Sorry for the late update. I am seriously trying to get better! Thank you to you all who have stuck around with this story. I truly do appreciate everyone who still waits and checks in every so often for the next chapter to appear. Thank you again to my beta, Courtney. You are the best!

Lucas's POV

Tabitha grabbed the phone that Leah had left on her nightstand and placed it in my hand.

"Go on," she said. "Give someone a call."

I turned her phone on, scrolling through the names recognizing only a few. I felt slightly awkward as I went through her phone. I felt I invading her privacy in some way.

"Who?" I asked.

"Didn't she ever mention someone she is close to?"

I shook my head. During our limited time together, we never really got into the personal stuff. It was obvious that there were many things I didn't know about Leah. I felt reassured as I made a deal with myself that I would find out everything there was to know about her as soon as I got her back.

"I think she has a brother," I said, remembering the people who had come to visit her while I was …stalking her. I winced slightly and looked up at Tabitha, who was giving me an odd look.

"What's his name?"

"Seth."

"Well then…call him," she said trying to be encouraging.

I looked at the clock. It was nearing 2 in the morning. I took a deep breath and pressed call.

"Hello?" said a low voice on the other end. I froze. I hadn't expected him to pick up so quickly.

"Leah?" he repeated groggily.

"This is Lucas," I finally got out. I looked up at Tabitha who was nervously biting her lip.

"Lucas? Lucas Westcott?" he asked with a tad bit more energy.

"Yes."

"Where is Leah? Did something happen to her?" he said as his voice became frantic. A wave of guilt washed over me. I had failed to protect his sister and now I had to admit it to him.

"Yes, she was tak-."

"Where are you?" he asked immediately cutting me off. I could hear keys jingling in the background and a door slamming.

"At her house."

"I'll be right there," he said, followed by an immediate click of an end call.

I stared at the phone. I was going to have to meet her brother. Dread crept into my stomach. I hadn't exactly treated his sister all that well and to be perfectly honest, I was the reason she was kidnapped in the first place. Was he going to try and fight me? Would I even fight back? No, I thought. I deserved whatever punishment I was going to get.

"Is he coming here?" Tabitha asked, snapping me out of my brief daze. I looked at her as she was examining her arm again, silently wincing as she touched a sensitive spot.

"Yes. Tabitha, I really think you should go home." I had to try once more. I didn't know what to expect - especially with her brother coming to visit. If he was going to fight me, I was afraid Tabitha may try to defend me and I could risk her getting hurt.

"No," she said irritably. I sighed, silently cursing her stubborn personality and went to look in the bathroom for something that would clean her wound.

I was happy to find a first aid kit underneath the bathroom sink and was just about done wrapping Tabitha's arm in a sling when I heard the front door open. I frowned at her as I could still see the blood seeping through bandages.

"It's fine Lucas," Tabitha said. "It'll stop bleeding eventually."

With her good arm she pushed me out of the bathroom to meet Leah's brother. She followed behind me as I made my way to the kitchen. Almost immediately a sickly sweet scent hit me. Acting on instinct, I pushed Tabitha behind me as a low growl vibrated in my chest. I glared at the vampire who was now slowing making her way behind who I can only assume was Leah's brother, Seth. Tabitha was still bleeding, I thought frantically, how would this vampire ever resist her?

"Seth," the vampire spoke quietly, "maybe it wasn't a good idea that I came. I should go."

"No," Seth said sharply. I watched his body vibrate, his eyes intense - as if he was trying to calm himself down. "He needs to get used to vampires."

"Please Lucas. She won't hurt me," Tabitha said behind me. She tried to take a step forward but I pushed her back, accidentally touching her damaged arm. She let out a small cry.

"I can heal her," the vampire said to me. "Please, it would be more for me than for her," she explained as I watched as her nose crinkled.

"How exactly do you plan on doing that?" I growled. "Turning her into a vampire isn't exactly what I call healing. Its more like death I hear."

I watched her wince at my words. The vampires I knew showed my brother no mercy, no compassion when they killed him. They held me down, made me watch as they laughed and slowly killed him. He begged for them to let me go, but it did no good. The pain of the memory was as fresh as if it happened just yesterday. When they were finished, they knocked me unconscious. I had woken up alone in an empty alley way.

"I wouldn't hurt her," she said so softly; I could barely hear her.

"I'm sure," I said sarcastically. All my past memories bringing fresh anger that began to fill my body. "That is all your species knows how to do...hurt, kill, destroy liv-"

"Enough," Seth cut me off. I watched as he turned to his evil companion as if to comfort her from my harsh words. To my surprise, that was exactly was he doing. I stared at astonishment, not believing what I was seeing. Vampires didn't have souls and weren't capable of… feelings. But I couldn't take my eyes away from them, now noticing the obvious of connection they had towards each other. I watched as he bent down and whispered in her ear words of comfort. And I continued to watch her as she nodded her head, bit her lip and glance up at me.

