Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight series and am not Stephenie Meyer. I do not own "Boston" by Augustana, or "You Are The One" by Shiny Toy Guns. I am neither band/artist.

A/N – Thanks to the lovely volunteer beta who has started going over this story (and SomL) for me, Lhiannon (Lhia)! 'Idea trampoline'! LOL. I had to rework an initial idea that is major in this chapter, and Lovely Lhia has been MAJOR help for that! I love you, Lhia! This chapter took a while coming, I know, and I'm working on writing my chapters faster but it takes time, you know:) This chapter is – obviously – in Edward's POV. It's written as if you already know everything about Edward and the Cullens that you need to know (which you do) so there are no background introductions of the characters – I wanted to move this chapter along quickly.

Also, the song that Edward is playing is "You Are The One" by Shiny Toy Guns. Give it a listen - it's great! Enjoy!

B/N: Hi there, it's Lhia. I just wanted to say that I'm glad to be working with BlueSea and I hope you enjoy this installment! I am sure you were all waiting impatiently for Edward's entrance – I know I was. Well, here you have it! Have fun!


"In the light of the sun, is there anyone? Oh, it has begun…

Oh dear, you look so lost, eyes are red and tears are shed

This world you must have crossed, you said…"

"Boston" by Augustana


Chapter 4 – Backtrack


Forks, 2007

"Black rose and radio fire…" I turned the volume up on the speakers for my personalized stereo. The song mostly masked the thoughts of my family drifting around the living room three floors down from me, but I could still hear them.

Why does he have to turn the music up? Alice sighed – the only black mark on her usually happy composure. Edward, please come down – family time doesn't exclude one member of said family, you know!

The rest of my family was resolutely trying not to focus on how I was the only one not downstairs, but it wasn't working very well for them. Alice was the first to directly call me in her mind – that they did not interrupt me was mainly due to the fact that I had asked for my alone time.

It wasn't that I didn't want to be near my family, that I wanted them to have some irrational worry about me – I just wanted a bit of time alone, not having to hear thoughts swarming around me in a thick, consuming cloud. It was hard to be myself when I was constantly tuned in to all of them.

But that didn't mean I had to make them feel bad for leaving me alone in my room. I reached over to cut off the music. "You'll never be alone –," the speakers played before becoming silent. Wasn't that ironic?

Yes! Alice thought triumphantly: turning back to the topic at hand, she smoothly changed it to, of all things, music. What was her plan? I frowned as I reached the bottom of the first staircase, frustrated that she was concentrating completely on the conversation – thus blocking other thoughts from reaching me.

I took a seat on the arm of the sofa that Esme and Carlisle occupied. My mother smiled up at me, thrilled that I had come down to spend time with my family. My mind wandered during the conversation as I tried to figure out exactly why Alice had wanted me down here – there had to be a reason.

So lost was I in trying to figure out the puzzle of Alice's mind that I nearly missed Esme crying, "Oh, yes, why don't you play something, Edward?" I haven't heard you play in a long while – play for us now? Please?

A vague impression that the conversation had somehow drifted to piano music – and in turn, mine – was the only hint I had about the previous conversation – the one I hadn't been fully listening to. I knew I should have…

"Edward…" Rosalie's eyes widened to huge proportions when I pressed my lips together tightly; I wasn't fully eager to play any music right now. I had to want to play in order to feel like it. It would mean a lot to Esme, you know that.

A faint smile traced my lips and I rolled my eyes at her. Of course it would mean a lot to my mother; she was the one who worried about me the most, after all! But it was the surprise of Rosalie thinking about someone other than herself that prompted me to stand – reluctantly – and make my way to the piano.

I didn't need Jasper's ability to feel how my family anticipated the music as I sat down at the piano. My fingers drifted over the keys as I thought for a moment about what to play – in the end, I chose Esme's favorite tune, one that I knew she'd appreciate hearing very much.

Edward, Carlisle sighed in his mind, you couldn't have chosen a better song than this one. Sometimes I'm amazed at your talent. He could see my face and thus, my lips curving slightly from his complement. I didn't need to speak for him to understand that I was responding to his thoughts.

