Thank you so much for the amazing response to the first chapter. The reviews, alerts... I'm blown away. Big thanks to everyone who has rec'ed this somewhere. And of course thanks to beta extraordinaire Natty who has been an editing machine and gently nudging for more.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 2

The next morning, Bella woke up physically exhausted but wide awake well before her alarm was set to go off. Immediately, her imagination picked up right where it had left off the night before, dreaming up scenarios that might happen, though most likely wouldn't. She would see Alice again in a few hours, and she was a little nervous at the prospect; she wasn't sure how to act around her now, after having had a less than normal introduction.

Her answer came an hour later when her phone chimed, signifying a call from the girl in question. Bella looked at the name on the screen hesitantly. She didn't know if Alice was calling with more information or if she was just being social, but there was only one way to find out.

"Hello?" Bella answered warily.

"Hey, Bella. It's me, Alice."

Some of the unease washed away at the cheerfulness in Alice's voice. Surely this call wasn't made to bring more disconcerting news.

After initial and slightly awkward small talk, Alice dove into the real reason for her call.

"Anyway, we all talked last night after Jasper and I got home, and agreed that as long as you're living on your own it's probably a good idea that we act like strangers in public. We're all trying to keep tabs on who might be close to finding you, but things can change in an instant. They know who we are, and if they aren't already, they're going to be watching us to see who we interact with to try and figure out who you are."

Nervousness crept up on Bella once again, the realization of Alice's words giving a sense of foreboding. Bella had assumed that simply not using her gift would be sufficient—she didn't find herself remarkable enough to stand out among thousands of college students. After all, Bella knew she was as ordinary as they came: average height and build, plain brown hair with waves that often seemed to have a mind of their own, and unremarkable brown eyes. She could look in a mirror and not find a single thing that seemed to set her apart. She had banked on being able to remain invisible in a crowd, but she realized that Alice was correct. If someone was watching Alice, Jasper, and the rest of their friends, then something as innocent as acknowledging each other would be the equivalent of painting a giant, bright red bull's eye on Bella's forehead. She might as well have a flashing neon sign that said "I'm the telekinetic freak you're looking for!" with an arrow pointing down at her. She was now even more wary about seeing Alice in class. Bella had never been a very good liar, so she was worried about how to convincingly act as though she'd never spoken to Alice without giving herself away.

As Bella considered all of this, Alice continued to speak. "So today, don't be offended when I act like I don't know you. I don't see anybody watching the class, but they could change their mind at any time. Right now it looks like we'll be safe to hang back afterwards if you want to talk, but I'll let you know for sure when we get there."

A few hours later, Bella walked into class to see Alice already sitting in the same seat as she had on Monday. Their eyes connected and Alice greeted Bella with a quick twitch of her mouth on one side, indicating the start of a smile, but otherwise the two didn't acknowledge each other. Even when the professor instructed students to pair off for a short discussion between peers, Alice and Bella found other neighboring students to work with in order to maintain as much distance as possible.

When the class ended, Bella turned her head minutely as she packed up her things, the action so slight that nobody would notice anything out of the ordinary. Alice moved her head from one side to the other, just one small shake to communicate to Bella that they couldn't stay to talk. While Bella was grateful to know that it wasn't a good time to speak, she was terrified at the knowledge that somebody must be lurking nearby. As she walked from the class, she nonchalantly attempted to glance at the faces around her in the hall but nobody stood out. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to find, but realized that she most likely wouldn't find the stereotypical villain from the movies watching her every move. There were no men dressed all in black, hiding behind lockers while malevolently twisting the ends of their moustaches here.

Her eyes darted to the rear view mirror at regular intervals the entire drive home, but nothing looked out of the ordinary. Though she was certain that she hadn't been noticed or followed, she couldn't help but fear that she was wrong. She was, after all, in new territory and had no idea what she was looking for and had even less of an idea what they were looking for. She didn't know what seemingly innocent actions might give her away.

As Bella pulled into the parking space outside her apartment, she heard the chime on her phone indicating a text message. She fumbled through her bag to find the phone, instantly pressing the buttons to see what Alice had to say.

