Hey guys, I'm kinda desperate here. If you guys could send in some more reviews, that would be great. A supper special thanks to xDarklightx, wingedvampiregrl, Smileyfaceofevil, goldenrose37, and 328DarkAngel who have reviewed and made my day!

Okay, enough of my ranting. This is going to be the last slow intro chapter. In this chapter, italics will be thoughts.

Disclaimer: I still don't own twilight or maximum ride.

Chapter 4

What Ever They Are

Edwards POV

Jasper was walking down the stair and nearly having a panic attack. All I could hear from his mind were small snips of dangerous… fighting… fear…NOT HUMAN. I immediately tensed. What ever it was that caused him to panic like that hade to be very dangerous. Especially with Bella here, what ever it was needed to be dealt with.

"What is it?" I asked in a voice to low for human ears. To my surprise, Jeff shook his head a little, like trying to rid himself of a fly. He couldn't possibly hear me. Could he?

Jasper shot a pointed look at the Ride kids. I nodded.

"Get ready to calm them down if one of them jumps. I can't hear their mind." Jasper raised his eyebrows at me.

Why did you bring them here then?!?! Jasper was furious but he was doing a good job at hiding it. At this point the rest of my family had arrived.

"Everyone, these are the guys we're going to be tutoring this year," Alice said. "This is Max," Max nodded "Nick, Jeff, and Crystal." Each one had waved at their names. "Guys, this is my family Jasper, Rosalie, Emmet, Carlisle, and Esme."

"Nice to meet you all," Carlisle said, diplomatically reaching out and shaking each of their hands. When he shook Jeff's hand, Jeff jumped and looked wide eyed at Carlisle. Sometimes it was really hard to believe he was blind. He stepped back so he was by Max's shoulder. He tapped her hand three times and she nodded. I raised my eyebrows at Jasper. He was scowling back at me.

"So," max said to Carlisle, "you and Esme adopted six teenagers? You must be very brave." Carlisle laughed with her.

"Yes, it's hard sometimes, what with them all in relationships with each other," Carlisle laughed. Then his eyes grew wide. "I… they… we…um, it's not like that?" he said, trying to recover.

"It's okay, I understand," she said, laughing. "F-nick," she stuttered "and I were adopted, and now he's my boy friend. My adopted parents are missionaries and have to travel a lot. As a result, me and my siblings were home schooled for a long time. Now that me, Nick, and Jeff are 18, our parents allowed us to live in the house they lived in a while ago."

"I don't want to sound rude, but how were you orphaned," Emmet asked with more tact then usual.

"My parents couldn't afford to keep me. I was given up at birth." Crystal spoke.

"My family died in a fire and I was made partially blind." Jeff said in a monotone.

"My mother was single and didn't want me but didn't want to abort." Nick tried to shrug it off, but his eyes were burning in pain.

"My parents never wanted me," Max said in confidence. "And I don't want them. I've got the best people in the world with me now." At her words, her siblings stood a little straighter. "My other siblings, Zephyr and Ariel, are actual blood siblings. They where given up when their family went through hard times."

"Well, should we start tutoring you or what?" Bella said, trying break the awkward silence.

We spent the next hour and a half going over things we "learned" last year. We found that the Ride kids picked up concepts really fast. When it was time to go, Nick, Jeff, and Crystal got in the car and drove off. Max turned to me.

"Thank you for helping us out," she said with a smile.

"No problem," I replied. "Do you need a ride home?"

"Uhh, no. I can walk."

"No, I insist. I'm giving Bella a ride home, too." I said getting into my Volvo. I looked over at Bella, who raised an eye brow at me. "Later," I mouthed. Bella nodded and got in the passenger seat. Max glanced around before lowering herself in the back seat. I started driving while we sat in uncomfortable silence.

"Where do you live, Max?" Bella inquired politely.

"Umm… take a left there." Max seemed really nervous to tell me where her house was. I wonder if it was a little run down. "This is good," she said as we pulled up by a dirt road leading off into the forest.

