I landed in a tree on the other side of a nearby river. I honestly hate landing on flat ground, it hurts a bit on my feet. Plus, it jars my legs a little. They were all waiting for me patiently while I floated over the river, my wings still extended. I heard Carlisle mutter something unintelligible, but it sounded like a compliment. Good, at least someone appreciates me. Stupid, idiotic, thick-headed… tall, dark, amazing— Ok! That ramble is done!

"Max, if you would follow us inside please," Esme said politely. What is it with people around here that only the women talk to me? Everyone but Jasper and Carlisle have spoken to me. Edward because I know him, sort of, and Emmet because he was challenging me. A challenge I still have to show up, by the way.

Regardless, I went inside behind them, cautious as ever. I didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't what I saw. The inside of their house was beautiful. It reminded me faintly of the house the flock and I had lived in before Jeb came back to life and Angel got kidnapped.

"Do you like it?" Alice asked from beside me, scaring the crap outta me. I hadn't seen her move.

"Uh-huh." Yup, that was all I could manage. Aren't I so good with words?

"Would you like something to drink Max?" Esme offered. "Or maybe something to eat?" I think she added that because she heard my stomach growling. Going so long with the promise of food had made me soft. Damn those instant microwave-able foods…

"Yes, thank you. Anything you have is fine." Emmet chuckled from behind me. I spun. Huh, I hadn't seen him move either. Another laugh came from right in front of me. When I turned, Rosalie was inches from my face. Lucky for me and my pride, I didn't flinch or move a muscle. She looked a little put out.

"Ok… what's going on?" I asked. Rosalie smirked and back off a few feet. Except, it was like, suddenly she's there, and then she's farther away than possible with one step. What the hell?

"This Max, is how we live," Edward said softly into my ear. I didn't move. For some reason, at this close of a range, he seemed dangerous. Wow, I must be getting soft. "Or rather, this is how we are."

Bella looked a little apologetic from her seat on the sofa. I wondered about that for a few seconds, then, I knew why.

Emmet launched himself at me. I ducked, but I wasn't quite fast enough. He knocked me over, but he didn't pin me to the wall behind me as I surmised he had planned to. A split second later, Alice was in front of me, her eyes dancing as she poked me faster than seemed possible. I felt like I was vibrating. It was a very unpleasant feeling, I must say.

Rosalie appeared beside me and shoved me gently backwards, right into Jaspers' arms. He caught me and his arms formed a cage around me. I couldn't even make his arms budge as I struggled. Suddenly, I felt extremely relaxed. I stopped squirming and was limp in his arms.

"What are you doing to me?" I muttered, my eyes closing without my consent. Jasper chuckled.

"I'm calming you down Max," he said soothingly. "You are much too stressed."

"Hmm, I wonder why," I said, yawning widely. Jasper lifted me into his arms, carrying me like a child that weighed only a few pounds. I may have weighed a lot less than other kids my age, but still.

"Max, why don't you take a seat," Rosalie said sharply. I was pressed against the couch, my shoulders held tightly down by a strong pair of hands.

"What's going on?" I murmured, half asleep. Jasper left the room, and suddenly, I was wide-awake and freaking out.

"I have to go now," I said, starting to hyperventilate a little. This little get-together was just a little too weird, and coming from me, that's certainly saying something.

"Max, please calm down and listen to us," Edward said from directly behind me. I surmised it was he holding my shoulders down.

"Then let go of me," I pleaded, starting to freak out more than I would have hoped. So much for keeping my cool…

"After we tell you," he promised.

"Then tell me!" I was disappointed at my lack of cool in a moment like this.

"We're vampires."

I froze. No way was this for real… First Jacob and them, now this? Hell no. I cannot handle all this right now… Do people not understand that my world has just shattered?

"I need to go," I said quietly. Alice sighed, sounding impatient.

"Max, just deal with this please," she said from across the room.

"Why do you people insist on forcing these things on me?" I cried.

The eyebrows of everyone in the room were raised as they all stared at me. Edward gripped my shoulders harder than necessary without realizing it. When I flinched away from him and made a very soft sound of pain, Edward relaxed and muttered an apology.

"What are you talking about?" Alice asked cautiously, as if she did not want to know the answer.

"Well, before you guys got to me, Jacob attacked me and made me lose consciousness. I woke up in someone's house with people named Sam and Emily, and Jacob hovering over me. They forced their little secret on me." I shivered, remembering. As I've said multiple times, I hate wolf-people.

"That mangy, stupid, idiotic mongrel," Edward swore. So, they knew too. Oh, well I guess they'd have to know.

"What was he thinking?" Rosalie snapped. She looked furious, just like the rest of them.

"Excuse me? What was he thinking? What about you? You guys practically gave me a heart attack," I informed them.

"Yeah, well…" Edward began. I stopped him.

