Alright, here's one of the big chapters. It's the explanation for why the two vampires are so different from one another. I hope that it makes scene to all of you, because I know what I'm trying to explain and still fell a bit lost reading it! And I just want to reiterate, remember who's narrating and the sort of prejudices that he has. Jacob might not be as reliable a narrator as he thinks he is;)

Chapter 11

The door swung open with the sort of excitement and exuberance that only a five year old could have and the chairman bounded into the room. He seemed oblivious to the heavy silence that shattered upon his arrival and instead beamed at Jacob as he moved numbly out of the chair behind the desk. Slowly, in an almost daze that was a just a bit too focused to actually count, the werewolf shuffled to stand in the general vicinity of the desk's right hand corner. Edward sat to his left.

"I hope you two got along well while I was gone?" the chairman asked curiously.

Edward gave a polite, crooked smile and nodded. Jacob thought he himself might have grunted, but he was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to pay particular attention to his own speech.

A Cullen? Edward called him a Cullen. He realized that didn't mean he was actually a vampire, or that he was related the them in any real way. More daunting still, the sort of connection Edward was talking about ran deeper than all that. He meant Jacob was family. That a werewolf had been adopted by a gaggle of vampires, or that a gaggle of vampires had been adopted by a werewolf. Either way it was crazy.

Werewolves and vampires were never meant to be friends; their very functions in the world were contrary. How could Edward even get the words out of his mouth? Didn't it feel wrong somewhere deep inside of him? And, aside from the opposing nature of their being, there should be another reason Edward would not want to extend that offer of friendship to him. Jacob had no illusions that his attempts at seducing and guilting Bella away from the vampire were a bit underhanded. The offer wouldn't have been made if their positions were reversed.

The only logical reason for Edward to try to bridge the gap between them was Bella. With a sinking certainty Jacob realized the vampire must have been telling the truth when he said Bella was in agony over their falling out.

"Now, Jacob, did you come here for something in particular or did you just feel like a chat?" Cross asked brightly.

Jacob blinked. Had he come here for something specific? He knew there had been a reason, but he couldn't remember what it was anymore.

"Jacob was curious, and I must say that I am as well, about the differences between my family and I and the vampires of your academy," Edward supplied smoothly.

Despite being well aware of the fact that Edward could read minds Jacob still found himself slightly unnerved. It always made him a bit twitchy when his personal thoughts started popping out of Edward's mouth.

Cross nodded calmly, as if he had been waiting for this particular conversation to arise. He leaned back in his chair, his hands steepled on the desktop. Blue eyes closed as he considered where to start. Edward's eyebrows quirked in interest, clearly surprised at what the man was thinking.

"The difference lies in a power associated with a vampire long ago. Originally all vampires were the way that you Cullens are; essentially dead. One poor soul was bitten who turned out to have a particularly interesting power. She had the ability to live through anything," Cross said studiously. He pushed his glasses back up along his nose before continuing.

"Instead of simply staying the way that she was at the point in which she was turned, this vampire continued to aged. After a time she in turn changed another into a vampire; a man she had loved when she still human. And she wasn't human now, remember that. She was a vampire without a doubt, but she still lived and breathed as if she were a mortal. She and the man had children, all of whom aged. The process was considerably slower than in humans, but it was still aging none the less. They also fed like vampires, needing a diet of blood in order to survive, and each displayed the powers attributed to vampires."

"So they were hybrids?" Edward asked, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

Cross nodded, pleased with the wording. "Yes, more or less. The children of this original family had the ability to pass on their vampire nature to others, but those that were changed did not have the ability to create more vampires. Only the original family could, and because of this they were called Purebloods by their followers. The stronger the original blood in a vampire the greater the likelihood they could create other vampires. And I mean create, not reproduce."

Jacob frowned. Pureblood? Hadn't someone been calling Kaname that? How much inbreeding did these vampires have to have going on for the Purebloods to still be around generations later? Or did they just live so long that the ones around now were the second generation?

"The Purebloods live incredibly long lives. Kaname is one, in fact, and he's only a third generation Pureblood. The descendents of the humans originally turned by the Purebloods came to be known as Nobles. They couldn't turn humans into vampires, but they could reproduce amongst themselves and give birth to more vampires. They are quite numerous now, in fact most of the Night Class students are Nobles. They consider themselves very important because they keep the vampire community thriving, and because of this they demand respect from those beneath them."

