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Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own character.

Because of the lack of sleep, I really wasn't looking forward to spending the day at the festival. But I had promised Jess and Angela that this would be our hang out day and I didn't want to disappoint them. Lauren, thankfully, was off in Seattle shopping for a dress for the formal. Why someone would go all the way to Seattle for a dress that they are only going to wear once I would never know.

When I wondered downstairs after my shower I went directly for the coffee pot and got myself a large cup of the stuff. Charlie gave me an odd look but other than that said nothing about my early morning beverage choice.

"So, going to the Festival again today?" Charlie asked taking a sip of his own coffee.

"Yeah…with Angela and Jessica." Was the best answer I could give without more caffeine in my system. Charlie simply nodded and gave the usual 'be careful' speech. I eventually went back upstairs to finish the routine and figure out what to wear since we were going to be outside most of the day in forty degree weather. I decided on a green message tee, a grey plaid thermal to go underneath it, jeans, with grey tights under them (for warmth), and a pair of black patent black Doc Marten look a likes. The message tee I was wearing was one of the few I had that always made me laugh. It said in big white lettering 'A little Blonde goes a long way'; like I said it made me laugh every time I read it.

Jessica pulled up outside my house in her little blue Ford Focus around ten with Angela. I said goodbye to Charlie and the dog that even after almost a week I still couldn't come up with what I thought was a good name for her. Trust me I felt really bad about it too. I vowed by the end of the weekend that I would have a name for her, even if it was the last thing I did. Charlie just happened not to have to leave until after I did.

There were a lot of booths at the festival that were selling everything from food stuff to quilts and some of them even had pretty neat looking clothes. Angela, Jess, and I had gotten separated while wondering one of the big tents that held a bunch of booths, so I figured I would wonder around until either I found them or vice versa. I mostly browsed the different stalls, until I came to a very new agey looking booth that was nothing but candles, crystals, and talismans. The person working the booth was an older black man with hair that was predominantly grey. He was sitting in a rocking chair reading a newspaper and had a tabby cat in his lap.

"Well, hello there darling. What can I do for you?" He said in a cultured southern accent, while folding the newspaper up and putting it to the side.

"Nothing right now, just browsing; thanks though." I said while looking at the bracelets he had. He had some bracelets that were like mine (but much better quality) they were just round polished stones all the way around. I was tempted for two seconds to use some of the bracelets he had but I pushed that thought away. I would feel better about the bracelets and the magic I put into them if I was the one who made them. Although he did have bags of round stone beads so people could make their own if they wanted too. Now those I had no problem using for my own purposes. He was even selling them cheaper than the hobby store in town and from what I could tell they were also better quality. I ended up grabbing some Carnelian (fire bracelet), Blue Lace Agate (Air), Moonstone (for the light bracelet), and some Blue Aragonite (water). Even though the beads were cheaper here than the store in town, it still ended up costing me a pretty penny.

The man and I had a pretty good conversation while he rung up my purchases. Although he wasn't a wizard, at least I thought he wasn't, he was pretty knowledgeable about symbols, runes, and stones. That was where Jess eventually found me.

"Here you are. I thought you had disappeared into thin air there for a sec. I mean how would I explain that to the chief?" She said the last part with a bit of a smirk on her face so I knew she was kidding around.

"Your concern is overwhelming." I said as deadpan as I could. Jess just rolled her eyes at me then laughed.

"Well come on, Angela is finding us a table in the big pavilion and we have to grab lunch while she does that." Jess said as she grabbed my arm and started pulling me in that location. Before Jess's dragging had gotten me more than two feet the man raised his hand and asked us to wait a second. He turned around and looked at a group of his necklaces on the other side of the table. After a minute or two he grabbed one of them and walked back toward me.

"This is known as the charm of Boudicas, it is in honor of Albion a great female warrior who led her people against the Romans. It is a charm of courage and tenacity, I'm not saying you need those but even the very strong need help sometimes." He placed the necklace in my hand and wrapped my fingers around it. I just kinda stood there for a few seconds not really sure what I should do, Jess seemed to be having the same problem.

