Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyer! Oh, Jace Wayland belongs to Cassandra Clare, of course!

Author's Note: Hey guys! It's been a long time, I know. But I decided it was time to write again. I'll slowly update all of my stories. I'd like to say thanks to Jane, the girl who had the patience to fix my grammar mistakes.

Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Home

"I'm going home back to the place where I belong
Where your love has always been enough for me
I'm not running from.
No, I think you've got me all wrong
I don't regret this life I chose for me
But these places and these faces are getting old
So I'm going home
Well I'm going home"

Daughtry – "Home"

Nessie hung up the phone for the last time feeling tired and moody. Mostly she felt sad. After fifteen minutes explaining to her parents what was going on in Forks and another twenty minutes making all the arrangements for her return to Providence, where they'd been living for the past two years, she felt like she needed a break.

She went to the small bathroom annexed to the bedroom, washed her face, and changed her worn out clothes for a pair of grey sweatpants, a blue T-shirt and sporty flats. Not exactly X-Men's stylish leather outfits, but she did have the impression that Kill Bill's The Bride had better ideas about comfort outfits than did Professor X.

Feeling a bit more human, she came out of her bedroom to find out that Charlie and Sue had fortunately retired for the night. If everything worked out, Charlie would never find out about what was going on. Nessie had promised Bella to not tell the whole story about how bad the situation was; even if Charlie knew a bit about vampires and shape shifters, there was no reason to scare him.

"Hey!" said Seth, coming from the kitchen with a coffee-pot that smelled like Heaven. "I was about to call you. They finally went to sleep."

Nessie flashed a thankful smile at him. "Oh, Seth! Did you make some coffee?" She felt she could kiss him for that.

He smiled and said sheepishly, "I thought we both would need some, keeping watch and everything." He gestured toward the coffee table where a chess board, a deck of cards, and other games, as well as chocolates, candies and all of sorts of sweets, were waiting for them. "So?"

Nessie climbed down the last steps and clapped her hands excitedly. "Wow! Aren't you just awesome? You'll be a very good husband!"

Seth rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Miss Bennet. Let's just play, shall we?"

Three cups of coffee and two chocolate bars later, Nessie felt like she could beat half the Volturi guard by herself. She was being shamelessly defeated by Seth but couldn't bring herself to mind. The world had turned into a nice place again. She made a risky move with her bishopand had leaned against the nearest sofa, lazily un-wrapping a third chocolate bar, when she saw a shadow climbing up the stairs of the entrance of the house.

"Jake!" she sang, getting up very quickly to open the door. Seth was just behind her, happy, but a bit preoccupied. However, all she felt was her heart speeding up when she saw his face, her cheeks flushing a bit. She would start bubbling soon. What a bother, she thought, irritated. Then she remembered Ashanti and the feeling cooled down.

"You're kind of early," commented Seth, burying his hands in the pockets of his faded jeans. But Nessie could see the tension in his shoulders.

"Yeah!" she agreed, relieved that she didn't have to deal with her feelings now. "Did you find him? Did you discover what is he doing here?"

Jacob groaned and came in. "Not even close, sweety. That leech is a sneaky one. I'll give him that. But we'll get him, I'll promise you that." He ruffled her hair, laughing when she protested and turned to Seth. "But now we have other problems."

Annoyed, Nessie patted her hair back into place and asked, "Wait, what? What can be worse than a Volturi guard?"

"There is a coven of vampires in town," said Jacob, his face grim with hate. "Brady said they sneaked in when we were after Demitri in the suburbs. It seems they attracted a group of girls to the woods."

A shiver went down her spine, and she sat at the edge of a nearby sofa to process the information. She felt so sorry for them. It was a stupid way to die. But what chance did they have?

"What do you want me to do?" asked Seth.

Jake hesitated, shooting Nessie a quick glance. But she was looking down, her face pale. A wave of protectiveness washed over him. It was just too bad this was happening now when she was about to go to school. The Cullens had protected her the best way they could, but they couldn't do it for forever. Vampires were always too close to death. The idea had been to make her live among humans in a sunny place. Maybe one day, he thought. If there was anything good about being supernatural, it was all the time they had.

"I know you're here protecting your mom, but we don't know if they've spread in the woods, putting the girls in different locations. So I think we would be faster with more wolves to track them down."

"Sure. I'll be going. Mom and Charlie will be fine with Nessie here. We are in the middle of the city."

"But what if this is a threat?"

She raised her head, and he saw her lovely wide brown eyes. It was what he loved most about her face. She didn't look scared as Jacob had expected. Instead her eyes were dark and glassy. The expression was fierce, like a cornered animal. A part of him reacted to this vision, and in not a good way.

"Because it's very convenient that this vampire coven shows up just now."

Jacob shrugged. "Maybe, but we don't have a choice. There are lots of tourists in Forks right now. They are good targets. They don't know this area; they are naïve, reckless…"

"They don't deserve to die, Jacob," said Nessie.

