The silence in the Swan household was almost oppressive and maybe that's why Sophie found herself lying awake, staring at the ceiling and listening to everything going on around her and all the night time noises in her father's house. A sigh loosened itself from her lips and she rolled over onto her stomach, glancing at the time on her cell phone.

12:03 am.

And she should be sleeping but something woke her up an hour before and she'd been lying there since trying to tell herself that she hadn't seen glowing red dots at her window or felt a cold hand trailing slowly up her bare leg as the sheet slid up over her body.

She really had to pee but she was not about to get up. Nope, not after having the holy shit scared out of her an hour ago, she'd just lie there and hold it. Her father was working a night case in the next town because it looked like it might be similar to one -or all of, the attacks currently going on around Forks.

Her sister was sitting in her room, probably in that damn chair, probably staring out the window. Essentially useless and if Sophie went in there because she'd obviously had a nightmare, she'd just run the risk of irritating her and Sophie didn't want their first conversation after all the stuff that happened last week to be a full fledged fight.

But then that howl shattered the silence, long and loud and shattering her resolve. She was drawn to her window and before she could stop herself, she was slipping out of bed and slipping on her favorite robe over the little slip she slept in, pressing her face and hand to the glass and peering down into the yard.

The wolf was back.

Sophie wasn't sure whether to worry about the way this wolf seemed to keep appearing or to just put it off to coincidence. Because since that afternoon last week she'd seen it again at least four times and one of those times, it seemed like it wanted to get closer to her, moving like it was in a trance.

She turned on the radio to drown out the silence, lowering the volume when it came on a little too loud.

The wolf still stood there, staring up at her window.

Her heart was beating a little faster and she felt this urge.. To go down, to see how close she could get to it before it retreated. She couldn't explain why, but it happened every single time that she saw the gray / black spotted wolf.

The door leading into the bathroom from her room creaking open quietly drew her out of her daze and when her sister spoke to her, her sister's voice was thick and husky from lack of use for nearly a week and a half, as if Bella had a really bad cold. The sound sent Sophie jumping straight into the air at least a foot and she turned quickly, her hand at her heart as she eyed her sister and raised a brow.

"What were you doing?" Bella asked as she looked from her sister to the window. Her sister seemed to tense up and started to edge bold and lacy sheer curtains closed but Bella stopped her midway and peered down into the yard, gaping at the sheer size of the wolf down below, just on the other side of the fence lining their backyard.

Bella eyed her sister and Sophie shrugged. "It howled, I woke up. What are you doing up?" she faked a yawn to make it seem that maybe she'd actually been asleep before Bella burst in on her, but she got this feeling that Bella wasn't buying it.

"You were about to go down there. You know what Charlie told us."

"I wasn't, I was just.. Looking at it." Sophie countered and then repeated the question she'd asked that Bella hadn't answered, "What are you doing up?"

"Forget it, it's crazy. I don't know why I thought you'd understand, I just.. I need to say it to someone. So you guys don't keep blaming Edward for what happened last week. He was trying to protect me."

"No, Bella, he left you in the woods after leading you out there. You're lucky he didn't kill you. You scared the hell out of us. I hope you get it now, Edward Cullen is a cold hearted bastard."

"He's not! That's not what happened at all, Sophia."

"Sophie, Bella, it's Sophie. And yes. Yes, that is exactly what happened. And God knows what he was planning to do to you, thank God he left instead, for whatever reason.. You have to see that he's not.. Right. The guy makes Jason Dean look like a box of fluffy kittens for Christ sake and Jason Dean laced a girl's milk with Draino!"

"He left because something happened and he had to. I chose to stay there because everything hurt. He broke up with me and he's gone and the absence of him is everywhere, it's like I can't breathe." Bella went off on a tangent about that night and Sophie sat there, listening, gaping at her older sister.