"Who would be beneath them? They're the bottom of the vampire food-chain," Jacob grumbled. Purebloods? Nobles? Now vampires were going around imposing a caste system on each other? As if there weren't enough reasons to dislike them.

"No they aren't," Edward whispered.

Jacob glanced sharply at him. For some reason this admittance didn't sound particularly pleasant. Right away he knew Edward had read something in Cross' mind that left him less than pleased.

Cross nodded in acknowledgement of the comment. "He's exactly right. These vampires can reproduce. They have no need to make more of their kind, because they give birth to them organically. When a human was turned by a Pureblood it was rarely good. Almost all of the ex-humans turned by the Purebloods lost their sanity to the change, very few survived long enough to be counted as a Noble after the initial group was made. The power transferred that kept them alive also destroyed most human's chances of staying sane; it was just too intense.

'All ex-humans were, and still are largely, viewed as…Well, as food that's a bit more durable than most, or 'embarrassments' that need to be taken care of," Cross admitted grimly. It was clear from his tone that he didn't share the same views as the Purebloods and the Nobles in this regards.

All at once Jacob understood why Cross disagreed with this assessment of ex-humans. Zero was one of them. Jacob gripped the edge of the desk in order to steady himself. It all made sense now, the way Zero constantly found himself overwhelmed with hunger, why he wanted to kill himself, and why he had such a devastating opinion of his own self worth. Zero really was fighting for his sanity and his dignity in a school full of Purebloods and Nobles. Edward's eyes snapped quickly towards him before turning back to Cross

"Why have I never heard of these Purebloods and Nobles before? Why haven't any of my family members heard of these…social norms before either?" he said in an infuriatingly calm voice.

Cross smiled somewhat grimly. It was an odd look on a face normally inclined towards near manic happiness. "That's a three fold answer. The original vampires were not particularly fond of the Purebloods and their lot. The feeling was more than mutual. The Purebloods and the Nobles formed a Council to govern their society and the Council deemed interaction with the other strand of vampires illegal. They were all ex-humans with more power then they should have as far as the Council was concerned. A similar group within the original vampires decreed likewise. A Hunters organization was formed by a small number of humans that knew of the vampires The Hunters feared there would be a war if the two sides were not segregated and so they strove to keep the two groups apart."

His blue eyes found Edwards and an honest smile touched Cross' face. "They were doing an excellent job of it before you and your family came to this school."

Edward said nothing at first. That was understandable. Jacob felt like his head was spinning. No wonder Aido thought the Cullens were odd; he really hadn't ever met vampires like them before. The influence to these two nocturnal groups was amazingly terrifying. How long had there been an almost-cold-war going on between them? And how long had the Hunters been acting as their keepers? More importantly, what sort of a mess had Bella gotten herself into?

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Cross. It was very informative. Unfortunately I need to go and meet with my wife and siblings now," Edward said smoothly as he stood from his seat. He exchanged handshakes with Cross before turning back to Jacob. "Perhaps you could help me find them? I'm still a bit lost as to where things are here."

"Sure," Jacob murmured.

They left the office in silence, but this time there was nothing hostile about it. In fact, Jacob felt almost glad that Edward had heard all of that, it made it much less likely that anything would happen to Bella. As much as he disliked the bloodsucker on principle Jacob couldn't deny that Edward would do anything in his power to keep her far away from the ludicrous power struggle between the vampires.

They found Bella and the other two Cullens beside the fountain centered on the path between the Moon and the Sun dorms. The three were not alone. Alice stood, one arm linked with Bella, the other linked with Yuki. She spoke excitedly while the other two looked on in slight awe at her exuberance. Jasper stood silently to their right, conversing politely with Kaname. Hovering slightly between the two groups was Zero. He was quite obviously uncomfortable with the present company, but even more so with the thought of leaving Yuki alone with them. Jacob couldn't help the fond smile that threaten to brake free at the sight.

Kaname was the first to notice the werewolf and his company, Bella looking up only moments later. A stab of guilt ran through him when her face clouded over and she moved her scrutiny on to Edward. Maybe the bloodsucker was right. Maybe, undead or not, Bella was still Bella. If that was true, Jacob had been horrible to his best friend.

"Edward! Finally. I was beginning to think that you got lost," Alice said excitedly. She danced forward, dragging her captives along with her. "You'll never believe how many vampires are at this academy!"

