Author's Notes: It's a new year! And so I thought I'd start off right. By giving you all something. Happy new year!

I have internets again! For almost two months our internet at home has been completely deaded. But it is now fixed. Which also had the effect of utterly distracting me once I got it back… I went on a bit of binge surfing. But I am now cured of that illness and back in gear! Anyway, onwards and upwards! This chapter is a tad shorter than I was expecting, but muses insisted on the end being where it is, even after not cooperating for a few months. It is still nine pages though. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed in between this chapter and the last, therefore I still do not own Twilight. I'm just dabbling in order to shut up the muses.

Friends Come When You Least Expect

Only a little? Only a little?

How did one deal 'only a little' with vampires? Especially a Necromancer? If Mordecai thought he was being helpful, he was clearly not as smart as I had originally taken him for.

I frowned deeply as my chocolate gaze shifted between my father and my new tag along. "But I thought… I mean… they hate us…"

Charlie nodded, looking more than a little worried. "They do. Which is probably why you'll have to deal with them. You'll have to-"

Mordecai cleared his throat softly, focusing our attention immediately on him. "That's not what I think is going to happen."

"Oh? You don't think they'll hunt me down?"

He waved a hand dismissively, relaxing further against the kitchen counter. "Nah. Most of us don't even think that any of you are left. Some, actually a good deal of us, don't think you ever existed; that you lot were just something that the Volturi came up with to keep us all in line."

My father and I both looked confused at his statement, echoing the same question, "The Volturi?"

"Blimey. Have none of you heard about knowing your enemy?"

Charlie stabbed a piece of steak with more force than necessary, "It's not exactly like we're open friends with vampires, or that humans know what vampires are like. Besides even if we did, we would never be able to get too close to them for fear of them killing us. Kind of puts a damper on getting to know a species."

Mordecai grunted in annoyance, "All right then. I'll have to give you a crash course in vampire, I reckon."

I sighed, pushing my unfinished food away from myself. I didn't think I'd be able to eat anymore once we started this conversation.

"Look, what you all think you know about vampires is wrong. We don't burn to ash in sunlight, garlic doesn't repel us, we have reflections and will show up just like anyone else will in a mirror or photograph, no coffins, no bats. Basically the only thing you have right is our diet, we live on blood."

I shuddered in revulsion. I knew, of course, that they fed on blood, but I just couldn't imagine it. Even the slightest scent of blood made me nauseous, so I couldn't understand how an entire species could feed off of it.

My tag along continued as if he didn't notice my reaction though. "It's rather easy to tell when someone is a vampire if you know what to look for, in fact I'm sort of surprised that more of us haven't been outed."

Charlie sighed, and after taking another swig of beer, asked, "Why don't you just tell us then?"

"Right. Well obviously we're all rather pale, sickly pale-it comes from the whole no blood flowing through our veins and us being essentially dead. Also we're cold, I mean freezing. There is not any warmth in our bodies aside from when we take in new blood. Our skin is hard, like armor in that the only thing that can penetrate it is our own kind, well and obviously werewolves."

Having been in the process of taking a drink when he said this, I immediately started choking on my water. "We-werewolves? You've got to be kidding, right?"

"Huh? No. Think about it, love, if vampires, ghosts and necromancers exist, why not everything else? Or at least some of the more reasonable ones. But you don't have to worry about werewolves, they really only hate us, so in a manner of speaking they're your allies."

Great, if a war were to come about the werewolves would be on our side. That was such an encouraging thought.

"Continuing on though, the next sign is in the eyes. I've only ever seen two colors in vampires, and one is a lot more rare than the other, actually I hadn't even seen the second until after my death." He paused, as if in thought before shaking his head and continuing. "It's all based on diet you see, which is rather handy for you all, it means you can tell what kind are more dangerous right off the bat."

Charlie frowned in confusion, "You can have more than one type of diet? Isn't all blood just the same?"

"Oh no, not at all. To start with, each person has a different scent, or flavor I guess. And then you have to take into account that as we were once human our bodies will be strongest when we feed on human blood, which gives the first eye color: red, blood red. And then there are vampires that don't feed on human blood, but from animals instead. From what I've seen it's a decision made cause they feel bad about killing you lot. This brings the second color into play, a sort of golden shade."

"So then… then you all do kill to eat?"

