Chapter 4

"Concentrate, Jane," Edward said patiently.
Jane sighed in response, and briefly buried her face in her hands. Edward caught a string of her thoughts.
Stupid, useless skill, she was thinking angrily.
"It's not useless," he replied. "It's actually quite handy for you. But you have to practice it- come on, you're almost there."
This had been the scene for a couple of weeks now. Each day, Edward would practice with Jane, so that she could learn to focus her ability and use her invisibility at well. It had been stressful so far, but she was always willing to practice. And he was patient. Plus, there were worse things he could be doing with his time.
Over the past weeks, Jane had quickly become Edward's closest friend. They talked endlessly, sharing everything about their lives. He found that he could talk to Jane more easily than he could anyone else, including Carlisle. And she talked to him as well, despite her shyness- though Edward could not see what she had to be shy about. She was fascinating.
And the fascination had not lessened a bit- even now, as he helped Jane by concentrating on her through the medium of her thoughts.
Alright- focus, she told herself sternly. Think of silence, think of the deer, think of Robert. A blurry picture of a tall young man- the one that Edward and Carlisle had found next to Jane the day they discovered her- appeared in her mind, the vision clouded over as if covered by a veil. It was a familiar image- Jane had thought of it a lot over the past few weeks in practice.
'I didn't even see you there, Janie,' the image said in her mind. 'Sometimes, I think you really are invisible.' The thoughts continued, broken up randomly. 'Hey, Invisible Girl'…concentrate, Jane…deer running through the forest…
And then…nothing. Silence. It was as if Edward had been listening to a radio station, and then someone suddenly switched it off. He could still hear the background buzz of everyone else's thoughts, but from Jane he got nothing. And when he looked up to find her, it was as he expected- she was gone.
"Jane, you did it!" he said triumphantly. "Now, concentrate on that feeling- see how long you can make it last."
For the next few minutes, Edward waited. And about five minutes later, Jane came back into both his sight and his mind. It wasn't terribly long, but it was five minutes more than she'd mastered before- and that was definitely something to be proud of.
And he was- he was very proud of her. Proud…and a little relieved when she appeared once again.
He couldn't quite describe it, but Edward was slightly disoriented when Jane was invisible. It was difficult to explain, but he'd felt rather edgy during that entire time. It made him feel strange- almost nervous- to not only not be able to see Jane, but also to not have his usual insight into her mind. It was frustrating. He was much more at ease when she was completely with him.
"How did I do?" Jane asked, her slightly dark red eyes hopeful.
"You were brilliant," Edward replied with a smile. "Too brilliant, I think. I've discovered that I can't read your mind whenever you turn invisible- which obviously means you're going to have to stop doing it." He winked at her.
Jane rolled her eyes, but laughed. "Of course I will," she replied sarcastically. "After all of this practice, I think I'll just forget about it."
He chuckled, and threw an arm around her thin shoulders to lead her inside.
"Come on, Invisible Girl," he said. "That's enough practice for one day. Carlisle and Esme want to hunt- we can continue this tomorrow."
Jane nodded, and the two went into the house.

Within a few months, Jane had her skill perfected. To Edward's equal delight and irritation, she could now turn invisible at will. Whenever she liked, she could remove herself from everybody's view- and from his mind.
His perplexity during these times had not been alleviated over time. In fact, the exact opposite seemed to be the case.
Each time she hid herself, Edward grew tense and uneasy- and it seemed to be getting worse each time. It made him nervous, not being able to hear her thoughts. Sure it was stupid, but it was almost like he got nervous about the fact that he subconsciously did not know for sure that she was safe when he had absolutely no access to her.
That is ridiculous, he told himself. But nonetheless, it was true.
He figured it had to do with the fact that he and Jane had become so close in the past few months. He could easily call her his best friend, and know through her thoughts that she thought the same of him. They shared everything, even when Edward wasn't reading her mind. He told her every blurred, dim memory he had of his human life- more than he'd told even Carlisle or Esme. He spoke for Jane when she didn't feel like talking, and she let him in on whatever she was thinking. Edward had never in his life become so close to someone so quickly.
It was Carlisle that took the most notice of the bond between him and Jane. And even though Edward tried to keep out of his father's thoughts, he could not help but notice a few that specifically involved him.
I wonder…thought Carlisle one evening. Jane and Edward do seem to spend a lot of their time together. Could there perhaps be more than friendship there?
That afternoon, they had one again spent the afternoon practicing Jane's skill. Sure, she did not really need to work on it anymore, but it had become a sort of tradition that neither seemed willing to give up. After Jane had returned to visibility, Edward had jokingly run into her "to see if she was really there." She had then laughed and hit him playfully across the arm, to which he wrapped the arm around her waist and flipped her upside down. The rest of the afternoon was spent in similar fashion, doing nothing but laughing and playing games.
