The next day, our guests prepared themselves to travel a long way to hunt. I was sitting downstairs in the living room with Alice when they descended the stairs. They were dressed in the clothes that they came in, ratted and worn. Floria looked glorious in jeans and a t-shirt. I had to remind myself that she was royalty. Alice and I stood in respect as they entered the room. Alice, ducking her head, and I nodded, staring intently at the ground. I had learned quickly that it didn't matter what you did, as long as you showed your respect to our guests. Floria nodded her head, giving us a valiant smile. Gizelda glared at me and I smiled at her, knowing that it would annoy her more. I figured there was no way I could get out of her hating me, so I should live it up to the best.

"Have you two seen Rosalie? Has she changed her mind?" Floria asked. There was no emotion in her voice, but I could tell he hoped that Rosalie hadn't changed her mind and that send an unexpected chill through me. I looked at Alice, deciding it would be better if I didn't speak.

"No, Rosalie hasn't come down yet. I don't think she changed her mind though, would you like me to get her?" Alice hissed. Floria smiled, showing her brilliant, white teeth.

"Yes, Alice, that would be lovely," she said. Alice ducked her head again and left the room. I suddenly realized I was alone with our guests. Floria watched Alice leave, and then looked at me; the smile was still on her face.

"Bella," she started, walking towards me. I didn't tense up immediately, if it was Gizelda, I would have been worried, but technically, Floria meant me no harm. There was no reason to be alarmed yet. I was sure also, that If they meant to harm me right now, Edward would have sensed it in their minds and would be down in a heartbeat. Besides, Alice hadn't predicted anything. I also would have felt it.

Floria gently led me to the couch. We both sat down. Gizelda and Henric stood like statues by the door. Gizelda wouldn't let her gaze leave me. I was expecting my gift to kick in anytime now. Nothing good could come out of this.

"We haven't had any time to talk since we arrived, with your," she paused, "bodyguard, keeping you from being alone." She continued to smile. I did not; there was something odd happening. "So, how do you like being a vampire so far?" she asked curiously. I smiled then.

"It's amazing." I said sincerely. She looked surprised.

"Really? You think so? If you don't mind me asking, Bella, what made you go through the transformation? I mean, surely you didn't want to," Floria said casually, leaning back into the couch cushions. Her relaxing, made me want to relax as well, but I kept my guard up.

"I did want to, actually," I said assuredly. Floria didn't look surprised at this; she wanted me to confess it.

"Did it have anything to do with Edward?" she asked. This was the part of the conversation I needed to be careful stepping. Floria was looking for a confession that I was in love with Edward. It would give her an actual reason to kill me for Gizelda. I had to give her no reason to think that I was in love with Edward. I felt the air in the room get heavy.

"Edward was responsible for me," I said hesitantly, "I went through with it because I wanted to. Alice is my best friend, you see," I explained, carefully, being aversive. I couldn't lie to Floria, I was a bad enough liar, she would see right through me. Floria looked at Gizelda, pleased.

"Please forgive me, Bella for being so forward," she said, her tone was getting an edge of frustration. I nodded, wanting her to continue. "Does Edward Cullen love you?" she asked. I nodded immediately.

"Yes," I said, "I am his newest sister—" Floria shook her head quickly.

"No, no, no," she said. I could hear the frustration rising in her voice. "More than a sister, Bella. Please, stay with me." She said. "Edward is in love with you," I sighed.

"Yes," I admitted, "But it's really embarrassing to talk about, he doesn't like not having his feelings returned." I said, again, avoiding the truth. I technically, wasn't lying. Edward didn't like having his feelings returned, it was true, but his feelings were returned by me.

Alice came down the stairs with Rosalie in tow. Rosalie was wearing her hunting clothes as well, both, were wearing emotionless masks.

"Here she is, Floria," she said. Both she and Rosalie ducked their heads. Floria smiled again and stood up, I followed.

"Good, are we ready then?" she asked, and walked towards the door, everyone following her. Soon, the hunting party was gone and I was left alone in the room with Alice. Immediately, the air in the room lightened and I put my hand to my chest. Everyone in the house came to the living room. No doubt, they were all holding their breaths listening to the conversation I just had.

Edward held me and I breathed into his chest, trying to calm my nerves. He kissed my head.

"You did magnificent, Bella," he said gently. I looked around at the family. They all looked relieved and worried at the same time. They wore weary smiles. "When I realized that you were alone in the room, I was scared at what they would get you to say," he said. I realized that my built-in feeling of dread had not kicked in. I should not have been as worried about the conversation with Floria than I was. I pulled away from Edward.

"I didn't get my feeling, Edward. You didn't have to worry," I said, kissing him. "And I'm not a complete idiot." He chuckled, but still looked worried.

"That's it, I'm never leaving your side," he said. I laughed.

"How did you know what to say?" Alice asked. I shook my head.

"I didn't." I confessed.

"I think Gizelda will be off your tail for a while." Alice said, "But not forever," she reminded. I squeezed Edward's hand. He smiled gently down at me, reassuring me that it would be okay. It was then, when Edward gave me this look, that the feeling of dread increased. It was already there from when Rosalie decided to go hunting with the Gustoff vampires, but it immediately increased, becoming a knot in my brain and stomach. Something bad was going to happen. I wasn't sure if I could do anything about it, but all I knew was that it was coming.

