CHAPTER 4

*her* POV

I woke up confused by the darkness. Where was I now? As my eyes adjusted to the dark I heard a soft humming close by. I was curled up in a king sized four poster bed surrounded by soft blankets and pillows. From the bed I could see three doors. One of them was a small sliding door obviously a closet. Next to it was a door made out of a beautiful wood. It was opened slightly leading to a passage. The last door was huge and made from the same wood set into the wall. The walls were a smooth stone leading up to a domed roof where an elaborate chandelier hung. A desk in the corner held a fancy looking computer. I looked straight ahead to see a flat screen with multiple machines underneath it.

I crawled to the side of the bed slowly getting off. I stretched my stiff back and legs. The musical humming was coming from the biggest door. I slowly walked over to it. My foot steps were muffled by the thick carpet under my feet. I could feel my heart beat in my chest. Someone must hear it? With my good arm I grasped the handle and opened it. My jaw dropped as I took in the room. "Holy mother of cheese…" It was bigger then the bedroom with one side of the wall covered in shelves full of shoes. Every type of shoe I could imagine was there. The rest of the room had clothes. Lots and lots of clothes.

A black and white blur was streaking around the room fixing hangers, putting shoes on the shelves and moving everything around. The blur stopped in front of me. Alice smiled at me and was at my side in less then a second. "How are you feeling?" she asked moving me to a couch in the corner. I just nodded still looking at all the clothes. Most of the clothes were fancy and looked expensive. There was a lot of shiny material and I could see an evening gown hanging on the opposite wall.

I looked up into her wide gold eyes. "Don't worry, it's not for you." She laughed walking over to a rack of clothing, "this is yours." She said pointing to the clothes. I was happy to see jeans and t-shirts hanging together. "Um… thank you." I couldn't think of anything better to say. She filed through the clothes and pulled out an ivy green dress. It had a square neckline with a darker green pattern of flowers crawling around the skirt. "You probably want to get cleaned up and something to eat" she said skipping over to a chest of drawers. "The bathroom is your first on the right"

I quietly left and found the bathroom. This could not be real. I shook my head. This wasn't me. I belonged in the forest. I walked in and sighed as I saw the gigantic shower in the corner. Well maybe for a day or two I could put up with all of… this. Smiling to myself I slowly undressed wincing as the fabric moved over my bruises. I waited for the water to warm up. A soft knock came from behind me.

"Can I come in?" Alice asked.

I grabbed one of the soft fluffy towels and wrapped it awkwardly around me. "Yes" I replied holding up the towel with one hand.

"I just need to wrap your arm in something. Carlisle will kill me if something happens. Here are some clothes for you to wear when you finished and there is no point in arguing with me. You will wear what I give you because I know what is best for you and don't you dare be like Bella and complain. Its bad enough she is rubbing off on Nessie. Do you need any help with washing you hair?" she asked half talking to herself as she finished wrapping my arm in plastic.

"Um… no… I'll be fine" I said slightly dazed. She looked at me and for a second all cheeriness was gone as she gave me a darkened warning look. I got the feeling I shouldn't disagree. "Ok. Well if you need help just call me. I'll go make you something to eat". And with that she skipped out the door closing it behind her

I dropped the towel and stepped into the steaming shower. I gasped as the hot water hit my back. Adjusting the water I stepped into the water flow. Ten minutes later I decided shampoo was enough ("For cheese sake, open you stupid thing!") and gave up trying to open anything else with one plastic covered arm sticking out in front of me to minimise it getting wet. I wrapped myself in the towel again and sat on the edge of the bath rim. I couldn't delay it any longer. Slowly the previous events came back to me. My mind was stuck on the tree lion and Conor and there was something about Jasper but I didn't know what. I couldn't help but be impressed with his power. How did it work? Could he control anything he wanted to? Was he always like this? Would I see him again? Would I finally get the answers to who they are?

The questions raced through my mind but I knew I wouldn't get my answers just sitting staring at the tiles. I got up and walked over to the counter. After five minutes I had only been able to put on the undergarments. I stopped, leaning against the counter my back and legs burning. "I told you to call me if you needed help" Alice said behind me. I could feel my face heating up along with the rest of my body. I suddenly felt extremely self conscious. "Don't be shy. I helped Bella when she broke her leg." her eyes took on a far away look as she thought of the distant memory. "Anyway," she said shaking her head and pulling the dress over me. "It's perfect! The colour really brings out your eyes. Come on, Esme helped me make pasta bolognaise. Now I'm not as good as Bella or even Edward but I'm sure it's edible."