Now, they sat in their living room, and Edward could hear Carlisle's thoughts drifting down from his study one floor up.
He wondered if Carlisle could be right. Esme too, for that matter- she had been thinking similar things about him and Jane for a while now.
They definitely got along well, that much was obvious. Edward easily considered the girl to be his best friend. He could talk to her, and her to him. He felt something for the girl that he had never felt before. He was very protective of her- unnecessarily so, but nonetheless protective. It was that strange connection between them- the one that had drawn him to her in the first place, his compulsion to have Carlisle change her. There had just always been something about that girl that drew him in.
And it wasn't only Edward that was drawn to Jane (he was just the most obvious about it). Carlisle and Esme loved her just as much- sometimes more- than they did Edward. They welcomed her into the family immediately, and Edward could see that they thought of her as another daughter. Jane's bond was strong with all of the Cullens- within her first months, she was definitely one of them.

Immortality causes one to think of time in much different ways than regular humans do. Days, for example, seem insignificant. One flows into the next with hardly a moment's notice- especially when one can never sleep. The years seem to fly by- which is exactly what happened in the case of the Cullens.
Before anyone could even realize it, the year was 1933. The United States found itself in the middle of the Great Depression, and the Cullens found themselves in the middle of New York. They'd moved there a few years before, and had settled into their new routine quite well.
It was September now, and they'd been having a breezy end to summer- but it was filled with sun, which meant that the family spent much of their time together and out of the eye of everyone else in their town. One particular day, Edward and Jane spent a lazy night lying in a field near the Adirondack Mountains- generally where they went whenever the weather was nice- and that was where they found themselves now, as the dawn broke over the horizon.
"So Jane," Edward said conversationally, breaking a content silence that had fallen between them. "I have a question for you."
"Oh?" Jane asked, sitting up in the tall grass. When she did, the reflection from her skin showed exactly why they did not go near humans in on nice days.
Their skin sparkled in the sun- it was like there were millions of tiny crystals embedded in them, reflecting and shimmering in the light. At first, Jane had been completely shocked by this discovery- just as Edward had been when he first found that out. But by now, both were completely used to it. It wasn't such a 'freak' thing anymore. In fact, (though Edward would not admit it), he had never thought of it as being a 'freak' thing with Jane. He actually found the sparkling skin to be sort of…beautiful, on her.
"I was wondering," he went on, breaking himself out of his own thoughts, "Whether- now that you're not a newborn anymore- you were still faster than me."
She arched a thin dark eyebrow, the hint of a smirk on her lips.
Edward continued. "I was wondering if you'd like to place a bit of a wager. We race to the mountain and back. If you win…you have complete control over me for a month. I'll do anything- even tell Esme what really happened to her favorite vase." He grimaced slightly at that. About a month before, he had broken that vase, then told Esme that he had no idea what had happened to it. Jane had been pestering him ever since to just tell her the truth.
At his words, Jane smiled broadly- but then turned it into a serious expression and folded her thin arms across her chest. "And if you win…?"
He thought about it for a minute, trying to figure something out, before grinning. "If I win…you don't use your invisibility for a month." Hah!
She frowned at him. "What? No! How about a week?"
Edward shook his head, beaming in triumph. "Sorry- a month is my final offer. Why, not feeling too confident about your abilities?"
Jane rolled her eyes. "That is ridiculous!" she huffed. "I could win a race against you any day! Let's go, then. To the mountain and back." She immediately crouched into a ready position.
He chuckled at her anxiousness, and crouched down beside her. "Alright then- on your mark, get set…go!"
She was off like a shot, but Edward wasn't far behind her. He caught up quickly, both of them running neck and neck towards the mountain. He reached the mountain a split second after she did, and touched the base of it before running back in the opposite direction. Jane sped up, and Edward followed suit- not exactly eager to lose against her. But he seemed to have underestimated her abilities, because Jane was fast- very fast. In fact, she was about to beat him as they neared their 'finish line'…until Edward reached out his arms, grabbed her around the waist, and tackled her to the ground with a triumphant laugh.
"Hey!" Jane cried indignantly. "That isn't fair, you cheated!"
Edward chuckled. "Sorry," he shrugged, not sorry in the least bit. He offered up a sheepish smile. "Call it a draw?"
Jane grumbled a string of angry thoughts that Edward only heard in her head. Stupid, unethical, vampire idiot, she cursed internally.
He laughed out loud. "Oh, am I now?"