My mind drifted back to our last close discussion, perhaps a day or two ago. Currently, we didn't have school – a blessed break from monotony that I had grown accustomed to over the past hundred years – and my sense of days was curiously muddled during the summer months. That was one thing we had in common with humans.

We only have a year or two left here, Carlisle continued, musing over the time we had already spent in Forks. I think I'm going to miss this house, won't you? I nodded, a barely perceptible and seemingly unconscious movement to anyone who didn't know I was answering a thought.

I'm not sure where we'll go next – maybe back overseas. I haven't seen Aro, Marcus or Caius in a long time. And it has been nagging on me that they don't yet know of my extended family. The last they heard from me, I was merely starting to contemplate creating a companion. Carlisle's thoughts softened. We should discuss this later, though – don't let my thoughts distract you from your music.

Again, I nodded along in time to the beat of the notes drifting from my hands. I hadn't considered before that our family wasn't introduced to the Volturi – it had never seemed like something to worry about.

Now, I realized that it would be a good idea: it would ensure that the Guard knew Carlisle Cullen's coven, in order to keep us all protected and make them wary of hurting us – in case they were cast into disfavor with the central Volturi coven. They would only think of themselves, while Carlisle was thinking of protecting his family.

The notes drifted in a melody around me, playing out to my heart's content. It was easy for me to play music I had already written down, composed on paper – even though I had no yearning to play. The times I wanted to sit down at the piano, of my own volition, were the times I could compose music.

With a soft finish, the music drifted to a close; the last clear note hung lightly in the air. I heard Esme sigh, appreciative of the music. That was beautiful. Thank you, Edward. I turned around and smiled at her. "My pleasure, Esme."

Jasper's thoughts caught my attention next. When did he compose that song? I've heard it so many times – it must have been back when it was the three of them. Esme's deep attachment to it certainly speaks of how long ago he created it. He was right; I could hardly remember when I composed the piece for her.

It was just another hint to how old I was, how long I had existed on this Earth. Indeed, I had composed this music for Esme near the beginning of her life with Carlisle and myself. After I had gone off on my own – and destroyed what little soul I had left – I found a sense of peace in being able to think up the song for her, and so kept creating my own works of piano music.

Alice was smiling brightly at me, about to say something, when she suddenly sat bolt upright. A confusing blur of imagery flashed in her mind's eye – it wasn't a singular vision, but a chain of events that reacted off one another. Several possibilities were hidden in each image that came to her mind.

I could catch none of them; my ability didn't allow me the capacity to fully see each and every clip like Alice could. Complicated visions like this – a single choice opening a new door in her mind with dramatic, resonating possibilities behind it – was rare and overwhelmed me if I tried to concentrate on them.

Being able to interpret everything she saw was an intuitive part of Alice's ability. Jasper grasped her shoulders gently, holding her steady as she stared with blank eyes into thin air. She had unknowingly stopped breathing.

The rest of my family and I waited for Alice to come out of her vision. I was nervous while they were simply waiting for the news of the vision. They didn't know that this was one of those few and far between visions: only a handful of times before had a vision been as severe as this, and each one had been important.

I climbed off the piano bench and crouched in front of her. That single movement was the only tip-off they needed: Jasper darted a look at me. It's one of those visions, isn't it? He asked in his mind.

"Yes," I murmured, delicately taking her hands in mine. "It's very confusing; I can't concentrate to see what it is. There's too much." I was worried: the vision shouldn't last too long, and I hated not knowing what she was going through right now.

Alice was a dear sister to me; Rosalie and Alice both were dear to me, but in different ways. But Alice and I had talents that could label us 'freaks' in more ways than the rest of the family. Even Jasper was more normal than we were, but then again, the three of us were definitely not anywhere near normal.

She snapped out of her vision with a gasp of air. "Alice," Jasper called her, as she gazed about in confusion. Definitely not what's normal after one of her visions. "Alice, look at me." She met his eyes. "What did you see?"

