A/N: Here we have the beginning of Cullen influence...or interference...whichever. Enjoy!

BELLA

I head off to the club that Tori and I are currently employed at. Whole our schedules usually coincide, I am covering for another girl who is sick and am therefore on my own for this shift. The place is fairly quiet considering it is only Tuesday night. There are a few regulars, but not much else is going on. The door opens and a short, pixie-esque girl with short, dark hair walks in. With her is a tall, leggy blonde with attitude to spare. They are both clearly vampires. I will have to steer them off from this area as Tori and I already live here. Suddenly they catch my scent and look in unison to where I am perched behind the bar. They both look shocked to see me. That is odd.

I wear contacts that need to be replaced every hour and a half or so, but they have eyes that are really a golden color. How can that happen when our eyes should show us for what we eat. They come on over in agonizing slowness. Okay, it is normal, human speed, but I know what they are and they know what I am and no one in here is any kind of alert at this hour. I prepare myself for the onslaught.

"Bella?" the pixie asks me.

"How do you know my name?" I respond. That catches them off guard.

"Because we know you from Forks," she tries to lead me to where she wants in the conversation.

"I don't recall ever living in Forks," I say snidely.

My boss decides to show up at that moment. She looks at the two girls and shakes her head. I guess I should have seen this reaction coming. The pixie looks like she could pass for twelve. But I haven't served them anything to drink, not that they would normally ask, so I have done nothing wrong.

"How old is she?" my boss barks at me.

"I don't know, hence why she has no drink. If you want something darlin', you will have to show me some ID," I inform the vampire before me.

"I guess you haven't served her so there is no rule breaking going on," my boss huffs and lumbers off to rattle some of the regulars into going home.

"We are closing soon so pick your poison," I throw in the vampires' direction before starting to clean up behind the bar.

"We don't want anything to drink…" the blonde starts to sneer.

"Then you know where the door is, back the way you came," I interrupt and walk from behind the bar to clean off the tables with glasses on them.

The pair of them stares after me for a minute before they head out the door. Why even come in here? What did they mean, they knew me from Forks? I remember what Tori told me about the vampire coven that left me defenseless. But there were seven of them and I only caught six new scents, unless the last one came in later or from another direction alone. By the time the bar closes and I head home, I have dismissed the incident.

Three nights have passed since that shift and every time I head to the club a vampire is hanging around, watching me. Tonight Tori and I are working together. When I told her about the incident she told me we should move to another job if it was making me uncomfortable. We have been at this club almost five months, moving to a new one would not be a bad idea. So we decided that tonight was our last shift. We walk to work together.

About two hours before closing, another vampire comes to visit. I recognize him as one of the ones that are watching me. He has kind of a soldier's physique and wavy blonde hair. There are scars from battles with other vampires all over his exposed skin. I have a matching mark on my arm from the run-in with James. Tori told me everything since I have changed. She doesn't want to force me to do anything since we truly became friends. I don't know why she showed mercy towards me, but I am glad that she did.

It is Saturday night, so the club is hopping, so to speak. Women all over the place start eyeing the vampire like he is their ticket to salvation. I will have to be careful about how I approach him with so many witnesses around.

He sits at the bar and looks at me. Almost visible waves of calm flow out from him, but they have no effect on me. Okay, I can actually see the waves. One of my abilities as a vampire is the ability to see any ability of any vampire. He has a special gift as a vampire then. This could prove interesting. Under my scrutiny, he holds back his effects and looks back. We look at each other for a minute. Tori does not interfere unless I ask her too. She feels that I can take care of myself, which I can. That attitude comforts me. It always has, for some unknown or unremembered reason. Something is nagging at the back of my mind.

The blonde vampire snaps at me. I fall. There is blood.

The flash of possible memory takes me off guard. He must be one of the vampires in the coven that left me in Forks. I hold in the sneer that I want to show him. The less that that coven knows, the better for Tori and me. I walk over and stand in front of him. Tori watches to see what I do.

"Can I see some ID darlin'?" I ask him because he looks young.

"I'm not really interested in a drink," he tells me.

"Then why come into a club alone?" I keep things light.

"I heard that someone I know works here," he comments, also keeping things light for the benefit of the humans around us. That makes me wary.

"I'm sorry to tell you, but only Tori and I work tonight," I inform him.

"You look a lot like her," he says. I know he thinks that I will take the bait, but I won't.

"I'm sure I would remember meeting someone like you," I tease the confused vampire.

He just sits there and watches me through the rest of my shift. Tori and I work like he is not even here. He doesn't order anything. He doesn't say anything. He just watches from his perch at the bar. Jasper. Why does that name come to mind? It fits the vampire sitting there, but I should not know his name. He has an odd expression on his face. I guess he thought that I would remember him. I can see the waves of calm that he tries to send my way. Vampire gifts do not work on me at all. Tori calls me an island in our community. I don't know if I would go that far though.

Closing time comes and Jasper leaves. Tori and I take the scenic route home, like we have since the coven came to the city. It takes a little longer than usual to shake the vampires following us. We have to cross over our own path and double back a few times to pull it off. It is worth it though to keep them from finding out where we live and harassing me there.