"No, they don't. But now I have to leave you here and track them down—or just find out what has become of them, haven't I?" he asked, a bit more sharply than he wanted.

She took a step back, and he hated himself for hurting her like this. "Nessie—"

"Don't worry about me. It's better if you two leave now. There is no time to waste. I hope you guys find them well." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Jacob looked as if he was about to say something, but he gave up and left with Seth on his tracks.

Nessie locked the door feeling unprotected and exposed. She sighed and went to check the whole house once again. Then she went back to the living room, planning to clean up the mess Seth and she had left. And maybe catch up a bit with Jace Wayland of The Mortal Instruments; Nessie's thesis was that there was nothing that a good hero couldn't fix.

Then she heard a noise: quiet steps of someone skirting around the house. She watched, terrified, as a shadow passed in front of the windows. The sound stopped at the back door.

Demitri was here.

Her heart pounding, Nessie crossed the living room and the corridor toward the kitchen and stopped again, trying to gain some control, her eyes darting toward every window, trying to find a way to run to Charlie and let him know. But there wasn't one and she knew it. From the light and the movement, she knew pretty well Demitri had just waited for Seth and Jake to leave.

She'd have to deal with him. So she took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Good evening," he said, politely.

She tried to find a reason to be rude to him but couldn't, so she simply replied, "Mr. Demitri. Good evening. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He smiled, but the effect of his burgundy eyes was more disturbing than attractive on him.

"I hope the hour is not too inconvenient." He put a hand inside his jacket and took out a thick ivory envelope. "I came to deliver you this."

Nessie took the envelope, confused. "A letter? Why didn't you send it by mail?"

His smile was sharp as a knife. "I'm sure you wouldn't like this to fall into the wrong hands, my dear. We are old fashioned, the Volturi." He paused as his eyes studied the kitchen. Nessie felt herself tensing, but she tried to keep her face expressionless. "Are your relatives awake?"

"I'm afraid it's very late, Demetri. Today was very tiresome, you know. Please, do send my best regards to Aro!" she said cheerfully, ready to shut the door in his face just for of the pleasure of doing it.

He put the hand on the door to stop it. "One more thing, my dear." His face was very close to hers. She could feel his cold, minty breath. "Tell your Mother to place her stories in some more populated location next time. All those girls, walking in the woods just to get a glimpse of their favorite actor." He sighed, dreamy. "Such a shame."

Nessie felt her anger boiling inside her, so she shut the door in his face because the other option was to punch that smug face until it cracked. She heard his laugh as she left the kitchen and climbed up the stairs as quickly and silently as she could. Fortunately, Charlie and Sue didn't seem to notice anything. She went to her bedroom and closed the door behind her, her hands ripping open the envelope and with it the green candle wax molded with the stylish V of the Volturi.

A small pile of photographs fell on the colorful duvet. Nessie picked up the first one and winced. The whole pack was the portrait of an afternoon two weeks ago. Someone had been following her.

It was the beginning of summer, a lovely sunny day in Providence. She was taking a break after one of Esme's English classes and her grandmother insisted she should go for a walk and get some air. She had agreed and went to a small coffee shop where the students of the university were celebrating the end of exams. And someone had caught her eye, a lovely boy called Matt, who had offered to buy her an ice cream. She remembered mumbling something in agreement and then them going for a walk in the park.

Nessie didn't talk much, but she listened to him talk about his life in Florida and how he wanted go to the same university his brother was studying at the next year. She'd never been a shy person, but she had found herself in a situation that she wasn't expecting: having to lie. It came easily, but she felt awful for doing it. He was such a nice guy.

Then he kissed her. And she almost bit him.

When she thought about that, her cheeks burned in shame. She knew it was wrong. But she got carried away by his kisses, the silky feeling of the touch of his skin on hers. His warmth and, most of all, the smell of his throat. God, he smelled of summer!

And now, she was staring at the picture of herself staring the neck at of the poor boy, as if she was some, some maniac.

"Oh, my God!" she groaned, picking up the pictures and ripping them. Thick tears rolled down her face as she opened the letter itself. It was made of the same expensive material as the envelope. It said:

"Dear Miss Cullen,

"I'm sure you must know that the secrecy of our species is an essential part of our existence. Your behavior has put that in jeopardy. So, for the present, I'm giving this one and only warning. You'll be under surveillance by one of our guards for an undetermined period. If I'm not satisfied, the peace agreement with the Volturi will be cancelled and your coven will be destroyed.

Marcus"

Nessie went to the bathroom and threw up all of the salmon and the chocolates she had for dinner.

She cried herself to sleep that night, fully dressed and wrapped up in the duvet like a burrito. She didn't even hear Seth coming back. Now pale sunlight was getting through the half shut curtains.

