My longest chapter yet! I'm so excited...ENJOY!!

If Alice's smile had been any bigger, it would have taken up all of her face. Her black eyebrows rose until they seemed to blend in with her dark hair. Her tiny figure was trembling with pent up excitement, and it became apparent that she couldn't hold it in much longer.

Not good...

I was suddenly assailed by wave upon wave of unintelligible, soprano shrieks of happiness. People walking through the parking lot looked at Alice like she was some deranged lunatic that had escaped from an insane asylum. Of course, she noticed none of this. Her arms flashed out and wrapped me in a grip so tight, that I was sure I'd be the first vampire to die of strangulation... and I didn't even have to breathe.

"Oh, Bella!" she cried, when she was able to form words again. " I'm just so happy that you finally admitted it to yourself."

WHAT?

"Alice, are you saying you knew I was in love with Edward?" How is that even possible?

She grinned. "Yep. And I didn't even need to look into the future."

"HOW?"

She sighed, as if she was exasperated with me all of a sudden. "Be serious, Bella. I just know. And I could see it on your face when he came to your apartment."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

She gave me a small smile. "Even though you didn't smile- in fact, a scowl would have looked more cheerful than your expression at the time- I saw something in your eyes when he looked at you. It was fleeting, quite fleeting, but it was there."

"What did you see, Alice?" I was curious now.

"I saw a spark. I saw hope. Bella... I saw love. I saw pure, undeniable love. It took me a moment to realize it, since you quickly composed yourself, but it was there. I saw it. You love him, Bella. And I know that he loves you back."

I had been listening in silence as the words she spoke painted a picture in my mind. I saw a happier Bella, one that wasn't cold and heartless. One that could face anything, as long as she had him by her side.

Could that moment in my apartment earlier have been a sign? Is it possible that he really could love me? I played the moment over in my head. I felt the crackling energythat seemed to fill the entire space between us. I remembered the shock I'd felt when Edward's skin brushed mine. At this moment, however, my mind decided to play a different memory: Edward and Tanya locked in a sweet, tender kiss, filled with unquestionable passion. It was this memory that brought me back to the cruel thing that was reality.

I looked down at Alice fondly, realizing at that moment how much I had missed her. I hated to say these things to her when she was so happy. "You're wrong about that, Alice. He loves Tanya."

"No, he doesn't, not really- "

"Alice, enough," I said. "You didn't see them together, after you left. When he kissed her..."

"He KISSED her? In front of you?? Oh, I'm gonna kill him!"

"Alice, be reasonable! He just wanted to reassure her. He asked to talk to me alone, and she wasn't exactly happy about leaving. I mean, who would want to leave their husband alone with one of his exes?"

She cocked her head to the side, and peered up at me with a weird look in her eyes. "Bella, they aren't married."

This surprised me. "What? Why not? You and Jasper are, and so are Emmett and Rosalie."

She shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know. They've never seemed to want to get married. Besides, I don't really want Tanya as my sister-in-law."

"How come? Hasn't Tanya been a good friend of your family's for a long time now?"

"I didn't say we weren't friends, Bella. We're very good friends, actually. It's just, I don't know, thinking about her in that kind of relationship hasn't ever set right with me... probably because I always wanted you to be my sister."

I groaned. "Okay, Alice, enough already. While I would love to have you as a sister, I just don't see it happening."

Before she could say anything more, Jasper and Emmett materialized beside us.

Emmett was peeved. "Okay, what could possibly take you two a whole HOUR to talk about? We probably walked around the main entrance twenty times before we gave up and came back to look for you, and here you are in the same exact place we left you."

Jasper was silent, but I could see a smile playing on his lips, showing that he was amused by Emmett's little tirade. He wound his arms around Alice, who had a sheepish smile on her face that mirrored mine perfectly.

"Sorry, Emmett," I apologized. "We had a lot to talk about."

He nodded. "Edward, right?"

I cannot believe this!

"You know too?" I cried. I glanced over at Jasper, who was doing a horrible job at trying to keep an innocent expression.

