N/A: Hi! It's been a long time since I updated anything, but a bit of everything happened this month, like lack of inspiration, a freaky steamy weather and I'm positive that my post-graduation will be the death of me. My next update will be the new chapter of Independent Bella, so just wait and see!

Well, fourth chapter, finally. Don't forget to review!

Chapter 4

Dream On

"Every time that I look in the mirror

All these lines in my face gettin' clearer

The past is gone

It went by like dusk to dawn

Isn't that the way?

Everybody's got their dues in life to pay"

Aerosmith – Dream On

NPOV

Blastrulez: Hello. Are you Nessie Cullen? My name is Julia Ohtori. I'm a half human, half vampire girl.

"WTF?" I said aloud, my jaw dropping open. I read the message again. It was written in Zephyr font, dark pink lyrics. Girly, definitely.

My fingers arched to start typing; I forced myself to stay calm and think. I know this seems to be a lame attitude for me, but a sudden feeling of panic washed over me as I stared at the pretty innocent words again. What if this is one of the Volturi on the other side of the screen?

My whole body instantly stiffened and then I realized how ridiculous that was. I'm getting paranoid, for crying out loud! The Volturi doesn't exchange instant messages on the computer; they simply send their assassins and exterminate vampires and hybrid vampires.

I had to stop reading Dan Brown and his conspiracy books.

I passed my fingers through my hair, trying to think. Maybe this was one of Nahuel's sisters. It's been a long time since we spoke to them. It seems that Volturi visit to his family didn't go too well – one of his sisters died trying to protect her father. So, Nahuel moved with his sisters and his aunt to Spain. I felt so sorry for them. He had such a difficult life. But, if someone in his family is making contact, that is a good sign, isn't it?

Or, maybe it's someone completely different. Someone who has nothing to do with the Volturi, with Nahuel's family? Is it possible that there were others like me out there?

I bit my lip, hesitating. I had gazillions of questions in my head, but…

Well, what if this was a prank? I was a Cullen and I knew my family (namely, Emmett and Jasper) very well. As far as I knew, this could be Emmett on the other side of the screen, cracking up at my hesitation. He loved this kind of thing, especially when he gets bored. I sat again and folded my arms, still staring at the screen, not sure about what to do next. I had to answer something. But there were a few details bugging me, such as: how the hell this person found my MSN email? And how did she/he know what I was?

I chewed my lip and then typed, smirking:

MrsdeLioncourt: Nice try, Uncle Jasper!

Blastrulez: Uncle Jasper? What are you talking about?

I clenched my teeth. Oh, they were good; I'd give them that. But there is no way they are going to get away with this. I refuse to let myself be tricked by those two! They'd laugh at this for years if I believed it.

MrsdeLioncourt: Hahaha. I know it's you, Uncle Emmett! "rolls eyes" How is it Aunt Rose and Bath?

Blastrulez: I AM NOT YOUR UNCLE!

MrsdeLioncourt: Very funny! =P

Blastrulez: For the last time, Cullen. I'm not your freaking uncle! I'm a girl! Oh, forget it! Do you have a camera on your PC?

I stared at the invitation to start a conference, growling a bit under my breath. That was rude! This wasn't funny at all. Emmett or not, this person was going to hear a piece of my mind. I clicked the "OK" button and turned on the camera, fuming.

Err; I had to admit it wasn't Uncle Emmett after all. Shit.

My cheeks started heating in embarrassment.

Staring at me from the screen with her elegant eyebrows furrowed and smoking a cigarette was beautiful girl, with a small, heart shaped face, framed by glossy, straight black hair, chopped to her chin with a razor. Her eyes were wide and dark, with thick eyelashes and her lips were full and painted in bloody red. She was as white as the moon, with a hint of pink on her cheeks and pale lavender circles under her eyes.

Just like me.

My hands curled into fists on my lap. How was that possible? I thought it was something rare. Vampires, usually, don't hang out much with humans, take aside have sex with them (well, except for Tanya's sisters and Nahuel's father. And I cringed at the thought…Dad.). Humans usually don't live long close to a vampire.

So, what's her story?

We sat staring at each other for a few moments. It was so--- weird. I mean, vampires raised me, my best friend was a shape shifter and one of my Grandpas is human, but I was different. I knew that and I didn't care, but she was like me. One of my… kind.