"Now the both of you need to get on outta here. Shoo!" He said walking back to his rocking chair and grabbing his newspaper and sitting back down. Very clearly dismissed, Jess and I made our way to the food stalls to get some lunch and then we went to find Angela.

The three of us ate our lunches while we talked about the different booths we had seen and what we had bought and were thinking about buying. I eventually told Angela about the one seller who gave me the necklace at which point she asked to see it. This was the first time I had actually looked at it since he had given it to me. The amulet looked like a fat crescent moon turned so that the points of the crescent were going upward. The crescent had weird swirly marks on it and the part that connected it to the leather cord had a crystal in it. The amulet, although not heavy wasn't very light either.

"Oh, that's really pretty." Angela said as she took it from me.

"Yeah, it is the amulet of Bodacious or something." Jess said admiring my new necklace as well. I just rolled my eyes and laughed a bit.

"Not Bodacious Jess, Boudicas."

"Oops, sorry." She said looking a little sheepish.

"Not a big deal I don't even really know who this Albion is really. I think I should have paid more attention in History." I said before grabbing a french fry and popping it into my mouth. Angela handed the necklace back to me not long after that and soon we were done with lunch.

The three of us decided to head over to the part of the festival that had all of the carnival games. Jess and I both refused Angela's repeated attempts to get us to go on some of the rides. Apparently Jess was just as creeped out by carnival rides as I was. I pretty much sucked at the games so I ended up just cheering Angela and Jess on as they played some; Jess was actually really good at them. She even won one of those large stuffed teddy bears.

Page Break

I got home around seven o'clock, Charlie wouldn't be back til around eight so I had decided to get dinner started while I had my daily phone call to Renee. Renee was going on about one of the other player's wives who had named their new baby daughter some name. I obviously wasn't paying very much attention to her cause Phil's teammates wives were not people I was interested in hearing about.

Phil was a minor league baseball player who, as of right now, was playing ball in Florida. How long that would last I have no idea. My mother for lack of a better phrase was playing cougar in the marriage with Phil. She was about ten years older than him, that didn't seem to bother him though. Phil was a pretty cool guy too; unlike some of Renee's other beau's he never tried to force a friendship between me and him and he was also a closest book nerd. Apparently with baseball players it wasn't cool to be a sci-fi/fantasy book nerd. Oh, well it pretty much meant that I got a lot of the books I had read for free because Phil usually had them stashed somewhere. We got a long pretty well too; he and Charlie on the other hand, not so much. It wasn't that one hated the other it was just I think Charlie always held out a little hope that Renee would come back. The two of them were always civil though it was more of an awkward feeling than anger.

"I mean who would name their daughter Lulu, Lulu are you serious." She said laughing lightly.

"Says the woman who just imagined up a name for her own kid." I said under my breath at the same time that the dog let out an excited bark. She stood there wagging her little stub tail excitedly with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.

"Hey Mom hang on a sec." I said putting the phone down on my chest and looking at the dog.

"What?" She continued to stand there wagging her tail. I just shook my head and lifted the phone back up to my ear.

"Sorry about that Mom go on."

"It's alright honey, anyway like I said what kind of woman willingly names their daughter Lulu?" The dog once again let out a loud bark. It took me a second to realize why she was barking the way she was.

"Hey Mom could you hold on again?" I said as I put the phone to my chest again.

"Lulu?" The dog barked again and wagged its tale.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." I said rubbing my forehead with my free hand.

"Ok, let's be sure about this." I said kneeling down to the dog who was now a few inches taller that me.

"Sandy?" Nothing.

"Uh, Willow?" Nothing again.

"Lulu?" She barked excitedly again and wagged her tail. I sighed and shook my head.

"Well, Lulu it is then." I rubbed the spot between her ears and stood back up.