Oh Jazz, I saw so much – you wouldn't believe it – I can't believe it – who knew? Who knew it was possible? How could it be? How different – how unique – I can't believe she's – and then he's – and I can't even begin to imagine… "So much life," she whispered. "So much life alone…"

She's scaring me now, Edward. Tell us what's happening in her head, Carlisle instructed. I shook my own head. "Carlisle, I can't understand her – she's babbling in her mind, she won't focus on any one thing."

Suddenly, as if a switch was flipped in direct contradiction to my words, she seemed to snap back to Earth. Tearing her eyes away from Jasper's, Alice looked to Carlisle. She's there now. "The phone – answer the phone."

Still confused, my father stood and made it to the wireless phone in the kitchen and was back within moments, holding the lifeless device in his hand. Well, someone's going to call soon, I suppose, he thought, looking to me. I don't suppose you know whom?

I glanced back to Alice: she was thinking about something in her head at a headache-inducing rate of speed. The only words I could catch were 'he, 'she' and 'they'. Obviously, she was thinking about her vision and not even opening up to Jasper yet. He stayed right by her side and held her, waiting for her to talk.

"No," I answered, "I still can't read your mind clearly, Alice. What just happened? Who's calling?"

"Oh, they are," she answered flippantly, almost seeming angry about a distraction. Right about now. The electronic device in Carlisle's hand suddenly began to ring, a high-pitched tone that echoed around the room.

My father didn't hesitate as he brought the phone to his ear and hit the green button. "Hello, Cullen residence. Carlisle Cullen speaking." There's no caller ID on this phone – we should get a new one.

Vampire hearing allowed all of us to eavesdrop on the other end of the line. A gruff male voice echoed out of the receiver. "This is the Cullen house, then?"

"I said that, yes," Carlisle answered. A teenager? Oh, please tell me that none of those boys from high school are calling about Alice or Rosalie… I felt like laughing. The probability of that happening was surprisingly high, if only the adolescent teenage boys knew our home number. And it was beginning to look like one had gotten hold of it somehow.

"Sorry," the boy grunted. "I'm…um, Embry…at the Reservation, La Push. We contacted Chief Swan to get this number – Sam asked me to call to…check something."

My lips drew back in a snarl that I tried to suppress – I managed to keep it silent. Hisses and my brothers' growls made a low rumbling noise in the room. I locked eyes with Carlisle. So they're checking up on us now, are they? There are more wolves, more 'protectors'? I thought that genetic defect died out.

I had thought so, too, but it appeared that we were wrong. A thought occurred to me; maybe they weren't so much 'checking up' on us, to see if we had kept our side of the treaty. "Maybe they're new and want to know if we still stand on the same position as before," I suggested quietly.

Carlisle nodded, considering it before breaking the tense silence. "Check? Is something wrong…Embry?"

"Um…" The boy was stalling. Something was definitely wrong – and he had to be new. Wolves hated us; they wouldn't be stuttering like this usually. "Well, we kind of have a…situation. Are there any more members of your…coven, anyone new besides the seven of you?"

My eyebrows shot up. That sounded like… "No, there are no more members besides us," Carlisle was frowning. "That… Are you telling me that there's a vampire in your reservation? One that is not part of our coven?" Is that what Alice had seen, a marauding vampire unbound by our treaty in the Quileute territory? But why wouldn't she just say so?

"That's kind of the reason I'm stammering…" Embry laughed nervously. "Um, there's an unknown vampire here – right here, actually. She's curled up in the corner of Em's kitchen. We don't know how she got in the house, let alone the reservation."

I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose. This was one hell of a disaster! The treaty might be on shaky grounds now, and what if the wolves got over their confusion about this female and decided that she just might be in our coven? I felt unexpectedly angry at this female – but she didn't know about us.

If she did, she would have known that there was a coven of vampires in the area. Most vampires would come by to introduce themselves, and the few that didn't would have come by just to see if we were a threat to them. This one female was an anomaly, to wander straight into the Quileute lands that reeked of werewolf.