Mordecai nodded, "We haven't really got much choice there. When we hunt, we lose all sense of humanity that might be left in us, we literally become like an animal. Plus, even if we could stop before we drained the creature, well our venom would kill the person, would make them like us. And it's painful, more painful than anything you can imagine."

"Venom? You have venom? Like spiders and snakes?" Charlie would pick up on that instead of the whole 'it's painful' thing.

"Exactly like. It seems like we were designed to be perfect hunters. Nothing can beat us."

I shivered again, the dark tone to Mordecai's words frightening me a little. What chance did I stand of surviving if I had to deal with vampires? How do you beat a perfect hunter?

Mordecai seemed to pick up on my worries pretty easily and moved forward, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I told you not to worry so much, sweet girl. You're forgetting that you aren't just human. If you did get into a tough spot with the wrong sort of vampire, I reckon you'd be able to keep 'em from hurting ya."

"I would?"

"Of course. Honestly, don't you know your own species?" He sighed and shook his head, "More on that later, love. So you've got the two different diets for vampires; feed on humans, have red eyes, or feed on animals and have the more tawny color. It's extremely rare that you'll find the ones that feed on animals, at least in comparison with those that feed off of humans. It's kind of looked down upon by most vampires, those that know of it anyway. But if you come across any vampires, hope that it's this type as they're less likely to do anything to you."

Charlie snorted, "So stay away from vampires in general, but the golden eyed ones feel too bad to eat us, so they aren't too bad? Lovely… vampires with a conscience."

Mordecai laughed, "Would you prefer they all wanted to eat you?"

"…Fair point. Go on."

"Wait," I started, my curiosity getting the best of me, "if the sun doesn't hurt you all, why has it been such a huge part of the myths?"

"Clever Bella. It doesn't hurt us, but it does have an effect on us. See when I said our skin was hard, I should have said our skin is like diamond. When the sun hits our bare skin, we… well as weird as it sounds we sparkle like diamonds."

Charlie snorted softly, before letting out a full guffaw of laughter. "Oh that's just priceless!"

I raised an eyebrow at my father, looking confused, "What do you mean dad?"

"Think about it Bells, how terrifying is something that looks like it's covered in glitter?"

I smiled slightly, shaking my head at my father, "I doubt they'd be coming upon you in the sunlight, dad. It would kind of take away the element of surprise if you could tell they were different that easily."

Mordecai nodded, his voice rough with a slight annoyance when he spoke again, "She's right. We don't go in the sun if humans are around. We can't risk exposing ourselves. It is a right bit annoying though, gets old not being able to be out and about at certain times."

"So is that all? Cause this doesn't sound too much like we'd be able to spot them right away."

"Patience Charlie. They're beautiful, a perfection that is abnormal and often puts people off. Well, vampires in general attract the attention and admiration of you humans, but strangely enough you lot seem to realize how dangerous we are and never get too close. Not that most vampires are around humans any more than they need be."

"Beautiful…"

Mordecai nodded distractedly at my comment, his tone serious when he started up again, "Yeah, and as much as we try… well, we're different than you lot, and so often don't act like humans. We're too still, too aloof."

His words, specifically about how different they were immediately brought Jessica's explanation of the Cullens and Hales to mind. The way he had described everything really reminded me of the five teenagers. Everyone in the small town of Forks thought they were beautiful, but they never mingled, never bother to get to know anyone outside of their own group. And they were all pale, and I hadn't actually seen any of them eat at lunch. But Edward hadn't had tawny or red eyes… his had been-

"Black. Mordecai… I know you said that there were only the two colors… but what about black eyes?"

"Ah…" He sounded very pleased as he jumped up onto the kitchen counter. "Well observed Bella girl. Black eyes is something you need to be careful about, cause it has to do with hunger. The darker their eye color gets, the longer they've gone without feeding or the hungrier they are. Once they get to be completely black, well… let's hope you aren't close to one at that point."

Well observed? So I was right then? But why didn't he just come out and say it? I mean, surely he had to know as he said that he had been-

Of course! Why would the ghost of a vampire be following around human teenagers? That would have to be exceedingly boring for him, but if I were right, and the Cullens were vampires, why didn't he just tell me?

I stiffened in my seat, ignoring as my father and Mordecai continued the conversation without me. But he had warned me… one of the first things he had told me was that I wasn't safe here. And Edward had been next to me, acting strangely when this happened, glaring hatefully at me with completely black eyes.

I stood abruptly, grabbing my plate and heading to the sink as my mind panicked over the thought of what could have happened in biology today.

