She rose lazily to her feet, her fluid motions captivating and flooding my senses as she made her way towards me.

"I thought you were passing through…" I stared at her, intrigued by the mystery. Why on earth would Jacob consider this statuesque creature dangerous? She looked like she'd lose a fight against a butterfly.

Alice's eyes fixed on mine, as though she was trying to hone in on something before lightly shaking her head back and forth. "I am useless when it comes to changing tires."

I chuckled as I grabbed the tire iron from her hands and moved to inspect the damage. Strange… the tired looked slashed as opposed to being blown. I didn't press for answers, I simply began to work on removing the lug-nuts.

"Great luck that you'd be out here…" Alice mumbled. She appeared disappointed, maybe she had been hoping for a young hot guy to pass by as opposed to my stringy self.

"Yeah…"

"Make any friends yet?"

Her question took me by surprise, "Uh, why?"

"Oh, I know how they can be to new people here…" Alice's eyes peered at my car, eyes fixing on something that I couldn't make out.

"Oh, yeah, well they have been splendid..." Alright… now to get this beast of a tire off… and get home.

"So, have you met anyone interesting?" She was fishing, and wasn't trying to hide it.

"Why don't you ask me who it is you are wondering about...?" I sighed, not trying to hide my annoyance.

"You get straight to the point…" Alice grinned, kneeling next to me as she gave me a once over.

"Well, I figure why waste seconds of your life trying to beat around the bush… Have you ever added some of those seconds up and really did the math?" I groaned as I wiggled the tire off –allowing it to fall with a PLOP to the moist ground.

"Wasting seconds of my life…" Alice's grin widened. "Bella Swan."

I stopped and looked at Alice. A sense of protection rising in the pit of my stomach. In this wreck of a town, Bella and Jacob were my only sanctuaries. They were real people, honest, and unapologetically themselves. They were my kind of people – knowing full well that I was unaware of my lifespan in this place, I knew I had to keep my few thriving relationships alive. I didn't answer as I stood and reached for the spare. I watched from the corner of my eye as Alice's face turned empty; I didn't hesitate though as I replaced the old tire and began returning the Lug-Nuts back to their rightful places. She held the tire iron out for me and I glanced at her briefly as I took it.

"Well, you are hard to read." Alice mumbled, wiping her palms on her jeans.

"Sorry, I just don't find a reason to talk about Bella."

"Well, I don't see why not. Has she not mentioned me to you?"

"Oh, I've heard enough…" I struggled to say, my breath was catching as I quickly attempted to tighten each nut.

"Oh, you have? Well, in all of these would be facts, I am sure you've been so pleasantly introduced to, did anyone mention she was my best friend?" Alice's eyes narrowed, giving her once pixie like face a sinister look.

"Key word being was…" I said, allowing my eyes to lock with hers. "I'm not going to give you a status report on her or let you fish about her. If she was so important, you could've kept in touch." I held out the tire iron as I rose to my feet, "Done… you may want to get A.A.A. so you don't have this problem again." I rolled my eyes and began to head to my car.

Alice called out to me just as I opened my door, "I am glad someone is taking care of her. Thank you."

I said nothing as I got in, started my car, and drove off.

Jude wouldn't answer my phone calls and Bella was acting strange, insisting she wanted to sleep the remainder of the day… my first thought was a concussion, however the doctor at the ER cleared her. And apparently Jacob Black decided to vanish into thin air. Of course! I paced the interior of my room for what seemed like hours when Bella called me, frantic.

"Can you come here?"

"Sure! What happened?" I said, rushing to grab my keys and a sweater.

"Please, hurry."

I ran downstairs and called out to my Mom, who was busying herself with a small batch of cookie dough, "Mom, I am heading to Bella's! Think her head is playing up from the accident!"

I didn't realize how accurate that statement would be until I arrived at Bella's and found her pale. Twigs in her hair and pacing. Is that how I looked when I went to my bad place? I moved slowly to sit on her bed.

"Bells, sit down."

"If I tell you something, it stays between us." I nodded in response and her body seemed to relax. She continued, "You can't commit me either."

"Bells, spill it!" I said, patting the bed, "Why do you look like Swamp Things cousin?"

"I see him." The words rushed out of her mouth, almost fighting one another to be first, as though they had been anxiously awaiting their escape.

"Okay… uh… see who, exactly?" I pulled something too close to an earthworm from her hair and chucked it to the floor.

"Edward." Pain filled her voice.

"Edward? This being who?" Only a second passed by before I realized the answer to my question, "You're ex?"

"Yes! I see him! When I'm, I dunno, in danger…"

"Okay, Bella… I need you to listen to yourself…"

"Don't do that! Don't freaking do that!" Bella rose to her feet and stomped around like an angry pit bull. "I am not crazy!"

"Uhm, I never said you were…" I watched the frantic motions of my friend and grew more and more concerned… realizing she probably hit her head harder than anyone realized.

"That's why I had Jake fix the bikes! That's why Jessica thinks I'm a crackhead!" Bella's hands danced wildly with her words.