Edward smirked slightly, amusement clear in his expression. Jasper drifted up to stand behind Alice, acting as her shadow once more. Kaname followed him, smiling at the small girl's enthusiasm. Not everyone shared it. Bella looked pleadingly at Edward and mouthed, "save me" while Zero looked about ready to start twitching at Kaname's proximity to Yuki. She, for her part, seemed perfectly willing to share Alice's excitement.

"Over a hundred and thirty-five," Yuki said proudly. "And they're all very nice."

Edward raised an eyebrow in surprise. "That many and still no trouble with the human students?"

Kaname smiled in a very unassuming way that probably made him look suave to most, but only managed to make Jacob want to hit him. "There's only ever been one incident, and that student has been closely monitored since. It won't happen again."

Somehow Jacob was under the distinct impression that Kaname was making an underhanded comment. Noting about the way that he said it spoke of insult, but the nagging feeling was still present.

Zero blushed miserably and turned to stare fixedly at the grass growing along the edge of the path.

"Fascinating," Edward acknowledged. There was something slightly off in his tone, a fact Bella caught instantly. Her eyes narrowed slightly in consideration as she watched him, but she said nothing.

"Kaname's promised to show us the stables. Would you like to come?" Alice asked, still looking excited.

"I'll have to pass. There was actually something that I need to discuss with Bella," Edward replied. Bella disentangled herself from Alice and stepped closer to her husband.

"We'll have to see the horses some other time," she said, sounding exceedingly grateful for the reprieve. Jacob had the feeling she was afraid of horses.

"All right. Will you still come?" this last Alice directed at Yuki. The prefect began to nod in affirmation, but Zero cut her off.

"No you aren't. You have class in three hours. Go to sleep before you make yourself sick," he said somewhat harshly, his nervousness making his tone slightly harder then he intended.

Yuki seemed ready to argue before a sizably yawn cut her efforts short. She blushed sheepishly before finally agreeing with Zero. She bid goodnight to all present before allowing herself to be led away. Zero's eyes flashed bright red before dulling to mix of bluish-crimson, one last look of suspicion aimed at Bella before he turned his back on them all.

"Lead the way," Alice commanded good naturedly to Kaname. The Pureblood smiled amusedly as he lead the two Cullens way. Jacob would have felt relieved at their absence if he hadn't been more nervous about who stayed behind. Bella ignored him entirely.

A throaty laugh escaped Edward. He pulled Bella into a quick and loving hug. "You, my dear, are quite the terror. That poor boy is convinced you are the most frightening thing he's ever seen."

Both Bella and Jacob found that surprising. Zero was seriously afraid of her?

"Why?" she asked incredulously. "I never did anything to him."

Edward seemed thoroughly amused by the whole thing. "That first meeting he had with you and Jacob in the woods left quite an impression. He thinks you scare Jacob, and only someone truly terrible can do that as far as he's concerned." He leaned closer to Bella, a conspiring air about him as he added, " He thinks you tripped three times on air in order to lull him into a false sense of security."

Jacob laughed before he could help himself. Bella glared at him, but Edward continued to look amused. He kissed her lightly on the forehead before stepping away. "I think I will go see the stables, actually. Jacob is quite eager to speak to you without an audience."

Jacob felt himself blush angrily. Edward didn't have to say it quite like that. Bella considered him a moment before frowning stubbornly.

"I don't want to talk to him."

Edward smiled softly at her admittance. Jacob wanted to hit him. Sure, Edward could find this whole thing amusing; he wasn't trying to explain why he was acting like an idiot to someone who'd never been anything but nice to him.

"Yes you do. Trust me. This will make you feel much better," he promised.

Bella still didn't look convinced, but she said nothing this time. Edward calmly ambled away in the direction his siblings had disappeared in. That left Jacob alone with Bella for the first time in almost a week. He took a deep breathed, prepared to bare his soul if that was what it took to gain her forgiveness.

The next chapter should be out fairly soon. I'm exited to read the next Twilight book to see how Stephanie's characters end up as opposed to how I'm imagining them ending up. By the way, I saw her this last weekend at a convention! She and the actors from Twilight were answering questions and promoting the movie. It was awesome for a Twilight fan, and there were so many people dressed up in the Vampire Knight uniforms!