Nobody was there, but if we would've stayed they would've found us. You're still safe.

Bella sighed in relief that she had made it out of the building before the threat had appeared, but she couldn't stop the anxiety from creeping up at the realization of how close they had come to finding her.

Bella stayed inside her apartment that evening, trying to focus on reading for class but failing miserably. She followed the same pattern day after day: class, home, read, worry. Wash, rinse, repeat. More than once, when her imagination and fear got the best of her, she considered calling Alice and asking if the offer to stay with them was still available. As quickly as the thought came to her, though, Bella dismissed it. For the moment she had some amount of anonymity, and she wasn't ready to declare herself to this unknown threat just because she was afraid of being alone in her apartment.

It was two weeks later that the first signs appeared signifying that she wouldn't remain undetected for much longer. She had become accustomed to her new routine, and had even managed to find some amount of 'normal' in her day. After pushing past the initial wave of worry that always accompanied stepping out her front door, she walked thoughtlessly to the dumpster at the end of the block of apartments she lived in. She had spent a good portion of the afternoon cleaning, managing to forget about the stresses of her classes and the unknown. On her way back, she passed a neighbor that she had seen coming in and out of the apartment just a few doors down from her own. Bella smiled a hello to the girl, expecting her to keep moving, but the girl surprised her and stopped.

"Hey, you live by me, right?" she asked Bella.

After brief introductions where the girl introduced herself as Holly, she lowered her voice and stepped closer to Bella. "I just wanted to give you a heads up. I've been trying to warn as many people as I can… there have been a couple of people hanging around at night watching the buildings."

Bella's eyes widened in surprise, hoping it was only a coincidence. "What do you mean? Is it someone who lives here?"

"I don't think so," Holly said, her words punctuated with a shake of the head. "I haven't seen them around before, and the few times I've noticed them out there they haven't gone near any of the apartments. I called management and the police, but so far whoever it is has been gone before anyone showed up to check it out. So just be careful, okay?"

"Yeah, of course," Bella muttered as her thoughts rushed in multiple directions. "Where did you see them? Just so I can keep an eye out, too."

"They've been right over there," the girl said as she pointed to the tree line not far from the edge of the parking lot, her finger moving back and forth to indicate the entire stretch of land across from the apartments. "I don't know if they're hanging around in other areas too, but that's where I've always seen them."

"Them?" Bella asked. "How many?"

Holly looked at Bella and gave her an apologetic smile once she noted the unease that was evident on Bella's face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. It's probably nothing, just a couple of drunk students."

"No, no," Bella rushed to assure her that she didn't need to feel bad about her reaction to this information. "It can't hurt to keep an eye open, right?"

"Right," Holly said with a more relieved smile. "Anyway, usually it's just one person and other times it's two. It's always after dark so I can't really describe them, but it looks like a guy and a girl based on their build. Who knows if it's the same ones every time?"

She shrugged and Bella nodded. "Well, thanks for letting me know. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate it." She knew it sounded like a generic response, but she couldn't have been more truthful. Bella's instincts were telling her that these people weren't just drunk college students wandering out into the wooded area, so the information from her neighbor was invaluable.

Bella faked a smile as she said goodbye and headed back to her apartment. Though it was still light out, she couldn't help but peek out her windows every so often to see if anybody was standing over in the area the girl had pointed out. The sunlight had waned just a little more each time she peeked through the slats of the blind to check its progress, and the closer that it came to full darkness, the more unsettled she grew. She was paranoid to the point that once the sun had set, she turned off the lights in the bedroom. Her hope was that if somebody was looking at her window they would have a difficult time seeing her without backlighting.

She didn't see anybody lurking that night nor the next. It wasn't until the third night that she could see the shadow of a man across the way, just barely illuminated by the lights of the parking lot. Her cell phone rang in the same instant that she spotted the distinctive silhouette, and between the two shocks she simultaneously jumped and stopped breathing.

She slowly backed away from the window but didn't move toward the phone. The ability to make a logical decision on anything eluded her, and she couldn't figure out what to do next. The phone stopped ringing only to start again seconds later. It took a few moments, but Bella eventually snapped out of the daze she was in and scrambled for her cell. Before she could say a word, Alice's voice called frantically through the line.

