Today had not gone as expected.

I had not expected that Bella was having an affair with her professor.

I had not expected that I would come home to discover Alice had been kidnapped by Jasper.

I had not expected to be running to Mississippi with Bella in my arms.

I had not expected to almost kill Bella.

I had not expected to be sharing the fact that I was a vampire with her.

But most of all, I had not expected Bella to react the way she did.

She seemed to have more issue with it as a logical possibility than anything else.

Of course, after coming to the full realization that I was not lying or crazy, she did pass out. But that was much better than how most humans would have reacted to such news. Most would have screamed, cried, cowered in fear. But not Bella. She merely passed out, which I assumed was because something which she had gone her whole life believing was nothing but a fairy tale was in fact very, very real, and standing right in front her. Part of her foundation for reality had been shaken. Fainting was understandable.

It was nearly sunset now. I had sent Rosalie to get Bella some human food. Bella was sleeping. After she passed out at the kitchen table, I carried her back to her sleeping spot.

She began to stir. I sat on the floor on the opposite side of the room from her. I wanted to give her some space if she needed it.

She sat up, blinking and looking around. "Hi," she said awkwardly.

I smiled, "Sleep well?"

"Yes. Something about sleeping on the cold, hard floor...Really invigorating," she joked. Good, she was being light-hearted.

"Rosalie went to get you food. Sorry I didn't get you any earlier, I just forget about humans having to eat so often."

She shrugged and smiled, "It's ok. Although I do hope she gets here soon because it's been like probably twenty-four hours since I last ate. And I've done quite a bit of running today." She mentioned her escapade into the woods in a frivolous manner. I was glad to see she was at ease with the topic.

"She should be back soon."

Bella inhaled deeply and exhaled quickly. She looked out the window. "Are we leaving once the sun sets?"

"That's the plan. If Jasper and them have taken Alice to Mississippi like Rosalie thinks they probably have, we should be there in a few hours. And hopefully we'll find Alice and bring her back home."

"How come Rosalie can go out in the sun?" she asked.

"You might not believe this, but Rosalie is incredibly vain," I said, a smile on my face. Bella laughed.

"I heard that," Rosalie arrived, a bag of fast food in hand. She dropped it down in front of Bella, as well as a bottle of water. "Enjoy. Now, what are you saying about me, Edward?"

"I asked why you don't seem to be affected by the sunlight like he is," Bella spoke up, perhaps taking my advice to make friends with Rosalie. Or at least to not be afraid of her.

"Oh. It's a hex. A spell," Rosalie stated matter-of-factly.

Bella was tearing into her hamburger somewhat ferociously, but froze when Rosalie shared that small fact with her.

"A spell?" Bella said after swallowing a bite of hamburger. "You mean to tell me that there are...Witches?" she said it as if she were ashamed of even thinking such a thing possible.

"There are. Only there aren't very many. There's maybe only twenty in the whole of Chicago. And they don't really enjoy mingling with vampires, so it's hard to track them down," Rosalie explained. "I get hexed every few weeks."

Bella raised an eyebrow, "You make it sound like going to get your nails done. And what do you mean?"

Rosalie shrugged. "There are different spells for different things. There was one created especially for vampires, it protects us from the sun. I go to the one witch in Chicago that will actually speak to a vampire and have her cast the spell."

Bella looked incredulous. "And why don't all vampires do this?"

"Most vampires don't care," I broke into their conversation. "Since for the most part, it is nothing but a change in physical appearance with a small reduction in strength. And vampires just aren't really fans of daylight regardless. Nighttime is much better suited to our style. Rosalie just does it because she can't stand the thought of being anything less than what you look at now."

Rosalie clung to her beauty. It was her closest connection to her human life she had left. She looked at me, not disputing what I had told Bella. She knew she was vain and was unapologetic for it.

"Plus, most witches won't have anything to do with vampires. In fact, I think Rosalie's witch is the only living witch that will do it, and I doubt she does it for many vampires."

Bella looked at me and then at Rosalie, then back to me. Then back to Rosalie. I guessed she probably had alot of questions, but didn't know where to start, or to start at all. "Wow. Witches. Let me guess, there are werewolves and faeries, too?" her voice slightly sarcastic.

"There are alot of mythical beings that are real, Bella. However faeries is not on that list," I smiled.

She frowned, "Well there damn well better be a Loch Ness Monster."

I shook my head, "Sorry."

"What is there then?" she said, taking a drink of water.

"There are werewolves. There are shapeshifters. There are witches, obviously. And there are hunters."

"Great," she clicked her tongue. "The world is apparently alot more dangerous than the evening news gives it credit for."