"So, do you believe me now?" she asked, putting down the cigarette and folding her arms, revealing a couple of leather bracelets, that matched the steel necklaces and ear piercings she wore. (I have no idea how she did to get those piercing. My skin was rock hard). They fell over the dark blue T-shirt ripped on the neckline and with the word written "Westwood" in bright pink. She had just that punk girl style that I tried until last week. But, instead of looking like some vampire wannabe, she looked the leader of some hardcore punk rock band. Maybe it's the badass attitude.

"Yeah, sorry about that." I mumbled, blushing a lot. I was mortified. There is no way that I'm going to tell anyone about this. "I thought you were one of my uncles and—" she kept staring at me as if I was mentally incapacitated, "Never mind." I smiled apologetically, looking away.

Is it too late to fake faint?

She stared at me for a second; snorting at first, then she threw her head back and cracked up. Her laughing filled my room like ringing bells. After a second, I laughed too. She picked up the cigarette again, smiling widely.

"It's okay. Let's start over? My name is Julia Ohtori. Nice to meet ya."

I sighed, relieved. Thank God.

"Nessie Cullen. It's a pleasure to meet you too," I said with a smile, grateful because Julia moved on with the subject, "How did you find me?"

She blew the smoke and chuckled:

"Sweetie, we are in the Internet Era. I saw your photo on Facebook and you know what people say… a picture is worth a thousand words." She smiled kindly, but the effect was kind of scary, like "I'm going to beat the crap out of you after school" style.

I groaned. The Facebook account was Maggie's idea, and Maggie, let me tell you, is just like Aunt Alice… insistent. And you don't even have the comfort of lying to her. Because her gift it's to know when someone is lying.

So, that's why I got my profile on Facebook. To find hot vampire guys around the world. So far, just freaks and perverts seemed interested in exchanging messages.

Typical.

"Fabulous." I said. I shrugged it off. At least she's not a freak. "Well, why don't we try to get to know each other a bit? Twenty questions?" I asked, trying to be practical.

"Sure." She said leaning against the chair and folding her arms behind her head, looking at ease. "Shoot."

"Okay." I bit my lip, thinking of something. "I'm from Forks, Washington."

"New York City. The best city on the whole world." She said proudly.

And I'm going to live in Billings, Montana. Never mind.

I smirked "I think I can't argue with that. Fine. Living with parents."

She rolled her eyes. "Stuck with Grandparents. Humans."

I was about to ask something else, but the last one got me. "Hold on a second. You live with humans? How is that possible?"

She blinked a bit confused and then she shrugged.

"Well, my mother died in labor and the son of a bitch that raped her took off a long time ago, honey." She made a pause, her expression serious. "You said you live with your parents. You mean you live with your Dad?"

"And my Mom." I completed, slowly. "My father turned my mother after the labor. They are married." I smiled at the thought "They are the most lovey dovey couple of the century."

Julia cursed under her breath.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Nothing. I mean, you got lucky." She said, trying to stay indifferent, but I could see there was something else. Her gaze was distant. She smiled, but there wasn't warmth in her eyes. She seemed so sad. I felt so sorry for her.

"I know." I whispered. I had the luck of growing up with not only my parents, I also had a whole family around me, supporting me and loving me. I knew I should be grateful everyday of my existence for that. "I'm so sorry about your mother."

She nodded. We remained silent for a while and then she shrugged. "Whatever. What do you like to eat? I mean, what is the least disgusting for you?"

That one was easy. "Sweets. I've got a sweet tooth, I guess. You?"

"Almost raw meat." She bit her lip "I buy a package of blood once a week from the refrigerator near the station."

I laughed at her embarrassment.

"Ugh! My kingdom for a package of donated blood!"

We both laughed and she said.

"It's nice to find someone like me after all this time. I always like an outcast. I wasn't like anyone else around."

Tell me about it.

"I live with a vampire coven, Julia. The only one like me that I know was a boy called Nahuel. He lives in Spain. He has two sisters. They are hybrids like us."

She considered for a second. And then she opened a mischievous grin. "Nahuel, huh? Interesting. Well, is he cute?"

I stared at her, confused. "Who?"