"Bella, what's going on? What just happened?"

"I—Alice, I—" Bella continued to stutter, unable to form words.

"Bella, you have to speak to me, are you all right?" Alice's voice was full of concern, clearly worried about what changes had just taken place. "It all happened so fast, I haven't been able to make any sense of it yet. Bella, please, talk to me."

Bella backed herself into a corner, the feel of the wall behind her giving her the illusion of protection as she sat down on the carpet and clutched the phone to her ear.

"There's somebody outside, Alice," she whispered, afraid to speak too loudly. "There's a man by my apartment, over by the trees. My neighbor has seen him there before… she said he's been coming for weeks. Him… and a… a girl. Alice, what do I do? I'm scared."

"You're okay," Alice consoled. "Hang on a second, all right? You're okay right now, so don't freak out."

Bella nodded, not thinking about the fact that nonverbal responses didn't carry through the phone. She could hear muffled voices as Alice repeated what Bella had told her.

There was a small shuffling noise before a familiar southern drawl sounded through the line. "Bella? You hanging in there?"

"Barely," she responded with a shaky voice.

Jasper could only imagine how terrified Bella must've been, so he attempted to calm her down as best he could. "We're going to figure this out, okay? You're fine. We won't let anything happen to you."

If it weren't for the ragged breaths that occasionally sounded through the phone, he'd have thought they had lost their connection. He continued to try to speak to Bella, offering words of comfort, but Bella wasn't paying any attention. Instead, she tried to listen to the noises behind Jasper as they were far more interesting to her. She could hear Alice mumbling something about trying to 'see' who was there in between berating herself for missing that piece of information.

Unrecognizable voices overlapped, reassuring Alice that it wasn't her fault, that it was impossible to keep tabs on everybody, and that the fact that she hadn't seen anything meant that whoever it was hadn't figured out who Bella was. Alice shushed them, insisting she couldn't concentrate with all of them speaking at once. A smooth, rich, masculine voice ignored her plea for silence to assure Alice that she had been watching Bella's future so closely that the moment someone had decided on anything involving her, she would've known.

Bella hadn't even realized that Jasper had stopped speaking to her. He, too, was distracted by Alice as she tried to figure out the next course of action. In fact, all noise aside from Bella's shaky breaths had ceased while Alice tried to focus. Moments later, she took the phone back from Jasper.

"Are you still there?" she asked, and Bella responded by humming her affirmation. "Okay, I don't see anything happening. He doesn't know who you are, only that the person he's looking for is close. So stay inside and don't go near the windows."

"So it is one of them?" Bella asked, her voice shaking.

"Yeah," Alice whispered apologetically. "He's with them but I've never seen him before. I don't know who he is, so that's most likely why they sent him. They were depending on the likelihood that I wouldn't see anything he did until it specifically involved us."

"So, what should I do?" Bella asked.

Before she could answer, Alice's vision changed and she shouted, "No!"

The word startled Bella, and she listened as Alice berated somebody. "We can't go over there, so whichever one of you commandoes just decided on a little rescue mission, forget about it. It's not going to work."

Bella could hear the phone being handed off yet again as Jasper took over. "Don't worry about a thing, Bella. We're just coming up with a plan, all right?"

"Okay," Bella whimpered as she agonized over the news that they couldn't come to get her.

"Hey," Jasper said softly, his voice soothing. "We aren't going to let anything happen to you. Alice just needs to run through a few decisions to figure out which is the best and safest plan we can come up with."

Bella took a deep breath as she stared up at the ceiling, releasing the air slowly and unsteadily. She didn't answer him and he wasn't expecting her to. After what seemed like an eternity, Alice returned to the line one final time.

"I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but you're going to have to stay there by yourself tonight. It's a dead giveaway if any of us show up, and I can't get a solid read on what'll happen if you just walk out with your bags and drive away so I don't want to risk it. The safest scenario is to wait until sunrise when he leaves. It'll buy us a few extra days, since no one will be watching the building during the day. It's way too suspicious. They'll be on campus or in town where they can blend in with the crowds."