"Bells?"

My father's voice startled me into dropping my soapy dish into the warm water I had been using to wash it. I spun around to face him, hoping I didn't look as shell-shocked as I felt. "What?"

"It's a lot to take in, I know. But at least now you'll be able to better prepare yourself. You'll know now, if you come across one."

If… it certainly wasn't an if anymore. Edward Cullen was most definitely a vampire. And if that was true, then his siblings had to be as well. It was laughably ironic that I had moved here to get my gifts under control while in a safe environment, and instead I encountered a nest of vampires-were they even called nests? Maybe like bats, they were a colony. Either way, I truly had the worst luck imaginable.

But wait… he may have wanted to kill me in class, but he didn't… plus they had never done anything about Charlie before, which meant that they could not possibly know about our secret. It was safer then, to keep Charlie in the dark on this. After all, he didn't have enough power to pose any threat to them. It was just me that would be the problem. That settled it. I would have to pretend everything was fine for Charlie's sake, get trained as quickly as I could while avoiding the Cullens and then leave quietly.

"I know dad. It's just… up until a month ago I thought my biggest worry was which college I'd apply to after high school. And now, well I feel like my life has become some sort of drama." Keeping the ghosts a secret from Renee for so long had definitely made me a better liar. I didn't sound nearly as terrified as I felt at the moment.

Charlie stood up from the table, coming over to hug me and for once we were able to share a moment without feeling awkward. "It'll all work out okay, Bells. Just you wait." He pulled back and smiled timidly, "Why don't you go upstairs and get some rest." He held up a hand as I went to argue, "No, you made dinner, so I'll clean up tonight. Go do some homework or whatever it is you teenage females are supposed to do."

I smiled, a small laugh spilling past my lips. "Thanks dad." I glanced meaningfully at Mordecai before I rushed up the stairs to my bedroom. There was no way I'd be resting right now.

Mere moments after I had closed my bedroom door I saw Mordecai walk through it. "I take it we aren't telling your father."

I sat down heavily onto my bed, shaking my head. "No, no he doesn't need to know. Why didn't you just come right out and tell me though?"

"Tell you? At school? With them still there?" He shook his head and laughed, "You seem to be a smart girl, Bella, so you must know that that would have ended badly. No, this way you would have time to think things over. And I'd have time to let you know that even with the way Edward reacted in class, they won't hurt you."

I snorted at that, "Mordecai, he hates me. And his eyes were completely black. Based on what you've said, I can only assume he wants to eat me."

"Nah, these are the tawny eyed vampires. They don't eat humans. He was just having a hard time today. You don't have all too much to worry about with this lot, trust me. We just have to keep you away from him until he gets himself under control. Once that happens he'll most likely leave you alone."

I nodded slowly, "And the rest of them?"

"They aren't too bad. They might be a bit more eccentric than you're used to, but they're good enough people."

I groaned as I leaned back, my brown eyes focused on the ceiling, "I'm probably not lucky enough that the only dealings I'll have with them will be going to school and staying out of their way, huh?"

"I doubt it. If that were it, you really wouldn't have too much need for me. Don't worry though, you'll be fine. Why don't you get some rest, love, you've had a lot thrown at you tonight."

Sleep? How could Mordecai and my father possibly think that I would be able-let alone want-to sleep. Sure I hadn't completely embarrassed myself in front of my new schoolmates, but instead I had five vampires going to school with me! How was it possible for me to attract so much danger?

As if reading my thoughts Mordecai sighed, "It'll be easier to deal with school tomorrow if you're well rested and not exhausted from all the fretting. Besides, everything will still be there in the morning if you want to continue."

I shook my head, "In a little. I want to get everything we talked about written down in my journal." There was no way I was going to chance losing any of the information I had learned tonight.

I could almost hear Mordecai frown, "You're going to write it all down? Don't you think that's a bit dangerous?"

"Of course not! I mean, not unless something happens to me." I grabbed the journal and brought it to my chest to hug, "This journal goes everywhere with me. Besides if someone did manage to get a hold of it, there's a very simple excuse I could use."

"Oh?"

I grinned brightly, grabbing a pen to write with, "I'm writing a novel."

Charlie was gone by the time I finally convinced myself to get out of bed and start getting ready for the day. I had to admit that it was nice. I mean, I loved my mother dearly, but I liked that I didn't have to take care of Charlie much-aside from the cooking, of course.