I heard the front door open again and watched as more people shuffled into Leah's home. Two more extremely large men looking like they could be Seth's brothers walk in with, from what I could tell, a human girl and…some sort of other creature. I watched this creature stand next to the vampire. I compared their similarities, both strikingly beautiful as vampires tended to be, but the other creature looked almost softer, slightly more human.

"What's going on here?" one of the large men said.

There was a long moment of silence I continued to glare at Seth and he in turned glared back at me. I was just waiting for him to make the first move at me but suddenly his eyes got soft and he took a deep breath as if he made some decision with himself.

"Just trying to prevent my future brother-in-law from killing my wife," Seth said sarcastically. My eyes went wide at the words 'future brother in law.' He couldn't possibly be referring to me, he didn't even know me. I could hear Tabitha starting to giggle as she tried unsuccessfully to hide by with a cough behind me and watched the three girls eyes brighten up as they all began to smile. Just like that, I could feel the tension in the room start to dissolve, but I stood rigid, getting more irritated at this apparent inside joke that everyone but me seemed to understand.

Seth completely took me off guard as he casually strolled up to me at put his arm around my shoulders as if we were long time friends.

"Look, you and I both know I should be kicking your ass right now for what you did to my sister, but I know you had your reasons to act the way you did. Being an imprint isn't something you can fight. And you wouldn't have called me and we all wouldn't be here if you didn't love her. Just know that if you hurt her again, I will personally hunt you down and kill you myself."

I was completely out of my element with absolutely nothing to say. I stood there, sort of shocked, still wondering when my much deserved beat down would begin.

He gave me a quick pat on the shoulder. "And when, not if, we find her, I'm letting her know you were this close to attacking her best friend." He said as he pinched his two fingers close together. "Leah's wrath will be more then enough punishment for you."

I watched as everyone's faces turned up into playful smirks as if they all agreed with him.

"I'm Jacob," said the other tall dark man as he held out his hand for me to shake. I cautiously shook his hand. "This is my wife Renesemee, but everyone calls her Nessie and this is Quil and his wife Claire."

They all waved and said their hellos. I nervously nodded my head in return.

"I'm Lucas," I said trying to keep my voice steady, "and this is Tabitha."

I watched as Nessie's eyes looked straight at Tabitha's broken arm and frown.

"Why don't you have Annabel fix her arm?" she asked me.

Before I could get a word out, Tabitha brushed past me as she headed directly towards Annabel, holding her arm in front of her.

"Tabitha," I growled but she only gave me a small wave to brush me off.

"I'm in pain and if she said she can heal me, then I believe her," she said not even looking at me.

I watched her as she stood in awe of the vampire before her.

"I've never met a vampire before," she said to her.

I started to make my way over to her to pull her out of the way but she turned around holding her good arm out to me.

"Not a step further, Lucas," she said as sternly as she could. "I'm not a little girl. I don't need your protection."

"I beg to differ," I said, ready to remind her of her recent episode of getting locked behind a door that had no lock.

She rolled her eyes at me. "This is my choice."

I stepped a bit closer, just to be sure that this vampire, Annabel would not hurt Tabitha. She looked up at me cautiously as if to get my approval and I simply sighed and nodded my head for her to go ahead. There wasn't anything I could do to stop Tabitha when she made up her mind and I highly doubted they would hurt Tabitha, or me for that matter, especially considering I had vital information to Leah's whereabouts.

I watched as Annabel cautiously put her hand on top of Tabitha's broken arm.

"Your hands are cold," Tabitha whispered. Annabel smiled and nodded her head. Her eyes began to close as if she was concentrating hard on something. A second later, she removed her hand.

Tabitha looked at her arm as she began to move it around as if it had never been hurt at all. She quickly unraveled her bandages and we both stared at her arm in wonder. There was no sign of injury to be seen.

"Is this one of your vampire powers?" I asked Annabel, remembering all the legends that some vampires had certain talents.

"No, at least not one that I gained when I became a vampire. I've always been able to do this," she said with a small smile.

"Really? You could heal people when you were human?"

"Yes."

"When did you change?" I asked hesitantly, not sure if it was appropriate to ask.

"Would you like the long version or the short?" Nessie said as she stepped forward to me.

"What is the difference?"

"The long version would be for us to explain to you how our family came to be."

"Or?"

"I could show you." She smiled brightly as she reached out to touch my arm.