"A few extra days?" Bella asked, though she knew what Alice's response would be.

"You're out of time. They're going to figure it out soon, regardless of whether you stay there or come with us. And you're safer with us. If you stay, they'll find you and try to convince or coerce you into working with them. If you come with us, they'll back off and regroup. When they find out they didn't find you first, they'll have to step back and try to figure out their next course of action because they know we fight back."

"Okay," Bella conceded, though Alice hadn't really been asking her to make a decision. It was simply understood that they would take Bella under their wing to work with her, teach her, and protect her.

"Okay? You'll come with us?" Alice's voice was equal parts relief and enthusiasm. "You won't regret this. You'll be safe here. I know that you don't know much about what's going on, but we'll explain it all once you get here. Oh, and we can work with you, see what all you can do when you really try."

Somehow, despite the tense and stressful events of the night, Alice managed to make Bella chuckle. It was as if all the drama was forgotten and they were planning the ultimate sleepover. They couldn't escape the gravity of the situation for long, though.

"You'll need to pack your things," Alice instructed. "We have plenty of room here, so bring as much as you want to make yourself feel at home."

Bella didn't know if this move was permanent or temporary, and given the fact that the entire situation was far from being resolved, she figured Alice didn't know either so there was no point in asking. They talked for just a few minutes more to make plans to move Bella in the early morning hours. Alice would call her to let her know they were on their way once she felt confident that it was safe.

Though she was mentally exhausted, Bella knew that sleep would be impossible so she set about to busy herself by packing her things. She pulled the empty plastic tubs from a closet, her head shaking in resignation at having to pack up and move again for the second time in just over a month. She started with the rooms at the front of the apartment so she could turn off the lights and close the doors, and it would appear as if the occupant had gone to sleep. As the night crept along, she had packed up everything she would need. There were a few sentimental things that she would want to keep close to her, and she took everything of value just in case anybody noticed that she had abandoned the place and decided to help themselves to what she'd left behind. She searched each room three times just to make sure she had taken anything that would provide personal information should these people track her to this apartment and work their way inside to look for clues. She had just finished cleaning out her refrigerator of perishables when her cell phone rang. She sighed in relief when Alice's name flashed across the screen.

"Hey, Alice. Is it time?"

"We're good to go. Are you ready?" Alice queried.

"Pretty much," Bella responded while trying to stifle a yawn. "I just need to throw some things out, but that's it."

"Great," Alice chirped, seeming to have forgotten what that led them to this point. She certainly didn't sound like she was too affected by the knowledge that they had come so close to being found out just hours before, but perhaps this was normal for her. "We'll be there in just a few minutes."

Bella ended the call, and set her phone on the counter with her purse as she tied up the trash bag full of wasted groceries. Though Alice had said that the uninvited guest across the way was gone for the day, she still didn't feel comfortable stepping outside by herself, so instead, she sat on her couch and waited until she heard the quick rap at her door.

Bella quickly stood and darted over to let Alice and Jasper in, but not before checking the peephole first. She laughed when she saw Alice waving at her with a goofy grin and heard her say, "Yep, it's us!"

Bella shook her head in amusement as she unlocked and opened the door, knowing that Alice had no doubt seen what she was going to do. Being friends with a psychic would take some getting used to.

The three greeted each other and started carrying boxes out to Jasper's truck, somehow no longer consumed by the weight of the previous evening's events.

It didn't take long to pack up Bella's life, but considering she hadn't lived in the apartment for long, she hadn't had much time to accumulate things. After taking out the trash and coming back to lock the door, she walked to her car with a small box of some of her more fragile belongings.

Alice was waiting for her at the passenger side door. "Ready?" she asked.

"As I'll ever be," Bella responded with a sigh as she tapped the unlock button on the key fob.

The two climbed into the car, and before Alice even had a chance to buckle her seat belt she began talking. "Just follow behind Jasper to get to our place. You'll love it there. It's a little out of the way, but it's very private and very secure. I got one of the spare bedrooms ready for you last night. If you don't like it, you can pick one of the others or we can redecorate. I'm pretty sure you're going to love it, though." Alice tapped her temple with her index finger and grinned, making Bella laugh.

