Ahh, fanfiction… that wonderful source of life and entertainment… yeah, I'll shut up.

I'm glad that the one review I got liked this – bookandsugarinducedcoma (Did I spell that right?) thanks. You've been with me so far, and I appreciate it!

-Shameless plug for other reviews- Please? Anything that's left is great.

Oh, boy. I've been busy this week, since it's the end of the quarter, so I'm frantically trying to get in end-of-quarter assignments. Teachers made them due all at pretty much the same time, so I've been a little slammed. But it's spring break now, so… more time for writing.

Gah. –whacks head on desk- The next chapter is going to kick my butt bad, since I'm hauling in characters I know next to nothing about. Is it possible to have characters that we've never met in the Twilight-verse be OOC?

Yep. Sprained an ankle at my first attempt at snowboarding. Board went one way, I went the other. –sigh-

Also: if there is anyone who would mind doing a beta-read for me, I would be most grateful... Just to make sure I haven't missed anything, or for feedback, or whatever...

Okay. I hereby state, since my brain is too stuffed with math formulas to think of anything witty, that none of these characters except Courtney are mine, and I'm only using the ones that aren't mine. I'm not Stephenie Meyer, and I'm not making money off this. Lawyers, you can't get me now! … On with the chapter.

I lay spread-eagled over the bed in my room, eyes closed, with my CD player giving off soft music. I wasn't sure what was on; I wasn't paying much attention. When the lights and CD player went off, though, I jumped up.

"What happened?" I called.

"Power outage," Carlisle said. I think he and Esme were talking downstairs.

I trotted down the wide, dark wood steps. "Can I help fix it?"

Carlisle, sitting with an arm around Esme on the couch, shrugged. "Find Emmett or Rosalie; I think they're the ones figuring out why the power went out."

I listened carefully, picking out Edward and Bella up in their room, arguing over a fine point of some book.

Alice and Jasper were upstairs. I didn't want to think about what they were doing right now. Enhanced vampire senses do have their drawbacks when one is permanently four years or so younger than people frozen in the height of sexual maturity.

Emmett and Rosalie… Hmmm. I slid outside. "Emmett?"

"Hi!" he shouted, from his rather precarious perch on top of the house.

"Emmett, what are you doing?"

"Checking the solar panels!" He was bent over one of the large things on top of the house. I'd never thought to ask what they were. Guess I know, now.

Rosalie smiled at me and rolled her eyes. "He didn't want me to check, for reasons unknown."

Just then… "Aha! Rose, can you come up and look at this?" She muttered something under her breath. It sounded vaguely like "Just after you tell me to please stay on the ground…?"

Rosalie clambered up gracefully; She bent, too; she nodded after looking at it, tinkered with something, and thirty seconds later the lights flared to life inside the house.

"Thank you, Emmett! Thanks, Rosalie."

"You're welcome. Why were you so excited about it?"

I shrugged lopsidedly, raising only one shoulder. "I was listening to a CD, and had nothing better to do."

He grinned at me. "Cabin fever?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

Rosalie leapt down from the roof and landed gracefully on her feet. "What do you want to do?"

I shrugged lopsidedly again. "I don't know. I've run through all my old books, through my CDs twice… I don't know what else I've tried to do. Edward and I played chess…"

"Well, that's a mistake." Emmett was laughing at me. "Ever seen him and Alice play?"

"No," I admitted. "But I've only been here three months. I have nine more months of this, and then lockdown while I learn control?" I groaned when he and Rosalie nodded.

"Argh!" Persuading Emmett to come with me, I went running.

I wasn't sure what I was running to, or running from. Even though I wasn't particularly thirsty, when I caught the scent of a mountain lion, I caught it easily – and drained it. I couldn't help myself.

I was still restless.

Emmett and I loped back to the house. I dove into the stream, cold as anything, but I didn't feel it. One of the perks of being a vampire, I thought. I can swim anywhere the heck I want. My grim good humor didn't last long, as I slipped back into to the house, toweling off with a thick, fluffy white piece of terrycloth.

Esme was painting the dining room. Soft blue over white, blue over white… It was hypnotic.

"Esme?"

"Yes, dear?"

"I hate to sound whiny, but…"

"She's bored," murmured Edward, coming into the room. He raised an eyebrow at me. Bella trailed in after him, nose in a book. "See, Edward, it's right… oh, hi, Courtney."

I nodded. "Hi. Bella, what did you do while you were on lockdown?"

She shrugged. "Read a lot, let Alice dress me up – she has a fascination, I swear! -- I learned Italian, worked on my Spanish till I was completely fluent, read some more… Painted the house with Esme once… Um, I learned calligraphy, on a whim. I did Rosalie and Emmett's wedding 'invitations,' that they sent out to the Denali clan."

"Basically what one would do on an extended summer vacation, punctuated by…'food?'"