"I really have to go," I said, getting up. Edward had released my shoulders when I told them about wolf-boy. "Nice to meet you all, but I— I have bigger issues right now."

"Bigger issues than finding out that werewolves and vampires exist?" Emmet laughed at the thought and snorted disbelievingly. I glared at him as he stood before me.

"You… don't… know… what… is going on… in… my… screwed up… life," I hissed, poking him hard in the chest with each pause for emphasis. It may have done more damage to me than him, but it got the point across.

He looked surprised as I shoved past him and Jasper, heading for the door. No one moved to stop me, and for that, I was glad. Even Jaspers' freaky little 'powers' didn't faze me as I stepped out into the rain.

The rain felt good on my stressed body, relaxing my strained muscles as I took a few running steps before vaulting into the air, my wings outstretched. I looked back briefly to see all of them standing on the porch, dry under the roof, watching me. I gave an apologetic half-wave before flying off. I was almost home when I remembered that I couldn't go there. The flock was most likely gone by now. I slowed, unsure of what to do.

A howl below me made me look down. The enormous russet wolf, flanked by a chocolate wolf and a black wolf were running directly below me. Damn him. I know that they're different from Ari and the rest of those Erasers, but I still can't trust them. Sighing, I swooped low, staying in the air, but close enough to the ground to talk.

The wolves bolted out of my sight for a few seconds, only to come back as humans wearing just sweatpants. Jacob walked towards where I was hovering a few feet off the ground. When he stopped about four feet away, I backed up and made the distance between us twelve feet. He raised a brow but nodded in understanding. Not that he did understand, I'm sure he was just playing along.

"Max… we need to talk," he began.

"Yeah, you and everyone else in this town," I snorted. "I just got paid a visit by vampire central over there," I said, jerking my thumb in the direction of the Cullens' house.

"What?" Sam sounded just as furious as the Cullens had when I told them about Jacob and the wolves. "They told you?"

"Why not? Everyone else here has told me their deep-dark secrets. Why should they be an exception?" I knew I was being a tiny bit unfair, but I can honestly say that I'm not having a good day.

"Hmm, that's something, now isn't it," the other guy muttered. I looked sharply at him.

"I don't like all your secrets, so you'd better spill," I warned menacingly. He looked like he was about to laugh for a moment, but one look from Sam told him to play it cool.

"Nothing really, I was just thinking how weird it is that you should be told about their existence on the same day as you're told about ours."

I snorted. "Not really. I did save his girlfriends life today. He owed me."

"You saved Bella?" Jacob sounded worried. I tucked that away in my arsenal of seemingly-useless-crap-that-I-know-about-people.

"Yeah, me and her. These guys were harassing us, so I kicked their asses," I said. Plain and simple.

"You beat up two grown men?" the other guy, whose name I still don't know, asked disbelievingly.

"Five. And yes, I could have killed them. Quite easily actually. Humans are so… fragile. They're like egg-shells." I enjoyed their equally afraid looks for a moment before the three of them regained their composure, their faces becoming placid.

"You say humans like you're not one of them," what's-his-face observed. I rolled my eyes.

"Uh, did you miss something? Were you not paying attention when I flew down here? What part of mutant avian do you not understand?"

He started to shake, which I found increasingly odd. His hands curled into fists, clenching and unclenching as he glared at me. I was surprised with his sudden bipolar-ness. Jacob and Sam, on the other hand, seemed to spring into action.

Jacob stood behind him, pulling his arms back. He talked softly into his ear, trying to calm him down. Sam pushed on his chest and tried to force him backwards. It took both of them to get this guy away from me. The entire time this was happening, I stood calmly, staring into his eyes.

"What were you thinking?" Jacob hissed when they came back a few minutes later. "He could have killed you!"

"I'm not afraid of him," I said, meeting his eyes. "I'm not afraid of Sam, and I'm certainly not afraid of you. Besides, as I said earlier, my time here is almost up. I am not afraid to die anymore."

The two remaining looked between themselves, trying to figure out what I was talking about. When they understood, both took steps toward me. I backed up, crouching into a fighting stance.

"I think I'll go find you friend," I said, a small smile creeping onto my face. "Maybe he has something to say about all this."

"Unless you have a death wish, stay away from Quill," Jacob warned. I smiled sadly.

"Oh Jacob," I sighed. "I have a very large death wish, one I'm sure even your angry friend Quill couldn't fulfill, not even in his wildest dreams."

I was done talking about this. Springing upward, I shot into the air. Jacob dove at my feet as I rose, but he missed… barely. I gave them a sort of salute before heading in the direction I had seen them taking Quill. I assumed he'd be either at his house, or at the beach. Lucky for me, it was the latter.

Review please :) P.S. don't worry, more on the secret-spilling will be explained later.