"Sorry about that again Mom go on." And she did for another fifteen minutes. Charlie walked through the door around ten til eight, I said goodbye to Renee then happy for a reason to finally get off the phone. We ate dinner in relative silence, the only time it was broken was when I told Charlie the dog's new name. He had been taking a sip of his soda when I told him and he nearly spewed all over the table.

"You're kidding right?"

"Nope, sorry Dad." I said before taking a bite of my food. Charlie sighed and leaned back into his chair.

"What no other name appeal to you or something?" Charlie said looking at the dog who was lying on the kitchen floor watching us eat. Lulu just raised her head, pricked her ears up and cocked it to the side.

"I swear you females I just going to drive me insane." He said shaking his head and taking another sip of his soda. I, being the mature creature that I was, just glared and stuck my tongue out at him. That caused him to once again almost spew his soda all over the kitchen table.

I went to bed not long after finishing dinner; I dragged my feet the entire way there. I didn't dream that night, but the buzz/hum noise was there again. Just like before I didn't hear it til I was half way between awake and asleep, then it was just gone.

Page Break

I wasn't going riding today like I've done pretty much every weekend since I got here because Seth, Jacob and the rest were going to go to the festival. I decided to take Lulu for a walk around town both for the exercise and just the mental stimulation of seeing and being around new things.

It wouldn't take all day but it would give me something to do and I think we both could use the exercise. Charlie once again didn't leave til ten o'clock and once again gave me the normal be careful speech with one exception this time at the end of it he gave me a can of pepper spray.

"Now I know you have that magic stuff you can do but hey you never know." He said as he grabbed his coat, gave me a kiss on my head and left for work. Charlie's shift ended at six, but since this was the last day of the festival they were going to shoot off fireworks like they did the first night only bigger; so he was going to stay til the end. I wasn't going to go there til around seven or eight and Charlie and I were going to have dinner together there.

Page Break

Most everything in Forks was closed, the only things that weren't were the gas stations. The sun wasn't out but so far this weekend the weather had held well enough; that basically means that it didn't rain at least. Also the nights for the most part were clear, cold but clear. The vet after Lulu's injury had given Charlie one of those strap muzzles, the ones where it is only a strap of nylon that wraps lightly around the dog's muzzle. The vet had said that until we were sure that she could behave around people that we should put it on her if she went out were groups of people might be. I personally didn't think she would hurt anyone without a reason but it's better to be safe than sorry.

The walk was pretty normal, because of the festival there were very few people around. The occasional car would drive by usually heading in the direction of the festival. The walk gave me my first opportunity since arriving here to actually get a good look at Forks. Forks was a predominantly lumber town, the only other large employer in the area was the Parks and Recreation system and the Coast Guard. Beyond that there weren't too many chain businesses other than the one Starbucks and the Wal-Mart but that was almost an hour away. Forks didn't really have any tourism business either most of that went to Port Angeles which from what I saw had tourist trap written all over it.

While I was walking down the main road through town something in one of the store windows caught my eye. The window belonged to a dress shop (the only one in town from what I remember) and they seemed to be getting ready for the winter formal as well. Most of the things in the window were either blue or white and sparkly.

There was only one dress that didn't quite fit in with the rest and that was the one that caught my eye. It was a knee length white strapless dress with black flowers on it and a think black belt around the waist. It might not have been the most beautiful dress in the window but it was my kind of dress. Now before this I had never even thought about going to the formal but that dress was making me question that decision. Depending on how much the dress cost would greatly influence how much I thought about it. I couldn't see a price tag from my position on the street and the store was closed until Monday.

Page Break

The rest of the walk was uneventful; Lulu and I made it back home around two. I was a bit paranoid about staying home by myself but not destructively so. The fact that Lulu was there with me helped and that, apparently, Charlie had some of his deputy's run by the house ever once and awhile helped to. Since I had the time and because of the attack I decided to test my shield bracelet out to see how well and fast I could will the shield into being. I grabbed a rubber bouncy ball out of my room and sat on the floor in front of the couch facing an empty wall. I started off bouncing the ball gently off the wall and raising my shield when it got close. I admit it wasn't the best practice but for now it would just have to do. Lulu for the most part just laid next to me; the ball didn't really seem to interest her too greatly.