She dragged me to the living room. A delicious smell was wafting through the house making my stomach grumble. My eyes widened at the site of a plate piled high with pasta, drenched in a meat sauce. I didn't need any encouragement. I sat down on one of the comfy chairs, taking a huge bite. It melted in my mouth and I moaned as I tasted all the flavours. Alice laughed a soft musical tinkle. "Dis is degliglious." I said around a mouthful. "I'm glad you like it!" she said.

I looked up to see her sitting in another chair across from me by the fire her hands in her lap. I realised she wasn't eating and then realised why she wasn't eating. I swallowed and breathed at the same time ending up with me choking. I grabbed the cup of water and chugged it down, tears streaming down my face. "I'm fine" I choked out. She was standing over me now patting my back. I took deep breaths trying to calm my heart down.

"Don't worry. Really, it happens all the time." I said. And it was true; I couldn't even breathe normally without choking on dust or my own spit or even the air! "So, who are Bella and Edward? And Nessie I think you said?" I asked distracted by the new wave of questions. What a strange name for someone. "Where are we? Who were the others? What happened to that guy? Did he do that weird lion plant thingy? Can the rest of you do it? What can the rest of you do? Are there a lot of people in your family? Am I by some chance hallucinating?" I stopped as I saw the look on her face.

It was a mixture of amusement and down right fear. "Um… well… I guess I could tell you some things" She said. I looked down at my plate playing with the left over sauce. "Carlisle and Esme will be here soon anyway" she said. I looked up again to see her looking nervously at her fingers.

"Well, why don't you start with telling me about your family?" I said smiling at her. I didn't care how but I was going to get some answers.

She smiled back. "Hmm… Where to start? Well for now I'll just tell you the basics and then we can elaborate later on." She stopped, her eyes went blank and then she smiled and looked at the door. A few seconds later the caramel haired woman, Esme, and the tall blond doctor, Carlisle, walked in and sat down next to Alice. "And we're here to help" Esme said giving me a smile that just made me feel better about everything. How had she heard what was going on? Carlisle walked over to me lifting my arm and raising his eyebrow at the plastic. He turned to look at Alice. She shrugged her shoulders, smiling sheepishly. Shaking his head he turned back to me and continued his examination.

"Our family started with Carlisle. A few years later Edward joined him after Carlisle, um, saved his life." Esme said glancing at Alice. Wow…

"Then Esme joined them and she married Carlisle. Rosalie – she was the blond you saw at the house – joined and was followed by Emmett – the big guy with dark curly hair - and they got married." Alice continued "During all of that I found Jasper and together we found the Cullens."

Esme continued "We moved here six years ago. Two years after being here Edward met Bella. Two years later they were married and had Renesmee." Something about the way she said it and didn't look me in the eye told me it wasn't the full story. I shook off the feeling reminding myself when everyone else was here I would get the full story.

"About a year ago Conor joined us. He found out about our family from family in Alaska." Carlisle said watching me closely finished with his examination. I nodded and they all sat quietly looking at me. Well, here we go.

"And you're all vampires" I said unable to hide the smile that played on my lips. The room was silent. I could hear a bird singing outside, the soft flow of the river. Alice was smiling back at me giving me that knowing look again, Esme was looking concerned but happy and Carlisle laughed giving me a amused look.

"Yes. Yes we are." He chuckled, "You're not scared?" he asked.

I thought for a second. Am I scared? Living in the forest had defiantly toughened me up. If I could handle bears, snakes and other dangerous animals, I could handle a bunch of vampires. With a stab to my chest I remembered my past. "Nope." I said ignoring the burning in my chest.

"How did you know?" he asked again. They all looked at me curiously, dying to know how I knew.

"Yesterday, in the forest. I was running, eh, in the forest when I stopped to, eh, rest in a tree. A mountain lion, well some sort of lion" I stopped wondering why I had been chased and why I wasn't telling them I was being chased. Charlie probably already told them. "It was massive. The biggest one I have ever seen but there was something wrong with it. Like it had gone through something horrible and just went completely rogue. It had caught my sent and was preparing to lunge when that man – Conor – came out of no where. I was about to shout to him to run when he… when he… growled at it" I paused again and looked up to see Esme give me an encouraging smile.

