A/N:

I should have probably mentioned this in my previous A/N, but would like to now. This is not an Edward/Bella story. Although he will make an appearance at some point. I have intentionally left out pairings in the summary, primarily because that just spoils the fun, no?

I was blown away by the response for this story's Prologue! Thank you so much to those that took the time to review, and I can't tell you how happy I was to get all of the alerts for this little story! I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Chapter 1

I unceremoniously dumped my bag on the floor and fell back onto my small twin bed. Before I even had a chance to relax in the silence, my dorm room door burst open as my overly excited roommate rushed in.

Seeing that I was in fact in the room, Danni belt out in a sing-song voice, "Happy, happy birthday, Bella!"

I couldn't keep the smile from spreading across my face. Danni and I had gotten along immediately when we met a month ago. It didn't take long for us to figure out we had quite a lot in common. The college housing department wisely paired the two of us up based on our similar age, but as we quickly got to know each other we soon learned our similarities went much deeper than our birth year.

"So, how was it?" Danni's voice was laced with a mixture of humor and concern.

"Ugh! Why do I need statistics for an English major anyway?"

I threw my hands up over my head and stretched on my bed. I couldn't believe it was only September. My first semester was in full swing and it already felt like I had been taking these classes for months instead of weeks. My first set of quizzes and exams had gone fairly well, and despite my lack of enthusiasm for the subject, I was fairly certain I would be getting a more than adequate grade on the Stat exam I had just taken.

Danni dumped her books on her desk before flopping down on her bed, excitement bubbling out of her voice with her next question.

"So, are you ready to celebrate your birthday properly or what?"

"Ready and very excited."

And nervous. But I didn't want to say that out loud.

My birthday had actually been a couple of days ago, but as it fell on a weekday, and happened to be the day before Danni and I had several important quizzes to take, we decided to suspend all birthday talk until today – a Friday. Danni and I were celebrating the death of my teen years by going to a place we were both dying to finally see – no pun intended. The place was called Fangtasia, and was a well-known vampire bar in Shreveport. We had heard a lot about the place since we started school, but unfortunately, Danni and I were both under the legal age to get in under normal circumstances. But tonight they were having an event called Dead Music Night – a vampire spin on having a "live" band, and it was only on these nights that you could get in if you were under 21.

"Well, I'm excited! What if we don't actually meet any vampires though?"

The disappointment was clear in Danni's voice, and I felt my own tone mirroring hers with my reply.

"Yea, that would be disappointing since we haven't been able to go until now. This is the first Dead Music Night the club has had since we've been here!"

Danni agreed by nodding and then suddenly got excited again.

"Yes, it has been the first, but...did you check out the website? The Rolling Bones are playing there next Thursday, and...wait for it...starting in two weeks they are having some charity event called a Band-Aid - something or other - where local bands are being invited to perform every single night for the entire month of October! From what I could tell from the event details on the website, all evenings that bands are playing will follow the same admission regulations as the Dead Music Nights, meaning anyone over 18 can get in. Isn't that freakin' awesome?"

It was hard to compete with Danni's enthusiasm. Sometimes her energy reminded me of Ali-...uh-uh. I wasn't going to go there. Danni was Danni, and she didn't remind me of anyone.

Before I could linger on those thoughts any longer, my energetic roomie piped up again.

"So, if tonight is a wash because no vampires want to be around teenagers, we can spend all of October making up for it! Surely they wouldn't keep away for a whole month, right?"

"Right!"

Her lips turned down into a playful pout and I had to laugh at her. I also sympathized. But as much as I wanted to meet another vampire, I knew it was really important to Danni. She was majoring in pre-law with a specialty in civil rights, and her ambition was to work for the American Vampire League. Oddly enough, her interest came just from the media – she had never personally met a vampire. From what we heard, Fangtasia had been the go-to place in Shreveport if one wanted to see vampires, but we had heard from several people around campus that lately the only vampire they saw there was the one behind the bar.

We spent the next three hours getting ready. Danni changed her outfit at least a half dozen times before settling on black capri pants and an emerald tank top. With her olive skin and long black hair pulled back into a braid, she almost looked like a 21st century version of Pocahontas. I opted for a pair of dark jeans and a white button up cap-sleeved shirt, paired with my favorite black boots to dress the outfit up a little. I was thankful my roommate wasn't one to comment on my sense of style - or lack there-of.

After finally feeling like we were both dolled up enough for a night out, we headed to her car and I silently tried to calm my nerves. It felt strange to willingly want to hang out at a place with vampires, and was just another thing on a long list of things that had dramatically changed over the last few years. Back in high school, I couldn't have ever imagined wanting to go anywhere near a place if I knew James or anyone like him would be there too. And yet, here I was. Celebrating my birthday by purposely putting myself in an enclosed space with vampires I didn't know or have any reason to trust. Even if there weren't any to meet, I knew there would be at least one or two working there. It felt completely nuts and completely exhilarating all at the same time.

"Wow, this place is packed." Danni whispered as we pulled into the parking lot.

I answered in a similarly hushed voice, "Yea, and look at the line to get in. And, is that a vampire checking ID's?"

I wasn't sure why we were both talking so quietly when we were still in the car, but neither of us seemed to think it was weird. I knew vampires could hear very well, and Danni seemed to be even more knowledgeable about their capabilities than me.