She frowned at him. "Stop reading my thoughts! I can always stop you myself, you know- and don't think I won't do it!"
Edward just chuckled again at the cute little wrinkles that appeared between her eyebrows whenever Jane was angry with him. The girl was far too much fun to tease, even if her threats were quite real (she knew he did not like it whenever she took herself out of his sight and mind).
She huffed and leapt up, trying to make herself seem taller- to no avail, considering Edward's eleven-inch height advantage. He tried not to laugh anymore at Jane's indignant expression, but instead jumped around her, grabbed her from behind, and began tickling her mercilessly in an effort to get her to stop scowling.
She put up a fight, obviously trying to force the smile from her face, but it did not work for long. Within a few minutes, Edward had her giggling and swatting at him to try and get him to stop.
"Fine, we'll call it a draw!" Jane laughed- had she been human, she surely would have suffocated by now, but of course she was not out of breath at all. "And I won't block you out. Now, will you let me go?"
Edward was on the verge of saying "no" and continuing his rather amusing game, but it was then that Carlisle appeared in front of them. Edward had been so busy, he hadn't even noticed him approaching. Immediately, he released Jane and they turned to face the other vampire.
"Good morning," Carlisle greeted them. He smiled softly, but his eyes were pained. It was obvious that something was not right.
"Carlisle?" Edward questioned. "What is wrong?"
The eldest vampire sighed. "I need you both to come with me," he replied. "Very early this morning, I found something. Back in town, there was a crime- unreported, but a crime nonetheless. I only know because I followed the scent of the blood down the street until I found…what happened."
Edward and Jane looked first at one another and then back to Carlisle, their identical expressions questioning.
"It was a girl," Carlisle continued. "She had been attacked- obviously by more than one person. And she had been left in an alleyway to die. She was on her way to a certain death, that much was obvious- mere moments from it, in fact. But I brought her back to the house. And I…well, I decided to save her."
Edward once again looked to Jane. He didn't even bother to read her thoughts- they were as jumbled as his own. But there wasn't time to think just then. There would be time for that later. For now, they turned to follow Carlisle, and together they ran back to their house.

The wait for this girl's transformation was longer than Jane's had been. Although, that was perhaps because Edward did not feel the same captivation with this one as he had with the other girl- the one that now sat at his side in the living room, both of them wondering what would happen when this new girl awoke.
He also did not spend every moment at this girl's side, like he'd done with Jane. And to anyone else, that might have made it seem like the process would go faster because of it, but it seemed to have the opposite effect on him. When he'd sat waiting for Jane to awaken, the time seemed to pass like mere seconds. He'd found himself staring at her lifeless face for hours wondering what she would be like. She had been so interesting, even in her death-like state. This girl- this stranger- was, for some reason, not quite so interesting.
And now, as Edward sat with his best friend and- what, adoptive sister of sorts?- he found himself exceedingly, unnervingly bored.
"I wonder what she'll be like," Jane said, breaking the silence.
Edward shrugged. "I wonder what our family will be like, with another newborn in it," he replied. He did not exactly relish the thought of harboring a bloodthirsty newborn in the house. Why did his father have such a compulsion to 'save' so many people, anyway? In Edward's opinion, their household had been fine just the way it was.
Edward's boredom was, however, broken before he could brood much longer over this subject. It was the end of the third day- almost onto a fourth- and Carlisle appeared from his study, looking at the two on the couch with an unreadable expression on his face.
His words were simple and few. "She's awake."
They were immediately up, and Edward followed behind Jane into Carlisle's study in order to meet this new girl.
Well, she was fairly good-looking, even Edward had to grudgingly admit that. With long locks of blonde hair, perfectly proportioned features, and an obviously tall, shapely figure (it was obvious even though she was sitting down), it was plain to see that even as a human, this girl would have been considered beautiful.
It was too…perfect, though. She seemed more like a model for what someone's idea of perfection should be than an actual living girl. Plus, if this was supposed to be the ideal standard of beauty, then it certainly didn't appeal to him. And she also had a facial expression that was rather off-putting: a tipped chin and wrinkling of the nose, like she was sure she was too good for everyone else.
"I've explained to her what's happened," Carlisle said. He turned towards the blonde girl. "But why don't you introduce yourself, and tell us whatever you can remember about your human life?"
The new vampire gave a sour look at the word 'human,' but opened her mouth to speak anyway. "My name is Rosalie Hale," she began. "I'm from nearby, in Rochester- I lived there all my life…"
But Edward did not listen to the rest of her speech. He had been too distracted by a string of Carlisle's thoughts that he'd overheard, and that he was now following with rather irate interest.
