A/N; Here's the next chapter guys! I know it's kind of long, but I hope you enjoy! :) There is a lot of info in this one.

"I wanted to be with you alone
And talk about the weather
But traditions I can trace against the child in your face
Won't escape my attention"

Sophie woke to Bella knocking on her door. When she looked at the clock, it read 6am. She walked to her bedroom door and opened it, allowing Bella to enter. Her sister looks at her with an expression of distrust, and that makes Sophie feel terrible. She could always compel her to forget, but she didn't want to do that. It wouldn't be fair to Bella, and Sophie didn't want to hide who she was anymore.

"Hey Bella," Sophie said as she went to sit on her bed, patting the spot next to her in a signal for Bella to sit. "Couldn't sleep?" she asked.

"Not well, no," Bella replied. "H-how can you be a… vampire?" she asked.

"Bella, you don't have to be afraid of me, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a different type of vampire from those you're accustomed to. I woke up late last night, because I felt really bad about not telling you. I had a very long instant-messaging chat with my friend, and she told me all about the differences," Sophie said.

"Your friend is a vampire?" Bella asked.

Sophie nodded. "She's older than me; much older. She was born in 1849," she said.

Bella's eyes widened. "Whoa," she said.

Sophie chuckled. "That was my reaction. Anyway, I can tell you anything you want to know. But, for the sake of your sanity, I think it'd be best for you to ask questions rather than me diving headfirst into the story," she said.

Bella nodded and took a deep breath. "Okay… so your blood healed me. Why?" she asked.

"Well, I'm not certain, but I think that it's due to the fact that there must always be a balance of nature. Vampires are designed to kill, and they cause destruction. To balance this, we are able to save life as well as take it," Sophie explained.

Bella seemed to think about this for a moment, and then continued with her questions. "So, how did you… turn?" she asked.

Sophie paused as she remembered that day. It was painful, but she had accepted it. "Before I tell you, I have to explain how we turn. It's different than the cold ones. Their species is toxic… venomous. With us, you have to die with vampire blood in your system," she said.

"So… you died with it in your system. How?" her sister asked.

"Well… it all started at a charity event in Mystic Falls; a masquerade ball…"

Sophie had been looking for Matt all evening. Caroline wanted her to make sure he stayed out of trouble, because there was something off about him. She and her friend Sarah had been dancing with him and Tyler, but she lost him. She didn't want Caroline to be upset at her, so she went to ask people if they'd seen him.

She moved through the crowd, and she spotted Stefan dancing with Elena. She instantly felt jealous when she saw how pretty Elena looked, but she pushed it away. Caroline was acting less insecure, so she could too. She walked over to ask Stefan about Matt.

"Stefan, I can't find Matt. Have you seen him?" she asked.

"No, I'm sorry," Stefan replied.

"Oh. Elena, you look so gorgeous. I love your dress," Sophie complimented.

"Thanks," Elena replied. "I love your necklace, it's so pretty," she said, gesturing towards the necklace Bella had sent her as a gift last year.

"Oh... thank you," she replied.

"Wait, it's a little… twisted," Elena said. "Let me fix it for you."

Sophie held still as Elena walked behind her, but what happened next was completely unexpected. She felt a white hot, searing pain in her back, as Stefan said something that sounded like 'Katherine, don't…'

"Paralyzed from the waist down…" she said.

Then, all Sophie heard was a sickening crack before her world went black.

"So, that's how it happened," Sophie said.

Bella looked to be on the verge of tears. "Oh my gosh… but, how did you have vampire blood in your system?" she asked.

"Earlier that day, I hurt my ankle at cheerleading practice. Caroline didn't want me to miss the competition that would happen a week later, so she healed me," Sophie explained.

"Wow… so what happened when you woke up?" Bella asked.

Sophie sighed and said; "It was very… difficult."

Sophie felt her eyes open, but she couldn't see anything as she looked around. It was a dense darkness. When she tried to breathe in, water filled her mouth. She began panicking, and kicked her way to the top. She gathered her surroundings… she was in the ravine. How the hell did she get there? She swam to the edge and climbed out of the water.

She shivered as she walked through the woods. She had always played near the ravine with her friends when she was younger, but she was too confused to find her way back home at the moment. She wandered through the woods aimlessly. Everything was different. The biting of the cool night air on her wet skin was more intense. The stars glittered more than they had before, and she could hear so much more clearly.