Julia rolled her eyes. "This Nahuel guy you are talking about! So, you and him---"

"Oh!" I said, stupidly. And then I realized what she was saying. "Oh, no. Not at all. I was a baby when I saw him. It was a long time ago."

I chewed my lip; thinking about that very distant day the Volturi came to Forks, the tense days after Christmas. The mansion filled with witnesses of my growth. I had the vampire memory, but I never really paid much attention to him. I was so concentrated on my parents, my family and my Jacob. I mean… just Jacob. But I saw him. He was a tall, muscular young man. He seemed to be in his late teens. His skin was like milk chocolate and he had long black hair tied in a long braid. He had lovely features, but what called my attention were his large, teak colored eyes.

"Yeah, I guess." I said, frowning a bit. Every time I thought of Nahuel, it was like a friend of the family, but never as a male: a hybrid male. It was just too weird.

"Sweet!" Julia said, rubbing her hands, with a mischievous look on her lovely face and then I heard a voice on the other side of the screen and she turned to speak with someone I couldn't see. She nodded quickly and turned to me. "Hey, I've got to go. Are you going to be here tomorrow?"

"Sure."

I shut off the computer, still processing the whole thing. The room was darker than when I started. What time was it? I asked myself half hearted. I quickly glanced at the nearby house and started, stunned, as I watched a guy, a very cute one, actually: Tall, tanned, bulky, golden haired, the Quarterback type, you know? Well, he was dancing very happily to "Do it Well", by Jennifer Lopez. He had a furry, pinkish scarf around his thick neck and large Jackie O sunglasses on his face.

I knew I shouldn't be staring like that, but I couldn't help it. He danced quite well, actually. Mom could take a couple of lessons from him about rhythm. He did a particularly complicated move and opened his eyes.

He saw me. He saw me watching him.

Please, someone, shoot me now.

I smiled chagrinned and quickly, shut the blackout curtain. I sighed, relieved, I think this is not my day. I peeked at the digital clock on the bedside table. It was 8:17 pm

"Shit!" I hissed, rushing out of the room at vampire speed.

The awful smell of cooked carrots almost knocked me out when I got out. I clenched my teeth and kept going. In half a minute, I was downstairs, at the dinning room, to see that everyone was already seated for dinner. Sue just glanced at the clock on the top of the door and pursed her lips.

"Sorry for the delay, I was talking to a friend and lost track of time." I said, with what I hope was my best smile. I wasn't really in the smiling mood today.

"Never mind, kid. Just sit and help yourself." Said Charlie, at ease, as he served himself with a very big portion of garlic smashed potato.

"Carrots?" Offered Seth with an evil grin. I narrowed my eyes at him, but I took the bowl and served myself with half of a spoon of carrots. Ugh. I hated vegetables; I picked up a piece of salmon from the nearby dish and started eating.

We ate in silence, until Seth said:

"Hey Ness, I was checking on the movies schedule in Port Angeles and it's passing "Wolverine". What do you think?"

I grinned at him. Maybe this holidays are not going to be a total disaster, after all. "That's a beautiful idea, Seth! To watch Hugh Jackman in a tight T-Shirt? Any day!"

He rolled his eyes and I heard him mumbling. "Chicks."

Charlie cleared his throat. "Are just the two of you going?"

"No," answered Seth, cutting his beef, "Jake and Ashanti are going too."

"Ashanti Johnson?" asked Sue, for the first time. She served herself with more cooked carrots and poured some olive oil on it "She's a nice girl. Very intelligent and pretty. I think it's very good for Jacob to have this kind of feminine company around him."

Excuse, but what am I? A dude?

I filled my mouth with salmon to stop myself from replying to that one.

"Yeah." Said Charlie pensively, while he took a sip of green iced tea (another of Sue's improvements). "It's been a while since Jacob finally got interested in someone." He sighed, contently. I chewed the fish distractedly, half hearing what Charlie was saying, too pissed because Ashanti seems to be the best thing ever and I almost had a "Wanted" poster in every corner of La Push reservation. Dang. I felt Seth's eyes were on me, but I ignored him. "The time passes so quickly. It seems like it was yesterday when he was after Bella and tried to steal her from Edward."

I almost spat the salmon out of my mouth.

"JACOB DID WHAT?"

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