A/N: for those of you who insisted on telling me that my chapters were short, good job, you succeeded in stating the obvious. They were short for a reason: 'cuz I said so. This one is longer, obviously, and they get longer from here. So take a chill pill, breathe a little, and read. Peace.

Chapter 10

Max

"I'm sorry it took so long Max," Tanya said one morning. I nodded absently. She continued. "We weren't able to find a van that could accommodate everything. Eleazar just found one last night that was big enough and able to drive such a long distance."

I didn't answer. I didn't talk much these days. Even when directly spoken to, I would often just look at the person, or vampire really, until they just got to the point and left me alone again. I couldn't tell if it aggravated them any, but then, I really didn't care all that much.

It was only a few hours later that Tanya was driving me in the huge van. I fell asleep a lot, and when I would wake, we would be in a different province in Canada. Tanya had no trouble getting through the state lines, or even crossing into Washington.

We didn't talk. Tanya didn't seem to mind not saying anything, and I had nothing to say. We made it through the entire trip without saying a word to each other. The only time the silence in the van was broken was when we came to a toll or crossed from Canada into America.

I dropped off to sleep again, seeming to wake seconds later. Tanya was driving slow, or at least, slow for a vampire. I looked out the window and saw the rain. For some reason, I just knew that I was back in Forks. All I saw were trees and rain, but I still knew somehow.

Sure enough, Tanya pulled off the main road and onto a familiar drive. She wound through the trees until we came upon a large white house. I could see the figures waiting outside the house, their forms still as statues.

"Tanya," Carlisle said with a smile as the van stopped and Tanya stepped out. I stayed in my seat. "What are you doing here?"

"I am not on a pleasure visit, unfortunately," Tanya answered. Carlisles' brows pulled together. I noticed that Edward, Alice, Jasper, and Bella were nowhere to be found.

"Is something wrong?" Esme asked, her features turning down into a frown. Tanya sighed and opened my door. I figured the Cullens' hadn't caught my scent yet, and I was right. When Tanya lifted me from the seat and carried me back to where the Cullens' stood, they all gasped.

"Max!" Rosalie cried, sounding happy to see me. Emmett stopped her from rushing to my side, sensing not everything was ok. Carlisle came to stand beside Tanya, inspecting me.

"What's wrong with her?" Esme asked, seeing my face for the first time. I probably looked terrible.

"She... uhh... I think it would be best to go inside," Tanya said at last. Carlisle nodded and we were suddenly in the house. Tanya set me down on the couch, turning me so that I lay across it.

"What happened?" Emmett whispered. He had probably forgotten that I wasn't Bella and I could still hear him.

"She met up with me and the others in Denali," Tanya began. "We helped her and her family break into the laboratories that had been a part of the institution that did the experiments on her and the others. I left because she said they could handle it. She promised me that there was practically no security there, and I believed her because I saw she was right. I left them there. They destroyed the labs and everyone in them. It was when they came out that those wolf-people showed up. They killed them." Tanya stopped and looked at me.

"Max killed all the Erasers?" Esme asked, confused. "Then what's the problem?" Tanya shook her head.

"She didn't kill the Erasers. They killed her family." I dimly heard the Cullens' cries of disbelief and sorrow. "I found her a few miles from the labs, surrounded by the bodies of her family. We carried them back to the house and put the bodies in the freezer and Max in bed. I went back to the labs and found every single one of those wolf-men dead. She must have gotten her revenge after all."

"My God," Emmett, tough, unbreakable Emmett, said softly. It was the first time I had ever heard his voice crack.

"Where are the bodies?" Carlisle asked. Tanya told him they were in the back of the van. She and Kate had put a large freezer in the back. That was where my family had spent the ride. In the freezer in the trunk of a van.

Outside, I could hear the doors of the van being opened. The freezer door whooshed opened and the flock was removed from the van. I could hear the freezer scraping along the bottom of the van as it was pulled out and put on the ground. The garage door opened and I faintly heard the metal of the freezer scrape against the cement floor of the garage. Voices were soft in the garage and I wasn't able to hear what they were saying.

"Max?" Esme said tentatively. I looked up at her. "I'm going to take you upstairs now, ok?" I managed a small nod. Esme lifted me into her arms and ran up two flights of stairs with me. She stopped outside a familiar door and entered the room. Edward's couch was replaced with a huge bed with a metal flowered headboard. I noticed that a flower looked like it had been ripped off from the empty space where a flower should have been.

"I'll be back to check on you soon honey," Esme said. I closed my eyes and rolled onto my side. I heard her sigh and leave the room.

I woke up to darkness. At first, I thought I was dead, but then I realized it was just nighttime. Damnit.

I slid off the bed and onto the carpeted floor. Wobbling slightly, I made my way down the hall and down both flights of stairs until I reached the front room. Emmett and Rosalie were snuggled up on the couch in front of the television. I heard Carlisle and Esme in the kitchen talking, but the others still weren't here.

"Where's Alice?" I asked, my voice hoarse. Rosalie looked up from the T.V. to look at me.

"She and Jasper are with Edward and Bella." I looked at the clock and saw that it was well past midnight. Unless I was mistaken, Bella would be asleep right now. Why were Alice and Jasper with Edward while Bella slept?

"Are they at Bella's house?" I asked quietly. My throat hurt still.

"No," Emmett said, shaking his head and looking at me. "They're at the Cottage."

"What cottage?"

"The cottage Esme built for Edward and Bella."

"Why?"

"As a wedding present." I froze. When had Edward and Bella gotten married?

"When did they get married?" I asked slowly. Rosalie looked guilty. They probably forgot how long I'd been away.

"A few months ago. Bella's one of us now." My eyebrows shot up. Bella was a vampire? But Edward had been so determined to keep her human? What changed his mind?

"We'll take you there now," Emmett said, clicking the T.V. off. They both rose and came to stand beside me.

"We'll come with you," Esme said as she and Carlisle emerged from the kitchen. Emmett picked me up in his arms and we headed out the door. The jump over the stream felt weird from Emmetts' arms. We came to a cottage after a little. It was beautiful and simple at the same time. It was perfect for Bella.

"Edward," Esme called softly. The front door opened and Edward, handsome as ever, walked out into the night. I noticed slyly that he didn't have a shirt on and his belt hung open from the belt loops.

I gasped when a gorgeous woman came out of the house behind him. She had brown hair and she resembled Bella, but she wasn't Bella. Not completely. There was a visible difference.

"Max!" Bella was overjoyed to see me. She rushed to my side with the speed and grace that only a vampire possessed. "How have you been?" She sounded so happy that I began to cry. Emmetts' arms became more like rocks as he held my sobbing body. I'm sure he had no idea what to do. Vampires didn't cry, after all.

"What's happened to her?" Edward asked softly. He read one of his family members' minds and gasped, a sound that sounded shocked and furious in the same instant. He softly relayed my story to Bella a quick moment. Her eyes were sympathetic as she took me into her arms.

"I've got her Emmett," she said. Even her voice was different. Lighter, tinklier, reminding me of Alice. Her arms felt more comfortable than Emmetts' had. "Come on, I've got something to show you."

Bella brought me into the little cottage, Edward right behind her. The inside was simplistic and beautiful, a masterpiece that only Esme could have designed. We went through a sitting room and into another room. It looked like a room a small child would stay in.

Alice and Jasper were sitting around something when we entered. They both looked up and came to my side. Jaspers' brow was furrowed as he felt the emotions in the air. My pain, my sadness, my exhaustion, and many more. Alice was looking into the future to see what Edward would tell her about me. She frowned and ran her fingers lightly across my forehead. I had stopped crying, but stray tears still slid down my face occasionally.

"Oh Max," Alice said softly. "I'm so sorry."

A noise from behind them made me look over Alice's shoulder. I gasped at what I saw. A little girl that looked around five or so stared over the edge of the backboard on her bed at me. She had long curls the color of Bellas' brown hair. I was surprised to see that her eyes were the exact chocolate brown I remember Bellas' being. She was clearly Bella and Edwards' child. I had thought vampires couldn't have children.

"Max, this is my daughter Renesmee," Bella said, picking Renesmee up off the bed. Her daughter reached up and lightly put a small hand on Bellas' forehead. Bella seemed to be spacing, but I was sure something else was happening.

"Hello Max," the child said in a tinkling voice. My jaw dropped. She did not sound five. She sounded so mature...

Bella brought Renesmee over to me. I flinched when the small hand reached for me, but Bellas' face encouraged me to play along. When her hand touched my face, I cringed. Something weird happened and I could suddenly see clearly that this was how Renesmee interacts with people. She told me that she found it more comfortable than talking. She also told me that I should call her Nessie, since everyone else did. I smiled, thinking that I was certainly not like everyone else here.

"Max?" I looked around when Nessie took her hand away. Tanya was standing behind me.

"Thank you," I said, my voice sounding a little more normal. I guess it was because I was now with people I know and love. Tanya nodded.

"You know, if you were a lot paler and didn't have wings, you could easily be mistaken for one of us," she said suddenly. My mouth dropped and I watched as Tanya turned, her strawberry blonde hair whirling around her as she ran back to the van.

"That was... interesting," Alice commented with a smile. Nessie touched her cheek and Alice's smile widened.

"What did she say?" Bella asked.

"She says she agrees completely with Tanya. She thought Max was a vampire." I blushed, instantly proving them wrong. Vampires couldn't blush.

"Well she's right," Bella agreed. I looked at her. There was no way I looked anywhere near as good as they did. Bella turned to smile at me. She looked amazing. "Max, you're gorgeous!" My face grew red and hot, making Emmett chuckle. I'm sure he was relieved I was done crying.

"Oh my God!" I said, thinking of something completely off-topic. "What about Charlie?" Bella was still smiling, but it didn't reach her eyes anymore. Her eyes told me that she was upset about something.

"Charlie basically knows. We haven't told him, but he's sharp." Edward stopped and frowned slightly.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked, confused.

"Nothing," he said, sighing and pinching the bridge of his perfect nose. "It's just... Jacob revealed himself to Charlie because Charlie was determined to see Bella. Charlie doesn't want to talk about it if it isn't completely necessary."

Being reminded of Jacob Black reminded me of what he was. Being reminded of what he was reminded me about why I was here. My stomach did flip-flops, making me sick. I doubled over, clutching my stomach. I could feel my insides rebelling against me.

"Max? Are you ok?" Jasper asked, putting a tentative hand on my shoulder. I nodded, my teeth clamped together. Standing erect, I wiped the sheen of sweat from my brow and forced a smile. None of the vampires looked convinced.

"Maybe you should lie down," Jasper suggested. I shook my head, determined not to show any more weakness around these strong creatures. It just wasn't me.

"I'm fine," I insisted, but my voice was weak. Edward frowned and looked quickly at Bella. She was staring at me, a concerned look on her face. "Really, I'm not gonna collapse or anything. I promise."

I spent a good part of the next three hours listening to everything that had happened while I was... away. Nessie told the parts she was there for best. She showed me pictures of what the Volturi looked like, their faces pale and papery. I flinched back when she showed me the La Push wolves. I really didn't want to be reminded of what they were and what they reminded me so much of... Nessie seemed to sense that because she blurred the picture every time a wolf was shown. I really liked this little girl.

When I finally said goodbye, the sun was starting to come up. I didn't want to go back to the Cullens' house right away. I wanted to do something first.

Leaping into the air, I spread my wings and took flight. Soaring above the treetops, I made my way towards the one place I knew would rip my heart to pieces. La Push.

A/N: haha I'm getting overdramatic and stuff… bear with me and my craziness ;)