"Yes, pretty much."

I groaned. "Where can I find a list of books that I haven't read? Or a language-learning program, or something?"

Esme looked up from her painting. I wondered why the paint fumes didn't irritate my nose, as they had when I'd helped my aunt paint her new baby's room when I was twelve.

I looked at them all. "Does anyone here have vellum art paper and dry pastels?"

They exchanged looks. "No… I don't believe so. We have computer paper and pencils, though," said Esme.

"Sheesh, out of everything that you guys do have, there's no art paper?" I teased. "I'm going to ask Alice if she can go find some for me, or something. I need to do something, or I'll explode!" I paused. "She and Jasper are, um, finished, aren't they?"

Edward chuckled. "Yes. They're watching a movie or something."

"Okay." I dashed up the stairs and rapped lightly on the door of Jasper and Alice's bedroom.

"Come in!" that was Alice's light, silvery voice.

I pushed open the door. Playing on the wide-screen TV was some sort of thriller movie; I cast a questioning glance at them. Jasper smirked. "Premonition." Rolling my eyes, I spoke to Alice.

"Could you do me a favor?"

"Does it involve me in an art supply store?"

"Yes."

"I thought so. What do you need?" She glanced at me.

"A tablet of acid-free, heavy vellum and some pastels… I'm not sure where mine are, since they didn't come with the books you managed to… procure."

She shrugged. "I didn't think about anything else. But don't worry, we can get the pastels. Do you want dry pastels or oil pastels?"

I shrugged, too. "Either will work. And some decent drawing pencils?"

Alice smiled at me. "Cabin fever?"

"Yeah. You sound just like Emmett."

"Heaven forbid," she laughed. Jasper chuckled too, especially when a howled "I heard that!" filtered through the walls.

Alice looked out the large bay window, over the window seat piled high with books. Examining them, I found everything from a diagnostic medical text to a history book, "Great Generals of the Civil War." The sky opened up just then, changing from a very fine, unnoticeable mist to a heavy shower.

"I'll wait until the rain clears up to drive in to town."

"Thanks, Alice."

I slid back into my room. I'd only been inside for ten minutes or so before Alice came barreling down the stairs, calling, "Everyone! I need to talk to you!"

We all gathered in the comfortable living room. Alice sat in Jasper's lap, on the biggest cream armchair. Emmett sat in a beanbag chair, Rosalie leaning against him. Bella and Edward were curled up on the couch, mirroring Carlisle and Esme. I collapsed into the other easy chair.

"What's wrong, Alice?" Carlisle asked.

She shook her head. "Oh, nothing… the Denali clan is going to be here in three days or so. You'll get a phone call in two minutes and forty-two seconds, on your cell phone, from Tanya's."

"Who all is in the Denali clan?" I inquired. "You've all mentioned them, but… I don't know anything past the fact that they, well, live in Denali." Stopping, I asked Bella, "Didn't you say that you were going to live in Alaska for a while?"

She lifted a shoulder carelessly. "We decided Canada was a better idea."

"Wait, we're in Canada?"

Chuckles and laughing.

"Yes, we're in Canada. You lived in northern Minnesota. We just took you across the border." How did they manage to get me across the border, through security? I wondered.

"Anyway," Alice continued, "The Denali clan is made out of Katrina, Tanya, and Irina, along with Carmen and Eleazar. Ever heard of a succubus?"

I shook my head. "Is this some sort of North American mythology? I did Roman and Greek, but not the Native American stuff."

She shook her head. "No, but succubi are mystic…" she trailed off. Emmett butted in. "They seduce men and then kill them."

"I see. Why are you telling me this, again?"

"Tanya, Kate, and Irina are the birth of the succubi legend. They're ancient. I think the three of them were born around 1000 AD…" She glanced over at Carlisle for confirmation, who affirmed this with a slight dip of his head. Just then, soft music drifted out of Carlisle's cell phone. I couldn't identify the singer, a girl singing in a foreign language, but it was a beautiful, calming song that called to mind rushing creeks and moss.

Carlisle picked up. "Hello, Tanya." A pause. "Yes, we're quite amenable to the idea. We have a… new addition to the family." Another pause, during which he glanced over at Edward. They locked eyes. Edward nodded almost imperceptibly. "Yes, that's right. When can you all come up? … Yes, Friday would be fine. I'll see you then. Goodbye, Tanya."

He looked at all of us. "Originally, they were wondering if they could come to live with us for a while. Apparently the humans that they see on a semi-regular basis are starting to get suspicious, so…"

"Wait," I said, confused. "Are there all that many people near Denali?"

"No, not really. But Tanya said they wanted a 'change of scenery,' so… I suppose they'll be here soon. They're going to drive over."

Esme glanced at me. "Will it be all right for you, with five new people in the house?"

I shrugged. "I guess so."