A/N:

We are beginning to get a few answers in this chapter. Obviously, this is a little different than the original. I hope you guys like it.

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Bella and Edward and all things Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended by my little twist on the story.

I kept forgetting to breathe as we sat there in the cozy cabin, the fire slowly warming a small radius of space around our two bodies. "I don't think I can stay away from you anymore," she said in a low, husky voice that was so sexy and enticing that the words took several seconds to register in my addled brain.

"Then don't…don't stay away, Bella," I replied as soon as I made sense of her words. My reply came out as a plea, my needs a little too obvious. I lurched forward and grasped her hand, this time preparing myself for the cold, otherworldly feel of her skin. I hoped that the depth of emotion in my voice didn't scare her but she seemed changed, resigned, as though she had come to a decision. I could tell by the determination in her look that she meant to stand by it.

"So tell me, Bella…tell me." I wasn't sure just what I was asking and I had to admit to myself that I wasn't sure if I would like what she had to say. I wondered why I was the one who was sitting here with her. Why did she seem as fixated with me as I was with her? What kind of secrets could she be hiding? Did she understand the connection between us better than I? What was the mystery of Bella Swan? Was I prepared to hear it all? I shuddered a little at the thought that I couldn't turn back now.

She didn't speak. But her mind opened to me. I was startled at the clarity of the imagery and I physically leapt from the couch. For the first time I felt the true extent of my power to read Bella's mind as she laid her memories out for my scrutiny. The intensity of the emotion in the scene that played out in my head was laced with pain and I tucked my arms around myself as the feeling began to consume me.

However, I wasn't completely immobilized by this pain like I had been before. Either I was learning to control my ability or Bella was somehow making it easier for me.

What had only been bits and pieces of imagery before was now as clear as day in my mind. The feeling was like nothing I had ever experienced. It was so clear that it was as if I was reliving one of my own memories. I was running through the woods, stumbling. I gasped at the realization that I was seeing through Bella's eyes and if possible I felt our mental connection forge even stronger.

I felt her overwhelming fear and an inability to take in a deep breath. She was struggling to escape but to no avail. Whatever was chasing her was already there, circling in the trees, moving too fast for her eyes to catch. And then he was there, standing before her. He was pale and blond and had red eyes that were cold and devoid of any human feeling, except perhaps lust. I felt the adrenaline course through Bella's veins, and in an instinctual attempt at survival she turned and ran.

Again she stumbled and I actually felt warm liquid, probably blood, seep from a wound in her forehead. Bella began to crawl through the dirt, desperate now for escape but her vision was obscured by the blood now flowing freely into her eyes. Her hand found a rock and feeling another wave of adrenaline hit, she wrapped her muddy, bleeding fingers tightly around it. Her ankle…it was yanked forcefully; she was being dragged through the dirt. Her weak body was flung around to face her pursuer's vicious, wild face – the face of a monster.

With all her strength Bella lashed out at his head with the rock. I could easily hear the crack as it came down against the side of his head. His name was James…James' head. Blood dripped from the wound but instead of wincing, James tilted his head slowly and methodically, cracked a demented smile and grabbed Bella's wrist and wrenched it in his fingers so tightly that I knew that the bones inside were crushed. I could feel the panic began to build inside her and I understood with certainty and acceptance that Bella was going to die.

*

My eyes shot up to look at the beautiful girl on the couch opposite me, with her body coiled protectively into a compact little ball, and I looked on her with consternation and genuine fear. What did this vision mean? What horror was she about to show me? I couldn't complete my thoughts before Bella shot me a look of complete determination and my mind was filled again with an image as clear as day.

I saw Bella again in my mind, her body collapsed and defeated, her limbs tangled up on the forest floor. She craned her neck to look up into the face of the man who towered above her limp form. His expression was vacant now, almost as if he lamented that the hunt was over. Perhaps the triumph was too easy. His empty look was terrifying and I felt Bella's surrender as if it really were my own.

Seconds went by as her body convulsed in spasms of fear. It seemed like slow motion as James reached down and clamped his vice like grip on the back of her neck and lifted her from the ground. I felt her legs dangling but I wasn't given a moment to wonder at his strength before he opened his mouth lustfully, hungrily and ripped into the soft flesh of Bella's neck. And then everything in my head, thankfully, went blank.

I had been hunched forward with my head in my hands. Like at the bonfire, I was aware of a repetitive moaning or growling and as I became more lucid, I understood that the sounds were again coming from me. I opened my eyes which had been firmly clenched shut to find that Bella was sitting right next to me and reached out tentatively, unsure.

Surprising myself, I reacted instinctively and closed the distance between us, wrapping my arms around her, pulling her rigid form as close as I possibly could, feeling an almost violent need to hold her, to comfort her. We stayed this way, entangled in each other's arms for a long while – long enough that the fire began to fade and a chill began to encroach on our space. I shivered involuntarily against the cold and Bella immediately released her hold on me and jumped up to stoke the fire and add a few hefty logs to the smoldering embers.

She began to speak and the spell of the moment was broken. "You must be cold. I forget sometimes…how it feels to be cold." Her words were like poetry to me, their meaning somewhat lost in my muddled mind, though I was riveted to her every expression, her every word. Her sadness filled the air of the room and I had never wanted so badly to help her, to take away any pain she was feeling.

She returned to her corner of the couch and mirrored my earlier position, folding herself forward with her head in her hands. "Now you know. Now you know…you should stay away from me." There was so much anguish in her expression and her words but I was still utterly confused by what she had revealed to me.

"Bella…I don't understand. Please tell me…who was that who attacked you? How did you survive? I'm so confused, Bella." With more conviction, I continued, "And I'm not going anywhere!"

"Edward, don't you understand? I…I didn't survive."

"What?" Her words made no sense.

"I didn't survive. James killed me. You saw it. You know what he was. You know what…I am." Her face was so sad, so full of raw emotion that he words did not at first sink in.

I replayed much of what she had shown me through my mind again and though I know what she showed me was real; I still struggled to accept it. I kept seeing Bella's feet dangling from the ground and feeling the agony of James' teeth tearing through her skin but I couldn't voice what I knew to be the truth. My eyes fell on her bare long neck and found the remnant of a smooth scar just at the base that I hadn't noticed until now. How hadn't I noticed the compact arc shape that disfigured her marble skin? It was a perfect shadow of a human bite mark.

"How do you explain it, Edward? My skin is cold and pale. I am extremely fast and strong. I don't go out in the bright sunlight. And maybe Edward, you should be wondering what I eat. All the answers are there, Edward. You know what I am. Say it…just say it…aloud."

She was going to force me to admit my worse fear. Could Bella really be the monster she was implying she was? Before I could edit myself I whispered, "Vampire."

She didn't flinch. She didn't gasp. She didn't turn away. I knew that I was right. But strangely, I did not fear her. I sensed no danger from her, only sadness. And I also knew that somehow the knowledge of what she was didn't at all change the way I felt for her or the way that I was drawn to her. I was still attached to her as before; I could no longer live without her in my life. I was hers.

End Notes:

I see that I am getting lots of readers but not so many reviews. I absolutely love sharing this story with you but it's even more fun and motivating when I get responses from the readers. Please leave me a little note if you are enjoying the story. And even if you're not enjoying the story – let me know what don't like. I love to hear your thoughts. And I really promise to write back.