I only spent a couple hours messing with my shield and from my observations if I had time to focus I could stop a physical object (how many I wasn't quite sure). But if the object came at me to quickly my shield wouldn't have enough focus/power behind it and the object would get through. Trust me I had a knot on my head to prove it.

In theory if the shield would be able to at least stop magical energy from getting to me but how much it could handle I wasn't sure. For now it seemed that the good old F.E.A.R would have to work. F.E.A.R was something I saw in magazine once and it seemed to be pretty good thought. It stood for Fuck Everything AndRun!

I was watching TV and having a snack (chocolate moon pie, yum). When the phone rang, it was probably Charlie calling to check up on me.

"Swan residence, Broal speaking." There was no answer, not even the sound of someone breathing; after a couple seconds I heard whoever it was hang up. Needless to say I was more than a little freaked out. I double checked the locks on the both the front door and backdoor, as well as the ones on the windows. Charlie had a dead bolt put on the back door cause that was the only way any of them could figure the guy had gotten into the house.

I didn't voice the fact that the lock on the knob had been locked when I had run from the guy. I hoped that it was just a wrong number. It helped that not very long after checking the doors I saw a cruiser drive past the house. I decided to head upstairs and work on a couple more of my elemental bracelets; specifically water and air. The fire one would be the hardest one because as it had to be done with all of them I preferred to keep them immersed in its specific element for a good period of time. So it could retain some residual energy and all that stuff. I got to work on the water one first, since all I really had to do was put it in a bucket of water basically.

I spent another hour working on the bracelets and getting everything setup for it. Eventually I made my way downstairs again to watch some more TV. The phone didn't ring again, thank goodness. I fed and made sure Lulu had plenty of water before I left for the festival. When I got there I was of course forced to park practically all the way back in Forks. The parking lot (grass field) wasn't that muddy and the clouds looked like they were starting to thin out a bit so the fireworks would be on for tonight. I had thought that the festival had been packed Friday, and Saturday but the number of people here made both those days together seem small.

Page Break

I was making my way slowly but surely through the mass of bodies, toward the dining pavilion to meet Charlie. I was too busy paying attention to my feet so as to make sure I didn't fall that when someone bumped into me I didn't look up immediately. It was only after the person hadn't let go of my arm and their grasp was getting progressively tighter, than I looked up.

What I saw made my heart stop for a second then go into overdrive. The person holding my arm in their bone crushing grasp was a woman. She stood around 5'8" in heels so that meant she actually in reality wasn't much taller than me. She was wearing a knee length skirt and a twin set complete with pearls and a grey trench coat. Her hair was a mixture of auburn and chocolate brown, and it came down in soft waves around her face. The thing that stuck out the most was her eyes; they were almost entirely black. Now I don't mean that the iris's were really dark brown, I mean they were entirely black and took up all of her eye. Right then and there I knew that I was dealing with a Red Court vampire.

Red and White Court vampires for the most part look human; the only way to really tell for both groups is their eyes. White Court for the most part usually have grey or blue eyes. When they get hungry or as Thomas puts it 'the monster nears the surface' their eyes turn whitish silver.

Red Court as long as they are in their human 'skin' can pretty much have any color eyes. It is once again when they are hungry or angry do their eyes change color. I had seen Thomas's eyes change color once, but I had never seen a Red's change I had just been told what to look for. And now I had firsthand experience with seeing a Red's hunger filled eyes.

To say I was terrified is like saying Alaska is cold. The woman knew it too; she smiled at me showing almost all her teeth.

"Well, un poco. We finally meet. I wonder did you enjoy my little…present?" She said with a slight Spanish accent. I just stared at her blankly not really getting what she was talking about.