If what Bella said was true, then Bella was way worse than Sophie originally feared mentally. When Bella finished talking, she reached out, putting both hands on her sister's arms as she shook her. Bella glared as Sophie moved back to her spot on the bed and then Sophie told her quietly, "You're lucky I don't slap the taste out of your mouth. You had Daddy and I panicked that night and now you're sitting here and you're telling me that you chose to do that? That you couldn't handle a simple break up? Get a fucking grip, Bella, Christ." Sophie gave her sister a bitter look and shook her head as she told her quietly, "I'm so disgusted right now, I can't even. Get out of my room."

"I knew you wouldn't understand." Bella muttered the words quietly and Sophie turned to face her sister as she answered, "No, I don't. I just don't see what's so fucking great about that douchebag, okay? Forgive me, but you're my sister and he's almost gotten you in danger before! Forgive me for being worried about your actual safety and your mental state instead of how hurt you are and how stupidly you're handling it." Sophie pointed towards the door to the bathroom they shared and when Bella didn't budge, she went to open it and stood there by it, tapping her foot impatiently, her arms folded over her chest.

"You should tell Charlie about that wolf. Maybe that's what's behind all these attacks. And you'd better not go down to get a closer look at it, either." Bella said it firmly, as if Sophie were a child and needed to be told how to stay safe. Sophie wanted to laugh bitterly at the way her sister did it but instead, she shut the door behind her sister and leaned against it, taking a few deep breaths.

"I hope to God that fucking jerk never comes back here. He has completely ruined my older sister and I will always hate him for it. Death wouldn't be kind enough for that jerk." Sophie made her way across the room and she fell across the bed and just as she started to doze off again, she could have sworn she felt coolness against her skin. Her eyes popped open and she could barely make out something standing over her bed..

And when she tried to move or scream, she quickly discovered that she possessed the complete inability to move or to scream or do anything but stare up in wide eyed horror as glowing red dots stared down at her.

And then, it was gone.

And with her ability to scream and move returned, she screamed bloody holy hell and jumped out of her bed, bolting down the stairs for the phone to call her father at the station. She'd just picked up the phone when Bella spoke up behind her.

"What's going on? I heard you screaming like you were being murdered and now you're down here moving around like you're scared to death."

"There was.. Someone in this house with us, Bella. You better pray to God your creep isn't doing this or so help me God, I'll kill him myself."

"Edward's gone. And he wouldn't hurt either of us."

"Right. Says the nutjob who spent an entire night in the forest because he broke up with her.. Oh and let's not forge the cast last year, that whole thing in Phoenix." Sophie was freaking out, she didn't even realize she'd started to cry a little until she felt a tear roll down her cheek. She wiped away at it quickly and glared at her older sister as she picked up the phone.

"Either way, I'm calling Dad."

"I'll go back upstairs and make sure whatever it is is gone."

Bella started to turn the room but Sophie stopped her. "Are you mental? You can't go back up? What if they're still up there?"

"And what if you were just having a nightmare?"

"I know what I saw, Bella!"

"You were half asleep. How do you really know anyone was in your room?" but on the inside, Bella was flipping out a little. What the hell was going on? That was twice. Twice she'd seen glowing red dots in the darkness of her room at night. And tonight, when the bathroom door opened and shut and she heard her drawers being open and closed… Bella was freaking out but she had to stay calm because if she showed panic then Sophie would panic and blow it way out of proportion and a lot of things Bella had worked her ass off to keep hidden were going to come out.

And that would not be a good thing for either of them.

"The trail went cold again. Fuck!" Embry swung at the nearest tree and the sapling snapped under the impact of his fist. He was just about to punch another tree when Paul cut through his tirade and said "If we split up, man. Maybe we can start at opposite ends of the forest and drive that undead bastard right out into the clearing. Then we tear him to bits."

"It was a woman with red hair. I saw her.. Standing on one of the cliffs at First Beach, looking down. Kinda like she was watching for someone." Sam emerged, catching his breath. He'd been chasing a man, one of the Cold Ones through the forest. If it hadn't disappeared and he hadn't gotten distracted by seeing the lone woman with flame colored hair on the cliffs above him, he would have caught the Cold One.