"Not really," Rosalie shrugged. "Of that list, the only one you need to be worried about are werewolves, and even then, they're mostly in rural areas, and there's only a full moon once a month. And you need to be worried about vampires, of course."

I shot Rosalie a look. I also noted that I should check what phase the moon was in tonight.

"Not us, of course. But other vampires," Rosalie clarified. "I mean, if anything, I should be the one worried. All of those, save the witches, are like the born enemies of vampires. Like they literally exist for no reason other than to kill us. Although witches don't really seem to like us either, but they don't try to kill us like the others do." I smiled to myself. This was Rosalie being nice. She was trying to ease Bella's fears in a roundabout way. This was improvement.

"What are hunters?" Bella asked.

"Vampire hunters," I replied. "Humans that possess the ability to kill a vampire. Regular humans can deter a vampire. But they can't flat out kill one. Hunters can."

Bella seemed intrigued by the idea. "How can I deter you? Should you ever attempt to suck my blood," she said, the last half of her sentence in a poor Romanian accent. I was torn between laughing at her poor accent and being upset with her for suggesting such a situation would occur again. But I realized it wasn't a crazy thing to ask to know. Accidents happen.

"Do not tell her," Rosalie cut me off just as I opened my mouth. "You might not have a sense of self-preservation, but I sure as hell do. You can't read her mind, Edward. This light-hearted joking could be an act. You can't just take her at her word on this. So if not for your own sake, do it for mine. Do not tell her."

I looked at Bella. She seemed slightly upset that Rosalie was accusing her of being untrustworthy. I thought for a moment. Rosalie was right. I couldn't read Bella's mind. And she had taken this vampire news really quite well. Maybe too well. But at the same time, I had lived with Bella for nearly a month now, and known for her an entire summer. While I admitted to not knowing details on Bella's life, I knew that she was trustworthy.

Both Bella and Rosalie were looking at me, each expecting me to give into their demands. Tell Bella. Keep it secret for Rosalie.

"Fine, if you tell her, I won't help you find Alice," Rosalie announced, after seeing that I was pausing in my decision.

I was stunned. "Rosalie."

"I'm not kidding. I will turn around and go right back to Chicago."

"She already told us they were headed for Mississippi," Bella said. "We don't need her."

"I said they were headed south. Mississippi is just one of many glorious options. Maybe they went to Brazil. I'm the only one here who can even remotely track. You need me, Edward, and you know it."

"Bella, she's right," I looked at her and shrugged. We did need Rosalie. And even then, I felt torn between my loyalty to Rosalie, who had always shown loyalty to me despite it not always making her life easy, and my desire to make Bella feel safe. "I'm sorry."

"Great. I'm stuck on a vampire trip with no way to defend myself."

"It was your idea to come," Rosalie snapped.

"That was before I was aware that you two were flipping vampires," Bella's voice began to rise.

"Well no one's making you stay. We are perfectly capable of finding Alice without you. Even faster, actually. We'd probably have her by now if we didn't have to stop and rest for you."

Rosalie had a point there. I looked to Bella for her response.

"Well, he said," she pointed at me, "That it wasn't safe to leave me there alone."

"He just wanted you around," Rosalie rolled her eyes. "We both know they're not going to go back to that apartment. They have Alice and now they're playing a game."

Bella seemed to be getting angry so I decided to step in. "Rose," I said in a severe tone, "That's enough. The sun is down now. If Bella's ready, we can leave." I looked at Bella and gave her a weak smile. She avoided eye contact with me.

"I'm ready," she muttered, standing up. She held out her arms, waiting for me to pick her up.

"Glad you've got the routine down so quickly," I joked, hoping she would at least grin. She didn't. I frowned and picked her up.

The three of us disappeared into the forest.

A/N: Bella is so OOC in this chapter it's ridic. I kinda love it. Hah. I also had apprehensions about this chapter as well..Wasn't sure how people would feel about mythical beings other than shapeshifters (that is what the Quileutes in the books were officially, right?)...But I sort of wanted to broaden the scope of the story so there are werewolves, witches, and vampire hunters. Dun dun dun... ^_^ RSVP- Review Si Vous Plait ;) Wow, I am so lame! :O *shame* Haha, yeah, but no really, review :P

QUESTION: I was thinking of expanding the story to include Alice's POV. Sort of make Chapters 1-12 Book I and alternating between Bella/Edward, and the middle book be alternating between Jasper/Alice, and then in the end alternate between all four, or just go back to alternating between E/B. Would you all be down for that? Erg, let me clarify: Alice and Jasper's POV yes or no?