"I'm guessing you didn't cause you're here and he is not. No matter, I have many more….gifts where that came from." She also had been squeezing my arm tighter and tighter as she spoke to the point that she had cut off the circulation. I couldn't speak let alone scream, a part of me knew that neither would have done me much good. She obviously wanted me dead and she knew that I couldn't throw magic around not with this many people around. I also didn't put it past her to have some of her 'people' in the crowd. She suddenly stilled and seemed to look around hastily; it was almost like she was scared of something.

"Well it seems that you and I will have to finish our…..conversation at another time. Til then un poco." She gave my arm one last hard squeeze and faded into the crowd to the point it was like she had never been there at all. I stood there rubbing my arm waiting for the tingles in my hand and lower arm to go away when I became aware of someone standing next to me.

"Hey you ok?" It was Emmett, I don't think I had ever been so happy to see one of the Cullen's in my life. His presence was what apparently made the she vamp think twice about doing anything to me. Just another thing to add to the growing list. Apparently whatever the Cullen's are freaks Red Court vampires out.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Talk about a crazy bitch." I said trying to shrug off the incident like nothing happened. I would have to tell Charlie about the Red vamp, I didn't want to but with her around this was more than just about me. Emmett just raised an eyebrow at in question.

"How's your arm? Carlisle's not too far away maybe he should take a look at it, just to be safe." I just stared at him for a couple seconds. A few weeks ago he and his family had pretty much called me a toy that had lost all of its fun, in front of the entire school too and now he wanted to play friend. What the hell.

"Thanks for the offer Emmett but I'm fine. I have to go find my Dad now, I'll see ya." I made to walk past him when his arm shot out to grab my shoulder, he thankfully did it lightly though.

"I think he should at least look at it."

"I said I'm fine." I said through gritted teeth, it wasn't actually all that fine. I could feel it throbbing as we stood here and talked.

"Well then I'm sorry about this."

"Wha….ah! Put me down." I said as Emmett lifted me on to his shoulder, he did it gently so it didn't hurt it was just uncomfortable.

I didn't struggle while he carried me cause I didn't want to fall from this height; that would really hurt. It wasn't long before he put me down right in front of Carlisle and Esme. I didn't see any of their other children. Thank God. Emmett had placed me down on the ground of one of the smaller picnic pavilions around the grounds. It was largely empty except for, obviously, me and the three other Cullen's.

"Emmett…?" Carlisle said/asked looking at Emmett with his eyebrow raised.

"Some lady was messing with Broal and hurt her arm. I said that she should have you look at it, she refused, I decided I'm bigger than her and brought her here anyway." Emmett said smiling his very cute and child like dimpled smile. Carlisle just shook his head, while Esme looked like she was trying to hide her own smile.
"I apologize for Emmett, Broal. But he's right maybe I should check your arm and Esme can go find your father?"

"Fine." I said sounding like a petulant child as I plopped down on one of the picnic table benches. I would have crossed my arms across my chest but I was worried that I might hurt my already injured arm.

"Oh, Esme. My Dad is in the main food pavilion."

I had to take one side of my clothing off so Carlisle could check my arm. Thankfully I had decided to wear a tank top underneath my other clothes so at least I wasn't exposed. It did make things a little cold though. My arm was pretty badly bruised; it was already turning a blackish purple color.

Carlisle examined it for a few minutes; he only touched it once though which was good cause even the lightest touch hurt like hell. The one half of my shirt was still up when wouldn't you know it the rest of the Cullen's (Esme was still looking for Charlie I think) showed up. Oh, goody. Rosalie had the normal pissed off look on her face. Gabriel looked for the most part unconcerned with the giant black/purple bruise on my arm. The rest had more varying reactions. Jasper tensed up like someone who was about to take a swing at someone. Alice just gasped and put her hand over her mouth. Edward had the most vocal reaction of all.

"What the hell happened?" He didn't yell it but you could still feel the power behind his words. Emmett, who up til this point had been standing like a really big bull dog next to me, took a step forward and spoke up.