I took a deep breath as we got out of the car, heading toward the building and aiming for the back of the line. As we passed by the main entrance, I felt a hand wrap tightly around my wrist as I walked past the female bouncer. I spun around quickly, my breath catching in my throat as I was face to face with the female vampire.

"And where do you think you two are going?" The female vampire's voice came out as an almost purr as she blinked several times, drawing attention to her ridiculously long eye lashes.

"Um, we're, uh, heading to the back of the line?" I felt the heat creep up my neck at hearing my own pathetic voice, sounding very insecure and unsure of myself.

I had no idea why she stopped us, but she was looking intently at me as she continued her questions.

"Why did you come here?"

I blinked several times, stupefied into silence. Thankfully, Danni made herself useful and realized I somehow lost all capabilities of speaking.

"We're here to see the band." Danni's voice was a little more confident, though she wasn't doing much better than me in that department.

The female cocked an eyebrow at me before turning to face Danni. With another intense stare, she asked Danni, "Why are you really here."

I thought the shock was wearing off when I heard Danni answer the first question, but the shock came right back as I heard how Danni answered the vampire's second question.

"We're here celebrating Bella's birthday. We're both fascinated by vampires and haven't actually met any. This was the first night since we've lived here that you can get in if you're eighteen and over."

My mouth fell open listening to Danni's flat voice give so much detail. The female vampire smirked at us before opening the ropes and motioning us into the club, letting us cut the line completely.

As soon as we were inside, I turned to Danni and asked, "What was that about?"

She looked confused at my question and just shrugged it off. I decided to drop it for now as we both took in our surroundings. The bar was decorated in the way you would imagine a stereotypical vampire hang out would be. The interior was black and red, with neon red lights above the bar indicating they served TruBlood. The few booths in the bar had black tabletops and red cushions on the seats. The bar stools alternated in red and black colored cushions. Once you took the time to take in all the details of the place, it almost seemed comical.

Danni and I decided to head to the bar where we both ordered a Diet Coke before claiming a small two person table close to the stage.

"Wow, this place is so cool inside, isn't it? It's exactly how you'd picture a vampire bar, right?" Danni's voice was back to its usual enthusiasm and she finally seemed to be out of the haze she'd been in since talking to the vampire outside.

I felt relieved to have her back to normal, but it felt as though she was completely forgetting about what just happened.

"Danni, you do realize you just met a vampire and talked to one, right? For the first time?"

"Oh my gosh! I know! And you too – she talked to you first and actually touched you! What were her hands like, anyway? And she was so beautiful, but really … "

Danni couldn't find the right word, so I finished her thought for her. "Intense. Beautiful but incredibly intense. And her hands were cold, but strangely ...soft."

Danni just nodded as she continued to take in her surroundings. We fell into an easy silence as we watched the band set up and the floor fill up fast with people. After we finished our Diet Cokes we decided to join everyone on the floor once the band started their set. The music was loud and prevented any further conversation as we swayed and danced with the crowd around us.

While paying attention to the music just enough to throw my hands up at the right moments, I took the loud music as an opportunity to get lost in my thoughts. And only one subject was coursing through my brain. Her hand wasn't exactly soft, I guess that had been the wrong adjective. I was glad that my friend didn't ask me to elaborate, because I wasn't really sure how to without slipping my secret. I had led Danni to believe that I hadn't actually met any vampires once she admitted to never meeting any herself. I didn't want to have to talk about them if I could help it, and as interested as Danni was, I knew she wouldn't let me off the hook easily.

The problem I was having now was reconciling the Cullens with everything I had learned about vampires since they became public knowledge. The Cullens couldn't be staked. The Cullens sparkled like freaking disco balls in the sun, they didn't burn. I knew a vampire bite was all it took to turn you, yet I read all kinds of stories of people called fangbangers - people who let vampires feed from them and they never turned. I absentmindedly traced a finger over the scar on my wrist as my thoughts kept firing off one after the other. The bite didn't cause these fangbangers excruciating pain from the venom coursing through their veins.

After a few hours of dancing it was clear that despite the exciting start, the evening was turning out to be just what Danni and I had feared. We stayed for both full sets that the band played, and no vampires were actually hanging out at Fangtasia. It seemed the only people we met were either curious tourists like us or so-called fangbangers. Even the bartender had been human. But, of course the night wasn't a complete waste – we did meet the female vamp checking ID's.

The vamp with the soft, flesh-like skin. And now that I had actually met another vampire and touched one, the most tangible contradiction was now plaguing my thoughts – the Cullens were definitely not soft. Their bodies were hard as stone. Everything I thought I knew about vampires seemed to be completely wrong, and if that was the case, then what in the hell were they? And James, Victoria, Laurent? If not vampires, what were they?

End Notes:

I know, I know. CH 1 and the only SVM character Bella meets so far is Pam. Turns out Bella will be back in Fangtasia in CH 2, where she will meet another Sookie-verse character. This chapter ran a little longer than I had planned, and I'm hoping for the chapters to stay on the shorter side and get updated more frequently because of it. Let me know if you like it so far. I know not much happened in CH 1 to be enthused about – but hang in there … once she meets more SVM characters, it should get a little more exciting (I hope).