She felt heat coming from down the trail, and was able to smell burning wood. Someone was camping. She came across two people, and they seemed to be on a date. They were lying there, looking up at the stars, talking about their never ending love. Soon, they began horsing around, and the man fell. He cut his leg on a rock, and the woman left to get a first-aid kit from the car. Sophie wasn't paying any attention, though. She was completely focused on the blood trickling down his leg.

She stepped out of the tree line, and silently made her way towards the man. He didn't hear her coming, and a small part noted that this was like a lion stalking its prey. Another part of her told her that she didn't care. She needed this, and she was all that mattered right now. She got behind him, and tapped him on his shoulder.

He turned. "Oh… hello," he said. He noticed that she was drenched, and said; "Are you okay? How did you get so wet?"

"Please help me… I can't find the main road," she said. "I fell in the ravine, and I don't remember the way home."

"You poor thing. I'll show you the way to the road," he said.

"Is your leg okay?" she asked.

"Oh I'll be fine," he said.

She pushed him up near the tree, and buried her teeth into his neck. She just kept drinking he passed out from blood loss. Once she was finished, she looked at the body, and started freaking out, thinking that she had killed him. Why had she just done that? She stepped backwards, and panicked as she heard someone coming. She needed to run, so she moved her legs, and she was one-hundred feet away in a matter of seconds. That didn't stop her from hearing the woman's scream as she discovered her boyfriend's body.

Part of her wanted to make the feeling go away. It felt like all she needed to do was flip a switch, but another part of her knew she needed to feel this. She needed to feel this guilt. This should be her punishment for what she did. She flashed away again, until she recognized a part of the woods. These were the woods where they found Vicki's body that night… only a short distance from the Salvatore Boarding house.

"They'll help me… they have to," she whispered to herself.

She walked to their house, noticing that the cold wet clothes no longer bothered her. She walked to their front door, and rang the bell. She heard shuffling from inside, and Damon opened the door. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Sophie…" he said.

"Damon, please help me. I don't know what's going on," she said with tears in her eyes.

"What's going on?" Stefan asked as he came to the door. He too looked shocked to see Sophie standing there, soaked to the bone with blood on her face.

"Damon, let her in," Stefan said. "Call Caroline, and tell her what's going on."

Bella was speechless. She didn't know how to deal with this, apparently, and Sophie was beginning to worry. She cleared her throat, and that seemed to pull Bella out of her shocked state. She looked at her sister, and Sophie could see tears in her eyes.

"Bella…" she whispered.

"You're dead," she said.

"Technically… yes. I am dead," Sophie said. "But I'm here, Bella. I'll always be here."

"So, you're not venomous. You don't have to kill people to feed?" Bella asked.

Sophie shook her head. "Nope, and if I do feed from someone, I can compel them to forget," she said.

"Really? How?" she asked.

"I just look them in the eye, and order them to do it. It's called compulsion, it's one of our… perks," Sophie explained.

Bella nodded, but her eyes never left Sophie's. "What?" Sophie asked.

"The Cullens… and others like them… they have two choices of eye color; red and gold. Well… black, when they're hungry. Why aren't your eyes red?" Bella asked.

"They're only red when my vampire features show, like last night. Remember?" she asked.

Bella nodded. "So, this is your secret now?" she asked.

Sophie nodded, and when she looked at the clock, it was seven in the morning. They'd been talking for a whole hour. "Well, I should get ready. First day of school and all that. I have cheerleading tryouts," she said.

Bella laughed and said; "I'm glad to see you're the same. Are you riding with me?"

"No, I told Jake I'd hang with him after school," she said.

"Okay. Just be careful," Bella said.

"I will," Sophie said. "Oh! Before I forget, I have something for you."

"Is this another present?" Bella asked.

Sophie laughed. "No. Well... not really," she explained as she walked to her jewelry box. She took out a pretty silver locket that would be perfect for Bella. She handed it to her, and Bella smiled as she looked at it.

"It's very pretty. Thank you," she said.

"It's extremely important that you wear that. Always. It has vervain in it, which will prevent compulsion. It's an herb that's toxic to vampires like me, and it will prevent compulsion. See..." she said, and demonstrated by touching the pendant. Her skin began to sizzle, and she pulled her hand back.

