Hi readers! I'm still constantly amazed at how much you guys seem to enjoy the story. I'm totally flattered and your support keeps me motivated. Just so you know, my fan fictions are basically practice for writing novels and stuff. I know some of them are really weird after a while, but that's only because I don't plan ahead. This may take awhile since I had this chapter practically written when the computer upstairs froze and it hasn't unfrozen since yesterday. So hopefully I'll still be able to get back what I wrote. Anyway, I went back and read some of the previous chapters and my mistakes make even me cringe.

Chapter seven: Getting Warmer

B Pov

I was wound tighter than a spring, and I knew that at any moment I was going to snap. It didn't seem I was alone in feeling uneasy either. Edward and Alice were sitting up straight but they looked tense…well more than that really. Edward's eyes were closed, like he'd just fallen asleep or something, and his expression was confused but also, pained? Alice was completely different. Her eyes were wide open and staring straight at the movie screen with glassy eyes and a horrified expression on her face. Even more unease seemed to be dumped on top of all the already large pile of dealing with ghosts.

But actually, ghosts seemed normal to me. This kind of behavior was new to me, was this normal for Edward and Alice? The movie wasn't that horrifyingly bad. A minuet of that strange mutual horror passed before they finally seemed to wake up. Both of their already pale faces seemed twice as pale now. They glanced at each other for a few seconds, seemingly communicating something important to the other. And then in unison, they turned to stare at me with bewildered expressions. I was getting a bad feeling about this…

"You two look like you've just seen a ghost." I had meant it as a joke to lighten up the atmosphere, but it came out sounding forced and somewhat bitter.

"Are you guys ok?"

"We're fine. The question is, are you?" I just gaped at Alice and Edward, wondering what exactly had just happened.

"I'm fine…but what exactly-

I was interrupted by a loud crash. I looked around wildly out of habit, and then looked toward the screen. In scarlet letters, a message appeared on the screen.

There are so many more of us, more than you can comprehend…

The message scrolled down and a second one took its place.

Be at 628 Forest Road by midnight. Don't be late, or else we'll be bringing a friend of yours. It's time we make a deal…

One pair of giant, bottomless black eyes glared at me from the screen for half a second before the screen returned to the movie. I looked around me and saw that no one else had seen it. So I was right.

"Bella?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Did the movie bother you?" Edward asked quietly as we left the movie theater.

"No, it was great," I lied. Of course Edward saw straight through that, but he was nice enough to ignore it. I quickly glanced at my watch as we left the theater and saw to my relief that it was only four o'clock.

"So, now that we've seen a movie, what do you want to do?" Alice asked again, but it was more like she was forcing herself to ask. Was it weird to be so keyed up about tonight and worrying about what was going to happen, but also be a bit suspicious of some of the weird things that happened around the Cullens?

I'd seen more ghosts since I came to Forks in a day than I did in a week at home. It was getting dangerously close to time to tell Edward. Of course it could only go in a few directions.

He could a) think I'm crazy and never want to see me again, or worse, try to send me to the physic ward. b) believe me and think it's awesome and ask a million or so questions. c) think I'm lying and publically humiliate me as revenge for trying to talk about his mother who he probably didn't want to talk about.

Ok, I'll admit that option 3 didn't seem like Edward at all, but it's possible. Option 2 is beyond my comprehension. As far as I knew, it never happened to people like me. Option number one was the most likely and also the one that would be the hardest to live through. I don't know why I would care if one more person in the world thought I was nuts, but it was more to do with him actually thinking that. So maybe I am getting a little too attached to Forks for my own good, but it seemed like a nice change. But then again, it also left me in a highly vulnerable position. Well, this was for Elizabeth.

Even if he thought I was a mental case, he had to know about Elizabeth and hear what she wanted to say. If he didn't believe me, well at least I tried. If he did, it was all the more important for it to be said. Somehow, the two of us would just have to convince him that it was all real. There was also plan B but I'd pull that out of my sleeve only if I needed to- basically, when our ship was sinking.

The six of us piled back into the Volvo and the long ride was a good enough place to start thinking about a plan. The whole ride I concentrated on not letting myself feel anything, which, by the way, is harder than it sounds.

Edward wasn't there when my last school burned down and everything pointed to me, he wasn't for or against me. Apathy, I told myself over and over. I was surprised when it actually started happening. But in this calm state, I once again remembered the odd occurrences of today and previous days. Edward and Alice, looking at each other as if they were speaking without words. Edward seems to be able to read people with only one exception, me. They were all so different, and yet, exactly the same.

