Sorry for the uber long delay. I think I've bitten off more than I can chew lately. Two stories, a baby arriving in a few weeks, and not to mention work. Hopefully I'll get a chapter or two out before my little one makes his arrival and still be able to write once he gets here since sleep with be a thing of the past. I'm hoping things will start coming together in the next few chapters. You'll learn more about the "new arrival" and Bella's new friend. Read and enjoy!

~Arianna

Chapter 13

New Arrival

Edward saw the strange expression on my face as I got in on the passenger side of the car.

"You would have called me earlier if you had murdered someone, so what's wrong." The strange thing is that there was no humor in his voice, he was simply stating the obvious.

"There was this girl…she looked at me funny." He waited a few moments before letting out a slight chuckle.

"Sweetheart, I'm sure that you had all kinds of looks thrown your direction today, and with a range of emotions. Why did this girl's reaction trouble you?"

"She looked…scared…like she knew me. It was like she knew what I was."

"Bella, do you remember how it was when you first came to Forks. No one in high school socialized with us. If they simply went on their gut instinct, they knew it was best to stay away. All except for you of course."

I sighed. As usual, he was right. I guess I had never seen anyone react in fear at the sight of me. In many ways I still viewed myself as the awkward, gangly teenager with two left feet. The human Bella had a hard time scaring away small rodents, much less anything else.

"I guess this was just the first time someone has ever been scared of me. I have to say it doesn't feel good. A part of me feels like I have to fix it."

"And how do you plan to do that."

"Easy, I'll make friends." I smiled a sarcastic smile. Edward laughed.

"Did you make any new friends today, Mommy?" Renesmee asked from the back seat.

"Yes I did sweetie, her name is Amber. She was in my English class. She reminds me of an old friend of mine." Renesmee smiled approvingly at me. I was in the back seat in an instant to scoop her up in a big hug. She patted my arm, "I missed you too."

Edward didn't have long before his classes started, so we said our goodbyes and started the long drive home. The way home included many twists and turns and even some old dirt roads. Even though I was only half-way paying attention to the journey this morning, I navigated through the twists and turns as if I knew them by heart.

It was strange how relieved I was to see our home rising above the trees on the dirt road that curved its way through our property. Although I did find it a little strange to see Jacob pacing on our front porch. He stopped his pacing as soon as our car came into view. I tried to read the expression on his face: concern, reservation, and a hint of guilt? This couldn't be good. Luckily this was Jake we were talking about so I didn't have to wait long till he got to the point. He pretty much just blurted it out as soon as we were out of the car.

"Carlisle is planning to deliver Rachel's baby tomorrow." His words seemed to run together, he barely gave me enough time for a response.

"Um…wow, so soo…"

"He said he doesn't want the baby to get any stronger or…bigger. She's growing fast, and Rachel's body isn't keeping up with her very well. My family is waiting on me before they deliver, they need every..."

Now it was my turn to cut him off. "So what are you doing here talking to me? You could have left a note…"

"No Bella, you don't understand. They need our whole family there. That means Renesmee." Now it all made sense. The concern and the guilt. I would be without my Renesmee again.

"Does Edward know?"

"Yes, I got the phone call just before he left to pick you up. He didn't seem very happy, but agreed not to talk to you about it." He paused. "I can't go without her, Bella. She is part of my family too, even if that is hard for you to accept."

"Renesmee sweetie, can you go up to your room please. I need to talk to Jacob for a little bit." If there was going to be an argument, I didn't want Nessie to hear it. Though I wasn't entirely sure if she could still hear everything we said from her room. Hell, I wasn't even sure there was going to be an argument. A look of worry played across her face before she went inside.

"You know I can't say no even though I want to, Jake. I know that Nessie is family to you, even though that fact is still difficult for me to swallow. Just please understand my hesitance isn't because I think that she won't be completely safe with you, I know that she will be. It just seems like every few days, I have to be without her for some crazy reason or another. I thought that moving out here, away from everything, might change that. I guess I was wrong."

"Aw, come on Bella. Now you're making me feel worse. It will only be a few days, besides, you'll be busy with school. She will be perfectly safe. I wouldn't let anything happen to her. I love her just as much as you do."

My hand immediately flew up, palm extended in the middle of his last statement. He had been making his point quite well until that huge pile of crap oozed out of his mouth. I could feel the anger heightening my senses, making my nerve endings tingle before he even finished his sentence. I was livid.

"How dare you assume the measure of love I have for my daughter. How dare you compare the amount of love I have for my daughter."

Jacob's arms came up in front of his body as if he was showing me he was unarmed. He began backtracking.

"I'm sorry, Bella. Stupid statement. I'm stupid. I'm really really stupid. Of course what I feel for Nessie is nothing like the love you have for her. It's completely different."

I felt as if it was too late. The fight or flight response had kicked in, and there was no way I was just going to run away from this. Jacob's words meant to calm me, but instead they ignited emotions deep inside of me. No, his love was different. The way he thought about my baby was criminal, it was sick. I hadn't realized it, but I was side-stepping in a half crouch closer to Jacob, putting his back to the side of our house on the porch. A low feral growl escaped my lips in warning.

"Rough day at school." A familiar voice called from behind me, momentarily breaking my focus from Jacob. I spun around in a millisecond to face Kate, standing with her arms crossed over her chest.