"Wow... okay then. Um, thank you. I'll keep it on all the time," Bella said before she left the room.

After looking at the weather report, she knew she wouldn't need a change of clothes. It would be warm and sunny today- perfect for shorts and a tank top. She showered and dressed before driving to the school.

The school day was quite uneventful. She went to all of her classes, and got the back work that she had missed since the first day of school. It wasn't much, and Forks was a bit behind Mystic Falls when it came to schoolwork, so it wouldn't be too difficult. She had already done most of the work; like Shakespeare for her English class. If she needed any additional help, she could just phone her friends Tabitha and Juliet. They were old enough to know everything.

She made it to cheerleading tryouts five minutes late, but she must have made an impression, because she made the team. After practice she texted Bella to let her know she was going to La Push, and then she texted Jake to let him know she'd be there soon.

Fifteen minutes later, she parked in front of the little red house, and Jake came running out of the house, play-fighting with Quill and Embry. They stopped when they saw Sophie.

"Hey Jake," she said.

He gave her a hug and said; "Hey."

"So… congratulate me," she said.

"What am I congratulating you for?" he asked.

"I made the team!" she said.

The other two shared a look, and Embry said; "What team?"

"Cheerleading," Sophie said.

Quill smirked and said; "Well, that would explain the interesting attire."

Sophie rolled her eyes and sat on the hood of her car. "So, what do you want to do today?" she asked.

The three boys shrugged and an awkward silence washed over them. After a few more moments of silence, Quill's eye lit up. "You could always come with us to the fire pit," he said.

"What is the fire pit?" Sophie asked.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Basically we just sit around the campfire and tell ghost stories," he said.

"That sounds like fun, but I think it's a bit too light out to do that," she said.

"That's true. We don't start the ghost stories until it gets dark, but we do roast marshmallows all day, and we eat until we get sick," Embry said.

"Well… if there's the promise of getting sick, how on Earth can I refuse?" she said sarcastically.

They were all seated around the campfire, and Sophie had been intently listening to the ghost stories that everyone told. It seemed to be a good turnout. She had made the acquaintance of Leah and Seth Clearwater, Jared Cameron, Paul Lahote, and even Sam Uley came to the gathering. He seemed to be more of an adult figure for the group. He had always seemed standoffish to her, but he seemed to be kind enough today.

"Okay, so who has more stories?" Quill asked.

"I don't have anymore," Sophie said.

"Me neither," Jacob added.

Sophie's phone rang, and Sophie excused herself to answer it. "Hello," she said.

"Sophie, please tell me Bella is with you," Charlie said in a frantic voice.

"No, she isn't. What's going on dad?" Sophie asked.

"I can't find her anywhere. Will you come home and help?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'll be there as soon as I can," Sophie said.

She ran back to the group and explained what was going on. Jacob left with her, and she noticed that Sam left as well. She drove to her house as quickly as she could, and was relieved when she didn't smell blood as she exited the car. Wherever Bella was, she wasn't injured.

It took forever for Sophie to convince her dad to let her look in the woods as well. She was allowed to accompany Sam, and they split up. Sophie listened, and she heard crying. She also smelled the salt from tears. Bella was close by. She ran as fast as she could before tripping over a log and landing over Bella. She stood and dusted herself off.

"Bella… Bella, are you okay?" she asked.

"He's gone," Bella said.

"Who's gone?" Sophie asked.

"E-e-Edward… he left, Sophie," she replied.

Sophie tried helping Bella stand, but she felt a hot breath behind her. She turned slightly and saw a huge black wolf. Her eyes widened, and she slowly turned back to Bella.

"Bella, sweetie, we need to go. Stand up," Sophie said.

"I can't," Bella said.

"Bella, stand. Now," she said.

She hadn't realized the wolf had left until Sam showed up, in all his shirtless wonder, and picked Bella up in his arms. He carried her out of the woods while Sophie walked next to him. She decided not to tell him about the wolf. She knew it couldn't be a werewolf… there was no full moon.

Charlie took Bella and carried her in the house after thanking Sam. Sophie hugged him, earning a jealous look from Jacob, but she brushed it off.

"Thank you, Sam," she said.

"Anytime," he said before returning to his own home.

"Goodnight Jake," she said as she walked past him into the house.

It was going to be a long night.