But she didn't have much time, so she took a quick shower and put on her best travelling clothes: a pair of black leggings, a pale grey lightweight sweater dress and a pair of comfort black flats. She brushed her rich auburn hair and her teeth and packed up her things. She felt sad for doing it. Her vacation had ended before it even started. But there was no use whining over this anymore, she thought. Things were simply this way and she would have to find a way to get through it.

Seeing that everything was packed and the bedroom was neat, she took some time writing one letter to Jacob and another to Seth explaining why she was leaving earlier. She had intended to tell them yesterday but hadn't heard them come back. Plus, she was simply too ashamed to look Jake in the face. Jake had some really strong opinions about vampires. Sure, he liked her family and all. But the way she had behaved, almost sucking a guy in the park? Nah. She needed some time to recollect her thoughts. She expected that when they had moved away from Cambridge, to their new life in Vancouver, she would be better. Wiser. In her letter she invited him to visit them in Canada but explained that things would be too messy by now. That hurt. A lot.

She found Charlie sitting by the kitchen table, reading the newspaper with a mug of coffee in one hand while Sue was busy frying eggs and bacon. The weather was good, so she bet he was going fishing with some of his friends. He raised his head looking surprised.

"Hey. Girl! It's kind of early for you, isn't?" he asked good-humoredly as he took a sip of the coffee. Nessie had to admit it smelled great.

By the look on Sue's face, Nessie could tell she knew a lot more she let on. Nessie could do nothing about that, so she pulled a chair and said, "Yeah, Grandpa. I know it's kind of early and all. But we need to talk."

It was high noon when the taxi stopped in front of the big Queen Anne residence in the northern part of the city, on a quiet street not too far away from both downtown or Brown University. The sunlight reflected off its windows, filtered only by the huge trees of the street. It was a very welcome view after the tiresome travel from Forks.

She paid the driver, grabbed her luggage, and quickly climbed up the stairs to the front door, which opened before she could even touch the knob.

"Thank God you're here," cried Alice, pulling her inside and giving her a quick but tight hug as she shot the bolt on front door. "We've been out of our minds worrying about you! So nice to see you're in one piece!" She clapped her hands happily.

Nessie blushed, and her shoulders seemed to fall a bit, discouraged. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I guess nothing really happened as I expected," she said pulling a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Alice! Give the girl some room!" said Esme with a relieved smile, as she came from the back of the house. She was dressed in a pair of khakis and a white tank top, and her hair fell over her shoulders.

Alice studied her niece's face as Esme said her hellos. She could see she was relieved and even happy to be home. That didn't surprised her, considering how scared she must have felt the last 24 hours. However, Alice asked herself why Jacob Black wasn't here in a time like this. Because if he wasn't, maybe that vacation trip had cost Renesmee much more than a few days in the company of her friends and her Grandpa.

She locked her arm with hers, and Edward's daughter beamed at her.

"Never mind that. Come. You must be thirsty. There are a few bottles of ox's blood in the fridge." Alice led them inside the house, passing by the living and dining rooms. The air was fresh and scented with lemon and roses. It was a lovely house, elegantly designed. But it didn't have that air of the cover of a design magazine. Here and there, one could see that people actually lived in it.

"Thank God!" cried Nessie. "I didn't have time to go hunting with the whole Volturi situation." She opened the fridge when they reached the kitchen and grabbed a dark colored bottle from it. She quickly opened it and put it in the microwave for a minute.

Nessie wasn't a fan of heated animal blood, but since it was too sunny to go out and she had had a bad time in the flight, she would make an exception. She served the blood in a tin cup, took a sip, and sighed.

"Why don't you bring it outside? We are taking a break on the patio. The day is too pretty to stay inside. Later you can unpack," said Esme gently.

Nessie had to admit that it was difficult to stay depressed when she was treated with such care by these people she loved so much. It wasn't in her nature to spend a long time mourning over something because everything was so changeable; it was just a matter of start over.

They had spread old blankets and folding chairs on the lawn, leveraging the shade of a big oak tree in their backyard so that they could enjoy the day without sparkling like a discothèque ball. But she was a bit tense about how they were going to react when they knew she was on probation. That affected everyone. She decided to wait and tell her parents first, and then tell everyone else later.

They sat comfortably as her aunt kept babbling about the new house in Vancouver, saying that she and Esme would go there to take a look and see if the house would need any fixing. They spent a long time looking at catalogues of colors and patterns of wallpapers and comparing them with pictures of the place. Alice commented about visiting the new school. Jasper joined them after a while, on the phone telling everyone she was home and safe. It was amazing how he could just sit there, reading a huge George R.R. Martin's book she was thinking of giving a try, and every once and then making a smart remark.

The afternoon passed smoothly and quickly. Nessie could see that the subject of Jacob was the huge pink elephant in the backyard, but they didn't push the subject. They would wait until she was ready.

When the sun went down, she went to unpack and do the laundry—a boring business, but it had to be done. When she had finished, her parents and Carlisle had arrived.

Time for the show.