"Those bastards are invading our turf now. I say screw the treaty we made and burn 'em all. The son of a bitch went into Embry's imprint's room tonight, Sam!" Paul swore and glared at the Alpha of their pack and Sam shook his head calmly.

"We have to find out what they're up to and why they're here."

"No, we don't. For once, Sam, I agree with Paul. I say screw waiting to find out. I say we end all this crap the Cullens apparently started once and for all. He was in Sophie's room." Embry wasn't backing down. This wasn't like being asked to keep his distance for his imprint's personal safety or not being allowed to tell his mother what he was and where he went at night. This was different. This was endangering Sophie and Embry was not having that.

Charlie rushed through the front door of his house to find Bella and Sophie both sitting in the living room, in the dark. Sophie had a baseball bat in her hand and Bella had apparently grabbed for the nearest kitchen knife she could get her hands on. When the door banged shut signalling his arrival, both girls sprang up off the couch and he turned on the light, looking from one daughter to the other.

"What happened? Start from the beginning. Anything you can tell me, Sophie.. It might help us finally nail this person."

"You think it's the one attacking and killing all those other kids?"

"I have my suspicions." Charlie eyed his daughter as he tried to get his head around the results of the latest coroner's report on the last body they found.

Drained of all blood.

And if that sicko had broken into his home tonight and scared his daughters? Charlie wasn't going to be a cop when he found the sicko.

He waited and finally, Sophie started to tell him everything. And if not for some of the details,… He really wanted to believe her but.. Glowing red eyes like out of a horror movie?

"I'm telling you dad, there was someone in here. But I think Sophie is wrong about the eyes." Bella was staring up at her father.

In his anger and worry and fear over the safety of his daughters, it wouldn't dawn on him that tonight marked the first time Bella had left her room other than for school in a week and a half. At the moment, he was only worried about the safety of his girls.

"You two stay down here. I'm going up there to make sure there's no one in the house."

The second their father was up the stairs, Bella spoke up quietly.

"You can't tell Dad about the red eyes, okay?"

"Why the hell not? I saw them, Bella!"

"I'm not saying you didn't. I'm saying that if you tell him and he goes after whatever.. These people are.. Then we'll all be in danger. And Edward is gone. He can't protect us."

"Screw that douchebag! The guy couldn't guard a locked cell. Dad's a cop! He can stop this shit."

"Sophie, you don't understand what you're getting into."

"No, Bella, not what I'm getting into. What I've been dragged into, by you, kicking and screaming. I love you, I really do. I just think.."

"What?"

"That prick Edward could be behind all this.. And if he is.."

"He's not!"

"We're all clear." Charlie spoke up from the doorway, eyeing his two daughters. He'd missed the whole of their argument but one look at the two told the tale. They'd been fighting about something and deep down, Charlie found himself getting the feeling that somehow, at the bottom of all of it, the source of the problem was Edward Cullen.

The kid was gone and he was still ruining their lives.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing daddy."

"Nothing. We were just arguing over the person who got in here actually having red eyes."

With that, both girls trodded upstairs to their rooms to go back to sleep. And Bella's stomach churned a little when she happened to notice that one of her drawers that hadn't been open earlier was wide open.

She dug through.

The only thing that was missing was one of her sweaters. She felt a chill run down her back because she was getting a really bad feeling.

She just had to hope like hell she was completely and totally wrong about that bad feeling and that nothing bad was about to happen…

Authors Note: Oh wow, I have a review and a favorite already, I wish I could hug you both. Neither of you have any idea what that means to me or how much it made my day, logging on here to edit something I noticed and discovering that. I actually got the idea to write my own version of events for the timeline, so yes, the above chapter is about the Seattle Newborn Army, but everything will be kinda different and happen a hell of a lot sooner than it did in the book itself or the movie. My intention is to sort of have it unfold as some sort of backburner drama? Anyway, yeah. Another chapter.

I love you all so much and I really, really, really missed posting my stories on here and it's so good to be back!