"I thought it was the lion for a second but I just knew it was him and then he lunged for it and picked it up as if it were nothing more then a pebble and threw it into a tree. I knew something was wrong around then. Then he jumped on top of it and dug his teeth in its throat and started sucking" I shook my head in disbelief. "I had heard stories around La Push when Charlie dragged me down there." I smiled at the memory. I had refused to go in his car to a place I didn't know. In the end I had won that argument, leaving earlier then him and exploring the forest around the town. I remembered feeling watched the whole time. "He introduced me to his friend Billy. I overheard Charlie asking him more about the legends of the tribe and something to do with him being safe and on a need to know basis. When I walked around I learnt a bit more about their life and the legends and it was really interesting but I didn't dwell on the legends.

"Sometimes when I walked in the forest I would come across a dead dear or something which isn't that strange except there would be two or three dead all with the same markings around their necks. When I was in the forest around La Push I saw some… strange things. I kept seeing blurs… When I saw him attack that lion everything just fell into place and I knew. The legends must be true." I finished and looked up to see them all looking at me with the same expression.

I had seen this expression many times before. It was always the same questions running through their heads: Who are you? What do you want? Where did you come from? Around this time I would usually leave quickly with a made up excuse.

"Julie -" Carlisle started to say but I interrupted him. "Ariana. My name is Ariana." I said looking sheepishly at them.

Esme smiled, "That's a beautiful name."

"Thanks. It's an old family name, passed down every few generations." I blushed, the heat filling my entire body. Ok, they know my name, its ok. I smiled at them.

"Ariana," he smiled, "I'm sure you have questions about us and we have a few for you. So would you like to ask first or us?" He was being such a gentleman. Different but… nice.

I thought over it. I could delay my side for a bit… learn about them… I sighed. I already knew some things about them and they knew nothing about me. You can trust them, you know you can. A small voice in my head told me. I sighed again and took deep breath.

"I'll go first" I decided to start from the beginning.

"My parents died when I was young." I said my voice was steady and calm. I paused as the images blurred through me. "You have to understand that when something bad happens to me my body and my mind block it out, as if I've just forgotten what happened." Alice had come closer and put her cold hand over mine. It was comforting and I pushed on, breaking the barrier in my mind. I had had this problem since I could remember. My mind and my body just refused to remember things, rejecting them from my system.

"My parents died when I was 11. We had just moved into my dad's family farm in Texas. It has been in our family for generations. His parents had passed away the year before leaving everything to him and his brother. His brother already had his own farm a short distance away and was comfortable with his life. So my father took the farm to my mother's delight. I remember a lot of laughter. My parents were always happy with what they had.

"I was quiet for my age, I didn't talk much. It was unnecessary at the time; my mother knew I was special, that I was going to be different. Even at that age I spent most of my time outside. I loved everything about being outside. The wind, the heat, the smell. In the mornings I would follow my father around everywhere." I paused again remembering that day. "I was watching him grooming the horses, chatting with me about how to look after the horses, when they came.

"My parents had heard rumours of groups of people further south who took over lands. One moment there would be a family living there, the next a new family. My father and uncle talked about the stories their grandparents had told them. It seemed it was always the same families fighting over land. It seemed to get worse as the surrounding towns grew and closer to the border. For me they were just scary stories to keep me from wondering to far.

"There were two women and a man. They kept asking what our family name was but my father refused to tell them. They hadn't seen me yet and he motioned behind his back for me to hide. I hid in the straw behind the other horses. They were distressed and my father was trying to calm them down. I think that was why he didn't want to tell them anything. My father always said just because animals cant talk doesn't mean we can't understand them. The horses were going mad with those people there."

I remembered my father's requests for them to leave, the horses neighing and stamping their hooves. The sweet smell of the fresh, sun-warmed straw surrounding me. I looked down closing my eyes. I hadn't thought of this in years. Taking a deep breath I continued.

"I could hear him arguing with them. Next thing I knew my father was on the floor in front of me. 'There is no point trying to fight us. We've already taken care of your wife' one of them said. My father looked up at me. 'I love you no matter what. Run and don't look back!' my father whispered to me before he turned back to them. It was the last thing he said to me. The horses had turned and were fleeing towards the open door in a panic. I got up and ran with them. One of them was already saddled from earlier in the day and still tied to a post. I untied him and climbed on. He took off as soon as I was seated. I heard my dad screaming but I didn't turn."

Esme gasped her hand over her mouth in shock. Carlisle reached over and took her other hand in his.