Carlisle shared mirror-like images of my worries in his thoughts, with one additional fear. "In the house? Is she…thirsty? Did she go there – is there a human in your house?" His serious, commanding tone pierced the air. He was clearly worried, even a wolf would be idiotic not to hear it.

"Yeah, but that's why we thought she might be part of your coven. She didn't attack Emily – in fact, she's curled up in the corner because…well, we smelled her and thought she was going to attack, so we just came in the door. She – she completely freaked out, slammed herself into the walls in the corner and curled up there."

He paused for a moment and then added, "Her clothes are nearly disintegrated – she seems to have lived a bit feral for a long time. And we have a bit of a communication problem…she's not talking."

Did they try to make her talk? Carlisle grew concerned. "Not talking?"

All of us already knew that we would be going to pick her up from the reservation – Carlisle and I were the most curious about this development and wanted to meet the female. In the interest of protecting our family, we wanted to bring her here quickly and out of the Quileute territory.

Esme, Alice and Jasper had stayed in their seats, but Rosalie had moved around to stand behind Emmett, where he sat on the couch. We were all just waiting for the time to go and take this unknown vampire away from the Quileute lands.

Embry coughed uncomfortably. "Yeah…Emily just managed to get some form of communication out of her, and she pretty clearly managed to convey…well, the female can't hear. And thus, she's not talking – we don't think she knows how to talk."

There was a moment of stunned silence. The first thought to fly through my mind was 'that's impossible'. A vampire was supposed to be perfect – wouldn't that erase any damage done in human life?

Carlisle had the same thought too, until he reminded himself, I don't know everything about vampires. I can't exclude the possibility of this. "I…I see…I don't know how that's…possible. It shouldn't be…" He swallowed hard before going back to business. "Do you think you can get her off the reservation for us to take her? We would be able to get her out of the house if you can't, of course, but the treaty…"

"No,' Embry snapped quickly. "No, we can't break the treaty. She's not one of you at this time, so we can overlook her being here right now. But we can't overlook that – and it's not really the pack's decision, it's the Council's. They wouldn't understand why we aren't killing her right now."

That is unusual. Carlisle hesitantly asked, "Is there a reason you didn't, Embry?"

An uncomfortable cough later, Embry mumbled, "Emily stopped us. She guessed that the female was completely confused about what was going on, and it certainly seems like it right now. Also…there's another reason we thought she might be with your coven. Her eyes are a weird color – kind of orangey. You might know what that means."

Orange? That certainly didn't sound like any vampire I knew of. Carlisle didn't seem to know a definite answer either. It's odd, but that would be the combination of red and gold, especially since he said 'orangey' instead of plain 'orange'. "I see. Thank you for not killing her, Embry – from what little you've told me, it seems like she just might be unable to communicate with anyone, if she won't talk and can't hear…she's probably confused and terrified."

"Right," was his answer. "So…I'm pretty positive we can get her off the floor and out of the house. We –the pack – don't want her to be hanging around here in La Push, but on Emily's insistence, we can't kill her. Besides, she's not technically breaking the treaty, and hasn't killed anyone as far as we know, so the Council's command would be against the point of our…pack. Our job."

The sense of duty to their name – 'protectors' – astonished me. Even though the wolves had to loathe vampires, their sense of duty was stronger than that. Amazing. Carlisle thought so, too.

"Then my family will go to the boundary, on the edge closest to Forks since we can't come in and get her." Such loyalty…Edward, I don't believe this pack would ever consider breaking the treaty if we didn't do something first. "We'll be there in fifteen minutes, give or take."

"Okay." Embry seemed to hold the phone away from his face as he called, "They'll meet us; we can hand her over at the boundary!" With that, the other line went dead. No phone etiquette at all: I sighed slightly as Carlisle hung up our end of the line.

"Are we running there?" Rosalie asked, standing up straight and fixing her shirt hem nervously. A female? Will she become part of the family? Is that what Alice saw? Who is she? Will she be wild? What if she drinks from humans?