"Bella. Explain." I ordered, a maternal tone overwhelming my voice.

Bella stopped suddenly and looked at me, a sense of relief lingering in her eyes. It appeared as though she had been dying to share her secret – as though she had yearned to scream this at anyone who would listen. She sat next to me and inhaled deeply before looking at me, "I went out with Jessica a couple weeks back. My dad was really on my ass about acting normal again. I didn't realize it had gotten that bad, honestly…" She was fidgeting with her fingers and I fought the urge to grab her hand to keep her still. "Jessica and I saw a movie and hung out, ya know, did that chic thing or whatever… but at one point… at one point I saw him. I was being stupid… reckless, really, and I saw him. It was so real… so perfect, I was shocked." Bella's eyes were welling with tears, but she continued, "I knew it wasn't him, but his voice was so clear, so perfect. I could almost smell him again… and it didn't stop there. Any time I've been in a terribly stupid or dangerous situation, I see him."

"You saw him today, didn't you?" I asked eagerly. "That's what you were talking about!"

"Yeah, I saw him several times before I lost control. I just lost it. And now, I was running around in the forest and he was there… everywhere, screaming to go back!" Bella was shaking now, her hands wiping fiercely at the falling tears.

I quickly clutched her hands in mine, "You aren't crazy."

She looked at me, almost stunned by my response. "Honestly?"

"Honestly. You aren't! But Bells, you have to be careful! What if something happens to you?"

Bella didn't seem to care, she was only concerned with her odd gratification. "I wanna see him again."

I felt like a rat lost in a weird maze, watched by portly sadistic scientists as I ran in circles in search of cheese.

My parents had been studying me, my every move – every word, afraid I might fling myself from a window. I considered it, at one point, but found more satisfaction in tossing my sister out instead. However, I didn't want to add Homicidal Freak next to dumpee on my resume. My nails were nonexistent, chewed down to boyish nubs. I had, however, managed to maintain my hygiene and proper nutrition… aside from tonight…

I had excused myself from dinner and had been sitting in my room for not more than five minutes when Cassidy began to vomit her opinion onto my parents, "Really, it's her own fault. Have you seen those people she calls her friends? I can't blame Jude… you are who you hang with…"

"Cassidy Anne! That is no way to speak about this situation or those involved!" My Mother's attempt to remain neutral on the topic was slowly wavering, her voice broke a few times – not with pain, with curiosity.

"Either way, they were too young to be planning a forever together… after all, there's college and a whole new world out there." Of course my Father was resolute in his opinion of keeping me free from boys… I was the youngest of his beloved daughters, so in fairness, it was to be expected.

"Still, she's just stupid to think she can run around with this Jacob kid all the time and ignore Jude and expect Jude to be all peaches and bunnies about it." I could hear the clinking of silverware as Cassidy spoke, apparently my parents had yet to draw their conclusions, however it was unlikely they even contemplated that their 'devoted' daughter was cheatng with a local.

My cell phone rang. I did not want to answer it, though I knew it would be better than listening in on my families conversation about me.

"Yeah…" I groaned.

"Chrystine?" Maybe I should've let it go to voicemail.

"Hey Jessica."

"It's been a while. So, what have you been up to?"

"Nothing."

"So, I heard the bad news… sorry about the breakup, but hey, you're hot – you won't be single for long!" Jessica was on the verge of having her nails ripped off…

"I don't want to think about that Jessica. Why are you calling?"

"No reason, just wanted to talk to you!"

"Oh… have you seen Bella lately?"

"Not really, I haven't seen her at school – I assumed you both were skipping class."

"No. I haven't seen her for a while. It's been several days…" I considered the possibility of her being with Jacob, after all no one had been answering at his house for the last week it seemed.

"Well, I was thinking, what if you and I went into Seattle…?" Jessica's voice was anxious, yet hopeful.

"Uh.."

"It'll be fun! Cassidy could come."

"I'll pass, Jessica. I gotta go eat dinner with the family." I didn't wait for her to reply. I held the small red button on my phone until it was off. I turned off my bedroom light and crawled into bed, glancing out the window, I once again saw to glowing red orbs. I fell asleep with that image firmly fixed in my head.

I awoke with a start, I could feel an ice cold breeze on me – however I knew my window had been closed. I sat up and reached for my lamp, but felt a sudden sting as bits of thin glass scrapped at my fingertips. The bulb had been shattered. I opened and closed my eyes several times, forcing them to adjust to the moonlit room. Nothing seemed out of place – everything was where it had been when I fell asleep. My curtains flapped in the icy breeze and I could see my window had been completely pushed open. I assumed Cassidy was being oh-so sisterly towards me, until I saw the red orbs in the far corner of my room. I squinted slightly – trying to make out the shapes in the shadows. I couldn't tell what was crouched over, but I did know whatever it was shouldn't be in my room.

I opened my mouth to scream for my Dad when a sudden throaty growl caused me to freeze, before I could blink, something – or someone – was on top of me.