*Disclaimer* Hello, everybody!

I have a surprise for you...beside the fact that i've forgotten to put up chapter titles for a while and i'm going to start doing that again...I have a deal to strike with you all!

If you get me to a minimum of 285 (not that I won't take more, because I totally will!) reviews...Edward will be then coming back next chapter.

I kid you not. Edward Anthony Masen Cullen will be back...and he won't be a hallucination anymore!! Wahoo!

So....review for me! Or i'm keeping Edward stored away in my basement! :)

This Is SO Not My Family!

"Hi, Bella." He was very happy to see me here. I guess he thought I wouldn't come back now that he was, well, busy all the time. "What are you doing here?" Yeah, I was definitely right.

"I forgot to tell you last night that I didn't care about you being a werewolf. I thought you might want to know." I smiled a normally as I could as I climbed inside his room. Jeez, it was smaller in here than I remembered. Which was what a week ago? How time flies… "And in case you were wondering, you really have nothing to worry about with how I know because I doubt the person who told me even realized that you all were real. So, yeah!"

Jacob waited until I was done before he swept me up in a big hug. For a second, I thought he'd broken one of my ribs! Good God, this boy is strong! "You really, honestly don't mind that I morph into a giant dog? You seemed a little on edge last night."

I was still squished against him, gasping for air. "Nope—let—me—down!" He chuckled and set me down on his stool of a bed. I waited until I was sure one of my lungs hadn't collapsed before I looked back up at the grinning idiot. "I was tired and worried for other reasons last night. But the fact that you burst out of your skin into a giant dog has no merit on my opinion of you."

"Bella!" He scooped me up again into another rib-crunching hug. I think the Cullen crest necklace that I always wear found its way into my sternum. When he put me down, I ran towards his window before he could hug me again.

"Come on, get dressed! And that includes a shirt if you don't mind." I hopped back out into his yard without realizing he wasn't following me. I almost drove away. Maybe I should have slept in. He finally came out from around the back a couple of minutes later. Shirted and everything! "Good, you do seem to own a shirt. I thought we might have to stop and buy you one before we get there."

Jake seemed like his old self for a second when he laughed at me. It was like the sun had finally figured out how to shine again. Ha, I still think that description of Jacob is hilarious, but still true. "You wanna tell me where we're going?"

"Sure, sure! You're going to tell me how to find Sam's house!"

Well, the sun was nice while it lasted.

"Why do you want to go there?" He said through gritted teeth. Come on, Jake, don't break my truck. He was gripping the seat rather tight.

"I told you last night that I've got some info that Sam's going to want. I'm pretty sure you'll be interested too, or mad. Probably mad. Actually you might want to be outside when I tell everyone." Well Jacob seems to take me seriously unlike the rest of his pack! Well, I'll show them.

"Information? About what?" He calmed down a little, but now he looked too worried that I might be in some sort of mortal danger. Which I was, of course, but it wasn't that bad. Okay, it's mortal danger which of course means that it's bad, but I have faith in the wolves and the Cullens. I think.

"Victoria, of course. Come on Jake, keep up." I went around 20 miles an hour just because I had no idea how to get to the head puppy dog's house. I'm guessing it's in the woods somewhere, but how I'm supposed to find this place while having to explain why I have to get to the house to Jacob is a little fuzzy.

Jacob didn't seem to realize I had no idea where I was going, though. "And who's Victoria? Is that what you finally decided to name your motorcycle?"

Ha, nice one! "No, Victoria is the crazy red-head who I'm told has been around town lately." I slowed down even more once I figured that there was no one out and about this early in the morning. "Okay, I really have no idea where I'm going, so…"

I waited for Jacob's input on where I should go, but he didn't say anything. Actually, I was pretty sure he was about to burst into a wolf any second. "Jacob? Hello, anyone up there?" I tapped his head, hoping to knock him out of the shock I stuck him in.

"Alright, get out of the car—truck, whatever. Out! Get out!" I reached over him to snap the door open, which did nothing for my cause. Ugh, I hate the stupid werewolf gene that makes them just snap whenever you try telling them some sort of big news. I stomped around to the passenger side and dragged him out of the truck seeing as he was still not saying anything. I grabbed Jacob's shoulders so that he would be looking me right in the eye.

"Jacob, listen to me. Victoria is the psycho bitch who helped the vampire who tried to kill me last year. She was his mate and now she's mad because Edward killed him. She wants me now because she thinks it's only fair that she kill Edward's…mate," oh that is so weird to call myself that, "but what she doesn't realize is that Edward and I sort of broke up, or well he left because he's a stupid moron who overreacts when I get a stupid little scraped knee!" I let go of Jacob whose shoulders were really getting shaky, but I didn't care. I was going off in rant land. "I mean, who lies like that when all I did was trip on a crack in his driveway? He just went off on me and pretended that he didn't care about me anymore like it was no big deal! I think I hate him! I really do."

"Sarah, calm down. You need to help Jacob right now." Hallucination Edward, how I've missed you, but now is not a good time for you to be around. Not when I actually want to kill you, or the real you, whatever!

But he did have some good insight. Jacob was actually paying attention to what I was saying pretty intently. Well, at least he's past the blank stare thing. Now Jacob was the one who was gripping my shoulders. "Is that what happened? Why the Cullens left?"

I nodded. "Not all of them agreed with Edward, you know. He wanted to leave because he thought he was too dangerous to be around me, but Alice and Ava stayed. They didn't want to leave me alone here when Victoria was still around. And the fact that they're my best friends kind of made them want to stay too."

"If that idiot bloodsucker is honestly stupid enough—"If possible, I think he gripped my shoulder harder. I think he's cutting off my circulation. Um, ow…

"Jacob, please. I know he's an idiot, but he still…did it because he…is an idiot. But he and I, well, I think I—I know I still have certain feelings for him, but I just have to add hate on the list." I guess the pressure on my shoulders is cutting off the circulation to my brain. It's making me a little loopy.

And…now I really think my arm is going numb. "Bella, you honestly still like—"

"Enough, Jake, I'm sorry I brought it up." I squirmed out from under his arms. It's sort of bugging me that he's now taller than me. Yet another thing about werewolves that isn't fair.

"Fine, but this information is important." Thank God he dropped it. Hallucination Edward was pretty happy with his reaction too. "This is exactly what we needed to know. We've got to tell the others right away."

I rolled my eyes at his sudden all-business persona. I was happy that he could switch like that, don't get me wrong, but I can't imagine how he can do it. I mean, I'm good at wearing a happy mask at school but I can't switch back and forth that quickly. "Duh, you moron. That's why I woke you up this early! But, as I was trying to explain in the car, I have no idea how to get to your little Alpha's house."

"Oh, right. Well, it's kind of hard to find the turnoff." Ugh, I've heard that before. Like every time I go to the Cullen's house, no one thinks I can quite find the turnoff to their driveway. But they don't understand. That house leads me to where all of my closest friends live sans Jacob, so why wouldn't I be able to find it? "Maybe I should drive." Jacob suggested.

"Whatever gets us there fastest." I climbed into the passenger seat without any arguments because, honestly, I didn't have the energy. The fact that I'd had bad dreams about Jacob being shot plus I'd been thinking about how Edward is scheduled to come back in a few days mixed in with waking up early this morning, I am starting to drain. And I haven't even met with the pack yet. "Would you mind stopping at a rest station if we pass it though? I going to need coffee or caffeine of some sort to keep me awake if I'm going to have to slap your friend Paul again." I grinned over at Jake as he punched on the gas towards the elusive Sam's woodsy home.

"No yelling, no sarcasm, no snarkiness, no blinking too fast, got it?"

I sipped the soothing warm coffee that we'd picked up on our way to Sam's and glared at Jacob. Really, what did he think I was going to do? Go inside brandishing a machete? Ugh, werewolves… "Maybe I should just hold my breath the whole time! Or, you know, I could play vampire and just stand in there like a statue! You know, I knew I should have brought my white face paint."

"Snarky sarcasm, Bella. Not helping." Jacob warned me again. "Just be careful alright?"

"Jacob, it's just you and five overgrown boys that don't seem to afford shirts. I'll be fine, and besides, they can't kill me or otherwise they won't know what Victoria is after." I grabbed his shirt and started to drag him inside. I could already smell whatever it was that Emily was baking which made my stomach growl so loud that I actually looked behind me in case wolf Paul was waiting in the shadows somewhere.

"Something which you told me, but you were talking so fast that I didn't really catch any of it. Actually I didn't get any of it at all."

"Sorry, I tend to do that a lot. I doubt you would have let me out at all if you heard." But then again, he's no Edward. He wouldn't just leave me to fend for my human self just because one of his family members put me in danger. You know, now that I think about it, that just happened! Paul, a member of his…species, tried to kill me the other day. Is leaving even an option at this point in Jacob's mind? No!

Great, now I'm almost foaming at the mouth, I'm so mad. And what's worse is that Jacob noticed. "What's wrong, Bells?" He stopped me before we were about to go inside.

"Nothing. Burned my tongue on the coffee."

"Right, well, here we go." He opened the door, but didn't let me in first like a normal gentleman would. I guess it's because everyone, meaning the entire pack plus Emily, looked up when he walked in. And, because Jacob is now taller than me, they couldn't see me. Nice one, Jacob. "Hey, guys. Emily." He nodded in the direction from where the most amazing smells in the world were coming from. Man, if Jacob doesn't just move, I might just tow him over to get to the muffins. At least I think they're muffins. They smell like heaven wrapped in a cupcake holder.

My stomach roared again. Someone laughed at Jake, who still hadn't moved to expose me. "Hungry, Jacob? I could hear that all the way over here." I think it's Embry. Or it might be Paul. Ugh, they all sound the same!

I couldn't tell if Jacob had his business face on, but I have a pretty good feeling he did. At least, as much as I could tell he did from the sound of his voice. "It wasn't me." Then he side-stepped just enough so that I was clearly visible.

"Sorry, Jacob only bought me coffee." I wanted to squirm a little under all of their astonished faces. Good thing none of them were trembling. "Hi, everyone." I hadn't noticed last time because of my fight with Paul, but the guys do look an awful lot alike. I mean, they still look a lot like the actors that played them in the movie, but more similar now. But, unlike the movie, they were all fully clothed. Dang it!

"Bella has some important information. She probably would have told us yesterday if someone hadn't chased her away." He glared right at Paul, who looked a lot calmer today than he did yesterday. He still didn't look like a happy camper.

"Oh, that's likely!" He grumbled under his breath. Sam glared at him, but he didn't stop. "I'm sure the leech-lover is just dying to help us out."

I was in no mood for him to yell and wolf out at me again. And while the coffee may be keeping me awake, it was starting to make me a little testy. Luckily Jacob didn't move to protect me or else we would have probably had an incident in the kitchen, which, considering the history with Sam and Emily, it might have ended badly. Like me-beating-up-Paul-before-he-had-a-chance-to-go-all-wolfy bad.

Emily was already making moves as one of the best hostesses in the world. She headed right towards me with a smile on her face. I kept myself from glaring over at Sam for giving her the huge scars, the jerk! And doing that to someone who is apparently his soul-mate! Well, then again, Edward did that and more to me, only I have no visible scars besides the one that James gave me, but that doesn't count. I thought she might be unpleasant like she was in the book, but maybe I was now respected for standing up to a werewolf and coming out unscathed. "So, you're the vampire girl." She smiled, and started leading Jacob and me towards the muffins.

My stomach grumbled again! Shut up! I promise I will feed you! "Yeah, and you're the wolf girl?"

I should have known that would ease the tension at least a little bit. Everyone, excepting Paul, laughed even Sam. I thought he was in a permanent state of non-smiling. "I guess I am. I'm Emily," we shook hands properly while all the wolves were still staring at me. "Jacob's said all kinds of things about you. Although I must say, he didn't mention how brave you were! Between you and me, I think you did Paul some good yesterday. He deserves a kick in the head every once in a while." She whispered to me.

You know, now that I'm actually meeting her, I can definitely see a resemblance between her and Leah. Not that I'd ever tell Leah that. She's already got enough of those bitter feelings towards Sam and Emily as it is. "I hope everything else you've heard has been good." I smiled, willing her to let me eat a muffin. My stomach willed her right along with me.

She laughed when its growl filled the room yet again. "Bella, are you hungry? Go ahead and help yourself to a muffin."

"Thank you!" I grabbed two just in case one wouldn't alleviate my stomach's voice. Everyone laughed again at the hilarious human girl chowing down on two absolutely amazing blueberry muffins. "Okay, now to business."

"Bella seems to know something about the red-head that's been around. She tried telling me, but then she started talking way too fast."

"I said sorry!" I tried to say but the muffin that was currently in my mouth made it sound all muffled.

Sam took one look at me and said, "I see your point, Jake." Bastard.

I made sure to swallow completely before I piped up. "I can hear you! And I guess if you don't want to hear about what Victoria's after then I guess I don't have to tell you. Thanks for the muffins Emily!" I started to get up from the table and move towards the door, but two arms suddenly found their way around my waist and stuck me back down where I was sitting. "Jacob!" I smacked his arm as hard as I could without hurting myself. Stupid werewolves!

"Sorry, Bella, but we've got to hear this. And I'm sorry for making fun of you." He smirked at me. Here I am, a whole two years older than him, and I'm the one acting like a child. Maybe it's the height thing…

"Fine, what do you guys know already?" Let's get down to business! Holy Crow, I feel like I'm a member of the mob right now!

Sam sat down across from me and mimicked my expression of complete serious. "There are two of them. One of them, thanks to one of your friends, got away before we could kill him."

"Laurent's important. We couldn't let him die, and besides, Lizzie gave him very serious instructions that he won't break. That's sort of her amazing power." It's so not fair that she's got that amazing power and all I am is a shield. Big freaking whoop.

"Power? The bloodsuckers have powers?" Only by process of elimination am I able to figure out that he is definitely Jared. He looked like the actor, but I wasn't completely sure. I scowled over at his seat when he called my best friend a bloodsucker, which shut him up pretty fast.

"Some of the Cullens have extra powers. It's something of theirs from their human life, only amplified. Take my best friend, Elizabeth Cullen for example. She was always very persuasive at getting what she wanted while she was human, and, now that she's a vampire, she can make other people do what she wants. And she killed my truck once, but that's not the point. The point is, yes, some vampires have extra stuff they can do." I sound like Carlisle when he's talking about one of his favorite subjects.

"I thought those were just stories. We've heard of legends about vampires who could do…extra stuff, but I thought that was just a myth." Jacob looked stunned at me.

"Sorry, it's not a myth. Alice, the really short one with spiky hair, can see the future. Jasper, the younger blonde guy, can control emotions around you. Like I said, Lizzie can make you bend to her will. And, then Edward, despite his stupidity, can read minds." Ouch, Edward. Alright, now is not the time to think about him. Move on!

"What about the one that's been hanging around here? Do you think she has any special powers?" Sam asked, keeping his poker face unlike the rest of the pack who were all freaking out about the Cullens' powers. It was actually pretty funny watching Embry and Jared figure out how Ava had made them do what she said in the forest.

Shoot, what did my ex boyfriend say in Eclipse about Victoria? "Umm, maybe. I think she might be very good at running away and avoiding being caught, but that's just a guess."

Sam nodded, but the frustration was evident on his face that the poker face was completely blown. "But why does she keep coming back? It makes no sense. Her mate—the dark haired one—left days ago. I don't understand why she keeps coming back if she isn't upset because we didn't kill her mate. Even the way she's coming in doesn't make sense. She keeps dancing around the edges, like she's testing our defenses, look for a way in—but in where? Where does she want to go?"

"That's the main thing I have to tell you. Jake, you might want to go outside." I wasn't ready for him to phase in the middle of the room. Besides, it's not like I haven't told him already, he just wasn't paying close enough attention to my fast ramblings. If he didn't hear it the first time, he might not hear it again!

"What? Why?" He was dragged out of his own thoughts, and looked hurt that I wanted him out.

"Because I don't want you causing a scene in the middle of the kitchen when I tell you!" I hissed back at him. "Just stand by the door in case of emergencies." I swung back around to face a very confused looking trio of werewolves. Paul was still grumbling so I didn't include him. I took a deep breath and tried to keep my voice at a normal pace. "Okay, here's the deal. Victoria is her name. Her mate was most definitely not the guy that you almost killed the other day, he's Laurent. They were both in a coven with this other dude named James, who was Victoria's mate. Well, last year around this time, James and company came to Forks and met the Cullens…and me. James really wanted to kill me because apparently I smell really good to vampires. Don't ask me why! Anyway, to make a long story short, after a bunch of running and chasing, Edward caught and killed James. And, needless to say, Victoria was pissed."

"Up with you so far. Slow down a little, though, will ya?" Embry asked. I glared at him since he interrupted my stream of thought. "Sorry." He mumbled and tried to look enthralled with my story again as I continued.

"So, since Victoria is a whako, she got it in her head to come after Edward's…girlfriend, aka moi because she has some sort of twisted sense of revenge." They were all staring blankly at me. I'm not quite sure if they're all just in the catatonic mad werewolf mode or if they honestly didn't get the point. "Meaning, she's trying to get to Forks to kill me."

I dared a glance over to Jake, worried he might phase any second. "But you're just a girl!" Embry finally concluded.

"Brilliant insight, but irrelevant. In short, Victoria wants me dead, and my friends, Lizzie and Angel have been trying to keep a watch out for me lately. That's why Angel was outside when you tried to get to my house the other night, Jake." I didn't look back again. I suddenly felt two really hot hands on my shoulders. I looked way up to see Jacob staring pointedly at Sam.

"Now what are we going to do?"

"We've got bait for her, at least." Paul, you moron. Jacob launched can opener right at his head. I looked away just in case there was going to be blood, but apparently Paul just flicked it away.

"Bella is not bait." Jacob snarled at him. See, this is why I wanted him outside!

"You know what I mean."

"So, we'll be changing our patterns," Sam said straight to me and Jacob, who was still hovering right behind me. "We'll try leaving a few holes, and see if she falls for it. We'll have to split up, and I don't like that. But if she's really after Bella, she probably won't try to take advantage of our divided numbers."

"Quil's got to be close to joining us. Then we'll be able to split evenly." Embry mumbled.

"I have a suggestion. Lizzie and Angel can help with the patterns too, you know, since they don't need sleep or anything." Blank stares. That's all I got: blank stares. "What? Come on! They vegetarians! They're on the same side you're all on. What the big deal if they help?" More blank stares. "How about if you just talk to them? On the phone, at least?" I put my cell phone on the table. Now I really feel like a mobster with a deal on the table.

"Sam, they can help and that way your numbers won't be quite as small." Emily provided from the stove, where she was finally finishing the eggs. Oh man, I want some of those too. I am so glad she has some good sense in her.

Sam looked to Emily with a particularly pained expression on his face. And, looking away! He looked too much like Edward for me to handle. Just take deep Edward-cleansing breaths. "Call them for me." Sam finally turned back to me. I quickly dialed Ava's number and handed him the phone. I didn't really pay attention to the one side I could hear, but what I basically got from it is that Ava and Angel are going to be watching me in close contact. Like, Ava's going to be spending the night for a while. And Angel. Oh, that's going to be a fun living arrangement.

He finally hung up the phone, sounding like it was in the middle of one of Ava's rants, and handed it back to me. "I think you should either stay with them or in La Push as much as possible. She won't know where to find you so easily, just in case."

"And Charlie and Sue?"

"They'll be around here so much for the memorial in a few days. Plus, March Madness is still going on. I think Billy can manage to keep Charlie and Sue down here when he's not a work." Jacob cut in.

"Seth? Leah?" I didn't want to say her name too loudly since she was probably a touchy subject in their house, but no one really batted an eyelash over her.

"Seth and Leah'll be around here for the big day too. They'll all be fine." Jacob tried to rub my shoulders in the normal, comfortable way that boyfriends do, but I shook him off before he could get any more ideas into his wolfy head. After all, I wasn't just the whiny damsel in distress that Bella was. I made a plan and initiated a half-truce with the wolves before it's even really needed. Suck that, real Bella!

"If you guys are sure…" I raised my eyebrows at Sam, waiting for him to disagree with the help from Ava and Angel but it never came.

"We'll end this quickly, Bella." Sam assured me.

"Just be careful. Victoria might be crazy but she throws wicked curve balls." Tee-hee, even though I'm the only one who got the joke, the rest of them laughed. Mainly because they were acting like Simba in the Lion King 'I laugh in the face of danger. Ha! Ha! Ha!'

Emily looked up and I saw the worry clearly on her face. She should be whacking a couple of them right now, but instead she brought forth the huge bowl full of scrambled eggs. And as much as I wanted some, I grabbed the remnants of my muffins and scrambled out of my seat before Jacob could jump over top of me. Emily and I leaned against the counter so we didn't lose any limbs, or well, anymore.

"Are they always like this?" I asked as Embry nearly chomped down through his plate. It was actually pretty amusing to watch these guys eat. Okay, if I wanted to be completely honest, it was gross, but, hey, they're werewolves. And boys. Which makes it all that much worse.

"Oh, yeah. You should see what happens on Taco night." Emily laughed at some fond memory that gave me the shudders just to think about. We just sort of stood and watched them for a while, since, what else was there to do? Nothing else was nearly as entertaining as this. "Thank you for calling your friends to help too." Whoa, random. She really was worried! I didn't think she'd be this scared. Great, another reason for me to feel terrible.

"Umm, no problem. I honestly didn't think Sam would go for it." But this is my story and I'm the master here.

"Neither did I, but thank you nonetheless." Emily really was a genuinely nice person. I still feel bad for Leah and what Sam did to her because of the whole 'imprint' thing, but it was obvious that Sam and Emily were a match made in imprinting heaven. I mean, only Edward and I could compete.

Okay, wrong thing to think about. I almost thought I was going to hyperventilate for a minute. I didn't, but I did get pretty woozy. I needed to go home soon, I was being exposed to too much love. Next thing you know, I might even want to go see Love Spelled Backwards is Love with Mike!

Jacob noticed me flipping out, and said he was taking me back to La Push. I waved goodbye to all the wolves except Paul, who I smacked on the back of the head on my way past him. I didn't get to see what he did, but I could hear that it involved a lot of yelling profanities. Love you, Paul!

I texted Ava and Uncle Charlie that I would be down in La Push with Jacob for the day, but neither of them showed much surprise. I think Uncle Charlie was getting too busy to do anything other than print out programs for this thing in a couple of days, aka Cliff Day, that he hardly noticed my absence. And Ava just wanted to make out with Angel without interruption. And set up their wedding, but that was still months away and Alice was taking care of a majority of it.

Jacob and I merely spent the day doing normal stuff that we'd been doing before I turned him into a werewolf. He tried to suggest that we look for my meadow again, something which I rejected since Victoria could be out there!

Something, though, bothered me all day. I kept getting really weird text messages from an unknown number. I seeeee you! and I'm coming sooooon!

For a second, I almost thought that Victoria tried to rip off James' stupid phone calls. Then I just figured it was a stupid prank. Mike was probably trying to get me to go out with him in some new way.

I finally left La Push when it was close to dinnertime. Sue called me and told me to head home soon because I had a visitor waiting for me. Since that's what she calls Ava whenever she brings Angel around, I figured they were getting ready for our new living arrangement. Ugh, that was going to be really weird. Especially if Ava and Angel kiss or anything in front of me. It's so gross!

Anyway, once I walked in the living room, I tripped over what could only be described as an army.

An army of shopping bags.

Then I saw two tiny fashionable shoes hop in front of me. "Hi, Bella! Did you miss me?"

Hmm, I wonder who that could be?? Haha, go review! I've got a sneak peek to die for though! Yum, Edward! Who will also be coming in the form of an Eclipse trailer on March 12th! (Just in case you didn't know! )

Alright, now go review!!

Preview for the next chapter:

"Bella!" I heard his voice further away, like it was an echo this time. But then it was right next to me again. "Please. For me."

But you won't stay with me any other way. Even if I wasn't going to really jump. This goading on Hallucination Edward thing was a lot more comforting then I realized it would be! Plus, it was calling me Bella all of a sudden.

Something else amazing was the fact that I hadn't actually just tripped and fallen off the cliff yet.

"Please." The voice was getting farther and farther away. "Bella! No!" I heard it scream again in the same echo like voice, but it was closer this time.

But still too far. I figured with my good luck at the moment I could stand on my tiptoes right on the edge. "NO!" Suddenly, pretty much feeling like a truck slammed into my back, two arms slid around my waist with enough force to knock the breath right out of me. "Bella…"