There came a day, q little over a week after Xan's arrival, when four of Carlisle's young ones returned instead of five. Xan had started to feel as if she were a part of the family now, so the loss of Edward was a tad of a blow to her, even though he'd despised her for reasons she'd been unable to fathom.

So, if it was a blow to her, imagine the devastation of the others.

"Stupid human," Alice cursed.

"WTF, man," Emmett muttered.

"He seemed quite distressed, as well," Jasper added.

"Humans are so dumb," Rosalie added, which wasn't really a blow to the specific human as it was to all of them.

Xan could only tilt her head confusedly to the side and let a blob of drool escape the corner of her mouth. This signaled that she was critically perplexed.

She listened to Alice's explanation beside Carlisle once the whole family was recruited.

Alice had deciphered from her view of Edward's future that the human--Isabella Swan--had an unreadable mind. That, combined with the already present irritation from Xan's presence and the masking of thoughts built an unstable mountain of frustration in Edward, which caused his running away--though her incredibly intoxicating scent definitely had played a part.

"So she's like me?" Xan asked excitedly, grinning wildly.

"That's nothing to be happy about!" Alice snapped.

"As far as we know," Jasper said. "We don't know if our abilities will work on her, either."

"So Edward's going up to Tanya's," Carlisle surmised.

"Oh, that's the other coven like you, right?" Xan piped up.

"Yes," Carlisle answered. "He'll probably stay there until he can gain ahold of himself once more."

Esme shuddered in a suppressed sob. Xan could guess that she'd have started to cry had she been able to do so in her current vampiric state.

"How dreary," Alice sighed, slumping back into her chair. Jasper slung an arm around her and sighed as well.

"Well, we'll have to await his return, then," Carlisle concluded. He stood, rubbing his temples. "Until then, let's keep an eye on this Isabella, shall we?"

"'Bella,'" Rosalie mocked. "'Call me Bella.'"

Emmett chuckled and punched Rosalie's arm playfully.

"Xan?" Carlisle asked. She nodded. "How are you doing? Your thirst?"

"My thirst is fine," Xan answered. "I haven't been around any humans, so I can't exactly test it."

"Really?" Jasper gasped, leaning forward, interested. "You haven't drunk for four days, and you aren't thirsty?"

"No," Xan said. "Well, a bit, I guess. But I can suppress it, of course. Can't you?" she sighed. "I haven't been able to find out yet, but it seems I'm extra resilient when it comes to human blood. I don't understand it."

Carlisle smiled. "Then let's test it."

Jasper squeaked. "But she just got here!" he objected. "We can't be sure she'll be able to control herself!"

"I can trust her," Carlisle said.

"But--"

"But nothing."

"Edward would have a fit if he wasn't here when the time came."

"He'll never know until he returns."

"I don't know."

"Then we'll take her to Bingo."

"Bingo?" said Xan.

"Bingo."