Bella was still waiting for Jasper to pull out of his parking spot, and already Alice was making her head spin. As the girl continued to chatter away, Bella could only focus on the words 'one of the others', and wondered just how big this house was if there were multiple options for her to choose from. She realized in that instant just how little she knew about Alice and her friends, even though she was about to move in with them indefinitely.

For a moment Bella wondered what she had been thinking—or not thinking, in this case. She knew so little about everything that was happening to her, and she wasn't sure why she had trusted Alice so implicitly. She looked over at the girl who still hadn't stopped talking, and couldn't see how someone who seemed so genuinely nice and caring could have ulterior motives or malicious intentions. It took only a second for Bella to feel confident in this leap of faith. Without hesitation, she pulled out of her spot and followed Jasper as he weaved his way out of the parking lot.

She was just pulling out onto the side street behind the truck when a small, sleek silver vehicle passed in the opposite direction and beeped its horn. It startled Bella, causing her foot to slip off of the gas pedal. Alice waved at the driver and laughed at the small jerking motion caused by Bella's slip.

"Don't worry," she said, still chuckling. "That was just my brother. He's our second line of defense."

Bella looked over and it didn't seem that Alice was going to elaborate, apparently not realizing that Bella would need further explanation.

"Second line of defense?" Bella asked, urging Alice to clarify.

"Oh shit," Alice said, admonishing herself. "Sorry. I tend to forget that you're new to all of this. Edward's telepathic… a mind reader. Since I wasn't able to see the guy hanging around until you found him, we didn't want to take any chances that they had someone else who could slip under my radar."

Bella's attention was split between learning the route to the house and absorbing every word Alice spoke. It wasn't until that moment that Bella realized that she knew nothing of the other roommates, including their talents.

"Wait, so how does that work? Why is he driving around?" she asked, trying to make sense of what Alice was saying.

"He can hear peoples' thoughts if they're within a mile or two. He did a few laps around your block before I called you to make sure there was no one close by that we needed to be aware of first."

Before she knew it, Jasper was leading them farther away from civilization and deeper into the woods. They didn't travel the deserted road for long before the truck signaled for a turn. Bella slowed her car, trying to see where Jasper planned to turn when Alice finally decided to help navigate.

"It's easy to miss if you aren't looking for it, but just keep an eye out for the funky tree." Alice pointed at a tree that sloped at an odd angle over the road, and Bella made a mental note of what it looked like. "The entrance is just around this turn, so when you see the tree you need to be ready."

Sure enough, as soon as they cleared the turn the truck disappeared from sight. Bella slowed even more and followed the gravel path, immediately catching sight of Jasper's truck once again.

Minutes later, they pulled up to a large wrought iron gate. Bella watched with rapt attention as Jasper keyed in a series of numbers and placed his palm against a flat surface next to the keypad. After holding his position for just a few seconds, he pulled his arm back inside and rolled the window up. The gate opened smoothly, and Alice directed Bella to continue following behind the truck.

Bella looked over at the keypad and focused on the nondescript gray surface next to it, and even more questions formed in her head as they passed. Distracted as she was, she still heard Alice beside her. "We'll get you set up with that once you're settled so you can come and go."

Bella nodded mutely, and once again turned her attention to the path ahead. She stared in awe at the large house that loomed ahead once they'd cleared a cluster of trees. She had a hundred things she wanted to ask Alice but couldn't verbalize a single one. The house could have easily been classified as a mansion, and it was now clear why Bella had her choice of rooms if she didn't like the one that Alice had picked out. She wondered if more people lived there, parents perhaps, but Alice had only mentioned the five of them living together.

"Welcome home, Bella," Alice greeted her with a grin when the car rolled to a stop. Bella didn't respond; she couldn't tear her eyes away from the house. She knew that she wouldn't catch up on the sleep she'd missed the night before any time soon, because she was clearly even less informed about her new reality than she had originally thought.