"As we rode past the house the front door was hanging off its hinges. I could see the furniture was turned over, the windows broken, blood on the floor. I rode all the way to my uncle's house to find no one there. I heard a noise behind me and I turned to see someone walking out of the barn. He stopped when he saw me. He was pale and wearing slightly out of date clothing. The door was still open and I could see more blood on the floor and on his hands. His eyes were a blood red. At that moment the sun came out and his skin sparkled as if he were made of diamonds. 'I suggest you leave and don't come back' he said. I didn't need telling twice. The police found me a week later in a nearby town. They said I was going to live with a family for a while.

"I spent 3 years there before I packed up and left. I couldn't stand being there. I was indoors all the time. I saw countless psychologists; they kept thinking my quietness was because of what I saw. All I wanted to do was run free. I needed a change of scenery and started moving North West. I landed up in the Olympic National Park. Sometimes I would go further north to Vancouver. When I turned 18 I decided to go back to my old home. I just had a feeling that I had to go. It looked as if no one had lived there for years. Everything was packed in boxes and covered with sheets. After a bit of digging and hours in a police station it turned out I had come just in time. The police had been searching for me for years but since I never went within 100 metres of a police station I didn't know if they had stopped or not.

"Both my parents and my uncle's places were mine, along with a large bank account. I spent a few more weeks finding people to rent the farms. Most people were not very comfortable living on a farm where the previous owners were murdered. After all the legal business I came back. I prefer living here, out in the open. It's been 3 years since then."

"But why did you return and how come we haven't seen you sooner?" Esme asked.

"I've been moving mainly from national park to national park or in the mountains. Occasionally I would go to Canada for a bit. I was once even thinking about going to Alaska. But… I love the forests here. I was away from civilisation, away from the busy cities, the dry weather, the memories, everything. I barely use the money. Occasionally I'll use it for new clothes or if I'm desperate for food. Otherwise I just lived from day to day. When I first moved I would spend my days in libraries reading anything and everything on survival and the outdoors. The rest of the money is used for the farms and the families living there."

They sat in silence occasionally glancing at each other. Alice had squeezed herself onto the squishy armchair with me, her arm around my shoulders. "We are sorry for your loss" Carlisle whispered, his eyes showing the depth of his emotions.

I smiled, "Thank you."

"So you've been living in the forests all this time?" Carlisle asked. I nodded, "yes I –"

"But what about clothes?! And shoes?! And did you do anything with your hair?" Alice suddenly burst out. She turned in the seat to look at me, her gold eyes wide and staring at me as if I was an alien from space.

"I didn't need it. Sure I would sometimes need a new shirt or pants if they got damaged but other then that I didn't need anything. I got some good quality stuff from the Newton's shop. After a while my hair practically washed itself. And if I got to dirty with mud I would just go for a swim. I don't even bother with shoes. My last pair was eaten by a bear. Did you know bears aren't that bad, they really helpful. Well until they realise you won't let them eat you and chase you out of their cave." I laughed as I remembered the memory. Esme and Carlisle laughed with me.

"No shoes? NO SHOES?!?!" Alice shouted giving me an exasperated look and slowly shaking her head.

"What about us? How did you find out about us?" Esme asked giving Alice a warning look. Alice was now mumbling to herself and ticking things off on her fingers, obviously plotting something.

"Um… as I said before I kept finding dead animals drained of blood. Especially in the past few years. And flashes of things or just the strangest things in the forest. One time a few years ago I was higher up one of the mountains just surveying and enjoying the view when I saw three or four trees just collapse! I was in the nature reserve so it obviously wasn't bulldozers. The sun was out and I could see something reflecting by the broken trees. At first I thought it was a mirror of someone stranded and it was moving around then another sparkly thing came. They seemed to head straight at each other and when they connected… it sounded like two boulders colliding. The impact caused a mini avalanche where I was. It's a good thing I run fast." I smiled at them.

My smile slowly disappeared as I remembered the man outside my uncle's barn. His eyes had been as red as the blood on his hands but the Cullen's eyes were a beautiful gold topaz colour. Could they still be the same creature? I slowly shook my head and carried on.

"Also when I would be running I would look to the side and see something flash past in the distance. Sometimes it would be a pale streak and depending on the sun, glittering. Have you ever noticed how strange the wolves here are?" I asked randomly.

"You've seen the wolves? What did you make of them?" Carlisle asked.