Immediately my mind's eye was flooded with images. It was like watching a movie and as each new character popped up, somehow she was able to wordlessly convey their relation to her. I shuddered. The images she was showing me were both very personal and painful. I was looking through her eyes as her mother, near death called for her before she took her last breath. I saw a blonde vampire; her aunt Rosalie took me away as she got one last look of her father trying to save her with his venom and Jacob feverishly trying to keep her mother's heart beating. Immediately I could feel her pull towards Jacob as she watched him as long as she could before Rosalie had taken her downstairs. With that, I realized what Nessie was…a half vampire and half human. It was impossible for me to fathom. How could a vampire have that much control? What was it about her mother that her father desired so much to keep her? Love, she spoke in my head.

Quickly the scenes began to move rapidly. Flashes of her favorite memories came at as introductions to her family at me. Her father singing lullabies before she fell asleep and her mother reading her favorite novels out aloud to her as she swung on her swing outside. Both of her uncles, Jasper and Emmett, who would toss her wildly in the air and catch her as she squealed in delight. Next were her aunts, Rosalie and Alice, constantly with a camera and a new pair of clothes for her to try on. I watched as she fished with her grandfather, Charlie, a human and her vampire grandfather teaching her about science and then her grandmother gardening in the backyard. She quickly went through the pack, slowing down as she came to Leah, letting her picture linger a little longer than the others.

Images began to slow down, as she helped me understand that the imprint between her and Jacob was what forged the union between Jacob's pack and her family, the vampires. I saw that it was this that had stopped the Volturi, the leader of the vampire species at the time, from finishing what they set out to do. Destroy her and her family. I watched in awe as I saw vampires and the shapeshifters come together as either fighters or witnesses to show the Volturi that she was not an immortal child and should not be destroyed. I saw her aunt Alice save the day with a boy named Nahul who was also a half human and half vampire. There were others like her? I asked myself.

Images of her life began to fast forward again with Jacob always in the background, never leaving her side and always as her guardian. She aged rapidly but soon it stopped as she looked now, frozen at age 18. I watched her as she entered a new school and instantly became friends with Annabel who I saw as a human with a special gift, one that was considered almost a myth amongst mythical creatures. I saw as her friendship to Annabel grew almost as rapidly as her close friendship with Jacob started to become something.

She gave me glimpse of Leah throughout her life and the common theme that appeared to me was her isolation. She was always alone. Though she had family, there was no particular female friend amongst the pack and no one to understand where she was coming from. I saw how each of her pack members began to quickly imprint on others while she remained unmoved by anyone. I watched the day that Seth first met Annabel and the way it reminded Leah of her difference. I saw that she genuinely believed she would always be alone. The image was as clear as if I was actually in the moment and I took a step forward to her, only to remember that these images were just memories.

Nessie fast forwarded quickly through Annabel's capturing by the Volturi. I watched as everyone came to rescue her and a stubborn Nessie travel alone when she was told she couldn't come. It was exactly something Tabitha would have done. I winced as I saw Annabel suffer through the torture of vampire venom and how it changed her gift as a healer. I saw more of Nessie's gift as she actually took her power so that the transformation could occur. Then all too quickly I saw the Volturi destroyed by them. The image of Caius being held, crying out pain under the control a little girl was burned in my head, refusing to ever let go.

As she let go of my arm, I took a huge breath as if I had been holding it all this time. I walked over to Annabel as she stared cautiously back at me.

"You are the one who killed Caius?" I asked.

"Yes," she said simply.

"Our species is ever in debt to you. He was the one who forced us to go underground and nearly succeeded in causing the extinction of our kind."

She looked at me shocked and turned her head to Seth who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Help us find Leah and it will be considered even," she said plainly.

I nodded my head and looked back at Tabitha. She gave me a reassuring smile; as if to tell me calling her family had been the right move.

"Do you know who took Leah?" Seth asked.

"Yes, it was Vivienne."

"You're fiancé?" Claire asked as she folded her arms across her chest and glaring as hard as she could at me.

I nodded, ashamed. "I didn't know she was capable of this. I didn't think she was so desperate to marry me. She never showed me any particular interest growing up. It may be this upcoming war. She may just want to ensure our alliance with their pack."

I started to rambled and couldn't find myself stopping. I stared at the floor, too much of a coward to look at her brother. "If I knew she was like this…I would have never of let this happen. It wasn't a union of love, it was arranged. I should have just done my duty. I should have listened to my father."

"Marrying Vivienne would have been the worst thing you could have done," Seth said as I looked up. "The Fitzroy's have an alliance with the Romanian vampires. The marriage would have only ensured your people fought on their side."

"I don't believe you. That makes no sense. Vampires and werewolves are mortal enemies. Why would they align themselves with them now?"