Kate served as just enough of a distraction to bring me back to my senses. I stood upright from my crouch and looked back at Jacob.

"I'm sorry Jake, I don't know what got into me. Why don't you go up to Renesmee's room and tell her to pack her things. I know you must need to leave soon." He immediately went inside, probably not wanting to chance another polar shift in my mood.

"Hi Kate. What's up?" Something in the back of my mind told me that this wasn't a social visit. Something had happened.

"Its best we go inside, Bella. Then I'll explain." She hauled me by the elbow inside, a wary look on her face as she surveyed the forest around us.

"There is another new vampire. He showed up in the woods outside our home earlier today." She paused and looked down at her hands. "Garrett and I were hunting, and I just snapped on him for no reason. He was down on the ground shaking in front of me before I knew what I had really done. Thank God I snapped out of it then. I don't want to think about what I would have done next." Her voice was only a whisper by the end.

"Where is Garrett? Is he OK?"

"He went off trying to track down this guy. Though I'm not really even sure he believes that I saw this vampire. I just think he doesn't want to be around me right now." She swallowed hard, her expression was heartbreaking. "I went after him, apologizing the whole way. I really don't know what came over me. I remember vaguely the things that went through my head right before I attacked him. They weren't true, I really didn't feel that way, but in the moment it all made sense. It was all so compelling. I lost Garrett, so I tried to follow the scent as best I could. I lost it only two miles away from your home, Bella. It seemed too much of a coincidence that a strange vampire would pop up at our home, and then his trial would end not far from yours. I decided to check up on things and find you about to bite the dog's head off. Whoever this guy is, he's trying to drive a wedge into our families and put us at odds with each other. The sick bastard must have a way into our heads. Bella, you OK?"

I sat in silence trying to digest everything she had just said. It sickened me to think that I came so close to possibly killing my best friend. I also hated the thought of a strange and dangerous vampire being so close to our home. So close that he could manipulate me. To make me fight the ones I loved.

"What did he look like?"

"I only caught a glimpse after I snapped out of it. Short blonde hair, military haircut. Medium build, maybe about five foot eleven." She shrugged.

I was up the stairs in a flash to see Jacob helping Nessie pack away the last of her things into a duffle bag.

"You need to go as quickly as you can. Do you have a full tank of gas in my car?"

"Yes, but what's going on?"

"Just get going, I'll call you and explain once you are on the road. Just please take Nessie and go now." I kissed her and wrapped her in my arms in a quick hug. "Please, be safe. Don't make any unnecessary stops on the way." I hurried them down the stairs and walked them to the car. I could see Renesmee's worried face peering back at me from behind the dark tint of my Volvo. Kate put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"You did the right thing by sending them away. They will be safer that way. I don't know how to deal with this new threat. Normally I'd never suggest splitting up, but that might be the only way to keep everyone safe."

"Who else knows about this?"

"I left a voicemail on Tanya's phone. I was able to reach Carmen and Eleazar, so they both know. And Garrett…he won't answer my phone calls."

"I'm calling Edward, and then I'll call Garrett. Maybe he'll answer and I can explain what just happened here." She nodded her head in approval.

"But tell him I don't want him to come back, not until I'm sure I won't hurt him again." There was so much guilt in her voice. My heart went out to her. Right now more than anything, I wanted Edward by my side, but I wondered if that was safe. It was one thing to turn on my best friend, but Edward. I would never forgive myself if I hurt him, regardless of who was controlling me.

Before the first ring Edward answered. I explained what had happened and gave him the information from Kate as quickly as I could.

"I'll come hom.."

"No! We can't be around each other; we don't know what could happen. Finish your classes, and if you come home, stay in the cabin. Jacob took Renesmee. I thought it would be safer."

"That's probably the best thing right now. Call Jasper and see if he has any ideas. I'll call you on my way home."

"OK. You and Tanya…be careful." There was a click and the line went dead. The whole conversation only took two seconds. I doubt anyone in the class would even have known he was on the phone.

Next I called Garrett, but there was no answer. I left the most concise message that I could that would still explain what had happened. I hoped he would listen to it and call Kate. The fact that he wasn't answering his phone was troubling in itself.

Jasper answered the phone immediately. His tone was upbeat which surprised me at first. I was so used to Jasper being able to tell what I was feeling before any words left my mouth.

"We have a situation, Jasper." I proceeded to tell him all that I knew. He even talked to Kate to get her take on things.

"I'll be there tomorrow. It sounds like this vampire can do something like what I do, only more powerful. He's obviously playing on emotions if he was able to affect you Bella. These aren't tricks of the mind."

It made sense the way he put it. He wasn't getting inside our heads; he was changing the tenor of our emotions. The thoughts in my head were my own, fueled by the emotions themselves. Great, an enemy I wasn't immune to.

"Can you…counteract him?"

Jasper sighed. "I'm not sure, it's possible though."

"Is anyone coming with you?" The sensible part of me was hoping he'd say no, while the selfish part of me wished that Alice was coming with him.

"No, I don't think that would be a good thing. Alice's visions are something she has to focus on to see. If her emotional state is tampered with, it might disturb her visions. Besides, I think you are right about everyone keeping their distance from each other. It's best that we all just communicate by phone. In fact, I'll probably just check into a hotel in town. It will be safer that way."

"Do you think this new vampire is connected to the other one back in Forks?"

He paused before answering. "Yes…without a doubt."