Ok, so I'm so so so sorry, but I decided that I hated the original third chapter. So I deleted it and added this new one-- which is sooooo much better! Believe me. I just didn't like the direction it was headed in. It seemed too... sudden, I guess. So, here's the new chapter 3. And if you hate me for this and it confuses you, let me know and I'll figure some way to make it up to you. Thanks for the support. Please review with your opinions. xo mel

I managed to get her to understand that I couldn't tell her anymore that night. And after a while, she'd agreed to go to sleep. I didn't tell her that we would leave the next morning, after Charlie left for a fishing trip. I had to keep our plans to myself so that he wouldn't hear it.

Bella didn't know that someone had been following her, watching her, memorizing everything she did. She didn't know that her life was in serious danger as long as she stayed in her house, as long as she stayed in Forks. The same person that had been following her had threatened my family. They don't know where I am, but they knew I left. The only person that knows where I am is Alice. But she couldn't tell me what to do because whoever was after us all was very careful, so, obviously, they knew our skills and knew a lot about our family. All we knew about what they were planning was that someone was after Bella and that if I didn't fix this as soon as possible, everything that I had been fighting against, the whole reason I left her in the first place would be pointless.

She slept through the rest of the night, clinging to me the whole time. I guess she slept dreamlessly because there was no "running" or any mumbling, actually. She just laid there motionless. Very strange. But at least she was sleeping.

After I had finally pried myself loose from her grasp and taken a seat in the rocking chair, she woke up. I guess I should have noticed it was daytime. Which quite honestly, it sucks since I had finally managed to release myself from her death grip. My mistake.

She stared at me with sleepy eyes as if she had forgotten the whole mess but a look of realization finally struck her. Strangely enough, it wasn't a look of fear, of course, but a look of rejoice. And she jumped out of bed and nearly tackled me, just like the first night I ever stayed, to her knowledge.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I did. It was different knowing that you were back. I usually had nightmares while you were gone."

"Oh, really? I'm sure I would have, too, if I could sleep. I was miserable, you know."

"I was, too. Maybe, even worse than you. I was completely numb, I had taught myself not to think, I didn't speak unless someone spoke to me. It was bad. Charlie was worried, I could tell. But I never tried to make it better. I couldn't. When you left, part of me went with you and it feels like that part jumped through my window last night."

I chuckled a little bit at her first statement. How could she possibly know how bad I felt? And if she really thought she had it worse then she had no idea.

"Bella, I didn't just have to deal with leaving you. I also had to deal with the opinions of everyone in my family and people's weird opinions of me as I walked down the street on a normal day. I was angry all the time, I didn't hunt nearly as much as I should have so I was weak, I haven't touched a piano in so long that I think my fingers couldn't find the chords to play anything worth while. I wanted so bad to just give in and come back but I couldn't risk it."

"So why did you come back, then? If it was such a risk? You said something happened. Can you tell me know?"

"I'm sorry, Bella, but I can't. This isn't the safest place."

"Well, where can we go that is safe? Is there anywhere?"

"Not now, Bella. There isn't anywhere that is safe right now."

"Couldn't you just write it down or something? Edward, I need to know. I really do! The suspense is killing me."

I thought about that for a moment. She did have a point, after all. But I still hadn't worked out what I was going to tell her. I couldn't tell her everything and I already knew that. So what do I do?

"I'll write some of it down, but I can't tell you everything. I don't even know that much. But I know enough to be worried."

She jumped off my lap and hurried to her desk to pull out some paper and a pen. When she returned I hesitated for a moment to think one more time about what I would tell her and what I would not.

Someone has threatened my family. We don't know who because they are extremely careful with choosing their paths and blocking their thoughts. We think that whoever this is can shield their thoughts, kind of like how I can read people's. We think it might be a special skill that they have. We also don't know how many people might be doing this. It could be anyone, so we don't know where to start.

And Charlie. Alice saw something happening with him, in the future. She saw them involving him and changing him. She saw him giving them some kind of information. But everything that she sees is blurry and distorted so, of course, we can't tell who. And she doesn't see this coming from Charlie but from them. So he doesn't know this is going to happen. And there is a good chance that it won't because Charlie could avoid it easily.

But they're watching us, right now, Bella. So I can't protect Charlie. They know we know that he will be involved. All we can do is wait and hope that Charlie will do the right thing. Until then, I have to figure out what to do about this whole mess.

She read it over three times and looked up at me with wide eyes. I couldn't tell if it was fear and worry or just thoughtfulness– obviously, the progress I had made at reading people's faces had backtracked a bit, since I've been gone.

"So have you thought of what you can do?"

"Not yet."

I started scrawling on the paper, again.

I thought about it all night. But I keep drawing up blanks. I've also been listening very closely to see if they made any slip ups about hiding their thoughts but I get nothing. Whatever kind of shield they've got up is as sturdy as a brick wall. But I hear enough to know that they're out there.

She definitely looked deep in thought now. Maybe, she could help me come up with some sort of solution.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm trying to help. And I'm wondering where Charlie is."

She looked at me with worried eyes and I knew that she meant that she hoped today wasn't that day.

"He went fishing earlier this morning. Don't worry."

She eased up a bit at that. Now, the only matter left at hand was what we were going to do. I figured it would be best if we went about the day as if nothing was wrong, just in case they weren't listening. That way, we could throw them off a bit.

"So what do you want to do today?"

"Well, I need to go to the grocery store, then I'm completely free. If you hadn't come back, I probably would have rolled up in a ball of the couch and gone to sleep. Usually, I left the TV on so that if Charlie came home he would think I'd been watching it."

"Wow. You had it all figured out, huh?"

"Yep, but I do need to call Renee."

Then it occurred to me.

"I have an idea. How long has it been since you've seen your mom?"


R&R Please! Sorry about the mix-up. Oh and internet has been down so the new chapter might take a bit longer.