"Power, greed…it really is only a temporary alliance. Their main goal is to destroy us, our side," Jacob said. "Once we are out of the picture, I'm sure the alliance will dissolve and it's every man for themselves."

"Why do they care about your side? What is it about you that they would view as a threat?" I asked him.

"Nessie and Annabel are not the only ones with unique powers in our family," Quil said.

I looked at all them, waiting for them to explain further.

~*~*~*~*~*~

How did my life get so out of control? I thought to myself as I wondered around the large home. It seemed like only days ago, everything was in black and white. Vampires…all bad, werewolves… good. Half-breeds...don't exist. When did all the lines get blurred? When did it all get so confusing?

I walked down a large hall pausing every so often to look at the framed pictures, proudly displayed on the walls as family portraits. All of them were frozen in time, except Nessie, who was pictured here first as a baby, then as a toddler and so on. Her life documented quickly all the way till she looked the same age as her parents.

I told them I needed to use the bathroom when really all I wanted was to get away, even if it was just for a moment. I felt like I needed to catch up to the things that were quickly happening around me. The atmosphere downstairs was suffocating and unnerving for me. Everyone was perfectly paired up with their other half, while Tabitha and I awkwardly stood around separate and disjointed from the group.

I wanted to leave, to take off and rescue Leah on my own. I continued walking down the hall and before I made it to the stairs I eyed the window that screamed for my easy escape. The morning sun was slowly making itself known almost as a reminder that it had been a while since I last slept. I imagined how easily I could slip away. I could find Leah on my own. I'd figure it out. I could rescue her again, I had done it before.

"Tabitha, will be quite upset if you leave her here by herself," a voice called from the stairs.

I looked down the stairs to find the reddish-brown hair and apparently a mind reader vampire, Edward, leaning against the wall watching me.

"I wasn't planning on leaving," I lied.

He chuckled, which annoyed me even more. "Sure you weren't."

I snorted and made my way down the stairs trying to move quickly past him. I growled as he blocked my path.

"You won't be able to rescue Leah on your own," he said to me.

I glared at him. Leave me alone, I thought. It took all my energy not to throw him against the wall.

"It took a while for Leah to trust us," he started again. "You two are a lot alike, except it took her quite a while just to even make it through the front door of our home."

I stared at him not speaking a word but still desperately wanting to hear anything about Leah. To hear that she had a hard time as well was somewhat comforting. At least we agreed on a mutual dislike of these vampires.

"She hated us for quite a while," he continued. "She blamed us for a lot of things, mostly for being the catalyst that made her who she is."

You made her a shapeshifter? I thought.

"No one really knows how it works. But our presence in their small town may have caused things to set in motion for her. Before we came to her small town, she was very much in love with a man named Sam. When we showed up he began to go through some changes. He was beginning to shift and with shifting comes imprinting. Her cousin Emily came to visit her and when Sam set eyes on her, he imprinted. The imprint is unchangeable, as I'm sure you are aware and as much as Sam felt awful about it, he couldn't deny his love for Emily. It broke Leah's heart."

Why are you telling me this?

"If we never moved to Forks, maybe Sam would never have begun shifting or Leah for that matter. Maybe she and Sam would have lived happily ever after. But then you would never have met her. I'm telling you this because she hated us for a long time. She blamed us for taking someone she loved very much away from her and well...this seems to be the case for you as well. I'm just hoping that if Leah of all people found some way to trust us, you'd find you may be able to as well."

He didn't say anything after that, only turned away and began walking down the stairs. I felt almost ashamed that I had wanted to bail out earlier. I needed Leah back and I knew working with these vampires were the only way I was going to accomplish this successfully.

I headed downstairs; ready to rescue the one I loved.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Leah's POV

"Is this a dream?" I asked.

I turned my head from the sun to find a pair of beautiful blue eyes staring back at me. His smile faltered a bit but he reached over with his finger to trace my cheek.

"Yes," Lucas said sadly. I knew it was a dream; I didn't really need to ask. Part of me just wanted him to lie.

I sighed as his hand cupped my face and I leaned into him. He felt so real. I didn't want to wake up and cause this dream to end. Waking up was terrifying. I would find myself in more pain, lying paralyzed on that wooden floor again.

"Are you coming to save me?" I asked him.

"Soon."

"I don't know how much longer I can stay alive," I said honestly. Every time I woke, I wished for death. I could feel myself slipping away and my body starting to give up.

"Do you have faith in me...in us?"

"Yes."

"Then I will save you."

I nodded my head. His image was starting to fade and the tears began to fall from my eyes again. I closed them as he leaned down and gave me a soft kiss on the lips.

"Keep fighting Leah," he said. "I'll find you soon."

When I opened them, I was awake and back in my nightmare.

Thanks again for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter!