Hey guys! Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've just had a lot going on with lately. I'll try to make my updates more constant though!

Well... here's the next chapter! It's not for the faint of heart. I really do like Lucas. I always go for the bad guys, lol!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 9
CHASTISED
bella p.o.v.

I looked at Lexi, my mouth dropped in horror. It was impossible. How could she, this normal, everyday human be on his side? I'd known already that vampires were cold and indifferent, but also that humans bore a different kind of warmth. Even the cruelest of humans, could they do something so awful?

Of course they could, I reminded myself. All of the murderers, rapists, robbers and serial killers were humans. Mostly humans, I guessed, although I couldn't see why vampires would be bothered to murder someone, as motives normally centered around money or possessions.

But there was no reason why Lexi wouldn't do this. I wonder how she'd come to be allies with Lucas, who thought so poorly of humans. I wonder how she'd gotten him to overlook that tiny little detail.

"Lexi—do you mean…?" I stammered. I didn't know what I had intended to say to her. I was cut short by the frustrated look she gave me, and I cowered into my car seat.

"That was extremely foolish of you, Bella," Lexi said, hanging a sharp right out of the parking lot. I hastily buckled, not intending to die, just yet. "Did you honestly think that Luke would just let you got to school without keeping an eye out on you? He may be stupid, but he's not as stupid as you'd think."

So now she was calling him Luke… and also calling him stupid. I was too confused to even speak.

She turned back to face the road, clearly exasperated. "I have to say, Bella, I'm disappointed. I thought you of all people might've been strong enough to pull through. You and your Edward. I guess I was wrong."

"Lexi… how are you… and with Lucas… a human?" I said, stumbling over each word. Nothing she was saying made sense anymore.

Lexi reached up and pulled her pony tail out, shaking her brown hair out of it. "I actually prefer Alexia," she said. She didn't even look at the road, but turned to face me, closing her eyes. I barely had time to wonder what she was doing, or thinking about, before the changes started becoming obvious.

Her light brown hair was darkening, growing longer and forming small curls. Her freckles were fading out, giving way to smooth, clear, white skin, and her features were becoming more chiseled and defined, higher cheekbones, longer eyelashes. She opened her eyes, now a cool, clear liquid topaz.

She was beautiful. But then, vampires tended to be like that.

"Let me reintroduce myself," she said, reaching over and offering her hand. "My name is Alexia Le Dur."

"Hi, dad, this is Lexi," I said as the two of us walked inside from the rain, shaking off the umbrella we'd shared on the way in. Charlie looked up from the couch.

"Hi, Lexi. You new around here?" he asked.

Lexi answered cheerily, but I couldn't hear it. I was far too nervous, too overflowing with information that I just couldn't absorb. Lexi had taken on her human appearance again.

Lucas must be upstairs already. It was all I could think about as Lexi answered Charlie's questions merrily as if nothing was wrong. There was no reason to alarm him of course. This wasn't his affair; it was mine. Maybe… maybe Lexi would be understanding, and decide not to tell Lucas what had happened.

Maybe not.

"So, uh, Bella, weren't you going to show me your room?" Lexi asked, nudging me out of my daze. The butterflies were coming back.

"Oh. Yeah. See you later Cha—Dad," I said, and started climbing the stairs.

My room, however, was most obviously very empty. There was no Lucas to be found.

"Stay here. I'll be right back," Lexi commanded, and, putting one hand on the sill, she hopped right out of my window onto the tree just outside, and then jumped down, disappearing from my view.

Of course. Of course I would just stay here, sitting on my bed and twiddling my thumbs like a good little girl. Of course I would just let those two go at it, planning their ghastly schemes to make my life a living ZOO. I would just be a good little girl, and wait while Lexi went to fetch Lucas who would probably attempt to rip my head off.

With a mad flush of adrenaline, I dashed for the door, not sure of where I had planned to go.

Within seconds, I was blinded with a choking sensation that tugged around my neck. I was being pulled backwards; someone had caught the neck of my shirt, stopping me in my tracks. The hand yanked me backwards, throwing me fast and hard against the ground. As I flew through the air, for a millisecond, I could make out Lucas's face, contorted with fury, and his ruby red eyes.

"Bella—you two okay up there?" Charlie's voice was the first thing I could make out. He must've heard the impact I had on the ground. I grunted and turned over onto my stomach, trying to lift myself up with my hands.

I felt Lucas's foot on my back, putting no weight on me, but restraining me from any more upward movement.

"Answer him," he hissed.

I raised myself further, as far as I could, sucking in as much air as possible in this impossible position. "We're fine, dad," I called, as loud as I could manage.

Satisfied enough with that, it would seem, Lucas lowered his foot down, slamming me into the floor once again. While I was still reeling from the impact, he wedged his foot under my stomach and flipped me over, and then stood, one leg on either side of me, glaring down, his arms folded across his chest.. I closed my eyes, whimpering away; his red eyes were horrifying.

I felt his foot on my face once again, pressuring just my forehead, lightly.

"Tell me why I shouldn't smash your face into the floor right now. Give me one good reason," he snarled, adding pressure to my face. I reached up to grab his leg, but he'd already shifted his position.

He was straddling me now, lowered completely onto my body, his face only a fraction of an inch away from mine. I could feel his cold breath on my cheeks. He cupped my face in his hands roughly, squeezing my cheeks together, burrowing his nails into my skin.

"Is there any reason?" he hissed, and I felt a sharp pain as he drew his thumbnail against the edge of my face, right next to my ear, drawing blood. "Because I assure you, your blood would not go to waste." He licked his thumb clean, and I swear I saw his eyes reddening.

Lucas just kept on surprising me. I knew he was insanely powerful, and what with such a powerful invisibility skill, he was probably close to unbeatable. But with this, I was amazed. He'd just tasted blood—my blood (which I have reason to believe smells exceptional)—and was keeping completely calm, as if it were ketchup running down the side of my face.

"You can't," I coughed. He was crushing me.

"Oh?" he said, positioning his two arms on either side of my face.

"Because you need me—" I turned my face away from his and coughed again. "Or all your hard work will go to waste." I shut my eyes tight, bracing myself for another blow as I felt the blood on my face trickling into my hair.

Instead, I felt air filling my lungs as he climbed off of me.

My chest rose and fell rapidly as I sucked as much air into my mouth as possible, desperate to get my heart pumping at its normal speed again. Lucas was standing next to Lexi, and their mouths were moving at a rapid pace. I turned over onto my stomach, looking up at the murderous pair.

"Lexi," I coughed, reaching my hand out to her. I didn't know why I did that; did I honestly expect her to help me out? She was with him. She was on his side!

"It's Alexia," she snapped, pausing only briefly from her conversation with Lucas, which got more heated as she turned back to him. She was in her vampire form again, and even without the blood red eyes, her annoyed expression made her nearly as frightening.

I twisted back over, lying on my back, exhausted. I was in so deep. There was no way out, absolutely no way out.

I wondered if there were only two of them, Lexi and Lucas. I had no idea what their purpose in taking down Edward was, but it seemed like they could do it alone. Lexi could take the form of a human which was obviously a huge advantage, as she could keep an eye over me without tipping off any of the Cullens, and Lucas had more power in his punch than Emmett. I could be wrong about that, of course. I'd never felt Emmett actually aim a punch at me.

They were unstoppable.

This story is getting to be a bit of a burden. I'm going to try really hard to not give up on it, but in the case that I do... is anyone interested in adopting it?

Thanks for reading! Review please!

Crizlish