If it weren't for the lack of sun and the over abundance of ghosts and vampires-not to mention the cold, wet and green-, I might have actually been able to enjoy Forks and living with Charlie.

"Bella, if you don't leave now you'll be late!"

All right, I could do without the newest version of Necromancer alarm clock. But Mordecai wasn't as bad as I had originally thought.

The drive to school was short, and thankfully, uneventful. In fact, it wasn't until I had slammed the car door and started to put my keys away that anything out of the ordinary happened.

One minute the space in front of me was empty as I shoved my keys into their pocket and the next a small, pixie-like teenager was standing in front of me, grinning broadly and almost vibrating in her excitement.

I gasped, instantly stepping back to fall against the side of my truck. Where in the world had she come from?

"Hi Bella! I'm Alice."

I frowned as I watched her, trying to get my still sleep addled-and now sufficiently startled-mind to work faster and decipher what was going on here. "Alice?"

"Alice Cullen. I know you're new here and I figured, since we have all the same classes now, with all the time we'll be spending together, we should be friends! I can already see we'll get along wonderfully."

Cullen? But wouldn't that mean…? My chocolate eyes widened as they drifted over the dark haired teen. Pale skin, check. Ridiculously beautiful, check. Eye color? And there they were, tawny eyes. Yup, this tiny slip of a teen was definitely a vampire. Then why would she want to be friends with me? Why was she even talking to me at all?

Maybe her brother had sent her to get rid of me? So I admit, that was a little bit dramatic in thought, but he had seemed to despise me yesterday. Plus he wanted to eat me. It was not so great a leap to think he might send his sister to draw out his supposedly unknowing prey.

My hands clenched into fists as I stared at her, trying to slow my rapidly beating heart. I could not afford to act suspicious and let on that I knew the Cullen's secret, but how was I supposed to get out of this?

Mordecai's chuckle relaxed me a little. He had basically stalked these vampires for a while and he had told me last night that they were eccentric, but that I needn't worry about them too much. But still… best not to push my luck and have her find out.

Clearing my throat I let my gaze drift back to Alice, trying my best to give her a friendly smile. "That's very nice of you. But moving back in with Ch-with my dad was quite a big change for me. I think I'd like to get used to that, get to know him again before I really start spending too much time with others, you know? Make sure he knows that he can trust me not to do anything stupid." Like spending all my free time with Vampires…

Alice grinned, waving a hand airily before she thrust her arm through my own and began dragging me easily away from my truck. Good lord she was strong! "That's just silly, Bella! Your father is the Chief of Police. Forks is a small town, but that's still a busy job. And I would never let you do anything stupid. Now let's go! I want you to meet someone before classes start!"

Again I heard Mordecai's laugh, following directly behind us and I shot him a glare over my shoulder, which only made him laugh harder. "Don't worry. Once you get used to her, she isn't so bad. I promise."

Was he crazy? She was a Vampire! And I was a Necromancer. Definitely did not make for a compatible mix. But I didn't have any way of telling him off at the moment, not with Alice still dragging me, so I settled for a continued scowl in his direction.

"Jazz!" My heart stuttered yet again as Alice bodily forced me over to another of the Cullen teenagers. All I had wanted to do was avoid them altogether! But no, on my second day there, they had broken their habits and decided to torment me.

'Jazz' turned out to be one of the Hale twins-Jasper was his proper name I learned-and Alice's boyfriend apparently. He also had this strange look about him, like he was in pain or something. When Alice introduced us, all he did was give a slight nod of his head in welcome, his body stiffening even more as he watched Alice cling to my arm. I didn't offer my hand to shake, because he looked as if he was as eager for my company-let alone my touch-about as much as I was for his. Which is to say: not at all. But there was no denying the little pixie-Vampire anything it seemed.

The blonde and I exchanged only the basic of common pleasantries before Alice decided it was acceptable for us to leave. She released her death grip on my arm long enough to flit over to her boyfriend and kiss his cheek, smiling brightly at him. "It's all right Jazz. We'll see you at lunch later!"

And then she had reattached herself to my arm, leading us away from the still stiff male. She was chattering animatedly the entire way to English and I was trying my best to listen, while still figuring out the best way to make my escape.

"Bella, watch out for the puddle."

Alice's abrupt change in conversation caught my attention and a small sound of confusion barely had time to pass my lips before one of my feet slid out from underneath me, and my poor grasp of balance failed me completely as gravity embraced me like an overeager grandmother. I threw my free hand out, my muscles tensing and eyes squeezing shut in preparation for the painful hit with the cement.