I wonder if she will make a good mate for Edward, his adoptive father was thinking. For so long, Esme and I wondered if perhaps Jane would be his mate, but their relationship seems more along the line of friendship, or of siblings. Maybe this Rosalie is the answer to that, for Edward. And maybe a few years in the future, we can find somebody for Jane as well…
Edward let out a low, rumbling growl- his first audible reaction to Carlisle's thoughts. Everyone else in the room turned to look at him- the girl, Rosalie, stopping her speech for the first time.
"Is something wrong, son?" Carlisle asked, his face turned to an appropriately worried expression. Edward immediately grew more annoyed.
"It's nothing," he replied through clenched teeth.
He couldn't even explain why he was so annoyed, anyway. But it probably had something to do with the fact that while he'd been listening to Carlisle's thoughts, he had over heard Rosalie's as well.
Her mind was filled with vapid, shallow thoughts. In the two minutes that Edward had been listening in, he'd caught strands about her beauty, her old human friends, and the admirers she'd had in her former life. There was absolutely nothing of real substance in her brain. And Carlisle wants me to spend eternity with her?

As they discovered during the next few weeks after her transformation, Rosalie Hale proved to be rather impossible.
She was especially bitter about being a vampire- she did not want to be that way at all, and pined endlessly for her human life. But even so, that did not stop her from acting on the…baser instincts…of her nature.
The first thing she did, after being introduced to the Cullens, was go back to Rochester to seek out a specific group of people. She found the men that had attacked her the night she almost died- her ex-fiancé as well as some of his friends- and sought her revenge on each one of them. She killed them all, saving the slowest and most painful death for her ex-fiancé Royce.
After that, she fell into the 'vegetarian' lifestyle, and never touched another human. She stayed with the Cullen family, not wanting to leave and go off on her own (much to Edward's annoyance). And even after spending significant amounts of time with her, Edward still couldn't stand the girl.
Carlisle had 'subtly' brought up the idea of Rosalie being his mate after a couple of weeks, immediately causing Edward to become angry once again. And the more Carlisle talked- or even thought- about it, the more annoyed Edward became. The thought of being with Rosalie frankly horrified him.
And Rosalie wasn't exactly happy either. But her annoyance stemmed not from the suggestion, but rather from Edward's reluctance to be with her.
What does he not see in me? She thought angrily. This has never happened before- he should be worshipping me! Not that I have any sort of romantic feelings for him either…but that does not matter!
Her thoughts went on as such, actually making Edward chuckle somewhat at her disgruntled confusion. She could not see what he did not find attractive about her, and therefore could not understand why he would not want to be with her. It seemed that she placed all of her worth in being beautiful- and the fact that Edward wanted more than just beauty did not even seem to register in her mind.
Meanwhile, he had noticed that Jane had become more and more agitated as the weeks went on. And he did not spend as much time with her as usual, because of the disruption in their routine that the addition of Rosalie brought, so he could not talk to her in the house. He meant to ask her on one of their hunts, but every time they went out Jane used her invisibility to block him out and run off on her own. It confused Edward to no end.
Jane grew colder and more distant as the weeks turned into months. And Carlisle and Esme still wondered about the possibility of Edward and Rosalie being together, which annoyed him greatly. He wanted to talk to his best friend about it- but she was never anywhere to be found.
Every time he went looking for her, it seemed that Jane was off doing something on her own. Sometimes she was in the middle of an 'important discussion' with Esme, other times she was locked in her room with her books. And during hunts, she was generally always locked away from his access by her ability. That invisibility thing was really starting to get on his nerves…
And the worst part was, he could not figure out what was wrong with her. She was no longer acting like the fun, wonderful Jane that he'd come to cherish so much in the past eight years. The best friend that was almost like a little sister to him was now distant, removing herself from him at every turn. It confused and saddened Edward- he only wanted to know why, so that he could fix it.
Sometimes, he caught snippets of her mind when she was not invisible. But it was always fragments, things like Stupid, ridiculous thought…why I'm even thinking about it…of course this would happen…would flash through her mind, usually just leaving Edward more confused than he'd been before.

For months, he waited for Jane to return to normal. He tried to tolerate Rosalie in the meantime, but he really just wanted the other girl back, and everything back to the way it was. But that was easier said than done.
One night, Jane called a family meeting. It was surprising for her to do so, both because usually only Carlisle ever called family meetings (except for Esme, once in awhile), and because Jane didn't like giving addresses to the entire group all at once anyway. The idea of her calling them all together was very, very strange.
When they all sat around the dining room table (a prop, more than anything else), Jane stood up and looked them all in the eye. She met Edward's gaze for an especially long time, and then spoke exactly two words:
"I'm leaving."