Whew, this one took some energy, but here it is. I hope it's not too confusing. It was for me writing it. I had to re-word the explanations about a hundred times. All right, thats exaggerating but whatever. I'll post more either tonight when I get off work, or tomorrow after my classes.

Enjoy.


I nodded slowly. "All right. Here's a question. Why am I here, then? If there's no worry of them joining, then why did you send me here?"

"We're not the only Vampire's in the area, my lady," said Dr. Cullen, his golden eyes kind, but mine narrowed at the words 'my lady'. "There are more coming. They are the ones Ector wants. The trackers, the hunters…the killers."

Oh. That makes more sense. Not complete sense. But more. "So, tell me again why I couldn't know about the Cullens? I mean, here I was thinking they were the enemy. What was the point in that?"

"It would have been safer for you if you didn't know," explained Dr. Cullen. "Ector, like Edward, has the ability to read thoughts. But Ector can only read the thoughts of magical creatures. He cannot read a simple humans mind, for they are not connected with any kind of magic at all. If he knew you were here, the consequences would be terrible."

"But Edward can read humans minds?" I asked.

"Yes," Dr. Cullen glanced at his son. "Why, we'll never know. We have theories, but that's all."

He was easier to understand than Merlin ever was, but I was still confused. My eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, can't Ector then, just read your minds and know I'm here?"

Dr. Cullen shook his head. "Merlin placed a spell over Edward and myself so our thoughts would be blocked from Ector. He can't read them."

"But what about the others? Alice, Rosalie, Emmet, Jasper…"

"They don't know." It was the first time Edward had spoken since the hospital. I was caught off guard, and my eyes automatically switched over to his face. He was looking at me intently. I didn't look away. "Why?"

"It is safer this way," Merlin answered. "The less people who know, the better."

I tore my eyes away from Edward's to turn to my father. "Did you know about this?' I asked, sounding more harsh than I had meant to. He shook his head.

"No," he said. "I didn't."

"The only people who knew were myself, Vivienne, Carlisle and Edward," said Merlin, twirling the remote in his fingers. "Well, and now you and Sir Charles of course. And it must stay that way. No one else must know. Not even Emily or Daniel. No one. You understand, Bella?"

I nodded. It was very rare when Merlin was absolutely and completely serious. But when he was, never cross him. "Yes, Magister." Magister meant 'teacher' in Latin.

"Good," said Merlin. "Why don't you get some fresh air. It does the mind good. Edward, my boy, why don't you take Bella for a walk, hmm?"

Edward looked hesitant. He glanced at his father before looking back to Merlin and nodding. He stood and I slowly followed suite. My dad caught my wrist as I passed by.

"Are you going to be all right?" he asked quietly in his natural, Celtic accent.

I nodded. "Yes. I shall be fine." I followed Edward to the front door where I grabbed my coat and slipped on my boots. He let me exit first and quietly clicked the door shut behind us. I was careful as I walked down the icy steps. Edward had a hand held out behind my back in case I fell. As soon as we hit the street I turned on him. A question had been burning in my mind ever since I first met him.

"So," I said, as we slowly walked. "Now that everything's out in the open, I guess. Care to tell me why you were so…weird on my first day?"

Edward's jaw clenched. Okay, I guess that's a touchy subject. But at the moment, I really didn't care. I wanted to know. And he was going to tell me. I waited.

"You're not going to give up unless I tell you, are you?" he said quietly.

"Nope."

"Figures," he mumbled to himself. "For some reason…the smell of your blood is so much more potent that any other humans. It…it smells so good." He had stopped walking, and turned to me. He was rather tall. A good six foot maybe? I looked up into his honey colored eyes, and I found it hard to breathe. "It's difficult to explain. It's like, when you can smell your favorite food. Like its right next to you, and you have to hold back all of your energy to not eat it. Or a drug you're addicted to. It's right there, but you can't take it."

For a moment, I was utterly afraid. Here he was, a vampire craving my blood, and here I was, alone. In a world where magic is harder to use, and I'm unarmed. Bit I found I couldn't pull away from it.

"So, what you're saying is," I said slowly, inhaling his sweet scent. "I'm like your brand of heroin."

And there was that crooked smile again. "Yes. You're exactly like my brand of heroin." He lifted a hand, and came so close to touching my cheek. "I don't know if I can stay away from you. There's just something about you that…draws me in. I don't think I could stay away. But I promise to never hurt you, Bella. I was given a duty to protect you, and that's what I will do. I have self-control. Very good self-control actually."

He was using it now. I could tell. He was tense. very tense. He took away his hand, and even though it never touched me, my cheek was tingling. Why on earth did he have this effect on me? I barely knew him, and he was a vampire! What was I thinking?

A passing car interrupted my thoughts and snapped us both back to reality. "It's better if we aren't friends, Bella," Edward stuffed his hands into the beige jacket he was wearing and began walking again. "I'll still watch over you. But only from afar. My sisters and brothers are already wondering why I can't stop watching you. I don't need to make matters worse by us being friends."

What a jerk! How he go from saying he couldn't stay away from me to that!? I folded my arms tightly across my chest. One, because I was angry and two, because it was freezing! Stupid Forks weather. "Fine then. But I just have one more question."

"Shoot," Edward said, not looking at me.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen," he answered promptly.

"How long have you been seventeen?"

There was a slight pause. "A while."