"I think I'm going to see Charlie today," I said. We were in our room, Edward was reading a book on the couch and I was in the closet, organizing clothes. I poked my head out to tell him this. He looked surprised, but didn't glance up from his book.

"Alright," he said, "When do you think we should go?" he asked. I came out of the closet. He looked at me. I couldn't help but notice again how handsome he was. A position as casual as sitting on the couch still made him look like a super-model. Even though I considered myself beautiful now, I wasn't nearly as beautiful as my husband, in my opinion anyway.

"Actually, I was thinking maybe I should go alone," I said. I knew he wouldn't like that. He immediately shook his head. "Edward, they went hunting. Any threat that they are to me doesn't matter until they come back. Charlie wouldn't want to see you, you know that. I'm not human anymore, it's okay," I tried to convince him gently, sitting down next to him and putting my head on his chest. He stroked my hair, and sighed.

"Bella,"

"Edward, I'll bring my cell phone. Everything will be fine," I assured.

"Are you having your feeling?" he asked me to be sure. I flinched.

"Yes, but only because of Rosalie and the Gustoff's," I said. As soon as I said 'yes', Edward shook his head again.

"No, I'm going with you," he said and I growled, knowing that it was his final answer.

We went downstairs and ran into Alice.

"Oh! I want to go!" she said in her high-pitched voice. I looked at Edward.

"If Alice goes, will you stay?" I asked. He looked at Alice with a glare. I think he was still upset about her leaving me that morning. She stared at him, pouting. Finally, Edward gave in.

"Fine, Go with Alice." He said. I kissed him.

"Honestly, Edward, I wish you wouldn't worry about me so much,"

"Until you learn how to defend yourself, I will worry about you," he said. I gave him a skeptical look.

"Yeah right," He kissed me on the forehead and then Alice and I left to see Charlie. I had a feeling that this visit was going to be much better than the last one because of the simple fact that Edward was not going to be present.

In the car, I let Alice drive. She looked at me.

"He's angry with me, you know," she said simply. I nodded.

"Yes," I said, "I wasn't exactly happy with you either," I said. She looked put out.

"I didn't have a choice, Bella," she whined, "I couldn't insult them!" she said. "I hate having guests. Everything is so formal. I feel like everything is so tense. It's just not comfortable," she said.

"I noticed that. Do we get guests often?" I asked. She shrugged.

"Not really," she said. "Maybe a couple times in a decade. It's been very unusual recently," she said talking about the coven that visited us before the Gustoffs. James, Victoria, and Laurent. All dead.

"I'm kind of hungry," I said casually. I remembered being told that newborns had bigger appetites in the beginning than older vampires. Alice looked at me sharply.

"How hungry?" she asked. I shrugged.

"We can go hunting tonight. It can wait," I said.

When we finally arrived at my old house, Alice gave me a worried glance.

"What?" I asked.

"I just saw you killing Charlie," she said casually. I gaped.

"Just now?" I asked bewildered. She nodded.

"Are you positive you don't want to go hunting now?" she said, " I like Charlie," I nodded, still shocked that I would get so hungry as to kill Charlie. I could sense Alice's unease as we went up to the door. We knocked on the front door and it took a second for my father to answer. When he saw who it was, he promptly frowned. When he saw Alice, his expression lightened, but he glared hard at me.

"Isabella," he greeted, not inviting me in. I sighed.

"Dad, please," my tone pleading with him. Finally, after a moment, he stepped aside, allowing both of us to pass. We went into the living room and sat down on the couch. Both of us, in the same tense, but relaxed positions. Charlie came in after us.

"What do you want?" he asked gruffly, flipping the TV on. I sighed.

"I want to apologize," I said. He didn't look up at me. "Dad, I'm sorry I acted like that yesterday," I said. Charlie finally looked at me. He glanced at Alice who flashed him a smile.

"I didn't want you to marry him, you know," he said. I nodded, looking at the ground.

"Yes, I know. I love him, Dad." I said. A look of anger crossed Charlie's face and he slammed the remote control down on the table. I lifted my eyes to him.

"You're eighteen, Bella! You don't know what love is! You have your whole life ahead of you! You would have forgotten about the boy when you turn twenty-five!" he was yelling. I sat still on the couch, patiently waiting, I glanced at Alice. She was staring at the TV, not really watching it, I knew. I looked back at Charlie who was still yelling furiously, his face turning a bright shade of red. I licked my lips at how appetizing it looked. I pushed back the hunger quickly. I saw a vein pulsing in his forehead and something deep inside me clawed to get out. I felt my senses sharpen and venom in my mouth increase. I fought to regain control. This was my father, but I found that I couldn't. Alice tensed beside me.

"No!" She screamed as I leapt. She managed to tackle me aside onto the ground and attempt to pin me down. She looked worried, but I wasn't thinking about her. I was thinking about how I could get to Charlie. My eyes were wild, I had no doubt. I needed his blood. "Bella!" Alice's voice cut through me and she slammed me into the floor, hard. It had no affect, I struggled against her, she was weaker than me, and she knew that.