These questions and more filled my sisters' mind, surprising me at their non-shallow depths. Rosalie was actually thinking of someone other than herself, and it was all over anxiety of meeting another vampire. It wasn't that surprising – Rosalie was always nervous about running across others of our kind. It was just the depth of her concerns about this unknown female that surprised me. Apparently, she was in a gracious mood today.

"I think we should – she'll probably be more comfortable running than being inside a car." Especially, he added with a significant look to me, if she's lived alone and wildly for however long she's been a vampire. We'll need to know her thoughts, Edward, know how to communicate with her. I nodded.

Turning to Jasper, he said aloud, "Make sure you watch her emotions: if she's lived wild for however long she's been a vampire, there's no telling what she'll think of meeting others of her kind. Her disabilities might make anxiety worse, since she can't or won't talk to anyone." She should respond well to Jasper, I think, if he's the source of comfort when she's anxious.

"What if that's just because they're wolves?" Emmett suggested. What if she was teasing them? "What if she can talk and hear, and just pretended not to?"

"Why would anyone do that?" I asked. "She had to have known she was in danger in order for her to be aware enough to tease wolves. Antagonizing a wolf in that position would have been incredibly dangerous to her. She'd have to be sadistic to act it out, assured enough to think she'd win a fight if they discovered her and weren't happy at all about being made a mockery of."

Carlisle agreed. "It would be a very unwise move on her part." I can't imagine anyone doing something like that. "We should head out now. Alice, do you think you can make it with us?" I want her to come so the female can see our whole family, but I don't know if she'll want to come or not…

"I'm coming," Alice chirped, standing and pulling Jasper with her. I'm not missing my first sight of her! The thoughts of my family were all abuzz about the female: they were nearly projecting their thoughts to me. I couldn't concentrate on her mind – concentration would make all of them shout in my head.

Carlisle and Esme led the way out the door. I allowed my siblings to file out of the house before me, trying vainly to push their thoughts away from me. Excitement caused the volume to be much louder than normal, day-to-day thoughts, and I was becoming anxious and twitchy after only a few minutes of being under that influence.

A calming wave slammed into me as I closed the door firmly as the last person out of the house. Instantly, I found it easier to push the thoughts out of my head into a dull background noise. "Thank you, Jasper."

"No problem." You were struggling with our thoughts; I figured that calming everyone down would also help when we met this female. Jasper and Alice were the last to reach the trees around our house; from there, they set off running after the rest of the coven.

I took my time reaching the trees – being the fastest runner, I knew that even being the last one to leave the house wouldn't stop me from being the first to the boundary. Jasper and Alice were the only two who hadn't been with our family when the treaty was first made, which was why they were following the other four.

My feet danced over the ground when I reached the edge of the trees, too lightly to make an imprint and too fast for anything mortal to see me. The thrill of running made me feel light and I shot past Alice and Jasper without a second of hesitation.

Showoff! Alice's 'giggle' in my mind was like a passing shadow at this speed. I soon overtook Emmett and Rosalie, and shortly after that, I made my way around Carlisle and Esme. I was just barely ahead of them and decided to slow down my running, so I didn't arrive there and have to stand around waiting for them.

The forest was heavy with the scents of various animals and plant life: a lush, green world with heavy rains and misty days. Enjoyable scents died out as I neared the border that the wolves regularly patrolled out of habit more than their distrust of us.

I skidded to a halt a few feet before the boundary edge lay. Right on the other side, pushed against the undrawn line, was the scent of wolves – several of them. Each scent was slightly different, though no less repulsive. I estimated about six of them, six wolves in this generation of boys.

I sensed my family coming through the trees behind me and turned around. Watching as each of them burst through the trees, I calmly waited for them to join me at the border. Carlisle stepped up beside me, Esme on his other side and holding his hand.

This will be the first meeting we've had with the Quileute pack since the treaty was made – and these boys aren't the ones we made that treaty with. I hope your brothers can keep calm – there's too much hatred between our races, either they or we will throw a barb first. He was right.

