Chapter 10: Unusual Attachments

"Hey, why are you all in here?" Renesmee asked, walking through the little entranceway. "Is something-" she blinked at me and smiled widely, the first non-sarcastic smile anyone had given me during my visit. "Oh, hi Anira! What are you doing here?" I cringed; great, now they knew my name.

"Just visiting," I muttered, looking down in shame. I didn't know why, but ever since I met Renesmee, I had this strange, unprecedented urge to please her. It felt as if I was trying to right some wrong, as if she should have been mad at me and I was trying to apologize… It was completely uncalled for.

"Is this one of your friends from school honey?" Bella asked, cocking an eyebrow at me. To my sincere relief, Renesmee nodded.

"Yeah, we just met today in art class." She ran over to the couch where her sister was sitting and touched her cheek, a strange thing to do in my mind.

"I see," Bella said, smiling. "Um, honey, there's something that you should know… about her…" She glanced at me nervously, then at Edward. "Well, uh, first thing's first, how was your hunting trip with Jacob? And where is he anyway?"

"Oh, he's outside. He said he thought he smelled a human around here that wasn't me." I gave her a quizzical look. Well, obviously nobody in her family was going to explain her ancestry to me, but maybe she would tell me herself in art class tomorrow. "I guess the hunting trip was okay. Still lots of deer to eat." She gave everyone a big grin, as if she were enjoying some inside joke. "I found a gray wolf too." Everyone chuckled at this, especially Edward, though I couldn't imagine why. What was so funny about hunting a wolf?

"I'm sure Jacob was thrilled," Alice chirped, her frustration with me slightly masked for the moment.

"He told me he would dump me if I actually killed it," she pouted, obviously a little miffed. So Jacob was her boyfriend. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

"He was only bluffing, Ness," Bella assured her, glancing around for the boy as she spoke. She was quite irritated over his seemingly empty threat.

"Nessie, we have to move," Edward said, changing topics back to our previous conversation. She stared at him, horrified.

"What? Why? I like it here! I even made sure I was really careful! I didn't show anyone my pictures, and I made sure to get the story right every time! Nobody I talked to had any idea." I grimaced and looked down at my feet again. Well, to an extent she was right. I still had no idea what she was, but I had known about vampires since I was born. It wasn't her fault I was a threat to her family.

"You don't have to move," I blurted, looking up at everyone desperately. "I won't do anything to jeopardize your lives. You can continue on here as if I don't exist." As long as they didn't harm any of the humans.

"And why should we trust you?" Edward demanded, his eyes narrowed. Renesmee looked at me in surprise, and hurt that I could be the cause of this change of events. I felt awful.

"Well, um, I haven't, uh…" I paused; I hadn't given them a single reason to trust me. But I couldn't be the one to run Renesmee out of town! I had to think of something. "Okay, look. You know I have a secret. But you don't know what it is. You have a mind-reader in your family, and you still don't know what I'm thinking. That proves that I can keep a secret."

"That only proves that you can keep your secret," Rosalie snapped. "Keeping your own secret and keeping somebody else's is completely different." I sighed heavily.

"Okay, but I didn't tell anybody about your secret today. I knew about you all day, but I didn't say a word. Doesn't that count for anything?" I sounded desperate, even to my own ears. Their faces were stony. The only one who seemed to consider my efforts at all was Edward.

"Alice?" he asked quietly, turning to the little black-haired girl. Her eyes were focused on something far away, that same annoyed expression on her face.

"It's still pretty hazy," she said slowly, "but the fact that I can see anything at all proves that she won't interfere. And from what I can tell, we should be fine." I felt the air soften as everyone relaxed, just slightly, and looked at me. Well, at least I had proven myself a little trustworthy.

"Hey, blood-suckers, have any of you seen a human sneaking around here?" Somebody asked as they walked through the front door. I was surprised to hear the less-than-endearing term I had used earlier. Could this be the Jacob they were referring to? If that was what he called them, surely he wasn't a vampire himself.

I twisted my head around and strained my neck to see the strange visitor. I was immediately hit by an overwhelming dog smell and I felt a nagging sense of danger just around the corner. I couldn't imagine what could be more dangerous than nine vampires packed in a living room less than three feet away from me.

A large dark-skinned boy appeared in the entrance wearing nothing but a pair of shorts ripped at the knees. He was even stronger-looking than Emmett, and definitely not a vampire. This was a shapeshifter.

His eyes widened when he noticed me, and I saw his nostrils flaring as he tested my 'scent.' I was too surprised by my reaction, however, to really notice.

I jumped up from my chair and clenched my fists angrily, a wave of sudden, unnecessary rage washing over me. I had never felt a hatred as strong as this one, and never without a reason either. I couldn't even begin to imagine what caused my strange behavior. All I knew was that I had to calm myself down before I did something stupid.

"Emmett," Edward said quickly, motioning towards me with his hand. Before I could blink, the large vampire had pinned me against the far wall, completely immobilized. Jacob just stood there speechless.

"What'd I do?" he asked quietly.

I struggled madly under Emmett's grip, trying to ignore the infuriatingly entertained smile on his face. I knew I could easily throw him off, attack the animal boy, but the truth was I wanted him to win. I didn't want to hurt someone that I barely knew, deep down. I didn't want my irrational behavior to overtake me.

"If you're so sure you're stronger than him, why don't you prove it?" Edward scoffed, walking over to us calmly. His question helped distract me from the shape shifter and I turned to glare at him.

"Frankly, I'd rather die," I crooned in a sickly sweet voice, finally rational enough to keep still. I wasn't about to give them any more clues.

"She thinks she's stronger than Emmett?" the one named Jasper said, appalled. Immediately everyone in the room was laughing, Jacob included- though he still looked a little baffled. I tried not to be bothered by this; after all, this was the reaction I wanted from them. I wanted them to think I was as weak as I looked. Still…

"Bring it on, little girl," Emmett growled, his broad grin showing off his sharp teeth. I frowned and shook my head sadly. They didn't honestly believe I was going to fall for peer pressure?

"Let her go Emmett," Esme said, trying to hide her smile. "She's probably tired. Let her go home and rest." Yeah, sure, that was a good excuse to leave.

"She doesn't seem tired," Edward disagreed, smiling devilishly again. His little superpower was starting to get extremely annoying.

"I need to get ready for school at some point in time," I muttered, glancing out the window. It occurred to me that I had no idea what time it was.

"Let her go, Em," Jasper said casually. "I think we've scared her enough for one day." The burly vampire groaned, but did as he was told and let go of my wrists. I shook out my limbs experimentally, stretching my arms.

"Well, it's been fun, but I have to get going," I said, stepping towards the door, wondering if anyone would try to stop me. Nobody moved.

"So… I guess I'll see you in art tomorrow?" Renesmee asked timidly. She was a lot more hesitant now that I was a threat. It made me sad.

"Yeah," I said. "I'll see you in art."