They were all inhumanly beautiful and moved with a startling grace, even Emmet which would not be very expected. They all had the same pale skin that was even paler than my completion. The same topaz eyes and sometimes without warning they'd be black. Sometimes, it seemed as if Edward was saying goodbye when he was saying something else. I know he was pretty casual and friendly with me most of the time, but sometimes it was more like I was I was missing something that was right in front of me. Sometimes, it felt like I wasn't wanted there- though that was only a few times.

Should I really be worrying about ghosts when it seemed as if I had another mystery to solve? I was a regular Nancy Drew when it came to mysteries. I mean, if you can see ghosts, especially people who were murdered, wouldn't you expect a little bit of mystery solving? And even though I managed to help out a lot of people, it was the living that usually ended up hindering me in more ways than one. For example, the question that always comes up, "How did you know about this?"

I couldn't exactly say a ghost told me there was a tunnel from the basement or something. So as bad it seems, I had to become a pretty convincing liar in my years of seeing the dead. I hated to do it and I always felt guilty later, but it was unavoidable. And it looks like I'd just stumbled upon another one. Sure it was bad to be looking into it so much, especially since I'd managed to have "normal" friends for once. But intuition told me it was incredibly important, important enough that it could make telling Edward change in my favor.

Whatever it was, it was a BIG secret and it may even be a life and death matter to figure it out. Midnight was starting to look a little less intimidating when I thought about how I was going to try and surface an answer to the Cullen mystery.

E Pov

Even on Saturday I couldn't be relieved from the frustration of not being able to read Bella's mind. She was beginning to act stranger and stranger, or maybe it was due to the fact that I was paying absolute attention to her. I remembered again her strained pale face as she stared at the screen, the movie still playing a harmless scene of the two characters running at each other, one jumping from the boat and splashing clumsily to shore and the other flinging herself into the waves to reach him faster.

I had thought that she just hadn't liked the movie, but leaving I began to suspect it was more. She was quiet the rest of the afternoon, barely paying attention to the conversation. Alice was talking animatedly to us about her shopping spree next week, though no one else seemed the notice the tightness in her voice or her brow slightly creased in unspoken worry.

I don't know why I was so worried about her; she was just like every other girl in Forks High. But then again, she wasn't. I couldn't read her mind, for one, and it was harder to remain in control around her. That first day, it was incredibly hard to even act civil around her. But I was also surprised by the fact that her sitting at the lunch table and talking seemed to repel it a little more. I still didn't want to believe what Alice said, about her vision. She'd had a vision as we were pulling into the parking lot on Bella's first day. She saw her clearly in her mind, obviously a vampire- it was hard to miss.

And when we saw her as a human, well it was highly unusual. We'd begun to wonder how exactly she became a vampire, since none of us seemed likely to do it. I was worried about that enough but Alice hasn't seen another vision like that, so it might have changed. But it was still unmistakable, she was unusual. Maybe that was a harsh word or maybe it didn't say quite enough. She didn't say quite enough either. She seemed oddly focused on something as we drove toward her house. Maybe now was the time to get to know her better.

"So, Bella, what kind of music do you like?"

She seemed a bit startled at my question and her cheeks turned a shade darker before she answered. "You'd laugh," she said mildly.

"Try me."

"Classical music, Debussy mostly."

"That's one thing we have in common then," I smiled, trying to sound open and friendly. Now more than ever, it seemed that it was vital that I win her trust. She smiled brightly back and I was once again struck with the need to read her mind. The one person I was dying to listen to her thoughts and she's the exception to my mind reading. Typical, right?

She's hiding something. That much is obvious with, or without the vision.

You think this hasn't occurred to me? I thought back to her.

But I'm under the impression that she's getting suspicious of us as well.

Was this a mistake, Alice?

It's hard to say. She seems nice and I don't see anything bad really. Except that vision.

I looked in the rearview mirror and saw that Bella was smiling serenely to herself as she looked out the window. When we finally got to her house, Bella opened the car door.

"Thanks guys, today was…fun." And then she walked slowly inside and we backed out of the driveway. I was incredibly anxious to get home and start researching. Ok, it sounded strange to be snooping through her background, but I had a feeling she was doing that as well. Maybe I'd find something interesting.

A Pov

When we got home, Edward and I quickly rushed upstairs to the study and Google researched her old school, Madison High. It was surprisingly easy to hack into the school's system and get the file we were looking for.

"Sims, Smith, Swindle…Swan!" I clicked on the file and waited for it to load. Edward was pacing nervously behind me, if he kept that up, he'd wear out the floorboards. "Here we go!" In her file was an article from the school newspaper dated only a few weeks before Bella arrived in Forks.

October 12, 2008

Honors or Cover-ups?