"Are you sure?" I asked. I hadn't known that there was a house down there. And that was saying something.

"Yeah, I'll see you guys tomorrow." Max jumped out of the car, waved and started running in a smooth, gentle stride down the dirt road.

Max's POV

I jogged back to our little cabin in the woods. The mist on the ground curled around my feet along the way. Iggy had signaled to me back at the Cullen's that he needed to tell me something. I hope there home by now so I can talk to them right away. That's part of the reason why I didn't tell them the direct way to our home. Also I don't like the idea of anyone knowing where we live. I hope I was just being paranoid. The Cullens seemed nice, but so did Anne and Jeb.

"Max!!" Angel cried happily before running from the front door and hugging me tightly.

"How was your first day?" I asked, hugging her back.

"It was okay, I made a few friends, my teachers haven't tried to eat me yet, so all in all, I'd say it was a good day!"

"That's my little optimist! Glad to hear it. Now every one in the living room. Fang, Nudge, Iggy, and I met this family, the Cullens, and I want to talk about it. Something about them seemed off, and Angel and Gassy should know" They nodded and sat down.

"Alright," I said once in my comfy chair. "What's up with the Cullens? There's something strange going on. When I first met them, I had to sit next to Edward, and I was on edge for every second."

"I noticed that Jasper has a very good control over his emotions, but he was afraid and angry and having a hard time staying calm." Nudge said grimly.

"During gym, he was running and I swear he stopped breathing for a few minutes." Fang added.

"Iggy, you said you had something to say earlier. So, what's up?" I asked. Iggy was quiet for a long time. He looked like he didn't want to say anything.

"The thing is," Iggy said reluctantly, "they're dead."

We were silent. Waiting for Iggy to laugh. Waiting for the punch line. It never came.

"When I shook Mr. Cullen's hand, I felt his wrist. He had no pulse. Before that, Edward and Jasper were talking in frequencies to low for normal human ears. After I shook Mr. Cullen's hand, I listened for their heartbeats. Nothing. Absolute silence."

This was like a bad dream. Sadly, in my life, this was reality. But I was sick of running away. Not this time.

"Okay, guys," I said, "here's the game plan. Be careful around the Cullens. They haven't shown any signs of aggression…yet. Don't get in situations you can't get out of. Tell me when and for how long you'll be around them. I don't know what's going on with them, but I know one thing: whatever they are, they're not human and they're dangerous.

Bella's POV

After we dropped off max, Edward and I went back to his house.

"What was that about?" I asked him as we pulled into the garage.

"The last missionaries who owned a house in forks died 20 years ago. I was confirming my suspicion that they lied about how they met each other" He answered, walking through the door. The rest of the Cullen's were still in the living room. "Really, I'm not surprised after seeing Max lie so easily in class about the note."

"You mean that they don't have parents and are living here alone?" Esme asked anxiously. "Those poor things, having to lie like that."

"Those poor things," Jasper growled, "are dangerous. I got the feeling that I usually only get before fighting another vampire when I first saw them."

"Yeah, did you guys see how Jeff kept twitching while Edward and Jasper were talking?" Rosalie added.

"Their hands were so hot, if they were normal, they should be dead," Carlisle said mostly to himself. "Not to mention that their heart beats were very fast. Maybe they're werewolves?"

"I can't see them or people they interact with, Edward can't hear them either," Alice said shaking her head. "But they're not werewolves. With a werewolf, everything goes blank. With them, only people they interact with go blank. I think they might have more control than werewolves, and that's what makes them different. I don't think they'll hurt us if we don't hurt them."

"So that settles it," Edward said. "Be carful around them. Try not to upset them. We don't know what types of things will make them crack. We don't know what they will do if they crack. Don't take risks by being alone with them. I don't know what's going on with them, but I know one thing: whatever they are, they're not human and they're dangerous.

So there it is. Exciting, right? No? okay. If you want, you should check out my little one-shot "forever, my lamb". I think it's cute and sad, and maybe you will too! But I won't know if you don't ReViEw!!!! ;)

Review (Please and thank you!). hey that rhymes!