"Wait! They aren't normal wolves are they!?" I said eyeing him. Relief flooded me. At least I wasn't going crazy. "I knew it! I found paw prints a few weeks ago. Huge paw prints. I followed them and tracked down 2 of them. They seemed to be surprised to see me. I knew when I saw them that they couldn't be ordinary wolves. They seemed to decide they would have a bit of fun with me. To make a long story short I ended up needing clothes and soap, lots of soap. That's around the time I found a cottage in the middle of nowhere. No one was around and by the looks of the place no one had been for a while. I planned to stay long enough to get cleaned up. I spent 2 days in a shower, went through 4 bottles of shampoo. After the first day I found a basket with food and clothes and a note saying I could stay for a few weeks"

"That would be from me" Esme said smiling at me. "I went to the cottage to check if everything was alright and to do a bit of gardening. You were in the shower cursing the soap for not making you clean quicker. It was rather comical!" she laughed a rhythm of bells.

"Thank you. It was a big help" I smiled back at her, blushing as I remembered my very colourful speech at the cleaning products.

"What happened with the wolves?" she asked

"Well, what started out to be a game of catch with gigantic wolves turned into a race through the trees, mud slides and a waterfall. One of the wolves, a sleek grey female, was fast and looped me several times. I got the impression that she was testing me. Jumping, climbing, spinning, streaking through the undergrowth and flying through the trees while she ran below. It was exhilarating. The other one had a sandy coloured fur. He seemed to be having as much fun as me. We reached the top of the waterfall and without stopping we jumped. It's quite a sight seeing wolves jump from a waterfall, plunge into the cold water below and resurface perfectly fine. After we got out another wolf howled in the distance. The male got nervous, the female rolled her eyes and they took off."

"Leah and Seth. That's very interesting, especially of Leah. You weren't afraid?" Carlisle said, contemplating what I had just said.

"At first I was. I mean they're wolves the size of horses. I thought they were going to eat me at first but it wasn't hard to see they were just kind and playful. Especially the sandy coloured one. He just had a sense of warmth, you know what I mean?" I looked straight into Carlisle's eyes, "The wolves are the Quileutes? Or the Quileutes are the wolves right? I went down to the reservation the following week with Charlie. When two of the men saw me they looked shocked as if they had seen me before. Unbelievable… So the all the legends are true? I went running in the forest and I knew I saw the men again running into the forest and for some reason taking off their clothes." I let out a low chuckle.

With out a doubt the weirdest place I could've come to. Who would have thought that this area would be a minefield of mythical creatures? My chuckle grew into a full blown laugh. It stopped as soon as it started. I clutched at my side, wincing in pain. Carlisle came over and checked the rib. He nodded in approval and went back to his seat. My throat was getting sore from all the talking. The last time I had talked this much was… never.

"You said your name has been in your family. Was it your grandmothers?" Esme asked curious about my name. Carlisle and Alice turned to me. Carlisle was deep in thought as he looked at me. Strange, it wasn't the usual 'she is a freak' look.

"I was the first girl in my family in 6 generations. I'm the 7th. My great-great- great- great- grandmother was the last Ariana before me. I'm not sure how long the farm has been in the family… Anyway back then it was 1838 when she had her first child, Jack. My dad was named after him. Turns out she got pregnant before she and my grandfather were married. It was a bit of a scandal. Her side of the family was very proper and frowned upon her moving to live on a farm. Her sister moved with her and she said he was hers rather then having their parents disappointed with Ariana even more.

When he turned 10 he went with his aunt to live further west for school reasons I think it was and he visited during the holidays. She had another son in 1843 I think it was. I don't know his name. The brothers weren't close. Jack met his wife and started his life with her. The younger one went off to the army. He died in 1863. He was presumed dead, no one actually found him. He just seemed to disappear.

"Jack took over the land after his parents died and since then it's been passed down from son to son. I'm the first daughter to inherit it. My name has been carried on through the generations waiting for a girl to be named." I finished leaning back into the chair.

Alice stared at Carlisle, "Carlisle, it can't be… could she… how?" she said. Esme was smiling at me, absolutely ecstatic about something, her small frame shaking. Carlisle put a comforting arm around her. I looked from Carlisle to Alice.

"What?" I asked curiously. I looked at Alice. She looked back at me, her eyes filled with emotion.

"Ariana, what's… what's your full name?" Carlisle asked me. His eyes were shining like a child finding the treasure at the end of a long hunt.

Confusion washed through me. I looked at Alice to see her eyes were far away. She gasped and looked at me in shocked silence.

"Whitlock. Ariana Whitlock."

mwahahaha! how many of you saw that coming? please leave a review!