Everyone knew Isabella Swan, though she went by the name of Bella. She transferred to Madison High from Window Valley Prep School in southern Arizona. Many knew her as the quiet girl who mostly kept to herself, or as the girl with an amazing artistic talent but few REALLY knew Bella Swan. Reporter Ben Johnson managed to spend time with Bella days prior to her expulsion.

"Expulsion?"

She was only there for little more than a year and still no one picked up on her rather odd behavior. She'd usually have an i-pod with her that she listened to most of the time but never seemed to be outgoing much. Everyone assumed she was just one of the quiet ones, but as I always say, it's the quiet ones that have the most to say. In the days prior to her expulsion from Madison, Bella had been seen talking to herself at lunch or in hall ways-even shouting a few times. Some would say that this was mere eccentric behavior and be done, but there's more to this story.

The one thing we still don't know; is why she set fire to the gym at all and why she wasn't even arrested for that terrible crime that left the gym building beyond salvage. Well, I say good riddance.

"Oh my god!" My hand flew to my mouth before I could think. It took a lot to surprise me, and yet I was completely surprised. "Bella? Our Bella?"

"Why would she do something like that?" Edward said quietly, more to himself than to me. But it sounded as if he were still unconvinced. "We have to talk to her about this," he said suddenly.

B Pov

When Charlie said we were going to the Black's place, I wasn't sure what would happen. Now I'm glad I did. Jacob continued on about the legends on the reservation.

"And then there were the stories of the cold ones," he said dramatically.

"The cold ones?"

"Well, as it goes, the cold ones were blood drinkers who claimed to be civilized and evolved. Your people would call them vampires."

"What do you mean they were civilized?"

"They claimed they didn't hunt people, just animals. So that's how the treaty that's how the treaty was made.

"But what does that have to do with the Cullens?"

"They're supposedly the same ones," he said ominously. A slight chill swept over me but I ignored it. It doesn't matter, I thought.

That night, I did a little research myself. I typed only two words in the search engine, cold one.

Lots of sights popped up, most of it was useless but some were a lot more helpful.

Speed

Inhuman beauty

Pale skin

Strength

Immortal

Additional Skills

Those words seemed to jump off the page. Pale skin was obvious enough, I couldn't much say any of the others were true just yet, but I still had a feeling that I was onto something.

Thursday Morning at School

Today would be the day I confronted him. I wasn't quite ready to let the cat out of the bag but I was going to make tell Edward that I knew. I may not have had all the puzzle pieces but the ones I did have were starting to be put together. I was just pulling my bag from the passenger seat of my truck when I heard a high pitched squealing sound. It was strange how everything moved faster, not like in movies where everything is in slow motion. I took in several details at once; like that Edward was a few spaces down away from me, his face a mask of horror.

Perhaps the most important was the out of control van that was aimed at my truck, and I was just lucky enough to be standing in between them.

Oh god, I thought. I'm going to die.

Then something hard rammed into me from the opposite direction I had expected. I heard the squealing tires as the van spun on another patch of ice and just about rammed into me. A pair of pale hands stopped the van. I looked up and gasped as I registered that Edward had just stopped Tyler's van with his bare hands. Finally, it seemed over and he sank to his knees next to me.

"Are you hurt?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"N-No, I'm fine-

"Bella, oh my god!" Someone screamed from the other side of the van. I didn't have to recover from my stupor from almost getting hit, for the moment it took Jessica to call out to me, Edward had disappeared.

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Sorry I didn't get this posted sooner. I'm going to get started on chapter eight now so you can all look forward to that. I have to ask everyone's opinion because I'm curious; I'm planning on writing a novel and I haven't picked out a title yet but basically, here's the summery.

Summery

My name is Ariel Storm. I'm 16 years old and I'm different. Too different. When I touch someone, I can hear their thoughts or any thought they ever had, I can see each of their memories and I can see and hear the basic essence of anyone. An essence is a color, a sound, and an emotion-no one's is ever quite the same.

My father left my mother broken in a selfish divorce, leaving me with more hopelessness than I've ever felt. But that's when I started having dreams of him. Untidy hair the color of sunlight and the greenest eyes I'd ever seen, eyes that seemed to see straight through me, and a warm smile that said he'd waited as always for me. A flash of feathers and an amazing meadow dancing with light. I called him Aiden, because he was beyond perfection and couldn't possible exist. He wasn't supposed to be real, he was just a dream.

But he was there, at my window, with the same angel wings I remembered. I had no idea he was going to take me to another world, a world called Oblivion where anything is possible. It's strange and alien but it's beginning to show its true beauty to me.

How's it sound? Just let me know.

-V