I did come in contact with something hard, but not where I expected it. Nor was it as painful as I was used to.

I opened my eyes as Alice let out a sigh and shifted her grip on my arm to get me firmly planted back on two feet. "Oh Bella. I told you to watch out." She shook her head slowly, a small smile tugging at her painted lips. "I can tell already it will be a task keeping you in one piece. Though it will be easier once we get you shoes with better grip. Really, Converse just aren't the best idea out here where it's always so wet." Her golden eyes lit with a mischievous glint before she grinned broadly. "Shopping! Oh I can't wait to take you out!"

I stared at her blankly, before my chocolate eyes shifted from her arm, to the puddle, my shoes and then back to her smiling face, my brows pulling together in utmost confusion. "W-what? Shopping?" This was quickly getting out of hand! "Alice, I really don't think that's a good idea. I mean, I've already spent most of my savings from summer on getting a warmer wardrobe."

Alice's good mood didn't falter at all at my ready excuse. "Think of it as a favor Bella." She let out a girlish laugh when I made a face. "A favor to me. If we get you better shoes I won't need to be saving you from stray puddles all the time. Plus," her grin widened, "I just can't let you wear such unfashionable shoes."

My frown deepened as I stared at her in a mix of horror and confusion. She was a Vampire that liked fashion? And she wanted to take me shopping? How had I ended up in my own personal twilight zone?

When Alice said that we would be spending time together, she meant it. The day before she had not been in a single one of my classes-I had been rather out of it, but I would have noticed her-and yet today she was in every one. And if that was not enough, she had made an excuse to each teacher about sitting next to me-something about how she was helping me get used to the school and to life in Forks-using such a sweet smile that all of the teachers had immediately agreed, not even questioning her entire shift in schedule.

What this all meant for me was even more attention. Not only was I the new girl, but one of the elusive Cullens found me interesting enough to start stalking me from class to class, a constant stream of chatter spilling forth, even though I had been told the day before that they kept to themselves. It also meant that I couldn't communicate with Mordecai at all without rousing her suspicion. Add it altogether and I was rather terrified about why she was following me around and so was jumping at every little noise or touch.

And there were plenty of touches throughout the first half of the day: to get my attention, to catch me when I inevitably tripped, to steer me out of the way of more than a few collisions-both with inanimate and animate objects. And it was the last that I found the most disconcerting. She seemed to be easily able to tell whenever I was going to make unpleasant contact with something or someone else. And she acted as if it were completely normal to need to steer me through my day.

It only made me more paranoid to think that she kept saving me from getting hurt. Why? Based on how her brother reacted shouldn't she be dragging me off to my doom?

By the time lunch came around I was antsy beyond all belief. And that was just with one Vampire. Now I would need to sit with two.

As soon as the bell rang, Alice slipped her arm through mine once more and began leading towards cafeteria. "You've already met Jazz, but I can't wait for you to meet Emmett and Rosalie." She then gasped, her lips pulling into the almost ever present smile. "Rose can come shopping with us!"

My heart stuttered even as my feet caught on some imaginary crack, the small pixie catching me without slowing our forward movement. Four Vampires… I would be eating lunch with four Vampires?

I'd like to think that this sent me into a state of shock, at least then I'd have an excuse for not noticing the oncoming danger sooner.

One minute I was walking rather reluctantly towards my doom, weaving my way in between loitering students and lockers, and the next… Well, the next thing I knew the other students screaming out near us. I had a quick glimpse of something overhead moving, before I felt a tugging on my arm and I found myself caught between Alice and the wall.

I stared dazedly at her for a moment, noticing just how cold she was and that my backside was now a tad bit sore from hitting the wall before I realized that she was speaking to me.

"Bella? Bella are you okay? Should we go to the nurse? Or Carlisle, he's a doctor!"

I shook my head slowly, glancing from the petite girl to the floor where we had been, noticing the sharp shards of glass littered about the hallway. "Wh-what just happened?"

Before Alice could explain to me, Mordecai was there, his shadowy form pointing up towards the ceiling where the light fixture had toppled from and where a figure that was certainly not a living person was now vanishing back into the wall. "We've got company is what happened. And your new friend just saved you."

Started: June 17, 2011 2:16 PM

Finished: December 23, 2011 3:15 PM