"Bella, calm down," Emmett said, trying to soothe me. "You know Jasper can feel emotions. It would be hard for him not to notice anything. When he walked into the mall with the most ridiculous expression on his face, I made him tell me what was up. Needless to say, I wasn't surprised."

Of course you weren't...

"Oh, well, if it's all out in the open, then I admit it. I love Edward. But I don't want to dwell on that at the present time."

Emmett sighed, but gave up.

Alice however, was not ready to quit talking. "Bella, what was it that Edward came to talk to you about, at the apartment? I forgot to ask you before."

I was thankful for a change of topic. My mind began to pour over the mystery of the dead university students, and the mysterious vampire that was behind their deaths. Looking back up at the three of them, I decided there would be no harm in telling them. "Why don't we go inside? I'll explain everything then."

We walked into the mall and sat down at a small table in the food court. There, I told them about the multiple disappearances and murders of the students in Oxford, and the evidence that clearly pointed to a vampire who didn't know the rules, or wasn't following them. This shocked all three of them. It was Emmett in particular who was peeved.

"I can't believe Edward didn't tell us about this! Did he completely forget that he had an older brother who would have been able to take this guy out in about two seconds?" Clearly, Emmett was aching for a good fight.

Alice snorted. "Emmett, if Rosalie were here, she would have smacked you in the head. We should try to keep this non-violent, if possible. It's very likely that it's a relatively new vampire that hasn't been taught the rules, and who would be better suited to do that than us?" she asked, smiling.

Jasper nodded his agreement, and said, "I agree with Alice. NOT because she's my wife, Emmett, so get that look of your face." Emmett's smirk quickly vanished.

Jasper continued. "We need to use the utmost caution when dealing with a newborn. While they are wild and somewhat clumsy in their fighting styles, their strength is unparalleled. Bella, when you were with the Volturi, how much experience did you have with fighting with newborns?"

Before I had time to ask him how he knew about my years with the Volturi, the obvious answer piped up, "There you go again with the talk about fighting. I told you, we need to handle this peacefully. If Carlisle were here, he would agree with me."

"Do you think we should call him?" Emmett asked. "It might be good to have him here, and out of all of us he would be the best at trying to convince a newborn of adopting our, um, eating habits."

At the mention of eating I again noticed the burn in the back of my throat. It was growing stronger by the minute. It wouldn't be too long before...

I stood up, startling them. "Alice, I need to go."

She stood up, followed by Emmett and Jasper. "What's wrong Bella?"

"I need to hunt."

She didn't seem to understand. "Well, okay, we'll come with you. I haven't hunted since before I came here."

Jasper, who was obviously more observant, whispered, "Alice, look at her eyes."

Maybe she hadn't noticed it before, because they had been mostly black when she showed up on my doorstep, but I guess there must be some red left, because she gasped. Emmett looked at me as though he was seeing me for the first time... and didn't particularly like what he saw.

Jasper didn't seem as angry or upset. His gaze was more sympathetic. I remembered that when I knew them in Forks, he seemed to have the most trouble with their diet. So, in a way, I guess he did know what I was going through.

For the first time since becoming a vampire, I felt ashamed. Ashamed of my eating habits, and ashamed of their gazes.

I turned and ran, going so fast that no human could have possibly seen me, just felt an abnormal breeze as I passed by. I was soon out of the city limits, but barely noticed as the buildings became rolling hills and pastures.

I came to a dense forest, and began to slow down. With my heightened eyesight, I was able to see a lone hiker about a mile ahead. I smelled the air...

And took off. The scent of his blood filled my head as I gave myself over to the hunt. Within seconds, I had drained his body of the sweet liquid, and my head cleared.

I looked down into the face of my victim. His eyes were wide and his face shockingly pale, much like mine. Unlike me, however, he would remain still for eternity. I wondered if he had family waiting at home for him, what they would think when he never came back.

For the first time, I felt remorse for killing a human being. I hated what I had done, and yet, I knew I would keep doing it, that there was no way for me to stop. My head fell into my hands and my shoulders shook with silent sobs.

I am a monster...

I didn't really feel much like going into detail about her hunting, so I just summed up the key points. Anyways, this is my first non-cliffie chapter in, like, two months! Aren't y'all proud of me? REVIEW!!