I murmured, "No one say anything unnecessary," looking very pointedly at Emmett on the opposite end of our lineup from me. Jasper and Alice were to my side, standing very close together.

Emmett snorted. You don't trust me, Edward? You don't think I can keep myself from insulting the wolves? Pointblank, I shot back, "No, I don't think so." He rolled his eyes. I'll prove him wrong – hear that, Edward? You'll be wrong!

"I certainly hope so…" I trailed off, warning him. Carlisle gave me a look, wondering what had transpired between us, but I shrugged and looked back to the woods before us, on the other side of the invisible line. Thank you for mentioning it, Edward. I was about to, but I think you made a bigger impact with Emmett than I would have – you can actually beat him at wrestling matches. I struggled not to laugh.

We waited for another long minute for the wolves to reach us: thoughts turned to random things and I had to keep returning them to a blank, fuzzy background to keep my sanity. I thought about this mysterious female who wandered straight into werewolf territory.

It was puzzling: how had she made it past us without our noticing? Had she come along the coast, wandering along the beach for some inexplicable reason that only she knew? There wasn't much in the way of good hunting on the coast, either our way or the way of most vampires.

And her eyes…I was sure that the 'Embry' boy wouldn't have made a mistake about her eye color, but it was so confusing. Carlisle had never run across a vampire without burgundy or golden eyes, and the only other vampires besides us with gold eyes were the Denali coven. It was puzzling, a mystery.

Then Embry had told us about her inability to speak or hear. I had to admit that I didn't know everything about vampire transformations – had something been done to her as she changed, rendering her hearing nonexistent? Was she like that before she changed?

I had thought that vampire hearing was changed for the better in the transformation: we all had excellent hearing. Had something gone wrong for her? One thing I was validly certain was that her refusal to talk just might be because of her being unable to hear. Many deaf humans seemed to be mute too, but could actually talk.

They just didn't because they couldn't hear their own words. But I didn't know much about that – I had gone to medical school a few times, not specialized in any way. I knew about as much as I could deduce from what I had already learned.

Only a few minutes had passed when I caught a brief glimmer of thoughts that I didn't recognize. They were all focusing on a female – I saw her face in my mind. A pale, heart-shaped face was surrounded with a wild, tangled nest of nearly black hair. Her bone structure was utterly perfect, skin pale and smooth, and her eyes were the strangest color. Almost red, but not quite – a hint of orange or gold?

"They're coming," I announced, frowning. "Her eyes are the oddest color…" They all stared at me for a moment. "I saw her face in one of their minds – her eyes are almost red, but there's an undertone of…orange? Gold?" How bizarre.

Gold? Our eyes – is it possible that she has a diet in a mixture of both? It would explain the mixture of two colors – but I didn't know our eyes could do that. Carlisle was theorizing already; his workable guess made the most sense.

We all stared intently toward the trees in front of us, waiting for them to step up to the border. I could sense them coming even closer: finally, they seemed to step around trees and into the dim, cloud-covered light of midday. Like they had melted out of the forest: six teenage boys, a human female…

…and a female vampire.


A/N – I'm sorry, I can't go on any more! I want to incorporate their meeting as the next chapter in Bella's POV – the Edward's POV chapters will be spaced out in this fic, I'm afraid, because I want this to focus more on her than him. I'm not sure when the next Edward-POV will be in HNE, so don't wait eagerly for it or anything! It definitely won't be for a while, if my plans go straight:)

A note on the pack getting the Cullen's phone number from Charlie! Charlie respects Carlisle and is friends with Billy. The pack says that it was to apologize to the Cullens about their actions and prejudices, and Charlie is so happy that 'Billy' had come to his senses and he looks up the number for them. Of course, they might not be able to keep up the pretense...but 'people change their minds', they could use that excuse. Also, yes, Charlie is a lonely single man. Poor Charlie… Sorry, he won't be meeting Bella. But he will be mentioned…

Thank you for all the support I've gotten on this fic so far! I can't believe how much there is:) I'm glad people like it, and I would definitely appreciate constructive criticism on this. After all, I can't get better without your help!

Thanks for reading!