"Some crazy bitch tried to hurt Broal. I scared her off though." After the last part he smiled.

"Do you have any idea who she was?" Jasper asked in a scary calm voice that sent shivers down my spine. All I could really do was sit there and shake my head no, never meeting his eyes. About that time was when Esme returned with Charlie in tow, he looked worried. He got a look at my arm before Carlisle finally gave me the ok put my arm back through the sleeve.

"What happened?" Before Emmett could answer for me I spoke up.

"Some crazy lady grabbed my arm while I was walking through all the people down near the front of the festival. Emmett showed up and scared her away though." Emmett puffed out his chest after last part, I saw Rosalie roll her eyes when he did. The rest of the group seemed to have relaxed for the most part except for Charlie, Jasper and Edward.

"Did you get a good look at her?" Charlie asked rubbing one of his hands across his face. I looked at him and made a point of looking at the rest of the group before answering him.

"Uh, yeah sorta." Charlie thankfully got the hint.

"Well, then do you feel up to staying til the fireworks or do you wanna just grab some food and head home?"

Although I really wanted to see the fireworks I was more concerned with getting back behind the wards at home than anything else.

"Yeah Dad, let's just grab some food and head home." Charlie nodded his head, thanked Carlisle, Emmett and Esme for their help and started to walk off.

"Hey, Dad I'll be there in like two seconds. Ok?" Charlie just nodded his head and started walking again, although at a much slower pace than before. I stood up and walked to the edge of the group of Cullen's before turning to face them.

"Thank you for the help. Both with today and after…when my ankle was twisted." I took a deep breath before continuing.

"But, this doesn't change or take back what you said and did to me before then. That can never, ever be taken back. One day I will probably forgive most of you." I looked very pointedly at Rosalie.

"I will warn you though you don't get three strikes with me. You only get two if you ever pull anything like that ever again it will be like you never existed; to me at least. And if you haven't figured it out yet I don't take betrayal lightly. I hope you all have a nice evening and I'll see you guys at school on Monday." I nodded my head at them and turned to catch up with Charlie.

Page Break

Charlie and I had dinner and then drove home. The ride in the car was quiet, but I knew the minute we got home I would get the third degree until I told him what really happened. We hadn't been home more than a minute or two before Charlie asked me to take a seat in the living room. He asked it in his Chief voice too, this wasn't going to be good.

"Alright kid start talking."

"Ok the woman who came after me today she was…..she's…..it was Red Court vampire." I ducked my head and scratched behind Lulu's ears. Charlie was quiet for a few minutes, when I finally looked up at him he had a look of concentration on his face.

"Those are the vampires that run around in a human skin right? And are weak against sunlight and holy water?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah and it's any item of faith can repel them not just holy water. She was the one who sent the guy here Dad."

"Shit." Was all he said for another couple of minutes.

"Ok, that's it your going back to your mother's at least there the sun will be able to protect most of the time." The idea of going back in reality scared me more than staying here and dealing with everything.

"No, Dad I'm not running." He gave me a look of disbelief and before he could say anything I continued on.

"If I run it will just make things worse. At least here you know most of the basic signs to look for and you know the world those things come from for the most part. And the guy just proved that whether that no matter where I go she could still get to me."

"Broal" He sighed.

"What do you want me to do? It's too dangerous for you to stay here if she's here. I know Harry strengthened the wards around the house but what about when you go to school? Or out to the store or wanna hang out with your friends it's too dangerous."

"Dad like I said it will be dangerous no matter where I go. I'll get a cross necklace or something and I have my bracelets too. You need to get a necklace too." Charlie sighed I knew that he knew that I was right.

"Alright, I'll give the Warden hotline a call as well as Thomas maybe he can tell us who this whack job is." Charlie stood, kissed me on my head and walked to the kitchen to make the phone calls.

When I went to bed that night exhausted from the events of the day. Lulu slept in my room tonight, at one point I thought I heard her growl but since I didn't hear anything else I just wrote it off as me just hearing things.