad. We've had the discussion about choices before. You know my choice, and Bella deserves to make her own choices as well."

Mr. Weber sighed and looked sadly at Angela and nodded. "I still pray for you Angela. You can come back to us whenever you're ready to…"

"I pray for you too, Dad… I just follow a different path, you understand." Mr. Weber winced at the mention of her praying for him, but he nodded and turned back to me.

"You're always welcome here, Bella, if you ever need anything," and then he returned to his writing.

Angela led me over to the couch and we sat down.

"The two sprouts here are Michael and Gabriel. They're Identical twins and they just turned seven."

The two boys were engrossed in their video game and hardly acknowledged our presence. We'd only been sitting for a minute when Mrs. Weber announced that dinner was ready and ordered the boys to go wash up to eat. We waited until they were done and Angela showed me to the bathroom and we both washed our hands too, to set a good example.

Family dinner with the Weber's was fun. They asked me about Phoenix and what I'd done in school. I was mostly truthful, recounting stories from my earlier pre-rebellion school career. They told me about forks and some embarrassing stories about Angela that made her blush and we all laughed at. It would have been more embarrassing if it had hurt Angela, but she laughed along with them and supplied details that had everyone laughing.

Angela and I helped her mother clear away the dishes, but she shooed us out of the kitchen so she could start the dishes and load the dishwasher. Angela told her we'd be in her room, and then led me down the hallway to her bedroom.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from Angela's room. I was pretty sure it wouldn't be boy band posters and stacks of Tigerbeat magazine. I was kind of surprised at how normal the room looked for the most part. It looked kind of like my room, although it was painted pale lavender instead of bright blue. Then I started to notice some of the details.

I felt a tingling sensation dance across my scalp and flash down my spine as I walked through the door. It didn't make me feel wary like I had when I was standing by the gate this afternoon, but gave me a sense of peace. There were a number of crystals hung from cords in the room. In front of the window, by the door and the bed, another couple by the desk and dresser. It looked like they moved of there own accord as I stepped through the door, like they'd been blown by a breeze, but there was no wind when Angela opened the door and we walked into the room.

A medium sized gray cat uncurled itself off of the foot of Angela's double bed and jumped down onto the floor. It crossed the room in a bound and jumped up into Angela's arms. I was startled when the cat jumped and I tripped on the edge of the large round rug in the center of the room. I stumbled when I tripped and kicked back the edge of the rug. There was a pattern painted on the hardwood floor under the rug. I couldn't tell what the whole pattern was, but there were straight lines coming to a point inside of what was most likely a circle. There were strange symbols painted in the pattern and words in a language I'd never seen.

I apologized and smoothed out the rug. Angela didn't seem concerned that I'd revealed part of what was painted on the floor under the rug. She seemed more curious about my reaction to what I'd seen than worried that I'd seen it. She walked over and curled up on her bed with the cat, and invited me to have a seat. I sat down on her bed and we chatted as I looked around her room.

It looked like there was some kind of display or maybe a place of honor setup on top of her dresser. It was a low three drawer dresser that came up to your waist and left the top free at table height. There was a white cloth on the top of the dresser. it was a narrow band of cloth that didn't cover the entire top from front to back, but hung down on the ends like a table runner and gave it the look of an altar. There was what looked like a wooden book stand or small lectern with a thick heavy looking volume lying on it in the center of the top. It was covered with a bright cloth embroidered with the sun and the moon and other symbols that I didn't recognize. There was an incense burner, a delicate looking intricate ceramic chalice, and a double edged dagger arranged on top of the dresser around the book under the cloth.

Angela excused herself after a while to go to the restroom, and left me petting her cat. I got up after a minute and walked around the room being nosy. Angela hadn't seemed to mind me gawking around the room staring at her things. I walked over to her desk and looked at some of the titles of the books on the shelf behind her computer:

Protection & Reversal Magick: A Witch's Defense Manual (Beyond 101)

Blood Magick

The Sorcerer's Secrets: Strategies in Practical Magick

Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts (Llewellyn's High Magick)

Witchcraft: Theory and Practice

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft (Llewellyn's Practical Magick)

The Outer Temple of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells and Rituals (Penczak Temple Series)

The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation and Psychic Development (Penczak Temple Series)

Not exactly light reading for bedtime. Some of the titles scared me and made me wonder about my new friend. It made me think about a lot of the strange things I'd experienced today. Maybe it would explain Ben's strange reaction to me. Now this was really weird, but maybe Angela could help me figure out what had happened when I was with James. I'd have to know her a lot better before I could talk to her about that, but I wanted to know what had happened. Why I had let him do the things he had done. How I had finally been able to stop him…

I jumped when Angela walked back into the room and spun around embarrassed that I'd been snooping.

"You can borrow any to those if you like. Was there something in particular that you found interesting? Most of my friends have read all of those. We like to discuss what they have right and what they got wrong for fun sometimes." Angela was smiling at me and patted the bed next to where she was curled up with her cat.

I walked back over to her and sat down on the end of the bed again. I had to ask the question… So many weird things had happened in the last week. So many weird things this afternoon…

"Angela…, Are you a witch?"

Author's Note:

The following books are actual titles that are available on Amazon(dot)com, and all right's are reserved to the appropriate authors. They are only mentioned here by title for reference:

Protection & Reversal Magick: A Witch's Defense Manual (Beyond 101)

Blood Magick

The Sorcerer's Secrets: Strategies in Practical Magick

Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts (Llewellyn's High Magick)

Witchcraft: Theory and Practice

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft (Llewellyn's Practical Magick)

The Outer Temple of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells and Rituals (Penczak Temple Series)

The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation and Psychic Development (Penczak Temple Series)